Stela takes a position just beside the door, holding her rapier low but at the ready. Her eyes are bright and ready, but she looks at the other door for a moment (the one the children were behind). She looks quizically at Mirian.
"We may not have the chance to get them clear again," she whispers.
Hinting at the children's safetly definitly touched a soft spot with Mirian and it showed. Her shoulders slump slightly and a pained expression dances through her eyes as she looks at the rightmost door. "If we're going to make fair bit of noise, which striking against that room is likely to do, we can't leave this one free to come from behind. What do you suggest we do?"
Stela sighed and looked thoughtfully at the other door. The other woman raised a good point.
"We don't know that either room is sure to be quiet," she says, slowly. "But it seems likely there's only one man in here. One of us stays by this door. If the others can settle things in there quickly and quietly, all the better. If not, then the one by the door takes him as he comes through, and then joins the fight in the next room."
Caedric nods his head, drawing his rapier and dagger. "I'll watch the door, ladies. Be quick."
Kimiko nods silently drawing her Katana and Wakizashi. "Ready when you are there, let us draw swords and kill these men." She wonders over to the door where the children are and readies herself to go in and kill the man berating them.
Mirian draws a small sigh of relief when Caedric volunteers to watch the door. She would rather be on the "assault team" to clear the room. That way she would have the children's safety in her own hands, and able to act on it. She draws her sword in one hand and her dagger in the other. "I'm ready." Earlier on she might have had to try and convince herself of that as well, but now she knew she was. Mirian closed her eyes and prayed to Iomedae that it was enough.
Battle Map: http://postimg.org/image/yahnlo9cv/
When you open the door into the upper workfloor, the first thing that hits you is the smell. The stink in this room, a mixture of fish and sweat, is enough to make the eyes water. To the east, a large wooden trough holds a hideous mound of half-rancid fish, seaweed, and brine. Filthy seawater and fish blood stain the floor around this trough. A pair of wooden chutes lead from this trough through holes in the northern wall into a larger room to the east. Several ragged children labour at this trough, feeding fish into the wooden chutes with pitchforks. Their work is overseen by two burly and unsympathetic looking gentlemen. Two more are seated at a table to the south (playing cards) and a fifth thug stands guard at the far door, his muscular, tattooed arms crossed across his broad and sweat-stained chest.
Kimiko on her turn darts forward going towards the thug furthest away from her and going for a thrust to stab him through his ribcage. She then throws caution to the wind and attacks twice more wildly trying to down everything she possibly can before the attack back.
She then makes two more attacks to anything adjacent to her still standing.
"What the - " the first of Lamm's ruffians asks as the door from the front room bursts open and a blur of scales and steel descends upon them without mercy or hesitation. Kimiko's blade pins the first thug to the wall he had been standing adjacent too, her second attack knocks the other goon backwards into the trough of loathsome chum, which is soon stained red by his blood.
The two guys at the table begin to rise, grasping for the weapons at their belts.
Normally the stench from the room would have been enough to turn Mirian’s stomach inside out, but her mind if occupied with other things. The thugs needed to be taken down as fast as possible, and that’s all that mattered. She enters after Kimiko and takes the opposite side of the samurai. Some part of her registers the sound of blades cutting into the thugs behind her and paints a mental picture but she is to concentrated on her own task to pay it any mind. Mirian drags her sword across the chest of one of the thugs drawing blood and pushes her dagger through the throat of the other.
Caedric remains ON HOLD until someone emerges from the office.
Stela follows the others into the room and attacks the thug shaken by Mirian's second strike.
Fighting (The Drop [+4] & Gang Up [+1]): vs PR:5 = success
Wild Die: vs PR:5 = success
Damage (The Drop [+4]):
Stepping passed Mirian, Stela finishes off the second thug with her rapier, driving the slender blade through the man's chest as he rises from his stool.
Updated Battlemap (Round 2): http://postimg.org/image/j9wyous2x/
The muscular thug by the north door of the workfloor draws his dagger and advances on Kimiko (prompting her First Strike ability).
First Strike: vs PR:5 = success
Wild Die: vs PR:5 = fail
Damage: vs TN:5(AV1 reduced to zero by weapon's AP) = deaded :(
Alarmed by the sound of combat on the upper workfloor, you can hear raised voices and heavy footfalls from elsewhere in the fishery, growing louder with every moment....
---
The door beside Caedric flies open and a sour faced man with short blond hair emerges warily from the office. While he is garbed in expensive clothing, it looks to be at least two decades out of fashion.
Caedric Agility:
Wild Die: > EXPLOSION: = 10
Smart-dressed Fellow Agility:
Wild Die:
Vigor: > EXPLOSION: = 13 (raise)
Kimiko unaware of the what is going on in the next room quickly tries to dispatch the man adjacent to here.
Kimiko with her expert training catches the thug unawares, she smacks him in the head with the hilt of her sword sending him reeling. Kimiko twirls around catching the man's legs with her tail sending him tumbling towards the ground. Her katana comes up past his neck slicing a wound open leaving the man bleeding on the ground.
She turns to her allies "There are more coming, open the door now to let the hatchlings out! It's our chance to get them out of here."
One boy (perhaps a few months older than the others) has positioned himself between you the rest of the orphans. He holds a rusty pitchfork at the ready, but his mock-fierce expression cannot conceal the trembling of his arms. Is it fear or just the weight of the heavy tool wearing on his young muscles? You're not sure, but this youngster is exhibiting bravery beyond his years.
Mirian sheathes her sword and dagger and drops the hood from her head. "We are not here to hurt you", she says as gently as she can manage. "We are here for Gaedren Lamm. To keep him away from you." She kneels down a few feet from the boy. "I'm Mirian. What is your name?"
The boy lowers his pitchfork until the rusty point is no longer in your face. He looks to be nine, maybe ten years old. His hair is dark and unruly, but his eyes are bright with hope as he listens to your promise.
"My name is Kester," he responds, wiping a chum-stained sleeve across his face, "If you're really here to find Gaedren, please find my little brother, Keefer too. Some of the thugs said he wasn't working hard enough and dragged him off to see the boss. He's only been gone a couple of hours, so maybe...."
Th boy trails off, staring at his own bare feet. You don't need him to say that those taken to see the boss don't usually come back....
Caedric lunges for the sour faced man emerging from the fishery office, attempting to grapple him (opposed Fighting roll).
Caedric's Fighting:
Wild Die:
Opponent's Fighting:
Wild Die:
The sour faced man is clutching a short length of wood in the ink stained fingers of his right hand. He raises this wand and attempts to discharge it in Caedric's face (although this requires a Shooting roll, it is against Caedric's PR rather than the standard TN [4], as the two men are already in combat).
Wand Activation:
Wild Die:
Corrosive goo flies from the end of the man's wand, missing Caedric's face (by a considerable margin) and splashing across the wall behind him. You can hear the acid bubbling as it eats away at the old wood.
Meanwhile, Stela opens the double doors leading out onto the loading dock, allowing the children to leave the fishery.
http://postimg.org/image/hha85w7mn/
Wand Activation:
Wild Die:
Again, he misses. The sour faced man curses both Caedric and his own crappy wand, before reaching into his jacket for a more reliable weapon.
The expression on the boy’s face is enough to break Mirian’s heart. She could read from his eyes that this wasn’t the first time. Did Gaedren’s cruelty know no bounds? Any objection she might have felt to ridding the world of Gaedren vanished. The inside of a cell was to good for the cruel old man. The inside of a casket was the place for him. ”Get clear and wait for us outside”, she tells the children and draws her shortsword and dagger, and moves to help Caedric with the office clerk. Mirian tries to stab the man, but he proves surprisingly quick and parries her attack.
Kimiko turns around and faces the corridor, her back turned to the kids so they don't get afraid of her. Kimiko tries to put on a soft voice to not spread more fear. "I will protect you hatchlings, don't worry." She falls into a stance ready to take on anyone who comes through the door.
The upcoming scenario plays in her head, she goes under the arm of the incoming attacker. Knees the man in the chest he curls over. With his neck wide open she performs a clean over head chop, taking the man's head off silently. The head rolls off the man's shoulders as soon as he hits the floor and she's ready to take on the next aggressor.
"Yargin, where is Lamm?", Mirian demands of the sour faced man.
It takes the unpleasant fellow a moment to recognise you, then his face splits into a callous sneer.
"You. I remember you now. You and your friend, the one Gaedren knifed. Thought you could take the law into your own hands, how'd that work out for you last time - and now you're back for more? I'm surprised you could even recognise your friend after they fished him out of the river, I tested some of my new experimental acids on his face before we put him out of his misery. I look forward to refining the technique once my men have subdued you and your new friends!"
It doesn't sound as though he intends to cooperate....
The door to the side of the chum trough burst open and a muscualr half-orc barrels through, giggling maniacally as he swings a spiked flail around his fugly head.
The other two thugs stare at the headless body as it totters towards them, then turn and flee back the way they came, tripping over one another on the rickety staircase beyond the door in their hastle to get away from this decapitation-dealing lizard.
Meanwhile, through the door beside Mirian emerge another two of Gaedren's thugs, who attempt to grapple the young woman beneath their great, sweaty weight.
Fighting Roll to Grapple:
Cooperating:
Total = 4
Opposed by Mirian's Fighting:
Wild Die:
Total = 4
Together, the two thugs are managing to inconvenience you, but they are getting in each other's way and are unable to get a good grip on your lithe figure.
Map Update: http://postimg.org/image/unw35a3dh/
Kimiko having scared off the incoming guards is happy with herself, she does a swift salute to the children to show that every thing is okay. Kimiko hears the scuffle in the next room, unhappy that her new found friends have been cornered she slowly and ominously walks up behind the thug that has grabbed Mirian.
Kimiko her honour still intact alerts the thug to her presence. As he turns around having a chance to defend himself Kimiko performs a downward diagonal slice. Cutting the man's jugular wide open. She falls to one knee during the stroke she performs and the man falls over dead. Kimiko from the doorway glances over to the man with the golden hair. Kimiko's nobility showing through for the first time since the group has seen her. She performs and expert maneuver cleaning her blade in one swish, her eyes never leaving the golden's mans. It is almost like saying "Your next".
EDIT: Scratch that then. Yargin's Spirit roll...
Wild Die
Paling noticeably in the face of this intimidating display, Yargin bolts back into his office and attempts to lock the door from the other side.
The last thug takes a swing at Mirian...
Fighting:
... but misses.
Caedric throws himself against the door to the office, hoping to prevent Yargin from barring it from the other side.
Caedric:
Wild:
Yargin:
Wild:
Caedric bounces of the unyielding door a moment after Yargin slides the bolt across. You hear can hear him laughing (perhaps a little prematurely) from the office.
"You monster!, Mirian screams at Yargin and wrestles out of the thugs grip. She swings her weapons with reckless abandon. The sword only manages to nick her opponent but the dagger finds a home in the thugs throat. The gruesome scene, and Kimiko's intimidating display, would normally have shaken the young rogue, but the adrenaline surge carried her across the room and to the door. She throws her shoulder uselessly against the door, unable to break it open. "Come out! You coward!"
Stela steps over the dead thugs without glancing down at them, she shoves open the second door (adjacent to the one that Yargin just fled through) and calls; "This way! There may be another way around!"
Without waiting for a response, the reckless priestess dashes along the narrow coridoor.
Kimiko sheathes her swords stylishly as samurai are wont to do. Kimiko then approaches Mirian and places a hand on her shoulder, Kimiko shoots Mirian a wink then knocks on the door softly.
Yargin my fine man we would like to talk, now I assure you I could bust down this door and then kill you slowly unlike your compatriots. You'd give us the information we need quite easily." She hisses. However I am a woman of honour and I am reasonable. If you open the door and have a chat with us before I count to 10 I promise, on my honour no less, that I shall not harm you in any way." Kimiko continues.
"What is your answer then Yargin!" Kimiko begins to count. "1..."
As you continued to count towards then, there is still no response from the locked office. You think you hear the sound of a door closing, but cannot be sure.
Meanwhile, Stela bursts through the door at the opposite end of the passage and finds herself on a raised wooden walkway overlooking the fishery floor. The floor here is slick with seawater, bits of seaweed, and fish blood—the air is thick with the accompanying scent. Wooden catwalks to the north and south allow access to the western part of the fishery, while the floor here is only five feet above the river below. An open bay to the south allows direct access to the sloppy, muddy water, while to the northwest stands an immense ten-foot-tall wooden vat, its sides caked and waterproofed with tar. Inside is a foul-looking mixture of chum, seawater, and who knows what else. To the east are stacked many barrels and crates, each marked in paint with a fish. Nearly two dozen small hammocks hang from under the catwalks, each with its own ratty blanket and pillow.
The rest of Lamm's underage workforce cower beneath the wooden catwalks, while the thugs initially frightened off by Kimiko's impressive swordplay have regrouped here and are awaiting the appearance of the terrifying reptile woman, their trembling crossbows trained on the far staircase, where they are expecting her to appear.
Overcome with hate Mirian misses most of what Kimiko says. Normally she would have prefered the samurai’s more tactful approach to Stela’s more direct version, but now she wasn’t thinking straight and the priestess won. ”Keep him occupied”, Mirian tells Fujiwara and darts after the elven priestess.
At almost the same moment that Mirain enters the room, the door at the opposite end of the workfloor bursts inward and Grau Soldado stumbles in, brandishing a shortsword in his right hand and a much depleted bottle of whisky in his left.
"I'm coming for you, Lamm!" he roars, his feet slip-sliding on the slick boards underfoot, "Come out and - hic - face me like a man!"
Half of the thugs turn their crossbows towards this new threat, the other half continue to take aim at Mirian and Stela (but can't act until their turn).
Two shoot at Mirian and Stela, the other two fire on Grau.
Shot at Stela: = hit
> damage: (bypasses 2 points of armor)
Shot at Mirian: = miss
First shot at Grau: = miss
Second Shot at Grau:
> explosion: > hit with raise
> damage:
Both Stela and Grau are SHAKEN, but suffer no lasting damage.
"Stand back!" Caedric shouts, taking a few steps back to give himself a bit of a run up at the door, "I'm going after him!"
Strength:
Wild Die:
> EXPLOSION: > total 7
The door burst open and Caedric staggers into the room beyond, somewhat off balance. He barely registers the sound of a trap activating before a vial of acid is fired towards his face.
Agility-2:
Wild Die:
Damage (bypassing armour): > SHAKEN
"Arrggghhhhhh!" Caedric shrieks, clawing at his eyes and nose as the bottle of caustic goo shatters against the side of his head.
The office appears to be empty. The door to the workfloor is shut, although the external door leading out onto the wooden walkway hanging from the side of the fishery stands ajar....
--
Meanwhile, Stela attempts to unshake...
Spirit:
Wild Die:
Ignoring the crossbolt sticking out of her arm, Stela moves quickly along the rickety catwalk and plungers her rapier into the nearest of Gaedren's thugs... (+2 because none of these have melee weapons out yet)
Fighting:
Wild Die:
Standard Hit, damage:
The ruffian yelps as Stela's blade cuts a shallow gash across his chest, but is otherwise unharmed by her rather pitiful assault.
Thinking back to the days of his adoptive mother, a teenaged looking boy is seen walking down the streets of Korvosa.
That time already, huh? says the boy as he heads towards the Fishery.
Old man Derik's day of remembrance. Time to head to the Fishery then...
As the boy walks along the docks and heads around to the fishing port, puffing away on his cigarette, he stops to look at the fascia where old man Derik's name once stood.
You did well, huh? Esther was a great woman and you even had your own business. Shame you had to snuff it so soon. No doubt Gaedren was behind it, leaving ma heartbroken all those years.
As the malnourished, filthy looking boy takes his f#! out of his mouth, he takes a deep breath, sniffing the air around him. As he looks up at the sky, he says quietly to himself Old man, I hope you're taking care of ma up there. I'll get to meet you one day and look forward to that day. Take it easy pa. I'll see you the same time next year, before pausing and listening to the birds and sea life surrounding him whilst paying his respects with a minute of silence.
Kimiko finishes counting up then thinks that she'd likely get to the scene faster if she busted the door in instead of running around. She braces herself at the door she's been talking through then takes a few steps back ramming it with her shoulder as hard as she can.
"Blond man, I finished counting.. so I'm sorry, you aren't going to like what I'm going to do you." Kimiko hisses as she barges through taking the door of its hinges. She looks around at the room she entered to see where Yargin might have fled.
@ Elegad: You notice that the front door of your old man's fishery hangs ajar, the padlock that you have grown accustomed to seeing entwined there like some metal serpent lies sundered in the muddy street. Over the pouring rain, you think you can hear the shouting from inside the (supposedly derelict) building....
@ Kimiko:
Shoving Caedric out of the way, you step into the office and scan the area for sign of your prey. Filing cabinets line the walls, although it seems that damp has gotten into their contents, ruining whatever records may have been stored therein. The centre of the room is dominated by a long workbench, strewn with all the paraphernalia you would expect to find in the laboratory of an aspiring alchemist. There is no sign of Yargin - the cowardly rogue has gone to ground. However, you are not fooled by his hurried and clumsy attempts at misdirection...! While he has thrown open the side door in an effort to make it look as though he has fled from the fishery, you are able to follow his body's thermal signature to a trapdoor in the floor beneath the desk.
Noticing the lock, Elegad leans down, picking it up for inspection.
I thought this place was long abandoned. If that's the case, why's the lock broken? he thinks to himself.
Taking the initiative, the young Half-Elf quietly heads inside, curious as to what's going on, and uncertain of what may be laying in wait for him.
Poking your head around the open door, you see several bloody bodies strewn across the floor of the front reception room. Amidst the carnage, a drugged guard dog enjoys a deep and untroubled slumber. You can hear the sound of combat from the large work floor to the rear of the building. In your adopted stepfather's old office, someone shouts threateningly;
"Blond man, I finished counting.. so I'm sorry, you aren't going to like what I'm going to do you."
A moaning half-elf staggers towards you, clawing at his face and eyes. He obviously has not spotted you. There are shards of broken glass stuck in his face and his skin is smoking slightly, as though some caustic substance had been splashed generously across it.
What the hell happened here?....
With bodies decorating the floor in a crimson taint of blood, in an attempt to sneak past, the boy cautiously backs himself up against the wall, taking note of the sleeping dog and trying his very hardest to move as silently as possible in an attempt to reach the office without drawing attention to the terrifying looking man with glass protruding from his eyes and face.
You sneak passed the blinded half-elf without drawing any attention to yourself. You hear a loud bump as the unfortunate fellow trips over the comatose hound and bangs his head on the corner of the desk. He does not get back up, although you are pretty sure he's still alive.
The door to your old man's office is hanging from one rusty hinge. Beyond the threshold, a scaly, humanoid creature is stalking this way and that, apparently searching for something in particular....
Making his way up the stairs , El notices a human sized scaly creature and having not seen anything like it before, figures it's best to stay out of its way until he can work out its intentions.
Going purely on instinct Mirian jumps the railing and tries to land beside the thug below. Under different circumstances she would have considered such actions foolhardy at best, and some part of her probably did, but the hatered for Yargin and the crossbows aimed at her allies didn't leave her much of a choice. The situation drove her to action, even if it foolish.
Mirian lands next to the thug, perhaps to her own surprise because her strikes against him are ill timed and hit nothing but air.