Felicia thinks for a moment about striking him down, but remembers the respect the crowd has been showing her. She motions and says "Do as you will with him friends..."
The other one would not be so fortunate. He was given clear warning to run, and this imbecile dared strike someone else?
Sarenrae's light touch you! Amalie says as she 5' steps to the right, raising her hand to the heavens. A pulse of healing energy sweeps out from her, healing those within 30'. As she does so, she mentally picks out those that are injured on the ground and the one that attacked her, causing the light to divert around them, robbing them of healing.
Lubella's blade does indeed swing wild, though it distracts the thug enough that Felicia's slice catches him in the side. He hisses is pain, and he begins to panic, noticing he is surrounded and alone in a crowd of angry Kintargans.
Two of the dottari begin making their way towards you, pressing their way through the crowd. One of them makes it to Felicia, brandishing her mace at the catgirl. "Throw down your weapon! Don't force me to harm you!"
Arcos briefly concentrates and creates a shield of magic energy to protect himself.
Felicia scoffs, and steps back into the crowd, turning to walk away.
"Hey, you lot!" addressing the three that seem to be holding their own fighting. "We should head out before too many guards take notice of us! I think I can find us a place to lay low!"
A Sarenrite! I'll definitely need to talk to her, Lubella thought, noting the healer's exclamation, all the while watching her opponent's moves.
The Blue Warlock takes a few steps away from the thug, expecting to easily cast his spell without interference. The crowd, however, makes it difficult to get out of the way, and for a moment, it looks as though the thug would swing upon his azure-clad opponent. However, he catches a glimpse of his compatriots, each laid low by weapons and spell or retreating. "Oh, eff this," he exclaims, and carefully extracts himself from the combat.
Amalie takes a 5' step back and away from the dottari nearest to her, bringing her stick out to lean on.
"It might be an idea to move back a bit," Lubella said to the other rebels near her. "I'll cover you." She moved up to the dottari next the fountain. "Back off!" she said fiercely, ready to strike.
Amalie throws another rock at the advancing dottari, and he is barely able to get his shield up in time to deflect the projectile. Lubella's foe is not as lucky - he advances upon her, and receives a vicious slash to his leg in response. He hisses in pain, raising his mace high. "You're under arrest! Throw down your weapons, and come along peacefully!"
Despite the three extra feet of height that the dottari enjoys over Lubella, she easily blocks the strike from his heavy mace with her scimitar, already wheeling around for a new attack against him. Amalie, however, is far less skilled at defending herself. The dottari raises his mace above his head to strike her, only for one of the merchants from earlier to grab him by the arm. "Leave her alone! She's done nothing wrong!", she screams at the dottari, allowing Amalie to scramble out of the way. The guard shoves the merchant off of him, and sends her back into the rabble with a kick.
Arcos walks towards Amalie and Felicia, and conjures up a bolt of lightning to shoot the Dottari near Amalie.
"OK, if that's the way you want to play it," Lubella snarled. She ducked and spun, her scimitar flashing.
Amalie steps backwards again, retreating from the dottari once more. This time, after moving she mutters a quick spell and her eyes flicker with a blue light.
"Dammit I was hoping we could avoid killing guards, but those goofballs seem to attract as much trouble as me. Oh well!"
Felicia charges back into the fray, hoping to not attract too many more dottari.
The Blue Warlock conjures another bolt of lightning from the air, hurling it at the dottari squaring off against Amalie. It catches him in the side, and he cries out in pain. Felicia lashes out at the man's skull with the hilt of her sword, but she momentarily loses her footing in the mud, missing him entirely.
Amalie narrows her eyes to cast her arcane sight towards the opera house. She detects no magical auras in the area - not upon the building itself, nor upon any of the people in the crowd.
Lubella ducked under the dottari's clumsy swing, spinning over his back and stabbing at a weak point in his armor as she rolls. He cries out as the short scimitar slashes him across the back, and he collapses to the ground like a marionette whose strings have been cut. Landing upon her feet, the halfling races towards the remaining dottari.
"Murderer!", he cries, leveling his gaze at Lubella. "I don't care how lengthy the paperwork is for killing a civilian, you killed my partner, so you're dying today!" He swings at her, his strike filled with blind fury, and she easily dodges the powerful blow.
"The lesson is: if you attack me, there's a price to be paid!", Lubella replied. She regretted having to cut down the previous dottari, but what was her option? I will not abide evil, and will combat it with steel when words are not enough. She leapt at her remaining foe and slashed again. "I'm ready to move back when you are," she said to her new allies.
As before, Lubella's blade slashes into the dottari in a spot that his armor did not protect, and stains the mud crimson with his life blood. He falls to the ground, motionless.
With her gaze trained upon the opera house, Amalie is the first to notice the doors reopen. Another dozen dottari emerge to support the guards already attempting to quell the riot, along with Nox. Even from this distance, you can see the anger on her face. Flanking her is a lean wolf with auburn fur and fiery red eyes that burn with malevolence. "Arrest them all!", the warrior woman shouts at the dottari. "Kill any who resist!"
That creature flanking Nox is a hell hound, a ruthlessly efficient pack hunter from Hell itself.
"Dog? DOG!!! BIG F%$&ING SCARY DOG! EVERYONE RUN!"
Felicia gets the hell out of dodge, trying to beckon the others to follow.
Lubella turned to see dottari reinforcements pouring out of the opera house. "It's time to go!", she urged the others. She muttered an incantation and started to swiftly retreat to the east.
Seeing the dog, Amalie gulps. She begins to run in a lopsided gait, following the two that moved east.
Arcos' eyes widen at the sight of the crowd of Dottari, and he runs, keeping pace with the rest of the group.
The four of you escape into the streets of Kintargo, just as screams erupt from the riot. Between the increased guard presence and the gouts of flame coming from Nox's pet, the rioters begin to break, and you are amongst those who escape the dottari. After several minutes, you find yourselves on the other side of the park, heading south towards Old Kintargo. There is little sign of the dottari here, and any other people that escaped the riot have peeled off from your group, striking out on their own. The four of you find yourselves alone, for the moment, on the streets of Kintargo.
Lubella felt bad that she wasn't able to help more people escape. Things had just gotten so ugly, so fast. She looked up and the three people walking beside her. Time for introductions, I think.
"Are you all OK? That was pretty intense!", the halfling woman exclaimed. "I should introduce myself - I'm Lubella Heathertoes."
Hi Lubella. I'm Amalie Hirtzel. Are any of you injured? I have a bit of a way with restorative magics and draughts. She says, happy to be able to slow the pace somewhat.
Not quite how I wanted that all to go, but I think it's good the people saw the devil that Thrune is for themselves. It's important that we keep that fervor running through the people. Hopefully a bit of Sarenrae will shine through them.
"Yes, I noticed," Lubella replied. "I too worship the Goddess, although I don't have your talent for healing. I myself am unharmed."
After a few minutes, Lubella asked Amalie, "Have you heard anything about what happened to Shensen?" She made no effort to conceal her Kelish accent - something told her she was amongst friends now (certainly not Thrune agents).
Felicia takes a moment to walk the alley, sniffing for threats. She comes back toward the group wiping the blood from her blade. "My name's Felicia. Pleasure to meet you lovely ladies. Can't say I'm hurt, but thanks anyway! You did some magic in the riot din'ya? I quite liked the smell, like a warm summer day. By the way, that was some seriously impressive bladework back there short stuff! Remind me never to piss you off! Oi, sparky, you got a name?" She speaks with a light middle Chelish accent , and what she lacks in tact, she makes up for in friendliness and beauty. She gets distracted for a moment fixing the hair around her feline ears after catching her reflection in a pane of glass.
"I'm very pleased to meet you, Felicia," Lubella replied. "It seems like you have some moves there yourself! Then, turning towards the man in blue and gold, she declared, "And that thing you did where you shot sparks from your fingers - I've never seen anything like it!
I haven't, no. Though if she is truly missing it is a terrible thing for those that walk in the light. Her sanctuary was the catalyst for my own belief, in many ways. Amalie says, her voice tinged with sadness as she recollects hours of prayer under Shensen's shop.
Looking over to Arcos, she cocks her head a bit. You've clearly some manner of magic yourself, eh?
Greeting friends and fellow revolutionaries, I am the Blue Warlock, champion of the people of Kintargo. I do indeed have some magic of my own, including a talent for manipulating lightning, although it is not quite as specialized as other forms of magic. In any case, I believe that I must remove my heroes outfit, as I wouldn't want to arouse suspicion." Arcos removes his mask, revealing the face of a young Chelish man with rather bookish features, and takes off his blue robe, turning it inside out and putting it back on as a scribe's robe, "Now then, I greet you all again as Arcos, a simple scribe. I trust that my secret will remain as such among kindred spirits?"
"Pleased to meet you, Arcos, or should I say The Blue Warlock?", Lubella replied with a bow. "Your secret is safe with me!", she added. "You know, I think I ran into you earlier at the protest. I never would have guessed that you were the same person - that's a really effective disguise! It's too bad I don't have something like that; I think drew entirely too much attention to myself back there."
I really botched things - I was supposed to be discreet, and now the city guards are all probably looking for me. Lubella had made a few rash decisions in the past; she was trying to be better at thinking things through, but here she'd gone and done it again (with potentially much more serious consequences).
Arcos chuckles, "Ah yes, that must have been you. I knew you were one of the people that stood out during the protest, and you cannot have been Barzillai Thrune, and I hope you were not the burly man who threw whiskey on me, or else I would need some serious explaining. I thank you for the praises of my disguise, and I must compliment all of your combat prowess. Hmm, I could certainly go for some tea, my morning cup seems to have worn off in all the...excitement." Arcos looks about, thinking about the best tea salons nearby.
Lubella told the others, "I need to retrieve my possessions from the inn I've been staying at. It's probably not a good idea for me to remain there."
The Long Roads Coffeehouse comes to mind quickly, but that's back in your neck of the woods - Villegre, across the Bleakbridge. On this side, the closest place that would sell tea would be in Redroof - Old Kintargo's hospitality scene tends more towards taverns, dancing halls, and brothels, sometimes all under one roof.
Your thoughts of the guards you may or may not have killed are wrested from you when you hear the sounds of steel upon steel coming from a nearby alleyway, followed shortly by a cry of pain.
"My inn is only a few blocks from here. Where should we meet up again? I'm not too familiar with this area, so it needs to be something easy for me to find."
After a suitable meeting spot was arranged, she headed off to retrieve her gear. She kept an eye out for the dottari, hiding or taking back routes when necessary.
Lubella heard the sound of steel on steel from a nearby alleyway, followed by someone crying out in pain. "Someone's in trouble in that alley!", she said urgently, as she drew her scimitar and moved forward quickly to render assistance.
"B+~!%&@s. Looks like you changed a mite too soon, sparky, 'less you're planning on chronicling the fight!." Felicia runs off with a skip while drawing her Falcata.
Amalie follows the group, somewhat slower than they are. As she walks, she pulls the last empowered stone into her fingers, feeling its comforting weight in her hands.
I'm not quite as quick as you lot, so I'll be along in a moment. she says happily as she leans on her staff with each step.
You rush towards the alleyway, and find five men dressed in the colors of the Chelish Citizens' Group in the alleyway. One man is posted at the entry nearest you, and another stands alert on the opposite side as well. In the middle, three more men kick a human male who has curled into the fetal position, his hands clutched behind his neck to protect his vitals.
Oddly, he wears a black leather glove on his right hand, and his left is ungloved. Perhaps he lost it in the struggle?
"Stop that at once!", Lubella commanded, rushing up to the thug at the entrance to the alley. "Run, if you know what's good for you!"
"This doesn't concern you, shove off!", the thug at the alley's entryway shouts back to Lubella. "But if you want some of what he's having, I'm more than willing to teach a disobedient slip to watch her tongue!" Behind him, the other four thugs notice the altercation, and cease beating the man for a moment to see how this plays out.
Apparently this man was going to need some more 'persuading'. This Chelish Citizens' Group seemed to be a bunch of people who liked to push people around and beat them up. Lubella had found that the best way to deal with bullies was to give them a good thrashing. She started her martial dance, which was infused with some of her arcane power; she was starting to run low, but clearly this man needed to be dealt with. She stepped into the alley beside him and struck with the flat of her blade, trying to disable him.
The thug at the alleyway lashes out with jingoistic fervor at Lubella, who easily sidesteps his clumsy blow. "Oi, lads! We've got a live one!", he says, and two of the three leave their place by the cowering man's side. They pull their own maces and advance upon Lubella, who is nearly caught unawares as one of them lashes out at her with surprising speed. Only a quick parry from her scimitar allows her to emerge unscathed.
One thing's for certain, though. Where the thugs at the riot were pulling punches, these fellows meant business. They were out for blood, and judging by the state of the man in the alley, they knew how to collect.
Amalie limps forward, just close enough to fling a stone at the thug to the north of the one-gloved victim.
Felicia charges the nearest foe. Her face is painted with frustration as she struggles to follow through her swing with the elegance her dad had showed her.
Arcos pulls out a shortbow and fires at the thug.
Lubella spins away from the thug's clumsy strike, and lashes out with the flat of her blade. However, she must have telegraphed the move to her foe, as he blocks it with his mace. Amalie's rock flies by one of the thugs, careening off into the alleyway harmlessly. Arcos lines up a shot, but Felicia's charge throws off his aim, and his bolt ricochets off the wall. Only the catgirl's blade strikes true, drawing the Chelish partisan's attention to her.
"Eat this, slip!", shouts one of the thugs, and his mace whistles through the air. She easily parries it, but she's rewarded a moment later by a hard blow to her forearm as his friend sneaks past her defenses.
"What the Hell even are you?", says the one now squaring off against Felicia. "Whatever, doesn't matter - Kintargo needs to be cleansed of impurity, and I'm starting with you!" In his fervor, he unleashes a flurry of strikes against her, and one of them connects with her side.
Meanwhile, in the alleyway, the other two thugs cautiously advance, and the man in the alleyway remains still, moaning in pain.