Ensis lays open the creature's side with his cut. A huge flap of feathered skin falls away from its torso, revealing the delicate musculature of its ribcage. Just as the blood starts to run and the ribs begin to split along the line of the cut, Ben's bomb explodes in the bird-thing's face, shredding its beak to tatters and blinding one eyes.
Screeching in rage, it digs its fearsome claws into the unfortunate alchemist. Not content to strike and release, it bunches its fists into the flesh and does its level best to tear Ben open. The smell of burning feathers and blood and the sound of its crazed screams fill the cavern.
Valexia is up.
Once Valexia has acted:
Bertom 17
Dee 16
Rexus 14
Ensis
Ben
Shrieking bird thing
Valexia
"Did we kill this thing's pet crocogator?!" cries Valexia, horrified and distracted while her fingers fidget at the string of her bow.
Valexia's shot flies wide of the gruesome scene as the unnerved diva cannot bring the bow to bear steadily.
Bertom
Dee
Rexus
Ensis
Ben
DoomBird
Valexia
"Yes!" Ben grins only slightly maniacally as his bomb goes off in the bird-man's face.
"NO!" He cries, more panicked than maniacal as he realizes that the creature's trajectory is headed straight for him!
Ben is slammed down to the floor, the bird-man's claws tearing at his chest. Ben grabs at the claws, trying to prevent them from doing further damage, and his face takes on an intense, almost bestial look as he starts to growl at the creature pinning him to the ground.
Suddenly, Ben's face relaxes, and his eyes widen in surprise.
"Oh. So THAT'S what sudden, massive blood loss feels like. Going into shock now." He says pleasantly, and then goes limp, his head hitting the cave floor with a surprisingly loud thump.
"Ben! Hang on" Bertom seeing Valexia is not the one in immediate danger quickly moves from where he was standing to protect her, and carefully moves around trying to get to the other side of the creature without coming into range of its sharp claws. He is perhaps being a little too cautious seeing the damage this thing inflicted on Ben, the poke he takes at it with his rapier is hardly threatening.
Moving quickly down the quay beside Ben's body; "DON'T HURT FRIENDS..." she adds punctuating the sentence with a swift kick to the creature. 'Aren't there meant to be bird things in the mountains, what's it doing down here by the shore?'
Ensis lunges forward, light on his feet and swift as he slashes at the bird, his concern about Ben tightening his normally light voice, "Hey, birdbrain, let's see how you do against someone who can fight back."
The sword-bright pain attracts the tattered creature's attention. With a cough of pain, one arm nearly severed, it nevertheless turns upon the one who inflicted the pain and gamely attempts to dice him with its claws. Its screeching has subsided to a series of choking caws.
Everyone is up.
"Excuse me! There's no need for such rudeness. And don't just let your arm flop like that - you need a rest." Dee says in a firmly commanding voice, whilst aiming a couple of heavy kicks into the side of the bird-creature.
;
;
Dee's first kick sends the feathery menace spinning away, to pouf heavily onto the stone floor, feathers awry. Its bright eyes dull as its breathing gurgles to a stop.
From the southern doorway, a few muffled cries of dismay drift to the party's ears.
"Can someone be a dear and recover my durable arrow? The last one I shot? I don't have many of those." Valexia draws a wand with her free hand. She jabs Ben in the shoulder with the end of it. "As for you... Hey! Get up!"
She jabs him a second time for good measure, a bit harder this time.
:)
Ben bounces a bit on the second jab, coughing and then struggling into a sitting position. Noticing Val tucking away her wand, he nods.
"Thank you Val." Ben says hoarsely, coughing once more, although this cough sounds a lot less strenuous than before.
"THAT was, quite the interesting phenomenon. Very educational. Also not an experience that I plan to repeat anytime soon. Thank you." Ben slowly regains his feet, stretching cautiously and experimentally as he tests his magically re-knitted muscles.
"Um, did anyone ELSE hear that? Or am I also having a near-death experience and hearing things that weren't actually there?"
"No, I think you are right Ben." Dee says looking down sadly at the bird-thing. Then she starts walking softly but purposefully towards the southern entrance; "Hello?! We're sorry about that, but you really should show yourself. Our purpose isn't to hurt anyone."
There are the sounds of a flurry of motion from the dark southern doorway, then alarmed squawks, which sound suspiciously like words.
"No kill!"
"Bad bird!"
"Go away!"
"Sorry, sorry."
A tiny vial clinks across the floor, rolling to a stop at Dee's feet.
From the dark doorway comes the sound of somebody falling over furniture and cursing, then a chorus of "Shhhhh! Shhhh!". It grows quiet.
Ben looks at the others inquisitively.
"Well. Don't look at ME. Diplomacy is not my strong suit. Much to Mother's dismay." He says. Then begins looking at his ripped and slashed attire in dismay.
"Well that's just perfect, That was my best everyday shirt and vest!" He huffs.
At the clinking sound of the vial Ben perks up, his tattered clothing forgotten.
Well then, what have we here?" He asks aloud, picking up the vial. (IF no one else beats him to it.) He picks it up up, either ignoring, or missing, Dee's well muscled legs in the process, as he does not give them a glance.
Ben peers at the vial, examining it.
Ensis says, "Given that it didn't explode, maybe they're victims of the blackbird-thing and not trying to kill us?"
He turns to look into the doorway, hoping his preturnatural sight gives him an idea what lies being the doorway.
He whispers, "Don't worry, Ben, I'm even better at making friends than I am dealing with enemies."
"Goodness." Valexia takes a few steps back away from the vial, just in case before she whispers to Ensis, "If you would like help in making friends, let me know. I'm told that all in all, I am rather charming."
The body of the pale alligator sloshes gently in the waves of the little pool. The body of the savage bird-thing oozes blood into a puddle near the half-eaten corpse.
Dee moves towards the southern arch, speaking soft words but unconsciously flexing and knuckle-cracking in a manner designed to scare anyone. Ensis also moves forward to try to see into the room, while Ben runs right up in front of Dee to see what's in the bottle.
Ensis sees nothing in the dim light beyond the doorway, beyond a lantern smoking on a table and a scattering of black feathers on the floor.
A voice from the dark croaks, "Go 'way!"
Ensis steps around Ben and Dee, lowering his blade -- slightly, at least -- before calling out, "Hello in there... We mean you no harm..."
A bright eye appears between two of the boxes at the very edge of Ensis' vision.
"You kill Chough. Why we trust you?"
Ben touches his tongue tip to the bottles contents, then swiftly caps it again.
"Healing potion. Decent quality. Variant ingredients from my own recipe. But not bad. And usable. A peace offering perhaps?"
A bright eye appears between two of the boxes at the very edge of Ensis' vision.
"You kill Chough. Why we trust you?"
"Ah. That. Yes. Good question! In our defense, he DID attack us first. Quite successfully I might add."
Valexia puts a hand on Ben's shoulder as she approaches, to dissuade him from speaking much further.
She speaks gently, "I assume that Chough was the person who attacked us earlier... I know words may mean little, but I am sorry. Ensis speaks true that we mean no harm to you, and would prefer to avoid any further violence."
"Then go 'way."
Seeing the bird creature has fallen, and does not appear that it will be getting back up, Bertom turns his attention towards the new beings speaking to the south. When they do not appear to be hostile he sighs and sheathes his weapons "Honestly we're in the wrong here." The rogue says while making his way over to the Albino alligator. "We were attacked only after we killed this guy. Which was not really our intention either, but when our trap failed it got violent. We ended up with not a lot of choice."
Looking towards the voice that told Val to go away Bert says "I'm afraid it's not quite that easy. We don't want any violence, but the nice lady who owns the building above us said that her friend has gone missing down here, and the food she's been putting out keeps disappearing." He nods towards the corpse "I have a bad feeling that unfortunately soggy fellow might be the friend, but we can't leave until we get to the bottom of this for her."
"Gator dead?" There's some low muttering. "You leave now, then we leave. Swim away now that gator is gone."
More muttering. "We not kill Nan. He brought us here, was going to take us further. Not his fault ships were stopped."
Another voice pipes up, "Ships can go now?"
Ensis says, "Then you are friends with our friend's friend... Which makes us practically friends!"
He shakes his head, " But, no, the Lord-Regent is still making his ridiculous proclamations -- they've probably outlawed wine not made by his Lordship's sour grapes while we were sleeping. All that to say, I don't think any ships will be leaving just yet... "
There's a squawk of dismay at Ensis' information regarding the impossibility of departing by ship. A moment later, a beaked humanoid form sidles around the farthest stack of boxes and sticks a short, curved blade into the nearest wooden crate, displaying open claws.
"I am Korva. Nan stopped here on way to Westcrown. Was paid to take us to Westcrown. Then ships stopped going and we got hungry and Nan... died. And Chough got angry and cruel and gator blocked us from sewers. We are hungry and angry and sad now egg-sister is dead. She was wild and strange but we were nest-siblings."
"We do not want a fight but will defend ourselves! We are wronged parties!"
Valexia puts her own bow down at her feet, as well as her rapier, as a show of good faith. "I'm sorry again about Chough. We tried to dissuade her from attacking but... she nearly tore out Ben's innards. We don't want to take up arms against you," says Valexia solemnly, "I am Valexia Aulamaxa. We may not be able to do something about you being angry and sad... but maybe we can help with you being hungry?"
She digs through her bag to get out a couple wrapped packages. "I have some lunches packed... I can change the flavour if you'd like."
Looking around, Ben seems momentarily confused, then his mouth opens in an 'O' of understanding, and rapidly tucking the vial into his pouch, he makes a show of his own empty hands.
"Ah, I see." Ben murmurs to himself.
"The gator wasn't their pet, it was preventing them from leaving. Although 'Chough' seems to have been rather attached to it?" Ben looks at both the dead bird-person and the albino alligator.
Leaving the others to continue talking, (and easily bored by conversation) Ben lowers his hands and moves over to the soggy corpse. The state of the body does not seem to bother him as he examines it, looking for a means of identifying it to their host above.
Ensis offers, "As we were defending ourselves from... Chough... was it? "
He slides his heavy blade into its scabbard with well-practiced grace, then nods at Valexia's offer, "As she said, we would do what we can to help you, though the current political situation above makes things challenging... Still, we may be able to smuggle you out in time... and in the meantime, we can certainly try to ensure your well-being."
Korva's bright eyes flit from speaker to speaker, then she cocks her head at Valexia. "Throw?" she asks, holding out her hands to catch the rations, then tossing them to one side, into the darkness.
She turns to Ensis, beak dipping to nod at him. "Yes, Chough became... wild. Angry. Violent. We could do nothing with her. We hid here, together, and hoped we could stand against her. Afraid she would throw us to bad lizard. We understand."
"We stay quietly if we cannot leave, but we need food and to be outside some. We are quiet. We go out at night and get what we need if we can stay here. Maybe pay for rooms?" She cocks her head again, waiting, and watches Ensis with one eye.
"Food good." A low, muffled call comes from the darkness, and Korva motions for silence.
Ben furrows his brow in puzzlement at the conversation behind him. Finishing his examination of the reptile (and carefully sealing up the various samples he took from the remains before placing them in his bag), Ben turns back to the group and raises an arm to get the bird-persons attention.
"Excuse me, but you said that Cough wasn't always violent? She became so after being down here? That sounds pharmacological to me. Did she eat anything that you did not? Or was she exposed to anything that you've managed to avoid? Any strange moss or fungus perhaps?" Ben asks, unable to keep the excitement out of his voice at the possibility of examining a new Flora.
Korva shakes her head. "No, no. Not here. Back home. We - her sisters - were taking her somewhere else. Try to make her happy without her getting in trouble." She clacks her beak thoughtfully. "Chough was... not like us. Same nest, different egg. Thought she was tengu, but no. But still, same nest - still sister. Right? Try to help."
"Ah. Yes. Of course. One should always try to help family." Ben agrees sympathetically.
He is still obviously saddened at the lost opportunity to examine new Flora. He soon returns his attention back to the strange albino beast, making certain that there no potentially useful samples left behind.
Teeth? Check.
Claws? Check.
Hide? Check. A decent sized patch rolled up in leather and tucked into a large scroll case.
Blood? OF course.
No venom glands discovered. Too bad. Those always provide hours of interesting study. Perhaps he may be able to incorporate some of the beasts armored skin & strength into his own Mutagen formula? Worth looking into.
Ben cannot help but eye the body of 'Cough', but out of respect for the apparent feelings of their new 'friends', he refrains from investigating the corpse for samples.
(He is not insensitive to the feelings of others. He just doesn't generally allow his personal feelings to get in the way of interesting research!)
"Hm, I do not know much about nests and sisters, but it sounds like you were trying to do right by her. I am sorry again for your loss," says Valexia sympathetically. "Oh, Ben, while you are checking that crocogator, would you be a dear for me and check it for any magic of note? I wonder if perhaps it swallowed something."
Valexia re-attempts a use of Detect Magic.
A soft glow seems to emanate from the crocagator's belly to Valexia's enhanced vision.
Ben looks at Chough's body. It seems to be a large, muscular, bipedal bird with sharp claws at the ends of wings and feet.
Ensis smiles sadly, "I know a little too well how family, adopted or otherwise, can make life difficult... And, I agree with Valexia, you have done far more than could reasonably be expected of anyone."
He pauses, as the full implications of Korva's words sink in, "You said she is not one of your kind?"
"There's something inside our scaly dead friend," points out Valexia, "For anyone who wants to... you know... climb in and learn more about its internal anatomy?" She points to the spot where the glow comes from, and then comes over to take a quick look at Chough.
"Oh! Where exactly?!?" Ben asks Val excitedly, his small, sharp skinning tool already in his hand. he begins to examine and plot the best place & way to slice the creature open without waiting for the reply,...
Korva shakes her head. "No, no.... looks like us, but not the same. Still, nest-sister, you know? Not her fault she was put in our nest. We try, but we cannot control her without killing, and... we can't. Couldn't." She regards her nest-sister's body with an odd crooning noise deep in her throat. It is chorused from the shadows.
"May... may we bury our nest-sister? You have her things for the trouble she gave." Korva waves a hand at Ensis' damaged leg and Ben's tattered, bloody clothing.
"She was a dire corby," says Valexia quietly, "I can understand why she would have been hard to control. Dire corbies see most people like us as prey." She takes a step back and says seriously, "But a sister is a sister, yes, of course you may bury her."
For Ben's benefit, she steps over to where the crocogator is and points to the exact spot that she wants for Ben to dig.
Some grisly exploration by Ben at Valexia's direction reveals another boot- mate to the one on the dismembered and rotting leg. A bit of rinsing in the storm sewer water cleans them right up, resiliency being a characteristic of magical apparel.
Korva bows to the group. "I Korva - you know that." She beckons to the shadows, and more tengu creep into the light, bowing to the group as they emerge.
"Jay."
"Maggie."
"Treep."
Korva, who seems to be the leader, explains, "We are Fushi sisters, and in your debt. Don't have much. Nan brought cargo here. He is dead; you avenged him. His things are yours." She directs her sisters to light the torches and lamps that dot the little underground lair. They do so, giving slight caws of dismay at the destruction in the bunk area. Finally, they all gather around Chough's body, discussing how and where they can possibly bury her.
The formerly dark area where the tengus hid proves to be a storage room filled with crates and barrels. A satchel sits atop one of the crates.
Dee looks over and nods to Ben approvingly, whilst he attempts to dissect the creature to obtain whatever detritus it's eaten. 'Well that's much cleaner than his usual messing about with chemicals.' she thinks wryly.
Then she slowly approaches Korva and her sisters, after keeping away during the negotiations - ostensibly due to her imposing figure. However at the back of her mind, she's reminded of her mothers' chiding at her ham-fisted diplomacy & manners, when she was young.
"I'm sure we could find somewhere sensible to bury her. Or my people, well my family are sailors & they bury their dead in the sea." Dee says softly as to not frighten the avian-people.
Ben idly waves in return as the avians introduce themselves. He seems totally engrossed, but not grossed out, by his impromptu dissection/exploration, occasionally making interested noises as he makes an observation about the creatures anatomy.
Afterwords, Ben washes up as best he is able. Then he rejoins the group as they are deciding what to do next.
"Oh, what's that?" Ben asks, eying what is clearly a satchel.
"It's the smugglers possessions." Dee comments afterwards, witha nod to Ben. "So these Silver Ravens, are we going to use their fading glory as a backdrop for working out what is happening with the current regime? We could use those buttons as a method of contact with out informants... providing we can find informants."
Clapping her hands together, she looks at the group and says in her most authoritative voice, one she learnt from her mother trying to organise the gossiping maids. "Right then, we'll need to get cracking if we are to figure anything out. Someone needs to check out down the docks, with the idiots latest proclamation they'll be some annoyed people. We need calm heads, rather than a riot where the innocent will be hurt."
"Someone needs to work out who is suitable & subtle enough to keep us informed on what's happening, also who we can trust to work with us without blabbing."
"The groups we need to talk with, for information & to ascertain whether they can keep a secret - or just pass on information. The sailors, the traders, the itinerants (or thieves), maybe someone at the palace. A couple of guards would be useful to get on our side.... that and some of the nobles."
She sighs softly: "Hands up, who... wants to
Obviously, we'll all cover all the roles as necessary. As well as backing people up when needed. Remember information & organisation are the key!"