Alaria pulls Alec to the side. Makes a subtle gesture with her hands, both thumbs up, one behind the other, in a forward motion. She then looks up in the direction of the roofs. She nods twice. She lifts her eyebrows.
She looks over at the drunken Drow, and rolls her eyes. "Not much of a threat right now. But that tail is getting bigger... We will have to act soon."
Zayva thought she saw something move out of the corner of her eye. Turning to look, she saw nothing. A look of confusion graced her face.
"We remain followed." Beldrek states quietly but loud enough for the group to hear.
|
"Then we should get somewhere where a confrontation would be advantageous to us. Alaria says they're on a roof behind us. Let's get away from the drunks up ahead and then deal with our tails. Unless we're walking into a trap, in which case, we should be prepared for violence." Alec whispers to everyone as he checks his weapons are loose in their sheaths.
Muhoro keeps his tetsubo at the ready, and stands beside Zayva.
Siri, whose weapons have been in hand for all to see for some time - save two sickles - picks up her pace,
"If there is a risk of them being part of some ambush we should deal with the known enemy as swiftly as possible."
Morningstar in hand, Zayva stayed on guard. Prepared to be attacked at any moment. She quickly moved over and cast a heal on Alec. She wanted them all to be at full health if they were attacked.
As Zayva quickly closes the neat, nearly-bloodless wakizashi wound in Alec's side, the drow males approaching you draw near enough to be heard clearly. One of them slurrs loudly in unintelligible Drow language, then switches to undercommon. "Cor, look at the size of that one in front! And with a naga too...or wait, is that a naga?"
"I don't know," responds his friend, a thuggish-looking young male who looks like an angry drunk. "but look, they're slaves. Let's see if Matron Telranen's toy works! Test run...maybe on that shapely one with the horns..."
"Gentlemen, I am sure you know Matron Telranen's mood betters than a humble slave, but allow me to provide you with information you may be missing. We lowly slaves are on a task set to us by our powerful patroness, who has gone to considerable trouble and expense to equip us for this very end. I cannot say how Matron Telranen might react to earning the enmity of a powerful house over providing you with a moments amusement, but my own patroness might show her displeasure in ways best left unimagined. I do not wish this fate to befall such handsome fellows, no more than I wish to earn my own Mistress's ire by delaying the completion of my assigned task. Please let us both be on our way with and avoid troubling the great ladies," Siri purrs, moving forward slowly weapons lowered each movement dripping sensuous hints as inside she screams her hatred and yearns to lash out at these would be tormentors.
Zayva held her morning star in hand, on guard but staying out of the front lines. Something just didn't set right with her about this. She would defend herself, but she wasn't sure about attacking them yet. Her gut had a bad feeling about all of this.
"मुझे लगता है मैं इस तरह यकीन नहीं कर रहा हूँ" She seemed to be whispering to herself in infernal, seeming a little stressed.
Muhoro readies his club and moves to stand beside Zayva as the drow direct their comments her way.
"चिंता मत करो. इन छोटी मछली हमें नुकसान नहीं होगा." he whispers back
The drow males are nodding and barely avoiding licking their lips as Siri attempts to persuade them to go about their business. Not responding directly to what she says, the drow comment "You think she's a demon in the sack too?" and other, less pleasant comments, to one another.
However, the three of them glance at the rest of the tiefling slaves, who are basically in battle-ready positions, and glance at each other. You see their inebriated minds doing the calculus of a possible confrontation with these slaves before them.
The lead male sniffs and elevates his nose. Apparently the alcohol is wearing off enough to give him a lick of common sense. In a firmer voice, he says, "Leave off, comrades. These are obviously battle-captives, not lust-toys. They probably have looser restrictions on defending themselves from drow than other slaves do. C'mon." and he walks around your group, giving you what might be called a respectful berth. The other males linger a bit longer, openly staring with predatory expressions at Siri's prominent bust or Zayva's exotic blue skin, but they follow eventually, brushing past the females uncomfortably closely.
"यह मैं के बारे में चिंता है कि उन्हें नहीं था." She whispered back before she took a calming breath trying to relax. She still half-anticipated a sneak attack from their growing and unseen tail. She kept her hand on her morning star as the drow males passed her. She did not turn to look at them.
Muhoro looks over as the Drow males slide by, giving them a blank stare, but imposing himself between Zayva and them.
Once past he looks to Zayva and asks, "What did worry you then?"
Alaria looks at her collar and touches it, not wanting to be forced to do anthers will anymore. She looks at Alec. Poking him, she raises her eyebrow. She spreads her fingers apart in the middle and takes her index of the other hand and runs it through the gap downwards.
"Our unseen friends." She seemed less tense than before, giving Muhoro a small smile.
Siri seems to deflate as the drow move on and nods in agreement with Alec, sliding forward as swiftly as she can.
After passing through a relatively bleak and unoccupied several city blocks, you see signs that point you in the direction of House Lito's rothe fields. You reach a wall that stretches across your path. It rises several hundred feet in the air, and looks like it would be a difficult climb. Fortunately, there are several elevators at the end of the street that appear to be an access point for the House atop the wall. You recognize the sigil of House Lito from Doctor Seung's description, hanging on the walls between the elevators. There are three elevators, all sized to fit two medium-sized carriages side by side, so they're pretty large. The two on either side appear to be up on the top level. The one in the middle is on the ground, and there is a line of drow commoners and slaves waiting to board.
The elevator is guarded by two drow males in House Lito uniform. Both of them are armed and armored with ebony-colored mail.
"How are we going to get up there? They'll likely stop us." She chewed on her lip some thinking. "If we are sneaking in, you all should know I'm not the best at that. Also, would really prefer if we didnt take the 'Kill them all' route." She eyed the guards some, unsure. She knew they had to stand out.
"Why would they stop us? There are other slaves in line, we just need to play things carefully and mind our manners," Siri says moving forward and taking a place at the end of the line.
Alaria listened to Siri's suggestion. "Or we could just kill them... But I guess that would be a bit hard." She nudges Siri and points to the collars, her face quizzical. "What if the collars get us caught."
Siri gives another of her extreme shrugs,
"Most things evoke a risk of some form, I feel that this one is relatively minor - and far less than any other scenario I can imagine for bypassing this obstacle. This house is - as far as I am aware - neither overt enemy or trusted friend to our tormentors meaning they are unlikely to attack us without a reason, or to be able to exert any control via these collars. Slaves are obviously allowed to pass, else these other unfortunates would not be waiting."
Overhearing your conversation, a stunted half-orc female with a green mohawk at the back of the line glances over his shoulder at Siri. You see her eyes widen slightly and she shifts slightly in her stance. You see her hand hovering casually a few inches from her right thigh, her fingers twitching every so often.
A few moments pass as you wait patiently. The elevators move at a dizzying speed, decelerating only moments before they impact the ground, causing interesting effects on those with long hair or items of clothing as they climb off the elevators and begin moving toward the city proper. You see carriages pulled by pack lizards, farm laborers on foot heading home, and the occasional haughty drow riding some exotic mount or other. You see one riding a dinosaur of some breed, and another pair on what appear to be infernal horses.
"'Ey, you. Tiefling. Your friends new around here?" you hear a quiet voice say in front of . It takes a moment to figure out who its coming from, but then you see the ugly half-orc in front of you in line turn her head slightly, to glance at you out of the corner of her eye.
"Been here far longer than we would like, but yes. I don't suppose I could prevail upon a fellow slave to fill us in about this lift could I, are we like to face any toll or such? I am Siri may I ask your name," Siri replies, her tone more her natural one than the haughty sensual one she has recently employed with the drow.
Zayva was chewing on her lip, looking around. It was becoming a little less in paranoia. The more she looked around the more she seemed to become a bit excited about the city again.
"Not a slave. Mercenary. Traveling through here, doing some work for House Lito," the half-orc mutters, offering a small smile. "My folk don't take slaves. Don't hold to 'em. Shows laziness. Lots of slaves in this cursed city."
The mohawk shifts as the half-orc looks to the front of the line again. "No toll unless the guards don't like you. They do ask you your business, though, before they let you through. Their zone of truth shouldn't pose any trouble for your master's business."
The half-orc looks to the front of the line. You're much closer now - only the half-orc, a pair of humans, and another dirty-looking kobold stands in front of you.
You watch as the kobold, whom you can see is wearing a slave collar, steps into a small white circle and stands still. You see a faint, dim light shining from a small circular icon above the gate to the elevator onto the lizard-like creature.
You see the kobold begin to explain its purposes to the guard, but it pauses and hesitates. The guard suspiciously asks something, and you see the kobold making desperate gestures and speaking loudly to assure the guard that it didn't mean anything by it. The guard doesn't listen, however, and whistles, signaling some other guards over. They take the kobold away, protesting, into a guardhouse, where the door slams shut.
Siri nods recalling the spell and looking to Alaria and Alec,
"How are you going to handle it when they ask you to speak Alaria? If I go first I can say you are mute under the zone of truth."
Alaria grits her teeth, the realizes something. She nods at Siri. "She isnt lying if she doesnt know the truth." She makes a locked motion at her throat and shakes her head.
Do I demand a Bluff check...hmmm...
"That we have received orders to pass through to the other side?"
'It is the truth, so it should work, right?'
You don't have much more time to discuss. The half-orc in front of you grunts "Mercenary work for Matron Hlitka," and flashes some papers. The guards examine the papers carefully then let her through.
Siri moves forward as the guard finishes with the half-orc and finds herself unable to tell the lies she was planning to, so instead she falls back on seduction, leaning forward with large eyes, body undulating from side to side,
"We are on a mission for our Mistress, but I do not know how much I can safely tell you without fearing her wroth... I wouldn't like to be punished for my loose tongue, could you let us through merely knowing we are slaves upon a mission who mean no harm to House Lito? I would be most appreciative... These others are all with me on the same mission, I'd rather you talked to me some of them are not as friendly as I am you see..."
The guard regards you suspiciously, cocking an eyebrow. "And who is your mistress?" he asks, politely enough. His fellow guards, two of them, instruct the rest of you to line up for the same inspection you've seen other slaves undergo. They scrutinize your collars without getting too close, rubbing their chins thoughtfully.
You can see the half-orc standing inside the elevator with her arms crossed, leaning against the interior side. You can see that the elevator's getting rather full - you imagine it only has room left for your party before having to take a trip up.
Siri looks down, subtly lowering her herself to appear smaller, and injects a note of fear into her voice, which is in truth only partially feigned,
"I worry that if I give her name she will hear back and punish me, I do not wish to anger her. But I don't want to anger you either, please is there no way that we can pass by simply stating that we serve a powerful drow Lady of this City and are on her business which we believe will do no harm to House Lito? I will give you her name if I must, but please don't make me, I've had... too much pain,"
her eyes sparkle with moisture as she looks back up at the guard with huge vulnerable eyes.
The guard lowers his eyelids as he stares at the overtly-pathetic tiefling. "Do I look like I give a damn about your pain, slave?" the other guards examining your comrades chuckle a little at his comment. "No name, no ride. NEXT!" he calls, dismissively.
Interesting idea. You know of a name - Doctor Zhivago - that you overheard while being operated on without anaesthetic. Roll a DC 18 Will save to resist the zone of truth before you try any bluffs, though.
Nice try, but your mental stats are high enough to pick up on contextual clues. ;) You know he's asking for the name of your master.