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Brunhilde flinches as the chief thugs axe bite's deep into her side but seeing that the man is now unarmed looks to make the best of a bad situation and kicks away the axe all the while looking to fell her current foe before she is outnumbered and does so by splitting the man from head to pine in one clear stroke which showers her in blood.
Attack Blue PA Damage
Confirmation Damage
That's what you get for messing with a Princess! she shouts as she turns on the leader.
Brunhilde cleaves Blue in twain and faces the leader. The leader looks like he's seen a ghost and he fumbles towards one of his throwing axes.
Roscoe's lance digs deeply into the thug, but that's nothing compared to King George, whose left claw reduces the foe to a bloody mess that crumples upon the ground.
Marduk leaves a horrible wound upon Gray, who finally gathers his wits.
Goupil points at the leader, who stops moving for a moment and seems unable to gather his wits.
Brunhilde (5 damage)
Three
Goupil
Nemis
Thugs (Leader 10 unarmed and dazed, Gray 9)
Roscoe
Marduk (7 damage)
Nemis and Three to close out Round 3.
As the leader rubs his eyes, he doesn't get to see his last ally run through via longspear.
Brunhilde (5 damage)
Three
Goupil
Nemis
Thugs (Leader 12 unarmed and dazed)
Roscoe
Marduk (7 damage)
Brunhilde, Three, Goupil and Nemis can go now.
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my dear butlers, could you not kill this leader? He see quality when he see it. And he maybe know what happen."
-Posted with Wayfinder
The leader, knowing when he's beaten, surrenders as soon as he is able. "This was supposed to be easy money!"
The five thugs each carried a single potion, chain shirt, 3 throwing axes and a heavy wooden shield. The leader has five throwing axes, wears chainmail armor and a heavy steel shield, along with 2 more potions. All of the potions have the same kind of liquid.
6 potions of Cure Light Wounds in total.
The leader hands you two sheets of paper. "Me boys and I were hired by these two. They told us to watch the house and capture the leader. I don't know why. They paid well..." The leader begs for his life.
For the sum of 50 gold crowns, you and your mercenaries are to watch Rognvald Skagni’s residence on the edge of town for two months. Ignore looters or petty thieves—instead watch for Pathfinders, and if you see them, kill them. Any in your crew who can prove to me they dealt the killing blow on those murderous demons earns a 100 gold crown bonus.
-Hjort Fastaxe
Do as Hjort instructed, but do one thing more for me: capture at least one Pathfinder, preferably an expedition leader. Bring him or her to me separately, and I will reward you an additional 100 gold crowns.
-Runa White
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Do you know those people?says Chalfon.
He also read the handouts.
My my. It seem that you have found an expedition leader to take to this Runa White. You just need to take him to have the hundred gold. and maybe much more, if you know why I mean.
Someone could stabilise those who are still alive? we are not monster. Money is money after all.
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"I've not forgotten that we're standing in our contact's ruined home. I care not what you do with them, but I want to meet these two." Nemis slaps the note to emphasize the last word.
-Posted with Wayfinder
The lead thug cowers as you interrogate him. "They gave me these orders a few weeks ago. I don't know where they are now." It turns out these thugs are all brawn and little brains. The town authorities arrest any surviving thugs (all of them after Three's channeling) for attempted murder.
Nemis identifies the potions as potions of Cure Light Wounds.
In the town of Trollheim, everyone keeps to themselves. They don't like outsiders, especially nosy outsiders. The Pathfinders realize they'll need to tread lightly and ask careful questions about Hjort and Runa.
The potions are indeed potions of Cure Light Wounds.
You ask around Trollheim, careful to gauge the townspeople before approaching them with questions about strangers. It takes you the entire day and then some to get the info you need.
Three talks to a comely Ulfen guard and challenges her to an arm wrestling contest. She's quite impressed with her dwarven strength, and talks about these outsiders.
“I heard about an Ulfen warrior named Hjort—don’t know his family name—who came here a while back after his entire village was slaughtered on the Arcadian coast. People say his rage toward the Pathfinder Society burns bright, as they were the ones who slaughtered his people—a people, I heard, that he was destined to be the jarl of. Those traditional warriors from the coast are serious brutes—I wouldn’t want to be one of their targets.”
Brunhilde talks to a muscular Ulfen warrior and is straight and too the point. The woman respects her determination and tells the shield maiden what she knows.
“A dark-haired Chelish woman, family name of White, has been seen about the market recently. She’s hiring mercenaries and low-life thugs for Gorum-knows- what. If you’re looking for her to right some wrong, I’d bring a dozen more of you—she was cornered in one of the market’s darkest corners by some of Trollheim’s biggest miscreants, and just when they thought they had gotten the drop on her, she called to her god and blasted them with holy fire. She’s tough, that one, and not someone I’d mess with.”
An old swordsmith travels around the town during his days. Goupil manages to talk his ear off about the smith's impressive weapon collection. They soon strike up a conversation, and the nobleman gets a few juicy tidbits.
“Yeah, I know those two. They approached my friends and me and offered us a ridiculous sum to work for them. No way was I going to work for a washed-up Ulfen warrior and a foreign she-devil from the south. Hjort’s eyes told all the story I needed to know: he wasn’t doing whatever he was doing for profit—he was doing it for revenge. That business has only one path, and it leads straight to Pharasma’s ample bosom. And Runa? Well, she’s a foreigner, ain’t she?”
Marduk and Nemis manage to find a destitute Gnome in Trollheim and converse with him without talking about his stench.
“Can’t say as I remember the name of the place, but when they tried to hire my cousin, they told him to meet them at some hole in the market. You’d best do your poking around there and stop pestering the peaceful folk of Trollheim before they decide to yank your entrails out from your mouth and strangle you with them.”
Roscoe meets a tall, lanky woman at an inn. She claims to be in the middle of writing the world's greatest saga, but all she seems to have done all day is drink. Roscoe entertains her by buying another drink.
“Hjort and Runa, you say? Yeah, I know ‘em. I drink a beer and punch a guy in the face every night down at the Horned Helm, and they’ve been there for weeks—months maybe. I tell ya, that Hjort can throw a punch, and don’t get Runa started about religion—she’s likely to talk about it long enough it starts a fight and the way she ends fights ain’t fair, ain’t right, and just ain’t normal. Runa is a dark-haired woman from Cheliax, and Hjort is a large brute with red hair, a red beard, and a scar across his left cheek.”
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"let us do this with widsom. If we walk en masse they will bolt. Maybe we can either blend in or go in smaller teams. I can probe a man's thoughts. If we see them I could gain some insight."
-Posted with Wayfinder
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It sounds like they are dangerous. Confronting them one on one could end up in more dead Pathfinders. I don't stand out overly around here but the rest of you are what most Ulfen would consider "exotic"! Unless we can come up with some sort of magical disguise I don't see us catching them by surprise.
You have heard many stories about the Horned Helm. Even the roughest and toughest of Trollheim consider it to be one of the worst dives in town. At least once a week, someone has a knife sticking out or their brains bashed against the wall.
The Horned Helm is a low-slung, two-story building of questionable construction leaning heavily over a shoddy corner of mud and brick in the dankest, filthiest parcel of land in all of the market. It has no windows, as they’ve all been broken and boarded over; its only door looks like a simple plank of wood covered in scratches, burns, and probably blood stains. Noise, heat, and smoke pour out from under that door and rise to a staggering crescendo of laughter as the door swings lazily open and two bodies are unceremoniously dumped into the rutted, frozen mud streets outside. A battered sign hangs above the door, swinging on two chains, one shorter than the other. It bears the faded image of an Ulfen helm with two ridiculously large horns.
Two bodies are lying slumped outside the walls. The bodies are bruised, alive and unconscious. As you enter the insults begin almost immediately. The bartender, a one-armed bearded man is the loudest and most vile of them all. He laughs at the five scrawny wimps and their Ulfen chaperone who came into his bar.
The other thing you notice is the intense heat, blazing off of two iron furnaces full of coal. Eventually the insults cease, and the heat is a bit more comfortable.
There is a man seated opposite from the entrance, with only the profile of his left side visible to you. He matches the description of Hjort that you know of.
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As soon as Roscoe points him out, Nemis gives a hand signal hang on. He then reaches out with his mind. In the first few seconds he feels the presence of each and every mind. Then he focuses (quickly learning that there's a drought of intelligence in the room.) If there's anyone with an intelligence above 13 I'll make note of it. Finally I'll probe the mind of Hjort. Will DC 16 to resist.
If there are other minds Int score 13+ I'll probe them next.
Roscoe spots a man matching Hjort's description, sitting at the bar and enjoying a drink. Nemis stands and begins scanning for those of outstanding intelligence. The town is full of simple folk, though, and only the stupid or foolhardy would actually visit this tavern.
Nemis tries to read Hjort's mind...
And finds it surprisingly difficult.
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Returning from the bar with a dirty mug half full of something strong, Three takes a drink and wipes her mouth on the back of her hand. When the others (subtlety, presumably) point out Hjort, she looks around the room for the dark haired Runa.
"Need 'em alive," she whispers, "so we can find out what they know 'bout Skagni. We could get 'em thrown out, try to start a fight b'tween Hjort and somebody big. Or get Runa taking about religion - probably worships that old scribble devil, " she guesses, lazily drawing a rough pentagram in the air with her finger. "Don't see her 'round, though. Maybe in her room?" This is the most Three has spoken in the last month.
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Nemis isn't going to be the faceman, so I'll keep this up until something happens. Since no one seems to be overly intelligent, I'll keep targeting people until I get something good. no high intelligence means no wizards.... soooo:
1. Anyone who looks abnormally armed for a night out drinking.
2. Anyone paying TOO much attention to the scarred man
Obviously if all hell breaks loose, or if we convince him to give up the goods, I'll stop.
Nemis scans the room, and notices two men wielding throwing axes. Their thoughts are certainly focused on the party and their interactions with Hjort.
Nemis also notes eight of the bar patrons who really don't like outsiders. Their thoughts impeded by alcohol, they all think they could take these out-of-towners on, no problem.
Some of the patrons are looking at Nemis, wondering if he's scared stiff. In reality he is in deep concentration.