@Kelne and @The Monster:
The tengu blinks rapidly trying to clear his head. He squawks loudly back at The Monster but it's mostly bravado, he can't really go anywhere and is clearly hurt.
@Justahl: Cassandra sort of nods and shrugs at the same time. "I saw him. His only friend is The Monster. I saw him with my eyes. He helps us. He doesn't have any family and is all alone in the woods. The Monster helps us with the bridge in the mountain. We realy need it." She smiles at both of you.
Suddenly the little girl frowns and looks around. "Where's Shadow-Man?Why didn't he come back?"
'I don't know where he honey. But we'll go find him. We just need to get Kelne and the uh... Monster back first.'
Turning to Karthan he asks. 'Do you have any idea what that boom was?'
Finally he looks to the Feral Boy. 'Hello boy, whats your name? can you tell where the monster is? How far away is he? Is he with Kelne, the big man in armor?'
Sir Justahl nods.
"New recruits then. Welcome aboard!"
He frowns in thought; wondering how to get the Monster through the town gates.
"Where's Shadow-Man?Why didn't he come back?"
He looks at Tanel and Karthan. "Was he not with you?"
'Hello boy, whats your name? can you tell where the monster is? How far away is he? Is he with Kelne, the big man in armor?'
The boy shrugs and shakes his head at the first question, and smiles and nods along with the others.
He puts two fingers to his mouth and whistles loudly.
@Kelne A loud, shrill whistle can be heard from the direction of the party, and the monster's head pops up in response. Tengu in hand, he lumbers back in that direction.
@Everyone else The monster returns to the clearing, holding a battered, somewhat confused tengu. A large chunk of fur is missing from the monster's shoulder, the skin beneath charred by flame.
"*hrumph* Bird man."
The monster having been quicker off the mark than him, Kelne dropped down and set about stripping the pinned enemy of his equipment. Quite aside from making him less dangerous, he had an interest in any arrows the assassin might be carrying.
Round 4, Initiative 8
Saying nothing for the moment, Jorzan quickly backs a step then, whipping the Talon out in a perfectly executed maneuver, he sends not one but both of the assassin's weapons clattering to the floor.
Grinning ferociously now, death in his eyes the shadowdancer barks a laugh and growls "Death by which swords was that? Last chance now bird boy, TALK!
Sir Justahl nods.
"New recruits then. Welcome aboard!"
He frowns in thought; wondering how to get the Monster through the town gates.He looks at Tanel and Karthan. "Was he not with you?"
"Where's Shadow-Man?Why didn't he come back?"
"There were two birds coming out of town. I suspect he's cornered the other one."
To Tanel and Karthan:
"Did you find;" Glances at the prisoner, "What you went into town to find?"
@Jorzan:
As both his weapons clatter to the floor, the tengu grimaces in frustration. At your taunting, he makes a weird grinding noise in the back of his throat, like stone being rubbed on stone. "You get nothing out of me, you bastard!" The lithe warrior then executes a flawless parkour maneuver that sees him jump sideways onto the bed post and launch off it, flipping over your head and landing right in front of the door that leads out into the hallway, which he throws open, clearly intending to run for it.
@Everyone else: The tengu, trussed up and disarmed by Kelne, eyes you all balefully. It is a very light creature, so would be easy to transport if you wished.
"Let's round up his compatriot and check on the horses before we get down to the questioning, shall we?" Kelne asked rhetorically, heading back towards the scene of the fight. He didn't want to wind up standing around asking questions only to find out somebody had stolen their horses while they'd been preoccupied.
The other tengu is still unconscious, right where you left him. You are able to tie him up easily and drag both prisoners back to your camp where thankfully your supplies and horses remain, and by all appearances still untouched.
Everyone is able to gather up their things and prepare their horse. There does not appear to be any notice at all of the fighting that just went on; no forces have been dispatched from the city, and the steady trickle of traffic along the trade road continues as normal.
Kelne paused along the way to pick up the bard's abandoned violin. Grasping it by the neck, he drew it back to smash against a tree trunk, but changed his mind, instead tucking it into his pack with a somewhat malevolent smile upon his face. The bard was on his list now, and the violin would make an excellent personal possession for scrying on him when the time came. One day, when the would-be assassin least expected it, he'd find Kelne awaiting him with sword in hand. He doubted the man would be foolish enough to come near them again. Far too inclined towards self-preservation.
After checking over the horses, he walked over to the prisoners, folding his arms and fixing the conscious one with a glare, "So. Suppose you tell me what you want with the girl?"
I'm filming with a friend of mine, filling in some body space, etc. Have a good week!
After the tengu is taken and tied up, the monster plods over to the edge of the forest. He turns back and waves goodbye, then disappears.
The boy waves at the monster, and then begins to investigate the camp.
After poking around the camp site, he begins talking to one of the horses in a series of neighs and grunts. The horse neighs and scrapes its foreleg in the dirt, and the boy rolls backwards laughing.
The tengu glowers beadily back at Kelne. "You'll get nothing out of us, Forgelander." It squawks in its distinctive, raspy voice. It's still fidgeting madly against its bonds. "None of you has anything in your possession or power that could possibly make us tell you anything."
The feral boy approaches the tied up tengu cautiously, then closely inspects it from head to toe, stopping to sniff its strange bird-man odor.
"So what you're telling me is that you're utterly unable to justify your actions, and I should feel free to kill you and any of your friends who turn up on general principle. Good to know."
Spinning his body around to follow the ninja's incredible maneuver Jorzan reacts just as quickly, again whipping his flying talon towards his foe; however this time aiming for the assassin's legs instead.
Trip Attack (1d20+12=26)
Then, as the bird man falls crashing to the floor, Jorzan performs a standing forward flip with a 180 to change his direction. Almost seeming to move in slow motion as he hangs in the air, the equally agile shadowdancer lands just in front of the door, his momentum allowing his shoulder to slam the portal closed.
Acrobactics:
With the point of his spear on the tengu's neck and the darkness seeming to gather around him, the furious shadowdancer growls out "I won't ask you again. Who sent you and what are you after?
Intimidate:
@Everyone at the camp: The tengu continues to glare back at Kelne, but it's obvious some of the steam has gone out of it and its bravado is even less convincing than before.
@Jorzan:
Between the acrobatic combat, losing its weapons, being out-bluffed not once but twice by you, and now having the door slammed and your spearpoint at his throat, the Tengu realizes he is out of options. Letting out a crazed laugh and seeming to sort of deflate, the creature rasps softly up at you; "The Red Dragonflight knows where you are, child of Bal-Zat. Always! We will take the girl and kill the lot of you, and not even your bones will be left to bury!"
The creature then shivers and cackles and rattles off a phrase in some terrible, devilish tongue:
"Doga za ry' Knaod Yra
Y rora Voymaj orj oz 'r'yndri!"
I have Failed and am Unworthy!
As it speaks, you smell something terrible, like burning...tengu! He is on fire!
You jump clear just before the tengu somehow bursts completely into flames. The stench is awful.
Reflex Save:
As the horrid, devilish words roll off the tengu's tongue Jorzan shudders involuntarily. Yet, though he had been of late studying the infernal tongue with Karthan, he could not quite make out the entire meaning. Something about 'The Great One' was all he managed to catch. 'I'll have to ask Karthan abo...' yet before the thought had even time to finish, the assassin burst into flames!
Moving purely by instinct, almost faster than the eye could follow, Jorzan dashes to the bathroom and grabs a bucket of water, dousing the smoking body before it can be completely consumed.
Knowing that the creature was unlikely to have survived such a thing and knowing that his time is limited before others in the building react to the noise and smoke the wily rogue first locks the door and then jams a spike in the jamb to block it from opening. Then, moving quickly but missing nothing he strips the body, searches the room and gathers up the weapons and everything else of interest, stuffing all of it into his magic satchel.
Perception:
Opening the window enough to exit it in preparation to climbing up to the roof and making a quick and stealthy get away the shadowdancer pauses in the window just long enough to look back at his defeated enemy to say "Tell your 'Great One' I'll be waiting for him". Out the window and up, his mind now only on getting back to Cassandra as quickly as possible, he melts into the shadows as if he was never even there...
Stealth:
@Jorzan:
The tengu did not have much in its room, though there is a nice composite shortbow, the pair of swords, and its throwing stars. There are few doses of poison left, some money, and a couple healing potions.
Most curious of all is a ring that you saw on the creature's finger as it died; the ring is a solid metal band, made of some strange silvery metal you have never seen before, impossibly hard, but very dull in color, with two slim little red bands set inside it that stretch around its entire circumference. The two red bands pulsed very slowly while they were on the tengu, giving off a faint light, but ceased as soon as you took it off him. There is no writing, and there are no symbols anywhere on the thing.
When the crew gets back to where Karthan was (Karthan was incinerating downed trolls and cast fly on Kelne, then stayed with Cassandra and the camp), he'll gesture to put the trussed up bird-creature next to a tree.
"You will tell me what I need to know. And then I will rip the confirmation out of your head. Fortunately, time is limited, and that is nearly all I shall be taking." His smile is not a comforting thing...
Intimidate to shake the Tengu. I sincerely hope that 32 is greater than 10+HD+Wis Modifier.
Casting Detect Thoughts to read his mind, while interrogating him. DC 20 Will Save.
Looking at the prisoner, Sir Justahl is torn.
Leaving it alive is a threat to Cassandra. But... we do not kill helpless prisoners. But... leaving it alive is a threat to Cassandra...
Around and around he goes, virtually paralysed with indecision.
The one consciuos tengu, his will already beat down by Kelne's threats, quails before Karthan's smiling, understated menace.
Cassandra stays over by Justahl but watches Karthan closely, fascinated by the motions he goes through when casting a spell. She whispers to the Feral Boy: "We need to find shadow-man. He might be hurt."
The boy nods in affirmation, then looks around with a look of stern concentration. Where would a shadow man be? In the shadows, probably, but that hardly narrows it down.
These new friends were strange, and they spoke in human noises more than anyone the boy could recall, but they certainly seemed to have interesting adventures... and strange enemies.
@Kelne the boy tugs at your armor, then gestures to Cassandra.
Perform:
Climbing onto one of the taller roofs while remaining hidden, Jorzan faces the direction of the camp and blows the 'Advance!' 3 times on his signal whistle
He then quickly but stealthily makes his way to the highest point in town facing the direction of the camp. He'll then wait until he sees the others and once he does he'll make his way down to an intersection they'll be passing through and wait for them, a cocky grin upon his face.
Perception:
"That's a signal whistle. It's calling 'Advance!' Could that be Jorzan?"
Karthan notes the whistle, nods, and keeps his gaze on the Tengu.
"Who sent you? Where are they, and when are your reinforcements expected? And from where?"
To Justahl, he says...
"Justahl, please be prepared to heal this one in case he does something foolish. Like attempt to escape, or end his own life before I pull what we need to know from what's left of his brain. If he cooperates, I intend to let him convey a message for us."
"Where would you have taken the girl, had you gotten her?"
"Who else is hunting her? Where would they take her?"
"What is your employer most afraid of? What do they believe about the girl? Do they know of her effect on dragons?"
Bluff
Kelne was happy enough to let Karthan take over the questioning. He probably could have gotten something out of them, but with Karthan able to probe the tengu's mind for truthfulness, he ought to manage alright.
At the feral boy's prompting, he did turn to Cassandra, "I'm sure Jorzan's fine," he said, "He's a sneaky sort, and knows better than to get into trouble he can't handle. We'll get after him as soon as we're done with these two." He didn't intend to discuss their plans any further in front of the pair. No sense in giving them any information.
Tanel stands by as Karthan continues the questioning, his mind racing as the half-orc plies both magic and intimidation on the birdman. He keeps his halberd ready by his side, he hasn't yet fought today but he expects to, the madcap journey having prepared him to always be ready to enter a fight for his live and more importantly Cassandra's freedom.
Ghostly faces appear in his peripheral from time to time, but he does not let them distract him , his heart is stone, as he waits, and watches. Stone endures, even longer than metal. He will not break until he has seen the journey true, and maybe along the way the dangers will see him off into the afterlife. I think that would be okay... I have a purpose... If I must face my ghosts, I'd rather do it knowing I found a purpose, knowing I did one goddamned thing right. Knowing I died well. Yes. I think that would be okay.
The tengu's head lolls and his eyes lose focus a bit; a combined effect from getting his head knocked against a tree and then having his mind read by Karthan. Between his surface thoughts and his outright confession, a story emerges that Karthan weaves together for all of you gathered at the campsite:
The tengu says "I am of the frostborne, we are allied with the Red Dragonflight. I have no reinforcements, I am ninja. Had we kept the girl, we would have returned to the village and left on a boat. They are easy enough to come by. We have contacts there. Everyone is hunting her, and hunting you. The vampire lord of the Forgelands, the Black Dragonflight, the agents of The Uniter, creatures of pure element and base chaos and primordial shadow...I'm sure there are more. The Red Dragonflight fears nothing; not the girl, and not you. They know what she is capable of and want her for...uh...for...what do you mean 'effect on dragons'? What effect is that?"
"We'll ask the questions, thank you very much," Kelne said, shooting an annoyed look at Karthan. Whether this was playing along with the act or genuine irritation at the improvisation was open to interpretation.
"Go on. What do the Red Dragonflight want her for?"
The tengu wavers, but answers. "Sacrifice. That elven b&$%! Veriala almost beat us to it in Stormfare, but you all came in and did our work for us; killing those idiot gnolls and rescuing the girl, getting her out of the city."
That is all the bird says, but Karthan is able to skim surface thoughts, and tells you he is thinking the following: "...stops now...take her to the eastern shore of the lake, not the far north... get to the towers...all set up...forces there...safe there...people all over, our people..."
Karthan also tells you all that the tengu keeps thinking; "Now? Should I...now? Now?"
@Jorzan: From your vantage point atop the roof of the three-story inn, easily the tallest building in the village, you spot the other white tengu; it is a couple hundred feet away and standing in the midst of a gathering of the city guard, looks like 8 or 9 men, total. He hands each of them some kind of beaker, or flask, and says something to them, then they all split up, mostly heading towards the docks. For his part, the tengu looks around cautiously. For a moment, you think he spots you on the roof, but you can't be sure. After another minute the tengu turns up a side street and out of your line-of-sight.
Spotting the tengu from his hiding place on the roof, Jorzan quietly readies his bow and selects one of the Ethlandi arrows. Before drawing the arrow he carefully coats it with one of his new doses of Blue Whinnis poison. Then, drawing a bead on his dangerous foe, the shadowdancer waits until the gathering has split up and, just when he thinks the tengu may have seen him, lets fly his deadly barb.
Attack with Blackbarb arrow: Damage: (1d20+9=19, 1d8+3d6+1d4=16)
@Jorzan: