Eris wasn't entirely stupid, she might not be as intelligent as some other people she had met but she had a relatively good grasp of tactics. She knew that if the students were attacking there was obviously someone in need of defending within the building. Unfortunately, even with fighting alongside Kage for so long, Eris couldn't spot him when he didn't want to be, so she had a tough task keeping everyone together. Drawing on her magic, she triggers Presdigitation to mimic Vespids perfume. Not only would it be familiar to hey allies it was a way to keep others aware of her location.
Jon will use Dimensional Slide to get on the other side of the bottleneck. He is sorely tempted to dive into the fray but he instead chooses to continue looking for their target.
Kage pads closer to the melee, sizing up the combatants, hoping one of them would be their mark. No it seemed unlikely, the sword master was likely within, protected by the throng of students.
He paused for a moment there was a waft of something familiar, seemingly out of place at the academe, now what what was that smell? Shaking his head, he focused on the problem at hand, how to get inside. Invisibility gave him a distinct advantage, one that should not be wasted. Perhaps there was a window he could climb through, he cast around to see.
Kage cannot find a means to get into the next chamber from this room, though he hasn't checked the outside.
Jon-Wyn dimensionally shifts across the bottleneck to get behind enemy lines. Unfortunately, he cannot locate their quarry through the din of battle.
Eris considered the bottleneck of the battlefield. From invisibility, she had ample opportunity to plan out a solution. She knew she could attempt to blast her way through a chokepoint but that would render her invisibility spell largely moot, and also make her a target. She also didn't know where several of her allies were without her mask, and didn't want to hit them with friendly fire. Still, with the plan Eris had forming within her mind, perhaps not having her Mask would be valuable.
Eris looks down and checks herself out. No Mantis clothing? Check. No Mantis Mask? Check. No Sawtooth Sabre or pointy weapon? Check. Rather pleased with herself, Eris reaches up to her shoulder, and calmly tears her dress open. Eris knew she would be unable to 100% mimic the slash a sword might make on clothing so she wasn't even going to try, the tear she made on her shoulder was consident to a rip that might occur if someone yanked her clothing at the shoulder to keep her running away, hopefully making herself look less like a Mantis assasin. Putting to one side the fashion crime she had just committed, and ignoring the way her dress now sat at the shoulder, Eris makes her way around the outskirts of the fight, before appearing next to one of the students standing at the doorway into the next room. Shouting out and pointing an admonishing finger Eris casts a spell at the nearest Mantis at range, a blast of golden particles spinning through the air...
...unfortunately the golden particles were a complete illusion, manufactured by Eris casting Silent Image. Eris was banking on the fact that most of the students here were not masters of magical combat and wouldn't realise she had attempted to fake a casting of Glitterdust by trying to copy its visual effects with Silent Image.
As her spell is (obviously) ineffective at blinding anyone Eris curses loud enough for the person guarding the bottleneck to hear her. "For gods sake, its hard enough casting spells against these creeps without having to worry about them slicing me in half" she groans, before shooting the defender a pleading look. "Mind letting me back so I can concentrate better on my spellcasting?"
Frustrated by the architecture of the Academy, seriously who doesn't have windows to look onto a courtyard? Most inconsiderate of the architect!
His train of though is abruptly stopped when somebody with Eris's voice, or at least a voice she was fond of, appeared to cast a Glitterdust spell. Madness! Why would she risk blinding friend and foe? Of course Eris was anything but mad, although she was known to take appalling risks now and then... This had to be some kind of bluff, and Kage was going to take full advantage of it if he could.
He tensed, ready to sprint past if the guard so much as hesitated.
When Eris materializes next to the students, there's a bit of confusion from both sides. One of the apprentices finds himself unfortunately distracted and falls to a vicious slice from a mantis, but the mantis is cut down by an impassioned counterstrike.
One of the masked mantises that you strongly suspect is Astrid makes a menacing lunge at Eris to further sell her deceit. A student holding the bottleneck looks at her incredulously. "Who are you and why are you here?!" he shouts, but takes a gamble and grabs her by the arm. He yanks her roughly behind her as another student pushes forward and one falls back after taking a nasty gash on the forearm. At that precise moment, Kage makes his move, slipping past the defenders invisibly.
Then a middle-aged but still spry human shows up from the back room, wielding an ornate rapier. "Students! Fall back!" he shouts.
Eris reacts quickly as she steps into the room, noting the position of all the students, and the priority target, a human wielding a rapier. What Eris really wanted to do, was cast a Web spell and hamper everyone within it, and then try and clean up, but she felt too many people were widespread, and it was a risky strategy for the initial round of combat. Closing her eyes for a second, deigning a blink, Eris opens her eyes again, tapping into her shape changing abilities for just a moment, switching her eye color, making them glow blue, attempting to fake a casting of Arcane Sight.
"Look, Assassins!" she cries out, swiftly pointing and shouting arcane words. A group of red clad mantis suddenly shimmer into visibility near the centre of the room. Eris didn't expect the illusion to really hold up against multiple enemies, but she knew that the best way to check if an illusion was present was to directly interact with it, which meant getting into combat with it. Eris hoped to draw the enemies back into closer quarters, allowing her to drop her AOE control spells next round. In essence, the Silent Image was a feint, a lure, while continuing to take the focus away from her companions that Eris was sure would be nearby.
Yanmei was caught up in the confusion of the combat. The chaos rattled her as she had never been in such a situation. She took a breath and focused her vision through the red mask. Her companions appeared as translucent red ghosts. That was until Eris dropped her cloaking and caused such distractions. The geisha focused on Kage and followed his visage. She figured he would need her assistance in this mission.
The appearance of apparent foes on their side of the bottleneck sends several of the students into near panic. Orsini continues to try to organize the students and get them to fall back. To aid in this, he lights an alchemical stick and throws it at the bottleneck.
The object lands just inside the outer atrium and a massive amount of smoke fills the area. The sounds of coughing and fighting issues from the obscured area.
From within the smoke cloud, you are able to hear a pair of smashing sounds followed by a rapid fwumph! sound, along with Orsini's voice shouting, "No! Not those--! Aaah. Well, it's too late now. Get moving!"
The invisible Jon moves to get close enough to their target to strike (with a full round action).
Eris neatly sidesteps out of the crowd, standing in a position where she feels able to be defended but still control the battlefield. Prefering to be near the edge of the cloud in case she needs to duck inside it, Eris drops a Web spell, trying to hit as many enemies as she possibly can within its massive 20 foot radius.
Like a hawk, Kage watches the older rapier wielding man who must be their mark. He watches how the man's eyes work, the play of muscles in his arms, legs and torso, sizing him up, judging. His eyes also quickly scan the posure of the female student next to the master, what would her style be? How would she attack?
Having seen what he needs to, he starts to move when suddenly something is thrown and fwumph a cloud of smoke appears. Trusting to memory he ducks and tumbles north west in the direction Jon-Wyn must surely be going.
Eris's web spell engulfs the back half of the interior chamber, covering Orsini and every student with the sticky webs. As she casts the spell, her illusory assassins wink out, leaving the scorched and burning plumes where two flasks of alchemist's fire were thrown.
Unfortunately, Jon-Wyn had moved into the area Eris targeted with her spell, and Kage, moving and tumbling through the thick smoke, also comes upon the webbing.
Yanmei is still moving through the smoke, trying to follow Kage's stealthy form as he move amongst the combatants.
With all the webbing in the way, only Jon can see Orsini turn around and slide open a door behind him and try to slip out of the webs.
Can Jon use Dimensional Slide to get inside the doorway that Orisini opens? He wants to block the escape route and, hopefully make his target think he is totally surrounded.
Whether or not he can, Jon suddenly reappears and furiously slashes at Orisini with his kukri.
Kukri, mw, cold iron: sneak attack, bleeding attack
Kukri, mw, silver: off hand, sneak attack, bleeding attack
Yanmei avoids the web. She skirts the edge and finds an opening in the battle. She weaves her voice through the fray. The low magical tone reaches out for her allys' ears to wrap itself around their minds. The magic would sharpen their senses and skills.
Jon's surprise attack manages to catch Orisini unawares and he scores a fantastic wound across his ribs which bleeds freely.
Orisini responds quickly to Jon-Wyn's appearance with a flourish and stab with his rapier.
The old man's counter strikes wound Jon greatly. Very nearly kills him. He quickly casts Vanish and moves to hide in the room. He tries to keep Orisini in his sight.
Deciding that launching into a flurry of AOE spells might not be the best with her allies in combat, Eris instead attempts to limit the damage Orisini can do by Greasing the rapier that he is holding, hoping to disarm him, making him slightly more vulnerable.
Nothing was going to stop Kage, certainly not a mass of burning webbing! He sprinted forwards and ducked and tumbled through and very nearly became stuck. As it was he had to sever several strands of web before the fire reached him and gave his position away. Still invisible, Kage closed on their target.
As Kage tumbles through the thick strands of webbing, he notices that the fire has taken purchase in the woven reed mats on the floor and is spreading rapidly. Eris and Yanmei are also able to observe that the fire has taken on a life of its own.
As Yanmei's singing rises over the crackling pops of the fire, the mantises press their attack in the smoke cloud.
Orsini clutches his side where his wound still bleeds as he hacks away at the webbing holding one of his students fast.
Freeing her, he pulls her into the back room before the webbing burns her. Meanwhile, the one student who was not stuck tries to move through the webs toward his master.
However, he becomes stuck fast.
The other three students struggle to free themselves. Two of them manage to free themselves.
If Kage does not manage to take down their prey:
Jon sees that his target has turned his attention and thanks the Mantis God for her blessings. He sublimates the pain he is in as he flows over to Orisini (5' step) and double slashes at him.
If Kage does kill Orisini:
Jon invisibly moves over to the student in the room with him and attacks.
Kukri, mw, cold iron: sneak attack, bleeding attack
Kukri, mw, silver: off hand, sneak attack, bleeding attack
Eris is (I'm assuming) unable to spot Orisini and grease his weapon away, something that frustrates her. Despite this, she noted how the man seemed protective of his students and decides to use that to her advantage.
She immediately blasts a wave of students with Color Spray, seeking to shut down as many of them as she could. If some, or most of them fall down, Eris makes the follow judgement to Orisini.
"Stand down Orisini, your students are down, but not dead. Give us what we came here for, and they can stay that way, delay, and even the Midnight Lord would weep to look upon them when we are finished. Then, just because I'm feeling bored, I'll hunt down and do the same to every single loved one these students have. Give it up Orisini, its not worth the retaliation against every single one of the students you leave behind."
Tempting as it was to shank him, they needed to take Orisini alive. This would make things tricky, but Kage was still cloaked from sight and his patience was rewarded when Orisini blundered past away from Jon-Wyn. Almost lazily Kage lashed out with the pommel of his blade, aiming a cheap shot at Orisini's solar plexus.
Invisibility spell shattered, Kage pressed home his attack dancing close to Orisini and boxing his ears with the pommel's of his twin blades. A risky maneuver at the best of times, but one Kage had practiced over and over till Master Brinn was satisfied he wouldn't get gutted for his pleasure!
Yanmei's song captured the rising passion and danger of the fire. She skirted the edge of the webbing, moving toward a door out of the room. She would need it if a quick escape became necessary. She drew out her bladed fan in case she needed to defend herself.
The three students in Eris' cone of coruscating lights crumple to the ground.
Orisini takes Kage's jab in his midsection with an <oof> that drives the wind out of him. But he brings his blade up in a defensive posture as he staggers back into the lesson room.
Eris's threats shouted over the din of combat and the crackle of fire draw Orisini's attention just enough that his usual impenetrable defense opens, allowing Kage to drive the pommel of his weapon against the white-haired swordsman's skull. Orisini crumples to the ground; Kage's follow-up strike unnecessary.
The nearby student issues a cry, and just then Jon-Wyn materializes and draws his kukri across her midsection. She stumbles, avoiding Jon's off-hand strike. In a last act to avenge her master, she raises her rapier and jabs it at Kage.
It is a feeble attempt, and misses the assassin by a wide margin.
Meanwhile, Yanmei's singing is turning the tide in the mantis' favor. More students fall, or are wounded enough that the fight is taken from them and they flee.
"Let them go." Jon commands the group as the students flee. "We've achieved our first objective." He looks over to Orisini to make sure he's still unconscious. He then instructs the other Mantis to see to the wounded and make sure the enemy are all dead. After that search this place brick by brick. "We'll be interrogating our target."
Kage watched Orisini crumple with a certain sense of satisfaction and shared a grin with Jon, the team had worked well, affording him the luxury of choosing his time to strike. He glanced at Eris and let out a low whistle, "That took guts, they could have mobbed you." Still the confusion sown by her actions had been undeniably effective and his voice held no reproach.
Back to matters at hand, Kage said, "Ladies I believe the interrogation needs a gentler touch than mine. I'd be tempted to chop off fingers till he talked, but whatever he said under such circumstances would be unreliable, over to you." Miss Yanmei was their best diplomat, and Kage wondered if asking nicely shouldn't be tried first. Besides Eris could read minds and verify whatever Orisini could say. If that approach failed, well then they'd get nasty.
Eris spends the remainder of the battlefield getting a good look at the various students, ideally the alive ones. She takes care spotting any female students that were in close proximity to Orisini and that Orisini did not see fall, and also takes care if a suitable 'mark' is found to gain access to the typical student's uniform of an appropriate 'marks' size. After waiting till the rest of the Mantis depart, Eris heads over to Sa'Kage to discuss the interrogation.
"I believe that there is a better way Sa'Kage. During the battle this man reflected concern for the wellbeing of his students. He could have left them to cover his retreat and cared nothing for them, but tried to protect and save as many as we can. Let me take the form of a student close to him, he never saw me change shape, and therefore we can "torture" me in front of him. Obviously, I'd be trusting you not to do any permanent damage, but hopefully this makes him more...willing to help out. If it doesn't work, then no harm done, think of the options I have now that I can take the form of many of his students. I can get close to any loved ones they have, heck, I can even go on a murder spree under their guise. You know me well enough that both of these latter threats are notoriously crude for my tastes, but this man has no knowledge of me, you can threaten me to persuade him, and should he attempt to call our bluff we can move onto threats. I can still attempt to read his mind at either time, and we can still utilize both you, and Yanmei if she is willing, to play both sides of the interrogators, one harsh, one helpful".
Eris glances at the approaching flames. "There is no point searching the academy when it's liable to burn down. Leave it, we got what we came here to do." Eris points at any remaining Mantis around, "Disperse the crowd outside, if there is one. The last thing we want is some upstanding citizen growing a spine and informing a guard this ruining our interrogation"
"You're right. See to our own. Take some as leverage. Let's be off." Jon does take the time to scan the rooms and the prisoners and corpses with Detect Magic.
Yanmei assists with the apprehension of their captives and leading them out. As they work, she tries to get a read on body language and dynamic between the students and their mentor. She needed to locate the favorite. If she could, maybe she could ply her trade to pry some unwitting information from their lips...and other things.
Thanks to the spread of webbing, the flames climbed from the woven reed mats on the floor to the ceiling and jumped to the hanging tapestries on the walls.
With the mantis's objective completed, many of the students are allowed to escape, though either with severe wounds or burns. A few others are "dissuaded" from further resistance, so it's difficult to ascertain the actual body count from the student body. The mantises, however, lost three of their number -- all of which being from the initial strike force.
Kage throws the unconscious body of Orisini over his shoulder and carries him out, following the other masked assassins to a nearby safehouse. Jon-Wyn notes, thanks to his spell, that Orisini's dropped rapier is magical, as is his belt and his chain shirt. The rest of his sweep revealed nothing.
Yanmei notes that the female student who failed to avenge her master has the particular desperation of one who has true affection for her master. She tries numerous times to fight Kage and Jon-Wyn as they secure their prisoner, but her desperate swings are clumsy and full of emotion. They easily turn aside her attacks and carry their target away from the burning building.
The fire engulfs the building quickly, and by the time the Mantises are in their small safehouse the academy is a burning wreck.
Somewhere along the way toward the safehouse, one of the assassins notes that Orisini is bleeding out.
Jon will use his Wand of Infernal Healing to keep Orisini from bleeding out.
Eris is a master impersonator, but there is still nothing like the real thing. Plus we could be very lucky and her affection could be reciprocated. Your abilities could still be used though.
Fair point, but here's the issue. Lets say Eris takes the form of this guys possible love interest, we try and get him to break and it all falls apart, he sees through the disguise or so on. So, we bring in the real thing, and his response is "Prove it's the real thing".
The tricky situation is that realistically, it's not possible. There's no way to really prove (besides buying powerful magic), that we are not still screwing with his head. Heck, for all he knows, the student he fell in love with really is Eris the Red Mantis Assassin. Which is why I'm largely more in favour of EITHER using the girl solely as a pressure point OR using Eris shapeshifting skills to fake it, because if one of them fails, you still have leverage. If you combine both, hes unable to differentiate between the two, and is more likely to say "screw all of you".
IDK thats just how I am looking on it atm
In the gloom of the safe house, Kage considers how they might interrogate their prisoner. He wonders could the girl and Orsini be an item or is this an infatuation?
On the face of it a female captive was decent leverage and Eris's plan had merit but so did Jon-Wyn's . Kage suggests, "Perhaps you're both right. How about we use a mock execution, maybe a garrotting, to set the stage and then we threaten the girl. If he resists we start removing her toes."