Dilana slows her pace as the bodyguards look around. She turns the other way for a few seconds, keeping Lutohor in her preferial vision.
Luthor strolls along a few more feet, giving a nod to the two guards near him and a friendly, "Evenin', fellas. Nice night," before popping his neck from one side to the other while shooting a quick glance over toward the Shade and his cronies.
The guards are not fooled and are watching Raktar & Dilana closely. They haven't spotted the rest of you.
The Shade turns and hisses, "This is League business. Begone!"
What now?
Raktar holds his hands up in a gesture of apology and turns back towards the market, remaining silent. He hopes that the others are still following the Shade, not wanting to be the one that blows their cover too early.
Dilana gives a little start and looks around like they must be talking to someone else. She looks at her familiar.
"Is she talking to us? What league? Let's just stand here and see what happens."
With a shrug she stops walking, cocks her head to the side, and watches honestly wondering what will happen next.
.
What are you doing?
Raktar keeps back, letting the others take the lead as they move through the increasingly empty market. He keeps his right hand and it's glove of storing ready for when whatever is going to happen happens.
Seeing as there probably wouldn't be a better opportunity with the entire team still present, Elrys draws her bow while in hiding, then casts Dimensional Anchor on the shadow!
Dilana shift her position to have line of site and utters a word "Слепой"
The Shade shrieks in a combination of fear and rage as her vision is taken from her!
OK. Dilana has kicked the Wasps nest hard and combat begins. Olimpa & The Shade are on the same initiative but Olimpia goes First. The Shade will be not be attacking, she will cast something defensive on her action so Luthor can act as well.
Luthor holds a moment, unable to remember whether or not he can use a technological weapon within this area.
Olimpai moves up silently and, still invisible readies a strike.
If that hits Shade looses 2 points of strength and had a Debilitating Injury: Hampered (Ex) speed halved (and can't 5 ft step) for 1 rd.
.
The Shade tries to cast Greater Invisibility but Olimpia cuts her deeply and she fails.
Orange yells in shock as Olimpia pops into view and swings at her with his greatsword.
Taking a chunk out of the building beside her but no hurting Olimpia.
Elrys may now act.
Elrys resolves to take no prisoners and begins her arrow song at the shade the instant the surprise has passed!
Elrys puts all her arrows in the the shrieking Shade.
Following the arrows back to their source Yellow rushes at Elrys swinging his greatsword.
.
Dilana & Raktar may now act. Then back to Olimpia.
As one of the guards comes charging at Elrys Raktar responds. His chainsaw blinks into his hand with a thought and he activates the weapon as he swings it. The motor roars and echoes from the stone walls as Raktar steps behind the somewhat surprised guard in an attempt to cut him down.
Standing behind Luthor Dilana grants him Fortune.
Luthor quickly grabs his laser pistol and fires at The Shade.
Olimpia, not happy she finds herself toe to two with two enemies full attacks Shade.
Luthor drops the Shade.
Raktar chews into Yellow
Back to Luthor.
Luthor now takes aim for the one that was next to Shade and unloads on him with his laser pistol.
Luthor burns holes in Orange.
.
]
Olimpia slashes Orange and tumbles away untouched.
Orange considers his condition, looks at his dead employer and decides leaving is good for his health.
.
Elrys can now act. Yellow is the only combatant left.
.
Elrys puts some arrows into the wounded Yellow and he drops dead.
Loot:
Yellow.
+1 breastplate,
+1 adamantine vicious greatsword,
15 gp
The Shade.
+2 elven chain chainmail,
Timeworn hard light shield,
Timeworn monowhip,
Blue access card,
carrier's badges (5),
commset.
She also is carrying a locked strong box.
By now the bystanders are gone, Baron Konsieg Drund has emerged from the pavilion and is looking angry about something?
What are you doing now?
"Grab everything and let's get out of here," Raktar suggests, scooping up the strongbox and the rest of The Shade's possessions. "We don't want anyone coming to ask questions about what just went down."
"Agreed, best not stay here long." Naturally she makes no move to carry anything.
Do we leave her? Olimpia asks nodding to the body of the Shade as she gathers her equipment. Our foes are not without resources and Raise Dead will not be beyond their reach. I'd rather not face her again.
"Grab everything and let's get out of here," Raktar suggests, scooping up the strongbox and the rest of The Shade's possessions. "We don't want anyone coming to ask questions about what just went down."
"I'm on it." Luthor grabs everything he can and places it within his haversack.
Do we leave her? Olimpia asks nodding to the body of the Shade as she gathers her equipment. Our foes are not without resources and Raise Dead will not be beyond their reach. I'd rather not face her again.
Looking at Olimpia before turning to the others, "Well? I can throw her over my shoulder if we think it's best. Just say the word." He readies to grab the Shade in case it is deemed necessary.
"Agreed," he says to Olimpia then turns to Luthor. "Grab the body, I'll grab her stuff, then let's get out of here."
Luthor bends down and picks up the dead body, throwing it over his shoulder. "Alright, let's move."
Oddly enough no one stops you leaving, in fact the narrow streets are empty of anyone else as you hurry along.
You make it back to the Insurgencies current safehouse without incident or being observed.
The item that The Shade went to so much trouble to obtain is a Cortex Gun. This one is a Mark II set to Dex.
What are you doing now? Mockery thinks this would be a good thime to infiltrate the Palace and see if you can free the Black sovereign while the Technic league is busy trying to find out what happened to one of their Captains?
"Cool toy Olimpia. It is amazing how all the technological stuff we find seems to be trying to replicate what we can do with magic."
Elrys' eyes widen at the marvelous piece of technology on display.
"Hm... I can't deny being curious to try it myself," She says when the group discusses what to do with it. "You say it these 'nanites' live inside the body and would help with archery or any task requiring speed or coordination? It almost sounds too good to be true! And it raises all sorts of scientific questions. Like... how do they survive? Are they small robots? Then can they drain electricity from a person somehow? Or do they make their own power supply? How do they know how to stay inside the body? Are they never excreted? Are they inheritable by offspring? Hm... if so, and we could replicate it, we could apply it to the entire current generation fo crusaders and all future generations would have it for free!"
.
"I'm not sure I'm keen on having a needle rammed through my skull, not matter how good it might be for me," Raktar says, visibly wincing at the thought of having tiny robots injected into his brain.
"Do they make, what did you call them nanites? Do they make nanites that make people smarter too? I wonder if they whisper the answer to things in your head."
At this point Dilana is more talking to herself then anyone else.
Mockery is very eager for you to infiltrate the Palace now. The Technic league is out on the streets in large numbers due to someone disappearing one of their Captains, so their presence in the Palace will be lower.
What are you doing now?
"What forces are they likely to still have in the palace?" Raktar asks, wary of Mockery's keenness in the face of only one successful action. "Is there anything else we need to do to weaken the League before we take on the palace?"
That morning, Elrys takes several stops during breakfast to scribble some notes in her journal. Her movements, even back in her non-disguised human form, were just slightly more fluid and graceful - even if she accidentally knocked over her cup of tea more than once. "Eight hours since injection, libs feel lighter... no real advserse effects except having to adjust. Mental state... also normal? 100, 93, 86, 79, 72, 65. Basic math works out. Effect of nanites on memory? Memorize... hm."
"Say, does anyone have suggestions for a few words to memorize as a memory test?" The cleric then says, looking up. "Oh, right. The iniltration... well, we killed both the Doctor and the Captain. It seems logical they'd be on a manhunt and would have to spread thin. I'm with Mockery in that it seems to be a good moment to attack their base. Perhaps we should change our disguises, though, after we were spotted on both locations."
She thought back to the shootout with the Shade? The shadow? The Sorrow? Hm, not a very memorable name, or was that an actual lingering effect from the cortex gun? Perhaps a casting of restoration was in order. Regardless, perhaps she could have shot the feeling surviving guard from that encounter, but doing so had felt cowardly and not in Line with Iomedae's code of conduct, and thus she hadn't. Hopefully that would not come to bite them in the rear later, even if it *had* been the right thing to do.
"A memory test. Do you remember the name of my familiar? That seems simpler then seeing if you can memorize something. "
She listens to Mockery. "It would seem this is the right time. Get a nights rest and go maybe?"
Olimpia nods agreement with Mockery. The time to strike seems ripe. I am ready.
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Mockery can't tell you much about the Palace. The place is huge! He does suggest that using the side entrance at C10 would be best for you. It is the Servants entrance but it is always guarded.
Your goals are:
Confront the Black Sovereign: If you can publicly defeat the Black Sovereign-or perhaps recruit his cooperation-they can rally Starfall's citizens into an uprising that will force the Technic League to deploy many of their troops and defenses to protect their holdings, reducing the defenses at the Technic League compound for as long as the uprising continues.
Discover the Secret Entrance: Somewhere in the palace dungeons lies a secret door that provides access to a tunnel that connects to the basement below the Technic League compound. This tunnel hasn't been used much lately, and should provide a stealthy way in and out of the compound.
Take Out Ghartone: Mockery can tell you that Captain Ghartone is stationed in the palace as a liaison from the League. If you find and defeat him, you'll have one fewer captain to face at the compound, and will simultaneously erode Ozmyn's support
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There is an order called the Black seers in the palace who worship Zyphus. They are known to monitor the Black Sovereign by cast Scrying on his hounds, and they also maintain a constant watch on rooms C2, C19, C26 & C40 using Enter Image on the images of former Black Seers carved into the walls.
Palace Guard: The palace guard are the Black Sovereign's most elite soldiers. The position of palace guard is coveted, for it affords a fair amount of power with very little responsibility apart from serving short daily shifts in various posts in the palace. Otherwise, the barbarians are left to do as they will with their time, so long as they always honor the Black Sovereign and work to remind Starfall's citizens of Kevoth-Kul's authority.
To these brutes, having official license to menace and threaten anyone in Starfall is payment enough for the job, but they're also compensated with fine food and drink, safe lodging in the palace, and a generous
monthly stipend of a dozen silverdisks.
Each palace guard is armed with a type of special weaponry fusing magical and technical elements: a polearm known as a Starfall spade. This weapon is as much a badge of office as anything else, and a guard will spare no expense to recover one that is lost or stolen.
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Mockery advises that your best course is to remain as unnoticed as possible and make contact with the Black Sovereigns consort. A woman named Kul-inkit.
The Sovereign's Consort: Traditionally, the Black Sovereign takes a consort upon ascending to the office. The role of consort is only partially one of pleasure or support it is also effectively second-in-command of the nation of Numeria.
In theory, the consort is the person poised to take the role of Black Sovereign should the current one die. In practice, however, the violent ends met by most Black Sovereigns have coincided with the deaths of their consorts and many of their followers.
Kevoth-Kul's consort is a strong-willed but patient woman named Kul-Inkit. Although she respected Kevoth-Kul in the days leading up to his taking of Starfall, her respect has waned as she's watched his descent into addiction, and her patience has worn thin. She would like to see the Technic League run out of Numeria, but she won't cross into coldblooded murder, not even to gain the coveted title of Black Sovereign.
So get inside, remain discrete and make contact with the Consort is his advice.
Elrys, her brain still a bit addled from the shot of Nanites into to skull, does her best to take in all this information and form a coherent plan. "Okay... the servant entrance. But guarded. But if we got their spears, we could pretend to be guards and move freely? Would have to kill them. Dishonorable, maybe, if not for their reputation as wicked brutes. So..." She looks to the others, especially Olympia and Dilana. "Can you use some invibility spell or ability to get us close enough for a surprise attack on the servant's quarters? Or just to walk us past? Invisibility sphere and a silence spell I can provide would allow us all to sneak in unless they have invisibility detection."
"Staying unnoticed and keeping things from escalating will be the hardest. I don't doubt that we can take on the guards once we're in there, but we need to get in and make contact with this consort without attracting too much attention," Raktar muses. "Are we going to sneak around or do we try to disguise ourselves?"