The terrier yelps as Kali works her magick.
Meanwhile, the halfling drops his sling and unsheathes his trident. Even in the flickering light you can see that the weapon is exceptionally well cared for. He grabs it in an underarm grip and thrusts at the dog's chest.
The thrust goes wide, but he uses the momentum to push past the dog.
The dog bites at the halfling as he passes, but its teeth snap shut on nothing but air.
The terrier growls and bites at Gavin again.
It succeeds at getting a quick bite at Gavin's front leg, drawing a small amount of blood.
The larger dog steps forward and aims another bite at the halfling.
The bite finds purchase against the halfling's armor, but is nevertheless ineffective. Frustrated, the dog lets out an angry bark.
Louislik, meanwhile, steps back into the counting room cursing the while.
Cimri runs up next to the door, kukri now in hand, and readies to bury the kukri in Louislik as soon as he steps back out the door.
Gavin, having been bitten, bleats threateningly and brings his head down for another attack against the terrier.
The little dog skips out of the way.
Mary moves along the palisade and uses her free action to speak when she gets to the point 5ft north of where she currently is. She spins her scythe around and laughs wildly, before striking a valiant pose.
"When injustice needs assistance... The qlippoth call upon the powers of a one-woman apocalypse!" She jumps off of the palisade to the ground.
Mary lands a bit hard, but rises from her knees and slams her scythe into the ground bladefirst.
"Good? Bad? I'm the girl with the scythe!" She roundhouse kicks the handle, freeing the blade and letting her swiftly run her fingers across its edge as she catches it. "Friend to enemies, and enemy to anyone who pisses me off!"
She twirls the scythe dramatically, pirouetting in place before posing with it over her shoulder and her free hand in a 'come and get me' reach.
"Abyssal Magical Girl Hardgore Mary has arrived! Don't tell your friends... or I'll kill you♥"
With her introduction suitably introducted, she wastes no time in flinging out her arm and summoning up a fair bit of arcane power.
"Give me fuel, unholy fire, give me that which I desire!"
Her arms contort and stretch to a freakish length, letting her threaten much more ground than before.
Torgueila blankly stares at the woman's entrance. What is this some bad Tien-sha theater play!? Regardless there are bigger issues. Torgueila shakes his head as he withdraws a little round bomb from his coat pocket. He smiles as he begins to.....Dance?
It seems.....odd and not very good....but he seems to be having fun....maybe its less he is dancing bad and just looks bad dancing who knows? regardless he flicks the bomb into his other hand, flips it in the air then snatches it with his right hand and tosses it at the dog Gavin is fighting.
Eliselda almost chokes on her own voice when this..."Hardgore Mary"... suddenly appears, absolutely baffled by the dramatic interruption.
(We can only have so many drama queens in one party, Mary, quit butting in on my territory.)
But she is still kind of dying, and everything is mess, so what else can she do but keep singing? Nothing. The answer is nothing. Singing it is.
Another turn, another ugly look at a poor pupper, the yelping one specifically.
Kali looks over at the newcomer, her body shaking silently at first as she stares at this Mary until a giggle is heard, then more. And more...
In fact, it's kind of creepy... almost like a Cackle!
Torgueila's bomb detonates behind the terrier and the poor thing drops to the ground with a whimper.
With the smaller dog now clearly out of the fight, Kali works her magic on the dog still standing.
The dog shakes its head violently, shrugging off the full effect, but still taking the -2 AC for 1 round. Kali's cackling extends that to two rounds.
The halfling draws back with his trident again, thrusting at the now weakened dog.
Even with Kali's hex in place and Eliselda's uplifting voice, the thrust misses its target. The halfling curses in an unfamiliar language and moves to block any further bolts from finding their way into his mistress.
The dog lashes out as the halfling moves away.
Its teeth glance off of the halfling's armor. Not to be dissuaded, the dog charges on the halfling's heels, biting again at the armored thing.
The dog finally finds purchase and attempts to drag the halfling to the ground, the better to savage him.
Luckily, the halfling braces himself as the bite comes in and the dog just can't find the leverage to throw him to the ground.
Meanwhile, a sharp twang erupts from the counting house and a second bolt flies toward Eliselda.
Even with the halfling attempting to spoil his aim Louislik's bolt finds its home in Eliselda, catching her in the shoulder. Eliselda drops to the ground bleeding, her song cut short mid-note. Louslik laughs victoriously and slams the door to the counting room.
Cimri moves over and throws her weight against the door.
She manages to force it open just before the bar falls into place. She sneers and spits at Louislik, brandishing her kukri menacingly.
Gavin Steadyhooves, seeing his opponent vanquished with explosive fire, turns his attention to the other dog. He capers over, leaping through the air to land a headbutt against the hound.
His horns find their mark and the dog howls in pain as they dig into its flesh.
Mary moves quickly, hopping her way into the fray of combat on her stiletto boots (how do you even move in combat in those? Magical girl magic!!) to save a downed comrade.
After a brief magical fingerswipe down the blade to power it up, her scythe flashes in the night as she cuts at the dog.
It does not accomplish much. She's still very new at this.
Torgueila can't help but chuckle as the bard falls down. On one hand, she isn't helping anymore, on the other? It was funny. He does a little jig as he mixes his new bomb.
Now for the toss. Torgueila leans over mid dance and hucks the bomb right at the guy.
Eliselda fails to recover from the blow, and continues to lie on the ground bleeding. The player begins to prepare a backup character sheet.
Once Kali is over her fit of the giggles, she finally notices what's happened to the bard, and starts to haul ass in her direction.
Louislik is caught off guard by the dancing of a man he can only partially see and doesn't notice the bomb until it's too late. It catches him in the hip and Louislik screams as it detonates. He's clearly wounded, but still standing with malice in his eyes.
Whilst Cimri and Torgueila are dealing with Louislik, the halfling brings his trident to bear yet again.
The halfling's trident finally finds its mark, skewering the dog through the chest. The dog yelps in pain as the halfling jerks the trident out of its body and lunges forward in a desperate attempt to escape certain death.
The dog manages to take a single step before being gored buy Gavin Steadyhooves, but it's Hardgore Mary's scythe that does the real work, biting into the dog's neck until striking bone. The dog falls to the ground.
Meanwhile, Louslik takes a step toward his desk and hurls a small stone at the floor in front of Cimri.
It lands at her feet and cracks, releasing a deafening roar.
Cimri shakes her head as her ears ring realizing that her hearing is, at least for the nonce, completely f##@ed. She rushes in and swings at Louislik with her kukri.
Louislik slips just out of her reach.
Outside, Gavin capers in delight, bleating out his success.
Mary backs away, her hearing still working just fine for the moment. When she gets within 10 feet of the downed bard, she snakes an arm around and touches her.
"In the name of all things that break, I sunder these wounds!"
Godamnit
Well Torgueila Is Deaf for a bit. He is gonna run and attack with a claw. (not a charge so just basic rolls for now.)
Now that Eliselda is taken care of, Kali moves her sights to the building to the north and runs towards the window to look inside, and glare at the occupant.
The majority of the threat having been dealt with, the halfing rushes to his mistress' side. He tips a small vial into her mouth, taking care to not drown her in it.
The potion does what it's supposed to do, and Eliselda is once again conscious.
Louislik is in a more precarious position. He rips Cimri's dagger from his shoulder and hurls it at Torgueila, spitting curses as he does.
The pain in his shoulder spoils his aim. Cimri steps forward with her kukri, looking to end this drawn-out encounter.
To no avail. Being deaf is apparently more disorienting than she expected.
Gavin continues to prance about, now examining the courtyard.
Mary steps through the door and goes for a threatening pose with her scythe to scare the bejeezus out of their remaining mark.
Torgueila cracks his neck and flicks his wrist and produces....ANOTHER DAGGER! And chucks it at the dude.
Kali continues to be a weirdo, giggling.
Eliselda begins to stir with a groan, squinting around the yard blearily...only to jolt upright in panic as the sounds of continued battle reach her ears. She winces in pain at the sudden movement, but a quick survey of the scene has her pushing to her feet anyway, shoving roughly past the halfling.
"Wh- what are you all doing?!" In other words, WHY ISN'T THAT GUY DEAD YET. HE SHOT ME.
She stumbles forward as quick as she can, digging somewhat blindly in her pouch. Component, component, where's the damn component for- aha!
The halfling, having tended to his mistress, steps over and ensures the demise of the dog.
Meanwhile, Louislik stares, mouth agape, at Eliselda and a single whispered word escapes his lips. What a shame that the only people in the room with him are currently deaf.
Cimri takes the opportunity to swing her kukri at Louislik.
The blade finds purchase in Louislik's side, blood soaking into the cloth of his shirt.
Mary bounds her way over to the enemy, and runs her hand along the blade of her scythe.
"Be tempered to smash through all who would oppose you. Die, die, DIE!!!"
Mary's scythe once again does its job, biting into Loislik's clavicle. The man drops to the ground.
With one last flourish, Mary shoulders her scythe and laughs.
"Ahh, the rush of combat! It feels like it's been ages. I take it that darkness has triumphed once more?"
Torgueila smiles and steps back as the scyth finds its mark. (mostly attempting to avoid the bloodspray, a mostly vain attempt as It were.)
Now having droplets of bloodnl scattered on his coat he grunts in dissaproval. Also the being deaf thing still sucks, though he thinks his hearing may be returning? Maybe? Or.maybe that's the tinnitus.
"All right, weird noodle child, great job. I need a minute for my ears to work right." He walks over to Crimri and grunts, giving her a look that says "why do I help you?" Before searching the area around this room.
"Why was there a dog?!?"
Eliselda, being somewhat dead for part of the fight, doesn't realize that most of the people in this room can't hear her.
Eliselda also probably doesn't care.
"Why?! That's obvious!"
Mary points at the... Thrune? Interesting, but not her problem.
"Dogs are many things. Slips can ride them, and they bark at would-be thieves. Moreover, they've been said since ancient times to manage to deal with faceless, nameless swarms of ill-wishers."
She swings her scythe forward to point it at Eliselda.
""
"Ill wishers no longer are nameless or faceless! She's been given form by the one who sunders the planes from their very core! Her name is Hardgore Mary, and you look upon the face of undying hatred!"
With one final flourishing slash, the scythe returns to her shoulder.
"No dog can stand before the sundering wrath of my blade!"
".........and who in Asmodeus' name is this???"
She gestures helplessly at Mary's...all of her.
""
By now, Kali has sauntered over to the door, smiling just a little less creepily. "So does this mean that we're done, then?"
She pauses, blinks at Mary. "Oh, well. How do you do? So you're not here to kill us?"
Torgueila, there are a couple tapestries and some antique leatherworking tools on the walls that might be worth something, and a small lockbox underneath the desk.
Also, your hearing is blown for an hour, so pretty much until scene change. =/
Yup defiantly tenitus. Well no helping that now. Torgueila pockets the odd stuffs, but examines the box closer, signaling Cimri silently to take a peak. While she takes a peak he looks for paper and fishes out a quill so he can "speak" if need be. The after doing that, time to search the body.
Cimri moves over and gets to work on the lockbox. Your corpse-looting yields a masterwork crossbow, 8 bolts, and a set of keys.
"Cimri, why was there a dog?!" STOP BEING DEAF AND ANSWER ME. I'M STILL BLEEDING AND DISTRAUGHT. "I thought you were prepared for this! Aren't you a professional or something? Why did you not tell us there would be a dog?? We could have all died, we- oh gods, we're all murderers now! This was supposed to be simple!"
Torgueila, Not hearing the cries of Eliselda, takes the stuff, playing with the keys with a raised eyebrow. He walks back over to the table and drops the keys next to the box, quickly writing on the paper.
"Think the keys to the box? Or maybe some other door here?
"Oh, walk it off you softie! Murder is simply the natural end of life!" She titters, reaching her creepy noodle arm over to catch one of the crying girl's tears. "Well... the nature end when Hardgore Mary is summoned to the stage, anyways."
She steps over to look at the box, very interested in its contents.
"The girl who said you needed help wants her share, too. I'll take it instead as my cut. Serves her right~" --Or so she says as she puts her finger to her mouth, thinking things over.
Cimri pops open the lock as Torgueila drops the keys next to the box. She grins wide and spins the box around. It's filled with numerous small leather pouches. She holds one up and jingles it. It clearly contains coin. She drops it back in the box and closes the lid.
"Let's get the f~!& out of here before someone realizes Louislik is dead."
Torgueila smiles, he can't here her but he knows exactly what that motion means...loot! Now that she is packing up he gets the memo that it's time to Evac. he quickly scurries around the rooms, nabbing any dagger tossed and pocketing them. He also pockets the keys to the box, just in case.
"All Right I am deaf as hell right now from that rock asshat tossed so don't try to talk back, we got what we came for, anyone not bouncing out of here now is welcome to stay, more for me~" Torgueila chuckles as he walks towards the exit after collecting his daggers. He peers outside first to make sure there isn't any surprises.
Peering out the window, Toegueila can see that the halfling has apparently been busy. He stands next to a pile of armor and tools carefully grooming Gavin and checking him over for wounds.
Kali just shrugs and turns away. "Have at it. So long as I get my share~"
You're all monsters.
Eliselda has no choice but to follow, staying as far away from Mary as humanly possible...and then some. She clucks at the halfling as they pass to make sure he hurries up and doesn't get left behind.
Mary follows along as well. She's intent on getting her prize of taking that other girl's money, thank you very much.
As you all file out of the counting house, the halfling indicates that one of you should help carry out the loot he's assembled. However you decide to do it, you all slip out of the tannery and into the woods. The halfling hangs back long enough to ignite the oil trail he'd left around the perimeter of the place. Burned evidence is difficult to pinpoint.
Cimri turns to you all, whispering more loudly than she realizes.
"Alright, that was a shitshow, but we got what we were after. Meet back at the Ash House. Separately."
With that, she slips into the woods, lockbox in hand.
As you walk through the old iron gates of the manor, you look up at the building. What remains of this manor looks like it could collapse at any moment. Bearing the scars of a decades-old fire, the house is blackened and sags under the weight of its collapsed third floor. Shattered windows pose no barrier to the riot of ivy scaling each gable and invading every cavity. Bent pillars and a cracked granite porch lead to a warped door bearing a rusty doorknocker shaped like a boar’s head.
At some point, Mary got bored and wandered off alone. That means that the person showing up is the quiet girl who ran off before.
"M-my friend I saw... she helped, right? Sorry, I would have done it myself, but... stomach..."
Torgueila stares at the small girl... He approaches her and bends down to be eye level with her. He examines her up and down, then smiles.
"Your friend? Hmmm... Torgueila ponders how he should approach this. It's fairly obvious that this chick is the same as the weird noodly one. I mean she was invited by cimri for a reason, and running away wasn't it. Add to the fact that she just happen to show up, and then leaves, only for Becky to just Convieniently show up? Yeah not buying it.....so how to handle this?.....Play along~
" Okay, I'll play along, Mary~" He whispers before standing up and speaking louder.
"Well Becky, your annoying friend came in, yelled at everyone, hit a dog with a stick, then waved her creepy noodle arms around.....not that helpful really but funny as hell....Kinda funny, she was so insistent on loot, but left before she could get it....huh, her loss I gueeeessss." He glances down with a smirk at Becky and a wink. It seems he has no intention on attempting to out her in public, probably because she could just deny it and get away with it. But where's the fun in that, this is waaaay more amusing~.
Kali seems significantly less interested in Becky's badly hidden secret, instead craning her neck as she looks at the devastated house she approaches. "Reminds me of home." She says in a tone that's surprisingly wistful for someone looking at actual garbage.
It takes her a moment to look Becky's way, blink, and then smile. "Ahh. Not dead, hmm?"