"I believe they're stuck at the old steam boundaries for now. Let's attempt to move south beyond its current reach and resolve our issues."
Osric will follow his own advice and move out of the mist, past the revenant, before scrambling halfway up the wall to get a better view.
"Ka...err...obsidian, I just told it not to attack! Don't kill him!" exclaims the sylph.
As the blast engulfs, he the sylph shrieks. "AAahhh! Grab the murderer and let's get out of her, now!"
Moving to follow the outspoken sylph, she glances towards the inquisitor.
Surprised by the blast, the chickens feathers begin to solder as it chases after the others.
Kallik, in a burst of speed, does indeed hit Ky La. A medium-sized gash is ripped through his upper arm. However, Odebie deflects part of the blow, ensuring it is not fatal.
Ibinu shoots the mephit with his crossbow (and connects) as it leans over...
and sprays steam on several elens. The steam lingers, and many of you cannot see more than five feet away.
Osric moves quickly for an older elen, jogging out of the steam and climbing sylphishly up the wall.
Focusing on Ky La, Fi points her sword at the inquisitor, watching for any sudden moves.
Byron quickly moves out of the steam
Inam peers into the mist, but so far she has only seen Byron and Osric leave it.
The undine waits with an air of barely repressed violence, sniffing the air.
Ky La steps back and...
Ky La smirks. Those still adjacent to him--Kallik and Odebie--see him mumble some words, and he disappears from sight.
+1 Firedmg
Fi scowls, it seems apparent to her that the Inquisitor has been playing them from the start, she only hopes that he hasn't tricked them into making things worse for her city.
For her next action Fi will stay near the Inquisitor, readying to try and disrupt any spells he may try and cast to escape.
Seeing the dangerous cloud of steam and screams of pain from inside, Ibinu decides enough is enough. He steps up to get a little closer, mixes his most volatile concoction and tosses it up to blow that thing back to the darkness. Reloading his crossbow he then yells, "fall back to my voice, it's clear back here!"
for and if hit directly, Dazzled for Rounds.
Eye's wide in shock at the sudden appearance of the mist, Inam calls out "Dead one! Grab your foe, but DO NOT KILL HIM! Bring him to us. He still has a lot to answer for."
Feeling helpless as she stairs at the mist before her, Inam steps up next to the talkative sylph from the city and takes up a defensive position. Asking for Volcano's guidance, she scans the edge of the mist for evil creatures to emerge.
Kallik, you can choose to fail the will save, but as the message states (you can read it now) there may be long-term effects.
I'll move the rest of the way up the wall and get a better view of what's happening at that elevation before deciding how to use my standard action.
Her blood races faster and faster. But Inam then Ibinu's voice hit her ears. Shaking her head and tightening the grip on her polearm that momentarily has a barely there weight. You promised.
Growling and swiping her weapon low to try and trip Ky La.
There are at least four more smaller mephits on top of the roof. They appear to be waiting.
Osric stares at the mist, but sees nothing.
Ky La seems flustered by the sudden flurry of blades pointed in his direction. With his back on the ground from Kallik's tripping, he stammers and makes no move to cast any spells.
"More steam incoming!"
I'll move toward the mephit and pull out my blade.
"Hey! Over here! Give me your best shot, teapot!"
Hearing Osric cry out, Odebie whirls towards where the inquisitor had fallen. "Again, run!" He bodily picks up the Ky La and throws the ifrit over one shoulder, gesturing for one of the newcomers to lead the way and pointedly keeping himself between the inquisitor and the undead sylph.
Byron mixes a frost bomb and tosses it at mephit.
He backs up as he does. "Agreed we should depart as there were a number of those things still present and it would be best to be absent if they arrive in force."
The mephit attempts to summon something, but fails.
Ibinu misses with his bomb, but the splash does not hit any friendlies.
Osric climbs the wall. He is now on the roof, and attempts to warn the others of another incoming breath attack.
Byron connects with his frost bomb, and the mephit gives a howl of pain.
Fi keeps her sword trained on Ky La. Kallik trips him in anger, unwilling to betray her allies' trust by attacking him. Odebie, sick of the affair, picks the inquisitor up and hauls him out of the steam like a sack of rocks.
Inam, despite her armor, climbs the walls in skillful sylph fashion, placing herself next to Osric, the older sylph.
The undine snarls in frustration, and keeps as close as he can to the inquisitor.
Ky La seems to faint on Odebie's shoulder. His glasses are askew on his pale face.
The mephit lets loose its breath once more upon the street below.
As the mist from its previous breath begins to clear, a new mist effect rises up amidst the center of the party. (see Map)
Osric sees (and quickly points out to Inam) three smaller mephits (the size of a kitten) scrabble out from behind some stubby chimneys.
(see three light gray shapes north of you on the Map)
They keep their distance. It appears that they are waiting for you to act, or waiting for a signal from the larger mephit.
It seems it's getting too hot even for Fiordelise' Irfit body. She continues to move back out of the steam and if she can will fire a shot at the creature.
I'll five foot step up to the mephit if I can, then attack it. If I can't, regular move instead.
After that, if Inam goes to attack the thing, I'll give her +4 to hit.
"We've no reason to keep fighting here move along let us get away from here," Byron cajoles the others, while throwing another ice bomb to cover their retreat.
Grunting as the fire slams into her. Staggering and nearly falling. I promised. But doing as best she can to help drag Ka La on unsteady feet.
Ibinu fires the loaded bolt at the demon and retreats back again while calling out into the steam, "keep on coming this way, almost there!"
When he gets out of the slums he yells up at Inam, "Everyone is almost clear, get that guy and get outta there!"
for
Coughing from the steam, Odebie keeps moving as fast as he's able.
Inam begins to step forward, stopping at the sound of Ibinu's voice. She looks back to the beast before her and points the tip of her blade at it's throat. "You will survive this day. You can leave this place and be free. Or you may stay and perish. If you remain, I will end you!"
Preparing to scramble down the building, she stands, perched on the edge. "Elder, us lesser beings must go! We'll finish this next time!"
When Osric begins to retreat, Inam will climb down and flee
Understanding what Inam intends, Etrah leaps from the building and flutters like a walrus as he drifts towards the ground.
Osric nods when he hear's Ibinu's all clear. "As you wish."
Rather than jumping to the ground, Osric runs in the direction of the party while staying on the roof as long as he can. No need to give up the height advantage until absolutely necessary.
As the party retreats, Byron gives a parting ice bomb, which hits the mephit squarely in the face. Angry steam hisses off of its skin, and it gives a strangled cry of pain. It shrieks in response to Inam's taunt, unfurls ragged-looking wings, and flies off back to the Steams. The three smaller mephits follow.
Only moments after you clear the boundary to the Slums, the dead undine bounds ahead of the injured and encumbered group with unnatural speed. Looking to Inam, he says, "Key. The inquisitor has confessed. Tell me your decision before we again fall within the influence of the corrupt Temple."
Breathing heavily and looking at Inam, "He's right.. The Inquisitor con.. confessed and that means death."
Shaking her head and staring at the ground. She slowly wavers back and forth lending very little stability to her shared grip on Ky La.
Once the immediate danger is passed, Osric climbs down with more grace than one would expect of a man with a limp and a neck brace and joins the others.
Osric has no patience for the internal conflict seeming to happen within Kallik. "No, the inquisitor confessed, and that means he will face the proper lawful judgement he deserves. We are many witnesses, and justice must take its course. You don't strike me as assassins, but if you insist on behaving like it, we will be forced to treat you as such."
"Indeed. We have questions that I would like him to answer. To that end-" Odebie looks to Fi and Byron, "are you able to heal him when we stop?"
"I can do, though I must confess I prefer him quiet. Safe...ish place first, then questions, then we can try and decide what to do with him. If we do hand him over I want to know he's actually going to be punished for his actions."
Murder does not sit right with Fi either, but she has little trust for agents of the temple.
"The question of course would be which servant of Volcano the judge would believe more and perhaps at some point we should introduce ourselves to each other," Byron babbles with a vague gesture in Inam's direction.
Glaring at the older sylph, "He is the law and the law in this city is corrupt."
Shifting her gaze to the only undine among them, "What do you have to say? Kill him now or shame him before his flock before he dies? Use him to flush the rest of them out."
"Our corpse guide here is correct. Lets find a safe place off Temple grounds to discuss our next move and...that ones fate." answers Inam.
Glancing towards the others, though make sure to avert her eyes from the ifrit, she asks "Now, I don't mean to be racist here...but" begins the sylph as her eyes narrow in on Odebie, "You're with the city guard, yes?"
"If this is the case, we have a few things to discuss."
The undine seems pleased that Kallik and Inam are as wary of the Temple as he is. Still keeping his eyes on the unconscious inquisitor, he follows as the group walks several blocks away from the Slums.
The motley group finds an abandoned building near Garbage Alley. The one remaining wall shelters you from the wind, and gives you a chance to talk more.
Ibinu eyes everyone warily and wearily as a temporary decision at least is made regarding their new prisoner. While they look for a place to chat he checks over the prisoner, looking to see if he is faking it or in risk of bleeding out.
As they approach the abandoned building he comments, "This looks okay, I doubt anyone would overhear us with the wind and we can at least figure out our next move."
He looks around and says matter-of-factly, "I'm Ibinu. I don't like to harm anyone much less kill anyone. But to be fair, I'm not from around here and we do have some major issues going on with the temple leadership." He adds on, "we also have two more animated dead bodies out there wreaking havoc in town as well as fire demons randomly wandering around."
"Fiordelise of house Incarna" Fiordelise manages distracted curtsy. "We have been in opposition to a member of the Temple Guard who managed to bond himself with an Efreet, or one of their kin. This conflict has cost me... us dearly. We sought to lay the last vestige of he ancient spirit to rest, but I am no longer sure if that was the right thing to do." She directs her speech mostly to Inam, though occasionally glances at the others.
"If you are wounded I can soothe your wounds. I would rather have us ready and united before we awaken this one, his secrets run deep."
Staggering along with the group. The heavy weight of Ky La both a hindrance and a boon in the long walk. Digging her fingering into Ky La during the walk. Vile place... Vile elen
By the time they arrive at some destination her anger has not subsided and she is content to silently stand. Alternating between glare at everyone and staring vacantly at the ground.
Convinced that nobody is going to do anything rash, Osric is content to follow the others to the destination to consider their next moves.
"Osric Ferret, PI, at your service. Since we seem to be in full disclosure mode, I will share the last information Ky La revealed before we ran into you. He claimed we had released one of three Efreet spirits that were bound to slavery to Hearth, and in doing so weakened or eliminated some long forgotten protective enchantments.
This seemed like a good idea at the time as the explosion at the stadium, the riots, and the death of the misters were all attributable to this spirit possessing a weak willed elen. I expect these mephits are the first of many woes we've brought down on Hearth.
As for Ky La's fate, let's say you do murder him. What then? Even if we don't oppose you, the oracles will investigate an inquisitor's death, and you will be found out and you will become fugitives. Are you really ready to declare war on Hearth? Because that's what you'll end up doing. How many innocents would die in that conflict? I've seen it attempted, and it doesn't end well. Besides, killing him directly doesn't get us any closer to figuring out what he was trying to accomplish by killing and reanimating our friend here.
As he's talking, Osric remembers there was more that happened in the dungeon than merely the spirit.
Wearily, he continues, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Oh yeah, and tied up in all this is the darkspawn somehow. There was an infector in the basement of the dungeon. Ky La claimed it was an ancient trap, but I suspect he's lying. It's possible he was experimenting on elens to determine whether or not dead elens are susceptible to darkspawn corruption."
Keeping her eyes averted from the ifrit, she nods as the other discuss. Turning to Ibinu, she smiles. "Friend, didn't you offer me a drink earlier? Would now be an appropriate time to take you up on the offer?"
"I am Inam of the Smithrocks, lowly servant to Volcano and this is my guide, Etrah." she advises, motioning to the chicken, asleep on her shoulder again. "Osric, sounds like quite an...interesting...situation. As for the darkspawn problem, we can confirm the outbreak. We had to fight them out of the Temple's dungeons."
"Ky La's fate is sealed. It's a matter of when and how that still remains." she adds, glancing towards the dead thing. 'Even if he repents and lives on another 100years, he will still die...though I don't think that one would accept such a thing.' considers Inam.
"He must face judgment for his crimes against this elen and the others. I agree before anyone does anything rash, we should revive him and see what all he can answer for us." As she speaks, the paladin very pointedly looks to Kallik. "We should bind the beast before we revive it as a precaution. I am curious how much of your actions have been manipulated by this one...and how much ours have been...were...manipulated by So Khong..."
With a heavy sigh, she sheaths her blade and approaches Odebie. "I would say it seems both the Temple and the Watch have been infected by the stench of corruption. Do you still hold an oath to the law?"