'Lisa' whispers to 'Sarah', "A bit odd that a man heading to a church of Lakonus would be game for hooking up with a woman he thought was a prostitute, don't you think? Last I checked, his wife was Alíta, not Lyria..."
Sarah looks at Lisa, "I was hoping for fireworks but clearly our loving couple isn't up for creating a distraction - time to grab that old man and take out Belfry Boy. I'm about to cast Hold Person on Mr. Belfry."
"Kick-in-the-door as opposed to sneak-n'-peek, huh? Remind me sometime to tell you about how 'Ellie' and I first met..."
"I'd be happy to sneak and peek if Andre and Ellie threw a good, loud, spat. As it is, I don't see us clandestinely getting into that church without the old man or our 'bat' seeing us. If you've got a plan, let's try it. Otherwise, I'm going in fast. Using a church as a front doesn't sit well with me."
'Andre' shakes his head and grabs his 'wife's' arm angrily (though not hard enough to hurt), using his annoyance at having to play out this charade to make it seem more real. "And what was that... honey? I thought we had talked about you talking-to other men!" But he's about as convincing as he is short.
'Ellie' flinches in mock pain as 'Andre' grabbed her arm. She turns on him, her pretty eyes flashing. She retorts to her 'Darling', "Look, sweetie, I can't help it if they still think I am a prostitute! I told you, I no longer do that anymore!" Her voice rises hysterically, "Now, you told me you would control your jealous urges and not put a hand on me anymore!"
Priyya tries to slide casually over to the church door, hoping the drama attracts all watchers.
"Jealous!? JEALOUS!?" Mal turns to the man trying to slink away. "Get over here and tell her this is NOT jealous!"
"Jealousy? No, no, that's jus' crazy talk!"
Meanwhile, 'Lisa' hobbles over and joins in saying, "You two are embarrassing me, would you keep your spats quiet at least?!"
Priyya moves up to the front doors of the church.
Priyya stays below the slot, pressed against the wall to one side of the door. If this door is barred, this is going to be a short rescue. She looks to see if there is an obvious lock, knob, or if it looks loose at the moment. Come'on, open up that door to help your buddy...
'Ellie' wails at her 'Aunt Lisa', "But he not to do that anymore!" She then turns to the old man, grabbing at his arm "Sure, you men all stick together! You both would take advantage of any helpless lass that comes along!"
"You brute picking on my niece like that, why I ought to–"
Lisa starts flailing intermittently at Andre and Jones, in her protective tantrum.
Suddenly, the door to the church swings inward, and a large man holding a cudgel shouts, "Hey! Quit picking a fight with that man you inbred hicks!"
The man then looks down and notices Sister Sarah in front of him. "What the–"
Inside, you can see two table with men seated at them with women at the ends dealing cards. To one side of the room, a scantily clad girl is pouring tankards of ale from a number of kegs.
Initiative Rolls
, Alis, (Enemies), Lureene, Mal
MAP: Dunwaar Streets, (Round 01)
Priyya bellows in her best 'sergeant' voice, "SURRENDER and you won't be hurt. Draw a blade and you draw your last breath!"
Quick as a Viper to emphasize her last point, she draws her sword with both hands, driving the butt of her scimitar into the man's chin.
To Hit: Crit?
Confirm?: Yes?
Total Damage: <-- Non-Lethal Damage
She yells back to her camrades "We have about a half score in here!"
When the door opens, Priyya immediately delivers a pommel strike from her scimitar knocking loose a few of the bouncer's teeth and eliciting a cry of rage from the big man. Behind him, the dealers scream and the men who were gambling practically fall out of their seats in surprise.
Not wasting a chance for a dramatic entrance, Alis eyes the window to the right of the door, shouts, "FLY," and proceeds to take off and crash thru the shutters. She makes a sharp turn to land behind to the bouncer...
...delivering a flying elbow to the man's temple.
As commotion erupts all around her, she shouts, ""
;Priyya, Alis, Enemies
MAP: Dunwaar Streets, (Round 01b)
'Ellie' nods in approval at the entrance of Alis, in fact, she remembers their first meeting, it went something similar...no it was exactly what she did before! Well, except it was a window instead of the front door. She glances over at the broken window, and sees the other patrons Priyya warned about. Thank you 'Lis. She steps back next to her 'husband' and reaches for her spell pouch. Taking out a pinch of sand, she chants a magical incantation and points through the broken window at the second table where the gambling patrons have gathered.
"I was getting sick of playin' a part, anyway." Mal mutters as he begins the chant to harden his skin, readying himself to move into the room when the opportunity arises.
"CLEAR THE DOOR, LADIES!"
Will Saves
The three men seated at the further table are overcome by Lureene's sleep spell and pass out. The dealer however is not affected. Mal gets his spell off and moves up behind Priyya.
, Alis, Enemies, Lureene, Mal
MAP: Dunwaar Streets, (Round 02)
Seeing the bouncer is still reeling from all of the blows, Priyya reverses her scimitar and drives the pommel into his groin.
To Hit: crit?
Confirm: Not sure if that is good enough...
Damage: <- non-lethal
Extra DAM if 17 hits: <- non-lethal
Then she steps aside to let Mal through.
With a pained groan, the bouncer crumples the ground where her mercifully passes out from Priyya's critical low-blow.
Alis hops up onto the table by her, scattering cards, and coins everywhere. "Alright everyone, I'm calling the game. Please behave or I will spank!"
Right beside her, the dealer attempts to grab Alis' leg to knock her over...
...but she merely gets a boot-to-the-head for her effort. Reeling from the kick, she tries to run thru the door behind her leading into the bell tower...
...and instead goes flying into it head-first when Alis' foot connects with the back of her head. With a loud *bang* the woman's forehead impacts the closed door knocking her out cold.
The other three, thinking quickly, grab hold of the edge of the table and try to flip it and the little grey-haired woman out of the way.
The man on the north side of the table flips it over on top of his prior opponents who fall backward. Alis just barely manages to leap up and over the table landing next to it when it falls. As the man attempts to flee, she aims a kick for his back...
The man stumble slightly from the blow, but doesn't appear to be seriously hurt. With a running start, he jumps for the window by the serving wench...
Yet slips in some spilled ale and careens head-first into the wall knocking himself silly. In shock, the serving girl screams before clobbering him over-the-head with a ceramic tankard when the groaning fool rolls over and catches an upskirt view of her.
Cursing under her breath, the other card dealer gets up and races behind a wall at the back of the church disappearing from sight.
Fort Saves DC 15
Suddenly, there is a deafening *BOOM* right in front of the church doors as a hard object impacts the pavement from above. Priyya, Mal and Jones all stagger as their hearing is replaced by an incessant ringing sound. Lureene winces and holds her hand to her ear instinctively, but she is relieved that she can still hear the consternated shouting of the others.
; Priyya, Alis, Enemies
MAP: Dunwaar Streets, (Round 02b)
Lureene mutters a curse as she notices the thunderstone having its undesired effects on both Mal and Priyya. She motions them both into the 'church', and also points up at the belfry. She notices Old Man Jones still standing there, and starts chanting a spell, pointing at him...
Once done with the spell, she sends a mental command to Grak, Find Felmor!"
Grak flies swiftly through the busted window and into the interior of the old church.
Old man Jones is still shaking his head from the effects of the thunderstone. When he sees Lureene gyrating by the window and feels her voice inside his head, tugging at his will he shouts, ""
; Priyya, Alis, Enemies, Lureene
Mal growls out an oath - which he can't even hear - realizing he needs to both get inside and get the Old Man (named Jones?) in with him. He quicky tries to grab Priyya's attention despite the ringing in his ears, indicating for her to go inside. Then he grabs the man, intending to drag him inside the building.
Still deafened, Jones shouts, ""
"What the– you're right, that is him!"
From around the corner, two sturdy-looking men who look like brothers appear and point at Mal.
MAP: Dunwaar Streets, (Round 03)
Seeing as how Alis pretty much controls the room and the likely egress point of the tower guard, Priyya moves to the only obvious escape route - the backroom where hopefully they have Felmor stashed.
As she slips by, she scowls at the gamblers by the overturned table.
"I TOLD you not to resist or you'd pay in blood. If this little old lady leaves you conscious long enough... when I come back, I'm going to treat your balls like I did his." She nods to indicate the bouncer on the floor.
As she moves past the blonde waitress, she puts on a smile and tries to say quietly (deafness allowing) "Don't worry. You are in no danger, dear. Just stay out of the way and you won't be hurt."
The men who got knocked below the table when it flipped groan in pain as they try to push the table back off of themselves. Alis simply shakes her head at them and waves Priyya on a look of both amusement and concern on her face at her friend's yelling.
The skinny blonde serving girl merely sighs and says, "Yes ma'am." (Not that Priyya can hear her mind you.) She looks morosely at the mess on the floor before pouring herself a drink and watching to see what calamity occurs next.
When Priyya reaches the back of the church, she finds a stairwell leading down to a hallway of worked stone that turns left (east) after about 15-20 feet. Out of the corner of her eye, she catches Alis jumping up and down atop the over-turned table until the hands attempting to push it off wave wildly in surrender.
Meanwhile outside, the two brothers charge Mal trying to free their father.
Grapple Checks:
They just barely manage to tear old man Jones free of Mal's grasp and he old codger goes running off to the north call out loudly for help.
; Priyya, Alis, Enemies
MAP: Dunwaar Streets, (Round 03b)
Lureene sighs in frustration, seeing the old man running away, yelling for help. She realizes they were only helping their father out. She would have done the same thing for her own father, if she were in their shoes. Still, she would not go easy on them if they continued to harass Mal. She turns a glare on the two brothers, who it seems wanted to stick around, much to her displeasure.
”OK, looks like you boys have had your fun. Now,
Assuming the brothers do not stick around, she will then move into the church.
Grak takes up a position right above and behind Priyya, scanning the passageway for any signs of threats.
Upon hearing Lureene, one of the brothers casts her a surly look before glaring at Mal. The other taps him on the arm and motions back to their old man indicating they should do as the woman says and get lost. The man frowns and nods his head once, reluctance evident but makes certain to keep his eyes on the big man.
Further up the street, people start poking their heads out their windows wondering what all the ruckus is.
Mal watches the two boys run off and smiles after them. Run along, fellas. They're either good guys or bad. If good, I'll apologize later… if bad, then we haven't seen the last of them.
Mal turns to see Alis in charge of the room and the other two women moving farther into the building. Mal digs down into that familiar power-well within him… the wild energy that fuels him. As he reaches for it, however, it reacts differently… more… savage than normal. The power, instead of simply rushing to his legs or arms, envelops him, washes over him, and transforms him. Primal power bathes his body with the scorching heat of all the suns of the sky, and when the momentary blindness recedes, his body feels… different… it feels right.
He rushes into the building, his four paws eating ground at an amazing rate, each pound of paw on ground sending an exhilarating jolt through his body as he rushes up next to Alis.
Alis looks down in surprise at the sleek black cat that suddenly runs up beside where she's standing atop the upturned table, pinning two groaning men underneath.
Wait, Talvyra's back at the castle...
"Andre? Is that you?" When she gets no reply from the deafened man-cat, she calls out, "ELLIE, did you see where this big black cat hunting came from? It seems friendly enough, but I don't think it understands me..."
The black cat nods and... grins?... at Alis's words. It definitely understood your words.
'Ellie' is surprised by the change exhibited by Mal, but she quickly recovers. She gives her 'Aunt Lisa' a smile, "Yes, Auntie, Andre is finally letting his good side show." She reaches over to touch his sleek fur, "Isn't that right, sweetie?"
The black cat nods and... grins?... at Alis's words. It definitely understood your words.
Alis' eyes widen in surprise at 'Ellie's' explanation. "Ma– Andre?!"
Noting that there was a loud explosion a moment ago, that Priyya was shouting more loudly than normal, and that the big cat doesn't seem to be responding to words so much as motions, she covers her mouth, in a rare moment of modesty and murmurs:
Biting her lower lip, she crouches down next to Malandrenas, still perched atop the table, and hesitantly strokes the fur along the back of his head and neck. Her reserve suddenly turns into a big grin and her eyes light up. Exaggerating her words so that he can lip read, 'Lisa' says, "Yooou aaare sooo siiilky!"
Priyya, unaware of the 'Hello Kitty' moment and seriously ticked off about her ringing ears, casts Shield of Faith on herself and descends the stairs stealthily (she hopes).
Grak sees Priyya moving cautiously, and immediately lands on the wall, to avoid making any unnecessary noise. He slithers along the wall up to the ceiling, keeping to the shadows, and peers around the corner.
She would take this time to mock me somehow.
Priyya casts her spell and moves down the stairs quiet as a mouse with in a house full of cats. She peers around the corner to find a closed door.
Grak attempts to alight on the surface of the smooth, plastered walls of the church but is unable to find purchase on them. He catches himself by beating his wings quickly and avoids hitting the floor.
MAP: Dunwaar Streets, (Round 04)
Priyya moves forward and tests the doorknob to see if the door is locked.
While Priyya is checking on the sturdy, iron-bound door, which she finds to be locked, Alis has Mal scout up the bell tower. Upon reaching the top, he finds a grapnel still attached to a window on south side. From it, a rope dangles down to street level.
"Ellie, keep an eye on these guys, I'm going to go drag the bouncer out of the doorway so we can close the door."
With little effort, 'Lisa' manages to drag the big lug into the room and bar the door. Turning to the serving girl who is sitting despondently on the floor, she asks, "Have you seen an man by the name of Gerrold come thru here? Kind of wiry, about so tall, dark brown hair with a bit of grey, tan complexion, swaggers and sounds like a sailor?"
The girl shakes her head. "You folks are the first ones Ah've seen come in here in least about a half hour. These games ain't ezactly open ta tha public if'n ya know whut Ah mean."
She points over to the bouncer who is still knocked out. "Hogan never woulda let somebody in that 'e didn't know unless they's with a friend. So's that whut all this fuss is about, some pal o' ya'll's?"
Sense Motive Checks:
Alis nods. "Yes, I suppose you could say that. That no-good husband of mine gets into more trouble. You wouldn't believe the things I caught him trying to do with my sister the moment I have my back turned..."
Priyya stares at the impressive door, hoping that her unwavering gaze can burn a hole through it. She turns to Grak, "I can't hear, Grak. I need you to tell me if you hear someone in there and if they respond when I talk, OK?"
Priyya knocks politely and speaks loudly. "We are just here for information. We don't care about your gambling den. If you give us the information we need, we leave. It's that simple. Now, maybe that little bolt hole has another exit. Maybe you think if you run - you're in the clear. You aren't. We have a dozen of your patrons and employees up there. And we are going to squeeze each ONE of them until they give us what we want. Someone up there knows your name, or friends, or family, or associates. They know where you live, or eat, or shop. If you run... you better keep running until you run outta land because we won't stop until we get what we came for. And if we can't get YOU, we'll have to follow every lead those folks up there give us. And you probably care about someone on that list."
"Now if there isn't another way out of that hole... do you really think we'll leave before we get in there? Not gonna happen. So open the door NOW and this can end quickly with a few simple questions."
She looks at Grak expectantly.