Mal turns on the bound man who's just been revealed as an assassin of some sort. Mal looms over the man, oozing rage, "One chance. You give us information or I'll have to get really creative in how to make you scream. Who are you following and why?"
As the nobleman talks and Mal carries his prisoner to back behind the bar, Aerys and Alton take up positions by the front doors. Still listening to him, Alis walks to the doors on the west side and props some chairs under the handles to bar them against any intrusion.
Silently waching the proceedings, Priyya casts her gaze over all those within her line of sight...
Turning your gaze inside the bar, you do a systematic sweep of the people inside, going clockwise...
Sasha: none
Lureene: none
Henry & company: no aura
Mal's prisoner: moderate evil
Mal: badass
Alis: smartass
Greyson: none
Kestrel: none
Karyon: none
Lord Briston: none
Wolfstein: none
Four Setenbori patrons: none
Aerys: none
Alton: none
Gelik's room: none
Yourself: wiseass
Kestrel manages to get potions down the throats of his two companions even as the nobleman wakes the downed northman. "Ah, Lord Briston," Wolfstein says, "I never hoped to see your face again in this world after those dirty Xerakai dogs piled on me whilst I was yet still in the process of espousing a more amicable solution to the differences between–"
When Mal shouts his promises of violence, the man trembles, his bound legs dangling several feet above the floor, glinting blades near his eyes. In a panic he cries out, "The woman with the wasp blade and the viper on her b– AAACK!!!"
Suddenly the man gives a terrible convulsion. His eyes and lips blacken, his tongue swells up in his mouth and his skin turns deathly white, growing sunken and shriveled in death. With a rattling gasp, he expires amid the fightened shrieks of the barmaids!
Seemingly unperturbed by the gruesome spectacle if they even looked up from their drinks to notice it, one of the Setenbori men with his back to Priyya comments, "Lord Briston is it? I have heard it told that tolerance is the one virtue of man who lacks conviction."
The two with their backs to Briston and Wolfstein then calmly pivot in their chairs and run both them through with black daggers concealed within spring-loaded wrist sheathes. Wolfstein drops to the floor immediately, his incessant talking cut short. Briston falls to one knee clutching at his wound which refuses to stop bleeding. As all four men stand, the last man says dispassionately, "Open-mindedness is a virtue only to those who have not yet learned Truth."
With that, shadows begin to swirl about them and their appearances and clothing changes becoming like that of the dead man now rapidly mouldering behind the bar. In unison they intone:
""
As they chant, their words like the churning shadows grow rapidly threatening to fill the entire tavern in blackness. Outside, everything grows dark, the brightness of the sun swiftly replaced by the gloom of night.
Inside your mind you hear a woman's voice call out, it is at once like the roar of flame, and the bray of a thousand battle horns, "You are Surya-ka-Vahaak. You are the shining in the darkness!"
It is soon followed by another woman's voice, softer, with all the quality of crystal chimes, and a gentle unwavering confidence. "You walk this path, a light to all who see you. No root can turn you foot, nor any stone your countenance..."
, ; Enemies —
Theme: Stoning
MAP: Waterfront Tavern Brawl, (Round 30)
Priyya lets the white flames of her Aasimar nature shine through emphasized by a wave of light emanating from her modest circlet.
She puts her bow away, drawing her sword with a metal rasp and a grim look. "Only YOU shall fall, minions of Zaal. I'll send you back to the foul shadows."
Years of military training take over before Mal has time to think, and he moves to the center of the room, roaring out as he goes, "Defensive stance, people! Don't be caught alone! Form up!"
Remembering the poison on those blades, Mal grabs his cat's tooth necklace, whispering words of power to fortify his body against it's effects.
The light of Alíta blazes forth from Priyya's circlet, her aura of white flames burning away the shadows around her. All around the room, light and darkness vie for supremacy, their very essences seeming to make the air boil! Priyya's challenge causes the servants of the banished demon god to wheel about, teeth bared in anger as if the sound of her sword being drawn is anathema to them.
The very name of Raukán Zaal fills your hearts with fear. Raukán Zaal, the being whose very birth destroyed Quelaerilea and created the Dæmonshade. Raukán Zaal, the King of Demons. Fighting off the wave of dread emanating from the men, Alis begins to sing the lay of Queen Auriel — first sovereign of the Moon Elves and the woman who sacrificed her life to strike down the Demon King thousands of years ago.
Although her conviction would never allow her to succumb to fear, Priyya knows that there is no greater enemy of her goddess than Raukán Zaal, youngest yet most powerful of all those born to the elder gods. Mal's military training keep his nerves steady as does Alton's experience leading men in times of peril. The big soldier moves up into a position from which he can launch an attack and girds his veins with magic to defend him against poison.
Knowing her own demons, Aerys too stand unflinching in the face of this unforeseen enemy. Of the others in the tavern, old the nearly dead paladin Karyon, and the old mage, Kestrel hold their ground.
Behind the bar, Henry and the two girls cry out in terror, clawing at the trapdoor in an attempt to escape to safety. Lord Briston screams and attempts to run towards his allies, but he is swiftly cut down. Seeing his lord felled, Karyon turns tail and runs and jumps into the watery pit at the tavern's center in a desperate attempt to get away.
By the eastern door, Lureene and Sasha drop their blades in fright. Sasha goes running past her friend trying to make it to the sheltered area behind the bar. Lureene quickly follows suit, attempting to leap it in one go but instead tumbles over it and crashing loudly thru several bottles and a dozen glasses on the counter.
Will Saves DC 17
Alton spits in disgust and shouts, "You're no countrymen of mine!
He then tears free his hanger and charges the nearest enemy, yet the man his little trouble
Fighting down the dread in her, Aerys launches her self forward trying to knock the same enemy's head off, but she very nearly wipes out due to how badly she's shaking.
Priyya eyes the servants of Zaal, naked hatred written across her face. Now more than ever she wishes to cast away the hairpin so these thralls of evil would know her true face and hear her name before they died. So they could report to their master by whose hand Alita's justice was delivered.
Despite her almost insensate anger, Priyya tries to mark the leader of the group. Was it he who spoke last to Briston?
She issues a challenge to the assassins, "Well? You've said Zaal will feast upon me. Let us see you prove it, worms. Why do you balk now? Let us test your false shadows against Alita's light. COME!"
With a word of prayer, Greyson holds his hand up to the heavens and a burst of healing energy swirls from his hand like an icy wind. Even as it halts Briston's journey towards the afterlife, and heals those near him, the frosty currents seem to strike the nearest cultist like razors instead of snowflakes.
Perception Checks
The half-naked old scholar chants a few words of magic, and a pair of scorching rays streak from his shaking fingers. While one of the rays fails to connect, narrowly missing Aerys, the other strikes the cultist damaged by Greyson's healing burst, severely burning him although oddly enough the man does not cry out.
Without any words between them, the burned man approaches to stand beside the two closest to Priyya, while the one facing off against the two sailors moves away easily avoiding their hasty attacks.
"Foolish woman," the closest man says in a sepulchral tone, "all that is needed for darkness to prevail is but for light to vanish. Ours is the eternal absolute to the wane candle of your feeble home. Time is on our side. Stand there and taunt if you like, you won't live an instant longer, you fate is sealed."
With that, they intone the profane name of their lord and waves of crackling blue-black energy arc out from their bodies, wracking each of you in pain and siphoning your lifeforce.
Instantly, Kestrel and Greyson collapse from the withering assault and Karyon's splashing in the water ceases. In the split second it takes for his Kestrel to hit the floor, you note that he, Briston, and Wolfstein are all shriveled there can be no mistaking that they are dead. Greyson, if he is still alive, must just barely be holding on to life.
Aerys and Alton fare better, but pale as they are, you have reservations about their ability to survive another negative energy wave of that magnitude.
Will Saves DC 18
; Cultists
MAP: Waterfront Tavern Brawl, (Round 31)
Not relenting in her holy battle hymn, Alis runs up and touches Mal on the shoulder. Instantly, he sees a vision of where the perfect openings will be on the dark priests in the next few moments.
Priyya weathers the brutal blast and lays a healing hand on herself, then trudges forward implacably. "Not good enough, worm. My turn." Priyya's hand glows and a wave of light washes across the room, bringing healing to some and damage to others.
"They are stronger working together. Kill the weakest among them first!"
Mal steps up to his first opponent with a surprisingly calm gait, delivering a vicious sidearm swipe towards the man's upper torso.
As Priyya steps up to close for battle, she can see that these are not undead but clearly living men she is fighting. Standing this close, she can feel the veritable chill emanating from them and the shadows seem intent upon devouring her. Getting as close as she dare without risking their dark blades, she unleashes a cleansing burst of healing power. While it heals her new friends, and herself, the people already on the ground are all either too far away or too far gone for her to help.
Merciful boon that Alíta's light is, only the burned man is severely injured by it. The shadows seem to almost converge to protect the stronger men from harm.
With quiet confidence, knowing exactly the time and place to strike, Mal walks up and skillfully slashes in between the injured cultist's ribs destroying the lung within and sending him to the ground, coughing blood.
Shaking off the dread that rattled him, Alton moves forward to stand by his sparring partner, his basket-hilted sword carving a red arc thru the air as he slashes at the black-robed man before him.
inspire
With a shout, Aerys charges in, connecting with a vicious straight-punch to the back of the same cultist's head!
Behind the bar, Henry manages to get the trap door open. He immediately hops down into the dinghy below with his daughter, the other barmaid, Lureene, and Sasha. However between the sudden motion and the number of people it's simply too much weight for the small boat to handle. It quickly capsizes dumping all five of them into the water.
; The Good Guys
MAP: Waterfront Tavern Brawl, (Round 32)
Once again, the dark priests unleash their foul power. While Alis and Priyya are able to resist the worst of it, and while it is not as potent as before, Alton, Aerys, and Mal are wracked by pain, their breath catching in their throats from their proximity to the unholy energy.
On the ground, the man felled by Malandraenas suddenly evaporates in a cloud of stinging black fog. Instantly his brethren seem to be reinvigorated, the wounds done to them beginning to heal! Priyya notes bitterly that the assault has finished off Greyson as his body crumbles to a pure white ash leaving behind only his sword and dented armor.
From outside you can hear the muffled screams of fighting in the streets and further chanting. Behind Priyya, the eastern window shatters and another cultist enters the tavern eyes filled with cold hatred for the shining woman before him. With a flick of his wrist, he hurls a black dagger at her back, but she is not taken by surprise. However, Mal notes grimly that no sooner did the wavy blade miss its mark then it reappeared in the man's hand ready for another throw.
Further south, another breaks thru the window by the bar. Seeing the fight well in hand, he begins to make a beeline for the old woman singing the holy hymn that is blasphemy to their ears.
; Cultists
MAP: Waterfront Tavern Brawl, (Round 33)
Mal continues his assault on the fanatics, sparing just enough concentration to see the man near Alis, a wordless battle-roar filling the room.
With brutal efficiency, the tow-headed soldier steps past the cultist. Striking as one, Alton hacks into the man's shoulder even as his feral friend eviscerates him with his left claw. Before the cultist can even hit the floor, Andre's right claw tears across the chest of the next one sheering easily thru robes and armor.
Pointing his blade toward the one coming at Lisa, Alton shouts, "'Rys!"
He then circles around the table to put himself in position to continue the assault on the original group of cultists.
Priyya counters the dark power with a wave of celestial light. Then she calls on Alita to bless her blade and points at the cultist, "YOU. Your life and soul are forfeit to my Goddess."
Just as Priyya is about to unleash her healing, Alis takes to the air quickly zipping thru just in time to have her own injuries cured.
Seeing that the old woman has a few tricks up her sleeves, Aerys takes off running, "Got it, Sir!" she says to Alton.
Confused by the seemingly unarmed woman running at him and the other flying about the room, the cultist is unprepared for what comes next. The moment Aerys is in position, Alis gives a flourish, striking from on high from behind the man who had so recently intended to harm her!
Her voice never faltering, 'Lisa' gives a wink to her fiesty young helper as her thin blade slides in and out of the man as easily as a sewing needle thru linen.
; The Good Guys
MAP: Waterfront Tavern Brawl, (Round 34)
Eyes narrowing at the woman's ability to keep reversing their destructive force, the three cultists descend upon Priyya with their daggers, the one by the window charging her. A flare from Priyya's aura knocks aside the blade intended for her back, but the other two men sink their wavy black blades into her, the chill of anti-life shocking her from the inside.
"Zaal shall take you for aiding the so-called Lightbringers!"
Further south, the man flanked by Aerys and Alis aims a deadly slash at Lisa's throat. While the attack would have surely struck any of the rest of you, the disguised princess turns the attack aside with her supple blade.
From outside, you hear further commotion and in one fell swoop, the front doors of the tavern are shattered. The familiar figure of a beautiful woman with flaming red hair, and black, feathery wings (one of which is has been shorn in half) flashes before you. She crashes hard into a table and hits the floor. In her hand, she holds what appears to be a broken longbow. For a moment, your heart seizes.
Lucia?!
No. Her facial features are different, so is the pitch of her voice as she calls out to Homeku...
Perception Checks
"Sarah!" Alton leaps to aid the healer, aiming a deadly thrust at the nearest cultist's back. The attack hits the black-robed man hard, but he still has plenty of fight left.
Before you can contemplate what an erinyes is doing here and who Sorsha is, the sound of a heavily-armored man running reaches you. A huge man clad in glossy black plate charges the woman. In one powerful blow, his crackling black blade pushes thru her defense and sends her head flying. He carries a heavy black shield that looks like a roaring demon skull in relief. It along with his sword and helm are all made of the same black metal as his armor. The only contrast being the bleached, skull-like visor on his horned helm.
In a booming voice, the dark knight calls out, ""
He begins to scan the tavern with his gaze seemingly ignoring your conflict with the evil priests.
; Cultists
MAP: Waterfront Tavern Brawl, (Round 35)
Whether it is the splash of the water, distance from the fight, or the sensation of fear running its course, beneath the tavern. Henry and the two girls swim further up under the tavern, pressing themselves against the pylons that support it in an attempt to stay out of sight.
"Ellie, we've got to help your mom and the others!"
Reaching for her waist she looks down to find that she didn't wear her full kit today, "Dammit, I don't have a rope or grapnel on me. Unless you've got a better idea, we'll have to swim back around..."
Mal's fear enhances his fury, driving him to carve into the men pressing Darkmane.
"We need Ellie and Sasha!" he roars as his claws drive into his opponents.
Lureene feels the panicked sensation ebb from her body, leaving her with a sense of weariness in her bones. That vanishes as she hears Sasha’s panicked voice next to her.
Indeed they do need our help…
She grasps Sasha by the waist and says quietly, ”Hang on to me” while murmuring a quick magical phrase.
As they take flight, she whispers, ”I will explain later, once we save the others,” Assuming we don’t perish as well…
The priest Mal attacked is badly injured and falls to his knees. He looks like he'll fall at the slightest touch.
The moment Lureene and Sasha fly up from below and stoop to reclaim their weapons, the unholy knight points his sword at the red-head. He remarks calmly, "Ah, Sorsha. You would have done well to equip your armor whilst your companion kept me occupied. Let us end this."
A confounded expression paints Sasha's face. She looks at Ellie, turns to see if anyone has appeared behind or beside her.
Finding no one else, she scratches her head and says, "Huh?!"
Suddenly from around the room, three swirling red summoning portals appear. As you listen, hears what sounds like the approach of a very large and angry wasps.
The knight chuckles darkly, "An amusing gesture, but pointless."
"Tch–" Having no idea what's going on and perhaps not caring, Sasha charges the closest enemy, rapier sliding into her hands.
After slashing the man with the sharp blade she says, "There, now we've got a reason to fight at least."
, Alis, Aerys; Cultists, Alton, Dark Knight, Mal, Lureene, Sasha
MAP: Waterfront Tavern Brawl, (Round 35b)
Priyya growls to herself. 'So Called' Lightbringers!?! I'll show you 'so called'... If I weren't trying to maintain my cover...
Yet again, she bathes the room in the energy of life.
With Priyya's attack, the man before her falls the the ground mortally wounded. The moment the burst of light clears, his body and the one over which Mal is standing dissolve into a cloud of black fog that seems to seem into their associates, reversing some of the wounds done unto them.
The knight breathes in the vapors, and gives a satisfied exhale as if he were smelling the aroma of a fine wine. "Aaah, another soul for our lord. One step closer to oblivion."
He turns his gaze upon Priyya and you can almost sense his laughter, "A priestess of the shining one allied with the Coil? A lightbringer deceived by the Lightbringers? My my, desperation creates ironic allies."
Still singing praises to the honor of Queen Auriel, Alis skewers the man before her making the act seem effortless. The priest is hurt badly, though he shows no intention of giving up.
"Go down!" Aerys delivers a powerful punch that break's the cultist's nose yet somehow he remains standing.
Knowing that he has little hope of landing a blow on the blasphemous fencer, the man retaliates by stabbing Aerys in the side.
"A priestess of the shining one allied with the Coil? A lightbringer deceived by the Lightbringers? My my, desperation creates ironic allies."
Now it is Priyya's tone that laughs. "Allies? I'm here to end every evil in this room. The squabblings between your debased gods don't interest me. However, I won't stop you from fighting amongst yourselves. You just make my job that much easier."
Once again, both cultists try to sink their daggers into the flesh of the woman before them. She deflects the attack of the first man while her flaring aura negates the attack of the man behind her.
"My how gracious you are when Sorsha leaps to defend you against us. Very well, stand aside, hand Sorsha over and you may continue your existance."