Bishop watches as Lucius slits the man's throat. "Sounds like you loved this Lucrezia woman. I reckon she was special. Name's Bishop." He holds his hand out to Lucius before he starts looting the bodies.
Lucius shakes the man's hand. Well met friend. I am Lucius and the lady was my sister. He bows his head as sadness overtakes his countenance. He gathers his belongings while Bishop loots the corpses.
"Mind me askin' what happened to her?"
Ember quickly grabs her things and helps to strip anything of value from the HellKnights.
"Nice to meet you too Lucius, I'm Ember. Now let's get the hell outa here before any more of those walking tintoys shows up."
She, with a small group of heroes, fought against the Hellknights and Council of Thieves before the fall of Westcrown. As far as I know, she was killed the day the city was broken. I should have been here fighting with her, but I thought other things were more important at the time. I came here to find her. Ultimately, I would like to know what happened to her and kill every M^*(&&*F*(&*(^* who had a part in her death.
Ember quickly grabs her things and helps to strip anything of value from the HellKnights.
"Nice to meet you too Lucius, I'm Ember. Now let's get the hell outa here before any more of those walking tintoys shows up."
Lucius bows his head to Ember. Good job stopping this one. If he had escaped, we would be in greater danger.
Bishop nods his head. "I like your spirit, kid. She'd be proud of ya." He turns to face Ember. "That was a good move, hot stuff."
"You weren't too bad yourself there Bishop. As for being in danger, well, you can't be in this city without being in danger. 'Specially if you aren't human. Stupid, slave-owning giant pieces of scrap metal."
Ember gives one of the HellKnights bodies a little kick for emphasis.
"You weren't too bad yourself there Bishop. As for being in danger, well, you can't be in this city without being in danger. 'Specially if you aren't human. Stupid, slave-owning giant pieces of scrap metal."
Ember gives one of the HellKnights bodies a little kick for emphasis.
Lucius chuckles at the fight in the small rogue. We will make them pay Ember.
He walks over to Aleixica. Thank You for healing Grimm. I see he has already taken a liking to you.
Grimm continues to lick Aleixica's hand. When she acknowledges him he looks up at her and pants.
"Thanks darlin'. I got my uses. But yea, life's a kick in the teeth like that. Where's this hideout of yers?"
If they agree, Lucius leads them down several alleys and then into a sewer portal. He spends time covering their tracks.
This way.
"Hmph, maybe later we can discuss whatever other uses you might have."
Ember follows after Lucius, carefully watching around for any patrols.
"Looking forward to that conversation." Bishop follows after Ember.
Aleixica makes a face as her hand is quickly soaked. "Ew. Dog spit. If that's my reward, see if I help you again..." she says with mock severity.
She looks around for a moment, and not seeing anything else handy, wipes her hand on Grimm's coat.
"My pleasure. He helps me, I help him. World works better that way I've found," she says with a smile.
Eying the bodies, she wrinkles her nose again. "Wow. It usually takes a little longer before trouble finds me when I get someplace new. Must've offended someone somehow. Again."
"Does it? Trouble finds me right quick wherever I go. Though my company isn't nearly as purty as it is now." He looks to both Alexica for a brief moment and then to Ember, smiling at the latter.
As the bulk of the party takes off after the fleeing Hellknight the Varisians get up from behind their cover and bolt outside in the opposite direction.
The dwarf woman rushes to Alexica's side and clutches her arm.
"Please, if you're leaving you've got to take me with you. The Hellknights, I think they came here looking for me and with four of their members dead they'll have a whole citadel mobilized and looking for you soon."
"Why would they be looking for you? You do somethin' to them?"
"They killed my boy and husband years ago and they've been trying to get rid of me ever since. Please take me someplace safe and I'll tell you everything I can."
"Fine, let's just move on out."
"Of course you can come with us ... wherever we're going. As my great-uncle always used to say, any port in a storm, and we seem to have found ourselves in the Eye of Abendego! Lead on, cap'n" she says, giving a jaunty salute to Lucius.
"... Though maybe we should try to find what led them here, and make sure our proprietor is OK. It sounded like they hurt him."
She'll cast detect magic and quickly search the bodies if no one else has already done so.
The elderly halfling is outside, bloodied and beaten but alive. He's curled up alongside the barrel-made wall of his business. He looks up at the group of you as you exit with a look bordering on hope and then quickly looks away dejected.
"Of course you can come with us ... wherever we're going. As my great-uncle always used to say, any port in a storm, and we seem to have found ourselves in the Eye of Abendego! Lead on, cap'n" she says, giving a jaunty salute to Lucius.
1d20+10
"I'm not a sailor, but I don't reckon that means what you think it means.."
Bishop sees the broken and bloodied halfling. "I kinda feel sorry for him. We should him out since we did tear up his bar and we got him a beating."
After the Ember downs the last one and Lucius, uh ...scalps...him, Tristan nervously looks down both sides of the street to make sure there aren't any reinforcements coming.
"Are we sure that was all of them? We should get to whatever safe place we can and be quick about it. The Hellknights aren't known for leaving loose ends," he spits. The witch conspicuously fails to give his name.
Ember will toss a purse to the poor halfling.
"Sorry about your place. Maybe that will help you to set up a new one somewhere else."
"We should get moving before more show up. Lead the way Lucius."
Aleixica points out the items that radiate magic. "Might as well take those along. We can probably use them more than they can."
"Will you be safe here?" she asks the halfling. "If not, we can try to get you to somewhere safer."
"Just go", the halfling says despondently. "I've been dead for the past ten years anyway. Let the Hellknights come and end this suffering."
"Now what kind of talk is that? You don't look dead to me, why don't you come with us?"
The party's escape into the sewers appears to have been just in time, as a few minutes later the wounds of a several armored men can be heard on the streets above. Fortunately, it sounds like the Hellknights have not caught onto the party's escape route.
After a short jaunt through Westcrown's neglected and filthy sewer system, Lucius leads the party through a false wall and into an expansive chamber. The room was obviously meant for some other purpose at one point, remnants of iron chains hang from the ceilings and walls at points and faded murals line the walls. Empty weapon racks are affixed throughout the area.
A large, mostly intact, glyph of the open road adorns the largest wall's facing.
In its current state, Lucius's 'lair' isn't much. A poorly carved wooden dummy stands against one wall with a dozen arrows deeply embedded in its surface. A handful of wanted posters bearing the man's likeness cover another section of wall. A pair of ratty worm-eaten sofas compose the room's furniture and a pile of moldy furs that reek of wet canine dominate the center of the room.
"Hey, this used to be a safehouse for the Society. How did you know about this place?" Bishop looks to Lucius.
***
[dice=Diplomacy]1d20
"Surely, it's not that bad... You're only dead if you stop living..."
At the lair, Aleixica looks around.
"Well, it's not the worst place I've ever been. Though I think it's close."
"Oh come on now my brother. What kind of defeatist talk is that for one of us? Come along with now before reinforcements arrive. We can help you set up another bar somewhere else."
The elderly halfling's sad eyes brighten a little at Alexica and Ember's words.
"You remind me of her..." he says with a sad glance in the fiery halfing's direction.
"Well okay, let's go. Though I should warn you, I'm going to slow you down. I'm not as spry as I used to be."
"This must be an old Pathfinder safehouse. I've heard stories that all the Pathfinders were driven out of Westcrown since even before the Fall."
Tristan surveys the condemned and dilapidated space.
"...looks like the stories were right."
"I said that, and I knew that. It's why I'm even here in this city..."
The dwarven woman stares at the giant Pathfinder glyph and then back at the rest of you.
"My boy was a friend to a Pathfinder, one of the last ones here in Westcrown just before the Fall. It's part of why the Hellknights have been after me."
She pauses, clears her throat, and stands up straight again.
"Forgive me for earlier. Bawling like a child isn't the way a strong dwarven woman should be acting. I'm Amelia."
Ember looks over (and up) at Bishop.
"What? You here as some sort of advance scout for the Pathfinders to make a return or something?"
"Sorta. I got this letter from the higher ups tellin' me to find out how bad things are here and to secure an old lodge by the name of Delvehaven. It's the only way they'll let me back in." Bishop answers the halfling woman.
"You said your son was a friend to a Pathfinder. Would you mind terribly tellin' me what their names were? Might be of help."
"Let you back in?"
Ember gives Bishop a questioning look that seems to say that she expects to hear more on that later and then focuses her attention on the dwarven woman.
"Nice to meet you Amelia. Sorry about your boy."
"Hey, this used to be a safehouse for the Society. How did you know about this place?" Bishop looks to Lucius.
I stumbled upon it a few months ago running from the Hellknights. I had no idea what it was.