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"Yeah! That's what you get!" Reggie chimes in, though he is talking about the one that was downed by their actual melee attacks and not the ones that are still flying.
With no other opponents on the ground, Reggie rides his wolf buddy back to where he left his sling staff, limbering his lance once again.
It's wings gummed by the tanglefoot bag, the strix falls from the sky.
Candledark commands the remaining strix to fall as well
And it does so and lays still.
Son delays.
The gummed strix defiantly rises to his feet and tries to break free.
Round 5-ish! (Theme ♬)
The Bold May Act!
_________________
__ Son
__ Aquavius -18 hp
__ 575
__ Reggie/Rowdy
__ Aiden -11 hp
__ Candledark
__ Strix (blue dead; red -36 hp down; purple -5 hp, entangled)
"Die, wretched invaders!"
575 knocks the last strix out with punch.
"Agreed, 575! my attempted charade wasn't so effective, and I might spring for a decent bow at some point... but in the meantime... how about one of these three bows the strix left for us hey?" says Son of Cayden, picking up a bow and quiver. The happy man thinks for a while, and frowns... he disarms the strix that are still alive as well, and removes all their possessions.
"When these two wake up, they'll probably head back to their own lands from lack of their bow and gear. Furthermore, they might think the dead one has healed up and flew back home... so let's move the dead strix back to the Thistles' headquarters, unless you all have a better idea?"
Son of Cayden respectfully wraps up the remains of the dead strix in his urban camouflage netting and slings the bundle over his shoulder.
"Let's go! ...oh... and..."
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Aiden approaches the unconscious with his sword, then turns as he sees 575 stopping his attack. "Are we not going to finish them off? They threaten the city and cut it off from any resupply or reinforcements except from sea. Breaking the Sitrix' hold on the land would help the city breathe once again."
The Chelaxian removes all items from the corpses or prisoners.
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Aquavius lets the debate rage on, she doesn't really care. Step one is healing these wounds with her wand.
Now in mostly good shape, she shrugs. "Normally I'd... well, never mind what I would normally do. Messe wanted us to bring him proof we scared them off." She walks up to the dead Strix and pries off some of its plumage. "We bring those weapons and some of these feathers back, he'll know we took care of things."
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"Well that was quick!" Meese exclaims, then adds "And bloody I see."
He pulls out a set of mismatched tumblers and pours some wine for everyone. "Drinks are on me. While you've been gone I put in a word with my friend in the White Thistles. He says he can arrange to provide you a distraction tomorrow at dawn. Just let me know when and where tonight."
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Reggie is tempted by Aiden's logic. Removing an additional stranglehold from this place would only help it along the path to freedom. He just can't bring himself to massacre helpless opponents, though. He simply turns away without a word, clearly distressed by the choice he's had to make.
"Perhaps not as bloody as it should have been," Reggie replies. He downs the wine in one go, but doesn't ask for another.
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"To be enough of a distraction for the whale to get out, I think we need some major disruption at Whaler's Point. Set fire to a few warehouses and cause a couple of docks to collapse perhaps. Shipping will be a mess and boats will be moving every which way. That'll mask whatever signs of the whale there might be." He looks pointedly at Reggie. "See, you might get your riots after all."
"To be enough of a distraction for the whale to get out, I think we need some major disruption at Whaler's Point. Set fire to a few warehouses and cause a couple of docks to collapse perhaps. Shipping will be a mess and boats will be moving every which way. That'll mask whatever signs of the whale there might be." He looks pointedly at Reggie. "See, you might get your riots after all."
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You can't control fire.
Why so eager to destroy
What little is left?
575 seems a little perturbed at his fellow Pathfinder's continued desire to burn the town to the ground, when the town is not the problem.
Of course, if the Society gets banned from the entire country due to to the Loyalists, all their promises of helping get even further away.
If we wish to help
The Loyalists must be stopped.
And good for us too
"Well, I wouldn't call it a 'base,' but the clientele of the Throne Defiant certainly leans toward the diabolic throne."
"Ah there you go. Now do you have a symbol of Pezzacki's resistance against the empire?"
"You could ask a hundred people on the street outside and get a hundred different answers to that question. Maybe you should leave the distractions to my friend. Not all of the revolutionaries in Pezzack think kindly of or even accept the idea of an independent Andoran."
"So what? We find a flag, put it up, and slip through the chaos."
"The Throne Defiant still flies its moth-eaten, Imperial, Thrunish banner despite several attempts to bring it down."
"Seriously, it has been handled. The White Thistles have pledged to stand with you come tomorrow morning. Now if there is nothing else, I'm sure there is another fire somewhere that needs putting out."
"That's the idea Aquavius. Lorrin, your printing press is not the only one in town I hope?" says the happy man, smiling.
"Alas, there are no known presses in town. The former Governor had them all seized just before the mob came for him and his Hellknights. Did you need some postcards made with your forwarding address?" Meese says with a smile. "Perhaps you should ask your friend the Printsmith."
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575 continues to observe his companions, with a slight nagaji frown.
If those that remain
Blame all that happens on us
Where does that leave us?
He ponders, thinking that the reputation of the Pathfinders in Cheliax, though of no concern to Olandil, should probably be of concern to the rest of them.
He recalls Poppo's comments from earlier and glances at Meese.
Could the White Feathers
Help mitigate their efforts?
You have ways with words."
"You can't really stop the Loyalists in town, but you could certainly muddy the waters, spread counter-rumors. Maybe Jaks was a--I don't know--a cultist of Norgorber trying to smear you. You could conduct a PR campaign of your own. Put on a stage show for morale sake (I love a good bit of theatre), or help out where you can in the city, or the like."
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Could the White Feathers
Help mitigate their efforts?
You have ways with words."
"Oh, and they are 'Thistles' not 'feathers,' my sahuagin friend." corrects Meese.
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"Alright. Stage show it is. Presented in character, by Boratio Fishblower himself! ha ha ha! A satire on the Empire's continuous attempts to crush the last bastion of resistance in Cheliax! Let me get some of my best material together and I'll see what I can do. Lorrin, if you or your friends could help the rest of our gang organize the venue while I prep my material, that would be most appreciated!"
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"I like the idea of causing some confusing rumors. Let's plant that Strix corpse and spread rumors that the Loyalists want to start an all-out war with the Strix, one that will likely see the Strix to terrorize the city." He glances at Lorrin. "Think that'll cause enough confusion to have people ignore whatever they say about the Society?"
"Alright. Stage show it is. Presented in character, by Boratio Fishblower himself! ha ha ha! A satire on the Empire's continuous attempts to crush the last bastion of resistance in Cheliax! Let me get some of my best material together and I'll see what I can do. Lorrin, if you or your friends could help the rest of our gang organize the venue while I prep my material, that would be most appreciated!"
"That's... a ghaaaastly plan Aiden! geez! imagine poor Madge and her noodles hangling from strix' talons flying high above Pezzack's buildings!"
"Is that going to be part of your show?" Meese says with obvious disgust at the idea.
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Once the play begins, or is readying to begin, Reggie and Rowdy will put on a show to attract attention and garner interest. The halfling performs all sorts of riding tricks, hanging from the side to snatch things from the ground as Rowdy lopes by, standing in the saddle, bouncing off his back and over the saddle to the other side and back again.
And once it does begin, Reggie leaves the wolf backstage and mingles with the crowd, chatting people up and bolstering the message.
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*Ahem*
"ARRRR!" Aquavius points her prop (it is a prop, right?) trident into the air. "Listen to the tale of the Open Road! A band of adventurers, here to raise spirits in a town oppressed by a terrible regime!"
She swings her trident in a slow, sweeping arc. "The Regime, clad from head to toe in the blood of the innocents, claimed the Open Road was the source of peril! But the people were not fooled! No! They knew the Regime would lose some day."
She plants her trident with a resolving clang. "But the Open Road beckoned them towards freedom. Walk down the Open Road, and you will Find your Path. Not today, not tomorrow, but as long as you walk away from the Regime, freedom will prevail!"
Aquavius smirks as the audience cheers. Yeah, I still got it.
Backstage, Son puts on the beard once more, and thinks, Aquavius is killing it! that's gonna be a tough act to follow! better go for extra silly, as she's got serious pinned down pretty good...
Hoping they won't take it too personally, Son of Cayden starts roasting Cheliax:
"How does every Egorian joke start?
By looking over your shoulder.
Whats the difference between a smart Egorian man and a unicorn?
Nothing, they're both fictional characters
A noblewoman once asked the queen "What's the secret of a long life?" To which the queen replied "don't piss me off!
One morning, two men from Egorian are strolling down a street, when they see a stray dog licking its own testicles. One of the men turns to the other and says, "Say, I wish I could do that!" His mate watches the dog for a moment, sighs longingly, and replies, "I should say so! But don't you think you ought to get to know him first?"
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575 seems uncomfortable putting themselves on any sort of display, in the current climate, though recognizes what they others are trying to accomplish.
Unfortunately, he has no skills at performance, or comedy, or even a gift for talking to people.
He does try though, doing his best to find sympathetic ears looking for someone to blame for the current strife, and at least tries to lay some groundwork pointing somewhere other than Absalom.
Infernal reigns rise
A proud country ripped apart
Yet Pezzack stands tall
Come the First Ashes
Hellish response to dissent
But sparks rise from ash
Then Second Ashes
Sparks light delicate egos
And flames burn once more
Sparks again flare up
But look to Egorian
To find those to blame
Unfortunately, though his words perhaps resonate with some of the residents, it is more due to their strange cadence than any particular revolutionary message.
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Aiden sneers as he plays the part of a Loyalist. "Don't listen to those silly Pathfinders! Cheliax is our land. We secure it with devil pacts so that no one can dare oppose us! Those stupid Strix think they can control Pezzack?! We will bring fire and death to them no matter what it takes! They can destroy every tower and building in town, but we will never yield! We'll sacrifice every person in town to the devils if they can kill the bird-men." He raises a fake sword and strikes a dangerous pose.
The street show is a total success! Somehow there are posters and printed handbills and little kids running through the streets rounding people up to come see. And then, the party burns the house down (metaphorically).
People leave singing in haiku and saying things like "It was better than Cats. I'd see it again and again." or...
"That was really good!"
The next few hours are a blur (mostly because of exhaustion, and cheap, home-made alcohol you could strip paint with).
Olandil finds you in your rooms at the Academy before dawn and tells you "It's time. The Thistles performed a little early-morning sabotage on the Navy's and the Loyalist's supply caches. Whaler's Point is swarming with marines going door to door."
He leads you at a fast pace through the maze that is the Guts as quickly and as quietly as he can.
Olandil rounds a bend into a large sea-salt-smelling cave.
A few rays of red sunlight streak into the narrow grotto to glint from the ocean outside to the shallow water within. Poppo sloshes through the water to pull at a stepping-stone in the middle of the cavern.
It dislodges with a pop, and a small swirling whirlpool gurgles in its place.
“Quick!” Poppo says, as low but urgently as he can. “Into the blowhole!”
It's not a stepping stone after all, but a sort of hatch.
The carcass is wedged in the inlet, which is much deeper than it appears. The whale itself is cavernous, its throat littered with improvised tools, sealed kegs, and broken bits of small boats. An intricate ritual circle glows on “floor” (tongue?) of the whale.
“All aboard! We’re setting sail! Or whale... I haven’t figured out the jargon yet. I need two of you to keep an eye out the portholes--er, the old eye holes to tell me how to steer until we get out of the cave.”
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Drinking, sleeping, partying - the only thing Aquavius misses raiding ships and divvying loot. Oh well, you can't win 'em all.
The next morning she dives right into the blowhole and casts Unseen Servant She orders it to stay in the dry part of the whale head. "Me mate here can handle simple tasks, with nothing too heavy."
"So I can look out the eyehole, I'm a pretty good spotter. But you folks don't like water too much- I'm a natural, so I can stick in the stern as well."
She reapplies Olandil's wand of Investigative Mind as they prepare to leave.