The wooden boards creak and groan under Selter's assault, but do not give way.
The inn's interior indeed shows signs of renovations. The floors are new and quiet, the walls are covered in fresh paint, and the entire place smells of recently cut wood. Most of the furniture has been removed, though a few tables and chairs remain and are covered in sawdust and wood shavings. Several buckets of white paint sit atop the bar.
Through the door way you see a dirty and disheveled ginger-bearded man glaring at your intrusion and raising his club to charge. Near him, slumped over the bar is a man matching Kafar's description. He looks badly beaten. Three dog-sized rats shriek and chitter at your approach, baring teeth and claws menacingly.
Initiative Order - Round 1
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Selter and Sithiss - struggling with boarded door
Dietrich - moved and opened door
Odo
Gaius and Owl?(can't find sheet on your familiar)
Tresca
Tanselle
Enemies
Marla and Brak
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As she heard Dietrich's foot crack through the dock, Tresca's heart lept into her throat. So much for stealth.
With a curse muttered under her breath, she follows Dietrich and Tanselle towards the inn. Once she is in a position to see inside the inn, she halts, shrugs her bag off her shoulders, and drops to the ground behind it, trying to make herself a smaller target.
Gotcha, so the owl is back at the Inn? Perching on a neighboring building? It will affect what Perception bonus I use when rolling a passive check for you, so it does matter.
Between the two of them, the halfling and the nagaji bring the boarded door crashing inward, doorframe and all.
Initiative Order - Round 1 Summary
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Selter and Sithiss - Breaches the door!
Dietrich - moved and opened door
Odo - Breaches the door!
Gaius - Magic missiles @ Dire Rat 1 for 2 damage
Tresca - drops prone and loads crossbow.
Tanselle - held attack.
Enemies:
Ginger-beard - moves, casts flare on Dietrich.
DRC - moves, attacks Dietrich.
DR1 and DR2 move toward the front door.
Marla and Brak
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Selter and Sithiss
Dietrich
Odo
Gaius
Tresca
Tanselle
Enemies
The filthy, ginger-bearded man barks commands to his rats and they close on the pathfinders, slinking around the tables and chairs and clacking their teeth together in anticipation. The larger of the three closes on Dietrich and just succeeds at nipping him. The man moves nearer as well and as Dietrich tries to avoid the snapping teeth of his pet, he mumbles something under his breath and casts Flare. A spot of bright white light suddenly blooms in front of his face, searing his vision with the after image, even after the light has faded.
Sithiss follows her master, continuing to guard him.
Sss...
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Tresca takes a tentative peek over her backpack. No arrows or quarrels or bullets headed their way - at least not yet. The ginger-bearded man was clearly a magic user of some kind, though, which could cause problems if not dealt with. Leveling her crossbow, she takes aim and squeezes the trigger.
"Let's try to keep this one alive" the alchemist remarks to her closer companions, "We could learn a great deal from him on where our target is held."
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Tresca takes a tentative peek over her backpack. No arrows or quarrels or bullets headed their way - at least not yet. The ginger-bearded man was clearly a magic user of some kind, though, which could cause problems if not dealt with. Scrambling to her feet, she levels her crossbow, takes aim and squeezes the trigger.
"Let's try to keep this one alive" the alchemist remarks to her closer companions, "We could learn a great deal from him on where our target is held."
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Odo strides forward to stand shoulder to... hip with Selter. He draws his scimitar, a well-made but simply adorned weapon, on the way. He stands ready to lash out at any enemy that comes within reach.
"Fortune smiles on us. I expected we may be separated by a door, but we have all found our way into the commons."
Dietrich brings the great-axe down heavily, splitting fur and rending flesh from bone as the largest of the rats now bleeds out on the new floorboards.
Ginger-beard roars in grief and rage and then reels backward as he takes Tanselle's round right in the chest. He spits blood at her as he hisses, "You will join us in death, half-breed, for the end times are upon us!"
His bold declaration is punctuated as Tresca's bolt flies and strikes him in the stomach and he doubles over and crashes to the floor, unconscious and bleeding.
Sithiss continues to follow Selter holding his action in case there is a threat at which to strike.
Sss...
Gaius blasts the same rat again, which is now looking substantially weakened.
Selter skewers the rat with his spear. It writhes in agony a moment and then is still, blood pooling beneath it.
As Selter raises his eyes from his kill, looking for an opponent to sic Sithiss on, he sees the bent and huddled forms of the hostages. There are several folk hog-tied and gagged in the corner. A long rope encircles each of their necks, binding them to one another. They look weak, but several of them stare with wide frightened eyes that dare to hope their salvation has come at last.
Dietrich fumbles at the man's wound, only just managing to staunch the bleeding.
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With a quick glance at the downed opponent, Tresca assesses that Dietrich has done his job properly, and that the man is in no danger of bleeding out. She joins Tanselle, glancing at the rest of the inn and seeing that the situation is almost under control.
"Did I just hear him call you 'Half-breed'?" Tresca remarks, her voice prickly. The comment may have been directed at Tanselle, but the alchemist still dislikes overhearing the slur. "Hrmph." She lets out a huffy, disgusted noise to articulate exactly how she feels about the unconscious ginger-beard, reloading her crossbow as she does so.
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Very much aware of the battle still raging on at the other side of the tavern, Tanselle lends Tresca an ear while loading a cartridge into her pistol.
I have been called worse," she says in accented Taldane. Perhaps we have taught him some manners.
Tanselle gives the alchemist the faintest of smirks as the ammunition clicks into place and she steps beside her new friend.
Through the door way you see a dirty and disheveled ginger-bearded man glaring at your intrusion and raising his club to charge. Near him, slumped over the bar is a man matching Kafar's description. He looks badly beaten. Three dog-sized rats shriek and chitter at your approach, baring teeth and claws menacingly.
The rat falls and Nefti moves toward the bar with a worried look on his face. He touches a bruised arm tentatively, trying to rouse him. "Master Kafar? Master? I-I can't wake him... Can you help him?"
As the (more mundane looking) Pathfinders approach the kidnap victims, a woman begins weeping with relief, her body wracked with gagged sobs.
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Seeing Gaius move to help the kidnap victims Selter and Sithiss move to secure the bearded one.
Hmm... Many mammals seem so unreasonably afraid reptiles. Let's see how he responds. While he is tying the man to a pillar he has Sithiss slither all over him.
Then he says, Belike you under mountain of trouble little man thing. You are no longer the dangerousss predator in the room. Fellowsss be asssking you sssome questionsss. If they don't like the anssswersss, ssself give you to darling friend for a sssnack. It might take her ssseveral hoursss to ssswallow one asss plump asss your ssself.
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Odo returns his scimitar to its scabbard and walks over toward the prisoners. He keeps his voice light and calming as he starts to untie the first one he comes to.
Stay calm, everyone. We are here to help you but we also need your help in turn. Do you know of any other guards or prisoners? Anyone else we should know about?
The filthy man stirs and spits his words at the Pathfinders, "We are all prey for the void, snake. Kill me then and I go to on to Oblivion, freed from your stench!"
The weeping woman throws her arms around Gaius in gratitude as he releases her bonds and begins to let free the others. She listens to Odo's questions, wiping away her tears and trying to calm herself so she can answer.
"There were more here, but they have been gone for some time. They split us up and then took half away, but I heard them talking about how to recognize the ship. They said it's named "The Prancing Prince"!
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Tresca sees that the prisoners are being taken care of, and leaves briefly to return with her backpack in hand. Things were under control with them, and she didn't want to overwhelm the poor people further by crowding around them.
Hearing Nefti's call for help, Tresca comes over, healer's kit in hand. "Let me see." she offers, bending over the unconscious man to inspect him.
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The filthy man stirs and spits his words at the Pathfinders, "We are all prey for the void, snake. Kill me then and I go to on to Oblivion, freed from your stench!" ...
Selter quietly whispers in his ear, Sssome truthsss been sssaid. But sssome deathsss are worssse than othersss. Ssself imagine ssslowly ssswallowed alive be among worssst. Think about toesss being consssumed in ssstomach fluidsss while ssstill able to breathe... and ssscream.
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Tanselle's ears perk up when the woman across the inn mentions "The Prancing Prince."
"We can free you soon enough, in fact, I'd relish the task," she says, weighing her pistol in her hand. "That is, unless the snake here prefers live prey. For now, though, where are the other hostages? Where is the ship?"
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Dietrich calmly, and obviously, cleans the rat guts from the blade of his axe while looking pointedly at ginger-beard while selter and Tanselle question him.
"I think you'd better tell my companions what they want to know. I'm a pretty reasonable man, but Selter here is getting hungry and Tanselle doesn't appreciate racial insults. So talk, or you'll find out first-hand what waits in the Abyss!'
Tresca looks over Kafar thoroughly and finds that the man has indeed been beaten badly. She discerns bruising on top of bruising, though most are superficial and will heal easily with rest. She checks his pupils and finding them dilated, she realizes the man has been drugged somehow. His wounds seem to indicate he fought hard the whole way and had to be beaten into unconsciousness repeatedly to keep him subdued. Maybe even healed and the process begun again.
Ginger-beard curls his lip and sneers at Tanselle's taunt, though he eyes Selter and Dietrich somewhat warily. "You are too late! That ship has sailed by now!"
Odo and Gaius free the last hostage, he is a shrewd looking man with an expression more angry than worried or fearful. He shakes his fist at the filthy man and demands "And are the auction house's relics on that ship as well, you foul smelling brute?!" He turns to the Pathfinders, "Thank you for freeing us, I was auctioneer at the event from which they grabbed us all. I overheard them talking, they said 'Once Ismacco arrives, we’ll make a lot of money for the cause by selling these slaves into the Chelaxian market'! I heard them giving directions too, it sounded like the ship was moored on the far side of the shipyard." He recounts the directions as best he can, scribbling them down on a scrap of packing paper.
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Tanselle sees the uncertainty in the man's eyes and smiles faintly. She retrieves a cartridge from her belt pouch and holds it in Ginger-beard's face.
"He has no way of knowing if the ship indeed sails," she says calmly as she loads the cartridge into her pistol. "Who is this Ismacco they heard you speak of?"
She punctuates the question not with a raised voice or angry look, but the barrel of her gun pointed squarely at the filthy kidnapper before her.
"Tell me," Tanselle says. "It will be hard to cast spells without fingers."