There isn't much left to overhear aside from Maude calling her friend, "Bunny," by name and assuring her, "most men find my whip quite persuasive."
Henrietta is careful not to cause the door to open from her knock, yet it opens quite suddenly. Maude is clutching a brass key worn around her neck as she says, "Do come in, dear." In her right hand is a whip, though it's apparent she has no intention to use it on anyone in the room.
As for the blonde, who a moment ago, spoke in a tone typical of a frustrated woman having a bad day at work... now she rises, robe open, not at all embarrassed to be seen this way by an unexpected guest. She greets Henrietta in a chipper voice. "We normally don't do walk-ins, but seeing how we have no one else to do right now..."
Maude gives Bunny a look.
Bunny just says, "Oh," and fastens her sash to cover some exposed skin.
Maude gestures to a comfortable chair, and says, "Surely a handsome woman such as yourself need not pay to be entertained. How can I help you, Miss Howard?"
The Little Lebowski find it awkward to hold Hank's little finger as he descends the steps. He tries to maintain contact as best he can, repeating the phrase, "I won't bolt." The third time, he says, "No place to bolt to anyway."
He then approaches Alistair, Captain Andoran, the Elegant Edge and Anabel. He takes a moment to appreciate the heroes' elaborate outfits, which somehow seems to ease the halfling's nervousness. He then says, "The owner of the hand sent me," and goes on:
"Demon Seeds... I heard stuff about 'em. They come from a city that sunk under the boggard's swamp. The Prince's men—the ones that survived the journey, at least—found 'em in a vault. The Prince knows what they are—what they do. And what they do is wipe us all out.
"I don't know how, but that body's gotta burn." He points to Biff's corpse. "It's probably too late. I mean, you took out Biff quickly, so maybe his blood won't do anything. But he's not the only one who swallowed demon blood. And if that spreads, Rooftopolis... maybe all of Arcadia—everyone—we're all..." He shakes his head. "...we'll all end up like Biff.
"The Prince has no intention of sticking around. I'm sure of it. He's just gonna let his mules loose and kill us all!"
Anabel nods solemnly. "Then it would seem our path is clear. We pay a visit to the Prince and... convince him to undo the damage he's caused. Failing that, we try to find as many of his victims as possible and determine how to purge them of this corruption."
Manny (halfling) replies to Anabel's words. "The Prince is supposed to be personally overseeing the shipment. According to my sources, the ship should be here any minute."
Bulge (half-orc) looks a little confused. He scratches his head, but doesn't say anything.
Ness (half-elf) uses his cantrips to move the shards of diamond/demon seed into a small pouch.
Furious George mutters, "S'pose I ought say a few words." He and Bart start moving Biff's body outside, using George's bloodied coat and an old apron to handle the grotesque corpse.
As for Narissa, she uses her healing wand on Hank...
...healing his wound completely!
Alistair holsters his weapon, and returns to the bar to finish his drink.
I'm heading to the docks, time to find out about this shipment. he mentions as he goes to collect his friend Captain Andorian.
As Alistair heads out, Ness Nelson joins him, along with any others who are ready to intercept the Prince's ship.
Near the bar, Bart (bar tender) and Roz (waitress) douse Biff's corpse with cooking oil and booze. George ignites the corpse and says, "You died as you lived, Biff. Stinkin' drunk."
Cat LaNoire places a hand on George's shoulder.
George goes on, "But I'll never forget the time you pulled an ace from your sleeve to beat my four-flush-ace-pair with a triple-A. I had to kill three men for calling me a cheat, but you done right fessin' up and vouching for my honor after I killed two men at the next game. I can never stay mad at you, Biff. So I take back a few of the things I said about you. You're a straight shooter. See you in Hell."
Dots Domino dabs her eyes with a hanky. "That was beautiful, George."
It's likely that Alistair and our other heroes by the docks are not particularly interested in hearing a eulogy, and are far more interested in seeing signs of an approaching ship.
They don't see the ship itself, but what they do see that is out of the ordinary are two lampposts emitting green fire. (Or it is normal flame surrounded by green glass?) The lampposts are at the end of a dock about 500 or so feet away. The dock itself is well-lit, and in the lime-colored light are several dock workers. All are lying down, but some of the men are portly enough that even from this distance, our heroes can tell that the men are breathing.
Anabel follows Alistair. She boldly awaits the Prince's arrival at the obvious, attention-getting dock lit by green flames.
At first it appears no different than a glimmer of phosphorous, but when the dot on the horizon is more than a faint glow, there's no mistaking it—it's a greenish flame, likely hung on the bow of a distant ship. It's approaching.
Fast.
Unusually fast.
It wouldn't take an experienced sailor to figure out that the ship's speed is magically enhanced. If any of our heroes has ever boarded a ship with enchanted sails, the approaching ship appears to be moving two-to-three times faster...
"Heads up. That ship is coming in hot."
Anabel chants the words to a spell, and a shimmering shield of force springs into existence in front of her. She takes a few deep breaths, mentally preparing herself for battle.
Henrietta sits down, legs apart, back rigid. ”Another time ladies and I would be eager. But not tonight. Did you see what happened to Biff down there? A man shat himself out and attacked the crowd. I have it on good authority that The Frog Prince is coming with girls about to do the same thing to the whole city: fart themselves inside out and kill everyone. I dunno. I’m desperate. If you know anything- anything -, please,” she begs, disconsolate and afraid, ”tell me.”
Shaking off her nerves, she stands and looks out the window at the approaching ship. ”I’m going to kill him,” she murmurs. ”Tonight, I am going to kill him.”
Alistair checks his revolver to ensure its loaded. slipping it back into his holster, We should try and figure which pier its headed for.
he scans the docks for the most likely pier the ship will be docking at.
Bunny asks Maude, "Why are all the men farting tonight? Oh! And Biff..." Not having witnessed the commotion outside, Bunny seems to be struggling to associate meaning with that name. "...he's my john's co-worker. And come to think of it, I don't even know the name of my john. He said something about Biff busting open a crate of diamonds, made fun of Biff for eating one, and then the fool prob'ly cracked a molar biting into his!"
Bunny points to the open door connecting her room and Maude's.
On Bunny's bed, the john is lying on his back, legs splayed, wearing only a wife-beater. Henrietta is spared the worst possible view, as the man's head is toward her. He is snoring, with a line of foamy drool from his gaping maw, over the edge of the bed, down to the floor. The drool has a bold purple tinge to it.
Maude tells Henrietta, "I just spent at least twenty minutes counseling that nervous halfling. He did mention the Prince being upset at the dock-workers for pocketing his merchandise. He is a mere boy and a mere lamplighter, and much of what he said seemed like nonsense. He said the Prince would make a four-day journey in twenty hours, and there was mention of proper mules and gems not getting in the wrong hands and such."
When Henrietta sees the green light approaching, and her plan to kill the Prince on it, Maude says, "If these demon seeds are truly as the Little Lebowski says, I wish you luck, Miss Howard."
Once Henrietta is downstairs, Manny says to her:
"Anabel said something about purging the corruption. I might know a guy who can extract the gems. It won't take long for Dr. Syrus to fly over, but if those girls have these demon seeds in their bellies, we need to be ready for them.
"New plan—you go ahead and intercept the ship. Take the girls out alive. If they turn as Biff did, they're gone, and… you know what you gotta do. But if they're just farting and sleeping, we'll try to save them."
Bulge says, "Maybe they didn't eat the diamonds yet."
Manny says, "Sure, brother. We ain't ruling that out."
Alistair is the first to see that the ship is heading directly toward the dock lit by the green flames. The flames are clearly magical, as the fire is now extending beyond the glass (through spaces between panes for ventilation). The flames reach toward the ship, stretching outward—inches, a foot, nearly a yard. The green lantern on the ship itself glows brighter and brighter, presumably reaching back to the dockside flames.
And the ship itself—
It's approach is insanely fast, spraying a misty geysers in port and starboard directions as if carving the sea itself. The ship will likely hit the dock in about fifteen seconds—
—and that's hit as in collide!
Unless there is a magical means of stopping, the crash will likely breach the ship's hull and definitely smash the dock into splinters. There are a dozen dock-workers sleeping there, drooling a purple substance that glows under the light of the green flames.
ROLL INITIATIVE!
Thanks to Alistair's observation, the entire party is able to anticipate the ship's disastrous course. Why the Prince would approach this way is something the party can figure out later. For now, the question is, what (if anything) do our heroes do about the current situation?
Post 3 rounds of actions. It will be assumed that your characters will NOT be in harm's way when (if?) the ship crashes, as you have plenty of time to get out of the way.
"We have to get them to safety!" Anabel shouts, pointing at the sailors. She rushes over to them and tries to rouse them, or failing that, drag as many as she can out of harm's way.
Captain steps outside with the group, leaving the tavern folk to deal with their loss and sundry damages.
Taking in the view and the state of the workers he'd previously seen being rather mistreated he moves to act quickly.
Looking for something solid and tough on shore that isn't filled with people/good etc....
Running towards the peir's end he shoults. "Some folks get these people off the peir. Any one with illusion magic? Need them here, please!" He indicates the end of the pier where he begins working to losen one of the green, glowing poles.
As he innitially throws his weight against its braces he explains.
"We give the ship a different place to impact. Some where she won't founder so fast. Nor do as much damage." He again glances at the surrounding terrain.
"A spell too mimic the lights? We can use that to throw the incoming vessel off a bit more..."
As Anabel drags the first body aside, it seems there isn't enough time for five people to save a dozen prone men—
—but Captain Andoran takes a chance and uses brute force to move one of the lamps, as if moving the flames can change the course of the speeding ship—
—and it turns out Andoran may be right! As he rams the post, it tips to one side and the lamp shakes. The distant ship shimmies as it adjusts to its slightly different destination. It'll take the good Captain a little longer to tip the post, which would change the ship's course just enough that Anabel alone can move three men out of the way in time instead of just one or two!
seeing the effect of the lamp post, there must be more to this than we think. no one is stupid enough to approach like this without some plan.
but despite this he decides to help Captain 'A' with the post. and hoping to see a way to actually shut off the light.
Thanks to Alistair's knowledge of mechanisms and keen eye, he notices a mechanism at the top of the post (under the burning lamp) and metal shutters which—with a turn of a dial—cut off the supply of oxygen. He needs a ladder to reach the dial, and as it happens, there is one lying on the ground near a sleeping dock-worker.
As Alistair Cooper is questioning the wisdom of any plan that involves the destruction of ones own ship, it seems much more likely that the plan has gone awry, and that the dock-workers are supposed to extinguish the flames.
The Professor is able to put out one of the flames, and the ship slows in response. While it will still crash at this point, the impact will not be so much as to likely injure or kill those on board. In addition, between Captain Andoran shifting the point of impact (by about 10-15 ft.) and Alistair slowing the ship, there is time enough for the women (and giant crawling hand) to move sleeping workers to safety.
With the workers safe, Anabel casts another spell. The end of her bladed scarf crackles with electricity as she stands poised for battle.
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Hank bounded up the stairs at Henrietta's call, veins pulsing. Through their dull empathic link, he knew, she was frightened. Something was not how it was supposed to be. He broke through the room and stamped impatiently between the beds, red eye flicking open first on his back and then again on his palm, assessing the situation.
There, his daughter, across from her, two young attractive ladies, made him twitch and tap looking at them, and beside them? A sleeping man, drooling.
"He's been farting?" his daughter asked, summoning Hank towards her. He clicked and clacked his way over, investigating the man. Hank pulled himself onto the bed, grateful he lacked a nose.
"Leave the room," she demanded. She was frightening sometimes. Reminded him of her mother. Who was her mother? Unimportant.
She repeated herself, screaming if necessary while Her Hand scratched his thumb idly, much the same way one picks a nose.
"What do we do, Hank?"
His murderous intent needed no translation, filling her with eagerness and hate.
"I don't think it's that simple. What if there's an antidote? Regardless, Lebowski said they make more when they die. Should we just strap him down and bolt the room in?"
Her free hand clenched involuntarily. Choke him, fight him, kill. It will protect the others. Throw him in the water, drown him.
Headstrong as always, she marched out the door and leaned over the railing. "Hey Ness," she called, "get up here and check this out."
The outside situation being explained, Henrietta bounds outside atop Hank, pulling the dockworkers to safety.
Once everyone is free, she readies a charge from the base of the dock, preparing to board the ship, find the Prince, and kill him.
With Alistar's help, Capt shifts the ladder to bridge the gap between shore and the ship's resting place. A makeshift gang-way, if you like.
Before using said gang plank to board the ship and take stock of what's on deck.
"Well, if we had folks to help I'd say putting some more wood on our gang=plank would be the go... But, failing that, every one watch your steps, hey?"
Maude insists on tying the man. "I specialize in bondage. My ropes hold, but do not harm." Turning to Henrietta, she adds, "The experience can be quite pleasurable when the captive feels safe. Barge in my door anytime if you wish to experience this first-hand. As payment, I might wish to experience this hand first." The drow winks at Hank as she says this. Then, in a more serious tone, she goes on, "Whether you take me up on my offer or not, I wish you well, Miss Howard, and pray for your safe return. Happy Hunting."
The ship smashes through the dock—sending splinters and boards flying—before the bow penetrates the dock completely and embeds itself in the stone ledge beyond the boardwalk.
One frogman dangles from the crow's nest...
...but he manages to grab a hold of the rigging.
As Captain Andoran slams his makeshift gangplank in place, sever frogmen rose from their crash positions. Many have two-pronged spears in hand.
There is an angry spiky-haired frogman at the helm.
"Croah grub grakh! Hroo, hroo! Craoh grohk!"
The men suddenly stand at attention. Two move into position, blocking the makeshift gangplank. Two particularly big frogmen stand in front of the captain—who is very likely the Frog Princess Darkness, judging by his flamboyant black outfit. On deck, there must be half a dozen others.
Capt offers the ship's crew a wide and sincear welcoming grin.
"Ahoy there!" He glances to Alistar, "That's the nautical term, right?" He jauntilly asks before slipping his shield from his back and proceeding to barrel up the now firmly wedged entry way.
Captain Andoran makes an entrance for his comrades to follow through.
Anabel steps up to the nearest boggard. "Do you know what happens when a toad gets struck by lightning?" she asks as she whips her electrified scarf at him.
"The same thing that happens to everything else!" she finishes as he jerks and jolts.
As the opponents on the ship get ready to fight, Alistair moves to get a shot on the enemy, taking aim at the leader.
Our heroes attack! Anabel zaps one boggard "toadie" while Captain Andoran bull-rushes another aside, clearing the way for Henrietta's charge.
Alistair fires a shot—and it grazes the Prince!
"Grahb groo-ahp?!" The Prince whacks one of his bodyguards with a staff, which is adorned with dozens of dried up frog legs (from regular-sized frogs). He then dances and chants with the staff in the air. "Rooka-Rakka! Rooka-Rakka!"
The bodyguards hurl spears at our heroes!
Capt shifts his shield to his 'Off side' and adjusts his stance assuming a more 'boxing' pose.
"Okay, what's next?" He asks as he looks around.
While others rush those aboard the ship...
...though most of the Toadies get in each other's way as they rush the makeshift plank!
Currently, there are two bodyguards who intend to do a better job taking bullets for the Prince next time a shot is fired. One Toadie is on his back, smoke rising from his singed corpse. Of the seven others, most are trying to attack the first two heroes to board.
The Elegant Edge seems to have one in her sights, however. And another toadie seems distracted by a putter-patter coming from the boardwalk... but he doesn't notice anyone.
...
Henrietta charges in with her lance, hoping to be as loud and disruptive as possible, before stabbing whomever is between her, and the Prince. Hank reaches out with his everything and instinctively tries to grab what Henrietta's fighting.
A random gnome with hot pink hair in one half foot dreadlocks, mint skin, and eyes the size of small saucers appears climbing aboard the ship. She is dressed in plaid pants, zig zag shirt, spotted cloak, and plain brown gloves.
As loud as she can she exclaims, "HI! I'm Sabrina Sara Sierra Sabelsash! If you can't alliterate call me Sabs!" Seeing the tussle between the other party members and the frog men she looks excited and says, "Oh! Are we doing violence?!" She raises her shield and a simple wooden ankh.
She mutters words in magical tongue and a warm glow emanates from the gnome that feels like being bathed in summer daylight, Bless.
Anabel spares the gnome a glance. "Yes, these frog-people have done some Very Bad Things. It's time they faced justice for their crimes!"
Bolstered by the spell, she whirls away from the toadie that attacked her, lashing out at him with her bladed scarf.
With a deft parry of his shield Capt steps forward slightly and jabs a fist at the frogger threatening him.
After taking a hit, Alistair ducks behind some cover and pulls an attachment for his revolver from his pocket. with a quick click, he attaches it and pops up to fire.
a small grenade like device flies and bursts over top the lead frog, showering him in little sparkling, multi colored lights.
he then drops back down behind the cover to put the device back into his pocket.
The Prince resists the effect, and completes his dance!
Green clouds form over the ship in seconds! And in seconds-and-a-half, frogs fall from the sky—spattering all over the deck of the ship!
Several frogs land on...
#2 = Captain Andoran
#3 = Alistair
#4 = Anabel
#5 = Fifika
#6 = Sabrina
#7 & #9 = ???
#10 = Prince
#11-17 = Toadie
#18 = Dead Toadie
#19-20 = Bully
...Captain Andoran, dousing the uniformed hero in toxic blood and slimy frog guts!
Invigorated by the Prince's magic, Toadies mob our heroes!
As Anabel and Captain Andoran kill one Toadie, another takes his place!
...but his blade hits nothing but scarf!
While Hank tramples the one his daughter and the Edge take down, another attempts to unseat the jockey...
...who remains mounted, but feels the pain of the reckless strike.
Another punched Captain Andoran—
—in the shield! There is a sickening crunch as the boggard breaks a few fingers!
One leaps over our heroes, targeting the pink-haired healer...
...but he impales his leg on a broken board, sharply pointed upright as a result of the ship's crash! Sabrina can easily strike her failed assailant!
The only remaining Toadie manages to find Alistair's cover position. He takes a swing!
And hits!
The Bullies stand by their leader, ready to take a hit for him... or so they hope. They're zero-for-two so far...
Unable to use his sheild to defend from both foes infront and... above. Capt stoically endures the pelting rain. Moving carefully across the slippery deck he continues to deal with bad guys.
Sabs watches the clumsy creature spill into the broken boards of the ship, she felt bad for it but then remembered the Very Bad Things Anabel had mentioned. She mad a tiny fist and stepped away from the frogman that just jumped next to her (and any other next to her if any).
"Oh! Human justice against not-humans! Exciting!" She pulls off one glove revealing a hand that looks like it's been recently and badly burned and then her hand bursts into a brilliant fire the color of the sun. She holds the flame in her hand, winds up and releases sending the fire shooting towards one of the bullies guarding the prince.