Dermont turns to look at Finch, his face grim. "So, this was your idea of how to help, attack us without warning? I thought we'd agreed to sequester anyone who raised suspicion, and handle it properly?"
Finch can only wince. "Yes, I thought that was clear as well." He mutters. The look he throws Sangkip is withering.
"He's lying through his teeth." Aline replies, clearly upset. "He didn't even talk to me, it was those two over there." She points towards Huni and Eamon. "And neither of them are raising concerns. Certainly not trying to assassinate me!"
Salantris nods. "Yes, this was all highly inappropriate." He glances over at Finch. "Methinks we've done enough for the Society. You can all leave now. We will continue this investigation on our own."
"But Commanders..." Finch starts, desperately trying to salvage the situation.
"No," Dermont interrupts, motioning to the nearby Crusaders. "You had your chance. We will take this up again with Jorsal once the current threats to the city have been dealt with. I had hoped the Society's bad reputation was just talk... but clearly there is more to it."
You are all summarily escorted from the building, Finch included.
Once outside, the younger Pathfinder turns on Sangkip furiously. "What the hell were you thinking?!" He starts to yell, before scowling, and calming himself. "Was my 'Absolutely not', not clear earlier? Gods man, the damage you've done here today."
"And we still don't know if there's a demon in their midst!" He throws up his hands, and turns to go.
"I need to report this, try to do some damage control." He turns to glance back at the rest of you. "I suggest you lot go try to actually help the city somewhere. You didn't do so here."
He quickly mounts a nearby horse, and rides off to the west quickly.
You realize that, after being detained, you ended up inside the bunker far longer than you'd expected. The sounds of battle from around the city continue, the demonic attacks having shifted northwest, and the sun a little lower on the horizon, closer to dusk.
You make your way towards the Battle Gate, everyone surprisingly silent in the wake of what happened back at the bunker. Whatever thoughts in your heads remaining unsaid for now.
The extended delay at the bunker appears to have cost you more time than you'd thought as well. It starts to look like the siege is going to carry past nightfall. When you finally reach the gate, there are signs of recent battle, though Commander Neylan's squad appears to still be holding the area.
It takes you a moment to draw her attention, though when she sees you, she nods wearily, and approaches.
"Had not expected to see you lot back here so soon." She says.
When you mention you are looking for Venture-Captain Jorsal, she only shakes her head.
"Jorsal? You just missed him." She replies. "He was here for a while, trying to find some aid to help some of your fellows, stranded outside the gate somewhere, when the attack started."
"But we could not spare any men, and he was unable to find any here, before he could wait no longer." She shrugs. "Your people are on their own now, I'm afraid."
It would seem actions at the bunker have made you miss your window to catch the Venture Captain.
Neylan has no idea where he went from here, only that he rode back into the city.
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That is most unfortunate, we have pressing news that affects the balance of information with our adversaries. Who can we locate that would be next in command? In lieu of that, where can we be most helpful? Alessio is troubled by the strange turn of events that led to our lateness. We must be careful with our accusations. These are potential allies.
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In the sombre atmosphere after our failure with the shadow demon, the news of the end of our trail is difficult to bear, and Floria really wants to get a win.
"There are pathfinders trapped beyond the wall? Do you know where? No-one deserves to be left out there to be torn apart by these beasts, perhaps we can help them."
Commander Neylan only shakes her head at Floria's question. "Sorry, the movements of your agents is not something he shared. I do not envy their position, either."
She ponders for a moment, then indicates a couple of civilians huddled not far off. "Maybe you could escort those two there to one of the safe houses?" She offers. "Its not much, I know... but we can't spare the people anymore. There's one a few blocks over. We've been trying to get the refugees, that trickle in, to safe locations... but fewer and fewer are making the gate. Once the sun sets, its only going to get worse out there."
Neylan nods her thanks, and the two fearful civilians are quickly put into your care, with instructions on where the safe house is. There are only two of them, a middle aged man and a younger man, who you learn is his son. The son has three long claw marks across his cheek, but otherwise they seem to be alright.
Both of them are thankful to be taken somewhere out of the fighting, their small caravan having been attacked on the road into town, and everyone but them slain.
You head out quickly towards the safe house, which is not far... a few blocks through the siege-torn streets of the Battle District. When you get near, however, you find a larger group of civilians gathered out on the street, looking around fearfully.
One of them spots you, and waves to the others, and they all start your way.
"Please! You there. We need your help!" One points back towards one of the buildings, which you quickly realize with a slightly uncomfortable feeling in your stomach, is the very same safe house you were headed to.
"We were told to come here, to lay safe until the siege is over." Another sobs, clearly near panicking. "But the crusader who was supposed to watch over us and protect us from the demons... he died the moment he stepped inside!"
The others start clamoring in agreement, all of them afraid and nervous, unsure what to do or where to go... and not wanting to get caught out on the street.
"Everyone's afraid to go inside now. They said there were other safe places, but only the crusader knew where those were." The first adds, with a second fearful glance back towards the building.
"And what if they send more people here?!" Another pipes in. "They were shepherding people here from all over the city."
"Please, could you go in there? Do a sweep, or whatever." One finally asks. "Make sure there are no more traps, or whatever it was that killed the crusader."
"Please!"
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"This sounds right up our alley. Okay, so this is a safehouse that was trapped out of cruelty. Most traps are focused around entrances and exits, and have simple bypasses once you know the trick, but if I were a demon cultist, I'd trap as much as I could in here since I'm never coming back. So eyes sharp!"
You find the crusader in question near the entrance... or at least most of him. His body lies twisted and mangled about five feet back from the doorway, as if hit by a large concussive blast.
Whatever it was, neither Sangkip nor Alessio see any signs of it anymore, though do note it went off before he managed to open the door, as it remains shut.
The door opens easily enough... revealing a large furnished tavern space beyond. It does not appear a typical tavern though, the place furnished far too well, with carpets on the floor, and paintings on the wall, that make it appear more like some sort of private club.
The large open area at the front sports a large fireplace stands unused to the right and in the center, a few large tables, surrounded by comfortable padded chairs. At the back, a raised area leads to what appears to be a long bar, with more padded chairs, and another section that goes off to the right, that you can not see from the doorway.
Sangkip sees nothing suspicious from his vantage point at the entrance.
Alessio will see no signs of chemical residue to explain the damage.
From the location of the body, and the damage done, his best guess puts the point of origin somewhere along the top of the door frame, most of the blast hitting the unfortunate crusader at a downward angle from above.
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"Of course we'll help, have no fear, we're professionals.". She is unable to avoid having a sly glance at Sangkip as she says this last.
"Perhaps a magical trap?"
Standing to one side, Floria will concentrate and cast detect magic, focusing on the door frame if Alessio shares that insight (and she'll keep casting it while exploring the safe house in case more such traps are hidden within)
With the nod from Sangkip and her own crossbow drawn and loaded she'll enter the room, casting light on her crossbow if it's dark in there in between detecting magic.
Finally she'll take a look around the room for signs of anything out of the ordinary.
Floria takes a moment, before the others go inside, to scan for magical effects.
But after concentrating, she will realize it is not on the doorway, but something inside, that she is noticing.
If there was a magical aura on the door or the frame to explain what happened to the crusader, it likely faded long ago.
A few second later, she starts to get a better feel for it. There is definitely an aura of moderate strength just inside, on the other side of the now open door. In fact, she's pretty sure it's under the rug laying on the floor just inside. Unfortunately, she can not see any more of it, due to that very same rug.
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"Wait, there's something magical under the rug. Fairly strong too. I'd suggest we be cautious about this. If we step back perhaps I can lift the rug up with my mind and hopefully if it's dangerous we'll be at a safe distance."
If she knows about them she'll share her fears about them with the party, and perhaps things that I don't know like if uncovering them is good or bad, if she's unaware she'll get everyone to step back and use mage hand to lift up the rug.
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Eamon gives the Psychic a wide berth, standing at least 30' away from her and the doorway. He begins to usher their charge, and the other civilians back, further away from the door as well. O.K. people time to stop gawking, let's step back O.K.? Some magical traps can be quite powerful.. Eamon points to the crusader's torn and broken body, I'm sure none of you want to end up like that unfortunate soul.. Eamon makes a quick gesticulation in reverence to Iomedae.
That's right a little further back...let's wait for the professionals to finish their job. Eamon peeks over his shoulder anxiously looking at Floria and Sangkip.
,
As Eamon moves back the civilian targets, Sangkip moves in to the doorway, to see if he can remove the carpet without setting off whatever magical effect Floria fears is hiding underneath it.
Of course, whatever it is, seems to be far more sensitive than you'd hoped. Even as the vanaran moves near, eyeing the rug to assess where the best place to start might be, Floria notes the magic underneath flares!
On either side of Sangkip, magical energies start to swirl, and two forms rise up out of them, as if ascending from beneath the floor.
Small, bloated creatures, their flesh shudders with each movement. The nearer one lets out a loud mournful wail from its mishappen maw, claws clenching in anticipation as it spots Sangkip nearby. The second creature, much like the first, lunges towards the vanaran as well, not even bothering to scream, its mouth merely gaping open and closed eagerly.
- Round 1 ----
Eamon, Alessio, and Kara respond quickly to their sudden appearance!
The Demon horde has so far failed to get a beachhead into the city, being driven back over and over. They rally for one more attempt in their greatest numbers so far...!
Kara, you will know that dretches, much like many demons, are resistant to most elemental damage, and outright immune to electricity.
As Eamon leaves the civilians on their own, he quickly moves back towards the entrance, loading his crossbow as he goes.
Kara and Alessio both go with their crossbows as well, though Alessio's shot doesn't even make the doorway, the bolt burying itself in the wooden wall to the left. Kara's shot proves more accurate, as she manages to thread it through the doorway, around the frame, and past Sangkip, sinking into the dretches flabby flesh.
It hisses in pain, its entire body starting to shake, and quiver from the impact, and suddenly a foul-smelling greenish gas starts to leak out of the wound, quickly filling the surrounding area in a thick cloud of noxious fumes!
Suddenly, you can not see much of anything, your view obscured by the thick gases.
- Round 1 ----
Floria, Huni, and Sangkip are up!
The noxious fumes almost overpower her, Floria quickly staggers back from the doorway until she is clear of them, though in doing so, she can no longer tell what's happening inside. The civilians huddle not far off from where she emerges, and look at her fearfully, asking to know what's happening.
Sangkip is having even more issues with the gases, as he was standing right at the epicenter of it all. It is all he can do to keep his lunch, as his eyes water up and he stumbles backwards out the doorway trying to get away from it. He does his best to dodge any attempts by the demons to hold him back, but doing so slows him down, and he soon finds the vapors extend quite some distance outside the building, and he can't manage to get clear
Huni takes the opposite approach, marching foward through the cloud, sword and shield in hand, to confront the demons head on. As he comes through the door, he spots one off to his right, and immediately hacks at it with his sword. The others hear a high pitched burbling wail emanating from the fog.
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,
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The second dretch, makes a strange gurgling sound, as its initial victim flees its clutching grasp, but the gurgle changes to an eager howl, as it sees another appear in the mist nearby. It quickly moves in to flank with the second, clawing and biting at the warpriest with overenthusiastic relish. Huni easily turns aside the things blackened fangs, but only his armor saves him from first claw, and doesn't help at all versus the other, as the dretch drives it under his arm, clawing at the unprotected flesh there!
- Round 2 ----
Eamon, Kara, and Alessio are up!
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Buoyed by the accuracy of her first shot, Kara lines up another in the same general area. Even though she can not see the demon, she knows where it was, and fires blind, hoping it hasn't moved. Again she manages to thread it through the doorway, around the door frame, past Huni... and is rewarded by the sound of the solid thunk of it hitting something fleshy.
The demon lets out a loud hissing shriek, green gasses erupting all around it, as it sinks to the floor, and becomes little more than gas itself.
Taking advantage of that fact, Alessio moves in, barely able to see through the thick mists, he slides past Huni, but opens himself up to attack from the second demon as he does so. It swipes at him with its blackened claws, going for his throat!
Luckily, it can not see through the clouds of gas any better than the Pathfinders can, and its attack merely sends gentle whorls through the accumulated gasses.
Of course, the gasses are no less nauseating now then they were a moment before, and your eyes continue to water from exposure to them, as you continue to take in bits with each breath.
- Round 2 ----
Bold can go!