"Gears. Interesting. We know where we're going now. What do you want to do with them?"
After a pause, Dramm gestures to the bodies as well.
"Or them?"
"They're likely part of the cult giving the city council some headaches. We'll deal with them in a minute. But first," he said stalking over to the two Rude Boys, still holding the struggling Anophth.
"You two are part of a conspiracy to kidnap nobles. We really ought to turn you over to the Brown Cloaks but let's say I'm in a riled up mood tonight." he said clenching his left hand which seemed to have gotten a cut somewhere and was now bleeding a little. Likely a random piece of shrapnel when the boat exploded.
"Where's the nobleman's daughter being kept? That and who are the names of your boss and friends? Make no mistake, the Rude Boys as a whole are likely finished now but that doesn't necessarily mean the two of you have to go down with them." as he spoke, Imedren was surprised at himself. His anger made a great deal of his inhibitions disappear, much like when he'd had a decent amount to drink. His words flowed easily now with threats and potential offers alike.
As the rat-man was snatched up, Tabog fast became worrisome and demanding.
"Stop, stop! Give me that bag!" He takes the sack (if Imedren lets up) gently and begins to stoke where he could feel Anophth's back to be. If the Goblin-rat calms he will open up, slowly, the bag to make eye contact with and show that his cat eyes were not aggressive or "on the hunt" but relating to the nature of the transformed creature. He makes all possible moves he knows of to calm, befriend, relate and relax this otherwise stressed were-rat, no longer concerned with the outcome of the Rude Boy's encounter. Feeling confident that Imedren and Dramm had it under control he takes all the time Anophth needs but doesn't let him go free completely.
"They're holding her on the island, too," says Boy the Younger. He proceeds to rattle off a list of nine names, none of whom sound familiar. The leader's name is Kelvin.
Meanwhile, Tabog's efforts seems to have calmed Anophth down. The rogue can tell that his shape changed friend is not in his right mind, his intellect reduced to animalistic levels. But Tabog thinks he can influence his behavior somewhat for the time being!
Think, think damn it! How do we fix this? I know I've learned about this type of transformation somewhere. Something, at least!
In any case, Bog calms the rat-man, trying to relay that the people indicated are friendly.
Anophth seems to be afflicted by a skinchanger curse! Curing it involves either killing the creature responsible for cursing him or administering belladonna for a week up to the next full moonl Powerful magic might also be able to completely cure the curse, but in the meantime, he will change back into a goblin in the light of the morning sun.
Imedren let Tabog take the cloak containing Anophth from him.
Imedren then nodded to the younger boy. "You've been very helpful." he looked to Dramm "I think we can let him go." he then looked over at the older man. "You though... you haven't been as helpful. Anything you'd care to add? Passwords or maybe what you were expected to do when you returned?"
"No passwords. They know who we are. We was supposed to hand the money over to Kelvin, then they'd bring Dreen's daughter back as promised. This was never anything personal. We just wants the money owed to us for the Moore House job. Them fancy boys never made good on their promise to pay us for our services!"
Imedren's eyes narrowed. "It's unfortunate then, that your boss decided to grab a vengeful man's daughter. Certainly he's one with the means to get what you wanted but he has more will than that. Not only that but your actions have indirectly caused this city to begin a downward spiral to madness. Now I understand you were just a gang doing a job, initially. But you should have chosen your follow up targets and threats more carefully.
He wants you all dead. Fortunately for you two, I have my own autonomy. Now unfortunately I can't ask those cloaked men what they were doing here anymore, but I can say that we torched more than a few Rude Boys perhaps 5 or so. So unless there's a specific reason you chose Councilor Dreen's daughter, such as knowing that Dreen himself was a friend of the men who originally hired you, or if there's anyone else in your gang who might know anything more about them specifically at all," he says pointedly to the older man while glancing back at the five dead bodies. "then I think we're done here."
Elder Boy shakes his head."Kelvin just picked Dreen cause he knows he's loaded. The only thing we know about the people that hired us for the job was that they was rich and powerful. And like I said before, we don't know nothing about those guys."
"Pity then." Imedren said with annoyance. "But I suppose that's enough. Let's see if we can find anything about why these cloaked men were here. Were they in fact just opportunistic thieves or something else?"
I don't even think I considered making a prayer to Father Death for this. What's happening to me?
The dead men all bear the same tattoo on their inner forearms--a familiar horned black skull. Other than their sickles, they have nothing of value.
"I'd drown them both. No chance of betrayal from dead men. Though they're honestly lucky to be alive already. Don't think these cultists were aiming for us." He glares at the two men. "Didn't approve of my methods before though. Job said kill all of them. Leave nothing for the Brown Cloaks. Let em go if you're feeling merciful. I'm not."
With that Dramm searches the pockets of the older man, retrieving Dreen's bag of silver. His agitation does not seem to be subsiding now that the fight is over, but he perks up a moment as he remembers something.
"More information means my friend is more likely to be generous with how many of you walk away tonight, and I'm less likely to dump your corpses in the lake. How do you contact 'Gears' as a courier?"
"You can find him in Smokestacks. He works for canisters of dream grease--something a twisted technomancer came up with. Supposed to let clockworks feel intense physical pleasure."
After the Ratman clams down Tabog looks to the older gang member.
"What happens when you don't show? Do they come looking for you or ice the daughter first?"
Bog turns to Imedren, quietly: "We really can trust these guys to walk away from here, I say we bind them up and leave them for the Cloaks. We should be in and out before anyone shows up around here."
He gives him a thoughtful look and shrugs, leaving to the man that blasted four people into the void to decide. He had a new pet rat to worry about, one was enough!
The Rude Boys shrug. "Dunno. We never really discussed it, though I wouldn't put it past Kelvin to make good on his threats."
Phineas bristles at the comment. "No! We can't let them do that! We have to save my sweet Candace!"
"Shut it, Phineas. We're working on it." Dramm snaps. "Imedren doesn't seem keen on killing them. Tie them tight. We'll leave em in the alley. By the time anyone finds them we'll have this sorted out."
Dramm begins checking some of the smaller boats, looking for one that seems suitable for the quick voyage to the island.
"We don't know how long Kelvin will hold the woman. We should go quickly. I hope you have more spells in you, Imedren. We're going to need them."
"Plenty still." Imedren said, seeming momentarily distracted by something else on his mind.
He then kneeled down in front of the younger Rude Boy, his expression turning concerned. "You. I said you can go. Put the Rude Boys behind you. Try to live a better life and let tonight be a lesson to you. I doubt those cultists are coming after you specifically but it may be best to leave soon." He then turned to the older man. "You though, you're going to remain tied up here. If a passing patrol finds you, then that's that. If you get out then you should take this chance to leave Crossings behind you, tonight."
The younger gang member thanks Imedren for his mercy and runs off into the night. The older one simply scowls as you tie him up and leave him on the dock.
Dramm finds a suitable boat, and you all pile into it and begin making your way out into Dark Waters. It takes about 20 minutes or so to make your way out to the densely wooded island where the rest of the Rude Boys are hiding. As you draw near, you can see the island is surrounded by a rocky beach. Two pinpoints of light burn sporadically, coming from two men smoking cigars on the beach and peering out over the lake. They haven't spotted you yet--you could approach them or go around the island to look for another spot to land.
"Hmm, this doesn't look like a good spot. We should find somewhere else to land."
Tabog looks at the Cyclops-Rat and sighs... This is very unfortunate, and it could put us in danger as well.
"AAARGH!"
Bog lets out a yelp and begins to grab and pat around his waist. Looking closely you can see a small bump moving around erratically under his clothing. Suddenly a small rat pops out of his collar, a rat shaped thing anyway. It appears to be the bones of a rat, with a slight purple glow emitting from its center, only visible here in the shadow of night.
"What the hell was that for? Ow! Stop that!"
The rat bones scurry down Tabog's person and to the much larger were-rat, they seem to be communicating with each other though high pitched squeaks and head motions. The rat skeleton climbs the cyclops and hides under its loose clothes. It continues to squeak but they seem to sound more authoritative now, like direction is being given.
Bog looks around at anyone who may have seen this particular series of events and gives an over dramatic shrug.
"It's a long, long, loooooong story... I promise I'll tell you all later, we should get going now. yes? Come, come! Let's head off then!"
With a nod, Dramm continues to row. He's stopped with the sudden exclamation from Tabog, and his eyes widen as the skeletal rat creature emerges from under his clothing. He doesn't say anything at Tabog's quick explanation. Instead his face becomes stony as he attempts to circle the island in search of a better landing spot.
Circling the island, you are able to find a suitable beach on its far side. You pull the boat ashore and make your way through the dense woods. After several minutes, you reach a clearing that is littered with ruins bearing ancient Elvish writing. Six tents are arranged around a campfire near a tall stone monolith covered in arcane inscriptions.
You count seven Rude Boys in total here. Two of them make a lazy patrol of the campsite, while the others sit by the fire. An attractive young woman sits beside them, her hands bound in front of her with rope.
"Candace!" Phineas exclaims in a harsh whisper.
Dramm watches from their hiding place.
"Two of them are missing. Maybe we should try to quietly kill the patrol first. They aren't expecting any kind of real attack right now, and it might convince them to spread out to search for us in the woods. I don't think I have time to make any traps." As he speaks, he scans the area again looking for a clue as to the whereabouts of the two missing Rude Boys.
Dramm remembers seeing a pair of lights on the beach. Those were likely the two other Rude Boys serving as sentries.
"Hold on and be quiet, Phineas!" Imedren says back to Phineas making sure to accentuate his point by putting a hand on the hot blooded young man's shoulder.
"I think I've got an idea. We're not going to fight them directly, not with Candace right there. Everyone pay attention. First, we wait for those two on patrol to wander as far away as possible. Tabog, you become a cat and get as close to one or two of them as you can. If you're spotted distract them with a growl or his. Make them look your way, if not transform behind them. When either of those things happen, I'll make the fire go out. Dramm, when that happens you charge forward to attack one, preferably the one nearest Candace. Phineas, you have the most important job. You need to run and get Candace take her back through the woods and get her to the boat.
The rest of us will fight. Make sure to pick a path that won't have too many obstacles to get in your way. Hopefully the confusion and darkness will give us an edge. If things go poorly for us, we run." he looked around at everyone, hoping they got the idea.
Tabog considers Imedren's plan for a moment.
"If we don't address the watchmen and patrol, as soon as the fighting starts they'll come running... I think Dramm has the right idea, if we can eliminate them separately we might have a better chance of saving the girl... Perhaps before they realize their friends are missing we ambush them, separate the girl and then finish them off."
Bog nods at Dramm and waits for Imedren to think it over.
"I did give it some thought. It's a good idea as long as we get the jump on them and end it fast. They'd only need a moment to call for help though. That means the rest of them would be on guard and would likely keep the girl close."
"They don't have torches and it would take a bit for the two at the edge of the island to get close. They'll all be in the dark regardless of numbers. We hit them hard and finish it fast."
Impatient and eager to run, Anophth the Rat bursts out of the bag and goes running into the night!
The men shout in alarm ad Anophth runs at them. "Look out! A rodent of unusual size!" one shouts.
Dramm starts as the rat bursts from Tabog's hands and charges from the brush.
"Well... we're doing this now, it seems."
The situation is going to deteriorate quickly. Dramm's knife begins to carve a new symbol in the air. As he completes the last image, a very gentle hum surrounds him.
Anophth charges the guards, slamming into them with vicious intent, scratching and biting as much as he can.
Tabog scrambles to keep Anophth in check but the damned rat slips out of his grasp. Seeing its obvious course of action Tabog quickly stands and dodges behind a nearby tree. With his sling ready he tries to make the most of the situation and aims for the man in line of the big rats trajectory, seemingly to to effect.
Aagh, that idiot rat!
"Phineas, with me!"
Imedren gritted his teeth as the Rude Boys around the fire began to ready themselves. Knowing they had mere moments and now without the true element of stealth he ran southward through trees toward the a pile of rocks he'd seen, hopefully the distraction caused by Anophth would be enough for them to not look this way.
"Rodents of unusual size? I don't believe they exist!" the other sentry declares just before Anophth leaps upon him. He cries out in pain as the rat bites him!
Tabog's sling bullet goes wide. Dramm moves up and wards himself. Imedren and Phineas sneak around the edge of the camp, but the latter is much less stealthy than his companion, rustling the undergrowth.
The two sentries stab at Anophth, one scoring a good hit. The Rude Boys around the fire quickly get to their feet, drawing their long knives. "Sounds like more are in the trees over there! Don't let them take the girl!" one snarls. This must be their leader, Kelvin.
Anophth rages from someone having the audacity to try to stab him, and bites back as his stabber.
Imedren continued to move along the field. It was getting less likely they'd be able to do this now but he still had to try.
Dramm carves an arcane circle in the air as he produces a small pebble from an ingredients pouch. He creates a glowing point in the center with the tip of his knife, then throws the pebble through. The glow intensifies and streaks towards the Rude Boy who stabbed Anophth.
Bog prepares his next shot and aims for the Gangster who isn't getting bitten, attempting to take out his knees!
Anophth bites the same man again, fangs tearing at his flesh. Dram sends a magic dart streaking towards the same man, and it slams into his forehead, leaving a bloody hole behind! The man sags to the ground.
Tabog's sling bullet smashes into the other Rude Boy's legs. He cries out in pain but remains on his feet.
He raises his knife to stab at Anophth again, but the weapon suddenly shatters into fragments! High-pitched laughter sounds from the nearby trees, and you spy a tiny figure dancing with glee. "Oh, gods damn it! The gremlins are back!" the man shouts.
Though Phineas is stealthy this time, Imedren is not. Kelvin points out the magician in the treeline. "Over there! You two, go after him! Franz, help out Olaf. Deekin, with me." The Rude Boys rush to follow his orders, moving towards you. Kelvin and Deekin drag Candace along as they move towards the center of the clearing, away from the tree line.
Anophth-rat turns on the other bandit, leaping up on his chest in an attempt to knock him down on the ground under the rat.
Imedren grinned as the two men came charging at him. When the two of them closed he said "You're about to have a very bad night."
The orders from Kelvin quickly make him stand out. Dramm's eyes snap to the man, and he approaches quickly while tracing a diagram in the air. He stabs seven points of light within the circle and produces another small stone. This time the stone shatters when it is thrown into the circle, and seven shards of energy streak towards Kelvin to embed themselves in his flesh.
Tabog continues to assist his friend-turned-prey and flings another stone at the Rudest Boy.
Tabog knocks the Rude Boy with another bullet, but he's still on his feet. He dodges Anophth's lunging strike.
The other thug near the rat stabs him with his knife!
Dramm blasts Kelvin with magic darts, badly wounding the leader. Imedren hexes another man, leaving him dazed. Phineas dodges past the Rude Boys to get closer to Candace.
The disarmed thug picks up his fallen ally's weapon, resisting the gremlin's influence as he stabs Anophth. Another thug moves up to Imedren but fails to hit him.
Kelvin grabs Candace and holds his knife towards her menacingly, glaring at Dramm and Phineas. "Stay back, or she gets it!" he shouts. The he staggers in pain and shock as the man near him, Deekin, stabs him in the back. "Don't you dare hurt her!" he bellows. Kelvin looks bewildered by the betrayal!
Anophth screeches and bites back!
Seeing the opening, Dramm rushes forward. His knife is already carving a burning sigil in the air. He stops a couple of yards short of Kelvin and grips both sides of the magical image, tearing it violently in half. The barrier around him flares as the magical backlash washes over it and the spell is released.
Dramm's will is overpowering and brutal, and the spell erupts savagely upon Kelvin.
"Die."
His eyes still blazing, Dramm turns to this "Deekin" fellow.
"Drop the weapon or join him. Now."
"Now I've got you." Imedren says with a grin on his face. "BREAK!"
He says with a mighty shout as he holds out his hand to the rude boy in front him. A gash suddenly showing itself on his arm. He mimics crushing the long knife he has in his hands.