"Stab longshank! Gurk attack!" Gurk shouts out as he pulls out his dogslicers and swings, going straight for the easiest weak spot for a goblin to reach.
Gurk nearly stabs the man in the genitals, but instead slices a big cut down his inner thigh. The man shouts in pain and surprise. He steps back and starts making strange motions with his hands to cast a spell at Gurk.
He isn't able to maintain his focus though as the blood runs down his leg and the spell fizzles out.
Everyone hears the shout from the goblin and the pained screams of the injured man.
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"Exactly, Master Copperpot. It's time to stick to the plan and not rush towards the noise now. Let the goblin finish his scouting, as discussed, and let us be prepared for his return out here."
Davor kneels behind cover, ready for anything that will come this way after the goblin. He then whispers a quick prayer under his breath, briefly touching the holy symbol of the River Rat, and grabs the javelin leaning against the wall beside him.
Lexi closes her eyes, grits her teeth, and actually begins to shake like she's having a seizure. Then she takes off like a spooked deer, doing a bouncing zig-zag around Adistan and Verris, her long, graceful strides propelling her toward...the abandoned tavern's front door.
"We can't just leave him, damn you!" Temmer grates as he takes off after Lady Dusk.
Longshank not die right away. Longshank must be strong. "Gurk be stronger! Gurk stab again!"
As she nears the front door, Lexi looks to see if it, too, is boarded up like the back door was or if her lockpicking skills might be needed to gain entry.
Hearing Gurk shouting and a commotion inside, Verris takes off towards where she saw Gurk enter, trying to make sure their diminutive friend is okay.
Everyone begins to move up. Lexi notes that the front door is in fact boarded up. Gurk keeps on attacking the longshank inside, scoring another hit, but only doing a small amount of damage.
The man takes another step back to give himself some room and casts his spell at Gurk, this time without distraction, as an array of bright colors wash over the goblin.
"Ack! Boarded up!" Lexi hisses at Bixby as she nears the front door. The young aasimar briefly considers turning around and heading for the back door (where she knows she can squeeze in) until she sees Davor bearing down on her. Fearing a tongue-lashing or worse, Lexi keeps going, turning the corner before spying a window she might be able to slip through (unless it, too, is boarded up).
Seeing a colourful flash of light from beneath the door, Verris continues moving towards the door Gurk entered, her bow in her hand. She shoves the door aside with her shoulder, looking around for whatever is making all the noise.
Gurk falls to the ground limply without another sound.
Adistan also continues hustling toward the door, bow still in hand.
The sounds of silence coming from behind seem ominous, and he hopes he's not too late.
Temmer nods in appreciation as the half-orc shows some discipline and communication, edging to his left to let the man pass.
Lexi peals off from the others and starts looking over the other side of the building where she finds everything seems to be boarded up, at least as far as she has gotten. The other continue to make their way into the one open door where Gurk had disappeared into not long ago. Verris, first into the room see Gurk laid out on the ground, but doesn't see any actual injuries and a man standing across the a table from him. The man looks up when Verris enters and shakes his head letting out a sigh. Then begins to cast a spell as Verris feels a haze start to come over her mind.
Lexi moves along the outside of the old tavern, checking another set of doors and window as she makes her way along.
The sight of Gurk laid out, unmoving, on the ground shocks Verris, leaving the spellcaster an opening to hit her with a spell. The haze overcomes Verris before she can react and it's all she can do to fight back against the spell.
Gurk continues to lay unconscious as the fight progresses.
HP 12/12
AC 17, touch 12, flat-footed 15, CMD 16
Fort +4, Ref +4, Will +1 (+2 vs. emotion spells, effects)
Effects:
Temmer moves into the room, looking around for an enemy.
Adistan and Davor join Verris, who is just coming out of a haze, and Gurk, who is passed out on the ground. There is another man who steps over Gurk's body and begins casting a spell as a wave of colorful lights wash over Davor and Verris.
You are stunned for 9 rounds, blinded for 8 rounds, and unconscious for 4 rounds.
Lexi still has no luck as all the windows and doors so far are boarded up, but she sees the door further down appears to be cracked open where she can get through. Bixby follows behind the others as quickly as he can.
Knowing that time may be of the essence, Lexi sucks in her non-existent gut and manages to slip through the partially-open door without losing too much of her forward momentum; for one of the few times in her life, the lanky lass gives silent thanks that she didn't inherit the voluptuous curves of her mother. Faced with another set of closed doors, she reaches out and opens one, readying herself for the unknown as she hears Davor issue an ultimatum to whomever's inside.
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Bixby, nearly out of breath, races into the room. He had seen bursts of color as he ran toward the building.
Seeing someone standing over Gurk, he says "I will be the one to apprehend and see this goblin convicted! Whoever you are, step away from my nominal ally!"
Raising his hand, he casts color spray, hoping to bring down this foe, whichever conspiracy he might be a part of.
Verris shakes off the haze affecting her mind only to see a wave of colour approaching her, then nothing...she collapses bonelessly to the ground.
HP 12/12
AC 17, touch 12, flat-footed 15, CMD 16
Fort +4, Ref +4, Will +1 (+2 vs. emotion spells, effects)
Effects:
Temmer blinks to clear the effects of the lights from his own vision as he studies their foe, then launches an arrow toward the man if he still stands.
This has all gone to hell. No discipline in this group. Someone's going to have to take charge or we're not even going to make it out of this building.
Before the battle even begins in earnest the little gnome finally enters the room and unleashes a flood of colors that was over Davor and the man. The man passes out and hits the floor with a thud.
"Well done, Copperpot!" Temmer calls, stowing his bow as the combat seems to have ended. "I'll bind the man; make sure the others are OK."
He heads over, pulling rope from his backpack and tying the man up.
Gurk begins to come to after a few moments, but continues to lay on the floor. "Gurk feel funny."
Amelexis appears from out of the darkness to the west, her crossbow at the ready.
"What happened?" she asks her comrades who are still standing. "And who's that guy? I was expecting slavers--plural."
"They're not...dead...are they?" she gasps upon seeing some of her new teammates lying motionless on the floor.
"Oh, by the way--there's an unboarded side entrance back there...probably how this guy slipped inside."
Lexi checks on the fallen, finding no sign of any wounds on them. When Gurk begins to stir, Lexi tells the goblin she thinks he got 'spelled, but not in a writing sort of way.' Then she checks on her fellow aasimar, the awesome Verris. There but for me taking a wrong turn goes I, the gangly gal thinks. She also thinks she ought to do some explaining before Davor skins her alive.
"I'm sorry didn't stay put like I should have," Lexi says with downcast eyes. "But I sort of figured 'the scouting ends when the screams begin,' and I felt I had to help Gurk. I suppose you've got no choice but to report it to Lady Sheila. She'll be so disappointed in me."
At the mention of writing, Gurk begins a quiet, almost chant-like muttering while still on the floor. "Toads, fire, rats, goblins, longshanks, stab, hut, shinies... Gurk good. Gurk have all his words still."
Verris doesn't stir for the 3 rounds the man is unconscious but her chest does rise and fall with the steady rhythm of breathing.
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Davor shakes his head and spits on the ground near the unconscious spellcaster. Readying a javelin, he looks around the nearby rooms to make sure the place is secure, while saying, "Gurk. Next time you should stick to scouting. If ye want to live... err... if ye wanna keep your words that is. That guy Temmer's tying down now was one breath away from taking all your words while you slept. Worst kind of way to go down if ye ask me. Next time observe and report back to us. Keep all yer words. Or like we longshanks say: keepin' yer word..."
You check the rest of the building and secure the caster. There aren't any other threats that you see. Eventually Verris awakens, followed a little while after by the now bound man.
When Verris comes around, she sees Lexi's childlike face hovering over hers. The look of concern on her fellow aasimar's face turns to a genuine smile when Verris stirs, and the lanky weakling offers a hand and helps pull the paladin archer to her feet.
Lexi says nothing though, her attention turning to where Davor is chiding Gurk. Although she's pleased she's not the target of the scary half-orc's displeasure, she feels a little sorry for Gurk; after all, perhaps the goblin got surprised by the slaver and all he could do was give a yell and defend himself.
Still, she wasn't getting yelled at for her disobeying orders or for arriving at the fight late due to her poor decision-making...and that was a good thing. Now if only Temmer and Davor would forget to mention it to Lady Heidmarch when she asked for a report....
Knowing that she could still make a contribution, though, Lexi mutters something about standing watch. She belatedly stops pointing her loaded crossbow at Verris--I've really got to stop doing that!!--and stands with her back to the coming interrogation, looking mainly out into the water through the gaping hole in the back of the tavern, trying hard not to be hypnotizing by the rhythmic lapping of the tide. Moments later, though, she's humming an unfamiliar sea chanty and gently bobbing her head.
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Bixby ensures that the man is well-secured and observes his face.
"He looks like any number of criminal I've investigated before," he says as he tries to see if he recognizes him.
"A spellcaster could have entered through invisibility or some other stealth-enhancing magic."
Once the spell wears off, Bixby stands over him with a look of displeasure. The Varisian illusion stands behind him with arms folded.
"Live by color spray, die by color spray, or so a saying ought to go. Now, who are you? What criminal organization do you work for? Are you a slaver? A Sczarni? Did you know Gurk from your time with the Sczarni, and the two of you had bad blood and came to blows? Have you seen a woman that looks like this?" he asks, gesturing toward the Varisian illusion behind him.
When Verris reawakens she groans, grasping at the sides of her head and moans "Oh gods, my head!" She opens her eyes and a note of panic enters her voice as she says, "Wait...I can't see!" After a moment her sight comes back and she lets a little yelp at the sight of Lexi so close to her face but she gratefully accepts her hand and gets to her feet. "Thanks!"
She looks around and notes that the spellcaster is now tied up and asks, "Ugh...What happened? Last thing I remember was a wave of colour flyin' at me, then I wake up with one hell of a headache and can't see a thing. Ye got the guy that attacked us though." She finishes her statement by nodding at the tied up spellcaster and then listens as Bixby asks him questions.
"You longshanks have more than one word if you did not let them leak out," Gurk replies, slowly letting the spell run its course. "Me run into longshank. Longshank chant. Gurk stab."
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"Then you're a s+$&ty scout!!" growls Davor, "and we'll be running into battles every time you bump across a bard, a joyful pastry chef or a kid humming a song. Scout means hide and spy and tell us what you see. This is a big city, goblin, and you better learn to stab only when we say so, unless you want to end up in cage as a pet for someone or with the guards putting a bounty on your head."
I got a thing or two to teach this goblin about how to be a proper outcast in human lands. I learned the hard way in my wee years... and I was half-human to start. Him? if we don't teach him fast, he'll be skewered by a guard or thug within days... nay... within bloody hours! Tough love is better for this little one. Yes. It will make things clearer for him. He might hate me, but he'll be safer...