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With yelps of surprise and pain, the band leader and many of his musicians dodge out of the way of the relentless clockwork dentures, causing the entire band, and the floats behind them, to come to an abrupt and sometimes inertia-laden stop. This allows Djorn to just casually aim a javelin in the float's direction, striking it and allowing it to deflate over a rather confused and starting to panic assembly of loyal servants.
The lead man's mind proves to be highly resistant to Lukaas' trickery, but he barely takes the time to pay the spell any attention as he continues to dodge the mechanical teeth and finds himself startled by a bird-shaped shadow that leaps in between the floats. Esh manages to follow in the ninja's steps with a wink towards the assembled guards, something that Aiden attempt to mimic but instead only manages to run into a float before getting out of the way and follow his companions.
The inquisitor, his weapon coated in the gore that was his reanimated guard, steps out of the Bloody Nail, looks about, and sets his gaze upon the mess that was the food distribution line. Motioning for two of his men to follow, he charges forth!
Seconds later he finds himself wading through a crowd on the verge of becoming riotous in the chaos.
The Pathfinders, having crossed the parade route (and taken back their chattering teeth), are now faced with another dilemma: A supply wagon, loaded with goodies for the celebration. The guards standing by the items, look confused, but will likely begin to move up on the group. The time to act is now!
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Djorn hates to abuse animals. They're just doing their jobs and have no agenda or even real knowledge of what they're doing and assisting.
But, he's going to make an exception, this time. If he can just get the horses to bolt, the guards will have to waist enough time corralling them for the Pathfinders to get away.
He howls as he jobs along, getting closer, the barks and growls before throwing his hands in their faces.
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Nectanebo catches the attention of one of the guards, and does something the rest of you don't recall ever seeing him do before: He pulls his coat all the way open. Nobody else can quite catch what is revealed within, but whatever it is, it fills the poor guard with utter horror....
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While Esh's sound effects do not fool the horses, the gravitas the sounds lend to Djorn's actual gesticulations body posture and actual growling do help send the horses in a panic; they rear and kick, sending the guards for cover as Waki casually pulls one, then two pins from their snug fittings, allowing the draft horses to begin galloping for freedom!
As the guards deal with the equine menace, Aiden - smugly sure of himself - skiddles past the cart's bed and attempts to let the goods therein slide out... Unfortunately, Aiden only belatedly realizes that one must unlatch both sides of the bed.
A guard attempts to rectify both the situation and Aiden, but motion coming from the direction of Nectanebo makes him look. And she then shrieks, before running along with the horses.
Interrogator Vasenti and his diminished retinue barely manage to get out of the crowd of hangry beggars, only to be confronted with a chaotic mass of deflated floats, confused marching band members and a halted parade; meanwhile the Pathfinders continue through the crowded streets as fast as they can as they pull along a wide-eyed Zefiro Balinger. "What in all the god's names did you show that woman?" he asks, afraid to know the answer as they stumble in the middle of an open-air Asmodean service given at a key intersection (unbeknownst to them). AS if to firmly establish the officious nature of the proceedings, an Asmodean star is hanging from a nearby tavern front.
Beyond the Asmodean ceremony, the Pathfinders can spot the tellltale sounds of street performers, complete with bards singing the praises of the lord of Hell, a fire-breather and a man on stilts.
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Djorn can't help but grinning at the chaos caused. He's not at all certain that freeing the horses wasn't for the best, too. The way these people treat other people, he has to assume the horses aren't the most pampered of beasts.
"Well...that's just tacky," he says when he sees the gaudy star hanging from the tavern. He makes the attempt to climb up and "redecorate."
Later, he doesn't exactly appreciate the subject matter, but who doesn't love a little Chelish Metal Music (so called because of how many of the instruments are made of metal, for some reason.)
With no desire to disrupt the concert, he simply bangs his head along as he weaves his way through the crowd.
But, he gets caught in a Chemosh pit (so named for a minor demon lord who makes people run into things.)
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"What in all the god's names did you show that woman?" he asks, afraid to know the answer....
"Honestly? I don't know." Replies Nectanebo with a smirk and a shrug; the latter does seem bizarrely exaggerated, as though the motion was being made less by he than by his coat....
Later, he doesn't exactly appreciate the subject matter, but who doesn't love a little Chelish Metal Music (so called because of how many of the instruments are made of metal, for some reason.)
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The priest's stentorian plodding, met up until now by attentive silence punctuated only by the occasional mass "AMEN!", suddenly starts eliciting a series of new reactions, such as:
"WRONG!"
"INCORRECT! 'The Book of the Nine Vestibules of Darkness' was originally penned in Orvian, and there are at least FOUR copies known to be left in existence!"
"I was PERSONALLY ACQUAINTED with the Oracle Thistleton 70 years ago, and that, Padre, is a *lie*!"
"NO, Iomedae WAS NOT into that sort of thing, and I DARE you to publicly make such an assertion in Lastwall, Absalom, or even Ustalav!"
"THERE. ARE. FIVE. HORSEMEEEEEEEEENNNN!!!!!"
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Nectanebo pulls out his fine deck of waxed lamprey-vellum cards, and tries his hand (no pun intended) at amusing the crowd with a card-trick or two.
There's one born every minute, and apparently, they're having a bit of a convention here today.
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Aiden frowns when he sees the Asmodean clergy. While he worshiped the Dark Prince, it was mostly out of habit. It would be fun to mess with the priests.
Aiden shouts and a deep voice comes out of his mouth. "Kneel my servants! Your Lord speaks through this mortal mouthpiece. There are pretenders among the priesthood! Root out the defilers and I will reward you with riches and power beyond your imagination!"
Ducking away from the chaos of the clergy, Aiden sees the performers. He smirks and rushes towards the fire-eater. He times his contact with him as he is about to blow fire and spins the man towards the stilt-walker's legs.
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Following Aiden's lead on this and pretty happy to see the chelaxian have a bit of fun, Esh smiles widely but quickly makes a grim face, shouting with an equally deep voice.
"On the ground! At once! You have angered the Dark Prince with your wrong servings! Cease these blabberings immediately!"
Once over to the performing band, he laughs and jumps on a barrel, shouting "BEHOLD! CHAOS MAGIC!". He casts Silence on a pebble and throws it at the performer's group.
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Aiden's words, undercut by his own barely contained laughter, do not draw even the most casual of glances from the assembled Asmodean clergy. However, Nectanebo's incessant interruptions finally get the head priest, in the middle of the Oratio Malum, to interrupt the sacred words with a rather loud "SHUT!!! THE HELLS!!! UP!!!!". As if to punctuate that pronouncement, the Asmodean star, up till very recently on display nearby, lands at the feet of the unholy altar. Looking up, they do not see Waki's faltering efforts, but a rather glib-looking Djorn, who salutes them with the informal Varisian salute. And as he drops down to the shock (and perhaps amusement) of the crowd, Lukaas rushes past, extolling Cayden Cailen's virtues in a trollish manoeuvre the seers of Kaer Maga would applaud at while Esh begins to get the common fanatics of the Dark Prince riled up.
The Inquisitor's retinue manages to extract themselves from the mess of float-related paraphernalia, only to come face-to-face (or face-to-muzzle) with the recently released horse.
The pathfinder team rushes out from the inpromptu service in the middle of the crowd, where Lukaas wastes no time and begins his own ditty, outdoing the band currently playing, and accompanying Aiden's dirty trick nicely; the high note hitting just as the gout of fire sends the man on stilts up, then down on his face. While Djorn ends up in a Chemosh Pit of his own design, Nectanebo and Waki manage to pass through without issue, one by using ninja tricks to become invisible , the other by seeming to be yet another entertainer. The residing band tries their best to overcome Lukaas' elegant music, but soon finds themselves unable to play even a single note as Esh, flipping another pebble in his hand, chuckles.
The Pathfinders, having sowed enough chaos for their purposes, make a final dash for it; rushing past a fighting pit and upon the Ostenso harbor docks, they are joined - at some point they cannot remember - by the one and only Tamrin Credence. "So... Ya found anything good along those there bodies ya done left behind boyo?" he asks Waki as he jogs alongside, to the enraged clamor of a helpless Inquisitorial crew. The crew of the Hornet's Nest seems to have seen you making haste towards the boat, as they are in the middle of the abridged version of the undocking procedure. Denel Hamshanks, looking about as red as a tomato, is busy roaring at the crew, tasking them with everything and nothing while he himself runs himself into a unproductive frenzy. It is left to Lady Dralneen to direct the pathfinders aboard the ship and as you board, the boarding ramp is pulled up from underneath the last of you and the ship sets off.
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That was a wonderful teamwork!We managed to create some memorable chaos and havoc in these streets without excessive bloodshed. The fight inside the prison was another matter, sure, but this was a resounding success, a good mix of brains and brawn. We should celebrate this properly when we reach port.
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While the team rejoices, each in their own way, that they have escaped Cheliax a rather more circumspect Zarta Dralneen approaches Aiden, an inquisitive look upon her angular face as the Queen Gale begins to pick up speed, well ahead of the Chelish warships as she sails eastward to Absalom.
Zefiro, on the verge of tears, coughs out an emotion-laden "thank you" before looking back at the coastline. [b]"Farewell, Cheliax."
In the next few days, once he has recovered, he begins to ask about any of his books and any of the original works that were in Corentyn. Once his curiosity satisfied, he then begins to ask how you found him.
Denell Hamshanks and lady Dralneen both debrief you along the way, and by the time you land in Absalom harbor there are enough notes to file a couple thick reports, peppered as they are by Tamrin Credence's own observations and - midway through the journey back - the many reports he has received from Bellflower operatives.
Surprisingly, even as you are debriefed (again) by an irate Ambrus Valsin, word comes back that the Society does not seem to have suffered any backlash in Cheliax. Whether or not this particular sword of Damocles will fall, is a story for another time.
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Aiden kneels and kisses Zarta's hand. He stands back up and says, "You sent me to embarrass the Thrunes, and I believe we accomplished it. Balinger is back in our control and all the more grateful for it. We had to put down a few, but we covered our tracks. I also uncovered this." He hands a small leather pouch to her containing papers from the prison. "I believe you'll be interested in what they say."