Trell lets out a curse under his breath as the creature bursts from the ground and only hesitates a moment before moving up 30 feet to stand 5 feet behind Adrin.
As he moves his sword bursts with Arcane power, as you are all starting to get used to seeing. When he stops moving the sword drops down to his side and Trell raises his hand, palm facing the Otyugh, and closes his eyes. You see nothing else happen outwardly.
Maelis sees Adrin and Trell up near the creature and knows he needs to act fast. He pulls the scroll from his belt and elbows past Karralo, shoving his gaping and shocked form roughly aside as he does.
[color=green]
Andakos (15/18 hp)
Otyugh (0 dmg)
Trell (17/17 hp)
Maelis (16/16 hp)
Adrin (12/13 hp)
[/color]
Andakos looks at Karralo, somewhat unwilling to leave him unattended. Then he looks at the giant creature terrorizing his friends and the townsfolk and decides that it's the bigger priority. He walks forward and stops with a good amount of distance between himself and the otyugh. He grabs an extract off his belt and drinks it.
He grits his teeth in anticipation of the pain that he knows is coming, but he is never quite able to prepare for it. His very bones and flesh feel like they are stretching to the point of tearing, but they never do. When the pain finally subsides, there is a nearly 12' tall tiefling standing to the side of the road, waiting for his opportunity to strike.
As Andakos draws the extract and drinks it, the otyugh yells, "Moar food!" and lashes out at the tiefling with one of its tentacles. The wicked barbs dig into Andakos's flesh and latch on.
The otyugh is not, however, prepared for this new food source to grow quite so... large. It inquires hesitantly, "... Food?" before quickly letting go of the rapidly swelling form of Andakos.
The creature looks around, and lights on something smaller: Adrin. One of its barbed tentacles whip out at the vigilante and connects, its barbs digging into the flesh of his arm and wrapping around his shield arm. Adrin can feel the creature tugging at him, pulling him toward that horrid, filthy mouth...
[color=green]
Andakos (11/18 hp)
Otyugh (0 dmg)
Trell (17/17 hp)
Maelis (16/16 hp)
Adrin (7/13 hp)
[/color]
Trell rushes in screaming at the top of his lungs and takes a slash at the creature hoping that it will distract it enough to drop Adrin.
The otyugh's eye stalk swivels to look at Trell as the magus charges in to attack. "Moar food!" it shouts, slapping at Trell with its free tentacle.
Had there been another otyugh nearby, you get the distinct impression it would have started a slap-fight between them. Instead, it smacks the cobblestones next to it and cracks the grout. "Owie," it grumbles sullenly. However, it keeps its hold on Adrin, at least for now.
Adrin jostles his arm close to Trell, shielding his ally as much as possible before flicking his wrist in a cut at the tentacle holding him.
Maelis takes a careful step next to Adrin, watching the large creature in order to beware of it's tentacled grasp. He ducks behind the lord, hoping to avoid drawing it's ire as he reads the incantation from the scroll in his hands. He reaches out to gently touch the tip of Adrin's rapier and a burst of flames comes to life, flickering along the blade and making his strikes ever more deadly.
The otyugh's free tentacle whips around at Maelis but can't seem to get a clear shot at the cleric, thanks to Adrin being in the way.
[color=green]
Andakos (11/18 hp)
Otyugh (7 dmg)
Trell (17/17 hp)
Maelis (16/16 hp)
Adrin (7/13 hp)
[/color]
Andakos takes a short step toward the otyugh and swings his ridiculously oversized spiked fist at it.
Unused to his new size and mass, Andakos's swing glances off the top of the otyugh's slimy body, causing it to emit a noise that sounds suspiciously like "derp."
The otyugh tries to keep its hold on Adrin but it split its attention in too many directions and loses its grip as the nobleman wrenches his shield arm free at last. The otyugh doesn't seem too dismayed about it, but then again, it doesn't seem like anything--it's a mouth on a lump of flesh.
The creature's eye stalk swivels back and forth between the four of you, as if uncertain what to do next.
[color=green]
Andakos (11/18 hp, enlarged)
Otyugh (7 dmg)
Trell (17/17 hp)
Maelis (16/16 hp)
Adrin (7/13 hp)
[/color]
The air around Trell's hand beings to cool as a ray of freezing cold...frost...shoots out at the disgusting thing
He follows the ray of frost up with swing of his sword
While Trell keeps his spell from drawing the creature's attention, he has to lower his guard to aim and fire the ray, and the otyugh bites at him, but the magus manages to dodge its jaws easily. Unfortunately the momentary distraction causes the ray to go wide and miss.
Fortunately his sword connects and tears a large rend in the creature's rubbery hide. Strange yellow-green fluid spills from the wound that reeks like sewage.
Adrin jerks away from his rapier as it springs aflame. The moment before throwing it to the ground, he notices that it does not feel hot beneath his leather glove, despite being wreathed in flames. He laughs triumphantly, and twists to change his guard. As his body shifts the creature loses its grip, and Adrin unexpectedly lands on the ground. He readies his rapier, then cautiously advances before aiming a hard thrust upwards, at the giant monster's underside.
After his thrust, Adrin glances at Trell, "move to surround it," he shouts, hoping to further split the creature's attention.
The creature flinches away from the fire with a bellow, but doesn't move to run. If anything, it seems angrier at the noticeable scorch mark on its flank.
Maelis smiles a large, toothy smile at Adrin's reaction to the flames. Somehow the nobleman nearly dropping the blade gave him just a bit of pleasure, despite their predicament, though he is glad the man's back was turned and he was unable to see him laughing at his backside.
He steps closer to the now seemingly giant tiefling man and puts a hand on his leg. "Bring Her Savored Sting to your next hit, Andakos!" he yells up at him.
[color=green]
Andakos (11/18 hp)
Otyugh (28 dmg)
Trell (17/17 hp)
Maelis (16/16 hp)
Adrin (7/13 hp)
[/color]
Andakos revels in the feeling of ... good fortune? ... bestowed upon him by Maelis and Calistria. He heeds Adrin's plea to move into a more advantageous position, moving to the north slightly and swinging his fist again. I really need to get that spear fixed...
The otyugh bellows in agony from the hit. It has been grievously wounded by all three of the creatures before it and lashes out at one at random with its full fury.
It launches its fury at the last person to wound it, Andakos. It misses with both the bite and one of its tentacles, but another tentacle lashes out and wraps around one of Andakos's huge hands, digging its painful barbs into his flesh
[color=green]
Andakos (8/18 hp; enlarged, grappled)
Otyugh (37 dmg)
Trell (17/17 hp)
Maelis (16/16 hp)
Adrin (7/13 hp)
[/color]
"Trell, see if you can kill this thing!" Maelis shouts, seeing it is grievously wounded.
Adrin pulls his rapier free, surprisingly little gore coming with it, maybe the creature's bleeding was sealed by the flames, he thinks, noticing that the fire is gone from his sword. Seeing it lash out with tentacles, and its maw again Adrin ducks before lunging at it again.
Trell see's Andakos move into position and does the same himself by taking a five foot step diagonally to get into flanking position with Andakos.
He then suddenly feels as if he has been blessed by the gods...but he knows which on in particular. While he moves he gives a quick glance and a smile to Maelis.
Trell snaps his head back towards his foe as the air around his hand begins to chill again. With a thrust of his non-sword wielding hand, Trell shoots out another ray of frost at this abomination
He follows that up with another swing of his sword.
When Trell aims to fire his ray, the otyugh releases Andakos to bite at the magus, but he dips under its fangs easily. The ray blasts its eye stalk right at the base; the flesh flash-freezes and shatters, sending the rubbery tendril to the ground. The otyugh shrieks in blind agony before Trell buries his longsword deep into its misshapen body, and the creature collapses in a twitching heap, disgusting red tongue lolling out between its jagged yellow teeth.
As the dust settles, you look at your flesh wounds, and the fact that you managed to survive a murderous sewer beast, and feel invigorated, renewed, and stronger...
The party gathers themselves amid the smoke, debris, and suddenly very empty street. A street sign, bent nearly in half by the otyugh on its way out, hangs at an awkward angle making it appear like a besotted street tough who has had one too many shots at the tavern and is spoiling for a fight. Its face now crumpled, it declares drunkenly, HA.BO.V..W B..D S.
None of the rioters remain. The street is eerily silent, save for the faint sloshing of water somewhere down in the massive hole in the street.
You find Karralo collapsed behind the cart, eyes rolled into his head. The constant barrage of terror today was apparently too much for him, and he has fallen unconscious.
Andakos shakes his head as he shrinks back to his normal size. "This city is stressing me out." He walks back to the cart, certain that Karralo has run away (it's what Andakos would have done). He is quite surprised to find Karralo still near the cart. "Adrin, Trell, we have another passenger. Can you help me get him in the cart? Then we should get to the damn Citadel and off these blasted streets."
Adrin picks up his rapier, and fastidiously cleans it, a grimace of disgust on his face before he slides the now-gleaming blade back into its sheathe. He glances over to Andakos, his eyebrow arches at the tiefling's comment about the city, but he lets it go. He nods to the other man when his help is requested, and he helps lift Karrolo into the cart along with the man's other accomplices.
"Yes, let us hurry back to the Citadel. I will be eager to properly turn these villains over to the guard," Adrin says exhaustedly.
The rest of the trip is slow going; the cart is a little heavier and you have to take a detour around the massive hole in the street. Thankfully, word spread quickly of the incident and people are avoiding the area as much as possible. No one else bars your progress to Citadel Volshyenek.
The guards at the gate blink in surprise at the strange procession of a cartful of battered, unconscious men and four bloodied men leading them. They ask no questions but simply open the gates and lead you to the medical tent. A priest of Abadar heals everyone's wounds, including the prisoners (after double-checking they are bound and weaponless).
He doesn't ask for a donation, even though that is standard procedure for priests of the First Vault; at a guess, you'd say they probably have a running tab with the city for their services.
You make your way up to Field Marshal Kroft's office, where she looks even more haggard and sleep-deprived than when you saw her yesterday. She glances up from her paperwork and says, "I take it you've dealt with the situation at All the World's Meat. Report." Then she does a double take, and her eyes widen. "Gods' blood. What happened? You look like you've been through the ringer."
Adrin looks up, feeling pretty good, despite his rough appearance, Yes, Field Marshall, I would say we were, he says with a bit of chuckle, We went in through a back entrance after they close. There were four butchers who noticed our entrance, and we had to subdue them. Unforunately - despite our best efforts, Adrin hesitates, but carefully doesn't look at any of his friends, one of the butchers died. The other three were able to be subdued non-lethally. A further investigation of the slaughterhouse revealed... Adrin pauses, his pale skin turning a faint, sickly green, that they were not distributing pork, or beef. They were true to the establishment's name, all the world's meat indeed - especially all of it that people shouldn't be consuming. Field Marshall, they were butchering people, and distributing that throughout the city.
Adrin takes a few breaths before continuing, trying to clear his head of the foul memory, after we dispatched the butchers, and performed a cursory sweep of the abattoir Verik himself, Adrin's mouth turns in distaste, emerged from the second floor office. He engaged us, at this, Adrin's hand rises unconsciously to his left breast, where the tissue is tender all the way down to the bone, and still deeper, we were able to defeat him as well. Then it was just the matter of restraining all of the living men, and transporting them here.
Kressida writes furiously on a piece of parchment as Adrin speaks, and at the end, she blows out a breath and steeples her fingers. "The death of a guardsman isn't ideal, but you brought Verik in alive, as well as most of his cronies. I'd say you've more than earned your keep."
She sets out a pouch bulging with coins. "As promised, five hundred gold for your efforts. Normally I would ask you to turn in any found property, which would then necessitate a search for the proper owners. However, it sounds like anything you found that was not clearly property of the City Watch probably won't have any way to return to their owners, as those owners are likely dead. Besides, we simply do not have the manpower to track down such things. Do with those items as you will."
She turns to the others. "Anything else you would like to add to the report?"
Maelis looks to the others, "Well, I don't think there is anything especially significant about it, but we also dispatched some, what did you call them Andakos...Reefclaws... from the sewer below the butcher shop. They appeared to carry some kind of poison. There was however a larger sewer dweller that could perhaps be more of a concern. It was an otyugh and erupted right through the street."
Kressida blinks. "What??"
She rubs her temples. "All this rioting must be stirring the sewer dwellers. I can't think of any other reason they'd risk surfacing. Where did this happen? I'll send a few guards to watch the hole while we look for any mason workers in this mess to patch it up. It just seems to keep getting worse..."
She shakes her head. "Sorry. I know we're making headway, and your work today will help with that. But this level of chaos will take time to die down. You all have some time to do with as you wish. If you want to earn a little coin, you're free to take up daily patrols with the rest of the watch. Otherwise do what you will. When something else comes up, I'll let you know."
Trell approaches Adrin once they are out of the Citadel.
Adrin, I was wondering...would you like a chance to meet Vencalro? I would very much like to visit him and make sure he is okay...but with the streets the way they are...I was hoping someone would travel with me.
He looks at the others.
You are all free to come, if you wish. Vencarlo is a good man and, while he may not be particularly enthused that I am crowding his home with strangers...he will be more than happy to accommodate for an evening or two.
"I will take some time to visit Mother Sierra and ensure that she is alright as well. She cared for me when I was not caring for myself, and it is the least I can do. Perhaps your hired man could accompany me, Adrin; I would feel safer traveling with a companion and that part of the city can be quite rough."
Adrin perks up slightly at hearing Trell's offer. Vencarlo is known as quite the master. I've fought with enough of his students by now. Perhaps I should try to learn a technique or two, he considers, nodding his head absentmindedly.
A few seconds later Maelis requests accompaniment, breaking Adrin from his thoughts, "I would be honored to escort you," he says, pitching his voice low, and meeting Maelis's eyes. He looks over the group of compatriots, and addressing them in a low tone he says, "I require a visit to Zellara's in the next few days, after that I should be mostly free. I will need to visit Lord Laecus, my father as well. We should stay in contact in case any news of Lamm resurfaces."
Andakos spends the week visiting his parents and Lyse, and crafting items.
First, an alchemist's fire.
1. Item's price in silver pieces
200sp
2. Find the item's DC
DC20
3. Pay 1/3
66sp
4. Roll check
5. If successful, multiply result by DC
660
6. If #5 > #1, completed in 200/660 week
30%, or 2.12 days
----------------
Second, a tanglefoot bag.
1. Item's price in silver pieces
500sp
2. Find the item's DC
DC25
3. Pay 1/3
167sp
4. Roll check
5. If successful, multiply result by DC
925
6. If #5 > #1, completed in 500/925 week
54%, or 3.78 days
Trell looks to Adrin and Maelis. He can tell that Adrin was at least somewhat intrigued...even if he did not say so outwardly.
Perhaps I could accompany the two of you and then we could go visit Vencarlo? he says to Adrin.
Otherwise, perhaps there is a guard or two that could be spared to go with me. I am confident I could make it there safely on my own...but with the city the way it is...I'd rather not take the risk...but I must check in with Vencarlo...not knowing his well being is concerning.
"Yes, staying in a group is probably our safest course, perhaps you should come along with us Trell."
Adrin looks at Maelis, and Trell who seem to have come up with a plan, That sounds like a good idea. We can go to the Temple of Calistria now, then visit Vencarlo when we have the opportunity.
Jeffrey, your family's manservant, opens the door and greets you with a bow, his crisp livery pressed and clean, though you can see it is running threadbare in a few places. He raises his weathered, jaundiced face to you and says solemnly, "It is a relief to see you safe, Master Andakos. We had not received word of your state since the Academae closed the other day. Lord Thaddeus and Lady Alecta will be most pleased to see you."
He leads you to the estate's large sitting room, where your parents sit at a coffee table. Alecta sits straight-backed, a cup and saucer in her hands, but under her serene expression you recognize the telltale signs that she has not slept. Thaddeus is far more obvious, leaning forward and speaking in a low, fierce tone. "He said he could find him. How was I to know he would renege on the arrangement? He came highly recommended. I never would have fronted him if I'd--"
Jeffrey clears his throat. "Master Andakos has arrived, sir."
Thaddeus and Alecta both immediately jump to their feet and rush over to Andakos. Alecta hugs you fiercely while your father squeezes your shoulder. "Thank the gods you're alright, Andakos," he says with a shaky smile. "When we heard the Acadamae had closed its doors, and we had no idea where you were, we feared the worst."
Inside, the numerous shrines lining the walls of this massive marble temple are in varying states of disarray. Some have been abandoned entirely, while others are crowded with people--mostly the homeless and destitute--seeking refuge from the chaos outside.
Near the back wall stands the shrine to Calistria. Several disreputable-looking people surround it, primarily prostitutes and drug addicts clearly in differing stages of withdrawal, as a striking middle-aged woman in a very revealing robe of some scandalously thin material moves amongst them offering succor in the form of food and water. The sheer clothing reveals she is lean and strong, with long, graceful legs. Her salt-and-pepper hair is cut into a short, punky style, and the crow's feet around her bright green eyes hint at a great deal of laughter and joy.
Mother Sierra glances up from filling a disheveled young woman's cup and a wave of relief washes over her face. "Maelis!" she calls, waving the group over. "Nine Hells, I was worried sick about you. Thank the Goddess you're alright. Where have you been?" She glances at the other two, in particular eyeing up Trell as a lioness might size up a wounded gazelle. "And who are your friends?"
Andakos pulls away from his mother in a panic. "I am fine. Is Lyse not here? I sent her here earlier this week."
Watching these strange, unknowable creatures dance in the sky, Adrin gives a shrug, and continues walking. We've no time for more oddities at the moment. A respite is what we need, he thinks, as he does his best to ignore them.
After arriving in the Pantheon, and seeing the disheveled rabble that has assembled, Adrin's hand moves to hover close to his rapier grip, and takes a half step closer to Maelis.
Trell looks at the creatures as he walks by and grips his sword at his waist in more of involuntary reaction. He knows not what they are...and he is not sure what they do. He is relieved that they make it to the Pantheon without incident.
He listens to to the lady introduce herself and e leave the introductions of himself and Adrin to Maelis.
Electa interjects. "His apprentice from the Academae. Honestly, dear, you aught to pay more attention. He's mentioned her several times."
Thaddeus reddens in the cheeks slightly. "Go easy on me, love. I've been distracted." He turns to Andakos. "Yes, I remember her now. I'm sorry, son, but there's been no word of her here. That's honestly not surprising, given the state outside. I'd be shocked if any messages were able to make it through this madness. Your grandfather told stories of the last king's death, but I thought he was embellishing. People really do go off the deep end at the death of a monarch. Maybe this city really is cursed." He shakes his head. "Was Lyse at the Academae? They've sealed their doors. If she was there when they sealed the place, she's probably stuck there, but at least she'll be safe."