With a swift flurry of punches, Ignaru finishes off the goblin warrior that injured him, if only by a little. He transitions smoothly into a strong kick to the other goblin, who yells in pain before falling to Dragall's axe.
The goblin shaman, realizing how slim his chances of success are, falls to his knees and yelps-"Longshanks! Niice Longshanks! You forgive me? Rattlerat just wanted the caves for himself, that's all!"
Looking back at the rest of the caravan, the merchants have been successfully protected by the Duskwardens. The captain, a man with long greasy black hair, approaches you and says-"My apologies, travelers. It was our duty to keep you protected, but we were not ready for such a large-scale ambush"-motioning to the dozen goblins scattered around the cave floor.
Crowe walks to the bound shaman and looks down at him, "How did you know?"
The goblin shaman yelps in agony as he hears your orders, but he knows his place and complies. At Crowe's question, he answers-"Longshanks told us you would come. Gave us sweet elixirs and told us to wait here for Finders."-he says as he giggles.
The ghostwriter finds 3 potions of cure light wounds bearing a symbol of a man on his knees, holding his arms up to the sun. As Dragall threatens the shaman, he adds-"That's all me knows! Me swears! The man with the sweet voice, he should go to authority, not me!"-giggling at the end.
The goblin shaman looks at Dana dumbfounded, and scours its tiny brain for some sort of information. After a minute, he comes up with something-"Oh, I know this! I know this! Longshanks had blonde hair, and a sweet voice! And he said...Attack Finders! Kill them all!"-getting a little bit excited.
Eventually, you retake your journey through the Halflight Path. Four hours later, you reach a bunker-like complex at the edge of the enormous city, which greets all of you with fearsome greatness.
The city is enormous. In all directions, you can see that every inch of it is covered in buildings: cliff side buildings, buildings built on the atop thin balconies around the interior of the walls themselves,
and buildings crammed together on the floor of the ancient ruin. Except for the lake at the center of the city (even then, only at midday), the entire city is drowned in permanent twilight, a feature of being surrounded by huge walls.
As the Duskwardens and book merchants bid you farewell, and the officer of the compound takes custody of the goblins, you realize you don't really know where to go next!
Dragall starts asking around for the house of the man named Horis Collgardie - initially the search seems to go nowhere, as the citizens of Kaer Maga like to keep to themselves. It is after 4 whole hours that Dragall manages to find a lead: a small girl currently in the middle of stealing a purse. At the question, she responds-"Collgardie? That rich boy in the Bis district? Been eyeing that place for a week now! But if he's friends with muscles like yours, I'll pass for now."-she says before giving you directions and running away into the crowds.
Right besides the main avenue of the Bis district, you find the house of the man you're after. Horis Collgardie’s house is small but in good repair; judging by the decrepit state of the other homes in the neighborhood, this merchant friend of Drandle Dreng must be relatively well off. His home is made of a hodgepodge of brick and stone matching the city’s walls. Several windows look out onto the thin balcony walkway some 60 feet above the city streets that serves as the access for this neighborhood, but all are heavily barred with the shades pulled. The house appears dark and quiet.
You also notice that it's getting pretty late: it's probably around midnight right now, so the streets are pretty sparse.
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The Ghostwriter looks up at the barred windows with interest.
I could probably get one of those windows open, but I doubt everyone here could climb up there.
The Ghostwriter darts forward as Dana approaches the door, hissing "Careful, this might be a trap! Let's listen at the door first."
Unable to stop her from knocking, the Ghostwriter quickly presses himself up against the wall to make himself invisible if something unwholesome answers the door.
I guess we're going to knock...there goes our element of surprise.
Crowe scowls, "Anybody got any light?"
Crowe admires his now-shining earthbreaker, ”Yes. My thanks, skald.”
As Dana and Dragall knock on the door, they are met with no resistance: the door swings open, seemingly unlocked even though all the windows are barred beyond belief. Andy's light shines through, revealing a small living room.
3 tables right at the front, and a sofa right besides a hearth on the back. However, one thing stands out: the hearth's fire illuminates most of the room, except for a sillohuette besides the sofa. A body, lying on the floor!
As part of the group heads inside, worried about the possible death, two sets of doors swing wide open, revealing women clad in chain shirts and hoods. They each wield a cestus, and immediately start to attack you, as if they had been waiting for you for days! Their bloodlust is palpable, and their anger shines like a beacon.
Thankfully, all of you are able to brace for the skirmish before they pick their targets and lunge out like snakes for their prey! One of them pincers Ghostwriter from the back, and yells-"Boss was right! The murderers always come back to the scene of the crime! You messed with the wrong family, Pathfinders!"-as she hits the tengu from the back, hitting him square in the lower back with her heavy cestus.
Initiative: Round 1
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Green Rogue
Andy
Blue Rogue
Ignaru
Pink Rogue
Dragall, Crowe, Dana
Red Rogue
Ghostwriter
Andy is up!
Crowe narrows his eyes, ”Careful, we are fighting complete idiots. Idiots are dangerous!”
The sound of Andy's song fills the small house, ringing through your head and inspiring you to greatness. As you all hear the Ghostwriter's grunt of pain, another one of the thugs sprint towards Dana, sidestepping to her left, and go for a hit to the woman's face! However, she is just barely able to block it with her arm, her armor taking the brunt of the blow. Still, she bickers-"For our family! Let's show these fools how the Ardocs retaliate!"
Initiative: Round 1
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Green Rogue
Andy
Blue Rogue
Ignaru
Pink Rogue
Dragall, Crowe, Dana
Red Rogue
Ghostwriter
Ignaru is up!
Ignaru's blow hits the woman right on her knee, breaking her kneecap in one swift motion. The woman cries out in pain-"Calistria's sting! My leg!"
The rogue women laugh at Dana's plea, replying-"And you expect us to believe you? You happen to walk in at the scene of the murder, armed to the teeth? You Pathfinders here for some Report, Cooperate and Execute?"-as one of them flanks Ignaru from the back and tries to go for a swing to the back of his neck, but the heavy Cestus dislodges from the woman's arm before connecting, and she is just barely able to resecure it in place.
The Ghostwriter takes advantage of the commotion and thinks hard for a second, remembering some information: The Ardoc family is one of the two wealthiests families of Kaer Maga, and they're considered royalty. Not the kind you disrespect and get thrown in jail, but the kind you sneer at and get your family held hostage. They're primary business is running the golemworks and selling stone guardians all around Varisia.
Initiative: Round 1
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Green Rogue (-11)
Andy
Blue Rogue
Ignaru
Pink Rogue
Dragall, Crowe, Dana
Red Rogue
Ghostwriter
Dragall, Crowe and Dana are up!
Crowe steps forward and hefts his weapon, ”Stand down, or the storm will rage.”
The rogue at the back hesitates for a bit, hearing Dana's honest words, and looks around confused. However, Dragall's advance proves to bring her back to earth. As the half-orc pushes the flanked woman to her kness, he brings his axe and strikes!...but uses the blunt side to knock her out.
The woman at the back,confused because of the oracle's behaviour, yells out-"Dammit! Are you guys pretending to be the good guys? We're here to take revenge! Prove that you're innocent, then!"-as she steps into Dana's guard and readies a Cestus swing.
Initiative: Round 1
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Green Rogue (-11)
Andy
Blue Rogue
Ignaru, Dragall, Crowe, Dana
Red Rogue
Ghostwriter
Ghostwriter is up!
”That’s the truth of it.”
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"Esteemed servants of Ardoc! Do you attack everyone you see on first sight? Cease your onslaught for one minute and let us avoid an outcome that we will regret; although I suspect one side will have more regrets than the other," the Ghostwriter shouts, flexing his claws and shifting to flank the rogue who struck him, but otherwise taking no action.
As the Ghost Writer mixes both reasonable words and careful intimidation, the rogues shift their attitude, if only by a little. From the three remaining ones, two of them shift to a more defensive stance, but one of them yells-"Do you have any idea who you've killed? This Collgardie fellow knew every Ardoc in the root family! We can't let the killers go!"-trying to persuade her comrades but failing to do so, she goes for a hit against the Ghostwriter in a desperate attempt to prevent what she sees as a total failure. But the Tengu's reflexes are good, and he sideteps her swing easily.
Initiative: Round 1
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Green Rogue (-11)
Andy
Blue Rogue (readying)
Ignaru, Dragall, Crowe, Dana
Red Rogue (readying)
Ghostwriter
Andy is up!
With Andy's gentle words and Crowe's bluntness, all of the rogues stop to listen to your tale. They do not lower their weapons, but now they're not eyeing you with anger, instead with careful skepticism.
One of the rogues approaches the injured one bandages her knees, while the other two near Dana take a few steps back, saying-"So you're saying you didn't kill Collgardie? Why would we believe you? It's too much of a coincidence that you guys showed up just as we were told the assassins might come back to dispose of the body for good"-as she secures her cestus in place.
At Andy's comment, the other woman replies-"We're not Ardocs, if that's what you mean. We work for them, but we've been given food, shelter by them since we learned how to jump rope and tie braids."-she adds snicker, swinging her cestus slowly.
Andy's words and actions seem to resonate with the kaermagan sisters. Ignaru's keen eye catches their thankfulness and he assumes they really do appreciate unrequested help - their lives probably full of them barely making it off.
As the halfling cures the injured woman, their shoulders relax and pout-"Perhaps you're right. You don't carry yourselves like killers. I only smell the bloodlust in that Shoanti over there, but it's much more euphoric and less cold-hearted"-one of them says, clearly the older sister.
They all look reflexively at their Cestuses, clearly made out of golem pieces, and say-"We trust the Ardocs with our lives, and we can't and will not doubt their word. Still, they are not perfect. If we don't take a step back and realize that, we're nothing more than dogs"
The one being healed by Andy adds-"So why are you here? To hunt down these fake Pathfinders? To recruit them? We can't really help you out, but the best we can do..."-she gulps and continues-"is to go back and arrange a meeting with an Ardoc."-hesitating at the mere mention of the idea.
Crowe looks at his earthbreaker, ”Killer? Yes. Assassin? No.”
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"I think it would be wise to have us speak with your leadership. We believe that there is a conspiracy afoot; one in which counterfeit Pathfinders are attempting to manipulate the politics of this city. We intend to root out these reprobates but we could use whatever assistance we can get. It does appear that this conspiracy is also manipulating your faction, so it would be wise to bring us together and perhaps we can exchange notes."
"And if we are truly the killers of this man, than what better place for us to be brought to than safely to the center of the Ardoc's keep, surrounded by their guards and retainers. I'm sure your lord would appreciate you delivering us into their custody peacefully; and without losing so much as a single woman in the process."
The rogues look at each other and to you, arguing amongst themselves for a few minutes, before coming up with a decision-"We'll arrange a meeting with Besel Ardoc, the man who sent us here. Be at the Augur's Entrails in 9 hours - and be punctual. I wouldn't suggest pulling any pranks - Besel travels with iron golems around him, and they're known to have killed dragons barehanded."-they say as they prepare to make their leave.
After a few exchange of words, the squad of women take their leave, and you're left alone in Collgardie's house just after midnight. You prepare for the following day, healing your wounds and expecting trouble.