Mitchell simply follows the others in, but nods at Hob's statement.
More information... we need to know more.
Talliree leans in to listen at the door, but Mr Whiskers takes that moment to decide to nibble on her ear lobe, destroying any effort she makes to discern what is happening in the next room
The others lean in...
...Hob and Mitchell are able to piece together that there's an arguement going on in the next room between two individuals as to the correct way to barricade another door. Mitchell hears one of the participants in the argument state, "Ya have ta plug the bottom of the door with blankets...that way the thing can't slide out , ya grey skinned bastard!"
You think you recognize the voice; belonging to the man who started the fight at Yawning Portal...the man with the man with the shaved head is covered with eye-shaped tattoos.
Talliree flinches as she feels the tickle of Mr. Whiskers' eponymous whiskers on her ear. She steps back to avoid disturbing the others and takes the tiny mouse gently in her hands.
"Something the matter, Mr. Whiskers," she asks before going silent a moment.
"How'd you even get a recipe for goblin headcheese? No, actually I don't want to know," she says as she turns her head away looking a little green.
Insight
Mitchell motions the others to gather around and whispers to them.
I recognize that voice. That's the bald guy with the eyeball tatoos on his head, who started the fight at the Yawning Portal. Him! I have a problem with. Shall we rush in and catch them by surprise"?
Tania nods and gives Talli a smile, then whispers: "Then I sure want to be part of the vanguard. We move in silence and you loud ones rush in once we get the drop on them, yes?"
"Mark me up for Team Silence" whispers back Ellena, pulling her cloak over her red hair and looking for shadows.
"I'll stick to the back and let you sneaky types get in position."
Team Silence gathers around the door and Tania slowly eases it open, somehow preventing it from making any sound whatsoever.
As she and the other members of Team Silence peek in , they see two individuals at the other end of a room to mirror the one they currently occupy.
The two, a too familiar human with eyes tattooed all over his bald head and a dwarf with stone grey skin, are engaged in a rather vehement argument over how to secure the door...they haven't noticed you yet.
Talliree grins as it seems Tania has a plan and Mitchell has an issue with someone on the other side of the door.
"Well someone has to keep the two o' ya out o' troubles," she says before moving to take her place by the door. Once everyone's ready, she tries to open the door as quietly as she can. Mr. Whiskers takes up his spot in the folds of her hood after tickling her ear again.
Ellena points at herself and Hob, then mimicks someone resting on a pillow. On a count of three, she lets off her own sleeping incantation.
When the moment comes Hob darts forward and releases the enchantment spell on the thugs!
Mitchell brings up the rear, but steps in before Hob. If either of the individuals don't fall asleep, he uses his own wand of sleep permanently... (AKA Javelin). If both are up he dispenses justice upon the one he is familiar with.
Javelin
Javelin point
And nearly skewers himself in the foot.
As Ellena and Hob both finish their short incantations, the human turns , his eyes widening in sudden recognition. That is until those same eyes roll back...his body quickly following as the slumps to the floor.
"Get up ya lazy arse!" the grey skinned dwarf growls, his voice sounding like two pieces of rock rubbing together.
He looks up across the room at the group when Mitchell's mis-thrown javelin skitters across the floor, scowling, "If damned gob-eating blobs aren't enough..."
He grabs an evil looking pick from where it lay against the nearby wall, "Yer gonna regret comin' 'ere" he growls.
Order of Attack, bold goes!!
Mitchell
Ellena
Talliree
Dwarf
Tania
Hob
Duergar , also known as grey dwarves , are a subterranean subrace of dwarves
Duergar were also a sneaky, crafty people, unlike their honor-bound cousins, and often excelled at setting up ambushes or moving out of sight. Conversely, many were also good at detecting hidden objects
A few duergar also possessed natural abilities akin to the enlarge and invisibility spells. This came at a cost, however, and duergar, like drow, had a special vulnerability to sunlight.
Talliree grins and practically leaps into the fray. She was good at sneaking around, but something about a good fight always got her blood pumping. She flourishes her sword in a wide circle over her head, then uses the momentum to bring it down like a bolt from heaven.
"Ye certain ye can make that stick," Talliree taunts as she falls back into a more defensive position.
History
"Ah! A grey Dwarf is it. You should choose your friends more carefully".
Mitchell swarms in and attacks with his longsword. "You have been judged and confirmed guilty by association".
Longsword Swing
Longsword Edge
"Grey Dwarf?" giggles Ellena, her voice laced with supernatural malice. "Those unoriginal copycats who pretend to be real Dwarves? I have a better name for your kind, how about Dworm? You know, like worms, in case you are as dumb as you're ugly and didn't catch it."
The grey dwarf bats aside Mitchell's attacks, a sneer on his face. Then Ellena's mockery reaches his ears, he frowns, then smiles evilly, "Hide behind yer frens, lass, I'll get to you yet!"
Talliree comes in with a mighty blow, which the dwarf takes with the haft of his pick, but it definitely shook him.
With a grunt, he growls "You hit hard, lass, you'll die harder..."
He then pauses for a moment, a hard smile creasing his face, and he suddenly grows bigger...bigger...until his head scrapes the hard rock of the ceiling.
Order of Attack, bold goes!!
Mitchell
Ellena
Talliree
Dwarf
Tania
Hob
Hobs eyes go wide as the gray dwarf grows in size. "Any chance you want to surrender?" Hob asks but not being too hopeful with the dour dwarf he hurls some fire at it for extra encouragement.
Seeing that she can't engage directly, Tania knocks an arrow and lets fly...
... However, her arrow lodges itself in the grey dwarf's armour doing no harm.
Hob is more fortunate, his bolt of fire scoring an angry welt down the side of the enlarged dwarf's face.
Order of Attack, bold goes!!
Mitchell
Ellena
Talliree
Dwarf
Tania
Hob
"Better'n ye 'ave tried," Talliree taunts before slicing at the dwarf again.
Blood splatters around the fearless elf in a wide arc after she lands an even heavier blow on the dwarf.
Swinging Sword
Slicing Sword
Critical Damage 14 Total
"And the bigger they are... the harder they fall".
Taking advantage of the duergar's over confidence, Mitchell catches the dwarf under the arm, dealing him a grievous wound.
As the dwarf reaches across to staunch the gout of blood from his armpit, Talliree's blade caught the dwarf in the throat, the dwarf's other hand coming up to hold his life in there as well, as he croaks in her face, "B*!*+! "
He pitches onto his face, already back to his normal size...very, very dead.
Hob takes out some rope. "Lets tie up the other one before he wakes up! He might be able to tell us more about what's ahead."
Ellena eeps as the duergar grows in size, then breathes in relief once the blades of Swords and Coins cut into its form, leaving it dead as a doornail.
"That's a very good idea, Wands, and on a related note someone should remind me to buy some rope. I'll use a bit of my charms once he wakes up."
Touche! Mitchell smiles and bows to Talliree. "Your swordsmanship is excellent... we just need to work on deciding who and when to hit".
Mitchell produces a rope from his backpack and cuts off a couple of pieces for Ellena to use to tie up Eyeball head.
"Here use this".
"Yeah, that whole restraint thing," Talliree mutters looking a little embarrassed by Mitchell's calling her out while giving her a compliment. She'd apologized for the kenku after all. Deciding that she didn't want to linger on that very long, she looks to where the duergar had fallen.
"Why do so many of the men we fight call me that," she asks innocently, not really realizing the depth of naivety her question reveals.
Eventually the sleep enchantment wears off, and the surly , eye-tattooed man raises his head grogily.
Blinking his eyes, the first thing he sees is the grey dwarf's dead body, then the group.
His eyes narrow with recognition, "'Ere now, I can't say I'll miss the ol' grey bastard, but yer in one o'Xanathar's hideouts...ya might just wanna turn and run." he says with a chuckle, that turns into a groan from the pounding in his head.
"'Ey Baldy-locks! Nice to see ya awake," Talliree says cheerily as she pulls back her hood and gives him a big grin. The kind of grin that rings alarm bells in those that know her well.
"Now me and my friend, Mr. Whiskers here are a little curious you see," she points to the mouse as he pops out onto her shoulder from his hiding place. "What kinds o' stuff do you do for these eyebally thing-a-ma-bobbers? Do ya just guard stuff, or do they send ya out to show how dangerous it can be when you don't pay yer in-sewer-aunts? Ya know, like breakin' kneecaps, trashin' shops an' homes, beatin' the kids an' doin' all sorts o' naughty things to the wives."
She studies the man for a moment, lips pursed and eyes narrowed. Mr. Whiskers tickles her ear again and she cocks her head as if listening to the mouse.
"Huh. Ya sure? Okay." She turns her attention back to the man and hooks a thumb at the mouse on her shoulder.
"Mr. Whiskers said I shouldn't assume and add that question includes doing naughty things to men and tentacle-y horrors from beyond space-time," she tells the man.
"We're here to rescue a noble you guys kidnapped... I'm assuming you don't have too many of those.... right?" Hob looks down at the man. "We can't just let people be kidnapped, this is kind of a risk of the job for you I guess. I do hope ye can take it in stride."
Ellena looks slightly puzzled as Swords is apparently letting her rat do the talking. She makes a mental note of picking up some voice-throwing spell to mess with her before standing at her side, playing Good Guardsman to her companion's Bad Guardsman.
"I know, right? Trust me, the rat could be the last of your problems if you keep being so uncooperative. Between us, I'm not sure she's all right in the head, you know. I see the Tower and the Chariot in your future, but it depends on you talking to us."
The thug looks at Talliree, then at her mouse, then back to Talliree, then looks at the others as if to say, Is she for real?
Hob and Ellena's more grounded questions seem to focus the man, as he shrugs, "The target was a noble..." he says as he notices Renaer watching the proceedings , arms crossed.
"Ahahaha," the man chuckles, "...got the wrong one! Oh , that's rich! I wonder if 'ol Grum'shar's figured out he's 'interrogating' the wrong guy! " . He continues to chortle to himself, shaking his head. It's then that he realizes that he's sitting up against the door he and the grey dwarf had been barricading.
With a look of alarm, he manages to scoot on his buttocks to the left until his back is against the bare rock of the wall. Breathing a sigh of relief, he looks up at his captors and says, "Well, you gonna do me or what?"
Talliree waits with something approaching patience, but the man's apparent refusal to answer her question slowly melted her grin into scowl, an expression that was not commonly seen shadowing her youthful features.
"Do you? Well, that depends," she says, her tone much less pleasant and cheerful. "Are you simply a guard or are you one o' the thugs that likes to break kneecaps?"
"You might be able to sway that outcome a bit." Using a cantrip Hands light up with magic... casting surprisingly ominous shadows across his form. "Where and what is Grum'shar? What's his gear and what can he do?"
The man looks at Talliree when she asks her next question, but his eye wanders from her face to the mouse and back again....as if he wasn't sure who was asking.
Then with a shrug, and a sly grin that tells more truth than his words, "Yeah, I just guard stuff...."
Then Hob works his magic, and the man's demeanor changes, if he could he'd hold his hands up in front of himself he would, "Whoa , there. Yer one of dem enspellers, huh. Don't be working yer magic on me like you did before, my head's still splittin'." he shakes his head gently.
"Grum'shar's just like you, but he puts on airs about how he can do move mountains and such....not sure I believe 'im , tho."
Talliree sits on her heels and leans in so that her face is barely half a foot from the thugs. Without taking her eyes from the man, she reaches up and has Mr. Whiskers crawl onto her hand.
"Cups, would ye be so kind as to take Mr. Whiskers fer a bit," she asks, holding out the mouse. Her eyes are cold and dark, and her voice is flat and calm. Worse, she uses Ellena's codenames instead of Tania's name or a nickname that Talli had given her. The others know these signs. The man has enraged Talliree and she'll be seeking his head.
"Yer grin says otherwise," she says flatly. Hey eyes gleam coldly in the light, giving her neutral expression a grim cast.
"Ye ain't near as tough as you think, and ye ain't half as clever as ye believe me to be. I'll give ye one more chance to tell me the truth, " she tells him plainly. "Lie to me again, an' that headache o' yours will be the least of your worries."
"I'm not inclined to waste arcane energy one you... she doesn't have those concerns buddy!"
Mitchel watches the others interrogate the man, ready to step in if needed, but is pleased to see that no weapons have made an appearance... yet...
The man gives Talliree a nervous, toothy grin, "Lass, I'm as tough as I need to be." he says, then chuckles, "As for clever, I'm here ain't I. Yeah, I've done all those 'naughty' things ...and more. What's it to ya? Looks like yer partner yonder won't be letting you do anything too 'naughty' to me now..." he says confidently, jerking his head in Mitchell's direction.
"You've got all I know about the boss...ya better hurry or he'll be finished with your 'noble' friend." he chuckles at his own joke, indicating that you should go through the door to his right (the northern-most door on the map ) "They're through this way...."
He's lying about which door to use.
"He's over there. I'm right here. You're still too stupid to realize you really should be trying to give me a reason not to kill you. As I see it, you're a blight and while I would love to make you scream and beg, I like to sleep well. Say whatever prayers you want," she says as she stands and readies her sword to end the man's life. "I'll be sending you to whatever god you worship in just a moment."
"Woah woah! If you go killing everyone we'll get a reputation and people will fight to the death every time rather than surrender or run away. Lets deal with the rest of the place and come back to him."
"Eh. I'm with Swords here." says Ellena, frowning. "This one's just going to kill and harm more people if we let him free, and the city wouldn't give him anything better. Coins, in your authority, can you pass judgement? I'm sure he's done enough bad deeds to warrant a headsman."
Hob looks between the two women andnthen down at the man. "If you've got something useful to say to stay her hand now would be the time." Hob then moves back out of the splash zone.
Mitchell rubs his chin for a moment, and stares intently at the prisoner.
Insight
"You are beyond redemption, and your chances at living a lawful existence have expired. You had one more chance and you just told another lie. Your judgment has been completed and now you will pay the price for your sins".
Mitchell then draws his sword.
Talliree, do you wish to carry out the sentence or would you prefer I do so"?
"Better I do it," Talliree says, a grim note in her voice, "He seems to think I'm bluffing."
As the group debates the thug's fate, his head turns this way and that as he follows the conversation, not truly realizing his fate until his seeming saviour, Mitchell, pronounces sentence.
"Whoa, now... aren't ye supposed to be the go---" his entreaty is cut off by Talliree's blow, detaching his head from his body, a rather surprised look frozen on his beheaded head.
The thug's body flops to the side, his lifeblood pouring out onto the rough cobbles of the floor, seeping for the most part into the wide cracks between stones.
A fair portion however, pools right in front of the door the pair had been working on. From under the door, a blob? an appendage?? you're not quite sure, emerges and seems to suck up the spilled blood.
The the door creaks, the boards actually slightly bending outwards as something rather large and heavy pushes against it...but the door holds....for now.
Talli sees the blob and the bulging door and a look of concern crosses her face.
"Maybe we should have found out what the blob was before we gave him his final haircut."
"Ew. Eew." is Ellena's answer to both the sudden decapitation and the appendage gorging itself on the fallen foe's blood.
"Now, I don't know what that thing is and, truth be told, I don't even want to know. Please, please tell me it's not the way we need to go."