The towering tiefling offers one of the few unsplited drinks from one of the nearby tables to the bloodrager. "Lily. You bring new meaning to the phrase, 'I love it when you get angry''.
"Slenk, are you able to staunch Caggan's bleeding? We would do best to take him into custody."
Slenk comes into the room and shakes his head. "I did not prepare for healing today. It may be worthwhile to pool resources to purchase a wand of infernal healing for occasions such as these. And really, we are saving the expense of a trial and the Bard will surely be cooperative now that he sees the alternative."
Looking at the barmaid who woke Caggan he adds, "Next time let sleeping dogs lay. He would be alive if you didn't resist the legal authority of the Archbaron."
Finally he says, "Jerax, should we disperse this crowd? the establishment appears closed for the day."
The towering tiefling looks around. "What crowd? I think the tavern owner resting in his own pool of blood took care of the crowd", Jerax adds emphasis by kicked the nearly dead man. "I say we grab Caggan, close the tavern once he's secure, then return to raid his pantry and alcohol."
"And did you..cackle, Slenk? What I heard was a high-pitched cackle."
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The towering tiefling offers one of the few unsplited drinks from one of the nearby tables to the bloodrager. "Lily. You bring new meaning to the phrase, 'I love it when you get angry''.
Lily downs one of the drinks in one go she gives Jerax a half-smirk, which is far more expression than anyone has seen Lily show so far. "Don't push yer luck." Her tone is good-natured and not meant as a warning.
After taking her shot she downs a potion.
The sight of a bleeding out Caggan did precious little to wither Ameliya's smile as she stood over the dying man. If anything it turned it into a smug Cheshire cat grin. When matters shifted on what to do with the dying man and his establishment, the madame looked towards the tiefling and gave him a playful tsk tsk. "Come now, Jerax. We aren't desperate thugs looking score mere food or drink, are we?" She asked, estimating that the holy warrior's devilish faith and sense of reason would prevail over his understandable thirst for revenge. "Besides, I see no reason to perform a raid when our darling Caggan likely won't live long enough to deal with the consequences. Furthermore, while it is a shame that we'll miss the pillorying, Slenk is quite right in his cost-benefit analysis. Best to let the fool die here and focus on the greater mission. Which..."
The psychic eyes promptly turned to the cowering bard in the corner and shined with an almost predatory gleam. "Has just found its first significant lead."
Waltzing up to the terrified minstrel, Ameliya made her formal introduction to the man with her typical grace. "Hello there, darling. Riley Kels is it? I know things may have turned rather gruesome in the last few minutes, but know that such a fate can be avoided if you are willing to provide us with some information." The psychic's gaze more intense and her voice turned more seductive in its pleading as she called forth her powers of enhancement. "Please, good sir. Tell us all you know about this rebellious Angel Knight. Do it for Cheliax. Do it for Longacre. Do it for me."
Slenk grins as he realizes what Ameliya is doing and patiently listens for the bird to sing.
The sight of a bleeding out Caggan did precious little to wither Ameliya's smile as she stood over the dying man. If anything it turned it into a smug Cheshire cat grin. When matters shifted on what to do with the dying man and his establishment, the madame looked towards the tiefling and gave him a playful tsk tsk. "Come now, Jerax. We aren't desperate thugs looking score mere food or drink, are we?" She asked, estimating that the holy warrior's devilish faith and sense of reason would prevail over his understandable thirst for revenge. "Besides, I see no reason to perform a raid when our darling Caggan likely won't live long enough to deal with the consequences. Furthermore, while it is a shame that we'll miss the pillorying, Slenk is quite right in his cost-benefit analysis. Best to let the fool die here and focus on the greater mission. Which..."
The psychic eyes promptly turned to the cowering bard in the corner and shined with an almost predatory gleam. "Has just found its first significant lead."
"Perhaps you're right, Lady Arvanxi", Jerax responded, returning the knowing smile. "I'm sure the next owner of The Last Stand, whomever 'he' or 'she' may be, would appreciate an unraided pantry."
It may be due to his panic at having been injured, or the horror of watching Caggan bleed-out on the floor, or simply his innate force of will, but Riley seems unphased by Ameliya's mind-bending enchantment. "Wha... what!? The Angel Knight? Caggan's dead! Dead! And I'm BLEEDING! I..." He looks down at his injuries and nearly feints.
His lute sits on the stage floor where he dropped it. A shortbow rests in the corner, propped against the wall, while a finely crafted rapier sits unused at his hip.
Ameliya had to suppress a sneer from forming on her lips as it became clear that the bard somehow managed to resist her charms. Refusing to be denied the chance at ripping information from the panicking idiot, Ameliya decided it was best try a more traditional tactic of information retrieval. "Yes, yes. Poor Caggan is dead or close enough to it," she admitted, doing so in way that was both matter-of-fact and sinister at the same time. "But why focus on him when there's a more pressing matter. Like I said, you can avoid the same fate Kels if you act smart and tell us what you know of the Angel Knight."
Lily glares at the blabbering fool, "Answer the question or I'll get angry again."
Riley Kels visibly pales as Ameliya and Lily threaten him with even further harm. "No! I don't know anything! I mean, much! I don't know much! I'll tell you what I know!" He sways a bit, then sits back on the stool upon which he'd been playing earlier. "This is all just so... much."
"A few days ago, I came across a woman in winged plate armor. It was dawn, the light of the sun cresting a hill, and she was praying. When the rays of sunlight struck her helm, I initially mistook her for an angel and dropped to my knees, but she approached, helped me to my feet, and told me to... to not be afraid." He coughs slightly and looks away before continuing, "I asked her for her name, and she said it was Lencia Visserene, then she walked away. It's all I know, I swear."
"What a lovely story, bard!" Jerax sneered, as he stepped over the still body of Caggan. "But this isn't 'stories by the fire'! Tell us everything you know about Lencia Visserene and her damned Glorious Reclaimation! Because without fingers, the number of musical instruments you can play is limited!"
Slenk is listening to the exchange with the Bard as he goes over and searches Caggan's corpse. After a few moments he states to the group.
"Hmm... it appears that Caggan may live through this. We will have to get him to a cell and with a little healing he may be able to add to the Bard's meager story."
Ameliya's eyes narrowed as Kels made his confession. The truth was that she couldn't fully decide on whether the bard was telling the truth or not, bare bones and largely uninformative as it was.
She was the verge of questioning him again when she heard Caggan miraculously stir from his pool of blood. "Of course he's still alive," she mumbled disparagingly under her breath before turning to the others. "Well, since Lady of Graves seems unwilling to do us all a favor, I suppose we'll need to bind darling Caggan. Does anyone have a rope or chain fit for the task?"
Riley looks thoroughly quelled. "I swear it! It's all I know. But she was, even that briefly, inspiring! My muse! I..." His mouth is agape for a half-second before snapping shut, then he begins again, "I, I just mean, that's really all I know and saw. I swear. The ballads are just songs I wrote, nothing more."
Cimri watches from the back of the room, but when it is observed that Caggan might be stirring, she sighs, kicks away from the wall, and produces a set of manacles she seems to have collected from the jail. "If you're gonna heal him, maybe make the bard do it, if he can..."
"Can you do that Kels? Help your countryman and all." If not Lily will get Caggan in a fireman carry and haul him off to the jail.
”Caggan is alive? Wonderful. We can make a better example of him.”
Kels seems a bit confused. "He's not dead? He's alive? That's great! I can't heal him, though. Or, I could, but... yes, fine."
Assuming nobody stops him, he stands up, moves a bit shakily over to Caggan, and pulls out a vial that he gingerly pours past Caggan's lips.
A little of Caggan's color returns and the worst of the wound Lily inflicted on him seems to scab over, but he remains unconscious. Kels looks nervous, "It's all I can do, I swear. And the only one I had! I don't have that kind of magic."
Slenk shakes his head at Kels and casts detect magic on the items.
"He still lives, bard. Worry not... your incompetence is not in question."
To his companions he adds, "I suggest we bind the bard, close this place down, and take them both to the jail. We can sort out next steps from a more secure location."
Noticing the preparedness of the rogue, Jerax motions to his paramour. "Cimri, would you please take the bard into custody, as Lily and I," the towering tiefling looks to the bloodrager, "I don't know, kick Caggan's fat a§§ down the road?" The antipaladin gives the former pirate a comical shrug of indifference.
Ameliya's eyes took on a dark expression as she watched Kels heal Caggan from the brink. Despite the tavern owner's recovery from his beating, Ameliya had still held on to hope that he'd still die from his injuries latter if not now.
The madame sighed. She supposed it wouldn't take that much effort to simply convince the Archbaron to have Caggan executed for resisting arrest along with all his other offenses against the barony. Or maybe she could just convince her compatriots to manhandle Caggan in a manner that would cause his wounds to open up all over again? Either would be agreeable, really.
"Try not to work yourselves to hard when it comes to carrying the lummox, darlings," she says sardonically to Lily and Jerax. "Chances the man will be going to the scaffold anyway depending on how generous a mood the Archbaron is in."
Per Lady Arvanxi's instructions, Jerax assists lily in carrying the unconscious and bloody body of Caggan back to the jail.
Cimri nods at Jerax, fishes a second set of manacles out of her bag, and puts them on Riley. "Got any songs for the jailhouse, little bird?" For the moment, the bard just seems relieved he's not going to be summarily executed.
You're able to bring Riley and Caggan to the jail, where the three deputies are still confined. One of them blurts out, "Bolgart! By Desna, what have you bastards done!? Is he okay? Bolgart! Say something!"
"Bolgart's alive. Somehow." Jerax grumbles as the unconscious form of Caggan hits the floor with a thud. "The moron thought that using lethal force against agents of the Archbaron was a smart idea."
”Bolgart was unwise in his use of force on agents of the crown. Be thankful we exercised more restraint when dealing with all of you.”
Slenk states loud enough for Riley to hear:
"I suggest we blind and gag the Bard for now. We cannot risk him using magic or honeyed words to escape or cause trouble. If he does not tolerate the gag and binding, a more permanent solution can be arranged."
The deputies glower at the lot of you but, when Jerax says Caggan is alive, they quiet down.
Riley blanches a bit at Slenk's suggestion, "No, no, I wouldn't do anything of the sort. I came quietly, didn't I? I'm just an entertainer, not a revolutionary!"
Cimri just rolls her eyes as the bard continues to squawk. "Gagging him will mean his own cell, or confined out of the reach of the others, but... yeah. Want me to do it?"
Ameliya eyed the bard suspiciously, scanning for any sigh of deceit in his words or movements. When she failed to spot any on the surface she decided to simply invade his mind and find her answers there.
The towering tiefling paced around the limp body of the tavern owner, deep in thought. He looked into the faces of the others for inspiration, meeting Cimri's gaze with a knowing look.
Jerax stopped and slowly gathered his thoughts. "We now have 5 prisoners. 4 healthy; one of them a spellcaster, and one injured." The antipaladin paused then continued. "I propose..that Riley goes in the stocks, which hinders arm movement, thus hampering his ability to cast spells. Which would leave Caggan to share a cell with one of our former deputies, as the other two are now sharing a cell already."
The knight of Asmodeus looks on to his troops for their advice.
Lily adds, "Put 'em both in the pill. We were ordered to put Caggan there. Even ifn he dies there still sends a message."
Lily says to Riley, "Thas why you're alive. Sides its better than this lot will get." She motions to the former deputies.
Slenk nods at Lily.
"We should have him awake in the stocks or else it is hardly worth the effort... Magister Vade, are you able to provide healing for him?"
Slenk nods as Alexis uses the Devil's Blood to heal Caggan into consciousness.
As an aside to his companion he adds, "I suggest we pool our resources into the purchase of a wand to assist with this healing. It appears we will be working together long enough to be worth our investment. We should be able to purchase one for 750 gold, or 125 gold a piece. If there is no objection, I would be happy to use the wand as needed and only on the party's behalf."
Alixus casts infernal healing on Caggan which brings the man out of unconsciousness after a minute but still badly injured. Groggling, the barkeep looks about, spits some blood on the floor, and says, "Didn't kill me after all?" He coughs some more, winces from the pain, but offers no fight.
Riley shakes his head and protests, "Why am -I- going to the stocks? I didn't attack you! I just sang a song! And don't I get a trial or something?"
As Riley balked against his imprisonment Ameliya looked to the bard with mild unsympathetic disgust. "Because you broke our illustrious Archbaron's laws against large gatherings and worse yet fraternized with a known rebel against the throne, darling. I honestly cannot fathom why you'd think you wouldn't be be punished for either."
Slenk nods at Ameliya's words. "Yes... perhaps we are being too lenient. If he would prefer trial for Treason rather than some time in the stocks, I'm certain Magister Vade could arrange for a formal hearing."
Again, with Lily's help, the antipaladin secure both barkeep and bard to their pillocks. After the tiefling triple-checks all the locks, hinges, and stability of the corrective devices, the knight of Asmodeus goes inside and begins his cleaning duties inside the jail.
Slenk secures a gag on the bard so he is unable to use his magic or songs to convince people to release him.
Caggan and Kels are secured in the pillories. A few of the townsfolk observe the process and begin to whisper and talk among themselves. Cimri takes a moment to observe the small crowd, then steps into the jail and says, "This is all the archbaron had for us right away, right? We waiting for the next shoe to drop, or something else? Figure it out. I think I'm going to sit out on the porch for a while and watch how this stuff with the two fools goes over. I'll holler if there are any problems."
She then grabs a chair and her bag of supplies and heads out onto the porch.
Ameliya observed the growing crowd of spectators around Caggan and Kels with thoughtful eyes. They needed to ensure that the rebels in the crowd, if there indeed were any, would see such a public humiliation and be so outraged by it that they'd compromise themselves to right it. Of course, they also had to ensure that the entire town didn't join them either.
It was a perilous tight rope, one that required an even hand and silver tongue to accomplish. At first, Ameliya determined that she would be the one to speak to the growing crowd, but thought better of it.
The madame directed her eyes to their new local Magistrate Temporalis and spoke evenly. "Vade, darling. I think a public address on the crimes of those two fools are in order. Up for the task?"
The towering tiefling finishes up his jail cleaning duties, washing his hands in a nearby rain bucket, as Lady Arvanxi urges Reverend Vade to speak. He walks next to Cimri on the porch, and stands waiting for what's to happen next.
Vade takes his place by the pillories and straightens his vestments. He sighs deeply and looks to the assembled crowd, regret (or at least an indistinguishable facsimile of it) clear on his face. His voice is calm and solemn as he speaks, "People of Longacre, do you see what rebellion brings? It clear, here and with the case of the deputies. These men have sought to tear down the peace and stability of Chelish rule. And for what? Some petty notion of a divine savior, of a goddess who abandoned our ancestors in their darkest hour?"
He pauses before continuing with a voice that sounds choked with passion, "I did not want it to come to this. Our directive was to bring peace to this town."
Alixus clasps his hands together as his voice grows stern and hard, "We will accomplish our goals. The only uncertainty that exists is whether you will be with us or against us. If you stand with your nation and your god, glory awaits for us all. If you stand against us, all that lies in wait is a fate far worse than these two cowards are receiving."
The townspeople listen to Alixus and a few of them nod while others seem less moved.
For his part, Caggan gives a rough laugh and manages to say, "Ah, yes, tearing down the peace by hosting some music and serving food. A grand rebel." But, as he is in the stocks, there is little he can do and even his voice is somewhat muted by his awkward posture and battered body.
"Say, Cimri", began Jerax, loud enough for all to hear. "We still have those confiscated fireworks, right? How about we set some off for the kids who gathered here..", the tiefling's voice turning wicked, "from Caggan's buttcrack?"
A rather unladylike snort and chortle erupts from Cimri before she replies, "Oh yeah, from the goblins. Nasty things, though; more 'boom' than sparkles."
Caggan offers some indistinct, unintelligible grumbling but otherwise falls silent. A couple folks laugh, others smile uncomfortably, and the rest go back about their business.
In a soto voce, Cimri says to all of you, "Not that I'm too worried about him, but someone should probably watch as long as he's in the stocks to make sure nobody tries to break him loose. Soon as the archbaron's guards show up, I suppose one of them could do it, but until then..." She shrugs slightly, [b]"I'm willing to do it, free all of you up in case there are other things you want to do."
Later that day, a small contingent of the archbaron's guards arrive in town. Their leader introduces herself as Sergeant Emania Buca and explains she'll keep at least one and usually two guardsmen at the jail, with another pair patrolling the town, relieving you to pursue other tasks.
Cimri is relieved to no longer have to play at being serious and minding Caggan, and the rest of the day seems to pass uneventfully.
The next day while gathering for breakfast and discussing what steps to take next, the door to the jail opens and a man with brown hair, a thin mustache and a goatee enters, chewing on a toothpick. One of the guardsmen asks his business and the man waves dismissively, "It's not with you lad, 'tis with them." He gestures towards you in the "office" and waves good naturedly, "Top of the morning to you all. Name's Zoags, Ingoe Zoags."
Cimri seems to recognize the man, as does Slenk.
"Got a few minutes for a friendly chat?"