"Right-o!"
Lobda quickly slams her book shut, slips a sign into the front window reading, 'Out to Lunch, Back in ???' and hustles out the front door - but not before locking the door behind her. Because you gotta keep up appearances, you know?
Having at least one other voice of agreement in the form of Santiago, Wymarc then casually swings the western door open to reveal a modestly-sized warehouse. Lined along the northern wall of this warehouse is a series of cages with locking doors, similar to small prison cells. These cages are currently empty - and they also look to be much newer construction than the rest of the warehouse.
The source of the footsteps and shuffling turn out to be three men, two humans and a halfling, who appear to have been in the process of cleaning and tidying up when you arrived.
"Hey...who're you? Dulm wasn't expectin' no visitors," the halfling calls out, eyes narrowed with suspicion.
Then, very clearly, he speaks three words: "Braced for it?"
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Silver is spending girl time with Lauranna Cindel
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Huh? We're going that way now? Okay then.
Lucky shrugs and pokes his head out the door. "Going this way." He calls to Silver and Lauranna, jerking his thumb to indicate the inside of the shop. "Come on."
Then he follows Wymarc and enters the warehouse. "Break through." Lucky answers the other halfling.
These cages - they're for slaves?! I'll do for Dulm myself! Evidence first though; can't take cages with us.
Lucky appraises the goons, wondering if they'd put up much of a fight.
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"Right-o!"
Lobda quickly slams her book shut, slips a sign into the front window reading, 'Out to Lunch, Back in ???' and hustles out the front door - but not before locking the door behind her. Because you gotta keep up appearances, you know?
Huh? We're going that way now? Okay then.
Lucky shrugs and pokes his head out the door. "Going this way." He calls to Silver and Lauranna, jerking his thumb to indicate the inside of the shop. "Come on."
Lauranna shrugs as Lucky tries talking to her through a pane of glass (maybe, just a door). "I can't hear you! The door is locked!" she says back and then remembers. "Wait! I have a key."
She awkwardly pulls the huge bludgeon she bears from off her back, and prepares to open the door.
"Okay." Lauranna traipses back smiling into the shop full of glass displays which are in turn filled with tiny glass bottles filled with any number of unknown chemical compounds.
Though Lauranna and Silver aren't quite quick enough to head back inside the shop before Lobda locks the front door, Lucky is able to test the front window and finds that it *is not* locked. Whether this was intentional or merely an oversight on Lobda's part is uncertain but at least it allows for him to poke his head out and call to the two women.
And for them to get back inside without 'opening' the door.
Unless they just want to 'open' it, of course.
Meanwhile, the halfling and his two friends inside the warehouse relax as Lucky, Santiago, and Wymarc all offer up the passphrase that Lobda had shared with you.
"Huh. Coulda sworn Dulm said he wasn't expectin' no visitors while he was gone...but what do I know?" the halfling shrugs. "Here to help with the cleanup? We've 'bout got out here done but if you wanna get some rags and wipe out the cells there that'd be swell."
Those of you sizing up the three thugs note that all three seem decently armed and armored; the two humans wear chain shirts and carry bucklers, saps, scimitars, and daggers. The halfling, who seems to be the one in charge, wears a particularly nice-looking suit of studded leather armor and carries a particularly nice-looking shortsword and hand crossbow.
Of Lobda's tutor, Mister Snive, there is no sign. But there's another door that leads out of the warehouse to the north...
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Wymarc nods first to Lucky, uttering, "What he said," and then to Santiago, "...and what he said...you had best go about your own business and leave us to ours..."
The rogue will keep his bow in hand, just in case...and if anyone makes an aggressive move, he'll fire at the closest thug...
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Lauranna climbs in through the window display knocking over a lot of display items with her huge club. She attempt to fix the the display to make it at least as pretty as it was before she crawled through it (if not more-so).
"She's going to love the improvements I'm making."
Several things happen in quick succession. Lucky and Santiago both head for the northern door, with a side-order of 'piss off' from Lucky to the halfling and his two friends. Out front, Lauranna begins climbing through the front window and manages to make quite a racket as she knocks over display items.
At this point, the halfling has clearly had enough. Though he does spare a glance towards the ruckus coming from the front of the store his main focus is on the rest of you currently inside the warehouse. "Oh hell no, you don't get to come in and just go poking around wherever you please! Looks like we've got more cleaning up to do, fellas!"
All three begin to draw their weapons when Wymarc lets fly with an arrow from his bow, striking the halfling solidly in the shoulder! It doesn't put him down but it was clearly a powerful shot as he begins bleeding profusely.
It's about this time that Santiago opens the northern door, revealing an office. In the eastern corner of the room sits a large desk covered with papers and ledgers. A hammock hangs loose behind the desk and in the hammock is a middle-aged Varisian man who seems to have been sleeping. At the sound of the door opening his eyes flutter open and he blinks confusedly at Santiago.
"Eh? Who are you?"
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Wymarc
Silver Bullet
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Green
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Lucky
Lauranna
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Red & Blue
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Joe Public
Santiago
Active Conditions: None
Environmental Effects: None
Wymarc and Silver Bullet are UP!
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Silver doublemoves into the building with his gun drawn. I'm coming.
Hearing the sounds of combat breaking out nearby Silver hauls butt back through the storefront window and heads toward the warehouse door, ready to show these thugs the business-end of their gun!
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Wymarc
Silver Bullet
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Green
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Lucky
Lauranna
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Red & Blue
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Joe Public
Santiago
Active Conditions: None
Environmental Effects: None
Wymarc is UP!
Taking advantage of his quick reflexes Wymarc fires off two more shots at the halfling 'leader'. The first shot misses by a fair margin, sailing over Green's head. But the second strikes him squarely in the chest; Green's eyes widen with surprise...and then he faceplants on the ground as blood begins to pool around him!
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Wymarc
Silver Bullet
Lucky
Lauranna
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Red & Blue
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Joe Public
Santiago
Active Conditions: None
Environmental Effects: None
Lucky and Lauranna are UP!
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Lucky has already judged the distance between his allies and the two thugs, and decides to let them come to him.
"You know what? I'd rather be a cleaner than a slaver any day. Come get some, a*#@~*~+s!"
Standing his ground, Lucky levels his pointed polearm whilst goading the thugs.
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Lucky has already judged the distance between his allies and the two thugs, and decides to let them come to him.
"You know what? I'd rather be a cleaner than a slaver any day. Come get some, a@$*@*#+s!"
Standing his ground, Lucky levels his pointed polearm whilst goading the thugs.
"Did you hear something?" Lauranna says a Silver tramples over her dice tower of potion bottles. "AW!"
"What the heck are you guys doing back here!?"
While Lucky decides to wait and let the two remaining thugs come to him, Lauranna beats feet into the warehouse and finds - to her surprise - some of her companions engaging in fisticuffs with the local workers.
But they probably deserve it, given the people-sized cages along the warehouse's northern wall.
Red and Blue look at each other, a bit unsure of how to proceed what with their leader being face down in a pool of blood and all. But faced with intruders using lethal force they decide to respond accordingly, drawing out scimitars as they advance on the group. Red moves toward Lucky but doesn't completely close the distance; he instead stops at the corner and adopts a defensive position.
Blue rushes up towards Lauranna and attempts to strike...
...and connects! But it definitely could've been worse.
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Wymarc
Silver Bullet
Lucky
Lauranna
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Red
Blue
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Joe Public
Santiago
Active Conditions: None
Environmental Effects: None
Joe Public & Santiago are UP at the end of Round 1 and Wymarc, Silver Bullet, Lucky and Lauranna are UP at the top of Round 2!
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...”and that’s why you can’t trust anyone who finishes their letters with ‘my man’,” Joe finishes explaining to Silver Bullet, not realizing the gunslinger has moved away - nor seeming to realize than Lee and Lauranna came through the window. ”Gotta keep your eyes open because they could get the drop on you at any time, you know? You... oh no, they got yo- oh wait, there you are.”
Joe follows Silver Bullet north towards the doorway, pausing to peer around the corner into the warehouse. ”Oh, look at these auras,” he sighs, shaking his head. ”You’ve been drinking the local wine, haven’t you? They put chemicals in there to drain your will and make you their puppets, you know. Just watch - it’ll kick in any second now.”
Joe casually ambles up, peering into the warehouse and finding himself certain that the two thugs within have terrible taste in wine. And in fact...he might be right. Red's jaw suddenly goes slack and his eyes cross.
"Durrr...."
This leaves him unable to really do anything as Santiago draws his scimitar and steps up, twirling the weapon in an elaborate and intimidating dance before attempting to thump Red over the noggin with the hilt. But Red still holds his arms up in a defensive position (somehow) and manages to ward off the blow and the swirling spirits that try to hassle him.
Wymarc comes to Lauranna's aid and easily pincushions Blue with two arrows, dropping him where he stands!
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Wymarc
Silver Bullet
Lucky
Lauranna
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Red
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Joe Public
Santiago
Active Conditions: None
Environmental Effects: None
Silver Bullet, Lucky and Lauranna are UP!
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Lucky takes advantage of the thug's befuddled state and moves right past him, to make a flank with Santiago. The smell of brimstone grows strong as Lucky allows his anger at the infiltration of the Pathfinder Society and all of his resentment towards slavers and slave-holders build up, channeling it into his attack.
He drops his hammer, and instead draws a triple-staff, its three sections linked by short chains. Whirling it about his head, he attempts to penetrate the thug's defence:
"IT'S ALL I CAN DO TO KEEP THE FIRES DOWN, SANTIAGO! YOU WANT THIS BASTARD ALIVE, KNOCK HIM OUT QUICK!"
Silver moves out and fires at red with her gun vs touch
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"AAH! YOU HIT ME! WHY ON GOLARION WOULD YOU HIT ME!? WHO DOES THAT!?" she shouts to the fallen man, while clutching at her wound and gasping in pain.
Infuriated at the state of things Lucky allows the rage to flow through him, stepping into flank with Santiago as he swings at befuddled Red. As before, Red manages to clumsily ward off the blow despite his befuddled state.
But his defenses are no match for Silver's bullets; he takes one to the arm and yelps with pain...but even that is dulled a bit thanks to Joe's magic the doctored wine he clearly drank earlier.
"Owwww! That, like...hurt, y'know? Cut it ouuuuut..."
Meanwhile, Lauranna rather indignantly nurses her wound for a few seconds before drawing out her healing wand and giving herself a tap with it.
It's at this point that Red manages to shake off his befuddled state...but at what cost? He drops his defensive position, distracted by the fresh wave of pain from the bullet wound in his arm.
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Wymarc
Silver Bullet
Lucky
Lauranna
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Red
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Joe Public
Santiago
Active Conditions: None
Environmental Effects: None
Joe Public & Santiago are UP at the bottom of Round 2 and then Wymarc, Silver, Lucky and Lauranna are UP at the top of Round 3!
She don't have quickdraw, so drop gun and pull out second gun and fire, nonlethal
vs touch, nonlethal
Between Santiago and Wymarc the remaining thug is swiftly pummeled into unconsciousness, which, really, works out better for him since it saves him from facing Lucky's wrath - at least for the moment. It also saves him from potentially losing any fingers from Silver's bullets.
As a silence falls over the warehouse, one Mister Snive very slowly peers out of the northern door, hands raised in the air.
"Don't shoot! I don't know who you are but I'm not interested in dying today!"
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When Snive slinks out of his office, Santiago turns to Lucky. "Hands up, don't shoot, man."
Then he turns back to the bookkeeper. "We need to talk, Snive. And we need to take a look at your books. Best if you cooperate."
"Right, guys?" Santiago says, encouraging his companions to help convince the man, if he doesn't cooperate immediately.
His hands still up in the air, Snive nods.
"Yes, yes, I'll cooperate! Normally I'd never dream of crossing Phlegos - doing so would likely be a death sentence - but you folks made a, um..."
He pauses, looking around at the carnage inside the warehouse.
"...most convincing argument otherwise. Not to mention combat is most certainly not what I signed on for! So yes, I will tell you what I can."
Silver bullet reloads his guns during the downtime. He fills both guns up with Admantine bullets.
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As soon as the thug hits the deck Lucky's righteous anger begins to diminish. The smell of brimstone recedes. He recovers his hammer, but keeps the sansetsukon in his hands. With a nod of acknowledgement to Santiago and Wymarc, he turns to Snive:
"You better start singing, Little Bird, and it better be a very sweet tune."
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"Oh yes, we're very interested in your cookbooks," Joe says as he peers around the corner curiously. "Got to check what you've been feeding these folks after all - quite a bit of turmeric I'd wager from how yellow-skinned and thin-blooded they are. It's one of Their favorite ways of getting rid of inconvenient folks, you know." He nods sagely from the relative safety of the front room.
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Santiago recalls Venture-Captain Roderus' instructions, Find some hard evidence against Dulm that can't be ignored, and don't destroy or take anything more than absolutely necessary.
Santiago says, "Let's find what we're looking for and get out of here." The slavers themselves will provide useful testimony against Dulm.
Using some of the slavers' own manacles, the ifrit restrains Snive and the thugs, and then he uses his wand to heal the halfling bleeding out on the floor and the battered and bruised thug slumped at his feet, enough to raise both back to consciousness.
Finally, Santiago helps search Snives office.
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"I MEAN WHO DOES THAT!? I just walked in and POW." Lauranna kicks the downed man. "Jerk."
After putting her wand away and kicking the man once more she stomps into the next room.
"I'll have you know I'm giving this place a one-star review. Your customer service is atrocious. I want your name and I wanna speak to your manager." she complains loudly to Mr. Snive, while pounding her fist on his desk. "I just walked in and POW. One of your employees just whacks me out of nowhere! Who does that!?"
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"I MEAN WHO DOES THAT!? I just walked in and POW." Lauranna kicks the downed man. "Jerk."
After putting her wand away and kicking the man once more she stomps into the next room.
"I'll have you know I'm giving this place a one-star review. Your customer service is atrocious. I want your name and I wanna speak to your manager." she complains loudly to Mr. Snive, while pounding her fist on his desk. "I just walked in and POW. One of your employees just whacks me out of nowhere! Who does that!?"
Wymarc shrugs. "Maybe they have a dress code?"
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”It’s to keep the dust mice from getting into his system. One gets in, then it divides itself into two, then again into four, then sixteen, and before you know it you’ve got one billion seventy three million seven hundred forty one thousand eight hundred twenty four dust mites instead of internal organs and you fall over dead.”
"You better start singing, Little Bird, and it better be a very sweet tune."
"This is your office, yes? Where are your books?"
"Yes, yes, you've more than proven your point," Snive sighs with a roll of his eyes. "Yes, this is my office. My books? They're on the desk. By all means, take them. But you may as well do yourselves a favor and let me retrieve them for you - otherwise you'll set off the traps that are in place. Magical traps - one set to sound an alarm if anyone other than Dulm or myself touches the desk and a second to conjure defenders to deal with intruders. Don't believe me? Feel free to check for yourselves, first."
During this time Santiago works to stabilize the downed thugs, expending a couple of charges from his wand to do so. It seems pretty clear that none of them are in any shape or mood to cause any further trouble and so offer no resistance to being tied up or shackled or what have you. And for anyone that wishes to take the time to scan Snive's desk for magical auras can confirm the presence of two magical traps fitting the description he gave you.
Once your curiosity has been satisfied you watch carefully as Snive moves over to his desk and reaches out to pick up the books stacked atop of it. And nothing happens.
"Here, take them," Snive huffs, shoving the books at whoever wishes to take them.
The books do reveal that Phlegos is heavily in debt but has nevertheless continued making very large payments. These payments appear to be bribes or other forms of under-the-table transactions.
While a full investigation would require hunting down the businesses and individuals Phlegos Dulm has been making payments to, this is still plenty to work with for the time being.
Santiago and anyone else who wishes to also proceeds to do a full search of the office for anything else of interest to the investigation but aside from Snive's books there's nothing of note to report or confiscate.
A search of the room immediately to the west of the office, which turns out to be Dulm's bedchambers, also yields little of interest. It's a large room that was clearly once quite impressive in its better days. The large four-poster bed and other furnishings are dusty and stained, while many of the collectibles around the room are oddly arranged around empty spaces, as though once-full shelves have been plundered a piece at a time.
"I just walked in and POW. One of your employees just whacks me out of nowhere! Who does that!?"
Snive gives Lauranna an incredulous look.
"Security. Assigned security does that. Especially since none of you are even supposed to BE back here. Who in the world are you people, anyway?"
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"Who are we?" Santiago shrugs. "Concerned citizens."
After Snive deactivates his magical traps, Santiago moves to the man's desk. "Thank you for your cooperation. You don't mind if I take a look through your desk, do you? 'Trust, but verify' old Laqat used to tell me."
Satisfied that he'll find nothing else and that Snive has shared everything he has, Santiago scans the bookkeeper's ledgers. "The books reveal Phlegos is heavily in debt but has nevertheless continued making very large payments. The payments appear to be bribes or other forms of 'under-the-table' transactions."
While a full investigation would require hunting down the businesses and individuals Phlegos Dulm has been making payments to, this is still plenty to work with for the time being.
"I think we have what we need here," Santiago informs his companions. Then he indicates Snive and the slavers. "Their testimony could be useful, as well. Can we risk the harm they'll do, if we leave them here to their own devices?"
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"Don't expect them to cooperate, Santiago. We can't trust them an inch. I'm not about to kill in cold blood, but I'm not letting them go free either. Snive and the goblin girl, you could maybe persuade me to cut loose. Seems like they'd prefer another kind of boss. These others though, I'm giving them a taste of their own medicine."
Lucky bundles the beaten thugs into the slave cages, puts them in chains, locks the cages and pockets all the keys.
"I'll be back, with friends, and we'll discuss how you can make amends for what you've done. If you're lucky enough to get busted out before then, know this: I'm coming for you, and you will pay for your sins. Your best choice is to stay here and stay quiet." Small flames run up and down Lucky's arms as the smell of brimstone briefly returns. "They say that Hellfire awaits sinners. In some cases, it comes more quickly than others..."