Yasmeena draws her scimitar again, and dances a little flourish and spin as she tosses it from one hand to the other.
She looks like a graceful, competent, and deadly fighter.
"What's up with you, Kardswann? What's left of the hero of old?"
"Isn't that a premature announcement, with Kardswann still in the building?" the thin man shyly suggests.
Aithaloessa is about to wave off the thin man’s remark when Kardswann’s voice very nearly makes her drop her bottle. Nevertheless, she forces herself to take another long, slow drink, though she narrows her eyes at Antarah as she does so, as if to say, I haven’t lived for a century by getting into this kind of shit, and, If we get out of this, you owe me a bottle of something better.
Still she sets her drink down with a nod at the magus’ words, gesturing with a flick of her hand below the level of the bar to suggest a tactical retreat towards Haleen’s lair, ideally with cover for someone as squishy as Aith herself.
"What's up with you, Kardswann? What's left of the hero of old?"
For Kardswann, she tacks on, with heart-stopping impudence, another question to Tariq’s, “Shouldn’t you be puffing off to the Elemental Planes, or whatever it is you geniekin do?”
She then addresses the undecided in the room one last time before she reaches for an arrow. “Last chance. Think about it: if we’re the outriders, who do you think is coming after us with the main force of our company?”
Not for the first time, she mentally curses Garavel for his reluctance to commit additional bodies to the task, while she jerks her head towards Yasmeena’s lethally elegant display. “Do you really fancy a tangle with them after a tango with her?”
Yasmeena slides her bow off her shoulder and moves to where she has a clear shot at Kardswann. She draws and nocks, and readies to fire at him if he does anything that she thinks requires concentration.
Tariq fights the urge to drop everything and run away, and silently asks his patron for help. He's going to need all the help he can get.
Bracing his Scimitar, he plants both his feet on the ground. "Let's do this. No tricks this time, Kardswann, or everyone here will witness what kind of leader you are."
Analyzing the situation, he doesn't feel like attempting a lightning charge, especially with the heavy armour he's wearing, so he decides to wait for them to come, making a waving sign with his hand as an invitation to the enemy.
As Yasmeena decided to tease Kardswann with her threatening dance he goes for her first. She releases her arrow at him, but that doesn't stop him.
One of the gnolls comes for Antarah. Tariq steps up to the gnoll and ends his miserable life in one blow.
Now that it comes down to it, Aithaloessa slides along the bar, snatching her relic weapon from its holster as she goes, praying she can help Yasmeena.
“Haleen!” she shouts, hoping it will go through the walls or down the corridor, “If you have any affection for your sib, now would be a good time!” She won’t thank me for me it, but what’s she going to do, kill us faster?
Something to worry about later. For now, she thrusts her pistol at Kardswann and squeezes the trigger. "Vardishal says hello, K!"
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Although Antarah is too slow, the gnoll is too clumsy in his attack. He sees Yasmeena being charged by Kardswann and his immediate instinct is to go help.
Antarah charges his sword magically during his charge and strikes using two hands. He unwillingly lets out a warcry which the Tien people would consider a kiai.
His attack is powerful, drawing much blood from the large elemental.
After the pepperbox goes off with a big bang and fire and smoke everyone in the general direction quickly checks themself for wounds, but no one is hurt. Antarah on the other hand proves that one doesn't need a great axe to cut deep into one's enemy.
Haleen looks the barkeep deep into the eyes. "You stay put!" she orders him and moves towards the other two gnolls.
Facing the bar keeper, Tariq completes Haleen's words. "Yep, you better don't!" He quickly leaves, then, standing beside Haleen, some stools swiped away in his rush to help his friend and mentor. "Here we are! With Sarenrae's help! Lady, I praise thee!"
As we say here, not everyday is holidays :P
Yasmeena drops her bow and sidesteps Kardswann gracefully in her familiar battle dance, drawing her scimitar and stabbing in one smooth, fluid motion.
Yasmeena also cuts deep into the janni with her scimitar. A gnoll steps up to Tariq, evades the clumsy attack and stabs at him. Similar clumsyly. The other one attacks Haleen, who gets in return a serious stab wound.
Kardswann turns on Antarah, who hurt him badly, and lets the great axe come down on him.
After a weird dance of blades between the Gnoll and Tariq, our hero tries a cut from bottom to top, a strike difficult to parry but also to execute, in a desperate attempt to finish these two enemies quick enough to help his friends against Kardswann.
Tariq ends the gnoll in front of him with one cut.
Aithaloessa tries desperately to think about what she’s gleaned about the varieties of genies. Not that she has much more to throw at Kardswann than cantrips and lead, but.
Growing up in the Mana Wastes, she's developed enough of an interest in mutations and adaptations to be fairly sure that Kardswann's complexion indicates that he would only be resistant, not immune to fire. And that would mean... Later!
“Hey, puppy! Follow me!” she taunts the gnoll creeping up to support Kardswann, hoping to draw him off. That said, when she adjusts the aim of her pistol, it’s to target the monster with the axe again.
The elf successfully shoots the janni. The gnoll does Aithaloessa the favor and comes for her, as Kardswann for sure needs no help with the one opponent with a blade.
Her last idea having half worked, at least, though she can’t take another hit like that, Aithaloessa falls back on even more incredibly stupid ideas improbable contingencies. Her glance flits wildly between the bartender and the alchemist all while trying to keep an eye on the gnoll she’s not having much luck evading so far.
“ ‘Scuse me, he-” she tells the bartender sweetly, jerking a thumb at her assailant, “-needs the hard stuff. Preferably in his face.”
To the alchemist, “Something to put a real fire in his belly.”
She hopes that’s not too subtle a hint for them, and that they can work the odds: even if the adventurers go down, they’re likely to take Kardswann’s gnolls with them, leaving the waverers to deal on their own with a badly- (she hopes) wounded, irate madman with a large axe and only locals of dubious loyalty to vent his spleen upon.
Aithaloessa gives Kurellak an idea. He indeed throws the bottle. But from the result it is hard to tell at whom.
Around the corner at the northern door comes Dashki and cuts the wounded gnoll down.
"Come quick - we have to save Yasmeena." Haleen prompts Tariq.
On the way there she stabs the gnoll next to the crazy elf.
Yasmeena takes a deep breath and mutters a quick prayer to Sarenrae. O Dawnflower, help me! This brute holds our lives in his evil hands, and he flounts Your will as he takes our lifesblood from us. Guide my hand, blessed Sarenrae! She begins to strike with her scimitar, then a strange look comes over her and her eyes dart left and right. Taking her idea as divine inspiration, she instead withdraws from the heavily-armored outsider.
As Yasmeena flees battle Kardswann changes targets. It is Aithaloessa's turn to be axed. But it becomes clear that Kardswann is rather slow in his movements.
Aithaloessa gives Kurellak an idea. He indeed throws the bottle. But from the result it is hard to tell at whom.
Aithaloessa has never been particularly good at reading people, but ballistics are something else, and even with the wild arc, with their help, she's pretty sure she was the target.
“Dashki!?” In any case, she’s soon distracted by the arrival of the sullen, odoriferous scout, who she’s never been so happy to see before. Oh. Right. Garavel must have wondered where we’d got to. “Leave the barkeep!" For now. "Or he’ll cut me off!”
The pun is unintentional. She'll deal with the barkeep later.
She is also able to read her chances against both a couple of gnolls and, more importantly, an irate genie quite well. I just need a bit more time. Tariq will forgive me, I’m sure.
Ducking around barstools, the elf nimbly scampers out the north end of the bar and ducks into the opening of the nearest merchant’s stall, where she can use the corner for a bit of cover.
She offers the inmate a wild, apologetic grin, although she means, You better get back. That axe isn’t going to stop if it goes through me.
The gnoll returns the favor and stabs Haleen - or tries to.
Seeing that Kardswann has moved away, Yasmeena rushes back to Antarah's side, and she begins looking him over to see how badly he is hurt.
Haleen stabs the gnoll again and then retreats also.
The gnoll stabs at Haleen as she moves away, but misses.
Tariq, once the northern menace is taken care of, approaches the issue of gnolls that stand next to Kardswann. With a quick slash he tries to dispatch one of them.
There is the straw that broke the camel's neck. And then there is Tariq who puts a grand piano on top. The gnoll is splattered over the place.
But Kardswann isn't ipmressed. At least not that much that he'd reconsider his actions. He is set on bringing this group down, and the fact that Tariq offers himself as target makes him smile.
Aithaloessa tries not to think of possible last regrets as she throws herself into the cover of the counter looking over the arena space, reaching for another desperate trick as she goes – the vial of concentrated acid tucked in with the doses of powder at her belt.
For now, though, she has enough on her mind aiming one projectile, to say nothing of Tariq still being in close. Bracing herself as her arm hits the counter, she aims along the curve of the low wall and pulls the trigger.
The elf finally manages to hit something again.
Tariq barely stands after Kardswann's attack. He sidesteps north, since he expects Yasmeena to come from the south, and tries to be conscious by then.
Yasmeena casts a spell, speaking very musical-sounding words as she touches Antarah, then she steps past him and bends to pick up her shortbow.
Tariq lays heavily into the djanni, but the effect is not as spectacular as with the gnoll. But Kardswann is badly wounded.
Kardswann attacks Tariq again, and sends him into the land of painful dreams.
"Tariq, no!" Haleen shouts and charges the djanni. She didn't care for that boy that long to let him bleed out here.
Kardswann, this impressive figure with that smug grin on his face, gets deflated with a very precise and perfectly placed stab through the liver. With disbelief in his eyes, Kardswann is forced to his knees by excruciating pain. He grabs the wound but loses consciousness and falls on his face.
The bystanders of the fight stand in shock, as the thud of Kardswann's fall echos through the battlemarket. They stare at the woman standing over the body with the bloody rapier. The short silence is broken by one of the merchants starting to applaud, like a reflex for a won battle in the battle market. Another falls in and great relief spreads through the place as the fear of retribution from Kardswann falls off them.
Chatter starts about this great battle and how lucky they are with this outcome. Kurellak considers spending a round of drink, but decides to take a big swig form the bottle himself instead.
Tariq hears Haleen's shout before fading out. At least his demise has served a purpose...
Even Aithaloessa – who prides herself on a certain dexterity of hand and wit – has a hard time following the last few seconds, who rises and who falls, but as Kardswann sinks from view and the locals begin to applaud, she sets her acid down and rushes to Tariq.
“Bandages, now!” she shouts to the merchant of odds-and-ends, trying to press the cleric’s wound closed with one hand while she tears at his robes for something to stanch and bind the worst of the bleeding.
After a harrowing few seconds, she finally takes a deep breath as her efforts seem to bear fruit.
Mopping her brow carelessly with a bloody hand, with a ferocious glare she reclaims her pistol from where she had set it aside to treat Tariq, half rises to her knees, and prepares to make sure that Kardswann never troubles anyone ever again.
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Antarah opens his eyes to a cheering crowd and Kardswann's body missing its head. He gets up and sees the situation and says "Did we win?", still having a hard time believing it.
He collects his sword and orders himself an expensive bottle of wine. He approaches the others and says "I think I owe you this." To Haleen he says "Well, I think you are reliable, aren't you?" He lets the victory rush flow some. His body aches from his wounds, and the wine flushes down with the taste of blood. Sill, Antarah celebrates less than the others, looking about thinking what things will be like now. Maybe now, the princess will come? He waits for the others to address the crowd.
Yasmeena rushes to Haleen's side, smiling brightly. "Oh, Haleen, that was magnificent!" she cries. "I knew we could count on you! You're the hero of Kelmarane!"
Antarah opens his eyes to a cheering crowd and Kardswann's body missing its head. He gets up and sees the situation and says "Did we win?", still having a hard time believing it.
“Looks like,” Aithaloessa tells Antarah. She decides to wait until Tariq is awake so she can scold the group all at once about the better part of valour, when there’s less chance of someones like Dashki and Haleen showing up to the rescue.
Yasmeena rushes to Haleen's side, smiling brightly. "Oh, Haleen, that was magnificent!" she cries. "I knew we could count on you! You're the hero of Kelmarane!"
On that note, she pulls herself to attention and joins her thanks to Yasmeena’s, offering a hand-clasp to Haleen. “Absolutely! Just in the nick of time! Without you, we would all probably be piles of guts on the floor.”
She realizes her other hand is still full of her pistol from putting Kardswann down and that she’s a mess of blood and, on that one arm, whatever that weird mold is. She quickly holsters her weapon and reappraises the situation. There’s still the upper levels to secure, and Garavel and co. need to be informed, and… A mischievous thought crosses her mind. Officer she may be, but she was never so high in the ranks for what she’s just come up with. Come to think of it, I’ve always wondered what it's like to do this.
First, though. “As I was saying, before we were so rudely interrupted, Kelmarane is now under the protection of the lady Almah, etc., and so forth. Until such time as we fully secure the town, the upper levels of this battle market are off-limits, with reasonable exceptions for the alchemist Undrella, and above all, our chosen deputy.”
She quickly runs through the words of appointment, ending with a smile and a wink at Haleen, “… posse comitatus agere,” before raising the fighter’s arm and presenting her to what passes for the crowd. Give her a fair share of the loot, of course, make introductions… And Tariq and Yasmeena managed not to die, which should earn them brownie points.