Thraag reaches out with his mind at the crystal and flings it back at Tweety.
Eyve advances, throwing a punch at the remaining enemy, and missing wildly amid the chaos.
Thraag reaches out with his mind at the crystal and flings it back at their target.
Eyve advances, throwing a punch at the remaining enemy, and missing wildly amid the chaos.
Eyve missed her attack as she was forced to duck out of the way of a deadly crystal zipping first one way then the other. The crystal ended up embedding itself in the wall to the right of where the woman's head had been a moment ago.
But she had spun to grab Skylar by the neck. "Stop or she dies!" Skylar- something of an arcanist herself- could feel energy pulsing in the woman's hand. "Let me walk out of here and she lives. That's it."
OOC:
Idrassa's heart skipped a beat, and she fought for control. The expression that slipped over her features was abruptly the grim determination of the skilled soldier about to do something dangerous and unpleasant.
She reached into a part of herself, and power flooded through her. Not the warmth she felt when drawing Tweety to her from Beyond, but something cold and bitter, like old corruption leeching from melting ice. Her throat burned and her tongue tasted of ash, but her voice was a sweet and easy tone of familiarity.
"Oh, it's you!" She cried, slipping forward to stand before the thug. Her face broke into a wide grin. "Guys," she said, turning to look at her comrades, "This is the one I was telling you about! Tweety, shame on you for trying to bite him, you should know better!" She called up at her eidolon. The serpent somehow managed to look abashed.
"Listen," said Idrassa. "This is a misunderstanding. We can work all this out." Then she did a double take. "You hurt my friend!" She told the thug, pointing at his hostage. "Why would you do this to me? Here step back and let me look at her," She added, seeming to want to step up and administer medical help.
OOC: Move to where she can be seen, maybe 1W of Zander?
Std: Use Dragonmark to cast Charm Person, DC 16 Will
Note here: The spell gives him a +5 to his DC if he's under active attack, but he's also the one who took a hostage and tried to negotiate. So I'm going to make a rules-lawyery argument that since she's giving him the break in the fighting he wants he's not really under active attack.
Declan shook his head "You have no room to negotiate. You harm her, you're dead." But he didn't move from where he was. It looked like Idrassa had something up her sleeve, so he let things happen.
They were a sight for sore eyes-- literally. Skylar wrestled down the surge of hope and, yes, joy, at seeing Idrassa and Declan. She dared not move, nor show her emotion; she did not want this woman to know what they were to her, Declan especially.
Her injuries left her little choice but to tilt her head with the woman's motions. She could feel the magic singing through the harpy's skin, energy that Skylar wished was hers to wield.
She had prepared to utter defiance, tell the others to do what needed to be done, but remained silent at Idrassa's gambit. Idrassa was a sharp one, and the half-elf had learned to trust those instincts.
She did seek out Declan's gaze instead, subtly, through hooded lashes. He damn well knew what she would want him to do, if they were out of options. Not that Skylar was in any hurry to die, but she was unwilling to be a pawn for anyone, even a small-bit thug like this one.
The woman looked confused for a second before her expression softened, relaxing into a smile. "Sure, sure. Sorry." She stepped away from Skylar and Idrassa, backing all the way up to the bars of the cell welded into the corner of the room.
Thraag moves and closes the door.
Declan's thornblade dropped subtly as the woman backed off thanks to Idrassa's magic. He was most definitely ready to run the woman through, despite (or because of) her threatening Sky. He shook his head, not meeting Sky's gaze (yet). "Remember what we came for. Zander? Question time."
"As heartwarming as this is," Skylar commented, her voice edged with sarcasm and raw and dry, "I'd like to be out of these shackles. If you'd kindly indulge this frivolous request. And thanks."
She was relieved, to say the least, that Idrassa had pulled a trick out of her sleeve, yet again. That had been a tidy bit of spellcasting she had done.
While understanding of their priorities-- to be fair, she would do the same as Declan-- she wanted to be out of the bloody chair, and tend to her wounds. If she was able to move, that was. Her muscles were stiff and sore, and she had no doubt they would make their complaints known once she started moving.
The damn man wouldn't even look at her. Fine.
Her gaze flickered to the newcomers. New crew? Well. She'd learn about them soon enough, she supposed.
He did look at her then, with a self-deprecating pull at the corners of his mouth. "Yes, priorities. As always reminding me when I am hyperfocused." Declan looked for the keys to Sky's shackles, removing them from the thug's person, if needed. He then proceeded to unbind one prisoner, collecting the bindings for the next.
While unlocking the shackles, he lightly touched Sky's shoulder, "It is good to see you. We will need to talk, yes?" he whispered.
With Sky free, he stood and extended a hand to the chair for their new "friend" to take a seat. "Your turn."
Idrassa kept up her smile, but sweated slightly. She wanted to throw her arms around Skylar and ask what had happened, but this was not over yet. And they should milk the moment for what it was worth. So even as Declan brought the chair around, the former dragonmarked scion continued the bit.
"Yes, let us check your injuries," she said, gesturing to the chair Declan had offered. "Sorry it got so bloody. It's just...Well, everyone's on edge. It seems like your lot is on to something big, and it's spilling over into lots of other things. You know how this city is," she added. "You pull one string, and all the others get tugged."
"Say," she continued, as if voicing a stray thought. "What is this all about, anyway? What are you guys after?"
Skylar had quietly given Declan a nod; it delivered to him all the information that he would need, which was this: yes.
She moved gingerly once freed of her shackles, shakily working life back into her hands, pressing her bruised fingers into her wrists. With all the care of one who was determined not to appear as weak as she felt, she stood, steadying herself against the chair that had confined her.
She limped passed him, her movements uncharacteristically rigid and stiff, as broken bone ground against itself and bruises awakened. As Declan had done with her, as she stumped past Idrassa, she lightly touched her arm and gave her a grateful look.
"It's good to see you," she murmured. "You'll want to ask about the dwarf in the cell, too." She edged past and found a wall to lean against.
She had things she also wanted to ask, but they might be the same things as the rest of the group had in mind. Skylar arranged her arms, slowly, so that they were folded in a way that allowed her to rest and observe. Besides, this was their operation, and they had more than earned the right to ask the questions they needed to. Once the charm wore off, she had no qualms about exacting a little revenge.
She also was curious to know if their captive would confirm the things she had learned already. She intended to share them with the group; things had gotten too big for her to put the puzzle together on her own.
Zander had questions, alright, but it seemed that Idrassa was to be the one asking questions at the moment. This was tactically sound. Zander knew better than to jog the sword arm of a duelist.
So instead he stood simply examined the people in the room - or rather, let J'r-V'zz do so...
With all enemies within subdued or eliminated, Eyve proceeds to relieve the fallen of anything useful, before moving to keep an eye on the exit, ensuring no one else surprises them before they conclude their business here.
"Say," she continued, as if voicing a stray thought. "What is this all about, anyway? What are you guys after?"
The woman shook her head, a wry smile on her face. "Half a million galifars, for one thing. Not that I'll see any of it, though, right?" She rolled her eyes. "It'll all go to Manshoon and he'll use it for whatever it is he's doing. Who can know what someone like that is really after, right? Supposedly we're fighting the Dragonmarked Houses but right now all it looks like is a never-ending war against those hairy trogs for useless territory."
Her wry expression started to take on the sheen of a zealot as she went on. "Manshoon says we're fighting for our very existence. Not just us but everyone. Look around you! Look at the world the dragonmarked masters of capital have built for us! A world of towering skyscrapers and sprawling slums, of immense wealth and grinding poverty, of abundant food and starving children. They tell us this is the natural order, that greed is good, and that profit is the measure of human worth! But we aberrants know the truth: this system is a fraud, a lie, and a machine of endless exploitation!"
Her volume gradually increased and her cadence rolled like she had given this speech before. "For too long, the working people have been told to accept their lot. To work harder for scraps while the wealthy and powerful hoard the abundance our labor creates. We produce everything, yet we own nothing! They own the factories, the land, the resources—they own the means of production—and then they force us to sell our time, our energy, our very lives, just to survive! This is not freedom; this is wage slavery!"
She looked like she was just getting started unless someone jumped in to stop her.
Idrassa had slipped Skylar a smile as the latter slipped by, but had said nothing for fear of interrupting the flow of conversation with the captive. There would be time to re-connect later.
The human managed to look sympathetic, and duly angry, as the woman began the windup to her screed. Inwardly, she wondered where an aberrant-dragonmarked excoriate child of privilege fit into this theory of history. She suspected she was simultaneously oppressed proletariat and near the head of the line for the guillotine, a position she still liked better than being a Tarkanan.
But she felt she should change the subject before anyone started singing revolutionary anthems. "Manshoon?" She asked eagerly. "You've actually seen him? What's he like?" Her voice suggested barely concealed hero worship.
Skylar couldn't roll her eyes any harder than she did. It was mostly toward the pedestal their captive had lofted Manshoon to. Here was someone who was so up their own arse with her righteous cause that she was blind that she'd been bought and sold by the King of Thugs. Oh, the things she believed in were noble enough-- power to the people, and all that. Sounded like the Tarks were just as much after the missing galifars as the ir'Cassalanters were.
She did wonder at Idrassa's strategy; was she keen for information? Or was there some admiration in there? Impatient, tired, and desperately wanting a healer, Sky recognized she wasn't fully seeing what the young woman was doing. Then again, Idrassa had a sharp mind on her, and a way with people. Sky didn't need to know what Manshoon was like. Should she step in? No. She had to trust the crew to trust Idrassa, and she had to trust herself to do the same.
So. Manshoon was also after the galifars, which she surmised meant he was also after the Vault. That was why they had kidnapped her; the ir'Cassalanters were after the same thing, and they had a piece to the puzzle that the rest of the street didn't. That they were in the running for the Grand Game was old news, but did the Tarks know what Sky now knew? No, they couldn't. That's why they wanted to shake her down, surely.
In any case, once their captive was no longer in earshot-- whether her ears didn't work because she was dead, or she was elsewhere-- she had to tell the group what she knew. They would know what to do with it.
She glanced at the still dwarf in the cell. They needed to see if he had a pulse. She pushed away from wall and limped over to give him a once-over.
Eyve listens to the exchange. Though she was far from the best at reading emotions, she could recognize the woman's tone as one of building...enthusiasm, common to people who were likely to do something drastic.
She wordlessly moves a few steps closer to where Idrassa stands, should the need arise to intercept an attack.
But she felt she should change the subject before anyone started singing revolutionary anthems. "Manshoon?" She asked eagerly. "You've actually seen him? What's he like?" Her voice suggested barely concealed hero worship.
The woman smiled at Idrassa. "Seen him? Of course! I've had dinner with him! He's amazing! A true visionary! And what a presence! Not the thunderous bombast of some mere thug, some physical brawler, but a quiet, powerful storm. The sheer aura — it was tangible! I swear the very air in the room crackled with the energy of pure, unadulterated Destiny!" Even Zander could hear the capital-D Destiny in her words. This was a true believer, a zealot, full of conviction and revolutionary abandon. Someone who would stop at nothing to fulfill her cause.
"And when the Dreambreaker speaks, the words resonate deep within you. It wasn't just a leader speaking; it felt like the very heart of our movement found a voice. Every sentence carried the weight of our shared struggle and the promise of a better future. And his eyes — they held a wisdom and a fire that I will never forget."
"Meeting Manshoon wasn't just an encounter; it was a transformation. It solidified my resolve and reminded me why we are fighting. My spirit felt renewed, my purpose clearer than ever before. I am more determined now to contribute to the cause, to work alongside my comrades, and to help build a future free of the control of the Dragonmarked Houses. No one can stand in his presence and not be carried away on the wings of revolution!"
She looked ready to go on ad nauseam if she wasn't stopped again.
She glanced at the still dwarf in the cell. They needed to see if he had a pulse. She pushed away from wall and limped over to give him a once-over.
Sky found the cell locked. She couldn't tell the man's condition from outside the bars but he seemed to be breathing.
Dec leaned over to Idrassa and says in a low voice, "Seems she's been magically charmed before in relation to Manshoon. Maybe his aura gives that vibe?"
Idrassa gave Declan the slightest of nods. This was very bad and very good, if she could just figure out how to pull on that lever.
"So he's everything I've heard," breathed Idrassa, seeming pleased. Then she frowned, seeming disappointed. "Still, it's as you say, the Dragonmarked Houses hold all the power. All the vision in the world cannot win a contest like that - Surely he can't beat them to any of the pieces he needs, let alone keep safe any that he finds."
If his face could do so, Zander likely would have frowned. Something about this humanoid was... "off," he believed the term was.
But he wasn't sure what, or how, and he knew enough - well, J'r-V'zz knew enough, and told Zander so - not to interfere with Idrassa's magically enhanced interrogation.
So, he stood still, waiting to see what would happen next.
The woman seemed utterly convinced of this Manshoon's cause, clearly one who was fully devoted to her cause.
Idrassa gave Declan the slightest of nods. This was very bad and very good, if she could just figure out how to pull on that lever.
"So he's everything I've heard," breathed Idrassa, seeming pleased. Then she frowned, seeming disappointed. "Still, it's as you say, the Dragonmarked Houses hold all the power. All the vision in the world cannot win a contest like that - Surely he can't beat them to any of the pieces he needs, let alone keep safe any that he finds."
"Everything and more!" the woman gushed. "You should meet him, it's like nothing you've ever experienced before. I'm not supposed to go back to the tower until we finished interrogating..." she glanced at Skylar, a sheepish look on her face "Well, until we got some useful information, but if you want to wait you could come with me? He's not always there, of course, but maybe you could volunteer and meet him that way, eventually."
"Where does he go when he is not at this tower?" Thraag asks.
Idrassa: "The tower? He has a tower of his own?"
Avareen (that's her name): "Kolat Towers. You know, those 'abandoned' and 'haunted' towers in Southern Ward?" she smirked.
It is well known that an invisible field of magical force surrounds and covers Kolat Towers. The stands just outside the outer wall of the estate, extending upward to contain the entire compound in a dome of magical force. Nothing can pass through the barrier, including air, fog, rain, and snow. Creatures that don't realize the field is there bounce off it, with birds especially prone to striking it. The ground outside the field is regularly littered with the tiny corpses of birds that broke their necks hitting it. and street cleaners come by every morning to sweep them up.
Idrassa: "I'd love to see it, but, well, it sounds stupid, but I have other things I need to do today. Will it take long to get there?"
Avareen: "Oh, no. It's like a 15 minute walk."
Idrassa: "He must be grand indeed. But didn't one of his underlings lose a piece of the prize to the Daask?"
Avareen: She frowned and shook her head. "We were tricked! They sent an envoy proposing an alliance then stole it when we showed up to the meeting where we were both supposed to bring the Eyes we had!"
Idrassa: "So who's the dwarf, anyway?"
Avareen: She grunted. "Ott Ten-eyes. We were trying to get the location to Xanathar's lair but he's remarkably resistant to torture."
Idrassa: "There's no need for all this. The truth is, the ir'Cassalanters don't have any of the pieces."
Avareen: She glanced at Skylar. "Well, that's what we were trying to find out." Avareen looked back at Idrassa. "Are you sure we shouldn't finish questioning her? It sounds like you want to know what the ir'Cassalanters have,too."
"Where does he go when he is not at this tower?" Thraag asks.
Avareen shrugged. "How would I know? He's an archmage. He might have a sanctum on one of the moons, for all I know. What I do know is that he teleports there. Some of the others have been invited into his sanctum but I never have."
Idrassa: "There's no need for all this. The truth is, the ir'Cassalanters don't have any of the pieces."
Avareen: She glanced at Skylar. "Well, that's what we were trying to find out." Avareen looked back at Idrassa. "Are you sure we shouldn't finish questioning her? It sounds like you want to know what the ir'Cassalanters have,too."
Declan took a step forward, subtly putting himself (at least his shoulder) between Sky and Avareen. "If we did, we have better ways to ask. Honey gets more flies than vinegar."
Idrassa raised a hand as if to chide Declan. "Hey, now, not everyone can always be friends," she said, as if trying to take Avareen's side. But as her back turned briefly on Avareen and she faced the others her expression shifted, as if offering them all a last chance to ask this woman their questions.
Skylar kept her expression wooden and disinterested. She now knew what their captive knew. She now had Manshoon's general whereabouts. And, it confirmed that they knew about Xanathar. Damn! They were closing in.
"You had bad intel," scoffed Skylar, around her swollen lip, the words half-muffled. "Beat me to ten hells for nothing. I'm sure this lot want a turn."
"Hmm.." Eyve mutters softly, not interrupting but clearly recognizing the mentioned towers.
Avareen snorted. "Of course you'd say that, you work for them." She shook her head and nodded at Declan. "Maybe but I've found that flensing the pinky works wonders for getting someone to open up."
Thraag will just look around the first room to see if there is anything interesting there.
Avareen snorted. "Of course you'd say that, you work for them." She shook her head and nodded at Declan. "Maybe but I've found that flensing the pinky works wonders for getting someone to open up."
At that, the last doubt slipped from Idrassa's heart. She entertained the idea of asking one of the others to do it, but did not want to let herself off that easily. She had chosen to start this, she had to finish it.
At her mental command, Tweety dropped from the ceiling and slipped her coils smoothly around Avareen. "What -" she started to demand, then did a double take as Idrassa dropped the spell. "You b#%#$!" She cried at her interrogator.
"Yes," answered Idrassa tonelessly. In a single rough motion she drew her dagger and slit the helpless woman's throat. Her inexpert stroke was not quite deep enough for the kind of quick, clean death she had wanted, so Tweety helpfully sunk in her fangs. There was the sound of a neck snapping.
After a moment's silence, Idrassa asked, "Host, Skylar, are you alright?" She looked over, clearly pained at having had to wait so long to acknowledge the woman.
Thraag will just look around the first room to see if there is anything interesting there.
[dice=Perception]d20+8
Thraag finds the notes Avareen was writing on the desk.
1) The son's Eye is secure within the library’s Astral Vault.
2) ir'Nelview's Eye was obtained from the his compound in Taliost, but was taken by Xanathar’s treachery. It remains in the beholder’s possession.
3) It seems apparent, based on interrogations of their imp messengers, that the ir'Cassalanters possess the third eye. Need to question human agents for more information.
Also, your information was unclear whether Xanathar had 1 or 2 Eyes (bc Renaer's Eye was stolen by someone but it could have been Daask or Tarkanan). The notes confirm for you that Daask/Xanathar has 1 Eye and Tarkanan/Manshoon has 1 Eye.
male bodyguard: scale armor, MW heavy shield, MW longsword, potions of cure light wounds x3
female bodyguard: MW chain shirt, potions of cure light wounds x3, implant arm (lets say you can loot the equivalent of a MW longsword in GP value of dragonshards from it, unless you want to start a new side hustle of cyberjacking full implants off bodies?)
Skylar watched stone-faced as Idrassa ended the woman's life. A generous death, she thought, even with the less-than-smooth knifestroke. If nothing else, it was done, and a kinder end than what that woman had no doubt extended to others.
She sagged against the wall. The relief that rose off her was palpable. She smiled wanly at Idrassa's inquiry.
"I will be," she said, in her short, crisp way of speaking, voice raking with the hoarseness of her ordeal. "We have much to discuss. Things to tell you." She flicked her jaw in the dwarf's direction. "Not here. I'll keep. Might want to ask that one questions next."
Even speaking demanded effort of her, but she pressed on.
"That one-- Daask tattoo on the neck. Odd, because Daask tend not to take dwarves. Be wary."
Unlocking the cell, the group found an unconscious dwarf huddled up against the wall. He was dirty, bloody, and his clothes were torn in several places. Sky understood why she'd thought his hair was in locks- the top of his head was covered in long tentacles instead of hair. Dwarves were known to utilize strange symbiotic implants but this seemed a little over the top even for a bio hacker.
"He looks pretty bad. Can anyone get him up and mobile?" Thraag says.
"Give the dwarf one of the potions," Idrassa suggested. But as she spoke, Tweety maneuvered herself on the ceiling above the dwarf, wary of trouble. Then she picked up one of the bottles and approached Skylar. "Here, Sky, you should take one too," she added.
Then, belatedly, she gestured to their companions. "These are Thraag and Eyve. They're good people," the summoner added. Then, to the two in question she added, "Skylar is an old friend." They had surely already concluded that, Idrassa knew, but it seemed rude not to introduce them.
Eyve takes one of the potions retrieved from the body of a fallen cultist and goes into the cell, attempting to rouse him with light contact before feeding him the potion if unresponsive.
Eyve reached down and shook the unconscious dwarf's shoulder, rolling him onto his back. She noticed his eyes were still shut a bare moment before the eyes on the ends of the stalks protruding from his head snapped open and a beam of pale energy lanced out at her face.
"That's no ordinary Dwarf," Declan commented unnecessarily. He nocked an arrow, but being surprised by the turn of events wasn't fast enough.
Idrassa turned and stared in horror, but she was unable to muster her thoughts either to cast a spell or to instruct Tweety.
The sudden eyeblast surprises her, but has no other discernable effect as Evey stares back at the dwarf in disdain
Thraag motions and a piece of debris flies out to hit the strange dwarf-creature.