To Spencer she added before he gets in any deeper.
"Spencer I know you meant well, but if I was you I would head over to the Bravos and see if you can put your extensive know-how to use."
Then to take Arlo mind off things she places a hand on his shoulder.
"Hold still Arlo, let's get you back to you back to looking your best."
And where his attire was bloodied, scared, and damaged, it starts to mend and become clean once more. Her Nanites doing there work. As they do, her skin glows. Then it was done.
"There that's better, much more presentable."
Arlo finished his cure potion as the nanites clean up his look.
"Thank you, Lyra. I'm gonna go help the lad with the carts."
Lyra watches him go, as the glow of her skin fades.
She assessed the team,
Arlo, he was as he always was, the rock others stood around.
Then she looked at the others, one by one.
Lurker had done well, Running down the one she failed to stop, then on seeing a bigger danger, had gone after that without hesitation. She did not feel they had to worry about him one bit.
Moira had done good, She had taken a hard hit and kept going. Then with the bat-thing, she knew she had messed up. Lyra had a feeling that would not happen again. The woman was steady and that was what was important.
Then her eyes fell on Spencer.
She could forgive Spencer this time, he was a bookworm who was now facing the blunt end. Next time she would not be so forgiving but she hoped there would be no next time. She would have words with him small unit tactics as well. But... he had found the rat-spies, that was good. She made a note to check their Base of operations for the things and get every base a cat or ratter dog as a pet.
Then she assessed herself. She had been slow, and her shooting! Stars above she needed to work on that. And her force shields, she had failed to put up her fracking shields!. Training 101 "shields up before you engage". She stood a moment as she criticized herself.
Then assessment over she did fast 360 and scans the area.
Then walked over to the others.
Moira figures out a way to hook the cases together so they mostly damp each others' vibrations.
The bravos do reasonably loading under the direction of Shadow, who hands out a bit of currency right there.
The Whole effort goes fairly quick [str check from Arlo to decide exactly how quick]... and the cart is moving, accompanied by just the party, with a promise that cart will be brought back or be paid for. Arlo and Spencer on the cart, the others trotting warily nearby, scanning the area. Shadow directs the donkey by speaking.
Someone, probably Moira, remembers that the tarp captain Kells used to cover the cases before and the group picks it up quickly and then Comes to the East Stone Bridge. Shadow whispers to the party in general, "I have a plan for where to put this but it's ad-hoc, probably too easily traceable to the Inn. We'd have to move it in a day or two at least. If any of your know a secure spot, unconnected with the Inn, I'll listen. The dark traders may or may not know that they face 'off-world' opposition now. We can assume that more of these things will now be lurking through the city." (clearly referring to to Gargoyle and related things). "Also, we should remove that fellow's corpse tonight. Dead tongues speak as well as living to this enemy." (Someone did cover toss Yellow's corpse in the gully and cover it with a layer of dirt but you know that's not enough).
It's probably worth showing up at the rendezvous point with the Green Shadow tonight as well if we can make it. At least to scope it out. How's everyone in terms of resources?"
"Oh? Tell me about that?" Says Shadow
"Moria, would not the one called Blue have headed to the rendezvous point? We would need to good scout. Like Lurker to see what is going on there. Then come back and report"
She checks her things.
"I'm good"
Also, Moira has told the rest of the party that the destination is "Cargo Hill, a ways North of Ovium. Cargo Hill is weathered basalt hill riddled with caves, [an] area with a reputation as a drop-off point for smugglers since finding things hidden there is difficult. " (see page 1 of campaign narrative).
"I dont think it should be terribly difficult to get there from where we are, but we should be quick about it. The iron is hot, we know where they are. And even if Blue has reached them, we may yet be able to glean some information from the area."
"Sounds like a plan", Arlo grunts, looking to Lyra. "Lead the way, Moira."
As this talk on goes beside the wagon, Shadow says "hold a bit, first remember these." pointing to the cases. Of course, Ovium is only a moderate sized city and it takes about twenty minutes for the group to reach the half-empty barn that the Shadow had in mind. In human form, he walks in and quiets the animals. Then the group is able to able to deposit the cases into some empty stalls and use hay to cushion their shaking.
Shadow is going guard the cases initially, he asks that the group go by the Inn and send Briallen and others some others back help on guard duty. "These cases should be safe here for tonight and maybe tomorrow but a final hiding spot is still something to think of".
The rest of the organization is going to be in full swing for the rest of the night, gathering and removing evidence of the earlier events with Yellow and Blue and covering the trail of the cases. The party would be able to head stealthily to Cargo hill, 5 miles out of Ovium, the North and East, to see who or what they can find at the Rendezvous point. "If you think it would be worth it and if you think you can handle yourselves. Getting captured or slain would only make things worse. You may be up against more powerful entities or some of the Dark Traders themselves. They may be alerted to you and prepare an ambush. Or you could surprise them. Or it could be a wild goose chase. Be cautious."
Lyra was just about to say what Shadow did but when he said a barn was a place he wanted the. She said nothing. Walking along with the Wagon her weapon ready.
Then at the barn she helped offload the cases. She was a lot stronger than she looks. While she helped she gave them a once over.
Then as the talk moved to moving out, she moved to Moira's side.
"May I suggest Moira, if the aim is just intel, that we send our two scouts and the rest of us I stay with Shadow and the cases."
Moira is clearly itching to keep up the fight, but makes a concerted effort to nod. "That may make sense. I concede. I just don't want to lose the trail when it is so clear before us."
Moira, Lady Lyra Anna, Arlo, and Shadow chat in the Barn about the trip to Cargo Hill as various other agents come and go. Relaxing on an old barrel, the shapeshifter's face sags a bit to a more tiger like look as he thinks.
Shadow is actually fairly young, 21 or 22, maybe. But hardened by rough experience, serious, responsible and tends to take on the weight of the world.
You realize he's doing a lot with the Inn and keeping your group at arm's length, following Organization protocol but still a bit worried about you all, whether you are working effectively.
"I'd advise the scouts take you as backup. They could run into the thing with life sense and who know what. But it's a bold idea, I'd favor it but it's your group's choice... that reminds me." He takes out a little cigar-case sized box containing seven silver rings, each with a groove a side but no other adornments. "Communique rings, complements of Ari Shadowfire. One for each and couple backup. Now, all we need to do is find your scouts"
Spencer looks puzzled at Arlo's mention of owing a debt to the lower planes. He opens his mouth to point out that really isn't how the magic works, but thinks better of it and focuses on loading the cases.
When they get to the barn he listens intently, a bit hesitant to speak up after the earlier tension.
He doesn't notice Shadow's demeanor, his attention instead caught by the intriguing set of rings. He accepts one and slips it on, holding it up to the light. "These should be incredibly useful, now we can coordinate much more effectively." He glances around at the others. "I think we should go for it. Who knows when we'll get another chance like this? Might be too dangerous to intervene, but at least we'll have a better sense of what we're dealing with."
She takes a ring and puts it on.
She mouths words,
::"testng 1,2,3.. Testing"::
"Well with other agents here, we can go,
Moira on your word"
Shadow looks up.
"Ah Spencer, you made it. Good I didn't see you, a testament to your skill. I did smell you, so keep this in mind. Anyway, it's getting late and I don't think you can wait longer for your other rogue. Start now. Let them or anyone else catch up. The choice is ultimately yours but I suggest this; go through the South gap in the wall and make your way to North Road after a bit and then head toward Cargo Hill. But turn off that North Road when you get close. Moira's source was saying the Rendez-Vous point is somewhere in there, right? Hopefully, in your contact with those two humans, you got enough information to figure that exact point. If you aren't certain, we can use extreme measure to pin down the information. No, wait, no time. Get going and I will send you the location in an hour or so. Cargo Hill is about a two, two and a half hour hike. Go!"
Shadow gets everyone out the door, walking towards the South Gap.
It is 11 pm at this point btw.
Moira tries on a ring and whispers "OWOWOWOWO" into the ring.
"It's time to leave then, let's be about it."
Arlo quickly secures his gear to fast travel, making sure others are equally set. When the time comes, Arlo keeps up with Moira's shoulder.
When its time to move out, She pulls out her Rifle and is out the door. Her weapon ready, she jogs at a steady relentless pace. She does not slow or stop but moves there like a metronome. When they get close she stops, She is not even out of breath.
Following Shadow's suggested route, the party heads to the South Gap, along the South Road for a bit and then heads North overland, meeting the North Road. [Survival 15 to not loose 1/2 hour finding this. Arlo, with highest survival, I think, will lead and others can assist.]
In about an hour, a swift black bird flies towards the group and hoovers in front of Lady Lyra Anna, delivering the following message in the voice of Aria (your other contact). "I have spoken with the one who called himself Yellow and after some persuasion, he described his meeting point. He was to find a solitary Oaktree to the North of the hill, find the closest cave mouth to the tree, then circling to the east, pass one cave and then come to another cave, the third cave. He would then follow this cave straight back to the end, deposit the cases at the end and the return, to be paid later. He believed, however, that whoever was paying him would observe the process from a nearby vantage point, likely another cave, and then quickly move the cases once he left. I suggest your scouts discover these watchers. This turn out to be a game of cat and mouse so proceed with caution." The bird then turns into gray smoke and dissipates.
The party listens and proceeds, reaching a point a half mile South West of the hill where Shadow suggested to veer. It's point where you can talk or continue.
It about 2 am, the hill looms dark in the near distance, eroded rock with a bit of weeds and scrub pines. The area north of Cargo Hill is mostly barren of vegetation while the South area is dense with plants until you read the village of Moldum, a mile further south.
So,
Leaving the road, the party moves to the small woods directly south of Cargo Hill, with the idea of the rest of the party staying at the edge of this wood while the stealthiest sneak around the hill and investigate the Rendez-Vous area and points nearby in the caves, where the Green Shadow may lurk.
After a quarter mile of worming your way through thick folliage in the dark, with your arms and legs pricked by the thorns of vines and water splashed into your boots, you guestimate you've taken half an hour and are 2/3 of the way around the hill
At this point, you hear a soft, plaintive moan ahead of you. Pushing forward, Arlo in the lead sees a cruelly-used figure. A humanoid, young, male wearing shredded rags. The bare skin of their back looks as if a several square and triangular patches of skin have been removed from it, leaving leaving bare, bloody flesh. This person seem to have reached their position crawling from the opposite direction. Arlo recognizes the figure as dimonian, a race resembling half-elves. (Dimonians has only recently began to immigrate to Ovium in a significant numbers from their homeland below the Sea of Beleath.) Arlo relays this description to the rest of the party behind him.
The party could leave the unfortunate to his own devises and continue forward but you naturally feel an urge to investigate.
Arlo looks down nat the unfortunate half-elf, trying to keep the disgust from his face. "Poor fu<king bastard."
The dwarf kneels down, pulling a potion from his bandolier, and pouring down the torture victim's throat.
"Mnnnnwaa" says the dimonian, his eyes showing panic, gratitude and confusion all at once. You see flesh heal, cuts close but skin on the patched area doesn't grow back in the manner you would expect. Still, the person orients himself, "Who are you? Are you of the Ovium guard, come to rescue me from my tormentors?"
As they finally stop. Lyra takes off her coat and shart reviling a once piece black body suit. She put her things away into some strange extra-dimensional pace about her. Then, as the sneaks head off, so does Lyra, heading for high ground and to spot for them. if she finds a spot she up a tree or on a higher post of the hill. Get gets into a snipper position and scots things with her scope feeding the intel to the others.
"Mnnnnwaa" says the dimonian, his eyes showing panic, gratitude and confusion all at once. You see flesh heal, cuts close but skin on the patched area doesn't grow back in the manner you would expect. Still, the person orients himself, "Who are you? Are you of the Ovium guard, come to rescue me from my tormentors?"
"No. But more than likely, we're gonna get revenge for you", Arlo said in a low tone. "Can you stay here and shut up while we work?"
Lyra listening in says.
::"Arlo, ask him about numbers, who are we facing?"::
Arlo holds the man by his clothes. "How many are inside? Are they heavily-armed? Who are we facing?"
She scanned around, She scope taking in the area. She had sort a place by which to see roads in and out of the cave site.
Where in the stars were the others?
::"Report in, we have a contact"::
She sent over the comms rings.
Moira moves to comfort the young man as well, giving him a bit of additional healing.
"Dear, tell us what happened in there, why did they do this to you? Do you know who they are?
The wounded dimonian doesn't respond well to direct interrogation but with a bit of softened tone, over the next ten minutes or so, He tells you his tale. His name is Eroth. Maybe a week ago, when walking home alone from a night of heavy drinking, he was kidnapped from the immigrant district of Ovium by foul smell entities roughly fitting the description of the smaller gargoyles you faced earlier this evening. After being kidnapped, he was rendered unconsious. When he woke up, he was in some kind of large room of worked stone, underground, tied by ropes to a table with six other prisoners. Entities like the larger gargoyle would come in and look at him, apparently casting spells that render him paralyzed and then cutting out the pieces of skill you can see (He would see up to four larger gargoyle entities and two shadowy humans). The other prisoners were treated similarly but had been there longer and so were in terrible shape - but alive, apparently kept alive by some strange, horrible magic. Occasionally strange men would appear and apparently supervise.
Earlier this evening, the spell of paralysis holding him failed while none of the entities were in the room and he ran out of the room, finding an entrance to a natural cavern and then finding a passage to the surface that opened up into the middle of these wood. The passage is maybe several hundred fee from here. He may be able to lead you back to the passage and the cavern (though keep him quiet be a challenge). None of the gargoyles or the humans had more visible weapons but gargoyles had sharp claws and all of the group some kind of magic spells or devices he didn't understand.
He asks also where he is, since doesn't know, having been taken unconscious from Ovium.
Trying to get a sense of whether this is a trap or not.
This doesn't feel like a trap. Eroth doesn't seem like he's in the condition to lie.
As Eroth speaks; he's clearly terrified when Lady Lyra Anna speaks of going into the caves. He manages to tell his story as Moira speaks to him more gently, then stops, trying to take everything in, recovered a bit with healing that has gone into him.
Finally, going within himself for a moment to process the experience, he opens his eyes. "No, you must go back. I don't know yet who you are but you seem like decent, brave people. At the very least, you must put those others, the cursed ones, out of their misery. None should live like that..."
"I will go with you - give a dagger so I my slay myself if they are about to retake me - but I will go with you. I will sketch out the way, if you have paper. Or on the group, if you give me light..." [He draw map]
Also,
Everyone with arcane has examined the gargoyles after they were destroyed. They were made of strips of human(oid) skin stitched together. They quite possibly were "powered" by the life force of this person and the other people they describe in the underground area.
Spencer addresses Eroth gently. "No, please, we'll go in for the others but you should stay here and hide until we get back. I've seen magic like this before, those creatures are likely drawing power from your life force. It's best for you to keep as far away as you can. Though a map would be wonderful." He hands over a pen and his journal so Eroth can mark out the passages.
When the map is finished Spencer studies it for a moment in the moonlight, then whispers to the others. "Okay, want me to head in first? I can make sure the prisoners are alone, if I get the chance maybe untie them and heal them a bit so they're ready to be moved. Then I'll call in the rest of you when the moment is right, or else if the moment goes very wrong."
If the others agree, Spencer creeps cautiously along the route sketched for him, ears pealed for any sign of danger.
Eroth is willing to stay by the bush you found him near, basically crawling deep into the undergrowth.
Spencer and the rest of the party come to the entrance to the tunnel network Eroth sketched. Spencer enters and the rest of the party follows carefully behind, the group occasionally exchanging information with the rings. [me know how far behind you are, otherwise I assume 40 feet].
The natural cavern that Spencer steps down into is damp and musty, Centipedes scurry this way and that but nothing else lives here. The entrance/exit seems to have formed recently when a rock fell in. The area is pitch dark once the group goes 20 feet from the entrance.
Spencer and the rest of the party go 80 feet and come to a rough rock wall with a rough 2'x2" gap in the bottom. Apparently, Eroth pushed a rock away. [Arlo, with dark vision, will have to act spotter, I think]. As Arlo peers looks through the gap, he sees two figures, appearing similar to the human sized gargoyle you fought earlier. They are moving methodically around the cavern area, half walking, half by feel. One says softly in the language of Ovium, "I sense a life nearby, hidden but not well enough" (their accent is somewhat strange) and they begin moving slowly toward the 2"x2" gap Spencer and the party are behind. They seem to be feeling their way but somehow guided towards the halfling and the party.
[Passing the 2"x2" hold requires a full round action or an acrobatics 18 roll if the entrance isn't block. One entity going through blocks it for a round unless they've successful done acrobatics. ]
As the rest get the map, Lyra heads to the part. When she gets there they are ready to go. She checks Arlo is ready then moves out. As Spencer heads in she follows, her eyes going onto night vision mode. Following some 40' behind him. She has her knife out. O hearing them and the fact they are moving her way.
She nods at Moira waiting the command.
IF
Moira gives the ok back.
Her body will glow, [giving off light] so the others can see.
Lyra is moving running and diving through the gap.
On the other side, she comes upstanding and slashing at the 1st one she can.
Arlo notices the gargoyle coming closer, likely to investigate the light source."So much for stealth. Good."
The dwarf, making sure he's armed for battle, using a full-round action to squeeze through the gap.
Her body will glow, [giving off light] so the others can see.
Her shield up AC 23
Then Lyra is moving, diving through the gap.
On the other side, she rolls past the two, keeps going past them to split them.
Before entering the cave, Moira asks Lady Lyra to use the mage armor wand on her.
Moira waits her turn to go through the gap and starts to offer encouragement as she waits. "We've got this, aim for their joints! That'll take them down quick.
As she's talking, she takes a moment to center herself and then eases down into a combat stance with her hands forming a protective barrier.
First Lady Lyra and then Arlo go through the gap. Glowing once she goes through the gap, Lady Lyra is still able to surprise the two creatures and can attack the closer creature from behind. Barely missing a more effective shot, her dagger opens a small wound.
Spencer and Moira remain on behind 2'x2' wall gap, the Gargoyles orient themselves (in this surprise round, they speak but don't act). The gargoyle in the rear gives a loud whisper - "Intruders, you delay them and I will fetch the crafters... keep their life force in their bodies, it can serve the crafters also..."
As the skin bat moved to get past Lyra,
She pulls her Revolver and fires the shotgun shell in its second barrel.
7
The back, human-sized, gargoyle hit by Lady Lyra Anna stumbles slightly as she hit going but continues. The other gargoyle prepares to lunge as Arlo.
Arlo brings his waraxe down on the advancing gargoyle.
The furthest skin-gargoyle moves back down the passage, to where a group of five passages come together (about 30' away, see map). It lets out a high pitched screech at that point, which is answer by a 2-3 quite distant screeches (Lady gets an attack of opportunity as the gargoyle disengages).
The closest monster fall upon Arlo with tooth and claw but fails to pierce his armor as it hisses at him.
Moira jumps through the gap and walks up to the nearest gargoyle while maintaining her performance, rd 2/8.
The dwarf unleashes his full attack on his gargoyle attacker.