Kela is pretty far from the door and doesn't know what's going on, but she says, "well done, keep it up, Elmar. These traitors will pay the price" and moves over to the other door to the entrance of the room to guard the escape.
About to load another bolt, Rose observes the absolute destruction wrought by just two of Elmar's spells. "You heard the man. Weapons on the floor please. Though if you prefer to be strangled, boiled or shot to death, I'd understand."
"...Actually, no I wouldn't. But it's your choice regardless."
She sees the blue foe make for their weapon, sighs and makes a swiping motion at the woman. A dagger flickers in the flames, aimed at the woman's throat...
Rose's rapid fire shreds the officer at the head of the table into a bloody mist, much to the shock and horror of the others. The woman with the blue feather is the fastest to react when Elmar launches his magical conflagration into the room, diving under the table - only to get stuck with Rose's dagger. The four survivors all look badly injured.
Between Rose's marksmanship and Elmar's magic, Marius feels that the foes in this room are well in hand. He bides his time, listening carefully for any indication that the rest of the caravansarai might come storming in to investigate the noise.
Barcos' eyes go wide. Though not a stranger to violence, this was next level.
Baron Barksley is absolutely chuffed at the violence, but refrains from talking. A speaking dog would not help this situation any more.
Barcos takes a moment to compose himself before saying, "You know, you would do quite well to lay down your weapons, as my companion suggested. No need for you poor folks to join your officer on the way to Pharasma's judgement."
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Marius's keen hearing picks up the sound of a distant door being throw open.
Barcos makes a compelling argument, greatly added by the crushing tentacles and still smoldering remains of the tablecloth. Two of the officers glance at each other, then raise their hands in surrender. The woman with the blue feather and the second female officer skewer them with deadly glares.
"Cowards! Cursed yellow bellies!"
The one who has managed to free herself moves in front of Rose, striking with her scimitar. The other one fails to break the grasp of Elmar's spell, and reaches for her bow instead.
"Cowards! Cursed yellow bellies!"
"At least their bellies are intact." Rose responds, side-stepping the hit into a glancing blow and deeply cutting into the woman's stomach with her dagger in passing. There is no wasted movement as she then fluently follows the motion by throwing the same dagger at the other officer scrambling for her bow. Then she retreats, making room for anyone wishing to enter in her stead.
Marius steps into the point Rose had just occupied, though as she just demonstrated she hardly needs the protection. Expression dark with patriotic fury he points his falcata at the constricted soldiers, his voice sharp and each word clipped with cold precision.
"You've committed treason against your motherland--abandoning your posts? Turning to banditry? What in all the Hells could have possessed you to--no...no matter. The law is clear about your fate; surrender and face the courts or we'll kill you all."
Desperate to escape the tentacles crushing their ribs, two of the officers manage to wriggle free, scrambling away from the area of quivering black appendages. In the face of overwhelming odds, still trapped, the last one raises his hands in surrender.
Rose waits out the tendrils, keeping her bow trailed on the turncoats before she walks up and begins binding the ones that had surrendered. She places a comforting hand on Marius' shoulder as she passes him. ""The good Lord Erallan asked you a couple of fairly important questions - the answers of which might well determine your fate, and our patience is short. I suggest you answer them."
"Elmar, can you ask Shendra to get an aerial view? I want to know if anyone is attempting to flee the compound - how much time we have to deal with these... 'enterpreneurs'." She says as she begins tying them up.
Elmar watches the surrender, then nods to them. He widens his hands out. "Iefky larp." With a motion like he's gently fanning away the air, the tentacles wither and turn to particles in a few moments.
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Elmar nods to Rose's suggestion, and Shendra's moves over to Rose, hovering near her ear. After a heavy pause Elmar glances over and exhales in amusement through his nose. Shendra flits back and forth, causing a buzzing in Rose's ear. Elmar reaches into his pack and raises up a few pieces of dried fruit, which Shendra darts over and snatches. As she flies up into the sky there's a brief flick of colorful light before she vanishes entirely to scout to the air. Elmar shakes his head with a small smile. "She's food motivated. Fruit, nuts. High end vegetables. Pastries will get you a lot of good will." He suggests.
Kela stands by the other door, oblivious to the developments in the room.
The officers who surrendered first at least have the grace to look a little shamefaced. "It's, well... our commander ordered us-" The lone woman officer still alive snorts in derision. "At least have the guts to tell the truth. We did it for gold. Our commander got paid to desert, and she shares the bounty with us, plus we get to keep the spoils from the caravans." She shrugs. "Out here on the frontier, it's not a glamorous life for a cavalry officer, and not exactly a place where you can get noticed and promoted. Yes, we are ambitious, but last I checked it was exactly ambition that made Taldor into a great empire... once." Her expression darkens. "Look at us now. The country is falling apart, and our old enemies won't miss this chance to leap at our throat."
Outside, Shendra can see into the open space atop the western wing of the caravanserai. There, an armed and armoured woman is marching across the courtyard, flanked by two officers and followed by a large ram. Above, the desert drake has awoken and is currently clambering atop the railing to take flight.
"And you see abandoning your posts and turning bandit as a way to stop the country from falling apart? Or does the gold do your thinking for you? Whose gold did you take, anyway--do you even know?" Marius' voice is acid as he collects their weapons and orders them face down on the ground to be tied off. He gauges their responses to his question about their commander's new benefactor.
"Yes, we are ambitious, but last I checked it was exactly ambition that made Taldor into a great empire... once. Look at us now. The country is falling apart, and our old enemies won't miss this chance to leap at our throat."
"And you would take the risk of starting an actual war between Taldor and Qadira for granted? Or was that the goal, and to hell with how many innocents die in the crossfire?" Rose scoffs as she finishes her own knots - only to then receive Shendra's report. "Marius, we have a few survivors approaching us from the west." She reloads dignity's bard as she prepares for the imminent next fight - then gives the Faerie dragon a pat. "Good girl. An extra serving of fruits and nuts back in the Inn it is."
The officers don't have time to reply as the one who must be the leader and instigator storms in, battle-ready in her chain shirt and with her sword drawn. Commander Jaliessa Staubel is a stern, tall woman with angular features and arresting green eyes. Well-muscled and tough-looking, she projects an air of easy confidence as she bears down on the intruders.
She strides without any hesitation through the courtyard, and even the war elephant edges away from her while the large white ram nonchalantly trots between the trunk-sized legs.
"You just made the last mistake of your life," she snarls as her sword cuts the air with both force and precision.
Elmar's lip curls in pain and annoyance at the cut. With furrowed brows he steps away, quickly retrieving a pinch of ground grey material. He throws it in the air causing a small puff of dust. Then he points at the elephant, and cries out as he throws his hand open. "Itmemenisj bilaes!" Elmar's hair floats and his eyes glow, and his veins run with magic for a moment as he bares his teeth.
For her action, she spends a move action and steps down the stairs. "Mistake? I think you are the mistaken one Commander. Surrender to us - NOW!" Her voice is angry, and filled with command - so angry that she seems to radiate heat.
Rose doesn't take part in the conversation, rather she sneaks to the edge of the railing, peeks around the corner and unloads a barrage of arrows into the animals accompanying the new group of enemies. They needed their leader alive. The same was not true for her allies.
Hidden from sight by Kelinahat's grace, Marius moves to intercept the Commander Staubel and shield Elmar from the rogue officer, sweeping his falcata at her neck. As he shimmers into visibility, his black starry eyes lock onto his adversary's as he nods to indicate the furious Kela.
"I'd do as she says. No one is coming to save you--this is the only chance you'll be offered."
Barcos casts a spell on his canine companion, who rushes at the ram, some ancient instincts taking over. Unfortunately, his magically enhanced jaws bite nothing but air, as the ram nimbly springs to the side.
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Welp.
The desert drake shrieks as it catches fire from Kela's magically-augmented admonishment; it may not understand the words, but the forceful tone is clear. A bolt from Rose catches it in the neck, causing a deep wound. The drake hovers in place, its powerful wing motions kicking up the dust of the courtyard as it opens its jaws wide and sends a ball of crackling sand to explode in the corridor behind Barcos.
One of the officers is blinded by Elmar's spell and panics, rubbing at his face. The other one aims her longbow at Kela.
The elephant trumpets in alarm as the glittery powder blinds it and several explosions go off above its head. Clearly trained for war, it manages to maintain its composure, although it is clearly distressed.
The effects of Marius's starry glare are somewhat diminished by the commander being currently blind, although she still manages to instinctively parry his blow, turning a lethal strike into a deep gash in her shoulder instead. He manages to get a closer look at her weapon - an intimidating blade with multiple hooks, barbs and serrations along it, excellent for catching and breaking an opponent's weapon. She sweeps it in an outward motion aimed at getting his blade away from her, but although her technique is clearly excellent it cannot make up for her current inability to see.
"Anua, kill!" is her only reply as the ram springs into action.
Even blinded, her companion seems to know exactly where the wolf that tried to bite him is.
Elmar reels from the explosions, ears ringing and staggering in disorientation. He coughs from the smoke, doing his best to get his bearings. He cloaks himself in invisibility and staggers out, trying to get distance from the hellscape that's being created.
When the arrow penetrates her shoulder, Kela merely breaks off the shaft and snarls at the enemy.
Kela inhales slowly and deploys another of her new spell tricks, ”I’ve met hunters before. You may be hard to intimidate - but your mind is weak.” Muttering something in Kelish, she deploys a slow spell on all the enemies (not the elephant).
Clenching his jaw against the pain of scouring sand and electrical burns, Marius presses his advantage against the blinded Jaliessa with a magically-enhanced flurry of slashes.
Barcos takes the full brunt of the electric sandstorm. With no good way to enter the room through this hallway, he darts back around through the hallway, running with magical speed to get outside near Elmar.
Baron Barksley entirely evades the effects of the sandstorm. He yelps in pain as the ram attacks him, but repositions to the edge of the sandstorm and takes a couple of bites at the ram.
Rose continues firing, her hestitation over trying to take the commander alive lessened by the danger to her allies as well as Marius' own efforts of seemingly trying to execute her where she stood. Time seemed to slow down - or maybe it actually did on Kela's urging - as she took her shots...
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Marius grievously injures the commander, Baron Barksley gets a bite of uncooked mutton, and Rose's well-aimed bolts drop the desert drake from the sky to almost crash on top of the elephant. Once again, its war training prevents it from panicking and trampling everything in its path, and although it cannot see, its questing trunk seems to detect the familiar smell of the ram in front of it, so it stays where it is.
The two officers come to the aid of their commander. "Face ME, you coward!" challenges one of them, striking with his scimitar.
Blood pouring from deadly wounds, Jaliessa continues to fight, her teeth gritted and eyes squeezed shut against the glittery dust covering her.
Her four-hooved companion retaliates against Baron Barksley, goring him with its powerful horns.
Kela’s nostrils flare and she charges at the ram, crying ”RAAAAGH!”
But her swing is very wide and she misses.
Good, the drake was down, the company leader was on her last legs and most of the enemy was either magically slowed, blinded, or both. Of course, it wasn't over until the last combatant dropped their weapons. Or simply dropped - that worked too.
"Face ME, you coward!"
"Not where I would have wanted to be shot, but if you insist." Rose says, and unloads a volley of bolts into the officer from her vantage point up the stairs.
His injuries are starting to tell as two more foes join the fight. With a grunt, Marius launches a flurry of strikes of his own, before fading back into the obscuring mist to hide from the hostile archer.
Elmar, not wanting to break his invisibility, resorts to more indirect magic. He retrieves from his pouch a small square of butter. With a flick of his other hand he lights a tiny flame and starts warming it. "Svejing." He pinches the corners of the butter and mimics throwing it forward, and a coating of grease appears!
Though badly wounded by the ram, Baron Barksley soldiers on, trying to take down his animal opponent.
Barcos tries to fire a couple of bolts at the ram as well, but his aim is rather shoddy.
Rose's bolts take down one of the officers in one swift volley, while Marius's sword strikes find the commander's vital points. Both of them collapse, their blood soaking the dirt of the courtyard. The ram screams pitifully as it feels the connection with its master being severed. Shaking its great horned head, it attempts to clear its vision.
The ram blinks several times as the glittery particles clear and it regains its sight; unfortunately, it is not an encouraging one, as its master and another human lay dead and it is surrounded by enemies.
The remaining officer takes stock of the situation. Outnumbered, outmatched and with her allies dead or incapacitated, the odds are clearly stacked against her. Reluctantly, she lets her longbow drop from her hands and goes down one one knee in a display of surrender.
Cautiously stepping forward to observe the two fallen foes, Marius points his sword at the surrendering officer. "Don't move, I'm going to save your commander's life," he kicks away Jaliessa's weapon, then kneels down and invokes a minor healing prayer on the traitorous captain.
Kela swings wildly but has absolutely no success at even touching the ram’s hide with the flat of her curved blade.
Rose continues firing on the unusually sturdy Ram...
Seeing her attacks not have much effect, Rose calls into the whirlwind. "Barcos! Are you all right? If so, can you ask the ram to stand down now that its master is dead?"
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Barcos motions to Baron Barksley to back off. The ram was alone, it's master dead. To kill it now would be to kill a scared animal. There was no honor in that.
He lowers his head and stomps several times, a show of force and restraint, as far as sheep are concerned, as if to say, "I could butt you, but I won't."
He then raises his head and locks eyes with it, extending a hand to it in the same way he had to the elephant. The connection was wordless, but the message was, "Be calm. We have no wish to hurt you. You can be free from fighting, and find soft grass to eat, gentle hills to roam, and many lambs to raise."
The ram snorts, turning its head to regard Barcos with one amber eye. Then it slowly backs up, head lowered threateningly, until it stands over the unconscious body of its master. That message is also clear: "back off".
Stepping back from the ram, Marius heals himself a bit and gives the others a questioning look.
"That doesn't quite look like a surrender--I'm not averse to a peaceful surrender but the commander is returning to Yanmass in irons. What's the plan, Barcos?"
Barcos makes a somewhat bashful expression, ”Well, it’s not exactly a surrender. It seems intent we should not approach it’s master. I can try to communicate with it further, but it may take some more time.”
Shendra lands with a small shower of glitter on the roof. I would not leave Elmar if he fell, that's the most surrender you'll get out of him. She projects.
While Barcos attempts to negotiate with the ram, Kela quickly scouts the rest of the compound.
The room north of the dining room where they found the officers seems to be a kitchen, and the four halfling servants inside quickly surrender without any resistance. Past that, in the central area, is the mess hall - a long chamber with neatly arranged tables and chairs, rising into a dome high above the floor. In the west wing there are few more rooms - a feed and tack storage (with two more halfling servants cowering inside), an armory, a small barracks for the officers, and a training room.
Above lies the large semi-open area that hosted the desert drake, and north of that is what must be the commander's quarters. The once-opulent office contains a massive bookshelf filled with carefully folded maps, ledgers and scroll tubes, as well as a large desk and a battered leather chair. The only item that seems out of place is the pallet of straw and grass in an alcove to the south. A simple wooden door leads to a closet-sized space containing only a narrow bed and a footlocker.
There are no more hostile creatures in the Tallgrasses that Kela can locate.
Kela zooms around and returns breathlessly, ”enemies all accounted for, boss. But that guy we met before, I think this was his sister.” She points at the prone lady under the ram. ”They look similar, I guess? Anyway, he said his wife was around here. Should we grab him and work on sorting this mess out while Barcos does his nature-work?”
"As efficient as ever, Kela. Yes, let's do that, along with a more thorough search of our prisoners. I'd rather not learn the hard way that any of them has a boot dagger or the like."
"Lot of paperwork here. Could be something of value. Maybe even some scrolls." After a raised eyebrow, Elmar starts going through them.
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Barracks: The footlockers in this room contain mundane gear and Qadiran disguises, but five bottles of spiced wine are wrapped in colorful shawls at the bottom of one of the footlockers. The bottles are worth 50 gp each. Three similar bottles —all empty— are stashed in the same footlocker.
Officer's Mess: The fine ornaments and dishes in this room are worth 900 gp in total.
Armoury: The armoury contains six suits of studded leather armor, nine masterwork scimitars, eight composite shortbows, and only four intact arrows. The trunk contains three masterwork longswords, eight longswords, five suits of masterwork studded leather armor, and four masterwork breastplates, all clearly marked with the heraldry of the Taldan Horse.
Training Room: The weapons rack contains a +1 spear wrapped with safety padding.
Commander's Office: Most of the books here are military histories and tactical treatises; a thick religious tome, however, is out of place. This tome is hollow and contains a pouch with 150 pp.
Desert Drake Aerie: The drake’s nest is primarily made of straw and linens that had been stored in the closet in this room. One of those items has proven magically resistant to tearing and remains intact in the
nest: a lion cloak.
Jondus Staubel: potions of cure light wounds (2), alchemist’s fire (2), antitoxin, mwk breastplate, javelins (5), mwk earth breaker, cloak of resistance +1, lover’s bangle (he will not willingly give this one up), everburning torch, spell component pouch, 18 gp
Officers (multiply by 7): potion of cure moderate wounds, potion of haste, antitoxin, mwk half-plate, mwk heavy steel shield, composite longbow (+4 Str) with 20 arrows, mwk scimitar, shortspear, cloak of resistance +1, banner
Soldiers (multiply by 11): potion of cat’s grace, potion of cure light wounds, mwk studded leather, mwk buckler, dagger, mwk composite shortbow (+3 Str) with 20 arrows, mwk scimitar, camouflage netting, waterskin
Jaliessa Staubel: potion of delay poison, potion of lesser restoration, +1 chain shirt, mwk light wooden shield, shatterspike, cloak of resistance +1, ring of protection +1, keys to all locks in Tallgrasses, spell component pouch, 158 gp
15 light Qadiran horses, 8 heavy Taldan horses (hidden behind the tarp in the courtyard, 1 war elephant named Grimtusk.
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In a locked drawer in the commander's desk there are a few letters, seemingly written in cypher.