Both of Myth’s arrows hit the Hellknight who is heavily wounded now.
Rhykevance axe cuts deep into the hound but it is still fighting!
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"I knew that this woman would be my ending!" he says to himself with a bitter voice.
"Oh sure, play the victim." Torku's voice holds as little softness as his blade. "Don't blame yourself for not just accepting the stupid paperwork and releasing the requested prisoner - no, no, it must be someone else's fault you drew your weapons without provocation on respectful and courteous visitors." Again the rapier dances, seeking a hole in the Hellknight's armor. "I should speak with your manager about this."
Again Torku’s words and blade wound the man that now seems to truly be afraid!
”You ... you will never get her back!!“ he shouts out loud.
The hound’s head is cut off by the massive attack!
Without saying another word the badly wounded Hellknight 5 ft steps towards Tsuan and attacks with his two weapons and his shortsword sinks into her abdomen.
When the Wakizashi draws blood the man’s eyes go wide and he drops to the ground ... unconscious.
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Seeking out any magic on the man, Malaz kicks the guard's blade away and confiscates anything else that looks dangerous, useful, valuable, or interesting. He then ties the man up. "Tsuan, you should get up there with that sweet smile of yours and tell the people upstairs what just happened. Otherwise, we may take the blame for all this."
"Hey!"
A man calls from behind the bars of one of the cells.
"M'name's Markus Gael. Been in here for 8 months after confessing to allegations of selling Hellknight secrets to Shoanti leaders. I'm an armiger. You're looking for the Paracountess? The lady who was in that cell?"
He motions to the cell next to him.
"Yeah, I know how you can get her. She was in that cell for three weeks before Heriphis took her through a flaming portal. It's trapped though. I can tell you how to get by it if you let me out of here though."
Malaz searches the man.
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"Tsuan, you should get up there with that sweet smile of yours and tell the people upstairs what just happened. Otherwise, we may take the blame for all this."
"I think we should figure out what exactly happened here first. There's an old Tien saying, 'It's easier to get forgiveness than permission.' You know the Order is going to make us get three signatures before they allow us to search the bodies."
She turns her sweet smile to Gael.
"I think it'll work the other way around, songbird.
We have a document here signed by the lictor himself that allows us to walk out of here with an unchained Zarta. But, we'll make enemies of the Hellknights if we free you. If you were our friend, already having shown your usefulness to us, we might be able to ask them for a document for you, too. Otherwise, you're just a random prisoner stuck in a cell.
Tell us everything you know, and we'll talk with the Hellknights about letting you free. Otherwise, we'll talk to the Hellknights about getting permission to interrogate their prisoners."
Tsuan pointedly puts away only one of her wakizashis. She pulls out an apple from her backpack, and takes a large bite out of it.
Suddenly, from the other cell a disheveled woman creeps forwards and whispers,
"Please, please, I'd like to speak with you. I can help where this man is pretending to be of help!"
She motions you closer.
"My name is Sascha Antif-Arah. I was captured 5 years ago in Korvosa while helping a friend identify a strange puzzle box. I am the victim of the Hellknights’ ruthless iron rule of law and unjustly convicted of crimes I never committed, I swear I didn't."
She looks at Tsuan and pleads.
"You are Pathfinders, right? I was a Pathfinder in my younger years. Please, help me. I can still help the Society if I'm let out. I'm even willing to come out of retirement. Just let me out and I can sneak out myself. Of course, it'd be a lot easier with some sort of magical form of concealment or invisibility."
She looks at the other prisoner.
"Now I've overheard much during my 5-year imprisonment. The warden's got a figurine he uses and I've heard the command word plenty of times. He trains those pets here and then sneaks them out of Caina using invisibility magic. He takes people through that portal with the figurine and they never come back but them beasts keep coming. He's clearly got some sort of deal going on. Where he takes them I don't know."
The armiger spits into the former Pathfinder's prison floor!
"I, Markus, have never lied! I am desperate to get out. But I am not lying about what I claim to know! I urge you to search Heriphis' private quarters at the back of the prison. There you will surely find out what is going on!"
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With a shake of his head, "Tsuan, we need neither forgiveness nor permission at the moment. By failing to report this, we suddenly bear the burden of guilt. I suggest we inform the Hellknights, then find the Paracountess. It doesn't mean the rest can't search the area and investigate while the report is made."
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Myth will whisper to Tsuan before she leaves...
”While they want to be freed, they are both telling the truth...but not the whole truth...they are definitely hiding something. On another note, do you think it wise to alert the maralictor? Or any other Hellknight for that matter? We know not whom else might be involved...and we did knock their colleague unconscious...it’s our word against his. Perhaps we should try to find some hard evidence before informing anyone...just a thought any way...”
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Myth nods and then retrieves the key ring from the unconscious Maralictor. Trying to find the Maralictor’s room so he can search it quickly before Tsuan returns, he guesses the one to the southeast (B2) as it’s closest to the desk. He’ll check the door...
...and if locked, he’ll try the keys on the key ring...if none fit, he’ll try to pick the lock...
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When Tsuan finds a Hellknight ...
"We believe we have the situation under control, but wanted to let you know what was going on so there is no misunderstanding later."
She will also inquire about Antif-Arah, and ask what the charges against her were, but not press against any pushback. She will not mention Gael.
Paxal listens intently as the prisoners plead to be released. He tries to discern truth or lies.
[dice=Sense Motive, Gael]1d20+8
[dice=Sense Motive, Sascha]1d20+8
While listening, he searches the cell they say the paracountess supposedly occupied.
[dice=Perception]1d20+12
The last cell is locked but is not quite empty actually. You see what appears to be a bloodstained, high-necked cloak sitting in the corner.
As Paxal is part of the Dark Archive faction, he immediately recognizes it as a cloak Dralneen favored for formal embassy events.
Myth nods and then retrieves the key ring from the unconscious Maralictor. Trying to find the Maralictor’s room so he can search it quickly before Tsuan returns, he guesses the one to the southeast (B2) as it’s closest to the desk. He’ll check the door...
[dice=Perception]1d20+12
...and if locked, he’ll try the keys on the key ring...if none fit, he’ll try to pick the lock...
[dice=Disable Device]1d20+16
Opening the door requires a key, and checking the maralictor's body turns up 2.
Myth is pretty certain that Heriphis' private quarters are not trapped. The second key opens the door.
Inside there is little more than a bed and a small wardrobe built into the south wall. Strangely, the room’s east wall is adorned with a small, framed painting of an eyeless, two-headed devil hound baying against a fiery background.
Myth realizes that there appears to be something hidden in a hollow behind the maralictor’s wardrobe: you find a small, wooden chest.
It is locked, though Heriphis’s key opens it. Inside the chest is an onyx figurine shaped like the devil hound in the painting on the wall, a prisoner logbook, and some minor gemstones.
The prisoner logbook is a record of all prisoners kept in the oubliette’s cells in recent years.
Under the heading “Holding Cell Four,” the words “vacant—must remove corpse” feature prominently over a carefully redacted entry.
Under “Holding Cell Three,” the words “Sascha Antif-Arah of Korvosa—indefinite” are written.
Under “Holding Cell Two,” above several redacted entries is written “Markus Gael—traitor.”
The only entry under “Holding Cell One” was scribbled out hastily but is still legible: “Zarta Dralneen—execution imminent. Requested by Losarkur. Delivered.”
Losarkur, also called the Beastlord of Avernus, is an infernal duke under Barbatos, that realm’s liege. Losarkur is known for keeping kennel-caverns of cerberi and hellhounds—just like the ones that served Heriphis.
Etched into the base of the figurine is something in Infernal script.
This appears to be the command word for the statue!
In addition to the onyx statuette, Heriphis’s chest contains three tigereye stones worth 40 gp each.
Additionally, the chest holds a bag of that holds much more than it seems capable of.
Inside are a cache of 5 oils and a wand.
The oils can grant invisibility upon a creature rubbed with it.
The wand holds the spell charm monster with 6 charges.
When Tsuan finds a Hellknight ...
** spoiler omitted **
How this permission might change after you have informed any superior Hellknights you do not know.
So currently finding Zarta will not change any judgment because of the fight with the Hellknight.
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Tsuan searches for the field maralictor - or anyone else, really - but can't find them. Her impatience takes over and she goes back to the cells and shrugs.
"Nobody's around ... we're on our own."
---
If nobody has read it before her, she reads the Infernal script.
"This is the command word for the statue ... I'd say it out loud but I'm not sure we want to activate it just yet."
---
Tsuan will examine the redacted entry for Holding Cell 4. Is there a way she can recover the redacted name?
Tsuan, the name is not recoverable. And in the cell you only see a skeleton in rags.
*
Sascha looks a you warily.
"I have a few skills, but they'd be fairly rusty. Haven't done much but sit for years now. Can you please let me out! Please! I would prefer to sneak out of here on my own ... and if you could aid me in any way I would appreciate it."
Tsuan, the name is not recoverable. And in the cell you only see a skeleton in rags.
*
Sascha looks a the you warily.
"I have a few skills, but they'd be fairly rusty. Haven't done much but sit for years now. Can you please let me out! Please! I would prefer to sneak out of here on my own ... and if you could aid me in any way I would appreciate it."
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Myth nods to Paxal, absent-mindedly tossing him the keys while reading the jailer's notes...
"You'll want to read this...looks like Zarta has been targeted for execution...the unconscious Maralictor mentions turning her over to someone named Losarkur...does that ring any bells for anyone?"
"...and I recommend we find Zarta before we mention anything to the Hellknights..."
Looking at the two pleading prisoners, Myth shrugs. "If they can give us any useful information, I say we free 'em both..."
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Looking at the two pleading prisoners, Myth shrugs. "If they can give us any useful information, I say we free 'em both..."
"The ledger lists Gael's crime as treason. That's a fairly serious crime in any jurisdiction, and one that we're unlikely to change the Hellknights' minds about. On the other hand, the ledger lists no crime for Antif-Arah, and it's much more likely that we'd get permission - or forgiveness - for freeing her."
Tsuan doesn't object if there's a consensus to release both, but if she had to stand in front of the lictor and be accused of freeing the prisoners without permission, it'd be way easier to defend releasing the Pathfinder.
There's also the option of releasing neither, but as someone said earlier, the Hellknights don't rouse a huge amount of sympathy.
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Rhykevance trundles over to Mythryndyr and glances at the book. "Losarkur is the Beastlord of Avernus. The jailer here has been trading with the Hells themselves." he states grimly. "It is evidence enough to see him hang." He then weaves a simple cantrip and examines the items in Heriphis's chest.
"These oils grants invisibility. The wand holds a powerful charming spell."
"We are not in a position to let lawfully convicted prisoners go and especially not to get them out of the Citadel, though the cases of everyone who has ended up down here should probably be reviewed."
"Please! I was a Pathfinder! Please!" Sascha begs.
"I promise you won't be regretting this. I know of secrets in Korvosa the Society may yet find valuable."
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Malaz concedes that freeing the Pathfinder would be far more defensible than the traitor. "Fine, if you think freeing her will help us locate the Paracountess. It sounds as if this is a larger issue than I first believed. But can we really afford to play games at the moment. All freeing him does is sow a problem for us later. Look I have no love for the Hellknights, but that doesn't mean I am in a position to act on that." He points to the cell, "I mean, look at him. When he is caught again, and he will be, he'll turn on us and rat us out as fast as he can. Even if we get out of Cheliax, it will be yet another blackeye for The Society, making it more difficult for operations and agents in the future. I don't need that kind of guilt in my ledger."
He looks at the statuette more closely. "On a side note, I believe I know how to trigger this item."
Markus looks at you with desperation!
”I promise to tell you how to activate the portal without you being taken into a trap in exchange for my freedom. The onyx figurine's magic includes a defensive measure that, when activated, causes the icon to self-immolate-causing a conflagration that would engulf the entire oubliette and all within it. Please let me go!! I can help!“ he pleads.
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Tsuan pulls out the half-finished apple out of her backpack and continues crunching it loudly. She eats the whole things - core and stem included.
Tsuan votes for freeing the Pathfinder but not Gael. But whatever's decided, she advocates doing it, and moving on to finding Zarta. "If her execution is supposed to be imminent, we should hurry."
Tsuan volunteers to activate the item if there's a concern about a fireball. She has no magical training to verify or refute Gael's claims, but she does have a high Reflex save.
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After unlocking the cell, Paxal picks up Zarta's cloak and digs through the pockets, hoping there could be a coded message about her whereabouts.
"Heh. Maybe there's some loose change in here, too."
He neatly folds the cloak and places it into his pack.
Walking out of the cell, he turns to his companions as they discuss their plans.
Number one is rescuing Zarta. I, too, am not very fond of the idea of alerting the Hellknights. Fighting my way out of a Hellknight citadel is not my idea of courage, more like... suicide.
Number two, he scowls back and forth at the two pleading to be released,
neither one of them are being entirely truthful with us.
With a wry grin, he starts walking to the cell filled with torture devices.
My fiendish ancestors knew much about the ways to get others to divulge information they wished to not say.
Using his innate ability to use mage hand, he pulls a wrought iron poker from a brazier filled with burning coals and nonchalantly walks back to a spot where he has a close view of both prisoners. With the red-hot poker floating in front of him, he furrows his brows as he lights a cigar with the glowing end. He glares at the two with a devilish grin, hoping his bluff will make them spill out whatever information they're hiding.
So, my friends. You got anything to say or do I have to do this the fun way?
Knowing he can't keep the ruse up for much longer, he starts to smirk.