"Thatch, go! Tell me how many there are!" Jisara commands, sending her familiar bounding up ahead to scout as she grabs her staff and follows Chance.
Thatch runs forth and comes back disturbingly quickly as he simply reports ”A lot!”
The PCs rush to defend their hideout, and the first sign of something strange is that Chance suddenly gets a faceful of…confetti? Or some other kind of small pieces of paper that were just flowing in the air. Soon thereafter, though, the PCs face a much more disturbing sight.
Firstly, two drider-like creatures made of pure metal stand in the room—Vitalis immediately recognizes these as warmonger devils (he had to fight one for his Hellknight Test, after all).
Behind the devils is a mob of people—some are dottari, but others bear the insignia of the Chelish Citizens’ Group.
Finally, a single man stands amid the chaos—a man wearing a chain shirt and bearing two swords wreathed in flame. The man likewise bears the insignia of the Chelish Citizens’ Group and lacks pupils—or, more accurately, his pupils have been replaced by the sight of a smoldering flame! Vitalis recognizes this man as Tombus Regegious, a minor noble that founded and leads the Chelish Citizens’ Group!
Tombus turns to the approaching PCs and points at them with one of his swords. ”Dead or alive! For House Thrune!”
Black turns around and chucks a net at Vitalis!
The net crumbles to rust as it misses Vitalis, so Black Forges Weapon to create a new net and throws that one at Edrakk!
White Strides over and attempts to throw a net onto Vitalis!
Unable to do so, the devil instead settles on attacking Vitalis with its trident!
Round 1
==============
Black
White
Jisara
Vitalis
Tombus
Chance
Troop
Edrakk
==============
"You've made a mistake coming here, fiends!"
With a devil right in front on him, he strikes.
"Dead," Jisara replies, extending her hand past Vitalis and practically into the devil's face. An enormous blast of freezing energy pours out from her, filling the entire room beyond.
Jisara unleashes a wave of cold energy! When she does, Tombus (a surprisingly nimble man) does a tuck-and-roll to protect himself!
While Tombus and the devils get off relatively safely, the mob of people gets absolutely halved as its members are killed by the cone!
Vitalis attacks White, reducing the devil to rubble!
Tombus rushes forward to face Vitalis, and it is at this point that the PCs realize the extent of Tombus’s fiendish influences.
”And you made the mistake of killing everyone last night! My daughter was at that ball you son of a b*tch!”
Round 1
==============
Black (-23)
Jisara
Vitalis
Tombus (-23)
Chance
Troop (-102)
Edrakk
==============
“We didn’t kill anyone excepts fiends in disguise, you idiot! Unless your daughter was one of the devils Barzillai Thrune invited to massacre the townspeople, she had nothing to fear from us. Now, take your deluded mob and GO!”
"Mi ne timas fantomojn!" Chance swirls a hand in the air. Debris and dropped weapons rise up from the floor and slam into the troop and the black warmonger devil.
Over the sound of battle, Chance begins to sing one of his inspiring songs.
Chance summons forth a poltergeist to attack the group of people.
The group of dottari/Chelish Citizens’ Group thugs Form Up to get out of the area of the poltergeist, then all draw ranged weapons—the dottari draw longbows while the Chelish Citizens’ Group draw crossbows.
Critical Success
Success
Round 1 —> 2
==============
Jisara
Vitalis (-7)
Tombus (-23)
Black (-31)
Chance
Troop (-102)
Edrakk
==============
Vitalis is surprised by Tombus' revelation. "This man is a victim of Thrune just as much as the rest of us. There has been enough death in the last day. Perhaps we can avoid making it one more. He's probably beyond rational thought at the moment though, we'll have to subdue him."
Vitalis attacks Tombus.
Vitalis then steps forward and makes an attack against the devil.
Jisara backs away from Tombus yanking one of the arrows from the air and hurling it at the man with incredible force.
Edrakk runs down the hall.
Jisara moves away and sends an arrow at Tombus.
Vitalis attacks Tombus, the man’s skin searing at Vitalis’s holy energy! He then attacks the other levaloch.
Black Forges a new net and throws it at Vitalis!
The levaloch then Steps forward.
Tombus recoils at the sudden pain from Vitalis’s holy energy. ”Lies! You bastards killed my daughter!”
Tombus then whirls around the battlefield, almost in a dance as he attacks Vitalis!
Round 2
==============
Jisara
Vitalis (-59) {frightened 1; enfeebled 1: Round 0 of 1; no reactions: Round 0 of 1}
Black (-31)
Tombus (-109)
Chance
Troop (-102)
Edrakk
==============
Chance takes a moment to blow into his hand and wave it at the levaloch; the invisible poltergeist flies through the warmonger devil, tearing at its life force.
As excited as Chance was to charge up the stairs into the fray with Reprisal clutched in his hand, now that the time has come to try his new blade against its intended enemy, he hesitates.
”Lies! You bastards killed my daughter!”
Being called a liar by a damned aristocrat - one who is so damned that he is effectively a devil himself - shakes Chance loose from his paralysis. “It was Barzillai’s party, you damned idiot! In the Opera House that Barzillai has had under armed guard day and night since he took over! How would we have brought in all those devils in disguise as azatas, and why on earth would we? Did you sell your brain along with your soul when you made your deal with Hell?”
With that, Chance steps forward and stabs at Tombus with Reprisal.
◆: Step
◆: Strike,
◆: Strike,
Chance sustains the poltergeist…
But the levaloch is unaffected by the poltergeist’s deadly assault—even though it is a devil, it’s still a construct and does not have any true life force of its own.
Chance then lunges at Tombus, who attempts to do a Nimble Roll.
“It was Barzillai’s party, you damned idiot! In the Opera House that Barzillai has had under armed guard day and night since he took over! How would we have brought in all those devils in disguise as azatas, and why on earth would we? Did you sell your brain along with your soul when you made your deal with Hell?”
”Because I know you did! Fire at Tanessen!”
The troop looks concerned as Tombus screams at them.
”I said FIRE!”
The troop rearms their crossbows and bows and lets loose an Arrow Volley at Vitalis and the levaloch
Failure
The troop then Forms Up to give a wide birth to the poltergeist.
Round 2 —> 3
==============
Jisara
Vitalis (-75) {frightened 1; enfeebled 1: Round 0 of 1; no reactions: Round 0 of 1}
Black (-31)
Tombus (-122)
Chance
Troop (-102)
Edrakk
==============
Edrakk takes a second to dust the shimmering powder on his cloak before opening the secret door. Seeing the devil right in front of him, he quickly draws a flask of acid and throws it at the devil.
Weakened from the fear and enfeeblement, Vitalis can't take the chance of attacking Tombus without his full strength (nonlethal), so he instead unleashes on the devil which he has no qualms about killing.
◆◆◆Strike x3 (black)
"Idiot,"Jisara mutters as she casts a hex, closing Vitalis's injuries before assaulting Tombus's mind with a fit of giggles.
Edrakk puts the camouflage powder on his cloak then opens the secret door.
Edrakk then throws an acid flask at the devil.
Jisara begins healing Vitalis and casts a spell on Tombus.
Tombus sputters out raucous laughter as he falls onto the ground clutching his hurting sides.
Vitalis attacks the Levaloch!
Tombus is too busy laughing his head off to make any proper attack against the PCs.
Round 3
==============
Jisara
Vitalis (-65) {Fast Healing 10: Round 0 of 4}
Tombus (-122) {prone; no actions: Round 0 of 1; slowed 1 & no reactions}
Chance
Troop (-102)
Edrakk
==============
Chance lets his pernicious poltergeist end and restarts his inspiring song.
“Did you see Edrakk sneak through the door?
Jisara chants and Tombus hits the floor!
Vitalis drops the devil by his side
My last strike can I reprise?”
Chance begins singing and attacks Tombus.
The troop, unaware that the poltergeist is no longer there, Form Up in a configuration to attempt to avoid the poltergeist. They then Mace Bash!
Crit Success
Round 3 —> 4
==============
Jisara
Vitalis (-55) {Fast Healing 10: Round 1 of 4}
Tombus (-155) {prone; slowed 1 & no reactions}
Chance
Troop (-102)
Edrakk
==============
Vitalis tries to knock Tombus out. At the same time he shouts to the remaining troops, "If any of you wish to live to see tomorrow, surrender now, otherwise may Asmodeus have mercy on your souls."
Jisara keeps her focus on distracting Tombus, but still has enough to summon an erupting spray of water amongst the troop still fighting around the corner.
Edrakk steps through the doorway, his boots keeping him light on his feet while he walks, making his way to a disoriented Tombus and slicing at him with his silver dagger.
Edrakk moves over and attacks Tombus, but even in his hysteria he still dodges away.
Jisara sents a mass of water at the troop.
Vitalis attacks, and misses, Tombus.
The primary hysteria of his laughing fit having subsided, Tombus deftly leaps up from the ground.
Tombus then Skirmish Strikes Vitalis!
Round 4
==============
Jisara
Vitalis (-55) {Fast Healing 10: Round 1 of 4}
Tombus (-155) {slowed 1 & no reactions}
Chance
Troop (-128)
Edrakk
==============
Chance continues his inspiring song and flicks a finger, sending a piece of broken furniture flying at Tombus.
"Flugantaj rokoj por ĵokeoj!"
Chance attacks (and misses) Tombus.
The troop Forms Up and does a Mace Bash!
Success
Fail
Round 4 —> 5
==============
Jisara
Vitalis (-62) {Fast Healing 10: Round 2 of 4}
Tombus (-155) {slowed 1 & no reactions}
Chance
Troop (-128)
Edrakk (-10)
==============
Edrakk quickly draws and throws a vial of yellowish poison at the approaching troop as he tries to reposition around Tombus, before taking another slash at him with his poisoned dagger.
Vitalis tries again to take Tombus out of the fight.
Edrakk throws a bomb at the troop, which finally causes them to scatter. He then attacks Tombus but misses.
Vitalis attacks Tombus with the flat of his halberd and manages to knock out the noble! Once his weapons leave his hands, they cease to be engulfed in flames.
*
The PCs spend some time patching up their wounds and locks up Tombus as a prisoner.
Octavio shakes his head. ”Tombus Regegious. I knew he was eager to get in Thrune’s good graces when he formed the Chelish Citizens’ Group, but I didn’t expect his obsession to go this far. I hate to say it, but I doubt he’s privy to very much about Thrune—his obsession with Thrune and his grief over his daughter’s death was likely all that was needed for Barzillai to push him to an assassination attempt. We also found this on him,”
Octavio holds up a simple necklace—a silver religious symbol. The pendant of the necklace bears the a strange symbol—that of a piton being sent through a ring with a crown overlayed over the piton.
”Dispater, the Iron Lord of the second circle of Hell. From my experience, those who worship Dispater tend to not be as malicious as those who worship the other Archdevils. It’s entirely possible that we could get through to Tombus, but I make no promises. Similarly, we have Bainilus’s remains ready; all we need is to have some life-giving necromancy cast upon her. Chance, I presume you’ll take care of the ritual necessary to do so?”
"I can't speak from experience, but I can only imagine no greater woe than losing your own child. I can't say I wouldn't unleash my own rage against an easy outlet to express my pain either. Throwing in his lot with Thrune makes him our enemy, so we can't just release him. And his claim that we are responsible for the masquerade massacre shows that people are buying into Thrune's propaganda, which is another issue that we will need to deal with. But what concerns me the most is how easily he found us. And who else knows where our headquarters is? Does Thrune himself know and will be fending off more attacks? Maybe we'll need to move again."
"If we are ready to revive Bainilus, let's do it. I doubt another attack will come so soon."
“Of course! Can’t wait!”
Chance nods with a confident smile that quickly fades as soon as Octavio turns away. He tosses a leather pouch from one hand to the other; it clacks as though filled with rocks. Which it is, sort of; the pouch contains the Silver Ravens’ investment in resurrecting the former mayor of Kintargo. This is a lot of coin to bet on me getting this right.
The gnome looks around at his friends and chuckles anxiously. “So, ah, I’m going to need a couple of you to help me out with parts of this. Edrakk, can you stand at Jilia’s left side, near her heart? I’ll need you to try to get her heart and lungs restarted and pumping blood and air and bilious humors or whatever so that when her soul tries to come back, it has a welcoming home to return to. You’ll probably have to do all the work for a while but if we’re making any progress at all, at some point her body will start doing most of it on its own and you can pull back to watch, maybe help it out a little if necessary.”
He turns to Jisara and Vitalis. “Can one of you stand by her head? Whichever of you remembers more about Jilia’s time as mayor, her political career before that… really, her entire life. You’ll need to whisper into her ear everything you can remember — people, places, events, anything you can think of that might have been important to her — to remind her of the life that was stolen from her and encourage her to come take it back. It’s OK if you repeat something every so often; the ritual goes on for eight hours, so I’m sure her attention will drift at some point.”
*
*
Just as the ritual begins winding down, Octavio comes for a report.
I’ll put the description for that one right here:
”There is a thunderstorm unlike any we’ve seen in years. We’ve received intel from Acisazi that this storm is not large—it’s localized entirely around Kintargo and the surrounding area. But this is not good. Elder Quhurill of Acisazi tells me that such a power like this is only usable by master practitioners of primal rituals.”
Public Excruciation
”Thrune has captured several of our sympathizers and arrested them on trumped-up charges. Our agents managed to rescue some of them before they ended up being excruciated, but only some.”
Increased Patrols
+2 Authority
”Barzillai has increased the dottari patrol around town; an interesting tactic on the same day as his strange weather. They have not actively killed anyone, but their presence makes it difficult to move around unseen.”
Supernatural Weather
+2 Authority
Chance finally finishes the ritual, and ex-Lord-Mayor Jilia Bainilus sharply inhales as her spirit is brought back from the River of Souls! The woman coughs violently, and it is at this moment that Chance notices a pair of circular-ish birthmarks have suddenly appeared on the woman’s neck—overlayed over where she was bitten to become a vampire.
Jilia attempts to stand up once her coughing fit ceases, but loses her balance and has to be supported by Octavio. She eventually settles into a chair as she catches her breath. She points over at the PCs and says ”I…recall the urge…to kill you four…so that must mean…I’m on the right side…right?” She then glances over at Chance and gives him the most offended look that she can manage—which isn’t a whole lot, given her severe lack of energy. ”Is that…my badge…? And that’s…definitely…my sword…Well…at least Thrune…didn’t throw it…in the Yolubilis…”
The gnome looks around at his friends and chuckles anxiously. “So, ah, I’m going to need a couple of you to help me out with parts of this. Edrakk, can you stand at Jilia’s left side, near her heart? I’ll need you to try to get her heart and lungs restarted and pumping blood and air and bilious humors or whatever so that when her soul tries to come back, it has a welcoming home to return to. You’ll probably have to do all the work for a while but if we’re making any progress at all, at some point her body will start doing most of it on its own and you can pull back to watch, maybe help it out a little if necessary.”
Edrakk’s eyes light up at the gnome’s suggestion. ”Oh, I-I might be able to do even better than that. I’ll need some time to plan everything out, and I’ll probably need to prepare the body a bit beforehand, but it shouldn’t take too long, maybe a quarter hour or so, I-I’ll try to get it done early just to be safe…”
Despite his optimistic prediction, he ends up in his lab for a good few hours, delaying the ritual somewhat, before wheeling in Jilia’s body in in a bit of a rush, his walking cauldron scuttling close behind. Next to Jilia on the table are a series of vials, all about half-empty, connected to Jilia at various places. The most prominent of these are two large electrodes connected to her chest, powered by an engine with a vial of bottled lightning, and a mask connected to a modified flume. He picks up a cup of coffee and downs it before starting his rapid explanation. "Sorry, sorry, I was gonna keep it simple, but I've had a few ideas lately about resuscitation, and didn't want to waste an opportunity to prototype it a bit. She was also extremely anemic, so I had to donate a bit of blood, but that should be fine--I mean, she seemed to like it just fine before. Anyway, these electrodes should stimulate her heart to start some blood flow, although she's still very low, so it will likely be limited. Still, between that and the oxygen, it should be enough."
At Chance's signal, he starts the flume and the electrodes, starting a flow of oxygen. A couple of times, a stitching comes undone and he has to fix it on the fly, but he manages to hold her together more than long enough to keep her alive.
Chance finally finishes the ritual, and ex-Lord-Mayor Jilia Bainilus sharply inhales as her spirit is brought back from the River of Souls! The woman coughs violently, and it is at this moment that Chance notices a pair of circular-ish birthmarks have suddenly appeared on the woman’s neck—overlayed over where she was bitten to become a vampire.
Edrakk moves over to her immediately and removes the oxygen mask before propping her up a bit and handing her an elixir of life. "Here, this should help a bit. I did my best to patch up your wounds--and my own surgery-- but now that you're alive again your body can heal itself a bit, so this should help. I've got some anesthetic too, so let me know if you're in any pain."
Jilia attempts to stand up once her coughing fit ceases, but loses her balance and has to be supported by Octavio. She eventually settles into a chair as she catches her breath. She points over at the PCs and says ”I…recall the urge…to kill you four…so that must mean…I’m on the right side…right?”
"Well, I-I haven't studied undead much before, but you've got a heartbeat and no fangs, so I-I would assume so. I'd still try and avoid pushing yourself to make sure you can recover."
Vitalis assumes that Jilia was probably kept in the dark (literally) about recent events so he fills Jilia in with what happened over the last few months. Then he asks her, "How much of what happened to you do you remember? Rest for now, but we will need your aid in the coming days. If you can think of any information that can help our cause, please don't hesitate to tell us. Every day that we delay, Thrune kills more innocents."
”Well, I-I haven't studied undead much before, but you've got a heartbeat and no fangs, so I-I would assume so. I'd still try and avoid pushing yourself to make sure you can recover.”
Jilia raises an eyebrow and puts her finger at her own pulse, then moves over her teeth with her tongue, as if the thought of her no longer being a vampire had only just occurred to her. ”Well, would you look at that.”
Vitalis assumes that Jilia was probably kept in the dark (literally) about recent events so he fills Jilia in with what happened over the last few months. Then he asks her, "How much of what happened to you do you remember? Rest for now, but we will need your aid in the coming days. If you can think of any information that can help our cause, please don't hesitate to tell us. Every day that we delay, Thrune kills more innocents."
During this time, Jilia is given a handful of elixirs of life that the rebellion had on hand to stabilize her state. She still looks less than ideal, but Chance knows why—suddenly making a decomposing corpse have life again causes several strange physiological effects. Once Vitalis finishes his explanation, Jilia chucks an empty elixir vial as hard as she can against the nearest wall, shattering it into a million pieces.
”Six months! Years of bargaining with Loyalists and walking on eggshells around the Asmodeans and Thrune upends it all in six months! For the love of Cayden, this is a nightmare!” Jilia sighs. ”Whatever. The Inquisitor is a sociopathic egomaniac, so I really shouldn’t be surprised. Look, I can help where I can, but you have to realize that I’m not a fighter, I’m a politician. I work in diplomacy and compromise. That said, I’m not actually as in the dark as you think I am.
“First things first, you can keep my ring and badge; it’s really the least I can do since you quite literally saved my life.” ”And sorry if this is rude, but Reprisal is a sword that belongs to my family; it’s an heirloom. So I do want it back…eventually. That being said, a sword once owned by a god and imbued with the power of the Lucky Drunk is something that can be useful in a war against Hell. Keep it, and you can return it to me after all this blows over—“
Octavio whispers ”Assuming Thrune doesn’t annihilate all of us…”
”I’m trying to be optimistic, Lictor. And besides, I’ve never seen Reprisal shine as much as it does now. Perhaps the sword misses being on the battlefield.”
In addition to Divine Retribution, Reprisal also has Swap Luck.
”Now, I do have some intel that might be interesting to you all. Firstly, I know who it was that turned me into a vampire—I’ve met her multiple times in the past: Aluceda Zohl. She’s the Mistress of Shadowsquare and priestess of Zon-Kuthon. She turned me on Thrune’s orders. I’ve been her little puppet for the past 6 months. I don’t know how Thrune managed to rope in a Kuthite, but he did. The other problem, though, is that she’s a Nidalese diplomat. She’s a member of the Umbral Court, Nidal’s aristocracy, and was sent here as a diplomat by the Black Triune themselves. Shadowsquare is an embassy. She is a shrewd negotiator who is well aware of her diplomatic immunity—Thrune’s either got her absolute loyalty, or some major dirt on her to make her cooperate.
“And, unfortunately, Thrune has a much more dangerous ally than a vampiric diplomat from Nidal: he has a dragon. A great blue dragon the size of an elephant with the pentagram of Asmodeus carved into its underbelly. I should know, the thing was basically my roommate under the Opera House until Thrune came and told it to relocate. It didn’t really like talking, but I do know its name: Rivozair. And it’s apparently female.”
”Rivozair?!” Rexus seemingly comes out of nowhere at the mention of the dragon’s name. He pulls out a pocket notebook and flips through it until eventually finding what he’s looking for. ”I knew it! The original Silver Ravens fought against a blue dragon named Rivozair during the Civil War. Barzillai has a hundred-year-old dragon under his thumb?!”
Octavio shakes his head. ”Probably older, if it was a threat to the Silver Ravens a hundred years ago. Nevertheless, this is bad. Thrune not only has a Nidalese vampire, but a dragon on his side. And he is somehow able to manipulate the weather in drastic ways. I understand keeping cards close to his chest, but we had no idea the power Thrune held.”
"Given the undead state that we found you in, Jilia, a vampire was to be expected. And we found signs of the dragon under the opera house while exploring the lower area. But it is good to have names to assign these foes. Rest assured, both will be dealt with. Manipulating the weather is troubling but I'm sure that'll stop once we put a sword through his heart."
"Well we have one more woman to restore still. Then we can plan our next move."
Still exhausted from the ritual, Chance eyes Reprisal with wary respect. “I … thank you. I’m not much of a swordsman, but I’ll do my best to put Reprisal to good use until you’re ready to wield it again. But if it was Cayden Cailean’s sword, does that mean I have to switch from drinking coffee to ale?” He takes a big slurp of coffee from his mug, stands up, starts to pace, decides he’s too tired, and sits back down.
“This Aluceda Zohl, if she controlled you then she was probably a more powerful vampire than you were, right? Which is not great, because I think maybe you were pulling your punches just a little when we fought, and even then you were really hard to kill, especially with all the devils and guards we had to deal with at the same time. But if His Infernal Jerkiness is blackmailing her, maybe we can find a way to neutralize whatever dirt he has on her? Or use it to get her recalled to Nidal? I’d rather she take herself off the board than face her directly.” He taps the Dischordance on the floor nervously. “But if she’s personally loyal to Barzillai for some reason, then we’ll have to add her to the list of problems that probably need to be solved with violence.”
Draining the dregs of his coffee, then gnome takes off his glasses and rubs a hand over his face. “At least vampires have weaknesses. Holy water, and maybe the kind of holy damage that Vitalis can do — and Reprisal, too. Anything else? We’ll need to do some research. But as scary as they are, we know we can beat a vampire (no offense, Madam Mayor!). A true dragon is another story. At the murder ball, we heard people talking about seeing a dragon flying over the city at night. If Rivozair is coming out of hiding, she and Barzillai must be getting up to something. How do we fight a centuries-old dragon? Oooh! Maybe Vendalfek will have some ideas!”
"Well we have one more woman to restore still. Then we can plan our next move."
“Right, but for that we need a priest. Can we get a message to one of Hetamon’s acolytes?”
“But if it was Cayden Cailean’s sword, does that mean I have to switch from drinking coffee to ale?”
”I mean, I’m not a drinker, so probably not.”
This comment elicits more than a handful of confused glances from the other people in the room.
”What? What kind of politician would I be if I were drunk all the time?”
“A normal politician.” Octavio remarks. ”Regardless, we have one of Hetamon’s flock here, so let’s unpetrify Shensen.
*
Unlike bringing back Jilia, the process of unpetrifying Shensen is unceremonious. One of Hetamon’s clergy uses the scroll and the “statue” of Shensen is changed back over the course of a couple seconds. The woman is a silver-haired half-elf with a tattoo of a stylized sun on her forehead. [b]
Upon being unpetrified, Shensen collapses to the ground, dropping the flaming scimitar she had in hand. It seems that the woman is unconscious, until she suddenly jumps to her feet and grapples Octavio! In one swift motion, Shensen then pulls out a bejeweled rod that is red and white like a piece of peppermint candy, then presses one end of the rod against Octavio’s temple.
”Alright, here’s what’s gonna happen. You Thrunies are gonna let me go and pretend you never saw me. And if you don’t, then I’m gonna use this on your Hellknight friend here, got it?!”
Chance leaps up and waves his hands in front of Shensen. “Hello! Hi there! I think maybe you’re a little confused after being petrified for months and months. Just take a breath and look around. Do we look like Thrunies? Have you met Mayor Jilia? Also, ‘Thrunies’ - I love that and I’m stealing it and I’m not sorry. Anyway, my name is Fortunato Pineapple-Umbria Phantasmagorius Ravennablitz, but all my friends call me Chance. And the sour-faced grump you’re about to brain-fry with that absolutely gorgeous wand is - despite what he’ll probably tell you - one of my friends. So how about you let him go and we’ll get you a drink and maybe something to eat?”
Shensen blinks. Then glances over at Octavio. Then back at Chance. ”…Oh…” She slowly loosens her grip on Octavio as she lowers the rod. Octavio jerks himself away as he gives her a death glare while she gives a meek, apologetic smile.
Shensen slowly makes her way over to the scimitar on the ground. ”And that’s mine…”
She sheaths her blade and stores the rod away. ”To be fair, this is literally the first time I’ve ever seen a Hellknight that wasn’t a Thrunie, so excuse me for jumping the gun there. And, second point, my last memory was of being turned to stone by an ACTUAL Thrune, so I’m more than a little on edge at the moment. Turns out adrenaline highs don’t end when you’re turned to stone; go figure.
“SO! What’s the date? Who are you lot? And how screwed are the Thrunies that you managed to depetrify me?”
Edrakk's eyes light up. "Oh, I can definitely work with that."
“But if it was Cayden Cailean’s sword, does that mean I have to switch from drinking coffee to ale?””I mean, I’m not a drinker, so probably not.”
This comment elicits more than a handful of confused glances from the other people in the room.
”What? What kind of politician would I be if I were drunk all the time?”
“A normal politician.” Octavio remarks.
"Well, that's good; the blood drinking seemingly did a number on your liver."
Edrakk jumps behind a table when Shensen lunges for Octavio, but calms down as Chance starts talking. As she recollects herself, Edrakk ducks out of the room for a second and returns with a tray and supplies for coffee. "Uh... second of Pharast, 4716. And n-not as screwed as we'd like them to be, u-unfortunately. We just got lucky that Barzillai didn't take you when he left the opera house." he says as he sets the platter up. "How do you like your coffee?"
Chance holds out his mug. “As black as Barzillai’s heart! Oh, you were asking our latest guest. Of course. I can wait.” The gnome’s leg bounces up and down while he proves that he can, with some difficulty, wait.
"Well if it makes you feel any better, the Order of the Torrent is literally outlawed by Lord-Mayor Thrune so it would be quite hard for us to be a "Thrunie", as you so call it." You are standing before the Silver Ravens. Rebels, I suppose. Who are trying to free Kintargo from Barzillai Thrune's grasp. And as for how screwed he is, well...not quite yet. But we were hoping we could help each other out in that regard. Perhaps, we could start with how and why were you turned to stone in the first place?"
"How do you like your coffee?"
”As black as Queen Abby’s heart.” Shensen says at nearly the same time as Chance.
You are standing before the Silver Ravens.
”Oh? I guess Jackdaw finally dug her way out then.”
There’s a confused silence following Shensen’s remarks that’s broken by Rexus (who was not in the room when the PCs said they found Jackdaw’s empty tomb). ”Jackdaw is…dead...She died in the Civil War.”
”No she didn’t. Last I knew she was locked up in Kintargo Keep. I was planning on making a jailbreak when Basil-and-Rye turned me to stone.”
Jilia ponders for a moment. ”Now that you mention it, I do recall seeing some records of a ‘Jackdaw’ being kept for a long period of time in Kintargo Keep; I just didn’t think anything of it. But…how do you know that?”
“I have my ways.”
“More importantly,” Octavio interrupts. ”Is that we now know that Jackdaw, one of the founders of the original Silver Ravens, may still be alive. And she is being kept in Kintargo Keep. That may be our opportunity to learn the lyrics to the Song of Silver. The only problem: Kintargo Keep is currently being controlled by the Order of the Rack.”
Perhaps, we could start with how and why were you turned to stone in the first place?"
”Barzy-boy tried using cockatrices, but that didn’t really turn out well for him. Instead, he had one of his lackeys use a scroll on me—a lithe Varisian woman with a massive red scarf. Wouldn’t have pegged her as a caster, if I’m being honest. As for why: I’m famous for my opposition of Thrunies. Getting rid of me is a no-brainer. Frankly, I’m surprised he didn’t smash me while I was a statue.”
"How do you like your coffee?"”As black as Queen Abby’s heart.” Shensen says at nearly the same time as Chance.
"W-well, that makes my job easy." He pours a cup of coffee for Shensen, Chance, and himself.
You are standing before the Silver Ravens.”Oh? I guess Jackdaw finally dug her way out then.”
There’s a confused silence following Shensen’s remarks that’s broken by Rexus (who was not in the room when the PCs said they found Jackdaw’s empty tomb). ”Jackdaw is…dead...She died in the Civil War.”
”No she didn’t. Last I knew she was locked up in Kintargo Keep. I was planning on making a jailbreak when Basil-and-Rye turned me to stone.”
Jilia ponders for a moment. ”Now that you mention it, I do recall seeing some records of a ‘Jackdaw’ being kept for a long period of time in Kintargo Keep; I just didn’t think anything of it. But…how do you know that?”
“I have my ways.”
“More importantly,” Octavio interrupts. ”Is that we now know that Jackdaw, one of the founders of the original Silver Ravens, may still be alive. And she is being kept in Kintargo Keep. That may be our opportunity to learn the lyrics to the Song of Silver. The only problem: Kintargo Keep is currently being controlled by the Order of the Rack.”
"T-true, but we don't need to fight our way through necessarily. I imagine a stealth mission would be a much better plan for getting her out." He places his own cup back down on the table and paces a bit. "Is there any way we c-could get a map of the jail? Maybe we could set up a distraction on one side to loosen security where we're trying to get in?"
"Also, I hope she doesn't want this armor back, cause I d-don't want to deal with getting all the loose feathers out that get caught in the chains."
Perhaps, we could start with how and why were you turned to stone in the first place?"”Barzy-boy tried using cockatrices, but that didn’t really turn out well for him. Instead, he had one of his lackeys use a scroll on me—a lithe Varisian woman with a massive red scarf. Wouldn’t have pegged her as a caster, if I’m being honest. As for why: I’m famous for my opposition of Thrunies. Getting rid of me is a no-brainer. Frankly, I’m surprised he didn’t smash me while I was a statue.”
"Well, if it was a scroll, a-at least we know they don't have someone out there turning people to stone all the time."
"I had a feeling something was up when we found her coffin empty. Sounds like a jail break is in our future. I'm not opposed to bashing a few Rack heads but Edrakk's right, a stealthier approach is probably the way to go. It's not the first time we've done this. We can do it again."
"Um," Rexus speaks up. "I know this is off-topic, but what are we going to do with Tombus? He might not be a major power-player, but he was still able to find us."
"Yes, well, we can see if he's willing to be talkative."
Vitalis heads down to the cell where Tombus is being held and requests any ally who wants to back him up come with him.
Vitalis goes up to the cell door to address Tombus. "I hope our accommodations are acceptable. We're not particularly equipped to hold prisoners. I'm here to see if you are willing to talk."
Edrakk comes along.
"C-can we get you anything? Water? Coffee? Food? I was gonna make beef stew later."