Rigel, for the most part, had been sitting quietly drinking from his mug, occasionally eyeing the stage, but ultimately deciding against drawing unnecessary attention. He had almost been caught in the grips of boredom and lethargy when the first of the patrons takes a swing, and as the fighting breaks out, simply mutters under his breath a bewildered, "What the fuuuu...?"
As a couple of angry patrons approach the group, he almost unleashes his magical abilities, but stops himself, not wanting to give himself away. Instead, he opts for pulling out his mace and running at the one attacking Chance.
,
I think you accidentally used d8s for your attacks, Vitalis.
Jisara's eyes widen first in surprise, then anger, and then realization. Rather than unleash the spell she'd already been preparing in her mind, she pushes her way through the crowd and flings herself over the bar. Here, she hoped, she could avoid the melee and gather her thoughts.
Chance flushes a deeper shade of scarlet than usual. He stands, drawing himself up to his full height, and yanks his head away from the drunk in red.
"Slip? You miserable excuse for a human being," he yells, "I would be proud to be mistaken for one of my halfling friends, but I'll see you damned before you call anyone a slip again. You can run now, or I will open a literal gate to Hell under your feet and you can meet the devils there!"
Chance waves his hands and calls upon the powers of the occult. The sound of souls screaming in torment erupts from the floor beneath the drunk attacking him.
Vitalis throws a punch at the racially-ignorant drunkard, decking him in the nose!
Rigel pulls out a light mace and strikes at the drunkard, hard enough for drops of the man’s blood to go flying!
Jisara gets the hell away from the drunkards!
Chance summons the illusory sounds of torment and makes the drunkard jump!
Despite the drunkard’s nerves, he slowly raises a hand to his face and sees the blood that stains his hands. He clenches his fists. ”Why you little…GAAAH!!!” He lets loose a primal scream of pure anger! He then angrily throws punches at Rigel!
Vitalis quickly intervenes as he grabs at the drunkard’s wrist then jabs at him with a quick left hook! This is just enough to distract the drunkard from the fact that his fist partially went through Rigel.
”Get back ‘ere ya devil-kin!”
Blue pushes his way through the brawling crowd for Jisara and throws a punch at the tiefling on the bar!
Barely audible over the din of the brawling crowd is a voice ”Hehehe! Grody grassy greasy!” Much more noticeable, however, is the clear technicolor aura of gathering magic as something just Cast a Spell!
Just some of the PCs were turning around to see what was going on, they find their feet suddenly no longer having purchase beneath them!
The bunched-up group manages to keep their balance—save for Vitalis, who falls face-first into the slick floor!
4e
Clenchjaw continues snoring soundly in the corner
The crowd of fighting patrons continue brawling with little regard for those around them—and some punches are inevitably thrown at everyone in the room!
Round 2
==============
Chance
Jisara (-6)
Rigel (-8)
Vitalis {prone}
Red (-7; +2) {raging}
Blue
???
Clenchjaw {unconscious}
Event
==============
Vitalis punches the teeth right out of the drunken man's mouth.
Vitalis frowns and scolds Rigel's use of a mace. "Don't kill anyone!" These are Kintargans not monsters. And something is not right here."
Then the grease appears under his feet and he falls flat on his back. "Wooaaa!!" Thunk! "Ouch. What just happened?" Tilting back his head to look at the upside-down interior, he notices the fading magical emanation but is in no position to do anything about it. "Something like that..."
Vitalis pushes himself back up then shoves his way through the chaos to come to Jisara's aid. He puts a hand and the other drunk's shoulder and throws a punch. "Over here, big guy! She's done nothing to you."
Rigel stumbles for a moment, but his years of experience as an acrobat allows him to stay standing. He takes another swing at the patron in front of him, before he tries to make his way into the crowd towards where the magical manifestations are coming from, and looks around.
Vitalis stands and swings at the drunkard harrying Jisara, but even the drunkard dodges away.
Rigel swings his mace once more (against Vitalis’s wishes) but misses the raging drunkard as he goes looking for whatever cast the spell.
Rigel does not notice anything.
Round 2
==============
Chance
Jisara (-6)
Rigel (-6)
Vitalis
Red (-13) {raging}
Blue
???
Clenchjaw {unconscious}
Event
==============
Jisara takes advantage of the distraction offered by Vitalis, sending a hex Chance's way before hopping down off the bar and hurrying over to Clenchjaw. She promptly takes him by the shoulder and tries shaking him awake. "Hey! Wake up! Your patrons are beating the Hell out of each other!"
Chance smiles and waves at Jisara and uses the opportunity she gives him to Seek for the caster .
The gnome lets the illusory screaming die down, but shouts at Red again. "I said,
This time, Chance backs up his attempt to intimidate the drunkard by casting daze.
[Free]: Seek (discern secrets, +1 to Perception)
◆: Intimidate (Demoralize)
◆◆: Cast a Spell, daze (DC 18, 4 NL damage, Will save)
"Hey! Wake up! Your patrons are beating the Hell out of each other!"
Clenchjaw’s eyes flit open. ”Huh?” When he notices the brawl going on around him, though, his eyes shoot open as adrenaline pulses through him. ”What?!”
Chance desperately scans under the effects of Jisara’s hex. ”Hehehe!” Much to the gnome’s surprise he hears giggling coming from right next to him!
”Gah! Why you little f*cking, big-worded slip!”
Red then swings no-holds-barred against the gnome!
Vitalis screams at the drunkard, distracting him just enough for the blow to be glancing.
Blue sees Vitalis’s punch at him and turns back to the noble. ”You want summa this too, ya pompous assh*le?!”
Seeing Vitalis get caught off-guard by his words, Blue swings twice in quick succession at the paladin!
”Peekaboo! You found me!”
Suddenly, a cone of barely visible, techicolored gas emerges forth from where Chance claims the hidden creature is, engulfing Chance completely.
Failure
If Chance succeeded, open the spoiler below
If Chance failed the save, open the spoiler below
Se3
Clenchjaw’s face turns bright red with anger as he moves Jisara out of the way and climbs up onto the bar.
All of the fighting stops as the patrons of Clenchjaw’s stare in horror at the tavern’s owner looks down on them in contempt. Even the violent drunkards are caught heavily off-guard, but that’s only a minor inconvenience as they continue their onslaught!
Round 3
==============
Chance (-15)
Jisara (-6)
Rigel (-6)
Vitalis (-6) {frightened 1}
Red (-15) {raging; frightened 2}
Blue {frightened 2}
???
Clenchjaw
==============
Round 3
==============
Chance (-15)
Jisara (-6)
Rigel (-6)
Vitalis (-6) {frightened 1}
Red (-15) {raging; frightened 2}
Blue {frightened 2}
???
Clenchjaw
==============
Vitalis swings and blue then steps back and swings at red trying to keep their attention on him. But Clenchjaw's stare shames him from fighting his hardest.
He shouts, "Anyone figure out what's causing this chaos yet?"
Jisara weaves her way around the bar to get out from behind the bar, where she can start making use of her spells. She holds open the connection between her patron and Chance, sending a wave of healing energy riding along it. In the meantime, she tries to put the pieces together to try and figure out what they're dealing with.
Chance flashes a smile at Jisara then Steps out of the greased area and away from Red. Hands spread out in front of him with his fingers splayed in two lines, one aimed at the drunkard and the other at the mysterious spellcaster adding to the tavern's chaos, he shouts, "Gustumu la ĉielarkon!" and a wave of swirling colors blasts across the table.
Jisara weaves her way around the bar to get out from behind the bar, where she can start making use of her spells. She holds open the connection between her patron and Chance, sending a wave of healing energy riding along it. In the meantime, she tries to put the pieces together to try and figure out what they're dealing with.
Rigel steps forward to where Chance pointed the unknown combatant out and starts looking for them.
Vitalis swings at the two drunkards but doesn’t hit either of them.
Jisara takes a moment to think about everything that’s going on then uses one of her hexes on Chance.
If Chance uses loremaster’s etude, open the spoiler below
Chance heals some from Jisara’s hex, then casts a cone of color.
Red grasps his eyes as he becomes blinded and stunned!
Rigel Seeks for the hidden thing , but doesn’t find anything.
”Why you little—!” Red blindly moves toward where he last saw the “slip.”
But as the drunkard moves forward he slips on the grease in a moment of perfect comedic timing!
”Pfft! BWAH-HAHAHA!!!!”
Someone laughs loudly near Vitalis as the drunkard hits the floor, though no one in the bar seems to be doing a knee-slapping routine.
Red, unable to properly see the unseen something laughing at him, pounds a fist on the ground. ”Shaddup!” He carefully returns to his feet over the grease.
Blue, clearly shaken by Clenchjaw’s appearance, looks over at Jisara coming out from behind the bar. ”You!” He rushes the tiefling and sends two quick punches at her!
But the looming presence of Clenchjaw distracts him.
N8
”Oop!”
The hysterical laughter from near Vitalis stops suddenly.
Clenchjaw sees Blue swinging at Jisara and cracks his knuckles. ”Fine then!” The bar owner practically leaps off of the bar counter like some kind of wrestling star as he moves to apprehend the drunkard!
Clenchjaw comes in from behind and puts the drunkard into a half nelson with ease! As Blue struggles, Clenchjaw rears up and smacks his head into the drunkard’s!
Blue starts seeing stars, but quickly shakes it off, still looking utterly confused at the fact that he just got his head knocked!
Round 4
==============
Chance (-13) {Life Boost: Round 1 of 4}
Jisara (-6)
Rigel (-6)
Vitalis (-6)
Red (-15) {raging; frightened 1; dazzled}
Blue (-6) {frightened 1; grabbed}
???
Clenchjaw
==============
Chance senses Jisara's attempt to Recall Knowledge and sends her a bit of inspiration from his muse.
Chance laughs at Red's pratfall but quiets almost immediately as he realizes the mysterious spellcaster is laughing as well, from the wrong side of the table. He looks around frantically trying to find the source of the laughter.
"There's another spellcaster here, and I think they were talking inside my head!"
Peekaboo yourself, he thinks, as "loudly" as he can. This would be more fun if you shared the joke.
Chance walks slowly in the direction where he thinks he heard the laughter coming from, avoiding the greased area and Red.
Chance searches but does not find any undetected creatures in the area.
Round 4
==============
Chance (-13) {Life Boost: Round 1 of 4}
Jisara (-6)
Rigel (-6)
Vitalis (-6)
Red (-15) {raging; frightened 1; dazzled}
Blue (-6) {frightened 1; grabbed}
???
Clenchjaw
==============
Vitalis tries to punch the thug next to him (red) twice more then tries another tactic. He throws his hands up in the air in exasperation. "Alright! You've had your fun. Stop this nonsense now before anyone gets more hurt! Is that what you want?" He directs his comments at the invisible laughing thing.
As Clenchjaw visits his justice upon the thug, Jisara gives him a smug smirk, exposing her fangs. She then quickly steps up and slams her palms against each side of the man's head before retreating.
Once out of the man's reach, she shouts out what she knows of their foe. "It's a faerie dragon! It's invisible now, but that'll wear off soon. They usually just play pranks, but it seems mixing those pranks with stressed out drunks makes for a violent combination."
Chance forces out a strained laugh. "Come now, Vitalis, don't be so stuffy! Anyone who can pull a stunt like this must be someone we'd like to get to know better. Come on out, friend, and let me buy you a beer. I must hear all about how you pulled this off!"
"A real dragon? I should have realized! That's wonderful!"
Chance immediately launches into a speech repeating his offer in Draconic. "baQa'! batlh SaghommeH ponglIj daquvmoHmeH mIw. 'a qechwIj batlhDaq puqloDpu' neH, pagh dalo'taHvIS bIqeng?"
Vitalis has never really had to fight with fisticuffs before, and his attempts at attacks shows that.
Jisara, on the other hand, has learned a thing or two living in the Devil’s Nursery, and slams her fists easily into the grappled drunkard!
Rigel moves up and throws a punch at Red.
He then disengages.
Red steps over and grabs Chance by the shirt. ”You’re gonna pay for that!” Then throws two punches at the gnome!
But once again Vitalis intervenes and partially protects the gnome from harm.
Blue squirms in Clenchjaw’s grasp, attempting to force his way out.
But is unable to escape the barkeep’s iron grip!
Clenchjaw turns to the PCs with confusion and frustration. ”How about you stop yelling at imaginary dragons and take care of the idiots still looking for a fight?!”
Clenchjaw makes two swift punches into Blue’s stomach!
”Urgh! Stop, please!” It seems Clenchjaw beat that drunkard back to sobriety, as he looks at the barkeep with pure fear in his eyes.
”Sit! Stay!” Clenchjaw throws the drunkard into the nearest chair and rushes over toward the other drunkard. The drunkard who just got beaten by Clenchjaw makes no attempt to get up from the chair he was put in.
Round 5
==============
Chance (-15) {Life Boost: Round 2 of 4}
Jisara (-6)
Rigel (-6)
Vitalis (-6)
Red (-15) {raging; dazzled}
???
Clenchjaw
==============
Jisara snarls ferociously as the thug does his best to undo the work she'd just done healing up Chance. "Pick on someone your own size!" She follows the challenge with a quick punch to the gut, before glancing over her shoulder at Clenchjaw.
"I'm afraid it's quite real, Master Clenchjaw," Jisara says in reply to his admonishment, her tone casual. "Do you think you fell asleep during a bar brawl on your own?" Another punch to the drunkard. "No, you had magical help."
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"If it is a dragon, it isn't answering. Either way, it seems like we need to deal with this drunkard first."
He turns to the thug, "Will you shut up man!? I'm going to need to knock some sense into you."
Vitalis steps around to flank his opponent
Rigel moves over and swings a couple of punches at the remaining drunkard.
,
,
Red flinches at Jisara’s fiendish appearance and is hit by the tiefling’s attacks.
Vitalis quickly hits the drunkard, the first time impacting directly with the man’s jaw and sending several teeth flying ! With follow-up, he uppercuts the drunkard and knocks him out completely!
Clenchjaw physically picks up Red’s unconscious body and literally throws him out of the bar! He turns back and sees the dismal state of his bar—including his barmaids who were unfortunate enough to get caught in the middle of the brawl—and lets out an exasperated sigh.
”Bar’s closed. Everybody out.”
The bar’s patrons mostly stare at the man awkwardly, not entirely believing what he’s saying. When no one moves Clenchjaw glares up.
”I. Said. ”
The bar’s patrons immediately start flooding toward the bar’s front doors as Clenchjaw’s yelling releases the floodgates. Once the majority of the customers leave, Clenchjaw’s eyes fall on the PCs.
”That means you too. I appreciate the help with those idiots, but you were also part of the problem.”
The PCs eventually acquiesce and leave the bar to Clenchjaw and his barmaids. Before locking the door, Clenchjaw quickly adds. ”For the record, I have a hard time sleeping at night; sometimes I take a nap during a shift. It’s not the smartest, but it needs to be done so I don’t work myself to death; I don’t need a dragon or a fairy or whatever to fall asleep.” With those words, Clenchjaw shuts and locks the front doors of his establishment for the day.
The PCs stare awkwardly at the locked front door of Clenchjaw’s, some bruises having appeared on their bodies—particularly Chance’s. With little else to do, they start making their way back toward the coffeehouse.
”Psst!”
Their leaving is stopped as they hear something. After a moment, though, they realize that they didn’t “hear” anything—it was almost a sound coming from their own thoughts rather than their ears. Was that just your mind being strange?
”Psssssst!! Hey!”
No, that was definitely something they didn’t imagine. The PCs are all “hearing” something talk to them. They all start looking around in confusion.
”Hey! Come to the alley! No…the other alley. No, the other other alley! NO—wait, YES! That one! Come to that alley. Warmer….warmer…Okay! Uh…look down. Further…”
The PCs follow the instructions from the “voice” and find themselves moving to an alley adjacent to Clenchjaw’s. As they look down, they find a creature on the ground that is only slightly bigger than Jisara’s cat: a quadrupedal, light blue lizard with a pale underbelly and horns that point back and curl slightly at the tip. The most prominent feature of the creature, however, is its pair of iridescent (but mostly orange) butterfly wings.
The butterfly-lizard gives a massive, toothy grin as it raises one of its hands and waves it. ”Hiiiii!”
Chance recognizes the voice in his head and encourages the others to follow its directions into the alley.
"Eeeep!" At the sight of the faerie dragon, his eyes go wide and he drops into a crouch in front of it. "Hi! I'm Fortunato Pineapple-Umbria Phantasmagorius Ravennablitz, but my friends call me Chance! These are my friends, Jisara and Doctor Thatch and Vitalis and Sta--- Rigel! What's your name? Were you the one making those people fight each other in that tavern? If it was, why'd you do that? Do you like coffee?"
The creature blinks several times at Chance’s introduction. ”Yeah…that’s a long name and I’m not going to remember all of that. Hi Chance! Hi Jisara! Hi Doctor Thatch! Hi Vitalis! Hi Sta-Rigel! I’m Vendalfek! Yes I was. Because why not? What’s coffee?”
Thatch bristles in challenge for a moment at the sight of the creature, but Jisara taps him on the head. "Oh, hush. You're not actually surprised by this." Grumbling, he hops down to the ground behind her and sits on his haunches, watching the dragon closely.
"Hello, Vendalfek," Jisara says in reply. "That was quite the show you put on back there. My guess is, you're new to that particular tavern. Where did you come from?"
”I’ve actually been here for a couple weeks now, though I guess that’s still ‘new’ for you, but before that I spent time with the others in the Thrashing Badger—that place was great, until someone burned it down while I was sleeping and I got my tail trapped under a flaming board with nothing to show for it but this stump where the rest of my tail was; thank GOODNESS the building fell into the river otherwise I NEVER would have gotten out—faerie dragons are very good swimmers, you know—and…uh…what was I talking about?”
"That means you too. I appreciate the help with those idiots, but you were also part of the problem."
Vitalis blushes with embarrassment. He bows his head low in prostration and speaks in a hushed tone. "I profusely apologize. We had no intention of escalating violence on your premises. If there is any damages to the establishment, send a bill to Vitalis Tanessen at the Tanessen estate and it will be made right."
The rebellion’s Notoriety increases by 2; 1 for each lethal attack made during Barroom Escalation.
Well, it could have been much worse, I suppose, if that's any consolation. He thinks in a sour mood.
"Hiiiii!"
Vitalis is surprised at how friendly and forgiving his compatriots are towards this faerie dragon. He takes a different approach.
"YOU!!! Do you know how irresponsible and dangerous your actions have been?! Someone could have gotten killed! Thank the gods you were lucky enough that hasn't happened yet. Not only that, you besmudged my noble reputation and disrupted one of the few remaining places in Kintargo for its citizens to find respite from the troubles this city is weathering. What were you thinking? Tonight was your last night of mischief. I demand this troublemaking STOP immediately!"
"Hiiiii!"Vitalis is surprised at how friendly and forgiving his compatriots are towards this faerie dragon. He takes a different approach.
"YOU!!! Do you know how irresponsible and dangerous your actions have been?! Someone could have gotten killed! Thank the gods you were lucky enough that hasn't happened yet. Not only that, you besmudged my noble reputation and disrupted one of the few remaining places in Kintargo for its citizens to find respite from the troubles this city is weathering. What were you thinking? Tonight was your last night of mischief. I demand this troublemaking STOP immediately!"
Without missing a beat Vendalfek noticeably shivers. ”Hoo! That was a chilly breeze! Did you guys feel that?”
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Vitalis puts one hand on his hip and points a finger in the direction of the dragon's nose. Steam might actually be rising off his bright red head.
"Ignore me if you want reptile, but you're lucky we came across you and not Nox or the dottari goons. They would not be so kind. Playing dumb will not get you off the hook for your mischief."
To the others, "You three see if you can reason with him before I wring his neck. I'm going to cool off."
"But I'm watching you!" He points his index and middle finger to his eyes then towards Vendalfek with a scowl. He then stomps off the entrance to the alleyway and leans against the corner.
"Don't mind him," Jisara says once Vitalis is out of immediate earshot, "he gets a bit of a temper when things aren't a certain way. You know how humans are." She gives the dragon a wink before continuing. "He is right, though. Your...fun...has drawn a lot of attention lately; that's why we came here looking for you. If you keep it up, Clenchjaw's might get burned down, too."
"I've got an idea, though. We're trying to punish the people who burned down the Thrashing Badger and hurt your poor tail. I've got one too, you know, so I know how angry it must make you. I think that if you team up with us, we can make sure that they get what they deserve."
Vitalis puts one hand on his hip and points a finger in the direction of the dragon's nose. Steam might actually be rising off his bright red head.
"Ignore me if you want reptile, but you're lucky we came across you and not Nox or the dottari goons. They would not be so kind. Playing dumb will not get you off the hook for your mischief."
To the others, "You three see if you can reason with him before I wring his neck. I'm going to cool off."
"But I'm watching you!" He points his index and middle finger to his eyes then towards Vendalfek with a scowl. He then stomps off the entrance to the alleyway and leans against the corner.
"Wow! Really windy day, isn't it?"
"Don't mind him," Jisara says once Vitalis is out of immediate earshot, "he gets a bit of a temper when things aren't a certain way. You know how humans are." She gives the dragon a wink before continuing. "He is right, though. Your...fun...has drawn a lot of attention lately; that's why we came here looking for you. If you keep it up, Clenchjaw's might get burned down, too."
"I've got an idea, though. We're trying to punish the people who burned down the Thrashing Badger and hurt your poor tail. I've got one too, you know, so I know how angry it must make you. I think that if you team up with us, we can make sure that they get what they deserve."
”Oh come on, it’s a prank! What kind of….wait, did you say burned down?! How?! Why?! Who?! Nevermind, doesn’t matter!” Vendalfek flies up and perches on Jisara’s shoulder where Thatch was previously. ”You guys are some of the most interesting people I’ve seen in a while! I’m definitely not giving up the chance to hang around with ya for longer!”
Chance shakes his head. "Sorry, I'm still trying to work through the implications of learning that you don't know what coffee is. Do you like pastries? Do you ever think -- OK, Vitalis, we'll catch up with you later! -- that there should be some kind of hot, bitter beverage that you could dunk your pastry in?"
Chance nods, looking suddenly morose. "Several large buildings burned down on the same night; if you escaped with your life, consider yourself lucky. A lot of good people went missing that night, too."
”Oh come on, it’s a prank! What kind of….wait, did you say burned down?! How?! Why?! Who?! Nevermind, doesn’t matter!” Vendalfek flies up and perches on Jisara’s shoulder where Thatch was previously. ”You guys are some of the most interesting people I’ve seen in a while! I’m definitely not giving up the chance to hang around with ya for longer!”
The gnome nods. "We are definitely interesting! I mean, Jisara and me, you can tell right away; you might need to spend some time with Vitalis, though." He points at Rigel. "And this one is a lot more interesting than he looks!"
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Rigel, attempting a smile, cannot quite hide his mild death glare at Chance before laughing his statement off. "Well, I'm not that interesting. At least, not any more than I look. Also, he misspoke, it's just Rigel." He clears his throat. "Anyways, you do seem to be quite good at causing trouble, which would probably be helpful for our situation."
Vitalis, still grumbly, shouts down the alley, "Isn't there a curfew about to take effect? If this situation is handled, let's not tarry."
"Oh...it's coming with us?" Vitalis throws his hands in the air in exasperation. "Wonderful! Just wonderful! Well the next time a fight breaks out amongst our followers, I'll know just where to look."
Vitalis, still grumbly, shouts down the alley, "Isn't there a curfew about to take effect? If this situation is handled, let's not tarry."
*
The PCs-plus-one return to the Long Roads Coffeehouse, which is mostly empty—apparently people aren’t lining up to buy coffee in late afternoon. Rexus sits on one of the far tables with the livery documents spread across it and a mug of coffee in his hand. The nobleman, unfortunately, has fallen fast asleep, his face resting on the documents on the table.
Vendalfek sees the sleeping noble and immediately springs into action!
But Vitalis grabs the faerie dragon mid-air before he can attempt anything mischievous.
Laria comes out from one of the back rooms, a wet mug in hand that she’s hand-drying with a rag. She spots Vitalis with Vendalfek in his grasp and raises an eyebrow. ”A, uh…new recruit?”
Vendalfek squirms free of the paladin’s grasp and flies over, perching on Laria’s head. He hangs his head over the edge to look the halfing in the eye (albeit upside down). ”Hi! I’m Vendalfek! Nice to meetcha!”
Laria is shocked for a moment then giggles. ”Well, aren’t you the cutest—“
CRASH!
A distant crash interrupts the halfling and is loud enough to startle Rexus awake. ”I’m up! I’m up!” The noble jerks upright with a page of one of the documents sticking to his face. He instinctually throws his arms up, sending the contents of the mug he was holding flying behind him.
Laria jerks her head around, sending Vendalfek flying off—though the faerie dragon thankfully breaks his fall with his flight. ”That sounded like it came from the Wasp—“ Laria stops, stares at the PCs with concern in her eyes, and breaks out in a run toward the storage room!
The halfling cook—Finn—emerges from one of the back rooms (not the one Laria is running towards) as Laria rushes past him. ”Laria! Did you hear—?!”
“CheckingonitRexusspilledhiscoffeepleasecleanitupthankyou!”
*
A wall in the Wasp’s Nest had apparently collapsed—the structural damage is relatively minor, but two of the Fushi sisters—Treep and Maggie—were caught by it and sustained concussions!
CRASH!
Vitalis turns to Vendalfek. "Well, you haven't been here long enough to cause that. You're off the hook this time." He runs downstairs with the others.
"What happened down here? Are they okay?"
"Well, of course it wasn't him, considering that he was in our line of sight the whole time." Rigel rushes down to see what happened.
"Wait, those are scratch marks on the wall. I think I see something else." He walks over nearby the wall and pulls out from behind a corner a hammer and a chisel. "Well, I think we found what caused this."
Chance starts pacing out of anxiety at the close call.
"Good eye, Rigel! Doctor Thatch, can you make sure our new friends are all right? Korva, Jay, what happened? I can understand wanting to redecorate - it is a bit dismal down here - I'm sorry, Laria, but it's true - but I think you should talk to Laria before anyone tries to take down a load-bearing wall. I mean, that's just common sense, isn't it? We're trying to be sneaky about all this, and if the entire coffeehouse collapsed into a giant sinkhole, people might start asking questions!"
"Good eye, Rigel! Doctor Thatch, can you make sure our new friends are all right? Korva, Jay, what happened? I can understand wanting to redecorate - it is a bit dismal down here - I'm sorry, Laria, but it's true - but I think you should talk to Laria before anyone tries to take down a load-bearing wall. I mean, that's just common sense, isn't it? We're trying to be sneaky about all this, and if the entire coffeehouse collapsed into a giant sinkhole, people might start asking questions!"
The Fushi sisters discuss for a moment in Tengu then Korva answers Chance. ”We didn’t do anything! They were just lounging around when part of the wall fell on them.”
Vitalis looks at the pointed out tools. "Well somebody did. I doubt the Silver Ravens have attracted the Lord-Mayor's attention already. We've barely done anything. So who could it be? And are they still down here? I didn't see anyone come up the stairs."
Vitalis looks at the pointed out tools. "Well somebody did. I doubt the Silver Ravens have attracted the Lord-Mayor's attention already. We've barely done anything. So who could it be? And are they still down here? I didn't see anyone come up the stairs."
Korva shrugs. "I don't know what else to tell you; no one other than you guys and Laria have been down here."
"What's on the other side of the wall? Could someone have been trying to get in from the other side?"
Jisara finally makes her way down the stairs, carrying Thatch with her. Once she catches up with the others, she sets him to tending to the injured Fushi sisters. Examining the wall and surrounding scene, she turns to the others and, through a translator, asks a question of them. "Do you remember hearing any strange sounds?"
"Is it possible for someone to come and go through the waterway?"
"And what about the three followers we picked up from the park? Have they been around? How well can we trust them? Perhaps that's the culprits goal; not to kill but to sow doubt amongst us?"