Nyxra shifts her bow to her back before swiftly ascending to the roof level, stepping up to the doorway.
Vantine laughs her laugh and concentrates her ire on the closer of the two Red Jills.
"You could always surrender." The Raven suggests to the mean ladies, stepping out from between the tieflings again and swinging at one, attempting to push her into Jessibel's rapier. "I only came here for confession."
Aisling continues to climb the ladder after the others.
Vantine twists the strings of fate, denying the Red Jill the benefit of Desna's favor (if, indeed, she had any). Unfortunately, the woman's mental strength is too great, even with the earlier hex eating away at it, and she shakes the curse off.
Nevertheless, the Raven takes his chance to smash the other tiefling, stepping out of the easy flank that the two have on him. His fist connects a solid blow into her stomach, and she staggers back, coughing and bleeding heavily.
Jessi keeps up her song, and taps her boots to engage their magic. Easily avoiding the hexed tiefling's wild thrusts, she whirls around to flank with her mentor, running the other Red Jill through the chest. Coughing up blood, the tiefling collapses in a heap.
Aisling finally manages to arrive at the top of the ladder, redrawing her blade in preparation for engaging in combat.
The sorceress screams her satisfaction, flapping wings backwards and descending slightly before unleashing another spell from the fingertips of both of her hands. A gout of flame roils towards the two vigilantes, both of whom desperately throw themselves out of the way. Though they manage to avoid the fire itself, the searing heat still burns their flesh.
The remaining Red Jill casts a glance over her shoulder at the doorway where Nyxra is standing, before shaking her head minutely and stepping out of the potential reach of the elf ranger's sword. Her curved shortsword blurs furiously as she tries to embed it in the slightly scorched Raven, her teeth clenched in a feral grimace. Though it plunges into his chest, it narrowly misses his heart, cutting instead through his ribs to pierce his lung.
Nyxra unlimbers her bow again and points at the strix. "Time to clip the bird's wings." She growls.
Then she fires an arrow at her!
Nyxra focuses her attention and intent upon the flying sorceress, before unleashing a shot at her. Unfortunately, though she cannot avoid the arrow, neither can the arrow quite penetrate her magical armor, instead piercing it and hanging there for a moment before dropping.
"Why do you bother helping these humans?" She cries, her eyes turning to the ranger as her lips twist in a snarl.
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With the Raven looking a little bit on the extra-crispy side, his sidekick moves to his side to again heal him. Jessi maintains her war chant as well.
When the remaining Red Jill is punched down by the Raven, Vantine takes the opportunity to get out of the shed. Once she's out in the open where she can see the strix she hexes her in preparation for worse to come.
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Aisling moves out into the open, staring at the remaining opponent. She points with her sword and says one word: "Land."
Vantine unleashes a hex upon the strix sorceress, and feels her winged foe's fortune fade as she rips it free from the web of possibility.
On the rooftop, the Raven smashes his fist into the Red Jill's flank, before pulling back and punching her square in the face. With a burbling hack, she collapses and begins to slowly slide along the gentle slope of the roof's tiles.
Drawing upon the authority of the Lady of Valor, Aisling utters a sharp command to the sorceress. She shrieks, but her wings obey the priestess rather than their owner as she begins dropping towards the Iomedaean.
Jessibel arrives at her mentor's side within moments of his final attack on the tiefling. Singing a song of healing, she seals some of his wounds and restores some vitality - though the taste of blood remains in his mouth, at least he's not exhaling it any more.
The strix, bound by the command of the Ravens' priestess, settles onto the roof before her, lifting a gauntleted hand in preparation to defend herself.
Nyxra aims another arrow at the strix!
She growls in frustration as her shot goes wide again, and she throws the bow aside before drawing her sword!
In her desperation to end the sorceress' life, Nyxra ducks around the corner to fire her bow again, only to find, to her surprise, that the strix is right beside the doorway now, and the draw of her bow is a perfect chance for the woman to lash out with her spiked gauntlet, which bounces off of the doorframe as she slips slightly on the blood-slicked tile.
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Vantine giggles and uses an incantation to bind the strix's shadow to the roof.
The Raven starts to smile warmly at the magnanimous Magpie but stops when he remembers she would not be able to see the gesture. "My dear, you are a gentlewoman and a scholar!" He was used to the feeling of magical healing, but not at this frequent a rate. This sever-trauma-followed-by-rapid-healing was not comfortable in the slightest. With a cascade of controlling magics buffeting the strix, the Raven decides to give her one last chance to surrender. Moving past the woman engaged with, well, the other women, the Raven swoops up behind their adversary and offers a token of peace a final time. "Really now, is whatever you are doing here worth your life?"
The Magpie follows her mentor's lead, closing on the grounded strix while maintaining her chant, readying a stab should the winged woman fail to capitulate.
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Now face to face with her opponent, Aisling wastes no time and launches into an attack with ehr sword.
Vantine's giggle echoes oddly as she calls upon the shadows beneath her foe's feet, commanding them to remain still, and keep her still with them to seal her to the ground. The strix struggles, but is unable to escape the witch's magic.
As the Raven circles around her, the strix lashes out with her own spiked gauntlet, striking the vigilante's mask and piercing it with the spikes, as well as impacting his cheek and bloodying him further.
The Raven offers the sorceress mercy, but she spits. "You humans never understand! Stupid, greedy creatures!" Clearly, she has no interest in surrender, and the Raven responds with a strike - but it glances off of her magical armor.
The priestess, having heard enough, lashes out with her longsword. The Inheritor guides her blow, and she carves a deep gash into the woman's stomach. The sorceress staggers back, coughing as blood pours from her wound, but she grits her bloodstained teeth, baring them in a feral scowl at Aisling.
Jessibel continues her song, and tries to stab their winged foe, but the woman bats the rapier away with her wing, its magical armor leaving it unharmed despite the risk in doing so.
The sorceress begins casting carefully, evading the blows that come with expertise and grace. Finishing her spell, she unleashes another wave of fire - directing it at Aisling and, behind her, Vantine. Aisling's reflexes fail her as she lifts her shield, only to catch the full brunt of the blaze. She feels the now painfully familiar sensation of her flesh searing beneath her armor, especially her arm. A scent akin to that of cooked pork fills the air.
The Iomedaean's choice is not in vain, however, as it permits her rather more fragile companion to throw herself out of the way of the blaze, though the heat still singes her clothing and her skin.
With that she pulls away, though her shadow stretches unnaturally to keep her pinned where she is, leaning towards the south rather than the west, as it ought to. She does not seem able to make it any further, however.
Nyxra lunges forward and tries to chop the strix down with her sword!
Nyxra's blade flashes downwards, cutting the strix woman's throat and knocking her to the tiles, where her lifeblood slowly drains along the roof to the snowy cobbles below.
"Hmph! Better than a stupid, dead creature!" the Magpie retorts to the strix sorceress's corpse. "While you folks get greedy and loot here, I'll take a look in her roost and see if there are any goodies hidden there."
Jessi casts detect magic to (hopefully) aid in her search and proceeds across the rooftop to the connected loft.
Aislingn wipes her sword clean but keeps it in hand in case any more enemies show up. "Let's tyr and keep each other in sight shall we?"
Nyxra pulls her blade back and stares at the dead strix. Her hands start shaking as the adrenaline wears out.
She starts trying to take several deep breaths and leans back against the doorway to do so.
"Well! That wasn't so bad after all" Vantine says breezily.
Realising that some of the team are still hurting, Aisling channels the healing power of her goddess.
She looks with concern at Nyxra. "Are you alright?"
Aisling's channelling fixes Nyxra's lingering burns nicely.
"...I'll... I'll be alright." The elf nods, looking at the priestess. "Just... never killed a person before today."
"It's a lot harder than it looks." She admits, her joke a poor mask for her discomfort.
Even as the more mature Ravens discuss the morality of killing people, the two youngest members search through the corpses and the connected loft for the Jills' doubtlessly ill-gotten gains. Swiftly, they discover quite a haul. Firstly, on the Jills' leader there's a fair amount of gold , as well as spiked gauntlets crafted with an expertise beyond those of the Raven's . She also has an amulet that radiates an aura of transmutation magic - unfortunately, the only magical item she has other than a potion.
In the bell tower, Jessi finds a true treasure trove - a truly stupendous amount of coin. Most of it is silver, though there is a significant amount of copper and a large amount of gold. She even spies a handful of platinum pieces scattered about the hoard. Furthermore, there's a great deal of jewelry and keepsakes that look valuable.
The Jills themselves are significantly less wealthy, with only their weapons - shortswords and light crossbows - their studded leather armor, and a grand total of 20 gp altogether.
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Jessi examines the loot but can't figure out what the amulet or potion do. Now that she's the Magpie, though, she seems to be better at appraising the jewelry trinkets, throwing out an estimate that they're worth about 750 gp.
Vantine takes a shot at figuring out the potion and amulet but comes up with nothing.
The Raven wanders over to the edge of the building and sits down, dangling his legs out over the void. Scratching his collarbone, he finds the hole in his mail from the nearly fatal bolt. He lays backwards, kicking his legs back and forth. "Dearest lady Eagle, I do not wish to express dissatisfaction with your leadership, but perhaps we could avoid front doors in the future? The fine materials of my garments are rather expensive to repair."
Aisling's channelling fixes Nyxra's lingering burns nicely.
"...I'll... I'll be alright." The elf nods, looking at the priestess. "Just... never killed a person before today."
"It's a lot harder than it looks." She admits, her joke a poor mask for her discomfort.
Aisling nods, both with compasion and a bit awkwardly. She isn't sure what to say. "I don't think it gets easier. Or at lesat I don't think it's supposed to get easier, taht would be bad."
She glares at the masked newcomer as he interrupts their moment with some banter. "I didn't hear anyone else offer ideas."
Jessibel reappears on the rooftop, bearing some gifts. What facial features her mask doesn't hide appear tense, like that of a child who's walked in on Mommy and Daddy arguing.
"Shouldn't we get out of here before the dottari or CCG happen by?"
In the distance, the Ravens hear bells - it's now nearly noon. As usual, the Temple of Asmodeus' bells don't ring out in harmony with the others.
Nyxra wearily nods in agreement with Aisling.
"...let's go." She says, retrieving her bow and leading the way back down.
"Yes, I have to get freshened up after this. We have an important meetings later, I suppose?"
"We could start by not attacking at noon!" The Raven helpfully calls to Aisling as she descends the ladder. The Raven rolls onto his stomach, then stands. He descends the ladder last, groaning from the phantom pain of the newly healed, formerly grievous wounds. The vigilante catches up to Nyxra and claps her on the shoulder.
"You know, I was not always slinking around in the shadows, masked and hidden from the world. Quite the opposite, actually. I was once a... performer of sorts. A duelist in the arenas of Taldor!" Alexius hadn't been a Taldan duelist, though he had dueled in Taldor a few times, but it wouldn't do to stray too close to the real truth. "The duels were for country pride and politics, mostly. 'My son can beat your son in the arena, so do not try to go to war with us because there is more where that came from!' Nobody is supposed to die in a duel. At least, not at that level. But!" He claps his hands together. "Sometimes people did die. Sometimes something goes terribly wrong, you fall on the opponents blade and you are gone before the healers can get to you. Sometimes it is not an accident, but murder. A rivalry gone to far, a blade coated in poison..." He sighs and shakes his head. "And sometimes it is an overzealous opponent who brings about their own death. The duel would be called and a winner declared, but one of the duelists - usually the loser - would not stop. They just keep coming and you have to defend yourself." He had hoped to offer her some kind of inspirational words but the psychology of justified homicide is complex and the Raven is but a simple bird. "We gave them a chance to surrender, they made their choice. I think asking someone to stop murdering helpless tieflings is a not-unreasonable request. The Jill's are the ones who brought about their own deaths."
"Raven..." Nyxra fixes the masked man with an exhausted look and sighs.
"...I know. It was unavoidable." She looks down at her feet.
"I just... wasn't expecting it to affect me this much."
"Let's hope the Lady of Midnight and her tiefling adherents weren't secretly backing the Red Jills," Jessi the Magpie comments. She gives Nyxra a quick pat on the shoulder.
Their arguments finished, the Ravens adjourn for the day, only gathering back together in the Nursery as night falls. Fortunately, it is still early enough that curfew isn't strictly in effect, and they make their way to the prearranged meeting spot.
The location in question is a small, humble-looking apartment building - specifically, in the basement thereof. The Ravens greet the owner, a tiefling of halfling descent, who indicates he's been expecting them.
With that, he silently leads them to the door to the basement, whereupon they descend into a room dimly lit by a lantern sitting on the floor. A blue-skinned tiefling woman stands at the far end of the room, a paintbrush in one hand and a palette with various paints in the other, adding silver dots - stars - to the field of deep midnight that covers the back wall.
As she turns to face them, the Ravens notice that her forehead is marked with a now-familiar symbol, and her eyes are lilac. "Ah. You must be the heroes that my good friend spoke of." She gestures at a corner of the room with her paintbrush. There stands Vylas, though none of the Ravens had noticed him until she pointed him out.
"I am Aula." She says, her voice low and smoothly pleasant to hear. "Priestess of the Redeemer Queen and overseer of her sanctuary in this city. What are your names?"
Vantine, dressed in a better dress suitable for meeting people, curtsies slightly as she replies "I am Vantine. It is a pleasure to meet you Aula."
Belatedly she wonders if the Raven will scold her for not using her code name.
Jessibel has gone to the meeting in her Magpie guise, but she's taken some steps to make herself more presentable, using prestidigitation to add mithral-coloring to the red parts of her armor. She's also added silvery streaks to her boots, mask, and even her glossy black hair.
The young bard gives Vylas a nod of recognition before following Vantine's lead and curtsying before Aula. "I am called the Magpie." Feeling that her words sound cold and perhaps lacking, she adds, "I watch over and serve all of Kintargo. Thank you for inviting me into your small yet no less important corner of our city. We all face trying times these days."
"...name's Nyxra." The ranger nods.
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Aisling rolls her eyes slightly at Jessi's theatrics. The mastked Raven is having a bad invluence, she decides.
They['ve only just met these pople and honesty seems like an important virtue to start with. She's sure the tieflyings of the city are too used to being lied to. "I'm Aisling, of house Talbot. Thank uyou for agreeing to meet with us. May the blessings of teh Inherotior be with you."
Jessibel may not catch Aisling's eye-rolling, but she notices how much trust the Iomedaean puts in Aula by giving her full name and affiliation to the Inheritor. She decides to be forthcoming herself with a potentially sensitive subject to test Aula's reaction.
"We work to better the lives of Kintargans in general," she says. "Much of that includes opposing the oppressive rule of the new lord-mayor, but we're also dealing with other threats to the citizenry, such as the tooth fairy gang that was haunting the Devil's Nursery. Earlier today we raided the headquarters of a gang of street thieves called the Red Jills. They were almost exclusively female tieflings, though they were led by a particularly hateful strix sorceress. We'd had an earlier run-in with the Jills: When their attempt to rob us failed, they tried to kill us instead. The streets of our city are safer with the Red Jills off them."
Aula inclines her head at each of the women, her lips quirking up slightly. "Well, I can't imagine the burden of looking over all the city, let alone protecting it. Nevertheless, you are welcome here, Magpie."
She casts a look over Vantine and Nyxra. "It's a pleasure, both of you." Her pale eyes turn to the priestess. "We have great differences with your Church, here, Sword Knight Talbot, and distrust nobles at that. Your intentions speak well of you." Implied, but not stated is "So don't screw it up."
The Lady of Midnight steps back, her face flushing slightly darker. "But I apologize for my manners. I wanted to thank you all for ending the deaths of the people of the Nursery. My people are often forgotten in Kintargo, and the deaths were... ignored." She looks back at her cowled companion. "Vylas found a disturbing little nest last night."
"I believe it to be the lair of the creatures you slew." The elf finally speaks. "A palace of teeth, with the corpse of a toothless young orphan sitting in the center. The body was ritually prepared and bound with iron and sinew..." He sighs. "I suspect that the tooth fairies were summoned deliberately from the First World, to cause chaos in the Devil's Nursery."
When Jessibel mentions the Red Jills, Aula frowns. "Well, I suppose it is good that someone is cleaning the streets. My fellows are not warriors, with the exception of our protector." She inclines her horned head at Vylas. "The Red Jills weren't terribly pleasant, but they rarely harassed our people here. No doubt they hate humans more than us."
Jessibel cannot read anything more from Aula than what she says with regards to the Jills.
"But, so long as you keep in mind that some organizations are named "gangs" by tyrants to excuse oppression, we will have no trouble with your 'protection.' Do not forget that the citizens of Kintargo are not solely those you see in other districts, and remember that there are always those on the fringes of society who have no other choice than to turn to crimes." The priestess continues. "Now, I'm sure you have questions of us... ask, and I will answer."
"I'm very sorry about the young one at the nest you found" Vantine tells Vylas. "If we had pursued the tooth fairy who fled, we might have been able to do something before it was too late. But we had reached the limit of our strength fighting the others. It didn't seem immediately important. I regret we were wrong."
Turning to the Lady of Midnight, Vantine opens with what she hopes will be a neutral, icebreaker kind of question.
"We have become familiar with the symbol of the Redeemer Queen over the last few days. We've seen it often, carried by residents here in the Devil's Nursery. But who is the Redeemer Queen? What tenets does she embrace? Were unaware of her before, and know nothing of her still.