Shula pauses for a fraction of a second. "Honor? 'Maiden pure?' Really?" Her tone is not disbelieving or even teasing, just incredulous. Under her breath, she adds, "No wonder you're so uptight.".
Now's not the time to think about such things though. As the enemies in front of her collapse into sleep, Shula turns again to reach the two who are still awake. Even if she can't get all the way behind them, it's still better than nothing.
"Excuse me, one second, dodging through..." She slips between allies and enemies alike to get on the other side of one of the combatants. Using her primary kukri, she slashes at his back. (Or side, more accurately, but who's counting?)
With a number of their enemies down Lucretia focuses on the nearest enemy and fires a crossbow bolt at him.
Lollia moves up behind Robert and after playing a soothing melody on her dulcimer, touches him with a hand filled with healing energy.
The Shield Maiden dispatches one of the assassins without even a trace of a maidenly blush as she does so. Shula cuts the second one down with a pair of blows and the four sleeping ones prove to be no trouble as you restrain them for further interrogation in future. The numerous empty crates scattered around prove quite useful in that regard!
With the guardians of the room cleared out you head up the stairs towards the office. You enter through the north door, seeing two metal pipes ascend through the northwest and southwest corners of this room. A viewing window overlooks the warehouse floor to the west. An oak desk occupies the eastern side of the chamber, backed by an intimidating chair. An open door the south reveals an unused and empty storage closet.
Sitting at the desk is a strange looking man who is fondling a scythe with entirely too much pleasure. Two more initiates are here too, standing quietly in the corners and apparently trying not to catch the strange clown's attention.
"Not even a 'knock knock'?" He asks with a sigh. "How can I work with such useless material?"
The clown pulls himself from his chair and begins to blur in front of you!
Shula's brow furrows in confusion as the strange man greets them with boredom rather than fear. "Did you really expect people breaking in to knock?" Without waiting for an answer, she moves up and slashes at one of the blurred shapes.
Unsure as to how long her magic will hold out, Lollia gathers up the captured men's darts, hoping to contribute via other means.
"Jokes? You think this is a time for jokes?" Lollia questions. "Absolutely not! This is the moment for the dramatic entrance of the heroes as they defeat flunky after flunky, including a self-important idiot with a glorified cheese slicer."
As if to emphasize, she strums a dramatic chord on her instrument before with a quick flip of her wrist, she flings a dart towards the pathetic clown. The weapon misses by a mile, however, and embeds into the back wall.
Shula cuts unerringly through the mirror images and leaves a nasty cut across the clown's face. Even Robert's spell can't help Lollia hit as she flings a dart into the far wall, where it strikes a pipe with an oddly hollow sound.
The initiates pull out blades of their own and pile forwards to stab at Shula. However they seem more concerned with their boss than Shula and their attempts are... pretty weak.
”Have at thee, cretins!” the Shield Maiden shouts. She moves to protect Shula’s flank, slicing at one of the thugs.
Lucretia moves up to the top of the stairs and tries to line up a crossbow shot through the melee.
Neither the Shield Maiden nor Lucretia manage a blow and the clown takes
his revenge on Shula with a large sweep of his sickle!
She dances back just in time!
Lollia attempts to throw one of the borrowed darts again at one of the flunkies and nearly hits her target to her surprise.
Shula almost laughs at the clown's awkward swing. "Bit small in here for a weapon that big, isn't it?" Although speaking of it being small in here, the front of the room is getting crowded...
Taking advantage of the thugs' stunned surprise, she suddenly drops down low and rolls right past the one in front of her. Bouncing up again instantly, she slashes at his back.
Lollia and Shula between them down a thug, and the remaining one spins to stab at the red-head once more.
Randi swings in another wide arc, missing again!
Lucretia reloads and tries shooting the creepy clown again. Unlike her cousin she doesn't seem to be getting better with practise.
In a flurry of missed blows nothing much changes. The clown shakes his head mournfully. "Life is decay, your efforts are futile!" Somehow Randi finds that thought rather funny...
"Really?" Lollia responds with a raised eyebrow. "You've resorted to stealing Stratimus the Staid's material? He'd be flattered, of course, but anyone else ...? It just shows how much of a hack you really are."
Randi falls to the floor, overcome by a fit of girlish giggles! Hilde shakes her head and flirts about, defending her mistress.
Shula groans, although whether from the clown's depressing rhetoric or the way the surviving thug is turning away from Randi's prone form it's hard to tell. "You know, I have a feeling you went into the wrong profession. Aren't clowns supposed to be funny?"
Her kukris flash out again as she talks, catching the thug in his side before he can fully turn around.
Shula cuts the remaining thug down, leaving just the mournful clown to deal with.
Lollia's dart strikes true, causing the clown to grunt in pain, but Robert's crossbow bolt merely dispels one of the images.
"It's no joke!" The clown croaks at Lollia. "Those pathetic fools just want it to be so that their empty lives mean something!"
Fortunately, Randi returns to her senses after only a few seconds of undignified laughter.
Not wanting to waste her spells Lucretia reloads and fires again!
"This is much harder than target practise!" She mutters in annoyance.
Lucretia misses again, although the back wall of the office is beginning to resemble a hedgehog of arrows and knives. Smiles retreats once more with a scowl.
"Death is coming for you!" He declares to Shula. "Can't you feel his cold hands upon you?"
Shula's eyes widen and her kukris almost drop from her suddenly nerveless hands. She likes Martella, but enough to die for her? No.
She begins running down the stairs as fast as she can.
Randi gets back to her feet, glaring daggers at Mister Smiles. She speaks arcane words and conjures a magical ball of ice and snow which she hurls at the clown!
"Shula! Stop!" Lucretia yells, but since she doesn't have anything that can actually stop the fleeing woman she takes advantage of the sudden lack of fighting around the clown to shoot at him again! It doesn't seem to help her aim.
Having not a lot else to contribute to the melee, Lollia takes off to catch the slayer. "Shula, wait!" she calls out.
Despite Shula's fleeing Robert's bolt pierces another image and soon the clown stands defenseless. He refuses to flee, spitting curses and taunts to the last as you surround him and cut him down. His sickle is enchanted, but he otherwise has nothing of note apart from a thunderstone.
Once Shula returns she tackles the locked desk and finds a small cache of items including Ttwo shadow hand smoke pellets, a silver cameo containing a portrait of Grand Prince Stavian I (worth 100 gp), a teak snuffbox (worth 20 gp), 1,207 sp, and 144 gp.
Lucretia, who had already remarked on the oddness of the pipes in the room, soon finds a hinged section in the northern pipe and pulls on it to reveal a secret passage leading down into the darkness below - this is clearly the true safehouse!
Climbing down the ladder leads to a small cavern, whose exit is readily apparent as the secret door has been left open! Beyond is a store-room and presumably your goal! Just as you start forwards Robert calls out, there is a trip-wire strung across the entrance! Luckily it is a simple matter to step over it and you find yourself with a choice of directions. A natural looking passageway opens to the left and a stone corridor ahead.
The Shield Maiden leads the way down the stone corridor, ready for more battle!
Shula's cheeks are flaming almost as red as her hair when she slinks back up the stairs. "Uh, sorry about that." She's relieved to see a lock to open; working on it allows her to forget about her embarrassing flight.
The sight of the treasure within lifts her spirits even more than the lock had, and she's back to her normal self by the time they leave the office. Upon the discovery of the hidden passage, she whistles lightly. "Martella does have a sense for drama. Wonder if this safehouse is going to be as big as the 'safehouse' under the Senate?"
As Randi goes down the stone corridor she follows close behind, ready to team up against whatever enemies might lie ahead. (Although it's still very, very strange for her to think of herself and the Shield Maiden being on the same team!)
"Well if it's anything like that safehouse, then at least we already know the way out," Lollia says with a smile. "And we'll gladly follow your lead if we have to flee," she can't help but add.
Lucretia follows along, trying to keep her crossbow from trembling too much. 'It is the after-effects of the adrenaline.' She keeps telling herself. 'A Vernisant is never afraid.' Despite this rousing message she can't help glancing back to her cousin, hoping for... she's not sure what exactly.
The stink of spoiled food permeates this common room. Several plates covered in scraps of rotten meat and spoiled vegetables cover the two round tables in the center of the room. Shelves of preserved foods line the walls to the north and south. Passages lead out to the
north, east, and west as well as back the way you came.
Heading left you turn a corner and find a door on your right which proves to hold a bedroom. The large bookshelves, elaborate L-shaped desk, and variety of springs, gears, and small tools which clutter the desk alongside pages of sketches and designs point quite clearly to this being Martella's private abode.
Shula takes a look at the components and warns the rest of you from touching them. It is a partially assembled bomb of some sort that would release a nasty looking gas if disturbed! You do find two of Martella's counter devices against eavesdropping sitting in one corner and they appear to be in full working order!
Beyond the bedroom is another room which appears to have a more martial bent. Three stuffed training dummies stand in the southern side with arrows and daggers protruding from them at every angle. Weapon racks stand neatly along the northern wall and a startled halfling in black leathers turns around as you enter.
"You're not supposed to be here!" He says, grabbing a short sword from the weapons rack!
Unfortunately for you all, your opponent it quick off the mark and he leaps forward to stab at Randi!
The blade slides smoothly into ulfen flesh!
Eager to prove herself after her embarrassing flight, Shula quickly circles around the halfling and attempts a quick slice towards his back.
"You know, I don't think you're supposed to be here either."
Despite this rousing message she can't help glancing back to her cousin, hoping for... she's not sure what exactly.
As if sensing her cousin's anxiety, Lollia begins softly humming the tune to a silly song that they used to sing in their youth. Something about ducks, ice, and a drunken hunting dog.
~~~~~
The bard clears her throat and sings a quick lullaby, targeting the halfling.
”You will pay for that, knave!” growls the Shield Maiden as she swings for the man’s neck!
Shula distracts the halfling with a blow to his side, giving the Shield Maiden the opening she needs to split his small skull like a melon. He collapses to the floor, beyond the intervention of any but Pharasma. The halfling has a suit of small leather armor, a small masterwork shortsword and a holy symbol.
You head through the door that the halfling had been guarding to find what appears to be an alchemical laboratory. Beakers and vials cover a table spanning the entire northern end of the room, while four shelves containing alchemical ingredients extend from the southern wall. The only other exit is opposite your point of entrance. Several poisons can be found here, including 2 doses of black adder venom, 2 doses of medium spider venom, 2 doses of oil of taggit, 1 dose of blue whinnis,
and 1 dose of giant wasp poison. Along with this trove of poisons are six vials of antitoxin, a potion of delay poison, and a potion of neutralize poison presumably kept in case of accidents.
Shula's practised eye catches sight of an almost imperceptibly thin wire strung across the doorway. Disabling it is simple, but it does suggest that something awaits you beyond this door...
"We should be ready for a fight," Randi says. "Robert Merosett, please heal my wounds."
Afterwards, the Shield Maiden speaks words of power: "Stækka! Láta mey mína vaxa!" She swells to giant size once more, and, after ensuring her companions are prepared, she kicks in the door!
|
He comments on the halfling "This halfling followed an evil halfling murder god. I wonder if he was working with our patron."
Robert spends a while looking at the poisons thinking they might come in handy. Randi talking to him shakes him out of his thoughts and he realizes he doesn't know the first thing about poisons to make them useful. He chastises himself for being childish and heals Randi.
He is barely ready when Randi kicks the door open.
Shula doesn't touch the poison, having very little experience with it and not being eager to start learning by accidentally poisoning herself. She does make sure she snatches the vials of antitoxin, delay poison, and neutralize poison. "I can't imagine followers of an evil halfling murder god not taking advantage of all this stuff." It does make her reconsider her opinion of Martella. The only people she knew who had this much poisons on hand...well okay she didn't actually know anyone with this much poison, but she'd heard rumors.
Never took her for the assassin type. Then again, I suppose that would make her a good one.
Shula takes a step back as Randi grows larger, eyebrows raising as she kicks in the door. "Knock knock."
Randi sends the door flying open with a mighty boot and then has to stoop her way through. Thankfully the stunning effect of her entrance provides her with the time to straighten up and take in the room beyond whichc gives way to an open cavern. Six sets of manacles, evenly spaced along the western cave wall, dangle down to the dirt floor. All but one set hang empty, while the final set secures the body of a beaten and bruised woman.
Turning to look at Randi with a rather comical gape is a familiar figure, a halfling in motley and bright face paint, although the red takes on a rather more sinister tone in the low light of the cavern. It's Wyssilka the Fabulous, the halfling jester you met at the Exaltation Gala. She seems to be accompanied a couple of fellow halflings, all of whom look as surprised as she does.
The jester recovers quickly though upon catching sight of Shula.
"Shula! My partner! Have you come to join in the fun? You're a bit tall but you could totally join our troupe if you want?"
"Wyssilka?!" Shula gapes at the halfling clown for a second before recovering. "I suppose you only said you'd never juggle knives, not that you'd never use them."
Beneath the casual tone is an faint undercurrent of disappointment. She'd liked Wyssilka. Their impromptu juggling act had been a lot of fun and a nice distraction from more serious work.
"Unfortunately, as tempting as your offer is, I have prior commitments. One of whom is currently manacled to the wall." She smiles politely. "You know how it goes. One job leads to another and the next thing you know you're being commissioned to storm the castle and rescue the fair maiden. Switching sides at this late juncture would be terrible for my professional image. Even if your, uh, 'evil halfling murder god' would have me. I don't suppose you'd consider switching sides? I can verify that it pays very well."
Her kukris are in her hands and her muscles are tensed, ready for a fight. Bantering is all well and good, but she doesn't actually expect Wyssilka to suddenly join their cause. She does expect all four halflings to have poisoned weapons which she should do her best to avoid being cut by.
"I would urge you to consider my companion's offer," the Shield Maiden rumbles. She clangs her sword against her shield. "Lay down your weapons and give us the noblelady, or we will bring you to justice!"