Mason starts bobbing his head, and then aims at the hotel owner, but realizes his chances of a clean hit are low, so instead tries to do a bit of healing on his teammates
◆ Infectious Enthusiasm (+1 status to attack)
◆
◆
Rocky
Towerr
Towerr offers up some retribution to Pratchett. He bolsters his allies with some encouraging words and strikes at the inn keeper.
Mason applies some bandages to the automaton which seems effective.
Pratchett drops the sheath for his sword cane, draws a flask, and drinks its contents. The inn keeper's Wounds begin to knit back together.
He draws another flask.
The Binmuir reaches down and collects the dropped sheath, and continues to wail.
Towerr begins to sob uncontrollably.
Red (-59hp)
Blue (-1hp)
Mason (40/40)
Roscoe (24/24 (30), Drained 2, Immune to wail)
Towerr (52/56, slowed 1, can't use reactions 10 rounds)
Rocky (45/50 (56), Drained 2, Immune to wail)
Roscoe is going to look at Towerr and say, Come on big guy you got this! Then Roscoe will slap his hands together hard and pull them apart creating electricity and shoot it at both of them.
◆Guidance to Towerr
◆◆Electric Arc
Rocky will focus strike at Pratchett with the Flurry, then will strike at the Specter with the other 2 strikes.
◆Flurry of Blows (Unarmed) to the Pratchett
◆Unarmed Strike to the Specter
◆Unarmed Strike to the Specter
Battle Medicine Used on:
Focus Points 0/2
Small beads of sweat form on the brow of the intrepid investigator as his allies have to shoulder all the burden of battle. He takes aim yet again in the hopes of carrying his own weight in the fight....
◆
◆ Strategic Strike, total result of 27
◆ Interact (reload)
Crit
Fail
More encouraging words from Roscoe, this time to Towerr. Then the agent casts electric arc which Pratchett dodges completely, while the Binumir takes it full blast. The blast isn't as effective as expected however.
Rocky lands one attack for normal damage.
Mason pulls the trigger and hits his target for normal damage.
Red (-69hp)
Blue (-6hp)
Mason (40/40)
Roscoe (24/24 (30), Drained 2, Immune to wail)
Towerr (52/56, slowed 1, can't use reactions 10 rounds)
Rocky (45/50 (56), Drained 2, Immune to wail)
------------
◆
◆
Towerr is able to regain his composure and normal speed. He strikes with his first action but misses with his second and third action.
Pratchett drinks the flask in his hand, draws another, and drinks that too. His Wounds begin to knit back together rapidly.
Blue, snarling at the damage done to Pratchett, attacks the front line of agents.
Two attacks in quick succession at Towerr,
hit
crit
Then two at Rocky,
miss
Hit
Red (-46hp)
Blue (-6hp)
Mason (40/40)
Roscoe (24/24 (30), Drained 2, Immune to wail)
Towerr (34/56)
Rocky (39/50 (56), Drained 2, Immune to wail)
Roscoe is going to take a step forward and hold 1 hand up towards the Specter and cast Hydaulic Push
◆Step
◆◆Hydraulic Push at the Specter
Rocky will focus all her strikes at the Specter.
◆Flurry of Blows (Unarmed) to the Specter
◆Unarmed Strike to the Specter
◆Unarmed Strike to the Specter
Battle Medicine Used on:
Focus Points 0/2
Planning his shot again, Mason sighs and fires at the other creature instead of Pratchet.
◆
◆
◆ Interact (reload)
3 strikes at Pratchett
◆
◆
◆
A poor showing all around from the agents leaves the two assailants unscathed.
Pratchett retrieves his sword cane sheath from the Binumir.
Then lashes out again, once at each agent in reach, laughing as he does.
"ha, ha, ha!"
First at Towerr,
crit
Then at Rocky,
miss
The Binmuir follows suit, splitting four attacks evenly between the same two agents.
First at Towerr,
Then Rocky,
A string of misses saves the agents this round.
Red (-46hp)
Blue (-6hp)
Mason (40/40)
Roscoe (24/24 (30), Drained 2, Immune to wail)
Towerr (16/56)
Rocky (39/50 (56), Drained 2, Immune to wail)
Roscoe is going to stride back and then cast Heal on Towerr. Don't worry Towerr I got your back.
◆Stride
◆◆Heal 2nd Level
Rocky will focus the Flurry on Pratchett and then the other 2 strikes at the Specter.
◆Flurry of Blows (Unarmed) to the Pratchett
◆Unarmed Strike to the Specter
◆Unarmed Strike to the Specter
Battle Medicine Used on:
Focus Points 0/2
Mason feels desperate as he tries yet again to get a good read on the hotel owner, but gives a disappointed sigh before turning his firearm and squeezing off a shot at the other creature.
◆
◆
◆ Interact (reload)
*******************
Botting for Towerr
*******************
Towerr will take 1 swing at Pratchett and 2 swings at the Specter
Roscoe moves and heals Towerr.
Rocky can't manage to hit Pratchett but lands a blow to the specter, doing less damage than expected.
Mason fires a shot at the apparition, doing less damage than expected.
Towerr swings a series of misses.
Pratchett maintains his attack on the agents.
First Towerr,
Crit
Then Rocky.
Crit
The sprit dies the same, first Towerr,
Crit
Hit
Then Rocky.
Hit
Crit
Both front line agents crmple in a heap from the massive damage dealt by Pratchett and his undead minion.
Red (-46hp)
Blue (-6hp)
Mason (40/40)
Roscoe (24/24 (30), Drained 2, Immune to wail)
Towerr (0/56, Dying 1)
Rocky (0/50 (56), Dying 2, Drained 2, Immune to wail)
”This ends now. One way or another.”
Mason lines up the shot at Pratchet one more time.
◆
◆ Strategic Strike, total result of 23
◆ Interact (reload)
Roscoe is starting to panic and doesn't quite know what to do. He is going to heal Rocky and then stride closer to the door.
◆◆Heal 1st Level
◆Stride
Rocky is going to Stand up, look to her left to see Towerr down and try to Battle Medicine to get him back up. Then going to look at Pratchett and Flurry.
◆Stand
◆Battle Medicine
◆Flurry of Blows (Unarmed) to the Pratchett
Battle Medicine Used on: Towerr
Focus Points 0/2
◆Pick up Weapon
◆Stand up
◆Strike against Pratchett
Mason makes a bold statement, but fails to connect his shot to the enemy.
Roscoe casts a Heal on Rocky and then begins look8ng for the exit.
Rocky gets up from near death and rouses the Automaton. She tries and fails to hit the psychotic inn keeper.
Towerr rises and, after collecting his weapon, fails to hit Pratchett.
Pratchett’s look changes from glee to disgust. "Bored now." he says. "Be good little children and keep these folks busy for daddy." he orders the Binumir.
Stepping away from the battle, he stride to the west of the room, knocking a torch off a wall sconce as he does. The torch, land on the floor and a fire begins to spread rapidly around the room as the agents begin to notice oil that aeems to be spread liberally about ignites.
Pratchett reaches the wall that houses the secret door and,
The door opens for him as he interacts with the mechanism. The inn keeper begins to stride away through the now open door.
The Binmuir, taking it orders, continues to attack the agents before it.
First Towerr,
Crit
Then Rocky,
Hit
Both agents fall again.
Red (-46hp)
Blue (-6hp)
Mason (40/40)
Roscoe (24/24 (30), Drained 2, Immune to wail)
Towerr (10/56, Dying 2)
Rocky (10/50 (56), Dying 3, Drained 2, Immune to wail)
Letting out a string of expletives, Mason reaches down and wraps up some of Rocky’s wounds quickly, before moving forward into the room and shutting the doors.
”Just you and me now kids. Looks like papa is trying to run off and leave you high and dry.”
◆
◆ Stride
◆ Interact (close doors)
Roscoe sees Mason help Rocky so he is going to take care of Towerr. Then tell them, We need to get out of here and tell the others of the fire!
◆◆Heal 1st Level
◆Stride
Rocky is going to stand up and run to try to let everyone know about the fire.
◆Stand
◆Stride
◆Stride
Battle Medicine Used on: Towerr
Focus Points 0/2
Seeing his fellow agents vacating the building, Towerr follows suit. Towerr leaves his weapon and broken shield behind knowing they can easily be replaced. Precious seconds are better spend removing his slow self from the dangers of the flame.
As Towerr follows, "I did not see Mason, is he ahead of us?"
◆Stand
◆Stride
◆Stride
The agents lose track of Pratchett as the fire continues to spread.
Roscoe and Towerr each take 1 point of damage as the fire spreads into their spaces.
With no other targets in sight, the Binmuir turns its sights on Mason.
crit
hit
hit
Red (-46hp)
Blue (-6hp)
Mason (15/40)
Roscoe (23/24 (30), Drained 2, Immune to wail)
Towerr (9/56, Dying 3)
Rocky (10/50 (56), Dying 2, Drained 2, Immune to wail)
Red (-46hp)
Blue (-6hp)
Mason (9/40)
Roscoe (23/24 (30), Drained 2, Immune to wail)
Towerr (9/56, Dying 3)
Rocky (10/50 (56), Dying 2, Drained 2, Immune to wail)
Rocky is going to continue to run and warn the residents.
◆Stride
◆Stride
After the second stride Rocky will be on the stairs so the final stride should put her on the floor
◆Stride
Rocky will start trying to get people out. She will start to yell, Everyone needs to get out there is a fire in the building!
Battle Medicine Used on: Towerr
Focus Points 0/2
Roscoe sees the fire around him and Towerr. We need to get out and warn the people in the hotel, quick.
◆Stride
◆Stride
◆Stride
◆Stride
◆Stride
◆Stride
Putting on a brave face, Mason runs and dives through the flames, towards the spot where the secret door is/was.
◆◆◆ (some sort of movement)
The agents continue to flee while raising the alarm about the fire.
Mason attempts to dodge the flames while making a break for the secret door.
He still manages to get singed however.
The Binmuir follows the agent through the flames without care for the heat.
It barely registers the damage and closes the distance with the investigator with enough speed to take one swipe with its hand.
miss
The fires continue to spread.
Red (-46hp)
Blue (-7hp)
Mason (6/40)
Roscoe (23/24 (30), Drained 2, Immune to wail)
Towerr (9/56, Dying 3)
Rocky (10/50 (56), Dying 2, Drained 2, Immune to wail)
Mason dashes forward, giving a weak wink as he passes his allies. As he reaches the corner, he stops in his tracks, registering the flames ahead. He looks towards Rocky, and then at the windows nearby.
”We may need a new route.”
Yeah but we need to warn the rest of the hotel. You and the rest get out of here and get help, I will be right behind you.
Rocky is going stride twice and then yell at the top of her lungs. There is a fire in the hotel! You have to leave there is a fire!
◆Stride
◆Stride
◆Active Perception to see if anyone is actively in danger or needs help.
After hearing Rocky yell, Roscoe will look at Towerr, Come on Towerr, let's get out of here.
Roscoe will stride twice and then see the flames at the entrance, he will look at Mason, Guess we are leaving out the window. Roscoe will head back closer to the stairs to yell down to Towerr, Towerr get up here and break this window, the front door is blocked by flames.
◆Stride
◆Stride
◆Stride
◆Stride
◆Stride
◆
"We must make haste! Allow me to make an exit!"
The agents continue their exodus.
Rocky raises the alarm and looks for anyone in need of assistance. The only ones she sees that need help are her mostly dead comrades.
Towerr dashes towards a window and leaps through, without looking twice.
He takes some slashing damage, not being nimble enough to dodge the shards of broken glass. He lands in the alley between the hotel and the business next door.
The Binmuir continues to give chase. It stops next to Roscoe, ready to attack.
The fire continues to spread. Rocky feels the heat wave wash over her as it approaches.
Red (-46hp)
Blue (-7hp)
Mason (6/40)
Roscoe (23/24 (30), Drained 2, Immune to wail)
Towerr (6/56, Wounded 3)
Rocky (10/50 (56), Wounded 2, Drained 2, Immune to wail)
"Roscoe! Get down!"
Mason swings the pistol around and squeezes off a shot before attempting to clamber through the ruined window.
◆
◆ Stride/Acrobatics
◆ Stride
After Roscoe turns around he sees the creature in his face so he will produce a flame in his palm and thrust it towards the creature. Then will call out, Rocky we need to get out of here, Let's Go!!
◆◆Produce Flame
◆Stride
Rocky is going to call out again, There is a fire, EVERYONE OUT OF THE HOTEL!! Rocky is then going to stride over and go out the broken window.
◆Stride
◆Stride
◆Stride
Battle Medicine Used on: Towerr
Focus Points 0/2
The Binmuir vanishes under the onslaught of the agents final attacks. The law keeper's finally make their way out of the building and to safety. Outside they hear the sounds of the fire brigade and rescue teams already setting up to perform their various duties to the city. The rescue teams see the agents and come to their aid. They make it clear, in no uncertain terms, that the agents duties are on hold and will have to wait until the fire is no longer at fear of spreading, and any victims are tended to, including the Edgewatch, before they will be allowed to continue their investigation. Effectively, the agents are sidelined as they watch the building burn.
While the fire is contained, and eventually snuffed out, the hotel itself is left in ruins. There is no sign of Raslow or Pratchett. There are many corpses left in the debris, though whether they died in the fire or were dead previously, there is no way to tell as they are so damaged as to provide little evidence. The agents do see all of the guests they met made it out safely.
The clean up crew, while looking for survivors, does locate a journal appearing to have belonged to Raslow. Inside are written confessions of Raslow and Pratchett’s many murders, including all of the missing people the agents have been investigating, except for the wizard Kemeneles who apparently had been kept alive and tortured for Raslow's amusement. With no sign of the wizard, it is assumed he perished in the fire.
Also are excerpts of her back story.
A child of the Puddles, Ralso grew up hard, orphaned at a young age and forced to take care of her sister Cora, who was barely out of infancy. Being poor orphans would have been difficult enough, but whatever charity their equally hardscrabble neighbors might have mustered for the girls was usually outweighed by the poor reputation of their feckless dead parents. With few other options, Ralso embraced a life of crime, deciding to take what she needed from a corrupt city that would so casually discard her and her family. Though necessity turned her hard and merciless—she could slit a dozen throats a day without losing sleep—Ralso never lost her affection for her little sister, whom she put up in a tenement and paid a local couple to feed and shelter while she went out to do her dirty work. For several years, Ralso was a minor celebrity among the thieves and footpads of the city’s poorer districts, inspiring fear and admiration in equal quantities. Her burgeoning career was cut short when she was caught red-handed by the Lotus Guard while burgling a haberdasher in the Petal District. Sentenced to five years in the Brine, Absalom’s notorious flooded prison, Ralso grimly refused to die, becoming a model prisoner and using an assortment of corrupt guards and gang contacts to ensure that money kept flowing to the couple caring for her sister. When at last she was released, however, Ralso discovered an unbearable truth: The couple she’d been paying to care for her sister had developed a drug habit funded by the money Ralso had sent them and had soon ignored Cora completely. Locked in her bedroom, the child had starved to death less than a year after Ralso began her prison sentence. The tragedy broke Ralso. In a rage, she killed the traitorous couple, then gathered up her sister’s meager belongings and fled into the city. Though her reputation with local gangs remained ironclad due to her toughness and refusal to rat out associates, she no longer had any interest in being part of such a group. The only family she’d ever cared about was gone, and she drifted through the streets of Absalom like a ghost. This morose half-life lasted until the day Ralso attempted to mug a well-dressed and strangely charming traveler named Hendrid Pratchett. He caught her in the act, but rather than report her (or kill her in some dank alleyway, which he considered), Pratchett took pity on the woman, and something about his manner broke through her shell of grief. Soon, Ralso found herself spilling out her entire life story, and to her surprise, instead of recoiling at her sordid past, Pratchett offered her a job—he’d come to Absalom to do something grand, and he’d need an associate with her particular skills. Ralso accepted, and under Pratchett’s gentle encouragement, she began to reopen her connections with the various fences and gangs throughout the city, reestablishing herself as a retired but valued member of the criminal underworld. For the first time in years, she didn’t feel alone. When at last Pratchett revealed his murderous nature and his sinister plans for the Dreaming Palace, it barely fazed Ralso. After all, lesser people took innocent lives all the time through negligence and malice—what were a few more, compared to the love of a true friend? Though Ralso’s personal tragedies have left her with deep psychological scars, she doesn’t actually share Pratchett’s love of murder, and feels no particular desire to witness or participate in the killing. Instead, she uses her knowledge and connections to engineer the hotel’s traps for her friend and to help clean up the remains after his kills. For Ralso, working at the hotel is primarily about keeping Pratchett happy and basking in his praise and familial affection. Yet in the months since the hotel opened, she’s also discovered a previously unknown passion for voyeurism, and she spends as much time as safely possible hiding in the hotel’s secret observation chambers to spy on guests’ private moments. Though she hasn’t talked about it with Pratchett, Ralso writes in her diary that the appeal lies in both the thrill of observing what people keep hidden and the chance to dissociate from her own sordid life—the chance, in other words, to fantasize about being an ordinary person. Ralso remains haunted by the death of her sister, both figuratively and literally. Her twisted desire to relive some element of happier times has led Ralso to embrace two soulbound dolls as familial stand-ins. Pratchett commissioned the dolls for her, both powered by the souls of other people but crudely modeled on what details of Cora Pratchett could learn. Ralso also stores Cora’s personal effects in the attic of her tower in the Dreaming Palace, and as the killings in the hotel have increased, the surges of negative energy have blended with the echoes of Cora’s spirit, giving life to an undead remnant called an attic whisperer. Unlike the dolls, this grotesque amalgamation of the dead girl’s clothes and toys contains a fragment of Cora’s soul, and this realization terrifies Ralso even as it fills her heart with hope. Ralso leaves the monster locked in the attic, unwilling to confront it, and falls asleep each night listening anxiously to its familiar whispers drifting down through the ceiling.
Perhaps most interesting to the Edgewatch agents, however, is a recent journal entry detailing how a gang of thieves called the Copper Palm contacted Ralso and tried to recruit her for a bank robbery they’re planning to coincide with the Radiant Parade.
"I’ve told them I’m out of the game, but still the Copper Hand comes calling. Using the Radiant Parade as a cover for a bank job is clever, but no way am I getting involved with that lot again.” is scrawled in the notebook with a slip of paper that is ostensibly an invitation to join the heist addressed to Raslow.
The seargent and lieutenant arrive to oversee the clean up. The lieutenant doesn't have much to say to the agents except, "So you solved the case? Next time, maybe, you can actually bring the perp to justice and not risk burning down half the city in the process."
Ollo's words are bit more kind, "You're instincts were good lads. Learn from the mistakes you made and do better next time, eh?"
Mason hangs his head after what felt like a tough defeat at the hands of one of Absaloms true monsters.
Luring people in under the guise of a charming hotel owner. Disgustingly effective. Letting him escape justice is going to leave even more bodies in his wake. Seeing as I hadn't heard even a whisper of him before, chances are slim I'll be able to shake any information out of folks, but I gotta at least try.
Hanging up his uniform at the barrack, Mason hits the showers and scrubs off the grime of the day before shifting into his native, kitsune form. Picking out a fancy set of clothes, he dresses to impress before donning a hooded overcoat. Sly as the fox he is, he makes his way to an old safe house and watches the locals and sips on an old, battered flask for a bit before entering. Once inside, he stows the coat and freshens up the fancy attire.
Soon, he's back on the streets with a broad smile, nodding and waving to the locals as he heads to one of the taverns nearby, hoping for a few, sketchier clients to be available to talk with him.
The agents are granted a week of leave for downtime, to rest and recuperate, after giving their statements to Seargent Ollo.
You do remember the dead drop location to contact the caligni creeper smugglers you encountered in the under city.
Roscoe feels terrible for not being able to succeed in the mission and take down Raslo and Pratchett. He feels like he needs to get back to his roots a bit and remember why he is doing what he is doing. He goes back to what he used to do all the time to clear his mind. He goes from bar to bar finding places to sing. Trying to go back to what he learned about singing and how singing can be used to heal not only wounds but also their souls.
The agents, after a week of downtime, report back to the Lieutenant's office. Aeric awaits them after his brief special assignment.
Lieutenant Lavarsus and Seargent Ollo stand in Lavarsus' office in Edgewatch headquarters. "Well recruits, " Lavarsus snaps while chewing on a cigar. "You did half the job. You found out who was kidnapping those folks and shut down their murder hotel. It would be better if we could have put them behind bars, or in the ground. But still, they aren't likely to cause problems around here for a long time so I guess that's something. And you found evidence of a bank robbery in the making. We'll have you follow up on that. Try to actually collar someone this time. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Ollo, tell them what you've learned." And spits a wad of tobacco flecked flem into the spittoon.
The squat Seargent clears his throat and steals a glance at the spittoon, precariously close to his boot, then steps slightly to the side. [B] "Right. I followed up on your lead with some of our best agents. We reckon its set to take place somewhere during the Radiant Parade, and we've narrowed it down to three potential targets: Orvington Moneychangers, the Penny & Sphinx Trust, or Stonesworn Savings and Loan. I've got a bunch of files for you, so get reading and hit the streets. Start with those banks!"
Thank you sir. We will get the job done. Roscoe will grab the files and then head out to a room that we can flip through all of the information that was given.
Do we want to start with Orvington Moneychangers? They seem to been hit the hardest in the past.
”Well, with the reports, it seems like Stonesworn might be a harder target, due to the magical protection permits. So, between Orvington or Penny and Sphinx, P&S had an actual break in recently. Could be someone testing the waters, ya know? Orvington having some vandalism and harassment, that sounds more like bad blood between some other party. More about trying to hurt em and not rob em. Not a bad idea to follow up on all though. Maybe scout around and see which would have more blind spots or vulnerabilities.”