The sudden detonations leave Cordelia's ears ringing! Unable to hear anything else nor see much through the fog, she crouches down to take cover and prepares to attack anything that gets close!
Dr. Filip- Cordelia has taken cover as her ears ring, preparing to attack anything enclosing... You are up in Initiative!
Apologies, for continuation, Dr. Filip will be botted. In the future I will give about 36 hours or so before botting in combat.
Dr. Filip is a smart man, and while using total defense, will begin to investigate why the boat is suddenly turning.
His hands tracing the boat as he defends, he finds a rather large hook attached to the front of the boat. Fighting through the loud bang induced deafness, he tries to bring others' attention to it.
The boat begins to turn even more as another "thunk" gives the boat a little rock, before slowly turning it. If it continues to turn in its current direction, it will be exactly perpendicular to the direction of the current itself, instead facing the banks of the river.
Scarlet- You are next in Initiative!
Scarlet already assumed they were under attack given the story of the ferryman. As she casts another spell, with a bit of magnesium in her hand, her blood begins to feel strange within her, as if slowing down. Scarlet is familiar with the effects and has experimented with these abilities. The magnesium brings out the innermost of her natural magic for a spell that makes your blood adhesive. She then takes to head to the boat's edge .
"Only a hook system makes sense, unless they are somehow swimming next to the boat already!"
If she can cut the ropes, if indeed there are some, they will be without their target--Scarlet and everyone's hefty purses. In her mind, she also wonders if the one who gave them the gold set this up. Time has surely made her suspicious. It was why she didn't even want to leave the area they were in. In time, she was proven wisest.
"Hopefully, we can overcome this trap!"
Blueberry scours the edges of the boat; on guard as well for any who might have snuck aboard already.
Despite the deafened ringing in her ears, Scarlet gets her spell off in preparation for more to come from the unknown past the billowing cloud. She is unable to see past it, surrounding the entire boat as it halts and is turned slowly in place. She does, however, trace her hand to a hook on the side of the boat.
Just as her finger traces, flecks of water splash at her face as a torrential wave washes over the side of the boat, smacking against Dr. Fillip and flinging him just off the boat and into the water. The splash is a dull sound and easily missed, however being so close to one another you see the water rush him past.
The cause of this is still unseen and unknown. Spellcraft DC 17
Edwyn- it is now your turn in Initiative!
Scarlet feels the waters rush past and finds it completely odd. Did she hear casting? Words in arcane? Divine? Could she make out what it was?
Deafened, Edwyn has little confidence in his magic, but it seems worth a try. He calls upon a Blessing of Abadar and hopes he's managed to speak the proper words through the ringing in his ears.
Regardless of whether his spell works or not, he draws his crossbow.
You easily determine the spell that has cast Dr. Filip over the side as "Hydraulic Push", and that it is with a level 5 caster level or greater.
As the crossbow is drawn the boat begins to stabilize with the hooks sunk and sturdy into the boat. You note it begins to pull strongly towards the eastern shore-
But it hardly moves as the ropes are pulled taut and tight. It would appear dragging a boat to shore against the current and without cooperation is a rather difficult task- a restrategizing may be in order. For now, the boat remains almost exactly where it was to start, still facing perpendicular the current of the river.
Cordelia! The boat has been turned but unsuccessfully pulled. While your vision is for nothing through the fog, you know Dr. Filip has been blasted overboard with a rush of waters opposing you. You may see him should you look over the side of the boat, but cannot currently.
It is your turn in Initiative.
Cordelia curses when Filip goes overboard, even though she can't hear her own words. She stands up and looks for him, and if he is close enough, she extends the hilt of her long blade from him to grab. She then tries to haul him out of the water.
Cordelia reaches out from the side of the boat, hilt of her blade extended to give the doctor something to hold on to before pulling him up. The doctor must tread water, at the very least, to succeed at being stable before beginning to come back into the boat.
Dr. Filip- it is your turn in initiative. This time a Swim Check DC 10 is required to use the power of friendship to stabilize in the water. If this is passed, you may immediately begin the process to get back into the boat. With a successful grapple and swim check, all you spend is movement!
The doctor tries to swim and just makes the DC to do so, treading above the water as in combination with Cordelia, he is able to be pulled back into the boat.
The boat begins to shift and pull, ever so slightly, toward the eastern bank of the river.
Scarlet- It is your turn in initiative. Dr. Filip is in the boat pulled in by Cordelia, all 4 seem safe for now. You can feel the boat begin to drift toward the bank under your feet. While this may eventually remove you from the fog, it does not seem this is the case just yet.
As the boat begins to pull, the mage grows her claws. Intuition courses through her and as she gains insight into combat capabilities beyond her. Her eyes burn red as she slashes violently at the rope clinging fast to the boat. Her hope is that they only have one hook or will not be able to pull the boat in if she cuts the rope off. Whereas, if she pulls the hook off they can just rethrow it.
Scarlet's claws don't cut the rope all the way through immediately, but there are clear signs of it being strained. Perhaps just a bit more at it will do it, but for now the frays are not significant enough to stop the pulling.
Something happens ominously in the distance that you aren't aware of.
As you attack the ropes, another wave of water rushes over the boat targeting Scarlet, but in her current stance of balance she withstands the threat easily. Unmoved, and everyone still on the boat, the chances of escape begin to grow.
Edwyn, it is your turn in initiative!
Crossbow at the ready, Edwyn waits for the mysterious enemies to show themselves.
With a mighty pull that nearly puts you all off your feet, the boat lurches with a violent jerk towards the shore. It pulls you through the fog and mist, allowing you to finally see your assailants, the hooks, the ropes and two men pulling.
As you curve and lean with the movement of the boat the fog is whisked away with the river, and behind you you see two abandoned grapples with two men shooting arrows after you.
Finally, to the south face of the boat, you see a woman dressed in modest clothes standing on top of the water. They smile; pointing at each of you they slowly raise their hands up in mock surrender.
Cordelia, it is now your turn in initiative!
Cordelia points to the people across the way. "Over there!" she says. Without any ranged weapons to speak of, the rogue focuses on taking cover.
Edwyn's shot goes off at whichever enemy he notices first!
Cordelia seeks cover as at least one of the mean ready their bow, though they take a shot at Scarlet while Edwyn returns fire. The arrow hits, but does little to dissuade the archer from continuing his act.
Despite the fog having been removed and the targets now better revealed, the arrow to his shoulder upsets his aim, his shot going long and wide beyond its mark.
Scarlet- It is your turn in initiative!
The rope is almost cut through. The arrows threatening her are in the back of her mind, so she crouches to ensure they have a harder target to hit. The mage nearby is a focus of hers as well. She looks to Cordelia's warning and nods.
"Yeah! Fight them!" she whispers just loud enough for her to hear over the sounds of combat, "And if you can't, pull in those abandoned ropes or loose their hooks so the rope travels to the bottom of the river!" Indicating the ropes belonging to the two archers in the water.
Scarlet's hands now charge with power and she slashes downward on the rope.
It takes all of Scarlet's attacks, but they finally cut through one of the two ropes being pulled. The boat gives a small rock at the relief of pressure, but with no threat to tipping. As it balances, the other would be thief drops his rope as well.
The mage gives a small look of disappointment as the rope tears. She puts a hand up in the air, making a fist, before enshrouding herself in fog. Those who can begin to run away, the other three preparing to do so as well.
Edwyn- it is your turn in initiative!
Seeing the thieves begin to flee, Edwyn puts away his crossbow and allows them the chance. They're not his problem anymore.
The next two begin to take off, running as far as they can from the shore and into the city streets under a dusk to night skyline.
Cordelia you are next in initiative!
Dr. Filip follows immediately after!
Cordelia delays to ensure that the threat has truly passed.
With both Cordelia delaying, and the "good" Doctor delaying as well, the encounter has finished. From what can be seen the would-be-thieves have ran off into the forest of the west and city to the east. The mage of sorts on the water has vanished beneath its surface, and yet to have re-emerged.
The boat worker, Grimas, most likely horribly deafened and definitely afraid, stays clutched to his oar ducking as far into the boat as he can in a feeble attempt to hide. It does not appear that he is aware the threat is over.
"I did it! I thought that would work..." she sighs with the weight of her casting bearing down upon her. Without slumping down like she wishes she could, she instead retracts her claws and begins to reign in the remaining hooks and ropes. If nothing else, they can be sold for a pittance. "You have a lot of gold now. You don't need to salvage..." The thought gives her a brief pause, but then she just continues reeling them in and keeping watch for the mage.
When the ringing in her ears subsides, she looks to the others and the ferryman.
"Are those the very same you mentioned?" She looks him over, making sure he's alright. "They'll think twice before messing with your barge again." she voices in an effort to comfort him.
As far as you can tell, Grimas was not a part of it.
Grimas shakes his head in confirmation, slowly standing, his oar touching the water once more. While it is difficult with the ringing in your ears to understand his exact words- you get the jist. They were the one and the same, and he appears very happy they were warded off this time.
After a time your hearing returns, the adrenaline from the fight slows, and as your senses are regained you can hear Grimas as he paddles with an abundance of caution, eyes darting from each side of the river bank.
"Those're definitely the ones. Were a bit more bruttish this time around then before. That's Riddleport, though. Today's thieves, tomorrow's murderers, next week's dead in the paper."
Her suspicions of the boatman subside and she nods to him. With him seemingly comforted and ready to continue, she shakes off the jitters of combat and remains alert the rest of the way.
"I hope this hasn't caused a more violent reaction in the future for you from these thugs. You may do well to keep a secret compartment for your wages in one of these logs."
Upon landing, Scarlet will move in the direction Grimas indicates their resting spot may be.
Cordelia follows Scarlet, keeping an eye out for any other dangers.
Grimas's own "river runner" gives the dock a light tap, rocking gently as he ties a rope around one of the dock's posts. The River Runner itself is not hard to find, the dock leading as a direct path from the river to its front doors.
There are dozens of other boats that have come up or perhaps even down the river across several other docks on one side of the river- the Eastern shore. Here there is an ambience of light violence and tomfoolery, people betting outside with what copper and silver pieces they have to their name.
Some of the path is somewhat sticky from spilled drink, a welcoming sight as you behold the paint peeling presence of the inn. Its door creaks at what you would expect is a loud volume, if it could be heard over the bards playing ruckus encouraging music while coins and mugs clink and clank throughout the room.
At a bar stands a rather short elven man who watches the entire crowd of this inn with feigned interest. A man snaps his fingers for the elf's attention and requests another drink. The elf grabs the mug and pours without looking before sliding it back to him with continued disinterest and half-glances.
Edwyn tears his eyes away from the petty gamblers and moves ahead, doing his best not to bump into anyone.
"Busier place than I expected.
Looking across the way at the elven man, she nods to Edwyn and his comment. Her heart is nervous around so many people with such an amount of gold upon them.
"Let's get a couple of rooms first. Who knows if they even have anything available? I'm sure we'd do better getting settled now."
With that, she will glide through the people of the River Runner. While Edwyn does not come in contact with anyone for his own reasons, she is fairly clean from her spell, and so she doesn't feel filthy so much anymore. She doesn't mind the casual, occasional contact of merging with the crowd and giving various people an occasional smile. The last thing she wants is to be seen as a threat in here as a tiefling.
"Do you have any rooms available?" she asks the innkeeper.
The elven innkeeper gives a slow turn as the tiefling approaches.
"Hmmm? Mmm. Mhm. You want one, then? I will warn you we are rather expensive to most locals. Would hate for you to waste your time if you can't afford two gold pieces a room."
In the background of the tavern two men begin to have an argument over who actually "won" the game of cards. One fist flies, then another, before the innkeeper snaps his fingers and, placing one to his throat, his dull and monotone voice fills the tavern."If one more fist flies from you two, Tor will escort you out."He slowly turns his attention back to the tiefling before him, the particular look of disinterest in the environment remaining.
2 GP for a room? That is pretty pricey for the area, considering how poor most of the people are here. However a simple scan of the room, their clothing, their items, the golden pieces on the gambling tables and amounts of drink being ordered- could be possible. They certainly either love this place more than their hard earned money, or have quite a bit of it to spend.
A lean, lithe catfolk walks into the River Runner and looks over the crowd with a bit of a grin. Mthandihle scratches idly at one of the new tattoos the strange winged orc had made her get, the fur not yet regrown over it, as she looks for the people she'd been sent to meet.
It's not hard to find the blue-skinned woman, and the other two people next to her look like they could probably be the other two. She grins just a bit wider as she thinks how adding herself to the group will make them an even stranger combination.
She confidently walks up to the group even though they're talking to the innkeeper and begins with a cheery, "Hello!"
Mthandihle does, however, have enough sense not to get straight to the point around everyone. Instead she says, "I need to talk with you three!"
"I'm not so sure...that's a lot for a room," she states hesitantly. Next, she will want to sort out how many beds are in each room, if this purchase comes with food, drinks, a small gambling allowance, or if it is just the room only. After she's done sorting out the details, she will decide how many they want. She does not want to share with Edwyn if possible.
When her dealing is finishing, she turns to notice a catfolk approaching. The kind and cheery hello is met with suspicion at first, but then at her explanation, Scarlet nods.
"Sure, let me just conclude my business here. How about you pick out a table and we'll join you."
Cordelia gives the catfolk a wary eye, taking half a step to interpose herself between the newcomer and Scarlet. "Aye, we'll be right with you," she says.
Mthandihle frowns slightly, either annoyed at waiting or annoyed at realizing she was interrupting them. Looking around she picks out an empty table at random and goes to sit.
The catfolk makes sure to pick a chair where she can watch the three she's supposed to meet. Pretty quickly she goes from looking at them to looking around, tail lashing impatiently behind her as she waits.
Deafened, tired, and having met an already unordinarily great amount of unusuals in the past twenty four hours, Scarlet does not seem able to bring much against this high-bid room price. The keeper insists it is to ensure only a "certain crowd" can be present over the next few days. It would appear a few "Whales" are coming into town, and it takes several days to ensure the low riff raff ruckus is contained before they arrive.
As the Catfolk approaches, the Innkeeper appears to want to say something. As Cordelia intervenes and Scarlet responds, he seems satisfied in the assumption that this is not a random happy drunk but a potential friend.
After giving the details and working things out with Scarlet, he continues to monitor the room with disinterest. With a dry gaze he drones on, cleaning the bar before asking with a flat tone,"Will there be anything else?"
Scarlet ensures that each of them has a bed set up for the night, and after some minor discussion with Cordelia about sharing a room, being that they are two girls and can do as much, she will pay the fee from her pocket. She will allow Edwyn and any others to settle their own accounts.
"Just an ale for me and that one there and what you have made for a meal to share. Sent to that table there please."
With things set in order, she will pay for the food and will head to the table with this new, curious inquirer. She is half suspicious to tend to violence already given the hostile actions she's experienced this night and the fear of losing her gold, but because of the catfolk's kind tone, she is disarmed.
"Hello, I'm Scarlet. I took the liberty to order some food and drink. Please...what is your name? And please, if this is sensitive content, we should probably speak in a more appropriate arena than this jovial place..."
"I am Mthandihle, but most people call me Myth," the catfolk says with a grin. "There is not a lot for me to say, other than that an Angel suggested I meet you." She winks.
Myth settles back in her chair, glad this one doesn't have a solid back so she can thread her tail through. "You also just arrived here?"
Edwyn takes his seat with the others and appraises the cat-woman.
"We don't have any more guests to expect, do we? I sincerely hope they aren't just sending anyone they like our way."
Scarlet half rolls her eyes at Edwyn's rudeness and just ignores him, instead, answering the catfolk.
"Yes, we have. If you work for the angel, it seems we are on the same task. Have you...had experience with such things?" Her question is asked as one who is hesitant to know the answer. As for her, Scarlet has never burned anything down before, let alone a lumberyard or school.
Mthandihle shrugs slightly. "Yes and no," she replies with a grin. "I have done like things to smaller things, yes. But not this kind of thing."
It was amusing to her to figure out how to say things without saying them. Her tail lashes behind her excitedly as she works on this game. "I do wonder why you came here, though?"
"It's not complicated. We've been given a task, and we intend to fulfill it." He adjusts his collar and thinks for a moment. "Unless of course, you're asking why we sought out our benefactor in the first place."
Myth chuckles. "I was asking why you came to this particular inn. I was just told this is where I could find you, you see."
She looks around restlessly, partly to see if anyone is listening to them and partly because she's already starting to get bored with the game of keeping what she means unclear to anyone who might be listening. "It still feels strange to me to be around so many people I do not know," she murmurs, thinking out loud as much as continuing the conversation.
Scarlet doesn't wish to dredge up why they found out about this location. She answers:
"We just heard about it among a few other names and chose to come here. It is close to where we are wanting to go." Curiously, she then asks, "Have you procured a room for the night?"
When the food arrives, she will gladly share it, even with Edwyn despite not truly wanting to. He is in this with her and who is she to think herself over him? She is nothing.
The catfolk shrugs slightly. "I have only the one coin," she states, wondering if they would catch on to what coin she meant. "I will find a place to sleep. It is no trouble. Though I will want a place to meet with you again in the morning."
Scarlet sighs, suddenly remembering the lack of funds her companions have. How could she have already forgotten Edwyn was with her and did not take the money? Would he have to sleep in the gutter? That doesn't sit well with her.
"No. That is not palatable to me. I will get a room for you both..." She gestures to the brought food. "Feel free to eat and drink."
She will then go organize two more rooms, one for Edwyn and one for Myth out of courtesy. After that, what few gold she had pocketed from her money in Cordella's bag is mostly exhausted. She will return to the table and finish eating, and then would head off to bed after establishing that they meet in the morning.
"Thank you!" Myth says, beaming at the tiefling, before grabbing the nearest food and ravenously devouring it.