Hearing the sound for help and seeing Kendrick land a vicious blow upon the poor thug, Dax readies a Daze spell just incase anyone tries to come through the southern door.
Throwing open the Door. Nuriel peers inside Sword and shield at the ready.
Attempt to kick the door open.
Kendrick's blade bites deep into the thug's shoulder. He bounces off the wall and collapses into a heap, blood pooling around him.
Nuriel throws open the door to find an empty hallway with a set of stairs leading up. A single door occupies the east wall while a set of double doors stand to the south at the end of the hallway.
Moving past Kendrick into the hallway. Glancing at the doors and the stairway.
”Double doors are likely the kitchen. Upstairs will have the good stuff. But we should check the single door first.”
She will open the door. Sword read to strike.
(DC 12 for normal door.)
The air in this room is stale, stinking of day-old meat and blood. Straw litters the floor, scattered to catch the drips from the meat as it hangs. Meat hooks are affixed to the walls and ceiling on metal rods. To the north is a low blood-stained table and two barrels of salt, while double doors stand in the wall to the south. An iron bar extends through a narrow hole at the top of the doors; the bar runs along the ceiling for five feet before ending at a vertical pole running floor to ceiling.
Several slab of meat hang in this room.
Most of the meat is pork and beef. However there are three hooks that hold humanoid remains.
Following Nuriel's lead, Daxori follows into the meat room.
"Dear God, what is that smell!" Daxori exclaims "Reminds me of the scraps that bastard Lamm used to give us when I was young."
"Yeah, that is rank," says Kendrick after getting a whiff. "That guy is out of action, but I don't know for sure if he will live," he shrugs. He wasn't intending to kill the man, but there was a lot of blood.
Moving in with his shield ready, Kendrick asks, "Left, right, or stairs? I say through this newest door."
Upon seeing no overt threat, she relaxes her stance and moves into the room. Limping slightly after kicking the wall. She wrinkles her nose at the odor while looking the room over.
But fails to deduce anything unusual.
”There is a lot of product in here. Probably stolen. How else could they give it away for free.”
With a gentle push, Kendrick realizes that the double doors are not locked.
With a glance back at the others and a curt nod, Kendrick reaches out with his left hand, keeping his bastard sword firmly gripped in his right, and pushes open the door ready for anything.
Noticing Kendrick opening another door. She moves up behind him Sword and shield at the ready.
Moving to a better position, Dax readies a Daze spell in anticipation of what Kendrick reveals opening the door.
The door swings forward on squeaky hinges and immediately two crossbow bolts fly into the room. One bolt thunks heavily into the still-closed door. The other impales one of the hanging carcasses. Even as the bolts sail through the air, Dax's spell takes ahold and one of the thug's eyes glaze over for a moment.
Turning her helmeted head to note the impact of the crossbow bolts, then snapping it back to look at the shooters. Moving past Kendrick she strides purposefully into the and strikes at the left one with her shield.
”Surrender lawbreaker!”
As Nuriwl moves to engage one of the deserters, Kendrick moves and draws the other's attention. "Drop your weapons!" he shouts in his least authoritative voice.
Nuriel's shield slams hard into the man, sending him back half a step with a grunt.
The other man leers at Kendrick as he tosses his heavy crossbow to the ground, draws his longsword and steps up to swing at Kendrick. Kendrick easily sidesteps the blade. The other man holds his ground, a dumbfounded look on his face.
"Oh. Good choice," Kendrick begins to say as the man drops the crossbow. Then he sighs as the deserter draws his blade. "Or not. Hard way it is. You guys sure aren't making this easy in yourselves. It's just desertion, not like you're doing any serious crimes!"
Kendrick rears back and takes a hard swipe chopping straight at the mide of the man's sword with the intention of cutting the weapon in half.
”Drop your weapon!” She says to the man she slammed with her shield. Pointing at him with her sword.
”Listen to the gentleman.” Nodding to Kendrick. ”The charge is only desertion at the moment. But you are about to add assault on an Agent of the Crown and servant of Abadar. Not to mention resisting arrest.”
Dax moves into position between Kendrick and Nuriel and brings down her Halbred on the Thug.
With a deafening clang of metal on rusty metal, Kendrick's sword and a half cleaves completely through the thug's nicked up longsword, pieces tumbling to the floor with a clatter. Nuriel's words seem to cause the other thug to pause, but the decision is quickly rendered mute when Dax's halberd rips through his armor and flesh. He drops to the floor, blood flowing from the wound and into tracks along the floor to run towards a drain. With one weapon discarded and another destroyed, the conscious thug flees towards the nearest exit.
Looking down at the bleeding thug on the floor. Well he’s not getting up.” Sparing a glance at Dax.
Hellknights Shaking her head slightly.
Moving past the others she crosses the room in pursuit of the fleeing man.
"See what happens when you don't just surrender? Stop runnning," shouts Kendrick as he moves after the goon and Juriel both.
Dax takes a second to shake some of the blood off her halberd. Seeing the Nuriel and Kendrick persure the other thug, Dax moves to the door of the room we have not been to yet. Just in case we get any more suprise guests.
As the law closes in on the man, he throws his arms up in the air and surrenders. "Alright, alright, you got me. I surrender. Tell yous what. I'll answer your questions if you let me goes. Deal?"
The man telling the truth. He has no wish to die, or be locked up, and is willing to spill the beans if it means walking away.
Kendrick locks eyes with Nuriel and nods. I can live with it, but can she? Sticks a stickler.
"If what you have to say isn't good..." he let's the threat gobunsaid, hoping the man will fill in the blank with the worst thing he can think of.
Studying the man for a moment
Pointing her sword at the man's face.
"Talk quickly." Looking toward the door.”Then run fast”
Sheathing her sword and removing her bow. "Of course, if what you have to tell us is worthless. You WILL be shot while trying to escape."
"Da boss is upstairs, I think. Verik his name is, a city guard I reckon, or he coulda stole the uniform, I spose. Drinks most of the day away. Probably passed out and face down in it right now. Hmmm. That or he fled when the alarm was sounded. Can't be too sure at the moment, now can I? Alrighty then, if there's nothing else, I'll just be on me way..."
He keeps nervously looking over your shoulder, towards the room where the meat hangs.
Keeping his eyes locked on the man Kendrick calls out, "Dax? Watch the meat room, this guy seems pretty concerned about it."
The Sable recruit glances sideways at Nuriel before asking the man, "You've got exactly one chance to tell us what you're not saying."
"Look, it wasn't my fault. They made me do it. If I didn't do it, they woulda chopped me up with the rest."
He collapses to the floor on his knees. His hands come up to cover his face.
With a muffled voice, he continues "Oh gods, what have I done? Mother forgive me, I had no choice I tell ya, no choice..." The words are drawn out, muffled, and broken, as he tries poorly to hold back his emotions. Finally his hands come away from his face. He is clearly flushed.
"They uh...the others, they uh, they butchered them, like cattle. Verik, he said we was to give out meat, to the poor, for free, liken they didn't have no money and such. But we soon ran outta meat. The others wanted coin, so uh, they took jobs, rough jobs, for the wrong people, and well, uh...they, brought them back here and uh..." he swallows hard, "Parns, he nods in the general direction of the other thug on the floor, "he cut em up and the others handed them out to the poor."
"Whoa! It's people? Oh, gods, Nuriel...Dax...?" Kendrick turns pale and feels his mouth salivate in that way one does when they're about to be sick, but manages to keep himself to a dry heave only.
He is not quite sure what he is asking them, but he thinks about Lamm and his pet. "Monsters. Monsters, everywhere. Fastest way to the stairs, now!" he snaps at the thug.
Dax pauses for a moment, clearly stunned at what she just heard.
"Lamm was a mean and sadistic son of b . .especially to his "children" but never fed them the flesh of another person. That is a special kind of sick." She thinks to herself.
Before Kendrick goes tearing off to find Verik, Dax wants to take a quick peak in the room they have not explored yet.
She listens to the man’s confession without moving or saying anything. Just staring at the hanging meat. Once he is finished. She slowly stows the longbow and readies her sword and shield. Finally she looks at the broken man.
”Wait here. Your testimony will be needed.’
Then lowering her helmets visor, She heads for the stairs.
The thug points to the set of double doors along the north well, that Dax is not standing at.
Dax pushes the northern doors in front of her open. Two foul-smelling animal pens take up the majority of this room. Each pen is defined by a wooden fence set with a gate. Inside each is a long water trough and heaps of filthy hay. The floor here is hard-packed earth.
You notice a small mound of dirt under the southern trough that looks like it has been moved around. Buried in a hole are several bags containing 450gp, 740sp, and 800gp worth of assorted gems and jewelry.
At the top of the stairs is a round table, surrounded by four wooden chairs. A stack of cards sits on the tabletop. A cabinet to the southwest hangs open, revealing a tangle of dirty clothes and blankets. Four thin bedrolls lie rolled up against the northern wall. A single door in the southern wall stands closed.
Kendrick moves toward the stairs, with his sword at the ready. He glances back to make sure nothing attacks Dax as she opens the other doors and then behind him as Nuriel moves to follow.
Stopping at the top of the stairs, she surveys the area. Looking at the closed door she takes a step toward it but halts.
Just because you are ready to dispense justice. Does not mean acting rashly is prudent. She reflects on herself.
Looking back down the stairs she nods at Kendrick and motions him up with her shield. Only then does she move to the door.
Attempting to ignore the foul smell, Dax takes a quick look around, just in case she missed something.
Seeing nothing of note, Dax continued on to catch up with the rest.
Once joined by Kendrick and Dax, Nuriel tries to open the door.
(DC 12 for normal door.)
Otherwise she will wince, knowing the element of surprise is gone. Then prepares to hit the door again.
"Go f&~# yourself copper!" comes the reply through the still-closed door.
Kendrick snarls and in frustration tries to hack through the door.
Comming up the stairs, Dax notices Nuriel attempting to open the door and then Kendrick whack at it.
Dax waits beside the door, seeing if he surrenders.
"Hold on a second, let me try to get it open."
Dax gets out her set of Theives Tools and attemps to open the door.
"There you go." Dax says as she steps aside and allowing the angry and frustrated Kendrick to go ahead.
Proceeding through the now unlocked door. Shield up and sword ready to attack.
If a threat is present just inside the door she will engage.
Otherwise, she will point her sword at the occupants.
”Surrender. And face lawful judgment for your actions. Or you can die right here, bearing arms against an agent of the Crown.”
Nuriel's eyes widen just a hair as she steps into the room. Within a split second, the man behind the desk holding the longbow releases his pull, sending an arrow deep into the shoulder of her sword's arm. He immediately drops the bow and grabs his longspear. At seeing Nuriel's attire, and realizing this isn't just the Korvosan guard coming for him, he becomes visibly shaken.
"GET OUT! GET OUT AND LEAVE ME ALONE!" he shouts.
Verik is shaken for 3 rounds.
Dax steps by the now wounded Nuriel, from her raised hand a cone of vibrant cascading colors springs forth.
Verik's spear clatters to the floor as he sways on his feet. His hands reach for his face as he shouts "GAH, MY EYES!!"
Kendrick barges in passed Nuriel with his sword ready to take Verik's head clean off when a spray of color from Dax flashes in the deserter's face. He sheathed his sword as the man clutches desperately at his face and kicks the spear out of reach before turning and yanking the arrow out of Nuriel and whispering an incantation to treat her wound. He then sinks into Verik's chair and cradled his head with his hands.
Dax walks over to Verik while takeing out a set of manacles and placing them onto the stunned man, cuffing his hands behind his back.
"I don't envy where you are going, just pray that your justice is swift!" Dax says as she begings to lead him out.
Flinching and grunting slightly from the arrow impact. Nuriel allows herself a slight smile when Dax’s spell drops the criminal.
Nodding to Kendrick after the healing. ”Thank you.”
Moving over to the prisoner being manacled by Dax.
”Verik. You are hereby charged with the following crimes: Operating a business without a license. Failure to declare income. Failure to pay taxes. Multiple murders. Promoting Cannibalism. Assault of an officer of the Crown. Attempted murder of an officer of the crown. Desertion of service to the crown. And after a thorough search of the premises, I am sure I will be able to add a few more.”
She then begins to search the office.
A single large desk stands in the eastern part of this large office, transformed into a makeshift bed by a bedroll and several blankets and pillows. A chamber pot sites under it. A table and three chairs sit to the west; several papers lie strewn over the table's surface. One of the papers is pinned to the tabletop by an exquisite silver dagger.
"What are you bloody on about? Cannibalism? I've done nothing of the sort!" he argues.
You believe his words.
mw spear, mw composite longbow (+3 str), mw arrows x20, mw chainmail, 28gp, potions x3
"Too busy with the bottle to notice what your crew was up to? It doesn't matter, you'll hang for it anyway, unless maybe you can give up some bigger fish."
Kendrick wines at his own words, thinking of the previous night at Lam's. He lifts his head and looks at the papers in front of him.