"I'm in his head, I can't blame him..." She jokes, taking pack from a pouch. "Here Royken, spread it over that nasty wound on your arm."
The pack smells herbal and looks like a regular healing plaster that would be useful if Royken was laying in a bad with all the time in the word to heal himself. "There, that is enough, and sorry, ok?"
As Royken is probably asking why she is saying 'sorry', Eva gives the plaster a strong discharge of electricity, which produces a quick searing pain in his arm, but also leaves the wounded healed.
"Ouch!" She says as the electricity recoils, and soon starts on working on her arm to make sure everything is alright and functioning again.
Once Royken is healed, you enter Gattlebee’s house, passing through a sitting room and into a laboratory. Reams of parchment, half-filled beakers, lit burners, pots of bubbling fluids, and countless other alchemical detritus are scattered about the work surfaces of this room. Shelves overflow with books, glass containers spill from wooden crates, and a pungent odor permeates the entire area. Amid it all, a stooped human man smokes a limp cigarette and hunches over a small cage, carefully filling a tray with dried pellets. A big-eyed, six-legged chameleon paws slowly around the cage, picking at the dried pellets of food.
Gattlebee sets down the tray and turns toward you. “All right,” he sighs. “You’re persistent ones, you know that? What in Brigh’s name do you want?”
Lora turns a light shade of green at the smell, "What in Brigh's name is that stench, is what you should be asking. But please, don't answer that." she fishes out the cameo their employer gave them and holds it up for him to see. "Recognize this?"
”No. Should I?” Gattlebee says, taking a drag from his cigarette. He blows out a cloud of smoke.
"Mr. Gattlebee, I'm afraid we don't really have time for prolonged introductions." Crystal tips her hat to the grey-haired gentleman. "Suffice to say, we're here on behalf of the Grand Duchess herself, and we're here to bring you somewhere safer than this."
"Yes" Lora says, pausing, whether because she is annoyed or in hopes he would remember. "You are Gattlebee, correct?"
"Yeah, I'm Gattlebee," Gattlebee says to Lora. He looks at Crystal. "Oh. Yeah, forgot about that. So, when are we leaving?"
Lora puts her hands on her hips and gives this 'genius' a look. Then she sighes, "Now, but first..." she pulls out of her hat of disguise "Put this on and think of someone that doesn't look like you."
HP 34/34
AC 19
Fort +8, Ref +8, Will +5
Hero points: 1
Ammo: 11/10 rounds
Effects:
"F&&@ me," Royken growls, apparently at his limit after the burning healing and now Gattlebee's entire behavior.
"Now!" he barks at the alchemist who appears to be the cause of all his trouble. "Get your stuff and then we're getting out!"
He looks around the house to see if there's anything else he thinks they should take.
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Gattlebee puts the hat on and squints at Lora. A moment later, his appearance ripples so that he now looks like a woman vaguely resembling the bard. He looks down at himself. ”Heh.” He reaches up to grab at his own breasts, but frowns when he realizes they are illusory. ”Ah. Dang.”
He looks back up. ”Alright, just lemme reset the traps and get Slick. Ah bolts, where’d that lizard go?” You can see that the cage the chameleon was in is empty, its door hanging open.
The sounds of breaking glass and shattering wood precede a calamitous sight: Gattlebee’s six-legged chameleon suddenly growing first to the size of a cat, then a dog, then a horse, all in a matter of moments. The chameleon, as startled as anyone, smashes through the table in the middle of the lab and clambers about, spilling papers and alchemical equipment everywhere. Gattlebee pinches the bridge of his nose, exasperated. “Ah, bolts. Slick’s gotten into the growth serum again. You see the shrink potion anywhere? Never mind; what am I asking you for? Just take care of this. I gotta get my coat from the other room, anyway.”
As Gattlebee shuffles off into the bedroom, the enormous chameleon continues to trash the lab!
Slick causes a considerable ruckus: knocking over furniture, slamming his tail into experiments, and tearing up floorboards and wall panels as he skitters about. All the while, Slick’s coloration changes rapidly and sporadically to match the messy lab and its colorful contents. Potion bottles, alembics, and potent ingredients violently explode when jostled and accidentally combined!
Finding the potion may be the easy part; getting the panicked lizard to ingest the liquid is another matter entirely. A character trained in alchemical bombs can make a ranged Strike against Slick (AC 18) to throw the potion into the lizard’s mouth; if a character Readies this Strike and designates Slick’s tongue Strike as the trigger, the character gains a +2 circumstance bonus to the attack roll.
A character who can’t throw bombs can get the potion into Slick’s mouth if the lizard becomes grabbed or restrained. To do so, the character holding the potion must be adjacent to Slick and must succeed at a DC 18 Acrobatics or Athletics check. At your discretion, characters can employ other creative ideas or tactics to get Slick to drink the potion.
In any case, a failed attack or check causes the potion to land in a nearby space, while a critical failure causes the potion to break and spill all over the floor, rendering it useless. (A character adjacent to Slick can spend a reaction to attempt a DC 17 Reflex save to catch a potion on a failed or critically failed attempt, preventing the potion from breaking.) A success means Slick ingests the potion and shrinks to normal size after 1 round. On a critical success, the effects are immediate, and Slick instantly reverts to his usual size.
Crystal tries to ignore the massive chill that just racked her bones as she searches for something that looks like a shrinking potion!
As Crystal looks, Lora moves forward with her hands up in a calming gesture. "Here Slicky Slicky." she says, letting her magic slip into the words, attempting to make the large wee beasty her friend.
Slick resists Lora's spell, continuing his panicked rampage!
HP 34/34
AC 19
Fort +8, Ref +8, Will +5
Hero points: 1
Ammo: 11/10 rounds
Effects:
"F@*$ me!" Royken growls.
He tries to grab the creature, hoping he can hold it down long enough for Crystal to get the potion into its mouth.
I'm getting too old for this s!$$...
Eva raises her arm for protection and joins Royken into holding the huge lizard, though wrestling isn't her thing, since she is only actually strong with her metal arm.
Royken gets Slick in a headlock, holding him so that Crystal can shove the shrinking potion in the chameleon’s mouth. Eva fails to restrain the lizard, though, and he thrashes out of Royken’s grip and angrily bites the dwarf.
Slick’s lashing tail knocks over some vials near Eva, which explode!
A few moments later, the shrinking potion takes effect, and Slick dwindles back to his normal size!
Gattlebee returns from the bedroom, still looking like Lora’s sister. He plops Slick back in his cage and locks the door. ”Thanks. Here.” He holds out a bundle of helpful alchemical items for you. The items consist of three lesser tanglefoot bags, two moderate thunderstones, five lesser antidotes, a moderate cognitive mutagen, and two minor elixirs of life.
”Ready when you are.”
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"F@#+!" Royken growls, shaking his head.
"I'd be ready now if I weren't bleeding all over thanks to your pet," he adds, shaking his head.
Eva jumps out of the way, but her left arm still gets some burns. She applies her herbs before zapping herself. "Slutty mother of mine! This does kick." She curses as her plaster heals her arm.
Before they leave, Lora's song fills the room, healing more of the burned and bitten dwarf.
After healing up, you leave Gattlebee’s house and soon arrive at Bottleneck Bridge, a famously inefficient crossing that’s nevertheless the only option you have to get Gattlebee to the Yeast of All Brewery. The wide stone bridge connects the two shores of a rushing river. Carts and carriages frequent the center of the bridge while pedestrians stay toward the edges. The calls of vendors hawking their wares echo on the stonework as the merchants eagerly entice passersby to their wooden stalls.
You cautiously usher Gattlebee forward, wary of an ambush. And your wariness proves to be warranted—halfway across the bridge, three fishmongers cast off their cloaks, revealing colorful clothes in flashy styles! Two of them reach for bombs, while the third draws a flintlock pistol!
Crystal's pistol is already in her hand by the time the punks move to attack. She aims at one of the bombers and fires!
She then ducks into cover and reloads!
As soon as Eva sees the bombs, she yells to the others. "Spread!" She jumps away from the others before sending electricity at the two thugs holding the bombs.
"Spread?" Lora has a flashback Eva saying the very same thing but in a completely different context. Her brown eyes flash toward the bombs. "Oh!" she draws her pistol and yells "Fishbombers Depart!" somehow in an inspiring way.
HP 34/34
AC 19
Fort +8, Ref +8, Will +5
Hero points: 1
Ammo: 11/10 rounds
Effects:
"Bloody Abyss!" Royken growls.
He pulls his gun, but instead of firing, charges toward the nearest bomber, trying to distract his aim.
Lora begins her inspiring chant as she shoots one of the enemy bombardiers. Crystal fires her own gun, shooting the second bombardier between the eyes and taking her out! Eva electrocutes both remaining foes, leaving them badly wounded. The surviving bomber dodges Royken’s attack, but as he moves away from the dwarf, Royken lays him low with an opportunistic strike!
Only the gunner is left standing, but she’s not about to give up. She fires two wild shots that whiz past you!
Eva bolts forward to cut the gunslinger's escape and then punches her hard.
"Surrend---er, um... well serves them right." she turns toward whoever is still watching the battle "A mugging in broad daylight. Does this happen ofter around here." she shakes her head in mock horror. "Best roll them off the side of the bridge and let the fish deal with them, I think. Would keep rumors about your marketplace being too dangerous for common folk from circulation round."
Eva smashes the gunner over the head with her metal arm, laying her out!
Two items in the pockets of these thugs grab the your attention. One is a flyer for the Longhorn Lounge, a club for rodeo champions. The words “last bell before sundown” are scribbled on the back of the flyer. The other item is a crumpled order form for alchemical reagents. This kind of order form is fairly common among Alkenstar businesses that move a lot of inventory. This particular form doesn’t list any items, however. Rather, Gattlebee’s name and address are scrawled on it in a clumsy, almost childish hand. The only clue as to the slip’s origins is a stamped symbol in the upper-right corner: a corvid in flight, one vial grasped in each talon.
Gattlebee seems anxious at the outbreak of violence. "I've got a bad feeling about this," he mutters, his rough voice incongruous to his delicate appearance.
Just a few seconds later, several more thugs arrive at the end of the bridge behind you. "Ah, bolts!" Gattlebee growls as he starts to run!
You quickly take off after Gattlebee, pushing through the crowd of gawkers!
BOTTLENECK BRIDGE
Carriage and foot traffic are always busy near this bridge; the confluence of so many travelers makes getting anywhere quickly a challenge.
"Where in the fraggle hell are You GOING??" Lora yells at the fleeing 'woman', taking off a split second after her. A spin, a duck, a flashing smile, and a keen mind for details has her weaving through the traffic with ease.
Due to her elvish heritage, Eva is taller than most, so she looks around to detect the natural flow of people moving in order to cross the bridge as fast as possible, grabbing Crystal's hand and pulling her along the way.
"Yeast of All! This way!" Gattlebee shouts back at Lora as you follow him across the bridge.
BUSY MARKETPLACE
Market stalls line the road as local farmers and crafters sell their wares, some from pushcarts or other mobile displays. Shoppers frequently and abruptly stop to gawk, gossip, and haggle.
Crystal easily manages to keep up with the errant Gattlebee...
...and when it comes to the crowd, the dhampir decides that the subtle approach won't be quite enough. She draws her pistol and fires it into the air.
"EVERYBODY MOVE!" She bellows.
"OI! You heard the lady! F@*# off!" Royken shouts. Between the menacing dwarf and Crystal's display, the crowd quickly clears out. You rush through the marketplace as your pursuers make it to the start of the bridge.
BRONZE LADY FESTIVAL
A parade celebrating the goddess Brigh marches through the street. Clockworks dance along while playing music, their inventors waving to the crowds standing on either side of the street.
Lora slips on the colorful parade, waving to the onlookers with a flurish of skirts and a charming smile
Crystal seamlessly falls into step with the other folks on parade.
Like the others, Eva has no problems in joining the inventors, making comments as they move. She doesn't uncover her metal arm, though, even if that would be probably helpful.
You deftly navigate past the parade!
ROAD CONSTRUCTION
This portion of road is under construction, with a work crew attempting to repair a sinkhole that appeared this morning and swallowed an entire carriage.
Royken quickly starts hefting rubble out of the path!
Crystal strides onto the scene and starts barking orders. "What're you doing?! You're lifting that all wrong--that's supposed to go THERE! And where're all the wheelbarrows?! You think you can carry all of that carriage out on your backs? Not on my watch--the Unions'll be howling outside my door 'til Crystalhue! And will somebody get that lazy git back on his feet?!"
Crystal bamboozles the road crew into following her directions, and within moments, the path ahead is clear!
SHOWDOWN IN THE STREET
Two talented gunslingers stare at each other from across the road, both with hands ready to draw and fire on the other; bystanders take cover and stare in tense silence.
Eva wasn't really fond of even the idea of being shot, so she ducked to take cover and then moved as silent as possible from cover to cover.
Lora follows Eva's backside as she moves silently from cover to cover. The distraction almost proved her downfall as she didn't notice the bit of barrel they were passing had a loose lid. A brush against, a tilt to the side, and ALMOST a crash to the ground, but she caught it just in time. Giving the others a weak smile, she placed it on the ground and stopped concentrating on the back end of one of her teammmates.
Crystal easily sneaks past the ensuing gun duel.
You very sneakily bypass the gunslingers before their shots can ring out! Behind you, the thugs are just passing the bridge into the market. You have a large lead!
STRUCTURE FIRE
A dilapidated hotel caught fire and risks setting the entire neighborhood ablaze. The local fire brigade takes up most of the street, blocking all traffic while they get the fire under control. They can use all the help they can get!
"A distraction" Lora says with relief. A sentiment those whose homes are burning definitely are not sharing. "I know a route through."
Perhaps it's a curious stroke of conscience that compels Crystal, but instead of working with the others to plot a route forward, she moves to assist the fire brigade.
"Come on, we haven't got all f*++ing day!" Royken swears as he moves to help Crystal with the firefighting efforts. Between the two of them and Lora's plotting, you quickly make it past the burning building, leaving your pursuers in the dust! You've made a clean escape!
Gattlebee leans on his knees as he pants and catches his breath. The hat of disguise's illusion expires, revealing his true form. He wipes at his brow, lights up a fresh cigarette, and takes a long drag. "Ha. That was a hell of a thing. And look, here we are."
Midway between Gattlebee’s house and the Barrel & Bullet, not far from the eastern gate to the abandoned quarter called Ironside Quarter, is a dilapidated industrial building. A large wooden sign dangling from a single loose bolt labels the structure “The Yeast of All Brewery.”
A middle-aged dwarven woman wearing dark working clothes stands near the door, her arms crossed over her chest. Gattlebee shuffles to meet her, an affected swagger in his step. He extends a hand ambiguously—to shake hers, perhaps, or to offer a half-hearted embrace—but in return receives a sharp glare. They exchange whispered words, the woman presses some small object into his palm, and then strides toward a side street and continues on. Gattlebee holds his free hand to his reddened cheek, turns, and somewhat sheepishly holds up a small ring of keys.
Gattlebee unlocks the brewery’s front doors and steps aside. “After you,” he grunts. “Amery says my things are in the cold storage. I don’t know what else we’ll find; no one’s checked on the place in months.”
Lora is singed, covered in parade confetti (gear-shaped), tired and has a splinter (from the barrel lid), but at the sight of that interaction, she grins widly. "So... who's the pretty lady?"
Gattlebee takes another long drag from his cigarette and blows the smoke out slowly. "Old flame. One that's long since guttered out," he says, voice tinged with melancholy.