Lureene accepts the vial with a grateful curtsey, "Thank you so much!". She then walks over to Grak, and gently feeds the potion down his throat.
Felmor stands on the deck of a caravel caught in a gale, its straining sails hurtling it straight towards the unlikeliest of features, a waterfall in the middle of the sea! Strain as he might against the wheel, he cannot get her to alter course. Suddenly there is a rending sound as one of the guy lines snaps.
He attempts to move, but it feels as though he is standing knee-deep in tar. A falling spar catches him across the back of the skull and he falls to the deck. In the next instant cold water hits him in the face sending him gasping for air.
With a start, the sailor sits up, soaking wet to find himself laying not on the deck of a ship, but on a bed in unfamiliar quarters. Standing at the foot of the bed is an attractive woman of medium height with dark hair and a sour look on her face. She holding a dripping bucket.
"Nice nap Gerrold? Jarvis can make the bed if he's not dead yet."
When the entrepreneur doesn't move for a moment, she throws the bucket down on the floor and raises her hands. "What, did you get the sense knocked out of you? Jarvis is getting his ass handed to him by some little old lady with big boobs and some seven-foot tall bruiser who doesn't even look like he needs a weapon. You're gonna have a hard time working on whatever business deal you two were up to if he wakes up dead. Now get out of my bed!"
With that, she kicks the bucket making it bounce off the wall near 'Gerrold's' head and motions for him to follow her.
‘Gerrold’ staggers to his feet, trying to keep his head from splitting open. It felt like a troop of dwarves were taking turns pounding his head. He shakes the water out of his eyes, and grabs his gear quickly, and gathers what is left of his wits. The Cap’n ‘n Mal are ‘ere? Ach, I betteah get down there. I dinnae know what is goin’ on, jes better be ready ta make a break for it.
Felmor follows along behind the lady, Jarvis’s girlfriend, ”Och, can you give me any further info, like where I be at?”
"This?" she asks as she leads him downstairs. "Oh, just a little chair-making shop that Jarvis runs on the side. You know, to look legit and all."
Downstairs, there's a good bit of sawdust on the floors and a few rather nice-looking chairs and stacked about in varying stages of completeness. She leads him behind a counter that also serves as a work bench and points to a ring set into the floor. When Gerrold hesitates, she rolls her eyes and opens the trap door herself.
"Men..."
With that, she begins climbing down a long, dark ladder looking up just in time to shout, "Watch your fingers!"
Not long after, the two reach a cramped room at the bottom. As they stand there, Trisa fiddling with a mechanism to get the door at the bottom open she comments, "You smell good. Do you have a girl?"
Felmor starts a little at the question, Aye, she be pretty but already spoken fer if I don’t miss me guess. I wonder if she be fisin’ ‘ere.
”Well, I gots me a fine woman alreddy, but sometimes her temper kin be hard ta handle”
"Ah, so you've got a live one then hmm? So what's your girl's name old timer?" She finally gets the door unstuck and leads you out into a rough-hewn stone passageway. Up ahead you can hear the sound of Jarvis talking with Alis and Lureene. "That's odd, everyone was busy killing everybody when I left, I wonder what's going on..."
MAP: Dunwaar Streets, (Round 50)
Felmor looks across at the scene before him. He notes the disguises that Alis, Lureene, and Priyya are wearing, although Mal was not disguised, probably because it was pointless. He also sees Lureene doting over Grak, who, is no longer capable of flying. Ach, he must’a led them right to me. So far, hostilities have not broken out, but there is a palpable tension in the air.
He says quietly to Trisa, ”I dunno what be the story ‘ere, guess we will see now, won’t we.” Unsure of what has transpired, and still feeling the effects of the beating (and the whiskey) he took earlier, he decides to play it cool. Aloud he waves to Jarvis, ”So, is this be the reason ye woke me?”
'Lisa' just glares at 'Gerrold' and shakes her finger at him seemingly muttering an oath under her breath.
Jarvis gives a loud laugh from deep in his belly when Gerrold blows off his wife. "Hoo boy, Ger', she's gonna rip you a new one! Haha!"
What the man fails to notice, however, is the spell Alis was casting under her breath.
"Oh well hello to you too, dear. You know, you had us all worried sick! Ellie thought you were getting mugged when you got carried off like that."
"We went thru all this trouble just to find you, some creepy old man thought Ellie was a doxy, Andre and Sarah got deafened. I got hit in the chest with a lighting bolt... twice! And you know how sensitive I am.."
She folds her arms across her bust, lips pouting. "If my daddy was still alive, he'd whip you silly! What are you doing, getting in fights and hanging out in a place like this at your age? I thought you were looking for new business contracts for The Family in light of the 'si-shu-aye-shun' up here!"
"Well?" Lisa asks expectantly, foot tapping.
Felmor gives Jarvis a dark look, and mutters something under his breath. ”I ‘ope Trista does th’ same thing to you.”
He then walks over to ‘Lisa’ and gives her a perfunctory kiss on the cheek. His hand strays to her curvaceous body, and gives her a caress along her backside. He then looks at her face with a not quite disguised look of trepidation, and says, ”Well, ya know I jes wanted ta blow off a little steam ‘ere, kinda let me guard down, ya know. Kin ye forgive an old man’s foolishness, darlin’?”
Lisa gives a little hop when Gerrold squeeze her rear and blushes slightly. She follows it up with a pat on the cheek, pretending like she's slapping him across the face. "You are damn, dirty old man, you know that?"
She then leans up on her tippy-toes and gives him a real kiss that sets Jarvis to howling like a hot tea-kettle. When she breaks it off, Gerrold finally gets a real slap across the face too.
When he holds up his hands is consternation she says, "And you're my dirty old man so quit thinking about my sister when you kiss me! Hmmph!"
"Haha! Hot damn!" Gerrold whoops and gives Trisa a squeeze. She feigns like she's still upset, but pretty much melts in his arms when he dips her. "Arright! Well let's all get comfy an' have ourselves a drink or twenty! C'mon, I got some good stuff back in the office..."
He give Gerrold a hearty slap on the back and leads you on around the corner and to the south. Trisa just exchanges a knowing look with Alis and shrugs her shoulders helplessly.
Lureene looks over at her ‘uncle’ and shoots him an incensed glare. How dare he kiss her like that? He is gonna pay for my poor Grak getting hurt! She picks up Grak, who favors her with several weak licks on her face. She murmers quietly, ”It’s OK, Grak, I’ll get you fixed up as soon as possible.”
Sister Sarah watches the lascivious antics with a scowl of clear disapproval. It is unclear how much 'acting' is involved.
The nurse follows along after her charges. She takes the opportunity to heal Andre some.
Channel Energy x2 (including the bad guys to smooth over any feelings... but minus the two crossbowmen who EARNED their lumps):
TOTAL HP to Mal: 31
Total HP to others: 6
Mal endures the healing with a shiver, his eyes still drilling into the men around him with aggression. He turns to Priyya, tying to reign it in, "Thank you again. It would seem today would be my end if not for your abilities. I don't take that lightly."
Priyya grins widely,
She knows what he's trying to say even though she can't hear a damn word. She bounces a fist off his chest.
Felmor tries to hide the blush off of his face, knowing full well he enjoyed the kiss way too much for his own good. He suspected Alis enjoyed it as well, but for different reasons. And whose idea was it to say she be my wife? He studiously avoids looking at 'Sarah' but knows she will make him suffer exquisitely for this. Judging by the looks his 'niece' was giving him, she was next in line for that pleasure.
He knows he will be spending some time away from Priyya's bed, and in the proverbial doghouse. I wonder if'n Mal don't mind me snorin'. Heck, I wonder if'n he snores.
Jarvis leads you thru the underground complex. You pass a couple more hallways with doors at the end and enter a large communal room. The space looks to be some kind of barracks. Several bunk beds take up space in the corners of the room with men injured during your skirmish presently resting on the bottom of each. A few other taking a meal at a table give you begrudging nods as you walk past — thankful for the healing, but still unappreciative of the pounding the took.
On the far side of the room, Jarvis leads 'Gerrold' and the rest of you into an oddly shaped back room while Trisa chats away with 'Lisa' regarding beauty tips and where she gets her wrinkle concealer. Mal is the last one to enter, taking stock of where all the me outside are lounging before closing the door behind himself.
The room inside is large, though not quite as open as the barracks. In one corner, Trisa plops down on a bed next to a desk with a respectable assortment of liquors atop its hutch. Jarvis invites the rest of you to make yourselves comfortable around the table, although he wants to sit next to his new buddy to talk shop.
Rather than sitting next to her 'husband', Lisa decides to sit opposite him so she can still see and chat with Trisa (not to mention keep tabs on the door as only she can). Naturally Lisa's 'nurse' sits beside her in case she's needed (and to keep an eye on Jarvis and 'Gerrold'). Lastly 'Andre' allows 'Ellie' to sit in the last seat next to her uncle where she can keep an eye on her Grak resting on an unused bed in the corner (and also have a bit of privacy to study the scroll plucked from the mage's body). Being ever the gentleman, 'Andre' then seats himself atop a heavy chest that he drags over to the foot of the table .
With everyone comfortable, Jarvis passes out some tumblers, and starts mixing up whatever everyone wants before kicking back in his desk chair, feet up on the long table.
"So Ger, you guys really got ties with The Family? No wonder ya'll know how to throw-down like that! Man, I wish we'd met sooner, this is gonna be great! Anyhoo, what all did you guys have in mind? I got a special project I've been workin' on, but I wanna surprise ya a bit later on. C'mon, don't be modest now..."
MAP: Dunwaar Streets, (Round 100)
Mal sits quietly, brooding at the end of the table.
I'll let the women handle this situation. I'd only make it worse.
He eyes the drink suspiciously before refusing to touch it. Probably poisoned… the way these bastards throw the stuff around.
Felmor eyes the drink with an apprehensive eye, before realizing he was expected to partake in the drink, he takes a small sip of the beverage, mindful of his ‘wife’s’ stares, not to mention her ‘nurse’.
Jarvis’s mention of the ‘Family’ concerned him. He was not sure exactly what the term Family referred to, so he figured it was best to gloss over that part of the conversation, and move into safer waters.
”Well, when ye travel as much as me, ya run into all sorts of interesting…people.” He leans in close to Jarvis, ”How didja think I met me wife?” He chuckles, already feeling the heated glares from his ‘wife’ and her ‘nurse’
Anyway, down ta business. I, that is we, be lookin’ fer opportunities ta make a quick profit, ‘n I be told ye is the one with the eye in the streets, so to speak.” he leans back in his chair, and continues, ” think if we work together, we kin profit in a big way…”
While Gerrold goes about mixing drinks, Lisa checks her makeup in a small mirror and sings a little ditty to herself, finger waving in the air as she does so.
"So, does that mean you still find me interesting, dear?" 'Lisa' laughs. Picking up a steaming concoction she had Jarvis mix up from a bit of everything on the bar, she raises it into the air with a wink to Gerrold and says with an artful flourish of the of her other hand, "To new business ventures at home and abroad!"
Trisa, Jarvis, Lisa, and Gerrold at least down their drinks, after which Lisa says, "Actually, hubby married into The Family. Daddy didn't like him at first because all he was good at was handling ropes and draying cargo, but you'd be surprised how helpful a savvy stevedore can be when it comes to confounding customs officials!"
"Anyway," she gets up and pours another drink, making certain to refill everyone's glasses, "what we're really looking for are some regional partners who can assist with the discrete movement of... 'controlled substances' into Estoria. The Golden Drakes have their treaties they worry about so they pretty much keep their noses clean. Still, they have the best logistics gig going. Word is though, they've taken a real beating here lately. It's the sort of situation that can afford 'newcomers' a chance to get their foot in the door."
"Logistics..." Jarvis lets the word roll around in his mouth like it's a good single malt.
Trisa leans forward on the bed, showing interest. "Jay-hun, you always promised me you were gonna make it big!"
Jarvis nods thoughtfully to her and laughs in gratitude as Lisa pours another round, and another, and another, as they continue to talk.
1 + 2×Con bonus (poison save bonuses add to Con modifier)
-1 penalty for each drink over limit
Round 6
Round 7
Round 8
Round 9
Round 10
Round 11
'Sarah', having missed the nuances of most (if not all) of the talk due to her recent deafness, decides that silence is a better tactic. She pretends her hearing isn't quite as restored as it should be and sits quietly.
But she thinks long and hard about how to pay 'Gerrold' back for goosing and kissing 'Lisa'.
'Ellie' avoids touching the drinks, pleading a headache, and also concern for Grak for not partaking in the conversation. She does keep an eye on 'Lisa' and 'Gerrold'. She knows Alis did not mean anything by the kiss, and was just acting it out for the benefit of Jarvis and the others. Seeing the kiss reminds her of Rath-hun, and how she had kissed him in the same way. Oh, how she missed him so much! She wished he was here with her now, just so she could kiss him the same way. she brushed a couple of tears from her eyes, and then remembering her 'husband', she reaches over to touch him, and then squeezes his hand.
Noting the hard glares 'Sarah' gives her 'uncle', she wonders how she could help wreak some revenge on him. After all, he enjoyed that kiss WAY too much! Looking over at her ailing pet Grak, who is currently asleep, she knows just how to do it...
Good, it's just Fel and I who are drinking. I hope El is studying that scroll and not just daydreaming over there...
Lisa smiles at Jarvis' drunken ramblings about how he intends to set himself up like a king of thieves with Trisa at his side and a half-dozen children running various guilds and enterprises. Apparently the life of a carpenter (even a talented one) just never sat well with him. Working long days, paying taxes, never having enough coin while others sat on their asses and just raked it in?
'Why should some folks get to be on top their whole lives just because of how they were born?' he had asked.
Trisa was the first one to pass out. After her 7th drink, the pretty young thing passed out. Prior to that she'd been giggling at Lisa's story about how she and Gerrold met — a tale involving running away to join the circus, seven dwarves, a trick pony, some apple brandy, and a pool of inert green slime.
Felmor lasted longer. He nearly passed out after the 9th round, but Alis suspected he was only sipping his drinks and letter her top them off. By this point, answers were flowing from Jarvis about as readily as spiced rum from the rapidly depleting bottle.
Apparently, part of the Tar Dog's big scheme had been setup thru collaborations with 'that hot elf lady' and some magician associates of hers. They had received sizable shipments of gold bullion from an unnamed source in Malatesta and were then recasting it into Estorian currency for the purpose of undermining the economy and buying out assets in Elsmyr Dale and bribing officials in Estoria.
Oddly enough, Alis' yarn about replacing the Golden Drakes didn't hit far from the mark. In fact, Jarvis had been wondering exactly who was heading up that portion of the operation and (in his liquor-addled state) was easily convinced that it was Lisa and Gerrold. To speed things along, he informed you that the members of the Golden Drakes 'you' wanted captured, along with the counterfeiting equipment, were all stored in a nearby warehouse. A new corridor further north, built by a mage called Lorenzo, accesses it.
Before he passes out, he mentions about how Baron Quailworthy was going to try and expose the whole thing to the Count, but didn't realize Lucius had already been replaced. Since time was short, they knocked him out, stacked him over with some bullion they didn't have time to melt-down before his news got leaked to the city, and took care of both problems at once. The fact that the elf princess was coming thru just provided a handy alibi.
While Jarvis doesn't know exactly why Chivane wanted to capture her, he reckoned it had something to do with one of two things: either brainwashing her like they were planning to do with the captured gypsies, or holding her ransom against some other business ventures they had further south — something about a colony further south in the Zuktol Wilds.
Finally, after he and Lisa toasted their 11th drink, the slurring, talkative gang leader threw up on himself and fell to the floor, passed-out cold...
With a groan, Alis puts her 12th drink back down on the table and steadies herself with both hands. She looks across at Felmor, who has finally fallen asleep with a drink in his hand and gives a long slow exhale. Putting both hands down on the surface of the table, Alis leans forward, pushes herself back to her feet and shakes her head at the present state of things.
Light weights...
"Alright," she says, rubbing her temple with the back of her hand, not unlike a cat preening itself. With her other hand, she gets Jarvis cleaned up using a cantrip. "Andre, go ahead and lay our 'good friend' here in bed with his girl. We want to keep up appearances for just a bit longer. Ellie, have you finished studying that scroll? Sarah, any chance you can wake up my *cough* 'husband'?"
Bracing herself against the wall for good measure, Alis moves over to the door. She stands up on her tip-toes to have alook thru a peephole installed on it. From outside, you can hear muffled voices, but nothing more that what's been going on all this time.
"Good, they're still resting..."
‘Ellie’ gives her ‘Auntie’ a wink and forestalls ‘Sarah’s reply. ”Allow me to wake Uncle up, Auntie.”
She stored the scroll away, that she had been ‘studying’, and walks over to Grak. He crawls feebly over into her arms, and she picks him up, and carries him over to the passed out form of Felmor.
Grak, on the unspoken command from his mistress, starts licking ‘Gerrolds’ face.
Felmor feels the warm breath of Grak on his face and moans softly, although you cannot tell if it is in pleasure or pain. His eyes snap open, and his face jerks back as he notices who has been 'kissing' him."Ack....Pffftth!" He wipes his face clean of the spittle left by Grak all over his face.
Lureene looks over to him, and smiles wickedly, "I hope you enjoyed that kiss as well, Uncle!"
Alis backs away from the door giggling with delight at Felmor's reaction. When she finally catches her breath and composes herself, she says, "Guess you might call that payback for pinching me like that, you dirty 'old man' you!"
Felmor rises to his feet, a bit unsteadily, and stares at the passed out forms of Jarvis and Trisa. He looks at his ‘wife’ and ‘niece’ and certainly knows when he has been beaten. Still, that kiss was almost worth it. Almost. He still thought Priyya was a better kisser, but it was close.
”Ach, ye deserve more than that, 'Lisa'." Switching subjects to avoid any further embarassement, he continues, "So, I take it it our business ‘ere be done?”
Ach, ye deserve more than that, 'Lisa'."
"Do I now?" Alis raises an eyebrow. "Well, I'm flattered, really, but I seem to have misplaced my wedding band. My, how clumsy of me!"
"As for business, I think maybe we should let Jarvis and Trisa get some rest, I–"
The sound of panic and raised voices from in the barracks causes Alis to cut short what she was saying.
"What's all this now?" she muses.
Mal claps Traker mightily on the shoulder, a clouting worthy of combat, "Good to have you back." Then he moves over to where Alis is listening at the door. "What do you hear? Should we be preparing for a fight?"
Alis holds a finger up before waving the rest of you over to listen...
"WHERE THE HELL IS JARVIS?!" booms a loud, commanding voice.
"Boss!!!" comes the collective reply.
"Stow it! Topside is swarming with pigs and– why the fu<k are you guys all busted up?!"
"Um, well uh... Jay-man made some new contacts and there was a little misunderstanding."
"A misunderstanding? I leave that boy in charge for a couple days and–" There's a pause, "Is that Nial the mage over there in that bunk?"
A moment of silence follows and then the 'boss' roars out, "IDIOTS! THERE'S A POOL OF BLOOD BELOW HERE YOU COULD DROWN A DONKEY IN. HE'S FU<KING DEAD!!!"
The sound of calamity follows as tables are overturned, and chairs and men go flying.
"Boss, BOSS!!!"
"WHAT?!?!"
"The back office, they're all back there with Jarvis."
You hear a scream and a thud that puts you in mind of a man being hurled across the room into furniture and heavy footsteps approaching the room you're in...
Priyya is all but tapped out of energy and spells. She sculpts a shield of faith around Mal.
Priyya moves , draws her bow and puts one arrow to the string and clenches the other in her teeth. She's going to send a hail of arrows at whoever tries coming through that door.
Lureene hears the commotion on the other side of the door, and thinks, Well, it sounds like Jarvik is in trouble. Of course, so are we. She chants quietly to herself while wriggling her body, and soon fades from sight.
Mal moves to position himself next to the door, trying to make it possible to step between the rest of the group and whomever walks the door, whispering the words to harden his skin and drawing his axe on the way. He nods his thanks as Darkmane as he feels a field of protection him.
envelope
Priyya regards her very tall colleague who intends to play 'Horatio at the bridge', and says "Hey Mal, hypothetically... when you are kissing a woman, how many other women are you thinking about right at that moment? I mean is it one... two... or maybe a pair of sisters? Seriously, how many women are going through your head at a time like that?"
Mal cuts his eyes over to the sailor, wordlessly saying, 'Now you've dragged me into this...'
"I find if you're kissing the right woman, little else can intrude."
Felmor draws his belaying pin and dagger, ready for the ensuing festivities. He makes sure Grak is far away from the area, and nods when he crawls underneath the bed where Jarvis and Trisa are still passed out.
He gives Mal a helpless stare, and wonders if maybe the 'Boss' man had more mercy than Priyya does. Possibly, at least the death would be a clean one. He wishes he had time to kiss his Desert Rose, but combat was too close.
"Hmm.. That bears thinking about."
The footsteps get closer until suddenly...
""
An explosive force hits the door shattering the bolt, breaking the hinges and knocking Mal back and nearly into Lureene as the door flies from its frame. The drunken gang leader sits bolt upright so quickly that Trisa is knocked off the foot of the bed with a yelp.
Standing in the doorway is a man huge not so much for his height but for the sheer breadth of his shoulders, depth of his chest and girth of his arms and thews. His grey hair is cropped short and he bears the scars of countless brawls on his ugly face. His beady eyes regard the lot of you and he spits tobacco chew at Felmor's feet as if he were not there.
"What the hell is this sh1t? A g0d-damned coup?"
Initiative Rolls
, Priyya, Jar & Tri, Enemies, Alis, Mal, Lureene, Felmor
MAP: Dunwaar Streets, (Round 500)
Song: Stand Up Be Strong
"A– AXCHARD!?!" Jarvis stammers, "Wh– what are you doing back already?!"
"BECAUSE YOUR INCOMPETENT ASS BOTCHED THE JOB!"
The big man eyes Mal, Alis, and the rest and growls, "What the hell are they doing standing in my office? This one," he jerks a thumb at Alis, "is supposed to be our hostage, and the rest are supposed to be DEAD! Where the hell is that scrawny b1tch, Chivane?"
"Huh, prisoners? But they're friends from The Family down in Mala–"