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Elric swivels to face the approaching band and brings out his hammer.
”Go! I’ll bring up the rear, make sure you have time to get her out. Hope there’s another exit, because I doubt we’ll be leaving by the front door.”
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Shane ponders creating an illusion of the poor woman EVERYONE is seeking, but it occurs to him he'll do that better once he gets a look at her, and he hustles up the steps as directed
Perhaps it is the memory of running through the stairs of the Acadamae, fleeing bigger students who hoped to have a 'casting target' that keeps his legs pumping and his breath controlled. Maybe he's just lucky, but he soon joins the paladin.
Abella rushes up around the middle of the group, knowing better than to make herself last. Ambushes hit the back, never the middle.
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Pava's long-legged stride sends them hurtling up the stairs, clearly no worse the wear for their recent depths and excesses.
"Worst comes to it you can always stick your ring on her finger and throw her out a window, Soldier Boy."
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With the rest of the group headed up the stairs, Elric turns and hurries after them.
”Don’t get in their way. We’ll make sure they can’t harm her, you have my word.” he says the neighbours guarding the door as he passes.
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Their steps thundering on the rickety wooden stairs, the group makes it to the top floor. There, the door that Audria knows to be Trinia's is closed. As the paladin knocks on it, muffled scraping sounds can be heard from the tiny apartment beyond.
"Just a moment! Need to- hnnnngnnh- clear these out."
A few moments later, the door cracks open and Trinia's familiar face peeks from behind it. She looks like she hasn't slept in a couple of days. As she sees Audria and the others, she opens the door wide; beyond it, what looks like all the furniture of her small studio has been piled into a makeshift barricade.
Trinia throws her arms around her friend's neck, and Audria can feel her trembling. Trinis normally meets adversity with a quip or an off-hand remark, but right now she seems terrified.
"Oh gods, you're really here! I don't know what to do, Audria! I swear to you, I haven't done... what they say I did! I just- I just went into the castle when I got the summons, painted some, and then left. We- we barely exchanged any words, and now they say I poisoned him!"
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Relief floods Audria as she sees that her friend is unharmed, even if she's far from alright. She wraps the painter in a bone-crushing hug as Trinia tries to explain that she wasn't the one that killed King Eodred Arabasti II.
"I know," she reassures her friend in a quiet, tear-filled voice.
"I know," she says more forcefully, as she moves out from the doorway to let the others in. "We need to get you out of here before anything else, though. The crowds are getting ugly, but I think we can make it to a safe haven." She gestures to the two figures that she knows Trinia hasn't met yet, pointing them out in turn. "This is Shrike, and this is Shane. I know they look scary," and Shrike can be genuinely terrifying, she doesn't add, "but they've helped the rest of us deal with Barvasi and a necromancer's lair in the Grey. I trust them with my life, and I trust them to help me get you out of here safely."
Audria gives Trinia a smile that she hopes is reassuring.
"Now, I think we should be going before more company arrives. Hope you don't mind if we take the window."
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"We don't have much time," Shane agrees, "Guardsmen will be here shortly, ones not on her side. I can cast invisibility on Trinia then maybe I create an illusionary duplicate of her to distract... but I suggest you make up minds soon because neither will last long."
"Do it. Duplicate goes one direction. We go another." Shrike doesn't know enough about how the magic works to know the specifics of what is possible for his illusion to show. It would be ideal if the crowds saw 'Trinia' running toward Crest Circle in the Heights, say, before ducking into some alley and 'disappearing,' while the actual Trinia instead made her way with them invisibly to West Dock. Manor guards in the Heights will have no trouble repelling any riffraff that attempt to cause trouble for their employers. In the meantime, if they can just get the girl's friend to Zellara's house, the abandoned warehouse beside Bailer's Retreat, or even the Old Fishery, she can hide there long enough for a captain to be found at the nearby docks willing to take a passenger who looks not at all like Trinia Sabor out of the city without asking too many questions.
She sees no permanent option except getting Trinia out of Korvosa entirely. There is no question of trying to reason with the apparatus of a Crown that is framing her. Zellara's has no basement or defenses. And the Sanctuary of Shelyn is out as a long-term refuge. Its association with the two girls is too commonly known. They'd just be bringing trouble down on the Brother's and Sisters' heads.
Shrike slips past Audria and Trinia and flattens herself at the wall beside the window, twitching the curtain aside just enough to peer out and assess their options without showing herself to anyone who might be watching for it. She readies her rope to use in their escape. With mobs and robins closing in, if at all possible they'll want to use the rooftop routes for at least a few blocks to get out of the immediate danger. The mask turns so that the emotionless black elf eyes seem to look straight at Trinia for a second. "Meet at 3 Lancet Street in West Dock if we're separated."
"Good plan, and better if we do it now." Pava strides over to the window and cranes their neck out to scout out the best path to roof-run out of here.
"Once cast, the invisibility lasts four minutes." He says, nodding at the mention of the dock "Don't attack anyone, or take aggressive action, Trinia or it WILL pop away like a soap bubble."
When the others are ready, he casts it upon the artist.
Only slightly winded after his rush up the stairs, Elric turns on the landing in front of the door and peers down the stair, expecting the other bounty hunters to come up at any moment.
"In a minute or so, someone who's a better liar than me should call down the stairs that Trinia is escaping over the rooftops. We don't want those serious looking types coming up here to take a closer look if we can avoid it."
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Trinia nods in greeting towards Shrike and Shane, even managing a polite 'how do you do'. She blinks at Audria's mention of necromancers, but the situation is too urgent for her thoughts to linger on what she has just heard. She grabs a leather satchel and begins to hurriedly pack possessions - a small box of jewellery, clothes, a hair brush, a few vials and pots, a stack of wrapped flatbread. At Shane's remark she stops, holding a paint knife whose blade has a silvery sheen. "Attack? Why would I attack anyone?" She makes to throw the knife in the back with everything else, then glances at Shane again and sheathes it in her belt. "Just in case! I-in case someone else takes aggressive action against me."
The windows of her studio fortunately face away from the street and onto the maze of rooftop shacks, shoddy shelters, bird coops, gutters and skylights that is the Shingles.
A new set of booted feet begins to sound on the stairs, and the slight vibrations in the floor herald the arrival of those in pursuit of the young painter.
Directly below Trinia's window there is a cluttered rooftop. Someone could jump down on it, or climb carefully down the exterior wall.
To the left of the window there is the crumbling rooftop of the adjacent building, its eaves standing slightly higher then the rooftop on Trinia's own building. One could try to climb up, or to leap from the windowsill.
To the right of the window, a series of descending ledges connect Trinia's tenement to a lower building. It would be a simple matter to hop between them, but who knows what dangers lurk there.
On the theory that it is better to be higher in the Shingles than lower, Shrike hoists herself up over the eaves of the higher rooftop with ease. She tries to fasten her quick loop of rope around a weathervane and throw the rest of it back down to Trinia's window to help the others, but a quick tug to make sure it is safe causes the crumbling tile below the protrusion to give way, leaving the rope loose and disconnected to anything but her.
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Despite the seriousness of the situation, Audria laughs as Trinia awkwardly sheathes the palette knife in her belt and tries to explain.
"Don't worry. They gotta get through me first," she promises her friend before following Shrike out the window.
Audria leaps up and grabs the edge of the roof with a deftness that is a far cry from her slip and plunge into the Jeggare the night she, Shrike, and Abella raided the Old Fishery and ended Gaedren Lamm's reign of terror. After pulling herself up, she reaches down to help the others climb up.
Shane curses before Trinia is yanked away and casts invisibility on her once Audria has her hands on her so she won't be lost
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Pava flings themself out Trinia's window onto the cluttered roof below, long limbs balled up and then stretching outward again to cling to the unstable shingles.
"Mlle. Sabor? If you'd be so kind as to intermittently whistle so I can make certain you're still with us? Not to worry about drawing any extra eyes, it's common as cabbage when I stroll past."
Thankful that he was able to upgrade his armor to an agile breastplate, Elric holsters his hammer and begins to climb up to the roof.
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Abella looks rather out-of-sorts for a moment. She actually is expected to hurry for once in her life, and she is not accustomed to such vivacious activity. She takes a look down at the cluttered rooftop and thinks “how hard can it be?” besides, if she jumps, then it’s less work and activity than running, right? Gravity is doing half the job there.
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Audria feels Trinia's hand grasping hers, although she cannot see her friend. Elric and Shrike also choose the higher ground, while Pava and Abella jump down on the roof below.
For those high up, more obstacles lie ahead. Firstly, a large, grizzled tomcat with a chunk of his left ear missing is standing with his back arched, ready to defend his territory. They could try to walk past him, but on that side the roof is very steep.
On the lower roof, things are similarly challenging. A sturdy clothesline is connecting the edge of the cluttered rooftop to a balcony railing across the inner courtyard, while a rickety staircase is providing a less adventurous means of egress on the other side of the roof; however, stirring of movement in that direction indicates that their passage might not remain unchallenged.
A cranky rooftop tomcat bars your way, but you might be able to persuade him to let you pass unmolested.
If you do not wish to deal with the territorial cat, you can try to go around him on a very steep section of the roof.
The clothesline looks challenging to traverse, but it could also be an opportunity to quickly get to the other side of the courtyard. [/ooc]Acrobatics DC 20 or Climb DC 25. This is a shortcut and counts as 2 cards.[/ooc]
Or you could take the stairs, but be prepared to deal with whomever - or whatever - is claiming that bit of roof real estate first. [/ooc]Intimidate DC 10 or Bluff DC 15.[/ooc]
To his surprise, with help... he makes it, and heaving with the effort, he follows Audria and the invisible Trinia.
He sees the Tomcat blocking the way and tries to give it a clue to let them pass unmolested.
"Pretty fellow, your ledge, we're just passing through."
Shrike swerves up and around the warning growl of the grizzled tom onto an especially steep section of the roof, using just one hand for balance and grip as her soft-booted feet and ankles tilt her weight against the sharply angled shingles. Shane is calming the cat, and this path seems simple enough to her that she thinks none of the group will have trouble with it. But she does not want to get too far ahead of them. She coils the trailing rope around the other arm again instead of trying to race ahead.
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After helping Trinia and Shane up and seeing that Pava and Abella have taken a different route, Audria turns and sees the hissing tom and the somewhat treacherous footing on the other path. While she likes cats, much to Talanaliel's dismay, she's never been good at dealing with angry or stubborn animals. besides, she's feeling her old instincts from a childhood spent running through the Shingles when she and Eliana needed to get away quickly coming back.
She practically dances across the sloping roof before turning back and holding out the haft of her halberd out for Trinia.
Pava hoists themself onto the railing, sliding down on their hands at breakneck speed.
"Piss off and get the hell out of the way! Town wat-" but then they catch their foot, tumble into a barely controlled roll against a crate, and somewhat spoil the shock and awe of the moment...
Abella tries to scare obstacles out of her way. ”I’m a big scary necromancer and I’m going to use your bones to make kitschy housewares if you don’t get out of my way!”
One of the benefits of spending significant time in a hippogriff stable is that most other creatures seem nice and cuddley by comparison.
Elric simply grabs the tomcat by the scruff of his neck and unceremoniously hoists it out of the way, letting his thick leather gloves absorb the brunt of ensuing bites and scratches.
”Sorry, old chap. We’re in a bit of a hurry here.”
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Trinia easily traverses the steep roof, deftly avoiding the tomcat who is now all fluffed up by the indignity of being picked up; strangely enough, he doesn't hiss or claw at Elric, simply gives him a look that promises future menace and pain.
The vagrant sleeping in front of the staircase scrambles aside as Abella and Pava come barreling through, leaving the way clear for them.
Ahead there is a somewhat flat stretch of roof that seems easy to traverse even for someone who is not very nimble. Those familiar with the Shingles know that's actually the most dangerous part - an attractive piece of real estate that could house... well, anything.
The right side, towards the street, is bordered by a wide gutter choked with clumps of weeds, old birds' nests and debris.
The left side, towards the inner courtyard, features a pile of rags and rotten bits of wood.
The staircase is clearly not in use; old, broken furniture and other garbage is scattered on the steps and piled up on the landings.
On the second landing there's a narrow hole in the wall that opens into a dusty corridor that seems to run the length of the adjacent building.
A floor lower, the staircase is almost completely blocked by a tangle of chairs.
Feeling emboldened by her successes so far, Abella decides to just bowl through the tangle of chairs.
Pava dives their beanpole body through the narrow hole without even a pause.
Audria barrels up the left side of the roof with her halberd in both hands. She tries to look threatening, but all she manages to do is look like a girl playing at being a guard or a soldier with her father's polearm. It doesn't help she keeps glancing about nervously as she tries to keep track of where Trinia is.
The shrike mask turns toward the pile of rags and wood and keeps laser focused on it in a wordless threat, even as Shrike stalks past it on the left side of the flat roof. She looks closely at it as she does, thinking to perhaps identify what is there so she can warn the others what to do with hand signals, but has little luck.
Trusting his wilderness training and experience to see him through, Elric pushes on into the weed-filled gutter.
However, he soon finds himself tangled and almost loses a boot in the process.
Trusting his academic training, and vast book learning of flora and fauna, Shane pushes on to the weed filled gutter!
Brilliance plus access to a detailed library for many years, PLUS (let us be honest) a LOT of luck allows him to bypass the worst of the obstacles.
If he can, he tries to share his success with Elric and any others!
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Audria and Trinia do not notice the stirges hiding in the refuse and they get swarmed by the creatures as their pounding footsteps disturb them. They do not draw blood yet, but Audria and Trinia are forced to hunker down as the stirges buzz angrily about them. Shrike's forbidding demeanour keeps her safe from the blood-sucking parasites, at least.
Elric misses the tell-tale skittering of the drain spiders nesting in the gutter, but Shane's quick reactions save him from a potentially unfortunate encounter.
Pava dives through the narrow hole and into the corridor with barely a pause, while Abella descends to a lower floor and pushes the haphazardly stacked chairs out of her way. From there, the way is free to street level.
Those who still have a line of sight on the window from Trinia's apartment spot a half dozen rough-looking men climbing out of it; they spot Trinia and Audria on the flat roof 60 feet away and begin their pursuit, taking the most direct route by jumping down on the lower roof. Four of them make it, but the other two land badly and fall prone.
The roof ends here. The next building is only a short leap away, although a fall from this height would be certainly painful. But things are never simple in the Shingles, and someone with good eyes or who knows the area well could perhaps find an alternative route.
A leap between two buildings.
A hidden route.
The corridor ends in a locked door. Nearby, a broken window faces into the courtyard.
The staircase ends in a small vestibule that opens to the street. Getting out of the building would remove you as a target for the chase unless you backtrack, but perhaps there is something else you can do at ground level to help those still on the rooftops.
Rather than have his companions risk a jump, Elric scouts for alternative ways off the building's roof.
"B&%+#~+s. Never have this much trouble roof running when people aren't chasing me."
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With her exit secure, Abella pauses and takes a a moment to pat herself on the back for a job well done. She looks around for the others, expecting them to come barreling out at any moment. Finally, almost as an afterthought, she wonders idly if she should perhaps do something to help them.
No ideas come as of yet.
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Shrike turns and sees that a pestilence of stirges have stopped progress for Audria and an apparently empty space near her that must be Trinia — visible only by the cat-size airborne vermin swarming about her as they seek warm blood. She reverses course and stalks back toward the pests, throwing her cloak out dramatically to look bigger. A strange low chuckle comes from her throat: the sound of a drake, one of these things' natural predators, calling to its fellows to come and eat. They seem not to have higher intelligence and will not understand her if she speaks anyway.
Shrike throws herself over the gap between roof and the next building without a pause or turning a hair. She looks for a place to fasten her rope and throw it back to the next two to assist them when they get there, but doesn't see a good place for a piton.
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Shane can't see Trinia, but he can see that Audria seems stuck and as Trinia is WITH Audria, it's not hard to guess they've hit a crucial snag. He looks where the guards are, and curses under his breath. They need a delaying tactic to buy more time.
And he decides to provide it. Rather than looking for a hidden way out, or trying an acrobatic endeavour, he casts again.
Spell Range, 400 feet plus. The average human eye can make out individual facial details at roughly 820 feet , given sufficient illumination so that won't be a problem. I know what Trinia looks like now.. and I have the facial expression in mind. Yes. I should be able to do this IF they don't overlook it. As they are looking about, ONE of them should see it. Yes, this might work
Away from Audria by quite a bit, thank you, but in view of the pursuing guards, an image manifests. Trinia, head tilted at odd angle, looking discolored, for her neck is snapped by the noose that connects her to a ledge. Her feet dangle off the ground by a good nine feet.
Their quarry is found, but killed by some vigilante!
At least, that's the silent image before them.
Audria tries to scare the striges off, but even with her halberd out, she seems no more intimidating to them than a fluffy kitten.
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Audria feels Trinia yanking on her sleeve just as Shrike's imposing presence sends the stirges scattering; the way is clear for now.
Elric does not manage to find an alternate route, while Shane stays behind to try and distract the pursuers. Meanwhile, Abella wanders the streets below while Pava tries to find a way to climb out of the window without slicing themselves to pieces on the broken glass.
Perhaps they came prepared for trickery; perhaps they are that sharp-eyed or smart, but only a couple of the pursuers seem to fall for Shane's ruse as they point to his illusion. The rest glance towards it and shake their heads, one of them going so far as to slap the closest gullible comrade across the head. "There wasn't time, idiot!"
They continue their pursuit.
The four who did not fall rush across the clothesline, trying to catch up with the fleeing group they see across the courtyard. Only one manages to (barely) maintain his balance, while the other three fall into the courtyard below - painfully, by the groans and shouts that echo after a moment. The two that had fallen before manage to climb to their feet without getting further tangled into the debris cluttering the rooftop.
Pava fully stalls out, flummoxed by a window.
Audria follows Trinia's tug and runs for the roof's edge. She barely makes it to the other side, but she finds a sure handhold to help her pull Trinia up if she needs it.
The stirges scattered, Shrike turns on her heel again and races for the gap between the roof and the next building. She leaps it with a few feet to spare, nodding at Audria in silent approval as she passes the girl and sees she has found a solid handhold and is standing ready to grab anyone who might not quite make the leap.
Forcing himself to ignore the approaching men, Elric focuses all of his attention to studying the roof and buildings for a way that does not involve a risky jump.
His efforts are rewarded as he leans over the side of the building to closer examine the windows below. He spots a narrow ledge below, hidden from the view of anyone standing atop the roof. By grabbing the side of the gutter, it's fairly easy to swing down and enter a half-open window.
"Quickly, this way" he says to his companions before lowering himself over the side to demonstrate the hidden escape route.
That didn't go as well as Shane hoped, and now he is behind... fortunately, Elric shows him the way, or tries to.
He mutters a thanks to Elric as the escape attempt continues.
Abella continues to wait and continues to muse on what she could do to be of assistance. She is not given to being so proactively aware of others’ needs so she continues to struggle coming up with anything.
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Audria feels Trinia's hand grasp hers, then a tug and a slight thump as the other girl lands lightly on the other side of the gap.
The two pursuers left behind are arguing about which path to take - clearly the sight of three of their comrades plunging to some serious bodily harm from the clothesline does not make that an attractive option. Meanwhile, the one thug who managed to get ahead is pondering his options. He is isolated and the quarry is scattering to the four winds.
The reward must be tempting, but you can't spend money if you're dead. Deciding that discretion is the better part of valour, he retreats - but not before screaming some truly vile curses at the fleeing friends.
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Shrike slows her headlong pace when it seems that the pursuit has given up, but only enough to take her normal care while descending with Audria — and, she hopes, the invisible Trinia — to the escape route Elric pointed out and from there to street level.
Once everyone is together again, she draws her elf-spear and keeps it in hand as they travel, just to deter any opportunistic robbers or other threats. Without Trinia visible, they should appear as no more than another band of angry Korvosans out to dispense mob justice. She tries to keep up a good pace, trotting southeast through the narrow back streets to Zellara's house on Lancet Street, but to not leave anyone behind or draw attention by pelting full-out. It is only one neighborhood over, perhaps a quarter or a third of a mile, but Shane had said the spell would last just four minutes, and half a minute or more of that must be gone already. It will be close.