Aygavan's whip no longer finds the halfling anywhere to Aygavan's northwest within 15 ft.
With nowhere to back up, Ghorza was forced to use her axe. She swung it at the elemental, whishing as she did so that she was able to rely into on her powers of earth and stone.
"Gettin' real sick of this... here's a little trick from my academy days, we call it Backalley Glitterdust!"
Zab drops his sword , then draws, crushes, and throws a Flametongue Vial at a nearby pile of very flammable looking rags .
Zab scoops his sword back up
"Block the door! And as soon as you see a halfling-shaped hole in the smoke, give it what for!"
Aygavan takes a step back to fully block the doorway and readies to try to grab onto the halfling should he try to get by Aygavan.
"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it, Tocash!"
Ghorza can't quite land a blow on the elemental!
Zaborjca sets the scene of the crime on fire! That will help, right?
Tocash lands one solid blow and knocks the earth elemental back to where it came from! Aygavan gets ready for trouble! The local priestess casts a spell to help you out "Defend Diobel!"
Aygavan feels something invisible trying to move through his square! It barely fails! The elementals try to smash Zaborjca and Ghorza but are thwarted this time.
The smoke now reveals where the invisible halfling is hiding!
Aygavan pours all his focus into his readied maneuver, trying his very best to grab onto the invisible halfling. "I didn't forget what I said, you little blighter. Now, best case scenario you go to the guards, worst I feed you to the sharks!"
"Hah! Works just as well as it did in my city guard days!"
Zaborjca lunges violently at the halfling with his pommel raised above his head!
Zaborjca utters a curse most foul!
Tocash leaves himself open to an attack from the elemental.
Then he tries to grab the summoner but fails to see his target properly, given there are only shifting patterns of smoke to grab at.
Ghorza continued to swing her axe. With nowhere to retreat, there really wasn't much of a choice. It was kill or be killed.
Aygavan's readied grapple doesn't quite grab the summoner in the smoke!
Aygavan tries again but can't quite grab the sneaky, slippery, summoner!
The halfling sees the path blocked by three opponents and, apparently, decides that pushing past them is now longer the right plan. He moves back and seems to try to help his elementals wear down the foes! A glob of acid burns Tocash's face.
One of the elemental strikes a blow that is barely blocked by Zaborjca while Ghorza receives a heavy strike.
Aygavan gives another go at grabbing the summoner but is stymied by the halfling's invisibility.
Ghorza took another blow to the head, which sent her world spinning. Blood freely flowed down her face as she hobbled backwards. If it were not for her stone skin then the attack would likely have killed her. Unable to really retreat, all she could do was plant her feet and swing her axe to the best of her ability. The axe bit deep, and she prayed that it would be enough. Another hit to her like the last one and it would be all over.
Zaborjca looks torn for a moment, but decides to take a risk.
"Don't you dare lose consciousness, Ghorza, you have a job to do!" he growls, as he lunges at the halfling.
Zab swings at the halfling, not bothering to use the flat of his blade this time.
Zaborjca lands a strong SMACK on the summoner while Tocash rushes forward and tries to grapple the sneaky halfling.
He can't seem to get a hold in just the smoke!
The fire, meanwhile, starts spreading.
Ghorza lands a strong blow and finishes off the elemental near her! The other one rushes up behind Tocash and smashes an earthy fist into his back!
The summoner steps back, his back to the wall, and launches another glob of acid at Tocash but misses. And he has now revealed himself by casting this spell!
"Oh, you're not going anywhere, cully, I need your collar in hand to explain this fire situation..."
Ghorza breathed a sigh of relief as the elemental that was threatening her life crumbled. She hurried over to see what was happening around the corner...while the angle wasn't perfect, she still formed a ball of stone in her hand and sent it flying at the other elemental.
Aygavan tries to grab the halfling again, wanting to make sure they can bring him in alive for some extra rewards and prestige.
The halfling is knocked unconscious! And Ghorza destroys the last elemental. Now there is just the unconscious summoner, the unconscious Maeve, a burning building, and a curious crowd outside to deal with! The fire spreads further...
Ghorza felt like she was going to pass out, given what she had just been through. But now was not the time to rest. Turning, she left the building and shouted to the curious crowd outside:
"There is a fire! We have caught the villain who summoned these monsters and who lit these flames. Quick, get water and help us extinguish this, before the flames spread to your homes!"
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The crowd cheers and starts to get buckets of water. One of the agents of the Gold Cartel steps forward. "But how can you know this person summoned the monsters? Perhaps you have just grabbed a small and innocent man!"
But the crowd isn't swayed! They want a culprit and the fire keeps them busy.
"We don't know, not yet. We detained him for questioning approximately five seconds ago! Do you think we conducted an investigation in that time, hmmm?" The mocking tone of Zaborjca's last word leaves no doubt that he finds the question to be silly.
"The facts of the matter, for those of us who are keen to make them known, are this:" Zab says while glancing meaningfully at the Cartel members. "First, the beasts that appeared here today are common fodder for summons by wizardly and sorcerous types. Two, we witnessed them being summoned without witnessing magical manifestations. Three, this man was invisible near the scene of the crime, guarded by more summoned monsters and a magic trap, and attacked us rather than explain himself or help rescue civilians. He should be turned over to the guard for that last piece alone.
"And fifth, I have a lead. Some witnesses saw a halfling summon a crocodile to attack some tavern thugs a few days back. Only his eyes turned purple, no other signs of magic. We are keeping this man in our custody until I can track down the witnesses, get a description, and force him to cast a spell so we can get a read on his arcane signature. If the description matches, we have probable cause to put him on trial. If he gets all purple-eyed when he casts a spell, then the trial is a mere formality."
"To add to Zaborcja's point, I do have some fairly damning evidence. First of all, I saw him conjure a pit right under my feet, though I avoided it of course. Second, I heard him summon some balls of light, not sure what they were, but he commanded them to attack everyone but the members of the Golden Cartel! I'm near-on certain that they're in cahoots. So come on, good folks of Diobel. Let's put out that fire they started and drive 'em out!"
You organize the citizenry to help put out the fire. Thankfully, it didn't have a few more seconds to spread out of control. You put it out without damage spreading beyond this one abandoned building. The agents of the Golden Cartel stick around, presumably to help put out the fire...
When you start leaving the scene, the agents of the Golden Cartel walk in the same direction as you, acting casual. But you suspect they are following you.
"Well, whatever we do, there's money on it's trail, I'm near certain of it. Yes indeed, fortune is on our way. Perhaps the Kortos Consortium will be more generous to their employees."
The meaning isn't immediately apparent, but with money as a stand-in for the members of the Cartel it's obvious that Aygavan is implying that taking the summoner to the Kortos Consortium runs less of a risk of him escaping again.
Ghorza nodded. "Aye. Let's just get this over with. This lad was right dangerous. It'll be good to have him out of her hands and locked up where he belongs."
The agents act surprised by Tocash's challenge but suddenly you see they are loosing their blades from their sheathes!
Seeing the agent loosen their blades, Ghorza stood up straight and raised a hand. A stone axe formed in it, and she sent it flying towards the nearest agent. Obviously the agent didn't see it coming, as the axe impacted with a *thud* into the man's chest.
Zab shrugs as if he expected this and dives for his sword!