"Yelena, is that really you?" a voice calls from the darkness ""Thank the Gods you found me. I've been so afraid. Mr Lamm told me he'd kill you if I tried looking for you and I believed him." A young boy darts from underneath the catwalk and rushes to embrace Yelena "Please take me home, I want to go home." he begs his sister.
Jamis stiffens in Odver's arms "Papa?" he asks incredulously as a tear forms in the corner of a haunted eye "It's been so long." The flood gates open as more and more tears stream down his face "I thought I'd never see you again." he sobs.
With any thought of danger passing, the faces of the others in their hammocks begin to change from fear to something akin to curiosity and even hope.
Odver buries his head in his son's hair smelling him deeply, I never stopped looking, Tomas wouldn't let me. I never gave up hope of finding you. Its going to be okay now. I promise. the man chokes back sobs for a moment before the floodgates open for him as well.
"Oh Victor!" Heedless of the dirty floor Yelena drops to her knees and gathers Victor into a hug. "I'm so sorry it took me this long to find you, I tried, but I'm here now and everything's going to be okay. We'll get you home soon, I promise."
Most of her mind is overwhelmed with sheer relief, but the part of her that never stops thinking takes note of the relayed threat. As much as she wants to gather Victor and the other children and take them straight home, they still haven't found Lamm. They can't risk letting him get away.
She wipes a few tears from her eyes and leans back, hands on Victor's shoulders. "We're going to make sure Lamm can't hurt anyone ever again. But to do that we need to know where he is. Do you know where he's hiding?"
Gerinel finishes descending the steps and smiles.
"Lamm talks a great game about killing people for disobeying him, but he's bad at it. He tried to kill me, but he failed. And we're gonna make sure he can never threaten any of you again!" he declares.
"Well, it's amazing that we found everyone safe and sound. Are we continuing after Lamm, or breaking off and escorting these children to safety?" Trinity asks in a tone that emphasizes the fact that time is of the essence.
Jamis turns to Yelena and says "Mr. Lamm lives underneath the fishery. There's a room there where he holds up. I can't tell you what's there because any of us sent down there never come back." Jamis looks at his father and continues "He comes and goes through the ship out back when he has to, otherwise Yargin lowers food to him through a trap door in his office."
You know of five orphanages in Korvosa. Most familiar to you is Dawnflower House . Dawnflower House is run by Sarenrite priests. The closest orphanage is Riverside House just north of here, as the name would imply, on the banks of the Jeggare River, while nearby is Scrapper Hall , a relatively small orphanage whose staff members often clash with the inspectors from Abadar and Sarenrae over the number of hours their charges work. Korvosa's Mercy is the largest, state run, orphanage in the city. Many of it's orphans end up joining the city watch, the Sable Marines, or even the Helknights. Little House in East Dock is the newest orphanage in the city. Run by Bek Blerkian, a halfling entrepreneur, it primarily focuses on non-human orphans
"I believe there are a number of locations that would love to take in these children. Closes place I can think of is the Riverside House, which is just North of here. If it was up to me, I would strongly consider the Dawnflower House. The Sarenrite priests at the facility truly care about children. It would be a very nurturing environment."
After glancing around the room, she continues. "Or do we have the children hold up in one of these rooms and then go directly after Lamm? Admittedly, I'm a bit concerned about the children's fate if we're unsuccessful."
”They could stay with Tawni while we conclude our business here… If Tawni’s friends will not bother them.”
"That's what I'd recommend, Hei-wa," Gerinel adds with a nod. "There's another option if anyone wants to leave the city behind: Any Varisian caravans about, I'm sure they'd accept a child with no other place to go...I should know, they accepted me and helped me become the man I am today!"
"Thank you Jamis." Yelena smiles at him while still holding onto Victor. "Victor, you remember Tawni, right? He was an old friend of mine that came to visit us a couple times. Would you be willing to stay with him for a few minutes while we look for Lamm?"
One eyebrow raises slightly while she pointedly looks between Trinity and Hei-wa. "If we end up running late, he can take you home."
Tomas is outside waiting too, he'll protect the kids if I bring him in. Plus, he'd love to see Jamis again. Odver offers
Hei-wa leaves the room discreetly to alert Tawni, move the prisoners into the backroom, and ensure they are all deeply unconscious. He returns a few minutes later and nods discreetly to the team to indicate the job is done.
He's both gladdened and discomfited by the family reunions, knowing his reunion will only happen once he's passed the veil of this life.
Hei-wa and Odver escort the children upstairs and into the front room where Tawni soon joins them. After a brief consultation Hei-wa and Tawni go back into the bunk room to make sure the prisoners are still secured and unconscious while Odver goes outside to retrieve Tomas.
Once he enters the room with Tomas in tow the dog makes his way around the unfamiliar room sniffing here and there. His tail drops and his hackles rise as he catches the smell of the room's former occupant until a familiar scent draws his attention to the children. His tail wagging furiously he jumps up to rest his paws on Jamis' shoulders as he begins to lick the boys face in joy. "Easy, Tomas! Down, boy. I'm glad to see you too."
seeing Hei-wa’s interest in the trap door, Trinity also moves over to that location and assists with the inspection.
Knowing what to look for, and with Trinity's help, Hei-wa finds a small one foot by one foot trap door in the corner behind the desk in Yargin's office, far too small for anyone to fit through. Trying to lift it up he finds that it is barred from underneath.
After sizing up the pass-through, Hei-wa closes the hatch and sits back on his haunches. He regards Trinity with a half-smile, "So much for a risky two-pronged attack... Let's rejoin the others."
Back with the Entire Team...
While waiting for all of the family reunions and tentative plans for the rest of the children to run their course, Hei-wa searches the fish-room for any secret entrances to Lamm's lair below the building. He doesn't relish coming through the almost-certainly trapped front door on the boat.
Nodding her acknowledgement, Trinity joins Hei-wa as he begins searching for another way in.
Gerinel joins the search as well once he's sure the children will be okay.
"We'll be back soon Victor, I promise. Then we'll all go home." It's very hard for Yelena to force herself to leave Victor so soon after finding him, but they can't let Lamm escape. Not when they're so close to shutting down his entire operation for good.
She joins everyone in the main fishery floor although she doubts they'll find anything. "Yargin was yelling for help right next to that trap door and Lamm never came. Either this hideout of his is sound-proofed, he was too much of a coward to help, or he isn't here." She looks out the nearest window at the night sky. "Starsong, please let it have been option one."
”There is no true loyalty among Lamm and his minions - as we saw already. If Lamm is still here, I suspect it is because he is certain that the remaining traps, guards, and his own skills will finish us.”
"Tomas would have barked if Lamm ran by. Wouldn't he? So I think he's either still down there or was never here to begin with."
"If I were Lamm, I wouldn't build a 'den' with only one escape route. Maybe he can drop straight into the river or he has a path below the docks that ends a couple blocks from here. We will have to find his den to learn the truth."
Jamis turns to Yelena and says "He comes and goes through the ship out back when he has to."
"From what James said, I would think he is either heading out through the ship or is down below."
Odver nods, that seems logical, we should go into the ship and see what's there. And if Lamm is still below, then we'll handle him.
"If I were Lamm, I wouldn't build a 'den' with only one escape route. Maybe he can drop straight into the river or he has a path below the docks that ends a couple blocks from here. We will have to find his den to learn the truth."
"If he does, don't expect it to be something tricky to navigate like you might be used to. Gaedren's an old man, and a lazy one at that. He'd want an escape route that's easy on his bones," Gerinel comments snidely.
Searching the fishery floor reveals nothing in the way of a secret door or any other way to access the room below. Hei-wa goes to the hole in the floor and sticks his head through the opening and sees that a narrow space exists under the fishery, with about three feet of room between the floor of the eastern side of the building and the languid, foamy river water below.
Wooden pilings support the building, and thick mats of moss and cobwebs hang from ropes and rusted chains between them. A wooden walkway floats on the river’s surface, winding along the inner wall of pilings that supports the building’s frame above. The walkway leads from the sodden ship to the east all the way west to a small two-and-a-half-foot-square door that leads into an understructure below the fishery’s land-bound half.
The pilings below this understructure are densely arrayed, leaving only narrow gaps into the water below that area.
“Assuming there is no other way down to this room from here, I think we should search outside and see if we can find the entrance.”
Hei-wa pulls his head from the hole in the floor and sums up his conclusions. ”There’s a walkway down here. It goes between the boat and a door on the landbound side of the fishery. I think that may lead to Lamm’s lair… He could be in either location or neither. It’s a shell game. Since we can get aboard the ship from the dock, my guess is that’s the front door he wants people to go through. That’s where you set traps. Jamis said that anyone sent down below never comes back. If Lamm is in the ship and we choose to risk the possible traps, I think we should split up – with some of us approaching from here and the rest going aboard the ship from the dock. That way he can’t escape. OR we can assume Lamm is in his lair and avoid the boat entirely by going down here and heading straight for the door. We need to choose a course.” It’s clear Hei-wa plans to abide by a team decision.
He adds, ”I’m in favor or dropping down here and going straight for his possible lair. I feel he’s more likely there then holed up aboard the boat.”
"Do you think that hole is large enough for all of us to fit through? If so, I'm game with dropping down from here."
"I agree. If he ends up not being in the lair we can always backtrack to the boat."
Odver nods in agreement, relief obvious on the man's face. Jamis is safe, so I'm content to try and drop in this way. While we could split up, I think its best to stick together and see what happens. If no one comes back up, there's probably either a way out into the water for... disposal, or that boat door.
"It's not a shell game, shell games are rigged. It's a coin-toss," Gerinel comments. "We'll have to trust in Desna once again, but I think hedging our bet and sticking together is best. Heads or tails...and I say heads; we go find the vermin in his hole."
Hei-wa drops into the chest deep water with a splash. Unfortunately his movement draws the attention of one of the river's denizens. A jigsaw shark, drawn upriver by the leavings the fishery dumps into the water is circling nearby, hungry it moves in for the kill.
Initiative:
Hang on, I'm coming down after you Odver says, dropping into the water with Hei-Wa.
The shark makes a bee line for Hei-wa until Odver drops into the river next to him, causing the shark to veer towards the new sounds.
The shark's jaws clamp down on Odver's torso but it's teeth fail to penetrate the armor protecting his body.
As the shark surfaces to attack Odver, Hei-wa pounds on its toothy snout…
Stunning Fist (1):
Effects:
x = none
Watching the situation unfold, Trinity seemed reluctant to jump down into the river water, and for good reason. A shark wasn’t something to take lightly. It could quite literally kill any member of the group with a single bit. Still wanting to help, she opted to begin an inspirational song. One specifically chosen for the situation One she thought might bolster a little more fight out of her companions.
performance to inspire courage in his allies (including
himself ), bolstering them against fear and improving
their combat abilities. To be affected, an ally must be
able to perceive the bard’s performance. An affected ally
receives a +1 morale bonus on saving throws against charm
and fear effects and a +1 competence bonus on attack and
weapon damage rolls.
"Baby shark, do, do, do-do, do-do
Baby shark, do, do, do-do, do-do
Baby shark, do, do, do-do, do-do
Baby shark
Mommy shark, do, do, do-do, do-do
Mommy shark, do, do, do-do, do-do
Mommy shark, do, do, do-do, do-do
Mommy shark
Daddy shark, do, do, do-do, do-do
Daddy shark, do, do, do-do, do-do
Daddy shark, do, do, do-do, do-do
Daddy shark
Grandma shark, do, do, do-do, do-do
Grandma shark, do, do, do-do, do-do
Grandma shark, do, do, do-do, do-do
Grandma shark
Grandpa shark, do, do, do-do, do-do
Grandpa shark, do, do, do-do, do-do
Grandpa shark, do, do, do-do, do-do
Grandpa shark
Let's go play, do, do, do-do, do-do
Let's go play, do, do, do-do, do-do
Let's go play, do, do, do-do, do-do
Let's go play!"
Yelena peers into the water but doesn't jump down. "If you climbed back up could we shoot it from here?" She considers the dangers of turning their backs on the shark with legs dangling in the water, prime for the biting. "Never mind. I'll try to make it less dangerous."
Hei-wa bops the shark on the nose but does not seem to deter it from attacking further.
Trinity begins to sing a song from her childhood about a family of sharks and the song is a catchy tune that bolsters the morale of all who hear it.
Yelena stares the shark down, causing it to doubt (as much as a cold-blooded killer can) it's course of action.
Gerinel moves to the side of the opening and offers a prayer to Desna for the safety of his compatriots.
Round 2:
Hei-wa is up.
Round 2
With the shark... uh... 'floundering', Hei-wa delivers a couple elbow smashes to its head.
Stunning Fist (1):
Effects:
x = none
Hei-wa's repeated strikes to the creature's nose only seems to infuriate the shark as it tries to take a bite out of it's annoyance.
The water around Hei-wa and Odver turns a bright crimson as the shark manages to sink it's teeth into the Monk's thigh.
"Odver! Stab it now while it's distracted!" Not that Odver needs the instruction, but Hei-wa's hurt and Yelena wants to feel like she's doing something. She glares at the shark, hoping at least she can make it easier for the others to pierce through its defenses.
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Continuing with her inspirational song, she adds in a few lyrics of advice.
Baby shark, do, do, do-do, do-do
Baby shark, do, do, do-do, do-do
Baby shark, do, do, do-do, do-do
Baby shark can't climb onto the walkway, do, do, do.
Mommy shark, do, do, do-do, do-do
Mommy shark, do, do, do-do, do-do
Mommy shark, do, do, do-do, do-do
Mommy shark can't climb onto the walkway, do, do, do.
Daddy shark, do, do, do-do, do-do
Daddy shark, do, do, do-do, do-do
Daddy shark, do, do, do-do, do-do
Daddy shark can't climb onto the walkway, do, do, do.
Grandma shark, do, do, do-do, do-do
Grandma shark, do, do, do-do, do-do
Grandma shark, do, do, do-do, do-do
Grandma shark can't climb onto the walkway, do, do, do.
Grandpa shark, do, do, do-do, do-do
Grandpa shark, do, do, do-do, do-do
Grandpa shark, do, do, do-do, do-do
Grandpa shark can't climb onto the walkway, do, do, do.
Let's go play, on the walkway
Let's go play on the walkway, do, do, do-do, do-do
Let's go play on the walkway, do, do, do-do, do-do
Let's go play!"
Gerinel attempts to jump down to the walkway.
Odver, seeing Hei-wa's injuries keep piling up, sizes up the shark, focusing on its weaknesses, and swings with all his might at the shark, snapping the ransuer's head forward onto the shark's fin.
The blood in thew water expands as Odver skewers the shark through the heart with his ransuer. The creature attempts to swim away but only manages to flounder for a few feet before expiring.