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'If you are willing John, I can tail you. Though I will need a soild disguise. Not just my morphic ability. I want to make sure you are not...turned or threatened. You are to good an asset to let fall to the way side should the betray us' Ink states speaking with John.
He will shift into a plain, rough-looking man. then in his simple clothes grabbing some scraps of old cloth and wrapping it around himself.
[dice=Disguise]1d20+40 He hides his fleshy features in the shroud of his hood and cloth. He then smiles.
"How do I look as a Raggamuffin"
"Wow you look like a street urchin! Nice disguise I wouldn't have known." John states and then heads off with his newest ally.
Amulet of fireballs II
Tiara of charisma +2
ring of protection +1
Cloak of resistance +1
dragon spirit amulet
Dragon spirit cincture
Among them are a simple black rod but you can't figure out what it is and a cloak of multi colored scales.
(Sword and Dragonsacle cloak)
He scoffs, "abandoned until it’s convenient to act. We do as our Lord commands nothing more, nothing less. We are no heroes. Especially compared to a giant and a dwarf, why don't you act?"
He snickers, "Nearly the whole population of Cinder are slaves. Slaves of the bandit Craterlords, as they call themselves. Calamities come and go, leadership comes and goes, only Asmodeous is constant. You could strike us down but our Lord will send more."
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The guards on the second level look at the dwarf and look to a priest. The priest brings forth a long whip that seems energized with power. "Welcome to the penetant hall of worshipers of Asmodeous. Here many have given their flesh to be purified and to become worthy vessels. You may speak with any of them, though do not free any of them for you shall take on their burden as well."
The elegant lady gets up and comes over to the crow. She pets it and calmly states, "Hello my little thing. Oh, you must be a messenger or perhaps possessed? Either way I will let my guards know that you are welcome my little crow."
You are likely startled by her beastcraft and observation.
She nods in understanding at the gravity of Desseer's words, "Yes my lord, I will let them know about the possibility. Knowing them they will decline. But once seeing your greatness and the power your guild holds, I am sure they will come around. For their gratitude they won't oppose you, as if they could."
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“Alright then, your initiative is recognised. Now I want you to prove your worth to me. I require from each of you three things. First, gather your cronies and lead me to the rival gang of yours. I will help you slaughter them and steal their riches. Two, offer me tribute of any magical trinkets you may have that are useful. And three, my servants must prove their power. Either demonstrate to me your magical prowess or slay at least 3 armed men . Fail to oblige and I will slay you on the spot.” she declares to the assembled gang leaders, her clawed hands raking the edge of her scythe as she speaks.
Seeing the gang leaders hesitate for a moment, points her clawed hand at one of the gang leaders and says “you. Bring me to your gang and find me enemies to slay. Now. The rest of you will follow.”. The man stammers but obliges, clearly terrified. The man leads the group to a burned out slum building, stopping just outside. Seemingly waiting instructions. RARGHG only tilts her head, raising her hand and slowly counting down with it. The man rushes inside and emerges with 8 similarly scared bandits. He speaks with them in a hushed voice and their expressions shift from fear to anticipation. The leader bows low and leads the group to the remains of an eatery while raising their weapons. RARGHG strikes first, cutting into the front of the eatery and pulling the wall inwards to reveal a group of bandits hastily grabbing weapons for combat. Her body whirls into a burst of motion as her celerity kicks in, her scythe slashes twice more bisecting two bandits. Steph acts next, chanting a spell as a thick layer of grease appears under the bandits tripping them. The leader and his gang charge in staying just out of the way grease to deliver killing blows. After the battle they gather up any scattered stolen goods and RARGHG nods. Next one it is then.
Unfortunately for him the next bandit leader’s selected hit location was not a fellow bandit gang but the hide out of a large number of slaves. Clearly he expected RARGHG to help in capturing them but instead RARGHG attacked him. Tapping into her celerity, she cut down the 3 bandits instantly and despite the leader and his remaining cronies attempting to run, they were far too slow compared to RARGHG. “I want to kill warriors not slaves. If any of you expect me to help you capture slaves, I will take your lives in retribution.”
And so with the bandits leaders help, RARGHG will slaughter several gangs of bandits and steal their treasure which her gang leaders offered them. Any who couldn’t find a worthy opponent were slain in turn. Now though was the truly fun part. It was time for the bandit leaders to demonstrate their own skills. Perhaps she would find some that were worth a damn.
The bandits learn quickly by watching. Soon they are working in better coordination. Several leaders take on more warriors, accepting them into their ranks. Several casters take on a coordinating role.
You do realize 50% of the people are 2nd or 3rd level warriors or commoners.
Beyond the general equipment the groups typically bring you a coffer of silver coins about 150 gp, some precious cups, chalices, candlestick holders, silverware, or like items. About one mastercraft weapon every 8 bandits.
After three hours you have:
4 clear captains, each leading two squads of five or six.
A cleric of war/Gorum/Ares.
A barbarian/Rogue catfolk.
Two sorcerers.
One necromancer.
One Evoker.
A ratfolk rogue who is at least 3rd level with a canine companion.
One building, a fresher group of bandits lead you to a training field. A man steps out in leather armor and a glaive. He demonstrates martial prowess, killing the bandits and even blocking the first strike of Rarghg. [Occ]If you choose you can slay him you can easily.[/ooc] You can tell he is exhausted from killing the four bandits and the rest of his energy was to put up a magical shield to block your attack. You can see children wanting to rush out to help or something, but their parents holding them back.
Later you find another fool fighting with just a shield focusing on defense. She blocks and parries the attacks of five bandits. Somehow she survives, taking no blows and shield bashing every few rounds when she recovers her breath. She defiantly looks at you before quickly returning to focus on the bullies around her. You can they are playing with her but she does have skill.
You find many slaves chained up in buildings or to each other.
In an hour you could easily collect a throng of 30 to 100 bandits.
There are many unique individuals along the paths. Most of these people are workers for the red light district and have no interest in fighting. If pushed you do find there are several well trained guards and guardians for this kind of city. A clar weilding amazon, a runic barbarian man with a great axe and dragon scale armor, and last a dark elf ninja.
The room of the Craterlord is, like herself, elegant. The walls are lined with dark wood and rich tapestries depicting scenes of conquest and treachery, speaking to her desire toward power. Despite the illumination that fills the room, a few shadows are still cast that give the air that secrets hide throughout. Zerasha is a striking figure, with sharp features and piercing eyes that seem to hold the weight of countless schemes. Her hair, dark and cascading, frames her face, with a single braid adorned with small silver animal charms.
From one of the fine chairs in the corner of the room that has a shadow cast across it, a voice emerges, "Zerasha 'The Ash Vulture'." A tiefling with a devious smirk appears and continues. "I have heard you know things. I'm interested." He holds up one of his red index fingers, "First, before you begin, what do you know of the plight of the other craterlords?" After this question a toothy smile creeps onto his face.
invisibilty
detect thoughts
2ppp expended
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“You’ve endured while others fell, and I’ll grant that endurance has its own kind of strength. But endurance without direction is just slow collapse. You speak of serving your Lord’s will, yet even Asmodeus values order above waste.”
He gestured lightly toward the cracked walls and faint red light spilling through them.
“If your contracts hold this district together, then you know the shape of its rot better than anyone. Tell me of these Craterlords; who leads them, who they serve, what they seek. Are they united in this ruin, or fighting over what’s left?”
His tone stayed calm, but the cadence of his words carried weight — like hammerfalls shaped for purpose.
“If you wait for them to destroy one another, you’ll inherit nothing but ash. Work with us, and perhaps there’s still a city worth reforging.”
He folded his arms, steady gaze fixed on the head priest.
“So, priest — what’s the truth of Cinder? Who holds its heart now, and whose grip tightens by the day?”
The catgirl looked at Dom and said, "Let's put that head," Myriana gestured towards the craterlord's head, "on a pike out fronyat and get back to where we left my knight anyad the others to check inya. Onyace we have we donyae that we will returnya to Headquarters anyad report inya."
With the grizzly task comleted Myriana found Iris and said, "Alright nya, task complete! Let's returnya to our knyaight anyad thenya we will go to headquarters nya," before she gave Iris a passionate kiss on the lips. She didn't go any further and kept the kiss teasingly short as she led their way back to Verick and hsi men and gave them the update.
After they checked in with her knight Myriana, Iris, and Dom went back to their base in the city to check with the others. When Deseer returned from his tasks she said, "We have takenya care of our target, the craterlord is dead anyad we have nyaew allies inya the district," Myriana was giddily bouncing in delight, "I evenya have my ownya knyaight nya!" Her expression turned to a frown though as she said, "I wenyat to far causinyag trouble and blinyaded him anya others nya so I nyaeed a way to get their sight back nya."
“If your contracts hold this district together, then you know the shape of its rot better than anyone. Tell me of these Craterlords; who leads them, who they serve, what they seek. Are they united in this ruin, or fighting over what’s left?”
The head priest confidently states, "We control enough, for if the city falls we can rebuild. Not much we can do for the rot. Though it seems you might be a force that could help stamp it out, we would appreciate it.
Each Craterlord fends for him or herself. Leader, ha! They grasp at straws, its more the bandits just run amok.The previous high priest was complacent. We wait for the fire, to strike when the metal is hot."
“If you wait for them to destroy one another, you’ll inherit nothing but ash. Work with us, and perhaps there’s still a city worth reforging.”
He asks, "How can we help?"
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After they checked in with her knight Myriana, Iris, and Dom went back to their base in the city to check with the others. When Deseer returned from his tasks she said, "We have takenya care of our target, the craterlord is dead anyad we have nyaew allies inya the district," Myriana was giddily bouncing in delight, "I evenya have my ownya knyaight nya!" Her expression turned to a frown though as she said, "I wenyat to far causinyag trouble and blinyaded him anya others nya so I nyaeed a way to get their sight back nya."
"Myriana we have the ressurection table. I am sure blinding could be fixed with it given enough time. Or a cleric of suffienct level... do we have any priests or clerics?"
The guards on the second level look at the dwarf and look to a priest. The priest brings forth a long whip that seems energized with power. "Welcome to the penetant hall of worshipers of Asmodeous. Here many have given their flesh to be purified and to become worthy vessels. You may speak with any of them, though do not free any of them for you shall take on their burden as well."
Tiefling-Desseer spreads his hands, "In the flesh, so to speak. And thank you, you make me sound so enigmatic." He continues informatively, "More specifically though, I am the one taking charge of Cinder. It is now my city." Desseer's gaze bores into Zerasha. With a threatening voice, "I'm sure you have already gathered, but I haven't killed you right away. This means that I think you might be useful to me. Will you..be useful to me?"
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“Then we’re aligned in one thing at least: neither of us intends to see this city collapse beyond repair.”
He stepped closer, folding his arms as his gaze swept the warm chamber, the chained worshippers, and then settled firmly back on the priest.
“If you’d help, then start with clarity. Tell me which of the Craterlords holds the Temple District in their grip, or claims to. Name their strengths, their rabble, their habits. A smith doesn’t strike blind; he studies the metal before the hammer falls.”
The glow beneath his skin brightened faintly — not a threat, but a presence.
“Second, the people. You say the city is full of slaves. Where are they held? Who controls their movement? Any house of order should know where its chains run, priest.”
He let that sit for a heartbeat, then continued, voice still steady:
“Third, what forces does this Cathedral command? Priests, acolytes, contracts… and the weight of your god’s authority. If we are to act on Cinder’s behalf, we should know who stands with us, even if only in counsel.”