The eccentric alchemist chuckles as he admires the smoking boots remaining after his bomb went off. If one really strains to listen, a faint high-pitched sound which might be screaming still lingers...
Bokken suddenly frowns, then looks at his own fairly worn footwear. He walks over and picks up one of the smoking boots. He upends it and dumps out some ash before holding it against his own foot for comparison. He nods withs some satisfaction and mutters something about a couple extra socks.
"Oh!" Bokken suddenly shouts, drops the boot, and points at Ali. "You promised me a dragon gizzard and a golem keystone! That's the price of that bomb, kiddo."
Glen, shuffles around from behind the others so he can get a look at the new people that are about. "Thank you Mr. Leveton, your hospitality is most appreciated. Glen is somewhat apprehensive about venturing out into the unknown, but is please that there is a friendly place that we may return to. Like Miyari, Glen has very little to trade for the time being, but hopefully soon he will have goods for commerce."
Oleg eyes Glen with a raised eyebrow.
"You're an odd one, ain't ya?"
Oleg shakes his head. "Well, whatever. Frontier brings all kinds. As long as you ain't marauding and taking what don't belong to ya from honest folk, you can be as odd as you want out here."
Oleg casts a glance at Ciri then grunts without elaborating further.
"As far as trade, that's the business of this here post, so feel free to come by whenever you need something. If I can't provide it, I'll send word off to Restov or one of the closer towns. Plenty of traveling merchants and caravans these days to get the goods back out here."
Oleg's eyes narrow. "Did I hear the sound of a woodland rascal?" He look dramatically over the top Grub's straw hat in an exaggerated fashion. "Nope. Nothing. I would have sworn I heard something."
After a second, his eyes drop down to Grub.
"Back, too, are you? I guess I shouldn't be shocked. Knew you'd be back around once the army realized you'd eat them out of house and home."
The master of the Trading Post squints at the poorly dressed boy.
"Harper? Is that Ali Harper?"
He grunts. "Back for more adventure, eh. Glad you walked into my fort under your own choice this time. I see your wardrobe hasn't improved. You know Svetlana offered to get you some nicer clothes. We have some she sewed up in her spare time. Can give 'em to you for pretty cheap."
Miyari wrote:
"Thank you, Oleg, it's nice to meet you. I am Miyari of the Jati tribe, though, that doesn't mean anything to anyone, I suppose." She scratches the back of her neck awkwardly and then adds: "I look forward to meeting your other guest, too. I always like to meet new people."
"Good, good, glad to meet you. Plenty of skins and foodstuffs for trade, and I'll buy what you don't want to carry of course. As for the oversleeper, I'm sure your presence will rouse even her." As Ciri emerges, Oleg rolls his eyes. "Speak of the devil..."
Ciri de Vicque wrote:
"Smells good, Olag. Can we eat yet? Svetlana chased me out of the kitchen," she drawls.
Oleg sniffs disapprovingly. "You'll eat when I say you can eat, you lazy she-scoundrel."
Out of the corner of his eye, Oleg sees something glint, and he glances over to see the form of a small girl. His eyes widen slightly in surprise. Distracted, he's too late in stopping Ciri snatch a bit of meat from the roast.
"Hey now! Svetlana! We have some newcomers! We'll need extra places for dinner!"
His eyes return to Arielle a troubled expression clouding his brow.
Llewyn the bard is bewildered for a moment as the sound of his instrument simply ceases to be. He can see his fingers playing, but hears nothing. The temporary deafness is horrifying!
The wave passes over him quickly enough, but leaves his ears ringing. Or was that ringing just in his mind? Hard to say. One thing was for sure, the man on the stage got blown clean off it, Llewyn laughs what would be loudly, but no one can hear it just yet.
He stows his lute and draws a rapier. Who knows if this is over yet?
The bard pauses for a moment to tune his instrument. Then his fingers fly along the lute's string to produce a stirring piece which begins to uplift his sudden and new allies spirits.
One of Corvin's goons suddenly calls out, "Yeah! Now that be a song to be fightin' to." With a renewed vigor he powerfully cudgels one of the attacking cultists.
Llewyn is now using his bardic performance to inspire which provides +1 to saving throws versus charm and fear effects and a +1 to attack and weapon damage rolls.
Glaring at Silva for a moment, Ven sees when Silva breaks eye contact and does his best to avoid Ven. Ven nods slightly and mutters under his breath.
"That's right, young man. Good, perhaps you do know when to keep to yourself."
Turning to address Ameiko, Ven smiles and says, "Good to see you up and around, Ameiko. I heard rumors you had picked up some unusual pieces as the result of your adventures recently. Let me know if you need any help getting them moved."
Throwing one last frown at the tattooed sorcerer, Ven departs after his daughter.
As Shayliss takes a step toward Silva, the door to the tavern opens. A large form with massive arms steps into the room followed shortly by Ven Vinder's searching eyes. His eyes latch onto Silva right away, and a scowl appears.
As if a sixth sense warned her, Shayliss' head snaps around. Her eyes go wide and her face pales when she sees her father in the doorway. Nooooo! Shayliss wails internally. Not now!
As if to say, Yes, now, the shopkeeper's eyes travel to his youngest daughter and an angry twist to his mouth forms. He strides over to her with a purpose. He intentionally positions himself in the several feet of space between Silva and Shayliss. He leans forward and whispers something terse sounding to the young woman. His voice seems to escalate in pitch as he speaks, and by the end of his speech, everyone in the room can clearly hear the word, "Now!"
Shayliss' face turns crimson with mortification, and her expression looks distraught. She starts to say something earnestly, but Ven cuts her off with a single upraised finger. Shayliss casts a single glance at Silva, and a tear starts to track its way down her face. Shayliss turns and walks quickly out of Ameiko's establishment without looking back.
Ven watches his daughter storm out. All the patrons politely pay attention to their food or mugs and do not dare to glance at the powerfully built man. Ven turns and glares at Silva without a sound.
Tsuto turns a bruised and bloodshot eye to blearily focus on the two interrogators each in turn. Is she serious? Tsuto wonders. She's asking questions simply, like a child would. And...she actually expects me to just answer them? Inwardly, Tsuto is amused.
Hmmm...
Tsuto brokenly says, "Trapsh? Noth at all. Before we got there, the Thistlehtop was a thea room that shpecialized in thistle thea. The goblinsh grew ipf and sold ipf. We came along and showed them thapf nobody liked their thea, so they were angry and decided to come show Sandpoinpf whapf they are made of. Once this is all over, you are all invifed up there. For thea. Jusf walk up and open the fronpf door."
Ameiko begins to talk to Silva idly. She shows evidence of her recent ordeal as her movements are strained, but her commitment to her customers has always been one of the reasons her establishment was so popular. Silva's nervousness was apparent to Shayliss more and more as time went on. The cheese and drink Shayliss had ordered had been all but forgotten. Shayliss had heard that Ameiko and Silva went way back, but it had never occurred to her that meant anything else but good friends.
After watching this and becoming acutely aware that Silva was avoiding her stare, Shayliss had a horrible thought. This couldn't mean...no..no! Shayliss looked at Ameiko in horror. The older woman's exotic features were attractive. And she owned the most popular hang out location. And she had been an adventurer. And Silva wasn't taking his eyes off of her.
Shayliss felt panic begin to take hold and it became hard to breathe. A wave of dizziness washed over her. This couldn't be happening..they had...he had...
Shayliss jumped off her stool sending it clattering to the floor. She wanted to say something...but her throat was tight. She found her foot taking a small step towards Silva...I have to hear him tell me it's just nothing. They are just friends...yes, that's all it is! Oh sweet Shelen, please!
At the last statement, a weary resigned expression passes over Tsuto's face. He says nothing, knowing the pretty girl certainly had more to say. He eyed the quiet but intense monk with whom he had done battle. Yes, this was probably going to be very unpleasant. Tsuto winces at the kindness Damieka displays as she dabs his face gently. Already in his mind he's imagining whatever pain they were planning.
The male half-elf twitches. "I tink perhapfs you have shuffered on accountph of your heritage more than of-ers of our kind. I shuffered not because of my heritage. Inshtead I shuffered on accountph of my parentage. My fafver made sure I shuffered."
Tsuto cocks his head in thought. "Ha! If's frue regardlesh how I meanth if."
Tsuto eyes flicker from Davben to Damieka as the Neutral monk chatters about balance. He wonders what possible reason Davben could have for presuming the wretches of Sandpoint would treat him any better than they had proven time and time again to be capable. From where he hangs on the wall, manacled at his wrists and ankles, Tsuto merely grunts at the elven woman's hesitation.
He doesn't know what to make of the guard's dismissal. Tsuto prepares himself for whatever torture the two have planned out of sight of the guards. All this talk of balance, and now this. Tsuto would have laughed if it wouldn't have hurt. Breathing deeply, Tsuto tried to bring his monk training into focus and find that place within where he could weather the upcoming pain.
Tsuto glances up as the doors to the cellroom open. His mouth twists in distaste, and he glowers at Davben and Damieka for a moment before returning his gaze to some middle space and effectively ignores them and everything else.
Her eyes narrow and her mouth opens in what seems to be mock affront that Silva didn't come over to her, but the slight up-turn at the corners of her lips betray the playfulness of the moment. In a slightly exaggerated motion she spins her head away from Silva's direction, her beautiful hair catching the light as it bounces. She makes a little moue with her mouth and a small hmph! emits.
Everyone in the room who is paying attention can clearly see her "snub" Silva, but if anyone is fooled into believing he doesn't have her probably undivided attention despite, they have never had the chance to witness the dance of flirtation by an artiste like Shayliss Vinder. Perfectly poised on her stool, the young woman is the image of femininity and loveliness. As she picks up a slice of cheese and slowly brings it to her mouth, she briefly allows her delicate tongue to meet the cheese before she pushes the soft morsel close enough to take a small nibble. Her eyes twinkle and she gives the briefest flicker of green eyes to make sure Silva is watching every second.
And just then, a door behind the bar opens, and yawning stretching Tien face appears.
"Awwwwwww! Man, I am hurting." Grabbing a bottle from the stock, the raven haired innkeeper pours herself a slug of something probably dwarvish.
Sitting on a stool at the bar, the pretty young woman's lush locks twirl as her head turns to see Silva comes through the door. A smile lights up her face and eyes and they quickly take on a rather mischievous twinkle.
She raises a hand high enough to be even with her chin and waggles her fingers in a coy greeting. She begins to bite her lip in a cute way. As if the small plate of cheeses in laying on the bartop next to her wasn't enough, a hungry expression begins to form on her face at the sight of the town's magical hero.
As he crawled through to the next room, the clerk looked over his shoulder. He could see the signs of suspicious thought in Cassie and the low born gentleman's faces. Of course they're suspicious. They should be. The man stood up once he crossed the door's threshold. He pirouetted and hummed another song. Waves of color washed over him, and any dimensional distortion fragments that may have clung to him were washed away.
Very clever the way the island researchers had determined that the color spectrum of light could be used to re-adhere one to the current plane of existence. Who would have thought that it was color which anchored reality into its segments. It made so much more sense that so many strange things were only found in the dark, or that people claimed to have visions of unknown places and alien creatures while in the shadows of the world.
He wondered how Wowbagger was doing. The deception continued as it always must. After all, neither Taraz and Alessandra were here, so a complete victory was not yet possible. There was much yet to be done with schemes to be foiled and altered, plots to be continued and managed. So many winding strings to pluck and listen to their vibrations. The noise of confusion and false intelligence. How it warmed his cold heart. The clerk laughed allowed at this, knowing the people following him would believe it just part of his madness.
In frustration, Tsuto throws down the worthless bow, frog leaps the goblin, and rolls dextrously past Nicea to end up behind her (H6).
Roll to freedom:1d20 + 10 ⇒ (15) + 10 = 25v. DC 24 (Nicea's CMD of 15+5, +2(Davben), +2(Samara) = Total 24
Then he stands and swings a powerful punch at the small of Nicea's back.
Shoryuken:1d20 + 5 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 5 + 2 = 19
Super Dungeon Fighter Turbo Damage with Sneakiness:2d6 + 1 ⇒ (2, 5) + 1 = 8
As the impact sends pain through Nicea, Tsuto says in a cold quiet voice, "I have slain no kin, you stupid cow. And I do love my sister, but not in whatever demented way you wish to fantasize about when you're rotting in hell."
He straightens into a combat stance as he readies himself. "The woman of my dreams would see all the fools of Sandpoint wiped from the map. I came here to save my sister from the fate of fools!" His face turns bitter. "But she has refused to be saved."
Tsuto Kaijitsu Male Half-Elf 'Asshat Brother'/13 (HP: 237/???)
Tsuto sneers as the warrior woman takes grievous wounds. He places another arrow in his bow and takes aim as Nicea attempts to break the wall of attackers.
"The power of my love for her will defeat you, fool!"
Arrow attack!:1d20 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9Subtract 2 if Nicea doesn't move and dazed goblin is still providing partial cover.
DougFungus:
If Nicea succeeds in moving, Tsuto will direct Goblin 1 into H5 to attack. Goblin 4 should attack Davben if he survives the flurry and Goblin 5 is welcome to use any ranged attack he has after moving into H4.
Tsuto Kaijitsu Male Half-Elf 'Asshat Brother'/13 (HP: 237/???)
See Crits!:
"What?! Those cretins from the festival? Lamashtu's teet!" Tsuto curses.
Pointing to Goblin 1, Tsuto says, "Stay here with me."
Looking at Goblins 4 & 5, Tsuto does a doubletake at the graffiti likeness they have drawn. Eyes narrowing he growls at them, "You two go across the hall and ambush them when they come down."
Tsuto reached into himself and found that bitterness he had reserved for his adopted father. Since 'father' was now dead, it looked like someone else needed to feel that bitter cruelty.
"Nualia...I will prove my love this day!" The whispered hiss was not remotely pleasant.
Tsuto attempts to ignore the goblin screeching and return to his napping.
Goblin 4 and 5 breathe a sigh of relief and continue drawing a picture of a crudely drawn elfish looking man (probably Tsuto) being buggered by a horse.
As the goblin's scream echoes through the basement corridors, a male half-elf stirs from a drunken stupor.
"Is that you screaming again, Dawgsticker? Shut up!"
The two goblins that were drawing graffiti on the walls of the small office freeze. More concerned Tsuto will rouse fully than hearing a screaming cohort.
Her mouth meets Silva's hungrily, yearning for more and promising much. Her hands begin to desperately pull at his belt and clothing. She seems in a great hurry for them to be off. Once Shayliss and Silva complete this task, Shayliss continues to kiss him and pushes him back onto the cot...
And now for the sake of minors and decency, the scene fades to black until DougFungus has a chance to weigh in. For all you lookieloos, let's just say that Shayliss shows Silva her magic. (~_^)
Shayliss giggles happily, and then slowly pulls Silva around to face her. As the rustling foretold, Shayliss has "misplaced" the simple bodice and colorful skirt she had been wearing. Her young supple body gleams in the pale light of the lantern while her faces is slightly shadowed as the lantern's rays are behind her. Her eyes are certainly aglow with that predatory gleam women seem to acquire as their desire and ardor rise.
"Now? Why Master Jural, I assumed you would use your 'magic', and I would be dazzled by it," she says before lifting her head to make her mouth accessible for the kiss she hopes is coming.
Silva hears a soft rustling behind him and then a little patter of feet as the "Oh," escapes his mouth.
"I hope you will forgive me...Master Jural. I may have told you a teensy weensy lie..." says Shayliss behind him is a soft soothing tone that doesn't sound contrite at all. In fact, husky would probably be a good description if he recognizes the tone.
Slender female hands slowly slide around his sides and up to his chest if he doesn't stop them.
Shayliss closes the door after Silva walks inside, and she slowly inserts the key to lock it once more. She hangs the lit lantern on its hook where it casts dim light and causes the barrels and crates to cast long shadows. Her smile takes on different look as she gazes at Silva.
"I last saw one of the...uh, rats just over there behind that barrel with the spices in it." Her slender finger seems to casually point out a container off to one side. Silva can see in the wan light a cot is half sticking out from behind the same barrel.
Shayliss smile increases lighting up her face, and as she glances over her shoulder at Silva, her eyes seem to shine with happiness. She deftly leads Silva to the shop her father runs and leads him around to the side where a set of stairs has been excavated going to a simple door leading to what is assuredly the basement. She produces a key from a pouch at her waist and unlocks the door. It's fairly dark inside, but Shayliss reaches just inside the door and finds a small lantern and some lighting material.
Shayliss seems a tad flustered as she tries to light the lantern, distractedly glancing up at Silva from where she kneels at the foot of the stairs. It seems clear she doesn't want to embarrass herself with the lantern. After a couple shaky tries, Shayliss manages to get the lantern lit. Looking relieved, she says, "Quickly, come inside," and goes into the basement holding the small lantern.
Zara looks back over her shoulder at the trio of Samara, Davben & Damieka; "Please come on, I am sure Silva can fulfill Shayless' requirements"
At this comment, Shayliss turns crimson, and she cutely bites her lip as her eyes seem to look everywhere but Silva. Her hands seem to grip the colorful skirt she wears tightly.
"Um, yes. Please follow me to my father's shop, Master Jural." She shyly peeks at Silva through her golden bangs, a little smile starts to form again. "A noted goblinslayer like yourself should have no problem with a few overgrown rats I am sure, but myself and my father, we aren't so strong as you. You just don't know how much I appreciate this. Thank you."
Shayliss beckons Silva to follow her and walks down the road to her father's shop.
Shayliss blushes prettily and swivels from side-to-side with her hands behind her back.
"Thank you, Master Jural," Her shyness seems to fade somewhat and she moves until she's perhaps 1-2 feet from Silva. "I need your help. Madame Mvashti..." She turns her eyes down again, a small smile playing on her lips. "She told me the only one could solve my rat problem was you. I-I never thought you would just be right here...just right there waiting to help me."
Shayliss looks up at Silva, her green eyes brim with hope. She brings her hands up spreading them apart, and with a little shake of her head she says, "Please Silva Jural. You're my only hope." Her blond curls bounce from side-to-side.
A small squeak bursts out of the young woman as Silva speaks to her.
"Yes, yes you are," she says nodding as if still trying to convince herself. She bashfully takes another step forward.
"I'm...My name is..." For a second her eyes widen and panic crosses her face, but then in a rush she says, "Shayliss Vinder." She seems to breathe a sigh a relief.
DC 20 Diplomacy or Knowledge (local) to know anything about this Sandpoint citizen.
"Right," Silva remarks, practically rolling his eyes at Nicea's suggestion, "Because we need a brave leader to break through the tides of our adoring fans, who will no doubt do anything it takes to stop us from walking down the street!"
A rather attractive young woman comes out of Madame Mvashti's House with an uncertain expression. She has her eyes downcast and seems to be walking aimlessly. She stops after a couple of steps. As the party approaches she looks up startled.
She immediately recognizes them, and quickly her eyes track to each of them. As they land on Silva, she gasps in surprise and glances at the slip of fortune paper in her hand. Hope and a bright smile appears on her face. She begins to blush and doesn't maintain eye contact with Silva if he has noticed her. She takes a step towards him, but hesitates slightly.
"Excuse me? Are-are you Silva Jural?" Her star struck eyes says she knows exactly who Silva is.
