Nikolai fires another arrow at the creature and makes another advance while still trying to blend in with the fishermen.
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Nikolai takes aim at the squiddy looking on and lets an arrow fly.
His attack ends the potion's effects.
"He's talking to Olek? Ugggh, I can't think about this right now, we gotta get onto that ice floe!" Nikolai shoves one bundle of rope into his pack and gulps down the invisibility potion. "Let's GO!" He jumps for the ice floe.
She turns to Nikolai. "Do you think you could get close and scope out the situation quietly?" Nikolai nods a slightly more enthusiastically than suits the mood. He gestures toward the clear potion. "Should be able to get real close if that's what I think it is. 'Course footprints are something to think about in flarging snow. These may help." He picks up a pair of snow shoes and shoves them in his backpack. He eyes the skates. "Those could be fun, anyone got dibs? I've got room in my pack for whatevers left over." He unzips the two outer pockets of his backpack and turns it over. A plethora of gems ranging in all colors begin to fall out and continue to do so for some time as he shakes it like he's salting the floor. "That should cover most of it at least"
Nokloai is primarily looking for the creepy eye in the ocean scanning for contrast differences in the surface which may indicate a larger body swimming below.
"Last time we had the company of the mindless and self-destructive we also had a giant flurging eye. I'm going to get a better look." He scurries up the tallest mast of the ship to get a lay of the land...errr...water...
Nikolai wipes the crab juice off of his dagger and sheaths it. He looks at the clumping piles of brains and cravums. He scans the hole where the mysterious eye once was with suspicion. He looks to the ragged townsfolk. Grit looks off expecting someone else to do the talking better than he is. "What the hell happened here?"
Nikolai sees a claw headed for his jugular and manages to stop it with his arm (uncanny dodge 1/2 damage)
Nikolai attempts to shank the crab with his dagger.
In a deft display of flexibility and nimbleness Nikolai slips out of the crabs grasp. A look of frustration on his face. He ducks under another swipe of a claw and moves toward the fog.
Nikolai lets an arrow loose towards the creepy eyeball.
He then scuttles behind the blinded crab and attempts to obscure himself behind the monstrosity.
Nikolai clenches a dagger tight in his fist and attempts guide it towards a soft spot in the crabs shell.
He then scampers away, feet slipping on the wet rock.
Nikolai utters a halfling curse under his breath and his clothes begin to shift and change again. He now appears to be wearing the clothing of the townsfolk. "I'm going to get an even closer look." He carefully ambles his way down the corridor towards the crabs and brains using the entranced victims as cover.
Nikolai thinks towards Grit, "I'm going to get a closer look. See I'd I can figure out what they're doing." His clothes turn jet black and he makes his way towards a wall and creeps forward keeping to its edge.
Nikolai un-shoulders his bow and nods at grit. "I'm in. Let's get a look-see at what's going on inside."
"Fitting in is always the best way to catch someone off guard. Hmm, I wonder if they might notice your err, scaliness? I may have some makeup to tone that down a touch. Maybe we should borrow some clothes so you look more fisherman like too. When it comes to dealing with the big bad, well, I'm generally partial to getting them distracted while I plunk an arrow in their back."
"Clean things get dirty. Dirty things get clean. That's the way life is. If something's trying to corrupt this town, well, we'll just have to uncorrupt it. Just like how Florr and Olek uncorrupted that manor. Seems our choices are rather limited. We could run to that cave like a pack of race horses with blinders on, God's be damned at whatever trouble we run into. Or we could poke around here some more and try to get a clear picture of what is happening from a bunch of sprouts too innocent to realize they should eat the food in front of them to survive--" He stops speaking abruptly and scrunches his face a bit "What's up with these moppets anyway? Why weren't any of the children posessed? Hmmm, wonder if that detail would mean anything to a book worm like Olek or Ol' Bill." He pops his head back up, "Well, they aren't here are they? I'm thinking we should go steal-errr-borrow a boat."
She stands, turns, looks at her companions. "First of all, I think we should set up a safe house for these kids and distribute some food and fresh water. What do you guys think? Any other ideas?" She lowers her voice. "Nikolai and I can fill you in on what we know about this situation once we get the kids settled." "Which one of these shops sells general supplies? I'm sure I can manage to let myself in and see if there's anything left. If its got a roof and walls I suppose it'd be as safe as anywhere else around here." He turns to Milo, "You wanna see how locks work? Or rather, how they don't?"
"Careful Florr, this whole situation smells like low tide. Remember what those sailors told us? Where is everyone? We can check out this stall but I'm going to try to stay out of sight. I've got your back though." Nikolai will try to hide out back, listening intently and looking for another entrance.
"What in the world happened?!" "Hoo boy, lucky I ran into you lot. What are you all doing out here? I got a bit turned around trying to take a short cut and it was starting to get dark. I found a nice hollow that got me out of the wind and cold and built a fire. I was awfully hungry and decided to warm up some meat pies I had packed. Next thing I know there are two wolves sniffing about me and my pies. Seemed to me there weren't enough food to go around about the three of us. I tossed the pies at them and tried to make a break for it. One of them went to town on my food but the other one jumped me, slammed me against a rock. I gave him a stick of my dagger and didn't stop running till I found you lot." He looks toward the group of sailors, "Names Gunther Thistlethorn. I know this lot from back at The Cross. I'm a trader in trinkets and hard to come bys. You need something, I know how to get it. Isn't that right Florr?"
Mental whispering to Grit and Florr:
Nikolai utters his favorite halfling curse and his clothes become tattered and filthy. Large tears which look to be made by similarly large claws appear on the back of his tunic. He giggles to himself a bit as he does every time he triggers his magical armor. The memory of Olek's face when he learned that Nikolai managed to attune the armor to respond to the halfling word which roughly translates to "you have a butt where your face should be" would always cause him to grin. He takes a bit of red paint from his disguise kit and splotches it about his ears. "Wish us luck." He then sprints around the shack yelling "HELP ME! LET ME INSIDE!"
Nikolai attempts to move closer to the shack. If there is an opening via a window or door or miscellaneous hole where he can get a good view of the inside he will skulk there in the shadows. For now he listens to see if the current conflict is cooling down or about to boil over.
"Whaddya think Grit? They don't seem too hostile. We could make a play like we got separated from Florr and we just tracked her down. Get ourselves inside near that warm fire. May be suspicious but maybe I could smooth it over?"
"Sounds like they're running from something bad near the coast. Would be good to get an idea of what we're about to run into. Florr's from there, I agree she should chat them up. Shout if you want the arrows to start flying."
He turns to Nikolai "Want to scout things out with me and fill in Sihric and Florr with what we find out?" Nikolai nods in agreement. "Place doesn't look sealed up too well. Should be able to hear em jabbering if we get close enough. Maybe get a good look through the gaps too."
"Eh, I'm not sure I got much for the little one, no ponies or anything, 'specially if he ain't got much riding experience. In this weather you might be best off with a sled or a sleigh and hitching your horse to it." "Oooh, a sleigh ride could be fun! What do you think Florr?" He gives a sideways glance to Constance, "It'd also allow a bit of room for any souvenirs we may find along the way. I am a bit of a collector of things worth collecting afterall..."
She looks at Nikolai again. "Do you have a horse? I'll be riding Storm Surge, and this'll get us there faster. I can help you take care of it too!" "Hrm, I've never owned a horse. I bet I know where I can find one though..." He remembers who he is talking to again. "I mean, if you can help me pick one out that won't panic when things go awry then I can buy one from that strange lady up the road. Most of my experiences with horses have ended poorly."
Changing the subject, she says, "You know Nikolai, I miss my friends Thravum, Oleksandr, and Olias. They've been gone for weeks now - you'd really get along with them, I know. Particularly Oleksandr. I think the two of you would have great stories to exchange!" She gets a refill. "I hope they get back soon. I wonder if one of them would be up for a trip east, perhaps Olias. I'd like to hear what other songs he's learned. Maybe he'll have a dwarven song from under the mountain!" Nikolai sips from a large mug of beer using both hands. "Olek? Tall guy with a beard? Always reading books and talking to his bird? I've known him a looooong time. I used to work for his father. Well, not his real father, he died when Olek was a baby. His teacher though. Mr. Karl. Olek was coming out this way to find out what happened to him. I helped him get here. Hired a crew and stole- uh...nevermind, heh." "What do you say about heading out on another adventure with me? I fancy a visit to my home on the eastern shore. I've heard... rumors... that something may be afoot there." "Sure, I'll tag along! Got that angry woman giving me the stink eye since I beat her at dice. Could use some time to let that cool off. I just gotta make sure I get a message to Olek. If he's not back before you want to leave I can leave it with Ol' Bill if he's around. What kind of job are we talking about here?"
Nikolai picks up his dice and rolls with a slight giggle.
He rerolls the 1 and 2
"Hmm, looks like we lose our sixes, and a five, and a four. I win 8 to 6."
"That's because I was already on a job. You're lucky. I would have done it much faster and much cleaner. I heard those bodies washed into a group of farmers wives trying to do laundry. Spooked to town and the merchants are playing dumb. Pretty sloppy." "You just dumped them in the water without weighing them down? That's going to raise some eyebrows. Bet some of them guards are going to be preeeetttty grumpy about losing that extra gold. Sure hope they don't show up here." "Look, I don't carry that kind of coin into a tavern. Seen too many people too drunk to notice their wallets been lifted and besides, if I needed that much drinking money I'd be dead. Seems a bit sloppy to not keep it safe. If you want to roll on my word I'm in for your price. You know I'm good for it and we can have a witness observe our agreement."
"Woo ee! I love your enthusiasm but I make it a rule not to carry around that much coin because of people like me. I'll wager my lucky ring against that stack though. Take a look. Saved me from a bears grapple. Helped me steal a boat with none to notice me. Survived the sting of a giant scorpion. I owe my life to this ring. Whether my life is worth more than 50 large coins may be up for debate, I'd pay more for it though." Nikolai shows her his minor ring of protection.
"Not much of a talker eh? That's alright, I can talk enough for both of us. Let's see how the bones roll for me."
"Hoo boy look at them fives! And you without any to cancel them out." He re-rolls the ones
"5, 2, 5, 5, 3, 3" "So we both lose a 3 and a 2 giving us both 18? Does that mean we should put 50 more into the pot?"
"Huh, never played Rusty Knuckles before but I'll kick in 50 gold to the pot. You probably heard of our run-in with them elves. What have you been up to to get money burning your pockets?"
"Didn't mean to offend Miss. Just seeing if there were any work I could do to help pay. I'll get you your 20."
After an exhausting journey Nikolai relishes a warm bed and the tavern atmosphere of the Drunken Horse. After a week or so of drinking his money he starts to get a little anxious. The heavy snowfall is giving him a mild case of cabin fever. He'll challenge other patrons to cards or dice or even chess. He has found in the past that the different games attract different sorts of adversaries. Dice players are more reckless. Card players like to think they are in control (but they seem to lose more when using Nikolai's deck). Chess players tend to be rare in his haunts, and they seem to be the most careful, but the nature of the game leads to longer conversations. All of them are useful to chat up to see what they let slip into the rumor mill. He becomes particularly interested in Breena's ring of invisibility. He has deposited most of his valuables into the guild bank, but he is considerably short of the asking price. He won't risk trying to outright steal it. People are getting to know him here and he doesn't need a target on his back. He needs to raise some capital if possible or work out a deal. "That is a mighty fine ring but at that price you could own the whole town! No one around here that could use this ring has that kind of money. What can I do for you to bring down the price? Everyone has a job they don't have the stomach for. I'm small. I barely have a stomach."
Nikolai signals for Florr to come over. "Are you all prepared supply wise?" He begins to empty out a bag of potatoes in a corner of the cart. "Here I want you to take something." He tips his backpack over emptying its contents into the potato bag. You hear several dozen more clumps and clinks than you think a halfling sized backpack should be able to produce. He then holds it out to her. "We can split some of this food up. Carry it in this. It can hold more than it looks. I hid in it once so I could..." He remembers who he is talking too and that Rurik may be listening and starts again abruptly but shakily, "Well, I'm expecting it returned to me in a few days." He then turns to the rest of the group in a much clearer voice, "Anyone so much as peek into this potato sack and you'll end up like that one," he says gesturing to the bugbear.
"Yeah, no reason for this thing to be robbing a grocer. I'm convinced to go straight to Haven's Cross. We got food an (he looks at the driver) plenty to burn to stay warm. Lets get going. I'll start taking inventory." We got food an (he looks at the driver) plenty to burn to stay warm.
"I wouldn't call that your average highway man brigand." "Then what would he want with average things?" He looks to the driver, "Anything we should know?" He glances at Rurik then back to the driver, "We're with the Haven's Cross guild you know. Your safe now."
Seems to me that in order to survive we need food and shelter. Looks like we have some food. I think we should get to the closest shelter.
Nikolai giggles which may be slightly unsettling. He shouldn't be having this much fun but hey, at least he's on your side. He makes his way northward (move plus dash cunning action). He takes aim at the western bear.
Nikolai tracks Thursday bugbear's movement. He twists around and avoids Floor using the snow to slide around her and pursues his target engaged with Rurik. He attacks with his dagger.
He then runs behind Rurik.
Nikolai fires an arrow at the Bugbear.
He then runs behind Aengus and uses his bonus action to hide.
Nikolai jumps into the cart [move plus dash bonus cunning action]. He fires an arrow at "figure."
He yells to the driver, "It's your lucky day!"
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