The Knight follows Blue Thorn to the next location. "I'll go and have a quick look around," he whispers to the others. Sticking to the shadows and watching his footing, The Pale Knight creeps carefully towards the pub.
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"Sounds like they're going to reseal the gate," Adun whispers as the guards wander off. "We should get out of here before they come back. Seeing as the Thrashing Badger is on this side of the river, I say we go there next."
The Knight lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding as the thugs let Agnes go and wander off. He keeps still for a few moments, listening for their footsteps disappearing down the street, before turning to whisper at The Shadow. "Let's hold here until Agnes gets back."
Uncertain of how Agnes' quick thinking will go, Adun tries to quietly position himself behind the wall near the open gate, ready to attack if things go awry.
Hearing The Pack's warning The Knight drops into a crouch behind a pile of wet rubble, watching and listening for who might be approaching.
Adun nods at the Fiend as he slips through the gate passes by him along the inside of the wall. "It'll be a bad job if someone heard us though," he whispers back.
Adun gives The Fiend a boost over the wall then returns to watching for trouble. With The Fiend and The Beast over the wall, he moves back towards the gate to join up with the others. "Let's try and get these open," he says, seeing The Pack stuck at the base of the wall. He pulls his crowbar from it's sheath on his belt and waits for the two on the other side to help him.
"Good idea," Adun says at The Pack's suggestion. "She may sense things that we cannot." Adun moves a few yards from the group, looking around the area for any evidence that they are being watched.
"Agnes is right," Adun agrees. "And you've done so much for us," he says to Rexus, "I hope we can help you in some small way. Is there anything you want us to look for? Anything that was precious to your or your family we could try to retrieve? I know what it's like to lose everything - even the smallest memento can mean a lot."
"They're all places likely to stand up against the mayor and his Asmodean lackeys," Adun surmises. "No wonder they were targeted. If we go snooping around we're going to attract some attention from the dottari I suspect, but we might also draw the eye of people who we could persuade to join us."
"Depends on what was happening behind closed doors in these places," Adun muses. "There could have been other secret societies working against Thrune that we don't know about."
"The dottari have gotten much more hands-on since Thrune came to power," Adun says. "They were never the most restrained men and women in the city but now they've been emboldened by the mayor's shows of cruelty. I'd keep out of their way in future," he suggests.
Adun nods respectfully at the tengu's wishes, before turning away to head back to the coffeehouse above. "It wasn't what I expected down there," he replies, before telling Rexus about the crocodile, Nan's death at Chough's hand, and the group of tengu they had recruited to their cause.
"The Fiend is right. The Thrunists will stop at nothing to prise information out of us. The less we know about each other, the safer we are for now," Adun adds. "It's not that I don't trust you," he says to the tengu, "but they have ways of making you talk."
Adun is uncomfortable at the suggestion that Chough be executed. "If she is as dangerous as you say, then there is little choice," he says sadly.
"We can easily get you food from upstairs. We're still working on how to get hidden access to the city though, but we'll do what we can," Adun says, trying to reassure the tengu. "As to us, we're a group of citizens concerned about the direction being taken by the city we love. The Silver Ravens are a group of freedom fighters from Kintargo's past. It's been suggested that we take on that title, to inspire our fellow Kintargans and to free the city from the tyrant Barzillai Thrune."
Adun stays quiet during the exchange, in awe of Carl’s eloquence and passion. ”Anyone who wishes to fight with us to throw off the yoke of Thrune and make this city what it once was is welcome here,” he adds.
Adun hopes that his forceful words haven't hampered Silver Shadow's much more eloquent attempt at negotiation.
Adun reflexively wants to raise his fists to protect himself but he tries his hardest to present a non-threatening appearance to the Tengu. "We're colleagues of Laria, the woman who owns the coffee house above," he says pointing towards the ceiling. "She hadn't heard from her friend Nan in a while, so we came down to look," he explains. "Now you know who we are - who are you? What are you doing down here? And are you responsible for the corby we captured?" Adun asks, forcefully but not aggressively.
”They can’t have gone far,” Adun muses, ”their lantern is still warm.” He turns towards the empty space and shouts ”We’re not here to hurt anyone! We just want to make sure it’s safe down here!”
"Let's leave it here then," Adun suggests, realising they have no way to communicate with the creature. "We may find something that helps us understand it further into the tunnels. Let's have a proper look in here," he adds, raising his magically-lit gauntlet and stepping into the chamber from which the corby emerged.
"Looks like a dire corby, I've heard of people being ambushed by them in tunnels during building works. Does anyone speak it's language?" Adun asks, backing away from the thrashing creature and hoping his knots hold up.
Adun takes the rope, glad that the birdman wasn’t going to get another chance to attack, and ties him up like tying up a roll of roofing felt, trying to get it done before his opponent woke up.
Adun's quick reactions are all that save him from the crow-man's sharp talons as he hears the strike split the air in front of him. Unsure if he recognises the creature he nonetheless brings his gauntlets up, settles his weight and launches a punch at the thing's head.
"We should move on," Adun suggests. "It looks like Nan met an unpleasant end, but there could be more dangerous creatures lurking down here." He pads back to the opening in the wall he was abut to look down previously.
"I knew there was a good reason to stay away from the canals," Adun says as he walks over to check on the Fiend. "Is he alive?" he asks no one in particular, hoping someone with more healing skill can keep the Fiend alive.
The crocodile's razor teeth score deep gouges into Adun's leg but the timely intervention of the Blue Thorn prevents the beast from dragging him into the water. He punches down at the crocodile again, his fists beating against its hide.
With the Fiend safely out of harms way Adun launches himself towards the crocodile, desperate to knock it out before it can bite anyone else. He slams his gauntlet towards the creature's scaly head.
Adun rushes over to the fallen and bloody Fiend and grabs him by his cloak. Bending his knees and keeping his back straight, Adun drags his friend across the dusty floor like dragging a sack of sand across a building site.
The body wedged under the pier is a sign to Adun that something has gone wrong down here and he advances cautiously towards an opening in the wall opposite the pier. "Careful Fiend," he says quietly, "there might be something unpleasant lurking in the water." Adun then pokes his head around the corner, looking for threats.
The stink that assails Adun's nostrils isn't quite as bad as the stagnant fountain below the livery, but it's not far off. Lifting his gauntlet to provide some light he steps through the secret door and looks around for danger.
Adun enjoys his breakfast, feeling more hungry than normal after the previous day’s escapades. After a quick wash he dresses, adding the hooded cloak and mask of The Pale Knight before going up with the others. ”Thanks Darius,” he says, accepting the spell and seeing his gauntlet flare to light. ”Let’s see what’s down here,” he mutters, raising his lit gauntlet and peering into the gloom.
"Thanks," Adun says, feeling much better with Blue Thorn's magic easing his pain and settling his burgeoning bruises. "A lot of this stuff is really well made," he adds, laying out the weapons and armour on the table, admiring the quality of their manufacture. "I don't suppose anyone has a key to this?" he asks as he hefts the iron coffer onto the table with a dull thud.
"It wasn't somewhere I'd rush back to," Adun agrees, "but I can see why it was chosen as a hideout." He starts unpacking some of the items they found beneath the livery, laying it out on the table for Laria to inspect.
Glad to see Rexus safe when they emerge, Adun follows along with the rest of the group to the coffeehouse. He's about to ask what they're doing here when a halfling woman, clearly the proprietor, greets them all like they're old friends and not-too-subtly ushers them out of her parlour and into the back room. Unwilling to drop his new identity as yet, Adun stands with Rexus and the others, still wary.
"Looks like it. The base of the wall is weak here," Adun says, pointing out where the masonry is crumbling, "probably due to previous damage and damp ingress. We could chip a crawlspace through and get it repaired without compromising the rest of the wall. Probably easier than taking on that angry dog again."
"We can clean out that pool of goop," Adun replies, "this place would serve as a great hideout. We can restore the livery to provide cover and use the cellars below." He looks over at Blue Thorn. "Seems like a good plan. Let's go," he says, moving over towards the door.
"Agreed, let's get back upstairs and check on Rexus. We can bring him down here to make sure we haven't missed anything, now that we've cleared it out," Adun suggests.
"Over by those boxes?" Adun asks, moving over to look around the crates he'd spotted in the corner. He gauntlets are raised defensively as he checks the area for more infernal inhabitants.
Adun wipes devil gunk off his cloak and the flicks it from his gauntlets. "I could use one of those for next time, thanks," he says to Blue Thorn, slipping one of the vials into his belt pouch. "We could get this cleaned up and rebuilt pretty quickly," he states, standing with hands on hips, surveying the rooms.
Adun's frustration grows as the creature continues to survive the group's attacks. Wary of the damage it could cause he strikes again.
Adun hisses in pain as the devil's claw scores across his abdomen. He transfers his loaded sling into his left hand and uses the opening provided by The Fiend to launch a punch at the lemure.
With the last creature lurking in the rank pool Adun is unable to reach it. He pulls a sling out from under his cloak, drops a metal sphere into it's cup and, checking his surroundings first, begins to wind up for a shot.
Adun steps nimbly around the revolting creature, his gauntlet coated in slime, and strikes again, trying to penetrate it's unnatural hide.
One of the grotesque creatures slithers towards Adun and he strikes quickly, his gauntlet slamming into it's head.
"Looks like it was a nice fountain once upon a time," Adun says as The Beast steps forwards into the room. Adun follows The Beast and The Fiend in and sees two nightmarish flesh-mounds moving towards them. He raises his gauntlet and calls "What the Hells are those things?"
Adun visibly recoils from the stink and looks around the room in undisguised revulsion. The room is clearly in terrible condition and he quickly surveys the area for anything that might cause a structural issue should the group venture in.
"Definitely need to bring a crowbar," Adun mutters, wiping flakes of rust from his cloak. He follows the group down the stairs and takes up position by the door. He inspects it for locks, listening carefully for signs of life beyond.
"We could do with a lever. Does anyone have a long rod or staff?" Adun asks, putting his knowledge of engineering to use. He looks round for some sort of lever to help open the stuck gate.
"Does anyone know what those things are?" Adun asks as he cleans his gauntlets off on one of the less soiled blankets. "Fiend, can you direct your lights over here?" he adds, moving over to the rusted grate and peering down the stairs.
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