Cole will cautiously follow Gawain down the ladder, as soon as he's able.
The elf takes a final glance around the fishery and, wrinkling his nose, descends into the depths below.
"Keep an eye on that shark," Leliestraat whispers, his eyes adjusting to the lighting.
"I still have a few spells left," Leliestraat offers, gripping his longsword in a lowered position as he tries to navigate the narrow depths.
"If one of us is bold enough to open the way ... or break the door down," he smiles, "I can blast the occupants while we storm in."
"I have a spell that never misses," he grins.
"Well, if we rearrange ourselves a little," Simn says, indicating the junction leading to the ship as a possible means of doing so, "I can tackle the lock."
Once this occurs, he is naturally going to check the door for traps. It does seem the logical place for one, given that Lamm is almost the only person who uses it.
With no locks to be found, Simn checks to see that everyone's ready, making sure his own crossbow is in hand, then opens the door, stepping through and to the side so as to leave a clear path for the enthusiasts in the group.
Fraz is eager to charge in; to find out the fate of his sister. However, he'll differ to Cole, Simn, and Leliestraat for now. If it's possible he'll sheath his longword and draw his bow for now. Barring anything else, he'll follow the three others in through the door.
With all the pushing and jostling on the narrow walkway, Gawain is grimly silent, concentrating on not bathing with the shark. When the door is opened, he will try to arrange to be second or third through, so as to take advantage of his reach to protect whoever goes first.
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Simn opens the door and steps through, only to have a small crossbow bolt plant itself in the wooden wall to his left.
He sees in another corner of the room a jaundiced, bent, corpse of a man, his eyes yellowed and skin speckled with age. He wears only a ratty, gray cotton robe, and is holding a hand crossbow. As he sees Simn, the old man cackles. "You -- I know you! I always thought you'd make a good partner. What say you shiv those other fools out there for me? I don't have to tell you the pay'll be more than fair."
The air in this large room is somewhat chilly and stinks of the river, no doubt thanks to a huge opening in the floor that drops away to the river shore five feet below. Several pilings emerge from the waters to support the roof above, with mossy ropes slung between them. In two places, rusty manacles hang from the ropes over the water. Two five-foot-wide walkways cross the hole's edge to the other side of the chamber, where a collection of old cabinets, lockboxes, and piles of clutter are strewn about. Chipped porcelain plates, a cracked goblet, badly rusted silverware, an old wooden shield with a crossbow bolt embedded in it, the odd dinged helm, and other "treasures" litter the floor of this entire chamber. Three tables, their tops heaped with additional clutter, stand amid this mess, while just west of that a wooden door seems to provide access to a walled-off section.
Fraz has his bow out. Gaedren has acted in the surprise round. Leliestraat is up.
Cole will burst into the room, converting his ability to turn the undead and gaining divine speed and health as he rushes along the path towards Gaedron.
As Simn opens the door and encounters a speeding crossbow bolt, Leliestraat passes into the room with elven grace and pauses just beyond the door, allowing free egress to the others.
The wizard draws arcane and indiscernible symbols in the air before him and breathes a chant in an alien tongue. From his thin fingers darts a lance of blueish green light which traverses the room in an unerring path toward the old man cackling within.
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Gaedren grunts and staggers as the magic bolt strikes home. He looks at Leliestraat. "I don't know you, do I? What the hell are you doing here? No matter."
The hunchbacked old man reloads his hand crossbow, fires into the water, and quickly steps back from the edge. His strike is rewarded by a thrashing in the water, as a large alligator reacts violently to what can only be a sting.
Cole bursts in and approaches the thief, sword drawn, drawing on speed granted by his goddess.
Fraz
Simn
Gawain
Avalon
Leliestraat
Gaedren
Glancing at the thrashing beast, Fraz decides to pin Lamm so he doesn't move again. His anger is bubbling up as he fires.
"Where's Eva, you bastard? Talk!"
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Glancing at the thrashing beast, Fraz decides to pin Lamm so he doesn't move again. His anger is bubbling up as he fires.
"Where's Eva, you bastard? Talk!"
The arrow sinks deep into Lamm's belly, resulting in a rapidly-expanding bright red patch on his robe and a shriek of pain. He gasps and answers, "Eva? Oh, I remember her." He laughs, weakly. "You'd have to ask Gobbleguts."
Simn gets the distinct impression that Lamm has completely lost it. He may have become his own supplier in the drugs business. Unfortunately, that doesn't make him or his pet any less dangerous. He doesn't like to contemplate the purpose those manacles may have served. Nor does Lamm's commentary on the fate of Eva reassure him in this regard.
Deciding that he doesn't have a clear shot at Lamm, and in any case, the others seem to be focusing on him quite nicely, Simn takes a potshot at Gobbleguts. Being rather closer to ideal snack size than the others, Simn feels this is a priority. Odds are the alligator is going to seriously maul somebody if they don't do something about it fast.
Ranged Attack: 1d20+3=11, Damage: 1d8=8, Sneak attack (if applicable): 1d6=3
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Simn's croosbow bolt misses the alligator. Gawain is unable to get into a good attack position, but feels the grace of Shelyn coming upon him for his next attempts. Avalon is unable to get into the room, so keeps a watchful eye on that shark.
The alligator attempts to pull itself up onto the deck beside Frasides, but is unable.
Judging the distance to Lamm from his position and the ineffectual potential of a cold spell from such a vantage, Leliestraat glances at what could only be Gobbleguts rearing out of the water near Fraz.
Shifting his attention toward the reptilian, the elf brushes past Frasides Francol and the alligator to engage the beast from a position opposite Fraz. Wielding his longsword, Leliestraat whirls and swings the blade at the creature’s head.
He gasps and answers, "Eva? Oh, I remember her." He laughs, weakly. "You'd have to ask Gobbleguts."
The old man's creepy words, combined with the sudden attack of the gator, leaves Frasides cold for a moment. What he thought he might find was terrible, but this is even worse. His shock is suddenly replaced by an intense fury; and he pulls his sword and strikes at the beast with all his might.
Sword (1d20+3=19) Damage (1d8+2=8)
"Damn your eyes, you'll bleed this night!"
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Leliestraat slips past Frasides and the alligator, the latter snapping its jaws ineffectually against the elf, but is not able to connect to the beast in his turn.
Gaedren turns to Cole as he reloads. "I should have fed you to Gobblegut the moment you showed up snot-nosed on my stoop!" Lamm's crossbow bolt pierces Cole's upper arm (-2hp).
Meanwhile, Frasides, in his fury, brings his sword hard across the alligator's back, causing blood to cloud to water.
Gawain watches his companions, waiting to see what they do. "If Simn and Cole both move aside, I can charge Lamm," he thinks. "Otherwise, I'll help with that alligator."
Undaunted by his failure, Simn takes another shot at Gobbleguts. So far, the creature hasn't managed to hurt anybody, and he'd like to keep it that way.
Cole takes a step forward with his longsword drawn.
"Prepare to pay for all the children you've hurt, all the lives you've destroyed, Gaedron today is your judgement day!" Cole says as he swings at the enemy.
Despite Lamm being dropped, there's still fury in Frasides' eyes. Even as Gobbleguts tries to sink below the water, he drops his longsword and pulls a short sword while jumping into the water to chase the beast.
Simn is just making his way over towards Lamm with vengeful thoughts in mind when he sees Frasides' act of utter madness.
"Fraz, No!" He shouts, alas too late for the warning to have any impact. Simn can only watch and wait to see if he makes it out. Wait, there may be something he can do. Simn removes the pilfered wand from his belt and levels it at the shadow of the gator, trying some of the more common command words for such items.
"Accoli. Fiote. Vang!"
"Fraz, what are you... Ah, dammit, I'm coming!" With that, Gawain jumps into the water as well and makes his best speed after the gator, hoping for an opportunity to attack.
Leliestraat watches with a mixture of bemusement and helplessness as Fraz pursues the wounded gator, understanding his desire for vengeance but wishing him safety from its powerful jaws.
‘There isn’t any chance the shark has access to that pool is there,” he worries aloud.
Seeing Simn unleash the retrieved wand and struggle to wield it, Leliestraat calls to him.
“If we can find a pearl of substantial value here,” he offers, “I can attempt to identify it later.”
Cole will stand numbly staring down at the bleeding body of Gaedren Lamm. He lets the bloody sword drop to the ground and wonders about the empty feeling in his heart. "This was supposed to end the pain, but it hasn't even dulled it" Cole thinks.
He is unsure of his next course of action as he sees that Gaedren isn't quite dead, torn between his desire for Lamm's death and his feeling that this isn't the right thing to do. When Leliestraat stabs Gaedren it shakes Cole from his musings. Realizing that the decision was made for him, Cole will help Leliestraat with looking over the body.
Despite the shouts of caution and danger, Fraz's fury is unabated as he brings his blade down fiercely into Gobblegut - bloodying the waters of the pool even more. Only one of us is coming out alive now, monster...
Short Sword (1d20+3=23)
Critical (1d20+3=19)- if applicable
Damage (1d6+2=7), (1d6+2=8)
Frasides breathes hard as the andrenaline and anger begins to subside. He stands over the gator's corpse soaked in blood and water; his grip still firm on the blade and a forlorn look in his eyes as he stares at the beast.
DM:
After staring a moment longer, Fraz seems to make up his mind on something. "Lamm's dead and so is his pet," he says flatly.
"There's something I must do now...for my family. Please give me a bit of time."
Without much more comment, he seems to take measure of the beast and then proceeds to carefully slice the creature along certain lines of the body. He begins removing the gator's hide with as much ease as one would lift a blanket. The look of anger has been replaced with a look of diligence for the time being.
Craft (1d20+3=21)
When he finishes, the beast remains intact, but retains no inch of its flesh. He briefly glances at the creature's belly...another thought having entered his mind...but the magnitude of what he might find causes him to grit his teeth and shed a tear. He lets the carcass sink to the bottom of the pool now...as he takes the hide and clambers out of the water.
He utters quietly, "Damn you, Gaederen Lamm. May the devils of Hell feast on your miserable soul."
"Did someone say 'shark'?" Gawain quickly clambers back up out of the water. Walking to stand over Gaedren's unmoving body, gazes at it, face still. "Not by my hands, but by my will, at least. Rest well, Arwen."
Simn looks at Lamm's dead body for a few moments, then shrugs. Lamm needed to die, and now he's dead. He's vaguely disappointed that he never got a chance to jam that pouch of shiver down his throat, but ultimately it wasn't that important anyway. The important part was making sure the man never wrecked any more lives, and that at least has been accomplished.
There is still one more thing to be done here. Hookshanks had said that unruly children and a good chunk of the loot were lowered down to Lamm. Obviously, neither is in this room (Not anymore, at least), but there is still one door to be checked.
Simn makes his way over to that door, leaving the others to deal with Lamm's death however they see fit, and sets about opening it.