"A pleasure then Mr. Zincher. I prefer not to fight if it can be at all avoided." replies Uzes. He does his best to remain ever the amicable host to the competition.
Sorda will eventually go to the Cyphermages, but not this week. he is busy losing friends and breaking contact with every Temple in town. determinedly he keeps on all week until he has learnt nothing from all of them.
In an attempt to mend fences, Zavos seeks out Sorda.
"I understand that you have been asking around about the strange cloud. I've heard a bit here and there...", Zavos begins, then he tells Sorda all that he knows about the Blot.
"Very well, Mr. Vancerkaskin. Zindit, I leave the catwalks in your capable hands."
Amunyet goes back to her room and changes into the dress she typically wears when she makes her rounds as hostess. Heading back out onto the gaming floor, she sidles up to the table where Zegg Clincher is playing. She first addresses Uzes, saying, "Good evening, Uzes! I trust everything is going well tonight?" Then, turning to Zincher, she says (in a slightly more sultry voice and with a nice smile), "Mr. Zincher, what an unexpected surprise! I am Amunyet Meretshiri, one of the hostesses here at the Gold Goblin. Is there anything you need, or anything I can get you?"
Diplomacy (if needed) (1d20+6=22)
DM, Sorda
Diplomacy (gather info) check (1d20+6=12)
"Good evening Amunyet. I see you've met Mr. Zincher. He has joined me for a pleasant evening, do join us." replies Uzes.
"Very well, Mr. Vancerkaskin. Zindit, I leave the catwalks in your capable hands."
Zindit bobbed her head. "Yes ma'am I'll take care of it I always do what I'm told so you don't have to worry!" she said with painfully forced cheer.
After Amunyet left, Zindit tried to divide her attention between Zincher and the rest of the casino. It was hard to focus on anything other than the noted guest though. She found herself hoping he would try something the she could catch and report, or even better: that he would become violent and possibly a threat to the priestess and Uzes. That way she could jump down and save the day. She had stabbed someone in the back before, after the man had chased her into one of Riddleport's alleyways. She was fairly certain she had a knack for it if she had to.
She even humored the idea of Zincher possibly killing Amunyet before he was stopped. That would solve one of her problems right ther-NO don't think like that that would be bad! She's not even after me I think I'm not sure but I think she's not but it's not good to wish for things like that don't do it the gods can hear you think that don't think it don't think it don't think... She caught herself rapping the sides of her head and forced herself to stop. She had to try and stay calm; she certainly didn't want anyone to think she was crazy or something.
Tessirda watched Amunyet hurry down to the floor, and gave Zindit a brief smile she considered encouraging. She'd like to get to know the strange gnome a little better, but conditioned it on how she reacted to the attention. She seemed awfully guarded, even though Amunyet was probably making some progress with her.
"Mr. Zincher, what an unexpected surprise! I am Amunyet Meretshiri, one of the hostesses here at the Gold Goblin. Is there anything you need, or anything I can get you?"
Zincher looks up and smiles at Amyunet. "Pleased to met you. No thank you, I am about finished here." and indeed he is as he folds his hand.
He puts the rest of his chips on the table . "This is for you and your friends." He says to Uzés and gets up from the table. "Say hello to Saul for me, and tell him his business is in capable hands. See you around." And with that he walks out of the Gold Goblin.
Zindit raised her hand weakly in what passed for a wave in response to Tessirda's smile before quickly averting her eyes. She still had not worked up the nerve to ask her if she was a priest.
She focused on Zincher to keep her mind of that matter, and was disappointed that he didn't seem to do anything suspicious.
Kelne shakes his head at Zindit's efforts to focus on the task at hand. He still has absolutely no idea what makes the gnome tick, which would be something of a worry, except that he doesn't sense any malice in her.
In any case, Zincher is the focus of his attention for now. Seeing him put down his chips and depart is in no way a relief. They haven't seen the last of Clegg Zincher.
Amunyet crosses her arms, and gives a slight frown. "Hmm, a bit rude of him, don't you think, Uzes?"
Amunyet tries to get a feel of Zincher's comments
Amyunet:
"Zavos, is it? What a treasure you are! Thank you my good man. I cannot thank you enough. I have spent days at the Temples and they are filled with idiots. You have helped more in one conversation than that pack of fools did all week!"
Sorda rubs his hands together and starts extrapolating from the information, trying to decide what avenues are open to him next.
"I am glad to help, friend Sorda.", Zavos says. "Please let me know if there is more that I can do to assist you. I have told you all that I know, but I may be able to obtain knowledge from others, if you wish. And perhaps you could let me know when you come across a Cyphermage who requires an apprentice."
A few minutes after Zincher leaves, there is a scream from the kitchen area and one of the maids comes running out of it.
"There's a big snake in the scullery! It bit Martha!"
Sorda legs it down to the scullery leaving his calculations without a thought.
Heaving a long-suffering sigh, Kelne starts making his way down to the kitchen. Most likely, someone else will get there first and deal with the snake, and certainly the poison will have to be fixed by someone else. Still, he ought to be able to quell any incipient panic.
Amunyet immediately turns and heads towards the kitchen; however, she scans the crowd to see if she notices anyone acting "shifty". She realizes that it is likely someone brought the snake in, and it occurring just as Zincher left has her suspicious. Was he a "distraction"; knowing that Saul would have his people watching him and not an accomplice?
perception & sense motive (as needed) (1d20+3=20, 1d20+7=8)
Sorda and Amyunet arrive in the scullery to find a large red snake with a wide flat head coiled up and ready to strike. Laying on the floor is poor Martha, unconscious.
Amyunet:
Tessirda kept her watch on the floor - the others were already probably well enough equipt to deal with the snake, and it might be a distraction for a more serious attack
At the furthest range but at most thirty feet, Sorda casts a black ray of enervating power at the snake.
Sorda smiles inside as the beast is briefly highlighted black. Then he steps back up the stairs a few paces.
"Die in weakness."
The scullery is a 10 ft. x 10 ft room with a door leading from the kitchen (a much lager room) into it. The snake is toward the back of the room.
Sorda hits the snake with a ray, but it appears to have little effect as the snake is still sitting there coiled and ready to strike. Perhaps its head droops a little toward the floor.
Amunyet, having often dealt with poisonous snakes in her homeland, recognizes that Martha needs treatment right away. She uses a move action to pull her away from the snake, then tries to administer to her using Heal Heal to treat poison (1d20+3=11)
While Amunyet is moving Martha away from the snake it makes a feeble attempt to strike at her and misses. Meanwhile Kelne arrives with Saul behind him.
"Will someone please kill it!?" Saul says.
Sorda draws one fist back at waist height then calls on his innate magical power to thump the snake.
He then steps aside to let Kelne kill it.
Deciding that he's probably in the best position to finish the cursed thing, Kelne pulls his sword and steps forward to take a chop at it.
Sorda thumps the snake in the head with his invisible fist, snapping its wide head back.
Amyunet begins trying to treat Martha's snake bite.
Kelne steps in to slash at the snake with his sword. As he does so it strikes at Kelne's leg, but its fangs fail to penetrate his armor. However, this throws off Kelne's strike and he misses.
The wizard quickly hides a look of mild surprise that the security chief had not killed the snake.
Then his invisible fist strikes down on the snakes head.
"It's weak, Kelne, kill it."
Sorda's magic fist hits the snake again, which now slithers under the washtub to hide. Amyunet successfully stabilizes Martha and stops the venom from causing further damage.
Uzes remains in the gambling hall expecting the snake to be a distraction. He closes his table joining the other bouncers to watch the room and make sure no one is trying to profit from the cries. If his companions start shouting for help though, he'll head down.
Tessirda hovered around the gaming hall, and exchanged glances with Uzes. If this was a distraction, their timing was off... they should have made their move by then.
Making sure there's no way for the snake to get at its victim without going through him, Kelne steps forward and jabs his sword under the sink in an effort to finish the cursed thing.
Kelne jabs his sword deep into the snake's body under the washtub, and it seems to stop moving.
Meanwhile in the Gaming hall, after Sorda and Amyenet ran into the kitchen, followed by the scullery maid, most of the patrons looked up from their games. Compared to the excitement at the Gold Goblin during the past couple of weeks, this was fairly tame, so they all got to bak to the games after a second's pause.
Zindit, Uzés and Tessirda and Zavos, carefully watching the crowd, notice nothing suspicious or unusual.
Zindit:
You hear Saul down in the kitchen shout "Will someone kill it please!?"
Feeling caught between what she has been told her job is and what she thought her employers would want her to see to, Zindit looked back and forth between the players on the main floor and the kitchen door.
She opted for caution. Running as close to the kitchen door as she could on the catwalks, she yelled towards the kitchen in a shrill voice, "Mister Saul is everything okay? Do you need help?" She was proud that she was subtle enough to not ask aloud if it was a rat. She kept her eyes on the players.
The snake seemingly dead, Amunyet looks to Saul. "We must move Martha to a location where she can rest and I can look after her. I believe she will survive, however, it may take a few days for her to recover and it would be helpful if I had the appropriate supplies. Or even better, a priest of more power would likely be able to restore her and have her up and about very quickly. Perhaps we should send a runner to the Publican's House?"
"Yes of course." Saul says,"I will send a runner right now." Just then Saul hears Zindit calling to him. This prompts him to quickly walk up the stairs to the catwalks.
"Zindit! Don't yell and give away your position up here!" he whispers. "But yes, there is something you can do for me. You are familiar with the Publican House, yes? Would you mind running over there and fetching a priest? We have a scullery maid who has been snakebit. I will watch up here while you're away."
"Ask Tessirda if she will go with you..." he says, but Zindit has already taken off.
"Yes of course." Saul says,"I will send a runner right now." Just then Saul hears Zindit calling to him. This prompts him to quickly walk up the stairs to the catwalks.
"Zindit! Don't yell and give away your position up here!" he whispers. "But yes there is something you can do for me. You are familiar with the Publican House, yes? Would you mind running over there and fetching a priest? We have a scullery maid who has been snakebit. I will watch up here while you're away."
Zindit shook with fear as she realized her mistake. She was certain she was going to be tossed out onto the street right then and there, but when Saul told her what he needed of her she straightened and actually saluted her boss. "Yes sir! I'll go right away!" she whispered before bolting from the catwalks, down the stairs, and towards the back exit, intending not to stop until she reached the Publican's House.
Seeing things under control, Uzes heads back to the pit to re open a table.
Amunyet will clear a table or counter off, and then lift Martha onto it (Str 14; shouldn't be a problem unless Martha is 175 lbs+). She will use her Channel Energy (making sure to use Selective Channeling and not bring the snake back) to heal up any physical damage.
"I have healed her physical wounds and stopped the poison from spreading. Hopefully, whoever Zindit fetches will be able to restore the internal damage done from the poison and neutralize the toxin itself. While we wait, should we begin seeing how this reptile got in here? Sorda, do you know anything of animals? Is this a native species to this area? Kelne, should we fetch the maids back here to find out from them exactly what happened and what they saw?"
"Indeed," Kelne says, carefully extracting the dead snake from under the sink, "Make sure they know that everything's under control and Martha will probably be alright."
He intends to take a look at the snake, see if it's a familiar species, be it local or exotic.
Amyunet channels the power of Pharasma to bring Martha back to consciousness, although she is still very weak from the venom.
Kelne pulls the dead snake out from under the washtub and begins to examine it.
Zindit:
Now that the snake is dead, the wizard snaps his fingers and runs back up to his calculations, forgetting the woman.
He feverishly begins a new line of investigation based on the random chaos that caused a snake to appear in a kitchen, chaos theory.
Maybe the Blot is a matter of chaos?
Zindit:
** spoiler omitted **
She was beginning to mumble her thoughts aloud before she forced herself to take a deep breath and set out for the closest temple as quickly as she could.
Tessirda had had enough, and decided to check on the situation in the kitchen when she saw Zindit dart from the room. "I hope I'm not too late, or my being missing caused any trouble - thought the commotion might be a distraction." she announced as she approached the rest of the group.
"I'm really sorry I didn't come any sooner."