3 weeks of build-up. 18 seconds of action. :>)
Yes, Drolgun is collecting loot and following on foot. He's also looking for signs of the other knights.
Perception
DisturbedGM: ******
Is everyone believing the voice from the wagon was Arael's?
The wagon speeds off toward the tree line where the horses await. Its ride is not smooth as it totters from side to side and you can hear grunts and other sounds come from inside the wagon as you take out. Within minutes though, the wagon stops outside the woods under a small bit of shade.
As Lythar drives the wagon, you see dust and bits of dirt kick up as he goes speeding toward the tree line where the horses await. You know that it won't be much longer before the guys you have humiliated wake up. As you look around, you think it may be best if you get going.
Lythar will stop and tie off the reigns. James Hurry with the lock so that we can get out of here. Unless someone found the key. Jumps from the wagon and goes to the horses to make sure everything is ready to go.
"I found this key on Shanwen it probably goes to the wagon, you know probably either that or its to his super secret vault which he keeps his hair oil, take your pick." James says then climbs down to try to open the prison cell with it.
'Did anyone notice if Janiven's team got away...' Koloran says as he looks out in the direction where the other team was supposed to head.
Perception:
"Are we going to at least free those two horses?"
Sounds like a good idea to me, William. We could even lead them off a ways so that they may be harder for the knights to find.
Shall we do a little damage to the wagon? Also, we should probably leave something so that Westcrown knows that this was not the work of bandits, but of its guardians.
I think that will be fine. To the guards they will see it only as a torn piece of cloth.
'Did anyone notice if Janiven's team got away...' Koloran says as he looks out in the direction where the other team was supposed to head.
'Uhh, I didn't see them I think we should see if they went back to the "hideout"'.
Let's get Arael out before we start planning that far ahead. And get as much of the group together as we can.
With a click, the door to the wagon opens. Inside is a man whose pointed ears and almond shaped eyes say elf, but the build and the stubble on his face oppose your first guess.
Manacles hang from his wrists as he tries to stand and his face is covered in bruises and small cuts. At his feet, you see he is chained as well to the wagon itself.
Maybe one of the keys lifted from Shanwen can open the manacles as well?
Lythar will look into the wagon and eyes will widen in surprise You're a Half-Elf. Quickly coming to his senses Arael. My name is Lythar Baelvain. This, claps James on back is James Ross. We are friends. We are here to free you.
Arael slowly moves his head, by the look in his eyes you can tell that he has been through a lot. 'Please don't take it as I'm ungreatful, but what has motivated thee to help?'
We are the Guardians of Justice. Janiven told us that you had been captured and we came to help you. Now if you don't mind let's get out of here before anymore questoins are asked. Lythar moves his eyes pearing through the trees to see if anyone is coming.
As Arael's head clears, he recognizes Lythar's voice. 'Ah...it is you Lythar! I'm sorry I didn't recognize you before. I would love nothing better than to make haste back to town. But, it seems these chains are keeping me from making a clean getaway.'
'Arael, great to see you again. How badly are you hurt? We have a bit of a ride ahead of us.' Koloran says as he comes over to begin checking the seriousness of Arael's wounds.
Heal:
"Sorry for the delay I was mezmerized by how beautiful these keys would look with a small house and little Skeleton key children. Here we go I'm sure one of these keys go to your ankle bracelets." James says while trying every key on the locks.
Perception-
"Guys did you hear that there is some rustling coming from the woods over there."
Arael looks to Koloran, 'Ah...good to see you as well my friend.'
As James steps into the wagon to unlock Arael's manacles, Arael looks to him, his face weak and worn, and says, 'Thank you. I don't believe we have met. The name is Arael.'
The noise from the woods draws your attention. Out from the woods steps Gorvio, 'Guys we can't be here long, Janiven and the others have already headed back!'
Cure light wounds:
'Iomedae's mercy will undo the handiwork of those knights.' Koloran says as he grasps his holy symbol with one hand and places the other on Arael's shoulder. He then bows his head and says a quiet prayer.
If Arael is feeling better, Gorvio is right we shouldn't spend too much time here.
Drolgun will remove his armband and toss it into the wagon.
There we go, the Guardians of Justice have been here. Arael, it is good to see you again. James, would you be willing to break the key off in the door's lock. I think we should return the wagon in less than working order.
Drolgun will do a visual and touch check to be sure his weapons, sap, armor, and belongings are all accounted for. Let's be sure we leave nothing behind that we don't want to.
Drolgun will begin loading his pony. He will put the quivers and crossbows into saddle bags or sacks if available. If not, he will distribute them to the group.
He will not mount the pony until everyone is ready to leave.
As Koloran lays his hand on Arael and prays to Iomedae, you can see the bruises and small cuts heal across his face, even Arael's posture seems right itself.
Arael looks to the group, a renewed look on his face, 'Thank you very much Koloran. I can feel Iomedae's blessing running through my veins.'
Arael then turns to Drolgun, 'It is good to see you as well my friend! And I feel much better now; let us make haste back to Westcrown so we can be there before word of this skirmish hits home!'
Lythar helps Arael onto the spare horse and makes sure that he is good to ride. Then pulls himself up into the saddle of his own horse. He will remove his cloak at this time. Arael. Take my cloak. Now that you are free we can't let the guards know that it is you. Holds out the cloak for him. Are we ready to go? The sooner the better.
There we go, the Guardians of Justice have been here. Arael, it is good to see you again. James, would you be willing to break the key off in the door's lock. I think we should return the wagon in less than working order.
"Not saying I won't do it cause I will but do you think we should break the key in the door or keep it just in case we need it later?"
Koloran will mount his horse prepare to leave with the group.
Lythar helps Arael onto the spare horse and makes sure that he is good to ride. Then pulls himself up into the saddle of his own horse. He will remove his cloak at this time. Arael. Take my cloak. Now that you are free we can't let the guards know that it is you. Holds out the cloak for him. Are we ready to go? The sooner the better.
'Yes, the cloak will come in handy. Thank You!' Arael says to Lythar.
William unties the horses from the wagon and chases them off, as Drolgun throws in his armband and convinces James to break the key off in the lock of the wagon.
Drolgun then begins to load what was taken from the hellknights into his saddlebags on his mount, asking others to do the same once his own saddlebags are full.
Soon, everyone gathers their horses as they begin to make their way back to Westcrown, Drolgun staying to the back. The sense of urgency seems a little less than it had before.
As you enter the gates of Westcrown, Arael carefully pulls the cloak over his head in an effort to hide his face and you easily make your way past the city gates.
'I hate to be a spoil sport and all, but we really should get these horses back to my uncle's stables as soon as possible!' Gorvio says riding into town.
"Yea baby level 2! Take that Gorvio!"
"Yes I agree lets go William." James says leading the horse toward the stable.
Silently leads the his horse in the direction of the stables. His eyes ever watchful for danger.
Drolgun will steadily make his way to the stable to return the pony. He will then return to the sanctuary to check on the rest of the group.
Koloran follows Drolgun and Lythar back to the stables and then on to the sanctuary.
John will just head back to the sanctuary if nothing else needs to be done.
’Gorvio, I would rather head on back to the temple if you don’t mind. I will catch up with you guys later!’ Arael says. ’I suppose these horses need to go as well, Gorvio??’ Gorvio looks to Arael, ’Yes, Jacovo had loaned them to us.’ ’In that case,’ Arael says, ’Would you guys mind taking our horses as well??’
You follow Arael and Gorvio as they make their way back to the safe house. The trip is uneventful and soon you make your way to the back door. Arael, knocks a secretive knock on the door that is disguised as barred and before too long the massive Ermolos is as the door. ’Come on in!’ he says with a grin on his face.
Once inside you meet with Janiven. 'I suppose some formal introductions are in order.' Janiven takes the time to introduce you ‘officially’ to Arael. Arael then promptly tells the tale of how he was captured and of all the horrible things the helllknights had done to him while they had him. He assures everyone that nothing was said about your little group and that things should be ok. At that Janiven breaks in and compliments those who helped, saying that she had seen nothing go as smooth as this encounter and looks forward to working with them again sometime soon. ’Might I suggest Janiven, that we spend the next couple of days lying low to avoid any finger pointing or such!’ Arael says with a look of weariness still on his face. ’The Order of the Rack will doubtless be incensed at the ambush, but there’s little they can do now but file petitions with the city and otherwise get entangled by bureaucracy—if there’s one thing about Cheliax’s government that can be depended upon, it’s bureaucracy.’ Before long, Arael excuses himself to go rest and pray in one of the back rooms.
Arael and those following him leave their horses for you to turn into Jacovo, who is not far from the city gates.
As you get closer to Jacovo’s you can hear the sound of someone hollering. As you pass the front doors you find a handsome but arrogant you man berating Jacovo for not having a certain kind of horse available. With a pompous voice he says to Jacovo, ’Do you not know who I am?? I am Westcrown’s greatest actor, Thesing Umbero Ulvaunno!! Are you threatening to ruin my career?? These horses are of the utmost importance for the performance this evening of, The Elopement of the Dowager Princess. Which features a scene wherein “the princess and her handsome lover” – that is me of course – “Flee the city pursued by the king’s horsemen!”’
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William walks between Lythar and Thesing, "Lythar, please I am sure we can work something out without threatening him." William looks to the man, "William Leroung, pleased to meet you. I enjoy your work and I was hoping to see your performance tonight. What seems to be the problem?"
Bluff-
"Besides I'm sure your play isn't that good any way I've seen way better ones staring me as the villian and evil mastermind... of course the play had no safety on set so most of the actors had died due to strange puncture wounds but it was a good one you should have seen it! I'm sure you've heard of It I mean an Actor as great and powerful as you must've heard of It! If not your no actor worth being heard of!".
Lythar looks to the overdressed actor, as he called himself. After tying the horses he walks inside to the man yelling at Gorvio. His eyes showing anger. As a kid he would get the same treatment and he despised those that did the same to others. Normally Lythar hunched a little to not appear so intimidating or threatening. But with his anger ablaze he raised up to his full height of 6'2". "Excuse me sir. I think that you need to calm down and be grateful that this fine gentleman is even allowing you to use his best horses. And you still have more then enough time to get to the city in time for your little play. I believe you owe this man an apology. His eyes always glaring at the man. Lythar's voice was cool and gentle but behind his words anyone there could tell that he was giving the pompous man a warning to be kinder to Gorvio.
Jacovo's eyes go wide at Lythar's remarks and he stands there with a stunned look on his face.
Thesing Umbero Ulvaunno is stunned as well, having never been talked to in this manner before. 'Well...well...I did not say that he horses were not of the best. Nor did I discredit the man's establishment. That is why I am here!' He continues to fumble for words for a few minutes before William interjects.
William walks between Lythar and Thesing, "Lythar, please I am sure we can work something out without threatening him." William looks to the man, "William Leroung, pleased to meet you. I enjoy your work and I was hoping to see your performance tonight. What seems to be the problem?"
Thesing then gets a slight grin on his face. ’Well, if you were hoping to see the performance tonight then it may be a good idea to get this brute some manners before tonight.’ He points to Lythar as he leans to you and wispers, ’Maybe he should step outside!’ He then continues, ’But I can hardly give a good performance without these horses here. And they need to be in the best shape to perform or it could ruin the performance tonight! They obviously have been ridden way too hard and will be hard to control tonight. I suppose it is your group who is responsible for all of Jacovo’s horses being near the point of exhaustion?’ James then speaks up.
"Hey Lythar is being kind he is a lot nicer than I wanted to do to him!" James says as he lays back on the horse hands behind his head. "Besides I'm sure your play isn't that good any way I've seen way better ones staring me as the villian and evil mastermind... of course the play had no safety on set so most of the actors had died due to strange puncture wounds but it was a good one you should have seen it! I'm sure you've heard of It I mean an Actor as great and powerful as you must've heard of It! If not your no actor worth being heard of!"
Thesing’s eyes go wide again, ’Well...I never. ’ ’I’m sorry Jacovo’ Thesing says quietly to Jacovo. ’Is that what you wanted!!! ’ He says as he squeezes past William, James, and Lythar. ’I still expect those horses ready by tonight Jacovo!!’ He says as he makes his way to the door, tying to hide the look of fear on his face.