As the wall of force falls, Jilia surges forward to attack!
This time, the vampiric woman moves with extra swiftness. She pounces upon Adolina and lands a blow on the flat-footed paladin!
Tanjona leaps to assault the vampiress, attacking almost as quickly as she does!
"You're not the only one who can bite!"
The Rose makes sure she gets out of sight before the wall comes down and waits for her moment to shoot most effectively.
"Somehow this just feels ... wrong," The Fabulous One declares as, with a wave of her hand, a cloud of magical glitter descend upon the vampire.
Jilia resists the glitterdust. You all land some hits on her, but she shows no signs of slowing--indeed, her wounds are healing swiftly! She tries to hit Adolina again, but this time the paladin is able to dodge her strike!
Tanjona does his best to keep up the pressure; he's too busy lunging and biting to say anything in the middle of the fighting.
Not willing to be vampire-chow, Farrina waves her hands over her body and vanishes from sight.
Rose and Tanjona each land a good hit, but Adolina can't seem to strike the swift-moving vampire. Fortunately, it seems Jilia can't hit her, either!
Tanjona keeps up his ferocious strikes, bringing his trident in strong for at least one solid blow.
"I don't know. Give me a moment to check," Farrina's disembodied voice replies.
Farrina detects magic in the area, but she'll have to concentrate to learn more. Tanjona lands a glancing bow, but Adolina and Rose both miss! Jilia misses as well! Exciting!
Farrina continues to focus her magically enhanced perception on the existing auras.
Jilia screeches as Adolina stabs her. The woman's body dissolved into mist before she floats across the room and back into the coffin. Her body becomes solid again as she lies in repose with her eyes closed.
Staking her through the heart will incapacitate her until you can decide what to do with her. In the meantime, you can claim her +1 glamered chain shirt and headband of alluring charsima +2.
"Hmm. Wasn't planning on vampires today."
He looks about to see if there's a chair or other piece of furniture from which he can wrench a piece of wood to make a stake.
Tanjona breaks off a leg from a chair in the orchestra pit, fashioning it into a stake before driving it into Jilia’s heart. That will keep her incapacitated for now!
Farrina finally appears out of the thin air and frowns at the staked vampiric ex-mayor. "So are we leaving her here or are we going to somehow try to move her and her coffin back home?"
Tanjona closes the coffin, then looks for something heavy to put on top of it.
"I don't suppose anyone has some chains?" he says. "Don't want to risk someone letting her out while we're away."
"Oh yes Tanjona, thats exactly what we all carry around with us on a daily basis." The Rose replies sarcastically. Instead, she oulls out some rope and starts binding the coffin as much as possible.
"Could you give me a hand?"
Farrina snorts. "Clearly you're not associating with the right sort of people," she says with a smirk.
The final cave under the opera house is vast indeed. Though currently empty, the telltale signs (a reptilian stink, lightning scars on the walls, and claw marks on the floor) indicate that a large blue dragon recently claimed this as its lair! It’s current whereabouts though are unknown.
You head back up, and perform an even more thorough search of the tunnels. You discover an even more well-hidden secret door that leads to a small cave with niches along the walls. Each niche holds a sarcophagus with a name of likeness inscribed upon it of one of the original Silver Ravens.
The first sarcophagus depicts a female half-elf cleric of Milani and the inscription “Amyreid of Milani, perished 4640 AR in defense of Kintargo on a Hellknight’s blade—may she serve forever at the Everbloom’s side.”
The second sarcophagus depicts a male halfling dressed in wizardly robes and the inscription, “Ba Brackenthorn, slaughtered by Brakisi in 4644 AR while attempting to protect the Silver Ravens’ legacy.”
The third sarcophagus depicts a female human dressed in leather armor while engaged in the act of singing and the inscription, “Lady Kyda, perished 4640 AR under Thrune’s fire while giving her final breath to sustain the Song of Silver.”
This fourth sarcophagus depicts a faceless male human with several arrows protruding from his body and the inscription, “After bringing disgrace to the Silver Ravens, Lord Brakisi perished 4644 AR at the hands of Lictor Naulvaneti—may he find forgiveness in the Great Beyond, for he found none in Kintargo.”
The fifth sarcophagus depicts a female elf clutching a starknife to her chest and the inscription, “Jackdaw, taken from us by unknown assailants in the time of greatest need—may her memory live on, and may she yet live to reclaim her treasures found within.” Inside this sarcophagus lies no body, but rather some gear: a +2 shadow mithral shirt, a +1 returning starknife, a hat of disguise, a belt of incredible dexterity +2, and a pair of boots of elvenkind.
Past the sarcophagi, a chamber holds quite a bit of treasure: the vault of the Silver Ravens.While it is obvious that much more wealth was once kept here, with numerous empty armor racks, weapon racks, dust-filled chests, and sparse bookshelves, what remains is by no means meager. A total of 700 pp, 8,000 gp, 25,000 sp, and 120,000 cp can be scraped together from various chests and coffers, along with an additional 11,500 gp in gems and jewelry. In addition, some powerful magic awaits rediscovery here, including a walnut-and-silver scroll case worth 200 gp (containing a scroll of greater restoration, a scroll of resurrection, a scroll of stone to flesh, a scroll of vision, and a scroll of word of recall), a staff of healing (7 charges), a ring of wizardry [type II], a manual of gainful exercise +1, a lantern of revealing, a horn of blasting, a ring of evasion, and a +2 transformative axiomatic longsword. Yet perhaps the most important find here are the documents detailing much of the Silver Ravens’ tactics in defending Kintargo—primary among them is a copy of sheet music for the magical “Song of Silver” itself!
Some of these resources could be used to help Shensen and Jilia Bainilus...
The Rose's eyebrows raise at the vault's interior. "These Silver Ravens knew how to party." She states, as they sort through all the old gear that they had collected.
"I'm presuming that some of the information should be studied by someone." The Rose suggests, not offering herself to do the studying. "I think that tonight we have done enough however, Adolina, what do you say to retiring for the evening and coming back to this with a fresh set of eyes. Honestly, I want to see and hear what all the gossip around Kintargo is saying about these events tonight. I don't think I can predict it."
"With the right words in the right places we can direct what the gossip will be saying about tonight," Farrina says, rolling the very expensive magical ring they've just discovered across the back of her fingers. "I mean there's no reason we should just sit back and observe. What's the phrase politicians use? We need to 'Control the Narrative'." She shrugs. "Obviously, like a river, gossip is an organic thing and can't really be controlled, but with a little push in a particular direction we can influence it to some degree."
She looks around at each of her companions.
"So what would we like everyone to think happened here tonight?" she asks.
~~~~~
Before returning to her cluttered sanctuary in the wee hours of the morning, Farrina visits no less than eight different taverns in eight different guises, seeding the slurred conversations with the group's version of the party's disastrous events.
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"The truth." Adolina says firmly. "Lord Mayor Thrune attempted a mass murder of the great and good of Kintargo, using disguised devils in an attempt to make it look like an attack by the Silver Ravens. We'll let everyone draw their own conclusions after that, but a rallying cry to defend the city would be good. We need to make it clear that Thrune is still alive and that he can only now be viewed as a tyrant. We need Janilia back too, as quickly as we can. That'll demonstrate his illegitimacy too."
She nods her agreement to Rose. "Yes. We fall back and send in our people to secure the Opera House. Its the symbolic heart of the city and driving Thrune out of it sends a powerful signal. Let's load up everything we can and get going!"
As the group finally makes ready to leave, Farrina slips off for just a few minutes alone. She makes her way back to the main stage itself. Ignoring the debris of the earlier chaos, she stands quietly on the stage looking out over the rest of the large chamber. Closing her eyes, she remains silent for a moment before her voice softly leads into the second act closing number of the elvish opera, 'La Douleur de L'amour.'
She only sings the first stanza. Just enough to feel her voice slowly fill the spaces of the room before returning to her. The place's acoustics naturally amplifying her voice and adding tones and richness that could normally only be achieved via magic. Taking a heavy breath, she whispers to herself, "Someday."
Five minutes later and she's returned to the rest of the group.
19 Erastus, 4715 AR
The Silver Ravens quickly mobilize upon your orders, securing the Kintargo Opera House. Word quickly spreads throughout the city about what has transpired there tonight, and opposition to Barzillai Thrune's attempt at a monstrous massacre swiftly mounts! By morning, much of the city has risen up in open rebellion against the Lord Mayor.
But Barzillai has not been idle in the intervening hours.
Patrols of both the Chelish Citizens' Group and the city's dottari have increased throughout the city as they work to "maintain the peace." In addition, Thrune's agents have started fires in a few shops and homes belonging to known Silver Raven supporters. Barzillai himself has posted three new proclamations:
Proclamation the Eleventh—Bleakbridge Closure: “With the uprise in rebel activity, it pains my heart to issue the closure of Bleakbridge to all but official traffic, yet such steps are necessary to ensure your protection! The Silver Ravens must not be allowed free access across the Yolubilis, and until you aid in their defeat, Bleakbridge shall remain closed and under guard.”
Proclamation the Twelfth—Public Religion: “Public worship of any deity other than Lord Asmodeus, Savior of Cheliax, Master of Humanity, is hereby forbidden. All works of art and artifice bearing the likenesses or symbols of the lesser faiths must be turned over to the dottari. Worship of Zon-Kuthon, Abadar, and Shelyn may continue only within the walls of their respective temples. Noncompliance shall be met with the strictest of correctional steps.”
Proclamation the Thirteenth—Outlawing of the Silver Ravens: “The destructive and ruinous anarchists known as the Silver Ravens are hereby proscribed, and until their leaders surrender or are captured, all Silver Raven sympathizers must disavow support of this extremist group, lest they be faced with fines, imprisonment, and excruciation!”
It is clear that the time for operating from the shadows is passed. Now begins the battle for the fate of Kintargo! You have a short amount of time to buy and sell some gear before an emergency meeting of the Silver Council!
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Closing the Bleakbridge is a not insignificant issue for Adolina, who finds herself forced to make a choice between staying with the Ravens and actually being able to go home. Her cover is likely shot, or nearly so at this point, so the only thing that can be done is to stay away from her family and give them as much plausible deniability as possible.
With that decision made her first order of business becomes getting a powerful cleric to help restore Shensen and Lord Mayor Bainilus.
Eliona faces a similar situation to Adolina but, being much more adept at disguise and with a much stronger disconnect between herself and the actions of the 'positively shocking' criminals known as the Silver Ravens, it's much easier for her to simply pay the boat passage across the river if needed and loudly disclaim her disgust at the lawlessness whenever needed.
She spends a fair amount of time in the Green's, reinforcing her cover amongst the young nobility and doing so quiet shopping on the side before The Rose returns for the meeting of the Silver Council.
Soon enough, the Silver Council has gathered--most of them, at any rate. Rexus Victocora, Laria Longroad, Octavio Sabinus, and Mialari Docur are all in attendance, but Hetamon Haace is notably absent. The tiefling's failure to arrive at the meeting concerns the other members of the council, who believe finding him should be one of your top priorities.
"Things are quickly coming to a head," Lady Docur says. "The Silver Ravens are now public enemy number one in the eyes of Barzillai and his thugs. We need to do all that we can to erode his authority."
"The Kintargo Records Hall in the Greens is where Barzillai’s proclamations have been created, where his inquisitors toil to rewrite Kintargo’s history, and where many important public records have been hidden," Rexus sasy. "Defeating those who work for Thrune there will help erode his control."
"Breaking the blockade of Bleakbridge would also go a long way towards establishing the Silver Ravens as a force to be reckoned with," offers Octavio.
"Now might be the ideal time to try to restore either Shensen or Lord-Mayor Bainilus, if not both of them," Laria says. "I bet they'd have some more ideas on how to fight back against Barzillai!"
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"Without Hetamon we lack a cleric with the required blessings of the gods." Adolina says grimly. "Breaking the blockade is going to require all of our forces - moving militarily against Thrune is a step we can't roll back so let us hold off on that for now. Lady Docur, please set your agents onto finding Hetamon. We need him back as a matter of urgency. Rexus, Octavio, can you reach out to the churches of Shelyn and Abadar, see if any of their priests may be willing to assist in restoring Shensen and the Lord Mayor - I'm sure you can both present the case convincingly. We will slip across the river and deal with the Kintargo Records Hall, we need those documents before Thrune gets too far and manages to sell the city to Queen Abrogail from under our feet!"
She looks around the meeting, clearly waiting for feedback or further suggestions. Once there are no more she nods firmly. "Very well, you have your tasks. For Kintargo and the Silver Ravens!"
"For Kintargo and the Silver Ravens!" The Rose agrees, "We absolutely need to stop those redactions as soon as possible. I know some boatmen who are taking people across the Yolubilis, very discrete. I'll ensure we all get passage, no questions asked. Unless you'd prefer to swim across Sharkman?"
Before you have a chance to move out, one of your agents bursts into the meeting room, eyes wide. "They're here! The Chelish Citizens' Group! They're trying to batter their way into the Opera House!"
Tanjona rolls his eyes at the news and says, "What do I need to do, start eating their limbs in public?"
Looking at the shock on his companions' faces he quickly says, "I'm joking, of course. Unless..."
"I don't think there'll be any public limb-eating required," she says to Tanjona before turning to the interrupting agent.
"Tell them we're a little busy at the moment," she says in annoyance. "Ask if they could come back some time next week. Fireday would be good. We'll try to fit them in then."
At the man's look of disbelief, she rolls her eyes. "Nevermind, we'll deal with them now, I guess. Rude, much? I thought even Asmodeans knew the value of a scheduling calendar and a calling card."
Before settling on any specific tactics, the entertainer suggests they find out how many are there and how they appear to be equipped.
Your agents report back that there is a large mob of Citizens' Groups members armed with swords and bows. The leader of the Group itself, a man named Tombus Regegious, commands them. Tombus is wearing a chain shirt and wielding matching flaming short swords.
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"Rose, Farrina, go to the balcony Thrune used during the protests!" Adolina says sharply. "You're our ranged support if we need it. Tanjona, come with me, we're playing the muscle."
Opening the great doors to the Opera House Adolina strolls out as though she doesn't have a care in the world. "Greetings friends. May I ask what has brought you here on this fine day? We're still working on clearing up after the cowardly attack perpetrated here but hopefully the Opera House will be soon be open for public shows once more!"
She examines Tombus closely and then lets her gaze wander across the mob, trying to get a sense of her audience.
Tombus radiates a moderate aura of evil, while those in the mob have faint auras.
"You well know what we are doing here," Tombus shouts. "The Silver Ravens are traitors to the city of Kintargo. By proclamation of Lord-Mayor Thrune, if you do not surrender, then we will be taking you and your allies into custody!"
Assuming Adolina is disinclined to acquiesce to his request, Tombus orders his men to attack!
From her concealed position on the balcony the Rose fills Tombus full of arrows!
Unfortunately the sun is in her eyes and shooting downwards is much harder than people think, so she puts a nice cluster of shots at his feet as a warning!
Dodging Rose’s arrows, Tombus leads the charge at Adolina! He drives a flaming sword into her gut as his mooks surround her, stabbing and swinging at her!
"Screw fair!" shouts Tanjona as he closes to help Adolina.
"Only losers play fair," Farrina mutters to herself before targeting Tombus with some of her more potent magic.
[ooc]Current HP: 38/38