"I was not suggesting you were an idiot," she grins shyly, "we need to work on your self esteem. Just don't try to wrap me in wool. I may not be good at inserting pointy metal things into people, but I can handle myself..."
Alyn chuckles lightly, "When you paint with a broad brush, you coat the innocent and the guilty." He shrugs dismissively, "But if it makes you feel better, I promise not to stop you from walking into rooms chock full of Acid-Vomiting Devil Monkeys. Feel better now?"
Byron raises an eyebrow.
"I was not suggesting that I should go there alone... I imagined that the rest of you would be somewhere nearby. I simply meant that it would probably be better if we did a quick reconnoiter first, rather than simply walking up to the front door, and bashing it in."
He then shrugs.
"As for skills, I grew up on the streets, before the temple took me in, so I know how to hide when I need to, how to handle a blade, and how to talk with people... All useful skills."
"As to whether Lamm would recognise any of us, I have never met the man, so I doubt he would recognise me, but realistically, I do not doubt that he would take a dim view of *anyone* caught sneaking around near his lair."
When the topic turns to what to do with the children, Byron's face hardens.
"I would not dream of simply turfing the children out onto the streets; they would probably just end-up indentured to another predator just as bad as Lamm, or worse, killed."
He pauses briefly, pondering what to do.
"I think the Church of Sarenrae could be convinced to take a few in, and I know one or two families over in Thieves' Camp who could probably be convinced to take in a child in need... Particularly if the cards suggested that it would be a good idea," he says with a cheeky grin. "If worst comes to worst, I could probably even take one of them under my wing... it is the least I could do after the second chance that I was given."
"A blade in the ribs kills whether it's held by a 12-year-old or a 20-year-old. If children can be saved - good. But I make no guarantees about any that try to kill me."
Byron shrugs.
"I am not suggesting that you should not defend yourself, but please, at least give the children a chance to side with Lamm - I would prefer if you did not simply go in there and start scything through them as if they were wheat..."
Kur-Awk grunts. "Don't kill kids unless they kill you first. Can we go now?"
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Dasha chuckles throatily at Kur-Awk's remark. "Right. Good." He says to the barbarian.
Taisha frowns at the group, "I'm not saying don't harm a child if they attack you, but surely experienced warriors like yourselves can use the flats of your blades against children? They might be little villains, but by the sounds of thing they did no have a great deal of choice in the matter..."
Alynbrand glances over his shoulder at the hilt of the greatsword strapped across his back. "This blade looks clumsy but I wield it precisely, Miss. I've never cut down a child and I hope I never have to. Unfortunately, battle is often a confused mess... hence the phrase 'fog of war'. In a shadowy room with barely discernible figures, in the split second you have to make a decision, how do you distinguish the seasoned Halfing cutthroat from the 12 year old boy? I can only say this... assuming this comes down to a fight, I will do my best to leave the innocent alive." He lapses into a sudden silence. For the moment, it seems he has used up his store of words.
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Taisha does not look pleased, but she nods, some halflings do look like children and there are supposed to be a lot of halfling thieves.
"Right well, shall we go? We have the dark which will probably make stealth easier, and I would have this over with sooner rather than later." She says stepping towards the door as she looks from face to face. Stopping upon Zelena's she hesitates, "Unless you have any adice, or think the cards could give us any Madam Zelena? I have never had a harrow reading myself, but I know some people swear by them."
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Zellara smiles as she watches all of you begin to plan for an assault on Gaedren Lamm’s place. She begins shuffling the Harrow deck again while all of you talk and seems content to let the conversation flow without her. After the group seems to be ready to leave, and Taisha asks about a Harrow reading, Zellara takes a quick sip of her wine glass before answering, ”The Harrow may reveal many things Taisha, I would be perfectly willing to do a reading for all of you before you left. Free of charge of course. Also, dear, I would appreciate it if you called me Zellara.” Her face brightens into a smirking smile at the end, and she invites each of you to sit around the table with a wave of her hand.
Byron raises an eyebrow, but gives Zellara a gracious smile.
"I cannot speak for the others, but I would indeed be interested in receiving such a boon..."
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"I would be perfectly willing to do a reading for all of you..."
Alyn nods, pulls off his sword, and sits, saying:
"Ah, now I remember why Westpier sounds familiar. My mentor took me there once a few years back to practice spells of rats and other vermin." Rolan sits up higher in the chair and sets his wine glass aside, as well as the remains of his bread. His eyes are sharp as he relays his memories. His gaze shifts from one member of the party to another. "There are dangers there aside from just Lamm himself. The piers are now all but unused by anyone with something resembling a savory nature. Don't look wealthy when traveling there, or the beggars and pick pockets will swarm you. There should be fewer about at night, but I wouldn’t bet my purse on it. A water approach is more dangerous than I first thought. Lots of sharks and other unsightly sea monsters are in that area. It may be best if we travel there in pairs to reduce our chance of detection, and make sure that none of us gets waylaid."
His gaze now returns to Zellara and his mouth quirks in a smirk to match hers. "I never put much stock in Harrow, but it is interesting to hear what a reader comes up with. I'm game."
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Zellara gives her cards one last shuffle of the cards before she begins to spread them out along the table face down. Each of you at the table notice that the card backs have the same artistic style as the card they received from Zellara and if anyone were to check, that card would now be out of their possession.
Beginning in the left column Zellara’s voice becomes slightly deeper, her eyes unfocused as if she were concentrating elsewhere. ”The choosing has already been performed, as each of you have already received a card specific to each of you. These cards hold power, passed down from my grandmother to me, and her grandmother before her, the future is the purview of the Gods… but through the Harrow we are allowed small glimpses into the past, the present, and the future. As this is a group reading, it is up to each of you to interpret the meaning each card holds for you. As always, we begin in the past.”
Bringing her fingers to the top card of the left column, she flips it over to reveal The Keep. ”Ah. The Keep, a strong bulwark against temptation or degradation, unshakable when threatened, important qualities that some among you have cultivated in your past. For some, a thing to aspire towards.”
Sliding her fingers down to the middle left card, she flips it over to show The Waxworks, ”Helplessness and entropy. The life blood of a city snuffed out like a candle at the end of its wick. So to, the decay starts with a small fire, melting away the layers of pristine white, until naught is left but the base form.”
Taking a short breath, almost a pant except she maintains her relaxed state, Zellara flips over the last card of the left column to show The Wanderer, ”The Wanderer, misaligned in his own past. Unable to see the value in anything else, looking always inwards. Focused totally on his personal desire.”
Moving her hand back up to the top row, she flips over The Cricket, and the same silly bottle-cap glasses wearing cricket is on the card, “Now we step into the present, with The Cricket, a quick creature, able to speedily move along the passages of his quest. Such will be required of each of you tonight, if you are to find your path. But do not allow yourself to get so completely caught up in the road that you miss the dangers lurking just behind the paved path.”
Continuing down the column Zellara flips over another card, “The Owl. A wise creature, down to earth with the true sight that can never be blinded, a sight born of experience and wisdom in the natural order of the world. The sight of truth will guide those who know how to look down the true path of their destiny.”
Sliding down to the final card of the present, she flips over a card with bright plumage on it, “The Peacock, beware the sudden shifts on the road before you. They are sure to change you, for better or worse, we may only hope for the best outcome of our choices.”
Moving to the next column of this ritual, Zellara flips up a new card, with a man and woman dressed for a wedding, kissing each other with a shared wreath over their foreheads, “Now we step into the future with, The Marriage, the union of a group. Standing together against the adversity of the road, shared in goals and desires. Only through such a bond will a lasting change for the better be forged.”
Pulling up the next card, Zellara shivers slightly as a picture of a dark yawning cavern sits on the card and those who look closely enough can just barely glimpse the silhouette of a shadow inside the obsidian center of the card, ”The Lair, an ominous place to be in, a person trapped in darkness, perhaps by their own emotions, the love of one who does not return it.”
Finally, the last card is touched by Zellara, and at this Zellara’s eyes turn milky white, looking up at each of you blankly, her voice turning deeper still, as if she were going further into whatever had hold of her, a cold breeze without source settles over the room for a moment, ruffling your hair and snapping your clothes, strangely not moving the cards at all, except for the last, which flips up to reveal…
”The Cyclone, a dark force settling over the city, the harbinger of tumultuous and evil plots abounding throughout Korvosa. A change is coming… and it will blow away the weak, to make room for the strong. Such is the fate of a city without champions to defend it, without love for the people, and without a monarch to lead it.”
Zellara slumps forward for a moment as if recovering her breath, her eyes turning back to their normal color and her face is flushed slightly, nervously gathering up her cards and shuffling them back into the Harrow Deck, she looks up at each of you in turn once again, ”Such is what the Harrow tells me, though I sincerely hope some of it is not true.”
Zellara finishes by taking her almost untouched glass of wine and drinking down half of it quickly. An oppressive weight that none of you had felt settle on you as the Harrow Reading was performed seems to be lifted from the room, making it seem brighter than before, and a faint chirping of crickets is heard from outside one of the windows.
Richter nods to the others and listens to the reading carefully. He doesn't place much faith in such, but has certainly learned to respect other beliefs and listens carefully to the dark predictions.
"Unless something has changed, there is likely to be at least one other working with Lamm. Maybe more, but he has had a long term ally. A foul man. When one of the children misbehaved or morale was high enough that they thought we could cause trouble, he was the one who would ensure one of us would 'disappear'. If he is there I would hope we could deal with him as well."
He pauses and then adds "Also, if there is trouble with the children, I will try and take care of them if possible. Cayden has blessed me with less lethal ways of handling some trouble."
Alynbrand curtly nods his thanks and sweeps up a glass of wine, raised in a small toast, "May your predictions prove wrong." He takes a small sip from the glass and nods in approval at the vintage.
He sets the glass down carefully and rises. "Right. Shall we go get Lamm now?"
He sets the glass down carefully and rises. "Right. Shall we go get Lamm now?"
"Damn right." Kur-Awk stands from his perch in front of the door, shoulders his Earthbreaker and starts out into the night. He pauses. "Which way?"
Byron turns to the others with a smile, feeling somewhat re-energised by the reading.
"By all means, let's get going. We have business to attend to this night!"
At Richter's words, he nods his thanks.
"I would appreciate it if we managed to minimise casualties amongst the children, regardless of whether or not they have been brain-washed or cowed into working for Lamm... If it helps, I also have some skill at knocking people out, rather than killing them, with my blade..."
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Traveling through the still cold of the night, the reek of brine and the stink of week-dead fish hang thickly in the air. The buildings become more run down and decrepit the further into the district you go. Most of the night lamps remain unlit and the shadows grow large as your group winds their way through the streets. Overhead the stars are dull and clouds cover much of the night sky. Eventually the party makes their way to Westpier 17 which stands close to the inner shore, even the beggars and wastrels seem to avoid this area. The building near the center of the street towards the sea stands a story taller than the others around it, a large thick wooden pier that shows it's age in the worn paint and rickety walk planks that line around the pier.
The old double doors in the side of this weathered building are tightly closed, with a drooping signpost hanging above. The sign it once displayed is long gone, leaving behind only a single short length of rusted chain. A cold breeze from the water blows onto the shore every so often and making the chain rattle. All of you currently stand near an alley way roughly one hundred feet away from Westpier 17 and all stands quiet.
When the reading begins Rolan's face is marred by a smirk, but as the reading goes on his lips bend into a frown and his eyes grow dark and hard. He settles back into the chair and seems to retreat within himself. His unfocused eyes fail to notice the air as it rushes through the room, even as it knocks the half finished wine glass from his fingers. Munin takes shelter from the gust on Rolan's shoulder using the wizard's head as a wind-break.
When the others begin to leave Rolan slowly get to his feet. He pulls the hood of his robe up over his head hiding his face in shadows. Turing towards their hostess he bows. "Before this night is out you shall be free." Turning away sharply he strides from the room to join the rest.
During the journey Rolan remains silent, save to give directions once or twice when the way isn’t clear in the darkness. When they reach the alley he remains towards the back of the group allowing those with keener eyes than him to view their destination. "Can anyone see a way in?"
Alynbrand observes the empty street and doesn't like it. He comments quietly to no one in particular, "Lamm probably has watchers stationed around the area. If we're unlucky - archers as well. Scouting unobserved is going to be tricky. We may want a couple people in position to rush that door and knock it down in case they raise an alarm."
Perception:
Kur-Awk stares at the building, then at the men and women and thing standing around, staring at the building.
"Huh. How 'bout there?" He points toward what appears to be a way in.
Perception
Richter frowns a bit down the empty street, no one around means that there aren't really anyone to ask and they will seem all the more suspicious walking down the barren street.
"Probably should have guessed that Lamm would make sure the locals knew to stay away. We are going to stick out like a sore thumb if we just go walking up there and he has any guards paying attention. Anyone have any idea how we can blend in? Maybe draw a guard or two to us so we can put them out of commission without them getting any reinforcements and maybe give him a blind spot at the same time? Best thing I can come up with would be faking like a noble in the wrong part of town. They might come up to shake you down without thinking of informing the others. Biggest problem is that means the rest of us would have to stay back at first and so whoever tried it would have to be able to handle himself."
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Taisha breathes warmth into her hands and flexes her toes shivering. "Its too cold, let's kick the door down. I doubt he will be expecting that and surprise might give us an advantage no amount of slinking could. Brrrr. Otherwise let the stealthy folk get it over with please!"
She hides from the wind behind Kur-Awk hugging herself and almost jogging on the spot.
Dasha just glowers at the building showing his fangs.
She hides from the wind behind Kur-Awk hugging herself and almost jogging on the spot.
Kur-Awk smiles at the woman and leans closer, sounding suddenly less stupid than before. In a low voice, he says "Kur-Awk thought small woman didn't want anyone doing anything for her. Is a windbreak something Kur-Awk should be providing?"
Alynbrand tries to hide his grin at the astute observation of the herculean fighter.
As the group approaches the area, Byron gives the building a quick scan.
He then shrugs.
"I do not see any obvious guards, but I would be surprised if Lamm had 'crack' troops under his command... I have gotten the impression that he is high enough up the food-chain in the area to make personal problems disappear, but not high enough to become a thorn in the side of the Korvosan Guard... If anything, I would expect him to be complacent; I dare say no-one has ever tried to come after him like this before...
...However, I would be happy to sneak forward, and see what can be seen through the windows..."
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The streets remain cold and dark and empty as the moments drag on. Byron moves forward to see two obvious entrances, the large double doors facing northward (towards your party) and a small pair of double doors facing westward. Inside the windows the rooms are dark, with the hinted shadows of large furniture scattered around, on the south side Byron sees the pier leading out towards the water with another brine covered abandoned warehouse on the far side of the old fishery. An old seemingly decrepit boat hangs loosely near the pier, though it doesn't look like it has seen use in a long time.
There is no indication of any guards posted around the windows and no lights are on in the fishery itself.
Does there look to be any way onto the boat, whether for us or if it could be used as some sort of escape for someone inside?
Rolan stifles a laugh at the banter between Kur-Awk and Taisha and shakes his head. His hand rests upon the holt of his dagger as he peers over the shoulders of the others. His frown deepens as the minutes tick by. With a snort he whispers to Kur-Awk, "If something else doesn't happen soon what say you to just knocking on the door with that big hammer of yours?"
Rolan stifles a laugh at the banter between Kur-Awk and Taisha and shakes his head. His hand rests upon the holt of his dagger as he peers over the shoulders of the others. His frown deepens as the minutes tick by. With a snort he whispers to Kur-Awk, "If something else doesn't happen soon what say you to just knocking on the door with that big hammer of yours?"
Kur-Awk nods, smiling grimly. "Knocking only polite."
Byron arches an eyebrow.
"By all means, if you insist on being that polite, then do so; just allow me to get into position next to the door you intend to 'knock' on, first...
He then drifts like a ghost over to the smaller, westward-facing doors...
Kur-Awk smiles at the stealthy man until he disappears into the shadows. He then strolls over to the smaller doors and waits for anyone else to join him. He hefts the hammer, raises it high over his head and brings it smashing down into the door!
Richter gives a slight nod to the others and draws his rapier, moving up to the doorway with the front line fighters so he is ready to help in case anyone is injured.
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With everyone arrayed around the door, Kur-Awk raises up his mighty Earth Breaker with both hands and crashes it against the small double doors. With a shattering crash and the screech of metal hinges breaking off the walls, Kur-Awk's Earth Breaker smashes the door inward, crashing it loudly to the floor of the first room.
Those at the front door see that a single desk sits in the middle of this room, a moldy chair pushed up against the far side. A small pile of ratty furs and straw is heaped under the table. From the table comes the sudden loud barking of a dog, the grizzled, foul-tempered cur leaping from under the desk and barring its fangs towards you. Behind the dog, in the rooms further in, more voices begin to shout, one barking out orders while the frightened screams of children begin to sound faintly farther back.
Round 1:
"Remember, please try to spare the children!"
Round 1
Standard Action:
To Hit:
Damage:
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With a fearless bark the dog lunges forward towards Kur-Awk, his slavering jaws snapping at Kur-Awk's shins. Luckily for Kur-Awk, the dog's bite snaps down on the shaft of his Earth-breaker as Kur-Awk brings it up to hold the beast at bay.
Stepping up next to Kur-Awk, Alynbrand draws his Greatsword from his back and in a swift motion brings the steel blade crashing through the Dog's skull, eliciting a short yelp of pain and a splash of blood to spray across the floor, instantly dropping the now life-less body of the dog.
From the right side door of the room steps out a man dressed in silk clothes, a leather jerkin draped over his torso. He comes out screaming, "Whichever of you boys is trying to escape is gonna be seeing Mr. Lamm toni..."
His voice cutting off in surprise as he sees Kur-Awk and Alynbrand standing in the doorway, the blood of his dog on Alynbrand's great sword. "No! Bloo! You bastards."
He stands in shock for a moment before pulling out a wand that he had strapped to his belt and the sounds of children waking up can be faintly heard beyond this first room, panicked voices screaming incoherently.
Rolan watches the initial assault with keen eyes. The others seem to be eager to come to grips with their foes, such as they are, and he is loath to dissuade them from such a tactic. As the man who is threatening them with a wand comes into focus Rolan draws his dagger and eyes this new foe.
Richter's lip curls a bit at the sight of the man, seeing him show caring for the dog that he never showed for any of the children. "Hello again, Yargin, you scum. We will be seeing Lamm again tonight, only this time it will be he who is afraid. Now, face what is coming to you."
Assuming Kur-Awk doesn't simply drop the man, Richter moves forward to block him from getting to any of the other doors, and strikes at him with a rapier.
Attack(no modifiers)
Damage
If Kur-Awk does dispatch the man, Richter will instead move to the door where the children are crying to go in and try and comfort them. Don't want our position given away more than needed.
Kur-Awk shakes his head at the dog's death. He wasn't particular partial to animals, but still, it was just a dog. However, the other man looks decided un-dog, and therefore had chosen to work for Lamm. He was part of the problem.
And Kur-awk knew one good way to solve problems..
Moving across the floor, he raises the hammer to bring it down upon the man!
Attack:
Damage:
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As battle erupts Taisha moves up and cast mage armor upon her eidolon, nodding sternly towards the entrance. Dasha rushes in and moves around to get at this Yargrin who imprisons children, his claws extend and he slashes out at the fellow with a snarl!
"Don't be gentle my friend." Taisha says in a hard voice, as she hears the fellow blithely speak of imprisoning children. Normally she might view his words more charitably, but anyone associated with Lamm can only be cut from the darkest cloth.