Ummmm...yes please!!
Then claim it, even if you have to claim it for the Shield Lands.
Kehlysch raises his hand in a threatening pose, as if he is about to cast a spell and set the surviving guard on fire.
"Free the slaves, if you want even a hope of surviving this," he threatens.
Kehlysch raises his hand in a threatening pose, as if he is about to cast a spell and set the surviving guard on fire.
"Free the slaves, if you want even a hope of surviving this," he threatens.
[dice=Intimidate, Untrained]1d20+4
"Why should I?"
Kehlysch shrugs and says, "I gave you a chance. Oh, well..."
Kehlysch moves his hand in a scooping motion through the air, and an amorphous sphere of ooze-like substance appears in it. He hurls it at the remaining guard.
How about I feed you your liver?
"Chestman go easy on him. Maybe we'll just leave him in a dungeon?" the elf smiles.
Gothia retrieves the bastard sword that moments ago sought her life, weighing its balance before claiming it.
“I’ll see it purified—and sworn to Heironeous,” she says, buckling the sheath to her belt and sliding the blade into place.
Gothia retrieves the bastard sword that moments ago sought her life, weighing its balance before claiming it.
“I’ll see it purified—and sworn to Heironeous,” she says, buckling the sheath to her belt and sliding the blade into place.
It's masterwork construction shows that it's perfectly balanced.
"Not quite dead, eh?" After a horrible missed stab, TT stammers, "I meant to do that! Last chance to surrender!"
for plus
"Those slaves are ours by right."
Time to eat your liver! Chestman pulls out a knife and does just that.
"Idiot," Kehlysch mutters to himself as Chestman finishes off the stubborn guard. "He and his friends were beaten. He was going to lose the slaves, regardless. He chose to die and lose his slaves, speaking about his rights as if being a slaver were some noble, honest profession."
He watches the light fade from the guard's eyes as the dwarf guts him. "You could have lived, embarrassed and poor. Instead, you will die slowly, painfully, embarrassed, and poor. Your own stupidity contributed as much to your death as our friend here."
"Anyway," he says, turning to the slaves. "You'll be freed shortly, once our dwarf friend here is finished..."
Gothia’s voice cracks across the chamber like a thunderclap, raw with fury and fear.
“Chestman! Do not damn yourself by becoming the very horror we swore to end. You are not a cannibal. To feast upon the flesh of a thinking being is an act steeped in darkness. Do not force my hand after all we have endured together.”
She rises in a single, fluid motion—steel whispering free as her sword levels at the dwarf. Her stance is rigid, trembling not with hesitation but with heartbreak. The torchlight dances along the blade’s edge as she prepares to strike, should he take one more step toward that forbidden act.
"Gothia, wait." The elf pauses. "Stop dwarf let someone heal him"
I wasn't going to eat it so calm down
He's scared speechless.
"So," Kehlysh says to the man. "Let's try this again. You will release these people, and return to them whatever coins and possessions you have taken from them. You will foreswear the enterprise of slavery, leave this town forever, and find honest work elsewhere. If we ever encounter you again in so much as the presence of a slave, you will wish our friend here was not forestalled. What you will experience will be far, far slower, and much more painful. In the end, you will beg with all the fervor in your soul to die. Do you understand??"
He takes out a green leaf from a poisonous plant and says, "Never." He then eats it.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Gothia lets her righteous rage slowly drain as she sees that the dwarf was only attempting to threaten the prisoner, but she shakes her head as the villain takes the poison.
"A coward's way out..."
You have four dead guards now. One of them has ran away. They all have keys on their baldrics.
TT starts freeing the prisoners and tells them the direction in which the slaves they freed earlier fled in the hopes that they'll all meet up for mutual defense.
That done, the bard reminds her friends that she's used up all her healing spells but still can inspire courage if they wish to push further into the slaver temple. Personally, she doesn't want to give any surviving slavers the chance to regroup or escape.
"We could rest here," Kehlysch suggests. "Some of us pretend to be guards, while the others pretend to be slaves and get some rest. We then switch every few hours, so that everyone has a chance to sleep. Not the finest of accommodations, but I've slept in worse."
Just make sure to hide the bodies.
Alenthieal helps drag the bodies away from the area and cover them up.
Kehlysch helps ALenthieal move the bodies. While he does so, he looks at their armor and clothing to see if they are wearing anything resembling a uniform or coat of arms.
Kehlysch helps ALenthieal move the bodies. While he does so, he looks at their armor and clothing to see if they are wearing anything resembling a uniform or coat of arms.
They are wearing a coat of arms, the arms of the Scarlet Brotherhood.
Chestman shoves the bodies around. Just wat was that plant he ate? They probably have more we need to burn.
"Well, I can use a rest," Vesica announces, starting to remove her armor and other equipment. When that's done, she musses up her hair and wipes some dirt across her arms, legs, and face.
"There--now I'm a slave. Wake me up in about 8 hours...." The young lady enters a cell--carrying her equipment in with her--and curls up, using her armor as a rather uncomfortable pillow. She makes sure the door isn't locked and then zonks out quickly.
Kehlysch picks up one of the Scarlet Brotherhood tabards (whichever is most intact and free of blood) and slips it on over his head.
"All right. Who's standing watch with me, and who's resting?"
I'll stand watch with you.
Kehlysch nods to Chestman. "If one of you can relieve me in the next four hours or so, I will then rest and recover my magic."
Sea Ranger helps Alanthiel remove and conceal the bodies, then he takes a bit of rest himself, offering to take second watch after getting a few hours of sleep.
"I'll take one of the watches"
Assuming no one interrupts durin the first watch, Kehlysch lets Alenthieal relieve him. He hands over the guard's tabard, and then finds a spot in the cell to curl up and catch some needed rest.
Chestman will also flop down when his watch is done.
Once she's had a full rest to restore her spells and other bardic abilities, TT gets up, puts on her armor, girds herself with weapons, and then steps out of the cell. She takes watch until the other sleepers stir. For the first hour of her watch, she sits on the floor and silently does a variety of stretches to prepare her body and mind for whatever the new day might bring.
The next morning, you are awakened in the temple. The place feels different, even though Gothia did not dedicate the temple and the land as sacred ground. It's also the point where you see a familiar face. Krishka has seemingly found you, even though she's been undercover.
"Good to see you again!" TT exclaims, giving the much taller orcish woman a quick hug. The bard then explains what has happened since the party raided the temple and began freeing the slaves found therein.
While everyone is waking up, a stooped slave steps out from a corner, but as she gets closer she suddenly stands upright allowing her fave to be seen clearly. An orc dressed in rags like a slave, but now that her face is easy to see, one can see her eyes are not those of a beaten and broken slave. In fact, she is now walking straight and tall with an air of nobility that seems at odds with her orcish figure. She is slim for an orc, but still quite well built, and her skin is covered in dirt but lacks the scars and imperfections one might have expected.
She smiles as Vesica rushes her for a hug.
"Great to see you! But what brings you here?"
As she listens to Vesica explain everything, she look over everyone, a quick glance and a nod for those familiar faces, and a long critical examination for the new faces. It is the sort of look over that one expects from a noble or a military officer, lacking the bloodlust one might expect from an orc, and holding more reservation as well.
"I do not see the stick in the mud. Is he dead, or just on his own path? And who are these folks?" she asks in general, finishing with a gesture to those who haven't met her yet.
"On his own path...again," TT replies with a grin. She then introduces Krishka to the party's newer faces and vice versa.
"Hello there," Kehlysch says to the newcomer, who apparently, by Vesica's reaction, isn't. "My name is Kehlysch. I am one of the slaves they recently freed. Unfortunately for my captors, I have abilities that, now that I have armed support, can be brought to bear against them. The Scarlet Brotherhood is going to be out of the slaving business very, very soon!"
Gothia looks up and sees Krishka greeting the rest of the party.
"Glad to see you back! I am glad to have you at our side again!"
She reaches out and takes the orc's arm in a rough handshake.
Good to see ya again.
"Hello again. We could use the help against the yellow sailed devils"
"Everyone ready to proceed?" TT asks, getting her gear together to press deeper into the temple's interior. "Maybe we've got the slavers almost wiped out, since nothing attacked us while we rested. Only one way to find out for sure, though...so let's go!"