Shattered Star (IC)

[lostsole31]

Speckled says to Natalya, "I'm sure you might find a good use for them. Poisons are particularly good against weaker physical types like arcane casters or even rogues, the types that tend to stay in the back. You maneuver past that front line and bring the line to them, you'll be particularly effective."

[AtomicBanana]

Bessel draws his poncho back over his arm, gripping his pistol nervously. His other hand hovers around his bomb components.

"Well, let's get on with it, then. Ichabod?"

[nasus]

Dorit brings her attention back to the group. "However the lot of you feel things should be divided is fine with me. I'm more concerned with getting you all to this next shard safely."

[lostsole31]

[See OOC. Moving on ...]

Continuing clockwise from the great hall is a door. The normal door checks are made with nothing noted. The door is opened. A 20'-long-pway(NW) leads to a chamber. Since party torchlight is already in that room, there is no scouting.

This square room seems to serve a dual purpose as a bedroom and a torture chamber. There is an exit to the west, 10' wide and going only 20' down to a chamber beyond. Before you even toss the (obviously female derro's) room, Natalya notes a stench wafting in from the west and a weak voice coming down the hallway. It is a croaking, broken noise ... rasping and wheezing ... "Who .... who's there?"

[TickleMeTemplar]

WIS Check: (1d20+5)[24]

[AtomicBanana]

Bessel raises his pistol cautiously. "Who's asking?"

He nods at Ichabod, signaling to continue together towards the voice.

[Duce]

Ic cautiously moves toward the voice, ready to blast the source if needed. He will continue to move forward until he is in line of site of the source of the voice. He asks....


[COLOR="rgb(255, 140, 0)"]Please identify yourself, and keep your hands where we may see them?[/COLOR]

[nasus]

Dorit prepares to move herself in between her companions and harm's way.

[lostsole31]

Rezah...

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...you awaken to noises and the clanging of heavy armor. There is torchlight from beyond the passageway that opens right into your cell, though you see in the dark.

You have been the prisoner of a creature you know not what. Your captor is half your size or even smaller. She has bulging white eyes, wild hair, four-fingered hands, and carries an aklys (a hooked club that can be thrown short distances and retracted) and a magical wand that clouded your mind to be more amenable to her, but that clouding seems to have worn off. She doesn't speak your language, which frustrates you both to no end. She is quite barmy, and laughs with glee or rages as her mood strikes her. She played with your mind as if it were a toy, though the language barrier was a problem.

The nice thing is that not only is she not there, but you easily intuit that with all of the things happening in the next room she might even be dead or incapacitated.

Unfortunately, what you don't know is who you are, what you are, how you came to be in this place, or in fact ... nothing prior to a few days ago when you awoke (or simply realized as in trying to awake from some stupor). At all.

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This means that until you RP realizing each .... individual ...ability (that means no "package remembrance"), you don't even know your name (that will be handled later), your goddess (again, handled shortly), or any of your abilities. Again, RP rediscovery. You are absolutely clueless, though you obviously have your moral and ethical compass, as well as any predilections you might otherwise have had.

Oh, yeah .... all 6'5", 276 pounds of green you is naked.

... the smell is offensive. It is that wretched and disgusting shade of a man. He is obviously from the absolutely lowest part of the social ladder, and is horrid to look at. The stench from him sickened you at first, but you are getting used to it ... which means that it simply doesn't give you bad heaches, but is still a vile smell. Still, there is need to speak with a fellow captive. His name is Fenster the Blight, and it infuriates you that this creature can remember his name.

You hear his broken voice, "Who ... who's there?"

Then comes the reply. [See above.] The first voice is shrill and small, while the second voice has a nice, simple sound to it.

Rezah, do you say/ do anything

[TickleMeTemplar]

Rezah massages his temples, as if to will away the fog and gain some recollection back. After several moments of this fruitless endeavor, he turns to Fenster and growls in a low, barely audible voice, "Careful, human. I do not want to trade one cage for another."

After this, he moves as far from the door as he is able and adds, "Whatever is there may not spare us."

[AtomicBanana]

Bessel, not hearing a response, repeats his question in Draconic, Gnome, Goblin, Halfling, and Undercommon.

[nasus]

"Considering they called out in Common, I assume you could just reply in kind."

[AtomicBanana]

"I wanted them to know that someone exceptionally intelligent with a solid multilingual approach was rescuing them. In the event they care to repeat the tale for, you know, posterity."

Bessel pauses thoughtfully.

"Besides, the Kobold dialect of Draconic is supposed to be very soothing, have you ever heard a Kobold lullaby before?"

[TheCyberwoman]

I doubt very much that what our new friends here need is a lullaby. A bath smells like it's in order though.

The wrinkle in Natalya's nose may be in response to Bessel's hubris, or to the stench. Probably both.

[nasus]

"Rescue? Friend? Considering what else we've encountered, it seems far more likely they'll be someone who needs to be subdued before they cause us problems."

[lostsole31]

Rezah, when you looked at Fenster, you looked over in his direction since you aren't in an actual cage .... though the metaphor is well-worded.

Ichibod, the torchlight behind you to help you peer into the area. A curved hallway stretches to the left and right, with stone cell doors lining the inner wall.

Everyone easily heard a more clear response from a different, stronger voice. Meanwhile, Rezah hears several voices including that of two women. One of the voices (you can tell it is the same small-but-projected voice) babbles in what is obviously half a dozen languages or so ... none of which you understand. Because of the stone nature of the area and the speakers, you pick up what has been said, even though you aren't at the front facing the passageway. (You don't know your orientation, but the passageway is around the curve to your left. You saw the projected, indirect glow of torchlight.)

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I need to know what your 18 Charisma, skilled Diplomacy voice is like, Rezah...

Oh, I forgot to mention. Even with the forgetting of abilities, you currently are blanked of spells.

For the group, the smell now makes sense. You remember Fenster, Fenster the Blight. He was the man living under an upturned boat in a warehouse that you went to so you could get information on the Tower Girls. He seems very capable at skulking and was quite knowledge, despite being equally quite nuts, at giving you the final piece that a Tower Girl (Natalya) was holed up in a run-down boarding house. The rest, as gamers say, is campaign history.

Natalya

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Fenster described as above for his "home," but after the Tower Girls suffered losses in a guild war and had to retreat, Fenster's warehouse was the first place to go. After that, the Tower Girls discovered the Crow piling on the Irespan. You went exploring and found the Shard of Pride and realized that your plans of dominating the guild would have to start by building a power base outside the guild so you could come in by force later. You called in favors on a handful of toughs, and made contact with sewer goblins (your royal servants and bodyguards) to begin setting up your holdings.

There, Ichibod, in the front-facing cell, you see Fenster the Blight on the ground looking your way. In his rasping, slurring (Cockney), "There be the bowman huntin' Ol' Fenster ta' skin 'is bones. And he brung tarts and timmies to taik 'im away, too."

He weakly manages to flop one hand out of the cell, but the other hand is simply lying on the ground near to him. Without actually having had the ability to roll in city filth it seems that his smell, which is still pungent, is not enough to sicken you. You know he is naked, you see that, and that is more sickening than his smell could ever be.

[TheCyberwoman]

My apologies Dorit I misspoke, I should have said old friend...or informant, or traitor.... Depends on the the day or the perspective.

Old feelings of guilt and anger are barely concealed as Natalya moves away from the group and out if sight of the cell door.

Whatever, we know what's in there, now someone cover what's left if him up. It's unsightly.

[lostsole31]

"We don't know all that is in there," Speckled says to Natalya.

A smooth, gentle voice with a nice under-resonance calls out towards the cells, Rezah. "I heard a voice of reason and wisdom respond more to Fenster than ourselves. Your captors are dead. If we wanted to kill you, we would simply leave you here and go about our way. But we'd like to start off on better footing than paranoia. So, please, place your hands outside the cell. One of our missions is to rescue those captured by these detestable blue cretins."

[TickleMeTemplar]

Rezah strokes his chin thoughtfully for a moment; an action lost to those outside. The last voice to call out appears, to Rezah, to be calm yet confident and lacks any edge of malice.

He calls out in a clear, firm voice "I would rather take my chances with you than alone in this cage."

With that, he moves to the cell door and extends his arms, up to the elbows, fingers splayed out.

[lostsole31]

Natalya turned away, and I assume Bessel is morbidly interested in Atalatia's studies - at least academically despite her insanity, and Dorit is probably there to protect that backline.

This leaves Ichibod, Paxre, and Specks moving inward. Ichibod probably lights something for backline while Specks takes the torch. Specks reels for a second but pushes into the room, not quite as stalwart as Ichibod. On the other hand, as soon as Paxre moves in he blanches and moves out. "No, thank you. I don't know who that guy is, but he smells like an unwashed ghoul's balls."

Ichibod, you make your way to the south side where you see thick, greenish hands sticking out of the cell.

[Rezah, describe yourself. Ichibod, describe yourself. Be sure to include updates (and losses) for current equipment.]

Meanwhile, Specks curves around to the northern cells. He stands transfixed for a moment and then bolts upright and looks away. "Dorit, Natalya! One of you, please grab the sheet off of the derro's bed and bring it as quickly as possible. All other males in the party stand back until this lady is covered."

Then a little softer he says, "Now, now. I won't look at you until you are covered, but I am a physician and will need to look you over afterwards. Even then, I promise to be sensitive to any humiliation you may have suffered. For now, one of our ladies will find some covering for you, meager though it may be."

[AtomicBanana]

Bessel shrugs and immerses himself in Atalatia's notes. He gathers up as much as he can and places it in a pile on the table.

[TickleMeTemplar]

Rezah is a large, strikingly handsome half-orc. He stands every inch of 6'5" tall and is a very solid 276 lbs. He has the green skin of an orc, along with green-gold eyes and dark green to black hair. His face has a bit of scruff, as he has been detained for an unknown period of time. His hair is relatively short with an unmistakably martial cut.

Most interesting, however, are the several distinct markings that scar his otherwise unmarred flesh. On the back of his left forearm, branded deeply but very cleanly is the unmistakable silhouette of a scimitar. The pommel starts just below the elbow and the tip terminates right above the wrist. On the inside of his right forearm he bears a similar marking, only this time the brand takes the form of a dove. A third and final brand stretches from Rezah's lower jawline to the cheekbone and back almost to the ear. This symbol is of a winged woman with a fiery halo, arms spread wide. A fourth mark rests over his left pectoral; it is not burned in like the others but merely discolored skin, a birthmark. It takes the form of a fiery sun.

[nasus]

Dorit puts away weapon and shield so she can grab a sheet, yanking it from the bed and shaking it out. She unceremoniously "folds" it a couple times to make it manageable as she brings it in to Speckled.

"Find something interesting, boss?" A corner of her lip curls upward in a smirk at her own joke.

[lostsole31]

Dorit begins with "Find something" and Speckled thumbs to a back (northern) cell for her to go, but when she says "...boss?" he looks at her and says, "You, too?"

"There's a third prisoner in there," he says. "She is very scared and humiliated with being naked. Don't be soldier-girl on this one, Bear. She could use strong but gentle hands."

When Dorit gets to the change (Speckled hands her the torch), she sees a beautiful woman that might just be even more beautiful if she could be cleaned up. She is dirty and her raven hair is unkempt. She is shapely yet petite and likely in her late teens or early 20s at tops. She is curled up into a fetal position, tear marks having cut through the dirt, and her eyes open in shock. Her lips are quivering and she is making a soft whimpering sound.

Dorit, what do you do?

"Ichibod, some light..." Speckled tries popping the lock onquickly but it is an extremely good lock, so he'll have to take his time with it.

Bessel, it is going to take you a bit to begin to go through Atalatia's writings.

[AtomicBanana]

Bessel looks around the table for something to tie the bundle of papers together for packing on Dorit. Occasionally he looks towards each entrance to the lab, feeling the fur at the base of his neck prickle at the thought of brown mold sneaking up on him.

[nasus]

Dorit crouches as best she can in her armor, peering through the bars as she waits for Speckled to unlock the door.

"Hey Little Linnorm, curled up in your den..." she softly speaks this phrase from a childhood lullaby, then offers the sheet to the young woman through the bars. "Don't worry about this big guy, he's a gentle soul. We'll help you, I promise."

[lostsole31]

The young woman is too in shock to move, much less register the blanket. Seeing that Natalya and Paxre both turned away because of the smell, Speckled calls out, "Thanks for the help, guys. Weren't you the one boasting about being a better lockpick than I, Paxre?"

There's a few seconds pause before the reply, "Well, yes, but I thought you needed the practice."

"Damn," says Speckled Antelope after a minute. "This is a damn tough lock. Okay, this may take even longer."

It takes ten minutes (which, when we think about it, isn't that bad) to pop Fenster's lock. He then moves over to take care of the woman's lock, doing his gentemanly best not to look at her. Once he's down with that, Dorit is able to cover her. Though she is in shock, she can be helped up and moved carefully; it may be more mental shock than anything physical, especially since she has no wounds.

Lastly, Speckled Antelope unlocks Rezah's cell. The tall man opens up the cell and holds up whatever light source Ichibod provided. ("No skulls.")

Rezah, opening the cell is an unlikely-looking adventurer. "Hello, Child of Sarenrae. I am The Scribe and I will be your jail-breaker for the evening. If you have any questions about the menu ... Stay, or Go ... I will be by your cell again to help you with your request."

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Human male. 6'6", good but slender build (215 lbs). Has mottled skin pattern that alternates between medium normal to light tan. Hair is brown with dark blond splotches. His eyes are blue. Not a striking blue, but an almost blandish blue.

Instead of wearing adventurer's clothing of any kind, he wears the long, black robes and skullcap of an academic or in this case, a scrivener. His profession is noted in the faint inkstains on his fingers. On the other hand, once the lock to your cell was opened, he picked up an all-metal ranseur made of a somewhat darker shade of metal than normal. He has a composite longbow at his back, and other weapons: morningstar, bola, net. Definitely someone who at least fancies themself a warrior. Too, he was able to pick the lock on your cell.

And what's this about "Child of Sarenrae?"

He takes out a bedroll from a backpack and hands it to Rezah. "Perhaps you should cover up with this."

He calls to his companions. "Okay, let's toss the place for anything interesting, and then leave by way of the derro tunnels to the sewers. It's a long walk for these folk, especially without shoes, but our two boats just won't do it and I don't want to leave anyone behind. But unless you have better advice we have prisoners and now it's time to get them home safely."

[AtomicBanana]

Bessel walks over to the giant naked green man, holding a stack of papers flat to his chest.

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Ratfolk. Male, judging by his voice. Around four feet tall, but he slouches and hides his body under a hooded poncho. His fur is black, but his eyes are pink. The parts of him that extend out from his clothing are either covered with dark patchy fur or pale and hairless and marked with various types of burn scars. Combined with a subdued rank of uncleanliness, you can detect faint odors of saltpeter, ammonia, sulphur, and black powder.

"Is it just the three of you, or are there more unwillings down here who might not be in the cells?"

[TickleMeTemplar]

Still puzzling over the Human's comment, Rezah absentmindedly dismisses the Ratfolk, "I do not know, furry one."
Wrapping the bedroll about his midsection, he calls after the human, "Scribe, what do you mean "Child of Sarenrae"? Do you know why I am here? Do you know who I am?"

[lostsole31]

The Scribe is not confused by Rezah's lack of self-awareness. "There has been a small, slow rash of people that disappear from Magnimar and then return weeks later with confusion and a lack of understanding of where they've been. It might be that whatever they did to you was worse."

He points to your bodily markings. "It is obvious that you are an extremely devout, and likely militant worshipper of Sarenrae, the Dawnflower. The derro steal people, and then return them topside so the lack of actual murders make it less likely that an attempt to hunt down the derro, whose presence was unknown until now. I'm sure we'll figure out why once we take some of the notes from the three derro and look them over."

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Rezah [with a natural '1' on the DM's behind-the-screen roll on your Knowledge: Religion check], the name "Sarenrae" means nothing.