The Crimson Echo IC

[Inspectre]

Darvin / PiccadillyPi

After confirming that your fates, it seemed, were now intertwined and leaving a message for Aliani to follow with the remaining guard, the two of you head back to Silas’s home at 187 Fleet Street. At least, that was your intent, before you were ambushed before even getting outside. A reedy man with a ratty goatee and unkempt brown hair in a cheap red suit steps out from the crowd to block your path. He tugs on his jacket, brushing a hand to straighten the silk rose sticking out of his lapel, while fixing a beaming smile at Silas. For his part Silas recognizes the man immediately – Dandy Leon AKA Dandelion AKA Silas’s most common (but not only) source of drugs for the last year or so before finally breaking free.

“Silas my boy, is that you!? Why, I hardly recognized you! How long has it been, my old friend!? You’re certainly moving up in the world! Who is your new associate – an Acadamae man if I would have to guess! Pleasure to meet you sir, my name is Leon.”

Dandy Leon says, words tumbling out of his mouth like a waterfall, preventing either of you from getting a word in edge-wise until he concludes his spiel, thrusting his hand into Dalen’s before pulling the wizard close.

“I know you Arcane master types are always looking for a new edge, a new peak, a new way to see the world, and I just want to say that I have a fine collection of . . . viewpoint enhancers, shall we say. Including something extra special – it’ll really expand your mind, I promise you! – and while I think it’s going to take the streets of Korvosa by storm *real* soon, I can ensure you’re first in line. That is, of course, if you’re interested in such things – I know Silas certainly is!”

Stelio Kontos

(I decided to just leave this particular post in black, as otherwise your entire post would be a sea of pink. I haven’t yet figured out a good way to distinguish the two sisters from each other in speech, but I think you’ll be able to figure out who’s who from context. )

“I’ve been saying that very thing for years now.”

Beautrice replies to your comment that Kynndor Thok belonged in jail, earning a grimace from Nadine.

“You’re probably right Aliani. I’m just . . . he’s part of a gang now. I imagine the rest of the gang won’t look too kindly on testifying against him, and what’s the incompetent guard going to accomplish? He’ll be let out in a week after all the statements against him happen to be “misplaced”. Assuming this guard of yours even takes it seriously and doesn’t laugh it off as a misunderstanding. And tell me to just “try harder not to make him so angry”.

Nadine concludes with sudden bitterness, and now it was Beautrice’s turn to grimace.

“Nadi . . . who told you that!? I know this city’s guard is a joke, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t even try to –“

“Try *what*, Bea? Get the guard on our side!? Well I tried that already, and the guardsman all but laughed in my face as he gave me that “advice” not to make Kynndor angry!”

Nadine snarls, and Beautrice grimace of frustration turns into a sort of rapt horror as she stares at her twin sister. Her sister’s confusion only seems to spur Nadine on in her frenzied confession.

“Wait, what!? W-when –“

“Yes, I did actually take your advice, Bea, against my better judgement. And for my trouble, I was laughed at. Oh yes, and solicited too, since I seem to recall that after I showed him the bruises on my arms and face, he told me that I could have gotten those from falling, but if I had bruises anywhere else he’d be happy to record those details too after I disrobed! But of course it couldn’t just end there with my embarrassment, the guardsman went and “investigated” about a week later, tipping Kynndor off that someone had reported him to the authorities. He was rather angry after hearing that – so much for the guardsman following his own damn advice!”

“Nadi . . . *why*did you never tell me about this!? If I had known what had happened –“

“If you had known you would have done something stupid and gotten yourself hurt. Kynndor already thought that you had been the one to go to the guard – we look alike, after all. He was going to *kill* you for that Bea, he told me as much. So I told him the truth. I told him it was me who had gone to the guard.”

Although biting her lip to hold back a fresh round of tears, Nadine almost looked proud as Beautrice simply stared at her sister, her mouth hanging open in shock as her mind worked through the connections.

“That night I found you . . . that was what triggered it, wasn’t it? You told him you had talked to the guard . . . to protect me . . . ?”

Nadine nodded, and that seemed to be the trigger as she stopped holding the tears back. Beautrice grabbed hold of her sisters hands and pressed her forehead to Nadine’s as she also started to cry.

“You’re such an idiot, Nadi! I would never have wanted you to take a beating for me – I could handle Kynndor if you’d have just let me!”

“I wasn’t about to let him hurt you too! I’d never let anyone hurt you, Bea.”

If either sister said anything else for several minutes, you didn’t hear it over their quiet sobs and sniffles. But, eventually, Beautrice wrapped her sister up in a fierce hug, and spared a glance over at you.

“Still over there, Aliani? There is one thing that has been bothering me about your plan. If this guardsman of yours isn’t coming over until tomorrow . . . whatever are we going to do until then?”

That managed to get a snort of laughter from Nadine, who muttered something like “you’re incorrigible, Bea” through the sleeve of Beautrice’s dress.

Steveodore

This job was starting to become all sorts of bothersome, and with Dandelion operating out of South Shore that bother was starting to reach “bad for your health” levels. For some reason the dealer’s name struck a chord in your memory – its possible Silas had mentioned him to you at some point. Unfortunately, South Shore was known among your sort of people not so much for the richness of its marks but instead for the bastardly private guards many of said marks employed. While technically the city guard let anyone come and go through the gates as they pleased, the patrols of private guards hired by the nobles who lived in the district made sure anyone but their employers was made to feel unwelcome - generally through the use of their boots and clubs.

You had gotten somewhat adroit at avoiding those patrols, so getting to Silas’s place shouldn’t be too difficult so long as you didn’t call attention to yourself – such as you would get by asking around for the nobles’ little backyard dealer. Which pretty much made Silas your best hope at finding this creep, if you couldn’t manage to speak with him tonight at the Crested Falcon.

Fortunately the Falcon was outside of the South Shore district, instead sitting in the long shadow of the Grand Mastaba, the massive black pyramid atop which was built the marble spires of Castle Korvosa, home of the King of Korvosa. That being said, being within a dozen blocks of the city’s heart meant that it was also a well-to-do neighborhood, and breaking into the place was sure to be a painful experience if you were to get caught. Still, despite a pair of bored-looking guards standing around out in front, it didn’t seem like checking the place out was going to earn you a night in the stockades – or the graveyard.

The half hour you spend casually examining the outside of the tavern was enough to convince you that breaking into the place would take more prep-work than you had time for right now. And it was not the sort of place that a gal like you was going to be able to get into via the front door without an invitation – quite possibly signed by the king himself, the topsider pricks.

So abandoning that plan for the moment, as the sun starts to dip towards the horizon you head over to South Shore and Silas’s quite nice home. You really aren’t sure how the man manages to afford the place – whatever he was doing to his clients, he must be *really* good at doing it! On the way in, you wave at Silas’s neighbor who was perched on her balcony watching the sun set. Said neighbor was an older woman whose name you never had gotten the chance to learn, and it seemed likely that you never would. The old hag didn’t seem to like you very much, but not enough to ever sic the guards – private or city – on you, so that relationship the two of you had was just fine.

Much like avoiding the South Shore guard patrols, you had gotten practiced at picking open Silas’s front door, and after just a few precise bumps and a caress of the lock with a bit of wire, you were inside. Silas unfortunately didn’t seem to be here – perhaps he was working early? – but he certainly had left behind an interesting mystery for you.

To wit, there was a pretty young woman lying stretched out on his parlor’s table, sound asleep. Fully clothed, mind you, although judging from the bloodstains on that clothing she had apparently been in some sort of scrap. There was a note nearby, which probably was meant for her but had some limited utility for you as well.

The note read as follows.

Spoiler: Silas’s Note

Show

Dearest guest,

Cured meat and various cheese and fruits are inside this ice box. Knives are on the counter. In the cabinet to the right you will find plates and a dozen forks. If you are able, take this note and stay upstairs. I shall return, knocking thrice, then twice, and once.

Please mind the windows, and do not turn on the lamps.

Stay safe,

Silas Rata'da

P.S. Sorry about your thigh.

Another dead end, perhaps. But at least Silas was thoughtful about it in leaving you with a nice snack, and an interesting mystery to ponder, at least until the girl woke up.

[PiccadillyPi]

Silas

Removing his sword half-way from his scabbard, the tiefling snarled at the unwelcome surprise. Silas threw his weapon back in its home and gave his 'old friend' nay but a glance after that.

'Pay no heed to us, Leo. We're no customers of yours.'

Silas wanted to avoid further conversations with his old dealer. There were already enough reminders in his life that he'd made mistakes. No need for old habits to make a return - no matter how tantalizing. However, with due reproach, Silas suddenly turned to face Leon.

'What do you mean "take the streets by storm"?'

Clichés will forever be common, by definition, but this instance concerned Silas a great deal.

[Stelio Kontos]

Aliani closed his eyes, trying to flush out the memories -- real memories, mind you -- that were welling back to the surface.

"We'll see. We'll be there, together, us, and hopefully some other people too. It's easier for them to ignore one person, it'll be hard to ignore ten or twenty. I won't let this one do that to you. But please, I need you to give this a chance, for me. And I need to know that guard's name. Hopefully ex-guard, but we'll see about that too."

Beautrice's last comment would have elicited a chuckle (or more) in most circumstances; instead, all he could muster was a quiet "I don't know" before steeling himself. "The security guard's going to be back here soon about his nose, and I need to make sure we have witnesses lined up." Oh, and the whole damn world's about to get flipped on its head tomorrow night by the way.

[Steveodore]

Well this was a complication, Miz thought to herself as she flicked the note back to the table. She had rather hoped to catch Silas unoccupied. It seemed he was in deep in some murky business himself, noting the discarded bloody quarrel. He must have been in an awful hurry to have left the girl flopped on the table like the catch of the day. It seemed likely Silas would return sooner rather then later, there was always the chance though whatever trouble was dogging the catman would arrive first.

She moved to the front door and lacking the key opted to just secure the bar. She checked the windows around this floor to see if Silas had left any open in his haste. Satisfied with this small measure she went back to inspect Silas's mystery guest, checking to see any immediate action would be required to stave off death. The wounds didn't seem particularly bad.. She wasn't drained of her lifeblood at least. After prying open her eyes, pinching her good arm and giving her face a couple well intended slaps, she determined her state of unconsciousness was unlikely to have been naturally induced. It was unfortunate Miz didn't have any smelling salts on hand so it seemed she'd have to wait at least for getting any detatals about Silas' business. Satisfied that the woman probably wasn't going to die in the next few minutes, Miz stepped over the the pantry for a small break before she would get around to the next part.

Too her credit, Miz didn't dally too long nor eat too much. She did gobble down a small bushel of imported fruits, wedging a sausage and a chunk of cheese in her mouth and set all the kettles to boil water before continuing upstairs. There she roughly set plain and clean linens on a bed. She set out her own doctor's tools on a sideboard then gathered up whatever supplies Silas happened to have on hand. Miz went back downstairs to collect her patient and deposit her in her intended room. She slung off her unnecessary gear and rolled up her sleeves before going to wash up as sewer hands and open wounds did not always get on well. Thinking of sewers.. it was a little early this month but when she put the lady of the house back into good order, she could really do with a bath, maybe Silas hasn't hidden the bubbly stuff this time..

After scrubbing off her offensive hands she set about fixing up the woman as best she could. Removing any garb that happened to get in the way of her work. She also took the time to try to determine what was keeping her unconsciousness whoever it was a drug poison or something out of her expertise like a curse, not that she could do much for the latter. Once she was satisfied with the job she went to fill the kettles again for the bath, as she might have some time to sneak one in before Silas got back.

(1d20+12)[28] heal check for treat serious wounds

(1d20+12)[32] heal check to determine drug or poison in the woman

Minus 3 from second check if I can't use healing kit for it.

[Inspectre]

PiccadillyPi / Darvin

Leo cowers back as Silas snarls and draws his weapon halfway out of its scabbard – not a very brave one, this drug dealer. At Silas’s question, Leo looks about like a cornered animal, and then gives a helpless shrug, arms spread wide.

“It’s just a saying – I mean, I think this drug is really going to take off, that’s all, considering it uhh . . .”

Dandelion looks around to make sure that no one is listening in – no one was – and then leans in close to whisper anyway.

“It gives people magical powers! Like Mr. Acadamae over here, but better! No work, no countless hours of study . . . there may be a few side effects though. But I assure you – they’ll all be worked out soon!”

Behind you, Aliani exits the back manager’s office with the two lovely ladies in tow – although none of them seem particularly happy, and Nadine is still wiping tears out of her eyes. It looks like you might not have to leave without him after all.

Stelio Kontos

Nadine scowls at your question.

“Oh, I’ll never forget his name after that humiliation - Corporeal Baldrago Raines.”

That name seemed familiar to you . . . where had you heard it before? It triggered in you the image of a gruff-sounding tall man with bushy eyebrows and a large flat nose. And that dream-memory of cannibalism for some reason, but you aren’t sure why that would be so since you can’t recall this Baldrago being in your dream. And then it hits you. Private Baldrago Raines. The man who headed up the “investigation” into your mother’s death, only to apparently bury the whole thing while setting up the man who pawned off your mother’s belongings, and had been your only lead to her killer. Of course the bastard would weasel a promotion out of his good work – who knows, he might be a sergeant by now!

The twins seem to have recovered from their joint yelling/crying session, and at your uncertain answer Beautrice smiles and nods.

“Alright Aliani. How about this – you take care of everything you need to, and we’ll go back out and enjoy the party. We’ll stop by your apartment , say . . . a couple hours from now? And if you’re not home, well . . . I guess we’ll just have to come back in the afternoon.”

Beautrice gives you a pouty look at that last part, but she makes it clear she’s just trying to mess with your head as she gives you another beaming smile as you all exit the office again. You check with the guard, who still seems to have a broken nose, but nothing that a quick healing prayer won’t fix – most of the damage that Kynndor inflicted was bruising that will heal in time. Still, the guard was definitely not happy about having his face nearly broken, and promises to be at your house to testify at two in the afternoon.

Looking over at the door, you see Dalen and Silas had not left yet, apparently held up by some weasely looking guy in a cheap suit. You had seen him around at these after-performance parties before this – you think he was called Dandelion or something? And he was apparently some sort of drug dealer, but he was friends with some important people, and so he was allowed to come and go as he pleased, despite the displeasure you had expressed to the manager of the Crested Falcon before this. Now that he was badgering your new friends, perhaps it was time to have another talk with the manager . . . then again, you had much worse problems coming than an obnoxious drug peddler after tonight.

Steveodore

You wash up and examine the girl – she looked like she had been thrown (or perhaps carried) through a window – clothing all torn up, scratch down her thigh, and what looked suspiciously like a crossbow bolt wound in her shoulder. That seemed to be the most serious injury but as you went to examine the injury you discovered that the woman was wearing a shirt of very fine chainmail underneath her jacket – which probably explains why she wasn’t dead after going through that window, the armor blocked most of the glass. This was not the sort of armor that anyone could just buy, either – it was rather expensive which made you wonder just who this woman was that she could afford it. Evidentially your friend Silas was moving up in the world – which was hardly surprising given he lived in this fancy place.

In any event, the woman’s injuries weren’t life threatening, which is probably why Silas just left her here while he went running off to wherever. That being said, even if they weren’t life-threatening they should still be treated so you expertly sewed up the hole in her shoulder and bandaged it and her leg. Those two were the only serious injuries you could find, and from a quick sniff-test of the shoulder wound, you were able to deduce the reason for her comatose state – Blue whinnis, a popular knock-out drug used by kidnappers and robbers alike for its fast onset. It had minimal side effects, which also made it popular, and so the girl should be awake in another hour or two. Plenty of time for you to enjoy a nice bath courtesy of Silas.

Neither Silas returned nor the girl awoke during your bath, and as the sun began to set below the horizon you realized you might have to wait some time for him to return. Particularly if his rendezvous was a romantic one. Still, it would likely be better if there was more than a note to greet the poor girl when she finally woke up.

(Assuming Hudson is willing to stick around until the girl wakes up about an hour after the sun goes down . . .)

Spoiler

Show

The girl finally awakes with a start, flailing around with a sharp intake of breathe as she tries to re-orient herself – waking up in a strange house after getting shot or stabbed with a poisoned weapon was never fun. Therefore when she saw you sitting nearby, and didn’t recognize you, she tried to crawl further back along the table to get away from you. Unfortunately her efforts put her already precarious balance on the table even more in jeopardy, and she rolled off it completely with an indignant scream. Still, she rolled with the impact, coming back up to her feet in a crouch, ready to spring away from you at a moment’s notice.

“W-who . . . who are YOU!?”

[Darvin]

Dalen is unperturbed by the man's ramblings. It wasn't exactly revolutionary for some ingested substance to impart a magical effect. Potions had been around since time immemorial, after all. Nor was it unheardof for the consumption of such things - or even mundane drugs, in a few cases - to trigger the manifestation of latent magical powers. Most people with any talent for it managed it on their own. Without something more specific and substantial - or, let's be honest, credible - it was meaningless drivel.

None-the-less, it was time to be rid of this pest. Dalen carefully rips off a small piece of paper from his journal and writes down an address on it. If memory serves, it's the address of an empty and abandoned pier. He then puts on a fake smile and pats the Dandelion on the back, expending a small amount of magical power in doing so, "indeed, I'd be most curious as to the nature of this substance. Why don't you meet me at my study in an hour with a sample. Run along now; you don't want to be late,"

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Taking 10 on knowledge local (result = 22) to remember a useless address

Beguiling Touch, DC 18

[Stelio Kontos]

With the ladies & the guard

Yeah, that guy. Must remember to ask Saldado about him. Or maybe he'll show up and trip down some stairs.

"Okay. Yes, go, enjoy the party. If I don't make it back in time, please leave a note that you at least got there okay, and I promise I'll make it up to you eventually. Either way, Kendall, two o'clock."

It was just then that the security guard came knocking. Aliani had him sit down, going into a bit of a stage patter as he gently prodded the nose. "Yeah, I've seen this before. We had a stagehand named Harry, when I was just starting -- nicest guy you ever met, blind as a bat. Kept running into things. Got so bad we started calling him Harry the Hawk." With a sudden movement, he pressed his thumbs in -- hard -- on the opposite sides of the nosebone, trying to push it back into place. "That'll hurt like hell for a little bit, sorry about that. Should start feeling much better pretty soon though. If you don't mind, I'd really appreciate it if you came by Kendall at about two o'clock tomorrow. I don't know how you'd normally feel about pressing charges for this sort of thing or if it's just a part of the job, but the 'gentleman' who paid your face a visit with his fist has done the same to Miss Engel there, and is likely as not to do so again if he's not put away. Won't be a big deal, just come by, make a statement, go about the rest of your day."

Spoiler: Regardless of his answer

Show

Just as the guard left the back office, but before he could shut the door, Aliani adjusted the collar on his neck just so, his palm brushing against the brooch holding his shirt in place. As he did so, a wave of healing energy left him: (2d6)[7]

Edit: also, take 10 on a Heal check to try to fix the nose a bit, giving a 17 (minus any penalties for not having a healer's kit handy). Either way, won't matter because of the energy channeling, but hey, may as well try to fix it.

Back in the main room

Emerging from the back office, Aliani grabbed a spoon and a wine glass, clanging them together to draw attention. (If that didn't work, he was prepared to use his magic, but under the circumstances people were more than inclined to fawn upon the party's host.) "Ladies and gentlemen, I apologize for that earlier ruckus. Please give a hand to our intrepid security guard, who apparently prefers to be known only as 'The Hawk' for reasons I'm sure I don't understand." He smiled broadly, clapping his hands together and nodding to the man, waiting to let the applause die down. "Now, it's come to my attention that our unwelcome visitor has done the same to a number of others in this city, including members of our performing cast who are with us in the room tonight. I would be very appreciative, and would consider it a personal favor, if those of you who feel that you may have witnessed this evening's incident would come to the Kendall at two o'clock tomorrow; I shall arrange for a member of the city's guard to be present to take a very brief statement from each of you, and then you can go about your day. I know it's always easier to eat, drink, and wait for others to do the work, but if we don't each take responsibility for making Korvosa a better place tomorrow than it is today, it shall never happen. For tonight, though -- enjoy the eating, and the drinking, and the merriment making. Thank you all for coming, and have a most pleasant remainder of your evening." With that, he exited the stage -- er, the restaurant -- for a back broom closet, changing quickly into his generic half-elf disguise, and further changing his clothing into a chef's apron. He slipped out the back door, tapping Dalen on the shoulder.

"Where are we going, Mr. Rittle?"

[PiccadillyPi]

Silas

Displeased with the new drug, Silas slumped his shoulders forward. The dandy Leon would get his eventually, but the better dandy had other obligations that night. What was Silas doing? A child was alone in his house, endangered by forces unknown. Really, talking to anyone was just wasting time.

'Do as you like. I'm off.'

Glancing back only to see Aliani in new attire, Silas set out with an impatient pace. He raised his hand lightly and with a simple gesture, he requested the two of them to hurry.

[Steveodore]

Miz took her time in the bath, using up a generous amount of bubble solution for it. While soaking in the bath she leasurely spent her time building bubble castles and knocking them down with a flick of her fingers. At the same time she was thinking about what to do whenever Silas showed up. It was somewhat likely he'd drag her into whatever nastiness was ailing his unconscious friend. Normally she wouldnt be opposed to it, but her own schedule was pretty demanding at the moment. She needed to get her hands on that dandy fast, and Silas was the only connection she could rely on to help her here. Worst case scenario she maybe gets an address out of the Tiefling and it would be just her by her lonesome tracking the dealer down and putting the screws to him. Certainly she was liking her chances against a Southshore Fop better then a wererat.

She dragged herself out of the tub and dried off before throwing on her old clothing. She checked on the woman, confirming she was still laid out like a dead fish, then set about packing up her kit. She busied her self with other little things while waiting for Silas and at the moment was cleaning crud off her boots when the Lady sprang to life.

Miz had some rough clients in the past that got up in similar states of jumpiness, those times taught her the valuable life lesson of not leaving weapons and sharp tools in reach of patients. She winced a bit when the woman tumbled off the tableft but otherwise made no move to get up.

"Miz, m'names Miz, miss. You shouldn't go doin' so much tumblin' around or you might be tearing up those stitches I just finished up."

"You know a horned cat by the name of Silas? Dresses like a theater prat? He left a note for you on the table there."

Miz points out the note in teach of the lady with the small chisel like tool she was scraping her boots with.

[Inspectre]

Darvin / PiccadillyPi

Dandelion’s eyes get slightly unfocused at Dalen’s touch, a familiar sign to him that his enchanting touch had taken effect. The drug dealer nods, taking the paper and smiling at Dalen as he folds it up and sticks it into his jacket pocket.

“Sure thing. You won’t regret this! Silas.”

And just like that, the odious little man was gone. Which left only Aliani’s little announcement to the room about testifying against a man that wasn’t shy about beating people up in front of a room full of witnesses. Good luck to him with that, as many of the well-to-do people seemed more annoyed than inspired by his pitch. But regardless of the citizenry's reluctance to get involved, you had important business to finally get to, and so first Silas and then Dalen left the Crested Falcon, leaving Aliani to trail in your wake.

(See below for the first party-wide DM!)

Stelio Kontos

Well, the guard’s nose was definitely broken. But it wasn’t so bad that it starting to feel better after your administrations was completely implausible. The poor guard seemed more embarrassed for getting jumped like that than annoyed – and from what you could tell, this wasn’t the first time he had gotten a broken nose – but he agreed to show up at the amphitheater tomorrow afternoon.

The gathered audience for your little speech where not so enthusiastic, however (please give me a Diplomacy check to see if you manage to sway the crowd much). The various members of your play company were nodding along, but many of the well-off guests seemed to be feel that getting beat-up was what guards were paid for. As such, you got the sense that they ranged somewhere from indifferent to visibly annoyed at the idea of taking time out of their important schedules tomorrow to deal with something as pedestrian as reporting a crime – when it didn’t involve them, of course. No wonder Korvosa was such a lawless ****hole. But you gave it your best shot, and maybe at least one or two of them would be convinced – their word would undoubtedly carry more weight and get the guard motivated to actually do their damn jobs.

With all that settled, it was time to go back to dealing with your latest group demanding your attention – the curious Mr. Rittle and his tiefling friend . . . who also seemed familiar to you, in an embarrassing sort of way. He was dressed fairly nicely, but something about he screamed “prostitute” to you, and you couldn’t quite put your finger on why . . . in any case, you hurried after the two of them as they slipped out of the tavern and into the night.

(See below for the first party-wide DM!)

Steveodore

The girl visibly relaxed when you mention Silas’s name – so apparently she had heard of him, at least. Coming out of her crouch, the girl’s brow furrows as she looks down at the bandage on her shoulder, poking it experimentally with her right hand.

“Stitches? Ow . . . yeah, that’s right, I got shot . . . Silas must have got me out of there. I’m Trinia Sabor – appreciate you patching me up. How long was I out?”

Trinia asks, rolling her shoulder and wincing again as she looks out the window, sees that it’s night now, and softly curses.

“Wow, I was out for a long time apparently. And damnit! Look at my clothes – this was my favorite outfit! Tark, you *******!”

Trinia shakes her fists angrily at whoever this “Tark” was, and then sighs and examines the rent in her pants’ leg.

“Mmm . . . I guess it’s not that bad. La la mi do!”

Trinia chants, magical energy flowing out of her fingers as she runs them along the rent in the fabric, the tear sealing itself shut until it was virtually good as new. She nods in satisfaction and takes a step forward, wincing as the movement pulls at the scratch on her leg, which was not repaired like the clothing had just been.

“Ouch! Should have fixed myself first, I guess. I appreciate your handiwork, Miss – Miz! – but I know a little healing magic myself. I hope you don’t mind but I’d like to make use of that right now.”

Assuming you give your consent, Trinia sings a few more arcane phrases, the bruises and minor scrapes rapidly disappearing from her face and arms as she chants. She then returns her attention to her clothing, using magic to repair the rents one by one, and remove the copious bloodstains also adorning her bright clothing.

Spoiler: Trinia Healing

Show

CMW – (2d8+4)[15]
CLW – (1d8+4)[7]

She’s almost done with her work when you hear a horse-drawn cart pull up outside. It doesn’t sound like Silas. In fact, it sounds very much like a sound you had become accustomed to avoiding like the plague – a city guard transport wagon.

(See below for the first party-wide DM!)

All

Theme Music

As Silas, Dalen, and Aliani come into sight of Silas’s residence, they notice the troubling sight of a large wagon emblazoned with the symbol of Korvosa’s city guard on the side of it pulling up to the front of his home. As the horse-drawn cart slows to a stop, two guards hop down from the sides, drawing crossbows to brandish them in the direction of Silas’s residence. A third man hops down from the front of the wagon, affixing a shield to his arm while the fourth man pulls back on the reins and ensures the wagon has come to a complete stop.

Dalen recognizes the driver as Malder, one of the guards who had deserted and joined Baldrago as back-up in the front of All the World’s Meat. The man waves the other three guards forward, towards Silas’s residence while he circles around the wagon.

“You guys secure the front – I’ll check around back!”

He wheezes, and while it’s unclear why exactly the city guard is here, a sinking pit in Silas’s stomach suggests an answer. The conspiracy against Miss Sabor was far more serious than even he had feared. The question was what could be done about it, especially in the middle of the street in South Shore, where violence against the guard would not just be ignored – even corrupt guard. But it seemed likely that Trinia’s fate would be no less terrible than if she had just been disappeared by Tark earlier today.

[PiccadillyPi]

Silas

The tiger let out a silent infernal curse. He rotated himself on his heels to look for advice from the two behind him, keeping a hushed voice during this interaction.

'I'm not usually a back-door fellow, but the front appears to be a tad crowded for my tastes. Miss Sabor should be awake by now, too. Ideas?'

He didn't want to waste time, but if the guards (assuming they were not impostors) were also using poison, some brief planning would go a long way.

[Darvin]

"I have some illusion spells prepared. You can get me to Miss Sabor then I can get her out, or at very least conceal her such that she will not be found," Dalen reaches into his pack and pulls out a scroll, "this will create a curtain of fog to cover our entrance; a sufficient distraction, I think, to get in,"

[Stelio Kontos]

Aliani's eyes narrowed at the sight. "Nothing's supposed to happen until tomorrow...?" he wondered aloud before snapping to; he gave the cloak and sleeves a quick tug, removing any disguise and returning to his natural appearance, and dressing in a resplendent, if somewhat garish, outfit, complete with overcoat and tie. He hated to do so in pubic, but the guards seemed well enough distracted, and this late at night, it wasn't likely that others would be out.

"Yes, the back door... but save your magic. I should be able to talk to them for -- well, quite some time actually. Tell me, quickly, where you'd like to meet." A hint of a smile crossed his lips. "If this goes poorly, please do bail me out."

[PiccadillyPi]

Silas

'Mr. Rittle, can you handle the other one? I'll distract him for as long as you need, but we need to act now.'

Spoiler: OOC

Show

I'm thinking we could hang back until Aliani can enthrall the three out front, then Dalen and Silas would head in through the back and put the guy to sleep (or try to). Silas will want to collect four items from his bedroom before we escape.

His courtesan clothes, his kit, his cane, and a brown wig he has sitting on his dresser.

If all goes well with the enthralling:

I'll roll stealth for sneaking up on Malder just in case we need to: (1d20+8)[13]

He'll enter the door first, it being his house, setting a ready action for total defense against Malder attacking him, assuming he can see the guy in time.

[Stelio Kontos]

"No time for that nonsense. Wish me luck. Get yourselves in, do what you must, get out, and quickly. Meet me at Kendall in an hour, find me if I'm not there. I'll find you if I am."

Aliani moved to approach the group from a slightly different angle, hoping that if this came off badly, at least the attention would one way or another be on him -- and only him. He adjusted his necktie just so, and began to speak loudly to the four guardsmen with his arms extended to his side in the universal gesture of peace -- waving them around a bit theatrically to draw even more attention. He gave a brief thought Milani, help me be the focus for these foul abusers of authority. I can take it. It's showtime.

"Hello, gentlemen! Lovely evening we're having, isn't it? Say, those are some nice crossbows. You know, it's funny I should run into you fine folks while out for a stroll this evening. I don't know if you know who I am, but I'm in the theater business, and I've been contemplating a new screenplay, and it features a number of people just like yourselves. I'd like to get your opinion on a number of matters, you know, bring some real authenticity to the whole thing, really get into the whole nitty-gritty of the life. The whole thing is a bit involved, but it starts off..."

Spoiler: OOC

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We'll go for the Enthrall (Will save: DC 15 -- too bad my Wisdom isn't great) on all four guards, as well as anyone else that should happen to enter the area after the casting has begun save for Dalen and Silas (hopefully, they'll have the sense to not walk back out the front door with anyone, because they WILL get caught in it per the spell). It'll be DC 17 for Dalen to ID it, 27 to get the divinity.

Even if they save, hopefully this will provide at least a momentary distraction, and one that provides plausible deniability if it doesn't work well.

I plan to keep this up for a good long time, at least a half hour or so.

[Steveodore]

Miz perks up at the uncomfortably familiar sound of the wagon. She was fairly certain the guards weren't here at Silas' behest, if only because the Tiefling would rather not have a mess made of his house. She turned to Trinia and held up a hand to get her attention and call for silence.

"Troubles here, best we go upstairs, less exposed there, maybe grab some knives from the kitchen if you're ready for a fight."

Miz quickly tugged on her boot and slung her gear over her shoulder. She stepped quietly over to the stairs and waited for Trinia before ascending herself. Once upstairs Miz took stock of herself. She was unfortunately unarmed but had two more extracts on hand, a magical shield and a disguising illusion plus her mutagen. She had all she needed to make her get away, but that would mean leaving the mystery lady to the guards. She didn't really owe her anything and her connection to Silas was alittle dubious. Fighting guards was also unappealing, while it might be satisfying in the short term to chance trying to tear through them but messing with guards always had consequences. Regardless of wherever she stayed or escaped, it was looking like her search for Dandelion was a wash for the time being. There was alot weighing against helping Trinia, but she was getting tired of leaving empty handed today.

Having decided to stay for the time being Miz looked over at Trinia.

"Need you to not be shocked by what I'm going to do next here."

It really wouldn't be good to surprise the magic user with this in this heated situation. She needed a bit of an edge if this came to blows so she quickly transformed into her beastshape. Still keeping quiet and out of sight she listened in to what was happening downstairs hoping to get the drop on anyone downstairs.

Spoiler: Rolls

Show

Rolls stealth to hide upstairs (1d20+4)[7]
Beast shape to gain Bite Attack
Roll Perception to listen in downstairs(1d20+8)[25]

[Darvin]

"Of course," Dalen puts away the scroll, "one individual I can handle just fine," he follows Silas while trying to keep out of sight. He waits for an opportune distraction, standing out of sight but prepared to cast his spell.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Casting Sleep against the lone guard checking the back door; will DC 18 negates

Stealth check (1d20+5)[20]

[Inspectre]

Silas and Dalen sneak around the next house down the street, approaching Silas's residence from the back while Aliani moves forward to distract the guards.

Meanwhile inside, Miz and Trinia start ascending the stairs to the second floor. As Miz's question about weapons, Trinia pulls a dagger out of her left boot and nods, although it's clear that the poor woman is rather hesitant to make use of it. She puts a hand over her mouth and remains silent at Miz's transformation, but her big eyes say more than enough - clearly she hasn't left Topside much to be shocked at a little transmutation.

Unfortunately, things start to go south with the plan from there.
Malder hears Miz and Trinia's ascent as he sweeps around the side of the house, as he shouts out to the three guards out front "Second floor!"

Aliani makes an appearance a moment later, but unfortunately only one of the three guards pays his pitch any mind - the two guards closer to the house are too intent on sweeping the second floor with their crossbows to care about the chance of a lifetime apparently.

"Beat it, stage slapper! This is official guard business!"

One of the two alert guards huffs over his shoulder at Aliani, not noticing apparently that his fellow has moved closer to Aliani, listening in rap attention to his idea for a new play.

In the back of the house, Malder comes around the side of the house before Silas and Dalen can reach it, which isn't that surprising given he had a shorter route. Despite the caution the two of you are paying at staying in the shadows, somehow a glint of steel from Silas's weapon reaches Malder's eye, and he curses and snaps his crossbow up to his shoulder. Dalen attempts to lull the guard to sleep, but sadly this bunch of guards is apparently quite resistant to all sorts of enchantment magics as he shakes the spell off and immediately starts to back-pedal towards the corner of the house and out of sight.

"We got a twiddle-fingers out here around back! I need back-up!"

Malder shouts, and it's clear now that this situation will not be so easily resolved.

Combat has begun - you may all take your first round of actions in any order you wish.

Guardsman #3 is still Enthralled at this time (and will remain that way until attacked or until after 1d3 rounds pass after Aliani stops talking).

Spoiler: Map

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[Darvin]

"Move for the door, quickly," Dalen commands Silas as he darts in that direction.

Recognizing Malder, Dalen chuckles to himself then yells out with magic in his voice, "hey did you hear the one about the butcher shop of horrors? No? I guess you had to be there,"

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Move action to P3
Cast Hideous Laughter on Malder. Let's see how you like DC 19

[PiccadillyPi]

Silas

'Right.'

Ignoring the possibility of Malder resisting the comedy routine, Silas dashed to the back door while drawing his blade, stopping at the rear entrance (H5). With his tail, he retrieved a set of house keys. It may have been an emergency, but he had no desire to wreck his own home in the process. Upon approaching the door, he yelled to whosoever was in the house:

'It's Silas! Come through the back! Quick!'

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Using the run action, he'll lose his dex bonus to AC for the round. If anyone attacks him before his next turn, it'll be against AC 18.

[Stelio Kontos]

Yeah, okay. You don't want this to be easy. I understand.

Lacking much in the way of... well, anything useful to do to the guards, he pressed on with his speech. If anything, he got even a bit louder; if this woke the neighbors too, so be it. He had other motives, as well...

"Ooh, a real live bust! This will be exciting! Please, go about your business, I'll stand right here out of the way and observe, I certainly wouldn't want to interfere. I've always wanted to see one of these, it should be very educational! I bet the people inside 187 Fleet Street will never know what hit them! I wonder what they did, must have been quite serious, more serious than murder, for this sort of reaction. Well, regardless, they've certainly got it coming! I must remember this, three guards at the front door and one sneaking around the back to prevent an easy escape -- that's pretty clever, I'll have to write that in. No coming down the back stairs unseen for them, haha! That should provide for some dramatic moments, when out from behind the set the brave guardsman bumps into the protagonist... I can see it now, the spotlight focuses on that spot, they back into each other -- oh yes very exciting stuff!

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Just maintaining the Enthrall for now, along with hopefully letting the people inside know what's going on, and as a side bonus hoping that half the street will be woken up. I'll give them a free backstage tour or something to make it up to them.

[Steveodore]

Interesting things seemed to be going on outside. For a start they did a poor job of hiding themselves upstairs but it looked like they wouldn't be alone in this fight. It sounded like the guards had their own struggle going on outside, with Silas and his reinforcements arriving just in time. The loud mouthed man bellowing outside did a great job painting a picture of their situation, and laying out their best bet to getting out of here.

"Sounds like the back alley is our way out."

She drinks down one of her extracts.

"Whatever you do, keep me between yourself and the front door and watchout for the windows."

With that she took off downstairs to the back entrance hoping the that damn cat would hurry up and unlock it. Making sure to keep an ear out for the front in case the guards managed to break down the door.

Spoiler: actions

Show

Drink Shield extract to gain 4 AC
Move to get as close as possible to the rear door, G8 if I can.

[Inspectre]

Malder finds something amusing about Dalen's vague joke, as he collapses to the street, rolling about with wild peels of laughter.
Silas continues on past Dalen, reaching the back door to his residence and drawing both his weapon and his set of keys, his tail once more coming in handy.
Aliani continues to badger the guards, this time even more loudly, and judging from the angry shouts from inside several of the nearby residences, there was going to be a number of witnesses to this confrontation in less than a minute from now.
Aliani's shouted directions also gave Miz and Trinia some guidance on what was happening outside, and combined with Silas's yell the two ladies decide to exit out the back. They run back down the stairs, Miz slowly slightly to allow Trinia to get ahead of her in case the guards kick open the front door.

In point of fact, while the two remaining guards are moving towards the front door, they are distracted by both Dalen and Aliani.
The one guard circles around the wagon to approach in Aliani's direction, waving him off with a scowl.

"I said beat it, you mouthy git! Or you're going to get a first-hand look at what a Longacre cell looks like for your play!"

The other guard reaches the front door, but peering around the corner, spies Dalen standing at the mouth of the wide alley running between both buildings.
He assumes (correctly) that Dalen is the twiddlefingers that Malder is yelling about, and lifts his crossbow up to his shoulder, bracing it partially against his shoulder and partially against the corner of Silas's house.

"Hey you! Don't move or I'll shoot!"

He yells at Dalen, clearly prepared to fire at him should the mage fail to obey his command not to move.

Spoiler: Summary

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[list][*]Miz & Trinia move towards the back door - I believe with 30' of move apiece, a double move should get them back down the stairs and approximately to their new locations on the map, Miz in the rear now since she's trying to block Trinia from the guards.[*]Dalen casts Hideous laughter at Malder, who fails his Will Save this time, falls prone, starts laughing - he tried and failed to resist the magic as a full-round action on his turn, so he's laughing until his turn on Round 4.[*]Silas reaches the square next to the rear entrance, drawing his weapon and his keys.[*]Aliani continues to be an annoying crank to the guards.
[*]Malder is laughing[*]Guard 3 is still enthralled[*]Guard 2 double moves towards Aliani (at 20' move. ), telling him to get lost or get arrested.[*]Guard 1 moves to the front door, and since I believe he can see around that corner, he sees Dalen (who's basically out in the open, has just cast a vocal & somatic spell, and is the only person the guard can see). He readies an action to shoot Dalen with his crossbow if he moves on his turn, whether that leaving the square he's currently in or casting a somatic spell (vocal only won't trigger the readied action, nor will just standing there on his Round 2 turn). The guard does have a 20% miss chance due to Dalen being in Low-Light.

Spoiler: Map

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[Darvin]

Not wanting to give the guard a clear view of his face, Dalen immediately breaks for it, risking the crossbow bolt as he moves, "Silaaas, get us inside now," Dalen loses his usual cool as he runs to the Tiefling's side, fumbling in his pockets for a particular scroll.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

AC 16 due to cover

Given the way the rolls have been going, I think Dalen is going to learn a valuable lesson about preparing Mage Armor.

Move to J4
Retrieve a scroll of Mount

[PiccadillyPi]

Silas

The fiend grasped the key from his tail and stepped over to the door. Quickly as he could, Silas unlocked the door and swung it open at once. Spotting Miz with Trinia in his kitchen, he fought his initial irritation toward the intruder, and called for their retreat.

'Out! Now!'

Flicking a signal to make Dalen aware of their fortune, Silas prepared himself at the door to lock it once his guests were clear. He'd gladly afford whatever small inconvenience he could gift the guards.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

5-foot step to G4.
Move action: Unlock + open door.
Ready action: close door + lock. Key is still in door.

[Stelio Kontos]

Aliani pursed his lips, a bit amused at the guard. It wouldn't be prudent to fire first at him, but a little light trolling seemed well in line. "Yeah, sure, I'll back up and let you do your job, but hey, that gives me another great idea! Instead of the guards being honest blokes who concentrated on doing their jobs well and protecting the citizenry, they could be corrupt fools who break into houses using their position as a bludgeon, and threaten law-abiding citizens standing and talking in the middle of a public street. That would really tap into reality, now wouldn't it? Doesn't seem like a great sequitur though -- one minute they're hellbent on arresting a murderer, the next they're so distracted by a common speech they can't think straight. Well, I'll work it in somehow. I really appreciate your contribution -- would you let me know what your name is so I can properly credit you in the programs when it comes out?"

Still, it wouldn't do to get grabbed, or shot at close range. As he spoke, he backed away a few steps, just enough to make sure the guard wouldn't be able to catch him easily, whilst scanning the surroundings to make sure there weren't any surprises.

Spoiler: OOC

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Maintain Enthrall. Move action to P31. Active Perception check (1d20+5)[14] to see if there's anything else worth seeing.

[Steveodore]

Miz didn't waste any time getting through open door. She peered around quickly once she was outside, taking in the guard cackling on the ground and Silas' presumed companion on either corner of the house.

It seemed there were more guards around the corner, hopefully they wouldn't be trapped from both sides.

Spoiler

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Moving to J4

[Inspectre]

Spoiler: Guard's Readied Action

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Firing at Dalen, AC 16
Miss Chance - (1d100)[75] (20 or Lower = Miss)
To-Hit: (1d20+5)[11]
Damage: (1d8)[6]

As Dalen ducks back around the side of the house, the guardsman fires his crossbow, the bolt glancing off the side of the house and missing Dalen by several feet.
The rogue Acadamae mage doesn't give him a chance to try again, ducking around the side of the house and leaving the guardsman to huff and puff his way down the alleyway after him.

Silas opens the rear door, allowing Miz and Trinia to dash out into the back street behind Silas's house.
Trinia pauses in her flight long enough to throw her arms around Silas, giving the tiefling a fierce hug with a sigh of relief before moving to join Miz and Dalen in the street a short distance from the door.
Malder pauses in his laughing fit to grate out.

"You . . .hah . . . have no . . . heehee idea who . . . hah . . . you're messing with! See you . . . heehee . . . soon little girl . . . hahahah!"

Meanwhile out front, things get a little violent as the guard chases after Aliani, pausing only when he gets next to his fellow and notices the man is still spaced out staring blankly at Aliani.

"The devil you think you're doing!? Hey!"

The still awake and now very angry guardsman lifts his crossbow and jabs the butt of it into the side of the enthralled guard's head.
The blow was apparently rather forceful, probably more than the guard even intended, as the hit guardsman staggered, clutching at his ear that had caught the worst of it.

"Ow! What the devil do you think . . . that little **** did some magic thing to me, didn't he?"

The previously enthralled guard growls, glaring at Aliani.

"Well that just tears it then - who wants an old-fashioned beating!?"

The guard pulls out his club, and is about to advance on Aliani when a female voice loudly calms out from above 'Ahem."
Looking up, Aliani can see that a middle-aged woman has emerged out onto a balcony of a nearby building - she couldn't be more beautiful right now.
The two guards seem much less enthusiastic about that beating now, the one who had just bludgeoned his fellow with a crossbow whispering "Come on, let's just grab the girl and go. This is enough of a ****-up as it is already."
Behind him, Aliani can faintly hear the clanging of armor as a unit of men approach the intersection - likely a private guard patrol rather than another group of corrupt guard, but who knows with his luck today.

Spoiler: Summary

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The guard's readied action shot misses Dalen, and he double moves after him, hopelessly far behind to catch anybody.
Malder continues laughing, mixing in a stereotypical threat with his laughter because it's not like he can do anything but make empty threats right now.
Guard #2 snaps Guard #3 out of Aliani's Enthrall, by almost critically mashing his face in with the butt of his crossbow (didn't crit, so only 4 damage sadly ).
Guard #3 threatens Aliani, only to be warned by Silas's neighbor that they have an audience now.

Spoiler: Map

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[Darvin]

"Don't stop moving, let's go," Dalen implores while thrusting the scroll he'd pulled out into Trinia's hands, "you're a dilettante, right? Cast this if you need a steed,"

Dalen calls out to his familiar, "Rhetoric, tell our friend out front that it's time to make scarce," then, weaving some of his illusion magic, vanishes from sight

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Give the scroll of mount to Trinia in case she needs it. Cast invisibility on self. Will hang behind and provide a decoy with silent image.

[Stelio Kontos]

"My goodness, that's no way to treat a fellow guardsman. Almost like you're just random thugs instead... Aliani continued, before realizing that his spell would have no effect on anyone he wanted it to. "Your friend here is just a bit starstruck -- happens to the best of them. Don't you know who I am?"

He'd always hated that line with a venomous passion -- it implied that the answer mattered somehow. Of course, it did. It shouldn't, but it did. Regardless, this was the perfect time to use it, he thought, put the little bastard on edge a bit, let him know that he was trifling with someone not to be trifled with.

He gave a quick tip of his imaginary tophat and a wave to the woman on the balcony. "Sorry to disturb your beauty rest, ma'am, though you clearly don't need it!"

Backing away, he began to scan the alleyways for a suitable exit, or vantage point to determine just who was coming. Just one further thought was bothering him; he couldn't let it go. Glowering at the men, he snarled "Get what girl?"

He was pretty sure he already knew the answer.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Free action: smack talk
Double move to roughly where P43 would be, looking for a suitable escape route should one be needed. Not running yet, still trying to delay them a bit further. General plan of escape will be to make a quick jog down an alley, quick-change into another disguise, and then throw them on a "he went thataway" imaginary chase.