The Crimson Echo IC

[Darvin]

At the mention of feeding the shark, Dalen pipes up almost reflexively, "chumming the waters isn't advisable, unless attracting more sharks fits into your plan somehow. In any case, smashing things top to bottom worked once, and will likely work again,"

[PiccadillyPi]

Silas

Chuckling.

'Right. I'll follow your lead on this one.'

[Inspectre]

(OOC: I'm taking this conversation as advocating for the same frontal assault as last time. )

Coming within sight of the old fishery along the docks as the sun dips below the horizon, you can see lights on inside, streaming through small gaps in the building's ramshackle construction.
That would probably be Yargin closing up shop for the day like last time - and like last time the front door would probably be locked.
What is notably different this time around, however, is that the side loading bay door is open.
A horse-drawn cart is pulled up around the side of the loading deck, and rough looking men occasionally appear from the depths of the Old Fishery carrying a crate which is muscled into the cart.
Just inside the open loading bay door you can see another of the newcomers arguing with Yargin, Bloo curled up at his feet disinterestedly munching on some sort of bone.
This was certainly not how things were last time. . .

(OOC: Updated Map of the Fishery's first floor, with the crate-carrying thugs, cart, and Yargin/Bloo visible on the map at their shown locations.
While you guys are also on the map, that's mostly for future reference - you can set up wherever you want outside, and still approach the Old Fishery however you wish.
Most likely, even if you move in directly on the guys loading the cart, you guys will get a Surprise round unless you make it a point to try to bluff your way in or something.)

Spoiler: Map

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[Stelio Kontos]

"****" Aliani whispered, uncharacteristically. "This isn't how it's supposed to be. Too many people. This isn't right." A brief look of panic passed across his face before dissipating. "It'll be all right, I'm sure. We wouldn't be here if it wasn't. If we could get the worst of them separated, I can maybe distract the kids long enough so they won't have to see, if you think you could take the rest?

"And I probably should have said something earlier, but if you wouldn't mind giving me a heads up before we go rushing in, my delicate bone structure would appreciate it." He said this last with a self-deprecating chuckle, trying his best to conceal his rapidly-growing nervousness.

[PiccadillyPi]

Silas

With one hand above his sheath, Silas rubbed his fingers together in anticipation of violence. It was never a priority, but tonight made it unavoidable.

'They might be shipping off the drugs tonight. Have we arrived earlier than your last experience? This may prove beneficial if we can halt their trafficking before more people can get addicted.'

Resting his posture to relax, Silas glanced over at Miz, then to Aliani and Dalen.

'Any ideas on how to approach without alerting the whole area?'

[Stelio Kontos]

"Drugs.... right. Of course. Sorry. I should have thought of that." He pondered for a moment, nodding as if to the beat of an invisible drummer.

"Wait... that many?" Aliani replied, with a bit of a surprised tone, before continuing uncertainly. "I can maybe walk up and try to hold their attention for a while, like last night only hopefully better. If it works, you can hopefully usher the kids to a safe place, but if you go in swinging while I do that, it's going to be a mess. If it doesn't work, it's going to be a BIG mess. I guess what I'm trying to say is, it's probably going to be a mess regardless? I wouldn't worry about drawing other people's attention though; I'd assume anyone down here is either already in on it or is used to looking the other way, right?"

[Steveodore]

The spellery on the bread was suspicious, but it didn't suit her to bring it up at this time. Miz listened to the fortune teller's story without comment, her grievance with Lamm was wholly believable, the old bastard didn't do things half-way. While she was ambiant on the lady, whatever happens tonight would determine her opinion of this Madame Zellara, the idea that this was all a trap was never entirely removed from her thoughts. Even if she delivered Lamm, it wouldn't clear her of suspicions. She didn't know about the others but she didn't like how she was found or how she connected her to Lamm. It would have been nice to have another day to confirm some of her story with Dahl but this witch had set things up on a tight course, there was no time for ruminating.

------------------

This old Fishery wasn't familiar to her, she didn't doubt Lamm had been through a dozen or such buildings in the time since she'd last met him. Still, the old man had his habits.

"I say we go in hard'n'fast. Sneakin' in isn't likely ta work here. With the guard in his pocket, Ol' bastard worries more bout slippery tots and sneak thieves then a honest raid. T'faster we hit 'em, the less time he'll have to set up some tricks."

"Wont worry too much about the brats delicate hearts. They've had a lifetime of Lamm ta contend with, seeing afew o' his thugs get their heads split be the least of their bad memories. Any case Lamm likes ta keep his dearies off the quay so he has a better handle on em. We can gut these fish out here 'for we meet any tots."

[Stelio Kontos]

"They'll be there." Aliani whispered dejectedly. "I'm sorry, this must bring back bad memories for you. Just try to keep them out of the way, as much as we can. Okay? No reason for them to suffer more than they have to." he asked, in a tone that indicated that it was not so much a casual request as a plea. He took in a few deep breaths, eyeing the thugs as he began shifting around the group so he was standing with as much cover as he could with respect to the enemy.

"Okay, let's do this, I guess now is as good a time as any. I'll go in half a minute, if you need to do anything to prepare to protect yourself. Don't be surprised by the costume change."

He took a quick tug at his shirtsleeves, trying to match his clothing to the style of the goons. Combined with his disguise of anonymity, he very much looked the part of some nondescript person Not To Be Trifled with, save for being rather undersized for the part. His morningstar, previously concealed by the oversized cloak he had been "wearing", was now quite visibly hung from his hip.

Then he began a pair of short incantations, seemingly searching his mind for the right words has he murmured as softly as possible


"Warriors of man and nature share akin
The fragile nature of their skin
Of mighty armor they all bespoke
Borne by the tall and mighty oak
Though without bite, they did remark
Upon the power of its bark."

"Through foe's spells flung, vile weapons wielded
Fair hero thrived, for 'e were shielded!"

Neither spell had any visible effect.

Spoiler: OOC

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Using sleeves to change clothing, probably without game effect but it makes me feel better. Then casting Barkskin, then Shield. AC now 19 (+2 armor, +1 dex, +4 shield, +2 natural.) Those with Spellcraft who want to try to ID these (Hi Dalen and Miz!) can take a shot -- DC 17 for Barkskin, DC 16 for Shield. If you manage to exceed this DC by 10 (so, 27 and 26 respectively)... let me know in the OOC! Darvin knows what's up, not sure if Steveodore does. If you're prone to taking 10 in these situations since that normally identifies spells of comparable levels, you will identify them... up to you though.

He took one more deep breath, clearly nervous, as if about to plunge into deep waters. "Best of luck everyone. I think I'll just go in enspelling. You'll know quite quickly if this works, I imagine. I'll understand you if you decide to run... but please don't?"

He strode up confidently to the enemy, trying to make it look and feel every bit like he belonged, and speaking loudly enough to grab the attention of everyone in the immediate area. "Hey guys, sorry I'm late, what you you need me to grab? Boy, some night, huh? Reminds me of a few weeks ago, you remember that thing, at the place, right? The fat broad?"

Spoiler: OOC

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Coming out firing with the Enthrall.

[Darvin]

Dalen eyes Aliani with curiosity as he casts. Truth be told, he hadn't given Aliani's magic much thought before now, but clearly he hadn't been paying close enough attention. It wasn't a matter to be broached here, however. He reaches into his pocket and withdraws one of the scrolls of silent image, then turns to Silas, "lead the way; if you need a distraction or cover, let me know and it will be so,"

[PiccadillyPi]

Silas

'Best we wait to see how interested the goons are in what Aliani has to say. If they turn out to be as dumb as they look, we can sneak around back and either get the drop on anyone inside this floor... or venture downstairs first.'

Silas produces his wand of Silent Image and hands it to Dalen.

'We can hide behind a small illusion going in. It's not very strong, but it might not need to be.'

[Inspectre]

Aliani steps forward, calling out to the group of thugs outside.
All eyes turn to the stage performer as he walks forward and begins his enspelling spiel.
From inside, Yargin opens his mouth as if to say something, but even his eyes close into a half-asleep position as he and all three thugs simply stare at Aliani in contentment.

"Haha, oh yeah. Half-orc girls are the bustiest girls . . ."

One of the thug murmurs in agreement, while Yargin slowly shakes his head.

"I don't . . . really care . . . I just want you all out of here."

The alchemist-turned-toady-turned-fish-monger grumbles, nonetheless still watching Aliani with half-asleep indifference.
Sensing something up, Bloo raises his head from the bone he was currently munching on to growl and bark at Aliani, but it seemed more of a "this bone is mine, stay back" than anything more threatening at the moment.

All was going according to plan, until . . . a fourth thug emerged from the back of the Fishery, carrying a familiar (to Aliani & Dalen) looking hatbox in his arms.
His brow raises in curiosity as he enters into range of Aliani's droning magic, but new to the "conversation" it is meaningless to him and he shrugs it off.

"Oi, what's all this then? Who are *you* supposed to be!?"

The thug growls at Aliani, shifting the hat box to under his arm to leave a hand free to rest on the grip of his club tucked loosely into his belt.

(So, Thug 1-3 are all enthralled. Yargin is enthralled. Bloo is not, nor is Thug #4 that just entered the front room from the back, and is standing at the entrance way. Not a bad haul for Aliani, I'd say! Let's see how long he can keep them distracted now. Are the rest of you sneaking around the side to get to the boat? Going in through the front door? Keep in mind that any violence done in sight of the ones Aliani has enthralled will break the spell, I think, so unless you can take Thug #4 out discretely I think dealing with him is up to Aliani.)

[PiccadillyPi]

Silas

He removed from his bag a dosage of drow poison and applied it to his sword. Fingers crossed.

'You two work together and deal with the loading bay. Looks like one of them isn't under the spell. I'll meet you in the main room.'

The ranger gathered his courage and strolled toward the front doors, making sure to give Aliani a wide berth. He doubted there would be more than three of these bastards to deal with, and of course he hoped they were under-prepared to deal with a direct assault. Standing at the door, he held his weapon discreetly - as one can with a falchion - and readied himself to charge the weakest looking creature upon opening the door.

Spoiler: OOC

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((If it's locked, he'll run to the loading bay while avoiding Aliani's spell as best he can.))

Poison use: (1d20)[20]

Fort save (just in case): (1d20+5)[25]

DROW POISON
Type poison (injury); Save Fortitude DC 13
Frequency 1/minute for 2 minutes
Initial Effect unconsciousness for 1 minute; Secondary Effect unconsciousness for 2d4 hours; Cure 1 save

[Stelio Kontos]

Praise be, I'm not dead yet.

"This guy! Come on man, don't even act like you don't know me. This guy right here man, he's trying to act all cool with that 'who are you supposed to be'. She was giving YOU the eye! You weren't that drunk, were you?" Aliani exclaimed raucously, laughing, but also waving his arms around and gesticulating at the threat, moving over to be among the enspelled audience. "Come on over, man, load that box up, they just needed a quick break before we got back to it, you know?"

Spoiler: OOC

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Not sure if you want to call this a Diplomacy or a Bluff check to try to whamboozle this guy into trying to not kill me. You can roll it. Surprise me.

[Darvin]

Spying the hatbox, Dalen sees a change in priority. Though leaving Silas alone wasn't something he planned on, he didn't hesitate to follow the request when it matched his own train of thought. He shadows the carriage as inconspicuously as he can. Hopefully this newcomer will drop his guard - or better yet, the hatbox.

Spoiler: OOC

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Stealth (1d20+5)[17]

[Steveodore]

Miz was surprised by Aliani transformation but didn't dwell much on it, least it distract her here. Silas's direction was sound enough for her as while she wasn't aware of the mage's capability, generally speaking, finger twiddlers aren't at their best with armed thugs at arms length.

She kept to Dalen with her daggers ready to assist

[Inspectre]

The thug looks at Aliani very skeptically, but then shrugs and continues on to the edge of the loading deck where it almost touches the open cart alongside it.

"Whatever man. Nobody tells me nothing - more hands the better I say. This guy is kinda a **** - sooner we get done the better."

He tries to hand the hatbox off to the thug sitting atop the cart while keeping one wary eye on you, but when the thug continues to blankly stare at you, he simply shrugs and drops the hatbox into the cart.
Hidden up against the cart at this point, Dalen and Miz peer over the top of the cart's side to see everyone is still enthralled by Aliani, and the lone thug is nonetheless distracted by him as well.
Dalen can definitely confirm that it's the same hatbox as the one in Lamm's collection, which holds a grim secret inside of it - several flies buzz around it even now, earning a sneer of disgust from the thug as he drops it into the cart and rubs his hands on his leather armor.

"Well, come on then! You can help carry the next box!"

The thug grunts, motioning for Aliani to follow as he turns to go back inside the Fishery.

Meanwhile, Silas creeps around to the front door - locked. Creeps around the far side of the Fishery to try the door there - also locked. But he does gain some useful information - there are several windows along this side of the building, little more than narrow slits cut into the building's wooden side. He peers into the first room which is a small sleeping area for Lamm's men - predictably no one is asleep in either of the beds at the present. Likewise, the room beyond the side door is Yargin's office and is also empty at the moment. Silas notices that the wooden walkway begins to deteriorate past the side door, and while it is intact enough to be usable the wood does look slick and partially rotten - he would have to move cautiously to advance further.

While Silas is considering his next move, he hears a voice that, despite coming here for vengeance, he had rather hoped to never hear again. From around the side of the building, likely the top deck of the ship moored up to the side of the old Fishery (and in only slightly better shape) comes the rasping voice of Gaedren Lamm.

"Hurry up with that box! What am I paying you useless bastards for!? Come on, I don't have all night!"

Spoiler: Map

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[Stelio Kontos]

Aliani smiled, a very genuine smile, though not for the reasons the thug might expect. "Yeah, man, I'll be in in just a minute, let me finish this story real quick. So anyway, this fat broad is looking at me, wants to give me a lap dance, and she's jiggling like she's a stuffed sausage, and then the barmaid comes by and says 'can I get you anything'. And I just look at her and say 'A better chair would be nice!' Hahaha! And then..."

Spoiler: OOC

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Just continuing to enthrall for now, hoping that someone else will take care of this guy when he's not in the area to cause problems by bleeding in front of the wrong people.

[Inspectre]

"Whatever man."

The thug grunts, muttering obscenities under his breath as he leaves, going back inside the Fishery.
As Aliani continues to keep the thugs distracted, it occurs to him that with the way they're ferrying crates out from the back room, it is only a matter of time before anyone else back there (Giggles? Hookshanks?) realizes that no one is coming back for more crates. Because they're all out front staring at Aliani and trying not to drool while he continues to serenade them with bull****.

(Aliani continues to keep Enthrall going, basically single-handedly locking down the front half of the encounter area. Unfortunately, there's also a back half that's going to twig on to the fact that something's happened out front, sooner or later.
You probably have a couple more rounds to come up with a plan though! Let's see what Miz, Dalen, and Silas come up with . . .)

[PiccadillyPi]

Silas

Damned locks. Damned Gaedren. Damned city.

Frustrated, Silas turned tail and ran back to the front entrance. Unlikely as it was, he expected someone to reply to his next move: breaking down the doors.

'I've not the patience I used to.'

Kick the front door: (1d20+3)[13]

[Steveodore]

As far as Miz could tell, Aliani seems to have put the gangsters under some sort of enchantment. The actor looked like he had this lot tied down.. for the moment at least. Since he wasn't giving any signal for help so far, Miz left it to him. She kept an eye out for threats and for any more thugs that might show up from unexpected angles.

Miz tensed up as a figure turned the corner of the fishery but eased herself when she recognized it as Silas. Rather then joining them behind the wagon, the catman stopped at the door and began breaking it down.

It was beginning to look like they'd be bloodying themselves sooner then expected. Miz stowed her blade and and tugged out the fresh mutagen. She uncapped the vial and gulped it down, enjoying the feeling of the concoction hit her core before seizing and consuming her whole being in an instant. Miz flexed her clawed hands in anticipation of the inevitable.

Spoiler

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Miz drinks Mutigen to gain 4 Str and 2 AC

[Inspectre]

The thug disappears into the back of the Fishery, while Silas decides he's had enough and kicks in the front door. He doesn't quite angle his kick right, striking the doorframe partially with his foot, but the Fishery itself looks like it might fall down at any minute and its front door is no exception. With a dry crack, the front door's lock snaps its way through the doorframe, opening the way into the Fishery's front office. There are no immediate shouts of alarm - between Aliani's distraction and the noise that Silas can now hear from the back room of the Fishery, no guards hear Silas's vandalism. Unfortunately, the sounds from the back room are distorted enough that Silas can't easily hear what is being said, but it sounds like boxes being moved around, and a gruff voice intermittently yelling and cackling - a different voice from Gaedren's. Probably Giggles, Lamm's half-orc enforcer, who got his name from being unable to keep from laughing at every little thing.

Meanwhile, outside Miz quaffs a vial of something she whipped up for this occasion, muscles tightening and hardening immediately as the chemicals soaked into her flesh. And Dalen . . . Dalen was getting ready to do . . . something.

(Situation is pretty much unchanged, save that you now have a way inside the Fishery that doesn't involve walking past half a dozen zoned out people that Aliani has to keep talking at. All of the interior doors are unlocked - it was just the front and side doors that were locked up for the evening. Giggles, Thug #4, and probably a few more friends are in the big central back room. Will put them on the map as well once you make eye contact with them.)

[PiccadillyPi]

Silas

As the door fell from its hinges, Silas looked back at the others.

'Gaedren is downstairs. Go quickly around the side and we can catch him from two sides.'

This impatient creature trudged through the reception to the rear doorway in an effort to position himself for quick combat from above. The plan? A few seconds to wait for his company to position themselves, then swing the door open and chuck a few chakrams at whomever looked likely to shoot bolts. He'd have to hold his sword off-hand as he didn't feel like wasting perfectly good poison.

Spoiler: OOC

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1. Open rear door toward big central back room.
2. Position self at second door and ready action to open door just before next turn. (If it's open, skip to turn 3.)
3. Equip chakram, Step one space onto catwalk (further if needed), attack goons with this priority:

a) Immediately beside door, dropping Chakram to use sword.
b) Wielding ranged weapons.
c) Closest to left-side door where he expects Miz to be coming from.

[Darvin]

Seeing the effects of the concoction that Miz quaffed, Dalen acknowledges what is about to transpire. He whispers, "wait a moment, then we'll proceed together," while trying to remain concealed, he begins casting his spell.

Spoiler: OOC

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Dalen is casting sleep... on what is probably a surprise round. So time to regurgitate some rules.

You only get a standard action on a surprise round, but sleep has a 1-round casting time which means I need to take a full-round action. This is not impossible as it first appears, since there is a little-known option for situations like these, the "start/complete full-round action" action (scroll down, that subsection is long). In essence, instead of taking a full-round action I can take a standard action to start it then take a second standard action on the following turn to complete it. Essentially this allows two standard actions to substitute for a full-round action, and would allow me to begin casting the spell on the surprise round.

But we're not quite done yet with handling the surprise round. Dalen has made a (presumably successful) stealth check and the enemies are unaware of him. He is taking a non-hostile action that will not break stealth. While he does need to speak clearly to cast a spell with a verbal component, we're in a city so there's plenty of background noise (including our resident "bard" running distraction). This means that these enemies may still be unaware of him after the surprise round, in which case there should be a second surprise round. Let me know whether that's the case.

I've done way too much lurking over the years and have picked up on a lot of rules minutiae.

[Steveodore]

Miz sat impatiently on her haunches, keeping an ear cocked for any sounds of trouble from where Silas disappeared. She quietly hissed out a reply to Dalen.

"As you will friend. I'll take point when we're in though, so mind you keep to my back."

Spoiler

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Readied Action: After Dalen casts the spell, Miz will proceed with him stealthy through the loading dock to the door way below on the left side of the fishery (Or wherever Dalen goes really, I think that's the direction we're aiming for.)

[Inspectre]

Dalen pokes his head above the rim of the cart, casting a spell.
It's a fairly long one, but with everyone present still absorbed in Aliani's speech, he didn't even need to bother with such caution.
After the spell completes, the two Blackguards outside collapse, one to the loading deck, and the other back into the cart.
Through the open loading bay door that the thugs had been using to come and go, Aliani sees the thug that Yargin had been talking to also drop to the ground.
Unfortunately, that finally was enough to convince Yargin that something was up, and he sneered at Aliani as he reached for a set of vials tucked into his belt.
Bloo also looks up from his bone to snarl at the playwright upon hearing Yargin's tone.

"Oh, so you ain't here to help, eh? What are you, some do-gooder worried about the kids?"


Meanwhile, Silas enters the narrow hallway between the front office and the back room, opening the door at the end a crack to peer through.
He sees the thug not ensnared by Aliani's speech talking with a large half-orc, who simply grunts as his concerns while motioning for the gaggle of kids clustered around a hole in the floor to keep pulling on a rope, slowly lifting a crate up through the hole.
A second thug, making that the fifth Blackguard seen thus far, is carrying a crate up the stairs towards the front - he's Silas's first target as he kicks open the door and throws his chakram at the man.
The bladed ring rakes across the man's left bicep, and he drops the crate to the stairs (and onto his feet) with a pained cry as blood spurts from that arm (Just barely hit his flat-footed AC of 12 for 6 damage - he's hurting).

"Hahaha, a visitor! I'm going bash your skull in heeheehee!" Giggles promises with a laugh as the children scatter. All except one, who moves towards the stairs leading up to the catwalk Silas is standing on, rather than fleeing to the corners of the room to cower like the other children - that must be Hookshanks.


(Combat has begun! As per the rules we're using, we're now in the first round of combat, and you guys are up first! Thug 1-3 are sleeping, Thug 5 is down 6 HP. For Miz/Dalen - vaulting up onto the cart is a move action, or 10' worth of movement with a DC 10 Climb check, can be tried untrained. From the back of the cart it's straight movement onto the loading deck. Otherwise, you'll need to use the stairs over by Aliani to get up there. Although Bloo is probably going to be coming to you shortly. Or not, depending on what Dalen does.)

(Did not bother to include children on the map, but there's over a dozen of them down in the back room around the periphery, hiding in the corners and under the catwalk and in their sleeping hammocks strung up here and there.)

Spoiler: Map

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[PiccadillyPi]

Silas

Caught up in the frightening excitement of his surprise attack, Silas blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

'Why is this place is in such dire straits?'

Brandishing another chakram, Silas hurled it toward the same son-of-a-bitch he hit before, temporarily ignoring the twisted creature approaching him. As far as he was concerned, none of these men involved deserved any sort of mercy.

Attack: (1D20+6)[10]

Damage: (1D8+3)[11]

'Your workplace should be condemned! I'm surprised none of you have fallen through!'

[Stelio Kontos]

"So, anyway, she's finally just about got her shirt finally yanked out of her..." Aliani's voice trailed off and his shoulders slumped just a bit, just for a moment, as he watched two of the thugs drop to the ground.

Dammit, Dalen. I had these. Okay, they're around somewhere, but one on three, that's no good, especially not for you. You could... even the odds?

But you were saving that for the allig --

You have to get there first.

His internal monologue complete, and satisfied with his plan, he smiled a saccharine smile in response to Yargin's muttering -- even as he advanced up the stairs, drawing his morningstar. Hopefully the little ones would be listening, and this could put them on his side -- or at least make sure they didn't decide to join the wrong side.

"Yes, that's right! We're here to save the kids. And the abused animals too. Speaking of which, such a magnificent beast you have there. Pure killing machine, right? Too bad you can't trust him. Maybe if you'd treated him right..."

He fixed his gaze on the dog, adjusted his shirt collar just so, raising his weapon and pointing it as if it were a wand at the wizard, and gave an authoritative command.

"Sic 'em, Bloo!"

Spoiler: OOC

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Free action: smack talk at the wizard
Move action: move to the square southwest of Thug #2, while drawing morningstar as part of move
Standard: cast Murderous Command on the dog. It's mind affecting, but not language dependent, so it will work on an animal with intelligence at least 1. Auto-pass check to cast this like a bard, not that there's a huge difference on V-only spells. DC 16 to identify, DC 26 to identify as a divine spell. I'd suggest that Yargin should probably try to identify this, because if he doesn't, he may not know how long the control lasts...

[Steveodore]

Miz observed Dalen going through the motions of his spell, feeling slightly impatient as seconds passed. She watched as the wizard's fingers stilled and the cart bound thug slumped over in his seat. This was as good a cue as any for Miz as she sprang forward. As tempting as it was to vault onto the cart and clamber right up into the loading dock, Miz didn't want to disturb Dalen's spell, choosing instead to move around the cart to Aliani's position.

Seeing as the ruse unraveled and the remaining toughs were gathering themselves to attack, Miz opted to help handle this lot quickly before getting inside the building proper and assist Silas. She continues up the stairs, plucking a dart from a vest loop and flicks it at the nearest standing foe.

Spoiler

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Continuing readied action to get around cart to the loading dock.

Move Action: Getting onto the stairs on the loading dock and drawing a dart.
Standard Action: throwing dart into thug #1's face.

(1d20+5)[7] to attack
(1d4+3)[7] to damage

[Darvin]

Dalen silently creeps forward, attempting to avoid any unwanted attention - either by the thugs inside or onlookers outside - as he begins to cast a second sleep spell.

Spoiler: OOC

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Move action to move around the corner, stopping right next to the ramp so I can see inside. This should still give me cover to stay in stealth against those inside (if I need a new stealth check, let me know)

Standard action again to begin casting sleep, to complete it next round. Ideally catching all three of those indoors with it.

[Inspectre]

For a moment things continue to go in the heroes' favor, as Bloo leaps onto his master's hip with a snarl, the old cur sinking his teeth deep into Yargin's thigh and sends him tumbling to the ground.
Lamm's chief lackey curses and swears, and with a single good boot to the side, manages to throw Bloo off of him with a yelp.
The old dog then gives his master a heartrending "what did I do this time?" look that only dogs can manage so well, prompting another snarled curse from Yargin as he limps back up onto his feet and takes a shambling step forward, shoving the thug out the door ahead of him.

"You're gonna pay for making me hurt my dog, you git wizard!"

Yargin promises as he claws at his belt, producing a large glass vial with a noxious-looking green liquid inside it.

The group's luck holds, at least to an extent, as the thug rushes forward at Yargin's warning with a yell, ripping his club out of his belt and nearly giving Aliani a solid crack across the jaw - if not for the protective magics he cast ahead of time!
Aliani's luck holds as Yargin releases his vial, throwing it at the massed group, and it's only thanks to having to avoid hitting his hireling in the back that saves Aliani from taking the thrown vial right in the face.
Instead, the vial smashes onto the steps right next to him and just in front of Miz, splattering painful acid across the entire group, including the sleeping thug lying on the loading deck who wakes up with a scream.

Meanwhile, inside the Fishery, the thug who dropped the crate slips and stumbles over it, struggling to climb over it to get the rest of the way up the stairs as he pulls a club out of his belt.

"I'll go check on the others!" The thug promises, ducking under Silas's follow-up chakram as he makes his way up and over the dropped crate. One corner of the wooden box has smashed open on the stairs, leaving a host of seemingly useless and disgusting bits of trash to spill out - things like shards of colored glass, eating utensils (some with food still attached), and mold-eaten books. He races into the room with Yargin, who motions him to get the door behind him open, presumably so the two of them can withdraw back into the front office (next turn, the thug has to stop his movement at the door to the office this turn.)

Giggles grabs and shoves the thug who had been unaffected by Aliani's magic (and who was down there filling him in on what was going on outside) up the stairs of the catwalk that snakes around the room's periphery, pointing at Silas.

"Heheheheheh, go git 'em guy!"

The half-orc snickers, and then pulls a potion out of his belt and quaffs it, suddenly moving with starling speed.

"HAHAHAHA! Lamm told me to use this if trouble showed up! Let's have some FUN, HOHOHOHOHO!"

The half-orc cackles, his voice sounding like a manic chorus now as he blurs up the stairs after the more lightly armored thug, almost catching up to him despite the man's head start.

For his part, Hookshanks mutters something under his breath as he waddles over towards the stairs leading up to the loading bay, pulling out a vial and pouring a viscous oil over his kukri that causes the blade to glow with an eerie blue light. He snarls at any children who gets too close to him, causing them to cower back into their hammocks and under vats around the edges of the room - it's clear none of them would be joining in on the fight for or against the group.

Spoiler: Map - Now with Coordinates!

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Spoiler: Damage Status

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Aliani - 2 Acid Damage (PASSED BOMB SAVE)
Miz - 4 Damage (or 2 if Pass Reflex DC 13)

Yargin - 6 Damage
Thug #1 - 4 Damage
Thug #2 - 4 Damage, Prone
Thug #3 - SLEEP
Thug #5 - 6 Damage

Spoiler: Bad Guy Turn Summary

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Spoiler: Thug #1

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Move: Move up to Aliani, pull out club
Standard: Miss Aliani

Spoiler: Thug #2

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Thug #2 goes before Yargin, and thus his turn is wasted, and he spends this round waking up from Sleep due to splash damage (which he fails to save against due to being asleep). He is still Prone.

Spoiler: Thug #3

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Thug #3 is sound asleep on his nice cart bed.

Spoiler: Thug #4

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Double Moves to J15.

Spoiler: Thug #5

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Double Moves to N11

Spoiler: Bloo

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Attack Yargin, hitting him and dealing 6 damage, plus knocking him Prone.

Spoiler: Yargin

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Move: Stand Up
Since he used his move for something other than moving, 5' Step to N9
Standard: Throw Acid Bomb at Aliani. Due to penalties from Aliani being in melee and Thug #1 providing Cover, bomb misses, landing in N5 instead due to splash weapon miss table. Aliani, Miz, Thug #1, Thug #2 all take 4 Acid damage, Reflex Save DC 13 for Half.

Thug #1 Reflex Save: (1d20+1)[9]
Thug #2 Auto-Fails due to being Unconscious

Spoiler: Hookshanks

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Standard: Applies an Oil to his Weapon
Move: Move to H8

Spoiler: Giggles

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Standard: Drinks a Potion of Haste
Move: Moves double his speed (40'), ending up in H16