Chapter 4 - The Creature Walks Among Us

[Skyrock]

Surprisingly, the mean-looking man shakes off the spell targeted at him, and now even less up to start laughing.

[Nanshork]

Niko once again strikes with hammer and shield, wanting this to to be over.

(click to show/hide)

Hammer Attack: 33
Hammer Damage: 15

Shield Attack: 17
Shield Damage: 15

[Nanshork]

Peri moves in to savage the man threatening her master.

(click to show/hide)

https://beta.ditzie.com/97752/5f9194dd39b1e

Hit: 27
Damage: 12

Free Trip: 8

[Skyrock]

The fiery entanglement hindering Niko and Peri vanishes with a painful but not very damaging hiss. The man with the receding hairline tries to cartwheel past Niko, but falls down on the spot and curses.

The redheaded woman on the roof send some coppery sparks towards the edge of the roof, which come down as clattering caltrops hindering pursuit, before she vanishes out of your line of sight behind the smoke.

The little redheaded maid eyes you fearfully and drags her unconscious friend with her deeper inside in an attempt to get both away from you. She is clearly not thinking clearly at the moment after the onslaught she has witnessed.

(click to show/hide)

2 fire damage against Niko and Peri, who are no longer entangled. Both receive a free AoO against Crven.

 https://beta.ditzie.com/97752/5f919eb581533

(click to show/hide)

The coppery sparks are a Caltrops spell.

[Skyrock]

The man with the receding hairline goes down under the combined assault of Niko and Peri.

The little ginger maid drops her sister and smiles nervously, keeping her hand close to the dagger at her belt.

"Thank you, you big strong heroes, for saving me! I and my sisters have been held captive and made to serve this lot for way too long. Now, if you would excuse us, we would like to leave and seek for better employment elsewhere..."

(click to show/hide)

The redhead is lying about being involuntarily here, although she didn't get much say about how things are run.

Her thanks are ingenuine. You have spoiled what she viewed as a great opportunity, and she is very very upset about the death of one of her sisters, although she  wouldn't do anything rash about it after having witnessed  your skill.

[dman]

(click to show/hide)

You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth. Motivate Communication: Allies can communicate with each other, as though with telepathy. +6 on saves against language-dependent effects and fear effects, and on Decipher Script and Forgery checks.

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. Motivate Wis +9 checks

Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.
Allies gain a bonus to current and maximum hit points equal to twice your aura bonus(18). These hit points are not lost first like temporary hit points, and disappear when the aura is lost.

Hank is already making his way through the smoke toward his companions.  He reaches out with his mind.  David!  Eyes east!  That firehaired mage is running away.  See if you can tail her.

David nestles into a shrubbery and throws up a pigeon which flutters over the Eastern street scanning for their assailant.



Hank hurries through the smoldering building and emerges out of the front entrance singing. "...can show you the light!"  Salverus has one arm protectively wrapped round the blackened Calim.  Both have their pistols ready - watching for any danger from the east.  Calim beams when he sees Hank and embraces his old friend. "You're going to have to do better than that if you want to kill me, Kess!"  he croaks. 

Hank tears up as he clasps his friend.  His hands glow with a soft golden light as he whispers, "Lord, thank you for my friend.  By your righteous sacrificial blood heal this your faithful servant, Calim Hakota."

(click to show/hide)

Lay on Hands: 18 hp

"...and curse him with a long life of dangerous adventuring with me!"     
"Forgive me for putting you in danger, brother."

"The only thing that offends me is how sloppy your singing is, Kess.  I won't forgive you until you agree to heed my lessons."

Hanks places a warm glowing hand on Salverus. "Lord bless your daughter.  Thanks for saving these yahoos."

(click to show/hide)

Lay on Hands: 6hp

Salverus stays focused on the east. "Are you following her, David?"  

 

[Skyrock]

The bird circles the air, but the mage has vanished into the streets and alleys. It will take time and asking around if you still want to track her down.

[dman]

(click to show/hide)

You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth. Motivate Communication: Allies can communicate with each other, as though with telepathy. +6 on saves against language-dependent effects and fear effects, and on Decipher Script and Forgery checks.

Let love and faithfulness never leave you...Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. Motivate Cha +9


Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding. Motivate Wis +9 to checks

Everyone's OK here.  How're the survivors doing?  Do they know where we can find Lucy?

[skydragonknight]

Mist sees a lot of unlooted bodies and proceeds to correct this egregious error.

[Skyrock]

It takes a while to sort and organize all the loot on the various bodies, but eventually Mist succeeds.

(click to show/hide)

* Amulet with a strong transmutation aura

1 MW Rapier
4 MW Shortswords
9 Shortswords
22 MW Flintlock Pistols (+170 bullets)
2 Volley Guns (+20 bullets)
14 Daggers
14 Slings (+140 bullets)
73 Darts
24 Marbles
1 MW Chainshirt
7 MW Studded Leather Armors
6 Leather Armors
Wooden Holy Symbol of Bonnie Maeva
631gp
11sp

The redhead maid stands protectively over the unconscious body of her sister and seems unwilling to just stand by as she gets robbed of her possessions.

[Nanshork]

Niko stomps out of the room he spent all that time fighting in and looks around, assessing the damage.  He scowls and stomps over to the redheaded sisters, scowling more as he looks at the unconscious one.  He hunkers down to make sure that she is still breathing, then reaches out and places a hand on her head. 

He is getting really tired of how people in this damn place treat those with red hair.

(click to show/hide)

Touch of Healing: grant target fast healing = target's Con mod for 1 minute

[Raineh Daze]

"So... do you know an Ottmar?" Yuki asks, folding her arms and standing near Niko.

Being unarmed probably wasn't reassuring now.

[Skyrock]

The unconscious redhead recovers and opens her eyes with flickering lids. She looks rather fearful at you, especially at Mist who had struck her down.

The eyes of the unwounded redhead widen when Yuki mentions the name. "The big boss? He's down in the cellar, below the trapdoor." She points at the door to room #15. "He's... Not quite right, not that I have been down there, nor want to. Only the other bosses have checked there, and that one Red Guard woman. The oth... I mean, those despicable thieves have been arguing about whether to keep her and demand ransom, or to release her."

[skydragonknight]

"We need to see him. The sooner the better. And if all goes well..." Mist jingles her now-full coin purse. "Then we'll pay for a nice wagon ride for you to someplace where you'll be less likely to end up in a place like this."

[Skyrock]

The healthy redhead eyes the purse greedily, while the one that was wounded by Mist still seems cautious. They excuse themselves for a moment and move into the corner of the room, talking with each other in a foreign language.

(click to show/hide)

Svetlana: "Katya, I cannot believe that you trust them so quickly. Not only have they have murdered our sister Kandija, they have chased away mistress Lyra just as she was teaching us to become as great a sorceress as her. Now we are stuck the way we are, silly little ginger girls who get bossed around by anyone more powerful than us."

Katya: "Svetlana, yes, what they did to her is mean, but we cannot change it now. Chances are they don't even feel bad about it, probably thinking she doesn't even have a soul. What we can change, however, are our fortunes. A rich ginger is still much much better off than a poor one, and once we got away playing the regretful little ginger maids who tearfully promise that they have learned their humble place and will never get involved with anything crooked again, we can always just try to re-find mistress Lyra - or petition another mage to teach us how to become powerful enough to never get mistreated again."

S: "Hm, i-if you think you can pull it off, it might be the best plan. I still think that they just try to lure us with that purse, and then kill us like the others once our usefulness is used up. If you still want to try, you go in front. I'd rather be in position to at least have a chance to run away."

K: "Yes, I think I can pull it off, and it might be our best chance to save our silly little ginger heads too. If they thought we were entirely useless, it might make them just inclined to kill us on the spot just for our silver shinies.

Katya turns her attention to you and smiles her brightest and friendliest smile. "Yes, my saviours, I would be delighted if I could be of use to you, and the promise of a lease of a better new life would be most welcome to both me and my sister. Just follow me."

Svetlana hangs back, staying as close to the exit as she can and eying it nervously every now and then.

[Raineh Daze]

Yuki gives them a long look.

(click to show/hide)

"All of this obsession with souls and hair colour is getting very boring."

[Skyrock]

Katya's smile freezes, and she gives Yuki a look like a deer caught in headlights. Svetlana gives her a 'Told you so' look, and shifts her feet in position to run at the first sight of trouble.

Eventually Katya finds her voice back.

(click to show/hide)

"Please don't tell the lady with the purse, we could really use the money right now."

"Ahem. As I said, let me be of help with the trap door."

[dman]

Hank and crew emerge from the smoke blackened, bandaged, bleary-eyed, and grateful that they made it out ok.  As Hank goes to retrieve his rapier he says, "How are the survivors?  Were they here of their own free-"

His voice catches in his throat as he sees the two sisters and notes the body of the third flat on her back with one of his arrows standing erect, a grisly signpost, in the center of her breast bone. He heaves a great sigh, walks purposefully toward the body, and kneels in the pool of blood by her side.  He deftly removes the arrow from her crushed thorax, sets it beside her, and gently places his hands on her temples and rests his thumbs on her forehead.  As he prays he draws his thumbs down and rests them over her softly closed eyes. 

"Heavenly Father, I commend the soul of this young woman to your divine care.  I confess I do not know her story - only that I have killed her in battle.  Now that her suffering in this world has come to a violent end have mercy on her spirit, and forgive her her sins.  Embrace her into your tender care, wipe away each of her tears, and welcome her as your own daughter into heaven."  Hank hovers over her quietly for a moment.  Swallows hard, sniffs, wipes his nose, and rises. 

He looks through his red eyes over at the remaining sisters and says simply,

"I-I'm sorry."         

[Skyrock]

The two girls stare daggers at Hank and bite their lips, clearly not very happy, but also afraid of the consequences if they speak their minds in this company.

[Nanshork]

Niko restrains himself from slapping Hank in the back of the head.