CH. 12: Testing Grounds

[HorizonsDream]

"Let's walk and talk," Kendra says. She starts walking along side Arulia. "I haven't heard much of the brothel to be honest. It is all under the power of the church I think. Did they try to recruit you two or something?"

[JadedDM]

Haahqae (Old Keep, Latrine)
The two baaz and the kapak continue hacking and slashing at the rat swarm, largely in vain. "What the Abyss is this?" the kapak demands. But the baaz have no answers for him.

"There are too many! We need like...torches or something," cries one baaz.

"Or a godsdamned dragon!" says another.

"Fall back, sound the alert, get some reinforcements down here," the kapak orders. The three depart from the room, hacking and slashing and cursing as they go.

Grubnick (Burned Building)
Grubnick departs from the Trade Guild hall and heads to the nearby building he burned down, the one next to the soon to be opening brothel. It's around Fourth Watch by the time he arrives.

The building is still, naturally, in shambles. Some of the roof has caved in, one of the walls is missing and the entirety of it has suffered some level of smoke or fire damage. The area has been roped off with a sign out front warning not to enter as it is unsafe. There are no guards present, though. The entrance to the basement should still be somewhere inside.

Shima Longfoot (Temple of Takhisis)
"I suggest you don't dither about then, Takhisis is not known for her patience," the high priestess replies. "If it's coin you are looking for, then I will point out there is a bounty out on any heretical priests found in the city. Turn one in, and the church will give you 5,000 steel pieces for your efforts."

[Chris1234]

"Thanks. I'll be going then," replies Shima, gives her a minuscule bow and leaves to try and find Ne-Chanz so they can finish the job for the minotaur.

[TristenC]

Grubnick looks around from outside the rope to see if he can tell if there has been any obvious traffic through the rubble, or if he can see if the underground stairs are blocked.

[Haahque]

As the baaz and the swarm exit the bathroom, Haahqae drops concentration on the swarm and casts audible glamor to make it sound like he's climbing up and out the window and running away, while still screaming, then he casts invisibility on himself and makes his way into the keep, towards the staircase upstairs. He'll move silently and avoid running into anyone as best he can.

[JadedDM]

Haahqae (Old Keep, Latrine)
Now invisible, Haahqae makes his way to the tower. The portcullis is down and there are two baaz guarding it. They can hear the shouts and look tense, grasping their spears tightly. "What in the Abyss is all of that racket?" one asks.

"Another attack? I can't see anything," says the other.

"If we were under attack, someone would sound the horn...right?" asks the first.

The two are clearly distracted. With his invisibility, Haahqae could easily slip past them. The only problem is the portcullis. The lever to open it is nearby, but there is no way he could do so without it being heard and noticed by the two guards.

(Haahqae casts Audible Glamer and Invisibility.)

Grubnick (Burned Building)
Searching the area, Grubnick does note quite a lot of evidence of recent traffic--a lot of traffic, in fact. There are numerous foot prints in the soot. Although there doesn't seem to be anyone around now. From what he can see, the entrance to the basement is not blocked. It even looks like someone has gone through the trouble of removing any blockage, in fact.

Shima Longfoot (High Hand Inn)
Shima returns to the High Hand Inn. Although his body is fully healed, he is now evidently carrying some kind of hex on himself. Ignoring it, he steps inside the common area. The breakfast rush has passed, and the place has emptied out some. There are a handful of draconian soldiers in one corner, drinking and carousing as normal. There is no sign of Ne-Chanz or Felran, however.

[BishGada]

"I'm not that young..." Tulbas says.

"Ergoth you say? You knew Daxia uncle? And my uncle friends? He had some of them in Ergoth." Tulbas asks curious. Then he considers the sentences spoken so far and gives his own opinion. "If the land will be swarmed by one of the forces," he picks his words carefully not to say 'Evil' "I'm not sure The Tower will stand in the tide. And besides, if, as you said, the old gods are awaken and so do the dragons, don't you want to take part in shaping the new world? To be part of the forces that will change fate?" he asks passionately.

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(OOC: Sorry I couldn't post sooner. I assume you gave this discussion as opening to role playing and exposing Tulbas inner thoughts. I also assumes what he will reveal will affect the results of his Test if he will survive... If I'm wrong just give me a nudge and I'll move forward.)

[TristenC]

The goblin very carefully approaches the entance, taking off his hood and listing as best he can. I wonder... are the newly-homeless hiding here now? Or maybe some on the wrong side of law... He approaches as cautiously as he is able, wondering what he has stumbled upon...

[djhyland]

"She did," Arulia admits. "She said that they're looking for women like Niniva and I, and that they'd pay us well."

After a number of strides in silence, Arulia asks, "How is it that the church and the military are so divided? Every time I ask about something--the brothel, what they're doing to my father--I'm told that the church can't do anything because the army is in charge of it or vice versa. Is there a rivalry between them?"

[spyguy1503]

Ne-Chanz returns from the bathroom, then waves to Shima. He was still wary of him, though. "Ready to get the job done? ALL the way done?"

[Chris1234]

Shima nods, "Felran not coming just now I take it?"
The dwarf heads for the door.

{OOC: Welcome back! }

[spyguy1503]

"No, he went outside for some fresh air. Ah, there he is!" he indicates Felran outside. "Come on." To the group. "So, we are going to clear those gullies out today, right?"

[Chris1234]

"How about right now?" responds Shima. "But don't forget it's me helping you. The reward is information for you. That said, I'm fine with that. You can help me sometime, right?"
Shima heads towards the site of 'the job'.
"So, Ne-Chanz, have you decided if you want to relocate the gullies? Or just kill them?" asks the dwarf. "I will support you either way."

[JadedDM]

Tulbas Erogund (Tower of Wayreth, Lounge)
The Qualinesti woman frowns at his remark about his age. "You don't even look a hundred yet to me."

The three students don't seem to understand what he's talking about when he references Daxia's uncle. The Qualinesti woman says, "My people--those that survived, anyway--fled to South Ergoth when our homeland was attacked. So did your people, actually. Both the Qualinesti and Silvanesti are living there as refugees now, in the Kagonesti lands. Not sure how they can survive among such savages, honestly."

When Tulbas speaks of taking part of the new world, none of them appear too eager about it. "The world may be changing, but it still hates our kind," the half-elf says. "There are so few of us left, not even enough to fill one tower. It's too dangerous out there for us. Even when the world isn't at war as it is now."

"Besides, I don't think there's anything we could do against dragons and gods," the Qualinesti woman points out.

The older man shrugs. "I was doing just fine hiding in plain sight, until the renegade hunters found me."

"That's easy for you to say," the Qualinesti woman argues. "You're from Estwilde. They just rolled over for the Dragonarmies. My homeland wasn't so lucky."

(OOC: Daxia is from North Ergoth, the elven refugees are in South Ergoth. They're two different nations separated by a channel. And if you aren't aware, the Kagonesti are the 'wild elves' of the setting.

And yes, I assumed you wanted to interact with these people, but if you don't, we can move on.)

Grubnick (Burned Building)
Grubnick listens carefully near the entrance, but can't hear anything. But the place is quite expansive down there, as he saw firsthand when he was here, so there could be activity further in.

Felran (?), Ne-Chanz and Shima (North Haven Sewers)
They head back down to the warehouse and enter it, climb down the ladder into the sewer, and pick up the weapons they left behind last time.

[Haahque]

Haahqae scans up the wall until he sees a window above the protcullous. It’s likely closed due to it being winter, but that’s fine, it’ll work for his purposes. From the angle of standing right under the gate, it’ll be hard to tell if it’s open or closed, especially if the shutters are on the inside of the window.

With a conjuration cantrip, Haahqae creates a tin knife as close to the window as possible, so that it will drop near the baaz. In an ideal situation the knife will wiz by the head of one baaz without hitting him, but it’s hard to estimate where such a thing would drop with precision.

If the Baaz look up to figure out where the knife came from, Haahqae will use an illusion cantrip to make it sound like someone is closing the window and giggling. If the Baaz get mad and opens the gate to go up and teach that (whomever dropped it) a lesson, Haahqae will quietly slip in the gate behind him.