CH. 8: Proving Worth

[BishGada]

Tulbas thinks to himself, 'If I stay behind, I might be able to speak with Belzor and spin it as I heard the battle, broke out, found everyone dead and came to defend him. It could work but on the other hand he might just kill me to be sure he leave no place for mistake...' he then shakes the idea off, learning from the past two days he is not strong enough to handle such a task even though he almost overcame five Belzorites who could resist magic, all by himself.

[JadedDM]

Haahqae, Tulbas, Arulia, Gobax, Felran and Ne-Chanz (Deserted Building)
After a discussion of what to do about the books, they finally reach a majority. "It's agreed then," Pen says. He gathers up the books and scrolls and tosses them into the brazier. They quickly light up and burn away.

Then comes an even longer discussion on what to do next. Eventually, those who want to chase after Xyleena and Yvette outvote the others. The party turns back, making their way to the entrance of the building, going upstairs and through the secret door, then back out onto the streets.

It's night now, and will soon be curfew. Their breath is visible is the cold night air. There is no sign of the women in the alley, nor any when they walk out onto the street. It's been about half an hour since they disappeared, so it was unlikely they would just be standing around in the street waiting to be found anyway.

"So what now?" asks Gregeddin.

[djhyland]

Arulia looks up and down the darkening street. "Maybe someone around saw them leave the alley and took note of which direction they went." She shifts from foot to foot impatiently and looks longingly in the direction of her home, then sighs and resigns herself to stay at least a little longer.

(OOC: Are there still people out on the street, or has everyone left for curfew?)

[BishGada]

Tulbas finds it hard to admit, but he feels such a relief to be outside of the cultist den again. He breathes deeply and asks, "Any one with tracking skills? I'd believe they will leave blood marks and also their passing will leave impression on the observers and creates rumors, so lets ask around. Haaque, (assuming he is with us and didn't left behind) where did you pick them up?"

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(OOC: I'm not sure Tulbas knows Haaque hired the women, but if not than he would ask Gregeddin the same Q)

[spyguy1503]

Ne-Chanz takes a deep breath. (Can minotaurs track by scent?)

[TristenC]

I would expect them to lay low somewhere. Our advantage is that they can't move around after curfew like we can, and don't have a weapon permit anymore... They'll likely want to put some distance between us though, which either meams they ditched their weapons or avoided checkpoints.

Grubnick takes a quick look to see if they dropped their weapons nearby.

[JadedDM]

Haahqae, Tulbas, Arulia, Gobax, Felran and Ne-Chanz (Deserted Building)
There are a handful of folks still out on the street, all of them scurrying to get home as quickly as possible before curfew begins and they are arrested. There are also the goblin guards at the checkpoints and their regular patrols, as well.

Ne-Chanz tries to pick up the scent of Xyleena's blood or failing that, Yvette's cheap perfume. However, he is assaulted by all of the many smells of the city and is unable to pinpoint anything specific.

Gobax looks around, but sees no sign of dropped weaponry.

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Ne-Chanz makes a tracking attempt [TN 50%] (1d100): 83, fail.

[chese780]

Felran turns to the goblin, "If they can't move around as much as we can, their only option would have been to hide out. However, is it possible that they know the patrols of the guards?"

*Look around for anything suspicious*

=================
OOC: Who's Gobax? And "Anything Suspicious" means COP SENSE! Quick Spyguy, do the same and it'll become Buddy cop sense!

That joke is going to make comebacks at all the right times.

[djhyland]

Arulia looks around some more, then chooses a likely witness...preferably someone who isn't hurrying past but looks like they might have been here long enough to see Xyleena and Yvette leave. Fishing a silver piece out of her purse while hurrying over, she begins by apology. "I'm sorry. I know you're in a hurry, and I won't keep you long, but have you seen two women hurrying out of here? Maybe they came from that alleyway? It's important that we find them." After describing the two women--heights, hair colors and styles, clothing, likely wounds--she presses the silver piece into her witness's hand. "Please, if you saw anything, we need to know."

(OOC: If there's no likely witnesses, Arulia obviously won't do this.)

[spyguy1503]

Ne-Chanz looks around, searching for anything out of the ordinary. (Activates buddy cop sense)

[TristenC]

[OOC: "Gobax" is the name Grubnick the goblin is going by right now. It's the only name any of the party members have for him at the moment.]

Is there anywhere nearby they could hide out for the night and get a room? I doubt they would risk going back to the inn they stayed at last night if they know Haahque can find them there... What inns are nearby that they could reach before curfew ends? Or is there an abandoned building nearby they might use for shelter without passing the guards?

[JadedDM]

Haahqae, Tulbas, Arulia, Gobax, Felran and Ne-Chanz (River Way, Harbor District)
Ne-Chanz and Felran start inspecting the whole area for anything they can find. Working together, they do manage to spot a few drops blood to the east. It's not much, but the blood is fresh.

Aside from the goblin guards, Arulia doesn't see anyone who was probably out here 30 minutes ago when the girls left. Everyone is moving quickly to get home.

Gregeddin says to Gobax, "There are roughly about a dozen inns in this city. Although it if were me, I wouldn't risk going to an inn. Too obvious. An abandoned building would be smarter, but I can't say I know which ones are abandoned or not. I suppose there might be quite a few after the army swept away most of the population."

From their current position now, they are on the street of River Way in the Harbor district. Close to the west is a checkpoint of goblin guards. Further to the east is the Trade Guild building.

=============

Ne-Chanz makes an INT check with Felran's aid (+2) [TN 14+2 = 16] (1d20): 4, pass. They find a couple drops of blood to the east.

[chese780]

As he walks back to the others, Felran seems fairly satisfied with himself for some reason. "May not be much, but we managed to find something," he says as he motions towards the blood. "Would they think of hiding in the Trade Guild?"

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OOC: Never knew that we could make an INT check to discover things. That's fantastic.

[JadedDM]

"The trade guild is likely closed for the night by this point," Gregeddin notes. "Although just because they headed in that direction doesn't mean they actually went inside. Still, it's more of a lead than anything we have."

The group heads eastward, toward the trade guildhall. When they arrive, they can see the building is locked up and there are no lights coming from the windows. There is a goblin checkpoint outside. The goblins are, at first, distracted by a large handful of steel coins. They are eagerly dividing them up among them when the party approaches.

"Halt," says one, stepping forward. He, like all the goblin guards, is wearing chainmail and carrying a short sword and small shield. "Need to see your permit for those weapons."

While Gregeddin hands them the permit, Pen steps forward. "Any of you seen two women come this way? One light skinned, the other dark. One is wounded. They might have come in a hurry."

The goblin hands the permit back to the bard. "Nope, never seen nobody like that. Best move along folks."

[TristenC]

Ah, bribery... the age-old universal pass... Should we tell them the girls are enemies of the church? He says quietly to the others, grinning at the last bit.