020: Feeling gravity's pull

[Sierra]

<Steph> "The way I see it, your foes would come in two types! The type that are better than you, and the type that aren't," reasons Stephanie. "So, like... they're either not really worth your time, or you want to be running away from them, right?"
<El-Cideon> "And yet one could hardly know without a degree of observation," Masuko points out.
<Steph> "The enemy you never know is the enemy you never needed to fight," affirms Stephanie.
<Julia> "There was quite a blatant trail left for us to follow," Julia observes, straightening up.
<Franceska> With Rosemund safe and the enemies surrendered, Franceska just ends up sulking as the one she really wanted dead ended up getting away.
<Steph> "So what's your deal, anyway?" challenges Stephanie. "Why'd you guys blow up the casino?"
<El-Cideon> "You clearly came from Peridot, so no doubt you know precisely whom it was we were hired to smite," he continues. "Of course, our assault was purely a business matter rather than borne from personal malice, but that is hardly likely to prove a mitigating factor to the aggrieved. Would you imagine them forgiving of this attack upon their livelihood? Making enemies is a fundamental part of the profession." He shrugs. "I cannot entirely speak to our client's goals."
<Julia> "Honestly, we all hate the Dao too," Julia admits freely. "Though since none of them were actually harmed in your attack, that hardly matters."
<El-Cideon> "Not directly," he points out. "The chief engine of their local fortunes is crippled, however. Our client wished them to be in a state of some desperation, yet not deceased. Whatever motives drove this decision was not communicated to me."
<Franceska> "And your client is?"
<El-Cideon> He chuckles. "Now, I think, is when we discuss the matter of precisely what your ultimate intentions are regarding myself and Verda."
<Franceska> "Depends on your client, the information you have and the details of the attack on Miss Granville's residence and her ultimate fate."
<El-Cideon> "Aria?" he says, sounding confused.
<Steph> "Her house was exploded, you know. Saying you don't know anything about that?"
<El-Cideon> "I had not the notion of it until now."
<Franceska> "How did you know her?"
<El-Cideon> "She is what you might call a leading citizen back in Azure, a city on the plane of Air which my company is tolerated to call home so long as our contracts don't disrupt the local peace. One could not call us friends. 'Contemporaries' would perhaps communicate the utmost degree of personal fondness between us. But evidently when an acquaintance of hers in Peridot required an entity capable of striking fear into the hearts of her opponents, Miss Granville thought us a suitable candidate and recommended our services."
<Steph> "Hmm... who hates her guts?"
<Julia> "So she could be on Azure now that her home in Peridot has fallen down?" Julia wonders.
<El-Cideon> "I find the woman rather absurd," he goes on to admit. "Evidently she cannot abide any circumstance in which one person is entitled to command another. Absurd notion to let guide one's life. The weak will always look to the powerful for guidance." He shrugs. "Her attitude towards men of authority garners her all manner of enemies, as one can imagine. Speaking locally, I would imagine the dao presumed her the instigator of our attack and wrought vengeance upon her." He doesn't sound too concerned about this. To Julia, he nods. "If she survived, that would be my most likely guess."
<Franceska> "So. Her friend hired you? Or did you mean to say her friend hired your leader? And the attack on the casino was what said client requested you to do?"
<El-Cideon> "I cannot speak precisely of the relationship between the two of them, but yes, that is how we came to be here."
<Franceska> "Let us get into specifics, then. Who is your leader? Who is the client? How many of you are here, and is it all a cohesive group or several working together under single leadership?"
<El-Cideon> "The Duchess Ismaela leads our company. There are a dozen of us at present, small perhaps for a mercenary band, but ideal for a strike force capable of swift and terrifying raids on specific targets. For all Her fearsome qualities, Her Grace perhaps lacks the discipline to command a genuine army, but inspiring terror is a potent talent all its own."
<Franceska> "Is there any connection to the nearby drow encampment?"
<El-Cideon> "What?" He looks confused at this change of subject.
<Steph> "Why would there be?" Stephanie shrugs. "Why do you follow her?"
<Franceska> "There must be some base of operations nearby," Franceska elaborates. "If not there, then where?"
<El-Cideon> "The martial occupation is my calling," he says to Stephanie. "One never wants for application whilst in Her Grace's service." To Franceska: "My dear, the good lady Crier has already magicked the remainder of my comrades home." He chuckles. "If you hope to look for a greater haul by bringing in more of my number to the dao, you shall have a journey ahead of you."
<Franceska> "Home, being the plane of Air?" Franceska blinks. "Really? This was all you were hired to do? A single attack?"
<Steph> Well, she does like to take on genuine hellspawn... Stephanie shakes her head, slapping it. "No, bad Steph.."
<El-Cideon> "Our client wished to keep us on retainer, in the event that the assault on the casino was not sufficient to motivate the dao properly. There may have been a second attack upon the trademaster's local mine but for, shall we call it a conflict of personality? Her Grace and our client did not part on what one could call amiable terms."
<Franceska> "So who is the client?" Franceska repeats, swiftly growing annoyed.
<El-Cideon> "And once I have told you, what of us?" he asks, unperturbed by Franceska's attitude.
<Franceska> "I think we can work something out that does not result in your painful deaths."
<El-Cideon> He laughs. "And the matter of our liberty?"
<Franceska> "We can negotiate that as well, in exchange for your services. But first we need to know who started this whole mess."
<Julia> "Money is nice, but doing the dao favours doesn't really make me happy," Julia admits with a shrug.
<Steph> "That gets to the heart of it, see?" reflects Stephanie. "I'll be straight with you. What we really need is leverage," she explains, rubbing her fingers together. "Leverage over the Dao. Leverage that's better than handing you over for slaps on the back and a free dinner."
<El-Cideon> OOC: somebody roll diplo? Others can aid if desired.
<Franceska> roll 1d20+15 rolling
* Hatbot --> "Franceska rolls 1d20+15 rolling and gets 26."12 [1d20=11]
<Steph> roll 1d20+10 I guess I can aid
* Hatbot --> "Steph rolls 1d20+10 I guess I can aid and gets 15."12 [1d20=5]
<Julia> roll 1d20+4 I'll help!
* Hatbot --> "Julia rolls 1d20+4 I'll help! and gets 24."12 [1d20=20]
<El-Cideon> He gives Franceska a careful, appraising look before speaking again. "Her name is Pheretima Kyriazis. I cannot speak as to her world of origin, but she readily acknowledged not being of local stock. I think she found Peridot not at all to her liking, in truth. With regard to her ultimate goal, I can only say that some negotiation of hers required the trademaster to be in a state of some apprehension."
<Franceska> The initials seem to fit, and Franceska nods. "And about the altercation between the client and your leader?"
<El-Cideon> "I would characterize their discussions as betraying precisely as much amiability as two starving pit adders locked in a box together. Both fearsomely dominant personalities, yet our client I think lacked the faculties to realize her ambitions on her own. We were misinformed with regard to some details of local character. Her Grace does not appreciate being lied to. The client should have felt fortunate she was not promptly disemboweled."
<Franceska> "What details of local character?"
<El-Cideon> "Apparently our client felt that local enmity towards the trademaster and his cronies would ensure that no official action would be taken against us for demolishing a facility of importance only to the dao. This was incorrect. We received word that the city guard was in fact mobilizing to descend upon us when we completed the mission and vacated the city limits." He shrugs. "Although we have little to fear from the local ratcatchers, it does not do to misrepresent aspects of a mission to our Duchess."
<Franceska> "That was probably because of all the bystanders you injured and killed," Franceska notes. "So. Do you have any actual proof of the client's identity, or any leverage on the dao and their allies you might have gotten from the attack on the casino?"
<Steph> "Just telling us where to find her would be pretty great," opines Stephanie.
<El-Cideon> "We were apprised of the trademaster's hirelings and guards, in the event that they should come to the casino's aid before we could disengage, although the client was oddly apprehensive about the idea of us descending upon the trading outpost itself." To Stephanie: "I know that she was staying at a boarding house called the Gilded Tankard when we arrived, though I cannot guarantee that she is still there. Of course, for subtlety's sake, the meetings between us occurred out here in the caves. Her Grace is not one capable of moving amongst a human population without notice."
<Steph> "What's she look like?"
<Julia> "Big claws?" Julia suggests.
<Steph> "No, not her, Pheretima!"
<El-Cideon> "All thorns and agony, the claws of course capable of dispensing both judiciously," he acknowledges before Stephanie's correction. "Ah, Miss Kyriazis? A very slender woman, fit, but with no great figure to speak of. Dresses not quite provocatively, but with an eye towards freedom of movement. Quite pale, hair black but reflecting a greenish tinge in the light. Rarely blinks, if at all."
<Franceska> Franceska frowns. "I suppose it is time to discuss terms, now? If we were to let the two of you return to Air, that would signify the end of hostilities between us. Furthermore, you will convince your leader to do a job for us, even if it means paying for it yourself. Your mercenary band is comfortable working across the planes, after all? Meanwhile, we will take this failure of an ice mage
<Franceska> with us so that we could provide proof for the identity of the client if the need arises, and generally as our leverage with the dao."
<El-Cideon> OOC: diplo, Fran. Or I guess intimidate if so inclined.
<Franceska> roll 1d20+16 sure
* Hatbot --> "Franceska rolls 1d20+16 sure and gets 27."12 [1d20=11]
<El-Cideon> He frowns but, at length, nods. "I cannot on my own authority speak for the whole company's future employment. Her Grace would not tolerate such presumption. However, should you come to us with an opportunity for spoils and mayhem, I will see to it that Her Grace finds it in our best interests to rise to the occasion. Is this satisfactory? There is little more I can promise without speaking to her." He doesn't even deign to look at Isabel's corpse.
<Steph> "Hmm. So you're not gonna come after us? That's cold," voices Stephanie. "Cold and professional."
<El-Cideon> "Thank you," he says to Stephanie with a restrained smile.
<Franceska> "Just what we need, really. The job I had in mind is about retrieving someone lost in Baator. By whatever means work best, really. Would that be within the scope of your band's abilities?"
<El-Cideon> "I would remind you that our talent lies in precision strikes. We cannot oppose all the hordes of Hell for you, but plan your operation properly and you shall find us of assistance." He shrugs. "We are not wholly strangers to the endless war, and you will not find any great love amongst us for the baatezu."
<Steph> "Hmm. So, how would we contact you?"
<El-Cideon> "Visit Azure," he says. "Any citizen there could direct you to us. The Titan's Carcass is usually in residence, unless the whole company is out on contract."
<Steph> "You're able to operate openly there?"
* Franceska tilts her head in consideration. "One more thing. Would you mind terribly passing on word to us whether Miss Granville has taken refuge there? I must admit to a certain amount of curiousity, but not so much that I would make the trip solely for that purpose."
<El-Cideon> "We are able to *reside* openly there, so long as we restrict our operations to other locales. Famously tolerant city, Azure, at least since Miss Granville had her way with the old magistrate." To Franceska: "I shall administer a Sending when I have this information. Try not to be greatly alarmed when my voice echoes in your head."
<Franceska> "I shall strive to contain myself," she says dryly. "Well then. Rosemund, do you have any reservations?"
<El-Cideon> "Well, they are all bad people, yes?" she says awkwardly. "I suppose it is fine if we are only asking them to fight even worse people."
<Steph> "Well, Rosie, the thing is, if we let them go now, we bear a bit of responsibility for any shit they get up to in the interim. This guy seems on the level, but his lunatic friends..." Stephanie says in a low voice. "It's about costs and opportunities, huh? Like any deal anywhere."
<El-Cideon> "I do not wish to kill a person that has surrendered," Rosemund says more resolutely. "So it will have to do."
<Franceska> "There we have it."
<Julia> "Suits me," Julia agrees. None of them would make good undead, so there's little point. Plus it's best to deal honestly after accepting a surrender she supposes.
<Steph> "Good enough. We're confiscating your weapon. Your friend's probably good enough on her own, aye?" notes Stephanie, ambling over to pick it up. "For the fierce denizens of the caves!"
<El-Cideon> "I believe Verda's display of pugilism adequate demonstration of that fact," he confirms. He's obviously not happy about losing his weapon, but doesn't argue in the face of four-to-one odds.
<Franceska> "She needs to do something about her terrible personality."
<El-Cideon> "Her position has always been that sufficient martial prowess should prove compensation for any number of other personal shortcomings."
<Steph> "I liked her. Strong, mostly silent." Stephanie pauses. "Geez, I'm gonna have to carry this one, aren't I?" she mutters, walking over to the dead mage.
<Franceska> "Since you volunteered, who are we to refuse?"
<El-Cideon> "Can you not, ah, just put her in your bag?" Rosemund says, nose wrinkling with distaste.
<Julia> "I can turn her into a zombie if you like," Julia suggests. It would waste one of her gems, but they're not really that expensive.
* Franceska casts a wary look at Julia.
<Steph> "Yeah I'm down for that. I carry her, she'll pull my shoulders out. Kill me from beyond the grave, she will."
<Julia> With permission given, Julia kneels down and casts gentle repose on the cadaver so it doesn't rot away into putrescence when it becomes a zombie - they need her identifiable after all. Then popping a black onyx into her mouth she casts animate dead to turn her into a weak zombie!
<El-Cideon> The late Isabel shuffles back to her feet and stands at attention. Bloodied, torn and disheveled, but much more obedient at least!
<Julia> "That songbird would've been much better," Julia sighs in lament. "Ah well, shall we be off?"
<Steph> "So can she cast any spells like this?" asks Stephanie, eyeing the zombie suspiciously.
<Julia> "No, it's just dead meat. No mental faculties to speak of, really," Julia apologises.
<El-Cideon> "Yes, let us move on," Rosemund says, sounding weary from all the travel and fighting but even less enthusiastic about the prospect of camping out with a corpse for company.
<Julia> "Come on then," Julia directs the walking corpse to follow them on their journey back to civilisation.
<El-Cideon> OOC: going to try and push on back to the city in one go?
<Steph> OOC: I don't mind napping on the way
<Julia> OOC: zombie can stand watch for us along with Thing.
<El-Cideon> OOC: okay. Lemme know how far you're going/when you're stopping/roll CON checks for each hour of travel
<Steph> OOC: In the absence of maps, these calls are hard to make!
<Steph> OOC: I want to put some distance between us and these guys
<Steph> OOC: I guess we could travel for a couple hours
<Franceska> OOC: Let's say we stop when we get tired
<Julia> roll 1d20+1 Julia's con for first hour
* Hatbot --> "Julia rolls 1d20+1 Julia's con for first hour and gets 8."12 [1d20=7]
<Julia> OOC: I'm tired! Carry me!
<El-Cideon> roll 1d20+3 Rosey
* Hatbot --> "El-Cideon rolls 1d20+3 Rosey and gets 18."12 [1d20=15]
<Steph> roll 1d20+3
* Hatbot --> "Steph rolls 1d20+3 and gets 20."12 [1d20=17]
<El-Cideon> roll 1d6 nonlethal for Julia and fatigued assuming this deals damage
* Hatbot --> "El-Cideon rolls 1d6 nonlethal for Julia and fatigued assuming this deals damage and gets 1."12 [1d6=1]
<El-Cideon> OOC: Fran?
<Franceska> roll 1d20+3
* Hatbot --> "Franceska rolls 1d20+3 and gets 5."12 [1d20=2]
<El-Cideon> roll 1d6 nonlethal Fran
* Hatbot --> "El-Cideon rolls 1d6 nonlethal Fran and gets 2."12 [1d6=2]
<El-Cideon> After an hour's walk, Franceska and Julia are feeling the strain of trying to fight gravity after a day's march and a fight besides, both sagging with weariness.
<El-Cideon> OOC: actions/stopping/moving on?
<Julia> "I'm tired..." Julia moans, dragging her feet. "Lets find a place to rest, okay?"
<Franceska> "This really is a terrible place to live," Franceska mutters, slowly forcing her feet to move one after the other.
<Steph> "But it was still better than Solata, back then," reflects Stephanie, willing to drop right here. "Tells you something, don't it?"
<El-Cideon> Rosey whips up a grim but nourishing repast for everyone as they settle down for an evening's rest in the close, cramped tunnels an hour past the site of battle.
<El-Cideon> OOC: resting eight hours, anyone on watch, etc?
<Steph> OOC: I'll bravely watch
<Steph> OOC: Since it means we can put out all the lights!
<Steph> OOC: Then I'll just get Rosie to cast lesser restoration on me in the morning and soldier on <_<
<Julia> OOC: Thing and Zombie. Zombie instructed to moan loudly if anyone approaches.
<El-Cideon> Stephanie's watch passes in dead silence and total darkness, a deathly dull evening passed in the heart of Earth (unless Thing is willing to caper for her amusement, of course). It's near what Stephanie's faltering internal clock suggests is probably around early morning when you hear a noise--well, you feel it mostly, at least at first. A low grinding hum, then a rumble you can sense in your feet, quickly rising to an anguished roar of stone on stone as the tunnel around you twists and shudders!
<Julia> The zombie remains stoic and silent, this not falling under its orders to react to. Thing is more on the ball though, and squeak in alarm as he flaps about the campsite!
<Steph> "Hey, guys! Get up! And panic!" yelps Stephanie.
<Julia> Looking like death warmed over, Julia blearily rolls over and sits up, her frizzy hair somewhat obscuring her face as she rubs her eyes. "Hwah?" she moans before registering the shaking. "Ahh!"
<El-Cideon> OOC: ref saves all. Note penalty for anyone fatigued (this occurred before the full eight hours' rest could wipe that away)
<Julia> roll 1d20+5-1
* Hatbot --> "Julia rolls 1d20+5-1 and gets 5."12 [1d20=1]
<Steph> roll 1d20+13
* Hatbot --> "Steph rolls 1d20+13 and gets 31."12 [1d20=18]
<El-Cideon> roll 1d20+10 Rosey
* Hatbot --> "El-Cideon rolls 1d20+10 Rosey and gets 29."12 [1d20=19]
<Julia> roll 1d20+7 Thing
* Hatbot --> "Julia rolls 1d20+7 Thing and gets 17."12 [1d20=10]
<Franceska> roll 1d20+3-1
* Hatbot --> "Franceska rolls 1d20+3-1 and gets 6."12 [1d20=4]
<Julia> roll 1d20 zombie
* Hatbot --> "Julia rolls 1d20 zombie and gets 19."12 [1d20=19]
<Franceska> roll 1d20+5 Darrin
* Hatbot --> "Franceska rolls 1d20+5 Darrin and gets 11."12 [1d20=6]
<El-Cideon> roll 8d6 Steph/Rosey/Thing/unIsabel halve this, others take full and are pinned beneath a pile of rubble
* Hatbot --> "El-Cideon rolls 8d6 Steph/Rosey/Thing/unIsabel halve this, others take full and are pinned beneath a pile of rubble and gets 28."12 [8d6=2, 3, 3, 3, 5, 2, 4, 6]
<Julia> Julia's followup scream is promptly muffled under the barrage of rock that promptly buries her, while Thing barely manages to fly out of the way and the zombie by sheer luck only takes a glancing blow while standing immobile.
<Franceska> "What is this?!" Franceska sputters, unable to even flail feebly under all those rocks.
<Steph> "I take it back! There is nowhere worse than here," laments Stephanie, turning to the rocks with a grimace.
<El-Cideon> The tunnel roof collapses atop the party's campsite, trapping the less agile members beneath a crushing weight of stone and dirt! Julia, Franceska and her winged companion find themselves immobilized beneath the rock, the others safely out of the cave-in's worst effects.
<Julia> One of Julia's legs sticking out from under the rock kicks and flails a little to show that she's still alive.
<Franceska> Muttering obscenities about feebleminded imbeciles on watch, Franceska shifts into the smaller form of a badger before immediate casting a spell that would let her burrow through the rock.
<El-Cideon> "I am sure that there is somewhere worse!" Rosemund says, kneeling to shift rocks out of the way and free her trapped friends. "But it is a very unfriendly world, is it not?"
<Franceska> OOC: Burrow! At 30ft for 9min.
<Steph> "Oh, yeah. Bitch out Stephanie for not spotting the cave-in," mutters Stephanie, moving to assist Rosemund.
<El-Cideon> Franceska burrows her way out in short order, while her companions free Julia before any further harm can come to her.
<El-Cideon> "Oh, who is hurt the worst?" Rosemund wonders, glancing around and bestowing healing upon anyone looking to need it.
<El-Cideon> roll 4d8+17 Julia
* Hatbot --> "El-Cideon rolls 4d8+17 Julia and gets 29."12 [4d8=6, 1, 4, 1]
<El-Cideon> roll 4d8+17 Fran
* Hatbot --> "El-Cideon rolls 4d8+17 Fran and gets 23."12 [4d8=2, 1, 1, 2]
<El-Cideon> roll 4d8+17 Darrin
* Hatbot --> "El-Cideon rolls 4d8+17 Darrin and gets 37."12 [4d8=3, 8, 5, 4]
<Franceska> Darrin follows behind Franceska, alighting on her shoulder as she transforms back into her tired regular self.
<El-Cideon> roll 1d8+7 Steph
* Hatbot --> "El-Cideon rolls 1d8+7 Steph and gets 12."12 [1d8=5]
<El-Cideon> roll 1d8+7 Rosey
* Hatbot --> "El-Cideon rolls 1d8+7 Rosey and gets 15."12 [1d8=8]
<Julia> Despite still looking horrid, Julia snatches her bag and her bedroll before shooting to her feet and well away from those rocks! "Thank you! It was awful, I couldn't even move!" she gasps, hugging herself and not responding quickly enough to stop Rosemund from inflicting vile positive energies on her. A short scream and she crumples down, barely holding herself up at all!
<Steph> "Oh my gods! You killed Julia!"
<Franceska> "You sneak!" Franceska says with approval.
<El-Cideon> "Oh, Light, I am sorry Julia!" Rosemund gasps. "I forgot, I am so sorry, are you going to be alright and er I do not know, maybe we should look into fixing this condition of yours as some point?"
<Franceska> "Ah yes. You forgot. Of course." Franceska nods, still smiling.
<Steph> "It's okay! She's so nice, even I forget she's a necromancer!"
<Julia> "Not... owww... not dead... yet..." Julia whimpers, oddly enough having more colour in her cheeks than normal, albeit it's rather splotchy and unhealthy looking. Curling into a ball she hugs herself tightly, deadly dark energies coruscating off her fingers where she tends to her wounds and slowly recovering.
<Julia> roll 3d8+9 negative energy!
* Hatbot --> "Julia rolls 3d8+9 negative energy! and gets 27."12 [3d8=5, 6, 7]
<Franceska> "A somewhat undead necromancer, at that."
<Steph> "Aren't they all?" asks Stephanie, dubiously.
<El-Cideon> Rosemund steps back a few feet, looking unnerved. "I do not know if or when I shall become accustomed to seeing that."
<Franceska> "I have it on good authority that most of them are not."
<Julia> "It's a medical condition... or a curse," Julia replies as she picks herself up, looking a more healthy pallid tone. "I had it even before I delved into the black arts."
<Steph> "So you were born dead, eh? That's rough," agrees Stephanie.
<El-Cideon> "I shall make it my goal to overcome this curse!" Rosemund swears. "It is not natural that I should be unable to help my friends."
<Julia> "Only nearly dead!"
<Julia> "I can help myself..." she mutters petulantly afterwards.
<El-Cideon> "Well...if you insist," Rosemund says, sounding put out.
<Franceska> "Lovely. Now then...." Franceska looks to see if the way back to town is barred.
<El-Cideon> It isn't, though if you need to come back this way, you'll need to do some excavating.
<Julia> "Just prepare inflict spells instead of heal ones to show you care?" she offers commiseratingly, stuffing her bedroll into her haversack.
<Steph> "You could learn a spell! A special spell that's good for Julia," insists Stephanie.
<El-Cideon> "I cannot use those!" Rosemund says, aghast at the thought.
<Julia> "They're good for helping me and seeing off miscreants, though," she points out.
<El-Cideon> "It is just that I do not think Pelor would approve," Rosemund says.
* Franceska hesitantly reaches out and pats Julia's shoulder.
<Franceska> roll 1d8+5 inflict
* Hatbot --> "Franceska rolls 1d8+5 inflict and gets 11."12 [1d8=6]
<Steph> "Ah, um, no, he wouldn't mind! Probably," says Stephanie, lamely. "Not if it's to save a life."
<Julia> "Well it's fine, I'm good at taking care of myself," Julia shrugs, a little pleased sigh at Franceska's efforts. "Thank you, dear."
<Franceska> "No, he probably would," Franceska muses, nodding at Julia. "But we all have our means without relying on Pelor."
<Steph> "Ah, she's full of crap, Rosemund. A spell's just a spell! It's how you use it that counts!"
<El-Cideon> "Well, maybe if it is for a good cause," Rosemund says skeptically.
<Franceska> "Just like stealing a holy sword is alright for a good cause?" Franceska shrugs.
<Julia> "Lets just keep going a little bit and try to rest some more?" Julia says to end the debate, Thing landing on her shoulder. Taking a look at her zombie she sighs again and gives it an inflict spell to put it back together again.
<El-Cideon> "Please, Franceska, it was a mace," Rosemund corrects.
<Julia> roll 2d8+9
* Hatbot --> "Julia rolls 2d8+9 and gets 19."12 [2d8=2, 8]
<Steph> "She-" Stephanie blinks. "It was?"
<Franceska> "Oh, was it?" Franceska says, her voice showing exactly how much she cares. "That's alright, then."
<Julia> "I honestly can't recall..."
<El-Cideon> "Oh, really! You should all learn to remember what our goal was when we left," Rosemund chides everyone before pressing on. You shortly find another, less entombed location to rest out the night further on down the tunnel, and this time your rest goes uninterrupted (though if Stephanie's keeping watch again, she shall likely be delirious with exhaustion come "morning.")
<Franceska> "I do not suppose what you took as spoils is a holy sword?" Franceska asks Stephanie come morning, deciding to spend the time by observing what the zombie has adorning it from a safe distance.
<Steph> "It's an unholy pain of chain, Franzy. You'd like it, I bet!"
<Julia> The zombie does not respond at all to being stared at.
<Steph> Stephanie does indeed seem delirious, smiling and staring at Julia and Franceska far more than might be proper.
* Franceska is using detect magic, and finding it quite satisfying that she is not being stared at right back.
<El-Cideon> Franceska finds that Isabel's dress, torn and bloodied as it is, radiates magic, as do a ring and amulet the zombie wears.
<Julia> "Did you get any sleep at all last night, Stephanie?" Julia asks, concerned. "You shouldn't push yourself so! Thing is an adequate watchman, and I even told Izzy to warn us if the cavern started to fall down."
<Franceska> roll 3#1d20+11 spellcraft in order
* Hatbot --> "Franceska rolls 3#1d20+11 spellcraft in order and gets 71."12 [3#1d20+11 = 22, 31, 18]
<Steph> "I had to be alert for falling rocks!" insists Stephanie, staring at Julia. "It's okay! Once, I was on the run from- very bad people, and had to go three days without sleep!"
<Franceska> "Ah, is she acting strange again?" Franceska asks distractedly, sparing a single glance to Stephanie.
<El-Cideon> "Um, Stephanie, let me help you out a little?" Rosemund offers, bestowing Stephanie with a spell of Restoration to dissolve her exhaustion.
<Franceska> "No, leave her like that. We did not have more rocks fall on us, did we now?"
<Steph> Stephanie makes a delighted noise. "Thanks, Rosie!" she says, before rounding on the lawyer. "Someone's sore, huh?"
<El-Cideon> Franceska is not able to discern the arcane properties of the dress or the amulet, but the ring is a of a familiar sort. (OOC: loot incoming)
<Franceska> "Hmph."
<Julia> "Having trouble telling what she has for magic?" Julia asks, happy to help if needed.
<Franceska> "The ring is obvious enough, but the rest...." Franceska shrugs uncomfortably.
<Julia> Casting detect magic, a more difficult spell for one less focused on the generalities of magic such as she, Julia takes a look at the rest!
<Julia> roll 1d20+14 robe
* Hatbot --> "Julia rolls 1d20+14 robe and gets 28."12 [1d20=14]
<Julia> roll 1d20+14 amulet
* Hatbot --> "Julia rolls 1d20+14 amulet and gets 18."12 [1d20=4]
* Franceska glances at Stephanie's trophy in the meantime to busy herself.
<Franceska> roll 1d20+11
* Hatbot --> "Franceska rolls 1d20+11 and gets 15."12 [1d20=4]
<El-Cideon> Julia thinks she got the dress, at least!
<El-Cideon> "Oh, let me try?" Rosemund offers.
<El-Cideon> roll 1d20+13 amulet
* Hatbot --> "El-Cideon rolls 1d20+13 amulet and gets 31."12 [1d20=18]
<El-Cideon> roll 1d20+13 weapon
* Hatbot --> "El-Cideon rolls 1d20+13 weapon and gets 32."12 [1d20=19]
<Julia> "Oh, that's a very nice dress, assuming it was cleaned up," Julia says. "Don't know about the rest, though."
<El-Cideon> "This weapon was clearly crafted with ill intent," Rosemund observes, as though there was another kind.
<Steph> "They're all made to hurt people, Rosey, even the shiny ones," replies Stephanie. "What's it do?"
<El-Cideon> "If you hit some hard enough with it, it will impair their ability in combat," Rosemund concludes.
<Julia> "The dress provides complete protection from the cold, and some from unpleasant heat. It also protects from falling, and looks pretty." She coughs, "When clean and mended, that is."
<Steph> "Really? So if I hit them with it, it will hurt?"
<Franceska> "How practical!" Franceska says in approval. "And speaking of that, we should really make the undead look presentable."
<El-Cideon> "Yes!" Rosemund confirms.
<Julia> "I've done all I can to keep her from rotting. But even if I stich up those cuts they'll never heal. And I don't know what could be done about that stomach..."
<Steph> "Just put a coat on her and hide it all?" suggests Stephanie.
<Franceska> "A coat sounds like a fine idea," Franceska agrees. "And it really does not need the amulet or ring anymore. So someone should put them to better use."
<Julia> Julia defers to those more inclined towards melee combat to get the benefit of such items.
<El-Cideon> "I already have an amulet I am quite attached to!" Rosemund says. "And I think I have one of those rings. I do not think that it is as good...but still, I am sure someone else should take this one!"
<El-Cideon> Everyone's sense of time is surely completely scrambled by the time you make it back to town but finally, without any further inconveniences, you do just that! The white wall of the dao trading outpost is the first building to present itself to sight on the western edge of town.
<Julia> Looking at the zombie now covered in a sheet and headwrap, Julia asks, "Think she'll pass scrutiny?"
<Steph> "We could always just tell the truth if she doesn't," points out Stephanie. "Speaking of which, are we gonna tell the truth to the Dao about this Kyriazis chick?" she adds, pensively.
<El-Cideon> "As long as no one wishes to speak with her," Rosemund says.
<Franceska> "How about tracking her down first?" Franceska suggests.
<Steph> "Sounds fun, I guess. I'll go look into it?"
<Julia> "I suppose it depends how much we need to offer them to find our slaves?" Julia suggests.
<El-Cideon> "Hopefully as little as we have to," Rosemund says. "I do not very much like the thought of telling the slavers where to find someone that hurt them...but it did not sound as though she were very nice herself."
<Steph> "What, because a cleric working for a demon said so?"
<El-Cideon> "But then he should know all about unpleasant people, yes?"
<Steph> "Dear, people like that find everyone unpleasant," replies Stephanie.
* Franceska rolls her eyes. "First of all, we track her down. We find out what her plan was before and what her plan is now. Then, we can see about trading the corpse and more information to the dao for both gold and the people we ourselves need. And please, can we not argue any more about how everyone involved is a horrible person? It is getting repetitive."
<Steph> Stephanies gasps! "You don't like talking about the faults of other people?!"
<El-Cideon> "Of course, my apologies Franceska," Rosemund says. "I should think more positively anyway! Maybe some of them are just, I do not know, raised badly."
<Julia> "It always comes back to the parents," Julia nods sagely.
<Steph> "Anyway, um, let's go get a room and leave the corpse in there," suggests Stephanie, awkwardly. "I'm sick of being around it. Then let's go hit the bars."
<El-Cideon> A brief stop at the Broken Rudder to divest yourself of your reanimated companion gets you an interruption from the proprietor before you can leave again: "Oh, here now," the grizzled fellow calls you over before you can leave again. "None of you girls came back last night, I was starting to wonder if I should rent your rooms out to someone else. Didn't get yourselves into any trouble, did you?"
<Steph> "Barrels of it, old man. That's what being young is all about!"
<Franceska> "No," Franceska responds. "And we can pay for the next two days in advance. Would that do?"
* Franceska tilts her head. "Well, she did," she allows.
<El-Cideon> He seems more intrigued by Stephanie's response. "That so? See, I've got maybe a mind that someone with a little seasoning like that might of help to me right now." He lowers his voice. "See, I got some other guests, little less courteous than you, I think maybe should find lodging somewhere else, but I think maybe ol' Hager's not the one to tell them that, you know?"
<Julia> "Oh, you want us to scare them off?" Julia asks brightly.
<Franceska> It sounds like they wouldn't need to pay a larger deposit after all, so Franceska loses interest herself.
<Steph> "Ooh! You could get in there and throw the book at 'em!"
<El-Cideon> "I dunno if they're the type that scares easy, but if you could get them out without anyone causing a ruckus..." He shrugs. "Be worth free drinks your stay here if you manage it. Scaring off my regulars come in here for relief after work, so it'd be a win for me."
<Steph> "What kinda trouble are they up to?"
<El-Cideon> "They're just, well--" He speaks in a whisper, points to a far corner of the common room, a table with five disparate figures seated around it (three women, two men, various races from what you can see from here). "Nothing you could call the city guard for yet, but I worry it's just a matter of time. That big red lug, I don't like the way he looks at my serving girl. Like to see him gone before he does something with her, you know? The one with all them bones smells like gravemold, and the ratty little woman with the black hair's just trying to work her way into anyone's pants'll have her, and I don't mean to run no brothel here. They pay, but they're just bad sorts and I don't want their reputation being mine, you know?"
<Julia> Bones? Gravemold? Julia gives that one a proper look!
<Steph> There's a slut! Stephanie inspects her closely.
<El-Cideon> Julia's reminded of Calixta back in Blackbird's gallery--same starched yellowish skin, pointy ears, drawn expression, but this woman has a long mane of blond hair and an expression of extreme self-satisfaction. She wears tight-fitting armor crafted from a wide array of bones.
<Julia> "Oh, it's a gith. Yanki or zerai, I can't tell which. Might be a necromancer at that," she says, thinking she can tell one of her own.
<El-Cideon> Stephanie spots this one easy based on Hager's description: human (probably, the broken nose and gapteeth don't present an aspect that invites close inspection), old black leathers, unkempt tangle of black hair. Very short, but not so much so that one could mistake her for a dwarf or something.
<Steph> "Uwaah, poor thing's gonna have trouble with nookie," mutters Stephanie.
<El-Cideon> The other three are an elven woman seated in the corner of the room to facilitate a clear view of its occupants, a great slab of muscle seated next to her, and a foppishly dressed youth that looks mostly human but retains the pointy ears of the elven race.
* Franceska gives Rosemund a long-suffering look that clearly translates to "Must we?"
<El-Cideon> "Well, they are not causing trouble *right now* are they?" Rosemund asks.
<Steph> "Annnnnnnnyway, I don't really do shakedowns," says Stephanie. "But I'll be right here to protect people's maidenhoods!"
<Steph> She pauses. "Well, in the evening, when I'm sleeping. She could sleep in my room?"
<El-Cideon> "Well, that's true enough," Hager says. "Just they said they'd be here a week at most and here we are going on two. Those fighter sorts, they get antsy from sitting around too long. Meaning no offense, of course."
<Franceska> "Will it really protect her?" Franceska asks doubtfully.
<Steph> "Pfft, you know I'm a master swordswoman. What more could you want?"
<Julia> "I suppose she'd be safe from interlopers if nothing else..."
<El-Cideon> "Well, I guess it's not the worst offer I've heard," Hager admits, apparently concluding his staff is safer in the company of a group of violence-prone women than in a mixed group of violence-prone people.
<Franceska> "Delightful. Let us be off, then?"
<El-Cideon> ~