Alex is a little surprised when Renar asks him what he's saying sorry for... perhaps it had been foolish to think they'd all just rushed in to help him, rather than assume they all had a similar sense of justice to himself. Then Renar whispers to him, and he offers a soft smile, "Thanks... I needed to hear that."
After a moment he asks, "Uh... Renar? If you don't mind me asking... why do you keep calling him 'Stupid Rixi'? Does Rixi mean something in your native tongue?"
Then he turns to Janina, taking note of the feather and the footprints in the mud. "...You didn't happen to see how that feather ended up in your cart did you? Was it the griffon? Or do you think those bandits could have... hitched a ride without you knowing?" He nods to the footprints, "...Either way, it looks like we might run into them regardless..."He takes a few steps towards the halfling when she tries and fails to walk, "Uh... maybe don't try and walk that off... I can help you in..." He hesitates, realizing that Janina wants them to prioritize the cart at the moment... but he really doesn't want to leave her unattended. She could make those wounds worse if she isn't careful. So, he looks to Taliyah, "Could you help Janina when I get the cart?" Right now, he doesn't know if anyone else knows how to pilot the cart, so he might as well take the reins rather than wait and see (while the kvass gets ruined) is someone else is knowledgeable in that area.
"Though we should be on the lookout, those bandits might be in there..." Perhaps it will be a good thing if they manage to apprehend those three. Then at least they can prove that they weren't trying to shelter the bandits by fighting Cezars... speaking of bandits, where did the people's army go? He glances around, trying to catch sight of them without giving away that he is looking for someone.
As he makes his way towards the farmhouse he says, "Like Renar suggested, let's leave Cezars outside. Maybe that will help keep him from burning his ropes and escaping. But... if we can keep him close that would be best, and we should take his weapons and armor away so if he does manage to escape we can deal with him more easily." He doesn't like this, treating the former paladin so harshly--even though he definitely deserves it. It just feels wrong to leave someone tied up out in the rain, but... well, there are much worse things that they could do to him, so maybe this wasn't all that bad after all.
Shugo groans when the first raindrop hits his head and trickles down his face. More Rain. Wonderful. He did notice the feather in the cart and the tracks leading to the house, (Investigation 13) and he can guarantee that those bandits are probably inside. Standing back up he nods to Alex. "Oh those bandits are definitely in there. I don't have a problem with capturing them, but I also don't think we should be leaving Hot Head here alone. Even with the rain to keep him from burning his bindings, I wouldn't be surprised if he could still bust out of them. We should probably keep a watch on him at all times. The last thing we need is for him to escape while we are in there with the three he's apparently hunting. So, apparently there are only three bandits, that said we could leave one person to watch this guy, while four of us go in. Or leave two here while three go in. I don't really like that idea, as it's always best to have the upper hand when attacking, but leaving one person to watch two captives doesn't seem great either."He stretches. "I could go scout out the place first...." He eyes the building. Being invisible wouldn't mask the rain bouncing off of him, not the noise of soggy footsteps, but he's fairly confident that he could at least get close without getting detected. "Hmmm. What do you guys think? The longer we dally the more likely that Kvass will be ruined."
Venet smiles as the rain begins, obviously unbothered by it, the water is her home after all. "I say we drag him up to the house with us. I can watch him and yell if he gets loose. I like the rain so I don't mind staying outside."
The halfling sits up again, "Ugh... at least it's not my hand that got injured like this, I think I can walk it off... hopefully, save your healing for your friends, lady." She nods at the Dragonborn, then she points to herself. "I'm Janina, you lot have met me already, but not you, though, you're completely new here. I was driving my cart to Madura, you know, the capital of Duchy of Rauna, then this guy just swoops in and you've probably seen what happened earlier. Elmars ordered a dozen kvass barrels for his wedding, I'm not sure how he would react if he saw one of his men doing this to his supplier, but..." She crosses her arms and scoffs, "This will probably be the last time I ever supply him with my products. If that Birdie can't control his men, then how can I be sure that something like this won't happen again?"
Investigation: 22 *Now that everyone's out of combat, Renar has reverted to his shy, self-centred persona again as he nervously whips his head to the halfling; His AC also drops back to 14 as he overhears something; Again his ears twitch as he wears an anime angry emoji on his head after Taliyah ignores his question* So my question for that random dragon girl remains unanswered?! So much for asking her- Wait... a dozen... whatever that drink is... Elmar's wedding? Hang on... *Another note worth scribbling...* The people's bandits are also planning to host or sabotage a wedding like this aren't they? But... are these weddings like... are they the same or... *Needing to take his mind of his troubles, he quickly scans the footprints and the black feather before taking more notes.* "Noted. I'll make sure that we'll all get to this once we sort things with that lawful stupid guy when he wakes up. Also, don't move too much. You might open the wounds those ladies have closed for now and that's the last thing that even you would need." *He starts to walk off when...*
After a moment he asks, "Uh... Renar? If you don't mind me asking... why do you keep calling him 'Stupid Rixi'? Does Rixi mean something in your native tongue?"
*Renar's heart stops as he comes to a standstill; He's facing away from Alex when he instantly hold his hands to his face in humiliation* Crap... did I actually... I kept mentioning how Cezars was similar to Rixi?! This boy must have super sharp hearing; Either that I was totally oblivious to the fact that I tend to blurt my mind out during battles. I better think of some excuse fast... "Um... u-u-uh... t-t-that's just... That's just changeling language, sorry eheheh. He reminds me of a former close friend who uh... um..." *His voice trails off as his brain crashes and his fox ears droop under his hood* "He looks similar to a comrade who passed away..." I really hope he buys the fact that I'm not actually referring to my friend who I fear is heading down this spiral... If anything, it was one of the least thrilling fights I've had; All I felt during that heated clash of blades was anger... And fear, for my best friend.
Speaking of comrades... where did those people's cowards go? *He whips his head around to search for them... at least until the rain suddenly pours down on his attire and nearly ruins his notebook if he hadn't quickly shove it back inside its pocket* Never mind forget about that! "ARGH! Hurry! Get the cart and take cover before we all catch the chills! Someone else watch those two whilst we're at it! And where did those cowards hiding in the woods go?!" I yell to the rest as I quickly scamper to help the dragonborn... what was her name again? Uh... anyways, I need to help her pull this stupid load over despite being sapped of my strength. Geez this rain is super heavy; The last time I experienced this massive downpour was when I ventured out in the city streets in this Japanese city called Kyoto. It seriously wasn't a good experience on my behalf!
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Taliyah will happily help Janina walk to the the farmhouse with the rest of the group when Alex asks her to. "Oh, of course! Also, I forgot to introduce myself earlier, my name is Taliyah, and I hail from Lower Sehul as I did say earlier." She looks down towards Janina. "Should I carry you to the farmhouse, or would you rather walk? I'll do my best to carry you if that's what you want."
As she speaks, Pixel will fly towards the farmhouse while invisible, looking into each window to see if he can see what's going on in the farmhouse, and if possible, find an entry into the farmhouse a tiny pixie can fit through.
The People's Army is nowhere in sight, it isn't like you could see that much in a heavy rain like this, anyway. They're probably fine, the tree provides a nice shelter, so they don't have to worry about hypothermia or anything.
"Yes, pick me up, please." Janina smiles and raises both of her arms towards the Dragonborn. She doesn't feel embarrassed at all for someone to pick her up like a child, in fact, a lot of halflings might even secretly enjoy it.
"Hmm..." Janina taps her chin, "I haven't seen anyone touching my cart, not that I'm constantly looking back and forth anyway." She pauses, then gasps, "Oh, no! Did they steal my kvass? Those little rascals! Please, please get those back!" She clasps her hand, "I'll do anything to repay you, I'll give you and your grandchildren free food too if I must!"
As you approach the abandoned farmhouse, you immediately notice the sounds of people talking inside. These 'real' bandits didn't bother to make themselves stealthy or anything like that.
"You emerge from the tree line, and there, in front of you, lies the town of... Pan... Pan... Panda—" One of the voices says, a teenage male, probably the same age as you do, too. "Phandalin! It's a small mining town in the centre of the Sword Coast. You see a glimpse of old ruins here and there, along with some newly built shops and wooden houses. You see children—"
Another voice says, also a teenage male. "I cast Fire Bolt on the children!"
"Aloizs! You can't just do something like that, yo! It's immoral—" The last voice says, a teenage female, her accent makes it clear that she's from the Kingdom of Arusa, their accent is considered to be trendy and casual, the equivalent of a New Jersey, New York, or Standard American accent.
"Come on! My character sheet clearly says 'chaotic evil,' it's what my character would do!" Aloizs replies. "Besides, we just killed a bunch of helpless goblins from earlier... I guess that's what Sword Coasters would do too."
"Hold, on, guys, I'm not done with describing the scene yet." The first male voice says, you hear the sound of flipping pages, then he continues. "As you walk towards the entrance of the village, you see four armed ruffians waiting for you. All of them are humans wearing grimy red cloaks, their hands on their weapons as they watch you. One of the ruffians spits on the ground."
The voice you hear earlier transits into an old, scruffy male voice. That's what Kenkus like to do, "Time for you to move on, strangers. Give us your stuff, and—"
Aloizs blurts out, "Fire Bolt!"
The female voice stands up... assuming from the creaking sound of the chair in the house. "Aloizs! Are you seriously going to answer every encounter with Fire Bolt? Have you ever tried negotiating with enemies?"
"Come on, Eerin, it's just what my character would do!" Aloizs retaliates.
The two continue arguing about the ethics of Fire Bolt further, but yes, from their behaviours and the description, these three are the real bandits, who steal real stuff from real people. It seems they're just having a good time.
Alexander and Venet, being native Perkwunosites, would know that:
Sword Coast is the name of one of the fictional worlds humans created a long time ago, and this one is more special than others since its literature and lore are eerily close to how Lancea used to be in the past and even right now. Any Solic artefacts, this one included, were created when humans were at Sol, they would never known that fantasy races even existed until they came to Lancea. All of it is just a happy little accident.
Sword Coast is part of a role-playing system that was very popular during your childhood. Actual adventuring used to be very dull, one just travelled from one place to another, and even bandits or dangerous animal encounters were very rare. Sword Coast and the role-playing system that comes with it allows people to live in a fantasy, a world in constant threat of danger, a world where you can actually do something to save the world.
And now... these fantasies finally become a reality.
Role-playing games like this are practically unheard of outside of Perkwunos, because it was discovered fifty years ago and printed copies of it are rare and expensive. These thieves probably stole the core module from someone else. All printed modules come with fully illustrated and coloured pictures. The printing press can't print out pictures in detail, so all of it must be hand-drawn and must look exactly like the original Solic prototype, which drives the prices even higher.
The three of them don't notice Pixel, but there isn't any other way to enter this house. There is no chimney and these windows can only be open from the inside. He could defenestrate himself, but breaking a window would immediately alert the three of them.
He sees a blue kobold arguing with a green-eyed Kenku, while the yellow-eyed Kenku just face-claws himself in silence. The table is decorated with a map with some miniatures and a twenty-sided die.
On another note, though, the front door—the only entrance to this building, is armed with a string trap. There is supposed to be a bottle or a box that links with the string on the ground, but in this case, the core mechanics of the trap seem to be missing. You could walk in, set off the trap, and nothing would happen.
To confirm the suspicion, there are two barrels of kvass under the table they sit under, it's unopened, which is a good sign already.
Eerin
Leonīds
Aloizs
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference."
"Alright then." Taliyah sticks her staff onto her back, and crouches down to lift Janina up into a bridal carry, as she thinks that would probably be putting the least amount of potential pain on Janina's injured leg. She sways a bit at first but manages to steady herself. "I've sent my familiar Pixel over to the house that way, and the teenaged bandits are in the house. The kvass is untouched as far as he saw, and they're currently occupied playing some sort of strange game involving books and a locale called the Sword Coast. Have any of you heard of a game like that before?"
Alex nods to Venet and Shugo, "Sounds good to me. I was going to offer to stay and watch him..." He hesitates, as he felt irrationally responsible for the fallen paladin... but if Venet wants to watch him, then it wouldn't be right for him to insist that he should be the one to do it. "But if you want to do that that works for me. We can keep his weapons inside, so he can't get to them quickly if he manages to get free."
"Oh... I'm sorry,"he says to Renar. Instantly feeling bad for asking, even though he had no way of knowing it would bring up bad memories. But why would he start calling Cezars by his dead friends name? Whether or not they look similar... hmm, well, probably better not to push the subject.
Then he proceeds to get the cart and wheel it over to the farmhouse.
So the bandits are just a group of kids... Well, regardless of their age, it is still wrong to steal. And judging by what they are playing, they probably stole that too. Now, Alexander doesn't think that whatever Cezars had planed for them would be the right sort of punishment, but that doesn't mean they should just let these kids get away with what they've done. They need to know that stealing is wrong, and that there are consequences for their actions... just like if that kenku were to cast firebolt on those kids in their game world.
"It's a role-play game," Alex whispers to Taliyah. "If they have a printed copy... well they probably stole it. There's no way these kids could afford something like that."He shakes his head, "I'm glad we found them before that hothead did, but we shouldn't let them get away with what they've been doing."His mind wanders back to the people's army, wondering where they went, and still trying to decide which side is right... really, there probably isn't a right or wrong side in this.
"We should be able to apprehend them, they are outnumbered and... well we can surround them too. But I'll leave that to you stealthier folks," He smiles at his comrades. "I'll guard this entrance, and whoever takes up the far end can give the signal. Hopefully we can get them to surrender peacefully, without even starting a fight. Sound good to all of you?" He really hopes that he doesn't need to use any spells, as his powers are basically all used up... not that they did much good in the fight earlier. Man... that command spell would have been so useful here...
He moves the cart under some trees to help protect what's left inside.
Shugo squints at the building listening to the voices inside. Perkwunosites are so strange. Why would you want to sit around and pretend to be someone you're not? He scratches his head, well....he supposes that he has been doing that for a while, though it's more like just letting people believe he's something he's not. It's not like he's not being himself.
Then he looks to Venet and Alex, "Well, sounds like a good enough plan to me." Suddenly, the shadows around him seem to swallow him up as he becomes invisible. His disembodied voice continued, "I'll slip in through a window or something and get on the other side of them. Renar can probably get pretty close as well. I can give the signal using the same trick I did to fool the People's Army. They will think there's even more of us then there are. Hehehe."
With that he starts searching for a way to slip inside the building. If there's no widows he can fit through, he will go around the back and check for a door.
"Alright then." Taliyah sticks her staff onto her back, and crouches down to lift Janina up into a bridal carry, as she thinks that would probably be putting the least amount of potential pain on Janina's injured leg. She sways a bit at first but manages to steady herself. "I've sent my familiar Pixel over to the house that way, and the teenaged bandits are in the house. The kvass is untouched as far as he saw, and they're currently occupied playing some sort of strange game involving books and a locale called the Sword Coast. Have any of you heard of a game like that before?"
Oh! *His fox ears twitch as his eyes widen* So the myth of the Sword Coast even runs deep within Lancea? That's my current homeworld too! I thought it was just Japan that this kind of board game existed in large copies. "Oh yeah... um... I've heard about it before. Many people have uh... many people enjoy telling stories about this realm or something. And sometimes I uh..." Come on... think of a blatant excuse, dummy! "...I-I've heard that some people fantasize that it might be real or something. I don't know. But I've heard people say that before."
"It's a role-play game," Alex whispers to Taliyah. "If they have a printed copy... well they probably stole it. There's no way these kids could afford something like that."He shakes his head, "I'm glad we found them before that hothead did, but we shouldn't let them get away with what they've been doing." His mind wanders back to the people's army, wondering where they went, and still trying to decide which side is right... really, there probably isn't a right or wrong side in this.
So they stole a copy of the Lost mine of whatever huh? Scumbags... And besides why did they do so when they could have just stolen... ugh nevermind. We've found our targets. Though... *He glances back at Cezars* I wonder if Stupid Rixi was here because he knows... that our targets are inside? Kinda ironic that we beat him (no pun intended) to him first.
Then he looks to Venet and Alex, "Well, sounds like a good enough plan to me." Suddenly, the shadows around him seem to swallow him up as he becomes invisible. His disembodied voice continued, "I'll slip in through a window or something and get on the other side of them. Renar can probably get pretty close as well. I can give the signal using the same trick I did to fool the People's Army. They will think there's even more of us then there are. Hehehe."
"Since we're all planning on confining them in this lonesome shack, search the house for any possible escape points, especially the doors and the windows, and make sure to block them off as much as you can if you don't intend on being stealthy." I whisper to the rest with again another terrible Lancean accent as I finally place my katan back in its sheath after being profoundly irritated with Taliyah, the dragonborn. "And yeah... I agree with Alex: No violence either. But I need to do something quick first..." *His claws glow yellow as he performs an Arcane Recovery; He recovers a 2nd level spell slot* "The rain isn't going to die down either, so it's best if we make this swift..." *He prepares to enter a window since he's small; He's not going to polymoprh into an actual fox because, you know...* "Right. I'm going in!"
The sound of the bandit's conversation dies down, replaced by the sound of rain and thunder crackling in the background. All windows on the front end of the house are locked, so they naturally go to the back.
On the back side, the two see an empty and dark bedroom, thanks to their night vision, they can see that there are a few sacks on the ground, along with three bedrolls and a dusty desk, an empty chandelier hanging above the bedroom. The windows are not locked, it creaks as you open it, but you're confident that no one can hear it thanks to the sound of rain outside. There are no traps in this room, because who would put traps in their own bedroom?
The bedroom door, which leads to the front room, appears to not be locked, the same goes with the front door too. You can see rust and mould on the bedroom door hinge, it would definitely creak and give away its position once it's open.
For the bandits, their only method of escape is the front door, and right now, the party already have them surrounded. It's time to act.
OOC Note:
I've moved your tokens to their appropriate position.
"The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference."
"Oh they're playing a role playing game! I wonder if they will let us join." Venet seems oddly unbothered and mostly just excited about meeting the bandits. She waves bye at the boys as they circle around the house, holding her position and enjoying the rain.
Once inside, Shugo looks to Renar who hears his disembodied voice whisper, "Well, Once we open this door they'll know where we are. You ready?" He drops his invisibility. "I'm thinking we just burst in. I'll give the signal for the others to prepare themselves."
Without waiting for a response, the elf waves a hand initiating his spell. Suddenly Cezars' voice booms from outside. "WE HAVE YOU SURROUNDED! SURRENDER NOW AND WE WON'T HARM YOU!" Then he slams the bedroom door open and rushes into the room where the bandits are role-playing sword drawn. He stops a few feet away from the kobold, holding his sword at the ready. He fixes his amber eyes on each of them in turn. "Hands on the table, all of you." He says coldly.
Once inside, Shugo looks to Renar who hears his disembodied voice whisper, "Well, Once we open this door they'll know where we are. You ready?" He drops his invisibility. "I'm thinking we just burst in. I'll give the signal for the others to prepare themselves."
Without waiting for a response, the elf waves a hand initiating his spell. Suddenly Cezars' voice booms from outside. "WE HAVE YOU SURROUNDED! SURRENDER NOW AND WE WON'T HARM YOU!" Then he slams the bedroom door open and rushes into the room where the bandits are role-playing sword drawn. He stops a few feet away from the kobold, holding his sword at the ready. He fixes his amber eyes on each of them in turn. "Hands on the table, all of you." He says coldly.
Persuasion: 17
Not wanting to elaborate any further on my behalf, I witnessed Shugo mimicking Stupid Rixi's voice and just go full on FBI Open up mode. Oh well... time to act! *Wherever Shugo runs, Renar will instantly run the opposite end of the bandits before he tightly grips his katana sheath and holds it horizontally. His sharp teeth are also visible when he snarls* "Stay still! You guys retaliate and you'll lose something more precious than what you stole from us!"
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Alex flinches at the sound of Cezars voice... was that Shugo? He remembers that the elf had used that spell before during their first encounter with the people's army, but... well this doesn't seem like the best course of action to avoid violence. If those bandits think that Cezars is leading the charge, they might not come peacefully just because they want to avoid the fire genasi.
Taking a breath, he draws his sword and barges in, slamming the door open... but decides yelling more might not be best. Instead he says firmly, "Please come quietly. Do as you are told and no blood will be drawn." He says this... only to become extremely aware of the bloody splotch on the front of his tabard.
The front door opens with ease, and luckily, the door isn't damaged too.
"Hold on, bro, give me a 'mo."The kobold pushes the sword away, and the three start collecting their boards and figures into their bags. They don't seem to be in a hurry at all.
After they're done, though, their demeanour changes drastically. Eerin hops on the stable and strikes a pose, "Well, well, well… welcome, adventurers… to your doom!"
The two Kenkus quickly scamper around the room, blowing off every single candle one by one. The room slowly turns dark, and by slowly, it takes almost three minutes for all candles but one to be extinguished.
The green-eyed kenku hobbles back to the 'stage', clearly looking winded and huffing like he's having an asthma attack. "Hoo… my… my lungs… why didn't you just use Presti? Wouldn't… wouldn’t it be easier that way?"
"Dude! I don't friggin' know, okay?" Eerin shrugs, her tail wagging. "The script didn't say—"
"Eerin! Just move on, go to the next line… uhh… which page was…" You hear the sound of paper turning in the darkness, "67… 173… here!" The yellow-eyed Kenku hands the paper to Aloizs.
A quick pause, then the green-eyed Kenku continues, he jumps on the table and stands beside the kobold, wrapping his arm around her neck. "You have come far, and I'll have to congratulate you for that, but unfortunately, your journey ends here. And if—" He squints at the paper. "Uh… Leo? Why does it say 'Scenario F-iv; the victim is defenceless and makes no attempt at coercion?'"
"Oh! Oops, let me…"Leonīds flips through a stack of paper again, "Crap… I haven't write one where our opponent wants us to surrender." He turns to the party and jumps on to the table, its legs starting to creak and bend from the weight... "Well, you know what to do when we don't know what to say next, guys—say our mottos!"
Eerin waves her claw, and a sparkling effect appears behind the three. "Prepare for trouble,"
"And make it triple!" Aloizs cheerfully adds.
"To steal from the poor and give it to ourselves." Leonīds says, posing with Aloizs.
"To take your things and put it on our shelf!" Eerin says, how long will they take to commit a crime?
"To make this world full of evil and chaos," Aloizs rhymes.
"Sacking villages from Arusa to Kerwos!" Leonīds chimes.
"Eerin!"
"Aloizs!"
"And Leonīds, AKA Leo!"
"You better run, you better take cover, we are the Forest Assault-Recon Team, prepare to surrender!"All three of them speak in unison. Leonīds and Aloizs try their best to hold their laughter after the reveal of their team name (If you haven't got it already, their acronym is FART, which by itself should be a crime due to how terrible their sense of humour is).
Eerin waves her claw again, and an illusionary fireworks explodes behind them.
Aloizs pulls out a lute from his backpack and strums, giving themselves a background music. "I'll admit, you guys did good, but you can't fool us! That fire Genasi guy would never want peace, he wants problems, always."He mimics Cezars, "'I will tie your hands, legs, and tail, then I will have horses pull them off one by one!' I mean… What was his problem? We just want to have some fun, you know? What good is a story without a villain?"
Eerin pulls out her accordion and joins in too, the music starts to take shape, it's an upbeat and fast waltz, a perfect beat to beat up thugs and have a duel to.
Leonīds hop down from the table, he taps his foot along with the beat. "We always know surrender is an option, but come on! What's the fun in that? I have a proposal to all of you: send a volunteer to fight me in a one-on-one duel. If I win, you have to give me all of your stuff and leave us. If you win, we'll surrender, deal?"
OOC Note:
Let me introduce you to a new mechanic: duelling.
A duelling occurs when both parties send some of their members (up to three people at the time) to fight, and if one side lose, they will have to do what their opponent told them to do. It's a common way to settle disputes in Lancea, and there are even trial-by-combat courts in some countries.
In a duel, whoever goes first is decided with a coin flip (rolling a d2—1 is heads and 2 is tails) instead of rolling initiative. Unlike normal fights, both parties consent to actually taking turns hitting each other instead of acting on the fly. After all, duelling is all about fairness, it gives a chance for a party with less members (or simply having a bad luck with initiative) to actually shine.
It's okay to decline a duel and opt for a regular fight, however, non-participating members cannot assist duelling members in any way. Keep in mind that the majority of the enemies will not agree to a duel, especially if they think they have a chance at winning in a head-on regular fight.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference."
The front door opens with ease, and luckily, the door isn't damaged too.
"Hold on, bro, give me a 'mo."The kobold pushes the sword away, and the three start collecting their boards and figures into their bags. They don't seem to be in a hurry at all.
After they're done, though, their demeanour changes drastically. Eerin hops on the stable and strikes a pose, "Well, well, well… welcome, adventurers… to your doom!"
The two Kenkus quickly scamper around the room, blowing off every single candle one by one. The room slowly turns dark, and by slowly, it takes almost three minutes for all candles but one to be extinguished.
The green-eyed kenku hobbles back to the 'stage', clearly looking winded and huffing like he's having an asthma attack. "Hoo… my… my lungs… why didn't you just use Presti? Wouldn't… wouldn’t it be easier that way?"
"Dude! I don't friggin' know, okay?" Eerin shrugs, her tail wagging. "The script didn't say—"
"Eerin! Just move on, go to the next line… uhh… which page was…" You hear the sound of paper turning in the darkness, "67… 173… here!" The yellow-eyed Kenku hands the paper to Aloizs.
A quick pause, then the green-eyed Kenku continues, he jumps on the table and stands beside the kobold, wrapping his arm around her neck. "You have come far, and I'll have to congratulate you for that, but unfortunately, your journey ends here. And if—" He squints at the paper. "Uh… Leo? Why does it say 'Scenario F-iv; the victim is defenceless and makes no attempt at coercion?'"
"Oh! Oops, let me…"Leonīds flips through a stack of paper again, "Crap… I haven't write one where our opponent wants us to surrender." He turns to the party and jumps on to the table, its legs starting to creak and bend from the weight... "Well, you know what to do when we don't know what to say next, guys—say our mottos!"
Eerin waves her claw, and a sparkling effect appears behind the three. "Prepare for trouble,"
"And make it triple!" Aloizs cheerfully adds.
"To steal from the poor and give it to ourselves." Leonīds says, posing with Aloizs.
"To take your things and put it on our shelf!" Eerin says, how long will they take to commit a crime?
"To make this world full of evil and chaos," Aloizs rhymes.
"Sacking villages from Arusa to Kerwos!" Leonīds chimes.
"Eerin!"
"Aloizs!"
"And Leonīds, AKA Leo!"
"You better run, you better take cover, we are the Forest Assault-Recon Team, prepare to surrender!"All three of them speak in unison. Leonīds and Aloizs try their best to hold their laughter after the reveal of their team name (If you haven't got it already, their acronym is FART, which by itself should be a crime due to how terrible their sense of humour is).
Uh... *His snarls turns into a confused expression though his grip doesn't realx; Question marks appear over his hooded head* I don't know what's going on here... Are they trying to scaring us or what??? Because I'm definitely not fazed. *He gives another confused look at Shugo* And... what kind of stupid monologue are they even doing?! Can I just tear their throats out?! "Uh... your highness. (Shugo).. Should we...? I'm confused." Forest Assault Recon Team... Wait a... PFFFT! *Taking advantage of the darkness, he turns his head away as he stifles a laugh after putting the first letters of each word together; Once he does so he whispers to Shugo what he deduced*
Eerin waves her claw again, and an illusionary fireworks explodes behind them.
Aloizs pulls out a lute from his backpack and strums, giving themselves a background music. "I'll admit, you guys did good, but you can't fool us! That fire Genasi guy would never want peace, he wants problems, always."He mimics Cezars, "'I will tie your hands, legs, and tail, then I will have horses pull them off one by one!' I mean… What was his problem? We just want to have some fun, you know? What good is a story without a villain?"
Eerin pulls out her accordion and joins in too, the music starts to take shape, it's an upbeat and fast waltz, a perfect beat to beat up thugs and have a duel to.
Leonīds hop down from the table, he taps his foot along with the beat. "We always know surrender is an option, but come on! What's the fun in that? I have a proposal to all of you: send a volunteer to fight me in a one-on-one duel. If I win, you have to give me all of your stuff and leave us. If you win, we'll surrender, deal?"
Wait... they're asking for a one-on-one fight? Deja Vu if you ask me... Thing is though I'm still weak from the previous fight against Stupid Rixi. And uh... they're considering having this tavern fight inside the entire building? They really want us to destroy this entire place on our own huh. But... then again... I'd honestly prefer to stay out of this just this once, rather than let hog the glory to myself. In fact I didn't get the chance to analyse anyone in our previous fight. But first...
"Hey uh..." I growl in a low, hostile voice. "...can you three just put the first letters of each word in whatever your team name is called because that's literally you guys right now." I then turn to Shugo. "What do we do? Should we accept whatever gibberish they spat out or...?"
Alexander watches the... strange scene unfold as the three 'bandits' chant and pose as if this is some sort of concert. Clearly this really is just a group of kids trying to have a good time. Still, that doesn't excuse their behavior. They can't be rewarded for treating real life like it's a story.
Tentatively, he reaches out with his Divine Sense, wondering how these kids really aligned themselves. Perhaps his findings will influence how he moves forward, perhaps not. Right now, he is not too keen on taking them up on their offer. Why should they? It seemed a terrible tactical choice considering they have the three both outnumbered, surrounded, and likely outmatched aside from the fact that they'd just finished a real battle prior--and all his magical energy has been depleted. He might have a chance against this kid with nothing but his blade and armor, but... he isn't sure that's a risk he wants to take.
Sighing he says, "This isn't about fun. This is about right and wrong, and what you kids have been doing is wrong. This is real life, not a game." He points his sword at the ground, so as to take on a less threatening stance without dropping his guard. "Look, we just had a fight with that fire genasi. We don't agree with anything he's been doing, and are going to take him in to see if we can have him atone for his crimes. We know as well as you that if he got his hands on any of you that it wouldn't be pretty. But, just because he is in the wrong doesn't mean that what you guys are doing for 'fun' is any less a crime then his abusing his own power... even if his is worse. That said, we can't just let you walk away..." He hesitates, what would happen if they brought these kids in only for the authorities to let Cezars have his way? How can they guarantee their safety and hold them accountable for their crimes?
He sighs again, then looks to Venet, "What do you think? I don't think this duel is the smartest move." But maybe they could change the deal a little and just say, if they win they can walk, if they lose then they give up everything they stole instead of surrendering... though Alex really doesn't like that idea either considering that would leave these kids to just start over. Plus... what are they going to do with everything the kids give back? "We can't just let them get away with this, they have to be held accountable or they won't ever change their ways." He says this in a voice low enough that the group can hear him debating, just so they know that they aren't completely disregarding their offer, but quiet enough that they can't make out exactly what he's saying.
Shugo's tough guy facade shatters at the pure ridiculousness of the situation. He should have guessed they wouldn't believe Cezars, but he really wasn't expecting the group to surrender easily anyways. He lets his blade point to the ground when the Kobold pushes it to the side, and his whole body seems to deflate. Eh? They want to duel? That's not going to happen. Like he'd trust these honor-less punks to actually abide by the rules. Plus no one in his group is at full strength right now anyways. These brats are just trying to figure an easier way out of a hopeless situation. While he doesn't think these kids deserve whatever punishment Cezars would inflict on them, they do deserve some kind of punishment. With Cezars calling the shots, he doubts Pelmeni lady is the first to have suffered at the fire genasi's hands because of them.
Lost in thought, he barely hears Renar's voice. Eh? Who's he calling 'your highness'? He turns to look at the shifter confused, only to meet the other man's gaze. "Ooooh, he's talking to me? Why? I'm not royalty?" He opens his mouth to respond just as Renar whispers the acronym to him. Fart? Really. He cringes, and continues to stare at Renar with a flat, confused expression. And this guy finds that funny? Why is everyone being so childish? He shakes himself, he likes a good laugh but this just isn't his kind of humor. "Uh, well firstly don't call me your highness. It's not like I'm a prince or something I'm not even a big deal and I'd like to keep it that way. Secondly, No we are absolutely not going to conform to their gibberish and accept being part of their stupid story or whatever."He flourishes his blade and points it at the Kobold again. "Our Paladin is right." He starts, but interupts himself with his own spell...OK! I PLAYED MY PART AND IT DIDN'T WORK! I DEMAND TO BE RELEASED AT ONCE!!! DO IT NOW OR I WILL SKIN YOU ALL ALIVE!"He glares outside, pretending to ignore the screams of the oathbreaker. Then he points outside, "That hot head is probably worse than any of you when it comes to honor, but because of you he's going around hurting innocent people. So no!" He turns his finger to point at the Kobold. "We are not dueling you. We are taking you in and we are going to prove that Cezars is overstepping his boundaries. ALL of you are in the wrong here, and right now you lot have no way of running. So as I see it you have two options. One, come willingly and testify against Cezars before serving a fair punishment for your 'fun and games', or Two let us beat you up and drag you to prison. Your choice. Either way, justice will be served."
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Investigation check: 16
Alex is a little surprised when Renar asks him what he's saying sorry for... perhaps it had been foolish to think they'd all just rushed in to help him, rather than assume they all had a similar sense of justice to himself. Then Renar whispers to him, and he offers a soft smile, "Thanks... I needed to hear that."
After a moment he asks, "Uh... Renar? If you don't mind me asking... why do you keep calling him 'Stupid Rixi'? Does Rixi mean something in your native tongue?"
Then he turns to Janina, taking note of the feather and the footprints in the mud. "...You didn't happen to see how that feather ended up in your cart did you? Was it the griffon? Or do you think those bandits could have... hitched a ride without you knowing?" He nods to the footprints, "...Either way, it looks like we might run into them regardless..." He takes a few steps towards the halfling when she tries and fails to walk, "Uh... maybe don't try and walk that off... I can help you in..." He hesitates, realizing that Janina wants them to prioritize the cart at the moment... but he really doesn't want to leave her unattended. She could make those wounds worse if she isn't careful. So, he looks to Taliyah, "Could you help Janina when I get the cart?" Right now, he doesn't know if anyone else knows how to pilot the cart, so he might as well take the reins rather than wait and see (while the kvass gets ruined) is someone else is knowledgeable in that area.
"Though we should be on the lookout, those bandits might be in there..." Perhaps it will be a good thing if they manage to apprehend those three. Then at least they can prove that they weren't trying to shelter the bandits by fighting Cezars... speaking of bandits, where did the people's army go? He glances around, trying to catch sight of them without giving away that he is looking for someone.
As he makes his way towards the farmhouse he says, "Like Renar suggested, let's leave Cezars outside. Maybe that will help keep him from burning his ropes and escaping. But... if we can keep him close that would be best, and we should take his weapons and armor away so if he does manage to escape we can deal with him more easily." He doesn't like this, treating the former paladin so harshly--even though he definitely deserves it. It just feels wrong to leave someone tied up out in the rain, but... well, there are much worse things that they could do to him, so maybe this wasn't all that bad after all.
Shugo groans when the first raindrop hits his head and trickles down his face. More Rain. Wonderful. He did notice the feather in the cart and the tracks leading to the house, (Investigation 13) and he can guarantee that those bandits are probably inside. Standing back up he nods to Alex. "Oh those bandits are definitely in there. I don't have a problem with capturing them, but I also don't think we should be leaving Hot Head here alone. Even with the rain to keep him from burning his bindings, I wouldn't be surprised if he could still bust out of them. We should probably keep a watch on him at all times. The last thing we need is for him to escape while we are in there with the three he's apparently hunting. So, apparently there are only three bandits, that said we could leave one person to watch this guy, while four of us go in. Or leave two here while three go in. I don't really like that idea, as it's always best to have the upper hand when attacking, but leaving one person to watch two captives doesn't seem great either." He stretches. "I could go scout out the place first...." He eyes the building. Being invisible wouldn't mask the rain bouncing off of him, not the noise of soggy footsteps, but he's fairly confident that he could at least get close without getting detected. "Hmmm. What do you guys think? The longer we dally the more likely that Kvass will be ruined."
Venet smiles as the rain begins, obviously unbothered by it, the water is her home after all. "I say we drag him up to the house with us. I can watch him and yell if he gets loose. I like the rain so I don't mind staying outside."
Investigation: 22 *Now that everyone's out of combat, Renar has reverted to his shy, self-centred persona again as he nervously whips his head to the halfling; His AC also drops back to 14 as he overhears something; Again his ears twitch as he wears an anime angry emoji on his head after Taliyah ignores his question* So my question for that random dragon girl remains unanswered?! So much for asking her- Wait... a dozen... whatever that drink is... Elmar's wedding? Hang on... *Another note worth scribbling...* The people's bandits are also planning to host or sabotage a wedding like this aren't they? But... are these weddings like... are they the same or... *Needing to take his mind of his troubles, he quickly scans the footprints and the black feather before taking more notes.* "Noted. I'll make sure that we'll all get to this once we sort things with that lawful stupid guy when he wakes up. Also, don't move too much. You might open the wounds those ladies have closed for now and that's the last thing that even you would need." *He starts to walk off when...*
*Renar's heart stops as he comes to a standstill; He's facing away from Alex when he instantly hold his hands to his face in humiliation* Crap... did I actually... I kept mentioning how Cezars was similar to Rixi?! This boy must have super sharp hearing; Either that I was totally oblivious to the fact that I tend to blurt my mind out during battles. I better think of some excuse fast... "Um... u-u-uh... t-t-that's just... That's just changeling language, sorry eheheh. He reminds me of a former close friend who uh... um..." *His voice trails off as his brain crashes and his fox ears droop under his hood* "He looks similar to a comrade who passed away..." I really hope he buys the fact that I'm not actually referring to my friend who I fear is heading down this spiral... If anything, it was one of the least thrilling fights I've had; All I felt during that heated clash of blades was anger... And fear, for my best friend.
Speaking of comrades... where did those people's cowards go? *He whips his head around to search for them... at least until the rain suddenly pours down on his attire and nearly ruins his notebook if he hadn't quickly shove it back inside its pocket* Never mind forget about that! "ARGH! Hurry! Get the cart and take cover before we all catch the chills! Someone else watch those two whilst we're at it! And where did those cowards hiding in the woods go?!" I yell to the rest as I quickly scamper to help the dragonborn... what was her name again? Uh... anyways, I need to help her pull this stupid load over despite being sapped of my strength. Geez this rain is super heavy; The last time I experienced this massive downpour was when I ventured out in the city streets in this Japanese city called Kyoto. It seriously wasn't a good experience on my behalf!
The Wildland Shifters
Daisy Ethalena - Female Wood Elf Ranger (Monster Slayer)
Ethan Wolftree - Male Simic Hybrid Warlock (The Hexblade)
Mira Laurits - Female Harengon Sorcerer (Clockwork Soul); Lancea
Raiden Kurosaki - Male Kitsune Wizard (Bladesinger); Lancea
Rixian Nishinoya - Male Fire Genasi Paladin (Oath of Vengeance)
Tenebris Amaro - Male Dark Elf Druid (Circle of Stars)
Yurime Hanasaki - Female Kumiho Bard (College Of Creation)
Taliyah will happily help Janina walk to the the farmhouse with the rest of the group when Alex asks her to. "Oh, of course! Also, I forgot to introduce myself earlier, my name is Taliyah, and I hail from Lower Sehul as I did say earlier." She looks down towards Janina. "Should I carry you to the farmhouse, or would you rather walk? I'll do my best to carry you if that's what you want."
As she speaks, Pixel will fly towards the farmhouse while invisible, looking into each window to see if he can see what's going on in the farmhouse, and if possible, find an entry into the farmhouse a tiny pixie can fit through.
Pixel Stealth: 20
Pixel Perception (Windowpeeking): 15
Pixel Investigation (Infiltration): 21
The People's Army is nowhere in sight, it isn't like you could see that much in a heavy rain like this, anyway. They're probably fine, the tree provides a nice shelter, so they don't have to worry about hypothermia or anything.
"Yes, pick me up, please." Janina smiles and raises both of her arms towards the Dragonborn. She doesn't feel embarrassed at all for someone to pick her up like a child, in fact, a lot of halflings might even secretly enjoy it.
"Hmm..." Janina taps her chin, "I haven't seen anyone touching my cart, not that I'm constantly looking back and forth anyway." She pauses, then gasps, "Oh, no! Did they steal my kvass? Those little rascals! Please, please get those back!" She clasps her hand, "I'll do anything to repay you, I'll give you and your grandchildren free food too if I must!"
As you approach the abandoned farmhouse, you immediately notice the sounds of people talking inside. These 'real' bandits didn't bother to make themselves stealthy or anything like that.
"You emerge from the tree line, and there, in front of you, lies the town of... Pan... Pan... Panda—" One of the voices says, a teenage male, probably the same age as you do, too. "Phandalin! It's a small mining town in the centre of the Sword Coast. You see a glimpse of old ruins here and there, along with some newly built shops and wooden houses. You see children—"
Another voice says, also a teenage male. "I cast Fire Bolt on the children!"
"Aloizs! You can't just do something like that, yo! It's immoral—" The last voice says, a teenage female, her accent makes it clear that she's from the Kingdom of Arusa, their accent is considered to be trendy and casual, the equivalent of a New Jersey, New York, or Standard American accent.
"Come on! My character sheet clearly says 'chaotic evil,' it's what my character would do!" Aloizs replies. "Besides, we just killed a bunch of helpless goblins from earlier... I guess that's what Sword Coasters would do too."
"Hold, on, guys, I'm not done with describing the scene yet." The first male voice says, you hear the sound of flipping pages, then he continues. "As you walk towards the entrance of the village, you see four armed ruffians waiting for you. All of them are humans wearing grimy red cloaks, their hands on their weapons as they watch you. One of the ruffians spits on the ground."
The voice you hear earlier transits into an old, scruffy male voice. That's what Kenkus like to do, "Time for you to move on, strangers. Give us your stuff, and—"
Aloizs blurts out, "Fire Bolt!"
The female voice stands up... assuming from the creaking sound of the chair in the house. "Aloizs! Are you seriously going to answer every encounter with Fire Bolt? Have you ever tried negotiating with enemies?"
"Come on, Eerin, it's just what my character would do!" Aloizs retaliates.
The two continue arguing about the ethics of Fire Bolt further, but yes, from their behaviours and the description, these three are the real bandits, who steal real stuff from real people. It seems they're just having a good time.
Alexander and Venet, being native Perkwunosites, would know that:
Sword Coast is the name of one of the fictional worlds humans created a long time ago, and this one is more special than others since its literature and lore are eerily close to how Lancea used to be in the past and even right now. Any Solic artefacts, this one included, were created when humans were at Sol, they would never known that fantasy races even existed until they came to Lancea. All of it is just a happy little accident.
Sword Coast is part of a role-playing system that was very popular during your childhood. Actual adventuring used to be very dull, one just travelled from one place to another, and even bandits or dangerous animal encounters were very rare. Sword Coast and the role-playing system that comes with it allows people to live in a fantasy, a world in constant threat of danger, a world where you can actually do something to save the world.
And now... these fantasies finally become a reality.
Role-playing games like this are practically unheard of outside of Perkwunos, because it was discovered fifty years ago and printed copies of it are rare and expensive. These thieves probably stole the core module from someone else. All printed modules come with fully illustrated and coloured pictures. The printing press can't print out pictures in detail, so all of it must be hand-drawn and must look exactly like the original Solic prototype, which drives the prices even higher.
Stealth check Passed
Perception check Passed
The three of them don't notice Pixel, but there isn't any other way to enter this house. There is no chimney and these windows can only be open from the inside. He could defenestrate himself, but breaking a window would immediately alert the three of them.
He sees a blue kobold arguing with a green-eyed Kenku, while the yellow-eyed Kenku just face-claws himself in silence. The table is decorated with a map with some miniatures and a twenty-sided die.
On another note, though, the front door—the only entrance to this building, is armed with a string trap. There is supposed to be a bottle or a box that links with the string on the ground, but in this case, the core mechanics of the trap seem to be missing. You could walk in, set off the trap, and nothing would happen.
To confirm the suspicion, there are two barrels of kvass under the table they sit under, it's unopened, which is a good sign already.
Eerin
Leonīds
Aloizs
"The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference."
—Richard Dawkins
DM—Stories From The End of The World: Episode I
"Alright then." Taliyah sticks her staff onto her back, and crouches down to lift Janina up into a bridal carry, as she thinks that would probably be putting the least amount of potential pain on Janina's injured leg. She sways a bit at first but manages to steady herself. "I've sent my familiar Pixel over to the house that way, and the teenaged bandits are in the house. The kvass is untouched as far as he saw, and they're currently occupied playing some sort of strange game involving books and a locale called the Sword Coast. Have any of you heard of a game like that before?"
Alex nods to Venet and Shugo, "Sounds good to me. I was going to offer to stay and watch him..." He hesitates, as he felt irrationally responsible for the fallen paladin... but if Venet wants to watch him, then it wouldn't be right for him to insist that he should be the one to do it. "But if you want to do that that works for me. We can keep his weapons inside, so he can't get to them quickly if he manages to get free."
"Oh... I'm sorry," he says to Renar. Instantly feeling bad for asking, even though he had no way of knowing it would bring up bad memories. But why would he start calling Cezars by his dead friends name? Whether or not they look similar... hmm, well, probably better not to push the subject.
Then he proceeds to get the cart and wheel it over to the farmhouse.
So the bandits are just a group of kids... Well, regardless of their age, it is still wrong to steal. And judging by what they are playing, they probably stole that too. Now, Alexander doesn't think that whatever Cezars had planed for them would be the right sort of punishment, but that doesn't mean they should just let these kids get away with what they've done. They need to know that stealing is wrong, and that there are consequences for their actions... just like if that kenku were to cast firebolt on those kids in their game world.
"It's a role-play game," Alex whispers to Taliyah. "If they have a printed copy... well they probably stole it. There's no way these kids could afford something like that." He shakes his head, "I'm glad we found them before that hothead did, but we shouldn't let them get away with what they've been doing." His mind wanders back to the people's army, wondering where they went, and still trying to decide which side is right... really, there probably isn't a right or wrong side in this.
"We should be able to apprehend them, they are outnumbered and... well we can surround them too. But I'll leave that to you stealthier folks," He smiles at his comrades. "I'll guard this entrance, and whoever takes up the far end can give the signal. Hopefully we can get them to surrender peacefully, without even starting a fight. Sound good to all of you?" He really hopes that he doesn't need to use any spells, as his powers are basically all used up... not that they did much good in the fight earlier. Man... that command spell would have been so useful here...
He moves the cart under some trees to help protect what's left inside.
Shugo squints at the building listening to the voices inside. Perkwunosites are so strange. Why would you want to sit around and pretend to be someone you're not? He scratches his head, well....he supposes that he has been doing that for a while, though it's more like just letting people believe he's something he's not. It's not like he's not being himself.
Then he looks to Venet and Alex, "Well, sounds like a good enough plan to me." Suddenly, the shadows around him seem to swallow him up as he becomes invisible. His disembodied voice continued, "I'll slip in through a window or something and get on the other side of them. Renar can probably get pretty close as well. I can give the signal using the same trick I did to fool the People's Army. They will think there's even more of us then there are. Hehehe."
With that he starts searching for a way to slip inside the building. If there's no widows he can fit through, he will go around the back and check for a door.
Investigation: 13
Perception: 7
Stealth: 21
Oh! *His fox ears twitch as his eyes widen* So the myth of the Sword Coast even runs deep within Lancea? That's my current homeworld too! I thought it was just Japan that this kind of board game existed in large copies. "Oh yeah... um... I've heard about it before. Many people have uh... many people enjoy telling stories about this realm or something. And sometimes I uh..." Come on... think of a blatant excuse, dummy! "...I-I've heard that some people fantasize that it might be real or something. I don't know. But I've heard people say that before."
So they stole a copy of the Lost mine of whatever huh? Scumbags... And besides why did they do so when they could have just stolen... ugh nevermind. We've found our targets. Though... *He glances back at Cezars* I wonder if Stupid Rixi was here because he knows... that our targets are inside? Kinda ironic that we beat him (no pun intended) to him first.
"Since we're all planning on confining them in this lonesome shack, search the house for any possible escape points, especially the doors and the windows, and make sure to block them off as much as you can if you don't intend on being stealthy." I whisper to the rest with again another terrible Lancean accent as I finally place my katan back in its sheath after being profoundly irritated with Taliyah, the dragonborn. "And yeah... I agree with Alex: No violence either. But I need to do something quick first..." *His claws glow yellow as he performs an Arcane Recovery; He recovers a 2nd level spell slot* "The rain isn't going to die down either, so it's best if we make this swift..." *He prepares to enter a window since he's small; He's not going to polymoprh into an actual fox because, you know...* "Right. I'm going in!"
Stealth: 15, Investigation: 18
The Wildland Shifters
Daisy Ethalena - Female Wood Elf Ranger (Monster Slayer)
Ethan Wolftree - Male Simic Hybrid Warlock (The Hexblade)
Mira Laurits - Female Harengon Sorcerer (Clockwork Soul); Lancea
Raiden Kurosaki - Male Kitsune Wizard (Bladesinger); Lancea
Rixian Nishinoya - Male Fire Genasi Paladin (Oath of Vengeance)
Tenebris Amaro - Male Dark Elf Druid (Circle of Stars)
Yurime Hanasaki - Female Kumiho Bard (College Of Creation)
Shugo
Stealth check passed.
Investigation check passed.
Renar
Stealth check passed.
Investigation check passed.
The sound of the bandit's conversation dies down, replaced by the sound of rain and thunder crackling in the background. All windows on the front end of the house are locked, so they naturally go to the back.
On the back side, the two see an empty and dark bedroom, thanks to their night vision, they can see that there are a few sacks on the ground, along with three bedrolls and a dusty desk, an empty chandelier hanging above the bedroom. The windows are not locked, it creaks as you open it, but you're confident that no one can hear it thanks to the sound of rain outside. There are no traps in this room, because who would put traps in their own bedroom?
The bedroom door, which leads to the front room, appears to not be locked, the same goes with the front door too. You can see rust and mould on the bedroom door hinge, it would definitely creak and give away its position once it's open.
For the bandits, their only method of escape is the front door, and right now, the party already have them surrounded. It's time to act.
OOC Note:
I've moved your tokens to their appropriate position.
"The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference."
—Richard Dawkins
DM—Stories From The End of The World: Episode I
"Oh they're playing a role playing game! I wonder if they will let us join." Venet seems oddly unbothered and mostly just excited about meeting the bandits. She waves bye at the boys as they circle around the house, holding her position and enjoying the rain.
Once inside, Shugo looks to Renar who hears his disembodied voice whisper, "Well, Once we open this door they'll know where we are. You ready?" He drops his invisibility. "I'm thinking we just burst in. I'll give the signal for the others to prepare themselves."
Without waiting for a response, the elf waves a hand initiating his spell. Suddenly Cezars' voice booms from outside. "WE HAVE YOU SURROUNDED! SURRENDER NOW AND WE WON'T HARM YOU!" Then he slams the bedroom door open and rushes into the room where the bandits are role-playing sword drawn. He stops a few feet away from the kobold, holding his sword at the ready. He fixes his amber eyes on each of them in turn. "Hands on the table, all of you." He says coldly.
Persuasion: 17
Not wanting to elaborate any further on my behalf, I witnessed Shugo mimicking Stupid Rixi's voice and just go full on FBI Open up mode. Oh well... time to act! *Wherever Shugo runs, Renar will instantly run the opposite end of the bandits before he tightly grips his katana sheath and holds it horizontally. His sharp teeth are also visible when he snarls* "Stay still! You guys retaliate and you'll lose something more precious than what you stole from us!"
Intimidation: 14
The Wildland Shifters
Daisy Ethalena - Female Wood Elf Ranger (Monster Slayer)
Ethan Wolftree - Male Simic Hybrid Warlock (The Hexblade)
Mira Laurits - Female Harengon Sorcerer (Clockwork Soul); Lancea
Raiden Kurosaki - Male Kitsune Wizard (Bladesinger); Lancea
Rixian Nishinoya - Male Fire Genasi Paladin (Oath of Vengeance)
Tenebris Amaro - Male Dark Elf Druid (Circle of Stars)
Yurime Hanasaki - Female Kumiho Bard (College Of Creation)
Alex flinches at the sound of Cezars voice... was that Shugo? He remembers that the elf had used that spell before during their first encounter with the people's army, but... well this doesn't seem like the best course of action to avoid violence. If those bandits think that Cezars is leading the charge, they might not come peacefully just because they want to avoid the fire genasi.
Taking a breath, he draws his sword and barges in, slamming the door open... but decides yelling more might not be best. Instead he says firmly, "Please come quietly. Do as you are told and no blood will be drawn." He says this... only to become extremely aware of the bloody splotch on the front of his tabard.
Persuasion: Unable to parse dice roll.
Shugo Persuasion failed.
Renar Intimidation failed.
Alex Persuasion passed.
The front door opens with ease, and luckily, the door isn't damaged too.
"Hold on, bro, give me a 'mo." The kobold pushes the sword away, and the three start collecting their boards and figures into their bags. They don't seem to be in a hurry at all.
After they're done, though, their demeanour changes drastically. Eerin hops on the stable and strikes a pose, "Well, well, well… welcome, adventurers… to your doom!"
The two Kenkus quickly scamper around the room, blowing off every single candle one by one. The room slowly turns dark, and by slowly, it takes almost three minutes for all candles but one to be extinguished.
The green-eyed kenku hobbles back to the 'stage', clearly looking winded and huffing like he's having an asthma attack. "Hoo… my… my lungs… why didn't you just use Presti? Wouldn't… wouldn’t it be easier that way?"
"Dude! I don't friggin' know, okay?" Eerin shrugs, her tail wagging. "The script didn't say—"
"Eerin! Just move on, go to the next line… uhh… which page was…" You hear the sound of paper turning in the darkness, "67… 173… here!" The yellow-eyed Kenku hands the paper to Aloizs.
A quick pause, then the green-eyed Kenku continues, he jumps on the table and stands beside the kobold, wrapping his arm around her neck. "You have come far, and I'll have to congratulate you for that, but unfortunately, your journey ends here. And if—" He squints at the paper. "Uh… Leo? Why does it say 'Scenario F-iv; the victim is defenceless and makes no attempt at coercion?'"
"Oh! Oops, let me…" Leonīds flips through a stack of paper again, "Crap… I haven't write one where our opponent wants us to surrender." He turns to the party and jumps on to the table, its legs starting to creak and bend from the weight... "Well, you know what to do when we don't know what to say next, guys—say our mottos!"
Eerin waves her claw, and a sparkling effect appears behind the three. "Prepare for trouble,"
"And make it triple!" Aloizs cheerfully adds.
"To steal from the poor and give it to ourselves." Leonīds says, posing with Aloizs.
"To take your things and put it on our shelf!" Eerin says, how long will they take to commit a crime?
"To make this world full of evil and chaos," Aloizs rhymes.
"Sacking villages from Arusa to Kerwos!" Leonīds chimes.
"Eerin!"
"Aloizs!"
"And Leonīds, AKA Leo!"
"You better run, you better take cover, we are the Forest Assault-Recon Team, prepare to surrender!" All three of them speak in unison. Leonīds and Aloizs try their best to hold their laughter after the reveal of their team name (If you haven't got it already, their acronym is FART, which by itself should be a crime due to how terrible their sense of humour is).
Eerin waves her claw again, and an illusionary fireworks explodes behind them.
Aloizs pulls out a lute from his backpack and strums, giving themselves a background music. "I'll admit, you guys did good, but you can't fool us! That fire Genasi guy would never want peace, he wants problems, always." He mimics Cezars, "'I will tie your hands, legs, and tail, then I will have horses pull them off one by one!' I mean… What was his problem? We just want to have some fun, you know? What good is a story without a villain?"
Eerin pulls out her accordion and joins in too, the music starts to take shape, it's an upbeat and fast waltz, a perfect beat to beat up thugs and have a duel to.
Leonīds hop down from the table, he taps his foot along with the beat. "We always know surrender is an option, but come on! What's the fun in that? I have a proposal to all of you: send a volunteer to fight me in a one-on-one duel. If I win, you have to give me all of your stuff and leave us. If you win, we'll surrender, deal?"
OOC Note:
Let me introduce you to a new mechanic: duelling.
A duelling occurs when both parties send some of their members (up to three people at the time) to fight, and if one side lose, they will have to do what their opponent told them to do. It's a common way to settle disputes in Lancea, and there are even trial-by-combat courts in some countries.
In a duel, whoever goes first is decided with a coin flip (rolling a d2—1 is heads and 2 is tails) instead of rolling initiative. Unlike normal fights, both parties consent to actually taking turns hitting each other instead of acting on the fly. After all, duelling is all about fairness, it gives a chance for a party with less members (or simply having a bad luck with initiative) to actually shine.
It's okay to decline a duel and opt for a regular fight, however, non-participating members cannot assist duelling members in any way. Keep in mind that the majority of the enemies will not agree to a duel, especially if they think they have a chance at winning in a head-on regular fight.
"The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference."
—Richard Dawkins
DM—Stories From The End of The World: Episode I
Uh... *His snarls turns into a confused expression though his grip doesn't realx; Question marks appear over his hooded head* I don't know what's going on here... Are they trying to scaring us or what??? Because I'm definitely not fazed. *He gives another confused look at Shugo* And... what kind of stupid monologue are they even doing?! Can I just tear their throats out?! "Uh... your highness. (Shugo).. Should we...? I'm confused." Forest Assault Recon Team... Wait a... PFFFT! *Taking advantage of the darkness, he turns his head away as he stifles a laugh after putting the first letters of each word together; Once he does so he whispers to Shugo what he deduced*
Wait... they're asking for a one-on-one fight? Deja Vu if you ask me... Thing is though I'm still weak from the previous fight against Stupid Rixi. And uh... they're considering having this tavern fight inside the entire building? They really want us to destroy this entire place on our own huh. But... then again... I'd honestly prefer to stay out of this just this once, rather than let hog the glory to myself. In fact I didn't get the chance to analyse anyone in our previous fight. But first...
"Hey uh..." I growl in a low, hostile voice. "...can you three just put the first letters of each word in whatever your team name is called because that's literally you guys right now." I then turn to Shugo. "What do we do? Should we accept whatever gibberish they spat out or...?"
The Wildland Shifters
Daisy Ethalena - Female Wood Elf Ranger (Monster Slayer)
Ethan Wolftree - Male Simic Hybrid Warlock (The Hexblade)
Mira Laurits - Female Harengon Sorcerer (Clockwork Soul); Lancea
Raiden Kurosaki - Male Kitsune Wizard (Bladesinger); Lancea
Rixian Nishinoya - Male Fire Genasi Paladin (Oath of Vengeance)
Tenebris Amaro - Male Dark Elf Druid (Circle of Stars)
Yurime Hanasaki - Female Kumiho Bard (College Of Creation)
Alexander watches the... strange scene unfold as the three 'bandits' chant and pose as if this is some sort of concert. Clearly this really is just a group of kids trying to have a good time. Still, that doesn't excuse their behavior. They can't be rewarded for treating real life like it's a story.
Tentatively, he reaches out with his Divine Sense, wondering how these kids really aligned themselves. Perhaps his findings will influence how he moves forward, perhaps not. Right now, he is not too keen on taking them up on their offer. Why should they? It seemed a terrible tactical choice considering they have the three both outnumbered, surrounded, and likely outmatched aside from the fact that they'd just finished a real battle prior--and all his magical energy has been depleted. He might have a chance against this kid with nothing but his blade and armor, but... he isn't sure that's a risk he wants to take.
Sighing he says, "This isn't about fun. This is about right and wrong, and what you kids have been doing is wrong. This is real life, not a game." He points his sword at the ground, so as to take on a less threatening stance without dropping his guard. "Look, we just had a fight with that fire genasi. We don't agree with anything he's been doing, and are going to take him in to see if we can have him atone for his crimes. We know as well as you that if he got his hands on any of you that it wouldn't be pretty. But, just because he is in the wrong doesn't mean that what you guys are doing for 'fun' is any less a crime then his abusing his own power... even if his is worse. That said, we can't just let you walk away..." He hesitates, what would happen if they brought these kids in only for the authorities to let Cezars have his way? How can they guarantee their safety and hold them accountable for their crimes?
He sighs again, then looks to Venet, "What do you think? I don't think this duel is the smartest move." But maybe they could change the deal a little and just say, if they win they can walk, if they lose then they give up everything they stole instead of surrendering... though Alex really doesn't like that idea either considering that would leave these kids to just start over. Plus... what are they going to do with everything the kids give back? "We can't just let them get away with this, they have to be held accountable or they won't ever change their ways." He says this in a voice low enough that the group can hear him debating, just so they know that they aren't completely disregarding their offer, but quiet enough that they can't make out exactly what he's saying.
Shugo's tough guy facade shatters at the pure ridiculousness of the situation. He should have guessed they wouldn't believe Cezars, but he really wasn't expecting the group to surrender easily anyways. He lets his blade point to the ground when the Kobold pushes it to the side, and his whole body seems to deflate. Eh? They want to duel? That's not going to happen. Like he'd trust these honor-less punks to actually abide by the rules. Plus no one in his group is at full strength right now anyways. These brats are just trying to figure an easier way out of a hopeless situation. While he doesn't think these kids deserve whatever punishment Cezars would inflict on them, they do deserve some kind of punishment. With Cezars calling the shots, he doubts Pelmeni lady is the first to have suffered at the fire genasi's hands because of them.
Lost in thought, he barely hears Renar's voice. Eh? Who's he calling 'your highness'? He turns to look at the shifter confused, only to meet the other man's gaze. "Ooooh, he's talking to me? Why? I'm not royalty?" He opens his mouth to respond just as Renar whispers the acronym to him. Fart? Really. He cringes, and continues to stare at Renar with a flat, confused expression. And this guy finds that funny? Why is everyone being so childish? He shakes himself, he likes a good laugh but this just isn't his kind of humor. "Uh, well firstly don't call me your highness. It's not like I'm a prince or something I'm not even a big deal and I'd like to keep it that way. Secondly, No we are absolutely not going to conform to their gibberish and accept being part of their stupid story or whatever." He flourishes his blade and points it at the Kobold again. "Our Paladin is right." He starts, but interupts himself with his own spell...OK! I PLAYED MY PART AND IT DIDN'T WORK! I DEMAND TO BE RELEASED AT ONCE!!! DO IT NOW OR I WILL SKIN YOU ALL ALIVE!" He glares outside, pretending to ignore the screams of the oathbreaker. Then he points outside, "That hot head is probably worse than any of you when it comes to honor, but because of you he's going around hurting innocent people. So no!" He turns his finger to point at the Kobold. "We are not dueling you. We are taking you in and we are going to prove that Cezars is overstepping his boundaries. ALL of you are in the wrong here, and right now you lot have no way of running. So as I see it you have two options. One, come willingly and testify against Cezars before serving a fair punishment for your 'fun and games', or Two let us beat you up and drag you to prison. Your choice. Either way, justice will be served."