Finally, Elias steps from the small room, a small black bat clinging to his pointy hat. Ladies, might I introduce Cleo. She's very excited to help us locate that imp.
"Oh, pleasure to meet you, Cleo..." Khessa smiles, approaching the Bat to gently scratch and caress the fur on the belly and back. "So now you're part of the Flaming Fist too, right? Baldur's Gate will be much safer, now that you've come to make your contribution too..."
While welcome-petting the pet, obviously the blonde arcane warrior couldn't help but come very close to Elias and coincidentally their sides brush... but she doesn't seem to be bothered at all.
“Why, Miss Cleo, you look fabulous. Say, have I seen you before? Your eyes look familiar. Ha! Familiar, what a pun. But seriously, did you spend time with the tarot card fortune teller, Youree, on the waterfront?” Even Alan, who was well acquainted with bad jokes and odd memories shakes his head at Rosebud’s rambling.
Mistynip approaches Kheesa and the bat. Elija, what a beautiful bat. Hello Cleo. Kheesa, can you tell me about this bath house you keep mentioning and how it pertains to the cultists?
"Oh, Mistynip, what a scatterbrain I am..." Khessa facepalms "You're right, I forgot to explain in detail everything we know. I'll try to fix that".
"The Bath House I was referring to is a place owned by the Vanthampur's - specifically, probably by a certain Mortlock who our good Rosebud knows (though she doesn't think much of him)" the blonde arcane warrior explains. "This place, as we've discovered, has a double identity. During the day, from sunrise until midnight, it is a popular place to bathe. But after midnight the Cult of the Dead Three operate, bringing in their dead - there's an Imp who patrols the outside area, taking advantage of its invisibility and there's a secret passage we've discovered that leads to an underground complex. In this complex, stretches of shallow (and probably sewage) water alternate with dry rooms apparently divided between the three branches of the Cultists, those dedicated to Bane, Bhaal and Myrkul".
"We had started cleaning up the Myrkul area - and we thought we had cleaned it thoroughly - but now I'm not so sure anymore," the tall adventuress continues "because we eliminated several simple Cultists, but not a certain 'Master of Souls' that we heard about later and who should be in charge of them. Maybe in reality a 'Mistress' of Souls, because who spoke of her used the feminine pronoun ('her'). But at least we should have wiped out the Bane Cultists, because we met and killed their Cult Leader. It is precisely the Bane Cult Leader who was holding poor Klima prisoner, to drain her blood from her body little by little, that sadistic and merciless b4stard! May he rot like that putrid carcass of his dead god! While we have not yet found Bhaal Cultists".
REYA will look at KHESSA, tears forming in her eyes when she mentions what Klima went through, "Such great evil. It will be good to rid our world of such as these."
"I already promised it to the captain who recruited me..." Khessa assures, placing a hand on Reya's shoulder "Those evil cultists will soon be as dead as the unworthy gods they so revere".
Mistynip walks over to Rey’s and Kheesa. She addresses them. Kheesa, thank you for explaining. I now understand the urgency of this quest to rid our world of these cultist!
Elias sets and listens, caught up in the tale the blonde warrior wizard spins, forgetting for the moment that he's actually a part of it. As the fear and doubts try to surface again within himself he looks at them each. As if seeing them all for the first time. Khessa the natural born leader, brave and strong, now with the power of the arcane, impossible to stop. Reya the charismatic devine warrior, as strong as she is devoted, seeking her own answers in this. Rosebud, the quirky gardener yet so much more than tender of plants. And the newcomer Misty, no questioning her devotion to her deity, it was evident within the first few minutes of meeting her. I wonder what the rest of her story is.
As Misty finishes speaking he snaps back to the present, well ladies, should we be going?
"Yes, there's no time to waste..." Khessa agrees. "It's just a shame about Atlas' sudden defection... He was the only truly stealthy guy in the group".
The tall adventuress looks around, as if... Oh, sure, as if fate might providentially send a replacement...
'Yes, sure... What a deluded fool I am...' the blonde arcane warrior thinks - even as she scans for a last time the entire inn with her watchful blue eyes, in a final desperate search for someone promising to recruit. 'Of course we'll have to make the best of a bad situation and go on our own...'
Mistynip heads towards her room, addressing Khessa. I’ll go get my pack and I’ll be ready to go. May Helm bless us in this battle. She continues to the room, checks her bag and heads back out.
Elias follows Misty, it might be best to only carry what you need, the passages are kinda cramp. We can leave our packs locked in our rooms. These cultist have fighters that are very skilled with these long daggers, he pulls one and shows it to her, and vile magic that can turn them into murderous zealots.
he turns and goes to his room, double checks his gear then meets the others down stairs.
Not far away from the party, a woman in dark garments sits at a gaming table playing dice. The woman looks young, but in her eyes she has a far-away look that belonged on a much older person.
As she shoots her dice, she does her best not to eavesdrop... but her experience and training take over as soon as one of the strangers mentions a 'spell.' It doesn't take Rosaline long to figure out that those adventurers are a bunch of spellcasters. Witches.
Rosaline sighs. That isn't really her business. As a witchfinder for the Grand Duke Ulder Ravenguard it had been her duty to find and deal with malicious spellcasters, and there was no particular reason to think that these people were in that category. Still, mages always made her uncomfortable, and hearing people openly talking about their proclivity for casting was enough to put her on guard. She bent her head down slightly so her long black hair fell in such a way as to obscure her face, allowing her to listen discreetly to the adventurers.
But as she continues to listen, it quickly becomes clear to her that something was afoot... cultists. Now THAT was something which deserved her full attention. Truly vile witchcraft, the kind that she has dedicated her life to stamping out. As it becomes clear that these adventurers are about to leave, Rosaline politely excused herself from the gaming table. She rises to her feet and quietly approaches the tall blonde woman...
"I'm sorry to intrude,"she says, doing her best not to sound confrontational or allow herself to go into 'inquisition mode.' "But... I may have overheard some things that you and your companions were saying... about some particularly dangerous cultists. It sounds to me as if you people could use the services of a witchfinder to deal with this little problem. Please, allow me to introduce myself. I am Inquisitor Rosaline Blackridge, and until quite recently I was in the employ of the Grand Duke Ravenguard."
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Unhappy that the market got rid of individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
Khessa examines the inquisitor with satisfaction in her blue eyes. She was caught unprepared for a moment... she was trying to find possible further help... and instead it was the help that found her! However, her features immediately relax in a welcoming smile, while she holds out her hand: "Dangerous, evil and ruthless!" she confirms "But you seem like a person who is not easily frightened! Your help will probably be invaluable! Welcome among us!"
"My name is Khessa, Khessa Cabbagefield" the blonde arcane warrior introduces herself. "Meet Elias, Rosebud, Mistynip and Reya" she introduces the others.
The tall adventuress starts leading the way, explaining as she goes: "The Cultists we are taking down are Dead-Three Cultists. Apparently, they believe that kidnapping, torturing, or killing common folk in honor of their dead deities is a meritorious act. We have every intention of showing them the errors of their ways. We attacked their base during the night, but had to call off the operation to rescue a prisoner who was in desperate need of healing - and we were out of ways to administer it. We are now returning to their base, accessed by a secret passage in a Bath House. From what we have seen, the Cultists appear to be split between the three gods of the dead triad: Bane, Bhaal, and Myrkul. Each of the three branches appears to be headed by a Cultist Leader. We eliminated the Bane Cultists' Leaders, so that branch should be crippled. And we thought we had exterminated the entire Myrkul branch - but we couldn't find their Leader so perhaps we are missing something. And we haven't found many Bhaal Cultists yet - much less their Leader. It's worth noting, though, that they have an Imp on their side, a Fiend capable of turning invisible. We're coming back to finish the job... but it won't be easy".
The party introduces themselves to ROSALINE accepting her assistance, since she too is a member of the Flaming Fist, though under the now missing and presumed dead, Ulder Ravenguard's faction.
It is a couple of hours past sunrise when the party heads back to the Bathhouse. You will find the gate locked with a sign that reads, "CLOSED FOR MAINTENANCE."
(Link to the Bathhouse will be in the OOC thread.)
The paved cobblestones of the street meet up with the wall to the Bathhouse's courtyard. However, there is a niche to the left with a sewer opening surrounded by shrubs. The streets are starting to get busy.
(I have added a link to the Bathhouse Surrounding map in the OOC thread.)
"Too late". Khessa shakes her head, disconsolate. "We apparently took too long and the Cultists noticed our nocturnal intrusion - and they locked down the Bath House, probably both to better defend it and to hide evidence of dead Cultists".
"Atlas would have been able to pick this lock, I suppose..." the blonde arcane warrior stares at the locked door "But Atlas is no longer with us. Mistynip? Rosaline? Do either of you know how to 'persuade' this door to open?"
"If not," the tall adventuress sighs "we'll just have to find out if Rosebud can dig a passage for us under the walls... Or if we can climb the walls from one of the side alleys. Or, failing all... just break down the door. But I'd save that as a last resort, because while membership in the Flaming Fist should give us the authority to do so, the noise would reveal our presence to any Cultists guarding inside. So I'd prefere to try some of the other approaches first".
[[OOC: Rosaline is proficient with Thieves Tools, but she doesn't actually have a set on her]]
"I might be able to open it," the Inquisitor says, examining the lock carefully. "But I would need some tools to do it which I unfortunately do not have on my person... otherwise, I could try to scale the wall and then drop a rope for the rest of you."
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Unhappy that the market got rid of individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
"I see..." Khessa reasons "Then perhaps the second best option, in terms of stealth and speed of execution, is in fact to climb. Come, the corner Rosebud has found is out of sight".
Once there, the blonde arcane warrior tells Rosaline: "Since I'm quite tall, I'll try to help you climb..."[[ OOC: Khessa should be able to act as an 'additional handhold or foothold' for Rosaline's hands or feet for a good portion of the climb... I hope this gives her Adavntage ]]"...If you fail, I'll try myself - I can climb, too".
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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Finally, Elias steps from the small room, a small black bat clinging to his pointy hat. Ladies, might I introduce Cleo. She's very excited to help us locate that imp.
"Oh, pleasure to meet you, Cleo..." Khessa smiles, approaching the Bat to gently scratch and caress the fur on the belly and back. "So now you're part of the Flaming Fist too, right? Baldur's Gate will be much safer, now that you've come to make your contribution too..."
While welcome-petting the pet, obviously the blonde arcane warrior couldn't help but come very close to Elias and coincidentally their sides brush... but she doesn't seem to be bothered at all.
“Why, Miss Cleo, you look fabulous. Say, have I seen you before? Your eyes look familiar. Ha! Familiar, what a pun. But seriously, did you spend time with the tarot card fortune teller, Youree, on the waterfront?” Even Alan, who was well acquainted with bad jokes and odd memories shakes his head at Rosebud’s rambling.
Mistynip approaches Kheesa and the bat. Elija, what a beautiful bat. Hello Cleo. Kheesa, can you tell me about this bath house you keep mentioning and how it pertains to the cultists?
"Oh, Mistynip, what a scatterbrain I am..." Khessa facepalms "You're right, I forgot to explain in detail everything we know. I'll try to fix that".
"The Bath House I was referring to is a place owned by the Vanthampur's - specifically, probably by a certain Mortlock who our good Rosebud knows (though she doesn't think much of him)" the blonde arcane warrior explains. "This place, as we've discovered, has a double identity. During the day, from sunrise until midnight, it is a popular place to bathe. But after midnight the Cult of the Dead Three operate, bringing in their dead - there's an Imp who patrols the outside area, taking advantage of its invisibility and there's a secret passage we've discovered that leads to an underground complex. In this complex, stretches of shallow (and probably sewage) water alternate with dry rooms apparently divided between the three branches of the Cultists, those dedicated to Bane, Bhaal and Myrkul".
"We had started cleaning up the Myrkul area - and we thought we had cleaned it thoroughly - but now I'm not so sure anymore," the tall adventuress continues "because we eliminated several simple Cultists, but not a certain 'Master of Souls' that we heard about later and who should be in charge of them. Maybe in reality a 'Mistress' of Souls, because who spoke of her used the feminine pronoun ('her'). But at least we should have wiped out the Bane Cultists, because we met and killed their Cult Leader. It is precisely the Bane Cult Leader who was holding poor Klima prisoner, to drain her blood from her body little by little, that sadistic and merciless b4stard! May he rot like that putrid carcass of his dead god! While we have not yet found Bhaal Cultists".
REYA will look at KHESSA, tears forming in her eyes when she mentions what Klima went through, "Such great evil. It will be good to rid our world of such as these."
"I already promised it to the captain who recruited me..." Khessa assures, placing a hand on Reya's shoulder "Those evil cultists will soon be as dead as the unworthy gods they so revere".
Mistynip walks over to Rey’s and Kheesa. She addresses them. Kheesa, thank you for explaining. I now understand the urgency of this quest to rid our world of these cultist!
Elias sets and listens, caught up in the tale the blonde warrior wizard spins, forgetting for the moment that he's actually a part of it. As the fear and doubts try to surface again within himself he looks at them each. As if seeing them all for the first time. Khessa the natural born leader, brave and strong, now with the power of the arcane, impossible to stop. Reya the charismatic devine warrior, as strong as she is devoted, seeking her own answers in this. Rosebud, the quirky gardener yet so much more than tender of plants. And the newcomer Misty, no questioning her devotion to her deity, it was evident within the first few minutes of meeting her. I wonder what the rest of her story is.
As Misty finishes speaking he snaps back to the present, well ladies, should we be going?
"Yes, there's no time to waste..." Khessa agrees. "It's just a shame about Atlas' sudden defection... He was the only truly stealthy guy in the group".
The tall adventuress looks around, as if... Oh, sure, as if fate might providentially send a replacement...
'Yes, sure... What a deluded fool I am...' the blonde arcane warrior thinks - even as she scans for a last time the entire inn with her watchful blue eyes, in a final desperate search for someone promising to recruit. 'Of course we'll have to make the best of a bad situation and go on our own...'
Mistynip heads towards her room, addressing Khessa. I’ll go get my pack and I’ll be ready to go. May Helm bless us in this battle. She continues to the room, checks her bag and heads back out.
Elias follows Misty, it might be best to only carry what you need, the passages are kinda cramp. We can leave our packs locked in our rooms. These cultist have fighters that are very skilled with these long daggers, he pulls one and shows it to her, and vile magic that can turn them into murderous zealots.
he turns and goes to his room, double checks his gear then meets the others down stairs.
Not far away from the party, a woman in dark garments sits at a gaming table playing dice. The woman looks young, but in her eyes she has a far-away look that belonged on a much older person.
As she shoots her dice, she does her best not to eavesdrop... but her experience and training take over as soon as one of the strangers mentions a 'spell.' It doesn't take Rosaline long to figure out that those adventurers are a bunch of spellcasters. Witches.
Rosaline sighs. That isn't really her business. As a witchfinder for the Grand Duke Ulder Ravenguard it had been her duty to find and deal with malicious spellcasters, and there was no particular reason to think that these people were in that category. Still, mages always made her uncomfortable, and hearing people openly talking about their proclivity for casting was enough to put her on guard. She bent her head down slightly so her long black hair fell in such a way as to obscure her face, allowing her to listen discreetly to the adventurers.
But as she continues to listen, it quickly becomes clear to her that something was afoot... cultists. Now THAT was something which deserved her full attention. Truly vile witchcraft, the kind that she has dedicated her life to stamping out. As it becomes clear that these adventurers are about to leave, Rosaline politely excused herself from the gaming table. She rises to her feet and quietly approaches the tall blonde woman...
"I'm sorry to intrude," she says, doing her best not to sound confrontational or allow herself to go into 'inquisition mode.' "But... I may have overheard some things that you and your companions were saying... about some particularly dangerous cultists. It sounds to me as if you people could use the services of a witchfinder to deal with this little problem. Please, allow me to introduce myself. I am Inquisitor Rosaline Blackridge, and until quite recently I was in the employ of the Grand Duke Ravenguard."
Unhappy that the market got rid of individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
Provide feedback!
Khessa examines the inquisitor with satisfaction in her blue eyes. She was caught unprepared for a moment... she was trying to find possible further help... and instead it was the help that found her! However, her features immediately relax in a welcoming smile, while she holds out her hand: "Dangerous, evil and ruthless!" she confirms "But you seem like a person who is not easily frightened! Your help will probably be invaluable! Welcome among us!"
"My name is Khessa, Khessa Cabbagefield" the blonde arcane warrior introduces herself. "Meet Elias, Rosebud, Mistynip and Reya" she introduces the others.
The tall adventuress starts leading the way, explaining as she goes: "The Cultists we are taking down are Dead-Three Cultists. Apparently, they believe that kidnapping, torturing, or killing common folk in honor of their dead deities is a meritorious act. We have every intention of showing them the errors of their ways. We attacked their base during the night, but had to call off the operation to rescue a prisoner who was in desperate need of healing - and we were out of ways to administer it. We are now returning to their base, accessed by a secret passage in a Bath House. From what we have seen, the Cultists appear to be split between the three gods of the dead triad: Bane, Bhaal, and Myrkul. Each of the three branches appears to be headed by a Cultist Leader. We eliminated the Bane Cultists' Leaders, so that branch should be crippled. And we thought we had exterminated the entire Myrkul branch - but we couldn't find their Leader so perhaps we are missing something. And we haven't found many Bhaal Cultists yet - much less their Leader. It's worth noting, though, that they have an Imp on their side, a Fiend capable of turning invisible. We're coming back to finish the job... but it won't be easy".
The party introduces themselves to ROSALINE accepting her assistance, since she too is a member of the Flaming Fist, though under the now missing and presumed dead, Ulder Ravenguard's faction.
It is a couple of hours past sunrise when the party heads back to the Bathhouse. You will find the gate locked with a sign that reads, "CLOSED FOR MAINTENANCE."
(Link to the Bathhouse will be in the OOC thread.)
Ooc: how busy is the street (many people watching us?) and is there dirt outside the walls (can Rosebud dig under the walls?)
The paved cobblestones of the street meet up with the wall to the Bathhouse's courtyard. However, there is a niche to the left with a sewer opening surrounded by shrubs. The streets are starting to get busy.
(I have added a link to the Bathhouse Surrounding map in the OOC thread.)
"Too late". Khessa shakes her head, disconsolate. "We apparently took too long and the Cultists noticed our nocturnal intrusion - and they locked down the Bath House, probably both to better defend it and to hide evidence of dead Cultists".
"Atlas would have been able to pick this lock, I suppose..." the blonde arcane warrior stares at the locked door "But Atlas is no longer with us. Mistynip? Rosaline? Do either of you know how to 'persuade' this door to open?"
"If not," the tall adventuress sighs "we'll just have to find out if Rosebud can dig a passage for us under the walls... Or if we can climb the walls from one of the side alleys. Or, failing all... just break down the door. But I'd save that as a last resort, because while membership in the Flaming Fist should give us the authority to do so, the noise would reveal our presence to any Cultists guarding inside. So I'd prefere to try some of the other approaches first".
[[OOC: Rosaline is proficient with Thieves Tools, but she doesn't actually have a set on her]]
"I might be able to open it," the Inquisitor says, examining the lock carefully. "But I would need some tools to do it which I unfortunately do not have on my person... otherwise, I could try to scale the wall and then drop a rope for the rest of you."
Unhappy that the market got rid of individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
Provide feedback!
"I see..." Khessa reasons "Then perhaps the second best option, in terms of stealth and speed of execution, is in fact to climb. Come, the corner Rosebud has found is out of sight".
Once there, the blonde arcane warrior tells Rosaline: "Since I'm quite tall, I'll try to help you climb..." [[ OOC: Khessa should be able to act as an 'additional handhold or foothold' for Rosaline's hands or feet for a good portion of the climb... I hope this gives her Adavntage ]] "...If you fail, I'll try myself - I can climb, too".