The two women turn, and Granophyre rushes past with Snow, taking advantage of the illusion’s wide girth to hide behind. The pair continue onward until they reach a hallway with a dead end.
A side door creaks open, and three children of twelve or thirteen — girls — sneak out. The tallest one holds a feathered arrowhead in one hand, which glows in the dark, and the youngest, wearing big spectacles, fumbles with a small spellbook and adjusts her too-big night-shirt, which is torn.
“They went that way!,” says the tall one, trying to act like a grown-up and pointing back to where there was a turn in the hallway. Her nightshirt only goes down to her knees following a recent growth spurt, and Snow recognizes a dim corona of fey energy pulsing from her.
Snow turns to regard the three girls and gives them a courtly bow.
"That is mighty helpful of you", he says as he stands, dropping the gruffness in his voice so as not to frighten them. He looks back to the turning in the hallway to determine if that makes sense based on where the castle is and the bridge they had seen previously.
"And it is mighty brave of you all to keep an eye on these people", he adds looking back at them impressed.
"Did you happen to overhear them talking at all?", he asks finally.
He watches them carefully for signs of any untruths, and to make sure he believes the others went the way they said.
Investigation (With advantage from Enhance Ability): (18,16)+7= 25 Insight: 13+4=17
The surprise that nobody tried to stop her fades away before Varielky even really notices it. And, although she was worried Benita would want to get her payback too - justifiably so - she's briefly eased that she doesn't. That feeling too gets overshadowed by the wrath she's feeling, however.
"You have a lot of confidence to stand before me like this. Or, perhaps, you do not recognise me?" Although Varielky herself is one who doesn't remember many people and would probably fail to recognise quite a few of those she previously met, she finds the thought that he might not recognise her absurd. Not because of who she is, but because it shows how little it bothered him to execute the orders he was given. If she somehow reached the point where she had to take the lives of people in such a manner, she's sure their faces would never cease to haunt her.
Varielky reaches to grab his cloth so he wouldn't be able to escape. "Ishi Ammah? The Beauty Pageant? Ba-Li?" Varielky really stresses that name, separating its two syllables, similarly to how Abadolla once presented himself to her. "Does that reminisce any memories into that sordid, ignoble mind of yours?"
The goal within reach, the trams anyway, Auger pauses at the landing, eyes the party above and then experiences the momentary sense of dread. They. Are. Right. There. And the Lady was probably too observant to miss him. And perhaps not drugged right now. Maybe. Turning left Auger immediately starts moving in the direction of the trams, expecting Tamazaert and Benita to follow.
As they step towards the balcony, and assuming no one else is around, Auger quietly says to Benita, "The danger here is extreme. We have faced a pair of guests in the party above, and things did not go well for us. They are extremely powerful. Between them and the guards across the way I worry about leaving Varielky. Help her. I can join Tama at the aerie."
(OOC: Do we know how soon the Roc will take flight with the babies?)
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
DM of RotFM | AUGER the Warlock (Archfey & the Chain) / Shadow Sorcerer in Age of Resurgence | Rahui & Javier in Sea of Memory
The man’s small, deep set eyes bulge in indignation as he sputters angrily, trying to slap away the shield-maiden’s grip on his little vest, but only for a moment before recognition flashes, and he whispers, “What flock-ups...” but then abruptly his expression falls flat and his body goes almost limp as he glares at a spot above Varielky’s shoulder.
“Your ravings mean nothing to me! Do you know who I am?,” he says, loudly, his nasal tenor ringing down the hallway. “I am the general manager of the great Souss Massa Diamond Mine! Take your hands off of me!”
Varielky sees the guards, who had been eying her and the others from the moment they passed through the door, stand bolt upright and, loosening their long curved blades, rush toward her. They are 30’ away and closing.
(OOC: Benita said that she was told that the babies would be gone by midnight.)
The landing, indeed, is occupied. Dozing in a chair next to the wide arch which opens onto the terrace is a person wrapped in long linen swaths like bandages, like a mummy, under a robe far too heavy for the climate. Only his head is exposed, and it is covered in tattoos depicting eyes. As you enter the terrace, one of the tattoo eyes follows you, then his real eyes do likewise, regarding you now with alert indifference. He stands up wordlessly, and then, nothing. He seems to be waiting for you to say something. You recognize his type as one of those mysterious students of arcane lore who connect with the ancient Dominion boxes at arenas to throw illusions high into the air so that large crowds may witness the events at a distance. Eyes.
Looking pale and trembling slightly, Tamazaert follows Auger, but at the sight of the tattooed man, she recoils and backs up a few steps toward the balustrade. “Nanatya save me,” she gasps.
Benita, coming up last, still bristling, seems to hear something down the stairs which absorbs her attention. She turns forward to take in the bandaged man and frowns. “Yuck,” she says, then turns back toward the staircase, ears perked.
“No sir,” they say, the taller two. “Those hooligans didn’t say anything. But they just passed a minute ago.”
If it were not for the small stained glass window near the top of the dead-end wall, through which Snow’s heightened intellect makes note of dim reflections sparkling ever-so-mutely through the glass — the window shape that of the El Harrouch arms — if not for that tiny clue, Snow might have been tricked. But now the illusion is rendered almost transparent, and he sees that it was magic which covered the doors to the bridge with an image of a blank wall, and the glinting lights prisming through the glass are from the lanterns lighting the bridge just beyond the door.
Snow now notices the littlest one of the three girls standing very still, gripping the floor with her toes almost, this barely perceptible tell the rippling of water over the lake of her arcane energies, which remain focused by her command, though it takes all her willpower to maintain the facade of this simple spell.
The other girls smile sweetly and, holding their hands just beside their chins, wave a tiny goodbye to the bard, encouraging him to turn away.
(Oops, I planned to roll Athletics to grapple him last round, but it seems like I forgot. Oh well, it wouldn't have mattered too much anyhow, I suppose.)
Some voice at the back of her mind tells Varielky she should do something else, but that voice is immediately silenced completely. She doesn't need distractions. "Then let's see if these diamonds can protect you. I heard they're supposed to be pretty flockin' hard."
Varielky does release the man's clothes, but not with the intention of letting him go. She just needed a free hand to punch him. Honour? A chance to draw a weapon. In hind-sight, Varielky might excuse to herself that he had that, but at that moment, she just didn't think he deserved any of that.
First in the stomache, then straight to the face. She won't even use her own weapon. He did not deserve that either. She never tried to crack a skull with her bare hands, and she certainly didn't look forward to it, but cutting him down with Dreygaard was just wrong, she knew, and so was leaving him alive.
Speaking of, if he was still somehow able to remain conscious and standing, Varielky would smash her shield into his face, trying to cause him to fall down to the floor.
Varielky doesn't really care that the guards are there. Even if they try to stop her, she wouldn't stop until Abadolla's gone. However, interruptions were still unwelcomed. "Stay away if you don't want to end up dead as well!" Varielky yells at them, caring little for whether anyone else hears her.
Unarmed Strike #1: 12+8=20 to hit, 6 damage.
Unarmed Strike #2: 8+8÷16 to hit, 6 damage.
BA Shield Shove to knock Abadolla prone, if he's still up. Athletics: 17+8=25.
Auger is also briefly put off by the strange person before them but guesses he is an attendant of some sort who manages the tram cars. Perhaps he is the one who casts the spells that makes the cars go. To the strange man he says, "We are headed to the aerie. How long does it take to get up to the summit?"
Auger then turns to look at Benita to try and see what is pulling her attention.
"Down there, you say?", Snow asks the girls pointing back the way he had come.
"Are you sure? Because I am sure there used to be a door right here", he says wandering over to the illusory wall and knocking on it a couple of times.
"That is a very clever illusion, young one. They must have made quite the impression on you for you to help them like this. I won't ask you to go against that loyalty. But best you head off to bed now, and don't worry, we mean them no harm", he says gently, wishing he could drop the illusion and show his true self, but expecting he will need it now more than ever.
He then turns and moves to open the door to the bridge.
Swift and slow in turn,” replies the mysterious figure.
Benita’s eyes swell with tears, her breath comes heavily, and a dark cloud of indecision seems to envelop her heart at this moment.
Tamazaert has backed away to a spot beside the tram, eyes glued to the Eye, then she takes stock of her position and backs into the conveyance.
“Benita?,” she calls, tremulously.
The comely Indallian turns away from the stairs, even as the sound of yelling pierces the music and the chatter of the castle’s guests from the grand ballroom.
The shield-maiden’s fist plummets into the djinn-clothed man’s soft belly. His breath whooshes out, lips forming a long tunnel through which a hollow whistle sounds as his beady eyes pop nearly out of their sockets. The next punch smashes his face, breaking nose and teeth, blood splattering, and he reels. Varielky’s spellguard shield slams into the girthful Orracan, knocking him a foot off the ground to rebound against the wall and crash onto the floor, face down and motionless.
The guards stop in hier tracks at Varielky’s warning, then slowly advance again a few steps, keeping their distance.
“But you’re not supposed to come in here, how did you…,” says the oldest girl, skeptically.
The middle one cups both hands around the oldest one’s ears and whispers something, eying Snow. They both take two steps back, their eyes widening somewhat.
The youngest twitches her nose and backs away as the illusion disappears.
“Come on,” says the oldest, and the three skitter away, a ripping sound marking their exeunt as the smallest girl trips on her nightshirt.
Granophyre looks after them, shaking his head, eyes glinting. “The defenders of Shia in another ten years, no doubt…”
"How so very clear of you. Thank you,"Auger says to the strange attendant. At the sound of the trouble downstairs and Benita's continued attention in that direction, Auger guesses that Varielky is in need of some assistance and decides to switch his priorities for the moment.
As Benita moves into the car Auger steps toward her and quietly says, "I am going to go get Varielky and bring her out of there. If it takes too long, then ask our fine attendant here to proceed without us. Find Sura and I --"Auger pauses to look up to the summit. "I will find a way to follow soon. No matter what. Py will stay with you and tell you what is going on. Actually I have a question for you, but Py will relay it in a moment."
Stay with Benita. Tell me what they are doing. And through you, I will tell them what I am doing.
Auger then steps back towards the hallway while searching through his coin pouch and pulling out a single copper coin. In his head, he keeps up a running commentary to Py of what he intends to do, so Benita can know.
(OOC: Auger's intentions follow, this technically may take a few rounds but laying it out for Benita to see.)
Relay all this for Benita, Py. Halfway back through the hall, I intend tocast a magicalDarknesscentered on a coin I am carrying. In this fashion, the bubble of magical darkness will move with me. Only I will be able to see through the magical Darkness [Note: Auger is is casting with sorcery points and so this statement will be true].
I will then step down into the area with Varielky and lead her out, leaving the coin somewhere behind with some confused guards. Does Benita have any advice on something I can say that will get Varielky to listen and come with us?
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
DM of RotFM | AUGER the Warlock (Archfey & the Chain) / Shadow Sorcerer in Age of Resurgence | Rahui & Javier in Sea of Memory
Varielky stares vacantly for a moment. She achieved her goal... yet felt empty doing so. There was no thrill nor glory -if not the opposite - and she didn't really feel having gotten her revenge. He might be dead, but even if he is, that doesn't right the wrongs. At best, it might have prevented anything he might do in the future, but that didn't matter either. Varielky feels even worse than before.
Eventually, Varielky turns and walks away, in the direction the others have gone. She doesn't even bother to check if the man is truly dead. She assumed he was, but didn't really care. She felt awful, and that wouldn't change either way.
She stops once to glare at the guards for a moment, resting her hand over the hilt of her sword. "I don't plan to assault anyone else here, unless they threaten me. This one was a special case. I won't limit myself to fists alone if you get in my way, though." She then continues walking away, though wary of the sound of feet running towards her, in case the guards try to attack her from behind.
Through the door is a single short flight of stairs, at the top of which is the uncovered bridge leading to the castle, from which terraces open out just two floors above you, where colorfully costumed VIPs chat and glasses clink as music soars through the air.
A portcullis stands open at the bridge’s far end, beyond which you see two guards, within the castle, facing away from you, and you recognize the bronze glint of Varielky’s armor just beyond them, although you can’t quite read the situation. None of the three are moving, and music from the grand ball covers any words which may be spoken between them. The bridge is slightly arched, perhaps 50’ long, and as you cross it, you spy a segment of the tram line beyond the castle as it fades out of view up and into the cloudy night.
The guards exchange a questioning glance, then stand their ground. Abadolla emits a whimpering groan, and Varielky reads in the guards’ faces—not sympathy for the bloodied man, but rather, perhaps, relief that the situation is not out of control. Their weapons come out as the older one speaks.
“Ye keep up the threats Lady, and I’ll have no choice but t make life difficult for ye. Ye can’t jus come into the royal palace and mete out punishment. Ya did tha upstairs and yed already be dead. I don’t care about neither o ye. Git outta here.”
The various guards and valets in the columned area have stopped dancing and the encounter seems to now absorb their attention. They may not hear all that it said, but a handful are now standing and advancing slowly, a dire warning on their faces lest Varielky’s temper should approach those whom they serve.
Benita takes in what Auger is saying, but replies bluntly, wiping her eyes, “She said, ‘Go.’”
Auger turns away and as he walks and silently talks to Py, the Fey alyasub struggles to keep up, but replies, ‘ Yes, master.’
Auger reaches the midway point of the broad, curving stairway just behind two women, who bring their hands to their faces and scream a short “Oh!!!,” when they see Abadolla bleeding against the wall. Auger now sees him too, and then the two guards confronting Varielky.
Auger looks at the coin in his right hand and the scene ahead of him and decides to change plans ever so slightly. Closing his fist around the coin, to block the effect and using the rod in his left hand, Auger reaches for the Sea of Stars, finds unending Darkness and infuses it into the coin. Noticing a slight bleed of the effect through his fingers, Auger wraps his hand into his cloak.
Auger then proceeds back through the hallway and down the stairs and attempts to reach Varielky. Upon seeing the scene Auger cries out "Oh no, you've been attacked!" to Varielky. Deception, if needed: 18 +5 = 23.
"Let's come away from there now." And then for the guards continues, "You will leave her be!"
Auger holds the coin and stands ready to expose it, and the Darkness, if needed.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
DM of RotFM | AUGER the Warlock (Archfey & the Chain) / Shadow Sorcerer in Age of Resurgence | Rahui & Javier in Sea of Memory
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SNOW
The two women turn, and Granophyre rushes past with Snow, taking advantage of the illusion’s wide girth to hide behind. The pair continue onward until they reach a hallway with a dead end.
A side door creaks open, and three children of twelve or thirteen — girls — sneak out. The tallest one holds a feathered arrowhead in one hand, which glows in the dark, and the youngest, wearing big spectacles, fumbles with a small spellbook and adjusts her too-big night-shirt, which is torn.
“They went that way!,” says the tall one, trying to act like a grown-up and pointing back to where there was a turn in the hallway. Her nightshirt only goes down to her knees following a recent growth spurt, and Snow recognizes a dim corona of fey energy pulsing from her.
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
Snow turns to regard the three girls and gives them a courtly bow.
"That is mighty helpful of you", he says as he stands, dropping the gruffness in his voice so as not to frighten them. He looks back to the turning in the hallway to determine if that makes sense based on where the castle is and the bridge they had seen previously.
"And it is mighty brave of you all to keep an eye on these people", he adds looking back at them impressed.
"Did you happen to overhear them talking at all?", he asks finally.
He watches them carefully for signs of any untruths, and to make sure he believes the others went the way they said.
Investigation (With advantage from Enhance Ability): (18,
16)+7= 25Insight: 13+4=17
The surprise that nobody tried to stop her fades away before Varielky even really notices it. And, although she was worried Benita would want to get her payback too - justifiably so - she's briefly eased that she doesn't. That feeling too gets overshadowed by the wrath she's feeling, however.
"You have a lot of confidence to stand before me like this. Or, perhaps, you do not recognise me?" Although Varielky herself is one who doesn't remember many people and would probably fail to recognise quite a few of those she previously met, she finds the thought that he might not recognise her absurd. Not because of who she is, but because it shows how little it bothered him to execute the orders he was given. If she somehow reached the point where she had to take the lives of people in such a manner, she's sure their faces would never cease to haunt her.
Varielky reaches to grab his cloth so he wouldn't be able to escape. "Ishi Ammah? The Beauty Pageant? Ba-Li?" Varielky really stresses that name, separating its two syllables, similarly to how Abadolla once presented himself to her. "Does that reminisce any memories into that sordid, ignoble mind of yours?"
Varielky
The goal within reach, the trams anyway, Auger pauses at the landing, eyes the party above and then experiences the momentary sense of dread. They. Are. Right. There. And the Lady was probably too observant to miss him. And perhaps not drugged right now. Maybe. Turning left Auger immediately starts moving in the direction of the trams, expecting Tamazaert and Benita to follow.
As they step towards the balcony, and assuming no one else is around, Auger quietly says to Benita, "The danger here is extreme. We have faced a pair of guests in the party above, and things did not go well for us. They are extremely powerful. Between them and the guards across the way I worry about leaving Varielky. Help her. I can join Tama at the aerie."
(OOC: Do we know how soon the Roc will take flight with the babies?)
DM of RotFM | AUGER the Warlock (Archfey & the Chain) / Shadow Sorcerer in Age of Resurgence | Rahui & Javier in Sea of Memory
VARIELKY
The man’s small, deep set eyes bulge in indignation as he sputters angrily, trying to slap away the shield-maiden’s grip on his little vest, but only for a moment before recognition flashes, and he whispers, “What flock-ups...” but then abruptly his expression falls flat and his body goes almost limp as he glares at a spot above Varielky’s shoulder.
“Your ravings mean nothing to me! Do you know who I am?,” he says, loudly, his nasal tenor ringing down the hallway. “I am the general manager of the great Souss Massa Diamond Mine! Take your hands off of me!”
Varielky sees the guards, who had been eying her and the others from the moment they passed through the door, stand bolt upright and, loosening their long curved blades, rush toward her. They are 30’ away and closing.
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
AUGER
(OOC: Benita said that she was told that the babies would be gone by midnight.)
The landing, indeed, is occupied. Dozing in a chair next to the wide arch which opens onto the terrace is a person wrapped in long linen swaths like bandages, like a mummy, under a robe far too heavy for the climate. Only his head is exposed, and it is covered in tattoos depicting eyes. As you enter the terrace, one of the tattoo eyes follows you, then his real eyes do likewise, regarding you now with alert indifference. He stands up wordlessly, and then, nothing. He seems to be waiting for you to say something. You recognize his type as one of those mysterious students of arcane lore who connect with the ancient Dominion boxes at arenas to throw illusions high into the air so that large crowds may witness the events at a distance. Eyes.
Looking pale and trembling slightly, Tamazaert follows Auger, but at the sight of the tattooed man, she recoils and backs up a few steps toward the balustrade. “Nanatya save me,” she gasps.
Benita, coming up last, still bristling, seems to hear something down the stairs which absorbs her attention. She turns forward to take in the bandaged man and frowns. “Yuck,” she says, then turns back toward the staircase, ears perked.
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
SNOW
“No sir,” they say, the taller two. “Those hooligans didn’t say anything. But they just passed a minute ago.”
If it were not for the small stained glass window near the top of the dead-end wall, through which Snow’s heightened intellect makes note of dim reflections sparkling ever-so-mutely through the glass — the window shape that of the El Harrouch arms — if not for that tiny clue, Snow might have been tricked. But now the illusion is rendered almost transparent, and he sees that it was magic which covered the doors to the bridge with an image of a blank wall, and the glinting lights prisming through the glass are from the lanterns lighting the bridge just beyond the door.
Snow now notices the littlest one of the three girls standing very still, gripping the floor with her toes almost, this barely perceptible tell the rippling of water over the lake of her arcane energies, which remain focused by her command, though it takes all her willpower to maintain the facade of this simple spell.
The other girls smile sweetly and, holding their hands just beside their chins, wave a tiny goodbye to the bard, encouraging him to turn away.
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
(Oops, I planned to roll Athletics to grapple him last round, but it seems like I forgot. Oh well, it wouldn't have mattered too much anyhow, I suppose.)
Some voice at the back of her mind tells Varielky she should do something else, but that voice is immediately silenced completely. She doesn't need distractions. "Then let's see if these diamonds can protect you. I heard they're supposed to be pretty flockin' hard."
Varielky does release the man's clothes, but not with the intention of letting him go. She just needed a free hand to punch him. Honour? A chance to draw a weapon. In hind-sight, Varielky might excuse to herself that he had that, but at that moment, she just didn't think he deserved any of that.
First in the stomache, then straight to the face. She won't even use her own weapon. He did not deserve that either. She never tried to crack a skull with her bare hands, and she certainly didn't look forward to it, but cutting him down with Dreygaard was just wrong, she knew, and so was leaving him alive.
Speaking of, if he was still somehow able to remain conscious and standing, Varielky would smash her shield into his face, trying to cause him to fall down to the floor.
Varielky doesn't really care that the guards are there. Even if they try to stop her, she wouldn't stop until Abadolla's gone. However, interruptions were still unwelcomed. "Stay away if you don't want to end up dead as well!" Varielky yells at them, caring little for whether anyone else hears her.
Unarmed Strike #1: 12+8=20 to hit, 6 damage.
Unarmed Strike #2: 8+8÷16 to hit, 6 damage.
BA Shield Shove to knock Abadolla prone, if he's still up. Athletics: 17+8=25.
Intimidation for the guards: 13+6=19.
Varielky
Auger is also briefly put off by the strange person before them but guesses he is an attendant of some sort who manages the tram cars. Perhaps he is the one who casts the spells that makes the cars go. To the strange man he says, "We are headed to the aerie. How long does it take to get up to the summit?"
Auger then turns to look at Benita to try and see what is pulling her attention.
DM of RotFM | AUGER the Warlock (Archfey & the Chain) / Shadow Sorcerer in Age of Resurgence | Rahui & Javier in Sea of Memory
"Down there, you say?", Snow asks the girls pointing back the way he had come.
"Are you sure? Because I am sure there used to be a door right here", he says wandering over to the illusory wall and knocking on it a couple of times.
"That is a very clever illusion, young one. They must have made quite the impression on you for you to help them like this. I won't ask you to go against that loyalty. But best you head off to bed now, and don't worry, we mean them no harm", he says gently, wishing he could drop the illusion and show his true self, but expecting he will need it now more than ever.
He then turns and moves to open the door to the bridge.
AUGER
“Time, a sprinting steed.
Is sometimes a brooding sage.
Swift and slow in turn,” replies the mysterious figure.
Benita’s eyes swell with tears, her breath comes heavily, and a dark cloud of indecision seems to envelop her heart at this moment.
Tamazaert has backed away to a spot beside the tram, eyes glued to the Eye, then she takes stock of her position and backs into the conveyance.
“Benita?,” she calls, tremulously.
The comely Indallian turns away from the stairs, even as the sound of yelling pierces the music and the chatter of the castle’s guests from the grand ballroom.
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
VARIELKY
The shield-maiden’s fist plummets into the djinn-clothed man’s soft belly. His breath whooshes out, lips forming a long tunnel through which a hollow whistle sounds as his beady eyes pop nearly out of their sockets. The next punch smashes his face, breaking nose and teeth, blood splattering, and he reels. Varielky’s spellguard shield slams into the girthful Orracan, knocking him a foot off the ground to rebound against the wall and crash onto the floor, face down and motionless.
The guards stop in hier tracks at Varielky’s warning, then slowly advance again a few steps, keeping their distance.
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
SNOW
“But you’re not supposed to come in here, how did you…,” says the oldest girl, skeptically.
The middle one cups both hands around the oldest one’s ears and whispers something, eying Snow. They both take two steps back, their eyes widening somewhat.
The youngest twitches her nose and backs away as the illusion disappears.
“Come on,” says the oldest, and the three skitter away, a ripping sound marking their exeunt as the smallest girl trips on her nightshirt.
Granophyre looks after them, shaking his head, eyes glinting. “The defenders of Shia in another ten years, no doubt…”
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
"Indeed", replies Snow with a smile as he watches the girls retreat away.
"Now, let's see what is in store for us next", he adds as he opens the door to the bridge and looks out before taking his first steps.
If all appears safe he will move onto the bridge with the confidence of one who is supposed to be there.
Perception: 14+7=21
"How so very clear of you. Thank you," Auger says to the strange attendant. At the sound of the trouble downstairs and Benita's continued attention in that direction, Auger guesses that Varielky is in need of some assistance and decides to switch his priorities for the moment.
As Benita moves into the car Auger steps toward her and quietly says, "I am going to go get Varielky and bring her out of there. If it takes too long, then ask our fine attendant here to proceed without us. Find Sura and I --" Auger pauses to look up to the summit. "I will find a way to follow soon. No matter what. Py will stay with you and tell you what is going on. Actually I have a question for you, but Py will relay it in a moment."
Stay with Benita. Tell me what they are doing. And through you, I will tell them what I am doing.
Auger then steps back towards the hallway while searching through his coin pouch and pulling out a single copper coin. In his head, he keeps up a running commentary to Py of what he intends to do, so Benita can know.
(OOC: Auger's intentions follow, this technically may take a few rounds but laying it out for Benita to see.)
Relay all this for Benita, Py. Halfway back through the hall, I intend to cast a magical Darkness centered on a coin I am carrying. In this fashion, the bubble of magical darkness will move with me. Only I will be able to see through the magical Darkness [Note: Auger is is casting with sorcery points and so this statement will be true].
I will then step down into the area with Varielky and lead her out, leaving the coin somewhere behind with some confused guards. Does Benita have any advice on something I can say that will get Varielky to listen and come with us?
DM of RotFM | AUGER the Warlock (Archfey & the Chain) / Shadow Sorcerer in Age of Resurgence | Rahui & Javier in Sea of Memory
Varielky stares vacantly for a moment. She achieved her goal... yet felt empty doing so. There was no thrill nor glory -if not the opposite - and she didn't really feel having gotten her revenge. He might be dead, but even if he is, that doesn't right the wrongs. At best, it might have prevented anything he might do in the future, but that didn't matter either. Varielky feels even worse than before.
Eventually, Varielky turns and walks away, in the direction the others have gone. She doesn't even bother to check if the man is truly dead. She assumed he was, but didn't really care. She felt awful, and that wouldn't change either way.
She stops once to glare at the guards for a moment, resting her hand over the hilt of her sword. "I don't plan to assault anyone else here, unless they threaten me. This one was a special case. I won't limit myself to fists alone if you get in my way, though." She then continues walking away, though wary of the sound of feet running towards her, in case the guards try to attack her from behind.
Varielky
SNOW
Through the door is a single short flight of stairs, at the top of which is the uncovered bridge leading to the castle, from which terraces open out just two floors above you, where colorfully costumed VIPs chat and glasses clink as music soars through the air.
A portcullis stands open at the bridge’s far end, beyond which you see two guards, within the castle, facing away from you, and you recognize the bronze glint of Varielky’s armor just beyond them, although you can’t quite read the situation. None of the three are moving, and music from the grand ball covers any words which may be spoken between them. The bridge is slightly arched, perhaps 50’ long, and as you cross it, you spy a segment of the tram line beyond the castle as it fades out of view up and into the cloudy night.
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
VARIELKY
The guards exchange a questioning glance, then stand their ground. Abadolla emits a whimpering groan, and Varielky reads in the guards’ faces—not sympathy for the bloodied man, but rather, perhaps, relief that the situation is not out of control. Their weapons come out as the older one speaks.
“Ye keep up the threats Lady, and I’ll have no choice but t make life difficult for ye. Ye can’t jus come into the royal palace and mete out punishment. Ya did tha upstairs and yed already be dead. I don’t care about neither o ye. Git outta here.”
The various guards and valets in the columned area have stopped dancing and the encounter seems to now absorb their attention. They may not hear all that it said, but a handful are now standing and advancing slowly, a dire warning on their faces lest Varielky’s temper should approach those whom they serve.
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
AUGER
Benita takes in what Auger is saying, but replies bluntly, wiping her eyes, “She said, ‘Go.’”
Auger turns away and as he walks and silently talks to Py, the Fey alyasub struggles to keep up, but replies, ‘ Yes, master.’
Auger reaches the midway point of the broad, curving stairway just behind two women, who bring their hands to their faces and scream a short “Oh!!!,” when they see Abadolla bleeding against the wall. Auger now sees him too, and then the two guards confronting Varielky.
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
Auger looks at the coin in his right hand and the scene ahead of him and decides to change plans ever so slightly. Closing his fist around the coin, to block the effect and using the rod in his left hand, Auger reaches for the Sea of Stars, finds unending Darkness and infuses it into the coin. Noticing a slight bleed of the effect through his fingers, Auger wraps his hand into his cloak.
Auger then proceeds back through the hallway and down the stairs and attempts to reach Varielky. Upon seeing the scene Auger cries out "Oh no, you've been attacked!" to Varielky. Deception, if needed: 18 +5 = 23.
"Let's come away from there now." And then for the guards continues, "You will leave her be!"
Auger holds the coin and stands ready to expose it, and the Darkness, if needed.
DM of RotFM | AUGER the Warlock (Archfey & the Chain) / Shadow Sorcerer in Age of Resurgence | Rahui & Javier in Sea of Memory