Malachi squints at the figures in the distance, trying to make out any details. “We know Marigold is at sea, maybe she is the one we see on the ship. It would make sense.”He responds to Ashley, then his mind is pulled in a different direction and he notices the crewmen in danger on the ship. He points them out to Ashley. “Ashley, the fires! Can you make a path to safety?” Malachi helps Ashley as best he can by calling out to the crew members and pointing out where they can make a path through the fires.
It takes 2 minutes of clearing the path and carefully picking their way over the half collapsing dock, but Ashley and the others make it to the ship with a clear path behind them.
"Hello there! We are here to help! Is it just the 3 of you?"Marion calls out.
The three look forlorn over one side of the boat. "Aye, it is now. Thank you for your timely rescue. We've not much, but we'll buy you a round fer sure."
Marion looks down at the boat. Small enough of a ship that one could reach the rail and pull themselves over the side from the dock. "Is this ship still fit to take to the water?"
One of the sailors quickly figures out what she's asking. "More like fit to take on water. The hull's damaged, and half the sails been burnt away..." The sailors hop over the side onto the dock. "She's got oars, but I think her days are over as is. She could probably scarcely make it across the bay and back."
Marion looks back at the others thoughtfully. "You think that's Marigold out there?"she says quietly
Back in the council building, Vilus quickly ducks a crossbow bolt launched from the wounded man in the back. They are clearly going on the offensive before making any attempts at communication.
Vilus edges forwards (10ft) trying to get a look at where the bolt came from, seeing the weathered faces he launches two daggers across the room, the first one passing by all three of the men, the second coming alot closer to cultist 3 (16 to hit, 4 piercing damage) Vilus in his shadow form slinks back (15ft) a little further from where he started, pressing himself against the wall to try to get at least little cover, whilst Joren's echo does some tricks.
Samir's eyes wander over the damaged ship as Marion speaks with them, cataloguing damage and calculating furiously. He glances out to sea at the question, narrowing his eyes as if it would make him better able to make out the details. "I think it makes logical sense. Vilus told us that she was out on the water, and stopping to watch over the destruction as it is happening sounds fairly in character."Turning back to the still smoldering ship, Samir pushes down the anxiety and fear as best he can, letting the numbers and diagrams dance through his mind, thinking about the alchemical construction of the elements, the way things move, the difficulty to grasp both fire and water. For a moment, there is almost a click of breakthrough as certain properties seem to line up in logical sequence to create a string of arcane meaning that had been beyond him prior. His hand moves almost on its own, a diagram of eldritch power sketching itself across the back of his glove and a mass of water suddenly, violently, surges up from the unquiet sea below to throw itself onto the deck and the hull, aimed at the worst of the remaining flames.
Samir blinks, as if caught off guard by this exercise of magical ability, and in his surprise the arcane construction is lost. His deep breath is almost a sigh and the words little more than a grumble. "Damn it all, I almost had something there..."
Still trying to reload his crossbow, the cultist takes the second dagger to his shoulder. Though the hit isn't deep, the man has clearly lost a lot of blood already, and this new wound brings him remarkably close to his end. The second enemy aims his crossbow at Vilus, but the corner of the wall is interfering with getting a clean shot. Instead he turns his weapon on Joren. The bolt streaks past the echo and lodges in Joren's armour (23 to hit; 8 piercing damage). Joren feels the sharp sting of meta in his flesh, followed by a deep burning. Their weapons are laced with poison. (12 poison damage; half as much on a successful Con save DC 13). These men are clearly cultist assassins.
Joren's scowl deepens as the cultists ignore his echo up front completely, firing their poisoned bolts at Vilus and himself instead. Insight: 14
By contrast, he barely flinches at the deep wound he takes from the bolt that hits him, his half-dwarven fortitude perhaps helping him resist the poison.
CON Save: 18 (resulting in 8 piercing plus half, so 6 poison damage for 14 total damage taken).
With a growl, Joren sends his echo 30' up and northeast above the cultist assassins, to the spot right between them but above their heads (so it is 5' above the square that is between all three of them, but still diagonally in melee range of all of them). He surges into action, attacking from his echo's space.
Action 1: Greatsword non-lethal attack from echo's position on Cultist 3 (injured one). To Hit: 13 Damage: 8 slashing
Action 2: (Action Surge) Greatsword non-lethal attack from echo's position on Cultist 3 (injured one) if they are still up, otherwise Cultist 1. To Hit: 24 Damage: 9 slashing
He draws on his reserves once more to steel himself for the bloodbath to to follow... Bonus Action: Second Wind (Joren heals 9 hp)
Grimly, he steps forward a few steps, enough to stay within 30' back (and downward) from the echo, taking what partial cover he can.
"Stay behind me. Not forgetting the Potion of Healing if I am going down," Joren whispers hoarsely in Giant without turning to Vilus behind him. "If you are targeting magic in an area, perhaps center it below the cultists so it misses my echo which is above?" Joren does not really understand how arcane magic works, but he has seen more than one echo inadvertently destroyed by friendly fire from a line mage in the past.
Joren is watching the cultists intently as he moves his echo between them all, and their reactions tell him what he needs to know. They know who and what they are dealing with. Perhaps they were warned by Andra, and advised on how to counter Joren's echo. None of them are shocked to see the way it moves, but they al clearly recognize that they are now in imminent danger.
Before they can react, though, the echo swings at the wounded one. A large but shallow gash appears diagonally on the man's chest in the wake of the greatsword, and though it is not enough to kill the man right away, it brings him to his knees. Joren tries to get a look at his chest through the slash in his clothes, and can't make out any sign of runes. Nor are they wearing runed masks as were the ones who attacked them under Tensmith. Then the echo spins and slashes the cultist who had just fired(AS1), scoring a deep hit on his left arm. He drops the crossbow.
The final cultist(AS2) removes one hand from his own crossbow and draws a shortsword from his hip, slashing cleanly through the echo's neck. It vanishes into mist. The cultist then runs past were the echo was and jumps off the far end of the platform, disappearing from view for the moment.
Malachi brushes off Samir’s disappointment and pats him on the back. “Never mind that, it served its purpose. Now what do you have that will keep this ship afloat and get it out in the harbor?” He looks over at Marion and Ashley “Are you sure we want to confront Marigold here and now? If she is as strong as Andra…”Malachi thinks back to the confrontation in the tunnels beneath Tensmith and gives an involuntary shudder at the memory.
The worst of the flames taken care of (unless I'm wrong, Ashley would focus on that first), she looks out at Marigold again, "I thought." she scratches the top of her head, looking a bit perplexed, "I thought that Vilus said she would be 'taken care of' by his covert friends by now? I'm wondering what that means in his underground operation as well."
Listening to Mal, she looks at him, "I don't know if facing her head-on is a good idea, and seeing her here, the more I worry about what is going on with Wilus and Joren. I'm honestly surprised they haven't checked in with us yet, did you want to try and call them?"
"I don't have anything that can affect her from here, she's too far away."
Malachi nods, keeping his eyes on the ships in the harbor and pulls out the sending stone from his bag. He considers his words briefly and then brings the stone up, activating it. “Joren, Vilus. The docks are aflame. Two ships are standing in the harbor, we think Marigold is on one. Did you find Jean-Lou?”
Malachi lowers the stone, waiting for a response. “I am sure that they are okay. Maybe Jean-Lou can send help. Should we wait or should we cast off and try to get closer to the ships?”
"Honestly," Samir shakes his head, turning his gaze down towards the docks below his feet, "I have nothing for that, Mal. With enough time I could do repairs and such but in such rapid circumstances..." He spreads his hands in defeat, sighing. "Perhaps we focus on helping those still here at the docks for the moment and keep an eye on what is happening out there."
Vilus pokes his head out and sees the echo disappear, having left a deep cut on the cultist who dropped their crossbow Vilus smirks, this one would do well.
Seeing no more ranged weapons pointing his way Vilus steps out and forwards a few paces, pointing a finger at the wounded cultist on the platform, the deep bassy gong of a large bell fills the air, rattling the cultist and racking his body with necrotic vibration, Vilus speaks through the din, "ceaseless watcher turn your gaze upon this man's life and bring forth its end for him to see" (AS1 DC 13 WIS save or take 12 necrotic dam)
A bell tolls and the cultist utters his first sound in the form of a scream. He starts tearing at his face in anguish, but the scratches disappear as soon as they are made, as though some kind of illusion were covering them up. Then, scratching at his temples, a staple pops out.
And his face falls away. Or at east, someone's does. It flutters to the ground like a piece of dried parchment in the shape of a mask and under where it had sat, the cultist has an entirely different face. His temples bleed from where the invisible staples had been, and his jawline is adorned with tattooed runes that look like they were done just in the last couple days.
The man's screams end in a gurgle and he collapses to his knees before falling on his face.
Back at the docks, the blast of salt water is enough to douse much of the flame and scour the oil that has been spilled on the wooden deck
Despite himself, Joren shudders as Vilus collapses the mind of the visible cultist and he witnesses the victim's face peeling off.
All of these foul arcane enchantments and tricks - I will never be getting comfortable with them. When a mage is blasting with fire or grasping with a hand as Ashley does, that is at least something I am seeing. Or Samir inventing things with his devices. But Vilus and Mal with their mental barbs...
(It does not occur to him that the dunamancy of his echo might feel just as strange to others).
Joren's own shiver is matched by the buzzing of the sending stone in is pack, but he has no time to answer. Having already previously stepped up to where his echo had started the battle to stay within 30' of it, Joren trots southeast and east counter-clockwise around the edge of the room to try to find a vantage point from which he can see the remaining cultist assassin who had dropped out of sight over the edge of the platform
Summoning his echo, he sends it north to a spot just above (up in the air) where the cultist is hiding, smashing the flat of his greatsword down from his echo's location, attacking non-lethally once more. Who knows what those runes are doing....
Movement: SE-->SE-->SE-->E-->E-->E (as shown in image below).
Bonus Action: Joren summons his echo (15' north) and moves it 15' further, north, northeast and up to within 5' of the remaining cultist assassin.
Action: Joren attacks non-lethally with his Greatsword from his echo's position on the remaining cultist assassin. Greatsword To Hit: 20 (dirty) Greatsword Damage: 12 non-lethal
Malachi sighs “You are right of course, Samir. It is probably best to do what we can here instead of chasing off after Marigold.”Still, he keeps one eye focused on the ship in the distance. He looks toward the sailors they just saved. “You there, did anyone see what happened? What started the fires?” Malachi listens to their stories and scans the dock area himself, looking for any additional clues on what caused the fires.
Ashley walks around the docks, helping those she can while trying to figure out how the fires were started in the first place (Investigation 14). Shouting over to Mal, "Have you heard back yet? I'm starting to get worried."
The man Malachi asks says "Well, we were just coming in from a bit of fishing to swap out our nets when we saw a commotion on the shore. Big crowd of people gathered around. We went over to check it out and found a couple of bodies just laying in the street with their throats slit. A couple of sailors by the looks of it." He points at a side road between a couple of buildings. "Pretty much everyone was drawn in, so we didn't notice the flames right away. When we did though, some people ran for safety, and others to save their boats. Most of the latter weren't so lucky as us I suppose..."
Ashley looks around, inspecting the flames. The intensity isn't right for the well soaked timbers of the docks and boats. The flames are too hot, too fast, and too stubborn for a natural blaze in this location. Then she notices the empty barrels drifting in the water, many surrounded by flames seeming burning right on the surface of the sea. Oil of some kind, by the look and smell of it. It looks like it was deliberately spread by a group of people over the docks and ships, likely while everyone was distracted by the dead bodies.
Back in the stairwell, the last remaining cultist turns around to face the echo intruding on his cover. His dagger comes out with a flash, but the greatsword is quicker. The pommel strikes him in the side of the neck and his world turns sideways as he collapses to the ground unconscious.
If we're being honest, Joren has seen better days. He is covered with blood, most of it his own since he has mostly done his killing of beasts and cultists at a distance with his echo. Still not as bad as when he was disappearing down the giant gloazworm larva's gullet. With a grunt, he breaks off the poisoned bolt and draws the shaft through his shoulder in a practiced motion, feeling his body fighting the venom under his armor.
Seeing one of the cultist assassins dead, with his skin-mask peeled off, he quickly ties up one of the unconscious ones with his rope and motions to Vilus, suggesting he do the same with the other assassin.
"I am hoping you never have reason to toll those bells inside my head, Vilus. Were these the assassins you were dealing with to target Marigold, only repurposed, with different faces being stapled on? They were knowing my echo. We should be tying the two survivors up quickly, then checking on Jean-Lou. I am fearing the worst. The others are messaging us on the sending stone. I will be responding to them immediately after I check."
Joren suits his actions to words after he is done with the rope, trying to look around for further ambushers or hazards as he proceeds to Jean-Lou's office, though somewhat haphazardly given his adrenaline and injuries, not to mention his worry for his countryman's fate.
JorenPerception as he moves (upstairs?) to Jean-Lou's office: 10
Vilus takes a look, but doesn't recognise the faces, "I didn't meet the assassins, but it is possible, these tattoos are new, and I can't think of another reason for the 'face' face disguises, unless we should recognise them for another reason." Vilus picks up his thrown daggers and sighs as he searches his pack, "I left my rope back at the fight ring, this one is gonna have to be put down" dispute the fact that the one felled cultist did not explode Vilus is still careful, using a dagger he opens an artery under the unconscious cultists arm and then runs up the stairs making some distance as the man inevitably bleeds out.
Making his way up the stairs, Vilus takes a look at Joren, "are you gonna be ok without healing? I know you got that vial on ya, but we got no other way of stabilising ourselves if we face something more deadly, I took no hits and I also saved my big spells, but If one of us goes down, we dont have access to any other healing than that vial."
Malachi squints at the figures in the distance, trying to make out any details. “We know Marigold is at sea, maybe she is the one we see on the ship. It would make sense.” He responds to Ashley, then his mind is pulled in a different direction and he notices the crewmen in danger on the ship. He points them out to Ashley. “Ashley, the fires! Can you make a path to safety?” Malachi helps Ashley as best he can by calling out to the crew members and pointing out where they can make a path through the fires.
It takes 2 minutes of clearing the path and carefully picking their way over the half collapsing dock, but Ashley and the others make it to the ship with a clear path behind them.
"Hello there! We are here to help! Is it just the 3 of you?" Marion calls out.
The three look forlorn over one side of the boat. "Aye, it is now. Thank you for your timely rescue. We've not much, but we'll buy you a round fer sure."
Marion looks down at the boat. Small enough of a ship that one could reach the rail and pull themselves over the side from the dock. "Is this ship still fit to take to the water?"
One of the sailors quickly figures out what she's asking. "More like fit to take on water. The hull's damaged, and half the sails been burnt away..." The sailors hop over the side onto the dock. "She's got oars, but I think her days are over as is. She could probably scarcely make it across the bay and back."
Marion looks back at the others thoughtfully. "You think that's Marigold out there?" she says quietly
Back in the council building, Vilus quickly ducks a crossbow bolt launched from the wounded man in the back. They are clearly going on the offensive before making any attempts at communication.
Vilus edges forwards (10ft) trying to get a look at where the bolt came from, seeing the weathered faces he launches two daggers across the room, the first one passing by all three of the men, the second coming alot closer to cultist 3 (16 to hit, 4 piercing damage) Vilus in his shadow form slinks back (15ft) a little further from where he started, pressing himself against the wall to try to get at least little cover, whilst Joren's echo does some tricks.
Samir's eyes wander over the damaged ship as Marion speaks with them, cataloguing damage and calculating furiously. He glances out to sea at the question, narrowing his eyes as if it would make him better able to make out the details. "I think it makes logical sense. Vilus told us that she was out on the water, and stopping to watch over the destruction as it is happening sounds fairly in character." Turning back to the still smoldering ship, Samir pushes down the anxiety and fear as best he can, letting the numbers and diagrams dance through his mind, thinking about the alchemical construction of the elements, the way things move, the difficulty to grasp both fire and water. For a moment, there is almost a click of breakthrough as certain properties seem to line up in logical sequence to create a string of arcane meaning that had been beyond him prior. His hand moves almost on its own, a diagram of eldritch power sketching itself across the back of his glove and a mass of water suddenly, violently, surges up from the unquiet sea below to throw itself onto the deck and the hull, aimed at the worst of the remaining flames.
Samir blinks, as if caught off guard by this exercise of magical ability, and in his surprise the arcane construction is lost. His deep breath is almost a sigh and the words little more than a grumble. "Damn it all, I almost had something there..."
Still trying to reload his crossbow, the cultist takes the second dagger to his shoulder. Though the hit isn't deep, the man has clearly lost a lot of blood already, and this new wound brings him remarkably close to his end. The second enemy aims his crossbow at Vilus, but the corner of the wall is interfering with getting a clean shot. Instead he turns his weapon on Joren. The bolt streaks past the echo and lodges in Joren's armour (23 to hit; 8 piercing damage). Joren feels the sharp sting of meta in his flesh, followed by a deep burning. Their weapons are laced with poison. (12 poison damage; half as much on a successful Con save DC 13). These men are clearly cultist assassins.
Joren's scowl deepens as the cultists ignore his echo up front completely, firing their poisoned bolts at Vilus and himself instead. Insight: 14
By contrast, he barely flinches at the deep wound he takes from the bolt that hits him, his half-dwarven fortitude perhaps helping him resist the poison.
CON Save: 18 (resulting in 8 piercing plus half, so 6 poison damage for 14 total damage taken).
With a growl, Joren sends his echo 30' up and northeast above the cultist assassins, to the spot right between them but above their heads (so it is 5' above the square that is between all three of them, but still diagonally in melee range of all of them). He surges into action, attacking from his echo's space.
Action 1: Greatsword non-lethal attack from echo's position on Cultist 3 (injured one).
To Hit: 13
Damage: 8 slashing
Action 2: (Action Surge) Greatsword non-lethal attack from echo's position on Cultist 3 (injured one) if they are still up, otherwise Cultist 1.
To Hit: 24
Damage: 9 slashing
He draws on his reserves once more to steel himself for the bloodbath to to follow...
Bonus Action: Second Wind (Joren heals 9 hp)
Grimly, he steps forward a few steps, enough to stay within 30' back (and downward) from the echo, taking what partial cover he can.
"Stay behind me. Not forgetting the Potion of Healing if I am going down," Joren whispers hoarsely in Giant without turning to Vilus behind him. "If you are targeting magic in an area, perhaps center it below the cultists so it misses my echo which is above?" Joren does not really understand how arcane magic works, but he has seen more than one echo inadvertently destroyed by friendly fire from a line mage in the past.
Tanis(Ranger1): Shiverquill's Tempest City | Xarian(Fighter2): NioNSwiper's Tyranny of Dragons
Dyson/Eleo(TwilightCleric4): Vos' Beyond the Veil | Soren(ShepherdDruid5): Bartjeebus' Ravenloft | Ophelia(WildMagicSorcerer4): Ashen_Age's Risen from the Sands
Joren(EchoKnightFighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Sabetha(MercyMonk3): Bedlymn's Murder Court | Seri(NatureCleric3/DivineSoulSorcerer1): Bartjeebus' Greyhawk
Joren is watching the cultists intently as he moves his echo between them all, and their reactions tell him what he needs to know. They know who and what they are dealing with. Perhaps they were warned by Andra, and advised on how to counter Joren's echo. None of them are shocked to see the way it moves, but they al clearly recognize that they are now in imminent danger.
Before they can react, though, the echo swings at the wounded one. A large but shallow gash appears diagonally on the man's chest in the wake of the greatsword, and though it is not enough to kill the man right away, it brings him to his knees. Joren tries to get a look at his chest through the slash in his clothes, and can't make out any sign of runes. Nor are they wearing runed masks as were the ones who attacked them under Tensmith. Then the echo spins and slashes the cultist who had just fired(AS1), scoring a deep hit on his left arm. He drops the crossbow.
The final cultist(AS2) removes one hand from his own crossbow and draws a shortsword from his hip, slashing cleanly through the echo's neck. It vanishes into mist. The cultist then runs past were the echo was and jumps off the far end of the platform, disappearing from view for the moment.
Meanwhile, back at the harbor..
Malachi brushes off Samir’s disappointment and pats him on the back. “Never mind that, it served its purpose. Now what do you have that will keep this ship afloat and get it out in the harbor?” He looks over at Marion and Ashley “Are you sure we want to confront Marigold here and now? If she is as strong as Andra…” Malachi thinks back to the confrontation in the tunnels beneath Tensmith and gives an involuntary shudder at the memory.
The worst of the flames taken care of (unless I'm wrong, Ashley would focus on that first), she looks out at Marigold again, "I thought." she scratches the top of her head, looking a bit perplexed, "I thought that Vilus said she would be 'taken care of' by his covert friends by now? I'm wondering what that means in his underground operation as well."
Listening to Mal, she looks at him, "I don't know if facing her head-on is a good idea, and seeing her here, the more I worry about what is going on with Wilus and Joren. I'm honestly surprised they haven't checked in with us yet, did you want to try and call them?"
"I don't have anything that can affect her from here, she's too far away."
Malachi nods, keeping his eyes on the ships in the harbor and pulls out the sending stone from his bag. He considers his words briefly and then brings the stone up, activating it. “Joren, Vilus. The docks are aflame. Two ships are standing in the harbor, we think Marigold is on one. Did you find Jean-Lou?”
Malachi lowers the stone, waiting for a response. “I am sure that they are okay. Maybe Jean-Lou can send help. Should we wait or should we cast off and try to get closer to the ships?”
"Honestly," Samir shakes his head, turning his gaze down towards the docks below his feet, "I have nothing for that, Mal. With enough time I could do repairs and such but in such rapid circumstances..." He spreads his hands in defeat, sighing. "Perhaps we focus on helping those still here at the docks for the moment and keep an eye on what is happening out there."
Vilus pokes his head out and sees the echo disappear, having left a deep cut on the cultist who dropped their crossbow Vilus smirks, this one would do well.
Seeing no more ranged weapons pointing his way Vilus steps out and forwards a few paces, pointing a finger at the wounded cultist on the platform, the deep bassy gong of a large bell fills the air, rattling the cultist and racking his body with necrotic vibration, Vilus speaks through the din, "ceaseless watcher turn your gaze upon this man's life and bring forth its end for him to see" (AS1 DC 13 WIS save or take 12 necrotic dam)
A bell tolls and the cultist utters his first sound in the form of a scream. He starts tearing at his face in anguish, but the scratches disappear as soon as they are made, as though some kind of illusion were covering them up. Then, scratching at his temples, a staple pops out.
And his face falls away. Or at east, someone's does. It flutters to the ground like a piece of dried parchment in the shape of a mask and under where it had sat, the cultist has an entirely different face. His temples bleed from where the invisible staples had been, and his jawline is adorned with tattooed runes that look like they were done just in the last couple days.
The man's screams end in a gurgle and he collapses to his knees before falling on his face.
Back at the docks, the blast of salt water is enough to douse much of the flame and scour the oil that has been spilled on the wooden deck
Despite himself, Joren shudders as Vilus collapses the mind of the visible cultist and he witnesses the victim's face peeling off.
All of these foul arcane enchantments and tricks - I will never be getting comfortable with them. When a mage is blasting with fire or grasping with a hand as Ashley does, that is at least something I am seeing. Or Samir inventing things with his devices. But Vilus and Mal with their mental barbs...
(It does not occur to him that the dunamancy of his echo might feel just as strange to others).
Joren's own shiver is matched by the buzzing of the sending stone in is pack, but he has no time to answer. Having already previously stepped up to where his echo had started the battle to stay within 30' of it, Joren trots southeast and east counter-clockwise around the edge of the room to try to find a vantage point from which he can see the remaining cultist assassin who had dropped out of sight over the edge of the platform
Summoning his echo, he sends it north to a spot just above (up in the air) where the cultist is hiding, smashing the flat of his greatsword down from his echo's location, attacking non-lethally once more. Who knows what those runes are doing....
Movement: SE-->SE-->SE-->E-->E-->E (as shown in image below).
Bonus Action: Joren summons his echo (15' north) and moves it 15' further, north, northeast and up to within 5' of the remaining cultist assassin.
Action: Joren attacks non-lethally with his Greatsword from his echo's position on the remaining cultist assassin.
Greatsword To Hit: 20 (dirty)
Greatsword Damage: 12 non-lethal
Tanis(Ranger1): Shiverquill's Tempest City | Xarian(Fighter2): NioNSwiper's Tyranny of Dragons
Dyson/Eleo(TwilightCleric4): Vos' Beyond the Veil | Soren(ShepherdDruid5): Bartjeebus' Ravenloft | Ophelia(WildMagicSorcerer4): Ashen_Age's Risen from the Sands
Joren(EchoKnightFighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Sabetha(MercyMonk3): Bedlymn's Murder Court | Seri(NatureCleric3/DivineSoulSorcerer1): Bartjeebus' Greyhawk
Meanwhile back at the docks...
Malachi sighs “You are right of course, Samir. It is probably best to do what we can here instead of chasing off after Marigold.” Still, he keeps one eye focused on the ship in the distance. He looks toward the sailors they just saved. “You there, did anyone see what happened? What started the fires?” Malachi listens to their stories and scans the dock area himself, looking for any additional clues on what caused the fires.
Ashley walks around the docks, helping those she can while trying to figure out how the fires were started in the first place (Investigation 14). Shouting over to Mal, "Have you heard back yet? I'm starting to get worried."
The man Malachi asks says "Well, we were just coming in from a bit of fishing to swap out our nets when we saw a commotion on the shore. Big crowd of people gathered around. We went over to check it out and found a couple of bodies just laying in the street with their throats slit. A couple of sailors by the looks of it." He points at a side road between a couple of buildings. "Pretty much everyone was drawn in, so we didn't notice the flames right away. When we did though, some people ran for safety, and others to save their boats. Most of the latter weren't so lucky as us I suppose..."
Ashley looks around, inspecting the flames. The intensity isn't right for the well soaked timbers of the docks and boats. The flames are too hot, too fast, and too stubborn for a natural blaze in this location. Then she notices the empty barrels drifting in the water, many surrounded by flames seeming burning right on the surface of the sea. Oil of some kind, by the look and smell of it. It looks like it was deliberately spread by a group of people over the docks and ships, likely while everyone was distracted by the dead bodies.
Back in the stairwell, the last remaining cultist turns around to face the echo intruding on his cover. His dagger comes out with a flash, but the greatsword is quicker. The pommel strikes him in the side of the neck and his world turns sideways as he collapses to the ground unconscious.
If we're being honest, Joren has seen better days. He is covered with blood, most of it his own since he has mostly done his killing of beasts and cultists at a distance with his echo. Still not as bad as when he was disappearing down the giant gloazworm larva's gullet. With a grunt, he breaks off the poisoned bolt and draws the shaft through his shoulder in a practiced motion, feeling his body fighting the venom under his armor.
Seeing one of the cultist assassins dead, with his skin-mask peeled off, he quickly ties up one of the unconscious ones with his rope and motions to Vilus, suggesting he do the same with the other assassin.
"I am hoping you never have reason to toll those bells inside my head, Vilus. Were these the assassins you were dealing with to target Marigold, only repurposed, with different faces being stapled on? They were knowing my echo. We should be tying the two survivors up quickly, then checking on Jean-Lou. I am fearing the worst. The others are messaging us on the sending stone. I will be responding to them immediately after I check."
Joren suits his actions to words after he is done with the rope, trying to look around for further ambushers or hazards as he proceeds to Jean-Lou's office, though somewhat haphazardly given his adrenaline and injuries, not to mention his worry for his countryman's fate.
Joren Perception as he moves (upstairs?) to Jean-Lou's office: 10
Tanis(Ranger1): Shiverquill's Tempest City | Xarian(Fighter2): NioNSwiper's Tyranny of Dragons
Dyson/Eleo(TwilightCleric4): Vos' Beyond the Veil | Soren(ShepherdDruid5): Bartjeebus' Ravenloft | Ophelia(WildMagicSorcerer4): Ashen_Age's Risen from the Sands
Joren(EchoKnightFighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Sabetha(MercyMonk3): Bedlymn's Murder Court | Seri(NatureCleric3/DivineSoulSorcerer1): Bartjeebus' Greyhawk
Vilus takes a look, but doesn't recognise the faces, "I didn't meet the assassins, but it is possible, these tattoos are new, and I can't think of another reason for the 'face' face disguises, unless we should recognise them for another reason." Vilus picks up his thrown daggers and sighs as he searches his pack, "I left my rope back at the fight ring, this one is gonna have to be put down" dispute the fact that the one felled cultist did not explode Vilus is still careful, using a dagger he opens an artery under the unconscious cultists arm and then runs up the stairs making some distance as the man inevitably bleeds out.
Making his way up the stairs, Vilus takes a look at Joren, "are you gonna be ok without healing? I know you got that vial on ya, but we got no other way of stabilising ourselves if we face something more deadly, I took no hits and I also saved my big spells, but If one of us goes down, we dont have access to any other healing than that vial."