As Sam turns the cloaked figure over he sees a near dying Aarakocra girl, likely adolescent, her feathers patchy, filthy and unkempt, her beak is broken in half down the middle and where the break reaches the feathers of her face blood is beginning to run. The firey restraints around her continue their work and as Sam watches she passes into unconsciousness.
With Gewyn following Neferox across the ceiling they too fond their prey, Neferox leaps forwards and attacks the leg of the figure. (18 to hit, 8 damage), the figure loses grip and falls from the ceiling, writhing now on the floor, they begin to be trampled by the running crowd.
At the other end of this hall Muir moves to attempt to stop the genasi and dragonborn from escaping the scene, his attack hits and stops the genasi in his tracks but the dragonborn continues and escapes round a corner and out if sight.
Griff sighs, looking to both elthana and vin standing by him. "I am understanding the retrieving if stolen goods, but do we need to be concerning ourselves with other peasants?" He points off to Muir.
Muir moves over to the Genasiand realizes he can't speak their language oops.....He turns to Griff "Perhaps you could help me speak with this one?" Muir looks down at the Genasi and smiles holding his hands up in peace "Can you tell him we only have some questions for him" at this point he hears Sam yell about the one he caught nearly dead. He rushes over leaving the downed Genasi to the others. "Quickly give her to me." As Muir grabs a hold of the girl a swirl of natural energy rushes over him. He pulls from the limited growth around him and heals the girl.
Vin watches everything unfold, with Sam's vicious use of force to stop one the thieves and Neferox following in kind by clawing at the other. Muir running back and forth, simultaneously looking to capture and heal.
"It is unfortunate", he says to Griff. "These folks just got in over their heads. Picked the wrong marks. I feel sorry for them really".
He wanders over to the genasi, not looking to stop his escape, and addresses Griff. "Can't hurt to talk, right?", he asks, trying to figure out if the genasi really doesn't understand.
Sam helps bridge the distance between him and Muir by walking towards to Loxodon carrying the thief. He wanted a firm grip on her when she woke. He had been a bit suprised that it was a young girl but it didn't really matter - That bag was not leaving his possession.
Sam has run the streets and pulled the same kind of thefts in his time. He was better at it, though. He knew better than to see a group of... well, mercenary types, for lack of better phrasing, and think them a good target. Whoever decided to target the group obviously didn't care about those they sent out to do the dirty work or is totally incompetent. Or... Sam supposes it could have been a test of sorts.
"Oh, you captured a higher up, did you?" Sam asks, looking over towards the Genasi. "Good, they have some explaining to do..."
Turning to Vin Sam adds "The pain and bruises will be a good lesson for them to be smarter in the future. Or at least better. Some learn the lesson... Some don't."
Elthana watches the drama unfold and gets frustrated. "Guys, we don't have a lot of time here. Grab your shit and lets get moving!" She looks to Griff to make sure he continues to lead them on. She sees that he is engrossed now with a genasi and sighs audibly. "What are we going to gain talking to these people. Let's move!"
"We were told to go where the guards won't," Sam points out. "You see a lot of guards around here? But really, is anyone is going to know about haunted houses and kobold nests around here it is likely street urchins like these. They need to know every backalley and hideyhole in order to snatch and run... True these aren't particularly good snatchkids but I'd still be surprised if they didn't know where we wanted to go better than that snooty guard."
Sam moves up alongside Elthana and looks at her and shrugs. "Couldn't hurt hearing a bit from the locals though, eh? I'm not entirely trusting Griff and his ilk about all this so be good to have a bit of the other side... no?" he asks in a lowered voice so as not to be heard by their guide. "We don't want to get sidetracked here, agreed... But a few words shouldn't take too long."
Griff translates for Muir and gets a glob of spit in his face as an answer from the genasi. Griff doesn't look at all surprised but is momentarily flushed with rage as he wipes off the wet and raises a talon crackling with lightning, he looks to vin and then back to the genasi " they are being generally bad at decisions" he replied to vin before repeating his questions in auran to the genasi. (S,V, or E, can give Griff assistance in his intimidation if you want)
Over with Muir, the Aarakocra girl's break ends slightly, the bleeding stops and the crack fuses leaving a prominent line up her face, but she is mostly whole once more, her eyes flutter open and she regards Muir gladly, and then a second later with utter confusion, and then a second later with terror, she swipes out at him with her talons and attempts to scramble away from thr loxodon (9 to hit)
With Gewyn and Neferox, the thief is brought low, Neferox glances around at vin, communicating something with half a mouthful of leg, she drops the guy and looks to Gewyn, barking to him and judging the thief who begins to also attempt to scramble away. They toss the sickle out to the side and attempt to run, Neferox making it obvious that this is no longer her chase.
Vin regards Sam sadly, "It is just a shame they have to learn either lesson. They are likely just afraid of someone who makes them do this. If they were out for themselves, they would want food more than weapons".
He shakes his head when the genasi spits at Griff, "That is unfortunate, but have you ever heard the expression 'You catch more flies with honey than vinegar'?". He looks to see if Griff has any inkling what he is talking about.
"It means you get more by being nice. What do they want? Food perhaps? You said coin means nothing here, but they might think it worth something?", he suggests, and takes out a silver coin to see the genasi's reaction.
Sam, large and pissed off and with a trio of animals mirroring his mood around him, stands behind Griff and glowers at the Genasi. "I killed the last one with one punch,: the Orc growls while cracking his knuckles. "You seem to be in charge. I will take my time with you. Make it last..." ((Sam helping Griff with the intimidation, or doing it himself if the Genasi happens to actually know Common.))
Out of the corner of his eye he spots the girl Muir saved be revived and try to scramble away. Sam is fine with that but moves to interpose himself with the scene, not wanting their captive to know the girl lives. Not til they start talking, anyway.
"What do they want?" Sam echoes Vin's words back to him. "They want anything they can get. They have nothing so anything is an improvement. Food will fill the belly. Weapons help fill it again and again. But they had no idea what my bag was. They didn't care. Anything was more than they had. I been there. I done the same. Not sure if you were ever quite that bad off or not... But yeah, there's always someone at the top in charge. Maybe this guy. Maybe not. We can't fix their situation... Best we can hope for is to get some information that actually helps us."
Recognizing that the main objective is most important, Gewyn doesn't give chase. He merely flicks a coin to the thief and retrieves his sickle. He runs over to rejoin his group, wondering if the thief will put the fake coin away before it vanishes in a few seconds.
Muir holds the girl out away from his face as she tries to claw him. He quickly roots in his bag and pulls out some food that he had wrapped up and smiles hoping to calm the girl down. He begins to walk back to the group carrying the girl.
Gewyn only sees wide eyes under a hooded cloak as the man accepts the coin but seems more thankful to be let go than for the coin, he scrambles off and nef begins to bark and give chase, but then she seems to be stopped by a communication from vin.
The Aarakocra girl is hesitant to take the food that Muir offers, but she also seems powerless to stop him carrying her away, she holds the food and eyes it curiously.
Griff translates the threats Sam offers, "this one seems to be thinking you are rich, and my presence is not helping, he is thinking that you are having guard escort and so you are being weak rich people with pretty armours. I have inform him that he is being mistaken, he is scared now." As vin offers the suggestion of honey over vinegar, the genasi eyes the silver coin and turns his nose up at it. Griff speaks up once more, "Sam is likely being right, anything is being better than nothing, they will just be trading stolen items for foods."
The group meet back up where Griff is holding the genasi down, Neferox growls at the guy not helping Vin's attempt to calm the situation. But as the Aarakocra girl sniffs and eats the food given by Muir she, speaks Auran excitedly at the genasi. The genasi in return eyes the group suspiciously and asks something of Griff. "What do you want in return for food?" Griff asks, translating directly.
Vin takes a step back as Sam joins them in a terrible mood and begins intimidating the genasi and providing his opinion on the way things in the city are. When Nef rejoins them, he makes sure to keep the hound between himself and his still enlarged companion, not being able to reconcile the feelings of trust for this person with the temperament he is witnessing.
When the food offered by Muir has the effect of starting a dialogue, he shrugs and says, "See, a bit of honey goes a long way. We don't need to fix everything here, but we don't need to make it worse either".
Elthana had stood back and mentally fumed as everything was playing out. She was glad Sam got his bag back and Gewyn his weapon. She doesn't know how Sam would be without his menagerie of animals and this thought relaxes her a bit, humanizes her immediate need for the mission that not only has been drilled into her her entire life, but the fact that so many might die and homes destroyed if they don't succeed.
As the tide turns with the offer of food, she steps up into the conversation, "What do you know of the healers? The place the guards won't go that is said to be haunted?"
Griff translates the question for elthana, and gives a bit of an eye roll at vin's immovable hopeful moral. The genasi responds but still seems indignant, and grif translates back, "he is saying, the healers place is haunted, they do not go there because people are being disappeared. The surface floors have what he is calling wraiths? But the building itself is in ruin, more than other places." Griff then gives a scoff and turns to the group, "they are saying they are knowing more, but will not be telling more unless they can get food, enough for their friends.."
"You give us enough information we can give you plenty and plenty of food," Sam assures and pulls out two days rations and hands them over to the girl. "Not a meal at the Ritz but it fills the belly."
Turning to Griff, Sam asks that he ask them about travel to the broken isles or wherever it is they must head out to. "I'm sure they don't do a lot of traveling themselves but those living rough often know more about things than you would think."
As things have calmed and there is talking back and forth, San's growth spurt eventually reverses itself and he returns to his standard height. (Only last a round.)
"That was intense", Vin says as everything calms down and becomes far more transactional.
He can't help but think on how Sam, Gewyn and Muir had leapt into action, as opposed to how cautious he had been. He looks at Elthana, who had also remained passive but seemingly because she felt it was wasting their time, and pondered his own reason for not giving chase. After all, he hadn't known they were just street kids back then.
He looks across to Sam with a bit of envy at the half-orcs strength of purpose, and wonders where his own indecision came from. Was it his missing memories or was he just afraid that he might be killed again.
Elthana notices Vin looking at her and as she waits for answers from the genasi, she asks him, "Are you alright? You seem to be deep in thought about something."
Muir continues to hold the girl less of a captive and more of a child in need "There, there little one. Griff continue to tell them.....We have food, you provide answers we will give you waht you need. Perhaps they can guide us where we need to be? Seeing them with us might provide us with more what is the word....Yes it might be good to ward off others if there travel with us?"
It takes Vin a couple of seconds to realise Elthana is talking to him, being so deep in thought.
"I am ok. It's just, part of me wanted to rush off after Sam, Gewyn and Nef, but then another part of me was conflicted. My memories are jumbled up, and I get the feeling that there were times when I would throw caution to the wind and times when I was afraid. I think those times I was afraid were earlier memories, but because they feel recent, so does the emotion", he replies trying to explain as best he can. He sighs, "Nef doesn't get it either".
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
As Sam turns the cloaked figure over he sees a near dying Aarakocra girl, likely adolescent, her feathers patchy, filthy and unkempt, her beak is broken in half down the middle and where the break reaches the feathers of her face blood is beginning to run. The firey restraints around her continue their work and as Sam watches she passes into unconsciousness.
With Gewyn following Neferox across the ceiling they too fond their prey, Neferox leaps forwards and attacks the leg of the figure. (18 to hit, 8 damage), the figure loses grip and falls from the ceiling, writhing now on the floor, they begin to be trampled by the running crowd.
At the other end of this hall Muir moves to attempt to stop the genasi and dragonborn from escaping the scene, his attack hits and stops the genasi in his tracks but the dragonborn continues and escapes round a corner and out if sight.
Griff sighs, looking to both elthana and vin standing by him. "I am understanding the retrieving if stolen goods, but do we need to be concerning ourselves with other peasants?" He points off to Muir.
Muir moves over to the Genasiand realizes he can't speak their language oops.....He turns to Griff "Perhaps you could help me speak with this one?" Muir looks down at the Genasi and smiles holding his hands up in peace "Can you tell him we only have some questions for him" at this point he hears Sam yell about the one he caught nearly dead. He rushes over leaving the downed Genasi to the others. "Quickly give her to me." As Muir grabs a hold of the girl a swirl of natural energy rushes over him. He pulls from the limited growth around him and heals the girl.
Vin watches everything unfold, with Sam's vicious use of force to stop one the thieves and Neferox following in kind by clawing at the other. Muir running back and forth, simultaneously looking to capture and heal.
"It is unfortunate", he says to Griff. "These folks just got in over their heads. Picked the wrong marks. I feel sorry for them really".
He wanders over to the genasi, not looking to stop his escape, and addresses Griff. "Can't hurt to talk, right?", he asks, trying to figure out if the genasi really doesn't understand.
Sam helps bridge the distance between him and Muir by walking towards to Loxodon carrying the thief. He wanted a firm grip on her when she woke. He had been a bit suprised that it was a young girl but it didn't really matter - That bag was not leaving his possession.
Sam has run the streets and pulled the same kind of thefts in his time. He was better at it, though. He knew better than to see a group of... well, mercenary types, for lack of better phrasing, and think them a good target. Whoever decided to target the group obviously didn't care about those they sent out to do the dirty work or is totally incompetent. Or... Sam supposes it could have been a test of sorts.
"Oh, you captured a higher up, did you?" Sam asks, looking over towards the Genasi. "Good, they have some explaining to do..."
Turning to Vin Sam adds "The pain and bruises will be a good lesson for them to be smarter in the future. Or at least better. Some learn the lesson... Some don't."
Elthana watches the drama unfold and gets frustrated. "Guys, we don't have a lot of time here. Grab your shit and lets get moving!" She looks to Griff to make sure he continues to lead them on. She sees that he is engrossed now with a genasi and sighs audibly. "What are we going to gain talking to these people. Let's move!"
"We were told to go where the guards won't," Sam points out. "You see a lot of guards around here? But really, is anyone is going to know about haunted houses and kobold nests around here it is likely street urchins like these. They need to know every backalley and hideyhole in order to snatch and run... True these aren't particularly good snatchkids but I'd still be surprised if they didn't know where we wanted to go better than that snooty guard."
Sam moves up alongside Elthana and looks at her and shrugs. "Couldn't hurt hearing a bit from the locals though, eh? I'm not entirely trusting Griff and his ilk about all this so be good to have a bit of the other side... no?" he asks in a lowered voice so as not to be heard by their guide. "We don't want to get sidetracked here, agreed... But a few words shouldn't take too long."
Griff translates for Muir and gets a glob of spit in his face as an answer from the genasi. Griff doesn't look at all surprised but is momentarily flushed with rage as he wipes off the wet and raises a talon crackling with lightning, he looks to vin and then back to the genasi " they are being generally bad at decisions" he replied to vin before repeating his questions in auran to the genasi. (S,V, or E, can give Griff assistance in his intimidation if you want)
Over with Muir, the Aarakocra girl's break ends slightly, the bleeding stops and the crack fuses leaving a prominent line up her face, but she is mostly whole once more, her eyes flutter open and she regards Muir gladly, and then a second later with utter confusion, and then a second later with terror, she swipes out at him with her talons and attempts to scramble away from thr loxodon (9 to hit)
With Gewyn and Neferox, the thief is brought low, Neferox glances around at vin, communicating something with half a mouthful of leg, she drops the guy and looks to Gewyn, barking to him and judging the thief who begins to also attempt to scramble away. They toss the sickle out to the side and attempt to run, Neferox making it obvious that this is no longer her chase.
Vin regards Sam sadly, "It is just a shame they have to learn either lesson. They are likely just afraid of someone who makes them do this. If they were out for themselves, they would want food more than weapons".
He shakes his head when the genasi spits at Griff, "That is unfortunate, but have you ever heard the expression 'You catch more flies with honey than vinegar'?". He looks to see if Griff has any inkling what he is talking about.
"It means you get more by being nice. What do they want? Food perhaps? You said coin means nothing here, but they might think it worth something?", he suggests, and takes out a silver coin to see the genasi's reaction.
Sam, large and pissed off and with a trio of animals mirroring his mood around him, stands behind Griff and glowers at the Genasi. "I killed the last one with one punch,: the Orc growls while cracking his knuckles. "You seem to be in charge. I will take my time with you. Make it last..." ((Sam helping Griff with the intimidation, or doing it himself if the Genasi happens to actually know Common.))
Out of the corner of his eye he spots the girl Muir saved be revived and try to scramble away. Sam is fine with that but moves to interpose himself with the scene, not wanting their captive to know the girl lives. Not til they start talking, anyway.
"What do they want?" Sam echoes Vin's words back to him. "They want anything they can get. They have nothing so anything is an improvement. Food will fill the belly. Weapons help fill it again and again. But they had no idea what my bag was. They didn't care. Anything was more than they had. I been there. I done the same. Not sure if you were ever quite that bad off or not... But yeah, there's always someone at the top in charge. Maybe this guy. Maybe not. We can't fix their situation... Best we can hope for is to get some information that actually helps us."
Recognizing that the main objective is most important, Gewyn doesn't give chase. He merely flicks a coin to the thief and retrieves his sickle. He runs over to rejoin his group, wondering if the thief will put the fake coin away before it vanishes in a few seconds.
Muir holds the girl out away from his face as she tries to claw him. He quickly roots in his bag and pulls out some food that he had wrapped up and smiles hoping to calm the girl down. He begins to walk back to the group carrying the girl.
Gewyn only sees wide eyes under a hooded cloak as the man accepts the coin but seems more thankful to be let go than for the coin, he scrambles off and nef begins to bark and give chase, but then she seems to be stopped by a communication from vin.
The Aarakocra girl is hesitant to take the food that Muir offers, but she also seems powerless to stop him carrying her away, she holds the food and eyes it curiously.
Griff translates the threats Sam offers, "this one seems to be thinking you are rich, and my presence is not helping, he is thinking that you are having guard escort and so you are being weak rich people with pretty armours. I have inform him that he is being mistaken, he is scared now." As vin offers the suggestion of honey over vinegar, the genasi eyes the silver coin and turns his nose up at it. Griff speaks up once more, "Sam is likely being right, anything is being better than nothing, they will just be trading stolen items for foods."
The group meet back up where Griff is holding the genasi down, Neferox growls at the guy not helping Vin's attempt to calm the situation. But as the Aarakocra girl sniffs and eats the food given by Muir she, speaks Auran excitedly at the genasi. The genasi in return eyes the group suspiciously and asks something of Griff. "What do you want in return for food?" Griff asks, translating directly.
Vin takes a step back as Sam joins them in a terrible mood and begins intimidating the genasi and providing his opinion on the way things in the city are. When Nef rejoins them, he makes sure to keep the hound between himself and his still enlarged companion, not being able to reconcile the feelings of trust for this person with the temperament he is witnessing.
When the food offered by Muir has the effect of starting a dialogue, he shrugs and says, "See, a bit of honey goes a long way. We don't need to fix everything here, but we don't need to make it worse either".
Elthana had stood back and mentally fumed as everything was playing out. She was glad Sam got his bag back and Gewyn his weapon. She doesn't know how Sam would be without his menagerie of animals and this thought relaxes her a bit, humanizes her immediate need for the mission that not only has been drilled into her her entire life, but the fact that so many might die and homes destroyed if they don't succeed.
As the tide turns with the offer of food, she steps up into the conversation, "What do you know of the healers? The place the guards won't go that is said to be haunted?"
Griff translates the question for elthana, and gives a bit of an eye roll at vin's immovable hopeful moral. The genasi responds but still seems indignant, and grif translates back, "he is saying, the healers place is haunted, they do not go there because people are being disappeared. The surface floors have what he is calling wraiths? But the building itself is in ruin, more than other places." Griff then gives a scoff and turns to the group, "they are saying they are knowing more, but will not be telling more unless they can get food, enough for their friends.."
"You give us enough information we can give you plenty and plenty of food," Sam assures and pulls out two days rations and hands them over to the girl. "Not a meal at the Ritz but it fills the belly."
Turning to Griff, Sam asks that he ask them about travel to the broken isles or wherever it is they must head out to. "I'm sure they don't do a lot of traveling themselves but those living rough often know more about things than you would think."
As things have calmed and there is talking back and forth, San's growth spurt eventually reverses itself and he returns to his standard height. (Only last a round.)
"That was intense", Vin says as everything calms down and becomes far more transactional.
He can't help but think on how Sam, Gewyn and Muir had leapt into action, as opposed to how cautious he had been. He looks at Elthana, who had also remained passive but seemingly because she felt it was wasting their time, and pondered his own reason for not giving chase. After all, he hadn't known they were just street kids back then.
He looks across to Sam with a bit of envy at the half-orcs strength of purpose, and wonders where his own indecision came from. Was it his missing memories or was he just afraid that he might be killed again.
Elthana notices Vin looking at her and as she waits for answers from the genasi, she asks him, "Are you alright? You seem to be deep in thought about something."
Muir continues to hold the girl less of a captive and more of a child in need "There, there little one. Griff continue to tell them.....We have food, you provide answers we will give you waht you need. Perhaps they can guide us where we need to be? Seeing them with us might provide us with more what is the word....Yes it might be good to ward off others if there travel with us?"
It takes Vin a couple of seconds to realise Elthana is talking to him, being so deep in thought.
"I am ok. It's just, part of me wanted to rush off after Sam, Gewyn and Nef, but then another part of me was conflicted. My memories are jumbled up, and I get the feeling that there were times when I would throw caution to the wind and times when I was afraid. I think those times I was afraid were earlier memories, but because they feel recent, so does the emotion", he replies trying to explain as best he can. He sighs, "Nef doesn't get it either".