(OOC: @drumdigby - I'm not sure how I triggered the re-roll there⤴, but the original damage roll was 7. Also, if Regrak is still in the bonfire's AoE at the end of his turn, he must make another DC 17 DEX save or take additional damage: 9 (fire).)
Xanrym, Theldrin, and Khessa’s attacks hit, with Regrak looking somewhat hurt from the assault. Only one of Coriana’s attacks hit, while Avery backs her up with the knock out, clubbing a confused Regrak over the head. He falls to the ground unconscious.
”My goodness.” Es Sarch whispers at the speed you took out an Assassin’s Guild hit squad. The fight is over, you have an unconscious Regrak on the ground surrounded by dead duergar.
"He was ready to kill us without a second thought..." Khessa comments, unconvinced, looking the unconscious assassin up and down unmercifully. "I'm not sure how much we can trust what he tells us, regardless of how the 'negotiations' go".
"Especially since, if Fadheela paid the Guild to assassinate us," the blonde arcane warrior goes on, majestic in her shining armor which, together with her magic, allowed her to emerge from the tough battle practically without a scratch "I believe the Guild really has no choice but to obey, if they don't want to lose their credibility. I fear the only permanent solution is for us to hurry up and kill Fadheela. Regrak here... I fear he'll try to kill us again at the first opportunity, unless we kill Fadheela, effectively canceling the order to eliminate us".
Syllen looks at Khessa a little confused as he continues to search for people he can save.
“So why are we keeping him alive? It did sound like he was apologetic to kill us at the start. Given how much he overestimated his own strength it might take some time for the guild to get a group together to fight us. Hopefully we will be long gone before they can attack us again."
"Oh, I tried to take him alive because I heard Xanrym asking him to surrender..." Khessa shrugs "Anyway, I have no idea of the true strength of the Assassins' Guild, but I'll be happy if you're right, Syllen!"
"I don't have much compassion for assassins," Theldrin says with a hard look in his eye. "They do this for coin, and have their reputation to uphold once they've taken a job, so will be a liability for us..." But his tone softens as he shrugs and continues, "Then again, perhaps that's too harsh... and something could be arranged."
With all of the Duergar assassins dead or unconscious, Xanrym hurries back over. He hears the tail-end of the conversation, and he doesn't have anything encouraging to say: "No, Regrak is not our friend. He's a 'professional,' but he works a nasty profession. I mostly encouraged Regrak to surrender so that he wouldn't have a chance to hurt anyone else. It seems that even I underestimated The Company of the Grey Chain! I thought that we might have some trouble bringing down such a large, heavily-armored opponent."
"We can certainly try questioning him, but I don't know whether there's time before Es Sarch's meeting," Xanrym says, looking to EsSarch to see whether their interrogation will have to wait until later."There are a couple of things that I'd very much like to know....First, they seem to have set up the ambush here, like they knew that we'd be coming this way. But how did they know that? We only decided to escort Es Sarch to this meeting a couple of hours ago. Did Bruthwol Coalhauler tell them? He is a fellow Duergar dwarf. Or did the Inheritors send word back to Fadheela that we'd be attending this meeting? After the fights at the South Gate and at our hideout in The Riddle, I'm sure that they'd be willing to betray us to Fadheela if they have a way to contact her."
Xanrym continues,"Speaking of Fadheela, we're nearly ready to go after her, but it would be best to know as much about her before we do that as possible. I thought that perhaps higher ranking members of The Guild, like Regrak, might be able to tell us a little more about Fadheela or about what makes her such an effective member of The Assassin's Guild."
Xanrym grimly suggests that if Regrak is not willing to talk, he's inclined to hand the Duergar over to Irrenaste. "House Dusklorn is still up in arms over Ellesarwa's 'assassination.' A prisoner from The Guild could elevate his reputation among the other drow, and I feel that we may yet need Irrenaste's favor for the sake of Khessa's family."
(OOC: @drumdigby - When is the meeting? / What does Es Sarch say? Depending on the timing, we can question Regrak now or just tie him up and take him to the warehouse with us. In the latter case, we'd have to wait until after the Es Sarch's meeting to talk to Regrak.)
Regrak does shrink back down to size, and Syllen is able to Spare the Dying a couple of duergar, but not the Mind Master. The meeting is happening now, you certainly don't have time to question Regrak. Es Sarch will offer some advice, "As for whether to keep Regrak alive, it seems to me you could make arguments either way. This is a battle began before you met me, and I would prefer to stay out of any business against the Guild; I still need to deal with these people you realize, they play an important part in Pedestals' political atmosphere. I will say that you must remember that their boss is one of the most enigmatic personages in Pedestal. More so than anyone else, Fluid is an unknown entity in the city, and possibly one of the most powerful. It seems at this point they are only interested in you professionally, so I'd suggest not making it personal. Although who knows how much Fluid values their employees, not I. Come, we must be off to the meeting, how many of these assassins are you bringing?"
I will say that you must remember that their boss is one of the most enigmatic personages in Pedestal. More so than anyone else, Fluid is an unknown entity in the city, and possibly one of the most powerful. It seems at this point they are only interested in you professionally, so I'd suggest not making it personal. Although who knows how much Fluid values their employees, not I. Come, we must be off to the meeting, how many of these assassins are you bringing?"
Xanrym responds to Es Sarch, "It is difficult not to take their professionally interest personally when their profession involves trying to kill us! Honestly, I think that you and maybe Bruthwol are the only people we've met in all of Pedestal who have not tried to kill us yet." His voice is tinged with more anger and annoyance than usual. "I don't know whether this is a regular 'job' for The Guild since the customer is Fadhella, whom you previously told us is second only to Fluid in The Guild's leadership. Like Khessa, I expect that they'll keep trying to kill us as long as Fadheela lives." Xanrym pauses and gets lost in thought for a moment. When he said the name 'Fluid', it struck Xanrym as strange for some reason. Maybe it's because they just saw the Duergar woman from the docks, but "Fluid" makes him think of water...the cold, dark waters of the Sullen Sea. Fluid. Water. Purity of essence. The cold, dark water and the horror that hides in its depths. He wonders whether it's just his own paranoia or whether the name is a subtle reference to Fluid's ties to the Sullen Sea and the Aboleth.
Finally, Xanrym shakes out of his reverie and focuses on their current task, saying, "Let's get you to your meeting, Es Sarch, and then we can see whether Regrak will offer any information for the mercy we have shown him. Maybe Bruthwol has a separate room where to we can put him to keep him out of the way."
Xanrym is not strong enough to carry anyone, so he has no opinion on how many of the other surviving Duergar to bring. He just wants to make sure that they maintain custody of Regrak. If no one wants to carry the others, he is fine with leaving the ones who are stable here, "In the care of the gods."
"Yes, the meeting is the highest priority," Theldrin says with a nod towards Es Sarch. He seems agreeable to bringing Regrak along, but unsure as what to do with the other surviving assassins.
Khessa looks around for crates large enough to hold the survivors.
A) If she finds them: The blonde arcane warrior suggests: "They won't recover for a while... let's tie them up and hide them in these crates. We'll come back for them later."
B) If she doesn't find them: The blonde arcane warrior suggests: "I'm not sure how practical it would be to bring Mr. Oversized here to the meeting... Not only would it be tiring to transport him, but we don't know how the Inheritors would react to seeing him. If there's a side room to leave him in, let's leave him and the others there. If not... I'd say we leave them here. They've set us up here for a reason: namely, because it's a place people don't usually pass through..."
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Coriana uses psychic damage and will go for the knock out is she brings him below 0.
Scim 1: AC 15(12+bardic), 8 psychic.
Scim 2: AC 22, 9 psychic.
Scim 3: AC 9, not bothering with damage.
Coriana - Company of the Grey Chain
Wagner - Dragon Heist: Bards.
DM - The Old Keep
(OOC: @drumdigby - I'm not sure how I triggered the re-roll there⤴, but the original damage roll was 7. Also, if Regrak is still in the bonfire's AoE at the end of his turn, he must make another DC 17 DEX save or take additional damage: 9 (fire).)
Regrak DEX Save: 4
Xanrym, Theldrin, and Khessa’s attacks hit, with Regrak looking somewhat hurt from the assault. Only one of Coriana’s attacks hit, while Avery backs her up with the knock out, clubbing a confused Regrak over the head. He falls to the ground unconscious.
”My goodness.” Es Sarch whispers at the speed you took out an Assassin’s Guild hit squad. The fight is over, you have an unconscious Regrak on the ground surrounded by dead duergar.
When Avery knocks him out, does Regrak shrink back to Medium size, or is he still Large?
Seeing the group decide to keep Regrak alive, Syllen will quickly scan for any others that are still alive and cast Spare the Dying.
"Negotiations might be easier if we can save some of his men."
Medicine Check: 12
Perception Check: 14
"He was ready to kill us without a second thought..." Khessa comments, unconvinced, looking the unconscious assassin up and down unmercifully. "I'm not sure how much we can trust what he tells us, regardless of how the 'negotiations' go".
"Especially since, if Fadheela paid the Guild to assassinate us," the blonde arcane warrior goes on, majestic in her shining armor which, together with her magic, allowed her to emerge from the tough battle practically without a scratch "I believe the Guild really has no choice but to obey, if they don't want to lose their credibility. I fear the only permanent solution is for us to hurry up and kill Fadheela. Regrak here... I fear he'll try to kill us again at the first opportunity, unless we kill Fadheela, effectively canceling the order to eliminate us".
Syllen looks at Khessa a little confused as he continues to search for people he can save.
“So why are we keeping him alive? It did sound like he was apologetic to kill us at the start. Given how much he overestimated his own strength it might take some time for the guild to get a group together to fight us. Hopefully we will be long gone before they can attack us again."
"Oh, I tried to take him alive because I heard Xanrym asking him to surrender..." Khessa shrugs "Anyway, I have no idea of the true strength of the Assassins' Guild, but I'll be happy if you're right, Syllen!"
"I don't have much compassion for assassins," Theldrin says with a hard look in his eye. "They do this for coin, and have their reputation to uphold once they've taken a job, so will be a liability for us..." But his tone softens as he shrugs and continues, "Then again, perhaps that's too harsh... and something could be arranged."
With all of the Duergar assassins dead or unconscious, Xanrym hurries back over. He hears the tail-end of the conversation, and he doesn't have anything encouraging to say: "No, Regrak is not our friend. He's a 'professional,' but he works a nasty profession. I mostly encouraged Regrak to surrender so that he wouldn't have a chance to hurt anyone else. It seems that even I underestimated The Company of the Grey Chain! I thought that we might have some trouble bringing down such a large, heavily-armored opponent."
"We can certainly try questioning him, but I don't know whether there's time before Es Sarch's meeting," Xanrym says, looking to EsSarch to see whether their interrogation will have to wait until later. "There are a couple of things that I'd very much like to know....First, they seem to have set up the ambush here, like they knew that we'd be coming this way. But how did they know that? We only decided to escort Es Sarch to this meeting a couple of hours ago. Did Bruthwol Coalhauler tell them? He is a fellow Duergar dwarf. Or did the Inheritors send word back to Fadheela that we'd be attending this meeting? After the fights at the South Gate and at our hideout in The Riddle, I'm sure that they'd be willing to betray us to Fadheela if they have a way to contact her."
Xanrym continues, "Speaking of Fadheela, we're nearly ready to go after her, but it would be best to know as much about her before we do that as possible. I thought that perhaps higher ranking members of The Guild, like Regrak, might be able to tell us a little more about Fadheela or about what makes her such an effective member of The Assassin's Guild."
Xanrym grimly suggests that if Regrak is not willing to talk, he's inclined to hand the Duergar over to Irrenaste. "House Dusklorn is still up in arms over Ellesarwa's 'assassination.' A prisoner from The Guild could elevate his reputation among the other drow, and I feel that we may yet need Irrenaste's favor for the sake of Khessa's family."
(OOC: @drumdigby - When is the meeting? / What does Es Sarch say? Depending on the timing, we can question Regrak now or just tie him up and take him to the warehouse with us. In the latter case, we'd have to wait until after the Es Sarch's meeting to talk to Regrak.)
Regrak does shrink back down to size, and Syllen is able to Spare the Dying a couple of duergar, but not the Mind Master. The meeting is happening now, you certainly don't have time to question Regrak. Es Sarch will offer some advice, "As for whether to keep Regrak alive, it seems to me you could make arguments either way. This is a battle began before you met me, and I would prefer to stay out of any business against the Guild; I still need to deal with these people you realize, they play an important part in Pedestals' political atmosphere. I will say that you must remember that their boss is one of the most enigmatic personages in Pedestal. More so than anyone else, Fluid is an unknown entity in the city, and possibly one of the most powerful. It seems at this point they are only interested in you professionally, so I'd suggest not making it personal. Although who knows how much Fluid values their employees, not I. Come, we must be off to the meeting, how many of these assassins are you bringing?"
Xanrym responds to Es Sarch, "It is difficult not to take their professionally interest personally when their profession involves trying to kill us! Honestly, I think that you and maybe Bruthwol are the only people we've met in all of Pedestal who have not tried to kill us yet." His voice is tinged with more anger and annoyance than usual. "I don't know whether this is a regular 'job' for The Guild since the customer is Fadhella, whom you previously told us is second only to Fluid in The Guild's leadership. Like Khessa, I expect that they'll keep trying to kill us as long as Fadheela lives." Xanrym pauses and gets lost in thought for a moment. When he said the name 'Fluid', it struck Xanrym as strange for some reason. Maybe it's because they just saw the Duergar woman from the docks, but "Fluid" makes him think of water...the cold, dark waters of the Sullen Sea. Fluid. Water. Purity of essence. The cold, dark water and the horror that hides in its depths. He wonders whether it's just his own paranoia or whether the name is a subtle reference to Fluid's ties to the Sullen Sea and the Aboleth.
Finally, Xanrym shakes out of his reverie and focuses on their current task, saying, "Let's get you to your meeting, Es Sarch, and then we can see whether Regrak will offer any information for the mercy we have shown him. Maybe Bruthwol has a separate room where to we can put him to keep him out of the way."
Xanrym is not strong enough to carry anyone, so he has no opinion on how many of the other surviving Duergar to bring. He just wants to make sure that they maintain custody of Regrak. If no one wants to carry the others, he is fine with leaving the ones who are stable here, "In the care of the gods."
"Yes, the meeting is the highest priority," Theldrin says with a nod towards Es Sarch. He seems agreeable to bringing Regrak along, but unsure as what to do with the other surviving assassins.
Khessa looks around for crates large enough to hold the survivors.
A) If she finds them:
The blonde arcane warrior suggests: "They won't recover for a while... let's tie them up and hide them in these crates. We'll come back for them later."
B) If she doesn't find them:
The blonde arcane warrior suggests: "I'm not sure how practical it would be to bring Mr. Oversized here to the meeting... Not only would it be tiring to transport him, but we don't know how the Inheritors would react to seeing him. If there's a side room to leave him in, let's leave him and the others there. If not... I'd say we leave them here. They've set us up here for a reason: namely, because it's a place people don't usually pass through..."