Erven’s face is contorted into a picture of rage, he plucks the next arrow from his quiver and positions himself to take the next shot down the hall.  

As the party rushes in, blades swinging and spells blazing, Kit makes her way forward, blade in hand but a cry of peace on her lips. She calls out with an authority worthy of her noble upbringing, bringing a sudden stop to the short-lived burst of chaos.

Everyone is still, Khessa's blade frozen in mid-swing. The only sound labored breathing and whimpers of pain from the injured cultists. The three in the farther cavern, who had leapt to their feet, unharmed by the deadly assault of Erven which had such a great effect on the closer acolytes, hold their weapons in front of them, but they do not attack.

One of them, a tall, broad man covered in tattoos, wielding a vicious curved sickle, slowly steps forward. He begins to speak, but then Kit begins to play a song.

Singing with a passion, she plays a beautiful tune, a calming song which causes the three injured cultists in the closer cavern to fall asleep, their eyes closing as they sink from their half risen positions onto the floor.

The large man, who looks surprised and almost a bit frightened at this, holds out his hand, signaling Kit to stop so he can speak. "Murder? Who is the murderer? You just killed Josiah! And you have the gall to say we're the murderers? Bah! What evidence do you have?" He says, his deep voice a cold, heartless growl.

Meanwhile, Tabitha, Lance, & Erven all ready themselves, guarded and ready to strike. His face a mask of rage, his fingers twitching and shaking, Erven grits his teeth, tears streaming down his face. 

(OOC: think the kind of voice Dumbledore uses when he get's mad in the Harry Potter books/movies)

"Well..." Khessa draws the Cultist's attention to the massive blade that was about to cut his head off his neck "You see this one, right, friend? It's clear to you that if you haven't shortened a head yet it's because sweetheart here" she nods to Kit "wanted to give you a chance? Now, stop playing games and stop taking us for fools. Or I'll leave you to be interrogated by my more pragmatic elf friend" she nods this time to Erven. "A friend who knows you all well enough not to have pity on you".

"We have eyewitnesses to the murder. As well as to the desecration of a shrine dedicated to another deity. And to the creation of undead" the blonde arcane warrior lists. "Now you will reveal to us what brought you and the other Cultists to create this secret base in Neverwinter. You will tell us everything and you will not lie. Remember that my friend already knows something. If you lie to us or hide something from us... we can afford to mistreat you at will, because, you see, even if we end up killing you, we will have three more to interrogate. Understood? Well, speak".

"And I mean now" the gaze of the tall adventurer's blue eyes is as cold as the steel of her greatsword's blade...

As Khessa speaks there is an unmistakable sound of a bowstring being drawn tighter and tighter, a slight tremor of Erven’s arms is apparent, as he pulls the bow back and holds with a strain, waiting to hear the next words out of the foul cultist’s mouth…. the sound of the bowstring pull accentuates her use of the word “now”.  

The man gulps, eyeing the heavy sword uncomfortably close to his flesh. "We are the servants of the Whispered one. The great secret keeper, the master of all who lay under the ground."

All the cultists, including him, make a hand signal in reverence, placing a closed fist in front of an outstretched palm in a symbol similar to the eyeball and hand imagery you have seen throughout the hideout.

"We came here at the beckon of our undying lord, in order to plant the seeds of his great plan. Nothing you can do will stop us. Go ahead, take my life. I will only rise again in glorious undeath. Our leader shall add me to her champion, and then we can begin!" He says all this with a crazed, hungry look in his eyes

Mud watches the unfolding scene with trepidation, the tension in the air palpable. Seeing that his companions seem to have the situation under control, he whispers to Tabitha, "It looks like these guys can handle the cultists by themselves. Want to go check out the other room with me?'' With a shrug, he adds, "Might as well do something productive rather than just waiting around."

Seeing that Khessa and Erven seem to have the situation under control Kit moves to the sleeping cultists, doffs her pack, and begins to cut lengths from her hempen rope.

"Help me bind the prisoners," she says to Jack with a tone of voice that is clearly more of a request than a command.

"Oh, were you promised a 'glorious undeath'?" Khessa raises an eyebrow, clearly skeptical. “But what do you think would happen if your body were mutilated? If you bled to death after losing your arms and legs, reduced to a human torso, do you think you would still be useful to your Dark Overlord? Is there a role in his glorious plans for an undead torso, a sort of zombie worm capable only of crawling painfully while it decomposes? Because, you know, if your Dark Overlord is good and understanding, maybe he’ll find a place for you in his plans anyway… But if, like many Dark Overlords, he’s… how should I say… not very empathetic… then, you understand, right? What will he do with the body of his martyr reduced to a useless human torso? Come on, we both know: he’ll throw it in the nearest gutter and forget about it. With all due respect to the ‘glorious undeath’. Now… is that what you want? Or will you finish telling us what the ‘great plan’ consists of?”

"After all," the blonde arcane warrior's voice grows insinuating "nothing we can do will stop you. So? Why not speak up now, and keep the possibility of redemption in the future? Instead of becoming a useless and forgotten corpse?"

"And mind you, I'm not kidding" the tall adventurer assures, without a trace of compassion in her blue eyes. "I've seen enough of you, evil bullies like you, ready to kiss the 4ss of any Dark Overlord and not care about any possible consequences for the innocent common folk, just to gain a crumb of power with which to console their own huge ego disappointed by reality. It is because of people like you that my friend lost his family. And I lost mine. So, do not think that we will hesitate for a single moment in carrying out what I have told you. Either you will provide me with the information I have asked for, or you will serve as an example to the next - who after having witnessed the consequences of silence, perhaps after having vomited in horror, I am sure, will speak".

Quote from Dimir_MTG >>

Mud watches the unfolding scene with trepidation, the tension in the air palpable. Seeing that his companions seem to have the situation under control, he whispers to Tabitha, "It looks like these guys can handle the cultists by themselves. Want to go check out the other room with me?'' With a shrug, he adds, "Might as well do something productive rather than just waiting around."

 "I agree. We can bring Lance too so we have some backup. If we get into trouble, I can also send Petal back to lead them to us."

Khessa delivers a powerful and bold speech, one filled with emotion. The cultists are almost taken aback with the passion with which the warrior-mage speaks, how she proclaims cutting words that riddle at their insecurities.

Meanwhile, Tabitha and Mud conspire to go back to the other room, and investigate the strange things Jack’s ‘little helper’ found. They begin to back away, moving towards the unexplored room.

I want Khessa to make an Intimidation check, with advantage due to Erven

I want Tabitha, Mud, & Lance to all make Stealth checks, with advantage due to the cultists being distracted.

Tabitha (rolling straight due to disadvantage from her armour) gets 22 stealth. Lance (the second two rolls from Tabitha as I forgot the advantage. But also only a +1) gets 10

Seeing the fight has ended Ketangu lowers his spear and not one for long conversations with mad men he also slips out and follows Mud and Tabitha. 

Stealth 

26 - rolled in game log. 

The battle had ended as soon as it started and the young dark-haired man moves to assist the rightous half-elven highborn with securing their prisoners, offering some of his own rope if needed. While kneeling by their sleeping captives he watches as the tall blonde tries to convince the cultists to cooperate and share what they know. She didn't seem like she had much experience with that kind of intimidating talk but she certainly made fair effort and there was no shortage of words there, maybe she would wear their patience down. He doubted the cultist had fully thought through the actual process of being risen by their undying lord though but being returned as a mindless walking dead didn't seem to have much glory to it wheter you still had limbs or not. 

Khessa's Intimidation: 10

Erven looks over his shoulder, saying to Kevori -  “Here they are, the ones who murdered your brother!  Isn’t that what we are here for?”  He turns his head, looking at the others departing.  “Where are you going?  This is what we came in here for…”.  He continues to hold his bow on them, easing the tension just a little, moving a little closer, trying to see how well they are being restrained by Jack and Kit.  He keeps his bow trained on the leader.

(Mud's stealth: 22)

Kit and Jack successfully tie up the prisoners, their dexterous fingers working quickly to bind the unconscious cultists. They stand, and move to positions from which they can back up Khessa and Erven as they stand off with the vile acolytes.

Khessa stares down the cultist with a deadly expression, and something flickers in his face. He knows she means business. Nevertheless, he begins to talk again "Even if my body be mulilated, I will still be added to my sects champion upon my death. And there will be nothing you can do to stop the champion once the ritual is complete!" he says, pointing at the other end of the dual chambers behind him, from which a sickly green glow emanates from around a corner. Then, a sharp sound rings throughout the chamber from the way the party entered.

You see, as Tabitha, Lance, and Mud slip out, their departure is noticed by both Erven and Ketangu. The elf looks confused, though his focus and fury at the cultists distracts him from truly caring, while the plasmoid decides to join, artfully slipping into the shadows and catching up with this splinter group as they head off. But, as Ketangu reforms with that group, his sudden appearance startles Lance, who lets out a short-lived mechanical bark. This is not good.

The leader looks at Khessa "What was that?! What kind of trickery is this?" he says, anger flashing in his eyes as his free hand curls into a meaty fist. His other hand, the one holding the vicious sickle, tightens it's grip, ready to slash.

Through all of this, Kevori simply stands there, paralyzed, powerful emotions flashing across her face. Fear, anger, sadness. She seems very much not okay emotionally.

I need another Stealth check, this time a normal roll, from all of those trying to sneak away

I need Khessa to respond with an appropriate skill check to try to convince the cultists not to try to murder you. If anyone out of Erven, Kit, or Jack says something to help your case, I'll give you Advantage

Tabitha tries to shush Lance, but ends up making more noise than he made in the first place (7 stealth, at dis due to armour. Lance got 11)

Ketangu 

Stealth Check

19 - rolled in game log

[[ OOC: 'Cultists'? Plural? I understood that only the leader was left capable of acting... weren't the others all killed or tied up? ]]

Khessa is quite satisfied with the information the other revealed... Apparently, the cult's plan is to create a 'champion' from corpses - probably an undead horror of some sort. And to this end, a ritual must be completed. And in the direction the guy is pointing, this 'champion' in formation should be. Perhaps it can be destroyed, now, while the ritual is not complete? But what would prevent the cult from starting a similar ritual again somewhere else? She wants to know more...

Except that, in a way that is completely incomprehensible to the blonde arcane warrior, the person being questioned, who until a moment before seemed to have understood that he could not constitute a great threat, alone with his sickle, for the group that had just neutralized all the others, suddenly seems almost ready to try to react. An obviously suicidal and hopeless intent.

Since the intimidation has worked well so far, the tall adventurer tries to continue with the same approach: "Hey, man! It's me you're talking to!" she keeps her gaze icy, ready to retaliate with the much more imposing Greatsword, in case the guy tries something with his sickle "What my friends are doing is their business! You haven't finished telling me everything. Don't ruin all now. Damaging your body isn't enough, you say? What, are you trying to do? Challenging me to do worse? Well, then when I'm done with you, I'll burn your pitiful remnants to ashes and leave them to scatter to the winds, okay? You won't be part of anything. Just some poor wretch who sacrificed himself for a master who won't give a damn about him and will forget him faster than the wind can scatter his ashes".

"Or," Khessa offers "you can finish what you've already begun. Tell us what you know about the ritual that must be done. Consider that you've already told us about the 'champion'... Even if you chose not to tell us anything else and you faced death for it... do you think your Dark Overlord would consider you a hero? Do you think he would be kind and understanding? Or is it more likely that he would consider you a traitor? You're on a path of no return already, face it. Tell us what you know. It's all you have left to do. Either that... or a slow death at our hands. Followed by the complete destruction of your body. And the scorn and resentment of the Dark Lord from whom you would have sought a reward" she raises an eyebrow. "Do you really have to think twice about that?"