Zifni leaps off the cart and rushes forward to meet the creature ahead of them, his shield raised defensively. His airy voice mutters an incantation and a surge of lightning crackles across his staff, leaving it glowing faintly blue. He brandishes it at the creature, but swings wide and he curses in his native tongue.

Movement: 35' to get to the creature:
Bonus action: Shillelagh
Action: Attack: 10. Damage: 9 force.

Warrick raises his crossbow at the hurt creature and let's a bolt fly. Warrick feels the power within surge up in anticipation as he aims the bow. Warrick knows he has more powerful ways to defend himself but he can't stand the thought of calling forth that which ties him to the creature which gave it to him. He's afraid using such forces would draw the nightmares attention back to him to which he had spent so much time trying to be forgotten...

If only he had spent more time worrying where his bow was pointed instead of the surges inside...

Attack: nat 1 (3 to hit)...

(OOC: not sure if we are playing consequences for nat ones or not but I'm good either way!)

Both Zifni and Warrick miss their attacks, and the darkling near the front of the wagon, which Zifni has now engaged after bounding over Marrow to get to him, springs forward to take him on up close. It seems they're going for the party at the moment, likely to pick you off before they take down Marrow so they can get an uninterrupted meal afterwards, which means he's safe enough for the time being. 18 to hit, 5 piercing damage plus 11 necrotic damage on a hit.

[I don't usually play drastic consequences for critical fails, usually they'll just be minor or for flavour, so an arrow might break and be unrecoverable, or a sword could chip, but never something that has a major influence on things!]

Selene is up! 

Initiative
Darkling 2: 23 (-10 HP, 1/2 daggers)
Thamul: Nat 20
Zifni: 20
Warrick: 18
Darkling 1: 17
Selene: 16
Kain: 12
Tanis: 5

A flash of steel whistles past her cheek, close enough to part strands of hair, and then clatters against the stone wall behind her with a hollow clang. The dagger misses, barely. Luck, or something close to it.

In the same motion, her cloak sweeps as she turns, and her hand crossbow is already in her grip, raised, and her eyes flicker with silver light.

The noise, the wet stink of the street, the tension in the air, all of it falls away.

All she sees is the darkling. Her hand is steady as she fires the bolt.

It hisses through the downpour, as it cuts a straight line toward the figure toward the rear of the wagon.

She moves to reload, pale face unreadable beneath her hood, eyes scanning the dark as though expecting the next dagger to come without warning.

 Action: Cast True Strike 7, to hit
Movement: Max 30 feet, looking for something to potentially offer cover.

[Zifni is down.]

Kain is going to grab a dagger in each hand and run at the uninjured darkling.

Dagger 1: 18 to hit, 5 damage

Dagger 2: 14 to hit, 2 damage

Taken aback despite all his precautions, Tanis' habitual long face somehow becomes even longer and his drawl more pronounced.

"Aye, to be sure.  We look primed and ready to take on the boldest and most perilous of jobs in this jewel of a city.  Once we cut our teeth against these ankle-biting knife-chuckers that is.  Anyone got a way to get Cool Breeze back up?  And speaking of breezes..."

The gloomy ranger utters a brief word in Elvish, evoking the swiftness of a breeze upon a shadowed forest pond.  Shortsword already in hand, he draws his scimitar and advances on the more injured, southern darkling (2) that had attacked Selene, hoping to finish it off.  Regardless of whether the southern darkling (2) goes down as a result of his blows, he then rushes back north, twice as fast as usual, avoiding any opportunity attack even if his foe is still up.

Bonus Action:  Tanis casts Zephyr Strike.  60' speed (1 turn), no AoOs while concentrating (1 min).  Advantage and extra 1d8 force damage on first attack.
Movement:  (60' max) 15' S, 5' SE, Attack action against southern darkling (2), no AoO, 5' NW, 35' N back towards the northern darkling (1).
Action:  Tanis attacks the southern darkling (2), with shortsword and scimitar (Nick Weapon Mastery), drawing his scimitar as part of the attack.

Tanis' Shortsword to hit southern darkling (2) with advantage from Zephyr Strike:  24
Tanis' Shortsword damage on southern darkling (2):  4 piercing + 3 force (from Zephyr Strike) = 7 total
Shortsword Vex Weapon Mastery:  on a hit, next attack has advantage.

Tanis' off-hand Scimitar to hit southern darkling (2) with advantage from prior attack's Vex:  15
Tanis' off-hand Scimitar damage on southern darkling (2):  1 slashing
Scimitar Nick Weapon Mastery:  off-hand attack occurs as part of attack action instead of bonus action.

Free Action:  Tanis stows his scimitar at the end of his turn so that one of his hands remains free.

Selene misses her shot against her attacker, but Tanis end the darkling quickly, his zephyr strike making short work of the already injured fey. Meanwhile, Kain rushes to the side of the downed Zifni, pushing back against the remaining darkling stood over him, cackling and taunting as he bleeds into the rain that flows across the cobbles into the burbling storm drains. That laughter doesn't last long however, as Kain strikes down, missing his first swipe with his dagger as a peal of lightning splits the sky, the following rumble of thunder coming just as he slits his knife across the darkling's cheek. 

Thamul is up! 

[Forgot to put Zifni on the map last time, but he's there again now! :P ]

Initiative
Thamul: Nat 20
Zifni: 20
Warrick: 18
Darkling 1: 17 (-3 HP)
Selene: 16
Kain: 12
Tanis: 5

With one Darkling down, Thamul turns to the other 

He first throws his handaxe:

nat 1

than a light hammer using Nick:

To hit: 19 for 10 dmg.

Assuming the darkling dies after this round he'll pick up the 2 handaxes and hammers he threw after this round

OOC: Zifni succeeds on one death saving thrown (13)

Thamul's hammer does indeed kill the darkling, striking it in the eye socket to send it backwards onto the floor, dead. As the combat draws to a close, you see that the figures watching from windows have drawn away with quiet whispers. Perhaps they've moved away now the actions over, or because there's no chance of a meal anymore. Perhaps they're just scared. Whatever it is, you feel as if a skirmish like this in an inner city slum is sure to crop up in local conversations for a day or two; it might fade, sure, but that story could be the seed needed to strike fear or muster courage in these same peasants later down the line in your quest. 

Street Cred boosted by 1, combat over! You're welcome to move and act freely as you wish (for looting bodies, healing up, etc) before moving ahead again. 

(The following is only if we are out of Initiative, since Zifini is still making Death Saves.  If still in Initiative, then Warrick is next.)

"Look on the bright side," Tanis deadpans as he steps north to kneel next to the fallen Zifini.  "Now we know having our only (?) healer go down ain't necessarily the best.  Or you know, one of us could have the bright idea to learn some healing magic.  Like me," he allows ruefully.

Tanis' Medicine to stabilize Zifini, at advantage assuming help:  14 (10 if no help).

Selene doesn’t say a word as the last of the darklings crumples to the ground. The rain beads on her hood and rolls down her face.

She doesn’t even glance at the others, not yet. Her gaze drifts to where Zifni had fallen, catching only the shape of Tanis crouched by his side That image of Zifni sprawled, motionless in the wash of rain and gutter filth, is a shock her confidence, sending slow, wide ripples of doubt outward from the center of her chest.

All your talk of reputation. The words cut sharp inside her mind. All your careful little plans. And look at it.

She turns toward the rear darkling’s body, kneeling beside their twisted form, as she begins to search the body. Something to do, something to keep her mind focused. 

Her gloved hands begin rifling through pockets, belts, anywhere that might yield something of use, she hardly cares what at this point. It’s not what she’s searching for. It’s just something to do.

“I should’ve seen that coming,” she mutters, almost too softly for anyone but the nearest to hear. “They were watching.”

 With practiced detachment, she keeps at it, eyes down; this was supposed to be different.

Investigation: 16

Tanis stabilises Zifni by applying pressure to the knife wound,  meaning that he's at least at no further risk of bleeding out further and potentially dying. Meanwhile, Selene digs through the belongings of the nearest darkling corpse. It of course has its second dagger, still clutched in its hand, the other a few feet away, though she also finds 6 copper pieces and a wishbone hidden away in one of the pockets on its belt. Its clothes are too small, stained, damaged and cheaply made to be of any worth, and the creature wasn't wearing any shoes, so no good material can be salvaged from them either.

Warrick realizes he didn't load his crossbow and caused his miss fire, perhaps it was his lack of his own abilities caused the unfortunate even. If he only he had managed to land a shot, perhaps his friend wouldn't be lying there unconscious...

Realizing the amount of onlooks from above, "they weren't the only watchers, best load our fallen friend up here on the cart and best we get a move on..." Warrick starts to attempt to get the big beast moving again before waiting for the new passenger, while keeping an eye on the onlookers.

"Give me a hand with Cool Breeze, Big Man."  Tanis asks for Thamul's help loading Zifini's unconscious form onto the cart as gently as possible.

Despite his relentlessly dark and cynical mood, the ranger is surprisingly tender as he positions the genasi so that he is tucked along an area of the cart bed to keep jostling to a minimum.  He uses Zifini's cloak to create some padding for his head in case of inevitable bumps in the road.

He takes up his position on the flank once more, back to his usual drawl.  "Well, if no one can heal him, no one can heal him.  You got two jobs now, Doc.  Handle the worg and keep an eye on the rooftops.  A promotion, yeah?  Bright side is, one of us goes down every fight, we're still good for four more."

Turning back towards Selene, presumably back at her rear guard position, he makes eye contact.  "Steady on, Dark Sister.  Don't you start doubting yourself on me now.  I already got gloomy thoughts enough for both of us.  With Cool Breeze takin' a nap, need your drive and energy more than ever."

Selene plucks the daggers from the darkling’s corpse, turning the blades in her hands once before slipping them into the folds of her cloak. The copper jingles faintly as she gathers the coins, and when her fingers brush the small, brittle shape of the wishbone, she pauses, but only for moment. It’s curious, in an unsettling in a way, but this isn’t the time to understand why. 

She rises smoothly, drawing her hood back up with both hands, giving the soaked cloak a single, sharp tug to seat it properly around her shoulders. The water seeps into her gloves, chills her skin, but the heat behind her ribs burns hot.  It’s not just anger, it’s focus. She knows this feeling well; it’s how you survive here. Tanis’ words reach her through the patter of rain and the soft groan of Zifni being loaded into the wagon. 

She meets his eyes, steady, no flinch, no veil now. Just Selene.

“I’m here,” she says, “still in the game.”

She steps back into position behind the cart, one hand unconsciously adjusting the tension of the illusion shimmering faintly over the tarp. Her other hand rests lightly on the hilt of one of the stolen daggers at her belt now, fingers curled loosely.

The rain might as well be nothing at all. Her world narrows to wet cobblestones, shadowed windows, rooftop edges. Nothing else matters but forward.

“Let someone try that again." she declares under her breath, "I have so much more to give."

Thamul gladly lends a hand to load Zifni on to the cart. After which he takes his spot at the other side again aswell.

Kain will look scowl at the onlookers and be on guard for any more darklings while everyone else loads Zifni onto the cart.

The party moves Zifni into the cart and continues on; you suffer no further mishaps, luckily, and soon the tall blocks of brutalist buildings that make up the slums melt away into wider, silent streets, sinister walled gardens, and houses that are more distinct from each other. This aristocratic district is certainly much finer than what most of you are used to (it even has street-lamps!), though you can't let down your guard to take in the unnervingly pleasant sights. Soon enough, you arrive at the Crawlthing Manor, Marrow pulling up at the front of the house with a snort. It's a wide, three storied building, symmetrical on either side and centred on its grand, double-door foyer. The house has an unexplainable blue tinge to it, like it's bathed in moonlight or lightning. Whilst the bricks are nothing but simply deep gray stone, and the light seeping out from the house likely from candles, when you step back to take in the manor as a whole, it has the sort of blueish hue that you would expect from a sunken ruin. You can see slight stirring activity from the inhabitants through the frosted, latticed windows, smudged and shadowed shapes moving across the well-lit rooms idly, so at least someone is home to receive the delivery.