Portia helps pull the child out of the crate that Pettilean is looking at. She lies him out so she can do a quick assessment of how he is doing.  (total of 14 on check) 

She hears the Flaming Fist command them to put weapons down out in the hallway and smiles as she finishes her examination. One, there was a Flaming Fist in their group and she had a chance of improving their chances when she stood back up into sight showing she was a member of the Song of the Morning.

Right now the unconscious one on the floor before her was far more important. Thankfully he did not appear to be dying, but he appeared ill and possibly malnourished. She applies a cure wounds to heal whatever it is as Ishkar and Bullden make their replies. (Life domain rolled a 1, but total is 7 HP).

The boy is about 14 years old, not a child, but not yet a man. He's got chestnut hair, dark eyes, and the well muscled body of a squire. He wears an enameled bronze medallion matching the heraldry emblazoned on the boxes - a slot helmet and sword over a sunburst pattern. His clothes were once fine cotton, but are now ruined with filth and blood.

The lead elf shouts out, in reply, "Lay down your arms either way and we'll sort all of this out. Is the lad wearing any heraldry? He may be who we're after."

Gert's shouting behind them, "They're not the culprits! I asked them to help! Don't hurt them!"

*PAUSE*

We'll pause the game at that spot until approximately Monday the 24th of April. Have a great week next week, folks. I'll have a tropical adult beverage in your honor!

OOC: Yeah that works for me. See you then!

Quote from HighLordDukanis >>

The boy is about 14 years old, not a child, but not yet a man. He's got chestnut hair, dark eyes, and the well muscled body of a squire. He wears an enameled bronze medallion matching the heraldry emblazoned on the boxes - a slot helmet and sword over a sunburst pattern. His clothes were once fine cotton, but are now ruined with filth and blood.

The lead elf shouts out, in reply, "Lay down your arms either way and we'll sort all of this out. Is the lad wearing any heraldry? He may be who we're after."

Gert's shouting behind them, "They're not the culprits! I asked them to help! Don't hurt them!"

"Oh, for the love of the entire parthenon," Zina rolled her eyes, backing up Bullden. "Do we look like the sort to kidnap a child, then wake up all of our guard dogs, only to knock 'em out again?" She gave a little, sarcastic laugh. "If we are criminal masterminds, we wouldn't be very good at it."

Pettilaen rushes out of the room, knowing he'll be of little use in helping the child mend and recover. Hearing the rangers, he drops his two daggers, and unbuckles his rapier. Seeing the rangers, he is relieved he doesn't recognize any of them. Let's hope none of them recognize me in return. "Yes, he is! The heraldry is akin to a slot helmet and sword over a sunburst image... most likely from a noble house of sorts." He's seen the symbol in Baldur's Gate before, many years ago. He'd robbed a man wearing it.

Portia ignores most of the shouting as she waits to see if her healing revives the lad. Besides she can't see out because of having to come to the back of the room around some crates as they finished off the dogs and then started searching. So much stuff to haul into a room when it might have been easier to just guard the wagon in a barn or something where maybe nothing would have been heard. Best place to be noticed was hauling too much stuff into an inn even if merchants were normal along this route. Thankfully whoever had taken all this and hauled it in wasn't that smart. That would easily explain why the Flaming Fist might have showed up this quickly. 

The boy is not wounded or damaged, per se, but he does seem to be running a fever and attempts to heal him have been unsuccessful at returning him to consciousness.

Regarding interaction with the elves, I'm giving it some time to see if other PC's intend to weigh in (PbP being asynchronous as discussed) before posting the elven response. In any event, I'm sure we'll need some sort of social roll from whomever officially engages them as they descend the stairs, keeping in mind they have issued two orders for arms to be dropped at this point. That doesn't necessarily mean you must obey and it certainly doesn't mean conflict is inevitable, it's just how they feel is best to approach the situation and it does indicate a certain wariness on their part.

That said, Gert is trying to reassure them you are "the good guys", so that might be helping some...

From post 141 which I think got skipped Bullden did try to interact with the elves.  Below is a copy of the post

Bullden lowers his weapon and flashes his Flaming Fist insignia and says, "Yer in luck cuz a member of tha Flamin' Fist be already here and saved tha day.  We got word of a child bein' held captive in this room possibly by a Pirate slaver.  So really ye shou' be thankin' us for savin' this child."

((Using insight I want to know if they are telling the truth and if I recognize any of them (NAT 20 on check) since I am part of the same mercenary guild.))

Portia frowns as she examines the boy further noting her cure wounds did not help the boy. He felt hot to the touch as she worked on doing a thorough examination glad she had bothered to learn medicinal skills and not relied on spells. The problem could be finding the right herbal remedy to help him as some things could be devastating if not treated in time. She stops a moment because she really needs to get him off the floor and check for any type of inflammation on him. Besides he did not need to be lying on the floor with a fever.

Still ignoring everyone in the hallway, she quickly moves crates off the bed, rips off the blanket and settles the boy there. To better assess what is going on she strips him of his dirty clothes and uses the blanket to keep him covered where she is not currently checking him for all signs of malady. It could be a simple combination of being stuffed in a box and dehydration. It never hurt to be sure.

((Meta: Medicine skill check 12+5=17. This is pretty much what Portia is doing until someone forces their way into the room or she suddenly figures out what she needs. =D ))

Quote from Questor >>

From post 141 which I think got skipped Bullden did try to interact with the elves.  Below is a copy of the post

Bullden lowers his weapon and flashes his Flaming Fist insignia and says, "Yer in luck cuz a member of tha Flamin' Fist be already here and saved tha day.  We got word of a child bein' held captive in this room possibly by a Pirate slaver.  So really ye shou' be thankin' us for savin' this child."

((Using insight I want to know if they are telling the truth and if I recognize any of them (NAT 20 on check) since I am part of the same mercenary guild.))

ROLL: Need a social check of some kind (Persuasion?) from whomever (Bullden?) is officially engaging the elves to set the tone for where the conversation goes from here.

Also, has Bullden complied with their request to disarm or is he addressing them armed?

Bullden did put his hammer on the ground and lowered his shield with the hopes that this makes me look a little less threatening.  Though if anyone looked they would see he has a pair of hand axes on his person is easy reach.

Bullden attempts to talk to the elves to further iterate they are here to save the boy, not hurt him.  ((persuasion 4))  Even with that bad roll I say, "You see I lowered me weapon and told you are tale and saved the boy.  If you don't believe me cast yer truth spells I'd be willing participant."

Hoping their insight shows I'm being truthful.

The rangers descend the stairs with Gert hot on their heels. She describes the events to date and they listen, but they watch Bullden with a piercing and wary stare. When they see that everyone has dropped their weapons, they sheathe their blades as well. 

"I am Jhaan", says the lead ranger. "We are employed by Lord Captain Reynauld Kennet of the Elturel Guard to find his son Regis and his stolen shipment of goods." His eyes cast about the room. "It appears we have found most of it. Where is this genasi about which we've heard so much?"

"We scared him off with a music and light show," Zina snorted. "Let me spell it out for you, since you're obviously so dimwitted you can't reason what happens when you add two and two together. We... are... not... the... bad... guys... here!" The gnome gave a forced smile, gesticulating largely. "It... would... not... make... any... sense!"

"I believe you. One of you claimed allegiance to the Flaming Fist."

He holds up a temporary commission from the Flaming Fist.

"Lord Captain Kennet arranged an agreement with your leaders to find his son and his goods. If you are loyal to the Flaming Fist, then you are bound to the same task as we. Where is the genasi and where are the remainder of the goods... Please?"

Pettilaen steps forward. You're a good guy, Pettilaen! Don't let the other voices fool you. "What my esteemed colleague means is that we are good. You know, the heroes!" He waves his hands in the sky. "We saved this kid! And the bad guy, Baradwulf, the evil genasi pirate, got away." He tries to play on the innocent ideals some folk see gnomes portray. "I think you might've passed him as you walked through the door. Our priest, she worships the Lord of Light, is tending to Regis in the pirate's room. He looks pretty shaken up, but I think he'll make it." He stretches, yawning as it turns into a lazy smile. "Perhaps we can continue this conversation over some drinks? That might ease any tension we're experiencing!"

Portia mutters under her breath at how the conversation is going while working on checking the boy's condition thoroughly. She glances at the still unconscious dogs. She wasn't sure what they would do if they woke up and she hoped they did not. Someone with some skill could get them retrained to follow a new master.

She turns her attention back to the boy. Her voice is barely above a whisper as she comments, "Seems they only left part of the stuff here with you. I wonder what might be missing. Of course, if they think they are just going to haul your sick self all over to get you home, they can think again."

All she can determine is the boy has some type of sickness with a fever. She keeps doing her check though to be sure, but thinks if he even had any scratches her cure wounds had cleaned those up. She really needed to clean him up in the process. If she got her hands on the guy that treated the lad this way, he would never want to do such a thing again.

Zina does not find any secret doors in the cellar hallway.

The rangers make their way to the end of the hall, only partially heeding additional comments as they go. Their single-minded seriousness and stern behavior could be considered curt, but they ARE elves, after all, a race known for their lack of patience with other races. What's worse, they're hired bows who rove the forests for the highest bidder. It's likely all they truly care about is their contract and the reward coin behind it.

The lead ranger steps into the room where the Regis Kennet lies unconscious, Portia taking steps to treat his condition. He leans over the boy and does an examination of his own.

"The boy is ill. I cannot heal this. We'll need to stop at the Song of the Morning (a temple to Lathander in Beregost) to see him healed before we go north. Jhaarim, you have the coin?"

One of the following rangers jingles a pouched safely tucked within his dark leather tunic.

Jhaan looks up at Portia.

"I trust that you'll be on your way soon to find the genasi?"