Missing Musician (Part 3)
The door does not lead into the sewers though it does lead downward. You follow a surprisingly long set of stairs down into the earth, watching stone walls surround you until you reach the bottom. There you find yourself in a basement of sorts, though one far further beneath the ground than most of its sort. In the center of the room there are three masked individuals surrounding your missing musician. He's instantly recognizable and not just because he's famous. Who else would be tied to a chair down here? The masked people hear your approach and stand behind the musician in a row, one of them holding a knife very smoothly at the elf's throat.
"Stop right there." One of the masked people speaks up, and since none of them move it's impossible to tell which one.
GAME: Ga'Elian rolls Stealth/YU+Urban: aliased to Stealth+4+2: (13)+36+4+2: 55 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+39: (14)+39: 53 GAME: Durrankar rolls diplomacy: (6)+23: 29
Ga'Elian does his best to escape notice as he slinks in what shadows may exist, wending his way silently past the captors to the other side of this room.
Durrankar stops in his tracks and swishes his tail. "I do not know which one of you is speaking, but we don't intend to harm you. What has this musician done to make you react so violently?"
"We do not intend to answer you." Ga'Elian is close enough now to realize that the middle person is the one speaking. Meanwhile the other two masked figures draw knives of their own. "Where did the other one go? The elf that was with you?"
Durrankar swishes his tail. 'Answer me...and I shall answer you. Fair trade, I believe."
Kravar draws his glowing sword. "Don't worry about the ones who aren't here...worry about the ones that are. Worry about me. If you harm him, I'll visit twice the pain you cause on each of you."
GAME: Kravar rolls intimidate+2: (8)+24+2: 34
Boshter is fine with letting others do the talking for the moment! He does make a show of stretching out and limbering up, however.
The masked figures on either side of the middle one take a step back and then take back the step that they'd fallen behind. The middle one doesn't move at all, staring firmly at you. "Then you wish his death as we do." He then makes to cut the man's throat.
GAME: Boshter rolls 1d20+23: (13)+23: 36 GAME: Durrankar casts Reverse Gravity. Caster Level: 16 DC: 25 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+30: (20)+30: 50
Durrankar takes a deep breath. "Then you leave me no choice. You...must die." And he stamps his staff on the ground. Suddenly, the pull of gravity is reversed and they're flying up towards the ceiling....
All of them save the middle one who grabs the musicians chair with surprisingly dexterous fingers.
GAME: Ga'Elian rolls Weapon7-DA: aliased to Weapon7-6: (4)+41+-6: 39 GAME: Ga'Elian rolls 1d8+8+12: (5)+8+12: 25 GAME: Ga'Elian casts Venomous Bolt. Caster Level: 20 DC: 16 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+20: (18)+20: 38 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+27: (19)+27: 46 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+22: (5)+22: 27 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+17: (1)+17: 18 (EPIC FAIL) GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+12: (9)+12: 21 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+27: (4)+27: 31 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+27: (2)+27: 29 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+27: (1)+27: 28 (EPIC FAIL)
Ga'Elian reveals himself at the back of the room by casting a sudden spell, and firing an arrow at the musician's captor. It strikes.
Without hesitation or thought to his own wellfare the masked man holding firmly to the chair of the musician ignores the arrow that pierces his body and stabs the musician. It is a terrible sight to behold, the perfect precision of the blade as he destroys the musician's life with a few quick slashes. "For the Mask!" The final blow sinks into the man's chest and above the masked figures above unleash a few daggers at Ga'Elian, none of which actually land but the damage is already done.
Durrankar says, "KRAVAR! GET THE BODY OUT OF THEIR HANDS!"
GAME: Kravar rolls 34: (13)+34: 47
Kravar blurs into motion, rushing at the masked man with his arms held behind him. At the last step he spins and lashes out, not with the sword but with the curved rim of his shield. It's a blow that surely would have knocked the killer flying across the room...had he not ducked below at the last moment. Off-balance by the miss, Kravar continues to spin and nearly falls before planting his feet in a wide stance. "You'll pay for that!" he promises. Then, "Block the door! Don't let them out!"
GAME: Boshter rolls 21: (7)+21: 28 GAME: Boshter rolls 21: (12)+21: 33 GAME: Boshter rolls 21: (16)+21: 37 GAME: Boshter rolls 16: (4)+16: 20 GAME: Boshter rolls 11: (4)+11: 15 GAME: Boshter rolls 2d6+4: (9)+4: 13 GAME: Durrankar rolls 3d6: (9): 9 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+25: (16)+25: 41 GAME: Durrankar rolls knowledge/religion: (20)+5: 25
The speed with which Boshter moves is impressive. Unfortunately for him, the speed in which Knifey McKniferson is dodging them is even MORE impressive.
Boshter's expression is one of growing excitement.
GAME: Ga'Elian rolls 1d8+8+12: (8)+8+12: 28 GAME: Ga'Elian rolls 1d8+8+12: (3)+8+12: 23 GAME: Ga'Elian rolls 1d8+8+12: (6)+8+12: 26 GAME: Ga'Elian rolls 1d8+8+12: (2)+8+12: 22
Ga'Elian says, "That's NOT OKAY!" as he shows his wrath in the volley of arrows.
GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+27: (2)+27: 29 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+22: (2)+22: 24 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+17: (18)+17: 35 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+12: (17)+12: 29 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+27: (18)+27: 45 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+27: (18)+27: 45 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d4+7: (2)+7: 9 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d4+7: (1)+7: 8
The masked individual lets loose a flurry of manic blows, trying to hit Ga'Elian, but where he fails both his companions succeed. Two knives find their way into Ga'Elian's body and the elf hits the ground with a hard thud.
GAME: Kravar rolls 32: (17)+32: 49 GAME: Kravar rolls 32: (3)+32: 35 GAME: Kravar rolls 32-5: (11)+32+-5: 38 GAME: Kravar rolls 32-5-5: (15)+32+-5+-5: 37 GAME: Kravar rolls 32-5-5-5: (11)+32+-5+-5+-5: 28 GAME: Kravar rolls 32: (2)+32: 34 GAME: Kravar rolls 32-5: (13)+32+-5: 40 GAME: Kravar rolls 32-5-5: (5)+32+-5+-5: 27 GAME: Kravar rolls 1d10+18: (7)+18: 25 GAME: Kravar rolls 1d10+18: (4)+18: 22 GAME: Kravar rolls 1d10+18: (10)+18: 28 GAME: Kravar rolls 1d8+14: (7)+14: 21
Kravar rains down blows with sword and shield as he circles around the killer, until the enemy is pinned between the swordsman and Boshter. He's already wounded, with arrows sticking out all over his body. Kravar's blows send him to the ground. The Aesir whirls to face the others. Then he spots Ga'Ellian. "Get up!" he hisses. "We'll shield you while..." Slowly his face darkens as he notices Ga'Elian isn't responding.
GAME: Boshter rolls 1d20+21: (1)+21: 22 (EPIC FAIL) GAME: Boshter rolls 1d20+21: (12)+21: 33 GAME: Boshter rolls 1d20+21: (12)+21: 33 GAME: Boshter rolls 1d20+16: (20)+16: 36 GAME: Boshter rolls 1d20+16: (19)+16: 35 GAME: Boshter rolls 1d20+11: (12)+11: 23 GAME: Boshter rolls 2d8+6: (4)+6: 10 GAME: Boshter rolls 2d8+6: (14)+6: 20 GAME: Boshter rolls 4d8+12: (7)+12: 19 GAME: Boshter rolls 2d8+6: (11)+6: 17 GAME: Boshter rolls 1d4+1: (4)+1: 5
"Boshter! These guys are from a cult of Vardama! Not of the actual clergy! They bring SHAME to the Death Singing Dragon!" Durrankar than lowers himself to the ground. "Which they'll be meeting shortly!" And his body becomes more metallic, growing in size. Once his change completes, he snorts out green gas.
Ga'Elian lays there.
It seems like the change into a monstrous creature has some effect on the cultists... or perhaps it's his words. "We are loyal servants of Vardama!" Together they lift their knives, and together, they... Fall.
Boshter, of course is well aware. "Yes! I told you! Masks! No one believed me at first but .. wait what?" Her looks over at Durrankar when he says that last bit, in the middle of doing his level bust to punt people into unconsciousness -- but then they...fall.
'OH COME ON," he says.
"Enough." Durrankar says as he changes back. "Let's hope this musician is worth it." he says as he takes a DEEP breath.......and breathes fire onto the musician's body. However, the flame is blue....and completely encompasses his body....
In spite of the spell that stirs around the musician's body the man remains a corpse. Perhaps it has been too long since his death, or perhaps he took too much damage from the attacks. Whichever choice is the truth he remains dead.
Kravar lets his sword and shield fall to the ground with a clatter and then goes to Ga'Elian. "What did they DO to him?" he says incredulously as he rolls the archer over to look for signs of what struck him down.
Karelin steps into the hall with his runesword drawn, having covered the rear. He scans the room, and shoves his sword back into its scabbard bitterly. "Probably better for my knees, anyhow..." he mutters, then walks forwards. "Need me to carry a corpse? I'm good at that."
Durrankar says, "yes...the musician is dead. But so are the ones who killed him." Durrankar says bitterly. "Yes....let us carry him back. At least we can give him a proper burning." He says before he walks on over to Ga'Elian."
GAME: Durrankar rolls heal: (12)+7: 19 GAME: Kravar rolls wisdom+2: (2)+2+2: 6 GAME: Karelin rolls heal: (10)+4: 14
Ga'Elian awakens. He looks around bleary-eyes and says, "What happened?"
Durrankar stands up. "He was asleep. Obviously." He then walks his way over towards the musician. "Come. Let us take him to the temple of Vardama, so his body can rest."
Karelin picks up the musician, more like a sack of something than a baby. On the bright side, it's very secure.
Kravar sits back on his heels, watching for a moment. Then he stands and holds out a hand to help Ga'Elian if he needs it. "We avenged that unfortunate musician," he gestures at the body and then at that of the one who killed him. "The other 'Masks' took their own lives." He shakes his head. "What happened to you? Some kind of poison? Sorcery?"
Durrankar looks back. "Kravar. Make sure you remove the head of the masked people. So they don't return as undead."
"..what?" says Boshter to Durrankar.
"...why don't we let the Vardamans worry about not letting them come back! They know what to do, and besides.."
"The guards are ALREADY mad at us over this!" He points at the Musician.
Kravar blinks. "Remove the heads? I've seen headless undead. If you really think that a possibility, I can take them to the temple as well." He grimaces as he grabs one and then the other, holding both by the limbs and half-carrying, half-dragging them with even less care that Karelin shows with his burden. "I may not be able to fly with them but my ship isn't far from here." He pauses and then turns to the third cultist, the one still riddles with Ga'Elian's arrows. "We should probably bring him too. Perhaps they can also glean some clues about these Masks'."
Ga'Elian says, "This is an AWFUL loss. Perhaps there is some damage to his body that prevents his revival? Let is not succumb to despair until every effort has been made." He then turns to Kravar and says, "Thank you. I'm not rightly sure what affected me, nor am I entirely sure what effect it had on me, but save for these minor wounds, I think I'm okay. I've only ever been rendered unconscious twice before, and on both of those occasions I had been wounded to the brink of death."
Durrankar says, "The blessings I get are extremely limited over the dead, Boshter. The spell I had to use, only gave me a few seconds to get to the musician before he couldn't be brought back. Plus, if the musician took too much damage, I still couldn't bring him back. So the only chance I had was to talk them out of killing the musician. You see how well that went."
Karelin continues to carry the musician. He doesn't do more damage to him and is assiduous about not hitting him on things. He's just not.. gentle. "Maybe we need to find a virgin or a true music lover or Sandy to kiss the musician to revive him, like it was a fairy tale?"
GAME: Ga'Elian rolls Percep/Ioun+Urban: aliased to Perception+4+2: (10)+28+4+2: 44 GAME: Durrankar rolls perception: (1)+26: 27 (EPIC FAIL)
You make the long trek up to the temple district, carrying the bodies with you until you can hand them off to the priests meant to take care of the dead.
GAME: Ga'Elian rolls Percep/Ioun+Urban: aliased to Perception+4+2: (10)+28+4+2: 44 GAME: Durrankar rolls perception: (1)+26: 27 (EPIC FAIL) GAME: Karelin rolls perception: (9)+29: 38 GAME: Boshter rolls Perception: (3)+21: 24
-End-