New Player In Town
You all stand on a street at the edge of the docks. The gentleman before you in the guardsman uniform with lieutenant stripes on it was introduced to you as Balderdan Viet. He seems a serious sort. He looks across the group of you seriously. Trying to get the measure of you. "We've information that a new player has been making waves in the underground society that exists in Alexandria. Taking over for individuals we keep an eye on, killing rivals where he can't buy them off. We don't even have a name for him much less a description, but that's about to change. Now we don't have any proof of his wrong-doings mind you, so we can't arrest him, but we'd like to gather some information on him. See if we can't see who this player is."
He shifts his feet uncomfortably and pulls out eight vials of liquid and starts handing out two to each of you. "If you're caught... we can't help you. You'll be trespassers. So don't get caught. These are potions of miniaturization. They'll make you small so you can sneak in and out undetected. The second vial, the one that's green is an antidote. It'll undo the miniaturization. If you don't use them, we'll need them back, but it's the easiest way to get in and out."
He points down the street to a building that's partially obscured. "That's the building. We're sure he's got an 'office' in the sewer just below it. You can reach the location through the building, so just use a mouse hole to get in and out. Good luck."
Working for the guard is... a bit of a new experience. Harshad doesn't look much like a guardsman at all, absently rubbing at his mustaches as he listens to the brief. When the vials get handed out, he eyes them suspiciously, before tucking them into his belt.
"You know," he comments to Schara, "I was in the Fernwood the other night and there was a drunk guy talking about how they'd smuggled a paladin into somewhere by turning him into gas and carrying him in a bottle. Then they threw the bottle when the fight started and..." He pantomimes a 'burly figure'. "Gotta say, I don't know if it's true but it'd be a hell of a sight."
"Probably was true." Badu says with a chuckle, an earthy amused exhale. "Bit of a, heh, 'stiff wind'. 'cause it is a Knight, you see, so a bit of stiff." The man takes his vials, looking both of them over curiously before tucking them into a pouch to keep them safe. "Least we don't have to capture this mysterious criminal. Just get a little information. Should be easy work."
"Anyhow. Don't think we should fight unless we really got to. If this man is half as dangerous as he sounds, it would be like petting a tiger. A real bad idea."
Old habits die hard. A man in scale male with a crossbow slung over his back clacks his heels together and stands up straight. "Affirmative, sir. We understand the risks," he says briskly, only just barely resisting the urge to salute someone that would be his superior.
He looks at the potions, tilting his head briefly before taking his two doses and tucking them away into his armor. He glances to the others. "Information, yes. No theatrics." Whatever joke that was played out either went over his head, or he chose to ignore it.
Warrick eyes the office across the way, and rolls his shoulders. "I am ready if you all are."
The bronze covered figure with the group takes a step forward to take their vials, and they look at them for a moment, before stowing them away. "I guess that makes sense, but if they really are killing rivals, they may be more than a bit dangerous. At least if we are controlling when we shrink with magic, it's probably a lot safer, especially with a way to turn back if needed. Just need to make sure there are no flies, or frogs, or spiders or anything that could be dangerous around when we use them, if we use them."
They look to Harshad, and tilt their head. "It's a good way to move someone, but wouldn't the broken jar just be paladin gas still? Or could they turn back whenever? What if they accidently turned back while still in the jar?"
GAME: Harshad rolls stealth: (14)+10: 24 GAME: Warrick rolls stealth: (4)+-1: 3 GAME: Warrick rolls perception: (5)+4: 9 GAME: Harshad rolls perception: (9)+7: 16 GAME: Badu rolls stealth: (17)+-2: 15 GAME: Badu rolls perception: (2)+1: 3
Harshad looks to the others and shrugs. "Look, the guy was drunk. I can't even swear he was telling the truth. I just thought it was a good story." Eyeing Warrick and Schara specifically, he coughs. "Maybe... I should go first, right?"
And with that, the half-orc is slipping away. No 'creeping along', he just seems to blend in as he moves across the way, just -accidentally- moving behind a lamp-post, or a wagon, or some other impediment to sight as he glides towards the building in question.
GAME: Schara rolls perception: (12)+10: 22
Badu isn't half as smooth as Harshad, but he at least manages to keep his head down and from kicking over any noisemakers. Which, for him, he considers a success. He cannot, despite his best efforts, not wince at the noise nearby that he knows to come from one of his compatriots. If he heard it, then they're really in trouble.
He loosens the sling on his great club, bringing it to his side rather than his back.
"It's a good story. Perhaps if it were true, we'd launch trebuchets full of paladins for sieges," Warrick dryly comments. Something Schara says makes him pause, and a quiet sigh escapes him. "... I don't want to deal with flies again..."
Seems like he's had experience being small.
No matter, he ambles forth, his decommissioned scale mail rattling all the way. He tries to keep his footfalls even. But, what can you do?
"Well, it is a good story, but if it's an idea, it needs to be understood. Given the look that Harshad just gave me, as well as Warrick, it would be useful for people who don't move quietly or are conspicuous." The artificer shrugs, lingering at the rear before wandering along behind them once they were some distance away. No, that armor wasn't particularly quiet, filled with sounds of metal clinking together and a faint whirring of parts at times.
Harshad reaches the building without spotting any guards or anyone at all really. The building itself seems empty at the moment.
Harshad presses his back against the building wall, and watches as the others approach. Gritting his teeth at the clanking, he takes a deep breath. "Alright, so... do we chug these shrinking potions first and -then- go in, or...?" He starts examining the building face he's up against, looking for possible entrances -- including smaller ones. "You know, he didn't say how small these would make us..."
"Small enough for a mouse hole, so tiny!" Badu reminds. "So, we will be the size of a mouse. Which is rather cute! Though I would hold on to the antidote very closely, for I would not wish to remain so." He looks about, and then shrugs, reaching into his pouch for the vial that was said to be the shrinking drought. "First to the bottom, eh?"
Warrick unslings his crossbow and idly works the crank. "Clear the building. Then imbibe. Otherwise we'd be opening doors larger than mountains," he mentions, casting an eye to Badu. "... yes. Very small. So much so that mice will be rivals."
Crossbow string clicks behind the latch, and he slots a bolt in. "Harshad. Head in, I'll cover you."
"Warrick does have a point, this isn't where their office is, it's just the entrance to it, possibly hidden somewhere with it. So if the main area is empty, we should find the actual way forward before well, moving forward. It will already be difficult to search one area, and searching two may take too long." The artificer nods to the others. "They're possibly bad people, right? Do you think that they've got traps that only people they work with know about, or something like that? I didn't see any guards, but they're trying to not be discovered, aren't they?"
"If you all want to kick in door, I will help... but I do not think that is what the guard's advice was." Badu says, but gets in line and waits to let people do what they gonna do.
The doors to the building are locked, but there are several mouse holes in this building and those adjacent. It's clear that the little animals are in good number here.
Harshad glances down at an obvious mouse hole by his boot, and sighs. "We're gonna wind up fighting rats, aren't we? Last time it was frogs and flies, now it's gonne be rats..." He pulls out the shrinking vial with one hand, uncapping it, before knocking it back. Then he draws a dagger, letting the potion's effects sweep over him. "See you inside--" his voice climbing in pitch as he begins to shrink.
"Maybe it will be spiders!" Badu says, upping the horror ante as he downs his right after.
Warrick sighs, holding the crossbow under his arm to pry the potion off with his teeth. "Ugh, don't remind me, and please don't curse us. By Serriel, Cinny's gonna have a field day with this one...." he groans, knocking back the brew and shoving the vial into his pocket. "Right behind you."
Guess we're launching toothpicks again.
GAME: Warrick rolls perception: (14)+4: 18 GAME: Harshad rolls perception: (13)+7: 20 GAME: Badu rolls perception: (9)+1: 10
"I hope it isn't spiders, I didn't pack enough antivenom in my supplies. If I had known, I would have packed more to prevent any potential diseases, as well." The artificer notes with a touch of concern, before taking their potion out and opening it. After a moment of thought, they flip a switch on their helmet, opening a hole just wide enough to tip the concoction through, as they join the others in their rapid reduction in size.
As you shrink down to the size of mice and enter into the various tunnels that make up the rat warren you move quietly - well comparatively. It's obvious that anything your size can probably hear you, but anything larger is probably oblivious to your infiltration. You head down, aiming for the sewers and the tunnels accommodate you nicely. It's clear that the rats or mice that call these tunnels home are very commonly drawn to the sewers. Unsurprising really. You head deeper and deeper until light makes itself seen. Now you've the option of poking your head out into the light, or continuing further down.
This is almost as disturbing as when he was shrunk down and had to fight frogs. Harshad looks around warily, broad-bladed dagger still in his hand, as he moves along. Then he pauses, freezing in place, and looks to the others. "I hear something," he whispers. "Voices, below us." Noting light up ahead, he presses against the warren wall, making his way up to that light and just peering around the corner cautiously.
GAME: Harshad rolls stealth: (7)+10: 17
"Yes, I hear it too," Warrick says, his voice about three octaves higher. He's got his toothpick thrower shouldered and pointed down the mouse tunnel. But as Harshad stops fast, he halts, and goes a to knee, letting the half-oruch man do the listening and spying as he covers their side.
Badu holds a tiny finger in front of his tiny lips, and gives a tiny shhh to his equally tiny companions. Tons of tiny little details to show that someone is doing a little sneak ahead of them to scout. His clothes are still way too bright. Imagine a little rat who had a coat that looked like a sunset.
"Well, at the very least, it's not as bad when we're prepared for being tiny. And there wasn't any explosion this time, either." The artificer notes quietly once as they wander down some of the tunnels. Only when the others pause does the artificer stop, and pull out a small notebook and pen. "Voices? Do you think they're talking about anything important?" She whispers in question to the others.
As you gather around the hole and peer out, the world seems quite large all the sudden. You can see a desk far below you, and two men in the room. One is behind a desk, writing on papers. He's clearly Mul'niessa by nature, with his long pointed ears and dark skin like polished onyx. He looks up occasionally, his red eyes looking at the door. His black hair is cut short and stylishly matching his extremely fine clothing. The other man stands by the door. An ourch, and a big one at that. A small smile plays across the mul's features. You can distantly hear the sound of someone talking from beyond the door which opens suddenly.
In comes a second ourch and a gnome.
"Jiddess!" Drawls the mul'niessa behind the desk, smiling wide enough to flash his white teeth.
"Mortin!" The gnome says in surprise and horror.
Harshad says nothing, doesn't move. He simply gestures for the others to remain still and silent, as he watches. The only other sign of movement is his eyes, scoping out everything he can see: the mul'niessa, the papers, the oruchs, the gnome... he's trying to take it all in, because he knows he'll be repeating it soon enough. Hopefully.
"So, uh..." Badu says as Harshad ahead of them continues to observe the drama that they cannot see. "You, tin-man, you a tin-man or a tin-woman?"
Warrick is only able to catch legs and feet, but the discombobulating feeling of the scale of things certainly wasn't helping his gut. Speaking of which- "I don't know who of you can understand me, but I have a feeling we're about to see something bad go down," he gestures with one hand before nodding to Harshad and keeping quiet. Finger off the trigger, leaning against the side tunnel wall. <Handspeech>
"It's not tin, the alloy is primarily composed of copper, with a small amount of tin added to increase metal hardness and other properties." The artificer answers quietly as they are jotting down everything they were able to notice, or at least hear. When the two are introduced, they freeze up, before jotting everything down even more quickly.
The mul in the room grimaces a little and rises to his feet. He paces toward the gnome. "I heard that you were talking about me in one of the taverns in town Jiddesss. Not nice things." He shakes his head and grasps the gnome by the jaw.
"Morinthal, I'm _sorry_. I love my new position I do! It's the drink! I... I underestimated what it'd do to me. Please!" The gnome would grovel, but he doesn't have his feet under him seeing that he's being held by the oruch like a kitten by the scruff of the neck.
"Do you know what's worse than a cat Jiddess? I think you'll make a lovely addition to my collection." With that 'Mortin' pulls something out of his pocket and shoves it into the gaping mouth of the gnome. He holds the littler man's mouth as he kicks and wriggles, trying to free himself. The sound of crunching and snapping fills the room as the gnome is forcibly transformed into a mouse which falls to the ground and scurries away.
"So, what's the news on the Adventurer's Guild? Did they take my bait?"
The oruch in front of him nods. "They just snuck in. They should be down here any second."
Harshad's eyes go wide at the display, and he mouths something extremely obscene. Then he backs up very slowly away from the hole, before looking at the others. "I think we're blown," he hisses. "Unless there's another group here. We need to go -- we've got a name, and his usual tricks." A glance back at the hole. "We are -not- getting paid to become cat-chow."
"Right, I can see the wisdom in that." Badu says. He didn't see what happened but he can extrapolate by Harshad's expression. He looks back the way they came, before nodding.
Warrick was playing out in his head how to storm the room, but this was not their wheelhouse, lacking probable cause, and the man power. Even though the dialogue behind him was actually quite funny, it was background noise as he was paying far too much attention as to what was going on. The gnome getting transformed makes his eyes widen, and his jaw clench.
Eyes hardened, he bobs his head once. "Yes," he intones (squeakily) as they retreat a bit from the hole. "Let's get out. Spare any mice along the way."
Schara tilts their head once, trying to see what was going on better and immediately regretting it as they stumble backwards, thankfully not tripping over anyone from the back. "You all are right, we should get out of here." Schara agrees, sounding more than a bit panicked before they turn to exit.
"Really? How did they come in?" The mul's voice comes as they turn to leave.
"Small. As you said."
"Excellent. I hope they get a good look."
"Boss? Why the fake name?"
As you leave the voices grow more distant and the Mul'niessa man's response is muted by distance. Particularly when the sound of squeaking fills your ears. It seems that the rats or mice are finally coming to investigate.
GAME: Warrick rolls perception: (12)+4: 16 GAME: Harshad rolls perception: (16)+7: 23 GAME: Schara rolls perception: (16)+10: 26
Harshad pauses, cocking his head, then he grits his teeth. "Shit," he mouths. "Come on, let's go, we are completely blown." The half-orc pauses, then pulls his rapier out as well, flipping the dagger to his left hand. "Hey, watchman," he looks to Warrick. "I can buy them spying us come in, but what're the chances they had an in with the guard and knew we were coming from the start?"
Warrick looks up above, then grits his teeth as he pulls out a sap from his belt, putting away the crossbow. "They want to flush us further down. We're going to have to push through them. As long as we can get up high and close to a wall, we can use the antidote and break down a wooden wall."
He eyes Harshad as they pick up the pace. "Wouldn't surprise me. But they way they were speaking, it sounds like they were giving their own tip offs. But I wouldn't write it off."
Badu sees everyone reaching for weapons, and grips his greatclub with a satisfied grin. "This will be a battle to remember!" In the hideout of a sadist criminals, against rats who might be forcibly shapeshifted, while himself the size of a tack.
The artificer pauses, tilting their head once before opening the book they were carrying and quickly into the journal.
The pen tears through some of the paper, leaving a blotchy streak through some of it. Schara sighs, and grabs their wrist with some of the hooks, giving it a twist before returning to their writing. "If they're mice, that means possibly people, right?” Willingly or unwillingly. "They're trying to confuse us by giving us false information, maybe, or trying to make us think what we saw was false." The elf whispers to the others. "Which means that either Mortin is a name to hide their trail with jobs, or another person who they are trying to set up for us to say is the perpetrator."
GAME: Badu rolls Intimidate: (16)+11: 27 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+1: (19)+1: 20
Badu slams his club into the ground, which kicks over some very small debris. It is a powerful gesture, complete with a thunderous crack... but it is relative to his size and that is diminutive indeed, after that magical drought. He straightens with a dramatic point, his finger a foreboding tale of their fate.
The rats pause, whiskers twitching and staring at the man before them with more than a little trepidation.
GAME: Harshad rolls intimidate: (2)+7: 9 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+1: (7)+1: 8
Harshad's eyebrows shoot up at Badu's display. "Well, if we don't have to fight 'em..." He points his rapier at the rats, and gives it a little flick. He's not sure if they're still 'people' in their rat heads or not, but why bleed if you don't have to? "Alright, boys, you can do this the easy way or not. Why don't you three just step to the side, and we'll be leaving..."
GAME: Warrick rolls intimidate: (17)+4: 21 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+1: (3)+1: 4
Warrick was /very/ glad the others heeded the advice, various attempts at making the mice move aside being had, the ex-guard pulls over the shield off his back and forms a wall with Badu's display. "Step aside!" he barks (squeaks!), slamming the sap against his shield. "NOW!"
GAME: Schara rolls knowledge/engineering: (20)+8: 28 GAME: Schara activates her Titan Armor, gaining: +4 Dex
Schara was on the fence about what they should do, but seeing the rats momentarily stunned, the artificer looks around, and sighs. "We're still in the ceiling, I don't know where any support beams are, we'd be breaking through walls randomly and that would just give us away. There was a ledge in the room with the mul'niessa and the oruch and I'm assuming a mouse gnome, gnome or mouse? I still don't know what they did and now isn't the time to figure that out. It's either through them to where we know the exit was, or back past the hole down this area, but we don't know where they are." The artificer rambles, pressing themselves against the wall in case the rats decided they felt like passing them by.
Badu approaches, walking very slowly and with purpose. If they can bluff their threat to the rats and send them running? Great. If not, they'll deal with that cheese when they need to. Either way, the real way out is forward so forward he will go.
The rats, fully intimidated by your combined display, flee in the other direction, leaving the path forward free for you to use.
Harshad watches the rats decide they have a pressing engagement elsewhere, and lets out a breath. "Let's move," he growls to the others. "Before they find some friends or recover their balls. We really need to get clear." He shoves his rapier back into its sheath, but keeps his dagger in hand.
Warrick presses himself against the side, uncertain of what was to befall them. Either they'd pass, they'd fight, or they'd run away. A glance to taken back to listen to Schara's rapid fire ramble and taking it in, he gives a slow nod. They're between floors right now.
He tenses... and the rats flee. A sigh escapes Warrick, and he marches forth with Badu. "Press on, yes."
"Haha, see how they run! Like antelopes before mighty lion's pride." Badu says, instant cheered once more. He swings his club once for flair then brings it about to plant onto his shoulder, miniscule man-swaggering toward the exit.
The artificer presses even more against the wall as the rats pass. After a moment of slightly panicked breathing, Schara peers backwards to make sure that they weren't turning back to ambush them, but after a moment to at least tell they wouldn't be close enough to do anything if they tried, the artificer continues onwards. "They may have just been rats, but I'm still glad we didn't need to hurt them. Messing with animals that are the size of you is never safe."
Suddenly and without warning, as the group makes its way toward the exit, an onyx hand bursts through the wall right where they are. Harshad has no warning as the hand grabs him up and pulls him into the other room. There's the sound of laughter from the other room. Oruch and mul'neissa alike amused by the situation. "Looks like I caught one boys!"
Unfortunately, they grabbed the one with a blade. Harshad's reaction is immediate and sanguinary as he drives his (admittedly tiny right now) dagger right into the sensitive pad of the thumb, like the world's most unpleasant splinter. What he says is in yrch-speak, and frankly it's unprintable; he's got a potty mouth when he's stressed. Which is... pretty much the case now.
Badu leaps out the hole, one hand holding his club. The other is swiping his antidote out of his pocket and downs it as they fall. Hope it's legit cause he ain't leavin' Harshad to no sadist criminal man!
Warrick huffs something crass under his breath as he rips free the antidote and storms out on his tiny legs with a sap and shield in hand alongside Badu.
The cap is spat aside and the concoction is quaffed.
Harshad is dropped to the floor as the mul'niessa man steps back and suddenly everyone is becoming very much larger. It seems though, as though he has no intention of sticking around and fighting you however as he yells to his guards and then ducks out the door and slams it closed behind. "Hold them off!"
There's a rather uncharacteristic scream from the artificer, proving that even with the voice lowered by magic and artifice through the helmet, if they were a tin-man, any choir or quartet would be foaming at the mouth the hire a man who could hit notes that high. They peer over the edge where the hand erupted from, waiting to see if the antidote was functional or not.
GAME: Warrick rolls weapon3: (4)+4: 8
Seeing as the antidote did its work, Warrick's little steps become strides, his voice dropping back its usual gruffness as he shouts a battlecry. Getting the shield in the oruch's face, he tries to take a swipe with his sap at their knees, but can't get a good angle on them. "Target lost! Cannot chase! Holding line, get a visual!" he barks at his team.
GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+5: (7)+5: 12 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+5: (12)+5: 17
The orc's surround Warrick, attacking him violently, but his armor and shield provide excellent protection for him, and no harm is done.
GAME: Badu rolls clubbing+2: aliased to weapon1+2: (5)+7+2: 14 GAME: Badu rolls 1d10+6: (1)+6: 7
Badu straightens, flashing brilliant white teeth in a smile. "Only prey flee!" The taunt is directed to the criminal who left behind his men, one of which has a spine-twisting blow delivered to him from the great club that the Velshanti favors. "Run, little armadillo! We hunt you now!"
GAME: Warrick rolls weapon3+2: (6)+4+2: 12
Schara manages to swallow whatever fear was remaining as the others land safely, and again the artificer flips open part of their mask, ready to hop down right as they swallow the brew. "Please lay down your weapons, we don't want to harm you!" The artificer shouts at the oruchs. "But if you harm the people I'm here with, I don't have anything to take you down with safely, so please consider that."
Harshad makes a grunt as he's dropped, but at least he's free. And then the others pile in and grow, thrashing one of the oruch bodyguards in the process. "Well, when in Alexandria..." he muses, pulling out the vial. Chugging it, he suddenly grows, gliding towards the door as he glares at the other oruch. "Give it up! You're outmatched!"
Warrick hunkers down behind his shield, moving it to and fro to block the strikes from the oruchs! One gets clobbered, and Warrick steps aside to open up the last combatant to the others. There's a glance to Schara coming out, but he focuses his ire on the last combatant. "Cease and desist!" he growls at them, swiping the sap down, but unable to get enough velocity to do anything. "Take them in! They have information!"
The oruch in question looks really uncertain of his situation. He stares from Harshad to Warrick and then begins suddenly convulsing. Something black pours out of his mouth and he collapses to the ground, quite unconscious and the smoke... vanishes. Similarly the other oruch's corpse is leaking black smoke that vanishes quickly enough. Of the mul'niessa there's no sign, but the papers on the desk are blank with only one message scrawled on them. "Tell my beloved I say hello!"
"Why are you smoking?" Badu asks, bewildered as the Oruch collapse, convulse, and collectively cease to live. He points to the bodies and asks everyone, "Why are they smoking?"
-End