tobago ♔ the key is our vice

[everyredcent]

WHO || Thoster, Christos, Aedan, Penelope, Hook
WHAT || The Knights follow a lead on potential Slovechnian slaves
WHERE || The Devil's Fire Tavern, Tobago
WHEN || May 22nd  [forward dated]
HOW || Actionspam

The tavern the Knights have been sent to is located on the impoverished lower west side of the city. It derives its name - The "Devil's Fire Tavern" - from a red glow that magically escapes the tavern's windows after the sun goes down, an ornament added by the current proprietor. The inside of the place is inhospitable, to say the least. The floor is made of irregular stone tiles that are covered by a damp sludge of ash and mud, and the rarely used fireplace reeks of some unknown substance. The furniture is old, but serviceable. Still, they serves good ale for a fair price, has an irregular supply of local and exotic wines and other delicacies, and serves up a cheap ploughman's lunch to nearby workers.

The clientele seems mostly composed of beggars lucky enough to have money to spare; dockworkers avoiding their wives after a day's work, and representatives of the city's various criminal elements. A cook and serving girl are visible, and there are a few open tables scattered about. Christos, glad to be off the sunny streets and in a locale that feels much more familiar to him, heads towards one in a corner immediately.

Comments

[bluffcheck]

[Wow shoving wasn't really necessary. Guess it's just Thoster and the boy leading up the rear.

That didn't come out right.

Not changing it.]

[everyredcent]

[ as they move through the tunnel, it grows smaller and tighter, narrowing to about two feet wide, and coming across a locked portcullis. eight interconnecting metal bars just across the hall, and the door set in them is closed with a simple lock. ]

Rather paranoid for bards.

[righteousmight]

Evil can be cut from all kinds of cloth. [ and she holds her sword near the lock to offer him light to pick it, even if he doesn't require it. it seems the polite thing to do. ]

[unhand]

[That's dramatic enough that Hook rolls his eyes a little. He may have borrowed without permission or intention to return Lila's pink flashlight from Scotland, but for now, he leaves it in his pocket. The sword's doing the trick well enough.]

[ex_noble101]

[Aedan's still in back and now that the tunnel is to narrow for him to move up front, he will just continue to watch everyone's fine asses backs.]

[everyredcent]

[ christos gets it open, and steps inside the portcullis. there's a second one a few feet beyond that and he moves to set to work on it as well ]

[unhand]

[Hook follows, moving in a little too close to look over at what he's doing.]

Seems to be rather a lot of security, doesn't it?

[everyredcent]

[ as soon as hook moves in behind christos, the portcullis they opened slams shut. he can make a reflex save DC 15 to avoid taking two damage from the door slamming in his face. christos is trapped between the bars now, and a brick falls from the ceiling, which he narrowly avoids. a patch of brown mold falls, filling the room with damaging cold (12 dmg to the drow), who coughs violently ]

[unhand]

[Reflex 25 he's fine. But that... sure isn't a good sign. Hook swears and starts working on the first portcullis again though not all that successfully (disable device 11).]

[everyredcent]

It isn't budging. [ christos sounds annoyed as crap, GOD CANT ANY OF YOU OPEN A SIMPLE LOCK ]

[ex_noble101]

[I don't know if Aedan can even squeeze his ass up there in time or not, but he is going to try and shove his way past everyone anyway y'all can just deal.

And once he's properly invaded erryone's personal space he gives that shit a try because he is supposed to actually have training in this type of thing whoops (disable device 19).]

[righteousmight]

[ penelope moves out of the way for aedan, holding her sword (aka the light) steady as he works. she, however, is watching christos with evident concern, and attempting to assess the damage he's taken and his overall condition (heal 28??), because she is the cleric. ]

[everyredcent]

[ he looks fine - the damage seems to have only been a result of the sudden blast of cold, and it already appears to be evening out within the chamber as his cough subsides. he looks more annoyed than anything, particularly when aedan pops the door open. why he looks more annoyed that aedan was successful at rescuing him than he was at hook failing to do so is... a mystery for the ages. ] I suppose it's too much to ask that this hasn't alerted anyone to our presence.

[unhand]

[Hook looks behind them (spot 13, listen 6) for any signs of pursuers, then moves to the back of the group, drawing his sword. Just in case.]

If it has, we'll deal with them.

[ex_noble101]

I don't think holding our ground here would be the best approach, in any case.

[This shit is really narrow, guys, and more than a few of us are relying on our dex stat and/or two weapons so we should probably get to somewhere we can fucking maneuver just a suggestion. Forward or backward but this ain't where it's at.]

[everyredcent]

We press on. If they come, I trust that is something you can handle. [ directed at... hook mostly. pull your weight, brah. he moves to unlock the next portcullis door doo doo doo ]

[bluffcheck]

[Thoster has been watching this unfold, letting the others scramble to pull Christos free. It's not that he doesn't care to help, but he's fairly certain that they have it handled. And he was right so there we go.]

We've got an eye on things back here- don't you worry.

[Except maybe you should bc he got a spot of 8...]

[unhand]

[Yeah Hook's done helping you forever, Christos. He rolls his eyes.]

Try not to get trapped again, won't you?

[everyredcent]

[ christos snaps the lock and moves forward, slowing as he moves through the tunnel. a listen check of 10+ catches the sound of barking growing closer as they move that way. christos stops at the edge of the hall where it opens up to the right in a wide area. the hallway continues across the way, but the barking seems to be coming from around that corner.

he stops and gestures for the others to do the same, glancing around the corner. anyone else who would like to do so can make a hide check to sneak a glance. he scowls back at them, as if already dreading how poorly this is going to go with the rest of the party.

in a flash, his rapier is in his hand. ]

[bluffcheck]

[Thoster's listen check was shit but his hide of 18 will at least give him a chance in hell of maybe getting a glimpse of what the fuck is happening. He's going to go ahead and grab his morningstar. And flash Christos a grin.

This is gonna go great.]

[unhand]

[Hook's pretty much a ghost with his nat 20 hide check. He looks forward, sword still raised, expression serious.]

[righteousmight]

[ penelope doesn't need to look for herself - she trusts christos to relay back to them. her sword is already drawn, as it's their only light, but she does draw her shield from her back, fixing it around her free arm.

she looks back at the others, as well. y'all ready for this? ]

[ex_noble101]

[Likewise. There's no reason that everyone needs to be peeking around the corner. Aedan remains near Penelope when Christos indicates for them to stop, drawing his weapons (he's packing a sword and a dagger for the record) when it becomes obvious that shit very well might be going down in a couple of seconds here.]

[everyredcent]

[ thoster and hook get a good glance at the room: five pens stand on the far side of the wall, four of which hold guard dogs. a half-orc wanders in front of them, occasionally barking back at them, as he smacks the bars with a stick.

his 20 spot, however, is enough to catch thoster's movement, and he lowers his hand to one of the doors of a pen, releasing the mechanism there. the door swings open, and the orc growls some kind of word in orcish... that sets the thing charging out of the cage towards them.

time for init! ]

[everyredcent]

[ with a nat 20, christos gets two rounds, charging forward and slicing through the dog (atk 23, dmg 15). with a yelp it falls, and he presses forward, stabbing twice at the surprised half-orc (atk 21, 27, dmg 9+25...=34), and... ruining his day a lot, really. HE IS BARELY HOLDING ON TO LIFE, WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS ]