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

[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 ]

[unhand]

[Wow, Christos, just go ahead and kill everything before the rest of us have a chance. Hook runs forward, flicking his sword up in a perfect slice across the half-orc's throat (atk nat 20, dmg 22) and making his day even worse.]

[everyredcent]

[ hook cuts his throat open, and the half-orc slumps to the ground dead. the other dogs are yapping loudly now, but... tbf they already were. /init already, jfc you murderous psychopaths. ]

[bluffcheck]

Might save some fun for the rest of us next time, boys.

[Said... another of the murderous psychopaths.]

[everyredcent]

I wonder whether these were merely meant to be guard dogs... or whether they were being trained for sport.

[righteousmight]

[ she cuts a harsh look in thoster's direction. it's not as if she doesn't appreciate the thrill of battle, but she'd hardly call it fun. ] Doesn't seem advantageous to lock up guard dogs in cages when one expects intruders, so I'd have to agree with the latter. [ and she only looks mildly discomforted by the fact. she's used to dealing with undead lords, who use people's remains for power and sport, so this isn't nearly as surprising to her as it should be. ]

[unhand]

Be faster next time. [Hook flashes Thoster a smirk.] I suppose they weren't expecting intruders, then.

[everyredcent]

Either out of unfounded arrogance or pure foolishness. [ he frowns at the other cages, before reaching down and tearing two potions off the half-orcs belt. he tosses them back at aedan so make a reflex save, bitch. ]

[ex_noble101]

[What did he look like, an alchemist?? Whatever his reflex save was 27 total so I think it's safe to say he snatched them both out of the air like a fucking baws/professional juggler. Ambidextrous bitches, y'all should see what he can do with his tongue.]

Should we leave them? [It might sound fucked up but were they trying to leave three attack dogs behind so that they could possibly regret it later when they had to make their fucking exit and came back to face a group of thugs + three dogs.]

[bluffcheck]

Seems a bit cruel to go after a creature that can't defend itself. [But he sees the point. He gives a shrug. He could go either way on this one.]

[unhand]

We could tame them. Take 'em with us. [Don't mind the fairytale princess over here, do any of them even have ranks in handle animal? Whatever, Hook will approach the closest cage anyway, crouching down in front of it and giving the animal a smile as he holds out his hand tentatively and... ready to yank it back if he looks like he'll bite it (handle animal 21).]

[righteousmight]

[ penelope will let the others decide what to do with the dogs. she doesn't really care either way either. instead, she'll take a quick look around for anything else that may be useful before urging them to continue on their way (search 12).

alright, i lied, she can't not have an opinion about everything. ] The beasts are caged for now, so let's leave them. We don't have much time before someone notices something's amiss and comes to investigate. [ so let's keep moving bitches ]

[ex_noble101]

[Aedan isn't overly invested in the idea, himself. Hopefully it won't bite them in the ass later, but for now he will just begin to move ahead so they weren't wasting any more time.]

[unhand]

[Hook sighs and stands up, nodding at Penelope and turning to follow Aedan.]

[righteousmight]

[ penelope holds her sword up, lighting the way ahead, but she waits for christos to lead because he's their rogue. ]

[everyredcent]

[ but the doggies liked hook :( he smelled like salty pirate. there doesn't seem to be anything else to find, so christos scowls a bit at penelope's bright sword, and then heads across the hall, glancing in around the corner through the door.

the huge cave smells and sounds like the sea, and the walls and ceiling are damp and dripping. a dozen slaves are being held here, bound and huddled in one corner. two pirates stand guard over them, as well as another dog. they look nervous, and one of the slaves is staring blankly around strangely, his head and eyes darting oddly about like a bird. the guards seem to be watching this uneasily, but neither seems to notice the others, particularly over the yapping of the dogs from the other room. ]