CH. 10: Hard Choices

[JadedDM]

Gregeddin (Prefect's Mansion, Basement)
The bard struggles in vain against the iron shackles, making no headway whatsoever. "You aren't exactly convincing me against the 'idiot' label so far," Tethys says in deadpan. Nevertheless, the kapaks point their crossbows at Gregeddin, in the unlikely event he does somehow pull free. But he does not.

"I have no need for another minstrel, but perhaps you can be of another use to me," the bozak continues. "I will offer you a deal. The trade guild has long been a thorn in my side. You will publicly denounce them, confessing that they coerced you to work against me. I will have their leader executed, disband the guild and then you will serve me as a spy and propagandist to convince the people of Haven that this administration is the best thing for them. If you refuse, or try to betray me in any way, I will have you killed, have your parents killed, and have the entire trade guild killed instead after declaring you enemies of the state."

(Gregeddin makes a bend bars check [TN 7%] (1d100): 88, fail.)

Tulbas and Gobax (300 Market Street, Gregeddin's House)
Gobax looks around for anything that might hinder the baaz should they give chase. To the right is a checkpoint, and to the left is another checkpoint. If they do decide to run, it doesn't look like they'd get very far, either way.

The baaz sneer at him. But they seem to recognize the name Magnus. "Tell the mage not to bother with that delivery, kid. He ain't coming back. Now get lost, or else."

Felran, Ne-Chanz and Shima (Haven North Sewers)
Both Shima and Ne-Chanz withdraw back to the rat room, the cube following right behind them. The minotaur then fumbles in his pack until he finds his flint and steel and lights the torch, illuminating the entire room. The rats scurry away, but he can now see the shimmering, translucent cube approaching them.

Felran contemplates the bridge, then realizes he was left behind. Walking back the way he came, he finds his two companions facing a large cube of slime. Ne-Chanz lights a torch, which momentarily blinds Felran as his vision switches from infravision to normal vision.

Shima, likewise, is blinded for just a second. But it's enough for the cube to make a move. This time the dwarf isn't able to shake off the toxins and when the ooze touches him, he falls to the ground, completely unable to move. He is forced to watch as the cube swallows him whole, and can still feel the acidic slime burning at his skin.

===============

Initiative
Felran (1d10): 8
Ne-Chanz (1d10): 2
Shima (1d10): 1
Gelatinous Cube (1d10+6): 8+6 = 14

Round 1!

Shima withdraws 20 feet from the cube.
Ne-Chanz withdraws 20 feet from the cube. He uses his flint and steel to light the torch.
Felran moves 30 feet back up to the rat room.
Gelatinous Cube moves 30 feet after the party, then attacks Shima who is using his masterwork buckler (-2 to hit) [TN 12] (1d20-2): 18-2 = 16, hit.
----Shima makes a save vs. paralyzation [TN 13] (1d20): 10, fail. He is paralyzed for (5d4): 13 rounds. Shima takes (2d8): 6 damage. Shima is now moderately wounded.

(OOC: The spear is a M-sized weapon; it is not a polearm, and therefore not capable of being used from the second rank.

chese, if you are asking if Felran could simply fly over the bridge, then yes.)

[Chris1234]

Shima stops humming.

[BishGada]

"I see... So what exactly to tell Magnus? Where is Gregeddin and by whose authority? You know Magnus... he can be picky on the details..." Tulbas says showing no emotion at the baaz hint of Gregeddin's doom.

[TristenC]

Grubnick positions himself so he is out of sight of the checkpoints and silently prays Tulbas' questions don't agitate the guards.

[mgbevan]

Gregeddin quits his display at Tethys' offer, and sits back down silently to contemplate this deal Tethys' wants.
"I may need some time to consider this..." he replies trailing off into thought.
Some way where other people aren't getting killed must be possible to find... I like Karn the blacksmith. I really like my parents. I really really cant have anyone getting killed from my silly games...

[HorizonsDream]

Kendra shakes her head before she pulls Arulia into a hug. This was a hard situation for both of them, and they both needed a friend. "Try finding a rich husband to avoid the brothel," she suggests. "I haven't completely earned the prefect's trust to deal with the brothel issue just yet. It is going to take some time, but I'll do my best," she assures. She lets go of the woman, and smiles lightly. "And the same goes for you. If you need help, I'll do what I can to help you."

Kendra waves goodbye the Arulia and William, before she turns and walks to her family's home.

[spyguy1503]

Ne-Chanz strikes with a sword, then his torch.

[chese780]

(OOC: Tell me, can I jump into it and "grapple" it? )

*Felran drops his backpack, hefting the Greatsword*

"If you're going to swing, then AIM HIGH," Felran says, looking at the Minotaur.

[djhyland]

Arulia returns Kendra's unexpected hug and puts on a brave face. "I'll do my best as well. Take care of yourself, Kendra," she repeats.

After Kendra leaves, Arulia turns back to William. "I suppose I know what happened to my father now," she says. "I need to let my family know. But, uh, do you have other business that you need to attend to?" She follows this question almost immediately as the thought strikes her. "Do you have a place to stay in the city? If you don't, you should come home with me. We can't offer you much, but we can at least give you a place to stay."

[JadedDM]

Kendra Greylock (2723 Crooked Road, Synclair residence)
It's around Eleventh Watch by the time Kendra makes it to her parents' house. They are quite surprised to see her again so soon; twice in one day is pretty much unheard of from her. "We were just sitting down to dinner," Garnet says, "if you want to join us." It was just leek soup, a common meal in this household and one Kendra hasn't had to eat since she started living with Norris.

Gregeddin (Prefect's Mansion, Basement)
Tethys shrugs. "It seems a simple enough deal to me. Life or death. But as you wish, take some time." He gestures for the two baaz to remain, and takes the two kapaks with him back out. The two baaz keep their eyes on the human, not wishing to fail their commanding officer a second time.

Tulbas and Gobax (300 Market Street, Gregeddin's House)
"Tell Magnus this," replies the baaz, then he punches Tulbas, quite hard, in the kidney. The young elf feels the air rush from his lungs and his knees start to buckle. "Now did you get that? Or should I repeat it?" the baaz asks. "Now get out of here, kid. Last warning."

The other baaz chuckles with amusement at the sight.

(Baaz punches at Tulbas [TN 14] (1d20): 18, hit for 1 damage. Tulbas is now lightly wounded.)

Arulia Seroth (Three Forks)
"That's very kind of you to offer," William replies. "But I'd hate to put even further burden on your family, after everything else. I have a room at the Seven Centaurs anyway. You can always find me there, or if I'm not in, leave a message for me at the front desk."

Felran, Ne-Chanz and Shima (Haven North Sewers)
With a grunt, Ne-Chanz swings his long sword in a horizontal slash, cutting through the entire cube with one quick motion. The creature makes no noise, but it quivers as ooze gushes from the wound, spilling on the floor at their feet. The minotaur then tries to hit it with his torch, but being unaccustomed to his off-hand weapon being so light and differently balanced (he usually has a long sword there, not a torch), he misses entirely.

The cube, which is still in the process of digesting Shima, moves toward Ne-Chanz in an attempt to swallow him, as well. However, Ne-Chanz manages to back away to avoid being touched.

Felran then leaps in, his great sword glistening in the torch light. He manages to bisect the cube in half with a vertical slash. It quivers again, then seems to melt into a puddle, ejecting the paralyzed and badly burned dwarf in the process. Just like that, the battle is over.

===============

Initiative
Felran (1d10+10): 8+10 = 18
Ne-Chanz (1d10+5): 5+5 = 10
Shima (N/A)
Gelatinous Cube (1d10+6): 10+6 = 16

Round 2!

Shima is paralyzed and cannot move.
Ne-Chanz swings his long sword at the cube with great skill (+1 hit/+2 dmg) and strength (+1 dmg) [TN 9] (1d20+1): 9+1 = 10, hit for (1d12+3): 10+3 = 13 damage. Gelatinous Cube is critically wounded. He then swings his torch at the cube with poor skill (-2 hit) with his off-hand (-2 hit) [TN 9] (1d20-4): 2-4 = -2, miss.
Gelatinous Cube attacks Ne-Chanz [TN 11] (1d20): 7, miss. Shima takes (2d8): 11 damage. Shima is now seriously wounded.
Felran moves 5 feet northwest and swings his great sword at the cube [TN 9] (1d20): 9, hit for (3d6): 15 damage. Gelatinous Cube is killed.

(OOC: chese, Felran can certainly have jumped into the ooze. But unless he passed his saving throw, he'd just wind up like Shima.

End combat.)

[chese780]

(OOC: I meant, if I jump in and save the roll, can I blast it with fire?)

*Swing greatsword to the side to dramatically remove any remaining gel*

"Well, that was eventful."

[BishGada]

Tulbas struggles to breath and backs off to where Gobax is waiting. After catching his breath he says "Damn, that was tough. I thought about tracking them before asking where Gregeddin is but figured you shouldn't get too closeto them, and me, they already told me to baaz off. So I had to try. What should we do about Gregeddin?"

[TristenC]

Having taken more than one beating in his short life, Gobax shows Tulbas to raise his elbows with his hands on his head to help catch his breath quicker. Let's put some distance between us and them. Where would they even have him?

[HorizonsDream]

"I might be joining you guys a lot for awhile," Kendra admits as she takes a seat at the table. "Some stuff has happened."

[BishGada]

"Thanks." Tulbas says surprised by Gobax knowledge. "It does help." He says managing to breath a little bit more easily. "Indeed let's try to track them from distance and hope we are not captured. Maybe we should climb the roofs and so we can see where they go from very far."

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(OOC: How many Baaz are there?)