CH. 11: The Show Must Go On

[JadedDM]

Haahqae (Masked Dragon Inn, Ismene's Room)
"Well, maybe if I have time," Ismene says, "I'll stop by. But I usually try to stay away from the soldiers. I don't like the way some of them look at me," she admits. "Anyway, good luck with your show. And don't worry about me. I've still got plenty of coin from the giant's lair."

Haahqae would guess it's around Fifth Watch by now. Only five more hours until his show is to begin.

Kendra Synclair (Prefect's Mansion)
"Hmmm...very well," Tethys says. "You remember where he is being held, yes? Just let the guard know you have my permission." He gives her a salute to dismiss her.

Grubnick (Grand Market)
Grubnick looks around for other escape routes. Heading north is a bad idea, as that's where the fortress is. But there is a problem with the other roads, too--checkpoints. It stands to reason that if there's some kind of attack, the checkpoints will all be locked down. Nobody will be allowed through them. So they'll need to either find a way through them or a way to bypass them entirely. There are checkpoints at all four entrances to the marketplace and at every intersection in the city.

"If only there would be civilians running around at the time," Delharn mutters. "Then we could just blend in with them as they escape. Nobody would suspect a thing."

Tulbas Erogund (Mageware Shop)
"A spectral hand is incorporeal," Magnus explains. "Magic can be channeled through it, but it otherwise cannot interact with the material world any more than a ghost could. Thus it could not be used to grab...although I suppose it could prove to be distracting, if the opponent wasn't expecting it or didn't know what it was."

Arulia Seroth (Farmer's Street)
A number of people stop what they are doing and look over at Arulia's outburst. Speaking that way to a cleric of Takhisis is a pretty unusual sight, after all.

The priestess chuckles derisively. "The army? The army has nothing to do with the brothel. It belongs solely to the church, which is run by a woman, I might add. I assure you, anyone who patronizes our establishment, whether they be soldier or civilian, will be expected to pay and will treat our staff with the respect they deserve...or they will be thrown out. Our employees will be allowed to refuse any customer they wish. We accept no volunteers, only those who wish to earn some good coin for little work." She adds, "As for me, I may well work there now and again. If I need the coin. The church pays well enough, but one can always use a little more. Takhisis does not teach women to be meek and act ashamed of their bodies, after all."

Felran, Ne-Chanz and Shima (North Sewers)
Shima moves ahead and checks the door carefully. He finds no evidence of any traps on it, though. He backs away, allowing one of the other two to open it, just in case he's wrong.

(Shima checks the door for traps [TN 20%] (1d100): 62, fail. He finds no traps.)

[Chris1234]

Exactly so, backing off to about 21' away from the door in case of undetected Glyphs while saying, "I see no traps. On you go."
Shima puts away his tool-set and re-equips with shield and spear ready to follow after the other two and then follows them through the doorway to the north.

[Haahque]

It’s on the tip of his tongue, there’s a piece in him that wants to burst out and explain to her that he’s a wizard too, and illusionist just like her, that he looks up to her for her prowess in magic. That she’s very pretty and smart and… that he doesn’t have the courage to tell her any of this. Not yet.

“Thank you. It would be nice to see you again sometime soon.”

And with that Haahqae turns to leave, to travel to the marketplace and make sure that everything’s ready for his show.

[djhyland]

Arulia is taken aback by the priestess's response. She didn't know what she had expected--anger? violence?--but her calm and reasonable-sounding response wasn't it. She continues to stare at the priestess, but her voice is less cold and challenging when she responds. "I'm not ashamed of my body," she says, "And I don't presume to tell my sister what she can and can't do with hers, either. But I have seen little since you came to the city to believe that I'd be treated well or be compensated for any, uh, work I might do there."

[HorizonsDream]

Kendra returns the salute, then turns and walks away to go visit her husband.

[spyguy1503]

Ne-Chanz and Felran enter the door, scanning the room in a well-practiced maneuver. Ne-Chanz starts left, Felran right. They both have weapons ready. Ne-Chanz bears a torch.

[JadedDM]

Haahqae (Grand Market)
Haahqae makes his way down to the grand market to check up on things. He discovers that the entire northwest section of the market has been cleared away of stalls, wagons, crates and what have you. There should be plenty of room for a sizeable audience. Furthermore, a crude but effective stage has been erected in the area, which should give even the people in the back a decent view of the gnome's act.

He also spots Gobax near the stage, speaking with a dwarf male with a red beard in low tones.

Kendra Synclair (Prefect's Mansion)
Kendra heads to the guest room in the west wing. The guard, recognizing her as one of Tethys' new elites, steps aside for her to enter. Norris is sitting on his bed, nearly finished with a plate of eggs. He quickly sets what is left of them aside when she enters. "Kendra! Oh, how I've missed you." He leaps to his feet and throws his arms around her neck.

Grubnick (Grand Market)
As he and Delharn plot, the goblin notices Haahqae approaching the stage from the south.

Arulia Seroth (Farmer's Street)
"Oh?" the priestess responds. "And what is it you have seen, then? Have you seen the priestesses harming people? If you have, then by all means, report it to me at once. I will see to it they are punished."

She turns her attention to Niniva. "What of you, my dear? You are quite pretty...you could probably find yourself earning five...maybe even up to ten steel a day."

"Ten steel a day?!" Niniva blurts out in shock, then covers her mouth with her hand out of embarrassment for her sudden outburst. "You can't be serious."

"Oh, but I am," the cleric responds. She then addresses the small crowd that has been drawn. "What's more, the clerics will provide free healing should any diseases crop up and have the means to stop unwanted pregnancies before they develop."

The people in the crowd begin to murmur to themselves. This all sounds pretty good to them, it seems.

Felran, Ne-Chanz and Shima (North Sewers)
Ne-Chanz opens the door. It swings open easily enough, revealing a spiral staircase that descends deeper into the dark.

The blonde woman had been right. They had only just begun to explore these subterranean ruins.

Climbing the stairs brings them to another hallway which turns toward an intersection that goes north and south. At once, the three can hear the rushing sound of water echoing throughout the corridors. It sounds like a rushing river.

[spyguy1503]

If the water is getting louder (Flood) Ne-Chanz and Felran head upstairs immediately. If not, they head toward the water noise. If coming from both sides, they go north.

[TristenC]

It'd be nice if we could just make ourselves invisible like the Gnome did, he thinks wryly to himself. Too bad Delarn would never go for it since that would mean letting Haahque in on their plot. Grubnick nods in greeting to his acquaintance.

[Haahque]

As much as it pains Haahqae to leave Ismene after he got a good private conversation in, he's also not sure if he could keep up the conversation much longer without making a great fool of himself, and he leaves the inn in good spirits. She wasn't mad at him yay!

The journey is full of slowdowns and checkpoints, but that's par for the course these days. Anyways, with the Baaz as stupid as they are, it's no more then a boring annoyance getting past them without difficulty. His thoughts, he forces to turn away from Ismene for now, and start thinking about the performance ahead. Mentally he goes over his show routine and his jokes as he walks.

When he arrives, he's pleased to see that someone at least has some brains around this place, his stage has already been set up for him and there's plenty of room for seats. One less thing he has to worry about. There's also that healer here who kept him from dying in the cultist base, what was his name Roger? No, that was the innkeeper, maybe, this one started with a G... Gregge... no.. Gobax, yeah that's the one.

With so much set up already, Haahqae might even have some time for socializing. "Hi Gobax, how's it been?" Haahqae asks as he strolls over to the pair. "Who's your friend?"

[TristenC]

Hey, how are you? 'Gobax' replies, congenially. He let's Delarn decide whether or not to introduce himself with his right name. Just bumped into him a little while ago. So what brings you to market, Haahque? Winter clothing?

[Haahque]

Haahqae probably should wait for the other person to introduce himself, but that’s not exactly Haahqae’s style, it takes too long. If he wants to introduce himself he can do so after Gobax has heard a piece of Haahqae’s mind.

“Oh no, I got myself a great winter coat earlier, that should do just fine for me. It’s pretty large and also warm, which is pretty much all I need in a coat. Highly recommended. I came here today after a very nice chat, but I should be working on preparing for the show today. I’m hoping for a pretty good turnout, and a bunch of angry Baaz is the last thing I want, so I need to make sure this goes smoothly. Have you seen anyone around today that looks like they’re in charge of setting up the stage?”

[TristenC]

Grubnick stands there, stunned for the space of a couple of breaths. He's the.. Sirrion help us all... The Gnome goes on, and he barely catches Haahque's last remark. Someone in charge? No, I just got here and haven't seen anyone other than the people about now. I need to get some better clothes before the real cold sets in... he says absently. Is it just you doing the show? That's an awfully big performance for just one entertainer... His mind churns, trying to puzzle this new development out. He keeps one eye on Delarn in case the Dwarf makes a move against the Gnome. At least he saw reason concerning not attacking the stage itself...

[Haahque]

Haahqae isn’t sure if the goblin is intentionally being a prick, or if that’s just natural for his race. Either way his words are rather offensive and need some explaining as to why he’s wrong.

“You think it’s a big performance? I mean I’m trying to make it a success, but my target market’s a little small right now, partially because I’m not sure if the common folk would be able to afford a performance of this calibre. As for being just one entertainer? Well it’s not my fault if some apprentice mages are extremely unreliable. But I assure you, the show you’ll see this afternoon is going to be far more impressive than any this city’s seen in months. I’m a professional Joggler who’s learned tricks of my trade from all over the world as I’ve travelled. Just because I’m small doesn’t mean that I can’t put on a big performance.”

[Chris1234]

Shims follows after the others, weapon and shield readied, giving some attention to the stonework as they pass it by.