As Tealon continues to provide aerial surveillance, he spots movement at one point. Looking in that direction, though, he can't see anything that would have caused it. However, because he's changing position as he flies, he puts himself into an angle where the starlight is more direct... and he sees a shadow move.

Observing it longer, he realizes that there are five shadows... seemingly men dressed in black and moving through the deeper shadows of the buildings. It's the dog-creature that concerns him. It looks somewhat like a dog... the shadow of a dog... or possibly a wolf... but it doesn't quite move like a dog. It moves more like a cat.

He has to watch it for a bit before he realizes that it is being controlled by one of the man-shadows, and even a bit longer before he thinks that it might be tracking Ioelenna!

The man-shadows occasionally glance up at the surrounding roofs, so Tealon has to be careful they don't spot him as a moving shadow in the sky.

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

Inside the building, the three of them move out of the room. While it seems possible that the warded room might hold prisoners, it doesn't seem reasonable, particularly with no guard posted. Then again, this is a strange culture; who knows what is reasonable here.

There didn't seem to be any significant difference between the two sets of stairs leading downward, so you take the stairs closest to that end.

The second floor seems almost like a copy of the upper floor. A few doors down here, though, have been left open. The rooms are less cluttered, more sparsely furnished and most seem to have an odd smell to it. In one room, the smell seems stronger, and you are able to track the source to some sort of hookah on the floor behind one of the desks. The smell is coming from some sort of substance in the hookah.

Quickly searching through the rooms just to make sure you don't miss anything, or that there might be someone there, you find some papers on one desk that catch your interest. On them are actual sketches of people. While you don't know any of the crew of the ship personally, these sketches don't look like any of the local inhabitants you've seen. There is some writing above and below each sketch, but it's not readable.

Swoopingawayand around to where he lastsawhis Elven companion, Tealon stays low and behind buildings where he can.

On arriving near the area Ioelenna was, Tealon speaks in a loud whisper "Are you there? Ere are figures coming this way and I think they have a tracking animal, how is your swimming as I suggest you head out and maybe around or close to that ship? Maybe find something under the jetty you can hide under but stay safe out passed the boats!

I'll try cause a noise for the to follow away."

Picking a couple small stones off the beach, Tealon tries to take off again running to gain speed and height quickly.

Once airborne he circles up and round again to be able to see near where the figures may be now and if spots then, throws a couple small stones near buildings in alleys heading away.

00:29, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 23 using 1d20+3.  Fly Check. critical success, just at the right time
00:32, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 20 using 1d20+1.  Spot Check. <I these dice rolls are on fire tonight</I>
This message was last edited by the player at 23:33, Fri 01 July 2016.

In reply to Tealon Holdron (msg # 196):

Considering I am not swimming to a place close to land and I am swimming out in the water trying to hide by the boats or a jetty. Ioelenna would just look for another boat or jetty or something else further from land. Using the water to keep her cool and to hide her scent from dogs.

Although Tealon makes some noise, the guards look in that direction, but unless they spot Tealon, they continue with what they were doing.

The hounds reach the edge of a pier and just stand there gazing in what appears to be Ioelenna's direction. When she moves silently through the water, they seem to be able to track her somehow, as their gaze continues to follow her.

Jheridan continued to stare at the papers, as if he could make them talk just by willing it.

"Well, we already knew that the crew had been captured. The ship told us that," he whispered.

"We guessed that this was some sort of administrative building, so it's not unreasonable that records of the prisoners might be here. It still doesn't confirm that they are being held here."

"It's a step in the right direction, though. We should continue down."

He glanced out one of the windows.

"It'll start getting light in another two hours. We're facing east, so the sun will rise early."

He was getting a bit antsy. Creeping through an empty building was just weird.

He led the way back to the stairs and down them... to the 1st floor.

Tealon watches as the dogs and 'guards' walk to the pier and seem to be watching Ioelenna's ever move.  They were not calling out or even appear to have actually seen her though, so the winged scout heads back to the Administration Building, willing those inside to have found their quarry by now and be heading back to the roof or out the front door.

Doing a quick sweep of the local area of the Administration Building, the tall Thurian ensures that the roof top climbers were no where close, nor any guards, then takes a rest for a few minutes, still being mindful of the surrounding roof tops.

Danyka followed Jheridan down to the first floor, lingering only for a moment longer at the vault door, the desk papers and then the hallway.  She seemed pensive, especially as they got closer to the ground floor.

"Unless there is a basement," she hissed quietly to her companions, "this is the wrong building..."  It seemed extremely unlikely that any holding cells would be on the first floor.  The thin Rynnish brunette cast another quick glance around at their surroundings.  The lack of patrols had her worried.

Less than two hours until daylight meant that they need to get a move on.  The timing left them very little chance to investigate any more buildings - even one's close by.  They needed more information; skulking around didn't seem to be getting them anywhere.

Tealon hopes the others inside the building won't be too much longer as he looks at the sky trying to work out how long before it starts getting lighter, this far south he knew the sun came up faster but not sure how fast or when. He also had concerns for his compatriot in the water.

The ground floor has the same layout, but there is clearly a difference here. At either end of the hallway, where the stairs are, there is a double door leading out. These wooden doors have a large glass pane in the top... for visibility.

The stairs at this end of the building stop at the ground floor; they don't go any deeper.

The hallway also has several benches in it, placed against the right-hand wall as you are facing rearward (you came down the front stairs).

Most of the doors on this level are open. Only two are closed.

The offices on this level have benches in them, and counters. One of the central room has a door along the side wall. It is locked.

One of the closed doors opens into a room that is decidedly different. The narrow room has a desk and a chair, and peg hooks on the wall opposite the desk. There is no window in this room. There is a door on that same wall at the end. It is also unlocked, but you realize that it kind of lines up with the locked door in the other room, but would be on opposite sides of the room that should be on the other side of the wall. There was no doorway from the hall that would give access to this inner room. The desk is mostly uncluttered.

As you approach this unlocked door, you hear faint voices. Opening the door as quietly as possible, you see that beyond is a 'room' about half the width you were expecting. This is because it is not a room, but a stairwell, with stairs leading down to the left. The door, of course, only opened onto the landing.

The voices are a bit louder, but still not enough to really understand them, even if you could speak the language.

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

Outside, Tealon realizes that the creatures are not tracking Ioelenna by scent, since she is in the water, but via some other sense. At the same time, they aren't quite certain where she is, and they are either reluctant to go into the water, or else their masters aren't permitting them to.

As for masters themselves, they don't seem like they know what to do. They are whisper to each other.

Tealon works on how to dispatch the seekers of Ioelenna in quick succession without alerting the general populace.

It's been a while now with Ioelenna in the water and those with her stopping her movements, Tealon is not happy. So he swoops to a nearby building, keeping said building between him and his prey.

Once landed he creeps to the closer side of the building to get as close as he can. Tealon tries to see if at least one of these people is close enough for him to detect their thoughts. He also strains himself to hear what they are saying if anything.

OOC: Use a charge from his Ring of Detect Thoughts - target is the closest or if all close, which ever seems to be in charge.
Have translation disk

The creatures are the issue. They might be some sort of dog, but they seem to have an extrasensory perception ability. Since there is one handler for each creature, they might be a bit hard to handle, particularly when they are 'on the hunt'.

On the other hand, they seem reluctant to enter the water, though they are on leashes and the handlers haven't turned them 'loose'.

Tealon's 'Detect Thoughts' has no problem picking up the one handler's thoughts. He's wondering what could have gotten the vranks' attention, as they are usually only riled up by criminals. Since he can't see any signs of a criminal in the water, he's wondering if it's some sort of large fish... perhaps a dread or a mola mola, maybe even a conger.

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 206):

Prepare self. If the creatures are still there when the sun starts to come up, either an Incendiary Grenade here or a fire on the further side of the town.

Danyka pursed her lips for a moment.  Wrong damned building... she cursed silently to herself.  From what she could gather from the sounds and spacial layout, this would be not a holding cell or guard room but a reception or sergeant's desk.

For a moment, anger flared in the raven-haired gun mage's eyes and her hand darted to the waiting hilt of the long Elven blade at her hip.  She couldn't hear more than a couple of distinct voices and they didn't contain urgency.  The three of them could get the jump on them.  The Llaelese maiden's fingers clenched reflexively and her gaze darted from the door and the voices beyond to her companions and back.

But then her hand relaxed and she held out an open palm downwards for them to hold fast.  Dany then held a finger up and motioned for them to retreat back up the stairs.  She started back on her way out.  As she passed Jheridan and Nicollo on her way, the thin Rynnish gun mage hissed quietly through gritted teeth - obviously frustrated with herself more than anything, "We've wasted enough time here.  This is not where they are holding the crew..."  She intended to leave the building and make her way back to the others and the Resolute to regroup.  They'd have to pick another spot again tomorrow night or some such.

Unless by some miracle (and she did believe in them as a devout follower of Morrow) the location of the crew magically presented itself to them immediately, they needed to get gone from this place and without being discovered.  Killing anyone unnecessarily seemed too great a risk, no matter how good it might make her feel in the short term.

Dany knew all too well how much trouble a rash decision like that could get her into.  The scar on her jaw throbbed lightly, the pink skin prickling as she tried to make her way back to the roof where they had come from.

Just as Dany is about to leave the room, a loud yell from down the stairs gets her attention.

"Morrow curse your heathen souls!"


It was in Llaelese!

Danyka pursed her lips and a single, plaintive (and specifically Llaelese) expletive escaped her lips.  She took a deep breath, let the silence and stillness hang in the air for a moment.  Then immediately, turned on her heel and started back down the stairs.  She slipped by the two other gun mages accompanying her, even as the wickedly curved Elven blade made it into her right hand with a flick of the wrist while simultaneously, a magelock pistol appeared in her left hand.

Her hand had been tipped, both figuratively and literally, it seemed.  Lady Fortune was fickle today, it would likely seem to the casual observer.  But, lithe Rynnish initiate of Morrow knew better; divine providence had brought them here.  And they would make it count; here they would make their stand with her countryman.  If her Fate was to meet Morrow in the Shining Lands of the afterlife being slain in distant land for her beloved Llael, then so be it.

She'd not announce her presence, however.  An open door was invitation enough.  She pushed her way through and into what she hoped would not be an automatic disadvantage, like a ready-made ambush or killing zone.  But, Dany wasn't about to ask either Jheridan or Nicollo to do something that she wasn't willing to do.  Someone had to act; so, it might as well be her to enter first.  She intended to push forward enough to give her compatriots the chance to enter and act as well, if possible.

The raven-haired Rynnish gun mage didn't know what to expect, but she had some preconceived notions.  And the likelihood that the Llaelese was being spoken by someone that wasn't part of the crew they were looking for seemed low.  Any obvious assailants would be targeted first - and, of course, bullets weren't the only currency that Dany had in her arsenal ...

Tealon could not help but wonder if his companions in the building were OK, if they needed any help.

One thing for certain in the Tall Thurian mind was, if they hadn't started to surface soon and the sky started to lighten, then his hand would be forced and a fire on the far side of the town would need to be started to take people, early risers, from discovering not only the crew but the ship as well, after all, both ships were to be saved.

OOC: Bleh. Another lousy week. Seems like I went on vacation for a few days and somebody forgot to tell me.


The door was about halfway open, so Danyka pushes into the room beyond and immediately sees two guards sitting at a table more or less in the center of the room. They appear to be playing some sort of card game that requires intense concentration.

On the other side of the room, she can see the doors to what are probably three cells, since there is a small barred window in each door.

There are also hallways going down to the left and right in front of the cells.

In the center cell door window, she can see a bearded man, hands on the bars.

"Hey, I'm talking to you, you shrapheads! I... need... some... water!"

It seems right about then that he notices Danyka, even as the guards look up. They seem a bit slow on the uptake to recognize Danyka as 'one of the prisoners'.

The man in the cell suddenly lets out a blood-curdling scream, which further grabs the guards' attention.

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

Outside, the men patrolling with the creatures seem to be stumped for a moment, as they contemplate what's out in or on the water that would grab the creatures' attention.

Finally, one pulls out some device from a pocket, puts it to his mouth and seems to blow on it. Nothing seems to happen.

But his thought is that he's 'summoning the boss'.

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 212):

Whilst still watching the men and creatures, Tealon notices the whistle and decides it's time to start a distraction.

Taking to the air on the back side of the building, the winged Mechanik decides to live up to his nickname, 'Blaster'.

Taking wing, the figure aims for a suitably out of the way but close-in place to start a fire, then realises that, there are only 5 guards and two creatures. to GM {this is what I think you said reading back}.

Flying back and around, Tealon decides to use a distraction, in this instance, an Exploding Crossbow bolt fired hit to get distance.

Landing first to unfold his Crossbow and view the ships guards, he also decides to send an 'exploding' bolt whirring off to as far to other side of town back away from the waters edge, then whilst that catches as a distraction.

Collecting his thoughts, takes off to get the best aim for a Cone he can ready for Gear Barrage, normal bolt to the guard with the whistle when in sight "I've got to get Ioelenna safe and out of the water.


12:31, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 22 using 1d20+3 ((19))

Hoping to get a hit as far as he can as they fly half normal range (1d4 damage but I'm guessing would either hit a structure or floor and therefore haven't rolled).

12:34, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 11 using 1d20+5 ((6)).

To take out guard
12:35, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 10 using 1d20+5.  Crossbow Attack. {probably a miss although surprise and stationary?}

12:37, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 22 using 1d20+5.  Crossbow Attack.


12:38, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 6 using 1d8.  Crossbow Damage.
12:39, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 8 using 1d8.  Crossbow Damage.

Ooc: Edited to reflect actions after more accurate details having been received
This message was last edited by the player at 15:44, Sat 20 Aug 2016.

The ship is out at the island while Tealon and Ioelenna and the others are on the mainland. He's going to abandon Ioelenna and fly back out to the ship and try to take on everyone there?

How do you send Alchemical fire across town? I'm not aware of any spell that has that kind of range.

My bad, I thought the jetty with the ship was close by, no map to reflect this, sorry. No, no abandoning Ioelenna.


The Alchemical bolts, sorry, I must be getting Incendiary Grenades and flaming Bolts mixed up although I'm sure I read about them.

Editing post as new details mean wouldn't have occurred as said.

In reply to Tealon Holdron (msg # 215):

Ioelenna stares at one of the dogs and points. She casts her frost Ray power.

" The Cold never bothered me anyway. "

Ranged Touch Attack: 15, Damage: 11

Jheridan followed Danyka down the stairs as quietly as he could. He really had nothing on him that would make noise, and as long as he stepped carefully, he shouldn't be pretty quiet.

They had had no contact with the crew of the missing ship, so they had no idea what had happened. The ship didn't have any damage, which wasn't surprising since they had yet to see any large ships that could threaten a large ship, so it seemed likely that the ship had been boarded and the crew surprised. The real question was why?

Customs were the hardest thing to understand. Perhaps the captain had insulted the local ruler, and, by the local customs/laws, everyone on the ship was equally guilty. Or it could be more prosaic than that. Maybe someone on the ship killed a local... and again, the whole ship was accountable.

Those seemed more likely than the obvious one--someone here just wanted power, and saw the ship as a means to get that. That he could understand, though.

The three of them were all gunmages, so that was a likely course of action for them. Still, he doubted the efficacy of threatening the guards with a pistol that they probably had never seen before.

Danyka seemed reluctant to shoot as well, but when the prisoner screamed and drew the guards attention, it was the best distraction he could have hoped for. He pushed past Danyka quickly and stepped up behind the nearest guard and slammed the butt of his pistol against his head.


03:47, Today: Jheridan rolled 20 using 1d20+5 ((15)). Okay! That should hit.

03:49, Today: Jheridan rolled 6 using 1d6+1 ((5)). Damage

Tealon doesn't want to fire the exploding bolt too far away; it's only got a limited area of effect, and if it's out of sight of the guards, they may not even hear it, or be interested in investigating it.

He fires it off, up into the air to get a good arc, and is able to reload and fire a second bolt at the guard with the whistle by the time the first one lands with an explosion on the board walk.

The second bolt does hit the guard with the whistle because he is flat-footed (so no Dex bonus to his AC), and the explosion distracts him.

A quick third bolt also hits the guard, and he topples forward into the water.


Ioelenna contributes to the mayhem and chaos by firing a frost ray at one of the dog creatures. It's a little tougher than the guard, though, and doesn't lay down, but it whimpers and backs up a bit.


Although the guard in the jail isn't surprised, he is still flat-footed by the distraction, and Jheridan's tactic has the desired effect. He easily hits the guard on the back of the head as he's not wearing any kind of helmet, and the guard slumps to the ground.

The other one draws the strange sword at his belt and looks to attack Jheridan.

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 218):

Ioelenna looks at the other dog and casts again.

Let the Storm Rage on.



Ranged Touch Attack:14, Damage: 8