Kraw stabs at Giggles, then pecks at him. Neither attempt manages to land. "stop giggling. Are you insane?" Kraw manages to spit out.


Kukri attack 8 on d20+6. Flanking.
Bite attack 14 on d20+1. Flanking. Both miss.

Cordelia, a frown thoroughly affixed to her face at this point, finally decided to simply push forward to get a decent bead on giggles. Decent because there was the whole issue with Kraw going toe to tow with him and moving about, and the fact that she had to step over a dead, or maybe dying, Yargin and pop onto a chair . . . but apparently Calistria smiled on her thirst for vengeance against her old boss's minions. Her bolt flew true towards Giggles!

---

Move: 10ft to P13
Standard: Shoot the Giggly One!
Natural 20, no confirm, 6 Piercing.

18:04, Today: Cordelia Abbey rolled 17 using 1d20-3 with rolls of 20.  Hail mary crossbow shot.
18:04, Today: Cordelia Abbey rolled 1 using 1d20-3 with rolls of 4.  Confirmation?!
18:05, Today: Cordelia Abbey rolled 6 using 1d8 with rolls of 6.  Crossbow Dmg.

Giggles drops to the ground with a shot through his chest...dead.

Now that there is a pause in the combat the group can pause and take stock of their surroundings. In this room they see a wooden desk in one corner of the room, its side preventing the western door from opening all the way. The table is heaped with dozens of slate boards covered with chalk scrawls, while to the east a cabinet slouches against the wall. To the south, a few moldy boards had been nailed over a door but now fall to the wayside.

The room that they had rushed through appeared to be the front room of the operation. A single desk is in the middle of this room, a moldy chair pushed up against the far side. A small pile of ratty furs and straw is heaped under the table.

OOC: Obvious exits are to North where Giggles just came from, and to the West, East, and North from the front room.

Kraw pats down Giggles for anything of value, taking the weapon for selling. He uses the handle to move aside the furs and straw to reveal anything hidden.

Anya does like Kraw, and searches Yargin for anything of value. “Where to, there?” She points to where Giggles came from. Anya begins a quick search of the desk, but just lifting up a piece of paper she gets dust in her eye, and takes a moment to struggle and get it out.
OOC: Rolled a 1 for a perception of 2.
She then moves towards the door Giggles came from, waiting a moment to see if the others insist on some other course of action.

Poking around the two rooms the group finds a couple fistfuls of copper pieces plus a variety of equipment off of the two dead thugs.

Unfortunately nobody in the group is able to figure out exactly what any of it is. Yargrin seems to have a large amount of alchemical looking vials and items on him as well as a shiny gem and a small old key.

OOC: See the Equipment thread for updates on found items.

Anya puts the three bottles and the fancy stick from Yargin in bags on her belt, attaches the dagger to her belt with a piece of string, and pockets the few coppers found.
"Grab what you can use, we can divide things up if we get out of here well and alive. He had a couple more of those flasks he threw, I've got them. Any of you have a backpack to carry stuff?"
Anya is no stranger to robbery, and now that the thugs are dead she gets right to it. She would have, had they only knocked them out, too.

Peeking into the room Giggles came from, Anya sees a large work room. The floor here is slick with seawater, bits of seaweed, and fish blood—the air is thick with the accompanying scent. Wooden catwalks to the West and East allow access to the Southern part of the fishery, while the floor here is only five feet above the river below. An open bay to the East allows direct access to the sloppy, muddy water, while to the Southwest stands an immense ten-foot-tall wooden vat, its sides caked and waterproofed with tar. Inside is a foul-looking mixture of chum, seawater, and who knows what else.

To the North are stacked many barrels and crates, each marked in paint with a fish. Nearly two dozen small hammocks hang from under the catwalks, each with its own ratty blanket and pillow.

Five young children, ages ranging from preteen to mid-teens are moving about the room working. Two of them are using long oar-like stirring rods to mix up the slurry inside the giant vat. Three of the kids are busy either calling out for more fish from the room to the South or else transporting water up to dump into the vat from the river below.

That Varisian charm found at the entrance... Anya has felt a sting of sorrow as she saw it. She does not know of any kid in particular who could be one of Gaedren’s Lambs, she does not know many kids at all. But just suspecting that one or two might be taken from her little community... That’s a poisoned dagger thrown straight at the peaceful families of Trail’s End. The wound such a thing can cause, and how he poison can spread among simple, kind people. For a moment she imagined what it would be like if she herself had been taken by Gaedren at a young age... but then she pushes that thought away.

Anya steps out onto the catwalk and raises her voice - attempting to make her words sound urgent, while she does not want to scream and wake up the whole house. ”Hey! This way to the street - get out of here! We’ll handle Gaedren! Go find your parents!”

Kraw packs his backpack with the goods and sundries they found. Kraw then peeks out into the door Giggles came from and looks for alternate means of leaving the room. Such as a hidden door might be evident. If this noise hadn't drawn Gaedren, then perhaps he was in a hole behind thick walls. If so, Kraw will search this place, knocking on walls to determine if any gives a hollow echo.

The kids are all startled when Anya shouts at them. They immediately drop their gear and rush to the farthest corner away from Anya and coincidentally the exits. They look fearful of what Anya is planning to do compared to the punishment they might receive for stopping their work.

OOC: As a reminder there is a lot of unexplored rooms before you start knocking on walls.

All those white squares are closed doors...

"Oh, no, I didn't mean to shout at you!" Anya says from the catwalk. Trying to sound nice, while more likely to be interpreted as whining, she adds "Please, please, would you come up here? We can help you back to your mothers and fathers!"
OOC: Diplomacy 13

With a sigh, she turns around to the group back in the room with the dead thugs. "Any of you good with kids?"

Then, seeing Kraw's detailed investigation of the little house, she remembers what happened before the fight started. "Find anything when you scouted around? How far did you get? We were just standing out there when that man, Yargin, came at us."

The kids continue to whimper and clutch one another in terror.

Anya looks down at her hand, realizing she’s still holding the large pick which has some of Garmins’s blood on it... Some first impression on those kids...
Looking around for doors, kids and enemies as she waits for Kraw’s response, she then says “Hey, there’s a door around on the other side this big room, leads to around there somewhere.” she points at the door that goes to the left from the main entrance, where Cordelia is. ”Maybe not, but maybe we can get into the same rooms or corridors from opposite sides, surprise them. I’ll go around.”
Anya begins working her way around the catwalk, down to the floor, and up the stairs on the other side of the room, preparing to open the door there.
OOC: Anya goes to O8

Kraw moves to R14 to check out the room there. He listens.


Perception 18 on d20+8.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:29, Sat 14 July 2018.

Hearing Kraw move, Anya opens the door and looks inside - preparing for what she may encounter, hoping for the others to be able to get to the same place relatively quickly.

Position: O8. (to Kraw: O8 is far to the left on the group 0 map, you should at least see it as a black square :o )
This message was last edited by the player at 16:40, Sat 14 July 2018.

Cordelia frowns deeply, only narrowly resisting the urge to begin kicking a few corpses, before she joined the efforts in looting and figuring out what was what. Alas, everyone seemed to pretty quickly move about while she was still fiddling with loot. She simply continued with her own work, eye-ing the bags of glue with extra disdain, despite taking them. A peek in on the room full of children brought back more bad memories than good, and for a moment she considered speaking to the little ones . . . Yes, vengeance could wait a few moments while the others investigate. She moved next to Anya and murmured "Yell if you need me, I may be able to get the children out of here." before she moved into the glue-making room and (for once) smiled.

"It would be best if you all leave, and take refuge in one of the churches. I used to be one of his Lambs, but I escaped after he decided to stab me and leave me for dead. The priestess of Calistria took me in, and made me strong, strong enough to come back and make sure Gaedren Lamm won't be able to hurt anyone else after tonight. For you all, I suggest you move quickly and quietly to the temple of Sarenrae. There are plenty of healers there, and they're all bleeding hearts. Either that or slip to North Point and Shelyn's faithful can give you a hand, if you don't want to deal with moving about in the Heights. Run now, and you can all be free."

A priestess of Calistria she might be, but it was pretty awkward trying to speak with a bunch of scared kids, even if she used to be one of them. Honestly dealing with taking secrets from horny nobles, or exacting vengeance on people, was just so much easier.

---

09:00, Today: Cordelia Abbey rolled 14 using 1d20+7 with rolls of 7.  Diplomacy.

The kids continue to whimper and clutch one another in terror. From their perspective a bunch of heavily armed mercenaries with blood on their gear is asking them to abandon their position and trust persons unknown.

These kids have survived too long to be that trusting of strangers or willing to cross Gaedron.

OOC: You will not be able to influence them via diplomacy. You could still try to intimidate them otherwise they will just continue to flee from the group whenever they are seen.

Anya looks towards Cordelia and Kraw who look out from the catwalk. She motions to them, tries to point for them to go back in - towards any of the doors by the entrance room, so that they could search the rest of the place from different direction. Hopefully, they would be able to either stop someone from escaping, or otherwise gain an advantage in a combat... After giving them a few seconds, she opens the door.

OOC: From O8, opening door down on the map.

The stink in this room, a mixture of fish and sweat, is enough to make the eyes water. To the east, a large wooden trough holds a hideous mound of half-rancid fish, seaweed, and brine. Filthy seawater and fish blood stain the floor around this trough. A pair of wooden chutes lead from this trough through holes in the northern wall into a larger room to the East. To the West, a desk and chair sit in one corner while a tall cabinet sits in the other.

Six more Lamb's are going through the motions of work but they clearly have heard the signs of battle as they all freeze when the party opens up the door.

OOC: As this is a new group of children, you can make a new diplomacy/intimidate check on them if you would like. DC 15

"Hey kids!" Anya steps past the first child into the room. "This here is Kraw and Cordelia, I'm Anya. Cordelia is going to help you and your friends get out of here, eh, back to mommy and daddy. Okay?" Nervously, Anya walks towards the middle of the room, tightly gripping the pick, seemingly preparing for a fight.

OOC: Aid Cordelia's diplomacy: failed. Move to S9.

Kraw points at the figure at S10. "Hey, waitaminute. That's no kid. That's a gnome. He works for Lamm." Kraw readies both kamas.

The gnome quickly goes for a blade as the party readies their own weapons.

Anya draws her breath, draws a card, and throws it at the gnome. She is very uncomfortable fighting among the children.

---

OOC:
Move: draw card
Standard: Throw, hitting AC16 for 5 points of damage.

Since Anya is last in the order, in case he moves up: her attack roll with a pick is 2 lower, and she'd hit AC14 for 8 points of damage. She does have precise shot though, so besides bonuses to AC her ranged roll should remain the same if he doesn't move up to her.