Kelaria, Ionaya, and Morin head south down the Torch roads, passing the Temple of Brigh and the Town Hall and circling around Black Hill and Crowfeather Lake, before heading west towards Silverdisk Hall. They pass by Market Square as the various vendors--fewer than there used to be when the Torch still burned--are packing up and The Marrymaid and The Copper Coin as their business is only beginning--the sun making its way over the horizon cuing a shift from work to leisure for most. In addition to the increasing bustle of townsfolk heading out to spend their few coppers in the various taverns, the party notes an increasing presence of guards--some of which look to have been hastily dressed and equipped with buckles and straps twisted and clothing haphazardly tucked beneath their armor--travelling in pairs, investigating alleys, knocking on doors, and peaking through windows; it seems the Guard are taking the fugitive Garmen Ulreth seriously without raising panic and confusion among the townsfolk--or alarm among the ropefists.

Arriving at Garmen's gambling house, the trio find a burly, poorly shaven man leaning beside the doorway dressed in the brown and grey trappings of a commoner under the worn and scarred leather armor common among the ropefists and with a notably clean and vibrant red fedora sitting out-of-place and a size too small on his head. It is no surprise for Silverdisk Hall to have a bouncer, but the last time Morin was here the man stood guard inside--probably preferring to do his work out of view of passersby and guards. The man tips his hat in greeting to the trio as they near, though his gaze focuses on the walking pile of steel and her very big hammer.

At the nearby intersection, across from the Silverdisk a pair of guards pretend to be standing guard as usual and to not be giving the establishment any extra attention.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:52, Sun 03 Mar.

"So we find the mightiest one, and challenge him?"  Kelaria half asked, half suggested.  It didn't always work out well but it was never boring.

She had not once attempted to remove her strange close faced helmet, decorated with many strange bits from the various Metal beings.  It made her voice echo when she spoke, like she was speaking to them from inside a cave.

Ionaya carefully leaned towards Morin and asked a question, her whispered voice as soft as a zephyr and clear as a stroke of lightning in his ear, "How would you suggest we get past all the ropefists without killing them. I am willing to follow your guidance but we should act quickly, Garmen will be trying to escape. Maybe we encourage Kelaria to make her challenge and use the distraction to find Garman."

Morin nodded cheerfully at the guards as he passed.  "Heya boys.  Working hard or hardly working?"  Morin's tone was light, but there was an undercurrent of confusion to it.  He had no idea what they were expecting to accomplish just standing on the street outside the casino.

He tipped his had back at the bouncer out front, before leaning over to whisper back at Io and Kelaria.  "The way I see it, we got two options.  Option one, we go in the direct way.  Tell him that his boss is a traitor and a fugitive and he's fucked over the whole town.  We tell him the council sent us to toss the place, and that Joram Kyte would have come himself, but he's too busy informing the family of the last idiot who tried to get in our way.  The problem with a threat like that is we might have to actually back it up.  Maybe we could get those yahoos at the corner to pitch in, but I doubt it."

"Option two, we bluff.  Tell 'em Garmen's in trouble, and he sent us to clear out everything incriminating from the back rooms.  I think I can sell it.  We're mercs, after all, and the biggun already works for Garmen.  Even if nobody here met her, I'm sure word would have got around about the huge armored barb guarding the boss' warehouse."

As he talked things through, Morin sized up the Ropefist in the stupid hat.  The bard had been in town for a couple days, and he'd spent most of his off time socializing around town.  Some of that socializing had even been in the Silverdisk itself.  Did he recognize the big guy out front?  For that matter, did he recognize the hat?  It didn't even look like it belonged to the bouncer.  It didn't fit his head, and it didn't fit his style.  That kind of flash would be more suited to someone like...well, someone like Garmen.

"...Hey, Io, you're an expert on magic, right?  Does that hat look...does that look like a hat of disguise to you?"

"It could be. But I could not be certain unless I cast a spell. However, we could try deception and/or distraction. If I get his attention, you could perhaps retrieve the hat," she suggested. "Or maybe we simply let Kelaria stalk her way past the door, and distract everyone with an open challenge to face her metal. What do you think?"

OOC
Ionaya rolled 18 using 1d20 with rolls of 18.  Sense Motive.
Ionaya rolled 18 using 1d20+6 with rolls of 12.  Perception.

Both skills attempted to be applied to the man with the hat.

Kelaria, who had been silent a moment, suddenly spoke.

"We combine the two!"

On closer look, Ionaya notes as the man tips his hat to an approaching man that his knuckles are free of rope, but discolored either by an uneven tan or by the recent removal of such ropes. The approaching man, however, pauses in his walk at the gesture, nods in return, then changes his path to continue on down the road.

Ionaya quietly relays what she's observed to about the 'bouncer' in front to both Morin and Kelaria, adding, "I don't think he's a regular rope fist anymore, and I don't think he's our target either."

Looking to Kelaria and then back to Morin, Ionaya's lips curled and spread into a fae-like grin, "I like her idea. We let her go in first and bring forth the chaos, which will allow us to make our way deeper inside while the guards and workers are distracted! It sounds like fun to me!"

She turns to Kelaria and quickly adds, "Please try not to kill anyone who is not trying to use a weapon against you!" But if you feel the need to break a few things, I won't mind!'

"Ha!  They will fall prey to my mighty cunning and indomitable... smartness!"  Kelaria boasted.  She clearly had something in mind, whether or not it would, or could, or should possibly work was a matter for reality to sort out.

But Kelaria was a woman of action and load boasting, not speculation!

Morin watched the interaction between Bron the bouncer and the approaching man, nodding to himself as realization dawned on him.  "Ahh, that's what the dumb hat's about.  A bit more subtle than hanging a big sign with "We've been rumbled, stay clear," but it gets the same effect."  If the hat was a signal like he suspected it was, that meant the Ropefists had already heard from Garmen.  Which meant Morin's hope of convincing them they were on the same side was just about dashed.  Oh well.

He gave Kelaria a little nudge forwards.  "Alright biggun, go get 'em!"  He said encouragingly.  "We'll follow your lead."

Kelaria... took in some great breaths.  Good, deep ones.  Touched her toes a few times.  Picked up her hammer and gave it a few practice hoists.  Seemed to hum something.  Then punched her own helmet so hard it rang out audibly like a bell.  And then she was ready.

Kelaria lumbered forward with all speed, not stopping until someone stopped her, and then she let out a war cry and proceeded to bellow some particularly aggressive nonsense (to others, but not to her, or anyone paying attention).

"I am Kelaria of the Ironclaw, Slayer of the Metal Ones, and the harbinger of the paymaster!"  The last was the most humble boast and largest load of absolute shade ever.

"I seek The Great Metal, and worthy foes.  I have come to acquire the goods of shame!  And a goat!  You will surrender them to me and denounce the wickedness of the paymaster, who is feeble and without honor!  He disrespects the Metal!"

She raised her hammer and let out another war cry, this time beating her cuirass, which gave a very loud reverberating metal sound.

The big man at the door tilts his head watches in strange fascination as the heavily armored woman manages to touch he toes and clearly prepares herself for something. He even waves to the nearby guards to get their attention and gestures to the disturbing display. As the large, heavily armored and armed stranger to Torch then begins to march quickly towards the Silverdisk, the guards each move in behind her--not knowing what to expect of her but figuring it could be no good.

"What in the Abyss?" is the only response the bouncer can muster at the woman's confusing shouting, but soon he leans into the slightly-ajar doorway of the Silverdisk and calls inside, "Looks like trouble out 'ere." As movement stirs inside the man turns back to Kelaria, still not understanding what she wants, and tries to defuse the situation, "Sorry, Miss. We 'ave a dress code."

"What's going on here?" one of the guards calls after Kelaria, still several paces behind her.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:39, Wed 06 Mar.

"Foul minions of the Paymaster, surrender the goods of shame!  Or produce your champion!"  Kelaria screamed at the bouncer, ignoring the guard for the moment.  "You sons of goats and daughters of dungbeetles!  Your pock marked sisters rejected you through their hare lips!"

"No one knows what yer on about, y'need t' calm down," the large man responds, visibly confused, as a few others begin to gather in the doorway: a couple young men in leather armor and roped fists as well as a few others in clothing of different stations and the cashier girl, recognized by Morin from his last visit, mostly craning their necks to get a look at the spectacle.

"Ma'am, you're causing a scene," one of the two approaching guards warns as the pair look between each other anxiously, each ready to draw weapons if the unstable woman escalates to violence, "We're here; lets try to sort this out peacefully."

"I'm not sure what I was expecting."  Morin remarked quietly to Ionaya as they watched the barbarian start shouting nonsense and insults at the top of her lungs. "But it really should have been this." The barbarian had basically done nothing but scream nonsense and insults since he'd met her, and the novelty was wearing thin fast.

He sized up the situation, trying to think up something useful the others could do while Kelaria started a brawl.  "Whaddya think?  We're not getting through that crowd at the front door, and if things get hairy, those militia dopes look ready to jump in on the side of the Ropefists.  Backdoor's gonna be locked, and we left our burglar back at the warehouse."

Not coming up with any kind of obvious solutions, the gnome shrugged and turned back to the sorceress.  "Wanna just leave them to it, go see how Cain and Zed are doing?  I mean, if these clowns all kill each other that might make for less problems all around."  His tone was light, but he was only half-joking.  Kelaria was acting friendly for the moment, but she was about as unpredictable and dangerous as Mr Tentacles was.  As heartless as it sounded, it might be safer in the long run to just let her interact with the militia unsupervised and just let nature take it's course.

In reply to Dungeon Master (msg # 14):

"The paymaster's goods of shame!"  Kelaria yelled back like he was an idiot.  She allowed exasperation to take over her tone, seeing that insulting their honor wasn't shifting them.  "I have come for them!  The great master has sent me!"

She was shifting tactics, just a little.

Ionaya replies to Morin quietly while drawing her cloak around her head, "Lets see if we can still get inside as normal customers while the ropefists and the guards attempt to deal with Kelaria. They shouldn't be paying too much attention to us since we aren't causing a problem, we should still be able to get inside. Right?"

She starts moving towards the door, being quite careful and avoiding the presence of the loud armored woman.
OOC
Using Bluff to aid Stealth to enter the Silverdisk unnoticed.

Ionaya rolled 11 using 1d20+4 with rolls of 7.  Bluff check.
Ionaya rolled 20 using 1d20+2 with rolls of 18.  Stealth check.

Ionaya begins heading towards the door to the Silverdisk, giving the commotion a wide berth, but with the crowd gathering in the doorway there is no way to get in unnoticed, or at all, until people disperse.

"Wait, Bron, I think that's the brute Garmen hired as a guard," one of the ropefists gathering in the doorway mentions from behind the bouncer. The big man looks back at his colleague in disbelief for a moment before turning back to address Kelaria--his complete confusion beginning to shift to frustration,--"Y'lookin' for Garmen? Y'should 'ave just frellin' said so! 'e ain't 'ere."

"Alright everybody, calm down!"  Morin called out, finally stepping forwards.  After a fair share of hemming and hawing, the bard had decided to just go forwards with his original plan of talking his way in.  Nobody at the Silverdisk seemed to know Kelaria had switched sides, which meant they probably didn't know the Canaries were after them either.

He nodded to the nearby guards.  "Just a misunderstanding, boys.  Nothing worth getting your sword out over."  His tone was light and friendly as he tried to wave them off.  A little too light, actually.  Like the tone of someone up to no good, and trying a little too hard to act casual.

Keeping an eye on the militiamen, Morin sidled up to Bron and lowered his voice. "We know Garmen ain't here." He muttered urgently, taking obvious care not to let the town guards overhear what he was saying.  "He sent us.  Let us in before this oaf says anything else in front of the pigs and we all get fucking arrested."

13:34, Today: Morin Matzylford rolled 28 using 1d20+10 with rolls of 18.  Versatile performance as bluff.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:44, Sun 10 Mar.

Kelaria, seeing this was the play, started to draw up and take in a deep breath, obviously meaning to go back to screaming, even more loudly, if they did not meet the Small Man's demands immediately.

Big Bron narrows his eyes at the gnome for a moment, only briefly diverting his eyes to Kelaria as he considers, before shrugging and leaning back against the wall as he agrees, "You an' the girl, no problem, but the crazy one stays out here. I got my orders, too. Y' put a muzzle on 'er yerself, the guards got no reason to arrest me, or they would've already." He smiles and tips his hat to the guards with a sly grin as he notes, "They's just stakin' us out." The pair of guards frown to each other, but seem ready to back off if the trouble is managed.