In reply to Cala (msg # 71):

Rilson nods.  "We'd have some chaos, and we could grab him, dump him into a quick change costume.  And then as the crowd went away, we could have him leave with a girl on his arm, like he was married."  He pauses.  "I'd need to see this fog if you can before hand."

Fifty yards away and three stories down from the roof you are on.  There is one large exit off to  your right, one small one to your immediate left, and one medium one a bit more to your left.  There are other exits.

"I got a couple that are.  Why?"

"Not sure if it will work. It should work. I think it works, but I'd have to see to find out. I can probably heal your injured crew, magically. Not sure how much, probably not a lot, but better than waiting for it to heal naturally.  Also, if you have a space that isn't in the middle of the public eye, I can show you the fog."

Hmm, would need to get closer, but I might be able to pull it off in the crowd, especially if I'm surrounded by Rilson's crew.  Yea, worth a shot. Crowds are easy to get lost in, especially without surveillance technology.

He laughs. Quick. Short.

"We may have a hidden spot."  And you leap after him, going over alleys that would have killed you two months ago.

And you arrive in a warehouse that looks like a terrifying collapse about to happen.  But inside, it looks quite sturdy, even if pieced together.  Several other dangerous looking sorts are around and Rilson sends one to 'fetch Lou and Jiam.'

You recognize of the group as one of the first too meet you, the non-talkative one.

Rilson waves his hand about after sending the others off.

Later, a man with a broken arm shows up.  Upon closer inspection, he also has an infection.
"Deadman grabbed me.  Spiked his dirty fingertips into my arm.  My name's Lou, be grateful if you can save my arm."

The kid has a few broken fingers.  "Guard stomped me."

"Yea, let's see what we can do. This'll be interesting."

I try to cast Cure Light Wounds on them, starting with the man that has a broken arm.

"Fortunately, as far as I can tell, the Lady of Light, is a cool and awesome person, so with her help, y'all should be, if not right as rain, then at least sweet as dew.   If that makes any sense at all."

If only I knew how to sing or play an instrument, might be able to job change to Bard.  I doubt singing off key counts.

In reply to Cala (msg # 75):

Light glows around you out to about five feet, and the man's arm seems to ease a bit.  It still looks infected, and he winces when he moves it, but its now a wince, and not a controlled shudder.

The kid takes two tries, but all his fingers heal.  And he laughs at something you don't know, and then runs off with a big smile on his face.  The others there come around, grinning.  You feel acceptance and welcome radiating from these hard men and women.  It may be good to be king, but a doctor often can find friends anywhere.

OOC: The Bible has a much quoted passage about 'making a joyful noise' to God which many of the Company of the Screeching Owls reminds themselves of when its time to sing in church.  As a founding member of this company, welcome.

I look over towards Rilson.

"Yea, so, that worked. Some. Some healing is better than no healing.  Do you have a spot where I can do the fog thing?"

I look around admiring my work, and seeing whom else makes up this crew of thieves, this band of brothers and sisters.

In reply to Cala (msg # 77):

"Brothers of the Night, our friend here wants to bring back the Old Days of Magic.  Some of you are too young to remember them, but others..."  And he nods at a few who nod back.

"It were better days. That White Tower has a chain about all our necks, not just us in the night, but e'en the normals." A gruff old man speaks, and then spits on the ground.  The rest spit as well.

"That for the White Tower." One girl says and spits as well.  "My dah, bless his soul, is honest, not like me." There is laughter.  "He works hard, and without my gifts, he'd starve like."

"I owe  you friend." The man who's arm you healed says to you.

Rilson just says to do it here, the fog.

I nod and say, "Yea, no problem. Magic needs to be free and the beings that grant it, well, they're none too pleased about the current situation.  So, watch this."

I cast fog cloud, and see how it goes.

"This could be useful."

In reply to Cala (msg # 79):

It appears and fills the area with a dense fog so much that you can hardly see someone two yards from you.

"So, I know it's a bit hard to see, but that's the point.  You can see right around you, but not much past that.  So, I was thinking, if someone is supposed to be hanged, cast this from the crowd and storm the area, can cut the guy down and escape into the crowd before it goes away.

Yea, we can't see either, but we're not completely blind. Plus, we'll be expecting it, others won't.  It's still dangerous, sure, but not nearly as much as it would be otherwise.  It's hard to hit and harm that which you can't see."

I wave my hands around briefly.

"This will fade away in a bit, or a strong gust of wind should blow it away. It's otherwise harmless. Thoughts?"

In reply to Cala (msg # 81):
There is some buzz and conversation and a bit of a scuffling noise, and then the old man asks a question.

"Can you do this thing both at the stand, and also a bit later at the guards at the edge of the crowd?"

"I actually have no idea. I can try, but I've never really tried casting them back to back in succession. Plus it's not wholly up to me, but I'll do what I can. What's the plan?"

I shrug and make general hand gestures as I speak - that Italian heritage shining through.

---

Italians speak with their hands. Also I've caught the holidisease, as I've heard it called.  Some might say I'm... Down With the Sickness.

Rilson speaks in a few words that you don't recognize.  Then he laughs short again.

"You do as you said, and then hit another burst of fog at the guards at the exit so we can slip by them easy as well.  Mmmm, you say the Lady of Light is helping you....should we light put up a shrine or something?"

I nod, "Not sure what you said, my Italian or... what's this language actually called? is still spotty, at best.  Still, I'll cast the spells."

Regarding the shrine:

I shrug, "Sure, let's do that. Can't hurt, especially given the state of the world. Though I'm getting help from several folks, so it's probably best to have either a general shrine to all of them, representing powers that far exceed our own, or an individual shrine to each of them. Though even I'm not fully aware of which is which, or which specifically is helping out with the fog."

I consider the options as I speak.

"Let's put up a general shrine, designated for the various powers present in the past, present now, and hopefully, more commonly present in the near future, and I'll put out a message of goodwill to them when we've got it done, that they may look favorably upon our efforts."

I start considering the speech I'm going to give.

Because even gods and goddesses prefer eloquence, I'm sure.

A corner of the room is dedicated to the shrine, and roped off with silk, and a gold chain gate.  Each thief donates an item to the shrine with Rilson and the injured man donating quite large items.

Walking back to you after putting a golden bowl on a table, Rilson pauses.  "Never met a lady who liked a cheap man.  And what I was speaking is the Thieves' tongue.  Its very simple, and many of the words sound like animal noises so to disguise what you're about because speaking it in public is illegal."

I close my eyes and reach out the various gods and goddesses, elemental beings, pretty much every magically gifted or granting entity that might be on this particular frequency that amounts to a broadcast on all open channels. I extend my arms out in a welcoming but respectful gesture and do a slow bow towards the shrine as I speak, "Ladies and gentlemen, gods and goddesses, elemental beings and planar entities, beings too unfathomable for my tiny mind to comprehend them. Although this shrine may not be much, it certainly isn't as grand or detailed as each of you deserve, but it's a start. This is where I begin, where we begin, where this city begins, on going back to the old ways; on returning freedom to those who are chained. We may not be particularly amazing, but we are people who believe, people that will act, and people that would like to wake up to a different world, one not ruled by the towers. In our efforts to achieve this, I humbly ask that the various beings look favorably upon our efforts, so that we may succeed where others might fail."

I remain bowed and silent for a bit as I wait to hear anything, and if nothing happens, I return to a normal stance and turn around. "So, that went well."

---

I initially had a speech in mind when I made that post, that speech long faded into nothingness by the time I came back to reply, and then I stopped posting as I had no speech and then purely forgot, stuff happened.

There is a noise, loud as thunder outside.

"The first of the Chains that Bind Us is broken.  You all have done very well. We bless the Thieves' Guild with gracefulness, and you, our Emmissary are blessed also with a Graceful Tongue."

The voice is soft, but clearly heard in the room near the shrine, and then its gone.

You look at everyone, and there is a discernible difference in how they stand.  Its not much of one, but its there, an ease, a grace to their motions.  You feel it too in your body.

Agility attribute +@1.

There is noise in the city as people wake.  Shouting, alarms...

"Ahh, seems we've caused a ruckus."

I shrug.

"Mildly unexpected, but also not necessarily due to us. How are y'all feeling? Shall we check it out?"

If folks agree, I try to look into the commotion safely.

They follow you unobtrusively into the street.  Sleepy-eyed night guards and street cleaners are coming out now.  Already, regular people are concgregated in the streets.  Some kids are darting looks around.

Everyone is asking everyone else what 'that noise' was.  A few guesses are being advanced like an earthquake.  This makes people near the speculator look very nervously at the city buildings, and you realize an earthquake in this city would be disastrous.

That realization really makes me consider starting one near the tower again.

I ask around, "Did you hear that?" "So weird." "What was that?"

When in Rome, do as the Romans. Make like a confused citizen and also sound out the public.

Finishing that, "Well, blend in, get used to the new buffs, do whatever it is y'all do."

Until it's time for the public event and for me to put on a show, I'll hang with the thieves (puns for days). Rest, exercise, planning. Making sure I can cast the fog cloud twice in a row in fairly rapid succession, successfully enough to make things go smoothly under 'ideal' conditions.

In reply to Cala (msg # 91)

Soon enough the Official Word is put out by the Bard's College.  An underground cave collapsed, some seeking a way out of the City past the zombies outside, and they died, so sad.  Its readily believed, and as you listen to one bard speak you find yourself believing as well.  The Authorities are trustworthy.  Things are okay.  Go back to your business, and don't fret.


You increase your skill with the Mist, and find with your Graceful Tongue that pe ople are more likely to accept your explanations even if they don't quite make sense.


And you're on the roof, overlooking the square as two masked figures are brought out to be hanged.


The first is your thief, and as the charges are read against him, you feel again the rightness of the Judgement for his many crimes.  And then a girl with ragged, long hair is unmasked.


"She is guilty of using Light Magic, so called, to heal, but really its vampiric..."

I already agreed to rescue the thief, regardless of right or wrong, but even if I were to go against that - not that I will, as promises should always be kept - I must rescue the girl, as someone that can also do magic. Vampiric? So? Freedom is what matters, karma will come and affect everyone eventually. Actions have consequences and in this case, knowing some of the consequences for what I'm doing, I'm still choosing to up the ante. Let's magic this up.

I get into position where I can cast my magic in range to cover everything. I preemptively cast 'Mage Armor' to better protect myself against anything unforeseen.

"Free the girl, too, if you can. If you can't, it's fine. Doesn't have to escape with us, but deserves a second shot, especially as a fellow wielder of magic."

Yea, maybe not must, but I'm here for a job, and I should guarantee that can be completed before worrying about optional side quests.

When everyone is ready, or even if they aren't but things aren't proceeding as quickly on our part as they are for the doomed, I'll cast the magic, fog cloud, and hope everyone can do their part.

In reply to Cala (msg # 93):

the girl is not vampiric; her Light magic is of me.  The liars insult me!!

You hear in your head.  It sounds like the Lady of Light is cheesed off.

You cast the mage armor, and feel safer.  Then  you bring down the fog.  There is a lot of yelling, and you can see some motion in the crowd, but it fades back into the fog.

And then you see your group ushering the two of them out of the fog toward the exit.

"I thought I saw someone up here." You hear a gravelly voice behind you.  Looking back, about twenty feet away is a city guardsman in a light leather vest.  He looks experienced.  He grins sadistically.  "I wonder how many bags of gold I get for turning in an evil magic user." He draws his short sword with a scraping noise, and trails it along the ground.

I raise an eyebrow at the man, "Guess we'll never find out."

I cast feather fall and jump off the building into the fog (but in the direction of the exit).

What I do from here varies:

---

I'm not actually sure how close the spells are to the D&D 3.5 versions. Feather Fall only requires some words and is an immediate, quick spell, that can be cast whenever.

Whereas fog cloud takes longer, but also is pretty quick (as a standard action).

I'm not sure how that is being represented in this world and system.  Since I have access to spell, I should have some familiarity.

What I'd like to do is cast feather fall and jump off the roof.  That should be a fall into the fog.  If possible, I'd like to cast fog cloud again as I'm falling, with the location being the exit.

If that's not possible, or if it isn't feasible because of how the spell is cast, then I'll wait till I reach the ground and run towards the exit, casting the spell when I get a chance.

---

If possible, I cast fog cloud as I fall and upon landing run towards the exit, pushing past people as soon as I see them in the fog (once they are within reach/5 feet).

If not possible, or if I try it and the spell botches or fizzles, then when I reach the ground I'll run towards the exit and try casting the spell again.

In reply to Cala (msg # 95):

He screams in outrage as you fall out of his sight.

You have to cast twice while you're slowfalling because the nausea from the sudden drop distracts you.

Plus one to Feather Fall spell for new use as falling.

You're almost out when you hear a guard's roar off to your right but out of sight.

"Its them.  Stop them."