Mits was hoping to not confront the guy just yet but shrugs and follows along.

"Yes I am," the man answers, "Blessings of Erathis."

Mits writes on her hand with magic and shows it to Kyle:

Amazing.  He doesn't seem to recognize us by reputation.

  Kyle nods,  "I'm sure when we are not looking, there are plenty of Razorfangs and Kobolds who live here."  Now, grumpy faced people in leather armor?  Kyle can totally blend into a crowd without a thievery or stealth check on that end.

Timothius says, "Thank you. And blessings be to you as well. I have been meaning to brush up more on my Erathis theology and was hoping you could help me." he gives a polite bow. "As you know, Erathis and Pelor rule over Hestavar together. But I seem to remember an angel being said to be left in charge of most things in Hestavar... could you recall the name of the angel for me?"

Kemuel is the correct answer. But Timothius didn't say he didn't know.

Grovald insists that he’s busy praying
along with his faithful and returns to pacing. At
this point, he starts muttering more loudly, offering
prayers to Erathis.

"Ye olde brush-off," Mits grumbles, "You'd think they'd have a better tactic."

After the quick exchange with Grovald
One of the faithful, an older woman dressed in shabby but
well-mended shawl and dress, stands up from the altar and
turns her eyes on you. “I know you!” she calls out. “Thank
you so much for all you’ve done!”
As she approaches you, however, she glances once at
Grovald and her eyes narrow. In a much softer tone of
voice, she says, “I couldn’t help but overhear, and a lot of
us have asked him the same questions. We don’t trust him,
and we’re worried about Haelyn. Almost nobody comes
here after dark anymore, so if you want the chance to talk to
him in private, when he’s not so ‘busy,’ that’d be a good time
to come back. Maybe you can find out what’s going on.”

  Little old lady suggests they come back later when there are no witnesses.  Sounds about right for this city.  "Thank you for at least showing there are more than a few people interested in this matter, Grovald."

Timothius leaves with the others and once he's out of Grovald's earshot, he mumbles, "...it's Kemuel, you imposter."

May says, "So we check on him 'after his shift'. Sounds fine with me."

Raichel says, "Night can't come quick enough."

"So this may sound a little shady and all, but if breaking and entering isn't enough for us to get the answers we need, I'm considering ambushing this guy, putting a bag over his head, and dragging him off to some lone warehouse for gruff interrogation.  I'd rather be wrong about him and apologize than be right and let him go because I was overly worried about insufficient evidence for arrest."

Night falls and the people leave.  In the intervening time the group was able to at least find out the following:

Haelyn’s Home
This small cottage on the grounds of the shrine looks
comfortable, but old and rickety. Bricks are missing from
the chimney, and the paint is peeling from the walls.
The door is locked, requiring a DC 18 Thievery
check to open.

May pulls out a rapier and says, "Lemme give it a shot." and stabs the lock before taking an en guard stance and stab-stab-clink! "ha-HA!"

  "At least any property damage will not be noticed, or considered an improvement."

The dust of days, if not weeks, lies over a homey little abode.
An ash-filled fireplace stands in one corner, with an old
table and two equally old, but comfortable looking, chairs
beside it. A pantry stands alongside a door that would
almost have to lead to the bedroom.
A faint stench, foul and out of place with the cottage’s
peaceful appearance, tickles your nostrils.

The PCs find no trace that anyone has been in here in
some time. In the bedroom, clothes are packed neatly
in the chest by the foot of the bed, piled almost as
high as the lid will allow.

The stench is coming from the pantry, which
contains several rotting vegetables, fruits, and cuts
of meat, all swarming with ants and fruit flies. The
players can probably figure out what this means, but
if not, allow them a DC 5 Intelligence check to realize
that perishable foods in the pantry and a chest of
clothes almost completely full are not signs of someone
who was preparing for a long journey.

Perception Check DC 20:
Mittens finds a scrap of parchment, only partly burned, lying in the ashes of the fireplace.

THE NOTE
The PCs have found an important clue in this
scrap, even though much of it has been burned
away. The legible portions read as follows:
. . . unreachable for a time, as I must . . . the priests’
orders as you would my own, for he . . . s always, be
certain you destroy this mis . . .
. . . eneral Zi . . .

"'General' I'll bet," Mits says, "So this is a military operation.  Could this be it?  The final step before the invasion?  But why target the clergy, I wonder?"

Raichel says, "You just saw how much clout the clergy has. Heroes of the city? Doesn't matter. If religious leaders say you leave, you leave. And if they say you aren't actually heroes, people starting thinking your the fakes."

May says, "When do we get to the part where we kidnap Grovald?"

  "Because the Clergy gets away with more, as if our current situation did not highlight that enough.  As well as the fact they seem to have the local monopoly on those trained to cast gate sealing rituals."  why take over the ones who supposedly run the place when they are both useless, and figureheads?

 He looks to May,  "Probably as soon as we can locate him at a point nobody is watching."

"Good point."

From the darkness, an arrogant voice says, “I’m just as glad
you chose to come here at night. It makes things so much
neater when we need not involve the authorities, don’t you
think?” You see a bald, sharp-faced man in dark clothes all
but fading into the shadows, and movement comes from
several other individuals in the night around him.

Perception Check DC 24:
Mittens points out two other individuals, cloaked in darker hues
than the rest, lurk around corners or in pools of shadow.

"Unbelievable!  They are that stupid!  Thank goodness!"

May says, "Oh no! What EVER shall we do?!"

Raichel says, "Remember: Grovald needs to be taken alive."

Timothius says, "Violence. Always violence."

  "It is kind of sad when you are happy for a tired, desperate attempt upon your life."

Initiative: 18.4
This message was last edited by the player at 07:22, Tue 08 July 2014.

A crossbow bolt from behind the curtain whizzes past May while another from outside a side window buries itself in Timothius' shoulder!

Mittens sprays the enemy with pink flowers!  One of them keels over!

"Wow.  Weaksauce.  Careful not to sneeze too hard on these guys."

"You meddlesome fools will die here!" Grovald shouts, blasting the area with spikes of force, injuring everyone but Mits and Raichel!

May has no trouble hopping out of the house and going to Grovald, smacking him with her carrikal for about an eighth of his health! When she does, he notices her wounds all seem superficial at best. Just as quickly, she sheathes the carrikal to pull out her stick. She sings that doo-da song, "Enemies are idiots; Doo-da! Doo-da! Attacking the heroes of Overlook; Oh the doo-da day!"

---

Takes 5 force dmg
Victorious Surge v Grovald. Hit(28)!
 dmg: 23
 Regain HP as if I spent a surge.

Maych-P: 62 - 5 = 57. +19 = 76
Grovald HP: 194 - 23 = 171

A bolt of lightning shoots around from inside the house and lands behind the assassin only to materialize as Raichel, who squats down some and elbows the assassin in the kidney, forcing him to move from the window! "May's got Grovald. Let's get the rest of these guys quick."

To emphasise her point, Raichel shoots lightning at a thug, downing him! The lightning then bounces to another thug, downing him also!

---

Move: Lightning Shift
 (haha ignore difficult terrain)
 (haha slip past assassin to flank him without AoO)
Five Storms v Assassin 1. Hit(28)!
 dmg: 18
ACTION POINT!
Lightning Strike v Thug. Hit(19)!

Assassin 1 HP: 57 - 18 = 39
2 more Thugs KO

  Seeing Raichel take out the others, the closest thug decides on trying to do as much damage as possible before he goes down, drawing his Longsword and rushing the Sorcerers/Face Puncher.  To his credit, he stabs the shifter as hard as he possibly can.  It's just not that impressive at this level range where such a thing is less than 10% of her health, instead of a third of it.

  The remaining thug moves so a big statue isn't between him and his target, but still fails to aim his shot anywhere near May.

---

Thug # ??? Longsword Charge Vs. Raichel.  Hits (32 AC).  7 DMG.
Thug # ??? Moves, Crossbow Vs. May.  Miss (LoL 3).

Raichel HP: 62-7= 55/62
This message was last edited by the player at 02:18, Wed 09 July 2014.

Timothius moves down and gets feral. He then glows and all his wounds vanish! The whole team seem to get some kind of faint blue glow.

---

Move: To door
Minor: Razorclaw Shifting
 +2 speed, +1 AC and Reflex
 CURRENT DEFENSES: AC 22, Fort 16, Reflex 19, Will 25
Minor: Healing Word on self: 17. +15(surge) = 32
 Everyone gains 4 thp.

Timothius HP: 30 + 32 = 62 Full HP

The assassins both go after Raichel. The one she just punched stabs her with a dagger while the one near the tent shoots her with his crossbow!

---

Assassin 1 v Raichel. Hit(32)!
 dmg: 13
shapeshifter feint v Raichel. Hit(24)!
Assassin 2 v Raichel. Hit(27)!
 dmg: 14

Raichel HP: 55+4thp - 13 - 14 = 32

"Mittens dives through the window!" Mits narrates as she jumps through, "Dodges the assassin's attack!  Then ZAPS the enemy!"

Two thugs down.

"Kinda refreshing to be fighting something other than trogs, gnolls, or demons.  Ew that smell!"

  Kyle heads out the window, and steps up behind the assassin intent on royally messing them up so they can't stab his friends with sneak attack dice so good.  He overachives this goal, as he smashes them down into the ground with arms comically sticking up into the air.  "One more idiot to questio-"  The assassin's knife wielding arms flop down into his own face, causing a geyser of blood.  "... Another implausible chapter in our lives, Mittens."

  That said, Buffs for his favorite Kobold ever.

---

Move: through window to flanking position.
Minor: Resistive buff may.
Standard: Repulsion strike. CRIT. Don't even need to roll damage.

Assassin: CRITLOLS

Kyle HP:  51+4 - 5 = 50 left.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:20, Wed 09 July 2014.