Khonnir stands nearby in the southern tunnel, craning his neck to peak around the turn and watch to see if the danger has passed. He shrinks away at first as Cain approaches, but soon relaxes as he recognizes the friendly face.

As Cain went to fetch Khonnir, Zorden reloaded his gun.

"Dead?"  He called out in question to Morin regarding the merchant.

Zorden then moved to collect the items the ropefists had dropped and gave their unconscious forms a once over for anything else of use they might have brought with them or been given by Sanvil.

"Not yet!"  Morin replied excitedly as a faint groan came from the invisible Sanvil.  Finding and grabbing the merchant's collar, the tiny gnome heaved and struggled with all of his might to drag Sanvil a few feet out of the water.

"lucky for us that he's still breathing!  I have got tons of questions for him when he wakes up.  Who did he tell?  What does he know?  Are all the Ropefists tied up with the League, or just these two clowns?  I just gotta...uh, I just gotta figure out where all this blood is coming from, first.  Sanny sure didn't do me any favors by going invisible right before he passed out!"

Morin wasn't the best at first aid even when he could see his patient, but he still did what he could to wipe the acid off of Sanny's skin and put pressure on the bleeding wounds.  Of course, the first step there was to actually find said wounds, which was easier said than done.  He still had the healing wand, of course, but he didn't want Sanvil waking up while he was still magicked up and invisible.

20:55, Today: Morin Matzylford rolled 15 using 1d20-1 with rolls of 16.  stabilize Sanvil.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:20, Thu 01 June 2023.

In reply to Morin Matzylford (msg # 448):

With an unforgiving frown and an icy tone in her soft voice, Ionaya said, "Sanvil is our enemy and has hurt us. He deserves to be stripped of everything he has and bound hand and foot. If he dies before providing us answers, that would be a great shame but I will shed no tears over his death. However, I claim his spell books."

With a nod, she says, "Forgive me, I have left Khonnir in the tunnel behind us. I will go and see how he fares." With that, she follows Cain to Khonnir's side and assists him with bringing the council member back to rejoin the rest of the party.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 18:46, Fri 02 June 2023.

With Ionaya's help Cain leads Khonnir back to the party. "I'll want to take a look at his spellbook as well, if you don't mind.

OOC: As far as I'm concerned, Ionaya can have the spellbook if she wants it, but I would like to copy whatever spells I can from it.

Patting down the fallen ropefists, Zorden finds on them or stowed in their pockets: 20 gold pieces between them, a pair of slings, twenty sling bullets, a pair of sunrods, the studded leather armor they each wear, a yellow-and-black striped cylinder he recognizes as a 'Bang Grenade,' and a familiar-looking battered pistol. The gun-like weapon which backfired on the one ropefist and was flung away looks both ancient and well and truly burnt out--the surface blackened and the interior rattling when shaken lightly. The club-like weapon wielded by the other, which Zorden figures is some type of Stun Baton, is also timeworn, but has a faintly-illuminated, blinking red pip on the side signifying it has only one charge remaining. Both ropefists appear to be young and low-ranking members of the gang--those the party sees around town are often unusually well-equipped for thugs.

By the time Morin has dragged the large merchant from the water, his invisibility has faded and his charged hand has turned a bit of the standing water into slush. After some swatting of mirror images, much like flies, the man at least appears to be dispelled. He doesn't appear to be too badly wounded--all Morin can do is wash away some acid with clean water from his waterskin and tie a cloth to his wounded shoulder, but it seems to be enough. Soon Sanvil seems stable and possible to rouse with some vigorous shaking.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:11, Thu 01 June 2023.

Morin nodded in agreement at Ionaya's warning. "Oh, absolutely!  Don't worry, I wasn't planning on leaving a mage with his hands free.  Hey, Big Man!"  Morin gestured towards Cael, motioning for the hulking human to come over.  "You got a rope on you?  Mind tying him up while I check his pockets?  I was never great at knots."

Once Sanvil had been properly searched and restrained, Morin gave the surly barbarian a nudge.  "Okay, time to wake him up.  Big Man, you ever hear of "good cop, bad cop"?  The idea is: When you're interrogating someone, the best way to do it is to have a big scary guy to make all the threats, and a nice reasonable guy who holds his partner back and offers some more reasonable solutions.  Which one do you want to be?  I don't mean to brag, but I make a pretty great bad cop."

OOC: I think tying someone up uses your CMB to determine how hard it is to escape, so it's probably best if Morin doesn't do it.  Also, did anyone want to stabilize the two goons, or are we just letting them bleed out on the floor?  I'm fine either way.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:26, Fri 02 June 2023.

Zorden stowed the grenade and the broken pistol on his person and in his pack.  He didn't know that he could do anything with the latter, but maybe someone else could.

The rest he put in a small pile to be dealt with momentarily.

At the mention of rope he suggested, "We have that net from the machine man too.  Might serve the purpose well enough."

While waiting for the barbarian to lend a hand, Morin searches through Sanvil's gear and finds the merchant's trade has left him loaded. Beyond his still-too-greasy-to-pick-up masterwork longsword, Sanvil wears an enchanted Chain Shirt(+1) and carries a zipstick and ion tape on his belt in addition to four technological instruments which appear to be injectors of some kind containing various-colored serums--one grey, two yellow, and one blue. Neither Morin or Zorden know what the serums might do.

Interestingly, at the base of Sanvil's skull, Morin finds a small technological device seemingly embedded in the bone and surrounded by years-old scar tissue. The device has what appears to be a slot of some kind and an adjacent button.

Digging through the merchant's masterwork backpack, Morin finds a large assortment of travelling gear(bedroll, cold-weather outfit, flint and steel, five day's rations, waterskin, sunrod, traveler's outfit, winter blanket,) valuable trinkets(five batteries, a variety of 20 colored gemstones worth 100 gold each, and a platinum Technic League pin worth 100 gold,) currency(69 silverdisks, 154 platinum, 380 gold, 250 silver, and 12 copper,) and a spellbook containing the spells Chill Touch, Corrosive Touch, Magic Weapon, Vanish, Bull's Strength, and Mirror Image.

Also, tucked into a pouch along with a charcoal pencil, is a note with various names:

This message was last edited by the GM at 01:51, Sun 04 June 2023.

Khonnir nods along with Ionaya and Cain as he follows them back to the group. He is hesitant to approach the downed men or the still-standing but non-functional machine, but when it becomes clear they're not an immediate threat he sits down on the skymetal wall panel Cael had be dragging him on and watches Morin sift through Technologist's gear.

Cain examines the spellbook they found. "Would you mind if I took a closer look at this before you take it?" He asks Ionaya.

OOC: Is it possible to take 10 on a spellcraft roll to copy a spell from a spellbook?

Zorden, seeing the merchant's well made pack was now visible, gathered the balance of the random assortment of things Sanvil and the ropefists had been carrying into the pack.  With the exception of the book of course, which seemed to have drawn the attention of Ionaya and Cain.

While Ionaya and Cain rooted through the spellbook, Morin took out a small notebook of his own, as well as a quill and an inkpen, which he set up on the ground nearby before he tried to wake up Sanvil for his "interview".  Rather than trying to shake or slap the man awake (and risk opening up his wounds again), Morin settled for pinching Sanvil's earlobe as hard as he could.  If that jolt of pain didn't do the job, he would have to resort to spending yet another use of the healing he had brought.

"Hey Sanny!  Wakey wakey!  You've got a lot of explaining to do, and my friend here is real upset with you."  Morin nudged Cael slightly as he spoke, signalling the big goon to do something appropriately scary.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:18, Sat 03 June 2023.

"I have no rope, but I can hold him."

 Cael felt a little unprepared for not bringing such equipment on him. Still, he feel confident enough to be able to hold down the smaller person.

Seeming to overhear Cael's comment, Ionaya says with in a chillingly calm voice, "While it would be an offense to undress a being needlessly, these males are dangerous with equipment available to them. Strip them to their skins, then bind them with the remains of their clothing if their lives are necessary. Sanvil and his thugs aren't worthy of any clothing!"

After the first examination of the spell book, Ionaya will also sift through Sanvil's gear carefully.

Cain stows Sanvil's spellbook for later and produces a rope from his backpack. "Here, try this."

OOC: Giving a rope for the cause. I would like to get it back later though, it's a nice rope.

Morin blinked a bit as Ionaya suggested stripping Sanvil naked for the interrogation.  "Uh, okay."  He responded with an uncomfortable shrug, before brightening up again.  "Well, I guess we've found our Bad Cop!  He's all yours, Io.  Go ahead and get him naked."  Morin gestured to the still unconscious Sanvil on the ground.  He didn't make any effort to take part, or to undress the two ropefists: Without medical attention, it wouldn't be long until those two were no threat to anyone.

Once Sanvil had been sufficiently bound and humiliated, then Morin would do his best to awaken the treacherous merchant.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:26, Tue 06 June 2023.

Soon enough Sanvil awakens with a yelp as Morin crushes his earlobe. He sits up and quickly assesses his situation--beaten, bound, disarmed, cold, wet, and possibly indecent. He appears to think for a moment in a bit of a panic before breaking into as charming a smile as he can manage and asks in an equally friendly tone, "Nothing personal, right? No hard feelings?"

"Sorry Sanvil, but I tend to take people trying to kill me very personal. Just the way I am, I'm afraid." Cain comments from the side while the party proceeds with the interrogation.

With a glance back at Kael, Morin gave Sanvil a sympathetic look.  "Look, I get it.  We're breaking all kinds of Technic League rules down here, and you had orders to follow.  It was a totally legitimate conflict of interests!  But my friends here...well, they don't see the big picture like I do.  They're pretty upset about the whole thing."

He made a show of looking back at the rest of the party sadly as if ashamed of their bloodthirstiness, before turning back to their prisoner.  "Listen Sanny, I'm not gonna sugarcoat it." He continued, seriously.  "Right now, your best chance of ever leaving this cave alive is to start making yourself as useful a prisoner as possible.  You gotta tell us everything you know, everything.  To start with: what are you doing in Torch in the first place?  Are you proper Technic League, or more of an...independent contractor?"

09:49, Today: Morin Matzylford rolled 28 using 1d20+11 with rolls of 17.  diplomacy (good cop).
This message was last edited by the player at 19:02, Wed 07 June 2023.

Zorden was of little help in the proceedings.  Though he grimaced at the merchant with too sharp teeth, and his tail whipped back and forth with agitation, his natural silhouette looking as if a stiff breeze would be enough to defeat any physical menace he might bring to bear rendered him a thoroughly unthreatening presence.  Little help to Morin's ruse.

So he waited to see if Cael would set to breaking the man in half, as it seemed he was more than capable of doing so, or if Ionaya would perhaps step forward to deliver another bout of tongue lashing now that the man was awake and aware enough to receive it properly.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 11:02, Thu 08 June 2023.

With her eyes glowing electric blue and arcs of lightning cracking between them Ionaya looks down upon Sanvil her expression alternating between furious and winter cold. A frosty, chilling breeze blows across Sanvil's face before she speaks.

"You will answer all questions put to you truthfully and completely. That is the only way you are likely to survive this day, Sanvil Trett!" she demands.
"It is only by the mercy of my allies that you live to speak." she concludes.

OOC
Ionaya rolled 23 using 1d20+4 with rolls of 19. Persuasion (bad cop).

"Ok, alright, listen" Sanvil holds off the looming threats as he tries to gather his thoughts and squirms against his bindings, "I'm with the league, sent to keep an eye on the backwaters. I'm the soft hand, trading for tech instead of taking it, but a find like this could have made my name in Starfall! But listen, you need me! Me being here means the rest of the league doesn't need to come. If you kill me, or lock me up, then they'll come with an army of Gearsmen. Just let me go and I can keep them away. I'll tell you everything I know--I've been investigating the torch going out, too. What I know can help you; you just have to let me go." The calm and collected tone he manages at the start of his answer slowly slips into a blatant, fearful plea for his freedom as he finishes.
This message was last updated by the player at 23:40, Thu 08 June 2023.

Morin nodded slowly, as he thought about Sanvil's words.  "Okay, yeah.  That makes sense.  Maybe we could help each other out here, after all.  If we keep selling you the artifacts we find, you could keep handing them over to build your rep with the League.  And then you could use that rep to keep the others from finding out exactly where your finds are coming from.  After all, the moment the League knows about these caves, what's to stop one of the higher-ups from swooping in to steal all the loot and all the credit?"

The little bard paused, as he thought the situation over.  "Wait, do they already know about the caves?  How do you report back to you superiors?"  The question was phrased as innocently as could be, like it had just popped into Morin's mind.

Zorden wasn't certain if Morin was actually considering Sanvil's request with that offer he made.

The merchant did have a point, in that if he had been sent to investigate the torch going out, his lack of progress might just mean more agents being sent.  However Morin's plan seemed altogether one too far and too trusting.

But, Morin had proven himself crafty so perhaps there was something else afoot.  With nothing else to do for the moment, Zorden continued scowling and listening.