Hester looked at the note and nodded.  She scribbled at the bottom.  "And echoed with love from Hester (the one with obsidian eyes and silver hair)."

"Tell me where this Wren is and I'll go fetch the others," Voh'ren says. "Bristle's spell will likely let me catch up with you, and I'd rather us stick together. Strength in numbers, and all that."

The Half-Orc kneels down and addresses his wolf pup companion. "That means you go with them, got it?" He scratches the wolf behind his ears, evoking a wide grin from Kiru.

Caleb nodded. "She lives in the Liberty district, on the east side of the river, we'll meet you there," he said before turning to Firea. "I know a few shortcuts between here and there, follow me." No sooner had the words left his mouth than he was headed off down the street.

"I suppose I should be happy you didn't ask to carry me." She said as she followed him, still in that Fox form. When they were out of the eye's of others, she would finally shift to her human form.

Thanks to Bristle's spell, Voh'ren quite literally flies through the streets back toward the jail. He does his best to stay as low to the ground as possible, but uses the spell's benefits to avoid any bottlenecks caused by the riots.

"Quick," he calls out to Bristle and Hester once he finds them. "Caleb remembered that we were to meet someone named Wren---a person who might know a bit more about Whisper. They are in the Liberty district, on the river's east side."

When Bristle heard Voh'ren's words, her eyes widened. Could that be why Whisper had been so desperate to stall them? Would they already be too late since Whisper had allowed them to leave? "You guys go ahead. I will be there as soon as possible, but I can't run quite as fast as the rest of you in this armor." She began hustling as quickly as possible toward the Liberty district. There was a good chance their meeting with Wren was not at all related to Whisper's stalling, but Bristle would rather be wrong and fast than slow and correct...

"I can help with that," Voh'ren replies when Bristle mentions her speed. He closes his eyes and utters a soft prayer to the Green. Phantom leaves spiral around the cleric's legs before fading from sight.

"Given your spell, it didn't seem like I'd get a chance to use that," Voh'ren explains. "But it'll help you walk a bit faster."

OOC: Voh'ren will cast Longstrider on Bristle. It will give a +10 enhancement bonus to her speed for 4 hours.

It's a frantic sprint to the Liberty district, racing through (or above) the crowded streets. The crowds are rapidly turning into mobs, blocking streets and smashing things, though they are all shouting different things - it appears that everyone has their own ideas about who is to blame and what should be done about it. Those still on the street are forced to shoulder and elbow their way through the densely packed crowds at times, or else threaten violence to convince people to clear the way enough to run.

Eventually, though, the group all manage to reach the address of Wren. It's a quiet place, a backwater of the city tucked away in the back streets of the district just far enough from the river to not have any shipping presence. The buildings are all stone, and crammed in as tight to each other as they can be.

Wren's building in particular has six people standing out front of it. Two of them are working on the door with a light, portable ram, three of the others are carrying torches, and one is slouching in the back of the group with his hands in his pockets. The streets are eerily clear otherwise for a fair distance around.

OOC: I know that people are making different time, but given that everyone is converging onto this location, I don't know that it would really be helpful to make everyone show up at different points in time. I'm fine saying that you managed to get there at about the same time.

As they arrived, Caleb took in the scene before him and glanced to Firea as he raised his crossbow. "First round of drinks says Whisper's in at least one of them. First two says it's the one in the back," he said before shouting down the way to the group outside Wren's home. "hey, you lot! Piss off or it's a bolt in the eye for everyone! I'm not saying it twice!"

"Seems likely," Bristle agreed to Caleb's Whisper-guess even as she cast a diplomatic orison upon Caleb, then herself. She figured it would help while addressing the crowd.

To the crowd, she added, "I suggest you listen to the man. I would hate to have to add you to my... collection." She held up the skeletal rat that was in her pocket for them to see, then returned it to its resting place. She held her shield ready for potential conflict, and an offensive spell ready on her tongue.

---

Bristle cast Enhanced Diplomacy on Caleb (since he was speaking to the crowd) then herself. She is also ready to cast Screaming Flames if the entire crowd approaches with hostile intent.

"Not a safe bet for me, no chance I can win." She said with a chuckle, a small breeze making her flaming red hair waver behind her. It was in that moment she decided to take on her normal form, that of a Kitsune, the humanoid form with the seven tails and fluffy ears on top of her head.

Her flaming Kumade was out and in her hands, as a low growl escapes her. Fire playing at her fingers as she speaks. "You would do well to listen to my friend, and leave now, or feel the wrath of Firea the Firefox!" All of her tails swish then thump against the ground hard in an intimidating manner!

[OOC: 18:55, Today: Firea rolled 27 using 1d20+16.  Intimidate.

Eh, just an average intimidate roll.]

Hester smiled.  It was good to be in a group where she was not the scariest.  Almost relaxing.

"Oh, dear," the one standing in the back says in Whisper's characteristic drawl, turning. All of the others turn with her in a single movement, even their breathing keeping the same pace. "I am imperiled. Whatever shall I do. By the by, you know how hard it is to torch a stone building? Really quite obnoxious."

Hester rolls her eyes.  "Mother", she says, "You're showing off.  When the time comes, I'm going to put you across my knee and give you a good spanking if you don't stop behaving so childishly."

Bristle took a few steps closer as Hester scolded the being she believed to be her mother. "Hard to torch the stone buildings, eh?" She shot a knowing glance toward Firea. "Good to know." And with that, Bristle channeled the magic of her goddess yet again, unleashing a wall of screaming flames toward the clustered group of Whisper agents. She was tired of negotiations. Especially when Whisper was so clearly trying to break into someone's home.

---

Hopefully nobody minds Bristle going on the offensive. Again...

Casting Screaming Flames on the group. She tried to position herself so that she would be able to blast all of the enemies with her burning wall (essentially burns a 15x15 foot area, 10 feet tall). It deals 3d8 fire damage, with a reflex save vs. DC 19 for half. Anyone who takes fire damage also needs to make a DC 19 will save or take 1d3 wisdom damage too.
https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic...s/s/screaming-flames

21:17, Today: Bristle Chonk rolled 7 using 3d8.  Potential Fire Damage.
21:18, Today: Bristle Chonk rolled 2 using 1d3.  potential wisdom damage.

Initiative:
21:19, Today: Bristle Chonk rolled 5 using 1d20-1.  Initiative.

Voh'ren opens his mouth as if to say something, but the others beat him to it. He grimaces when Bristle unleashes her spell. It is obvious that he considers harming Whisper's living puppets distasteful. He starts visually scanning for a way to enter Whisper's residence, hoping to spot an entryway while the others keep Whisper occupied...

OOC:

19:48, Today: Voh'ren Wildheart rolled 12 using 1d20+11.  Perception. *sigh*
19:49, Today: Voh'ren Wildheart rolled 10 using 1d20+2.  Initiative.

"You just gave us another clue about you Whisper. You do not know much about elemental magics. A fireball would do more then torch the building, it will blast holes in the walls, and can in the right hands, such as mine, decimate entire city blocks." Then she grinned. "Now who's obnoxious?" Then a chuckle escaped her lips. "And it's evident you do not listen either, since I said I would fireball YOU and not the BUILDING. And here I thought you were SMART! Turns out I was wrong, man...because surely someone this lacking in intelligence and common courtesy couldn't be making such intricate plans such as this." She said with a smirk, as if trying to purposely piss off whisper.

Even as she was speaking she was already weaving the magic for the fireball. Holding through to her threat, she sent it souring to land in such a manner to hit the group of people but not the house.

[OOC: Firea will hold through with her threat and toss the fireball at them.

23:32, Today: Firea rolled 22 using 7d6.  Fireball Damage.
DC is 17 REX for half.

00:39, Today: Firea rolled 5 using 1d20+2.  Initiative.]
This message was last edited by the player at 05:39, Sun 21 Feb 2021.

As Whisper spoke, Caleb had begun to raise his crossbow, only to pause as Bristle threw a torrent of fire at Whisper. At that, he shrugged and carried on, firing a volley at the puppet who had spoken before slipping into the mouth of an alley.

ooc: First off, Initiative with a result of 16. I lead with a full attack, plus one for Rapid Shot, with rolls of 22, 22, and 28. Assuming these hit, the damage is 7, 9, and 8. Because of the Clustered Shots feat, all damage is totaled before any DR is applied, so it comes out to 24 damage. Cap it off with a five foot step into an alley for cover and that's me done.

The puppet who spoke falls to the ground in a heap of limbs, holts through her face and chest. Two others collapse under the waves of fire that wash against the stone of the building. The remaining pair sigh in unison. "Have it your way then. Until next time!" one of them says, before both begin walking away at a casual pace.

Once again, Bristle was confounded by Whisper's lack of aggression. "Do we- Do we just let them go?" she asked her party, ready to chase after the Whisper-puppets if someone thought it necessary. Letting the puppets go would mean they could bring back reinforcements. Although surly Whisper could do that regardless of whether or not these specific puppets remained intact.

Hester sighs.  "She's got us running around in circles.  We know what she wants.  She wants to be alive and she wants us to keep running after her.  How do we find out which of us she's really after?"

As the puppets began to walk away and Bristle questioned whether or not to let them go, Caleb leaned around the wall and took aim. "No, we put them out of their misery," he said before loosing a pair of bolts at the retreating figures.

Firing two bolts at the puppets, one apiece. Attack rolls of 32 and 21, with damage rolls of 15 for the pair.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:07, Sun 07 Mar 2021.

"She may not even be after any of us, she may jut want us to watch what she does. Be the audience so to speak, then be there to pick up the pieces." She considered. "Start the cycle over, so to speak..."

"Out of their misery. Sounds good." There was perhaps a tinge too much smirk in Bristle's reply to Caleb's comment.

Be that as it may, with Caleb letting a few more arrows fly, Bristle charged after the "fleeing" Whisper-puppets. If the arrows didn't take them out, perhaps she could tackle them or get close enough to channel some Death into them to finish them off. But even if Caleb did manage to take them out before she got close enough, Bristle would still want to confirm that they were entirely dead before focusing her attention elsewhere.

---

Bristle is Charging 40 feet closer to the fleeing people. Let me know if she is close enough that she can make an attack at the end of her charge (if they are even still alive). If they go down, she will check vitals and make sure none of them are going to get back up again.

"We pick a course of action and stick with it," Voh'ren replies to Hester and Firea. "We came here to save this Wren from Whisper's clutches. Let's do that rather than butcher those unfortunate to become her puppets." The Half-Orc goes over to the door and inspects the damage.

"Miss Wren," he calls out with his deep baritone voice, "my name is Voh'ren Wildheart. My companions and I have reason to believe your life is in grave danger. We are here to assist you.

"Perhaps someone a bit more charming might get her to listen," he says as an aside to the others. "I've found that few consider a Half-Orc face friendly."