Bellinha stared at Zale for a long moment.  So many pieces were falling into place now, disparate fragments that that when viewed as a whole provided an explanation for Undines actions, his anger.  His people were slaughtered, that's what he had said.  Of course he would be angry at anyone who could be connected to such an event.

Zales words, once Bellinha had processed them, brought forth a wave of sympathy for her and her mood softened.  "Zale...I'm so sorry...we had no..." she started to say, taking several steps towards him.  Her instinct was to embrace the man, hold him close in understanding.

Except there was that look in his eyes, and she paused, hesitating.  There was still anger there, much anger.  Even the Otter was...it was hard to tell.  There was a dangerous air about them both that suddenly made Bellinha very uncomfortable.  It did not take much to imagine the Undine slitting the Dwarfs throat, in fact he had tried to do so and probably would have succeeded were it not for Breya.  She could just see the blade of the knife disappearing into the flesh, blood spurting out and mixing with the beard.

Bellinha had to look away.  Was she safe?  Were any of them?  They were so different from each other and Zale seemed so unpredictable that she was not sure in that instant that if she got too close to him, he could just as easily lash out and Bellinha might find a knife to her throat.

"....I'm sorry about your people..." she said softly, keeping her distance.

In reply to Bellinha Grunnel (msg # 273):

Moon takes a deep breath.  She walks over and lays a hand gently on your arm Zale.

"I don't really know what to say.  Just know that Hettie and the Neshies and all of us in Salt Lick will always consider you one of us.  I know it's not the same.  But just don't forget it.  'kay?"

She steps back.  "But I guess in the meantime we gotta do what we can here.  Bell?  I guess we know what's goin' on mostly.  I think Oren would want us to find out more though.  And..."  She glances towards Duane.  "I think someone needs to pay for a leg if nothin' else.

"I think we need to clear this place out.  Just my two coppers, but that's what I think."

Moons words cut through Bellinhas moment of doubt, and it was a welcome relief from previous thoughts.  "You are right, Moon, we are not done here." she said, all business now.  "These pirates are using this manor as a base of operations and what they are doing here is horrible.  We are going to clear this place out.  I don't want what happened to Duane, or Breya and Cassandre, to happen to anyone else, not to mention the attack that sent Jevin up here."

She stepped over to Dwarf, standing over him to assert authority as she continued.  "You understand that you and your bleeding friend have put us in a rather difficult spot.  Someone has to answer for what was done to Duane over there and, in the absence of anyone else, popular sentiment would seem to put blame on you both.  Maybe not the total blame but certainly enough guilt by association that...well...people want to slit your throat."

Bellinha paused,  appearing deep in thought though it was mostly for dramatic effect.  "I'm not inclined to see your lives end here, though I don't think that I would be able to stop those members of my company who do.  We can't take you with us.  I don't have the resources to stand watch over you.  So what to do with you."

"Jevin?  The barrel that we found Duane in.  The lid could still be closed and sealed, right?"

The undine winces as Moon touches his shoulder and he pulls away, probably not wanting to be touched even slightly. He listens to Bell and Moon, the otter at Bell's feet who looks up at her as well. Zale goes silent, probably not wanting to here was being said. He barely knows anyone from Salt Lick but he has some friends-the little girl. Hettie. Maybe the fact that a entire race was butchered? He takes a deep breath. Even without the dagger at his side, the sorcerer is still deadly. A nod comes from Zale, so Moon knows. He watches Bell now, and he shakes his head as if not agreeing with her. But its all of them against Zale in his eyes so its not a winnable situation. It seems like he's done talking and what his emotions are remains unknown but he's probably angry and possibly hiding it.

"What to do with him?"  Breya shrugged.  "I mean what else is there for it?"

And she sucker punched him into next week.

"Truss him up like a pig and deal with it later.  We don't have time to sit here and worry about it there's arses to kick."

In reply to Zale Morcant (msg # 276):

The Dwarf shakes his head.  "Hey!  Like I said!  I wasn't even here when they did what they did to that fish-guy!  Hell, I'm the one that cured up his stump.  Well.  I patched it up from their bullshit job of cauterizing it shut. But the point is, it wasn't me!

"You want Wilma an' Jox!  They're downstairs!  I swear!  I'll be happy inside a barrel!  Won't hear a beep outta me!  Just lemme live!"

He fits inside the barrel quite nicely.

You guys want to head down?  He mentioned the southeast tower as the easiest way.  But  those from Salt Lick will know the downstairs should be accessible by any of the four towers: Northeast, Northwest, Southwest, and Southeast.

If you are going down, just need to know which tower you want to use.

If you aren't going down...whaddya want to do?

Thanks

So Breya can suck punch him and possibly kill him but Zale can't? He watches the dwarf probably drilled into the ground and his eyes narrowed at Breyah and he's tossed into a barrel. Course she's 'normal' and he's just the guy that lost everything. Sure, its alright to everyone but Zale. He glances back to Duane and goes to the southeast tower but goes up and not down pausing at times but keeping his distance from the group especially Breya leaving the pirate to possibly die and the dwarf in the barrel. He keeps glancing back to see if Duane is coming and to see if anyone is following. The undine is silent, wanting to go down and see what is going on but despite this he wants to be sure there isn't anyone on the second floor despite any anger fueling up. He hides what he feels. The otter sticks near Bell oddly.

OOC
Attempting to go up in the Southeast tower.

03:15, Today: Zale Morcant rolled 13 using 1d20+3.  Perception.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:16, Sun 08 May 2022.

Bellinha sighed as the pirate and the Dwarf were stuffed into barrels.  It really was the only option, as ridiculous as it seemed.  They would probably have to be carted back to Salt Lick for trial...or whatever passed for a trial.  That would be a headache for when they were finished here.

Of course Zale wasn't happy with the decision.  He walked ahead of the company, only occasionally looking back to scowl at them.  Not only did he have a murderous streak, it seemed to be complemented by a petulant one as well.  Bellinha wanted to say something to him, but she kept her distance.  Murderous streak.

As a result, she stood a good distance from him when they arrived at the southwest tower.  Instead of going down, the Undine decided to go up.  No explanation was given, other than those scowls that he made.  What on Golarion was he doing now?  Was this some sort of challenge?  Was he expecting her to say something so that he could throw back some insult or remark, or give him some reason to try and stab someone again?  Of course she really wanted to ask him what he was doing, but every time he scowled at her all she could see was the mad look on his face as he tried to run his spear through the Dwarf.

She sighed and looked down at the otter by her feet.  "I don't suppose that you have any idea on what he's trying to do?" she asked the animal.

Breya, it turns out, makes a pretty good barrel stuffer.  Suspiciously good.

Breya winked at Bellinha, and kept herself at the ready.  "We're moving again, that's what matters.  One foot in front of the other, this'll be over sooner'n later."

She meant it too.  She just didn't want Zale to murder someone in cold blood, especialyl when the victim was already beaten and Zale was in a fit of rage; if he calmed down for a while and still wanted to murder the dwarf, that was different.  Maybe not great, but it was different.

She figured what passes for an authority would hang the dwarf anyway.

You creep to the top of the southwest tower.  The room is fairly ordinary.  A couple of windows look out over the yard.  A short hallway runs to the north, ending in a thick but old wooden door.

Opening the door a crack, you can see a landing to the west.  It looks like the stairs from the front foyer below lead up here.  The hall that way continues to the north, but it's dark in that direction so you can't see anything.

To the north and east is a closed door.

There is nothing immediately outside the door.  You can't hear anything at the moment.

You are in area 5, looking to the north into area 7.

Thanks.

"Well, unless anyone wants to play the burglar's trade at that door, I'll roshambo the elf-man for who gets to open it."  Breya suggested.

The undine keeps his distance from the group as he goes to go into the next room. There's no emotion coming from the undine. Zale doesn't go near the door letting Breya handle it in whatever ways she does calling it 'roshambo'. Probably beat on it till the door comes apart or her hands turn to mincemeat. The otter walks next to Bell and looks up at her then looks around probably out of curiosity then it darts over to undine and does its odd barking. Zale pulls out the waterskin and dumps part of it over his head before capping it and putting it into his shoulderbag. He looks back to see if Duane is following. Not scowling. Just looking. And the otter goes back to where Bell is acting like a protecter. Seriously? Its pretty comical. For a brief moment seeing the otter doing its protective duties, Zale smiles faintly then nothing.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:17, Mon 09 May 2022.

Jevin was slinking along and letting Breya take point on this one.

"Go ahead Bre, I'm keepin the crossbow out for now.  Use my hand axe if ya want."

Jevin had his light crossbow out and loaded, aimed toward the front pointed at the ground.  One thing was obvious by smell and sound of his words; he had a fresh cinnamon stick in his mouth.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:25, Mon 09 May 2022.

"What is a roshambo?" Bellinha asked.  Since they were waiting, she absentmindedy knelt down to pet the Otter at her feet.  "Did you try turning the latch?  This place is abandoned, maybe the door is unlocked."

"You know, the stone smashes the shears- ah never mind."  Breya sighed internally.  The fact that the door might not be locked was so not the point.  But that's okay, she reasoned.  "Don't worry about the axe, I got this thing if I want to bother."  She tapped the scizore.  She'd mostly been using it for protection but it seemed capable.

Breya approached the door, listened and looked for any obvious problems, and then gave it a try.

lol Breya's Perception is el terrible but that's okay.
07:07, Today: Breya rolled 3 using 1d20-1.  Perception.

Almost cat-like, the otter tilts his head one way then the other as Bell kneels down. It seems hesitant about it as she reaches out. A pet, then another. And another. But when she gets close to him, she can tell its feelings. Sadness. Yet it seems to take the pets in stride, even bats at her hands at time seeming to play with it then it darts off to the north and stops a few feet away, and then comes back. Strange animal.

THE DOOR EXPLODES!!!!!! YOU ALL DIE!!!!!!

Just kidding

From the other side of the door Breya,, you can pick up the faint mewling of those damn cats.  The door itself is unlocked.  It sticks a bit, but you can open it easily enough.

You are looking out onto a mezzanine that runs around an open courtyard.  Below, you can see the fountain and room where you fought CCL, then the Dwarf and Cutlass Pirate.

There are a number of doors running off this mezzanine.  Eight in total, counting the one you are looking through.

See the new map.  Did I mention I suck with maps?

The wood looking areas are doors.  I marked your position in the lower left.

The white and brown tiled areas are the courtyard below.  The purple stones are the mezzanine.

Questions?

 Cassandre was following with her crossbow in hand, mimicking the strong and silent type. Well at least she was silent. The stairs were more difficult for her short legs than they were for tall folks. She hated stairs with a passion, those damn steps never quite dimensioned for ones of her stature. Maybe she'd be happier in a halfling town.

 On the mezzanine, she started walking around, peeking over the parapet every now and then to see what was going on downstairs - and confirm where the meowing was coming from. She was walking around the yard anticlockwise, and seemed to sing to herself as she counted to the sixth door.

 There she applied her ear to it, listening with purpose. Apollo was right behind her, and seemed to put more application to the task than she did.

---

 Perception: Cass 11, Apollo 22
 Top lefthand corner door

The undine waits until everyone goes through, the otter remaining with Bell. He looks over the railing then back to the south and decides to listen to the door but he keeps his distance from the group if possible.

OOC
Listening to the door to the right of where we went in (one above where we saw the 'ghost man' above it.

08:15, Today: Zale Morcant rolled 15 using 1d20+3.  Perception.

Figuring the next door would be the one to explode, Breya strode out like she owned the place.

"Too many gods damned doors."  She complained.  "Someone pick one or I'm just going to keep going to the right."

Kozibi occasionally looked at Zale or Bellinha as they traveled. He didn't try to get close to Zale as the Undine seemed to want space. As much of a jerk as he might appear to others sometimes, Kozibi didn't want to push Zale or make things worse.

When they came to overlook the courtyard, he saw that as Breya had pointed out, there were indeed several doors. He absently rubbed the bridge of his nose for a moment. He didn't hear anything immediately, but he wasn't standing near any of the doors and was distracted.

14:40, Today: Kozibi Januson rolled 6 using 1d20+5.  Perception.

"Yeah, there are a lot of doors." Bellinha replied to Breya.  She raised her voice a little to address the others.  "Let's not lose our focus and wander off in too many directions at once.  Open one door at a time.  Cassandre, you are a little far from the rest of us.  Let's start with the door that Zale is at and we will work our way our the balcony."

In reply to Bellinha Grunnel (msg # 296):

This thread is now closed.  Please move to the Barrel of Monkeys thread.

Thanks!