Then, curiously, Girri sees the man turn and push the door open while pulling out what appears to be a piece of folded parchment from beneath one of his bracers.
Quote:
As he walk, the mage withdraws another folded piece of parchment from beneath his other bracer.
Knowledge (arcana) + 6. Are these folded pieces of parchment spell scrolls?
Girri grabs the bridge monkey by the arm and pulls her in close so she can fiercely whisper in the lass's ear. "Don't let 'em know ye ain't blind. Act stunned an' foller me so's we kin git after that fancyboy." That said, Girri lets go of the Magnimarian and manuevers closer to the side of the dais closest the cyphermage, keeping her arms outstretched in front of her as she "stumbles" forward, feigning blindness.
Girri stumbles over to the tattooed half-elf, pulls her close and whispers in her pointed ear. At first the woman struggles in surprised panic but soon calms down once she recognizes the harrower's distinctive accent. "But... I am blind..."
Meanwhile, the eye patch sporting woman walks boldly past stumbling patrons to climb up the dais stairs. Pausing to survey the room, the woman drops what appears to be a piece of lint while she idly hums a few bars of a children's song. Frustrated by the seeming lack of results, the woman frowns with dismay.
At the same time the remaining cognizant bouncer near the door, scimitar in hand, forces his way across the crowded floor to confront the thugs beating on his subdued coworker. Fighting in close quarters, the man's swing fails to connect as his target parries the bouncer's blade with his own.
As the mage makes his way over to the dais, he carefully maneuvers between two blinded and disoriented bouncers and unfolds the parchment he's carrying. If there was any doubt in Girri's mind as to the paper's magical nature, it is banished as the man carefully traces the mystic diagrams with a forefinger while intoning the eldritch words inscribed there. As the scroll crumples to dust, the mage reaches across the dais and touches the gilded treasure chest. Suddenly the chest collapses in upon itself; its substance seemingly having been transmogrified into that of a delicate piece of cloth. The suddenly unsupported chains which had been wrapped around the chest clatter loudly as they drop onto the dais.
Meanwhile, the thugs continue to swarm over the dais as they attempt to subdue all the bouncers; blind and sighted alike. One of the former goes down in a heap while the armed one succeeds in avoiding two thugs' saps.
Girri eyes the disintegrated treasure chest and frowns. Not good. Powerful enough to read the arcane from the scroll yet not powerful enough to cast it on his own. Girri stifles the urge to help the bouncers. They knew there might be trouble when they took this job--this much coin's bound to be a temptation. Still, better protect the half-elf.
Girri pulls the bridge monkey down to the floorboards and again falls to whispering in her ear. "Stay with me. I'll try an' keep you safe. You'll feel a bit o' tinglin'--just stay put 'alf a moment. We got ter try an' keeps our cool, so's we kin foller the fancyboy." Cast sanctuary on the bridge monkey, then watch the fancyboy to see which direction he moves.
The half-elven woman allows herself to pulled to the ground. She seems slightly alarmed at the sound of Girri's chanting but relaxes when she hears the priestess invoke the blessing of Pharasma on her behalf. "You're... You're a nun?" As if suddenly reminded of something, the woman reaches down to her waist and strokes the leather of her belt while quietly intoning a few mystic syllables. Then, fumbling momentarily to find it, the young mage grasps Girri's forearm. For a brief moment the harrower feels as if her body is being squeezed all over by an invisible vise. Then, just as suddenly, the pressure ceases. The woman smiles blindly at Girri. "To keep you safe too."
Over at the dais, the eyepatch sporting woman smiles broadly as she leans down, pulls the thin gossamer fabric free of the chains and bundles it up quickly. "Come to mama..." She then turns, hops down off of the dais, puckers her lips towards the mage at her side and begins making her way through the confused crowd towards the front doors of the gaming hall.
The mage smirks and follows in her wake while fiddling with something at his belt. Pausing halfway to the door, the man turns and gesticulates towards the dais while intoning a brief incantation. His actions cause the door to the imp's gilded cage to pop open.
The imp blinks confusedly for a moment before his face contorts in rage. Spitting vile insults to all present, the tiny devil bursts from his enclosure and tumbles recklessly through the air around the dais.
Meanwhile, the thugs continue their teeming assault on the hall's dwindling defenders. One succeeds at parrying the sole attacking bouncer's attack and then ripostes by slamming his sap soundly on the side of the man's head; sending him sprawling to the floor. With little mercy, the rest of the thugs move through the crowd so as to surround the two remaining, disoriented bouncers left standing; one at the dais and the other near the front doors.
Most people in the crowd continue to cower on the floor, rub their eyes or fumble and trip over other blinded patrons.
OOC: We're now halfway through the third round of combat.
Initiative:
Mage 22
Thugs 22
Imp 22
Girri 18
Woman 17
Bouncers 1
"He's leavin', an' so are we!" Girri hisses in the bridge monkey's ear. "Quickly, now. Can ye see yer way through?"
Follow after the cyphermage (bladed scarf still drawn). Double move? Running? Whatever is necessary to not lose him, but follow at a respectful distance. Once Girri is clear of the Goblin (and the imp), she will take a round to move 30 feet and cast silence upon her belt, then will resume following after the cyphermage at full speed.
Standing once more, Girri likewise pulls the half-elven woman to her feet and begins dragging her through the crowd along a route that parallels that of the departing mage. The young woman following behind whispers confusedly. "I... I think so. My vision is starting to clear. But... why are we following him? My meeting him can wait..."
Half turning, the eyepatch sporting woman calls out happily to her henchmen. "Loot what you will, boys!" Both she and the mage pause a moment as the last guard standing by the door is subdued by the thugs before resuming. The thugs hoot and holler with delight as they turn towards the blind patrons around them to begin tearing free rings, bracelets, necklaces and purses. Over by the dais, his vision clearing enough to defend himself, the last bouncer left standing succeeds in dodging the sap blows from the two thugs flanking him. In turn he draws his scimitar, slashes at the already injured thug and disembowels the very surprised robber. The soon-to-be dead man collapses to the ground unceremoniously.
Arriving at the front of the hall, the mage steps forward and gallantly opens and holds the door for the lady at his side. She once more puckers her lips at him and swiftly steps through the portal herself.
Flapping wildly around the room, Old Scratch the imp shrieks angrily at the nearest thug. "He just killed yer ally! You gonna take that you sodding berk? Ya got a shiv don't ya? Kill the bloody bastard!" The thug, horrified at the sudden gruesome death of his comrade, does as suggested; lowering his sap and leveling his short sword at the bouncer. He parries the bouncer's scimitar and lunges forward, thrusting his blade into the bald man's gut. The injured bouncer drops his blade, clutches at his belly and falls face first to floor.
Throughout the hall, patrons and staff seem to be slowly recovering their sight. A few shriek and cower in fright as the remaining thugs turn on them. Others simply stand, rub their eyes and survey the room; intent on figuring out what has transpired since the pyrotechnic explosion. A few draw knives, swords or other weapons and stand ready to defend themselves from anyone who might rob them.
Moving quickly and purposefully through the crowd, the harrower and the half-elven woman arrive near the front door just as the mage steps through. As she's about to step forward, Girri sees that the eyepatch sporting woman is standing on the other side and is about to shut the door...
OOC
In keeping with your stated goal, I've moved the action along to the middle of the fourth round. I had Girri and the half-elf take a move action on their turns to get near the door and then each ready an action to move through it once the way ahead was clear. The eyepatch sporting woman however has likewise readied an action to close the door once the mage moved through it; essentially the same triggering circumstance. Since they're both acting on the same initiative count, it falls to which of them has the higher initiative bonus to go first; that'd be Girri. Hooray for improved initiative!
So I've paused here to let you decide what you'd like to do. The mage has moved outside and his female accomplice is standing on the other side of the door about to close it in Girri's face. Girri can either stay in the hall or leap through the door. Doing the latter won't provoke an AoO since the woman isn't currently armed. If she does so however she'll be leaving the half-elf behind since her initiative count is lower than the other woman's.
Girri can move up to 30-ft as part of her readied action; please be clear about where exactly she moves to if she does.
If Girri chooses the door...
The woman will then take her readied action and close the door behind Girri. That in turn will trigger the mage's readied action of casting hold portal on the double doors. It will then fall back to Girri to act. So you can go ahead and state your following round's actions as well.
Not wanting to be locked insided the Goblin with an imp and murderous thugs on the loose, yet not wanting to lose the cyphermage, Girri grabs hold of the bridge monkey and pulls hard, trying to bull rush both herself and the Magnimarian out the door at the same time.
Bull rush, moving with the "opponent." If this fails, Girri will stay inside the Goblin. If this succeeds, Girri will try to make it look like she "tripped" out the door and will feign scrabbling away from the cyphermage and his helper like she is merely trying to get away from the madness that has taken over the Goblin. When it is safe to follow, she will cast silence on herself and follow--hopefully with the bridge monkey in tow. By the way, I have absolutely no problem at all with you moving things forward on the init count as need be based on what you feel to be reasonable. I was actually hoping you would do that.
A "bull rush" maneuver can't be executed by pulling an "opponent"; it's a forceful push. Even if it were allowed under these circumstances Girri couldn't possibly roll high enough to move the half-elf the fifteen feet necessary to get her out the door. Not to mention that this is a readied action... A simpler and more straight-forward option would involve simply using a conventional pick-up-and-carry method but would require more actions (i.e. time) than Girri has available in this instance. Sorry.
Girri turns back and tries tugging forcefully on the half-elven woman's forearm but she in turn struggles against the harrower. "What are you doing?!?" Missing her opportunity to follow the escaping couple, Girri watches as the door to the hall slams shut in her face. The noise draws the attention of the nearby thugs, who turn away from their enthusiastic looting in surprise. Sensing betrayal, the nearest thug quickly steps over to the door and pushes against it, at first with a hand and then repeatedly with his shoulder. His efforts prove futile however; the doors to the hall appear to have been sealed from the outside. "Them good fer nothin grog-blossoms! We've been had..." Turning around, the man sees that most people in the crowd are regaining their vision as well as their volition to act. He and the other thugs blanch with sudden fear. "Uh... let's beat it boys!" Scanning the room for possible exits, the thug nearest the dais points towards the rear of the hall with the bloodied steel of his sword. "Quick. The kitchens. There's got to be a rear door. Right?" Brandishing their weapons menacingly at the crowd so as to dissuade opposition, the three remaining robbers abandon their dead comrade and hastily rush towards the kitchen door. Circling overhead, the foul-mouthed imp issues a stream of vile insults at the crowd bellow before disappearing suddenly.
OOC: I just need to know whether Girri might intervene somehow before I type out the conclusion to this fiasco.
Defeated, Girri's heart sinks as she whirls around from the closed and sealed main door to face the mayhem of the Goblin. Letting out a sigh, Girri resorts to spellwork in a last-ditch effort to soothe what is quickly becoming a desperate situation. Risking the chance of being jeered or heckled, Girri makes way for the dais. Using her hands to weave mythic runes in the air as she sways her hips and rolls her midsection in dance, Girri spins and twirls, letting a few lengths of her coloured scarves whirl as she sings a song of the ancients.
"Ag amharc trí m'óige
Is mé bhí sámh,
Gan eolas marbh
Bhí mé óg san am.
Anois, táim buartha,
'S fad ar shiúl an lá,
Ochón is ochón ó.
Na laetha geal m'óige
Bhí siad lán de dhóchas,
An bealach mór a bhí romham anonn
Bhí sé i ndán domh go mbeinn, slán, slán.
Anois, táim buartha,
'S fad ar shiúl an lá,
Ochón is ochón ó.
Na laetha geal m'óige
Bhí siad lán de dhóchas,
An bealach mór a bhí romham anonn
Bhí sé i ndán domh go mbeinn, slán, slán.
Anois, táim buartha,
'S fad ar shiúl an lá,
Ochón is ochón ó."
Casting enthrall, moving/dancing toward the dais. The intent here is to calm and mesmerize the crowd as much as possible, leading them out peacefully through the rear door (and hoping to God there IS a rear door). 30 foot movement. And, yes, those are Enya lyrics.
Patrons and staff members alike scurry hurriedly out of the way as the three thugs beat a hasty retreat towards the kitchen door. A handful of people in the crowd, now brandishing weapons of their own, seem conflicted as to whether or not they should intervene in the robbers' escape. Most seem unprepared when the harrower dances around the pooling blood on the floor, hops up onto the now vacant dais and launches into her performance. A few of the nearest patrons look up at her confusedly for a moment before turning their attention back to the kitchen door as the last of the thugs exits the room.
Girri struggles momentarily to drown out the brief cries of fright that issue from the kitchen before her divinely augmented voice finally draws and captures the attention of all those present. Soon all eyes in the gambling hall turn towards her and a sea of frightful, angry and confused expressions melt into ones of enthralled contentment. As the moment of musical exaltation is drawn out, more of those who'd been hiding in side rooms or beneath gaming tables give in to curiosity, come forth and are similarly caught up in Girri's bewitching performance. Most stand in blissful disregard of their surroundings. Those brandishing weapons lower them.
OOC
I have to admit, I did not forsee this robbery ending in a song and dance number. So kudos for surprising me.
But please take a look at the enthrall spell's description: "Those enthralled by your words take no action while you speak or sing". That means they can't move to follow Girri. Not that Girri herself can move because: "The speech ends if you lose concentration or do anything other than speak or sing". I'll allow Girri to dance as a part of her enthralling performance as long as it's understood that she's effectively stationary while she does so.
From the PF rulebook "Those enthralled by your words take no action while you speak or sing and for 1d3 rounds thereafter while they discuss the topic or performance." I'm hoping to have Girri sing long enough to let the thugs leave without killing anyone else, then weave the suggestion that everyone else in the room calmly leave the area via the rear exit once it is safe. If it appears that there is no rear exit--say, for example, the thugs come back out of the rear area because they aren't able to leave--then Girri will keep the enthrall spell going for 5 minutes (hoping to outlast whatever magic the fancyboy laid on the main portal) then attempt to exit via the front door.
Girri will stop her enthrall spell, bow, then immediately make haste for whatever exit seems most reasonable at the time (hopefully with the bridge monkey in tow). If the bridge monkey won't come, Girri will leave her at the Goblin, having done enough to keep her safe and help her.
Girri continues her enthrall spell, taking care to chant the words to her ancient song and rhythmically sway for emphasis, for as long as necessary to let the danger of the thugs exit the Golden Goblin. Once the thugs are out and no more people have been harmed, Girri will end her spell and slip out as quietly as possible.
Although the majority of the surrounding crowd remains blissfully mesmerized by Girri's sensual performance, a handful of those present appear to remain cognizant throughout the song. The most vocal of them, a well appointed merchant holding a sheathed rapier tries to snap his fellow patrons out of their collective trance with a call to action: "Stop them! They're getting away!" His words seems to fall on deaf ears however as neither he nor anyone else present causes enough of a fuss to disrupt the harrower's divine hold on the crowd.
A few moments after the thugs disappear through the kitchen door, several panicked cooks emerge into the main hall. They are quickly caught up in Girri's mesmerizing song however and soon grow still as they watch her dance with serene expressions on their faces. From behind the kitchen door there's the muffled sound of crockery crashing to the floor followed by the slamming of doors before silence ensues.
Girri continues her divinely enhanced performance for what she judges to be a sufficient amount of time to ensure that the danger has passed before finally allowing the power of her prayer to wane. The crowd begins to mumble or clap appreciatively as the harrower bows and hops down from the dais. Moving hurriedly through the crowd, Girri pauses on her way towards the front door only long enough to once more grab hold of the half-elven woman's arm. The would-be mage smiles serenely as she allows herself to be dragged off by the harrower. "That was. Wow. That was the most amazing thing I've ever seen. How... How did you do that? The way you moved... Was that Auld Varisian? It sounded so mournful. It really spoke to me..."
By Pharasma's luck the magic holding the hall's front door appears to have waned during her performance; Girri has no trouble in opening it and slipping outside into the cool night air. From the hall, the last thing Girri hears before she draws the door closed behind her is the petulant voice of that same merchant as he once more tries to prod the crowd into action. "Now she's getting away!"
Relieved that at least no one else appears to have been harmed, but concerned with the appearance of complicity with the thugs, Girri tries to shake the bridge monkey from her reverie once the pair is outside in the night air. "Wake up! It was just a bit o'magic ter settle 'em down so's they didn't git hurt any by them thugs. C'mon, we gots ter git the heck outta here or the law'll be along ter git us." Girri sets off at as quick a pace as she can get the bridge monkey to muster, running if possible. As soon as the opportunity arises to dodge down a side alley, Girri will take it, angling all the while for obscurity and safety.
The half-elven woman seems confused as she picks up the pace. "The law? Why should they care about us? We didn't do anything wrong. I imagine they'll be called for soon enough. We can just explain to them what happened back there..." Being intimately familiar with the back alleys along Riddleport's harbor-front, Girri has no trouble in fleeing the gaming hall. In fact, the harrower sees no evidence that she's even being pursued.
Seeing that she appears to be unfollowed, Girri slows down from a run but keeps a brisk pace, switching alleys now and then and avoiding a straight path. "Riddleport law don't waste time with questions, love. An' I don't want ter be tossed in the lockup, d'you? All they'll see is us as 'complices ter them thugs an' yer fancyboy wot as just robbed the Goblin. We can't hole up in my shanty for a few days either." Girri stops short in the alley and faces the bridge monkey. "So how serious were you, love? 'Bout findin' yer way in ter the Cyphermages? Cause it seems ter me that we gots us a fine barterin' tool fer entree, seein' as how we seen who an' how they done their robbin', an' can lay claim ter helpin' 'em escape footloose an' fancy free. Or maybe you done changed yer mind, wot as now you seen how them Cyphermages roll? I know I would, were it me. Wouldn't want nuttin' ter do wit 'em."
Seemingly fed up with being led around by the harrower, the half-elven woman finally pulls her arm free from Girri's grip. "No one would have reason to see me as being complicit in this fiasco if you hadn't dragged me out the door back there. And there isn't anything that suggests that that man was a member of the Order of Cyphers except your own dubious supposition." The woman crosses her arms indignantly. "Whether he is or not is neither here nor there though; either way it's only logical to expect that the Order would deny any association with him or this larcenous heist. At best they'd simply turn us away for suggesting otherwise, at worst..." The woman groans in frustration as she runs her hands despairingly through her strawberry blond hair. "How did this get so complicated? Whatever. You keep running through the gutter if you want. I'm going back to my room at the inn to think." With that, the woman turns to leave.
Irritated, Girri spits but puts up no resistance to the half-elf's desire to leave. "I ain't angling ter go in fronta the whole Order. If a body wants in a secret place, he don't go ter the front door an' knock like some dead ringer, he finds hisself a crack in the rear wall an' squeezes through unnoticed, an' it's the same with them fancyboys. Find someone who's already in and get 'em ter be yer buddy so's you get in too. Make 'em be yer buddy, if need be. But suit yerself, love. Like I said a bit earlier, them Cyphers ain't the end all be all o' life. You seem a good girl, but it's ter be wagered they's pretty far from good." Girri sticks out her hand in farewell. "You need a friendly face, you ask fer Girri down at the docks."
Standing her ground, Girri leans up against a wall and watches to see if the Magnimarian leaves or if she decides to stick around.
The woman frowns. "I don't think you know as much about the Order as you might believe you do. I've been trying to find a crack in the rear wall; that's what I was doing at the Goblin tonight." The half-elf bites her lip as she considers Girri's proffered hand. Tentatively she reaches out and demurely shakes hands. "Samaritha Beldusk." With that, the woman turns and walks away leaving Girri alone in the alleyway.
OOC: What might Girri do with the rest of her evening?
Girri will use her knowledge of the back alleys of Riddleport to discretely tail Samaritha to her inn. The Harrower has a feeling she'll be seeing Samaritha again and wants to know how to find her. After that, Girri will head toward her own quarters but will hang around outside to watch the place to see if anyone is lying in wait for her to come home. It is appears to be safe, Girri will go home to sleep. If it doesn't appear to be safe to go home, let me know what Girri sees, please.
Seeing as the tattooed woman only walks a few blocks north, Girri has little trouble in following Samaritha to her destination. Seeing the circular slate roof of the grandiose structure ahead Girri can easily guess where the woman has found lodging; the Mystery of the Gate inn and tavern. Its walls are decorated with etchings of glyphs, diagrams and sketches showing the various dimensions and angles of the city's namesake monument. The Mystery of the Gate is generally favored by visiting scholars who come to study the Cyphergate and the adventurers who seek their counsel. While watching Samaritha enter the building from the shadows of a nearby alleyway, Girri spots a quintet of the city's Gendarmes moving hurriedly down the street in the opposite direction; seemingly towards the Gold Goblin. They pass by Girri without stopping.
Having established the woman's whereabouts, Girri turns and heads for home. Arriving, she carefully studies the small door tucked into the base of a townhouse's large entry stairs from a safe distance. Nothing seems amiss except that a scrap of paper appears to have been tucked into the frame of the door. A few more minutes of observation doesn't reveal anyone else in the vicinity as far as the harrower can tell.
Approaching cautiously, Girri sees a brief message scrawled on the paper in a familiar hand:
Please sweep and wash
the stairs in the morning.
The midden in the back
needs to be emptied too.
S.
Girri recognizes the note as having been written by Mrs. Surrenport; the building's owner and the harrower's landlady.
OOC: Would you care to outline Girri's plans, if she has any, for the next day or two? I'm curious to know what she does daily when left to her own devices.
The woman frowns. "I don't think you know as much about the Order as you might believe you do. I've been trying to find a crack in the rear wall; that's what I was doing at the Goblin tonight." The half-elf bites her lip as she considers Girri's proffered hand. Tentatively she reaches out and demurely shakes hands. "Samaritha Beldusk." With that, the woman turns and walks away leaving Girri alone in the alleyway.
Linear Mode
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