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<blockquote data-quote="ThirdWizard" data-source="post: 6635273" data-attributes="member: 12037"><p>The Anarchists attacked.</p><p></p><p>The woman who had done the talking, and presumably the leader, was the first to act. She curled her hands around the hilt of the greatsword on her back, using her other hand to release the blade. Her shoulders flexed, and the greatsword swung out while she moved forward, still smiling as she whipped the large through the air a couple of times on her approach.</p><p></p><p>Mozzy didn’t have a lot of spell power left, but she wasn’t about to hold anything back. They had remained far enough away during the verbal exchange that she and Jer had a few moments before the Anarchists engaged them in melee. Mozzy quickly focused on forming a globule of highly acidic liquid above her fingers, floating in the air and rotating just slightly. With a flick of her wrist, the ball flew from her hand. She chose her target carefully, striking the cockatrice before it could reach them and possibly turn them to stone. The reptilian woman screamed as the acid engulfed her pet, it’s burned body falling, dead, to the floor. The snarling scaled covered creature then reached behind her and pulled out a scimitar, her eyes full of hatred, and she took off at a run directly toward Mozzy, passing the leader in her rage. Mozzy backed away as fast as she could, but she knew it wouldn’t be fast enough.</p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, the spectacled man took a few steps and turned a corner, disappearing from view.</p><p></p><p>Jer pulled out a hand crossbow that he had been hiding and quickly shot a bolt into the reptilian woman’s leg, the only enemy he could see at this point. She ignored both him and the tiny bolt, continuing her advancement on Mozzy. The bard pulled out another bolt and began to crank back the bow, hoping he could get another shot before anyone was on him. Jer then moved back as far as he could, along with Mozzy to try to put some distance between them and their enemies. It wasn’t enough.</p><p></p><p>Before he could react, Jer had the leader on him, her greatsword taking aim at his neck, and he was barely able to dodge in time before having his head removed from his body. He fell backwards, rolled, and stood only in time to be swiped at again, this time taking a bad looking cut to his left arm. He dropped the hand crossbow, going for a dagger, but was pushed back once again. At the same time, Mozzy was overtaken by the reptilian woman, who swiped twice with her scimitar, giving Mozzy a mean looking cut across her leg as she tried to step back. She had no weapon to defend herself with, and started looking around for anywhere to run.</p><p></p><p>That was still only two of five, and Mozzy took a quick chance to try to pinpoint the other two. Jer was barely able to see in the darkness, and he had no idea how many they were facing off against. Taking a look, Mozzy saw the large man approaching with some kind of long curved sword held in both hands. She couldn’t see the spectacled man nor the shorter man. With the warehouse so full of crates and other objects it would be trivial for them to hide somewhere in order to disappear. But, what was good for the goose was good for the gander. Finding her opportunity, she retreated from the reptilian woman and moved behind a fallen pile of old crates, weaving between stacks, hoping she could lose her pursuer.</p><p></p><p>Unfortunately, this left Jer alone for the time being. His dagger wasn’t doing much, so he tried to put some distance between himself and the greatsword-wielding maniac, concentrating on dodging her attacks. Another swipe, however, and she drew blood again. His plan of tiring her out was backfiring, as he was starting to feel light headed. Grimacing, he flexed his left hand, an ever so slight glow appearing. With a word, his wounds began to close, and he could feel some of the vigor return to him, the fatigue dropping off like it was never there. Still… he wasn’t sure how long he could hold out by himself. On the edge of his vision, he could barely see the reptilian woman move around behind one of the crate stacks, disappearing. A large man who hadn’t made a noise previously came into view and then immediately disappeared around another side. Clenching his jaw, Jer prepared to try and move back himself, trying to buy time for the others to show up.</p><p></p><p>Mozzy crouched, moving slowly and trying to make as little noise as possible and make her way back around to possibly pick off the leader with Jer while the others looked for her. Peeking through the rusted iron bars of a tall shelf, she squinted into the darkness, making out Jer and his attacker. He was barely holding his own. She wasn’t sure how long he could last, but most of her firepower was gone. Looking around, she didn’t see her pursuers, so she took a moment to pause and focus her thoughts into a spell. A small dot of acid appeared above her finger this time, and she pointed her arm toward the woman like a crossbow, letting the rotating acid fly toward her target. It struck home, but just as Mozzy had finished casting her spell, she heard someone incanting another spell behind her. Before she could react she was struck from behind by something hard and flat. The wind knocked out of her, she leaned against the bars for support and looked back over her shoulder to see the smile spectacled man.</p><p></p><p>Stumbling, she went for another pile of crates to try and hide again, but her path was blocked by a large man. She hadn’t gotten a good look at him before. He had a severe face that was covered in scars and his left eye looked blind. He wore some kind of cure hides and wielded what looked like a large flat bladed sword. A sword which, by the way, was swinging straight for her. Jumping back, she barely dodged out of the way of the swing. She started to try and make her way back the way she had come, but spotted the reptilian woman coming towards her. Hiding wasn’t going to be an option at this point. Gritting her teeth, she tried to buy time. Flanked on both sides, she managed to keep from being sliced by the attackers for a few more moments before being able to go completely on the defensive, backing up against the metal rack that now separated her from Jer.</p><p></p><p>Jer skidded backwards and ducked under a swing of the leader’s sword, extending his dagger arm forward as he dodged. He felt the resistance of cured leather as he thrust forward, and when he was back upright, he could see blood dripping from the wound as well as a thin red coating on his weapon. Stepping backward, he was clipped by the flat of the greatsword, the momentum of which almost knocked him off his feet. Spinning, he could taste the blood in his mouth, and he spit it out onto the ground. His opponent smiled, and continued to push forward. She was no pushover, and he was taking better than he was giving out. He thought he could make out Mozzy behind some kind of shelf, but he wasn’t sure about anything in this darkness. He hoped she was doing better than he was. Given enough time, and enough healing spells, he might have won this one on one fight, but she started this one fresh, and he was out of spells now. All he could do was try to hang on until… Finally he heard the jingling metal of chainmail coming closer. He moved back as far as he could, toward the sound.</p><p></p><p>Aurian’s voice echoed in the confined space, bouncing off of the various crates and piles of decaying wood that lined the walls of the warehouse. As he did so, three barely illuminated orbs of pure force erupted from the darkness, flying toward the leader of the group who was facing off against Jer. She cried out in pain as they slammed into her, but she stood her ground. Two-Nine-Eight was right behind, his halberd curving through the air and colliding with Jer’s attacker’s weapon. Sparks flew as the modron stepped between Jer and the woman. Jer took the opportunity to move back the way he had come, to pick up his crossbow once again.</p><p></p><p>On the other side of the racks, Mehen slammed his maul into the reptilian woman, the sound of cracking ribs making Mozzy grimace as her pursuer slumped to the ground. The man with the large sword who had Mozzy cornered turned, at this, and growled at the dragonborn. The two squared off, the man’s first swing going wild, with Mehen able to easily dodge the attack. Mozzy used the opportunity to look around trying to find the spectacled man, but he was nowhere to be seen now. Stepping back, she carefully moved past Mehen and prepared another small acid spell, throwing it at the large man and burning his arm. Mehen slammed his maul into the Anarchist’s leg, the sweep cracking his leg, and he was thrown lopsided, his head coming into contact with the floor in a loud conclusion.</p><p></p><p>Back on the other side, Two-Nine-Eight had taken a nasty strike from the woman’s great sword, but he muttered a short phrase and his wounds closed like he had never been lacerated. Finding his crossbow, Jer was finally able to put two bolts in the woman, dropping her. She snarled as she hit the floor, lashing out one more time at the modron before finally succumbing to her injuries and passing out on the ground in a pool of her own blood. Aurian approached slowly, and the group remained on the lookout.</p><p></p><p>“Was that all of them?” asked Mehen.</p><p></p><p>“No,” replied Mozzy, “There were two others, but I only got a good look at one of them. A thin guy with glasses, a spellcaster, was one of them. I’d recognize him if I saw him again. I don’t know about the other. Maybe a bit under six feet, male, average build. I think they both took off.”</p><p></p><p>“I would expect them to leave their comrades at the first sign of danger,” said Two-Nine-Eight. “Still. Today was a victory.”</p><p></p><p>Mehen used the last of his magic to heal Jer, who was not looking so great. “You stood toe to toe longer than I thought you were capable of.”</p><p></p><p>“It’s surprising what you can do when you’ve got a sword pointed at you,” replied the bard.</p><p></p><p>Mehen nodded.</p><p></p><p>“So, I hope that almost dying was worth it,” said Aurian. “I hope you found out something good. Because they’re all dead now, and aren’t going to be talking. Whoever they were.”</p><p></p><p>“Anarchists,” replied Two-Nine-Eight.</p><p></p><p>“Yes, but… I mean… we still don’t know what they wanted.”</p><p></p><p>“I think I figured it out,” said Mozzy. “I got the leader to admit something before the fight started. They were trying to get information about someone. There are rumors going on in the Great Foundry about… well… there are a lot of rumors, but I think I pinpointed which one. First, I need to confirm what I think I know before we go any further. There are certain things we don’t like to talk about with outsiders if we don’t have to. You understand.”</p><p></p><p>The others understood. Everybody had secrets that weren’t theirs to keep. That’s how it worked.</p><p></p><p>“It was good working with you. With this cell effectively destroyed, my work here is done,” said Two-Nine-Eight.</p><p></p><p>“I’m sure we’ll run into each other again,” said Mehen.</p><p></p><p>“I hope so,” said the modron. With that, he was gone just as suddenly as he had shown up.</p><p></p><p>After checking the bodies for any incriminating evidence and finding nothing, they started moving out. It was best not to stay too close to the scene of a bloody massacre in the city for too long. There would be annoying questions, and Mehen would be able to fill out a report on their activities as soon as he got back to the Courthouse which would give the proper context soon enough anyway. It was useful having a Guvner around in that way.</p><p></p><p>They would meet the next day after Mozzy had a chance to get a next move.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="ThirdWizard, post: 6635273, member: 12037"] The Anarchists attacked. The woman who had done the talking, and presumably the leader, was the first to act. She curled her hands around the hilt of the greatsword on her back, using her other hand to release the blade. Her shoulders flexed, and the greatsword swung out while she moved forward, still smiling as she whipped the large through the air a couple of times on her approach. Mozzy didn’t have a lot of spell power left, but she wasn’t about to hold anything back. They had remained far enough away during the verbal exchange that she and Jer had a few moments before the Anarchists engaged them in melee. Mozzy quickly focused on forming a globule of highly acidic liquid above her fingers, floating in the air and rotating just slightly. With a flick of her wrist, the ball flew from her hand. She chose her target carefully, striking the cockatrice before it could reach them and possibly turn them to stone. The reptilian woman screamed as the acid engulfed her pet, it’s burned body falling, dead, to the floor. The snarling scaled covered creature then reached behind her and pulled out a scimitar, her eyes full of hatred, and she took off at a run directly toward Mozzy, passing the leader in her rage. Mozzy backed away as fast as she could, but she knew it wouldn’t be fast enough. Meanwhile, the spectacled man took a few steps and turned a corner, disappearing from view. Jer pulled out a hand crossbow that he had been hiding and quickly shot a bolt into the reptilian woman’s leg, the only enemy he could see at this point. She ignored both him and the tiny bolt, continuing her advancement on Mozzy. The bard pulled out another bolt and began to crank back the bow, hoping he could get another shot before anyone was on him. Jer then moved back as far as he could, along with Mozzy to try to put some distance between them and their enemies. It wasn’t enough. Before he could react, Jer had the leader on him, her greatsword taking aim at his neck, and he was barely able to dodge in time before having his head removed from his body. He fell backwards, rolled, and stood only in time to be swiped at again, this time taking a bad looking cut to his left arm. He dropped the hand crossbow, going for a dagger, but was pushed back once again. At the same time, Mozzy was overtaken by the reptilian woman, who swiped twice with her scimitar, giving Mozzy a mean looking cut across her leg as she tried to step back. She had no weapon to defend herself with, and started looking around for anywhere to run. That was still only two of five, and Mozzy took a quick chance to try to pinpoint the other two. Jer was barely able to see in the darkness, and he had no idea how many they were facing off against. Taking a look, Mozzy saw the large man approaching with some kind of long curved sword held in both hands. She couldn’t see the spectacled man nor the shorter man. With the warehouse so full of crates and other objects it would be trivial for them to hide somewhere in order to disappear. But, what was good for the goose was good for the gander. Finding her opportunity, she retreated from the reptilian woman and moved behind a fallen pile of old crates, weaving between stacks, hoping she could lose her pursuer. Unfortunately, this left Jer alone for the time being. His dagger wasn’t doing much, so he tried to put some distance between himself and the greatsword-wielding maniac, concentrating on dodging her attacks. Another swipe, however, and she drew blood again. His plan of tiring her out was backfiring, as he was starting to feel light headed. Grimacing, he flexed his left hand, an ever so slight glow appearing. With a word, his wounds began to close, and he could feel some of the vigor return to him, the fatigue dropping off like it was never there. Still… he wasn’t sure how long he could hold out by himself. On the edge of his vision, he could barely see the reptilian woman move around behind one of the crate stacks, disappearing. A large man who hadn’t made a noise previously came into view and then immediately disappeared around another side. Clenching his jaw, Jer prepared to try and move back himself, trying to buy time for the others to show up. Mozzy crouched, moving slowly and trying to make as little noise as possible and make her way back around to possibly pick off the leader with Jer while the others looked for her. Peeking through the rusted iron bars of a tall shelf, she squinted into the darkness, making out Jer and his attacker. He was barely holding his own. She wasn’t sure how long he could last, but most of her firepower was gone. Looking around, she didn’t see her pursuers, so she took a moment to pause and focus her thoughts into a spell. A small dot of acid appeared above her finger this time, and she pointed her arm toward the woman like a crossbow, letting the rotating acid fly toward her target. It struck home, but just as Mozzy had finished casting her spell, she heard someone incanting another spell behind her. Before she could react she was struck from behind by something hard and flat. The wind knocked out of her, she leaned against the bars for support and looked back over her shoulder to see the smile spectacled man. Stumbling, she went for another pile of crates to try and hide again, but her path was blocked by a large man. She hadn’t gotten a good look at him before. He had a severe face that was covered in scars and his left eye looked blind. He wore some kind of cure hides and wielded what looked like a large flat bladed sword. A sword which, by the way, was swinging straight for her. Jumping back, she barely dodged out of the way of the swing. She started to try and make her way back the way she had come, but spotted the reptilian woman coming towards her. Hiding wasn’t going to be an option at this point. Gritting her teeth, she tried to buy time. Flanked on both sides, she managed to keep from being sliced by the attackers for a few more moments before being able to go completely on the defensive, backing up against the metal rack that now separated her from Jer. Jer skidded backwards and ducked under a swing of the leader’s sword, extending his dagger arm forward as he dodged. He felt the resistance of cured leather as he thrust forward, and when he was back upright, he could see blood dripping from the wound as well as a thin red coating on his weapon. Stepping backward, he was clipped by the flat of the greatsword, the momentum of which almost knocked him off his feet. Spinning, he could taste the blood in his mouth, and he spit it out onto the ground. His opponent smiled, and continued to push forward. She was no pushover, and he was taking better than he was giving out. He thought he could make out Mozzy behind some kind of shelf, but he wasn’t sure about anything in this darkness. He hoped she was doing better than he was. Given enough time, and enough healing spells, he might have won this one on one fight, but she started this one fresh, and he was out of spells now. All he could do was try to hang on until… Finally he heard the jingling metal of chainmail coming closer. He moved back as far as he could, toward the sound. Aurian’s voice echoed in the confined space, bouncing off of the various crates and piles of decaying wood that lined the walls of the warehouse. As he did so, three barely illuminated orbs of pure force erupted from the darkness, flying toward the leader of the group who was facing off against Jer. She cried out in pain as they slammed into her, but she stood her ground. Two-Nine-Eight was right behind, his halberd curving through the air and colliding with Jer’s attacker’s weapon. Sparks flew as the modron stepped between Jer and the woman. Jer took the opportunity to move back the way he had come, to pick up his crossbow once again. On the other side of the racks, Mehen slammed his maul into the reptilian woman, the sound of cracking ribs making Mozzy grimace as her pursuer slumped to the ground. The man with the large sword who had Mozzy cornered turned, at this, and growled at the dragonborn. The two squared off, the man’s first swing going wild, with Mehen able to easily dodge the attack. Mozzy used the opportunity to look around trying to find the spectacled man, but he was nowhere to be seen now. Stepping back, she carefully moved past Mehen and prepared another small acid spell, throwing it at the large man and burning his arm. Mehen slammed his maul into the Anarchist’s leg, the sweep cracking his leg, and he was thrown lopsided, his head coming into contact with the floor in a loud conclusion. Back on the other side, Two-Nine-Eight had taken a nasty strike from the woman’s great sword, but he muttered a short phrase and his wounds closed like he had never been lacerated. Finding his crossbow, Jer was finally able to put two bolts in the woman, dropping her. She snarled as she hit the floor, lashing out one more time at the modron before finally succumbing to her injuries and passing out on the ground in a pool of her own blood. Aurian approached slowly, and the group remained on the lookout. “Was that all of them?” asked Mehen. “No,” replied Mozzy, “There were two others, but I only got a good look at one of them. A thin guy with glasses, a spellcaster, was one of them. I’d recognize him if I saw him again. I don’t know about the other. Maybe a bit under six feet, male, average build. I think they both took off.” “I would expect them to leave their comrades at the first sign of danger,” said Two-Nine-Eight. “Still. Today was a victory.” Mehen used the last of his magic to heal Jer, who was not looking so great. “You stood toe to toe longer than I thought you were capable of.” “It’s surprising what you can do when you’ve got a sword pointed at you,” replied the bard. Mehen nodded. “So, I hope that almost dying was worth it,” said Aurian. “I hope you found out something good. Because they’re all dead now, and aren’t going to be talking. Whoever they were.” “Anarchists,” replied Two-Nine-Eight. “Yes, but… I mean… we still don’t know what they wanted.” “I think I figured it out,” said Mozzy. “I got the leader to admit something before the fight started. They were trying to get information about someone. There are rumors going on in the Great Foundry about… well… there are a lot of rumors, but I think I pinpointed which one. First, I need to confirm what I think I know before we go any further. There are certain things we don’t like to talk about with outsiders if we don’t have to. You understand.” The others understood. Everybody had secrets that weren’t theirs to keep. That’s how it worked. “It was good working with you. With this cell effectively destroyed, my work here is done,” said Two-Nine-Eight. “I’m sure we’ll run into each other again,” said Mehen. “I hope so,” said the modron. With that, he was gone just as suddenly as he had shown up. After checking the bodies for any incriminating evidence and finding nothing, they started moving out. It was best not to stay too close to the scene of a bloody massacre in the city for too long. There would be annoying questions, and Mehen would be able to fill out a report on their activities as soon as he got back to the Courthouse which would give the proper context soon enough anyway. It was useful having a Guvner around in that way. They would meet the next day after Mozzy had a chance to get a next move. [/QUOTE]
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