Planescape 3.5e - Cold Black Mask

[Cage-Rattler]

Boarding House Siege - Round 8

"Surrender now or I'll put ya down too," warned István before he lightly circled the outmatched reave. The gnome raised his blade, poised to strike at anything except an admittance of surrender from the armored brute. (Readied action)

In the room above, the Imp glared at the approaching holy warrior, the spiker, the slightly-dazed spellcaster, and finally, at the spectral sword hovering within striking distance. Then, with a snarl, it whirled in mid-air and made for the open window. Heinrich brought his sword down with bone-shattering force in a bid to stop the little fiend's esacpe, but the imp jinked at the last possible moment and the blade missed by a hairsbreadth, taking a sizeable chunk of wood out of the nearby chest. (Imp flees, Heinrich's AoO vs AC 18 misses.) In a burst of speed, the imp shot out the window and disappeared into the night. (Imp out of visual range)

The Reave swiveled his head around uncertainly. Unable to get a bead on István's voice, he gave a non-commital grunt at the concept of surrender. "I have a better idea, little piker." With little fanfare, the brute began to slowly fade from view, becoming as translucent as a ghost. István and Cang both struck out with their weapons, but the blades passed harmlessly through the reave's disappearing form. (Both István and Cang's weapons unable to affect reave.) Before vanishing entirely, the four-armed creature couldn't resist one last jibe. "Not to worry, bashers; we'll be seeing each other again before too long!" With that, he was gone.

The inn was eerily quiet, save for the pained groans of the one wounded thug.

 

[Cage-Rattler]

ooc: Dur, Ithought I was forgetting something. Sorry, Lemming.

"I left em at The Slumberin' Lamb Inn in the Clerk's ward. Ye'd better hurry though, they'll probably leave in the morn."

"Excellent, cutter." Bhoer gave the aasimar a satisfied nod. There was a brief, awkward pause as a tight smile passed amongst the three toughs.

"Well, then, no sense in draggin' our heels here, is there?" The shadowswyft continued to no one in particular. "The night's getting on, and I'm sure we'd all like to get in some sleep before anti-peak."

 

[Dire Lemming]

Anthony slaps his leg. "Well, thanks for bein' so reasonable. I'll show you out. It wouldn't do to have an angry Bariaur ambush you just as you were leaving." He heads for the door, and cracks it open, calling out in a normal voice. "Kalel, if you're out there, it's all fine. They're just leavin'."

He then opens the door some more and, assuming nothing unexpected happens, walks through and leads the three to the door. He carefully makes sure it's locked and bolted once they leave.

 

[Zurai]

Sindr runs to the window, chasing after the imp, even going so far as to stick his head out and look all around. He scowls when he fails to find it and hurries to Hagen's side, carefully examining the puncture wound from the creature's nasty-looking barbed tail. "Hagen, are you all right? That looks nasty, lemme have a look."
[sblock=OOC]Klanes +12 to see if Sindr can identify A) what the imp is, and B) what its sting does.[/sblock]

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

"Steady on, friend, we'll have you well again soon," says Heinrich reassuringly, and he incants two short prayers for Heironeous to give his comrade guidance and strength in the face of this Infernal test.

[sblock=OOC]Casting Guidance and Resistance to give Hagen +2 on his next saving throw.[/sblock]

 

[Isida Kep'Tukari]

Pierce keeps a close watch out the window and the rest of the room as Sindr and Heinrich tend to their friend.

"The imp, he called the mask a mimir. Do either of you know what that means?" Pierce asks urgently. Imps were frequently servants, and whatever had just happened was undoubtedly being reported to its superiors right now. Next time the opposition would be far more fierce.

 

[Ambrus]

[sblock=OOC]I've been reluctant to post IC until the matter of István's readied action is resolved, but I'll assume it didn't prevent the reave's intention to disappear for the moment for the sake of moving on.[/sblock]

István takes a few quick experimental jabs in the air where the four-armed brute stood moments ago. Seeing no other immediate threats in the common room, the whisper-gnome gives the helpful monk a few quick instructions as he rushes towards the door (B-4 to #-3): "Try to help this thug if he is yet alive then bind the other one; if you would." Without a backwards glance, and his crystal shard ready to strike, the wayfarer steps out into the cool night air of the impossible city. Assuming he doesn't see a threat nearby, the whisper-gnome turns, plants a foot on the door frame and deftly runs up the side of the boarding house wall (to A2-A). Leaping onto the roof, István reorients himself to the horizontal plane, dashes lengthwise along the roof's peak (to H2-4)and then leaps upward to alight onto the second floor split-level roof (to I3-5). A few quick steps carries the wayfarer across the roof's peak and over it's edge (to M3-5). Letting gravity take a hold of his body, István allows himself to fall a few feet before placing foot upon the wall and running down to alight suddenly on the sill of the group's chamber's window (down to L2-5 , all as a double-move action in round 8)

Seeing his companions alive and alone in the room, the harrier looks around for signs of whatever had attacked his friend Hagen (Listen +6, Spot +11, Low-light vision, darkvision 60-ft.); his bloodied crystal shard still drawn and ready.

 

[Zurai]

"The imp, he called the mask a mimir. Do either of you know what that means?" Pierce asks urgently.

Sindr blinks confusedly at Pierce. "Mimir? M-I-M-I-R... izzit sumthin' like a mimic? Nah, can't be, no' sticky 'nuff. Nope, sorr', I got nothin' on wha' in th' 'ell a mimir is."

 

[Cage-Rattler]

Hagen readily submits to both Sindr and Heinrich's concerned inspections. As they tended to his wound, he looked around the room in some measure of alarm.
"Has anyone else been hurt? Where's István?"
When the gnome landed on the windowsill in a crouch, the archivist gave a start, then a relieved smile. "Well, then; it looks like I'm the only real casualty among us."
István:[sblock] While on the rooftop, you catch the glimpse of a gold-limned figure hustling away from the boarding house, in the direction of the lone warehouse you skirted around earlier. The golden glow fades quickly, however.[/sblock]

"Hagen, are you all right? That looks nasty, lemme have a look."

The flesh around the puncture wound was red and puffy, and a colorless ichor seeped from the wound itself.
"It doesn't even hurt, really," Hagen said, "but my whole arm feels numb, like I've been sleeping on it all night. My legs are starting to tingle a bit, too."
From his studies, Sindr knew that the devilish imps carried a paralytic poison in their scorpion-like tails. The effects of the poison would pass with time and rest, and curative magics could purge the poison much faster. (Knowledge: Planes 21)

As Heinrich stepped forward to aid Hagen, Sindr's mind fell back on the word "mimir". He recalled something he read, or perhaps heard, regarding other realms and mythologies far removed from his own...
Sindr:[sblock]The "Well of Mimir" is a legendary site said to rest at the roots of the Yggdrasil -- the "World Ash" -- on the outer planes. Drinking from the well was supposed to grant omniscient wisdom...but it's anyone's guess as to why any of that would be relevant to the mask.[/sblock]

===============================

Anthony shows the three toughs the way out, under the watchful eye of Kalel. Once they had left, and the door secured, Dinah put her hand on Anthony's shoulder and gave him a faint smile.
"That was brave, going in there. A bit barmy, but brave."

Kalel gave a thoughtful grunt. "Don't think you've seen the last of those pikers, though. I'll talk to a few mates of mine -- real bloods who've tangled with the Dogs before -- and see if they can't keep an eye on their goings-on."

 

[Ambrus]

Round 9

István pauses for only a moment on the sill to offer a few hurried words to his companions (speaking as a free action): "The two humans are down. The Shou monk is with them. I'm going after the troll. He's heading to the large warehouse three blocks down the street."

With nary a glance back, the harrier leaps away from the sill into the darkness. Touching down on the cobblestones below, the wayfarer falls into a ball, rolls and comes up running to avoid loosing momentum. Determined to reach the brute before it can fully regain its senses, the harrier tears along the street at a ground devouring pace which swirls the mists at his passage (moving 140-ft. as a double-move action along the shortest route towards the warehouse, running up to 280-ft. if it's possible to move in a straight line).