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Message: <blockquote data-quote="wolff96" data-source="post: 4878801" data-attributes="member: 342">The last one when I wrote it up was kind of a giant wall of text.  So this time, I produced the first part of last week's session, with the rest of it yet to come.  I figure that they're a bit less bulky this way.  Next write-up once I have a chance.--------------------------------------------------------------His new cloak swirling about his massive shoulders, Rhogar led the way through the last set of gates.  Even through the thick snow, the Depository was easily visible, a massive edifice of stone rearing into the sky.Surrounded by a strong iron fence with guarded gates near 20 feet high, the tower’s grounds looked well-suited for the coming Ragesian attacks.  Oddly enough, the building had not been hit during the attacks, leaving it pristine.  Banners swirled in the wind, draped off the balconies visible above the walls.A nervous-looking group of guards met us at the gate, an odd mix of dwarves and orcs.  I was impressed by their diligence, for all of the guardsmen stood alert and ready to fight.  Their leader asked for a key after calling for us to halt.  Torrent pulled a slender chain around her neck and fished the required key out of her armor.  The leader, a gruff dwarf actually apologized for doing his job, pointing to the skies and telling us that they were all on edge.Behind him, masked by the leader, another guard whispered a word into the locking mechanism, which began to ponderously open.  I noticed Rhogar shoot a glance at his wife, but Rose only shook her head; with the wind still swirling, she hadn’t made out the whispered keyword either.The inner courtyard contained a beautiful statue of the Immortal Emperor, his torch raised high in salute or greeting.  The torch itself glowed softly, giving the falling snow a warm, crimson glow.  I stopped for a moment, bowing my head.  Timmo and Rhogar stared at me as I did so, but neither challenged my belief in the true leader of Ragesia.More guards patrolled the grounds inside, impressing me with their diligence and attention to duty.  One of the orcs at the inner door grinned at me, passing a quick nod as another opened the door for us.  “Mind you don’t get confused as to which locker is yours, lady.  There’s more guards inside.  Lanterns, too, just inside.”  He paused, flashing his tusks in a wide smile.  “You’ll regret taking one at the moment, though.  Another fellow came through a few minutes ago, and that little gnome was powerful ugly.”Torrent nodded brusquely, apparently offended for her fellow Resistance member.  Inside, the lantern light revealed one large chamber taking up the entire tower, filled with the metal coffers of other patrons.  A ramp along one inner wall wound up out of sight, disappearing to the floor above us.  Another point of light across the way resolved into an ugly little gnome holding a lantern as we approached.Coughing like one about to die, the little fellow commented on how happy he was to be in the Depository where it was safe, rather than outside.  As he turned around, he called back to our little group “Follow me, Peppin, you’ll want those documents.”I shrugged, assuming the gnome’s eyesight was as bad as Rhogar’s, but I heard Rose hiss and spit behind me in that odd tongue to her Dragonborn husband, while Jaela asked “Did anyone else hear him call us Peppin?  How odd…”  Timmo asked the most pertinent question of all, though, to Torrent.  “Has Badgerface met with Peppin before?  Would he recognize him?”  When the cleric responded that the gnome had worked for the Resistance before, Timmo’s face turned grim.  “My friends, what we have here is an impostor.”  The little man loosened his daggers in their sheaths, obviously preparing to whip them out.  Impatient, the false Rivereye called from ahead “Come, come, we must hurry.”  Stopping at a locker, he turned to Torrent, grating out his words between coughs.  “Well?  What’s the password?”  Torrent just looked at the little fellow, completely confused.  “Password?  What password?”Apparently, that was enough to tip him off.  The gnome turned, displaying a surprising amount of speed, and dashed for the ramp to the next floor.  Rhogar had been waiting, though, for just such a move and grabbed the man before he could cover more than half a dozen steps.  The rest of us surrounded the struggling figure while Rose drifted over to watch the ramps in case of reinforcements for our impostor.Hemmed in against a row of lockers with enemies on all sides, Badgerface drew a slender rapier and began fighting against us.  As we traded blows and opened wounds on his tiny form, he called for help and continued looking for ways to escape.  Rose continued to vigilantly watch the ramps, that odd, living flame dancing in her hands. Unexpectedly, though, the gnome’s help came in the form of a ball of light appearing from nowhere in a little blast of flame.  Jaela’s call of “Ooh, shiny” was nearly lost under the roar of a burst of flame out of the tiny creature.  The little gnome attempted to use the distraction to escape and was promptly skewered from five directions.  His bleeding body slumped to the ground as the little ball of flame vanished as suddenly as it had appeared.Rhogar put away his axe with a sigh.  “I’m glad he didn’t escape.  But next time, can we try asking questions or finding out what’s going on FIRST, please?”  I had the grace to look embarrassed; it simply hadn’t crossed my mind.  Timmo just grinned, wiping off his daggers on the imposter’s cloak.Checking the corpse for anything incriminating, Rose suddenly sat back, hissing in surprise.  Rhogar asked a few questions in the same tongue.  Off his skeptical look, Rose shot him a disgusted look and smeared at the ‘gnomish’ face with her finger.  Makeup smudged away at her touch, apparently breaking whatever spell he had used to change his looks.  Revealed before us was an Eladrin, his pale and too-tall corpse twisted in death.  I have to admit, I was really confused.  “Magic can do that?  Make someone several FEET shorter than they should be?”Jaela looked at me in amusement, coming back from looking at the metal studs in the walls.  “Yep.  Be nice to me or I’ll shrink you down and carry you in my pocket.”  I looked after her warily as she wandered off to another ramp.  “Uh, guys?  Can she do that?”--------------------------------------------------------The guards came pounding up the ramps as we searched the remainder of the tower.  Apparently, a couple of slender figures had been seen escaping over the wall.  I looked out the balcony at the distance they would have had to cover.  “Either they can fly or something really odd is going on.”Timmo shot me a disgusted glance.  “We just fought a three-and-a-half foot tall eladrin and NOW something odd is going on?”  I opened my mouth to say something, realized I couldn’t argue with the little man’s logic, and closed it again.  One of the guards got suspicious when he realized that his fellows were missing.  “There should be guards here.  Where are they?”  I looked around, confused.  The guards inside the tower had been mentioned, but I had forgotten about them.   The orc leveled his blade at us.  “Until we figure out what’s going on here, I’m going to ask you to put your weapons down.”  I was ready to fight, but Jaela laid a hand on my arm and gently shook her head.  I looked at Rhogar and Timmo, but both were already removing their gear.  The Halfling pulled a rather impressive armory from hiding places all over his armor, smiling sheepishly as a shocked dwarven guard accepted the pile of blades.  Rhogar finished removing his weaponry and held his hands out, palms up in a gesture of peace.  “We’re happy to help.  We did not come here to cause trouble, but it certainly found us.”  He shot me a glance that warned me to stay calm before finishing, “We’re happy to wait while you search.”That little confrontation averted, the guards kept a wary eye on us while several more came in from outside to search the tower.  The real Rivereye Badgerface was eventually found stuffed into a locker on the fourth floor, none the worse for wear.  He told his tale to the guards, of being attacked by elves.  As the guards brought another of their number down covered by a sheet, he bowed his head.  “They knocked me out and all the guards on my floor.  When that one was about to call for reinforcements…”  He sighed.  “A little ball of light burned him.  To death.  I’m sorry.”Turning to us, he looked carefully over our group, his eyes finally lighting on Torrent’s rather gaudy signet ring.  “Ah!  The griffin flies by moonlight?”Torrent replied “And the peasants below scatter, because the droppings are unfortunate.”  After finishing, she rolled her eyes, while I found myself wondering if Jaela's apparent fascination with flying poop had something to do with the Resistance’s code-phrases.Once the guards were satisfied that we weren’t going to assault the gnome or cause any further trouble, they resumed their places in the tower.  Rivereye sat down, coughing heavily as he filled in the details.  “I used to work for the Ragesians and can’t tell you about the information I brought.  It was in a ritual they bound us with.  That’s why you have to recover the case!  I managed to convince that eladrin fellow that it was trapped and he would need the pass phrase.”He broke off as deep, wracking coughs shook his tiny frame.  “My knowledge of the elven language isn’t that good, but I think the one you killed was Larion.  He and his friends had some kind of contact at Gabal’s School – a caster of some kind named Shealis. That little ball of light said something, too.  Some kind of escape tunnel is nearly ready.  We’re going to have to hurry if we want that case back before they can escape.”  The gnome hopped to his feet, apparently ready to run out the door right then before falling victim to more coughing.  “You’re in no shape to travel or fight tonight, little friend,” said Torrent.  “We need to get you to the temple.  They can heal you, help build your strength.”  She turned to us.  “Will you please help recover the case?  It’s our only hope against the Empire.  I can promise you shelter at the temple tonight, a chance to heal your wounds and gather your strength.  I might even be able to scrape up some coins, too.  Please.”Rhogar looked around the group, gauging our reactions.  Apparently, he was happy with what he saw there.  “We’re in, Torrent.  Get us to this safe house and we’ll go after this case first thing in the morning.”</blockquote>

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