Stephanie giggled into her mask, allowing herself to indulge for being out of everyone’s immediate earshot. “Wait, I what with a squid?” She grinned to herself, seeing that not having every little nuance of Dwarven wasn’t the worst fate in Gotham, although the wind had carried away some of the cursing aimed her way. The short thug in heavy armour hauled himself out of the webbing after rejecting her demands, only to collapse several feet later in a puddle of exhausted rage. He wore himself out, Oracle plopped herself on the docks again, and Batwoman warned the Thieves Guild she aspired to gift them all nooses. But that was the end of it – no more bolts flew, no further spells rearranged landscapes. A calm cradled the carnage below.
Seeing the matter settled, a crescent moon shamelessly revealed itself then. The southerly wind blew cool and gentle off the sea, and the platform rocked only with the light reassurance of a mother’s arms. Gathering up her grappling hook, Stephanie contemplatively started pulling the purple rope up and looping it between her elbow and hand. Merchant’s Guild have secured their shipment, Thieves Guild are bloodied more than they ever guessed, and families in Midtown will thrive for all of it. Now what? Securing the rope to her belt, she climbed down the neck of the crane, much the same as their Oracle did a little before.
Back on the wooden docks again, Stephanie experimentally tugged at the control panels until the crane bowed its head first beside her, where she removed the red barrel gingerly from the mechanical giraffe, and then set the platform unto the ship. No chance was she leaving explosives in the eyesight of that vengeful, telekinetic half-giant. Those two can easily deal with the rest. I could just grab the gems and go. Maybe practice my knots before heading off? But that didn’t help Gotham families any further at all, a city already drowning in its own gang violence, daughter against daughter, father versus son, endlessly. She would never have come close to taking down this hit solo. The half-orc that single-handedly used her mouth as a punching bag altogether proved it. It was hard not to know the truth of it when she turned the corner to see where dying mist had been replaced by artificial webbing. Somehow Oracle wasn’t herself tired from all the arcane weaving.
Originally Posted by
JbeJ275
"So, once we've got this one tied shall we give the place a once over? It looks pretty tempting honestly. Oh and we should split the other stuff before we head back.
“After kissing floorboards and humping rope all night, yeah, a stroll sounds good. Really, all I want for certain are the gems and letter. Even just a copy of it. Anything else basically goes into rent, food and tasteful bondage lessons.” Sometimes, it was a good idea to throw others far off the truth, or test where their line was. Especially when you wanted to call that person a friend. “And before I forget, thanks. For when you tried to take the heat off with that half-orc playing patty-cake with my face. But, anyway, dwarf first.”
Spoiler: Jbe, Molan, once over, etc
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Jbe, I’m not totally sure what you think we might find, or if you were going to Search the place or not, but you and Feathersnow more than earned a second pair of eyes or an Aid Another, and we have a few minutes before the webbing disappears ‘atm’. That should give us time to snoop around more if you like. I automatically succeed at giving you a +2 to Search if you want it.
Tying the exhausted dwarf’s hands behind his back proved itself easy once Stephanie promised the knife was for cutting the rope, not his neck. “We’re done. And to get practice in on my alibis from now, I’m not a fan of seafood.”
***
Using the grappling hook and her ever shortening purple rope to find herself back on the weatherdeck of the Chraal, the blonde clasped her gloved hands before her demurely, as though she hadn’t intentionally shot bolts into his arteries only minutes ago. She altogether ignored the still weeping wounds, crimson covering his indigo tattoos and long healed scars.
“Captain Raam, I understand this must be completely new to you, so please allow me to explain a few of the finer details. You should know that this is a knight of an independent House, acting on their behalf, and with full acknowledgement from Lord Fox. That grants them rights to pits and gallows. If she or Lord Fox so chooses, they could place you almost totally outside of the Justiciar’s reach, behind muffled stone walls, in some gruesome hole, under guard from only their loyalists. All legally at that.” Her eyes registered genuine disgust.
“But that’s only one cruel trick nobles can pull on those like us, nevermind a Mage College lackey. Now that you've surrendered, it’s important someone informed is present to ensure abuse doesn’t happen further. The better to know what options you truly have, as a man that’s graced an impressive position on the most wanted list. If you’ll allow me, I’ll need to secure your hands behind you, before we can escort you back to the Guild Hall. From there we can gain clarity on the next best step forward.”
Spoiler: Take 10 (Use Rope, Diplomacy/Bluff on Raam, K: Local for laws)
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Use Rope to constrain Dwarf and Raam, Take 10: 34 on each. (+10 bonus, +2 Silk Rope, +12 baseline, +10 Taking).
Knowledge: Local on laws, Take 10: 20. I don’t expect much to come out of it, just an excuse to say ‘oh I totally know about Gotham law and didn’t just make up pits and gallows’.
Diplomacy on Raam, Take 10: 28. Surprisingly, that officially would take him from Hostile to Indifferent, going by rules. This should make him more open to getting tied up to march to the Guild Hall.
Bluff on Raam, Take 10: 24. Pretending to be more on Raam’s side than Kate’s. Or to cover if I’m accidentally making up the pits and gallows thing (maybe that doesn’t exist anymore in Gotham, or maybe it never did, who knows, it’s a place with nobles everywhere).
Re: 3.5e Batman Campaign (2.0)
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