3.5e Batman Campaign (IC Thread)

[Molan]

Kate knocks and fires two arrows in rapid succession. Each shaft strikes their target, piercing the half elf's light armor. He cries out, clearly wounded. The half-elf grits his teeth and attempts to return the favor; Kate's managed to draw the sniper's ire away from Masque, who's still badly hurt, and towards herself. The half elf fires a pair of shots of his own -- but shooting with a pair of arrows in your body turns out to be harder than it looks. His shots go wide, passing a foot or more to either side of Kate's position, and leaving her unscathed.

The half orc takes a careful step back, his shield still raised. There's now about ten feet between himself and Barbara, and five feet between himself and Richard. He holds his position, daring Richard to come after him, but he's opening suffering and stuck on the defensive. His compatriot remains asleep, and the man with the short sword that Kate had shot earlier continues to run west along the docks, putting more distance between himself and the fight.

Spoiler: OOC: Barbara

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The halfling with the two daggers moves another fifteen fit east away from you; he's now about 30 feet away. If any other party members have noticed him, they haven't reacted. He's still relatively close to the building Kate and the Masque are hanging out on.

[gawwy]

Barbara takes stock of the situation.

Richard is unharmed and in a one on one with a rather bleedy looking orc. He should probably be able to deal with it.
Kate is similarly unharmed and in a shoot out with a pin cushioned looking elf.
Masque was also raining down on the elf.

There were two assailants running from the scene, one injured, one probably thinking he hadn't been detected.

The group only really needed one alive to question and the guy using the docks as a pillow solved that issue.

Barbara considered following the halfling, he might lead her back to wherever these guys meet up.

Too dangerous to go alone though, and the fight here wasn't won yet...

Barbra took another step back as she contemplated the situation, muttering to herself, she found herself fidgeting with a pair of dice as she snapped out of her reverie.

Spoiler: actual actions

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Stepping around to place Richard between Barbara and the half-orc. Move action.
Casting improvisation and a charge from the arcanist gloves at CL 6. giving 12 luck points to be spent in lots of up to 3. As a standard action.

[MCollarsen]

Look mate, you keeping fighting back you're likely to get your brains bashed out. Just sayin, drop your weapons & get on your knees and we'll let you live. As he advanced a few steps Richard swung the mace again, this time tilting the flanged edge away from the orc's body, aiming to bring the cretin down alive but unconscious.

Spoiler: Actions

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Free 5' step
Attack (1d20+5)[10] Taking -4 for non lethal dmg
Confirm: (1d20+5)[21] if needed, again taking -4
Damage: [/roll]1d6+1[/roll] dmg

[Molan]

Richard's mace clangs off of the half-orc's shield. From atop the roof, the Crimson Masque fires a third burst of Eldritch Power, this time stretching to the outer limits of the blast's range. It strikes the fleeing man with the short sword and leaves a scorching mark in his back. The fleeing man is -- miraculously -- still not dead, but he's very nearly mortally wounded.

[Vrock Bait]

Katherine pays little heed to the arrows each whizzing about a foot around her, though she keeps to herself the image of her old instructor yelling at fresh cadets. She notches in a new arrow and prepares to finish the enemy once and for all, but keeps an eye out for the injured swordsman.

Spoiler: OoC

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I use a move action to try to check where the swordsman went and determine if he’s going to be an issue. Even though he’s a relatively weak at the moment, it’s still better to roughly know where they are for Blood Seeking next turn.

Spot: (1d20+10)[25]

Anyway, attack:

Attack: (1d20+9)[12]
Damage: (1d8+4)[7]

[Molan]

Kate fires her heavy composite bow again but misses, her shot whizzing past the half elf's head.

The half elf fires back: twice. But whatever brutal marksmanship he first displayed when he nearly took the Masque's life seems gone now; Kate's two arrows are still sticking out of him and his hands shake as he fires. Both of his shots go wide, embedding themselves in the roofing along Kate's flank.

Down below, the half orc swings hard with his club before a follow up jab with his bladed small shield. He's still blinking from the flare spell, and between his injury and his effort to keep his defenses up, his form has suffered badly. Both swings *whoosh* by Richard, he's able to dodge them mostly by footwork alone.

Spoiler: OOC: Kate

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Looking ahead of you, you can see the first thug you'd shot limping away. He's more than 60 feet away now but he's cut left, lurching towards a pile of boxes and wagon wheels on the far docks. He's not *dying*, but he's near death and is looking for any way to survive.

He's still only around 60 feet away but the effective distance might now be closer to 70 ft. as he's cut towards the pile of supplies. He's not quite behind cover yet.

Spoiler: OOC: Barbara

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The halfling has skulked away from you and cut left (your right) behind the building that Kate and Masque are standing on. He's now out of your LOS.

[gawwy]

Barbara came to a decision. Richard was in little danger, the orc had yet to hit him. Kate and Masque on the roof were in more dire need of aid. She knocked an arrow and let loose.

Spoiler: ooc

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(1d20+9)[14] to hit (1d6)[5]damage.
Burning a charge of improvisation to add to the attack roll for a total of +9
waiting for the result to post move action in next post

[gawwy]

Barbara attempts to duck around the orc making her way to the stacked barrels (and climbing up a few if possible) aiming to gain higher ground.

[Molan]

Barbara took advantage of Richard's position, and climbed up onto the stacked boxes near the warehouse, and fired at the half elf, but even with her magical enhancements, the shot went wide. Richard landed another firm strike against the Half-Orc, and the brute howled in pain; he's still alive, but he's clearly fading fast.

Atop the warehouse, the Crimson Masque has had just about enough. Glaring furiously at the half elf, he builds up a new charge of eldritch energy and hurls it at the archer. The blast strikes the half elf in the head; blowing it into a million pieces.

The half elf's decapitated corpse drops backwards from it's perch, the hole where it's neck once stood still smoking from the blast, and it collapses onto the cobblestones somewhere in the shadows below.

With two of the group's attackers fleeing, and the human still fast asleep, the badly-injured half orc is now the only threat remaining nearby.

[Vrock Bait]

“Get the half-orc!” Kate yells to the others. She aims her bow at the two fleeing combatants, knowing that they still had the sleeping human to interrogate.

Spoiler: OoC

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Rapid Shot.

Attack:
(1d20+7)[27]
(1d20+7)[24]

Damage:
(1d8+4)[8]
(1d8+4)[9]

[Molan]

Kate shouts orders to her compatriots and fires an arrow over the melee, to the far dock where the thug with the shortsword had been limping. The arrow's shaft cuts deep into his torso, stopping his heart. The thug drops like a rock to onto the dock and a puddle of blood begins to spread around him.

In one fluid motion, even as her first shot is still whizzing through the air, Kate effortlessly draws and knocks an second arrow, twirling around on one heel to face the fleeing rogue behind her, letting her second shot fly. This arrow proves itself even truer than the first; it flies straight from the rooftop into the fleeing halfling below, burrowing itself in his left ear canal and bursting violently from his right. The halfling drops like a sack of bricks, dead before his body even hits the cobblestones.

Bleeding from multiple wounds, stunned, semi-blind and hopelessly outnumbered, the half-orc finally panics and runs, trying to put some distance between himself and the party.

Spoiler: OOC: Kate

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Damn, way to flex on everyone! lol.

Since it wasn't *super* clear, I made some executive decisions regarding your shot placement and I rolled to confirm your crit and your extra damage.

One shot to the shortsword, killing him, then a critical hit on the halfling, triple damage for a composite longbow, 28 damage total. He dead as hell.

Spoiler: OOC: Richard

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Make an attack of opportunity against the half orc.

[MCollarsen]

Time to sleep buddy. Richard swung his mace as the Half-orc presented him the opportunity.

Spoiler: Actions

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attack: (1d20+5)[13]
confirm: (1d20+5)[20]
damage: (1d6+1)[5]

[Molan]

Richard's mace smacks the Half orc in the back as he flees. He stumbles away, bleeding across the wood planks and the cobblestones, but still he doesn't fall.

[gawwy]

Barbara Knocks a final arrow and attempts to bring the running half-orc down before leaping back off the boxes and running to the bleeding out half-elf.

Spoiler: rolls

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to hit 6 + improvisation 3 = 9
To hit (1d20+9)[13]
damage (1d6)[6]

[Molan]

Barbara shoots at the limping half orc but misses again. She curses under her breath and jumps off of the boxes, running west towards the thug with the short sword. He was bleeding all over the docks, but there was a chance she could save him.

Richard springs into action and quickly catches up with the limping half orc. He cracks him over the top of the head, knocking him unconscious. With the halfling and half elf dead, and the man with the punching daggers asleep, the danger seems to have passed, for now.

Jason walks off of the roof...slowly. He walks vertically down the side of the building and back onto the docks where "punching daggers" is snoring loudly, holding his side to staunch the flow of blood all the while. He looks down at the sleeping thug and sighs.

"Why do I have a feeling...you aren't worth the trouble?"

To the west, Barbara reaches the shortsword thug and begins wrapping his worst injuries with a blessed bandage. The line of glowing thread running along the edge of the bandages thrums as they come in contact with blood, and within a few moments his breathing stabilizes, and the blood stops pouring out of his woulds. He's ripped to pieces and still has two arrows sticking out of his body, but he's alive.

She takes a moment to look back over her shoulder, and sees Kate standing alone on top of the warehouse, her cloak behind her, the long boughs of her heavy composite bow flared out at her side, looking down on her bloody handiwork.

These are some fine friends she's collected for herself. There's no way to know if she can trust them, but at least they're useful.

[gawwy]

Barbara pulls out her manacles and locks up each of the still-living thugs.

Well.. ****. Didn't expects as many to jump us at once... Let's get the against that wall and ask them who their boss is.

Once the unconscious yet living thugs are manacled and arranged in a line against a wall Barbara casts Improvisation again then kicks the human awake. As he's the least likely to strait up die from getting slapped.

Morning friendly stranger, your friends seem to be in a much deeper sleep than you. The ones that'll wake up and get to go home anyway. Now were reasonable people, you work for someone, you can't really be held responsible for trynna rob us right? Its your employer that we should really be filing our grievances with, right? So help us out. Who told you to rough up people on the docs.

Spoiler

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lets try diplomacy first [roll]1d20+15[/roll]

[Molan]

The human thug snaps awake, looking equal parts groggy and shocked. The last time he'd been awake, he was getting ready to attack the party; now he's manacled, helpless, and his friends have been more or less wiped out.

"W...what...what the hell did you do to me you fuggin' skag!?" he curses.

Barbara doesn't relent, and prods him further.

"You idiots really have no idea what you've stepped into, do you? This whole coast is Raam's territory. You think old Fox is gonna save you once the Captain comes to pay you back for this? You're all a bunch of corpses, you just don't know it yet."

Barbara leans down, looking into the man's eyes sympathetically.

"If we're corpses already then what's the hurt of talking to us, hmm?"

The thug sighs, exasperated.

"You really don't get it. The Guild owns this part of town. I can't help you. Even if you four somehow stood a chance against Raam and the rest of his crew," he takes a moment to look the party over, shaking his head, "And believe me, you don't, the other bosses aren't gonna take kindly to you comin' down here and messing with our business."

It was an odd sentence. You were here under contract with the Merchant's Guild...why would the guild care that they were down here? The thug had to be talking about some other organization entirely.

"Just tell me who Raam is," Barbara presses. "Why's he have you jumping people on the docks?"

The thug looks around nervously, but with the half orc and the other human unconscious, he's all by himself in front of the party. His breathing quickens.

"Look, I didn't say this to you, okay? Just leave me out of it when Raam's pulling your fingernails off one at a time. Me and Dench," he briefly nods his head towards the unconscious half orc, "we're just here to jump anybody that gets close to Pier 45. Raam doesn't want anybody nearby till him and Gex 'n the boys are already off of the Chraal. We're not even the ones you've gotta worry about; Aust and his boys are the ones actually guarding the pier."

"Uh huh, sure. But who are Raam and Aust?" said Barbara.

"Man, you're really not from around here, are ya toots?" he says, sounding bewildered. "Raam's the Captain, ya got it? Our crew runs the whole south stretch of Fort Clinton. And if you don't know who Aust is then he clearly hasn't lit any of your loved ones on fire. Consider yourselves lucky."

Spoiler: OOC: Party

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Roll search checks in the surrounding area / crates. Anyone who wants to interrogate prisoners can do so.

Spoiler: OOC: Barbara

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Roll for Investigate and Knowledge.

[Vrock Bait]

Katherine takes a look around the area, assuming her talents won’t be of much use with interrogation.

Spoiler: OoC

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Search: (1d20+2)[6]

Might as well Spot and Listen too if that could help:

(1d20+10)[23]
(1d20+3)[22]

[MCollarsen]

Smiling Richard squatted in front of the manacled man, looking at him through the visor of his helmet.

In a friendly manner he asked, How many "boys" does Aust have guarding the pier? Where are they located?

You may as well fess up anything you know, I admit I'm not well up on knowing folks around these parts, but its time to fix that. I've always found having someone help you break into a new area helps.

By the way what's your name? I've got his, Dench right? Richard pointed to the half-orc. Tell him not bad by the way, he gave me a good warm up, got my blood pumping.

Before he can speak Richard continues, by the way, Fox may be benefiting from our involvement, but he certainly doesn't shelter us. Honestly I don't think he even LIKES us.

Anywhos.... how bout answering? I'm warmed up, & ready to crash a party, so why don't you help me break into the private event on Pier 45.

Spoiler: OOC: Rolls

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Search Check: : (1d20+5)[16]

Diplomacy (if needed) hopefully I can ride the Coattails of Gawwy's
(1d20+7)[25]

Raam
K. Local: (1d20+7)[18]
K. Nobility: (1d20+7)[16]

Aust
K. Local: (1d20+7)[20]
K. Nobility: (1d20+7)[12]

Gex
K. Local: (1d20+7)[22]
K. Nobility: (1d20+7)[8]

Pier 45
K. Local: (1d20+7)[23]
K. Geo: (1d20+7)[16]

Chraal - Ship?
K. Arch & Eng (seems applicable if its a ship): (1d20+7)[10]
K. Local: (1d20+7)[10]
K. Nobility: (1d20+7)[13]

[Molan]

The thug is receptive to Barbara and Richard's interrogation, but he's beginning to look increasingly nervous.

"My name's Renk. You can tell the Justicars that when they show up tomorrow, but they already know me." Renk seems proud of this fact. "But listen, I can't talk to you anymore, alright? You all wanna go get yourself killed out on 45 be my guests, but leave me out of it."

Richard and Barbara stand over him for a few moments longer, staring back quietly.

"Aust is pretty much always running with Eberk, Dimble and Gohl. Alright? If you don't know who they are then fug off back to whatever tavern Fox picked you up in and check the bounty board. That good enough for ya? There's no way they won't see you comin'. Even if you did somehow get past em, Raam'l just split you in half. If I were you I'd piss out of Gotham while you still got the chance."

Spoiler: OOC: Katherine

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Search: Nothing.
Spot: Renk and the unconscious thugs are all carrying coin purses, small belt pouches, and Dench is even carrying a small napsack.
Listen: The docks are deathly quiety, but somewhere off to the west, you swear you could have heard someone yell or curse...but it could have been nothing.

Spoiler: OOC: Richard

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Search:One crate nearby is packed with hay, a couple tanglefoot bags, a potion of magic fang, and two potions of cure light wounds. A second crate has three flasks of alchemist's fire.

Raam
Know Local: You've heard this name; he's a local criminal gang leader, and his name instills an enormous amount of fear.
Know Nobility: Raam is not a noble. Criminality is not a barrier to nobility in Gotham, but Raam is a member of the underclass.

Aust
Know Local: Aust is also a well known terror in this side of town. You happen to know for a fact that Aust is a notorious enforcer for the Thieves Guild, and is wanted for murder.
Know Nobility: Nothing.

Gex
Know Local: Gex is also rumored to be a Thives Guild enforcer. His widely rumored to be psychic; he's also Raam's right hand man.
Know Nobility: Nothing.

Pier 45
Know Local: One of the bigger and more active shipping piers for the Merchants Guild docklands. Since it's wholly owned by the Merchants Guild, and their guards are refusing to work at night, you won't likely find any other trade company sellswords guarding the pier.
Know Geo: Pier 45 is less than a half mile west of your location.

Chraal
Know Local: Nothing.
Know Nobility: Gothamite Nobles tend to name their ships after monsters; a "Chraal" is a kind of monster you've heard tavern stories about.
Know Arch & Eng: Unless it was a more notable vessel, then the Chraal is more than likely a simple, two-deck trading ship, with a single mast, and shallow enough to dock nearer to the shore.

[MCollarsen]

Well alright folks. Lets leave Dench and Renk here tied up, and we'll drop them off later on. Lets get down to the pier and keep working.

Before leaving (Grayson proceeded to rummage through the various crates looking for anything of use.

Grayson proceeded to head towards Pier 45, taking his time to survey the area in front of him. He was looking out for the member listed. the members of Aust's crew.

He looked for cranes and buildings hoping to approach from a distance and from above.

Spoiler: OOC

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Rolls
Spot
(1d20+6)[19]
Jump
(1d20+11)[19]
Climb
(1d20+5)[9]

Will take some items from the crates (if we are allowed to do this???)

[Molan]

Richard retrieves some of the useful supplies from the crates around the dock and then moves away from the rest of the team.

Up ahead are several large wooden shipping cranes, and Richard is able to scale one and jump up to a higher lever, getting a pretty good look from up high at the docks below and the area around the bend of the river.

Spoiler: OOC: Richard

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Spot: This worked out pretty well. The river bends back north from where you all are before cutting back again, and in the short intake you can see Pier 45 jutting out far into the water. You can see two key items of interest; the Chraal, parked near the end of the pier. There's movement on the dock and on the top deck of the ship.

Second, near the area where the pier meets the shore, there's a large warehouse with a wide overhanging awning; you have to pass under the awning to access the pier by foot. Though you're high up and the awning obscures much of your view, and although stacks of barrels and crates obscure much of that area, something catches your eye. You see what looks like a tiny, almost indiscernible burst of orange light, gone as quick as it appeared. In it's place, a tiny glowing red spot -- perhaps the ember of a lit cigar. A distant puff of smoke curls into the air.

Someone is waiting at the entrance to the pier.

[gawwy]

Spoiler: OOC

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rolling investigate(search)(1d20+14)[26]
Bardic knowledge (1d20+13)[23]
Know local (1d20+14)[29]

Barbara watches Richard climb up on the roofs, not wanting to risk the fall she takes the docks. She trails a slight distance after him making sure to not lose sight of him. She checks around each corner carefully not wanting to be caught out alone.

See sees Richard settle down on a roof, and checking the corner sees that he has a pretty good view of pier 45, she peers into the dark herself but assumes Richard can see more than her.

How do you want to approach? point up for the roof, forward for on foot or down for swimming she whispers, her voice is carried on the wind to Richards's ears.

Spoiler: ooc

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casting message to communicate.
being sneaky hide (1d20+9)[13]
being aware listen (1d20+13)[30]
looking at the pier spot (1d20+6)[12]

[Molan]

Barbara was pretty pleased, all things considered. The interrogation had gone fairly smoothly, and the thug had spilled the beans faster than she'd expected. He might have been convinced that Barbara and her newfound allies were simply "out of towners" who were out of their depths, but he'd revealed far more than he'd intended.

Before moving on, Barbara searched the thugs' persons and the surrounding area, hunting for evidence and clues that would further their investigation; these efforts also yielded fruit. Eventually she finished up, and gestured to Katherine and The Masque, as if to say, "Let's get going."

Up ahead, Richard had found a perch balanced on one of the high wooden loading cranes along the docks. It looked like a tough spot; the quiet gray elf's dexterity was incredible.

She quickly tossed together a message spell to communicate with him, and advanced forward, doing her best to move quietly along the docks, staying inside the shadows of the various stacks of supplies. Up ahead, she could see that the docks cut around a corner, obscuring her view, before cutting back again further away. As she pushed up she could see a bit more of what Richard was seeing.

Around the bend was Pier 45. Part of it was obscured, but she could see a larger-to-medium sized merchant vessel tied up at the end of it. She couldn't see much else going on at the ship, but based on what she'd learned, it was most likely the Chraal. At the entrance to the pier was a large warehouse, and the front side of the warehouse was covered by a large wooden awning. The awning was supported by two large wooden beams at the front end, and connected to the warehouse itself on the back. At least two large stacks of crates and barrels obscured the area under the awning from her view. There were at least three or four different approaches to get under the awning, and a couple of other paths to get from the over-crowded, maze-like docks onto the pier itself, but she had no way of knowing for sure what, or who, might be waiting for them behind those crates.

Spoiler: OOC: Party

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A reminder that Jason is pretty badly hurt. Someone may want to try to help him out if you're headed into more trouble. (I assume for now I'll keep auto-piloting him until Jester returns or you guys decide to drop the character. Up to you.)

The awning is close enough to the entrance to the pier that you'll pretty much have to pass under it to get onto the pier proper. There are only two routes towards the Chraal; walking down the pier, or swimming through the frigid waters of the Gotham River from where you are to the ship itself.

We can also assume, given Jester's absence and Vrock's intention to let the skill monkeys do their thing, that Kate and Jason are just following behind Barbara, unless those players have any other ideas.

Spoiler: OOC: Barbara

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Investigate: Upon searching the thugs and the area, you come up with several pieces of important evidence. First, and most crucially, each thug carries one object on them that, to the untrained eye, would be inconsequential; a single, broken bronze key. Each one of the keys is slightly different, but they've all been smashed with a hammer. Second, the thug who'd spilled his guts to you has a small scrap of paper in his pockets with a letter scrawled on it.

You also find a flask of acid, a potion of minor healing, a tanglefoot bag, two thieves tools kits, and some rope on the miscreants.

You notice the half orc has some markings on his neck. Upon closer inspection you can see it's a series of four separate identical tattoos -- all of them keys.

The letter reads as follows:
"Pier 44, 10pm, same as last time.

Don't bother looking for old man Hedron; he went looking for the Freak near Fox's vaults, we ain't heard from him since. You're on your own tonight.

Tell Jibs to stop panicking; the Black Knight's not fuggin' around with the docks anymore. He's got bigger problems.

-- G"

Knowledge Local and Bardic Knowledge: The thug on the dock really sold the farm. His reference to the "Guild" was a bit of a give-away, but the bent keys on their bodies and the markings on Dench's neck verify your suspicion: these thugs work for the Thieves' Guild. This explains why they're in the business of disrupting Fox's Merchants Guild.

The official/unofficial symbol of the Thieves Guild is a key with a skull on it. Guild members are given a broken key once they've finished their first job and become inducted as members. Carrying a key bent in this manner is usually unwise; if someone from the Guild finds out you're impersonating a member, reprisals are typically harsh. Dench's neck tattoos would have, at the very least, given away that he was a former member if you weren't sure he was a current one. Key tattoos are meant to signify when a member has killed a law enforcer or a noble. Given the fight Dench gave you guys, you're not incredibly surprised. The bounty on this half orc must be considerable.

"Renk" described his boss Raam as a "Captain". That also makes sense. You know already that the Thieves Guild has a huge presence in the Fort Clinton Slums, which is where the Merchants' Docks are located. The Guild operates in a tiered fashion; the Guild spans the entirety of the Empire, but each region is home to a separate chapter, and each Guild Chapter is essentially independent of the others. You already know that the Boss of the Gotham Chapter is named Santo Hesk, and his Underboss is a ruthless enforcer named Kysel Velnire. The highest ranking Guild officers under those two are the Captains, and each Captain runs a "Crew" of between 5 to as many as 40 Guild Members. Since you'd never heard of Raam till tonight, he must be the Captain of the crew running the southern part of Fort Clinton. Renk and the other thugs you dropped are his men.

You've never heard of Renk, or Dench. But you have heard of the other men he'd mentioned, specifically Aust and Gex. Both are ruthless thugs in their own right; Aust is supposedly a rogue mage and operates arcane magic illegally outside of the Wizards' College purview. That makes him extraordinarily dangerous. Gex is a bit more of a mystery; you've heard he's psychic but the stories are foggy on the details. One rumor included that he never carries a weapon, which would be odd for a member of the Thieves Guild. Another rumor claims he cut a Justicar Lawman (meaning an armored Knight) in half. Both stories couldn't be true, or at least you don't think they could.

The Chraal, best you know, is just one of literally hundreds of ships that come in and out of Gotham's ports every day, it's not especially notable, outside of the fact that Raam's crew clearly thinks there's something of value on board. You know two things about the ship specifically; that it's captain has a bit of a drinking problem, and that the ship is owned by House Crane. It would seem even if most of the nobles have taken to cannibalizing the Merchants' Guild holdings, the Farm Lords have at least seen fit to keep doing business with them.

This information is all still slightly confusing. The rumors you'd heard going into this job indicated that Baron Zucco of the Dark Market was the man most likely responsible for the raids on Fox's facilities, but these men don't work for Zucco -- they're his competition. Stranger still, none of the thieves mentioned the Guard who Fox had mentioned had gone missing. In the short term, you realize that these questions probably don't matter. If you and the other sellswords you're working with can stop the raid, you'll have done your job, regardless of who gave the Guilders their orders. If Raam himself is participating in the raid, then most of your questions will be answered before the sun rises, one way or another.

Still, you're left with some doubts in the back of your mind. Who was the shadowy figure watching Master Fox when you spoke to him at the Guild Hall? Who -- or what -- was the "Freak" Renk's letter had mentioned? The letter also mentioned the Black Knight, but whoever'd written it seemed extremely confident the "Black Knight" -- Gotham's nameless vigilante avenger -- wouldn't show. How could he know that?

Spot/Listen: You can't see much beyond the boxes, but you do notice the slightest, faintest wisp of smoke rise from underneath the awning. However, you are successful in detecting voices coming from that area; their voices are carrying over the water, and despite being more than a hundred feet away, you can make out good chunks of their conversation.

(Rasping Voice) "Would you......ut the fug up? I can't concentr........yapping like that. Go walk the d.......run your damn mouths."
(Pitched Voice) "........in a wad Aust..........at's so important anyway? No one cares.......inish.......ooodoo."
(Low, accented Voice. Sounds dwarven.) "aam told us t'stay......uard the pier. Write yer..........erish on yer own time."
(Rasping) "..........t least get that........og out of here. That thing smells like garba...."
(Low Dwarf) "....ya daft idiot. Pago 'ere's more useful than...........I tracked down more bounty's with 'im in the last year than you've ever........in yer whole life."
(Rasping) "Just keep the.........away from me."
(Lowborn Accented Voice) "Eberk ya got any........to spare?"
(Low Dwarf) ".....ug off."
(Lowborn) "I've.....cured meats for Pago I can trade ya."
(Dwarf) "Fork it over."
(Finally, you hear what sounds like growling or yipping, and the dwarf and rasping voice each saying something indiscernible.)

[gawwy]

So I can hear four distinct voices up ahead, and one of them said something about a dog, I think. We can probably take them if we get the drop on them and hit them hard, but if Gex or Aust show up and there's still back up for them we might be in trouble. I'm assuming there's more inside, possibly Raam. Either way, this could quickly become a slog of a fight and I found a restorative on our new friends if there are any takers?

If we had time to set up a disguise I would suggest someone pretending to be the Dark Knight to spook these mooks, alas this window probably won't last.

The docks are pretty rotten though so maybe we could smash it and drop these guys in the water? I saw a barrel of Malodone that we could roll into the water, or just drop on the docks, to create ourselves some cover as well if someone wants to double back and grab it.

Actually yea lets do that, someone sneak up onto that awning to attack them from behind, we'll blanket the area in fog and try and split them up take them out one at a time, we might be able to see them through the mist from above which would give us a decent edge here. If one of the bosses show up well drop them through the dock

Any thoughts?

[Molan]

The Crimson Masque throws back one of the healing potions you'd found earlier and breaks the silence as the wounds in his torso begin to close.

"Alright then, enough faffing about. Katherine, you go grab the barrel. Barbara, can you message Richard and have him move to that crane over there?"

He points to a wooden crane looming just over the awning covering the warehouse near Pier 45. "Have him hold position until we attack. The three of us can move to the east side of that awning and if we're lucky, we can ambush them."

He thinks for a minute, then trains his ghoulish fey mask on Barbara.

"Did you say something about a dog?"

[MCollarsen]

After hearing Barbara's message Richard maneuvered towards the crane and began climbing.

He worked himself out towards the edge of the crane.

He waited for his allies to commence

Spoiler: Rolls

Show

Climb check : (1d20+7)[20]
Balance : (1d20+5)[20]

[gawwy]

Yea I heard them arguing over some meats for "Pago" and then some doggish noises. Could be something else I suppose.

Barbara cups her hand and whispers up to Richard Masque asks if you can move to the crane above the awning, we're going to try and ambush from the east. Wait for us to start the party.

Spoiler: rolls

Show

hide= (1d20+9)[11]
Move silently= (1d20+9)[28]

[MCollarsen]

Richard stepped gently across towards the spot Barbara had indicated and waited for them to begin the second round of skull bashing.

Spoiler: Rolls if required

Show

Climb, Jump & Balance (respectively) if needed
(1d20+2)[13]
(1d20+11)[19]
(1d20+6)[23]

[Molan]

Richard clambers over to the crane above the awning, where he can get a better view of the scene below; a gang of four thugs are hanging out below the awning guarding the pier.

Jason, Barbara and Kate sneak along the dock until they reach the stacks of crates separating the area under the awning from the rest of the docks, close enough to be able to clearly hear the thugs' conversation coming from the other side. They can reach the thugs under the awning by either heading right around the crates, left, or by climbing over them. They were quiet and stealthy enough to reach the spot without being seen or heard.

But when they reached the far side of the crates, one of the first things they hear is a sudden growling noise. The rumbling noise quickly escalates to a bark, and you can feel the mood suddenly change.

You hear a voice with a dwarven accent suddenly speak up.

"What is it little nhada?" You hear him ask.