The Thrice-Blessed IC

[Ridai]

Nisha is quiet for a moment. Before cracking up in roaring laughter, falling back into her armchair during the whole thing. Sirac is confused, Sìle appears at ease, Drufi grits her teeth at the perceived affront. Just when the latter is about to snap at the tiefling, Nisha manages to compose herself again, grinning from ear to ear.

"Alright, I'm in. That's right up my alley." Drufi, consequently, looks just as confused as Sirac. "Since you've been refreshingly frank with your side of things, let me be with mine: normally, no offense, there would be no way you could pay what I'm worth. I sail where I please for my amusement, and my crew's with me because they know I where to find the thrills, sights, and booty they want. Fortunately for you, you looked like a good time, and indeed you turned out to be! I have, let's say, my differences with the Zhentarim, and nowadays they seem rather invested in working with the frost giants. Plus, the frost giants, while usually a sour bunch of pricks out on their raids, have been making an especial nuisance out of themselves recently, and I guess this Storvald is the one to blame. Sunk a friend's ship two weeks ago, too. So getting to screw them over so much that all their little plans crumble to dust before their eyes is just fine with me." In a remarkable bit of restraint, Drufi lets the insult to frost giants slide, on account of said insult befitting most men of her clan. She does seem to perk up a bit about the whole Zhentarim helping Storvald thing.

Nisha pours herself a bit of drink before continuing. "So here's the deal: I'll not just take our sweetheart here a few hundred miles south for as long as we are headed in that direction and then send him his merry way once I feel like going somewhere else, I'm making this my next trip, starting tomorrow. Giving those giants a nice and confusing path to follow, with perhaps one or thirteen unfortunate reefs in their way. Our sweetheart will be watched over by me and have a long, pleasant trip with accomodations in this very cabin." She looks over to Sirac, the poor guy once again unable to keep himself from blushing. "500 gold. Standard rate, if there's anything like that, for a run-of-the-mill crew getting Sirac down to the Sea of Swords, with some risk of them just throwing him overboard once out of sight of the port, is about 150 gold. Here, you are getting a dedicated trip for this very purpose. A steal, and one I trust you will keep to yourselves, lest I get swamped with even more attention than I already do. And should you manage to topple this Storvald of yours and bathe in glory, riches, and suitors, send me a message to deliver our sweetheart home and for me to receive my modest cut. Call it an investment. What my cut looks like, we can discuss then. Nothing that'll break the bank, I'm not that greedy."

With a sudden motion, Nisha slides across her desk, and in the same maneuver gracefully ends up leaning against the edge of the desk facing Shiver. "And if you are free for an amazing evening and night of drinks and mutual pleasure, I'll even lower the price of admission. One, two, or all three of you, it's all good to me. Our sweetheart doesn't count. I'll have him all for myself in the coming weeks anyway." Sirac manages to blush even harder at this. Drufi snarls "Don't push your luck." Sìle simply looks to Shiver as if this was a relatively normal request for her. Would you like me to provide?

Whether or not any of them agree to the last bit, Nisha extends a frilly gloved hand to Shiver. "Do we have a deal?" She smiles.

[MikelaC1]

I cant ask you to do something like that

Your offer is intriguing but I have so many other things to take care of in town, including finding out if anyone has seen a person who assaulted me some months ago. She pulls out 500 coins. Payment, as agreed If it were anyone else, Shiver might be inclined to add a warming about harm coming to him but the pirate knows that there could be a much bigger payoff if Shiver topples Storvald.

[Ridai]

"Ah well," Nisha says with an easy shrug, taking the gold. "Swing by tomorrow, crack of dawn, and I'll take our sweetheart on our merry adventure. Enjoy your night out on the town!"

After they have left the ship, Drufi mentions "I think the small folk mages that helped Storvald called themselves Zhentarim. Who are they?"

Sìle quickly catches Drufi up on them being a widespread mercenary group putting up a friendly face, but having usually sinister intentions. Drufi isn't particularly enthused by that description. "No idea why they are helping Storvald. Didn't hear anything about their dealings."

Sìle looks to Shiver. "What are your plans for the rest of the day?"

[MikelaC1]

The reason they are helping Storvald is the same reason he is helping them....they both wait for an exposed blindside and then stab them in the back. Neither can be trusted, except to know they will eventually betray you.
As for here, lets poke around and see if we can find any further clues about what happened to me. My rep isnt as high in this port of villainy so someone might be more inclined to boast.

[Ridai]

The group heads into the hive of scum and villainy, looking for someone foolish enough to cross Shiver, getting away with it, and then being foolish enough to brag about it. It is quite the journey through busy streets, narrow alleys, and all sorts of seedy territory. Shiver is recognized several times, learning she singlehandedly drank several pirate crews under the table and out of their riches in one night, having become the stuff of local legends, the Snow White Drinking Demon. This also leads her on a trail of bar fights that seemed to overlap with one another, one transitioning into the other, interspersed with more drink, or sometimes drinking and brawling at the same time.

Signs of repairs having been made can occasionally be found, some people see Shiver and quickly walk the other way, some cheer to her, and a few crews seek vengeance, but their efforts are futile between Shiver effortlessly staring the rabble down, or Drufi just driving someone face first into the muddy ground and the rest subsequently remembering they have other places to be. It does seem familiar, but now seen with sober eyes, it is quite the outrageous series of events that did take place, punctuated by the sight of a table having been impaled on the now crooked pointy tip of a small tower, presumably having been thrown up there. Presumably by Shiver. Sìle looks quite impressed and amused by what they uncover, encouraging to follow this escalating thread further because she wants to see what happened next. Drufi makes a face like "this seems kind of irrelevant, but must have been a good night". Sirac appears to have given up and just accepts whatever is coming their way.

The good news is that by following an ever more confusing and obscured thread of sightings and recollections, she does discover someone bragging about having gotten the better of Shiver!
The bad news is that it does not appear to involve anything like level drains.
The... other good news (?) is that she finds herself on the second floor of a three floor smoky establishment filled with booze, drugs, and rowdy people, the haunt of a particularly rambunctious gang calling themselves the Night Fists, with their leader a flamboyant yuan-ti pureblood with the most rings and necklaces and armlets and other jewelry Shiver has ever seen on the same person, making her look like a garishly sparkling figure.

And Shiver and her companions enter, standing near the railing of the central hollow of this place, allowing her to look down onto the first floor and its many tables and chairs and clientel, and up to the third floor and the kind of grimy but also colorfully illuminated skylights. Makeshift ladders and ropes connect the various floors and also leading from one side of the same floor to the other, the stairs at the edges of the three floors evidently not enough for some and their thirst for needlessly dangerous maneuvers.

Up on the third floor, the aggressively sparkling leader recounts of the end of the Snow White Drinking Demon's tour through Luskan. Shiver hears how she was challenged to "ze drinking duel", where the yuan-ti feigned overconfidence and got Shiver to bet her circlet to spice things up. Two rounds later, the yuan-ti "lozt toh ze Demon'z might", making a big pathetic show out of it, Shiver taking her winnings and leaving for Port Llast. A pause. "But ze rube didn't zee ze magic zirclet she took vas just a fake! Juzt like ze 'gold' coins! Thankz for ze kind donation, Pale Boozing Damsel!" And roaring laughter erupts in the tavern. Shiver looks up to the yuan-ti, and sees the circlet she is wearing. The magic circlet. The very valuable magic circlet. Sìle looks up to Shiver's adornment, going "Well. Yours isn't magic. That one up there is."

In that moment, the yuan-ti looks down to the second floor. And spots a very familiar woman. With a similar snow-haired woman casting a mighty dark stare up at her, the sound of her cracking knuckles quite deep indeed. And a smaller human woman giving her a smile like "this is the moment where you should quickly drop on your hands and knees and make amends". An awkward silence falls over the place.

[MikelaC1]

How the hell do we get up there before she has the chance to run like a rabbit? Drufi and I would have no issue climbing but she would be in the next county by the time we get up

[Ridai]

"Well the exit is on the ground floor, unless she dives through a window. But with how blinged out she is, I doubt she will take a tumble through glass and out into the cluttered alley, or swing her butt down a rope, so you have a staircase as funnel point. And you could negotiate, or intimidate, or challenge her, or insults her to rouse her ego, or throw something at her, or just charge up there, or block the way down, or start a tavern fight, or destroy columns, or-" Sìle lists, before Drufi interjects.

"Punch or hack?" she asks, basically wanting to know whether Shiver wants to brawl this out or let the blades do the talking.

As for the Yuan-Ti, she says "Ve appear to have zurprise fizitors. Boys and girls, why don't you-" she begins. Shiver still has a moment to begin enacting whatever plan she has before the surrounding people have a chance to do whatever it is they are about to be commanded to, with some people starting to rise, some kind of just drawing away like the tavern wenches.

[MikelaC1]

Shiver suddenly swells to her frost giant size...ALL OF YOU HAVE ONE CHOICE TO STAY OUT OF THIS, ITS BETWEEN HER AND ME

Spoiler: intimidate

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(1d20+18)[19]

Unless you are too much of a coward to face me, seeing as you beat me so easily last time

Spoiler: Intimidate=Shaming

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(1d20+18)[28]

[Ridai]

The yuan-ti slams her hands on the railing, all the bling jingling and jangling and glittering. "OH YEAH?! Vy don't you come up here and zay zat to my faze?! GET ZEM!" Around Shiver and friends, chairs and benches get pushed back, even a table or two, innocent of any wrongdoing, are needlessly flipped.

And with that, the tavern brawl begins.

Behind Shiver, the big open area with its many ropes and ladders and whatnot. In front of Shiver, she sees the stairs up and down on the far wall. Between her and the stairs, as well as to the sides, a gaggle of people looking to scrap.

Spoiler: OOC

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So given Shiver is a big ol' frost giantess, even though she currently isn't giant-sized, I feel like she should be good at hitting people. For tavern brawls like this, she has a 1d6 damage die unarmed and doesn't provoke AoOs from attacking unarmed (no penalty or AoOs on using improvised weapons either). I am also not going to enforce grapple rules and all that nonsense, because they aren't fun, so if Shiver is up to various shenanigans involving grabbing, throwing, dragging people across bars and whatnot, declare what you intend to do alongside your rolls, and give me a grapple check alongside an attack check to see if she can do things beyond the initial hit. You can attempt a grapple check with every attack check.

Please do not just write your intent into the fluff like you do with when you turn on rage, that is nearly impossible for me to decipher.

Of course, if you are using weapons, the above is mostly moot.

[MikelaC1]

For now, Shiver does not draw her sword, not wanting to have to deal with whatever passes for the police, even in this town, breaking a jaw is a lot different than loping off a head. She makes a bead for the stairs that lead up, roaring a challenge for anyone still on her level to stay out of her way.

Basically, the choices for her rolls are
A) no one gets in her way and she starts ascending
B) one or two people try to get in her way and she cracks skulls
C) more than two people try to accost her and depending on how strong they look, she has to draw.

[Ridai]

Since Shiver's threat to the surrounding people was not very effective and the leader up above is present, it does not look like they have much inclination to stay out of this. But they do look like they are treating this as a bar fight instead of trying to draw steel and murder Shiver and friends. Thus about half a dozen people are directly between Shiver and the stairs, with more to the sides and slowly closing in. Some people from below seem to be moving up, either by stairs or by ropes. Drufi and Sìle are likewise ready to defend themselves. On the current level, no one looks remotely like they could go 1v1 against Shiver or Drufi.

(I'm not really running this as a normal fight, as "I punch" round after round sounds like the most boring possible way to run a bar fight. I'm more interested in Shiver's general approach to figure out what happens. Feel free to use the environment or other combatants, I'll ask for checks if they become necessary.)

[MikelaC1]

Shiver grabs the first person to get too close to her, bodily picks him up and tosses him into the nearest mass of people approaching her to totally confuse their approach

Spoiler: rolls

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(1d20+15)[29] attack
(1d20+20)[36] grapple

[Ridai]

A rough and tumble woman with wild hair and scarred, tanned skin closes in on Shiver. "C'mere, missy, I'll put yer ass on the flooOOOOOOO-" And the next moment, she finds she can actually fly! For a moment, that is, before she collides, arms waving wildly, with a mob of wide-eyed thugs, bowling them all over into a tangled pile of limbs on the floor. (a muffled "who brought a ballista to the fist fight ow" is heard from somewhere inside the pile)

Drufi and Sìle quickly adjust to Shiver's approach, the former from all her extensive, extensive experience (the amount of drunken brawls happening in the average week in frost giant settlements and their ships if they do happen to have booze is not to be underestimated, and not for the faint of heart), the latter due to her connection to Shiver. The front-most thug from the right side charges at Sìle, but is met by a very agile combatant suddenly tripping him, ending up behind him, and giving him a good shove, leading to him crashing into the people on the left side, the gaggle stumbling back into a table and flipping it, half-filled mugs and bowls sent flying. Another one tries to come after Sìle, only to be intercepted by a headbutt from Shiver, leading to a very audible crunch of a nose, the guy getting kicked to the floor, then grabbed by the miniature frost giantess by the leg and used like a flail against the right side's combatants. Some are hit, some stumble over furniture or slipped on spilled beer, and one tries to dive out of the way, only to fall over the railing to the floor below (a crash of a table is heard soon after, as well as a lot of swearing).

Sirac manages to punch a nearby thug distracted by what the three women are achieving, and while the thug doesn't go down, he is just... so confused right now. So confused.

With Shiver having paved the way (literally; the group steps over the bowled over people on the floor, to many voices of protests and groaning), they make good progress to the stairs, Drufi and Sìle guardian the rear and sides (and keeping Sirac kind of in the middle). Close to the stairs now, Shiver hears then sees more thugs run up from the ground floor, putting up fists or wielding (unbroken) bottles or whatever else kinda-sorta hard they could get their hands on (is that one woman in the back swinging a sausage?).

With people trying to close in on Shiver, she suddenly feels an impact, as a scraggly thug hits her over the head with a chair from the table nearby for 10 nonlethal damage. To his surprise, the chair just... shatters into pieces, leaving him with two broken chair legs in his hands, looking at them, then the taller Shiver who seems barely bothered by the hit, followed by questioning his life choices. The two front most thugs who came up the stairs are able to swing at Shiver, but either they are unable to get through her defense, or her sheer brawn just lets her shrug off the hit (in the latter case, someone hit her chin, followed by the thug holding the hand she hit Shiver with, wondering if her chin is made of adamantine).

Drufi and Sìle also fend off incoming attackers, taking a bruise or two in the process, but they do good work in keeping them more or less off of Shiver's back (and thrown things away from her and Sirac), people trying to not get hit by Drufi's arms of steel or her swinging a bench, while Sìle does her best to confuse any approach through misdirection and lightning-fast jabs to play the thugs against each other on accident.

From somewhere above, Shiver hears the yuan-ti laugh haughtily in between commanding her "troops".

Spoiler: OOC

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Shiver's turn. 10 nonlethal damage so far.

The main clusters of thugs are currently in front of Shiver, coming up the stairs, while so far no one seems to be coming down the stairs from the third floor. More people might try to come up via the stairs in future "rounds". Otherwise, there are the clusters to Shiver's back-left and back-right, currently dealt with by Drufi and Sìle, respectively, each having some light nonlethal damage. If Shiver doesn't command them to do something else (like help push the front or something else), they will mostly try to keep them out of Shiver's way.

Nearby furniture of note: a round table with three chairs around it (the fourth just got broken), decorative rigging hanging from the ceiling, a stuffed spearfish on the wall, a bench, and various mugs and glasses with varying contents.

The thugs are only slowly realizing just how tough Shiver and by extension her friends are, so their efforts will intensify as time goes on. Nonlethally, mind you, outside of, say, getting a bottle broken over your head might mean some minor lethal damage in addition to the main nonlethal damage, so basically incidental stuff.

[MikelaC1]

Shiver grabs the two table legs and proceeds to bash the thug in the head with both of them and when he (presumably) lets go of them, she uses them to bash people in front of her. If she gets close enough to a mug of ale, she proceeds to down the contents and then bring it down on the head of the nearest person

Spoiler: rolls

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(1d20+15)[35] attack (chair)
(1d20+20)[25] grapple (chair)
(1d20+15)[26] mug

No matter what she does, Shivers main aim is to progress towards the stairs.

[Ridai]

(Well, a crit just happened in my silly little bar fight scene. Here we go.)

The guy does not get to finish his thoughts on the choices that got him to this point as the chair legs are grabbed and thwacked into his head. As little faerie dragons circle his head, he just keels over backwards. The other poor saps nursing their knuckles they freshly bruised on Shiver's immaculate jawline seem to emit a simultaneous "oh no" when they see their opponent arming up.

And the air is filled with the sound of the Great Thwackening, and the groans of the fools driven before Shiver.

Let me frame this for a moment. Drufi is not the type to get easily surprised in a fight, and Sìle is pretty good at just going with the flow on top of being a filthy cheater by having a mental connection to Shiver. As Drufi deals with one woman in a headlock and two other thugs hanging off her other arm, Sìle is batting away limbs and bottles with quick and fluid motions, and Sirac is hitting the same guy on the jaw again (who now looks even more confused), they do a quick check on Shiver, and find her missing. Drufi and Sìle have to double-take as they (and a lot of the thugs) watch Shiver send flailing people flying or tumble to the ground with a mighty storm of akimbo swings, not so much inching towards the stairs as doing a power walk towards them. Subsequently, Drufi and Sìle glance at each other, quickly knock thug heads and hurry Sirac (and, let's be honest, themselves as well) after Shiver, walking in the trench lined by swathes of groaning ne'er-do-wells. The mass of thugs appears a tad hesitant to follow as quickly as before, though some more people are also climbing up over the railing from below.

Forcing her way onwards, Shiver is at the stairs rather alarmingly quickly, the eyes of the thugs still coming up rather wide as they get knocked into walls or over stair railing. Amidst the storm is one tattooed man with an eye patch who looks like he just wanted to enjoy his drink, leaning against the railing of the section between the stairs down and stairs up before getting caught in the chaos. Shiver standing before him, her chair leg weapons having been shattered thoroughly on the fools coming at her, he side-eyes as she grabs his ale, slams it back, and drives it down onto the skull of the last guy on the stairs down, completing the pile of bodies clogging that particular set of stairs before heading up, leaving the perplexed guy to watch Sirac, Drufi, and Sìle run past him as well.

Having advanced this fast, Shiver is facing the wave of thugs on the top floor at the top of the stairs, rather than on it, much to everyone's surprise. And some cheeky bastard, also much to everyone's surprise, throws a bucket at Shiver, hitting her in the head for 12 nonlethal damage.

"Vy iz she already up here?! You idiotz had one job!" the yuan-ti shouts in the back, on the other side of the opening in the middle, her bling rattling garishly as she slams her fist on her table.

Spoiler: OOC

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Shiver's turn. 22 nonlethal damage so far. Which is very little for how far she has come and how many people she already took out.

Well, there was a stair fight planned, but Shiver just obliterated enough people with her crit that she just blocked the stairs leading down and kind of skipped the whole thing. Due to that, Drufi and Sìle did not really have time to take out people in the crowd following them, since they were busy keeping up and getting Sirac there, but Shiver managed to block a reinforcement path, so... it's still a net positive.

Nearby furniture and items of note: more decorative rigging, but also some flags, several barrels, an anchor, and a large paddle under a sign saying it will be used to enforce the house rules.

[MikelaC1]

Shiver grabs the nearest barrel and goes bowling for thugs, rolling the barrel right towards the yuan-ti to clear herself a path

Spoiler: Rolls

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not sure whether its an attack or grapple so I will give both
(1d20+15)[19] attack
(1d20+25)[26] grapple

And then just to be dramatic, she grabs the rigging to swing over and covering the distance quicker than she expected.

Spoiler: Rolls

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not sure whether its an attack or grapple so I will give both
(1d20+15)[16] attack
(1d20+25)[38] grapple

[Ridai]

With the chaos wrought downstairs and the yuan-ti's more capable underlings on this floor, Shiver faces stiffer opposition. The barrel bowls over a few thugs, but is stopped shortly after, one or two even jumping over the thing. They are coming at Shiver harder, making progress around the hollow in the middle of the room slow and difficult. A few punches actually land, a bottle or two is broken over Shiver's head, causing a total of 19 nonlethal damage and 5 lethal damage.

However, the thugs did not expect Shiver choosing the direct path. Drufi and Sìle seem to notice what she is planning. Sìle greases the stairs as Drufi basically crashes into the sea of thugs like a battering ram, forcing herself deeper into it towards the railing around the opening in the middle. Sìle comes dashing in as well to part some of the crowd, allowing Shiver to break through. With most thugs wanting to keep her away from the sides, she finds she has space to get a running start, now or never. She leaps, grabs rigging, and swings through the air, far above the ground floor deep below. The yuan-ti's eyes grow wider at the sight, people on all three floors watching what is going on with no shortage of surprise. Shiver sees people climbing up ropes and ladders, trying to get up. Coming down, Shiver just clears the railing on the opposite side. The yuan-ti gets out of the way as Shiver lands on and smashes a table, wood and cups and coins and plates and chairs getting scattered to the floor.

The yuan-ti's entourage reacts immediately, the parts more meant for the leader's entertainment making space, but at the same time apparently looking forward to a spectacle. The combatant parts begin moving in, only for the yuan-ti to wave them off. "Vell vell vell, no pushover, are we? Time to end zis little game, perzonally." Spreading her arms, a thug takes off her lavish overcoat, revealing close-fitting leathery clothes on a sinewy body beneath. Raising her bejeweled hands, the yuan-ti puts up fists. "Better make zis quick, your friends look like zey are ztruggling." And waving her fingers for Shiver to make her move, as Drufi and Sìle fight off thugs on the other side of the chasm, back to back.

Spoiler: OOC

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Shiver's turn. She is at a total of 41 nonlethal and 5 lethal damage. Drufi and Sìle took a beating getting Shiver to the railing and are now under heavy attack.

[MikelaC1]

We can do this the hard way or the easy way. As much as it would please me to pound your face in, I have bigger issues to deal with. Just give me back my circlet and I leave peacefully, no hard feelings. Force me to fight you and you will regret the condition I leave you in.

Spoiler: Rolls

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(1d20+18)[27] its more diplomacy than intimidate but there is an implied threat there so.

[Ridai]

"Oh, coming in here and ztart trouble, and now you vant to talk? Sure, ve can talk."

A beringed fist snaps forward and clogs Shiver in the jaw for 12 nonlethal damage. Weaving back out of immediately arm's reach again, the yuan-ti grins as her entourage cheers for her and mocks Shiver, the leader spreading her arms in the usual gesture of "come at me if you're 'ard enough".

On the other side, Drufi and Sìle are leading a hard fight, taking their fair share of bruises while dishing out and crowd controlling as much as they can. The leader's display is thus underlined by Drufi picking up a brawny lady and ramming her through the crowd and the railing, causing a couple of thugs to tumble downwards, getting themselves entangled in the thicket of ropes and knocking some climbers down.

(Shiver's turn)

[MikelaC1]

The yuan-ti has miscalculated, jumping out of the reach out of a human, but Shiver is a giantess with reach as well. She slugs the yuan-ti twice to make a point, while looking around for anything that would make for a good improvised weapon

Spoiler: Rolls

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(1d20+15)[25] punch & (1d6)[2] damage
(1d20+10)[23] punch & (1d6)[4] damage

[Ridai]

(You still add your Strength bonus to your damage, so that is 22 damage)

After the cheapshot of the leader, Shiver's fists connecting wipes the smile off the yuan-ti's face as she stumbles back and into a table, causing mugs to spill and plates to clatter. No one expected this sort of force, so there is surprise in the crowd, but also sentiments to the effect of "get her!". Already, the beginnings of a black eye are forming as the yuan-ti collects herself again, grabbing a mug and drinking from it, before suddenly splashing the contents in Shiver's face, followed by throwing the mug at her head, followed by kicking Shiver in the stomach for 14 nonlethal damage before ducking and weaving back further, now knowing Shiver's reach. The crowd cheers, the yuan-ti seems more on-guard now.

On the other side of the tavern, there is a small heap of prone people, but with all the thugs around, Drufi and Sìle are still busy just keeping their small zone of control, the latter trying to misdirect attacks aimed at Drufi's back, while the giantess at one point pulls a guy of Sìle's back and throws him into the crowd. Both have next to no space left, right up against the railing, having to fend off attackers from below as well.

(Shiver's turn. If you need some ideas for environmental objects nearby, there are tables, chairs, mugs, coins, plates, knives, forks, spoons, other people, parts of the railing... a champion's belt?)

[MikelaC1]

Without warning, Shiver snatches up a table, holding by the legs and charging forward with the table top in front of her, using it as both a shield and a battering ram/bash weapon. HERE COMES THE BULLDOZER!!!

(No idea of what to roll here)

[Ridai]

We jump an undefined amount of time into the future. Once all the chaos has been cleaned up, there is a place meant only for the hardest of the hardest. To go there is to tempt fate. A place of legend, a legend spoken of in hushed voices.

The Table of the Bulldozer, with the imprint of a yuan-ti's face.

Back in the present, people get a first-hand experience with just how fast a frost giantess in human guise and a table can be. Eyes and mouths open wide everywhere, the yuan-ti thought herself ready, but she knew nothing. Nothing!

The table connects solidly with her face and she is bodily launched through the air with a nice, wonderful spin, crashing into another table, a couple of people, a chair or two, everything clattering and breaking and whatnot. As collateral damage, a few thugs are sent down into the tangle of ropes. The leader is out cold, on a bed of wreckage and underlings.

The brawl ends almost in an instant as people realize what just happened. This single moment really drives home for everyone present that they are way, way out of their league. Thugs also retreat away from Drufi and Sìle (Drufi gives good push for good measure). Shiver can take her prize, her circlet. And if she wants, the yuan-ti has some fancy magically resizing boots!

Some of the leader's entertainment don't miss a beat, Shiver finding herself flanked by buxom company. "You are sooo powerful, so much more powerful than that bitch." "How about your very own gang? And all the perks that come with it..."

Spoiler: OOC

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Man. The timeliest of crits. Bravo!

And thus, Shiver retrieves her circlet. It is a Circlet of Charima +2, combined with a Circlet of Persuasion.

And if she wants them, Shiver can also get Boots of Striding and Springing.

[MikelaC1]

Shiver gently disengages herself from the entertainment While your offer is intriguing, I have a mission that will take up all of my time. I just came back to claim what is mine. Why dont you take charge of the gang? I can cow the rest of the group off the bat if you want.

She carefully puts the circlet on her head, hoping that some more of her memories return, but even if they dont, glad that she has her precious semi-crown back.

She motions to Sile and the yuan-ti. Can you heal her up to consciousness? If she can, she bends over the beast and says You should have taken the easy way. Now you lose not only the circlet, but also your boots and your gang, seeing as no one is going to respect you any more.

She looks up at the assorted thugs. Wendy is in charge now, any objections?

Spoiler: Intimidate

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(1d20+22)[34]

I didnt think so

She sets her impromptu bulldozer table in the middle of the room. This stays here, from now on, its the table of honor for the highest paying guests. She looks to Drufi, Sile and Sirac Take whatever coinage you want.

[Ridai]

"Huh?!" goes Wendy, and "Hey, what about me?!" goes Sandy.

Putting on the circlet, Shiver immediately feels more sure of herself, all of her following words flowing more easily still and shaped just that little bit better. Everyone around her immediately notices the change as Shiver becomes even more of a presence, with her beauty also easily in the supernatural reaches by now. A few memories re-emerge, recognizing the road south, past Neverwinter. She consults a map, the one Beldora gave her, checking her route to Daggerford again, where she would meet her friend, Morwen. The one who likely sent her the flying tower more recently. She is the destination of her quest. The last bit of resurfaced memory is that Shiver reaches a crossing and begins to head east onto the Triboar Trail.

Sìle makes her way to Shiver, clearly winded and with her share of bruises, but nonetheless maintaining her countenance in the face of her mistresses. Shiver notes a change in Drufi's behavior as she pushes a thug or two away if she deems they are getting too close to Sìle.

Sìle nods to Shiver's request and restores consciousness to the yuan-ti, though it takes a moment or two, given how much of a wallop she just suffered. The yuan-ti, her everything aching, grumbles under her breath, not wanting to meet Shiver's breath, and the whole gang not wanting to oppose the secret giantess when Wendy (freaking Wendy!) is named new leader just rubs salt in the wound, the snake lady slinking away with shame.

As the gang does their very best to make a big show out of accepting Wendy as the new leader, she is held high, with impromptu cheers and such breaking out, Wendy still very confused (if in a positive way?) and Sandy still very salty but trying to hide it. Sìle declines taking coinage, Sirac seems unsure about doing so, whereas Drufi sees this, picks a table, snips away any nonvaluables, puts a sack on one end, and then just dumps everything on that table into the sack. It's not a tremendous amount, but it is certainly a bit of weight in the bag.

No one even thinks about possible opposing Shiver, and the non-gang-members in the establishment got their entertainment out of it, raising mugs, but many eyes just glued to her in disbelief at her beauty.

"Let's get out of here," Drufi says, still doing her part to make sure no one gets any funny ideas about getting too close to Sìle, who seems grateful. Drufi has never been a fan of acknowledging bruises and wounds in front of a crowd unless it marks a great deed. Let them think they are as close to invincible as one can be.

Spoiler: OOC

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Do you have any other things you want to do in Luskan, or would you like to skip to the next morning? Sìle will heal all wounds suffered.

[MikelaC1]

Sandy, you're her #1 lieutenant and second in command That ought to smooth things over.

Yes we are done here

[Ridai]

"Damn right I am!" Sandy says, dramatically crossing her arms and raising her chin as the gang pivots to include her in the cheering.

Leaving the tavern, the group gets food, gets patched up by Sìle, and call it a day.

At the crack of dawn, they arrive at the dock the next day, where Nisha is already waiting for them, leaning against the ship's railing.

"There you are? Had a fun night out on the town, I heard?" she says, grinning. "We'll get going right away, so now's the time for tearful goodbyes!"

Sirac turns to the group. "Thank you for, you know, saving my life. I'll do my best to keep the frost giants on the wrong trail as long as I can." He looks to Shiver. "I hope you will find who you are looking for."

Sìle gives Sirac a quick hug, telling him to keep his chin up. Drufi just gives him a heavy-looking pouch without further comment.

"I'll take good care of our sweetheart. Give me a call when you become the queen of the frost giants!" Nisha cheerfully adds.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Still got business in Luskan or does Shiver move on?

[MikelaC1]

I was hoping to get a few more answers here, but at least we have Sirac on the seas. Lets move on

[Ridai]

The group makes their way further south on the ethereal mounts (which Sìle offers to style however the giantesses see fit, as long as they are still roughly horse-sized and quadrupedal. The ride is a bit livelier than before, Drufi and Sìle getting along better, so the three of them chat freely as the landscape whips past them. They make good time, the journey just so much faster and easier than the first time around. The road is not that far from the seaside cliffs, high above the rocky shore below. Shiver knows the next notable town on the way, Port Llast. When she was last there, she heard how the lone port between Neverwinter and Luskan has a violent history, having been subjected to many hardships, from being plundered by pirates, enslaved by vile cults, set fire to, overrun by sahuagin, even raided by drow. But each time, it bounced back eventually, and when Shiver was there, it showed a new prosperity, its people a hardy one. So by the late afternoon, the road very gently, very slowly begins to dip lower, as it leads to the place where the cliffside has a deep gap leading to a sandy beach, where Port Llast has been built.

A thick fog has rolled in this time of day, drastically reducing visibility. However, even with the low sun and the hindered view, from their higher vantage point, they can vaguely make out the silhouettes of the harbor town, as well as the sign of fire. Abnormally placed fire. They hear faint, distant shouts in the giant tongue. And in the harbor, the silhouette of a massive ship. A frost giant dragonboat.

"Raid," Drufi notes, more for Sìle's benefit, since she knows Shiver knows this as well. There is no formal size for a raid party, it consists out of however many decide to go raid or that are sent out by the jarl. The bad news is that there could be anything between ten to twenty frost giants in Port Llast. The good news is the terrible visibility and lack of coordination on the frost giant side could mean it is unlikely to encounter more than one or two giants at a time. Just as it is unlikely any of the giants know the three of them are near the town.

[MikelaC1]

Are you good at guerilla tactics? We need to pick them off, one or two at a time and be quiet about doing it. Sile, can you aid us with ways to keep quiet?