Taking a moment to let Holly collect her words, the barkeep slides over to Oristok with practised ease and hands him a glass of amber-oak liquid. Before he can say a word though, Bazza leaves a pay-tray on the counter before returning to the Tiefling.
While the service was quick it was definitely too automated and without any care or consideration given to the customer. Not even a hello. Definitely odd, to say the least.
Hmph, that was rude. "Asteron, take a look at that guy for me, if you would. There's gotta be something else going on here." The Arcane Robot whirls around to zoom in on the bartender.
"Over under on his not exactly being on speakin' terms with natives of Darguun." he whispers to Asteron, only half-joking.
Holly blinks for a few seconds, trying to translate to modern common. "Well, Baz, I can't really talk about it. On going investigation and all that. Good to meet a fellow traveller though. I'm from a town out in rural Aundair, been, all over places."
Holly sees Oristok sit down next to her and mouths 'oh thank god' to herself "Hey Orist. how's it going?"
"Pretty good, rum's tasty as it comes, my familiar does the 'watching my back' thing for me." Oristok leans back a little to dramatically drink his rum.
"Oh and I think the bartender is racist?" He shrugs.
"Well not to you obviously, you're a woman, when are bartenders hateful towards woman? That's against like every cliche House Phiarlan has set up." He snorts, once again, only half-joking.
"Well, really it's quite simple. I observe, take notes, and be one with the shadows to elude and capture my prey," Rickerford says, in a very matter-of-fact tone. He is completely oblivious to Feld's condescending tone and pose. "In this case I have been stalking such an infernal mistress at the behest of not a master. But my own interests at hand. Look."
He pulls out a scrap of parchment from his ever-growing pile. On it is a hastily drawn sketch of a young Tiefling. One that resembles Holly.
"This is Grenda Darkseeker! Famous adventurer and hunter from times gone by. She was amazing and talented and I think..." Rickerford pauses for dramatic effect. Everyone is still occupying their whole seat, with the edges cold and desolate. "This might in fact be Grenda herself!"
Turning to Emmahk, noticing the Dragonborn's very coy look, he tries and fails to slick back his hair with any amount of charisma and leans closer.
"Isn't that something special."
Perception:
Oristok you notice that while Bazza's attitude towards you was aloof there was nothing necessarily cold about it. Now that you and Holly are engaging in conversation he seems to have warmed up a little and has even offered you a shot of the "house special" without charge. Yet he still appears to be paying more attention to the Tiefling. Another thing you notice is how he is sweating profusely. Sure the bar is crowded and warm, but the cold chill can still be felt through the cracks of the building. No one should be sweating just that much.
There's one more thing you notice which is cleverly obscured by the bar counter: Bazza seems to be walking awkwardly. Not with a limp or anything like that, but like a boy in shoes too big for him.
"There yah go!" Suddenly two shot glasses are placed in front of you two. They're filled to near-spillage with what can only be described as a mustard fluid with the same consistency as pudding. However they smell sickly sweet with an aroma reminiscent of nuts found in the wilderness."I know you said it wasn't needed, but you look damn roight knackered. Try it!"
"Don't know what to tell ya buddy, I've found people don't often take too kindly to poeple with 'goblin' attached to them. Or bear. Don't know why. I've only had issue with koblods before m'self." She smiles at Oristik, and leans in to whisper "If you want we can wait until he's off shift and rough him up a bit."
She nudges with a laugh, before finishing her drink.
"Eh, probably just my imagination, I mean, he just brought us shots! That's a nice thing! I mean it's got this good smelling aroma and everything!" Shit, that drink does smell pretty great, I wonder what's in it? "Hey, barkeep, what's in the shot? That smell is phenomenal!"
"Mmmm, very special," Emmahk says, leaning down onto the investigator's table- which creaks under her weight- and picking up the sketch of the tiefling, giving it a quick inspection.
"Why it's simple, we tell the press!," Rickerford says, like it's the most obvious thing in the world. "An adventurer like her! Here! She's obviously looking for some face-time, to spike an interest in her popularity again. I'm gonna get her to sign my dagger, I bought it off a toothless old man who told me it's made from real dragon fang!"
Turning to Emmahk he sees the Dragonborn regarding the sketch, parchment perched precariously within her talons. Panic streaks across his boy-ish face and he desperately lunges for the drawing. He pulls it out of Emmahk's grasp, tucking it away in a leather binder he has weighing down several pages. Rickerford shoots her a dirty look.
"Hey now! That's an original copy of a sketch done by a blind old woman I bought off for a cool fifty silver pieces. Be careful with the collectibles," he quickly inspects the sketch before lovingly, in the least comfortable way possible, tucks it back into the binder. "What are you guys? A bunch of ruffians? Some rapscallions here to cause trouble?"
Holly sniffs her drink. She finds nothing too suspicious about it, however before she can place the rim of the glass to her lips she sees Oristok gulp it down in one go. Despite his intelligence and craftiness, a lingering trace of Hobgoblin gusto is seen in one single action. As Oristok begins to gulp it down, as soon as a drop goes past his lips a vile stench fills his nostrils. It feels like a carpet of horror unfurling within his nasal cavities however the liquid is already in his mouth and swirling down his throat. At first it has quite the kick, then suddenly the stinging and stench are gone. All seems well.
A burning sensation erupts within Oristok's gullet, a feeling like tendrils wrought from flame are encasing and slowly spreading throughout his intestines. He doubles over, clutching his gut in agony as patrons nearby quickly turn to look and see what the commotion is all about. As this happens Bazza seemingly dives forward and before anyone knows it, he's making a break for the side emergency exit. He seems to be crouched down yet still running as you can't necessarily see his head but the crowd being pushed apart by his movements.
OOC:
Man down! Man down! @Huntera I'll allow you to make a saving throw (a flat d20) now to combat the poison. After that, though, depending on how this pans out you'll revert to rolling a saving throw at the end of your turns. With everyone else, if you want to stop Bazza you'll be required to make a Strength vs. Fortitude check. Everyone gets one shot before he's out the door.
Holly quickly noticed the hobgoblin start to choke while still holding the shotglass, and instinctively hurls it at the fleeing bartender, hitting him square in the side of the head. "Someone grab that punk! He just poisoned a member of the guard!"
Holly stands up grabbing for her sword, then she realized how much she just drank, but managed to keep her foot as she shake she head out.
The shot glass careens through the air, some would later say it screeched past them like a bird of prey intent on its mark, whizzing past several patrons with deadly force. The glass continues to whistle through the air until it smashes dead smack center in the back of Bazza's head. The dizzying blow knocks him to the ground, seemingly in two, as the murky and deadly contents of the glass spill and spray all over his "lower body." Bazza, it seems, is not a whole man himself.
He is in fact, two Halflings standing on top of one another. The lower Halfling looks up in terror, both at the entire situation and the shards of glass glinting in mid-air, as the mustard yellow liquid splashes all over him. Unfortunately as he did so, his mouth was left agape in horror, allowing for the few scant needed droplets of poison to enter his system both orally as well as optically through his open eyes. He screams, clutching both his eyes and stomach and begins to crumple to his knees while his top companion lays groaning on the floor, drool leaking from the side of his mouth.
Nimble Reaction: The halfling gains a +2 bonus to AC against opportunity attacks. Bamboozle: When the halfling ends a turn in which it did not attack and it has cover or concealment from a creature, it is hidden from that creature until the end of its next turn.
Bazza is now prone while his partner is currently dealing with poison. This means he now has a -2 to all defences against any checks made to pin him (Str vs. Fort).
"Fuck me sideways, that bartender is gonna feel this in the morning." Oristok laughs as his Hobgoblin constitution kicks in and the aftereffects flow away. "This feels worse than that time a Bugbear got me to try a Gutgrinder."
"I got this, Holly." Oristok whirls around to leap onto the poisoned Halfing, landing and pinning the small humanoid under his weight. "Asteron, I would appreciate you keeping Mr. Bartender in your sights." And as he finishes the thought the eye floats over to make sure No One Escapes Punishment.
Emmahk stands, looking over in the direction of the commotion at the bar and ignoring Rickerford. "Oh look," she remarks, "it would appear Ms. Darkseeker and her unknown friend have gotten into some trouble."
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AntimatterDevo Was RightGates of SteelRegistered Userregular
"Huh. Would you look at that. They appear to have the situation handled, unless you wish to assist..."
"Oh no, I could never intrude like that. It would utterly ruin their self-confidence." Emmahk smiles. "Regardless, we are already occupied here with the... detective."
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AntimatterDevo Was RightGates of SteelRegistered Userregular
"Right." Feld twists his neck away from Emmahk and the dick, subtly changing his features. Cheekbones heighten, hair color goes slightly darker, chin narrows, nose increases in width and changes its angle, ears adjust, eyes go from greenish-grey to blue. The changes are enough that the wannabe investigator wouldn't be able to recognize him in his default state if they encountered each other on the street again.
He turns back. "Now, then. You were asking who we were? We are nothing more than a couple of people that like doing the right thing. As we are people who do such, it's my duty to inform you that you have the wrong tiefling. There's absolutely a resemblance, but that's not her."
Emmahk makes a show of inspecting Holly from a distance, scratching at her chin with the claws of one hand to add to the effect. "I'm not even sure there's so much as a resemblance," she muses, turning back to Rickerford. "She doesn't look much like your picture at all. Perhaps you don't get out much- do all tieflings look the same to you?"
"I'm sure, that in a guard bar, we can find some manacles to borrow, but no yeah I have mine."
Oristok tosses his Manacles over to Holly, "This one ain't goin' anywhere soon with the poison in his eyes, Bazza over there is much more likely to start runnin'."
"Right." Feld twists his neck away from Emmahk and the dick, subtly changing his features. Cheekbones heighten, hair color goes slightly darker, chin narrows, nose increases in width and changes its angle, ears adjust, eyes go from greenish-grey to blue. The changes are enough that the wannabe investigator wouldn't be able to recognize him in his default state if they encountered each other on the street again.
He turns back. "Now, then. You were asking who we were? We are nothing more than a couple of people that like doing the right thing. As we are people who do such, it's my duty to inform you that you have the wrong tiefling. There's absolutely a resemblance, but that's not her."
Emmahk makes a show of inspecting Holly from a distance, scratching at her chin with the claws of one hand to add to the effect. "I'm not even sure there's so much as a resemblance," she muses, turning back to Rickerford. "She doesn't look much like your picture at all. Perhaps you don't get out much- do all tieflings look the same to you?"
"What! No! I didn't say that! I never- just- now wait a moment here!" Rickerford scrambles around for his notes, desperately trying to cling to some kind of evidence that'll back him up. However he knows it's finished the second he knocks his fedora over onto the grimy floor of the bar, watching a Goliath with four steins in each hand trod all over it as he walks past. "I...I should go apologise, shouldn't I?"
Holly spots both Emmahk and Feld interacting with a man that can only be described as "precious" with his now-crumpled fedora and too-clean gear. Ah, to be young again. Unfortunately her train of thought is halted as Bazza slowly comes to and tries to struggle underneath the Tiefling. She has him pinned, but not for much longer. Oristok seems to also be facing similar problems, and it's only compounded as soon as the troublesome Halflings begin to bicker.
"Why didn't you bloody well make her drink the damn thing!" The lower Halfling screams, still being drowned out by the fervour and rambunctious nature of the bar crowd. "You said this would be easy! 'We'll poison the two at the bar, they won't notice a thing. Let's also hide on top of each other! ' I hate you!"
"Oi lesh be reashonahball 'eere then, Gazza," Bazza slurs, still a bit concussed by the shot glass shot while oddly calm, while also having Holly push his face into the ground. "In s'all farhnass, farr dinkam, I s'never shaid it'd be eashy."
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AntimatterDevo Was RightGates of SteelRegistered Userregular
Feld coughs, and his features shift back into shape. He winks at Emmahk. "Nice work, Watchwoman."
Emmahk smiles and bows her head slightly. "Perhaps we had best let the investigator here leave with what remains of his dignity while we go and see what all the commotion is."
"Well, from what i have gathered" She moves to keep the little guy pinned "These idiots planned to poison us for some reason, and once discovered, fled. What about you two?"
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AntimatterDevo Was RightGates of SteelRegistered Userregular
"Ace Detective confused you for somebody else. Quite thrilling, really."
"I'm curious, my small, not-so-friend: what did you hope to accomplish by poisoning a pair of guards." He glares angrily, "I would really appreciate it."
Posts
While the service was quick it was definitely too automated and without any care or consideration given to the customer. Not even a hello. Definitely odd, to say the least.
"Over under on his not exactly being on speakin' terms with natives of Darguun." he whispers to Asteron, only half-joking.
Holly sees Oristok sit down next to her and mouths 'oh thank god' to herself "Hey Orist. how's it going?"
"Oh and I think the bartender is racist?" He shrugs.
He pulls out a scrap of parchment from his ever-growing pile. On it is a hastily drawn sketch of a young Tiefling. One that resembles Holly.
"This is Grenda Darkseeker! Famous adventurer and hunter from times gone by. She was amazing and talented and I think..." Rickerford pauses for dramatic effect. Everyone is still occupying their whole seat, with the edges cold and desolate. "This might in fact be Grenda herself!"
Turning to Emmahk, noticing the Dragonborn's very coy look, he tries and fails to slick back his hair with any amount of charisma and leans closer.
"Isn't that something special."
Perception:
There's one more thing you notice which is cleverly obscured by the bar counter: Bazza seems to be walking awkwardly. Not with a limp or anything like that, but like a boy in shoes too big for him.
"There yah go!" Suddenly two shot glasses are placed in front of you two. They're filled to near-spillage with what can only be described as a mustard fluid with the same consistency as pudding. However they smell sickly sweet with an aroma reminiscent of nuts found in the wilderness. "I know you said it wasn't needed, but you look damn roight knackered. Try it!"
She nudges with a laugh, before finishing her drink.
"Huh. Not bad?"
History re: Grenda: 1d20+2 6
She has no idea who this is.
"Why it's simple, we tell the press!," Rickerford says, like it's the most obvious thing in the world. "An adventurer like her! Here! She's obviously looking for some face-time, to spike an interest in her popularity again. I'm gonna get her to sign my dagger, I bought it off a toothless old man who told me it's made from real dragon fang!"
Turning to Emmahk he sees the Dragonborn regarding the sketch, parchment perched precariously within her talons. Panic streaks across his boy-ish face and he desperately lunges for the drawing. He pulls it out of Emmahk's grasp, tucking it away in a leather binder he has weighing down several pages. Rickerford shoots her a dirty look.
"Hey now! That's an original copy of a sketch done by a blind old woman I bought off for a cool fifty silver pieces. Be careful with the collectibles," he quickly inspects the sketch before lovingly, in the least comfortable way possible, tucks it back into the binder. "What are you guys? A bunch of ruffians? Some rapscallions here to cause trouble?"
Holly sniffs her drink. She finds nothing too suspicious about it, however before she can place the rim of the glass to her lips she sees Oristok gulp it down in one go. Despite his intelligence and craftiness, a lingering trace of Hobgoblin gusto is seen in one single action. As Oristok begins to gulp it down, as soon as a drop goes past his lips a vile stench fills his nostrils. It feels like a carpet of horror unfurling within his nasal cavities however the liquid is already in his mouth and swirling down his throat. At first it has quite the kick, then suddenly the stinging and stench are gone. All seems well.
Until the kick comes from inside.
Damage: 5 Damage and slowed (save ends both)
A burning sensation erupts within Oristok's gullet, a feeling like tendrils wrought from flame are encasing and slowly spreading throughout his intestines. He doubles over, clutching his gut in agony as patrons nearby quickly turn to look and see what the commotion is all about. As this happens Bazza seemingly dives forward and before anyone knows it, he's making a break for the side emergency exit. He seems to be crouched down yet still running as you can't necessarily see his head but the crowd being pushed apart by his movements.
OOC:
Holly stands up grabbing for her sword, then she realized how much she just drank, but managed to keep her foot as she shake she head out.
Standing up after drinking17Not overly drunk!
He is in fact, two Halflings standing on top of one another. The lower Halfling looks up in terror, both at the entire situation and the shards of glass glinting in mid-air, as the mustard yellow liquid splashes all over him. Unfortunately as he did so, his mouth was left agape in horror, allowing for the few scant needed droplets of poison to enter his system both orally as well as optically through his open eyes. He screams, clutching both his eyes and stomach and begins to crumple to his knees while his top companion lays groaning on the floor, drool leaking from the side of his mouth.
Enemy Stats:
Halfling Trickster 2: HP- 35, AC- 17, Fort- 15, Ref- 17, Will- 17
Nimble Reaction: The halfling gains a +2 bonus to AC against opportunity attacks.
Bamboozle: When the halfling ends a turn in which it did not attack and it has cover or concealment from a creature, it is hidden from that creature until the end of its next turn.
Enemy Actions:
Damage: 5 Damage and slowed (save ends)
OOC:
He turns back. "Now, then. You were asking who we were? We are nothing more than a couple of people that like doing the right thing. As we are people who do such, it's my duty to inform you that you have the wrong tiefling. There's absolutely a resemblance, but that's not her."
Bluff Check vs. Rickerford: 1d20+8 16
"You're not getting away that easily! Oristok, you still got your cuffs? i think i left mine on the train."
Oristok tosses his Manacles over to Holly, "This one ain't goin' anywhere soon with the poison in his eyes, Bazza over there is much more likely to start runnin'."
"Should probably tie them up, run them down to processing after a few drinks."
Holly takes a look around the room, looking to see if anyone else she knows is present.
"But...the horns, I-"
"What! No! I didn't say that! I never- just- now wait a moment here!" Rickerford scrambles around for his notes, desperately trying to cling to some kind of evidence that'll back him up. However he knows it's finished the second he knocks his fedora over onto the grimy floor of the bar, watching a Goliath with four steins in each hand trod all over it as he walks past. "I...I should go apologise, shouldn't I?"
Holly spots both Emmahk and Feld interacting with a man that can only be described as "precious" with his now-crumpled fedora and too-clean gear. Ah, to be young again. Unfortunately her train of thought is halted as Bazza slowly comes to and tries to struggle underneath the Tiefling. She has him pinned, but not for much longer. Oristok seems to also be facing similar problems, and it's only compounded as soon as the troublesome Halflings begin to bicker.
"Why didn't you bloody well make her drink the damn thing!" The lower Halfling screams, still being drowned out by the fervour and rambunctious nature of the bar crowd. "You said this would be easy! 'We'll poison the two at the bar, they won't notice a thing. Let's also hide on top of each other! ' I hate you!"
"Oi lesh be reashonahball 'eere then, Gazza," Bazza slurs, still a bit concussed by the shot glass shot while oddly calm, while also having Holly push his face into the ground. "In s'all farhnass, farr dinkam, I s'never shaid it'd be eashy."
Holly holds the squirming halfling to the flood, headbutting him to try to knock his head into the floor "Shut up the both of you!"