Session 52

General Summary

• The party narrowly escaped getting swarmed by guards at The Palace of Pride, but not before Dazki could leave behind his letter of access that he got from Baxton as evidence.
• While the party was making their move in the House of Stone, Baxton had arrived at the House of Crystal, drawing a bit of a crowd.
• While Baxton and Dazki were double-speaking with one another, Dwardazik just went ahead and started throwing baseless accusations at Baxton. This drew attention from the guards that they had previously escaped, so once the crowd dispersed, the party had to scramble.
• The party hailed a carriage and made their way over to the old burned-out bakery. It's now being used as a drop point for drug trafficking.
• According to a local fishmonger, only one person had been to that old bakery. His description matched that of none other than the elusive "ElVesta".

 

Full Recap

The session opens with the party, partially split, in the House of Stone building, both sides having been spotted by the guards.  

Stonewalled

Starting with the room with Dazki, two guards, and an invisible Kesmet. Kesmet traces a symbol of a clock face on Dazki's chest, letting him know that time is running out, which Dazki silently acknowledges.   There is a knock on the door. The guard nearest the door has a hushed conversation with the guard on the other side of the door, too quiet for Dazki and Kesmet to hear.  

Dazki: Is Al coming yet, or do we have to keep sitting here? It's been, what, almost an hour? I have other things I need to be doing today, guys.   Guard: Well, well, looks like your close personal acquaintance is too busy to see ya.  I guess you can wait for him to make an appointment for you... from a holding cell. He takes out a set of manacles.   Dazki: All right, all right, a cell in here? Are you going to take me to the House of Steel? What's going on? I'd like to know a little bit more... He stands up and approaches the guard.   Guard: Oh, you're bein' arrested, son. And maybe your acquaintance can come back when he's not terribly busy.   Dazki: Right. Well, I'll have you know that people will hear about this! He pulls out his hidden dagger and stabs the guard.

 

Key Combat Moments

• The guards outside call for more backup using a flare, like the party has seen them do in pretty much every encounter they've had with the guards.
• Grogery gives Dwardazik freedom of movement after a guard's failed attempt to grapple him.
• Dwardazik is about to kill a guard, but sees Grogery on the other side, with his puppy-dog eyes, and switches to a non-lethal blow at the last moment.
• Kesmet subtle-spells a minor-illusion of a voice on the other side of the door saying that Dazki's information actually did check out, and that they work for Aldrick after all. It's so convincing that even Kesmet himself believes it for a second.
• After leaving the room, Kesmet encounters another guard that asks him politely to stop what he is doing an be arrested. Rather than doing those things, Kesmet uses another minor illusion to mimic Aldrick's voice, saying "It's actually me, Aldrick. No time to explain. I need you to let me pass."
• Before fully exiting the area, Dazki "accidentally" drops the scroll of access that Baxton gave them.

 

Crystal Clear

The party makes a successful escape, blending in with a crowd that has gathered around the House of Crystal. Baxton has shown up for his appointment. They listen to what's going on. Kesmet changes his hair color.   Baxton recognizes the party immediately and addresses them.  

Baxton: Such a commotion! Caused by you lot, no doubt?   Dazki: Oh, you know how it is.   Baxton: You know, there are better ways to get into government. No need to skulk around like a fox looking for chickens.   Dazki: But are any of them nearly as exciting?   Baxton: My apologies for not being able to check up on you. As you've no doubt noticed, I've been terribly busy.   Dazki: Of course! No need to apologize.   Baxton: What is it you come here for, on this miserable day?   Dazki: We were just coming to see what Aldrick was doing, with Sol having left town and all.   Baxton: I'm sure he's quite fine. He doesn't do any work anyways.   Dwardazik, yelling out: It's Baxton! He was the one who tried to murder everyone in the House of Stone!   Dazki just puts his head in his hands. The crowd looks confused and concerned that some random dwarf has shown up and started yelling accusations. They glance back to Baxton to see what he will do.   Baxton: Still up to your old storytelling ways, then?   Dazki: You'll have to forgive him. He's had a bit too much to drink this early in the day.   Baxton: Well, I have much work to do still. As much as I would love to chat and catch up, I've got things to accomplish.   Dazki: Of course! A busy man's work is never done.   Baxton: Do you feel the winds changing, protégé?   Dazki: There's always change in the wind, but the winds do feel stronger as of late. I'm sure it's a little bit premature, but I'd like to congratulate you.   Dwardazik, yelling again: Congratulate him? The one who's trying to murder the elites?   Grogery: Stop it! We don't have any direct evidence that he tried to do anything to Aldrick, OK? Just rumors, speculation, and circumstantial evidence.   Dwardazik: No, I know that, I'm trying to rile up the crowd!   Grogery: I know! Me too!   Dwardazik: I don't need direct evidence! I saw it with my own eyes! It was a servant of Baxton! There's proof! Baxton tried to murder an elite!   The crowd cannot be riled. They didn't run to the fight before, and they're not doing anything now.   Baxton, leaning a little closer, aimed directly at Dazki: You know, as I rise through the ranks, I leave vacancies behind me. As my wealth and power grows, so too does my ability to grant wealth and power to others.   Dazki: I'm entirely aware of this. That's why I wanted to wish you congratulations, as premature as they may officially be. And again, I do apologize for his... excitability. Best of luck with the upcoming vote, though with your talent and skill, I'm sure you won't need it.   Baxton: You only state the obvious.   Dazki: The less obvious is not for all to hear on most occasions.   Baxton: Well, I must be off. Next time you travel to me, protégé, perhaps it will be as a diplomat, and not as a warrior. I much prefer that look on you. He takes a cigar out of his pocket and lights it with his fingers, before turning and walking into the House of Crystal.

  As the crowd starts to disperse, the guards are drawn to the party (Dwardazik's outbursts made it really easy). They manage to flee.  

Between Things, At the Moment

 

Kesmet: Hey Dazki, I think you dropped something, all the way back there. Sorry, I didn't have time to pick it up.   Dazki: Yes, I indeed left something for the guards to find. It was intentional.   Kesmet: Huh? What are you talking about?   Dazki hails a carriage for some more privacy.   Dwardazik: We need to utilize these papers in order to frame Baxton for committing crimes.   Kesmet: Dwardazik, that's a brilliant idea!   Dazki: That's exactly what I was going for when I dropped it...   Dwardazik: I know, but we have more!   Kesmet: We should all follow Dwardazik's brilliant idea.   Grogery: If you think about it, it actually is quite brilliant! We drop a paper, "accidentally", outside of the House of Stone, then someone in our group makes a public show of being against Baxton, and then we leave. It looks like we were against him while we were there, but the paper might make someone think of it differently!   Dwardazik: Who knows? We'll see what happens. ... Hmm, why don't we buy some fire bombs and blow up a building?   Grogery: OK, we can try to frame Baxton for crimes, but we don't want to stoop to his level by hurting innocent people and property in the process.   Dwardazik: No... what does Baxton love?   Grogery: Wealth, power, adoration. He wants to be in charge, and to have everybody know that he's in charge.   Kesmet: He also seems to have the hots for Dazki. He keeps trying to seduce him and everything.   Dazki laughs out loud.   Grogery: For how much time he spends at the Red Lady, I was pretty sure he swung the other way.   Dazki: He did seem to have a certain obsession with the woman on stage.   Kesmet: For all we know, he swings both left- and right-handed. Isn't that Dazki's thing? He's got a wife, but he's also... into other things?   Dazki: I am not into other things! I don't know where you got that!   Kesmet: I dunno, I just thought... you somewhat reciprocated Baxton's flirting, so I figured you just didn't like him 'cause he's all spooky and deformed. You banter with him almost every time we talk to him!   Dazki: Yes, but it's called political schmoozing.   Grogery: It's called being diplomatic.   Kesmet: For me, diplomacy is usually something you just do to get into people's pants.   Dazki: It can be, but that's not always its best use.   Kesmet: Hey, it was just a presumption on my part. I was wrong.   Dazki: No problem, I take no offense.   Kesmet: So, OK. But you are into your... ex-wife? Wife? She was with us for just a little bit, never really met her, then she left.   Dazki: We're friends. It's an arranged marriage.   Kesmet: Are you seeing someone else on the side while you're here?   Dazki: This is the way a lot of arranged marriages work in elven culture. As long as I'm discreet about other women that I'm seeing, then no one will pay it any mind. She's also expected to be discreet about the others that she sees.   Dwardazik: Hmmph. If a dwarf tries that, the other woman doesn't bother with the man, no sir. If she did, the first one would find her and beat the shit outta her!   Dazki: My fiancée is a lesbian, which makes that a bit difficult.   Kesmet: Your interpersonal relationships are so freaking complicated.   Dazki, sighing heavily: Yes, I know.   Dwardazik: Dwarf relationships are simple.   Kesmet: It looks like Baxton is into you. Is one of the plans that we fake seducing him? I'm assuming we had a bunch of contingencies, and I'm not seeing how any of them leads to Dennis, but I trust you guys. Hmm... how does seducing Baxton lead us to Dennis... he's off the mainland, of course...   Dwardazik, half grunting / half sighing: What can we do that furthers our goals?   Dazki: At this point, we need to take Baxton out.   Kesmet: To dinner, or...   Dazki: We need to have a "conversation" with him.   Kesmet: That sounds like a breakup line.   Dazki: OK. We need to stab him in the chest until he stops moving.   Kesmet: That also sounds like a breakup line. You'll forgive me, but I've been out of the dating game for a while. A lot of the euphemisms they use are very similar: "taking people out", "stabbing them in the chest", ... wait a minute... some of those aren't euphemisms. I understand now, completely. I was way off base!

  Kesmet then suggests that the party should investigate some of the places where they encountered The Hounds Guild, in order to get some leads that can help them draw out Dennis, before the showdown with Baxton.   Dwardazik has a plan too.

Dwardazik: Here's the plan. I've been thinking about it, and it seems rock solid. First, we go to The Spire of Beasts, we find Grittooth, and we ask her to get her whole gang together. We tell 'em that Dennis is coming to the city, and we are going to prepare an ambush for him. We get the gang to stack up and get ready to go. We then go back out, get a caravan of 15-20 carriages, pay them off, and stack all of the gnolls inside. We take the caravan over to the Red Lady, and give pictures to the gnolls saying "this is what Dennis looks like!", but it's actually pictures of Baxton. We then go in, take over the Red Lady, and lay an ambush in wait. Once "Dennis" (Baxton) comes back, we gang up on him, defeat him, and save the city!   Kesmet: But... Dennis isn't here, though. We can't defeat Dennis.   Dwardazik: The gnolls don't know what Dennis looks like!   Kesmet: There's a problem with that, though: if we tell them that Baxton is Dennis and they help us defeat him, then they'll think that Dennis has been defeated, so we won't be able to have them help us against the real Dennis.   Dwardazik: Well, that was my plan. You got a better one?   Kesmet: It's a good plan, but then how do we convince them to help us against the actual Dennis?   Dwardazik: Who cares? Can't we just take care of Dennis later? We'll have the resources, and we'll be prepared for him then. We need to stop Baxton now!   Kesmet: OK, that makes sense.   Grogery: Getting the gnolls to help us with this might be a good idea, actually. Our main concern with Baxton is that he can do mind control stuff and just poof away. How would our "assistance" help with this?   Dwardazik: Kesmet, is there any magic that makes you un-poof?   Kesmet: Maybe some sort of counterspell, but I don't know anything like that. I shoot fire!   Dazki: We already discussed this. We need to get his staff away from him and have Grogery cast Silence. That nullifies most of his powers.   Dwardazik: I might be able to disarm him.   Dazki: We should plan on ambushing him tonight at the Red Lady. The plan will be for us to go in, have a conversation as normal, and...   Kesmet: I don't think getting his staff away from him is going to work.   Dazki: The staff won't keep him from poofing away, but it should help against his spells for mind control.   Kesmet: Fair.   Dwardazik: You know, knocking him unconscious also prevents him from casting spells.   Grogery: We need to get him there first.   Dazki: I have poison for that.   Dwardazik: Bah. All this scheming, planning... it's easier to plan excavating for a mine!   Dazki: We go in there, start a conversation with him, order a bottle of wine or something like that, and then when we have a signal, Dwardazik will try to disarm him, Grogery will cast Silence, I'll stab him with a poisoned weapon, and Kesmet can do something like a fireball to take care of the guards at the front.   Dwardazik: We're gonna have to assume that the Red Lady acts as a stronghold for him. He's probably got somethin' in mind.   Dazki: Oh, I'm sure.   Dwardazik: So we have to counter that with something of our own. Do we have any friends that can assist us if the gnolls aren't an option?   Grogery: The gnolls are an option, it's just very difficult to get them over there.   Kesmet: Dazki, are you sure about a fireball in such a ritzy place? Everything will be on fire.   Dazki: If you have something better, we'll go with something better.   Kesmet: I haven't been able to use fireball recently. I feel as though my mind has been clouded by doubt and emotions. I need something to clear my head. You know what, I'm on board with it. Let's burn the motherfucker to the ground! And also Baxton.   Grogery: Hey Dwardazik, before this runs out... does anyone have a pair of manacles? Dwardazik hands him one. Trust me on this... I'm going to put them on you. He does. Now, just try to get out of them. He does, and it works just fine.   Dwardazik: Oh. Wait a minute.   Kesmet: Wow, those are pretty shitty manacles.   Grogery: They're real.   Dwardazik tries to move out of his pants. He does.   Dwardazik: That's incredible! What else can I take off?   Dazki: Can you not, Dwardazik? Maybe?   Grogery: I just wanted to see it actually do something.   Dwardazik takes his pants and throws them at the elf.   Kesmet: So, is our plan to swing down and investigate the bakery real quick, and then swing further down to collect the gnolls?   Grogery: I didn't think we needed the gnolls.   Kesmet: OK, then we'll spend more time investigating the bakery. Maybe swing by over to Tilda and see if she or her sister knows anything about the drug traders.   Dazki: I'm fine with that.

  The party strolls up to the bakery. It's definitely no longer in business. A few planks of wood have been put up in an attempt to stop trespassers, since it no longer has an owner. Kids and teenagers occasionally break in to be hooligans inside. All around are shopkeepers and people just mulling about.  

Kesmet: It doesn't look like there's anything here. Maybe if we head over to the...   Dazki: Not on the outside, but we haven't gone inside and done a thorough search yet.   Kesmet: All right, let's take a look around. How do you propose we get in there without being seen?   Grogery: If you act confident and look like you know what you're doing, people won't look twice.   Kesmet: Works for me!

  They ask the carriage driver to wait for them (it'll cost extra, oh no). Kesmet hops out of the carriage, walks up to the building, and inspects it, looking for holes he could slip through. He finds a window that's not perfectly boarded up and jumps through it. The others just pick off a few boards and get in.   Inside, everything looks more-or-less the same as it was before, minus the bodies, plus some graffiti. It's a little bit of a crackhouse right now.   Grogery pokes around in the upstairs area where he saw Barry('s doppelganger) come down from. He finds nothing of interest, mostly just some stale buns, and laments that this place that once produce life-sustaining food is now a haven for drugs that do nothing but destroy lives. Dazki: "Well... there's nowhere for it to go but up, now!"   Dazki pulls out his magnifying glass, looking through the floorboards, counters, and such, trying to find hidden compartments. This clearly was somebody's bakery, and the Hounds Guild took it in the chaos and are now using it as a pickup / dropoff point to exchange money and drugs. Under a few floorboards is a sack of coin, which the party distributes among themselves. There is also some very slight drug residue, the pink stuff. Though it hasn't been visited recently, there's no reason to suspect that it won't be used again later. They just don't have the manpower right now.   Kesmet leaves a note in there to throw them off: "The Baker is coming for you. -The Baker".  

Kesmet: So, we've got the bait for them, it sounds like they might come back here eventually, but the fact that this place would still be used means that there are other goons in the city. Let's ask the locals to see if they've seen anything suspicious!

  When the party leaves, they look around for someone running a stall. Someone bigger, tougher, not easily intimidated. They meet a fishmonger.  

Kesmet: Good afternoon, my good man! How are you this fine day?   Fishmonger: Hi. 'tis fine. He takes a cleaver and removes the head of a large fish in one hit.   Kesmet: I was hoping you might be able to help me with something?   Fishmonger: ...you want some fish?   Kesmet: Sure, yeah! Some fish, and some information if you have it?   Fishmonger: ...I sell fish, sir.   Kesmet: You see, I'm looking for some people that may frequent the... establishment... back there. It seems like a gentleman of your stature and your integrity might have been here for most of the time, selling your fish, and you might have seen something. Am I close to the mark? Do you happen to know anything?   Fishmonger: ...anything about what? Fish?   Kesmet: Just if anyone's been around that old bakery recently?   Fishmonger: ...the bakery is closed, sir. He's finished preparing the fish and starts cleaning his hands with an already dirty rag. What can I get for you, sir?   Kesmet: What would you recommend? How much do you charge for your wares? Got any salmon? Tuna?   Fishmonger: ...sir, do I look like I have a tuna? You would know if I had a tuna. Tuna's about as big as three of you.   Kesmet: Pardon me, I'm not very knowledgeable in the way of fish, myself. I thought tuna were rather small?   Fishmonger: ...well, what do you like in a fish?   Kesmet: You know, I look more for texture.   Dazki, fed up a little bit: All right, listen. That place used to house some criminals. We're looking for them. They owe us some money, and they haven't paid up. Do you know anything about the people that used to frequent that closed bakery? Have you seen anyone coming in or out of it recently?   Fishmonger: ...do you want fish?   Dazki: ...no.   Fishmonger: ...well then why the fuck are you talking to a fishmonger?   Dazki: Because you have eyes. Have you seen anyone coming in or out of that building lately, or not?   Kesmet: You know, if we get some information, it might make us hungry. It might make us want to buy a fish.   Fishmonger: ...that place is... like... for drugs. Are you... for drugs?   Dazki: No. The people that are... for drugs... are after one of my friends because of some dumb bullshit from years ago. So I'm trying to help protect my friend...   Fishmonger: ...I thought you said you owed them money?   Dazki: No, they owe us money. Because of the stupid bullshit. And they're trying to kill him so they don't have to pay him.   Fishmonger: ...how much money?   Dazki: I don't know, something like 30 gold. Drugs are a lucrative business.   Fishmonger: ...that's a lot of fish.   Dazki: It is.   Fishmonger: ...listen. About a week ago, there was a terrible fire.   Dazki: Have people been back since, other than the kids just doing drugs in there?   Fishmonger: ...there was one guy. I swear I seen him somewhere before.   Dazki: What did he look like?   Fishmonger: ...hmm, I mean... he had a cloak, a really nice grey mustache... he was tall, built, but like... older? This guy, he went up there and yelled, "I AM NOT DOING A DRUG DEAL!", and then he walked in there. It was the craziest shit I've ever seen.   Dazki: Yeah...   Fishmonger: ...I definitely think that guy was doing a drug deal.   Dazki: Yeah, probably.   Kesmet: Did you see him leave? Did he go anywhere afterwards?   Fishmonger: ...well yeah I saw him leave!   Kesmet: Who did he do a drug deal with? Did he just walk in alone?   Fishmonger: ...he walked in there, proclaiming that he wasn't doing a drug deal, and then he came back out. He kinda threw himself against the wall like he was trying to hide, but there was nothing there to hide behind... and then he just kinda walked away whistling a sea shanty.   Kesmet: And no one besides him has visited the place?   Fishmonger: ...I don't think so. Now, about that fish...   Dazki, handing him 2 silver pieces: We don't need any fish, but thank you for the information.   Kesmet, handing him one more silver piece: ...actually, I will take some fish. Do you happen to have any halibut?   Fishmonger: ...aye, finally, an actually fish I can have! He pulls out two prepared filets of raw halibut, wraps it up in paper, and hands it to Kesmet.   Kesmet: Puts away one filet, takes out the other, flavors it with his spice box, grabs it with mage hand, and produces flame to cook it. What? We missed lunch! We were doing nonsense, looking for drug dealers... it builds up an appetite! He turns back to the fishmonger. Also, if you can, keep your eye out for any other people that might go in there, and maybe we'll be back to buy some more... fish. He gives him an entire gold piece. Just keep an eye out -- if anyone else happens to go in there, make a note of what they happen to look like.   Fishmonger: ...nods his head.   Kesmet, leaning in to whisper: That was code, for: we'll be back with more money, but also to buy more fish, because that fish was actually really good!

  They leave to go to the market to do some shopping. They purchase some things, blah blah blah, and Kesmet looks around for a gullible merchant to try to sell his broken thunderstruck dagger to.   This guy might be gullible... he's got a ridiculous hat!

Kesmet: Hello there, good sir, how are you doing?   Merchant: Oh, hey, you look like a guy that could use a fancy knife! Here at this special stand you found right here, I can sell you all kinds of fancy knives! I've got long knives, short knives, tall knives, skinny knives, fat knives... I've got a knife that looks like two knives! What can I get for ya?   Kesmet: Wow. Do you happen to have a... thunderstruck dagger?   Merchant: Well I'm sure any dagger could be thunderstruck if you think hard enough on it, sir! Why, I have a dagger right here! It's said to be owned by a god himself! I mean, look at it! Look at its shine, look at its pearl handle! One-of-a-kind, this dagger! Touched by the deities, sir!   Kesmet: Looks at the merchant with a very even face and shuffles backwards, uncomfortably.   Merchant: Where ya goin, son? You'll find inferior knives over there! Over here is where we have the best knives! We have long knives, serrated knives, smooth knives, bread knives, we've got knives for every... hey, where ya goin? This knife can de-bone a fish and cut a shoe in half, sir!   Kesmet: Continues moving backwards, maintaining eye contact, giving a slow wave, then 30 feet down, he turns and walks.   Merchant, still going in the distance: This knife has assassinated 40 kings... 40 kings! I didn't even know there was 40 kings!

  Kesmet rejoins the party, visibly exhausted.  

Kesmet: Well, guys, I uh... I made a mistake. But everything's fine now. Is everyone else done shopping? I'm done shopping. I could use a nap. I wonder if the carriage driver will let us sleep in there on the way home.

  When the party gets home, Grogery has a proposal.  

Grogery: As someone who dedicates his life to the god of goodness and redemption, it feels not-right to me... I want to at least go up to him at some point and be like, "I don't like what you're trying to do, I don't like what you did to Sol or some of these other people, but as a follower of Pelor, I believe that everyone is capable of change. I don't know what else to do to make you stop doing bad things to people who don't deserve it, so I'm going to politely ask you to please change your ways. There's a better way of doing this. You don't need this kind of political power to fill the void that must be in your heart."   Dwardazik: Well said, Grogery. And any normal human might even be inspired by it! But unfortunately for you, Baxton is a demon.   Grogery: I know. He is almost certainly going to say no, or make fun of that sort of idealism.   Dazki: I'm not going to lie... if you try to talk him out of it, it's probably going to give away our plan. We probably won't be able to get the jump on him if you do that. It will make him suspicious. If you want to try that, I'm all for it. I don't want to do this either. But I don't see another way.   Dwardazik: To be fair... before, I was a little annoyed with having to ambush somebody instead of just fighting 'em out. But after hearing him and having to deal with all that shit in the palace, honestly, at this point, I could use somebody to mess up!   Grogery: I want to figure out a way to offer him at least the chance without necessarily letting him know what we're trying to do.   Dwardazik: Just ask Pelor? Can't you clerics pray for divine answers?   Grogery: Well, Pelor sends us on our journeys and gives us what we need in order to face the darkness ahead. Sometimes that comes in the form of allies and their wisdom.   Kesmet: I'll be honest... I still think he's a murderous lying prick.   Dazki: I understand, Grogery. I really do. But look at everything he has already done. Do you think going up to him and saying "please change your ways" is going to change anything? You're not even offering him an alternative pathway to what he wants.   Grogery: I don't know a better way to phrase it, but half of the reason why people do bad things is because they feel like they have no other choice, or that they believe that this is the only way that they can get what they want.   Dazki: I don't disagree. What he deserves, in his mind, is power over this city and to be the one that is in charge of it, in charge of dealing with Turmoil, because he has worked hard and sacrificed for it. You saw his face and how he admitted how his experiments with Turmoil caused that. He has sacrificed so much (in his mind, at least), and you're asking him to turn back and say that sacrifice was not the way. All that time, all that effort that he put into this work, it's not the way, and he should stop. Without offering anything as an alternative. I can't see a reasonable person, or an insane person, agreeing to that.   Grogery: Well I don't know what to offer him as an alternative, because the thing he wants right now is to be in charge of people and in charge of information.   Dazki: Because he wants to be able to stop the Turmoil, and he thinks this is the way.   Grogery: But if I even try to hint that we're trying to stop him from doing this, then he knows we're going to be up to something.   Dazki: Well, he already knows we're up to something, but he will know to be immediately defensive.   Dwardazik: Remember, this is a magic caster person we're dealing with. We have to have the element of surprise, Grogery. We either all have to be on the same page or not. I thought the same way too. It's not my dwarven way to go around and try to just murder people. But to be fair, Baxton's a bad person. He's a bad guy. The city and everyone else will be better off if he's dead.   Dazki: Also, guys, if shit goes down and it's looking pretty bad, and one of us needs to stay back and get arrested by the guards or something, leave me. Grogery, if we try to take out Baxton and the guards find you, you won't make it to the courthouse. No offense, but the guards here are not great. And Kesmet, you have other stuff you need to do. Dwardazik, I think I would have a better chance of getting some kind of leniency due to my social standing and some of the strings that I might be able to pull than you. Worst-case, I could probably eventually get out of the prison on my own anyway. So, if shit goes down, and someone needs to get arrested and be scapegoated for all of this, it's me.   Dwardazik: You think I'm just gonna let you take the fall for something that we all agree on? What kind of dwarf do you take me for? If you're goin' into prison, I'm goin' with ya!   Dazki: I think you're the kind of dwarf that needs to go (Dwardazik: NO!) take care of Tilda (Dwardazik: NO!) and get his honor back after being wrongly accused.   Dwardazik: I'm not leaving my elven friend to deal with some bullshit prison! We either come back together, or we don't come back at all!   Dazki: No, leave me. I can handle it. It's fine.   Dwardazik: grumbles   Grogery: Dwardazik, would it really do Dazki any good to have to break both of you out of prison instead of just himself?   Dwardazik: I can break myself out of prison, thank you very much!   Dazki: I have people who will rely on me one day. I need to become a good leader. I need to be the kind of person who will stand up and do the right thing and accept the consequences for it, and this is something that I need to do for personal growth for me and to be the kind of man that I want to be.   Dwardazik: What kind of leader goes into a battle thinking he's already lost?   Dazki: I'm not saying we've lost. I'm making contingency plans, because what kind of leader goes into battle thinking there's no way he can lose?   Dwardazik: One that actually believes in his men! Go down fighting!   Dazki: No. One that underestimates his enemy.   Dwardazik: grumbles Typical elven retreat and what not.   Grogery: You gotta know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away, know when to run.   Dwardazik: We ain't playin' the bones, Grogery. We're talkin' about Dazki tryin' to sacrifice himself because he thinks he's more important than the rest of us!   Grogery: He's not trying to sacrifice himself! He's just going to get arrested. He's already been arrested once today and gotten out of it just fine.   Dazki: To be fair, I had a bit of help from Kesmet.   Grogery: And if you do get arrested, you'll probably get some help from Baxton to get out of that one.   Dazki: Not if I try to stab him.   Grogery: You've already stabbed him, and he still sees you as his protégé.   Dazki: Yeah, but I think this is going to be a turning point in that relationship.   Grogery: I honestly think Baxton might be so far in his own head that he will see you taking a stab at him as a sort of, "oh, you actually have ambition" sort of thing. He's not one to admit when he's wrong, so he probably won't admit that he was wrong to think that you might follow in his footsteps. You're just "misguided", you don't "really understand how this specific world works". If we don't take him out here, he's just going to think that we were never going to be able to.   Dwardazik: The only way I'm lettin' you take the fall for this is if I'm already unconscious. And that's final. If you don't like it, come up with a more clever plan.   Dazki: I'll keep that in mind.   Dwardazik: Hrrmph. Where's my ale?   Grogery: You threw it away.   Dwardazik flips the table.   Grogery: Hey, I built that!   One of the legs falls off the table.   Grogery: ARRGH! I knew that beam was meant for something! Hold on... he magically repairs the table.   Dwardazik: I need beer! He goes into a corner.   Dazki: I recommend you stay sober for what we need to do.   Dwardazik: Beer.   Kesmet: grabs some water and tries to use a combination of magic and his spice box to turn it into something that resembles beer, like what he did for Biali.   Dwardazik: I can smell it on you. Give it here. He does, Dwardazik drinks it. It's pretty watered down.