Session 31

The Less-Than-Great Escape

Date: Wednesday, 16th of September, 2020
Attending Players: Ashara, Embra, Ish'Mael, Victalyassa
Time 3.25 Hours (Total: 99.75 Hours)

Game Time 14th of Sowmeadow, 11:00 AM
To
14th of Sowmeadow, 11:00 AM
Game Locations:
Warehouse in Orvadah

The shadowy dragonborn stood in the alleyway, looking down the grimy, salted streets. It had been years since he had been to Skemnavla, but the leverage he would be able to obtain here was too great.

"We told you to stay behind!"

The voices echoed down the narrow alley as a collection of agreements followed. Fifty feet away, the collection of urchin's emerged from a side alley, pausing in the intersection to turn back and call back out.

"You cause too much chaos, every time," it was a small group, only four kids, with the eldest appearing to be a halfling boy. They took several more steps, followed close by a young Marleek girl with a scarf around her face. They paused once more to turn on her. "We said no, not today. Go back to your street. Follow one of your brothers or sisters, not us!"

They took off running. The young girl took a step, caught a piece of trash with her foot, and stumbled to her knee. As she rose up, the echoes of the kids were already gone.

Huet took a step forward, emerging from the shadows, a gentle sigh escaping his lips. "The cruelty of our peers. Why try so desperately to follow them?"

Shocked, the girl jumped, turning and raising a small shiv from her side in one fluid motion. There was a slight crackle of energy in the air, but nothing immediately happened.

"Do not worry Miss Arcanscape. I'm not here to bring you any harm. I'm here to offer you something. A chance to control that wild magic of yours, a chance to escape these streets, and a chance to see your eldest sister once more. Would you like to see Victalyassa again?"

The girl's large eyes grew wider as she nodded in silence.

"This makes me glad. Now, let's see about getting some of the dirt from your fur."

The smirk on Ish'maels face slowly wipes away as the party stands in the middle of a warehouse as the portal collapses behind them. They are still surrounded by enemies, the fight is no longer behind them. The party is running on fumes but there are cultists all around them, the Deus Hand which ran into the portal before them turns and locks eyes with Embra. The screams for "More Water" fade into the background as the screaming and rushing of the cultists which notice the party begin to rush in, battle cry and all. The sound of the heart beat was the only thing heard before the battle began.
Ashara notes their position and sees the folly of their chances. She looks to the party and says, "This isn't me sacrificing myself. We have to go, I'll stop the one closest to us."
She points to the left wall, encouraging the party to escape to the left while she engages the Deus Hand. She extends both of her arms toward the cultists and chains erupt from runes in her palm that pierce through his shoulder and into the pillar nearby, locking him in place. She then turns to run away and is struck in the back of the thigh with a longsword that rips open her skin. She leans down to seal her wound with her fire to stop from bleeding out as she begins to run to the left in front of the party. Ish Ma'el sees Ashara running and turns to meet her, giving her a potion off of his belt to drink down before running ahead. Victalyasaa says, "Don't have to tell me twice" running to the left but noting there to be several enemies around a boat in that direction, she runs back and tells the group.
The Deus' Hand works his way toward Embra as much as he can, being held back by Ashara's chains but was able to strike at her, however not hard enough to slice through her heavily padded armor. Embra pulls out her rapier and swings at the Deus' Hand, but her exhaustion makes her muscles protest her every action, and she is too weak to strike. She is able to swipe the Deus' Hand to the side and make a nimble escape down toward his pillar. A Sand Priest opens up the side door near her and gasps in shock.
In the area where Victalyassa left from, a Sand Cultist fires a crossbow bolt at Vic, but she stops mid run, catches the bolt and throws it to the ground before continuing. The cultist takes a step back in shock and his friend takes a shot, but misses behind him. A second Deus' Hand holds his necklace and prays to the Deus of Change, releasing a sand missile from his hand and launching it at Vic and damaging her. At the same time, Ashara pulls out her blade and parries the sword of the first Deus' Hand, so she can get by him to run past Embra. A cultist dashes to meet her in the direction she is running to. Embra keeps moving forward, leaning on a nearby pillar and firing a bolt at the cultist in front of Ashara, killing him instantly.
Ish Mael, near the back wall, looks at the cultists which were attacking Victalyassa and says, "Boom!" The two basic cultists head explode as they die, while the Deus' Hand takes minor damage, not realizing that the pillar behind him explodes into wood chips and the building rumbles. Victalyassa runs toward the first Deus' Hand, returning to the portal location and strikes three hits in the back of his head. Confused, the Deus' Hand swings his sword at Ish'mael but misses with both swings, trying harder to stand up rather than hit. The sand cult priest that emerged into the warehouse reaches his hand out and says "Halt" trying to magically compel Ish Ma'el to stop, but it is ineffective.
Two Sand Cultists take their revenge on Embra, who killed their friend, by firing a crossbow bolt at her which strikes; the other runs up to stab at her with an enchanted dagger and cuts into her arm. A third cultist emerges and stabs his dagger down at Ashara, but she parries the blade.
Ashara's Guardian: "If we make it out, burning this place down may not be a bad idea..."
"I'm starting to rub off on you, it seems," Ashara whispers before screaming out in rage as she grips her Katana in both hands and swiping it sideways as hard as she can. The Katana shoves the cultist into the pillar nearby before ripping him in half and cutting into the pillar, blowing it to wood chips. Ashara then limps as fast as she can toward Embra before the debris can hit the surrounding ground. Seeing the cultist become distracted from Ashara's approach, she Sneak Attacks the man and sends her rapier through the cultists liver, dropping him to the ground bleeding out; dead. She then moves toward the boat nearby docked in the warehouse.
Ish Ma'el and Vic are still engaged with the two Deus' Hands which are standing advantageous to Ish'ma'els lightning bolt. The second Deus' Hand strikes at him, cutting Ish Ma'el in the side, "well, not as easy it seems," he groans in pain. He pokes his finger onto the chest of the first Deus' Hand and says, "Lightning bolt" as the electricity creates a crater in the man's chest, exploding out the back of him and striking into the second Deus' Hand behind and out the wall behind. The first Deus' Hand falls to the ground dead while Vic makes three strikes into the still standing second Hand. Recovering slightly from the electricity, the Hand is met by the Marleeks fist which crack his skull and rupture his right eye, yet he still stands. Ish Ma'el had already moved toward the lower end of the warehouse, where the boat is docked.
The Sand priest, being ignored by Ish Ma'el says, "you refuse me? Then burn!" and sends out flames that lick across the ground toward Ish Ma'el. Ish Ma'el, having no fond memories of being burnt, leaps over the flame and is otherwise unaffected. The Deus' Hand, still standing but on the verge of death swipes his blade at Vic.
Ashara continues up the nearby steps to search for an alternative way out. She notices a set of stairs, but realizes she may be too weak to continue up alone. She stops to consider her options, investigating from a distance before deciding to head up or abandon the area to head toward the boat with the rest of the party. She listens to the sounds above and leans down to the ground. There is a thin layer of sand on the ground, but none leading up the stairs. She decides the upstairs is less likely to have aggressive people and decides to investigate further but in haste. She heads up the stairs and can see a window that heads outside to a rainy area with a berry bush, noting the room she is in is a Kitchen area. She yells down to the party that it looks clear upstairs and continues into the upper area, heading closer to the window to get a glimpse of the outside.
Ish Ma'el casts magic missile, "Bang, Bang, Bang," back at the second Deus' Hand and the Sand Priest, killing the Hand and hitting the priest, but to Ish Ma'el's surprise, not killing him. Ish Ma'el then runs more toward the boat, as Victalyassa follows up on his attack on the Sand Priest, striking him with her belted Battle Axe, unsheathing it to bury it in his back. A crossbow bolt flies back toward the two of them as Embra misses her shot at the priest. The priest turns toward Vic and tries to "Halt!" her with magical influence, but fails to Vic's wisdom save. Ish Ma'el arrives at the dock and is met with a crossbow bolt in the shoulder, to his utter surprise.
Ashara moves up against the window and can only see the rain outside in the late afternoon, people walking around with small umbrellas in an industrial area. She isn't able to recognize the area. She moves to a door to her right and opens it, finding an extension of the warehouse with a crane located in the center of the room. A front door is open wide, but no people, just dust swirling in the air. She can hear the people downstairs through the opening, including Ish Ma'el in pain. Feeling that her party members will soon arrive, she continues into the new warehouse door and attempts to move toward the open door to her freedom.
Downstairs, Ish Ma'el breaks the tail of the crossbow bolt off and runs, jumping up on the nearby crates, "Get over here!" he yells as he releases his Lightning Lure and pulls the cultist into the water. The corpse of the cultist bobs and twitches as the lighting erupts in the water, killing him instantly. Victalyassa remarks that her teammates have left her to deal with the final priest before she rips her battleaxe into his carotid artery, sending blood spraying around as the corpse falls to the ground. Victalyassa shrugs before running down to the boat to follow Ish Ma'el, unsure of where Ashara is.
Embra moves toward the stairs and calls out to Ashara, "There's a boat down here!"
Ashara looking back at the head of Embra that appeared over the railing of the stairs and retorts, "but there is an exit up here. Tell the group!" She moves toward the doors and steps out into the chill air. She finds herself near the ocean based on the smell, but the sound of several boots, metal on stone, of someone yelling, "Guards!" among the other voices in the distance. She considers her options, her weakness, and steps back inside to lean up against the wall.
Ish Ma'el and Victalyassa down below can hear Ashara, Vic more than ish Ma'el, but they are near the boat with no enemies nearby. Ish Ma'el stands above the boxes looking down at the small boat, bigger than a rowboat, that could be used for cargo transport. He recognizes it to be a barge, but turns to the tools he can see nearby. Vic takes her time to pull some Rum out of her bag and drink it down in a moment of silence, standing by the side of Ish Ma'el smelling something in the top right corner of the room: MORE RUM! She sprints up with a giant smile on her face and runs to the barrel to hug it in jubilence.
Ish Ma'el finds that the tools nearby are a combination of carpentry and masonry tools used for construction, somewhat newer too. Their high quality, made of expensive steel which is nearly unheard of for the area, seem to all have the same stamp: Saltfield, though the dates vary all within the last few years. He remembers that while in the other dimension that was building the other canal, the tools here would have been used for that purpose. He chooses to take one of the steel tools for his own evidence.
Embra asks: "Anything good out there?"
"Seems guards are coming," moans Ashara in the side warehouse building.
"Well then let's head to the boat," says Embra.
Ashara's Guardian: Wait...there is...an Embodied God is watching...
"heh," scoffs Ashara, "Let's see this out then." She heads back down the stairs with Embra to meet with Ish Ma'el and Victalyassa.
Ish Ma'el tries to pick up the dialects of the slave men and women still cowering around the warehouse, but finds that he may still be in the southern coast of Tanaviak; still in the High Kingdom. In the distance, Victalyassa is dragging the Rum bottle down the dock. Ish Ma'el remarks to Ashara telling them that the guards are on the way, saying he wants to check it out. The party tells him that's a bad idea as Victalyassa says someone is up above.
A fully cloaked in black armor lady drops into the ship after Ashara does and says, "I wasn't expecting a party, we have to go now."Embra and Vic jump into the boat and Embra says, help us get the Rum barrel into the boat. She retorts, "I'm not here for the barrel" reaching a hand out and blowing it up with a ray of light. Embra whips her rapier at the mysterious woman as Ish Ma'el leaves the area to meet with the guards. She damages the woman who yells, "Gavathrak burn you!" and releases a Hellish Rebuke at Embra, damaging her deeply.
The woman turns and looks back at Ashara, "Control your creatures!" she says. Embra says, "I'm cool! I'm cool!" Ashara seems to be confused but reaches out her hand for a forearm grasp. The woman says, "We need to go. Do you speak for your companions as well?"
Ashara looks back at Victalyassa who has jumped into the boat and aimed her battleaxe at her, "you owe me if we are to go with her!"
"Two barrels."
"And one for Embra." replies Victalyassa as she lowers her battleaxe.
"What about the sorcerer?" says the mysterious woman.
Ish Ma'el had already begun heading up toward the guards and steps upstairs into the kitchenette area. The mysterious woman says, "meet me in the Gilded Quarters, Ruby Barge, the 3rd Room" and Misty Steps away and out of sight of the party.
Ish Ma'el sees several guards which interrogate him as he pulls out the writ from the king as they are yelling, "put your hands down. One grabs the writ while others put his hands behind his back. One says "you think you can kill people on the High King's orders?" They put Ish Ma'el in handcuffs and he asks, without resisting, "where am I?"
The guard says, "tell me your story but make it fast!"
"Our high King ordered us to eradicate cultists, we have gone through a portal and literal hell, at least I assume, and assume we are still in our country. If not, I would like you to conduct a meeting with our ambassador of our country if this is not that."
The guard says, "if this is true, we will have to get this sorted out but you will still be taken away."
"Then the cultist problem is far more than the king expected." retorts Ish Ma'el.
The sound of guards comes down the steps but the party continues to cast away. Ashara jumps off the boat at the last moment, saying, "get far away and know that I go to save Ish Ma'el."
Vic yells, "Ashara, don't fight these people!"
Ashara throws her Katana on the boat and walks towards the guards.
Vic retorts, "This means nothing!" as the boat continues to go out into the water. Guards run out towards Ashara, yelling, "get down, you are under arrest!"
In Ashara's head, her Guardian says: I wonder...is your word and bond too strong for even the God of Destruction? She grimaces as the guards pin her to the ground and put her in cuffs, not resisting.
In the bay, Victalyassa and Embra row the boat, losing sight of their friends as they narrowly escape, ending the session.