May 16th

Oh right, to ensure I don't make the same mistake again; It is now Rory's turn.

[Now would be a good time to scatter. We'll just have to figure out where to meet up without being able to consult each other. Seems like a fun little tangent to me. Rory however will not be doing that immediately.]

"Order lackeys! I will not be captured by scum like you!"

The Order of Summoners, the Pinnacle, I will lay down prosperity for my people over their shattered bones if I must!

Rory's reason has left him, he can feel his pulse pounding inside his head! Peering too long into his wild gaze could be enough to infect his madness in the beholder...

He sets his sights on the guy immediately to his right and rushes him, trying to shove him to the ground below!

Intimidation
Demoralize.

[If this works, I would be right behind Higaide. I'm moving with my enemy and attempting to land on him for damage. Rory is/has been intending lethal force during this fight.]

[Using Combat AP]
Bull Rush + Oppies: I have Rage (-2 AC), Weapon Focus, Deflecting Move, and Mobility. Also can't be flanked (Imp. Uncanny)

Fire burns in Rory's eyes as he slams directly into the soldier to his right. Taking a few knicks from the soldiers as he passes (18 physical damage), he shoves the hapless knight into the eastern wall with sufficient force to crack the wood open and spill them out onto the street below. The victim in question is knocked unconscious by the impact, though is still not Downed or Dead. The sheer shock of it nearly stuns Rory as well, though he manages to push through it.

The crowd breaks out into full applause at the display.


It is now Javan's turn.

As soon as Javan saw Rory coming down the building, he decided to use this moment to create a distraction. He made use of Revivifier on the mage that was caught by his own spell and then raises his voice, "I have decided. I will let you all go if you do so now. Not only that, I have resurrected your friend mage. Now, take the hint, extinguish your friend's flaming clothes and scatter before I get serious."

The aberrant dragoon then stepped 5 feet south in order to get out of that mage's line of sight, but does so giving the impression he's going to just turn and walk away in the next moment.

OOC:

OOC:

It's not actually the turn of the forces, technically, but as a free action the group looks at each other and at the gathered crowd, and it's apparent that they've made the decision to bail.

It is now Higaide's turn.

Noticing the guards' reaction, Higaide holds his action to see what they will do.

The various guards, hesitantly and reluctantly, gather their wounded and scramble off as fast as their condition allows. The gathered crowd breaks into applause, and several small coins, flowers, and chocolates are tossed at the party in appreciation for their performance.

The applause brings Rory out of his fury, and after a beat looking around wildly in confusion, he starts picking up chocolates.

Javan watches as Rory starts to pick up something on the ground, which took him a moment for his brain to process it was chocolate, and that the sounds around him was clapping, as he had honestly thought it was starting to rain instead.

Once he understood the soldiers also left partially because of the gallery around them, Javan immediately attempts to strike a pose, like one of those you'd see on a poster depicting a dragoon. "And remember!", Javan raise his voice loud enough so he can be heard by the crowd while preparing an even more dynamic pose while his spear points to the sky, "Whatever power or strength you have over others, be it martial, numerical, economic or political, that should never be an excuse to abuse it. It should be used decisively and to everyone's gain, because it will all come back to you, good and bad, someday. I hope you all take this to heart and may the Elements bless the rest of your day, you beautiful people! Thank you very much!"

Finishing those words that escaped his mouth as if they were somehow directed at himself, the aberrant dragoon moves his silver spear from his left to his right hand and takes one of the flowers as it falls with his now empty hand, takes a sniff of it and then bows as much as his armor will allow him.

Action:

Higaide glances at his burns with annoyance, then sees about removing the arrow that hit without making a bigger mess of it. Proper heal check once they're not making a spectacle of themselves.

"Can we go now?"

"Uh, yeah." Rory shoves the chocolates in his pockets or bag. "I'd like to pay the snitches a visit first...! Just to leave a message, I promise. Then we can...rest."

"Are we even sure if they are the snitches? It could have been the weaver for all we know. Instead of outright accusing them, we could try something more subtle. You know, keeping bridges mostly intact unless we really need to burn them?", Javan proposes once they are somewhere more private while passing a Treated Healing Kit to Higaide (+20 to Healing Check, +10 healed for this check) and dealing with his own wounds the same way.

Action:

The population's overall response was fairly positive, though more in the view of watching a neat play rather than having a revelation about life. It still stuck with a few of them.

[Seconding getting somewhere quiet to heal. Remember Higaide can heal up to half his hp per day with Wholeness. We can save that for the assault on the mansion.]

"I guess," Rory breathes through his teeth as he does the same.

"Honestly there's no reason for us to bother, we have a job to do after all. It's just I can't believe they did this," he grits. "We wasted good money and what did it get us? They didn't even wait for us, just left us a map and said 'good luck'. I want a refund."

"Next best thing is replacing what we lost. We just gotta get back to the market, get me something to last me through the day, maybe some horses, and then we'll have a proper go at the mansion as soon as we can. Just go in, break everything between us and our goal, get what we came for and leave."

OOC:

"We should probably avoid breaking everything between us and our goal, because we might need to return to this place at a future time and/or it would be wise to avoid pissing off people with too much money and too much free time. And no, killing the guy isn't an option here unless we have no choice."

"Anyways, I think we should hit the market and restock then try to be sneaky?", said Javan with full intention of going through the market looking for some healing potions.

I really, really want to, though. Rory broods in silence. When Javan is ready to go, he replies, "Screw the rich, to hell with Goratin. It was just some guy before. I was too eager, I let my fear and anger direct my hand. But isn't this different?"

Javan lowers his voice to answer Rory, "I would understand it if we were trying to do something good or at least decent. But we are not. We are thieves robbing someone, which is bad last I checked, just because we believe what he's going to do with it is worse, even tho we have no real idea if that's the case. And also, this is damage control. We messed up big time and we are trying to clean the mess we left behind. Why would we want to create an even bigger mess? To vent frustration? To satisfy our ego? Because they are rich? Which I don't think its a bad thing by itself bytheway."

"Yeah, no, sorry. I almost lost myself back there at the start of the fight, in the heat of the moment and all. But now looking back I am glad I was held back by... whatever did it. I don't think I could live with that. Even tho that's the best thing I can do in life..."

Rory heals himself for 25 with the Treated Kit, expertly mending his open wounds.

As the group is slowly making its way away from the crime scene, several of the locals occasionally stop to congratulate them on a fine performance, or give applause or more chocolates. One lovely Banderling woman offers Javan a flower, and compliments him on his fantastic make-up of an Elemental.

"More importantly, what are we doing it for. I just don't know anymore."

HP maxed.

Higaide's words catch Rory off guard. He shoots him a look of utter shock, but doesn't pursue the matter, and it's back to brooding.

Can't believe what I'm hearing. Are they really cracking? After all we've been through, don't they understand how important this is? I thought you did, friend. Tired, need something to keep going.


Thanks to at least one of us, discretion is off the table...

market:

I'd like the shopkeeper to stay quiet about my purchases, and to use a different name in the ledger. How much to silence the alchemist/shopkeeper? I will ask after the purchase is made.

Name for ledger: Bradon

[No mana stones, then]

The trip to the market is somewhat uneventful, almost suspiciously so. About the time you get there, all three of you get the feeling you're being watched, and not just by the passer-bys who are (still) complimenting you on your performance.

Higaide and Javan heal themselves for 18 and 21 respectively. They also find no health potions for sale, but a few Endurance potions which go for around 5g a pop for the 4 hour range.