Sabrina is the head of house Cliffster 06FEB21
14
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The Aftermath:
No one spoke. A loud snap rang out in the room. A button from Richeut’s uniform fell to the floor to break the silence in the room. Everyone’s eyes moved to the tiny little button on the ground. It was just the distraction needed to bring focus back to the room. The princess had been freed a moment before, only to be taken by Corga and teleported away.
Richeut: “I was too slow. If I had been freed just a little sooner, I could have saved her.”
Yetto: “who are you?”
Richeut: “My name is Richeut, I am a guard in house Cliffster. I was tasked with protecting Princess Shadalah. I failed.”
Arnia: “do you know where she might have taken her?”
Richeut: “no.”
Yetto: “We are Pakku’s Raiders. I am Yetto, that is Wink, Ixen, Arnia, and our Lord of the sewer, Niki.”
Niki: “JUST NIKI.”
It turned into a badinage over the next steps. Richeut wanted to push the group to take some action. What that action would be was unclear, even he did not know. Wink showed her new connections and went into a trance. She could find the princess. This was enough action to make Richeut feel better for now. Niki offered him a little food and water. He looked like he had been starving.
Wink came out of her, self-imposed trance. She had been chanting and bobbing back and forth. The word like sounds that came from her mouth were mostly nonsensical. Niki tried to listen anyway. The only sounds that came out that could be formed into words he knew were “snake” and “scales”. Niki had been to snake readers a couple of times, so presumed her trance had something to do with the snake readers. He hoped she would not start surrounding herself with vipers. The shibboleth about the snake reader was that they often killed themselves with their own snakes. He worried for the little girl. As she came out of the trace her eyes were snake slits like a harbinger of doom.
Wink, a little groggy: “she is near Gulg. She is not quite completely material though.”
Niki: “what does that mean?”
Wink: “I do not completely understand it, but I think… I think she is on another plain of existence. Again I do not completely understand. The word “astral” comes to mind.”
Richeut: “we should find Sabrina and rescue her.”
Yetto: “yes we should help her.”
Wink slowly stood up. She stood like a much older person struggling to stand. Her body felt stiff and cramped as she moved to her feet. Niki seeing the problem, reached out a hand to help her up. The trance temporarily added years to Wink’s body. Niki watched as the years slid off her again. Within a few minutes all the years were gone again, and she was her normal nimble self.
Wink led but with Richeut’s guidance. The group started to head up stairs. They wanted to find Sabrina. Richeut moved to a door. Wink stopped and looked back, “there are a bunch of goblins in the next room.” Yetto moved boldly up. He was not usually bold in combat, but he knew he could handle a room of goblins. He stepped up to the now slightly open door. He made a couple of quick gestures and spoke in a voice that made Niki feel good, “my friends. We have no conflict here. We will just pass.” The goblins all nodded, and we started to move through the room. Richeut started to twitch. Yetto placed his hand on his shoulder, “we can’t fight them all. We need to find your Sabrina.” He bit his lip and moved through the room without looking at them.
The Raiders moved upstairs. It was empty. It was not just empty of people. Most of the rooms had their things removed. It was empty. Each room had that large space echo now. Richeut moved like a chaotic gadabout. He was scared and knew the answer to his only question. Sabrina was gone. His failure was complete. Wink and Niki started to find secret doors. Richeut had not been forthcoming about them. As we found them, he told us that they were part of the escape plan for the house. They had not been used. Niki was starting to not trust this guard.
In Lady Sabrina’s bed chamber Wink found another secret door. Richeut claimed there was not one in this room. She showed it to him, and he had never seen it before. Niki looked down and it was clear no one else had found it recently either. Wink examined it and opened the door. Everyone heard the “thut” sound as darts came shooting from the door. Niki ran to Wink, and Yetto ran to Arnia. The darts had some old poison on them, but it was so old no one was affected by it. Ixen gathered up the darts. Niki opened to the door to protect Wink.
House Cliffster’s treasure was stored here and intact. There was a large sack of ceramics, two gold bracelets, and a painting of the Lady. Niki looked over to the entire group. They wanted to take it all. He then looked at Richeut, who was now amazed and worried. Niki trying to make him feel better, “No worries Richeut, we are trying to rescue Sabrina, not steal from her. We will leave this.” His shoulders relaxed. Wink started to look through the treasure and stared at the painting for a long time. Niki ran his hand along another wall, “I think I found another secret door. Wink can you check it out.” She did and stepped back. Niki opened the door.
The room was filled with books. It was all the contracts and ledgers for house Cliffster. This was likely the most valuable treasure in the city. Richeut had never seen this, but he knew it meaning, “this is what they want from my lady.” He became stiff, then his entire body went limp with despair, “we must find her, and find her now.” They all decided to leave the treasure room and search the rest of the house. They moved from room to room moving fast. Richeut was becoming disparate.
Wink stopped at a door at the far end of the hall. They had moved into a new wing. She held her hand in the air like Pakku had taught her. Niki knew the signal well. He helped the group stop. Crouched she headed back down the hall. Quite movement is always done from a lowered position. She moved up to Niki, Yetto, and the very nervous Richeut.
Wink: “more gblins
Niki: “maybe we can bypass them or try Yetto’s charm.”
Yetto: “Yeahhhhh”
Richeut a little louder than expected: “No. they took her. We must kill them now.”
Niki scanning Richeut: “can you fight.”
Richeut: “I have this bow, I can fight.”
Yetto smiling huge: “I can charm them.”
Richeut again a little loud: “No. They must die for this disgrace.”
Niki stood looking down the hall. He looked over to Arnia. She was ready to fight. This looked like a good place to make some stand. He could sense she needed better armor and arms, but she would do. They could handle a few goblins. Ixen came up with a giddy smile on his face, “I can be a desert dog once again.” Niki looked back to Richeut. He could not decide how well he could fight. He pulled out his dagger and flipped it in his hand. He was now holding the handle and reached it out to Richeut, “I will want this back.” Richeut headed up to the door. Niki noticed he looked sere, as if he was drying away.
Wink went up and opened the door, Ixen changed and charged in. The fight was on. Richeut was quick and charged in to fight on Ixen flank. He thin body belie his true power in battle. Even with a dagger he dove into the attack. He killed a goblin with ever attack. Niki and the others moved in with a little more caution. Arnia moved up to flack Richeut and Ixen. Niki, Wink, and Yetto moved to the edges of the room. They worked to control the fight more than kill the goblins. In less than a minute the goblins were dead.
Richeut took several breaths, “slavers”. He moved to wall and opened a secret door. He smiled as he stepped in. The group followed him in. It was a stash of weapons. The goblins and other invaders had not found this room. He wiped the blood from the dagger and handed it back to Niki. He started going through the gear. He was trying to figure out how much was still here. Some racks had their blades missing. Someone had been here, but it was not the goblins outside.
Richeut: “it looks like some of my men grabbed their weapons.”
Niki: “do you mind if we arm up a little?”
Richeut: “please take what you need.”
Yetto: “these look like slavers.”
Wink: “house Whitehal.”
Niki: “I think so.”
Richeut: “let’s go there to find our Lady.”
Wink: “I could find out for sure.”
Richeut twitching again: “we need to find her now.”
Niki: “intelligence is what is important.”
Yetto: “I think we should search the house a little be more for other supplies.”
Niki: “I am going to head down and get the ceramics. We may need to bribe a guard or two.”
Niki looked back into the room as he left. He did not know why but he thought he should grab some extra arms. Selune give me strength if this is a mistake.
The group spilt into three directions. Niki ran back down the hall towards the treasure room. Richeut and Yetto went into a new wing. Arnia finally found some armor. Wink waited here with her as she armed up. She turned into some great warrior now that she had real armor and weapons. She still needed a shield, but she starting to look like a force. Yetto followed Richeut into his own chamber. He moved into his own secret storage and grabbed a great silver sword. He had his weapon and now looked a like a true guard. A house guard. He now appeared voracious for blood. Niki ran into the treasure room. He grabbed the ceramics and headed over to the gold bracelet. He looked down as he grabbed the one. He had thought there had been two. He slid the one into his pocket. He must have been mistaken. If he had he looked at the painting he would have seen, it had changed.
The three groups gathered back in the weapons room. Richeut wanted to go but he was willing to wait for Wink. Wink brought them all back to treasure room. She wanted to use the painting as a focus for her powers. Niki needed a little rest, “how about the rest of us take a knee for a little while.” Yetto, Ixen, and Arnia all wanted to get a little rest as well. Richeut who was now fully armed, “I will search the rest of the house just in case.” He ran off. Niki was not sure if that was good or not. Niki moved into the room of ledgers. He started to look them over. He spent most of the hour in there. Wink came out of her trance.
Wink: “Sabrina is in house Whitehal.”
Niki: “so I guess we should try and rescue her.”
Wink: “why?”
Yetto: “two reasons. First off, gaining influence in a great house can only be good for us. Second, I do not think we want house Whitehal to have all these contracts.”
Niki: “for sure.”
Wink: “some of the scrolls in there are magical.”
Niki: “which ones.”
Wink pointing: “that on, that one, that one, and that one.”
Yetto grabbing them: “these are likely there most valuable contracts.”
Wink: “I noticed the picture has changed and is magical.”
They all looked at the painting. It was now a wounded image of Lady Sabrina. Niki moved up to it and looked at it for many minutes. A new scar showed up. This painting was connected to her. Maybe if she was showing us wounds, he could heal her through it. He reached out to it, and gave a quick prayer, “may you wash a few cycles of the moon across her.” Not only did the scars dimmish a little, but her eyes had a renewed spirit within them. She knew someone was trying to help her. A plan was starting to form.
They would take the painting to house Gardiward and help her while they head in to rescue Lady Sabrina. Yetto and Niki grabbed a few of the of the most recent contract. Even if she gave them this room, they would keep a few contracts, in hopes of bargaining for her life. Or they would give them to house Gardiward as they watched the collapse of house Cliffster. Either way it was better than house Whitehal having them. Niki was not sure if he wanted to be in the middle of a house war, but he they were. They had chosen sides and house Whitehal must fall.
Even without Richeut, they grabbed the painting and headed out.
Heading to House Gardiward – The Mul come to our aide:
Ixen knows his domain, the sewers. The group moved back down into the lower levels. They needed to exit back into his domain and move through that as much as possible. They descended the stairs. Wink listened for the goblins that used to hold the room. Only silence came back from the door. Sneaking down into the room Wink found all the goblins cut to pieces. Someone with great skill had been there and killed them all. Arnia examined some of the bodies. One of her jobs as a former slave was to taking care of the house gladiators. She could tell someone with some great and sharp sword had cut them all down. The Raiders knew this could have only been Richeut. He was a master swordsman, and here was his stage.
They moved through the lower levels and out into the sewer. Niki closed the door behind them. Ixen guided them as close as he could to house Gariward. Niki gave the painting to Yetto, “I think you are the best one to carry the painting. Arnia covered it with a cloth from the house. With the travel plan they stood at street level. Niki wished he could have found his friends, the Mul. They might have been able to protect him and them as they approach his former house. They moved out into the street.
They moved, taking the path with the most hidden locations. The streets were mostly empty. They bustling city had been broken over the last five days. These five days have felt like Tiamat’s Lustrum. Streets full of life and wares were empty. They could smell some fires up ahead. Most of the city had seen some fires, so it was not too surprising. They turned a corner to see multiple fires and chaos.
Buildings on both sides of the street were ablaze. They paint the street with streaks of red, orange and yellow. Smoke and heat fill the area. Ten people rush to start more fires. The chaos filled eyes only see what they are told to see. A man runs from one of the burning buildings. A person in a mask grabs him. He is without chaos, but a man of chaos. He is wearing a giant mask or headdress of a desert dog. Those touched among the raiders feel the name of Set switch across their mind and finally come from their very mouth. This beast of Set holds the man for a moment. The chaos changes and his eyes become as chaotic as the others. He is creating the crazed here.
Niki was torn. He knew they could just run and bypass this fight. He knew they should, but the beast of Set had to be stopped. They were now Pakku’s Raiders and they were a force for good, even in the chaos. Niki started to charge as he yelled, “the priest must die.” To Niki’s surprise his companions all had already started to charge. They all wanted that beast dead. Ixen changed into a matching desert dog and charged in. Yetto gently leaned the painting against a crate, moved up and charmed his ass off. Some of the crazed, became confused. Even Wink moved up to attack.
A group of Mul charged into the courtyard. It looked like the Raiders were about to be surrounded. Niki looked over. He smiled as he knew these free fighters. They came in to help Niki and his friends. An old grizzled Mul was leading them. It was the same old gladiator. Niki shuck his head, this was why he should have grabbed more weapons. Curse my failing today. They were armed but mostly with broken short swords and clubs. They had seen many battles at this point, and their numbers had been diminished. The old Mul yelled, “we fight for freedom.”
The priest, Comruk Shugnun turned as the group approached. He could control the crazed, and mentally move them to protect himself. As Wink moved up, he saw her. Completely masked and hidden under his mask he smiled with joy. She was one of the people he wanted. His voice echoed from within his mask, making it boom over the fight, “Wink, my sister, … you will join me now.” From that moment on, as the crazed moved they moved to get closer to her. He moved to get closer to her. He charged though his own line to run up on her. He smacked her. She screamed and leaped thirty feet to rest upon a building. Niki used the distraction to move up behind him and stab him in his exposed back.
The fight was not going well. Ixen was on to his second shape change. Niki refused to stop attacking the priest. Yetto was just the most fucking charming son of a bitch. Everyone always loves him. The crazed started to flank Niki and they were pummeling him. He was hit and should have fallen to the ground but stood. He was hit again but stood. Like the castle in the swamp, the third hit dropped him to the ground. Wink healed him. Arnia moved to attack the priest. She hit him with all her smite. He should have dropped but he changed instead.
He was some sort of Rutterkin and shifted into a beast that had a huge mouth for a hand. Niki barely stood. Arnia yelled, “should I heal you.” Niki looked across this shifting creature and yelled, “No! attack. It must be killed.” Arnia swung her sword and brought the creatures final life to an end. Without him to control the crazed, they started to wonder off. As the last ones left Yetto grabbed the painting. Niki was badly beaten. He cried out and collapsed on the ground.
Niki was on the ground with his back against an ancient fountain. This was almost the same way Arnia had found him days ago when she was first introduced to the Mul and her healing hands. The old grizzled Mul walked up. Wink and the rest started to gather around Niki. He was crying as he sat. Wink healed him, then Arnia healed him, and finally Ixen came up to heal him. Through the powers of the new gods, he was nearly completely healed, but still he cried. He looked up to the other raiders, “I am so sorry. We should not have attacked that thing. Wink I did not know it would go after you. I am so sorry.” He cried and blubbered on from several minutes. Wink moved up to him, reached her hand out to his shoulder, and with a stature of a much older girl spoke her truth, “it was the right thing to do. We are all Pakku’s Raiders, and we will strive to do the right thing.”
Niki mopped up his tears, as it was time to move on