Idae tossed the shortsword to Zan, still covered in the blood of Drevoraz, “’Ear, ya go! This is either yours or yer mates, there,” he indicated Tolin.
Lavinia pulled out the rest of the equipment that had been hers and the Jade Ravens' from beneath the bed, and located several healing potions. After reviving Ornrik, she held up the rest. “Who else needs a potion?”
Viselys reached for one. “Saris does,” he said, and began to attend to the still unconscious man.
Walking past Lavinia, not breaking stride as he took a flask, Idae said “I do.” Everyone looked at him oddly, as he did not appear damaged at all, but his intent became clear as he lifted Kora to the bed. Some rolled their eyes, while Lavinia gave a bare smile of approval that went unnoticed.
Ornrik went about triage duty while Viselys, after administering the potion to Saris, evaluated the situation. As he looked around the room an idea occurred to him, prompting him to ask, “Ornrik, can you enlarge me the way you did Saris?”
“Aye, lad. I can,” and he casts the spell without a second thought.
With his new-found size and strength, Viselys picked up a table and walked out of the room.
Meanwhile, Idae who had begun checking the bodies of the bullywug priest and Drevoraz for anything useful, looked up as Viselys passed. Guessing his intent with the table, Idae offered, “Um, Viselys, perhaps tossing these blokes down the stairs would have better results than destroying furniture unnecessarily?”
Either Viselys didn’t hear or didn’t listen. However, the table tactic worked well as he dropped it on two bullywugs as they began to climb the stairs. The broken wood and the two bodies became a hindrance to the following reinforcements.
Saris, having been healed enough to wield his sword, eagerly moved to the top of the stairs with Viselys to intercept their slowed, but still advancing attackers. Lavinia, armed with her own weapon once again, joined Idae to take up positions at the railing with bows. It was evident in her stance that she both knew how to use her bow, and had no reservations about defending her home.
Several more bullywugs approached, one in particular being very big and very muscular. One of the minor looking bullywugs had in tow a creature that looked like an insectoid armadillo.
Saris went down quickly, having not been fully healed from his previous battle. Viselys managed to strike fear into the bullywug captain causing him to momentarily withdraw. However, this left Viselys open to the armadillo-like creature, which lashed out at him. Suddenly, Viselys’ armor was dust at his feet.
Eventually, through team work and pure tenacity, the heroes managed to dispatch the rust creature and the hulking captain. The rest of the bullywugs fled in fear without their leader.
“Blast! My armor!!” Viselys cursed.
“That’s how they got in,” Kora said emerging from the bedroom to look wide-eyed at the rust creature. “They used that creature to eat through a metal grate that had secured the underground waterway.”
“Can you get a man in to fix it?” Idae asked.
“I’ll fetch someone first thing in the morning,” she replied quickly.
“During the Wyrmfall Festival?” Viselys pointed out.
Kora, who hadn’t been thinking clearly since her ordeal, realized he was right. “Oh, right. It might have to wait until after the festival,” she said a bit fretfully.
Zan and the now conscious Tolin emerged from the bedroom. “We need to find our companions – they were held downstairs.” With that, they were down the stairs.
Meanwhile, the party assessed their damages. Ornrik went about treating wounds and then turned his attention to the few magical items the bullywug priest and Dreveroz had had. Idae went to retrieve the woman who had attacked them in the market.
After carrying the leotard clad woman inside, Idae laid her on the floor before reviving her. She lay there a moment blinking furiously trying to get her bearings. Realizing she was not anywhere she recognized she quickly sat up. Viselys stepped in to interrogate her.
“Why did you attack us? Who hired you?” he asked, menacingly.
Before she could answer, Idae stepped forward, and in his Argot dialect said earnestly, “Missy, I’d suggest ya’ tell this bobby everythin’ ‘e asks, straight ‘n plain. I’ve seen ‘im an’ ‘e’s not right in th’ ‘ead, ‘e ain’t."
Turning her attention back to Viselys, her eyes filled with fear, “Don’t hurt me! I’ll tell you anything you want to know! They call me Diamondback. We were hired by Heldrath Kellani.”
“How much?” Idae asked.
“Thee hundred gold, with a promise of a thousand after you’d been… um… eliminated,” she replied, not taking her wary eyes off of Viselys.
“And where ya’ hidin’ it? You clearly don’t got’ny pockets in there,” Idae said, referring to her skin-tight catsuit.
“Back at my flat,” she replied without hesitation, her eyes darting to Idae before returning to Viselys.
“Which is where?” Viselys prompted, causing her to flinch.
“Azure District. Corner of Bait Street and Dredger’s Lane,” she answered quickly, very obviously more afraid of the young guardsman than anyone else in the room.
Viselys turned to Idae, “Go check it out.”
“If you do, stay clear of the front door,” Diamondback volunteered, giving Idae a meaningful look.
Before he left, Idae tuned to her and, again in the jargon of the underworld, asked, “Is there anything you want me to bring back for you? A change of cloths, perhaps?”
Struck by his offer, she responded in kind, “Yes, a change of cloths would be nice, thank you.”
With that, Idae went to prepare himself.
Meanwhile, Zan and Tolin returned with their two companions. The reunited Jade Ravens volunteered to keep watch so the rescuing party could get some much needed sleep.
That is, except for Idae…
