Shorebound Day 537.15
Summer is almost over, the DD starts her Senior year of HS tomorrow, and DS will be headed back as a college sophomore in a couple weeks. Where did the time go?
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We did a little quick patching up, with Aja paying special attention to those slice wounds. I tried not to look. I'll take a puncture over this any day. Then we questioned the crossbowman. Even with Kromnir looming and glowering, he was unwilling to give anything. But Kiarra charmed him and between her sweet talk and an offer to set him free, she was able to get some reluctant info. He said that the boss was someone named Fayatti, and that they had killed someone named Donavon, so they would certainly would not hesitate to do him in. He seemed rather suprised both at himself for giving the name, and us when I reluctantly reclaimed my manacles and stood back. After a reminder that it would be good never to be seen in Absalom again - which he seemed to wholeheartedly agree with - he was back out the window.
We cautiously went down the stairs and saw....the vault lobby. Sitting calmly by the main vault door was a smallish mechanical looking creature with corkscrews and keys and cutting implements sprouting all over it. It just sat there, and I wondered aloud after a few moments if it was just a tool. Kiarra put it toward the test by striding confidently past it into the main vault. It was not just a tool - it tried to jump on her back, but ended up crashing into a table, alerting the other people in the vault. Kromnir and I followed her in, and much to my dismay, there was even larger one of the horrible stinking skin monsters...and a halfling who had been putting stuff in bags.
The halfling tried to kneecap Kiarra, but failed horribly. She did not take kindly to that, and went for the throat by going for his balls...with a phantom pain spell. While he doubled over clutching his junk, Kromnir bonked him with a shield, and then the big skin thing took a swipe at Kiarra. Those of us in the vault heard the clatter of crossbow bolts and a pained cry from Aja. That one cannot catch a break! Kiarra noped the hell out of the vault with vehemence. Literally - she told off the halfling, the skin thing, and the dog thing as she went back through the doors.
From my spot on the table lately occupied by the dog thing, which had gone rushing after Kiarra, I eyed Kromnir nervously. I felt like I was about to be left alone with the skin monster, but after a visible stuggle and what felt like an eternity but was likely only a heartbeat or two, he forged ahead and bashed his shield in the face of the skin thing, while calling back to Kiarra - keep the casters safe! A "sure thing!" floated back our way.
The halfling was quickly down for the count, and Kromnir got up in the face of the skin thing. We heard an airy "Everything's Fine Here" from Kiarra in the other room. I jumped behind the skin monster and caught a glimpse of Visandus staggering around with the dog thing attached to his back while Kiarra appeared to be trying to spear it off him. Aja was just pulling herself up from the floor, with some new bloodstains on her clothes.
The Kromnir-Talia tag team got the upper hand on the construct, and Kiarra yelled an all clear from the other room. They came in as the halfling was trying to uncurl. He saw Kiarra and curled back up. A furrowed brow from her got his name - it was Kolo Harven, the MIA relative of Mr. Softwhistle. He made all kinds of protestations about how he was innocent, he was ensorcelled, and more. A bit of dangling by Kromnir or perhaps the thought of having to face his family seemed to convince him that maybe he should speak up. Aja simply frowned at him the whole time, which was very unusual for her. After getting an aside from Visandus that two more of the rogue types had come out of the back hallway and jumped her, I quite understood. Also, we should probably check back hallways first next time.
I asked for the vault keys back and Kiarra tossed them to me. Kromnir was confused about why we had come through the window if we had the keys. It came down to "Because the person with the keys hadn't been down to the vaults previously" and that was that. Maybe we can at least use the keys on the way back UP?
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We did a little quick patching up, with Aja paying special attention to those slice wounds. I tried not to look. I'll take a puncture over this any day. Then we questioned the crossbowman. Even with Kromnir looming and glowering, he was unwilling to give anything. But Kiarra charmed him and between her sweet talk and an offer to set him free, she was able to get some reluctant info. He said that the boss was someone named Fayatti, and that they had killed someone named Donavon, so they would certainly would not hesitate to do him in. He seemed rather suprised both at himself for giving the name, and us when I reluctantly reclaimed my manacles and stood back. After a reminder that it would be good never to be seen in Absalom again - which he seemed to wholeheartedly agree with - he was back out the window.
We cautiously went down the stairs and saw....the vault lobby. Sitting calmly by the main vault door was a smallish mechanical looking creature with corkscrews and keys and cutting implements sprouting all over it. It just sat there, and I wondered aloud after a few moments if it was just a tool. Kiarra put it toward the test by striding confidently past it into the main vault. It was not just a tool - it tried to jump on her back, but ended up crashing into a table, alerting the other people in the vault. Kromnir and I followed her in, and much to my dismay, there was even larger one of the horrible stinking skin monsters...and a halfling who had been putting stuff in bags.
The halfling tried to kneecap Kiarra, but failed horribly. She did not take kindly to that, and went for the throat by going for his balls...with a phantom pain spell. While he doubled over clutching his junk, Kromnir bonked him with a shield, and then the big skin thing took a swipe at Kiarra. Those of us in the vault heard the clatter of crossbow bolts and a pained cry from Aja. That one cannot catch a break! Kiarra noped the hell out of the vault with vehemence. Literally - she told off the halfling, the skin thing, and the dog thing as she went back through the doors.
From my spot on the table lately occupied by the dog thing, which had gone rushing after Kiarra, I eyed Kromnir nervously. I felt like I was about to be left alone with the skin monster, but after a visible stuggle and what felt like an eternity but was likely only a heartbeat or two, he forged ahead and bashed his shield in the face of the skin thing, while calling back to Kiarra - keep the casters safe! A "sure thing!" floated back our way.
The halfling was quickly down for the count, and Kromnir got up in the face of the skin thing. We heard an airy "Everything's Fine Here" from Kiarra in the other room. I jumped behind the skin monster and caught a glimpse of Visandus staggering around with the dog thing attached to his back while Kiarra appeared to be trying to spear it off him. Aja was just pulling herself up from the floor, with some new bloodstains on her clothes.
The Kromnir-Talia tag team got the upper hand on the construct, and Kiarra yelled an all clear from the other room. They came in as the halfling was trying to uncurl. He saw Kiarra and curled back up. A furrowed brow from her got his name - it was Kolo Harven, the MIA relative of Mr. Softwhistle. He made all kinds of protestations about how he was innocent, he was ensorcelled, and more. A bit of dangling by Kromnir or perhaps the thought of having to face his family seemed to convince him that maybe he should speak up. Aja simply frowned at him the whole time, which was very unusual for her. After getting an aside from Visandus that two more of the rogue types had come out of the back hallway and jumped her, I quite understood. Also, we should probably check back hallways first next time.
I asked for the vault keys back and Kiarra tossed them to me. Kromnir was confused about why we had come through the window if we had the keys. It came down to "Because the person with the keys hadn't been down to the vaults previously" and that was that. Maybe we can at least use the keys on the way back UP?