Second Darkness Postgame: Session 125

[15:36] <@Kjell> *****Second Darkness*****
[15:36] <@Kjell> ~~~Postgame~~~
[15:36] <@Kjell> -Session 125-
[15:39] <@Kjell> After infiltrating the city of Sedeq and confirming that Kahree's friend Viraj was still there, along with about a hundred other slaves in the same compound, near a palace belonging to the local Slave trade master, himself reputed as a skilled Genie binder.
[15:40] <@Kjell> Kahree paid covert visits to Viraj to inform him of their plan. The oread was stubborn and difficult to convince, but the more information Kahree and Lil were able to get out of the locals, the more solid the plan became.
[15:40] <@Kjell> Lil had an easy time getting information out of the locals, given her skill with words and the prideful, boasting nature of the Qadirans.
[15:41] <@Kjell> Two weeks after their arrival in Sedeq, the day of the great escape had come.
[15:42] * Kjell wakes up bring and early that morning, wanting to get his spells ready as much as he could for the plan, and to go over the details one last time with Lil and Kahree before they went ahead with it.
[15:43] <Kahree> Kahree is up too, anxious as she waits for Kjell to ready himself. She remains... somewhat still, fiddling with her two maces.
[15:44] * Kjell sets his spellbook on the table, as well as a floor plan of the palace near the slave pens. "Having trouble sleeping?"
[15:46] * Kahree nods. "Yeah... I tried to sleep in, but ended up rolling around a bit, annoyed."
[15:47] * Kjell chuckles a bit dryly, "You're usually so good at it."
[15:49] * Kahree huffs and rolls her eyes. "Whatever. I'm up and ready to go when you are."
[15:52] * Kjell nods, "We should make sure we all know where to be and what the plan is. We should go over it one more time to be safe. Once Lil joins us of course. Now, should we do it early, or wait until we have darkness to help conceal us?"
[15:54] <Kahree> "With the darkness." Kahree nods. "It'll be a bit harder for the slaves to stick together, but in the dark, it is -much- easier to see a free efreeti, and all attention'd be on it."
[15:55] * Kjell nods, "Alright then." He looks to the floor plan of the palace. "We know he keeps the Genies bound in the lower level. Presumably he uses dimensional shackles to prevent them from teleporting or shifting planes, but you should be able to pick those without too much trouble."
[15:58] * Kahree nods, thinking for a moment. "Maybe it's best that we split up? I can sneak in their, and you can release the elementals a distance away. That'll divert attention away from the manor for a while, then by the time they've contained that problem, the Efreeti becomes their next."
[15:58] * Kahree smirks. "By that time, we'll be leaving with the slaves, as you can teleport back to us."
[15:58] * Kjell nods, "Then you'll use those boots of yours to handle getting the infirm ones out?"
[15:59] * Kahree nods. "Yes... and perhaps we should fashion a map to our base, so Viraj may start the trek their? Then we regroup with him, once you've set up your distraction, and I've teleported the infirm."
[16:00] * Kjell nods, pulling out a map of the peninsula. "It won't be an easy trek, but once we regroup, I have a few spells suited to hampering pursuit. A wall of flames, or if needed, one made of pure magical force.
[16:01] * Kahree nods. "Good. Anything else then?"
[16:01] * Kahree hands over the elemental gems while she waits for an answer.
[16:05] * Kjell takes them and considers. "So, I'll be releasing the elementals to the north, while Lil makes use of the illusion card we gave her to further confuse matters. While the guards are pulled away, you slip into the Palace's lower level and free the genies. While they're causing chaos, you and I slip back to the slave housing, and hopefully Viraj will have the others freed of their binds. If not, you can aid him in hastening that effo
[16:05] <@Kjell> -If not, you can aid him in hastening that effort, after which we flee to the south as directly as we are able. Any guards we meet along the way you deal with swiftly and as quietly as possible."
[16:06] * Kjell notes, "We're counting on the guards being more interested in protecting the market and residential areas to the north than the slave pens."
[16:07] * Kahree nods.
[16:08] * Kjell sighs, "With any luck, they won't figure out that the elementals are a diversion until we've gotten out of town. After that," he produces the orb of storms, "I can use this to cause wind and rain to form behind us and cover the rather large tracks our group will be leaving."
[16:09] * Kahree smirks. "Sounds good to me."
[16:11] <@Kjell> There's a knock at the door, after which Lil pokes her head in, "Brought you guys some breakfast. Figured you'd wanna lay low until this evening." She presents them with eggs, bacon and toast
[16:11] * Kahree grins. "Awesome. Thanks"
[16:12] <@Kjell> Lil nods, "Just remember, if you guys screw this up, I disavow any knowledge of you. I've seen how much it sucks to be a slave, so I've no intention of ending up as one myself if either of you gets caught."
[16:13] * Kahree nods, moving for a breakfast plate. "Fair enough."
[16:14] * Kjell chuckles weakly, "Well, you've aleady done quite a bit more for us than we originally anticipated. Actually, that gave me an idea of something else."
[16:14] <@Kjell> Lil raises an eyebrow, "What exactly?"
[16:15] * Kjell smirks, "Well, given you skill with clandestine efforts you've shown, it would certainly be useful for us to have someone in the city as eyes and ears for us. Keep us informed if our settlement is discovered or if Qadira sends pursuers after us."
[16:16] * Kjell pulls out a couple of his sending scrolls, "Someone who could keep tabs on these things and inform us ahead of time so we can prepare as needed would be quite nice."
[16:17] <@Kjell> Lil looks intrigued, "So, you want to hire me to be a spy? I kinda like the sound of that actually. You wouldn't believe how loose lips get in my line of work. No one expects a whore to have connections."
[16:17] <@Kjell> Lil notes, "Provided you intend to compensate me for my efforts."
[16:18] * Kjell nods, looking to Kahree, "I'm certain we can arrange something."
[16:19] * Kahree nods. "Once we get this place up and running, definitely."
[16:24] <@Kjell> Lil nods, "Then I'll give you a tentative yes."
[16:26] * Kjell nods and hands her two of the sending scrolls. He then looks to Kahree, "Once we've finished this undertaking, we'll see what skills the liberated have to offer, and Samaritha can start providing them with some rudimentary education."
[16:27] * Kahree smiles and nods, munching on the breakfast foods Lil brought.
[16:27] * Kjell finishes his spell preparation and then digs into his own breakfast
[16:29] <Kahree> Once Kahree is finished, she nods to Kjell. "Ready?"
[16:30] * Kjell looks down at the elemental gems, deciding how efficiently to use them. He would start with the fire elementals, since they would attract the most attention. After that, it was really just a question of placement. He didn't want anyone innocent to get caught in the crossfire, so he intended to instruct them only to attack those who attacked them first.
[16:34] * Kjell looks up, "About as ready as we can be I suspect." He rolls up the map of their escape route and hands it to Kahree to give to Viraj. He carefully stores the elemental gems. "At sunset then."
[16:36] * Kahree groans a little. More waiting.
[16:38] <@Kjell> After a day of waiting and readying, the sun sets, and the time for the plan to begin arrives.
[16:40] * Kahree nudges Kjell as soon as it's time. She's ready to go!
[16:40] * Kjell waits until the sun drops below the Horizon from his position to the north of the city. He first casts invisibility on himself so that he wouldn't be seen while using the elemental summoning gems. He starts, as intended, by crushing one of the fire elemental gems under his heel, summoning the creature. He then hastens his movement speed and repeats the process twice more, separating the elementals by a block each
[16:41] <@Kjell> The uproar caused by the elementals appearing is noticeable even from halfway across the city, and Kahree can see gouts of flame shooting up, followed shortly by bells in a guardhouse being run to raise the alarm.
[16:42] <@Kjell> rung
[16:47] <Kahree> Kahree heads out as soon as she sees the gout of flame, heading for the slavehouse under the guise of night.
[16:48] <@Kjell> Kahree has an easy time reaching the slave pen under the cover of darkness. All around her she can hear the commotion of frantic guards scrambling to get to the north end of the city, most of them looking and sounding confused as to what was even going on.
[16:51] * Kahree continues, entering through the same disposal as last time, heading for Viraj.
[16:52] <@Kjell> Viraj looks up to Kahree as she comes in. "Your friend certainly knows how to be distracting," he notes. He then walks over to the window and grabs one of the metal bars. He gives a grunt and pulls it clean out of the wall. Then, as Kahree watches, he reshapes the metal cylinder into a crowbar.
[16:53] * Kahree nods, looking around. "Are the slaves prepped to leave?"
[16:55] <@Kjell> the other slaves are sitting around, most wearing some form of shackle or ball and chain. Viraj puts his new prybar to work and breaks off the heavy ball holding him down. He locks Kahree with his good eye, "Those who are unable to make the journey on their own are there." He points to a quartet of slaves. Among them is a Sylph, the stripes of repeated whippings running down her back and legs. She lays on her side, looking to Kahree with
[16:57] <@Kjell> - with a mix of hope and concern. The other three are keleshite humans. One has a broken leg, the other two are fairly badly malnourished
[17:00] * Kahree hands Viraj a map to their encampment; a frown on her lips, and moves to the four. "I'll be back with you after these four are safe," she notes, leaning down and holding out her hands. "Hold my hands, and one another's, then we'll be safe."
[17:02] <@Kjell> The sylph nods and grasps Kahree's hand. She feels remarkably light. She then takes the hands of the others. She whispers encouragingly to the others.
[17:03] * Kahree gives the four a light smile before closing her eyes and focusing on the magic within her boots. A moment later, she teleports to the encampment.
[17:04] <@Kjell> Samaritha is standing in the large tent as Kahree reappears. She blinks, then looks to her, then to the slaves. She frowns a bit, looking worried, "Were... were these all you managed to free?"
[17:05] * Kahree shakes her head. "These are just the injured." She stands, releasing the hand of the sylph. "Try to set them up comfortably so they can recover, or until we find a cleric."
[17:06] <@Kjell> The Sylph smiles gratefully to Kahree, then looks to Samaritha, "Please get them some food." She gestures those malnourished. "I can't stand on my own, so if you'd be so kind as to provide me a seat, I would appreciate it."
[17:06] <@Kjell> Samaritha nods and helps the sylph woman into a chair, then motions for a couple of the workers to take the others over to the cookfire.
[17:07] * Kahree returns the smile then, with a click of her heels, is back at the slavehouse, looking about for Viraj.
[17:08] <@Kjell> Viraj is currently going around to the slaves one by one and prying off their shackles. His morphed metal prybar isn't quite strong enough to remove the cuffs, but it can bend and break off the chain coupling.
[17:09] <Kahree> Kahree nods to Viraj. "I'll go set free the efreeti... once I do, I'll catch up with you, however far you are."
[17:11] <@Kjell> Viraj nods, breaking the chains off the undine woman Kahree saw the first day out in the yard. She smiles appreciatively and stands, looking to Kahree. "If there is a Marid genie in custody there as well, would you be willing to free her too?"
[17:12] * Kahree nods. "I'll try. Friend of yours?"
[17:13] <@Kjell> The undine nods, "Perhaps even a relative."
[17:13] <Kahree> Kahree looks to Viraj. "Right. Which way to their holding?"
[17:14] <@Kjell> Viraj looks to Kahree, "The lower level of the palace across the street. The 'master' doesn't trust them to be near us. I am afraid I don't know how many guard it."
[17:16] * Kahree nods, drawing her maces as she moves for the palace.
[17:17] <@Kjell> As Kahree slips across the street, she spies two guards stationed in front of the entrance to the slave pens. They look to be confused, but would definitely have to be dispatched so the slaves could use the door freely to get out.
[17:18] * Kahree continues towards the duo, positioning herself between them as she prepares to strike...
[17:19] <@Kjell> The guards don't notice her at all
[17:21] * Kahree smirks, following through with a flourish of blows directed at the two guards.
[17:23] <@Kjell> Both guards are effortlessly knocked out
[17:24] <@Kjell> Kahree however, realizes that if she leaves the bodies where visible, it might attract unwanted attention back here if anyone passed by
[17:25] * Kahree looks for a spot to drag the bodies.
[17:35] <@Kjell> the narrow alley she used to sneak into the slave pen still had its manure cart there. On or under it would be a good place for them to go unnoticed for now
[17:37] * Kahree takes to dragging each corpse under the cart. As soon as she finishes, she quickly makes her way for the palace.
[17:37] <@Kjell> The two bronze statues continue to adorn the entrance, but the place doesn't look to have any guards on the outside
[17:38] * Kahree moves inside after placing her hand to her chest, turning invisible.
[17:38] <@Kjell> The main entranc is locked
[17:39] * Kahree groans, pulling out her thieving set to get to work on the lock.
[17:40] <@Kjell> The lock is stubborn, and possibly magically augmented
[17:41] <Kahree> Kahree tries once more!
[17:41] <Kahree> Kahree tries... several more times.
[17:41] <@Kjell> it takes her three subsequent attempts, but Kahree manages to get the lock open
[17:41] <Kahree> Kahree places her hands to the door, using the magic in her gloves to spy in.
[17:42] <@Kjell> Kahree can see two guards by a door that she knows from the floor plan leads to the lower level, while four cover a larger, grander staircase that leads upstairs
[17:44] <Kahree> Kahree smirks. Idea! Reaching for her belt, she takes out her eversmoking bottle and lays it on the ground. As she takes off the stopper, she pushes open the door, using the smoke flooding in to hide.
[17:46] <@Kjell> Kahree can hear the guards yell and point at the smoke, "Fire! Put it out, quick!" "How did it spread this far so quickly?"
[17:47] <@Kjell> Kahree can see the guards gathering up buckers of water and smothering blankets before moving towards the front door.
[17:49] * Kahree moves to the closest one carrying a bucket, swinging her mace at his stomach.
[17:50] <@Kjell> The guard goes down with an 'urk'. The other guards stop and stay still for a moment. "Oi, Irzen, what happened?" No response comes.
[17:52] <@Kjell> One of the guards mutters, "An arsonist most likely. Thumped him in the smoke. Draw your weapons." They proceed to draw their scimitars out, keeping their eyes on the smoke, but not wandering into it if they can help it.
[17:53] <Kahree> This gives Kahree enough time to place her hand on her chest, refreshing her spell of invisibility. Once it's active, she makes her way behind another guard.
[17:54] <@Kjell> The guards are none too perceptive, and the invisible Kahree slips right past them.
[17:54] <@Kjell> They stay in guarded positions though, waiting for the attacker to show herself
[17:57] * Kahree growls, making herself known as she steps in between three of them, swinging her maces; her maces sweep low, aiming for the lower back of each.
[18:00] <@Kjell> Kahree effortlessly dispatches the two guards as the others exlaim. "Oi! It's an ifrit. Where'd she come from?"
[18:00] <@Kjell> *three
[18:04] <@Kjell> The two guards come at her, scimitars whirling, taking flanking positions around her so she oculdn't catch them by surprise again
[18:05] <@Kjell> Kahree is far too nimble for them
[18:05] <@Kjell> Their flurried scimitar movements make their misses almost synchronous
[18:06] * Kahree replies with her own flurry of blows, turning on the second guard after the first.
[18:08] <@Kjell> Kahree drops the first guard with fervour, but the second hangs on by a thread.
[18:10] <@Kjell> The remaining guard staggers back, bleeding and bruised. He pants, trying to focus as blood runs down his forehead from a blow to the head. "W-wait," he tries to stammer out, keeping his scimitar up defensively, but not attacking
[18:11] * Kahree frowns and stays her maces. "Yes?"
[18:14] <@Kjell> The guard clutches at one of his wounds, "Wh-what do you want?" He clearly recognizes, with all of his companions down, that he's no match for her.
[18:14] <@Kjell> ---End Session---