Session 20: Rough Justice - Part 2 Report

General Summary

After the death of Greeli the party planned their escape from the Black Market and Slaver's Way. They briefly searched his room, finding a map of an area to the south-west of Bard's Gate near a fork in a the Stoneheart river.   The next issue was getting rid of the guards outside the door of Greeli's office. The Silence spell was still active when the guards opened the door to check on their boss and one was knocked out before he could act. The second guard managed to stumble away from the door across the corridor but the party soon caught up with him, he fell soon after but not before he had let off a shout which echoed through the distant corridors before falling silent. The party realised that they must move quickly now and Malcer led them towards the prison cells where the slaves were being held.   Two large sturdy doors guarded the entrance to the jail. Davros checked his disguise, opened the doors and stepped boldly through. On entering the prison, he got his first smell of the place:- the unwashed bodies, sweat and open toilets assaulted his delicate senses and almost caused him to gag. This nasal assault, along with the large hulking figures who stomped around the area, caused him to doubt his courage for a moment and he stepped back out of the jail just as a vaguely familiar figure, dressed as a clown, looked up at him from a distant room. He closed the doors behind him as his surprised companions stared at him incredulously wondering what went wrong, all plans for subterfuge immediately thrown out of the window! As Davros stumbled over his words about the stench and ogres, loud voices were heard from inside the room. It seemed various humanoids inside the prison area were fighting over the door rattling it violently. At this point confusion assailed the party as they had lost the element of surprise. As Grouch stood away from the others peering out into the darkness, he heard angry voices and a bell being rung somewhere in the distance...   Suddenly the door opened from within and a large figure rushed out swinging his large club at the party. This spurred everyone into action, focussing the mind and rvanquishing indecison. The companions fought back and burst into the room forcing the prison guards back. They managed to dispatch the guards and ogres quite quickly and as they heard many footsteps approaching from the corridor, they barred the door and moved quickly to free the prisoners.   The frightened young faces peered out at them hopefully and with keys taken from one of the dead guards, the prisoners were quickly freed. In one of the cells was a winged humanoid who waited patiently for freedom. The party freed him too and he joined them, helping to usher the children into a group in the centre of the jail.   As they checked out other areas in the prison the party found an open grate leading down into darkness in an office. Checking the tunnel out quickly, it looked like this might be an useful escape route. Davros realised suddenly that the clown figure he had spotted earlier and who was no longer visible might well have used this route to flee from the party, shortly before they forced their way.   The angry voices of many men could now be heard from beyond the barred double doors and the adventurers knew they needed to move quickly. Leading the way into the darkness with the children and their new companion in tow they moved off down the tunnel. Grouch held back and attempted to jam the grate opening mechanism to slow down their pursuers. The grate led for a few hundred yards to another which looked up into a dark and quiet street. It took the party a little while to get their bearings but Davros and Cassandra realised they were in a burnt out area near the guild and dock districts, another area of the city destroyed during the Huun invasion two years previous.   With no sign of pursuers and on the advice of Malcer, the group moved towards the Old Temple district hoping to find sanctuary there. They seemed to have escaped without notice. It being late at night and a mostly destroyed area there were few, other than the rats, who could have marked ther passage. Grouch kept a look out as they moved through the area. Thinking he had spotted a slight movement in the shadows but nothing certain, he quickened his pace to catch up with the others in their flight through the dark and forboding shells of the burnt out buildings.   They reached the Escriptory of Jamboor without further incident and began to knock on the door as loudly as they dared. They had a nervous wait, some of the children were wimpering and very cold in the paltry rags which used to be their clothes, but eventually the door slowly opened and the old doorman they had encountered a few days ago peered out into the darkness, a lantern in hand, sleeping cap on head and still in his nightclothes. Rather suprised by what he saw, the old man back away in silence stuttering out a half-hearted challlenge. Malcer quickly drew him aside to demand sanctuary for the group, brandishing his newly engraved ring as proof of his loyalty to Jamboor. Everyone slumped down where they stood and passed an uneasy night in the foyer of the Escriptory of Jamboor. They were safe....for now.