Session Nine: Under new management… nearly

General Summary

April and Silmer   April and Silmer try to sneak into town to help the group trapped in the tavern. They hear the clunking of metal as multiple Sicklemen head towards the market square.   They almost immediately alert a hound and its Sickleman owner. April scampers up a tree but Silmer falls on his tortle-shell back as he tries to follow her up.   There is a short fight where Silmer gets pretty hurt, the Sicklemen is killed and the hound runs away. They notice that when the owner dies, the hound yelped in pain. They then manage to, more successfully, hide in the bushes near the tavern. Myri jumps off of April’s shoulder and sneaks a little closer.     Tavern   Meanwhile, in the tavern, Malak is about to march outside disguised as Captain Johnathan Small Fry. Mia stops him just in time, explaining that there is currently no plan and what he was doing right now was probably suicide.   Corvus takes off his silver bracelet.   The group speak to the barkeep, Carey. She tells them April’s father and a druid named Jenny are hiding at her house. The group wanted to get to her place but Carey didn’t want to draw attention to herself as it’s already dangerous that she’s keeping two people.   Malak hears Cissa‘s voice in his head. Apparently Jurian told her Corvus must be dead because he can’t feel Corvus’ pulse anymore. She explains to Malak that she KNOWS Corvus is alive but something is obviously wrong if Jurian can’t feel him.   Malak explains that Corvus is OK but that things are going badly.   Corvus tells Malak he took the bracelet off to alert Jurian that things are not going well with the mission. Corvus then goes over to the tied up Sicklemen to get information. He’s not very successful. So Vence decides to intimidate them instead. He takes out one of his daggers and starts to clean his fingernails, explaining how easily one could cut oneself there by accident. It also hurts. A lot. He then asks the Sicklemen nicely to answer Corvus truthfully.   Well, he convinced them to talk. They were so terrified that an odor was coming from them. Mia takes notes on “diplomacy”.   They tell Corvus they are indeed being “watched”. The hounds and hawks that were brought in by the “pointy-eared ones” bind themselves to an owner who can communicate with them telepathically. The Captain is one such an owner. Basically, EVERYTHING that has been discussed while the Captain was awake was heard by a hound outside.   Nesza takes this opportunity to knock the Captain out.   While the group discuss what else to do, bolts are being fired through the windows. Vence casts minor illusion in one window (of the Captain looking out of the window) while checking via a mirror in another window to see what is going on outside. He see crossbows at the ready to shoot, a hound and a hooded figure.   A voice (in an accent that does not belong to the region) keeps taunting the group.   Malak then senses Myri nearby and immediately sends a message to April about the situation. He and April agree that April should throw a diversion and then they can escape.     The Fight   April makes a loud explosive sound using her tinkering tools. As it came from BEHIND the enemies, it caught them completely by surprise and the group start their attack. They all target the hooded figure first. Whenever someone tried to reason with him, they hear his voice as if he was next to them. He kept saying that these Sicklemen were mere canon fodder and the PCs are simply in the way. It’s the taunting voice from before.   Corvus at one point tries to convince the Sicklemen to turn on this obvious villain. It seemed to work until Nesza decides to kill another Sickleman.   A hawk and one Sickleman escape. The rest (including the hound and the man in the red hood) are killed. When the hound dies, Captain Small Fry whimpers in pain   Silmer escorts the Sicklman that surrendered inside the Tavern. April takes note that the Sickleman who escaped went into the Town Hall (next door to the tavern). She didn’t see where the hawk went.   Corvus inspects the body of hooded man. The red hood has a large golden eye embroided at the back. The man is an elf. Corvus cuts out the golden eye. He also takes two daggers from the body and picks a pebble up nearby.   As April approaches Corvus, he tells her that Valerie is not in Windshire but Ethan is at Carey’s home.   The group all reconvene back in the tavern. Worse for wear, having a drink and licking their wounds. HOPING for a short rest……   ........While a hawk watches on from the roof of one of the houses.