Dramatis Personae
Beltin (Aasimar Dirge Bard/Cleric 9).
Bradley Weatherby (Human Dervish Dancer 9/Knife Master Rogue 7/Duelist 2).
Obnoxiously Long Name, aka Mac (Ranger/Inquisitor 9).
Tarl (Aasimar Inquisitor/Paladin 9).
Glira Cross (Human Gunslinger/Magus 7?). Old character sheet, played by a new player.
The perils of entrepreneurship, Session 6.2 - 6/7/14
Night, day 8. BW, Glira, and Mac have a plan, complete with spy thriller-esque fashion gestures to call down support sniper fire and an inside man. Glira positions herself on a rooftop near the Bender Bros Inn and knows to open fire if BW adjusts his scarf and Mac follows BW invisibly. BW tries to open the door to the inn. It's locked. He knocks.
The Bender opens it, smiling, and invites him in, and at this point Glira may have realized she won't be doing much from her perch but stays put. He says they have shut down for the night to conduct their business, so they will not be disturbed. Please enter. BW tries to get a word in, but the Bender insists he enters first, and so he does, Mac on his heels.
The door is shut behind them. And the lock snaps shut. There is definitely an ominous feeling in the air, and BW senses it.
In the entry hall he tells the Bender that perhaps upon reflection they had a misunderstanding earlier; by no means does he, BW, want to intrude on their business. Quite the opposite, he just wants to help, for a one time profit. From there maybe they could do more business, perhaps with the trade consortium.
He rolls well (the Innocence spell helps with that) and the Bender believes him. He smiles, almost sadly, almost as though he regrets what is about to happen but the decision has already been made, but still he thanks BW for his candor and professionalism. He leads BW back to the office where a concealed trapdoor is open and reveals a set of crudely made stairs heading down.
He motions for BW to go first and then he follows immediately, closing the trapdoor in Mac's face. As he cannot open it without revealing himself, Mac waits and considers tossing the room for loot, but remembers that BW is here for a business deal and would be pissed if he ruined it by burglarizing the joint. A few minutes later Mac hears the sound of a lock on the trapdoor. He waits.
Downstairs BW sees a fairly large dug out cellar with some crates and few furnishings besides a table with a alchemy lab setup. The only other way out of the room appears to be a curtained off tunnel at the end of the cellar opposite the staircase. Standing by the lab setup is the other Bender. He greets him and after the pleasantries they begin to cook, with the Bender at the table, obviously the chef of the family, watching and learning.
One montage and an hour later...
The Benders and BW stand back and admire their work, several doses of the poison BW has promised. He again explains the properties of the toxin and how it can be used to force people into making poor decisions. The Bender who greeted him at the door wears a sad smile and wonders aloud if BW had been sampling his own product. And then his brother moves to stab their guest in the spine.
BW is ready. Always ready, as only someone with Improved Uncanny Dodge can be. He moves out of the way, draws his blade, and begins to dance. He tells them that they obviously have a misunderstanding, but they can cease hostilities and talk it out. The Benders only shake their heads and approach. Feint, stab.
"Ah, my kidneys!" cries BW as the other Bender pulls his shirt over his head, blinding him. BW goes to cry out again but hears the sound of a spell being cast directly behind him and then a hand brushes his back. He recognizes the spell and quickly draws in a deep breath. It is Aboleth's Lung.
He feels the gills at his throat, but knows he is in the middle of a desert. He is doomed unless the cavalry arrives.
Meanwhile, Mac, the cavalry, hears the cries of kidney-stabbing induced distress and ponders whether or not he will actually go to BW's aid. After a moment of indecision he runs out to the main entryway of the inn and waves Glira down. She parkours her way down the building and runs into the inn. Mac closes and locks the door behind her. He relocked the door. Such a small act, but one with great consequences. Next round they enter the office and Glira blasts the lock off the trapdoor.
Downstairs the Benders had been playing with BW, but now they look at each other and suddenly appear to split into a gnome legion... which then disappears. Mac begins to run down the staircase and suddenly lightning strikes up the stairs, metaphorically "effing him in the a." He continues downward and as he does several gnomes suddenly swing a blade out at stomach level and he impales himself.
Glira follows down the stairs and begins to unload on the gnomes. Pop, pop, pop, watchin' Mirror Images drop. The real Bender in question gets winged but stands his ground. Gnomes reappear around BW and repeatedly try to sucker punch him in the stomach but to no avail. He and his attackers carry on their dance and more illusions go down and after the second time his shirt gets pulled over his head, BW cuts it off and fights shirtless like a badass. He tries to follow the invisible, but casting assailant by the sound of his voice, but has limited success.
Suddenly out of nowhere Black Tentacles rip out of the ground and the Benders are nowhere to be seen. Glira and Mac struggle but are trapped. BW struggles to not drown in air. Mac nearly is crushed. Glira eventually gets out and at the edge of the tentacles several gnomes suddenly appear and shank her. She blasts a few more illusions away, but then a crushing Telekinetic force impedes and the begins to squeeze the life out of her. And she gets eviscerated and hangs limp in the invisible clutches of the spell. Mac goes down in the tentacles. BW's time is dwindling. Hope is lost. The cavalry has fallen.
Wind back a few rounds. Remember that gun shot to blast the lock? A successful 50/50 percent roll gave Beltin and Tarl, on their way back from the Usurer with Beltin's skeletal archer bodyguards in tow, a perception check. A hard perception check. A high roll later and the duo pinpoint the noise as seeming to come from the Benders Inn and investigate.
They arrive to find the door locked and are impeded for an extra round before Tarl breaks it down. They enter, Beltin Invisible, and follow the sounds of battle to the cellar steps and at this point they get to witness Glira getting her throat cut by a multitude of Benders, who all then look at the new guests and vanish in thin air. Alas, if only they could have arrived slightly sooner. Beltin dispels the tentacles and Tarl charges down, followed by the still invisible Beltin who moves to Mac's unconscious, but still alive side. As he get there, several gnomes appear and stab Mac in the face.
Coup de grace and then gone again are the gnomes. Beltin counters with a Breath of Life and remains hidden. Annoyed to his his kill stirring, but just thinking Mac was tougher than he looked, the gnomes appear again and put it right, this time beyond Beltin's ability to fix. Tarl duels the gnome legion before him and the skeletal archers pop some caps in some Mirror Images and are repaid by being engulfed in Black Tentacles, which Beltin dispels.
BW, now forgotten and left for dead, finds a bucket and begins emptying all his water skins into it and eventually plunges his head in. Fun fact: Sun Bro had specified before he died but after he stole BW's gear that he was pissing in one of BW's many water skins. BW now realizes this. It may taste like deluded piss, thinks BW, but it's better than death.
More illusions and more invisibility delay the inevitable, but it is clear it is a losing battle for the Benders. Ninja Ki points are almost spent and useful spells from the Greater Invisible wizard brother are dwindling. Finally one Bender is slain and the other visible one runs to try to finish off his brother's murderer, Tarl. He soon joins him in death.
As this was happening Beltin has edged himself to be in front of the curtain leading to the tunnel and thinks he will know if anyone goes by. He is seemingly mistaken as the curtain pushes inward of its own accord behind him as the last brother dies. And then there is silence. Beltin lifts the spell on BW and they get the story out of him about what had happened; he is now at least partially responsible for the deaths of four party members. New record! As BW is being treated, perception checks are rolled. Failed? Excellent.
Beltin orders the skeletons down the hallway only to find a short tunnel that leads to a dead end. At intervals are ladders going up to trapdoors, which the party realizes lead to the rooms above. Beltin Wall of Stones the ceiling, closing them off, and they head back out and search for loot... and find surprisingly little. The Benders had magic weapons and some small trinkets and they found a couple hundred bits, but was that all there was?
Roll an intelligence check. Success. There had been some sort of lock box (inter-dimensional space, says out of game knowledge) on a crate in the corner before and there isn't now. The perception check earlier was to notice the last remaining , but still invisible, enemy taking it and slipping the Gem of Truesight out of one of the dead Bender's pocket.
Out of game, invisible assailant, the unknown third Bender Brother that no one knew existed, had Mage Handed the curtain, hid against the wall, looted the place while they were distracted, and then left up the stairs and escaped.
The party debates about what to do with the building and eventually decide to just leave it. As Beltin closed the ceiling at least if anyone takes if over they won't be able to run the same murderous scam, reasons the party. They take the four bodies with them and leave the door to the inn broken and ajar. Tarl makes a sign and puts it out front: "OUT OF BUSINESS."
Time in Camp: 46 hours. Self-defense kills: 3. Murders: 2. Maimings: 2. "Lawful executions:" 8. Sworn enemies of: at least 5. BW related party deaths: 4.
Tarl hangs the brothers on the gallows next to those recently hung by the over-zealous and soon-to-be-assassinated crusader leader, complete with a sign detailing their crimes. BW heads off to his room and his hooker while the other two then carry the bodies of their poor fallen friends to Griswald at his burial-mound-turned-home.
They knock on the shoddy door and he answers almost immediately, up and dressed despite the hour. Beltin looks at him a second time and recognizes him as a ghoul. Tarl lays down the corpses and says they deserve a proper burial. But of course, but of course, says Griswald, and both realize he is lying. Beltin steps up and tell him to tell the truth or he'll make him a slave. He's an undead master man, don't fuck with him.
Grisward is frightened and says that surely they could not begrudge him his evening meal when he provides a valuable (and free) community service! Tarl and Beltin relax as they were expecting something worse. Still, says Tarl, he will actually bury these two and they will check the grave to see it is done and undisturbed. And it better be. Or else. Griswald is intimidated and accepts the terms.
Before they had left the Bender Brothers Inn, BW had ordered his skeletons to take some furnishings, including a couple mattresses. It all really pulls his stone shack together. Tarl spends the night on the guest bed and they wake early the next morning to a knocking on the door. It is a local courier with a note. A note from the Usurer. They take it. He holds his hand out for a tip. They give him some food. His hand is still out for his tip. They refuse. He tells them to go fuck themselves and leaves.
The note is brief: "Noon."
So at noon the two go to his abode and find him not working, but waiting in his house. He is obviously agitated. He asks if they remember the conversation about there being people you can't hit without permission. Beltin hazards a guess that the Benders were such people.
Correct, says the Usurer. They explain the circumstances to him and tell of the scheme, but he does not take it as an adequate excuse. He tells them the town economy is a fragile ecosystem and important people dropping dead left and right is bad for business, especially if they are in charge of such an important institution as the town's only currently functioning inn.
As he can't be bothered, they are to handle the inn. He doesn't care how, they can feel free to quietly murder and rob guests too if they like, but it will run and it is their responsibility. Also, scowling, he adds they should have been focused on the job he had given them instead of butchering dishonest inn-keepers. Beltin says they would be on it, but you know, you called us.
The Usurer scowls. He tells them to get on with it then and get the fuck out of his face as he slams the door on them.
Casualties: 2. Glira Cross and Obnoxiously Long Name, aka Mac. Both slain by the Benders and for listening to BW.
