The count asks for help – part 4

You might want to read part 1, part 2 and part 3 first.

Previously, our Kai adventurers obtained valuable information from stalking a librarian and seducing a barmaid. They cross-referenced the occurrences of the strange light incidents from the City Watch with the arrivals of Mathilda Gerrich in town. They did their CSI thing at the latest site of the ritual incident. And now, they’re going to do a stakeout high on the rooftops at the southern parts of Toran, where the incidents appeared to be concentrated…

The stakeout

While Archer continued to keep the barmaid busy back at the White Lion’s Inn, the rest of them took to the rooftops and positioned themselves above the streets. There were 4 of them, so they spread themselves out to cover as much of the area as possible. And there they waited…

Near midnight, during the blackest part of the night, a boy of no older than 12 appeared. He was dressed in rags. He kept to the shadows and crept towards the abandoned house, the latest site of the incidents. Our Kai gathered together and watched the house. Presently, the boy appeared again, holding in his arms some mouldy pieces of bread.

“That doesn’t make sense.” said Chaosbreaker.
“He’s hungry, ok? And you didn’t check the kitchen that thoroughly anyway.” I said.

The boy then moved towards another part of town. Beastmaster and Chaosbreaker went to join Archer at the inn. Torturer and Blender followed the boy. After tailing the boy for a while, they came to another seemingly abandoned house. The boy went in. Torturer and Blender were still deciding on what to do when a muffled cry came from the abandoned house.

“Oh *#$&, we have to move in now!” cried Torturer.

Are the others around? Nope, too far. Torturer and Blender were on their own.

The boy and the ugly ninjas

Dashing in, they saw the boy held by a man with the most hideous face they’ve seen. Well, it’s very ugly in any case, since I don’t know what they’ve seen. The man held one hand over the mouth of the boy, with the other hand holding the boy’s torso. He lifted him easily, and fled the house with the boy.

Between the fleeing man and our Kai, however, stood another 2 of the ugly man’s comrades. Dressed in black robes, with hoods covering their heads, they were just as ugly.

I ruled there was partial light, and imposed a -4CS penalty in combat instead of the full -8CS. And I made those black robed ninjas tough. Torturer and Blender had a hard time. Blender, the less skilled of the two, took out his lantern to illuminate the room, thereby removing the dark condition penalty. Both of them were seriously injured, with Torturer taking most of the damage.

The black robed attackers dissolved when defeated, adding a mystical feel to the experience. And also that they won’t be manhandled by Torturer…

They rejoined the others at the inn. Chaosbreaker took the lead and tracked the 3rd robed man to yet another abandoned house. (hey, I don’t need to create a lot of background for empty spaces…) The tracks were gradually disappearing, but they detected a faint sliver of malice floating in the air. They checked the house, and found the charred circle already on the floor. But no ritual appeared to have been performed. This was the next site! With nothing left to check, they left for the inn.

Mathilda arrives

The next morning, Beastmaster sought a woodcarver to create a carving of the mud idol using the picture he copied from the library. He failed the Test (it was a difficulty 3, an easy Test! I did not try to foil his attempts!). The woodcarver was scared from looking at the mud idol picture, and drove Beastmaster from his shop.

Meanwhile, Torturer was in poor shape. He asked to visit an apothecary to buy some potions of Laumspur. (My friends deliberately mispronounced the name of the healing potion so it sounded as the Chinese dialect, Hokkien pronounciation of the word “testicles”) Torturer also bought a vial of laxatives. You know, as a gift to Kai Master Stormsong.

“Stormsong probably have some high level healing ability, and won’t be sick.” said Beastmaster.
“Never mind, we can still dose his tea.” said Torturer.

Kai Master Stormsong is so in trouble…

Back to Beastmaster, when he was driven out by the woodcarver, he saw someone cloaked in black robes riding past him. Beside the robed figure was a man also on horseback. The head was shaved. Chaosbreaker started laughing.

“What?” I asked.
“Did you mean the man’s head was shaved? Or the horse?” laughed Chaosbreaker.

Oh come on! It’s hard enough being the DM…

They finally figured out that it’s Occula (the bald man, not the horse) and Mathilda. The pair rode unerringly to the White Lion’s Inn.

Beastmaster followed closely. He also changed out of his green Kai robes into some brown ones. (where did he get those? I decided not to ask…) When Occula and Mathilda were about to enter the inn, Beastmaster introduced himself.

“Kind sir, I am Friar Francis of the church of Saint Dildo the Demonslayer.” announced Beastmaster. Everyone collapsed into laughter. “Would you be so kind as to offer a donation to the poor?” continued “Friar Francis”.

Mathilda turned and went into the inn without a word. Occula looked at “Friar Francis” for a moment, and reached into his clothes. Taking out a gold crown, he deposited the coin into our good friar’s hands. Not wanting to waste the moment, Beastmaster pressed on. “Do you know anything about a mud idol?” asked Beastmaster.

Occula’s eyebrows shot up as far as they could. A gasp escaped from his lips. Clamping his hand over his mouth, he quickly turned to follow Mathilda.

Then Torturer said he wanted to buy some talcum powder.

Up next, a naked lady escapes.