Sapphire:Sessions:20180825

After a long, busy day, Neville takes it into his head to find out what his new friends are up to. When he reaches Envoy Manor, Jeeves informs him that, regrettably, Chalker had just left for the Brilliant Light Inn. Helpfully, Jeeves calls around for a very sturdy steed and a man-at-arms to accompany Neville to the inn. Shawna sees Neville approaching and intercepts him a couple of blocks away, bidding the man-at-arms to wait in reserve.

Chalker sketches out the plan: Neville, Alastor, and Chalker will go in through the front door, and Ahn-Lee and Shawna will enter through the back windows when appropriate.

Approaching the suite, Chalker spots one of the deadly spiders above one door. He TKs a dagger along the ceiling in such a way that it doesn't alert the spider. Listening carefully at the suite's door, they hear at least four voices discussing PDG's plans.

Neville forces his way in, the door breaking off of its hinges, while simultaneously Chalker kills the spider. Before Neville, three men standing around a table dive out of the way of the door, which flies into the table and scatters a number of papers and books. Off to the left, four more men seated around another table start to react. To the right, his chair tilted back onto two legs, sits a goblin (Cal Lindross) cleaning his nails with a dagger. Shawna removes a Watchdog spell from a window before Ahn-Lee slips through it into an empty bedroom, then Shawna teleports behind the door of the opposite bedroom.

A blunt object hits Chalker in the back of the head, raising a knot. "Ow! Who did that?" Alastor throws a knife, but his target dodges and the knife hits a wall. Ahn-Lee opens the bedroom door and sees, a few feet away, the back of a pointy-eared male (LG) dressed in green leather; Ahn-Lee fast-draws and throws two daggers, but both miss. Chalker steps around Neville and slams hard into an opponent who is reaching for a crossbow, knocking the guy into the next man's sword arm. Iron-tipped arrows scatter across the table. LG forms a Fireball in each hand. Neville vaults over the table, crushes a chair, and wobbles forward.

LG steps to his right in front of a window; the air around him appears to glow. N2 hits Alastor in the chest, barely getting through his leathers. Chalker dodges a sword swing. A bowman (B1) nocks an arrow and aims at Neville. The goblin (CL) leaps over a table, throwing a dagger at Ahn-Lee but missing. Ahn-Lee jams two daggers into the back of B1's neck; B1 drops his arrow. Chalker hooks a bolt and tries to push it into LG, who burns up the bolt with one of his Fireballs. Ahn-Lee draws a knife and, gripping the hilt, delivers an unexpected uppercut to an opponent's jaw. Neville recovers his balance and tries jumping onto LG with both feet, but the mage dodges; Neville's feet smash through the window and Neville is obliged to spread his arms wide to grab the window frame to keep from flying out. Shawna, sword drawn, runs toward LG.

Shawna swings and LG dodges, drawing his own sword. CL fast-draws and throws at Ahn-Lee; Ahn-Lee lets go of the hilts of his knives and, left-handed, snatches the thrown dagger out of the air. CL utters an appreciative "Wow!" B1 turns around, draws his sword, and menaces Ahn-Lee. Chalker dodges a sword swing. Alastor is struck. Someone swings a sword at Ahn-Lee, who acrobatically dodges in a 'matador move.' Two men charge, swinging at Neville; one strikes him on his left arm but doesn't get through his scale mail. LG smiles and steps back into a corner, Fireball in one hand and sword in the other. Ahn-Lee throws two daggers at CL who dodges both. Chalker hooks onto Neville's armor and pulls as hard as he can to keep Neville from falling out the window; the effort costs Chalker a stutter-step forward and -1 fatigue. Alastor, demonstrating his knife mastery, nearly eviscerates N2. Neville begins singing a stirring battle song while whipping his legs up and flipping over onto his feet.

Shawna parries LG's sword. B1 collapses from his injuries. Chalker fast-draws his sword and parries a thrust, and is struck by another sword that doesn't get through his enhanced armor. N2 falls down. One of the men attacking Ahn-Lee abruptly throws away his sword. Neville is struck with one sword that bounces off his mail; the other attacker, trying for a weak spot in Neville's armor, misses. CL charges and dives over Neville (who tries to "parry" him out of the air) and out the window. Ahn-Lee turns a cartwheel, grasping and pulling his daggers out of B1. Shawna swings and LG parries. Alastor draws another knife and runs toward Chalker. Neville throws N6 out the window. Chalker releases his TK on Neville, swings his sword, and is parried.

LG swings at Shawna and misses. Chalker parries. Ahn-Lee dodges by leaping over his attacker. Alastor's attacker misses. Neville parries a sword with his arm. A bedroom door opens and out steps another man (N3) armed with sword and knife. Chalker hooks Magekiller and pushes it toward LG, whose eyes widen; the magic dagger misses. Ahn-Lee throws twice at LG, who dodges both. Alastor stabs a man in the vitals. Shawna throws Lightning and LG dodges. Neville swings and his opponent dodges.

Uttering a prayer to Delsa, Shawna swings and hits LG hard. Chalker turns Magekiller and drives the dagger into LG's foot; LG falls. Neville's fist crushes an opponent. Ahn-Lee shrugs, turns, and throws two daggers into the guy he'd vaulted over. From outside come the sounds of two bodies thudding into the ground. Alastor stabs an opponent twice in the vitals. N3 runs toward the front door. N4 swings at Chalker and misses, and Chalker parries N5.

Chalker hooks N5's sword and snatches it away. Shawna beheads LG. Neville runs up and swings at Chalker's other attacker N4 (the one that still has a sword). Alastor stabs N4 twice. Ahn-Lee heads for the window.

Neville slips on spilled blood, falls on his butt, and bites his tongue. N3 runs out the door into the hallway. N5 closes his eyes, raises his empty hands, and says, "Make it quick." Chalker obligingly stabs him to death.

Before Ahn-Lee can jump out the window, Chalker directs him to chase down N3. Chalker and Neville look out the window; the body of N6, his neck obviously broken, pins the goblin, who is struggling to get out from beneath. Neville vaults out the second-story window, twisting his ankle slightly when he lands, kneels on N6's back and punches CL in the head until the goblin goes limp, then ties him up.

Chalker gathers up all the papers. From one bedroom Shawna takes a document pouch, two scrolls, a purse containing 10g, and a small bag of diamonds. Chalker shows her five rings he has found; she takes the two that are magic to be identified. Shawna identifies the elf as Laas Grart. On his chest she finds a mark that looks like wavy lines. She takes his sword and knife. Chalker collects various objects that appear to merely be knick-knacks, but he thinks they might have some other significance.

Neville sees Ahn-Lee emerge from the stairway and signals him (by holding up the goblin) that N3 had not come that way. It occurs to Ahn-Lee that N3 could still be on the second floor. Followed by Neville (carrying CL), he goes back upstairs and finds a drop of fresh blood in front of a locked door. He tries kicking the door open to no avail, so Neville hands him the goblin and forces the door open. Inside is a man on a chair, unconscious, gagged, and bleeding; a woman unconscious on a bed; an open window. Neville takes back CL and Ahn-Lee goes to the window and swings up onto the roof. He glimpses N3 fleeing and takes off in pursuit. Neville first-aids the woman (popping her dislocated jaw back in place) and bandages the bleeding man.

Alastor, Shawna, and Chalker head out the door toward the back stairs. On the way they see and kill four more spiders. Chalker kills his with a knife he'd found in his back waistband, wondering aloud over and over (and over and over) where that knife came from and why the back of his head has a bump.