Perhaps he shouldn't have been so mild to the lady of the house, Gabatim mused, watching Whistler expertly find and check the entrances to the home. Still, he did not want to sit around, so he swallowed...something and chatted with Hilda. Bumpkis. They certainly didn't get any tea out of that talk...Well, they'd find another angle in the morning. In the meantime, Whistler and he had agreed to shifts, and at least they got the room...

Gabatim often slept on the steppe. He would not miss a warning of danger, but wow could Whistler caw. The noise broke through his light nap with ease, and the vaquero was at the ready, warhammer in hand, in but three heartbeats. Need to start drilling again... he thought displeased.

Then another caw...only not from Whistler. A raven stared at Whistler, illuminated perfectly by the moonlight and perched rather professionally on a chair. And it hadn't fled at the first sign of Gabatim and Whistler. Hmm...
Well, that's something. Distraction? Gabatim maintained some attention on the raven, but carefully scanned the room. Familiar/well-trained pet? Coincidence? OK. Gabatim knew the answer to that last one. Not a chance.
Still...not wanting to risk scaring the thing off before it could take something and prove that they wouldn't be swinging at wildlife all night, Gabatim moved as slowly as possible, trying to signal his companion to wait before leaping. He hoped that kind of signal spread further than the wilds.

If the raven took a stone and made flight then the two could make chase. If it was a wild animal having its fun..well, Hilda should keep the windows locked at night and they all laugh after following the thing back to its stash. If not, Gabatim would polite ask the thief how xe had trained such a bird so well, then whack hir upside the head for hitting the same house so many times in a row as well as his thievery.

calling on both perception and animal handling here...

edited 9th Aug '17 4:47:49 PM by CenturyEye

Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives

Mayor's Mansion

(Earlier that day. Yes I screwed this up )

The Mayor's wife grudgingly gave the adventurers a description of her missing jewelry (nothing too valuable as it turned out, but obviously this was more about her pride.) She also provided them with some fake jewels that they could use as a lure for the thief.

-that midnight-

The Raven looked at the kenku, and gave it a sideways look, as if confused whether it was one of its kind or not. Gabatim, on the other hand, made it nervous, but as he made no sudden movements, the bird did not fly away.

Instead it picked one of the fake gemstones, then flew out the window.

[[If followed, it will lead the players back to the same hut.]]

Hut

Mialee looked through the window, but could not see very well as it was only half-open. Still, she saw the rat deliver the bread to a man in rags, who looked familiar for some reason. He began eating the bread and gave some to the rat as well.

Meanwhile, the mantis made its report to Fyterion. Of course, being a creature of extremely limited intelligence, not to mention alien to human culture, it wasn't exactly an expert at describing things. Instead it communicated the following concepts: "Man. Small hairy creature. Big hairy creature. With horns."

Berth, Hut

Fyterion gently pat the insect with one finger, lifting it up to his shoulder again. While it of course wasn't the best information he was used to it by now, and it of course still was better than no information at all. The druid turned over to Mia, informing her of what the Mantis had found out while whispering "Okay, seems there is one man and two creatues, one small - I assume the rat - and one large in there, at least one of them - likely the big one - has horns, so we should be careful."

"One may feel fear in the face of danger so long as one banishes fear when danger actually arrives"

Whistler looked at the raven, who looked back at him. It was a subject of debate whether or not Kenku resembled crows or ravens more- but then again, considering how similar both birds looked, did it really matter?

Gabatim approached the animal, motioning for Whistler not to scare the bird. The kenku nodded and watched. As the human tried to calm it, the bird grabbed a jewel, and flew out the window. He

... Well. Shit.

"Follow him," Whistler gruffly mimicked, before leaping out of the window and hitting the ground at a sprint. Thankfully, all of that acrobatics practice seemed to have paid off, and he didn't get hurt. It was one of his areas of expertise.

Making sure that his friend was following, the pair tracked the raven as it flew. Eventually, it led them to a... hut? And there was the elf and the centaur!

The kenku poked Gabatim with a claw and pointed them out. He would be able to explain things better, after all.

Wooze looks at Glass with a 'please take her away' look

Hut

"I don't like those odds," Mia said to Fyterion in whispers. "If they notice us, they know the area and may have more people in there as well. I'd rather not lose my head over a loaf of bread."

After a brief pause, she added. "Now... if the house were on fire.... No no, too messy...."

edited 9th Aug '17 5:45:06 PM by nman

Huh. Gabatim thought he'd have coax the kenku out the window. Whistler leaped out before he did. Acrobatics was supposed to be the vaquero's thing. Both landing and immediately breaking into a run, the pair kept past with the raven—and its "prize."

The thing darted into a hut—not even checking the area for a tail. Yeah, gonna take back that compliment about training... Gabatim muttered aloud. The pair stopped cold in front of the hut, even the dirt not being much disturbed. And I picked the right running mate. Well, maybe the pair they'd run into again could've helped on the chase. They were right in front of the vaquero again after all. And it suddenly occurred to him that he'd never learned the mantis and the centaur's names. He wasn't sure that asking the green-mantled woman her name was a worthy venture at all. Their presence here did seem to confirm his guess that the crimes were connected. What? Was there a ring of wild animals taking bread and gems now?

Nonetheless... the vaquero slowly approached keeping his voice low. "Well, fancy seeing you again, but we must be quick. I assume you're hear following a raven or something that made off with the baker's wares..."
Not waiting for their response, Gabatim continued on, "A raven making off with some gems from the mayor's place led us to this hut. Whistler has deduced that someone's (or many someones') familiars are pilfering bread and gems at the very least. Please be wary. In any case, if you wish to see this through, I suggest that if worst comes to worst the centaur and I here, both carrying shields, make the first entry—nothing too violent, unless he does anything other than throw up his hands immediately."

Before that though..." the vaquero leaned closer to Whistler "I don't suppose you're as good at sneaking around huts as with the inn earlier? You could probably tell us what we're dealing with before we saunter through the first door."

Turning back to the centaur and green-mantled woman who looked about as impressed as anyone would a stranger suddenly making forced entry plans Gabatim suddenly remembered he wasn't back at the sheriff's post in Ur Sirara. "Oh. Right. Please call me Gabatim, and our able partner here is Whistler. Perchance, could we know your names? And your plans for this incident?"

Time was always of the essence of course, and Gabatim had great doubts that the occupant of the hut was none the wiser to five visitors outside his home/base. But charging in and getting blasted was no way to pass the night. And he kinda didn't want his sense of urgency to off-put the and end with the four of them tripping into the hut and being incinerated/melted/other unpleasant things.
So he waited, while staying alert for problems in the air, and found Whistler equally alert and on guard. And he really, really hoped that the green-mantled woman didn't notice that he hadn't asked her help in his bare-bones "plan." The centaur was the one who should've seen her in action by now after all.

edited 9th Aug '17 6:19:34 PM by CenturyEye

Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives

Just then, the hut's door opened, and a middle-aged human in commoner clothes stepped out. He looked around, obviously looking for something- and didn't take long to notice the party.

"Who are you people!?" he asked, angrily. "What are you doing in my property??"

Before she had a chance to address the other two arriving, a man came out of the hut and started questioning them.

Well, there goes the stealth approach.

"We're here to put an end to your thieving ways! Try to resist and I can't guarantee you'll still have use of all your limbs!"

The man blanched at the sudden threat. "Y-you cannot prove anything! Now leave or- I'll call the night watch!"

And he went back inside the hut, slamming the door.

A few moments later, he would reemerge, carrying a sack, and followed by- a goat? (Hey, from a bug's perspective, it is a large hairy creature! ) Now the party would recognize him as the goatherder they saw earlier that day in town.

[[If anyone tries to stop him, the herder will pull out a club from the sack and attack! The goat, rat and raven will also jump to his defense. 'Players state your actions.' ]]

edited 10th Aug '17 12:23:22 PM by Sijo

Whistler beak-palmed. The elf had thrown diplomacy right out the window, alright. This was a... predicament. Things were obviously heading towards a violent conclusion, and he didn't want anyone to get killed.

He glanced at Gabatim, and cawed softly, like a raven. The human would know what he meant.

As the goat-herder started to walk past his allies, the Kenku seized the element of surprise and initiated what was probably an inevitable fight.

In the blink of an eye, he drew his rapier in his right claw, and a dagger in the other; the rapier had a long, thin blade and a simple hilt, while the dagger was simply that- a regular old dagger. Thankfully, it was light enough to wield in his off-hand. Daggers were light weapons, after all.

As soon as the man's back was turned, Whistler tried to slam the hilt of the rapier into the back of his head in a sneak attack, which was mainly possible because he had allies distracting the herder; whether that hit or miss, he would follow it up with a pommel strike from the dagger in his off-hand.

Hopefully this would be non-lethal.

Wooze looks at Glass with a 'please take her away' look

"OOF!" was all the herder could say, before falling to the ground, unconscious.

His animal companions, however, quickly sprung to their fallen master's defense:

• The Raven tried to eat Fyterion's mantis!
• The Rat tried to bite Mialee!
• The goat charged at Gabatim!

Initiative: by dex- Raven 14, Rat 11, Goat 10

"Eeep! It's coming for me!" Mialee shouted at the disgusting rodent, firing off an Eldritch Blast at the rat.

Use Eldritch Blast Cantrip

edited 10th Aug '17 3:04:25 PM by nman

Oh, so this is happening now. Well, the green mantled woman had blown diplomacy—except of the arm-twisting kind. Whistler, as usual, responded to changing circumstances quickly subduing the goat-herder—only his animals didn't get the memo.

That ain't good. Sure, Gabatim saw the goat charging him—kinda hard to miss—but the Raven was about to snack on the Mantis right now. Shield and crossbow at the ready, the vaquero sidestepped and loosed a bolt, menacing the raven, even as the goat bore down on him. Hopefully his acrobatics kept the thing from picking up speed in a straight-line charge—or better from striking him at all. Still.

Let it come... the fighter mused, fully ready to bring his shield crashing down on the approaching goat's head—if he got the timing right. The vaquero certainly understood the bond between the goat-herder and his herd. Gabatim would play it carefully, but being bludgeoned was no way to end the night either. He spared a glance for the raven. "Yes, I'll take two please." he muttered taunting the animals into shifting their focus. Hopefully the mantis and the centaur would be relieved—and fine enough to step in on their own terms too.

calling on Fighting style-protection as well as animal handling and acrobatics

edited 10th Aug '17 3:50:22 PM by CenturyEye

Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives

Zap, the Eldritch Bolt went, and yiii!, the rat went. It dropped to the ground, unmoving.

[[It's dead, unless you guys want it to live.]]

Meanwhile, the vaquero took the full brunt of the goat's charge. While he took no damage, the impact knocked him prone.

[[OOC:remember, we can't move to the next turn until Sergei posts.]]

edited 10th Aug '17 4:16:04 PM by Sijo

Sorry, was doing some room cleaning >_<

Berth, Hut

Seeing the Raven wanting to eat his friend Fyterion charged full speed, oh no, he wouldn't let that happen, that much was sure. Soon he had his mace in hand and eventhough he knew chances were small he started to swing it at the raven, if nothing else it should probably discourage the animal from using his companion as a snack. His small bug all the while tried its best to move away from the raven and towards Fyterion.

"One may feel fear in the face of danger so long as one banishes fear when danger actually arrives"

Its OK, RL comes first.

"SQUAK!!" the raven squawked, and quickly flew off, allowing Fyterion to recover his pet mantis.

[[If no one stops it, it'll fly away.]]

Now, only the goat remained. But it snorted, obviously not giving up. It suddenly took off, only to stop about 20 feet away-

-and then coming back, at full charge. This time it was aiming for Mialee.

edited 10th Aug '17 5:13:32 PM by Sijo

Huh, well the centaur is faster than he looks. Gabatim mused. Ah well, flat on the hindquarters is the best way to shoot... or something.
The vaquero, not bothering to stand, loaded and loosed a bolt directly at the charging goat's center of mass. "Yeah, definitely no longer sorry about dinner tonight..."

edited 10th Aug '17 5:31:26 PM by CenturyEye

Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives

In the confusion of sudden battle, a variety of things happened. Whistler caught a glimpse of the elf blasting a rat with magic, which seemed a tad bit excessive to him, as well as the centaur chasing away the raven, who appeared to be trying to eat his Praying Mantis.

His vision was torn to the goat who had knocked down his friend, and was currently charging the elf. Making a growling noise much like a wolf, Whistler sheathed his rapier, drew his other dagger, and promptly threw both of them at the charging animal, in sync with his companion's crossbow shot.

Wooze looks at Glass with a 'please take her away' look

"Who trains an attack goat!" Mialee exclaimed, once again firing off another trusty beam of her Eldritch Blast at the animal.

Chukk!! Baaa! The bolt hit the ungulate.Chuk chuk! so did the two daggers. Blood spurted, and it fell down. The Eldritch bolt finished it.

[[Again, it's dead if you want it to be.]]

[[And the Raven is flying away, last chance to catch it if you want. Though only Fyterion has an action left this turn.]]

edited 10th Aug '17 6:42:26 PM by Sijo

NVM I didn't notice we were missing one.

edited 10th Aug '17 6:46:19 PM by CenturyEye

Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives

Berth, Hut

Fyterion stopped chasing the raven, chasing a raven all the way just for this seemed excessive. The Centaur stopped, turning around to get back to the group, his Mantis perched on his shoulder again. "That should be all now."

"One may feel fear in the face of danger so long as one banishes fear when danger actually arrives"

"Well we better deal with that miserable excuse of a human," Mialee commented, nodding at the unconscious rag-wearing human.

She approached the door of his house, hands up and ready. "Although... there may always be someone else."

Go and try to see if the house is empty.

Mialee finds no one else inside, human or animal.

Though everything is out of place, as if someone had picked things up *in a hurry.*

"I don't know about you lot, but I'd like to know exactly why this bastard was spending his nights training rats to steal bread." Mialee said. "I don't suppose one of you gentlemen happen to have a length of rope to keep him tied up?"