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Suddenly overcome by a bought of weakness, Haahqae seeks the nearest chair to flop into. His voice trails off, his words getting softer and less audible each sentence.

“I don’t know. I don’t understand anything anymore. The world used to make so much sense, but nothing anymore makes sense. Everyone’s irrational or gone mad something. I’ve lost the ability to speak word sentences.”

Haahqae stops even trying to speak to others, merely muttering to himself.

”Pull yourself together Haahqae, you’re a genius and you know it. I will find a way to fix this like I always do.”

Kendra smiles and waves with her free hand as she moves to the center part of the stage with the elderly butler. She looks over the crowd, looking for anyone that might be suspicious. "Thank you!" she yells out the the crowd of people.

Realizing the reason for Gobax's change of topic, Arulia keeps her mouth shut to let him do the talking. Instead, she leans back in her chair and crosses her arms in front of her with a frown and a shake of her head.

As almost a coping method, Haahqae attempts to draw his attention to Gobax's question. He doesn't want to tell the whole truth. That part's too painful, and also dangerous with a bunch of soldiers probably spying on them right now. And also dangerous in general. It's just covered in danger in every way. However, there's so much to say (and so little to say) that Haahqae finds himself blabbering all over the issue, attempting to hit the important points without dropping anything that would put anyone in danger.

“I don’t know. I heard that they said something was stolen from them, and that some second rate scryer decided that it was done by a gnome illusionist. But that’s impossible. Ismene was kind and smart and she would never do something like that. But if, on the off chance that divination was correct, then how could Ismene have done it anyways? She was peacefully minding her own business at home after the crime. Wouldn’t any competent thief have packed up and left the city by then? Sure she might be the only known gnome illusionist in the city, but illusion really isn’t uncommon amongst gnomes, and any professional illusionist capable of pulling off a crime like that would be able to appear to be not a gnome for day to day interactions. It’s much more likely she’s being framed, probably by someone who appears to be a dwarf or a kender but is actually a gnome. Possibly by the army. I don’t know. I just know that she’s innocent and probably suffering for someone else’s crime.”

Haahqae’s crime. It’s not even really a crime. He saw that pile of steel, just sitting there doing nothing useful. What is the purpose of having all of that there? Innumerable steel pieces with no purpose, while just a few of them could be distributed to the poor to help alleviate the burden of these heavy, pointless, taxes. What he did was more an act of charity, compassion, good will, then a crime. The real criminals are the ones that beat up innocent girls and take them away for no reason. Who imprison innkeepers and oppress the merchants. Someone should lock THEM up!

A gnome Illusionist... he glances to Arulia, recalling how Haahque had disappeared... though that had been a potion... and yet... Haahque.... If you help us with this... I will help you try to find Ismene... What do you say?

Why was Haahqae’s participation even in question? He was the one that hired half of the group for the cultist mission. The onus was on him to fix it and make sure everyone got paid their fair share. He should be the first person contacted with any news about Yvette or Xleena and yet they seem to be talking like he wouldn’t come along without offering him a deal in return?

However Haahqae can’t put this all into words in his current state. He can hardly think clearly enough to form a full sentence. And he certainly wouldn’t refuse help finding Ismene, even if the person offering is a filthy goblin.

What he finally does manage to fit into words is:
“Yes, that works.”

Kendra Greylock (Marketsquare)
The crowd falls silent, waiting in anticipation to hear her speech. There are so many people in the audience that if any of them do look suspicious, it's unlikely she'd be able to single them out of the crowd.

Ne-Chanz and Shima (Central Haven Sewers)
Shima sneaks up to the rats and takes a swing at one, but misses and his sword instead hits the ground, making a loud, ringing sound. He then spins on his heel and starts to run as the rats begin nipping at his backside. Luckily, his armor protects him. He reaches Ne-Chanz just as the rats start to crowd around the doorway, one of them biting at the dwarf again, but missing.

=============

Surprise roll for rats [TN 3] (1d10): 7, they are not surprised
Shima makes a Move Silently check [TN 70%] (1d100): 43, pass. He moves 5 feet southeast and makes a back attack (+2 hit) on giant rat 1 [TN 11] (1d20+2): 7+2 = 9, miss. He then turns his back on the enemy and runs, giving his enemy free attacks.
----Giant Rat 01 attacks Shima from behind (+2 hit) [TN 15] (1d20+2): 8+2 = 10, miss.
----Giant Rat 03 attacks Shima from behind (+2 hit) [TN 15] (1d20+2): 12+2 = 14, miss.
Shima moves 5 feet northwest and 15 feet north. The rats swarm after him.
Giant Rat 02 attacks Shima [TN 15] (1d20): 7, miss.

Kendra clears her throat as the audience grows silent. She swears she hears some crickets chirping in the background. "I've lived in Haven for as long as I can remember, and not once did I ever believe that something like this would happen to me," she says to the crowd. "To have the people of Haven shouting out of my name, calling me the Hero of Haven is all very humbling in a way. I'm not really sure I deserve such praise. I'm also thankful though. Seeing all of you here, standing in front of me today, tells me that each and every one of you care for Haven, our home, as much as I do."

"Haven has been through some rough times recently, as most of you are aware," Kendra says. "Though, we managed to weather those tough times the best that we could. As a member of the Holy Guard before joining the Dragon army, I often felt hopeless and lost," she explained. "There wasn't much I could do for Haven, but joining the army has given me a chance to do something for Haven, to help bring some order to the chaos that we once lived in. Now when someone tries to destroy our home and kill our people, I'm able to do something about it. When that fire elemental attacked, I did what I thought needed to be done for our people. My job is to protect all of you and Haven, and that is what I promise to continue on doing."

Kendra didn't much like mentioning the army in her little speech, but she knew that if she didn't mention them, then the army would be suspicious of her. Though, it wasn't as if what she said wasn't true either.

Arulia nods slightly at Haahqae's acquiescence. "We are to meet them tonight, in an abandoned warehouse down by the docks." she says. "As far as I know, they are only expecting me to be there, and I don't think they know that it's me in particular, either. But I'm no fool, and I expect that they'll be prepared for more than just me. And they have the advantage of having chosen the location, too."

Arulia looks both Haahqae and Gobax in the eyes before she continues. "Even with three of us, we will need to have a good plan if we are to capture them or force them to give us what they took from us. And even if we do, we could still be unlucky. But I think that we have to take this chance. It's been weeks, and this is the first I've heard any rumor of them. Who knows how much longer it might be before we find them again if we don't try tonight?"

Thinking about Ismene is sure to just depress Haahqae further, so he tries turning his attention fully to a different task. This meeting here proving to be just the sort of thing that Haahqae needs to take his mind off his problems.

There are two problems that Arulia has presented. First is that she doesn’t think three people will be enough to deal with the thieves. Neither of them impressed on the mission, but with the difficulty of carrying weapons besides his own sling, it might take a larger group to actually prevent them from escaping.

“Where is everyone else from the mission? I know that some can’t make it, but what about the Minotaur or the Kender or the Half Elf? They would have a vested interest in us getting back what was stolen from us, and it would make finding them to repay them easier if they’re already with us.”

The second problem is that they’re walking into a location chosen by the enemy and expect a trap. That’s easy enough to fix, especially if the enemy hasn’t got a dragon with anti-invisibility wards.

“I can scout out the location. I’m good at that sort of thing. I could even use my potion if it’s needed. We should scout out the place before finalizing any plan about dealing with them.”

Despite his efforts to regain his composure, it is still clear from his slow (or rather, normal speed) speech and tone of voice that he clearly hasn't yet.

If Ne-Chanz can freely strike the rat (#2) from where he is, then Shima will stand his ground, face the rat (#2) and try to hit it, bringing his shield up to ward off it's snapping teeth.

However, if Ne-Chanz cannot freely strike the rat (#2) from where he is, then if the door to the north is open, the dwarf will and try to hit rat (#2), bringing his shield up for defense, and try to withdraw 5' or so (enough to allow Ne-Chanz to also attack the lead rat.)

If Ne-Chanz cannot freely strike the rat (#2) from where he is and the door to the north is closed, the dwarf will and try to hit rat (#2), bringing his shield up for defense, and ask Ne-Chanz if he would open the door to the north.

Tulbas quickly lands his hand to Selowen and helps her back to her feet, his face worried. "I didn't know you are that injured." He then quickly searches for anything to tie Jianli with, a rope, a piece of cloth, belt or anything. If he can't he will ask Selowen if she has anything. Then he searches Jinali, both the sack she put the stuff she found in and also her own equipment. Finally he asks Selowen, "What are we to do with her? And do you still want to find the way out or go upstairs to see if we can help the mages against the rebellion." But as he asks it, his face full of doubt seeing how difficult was it for Selowen to cast the 'Sleep' spell.

Kendra Greylock (Marketsquare)
The audience cheers and applauds Kendra's words. However, those cheers soon turn to cries of fear. Someone shouts out the word, "Snakes!" and several people suddenly collapse within the crowd. Before Kendra can register any of this, she hears a whistling sound from above. Looking up, she spots a bottle flying end over end from above, having been lobbed at her. She has scant seconds to react before it hits.

Tulbas Erogund (Tower of Wayreth, Unknown Floor on AT 15)
There isn't anything in the room that could be used to bind Jinali's wrists. Although Tulbas does have his sling on him, and he's a terrible shot with it anyway. The sack Jinali was carrying has a number of knickknacks and miscellaneous items in it, but without a proper identification spell, Tulbas has no idea what value they might have. They include an hourglass, a bowl, a couple of scrollcases, an empty bottle, and a hairbrush. Jinali herself isn't carrying anything more than the spell components in her pouches.

"I don't think it matters at this point," Selowen admits. "I'm not going to get very far." Her meaning is clear. It's unlikely she would survive reaching the bottom of the tower in her condition. But she would be more liability than help in fighting against the rebellion, as well.

Ne-Chanz and Shima (Central Haven Sewers)
(OOC: Still waiting on Ne-Chanz's action, however I will point out that Shima definitely closed the door.)

Despite not knowing what the bottle might hold, Kendra tries to catch it.

Grubnick shifts uncomfortably at the mention of the others. Ne-Chanz is busy with something, and that shady dwarf that came looking for you a while back... Felarn... he, uhh... he didn't make it back from his last thing with the Minotaur... apparently they ran into some kind of trouble. We don't really know where to find Pen.

Yeah, scouting is good. That's actually the main reason we came looking for you and Ismene. That and the fact that you were part of the initial trip.