Turn 160

    At the ship:
    Nyala gives him a curious look at this poetic statement.
    Yestin scratches his head with one jagged phalange of his new mace, then colors a deeper shade of purple-gray. "Ah, forgive my rambling. I fear the acquisition of our new cannon has made me, ah..." the Giff searches for the right word, "...giddy." He shrugs helplessly. "We Giff have a certain fondness for smoke powder, you see."
    He frowns. "I do worry about our companions though. There is danger in what they do, even for a man like Emmett." The swelling in Yestin's voice as he mentions the half-man's name suggests that he has lost none of his admiration for the tough gryphon-rider during the passing months of their voyage. "And we would be totally unawares, should some danger befall them."
    "Danger?" Inez says, reminding him that the two females do not know what is afoot with the rest of the crew... yet. "They're probably in a bar."
    Yestin sighs. "I suppose there is nothing to be done but wait and keep our watches until they return." He turns towards Hiro. "Master swordsman, I could stand some practice with my mace and shield, so long out of use am I with any weapon other than greatsword and halberd. If you would care to put me through my paces?"
    Hiro gives the giff a measuring look and a one-shouldered shrug. "The oak and the willow; a most interesting contest. Very well."
    [GM: I can roll out a few rounds if you'd like to see how this particular set of mismatched archetypes plays out?]

    * * *
    At the temple:
    "You didn't mention *that*," Val says, giving the half-elf a nod to proceed. "There might be more to this place yet..."
    Ignoring as best they can the sound of bloodshed down the hall, they move silently in search to find more sumptuously appointed living chambers -- relying it would seem on the dread their underlings must have for the senior priests to prevent any pilfering -- but nothing more of interest to their mission.
    That being the case, they leave the way they entered, taking care that everything should appear undisturbed, and before long are making their way through the dark streets to the docks, bearing their curious gains.
    [Joking aside, how *do* you plan to handle this?]
    Meanwhile, upstairs,
    "We're coming boy!" Barrend yells.
    Halfway to the stair he's nearly run over by a hysterical goblin, who screams at the sight of him and jinks back towards the door leading to the temple's back yard, plunges through it and toward the gates without pausing. It's followed a few moments later by another one.
    "Damn!" exclaims Lynden inwardly cursing both Emmett and Barrend. "You okay here?" he quickly checks with Pham before following the dwarf to the stairs shouting, " Don't them them escape!"
    Barrend charges after the fleeing goblins, who are making quite a racket in their panic. They're also pulling away from him in the race down the yard.
    Pausing at the doorway to the garden Lynden gauges the distance between Barrend and the escapees and the gate before casting, muttering the incantation as fast as possible.
    His glowing mace intercepts the first goblin just steps from the gate -- as a half dozen inky arms erupt from the evil garden and begin rending him to pieces.
    The second goblin stop, turns and sees Lynden and Barrend, and falls in a dead faint from sheer terror.
    Inside, Pham shakes his head ruefully and turns to see how the bound junior priest is doing. He does not notice how in the highest reaches of the hall, the light that had started to rise as the now-captive tried to read his scroll has lingered in a corner. Suddenly it moves, a thread of brilliance reaching out to touch Pham. He pauses and turns, just as if someone had tapped him on the shoulder, and then his eyes get very wide. He prostrates himself on the floor at once, then after a few moments gets to his knees, performs a series of obeisances, then stands up and looks around with a new light of urgency in his eyes; for a moment he doesn't seem to be seeing what is there, but then he hurries after the others, in time to meet Emmett as the Half-Man climbs the stairs in pursuit of the escaped goblins.
    "We must go at once," he says without preamble. When Emmett begins to ask what manner of trouble they must be prepared for -- more priests, city guards...? the younger man shakes his head. "I mean leave this sphere. We must get to Kahrelan before it is too late!"
    

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