RQG 106 - Special Delivery

## Content Warnings

Multiple deaths, injury, gore, implied torture, violent interrogation, References to child abuse, family conflict. SFX: constant ringing alarm

## Summary

Sasha solves her canine problems through the medium of sneak, Hamid is bad-ass, and Grizzop has no time for unexpected visitors.

## Synopsis

The episode opens with the party still in combat. As they’re fighting, Azu and Hamid both notice the agitated sounds of the chimera. From the admin building, they can see people poking their heads around windows and doorjambs to look out.

Grizzop can hear one of the creatures digging their way through the door, and Sasha recognizes the sound of a door being forced, coming from the warehouse where they set off the alarm. She can see a pair of claws starting to rip through the door. After Hamid casts *fireball* on the admin building, the sound stops. All of the guards are dead, but they discuss going around and killing the chimeras in the buildings.

(Meta note: manticore is used interchangeably with chimera throughout the episode.)

Hamid says that he’s low on spells, so they decide to go and find someone who can help. Grizzop suggests a local temple in Damascus can help; Hamid reminds them about the simulacrum things, and mentions that they don’t want those falling into the wrong hands. Grizzop asks if they can call Wilde on the mobile stones, but only Einstein has one. Sasha asks if Einstein can tell Wilde, but Hamid reminds them all that Einstein is a wanted fugitive and probably shouldn’t contact Wilde. Azu, who hasn’t heard the full Prague story, asks if a wanted fugitive has gone to her village in Kenya. Grizzop and Hamid explain that the university staff were separatists and that they were associated with Kafka, but they all left, instead of being investigated by the Cult of Mars, so they’re technically fugitives. Azu is a bit more comfortable knowing this. They need to figure out a way to get back to Damascus, and Azu mentions that they have her camel.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, they hear someone clapping from the entrance as the alarms turn off. Grizzop immediately shoots an arrow at them, but misses. The stranger greets them, dodging the arrows, and Grizzop and Azu ask who they are. Grizzop nocks another arrow. There are three people standing at the entrance; two of them are very familiar - two heavily-cowled figures. The third is also vaguely familiar, only to Hamid and Sasha. Hamid notices that he almost looks like Wellington - there’s a familial resemblance, maybe Wellington’s son or nephew. He's dressed in what can be only be described as “English gentleman abroad” - a Panama hat, linens, suit, etc.

Grizzop shoots another two arrows at him, and then asks again who he is. The second shot hits, but he only deals four damage. It buries itself into his shoulder, and then he disappears. The two cowled figures look at each other and then disappear too. Azu asks who this is, and Sasha mutters that posh evil people have been behind this all along - Grizzop says he isn’t surprised. Hamid says that the stranger looked like a friend of Bertie’s - he clarifies that it looks like the friend’s son. Grizzop says that the stranger showed up out of nowhere, so he got a bunch of arrows shot at him; Hamid agrees, and Grizzop says that you can’t just appear out of nowhere and startle people in a high-pressure situation, referencing the twelve manticores all around them. He is very tense.

There’s a thud from where the person just disappeared; something has landed in the dust over there. Hamid peeks into the administration building very quickly to check; there are bits of person and blood all around the shack, and he closes the door quickly, looking a little bit queasy. Sasha approaches the sound, and notices that someone has teleported in another body among corpses of the guards. The person isn’t dead, and they have a note pinned to them; Sasha looks at his face, and recognizes him as Barret, looking absolutely brutalized. Someone has laid into him.

Sasha freezes, having reached in to take the note. Azu and Grizzop come up behind her, and Grizzop asks if she’s alright. Sasha stutters a bit, but says that the person isn’t going to explode. Hamid is lingering back at the admin building, incredibly tense. Azu and Grizzop look down at the body and see middle-aged man there who has been tied up and beaten to hell; he’s dressed plainly but finely. Sasha tells them not to heal him, and Grizzop asks why. She explains that it’s her uncle, but Grizzop and Azu are still confused. Hamid hears her say this and runs over to check for himself. Grizzop asks how Hamid knows her uncle, and he explains that Barret kidnapped them all once, and that he’s the worst crime lord in Other London. Grizzop asks if he should shoot him, but Hamid says that they should figure out what’s happening first.

Azu grabs the note pinned to him - it’s addressed to LOLOMG. She opens it, and it’s a very short, hastily written note from someone who has nice cursive. The letter says: “Apologies for startling. Here’s a little present, we’ll chat later. Apologies again.” Azu says that it is from the disappearing people; Hamid says that they’ve seen the two cowled figures before, one back in Other London and one back in Cairo. Sasha says that when they met Barret in Other London, the squizzard was there, and maybe this entire time Barret has been working for them instead of the other way around.

Hamid points out that Barret has had all of his jewellery stripped except for a single ring on his finger that matches Hamid’s. Grizzop asks what they should do with him, and Hamid says that they should keep him from dying. Grizzop says that he doesn’t think Barret will fit on the camel, but Hamid says that he thinks someone should stay back anyway and guard the place, just to be safe. Grizzop offers to stay, while the other three leave, and Azu says that they shouldn’t only leave one person up here. Hamid says that two of them should go down to the city, and two should remain up here.

Sasha says that Azu should go down and put Barret on the camel. She says that there’s no justice, for a man like him, and Grizzop offers to put an arrow in him, before saying that he could just wake him up. Sasha backs up so that she’ll be out of Barret’s sight; Grizzop uses lay on hands and slaps Barret to wake him up, healing him for seven hit points.

Barret wakes up, and his eyes widen as he notices who he’s looking at. Hamid mentions that this is an interesting predicament, and Barret’s eyes narrow. Hamid reaches over and takes the gag out of his mouth. Barret doesn’t say anything. Azu asks what’s been happening, and Barret looks over at her, doing a double take. She says that she doesn’t know him, but that she thinks that he’s a bad person. Barret says that this isn’t a great start, and coughs.

Azu asks how he ended up here, and Barret says that if he knew that he’d have avoided the situation. She asks who beat him up, and he ignores her, saying hello to Hamid, asking how he is. Hamid replies that he’s doing a lot better than Barret, who concedes the point. Hamid says that he assumes someone in his organization has taken Barret’s seat of power. Barret ignores him, asking where they are, and Hamid answers that they’re in the middle of nowhere. Grizzop says that if Barret doesn’t tell them what they want, he’ll put an arrow through his eyes, and Azu backs him up. Hamid says that these are his new associates, and Barret comments that he’s traded up.

Grizzop asks him what Barret knows about the situation, and Azu asks again who beat him up. Barret says that he doesn’t know who beat him up, but that an old associate put him in that position. Grizzop asks for a name, but Barret says that they didn’t use names. Hamid accuses Barret of lying and asks him to tell them, but Barret says that he isn’t lying and that he really didn’t know the answer. Hamid asks what kind of crime boss doesn’t do research about the people he’s working with, and Grizzop fires an arrow about an inch from Barret’s face before nocking another one. Barret says that he can either tell them the truth and say he doesn’t know who it was or he can lie and tell them he does. Hamid asks what else he can tell them, but Barret just says that the people who beat him up will do worse. Hamid says that they can murder him to avoid that, but he says that they’ll still do worse. Azu asks if it’s a soul thing, and Barret admits that it is pretty much that.

Hamid asks what the cowled figures are, but Barret ignores him and says that if they want him here, it’s because they wanted the party to kill him. Grizzop tells him to give them names, but Barret just says that they’ll punish him more if he does, and that they can’t threaten him with violence. Hamid says that they can, actually, and turns his hand into a claw, sticking it into his arm. Grizzop mentions that the celestial plane does exist, and that if he does a lifetime of bad things, he won’t be getting in, so maybe one good thing can help even that out a bit. Hamid threatens to cut his finger off so that “they” can’t track him down and communicate with him again. Barret doesn’t address this, just tells Hamid to reach in his top-left pocket.

There’s a little silver vial, and Barret tells him to wipe it on the affected area. Hamid carefully unstoppers it and sniffs it, gently. It smells vaguely acidic, almost like nail varnish remover. He casts *detect magic*; it is magical, and comes out as transmutation and middling magic. Azu suggests to put it on Barret’s finger, and Barret agrees. Hamid pours some of the vial onto Barret’s finger; nothing happens, but Grizzop reaches out and the ring comes off easily. Hamid pours the rest onto his hand over the ring; his finger grows very, painfully hot, and then he feels the ring begin to loosen. It comes off.

Hamid thanks Barret for actually being helpful, and Barret asks if that’s his redemption done. Hamid describes it as more of a to-do list, in his case, but Barret just asks where Sasha is. Grizzop says that he doesn’t know, and Hamid says that she’ll find him if she wants to. Barret says that he was expecting to be delivered to her instead, and doesn’t pick up on the fact that they’re lying. He asks what now, and Hamid says that he was explaining the whole situation to them. He says that if he tells them who they are, will they help him avoid them; Grizzop doesn’t seem that convinced, but Hamid says that it depends on his answers. Barret says that he’ll make them a deal; he’ll tell Sasha, and then she has to tell him that they’ll protect him, since she never could lie. Grizzop says that if Sasha wants to talk to him, she will.

This entire time, Sasha has been crouching behind them, biting her fingers. At this, she gets up and walks silently over to them, sliding a blade under Barret’s chin and crouching behind him so that he can’t see her face. He greets her the second he feels the blade, and Barret asks them what they know about the Cult of Hades.

## Quotes

**Grizzop**: "Wow, someone’s done a number on him."
**Azu**: "This poor man."
**Sasha**: "He’s, um…don’t heal him."
**Grizzop**: "Okay. Wait, why? Who is he?"
**Sasha**: "It’s uhhhh…it’s my uncle."
**Hamid**: "Oh my god! What?!"
**Grizzop**: "Wait, you know her uncle?"
**Hamid**: "He kidnapped us one time! He’s like the worst crime boss in London!"
―The party realises that the stranger brought them Barret.

"The envelope has L.O.L.O.M.G. written on it. You open it and it seems to be a very short, very hastily written note by someone who has very very fine cursive. It just says, “Apologies for startling. Here’s a little present. We’ll chat later. Apologies again."
―**Alex**

**Sasha**: "Azu has the camel. You should put Barret on the camel. Take him to…there’s, there’s no…there’s no justice for him, there’s no one that will…"
**Grizzop**: "I could put an arrow in him if you want.  Or wake him up. Hang on a minute, should I just wake him up?"
**Hamid**: "Yeah! If that’s okay with you, Sasha."
**Sasha**: "Alright."
―Sasha stands back where Barret can’t see her.

**Alex**: "He looks up and you see wide eyes at everyone you can see. And he is gagged but he doesn’t move or struggle or say anything, just big wide eyes."
**Hamid**: "Well, well, well, isn’t this an interesting predicament, Mr. Racket."
**Azu**: "What’s been happening?"
**Barret**: "Hello…"
**Azu**: "We don’t know each other, but I think you’re a bad person."
―The party confronts Barret.

**Barret**: "Hey Hamid. How are you doing?"
**Hamid**: "A lot better than you!"
**Barret**: "So it would seem. Funny how things shake out."
**Hamid**: "I assume someone in your organization has wrested control from you. [...]"
**Grizzop**: "Wotcher. Oh, by the way, if you don’t tell us what we need to know, I’m gonna shoot an arrow through your eyeballs, so…"
**Azu**: "He will do that."
**Hamid**: "These are my new associates, Barret. I didn’t know them last time we met."
**Barret**: "You’ve traded up."
**Hamid**: "Yup!"
―Hamid chats with Barret.

**Barret**: "Where’s Sasha? I kind of figured she’d still be with you."
**Grizzop**: "Dunno."
**Hamid**: "Oh, don’t worry, I’m sure she’ll find you if she wants to."
**Barret**: "I’ll be honest, I was expecting to be delivered to her, not to you, but there we go, so what now?"
―The party refuse to reveal where Sasha is.

**Barret**: "I’ll make you a deal. I’ll tell Sasha. She never could lie, if she says that you’ll do something, you probably will. Besides, it would be nice to see her."
**Grizzop**: "Well, as Hamid said, if she wants to talk to you, she’ll arrive."
**Lydia**: "All this time, Sasha is crouched down and basically is biting her fingers, like, there’s too much going on. She’ll walk slowly towards him and sort of sink down and so the first that he might be aware of her is a knife blade next to his neck."
**Barret**: "Oh, hi Sasha."
**Hamid**: "Told you she’d find you if she wanted to."
―Sasha makes Barret aware of her presence.

## Dice rolls and Mechanics

* Everyone makes a Perception check: Grizzop gets 10, Sasha gets 14, Azu gets 20, Hamid gets 27
* Everyone makes a Perception check: Grizzop gets 23, Sasha gets 30, Azu gets 16, Hamid gets 15
* Grizzop makes an attack roll on the stranger: 15 and 18, respectively.
* Hamid and Sasha make a wisdom check: Hamid gets 18, Sasha gets 7
* Grizzop makes another attack roll on the stranger: 16 and 29, respectively.
* Sasha makes a Disable Device check: 22
* Hamid makes a Perception check: 24
* Hamid makes another Perception check: 18
* Grizzop and Azu make an intimidation check: Grizzop gets 22, Azu gets 25
* Hamid makes an attack against Barret: 4 damage
* Grizzop and Hamid make a Bluff check: Hamid gets nat 20, Grizzop gets 23

## Combat Breakdown

Combat continued from previous episode, initiative order is a bit inconsistent as there was a break between recordings.

**Initiative:** Sasha (22), Azu (17), Hamid (15), Grizzop (10), Guards, Dogs

**Round 3**

* Grizzop: Shoots the two dogs attacking Sasha; he rolls a 27 and 16, both hit. He deals 3 and 4 damage respectively. The dog that attacked Sasha dies.

**Round 4**

* Sasha: Somersaults over the other dog and stabs it in the back. She gets a natural 20 on Acrobatics (total of 34) and rolls a 29 on the attack, dealing 6 fire damage and 5 sneak attack damage. The dog dies.
* Azu: Sighs and runs back to the party, asking if Sasha needs to be healed, but she’s fine.
* Hamid: Runs up to the edge of the admin building, peeking around the corner with his finger out. He makes a Perform check to look cool, and gets 16. He casts *mage armor* on himself once he’s in place.
* Guards: Nothing noticeable happens in the house.
* Grizzop: Runs up to the other side of the door, opposite of Hamid, and holds his bow up in a similar posture. He makes a Perform check and gets a 20. He peeks through the door and several guards shoot at him as their readied actions go off. Two attacks hit and one them is a crit. He takes 10 damage.

**Round 5**

* Sasha: Runs up to the door and throws a bomb through. She rolls a 16 on the attack roll, and deals 3 splash damage to the guards inside.
* Azu: Runs up to the party and says that they should come up with a better plan.
* Hamid: Sticks his hand through the door and casts *fireball*, the guards all succeed at their saving throw and take 17 fire damage. All the windows on the ground floor blow out, and everyone takes 2 damage from the glass. Everyone in the admin building is dead.