07.14e Burning Spiders - Part II

[Spellbinder]

Spellbinder arrives in the area of carnage rapidly. A quick scan of the area shows no one in obvious danger. A combination of good stuff and a talent for arriving in the nick of time allow him to spot conspirator #2 making a quick retreat. Basic superhero training makes it obvious that this is a fleeing felon.

Spellbinder will pursue. In his experience people rarely look up to see if they are being followed. Whether this will hold true is anyone's guess. His goal is to find a suitable place to intercept his quarry. Preference is for an open area where property damage is unlikely. If no such place is available, or it looks like he's about to lose his quarry he will settle for any place he can.

If thing work out*, he will drop down and hover in front of conspirator #2. "You seem to be in a hurry. I think we should talk."

*If things don't work out, well that's life some times. I can always edit.

[NPC]

Unfortunately, Conspirator #2 is, in fact, experienced enough (or paranoid enough) to look up. Perhaps that has something to do with his realization that the Raven had been tailing him earlier.

Which means that instead of getting to face him in a nice open space, he has a chance to duck into a crowded tavern, two stories and made of stone; a sign above the door proclaims the building to be "The Wander Inn".

[NPC]

In case it wasn't clear: Yes, this means that things don't work out. You can drop down and follow the man in through the front door, or come in the back through the kitchens, or look in through the building's numerous stained-glass windows.

Inside, the conspirator appears to have been trying to sneak through to the kitchen, but has been confronted and at least momentarily stopped by what appears to be an alliance of three patrons of the establishment: a pale-skinned elf, who currently has both hands raised and open in a 'calm down' gesture, backed by a large human with the muscular build of a smith, and a thin, dark-skinned girl who could be either human or elf. All three are armed, and - to Spellbinder's experience - give off the vibe of minor heroes that haven't yet realized they're outclassed.

((Edit: de-spoilered the scene description.))

[Spellbinder]

OOC: It was clear enough. I'm just having a rough week so being a little slow in posting.

"Oh well, it can never be that easy, can it?" Spellbinder thinks to himself, and then grins. "If I wanted easy, I'd be studying accounting."

He makes sure he has his spells ready to cast and swoops down and through the door. He looks around and quickly spots Conspirator #2 and his collection of would-be heroes. #2 should be facing away from the door, but he's obviously too canny to not watch his back when he believes he's being followed. The question is will he stand still long enough for Spellbinder to approach and speak to him, or will he do something more drastic?

[NPC]

As Spellbinder approaches, he'll note a subtle aura of calm emanating from the pale elf - it's not strong enough to affect Spellbinder, of course, but it's probably why the man he's chasing hasn't hurt anyone yet. The elf is just in the process of assuring the man that he's safe here (apparently the Conspirator has made some claim of being in danger from pursuit?), when Spellbinder's approach brings a sharp end to the (comparative) serenity.

The Conspirator doesn't even turn to look, somehow being aware of Spellbinder even with his back turned, and lunges forward... calmly, but with startling speed ((roughly strength/warfare 10 or so)), wrapping an arm around the woman's neck and pressing a poisoned dagger against her throat. (And, incidentally, tipping her hood back and revealing the pointed ears of a dark elf.)

"Nobody move, or the lady dies!" The man's face, as he turns towards Spellbinder, is drawn and grey with something more than just fatigue, but his eyes shine with the light of a fanatic.

The three would-be heroes are caught entirely by surprise by the speed of their opponent... except, wait, that's not quite right. To Spellbinder's senses, there's something subtly off about the dagger the man is wielding, and, while the dark elf looks suitably cowed, she seems to have acquired an identical dagger, held out of the Conspirator's sight...
((Translation: None of the three were expecting him to be nearly that fast, but the dark elf had pre-emptively picked his pocket and replaced the most obvious weapon with a harmless illusionary duplicate. Which... shouldn't be possible against someone with that much of a warfare advantage on her, unless maybe he's really tired or something...))

The majority of the establishment's patrons are looking to Spellbinder for their cue, as the Everyone Is Armed trope is in full play. They're mostly chaos rank warfare, though, and if everyone jumps the Conspirator... yeah, he'll go down to numbers, but people will die.

[Spellbinder]

Spellbinder thinks to himself, "Oh great! A hostage situation. At least this pretty much confirms that he wasn't an innocent bystander running for safety. Okay, let's do this."

He holds his (empty) hands in plain sight. "Easy friend. There's no need for anyone to get hurt here. I just saw you running from that...whatever it was, and you're looking rather singed. I thought you might need some help."

So, Plan A is to continue trying to talk him down. With the aura of calm it might work. If it looks like it isn't going to Spellbinder will invoke Plan B: Use the calm talk to sneak in a Power Word Light Strobe. That should be fast enough to take him by surprise, and I'm guessing a Dark Elf will find that extra unpleasant. That should buy him enough time to invoke a racked Conjuration of a binding spell, along these lines.

[NPC]

(( There appears to be some confusion. The dark elf is the 'hostage'; the conspirator is human... probably human? ))

[Spellbinder]

((I confuse easily. Okay, the strobe won't be as brutal, but should still work. I'm sticking with that plan.))

[NPC]

"No need?" The man is sweating a bit, one arm still around the dark elf's neck, the other fidgeting with something out of sight under his cloak*. "Of course not. Fine words from a Haakta."**

_____
* It's hard to tell for sure, but at a guess... mixing two potions together? Perhaps preparing another explosive like the ones that first drew Spellbinder's attention? Or he could just be nervous - or shaking for some other reason - and trying to conceal the resulting jitters. One or the other.
** Spellbinder has, as I recall, spent some time traveling through shadow. If that experience includes exposure to a large number of languages, he may be able to translate this word as "soulless", with the implication that this man considers Spellbinder to be some form of non-person monster.
~ Footnotes have been adjusted a bit based on the knowledge that Spellbinder is a good stuff character. For example, if Alystrakos were here, she'd get a version of that first footnote describing the man as 'clearly preparing an attack and just stalling for time'. Which may of course still be true.

[Spellbinder]

A little clarification please. What exactly happened with the knife? Did he realize it was a fake and ignore it? Did he drop it in favor of whatever is under his cloak? Is he holding it in the hand of the arm that is still around the elf's neck (which makes it difficult to use effectively)? That will determine how Spellbinder reads the situation and how he will respond.