CMP

Atramor looked up at the wyvern and turns back to the hobgoblin. "Show us how to sail this thing and we'll get all of 'em back."

"That's a damn good idea assumin' the other ships are bein' crewed, aye. Is there anyone else on-board, Nerwen? If not, we gotta get to the Wind Thief."

"Stea-...er...borro-..conscriptin' - a ship, to cram down Fort Freedom's throat, stop the executions, overthrow the false Founders, and later go assault Nu Mercution to breach a portal leadin' to a fairy haven city and kill an archdemon." Atramor paused. "Ya' know, when I put it that way, leavin' seems a lot more reasonable..." "Are ya' with Guts? Is the Wind Thief, uh, better armed? I didn't think he'd of had the time or charisma to recruit a crew."

"Uh. Nerwen?" Atramor scratched his head. "The hell are you doin' here? You a sailor now?"

Sorry, got a bit busy there for a few days. "If the Phoenix ain't armed but the Magpie's got a full crew that does it for me. I dunno if the Wind Thief's got enough people to sail, I'm sure Guts has got it armed but he ain't the best with people. If we're alright with the Magpie then let's not waste any time," thought Atramor aloud, as he lead the way down to the vessel.

Atramor nods at Ulric and stands straight. "Head to the western wall and give us five minutes. We'll head to the south and wait for the explosion - shouldn't be hard to spot. Remember, you're a temporary distraction 'til we get a ship, we've got the suicidal heroics 'bout covered for today." The rogue looks out over the rest of the party, and, taking only a moment for a long sip of the nearest non-empty mug, braces himself as it becomes apparent the party is willing to rely on his plan. "Hope ya'll aren't expectin' a speech or anythin'. Frankly I think I've heard enough today to last a lifetime, so I'll keep this quick. We all took an oath to protect the lives of anyone who needed Heroica's service, and, well...things might seem bleak, but at the end of the day, that's what we're doin'. Savin' lives. Bein' heroes, the best we can be." "Everythin's on the line here today, mates. We got no room to fail." He cast his eyes around, at the heroes grouped around the dingy tables planning their last, desperate stand. "This is it. We've got no magic protection. We've got no Hall. Our allies are few. All we have is us. Everyone in this room, and everyone willin' to stand with us today? We're Heroica now. And this is our city to protect. And we're not goin' anywhere. Let's go deliver that message, PERSONALLY." With that, he whirled around, tugging his hat a little further down on his head, and swung the doors open wide, leading the party south.

"You're confusin' the words 'heroes' and 'gods', mate. We're not gonna be able to save everyone. But bein' heroes means we're gonna try our damnedest nonetheless." Atramor nods at the Veterans. The leaders of Heroica, themselves diving into the worst of the fray. "Any time ya' can buy us is gonna save lives. We'll do everythin' we possibly can to take Eubric back. And when Heroica is restored...when we do what needs to be done, and pick up the pieces...we'll do everythin' we can to keep Baltarok and Azzurat safe. Ya' have my word on that. Good luck; if any of us dies today, we die as heroes." "Trust me Boomin'ham, they'll turn tail as soon as they spot us on that ship. The Founders aren't here to slaughter a buncha civilians - popular opinion is Rosier's greatest weapon. Those in the Hovels followin' Ulric know what's comin'. If they're ready to do what's necessary, we got no room to turn 'em away." Atramor took a breath as he stared his long-time mentor directly in the eye. It was clear he wasn't sure he expected Boomingham to be here, but he knew better than to believe the paladin had retired or died in the meantime. Too stubborn. He couldn't help but grin a bit, perhaps morbidly. "Don't get soft on me, old man. We're gonna need every man and woman willin' to support us if we're gonna take Eubric back. I know we're between a rock and a hard place here..." "....so there ain't much left to do but get ready to pulverize some rocks, is there?" Atramor nodded at the heroes ready to fight. "Anyone got any more reservations, now's the time."

"We killed a lot of 'em near the Dragon House earlier, but we spotted even more not long ago in the sky over the Hall. We don't know that they're hangin' 'round the bridge, no, but I assume they'll figure out who we are the closer we get to the Fort and call on every force available. If we're on a ship, that's gonna be cannons, other boats, ranged fighters, and whatever they can hit us with from the sky."

"Hell no. All it takes is a pair of shackles and ya'll are dead. I think we might've run into a Town Watch lieutenant that did, hard to remember, they all look the same...in any case, we need to stick together as a single group, period. Gotta combine all our power if we're gonna do this, and we can't do that if anyone dies." "We all do this together, or we all die horribly," nodded Atramor encouragingly.

"We're heroes, mate. Underestimatin' fallout is what we do." Atramor scratched his increasingly-scraggly chin and raised his voice. "Now, I know some of ya'll would rather be out there demon-killin' right 'bout now. Lemme me real damn clear, archdemons are onna the most significant threats any of us could face, no matter how good the odds on our side are, but this ain't like before; we can't go runnin' off to go shove a book up its hide this time, Rosier's brought the fight to us." "We leave now, we lose Eubric." The rogue cast his eyes around the room. "And I dunno 'bout the rest of ya'll, but Heroica gave me a home and a job when I had ten coins to my name; that home was Eubric, and that job is protectin' it at any cost. Aye, we grew , and soon enough we were facin' threats lookin' at countries, worlds, timelines, planes, dimensions, whatever the hell they pleased, and we did the best we could. But this isn't....that." Atramor waved his arms around a bit. As if that helped convey his point. "This is, like, hell, mates, this is apocalyptic stuff we're dealin' with here! And I know, 'well, I hear that a lot', but they've taken the Hall from us. That just- that doesn't happen. Not even when they wiped out all but the current six Veterans, right before we all joined up. Hell of a lot happened on the day I joined, but there's three things I still remember thinkin': the floor sucks. Free booze is great. And that's a real shiny plaque." "Well if there's ever a time for an act of heroism, it's right freakin' now, mates. We gotta hit Fort Freedom with everythin' we've got to reclaim the city. We need the support of everyone and anyone if we're gonna storm the Faerie and take down the source of this evil, so our first step HAS to be bein' the big goddamn heroes everyone likes complainin' 'bout and savin' everyone in Eubric." Atramor nodded at Karie and Ulric and unrolled a map on the biggest table. And then started scribbling all over it in many vibrant, pretty colors. "So I'm thinkin' Step 1: Big Red is blow up the wall. We do it between the abandoned Dragon House and the friendly Ziegfried Manor, it'll form a neat little choke point for Ulric's people to hold the Hovels or give them time to retreat into the sewers. Attackin' the Town Watch and Paladins are useless as long as the Miracleworker's alive, so I'd suggest the latter. This is the point of no return, mates. No turnin' back. In either case the only goal is to create a distraction, giving us an opportunity to enact..." Step 2: Cool Blue. We escape out the south side of the Hovels and sneak 'round Crescent Hill. The Chateau is empty anyhow, and any guards'll probably be called over to the Hovels wall anyhow. Our only objective is to get all of our combined forces to the Harbor as stealthily as possible, avoidin' as much conflict as possible. The Harbor is essential to... Step 3: Green...Bean. We'll need a ship. This step is iffy. We'll need an independent ship, Bonaparte ships are bein' watched for. I've heard a lotta good suggestions on this, and frankly, we'll take whatever we can get. If Guts and the Wind Thief are there, great. If this Magpie is there, great. Either we luck out and find an ally or steal one. It's the Harbor, so at least one is gonna fit the bill. Gettin' a ship is pretty damn important, considerin'... Step 4: Pink Brink. We'll need to navigate our way outta the Harbor, gettin' past Bascule Bridge and a whole lotta dragon reinforcements. This step will be hell. Our ranged heroes are gonna be our biggest asset here, as is our own air support. Lookin' at you, Hoke. Anythin' we can do to disrupt enemy ships or mess with the sky, we need to do it. Maybe Althior can conjure us up a big ol' wave or somethin'. In any case, our objective is to reach Fort Freedom. When we do, we move to.... Step 5: Purple...uh. Purple versus Yellow." Atramor hastily draws the hostile forces in yellow. "Yeah, so this is this is gonna hurt the most. This is where we breach Fort Freedom. Once we secure a docking point, it's a matter of findin' where the executions are bein' held and puttin' a stop to 'em. This is gonna be one of the hardest fights any of us are ever gonna face. Five Founders and every remaining guard on the Fort is gonna be there to stop us. And they won't be able to. This is the step where we take back control of Eubric, and we show these asshoIes why Heroica's been 'round for two and a half centuries. Which takes us to Step 6: Victory Celebration, but that comes later. After the Rosier thing." "Sound good, mates?"

"What's all this 'bout blowin' up a wall, then?" "Anyway, mates, I'm gonna have to agree with ya', much as Rosier is the source of the problem here, and as much as I love kickin' me some archdemon behind, we're gonna have to combine all our damn efforts if we wanna take down these false Founders and save the city. They're the immediate threat, and if what ya' say 'bout hangin's is true, there's no contest." "Now. As far as the Pandemonican goes..." Atramor trailed off briefly, and looked to Torald. "Mate, if you let that thing drive ya' off the deep end, you know we're gonna have to put ya' down, right? Only one man's ever gotten on this thing's level, and he's trapped in the Void."

Atramor grinned as the parties assembled, faces long forgotten appearing more than once in the crowd. He gave Skrall and Benji a brief clap on the shoulder in familiarity, nodding at Arthur as he made his way to Karie. "Hell of a tale." "After we broke off, we went to the Dragon House to find the Shadeaux kids takin' refuge. They told us their old man was locked up in Fort Freedom, and sent Bellanotte with us to assist in our effort. She's been a hell of a help. The Golden Dragon's body was there, but we needed to have a word with her, so we went to hit up Ziegfried Manor. The enemy's got a lotta dragons on their side, had to fight off a whole horde of 'em. Luckily, thanks to Arthur, we managed to recruit Chesterine to help us speak to the Dragon, but when we got back to her house the Shadeaux were gone and we came face-to-face with the Doomsayer himself." "Now, mates, I'll be the first to admit we're in a bad way here, but damn if we don't got some good news," he added, with a fierce nod, as he dumped the elegant Dwarven Cloak onto the ground, bits of faire dust still clinging to it. "The Doomsayer ain't a problem anymore. He turned into this dust after we killed him and his guards. Golden Dragon didn't have much for us in the way of direction, but did tell us the key was to figure out our enemy's goals. Which...well, I hope ya'll came up with somethin'." "We had a friend at the Guild identify the dut as fairie dust, which lines up with what you've been tellin' us about the Fairie. Sounds like Rosier and these dark druids are behind impersonatin' the Founders. But...I feel like that ain't all there is to it. I've fought more'n my fair share of archdemons, none of 'em are on the level enough to orchestrate somethin' of this scale all on their lonesome. Either way...Arthur left us a tip on where to find some allies, so we went to the Embassy to free the Lion Knights from their Town Watch captors. It went damn well, we cut a path straight through the Paladins and Town Watch to get here, but...well, it seems like Dyric might've spotted the Miracleworker, which make sense because every single one of 'em got brought back from death." "We made it to the Hovels, sent out Dyric and Matthias to grab onna the parties while we hit up the other, but it seems like ya'll had the same general idea." "Whenever someone's ready to speak up 'bout the Oracle party, I'm ready to listen." Atramor's jaw dropped before it clenched in the course of suppressing some...hostile emotions. "Where the hell did you get that?"

"Well, I'll be damned," laughs Atramor. "Here we are ready to crawl through a few miles of sewers and ya'll already done us the pleasure. Walk 'n talk back to the Hovels, then? I'm gettin' the impression we've got a lot to catch up on. Looks like ya' found the Oracle, and...hell, the Fey One?" The rogue raises his eyebrows. "Well, ain't that peachy..."

All good WBD!

"We'll pop out by the Apothecary, it wasn't swarmin' last time we saw it. Hoke, I dunno what you wanna do about Torc, she ain't exactly easily hidden or built for the sewer...maybe she ought to wait in the Hovels? In case any of the other parties pop up, we wanna keep 'em here 'til we can round up the other."

"Damn," grumbles Atramor, pulling his coat collar up a bit more and tugging his hat down as he wheels around. "Alright, plan A, let's find a manhole, even if there's more forces down there we can deal with 'em in a straight-on fight without gettin' flanked. We'll head west through the sewers and as soon as we find a way out, we'll take it."

Atramor grits his teeth at the news of hangings, but leads the party to follow the tracks.

Prophets get Track Down, unless you mean you're waiting for K-Nut to post.

Atramor signals Althior to start looking for tracks as he tries to find a window to peek inside.

Atramor gives the assassin an intense look, then nods, clasping his fellow rogue's arm in one of his own for a moment. "Alright. Be careful, mate. When ya' find 'em, bring 'em back here to the Hovels, to Lady Luck's place. We'll meet there once we've got the other party. Make sure you let 'em know what happened to the Doomsayer. Might perk 'em up a bit," added Atramor with a grin. "They shouldn'ta' been so eager to see what happens when you cut us off from the Hall, our job, and the free booze. Good luck." He looked sideways at Matthias for a second, then dug around in his cloak. "Hey, mate. Just in case ya' need some major firepower...I think she'll show up a lot stronger with some ether in her." He tosses the gnome his Archangel Summonstone.

"We'll hit the streets, then. Don't let the Hovels fall."

"The Herald ain't far anyhow. If ya've got a path that can get us there, we may as well take it."

"The Herald...hmm. Guess they went to hit the source of this buIIshit right in the eye. I like it. Aye, we're all fine. I'm more concerned 'bout the other party at the moment. I s'pose we should follow 'em, then. Ulfric - any chance we can use the sewers to avoid any pryin' eyes? "If they ain't still there, we can at least pick up the trail."

"We'll get your family back from Fort Freedom. Yours, and anyone else's imprisoned by this regime. I know it ain't gonna be easy, Dame, but-" Atramor trailed off briefly and realized he was standing a few mere feet away from the biggest crimelord in the city. It was only an instant later that the rogue had his claws back out - not raised or trained on the wolf, but drawn nonetheless. "Hell, no need to be so damn dramatic..." The rogue shook his head. "So you're the Wolfgang boss, huh? Got more than a bone to pick, but there's more'n enough bones to be pickin' right now, it's like a...fish carcass out here there's so many damn bones. We sent out a party with the Fox and Kukulkan to make contact with you and your people - better got an answer for where they are."

Atramor scratched his chin. "You're sayin' you wanna split this whole party to find both other groups? Risky, but if they're both in trouble I'd say we'd be more'n capable of helpin' 'em out. Althior is capable of trackin' too, I think..." The rogue leaned against a pillar and frowned in thought. Dividing their forces was dangerous. He glanced at Bellanotte for a moment, then at the Lion Knights, and the roof of Ziegfried Manor peeking over the wall. They had allies, and every second they wasted was putting those allies in further danger... "Matthias? Hoke? Althior? What do ya' think? Splittin' up's a gamble, but I think if we're careful, smaller groups might be able to avoid bein' spotted easier. The Lion Knights can lay low at the Dragon House and keep an eye out if the paladin or watch rolls through: unless ya' think you and your men can hold the wall itself, Miss Kniveton."