[X] (Battle Cantrip) Thunderclap
[X] (The Creeps) Activate Detect Thoughts; either we learn that they can resist it, or we get more context on their grievance here. In parallel, try to lure them out of the inn, both to buy some time to get your results & to keep the civilians we've already had a chance to meet from getting caught up in it.
[X] (The Rest of the Raid Group) Tell them during raid tomorrow.
One of your Succubus tricks could come in handy here, you realize - quickly focusing, you hone your inherent telepathy in on the obvious leader, intending to pull his thoughts…
(Leader's Wisdom save: 19 vs. DC 16.)
(Senaz's Deception to conceal the cast: 18 vs. Leader's 2 on Insight)
… Crap. His mind… No, he's lucky. You're stronger than that. Fortunately, he doesn't catch that you tried it. Just gotta go again before he starts striking.
You start to step back, and switch plans - switching to telepathically communicating with Eira. Get to the Temple of Aurora, tell them there's some kinda cult weirdos at the inn, you directly instruct.
(Eira's Initiative: 5+???. Cultist's Initiative: 20+???. Senaz's Initiative: 14. Innkeep's initiative: 1.)
Eira… Well, you think she nodded, but what you hear is a muttered "'k," followed by her bolting for the door - but a cultist is already moving to get in her way, though his weapon remains more pointed towards you.
"Her will shall not be interrupted," he intones. Eira stops, tensing. She's unarmed, so probably not many options to fight. You can feel the charm's effect cut off as she wisely refuses an obviously dangerous suggestion.
But no one moves to attack, yet. You get your second chance to focus on Detect Thoughts…
(Leader's Wisdom save: 11 vs. DC 16.)
(Senaz's Deception to conceal the cast: 22 vs. Leader's 6 on Insight)
Hacker voice: You're in. And he's none the wiser, though his thoughts are cryptic.
In the name of She Who The Weak Abjure, I shall have my sacrifice. May She bless me with the strength of Snakes for my demonstration of her might.
Okay, so, even more confirmation - not the Red Queen. And he's thinking of killing you as a sacrifice. Meaning he probably won't -
(Innkeeper's Heavy Crossbow attack vs. the Cultist blocking the door: Nat-1.)
A crossbow bolt plunks into the wall, well clear of the cultist by the door. The cult leader's thoughts clearly turn towards the tone of 'he too shall die' - meaning it's a fight for sure. Others in the inn are now fleeing upstairs - should be fine for now.
But with no one going out yet, you're not getting help. And, you need to interrogate them.
You look towards the cultist leader. "Your goddess is not my master."
His thoughts are disbelieving, as he speaks, "Too weak of a lie. If you were not acting in Her name, why would you be in this region?"
"Does a girl like me need a reason?", you respond…
"Enough talk. Kill them all," the leader commands - and the cultists spring into action. The one by the door hesitates for a key second, while the other three step in towards you, bunching up.
(Cultist attack rolls: 16 and 21 vs. AC 18. One hit, 4 damage halved to 2 by Senaz's resistance to slashing from nonmagical attacks. 7 HP remaining.)
(Leader's Arcane Burst: 10 vs. AC 18; miss.)
The leader forms a burst of arcane energy, which he tries to fire at you - but you're nowhere close, sidestepping it as easily as the first swing of the minions' blades.
The second, however, strikes true, cutting into your side. You wince… But you're still up.
"Back, Ears!", you declare - hoping both Eira and the Innkeeper will get the cue. Eira takes the cue to step back enough to be safe... And then, you slam your hands together, casting Thunderclap.
(Cultist saves: 6 and 9 vs. DC 16. Each takes 4 damage.)
(Leader's save: 8 vs. DC 16. He takes 4 damage.)
The shockwave hits them first, rippling harmlessly into your body - and thankfully, while Eira and the innkeeper clearly hear it, it's not enough to hurt them, even with Eira's ears.
(Innkeeper's Heavy Crossbow shot: 17 vs. AC 13. 9 damage.)
And then the Innkeeper fires again - striking the cultist by the door in the neck, sending him toppling immediately. Hard to tell if he's instantly killed, but he's definitely not getting up.
(Cultist attack rolls: 22 and 15 vs. AC 18. One hit, 4 damage halved to 2 by Senaz's resistance to slashing from nonmagical attacks. 5 HP remaining.)
(Leader's attack roll: 3 vs. Eira's unknown AC.)
As Eira starts to bolt for the door, the leader tries to aim for her - but fires wide, hitting the stairwell instead. One of the cultists manages to strike you. Eira is out and shouting for help by the time you back off… You're taking hits, but you're fine for now, and another thunderclap ought to-
(Cultist saves: 14 and 10 vs. DC 16. One takes 6 damage and drops, the other takes 4 damage and is standing.)
(Leader's save: 12 vs. DC 16. He takes 6 damage and remains standing.)
That's enough to knock one out cold, but the leader and one of the others remains up -
(Innkeeper's Heavy Crossbow: 13 vs. Leader's AC 10; leader takes 5 damage and is down.)
Correction, that hit to the stomach dropped the leader, doubling over and falling into unconsciousness.
"Master!", the remaining cultist shouts, trying to break for a vengeful strike at the innkeeper - leaving him wide open for you to grab your rapier and strike!
(Rapier attack: 14 vs. AC 12 for 3 damage - just enough.)
A perfect snipe to the back topples him. Four cultists down.
"... Good shot," you finally say to the innkeep, even as he's putting the crossbow away.
"Yeh, you'd best check those wounds out," he responds. "Also, they broke my hospitality, so, dibs on their stuff."
"I-is that going to be how it works?", you respond. "Like, will the guard put up with that?"
"Prolly not, but screw that," the innkeeper gruffly responds.
You nod. "Fair enough. Wanna find out what they were talking about, though, for sure."
The innkeeper sighs. "They're not the first group of hooded weirdos to show up at this inn this week. Fourth, actually. First to get violent or try to stiff me on their tab, though. Others just kinda sat there, ate and drank, muttered stuff, and walked off."
"... Well. That's, um. Something. Guess I'll need to find out by other means soon enough."
You sigh, as the door opens - revealing Helen first.
"Eira explained already," the Paladin declares - almost stepping on the cultist in front of her. She stops, and kneels down…
[X] (This asshole) Even for these people, a little bit of mercy.
Setting a hand by his neck, she partially closes the wound. His breathing goes from almost nonpresent to ragged. Somehow, you suspect he's not gonna be grateful for the paladin saving his life.
You look to the others. "The leader and this one are just KO'd. That one-" - you point to the one who dove for the innkeep- "- might need a bit of that… Um, healing."
"Lay on Hands, properly," Helen responds, walking over to him and doing just that, as several town guards follow her in, Eira glancing in from outside but not following.
You sigh. "Am I under arrest for assault?"
"Pfft," the guard responds, even as he roughly ties the leader's hands behind his back. "Self defense, far as I care."
The innkeep nods. "Yeah, she actually tried to talk them down for like thirty seconds before they started attacking."
"Good to know," Helen responds for the guard. "... Though that does leave interrogations, once they're conscious and in jail."
You're pretty sure that with them being some kind of dark cultists and having explicitly intended to murder several people (the leader flat-out commanded 'kill them all'), they're probably going to be put to the sword rather swiftly. Which limits your opportunity to try and get information out of them.
[ ] (Interrogations) Leave it to the town guard. You probably won't hear of these assholes again, so maybe just duck their bullshit entirely? (Past Self likes this idea.)
[ ] (Interrogations) Suggest Helen do it; knowing there were more groups, odds are good this is something, and while maybe it's not your divine quest, it's worth poking at maybe. (Clever Self likes this route, but good question if Helen can get as much info out of them as you.)
[ ] (Interrogations) Offer to do the interrogations yourself. Ask if they mind if you do this the aggressive way. (Viking Hat likes this, of course, but Helen might get snippy at best.)
[ ] (Interrogations) Ask if you can interrogate them yourself with some magical assistance. (Clever Self likes this one too. Helen will probably be better with this one than the other two personal ones.)
[ ] (Interrogations) Offer to do the interrogations yourself; ask if you can do it privately and cut a little loose. (Seductive self likes this idea. Helen, maybe not so much.)
(Senaz's Religion Check: Nat-1)
You glance towards Helen. "The leader referred to himself as serving 'She who the weak abjure'. Any chance that's familiar?"
(Helen's Religion Check: 18)
Helen paused. "Well, yes. The fact that I do alone indicates it's not great news, though it could be worse."
"Hmm?"
"Let's talk on the way."
***
In unrelated news, I found out that some of my dice are really low quality today.
Though I'm left wondering if the creepy cultists are some kind of twisted offshoot of the faith of the isekai goddess...
