Volume 1: Chapter 9 - Sumeri
[X] Tell Amina about the weapons and parts of the investigation - 12 votes
You sigh as you settle on informing Amina about the weapons and investigation. It isn't up to you to decide how she wishes to live her life, and the human can be considered an adult from what you understand of the current age of majority for the race. Certainly, you've performed more dangerous operations with people even younger than her. That hesitation… you're not sure if it's you unconsciously looking down on her or something else. Regardless, you shouldn't leave her in the dark anymore now that you have a reasonable suspicion of what might be happening,
Approaching the woman casually, you speak up when you're sure the two of you are far enough away from others, "Ser Amina, there's something important I need to tell you."
She stiffens to your surprise, before turning to you with an awkward smile, "Lady Dee, I am not certain if I can accept thy heartfelt confession—"
"What, no!" You hiss out. "I'm not asking about that."
Amina cocks her head innocently, "Oh? Did I imagine thy shy glances towards me?"
You narrow your eyes at her even as you groan in exasperation. Not only does it seem like she enjoys being clever with people, she's more aware of her surroundings than you thought. You curse to yourself. It really does seem a tad suspect how you kept looking towards Amina in your musings and recent internal debate about her, doesn't it? You need to leave it be and press on however.
"... you may have been involved in my most recent thoughts—"
"Aha!"
"—but no. I swear I do not have any intentions towards you. This is something else, and a matter I need your discretion on," you finish, before tacking on something else to show the importance of the situation. "Please?"
The human's smile dims a little as she senses your seriousness, "Very well, Lady Dee. What troubles thee?"
You reach down to pick up a crate and speak during the motion, "I checked the inside of one of these crates since I thought there was something peculiar about this commission. There's firearms and lancers inside them, Amina. I believe this is a weapon smuggling operation of some kind."
Amina tenses, her smile fully dropping as her mouth parts slightly. Blinking, she looks down at the stack of crates she was about to pick up with widened eyes before shaking her head. The human looks back up somewhat uncertainly at you, but she doesn't look scared or fearful of the implications.
"Amina, I need you to listen carefully," you continue on after giving her time to process what you just revealed. "There have been signs of serious demonic cult activity in this city. I'm afraid that this is something related to that scourge. Several cultists are probably already here watching us, and I'm uncertain of will happen when we are transported to the next location."
"Should… should we not try to call someone? Or inform some of the innocent here?" She asks.
"We can notify the relevant authorities, but what I've found isn't definitive proof of anything. It may be safer for the people here to continue on without knowing if it turns out to be unrelated or stays a simple job if there are armed cultists nearby…"
"But if matters become dangerous, we will need to act," she finishes, eyebrows knitting together.
"Amina," you say. "You have my trust, as the one who informed me of this. If you wish to walk away now, rest assured I will not judge—"
"No. No, I'm not fleeing from this," Amina says, fingers clenched into fists as she stares in your eyes. "I… this is why I'm doing any of this. If I run now… why am I even here?"
Why else am I still here? You suck in a breath as you hear words so reminiscent of your own from the knight before you. The crate creaks from your tightening hold on it. You desperately hope you're not making a mistake here.
"And what of thou, Lady Dee?" She asks pointedly, her poise recovering. "I will not leave another alone to see this through."
You tap your foot in thought, conceding the point. Didn't Grog just ask you not to go into things like an idiot? Amina seemed like she would do something rash and impulsive to you, but your first instinct was to try and handle this all by yourself while sending her away. You constantly warn people and yourself to not underestimate demons and their cultists, yet you've been brazenly putting yourself in situations where you're confronting them on your own. It's... perhaps you need to start changing things now. Turning away, you jerk your head in the direction of the trucks.
"Well, let us be off then. We've spent too much time here. Remember, pretend you heard nothing from me. Here is what we shall do…"
You and Amina chat amiably with three other workers in the truck with you, half genuine interest from the human and half you pretending for the fourth "worker" watching everything silently. A message was already sent to Jasiri and the others, and Amina had informed her group and had her tablet being tracked by them. She is handling the pressure well, but you notice her tense posture despite her smile.
Finally, the truck comes to a stop and all of you walk off. Looking around, much of the area is much more dilapidated than the previous location, and you can't find signs of anyone else nearby. There seems to be more people walking inside the building as well than there were back during the job.
More than that, you feel... something in the air. It isn't obvious, but the atmosphere almost crawls into your senses, rendering the isolated location at night even more foreboding. The others seem to notice something too, as their conversations almost immediately trail off as they get closer to their destination. There isn't any active magic being performed or some sinister ritual from what you can tell, but places didn't need them to be influenced by other factors.
The interior of the building is dimly lit as the workers stream into it. Told to stay in a particular location until ordered otherwise, the group of around twenty people mills about uneasily. They fidget with tablets but don't use them, and any hint of the casual camaraderie from before dies down. Some of the workers, including the silent one watching you and Amina in the truck, aren't present.
You meet the eyes of Amina and nod towards her. In the event that this did turn out to be dangerous, she'll be the one focusing on getting everyone out safely. Your duty is to subdue any hostiles. Leaving someone who likely hasn't ever seriously harmed or killed anyone to fight others in a life-or-death situation is... unwise. You can only hope that she escapes this mostly unscathed if the situation deteriorates.
Footsteps finally are heard around you, and as the workers perk up at distracting themselves from the oppressive air, confusion spreads as several figures reveal themselves to them. Masked people in dark, concealing clothing start surrounding everyone while carrying firearms in their hands. You look around and take in their locations, ready to jump in if they attack now. It's just about confirmed then. Something as blatant as this is almost definitely related to the cults.
"What… what the hell is going on here?" A panicked gnoll calls out.
A miu lowers a hand into his belt, "Why the fuck do you all have lancers!?"
The door suddenly shuts with a loud bang, and most of the lights switch off. You instantly tense and ready yourself to spring into action, but stop yourself as a circle glowing with a sickening purple light springs to life underneath everyone. Intricate symbols and lines decorate its interior, and a brief glance is all you need to realize that this is a setup for a mass sacrificial ritual. How did it remain completely invisible to you? Something of this scale…
"We thank you all for your contribution to our great cause," a voice coming from some sort of speaker interrupts your thought process. "Now, we ask you to—"
This is your chance. A scenario like this didn't warrant you having to listen to someone else's monologue. More than likely these cultists are prepared to act as soon as the person on the speakers gives the signal, and acting first will throw them off. But what to do in order to ensure the best likelihood of everyone making it out safely? Your heart begins to beat faster and the world almost seems to slow down as you prepare to take the initiative.
You didn't have your bow, and that will definitely make taking everyone out quickly more difficult. However, you are hardly helpless without it and can most definitely move faster than many of these cultists can react. Aggressively taking out a few first will disorient them and focus their attention on you most likely for a short while before they think to attack the others. But some will eventually decide to shoot more defenseless targets, and you and Amina will both need to be constantly aware of those times. The people will be vulnerable in those precious few seconds with nothing shielding them after all.
Alternatively, you can form a magic barrier around most of the group and slowly retreat. It'll involve less initial risk for the crowd around you while giving Amina less to focus on. Perhaps the people might even gather themselves with a moment to breathe and contribute. However, it puts almost everything on your ability to maintain the barrier, and you aren't the best at creating them. They worked against the occasional arrow or spell in the past, but can they take sustained lancer fire from multiple directions? You aren't sure.
The investigation members assigned to help are on their way as well as Amina's friends. In either course of action, you'll likely need them. But you don't know how close they are or how soon they can act. Is making it out of the building faster by charging at them better, or will that lead to everyone getting fired upon outside? Is hunkering down inside while waiting for reinforcements better, or will that allow the cultists to gather together to break your barrier while trapping you inside?
You run all this through your mind in the second before you step forward and…
Choose One:
[] ...charge them to direct their attention onto you while leaving Amina to lead everyone out the building quickly:
(Requires a series of moderately difficult physicality checks from both Deirdre and Amina to make it out without any injuries or casualties)
[] ...form a magic barrier around as much as the group as you can and slowly move back while Amina handles anyone at the rear:
(Requires a single difficult magic check from Deirdre, and a moderately difficult physicality check from Amina to make it out without any injuries or casualties)
Investigation Reinforcements: 1d6 roll to decide how soon they arrive, lower is better
Amina's friends: 1d6 roll to decide how soon they arrive, lower is better
