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[StormLord]

Friedhold & Nessa

"We need to speak with one in charge, Arint.  The...snail thing was in possession of the Bandits cleaning out your warehouse."

[AzyWng]

Ehto
Steven backs up as the Luminari strikes, blocking the scythe with his own weapon. Even as the two fight it out, Steven continues to speak to Ehto.

"Even if I'm destroyed, the party will live on! There's only one thing that can end it! And that thing is deeper in this Bog! If you're half the party animal my processors say you are, you'll want to find that thing!"

"Do not listen to its-" Mallowi freezes as he sees Ehto transforming into something clearly not of this world. Steven stops mid-swing.

The surrounding robots don't seem to react to Ehto's threat display.

Tsubasa

Just like before, the bandits don't listen.

The fight is quick but brutal. What bandits aren't dead are run off easily enough. The merchant is left holding the bag - or she would be if Hrikit didn't put her in cuffs. Shel even managed to fend off one of the attackers, though she's clearly much more shaken than before.

"Good work out there, grifters. Bring the prisoner back to camp. Arint will want to hear about what happened here."

"Y-yeah... g-good work..." Shel tries not to look at one of the dead bandits.

Rory and Friedhold & Nessa

"Ah, so that's what was going on. Alright, I'll take the oshnu and its equipment." Imiko gives the group directions to Arint, where they manage to find her talking to... one of the workers? As the group approaches, Arint gives the worker a brief nod, and the latter walks away.

"What was the situation at the warehouse?"

[Sutoratosu Akira]

Ehto
The beast whirls on its heels and stalks closer to Steven and Mallowi, outright apparating into the relative darkness of the cave to move faster than its size should've allowed. It stands on its hind legs when it reappears, dwarfing the two while revealing claws that could rival either of their blades.

"Tell me about this thing deeper in the bog then."

[Chevaleresse]

Tsubasa wipes her blade off on a corpse, flicking what blood remains off onto the ground with a swift motion like a spark of electricity. "Not used to having to clean this. Demons just burn." She turns to the merchant, and gestures for her to follow with her katana before sheathing it. She shakes her head with one last glance at the fallen bandits. What a waste of life. And time.

[StormLord]

Rory, Friedhold & Nessa

Friedhold produces a piece of paper and hands it to Arint before continuing with a very professional tone and demeanor.

"This is a list of accused traitors in relation to a potential attack on Grout Bog, tonight.  Defense sabotage, stolen supplies, and turncoats.  The information is on authority of squealing rats we found in the warehouse.  Apparently this Baron-" He points to one of the names, "Was the one to organize their raid."

[AzyWng]

Ehto

"Oh, not sure how much there is to tell. Just that it's not much for partying either. Like, I just said the Barons and Heshians don't know partying, but this thing-" Steven waves its free hand in a big sweeping motion. "This thing wants to ruin all parties. Forever. Making everyone it can sink its teeth into dance to its tune, and eating everything else.

I'm going to show it how to party tomorrow! And everyone's invited to come along!"

Mallowi stares at Steven's screen for several seconds. "By Hesh... it's telling the truth. Or it thinks it is..."

Tsubasa, Shel

Shel hesitates, then wipes the blade on one of the bandit's clothes nervously. "I-I... t-thanks."

The trip back is much faster without cargo or a suspicious merchant to worry about.

Rory, Friedhold & Nessa

Concern seeps into Arint's face as she looks over the list. Quietly, she says, "Nadan isn't a worker. He's the leader of the Spree. If he's attacking tonight... He'll be bringing the bulk of the Spree forces with him.

Thank you for telling me this. I'll take care of the turncoats, but you should stay here and be prepared for an attack.

And take this," she says as she passes a sack of shills into your hands. "Payment  for providing this extremely valuable information."

The party gains 200 Shills (now 425)!

As Shel and Tsubasa return, Arint waves for them to approach. "How did the exchange go?"

[Chevaleresse]

"It was a trap. It didn't work," she said simply.

[Sutoratosu Akira]

Ehto
The grin on her face would've split it in two were she a creature of flesh and blood. Given her form it was more menacing than anything else. "So you've found the Trespasser? Great! How about this, I go back and tell the Barons I know where the source of their problems is, and I also tell them that you're the one who found it and is leading the charge. I'm sure that'll give you some leverage to make them loosen up afterwards and appreciate your... partying a bit more."

She turns and glances at Mallowi expectantly, ready to smash him into paste against the nearest wall for the shake of saving this world if he was foolish enough to protest. What was one more dead zealot amongst the bunch already littering this cave?

[kj1225]

Rory
The faunus gives a sloppy salute before leaving to inspect the defenses of the main gate. If there was anyone there who would know where to strike it was him.... And the explosives burning a metaphorically hole in his pocket it gave him some extra ideas on how to prepare.

Rory will use two of the Spark Canisters to prepare traps for the coming fight as well as pick a good spot to cockily pose in when the hostiles arrive so they have a few seconds to taunt or question why he's not worried before the traps go off and they get blown to hell.

[AzyWng]

Ehto

"Will the Barons be attending? Like I said, everyone's invited, and I'm sure even party poopers like them would want to help stop something from committing the ultimate party foul!"

Mallowi cautiously nods. "I-if it's for the sake of stopping a greater threat... I-I suppose I can allow it." It's obvious from the fear on his face that he knows his opinion wouldn't matter anyway.

Rory

Rory carefully sets some tripwires near the entrance to Grout Bog. Hrikit raises an eyebrow. "Expecting trouble tonight?"

Tsubasa

"A trap? An ambush? A sabotage attempt? I... I suppose we can get our answers out of the trader eventually."

The party gains 150 Shills (now 575)!

[Sutoratosu Akira]

Ehto
"Wonderful!" She says as she shifts back into human form. "It's always nice when people see reason, especially in the face of a common enemy. Come on, Mallowi, we need to help Arint to get ready. And I'm sure you'd rather prepare back at camp than here with Steven, riiight?"

[kj1225]

Rory

The faunus looked up from his work before nodding. "Yep, supposed to be an attack tonight. Sounded fairly well prepared so I figure it'd be best to shake things up. I like to think I'm quite good at that by now."

[Chevaleresse]

Tsubasa

"She and a number of bandits attempted to run off with the shipment. I don't know where or why, but all of them are dead now."

[AzyWng]

Ehto

"O-okay. Yes, that would be best..." The trip back to the HQ is uneventful, though Mallowi only reluctantly follows Ehto in.

Ehto and Mallowi arrive at the Baron HQ to find its front entrance almost completely surrounded by bandits dressed in maroon, although... a few of them seem to be wearing Spark Baron gear.

Tsubasa and Friedhold
Whatever Arint is going to say is interrupted as a Baron rushes up to her. "A-Arint! Spree! They're moving in now!"

With that, Arint moves to the front gate.

Rory

Outside, at the gate, lines have formed. On the Baron's side are defenders holding blasters and clubs, some nervous, others determined.

On the Spree's side are a hardened bunch. Their weapons look crude, several seemingly made from animal parts, but the raiders hold them with a steadiness. The crowd is sizeable, but there don't seem to be any leaders among them...

Arint moves past Rory, followed by a few Baron guards. Arint glares at them.

"You bandits think you can just waltz into this bog?"

One of the bandits - a Kra'deshi woman with what look like circular saws attached to her forearms - cracks a wicked smile. "Nadan told us you'd be easy enough to knock over. And judging by how little resistance we encountered on our way in, I'd say he was right."

Arint grips her staff, and her chest piece begins to glow softly. "I assure you, he is mistaken."

[Sutoratosu Akira]

Ehto
"Well, that's no good... I swear, this has to be a dedicated campaign to undermine things." Ehto heads to the front gate, not really watching to see if Mallowi follows. Right now her top priority was making sure there'd still be a camp to rally to the depths of the bog tomorrow.

And hey, nothing like free protein. She may have had to skip cleaning out the cave, but there were about to be a bunch of fresh bodies on their doorstep.