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Penny's Dungeons and Dragons: Hard Bargains

The room has no light source. Zeona can see, due to her elven heritage, but not clearly. Other than the bindings being cut, her dress is intact, but it won't fit snugly until the cord is replaced. Her hair is a mess due to the stress and the sack.

Though she heard Safira and the thugs moving things out of the room, there are still items scattered around. They appear to be traveling supplies and books. Most likely, this is someone's storeroom, but not a long-term one. The door is unlocked, but if she opens it, she immediately sees the thugs waiting outside and watching the door.

"Don't try it," one says.

"Don't even think it," the other adds.

"Don't even think about thinking it," the first one finishes.

She has not tried screaming for help yet, but it looks like the thugs will take offense if they do.
 
After she somewhat put herself together, Zeona opens the door - surprised it opens. Looking over the thugs with disdain, she takes a big breath and start shrieeking, but stays ready to slam the door in their face if they move towards her. She would not give them the opportunity to put their dirtyhands on her, nor to be the ones to shut her up. She would rather stop on her own, and calmly request the use of the toilet. And keep giving them requests for water, food, drink, evenasking for some light to let her read...

Overall, she wanted to be as flustrating and emotionally draining to them, as she felt like.
 
The thugs seem laid-back until Zeona starts shrieking. Immediately, they leap into action, running towards her. She closes the door, but there is no lock on the inside, either.

If Zeona attempts to hold the door shut, please make an Athletics check, which will be contested by the thug. We'll treat this as a modified form of the "shove" combat action. Of course, she can just let them open the door if she prefers.
 
Holding the door but for just a moment, Zeona still hits her shrillest loudest voice. And then as they get the door open, she backs away shutting up before any of the two puts their hand on her.

"I need to use the toilet." would be just her first request.
 
Zeona can't see the thugs from the other side of the door, but from the impact against it, she's pretty sure one is throwing her shoulder against it. She manages to hold it for a moment - longer than perhaps she would expect - but eventually her strength fails. Her resistance gives her plenty room to back up, though, keeping out of reach of both women. They don't look happy, but for the moment, they aren't violent.

The two exchange glances at her request, and for a moment, it looks unclear whether they'll just attack her anyway. After a pause, however, one looks around the room, then reaches out and grabs a clay pot off a shelf. She turns it over, dumping a small quantity of dry herbs to the floor, then holds it out to Zeona with one hand. "Use this."

The other scans the shelves as well, then grabs what appears to be a journal. She tears out some pages marked with symbols and written notes, then holds them out to Zeona, also with one hand. "To wipe."

Sorry about not seeing your Athletics roll earlier, by the way.
 
Pulling a face Zeona looked at the offered items looking up at the two woman "Yeah, sure, as if! ... You are joking, right?" Then getting their reactions she sighed. "At least get me some washing water." she would wait for them to leave, before taking care of her businness. "And I need some light in here!" If she got some water to wash, she would ask for "Something to eat and drink, would you be so dear?" after that she would make a fuss about "Some blankets, but a bed would be better."

And if she did not got what she wanted, she could still try to shrieek a little more. Only shutting up if they came too close for comfort. Which was about the lenght of a staff. Depending on the source of the light, if she could not sleep comfortably, Zeona would startchecking out the books and papers, even if not able to read them, just for the pictures and drawings.
 
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"Yeah, sure, as if! ... You are joking, right?"
"No joke," answers one thug.

"You're using chamberpots like the rest of us, princess."

They leave the room again, and don't provide any water or light, either. After she's sure they're not coming back with her requested items, Zeona tries shrieking a little more. That gets the door to open again. Standing in the doorway, the thugs look quite a bit more annoyed than before. They exchange a glance, then advance.

Zeona shuts up when they get close, but they don't stop. Without saying a word, they both put hands on her. One tries to put her in a headlock while the other grabs an arm and attempts to kick out Zeona's leg in order to force her to the ground.

Zeona is now in combat! The first thug is trying to grapple her; please roll 12 or higher on an Athletics or Acrobatics check to resist the grapple. The second is trying to shove her prone; please roll 4 or higher on an Athletics or Acrobatics check to stay upright. Failing or succeeding one check will not affect the other.

Also, Zeona gets inspiration for her inspired display of noble entitlement.
 
Grabbed she struggles, but keeps upright, even as her neck is pushed into the armpits of one of her guards. Zeona tries to find a dagger or club on the belts of the women, as presently she could not even bite, and it is not dire enough to use her nails - which would surely break if she tried clawing the two.
 
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Zeona reaches for a dagger, but the thug catches on and bats her hand away, then draws the dagger herself.

"Don't kill her!" the other thug cries.

"Give me some credit," the first thug grumbles. Turning the dagger over, she drives the butt of the hilt into Zeona's midsection. It's not a picture-perfect hit - it barely connects, in fact - but Zeona is not an experienced scrapper and it still hurts.

"Oh," the second thug says. "So much for the light touch."

The second thug tries to bring her leg up to knee Zeona in the kidney, but it's clear she is overambitious with the move. The knee is off-target and only slides up along Zeona's back, doing no damage.

Zeona: Attempts to steal the thug's dagger: 8, failing to beat her passive Perception.
Thug: Draws dagger and attacks Zeona: 13, a hit, for 3 damage.
Thug: Attacks Zeona with an unarmed strike: 7, a miss.
 
Zeona grits her teeth and tries to wriggle free of the hold, then get away from the two thug. If shecanflee further, out of the door, the better, maybe she would find something to bar the other two in...

... but first she had to get free.
 
Zeona almost manages to squirm out of the thug's grip, but at the last moment, she yanks Zeona back and readjusts her grip. When she does so, she drives the pommel of the dagger into Zeona's solar plexus. This hit is harder than the last, forcing the air out of the noble's lungs. Before she can catch her breath, the other thug wraps an arm around her neck and squeezes. Unable to breathe, Zeona feels her pulse pounding in her head and sees her vision blur within seconds.

"I hope we didn't break anything down there," the first thug remarks. "What if she tries this again when she wakes up?"

"I have an idea,"
says the other, tightening her grip on Zeona's neck.

Seconds later, Zeona blacks out.

Zeona: Attempts to escape grapple: 9, failing to beat thug's 10.
Thug: Attacks Zeona with dagger: 23, a hit, for 5 damage. This reduces Zeona to zero hit points, but the thug chooses to knock her out rather than inflict lethal damage.
Thug: Attacks Zeona with an unarmed strike: 21, a hit, for 3 damage, but Zeona is already unconscious.



Zeona wakes up some time later, still in the same room. She doesn't know how long it's been, but she doesn't feel any more hungry or thirsty than before, suggesting it hasn't been very long. Her head is pounding, but she doesn't feel confused or concussed. The areas where she was hit are also aching. Finally, she's been stripped naked, her clothes are nowhere to be seen.
 
Groaning inwardly she only moves inches to feel how much hurt she is in, and to realise she is naked. Gasping, she moves too fast to cover herself, leaving her with aching stomach and neck. She stops just in time to not black out again or throw up, her head swimming with pain.

But the humiliation from being naked overcomes it. Zeona looks around and even contemplates taking apart something or anything to cover her nakedness, but at the end evenjust hiding had to suffice. Thankfully it is not too cold. She knows when she is beaten, but what angers her is that they was commoners, or even lower, mere thugs!

At least they was not men.
 
While there are many things in the room - books, pots, traveling supplies, and so on - there doesn't appear to be anything Zeona can fashion into clothing. Thankfully, there is currently no one to witness Zeona's shame, as the door is closed and the room is empty but for her.
 
She is still trying to find - or make - something to hide behind, even if it would be unmovable afterwards. Zeona remains humiliated into silence, but her anger is just growing, making her body blush and tremble a little. Maybe it is partially the fear that finally breaks out from behind her will...
 
Looking around, it is immediately clear there is nothing large enough for Zeona to hide behind. Even if she piled everything up, it wouldn't be enough for her to huddle behind. Other than the shelves on the wall, the room has no furniture.

Looking down, she notices that there are chalk marks on the floor. Some of the lines extend across most of the room. This room's floorspace was most likely kept empty for some reason, explaining the lack of substantial furniture.
 
Trying to follow the lines mostly from pure boredoom and to keep her mind away from her predicament, Zeona still hugs herself as she tries to keep from crying. This time without sounds. Why she had to be the one spared and caught?! She would rather just hide in a corner, but her noble blood did not let her break down like a commoner... If she only had some proper weapon... and could use it effectively... Even a dagger would be better than nothing! But if her wish was observed, then she was mostly wishing to be somewhere else, mostly back at home in her room. With no cover, no clothes,and not even a weapon, Zeona would start eyeing the papers and other knick-knacks trying to find something to make a fire with.
 
Searching through the traveling supplies, Zeona eventually comes up with a flint and steel. As a noblewoman, she's never had to start her own fires, so actually starting a fire with the flint and steel will take some experimentation, but she has plenty of time to figure it out.

There is no shortage of paper she can burn, nor of simple tinder or other flammable material. Upon closer inspection, though, she finds that some of the documents are made of parchment, some of them quite old. Her main concern is not the writing on the documents, but nonetheless, she begins to recognize symbols and words as she sorts through them. She realizes that some of the documents include magical formulae, including rituals, and spots a circle that looks similar to the chalk remains on the floor. At one point, she glances upon a word that she thinks may be used in magical teleportation spells.

Zeona's passive Arcana and Investigation scores were enough to notice some interesting things about these documents. If she wants to investigate these documents further, please roll four separate skill checks: Arcana, History, Investigation, and Religion.
 
Nothing making any sense to Zeona, she uses the remains of the circle to make the fire from paper, tinder, and other things, not for warmth, but for the smoke that could summon not just her guards, but any real ones seeing the fire hazard. That she was naked only stopped her slightly, being hit and robbed with all the killers of others - mainly nobles - still free was pushing her need for justice. Preferably with help for herself coming first and foremost.

So, when she finally got the nonsense papers to catch fire, she hurried to the door to stand on the side and hopefully get out when the thugs get in, maybe she could close the door on them and hold it while the smoke got to them.
 
With study, Zeona can puzzle out the basic gist of the papers. Taken together, they seem to be specific, step-by-step instructions for some sort of magical ritual involving the drawing of a chalk circle, the burning of herbs, and incantations in a language she does not know. All this seems to result in teleportation, but she doesn't know where to, or even if there is a specific destination. She gets the maddening feeling that the papers have more information to give her, but she's too frazzled by her circumstances to concentrate.

Still, the instructions are precise enough for her to follow, though she's not entirely sure what will happen.

I don't want to prevent you from burning the papers if you want to, but I thought I should provide this information before confirming that decision.
 
My rolls was abysmal, and I am not even supposed to have the proficiencies on them. The only thing that 'succeeded' was a basic History.

It just makes Zeona make the fire a little away, between the supposed teleportation circle and the door. Also,if she got something akin to a possible way out, shewas still naked... The drawing of circleand burning of herbs part was easy, and she could still makea fire and burn everything else too, with the last page in her hands to finish off the incantations... if she could even read the writing.

Still, making lot of smoke and then getting out one way or another was still the plan. Unless if the teleportation was more like a summoning, and she just someone or something into the room accidentally. Zeona knew that there was just a slight chance for success with both, and the hiding and locking her guards in was still the bigger chance for success. That did not meant that she would not try the other one, 'anywhere but here' started to sound better and better the thicker the smoke became, making her eyes water.
 
The documents are written in multiple alphabets, let alone languages, which is part of the reason she cannot understand most of them. Some notes are written in Elvish, however. The Elvish notes are brief and incomplete, seemingly relying on the other documents for context, but they make up the step-by-step instructions.

The first step is to draw the chalk circle on the floor. With some searching, she finds some chalk among the basic supplies, and the remnants on the floor provide a useful guideline. The chalk seems to smell odd when she uses it, but she can't be sure, since nobility like her has no use for chalk. Once the circle is complete, she marks it with more circles, including a star - each of its five points touching the circle - and runes she cannot decipher around the rim.

The next step is for Zeona to anoint herself. Searching the supplies, she finds a variety of oils, unguents, and what seems to be a powerful perfume. She can't identify them, but she knows some oils and paints have magical properties when applied to a person's body. Even though she doesn't know what they are, she can tell they must be too expensive for a simple commoner to acquire - especially altogether. At this point, one might almost think it convenient that her clothes were taken, as the combination of fluids would likely ruin them; one oil must be applied to her entire body, and almost all of them have to be applied to skin that would normally be covered by her clothing.

Next, Zeona must burn herbs at each point of the star within the circle. She remembers the herbs dumped out of the pot the thug handed to her, and gathers them up for use. Her first attempts to use the flint and steel are clumsy, but she finally gets one point's herbs lit and is able to transfer the flame to other herbs via some papers. The herbs throw off a surprising amount of smoke, though less smell than she'd expect, and the air soon becomes hazy. Strangely, the thugs outside don't seem to investigate this, but within seconds, Zeona finds herself light-headed and almost feverishly warm despite her nakedness.

Between and throughout these steps, Zeona must recite words she does not understand, but are helpfully written phonetically in Elvish - substituting letters from the Common alphabet when representing sounds not used in Elvish. As the ritual progresses, Zeona can feel a strange tension in the air. At first, it would be easy to dismiss it as nerves, but as the ritual progresses, it becomes unmistakable. Magical power thrums in the air, like a heartbeat.

There is one final step to the ritual; Zeona must shed a drop of blood from her lips into the circle. All weapons were removed from the building before Zeona was left alone, but she eventually finds something pointy enough to draw blood. When the scarlet droplet falls into the circle, the energy in the air redoubles, then retriples. The smoky haze intensifies until she cannot even see the walls of the room around her; she is only alone, surrounded by smoke, her head swimming and heat spreading through her body.

Then, she hears a sound - like high heels on hard stone. Zeona sees a shape coalesce in the smoke: the silhouette of a shapely human woman. The figure stands in place, but Zeona gets the impression it's watching her.

"Now, this...is interesting."
The voice is sultry, seductive, and amused. Zeona vaguely sees the shape raises a hand to its chin. "For what reason do you call on me, kitten?"
 
First the artistic work calms her nerves, but Zeona starts having second thoughts at the smelly parfume and oils. To put any of these on her skin? Only the possibility that it could work makes her gingerly do the minimum possible. When she starts burning the incense and the leftover papers and other things in the room that is flammable, Zeona start to think that it was deliberately left there for her to find. But she shakes that idea out of her head. It would not lead anywhere if she was starting to be paranoid with oiled up skin and chanting madly already.

Playing make-believe that she is a spellcaster, she adds the read pergamens to the burning fire, adding more smoke to the room, and some real fire. Biting her lips to break it and spitting blood in front of her is no hardship, even if it makes her already irritated eyes fill with tears. She starts crying for the dead and howlost she is feeling, not seeing the walls and being dizzy does not even get realised by the despairing half-elf.

Feeling warm and tingly makes her try going back to her plan, and she looks around to find the door to hide behind, the coming footsteps too loud already - but whatshe sees, or more like not sees makes Zeona cleanher eyes - and start cursing a little as all the oil and soot and parfume stings her eyes badly. She does not really see through her tears and squinting, but from the voice she knows it is an unknown woman.

"Who are you? Am I away from my captors? Is this still Ossimar? They came and killed them, they shot down Lord Kandik Charr!" Zeona starts carefully, but at the end she is again agitated, enough to almost shout in indignation. "And they took my clothes!"
 
The voice sighs. "You bore me, kitten. I'm not interested in your little tragedies. When I want to hear you whimper and whine, you'll know."

The figure starts to walk, slowly circling Zeona. "And yet you are still intriguing," the voice continues, amused again. "You prepared yourself so well. I see you're good at following instructions. And you are so very...desperate."

There is a soft chuckle. "I'll ask you again, kitten. Why have you called me? What is it you need from me?"

The smoke still clouds Zeona's vision, but it occurs to her that the woman's movements would be impossible in the cramped space of her confinement, and the methodical clack-clack-clack of heels on stone doesn't match the storeroom's wooden floor.

In case you were wondering, Zeona gains that extra information due to her passive Investigation score.
 
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"Not sure they was the right instructions, they did not looked that fitting together. Also, I could not understand half of it, so this was more about the need and instincts..." she tries to follow the woman's movements, but her mind is cloudy not just her vision. *I hope I amnot dying of smoke right now.*

"Freedom and vengeance. I need freedom, and want vengeance!" Zeona blurts out when she finally stops to make sense of what was happening, and just tries to stand her place and shake off the swimming of her head and the heat spread through her whole body.

"Who are you, and why do you call me kitten?" she asks as an afterthought.
 
"So you're attentive and resourceful," the voice coos. "Also intriguing."

The shape circling Zeona strays closer, allowing her to make out more details in the silhouette. She believes the woman is wearing a long dress, but Zeona spots strange movements in the smoke around her legs that she can't identify - possibly some additional ornamentation among the dress. There's something odd about the shape of her head, as well; it reminds Zeona of a crown in the way it alters her silhouette.

"You want freedom and vengeance. Don't we all?" The voice chuckles again. "Yes, I would enjoy that. If nothing else, what a show you will be...

"You are all kittens to me. It is playful curiosity that drives so many of you...but perhaps not you. It will be best if that changes."
Another chuckle, but there is a note of warning in it. "But the true reason you are kittens is because you are helpless. Powerless. Dependent on mother's milk...but you have so much potential, if you are able to grow."

The voice is silent for a minute. There is only the clack-clack-clack of her heels. And then, "What will you do with your freedom, kitten? And how do you want to exact your vengeance?"
 
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