Chapter 6: The Hunter and the Prey

Verrian hurries to the man waving his nightcap. "Do you know where I can find Blossom? Her nephew is looking for her and I'm trying to help him."

The man looks up at Verrian hesitantly, apparently no longer so sure of his willingness to help. A rail-thin halfling woman next to him jabs a bony elbow into his side, which makes him blow out his breath in a huff. "Really, Maren. Do you have to?" he complains. Rubbing at his ribs with one meaty hand, he says, "She's my cousin's mother-in-law's sister's friend."

He pauses, mouthing the words over again, counting on his fingers as he goes. "Yes. That's right. Lovely woman. She came into town this morning, you know, came right to the Gree..."

The woman next to him, Maren, raises her elbow again with a growl and a glare, and the man quickly stammers out before she can strike, "She's probably still at their house. Come, I'll show you where it is."

He waddles off, Maren rolling her eyes skyward before following. The two lead Verrian (and Coreene if she follows) further into the crowd, and eventually to a small (no pun intended) gathering of women not terribly far from where the City Guard is posted.

"Here she is! Blossom Silverstream!" the man says, gesturing with both hands toward the halfling in question as though showing off an item for sale.

Wil's Aunt Blossom turns and looks at the new arrivals in utter confusion. "Here I am," she says. "What of it?"

As the halfling couple lead her away, Verrian expresses her thanks and shares, @Coreene: These two are taking us to Blossom.Nodding her thanks again to the man and woman for their help, Verrian addresses Blossom.

"My name is Verrian. This is Coreene. We're friends of Wilitan's. I saw you talking to him in line to get into the city this morning. He asked me to find you."

She moves a little closer. "The city is burning, and there are a lot of other bad things happening here. Wil and our other friends are trying to get out of Hara, and Wil wants you to come along. Will you come with us?"

Naucans

Blossom's features transform almost instantly from suspicion to worry. "Willitan? He's... well, of course I'll come along. We're trying to get out of the city now, but..."

She flicks a hand at the City Guard in irritation. "No one's getting through. They're saying that they're under orders to keep people in their homes."

The other people nearby, mostly halflings, but a smattering of other races as well, nod and murmur their agreement in varying degrees of anger, irritation and worry.

In the distance, back to the west from where the Naucans came, and in between them and where the rest of their friends are, a massive explosion rocks the ground, sending a shock wave of heat through the square. Some stumble and fall, others cry out in fear. The City Guard is certainly affected as well, though despite some worried looks shared between their ranks, they remain firm in their blockade.

---

Party People

While you await word from the Naucans regarding Wil's wayward aunt, the growing conglomeration of Hara residents, refugee mages and party members makes its slow way south toward Silver Gate. In the distance, between you and where you presume the Naucans are, you can hear a massive explosion. It's far enough off that you feel a tremor in the ground, but nothing like what you witnessed back at the river. Still, it does seem as though between it and the growing fire, your path to your friends just became a lot more treacherous. Your instincts say that you'll have to meet up outside the city.

But even as the tremors seem to die down, you can start to feel quivering in the ground. Not far behind you, a house you recently passed suddenly collapses into a sinkhole that opens in the earth, the building folding in upon itself and sinking into the ground with a cacophonous clatter and racket.

You are still walking past the wrought-iron fence that surrounds the massive estate now taken over by the captain of the City Guard, and you can see one of the outbuildings inside the grounds starting to do the same, as though the earth itself is swallowing the structure whole.

One of the townsfolk nearby says, "Is anyone else starting to feel a little warm?" Some of the people around him nod and mutter agreement, and they begin looking around in confusion for the source of their growing discomfort. They're certainly not alone. It does feel like the air around is starting to get warmer.

Hearing and feeling the explosion clarifies to Verrian just exactly how dire the situation has become. She turns toward the line of city guards blocking the way to the gate and targets them with a telepathic push.

@City Guards: Explosion!... fires and explosions and earthquakes?... what's going on here?...we're not being told the whole story... something bad is happening, something terrifying... something horrifying. Something that will kill us all if we stay here. We can't stay here! We have to get OUT OF HERE!

Uelten screams, "RUN YOU FOOLS,! THE CITY IS COLLAPSING BURNING FROM BENEATH! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"

He starts whacking the trailers in the group he is with promoting them to stop dillydallying and skedaddle.

With Verrian dealing with the guards, Coreene turns her attention to the halflings gathered around them.
@Halfling group + Verrian: "We need to gather as many as we can. The guards will not hold out for long and we need to hold strong and stay together to make it through the gate. We will find safety and allies outside the city." she shares with them, as well as her companion. She sends out another message to Blossom. @Blossom: "And your nephew. We will meet with him once we are outside the city."

Don't just stand there with your mouth hanging open. RUN!!!
Grab a child help a neighbor. If carrying objects is slowing you down, drop them. They are no good to you if you are dead.

If Uelten can't move anyone fast enough, Ember runs behind them.

SPEED UP YOU'RE GOING TO DIE!

"Bad! Really bad!" Elora practically squeals as she picks up the pace with renewed vigor.

Party People

Elora calls out to the others that she's not sure what's causing the sinkholes, but it's nothing natural. The earth wouldn't normally be crumbling in such a way, and if it were, it would be more randomly distributed -- right now it seems that only buildings are being devoured by the sinkholes.

Whatever is happening, it's motivated the townsfolk to get moving. Whatever they can carry easily -- children, belongings, so forth -- they scoop up and start at a run in the direction of the Silver Gate. The farther the small army of people travels, the more buildings collapse. This being the expensive part of the city, when a building collapses, it's a large one. Even in disrepair and neglect, the houses here are incredibly ornate, clearly a byproduct of extensive magic use. Architecture that shouldn't be possible: delicate arches that should've crumbled under their weight, towers at angles that defy gravity, trees and plant life integrated into the structures in seemingly symbiotic ways. In times past, they would've been awe-inspiring (or disturbing in their vast contrast to the poorer parts of town, depending on your viewpoint).

As you pass one of these estates, you watch it begin to fold in on itself like a collapsing house of cards. The sinkhole is spreading, growing inexorably toward the streets. If no one moves, it may well overtake your group in a few minutes. As the party continues hustling people along, the rear guard using increasingly stern reminders to keep stragglers in line, you can see glowing creatures, humanoid in shape and size, starting to climb up out of the sinkhole. As they reach the surface, they become wreathed in flames, and let out unintelligible yowls that sound like the roar and crackle of a bonfire.

You have got to be kidding me. Was this town built on an dwarven burial ground or something

Keep moving everyone. If you have some magic that may help here, like water or the like, feel free to help out if it comes to combat.

Ember glances back over her shoulder almost constantly now, cursing as the creatures come out of the ground.

Naucans

It doesn't take much of a push from Verrian. The guards are already nervous, even if they're doing a good job of hiding it. It helps that as Verrian starts nudging them mentally, the massive fire creature that surfaced across the river comes into view over the rooftops of the houses surrounding the Green. All told, it's enough to get the guards to break ranks entirely, running toward the city gate about a half-mile away.

It's also enough to get the residents of the Green into a panic. Gathering whatever they can, they start moving in every direction that's not toward the fire monster. Blossom keeps her head and looks to Coreene and Verrian for further instruction. "I'll follow. Lead the way."

She fixes the small group of halflings around her, who look just about ready to bolt, with a hard look. "Don't lose your fool heads. Follow them." Turning to the Naucans, she wears a bland expression and rolls her eyes, unseen by her other companions. "My brother's family," she says dryly, as if that explains everything.

Verrian grins involuntarily despite the situation, then waves her arms to let the throng of halflings realize she's the one they're about to hear.

When she speaks, she simultaneously shares the same words, to ensure that anyone not close enough to hear her spoken words will still get the message.

"Follow the guards to the city gate. Run, but don't panic. Panic will get people killed who could otherwise survive this. Go, now!"

She hangs back to try to ensure that they are all complying and to reassure anyone who seems about to succumb to their fear.

@Coreene: Go on with Minama and Blossom. I'm coming too, just hanging back to make sure they all get moving.

"Exponentially worse!" Elora cannot believe how the situation has devolved from pernicious to apocalyptic in one night alone.

Seeing how bad the situation is getting, Yelnar realises with a sinking feeling that he can no longer seek to get everyone out. He knows he’s in no shape to fight these creatures, though he will if he must. He starts looking at the cold calculus of who best to try and save...

Swan continues to exercise the no-Haran-left-behind policy. He helps those who stumble, cajoles those who turn to luck, shanghais those who will be bullied, and outright beats those without the sense to flee. Tears work down his quarter-orcish face, making his tears and snarls all the more maddened. "Run! Help him up, you fiend. No, I won't carry your pet birds, you ninny!"

Adjusting her grip on Minama, who she hoped was sleeping through this madness, Coreene raises a free hand to show all of the halflings who to follow. "Everyone keep me in sight! Do your best to stay together!" she instructs as she leads the group of (hopefully) fleeing halflings through the gates.

Party People

Chaos reigns, as people mill about in a panic. On average, the gaggle of people moves in the general direction of the gate, and stragglers quickly fall into line as Swan and Yelnar hustle people along by means reassuring and threatening both.

The creatures climbing out of the hole don't immediately seem interested in the people in the street as they caper and dance about the remains of the estate setting fire to anything remotely flammable. The sinkhole continues to grow slowly toward the street and more of the fire creatures climb out.

One of the mages next to Wil, hearing only 'if you have magic that might help' and not 'if it comes to combat', steps forward and casts a spell, sending a spray of water from her hand to fan out over the creatures nearby. It's not a great deal of water, and it falls mostly as a misty rain, sizzling and evaporating as soon as it touches any of the creatures with no apparent effect. It does get their attention, though, as they turn their misshapen humanoid heads toward the source. They're at least 75 feet away, and they don't make any threatening moves, but they have noticed you.