65)

Watching the start of a rescue across the street. Mood, hopeful.

Kelvin came around the corner with a team of three quick kobolds, at the same Envoy led two electric kobolds from the kitchen adjacent to the living room while the champion caught the four guards' attention.

As the startled soldiers tried to position their guns, Kevin thrust his broomstick wrapped in copper wiring into their leader's thigh and activated his electrical elemental attack.

The guard shook and dropped, stunned as the three quickened lizard guys each rushed at the remaining guards.

Envoy and his team of electric casters shocked the other two by wrapping their hands around their ankles and letting loose while Mandarin and two other spiked kobolds rushed the last man who quickly glances around the room and did something I hadn’t expected.

Pointing at the ground, he pulled the trigger on his weapon to send three bursts into the floor before he was tackled and pulled to the ground.

The sounds of the gunshots seemed to get a lot of attention, including one Sargent who shouted and pointed at a group of soldiers. “You, you, and you! With me! Now!” And began running to the house with Iris in it.

With no time to release her, Kevin rushed up to the front of the chair the old woman was tied down to and lifted the end of the seat to tip the whole thing over into the arms of the Spike kobolds as Iris screamed. "What are you doing? Ah!"

They carried over the chair out of the room over their heads, along with a lot of items pulled off the soldiers. Then headed down the steps with their shouting burden into the basement. Pausing only to kick a wedge beneath the basement door.

As the Sargent kicked in the door and lead his response team inside, Kelvin and his merry band dropped down a hole underneath where the clothes drying machine had stood. As the last of them began to climb down, a set of weights strapped to pulleys and then to the dryer pulled the machine back as they untied a knot.

Then the house lit up from below as several fires began to burn from several spots.

...I was not aware of that part of the plan.

As the Sargent left two of his men to check on the now recovering guards, he tried to head down the stairs as one of the guards pointed at the door to the basement. “They took her down there, little lizards guys, a few dozen of them.”

He kicked the door open and got halfway down the steps before the sight of half the lower floor on fire and the rising smoke forced him back.

Down below, Iris was being dragged along rather than carried due to the height of the tunnel, with a lot of protests on her part. "What's going on? Tark, what are these little buggers doing! Don't you shush me!" They were dragging her by the back of her chair to keep her hands which were tied behind the back off the ground, but they didn’t even get a word of thanks for their efforts.

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They finally got her to a chamber with cement blocks, a cement floor, and wooden beams holding up sheets of plywood on the ceiling above. Once there they pushed her chair upright and pulled out the utility knives.

The old woman’s eyes went wide. “What are you planning to do with those...” She sighed in relief as they stared at her in bafflement, shrugged, and began cutting her loose.

Once all four of her limbs were freed she stood up, then ducked back down as her head brushed up against the ceiling. “It’s a little close in here guys. Thanks for getting me loose, but I’m a little too old to be on the run. So why the rescue.”

Kelvin handed her the first note.

She looked at it, a bit bemused. "Magic strike? Yeah, that was my first ability, the useless one. Why..."

The Champion handed her the second note. This one made her smile.

“You need me to kick someone? That I can do. But how did Tark know I had that ability.”

I didn't have a note for that one. She had in fact complained about it to Molly about her "Useless" ability more than once. But my Copper Four rewards had helped.

[You have reached Copper 4]

[You have received a new ability. Analyze Person]

[You have received a new room. Soul Prison]

[You have received a new spell. Spirit sight]

While my Identify spells gave me a person’s name, class, and rank. It was really more for identifying items. Analyze person gave me that information and all of the rest of their character sheets.

At least for anyone near my own rank and lower. Silver ranks might give me less information and anything about a Gold was right out.

Soul Prison was probably from Clarence in case any more Dark Ones showed up, but I don’t think he expected anyone so soon. I sure didn’t

Spirit sight was something for me to cast on others and it seemed a mite dangerous. It would let a person see. and hear me, and other spirits. I thought it was dangerous since I might not be able to keep myself from revealing too much if I was able to talk to someone face to face.

I just don't like keeping secrets. Having to take the time to write down everything I've ever "said" to Iris gave me the time to think over what I was revealing.

Which is one of the reasons I’m not casting it on Captain Addams.

The second is that Lucia would also be able to see me and hear whatever I tried to say to him, and would be ready to counter it. While being in a position to order him to do whatever she wanted him to do at the same time.

To convince the guy, I needed to be judged by my actions, not my words.

Plus, the Dark One was with him all of the time, showing up near him by myself could end up getting me hurt somehow. I had no clue what she could do, but it would have been a lot more than the underling that had been sent the first time by their organization.

He was a scout, she was a player.

Finally. I just didn’t like the guy. He broke my door.

Oh, he was also part of the group that scared off my adventures. He was willing to kidnap me, and he decided to enter my dungeon with twenty some people. But it was the door that really got to me for some reason.

Maybe because he blew right by my clever "No explosives" rule. I had been pretty proud of myself for thinking of that. With Alelan's help of course. But it was my idea even as she verbally led me by the hand to it with several leading questions.

Gods I love that woman.

Back in the dungeon, the bound kobold got ran up the stairs and handed off to the soldiers waiting in the challenge room. Then one of them tried to run it up the stairs I guessed to some of the people in the white coats lurking around some big boxes on wheels that had been dragged in earlier that day.

The dungeon creature faded away as soon as it left my reach, but the soldier who had been handed it only slowed down slightly as it faded away in his hands. Leaving him only with the plastic straps, which he still ran out to the very disappointed white coats.

They demanded to go in themselves but got yelled at by an officer. I approved of that. They should form a team of five and wait their turn after the current group got done. Learn the rules people.

Meanwhile, Addams and his people, along with Lucia, crept down a passage to the big fight room.

This should be entertaining, and possibly lethal. I had set this up for a group with a healer.