CORE - Race for the Runecarved Key - Tier 1-2 (Inactive)

Game Master Dennis Muldoon

Zekuli blinks and sighs. "Of course I think we should accept his surrender, that's what I was saying." He pauses for a moment to wonder if that's what a follower of the Grey Skull would say, but he's beginning to lose interest in pretending to be someone else. He leaves that up to the bard and instead starts moving towards the other wagon (carefully avoiding the sticky region in the middle) to see if it is actually filled with the gold they're hoping to find. He keeps his morningstar out and ready, just in case.

"Guards? Those aren't guards, they just drive the wagons. Why do you think they're such useless cowards? HEY YOU TWO IDIOTS, COME OVER HERE, DAMMIT! There's no one else in the wagons, look for yourselves." You took down the armed guards already. The two hiding by the wagons are unarmed and unarmored. They slowly come around the wagons, hands in the air and visibly terrified.

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In the wizard's belongings (which I'm assuming you liberate him of, for security if nothing else), you find the following:

wand
potion
scroll
quarterstaff
spellbook
70gp
Note indicating the terms of sale of a non-intelligent rare magical beast for 20,000gp to one Jorston Droaeb in Magnimar.

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It takes Deenha a while to get the unconscious forms out the web, but surprisingly she finds that all three have stabilized on their own.

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Searching the two unconscious mercenaries you find:

40 blunt arrows
40 regular arrows
2 tanglefoot bags
2 sets of studded leather armor
2 composite longbows (+2str)
2 rapiers

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In the other wagon you see only a locked strongbox.

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What are you going to do with your captive, and with the unconscious forms?

Philoneus will start tying up the unconscious men, as they might have the wrong idea when they wake up.

He will also call off Mr. Tiggles, because that would be bad.

Roven grumbles and begins gathering his various weapons from the campsite.

"A snakehead alive is always a danger, but do as ye will. Erm tired."

He pulls off his helmet, wipes his head with a handkerchief, and plops himself down by the fire pit for a moment's rest.

When Zekuli sees the others extracting magical items from the magical man, he waves his hand over them and casts some detection magic to try to figure out what they are.

Spellcraft, wand: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8
Spellcraft, potion: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (16) + 5 = 21
Spellcraft, scroll: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (12) + 5 = 17

"The potion is Cure Light Wounds," he says, and with one eyebrow raised he silently offers it to the one person among them who can't use magic. "I'm not sure about the other two."

He also picks up the note and his eyes nearly bug out of his head. "That thing was going to sell for 20,000 gold pieces? Why in the name of all the gods were you not taking better care of it?" He rubs his side where he can still feel the sting from the lizard's electric shock.

Deenha climbs into the wagon to get the lizard's cage. After the lizard is tucked in it, she uses one charge from her CLW wand on the cute little creature. CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

Deenha secures the lizard and magically seals some of its wounds. It remains unconscious, however.

So, what's your general plan here. What are you going to do with all of these folks? How about the lizard (one more wand charge would make it conscious)?

"I say we tae them up and send someone for em. Without the wee beastie they won't be interfering with - whit ur we cried noo Graenie?" Roven asks Thran, his brogue thickening as he drowsily sits by the fire.

rmed and unarmored. They slowly come around the wagons, hands in the air and visibly terrified.[/ooc]

Just being all intimidating before I ask them for a bite of their tasty, Hawaiian burger.

Telos wanders over to look at the loot. Casting detect magic, he starts with the wand...

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (16) + 5 = 21

"This is a wand of web."

Moving onto the scroll he casts a spell to read magic and deciphers it quickly.

"The scroll is create pit" He looks over at the wizard. "How did that factor into your plans?"

Telos watches him carefully.

Sense motice: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3 tell me your sweet lies... ug

***OVERSEER ANNOUNCEMENT***

A white raven begins circling overhead. The bird is Sheila Heidmarch’s signal that you should wrap things up and head back to Heidmarch Manor with or without the Aspis Consortium’s gold.

Zekuli looks up at the strange white bird and comments, “Ah, just in time. Well, I have no objection to tying them up and leaving them here. I say we hitch the horses and take both wagons with their contents. That should satisfy our goals, yes? Not to mention making it easier to get back.” He gives an evil eye to the symbol of the Aspis Consortium painted on the wheel. “Maybe we can paint over that later too.”

"Aye, let's dae that, 'n' git rid o' th' Aspis emblem. Bloody snake-heads."

"I agree. If the gold (and other valuables) can be isolated to one wagon, and we can spare a horse, it would be nice to tie them up good and send them off in the opposite direction, back from where they came. It's not necessary though."

Telos walks back over to the loot.

"If nobody minds I could use the wand and the scroll. I wouldn't mind a tanglefoot bag or two, unless somebody else feels strongly about it."

"The scroll is create pit" He looks over at the wizard. "How did that factor into your plans?"

He blinks and looks at you for a moment, almost as if he doesn't understand the question. "I would have read the scroll, and you would have fallen into the pit." You believe him.

Telos Downshot wrote:

"The scroll is create pit" He looks over at the wizard. "How did that factor into your plans?"

He blinks and looks at you for a moment, almost as if he doesn't understand the question. "I would have read the scroll, and you would have fallen into the pit." You believe him.

"Alright, alright, wise-hat! Just wanted to see if you had some bodies to bury later on. Who knows what kinds of dirty jobs you take!"

He mutters a little under his breath.

Zekuli looks up at the strange white bird and comments, “Ah, just in time. Well, I have no objection to tying them up and leaving them here. I say we hitch the horses and take both wagons with their contents. That should satisfy our goals, yes? Not to mention making it easier to get back.” He gives an evil eye to the symbol of the Aspis Consortium painted on the wheel. “Maybe we can paint over that later too.”

"I agree. If the gold (and other valuables) can be isolated to one wagon, and we can spare a horse, it would be nice to tie them up good and send them off in the opposite direction, back from where they came."

Anyone else have opinions on this plan? Also, what are you doing with the lizard?

Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (8) + 3 = 11

Telos, irritated, jams a loose rag in the wizards mouth to shut him up.

He then adds to his half-baked plan,

"I presume the lizard would be one of the valuables that comes with us."

We found a note saying to sell an exotic animal for 20.000 gp ..do we want to take the note and the cart with the lizard so we can try to cash in on that?

"Do we need to use the wagon?"

Zekuli looks blankly at Deenha. "You'd prefer to carry a chest and a lizard a few miles? They were already being transported to Magnimar - I figured it would be easier to finish the trip the same way. If you'd rather take them by hand, somebody else can carry the lizard." He glares again at the lizard, which he still harbors ill feelings for, in spite of it being unconscious and apparently extremely valuable.

"Well, either way I think we should turn the lizard, the note, and the chest over to -" he lowers his voice and whispers "you know who." Accustomed to working within a hierarchy, his instinct is to avoid making decisions himself and hand it over to someone higher up.

"Whatever you plan is fine. Selling the lizard is alright. Whatever completes the mission."

Philoneus starts to check Mr. Tiggles for any injuries. Once satisfied he'll take ten on handling the horses and start hitching them to the wagons.

Mr. Tiggles seemsto enjoy the attention he's getting from his master, but once Philoneus moves on to the horses he huffs.

Instead, Mr. Tiggles moves towards Deenha for more attention. Possibly to make his master jealous.

Deenha happily rubs the dinosaur snout that's pushed at her, and then rubs gently at the back of his head.

Getting up from his seat by the fire, Roven dusts himself off, straps his shield to his back and hops on to the wagon, helm beside him.

"That's plenty o' blether, let's git oan wi' th' plan. Ah say we tak' this loot back tae toun 'n' lea thae sorry louts 'ere. "

I'll move us on when I get home from work this afternoon, which will hopefully be shortly before the overseer announcement. I want to be clear that both the shocker-lizard cage and the gold are small enough that you could carry them on foot. You may take the wagon if you wish, but it is not necessary to transport the loot.

"One more thing, one more thing," Philoneus said. He took out his dagger and started to scratch away the hidden Aspis symbol I seem to remember this but can't go back to check currently. and added a few scratches and gouges to make it look more natural.

"Fine by me, we leave them tied up here then. Ready when the rest of you are."

Philoneus mars the symbol on the wheel of the wagon while the rest of you tie up the captives and move the remaining loot (including the lizard in its cage) into said wagon. Whoever's driving, please make a handle animal or profession (driver) check.

"Load up, Mr. Tiggles. We're heading out."

Once everyone is ready to go, Philoneus takes the reigns and commands the horses.

Going to take 10 for 13 on Handle Animal, since Philoneus assumes these are well trained horses.

Once everyone is loaded you roll out, back into Magnimar. Jorston Droaeb doesn't care who's selling, as long as he can get his hands on the goods. He pays you the agreed-upon sum and off you go, imagining the kudos you'll get upon your triumphant return bearing not just the Aspis gold, but the exorbitant sum paid by Droaeb as well.

As you drive the wagon into the courtyard, the Venture Captain looks up and scowls. "Get that thing unloaded, quick!" she snaps, then turns and speaks quiet instructions to a nearby stablehand who jumps into the wagon and drives off the moment it's unloaded. Her glare softens when she sees how much gold was delivered, but it does not entirely disappear. "Jasper will go dump the wagon on the other side of town" she says, watching the wagon quickly disappear from sight. Turning back to you, her voice stern, she says "I thought I had made myself clear that you were to hide your affiliation with the Society. I appreciate that you took some precautions to remove their symbol from the wheel, but anyone who recognizes that wagon driving up to my house isn't going to have to think too hard to figure out who raided the caravan."

***OVERSEER ANNOUNCEMENT***

Two hours before the auction is slated to begin, Sheila Heidmarch calls everyone back to the theater for another emergency briefing. She appears greatly agitated and her tenor is one of immediacy.

“My friends, we have little time and much work to do, so I’m going to make this simple. While you were dealing with the Aspis Consortium, my informants in the city investigated the individuals you reported on from last night’s gala. It seems a number of them have sufficient funds to jeopardize our efforts. In what little time remains, I need you to prevent as many of them from participating in the auction as possible. My agents will provide each of your groups with a mission brief. Once you complete the task, return here to inform us of the results, and we shall quickly set you upon another mission. Again, we need you to complete as many missions as you can before the auction starts. But remember to keep your efforts clandestine and try not to kill anyone important. We’re still trying to win the auction somewhat legally.”

A night passed between your return from the raid and the overseer announcement.

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"So, where would you like to start?"

Below are your mission choices. You can choose the order, or if you prefer I will.

I feel like we probably would have dumped the wagon when we got back to town, once we'd sold the lizard. Ah well :) H sounds fun to Roven. More fighting!

D, E, F, or G would be Deenha's choice.

I have no strong preference. Zekuli is mostly interested in A, D, E, F. Any order is fine.

Survival of the Fittest Druid would be stoked for H. E would be Philoneus' secondary, after that F and G.

I don't have strong feelings on either of them. A sounds like fun, but not something Thran would be especially better at then any of the others..seems we have 2 people for H, 2 for D, 3 for E, F and G and 2 for A. So let's start with E, then see if we can do H and if we have more time go for F and G, then D and then A and if we can do more after that..we'll see by then?

E it is, then.

“I’m not sure yet how we can get Doctor Landis to back out of the auction, or if we fail, if we can outbid him; at least not until we know who is acting as his anonymous patron." Sheila explains. "I have a strange feeling about the whole thing. I doubt his patron has noble intentions and I suspect the good doctor is probably in a lot more trouble than he realizes. Go to the museum and see if you can get Doctor Landis to introduce you to his anonymous patron, or at least his patron’s contact. Once we know who it is, we can hopefully drive a wedge between the doctor and his benefactor.”

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When you arrive at the museum, you find Doctor Landis at his desk, poring over some budgetary documents. "Oh, hello. You were at the Gala, yes? Um, what can I do for you?"

"Wow, look at some of this interesting old stuff. Do you think you might be able to put the Key here, too?"

"Oh yes, I have a perfect spot for it all picked out."

"Sooo... museums usually aren't rolling in it, if you catch my meaning. There are going to be some high bidders at this auction." Telos waits to see how he takes the hint.

"Ah yes, well, as I said at the gala earlier, I have been fortunate enough to have an anonymous donor step forward to help the museum acquire the piece."

"Apologies, that must have been one of my companions that you talked to. Interesting that he or she wants to remain anonymous. Don't rich benefactors usually like their names plastered near exhibits that they enable?"

"Hm, yes I suppose so. I can't speak to this person's motivations, only to their generosity. Anyway, is there something I can do for you?"

"Just seems strange that someone with so much money is doing all of this anonymously, isn't it? Just seems strange, like someone's using your enthusiasm for old relics to get it into a place that doesn't have a lot of security, comparatively. It's strange. And after meeting you at the Gala and getting to know you a bit, I'm concerned."

Please give me diplomacy rolls.

Oh boy oh boy.

diplomacy: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (4) - 1 = 3

Deenha is happy to roll diplomacy (+9), but I need someone else to provide the big idea they want her to say. I will then rephrase it a little based on how she speaks.

"We think ye'r bein' played fur a gowk, ye dunce." Roven growls, wishing there was someone to hit.
Diplomacy: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (12) - 2 = 10