"Don't let it out of this room!"
8 of 8
15 (t 13, ff 12)
-
1st: stone fist, true strike
4 of 4 remaining
20
Braelex pulls a small clay grenade from her belt and hurls it at the gremlin, a difficult shot in the melee.
"Meet muh dagger named Pig-Sticker, you...," followed by an emphatic *hrumph* of effort and the thunk of a thrown dagger. "Pig!"
Braelex tosses a clay pot and slings it short and to the left, catching the gremlin, Fulmen, Lorlenn, and Relan in it's splash radius and setting the curtains on fire.
Clarence tosses a dagger at the gremlin, but bad luck foils him again and he knocks over a vial of ink, pouring it on the floor. Lorlenn grants Relan a boon again and moves to block the gremlin's escape route. Andel stays where he is and Relan moves in to continue his assault scoring a deep gash but the creature's fey nature reduces the damage.
The gremlin stabs at Fulmen who leans away from it and swings his quarterstaff too wide, breaking the leg on a nearby table.
; miss
EDIT: Add Map Link
,
8 of 8
15 (t 13, ff 12)
-
1st: stone fist, true strike
3 of 4 remaining
20
Braelex winces as the bomb sprays fire over her new co-workers. "Sorry," she apologizes in a low voice. Taking up her crossbow, she aims and waits for a clear shot.
"Watch it, sweetheart!" Relan dodges, managing to get a little less splash then the rest. Relan turns and swipes at the dog-creature driving his sword forward in another attack.
Now I know who not to give priority when healing...
"Druid, get your feet under you!" Lorlenn reaches over to Fulmen and puts a steadying hand on the half-elf's shoulder.
Fulmen, shaken a bit by alchemist's grenade recovers and moves to flank the gremlin and attack.
str +2
Clarence lumbers over to the curtains, rips them down and starts stomping on them to put them out. "Blasted little tart *mumble* flinging fire *mumble* hog's teat *mumble*..."
As Clarence puts out the fire, Lorlenn turn his attention to Fulmen who misjudges the gremlin badly. Relan, without the Lorlenn's aid, cleaves the table in two as the pugwampi sticks his dagger in the warrior's leg and then hops to the south ... only to catch Braelex's waiting crossbow bolt in the throat. It slumps to the ground and after a few moments, both gremlin bodies disappear to whence they came.
min 1
Braelex walks over to carefully examine whatever is left of the paradox box.
Relan wipes his sword off, looking around the room. Shaking his head to clear off the effects of the back luck, "Alright, now to answer the most important question. Was i right?" he grinned.
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Moments later, Sheila and Koriah run through the door, Sheila with her staff at the ready and Koriah with both her weapons in her hand, the blade of her sword dripping pieces of ice.
They relax when they see the danger is gone, arriving just before the bodies disappear. Sheila appraises the room and frowns at the mess and at Clarence stomping on the curtains.
Her voice, clearly angry, but not seemingly directed at you is short. Her words are not.
"Please, allow me to apologize for that unpleasantness regarding the gremlins—but it does provide an excellent object lesson. The life of an adventurer is not one for the weak-hearted. That you not only took care of the gremlins but also got the box open in the first place is all the confirmation I need that my gut was right—you’re the perfect group for the job I have in mind. Hmm, looks like you've earned the right to keep these." She walks over to the table looking through the box, sorting out 3 garnets, a masterwork silver dagger and a ring (that she will later identify as aring of feather falling)
She continues "I’ve recently had trouble with one of my informants here in Magnimar, Natalya Vancaskerkin. She’s a half-Varisian who recently approached the Pathfinder Society with an offer to serve as a street informant. She runs with the Sczarni—I’m not sure with which group. A week ago, Natalya sent me a cryptic hint that her gang was on the verge of uncovering an item that would be of great interest to the Society. Since the Sczarnis’ methods of uncovering something often involves an armed robbery or breaking into somebody’s personal chambers, we thought it prudent not to press for further details and instead wait to see what it would produce. Suffice it to say, she hinted strongly that it pertained to Thassilon, and promised to meet with me to discuss this find three days ago.
“She never kept that promise—instead, she seems to have simply vanished. Initially, I assumed that the acquisition of this item was simply taking longer than expected, but now I’m hearing rumors that the Sczarni are looking for her as well.
“It seems likely that Natalya has absconded with this item she’s discovered. And this is where you enter, my friends. I want to know what it was that Natalya and the Sczarni found. In fact, I’m more interested in that than in what happened to Natalya herself. For now, I’d like to keep all of this quiet—if you can find out what happened to Natalya without letting a lot of people know she was also working for me as an informant, that would be preferable—that’s a big part of why I’m coming to you, as new members of the Pathfinder Society, with this task.You don’t yet have a reputation in Magnimar, and as such, the lowlifes and criminals you are likely to encounter may be more likely to talk.
“So... go out there and look for Natalya. Find out what happened to her, and to this item she and her gang discovered. If you can secure the item, all the better—bring it back to me and I’ll have a reward of 500 gold pieces for you. And if you can bring Natalya back alive for me to speak to, I’ll double that!”
Relan sheathed at looked around at the damage before turning to Sheila. "It will be done, milady".
He turns to the rest, "Before we get started, I suggest we figure out what we have and get some supplies before moving out. I know i got some shopping to do."
"Mrs. Heidmarch, would you be able to provide us with a description of Natalya? Do you know where she lived or worked? Any family connections?" Lorlenn looks out a window and continues, "It's a very large city; any information to help point us in the right direction would be greatly appreciated."
Lorlenn raises his cure light wounds potion in a toast to Sheila and quaffs it, saving his spells for later.
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In response to Lorlenn's query, Sheila thinks for a moment, remembering"She's a dark curly-haired woman with olive skin. She generally wears a red headband along with traditional Sczarni garb. Thin but well-built, average height."
She sighs, "As for connections, I don't know her that well. I thought having a double agent in a Sczarni gang would be valuable but she insisted on autonomy to do so. The Society doesn't have much pull with the Sczarni, so it seemed worth it at the time. I'm not so sure now. I'm not convinced, yet, that she's a traitor. I need some proof of ... something."
"Now the Sczarni themselves, they've been around for a long time, since the city was founded. Criminals, yes, but not generally the worst violent types, just the most noticeable. In some areas they sort of act as a neighborhood protection. There are several prominent gangs: Creepers, Dooulun's Lads, The Gallows (the most powerful of the bunch), The Tower Girls, the Washside Wringers and the Wreckwash Blades."
Sheila snaps her fingers, "That reminds me! When Natalya came to us intially offering to be an informant, she used to work with a man called the Amazing Zograthy, who has a tent down in Dockway on Washer's Row. Perhaps he can help."
Shrugging she finishes, "Other than that, there has been a string of disappearances in the city. May be connected to the recent tavern rumors of Nidalese slavers. Or, she might have been picked up by the Town Guard. Those are both probably worth investigating. The Lord Mayor is even offering a substantial reward for uncovering the missing persons mystery to include a 500gp bonus for each kidnapped victim found and returned alive."
Mrs. Heidmarch, you said the Sczarni are looking for her as well. Do you know which group in particular are looking for her? Maybe that can give us an area of the city to start looking.
Also, these missing persons you mentioned, do they have anything in common? Do you know where they went missing or should we go to the Lord Mayor's office for that kind of information?
Fulmen has been eying Mrs. Heidmarch very carefully since her return and listening carefully to every word she's spoken. Since he still suspects her involvement in the box incident noting that she didn't ask how to open the box and none of his party told her.
"I'm sorry, Fulmen, I don't know which group. As I mentioned earlier, the Pathfinder Society and the Sczarni don't have many coinciding efforts. Natalya was to be my first stab at bridging that. She wasn't with me long enough to get the details of which organization she was with."
"As for the missing persons, some times individuals come to us at the Lodge to note requests. Many of them are geographically dependent, for example, Koriah is taking a request for some particular herbs from the Darklands with her up ahead that a local merchant dropped off a few months ago 'just in case.' The Lord Mayor's representative offered us the reward knowing that we're out and about in the city. If you need more specific leads, I'd recommend starting with the guard at the Arvensoar or even following up on those rumors in some of the seedier parts of town. Some times a bit of well-seeded money goes a long way."
Clarence grunts.
Lorlenn says, "Sounds like we might be able to split up: one group inquires at the Lord Mayor's office about kidnapping leads, while the other finds out if she was picked up by the Town Guard. Then we meet up to compare notes and all of us go talk to this Amazing Zograthy; maybe catch a show. After that, we can start hitting taverns to dig around for rumors."
No known slavery in Magnimar ever (remember, though the city is young... just over a century and a half, I believe). However, the Nidalese from Nidal (country to the southeast) who worship Zon-Kuthon are known to take slaves and their shadowcallers experiment on them with shadow magic and divinity through torture
Lorlenn thinks for a moment and then continues, "Hmm, yeah. I can't recall any previous slave-running in Magnimar, at least none that was publicized, so rumors are probably our best bet if neither office has information for us. Sound like a plan?"
Lorlenn looks around hopefully at the others.
"Braelex, if you come with me I can show you a meditation ritual that will increase the potency of your fire magics." Lorlenn smiles. "It takes about 10 minutes, and can only be done at the Founder's Flame near where we had dinner last night, but the effects lasts for a full day."
Then the rest of us will go find this Amazing Zogarthy and see what leads he might have for us
"Braelex, if you come with me I can show you a meditation ritual that will increase the potency of your fire magics." Lorlenn smiles. "It takes about 10 minutes, and can only be done at the Founder's Flame near where we had dinner last night, but the effects lasts for a full day."
"Thanks, but such magic is beyond my training."
As the party says their goodbyes and heads out, Koriah leans in to Relan and says, "Lucre means money or wealth, but is generally associated with greed as well. A perfect word for the Runelords of ancient Thasillon with its double meaning.' She steps away from Relan, winks at Fulmen and with a quick bow she bounds out of the room.
This large stone building has the facade of a temple, but once you step up to it, you realize it's completely secular. Throngs of people push against each other trying to get through the doors into long marble hallways. Various offices inside are identified with signs for the various nobles' names. Lines upon lines of people are stacked from wall to wall and the din is such you can barely talk to one another. As you fight your way through the crowd to look in, you eventually find the Groboban office and representative. He's behind a counter with two assistants listening to the latest complaint. Based on the length of the line and the speed at which he is seeing people, it will be hours before you get through it.
The Arvensoar, the second most notable structure in Magnimar behind the Irespan, looms in the southern part of the city, high above the districts of Lowcleft and Naos. The tower itself is about 400 feet tall, with the lower portion built into the side of the Seacleft that splits the city in half.
Impossibly, it seems the city guard is busier than the House of Nobles with guardsmen dragging in criminals as you enter. A couple of adventuring parties come in to collect bounties as well, and they're all seen right away. Your request to a clerk for information, however, seems to enter a pile marked "routine" and you may be here a while.
Finishing your trek down to the water and slugging through some of the ... finer ... parts of the city, you come upon Washer's Row, a tangle of open-air washhouses, laundrers, and Varisian wagons and tents. A more colorful display of wet and dry cloths you've never seen as clothing and ribbons are draped everywhere to dry.
At the southern end of Washers’ Row, a tattered banner hanging over the entrance to the small side street advertises “Professor Callivario’s Stupendous Exhibition of the Outrageous and Sublime.” Beyond this overly exuberant advertisement is a squalid setup consisting of little more than a series of rundown sideshow booths and carts with assorted games and amusements of the meaner sort. To one side, urchins pitch pennies at lily pads floating in a small, scum-covered fountain while a bored carnie looks on. Nearby, the sound of cats hissing and fighting arises from behind a cart where a small crowd of ne’er-do-wells has gathered to cheer and place bets. Everywhere lurk faces pinched with suspicion or hunger—expressions worn by carnival workers and visitors alike. This is not the sort of place to be careless with a coin pouch.
Lorlenn asks, "Anden, do you have any kind of Pathfinder Society insignia or documentation that can get us through this line? We're here because this office requested our help, not because we have squabbles with our neighbors."
Lorlenn turns to Braelex as they pass the Flame, "Even the most basic instruction in magic principles will suffice, you simply need to meditate on your knowledge for a short while, and then you may be blessed with a boon that bolsters your magic fires. It matters not whether that magic is formally trained or innate, arcane or divine, what matters is a dedication to your own knowledge."
He turns to the rest of the group, "There are many such monuments about the city where boons can be acquired, providing many types of assistance for those who know how to unlock them. I happen to know of quite a few, and I'll point them out when we are near one. As another example, The Guardians are also near here, those who have trained in arcane lore can focus their concentration after meditating there."
Speaking to the clerk, Lorlenn explains, "Our investigation involves a person of interest to the Pathfinder Society, in association with a request for assistance from the Lord Mayor's office. We understand that your office is very busy at the moment, but is there any way that we could expidite that request?"
"Is anyone else familiar with this part of town? Maybe he's in there," Lorlenn points at Professor Callivario’s Stupendous Exhibition of the Outrageous and Sublime, "and we can ask for directions."
Braelex frowns at the long, slow-moving line. "Perhaps we can speed this up with a little coin," she suggests, taking out a gold coin. "Anyone of you good with the fast talking?"
*
"I grew up among travelers and vagabonds, and a good share of Varisians. Keep your eyes open." She keeps a secure hand on her meager fortune.
She waves at the urchins, flashing a handful of copper coins. "Younglings, where may we find the Amazing Zogarthy?"
Lorlenn turns to Braelex as they pass the Flame, "Even the most basic instruction in magic principles will suffice, you simply need to meditate on your knowledge for a short while, and then you may be blessed with a boon that bolsters your magic fires. It matters not whether that magic is formally trained or innate, arcane or divine, what matters is a dedication to your own knowledge."
Braelex gives Lorlenn a smile halfway between sincere and mocking. "Let me be more specific: I have no fire magic."
Braelex gives Lorlenn a smile halfway between sincere and mocking. "Let me be more specific: I have no fire magic."Lorlenn turns to Braelex as they pass the Flame, "Even the most basic instruction in magic principles will suffice, you simply need to meditate on your knowledge for a short while, and then you may be blessed with a boon that bolsters your magic fires. It matters not whether that magic is formally trained or innate, arcane or divine, what matters is a dedication to your own knowledge."
"My scorched clothing begs to differ: you made fire."
I think you misunderstand what happened. I did not cast a spell; it was an explosive alchemical mixture."
Ah, maybe I haven't explained thoroughly. In performing the meditation, or engaging in the other activities that various monuments require, you are not activating a magical device, it's more akin to praying. It is my belief that you are appealing to one of the empyreal lords, spirits or some other mysterious group of entities native to this region of the world. They choose to give you benefit or not."
Lorlenn raises an eyebrow, "Can it hurt to try?"
Andel brightens at Lorlenn's suggestion, Ahh, yes ... I'm certainly used to these bureaucratic processes. You all head on and I'll see what I can dig up here." He sweeps the coin out of Braelex's hand, "This will definitely help!"
(aid other with bribe)
The harried clerk pauses and listens to Lorlenn and is beginning to nod his head to the elf's suggestions just as Braelex flashes her coin. The clerk's face becomes quickly impassive and he stiffens saying tersely, "Ma'am, you dropped a coin from your purse. Be careful with that, wouldn't want anyone around here thinking you were trying to bribe an official of the city." He then points to a cluster of benches off to the side filled with people who've obviously been there a while, "You can wait over there with the others if you wish." The clerk moves on to the next person in line.
As Lorlenn begins to enter the sketchy carnival area, Braelex approaches the children, who all chatter and point in several directions at once, scrapping for the coins. An older carnie nearby with a rasping cough, laughs, coughs and then says, "Yers can find 'em over dere down the street" and he points to a small, well-patched tent crudely painted with mystical symbols and decorated with chicken bones and other oddments. A tiny piece of parchment on the outside says simply, The Amazing Zograthy, Seer of the Dark.
*
Braelex nods and smiles in thanks to the carnie, then walks towards the tent.
"Good luck Andel! Please make sure to gather as much information as you can to see if anything links the missing people together"
"Maybe we should pretend to be dragging in a bounty. They seem to get seen right away. What do you think Braelex?"
From outside the tent Fulmen says loud enough to be heard inside, "Hello? I am in desperate need of a seer to help me important matters. I have coin and will pay handsomely"
While casually moving in Fulmen's direction, Lorlenn checks his pockets and looks around to see who else takes notice of the half-elf's declaration.
A tremulous voice calls out in response to Fulmen's query, "The Amazing Zograthy sees all and knows all. A double fist of silver for a turn of the cards or a vision in the crystal; a treble fist of gold for the secrets of the multiverse.”
You note a couple of carnies, thick-necked fellows in traditional Varisian garb, catch each other's attention and move inconspicuously a few steps toward the tent, They lean up against a few barrels and signal to a few more men who nod as well
Braelex puts one of the garnets on the table. "What will that get me, o'wise one?"
"Nobody minds if I borrow this here gem, do ya? Lookin' to get me a new crossbow after that hairless rat blew up my other one," Clarence says as he grabs one of the garnets from the loot pile. "Just one of them should do it."