Eberron: Shadows of Breland (Fantasy Noir)

Game Master Elton

"If making a copy of that pyramid was so easy, I doubt we would have been asked to do it."

Falko blinks at his old companion: "Sorry Othan you're right, I was cryptic. I should have said instead: Too easy, in comparison to extortion..."

He falls back in his seat and crosses his arms over his chest.

"Indeed in comparison to extortion perhaps." Othan turns towards the others, "do we know anything about this Pyramid?"

"I don't. Spy 1 or Spy 2 might." he says, looking at Absylon and Xov.

"Extortion without knowing what to extort is unfeasible, Falko is correct. Now,"
he says, gritting his teeth at Absylom, "if you have useful information about the gnome, share it. If it is sufficient I will try to figure out what the code means. If it is not, then we should find this pyramid as soon as possible. "
And why is he calling Xov 'mr eye' anyways? He doesn't even know, since he hadn't joined the group when everything was explained to them. Only Othan and Ebran would know that unless I forgot something else.

If I remember correctly Absylon got info on all of you from the Citadel... You may not have been fooled by Thrask but they were (or at least they aren't letting on).

No information on this code, I researched the gnome to find some sort of weakness to exploit... Or barring extortion his place of residence, if the attempt to "copy" the Pyramid fails I can pull some strings within House Tharashk... I can arrange for the gnome to be kidnapped, interrogated and summarily "removed".

I advise this only as a last resort however, that particular and in effect untraceable service is not good for the coin purse... Once the Pyramid is located and if it is not a giant, complex monstrosity of an artifact I will see about locating people who have the magic or psionic means to "copy" it. This service again won't be cheap but regardless we have to get that information out of the gnome somehow...

"Ah, didn't know Tharashk got down like that. I'd have figured that more of the demesne of Phiarlan."

You may think of them as the House of Finding but they are also Deineth's number one rival. While they can't match the professionalism of Deineth mercs they can do things Deineth can't do. Like other "non respectable" services assassination, sabotage, theft etc... If your looking to hire mercs for anything just tell me, I can supply for the right price.

"Well, I'm not exactly rolling in funds at the moment. I'd rather get paid to do something than pay someone else to do it for me. If it ain't worth the money I'd make for doing it myself, then it probably ain't worth the money I'd have to shell out to have it done."

True but sometimes you need canon fodder and sometimes you simply need to be in two places at once... It also helps that the House of Finding is discreet and the fact is your House enjoys exceptionally good relations with Tharashk... A discount for favored allies isn't that hard to come by if you know how to swing your reputation around.

Question of note, since we will be going to Thrane eventually want me to see if House Tharashk has any courier jobs? If you did such a service for free House Tharashk could be persuaded to bring it's political might to the negotiations. It never hurts to have allies that count trolls as shocktroops...

"Once we are back at the ship."

Falko turns to Othan again: "Ok, I've heard enough Old Friend. Yiu'd better tell me what all this is about..." he says, trying to keep anger from his voice.

"we mostly do work for the Citadel, work that pays quite well I should say. We also do odd jobs on the side. Those of us released together, which I guess would be myself, Xov and Ebran weren't given much of a choice in the beginning, but since we are all willing to work for coin it hasn't been much of a problem. Those who objected to the work have been released, but come to think of it we haven't heard from any of them after they left us. Not that we would have had a reason to."

Kirin rolls his eyes at the mention of disappearing the gnome. "I'm sure you're best friends with one of your Triumvirate, but you're assuming that he'd be easy to get to. That Sivis and Kundarak aren't protecting him. He's obviously important to someone, presumably important enough to protect. Dragon Below, you're even suggesting disappearing your friend Caius's contact in an effort to fulfill Caius's mission- you don't think he'd be unhappy with that decision?"

The khoravar sighs and shakes his head. "Blackmail I'm sure everyone could live with, though I do wonder what happened to make Caius's relationship sour so badly that his contact here isn't willing to give him the information he collected. But it doesn't sound like you've collected anything the gnome would be willing to pay to keep secret."

He nods at Falko. "Let's at least assess the viability of doing what the gnome asked before we start spending time on other plans." Kirin looks around at the group. "Since nobody seems to know anything about this pyramid, why don't we start asking our friends questions about it? Some of us could do that while the others go take a look at it."

Would Falko know of 'The Citadel?

Absylon snorts at the suggestion you need to be friends with the highest of the high to "disappear" someone...

My information regarding the gnome does say one thing, he is not an eager friend of House Kundarak. It seems his efforts to get out from under his former boss in that House led to his premature graying as such I doubt he is asking for protection from them. That only leaves House Sivis as a visible defender and "remove" does not necessarily mean death... If you have enough gold to spend, a psion can do psionic "modifications" to Hasphat's memory, a technique which I have unfortunately been unable to master much to chagrin...

As for the Pyramid I can find it for you without having to put one foot inside the museum where it is housed...

As Absylon speaks confidently of his abilities a purple psicrystal rises from his sleeve and onto the table. It begins to skitter to and fro around the table, as it changes colors like a peacock you would almost swear that the crystal is "preening"...

"My dear Absylon, it sounds as though this task is rivial at best then. I am glad to hear it, but I also wonder why you preferred the other route?" asks Falko, moving to sit on the edge of his chair, staring intently at the man.

The task of locating the Pyramid is trivial, copying the damn thing will be another matter entirely... If a damn house heir can't muster the resources to do it that spells trouble.

Maybe he can, but he rather see how committed you are in bringing down the Aurum.

Would Falko know of 'The Citadel?

Falko knows nothing other than they are to protect the king of Breland and Breland itself. Kinda like the Knights of the Round Table, but without all the chivalry crap.

Xov sighed at Othan's description. Secret! Secret! The whole point of using mercenaries is that you needn't tell them anything secret. He resisted the urge to say anything on the subject, but just thought it to himself. Instead he listened to Falko and Absylon bicker.
"House Kundrak, you say? They have ties to the Aurum. Hasphat sounds more like a potential ally, if a shady one, than an enemy. "

After pausing for a moment and looking ready to depart in search of information, Xov speaks up again, this time towards Kirin and Falko
"Oh, pardon my forgetfulness, you two may know not what the Aurum is. "

"Or the Citadel for that matter..." grumbles back Falko.

After thinking for a few seconds on how best to explain without revealing anything too important to the mercenary, Xov replied
"The Aurum is, essentially, a cable of very wealthy Khorvairians. They manipulate economies to gain control of as much of the continent as they can whilst remaining mostly hidden.
Out current...contractor is on poor terms with the Aurum."
"The Citadel is an arm of the Brelish crown. I am not privy to all of their inner-workings."

"Well, of the two plans, one suggested by resident kook Absylon and one suggested by untested hanger-on Kirin... Ebran looks to each as he jibes them, his expression revealing that he is attempting to diffuse the tension with humor, "... I choose the plan that costs me the least gold and has the lesser chance of my incarceration or indebtedness to the dark and seedy forces that 'disappear people' at the whim of various power blocs."

"Let's just find this damn pyramid. We've two more tasks ahead besides this one. Slow is smooth and smooth is fast, as they say."

If that is your choice take a pleasure cruise near the museum where it is housed... My psicrystal can sneak in and has an operation range of 1 mile, no need to draw attention to ourselves. Just a few Heirs of the Kraken House out on a pleasure cruise, nothing amiss with that...

Cruising a skyship through Sharn sounds to me like it would draw attention, but that's because I've always imagined the city as kind of claustrophobic- tall towers with lots of alleys and passageways and not a lot of open sky, except at the very top of the richest parts of town. Is that correct for your interpretation of the city, DM?

Kirin rolls his eyes at Ebran. "I appreciate the vote of confidence, cousin." He shrugs at Absylon's suggestion. "It will take a while for such a small thing to locate something in Morgrave. The university takes up most of Upper Menthis. It makes more sense to me to figure what building this pyramid is in, then send in your psicrystal to find its exact location. Though even then we'll need to get our eyes on it to figure out how to copy it."

it was my understanding that the middle layer was safe for airships. definitely skiffs, but possibly at least sloops. definitely no room in lower levels. If it is MORGRAVE we are headed to, that is on the upper level.

Ebran is right.

The psicrystal can find it and relay the findings to me, the real question we need to answer is the Pyramid's size and complexity... Let us all remember that the Dhakanni hobgoblins in the Last War possessed the ability to disable a moving fortress which now blocks up a pass between Darguun and Breland...

Kirin shrugs. "I don't see how it's possible your psicrystal can search most of Upper Menthis in less time than it takes us to ask someone, but in either case I don't think the gnome would have asked us to bring it to him at his place of business if it was too large." He shakes his head. "However we're doing this, we need to find the thing before we can make any real plans. We should start sooner rather than later."

I'll just go ahead and roll a Gather Information check in case we go that way.

GI check for 'Where's the pyramid?': 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (6) + 15 = 21
How many hours?: 1d4 ⇒ 3

Xov assists Karin in his search for information.
He may be a mercenary, but at least he seems to have a little sense in him.
aid another: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22

"If that's the plan, I'd like to help..."

Gather Info: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (19) + 7 = 26

I admit it is more a desire too test out the psicrystal's full capabilities then anything else...

Absylon will follow his comrades in the hunt for information

aid another (gather information)1d20 + 12 ⇒ (3) + 12 = 15

Hopefully we can just say we're all helping Falko. Nice roll. :)

Kirin nods in understanding at Absylon. "I can understand that inclination."

Does anyone have a relevant Craft skill? Something like Sculpture or Architecture or something similar. We can do this with magic if it's not too big and doesn't have any magical properties but it'll still need somebody to Craft it into shape.

"Loathe as i am to separate the party, perhaps a craftsman could be paid to handle the forgery, some sort of plaster purchased to create a cast of the object for fabrication elsewhere. I could go try to pick up some plaster. I've no skill at such handiwork."

i believe there is just such an alchemical item that costs like 5gp or something. if the party likes the idea i will go look it up.

First we must examine the damn thing, if its larger then say Othan I suggest we prepare to blackmail the gnome. If we can't find any dirt I will manufacture it, note that I only recommend this if the Pyramid will obviously be a bust.

"we need to know what we are dealing with, blackmail does not seem like a good option in this case."

Hence the reason we examine this Pyramid first, let us hope that it is a small...

"Even if it is large, there is no way to blackmail anyone for information unless we know what information we seek, which currently we do not."
By the Five Nations, does this Elan want to pick a fight with everyone?
Guess we're just waiting for the results of the gather information check(s).

What I would give to capture a high ranking Aurum member and subject him to a mind probe. That may actually be an avenue worthy of pursuit now that I think of it...

Kirin chuckles and shakes his head. "That is... certainly an idea. We may want to put a pin in that one, though. Save it for after this pyramid thing."

Sorry guys, I've got work to do. :)

GI check for 'Where's the pyramid?': 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (6) + 15 = 21 -- it's better just to take twenty.

You find a pyramid that is about the size of a man's hand. Perhaps a little bigger, that seems to be deliniated with gold paint. On top is an eye. Pyramid with all seeing eye. It's most likely the pyramid that Hasphat wants.

Phew, it's small... If you all so desire I will go through my contacts and see whom is available in Sharn to replicate this Pyramid exactly... Psionics can accomplish many things.

I'm a little confused. How did we find it? Are we standing in front of it, or do we simply know where it is located?

From the description it looks to me like we have physically gone there and are looking at it. DM?

It's the psycrystal I was using the tense for. I thought it was linked to Absylon, sorry. :)

Kirin purses his lips. "Can you have your psicrystal scan for magical auras? We will likely need to duplicate those as well, if it has any."

It doesn't have that capability... Yet.

Kirin nods. "Then someone will have to go see it in person. I can do it. Would anyone like to come?"

"I'll go."

"I shall accompany thee as well."