Jolon scratches his chin.
"Well, we bet eight, I'm not sure how much the other guy bet."
Aloysia grabs her share of the gold, and starts walking toward the direction the Spider King went. "Impressions are easy, now we just have to maintain our momentum...and hope that the bribe money is enough for him."
Gamon follows Aloysia, his axe clearly visible to any who might think they'd have better luck than the last fellow. Agreed, nice work back there.
"Though if he asks us to play that game with him, he'll be ready for that trick you did with the concealed knife," Jolon comments as he follows after Aloysia.
The large ship tied off to the pier bears the name Eel’s End; its figurehead is a coiling eel with a woman’s head. Several drunkards, sailors, and revelers dance and drink on the large open main deck here, while the aft deck is relatively clear. A pair of large double doors bearing a complex painting of a spider allows entrance into the stern section of the main deck.
There are a couple of thugs standing outside the stairs leading to what would be the Captain's quarters on a regular ship. The keep their arms crossed and nod as you arrive, "You some more of the new meat? Devargo don't like people bein' late..."
When no one responds the guards both shrug and pull the door open to let you in. This large room, once a captain’s cabin, has been converted into a throne room of sorts. The walls are thick with spider webs, in which scuttle dozens of spiders, some as large as a fist but most considerably smaller. These spiders seem content to stay in their webs and do not venture into the room itself, which is furnished with two sturdy oaken tables surrounded by chairs. Aft, a wooden stage supports a large leather chair covered with cobwebs and scampering spiders. A narrow door stands to port, hanging ajar and revealing a flight of stairs leading below. An iron birdcage hangs from the ceiling like a chandelier.
Lounging in the chair is the man you saw earlier, with a look of boredom on his face. There are six other men seated at the tables who were enjoying a sumptuous meal and loud stories before your entrance drove them to quiet. Also in the room is a sullen looking house drake, trapped in a steel birdcage hanging from the ceiling. Everyone turns to look at your entrance with Devargo taking an active interest in what is going on around him.
Jolon keeps quiet, letting Aloysia lead. He frowns a bit at the surroundings, and when he sees the house drake, he gets a sad look on his face. Poor little thing.
Cecil gives a pained sigh and rolls his eyes as the group passes the guards. He will step just into the room and to the side, putting his back against a wall.
Jolon looks askance at Cecil as he sighs. His eyes say it all.
I have no idea what to do here...
Aloysia walks into the room as if she owns it, "Good evening gentlemen! It really is a pleasant one tonight, no?" She continues strolling up to Devargo to get in conversational distance all the while playing with her daggers like she was before the game.
"I'm Aloysia Sett," she puts on a show of a bow, "And I'm told you might have information I'd like to acquire."
The smirk gracing Devargo's face is fierce, and thoroughly amused. "Sett, Sett, Sett...Now where have I heard that name before?" he pretends to muse aloud. The men at the tables slow their movements until the room is unnaturally still. "You know House Attis never did recover when their sole heir disappeared..." The smirk grows into a grin, "It is a pleasure to meet you Aloysia." A dangerous glint fills his eye and the shadows made by the lamps create a sinister mien across the King of Spiders' face. "I have a lot of information, what is it that you're looking for specifically?"
Jolon gapes in shock.
"You're a NOBLE, Aloysia?!"
Aloysia responds quietly, "Another life," before continuing on to the real question.
"Ambassador Amprei’s dealings. He's a wealthy man, and he has vices. Wealthy men with vices get themselves in trouble, and I want to cash in on that. I can't imagine a man of your station, in a place like this, doesn't have the same mindset I do. I expect you have evidence that I could make use of."
A growl enters Devargo's voice, "I may have something that has been quite...lucrative for me. What do you have to offer for this evidence?"
"Money, and quite a lot of it," Jolon replies as if on cue.
He takes the bag from Cecil and steps forward until he's next to Aloysia. He pulls the drawstring open and displays the bribe money.
"The Ambassador is stirring up trouble in high places...the kind of trouble that can lead to trade embargoes or even out-and-out war against Korvosa. Neither of those are good for business, but with this information, we can apply pressure to the Ambassador to behave himself, and keep things in Korvosa lucrative and quiet, in a way I imagine we'd all benefit from."
Cecil offers the coins to Jolon and tries his best to look nonchalant. "Even if you, the King of Spiders is confident he could ride out such troubles as war, it would be taxing on your resources and a pain to have to set up shop somewhere else." he offers another angle.
"I can be persuaded to part with these letters. Though I've gotten quite a bit of income from them I'm sure the ambassador will soon find a way to make the material useless. I'll let these letters go for a measly... 1500 gold."
Aloysia grins, "You play your hand far too early. It's all over your face..."
[dice=Bluff that Aloysia "detected" a lie]1d20 + 8[/dice]
"...you've made your money from those papers already, and what you sell them to us for is just extra change in your pocket. We'll give you 750g."
The sense of danger in the room increases, though Devargo's smile never leaves his face. "1250," is his counter.
Aloysia holds his gaze, "900."
Devargo bursts out laughing and leans on the arm of his throne. "I am so glad you all have arrived today. It gets so boring with lickspittles and sycophants doing nothing interesting to amuse me. I hope you know that I'll accept no less than 1000, otherwise I'd have to feed you to my spiders." At the mention of his spiders the men watching the exchange begin to whisper and fidget among themselves, only stopping when Devargo throws a sharp glare in their direction.
Jolon is about to say "Deal!" when he notes the reaction of the men.
"What spiders are you talking about?"
"Not our business, Jolon." Cecil says. He will take the excess coin from the pouch and toss over the 900.
"There you go."
-Posted with Wayfinder
Aloysia nods, "Now that we're done with that, evidence please," and she holds her hand out in request.
Devargo launches his hand out, fist outward, and catches it on one of the punching daggers, allowing it to slide down until it rests next to his hand before dropping it next to his throne. He stands and heads towards a side door, opening it to reveal stairs traveling further down. "Follow me," is all he grunts before leading you further into Eel's End.
The ship creaks and groans with each step you take, and the corridor is barely wide enough for two people to walk side by side with no room for maneuvering. He leads you towards a door past the hatch leading to the bilge and opens it. Once inside he turns to the door on the left saying only, "Wait here." A single low desk sits against the wall of this room. A large wooden door marked with a painting of a spider stands in the southern wall.
He returns shortly from what appears to be his personal quarters bearing two letters, written to Ambassador Amprei from a woman named Verania Tvastiox, the young wife of one of Amprei’s superiors back home in Cheliax. The details in the letters are quite salacious and exacting, leaving little room for misinterpretation. If they were to be made public, Amprei would be disgraced. After allowing you to verify the contents Devargo points to the door marked with the spider, "You were asking about my spiders. Here is where I keep my pets, pray you never see the other side of that door." He claps his hands roughly together, "Now! Time for some more entertainment. I think I'll have that House Drake fight for its life again." Saying this he opens the spider door and lets out a sharp whistle.
Peeking past him into the room you see the dark chamber is riddled with dizzying tunnels and twisting corridors formed by thick cobwebs. The floor is a sticky, lumpy mass of webbing and dozens, if not hundreds, of bones—many of which appear to be from humanoid bodies. Some of the webs seem to shimmer and dance, almost as if reflecting rainbows in their silken forms. Out of the room steps a spider the size of a human child, its carapace shining in the rainbow hues of some of the webs you saw in the room. Smiling nastily once more as he strokes the spiders carapace fondly, "Would you like to stay and watch?"
In a droll tone Aloysia says, "I'm paid by the job, not the hour. Enjoy your fun, and thanks for doing business." She turns to leave, reaching her companions, "Shall we, gentlemen?"
Cecil sees this and grits his teeth, just knowing that while he's smart enough to know hfighting here is a terrible idea, other party members might not realize it. This man was more dangerous than anyone theyve faced yet. He quickly tries to divert the subject.
"Interesting webs." Cecil comments, pulling out his notepad and pencil. "What kind of spider makes that? I'd love to be able to write it into my next book."
-Posted with Wayfinder
Devargo, smile never leaving his face, explains, "These are dream spiders. Beautiful creatures, aren't they? Just a touch of their venom and most are hooked, and if its straight from the tap, as they say, then whomever is enjoying themselves is dead before they come off their high."
Jolon glares at Devargo and steadily angry whispers begin to rise in the room.
"You're...a monster! You're as bad as Gaedren Lamm!" he cries before doubling over in pain. Blue flames burst from his body as he rights himself, eyes aflame, as he speaks in a voice not his own.
"You will die this night, tshamek, and will never harm another innocent again!"
Scowling, Devargo isn't intimidated by Jolon's threats, "A bleeding-heart? Oh your Chitters annoy me." Turning briefly to Aloysia he says, "Ms. Sett your company disappoints," before he looks at Jolon once more. "I'm worse than Lamm ever could hope to be, but the city needs someone like me to function. And now I'll show that to you." His grip firms on his punching daggers as everyone explodes into motion.
Huh... that's what you need to make into... Ah shi- he realizes much too late that he had asked entirely the wrong question. Jolon roars, and Cecil rolls his eyes. Well if we survive this, we're probably going to be tripping for HOURS...
"WE ENDED LAMM, AND WE WILL END YOU TOO." Not-Jolon drones in a deep, mighty voice, as the blue flame forms an image of a powerful, stony-faced human man with a majestic, feathered headdress and a broad-headed spear in hand, the shovel-like head studded with holes, over Jolon's form.
An enormous brown spider, the size of a pony, swarms out of the door, venom dripping from its fangs. It plants itself on the wall beside Devargo and reaches out to snap at the closest target, Aloysia.
The spider latches onto the elf's arm and leaves bloody marks that quickly foam from the venom injected within.
Gamon, unable to get through his companions to reach the spiders, draws his bow and sends an arrow flying towards the brown spider attacking Aloysia.
Aloysia, completely taken by surprise that combat is happening, shrieks with the bite
Gamon takes aim at the spider clinging to the wall, and with a small thrum pierces its carapace with an arrow. That doesn't stop the venom already in Aloysia's body, driving weakness through her limbs.
A flash of purple carapace comes from the room behind Devargo and a large net of webbing shoots out of the door in an attempt to wrap up Jolon.
The webs expertly unwrap past Devargo and wrap around Jolon.
Devargo laughs aloud, "Seem to be a bit trapped at the moment. Now let's see what color your insides are..."
Jolon and the spirit glare at Devargo.
"Stab all you want, tshamek. You will not kill a son of the Storval Plateau!"
He throws his head back and yells, as energy from the spirit surges towards Aloysia.
Devargo continues chuckling as he lunges forward, punching daggers glistening with spider venom, aiming for Jolon.
Devargo's first punching dagger slips through Jolon's armor without issue, allowing the venom coating the blade to enter his system. Devargo's second blade skitters off Jolon's shield as Koja guides his hand to prevent more damage. The dream spider, seeming to understand Devargo's intent also falls upon Jolon.
The spider clacks down where Jolon's foot used to be, not knowing it was pushed slightly towards his body when the webs entangled him.
Jolon doesn't even flinch at Devargo's strike.
Seeing no available room to flank Aloysia tries to maneuver around switching places with Gamon calling out in frustration, "We had this one free! And why must I always end up poisoned?! Gamon, switch with me!"