GM Peachbottom |
Ayako does not appreciate the backhand and clonks him. Having quite enough beatings
Time for init
Okay then that ends Lucien's diplomacy. I'm not sure if Nadya is still with us. I'll give her a few more days.
Ayako: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 = 23
Lucien Endrin: 1d20 ⇒ 10
Nadya Dimineata: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8
Sebastian Merrin: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (5) + 7 = 12
Lavender Thug: 1d20 ⇒ 4
Round 1:
Active Effects: Lucien: Roll Card
Initiative:
23 - Ayako
12 - Sebastian
10 - Lucien - +8 temp. hp (46 hp); +2 on Con rolls
8 - Nadya
4 - Lavender Thug
The Teamster Harrow Card glows in Nadya's hand and a similar glow surrounds Lucien.
Lucien gains the Roll Card Bonus: Gain a +2 bonus on all rolls modified by Constitution and a number of temporary hit points equal to twice your character level. These bonuses last for the encounter's duration.
The thug was clearly not expecting Ayako to retaliate and is caught flat-footed as she attacks him.
There is a link to the map at the top of the page.
Lucien Endrin |
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Lucien stands astonished at Ayako sudden reaction, but tries to stay calm and bring the situation under control. He's just about to speak to calm things down when Ayako threatens the guards with dark words. Too dark...
Lucien stands still for a few seconds, unable to understand what's going on. "Ayako, calm down!" he cries out. Does she even realize what she's doing? We're not in a dungeon, fighting undead and derros. We're in our city's streets, and she wants to fight against humanoids. If we kill them, not only we'll be morally guilty, but also legally. This would be considered as a murder attempt, no doubt about it. I can't take part in this butchery!
Ayako |
He struck a lady! Defend my honor! I will just try to intimidate then
Ayako turns to glare at the paladin, the shadows down her face turning to mascara and the spider legs vanishing into a split lip and trickle of blood. Some protector you are.Fine, deal with him as you wish. Ayako hobbles back to the others.
Sebastian Merrin |
So...would we like to clarify exactly what happened here? Ayako tried to seduce the guard and was backhanded, while Lucien stands there and has a friendly chat with him? The response to the backhanding would seem to cut off Lucien's interaction before it can really happen.
Sebastian raises his eyes up from Ayako's backside just in time to see her get backhanded. He grabs his hat in surprise, but holds back from jumping into the fray to watch how Lucien handles the situation. That's exactly the kind of action this show needs!
GM Peachbottom |
Yes, Sebastian has the gist of it. But since you averted the fight, I'll allow the conversation to continue.
Ayako successfully intimidates the thug but Lucien holds her back.
The thug stares in fear for a brief moment then shakes it off. "This whore is with you?" he says to Lucien. "You need to keep her in line. I'll go fetch Vendra but if you are wasting her time, you'll regret it."
The man goes around the back alley and enters the apartment using a key. After a minute, Lavender and two other guards (3 guards total) emerge.
"What do you want?" Vendra demands. "I am extremely busy. My liniment is in high demand and I must replenish my stock. Who's going to tell the sick that I ran out of cures because you had to disturb me?"
Lucien Endrin |
Lucien respectfully bows to Vendra as soon as she arrives. Then, with a confident smile, he speaks with calm words. "Your liniment is in high demand indeed, milady. But does it really serves to the purpose you proclaim? I suppose that the sick won't blame us for preventing them to waste their money on a useless remedy. We've tested your liniment, and got an opinion from both a local alchemist and the Church of Abadar. They agree on considering your supposed panacea nothing more than river water, sugar, and perfume. Your liniment won't cure anyone at all. We're here to inform you that you should cease the liniment production immediately. Otherwise, we'll inform the Korvosan Guard and have you arrested. Your choice, madame."
_____________________________
Diplomacy: 1d20 + 10 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 10 + 2 = 20
Nadya Dimineata |
Well this is definitely going to go sideways. Nadya sizes up the distance to the first guard. Just close enough. She gets ready to put the first guard to sleep as soon as Vendra laughs in Lucien's face.
Ready action to use a slumber hex on the first guard as soon as its clear Vendra won't surrender. DC 16 Will save.
GM Peachbottom |
"How dare you make such false accusations! I am a highly respected upper class merchant. I would never deceive my customers. My liniment does everything it claims to do and more. Now I don't have time for such charlatry in the middle of the night. Bring your so-called "evidence" to the Guard for all I care. The truth will speak for itself. I am done talking to you. Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do. Do not come back here again."
With that, Vendra huffs and marches back into her apartment and slams the door behind her. Two guards follow inside and the third stands outside the door.
Bluff: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (10) + 12 = 22
You know Vendra is full of crap and is continuing to lie. Your evidence will probably be enough if you bring it to the Korvosan Guard.
Lucien Endrin |
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Lucien looks Nadya in the eye, and his certainty suddenly starts to crumble in dust. I...I thought things would have gone differently.
With a thoughtful expression written on his face, Lucien spends a few, long-lasting seconds pondering the options available to him. He looks at Ayako, thinks to the backhand she received. Then he thinks to the words Vendra uttered. So much disdain in those words. So much hate. So much cruelty.
Lucien smiles to Nadya. He nods. "You're right. Let's take custody of her. Please, do not kill neither her nor her guards. She's our proof, while the latters are innocent. But first let me try another approach with them."
Lucien approaches the guards again. His face is not cheerful anymore. "You heard what your employer does. Do you want to work and die for her still? We're going to arrest her. I'm going to give you a choice: fight against us, lose and risk your own life for a cruel woman who defrauds your own city or let us pass without getting in our way and get away with your life, knowing that you've done something good for your city...and with your regular payment for the day of work". As he concludes his speech, Lucien pulls out a few golden coins from his pouch.
_______________________________
If my diplomatic approach fails, this time I'm going to attack.
How many gold pieces would be a reasonable sum for the guards' day of work? Regardless, Lucien is going to give that amount to them as a part of his Diplomacy check.
Diplomacy: 1d20 + 10 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 10 + 2 = 31
GM Peachbottom |
Lavender
9:30 pm – 5 Abadius 4709 AR
Lighting: Dim Light
Guards probably don't make more than a single gold piece in a day.
The guard pockets Lucien's coin and tosses him a key. "You're right. The gig is up. I bet Vendra is packing her bags right now. I'd rather get out of the city myself than wind up in a jail cell."
Assuming he's free to go, he turns and saunters down the road to the east while whistling a tune.
The door the Vendra entered is now unguarded.
Nadya Dimineata |
Nadya nods appreciatively at Lucien's approach, "Not killing them is fine with me. I usually put them to sleep, drop them in pits, blind them, make it easier for you to hit them or harder for them to hit you. You're the ones that need to worry about killing. I do have some new tricks to try out soon, but not tonight. I don't think knocking is going to work either. Are you ready to go in?" Nadya makes sure she has mage armor protecting her and gets ready to enter.
Lucien Endrin |
"Here, let's try this key they gave to me" says Lucien as he puts the key into the lock and opens the door. "We must move quickly" he says as he starts climbing the stairs to Vendra's apartment.
GM Peachbottom |
Vendra's Apartment
9:30 pm – 5 Abadius 4709 AR
Lighting: Dim Light
Lucien unlocks the door and swings it open. The group follows inside, ready to attack.
Delicate wall hangings, artistically shaped candles, and the fine scent of cherry blossoms fill this well-decorated apartment. A table sculpted with swirling ivy leaves bears a fragile porcelain tea service and an exotically curved hookah in a kitchen nook to the east. A door adjacent to the kitchen opens into a bedroom furnished with an antique armoire and a bed sheeted in purple silks and heavily laden with round pillows.
Vendra and the two remaining guards are frantically moving around the room, collecting anything of value, and shoving it into a sack.
They are not expecting you so everyone gets a surprise round.
Ayako: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6
Lucien Endrin: 1d20 ⇒ 6
Nadya Dimineata: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (15) + 3 = 18
Sebastian Merrin: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (20) + 7 = 27
Vendra Loaggri: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (7) + 6 = 13
Lavender Thugs: 1d20 ⇒ 3
Surprise Round:
Active Effects: Lucien: Roll Card; Nadya: Mage Armor 4 hrs.
Initiative
27 - Sebastian
18 - Nadya - 16 AC
13 - Vendra - Surprised, Flat-footed
6 - Ayako
6 - Lucien - +8 temp. hp (46 hp); +2 on Con rolls
3 - Thugs - Surprised, Flat-footed
Lucien Endrin |
"A wise man once told me that a fleeing man is always guilty of something. He was right, apparently" comments Lucien as he enters the room. He takes advantage of the surprise attacking the guard to his left with his greastword. "You should go, now, unless you want to be involved in this!"
__________________________
Mwk Greatsword Power Attack (Furious Focus): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 16
Mwk Greatsword Damage (Power Attack): 2d6 + 10 ⇒ (6, 3) + 10 = 19
GM Peachbottom |
Surprise Round:
Sebastian and Lucien take down the closest guard. He falls unconscious on the ground. Ayako blesses the party and Nadya begins her sleep spell.
Round 1:
Active Effects: Ayako: Bless 4 min.; Lucien: Bless 4 min.; Roll Card; Nadya: Bless 4 min.; Mage Armor 4 hrs.; Sebastian: Bless 4 min.; Lavender Thug: Sleep 4 min.
Initiative
27 - Sebastian - +1 Hit
18 - Nadya - 16 AC; +1 Hit
13 - Vendra - (14 AC)
6 - Ayako - +1 Hit
6 - Lucien - +8 temp. hp (46 hp); +2 on Con rolls; +1 Hit
3 - Thug - (16 AC) - Asleep
Lavender Thug Will Save DC 15: 1d20 ⇒ 14
Nadya finishes her sleep spell and the second thug falls asleep.
Nadya and Sebastian are up, then Vendra.
Nadya Dimineata |
"Do be a dear and fall asleep Vendra." Nadya fixes her stare on Vendra and wills her to join her guards in the dreamlands.
Slumber hex, DC 16 Will save. I think I have line of sight, but if not, I'll move to the open space between Lucien and the sleeping guard or even on the other side of the sleeping guard.
GM Peachbottom |
Vendra's Apartment
9:30 pm – 5 Abadius 4709 AR
Lighting: Dim Light
Vendra has on her two magic wands, two doses of poison, a masterwork dagger, magic bracers, and silver and violet jewelry.
Each thug has chainmail, a masterwork sap, one dose of Lavender's Luxuriant Liniment, and 20 gp.
In the sack that Vendra was filling is an assortment of random coins and valuables totaling 422 gp.
You know enough about local law, that even though you are making a citizen's arrest, taking her stuff would be considered robbery...but no one would notice if one or two things went missing.
Vendra's apartment strives to mimic the salon of a Chelish noblewoman. The place is quite neat and clean, the perfumer's collection of tawdry romances and maudlin poetry being particularly well organized. Two pieces of amateur artwork hang among candle sconces and painted dishware—one a soul-soothing landscape of a mountain lake and another a sketch of Cheliax's famed opera house, Her Imperial Majestrix’s Melodeum. The room is peculiarly devoid of any sort of mixing or alchemical equipment.
A search of the bedroom reveals something out of the ordinary. A corner-hinged secret door leading into the bedroom of the adjacent apartment.
Nadya Dimineata |
"There you go Lucien. Captured, not killed. Let's see what she has here." Nadya takes a moment to detect magic and to assess her poison and jewelry. "I have no idea how much the jewelry is worth, but some of the other items would be very helpful to us. I've no use for the jewelry or the poison, but the wands and bracers might be helpful. Maybe we should see if the Field Marshall would let us keep them."
Spellcraft Wand 1: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (18) + 11 = 29
Spellcraft Wand 21: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (13) + 11 = 24
Spellcraft Bracers: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (13) + 11 = 24
Knowledge (Nature) Poison: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (17) + 11 = 28
Appraise Jewelry: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11
Perception: 1d20 ⇒ 11
Ayako |
Spellcraft Wand 1: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (18) + 7 = 25
Spellcraft Wand 2: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (12) + 7 = 19
Spellcraft bracers: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (6) + 7 = 13
Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10
Such interesting wands, perhaps we can use these to heal any unfortunate citizens we encounter. The rest an go as evidence. *cough cough*
Sebastian Merrin |
Sebastian takes just enough gold to cover the purchase of a vial of Liniment. "Mmm. They might be useful, but perhaps they could be sold to cover the cost of healing some of Vendra's swindled clientele?"
Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (9) + 3 = 12
Nadya Dimineata |
"Let's get back to Croft. If we're going to get to the bottom of this epidemic, we might need to get a lot closer to the disease. We might need that wand. I don't mind selling the other one and the bracers and donating the money to help treat people."
GM Peachbottom |
Citadel Volshyenek
11:15 pm – 5 Abadius 4709 AR
You strip the cons of their gear, and with them bound, march them down the streets to Citadel Volshyenek. Vendra complains and shouts injustice the entire journey. Despite the late hour, Cressida Croft is awake although she looks exhausted and haggard.
"Well, what do we have here?" Cressida asks.
Lucien Endrin |
Lucien nods to Cressida and quickly explains the situation to her. "Before you stands Vendra, owner of the shop named Lavender. This woman started to sell a particular liniment, which she calls Lavender's Luxuriant Liniment, to our good citizens, asserting that this liniment would heal everyone who has contracted the recentmost plague affecting our proud city. We purchased multiple doses of this pretended panacea and took them to a local alchemist you should know, whose name is Col, and he revealed us that the liniment is nothing more than sugar and river waters, and it cannot heal anyone at all. To confirm our friend's judgements, we consulted the Temple of Abadar, and the priests there told us the same as Col did: the liniment this woman sells cannot heal anyone at all. Therefore, this woman has violated a law of our city, and hence is guilty of fraud against our fellow citizens. We have brought her here so that she can be judged for her infringements and punished accordingly."
GM Peachbottom |
"Gods. Thank you for putting a stop to this. Korvosa cannot abide false cures in a time like this. Vendra will be put in holding until she can be properly tried, which with everything going on, won't be for a very long time. I will send a contingent of guards to Lavender in the morning to ensure the shop is properly closed down for good.
You continue to serve this city well. Korvosa needs more heroes like you. Your work tonight probably saved hundreds of lives.
I hate to trouble you again so soon, but since you are here, I've heard a disturbing rumor that I'd like you to investigate.
In the days since the start of the plague, the disposal of bodies has become a great concern, leading us, the Korvosan Guard, to contract dozens of plague carts to collect the dead and see them buried in the city's Gray District or transported to wards where they can be safely burnt. However, it seems that some of the lazier northern plague carters aren't delivering their bodies to the Gray District as ordered. I fear they are instead disposing of them in one of several secluded alleys.
If you have time, please look into Racker's Alley in Old Korvosa. Racker's Alley, with its strange shape and shadowy corners, has long been a site of illicit exchanges, quiet murders, and criminal business near the eastern edge of North Point. Already shunned by the locals and constantly hidden from sunlight by looming buildings and the nearby wall, the alley would make a perfect dumping spot. We cannot allow these bodies to fester on the streets. Unless they are properly disposed of, they'll only spread the disease even faster."