GM Woran's The Consortium Compact (Inactive)

Game Master Woran

An easy way to let others know you speak another language, is to type it in google translate, post that, then do the real text in a spoiler tag. For example: นี่คือภาษาอื่นเพียงเพื่อให้คุณรู้ว่า

The Overflowing Oyster is a dirty, broken-looking building that barely fits between the fishing tackle shop to its north and the junk shop to its south. Hanging over the door is a creaky sign that shows a painted oyster with pearls spilling from its gaping shell.
The interior of the Overflowing Oyster displays a mix of rickety furniture and gaudy decorations, from strands of obviously fake pearls hanging over the kitchen’s entrance to wooden carvings of sultry mermaids and cheap paintings of ships at sea.
Contrary to its name, the dirty tavern is hardly crowded, several local laborers hunch over cheap food and casual games of chance, cursing and muttering to the same old friends about the same old troubles.

Updated map link

Araklifest views the customers, trying to make out if one or more of them could be their target. If so, their target has camouflaged himself well as none of the men in the tavern seems to qualify by far for the role of aspis agent or vendor in drugs.
Huxtar realizes also that their group stands out in this tavern like a flag on a broomstick.

Rawlins leans over to the group and whispers, "Er, have we thought of a way to approach this yet? Just randomly start asking for drugs and see what happens?"

"I could kinda see this going as that this man doesn't care rocks about spilling the beans about fake pearls, I mean. There all over the place."

Checking out the pearls, May can easily see that these pearls are fake. No one in their right mind would buy these as real.

"Well, we hadn't discussed the details yet... We are trying to get the Bartender on our side. According to Mister Magnificent here, that was part of his plan, so I guess he had worked it out some more. Care to fill us in, Gorrec?"

Even though Rico sounds a bit snippy, he is checking his surroundings with some care. He does not want to be ambushed, or suddenly find himself in the middle of a barbrawl.

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (19) + 5 = 24

Most of the patrons gave you a glance when you came in, but have turned back to their meals and games.

Checking out the pearls, you can easily see that these pearls are fake. No one in their right mind would buy these as real.

At the back of the Oyster, a man is polishing glasses behind the bar, while you can hear the sounds of cooking coming from the kitchen.

Before entering the establishment I cast message on all my party members and I make sure to enter the Oyster behind them and pretend to not know them.

Gorrec grabs a paper out of his pocket, looks at it and mumbles (using message) "I am going to figure out if the Kortos Consortium agent is already here, you people check the room for Aspis agents. Also, I don't know either of you for as long as we are in this room.

He approaches the bar, throws a silver on the counter and speaks to the bartender. "Dear sir, I would like some beer and simple information. I am supposed to meet an agent of the Kortos Consortium in your fine establishment, but unfortunately they forgot to give me a description. Could you tell me if there is already someone from the Consortium present, or otherwise warn me if they enter? I of course are willing to pay for your trouble." he adds, stacking 5 gold pieces on the counter.

If I need to roll diplomacy, don't forget the + 2 from the parade armor that is suited for this island, making my total modifier + 11

You're faking being a consortium agent, so that's a bluff check. Also, if your armor works against citizens of Absalom, it wont work against citizens if Diobel. Its two different cities. Absalom is not the island, its just the city. The island is the Isle of Kortos.

Araklifest hears Gorrec's message and hopes it wlll work that way. He looks around again for a possible aspis agent. He looks especially if someone reacts to Gorrecs words.

People arent paying much attention to Gorrec's words. The gold he put on the counter however is drawing some eyes.

This post is assuming the owner of the bar is present right now. If the barkeep doesn't look like he'd own the place, ignore this post.

Seeing Gorrec flounder, Rawlins decides to use a different tactic. He motions to the bartender from a secluded spot at the bar.

"Barkeep, one ale for me please. I've, er, heard that this bar is sometimes used to make some, how do you say it... unsavoury deals with some snakes. Would you happen to know anything about that? As an upstanding citizen you surely must object to such dealings taking place in your bar, right? I know a barkeep must look out for his own, so he might not jeapardize the reputation of his bar, and that might be where I come in. I'm just a concerned citizen who doesn't take kindly to shady dealings taking place, if you get what I'm saying."

Rawlins stretches his arms a bit, showing off his scars.

"Speaking of which, it's also come to my attention that the Oyster's bounty might not be as rich as it once was. But if my attention is turned elsewhere, I might not have time to look into the matter further."

Rawlins raises the ale to his lips with a wink.

Not sure if you'll see this as a Diplomacy or an Intimidate, but I have a +6 on both. I think I'd see it as a combination of both.
Subtlety didn't seem to work, let's try a more direct approach. :P

That's intimidate. :P

intimidate against the barkeep: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21

There doesnt seem to be any other personel in the Oyster, except the man behind the bar, and whomever is in the kitchen.

Pooring a dark ale, the man walks over and puts it down on the table, accepting a few coppers in return.
Listening to the first part of Rawlins tale, the man shakes his head in denial. "Naw my man. The Oyster's my pride and joy. And while you wont find the lords and ladies here, I pride myself on making a safe place for my regulars you know."

At the second part the man turns a little pale. "What? I, I dont know what you're talking about."

You think you caught him off guard

Anyone else wants to take over? I'm on mobile right now, can't type well. Otherwise I'll continue later this evening.
And I think there's certainly an interpretation where I'm very diplomatic about it, but yeah, this seems more like "dirty cop" material. :P

"I know you want to make this a safe place for your regulars. I mean, which honest businessman wouldn't? But herein lies the rub: I'm interested in dispensing some justice, and my eye has fallen on these drug-peddling thugs. If I can't find them, my attentions might shift to the foul miscreant who's selling dud pearls in this very tavern. If you have any leads on that, I'd be willing to get him out of your hair as well. I mean, an upstanding citizen as yourself wouldn't have any problems with that, right? Nice beer, by the way."

Still a bit pale, the man pulls on his collar nervously.
"I, eh, I didnt know. How horrible that my tavern is used for these practices. I was asked to reserve a table for a Kortos Consortium agent at noon. I think his name was Sareth Markell? Had I known it was for illicit dealings, I would have refused of course."

Yay, May silently aplaud Rawlins and takes a seat at a table

Araklifest is quite surprised by the efficiency of Rawlins approach and waits a momnet to see what else he has on his sleeve. He joins May Flower at her table.

"Great, don't worry, we'll take care of them for you. Wouldn't want some illegal activities going on around here, right?"

Rawlins adds another wink to his comment. He seems more at ease now that he's had some booze in his system. Indeed, it's as if he feels more at home looking for trouble in a tavern than when he's on the streets.

"No, no of course not. No trouble. The guy reserved the table at the corner."
The bartender points at the table.

"I'll eh, I'll check how preparations for lunch are going."

The man scurries off.

I've marked the table the bartender indicated on the map

Rico is kinda surprised that Rawlins, who introduced himself as not that much of a people person, handled that so smoothly. He is quite impressed with the display, and Rico realizes that he is not needed to leave an impression with the Bartender any further.

Rico makes use of the Message spell that Gorrec casted to state: "We now know at which table the meeting will take place. Let's hope that one of them shows up earlier then the other, so we can intercept that person."

Rico then sees the Bartender leave the bar I assume towards the kitchen. Not entirely sure if that is a good development or not, he decides to quietly and stealthily follow him to see if he is up to no good.

Stealth: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (16) + 11 = 27
If anything of significance happens there, Rico will report this to the rest of the party via message.

Following the bartender, Rico slips behind the bar unseen. Its not too hard, as the bar is made for medium creatures, so it provided ample cover.

The kitchen is a greasy affair. A younger man is busy cutting up chickens and breading the pieces, probably to fry them later. With concern he looks to the older man, and makes several gestures.

The bartender makes a dismissive gesture. "No, Gregon. I'm allright. There is no trouble. Yet. There are some people... snooping about. I've got it handled. But if there is trouble, just play up your disability all right? If they believe you deaf as well as mute, they might leave you alone. Just stay back in the kitchen all right?"

The bartender looks concerned. Gregon makes several more gestures back.
"Ok. Yes. Just be carefull all right? You never know with these types in this rotten city. I dont want you to get hurt again Gregon."

The bartender gives Gregon's shoulder a squeeze, then goes back to stand behind the bar.

I realised there was a bit of a disconnect between my words and my actions, but I decided "not being a people person" doesn't necessarily mean you're not good at it, just that you don't like it. :P

With a sigh, Rawlins turns back to the group and grins sheepishly. "Phew, that took more out of me than I thought. Let's sit back and relax until our appointment shows up, all right?"

I was aware of the "not like it" possibility, but Rico assumed that due to the introduction, Rawlings might be more to the point, instead of so sophisticated :p

Rico goes back towards the main hall is this the correct term?, and quietly makes use of Message again: "The bartender informed the only cook about our presence. It looks like this "Gregon" has a history of violence, but then on the recieving end of it... He is mute, but not deaf, which seems to be a little secret of them. It also seems that both the Bartender as the Cook rather not participate in any "roughhousing", so we should keep them out of it if it comes to that."

Rico tries to blend in with the crowd, making sure that he constantly has sight on the "marked" table.
Stealth: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (18) + 11 = 29

He then recounts towards the party, using Message once again: "If we are in need of a distraction, I recently acquired a fabulous kazoo. Or if we need a less showy method, I also carry Vomit Capsules to place in drinks, and cookies that put people to sleep after a while. Just so we know our options if talking does not work."

I thought so as well, but that CHA 14 still counts for something. :P It just puts a little pressure on me. Maybe I should start incorporating random Celestial words every now and then. :P
I wanted to be more direct, but then words appeared on the page and I liked them. You need to make a distinction between RP and mechanical effectiveness. RP shouldn't become a bother, I think, but others might disagree. In retrospect I shouldn't have done it like this with my introduction like that, but to be fair I didn't really have a grasp on my character yet. >_>

"Good to know they won't be any trouble. How are we going to do this, by the way? I'd rather not cause a ruckus inside, so we follow them outside? Someone pretends to be either party and the rest holds up the other guy outside? We beat them both up in an alleyway and we take the goods for ourselves?"

All via Message:
"I think it is better that we intercept them one by one, and also try to avoid violence at any cost. Remember, out "friend" stated that we had to be discrete, violence is anything but. Furthermore, her name can be dropped in an instant, they can do that the moment they sit at the table. So waiting till they leave might not be optimal to our cause."

"Since they took the trouble to meet up here, I'm assuming they do not travel together. Intercept the first, and ask the Bartender if that person happens to be Sareth Markell of the Kortos Consortium. If yes, pretend to be the Aspis contact and receive the information. If no, lead the Aspis towards another table and tell him some bogus story of why you wanted to meet. Then do the same with the second contact walking in. In case of the Aspis person, pick him up before he gets to the table and tell him some idiots took the table we reserved. To make sure we do this discretely, dear Aspis guy, lets find another table, or something like that."

"Oh, and by no means may they ever find out we're part of the Society"

Your character not being a people person made me lean towards intimidate. Sticking out the scarred arms. It was a 'listen to me or else' vibe.

I'd figured it was mostly me being still kinda pleasant, but with some dark undertones. I mean, most of it was sorta-threatening-but-not-quite in a humourous tone, but yeah, there definitely was a threatening vibe there.

Also, I'm still not entirely sure how Message works. It has a long duration and an incredibly long range, yet you still need to be able to be close to each other in order for it to work. You need to point to someone, but it can travel around things (or is the pointing upon casting?).
Also, it's 1 person per caster level, so only one person can hear it, unless we're running multiple castings simultaneously.

Frankly, Gorrec stated that he has casted Message on all of us, so he can communicate with us all. So all that is being said, even if it can't make it to everyone at once, can be told to and repeated by Gorrec. So I think we're good.

Also, you indeed need to point towards the person you want to relay your message to. You need to see him or her, and there has to be an open path towards that person (doesn't need to be a straight path, it can go around a house, through an open door/widow on the second floor, in order to make it towards the intended receiver). That's why it has such a long range, for the distance it may need to travel is part of its maximum range.

Araklifest takes a seat close enough to the destined table to interfere when necessary and with a good view towards any who would be coming. At least they know now the name of the Consortium agent, although that is just a first and small step towards their goals.

I like rico's plan.
I'll also take a seat st Araklifests table

Gorrec takes his beer and sits down at a table that is close enough for him to interfere, whichever door the expected guests are using.

You settle down in a spot, and soon the clientele completely ignore you.
The whole morning people come and go, but its never busy. The food served all seems to be of the 'fried' variety.

The wait is long and boring and many of you doze off for a moment in the warm tavern.

Just before noon, everyone except Araklifest suddenly notice a young man sitting at the table the barkeep indicated.

Updated map

Through Message: "Rawlins, ask our bartender friend if this is the man of the Kortos Consortium. Then we know if we need to direct this man towards another table, or that we need to be on alert for the Aspis coming in later."

Rawlins drains his cup and goes to the bar for a refill. Then, when he has the man's attention, he leans in and asks, "Is that the guy who reserved the table? Look familiar to you?"

Yay I see our player icoons now on the map, didn't notice that before.
CanI park Nitoriu out side on the dock? and myself at the table of Araklifest?

Put yourself wherever you would logically be

The bartender looks nervously at Rawlings. "Ah, eh, yeah. I think that's the guy who reserved the table."

"Thanks, man. Don't worry, I won't cause a ruckus. Wouldn't want to tarnish this fine establishment's reputation."

While walking back to his seat, Message to Rico:
"Yeah, it's the guy we need. How about you lead him to another table so we don't get interrupted?"

Rico walks towards the table with the Kortos agent. He stops next to him and gives a wry smile.
"Early for our appointment, aren't you? Well, that just means that we can finish this sooner than I expected. Time is money after all."

He reaches out with his hand, while using the other to adjust his hat.
"Mr. Markell, right? My name is Jared Dunkle, and I represent the Aspis Consortium. Now, why have you asked for this meeting?"

Rico then looks at the table, and then towards the water. His face now shows a small bit of concern.
"Before you answer, can we get another table? Although this tavern is indeed low key, I dislike being near the water when I'm in such close proximity of soon to be drunk humans. Toss the Halfling is a fun game for them, after all..."

I'm going to try and get the meeting with him towards the two-person table on the North (placed Rico's icon towards it).

Rico takes place at the table either the new one or the meeting place if he does not want to leave, leans back and crosses his arms.
"So, the meeting, why did you set it up? Not content with the deal that has been made?"

Bluff: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (20) + 10 = 30

The young man frowns and remains seated. "Who are you? Where is Rukania? I told her why I wanted to meet her here."

"Unfortunately, Rukania was send to deal with another situation, which needs to be solved before tomorrow. I was send here on a short notice to fill in for Rukania, since she wasn't able to make it. If you didn't recieve the memo, that's because this change was made on such short notice. Even I wasn't fully briefed, only told to meet a Mister Markell at this very tavern, at this table."

Rico looks at the table he wanted to take a seat at. It seems that he still isn't comfortable with the amount of people around that spot.
"It is still to crowded near this amount of water for me..."

Rico walks towards the Bartender, and tosses 10 gp in his direction.
I'll be making use of one of your rooms for a short while, this should cover the cost."

He looks back at Markell.
"Well then, shall we get this meeting underway? As I said, time is money, and I still have so much more to do today.

He turns around and starts walking towards the room in the north (I placed Rico's icon there already). He uses the Message spell to state to the rest: "The Aspis agent is called Rukania, and unfortunately, they know each other. You guys need to make up a good story of why Mister Markell, who has set the meeting, is not here to meet the agent. Also Mister Markell has already stated why the meeting takes place, so you might have to make up a name for the one who snooped around."

When close to the room, Rico turns around. If Markell hasn't moved from the table yet, he shouts: "Well, are you coming or not?"

1d20 + 10 ⇒ (8) + 10 = 18

A frown still on his face, the young man follows Rico to the other room.

"Strange that Rukania didnt send word, but all right mister Dunkle. Although I find it presumptuous of you to assume that I would alter the deal when you say you did not have time to talk about it with Rukania."

I am very hung over from a party yesterday so my improv talent is non existent at the moment...

May your head soon grant you mercy, Almighty Voice from the sky ;)

Alright guys, I'll keep this one out of the way for a while, you guys handle this Rukania lady. Otherwise it will be the "Rico show" for way to long (not unpleasant for me, but we are here as a team). Remember, this Aspis agent already knows the topic of the meeting, just not the name of the person it is about, so think up a name to give. Also, they know each other, so it might be wise to bring the Aspis lady to another room as well. Just in case Mr. Markell decides the meeting is over, steps out of the room, and sees Rukania... That would be a mess...

May's bluff is really dismal. I would really like for Gorrec to pick this one up.

Bluff isn't something Araklifest excells in, so he waits for the frontmen to do their thing.

I have a decent Bluff, but my Charisma isn't as high as yours, so I'm simply not that great at it. I do have a plan, though. It involves me making a fool out of myself.

I'm listening

Kwinten making a fool out of himself sounds like an exelent plan ;)

I'm not revealing anything yet. It's better when you see it in action and you don't know it's coming. At least, I hope so.

Rawlins orders two more beers, drains one in a single gulp and brings his other beer with him to the the table Rico and the other man have just vacated.

I'll deduct 1 GP or something from my chronicle for all the booze, I guess.