Inner Sea Sandbox: Suspicious Minds

Game Master Garden Tool

Wow, great Stealth checks.

Navigating your way to the Docks Gates undetected is no challenge. Seamus seems to have a couple of ideas, as far as hiding places go. Not great ideas, mind you - Seamus doesn't know Totra very well, yet.

For one, there's a reputable fence named Gann who runs a couple of safehouses in the district. Allegedly, he hails from the Realms of the Mammoth Lords. He isn't the most likable sort of man, but he is possessed of a sense of honor. Unfortunately, Seamus isn't sure if that means he would or wouldn't turn in a paying renter on suspicion of murder and arson... but it's almost definately one of the two!

There's another avenue that comes to mind, as well. A human pesh dealer with underworld connections. Nobody in your party is quite sure if there is a local thieves' guild in Totra, but the dealer Seamus is thinking of certianly has criminal contacts. His name is Crenley, and his help is likely to be expensive.

Of course, you could always try hiding out on your own. You'll want to sleep, eventually, and there's no way the guards could search every warehouse and alley. Without knowing whose territory you're in or who owns any given storehouse or establishment, squatting could be risky.

You make it to the fence just fine. It'd be a DC 10 to climb the fence, and since you're not pursued or being watched (as far as you know), you can take 10. Post your climb checks or declare a "take 10" (remember armor check penalties), and decide your course of action.

"Let's see this Gann. I've no desire to deal with any guilds, they are more trouble then they are worth. If this Crenley has underworld dealings he will want something more then coin in return for his help and I already have one thing to do while I am here I don't need another".

Farid takes 10.

I agree. If Gann is really a man of honor then he will see the truth of the matter without stacking coins on the side of opportunity.

Climb - 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21

Despite the stone prepetually dragging down on him; Syndir scales the wall easily.

Seamus easily scampers over the low wall and drops quietly to the other side. Honor can be a relative term amongst certain folks, for sure. And keep in mind I don't know the man personally, only what I've been told so stay on your toes regardless.

Take 10 on the climb.

Kamlann doesn't quite sneer at Seamus' words, but he gets awfully close. "Only a fool does not watch his back with everyone," the magus replies, "but if he has any honor at all he'll understand the importance of a signed contract. Let's find him, and quickly."

Take 10 on the Climb check. Also, while we wait for everyone to get across, Kamlann draws his wand of infernal healing and uses it on himself - if nothing interferes, he will heal 10 hp over the next minute.

Seamus rubs the butt of his pistol while eyeing the other man's back but simply shrugs and continues on.

Jelani watches the interaction between Kamlann and Seamus with interest. "Alright, it seems we are decided. Let us go see this Gann. It's a risk, but we're in a position where risks are necessary."

Can take 10 on climb.

Gann rents a room at a rugged, cabin-style inn near the docks. As you near the establishment, two armed and rakish-looking human loiterers (one Garundi, one Keleshite) seem to take notice of your approach. The two men exchange a few whispered words, then hastily hustle away.

Otherwise, your short journey through the Docks District of Totra is uneventful. Once you're inside, finding Gann should be easy: he's a businessman, and this is his business.

Before we get inside, two questions:

1.) Is there any response or action on the part of your party in regards to the two strangers? Assuming not, just see question 2.

2.) Who will be doing the talking, and what will your approach be? Mind you that Gann is a man in the business of maintaining and providing safe places to hide or store your possessions. None of you have met him before.

Jelani isn't really a social character, so I'll assume someone else is doing the talking. I'll also assume he goes along with the majority, as far as the Gann interactions go (unless things get crazy or complicated).

His mind beyond paranoid; Syndir saw every misplaced step as suspicious. That two men would whisper at their approach and make haste away just screamed that they were looking for him and those with him.

Someone should follow them and make certain they dont cause us any trouble or at least find out what theyre up to.

As the one with the stone and most likely the one being hunted the most; Syndir will speak for himself.

An aside: Syndir has probably had time to wonder, by now, how the sandman managed to carry the stone without suffering it's effects.

Seamus watches the men move off and listens to Syndir's worry. You might be right but then again they could just be heading off to try and rob us later. Docks are a dangerous place to be regardless of the city or the circumstances. If one of you wants to chase them then by all means but we've got enough trouble without looking for more.

Even as he says this Seamus still eases his weapons in their holsters and looks around the area a bit more carefully.

Kamlann should really not do the talking... he'll just insult the guy and bet us in more trouble. :D

"I will follow them Syndir, you handle this Gann Syndir".

Farid moves to follow the two strangers.
Stealth 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (5) + 9 = 14 and the dice roller continues to hate me...

Alright, so it sounds like Farid is going to follow the strangers and Syndir is going to do the talking, inside.

Farid stalks off to tail the two street rats.

The inn, which is simply called the Dockside Lodge, is dim and quiet. A well-dressed man with hard eyes and a five-o-clock shadow asks how he can help you. When Syndir asks for Gann, the man simply gives you a slight nod. He produces a roll of twine, and hands it to you.

"Unstring any bows or crossbows, and peace-bond your weapons to your sheathes and belts. Leave your spell components and anything you can't peacebond here. Scrolls, wands, that kind of thing."

What'll we do? Seamus, your gun is concealed, but you don't know if you'll be searched.

Kamlann frowns, but after a long hesitation, complies.

Seamus takes the offered twine, cuts a length off and uses it to secure his scimitar in its scabard. As he does so, he flexes his shoulders to make sure his guns are still securely hidden under his coat.

Sleight of Hand for the pistols in case they do pat us down: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23

Syndir has indeed wondered how tha sand creature seemed unaffected by the stone and he has some ideas but he's mostly been thinking of finding a place to hide so they could have the time to properly think it all over and plot their next course of action. When the man asked for their weapons to be bound; the Kelishite didnt hesitate knowing that his body was weapon enough.
With sword, dagger and haversack bound tight he spread is hands.

I own not any wands, scrolls or that sort of thing.

Suspicion overwhelming his mind; Syndir scanned the room.

Perception - 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25

Jelani complies with the peacebonding process. Thankfully, Syndir picks up no threats or dangers in the room. You seem to be alone with the attendant.

When you're finished peacebonding, the attendant does indeed begin to pat down your party, briskly. I'll roll randomly to determine where he starts. High roller is searched first.

Jelani = 1d20 ⇒ 19
Kamlann = 1d20 ⇒ 4
Seamus = 1d20 ⇒ 19
Syndir = 1d20 ⇒ 3

EDIT: Tiebreaker

Jelani = 1d20 ⇒ 9
Syndir = 1d20 ⇒ 4

Close one! He starts with Jelani. Seamus, do you want to do anything differently, here? Remember that Perception checks made to search for concealed weapons get a +4 bonus, per the Sleight of Hand rules.

@ Everyone: I never got around to assigning XP for the inn escape. You overcame seven guards worth a total of 1,400 XP. Divided by 5, that makes 280 XP each.

I'm not going to adjust anything, I'll let the guy pat me down and we'll see what happens from there. I rolled well enough to risk it.

Soon enough, the attendant gets around to searching Seamus.

Attendant's Perception: 1d20 ⇒ 17

Calmly, the attendant makes to remove the item from Seamus' coat.

Seamus, are we going to let this happen, roll initiative, or try some kind of social roll?

EDIT: At the very least, all this is giving Farid time to give up and head back, if that's the route he chooses to take.

Seamus laughs as the man reaches for the bulge in his coat. You'll need to buy me a drink if you want to go any further.

His hands a blur, he pulls out both pistols before quicky spinning them around so that the butts face the man's hands, clearly in offering to him. I'm so used to these things I forgot they were still there. But yeah I guess you could call them weapons so we might as well peace-bind them too. You mind passing that string back over? Bluff check to lie about knowing they were there and generally just to not start a combat. Bluff: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 16

Don't know how you want to run with this GT. My plan is to tie the twine around the hammers of the pistols or tie them in the holsters or whatever. Not exactly sure how you peace bind a gun. If I have to leave them with the guard, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

The attendant glares angrily at Seamus, and shoves the roll of twine against his belly.

"Bind them to their... sheathes."

He gestures irritatedly to the holsters (the "sheathes") in your coat.

With that done, he escorts you upstairs, gripping Seamus by the elbow the whole way. He raps on a door, but makes no move to open it, and does not wait for an answer.

"Master Gann. Four visitors. No appointment, and behaving suspiciously. What'll I do with them?" He stares daggers at Seamus and the party as he speaks through the closed door.

After a brief silence, the door opens. A barrel-chested man in an expensive fur vest and dark-colored slacks stands in the doorway.

Squinting suspiciously, he simply says:

"Yes?"

Ah, yes; master Gann; we understand that you're a man of certain discretions and abilities and we would like to hire your services. Can we talk more privately?

Kamlann glowers behind Syndir, ill-at-ease with the situation.

Gann looks you over for a moment, then opens the door wide. His room is set up like a comfortable office. A huge bear-skin rug dominates the floor space, and a mammoth skull adorns the wall behind his desk. Crossed under the skull are a pair of exceedingly fine-looking battleaxes.

Gann steps behind the large desk, but does not sit (nor does he motion for any of you to be seated). A previously-unseen associate of Gann's - a dark-skinned man in dark-colored studded leather armor - steps out from behind the door, and shuts it behind you.

Gann's tone is matter-of-fact, but not condescending.

"You haven't made an appointment and you've rattled my attendant, so I take it that your needs are both sudden and urgent. Do you need to hide something, or do you need a place to hide yourselves?"

Ah, a man that cuts right to business. Much appreciated. We need to hide both. To be frank I am in posession of what I believe to be a cursed item and the local law seems to misunderstand our involvement in some murders that I assure we had nothing to do with. Can you help us good sir?

Seamus catches his breath as the Kelishite simply relays the truth to the man! Didn't this fool know not to blab to just anyone when you were on the run from the law.

Gann replies, with a touch of weariness. His front-desk attendant takes his leave.

"Murders that you assure me that you had nothing to do with," he repeats. Then, he says something that none of you expected:

"It's as I thought, then. So which one of you is Haggrathy?"

Seamus's eyes go wide at the mention of his name. How by Besmara's backside am I the one he asks about?! All of these saps wouldn't know how to hide themselves in a dark room but somehow he knows my name?

Seamus gathers himself and addresses Gann. That'd be me. And I'd sure find it an interesting tale as to how you know my name?

Gann answers flatly.

"No; I doubt that you would. It's a tale too short to be interesting. A Shackles bounty hunter by the name of Sen Dendragon is here in Totra looking for you, and he visited me very recently to ask if any of my contacts had heard of you. He also bid me to seek him out if you showed up, to which I replied that I might."

"The way he tells it, you murdered a young woman in her sleep, and that young woman's husband has placed a bounty on your head. Now, I'll guess that your companions don't know this, given that you seem so surprised that I've heard your name at all. That means that either you're making your own troubles theirs, or that they're on the run from someone else, and you're just making their lives that much worse with this whole bounty mess."

Gann returns his attention to Syndir.

"As for you, Keleshite; I'll help you to hide, and I'll give you the name of a trustworthy priest who can likely remove your curse. I can provide you with a place to hide where the law will not look, or I can provide you with a place which is warded against divination by a mystical forbiddance. Since you're in a hurry, I'll be quick. the price is fifty gold pieces for a day, five hundred for a week, or a thousand for a month. Whether you drag this pirate along is up to you."

His gaze falls upon Seamus again, though he seems to be talking to Syndir, still.

"If it were me, I'd turn him in. You might even get a cut of the bounty. That is... if I believed that he was a low-life woman-killer, as the bounty hunter says he is."

""It's funny... where I come from, a man is entitled to that which he can hold. The laws here are... arcane, to say the least. Invasive, and in many cases absurd. That my business facilitates a man's ability to live his own life and keep what is his often contradicts the written laws of this place; and so it is that many consider me a criminal. I wonder if it would strike you as strange, then, that someone like myself, who helps "guilty" men to hide, would take offense at the idea of a... man that puts knives into women while they sleep should roam the streets of this city unpunished."

"I wonder if this pirate would tell the story of the young woman's murder differently. I wonder if I would believe that story. I wonder if it wouldn't benefit all of Totra if I alerted Sen Dendragon to the events of this evening."

Jelani watches the events cautiously, and Kamlann no doubt seethes with resentment at this new complication. This is shaping up to be both the most promising and the most dangerous night of his life. Tonight, your party has been attacked, framed, hunted, and outlawed. Now this. Gann raises an eyebrow at Seamus, seeming to expect him to say something.

Seamus growled under his breath, his knuckles cracking as his fists clenched.

Seamus looked Gann in the eye. Any story I tell would be a fiction because truth be told I don't know what happened. My memories of that night are a haze and then my flight only further dulled them. I've done many things in my day, things most "civilzed" folk would deem deplorable. I've made many enemies along the coasts of Garund, enemies who wouldn't bat an eye at framing me for such a horrible act.

As you say, you've no reason to trust me any more than I have to trust you. But I know who and what I am and I know that I didn't kill that woman.

Gann listens, but betrays no expression. He replies:

"Civilized folk, hm? No such thing, says I."

"At any rate, you've convinced yourself, I think, if not me. But whatever your crime, I'll not give word of your location to Denragon, so as long as you're a paying customer of mine. That is, as long as your foolish friends mean to hide you with them. I sell you out while you're inside my safehouse and I might as well be a pirate, myself."

"That's not to say that he won't find you before you're hidden. I think I mentioned that he and I spoke very recently."

"Now then. Which of you is paying me? Fifty gold to disappear you for a night, and five hundred for a week - just like I said before. That's for the room, not per head. Easily many times the cost of a room at any inn or tavern, and just as easily a hundred times safer. You;'ll not get a better offer from anyone in Totra, I promise you that."

Seamus nods at Gann's words. He'd met many men like him and while he certainly couldn't be called a good man, he was honest enough and you knew where you stood with men like him.

Hopefully my companions haven't already decided to pitch me to the sharks. But I will be willing to pay for the night. All the better if they can split the cost with me but if not, I've enough for a night for myself at least.

...
..
.

EDIT: Gann's dialogue should state that the woman's father put a bounty on Seamus' head, not her husband. I misremembered Seamus' backstory, for a moment.

Also, this:

If Dendragon is truly after Seamus, that will be a large hurdle to jump... is it worth the trouble?

Jelani continues to listen to the conversation, trying to glean every piece of information he can. He pays attention to even small details, such as a twitch of the eye or a sudden itch.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (7) + 7 = 14

Synidr listened to Haggrathy's story intently. He trusted the man didnt kill this girl even if the pirate wasnt sure himself. He was all too aware of how stark the memories of a killer were...and Im not sure waht dark gods have conspired against us but it seems these strangers fates are tied in with Farid's and mine...and that suits me just fine... He was thankful that the wyrm was quiet for now as he was sure it would disagree with such a sentiment.

For 100 gold can we get a room safe from prying eyes and the law? If so I will match master Haggrathy's coin. And a priest to help with our other problem would be most appreciated.

"If you really need both - gods help you - I can provide such accommodations. The price is indeed doubled. As I said before, the fee is per room, not per head, so a straight hundred will suffice for as many of you as you care to cram into the place I have in mind."

Gann produces a leaf of paper, and begins to write.

"Leave your coin on the desk," he says.

Kamlann's expression is darker than the night outside, and it seems likely that his silence has lasted this long only because he will not be able to contain or restrain the explosion once he lets it loose. Wordlessly, the magus pulls a pair of platinum pieces from his belt pouch and places them on the desk.

The Kelishite slowly opened his haversack making sure to not make any threatening moves as he reaches in to get his coin pouch. He counts out the fifty gold and stacks them on the table. He then reknots the haversack closed.

If there are any gods that would help us then Id offer them a prayer. It seems more likely that they are arraigned against us.