Wait a second, are you saying that he had the cash you slotted for our debt and our donation to the local gendarmes. Or does he just have last nights take?
for Brenin:
Hey, should we be doing something about the blot plot?
"He left last night at closing. He's handled all the dealings with our agent. We borrowed 2000 gold pieces against the casino to help fund the cleanup and payroll. Larur carried 500 pieces back to the moneylender last night on his route home."
"The agent's name is Lymas Smeed. His office is on Rat Street down in the rotgut district. Larur rents a flat not far from there." He writes down both addresses and hands them to Brenin.
"He can't have run, can he?" This question is more directed to himself. "Larur and I go way back. He wouldn't do that to me. Besides, if he wanted, he could clean us out and run. Something must have happened to him."
An exhaustive search of the casino yields no dwarven floor manager. His office is locked up, but Saul produces a key. The place looks exactly as it normally does at the end of an evening. The same is true for the vault.
Lia, why don't you stay with Brenin since he's new in town. I could go with either group, or I can stick if you guys think we need someone here to hang out till opening.
I'm assuming that Isegrim is not going to split from Trystan so it probably makes more sense to stick Brenin and Lia together.
For Brenin:
Me too. I guess we should let it ride a little longer.
"I think we should all stay together and go figure out what in the hells is going on here. Larur's place first makes sense.. I mean, he might just have a bad cold."
"Let's all stick together. The addresses are fairly close. Let's start at his flat and then move on from there. We've got about four hours before we have to open for the night. Let's move."
They're also on the zoomed in map of the Rotgut District, here.
The building highlighted in blue is the address given for Larur's flat. The building highlighted in red is the address of the moneylender.
Your group works its way through the busy side streets of the waterfront to get to the cluttered ghetto known as the rotgut district. There's hardly anyone on the streets this morning. It's already hot with hardly any breeze blowing, and the air buzzes with the vanguard of this year's summer midge swarm.
The address leads you to a closed - possibly abandoned tailor's shop. A small door from the street allows access to stairs that climb to a second floor landing. From the landing are two doors, one bearing the number of Larur's flat.
Though you knock rather loudly, no one comes to the door. The door is locked.
Lia's opinion of Larur's street-smart is boosted by the complexity of the locks guarding his front door. The group stands there in an uncomfortable, try-to-look casual kind of way while the half-elf fiddles with the lock. Finally there's a sequence of satisfying clicks and the locks are defeated.
Inside is a dark and messy one-room flat. The one grimy window over the bed has its curtains drawn. The bed is not made, which lines up with the general state of the apartment. Cast off clothes lie in a pile in one corner, along with some old exotic-looking mining gear. There's a dilapidated bureau, a table and chair, a shelf with some cooking utensils, a cold fireplace with a pot of cold soup suspended over it. No sign of a dwarf.
Sorry guys. Power supply on home PC crapped about a week ago, Newegg shipped a broken replacement, still waiting on 2nd shipment and paizo.com blocked on school computers. Should be up and going soon. I'll post where I can till fixed up.
No problem Trystan. I had a similar experience with a hard-drive once. Got two replacements sent to me before I realized it was a failed IDE cable.
All the items of Larur's daily life are here in the apartment. If the Dwarf is here, he's well concealed.
You file out of the Dwarf's home with as much measured nonchalance as five armed adventurers can pull off. The second address is down in the ass-end of the rotgut district. Most of the people living in this part of town make their living at night, and traffic on the street is thin.
The moneylender's house sits at the end of a lane affectionately know as Rat Street. The door to his business is a strapping reinforced thing with an access slot and a eye slot.
Isegrim looks around to see if it looks like there is a back entrance and if so, if it is accessible. It wouldn't do to knock on the front door and have someone go running out the back.
In a low voice, "I think we're better off doing a quick scout of the area and then knocking. Anything more direct will probably end badly." I'll walk with Isegrim around to the back. Perception is 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5
There are no windows on the side of the house facing the alley (south side), but there are narrow windows on the second story on either end of the house (east and west). Circling around back there's a narrow rear entrance, equally reinforced and apparently rarely used judging by the pile of refuse around it. On the second story above the rear entrance is a larger window. All the window curtains are drawn.
Whose going to knock on the door and do the talking?
I'm fixed and I'm back. Sorry for the delay. Need to read this page when I have more time later tonight and catch up. Not that we all don't love Rees cleavage, but if there is talking to be done Trystan has a 15 (+2) charisma and +6 diplomacy. You guys make the call, I'll check back later.
After a moment, the eyeslot opens and a pair of dark eyes and bushy brows appears. The man behind the door takes in the three of you in the alley. He snorts his derision at you, "Saul sending his gang along to renegotiate the terms of his loan, huh? Or are you three carrying the payment he owes?"
"You already know we don't have our payment. You are a business man and one smart enough to know that our presence at the Goblin changes things. It's time to negotiate with us."
"You can negotiate with Croat! His money backs Saul's loan. He stands to gain the Goblin if you fail to pay. You can deposit Saul's payment here - right now, or you can deal with Boss Croat's brand of justice."
"That's your choice and your business. If you don't have a payment to make, this conversation is ended."
Isegrim and Brenin:
Isegrim is entitled to a perception check.
Brenin's has already been rolled. A suicidal beetle tries to fly up Brenin's nose.
We know Larur was supposed to have already made this payment. I'm thinking Croat has the payment and has done something nasty to Larur. We'll try diplomacy, then I think it's time to kick some rude doorman butt. Sense motive roll to see if this guy is full of crap: 10 =1 for a whopping 11. Diplomacy roll 18 + 5 for a total of 23. Let's try and talk our way out of this.
Lia steps up to the door. "Look, we all know Larur dropped the payment off on his way home last night. Are you going to admit to Croat you "lost" it? I wouldn't want to be in that position if I were you." She waits a few beats for this to sink into his thick skull. "How about you open this door and we can discuss exactly who has Croat's payment where there are less ears to hear?"
Brenin - Naw, that was my way of trying to explain why a ranger in a somewhat tense situation would have such a crappy perception score. I'd blame the feather, but it's on the other side of the building.
It seems to Isegrim like the few folks who were in the street have made themselves scarce. Maybe you and Brenin have spooked them, maybe it's just hot.
Gonna dispense with the Brenin/Isegrim spoilers here. Isegrim and Brenin are watching the backdoor and the street behind the place, and are not aware of events in the alley.
The pair of eyes answers with another laugh. As the slot slams shut, his voice comes through the door. "Sounds more to me like your pal skipped town with Saul's money. Tough luck for old man stumpy."
Before you can even respond, another voice calls out from the mouth of the alley. Four thugs - one of them a bruiser of a half-orc - have closed off the mouth of the alley. They're armed and look like they mean business.
"Time to remember ol' Stumpy a lesson he's apparently forgotten. Stick your fingers where they're not wanted, and you're liable to lose them."
Lia:
The speaker (7,14) is your half-brother Gars, though you're not sure he's recognized you yet. The half-orc next to him is a killer you know only as "Badeye" for his disfigured brow. You don't recognize the other two saps.
Lia swallows a wave of nausea as she recognizes the newcomers. "Well, well, Gars. What, no young maidens around to rape? Couldn't find a beggar woman to beat?" Lia takes a second to gather herself, then moves slightly closer to Trystan. "Trystan, Rees, meet my scum-sucking half-brother, Gars. Gars, go diddle yourself, and take your playmates with you." Under her breath she whispers, "These guys are bad news."
"You're on the wrong side of this one girly. Didn't expect you to be here. You run back to pappy now and beg for him and we'll forget you was here."
Badeye (the half-orc) chuckles. "B@$~&~#* we will." He hefts a morningstar he was carrying low under a cloak. Gars has a loaded crossbow. The other two men have short swords.
Yeah your rolls have sucked ass. No grey area there. City's not agreeing with the ranger? It's been awhile now since you've seen a tree.
I think the distance and obstructions are enough to muffle the conversation up to the point where Gars called out. You wouldn't have made out words, but you're alert enough to react to someone yelling. The only punishment for being 'out of place' at the beginning of combat is the distance you have to cover. Same for Brenin. Then again, there is still a back-door...
So yes, both Brenin and Isegrim's initiatives are good. I witnessed Pam's roll of 6 + 4 = 10. Rees, don't make me throw poo at your house. You know I'll do it.
Hey Lia, are you okay with your brother becoming one with the earth, or do we have to play nice with him? I also give a good yell for our backup to come quick.
Badeye the half-orc 23 Gars Smythe 18 human thugs 14 Lia 10 Rees 7 Isegrim 6 Trystan 5 Brenin 1
The half orc and the thugs close ranks and advance down the alley towards Trystan and the ladies. Gars lets fly a crossbow bolt, apparently aimed at Rees. The bolt buries itself in the wood between Rees and Trystan's shoulders.
Akward distances allow them to close but not to attack this round. Map is updated. Lia's turn.
is the alley we walked down along row 10? I can't tell if there's room to walk there under the eaves of the houses or what. Or do we have to run all the way around?
So, I looked at all my moves and I didn't like any of them. I'm moving to (17, 14) and drawing my rapier.
"Gars, you pigfaced bastard, put away the toothpick thrower and come fight like a real man!" As Lia screams this out loud, she lifts a prayer toward the blotted sky. She mentally kicks herself for coming closer to Badeye.
Sorry, I'm letting the picture do the talking and not giving you guys enough description of the immediate surroundings. The moneylender's house is the one with the smoking chimney. The door with the eyeslot is at (18,11). The backdoor is at (23,17). Isegrim and Brenin needed to come down to row 5 or (obstructed) 6 to join the fight. There is a gap between the buildings along row 10, but it is filled with rubbish and is effectively impassable.
By my count, Isegrim can use a run action and take about 105' of movement to get to (8,5) or the vicinity. This would take his entire turn (full round action). Also, he can't make the turn and continue toward Gars per the rules of the run action.
The straight-line rule really kills Brenin, because of where I placed him (by the beetle :). Brenin's reduced to 60' double-moves to get into the action.
It's Rees's turn. Isegrim may go ahead and declare his action as I doubt your outcome will hinge on Rees. You hear her calling for help clearly.
You shot at me. You are a cursed man. I'm going to... Hopefully my eyes are turning yellow. aiming my eye at Gars I try to cause doubt and a -2 to his armor class.turn your innards into slime.
How about some insight into what these buildings look like. How tall are they? Seems to be a lot of junk piled around the perimeter. Anything that would give ready access to the roof of one or the other?
Rees your curse doesn't appear to sink in. And your eyes don't glow either. Dm's die is hot.
Trystan your prayer causes the despair of stale ale to soak the hearts of the two thugs. Badeye didn't seem to be impressed, though.
Brenin - All these buildings are two-storied, with rather steep roofs. I'll rate the climb DC at 12 owing to the boost you get from standing on a barrel or whatever. DC 8 to get to an upper story window. Or you can put your skeedaddle socks on.
Before I go and do something stupid, let me make sure I have my facts straight. Climb is a move. I move at one quarter my speed once I actually reach the wall. Roof is 15-20' high? This means it takes 2-3 climb rolls to sucessfully reach the roof at which I'm at a -2 for my armor check penalty unless I drop my shield and then I'm at a -1? Close?
