"We givin' shinies now?" Gurk questions, reaching into one of his pockets. He pulls out a handful of coins, totaling 2 platinum, 4 gold, and 3 copper. "Gurk have many shinies."
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Temmer winces slightly at the others.
I seem to be left with the bilges here. I suppose only fair considering the burden I was on the Society, but one would think if this mission were truly as important as they seem to indicate they would have used a slightly higher caliber of crew. I hope Lady Heidmarch doesn't think so little of me.
Still keeping an eye on the others, he points to just three gold in the goblin's hand.
"That will equal what the others have offered for this puffery," he mutters to the goblin. "Or you could be generous and offer simply this platinum coin, saving your companions their own hard-earned gold."
The Amazing Zograthy waits patiently as you figure out how you are going to pay him the 15 gold.
Gurk stares at his shinies a bit in confusion before putting the single bright coin down that Adie pointed out to him rather than three of the yellow ones. This be confusing Gurk. Why different? Does Gurk do like Dusk? Do Gurk get food now?
Lexi's eyes widen when Gurk, of all people, begins throwing around platinum at the carnival. She picks a gold piece off the tabletop and returns it to the goblin. "Your change, sir," she says with a smile. "That was very generous of you. I'll have to remember to give you back some shinies in appreciation...once I actually get some, that is."
Although the Amazing Zograthy's fee is now on the tabletop, Lexi doesn't ask the man any questions, probably because she feels a bit guilty about her shenanigans about not being able to contribute to said fee...or maybe she doesn't quite trust herself not to ask for those tantalizing answers to the secrets of the multiverse instead of for info on Natalya.
"Gurk so confused," Gurk mutters to himself as he pockets the shiny. So does Gurk get no food now?
Temmer's face darkens at Lady Dusk's deception, but he bites his tongue.
She already made clear she has no money, but that ... perhaps the shame drove her to it? Still, simply underhanded...
Zograthy pockets the platinum and five gold coins then smiles. "So, what secrets do you wish to know that the Amazing Zograthy can tell you?"
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Bixby speaks up, his bodyguard looking ominous behind him.
"We are seeking information about one Natalya, a Varisian woman who engaged your services recently. What can you tell us of her? What does she look like? What color are her eyes? Her hair? What particular mannerisms does she have? Who are her associates? What did you perceive as her aims? What are..." Bixby goes on with another several dozen questions before he takes a breath.
"Be warned--I have powerful magic that can detect any deception. I am a powerful mage!"
Verris blushes as the others begin putting down money for the payment. " Um...I ain't actually got that kind of gold right now. I spent most of what I did have just gettin' here."
A disapproving frown forms on her face when she spots Lexi faking putting money on the pile.
When Gurk offers the rest of the payment Verris smiles gratefully to him, "Thank ye Gurk! I promise I'll pay you back when we get paid. My word on it!" She pats the goblin on the back in a friendly manner as she says this.
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When Bixby is finished she adds, "We're afraid she might have gotten herself into some manner of trouble. She was supposed to report for a job but didn't turn up and didn't leave a message fer anybody. We know ye helped her out in the past and thought ye might know where she was last? We just wanna help if we can."
He seems a little overwhelmed by Bixby's rapid fire, extensive list of questions but he nods as he listens. "The Amazing Zograthy will tell you what you want to know, or at least the parts that can be answered. Natalya is a beautiful, young Varisian woman. She has curly black hair that trails to her mid back and bright green eyes. She is slender, maybe in her early twenties, somewhere around five and a half feet tall. Every time The Amazing Zograthy has seen her she wears a red bandanna. She has not been heard from among the Sczarni for days now. Many folk along the waterfront, both here in Beacon’s Point and over in Dockway and Underbridge, have been disappearing of late. A few each week, in fact, with many simply vanishing out of their very beds at night. Perhaps Natalya is among those who have disappeared in this manner, yes?" Not waiting for a reply he bitterly adds "The Amazing Zograthy thinks that as long as only poor Varisians and other destitute folk are being targeted, the chances of the city doing anything about the disappearances is nil."
He shrugs as he continues "The Amazing Zograthy does know that it is not a Sczarni plot. In fact, the Sczarni seem quite interested in solving the vanishings themselves, but are not seeking aid in that effort. If anything, it’s harder to contact actual Sczarni leaders these days than it is normally. The Amazing Zograthy has heard that the leading theory on the street is that the vanished folk are the victims of slavers who then secretly sell them offshore at night to Nidalese ships, but the Amazing Zograthy doesn’t put much stock in such rumors."
He fiddles with some of the gold coins a moment before sticking them in a pouch on his hip then looks to you all "Natalya was, at least until recently, a member of a Sczarni gang known as the Tower Girls, a group of cat burglars. The Amazing Zograthy has heard they are themselves searching for Natalya, and word is that when they find her, she’ll be in deep trouble. What is going on with them, the Amazing Zograthy does not know but rumor is that Natalya went mad before her disappearance."
Lexi listens wide-eyed as Sir Copperpot unleashes a barrage of questions upon the Amazing Zograthy; she silently hopes the quantity doesn't make their information broker raise his price back to 50 gold. When Verris mentions that Natalya 'was supposed to report for a job but didn't turn up,' Lexi realizes belatedly that her new comrades aren't very good at subtlety. Then again, Lady Sheila had said that the Sczarni were seeking Natalya, too, though that didn't necessarily mean they realized she was a double-agent working for the Pathfinder Society...though they might have suspicions now.
Another thought--again belated in coming to the fore--strikes Miss Dusk: Maybe Verris doesn't realize these carnival folks are almost certainly Sczarni themselves. Oops, that's right--she's traveled to Magnimar from the River Kingdoms, I believe. Darn--I really have to get over my shyness and talk to people before it comes back to bite me in the butt!
Lexi glances at Verris and is pretty certain she catches a look of disapproval when their eyes meet briefly. The skinny aasimar unconsciously takes a step behind Adistan. Certainly he's noted the carelessness of the others....
The look on the Andoran sailor's face seems to back up Lexi's supposition...but he also has a rather peeved look when his eyes stray over her.
Guess I wasn't as smooth as I thought with the 'my share' shenanigans, the lanky girl thinks. In truth, she's already feeling horrible about having attempted the trick...but Davor had just been so darned forceful when he'd declared, "Ok guys, pay the man" that Lexi hadn't dared telling him (and the others) she was broke.
She decides to make herself useful, as a penance for her bad behavior. While the others deal with the most Amazing Zagrothy, she'll dutifully keep an eye on the nearby Varisian men. If I were a Sczarni and a bunch of outsiders came looking for one of our own and claimed they had their own business with her, I'd capture them all, tie 'em up, and make the weakest one spill the beans. The weakest: That'll be Bixby, I hope. But gnomes are notoriously hardy...and short of stature, many having an innate magic about them...highly abnormal eyebrows and hair color in general...typical humanoid weak points.... Wait a sec: Where was I? Ah yes--who the Sczarni would choose to torture for information.... Gaa! Maybe they'd pick ME!!
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The Girl with the Aasimar Blood actually does a decent job of paying attention to the loitering men and fighting off the siren's song of the many wondrous carnival games and attractions nearby. When the Amazing Zograthy starts answering questions, Lexi's attention returns to him.
When the seer finishes speaking, Lexi decides to speak up again. "Rest assured, we'll do everything we can to find poor Natalya, and if we find any other missing Varisians we'll make sure they get home safe and sound as well. Oh, and I agree with you that slavers aren't likely to blame: the logistics and economics of it are all wrong. If you're only nabbing a couple people a week and then shipping 'em out by sea, it's both impractical and not economically viable. In fact...."
Seeing some of her comrades glaring at her, Lexi decides to finish up. "I don't suppose you could tell us where we could find these Tower Girls, could you sir?"
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"Amazing Zograthy, thank you for the information, and yes, as the lass said, if your generosity would extend to telling us where these Tower Girls are, that would be most kind. It seems we could help them and they could help us by all working together on this. But if you can't tell us where they are due to professional concerns I fully understand. Just let the Tower Girls know where to find us. That place will be at a location you recommend of course. You have my trust Amazing Zograthy: as I said, I wish to continue our professional relationship in the future, perhaps at a time I will be able to pay you full price; it shames me that you had to give us a discount this time."
Davor lowers his eyes in respect and bows to the old man.
"When Natalya initially approached me with the offer of serving the Pathfinders as an informant, she engaged the aid of a man known as the Amazing Zograthy, a Varisian who keeps a permanent tent and fortune-telling business in Washers’ Row in Dockway, specifically, at the end of a narrow alley that serves as a permanent street fair..."
Verris listens to Zograthy's information intently, trying to memorise what she can. She has a serious expression on her face when she replies, "Thank you fer the information, Zograthy. Sounds like Natalya is in trouble alright. Like the others say, if ye could let us know where to find this Tower Girls group, we'd be most grateful. And, as Amelexis said, if we find any of the missin' folk, poor Varisian or not, we'll try our best to help 'em out!"
As several of the group inquire about the Tower Girls, the man just gives you a cold stare and shakes his head. "The Amazing Zograthy can not help you with this. You wish to seek the Sczarni? You do this on your own and see if Desna finds you worthy to give you the luck you need to find them. As I said, they are more difficult to find than usual, so you may very well need that luck."
You're not sure whether he just doesn't want to tell you or if he doesn't know to even be able to tell you, but either way it's pretty clear he has no intention of telling you how to track down any of the Sczarni.
Longshanks be taking other longshanks? Longshanks not be smart for sure, Gurk muses.
Lexi is surprised and pleased at the respect the somewhat scary half-orc Davor shows to the Amazing Zograthy. Not to be outdone, she offers the old seer a big smile and quick kiss atop his bald head as her friends prepare to move on.
"Thank you ever so much for your help!" she tells him. "I hope to one day return to this fascinating place when I have the time--and money--to properly explore its wonders."
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Once the group's a distance from the carnival, Lexi turns to Adistan. Then she reconsiders, recalling Lady Heidmarch's suggestion that she learn to converse with different people. She already feels fairly comfortable speaking with Adistan (he was nice enough to float her a loan, after all); she decides now to speak with the member of the party who scares her the most: the half-orc, Davor.
"Um...Mr. Davor, sir...um, a suggestion, if I may. Since we're in the general neighborhood where many of the disappearances--including, presumably, Natalya's--took place, maybe we should ask around about her. We could say that Miss Verris and/or I are her cousins--since we both have awesome black hair and look at least a bit like Natalya--explaining that she was supposed to meet with us a couple days back but never showed. A pretty good cover story for why we're snooping around asking questions about her, if you ask me. Or, more dangerously, perhaps Miss Verris or I could purchase a red bandana, curl our hair, and prance around impersonating Natalya and see what comes of it."
"My mom could've pulled it off. She was a triple-threat: actress, dancer, and singer extraordinaire; me, I'm more of a general threat, but not without my own talents." The young lady chants a quick spell and then starts wrapping strands of her glossy hair around one finger. When she releases the hair, it remains curly*.
"I should hate to see us put you at risk, Miss Dusk" Temmer says. "Still, though I hate to admit it, I did have a similar thought. If we are unable to make any progress, Master Davor, Copperpot and I could pose as some of the helpless wretches that are being stolen away, with plans to reveal our true purposes if the villains take that bait."
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It is all that Bixby can do to keep him from yelling "Ah ha!" every time Zograthy mentions different plots.
Sczarni, Nidalese slavers, disappearing people, Tower Girls, cat burglars. It is all as I suspected the entire time!
"I have another idea that could work even better than having one of you dress up," Bixby says.
"I shall send my bodyguard away to fetch a friend of mine, who happens to look almost exactly like Natalya. My friend is a beautiful, young Varisian woman. She has curly black hair that trails to her mid back and bright green eyes. She is slender, maybe in her early twenties, somewhere around five and a half feet tall. I will have Grimnir ask her to wear a red bandana. Well, he will have to write it down because he is mute, but I will send for her now."
The bodyguard, Grimnir, disappears around the corner. About ten minutes later, Bixby excuses himself from the group, and comes back with someone meeting that exact description.
"Let me introduce you to my friend. Her name is--uh--Natasha."
Natasha waves.
"Oh...um, she's really shy. She asked me to talk for her."
Lexi's jaw drops when Grimnir trudges off and Natasha appears. Lexi moves in cautiously, like a cat playing with a snake, reaching out to surreptitiously touch the young Varisian woman. When she turns to face Bixby, it's clear she's figured out the true nature of Natasha and, by a bit of logical deduction, Grimnir. She's not angry at having been tricked, however; quite the contrary.
"Neat! Awesome! Perfect!" she gushes. "How are we going to do this--have Bixby and maybe a couple others walk through the streets while the other three trail them? Stroll around until they're attacked by slavers, Sczarni, or maybe even Lady Heidmarch...then we all rush in??!!"
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Bixby seems annoyed that Amelexis realizes something is off.
I must make my illusions stronger! The only way to be safe is to have multiple layers of protection, constantly evolving!
"I think that could be a sound plan. I will stay close to my charge, and the rest of you stay close to me. It sounds like there are several groups searching for a young woman of similar appearance."
"So we looking for longshank like that longshank?" Gurk asks. "And then we find longshanks looking for longshank like longshank? This be silly."
Temmer frowns as Copperpot proves to be somewhat less certain than he appeared to be, but he's not quite sure what the man is about. Still, it does seem like quite the close image of their prey -- odd considering the gnome came in on the ship this morning -- and he can't do much about it.
"Well, perhaps someone will take this opportunity," he says.
Verris listens as the others pose ideas. When Lexi talks about one of them posing as Natalya, Verris looks thoughtful. "That might work. No offence Amelexis, but if we do try this I think I should be the one to do it. I might be a little tougher if someone tries to attack us, although I ain't much of an actress." She shrugs as she finishes her statement.
She frowns at Bixby as he mentions his friend and sending his bodyguard to fetch her. "Is yer friend comfortable with bein' put in danger? She might get hurt if this goes wrong!" When Bixby leaves, she has a brooding look, as if she's mulling over something.
It's fairly obvious that she notices you were lying about something.
When Bixby returns with "Natasha", Verris looks at her with wide eyes as if she's realised something. She then looks at Bixby with a disapproving glare, although she doesn't say anything.
She's noticed it's an illusion.
The group makes their way around Beacon's Point and eventually Dockway. Verris and Davor start asking around about slavers, missing people, and Natalya while Bixby, Gurk, Adistan, and Amelexis all try to work on the ruse of attracting the slavers.
After four hours of 'work' it becomes pretty clear that if there are slavers, they don't operate in the daylight. However, Verris and Davor finally catch a break. A young sailor is more than happy to talk with Verris for a time and answer her questions. He notes "I heard a rumor that a pickup for one of these slave runs has been scheduled for this very midnight at an old, boarded-up shoreline tavern here in Dockway. The tavern was once known as the Puffy Pelican."
Weird Little Lexi suffers through a series of giggle fits after the meeting and conversation with the sailor. "What a stupid name!" she wheezes after one such fit; "What's it puffy from--a shellfish allergy?" she asks after another.
Once she's finally mastered her quirky sense of what's hilarious, Lexi asks the others, "Do we watch the Puffy...Tee-hee-hee!...Do we watch the place from a distance, or...." The girl stops speaking long enough to dig something small from her backpack before dangling a set of lockpicks before the eyes of her comrades. "...do we set up our ambush from inside?"
Gurk didn't understand what was so funny about a puffy pale can, but he did understand ambush. "Gurk likes to hide. Gurk can hide real good. Are we stabbin' longshanks now?" Gurk asks, pulling out his dogslicer.
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Bixby watches for trouble all day and looks on edge. Clearly, it is tiring to track so many conspiracies all at once.
"I am disappointed no one took the bait," he says. "My friend is the spitting image of Natalya, I have no doubt."
"Still, we might stab at the heart of this Nidalese slaver plot if we can obtain more information at the Puffy Pelecan. Let us go there tonight."
"Not just yet," Lexi replies to Gurk's question. "Maybe later tonight. Speaking of which...if we are attacked by slavers, do we fight to kill or try to take at least one alive for interrogation? Lady Heidmarch didn't see fit to gift me with a sap; not surprising, really--she and her husband strike me as the 'kill-or-be-killed' type. I can cast a spell to cure light wounds, though I'd prefer to use that on us good guys...er, not that I want to see any of us injured in the first place, mind you! My attack spell is called coin shot but...it requires and expends actual coins to function, making it rather problematic for me at this time."
Lexi has another giggle fit when Bixby mentions the abandoned tavern by name.
Verris thanks the young sailor for the information. She looks bemusedly at Lexi as she suffers through a few bouts of giggles. "It is an odd name fer a tavern, I'll give ye that. As fer how we do this...I vote fer a bit of both. We can get someone to scout it out a little first and if it looks like we can handle it, we go in then. Gurk sounds like a good choice fer the scoutin'. Just don't stab no-one that doesn't try stab ye first. There might be innocents inside too. Even better if ye can wait till we're all there first." She looks at Gurk as she says the last three sentences.
She nods at Bixby's statement with a serious expression. "I agree. If we can stop these slaver scum from harmin' more folk I think we should. Never know, they might have Natalya too, or some leads at least."
She listens to Lexi's question and the description of her spells and mulls over it for a while before answering. "My Father always said that if folk try to hurt ye or innocents, then it's okay to use violence to defend yerself or them. I reckon Erastil would agree with that. If folk try to surrender, well then, we should tie 'em up and bring 'em to whoever makes the laws here. I reckon that'd be Abadar's folk... or Bixby's friends maybe?" She shrugs as she finishes, Erastil is a practical God and not everyone can be saved.
"Gurk can do this. Scoutin' makes sense," Gurk replies with a large grin as he puts away the dogslicer for now.
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To Amelexis: "Coin shot spell? I thought this was a joke between bards and bad wizards... like, 'Huh-uh: this one coin-shotted hisself' out of the Academy' or 'That wizard is one coin shot short of a full purse' and other silly jokes... You mean to say this is a real spell? people really throw money around with this? hmm... no wonder you're broke, I guess..."
To Gurk: "When it's time to shank longshanks I'll say 'horsie sauce!' and when it's time to hide I'll say 'dogs ahead', if ya want. But ye'll need to hide that gobly nose of yours when ye get coin for a magic hat of infinite disguises... hidin' in plain sight as a gnome or halfling would probably be a good idea fer ye... some... longshanks... put yer kind to the sword on sight."
To Verris: "I'm sure Gurk is small and can hide well in an alley full of trash, but in a place full of people, he's a horrible choice for a dang scout! more like bait at the end of fishing line more like! He'll just attract trouble if he gets spotted. At the very least we need to git him a long, dark cloak with deep hood... long fer his size I mean... later perhaps we all chip in and git him perma hat of many disguises. Save us all a million troubles..."
"Oh yes, coin shot is a silly, wasteful spell--until you meet up with a werewolf, or...," Lexi starts to reply to Davor before looking around furtively. "...wererats. They seem to love the waterfront. And sewers. And we're currently in a waterfront location with sewers running beneath it. Anyhow, it's worth parting with a few silver coins to fight those things from a safe distance where they can't bite you."
When Davor suggests to Verris that Gurk will be out-of-place in a place full of people, Lexi giggles. "The tavern's supposed to be abandoned, so that shouldn't matter! Oh, you mean him walking up to the place and breaking in? Hmm...well, how about if I pop the lock on the back door myself and then we send Gurk in a bit later? He's small enough and shifty enough that he should be able to pull it off."
Another thought--one of the reward promised by Lady Heidmarch--suddenly flits through Lexi's mind. Turning to Gurk, she lectures, "Remember: Double the shinies if we bring back Natalya--the longshank who looks like Natasha here--alive. So don't slit her throat if she's inside and starts yelling, 'Eek! A goblin!' or something like that."
"Um...."
Gurk hisses at the mention of dogs. "Gurk stab all the dogsies. Make sure none alive. Gurk hide for Horsie Sauce and shank for Nasty Dogsies."
"No stab thin longshank for more shiny? This confuse Gurk, but Gurk do," Gurk replies to Dusk, nodding.
Temmer frowns at all the talk of skulking and slitting throats and such. Hardly dignified, even when it comes to slavers. They should be brought to justice or at least made to understand why they're being sent to Pharasma's embrace if no justice is possible.
"If the place is abandoned, this might be the best time to see what we can learn," he admits. "And, if you'll forgive me for saying so, Master Goblin, if it isn't abandoned, any villains inside might be less inclined to think well of you if you are spotted, so you might indeed be the best option to investigate."
He thinks it over.
"Gentlemen, Ladies, I think our best course of action is to at least do a cursory investigation now while it's still light, and hope that we're not spotted. Then we can make our plans for this evening. As for taking them alive, we should try to make sure we secure at least one," he says.
Lexi gives Davor's question some thought and then provides her answer.
"Well, I'm sort of a teetotaler myself--that means I totally drink tea when other folks drink alcohol--so I don't know much about bars, but as for the Sczarni, they're most active here in Dockway , in Lowcleft , and in Beacon's Point ."
"But you wouldn't really go and eat and drink at a bar when you know Miss Verris and I are flat broke, would you? You wouldn't be so cruel, would you? Or...are you being generous and offering to treat us poor gals? My--that's awful generous of you!"
"Oh--and don't forget about...Nata-sham! She's broke, too! Luckily for you, though, I hear she doesn't have much of an appetite!" she adds, giving Bixby a wink before giggling at what she thinks is an oh-so-clever nickname for the gnome's 'friend.'
When Adistan chimes in with his opinion, Lexi nods enthusiastically. "Makes total sense. Unless I'm mistaken--and I rarely am--Adistan and, to a lesser extent, Bixby can't see in the dark. We should do our snooping now; if they need to use a torch at night, they'd give us all away."
Heading off to find the Puffy Pelican to do some initial reconnaissance, you follow the directions the sailor gave. Eventually you find a building with a faded painting of a fat pelican that still graces the facade of the empty building. The building’s back features a half-collapsed wooden deck that hangs over the high-tide mark. A preliminary investigation of the building reveals nothing out of the ordinary. The tavern truly looks abandoned, and bears no signs of having been used recently. Of course, if the slave run isn't scheduled until midnight, nearly 6 hours from now, it could make sense that it seems abandoned if they don't commonly use the spot.
"OK, it seems we've got a sort-of-plan prepared," Lexi says when they near the tavern. "I'm going to change it a little. I'll sneak over and spring the lock on the back door. Then I'll wave Gurk in to do the actual scouting. I'll hide near the back door, though, to watch and listen and make sure Gurk's not discovered; that way I can wave in the cavalry--that's everyone else--if things go south."
Not waiting for permission, the impetuous young woman starts to move stealthily toward the tavern before suddenly returning. Gesturing toward the painted sign, Lexi points out, "That pelican's not puffy--it's fat. Pudgy Pelican would've been a much better name!"
With that off her chest, Lexi again sneaks toward the abandoned tavern. Other than crashing head-first into a street lamppost the skinny girl meant to duck behind, she does a pretty good job of sneaking. Well...no, not really. Nonetheless, when she arrives at her destination, she checks to make sure the back door's not unlocked already and sets to work with her lockpicks if it is. Before long, she's waving Gurk in.