Dot
You have been given a letter, inside the letter reads as follows:
I have a contact that will be able to get the esoteric arcane texts you wish – but he will require your services as well. You know as well as I – nothing comes without a price. Be at Iris hill at Noonday, Pharast, first thing in the morning. Wear the black blot.
-W
Attached to the letter is a pin the shape of a black blot.
You have been given a letter, inside the letter reads as follows:
I have a contact that will be help you unlock the arcane powers you desire – but he will require your services as well. You know as well as I – nothing comes without a price. Be at Iris hill at Noonday, Pharast, first thing in the morning. Wear the black blot.
-W
Attached to the letter is a pin the shape of a black blot.
You have been given a letter, inside the letter reads as follows:
I have a contact that will be able to help you find Dethan – but he will require your services as well. You know as well as I – nothing comes without a price. Be at Iris hill at Noonday, Pharast, first thing in the morning. Wear the black blot.
-W
Attached to the letter is a pin the shape of a black blot.
Each of you climb up Iris hill, to see breaking the thick hedge that surrounds the estate, the squat buidling sports a pair of heavy wooden doors bearing a small sliding hatch. The servant at the gatehouse beckons to his counterpart below and the door is pulled open and you are ushered in to a large estate with one large building and 4 other smaller buildings. The odor of heather and ivy is strong in the air. The servant at the ground level leads you to the guesthouse, and beckons you to sit.
The party is seated in a well appointed lounge including a brick fireplace, a mahogany table with six matching chairs and an antique sideboard near the foot of the stairs. A liquor cabinet stands against the wall at the foot of the stairs leading upwards.
You have been given a letter, inside the letter reads as follows:
I have a contact that will be able to help you attain the arcane powers you desire – but he will require your services as well. You know as well as I – nothing comes without a price. Be at Iris hill at Noonday, Pharast, first thing in the morning. Wear the black blot.
-W
Attached to the letter is a pin the shape of a black blot.
Having secured passage to Thrushmoor via a ship over Lake Encarthan, Vincent stepped onto the docks and shook the dew off his cloak. He had received word via a messenger not 5 days prior, and begun the journey immediately.
Motioning for Joseph to follow with his cane, Vincent moved through Thrushmoor and rubbed the blot pin that was with the letter between his fingers before stowing it in a pouch. He settled into the inn, ordering a simple room and some ale, and then went to sleep without a word. Before dawn he awoke, knocking Joseph with his cane to wake him as well. Placing the 'black blot' on his cloak, he proceeded quietly to Iris Hill.
Following Vincent is another man in plain clothes, who appears much more humble and carries a backpack, sack at the waist, and a folded longspear for a walking stick. He responds to the name Joseph, as well as to the snapping fingers of Vincent, and seems to function as a squire or assistant. A stray-seeming cat walks between the two men, occasionally purring and brushing against either of their legs.
Vincent takes a seat in the lounge, petting the cat as it hops into his lap. He eyes the others in the room, looking almost through those gathered as if reading auras or watching an invisible entity move to and fro. He remains silent, but wonders at the nature of the gathering.
Vincent takes a seat in the lounge, petting the cat as it hops into his lap. He eyes the others in the room, looking almost through those gathered as if reading auras or watching an invisible entity move to and fro. He remains silent, but wonders at the nature of the gathering.
Even after months living and studying in the city, Dakash still felt out of place in Caliphas. Strangers would ward off evil at a glimpse of his blue skin or pure white eyes. Leaving the city was a relief.
A journey of one hundred miles begins with a single step, and so Dakash began his journey to Thrushmoor, staff in hand.
When he arrives at the estate, he takes a minute to cast prestidigitation and clean the dust of the road from his simple monk's robes and attach the requisite pin.
Nodding at the other man, he takes his own seat, dropping his backpack to the ground and propping his quarterstaff against his chair. He closes his eyes and takes a slow, deep breath.
A bald, burly man in a black tunic and belt descends from the stairs, and eyes the party for the black blot. ”Good to see you've arrived safely.” He tells the party curtly, ”Now to see if you're up to stuff. The Count has a list of things he wants done,” he hands over the list to Seamus. ”Get everything on the list done, and come back before sunset. Then he will consider more..permanent arrangements.” He pulls out three books, one titled, ”Mysteries of the Dark Tapestry”, nodding at Howard, keeps it, then pulls out another book titled, ”Unfettering the mind,” nodding at Seamus, and keeps it, then pulls out the third book, nodding at Dakash, ”Magics of the Ancient Azlanti”. ”He knows of the one you seek,” he nods at Vincent, ”It can also be arranged.”
Task 1:
A man named Kalath runs a curios shop, the Black Raven near Pier 19. Ask him for the latest shipment from Versex - I want the books, ”Spiders of Sin and Sky” and ”The Falling Silk” brought back. You may take everything else.
Task 2:
Convince Pieter to part with his Crystal Elephant. He may prove stubborn. Use any means you deem necessary. He lives on the fourth row, third house of Blackbone Street, in the Working Quarter.
Task 3:
Find Sage Menelus in the Ivory District to retrieve the book named ”Tigers and Flies.”
Task 4:
Go to the Artists quarter, second house down Sonnet Lane to procure the book ”The Shadow's Ship” from Leareth. He fancies himself some kind of wizard, so watch your words around him.
The bald burly man passes Seamus a bag of gold coins. ”For the purchase of the Shadow's Ship. You may keep the change, if there's any.”
"Be back here before the end of the day. Now be off with you."
Reading the bald, burly man gives a neutral vibe.
Vincent remains sitting as they discuss the list. He tries to recall if he has heard anything about the gentlemen in question during his stay at the inn.
Vincent recalls the following:
Kalath…tends to deal with the unsavoury side of the city. It’s pretty much a certainty he is on good terms with the local thieves guild, the Night Masks, but no one dares to say it out loud, less they disappear mysteriously.
Pieter on the other hand is a porter, and is pretty handy with his fists, which a bunch of footpads found out the hard way when they tried to waylay him and but instead woke up with missing teeth and lumps on their head, in a deserted alleyway with all their belongings missing.
Sage Menelus has a collection of obscure books. He’s a pretty nice guy, but occasionally likes to test the intelligence of people asking him for favours.
No one has seen Learth perform any acts of magic. He probably has artistic pretensions, rather then being an actual wizard. He is on good terms with the alchemist next door, Ronald.
’that last leg from Rozenport to Thrushmoor was very tiring. I’m glad I’m out of the carriage for a while.’ Walking from the small in he slept at, Seamus stops at the bottom of Iris hill, straightening out his back and shifting his parade armor, brushing his raven colored bangs back he smiles and practices his best pose. ’I’m ready to meet the mysterious, uh.’ He pulls out the letter and looks at the initial again, smiling wider, ’The Mysterious Mr. W.’
Letter in hand, Seamus approaches the gatehouse, striking his most theatrical pose, hand on hip and giving his best practiced smile, he waits till the door is open. Once the servant presents himself he hands the servant the note, maintaining his pose, showing his perfectly formed teeth, he winks one of his clear grey eyes and says, ”I’m Seamus and I’m here to help.”
Being shown to the well-appointed room, Seamus takes a quick look around. ’Nice furniture! Hey there are other people here. How nice.’
Seamus approaches the blue man first, ’Huh, blue skin and white eyes, I’ve never seen that before.’ Striking his pose, reaching his hand out to shake the other mans hand, he smiles showing his perfectly formed teeth, he winks one of his clear gray eyes and says. ”Hi, I’m Seamus, I’m here to help.”
After greeting the first man, Seamus walks over to the other man, ’Huh, one blazing sapphire eye and the other a rich amber, I wonder which one he winks with.’ Striking his pose, reaching his hand out to shake the other mans hand, he smiles showing his perfectly formed teeth, he winks one of his clear grey eyes and says. ”Hi, I’m Seamus, I’m here to help.”
He then looks back to the door, moving to the seat right in front of it he sits. Oblivious to the movement of servants behind him. Having seen the black blot displayed on the other gentleman outfits, he takes his out and pins it to his shirt collar, sticking out from the parade armor. ’I hope it doesn’t clash with my outfit.’
’Oh for me.’ Seeing the bald, burly man in a black tunic and belt approach handing him something he accepts the list, smiling, ”Everything on the list done, and come back before sunset. Got it.”
Smiling, holding the list up. ”There are four items, and four of us. Do we want to split up?” He looks at the others, smiling broader, ”If we stay together, I’m pretty good at talking to people, it might help.”
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Vincent watches the buffoon enter and mutters something that causes Joseph to wince.
After he thinks for a moment, he finally speaks in a silky, almost sinister voice, going through the list of suspects and what he knows about each for the benefit of the others. With a grunt he stands up, looking at the 'charmer.'
"Either way. Pieter sounds like he may be a handful for someone, were he to become disagreeable.. Though I'm sure you could find something to barter him your safety for." he says rather pointedly.
The party makes their way to the Black Raven. As they pass, the people they run into make signs against evil in Dakash's direction and give Vincent and his black cat suspicious looks. Then give the party a wide berth. The trip through the streets is uneventful.
The Black Raven contains myriad odds and ends, mostly bereft of any discernible use. A number of malformed creatures and creature parts bob in jars on a long, prominent shelf, a tiny fetal nautilus with oversized tentacles and crimson streaked flesh textured like the surface of a brain is centered in this macabre lineup. The shopkeeper, Kalath, a greasy-haired Ustalavian man with a thick mustache, shouts from behind the cluttered counter:
"I don't see the likes like you in Thrushmoor much, what can I do for you today?"
Smiling wryly, which ends up looking like a sneer, Vincent walks purposefully over to the counter. He places the blot pin on the counter in plain view and says very simply, "We're here for the latest shipment from Versex."
"Well met. I am Kalath." Looking at the blot, then looking around as if to be absolutely certain no customers are browsing the aisles of knock-off Thuvian burial urns, he begins again, in a low voice.
"A friend of mine has a warehouse near here and he received a parcel on behalf of me and some of my associates for the Count, but there’s a problem. See, Master Bebane had to leave town in a hurry and our shipment is still waiting at his warehouse. Rumor is he ended up in trouble with the law and the place was seized. He keeps all kinds of things, from beer to nails, in that old seagull, but every now and then he stores something really special. This is one of those cases. I heard tell from someone down at the docks that some creep was snooping around his warehouse just the other night."He pauses for a moment, then continues.
"There’s a big crate marked with three bats arranged in a triangle. Inside that crate is a smaller container with a few books and papers in it. The books are what the Count wants. You can keep everything else you find in that warehouse."
"I'm a little short-handed at the moment, so you will have to see to the books retrieval yourselves."
Vincent nods, picking up the pin and replacing it with a silver piece.
"Do you have a key, by chance? Is there a city watch rotation near the location? Are there any other parties interested in retrieving their held goods from this place? Trouble makers, anything about the 'creep', as you say?"
He glances around at the others, wondering if he is expected to do all the menial tasks himself.
He waves Joseph over with the head of his cane. As he listens to and questions Kalath, he takes the empty sack from Joseph and removes the rope and hook from his backpack (which Joseph also carries), twisting the man around to access it's main compartment. He shoves the rope into the sack, closes the backpack, and mutters to Joseph, handing him a key. Joseph nods, turns, and leaves, heading back to the inn.
After asking his questions, Vincent stops to affix the sack to his hip. I wonder if they might be brain damaged, or mute, perhaps. Here, I thought I was quiet. Well, THAT one is definitely brain damaged. he thinks to himself.
"Of course." Dakash bows his head.
"If the warehouse is seized by the authorities, we should we contact the sheriff to arrange access."
Vincent's eyes bulge at Dakash's suggestion. He looks sideways at Kalath, then back at Dakash.
"I'm not sure that method would be in the interest of our benefactor, or his lost belongings...?"
'See the likes of you? Oh he means the blue man.' Seamus looks at the shop keeper curiously, then smiles as if he heard a private joke.
'the fellow in the ponytail is bold, I like him.' Seamus approaches the counter beside his associate in the blue cloak. "Well met Kalath, Our mutual-associate on Iris Hill would like to keep this as quiet and as simple as possible. My cloaked friend here is right, is there a key?" Nodding toward the blue man. "As he asked, are there any guards, or other suspicious things at the warehouse we will need to look for?"
Kalath shakes his head,""Master Bebane had the key. But he was in such a hurry to leave town, he didn't have the time to pass it to me. He may have hidden it somewhere around the warehouse, though."
At Dakash's suggestion, Kalath winces, raises a hand and waves negative. "No, no...that wouldn't do. The books in the package would attract unwanted attention."
"That creep might be another one of those people looking for the books, in fact. The Count isn't the only person interested in occult matters around here..." His voice trails off.
"The city watch has better things to do in the day then watch over what they think is secured property." He assures Kalath and Seamus. "I don't know what kind of suspicious things you could expect in an abandoned warehouse."
'He seems like a fairly straightforward merchant.' Smiling, satisfied with all the information that Kalath was forthcoming about. Seamus turns to his new Friends. "shall we head off to the warehouse?"
The party gets to the abandoned warehouse with a seagull emblem on it.
Perched on the end of a long pier fifteen feet above the water, the warehouse appears to struggle against its own roof, threatening to sag into the bay below. No light shines form the building's windows and the building's windows and only the movement of the gulls and pelicans stirs the scene.
The pier to the seagull warehouse stretches 100 ft from the broadwalk and the docks proper, and stands 15 feet above the water. The planks on the pier are sturdy but weathered.
The building looks abandoned and in disrepair, The windows are dark and dirty and provide no view into the structure's interior.A small boat bobs in the water below, tethered to the pier by a stout, salt-crusted rope.
The door to the warehouse to the party does not appear to be trapped. It is, however closed.
Yes, the door IS locked.
Vincent mutters, "Keep an eye out, but act as if you belong here. We should probably proceed two at a time. A crowd will draw more attention an be remembered longer."
Motioning for Howard to accompany him, he walks down the pier with purpose straight for the door, but alert for danger or the 'creep'.
As he gets closer he reaches into a pouch as if to retrieve a key, pulling out his picks instead. He jiggles the handle, verifies it is locked, and picks it.
He then looks over his shoulder and nods, opening the door as quietly as possible.
Vincent does not see any signs of the creep and the party moves into the warehouse.
Darkness fills the warehouse, the ambient light from outside blocked by a filthy, oily film on the structure’s few windows. Darting illumination comes from light reflecting off the water through a splintered hole in the floor. Throughout the warehouse, crates, boxes, and barrels lean against each other in vaguely sorted stacks. A lingering smell indicates some of the contents are certainly spoiled.
Among the crates, the party sees three filthy rats the size of a small dog. They have a coat of coarse fur, a long and scabby tail, and two glittering red eyes, and hiss angrily at the party for their intrusion to their territory.
While the guy in the hood unlocks the door, Seamus turns to the blue man, drawing out his longbow, "Kalath said he didn't know what kind of suspicious things could be in a warehouse. No need not to be cautious right?"
Moving into the building, Seamus notices the dog sized rats, moving forward where he can get a clean shot, he shrugs, "I don't think there 'rat terriers' they tend to be smaller." He quickly fires two durable arrows at the nearest rat.
The first arrow hits the rat on its ribs and it squeaks at Seamus. The second arrow hits a nearby crate.
Dakash steps in front of his companions, readies his staff, and casts his shield spell.
As Dakash steps forward, he sees at the back of the warehouse, perched in the middle of the hole, teetering on split planks, sits a large crate stamped with three bats arranged in a triangle—the very crate the party has come to find. Handholds cut into the stout wooden crate ring the rim.
He also realizes that the edges of the hole are dangerous and anyone stepping into one of the squares around the hole must do so carefully or risk collapsing the floor further—and spilling the crate into the water and possibly falling in themselves.
He also spots a crane, used for loading and unloading boats, clinging to a rail running the length of the warehouse, hanging 5 feet below the high ceiling, and can slide out to extend past the loading doors along the west wall.
Vincent grunts, moves 10ft south, 10ft east (30ft with two squares of DT), hopping on to the boxes and drawing his spear as he does so. He readies himself to skewer an approaching rat (via AOO)
Howard delays.
The rats try to swarm Vincent, and he stabs at one of them as it approaches, skewering it straight through its brain. It collapses and dies.
The other two rats try to bite him. One of them manages to nip him on his calf and Vincent doesn't feel so well. The other manages to nip only leather.
Not expecting all the rats to run at him from his vantage, he drops the spear, drawing his sword cane (swift action), and stabbing at the southern rat.
"Damned bugger just bit me!" he says, piercing another rat with his second weapon.
Vincent runs another rat through its heart.
Dakash shakes his head at Vincent's foolishness, then moves forward and smacks the rat with his staff.
Dakash clubs the remaining rat on its head, crushing its skull and putting an end to its life.
Searching the other parts of the warehouse, the party finds that most of the smaller crates and barrels contain foodstuffs in various states of freshness. Some crates reek of rot. Stacks of simple coffins sit against the east wall.
The rest of the crates stacked along the north and south walls contain simple sundries including, but not limited to beer, blocks of clay, 5 gp worth of Mwangi coffee, 10 coil coils of hemp rope, dried fish, lead ingots, nails, nets, raw cotton, rough wool, spare sails, timber planks various pulleys and two hammers and two crowbars and cheap weapons.
Most of the weapons are of poor quality, but among them, the party finds a cold iron morningstar, 60 arrows, a kunai and a light crossbow and 40 bolts, a shortbow, and a grappling arrow that are still usable.
'Well that went well.' Seeing the last of the rat die, Seamus stops singing and gathers his two arrows. 'Well, that went well. Shall we inspect the other crates, while we figure out how to get to our objective?"
He then begins to rifle through the other boxes, lifting up the items and calling them out as he finds them. "Hey Look, Fish! I like fish! oooohhhhh and Coffee!"
He asks his associates, 'Should we use some of the rope to pull the crate to where it is safe?"
Vincent nods, "Let's move that boat out front under the hole first, just in case it falls."
Vincent goes to the pier and expertly drives the boat under the crate.
Once Vincent is in position, Dakash takes the rope and attempts to lasso the crate.
"A hand with this?" he asks. He waits for Seamus's assistance before attempting to pull the crate in.
'Nice lasso.' Seamus nods his head enthusiastically and grabs the end of the rope and telling the blue man "Ready!" he begins to pull. Stumbling on some of the rats entrails he looks up, "I don't think that helped very much."
Dakash lassos the crate like a cowboy would a bull, and pulls the crate in, single handedly as Seamus slips on the rat entrails and generally gets in the way. Vincent rejoins the party, after mooring the boat.
Opening the crate, the party finds a set of masterwork Thieves tools, the books, "Spiders of Sin and Sky", "The Falling Silk", a vial of red liquid, 2 tanglefoot bags, three flasks of alchemist’s fire,a flask of acid, a dozen jars of various inks, a footprint book, adamantine weapon blanch, three bags of powder, a deck of marked cards and two sets of average loaded dice.
The party then heads toward Pieter's house in the Working Quarter. People on the street glare at Vincent and Dakash, while muttering something under their breaths.
Everyone except Seamus catches that one of the onlookers seems to be staring at the party too intently. They see that the onlooker has curly blonde hair and seems rather short, before he slips away into the crowd.