As the guild trio spend the next month working on their side of the investigation, things become apparent. The first thing that becomes apparent is that Selvan, despite his apparent training, manages to rub everyone the wrong way. It's 2 weeks before Squeaker will return, and once he does, he flat out ignores Selvan completely, to the point of forcing Alys and Sammark to repeat any questions he has before he'll answer them.
Over the next few weeks, the group can't find any smugglers that would be smuggling them in. Squeaker finds out that the Thieves Guild is also trying to find the smugglers, without luck.
What they do manage to find is a couple of people who are selling magical items. The first is a big bulky half-orc named Kol who has no apparent job other than selling magic items, and the second is a surface goblin named Boils Babies, who works in the garbage dump outside the city.
Squeaker ends up being a good source of local information, as he seems to have a lot of contacts. Although other than that he seems to have few skills not involving sticking a knife in someone or stealing something off them.
Sammark is actually able to buy a magic item from Kol (400 gp), a vial of love potion.
Squeaker seems to like dealing with Alys better than anyone. He naturally gravitates toward her, and gives his information to her first.
Squeaker deals a lot better with Alys, and will always give his information to her first, and then answer her questions first, with Sammark's second.
Selvan continues to rub people the wrong way, and you interfere with his food and give him shocks when he starts pushing on Squeaker too hard.
Selvan's plans to pick on Squeaker run into a problem, as Sammark begins to 'shock' him with electrical jolts whenever he starts in on the boy. Also Selvan begins to notice that his meals are either extremely hot, extremely cold, or mixed with steaming hot sections and frozen sections on the same plate. This seems to correlate to how hard he's pushing Sammark and Squeaker.
As a clarification, Elrohir has revealed his presence to Connor, Alister, and Reaghar. Kol and his purchaser (a half-elf) have already left the alley, and are not there to hear the clatter of roofing that Elrohir dislodged.
Holding psionic focus (Energy type=Fire); Power Points=4; wearing spiked gauntlet
Quickly taking off his silver necklace with the garnet and tossing it to Reaghar , Connor muttered "Keep going - I'll catch up." The Humavian spread his white wings, flying over to where Elrohir was on the other roof.
"All right, youngster." Connor said, blocking the Elfavian from seeing where Alister and Reaghar went in the alleyway, "Normally what people do on their own time is their own business. Why are you poking your nose into ours?"
"Come on then, Reaghar," Alister says, looking back at the white-winged man and the young elfavian, but mostly hustling off in the direction of the ones they were following.
That morning Sam sits in front of an untouched breakfast in the Guild's common room as he juggles the potion along the tips of his fingers, spinning it along with small bursts of psionic power. The stuff was as dangerous as gunpowder and more unstable. He was not a spy, subterfuge was not exactly his strong suit. He knew who was selling the magical items, he just needed to figure out where they got them.
Where to start... Where to start...
Unimpeded access to Kol's belongings would be a good start but criminals were a crafty and paranoid lot. If only he could figure out a way to get the half-orc to drink the very potion he had sold. The resulting explosion would either kill him or hopefully charm him enough to get Sam access to any personal documents. Not a bad idea all things considered but explosions ran the risk of ruining the trail.
Despite Connor being in his face, Elrohir does not fully back down. He steps back a few paces, however. "I'm sorry, I was worried you were doing something that could betray Clan Reville." His words come at a fast pace, almost stumbling over each other.
Holding psionic focus (Energy type=Fire); Power Points=4; wearing spiked gauntlet
Connor laughed at Elrohir. "In case you haven't noticed," he replied, pointing at his sleeve cuff and then his shirt collar, where normally Clan colors would be decorating the fringes, "I'm Clanless, and Reville hasn't even put me into a probationary period yet. So nothing I, or we three, do, even reflects on Clan honor." Connor turned, his wings extending to their full length. "Go home, newbie," he called over his shoulder to the Elfavian as he flew away. "We'll be at work when you get there...maybe!"
Last thing we need is our cover being blown by a co-worker checking in on us off-shift! Connor thought crossly, regretting his 'tough guy' act. The kid probably meant well, but in no way was some snitch reporting to Grey when they had their first lead in weeks. Connor tuned in on the link to the other part of himself. Hero, how's the shadowing on that half-orc? Connor asked. And yes, I know he's not a curvaceous woman! You're not in a fight yet, are you? he added.
Elrohir takes wing after the human and easily keeps up. "No need to treat me that way. Reville took me after I had to flee my village. You guys were acting kinda suspicious, maybe be a little more clandestine?
Tanisa snorts. "Of course I want to get it fixed, knucklehead. But unless someone dips me in platinum and wishes my hair to rubies, I'm not going to be fixing it any time soon. It'd take at least a thousand platinum to get it repaired, and another 500 or so to get new elementals bound into the steam system."
"It's a non-work-related hobby!" Connor threw over his shoulder. How fast is this guy? he wondered, seeing Elrohir's quick-beating wings. Connor concentrated on the link with Hero, using it as a lighthouse beacon to the others' location.
Still keeping up with out much effort, the purple haired youth retorts "Look, I get I'm the new kid, but I'm not some useless runt you can just be a jerk to. I can fly faster than all of you, and I guarntee I'm a better shot then you three as well"
Reaghar keeps up with their quarry, letting the nice guy of the group try to be a tough guy to the new guy.
"We don't need bowshots." Connor retorted. "Not right now, at least. We need where a certain half-orc is going, and how he is dealing in-" Connor bit his tongue. Almost gave away the airship there. "-strange items!" Connor finished. He wished he could glide instead of straining as he flew.
Flick chuckles "I'm the fastest among us four, and despite my little mishap back on the ledge, probably the sneakiest. I could easily keep tabs on this half-orc" He says, gliding along gracefully beside the struggling Connor.
"Not...your...business, newbie!" Connor panted. Catching his breath with an updraft, Connor added, "We've got our reasons for following this particular half-orc. You don't. You continue following us, you're going to get hurt."
"Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't realize I needed to have a reason to follow this half-orc." He says, just a touch too politely.
He then turns as if to fly off, but first says "You know, beside helping my fellow teammates, that is. I could care less why your following him. I'm just trying to help out"
Connor softened his look. This young elfavian wasn't part of the prison team thrown together by the Clan elders, but neither was he the enemy. "Tell you what, newbie." Connor said, lowering his altitude back to street level. "Keep an eye peeled for people following us. The tail following the tail is classic, from what I heard in prison." Connor continued scanning the street level for the half-orc and his two friends.
Alister and Reaghar have no real training at following someone stealthfully, but then, Kol is having an off day, so the two manage to avoid being seen by him.
They follow him back to an small rooming house that rents out rooms to long term residents. It's in one of the rougher parts of Southern Quadrant.
Conner and Elrohir find them finally, sitting on a rooftop a block away from the half-orc's building.
Sammark's vial has an unnerving feel when he uses Detect Psionics on it.
Squeaker looks from Sammark to Alys (And pointedly ignores Selvan). "Ok, so, you got the magic thingy, now what? You gonna torture 'im to make 'im talk? Or break into 'is doss and search it? Or turn 'im in? Or drink it?" The boy asks, looking back and forth between the two. "I know, make waspy drink it, let's see if it makes him blow up or not..."
Reaghar whispers to the necklace . "Hey, plans guy, he's in there. What are you gonna do? And what's up with the new guy?"
"Ah, b&!@~&&s to it, let's nab the fool and steal all of his valuables. Shouldn't seem strange that he gets robbed to his employers, he ain't got any big names backing him up right? Best case scenario, we either find his employers when we loot the place or he spills the beans when I get done with him."
Connor landed as gently as he could next to Alister and Reaghar. "Thanks for the message." he told Reaghar, taking back his necklace. "Elrohir here," Connor explained, thumbing a fist over his shoulder at the Elfavian, "thought we might be acting suspicious. Yeah, right." as the other two guffawed. "Stay quiet, new guy, and we might not all get killed." Connor said, not unkindly.
"So," Connor asked, "which do you guys want to do? We ask this guy ourselves why he's dealing in illegal blow-up-the-city items, wait until he's gone and check his flat, or trail him to his source?" Connor leaned back, keeping one eye on the rooming house the half-orc had disappeared into. "Yes, magic items." He told Elrohir. "Someone doesn't care who blows up from wild magic. We don't take kindly to that." Connor turned back to Alister and Reaghar. "The direct approach without more knowledge is the most stupid." the humavian surmised. "I'd prefer to follow him to his source, but that could take days. We don't have days, if Kol here is spreading magic items far and wide. The longer we delay the more likely one of his toys is likely to blow up a city block."
Connor looked at the sun, judging how much daylight they had left. "If Kol does leave, we confront him here. If he doesn't, we pay him a visit after dark." Connor looked down at his psicrystal on his necklace. You're too valuable as a scout, unless you want to volunteer to tell me what this half-orc's room looks like from the window. he asked.
Selvan spends much of his time away from the others once it becomes rapidly apparent they want to be near him less than he wants to be near them. He might have gotten some mild amusement from weathering the childish antics of their contact but once it became obvious sammark was trying to protect the boy's ego Selvan decides to work out his own problems.
A bitter irony really given the past. It was easier when the other team members simply followed orders without comment and rarely any question. But those were men and women born and raised into a life of high soldiery expecting to fight in brutal aerial combat against rival clans, sky pirates, and (if they were particularly unlucky) dragons themselves.
He spent much of his time shopping, preparing his gear for the inevitability of brutal combat. He knew Sammark was mostly just a base thug with more brawn then sense. He'd have to be wielded more like a blunt instrument than a fine pointed dagger. Alyss....she was a mystery. Just looking at her it was easy to determine her physical fitness. A grace not born of ethereal beauty as her wings might suggest but harsh self discipline. The meek and awkward greeting she gave merely spoke of finding herself in an unusual situation. He'd have to be watchful with that one.
So there it was one who was about as balanced as a blunt instrument pulled off a table in desperation and a mystery woman who can turn out to be a gymnast or a highly skilled assassin in disguise. Selvan was beginning to think he died in that bar and this was hell.
A hell made only worse when he walks into the room with Sammark and spots the vial on the table. "And what pray tell is that you're staring at so intently?"
"A love potion," Sam said, "Thought you could use some help in the dating scene since your plumage ain't exactly impressive. I was just about to burn things off the guy who sold it to me until he told me who his supplier was. You're free to follow along as long as keep those lips buttoned."
"Uh huh." Says Sammark slowly backing out the room and fighting his reflex to run out of the blast radius as hard as possible. "So you bought a small unpredictable device capable of leveling the house and rendering everyone inside into a consistency resembling rice pudding. And you set it on the table to stare at? I'm only following along if you get rid of that first. Last thing we need is for it go off while we're away. OR waorse while we're here."
Sam looked at Selvan like he had grown a second head.
"You going to reimburse me for it?" He said, insulted, "The amount I spent on this thing is at least enough for a good laugh or two before I get rid of it." Suddenly an evil grin spread across his face.
"Go get Alyss, I've got an idea that needs some muscle."
Connor landed as gently as he could next to Alister and Reaghar. "Thanks for the message." he told Reaghar, taking back his necklace. "Elrohir here," Connor explained, thumbing a fist over his shoulder at the Elfavian, "thought we might be acting suspicious. Yeah, right." as the other two guffawed. "Stay quiet, new guy, and we might not all get killed." Connor said, not unkindly.
"So," Connor asked, "which do you guys want to do? We ask this guy ourselves why he's dealing in illegal blow-up-the-city items, wait until he's gone and check his flat, or trail him to his source?" Connor leaned back, keeping one eye on the rooming house the half-orc had disappeared into. "Yes, magic items." He told Elrohir. "Someone doesn't care who blows up from wild magic. We don't take kindly to that." Connor turned back to Alister and Reaghar. "The direct approach without more knowledge is the most stupid." the humavian surmised. "I'd prefer to follow him to his source, but that could take days. We don't have days, if Kol here is spreading magic items far and wide. The longer we delay the more likely one of his toys is likely to blow up a city block."
"I dunno, really. The source is awful important to find, but at the very least, we've found the dealer. I wouldn't mind jus' taking him out here and now, but that's not exactly the brightest of ideas."
Connor looked at the sun, judging how much daylight they had left. "If Kol does leave, we confront him here. If he doesn't, we pay him a visit after dark." Connor looked down at his psicrystal on his necklace. You're too valuable as a scout, unless you want to volunteer to tell me what this half-orc's room looks like from the window. he asked.
"Alright, sounds like a plan to me," the big man says, just watching the half-orc's house.
Waiting for Alys.
"If this guy is in fact dealing in dangerous magic items, or really any, then I think it would be a good idea to deal with him now. Even if we have to wait for the cover of night, I do not believe it wise to let another day go buy with this man on the loose" Elrohir says, his words once again tumbling over each other. You guys have been around him long enough to know this happens when he gets overly excited.
"if blocks are already blowing up, what's one more for us to find our source? "
"We've waited long enough." Connor declared. "We can interrogate this guy, find out who his source is. Or we can turn him over to people who can do a better job asking him than we can." he finished darkly.
"So, did I get this right?"
Alys carefully pushes past Selvan: "You are carrying a bomb waiting to go off around the building and didn't even see fit to inform us?"
she sighs
"At least this means you have a lead, right? So what do you say, we go find the one who sold you this thing and see what he knows?"
she walks to a corner, trying to keep as much distance between herself and the potion as she can while still remaining inside the room.
"And see that this little toy of yours gets out of here. It's okay if you really want to blow yourself up, I'm not going to stop you, but try not to be too close to anyone else while you do."
Connor's Crystal does some scouting of the building. It takes a couple of hours, due to his small size, speed, and need to be stealthy.
The building is 100 ft long, and 210 ft wide. The bottom is divided up into what appear to be small shops and offices. They are full of various businesses (a lot appear to be massage parlors, one larger one appears to be a strip club).
Upstairs, the top floor is divided into 3 sections. A 10 foot wide corridor runs lengthwise from north to south with stairs at each end. The west side is divided in half north/south into two rooms. Both appear to have boxes in them. The east half is one large room, with two double door entrances. There's a man standing in front of each door (flightless). Hero can't get in because of a ward around the room.
The Mintakia Guild crew have actually been in this building before, having followed Kol back to his room before, although it was Selvan who entered the building and bought some powdered rhino horn from one of the apothecaries to cover his entrance into the building.
The guarded room has two entrances inside, and a single landing outside, which also has a guard.
"Fine, but I need it for threatening people," Sam grumbled and stood up, pocketing the potion before heading for the door and to Kol's lair. He was not worried, Sam never worried anymore. Whatever happened, happened.
"You can threaten people quite handily without exploding yourself in the process." Selvan says dryly. "Or anyoneelse. for that matter."
Selvan follows behind his cestus worn and his polearm across his shoulders.
"Come now, how will they take me seriously if my own death is not on the line as well. I'll give you two plenty of warning if you're not willing to make the commitment."
"So here's one way." Connor began after he had finished relaying everything Hero had seen of the building. "The east room is our goal, but we need to not alert the entire building when we rush them. Alister," the white-winged man said, motioning towards the barbarian, "you're the man-mountain here. You should take the guard closest to the main entrance, in case others come up." Connor turned to face the red-eyed Humavian. "Reaghar, you're on the other inner door, with Alister helping out if needed."
Connor looked at Elrohir. "Newbie, you're with me." he said. "We'll see if you are as good with a bow as you say. We get to take the guy out on the landing. You shoot, and one of my constructs finishes the guy. We have to hit all three at the same time so no one gets off a warning. I think sunset would be a good time. I'd also like not to kill any of them, but I don't think we're dealing with innocents here. And if any of us gets hurt, we should withdraw, unless the others can come to our rescue."
Connor rolled up his sleeve and showed the three several writhing colored tattoos on his forearm. "Does anybody need a tattoo?" he offered. "Inertial Armor or Force Screen?"
"The two of you are such a cheerful bunch.", Alys comments with a melodious tone as she turns to follow as well.
The map of Kol's hideout is up now. I found one online that saved me having to build it from scratch, just had to modify it.
Everything is blacked out because you do not know what the inside looks like.
The 3 enemies are outside (the one on the ledge is winged, the two inside are not).
McIntyre people are all one block away at round 1 (this round), and must close on the hideout. They are 120 ft away from the buiding to the West. The top of the map shows the hallway and stairs with arrows. You must enter the lower floor first, and make your way to the stairs. From entrance into the building to the top of the stairs is 105ft to the West stairs, and 150 ft to top of the East Stairs. These distances include the double movement requirement to go up the stairs (5ft = 10 ft on stairs).
The Mintakia people will arrive on round , and be 120 ft away from the building to the South.
Oh,
And I'm not bothering to roll initiatives until someone attacks someone else. So you can specify up to 3 rounds worth of activities. (IE: Run close, fly close, walk at normal speeds, fly at normal speeds, etc).
"I would not mind an increase to my defenses, either is fine by me" Elrohir responds to Connor's inquiry.
Reaghar will close in the same manner as his compatriots (fly or run/sneak/etc), and manifest offensive Prescience on himself the last turn.
[ooc]Yes, the ledge is 120 ft from all four. The doors to the building are on the ground floor.
"Alright Mr Fancy Constructor guy, what kinda range does that ability have? Cuz I can pretty much hit our target from here, more or less"
Holding psionic focus (Energy type=Electricity); Power Points=3; AC=18/14/14; Active Power =
Inertial Armor manifested (1 hour duration); wearing spiked gauntlet
"Fairly close, actually." Connor answered, tapping a tattoo on his hand, feeling the effect all over him. "So I'll fly within range as if I'm just passing by, then you hit him with an arrow, and we'll see if my Astral Construct can knock him off the ledge. I'll subdue him while you secure the ledge. And Elrohir: don't miss." Connor took off towards the guard. The other two had already left.
This small bird-of-prey-like creature has a silvery-transparent look. Its talons are enormously large and menacing.
Craft (Sculpting) check:
N Small construct
Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, Perception -
DEFENSE
AC 18, touch 13, flat-footed 16 (+2 Dex, +5 natural, +1 size)
HP 15 (1d10+10)
Fort +0, Ref +2, Will +0; Immune construct traits
OFFENSE
Speed Fly 20 ft. (Average)
Melee claw (slashing, chosen at manifestation) +4 melee (1d4+3)
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
STATISTICS
Str 15, Dex 15, Con —, Int —, Wis 11, Cha 10
BAB +1, CMB +2; CMD 14
Feats -
Skills -
SPECIAL ABILITIES (One option from Menu A; one option from Advanced Constructs Menu A)
Fly (Ex)
Talons (Ex)
Alister will approach with Reaghar, flying fairly casually in front of the others, and once the first shot is fired, assuming he's in range of the guard, he'll draw his hammer, assuming it's a surprise round.