#9-08: Birthright Betrayed (Inactive)

Game Master into the aether

”Who was financing and passing out the information to your group? No offense, but there is clearly someone above you,” Richelle asks the captive.

As you lean down you can see the standard issue blue curative wand with the red cross in her belt, built by the dozens for aspiring pathfinders.
After touching her a few times she wakes up and sighs. Looking at the arrows in her body she curses to make any orc blush.
"Did you at least gut her?"

”Our payments for the loot taken from Zespire’s shipments just happens to accidentally fall off a barge in the same tunnel we unload the stuff. I dunno who’s behind it for sure. But my second cousin in Oppara is training as a senatorial aide, and she swears the brave hero Earl Vernisant is behind the scheme. That fancy helmet they gave me looks more like it came from a museum than any mage’s workshop. Doesn’t the Earl own the General Arnesant museum? Or run it, or something?”

Does the helmet look like something that came from the museum we just visited? If so, we’ll need to present that as a piece of evidence as well, I think.

”You will be spared if you testify. Unfortunately we have more work to do, so we need to leave you with the guards,” Richelle explains to the captive.

Sorry all; I could have sworn I posted yesterday. The helmet does indeed look like a museum piece, and Cincia mentioned that the Earl recently took a helmet from a suit of armor in the museum.
”Okay, I’ll testify.”
What would you like to do now? I’ll recap your leads: Patrician Neffery Adimare who owns the ship’s chandlery that supplies the navy, and Joleana Tantriano, Ridonport’s senior magistrate who you can find at the courthouse. It’s also like 2 a.m. in-game.

”Let’s go to the navy supplier! I bet the magistrate will be in bed at this hour.”

Encara nods in response to Richelle's plan.

The Pathfinders leave the captured pirates with the city guard and make their way to the chandlery. The main building is a long, single-story wooden building a few hundred feet from a stretch of docks. A shingle hanging by the front door displays a locathah hefting a barrel. The chandlery has a front door facing the docks to the south and a back door facing an alley to the west. Being the middle of the night, all’s quiet. The shop appears to be completely dark inside.

Map updated. The chandlery is the building in the middle (I overlayed it on a different flip mat so there would be some room to move around the edge of the building). Place yourselves wherever you’d like and let me know what you’d like to do.

”Looks like this place is shut down for the night. Want to see if Ademire is in the front office? If not, we might have to come back tomorrow during regular business hours.”

Carax walks up and knocks loudly on the door.

What’s everyone else doing when Carax knocks?
Shortly after the knock at the door it is opened by a half-orc who looks Carax (and any others present) up and down quickly. ”May I help you?”

Encara stands a few back back to the side trying to look as respectable as possible considering the hour.

Altavan stood with the others, keeping an eye on things in case there was an ambush or something.

Perception: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (6) + 10 = 16

"You may," says Carax. "I am Carax. I wish to speak with Ademire. Is he in?"

Richelle follows closely behind Carax, smiling sweetly at the orc.

Gaeldrung follows quietly and stays near the back of the group. Things like this were not his forte. He tended to take the "blunt" approach.

”No; were you expecting him at this hour?” He looks at everyone present. “I don’t believe we’ve been introduced...”

Geirahöd quickly introduces herself, but lets the others do the talking.
Her accent of steel might reflect badly on the momentary discussion.

”Our group believes that we might have a common enemy. Maybe enemy is too strong a word, but I am hopeful that our interests are combined, if nothing else. Do you know when he usually comes in? I realize we are past a decent hour, but we ran here in haste...”

The half orc looks slightly confused. ”Enemies? Neffery? … Um, he usually arrives around 7:30 every morning.”

Encara looks to his companions "Maybe we should get a few hours of rest and come back in the morning."

The ulfen woman adds."And a decent meal. And some mead!"

”Well, tell Neffery we will be back first thing in the morning. We will see him at 7:30!”

”Okay...Who should I tell him will be visiting?”

”Don’t even worry about it. We like to show up as a bit of a surprise,” Richelle says with a wink. ”I’m sure he appreciates your service.”. Richelle was ready to leave the area until morning.

The Pathfinders finally head back to their lodgings at the museum and get some well-earned rest. The next morning they return to the chandlery. Patrician Neffery Adimare greets you when you enter. ”Ah, you must be the six adventurous-looking types who came calling for me in the wee hours! Zurak mentioned something about common enemies; whatever, pray tell, could that be about?”

Encara bows slightly "I apologize for the hour of our initial inquiry. I'm glad you weren't awoken by our antics. We are currently engaged by the curator of a local museum to investigate certain... irregularities, related to a certain local, shall we call him Earl V for now. She suggested we speak with you as part of our investigation. Perhaps we might come in and talk?"

diplomacy if needed: 1d20 + 15 + 1d6 ⇒ (19) + 15 + (2) = 36

Richelle waits for a response before chiming in.

”Yes yes, do come in.” Adimare ushers you to a sitting area and produces a glimmering crystal decanter with a stopper in the shape of a ship’s anchor filled with an amber liquid. ”Brandy, anyone? It’s Korvosan.” He pours a glass for anyone who accepts, and one for himself, then takes a seat. Addressing Encara, Adimare says, ”So, you’re investigating irregularities, are you? What manner of irregularities?”

Sense Motive 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

”Cincia sent us here. She said that you shared the same feelings about Varnisant that we do. The thing is, we are here to prove his wrongdoings to help Taldor. If you could help in any way, we’d be greatly appreciative.”

sense motive: 1d20 + 7 + 1d6 ⇒ (20) + 7 + (1) = 28

Encara smiles "Yes, that Varnisant doesn't respect the true Noblesse oblige, unlike someone as honorable as yourself. Certain national treasures from the local museum have been... commandeered, rather than left on display for the glory of Taldor. We've been told that you are a true son of Taldor, and might be able to shed some light on the... Earl's other deeds."

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (20) + 8 = 28
Back to back natural 20's!

"Truth is the cardinal virtue of a true son of the Empire," agrees Carax. "We wish only to ensure that this incident does nothing to tarnish Taldor's hard-won glories."

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6
Altavan watched, amazed at the interaction between the members, more used to threats and oaths he observed among his tribe.

Gaeldrung is in much the same boat as Kegdrainer. He dares not speak, confident that he'll mess something up in this dance of words.

Adimare’s expression denotes a bit of hesitation. “Hmm. Vernisant certainly has a lot of sway around here. And of course I’m a true patriotic Taldan; Ridonport is the birthplace of heroes after all! I’d hate to darken the town’s reputation by speaking ill of anyone...”

He pauses in thought for a few moments. “That being said, perhaps it’s time for some of our city’s dirty laundry to be aired. The chandlery’s been in my family for generations, and we’ve always been proud to do our part supplying the navy. That’s how we got our title, back in the 4500’s. Well, when Vernisant took over for his father as the new earl a few years back, he approached me about a ‘silent partnership’ in the chandlery. As an earl, he outranks me by quite a bit, and I should have been more cautious. At first, it sounded like Vernisant wanted to invest for patriotic reasons. Of course, before I knew it I was sunk deep in debt to him, and he’d transformed my father’s favorite business into a private club for navy officers. They get liquored up enough when they’re tromping through here that they barely notice how much the earl’s hiked the prices—it’s the people paying the tab, not the officers, so what should they care? Now I’m not even allowed in the back office. Did I mention there’s a hidden wall safe I had installed back there? If you think Vernisant’s hiding something, that wall safe might be a good place to look.”

”I must ask you to agree to a couple of conditions if I’m to look the other way, though. Any digging you might do around here must be when I’m not present, ideally after business hours. And this business is practically a family heirloom. Please, let’s ensure it remains intact.”

”Could you have that orc take a night off tonight? And what is the combination for your safe? Don’t worry, we will keep your business intact. No smashing things and no fiery spells!”

Adimare looks a bit worried and lets out an audible sigh of slight distress. ”I’m afraid the night watchman reports to Vernisant, not myself, so I can’t really arrange to have him take tonight off. It’d most certainly tip Vernisant off. You’ll have to figure out how to deal with him yourselves. As to the safe combination...Vernisant changes it frequently and I don’t know what it is currently. But, look for my ledger on the sales counter over there when you pay an after-hours visit.” Adimare motions towards the main counter. ”You’ll see why.”

Geirahöd nods. "Any hints on nightly safecautions? A dog for example?"

”The ledger. That’s good to know. Could you let us hide in here so we don’t have to break in? Hiding would be much less messy than getting in here under shadow of night.”

”Hide here in the shop? That’s certainly an idea I’d not have thought of! I’m afraid I’m not sure I can think of any particularly good hiding places here in the main shop. And alas, the Earl has completely commandeered the back room; he changed the locks not long after our silent partnership began. Something about sensitive governmental business. He does bring other political higher ups and barristers back there fairly regularly, although I’m skeptical that their dealings are official state business.”

While not within the expected tactics in the scenario, hiding in the shop is a creative idea I’m definitely open to! Let me know how exactly you’d like to try to hide, keeping in mind it’s essentially a General Store.

I was hoping there would be some large crates lying around the place, that a few of us could climb into around closing time. Or maybe just one of us, the most stealthy one, who could then easily open a door or window to let the rest of us sneak in...anything like that available in the store? Or perhaps a large canvas or burlap fabric a person could hide under?

Is there space in the back room? Maybe a barrel or a cabinet?

Suddenly this feels like an episode of Scooby-Doo!

Sorry for the delay. OK so... Hmm. The map doesn’t really seem to show any crates or barrels. And @Carax the back room is locked and only Earl V has the key. But I’d say someone could try to hide under a table or behind the counter. Whoever wants to do that, let me know and we can go from there on the assumption that Adimare will cover for you at closing time.

Does anyone have a decent stealth skill? I guess, I could be the ‘hider’ as I’ve got a good Dex, but if anyone else wants to go instead, let me know.

Well, in keeping with the Scooby-Doo theme, I could just stand against the wall in a full suit of armor and pretend it's empty...

That might even work.... am most likely not. A heap on the ground, with some extra armor bits...
Well in any case this ranger is rather bad with stealth.

Richelle volunteers for the mission. She removes her chain shirt to help with being sneaky and talks to the group about the plan. She wants to have them gather at the closest door/window so she can easily open it and let them in under the cover of darkness.

"Sounds good to me. I am not that good as sneaking around." Kegdrainer said. "Hold on a moment, lets take a look at the window to make sure it will open. Just to be on the safe side, lets wax it to help quiet it down." he added. Pulling out a candle from his haversack, he ran the candle along the edges of the window frame to help keep it from squeaking when they opened it later.

With the Pathfinders’ plan decided, Richelle removes her armor. Adimare tells you to come back ten minutes before closing time so he can get you hidden before the night watchman arrives. Kegdrainer waxes down the window frame, and the rest of the Pathfinders lurk somewhere nearby out of sight. Adimare chooses a spot under the sales counter, placing some stray packing boxes and a stool in front of Richelle, covering her as best he can. Before leaving he whispers, ”remember the ledger!” Richelle then hears Adimare greet the night watchman, bid him a good night, and leave.

The night watchman eventually makes a quick, cursory look around. “Patrol” would be an exaggeration. Richelle then hears the sound of chair legs scooting on the floor and a gentle “thud” as the night watchman takes a seat.

The night watchman is definitely not expecting shenanigans so I feel like we can move past that part without skill checks. When it comes to the appointed time to open the window, I’ll need Richelle’s stealth check. And I’ll need to see everyone’s tokens in place on the map where they intend to be when the plan is enacted.