1d20+10Aaaaahhh! Shape shifter! Nari changed her avatar pic again!
1d20+10Aaaaahhh! Shape shifter! Nari changed her avatar pic again!
Karrin:
Merle:
"I think someone is watching this place from the warehouses over there." Merle tryingto indicate without being obvious
"Oh, really?" Justin asks, obviously looking in the wrong direction.
"Those cat's eyes are keen." He murmurs with a smirk.
"I actually spotted that as well," Karrin says, "Near the door right? There might be someone with a lantern inside."
"So, whoever it is doesn't have good night eyes then. That helps us."
Meanwhile, back at the temple district..
"Some people take religion very seriously," Karrin says as she adjusts her holy symbol of Rao, "And most aren't as forgiving as me or my friend Ekuur here."
Notary Five Belisarius nods
"Right. I'm just going to take a bit of a look around. If you please, don't go nowhere."
He goes off and talks to the Harmonium that had been talking to passers-by. Pulgh has been dragged up along with those thugs still living and are being attended to by one of the Harmonium who seems to be a cleric of some sort. After a bit, Belisarius comes back
"Right. You lot seem to have given me the straight chant. The looky loos confirm your version. We'll book this lot for aggravated assault. They'll be staying with the Mercykillers for a good stretch."
He whistles and the squad reforms, prisoners in tow
"If I need any more statements, I can contact you at the Silver Rose offices, yes?" He jots down the address
With that the Hardheads clank off.
"Yep," Karrin nods, giving the man the address, "Stop by after hours sometime, there's a tavern next door and I'll buy you a drink."
Back at the mysterious temple
The thick fog begins to deepen into the kind of rain Cages refer to as a 'Spoutwasher'. The myriad drains from the surrounding roofs begin to gush chill brownish water in a steady stream. In this alleyway they are all differing fish heads
The temple has a crumbled back area overgrown with razorvine. Rubles chunks of eroded masonry attest to the buildings ancient construction
.
"So some of us are going to pretend to be part of there group and walk in?"
Team Sneaky heads behind the temple
Team TNA* heads towards the door
Stealth
Perception
Perception (aka why do I bother?):
Karrin also puts on a disguise.
Perception
Team TNA* heads towards the door
Justin shrugs his wet leather coat into a more comfortable position, and strides through the dirty deluge towards the front door as he hasn't a care in the world. Except maybe getting dry.
However his memory is almost photogenic, and his recollections of their last welcome here makes him more than a tad nervous. Enough so that his senses are almost hyperactive as he nears the doors,...
Merle ghosts along the rubble lining the back area of the temple. She can see light gleaming out of several chinks in the old buildings walls. She picks her way to a dark rubbled opening.
Merle:
Justin
Rhiannon (with Team TNA?):
Justin shrugs his shoulders, as if he has an itch.
"We're being watched. Face in the window." He murmurs to the others.
He continues to walk forward as if he hasn't any concerns except getting out of the brown downpour.
"Well that's good," Karrin says, "We want them to see us."
Karrin walks up to the front doors of the place and knocks confidently with her Mitt.
"Looks clear on this side." Merle whispers a message to Justin
The door opens a crack and a thin weasely human face peers out
"What's yer business?"
Karrin flashes the badge then confidently barges in.
"Official business burt," Karrin says in a gravely voice, "We're the ones what were sent to investigate the matter. Just point us to this . . . whatever and let us do our jobs."
Assuming Karrin can muscle into the main entrance she pauses and glaces about the place.
"Why's everything so dark?" Karrin asks, "You ain't heard of lanterns or nothing? Someone told you that we'd be bringing our own or something?"
Initiative:
STR:
GM Dice:
The doorkeeper sees Karrin coming and moves to close the door, but she gives it a shove and he stumbles back.
Inside is a vaulted narthex where a dozen Athar stand next to a brazier, warming their hands against the dank chill. Water drips on the floor from several holes in the ceiling. Several of the larger ones have wooden buckets placed under them. A shadowy arch on the far wall suggests a larger area, but the gloom and the glow of the brazier prevents a better look.
One large form emerges from the arch and stalks towards Karrin. Topping nine feet, the form resolves into a plate-clad two-headed monstrosity. The giant's breastplate has the Athar symbol etched in dark niello on its surface. The left head sports a full beard and moustache. The right is smooth-cheeked bedecked with garish makeup. The right head and left both speak, switching sentences and timbres.
"Here now, what's this?"
"It's not time for a shift change."
"Who sent yeh?'
"Y'ed best not be Signer trash."
"We'll have your guts for garters."
Karrin pulls out a flip notebook as the big two headed guard approaches and appears not to imidately notice him even as he begins speaking.
"Oi!" Karrin says, head snapping up, "Do I look like a bleeding signer, you want to keep talking like that and I'll mash you from one end of this hall to the next, or I'll report you up the ladder, or worse I'll get you to do my job and I'll take the comfy guard post one. Sitting around and scratching me arse all day sounds like a pretty sweet deal rather then trouble shooting possible power infestations in old temples. Just cuz there ain't no gods don't mean that the powers ain't more powerful then you or I, kind of why they can fool folks into thinking they're all powerful, I mean they're bleeding powerful even if they ain't really all powerful. If you think otherwise then you need those two heads checked out. Just cuz they ain't real gods don't mean they couldn't squish us right quick if they thought they had a reason to. Just because the toad knows the bull ain't a god won't save the toad from being mushed if the bull get's tired of hearing him talk. Now show us were our boys done disappeared and let us get down to the business at hand."
Ekuur will follow Karrin, holding his trikal nonchalantly and remaining silent.
Justin waves Ekuur in before him, and follows casually himself. He also looks around the room as Karrin does her speed-berk-speak. He manages a sniff of disdain for the unkempt space, (Not entirely feigned) and gives the 2 headed ogre a look over Karrin's shoulder.
"Please?" He adds drolly, "Otherwise we really will be here ALL night." He says with a roll of his eyes at Karrin.
The unlikely Ettin squints down at Karrin, frowning
"Who sent yeh to investigate? I wasn't told of anyone coming tonight. We've had word the Signers might be making a play soon. No one gets in without authorization. "
"What the?" Karrin mutters, "Oh that's freakin perfect, first a bloody class four Cyric infestation in Eudocia shrine, and now bloody administration can't even notify the freakn' foots on the ground? It's like they don't even talk to each other, like sodding chaos men sometimes, but at lest they passed down some of the rumors and intelligence we're picking up. Too bad they can't be bothered to pass anything down quickly or efficiently eh? The signers were supposed to be here weeks ago after . . ." Karrin pauses to look into her notebook, "Tad'Harrnet . . . Jav'Horrnet? One of the takers got his hooks into the place and started pushing contacts ta clear us out. But we ain't leaving till we know what's posing that hall. I just hope this isn't a case of paper pushers purposely stalling by getting work orders mixed up cus I'm not free again for another cycle and mah team here don't work without the brawn."
Diplomcy ain't my bag:
Karrin does know how to bluff though:
"Quick question, supposing you turn us back, who do I put in my report? I mean it's not like you guys would be left holding the bag for this mix up, you're only front gate, I'm sure whoever it was up the line what made the mistake would step up and admit to the mix up. Management's good like that."
The ettin scowls further when Karrin calls him(her? her/him?) 'foots'. He/she growls a reply with the male head
"Fine. You look like you might know what yeh're doing. You want to take a look? Feel free. Just know we've seen a gully-load of namers go missing in there, an' there ain't no telling what does it. Sometimes nothing, sometimes the whole lot disappears. So it's your brainbox."
He/she moves aside and barks to his/her minions with the female head
"Let 'em in and watch them from the arch but no one in there with them."
Merle waits to see how the rest of the stealth team are doing.
"Don't want to take a look but sadly it's kind of our job," Karrin muses, then she turns to her team: "Okay team let's look alive, likely a one way portal and a definite presence, hopefully just a class 1 or 0, but I want everyone alert and ready. Doesn't say in my notes who we're dealing with here, so first order of business is identifying the power, second is marking the perimeter or boundaries, this being an old temple we're likely dealing with a sanctuary or unhallowed residue, but we might be looking at a corner stone or an essence or placatory of some sort. Once we mark the place off we see about maybe neutralizing or at the very least sealing the area. Maybe if we can identify the power we can figure out the likely plane and local the portal leads."
Perception
Seph perception
Justin starts to open his mouth, thinks better, and with a long suffering sigh simply nods in resigned agreement to Karrin's 'orders'.
He sets his Ion stone to circling his head, and begins casting minor magics, muttering about 'Interspatial incongruities wreaking havoc with planar polarities'.
Rhiannon scans the room, not capable of much in the way of magical investigation, she upholds the image of a professional security force.
Ekuur plays the part of the menacing "muscle" being the largest. As much as he'd like to assist Justin, he believes that casting divine magic with the Athar so close may be a mistake.
Inside
The group enters the ruined room. Justin doesn't find anything recently magical in the room, but the stones seem to have a faint natural magical affinity.
Water drips from several rents in the roof. piles of crumbled masonry litter the corner, and a few holes can be seen in the walls leading outward
Outside
Merle sees the lantern light intensify inside the abandoned temple. She peers into a crack and sees her comrades at the far side, looking about with a huge two-headed form behind them. Seph crowds close as the rain spills over them in a cold brown sheet.
As they decide to seek some shelter, a clanking can be heard from back in the street. A squad of armored humanoids hasten up the street towards the front of the temple. Their armor is marked with a faction symbol
Knowledge check
Knowledge check
1d20 + 2
The symbol looks like a stylized dragon.. It is the faction symbol for the Sign of One.
DC 15 Knowledge(local):
Merle recalls that these are the folks that had been beefing with the Athar about this temple. It looks like they are ready to make a move
"Guys youre about to have company those other fellas that wanted this temple I think." Merle messages to Justin
"Okay," Karrin whispers to her group inside, "Let's see if we can find out what we're looking for and fast. I doubt we're going to have an easy time getting back in here again."
Karrin is also looking for holy symbols or anything like that. She may act dim but Karrin is actually a pretty remarkable religious scholar at this point.
Knowledge religion:
"Of course. Anything else would be TOO easy." Justin Whispers to Merle and Isaac.
"We're about to have company. Signers it sounds like. Maybe they will keep the nosey guards off of our backs." Justin murmurs to Karrin.
He then continues to wander around the center of the room, interspersing actual detection chants with nonsensical syllables in a mixture of Draconic and Abyssmal that make most people nervous.