"I am Marozia, from Elbistan. We met on the road and thought it better to travel together for safety. I have come to ply my trade as a healer, aid the people of Zimar, and earn a reasonable living by doing so." Liam hopes this last bit appeals to Abadaran sensibilities.
If that is a Disguise check instead, it is the same bonus.
Amelia got into character.
"Who am I? I cannot believe the questions I am getting. This is absolutely unreasonable that I am being held up at a gate like a commoner."
She gave a tired look, "I am Baroness Basilia Aconian. I expect to know why I am being questioned!"
"These are dangerous times, Your Excellency. We must be sure no agents of chaos arrive to destabilize Zimar," the guard tells Amelia. They look over Liam's papers and peer at him but don't seem to penetrate his disguise.
"Are you carryiing magic items or illegal or dangerous goods, ma'am?" they ask the cleric.
"Oh, well, I am no wizard and I can't say for sure. I have what I believe to be some minor protective talismans and heirlooms. Mostly gifts from those I have helped."
"I have no magic items that can cause any harm to another."
"I carry nothing illegal or dangerous."
Liam tries hard to sell himself as a simple healer and no threat to these mighty Templars. As being beneath their notice.
"I'm Cadonia," Katria says, hoping she can bluff her way through as well as Liam and Amelia. "I've come to check on the markets here, to help my employer determine what goods might sell best here."
She tries to keep her comments brief and to the point so she doesn't give anything away.
"Dangerous times indeed. In fact I do carry some magical items, my gown for one and my family's ancestral weapon of Oppara." She gives a stare, "I absolutely will not stand for my gown being patted down if that is what you're thinking."
She hands the papers out, hoping to change the subject, "Destabilize! Unbelievable!"
"I am a knight, good sir, come to aid in settling the unrest you complain about. As befitting my role, I have naturally enchanted my blade and bear a few talismans to aid me in that endeavor." Seth insists, "If my trade is no longer welcome in this city, I shall have to allow your unrest to continue."
The guards look askance at Seth, but they overlook his awkward demeanor in the shadow of Amelia’s bombastic personality. Your disguises seem to be sufficient, as they hand you back your papers and wave you through the gate.
As you are about head into the city, though, one of the Sentinels suddenly comes running up. "Just a minute! Stop right there!"
He stops in front of Katria and glares at her. "You've neglected to pay your storage fees, ma’am, and you'll need to pay a fine and move your wagon elsewhere. The fine is 150 gold."
"And you did not think to mention this to the lady before now? Is this not your duty, to inform us of exactly this kind of issue before it is a problem? You wouldn't happen to be attempting to extort this fine lady, would you now?" Seth pointedly asks, interposing himself between the sentinel and Katria.
What is he doing? He's drawing attention to us! Over a measly 150 gold?
Liam stays quiet and tries to conceal his shock at Seth's actions.
The guard takes a step back, but despite his discomfort, his face is a hard line. ”No matter this woman’s status, the fine still stands. If she does not pay up, we will impound the wagon and its contents will be seized. The choice is hers.”
Seth eyes the guard, seeking dishonesty, then nods, "Very well. I am pleased to see that the law is still firm here. Well done, soldier." he turns to Katria, "Milady, I apologize for any discomfort I may have just caused. Please, allow me to cover this for you." he returns his gaze tot the guard, and pulls out a pouch of money, counts it, and hands the gold to the guard, "Keep up your good work, soldier."
The guard accepts the money and leads you to the wagon. It is a well‐built but otherwise unremarkable cart with a canvas covering strapped over it. It contains a large tent, a crate of rations, a barrel of water, and two locked chests.
Katria looks a bit helplessly at the guard, the wagon, and then her companions.
"Well, thank you. My apologies for any confusion," she finally says, extemporizing as best she's able.
She looks to see if the wagon is something they could haul, or if they'll need beasts or burden. Also to see if there's anything to mark whose wagon it actually is.
You’ll need a horse to haul the wagon. Cyricus mentioned that the identification papers be procured were genuine, so the cart presumably belongs to the real Cadonia, wherever she might be.
Once they are outside of earshot the pretender glowers at Seth, "That was dangerous. I'm glad it all went well but we need to be subtle." She realized the irony of the situation, "I mean, well... You know what I mean."
Looking toward the empty cart the lady Amelia sees it needs to be pulled, "I'm strong but I don't think it would fit the act for me to carry these."
"Can we use one of these horses?" Katria wonders. "I know they're more for riding, but a short distance hauling a wagon shouldn't hurt them, right?"
"Should we see what is in the locked chests? Could be items helpful for maintaining the cover, such as trade goods. Or even if coin, that could be useful, and we could repay this Cadonia later."
Katria looks around and nods.
"Yes, but ... I don't think we want to pick the locks here," she says quietly.
You haul the wagon to a secure location, away from prying eyes. Eventually, you manage to pick the locks. One chest holds several changes of clothing and grooming supplies, but the other contains five bolts of silk (10 gp each), a platinum ibex with ruby‐chip eyes (800 gp), three potions of gaseous form, an aegis of recovery, a candle of invocation, a +1 holy short spear wrapped in a scorched bolt of silk, and a strand of lesser prayer beads.
Katria quickly assesses the items.
"Well, this certainly might be helpful to our cover," she says. "We'll have to find out what happened to the real Cadonia so we can repay her, but for the moment, we can make use of this."
She thinks for the moment. "Once we get lodging, maybe Amelia can see if there are any rumors about town that might help us. If not, I think we should head to the Sunrise Spice Importers warehouse and see if there's anything there that might help."
"Many of these items would be most useful to a priest or cleric. And they are items of significant power. I wonder who this Cadonia is?"
"But you are right, Katria, we should establish a base and then investigate."
ou initially find yourselves in the Pike District, the location of the original garrison founded by General Zimara. Although it was long ago incorporated into the city, the Pike District houses the thousands of soldiers who live in Zimar. The district also has several training facilities and numerous taverns.
A bit of asking around for a good inn points you to the center of the city, and the Baths of Dioclytus. Zimar is known for its many bathhouses, and the citizens of Zimar consider luxurious baths to have considerable health benefits. Some of the city's bathhouses cater only to the rich, while others are open to visitors regardless of station. Zimar's bathhouses are generally built of marble and receive water through an underground aqueduct heated with subterranean fire pits. The wealthy and the poor alike enjoy discussing politics and exchanging juicy gossip while relaxing in baths and sweating rooms.
The Baths of Dioclytus, the largest and most famous of Zimar's public bathhouses, incorporates many other services, including a cafe, a massage parlor, and an upscale inn. You are able to negotiate a fair price for several rooms where you can set up a base of operations away from the city's prying eyes.
Amelia comes into the city, and is surprised by Pike District. It wasn't the bathhouses, those hardly surprised her, but it was the way that they were so commonplace even for those who had none. Although I'm sure they won't be nearly as nice.
The cultural shift clicked in her head, she started to become the Baroness even when walking. "This seems like a wonderful place to settle down, yes. Afterwards I would love to hear what rumours are floating around these steam rooms."
She looks ecstatic, "Anyone wish to join me? Katria?"
Katria shrugs and agrees. She certainly went to bathhouses with her parents as a child, and they had been interesting at first, but so many people seemed to drone on and on with no real idea what they were talking about. Occasionally you'd find an interesting conversation, but most of the time it was just ... men trying to talk over you and acting like they knew everything, even when they knew nothing. Still, it might be a good place to get the lay of the land, at least, even if -- she was honest with herself -- that was more Amelia's forte.
Hmmm... in using Linguistics to alter the documents to match Liam's appearance better, did Katria make his cover identity male? I would assume so (the original cover identity was female).
It would make using the bathhouses easier.
Liam will make himself comfortable in the room.
"Yes, we should put our ears to the ground, and the baths are as good a place as any.
Can we ward our rooms in some way, such as with an Alarm spell? Naturally we must be on guard against anybody 'investigating' our room while we are away.
Even just a hair placed across a chest or dresser to know if it has been tampered with would be a good security measure."
"I can leave a magic sensor, though it will only work for a little more than an hour and a half."
Watchful Eye (Sp): You can expend 1 point of mental focus as a standard action to create an invisible sensor within 30 feet that watches a 5-foot-square area. Whenever any creature enters that square, you receive a mental image of the creature as long as you are on the same plane as the sensor. The sensor remains active for 10 minutes per occultist level you possess. The image will not wake you from slumber, although you do receive all of the images the sensor collected once you wake up. The sensor can be deceived by invisibility and similar magic. You can expend additional points of mental focus when creating the eye to increase the size of the square by 5 feet per additional point spent (to 10 feet square, 15 feet square, and so on).
"The baths sound like an excellent idea. No better way to find the local gossip" Seth adds, "And likely much safer should a fight break out."
You head to the respective baths to relax and take in some of the local gossip. Of course, the topics foremost on most people's minds is the continuing saga of the War for the Crown and the recent "Qadiran" attacks on Taldan cities. Most of the information is either things you already know, or false information likely being spread by Pythareus's agents. Pythareus himself is said to be sequestered in a fortress called Abadar's Pillar, the headquarters of the Vault and Chain.
You do learn an interesting tidbit. Beneath the streets of Zimar lies the so-called Undercity, which some citizens call “the sixth district.” This labyrinthine network of underground tunnels and chambers consists of abandoned basements, buried buildings, catacombs, and sewer passages. According to rumors, all residents of the Undercity answer to a massive otyugh king named Gulreesh.
Back in the rooms, Liam will say, "I suppose we should head to Sunrise Spice Importers first.
But after that, I would like to investigate the Undercity. If the residents of that 'district' are to a degree outside the rule of Pythareus, we might be able to form common cause with them. Or at least learn more information while being out of sight of the Vault and Chain."
Katria nods, thinking that makes sense.
"It may also be somewhere someone like Cyricus could hide," she adds.
Enjoying the time in the baths, she overhears some untruths most likely sprouted by Pythareus. She tried her best to sow some seeds of doubt, but it would take a long time to counteract the foundation of corruption laying in the base.
Coming back to reality and to her job she cleans up a little before the night, "I think that seems like a wise choice. Let us do what we know first, gather our information and then proceed to tackle the undercity. I wouldn't want to go to such a place empty handed."
The next morning, after resting, you head to the Adobe District. Named after the many houses in the district made of mud-brick, the Adobe District is the poorest district in Zimar. While foreigners are allowed to own property in any part of Zimar, bloated property prices, heavy taxation, and bureaucratic structures that favor native Taldan humans encourage foreigners and non-humans to settle in the Adobe District. Many of the denizens of the Adobe District have lived in the neighborhood for many generations; descendants of poor laborers who helped rebuild the city after the Grand Campaign.
You follow Kathann's directions to the Sunrise Spice Importers warehouse. The large interior is mostly empty, with only a few barrels of ancient peppercorns and allspice berries lying under a layer of dust in one corner and a stack of large supply crates in another, as well as a disused office filled with mundane ledgers and a calendar marking the owners' return from their trading expedition in 4 months. A thorough search of the crates reveals that a few of the crates each contain a bedroll, rations, water, maps, and a few changes of clothes rather than goods. It appears only one of these emergency caches has ever been used, and that one disheveled unit has not been used for at least several days.
A small, wax‑sealed cask next to the supply crates contains dried dates, beef jerky, and other food items. In a pouch inside the crate are a potion of vanish and three potions of misdirection.
When you finish searching the warehouse, you notice that someone has slipped a note under one of the exterior doors: "If you and K are friends, meet me at her favorite place in two hours. —G."
Liam begins looking for tracks outside the warehouse, near where the note was left.
"Katria, if your Detect Scrying didn't notice a magical sensor, then somebody was watching us or watching this place in person. Hopefully it is this Gannaius, referring to Kathann. But if he has been captured, they could have extracted information from him and be posing as him. So we should be on our guard. If Gannaius is free and on the run, but able to get to Sunrise Spice, then why are his emergency supplies still here? And these potions?
I don't think we know Kathann's favorite place, but I could use the wand of Sending to ask her. My guess is a theatre - she was quite the one for theatrics - but it could be a park or something.
We should remember the Clockwork Spy that Martella left for us. Could have used it or Katria's Mind Eye to scout this place. We should be careful when we approach this meeting point."
Assuming there are no objections, Liam will use the wand of Sending.
Found at Sunrise Spice: 'If you and K are friends, meet me at her favorite place in two hours. —G'. Sounds genuine? What is place?
She considers for a moment all the information, it was certainly suspicious but it wasn't entirely an implausible letter. "We have the wand, I think this is a time to use it. Should we have had instructions beforehand, I wouldn't be so worried but alas here we are."
Amelia looks around, the cloak and dagger of the situation intriguing her. "I don't know if this is a double bluff or what, but regardless we need to gain some information." She steps outside, and covers Liam while he looks on the floor.
Katria nods at Liam's plan, pleased as always that he's so level headed. He would have made a good scholar, she thinks. Not that he's a bad priest, of course, but his mind just seems to have such a good attention to detail. She can't help but be impressed.
"If it were an enemy, wouldn't they have simply attacked? I think they're likely as cautious about us as we may be about them," she says.
Kathann replies to the sending. "He probably means a confection shop called Honey Kunefe. Gannaius and I have met there frequently. Might be a trap. As always, proceed with caution."
Liam finds the tracks of a single humanoid wearing boots just outside the warehouse. The tracks quickly are lost among the usual foot traffic of the city, though, making them impossible to follow.
"I don't know, Katria.
The fact that we were followed to the Warehouse and didn't see Gannaius lurking around makes me paranoid. We weren't careful enough.
So what is our best option to scout out Honey Kunefe?
Katria's Mind Eye?
Amelia's Invisibility Sphere spell?
Different disguises than the ones we are using now?
I would say Katria's Mind Eye is our best bet. We find a shop somewhere near the Honey Kunefe, maybe a block away, and sit down for a cup of tea. Katria sends the Mind Eye to look around the Honey Kunefe for any lurking figures. If we see Gannaius, we meet with him. If Milon Jeroth, we ambush him. If there are many of the Vault and Chain around, we back off.
Milon Jeroth is a master of disguise, so even if it appears to be Gannaius, we should still walk in fully prepared for trouble.
The Mind Eye is invisible, but even if there are inquisitors who can spot it, they won't know who created it. The caster could be anywhere within a mile. That seems safer than using Invisibility Sphere on the street."
Katria nods, agreeing that her mind's eye is probably the best for scouting, though she notes she'll only be able to use it once more today .
"I don't think we need to use more disguises. If someone has seen through these ones already, I don't think adding on more layers will help," she says. "We could have one of us wait in reserve in case of trouble, but ... that also leaves that person at some risk."
HP 83/73(inc. +10 from transmutation focus)
AC 23, touch 16, flat-footed 18, CMD 22
Fort +12, Ref +9, Will +11
Speed: 30 feet
Inspiration (Knowledge/Linguistics/Spellcraft checks): 0/5
Mental Focus: 18; Abjuration [4/4]; Divination [2/4]; Illusion [4/4]; Enchantment [3/3]; Transmutation [3/3] (refocusing rod)
Resonant powers (+2 saves; +2 Perception, low-light vision; +1 Charisma checks; +2 Con; 20% miss chance)
Cape of the mountebank 0/1; gloves of arrow snaring 0/2; Dignity's Barb Crit No.:
Spells/day: 1st [][][][][]; 2nd [][][][][]; 3rd [][][][]; 4th [x][]
Wands: Scorching ray 0/20; lightning bolt 0/20; magic missile (CL 5) 0/47; magic missile (CL 5) 0/34
Effects:
Amelia agrees, "It would be high risk for us to blow our cover by risking an invisibility sphere. It would open a lot of questions why a Noble of Oppara has such an ability on the ready." Getting a little excited she starts fiddling with her garments, "I could use a tea or something, perhaps we can do some surveillance there."
She looks toward Liam, "Do you have the ability to pierce magical disguises? I've heard that those in the clerical profession can."
"There is such an incantation, Amelia. Unfortunately, I do not have it prepared today, it does not last very long, it takes an expensive ointment of which I only have one use, and it cannot pierce magical disguises.
Its best use is probably piercing Mirror Image; if we think we will be facing an enemy caster, it would be good for me to cast True Seeing on you or Seth."
"Well, many Opparan nobles -- many Taldan nobles, actually! -- do study magic, so maybe it wouldn't be that strange," Katria reminds Amelia, a little surprised that she needs to do so.
"Perhaps, but we do not know who this Baroness was. Should they have been known... It is better to never reveal a card from one's hand early."
She composes herself after hearing Katria suggest it, laughing it off. "Either way, I think that should be a good plan."
I should have known that. -That- was obvious.
You make your way to an alley near Honey Kunefe, then Katria sends her mind's eye inside to scout it out. This small coffeehouse and sweet shop is completely ordinary; nothing distinguishes it from the many similar shops in every neighborhood across the city. The interior is small but cozy and warm.
A slight man sits at a table, updating a portfolio and preparing a large pot of coffee. He matches the description of Gannaius.
Seth hangs back slightly as the others approach Gannaius, keeping an eye out for any who might be springing a trap or any other potential dangers (making sure to stay within earshot).
Katria relays the information to the others. Making sure she's got her wands within easy reach, she makes her way to the coffeehouse.
She sits down at the table next to him and looks around.
"What would you recommend?" she asks. "Is there anything with spice here? Imported, maybe?"
I hope that's not too obvious...
Amelia debates sitting beside Katria but knows full well in case he makes a fast one she should be ready from the sidelines, besides the woman was more adept than she let on.
"I'll move to another position, going to take a look for any ambushes."
The eyes and ears of the city were hers to peer through, you only needed to know where to look.