Moving closer to the rest of the group Baladur speaks in hushed tones, "Somethin' odd 'ere, those kids think we're 'ere t' 'ire 'em. One o ye want to try and pretend that is the case, draw 'em out? If we could hire 'em we could get 'em outside 'n try t' find out what they usually do when they're 'ired."
Volta looks at Baladur whispering, "Hmmm, arranging apprenticeships would be normal but day-labor is troublesome. We will need to look into this, but I wish to see the Mistress first."
I also want to see Mistress Baltwin and some other kids. All the rumors we have heard could be easily explained, I am sure.
Aryllan smiles again At least I hope so.
She looks around for any children watching them.
Perception check:
A few moments after the youngling goes to fetch Auntie Baltwin, a bedraggled old hag of a woman appears.*image* . She emerges with a wide tooth gaped smile, then looks up and sees the eclectic group gathered in her lobby. Her face turns into a sneer at the sight of the large golden feline.
What is that big golden beasty.
She look at Diggens. Naughty, naughty little one. Ya should learnt som' manners when a'coming in'ta som'on home. I dunt scare you'er pets if I come a'callin.
She looks to the forest friendly elf. Did you wipe your feet before coming in?
Scanning the group once again, her eyes eventually settle on Robertus. Well fine sir. You certainly have a lovely wife and son here. gesturing towards Uraisa and Volta. In a lower voice she says. I hope ya du'nt mind me scolding tha' litt'l one there. Their minds need firm discipline ya'kno. Oh, an' ya don't mind, we usually ask that the servants stay oot'side. Motioning to Baladur and Aryllan. We do'nt want'a be upsetting tha' childrens now da'we? She ends with a big pleasant grin.
Now. What can I do ya for my ma'lord.
Baladur will bow and back towards the doorway, stopping in the doorway to watch what happens.
"Pardon mum."
Sense Motive
Aryllan pastes a practiced smile onto her face usually reserved for royalty and others of a higher status that she must tolerate and looks down at her boots. She thinks to her self, Baladur has the right idea. Let her think what she wants and that might give us the advantage. She also starts to back towards the door giving Robertus and Uraisa the lead on this.
Sense Motive:
Stepping back towards the entrance door seem to please Auntie in the way a an old school disciplinarian acts when getting her way.
Although Aryllan and Baladur are unable to sense her underlying motivation, they both get the tingly sensation that she is sizing the group up as well. For what purpose however, remains a mystery.
Mysterious unknown dice roll. Is it real, or am I just messing wit' ya? Bwahhh haaa haaa
Addressing the Humans. Parden' ma'loard's an Lady. Ma' babies get'n scared gave me a fright. What brings ya tu ma recovery home t'day.
"Greetings to you, Auntie," Uraisa says stepping forward, ..."and many thanks for the compliment. I don't often get lumped in with the children anymore. Do you have somewhere more private that we could speak? We bring pleasantries from Venture Captain Valsin." She nods at the last words, and pointed to teh package of supplies, knowing the crone knew what she meant.
Diplomacy
What a harridan! I feel for the poor kids, of course it can't be easy running such a place but still... Volta has the slouching posture and typical attitude of a insolent teen, looking Auntie Dearest over in the frank way kids do to adults they just met.
Sense Motive
What's her game here? Protective of the kids? Herself? What's her real attitude? Dominating, insecure, malicious, just cranky?
Young Volta, although an adult in most cultures on Golarian, is very much in touch with his his teenage angst heightening his emotional senses. Running through his mental checklist;
Protective of the kids? Perhaps. But not necessarily for the right reasons, you feel.
Protective of herself? Yes. No question there. She's hiding some anxiety about your visit.
Dominating, insecure, malicious, just cranky? Dominating, yes. She seeks total control of the situation. Malicious? Prehaps. She displays no sincerity past her own ends. Insecure or just cranky? No, she has the total confidence of someone with a lifetime of experience. Her prejudice to non-human middle or upper class persons is obvious in all she does.
Robertus simply smiles at Auntie Baltwin, a smile of understanding. He also nods and chuckles at the her compliments, offering agreement without really saying anything. I hope this show puts her at ease.
As Aryllan backs behind "Lord Robertus and Lady Uraisa" she pauses slightly and whispers to Uraisa - Ollysta Zadrian not the venture captain
Still smilling her practiced smile she stands slightly behind Uraisa hands folded in front of her ready for anything. As any family guard should appear.
Having felt the sting of racism before, Professor Diggans smiles warmly while whispering to Delta Vile woman. I bet she is stewing the children.
Delta meanwhile says incredulously Pet? Did she just call me a pet?
The two subside into wounded and dignified silence after their brief whispers to each other. Keeping their eyes peeled for what they now expect as the inevitable evil the woman is perpetrating.
Her composure fully regained at the mention of the Venture Captain, and the package she recognizes as being from Zadrian, the unkempt Auntie Baltwin heeds Uraisa's idea, and escortes all of you to her sitting room behind the lobby.
A fresh pot of tea is on a small stove. Directing Uraisa, Robertus and Volta to a set of elaborate cushioned red velvet couches, she asks Tea? She pours and hands the "family" each a nice china cup of fresh tea. To Aryllan, she motions to a stiff backed plain and worn wooden chair near the door. Offering her a mismatched cup with a tiny chip in the handle. Diggans and Baladur are directed to the back of the room where two half size stools sit on a rug. Various wooden blocks and carved animal shapes nearby.
She points to a wooden children's tea set on a shelf near the Dwarf and Gnome. To the li'll ones can have their own tea also. heehee. There so cute. The the "l'il ones" If you want a sip of real tea, raise your hand. QUIETLY! And an adult will get it for you.
The initial excitement of visitors and flying cats settled down, the sounds of the children upstairs returns. Running, playing, talking, coughing. I see ya brought'a package from tha Shinning Star. Thank Sarenrae, we are almost oot'o medicine. She sits expectantly with a huge practiced grim glued to her face, patting an area of a coffee table for the package to be placed onto.
Aryllan, with her practiced smile still firmly on her lips, declines the offer of tea. No thank you Mistress Baltwin. she says pleasantly. Aryllan reviews the situation and decides that it is best to keep up appearances. She continues to stand near the door, being the ever present "family guard".
She nodes to Robertus and Uraisa to continue with the appearance of what Mistress Baltwin has lead herself to believe.
"Now Auntie, our little ones, are probably older than the rest of us sitting in this room right now. Nevertheless, we do have the medication for you. We were also to find out how things are going for you here. Is everything okay? Have you been going through an increased amount of medicine recently? What is most of this medication used for anyway?"
Diplomacy
Auntie warms to Uraisa's diplomatic charms.
Oh. So many children. So much sickness. There can never be enough medicine. Thank you good folks for safeguarding this delivery. I'm sure you are very bussy. Please dont let me keep you from your other good work.
Baladur, ever observant of the finer points in life, notices the old auntie adding a wee nip to her tea, attempting to conceal it in practiced fashion.
Auntie Baaltwin now goes into her sad sad tale. Clearly attempting to tug at you heartstrings and distrace from any other lines of questioning.
As ta why I', here a'tal. I be tha oldest of nine siblings, an' grew up taking care of children, first ma brothers and sisters, then ma own. Once ma childrenz grew'd up and moved oot'o the house, I began taking in orphans—then started donations from local churches and charities. Ma talents for care ha' became well known, an parents throughout the city sent their sick children to Auntie for healing. It's ma lifes mission. I would'na trade it fur anything.
Sense Motive
Uraisa nods compassionately. "Auntie, is there anything we can do to help you with your mission? Rumors abound of problems in this area. How can we assist you?"
Uraisa seem completely satisfied with Aunties motives.
Everyone can make one try at the following;
You spot broken blood vessels in the eyes and nose, shaky hands, glassy eyes, and a fine sheen of sweat on the woman.
Aryllan watches Auntie Baltwin as she tells her tale.
Perception Check:
Aryllan sees Mistress Baltwin putting whiskey in her cup of tea. Looking closer:
Heal check
Aryllan sees broken blood vessels in her eyes and nose, her shaky hands, glassy eyes and her starting to sweet.
She turns toward Baladur and Diggans and points to the bottles. Then turns back to Mistress Baltwin.
Mistress Baltwin are you sick? I can not help but notice that your eyes and nose are red, your hands are shaking, you are sweeting and your eyes are slightly glassy. Should we fetch Ollysta Zadrian or one of the other great healers from the Temple?
Aryllan questions are sincere. She wishes to know if Mistress Baltwin is sick or if she is simply a drunk. We know that she does receive whiskey on a regular basis, does she use it to hide an underlying condition?
Perception
Heal
"Auntie, with all due repect, it seems you have been taking a large amount of your own 'medicine,'" Uraisa says, pointing toward the tiny flask the old lady was emptying. "You don't seem well at all either. Perhaps the stress of your job has been getting to you."
Volta saunters over to the small tea area and keeps an eye on Auntie. As her spiel goes on he raises an eyebrow.
Perception
He notes the signs of drinking.
Sense Motive
No, she's no saint that's for sure, there's more going on here.
As Auntie ends her story, Volta shakes his head slightly, clearly not buying what she's selling.
Auntie Baltwin, shrugs and breaths out a sigh, as one does when cought red handed.
Ha! Ya caught me. Seems most days you need it if you want to make it through the day in this house. These children are killing me! She then fesses up to drinking excessively and offers herself up to guidance and recovery. She begs that the children wont be affected and she can continue their care. For their sake.
Volta, shaking his head in obvious disbelief of what she is saying, says, "It would be better for the children if the temple found someone younger and fitter for the onerous task of taking care of these unfortunate children." Volta straightens up and continues."I am sure the gods and their servants appreciate your years of good service, a retirement is the least you deserve." The sarcastic presentation makes the true meaning of what he says obvious and also that he does not care that everybody knows it.
Robertus listens and watches, letting the others draw conclusions as the will. He nods a few times, though keeping his face non-expressive throughout the entire meeting. After Volta's pronouncement, he does speak up. "However, with your decades of knowledge, it wouldn't be wise just to let you retire. What if someone, say, Lady Zadrian, found you an assistant to relieve you of some of the stress you have. This assistant could be mentored by you, and after a couple years, you could retire knowing the person you trained will take care of the children just as well as you have."
"Ah! Very clever, Robertus," Uraisa exclaims, grasping her hands together. "Clearly, Auntie has many good years left to impart wisdom to the children here, who need her kindness in the worst way. You could do that, and you stress could be relieved by having someone to help with the day to day monotony that I am sure you have tired of after all this time."
Diplomacy
The old tired crone lets out a sigh as she sinks back into her chair, her shoulders and posture relaxing as one does after unloading a heavy burden. She look at her whiskey tea and sets it aside. Ya wisdom is ah great as ya beauty young lady. I'm just a tired old healer. I lived here ma whole life. Ay too old ta start over. Some hep may be just what fixes ma ails.
Auntie Baltwin agrees to have a new younger, more energetic aid come aboard while staying on as the guiding hand. She asks that you approach Ollysta Zadrian to assist finding someone, as she has always been so kind and generous.
Now you are free to move on to your next task. But fair warning. Your team may need to use skills beyond your diplomatic abilities . . .
As they walk away from Auntie Baltwin's, Baladur intones:
"'tis a good thing ye have done this day, the wee tykes need a younger hand lookin' over 'em. Plus it'll allow Ollysta to keep a much closer eye on the doing's 'ere."
Scratching his beard and glancing at the angle of the sun, the Desnan priest says Good time 'o the mornin' to pick up a snack. Lets hit the docks, tis not too far a walk from 'ere. Anyone know Guaril Karela or the Pickled Imp?"
Survival (Direction Sense) to head the right direction:
Volta files out with the others face clouded. At Baladur's comments he says."I just hope the kids are alright, I think the temple should probe deeper, I do not have a good feeling about Auntie, more is going on. Auntie played up age and booze as her trouble but I suspect greed and pride drives her. But as long as a close eye is kept here and the purposes of the shady gents are found out, things should improve."
Volta looks up in the sky gauging time. "Seems there's a bit of morning left, the curio shop it is then. There should be food peddlers all over the docks, some even edible."
Survival For time and orientation about directions.
Professor Diggans walks along grumbling things like Horrible woman and affront to my dignity and I wonder if the next place will have pie before subsiding into a gloomy silence on Delta's back.
Delta meanwhile will just be rolling his mechanical eyes at the gnome's whinging.
Despite the grumblings of her team, Uraisa was pleased, whistling a jaunty little tune as they walked along. Auntie is better than any other situation for these children. At least they have some semblance of a home now. Hopefully, the new addition will make things run even smoother.
"...and the first one to get to both Venture-Captain Ambrus Valsin and Lady Ollysta Zadrian will see these copper coins turn to silver coins." Robertus says to the pair of boys that approached Baladur when they first entered the orphanage. He hands each boy an envelope, as well as a pair of copper coins. "Ready, Set.." Before saying Go, he waits for the boys to secure the envelopes in a pocket or a pouch, then says "Go!"
He turns to the rest of the group, smiling. "I could go for a quick bite. Let's head to the docks and ask around. It shouldn't be too hard to find the Pickled Imp once we get down there." With that, Robertus marches resolutely toward the ocean, confident the docks will be between him and the water.
Aryllan notes everyone's comments. Smiles and nodes. Thinks learned from this adventure:
Uraisa is the definite diplomate of the group. Volta while young has talents of observation and I am sure other talents not shown yet. Robertus, the strong warrior, definitely the leader type. Baladur: Dwarf cleric warrior. Need to make sure he is with Uraisa when talking to general public. My money is on him in any fight. Professor Finnegan: I am sure the professor has talents I do not yet know. Delta is an interesting creature.
Aryllan follows the group outside and towards the docks.
Emerging from the Home for Recovery, you find the sun shinning brightly at about a hands width above the horizon.
Baladur's years in the city and vast experience allow him to know the quickest way to The Docks district. Volta makes a more youthful show of aligning his directions with the sun, the slant of the ground, sea breeze and many other survival techniques he has been trained with in recent weeks. Diggans and Delta seem content following their lead, discussing the mission, baffling equations and pie to anyone with an ear. Rpbertus quickly catches up to the group after recruiting a pair of willing Knights to courier the news back to the Grand Lodge. He also seem interested is visiting a food vendor along the way. The two ladies of the group walk along, deep in their own thoughts and reflections.
After an uneventful walk, including a stop for fruit and meat pies, you find yourselves in the open doorway of the curio shop known as The Pickled Imp.
This creepy shop contains myriad odds and ends, most bereft of any discernible use. A number of malformed creatures and creature parts bob in jars on a long, prominent shelf, a tiny fetal devil centered in this macabre lineup. The shopkeeper, a greasy-haired Varisian with a thin mustache, shouts from behind the cluttered counter: *image*
Ah yes, I see the Pathfinders have arrived. I’m glad Ambrus was able to lend a few of his new recruits to help me. Please come in and let me tell you what I need. Looking around as if to be absolutely certain no customers are browsing the aisles of knock-off Thuvian burial urns or supposed Azlanti porcelain, he begins again.
Well met. I am Guaril Karela. A friend of mine has a warehouse near here and he received a parcel on behalf of me and some of my associates, but there’s a problem. See, Master Gelbane 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. I heard tell from someone down at the docks that some creep was snooping around his warehouse just the other night, so I want to make sure nothing of mine was taken. He keeps all kinds of things, from beer to nails, in that old pelican, but every now and then he stores something really special. This is one of those cases.
Robertus pulls out a notepad and pen, taking notes as he does. As Karela finishes, Robertus takes a moment to ask a couple questions. "So you need us to check on what you have stored there? And, if I may be so bold, you wouldn't happen to know why the warehouse was seized, would you?"
A sly grim crosses the Sczarni's face. He speaks directly to Robertus in his thick accent.
Direct and to the point. With such confidence no less. Do I detect a glint of *Varisian* ancestry in your eyes?
To your first query. There’s a big crate marked with three crows arranged in a triangle. Inside that crate is a smaller container with a few books and papers in it. That’s the only parcel I’m interested in, and as far as I’m concerned, you can help yourself to the rest of the crate. Honestly, anything else you want in the place too. I’m sure that once things get sorted out, the city will seize most everything else anyway.
For your second. My associates and I often work with the Pathfinders when it comes to special relics and documents, getting them in and out of ports and across borders where the authorities ask too many questions. Most people don’t realize what they have and frankly many don’t deserve to have it, so sometimes we help take the goods off their hands.
Addressing all of you with a sweeping gesture of his arm.
If things work out well and you get this done, I’d be glad to talk with you more and help you out with any future endeavors, as long as you help me out too. I’m good at returning favors, trust me.
Looking Robertus dead in the eye.
Us Sczarni never break our word.
After a bit of wandering about and wolfing a light snack, Volta finds the shop with the others and strolls in. As his eyes adjust to the darkness he sees a shop full of junk and man inside who introduces himself as Guaril Karela. Could this guy live the stereotype more? Why doesn't he just put a sign out saying 'All crooks welcome, best fence in town.', for the gods sake? But he's an ally so... Volta's thoughts trail off as Guaril and Robertus speak.
Sense Motive
Is there anything he is NOT telling us? Some subtle agenda perhaps? Or just what he seems, money hungry and has use for the pathfinders for his own ends?
As events goes on in the shop, Volta will examine stuff in the shop. What a collection of junk for the gullible. Wait is that actually something?
Perception
Anything in the shop I spot?
Appraise
Anything here that seems misvalued or unlikely to be in such a shop?
Volta continues browsing but still pays attention to what is going on.
"What else can we expect to be in that particular crate? Are there any special protections that we should be aware of before we storm in there and grab the item?"
"Och, what sort o trap are ye sending us inta? Any guardians, traps, alarms? Whats t' stop the town guard from throwin' us in the gaol?"
Staring intently at the scarzni man, Baladur sizes him up:
Sense Motive
Robertus continues to take notes even as his comrades ask more questions. He doesn't answer the question, but that might be because he wants to listen to the answers.
Volta gives the shop a good through looking over. It appears to be what meets the eye. Nicknacks and curios of varying quality, as well as a few scattered practical goods like small tables, stools and the like.
To Uraisa he waives his hand in a polite but dismissive manor. What additional items my associates trade in is beyond my concern. I know only of my own goods.
Responding to Baladur's inquiry It's a rickety old building in poor repair and has two entrances. The main one, and another on the ocean side. It's an old pelican style warehouses, where the building is at the end of a long pier.
Those of you paying close attention sense he is not trying to deceive you.
He ends with reminding you that you are doing this for Ambrus Valsin and the Pathfinder Society. He speaks strongly about your duty through clenched teeth with narrowed eyes as he ushers you out the door and onto your task.
How do you proceed . . . .?
Aryllan listens from the back and watches the interaction between Robertus and the Sczarni. Second time this morning that a Sczarni has taken to Rovertus.
Before they turn to leave Aryllan speaks up. What does the symbol of the three crows on the box stand for?
Karela calls out to Aryllan as she leaves It is simply the seal of my associate
After a short walk through the docks region you arrive at your destination. 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 from the building’s windows and only the movement of gulls and pelicans stirs the scene.
The pier this pelican warehouse sits on stretches 100 feet from the boardwalk and the docks proper, and stands 15 feet above the water. The planks on the pier are sturdy but weathered.
Anyone with Knowledge;local(DC10), or Knowledge;Engineering, Nautical or similar would know;
Aryllan looks around to see if anyone is watching them or if there is anything out of the ordinary.
Perception check
Robertus looks around, looking for guards or...well, anything keeping an eye on the warehouse.
As soon as Robertus starts heading for the back of the warehouse Aryllan follows.
Uraisa hangs toward the back as she knew this was not her strong suit. There was no one to parley with here...she'd have to follow the other's lead.