"Our gate attendant. Pay him no mind."
Iskender can tell there's an evocation aura on the chest.
Iskender is content to wait another 20 seconds or so and see if he can figure out exactly what spell is going on here.
”Stay back for a second friends, while I see what’s going on here.”
Dilwyn, entirely out of his depth, stands as far back as is possible and lets Iskender do whatever it is he thinks he can do.
Iskender can't tell anything beyond the fact that there's an evocation aura on the chest.
Pay him no mind? Why is he chained up like that? You want us to go through a gate that the help is so unmotivated, you have to chain them to it? Kit shakes his head. This deal keeps getting better and better!
As Iskender examines the chest, Kit will say to their guide as he bounces his axe handle in his hands, I assume you want the chest in tact?
Iskender tells everyone, "Well, I don't know much about that trap, but I think I can get the box opened. I give it a good chance the trap goes off, so let's all get back."
Iskender pushes people back, and gets back himself. He pulls a small metal and wood object out of his pocket, and points it at the chest. He extracts a small mallet from the device, takes a deep breath, and rings the chime of opening...
... five times, until (hopefully), the chest is unlocked.
Dakkar stood a safe distance from the chest while Iskender rang his chime.
"If that doesn't work, I can always just saw it open with my claws. Works on a surprising number of things."
The first four times Iskender strikes the chime, it makes more of a clunking than a chiming sound. The fifth time, it rings clear, and the rods on the front of the box slide open, revealing a fairly ordinary padlock underneath.
Unfortunately the box seems to object to this, as a man-sized stormcloud forms in front of it and races over to Iskender.
The thundercloud keeps chasing Iskender... but the way to the real lock is open now.
"Trap handled! Now what?"
Iskender skitters around, "I'll handle this, you guys see about the chest!"
Kit thinks it is almost comical to see Iskender being chased around by a thundercloud but is ready to help out none the less. When Iskender tells him that he is fine, Kit will turn his attention to the padlock. He eyes it for the right angle and brings his axe to bear hoping to break off the lock without damaging the chest.
Kit visibly bends the lock with his blow, but it doesn't break... yet.
While Iskender is playing with his cloud, Kit will try again.
This blow just bounces off.
"If you're going to swing at it, either put your back into it or have a little finesse."
Dakkar wedges his claws into the gap in the padlock, before viciously ripping out along it. He doesn't go all-out, though. Why be angry at a lock?
[ooc]looks like that strength damage is being annoying[ooc]
Dakkar bends the lock a little along the point damaged by Kit, but it's still holding together. He can hear a ticking coming from the mechanism of rods around the lock, now that he's this close to it.
Iskender! Stop fooling around with that cloud and take a look at this!
Iskender pulls the chime back out and commences ringing it until the chest is unlocked.
After trying 4 times with the chime, Iskender tosses it on the ground, ”nope! Sorry!”
Kit says, Let me try again!
"Hmmm? This thing is ticking. Looks like we've got a time limit. Unless we really want to just wreck it."
Waiting for a moment when Kit isn't swinging, Dakkar practically leaps up on top of the box in order to get a better angle, before tearing into the lock with various appendages.
Kit's heavy swing chops through the lock, leaving nothing more for Dakkar to do.
You think we can take a quick peek inside before our chaperone comes back?
"It would be inadvisable not to, right?"
While Kit opens the box, Iskender casts detect magic to check over whatever was so important.
Within are a few small sacks, none of which radiate any kind of magic.
Before you can investigate further, Oulek opens the door. "You are done? Very good. We will return to Mr. Sarlu then."
Gah! How does he know? Kit thinks to himself. Lead on then! Kit says.
Dakkar once again considered Oulek's timing. Yeah, they were watching somehow alright. Not really a surprise, though, just good sense on their part really.
"Alright, might as well."
Oulek leads you back to Mr. Sarlu's room, leaving you only briefly in the antechamber to confer before bringing you in.
Oulek has scarcely left the room before the smooth voice again speaks to your minds.
Well done! You’re quite resourceful. And just the kind of individualsI need for this final effort. A few days ago, some disgruntled employees of mine stole something precious to me and now they hold it for an extortionate fee. I caught two of the miscreants, and I discovered a former lieutenant named Basher and his remaining accomplices are trying to hire more muscle before coming here to return my property and collect their ruinous ransom. I’d like you to convince them to hire the lot of you, earn their trust, and then turn on them when Basher attempts the exchange. I have no intention of paying his ransom, but I want my property back—and, for his betrayal, Basher must pay with his life.
You will, of course, be rewarded for your cooperation, as well as givien access to the Red Gate.
Ah! So you are asking us to murder in cold blood? Kit says with a questioning gaze.
If it soothes your consciences, I am certain he will fight back. Likely he will be in the midst of threatening me. The voice seems amused by your squeamishness.
This planet is crazy! Kit thinks to himself. Perhaps there might be some way to resolve this without bloodshed.
If this is the only way we can access the gate, then I guess you are leaving us very little choice! Kit says with rancor. Tell us where we can find this Basher.
Dakkar snorts. His draconic side was no stranger to blatant assault and robbery, but this still rankled a bit.
"I'm not sure I'd be the right choice for faking loyalty to someone else. If I'm going to kill someone and take their things, I usually just smash down the front door. But whatever."
I want my property back and I want Basher suitably punished. If you have another way to accomplish this, you are welcome to do so, but my property must be returned unharmed. He has, you see, promised to destroy it should I move against him.
We'll get your property back. Kit says purposefully leaving out any mention of punishing Basher. Where do we find this Basher?
You will find him in Baeboli's Emporium, where he is searching for enough mercenaries to feel confident returning here to try to collect his ransom. I will be very interested to know how you collect my property... assuming you do it in a way more suitable to your consciences.
There's a definite edge of amusement to this thought.
Oulek will see you out. Return with my property, and you shall have access to the gate.
Said personage opens the door and leads you out of the complex.
Once they are out of the hearing distance of Oulek and Sarlu, Iskender asks, "I trust that you all agree that 'murder for hire' isn't our plan for getting the mysterious thing back, right?"
Dakkar shrugged. "Hey, I can't really say much about killing things for profit. It's an ancient draconic tradition, after all. But would probably feel better if we at least investigated first. Maybe this guy really does deserve to be killed."
"Or we could get lucky, and have him try and kill us first. Self defense works for me. What angle do we play when approaching him?"
From what I have seen of this planet, it seems that at some point, someone will want to kill you! Kit states matter-of-factly as they walk to Baeboli's Emporium.
"I agree with Kit," Vashi said from where she was perched, chewing on a piece of flash-fried eel.
"Alright, I'm going to go investigate a bit. Tired of waiting around."
Dakkar went off to look for this person. He wasn't really sure what he was looking for, so stuck to just semi-wandering the area for now. Not really hiding yet, he half leaped and half flew along rooftops or higher ledges to get a good look at the place, and possibly identify who they were looking for by context.
As Dakkar walks away, Iskender turns to Kit and observes, "I feel good about this plan."
Kit nods, Me too! Besides, if anyone gets in Dakkar's way, he'll probably just eat them!