DM RichD's Council Of Thieves Campaign

Game Master Briccone

You must have important news for you to risk the shadow beasts!

Richard is glad to be back. "Ah yes. We followed some leads. The Devil Nuns weren't in the mood to talk, so we... made ourselves at home. Lorelei found Corina's ashes. She may be able to provide us greater leads."

"Ah, and Tal fought a mammoth of a beast. A creature of pure flame threatened to burn us to ash. Tal bravely stood at the top of a stairwell and fought the creature one on one!"

Perform(Oratory): 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (3) + 11 = 14

Richard clearly isn't feeling up to a long story, but he tries.

Tal waves his hand dismissing Richard. It was not nearly as epic as he makes it sound. He has a gift for words that embellishes every story. Why only Mera can twist words better I think. What matters though is that we were successful in our task and by returning at night we hope that we avoided detection. It would not do to have us seen leaving that place after the carnage that happened.

Well, I can't say I'll shed any tears for those assassins! What do you need to contact Coriana?

Lorelei shakes her head. "We need a quiet room, and silence. Then we need only light that foul candle amid Coriana's ashes. But we'll only have a limited number of questions to ask her. We'll need to decide on them ahead of time."

Looking around at her companions she asks, "Are you up for it tonight?"

Perhaps Mera can help. I do have a quiet room if and when you are ready.

Not one to ever miss a cue, a light skinned and raven haired woman strolls into the room with purpose. While the majority of the members of their tight knit group wear relaxed attired in the hideout, Mera does not. Dressed in one of her flashy white and scarlet red outfits she accessorizes with a delicately engraved silver headband and a half-full glass of red wine in her left hand.

"Perhaps Mera can help."

"Probably darling."

Making her way over to a chair on the far side of the room she sits down and makes herself comfortable. After sipping her wine she remarks, "But before we get on to that, I must tell you that these recruits you have assigned me to work with today simply will not do. I've given them over to Monday to work with starting tomorrow, I hope you don't mind."

Looking around the room she takes stock of Lorelei, Richard and Girolamo before issuing a soft "Hmm." to herself. Pursing her lips she turns to Tal and asks, "Now then, what is it you need assistance with?"

Tal sees Mera enters and is not surprised at her presence. She had a knack for appearing whenever her name was mentioned. Likewise he was not surprised by her having a drink in her hand. Waiting for her to get comfortable Tal elaborates a bit. That is an excellent question Mera as we don’t know exactly what we are dealing with. We have the remains of a person that we believe may give us some valuable insight about our next venture but we are limited on the number of questions that we can ask. Also we do not know exactly what information the deceased possesses.

Looking at the others, So what questions do we wish to ask? Do we ask about Delvehaven itself and any traps inside? Do we ask about Cugny’s Wedding at all? Do we inquire about the remains of any of the others?

After the events of the day, Richard is a bit tired. A gambling arena against devils. Women dedicated to the Nine Hells rather than simply let guests in. Oh, and the flaming behemoth that nearly engulfed Tal. Richard would love to go to sleep.

But then this beautiful woman walks in and introduces herself. Richard's energy level is suddenly restored.

"Richard Holysmith, at your service, Miss..."

Knowledge(Nobility): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14

Richard isn't completely sure of which family she comes from, but it's clearly a noble family. Probably minor house.

Mera tilts her wine glass around in a slow circle as she studies Richard Holysmith. This poor man wears exhaustion on his sleeves. Well, spending the entire day with Tal's tirelessly need to push on can certainly try the physical limitations of anyone.

When he introduces himself she pauses her wine twirl and considers his statement. Surely this is a ploy for attention and he knows who I am. Rising to her feet she clucks her tongue while shooting Tal an a feigned expression of reprimand. "Tal, you didn't introduce me?" She extends a gentle hand, "Why, where are my manners? Forgive me, Mera Wist-Thrune, of course. Pleasure."

When Tal explains the situation to her, she gives it a moments thought. "I see. What information do we have on this deceased individual? Our intent here to gain insight on Delvehaven?

Sherix chirps and flies right off of Richard's shoulder. She lands on Tal's and tries to find some purchase in his bulky suit of armor to stand on.

Another pretty distraction.

She nods as Tal mentions a plan. "Ask her about her time in Delvehaven, and maybe if she left behind some weapon or tool inside."

Lorelei nods at the woman, but doesn't bother to introduce herself or ask the woman's name. As Richard practically stumbles over his own feet to met her, Lorelei rolls her eyes and smirks.

"We're not just going into Delvehaven to please that Pathfinder tart, remember," she reminds the boys. "We believe Delvehaven may have a connection to the Shadow Beast curse. Delvehaven's defences are important, but I'd rather know if Coriana knows of any artifacts within Delvehaven or in her allies possession that has a connection to shadows or shadow beasts. After we find out what she knows about that then we can focus on the Lodge's defences and protections." After a moment of thought, she adds, "We may want to consider asking where Delvehaven's treasures are kept. Their vault may be hidden."

Mera takes note Sherix, caught off guard by th speaking creature. "Why hello there little one."

Tart, eh? This one has some spunk in her.

Turning to address the unknown woman now speaking, "I'm sorry, Coriana is who exactly? Our dead Pathfinder I presume? Should we be asking any questions about the other Pathfinders? Their deaths? "

Slowly working the room while she talks, she makes her way back to her seat again. "Do we have a timeframe for the death of these Pathfinder agents? Does the timing of their untimely demise coincide with the arrival of the shadow beasts at all"

So what are the five questions you want to ask Coriana?

I'll agree with the 5 questions Tal asked in the discussion thread.

"Ah yes, this is Sherix. She has accompanied my since my youth and can tweet in such a beautiful harmony. It's very inspiring. Also, she can speak and understand the common tongue. She is very shy, though."

Lorelei shakes her head. "Coriana is a dead Pathfinder, yes, but it's not her death that coincides with the shadow beasts. In fact, the shadow beasts didn't appear in Westcrown until well after Coriana died. The shadow beasts appeared after the Chelish government reopened Delvehaven seventy years after its initial closure. They poked around inside a bit, tried to steal Delvehaven's treasures, and promptly lost many of their men to gruesome deaths. Upon closing Delvehaven the SECOND time the shadow beasts appeared. It's the artifacts that they were after we're interested in."

Stepping forward, Lorelei enlightens her fellow rebels...

"Immediately before its INITIAL closure, Delvehaven welcomed home a Pathfinder Agent by the name of Donatalus Bisby, alongside his chronicler Ilnerik Sivanshin. The pair were the only survivors of an expedition to the depths of the Mwangi Expanse. They brought with them an ancient relic tied to a dualistic religion of light and shadow. This artifact was within Delvehaven at the time of Arodens death, and was likely still there when the Delvehaven was sealed up for the first time. We think, that when House Thrunes Agents went mucking around in there looting the Lodge decades later, it's this artifact they messed with. This artifact that caused the shadow beasts to appear. We know they wanted it and were actively searching for it in order to 'serve their needs for control.' That's a quote, by the way. "

Looking at Tal and the others she adds, "That's what we want to ask Coriana about. The artifact Bisby and Sivanshin brought into Delvehaven." With a smirk she adds, "She won't know a thing about the shadow beasts, because she was dead before they appeared."

Lorelei leans against a nearby table and strokes her chin in thought. "Sivanshin also brought back thorough records of the ill-fated expedition, which would likely contain thorough information on the artifact. After we ask about the artifact, it's worth asking Coriana about the journals."

"As for the other Pathfinders, we're most interested in Bisby and Sivanshin. But we know where they are. Bisby was sealed inside Delvehavens lower vaults--vaults we'd like to get in to, so we should ask about them and their defences. He died there, but Thrune's lapdogs never retrieved him. Coriana might know about his death. She outlived him. But Sivanshin's harder to get at. They say he fled to Nidal a week before Arodens death with a stolen relic. What that relic was, we don't know. We're set to get our hands on the fourth Pathfinders body tomorrow, after Tal fights in the Devildrome. It's the final Pathfinder that we need help locating. Loremaster Liriam. He'll have information on both the vaults, Bisby, and the artifact. He also wrote Cugny's Wedding--the cypher that I'm working on deciphering. If we ask about the location of any of the other Parhfinders, it's Liriam we should ask about."

"We need to find out what Coriana knows about the artifact Bisby and Sivanshin brought into Delvehaven, the lower vault's protections and what happened to Loremaster Liriam, in that order. We also are interested in the Lodge's defences and Sivanshin's defection, though I doubt we'll manage to ask about that."

Looking at Mera, she asks, "Feeling less lost?"

For the record, composing that on my tablet that's prone to crashing while back reading facts was absolute hell. Lol.

Thanks for the research!

"At least someone is thinking straight." Sherix flies and lands on Richard's shoulder. "You should pay more attention to her!"

Lorelei that was incredibly helpful, thank you.

Mera turns from Richard and Sherix to Lorelei as she begins to thoroughly lay out what they've uncovered and what they are seeking. By the time she is finished, she has Mera's full attention. Taking one last sip of her wine before setting the glass down on a nearby table, she quietly steeples her hands over her lap.

Looking at Mera, she asks, "Feeling less lost?"

Nodding her head she affirms, "Why, yes I am. Thank you for the detailed summary, you've outlined the facts exquisitely and I understand what you've been up to recently."

Rising to her feet she begins to walk out of the room while she states, "It sounds like we have some questions to Coriana, let's get to it then."

As she passes Arael, Mera reaches out and places her hand on the middle of her back. While looking in Lorelei's direction she remarks "This one seems far more competent that those hooligans you stuck me with. I think she's a keeper, well done."

Tal nods his head in affirmative at Lorelie’s Suggestions for questions. Go ahead with those questions as they are the best we can come up with at the moment. Hopefully we get some solid answers though and not more questions once we are done.

Lorelei smirks at Tal. "The living rarely give solid answers. I highly doubt the dead are any better."

Mera chuckles back at Lorelei's comment. "It's unfortunately Naberius isn't here to ask the questions. I swear that man could phrase a question such that there would be no way out of it that wouldn't be of assistance."

Taking note that Richard has come along yet, Mera claps her hands twice softly to get his attention. "Richard is it, yes? Come along, let's get to it now."

"Hmm? Oh yes." Richard follows along, with Sherix riding on his shoulder.

Arael leads you to a quiet room and closes the door behind him. You spread the ashes on the table and light the grave candle. The smoke from the candles form a visage of a young woman. She blinks several times.

A grave candle? How quaint. I suppose you have questions you would like to ask me, so ask away. I loathe conspirators and secrets and hoarders of knowledge, but more than anything, I despise those who would destroy or attempt to alter history, like those that sealed Delvehaven.

On Bisby and Sivanshin

Ah yes! My good friends Ilnerik Sivanshin and Donatalus Bisby. They had a falling out in the lodge’s final months of operation. Ilnerik left without a word a few weeks before Aroden’s death, and in the days that followed, it became apparent that Ilnerik had taken with him half of the strange relic he and Bisby had recovered from the Mwangi Expanse. Bisby himself had grown increasingly paranoid and protective of the remaining half of the strange relic. I had only seen it complete once. It was a gold and black thing with two heads—a bird head and a bat head. As as far as I know, Bisby remained inside the lodge after it was sealed.

On Loremaster Liriam

After Delvehaven was sealed, I managed to smuggle out a fair amount of equipment for the Pathfinders to use, and I stashed this equipment at a place called Cutlass Cove, where several years earlier I had assisted Loremaster Liriam in creating an extradimensional space that could be accessed through a glowing door that floats on a wave in the middle of the bay at night. I know that the door will open only if someone brings a special Pathfinder compass known as a wayfinder to the site, but that there were also other requirements to make the door appear. Liriam wrote a poem called “Cugney’s Wedding” that contained exact coded instructions on how to trigger the door’s opening. Unfortunately, I can't remember the poem word for word.

Based on these answers, what do you want your final three questions to be?

"What defences and traps might we encounter inside Delvehaven and its vaults?"

Keep it going Lorelei. You have a good grasp of the situation and the research done as well. I am good with whatever questions you ask.

Tal sits spellbound as the spirit comes to and divulges more information than expected about the questions thus far. He was expecting more like a 5 word answer to each.

]Tal sits spellbound as the spirit comes to and divulges more information than expected about the questions thus far. He was expecting more like a 5 word answer to each.

Yeah, they probably should be short, cloudy answers and Coriana should have gotten a will save to resist the spell. I didn't roll the will save because my luck is that I would roll a 20 and I believe this information is important. I think it helps, especially in a pbp to get enough info out there to get the PC's motivated and know what they have to do.

I'll wait for an answer to the third question before posing the last two, if you don't mind.

I would add also that RichD is an excellent DM to take note of such intricacies and provide maximum benefit for his players! :)

Mera stands against the wall behind Lorelei, her hands folded before her. She takes mental notes of the replies from the young woman. Indeed, these answers were certainly more than she had anticipated and eagerly gobbles up the information. While Mera could certainly speak here as Mera speaks when she wishes to, she allows the Chelaxian questioner to continue her work for the moment.

Well Bisby was fond of creating soulbound dolls. A craft he learned in the Mwangi Expanse She says with a laugh.

There were traps in the foyers. For one you had to be no more than 5 ft apart and the other you had to walk halfway down backwards and then half way forwards. In order to get to the basement where we keep, or is it kept? Who knows! our treasures, you must go to the summoning chamber. The entrance is under a stone desk. There are Azlanti runes on a door and on the desk, you must press the letters to spell, 'Behold the Amber Arca'. Do it right or face a hellcat. That was all there was at the time. Who knows what House of Thrune has doone to defile Delvehaven so go at your peril!

K:Arcana: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22

Mera remembers stories of soulbbound dolls from a tale that Mater Larrs told her of Irrisen. She leans in close to her companions and whispers to her companions, "Soulbound dolls are small, sentient dolls that contain a fragment of another creature's soul. The binding process strips most of the individuality from the soul, making a new soulbound doll an almost blank slate. Despite this process, fragments of the original creature's personality remain. Soulbound dolls can serve as companions, surrogate children, servants, guards, and sentries, as desired by their creators. Creators of soulbound dolls typically take care to take soul fragments from people whose personality traits the crafters wish to see in their dolls."

Tal listens with interest as he tries to see the threat of the soul bound dolls. So maybe I am missing something but how are they dangerous to us? Do they have any magical powers or overpowering strength? It sounds more like they are used for servitude than anything truly damaging. The hellhuond sounds like it could be a hassle though.

So maybe I am missing something but how are they dangerous to us?

DM rubs his hands together anxiously. Nope. No danger at all!

Savonarola shakes his head.

"A hellhound would be less of an issue. The hellcat summoning trap, on the other hand, will be problematic. It sounds like this place is thoroughly trapped, and warded; I am glad that we are acquiring as much advance intelligence as we can, before heading in..."

Richard sits politely and watches the sights unfold. I am glad she is willing to speak to us. Honestly I would ask where she wanted her remains left, but these questions are precious.

@ GM: Did it seem like she already told us everything she knew about relic when she spoke about Bisby and Sivanshin?

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (16) + 15 = 31

If not:
"What do you know about the strange relic that Bisby and Sivanshin brought back with them from the Mwangi Expanse?"

If it does she instead asks:
"Where are Sivanshin's journals and records of the expedition to the Mwangi Expanse?

If anyone has an idea for a final question, go for it. Yes, even if it's asking where she wants to be buried. lol I'm fine with that.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (13) + 15 = 28

Ack! Can the dead lie to us? Don't they have to be forthright?

Tal is good with putting the remains to rest in a location desired by the dead.

Lorelei Truth-speaker wrote:

[dice=Sense Motive]1d20+15

Ack! Can the dead lie to us? Don't they have to be forthright?

We posed a question about Bisby and Sivanshin, and she mentioned the relic. We didn't ask about the relic. I was curious if I could tell if she'd told us everything about the relic already while talking about Bisby and Sivanshin so I didn't waste a question by asking about it.

@Lorelei: Yes you feel that she has told you all she knows about the relic.

She shrugs. I would assume the journal went where Sivanshin went after him and Bisby had their falling out.

Lorelei looks back to the others, and gestures them forward, allowing someone else the final question.

I'm totally fine with Richard or Tal asking how she'd like to be lain to rest.

"Ahem. I think we have most of the answers we need, save an important one. We have your ashes. How should we lay you to rest?"

Lorelei gives Richard a surprised look, then smiles.

Richard's question catches Mera off guard and she wrinkles her forehead in confusion. These questions were definitely a valuable commodity and to use one of them for burial location is akin to giving away a wish!

The smokey image says, Why in Delvehaven of course. But only when it is in the hands of proper Pathfinders and not those Thrune impostors! she says with a wink. With that, the image disappears.

Crossing her arms, Lorelei leans against a nearby table top. "Well that was an interesting experience," she remarks. "Plenty to think on."

After a few moments, she stands. "I'm going to get back to decrypting that horrid poem. Do we have business to tend to before heading to the Devildrome?"

When we're ready to go our separate ways, Lorelei's going to spend some time tonight and as much as she can tomorrow trying to decipher Cugnys Wedding.

Linguistics: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (14) + 10 = 24

"Thank you. We'll hold onto your ashes for now. Be at peace."

Richard seems content, and Sherix keeps quiet. For him, that's a win.

"That artifact worries me. I wonder which half stayed behind and which one went out of control. We'll have to prepare for the Devildrome. Ah, Lady Wist-Thrune: the proprietor has taken a fancy to you. I assume you won't mind being one of our esteemed guests there?"

Mera takes interest in the decryption of the poem. "Unfortunately horrible poems and terrible plays seem to have become a speciality of mine. If you don't mind, I'll accompany you for a few hours and see if I can lend any insight. Master Crowix always said I had a keen eye for these type of things, whatever that meant."

If possible I'll assist Lorelei in translation for a few hours.

Linguistics:Aid: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17

Turning towards Richard's subtle request to have her along, she casually strolls up to him and places both of her forearms on his shoulders. Lookup up to him she smiles and says"Why I'm honored, it would be my pleasure."

Looking over her shoulder to Tal she instructs, "I'm staying in tonight, love. No need for an escort home."

Turning back to Richard she offers a wink of her left eye and pushes off of him and moves over to throw her arm around Lorelei. "Girls night, how fun! I'll meet you in the library? I'm going to grab another bottle of wine, I brought an entire crate over."

TAl yawns tiredly as the questions were over. Yes they maybe could have asked a better final question but they had gotten enough leads and information to follow as it was. Given time Lorelei, Mera, and Richard would likely solve Cugny's Wedding. If not then there was still the bust at the Devildrome that they could ask for help with. Thinking of which, Yeah Mera, I will have to fill you in on the Devildrome and its owner. A real charmer of a guy. Be careful though or you might find your ex-fiancé was a real bargain.

When Mera looks to Tal and tells him he is not needed he had to bite his lip against a retort that would do not good. Of course we are not going tonight. It is the middle of the night right now and I am going to sleep. Anything she needs can wait till the sun is up. Instaed he waves her off as he goes to get his armor off and crash for the night. Why or how those others could manage to stay up at this rate was beyond him. Then again they didn't have to take on a fire demon and almost get fried to a crisp.

Richard can barely hide his blush. "W-well, time to learn about a wedding!"

Linguistics(Aid): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (19) + 5 = 24

"Oh geez..." Sherix chirps and flies away from Richard as Mera suggests a tantalizing tro.

"Good night Tal. I'll try to keep them in check."