Darkest Corners volume 2

Game Master Harakani

The halfling eyes the guards up and down. Given his stature is short even for a halfling this turns out to be mostly up.
"Well, hello! Can I help?"

Per: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (18) + 12 = 30

Sir, we're with the Guard and we're wantin' to ask everyone here about one of the neighbours. Got very good reason to think that eryone here is in danger and any help you could give would be much appreciated

Diplo: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (3) + 13 = 16

"Is this about that adventurer downstairs, or Mr Mysterious at the bottom?" the cleric seems more curious than afraid. He also doesn't offer to let you in. "I'm afraid people here pretty much keep to themselves."

Mr.Mysterious at the bottom I'm afraid sir. We tried to talk to 'im but turns out that where there should be steps is just rubble. Anything you could let us know would be 'ppreciated

Diplo: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (13) + 13 = 26

"I've only ever seen him twice." the halfling shrugs apologetically "When he moved in, and just before the rocks. The first time he was getting 'the tour'. The second time I went downstairs because I heard him arguing with someone at three in the morning. I was going to yell at him, but when I discovered he was talking to himself I decided to leave the crazy guy alone."

"Huuuuuuh. That's very interesting, thanks for your help. Well guys, plan safety inspection?" Diene ponders for a moment before turning to her team.

Isama nods at the Halfling. Thank you sir, Really 'ppreciate your assistance. We'll be on our way. Suggest you hunker down for the next little while

When the halfling's door shuts she turns to Diene.

Well boss, I figger we try and set up an ambush. We hide ourselves and when we see him we jump 'im. I can sic a swarm on 'im and I'm sure Daria's got some tricks too to try and keep him from doing some magic to escape. He's being real cautious though and if he manages to get away then we've got the construct's go ahead to bring in the demo guys to clear out the unauthourzied rubble and we can get in and investigate his home at least.

"Well, we did get an official complaint. I don't even see a reason to hide. Let him come to us, not suspecting anything. We'll simply call in the clearing constructs, with two of us overseeing the work and handling paperwork, officially. If he does not know we are on to him, he may well inquire what's going on, or complain about what we're doing...even try and bribe us to get his modifications legalized in a hurry. He tried very hard to keep what he's been doing a secret...I doubt he'd risk open confrontation with the guard, even fire wardens, in front of witnesses, unless pushed to do so. If he thinks we're just here for some bureaucracy, I think we'll be safe until he learns otherwise."

Daria looks around, thinking:"I think Diene and Isama would make for the best Fire Wardens(Since those are usually teams of two...). You both have a sort of presence, of personality...good cop and bad cop, you know? You'd make a great team. Ophelia could hide with the clean-up constructs, acting as a kind of forewoman and humanoid interaction model...I doubt he's very familiar with how things are done in that regard. And I can act as a child playing on the streets(He basically has no realistic chance to find that one out) . That should cover all approaches, too. Ophelia could keep watch down near the rubble, the two of you up at the entrance of this complex, and me on the most likely approach here(whatever we deem most likely...a lively main street, a back street...just give us an arbitrary DC number and roll a d100 to check if we guessed right, no need to go into detail there)...one of us sees him, use the message to warn the others...hopefully he won't approach me in this plan...if he first contacts Ophelia, she can lead him up to Diene and Isama...if he contacts the Fire Wardens, that's you two, then I can try and sneak up from behind and catch him off-guard with a Silence-Emanation that will hinder his casting and be your signal to grapple him."

Looking around some more, Daria starts ruffling her hair up a bit, pondering:"Of course, he could decide he'd rather flee, but he went to some effort to secure his hideout here, and I think he may not have that much money left to find a new lair...at the least, we'll get access to his old residence, but I think we'd have a very real chance of getting him to actually come to us, AND getting the jump on him when we arrest him...sorry, I was thinking aloud and kept babbling...what do you guys think?"

"Solid plan, let's make it happen. Call in for the constructs, but don't make it an emergency call, we'll wait here until they arrive, just in case he shows first." Diene cracks some knuckles in anticipation.

Perception: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (20) + 13 = 33

Disguise To Look Like a More Plain Firewarden instead of notable outlaw turned special squad member: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (13) + 17 = 30

Isama looks pretty plain already but..

Like not needin' to hide. No good at that anyways. Yeh. I can go with that.

Okay, first time doing this but I'm going to use Thousand Faces to alter Isama into a bookish looking gnome to be less threatening. Seeing as it's like alter self. I think this gets Isama a +2 bump to Dexterity?

Isama waves a hand in front of her face and in one of the swings changes into a gnome with frizzy hair wearing what looks like a firewarden uniform and large glasses.

You got a sign yer going to give when you see 'im come in Mia?

Rather then trying to figure out exactly how to slip back smoothly I'll just make my rolls and take it from there : )

Disguise: 1d20 + 6 + 1d6 ⇒ (14) + 6 + (3) = 23

Perception: 1d20 + 15 + 1d6 ⇒ (15) + 15 + (4) = 34

1 point of inspiration spent on the Disguise roll.

While messing up her hair, Mia's Armor shimmers and turns into a young girl's outfit, complete with a fluffy animal printed in front.:"Well Isama, right now, we still got my message active, and it will be a good while longer. After that, it may be heard to give early warning, but if I pack up and start moving before the clean-up-crew is done, that'll be because of him."
Disguise as human child: 37 = 37
Considering what she knows about the area, and the magic and history of this mark, she then picks a spot on the side of the street, in the shadow of a house, with a good overview.
KN Arcana: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (16) + 12 = 28 (for a +2 bonus)
KN Local: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (15) + 12 = 27 (for another +2 bonus)
Unpacking some Marbles and starting to play with them, Daria will, with practised ease, divide her attention between the solo game she's playing, and observing her surroundings.
Perception Take 10: 10 + 13 + 4 = 27
Active spells are Heightened Awareness, See Invisibility(from a Scroll), Message, and before, Detect Magic scanning each area. Omitting that one now due to concentration requirement.

Assuming very discrete Message to keep in contact
The constructs arrive and much of the rubble starts to become moved.
Diene and Ophelia both get the feeling something is watching them from the mouth of that dark pipe, though they see nothing there.

If you do want to do something, say so.

stealth: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (20) + 10 = 30
It is about half an hour later when Mia senses something strange from an alley on the next street over. She hustles over there and is just in time to see an older woman stepping through a large black disc hovering unsupported a few inches above the ground. A second later the disc vanishes.

About the same time Opehlia and Diene hear very faint sounds emanating from the pipe - sounds almost like muffled conversation. The sounds are difficult to hear over the noise of the constructs clearing the area.

The area is almost clear. The door has been exposed, though about half covered in rubble. The pipe can be seen to have been pushed through the door and fixed in place, presumably before all the rubble was added.

KN Arcana: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (12) + 12 = 24
KN Religion: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (5) + 12 = 17
KN Nobility: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (3) + 12 = 15
Yeah, well, I could only beat that DC with my Take 20(which I already used) or a roll of 18+...not likely...they are consecutive and all using DC 30, right?

"I think our little bird may be back in the nest...some weird portal-thingie up here...just saw an old woman step through before it vanished, so he may be entertaining guests. Please advice, should I hold position or join up with you?"

Sorry, heck no. IF you get the first one, the rest all falls into place. All you'd need is trained. DC is crazy high for the first one, but I think that's the canon DC.

"Hold position, watch that spot, it might be their escape route. We'll need you watching that in case they try to escape when we confront them."

Diene decided to wait on attempting the door is fully clear, figuring some routine rubble clearing crew wouldn't try to bust through the door when it was only half cleared, as much as she wanted to.

Assuming no one does anything about being watched from the pipe

Don't sound good Isama mutters and, taking out her wand, taps the three guardwomen downstairs.

Two minutes +4 Wisdom

We don't want to tip our hand...

Would Owl's Wisdom show up in a way that our other gear wouldn't? If so Isama will stop if Diene says so

Diene and Ophelia both get the feeling something is watching them from the mouth of that dark pipe, though they see nothing there.

Isama is not aware that you are being watched. But regardless, she could assume that he may scry on what is happening outside, as I'm pretty certain he's hearing the clearing bots...so she MAY rethink acting out of the ordinary until Diene gives a go...@Isama, I think it's less about the magic, and more about the act of buffing up...if someone or something IS watching you, how'd they explain this in their mind?

Imagine your mailman chuggs a couple potions before approaching your doorstep. In what world do you NOT go "Hmm.. someone shapeshifted into the mailman and he's about to attack."

Yeah, wand use is unusual in cleaning crews. On the other hand, you do have some magical gear, which is unusual. Will assume Diene stops you.

Shortly afterwards a voice echoes out through the pipe "Who are you people? What are you doing?"
Potentially could bash the door in at this point - hard but not impossible. Otherwise a few more minutes will see it 'clear', or a few rounds could sweep enough debris far enough back to let it open.

And we probably have a bunch of other stuff laying about that gives us away ... Would it be okay to assume that we put most of our weapons out of sight at least :P?

Odd. Is he watching?

"The city watch. Remedying a reported fire code violation." Ophelia replied blankly at the half-covered door.

The fire wardens are also drawn from the city watch - correct? Otherwise this sentence above doesn't really make sense and I'll probably should have mentioned less 'city watch' :P

"Additionally: you appear to be trapped underneath the rubble! Hang in there Sir/Madame - your rescue is on the way!"

Because whomever is speaking is clearly trapped underneath alot of rubble. And it would be very unprofessional of us if we didn't excavate them asap, right team ?=)

Cool. Isama is just really really freaked out by mind control. But I'll assume Diene did a head shake to get Isama to put her wand back

Technically, no one ever informed you that you felt like you were being watched, but sure.

Per: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (14) + 12 = 26

Daria will head on over to where the portal was, and start playing with her marbles again, very close to the spot(I expect it's some indentation of a less-travelled street, a dead-ended side-road or the like...so she'd likely not be in the way of anybody there, meaning it's a prime place for such a game.)
"Understood...if they try and flee, I will do my best to delay them and buy you time, or try and trail them if I fail to hold them."
Would start a social interaction "Oh wow, so cool, much Wizard?", or use stealth to follow...why oh why did I take blood biography instead of invisibility. Evil disappearing Castor made me do that...I do hope he's fine, though.

damn. Lost post

The guard is the military, the police and the fire brigade.

I will assume you are all "in disguise"

"What? Fire... I'm not trapped, you stupid auto-moron! It's.. it's security rubble. I - AH! why am I arguing with a construct."
The voice goes quiet for a moment, when it speaks again it sounds sly
"Get me your operator."

Isama looks at Diene and Ophelia and motions to her head and mouths He's gonna screw with our heads! What do we do?

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (16) + 7 = 23

"I'm sorry, please hold."

Ophelia replied in a flat tone and tilted her head to the side as if thinking - or at the very least processing information. It does take a little while until she continues to speak.

"There appears to be no construction permit submitted to the city planning office about 'security rubble' at this address. Given the unregistered structure, live operators will not enter the structure until basic safety standards are ensured, barring an emergency. Would you like to file for a building permit retroactively?"

Basically I'm thinking two (hinted) options; file for a building permit retroactively which will simply be Ophelia stated that 'filing noted, please wait 4-8 months for processing' after going trough a long time consuming and made up formula.

The other being to actually get the inhabitant to claim an emergency (to get an live operator!). Then we can justify taking precautions for our protection as well as *uh* ways to quicken our entrance :P

Or lastly if the voice doesn't want to cooperate, we can send in Isama directly (also if you want to jump in directly, feel free to do so of course! :) )

Holding position until Ophelia's ploy works or doesn't.

Diene rolls her eyes at Isama, apparently either not understanding or not caring.

Room Service: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (7) + 8 = 15

Nope, the room service is not strong with this one. You better murder that bluff check.

Mia mentally winks at Diene...."why'd you only roll the Initiative? You still lack the break check" ^_^

Bluff: 1d20 + 10 + 10 + 1d6 ⇒ (11) + 10 + 10 + (2) = 33

Expending one point of inspiration also!

"...and I'll need your written signature to start the motions to investigate the matters of your appeal of the relaxation of the fire-safety standards for your structure ..."

Small note: I think that nice Mask of Stony Demeanor that Ophelia has (for +10 to lie, +5 to feint and -5 to pass secrets) has been nerfed somewhat/somehow since its original printing. Haven't looked into it just yet (mostly due to lazyness :P) but I'm going by the original printing at the moment. Will look into what has changed : )

"Oh for the love of Aroden!"
There is a grinding noise and the door swings open, revealing a distressed young man that matches the description you have to a tee. He fumbles at a pocket to produce a vial of ink and a quill as the door opens.

The feeling of being watched returns.

"Give it here then, you stupid metal moron!" he states, exasperated, holding out a hand "Come on. Give it to me."

"Boogaloo, I didn't think of anything cool to say!" Diene runs as fast as she can into the doorway to prevent it from closing. "Everybody do the things!"

perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 2 = 18
init: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6
Okay, not caught by surprise. Beat a 6 to go before the higher-level wizard.
Isama and Diene can take a movement action to get through into the antechamber. 5ft step for Ophelia. At the moment Ophelia is in the same area as a bunch of highly expensive constructs.

Init: 1d20 ⇒ 4

....

Wait no. Can't do Swarm as it's one round casting time and we really need to cause him some damage to hopefully disrupt his concentration. Isama has +6 init so goes first. Will Ophelia go first as well? Should we rush him and hit? We should dismiss the evacuation constructs. They've done their job.

Round 1

Ophelia takes a moment to take in the scene, quickly weighting her options. Settling for the easiest one, she steps in close to the mage and grabs his outstretched hand (hopefully not passing trough it if it is an illusion or something!). I am fairly sure I am now supposed to pummel him to the ground. I have to work on that ... Maybe I ought to ask Diene?

Grapple!: 1d20 + 7 + 3 ⇒ (11) + 7 + 3 = 21

Move action to use Studied Combat (+3 to hit/damage in melee vs mark), 5-foot step inside, Standard action to Grapple.

If the mage looks particularly dexterous or beefy for his class, she'll use up two points of inspiration for an extra +1d6 on the grapple roll

Ophelia has a CMD of 20 to escape from. She forces concentration checks to cast spells with a DC of 17* - and only spells without Somatic components can be cast.

As the mark is currently not armed - and flatfooted (as he hasn't acted yet!) he will probably not get an AoO against Ophelia either.

*Unsure if bonuses on To Hit translates into the CMB for concentration check purposes. (They do work when one is actually doing the manoeuvring itself, as that is an attack roll.)

Round 1
Dropping her disguise Isama moves in and, seeing the man in a grapple, decides to help Ophelia resist any mind control tricks the wizard might pull.

Stand down. You're under arrest!

Move Action, move down the stairs to Ophelia, trying to stand so she's next to wizard and also leave space for Diene to come in.
Standard Action Cast Prepared Wand Owl's Wisdom on Ophelia

Hearing that the assault is underway, Mia also drops the act. Placing her whole bag of marbles on the floor where the footprints are, she then presses into a corner nearby, trying her best to blend into her surroundings. Lastly, she stares intently at the location, ready to cast silence the moment a portal appears, her crossbow ready in her other hand.

Initiative: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11
Stealth: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (12) + 17 = 29

Using childrens toys(Marbles) as an improvised "Grease" effect on the area he'll step out of the portal. I'd expect stepping through and finding oneself stepping on marbles could well result in falling prone. Then stepping into a corner on the opposite side from where the footsteps enter/exit the portal(so I'll be behind anybody coming through). Crossbow is loaded(with a normal bolt) and ready, and I'm readying an action every round to cast silence if a portal appears.

Ophelia grapples the suspect.
Desperately the young man tries to get out, shouting out strange words.
concentration dc 21: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (10) + 11 = 21
wow. Rules lawyer time. Given it specifies a duration for the bonus, I think it applies during his round as well. That'll push the DC up to 24.
Nothing happens
everyone is up

Mia continues guarding the "exit".
Ready action to cast silence if a portal appears.

Grapple(Maintain): 1d20 + 7 + 3 + 5 ⇒ (18) + 7 + 3 + 5 = 33

Grapple(Tie up?): 1d20 + 7 + 3 + 5 - 10 ⇒ (2) + 7 + 3 + 5 - 10 = 7

Ophelia maintains a firm grip around the young man's hands, but doesn't manage to restrain him further.

"Please stop resisting Sir."

Diene moves behind the young wizard, chugging the potion of see-invis.

"Alright, you're really really surrounded. Might wanna come quietly."