We could say that she commissioned it and we are delivering it, it is a gift from her suitor...ect. Since Gaius will be telling the lie come up with something else, as long as we are all on the same page. Actually if Gaius would give us each a Copper piece we could say that he paid us to accompany him so we don't have to lie.
Since the city is in turmoil and we are armed men looking for a specific place and person who is the subject of the turmoil we can use it as a cover story to anyone that we might talk to, and give us a non-threatining reason to be there.
We don't know what kind of support network (aka lookouts/bodyguards) or reputation she has around her home. I would rather not rise the ire of the neighbors and turn them into a mob against us if at all possible.
A Gentleman (aka Gaius) and his 2 body guards (aka: Odric and myself)delivering a gift to the lady who caught his eye is a mostly plausible story.
Gaius provided a stealth roll because his Dungeon Master asked for one.
Leather Armor? You want me to come off like a gentelman trying to get laid by gifting Leather Armor? :)
Armor works on dwarven women
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After painstaking deliberation and a couple stops at the arms outfitter, the quintet makes their way over to the Midlands. The unrest is clear. On more than one occasion you see what amounts to sadism as Hellknights beat back demonstrators. The temptation to stop is strong, but the long game in bringing peace requires Trinia delivered to the Field Marshal....
...You come to the apartment building. Like many in Korvosa, it's a tight squeeze, and her apartment can't be more than 15-20 feet wide. With confidence in the plan, each member takes position. Just as Gaius fixes his gear (to secure the most advantagous arrangement for the lady), the sound of someone walking inside the apartment breaks the semi-intentional silence.
...Gaius knocks on the door, setting off an alarm!
It's a Thunderstone! Torag's taint! Gaius tries to turn away and avoid the clap. FORT DC 15: . HA! Nice try!
The Whip of Calistria kicks open the door, just in time to see a woman (a girl?) fly through a secret hatch in the ceiling...
...and into the line of site of Ferox and Morkeleb!
A quick shout down to the duo on the stairs alerts them to the situation, and another alerts Grym and Bucho.
Now, the game and the chase are afoot!
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When you see the battlemap, you will each begin on a "square" representing an obstacle. On your turn you may spend a standard action overcoming an obstacle. You may take a move action to cross to the next "square". (So in one round you can complete and advance to the next square.) If you're ambitious you may take a Full Round Action and conquer BOTH obstacles. If you succeed, you'll SKIP a square.
We move in Initiative order:
Ferox:
Odric:
Grym:
Gaius:
Morkeleb:
Sandor:
Trinia:
Anyone with a speed of 20' takes a -2 on checks to overcome obstacles. Speeds over 30' gain +2 for every 10'.
You can still shoot her or cast spells, but remember that means you're stopping instead of chasing. If she is 3 cards away she has cover.
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In the event that Trinia makes it past the final obstacle without being taken down or caught, then she escapes past your ability to chase, and you'll need to hope that the tracker among you can pick up the trail.
Here is the battle map. There is a blank square for being on the stairs. This still counts as a "square" but it's still one round to bypass it. The chase mechanic may seem complicated, but you guys will pick it up quickly. Every round that you fail to advance, you gain a cumulative +1 to overcome the obstacle the next round. (Also, I failed to mention. If you try to skip a card by overcoming both obstacles and fail EITHER by more than 5, you slide back 1 card.)
Map is here
Initiative Repost:
Odric
Ferox
Trinia
Gaius
Grym
Sandor
Morkeleb
Gaius! This is no time for a Rusty Drainpipe! Odric curses. Under his breath, Damn Callistrans, always... well whatever it is they do.
OK, so Odric is in the stairwell outside her door. He goes into the apartment and chases her through the secret hatch in the ceiling.
Acrobatics to climb the pipe? there is a pipe?
Full move - across the pothole in the roof.
Odric thinks he now skips a card and is past Trinia on the clothesline?
This is weird. but cool.
I know I go last in Init, but my actions won't affect Trina herself.
Sandor curses at the fleet lass, and then remembers that we can talk to each other from Morkelb's spell.
Lads this is going somewhere where I am not. I will stay here and search the house. Please let me know if she is heading back.
First I shut the door, and prop a chair in front of it. Then I will search every square of this house. I am not to concerned with actual valuables, but will note them. I am mostly looking for any evidence about the king's death, especially any journals/writings/spell books and the such.
I will take 20 on each square for the search so that is a 25 search check.
If I need to disable any devices here is a roll.
Disable Device:
ROUND 1
IF SHE'S CLOSE ENOUGH (30'), I'll cast Daze on her. Will DC 17 or take no actions for 1 round
IF SHE'S TOO FAR AWAY (beyond 30') I'll use my staff to cast Expeditious Retreat on myself.
since that's a standard action, I can't advance further in either case on round 1
Ferox pulls a Tanglefoot Bag out of his backpack.
He calls on the Abadar's Judgement of Justice on Trinia, knowing that only justice can help her and save the city. (Swift Action)
He lobs the Tanglefoot Bag at Trinia.
Ranged Touch Attack (assuming she is within 30'):
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Each card is a 30'.
Round 1
Ferox hurls the bag at the escaping bard. The bag explodes on a chimney a split second too late. Trinia dives over the hole in the roof and dashes to the next building.
Gaius, your turn.
Map at the start of Gaius's turn is here
ROUND 1
Gaius makes quick use of the rusty drainpipe before it breaks away!
Acrobatics:
He's fast enough, and moves up onto the roof. He finds himself standing next to Ferox and Morkeleb and a large Pothole, watching Trinia leap over the Collapsed Roof and prepare to confront the Clothesline.
Gaius lets a wolf-whistle slip as he watches the bard move. Yum.
Round 1
Grym curses, certain the only reason the bard went up to the roof was because he was covering the street. The ranger drops Bucho's leash and takes off giving chase after the fleet bard. Grym calls the dog to follow and hopes for the best.
The ranger is speeding toward a fruit cart in his path. He motions with his arms and hollers for the vendor to move his cart.
Intimidate roll
The quick moving ranger grabs a side of the cart. Though Grym lacks the massive arms and chest that make up much of Odric's bulk, Grym does have powerful legs and back. He flexes and shoves the cart.
Strength check
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Grym shouts a command at Bucho, but the ranger has yet to develop a truly deep and near empathic relationship with the dog. Bucho enjoys himself some free fruit. Still the ranger vaults and pushes his way up to the drainpipe in the blink of an eye!
Morkeleb, by the time you cast your spell she is 60' away from you. Your Expeditious Retreat grants you a +6 on all checks to overcome obstacles.
This is the map at the very top of Round 2.
Begin Round 2!
Here ya go:
Nobility:
Engineering: (untrained)
Appraise: (add +2 for Precious metals and gems)
Odric climbs the drainpipe in an acrobatic fashion, before it breaks away.
Then he appears on the street in order to jump cross a pothole . His mighty leap is so mighty, he leaps over a collapsing roof to land near a clothesline next to Trinia.
why isn't there a separate series of obstacles for ground and roof level?
I guess I misread the system. I thought speed of 30 gets +2.
this feels like chutes & ladders more than d&d, Odric is apparently still in the rusty drainpipe.
Each card is a 30'.
Torog's Taint, indeed! Don't bother to run from an Inquisitor, huh? :)
I kinda like it. The occasional, "Gamey", subsystem can be a good change of pace.
So is Ferox caught up to Trinia? Are we done or is she going to act/react?
Yep. That works.
Well, then that is what Ferox does. :)
Round 2
With the grace granted to him by Abadar, Ferox bounds across the rooftops and catches up to Trinia as she starts to navigate the clotheline.
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Yes, with Ferox all caught up, Trinia stops running, drops a wand that she hand in her hand, and puts her hands over her head.
Meanwhile
For catching Trinia, everyone gains 240 XP
seeing the Inquisitor do His Thang, i immediately send a whispered Message to everyone: She appears to be caught. Let's find that representative of the guard and get her safely there.
I'll make my way there carefully but quickly (as I do have Expeditious Retreat enacted) to assist Ferox--and pick up that wand!
Gaius heads to meet up with Morkeleb, Ferox and the cornered Trinia.
Gaius searches Trinia while Ferox sees to shackling her.
To Ferox but audible to Trinia:Gently, Master Inquisitor, and swiftly. We need to get out of here before the mob finds us.To Trinia, gentle and smooth making strong eye contact:Thunderstone in the door was inspired--I'll have to remember that one, Lady. My name is Gaius. May I address thee by your given name? I'm curious about you and the last several weeks. Some things don't shake out and I'd like to better understand you.
Diplomacy:
Perception(search of Trinia):
Ferox makes sure that the Key of Abadar hangs from his neck in plain sight for Trinia to see.
Trinia, we are not here to hurt you. The city is in a near panic to find you and we fear that your life is in grave danger. Come with us. We will take you to the Guard, where we hope to learn of your true involvement with the King's death. The Queen's decree has just sparked madness in the population and we would not see you succumb to mob justice. As an Inquisitor of Abadar, I promise you that my friends and I will see you safely to the Guard and Field Marshall Kresida.
And if you are found innocent and freed, I shall return your wand to you exactly as it was.
DM: did the Field Marshall give us any indication of who/what we're looking for, in finding the guard operatives in the area?
PERCEPTION 20
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She gave no explicit instructions on finding the guard as it's straight forward enough.
Gaius, on her person you find 2 potions, some coin and reasonably expensive jewelry.
Trinia, "Master Inquisitor! You have to believe me, this is all a set up. I had NOTHING to do with the king's death! Promise not to hurt me. I'll go quietly. Promise me you'll go straight to the Field Marshal and not the palace." the girl breaks down crying. She gives you no trouble as you bring her to a patrol of Citadel Guardsmen. They bag her head and head through an alley towards the Citadel.
Thats some fast feet Ferox, nice work.
Grym goes back down to the street to round up his dog. While getting Bucho he walks a quick circuit of the building keeping an eye out for the mob or other dangers.
Perception if needed.
Grym will also be happy to toss his shabby hooded cloak over the bard while walk back.
Don't worry, Trinia. We'll make sure you reach the Field Marshall. If you are innocent, as you claim, we'll ensure your safety afterwards.
Ferox stays with the Guardsmen escorting Trinia. He wants to make sure she makes it to the Field Marshall and be there for the interrogation.
Gaius pockets all items and awaits an inventory so I can share.
Let's get her to Cressida.
Sandor glad that the chase didn't go on to long, continues the search of her small apartment, and is upset that a bard doesn't have any writings or a journal. He will take the potion to get it identified and will be returned if found innocent.
As a craftsman myself I will make sure not to damage any of her work, and make sure she didn't leave any open paints in her hasty retreat.
Once I feel my search is complete I will make sure to secure the roof access escape hatch, and check to make sure that the door can still be secured. If I didn't find a key for the door during my search, and the door's lock is still functional I will use disable device to lock the door.
After that is all done I hurry and catch up to the rest.
While waiting for something to happen the ranger pulls out a deck of playing cards. Grym and Odric start playing "Go Fish". They invite anyone else to play, though Grym politely refuses to play for money if the crafty Calistrian enters the game.
Odric asks Grym if he has the Knight of House Dark.
Odric leans back in his chair with his cards in hand. Grym hears an odd clanking sound as the big man does so and peers over his friend's shoulder. The ranger spies the broken end of a rusty drainpipe protruding from Odric's pack. Grym wonders at it briefly before shaking his head and attending to his own cards.
We're all heading back to The Citadel, correct? So we're waiting on our Dungeon Master?
I think we should aid in the guard's escourt to the Citadel--whether they want it or not.
I move to follow them down the alley without hesitation.
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The walk back to the citadel is tense. On more than one occasion it looks like a fight might break out with locals, but when they see the armament of the guards and you, they back down. Once even a Hellknight blocks the path, but the stand off ends peacefully (with nary a word spoken.)
You are ushered into the Captain of the guard's office. He handles the prisoner exchange.
"Thank the Gods you found her. This city can't take much more strife, but there's already a new situation. One of those Shoanti kids went and got himself killed, and now the rest of them are all worked up—if it’s not one riot about to erupt, it’s another! Field Marshal Kroft’s in her office now, trying to talk some sense into the Shoanti ambassador—in fact, she mentioned that she’s looking for you all to help with the situation. I'll handle Trinia from here, and we'll do everything we can to make sure her trial is fair and justice is done. If she proves innocent, be ready with blade and spell. We're going to need it to find the true culprit."
Knowing the way to the Field Marshals office Sandor gives a slight grunt and then heads that way.
He also wonders why Odric is hiding the Assassin for High House Shadow from the Deck of Dragons in his rusty pipe.
I'm fluent in Shoanti. Let's go.
I can speak Shoanti as well.
Grym says nothing during the prisoner exchange but focuses on the Captain of the Guard.
Sense Motive The ranger tries to see if he can sense the truth of the Captains words about seeking justice and not just using the bard as a scapegoat.
We will check in on you later Trina... The ranger whispers to the bard before shifting Buchos leash to his other hand and following the others up to the Field Marshalls Office.
The party arrives at Field Marshal Kroft's office. The door is closed but harsh voices raised in argument can be heard through the heavy wooden door.
Odric shrugs fatalistically and knocks firmly, three measured times.