Venture-Captain Drandle Dreng’s pinched face is hard to see from behind the stack of books that divide the front of his office from the space behind his desk. A shockingly old man with white hair and slightly milky eyes, he is surprised by the appearance of outsiders in his office, and looks up, half startled and half relieved. “Thank you for coming on such short notice. I’d been meaning to give this assignment to you at a later date, and with less pressing time constraints, but it seems that time has conspired against us.” Dreng mumbles to himself as he passes out a stack of notes and maps from behind the wall of books. “These notes are from a recent Chronicle—it contains some interesting finds, but one of them is now the utmost priority to the Society.” Dreng lightly taps a bony finger on a map, on which can be seen a section of Absalom with a small corner townhouse circled in deep red.
“This townhouse is a façade for an underground vault. The vault belonged to an old noble family of Absalom that was expelled a decade ago—the Decklands. The family was forced out when their patriarch—a man known as Orias—was discovered to have written documents detailing the city’s defenses, documents he intended to hand over to hostile forces loyal to Cheliax. The Chronicle indicates that a copy of these documents exist within the vault.
“A Pathfinder looking into the Decklands and their Chronicle references in Cheliax was attacked and killed ten days ago. The thugs made off with a copy of his notes— fortunately, he’d already sent us another. We have reason to believe it was the work of the Decklands’ oldest child, a young woman named Celeena, and she’s the reason this assignment is now urgent. The fact that Celeena and her forces were willing to kill a Pathfinder for this information shows how desperate they are to retrieve the documents. If she were able to get these documents and return them to Cheliax, it would undermine the defenses of the whole city, as well as cause the Society undue headaches. Find Celeena, find the documents in her vault, and prevent this situation from turning into one big mess for the Society.”
"Great, where do we start?"
"Start at her townhouse. But do not wait for her to come out! “Her vault is likely to contain many entrances and exits. We only know of the one beneath the townhouse. Therefore, you must enter there and find her before she has time to flee.”
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Jal—a Varisian half-elf who looks like little more than a mercenary by his build and garb, not to mention nearly completely covered with the legendary varisian tattoos—pushes away from where he’d been lounging against the back wall.
”Sounds like we start at the Decklands’ place, *cara,” He considers the map and the information. ”Anything we should know about this Celeena? Or the people she works with? I’d rather know the hands i’m betting against, if I can.”
Jal doesn't know anything off the top of his head, but Dreng offers an answer to the question, "She is a product of her family. Orias was a beloved Absalom nobleman until 10 years ago, when he was forced out of the city. Rumors have it that Cheliax agents threatened young Celeena’s life and Orias felt he know recourse but to betray the city’s defenses. I can only imagine the hardship the man had to endure for the safety of his family, and I can only imagine the mental state that puts Celeena in... In fact, “The agents in Cheliax report that Celeena hired mercenaries from the Devil’s Claw Company, a mercenary organization of failed Hellknights."
You have an address, so finding the place will not be an issue. If you're all ready, check in and we'll go.
Sitting on the corner of a quiet street, the red brick Deckland townhouse melds in with the middle class buildings in this portion of Absalom. A small, flickering candle can be seen through a barred window on the building’s west side and a single door can be seen on the building’s south face.
The massive bloodrager doesn't speak much but he emits a grunt of approval at the end of the briefing.
"I be ready for whatever comes before my earthbreaker, even hellknights loosers!" he says with a smirk.
In front of the house, he waits until everyone is ready to head in front of the door. He's clear with what he wants to do.
"I be ringing the bell at da door or you's want to sneak in?" Even if ringing the bell doesn't quite mean what you think it means.
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Jal forestalls Crowe's. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves, there, big guy."
He presses an ear to the door, listening for sound from within as he checks it for traps..
Then he steps back, quietly circling the place as he looks for alternate entrances. On the way, he tries to get a peek inside the window with the candle, seeing if there are any watchers from within.
Yoon looks up the door. "Do you think she'd believe I was selling cookies?
"No? Then maybe we just open it and go in. Or knock. if you must."
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The door isn't trapped, and you hear nothing there. There is a side window. Inside you hear a pair of voices arguing over a game... the window is barred, but not well. The front door is unlocked.
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As the slayer moves forward to search the building, Kyra touches his shoulder, and whispers, "May the Dawnflower watch over you."
"Well that's not as if we were here for a courtesy. I sayz we just go in!"
Kyra reaches out with her senses, feeling for the familiar vibrations of magic.
Yoon steps in quietly behind Jal.
Can we hear the argument better from inside?
Sorry guys. Even plan C failed. Map later today.
The door is, in fact, trapped, but Jal catches it in the nick of time. It's a child's trap really, a bell balanced with a string. The slayer quickly and expertly disarms the trap.
The party manages to get to the doorway of their room before they notice you (No one has a negative stealth unless I'm missing something. If so, you don't get a surprise round.)
The guards curse loudly and proficiently at the intrusion. Good guys gain a surprise round.
Initiative to follow (will have it with the map today.)
Baddies:
Yoon:
Jal:
Kyra:
Crowe:
You may change the starting location of anyone except Jal.
Surprise Round Action:
Jal: Go!
Kyra: Go!
Yoon: Go!
Crowe: Go!
Round 1
Jal: TBD
Kyra: TBD
Baddies: TBD
Yoon: TBD
Crowe: TBD
Sneaking , Yoon steps in to the opposing room, allowing a view of the guards, while still staying away from their swords.
Combat is no place for a young child!
Crowe lets out a growl at the first man he sees.
"Down on your knees, worm! Surrender while you still can!"
With a touch on Crowe’s shoulder, Kyra sends a surge of Serenae’s power.
Yoon bounces fire from hand to hand, nonchalantly. "I bet this house would burn quick."
Jal Steps up and immediately gets his arms around the surprised guard. Crowe's neck bulges with the ultimatum and Yoon's threats only add to the shock. (Enemy is Shaken, but they do not surrender.)
Jal: Grab
Kyra: Sarenrae's Guidance
Yoon: Intimidate
Crowe: Go!
Round 1
Jal: Go!
Kyra: Go!
Baddies: TBD
Yoon: TBD
Crowe: TBD
Red: Grappled, Shaken
Blue: Shaken
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The guard held in a bear hug tries to break free.
His fellow "guard" freaks out and draws a blade to strike at Jal and even the odds
-Posted with Wayfinder
"Well, if you're gonna be a meanie head, how 'bout a little fire, scarecrow-looking man?"
Yoon gathers fire from the space around her, briefly turning the dark space into day with her as a shining nimbus of fire in the middle, before releasing it on the poor fellow.
Yoon lights up the ungrappled guard.
"Maybe ya' shouldn'ta used the sword."
Crowe moves beside Jal and strikes hard at the second guard.
for
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Jal dodges behind the man he’s grappling to avoid his friend’s sword-strike, then throws his weight into slamming his dance partner into the wall with a crunch.
”Be smart, now,” Jal says to punctuate the wall-impact. ”Surrender and we’ll talk. Last offer. Otherwise the big guy and the girl will keep on doing their thing.”
Jal gets his teammates to bind him/them with the rope from his pack, then goes about finding out what he can about the vaults below as he searches them for useful gear or items.
Oh, we can try this intimidation game again. Yoon glows red with flame. "Some complain that fire hurts."
Crowe's blow lands with such force that the splash of grey matter is as thin as a bucket of water splashed into everyone's faces. Jal's crush and the works of the party are enough to instantly crack the resolve of the mercenary.
"Look, no need to kill me, just doin' a job. Below. There's 3 more. Look, Janke ain't a bad guy. That ain't counting the boss lady. Now you guys are scares mothers to be sure, but so is she. If I tell you that she's a magic-user who conjures monsters, that's enough to let me go.... right? There's a locked door below, and I don't know how to get through it. Some kinda puzzle. That's as far as I've gone. I swear. Trap door is in the other room"
You guys believe him...
Just as Jal is getting the gag in, Yoon and Kyra catch the sound of wood slamming, like a door. Rushing over you discover the trapdoor the erstwhile guard mentioned.
It leads down to a small, stuffy square room was cut from the building’s stone foundation. The room’s east wall features a large stone mosaic of stone that shows several faceless people worshipping at the top, and others being condemned at the bottom, with no figures in the middle pattern. The mosaic contains a set of three identical circular indentations: one set within the top section, one in the empty center, and another set within the bottom section. Illuminating the room are two lit torches in sconces on the north and south walls. The door clicks shut JUST as you arrive.
Nope, no deception. That's why I meant when I said, "You believe him"
Yoon examines the mosaic wall.
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"Tell ya what," Jal responds to the subdued guard, "we'll leave you here. If you info checks out, we'll let you live ... and that's not nothin'." He gives the man a wink and a overly-friendly pat on the cheek.
Then, Jal knocks the helpless man out and double-checks his bindings before gagging him. Then he stands and dusts off his hands.
”That went well,” he says brightly with a smirk as he heads towards the trap door.
As the door clicks shut, Jal mutters a string of Varisian curses. ”Hmm. Next time, we post a watch.” As he stoops to check the trap door, he points briefly over at the mosaic and the sets of indentations. ”Any of that mean anything to any of you?”
He works efficiently, checking the trap door for any traps, then looking over the indentions, seeing if they are some kind of mechanical trigger to help them get through the trap door.
As he works, he mutters up to Crowe, ”Big guy. Be ready in case I open this to a waiting bolt or dagger, will ya?”
Jal opens the door with Crowe standing ove rhim ready to literally drop the hammer. The trap door opens safely below to the mosaic wall/Door below. Yoon doesn't notice much beyond the indentations in the wall. She does see (because she's low to the ground) that nearby are three stones which look like they belong in the wall. The question is, which one goes where. All identically sized, there's no indication of the correct order. The stones represent a happy looking female child, a grandiose city, and a brooding devil...
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Jal drops down and—after a quick search of the room itself—gets to work to see if there's a way he can bypass the puzzle without using the indentions. As he works, he looks over at Yoon.
"Good eye, Smalls," he says with a half-grin, "if nothing else, maybe you can just burn a way through this wall, huh?"
Unfortunately, it looks like there's no simple solution. At least you don't detect any traps.
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Jal grunts at failing to create a shortcut and stands back from the wall. There, he bounces the ball with the brooding devil in his tattoo’d hand as he considers.
”Normally, I’d guess the child or fancy city go on top with the angry devil-thing on the bottom.” He shrugs, ”But the Decklands were in bed with Cheliax, right? And we all know how Chelaxians love their devils.” He invests the word ‘love’ with every bit of innuendo that he can. ”So my guess is the devil rules on top. The obedient, smiling girl goes right under him. And the grandiose city is on bottom?”
He looks to the team, seeing if they have any additional thoughts.
"Hmm, the story of this family is that a child was threatened and a city betrayed. Maybe 'devil', 'child', 'city'?"
"Maybe there is some information up stairs?"