Falling Expansion; Inter-City Intrigue (closed)

Game Master RealLifeCorn

Balthasar took the lead towards the ferry, eyes peeled for any sign of trouble, Maul at his side occasionally stopping to sniff the ground.

Perception Balthasar: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (2) + 10 = 12

Perception Maul: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (6) + 8 = 14

"Oh, my. And they say chivalry is dead." Says Sena right before giving Vincent a peck on the cheek in an equally teasing manner. she adds "Hope you can keep up when things get heated. They surely will tonight." Before allowing him to lead her up the stairs.

"Ever your humble servant, I shall endeavor to do so."

The journey to the landing area of the docks where the skyships are located is largely uneventful. Several notable things that you notice include: an elderly woman shooing out several drunken men from a dockside bar (one that Micarlin likely would frequent). She casts a disappointed look over your weapons and armor, but says nothing before returning inside. There's also a grizzled old man fishing that you walk past, who ignores you.

It is now that the PCs stand outside the wrought iron fence that encompasses the landing zone. Ahead is an elaborate gate, and a small wooden booth next to it. A man stands inside of it and his face is illuminated by the glow of a pipe. As he hears your approach, he takes the pipe from his mouth, anticipating having to speak. Once he sees that you don't intend to go past he clears his throat

Excuse me, but this area is not in use for civilians during this hour... In fact, if it starts a lightninging, then it'll be off-use for everyone.

He picks up the sack and the parchment, then lets the others talk as he studies Gurt.

I've got the parchment :). No worries, I was going to do the same thing.

"If you are not the captain of the Duncan's Ferry, I bid you get him. I assure you, your troubles will not be unrewarded." Balthasar gives the man a reassuring smile, and retrieves a gold from his purse and hands it to him.

Micarlin watches the others go up and start talking to the gateman. Quietly, to the others, "And we are civilians, just looking for passage. Suppose we wait out this storm in the tavern and get drunk enough for tomorrow. Otherwise, we just labeled ourselves as some stand-outish m@~&#!-f*&~@#s." And then, "Professional bribers riders on the lightning boat gonna go stuff some goat." S#$#, that was good.

Micarlin pulls out his poetry book and writes in it, flaming eyes of some hateful daemon invisible to others whispering, Why not arm yourself with my power. Feed their souls to me..

The man looks at the gold coin for a moment and then back up to your face, not even reaching for it through the fence.
I've seen you and your kind about. Always causing trouble. Why do you need to see the Captain?

Micarlin closed his book and put it away, tapping his scepter into the ground in front of him. He waited with his hands on it, "So much for playing it cool."

"That short, bearded human could have been more precise on what he meant by 'show the man'. Of course, we probably shouldn't be flashing the lady's wax around to just anyone. *tksk* Our business is with the Ferry's Captain, and of some import. This Captain may decide if our mission is of import, so do be a friendly chap and fetch him, will you?" the kasatha smiles under his face wrap, trying to project warm and friendship.

The man has taken off his glasses and is now cleaning the rims of them. He snorts when you call him a 'friendly chap.' Now I guess that calls for another look at the situation. He says as he mockingly puts the spectacles back on. Oh... nothing's changed. I'm not budging from my post unless I hear your reason.

"We were asked to deliver something to him of a personal nature. I rather think he'd prefer us not discuss it, you understand. If you will go get him, I promise we shall not move from this spot, nor attempt to do anything against the law. You have my word."

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 2 = 18

Micarlin shifts his head towards the others trying to convince this man to let them through. Slicking a hand through his short hair, Micarlin shakes his head, "I need a drink." With that he lifted his scepter to the gateman, "To you sir. My favorite person in this whole g%%!&#n city." And he leaves the others to argue with the man, strolling into the tavern and slapping some coin down on the countertop, "Give me something strong. I need it to burn my insides; it's mother-f$#*ing cold out there."

He didn't even care if the old lady gave him the stink eye, he was going to get a drink and watch the ferry shenanigans from afar.

As Micarlin steps away to try getting himself a drink, the gateman watches him go for a moment before turning to Balthasar. I'm Duncan by the way. What is it that you needed to give me?

Vincent waits patiently by Sena as the verbal exchange continues.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8

Balthasar raises an eyebrow at the gentleman's revelation, but merely smiles and says, "If you are Duncan, then we are to give you this." He pulls forth the sealed scroll and offers it to the man.

'Duncan' waits until you've put the scroll in between the bars before he hastily grabs it from your hand. He backs away, eying the lot of you for treachery before inspecting the held document. Once he notices the seal on it he starts in surprise. eh... I probably shoul- seeing your intent stares, he shakes his head. Nevermind. The man carefully peels away part of the wax, and unrolls it before quickly reading through it, leaving you all standing in the rain.
After several moment pass, he nods to himself and rolls it back up, placing within his jacket. You sure are official enough. he says awkwardly as he starts pulling a rusted hand crank inside the mini where he's at. After several loud clicks of the gate slowly being cinched up, it looks as though he thinks better of it, and starts turning the gate right back down.
Bad enough having to do that twice a day. Come around to the other side. He calls out, motioning to the cobbled path that skirts the outside of the area.

Looking through the fence into the enclosure, you can see several of the famed 'sky ships.' Most of them are of the same make, with a base that looks like row boat, and a top that's encased in a see-through dome, though some are more obviously new and have varying shapes.

Tucked away in the other side is a smaller gate about the size of a door. The guard from earlier stands there next to the opened gate.

"Maul, come," Balthasar says, motioning Maul to follow him to the other gate. He moves towards the gate, expecting the others to follow him.

Ommin begins moving towards the gate, but then a thought crosses his mind and he yells out, "Micarlin, we're moving on with or without you. I recommend you not dawdle overly long here." Without waiting for a reply he continues on through the gate.

Vincent leads Sena through.

Micarlin arrived back at the shipyard in time to see the backs of the others. He followed swiftly behind, hands in his pocket, grim look on his face. He mumbled under his breath, something about being dry.

Flinchy looks at the gate,considers jumping it, then follows the others around to the side gate. He whistles, softly, a nameless tune from a forgotten world.

As you all pass through the doorway, the guard looks incredulously at the tiger following behind Balthasar. Friggin adventurers
The man begins to shut the gate, but sees Micarlin running up. Come now, we haven't got all day! Once Micarlin is through, the guard shuts the gate and locks it with a large ornate key.
Now inside the complex, you see a path that winds through the center, and leads up to several stations that look as though they would be where the ships would be boarded, though all are empty. Off to the side, you can see a building that looks to be a warehouse/hangar of some kind. The main doors of it are open, and there's two men(wearing the garb of the city guard) that are withdrawing a skyship from the inside. Within moments, the men have it docked in one of the stations, and have a staircase lowered down. Duncan watches along with you, not helping, and once the stairs are down he clambers aboard.

Balthasar boards the ship and takes a seat on one of the benches. Pointing at a spot near him, Maul lies down there, and Balthasar patiently waits to depart.

Vincent leads Sena to a bench and sits down.

Micarlin seems to be in a better mood from his little trip, smiling cruelly for a few seconds before he eyed the ship and became nonchalant. He scuttled pass the gate and boarded the ship after the others. Taking to leaning against the wall, he rolled his hand just above the gem of his scepter. A little pain, a little misery, and a splash of diet raspberry-lime cola

Time to change spells to more appropriate ones.
2nd level- Wither Limb x1, Wave of Grief x1
1st level- Heartache x2, Sorrow x1

Micarlin was busy the entire ride doing this chanting and wiggling of fingers.

Ommin slumps against on one of the benches in the corner of the room and nods his head gently with the swaying of the airship. Those paying particular attention to him at this moment might notice a small scorpion riding along with him in the hood of his cloak, apparently watching the party.

Sena takes a deep breath of the high skies air. Trying her best to keep away from the edge, she sits in the middle of the ship.

There's a time of you hearing a faint buzzing that starts getting louder and louder. All the doors are shut, and the cracks around the one to the ship's cabin start to bleed with a reddish light.

The ship silently begins to rise, and you know that this is it; there's no turning back now. The view from the windows down is particularly hard to make out between the rain and night factors, but faintly you can see the outline of several of the bigger seafaring vessels down at the docks, and some other buildings that dot the landscape.

As soon as the ride began, it ends as the ship sets into a docking bay. The door opens and looking out, you can see a guard ushering you off the craft. Step lively now, we haven't got all day. The door to the cabin does not open.

Flinchy moves out into the upper city, his first time in this part of the city, breathing deep of the air. "Seems *tksk* fresher up here, no?"

Sena steps out of the air craft first, answering Flinchy's question with but a nod. "Let's cease our discussion's until after the job is done. We will have plenty of time to talk with nothing on our mind afterwords." She says as she waits outside the air ship for someone to begin guiding her.

Vincent stays by Sena's side.

The trip up the air ship having been very smooth, Balthasar descends from the airship, his tiger by his side. "Indeed, the air is fresher up here. Let us move forth - I will lead you to the temple."

Balthasar sets off, motioning the others to follow.

Micarlin cracks a smile, getting a whiff of that fresh air, "Haha..yeah, I could get used to this." Twirling his scepter as he strode down the ship's gangplank, he stops it and sets the end on the road, "Don't you worry, Old Micarlin will be as quiet as a motherf@&&ing sheep; no peeps from me in this airy city."

Micarlin, however, didn't face Sena when he addressed her, and was rather busy looking around for taverns. Frowning heavily, "A temple? A temple to who.." Shrugging some, Micarlin looked to be less amused by the idea, "I'm not exactly welcomed in lots of these 5 to 9 temples." But he would follow along, probably until he could ask or learn who the temple belonged to.

Overhearing your chatter, one of the soldiers nods to you as he coils some sort of rope. Just wait until winter, when everyone's burning any wood they can buy, or... find. heh, thank goodness for the shipments else the only furniture left would be in the king's chambers

Though it still rains, it is easily bypassed, as awnings are on either side of the street buildings attached to many of the store-fronts. The street slopes upward slightly causing the rain to follow along the long ruts in the center of it.

Making your way downtown (faces past, and I'm home bound Dunu du Dunu dudu) the cobbled streets inside the sky city, you notice that there is nothing green at all. The whole place is completely packed with buildings, with nearly all of them more than one story; it doesn't look to be a place with ample room for greenery.

Careening down the way comes some sort of craft that follows the ruts near the center of the street. It's a strange contraption, looking like a metal carpet atop unmoving cylinders that shower sparks as they go. The only things inside is are a crate strapped to the back, and a worried-looking driver that is pulling some sort of levers. As the thing moves past, it splashes the slow-moving water everywhere before fading from sight around a corner.
Reflex DC10 negates being soaked.

Thankfully, you finally see a break in the drab buildings with a tall brick and mortar fence over which towers the spires that give away the temple of the Dawnwhright from the rest of the city. There's a closed wrought iron gate that heads the pathway into the temple grounds.

Reflex Balthasar: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8

Reflex Maul: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 6 = 11

Though the tiger nimbly avoids being splashed, Balthasar doesn't seem to notice the splashing as the water sprays up and soaks his armor and cloak. Maul makes an almost-amused sounding noise, and Balthasar looks at him and says, "Don't you start."

As they reach the temple, Balthasar holds up a hand to stop the group. "Would any of you be capable of scouting things out to see what security measures are present? Invisibly would be the preference."

Vincent steps out of the splash zone nimbly with a word of warning to Sena, though it seems as if she doesn't need it.

"Not invisibly, though I have some small skill in that area."

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Reflex: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (3) + 8 = 11

Micarlin met the wave with his coat creating resistance for a few, brief moments. He closed his eyes and stopped mid-step. They grabbed my head and hit me with the bucket of water again. No matter how much I spitted blood, it was all a game to them.

Wiping his face, Micarlin only frowned. His body, even when wet, didn't shiver. Jerry and his friends killed them, said it was good. But if they knew what I would later do, they would know that torture would be too light a punishment.

Continuing to walk after the others, Micarlin eyes the temple and gives an unconcerned grunt, "I don't have that kinda power yet, but I'll get it in due time." Just gotta offer more souls..."But I'm light on my feet and packing heat. I just have to set my coat and cane down somewhere to dry."

Better prepare some orisons too, as I forgot they exist. We'll go with No Light, Detect Fiendish Presence, Slash Tongue, and Light.

"I learned a little trick that lets me vanish from sight for a few seconds when needed, and am generally stealthy enough to avoid detection when not in direct *tksk* line of sight." the kasathan lad offers.

Reflex 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (9) + 8 = 17 He moves behind Balthasar, letting him shield him from the splash.

"I'm also probably faster than most of you. I'll get to moving, then."

Reflex: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18

The warning from Vincent and the sounds of the contraption are more than enough for Sena too nimbly step out of the splash range of the contraption. The question of scouting however peeked her interest "It's so close then? Well, I suppose now that we are on the hunt I might as well prepare myself." Sena reaches behind her head and unbinds the soaked bandages leaving her milky white eyes exposed. Letting the bandages dangle from the side of her bow.

"I've no invisibility either. Like Micarlin I will soon be able to manage it but for now I would think of Flinchy as the best scout, if what he says of vanishing from sight is true. My capability's would be somewhat hampered by my condition." She finishes with a gesture to her eyes.

Vincent's face goes through a range of expressions after Sena reveals her eyes, finally landing on a wistful smile. "No longer children playing at games, we have changed, huh?"

Micarlin shakes some water out of his sleeves, setting his hands in wet pockets, "Well I'm glad its not me." Looking between the others, "He's going to go scout and I will too." Wait for the heroic pause, "For a bar. I'm sure no street-sweeper will notice you all just standing around waiting for someone to come out and get killed. If he makes it back alive, let me know." Waving to the others as he walked off, Micarlin set off to find the nearest tavern.

Reflex: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (13) + 6 = 19

Ommin sees the cart coming and quickly ducks behind a nearby corner, managing to avoid most of the splash. As they arrive he examines the area they can see, "Afraid there's not too much I can do here. Not the sneaky sort myself."

The light stone of the temple looks dark and ever foreboding, while framed in the night sky. A single clap of thunder rings out, and only moments after, lightning strikes atop the steeple.

As you are talking, a tall figure in a dark overcoat slinks out of the temple, nimbly avoiding puddles of water with an almost cat-like grace. They stop momentarily at the gate to unlock and relock it before continuing onward down the lane away from you.

Ommin taps Flinch on the shoulder, "We should follow that man, it could be our target."

Using my Ward hex on Flinchy. +2 deflection bonus to AC and +2 Resistance Bonus on Saving throws until you're either hit or fail a save.

The kasatha moves with grace, seeming to enter a trance of oneness of body and mind. Flinchy disappears from sight, moving into the temple as instructed to see what they have in the way of guards and wards.

Vanishing Trick, Invisible for 3 rounds, 1 Ki

Stealth + Invisibility - Moving at 35' speed (slightly slower than normal) 1d20 + 11 + 20 - 5 ⇒ (18) + 11 + 20 - 5 = 44

Perception 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (10) + 12 = 22

With a perception check that high, Flinchy notices the wall of stone that surrounds the temple, the gate attached to it, and the person that left out of it going around a corner, out of sight. He also notices that invisibility doesn't help him phase through walls, gates, or doors of any kind.

Micarlin shook his head as he walked around. He rubbed at his temples and eyed the tavern looking place. But the laughter threw him off and he sat outside, miserable and wet. Someone was moving along the street though, and they weren't being sneaky about it, so Micarlin let his attention be caught up.

That shady m+@#%* f&*&##. Taking his coat off and tossing it over his shoulder, he held onto it and walked after the man, tailing him.

Stealth: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (8) + 10 = 18

Balthasar rests a hand on Maul, then casually strolls in the direction the cloaked figure is going.

Balthasar Stealth: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (2) + 11 = 13
Maul Stealth: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6

How tall is the stone wall?