"No, sorry, I got it from a guy named Matzal Chaim. He never spoke of other statues." he seems honest enough about it.
"I suppose he told you he sold it to me? You should ask him about the others as well."
Matzal Chaim was the person you saw being killed by Master Torch's guards. You backtrack to him, and ask about the other merchants. He's delighted by your return and continues by loudly pondering the favor he might ask of the society in the future. Non the less, he gives you the information you need.
"Viraj Arpani tends to hang around the Overmarket too—he’s new in town, but he’s unmistakeable. He’s Vudran and covered with little bells."
"Buri Buri-Ban’s a Garundi fellow—pretty beefy. His favorite café fronts on Sengali square."
"Saldin Marafi has a shop in the Secure Market. It’s toward the back in one of the more secure nooks. Good luck getting in there.
***
You go on to the Overmarket, an easy feet with the map provided by the venture captain and he many signs in town.
What Torch said was true—he is unmistakable. Sitting on the rim of a fountain, the man appears to be contemplating the contents of a small intricately carved wooden box. The many pouches of his flowing, bell-covered robes bulge with various small items, and wands and rods stick out from odd folds. Under his arm he casually carries an item wrapped in shipping linens but by its shape it is almost surely a statue.
As you attempt to speak with him, he says "Begone, I don't need you asking me anything. I'm a powerful magician and you shouldn't trifle with me." with that, he chants and moves his fingers in intricate arcane patterns. His form loses substance and turns to a wispy cloud, but as it does, the bundle under his arm begins to vibrate, crackle, and grow. His eyes widen as his body resolidifies and the statue bursts out of its wrappings, seemingly absorbing the arcane energy from Viraj’s failed spell. Linen, strings, and little bells skitter across the pavingstones. On the ground now, the statue continues to grow, taking on the form of writhing, giant centipedes.
Once the centipedes materialize, the crowded market empties quickly as the merchants and customers flee in terror.
Their bite is poisonous.
They can't be tripped.
Their bite is poisonous. Bite—injury; save Fort DC 13; frequency 1/round for 6 rounds; effect 1d3 Dex damage; cure 1 save. The save DC is Constitution-based and includes a +2 racial bonus.
They can't be tripped.
Immune to Mind Affecting spells.
Thran almost decapitates the creature, and it disappears back to whatever plane it originated from.
The red giant centipede attacks Thran, but his teeth don't penetrate the bard's armor. The green scaled giant centipede attacks Osborn, biting fiercely.
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Thran almost decapitates the creature, and it disappears back to whatever plane it originated from.
[dice=Attack Red N to S]1d3
[dice=Attack Red]1d20+2
[dice=Attack Red R to L]1d3
[dice=Attack Green]1d20+2
[dice=Damage Green]1d6-1The red giant centipede attacks Thran, but his teeth don't penetrate the bard's armor. The green scaled giant centipede attacks Osborn, biting fiercely.
Both Centipedes are killed prior to Azar's spear stab.
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Andrezi crushes his fist into the palm of his hand, causing several knuckles to crack loudly in the now near-silent market, "Gladly."
He steps forward drawing his dagger and threatening Viraj, "Don't you know anything! You dare call yourself a magician when you don't even know that these statues feed off arcane energy! The only reason I'm not burning you to cinders this very second is because we have seen firsthand what spells will do when these statues are around."
Despite Andrezi's poor intimidation attempt, the martial prowess the group displayed makes for a good impression.
"No, don't hit! I'll give you the statue." He looks around, checks his bags while the bells on his cloak are ringing. Apparently he had forgotten the statue itself turned into the large centipedes.As he remembers he points to the floor where the statue lays.
"Just take it, I have no use for such a thing." With that, he tries to get away from you.
Nearby you also see a decorated box, which he probably dropt in his surprise. The box contains the following: a potion of barkskin +2, an oil of bless weapon, and a potion of cure light wounds. It also contains a piece of paper that looks much like a shopping list of arcane items with notations next to each one. Halfway down the list is noted “Osirian statuette—GT.”
You remember Grandmaster Torch's words on the next buyer: "Buri Buri-Ban’s a Garundi fellow—pretty beefy. His favorite café fronts on Sengali square."
The route there is easily found.
You spot Buri Buri-Ban, as promised, at the Fetching Fan café on Sengali Square. Though he doesn’t seem to see you, the moment you see him he stands and retrieves a potion out of his waist-sash. As he drains the potion he begins running, package in hand. By the time he’s taken three steps across the square, he’s already invisible.
The refinery is a two-story building with no windows. It looks well and frugally made, and the only decoration consists of the name painted above the door and a stark sign by the entrance that says, in Kelish, “No Open Flame.” For those who don’t read Kelish there is a helpful icon of a stylized flame with an X through it.
The refinery is a large square space, 100 feet on a side, and is used for refining Sianti chaff into the extremely potent and fairly valuable spice of the same name. The room is full of spice vats, wooden stairways and catwalks; chains and rope hang from elaborate pulley systems and the lamps are continual flames completely enclosed in glass globes. There are several more “No Open Flame” signs in Kelish painted all over the vats. The refining process creates a tremendous amount of dust which is constantly settling on everything and swirling around as the refiners go about their work. As you enter through the main door, you see a ripple in the dust moving across the refinery floor 20 feet from the main entrance. The ripple is Buri-Ban, his interactions with the swirling dust pinpointing his location. While he still has full concealment (50% miss chance), it is easy to tell what space he’s taking up as long as he’s moving.
There is one exit on the opposite side of the refinery from the entrance—this exit leads to a narrow, 10-foot-wide alley that runs south to the northwest ramp leading down into the Central Market. Buri-Ban has a 20 foot head start running across the 100-foot-wide refinery.
The foreman and several workers start trying to get them to leave, yelling at them in Kelish.
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"I don't know..but they are yelling, that can't be good. We'd better hurry"
Thran thinks for a moment and decides to try something tactically and he swipes his hands through the air in an arcane motion as his voice becomes all oily and slippery grease pops out of thin air and rains down in the area at the end (start?) of the dust trail
The man tries to get away from Thran, being careful not to fall over the greased floor. You can easily follow his location by the dust that's blowing up.
The workers seem to be confused and keep shouting to you in a language you don't understand. The message is clear though, they want you out.
Osborn's, otherwise perfectly executed, sap misses the man. Azar attacks the same spot, but the man simply isn't there.
Thran cuts low and a splash of blood, accompanied by a curse of a man obviously in pain points to the right location.
Meanwhile Andrezi seems to infuriate the workers even more and they're shouting louder. They don't seem to be attacking anyone though. They're not armed while you are. Andrezi is doing a good job of looking weak though...
Buri-Buri ban attacks Thran, striking two times in quick succession, but becoming visible for all to see.