Cedric makes his way over to the two (unless they themselves are not together, then he goes to the first one.)
good evening, my name is Cedric, I'm fairly new to this area and had a few questions. And you looked like a great sort to be asking.
Pointing at Gadren as he walks away, "Stay on target, ol' Bean! But if you don't I'll come and get you... several hours from now probably," he says, giving a wry grin.
---------------------------
"Yeah and I'm Jack and these are our friends here," he motions to the others. "Like he said, we're new here and we were just wondering what kind of place this is. I mean, what do you actually do here?"
Lazar stands by Cedric and Jack, attentive at any indication of truth or lie.
Unable to leave due to family pressure Corvan is getting bored out of his mind here at the lodge, and has started taking it out on the other guests. And on new arrivals. Like you.
Looking up from his bored scribbling in a note book Corvan looks you over with a touch of scorn in his eyes. "Ah, Duristan's new chums. What can I do for such gallant heroes?"
What is your response?
Jack looks to the man quizzically. "Duristan? Who's... OH RIGHT, Duristan. Okay, um, yeah we're no friends of his. Just wanted to get that cleared up. ANYWAY, we were curious about something. The guy that runs this place - Estovion I believe is his name? Sorry, I'm terrible with names - what can you tell us about him?"
"He's a boring old man who runs a boring old lodge in the middle of nowhere." Corvin drawls out in reply to Jack's question.
What are you doing now?
well, things can't be that boring here, what with werewolves about and all or so I have heard. Do they leave the lodge alone? More importantly, have you ever had to fight one before?
Corvin was at the lodge when the Whispering way were here, however he was in a absinthe fugue at the time and knows little about them.
He does tell you, somewhat sneeringly that Markiza Welgory's 'Companion', a broad-shouldered and handsome young huntsman named Ostovach was also here. "If he's not busy keeping the Markiza warm he might know what you're sniffing around for?"
He withdraws to the comfort of his glass again.
What are you doing now?
Once he meets back up with the others in a secure spot Gadren details his lack of findings. "If it was in the library it's long gone now... however I suspect it might be in Estovion's office in the upstairs section we didn't get to see. I doubt he'd let us go trapsing around up their unsupervised."
Maria nods and states "We should probably talk to this Ostovach then. See what he knows." Assuming the others are fine with it, she leads the way to find him.
"Okay, well, thanks, Belik. Don't suppose you would mind pointing us in the right direction to this 'Madame Ivanja', would you?"
You get to see the exotic and beautiful fortune teller, Madame Ivanja. What are you asking her?
As Jack walks in, he's slightly taken aback at the sight of the fortune teller - and in a good way. Grinning that confident, arrogant grin, "Well hellllo, Madam gorgeous. Name's Jack. Jack Ryder. A pleasure," he says, giving a slight nod and a wink. "Pleasantries aside, I was wondering if we could trouble you with a question or two? One I had is about some visitors that were here about a couple of weeks ago. They all possessed invitations from a certain noble in Caliphas. We were curious if you might know who this 'noble' is and who these gentlemen were."
You meet Madame Ivanja in the rooms she rents form the lodge, the upper story of the watchtower D6.
She is as always escorted by her 4 bodyguards, very stoic, professional Qadirans.
Ivanja makes it clear from the very beginning that she never discloses information concerning her clients.
What are you asking her now?
Maria stands solidly behind Jack, listening quietly and scanning the room.
Sighing at the lack of cooperation, Jack looks to her nonchalantly before his eyes travel from one bodyguard to the other. As a light chuckle escapes him, "So, was it a 'buy one get three free' deal or something with these guys? I've seen statues that are more lively. I'm guessing you didn't get them for their 'winning personalities'," he says, cutting his eyes toward her and holding it for a moment before waving his hands randomly and saying, "Okay okay okay, never mind. Is there any information you'd be willing to divulge about Estovion? Like anything, anything at all. Whatever you know about him would be a great deal of help. And what do you know of the name Mathus Mordrinacht?"
Lazar puts his lie detection skills to work, trying to catch if Ivanja is serious about her secrecy or it's just a way to get something in return.
After giving Jack an unimpressed look Madame Ivanja does recall the night in question. Only four guests visited the watchtower that evening, all enjoying the services of one of Ivanja’s courtesans. If you are interested, Ivanja can arrange a meeting with the woman who tended to the guests on that evening—for the proper fee of course. 250gp.
She is called Madame for a reason. :)
What is your response?
What are you doing now?
Maria pulls out the money and hands it to the madame. "Make sure your information is worth our while."
"I shouldn't be overly concerned, Madame Ivanja is a professional with a reputation." It wasn't a small sum but Madame had agreed fairly quickly, perhaps she just assumed the target wouldn't be in a position to bad mouth her.
Madame Ivanja leads you to one of the private bedchambers on the tower’s second floor. A pretty Vudrani woman, wearing heavy eyeliner and clad in nothing but a translucent silken scarf, waits within.
Ivanja introduces the woman as Niama, then wishes the you a pleasurable evening, and shuts the door behind her as she exits.
Niama lies upon a pile of pillows smoking a sweet scented
substance from a glass water pipe. With glazed eyes, she draws heavily on her pipe, waiting for you to give her instructions.
If queried, she can divulge that three nobles from Courtaud hired her that evening, and can confirm that one of them had an evil-looking, implike pet. They waited in her room for some time, but strangely, they only requested that she dance for them. Eventually a new guest arrived, a silver-haired woodsman with a full beard who smelled like a beast. At that point, her clients requested that she leave. She returned to her room about an hour later and found that they had disappeared.
Diplomacy checks for more information please.
Lazar observes any possible sign of lying during the tale told by the escort. Those that employed her could have bought her silence well, after all. Or maybe she was bypassing something important, who knows.
"I don't suppose you've got names for any of these fellas, would you?"
Niama has had enough experience with clients from all over Ustalav to recognize that although the nobles claimed to be from Courtaud, their accents clearly marked them as southerners, possibly from Caliphas.
She also caught a glimpse of a strange amulet worn by one of them, depicting a gagged skull. Niama has no idea of the business her guests discussed, but as she was leaving the room, she did hear them mention “the Stairs of the Moon” and something called “the packlord’s heart.” She does not know the meaning of either phrase, or any other information about the visitors, and frankly does not care.
What now?
Maria snorts when she sees the prostitute's ridiculous outfit. "Put some clothes on" is her first instruction. Then she listens stolidly while the others extract information.
"Excuse me a moment," he tells her as he turns to the others. "You know, I don't think she really knows much more than what she's telling us. But if there's something you feel I should ask - and I've forgotten about - let me know and I'll ask it."
What are you doing now?
Turning back to the trashy woman, "Well I'd love to stay and chat and all that, but, we've got to go. Toodle-oo!" And with that, Jack walks out and awaits for the others to as well. Once they've garnered a good distance from her room, "Alright, gang, now what? Where too now? Or 'who' too now for that matter?"
"Well I'd like to search upstairs in Estovion's office to see if that book referenced is there... but I doubt he'd be keen on the idea."
Well, if we need something... unscrupulous done, I think sir Ryder would be more than qualified for the job. If we could find something that would incriminate our less than forthcoming host that would make matters here easier. After that, the only real clues are... a noble in Caliphas,"the Stairs of the Moon", and "the packlord’s heart". Both of the latter sound like they have something to do with the packs of werewolves in the forest. And I'd wager our host knows.
"Well I'd like to search upstairs in Estovion's office to see if that book referenced is there... but I doubt he'd be keen on the idea."
Rubbing his hands together, "NOW you're talking. That is WAAAAY more my style than all this 'talking' business. BOOOOR-ING to say the least. You lead and I will follow, ol' bean. Hopefully he won't be there and we can just find our way inside and then back outside in two shakes of a lamb's tail. Let's go!"
"Jack, I think it's better you go by yourself. We want to be discreet." Lazar takes Jack to a place where no one can watch. "Here, you get this and go find the book, we'll be around if there's any problem." Blessing Jack and touching him, the inquisitor makes the charismatic rogue dissappear.
"It is an idea and I suspect you'd be able to sneak away again if he comes back... I likely wouldn't."
As you leave the tower evening is falling. Something large and dark rushes from the shadows at you.
It is a gargantuan spider rushing at you!
A trail of blood has been laid to the door of the tower you have just exited?
Maria, Lazar & Gadren are up first.
"Too arms!" Gadren bellowed. He cast a spell making the ground beneath the creature slick and hoped it would throw it off balance. It wasn't long before his sword was free from his scabbard and in his hands.
Noticing the trail of blood through the corner of his eyes, Lascar jumps out of surprise. "What the..."
He quickly steps away from the spider and fires some arrows intending to kill it before it can poison his friends.
The Giant Tarantula slips to the ground in a pile.
Lazar misses both his shots.
Maria?
Jack & Cedric can act. The spider will be getting up as it's action.
Cedric chants a small litany, eyes glowing golden and a blade of celestial light erupts near the creature.
Goodness, who are the ones doing the hunting again?
0th level: Purify food and drink, create water, Guidance, Detect Magic, enhanced diplomacy
1st level: 5/day
Protection from evil-1/1
Sanctuary-1/1
Hedging Weapons-1/1
Magic weapon-1/1
Open- 1/1
2nd level spells: 5/day
Open 1/1
Spiritual weapon-0/1
Summon monster II-1/1
protection from evil communal- 1/1
hold person 1/1
3rd level spells: 4/day
summon monster III-1
Resist Energy(communal)-1
Prayer-1/1
Searing light- 1/1
4th level spells:3
blessing of fervor- 1/1
Open- 1/1
Freedom of Movement- 1/1
Rolling his eyes, "Gosh I hate spiders. They're so dang creepy. I'm going to circle around that thing and flank it. Maria, do what you do best." Jack quickly heads toward the other side of the spider, drawing his blades as he does.
Maria nods and moves into position and slashes hard at the spider, her steel about to cut deep until she slips in the mud.
Cedric's spell hits and wounds the Tarantula slightly. Maria misses. :)
Gadren & Lazar may act as the Spider struggles to it's feet.
Maria & Jack get AOO's as it rises.
Maria gets her balance and hacks into the spider as it stands up.
His last shot was intended to land had the spider dodged Maria's strike, but Lazar miscalculated the times and it went away for milimetres. This time, however, with both Jack and Maria flanking the creature, it seems impossible to miss...
Gadren's magic is not quite so grand this time, merely mustering a glob of acid.