Falko says, "We are not getting into bed with Gale, she is a terrorist. We need to speak to her to stop this oddball Fey lord. The criminal is Cippriano the Family leader in our city but we have worked with him in the past."
You walk into the alley and a Scruffy, dressed like a common pickpocket but packing
a pair of finely-crafted concealed daggers, says "Da name's Dester, right?" cheeky, chatty,
and a little arrogant. "So I’s been a low-level street enforcer for Kell for
years, watn't goin nowherez but wuz recruited a few months ago by the Fam as an Il duble
agent. Now I’s one of the trusted runners delivern' de infoes wut between Kell and his guild while he’s in hiding. Ya feel.. Morgan done tol me yuz needs mi help."
Zophar looks the little man up and down, but stays silent, letting the others take the lead. He moves with Falko to the shady spot, clearly comfortable sneaking around in his armour even though it does hamper stealth somewhat.
Weapon Equipped = Quarterstaff
Crossbow Bolts = 10/10
Conditions = Mage Armor (1/7h)
Melee: Attack: BAB +3, Str +0 Damage: +0
Ranged: Attack: BAB +3, Dex +1 Damage: +0
Reconnaissance (1/1)
Arcane Reservoir (su): 6/10 (+1 DC or caster level (free), quick study (full))
Consume Spells (su): 2/2
Runestone of Power (first) 0/1
Spells (Caster Level 7, Concentration +11, SR +9)
Special: (7/7) Force Missile*
Zero (14): (7) Dancing Lights, Detect Magic, Ghost Sound, Light, Mage Hand, Prestidigitation, Spark
First (15): (5/5) Burning Hands*, Charm Person, Feather Fall, Infernal Healing, Magic Missile*, Memory Lapse
Second (16) (5/5) Admonishing Ray*, Invisibility, Knock, See Invisibility
Third (17) (3/4) Fireball*, Haste, Invisibility Sphere
* +1 DC, +3 Damage
Femi moves deeper into the alley with the others, and when they're at the back, pops an Invisibility Sphere to help ensure their privacy. "We can still be heard, so keep your voices down."
He listens to the man's story, pleased that the plan seems to be working. Like the others, he worries about the consequences, but for now, this is the job.
Iva steps into the shadow. "Yes we do. Do you know where we can find Kell? We have some business with him that just cannot wait."
Dester says, "I's be knowing where is. But e's gots a ton of men there. The Theater of Scoundrels. He's got an escape plan too. Some'in tha telepurts im wut. I suggest to set up a meet wit "the other guys" and you RHC lot, gets uh dimensional dings booms... to stop him from goin. I'd suggest a bar on the south side of the Nida
Street Bridge, along the Stanfield Canal, at 3 in the morning. The RHC
could then whip up some sort of ritual to block Kell’s get-away plan, and
place it on the bridge, which wuld be deserted at that time of night. Wut ya thinks?"
Zophar/Falko
Zophar turns to Falko and Femi.
"It seem like a sound plan, but I never like working with non-RHC personnel. I defer to your knowledge of the town and the assignment."
Femi agrees with the others, "This is going to be messy. And Dimensional Anchor is what we want, but it's not foolproof and, more importantly, it's beyond my capabilities. Unless there's a ritual I'm unfamiliar with, I don't know how we stop him from simply getting away."
He tries to think of ways they could stop his teleportation.
Femi
"Well, as I see it, we have two options. We could line the bridge with gold, which would prevent it. But they might notice us doing it. I think PM Lee can manage that spell as well. We could ask him to join us - he is the court mage after all, and this is important."
"I say we see if Lee will join us. If so, we have a solution, if not, we get a team out to that bridge to set it up."
Dester shakes his head not understanding much of your convo and says, "So should I's set it up for tonight? I really gots to didi as they say Elfaivir."
"Very well, let's do it."
Dester nods and says, "I's puttin a chalk mark on de statue front of RHC HQ by 1700 this even'n, tis a go." and with that he dips into the shadows down a sewer and is gone.
You send a message to PM Lee with the guard out front and then you make your way off to the Cloudwood. You pick up Asrabey at the entrance to the Cloudwood before meeting up with the Lumberjack who brings you to a switchback in the forest, he then leaves.
Through the wind you can barely discern a voice speaking to you in a fluttering manner with a distinct Danoran accent, Falko and Chretien recognize the voice, "Constables Dufrense and Escheus, it saddens me that McCormick is no longer with you, I tried contacting him but he seems to be in Mirsk. What can I assist you with? Oh, you have brought Asrabey the Juggernaut with you...."
The voice of Gale says, "What has been done to one of my brothers?"
Asrabey says, "Oh, sister Gale, would you per chance know where the Fey Lord Ekossigan is? I must speak with him. Yes the brother here is in some oddball contraption not melded to metal." referring to Zophar.
"I am Risurian in mind and spirit, and my metal gives me the strength of arm to prove it. Tell us of Lord Ekossigan."
Femi sees little (as usual) though he spots more than he usually does.
Gale says on the wind, "What do you want to know?"
She says, "Look I when Ekossigan arrived in the Cloudwood, I was looked up by one of his followers and then I met with Ekossigan, and
he played to my desires of being accepted by the fey, sweeping me up in
a narrative of making a grand difference to the world."
The song wind replies, "It was about two weeks ago. It sounded so righteous but Ekossigan is very dangerous and he plans to enter the Bleak Gate. I suggest you leave him alone."
"Of course he is dangerous. We appreciate your warning, but we aren't idiots. Come out and tell us all you know about the Bleak Gate, Ekossigan, and his plans." Zophar forces himself not to reach for his trusty pistol.
She says, "All I know about the Bleak Gate is that is where people go when they die. I do not know where he is and I forged a pact with the Fey Lord and I cannot assist you any further if you plan to do him harm. I do not want to fight you either."
"We don't want to fight you either, but we need more. What else can you tell us? Please, don't hold anything back, there is much at stake here."
"Please help us."
She says, "The pact I made with him compels me to not give more information barring believable assurances that you are not aiming to harm him. He is going to Cauldron Hill."
Asrabey says, "I cannot do anything with him. I am unable to harm a Fey Lord. If you don't kill him you may bring him to your King. Although the debt is for him to be slain per Ancient King Kelland's promise."
Iva shakes her head. We just can't seem to catch a break in any of this. Gale won't help because of a pact she made, but the Envoy wants us to kill the Fey Lord because he can't. She thinks hard about a legal solution to this situation.
"I want to find a plan that's mutually agreeable to all. We may not be able to find one. Let's just hope we can avoid bloodshed at the moment."
"Gale you have made a pact, and we can respect that. We do not wish to fight you either. We cannot give you assurances that we will not harmthe Fey Lord. We have been asked to assist Asrabey with locating and dealing with him. This request and agreement was done before we spoke with you"
Iva
Knowledge Religion/Arcan DC 23
the compulsion.
"I believe that a casting of Protection from Evil would remove the compulsion on you not to reveal what you know to us. That would allow us to all leave here peacefully. What say you?"
Gale says, "I do not have that spell, do you?"
Femi shrugs as well, looking to the others for luck in that department. "We could get a potion, or scroll, and return if we must."
"We won't attack him without speaking to him. If he changes his mind, then we might be able to come to terms with him. We aren't going to harm him without speaking first. Is that good enough of an assurance we mean him no harm?"
Gale says, "Well if you are willing to talk first, I do not actually know where he is but I do know where his right hand gremlin is. You may want to talk to him or follow him. It is your choice."
Zophar grinds his teeth at the obtuseness of the woman, sighing "Well, where is he?"
Gale says, "Ellik, the gremlin stays at the Nutgarden bar. It was burnt down a few months ago. I wish you luck." she gives you the directions to the bar via the wind and about 60 yards away you hear a poofi noise and
she is gone.
Knowledge Nature Dc 20
Gremlins understand that they lack physical power, and thus are usually encountered in large groups that work together to defend each other and their lair. While all gremlins share certain traits in common, such as a resistance to damage from weapons save those made of cold iron, a cruel and sadistic sense of humor, the ability to use prestidigitation to enhance their mischievous plans, and their slight statures, the single trait that gremlins are most well known for is their ability to break, curse, and otherwise ruin the works of other creatures. Gremlins take great delight in ruining and breaking things, and while each gremlin race has a particular “specialty” (be it magical auras, complex machinery, coordinated tactics, or even luck itself), all gremlins are fascinated by complex devices and intricate social constructs. Nothing pleases a gremlin more than being involved in the collapse of something complex.
Although gremlins originally hailed from the mysterious realm of the fey, they have lived upon the Material Plane for countless generations. In that time, they have become natives of this realm, both in body and soul. Yet not all gremlins have managed to retain their strange powers to disrupt and destroy—the most unfortunate gremlins are not even commonly known as gremlins at all. These bizarre creatures are known as mites. While they retain the gremlin ability to use a few spell-like abilities, mites represent to their fellow gremlins the ultimate shame and horror—a fall into pathetic self-loathing and pitiful cowardice. As a result, gremlins grow particularly sadistic and violent when presented with an opportunity to torment a tribe of mites, abandoning their more subtle methods of disrupting communities and machinery in favor of all-out war, invading mite homes and lairs with tiny knives in hand and murder on their minds. Only mite tribes that have managed to ally themselves with particularly dangerous vermin generally have any chance at all to withstand an invasion of this sort, and most tribes quickly surrender to the gremlins. In some cases, the wholesale act of surrender can cool the gremlins’ rage, and the attackers simply take steps to subjugate and enslave the tribe of mites, using them from that point on as a slave class to serve their whims, but in other cases not even the mite tribe’s complete surrender can save them.
Against larger creatures, particularly humanoids (whom gremlins particularly love to torment and vex), gremlins adopt a much more subtle approach. Gremlins know that they lack the physical strength to withstand a fight against even the weakest humanoid societies, and thus keep to the shadows when moving through cities and villages. Gremlins seek out regions within urban areas where the “big folk” don’t bother to visit often—places like sewers, dumps, graveyards, and abandoned buildings make for perfect gremlin lairs. Once a gremlin tribe establishes itself in the shadows of a humanoid society, it begins its work. Operating in pairs or even alone, the gremlins move out into the society, seeking ways to undo anything that can be undone. If a gremlin can arrange it, it prefers to leave an object, relationship, or situation in such a condition that it may seem stable and undamaged to the casual observer, but falls apart or fails spectacularly the next time it is used or encountered. A gremlin often waits in hiding nearby so it can observe the calamitous results of its mayhem, but takes pains to be well out of reach when such a disaster occurs. Gremlins know that it’s not good to be in arm’s reach of an angry humanoid once it realizes it’s been visited by a gremlin.
In areas where gremlin activity is well established, many societies have developed unique and clever ways to both protect themselves from gremlin-related mayhem and root out the little monsters from their lairs. One common method of dealing with gremlins is to use objects known as gremlin bells. Crafted from bronze, brass, or other semiprecious metals and measuring no more than an inch tall, gremlin bells are hung from delicate chains or silken cords over door frames and windows, or affixed to precious objects. The belief is that the presence of a gremlin bell sickens the creatures and even renders their supernatural and spell-like abilities useless. Strangely enough, many gremlins believe this as well, and even when the gremlin bells aren’t magic, gremlins won’t risk tinkering with most objects that seem to be warded in such a manner.
Other communities take a much more active path in ridding themselves of gremlins, training small animals like cats, dogs, falcons, or even weasels to seek out and attack gremlins on sight. Tiny trained animals can pursue gremlins into their cramped warrens with ease and, when their claws are fitted with cleverly constructed cold iron spikes, can inflict significant damage on a tribe of these creatures. Many gremlin tribes have learned from such tactics, however, and utilize trained (or not) animals in their on lairs for protection.
Zophar sans suit may have a chance of getting close to it without it running away because High Elves are considered near fey.
"Always strange dealing with the fey." Femi shrugs, glad they seemed to get some useful information, and at little cost for once.
Wow, that's a lot of information. Cool. Femi rattles off what he knows (everyone should read the spoiler).
"It sounds as if we need to pick up cold iron weapons before meeting the gremlin. Assuming we can't talk to him, of course." Iva shakes her head at the thought of dealing with gremlins. They go against what she believes about things ending at a certain time and place.
Asrabey says, "The way I see it, we have two options: 1) We try to talk to him or 2) We follow him to Ekossigan."
Asrabey says, "Do you want to talk to the Gremlin or just follow him to Ekossigan?"
"If we talk to him and fail to convince, we're out of luck. But if we follow him, invisibly say, we have a much better chance I think. I say we follow him, with one of my invisibility sphere's to hide our presence when necessary." Femi suggests.
Asrabey says, "We can do that. How long does your sphere last? Should we not startle him to get him moving?"