GM-Foxy's Hell's Rebels (Inactive)

Game Master Foxy Quickpaw

"Flour is a really good idea, Fhingle. Which would you rather have, Clenchjaw? A dragon who starts fights, or a bit of flour scattered about? In any case, let's try the diplomatic route first."

Saul pulls out five gold and leaves it on the bar. After a few seconds of consideration, he also gets a shot of whiskey and leaves it there as well, and steps back. "Little dragon, I have a gift for you- gold and whiskey, if only you would come out and talk to us."

diplomacy: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (19) + 6 = 25

The dragon sticks his head out and looks longingly at the coins. That's a trap! he tells Saul telepathically.

Are you talking in my head? I thought I had seen everything...

Not comfortable with that form of communication, Saul talks out loud.

"I guess it is a trap. But a friendly one! We just want you to come out so we can meet you, and maybe offer you a better and more fun deal than what you have going on in this pub. No violence. I promise."

Outside the bar, at the river. Saul hears in his head. Then the dragon disappears again.

Logan looks around, thoroughly confused. I've never drunk this much...ok, maybe I have, but I've never seen Saul talk to something that's not there.

"Saul, who are you talking to? What's going on?"

Fhingle looks at logan, "Does he always do that?"

"Talk to people who aren't there? Not that I've ever seen, at least not when he was sober."

Saul smiles at Logan and Fhingle's interchange. "There is a little faerie dragon here, invisible. I've read about them, though I have never met one myself. They are said to be great practical jokers, and this one must be getting his kicks in disrupting Clenchjaw's. He said he would talk to us outside. Here's my plan: we try to hire him. Offer him gold and whiskey, but instead of a bar, we point him at a target that would be more likely to help us. Like at the palace, or the Temple of Asmodeus, or maybe just some Thrune supporting nobles in the Greens. Maybe he can make their lives miserable, eh? I'm also curious why he is here in the first place."

Saul grabs the coins and whiskey off the bar and heads outside to the river. Once there, he puts them on top of a fence and steps back, hoping the dragon will appear.

Vedalfek comes flying out of the dark and lands on the post, taking a close look at the coins. "What is this more fun thing you have?" he asks, this time aloud.

"Dear sir, my name is Saul Gibson, private investigator. I'm sure you have been enjoying a great time causing fights in the bar... who wouldn't like that? But would you be interested in making people's lives miserable for a greater good? Perhaps to interfere with the evil acts happening everyday in the palace, the temple, or in the opera house? I'm sure there are numerous servants delivering food, or messages, that could use a good spill or unexpected trip down a flight of stairs. Or a holier-than-thou evil priest who could have a pie dropped on their head right before they are about to sacrifice an innocent? Sounds like fun to me. And to sweeten the deal, we could provide you with gold and booze and a safe place to sleep and store your hoard."

"You want to pay me to play tricks on people?" Vendalfek asks exitedly.

"Yes, yes! But only bad people. People who work for the Thrune government. People who really deserve it. Will you let us help you pick targets?"

Fhingle follows saul outside, "I like tricks, can I help?" Fhingle asks seriously

Logan follows Saul outside and waits, skeptically, for this dragon to appear. When it does, Logan is visibly surprised.

He listens to Saul's plan and laughs out loud at the idea of a priest getting a pie dropped on his head.

"Practical jokes would be a great start. I'd vote for starting with the priests."

Then, whispering in Saul's ear, "Maybe it can get us some inside information at the same time. Couldn't hurt to ask, could it?"

"I'm not it! I'm mighty dragon Vendalfek!" the tiny dragon objects.

"Mighty Vendalfek, excuse my uncouth friend. He is a drunk."

Saul considers what they are asking him to do. Is it too dangerous? Maybe he should start on easier targets, first.

"Ok, how about this? Those Dottari patrols at night are really a pain in the ass. Keeping good, law-abiding folk stuck indoors when they should be out having fun! Would you be willing to go out at night, find these patrols, and make their lives miserable? They would have no chance of finding you; they are dumb foot soliders and not nearly as intelligent or tricky as a dragon. In return, we would pay you gold and let you sleep in safety during the day in our secret hideout."

"How many gold?" Vendalfek asks, with a piercing eye on Saul.

"One gold for every night you go out with us. You can distract the guards while we paint the town silver! It will be a group effort!"

"That's agreeable." Vendalfek replies in a calm tone, but his twitching and whirling body give his excitement away. "You show me your secret hideout now?"

Hmmmm... seems awfully eager to know where our secret hideout is...

sense motive: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24

Saul suddenly becomes wary of revealing too much, and wishes Salonius was available for consult.

"Hey! Welcome to our little group, Vendalfek the Great and Terrible!"

Logan isn't being patronizing. He's genuinely excited to have this dragon as part of their group. He likes the idea of this creature causing general mischief.

"Let's celebrate!"

With that, Logan takes a pull from his hip flask and then offers it to Vendlfek.

Vendalfek comes flapping onto the arm of Logan and smells at the flask. Not really wanting this blinding moonshine, the dragon exhales at Logan and flaps away again to the post.

DC 12 Fort save vs. Euphoria for four rounds

"Alright, secret hideout time. Now you know this is top secret, right? No one can know. Let's get some rest and think about our plans for tonight. Last night, my night-time activities weren't all that effective. Maybe with a few more hands...and a couple of wings..."

Fort: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8

Logan coughs as the dragon breaths in his face. That coughing quickly gets worse and worse until Logan can barely take a breath. When it finally subsides, Logan stands up with a dopey expression on his face.

"Woooaaahhh"

Vendalfek follows Saul and his companions to the Longroad Coffeehouse.

I leave it to you if you want to do introductions or smuggling in.

Fhingle follows behind, staring the small dragon the whole time, once they return Fhingle goes in first to talk to Laria.

"I Laria how are you? Did Salonius come back here? He left the bar after getting beat up and we don't know where he went."

"Hello Fhingle." Laria replies. "I haven't seen Salonius, no."

"But what is that." Laria inquires raising her broom and taking a defensive stance.

ummmm... a small dragon?" Fhingle says almost matter of factly. "Saul can explain it."

"Hi Laria. He's a terrible and fierce dragon, but he is on our side. Not to worry, not to worry. He'll be on his best behavior. Am I right, Vendalfek the Mighty?"

"Who, me?" Vendalfek answers, looking behind himself as if there might hide another Vendalfek the Mighty. Obviously someone is not willing to make that commitment.

"Let's just hope, then..." mutters Saul to himself.

He shows Vendalfek the trick to opening the secret door, and shows him around. "Feel free to claim a corner as your own. You can come and go as you please through the sewer grate, which leads out to the harbor. That is also our emergency exit, in case things go south."

"We need a plan, friends. A way to strike fear into the hearts of the Thrunes and let the people of Kintargo know that there are those who have not given up. But my plan last night wasn't dramatic enough. Painting "Jackdaw Lives" over buildings was too quickly covered up. What can we do that is big, exciting, and sure to get attention?"

Without Salonius to temper Saul's flair for the dramatic... who knows what will happen?

"We could try to attack the Dottari, but then they may just target the common folk and harm them." Fhingle tries to add, seeing his painting stuff Fhingle moves to that and organizes it.

"What about finding more people to be on our side?"

"Always, Fhingle. Jhen was going to talk to the opera actors and actresses before he disappeared. I wonder if they would be open to something. It is just such a long process trying to win over one person at a time. Is there a single strike that will gain us more?"

Logan thinks hard, something he's not used to doing and, frankly, isn't very good at. But these are his friends and he has no love for this new regime and they way they're ruling the city.

"You were using that Jackdaw name, Saul. Do we know any more about him? Did he do something big that would be associated with that name? He's been gone for a long time, right? Maybe if we reenacted one of his bigger, more famous acts, they'd think he was back for real."

"That is a really good idea. The problem is that he has been dead for a couple hundred years and only people who know how to read have ever heard of him. Maybe it is something to build to? We need to continue to spread rumors of his name, educate the people, build his legend again, and then do something really big and eye-catching."

"Are there any tales of what he did? Maybe we can publish them and find a way to distribute them. But that would only help those who could read....

What if we did something big, burned down an building or something like that, and spread the word that it was this Jackdaw guy? Then, we could plant people in bars and public areas who could tell other tales about him. That way, we could keep doing things in his name and more and more people would think he was real."

Vedalfek looks around the place, checking all corners. Finally he calls out to Logan. Telepathically. "Hey you, with the strong arms. I need you to build me a tower of boxes."

The dragen has chosen a spot on the long wall in the storage room to become his throne. Now he just needs someone to build said throne to a height worty of Mighty Dragon Vendalfek.

Logan hears the dragon speaking in his head, but doesn't immediately recognize it for what it is.

His eyes get wide as his face momentarily flashes a look of worry. However that quickly passes as he recognizes the voice of the dragon. It's really strange to hear something and not use your ears. I don't know if I'm ever going to get used to that.

His concentration on the groups planning broken, he glances around the room and doesn't see the dragon. He stands up from where his friends were sitting. "Give me a few minutes guys. Our new friend would like a tower for him to perch on. I'll be right back."

Looking around the rest of the hideout, he finally finds Vendalfek in the store room. With a bit of a smirk on his face, he moves some boxes around according to the little dragon's instructions. "How's that?"

Do you want strength checks or anything like that?

Vendalfek gives some comments on what he wants and what not and after a little back and forth there is a stack of boxes, eight feeet high, which is impossible to climb without toppling it over. The dragon lies down on the edge where he can see over all of the room and along the corridor to the entrance. Vendalfek the Mighty is pleased."

"The Dottari have burned our favorite establishments. It is only fair we burn one of theirs. Revenge for the Thrashing Badger! We'll have to pick our target carefully... let's see... It has to be constructed of wood, not stone. It can't hold innocents. It can't be too well guarded..."

knowledge local: 1d20 + 7 + 1d6 ⇒ (14) + 7 + (6) = 27

Knowledge check to determine a location. I looked at the city map, and there is nothing really on there other than major buildings that probably would be impossible to burn and probably the scene of future battles anyway. Foxy, looking for a little help here... can Saul think of a good location? A bar patronized by the Dottari patrols? A bar would be the best target. They burned our bar, so we burn theirs.

"Before you do something stupid, how about you free someone I know and have worked with from the hands of Thrune." Laria suggests, as she stand suddenly behind Saul. "I've heard, they were put to forced labor in the salt works."

"Stupid? Laria, Laria... a rebellion is one big calculated risk! But tell us more. What is this person's name? Are there others in the salt works in a similar situation?"

"If we're going on a rescue mission, our new cat dragon friend might come in handy as a distraction."

"What is a salt mine?" Fhingle asks out loud, "What does this person do Laria? Are they a halfling like us?"

"No, no halfling. A longshank. Forvian Crowe, he's a guy for hire and his group." Laria explains.

"The saltworks is a factory where they produce salt."

"Ohhh cool, would a saltworks factory be useful for us? Saul do you have to get back to your job? Maggie and Logan and I get go check this out if you want." Fhingle says

Saul looks doubtful but nods. "I probably should spend some time at the office. Will you be okay without me? Don't get into any fights, ok? If you think we need to break him out with force or with stealth, let's go after it gets dark."

On the opposite side of Saul's office entrance sits a young man, looking idly around.

Saul tells the others what he knows about the saltworks before he goes back to the office.

k local: 1d20 + 7 + 1d6 ⇒ (5) + 7 + (5) = 17

---------------
Later

percep: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (19) + 5 = 24

"What's the story, Mac, are you looking for a PI? Missing objects, missing persons, missing fidelity. Uh... recently, missing pets. Saul Gibson finds it."