Ralof will sit down at the table and play some knivesies.
Ralof knows of the game!!!
The recruits cheer as Ralof approaches the table to play. Kilney hands his weapons over to another recruit and hops up on the table, attaching the coin pouch to his belt. Assuming you follow suit (Give your weapons to one of your friends) they hand you pouch as well.
Assuming you hop up onto the table, a second recruit takes the leather strap and binds your right hand to Kilney's right hand.
The recruits begin to take their places near the ends of the table... To no surprise, they take Kilney's side of the table.
Devargo, hops up from the throne and heads over to the table. He grabs the knife he tossed earlier, looks to ensure the combatants are ready to go. "Betting starts now!" as he jams the knife into the center of the table.
The recruits begin tossing their 10 gold into the center of the table while simultaneously beginning a countdown in unison.. "10... 9.... 8... 7..."
As the bets are coming in, Devargo takes a post on Ralof's side of the table. "I like an underdog" he says as he places his bet on the table. "What he lacks in manners he makes up for in passion"
The count continues down "... 3... 2... 1... Fight!"
Initiatives:
Kilney immediately reaches for the dagger. Swiping it up before Ralof can get a chance at it.
The recruits on Kilney's side cheer as he is the first to grab the weapon.
Ralof will go for a disarm.
Your disarm attempt will provoke an attack of opportunity from Kilney
Just hits
As you attempt to take the weapon from Kilney he swipes at your hand drawing blood. The recruits cheer as the dagger digs in.
Subsequently, you take the damage from the AoO as a penalty to your disarm attempt. However, you miscalculated your roll.. You have a CMB of +4 with the -4 for attempting to disarm while you are unarmed. Your starting point should be 0.. The -3 from damage makes your roll result an 8.
You are unable to take the weapon from Kilney.
---------
*Edit.. Since Kilney has no free hand to grab coins.. he instead attacks Ralof...
More Cheers as the dagger digs in.
-----------
Coin Count
Kilney = 0
Ralof = 0
Damage Count
Kilney = 0
Ralof = 7 (3+4)
Ralof will attempt to disarm again.
Kilney will take his AoO
Miss
You lunge out to take the dagger from Kilney. He clumsily swings at you leaving himself open to disarm... You snatch the dagger away from him.
---------
On his turn, he will reach for some coins. Provoking an AoO in the process, and then put those coins in his pouch.
---------
Coin Count
Kilney = 7
Ralof = 0
Damage Count
Kilney = 0
Ralof = 7 (3+4)
While the game is going on and everyone is distracted Dylan drinks his anti venom stuff.
(+2 for dex)
to drink anti-venom unnoticed.
When Devargo starts the betting, Ryder tosses 10 gold pieces onto the table and stands at Ralof's end of the table, "Alright Ralof, you got this!"
Ralof's next turn---
Ralof will attack
Nobody seems to take notice or care that Dylan snuck a sip from a vial..
---
The AoO just misses Kilney as he snatches a handful of coins. However, Ralofs next swing connects and draws blood.
Devargo cheers the successful attack.
------
Kilney attempts to knock Ralof off the table.. (you may take an AoO which if it hits adds a penalty to his roll)
(an 8 isn't going to hit your CMD)
Kilney fails to knock you off the table, much to the chagrin of the recruits.
----
Coin Count
Kilney = 7
Ralof = 0
Damage Count
Kilney = 4
Ralof = 7 (3+4)
Your dagger connects as Kilney attempts to bull rush you making his attempt even more futile.
Your regular attack does not connect.
He reaches for some more coins... (provokes AoO)
-----
Coin Count
Kilney = 11
Ralof = 0
Damage Count
Kilney = 7 (4+3)
Ralof = 7 (3+4)
regular attack
Both Ralof's attacks miss their mark. Feeling confident that he dodged the last two attacks, Kilney attempts to knock Ralof off the table again. (take an AoO)
Epic Fail
Coin Count
Kilney = 11
Ralof = 0
Damage Count
Kilney = 7 (4+3)
Ralof = 7 (3+4)
HIT!!
Your dagger digs in again.
Kilney trys again to push you off the table. (AoO provokes)
Miss
One of the recruits yells out, "Knock some coins off! You can beat him!"
-------
Coin Count
Kilney = 11
Ralof = 0
Damage Count
Kilney = 12 (4+3+5)
Ralof = 7 (3+4)
i will go for some of my own coins
You drop your knife in order to grab some coins and place them in your pouch.
Kilney eyes the dagger but instead opts to try to end the game by knocking some coins off the table..
A few of the coins fly off the table. "Game over! Count the coins!" Devargo yells as the coins hit the ground.
-----
Coin Count
Kilney = 11
Ralof = 9
Damage Count
Kilney = 17 (4+3+5+5)
Ralof = 7 (3+4)
-----
After counting up the coins in the pouches, Kilney wins by 2 coins.
The Recruits cheer Kilney as they begin to count up their spoils.
"You did well Elf. You are a fierce fighter." Devargo says as he looks over the rest of you. "Anybody else wish to play?"
Dylan reluctantly volunteers "Well if it is going to help negotiations, I guess I can give it a try."
if Dylan notices anyone that looks as if they are physically impaired is some way he will point at him. " How about you?"
You notice a man who always seems to be the last to laugh at jokes, and was a little slow in counting out his money for the game.
He accepts your challenge.
"Nicos! Excellent choice." Devargo says with glee.
Nicos hops up to the table, and after your pouches are attached, your right hands are bound together.
Without saying a word, Devargo takes the knife and sticks it into the center of the table.
The countdown begins a-new (you can place your bets now). The recruits, (except Kilney whom left to go bandage his wounds) all place their bets on Nicos. Devargo again chooses the "underdog" Dylan.
The countdown reaches zero.... Despite Nicos slower than the others reactions, he still manages to snatch up the dagger before Dylan can get a chance at it.
Ryder tosses another 10 gp on the table and stands at Dylan's end of the table. "Alright Dylan, you got this!" Ryder helps Dylan up on the table and says quietly to him, "Just grab some coins and end the game fast."
Dylan hoping to catch his opponent off guard bull rushes to shove him off the table to end the game now.
Dylan moves to end the game quickly, Nicos takes his AoO as Dylan bull rushes him.
A 19 hits Dylan without a shield correct?
Dylan takes a small cut to the hand as he pushes forward, but it is not enough to stop him from forcing Nicos off the table.
The recruits boo as the battle was over too quickly.
"Well that escalated quickly." says Devargo as the coins are gathered up. "Not the most entertaining fight, but certainly efficient."
Dylan gets 20g from winning, while the rest (Devargo and Ryder) split the rest of the winning.. 10+ your original bet of 10g.
"Do we have any other volunteers? Perhaps some that can make it a little more interesting?"
Amendithas steps up. It's been ages since he's played and he's a bit rusty, but he'll give it a go.
Man of few words, he simply says,"I will play."
The big lumbering Half-Orc hops up to the table. None of the Recruits seem too eager to face off against Amendithas. Finally after a minute of indecision, Devargo speaks up. "'Lucky', show me what you're made of."
He reluctantly gets up on the table and the pouches and straps are setup. Two of the recruits abandon 'Lucky' and take up betting positions on Amendithas' side.
Devargo seeing a new underdog, moves over to 'Luckys' side to place his bets... The knife gets stuck in the middle of the table and the countdown begins, and the bets begin to flow.
The countdown reaches zero....
*Amendithas is up first!
Amendithas lunges for the knife.
Amendithas Grabs the knife to the cheers of the recruits backing him up.
Lucky, having missed out on the knife grabs a fist-full of coins.. (Provoking AoO)
Amendithas takes an AoO.
Feeling no need to mess with a winning formula, he attacks again.
'Lucky' is anything but and takes two knife cuts to the abdomen.
Greed overcoming the desire to stand toe-to-toe with the Half-Orc, he reaches for another fist-full of coins, hoping to get enough to make his fight worthwhile. (provokes another AoO)
Coin Count
Lucky = 15
Amendithas = 0
Damage Count
Lucky = 12 (6+6)
Amendithas = 0
Ryder bets on Amendithas.
Amendithas, sensing he's pretty far behind in the acquisition of gold, continues his chosen course of action.
Your AoO roll of a 19 is in the crit range of the dagger (19-20 x2) I'll go ahead and roll to confirm for you.
Does not confirm
After taking several deadly strikes from Amendithas, Lucky attempts to knock a coin off the table. (Provokes an AoO)
Misses the coins
If he survives the AoO from Amendithas, he will take his move action to jump off the table, ending the game at a loss.
--------
Coin Count
Lucky = 15
Amendithas = 0
Damage Count
Lucky = 19 (6+6+7)
Amendithas = 0
Feeling a little bad for unlucky Lucky, Amendithas tries to end the game, but hopefully not Lucky's life.
(-4 Non Lethal)
If Lucky is still standing, he'll try again.
(-4 Non Lethal)
(Another critical hit by the way, make sure you roll those... I will use your second roll as your confirmation roll as you wont need to make another attack)
As Lucky reaches to knock a coin off the table, Amendithas takes his dagger by the hilt and smashes the pommel across Luckys head. He flops down onto the table coins scatter everywhere while his hand is still attached to yours.
All the recruits as well as Devargo laugh at the hilarious consequences that befell Lucky, as well as the ridiculous pose he now lays in while unconscious.
Devargo, still laughing, says: "Ha! Take him back to his room boys. He's going to need to sleep this one off for a while."
The payments are divvied up. Amendithas didn't bother to grab any coins, but the rest on his side get their 10 back plus a split of the profits.. (another 10g each)
He looks at Ryder "What do you say we drink and you can show us some of that fancy footwork you demonstrated earlier?"
He finds the bottle he passed earlier and takes a drink, and passes it to Amendithas. "You made my day with that one. That's why I never pick a fight with an Orc-Mutt"
Two recruits drag Lucky out of the room to go sleep it off. The two lone remaining recruits pull the table back and reset up the chairs. They offer you a seat at the table and grab some of the food and drink that they had been eating earlier.
Devargo returns to his throne, anticipating a performance from Ryder.
You have a few minutes before the two recruits come back from dealing with Lucky. Kilney will also return, bandaged up from his fight with Ralof.
Dylan says "I have never actually seen one of your shows, Ryder. Let's see what you can do."
Ryder jumps right into a performance, "Fancy? You wouldn't know fancy if it drooled on your shoe!" Ryder quips with a smile. Ryder proceeds with a Stomp-esque rat-a-tatting procession around the room, drumming and stomping on whatever he comes across. He'll grab chair and slide it, and bang it, and rock it on the floor for effect, while stomping & clappping himself (imagine a solo version of this with a wooden chair). He'll kick the chair out away from him, then slide up to it himself, step one foot on the seat, one foot up on the back, and tip the chair backwards, creating a dramatic pause in the rhythm, punctuated by the thud of the chair onto the floor, and then immediately pick up the rhythm again. The only speaking Ryder will do will be to shout out the verbal for a well-timed, and harmlessly placed, Flare cantrip to punctuate the end of the performance.
Targeting a DC15 "Enjoyable" performance: Chair... umm.... drum-roll...
(+2 circumstance bonus for the awesome teaser earlier)
Devargo seems truly captivated by the performance in front of him. At one point you even see him move his feet and drum along (poorly). The Recruits get into it as well giving you ample space and cheering as you move about the room.... The spiders, however do not enjoy the stomping and retreat back into the webbing, hoping their thick strands can dull the vibrations. The Psuedodragon also could care less for the performance as it continues to lick at a recent scar. After some time, an enforcer from outside, comes in to see what the ruckus is all about. Seeing that everything is ok, he closes the door and resumes his post.
Drinks and food are passed around as you perform, (will any of you partake in drinking and eating?)
After your big finale, you get a round of applause from everyone in the room.
Devargo finishes clapping. "Wonderful, just wonderful! You see boys, if any of you could dance like that, I'd hire you in a second."
After a few moments when things settle down, Devargo returns to his more serious expressions... "Let me ask you, what do you care what happens with Darvayne Amprie anyway? What is in it for you if you ruin his life? I'm simply blackmailing him for money, but you seem legitimately willing to ruin the man. And to pay handsomely to do so."
"We only seek to uncover the truth and see that justice is served accordingly. If there is no wrongdoing on Amprei's part, then no ruin shall befall him. If, however, our suspicions are true, and Amprei is plotting to gain at the unlawful expense of Korvosa and its people, then it is our charge to protect Korvosa. We all call this city our home, and are personally vested in this cause. But, like you, we too have a monetary motivation, as we are in the employ of Korvosan officials. Mind you that we are NOT Korvosan Guard and we have no interest in any part of your operation here - in fact, if you are able and willing to help, in addition to gold and entertainment, we would be willing to lobby on your behalf for leniency from the Guard, should any scrutiny from them come your way in the future. So, do we have a deal at 1000 gold?"
Dragons fall understand the realm of Arcana...
Dylan adds "The ones who will suffer the most if the rumors of his plans are true is the common people. I don't care what happens to Amprei, I do however care about what happens to the commoners and the city. Besides if what he has planned is true your business will suffer also because is he ruins the city financially the commoners will not have the money to spend on vises. I imagine most of your income comes from commoners. I would think it would be in your best interest to help."
"You can still extort money from him. He wouldn't know you don't personally have the evidence anymore."
Pseudodragons are a common sight around here, Korvosa has a bit of a problem when it comes to imps and pseudodragons nests throughout the city. As a result, this is a common creature to you and in addition to knowing that they speak Draconic, they also posses telepathy and a poisonous sting.
It is easy to see that this one is not treated well. Its cage is filthy and it has several scars on its body in addition to puncture marks on its body.
----
In response to Ryder, "You were right to hide your guard affiliation from me, you would not have gotten in the door if you had. While I can care less what you do with Amprei or Korvosa for that matter. However, your offer of protection intrigues me"
In response to Dylan, "You say what he has planned could lower my profit margins? Possibly. People will always look for the quick buck. However, he has been buying the evidence up piece by piece, he would certainly know I don't have it when I have no more left to give."
He scratches his head for a bit. Leans back. "I accept your offer. 1000g for the last of the proof of the dirty secrets I hold over Amprei. And, your protection should I come under guard control... Do we have a deal?"
"The evidence is only worth 1000 if it will guarantee his arrest, furthermore, we can offer you no protection from the Guard. As I said, I will promise to put in a good word for you, to lobby on your behalf, and recommend leniency, should the scrutiny of the Guard come your way. I can tell you that our services thus far have been well regarded, and we are earning a level of respect from the Guard. Your help, along with our good word, will go a long way to earn you at least one small free pass, so to speak, but I must reiterate that we cannot protect you from the Guard if you over stretch any leniency you earn."
Ryder will partake of the food and drink that is being passed around, and will attempt to feed a little to the pseudo dragon.
"You don't quite understand how leverage works, do you, Ryder. Arrest? No, no proof exists that I'm aware of that he has done anything illegal. And if you did arrest him, or kill him, you'd likely make a martyr of the man. Leverage is the name of the game here. I have proof of his involvement in a scandalous affair with an important Chelish nobles wife. As you know, they take that kind of thing very seriously. He would likely loose his status as ambassador and shunned from their ranks.... Or if what I heard about this noble is true, he may just kill Amprei himself." He leans forward. "Trust me, you will own him with these letters."
As you attempt to feed the Pseudodragon, Devargo simply says, "Stop that."
You hear a voice in your head as you manage to get a few scraps in... "Thank you, kind sir. You are a saint." The PD eats the scraps quickly, as if he hadn't had food in some time.
Dylan joins in with everyone else eating, drinking and merriment.
Dylan will talk to Devargo "Now that the deal has been made, is there any way I could persuade you to donate a small portion to the poor orphans at the orphanage? A little positive publicity can go a long way in the public's view of Devargo. I would make it known who donated the money.
Amendithas tries to help Dylan's entreaty with a grunt of approval.
Upon hearing of the request to donate to the orphanage, he just sits there, bewildered at the nature of the request. After about a minute he bursts out laughing. "Ha! imagine the looks on their faces when they realize where their money came from." He reaches into a pouch and tosses you a gold piece. "Here have them fight over that."
He then calls in some Enforcers to keep watch while he adjourns to the lower levels of the ship. When he returns in a few minutes he hands you his two remaining letters, presumably at the same time as you hand him the 1000g.
As he counts up his money, he explains to you that he had learned of the affair some time ago. Ambassador Amprie and this woman had been corresponding while he was stationed here in Korvosa. When Devargo heard these rumors, he paid the man a visit. He had attempted to befriend him, giving him several vials of shiver (Kn:Local or Cr: Alchemy DC15) and making a proposition to open trade with the Cheliax.
When the ambassador refused and had Devargo escorted from his home, Devargo pickpocketed the mans housekey, returning that night where he found and stole the letters from his paramour.
He tells you he had been selling the letters back to the ambassador at a rate of one every few weeks, taking delight in the mans discomfort over the hold he had over him.
The fact that the ambassador hasn't gone to the guard, attempting to keep the letters a secret says plenty about how dangerous the contents would be to his career.
After ensuring the amount of gold is correct, Devargo smiles and says, "Pleasure doing business with you!" And he motions to his enforcers to escort you out of Eel's End.
As they are escorted from Eel's End, Amendithas can't help but feel a little disappointed he was unable to try a Molotov Cocktail. He'll make sure he orders one the next time he visits a tavern.