“I suppose I expected you to be a bit more professional,” Jenk mutters, his features showing some disappointment. Despite this, Halkale can tell that the man still assumes Ophelia and the rest of you are who you claim to be.
"I'll get straight to the point. I'm having some trouble with our Lissalan contractors. In order to patch things up, I'm arranging to send them a few gifts, but collecting these gifts will take some legwork and possibly some coercive negotiation. This is where your group of specialists come in."
"The Consortium previously loaned each of the three temples in Riddleport a substantial sum, and the interest on all these loans is long overdue. We don’t want the interest in money; instead, I've has already sent missives to the temples and directed them to pay their back-due interest in the form of a religious icon or magic item. I have informed each temple that agents will be coming by tonight to collect the items, so you should be expected."
"You will visit the Publican House and acquire a sacred mug. The House of the Silken Veil will give you a magical dagger, and the Fish Bowl will repay us with a magical bicorne hat. You will acquire all three this evening, but I do not have a preference on which order you do so. As I hinted at earlier, I suspect at least one or more of the temples may be reluctant to part with their items, despite our lawful instance upon payment." He says with a smirk.
"Upon your success, I will reward you with the honor of representing the Aspis Consortium in delivering these three good-will gifts to the cult of Lissala. I anticipate these expensive gifts will undoubtly impress the group and demonstrate our long-established relations with other religious institutions."
"If you have any questions, be quick about them. We both have work to do." With that, his eyes drift to some ledgers on his desk.
"You will bring the items back to me, and I will direct you from there. I trust you are trained well enough to do what is necessary and only what is necessary." Venk responds curtly, mildly rolling his eyes, "I suggest you start your assignment now."
With that he gives the group a dismissive wave as he returns to his work.
Having no obvious preference on which temple to visit first, the group elects to stop by the first one on the list. The Publican House is a sprawling building of rough-hewn wood and weathered shingles. Large bay windows of leaden glass provide an expansive view of the river. Loud cheers issue from the tavern, as does the sweet smell of spilled ale.
The tavern-temple is crowded tonight, with several intoxicated patrons lifting stools and tables stacked with metal cups brimming with ale. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the interior is splattered with large puddles of ale and broken furniture.
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Mel tries to slip off into the shadows and find a good place to get a view of everything. He is especially interested in guards/bouncers as well as anyone else watching the crowd.
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The barkeep raises an eyebrow at the badge and waves over a bearlike man with meaty fists and a notched sword swinging at his hip. The tender whispers in his ear and the man nods and waves him off.
Addressing Ophelia, the beefy man says, "Greetings, I'm High Publican Arnando Rolf. What can I do for Miss?"
"Ah, yes," Rolf says, looking a bit embarrassed, "Well, as you can see we're in the middle of a drinking contest. I had set the cup aside for you, but my acolytes gathered it up as one of the prizes." He points to a battered metal mug above the bar next to a bottle of high-quality brandy and a chalice of lacquered teak. "So I can't just give to you without hurting my reputation or maybe starting a brawl, but I will allow you and your people to enter the drink-balancing contest and you can win it fair and square."
He then briefly explains how the contest works. Each contestant chooses a barstool, table, or heavy sideboard. They then select how many drinks they want to place on said object, three, six, or nine full cups of ale. Contestants are expected to lift the object above their heads without spilling any of the drinks . If more than one person can lift the object without spilling drinks, then ties are broken by furniture type (heavier object winning), then by number of drinks (more drinks winning), and if that still doesn't break the tie, a drinking contest.
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Upon hearing the conditions of the contest, Quiella shakes her head. She quietly says to Moadis, Cayden's people don't have much respect for their obligations, do they? Let's hope he doesn't decide it would be better for the mug to go elsewhere, even should we win the contest.
It is hard for her to stay too sullen, however. Silly contests are one of her favorite leisure pastimes and she joins in with three mugs on a barstool after stripping off her armor.
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The young elf is quite pleased to enter the contest. After grabbing the lightest barstool he can find, he boasts loudly about how easy it will be to balance the nine cups.
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Ophelia grinds her teeth at Rolf's explanation. "Fine. We'll participate in your silly game, but if we don't get the mug, you'll have to provide some other means of paying. Understand?" With that, she grabs a stool, balances six cups on it, and does her best, feeling more than a little regret at her brash treatment of the High Publican.
Rolf only shrugs and gives Ophelia a good-natured smile at her warning, standing aside as the competition begins.
The rowdy crowd cheers whenever a stool or table is lifted up without spilling any booze, while gasping or booing at failure, depending on the individual's particular charisma.
Quiella manages to lift a barstool and balance 3 drinks without spilling a drop!
Melufiuos tops her by balancing 9 drinks on a single barstool!
Valik struggles with the task, unable to lift a table completely and sloshing most of the drinks.
Halkale has similar problems, unable to pull up the table, but not spilling a drop of ale.
The 'leader' Ophelia manages to lift a stool with 6 drinks without spilling any!
The only real competition are two fellows named Fisheye Fwerd and “Big Arvin” Dalson. Fisheye attempts to lift a stool with 6 cups, managing to lift the object up, but spilling the drinks. Despite his name, "Big Arvin" can't even lift up a table, let alone stop the drinks from getting everywhere.
"Congratulations!" The High Publican praises, "The top three winners are the elf, the lady, and the lady gnome!" He says, pointing to Melufiuos, Ophelia and Quiella. "The top winner takes whatever prize he wants, then second place chooses, and third gets what's left."
Melufiuos gets many good-natured slaps on the back and the drunken ogling of some of the ladies in the audience at his victory.
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Mel soaks up the attention and flirts with as many gals as possible . After a few harsh looks to 'hurry up' from his companions, he sobers up and takes the cup we were after. Before leaving, though, he will attempt to identify the item to ensure it is what it is supposed to be.
After handing the cup to Ophelia for safe-keeping, he follows along with the party to the Fish Bowl.
Melufiuos ascertains the cup is a Goblet of Quenching.
Aura faint conjuration (creation); CL 1st
Slot none; Price 180 gp; Weight 1 lb.
Description
At your command, this simple clay goblet fills itself with cool,
fresh drinking water. The goblet can create up to 2 gallons of
water per day. The water evaporates normally if left exposed, and
is completely normal water; you can store it, use it to create holy
water, and so on.
Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, create water; Cost 90 gp
The group next heads towards the Besmaran temple, the Fish Bowl. The structure is a ramshackle building that stands along the river atop a high stone base. Well-worn stone stairs ascend the stone base to access the temple above, but a chain has been drawn across the bottom of the stairs to block easy access. From the street, it is difficult to see anything occurring in the temple at the top of the platform. Only a few dim lights flicker up in the temple, and a narrow tower or lookout post rises above it.
Bypassing the chain and making your way to the top of the stairs, you see that the stone base of the building is scooped out at the top that contains murky seawater. Narrow stairs in the north lead 30 feet up to the lookout point.
From that lookout point, you hear what sounds like the terrified screams of children, as you see 3 strange sea monsters make their way towards the lookout stairs. These creatures look like a bizarre combination of a lobster and an eel, with a series of spines lining their backs.
Near the pool lie two corpses, both dressed in the typical Besmaran vestments of the clergy, and one of them wearing a bicorne hat.
The creatures turn from the stairwell and hungrily look to the group.
PC Initiative Rolls
Initiative
Melufiuos <= Up
Moadis <= Up
Valik <= Up
Ophelia <= Up
Quiella <= Up
3 Creatures
Halkale
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Mel moves in N,N,NW,NW,N with his bow at the ready.
When he sees the creatures, he lets the party know what they are (does he know of any special attacks, defenses, or weaknesses?)
"LEAVE THOSE CHILDREN ALONE!!!!" In a smooth motion, he brings an arrow to his cheek, hums softly , and releases the shaft at the creature before the stairs.
Perhaps the elf was a bit too hasty with his shot?
Melufiuos realizes these creatures are aquatic aberrations known as reefclaws. They are very good at grabbing prey with their claws and are poisonous. They are also resistant to cold, and go into a frenzy of attacks right before they die.
The elf's arrow strikes true, wounding one of the monsters.
Ophelia casts Bless on the party, while Melufiuos wounds the closest reefclaw with his arrow. Moadis advances to the front.
Ill-designed to move on land, the reefclaws slowly slither their way towards the party, but don't get very far even moving their fastest.
Initiative
Halkale <= Up
Melufiuos <= Up
Moadis <= Up
Valik <= Up
Ophelia <= Up
Quiella <= Up
3 Reefclaws
Effects
Bless: +1 to attack and fear saves