GM Lari's Labyrinth of Hungry Ghosts (Core) (Inactive)

Game Master Dhenn

Trouble in Tamran
With your task in the Gloomspires complete, Venture-Captain Benarry pours you all a generous portion of rum, and begins to set in a new course, returning you to the Grand Lodge.

When you return to Absalom, she comes ashore as well, hoping to consult with some Society scholars about the Orb of Stars.

Once you've had the opportunity to rest and resupply, Ambrus Valsin calls you all into his office. A Varisian man is with him, leaning idly against the wall.

“Pathfinders, I’m sure you know our associate, Guaril Karela, if not personally then by reputation,” says Ambrus Valsin while gesturing to the Varisian man seated across from him. “We’ve had reports from a confidential informant in the Aspis Consortium that trouble is brewing in Tamran. Probably not coincidentally, several of Karela’s shipments bound for Tamran have gone missing.”

Guaril adds, “You see, the Molthuni navy maintains a rather tyrannical blockade around the city—a blockade past which my associates and I have helped Ambrus move numerous items. It’s not so difficult; the Molthuni are not the brightest stars in the sky. Or at least it wasn’t difficult until recently. An unknown party has intercepted my last dozen shipments, and I doubt Molthune is responsible. When I lose shipments—”

“—Our lodge in Tamran loses much needed supplies,” finishes Ambrus. “Not to mention the fact that Guaril provides many important goods to the people of Tamran, such as food and medicine. Your mission is to accompany Guaril to Tamran and investigate the disappearances and thefts. Hopefully Oraiah Tolal, our venture-captain in Tamran, will have more leads.

“You depart with Karela in two hours. If you have any questions, or any supplies to purchase, I advise you do so now.”

"Oh, yes, I almost forgot. Venture-Captains Yuul and Benarry had nothing but praise for your work. That said, I feel you'd benefit from a bit of assistance on a mission which requires this degree of discretion. As such, I've assigned another agent to your team. I'll allow him to introduce himself, and you'll have plenty of time to get better acquainted on the way to Nirmathas.", he gestures to the new face in the group.

You may know some information about the conflict between Molthune and Nirmathas with Knowledge (History or Geography). I'd also take Profession (Soldier) or similarly relevant skills.

"Aspis?" Doubtful mutters unhappily. "Probably feeding us info to lure us into a trap."

Knowledge (history): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12

aka: dot

Dotting for fun and profit :-)

The young man walks through the streets of Absalom. Here and there he sees the street children, the invisible ones. His reaction is fickle. Sometimes he tosses them a copper, hoping to help them out. Others he ignores them, making them earn their way out of the gutters. He walks with his head held high, yet his hood pulled firmly over his face. The juxtaposition is a man proud of himself, yet detached from the social lives of others. The irony continues beyond his posture; for his leathers are hardly new looking, yet they are meticulously cared for. Every buckle is oiled and every fastener is clean of grime. When he pulls his hood back he reveals features that are handsome, yet severe. His expression is an artist's study in acrimony. The shadow of a beard on his jawline tenses and moves in a clench that puts others off. His eyes are dark by blood, but closed to gimlet. This is Thorn the Savvy, footpad and rogue. This is Thorn, Pathfinder agent.

He joins you right as the Varisian points him out. "Heya. I hear we're sticking to the Aspis and you need it under a rose. I'm your jack timber, and my silverware is ready for a tumble."

After introductions he adds, "I don't have a ken for the who-and-what, but I'm a quick learner. Are we going in like a grandma?" Thorn finally looks about and realizes he needs to tone it down. "Are we sneaking in, going in disguised, or just going in? I'm fine with all of those choices."

Dunkel beams when he sees Doubtful in the same briefing room again with him, going so far as to smack the dwarf on his back affectionately.

"Ah, Doubtful! 't's good t' see ya again! And so soon after all tha' diggin' we did down n' th' Glooooomspires."

Dunkel draws out the "oooo" in Gloom and smiles.

"Tha' was a right fine 12x8 we dug n' great time fer only 'aving two dwarves on the team."

Dunkel nods to Amiri.

"N' lassie, ah'm thinkin' ye should be an honorary dwarf, ye've definitely got tha' back fer it!"

Knowledge History: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12

Know. History: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10

Jair tries to remember something about the Molthuni war

Doubtful, Dunkel, and Jair are all familiar with the broad strokes of the conflict.

When Cheliax collapsed into civil war in the wake of Aroden's death, Molthune was the first nation to break away, inspiring Andoran and Galt to follow. Not long after their own independence, the country's northern region broke away to form Nirmathas.

The Nirmathi relied on guerrilla tactics to defeat the disciplined Molthuni armies, and even now their armed forces consist of a loose collection of largely independent militias. There has been no real resolution to the conflict, and clashes of varying intensity continue to this day.

Jaïr is a petite woman in simple black robes who highlights her silhouette. She had pale complexion but her charming smile and her simple green make-up make her immediately friendly.
At her side, a short sword and two wands.

She tells her comrade what she knows about the Molthuni's war.

I think it will be wise when we will be there to not appear as agent of the Molthuni.

"From the sound of things, it seems wise to never appear Molthuni."

Her straw-blonde hair is tied back in a practical ponytail, and her skin is the kind of pale that burns in the sun. Her high cheekbones and sharp features mark her Azlanti heritage strongly, perhaps more strongly than any of her associates on this mission have seen outside of ancient statues. Her robes bear the personal symbol of the Archwizard Nex.

As the party waited to enter Valsin's office, Imrana was seen dragging along a large sack of Absalom newspapers as though such displays are perfectly normal. She speed reads them as she hums to herself.

"I am very glad to see all of you again! The Blessings of The Lady of Graves and the Great Nex upon you!"

Her head tilted and she pursed her lips at Thorn's rapid-fire street lingo.

"It is nice to meet you, Thorn. Is that some manner of dialect I am unfamiliar with? Are such things common in this time?"

Knowledge (history): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (4) + 8 = 12

Imrana remembers reading the bare basics of the conflict between Nirmathas and Molthune in a broad-strokes tome of recent political history in the Inner Sea. It was called something like The Inner Sea World Guide.

"Aye missy, it's a dialect you're not familiar with. Someone like you is a little to clean and pretty smelling to have learned that tongue." Thorn doesn't elaborate.

Imrana continues tilting her head to the side.

"How can someone be "too clean and pretty-smelling" to learn a dialect? Such requirements seem quite strange."

She straightens and nods to herself,

"In my time with the Great Nex, he told my sisters and me that no knowledge would be hidden from us, should we only be dedicated enough to its pursuit. I should hope that if I should only devoted the effort, I could learn it no matter how clean and--"

She stops herself. Having thoroughly considered the outlandish option, her mind comes back around to the simplest.

"Oh, wait. You were speaking figuratively? Please pardon me if I occassionally slip up. Taldane has changed much in the past several thousand years."

She goes back to reading, humming to herself. She speaks as an afterthought, as though she doesn't really expect anyone else to hear.

"The Great Nex also told us to never underestimate the strangeness of the world or what is possible."

Thorn raises his left eyebrow without moving a single other muscle. He approaches Imrana. First he stairs at her ears, then he smells her breath (ignorant of the rudeness.) "I don't see pointy ears, and you don't smell like pesh. What gives? How're you talking about ancient times?"

Dunkel looks on with amusement at the exchange between Imrana and Thorn.

"Course she's not n' elf! She dinnae even insult me or Doubtful 'ere once last venture!"

Dunkel looks to Doubtful for acknowledgement, but then considers the matter further.

Course she avoided tha' diggin' like a she-elf...

Jair smiles at Imrana's nonsense speach.

I must be use to it ! Lovely Imrana.

Imrana continues reading her newspapers as Thorn as he checks her over.

"Oh, I was in-stasis for 4139 years. I am only 19 in relative age."

Her voice is bright and innocent as she goes about her business as though nothing was amiss.

"How interesting! Lady Darchana of House Madinani, the Archdean of the Arcanimiriun, has a secret suitor! I wonder who she could be...."

I could tell you that. I have a friend working at Absalom Weekly she knows everything !

Doubtful just makes an aggrieved face at Dunkel's seemingly fond remembrances of their recent trip to sea.

"Haven't tried eating anyone." He mutters disconsolately in response.

"Yet..." He adds.

He eyes Thorn suspiciously when he arrives, clearly dubious about the man.

He does his best to stay out of all the idle chit-chat, merely sitting in a nearby chair with a grumpy frown.

Dunkel bobs his head.

"Ah' still 'aven't got tha' rotten arm-taste outta me mouth, but tha' good news is no desires to bite inta any more hands or feet since we left tha' blasted place."

Dunkel smiles at Valsin and Guaril.

"So, off'ta Tamran then? Sounds like a right lovely place, it does. Did ye say we were t' help the Nirmathi in their conflict against Molthooon by diggin' siege tunnels, na? Or perhaps a wee 4x6 escape tunnel when they might next be invaded?"

Dunkel draws out the "ooo" in Molthune as he pronounces it.

"Tamran's on stilts..." Doubtful mutters. "... In a swamp."

"Don't think digging's gonna work."

"Right, well, if need bring I'll bring a betty, and a punchline. Like I said, I'm good for a tap on the shoulder, but you lot are better with words than me."

Ambrus takes Dunkel's question. "Tamran is indeed home to some lovely folk, though sometimes a bit suspicious of outsiders thanks to Molthuni espionage. I served as a mercenary there when I was a young man, actually, as did quite a few others in the Society. Ideally, the Decemvirate would prefer to have good relations with both nations, though that has proven harder to achieve than expected. We'd prefer you not exacerbate tensions while you're there."

Guaril, who has been smirking silently for much of your conversation, interjects, "That said, we should talk about a bit of business once we return to Absalom. You'd be surprised how often tunnels come in handy in my line of work." He punctuates this statement with an exaggerated wink.

As for Thorn's question, Ambrus says, "I trust your judgment on how to approach this situation. Assuming this is the Aspis' doing, they'll likely be on the lookout for Pathfinders."

Any other questions for them? If not we'll be on our way to Tamran.

"I'm good. Let's light the getaway sticks."

The following covers quite a bit of in-game time. If you want to spend some time roleplaying on the way there, I'm happy to encourage that, but I also didn't want to drag things along too slowly, so feel free to do as much or as little with the following events as you wish:

Getting to Tamran
After a bit of hurried packing, you follow Guaril to the docks, boarding a passenger ferry to Cassomir. From there, you make your way up the Sellen. Twice, Guaril wakes you up in the middle of the night, and you all transfer to a different riverboat. The journey across Lake Encarthan is uneventful, and Karela personally oversees the approach to Tamran under cover of darkness.

Compared to the mighty harbors of Absalom and Katapesh, Tamran is a bit underwhelming. The docks are mainly lined with small fishing boats. Buildings rise above the marshy ground on piers and pilings. Almost all are wood and very few rise taller than two stories.

Meeting Reginar
A robust manwearing green and brown leathers and cloaked in a large bearskin waits on the dock as you arrive. He approaches and says quietly, "Welcome, friends. I am Reginar Lacklan. Please follow me, Venture-Captain Tolal is waiting for you."

At this point, Guaril makes his farewells, "You lot go follow the nice man. I'll be pursuing an...independent line of inquiry. I'll meet you at the lodge in three days time to see what you've been able to figure out."

Arriving at Ashfall

While most buildings in Tamran stand atop piers and pilings, the Ashfall Lodge straddles three broad cypress trees. Rope bridges and wooden slat ladders wind across its outer branches, leading to a handful of tiny cabins for storage and visiting agents. Two bell pulls hang from the southern tree—one weighted by a medallion depicting the Glyph of the Open Road and the other weighted by a bronze symbol of two faces in profile. Knowledge (Religion) anyone?

Reginar takes hold of the Open Road rope and gives it a sharp pull, sounding a high-pitched bell in the lodge above.

From above, a gray-haired halfling woman examines the visitors, smiles, and drops a rope ladder. She nimbly clambers down and gestures grandly to the elevated structure.

“Welcome, Pathfinders. May Ashfall Lodge be your home away from home and your welcome to a new land. If you’ll accompany me, I can answer any questions you might have.”

Knowledge (religion): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (11) + 8 = 19

Imrana takes in the humble city with a sense of inquisitive, albeit reserved, wonder, like an excited child trying hard to behave themself.

"How nice. I have seen similar types of structures amongst the ghoran, but did not think of their utility for guerilla warfare. Hmm..."

She opens up a journal and begins scribbling notes and drawings of the building designs.

"The current status of Nirmathas would make for a interesting case study of modern, low magic nations embroiled in long-term border conflict. I am certain such information would be of interest to the Great Nex when he returns."

Doubtful stares at the strange stilted village with a look that is a mixture of horror and resignation.

"How awful." He mutters. "One good axe puts them all in the swamp."

He glares at the swampy ground as if waiting for it to swallow them all up. "Bet they have leeches here too." He adds, looking knowingly at the others.

"Molthune's probably going to come swarming in any time now." He adds, with resigned certainty.

Knowledge (religion): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (11) + 4 = 15

"This isn't a palace, that's for certain. Still I'm sure there's a bit o'trumpeting to do in the shade. Look, I can tell we've got some nice nice silver tongues, so I'm going to sit in the back of the carriage and give my order when the butcher calls my number."

Aside from a raised eyebrow and Guaril's lines, that's really all he does at the moment.

Jair smiles at Reginar Thanks for you welcome brave Reginar. Happy to meet you, I'm Jair and kiss him on both cheeks.

She waves at Guaril, thanking him for his help to arrive shortly and quietly in Tamran. See you in three days, Guaril. I'm sure we will match your expectations.

She follows young Reginar to the lodge and is quite impressed by its style. How clever it is ! I prefer stone over wood, but seems quite ingenious.

Know. Religion: 1d20 + 7 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 7 + 2 = 23 Jair looks in her book to know more about the two faces symbol before using the ropes to meet the Venture Captain.

At the leeches' mention by Doubtful, she begins to climb faster never again !.

After taking her breath, she smiles and bows at the gnome.

Thank you for having us Venture Captain. I'm Jair, may secrets be discovered.

Then follows her in the lodge.

Dunkel shields his eyes as he looks up at the massive tree, not really looking to protect them from any sunlight, but more from any falling debris.

"Ach! Be wary, Doubtful. For trees like these can steal yer sight if an acorn, twig, berry, or even razor-sharp leaf falls at ye from th' wrong angle!"

Dunkel shakes his head at the height of the lodge, letting the taller folks do the talking while simultaneously seeking additional solace in his dwarven brethren's doubts at the treehouse and swamp.

"A good cave is what they'd need here, one easily dug in a fortnight..."

Jair, the VC is a halfling, actually.

Reginar seems a little confused by Jair's greeting, cheeks momentarily flushing red, before regaining his composure and continuing. He tells Doubtful, "It's not axes you have to worry about, generally. It's the fires. Molthune's put the city to the torch five times in the past six decades, but the people always rebuild. Oh, and mosquitos tend to be a bigger problem than leeches in these marshes."

Guaril winks at Jair as he disappears down a side alley, "I'm sure you will, my dear. I'm sure you will..."

Doubtful and Jair both recognize the holy symbol of Alseta, a lesser goddess of doors, transitions, and years. Alseta’s faithful make excellent hosts, negotiators, diplomats, and seneschals.

When you arrive in the room at the top of the ladder, you see a humble shrine to Alseta in one corner. Venture-Captain Tolal will offer you food and refreshments, but is quick to get to business.

"Indeed, I hope you can indeed uncover the secrets of these missing shipments. My own investigations have been stymied by some pernicious rumors, slander really, spreading about town. People insist the Pathfinder Society in general, and more specifically Reginar and myself, are Molthuni sympathizers.

You're welcome to stay here at the lodge as long as you wish, and I'll do what I can to help you.

Each day, the Venture-Captain can cast the following spells, cure light wounds, cure moderate wounds, cure serious wounds, magic vestment, remove blindness/deafness, remove curse, and remove disease. She can only cast a total of six levels of spell per day (i.e. 2x3rd level spells, 6x1st level spells, or any other combination)

At this point, you have the four leads from Oriah Tolal (Docks, Gar's Last Meal, Forest Bounty, Market District) to investigate. You can also canvas the city more generally (a regular gather information). A Diplomacy check to ask around is typically what you'll need here. That said, I'll accept pretty much any skill if you can make a good argument for how it's relevant, and for any skill, descriptions of how you go about things can earn circumstance bonuses. Feel free to roll separately, aid another, or split the party if you wish.

You have three days to investigate, and some of these checks will take longer than your standard gather information, so I'll roll them. For the sake of convenience, it's now 8 AM on day 1

"Getting the dinner conversation would take a right bit o'work, and I don't know that it's worth it. With most things, I recommend just going in the Abadar order. I'm a fan of the docks anyway. The aristocracy smells like linen there."

He takes a breath, "Let's just go in order, starting at the docks."

Imrana responds while she furiously continues writing down notes of the conversation with the Venture-Captain.

"I will follow your lead. I was taught to place my trust in experts when their knowledge surpases my own."

Doubtful stands unhappily in a corner of the room, eyes constantly shifting towards the floor. Reginar's comments about fires destroying the town multiple times seem to have put his doomsday imagination on high alert, and he seems sure some horrible calamity is about to befall them any moment.

"Doesn't matter which lead we follow." He mutters, dolefully. "Its all gonna turn bad."

"Can we get outta this tree now?" He adds.

Lets go to whichever is closest! Failing that, it seems too early for taverns or feast halls, so the market or docks

Oops I don't know why I believed she's a gnome :P

We have three days before Garil came back. I suggest we take our time to investigate. I would like to go for a walk first and try to smell the city, knows its secrets, its wave of informations.
Let me take a few hours before you get to the docks if it is where you want to go first.
I think gathering information will give us a better start than to begin cold.

Ok, so there's interest in a general gather information as well as the docks. I'm going to be less active than usual this weekend, so you're best chance for a detailed response from me is either before noon (US eastern) tomorrow or late Sunday. A brief description of the docks is below. Feel free to roll a skill check to ask around there or generally in the city. Description of how you go about it (any sort of people you're looking for in particular, whether you are up front about being a Pathfinder, how subtle or direct you are in your questioning, etc.) will always help.

Tamran's docks are surprisingly busy for a city under blockade. Fishermen ply the waters close to the coast, and riverboats travel up and down the Marideth River with goods and passengers. The area is abuzz with activity, as stevedores, fishwives, and traders rush about on their own business.

Amiri remains quiet, allowing the more loquacious members of the party do what they do best - convincing the locals to tell them what they want to know.

Information gathering is really not Amiri's best skill ;-)

+1 more for the docks.

Dunkel takes a look around the docks, not straying far from Doubtful and letting Thorn take point since the human seems to know his way around the human town.

He wonders aloud some of his thoughts.

"So... shipments gone missin'.. maybe we can ask about th' blockades? See if they're gettin' worse, or any sailors or captains seen anythin' unusual-like?"

Failing to spot any diggin' equipment, he keeps his eyes open for metals, gemstones, foodstuffs or libations, expecting if he were to get into conversation, it would be best to strike one up for a good he's be a ready customer of, or one that he's well versed in.

Jair let her comrades deal with the docks while she went in different area of the town to know more about the rumors and stories tell in town.

She uses different disguise to asks questions, masking her affiliation with the Pathfinder. Using when needed her wand of disguise self to do it.

Several time, she even accused the Pathfinder to be Moltuni agents to know about more about this crap rumor. She also tries to know what kind of ennemies the Pathfinder has in the area.
She targeted male rather than female as her charming smile works better against that type of people.

Diplomacy (Gather Information): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (18) + 7 = 25 +1 vs. characters who could be attracted to Jair
Bluff (to pass for a local or a non Pathfinder: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (3) + 11 = 14 +1 vs. characters who could be attracted to Jair
Disguise (with disguise self) take 10: 1d20 + 1 + 11 ⇒ (18) + 1 + 11 = 30
Knowledge Local (if needed): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10
Sense Motive (in case): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (6) + 8 = 14

"Good luck Jair. Watch out for one-eyed uncles while you're out and about. Don't be afraid to nack up and meet us back here."

Heading out to the docks, Thorn pays attention passively, listening more than talking (he doesn't have a Wayfinder and doesn't mention the Society. Gather Information: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 2 = 21. If it's a matter of the lay of the land: Knowledge Local: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (13) + 8 = 21

Jair spends 1d4 ⇒ 2 hours wandering the streets of Tamran, and starting to get a feel for the city. She finds her way to a bakery, the Harvest Hearth, which has a line of customers stretching out the door and onto the street. Many in line are talking loudly.

"Desna knows how, but Boran picked up filth fever somewhere. None of the alchemists in the market have any medicine, and all the temples are fresh out too. Erastil, Pharasma, they're all fresh out. Them Pathfinder smugglers started sending everything to Molthune."

A man responds, "It's worse than that, Dodie. Everything else stopped coming through, but the drugs keep coming. They're tryin' ta get all the soldiers hooked on pesh and shiver and all sorts of nasty stuff, so we'll be too insensible to defend ourselves."

The baker wipes his hands clean on his apron and comes around from behind the counter to join them.

"Did I tell you about the guy who came to visit me? Some sleazy Varisian feller, said he worked for Karela. Said it would be 25 gold a week to keep my sugar shipment coming. I said I couldn't do that, and he said I'd regret it. I haven't seen him or another bag of sugar since."

Imrana shrugs her mouth in thought.

"Are you not friends with this Karela, Mr. Thorn? Perhaps you could ask him if he knows anything about this."

"Friends is a bit strong of a mot Imrana. I also trust him about as much as I trust any lullyprigger. Let's work out what we can before we talk to the tall man." Let's finish some research before going back to him.

we can't go back to him... he left and is meeting back up with us in 3 days right?

Is there anything Imrana can do to assist with knowledge skills? Maybe knowledge (local) to help give our investigations some more direction? Assisting diplomacy to gather information with a +0 doesnt feel very helpful

Dunkel shrugs when he hears the rumors about Karela.

"Good thing tha' Trade Prince is leadin' th' Exchange, innit?"

Anything else turned up at the docks? Thorn's check isn't too bad, but Dunkel will assist for what it's worth.

Gather Info (docks, to assist Thorn): 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (10) - 1 = 9

So. Close.

Dunkel keeps his eyes open for anything fishy (besides fish), too.

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (12) + 7 = 19

Well, the 5 charisma dwarf isn't going to be much help =)

Doubtful trails along, eyeing pretty much everything and everyone suspiciously.

He expects at any moment they will get run out of town... or the town will get burned down around them.

Before heading down o the docks, to Doubful, "We need a smooth pair of eyes if you kennit."

Imrana decides it might be worth trying to assist with the information gathering.

Diplomacy (gather info) assist: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (3) + 0 = 3

She quickly forgets what she was originally supposed to be asking about, instead turning her line of questioning to the founding history of the town, various engagements they've had with the Molthuni, and--in one case--the nutritional value of various seafood products as a function of value.

She does at least keep her eyes open for anything suspicious or potentially related to her mission along the way.

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23

Back in action now. Imrana, I'll take a Local. This part can be a little tricky for non-face types, so I'm very much open to any sort of creative approaches to getting information you might come up with.

1d6 ⇒ 1
At the Docks

While Jair is off at the bakery, Thorn rather quickly finds someone both willing to talk with him, and with something more insightful to say than the typical gripes about shortages.

A half-elven man peruses a shipment of herbs and vegetables, freshly arrived from a farm further up the Marideth River. He has not aged gracefully, despite his elven heritage. He is completely bald and wears a silver earring in one ear and a snowy white beard. He introduces himself as Jonathram. When the topic of missing shipments comes up, he responds,

I don’t know nothing about no missin shipments. Someone tried to sell me some stolen goods though, but I ain’t about t’get locked up on no fool charge like that. Some Varisian feller come by wanting to buy up mah vermin repellent, trying to barter off some potions or whatnot. But I sees the Glyph of the Open Road on ‘em, and I ain’t about to touch no Pathfinder stuffs, so I tell him to shove off. Boy that got ‘im real mad. He was itchin’ up a storm, he was! Must have been living in them marshes, where them skeeters live.”

Imrana and Dunkel both notice many suspicious glances as they ask around, though in Imrana's case people may be more concerned for her mental state than her political allegiance.

Splitting the party creates a bit of temporal wackiness, but for the two groups, these are the effective times of day. You can meet up (effectively jumping everyone to the latest time) whenever you wish.
Thorn, Dunkel (and Amiri and Doubtful?): 9 AM
Jair (and Imrana?): 10 AM

"Great, the thieves' are holed up in the swamp?" Doubtful moans, as the information comes in.

"Maybe not leech swarms... probably all mosquito swarms for sure!"

For the record, I still have no way to deal with a swarm! =)

"Whoever's selling the loot in the market might know where." He adds. "Could probably use some mosquito repellent..." He adds, hopefully.

For his part, he mostly just listens as the others ask about, occasionally nodding in sympathetic agreement during the worst of the griping from the locals.

He tries to keep an eye out for anyone acting suspicious or outright lying to them.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18