Hot DM's Argent Corvids (Inactive)

Game Master Hotaru of the Society

"Hm... interesting. I know that there are some spells that need pearls, but I don't remember them off the top of my head. I've never really needed to carry, nor worry about, that sort of stuff." Rexus supplies. Pathfinder really needs a spell component list, for things that cost money. I know Identify used to use pearls, but that was removed. :|

"Material components then. And a fair number of them too. It must have been a particularly common spell for them to use if there's an entire bag of them in with this cache."

Tobias stands and waits while the others loot. He's impressed by the monetary wealth that's here, but he's... a little confused. "I thought there was supposed to be somewhere to hide here?" he asks. "Are we just taking this treasure and leaving?"

He looks around at the Asmodean iconography. "I'm confused. Devil summoning circles...but also its a rebel hideout? And there's not really a good hideout here but also... there's rebel stuff here?"

"Isn't this weird for anyone else?"

"Extremely," Victor says without hesitation. "This place has been a mess of contradictions pretty much the entire time. Diabolic portals, magical abominations, and yet still signs that the Ravens were here? It's fascinating. Still worrying, but fascinating."

"Well, the letter did say that we would find something from which we might learn about the Silver Ravens' legacy here," Armon comments, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "Perhaps this diabolical mess might explain their downfall."

"It seems likely that this..." He glances at Victor. "...celestial coffer, you called it...? Contains the truth that we seek. In any case, I would very much like to take my leave of this place. Hideout or not, I am not so sure that it can be salvaged."

"Yes." Rexus says, face apologetic. "I'm inclined to agree. Whatever it once was... it is no longer a very good hiding place. Perhaps at one point it served as a safe house, and perhaps at some point someone will be able to use it as one... but I don't think it would be an... ideal location to begin." he sighs, shaking his head. "Regardless, the least I can do is buy all of you dinner, if you'll follow me to my family friend's home? She'll have a private room that we can use to go over everything and talk."

"Been saying that since we got here, this place is well past usefulness. It's a miracle we even found this much, time to get out while we're ahead."

"It does seem that we've cleaned this place out. I admit, I was hoping for something a little grander. Oh well. Perhaps we can find something more from the coffer once we have somewhere private to get it open."

I currently have two players ready to move on. I'll push us forward sometime around noon today, if no one objects before then. :)

"We got some adventure out of it!" Misha says. "And the gear we've found is a nice bonus," she adds with a grin as she admires her ultra-light chain shirt.

"Dinner sounds great about now, I'm famished and could definitely use some rest." She looks down at her hands, noting the burns she'd received from channeling power without concentrating. "Ugh, I need to get better at controlling the energy when I'm in a rush. Getting burns really stinks!" A good night's sleep will get rid of the burns, but she has knocked herself out burning power haphazardly before, so she resolves to be more cautious in the future.

I need for everyone to determine what they take before the next adventure starts. (That includes anyone coming back to loot it later). If you haven't taken it before the next adventure starts, I'll assume it's still here, waiting for someone to show some love. :)

Rexus nods and offers Misha a smile. He immediately turns and starts to head back towards the upstairs. "I really am grateful for all of you coming along, thus far. I... know for certain this would have been entirely impossible were it not for your assistance. Well... most of your assistance." he says, casting a short glance to Juniper who honestly hadn't done much besides complain. He wasn't sure how he felt about her just yet, but he didn't say anything to untoward.

He crosses over the crumbled rocks, making his way across the ruined 'portal', and then begins to head up the stairs. The moment he crosses the iron bars, however, a shrill "WAGGHA WUB!" is sounded... just before a HORK!

Flat Footed attack v Rexus: 1d20 ⇒ 16
1d4 ⇒ 4

It only took a moment for Rexus to be absolutely covered in vomit from his face down to his stomach... and by extension for the terrible little creature to disappear, its revenge having been oh-so-sweet.

Rexus gags, and then moves over to the side and out of the way... releaving the contents of his stomach, for nearly half a minute. Finally, clutching his stomach, he mutters another magical phrase, and begins sloughing off the nastiness the little gremlin had left him with. "Of course." he adds, as the prestidigitation does its work... starting with his mouth, then his eyes, and moving everywhere else from there.

The rest of the trip is significantly less interesting. The dog is still in the upper floor near the doorway, but the other two mongrels have disappeared. He seems to be resting a little uncomfortably, but otherwise is no worse for wear.

The streets are still slightly damp, the sun having set, and not having dried everything thoroughly. No rain drips from the awnings around them, signalling that there hasn't been a recent rain, yet the streets are silvered with the light of the recently-risen moon: A trait shared by houses off in the distance.

Rexus takes the time to clean off each of his companions, one-by-one, using prestidigitation along the way, leaving each in turn able to smell the fresh rain on the streets. It was quiet, but not the unnatural quiet that had come with the earlier protest going badly. Instead it was just the quiet of night, the occasional home bearing witness to laughter. The group moves across town to Bleakbridge, where Rexus pays for the group's crossing out of his coin purse - considerably lighter than one would expect of a noble.

He leads the group across the dock-side of town, towards the Alabaster University. The mood is significantly more muted than it had been during recent memory; not since the Night of Ashes had the area been so empty. During the Night of Ashes, it was an extension of people gawking, but today, it had simply been mostly cleared out. There were signs of blood in the street, Dottari cleaning the grounds, and removing the signs of the recent fight. Apparently, the docks hadn't taken the Eighth Proclamation in stride.

Once past the dreary neighborhoods that should have been bustling with activity, Rexus leads the group across a park. As if the world had shifted back to some form of normalcy, everything was as it should be. The park was filled with teenagers and young adults mingling in pairs and groups, small lanterns over benches and small flower gardens, and idyllic lake resting in the center thereof. They never quite enter the park, instead skirting it, and eventually reaching what would be called a hole-in-the-wall in any other part of town... but here, it was one of the busiest shops in all of Kintargo.

The Longroads Coffee House, located within walking distance of Villegre Park, Mialari Docur's School for Girls, and the Alabaster Academy, had become a bit of a well-known secret. From opening until closing, the cafe was never empty. Rexus pulls the Cedar door open and allows a pair of young women in robes pass by, before moving in, personally, still holding the door for the others. The scent of Cedar does nothing to detract from the scents that waft out from the building (and perhaps is even an intended 'palate cleanser'. From the moment the door is opened, the group is treated to the aroma of fresh coffee, and delectable delicacies of the baked variety.

Within moments, the group is greeted by a jovial halfling woman with a bright blonde shock of hair, wearing the clothing of a baker, and a smile. Her feet are covered in the same shock of blonde hair that her head is, as she slips quickly across the room, bearing mugs of hot coffee. She quickly presses a cup into anyone who doesn't look offended by the process's hands, and then is immediately treated to a handful of baked goods: A combination of halfling fair and more human delicacies as well - from blackberry fritters to chocolate eclaires to lemon tarts, to a chococate chip cookie the size of Scath's paw, no one is left empty-handed, lest they refuse. "Oh my, you're all so very late, we have so much to catch up on, come, come. I've an office back this way. Sarah, dear? Mind the store while we fill in the gaps?" she asks of the blonde woman behind the counter, who just provides the same smile you would expect of anyone who actually enjoys this sort of job. Without leaving space for anyone to get a word in edgewise, she quickly slips across the room, behind the bar, and through a door.

Rexus just moves his hand in an after-you motion, and offers a smile, with a small shrug of one shoulder.

Sanita would steal anything they leave behind and either distribute it to the urchins, or sell it for food/clothing for them.

Scath follows along when the other's leave. He visits with Sanita in a dark corner for a minute, getting rubs and ear scratches. When that ritual is done, Sanita orders Scath to follow the others and she'll catch up with him tomorrow night.

Scath thereafter follows the others, growling at the gremlin when it appears, but not fast enough to stop it from puking on the two legs.

At the eating place, he sniffs the area in distrust, but doesn't attack anyone.

Also, I had entirely intended to state that those who wished to follow him could. You're also free to do whatever you want. But you'll miss on exposition if you don't follow. :)

Armon twinges with sympathy when Rexus is dealt the gremlin's revenge. He produces a handkerchief embroidered with the letters A.J. to offer to his fellow noble, only to be reminded that he was fully capable of cleaning himself off. Satisfied that his handkerchief would not have to be martyred to their cause, he puts it back into his pocket and does Rexus the courtesy of acting as though nothing had happened.

At the coffeehouse, Armon does nothing to stop the onslaught of confections, meeting the halfling baker with a broad smile. The combination of such sweets with the succor of coffee was just what he needed to ease up. He breathes deeply of the aroma rising from the mug, letting out a sigh of pure satisfaction - starting from the sewers, it was almost like passing from Hell into Heaven.

"Ahhh, yes. This is just what I needed," he remarks to no one in particular, graciously accepting Rexus' invitation. For a moment it seems like he has forgotten his reason for being there.

Victor winces as the gremlin gets its petty revenge on Rexus. "Those things should be exterminated," he mutters. On their way out, he stops the check on the dog again. The stray certainly isn't going to recover on its own and it wouldn't do to leave him lying in the abandoned building. If there's actually a way to bring the alpha dog with us, Victor will absolutely do so.

The walk across town is rather somber. The signs of riots all across the city show exactly how the town has reacted to yet another mad proclamation from their governor. "People are going to keep dying at this rate. And it's just going to get worse."

Does Victor know this place?: 1d100 ⇒ 21

He looks at the coffee house, a little surprised. The delicious smells wafting from within make his stomach growl as he realizes how little he's eaten today after the riots began. "Quite a place to meet."

"Yes, it is." Rexus nods, as several of the patrons look in their direction. It isn't devoid of the 'adventurous' type by any means, but the majority are wearing robes. There are a trio of sailors, in fact, in the proverbial 'dark corner' of the room. They seem to be having an uproarious time.

The room that the diminutive owner of the Longroads Coffeehouse leads them into has a desk on one end, a little on the short side. Two of the tables have been pulled into the room from the main floor (all human sized) along with eight stools, topped with padding. In addition to the stools are several comfortable and inviting chairs.

The tables have pitchers of still-warm (though not piping hot) coffee, as well as cool (though not ice cold) milk. There are several confections spread out on the table as well. The tiny woman doesn't go to the desk, but instead sits in a smaller chair near one of the windows - all of which are closed with curtains drawn. The friendly smile doesn't fade as the group enters. "Hello again, Armon!" Laria says, "I'm not surprised to see you with Rexus at all." Her voice is actually on the deeper side of halfling, which is to say not painful to dogs. She grabs a mug from a coffee table and brings it to her lips as she watches the others enter. There was no lack of space for placing one's confections.

When she spots Scath, she quickly departs through the door, and returns with a small mixing bowl, two lumps of cream inside, she pours some of the milk from the table and mixes it, placing it on the floor, slightly to the side.

I figured we just take everything we find and hand it out later but Juniper has no intention of going back to search it again

Diplomacyish: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (11) + 16 = 27 Juniper can shift attitude by 3 instead of 2 as well

Juniper returns a stare of her own to the bratty man. -2 Rexus will "Then it's good we stopped you from ending as another victim of the chaos to help you get here."

Juniper smirks at the sneak attack but doesn't say anything aloud. Serves the ingrate right.

When Rexus offers to clean them with magic she'll insist on using her own on herself and quietly follows him to the coffeehouse, once there she accepts the strange assault of baked goods like the others but is hesitant to eat until a few minutes after the others have taken bites.

Then tell me what you picked up on the way out. No need to 'search again'. You were leaving, and weren't being rushed out.

Rexus grimaces, but then nods. "Yes, I suppose you're right. Apologies." he says with a sigh. "I suppose I can't blame you for being precisely where I likely should have been."

Scath sniffs the cream and milk, and then begins to lap it up, giving a rusty rumbling purr that makes the ale on the table show ripples on it's surface.

I'll wait until this afternoon for a check-in from MISHA and TOBIAS. :) After that, I'll just go on without worrying about where you've wandered off to or if you've followed. :o

Misha makes a face when Rexus gets hit, thinking to herself that she's lucky to have avoided that pleasure. She follows the others out and along the streets, looking up at the rooftops and pondering how different things are from the ground.

When they arrive at the coffee house, she looks rather amazed by the assortment of confections. The wind that had been ruffling her hair and keeping the terrible odors of the 'hideout' from her dies down for a moment and then begins again, now appearing as if she was walking constantly against a phantom wind. "That smells sooooo good!" she remarks, nearly drooling at the pastries. When she had worked for House Sarini she had seen such things, but never was allowed to partake of them. Though she never wanted for food, it was without fail bland and uninteresting. She takes more than she can reasonably consume, unwilling to pass up on all that's on offer.

When they work their way into the back room she immediately takes a seat and begins eating with gusto. "Shooo gut!" she says enthusiastically, her mouth half full with blackberry fritter. She swallows quickly and washes it down with some of the coffee, her face contorting at the unexpected bitterness. She looks down in the cup with a big grin on her face before starting on a sweet roll. "Suh Wot wuh thuh plun?" she asks, her mouth full of pastry again. This time she catches the looks and swallows the remainder, washes it down again and looks sheepishly at the others. "Umm, so what was the plan now?"

Laria smiles first at Misha as she begins to dig in, just before going to get the cream, then smiles at the cat. "So, which of you belongs to this fellow?" she asks, as Rexus closes the door behind the party, allowing everyone to get seated before everything gets down to business.

"No one, actually," Rexus responds. "He's just here because his master told him to listen to a girl who told him to come with us." he says with a shrug.

The halfling looks to Scath, head tilted slightly, lips pursed for a moment, then nods and shrugs. "Well, certainly very interesting," she responds, not being deterred, before continuing. "You're late."

"And... mostly empty handed. The place isn't going to be useful without a lot of work." Rexus responds, shaking his head.

Laria's grin just widens, "I wouldn't say that. Friends are a lot better than a building. And at the very least, for now, you have companions. So, was there any sign of the Ravens in there?" she asks, leaving Rexus to nod, and look to Victor - the man with the box.

"We found signs of the Ravens... and of diabolists." Rexus finishes, as the halfling's eyes turn to Victor. "Now, we open the coffer," he responds, "And see what all of us risked our lives and freedom for."

Victor draws out the coffer and sets it on the table in the middle of the group. "If it's truly meant to reply devils, I have no doubt that it's dangerous. But to us or to them remains to be seen." He looks over at Rexus. "This was your venture, so if you would..."

Scath sniffs the cream and milk, and then begins to lap it up, giving a rusty rumbling purr that makes the ale on the table show ripples on it's surface.

Scath continues listening to the conversation, and lapping up the cream, while rumbling softly.

Rexus nods, and Laria stands quickly, and moves the milk and coffee to a separate table so that the coffer can be placed in the middle of the room.

"Oh, sorry. I forgot to introduce myself to all of you while I was pretending I knew all of you." she says with a smile as she finishes the movement. "I'm Laria Longroads, Proprietor of the best... and perhaps only... coffee house in Kintargo!"

Rexus rolls his eyes at the small spiel, though the halfling had done her job of relieving his tension with the aside. Rexus places the coffer on the table, and then opens it. There's a sound like hissing from the box, and everyone in the room hears a small chime, like that of silver bells, though the magic doesn't even leave the room.

First, he withdraws several scrolls from atop the coffer, and places them to the side, he intones, 'Revelann Magicka' and his eyes take on the glow that you recognized before. He nods, "All of them are magical."

He glances over the contents, "And there's still some magic within the coffer." he adds, moving pages around, but shakes his head. "Not sure where it's coming from."

Those who are looking at the box see a sizable amount of paper within, well-preserved by the coffer.

He pulls out the document in front, and shakes his head. "A deed to the Fair Fortune Livery, as useful as that is in that part of town." alluding to the fact that Redroof was a squatter's paradise. He didn't seem put off when he said so; why should there be homeless when there are empty houses?

"Owner, I assume former, was 'Baz'. No last name. Nothing special." he says, placing the piece of paper on the table. He grabs another and looks, squints, frowns, and places it to the side. Then another... and another. "Damn." he finishes, as he continues to look through sheets, not even bothering to pull them out of the coffer any longer.

The sheets other than the deed are written in some strange language that none of you speak. The document at the top of the pile slides off of the table and into the floor, where Rexus leaves it for now.

"It's coded. I recognize it... but it's going to take a lot longer than handing a few sheets of paper to eight people and coming to a conclusion. Damn." he says again. He takes a single sheet, and moves back to a chair, allowing himself to collapse into the soft embrace of the chair, his eyes scanning the sheet in front of him as he goes quiet.

Laria seems let down by the knowledge, "Great.. if your moth-" she pauses, but Rexus doesn't look up from the sheet, apparently oblivious for now.

"Anywho... all of that is very unfortunate. But.. from my understanding, that means you're still looking for a place to act as a base. And... given some of your conditions, you probably had to fight for all of these things, which means you're dedicated." she huffs, apparently indecisive for a moment.

"As friends of Rexus, I'll extend the same offer to each of you that I gave to him. You can stay here for as long as you need." she says firmly. "But... I have a small request. While I have some space above for you to stay, several bunks for guests from out of town in fact, I also have a great deal more space below. But there's a problem. With everything that's been going on, I haven't had a chance to go down there in the last few days... weeks?" she asks, thoughtfully, "I haven't been down since the Night of Ashes." she says, sounding certain. "But a friend of mine was using the space prior to that. I haven't heard from him since he was meant to arrive a few days ago. He should have arrived through the sewers, and he should have come to see me almost immediately, but he hasn't." she says, lips pulled thin in a grimace, as she looks distantly towards the opposite wall of the room.

"It's a rather delicate situation, overall." she says finally, looking up to the others. For the first time since their arrival, she actually looks weary. "He was supposed to be bringing Varisian silk into town, so he shouldn't have had too much difficulty. Which means something else is going on. Would all of you be willing to go check on him? Either tonight or tomorrow?"

Linguistics: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17

Scath bats the bit of paper around before pouncing on it, sniffing at it. When he bores of it, he tucks the paper into his armor using a paw and a nose. As he does so, he notices a wooden carved mouse that was stuffed into the armor earlier. The mouse get's knocked free of the armor with a paw, and he bats it over the floor before leaping with a growl and landing on the wooden mouse, sinking his teeth into it's gnawed surface while rolling around.

"Ah! So you are mixed up in this as well," Armon exclaims, without betraying any actual surprise. The truth was, he probably shouldn't be very surprised at all. He knew he liked this place for a reason... beside the coffee and sweets, anyway.

"'Baz'? Just 'Baz'? On a legal document?" the noble asks skeptically, a brow raised as he lifts his mug up to take another sip. He sets it down again and shakes head. "A deed won't be of much use to us if we ever decide to clean up the place. And I highly doubt anyone will be interested in purchasing the property."

Armon watches the coded sheet as it flutters down to the ground, before being collected by Scath. Sharing in Rexus' exasperation, he takes a sigh. He had been expecting something a little more dramatic. Regardless, he manages to crack a smile. "Cheer up, friend. We are already in this for the long haul! We will just need to find a trustworthy linguist, or codebreaker, or something else of the sort."

His enthusiasm quickly wanes as he listens to Laria's predicament, even with the prospect of using the place as a base of operations. He strokes his clean-shaven chin, concern written on his face. The timing did not bode well. After a moment his smile reappears.

"I am certainly willing to go down there. We have already had quite the interesting day, but if anyone would prefer to rest first..." He looks to his companions, shrugging slightly. He did not wish to speak for them, and if they were not feeling up to it, he certainly was not going to press the issue.

Rexus looks up, "Huh? What? Oh. No, I can actually read... parts of it. It's where they mix together that doesn't make sense... and the next lines seem to ignore the previous ones." he says, rubbing his temple with his free hand. "Celestial, Strix, and Elven. If you know trustworthy people that can understand those, they're welcome to help... but I have a feeling I've got my work cut out for me for... quite some time."

He shakes his head slowly for a moment, before putting the paper down. "I'm actually quite exhausted, personally, it's not every day that I nearly get killed, then go on a few-hours-long trek."

Laria suddenly looks alarmed. "You nearly died? What happened?"

As Rexus fills in the gaps, Laria's face hardens, then softens. She nods. "You're definitely all welcome here after that. It's important that you understand, there are things that occur here that are... less than legal. But I assure you, everything is for the greater good. Such as playing host to a group that intends to return the Spirit of Kintargo."

When Rexus starts to tell the story of his adventures, Scath noses the toy back into his armor, and then curls up in the corner and takes a cat nap. He'll doze until the group decides to go down stairs or go to bed for the night. If they do the sensible thing and go to bed for the night, he'll scratch at the door to be let out and then do something else... after his nap...

So sorry! I've been slackin'.

Tobias follows Rexus back to Laria's coffeehouse, but he's...somewhat confused when he finds that the owner of the place is a halfling woman. And not even anybody's servant!

Crazier things have happened, he supposes...

"So..." he says, when Laria asks them to go down to the rooms in the basement. "Are you offering us rooms upstairs or downstairs...? And we have to go downstairs to find your friend and your silk either way?"

Linguistics: 1d20 + 6 - 1 ⇒ (3) + 6 - 1 = 8

"I speak a grand total of one of those," Victor says, looking at the gibberish on the page. "And I can't read even a word of this with all the other languages jumbled in."

He sits back and shrugs. "I left the guard when I realized that the law wasn't going to be able to actually do anything. Sometimes you need to bend the rules a little in order to actually bring about some actual justice, especially in these times."

"You can stay in either. The lower isn't as comfortable as the higher." Laria says with a small smile. "Though it's a lot more spacious. So more people will fit. And you don't have to go down tonight. But yes, everything I need you to do would be downstairs, right now."

Didn't see your reply, Victor.

"I feel your pain." Victor responds, as he sinks back into the work, though it looks like all he's getting from it is a headache for now.

Laria nods, "That is my precise stance. That the current laws are a perversion of justice. I'm glad those things won't be a problem."

"I'm glad we see eye to eye," Victor says with a nod and a rare smile.

So far, one vote for going down now, if there aren't many objections, from Armon. :)

Tobias will always side with the majority.

Big post eaten, nooo!

"It's a pleasure to meet you Laria! I'm Misha Stormborn!" she says with proud emphasis on her last name. "These pastries are so good, thank you for them!" she says, positively beaming.

Misha continues helping herself to various treats as the others open the coffer. She looks more than a little surprised that there only appear to be pages inside, having thought they'd find something more valuable. She eyes the coffer briefly as Rexus and Armon pore over the pages. She snags it in between pastries and turns it over, looking around inside it closely and listening to their discussion.

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18

"Why is the Deed worthless?" she asks Armon naively. "Even if we don't use the stables, it must be worth something no?" She sets the coffer down after searching around for a bit and looks towards the encrypted documents. "It seems strange to have just papers inside a box designed to hide it from devils, no? They're just papers, even if they're in code. I would have thought it would be meant to protect some sort of item that they were looking for, not pages!"

When Laria offers them a place to stay, Misha looks thrilled at the prospect of being downstairs from all the confections. "Thank you for the offer! I'd love to help out, I'm sure all the others will too! I'm sorry your friend didn't show up, we will find him I'm sure" she says to the proprietress. "I think we should head down now and take a look, even though I'm exhausted. Finding out what happened to your friend is important, especially if he might be in danger! I'd hardly be a Stormborn if I put sleep before his safety!"

When Laria mentions that not all the things going on at the coffee house are above board, Misha laughs. "I've had to do all sorts of 'not legal' things before, and not even for the right reasons. That you are doing them for the good of the people is all I need to know!" She knew Kenzer was involved in some things, though he still kept a lot of it from her 'for her own good', as he put it. As she's thinking her hair gets riled up, as if turbulent storm winds were blowing it about. "He never trusts me with that, " she thinks to her self, sulking, "It's not like I'm a child or anything!" She lets out a mild harrumph and the winds seem to die down again.

Laria grins at Misha as she begins to extol the virtues of her pastries, and promises to make things better, and then proceeds to explain that she wasn't an entirely legal sort of person to begin with. She just shakes her head.

"Good, I'm glad. I'd worried that maybe you'd stolen the tabard from Kenzer and it was going to be quite awkward to one day explain to him why I was working with someone who had stolen from a good friend." she really did look relieved. Everyone was slowly but surely unraveling the various worries that the halfling had in regards to inviting them into her home.

The coffer is strangely light, now that it's been opened. Somehow it had been laden with more gravitas simply by virtue of what it could hold. A magical and immediate solution, it was not... but it was assuredly something that might be of value in the future. Misha had likely 'borrowed' important documents before that didn't seem to matter, after all.

"Definitely Stormborn." she finishes after a moment. "Are you a niece? Little sister?" she asks, as she rises coffee still in hand. She goes to the door. "Almost time for curfew! Finish up your drinks, and you can't order any more! All the pastries are half off, as always!" she calls into the next room.

She laughs at the suggestion that she might have stolen the tabard. "I don't know if I could catch Kenzer off guard. I couldn't take him in a fight, fair or unfair!"

Misha blushes slightly and shakes her head. "I... uh. Adopted I guess?" she says looking a bit embarassed. "He helped me evade my former masters, and taught me to be a proper Cavalier like him!" It's evident she's thrilled with the idea, and she eagerly shows off her buckler emblazoned with the Stormborn crest. "When I took my oath to the Order of the Dragon he gave me his name. I didn't have one before... I was just a tool to be used."

Laria ducks her head back into the room, her smile having become a frown, eyes clearly showing concern. Her eyes look towards Tobias for a moment, to see how he had registered the statement, then her eyes go back to Misha. She closes her eyes and shakes her head. Something dark passes over her face as she opens her eyes once more.

"You've come to precisely the right place, dear." she says, with a dash too much seriousness for her normally jovial nature.

Tobias had been eating the least-sweet pastries he had found, not with gusto, but patiently. When the call to stop came around, he just took it out of his mouth and set it down on the plate, done eating.

"I'm Order of the Torrent." he says, looking at the halfling. "Though my mas- uh, lictor's gone missing."

His tone's somewhat empty. "I think Thrune's done it. That's all. We need rules but the rules are wrong."

Victor grunts. "That might be the smartest thing I've ever heard you say pipsqueak. Wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if the lictor crossed some Thrune toadie the wrong way and paid for it the hard way."

Tobias shakes his head and mm-mmms strongly. "Octavio's too strong to go down to a toad. Or a Thrune warrior. He must have been taken in his sleep, or in hiding."

"Besides, crossing Octavio would make enemies of the whole Torrent order. Isn't that dangerous?"

"You think the Thrune's care who they cross? They're completely self assured of their control and their power. As far as their concerned, it's their right to do whatever they want with people that offend them."

Laria closes the door once more, "What? Octavio's gone missing? Damnit. Shensen, the Order, the Mayor, the Badger and even the Torrent?"

Laria just stands where she is, the serious look she'd given as a response to Misha hardening. "Every organization, and every powerful figure in the town that could stand up to Thrune is either missing or dead. Most of my contacts are gone. Either ran, hiding, missing, or dead, gods forbid."

"Right... I should probably let you in on the more... subtle things. Since apparently I'm one of the most powerful opposers of 'Our Lord Mayor'," she says, with an obviously thick layer of irony, "you might as well know who you're casting in with. I've been the leader of the local portion of the Bellflower Network for the last several years in this area. I've made friends with nearly every single thief, scoundrel, and busybody in town... and greased a few palms of some of the local politicians to boot. But everything went black on the Night of Ashes. Everything. I haven't had any contact with anyone since that day, and it's been... tiring. Worse because I have an image to protect." she shakes her head, apparently exhausted. She moves over and grabs another mug of coffee - holding it in both hands - and takes a thorough drink before wiping her mouth with her sleeve.

"Sorry, sorry. I'm getting ahead of myself. Maybe. The space below is normally reserved for halflings who need a place to stay on their way to places like Varisia. This area is friendly to halflings... and not a fan of slavery, but it's still Cheliax. A slave walking the streets here might well get recognized and shipped back home. Nan was one of my most dependable... ferriers. He took halflings to Varisia, and came back with silks, spices, jewelry... whatever he thought would sell well, and I stored it for him until he could unload it. Virtually the same deal I had with anyone willing to help people find a taste of freedom."

Scath, looking bored, claws his way up to a rafter in less time than it takes someone to say 'bad cat' and curls up on a rafter. One ear is cocked toward the group below, but otherwise, the cat relaxes and breaths steadily, resting to regain strength.

While the others discussed the halfling host's problems Juniper would collect the encoded pages, even using mage hand to pull the one from Scaths armor while he slept, then find a seat while she read over them with her magic.

I think that requires a contest of some type. He's not really sleeping, just resting. And it's tucked into his armor between his armor and fur...

1d200 ⇒ 46 The page is nonmagical. The ability to pickpocket at range with mage hand is an Arcane Trickster ability that comes with a rather hefty price (and increase in difficulty). I don't think Mage Hand can be subtle, otherwise. So if you want to take the paper, Scath will know it's being taken. It would be like someone rubbing his belly (given that it would mess with all of his fur) even if he were asleep, I think. The action stands, Scath can react accordingly with the knowledge of what's happening.