MSI Rookie Squad Two (Inactive)

Game Master Nazard

I have no idea what's going on right now. Didn't realize Dublaine was going to be rifling through the stuff on Tiberius' cart while Tiberius was pushing it down the street... seems like it would be impossible to do that without being noticed. I just want to know if we can see anything specific on the cart without digging through his stuff when he's a foot away from it. Don't understand the big rush, especially if we're going to be distracting him with food momentarily and the people at the cafe will likely refuse to let him bring his cart of "treasures" to the table. Perception to look at what's on Tiberius' cart: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (1) + 9 = 10

Wow. 1. Awesome. Do I even notice he's pushing a cart with that roll?

Guess I need a Stealth roll to keep Tiberius from seeing me look at his cart with my eyes closed: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15

Tiberius' eyes narrow as he glares at the lot of you, clearly getting angry. "All I'll say is that I saw what came out of that building after it came down, and I'll say not another word until I get my...HEY! GET YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF MY STUFF!"

Tiberius lunges at Dublaine, trying to shove him away to the ground.

Sweet. Can we use the existing Diplomacy numbers to smooth this clusterfudge over through conversation? If not, I'm likely to resort to an in-character action that will leave the guy playing Dublaine really disliking the guy playing Grigory more than he already does.

Reaching for straws here: Does Tiberius know for sure that Dublaine is part of our group? If he doesn't, I propose that the rest of us act like Dublaine is a stranger and "chase him off" in an attempt to regain Tiberius' trust.

If anyone else has any suggestions for how to get ourselves out of this mess, I'm all ears.

It's quite clear that Dublaine is with you, since he arrived in the alley with you, hung around, and left with you.

The existing Diplomacy numbers are still holding on (though accruing some lovely penalties as you folks continue to muck around with the poor vagrant instead of just giving him what he asked for :)).

My bad for asking if Dublaine could "take a peek"... Should have specified I meant look, not touch. Did Dublaine at least notice anything whilst poking around?

"What are you poking around in his things for?!?!" Grigory shouts, doing his best to act surprised by Dublaine's investigation. Bluff: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 2 = 21

If I wanted to jump between Tiberius and Dublaine, making it seem like I'm helping Tiberius drive Dublaine away from his "treasures" but actually shielding Dublaine, what would I roll? Here's my 1d20 roll: 1d20 ⇒ 10 If that takes a CMD roll, add 1... Stealth add 6... You've already got a Bluff roll you can apply

If I wanted to jump between Tiberius and Dublaine, making it seem like I'm helping Tiberius drive Dublaine away from his "treasures" but actually shielding Dublaine, what would I roll? Here's my 1d20 roll: 1d20 If that takes a CMD roll, add 1... Stealth add 6... You've already got a Bluff roll you can apply

My bad I thought we'd pulled up outside the place to eat and whilst Tiberius was talking and distracted by the food, I'd lean against the cart and study its contents, moving stuff with the tip of a dagger casually to look. I'd already rolled for stealth and slight of hand and was hoping those rolls still stood. As regards Grigory, no worries I was just trying to follow the line you suggested earlier whilst the more persuasive members talked Tiberius around. Anyway I'll play along, I already saw from the previous encounter how touchy the man is hence my own precautions.

"Hey old timer, just taking a look in case I saw something worth giving some gold for. Clearly my mistake."

go for a diplomacy check here to see if I can smooth things over, with my 'excuse' for looking. 1d20 ⇒ 3 Oh well that settles that then.

Dublaine backs off holding his hands up to show he meant no harm and waits quietly, having made a bit of a hash out of things.

"My treasures are not for sale!" Tiberius retorts.

"So what's it gonna be? Food in there for your info, or are you the usual City Watch bullies gonna lock me up cause I don't got no home?"

Can we get a mulligan and revert back to before Dublaine tried to search through Tiberius' treasures? Seems like there was a lot of confusion regarding exactly where we were and what was going on when he decided to make the attempt. If not:

"Well I can't agree with your attempt at snooping through this man's possessions, Dublaine, but at least you've given me an idea..." Grigory says, clearly perturbed by the way things have quickly veered off course and trying to defuse the tense situation.

"I want to believe that you'll be happy to spill the beans about who or what you saw leaving Irefoot Hall last night, Tiberius, but we've got to have some kind of assurance that you actually will tell us once you've eaten." He says to the vagrant, measuring his response and mood carefully.

"How's this for a proposal, Tiberius? You show us a few of your treasures and we choose one to hold onto while you eat. Think of it as collateral, or insurance for us that you'll really tell us what you've claimed to know about last night's collapse. After your memory comes back and you give us the information you claim to know, you have my word we will give back whatever piece of your treasure we've got and pay for your meal."

If he still seems to angry to agree to that reasonable proposal:

"It's not that we expect you to eat and run without telling us anything, but we both know you didn't amass a pile of treasures like that without being more than a little bit clever and I didn't get selected to this unit for being naieve enough to believe everyone always has pure intentions. You understand, I'm sure... If the information you give us is good enough, we might even be able to contribute a little something to your pile of treasures or work something out with the owner of this restaurant to hook you up with a little food now and then."

No mulligans! :) Call it growing pains for the unit and players. It's not like it's hurting you (although it might cost you dessert now, too!).

Tiberius thinks over Grigory's latest proposal. "I get it back. Your word? ... Fine."

He roots through his cart, offering several choice pieces of junk for your perusal. A broken vase that actually had a live rat in it, a rusty dagger, a cracked picture frame, and other bits of refuse.

Once you've chosen your hostage, he proudly marches up to the cafe and declares grandly, "Waiter. A table for me and my companions!"

Phew... Glad that worked, I was running out of ideas beyond giving the bum what he wants and hoping for the best.

After inspecting the dagger carefully, Perception on the dagger: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (16) + 9 = 25 Grigory takes it for safe keeping, figuring it would be best to have it out of Tiberius' hands in the unlikely scenario of a fight.

"I'm glad we could work something out that seems beneficial to us all," Grigory says, visibly relieved that the temporary hiccup in their investigation has passed.

"I trust our arrangement will give you sufficient motivation to be forthcoming with all the information you can remember once you've filled your stomach," He tells Tiberius.

I assume none of us are going to be eating since we just had sandwiches? If it's fine with the rest of the group, can we fast-forward to the point where Tiberius starts spilling the beans about what he saw at Irefoot Hall?

Well, first we'll need the amazing Diplomacy checks that convince the waiter to let such a person into his fairly yuppie cafe! Then, some beans can be spilled.

Come on, dice... Diplomacy: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (14) + 9 = 23

Grigory notices the waiter's reaction to the transient's request and intervenes, flashing his MSI badge and hoping it's sufficient to achieve the desired effect:

"Official MSI business. We need a table that would offer our group some degree of privacy. Preferably something away from the other diners."

"Think of it as paying customers, who are willing to sit at that table where the view is bad and no one can see you" Krojun adds smiling and continues: "Lets see if we can't get you that meal Tiberius."

Aiding Grigory 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 14

Unsure if the flash of his badge would help, where his skills had not, Dublaine offered his best smile. More like a grimace as he and the others sat around with Tiberius.

diplomacy 1d20 ⇒ 7Opps my day is going from bad to worse. Perhaps on second thoughts I just sit this one out! My Dice are going to drag us all back out on the street.

She doesn't feel anything else needs said but if the waiter still seems hesitant or gets the manager then she will respond depending on who she needs to talk to.
Diplomacy
1d20 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16
Assuming that they get the table;

Lady Trace let's the bum sit first then sits on the other side of the table and orders a glass of wine, nothing fancy just normal dinner wine. (It is normal for her family to drink wine with a meal so she is not getting drunk or anything).

The waiter studies the badges, and the men holding them. "Out of sight? Privacy? I'm certain something can be arranged, um, officers? One moment."

The waiter heads off. There's a flurry of activity in the back as a privacy screen is set up. The waiter returns to escort you to your table.

Once there, Tiberius orders something that costs 18 silvers. The service must be amazing here, as you don't think you're ever seen an order filled that fast. Soon, Tiberius is tucking into it with gusto. Several cockroaches fall out of his beard onto the plate and also start feasting, though Tiberius gets most of them eaten as well.

During the meal, Tiberius starts talking. He starts by regaling you with tales of the treasures he found last night, how he bravely fought off a rat for some food and relieved some drunk of a half bottle of spoiled wine. He starts to move to discussing the woes of his infected toe when you get him back on track about the building.

"Right, right. Last night. Them was strange things, I tell you. There I was, having a late night snack, when this crashing starts up from that there building. I listen for a bit, and then the whole thing starts falling over! It was crazy! Big cloud of dust clears, so I goes to have a look, but there's this creepy guy with a hood. I couldn't see his face, but he had some glowing letter thing on his forehead. Right here. He's just standing there, looking at the place. Then this giant snake comes out of the building! I almost shouts a warning to him to watch out, but I don't, and the creepy guy starts talking to the snake, and the snake has the same letter thing on its head and talks back. The snake gives the creepy dude something, then goes back inside. The guy leaves. It were really strange. I didn't go inside, you know, because of the giant snake. I just hid behind until that snotty wizard done landed on me out of the air, waking me up without even a sorry."

Asking all my current questions in one post to save time. I'm waiting for him to answer before asking the next as to not pepper him with a bunch of questions at one time.

"Wait... A wizard landed on you after the hooded guy with the glowing forehead left? How long after the collapse was that and what did he do after landing on you?"

"Could you hear any of what the snake and hooded guy were saying?"

"Could you tell what the snake brought out of the building?"

"Can you remember what the glowing symbol on their heads looked like?"

"How long? I don't know. Hours. It was morning when that happened. Guess I must have fallen asleep. He showed up, then started cursing and going on about what happened to the building."

[b]"I heard every word they said, but didn't understand none of it."[/b[

He doesn't have an answer for the last two questions?

Yes, sorry, I ran out of time making my post.

"The snake had something, something small with some kind of chain like a necklace. I'd never seen that letter before, but I could probably draw it for ya."

If you give him something, he draws it for you. It looks arcane, but nothing you've ever seen before.

"It would be very helpful if you could sketch it for us," Grigory says, producing a piece of rice paper with pen and ink from his bag.

I think I can aid someone else (Lady Trace most likely) on a Knowledge(Arcana) roll to identify the symbol: 1d20 ⇒ 16 I don't have any skill ranks in it, so if I'm not allowed to aid, ignore that roll.

I'm still hear, just not wanting to dis-aid-able another ;-)Grigory, you and lady Tracy are doing a fine job.

Aid Another checks on Knowledge skills when you don't have ranks in them are allowed. In that situation, I don't view the aid so much as you providing information, but being a sounding board for the other person's ideas, since you're basically just making an intelligence check to not be a dummy. A person who is naturally more intelligent than average makes for a better sounding board, and so has a better chance of asking the right leading questions that help the person with the actual knowledge remember the crucial information.

In other words, that's fine. Dublaine, you can't hurt the process by failing, so by all means make a roll, too. If you say something too stupid, the others might roll their eyes at you, but you won't detract from the exercise like a really bad Diplomacy roll might. :)

Lady will look at the symbol,
K Arcana
1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

If she doesn't recognize it she will take it to research it.

Looks like another trip to the library for Lady Trace... Hooray 1! I was thinking your bonus would be higher but forgot it wouldn't be a class skill for you yet.

"You're sure the snake and hooded guy didn't see you? And you're sure it was a man under the hood and not a woman? You might be in danger if they knew you saw them."

I think we've found out just about all Tiberius knows. We'll probably want to research the forehead symbol and ask the shopkeepers if any of them had an item matching the "something small with some kind of chain like a necklace" description in their shop.

Hoping that one of us might recognize what was spoken, i.e. lady Trace Krojun says: "That was good information Tiberius, worth a meal. Could you hear what they said when they talked? If you don't understand it can you try and make the sounds?"

Dublaine will take a look at the symbol in case his keen eyes have seen it elsewhere around the city, or on his journey here.

1d20 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8 oh not so hot then!

"Well I will be looking this up. See you this evening I guess"
She tries to hide her revulsion for the "thing" at the table (how can anyone live like that!) as she excuses herself, then goes to pay the waiter and then heads off to library again.
Bluff
1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15

K arcana taking 20 takes
1d4 ⇒ 3 hrs.

Tiberius' Intelligence check: 1d20 ⇒ 15 plus unknown modifiers; who knows, maybe he's a super genius

Tiberius tries to make the sounds he heard, but other than Krojun thinking he catches a few almost Shoanti words, and Dublaine a few almost elven words, there's nothing there you recognize.

Tiberius shrugs away the thought of danger. "They didn't see me. They was too concerned with each other and the thing they got. It could've been a woman, though I doubt it."

Tiberius' Sense Motive: 1d20 ⇒ 4 plus unknown modifiers Tiberius doesn't seem to react as Trace leaves the table, mostly because his desert has arrived. As bits of his bumbleberry pie drop into his beard, the matted hair starts jumping like crazy and make little chittering sounds.

Did Lady Trace pay Tiberius' bill in its entirety? If so, sweet.

"I probably don't have to warn you to keep an eye out for this hooded character or his snake, but if you do happen to see him again keep your guard up and let us know about it as soon as you can."

I'll return Tiberius' "treasure" once we're outside... Don't want to cause a scene by pulling out a dagger inside the restaurant.

Tiberius snatches away his dagger, stuffs it into his treasure cart, and shuffles off.

"Well that was... interesting." Grigory says.

"I suppose we might as well head over to Irefoot Hall since we're nearby. Maybe the City Planner is there and we can ask around with the merchants about the necklace or whatever it was that the snake brought out of the rubble. We have to stop in anyway to leave a sign of where we went for Dr. Lynch should he come looking for us."

"Well that was... interesting." Grigory says.

"I suppose we might as well head over to Irefoot Hall since we're nearby. Maybe the City Planner is there and we can ask around with the merchants about the necklace or whatever it was that the snake brought out of the rubble. We have to stop in anyway to leave a sign of where we went for Dr. Lynch should he come looking for us."

Dublaine nodded agreement puzzling over the words Tiberius mentioned that sounded elven.

Walking back to Irefoot Hall... Perception just in case: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (13) + 9 = 22

You don't notice anything unusual on your way back to Irefoot Hall. When you arrive, you do find Rumblemountain, in a heated argument with Rav Kinman and Trintarian. Clearly the two want access to their shops, and Rumblemountain hasn't yet signed off on safety concerns.

Assuming that Grigory was going to speak to Rumblemountain, Dublaine scanned the streets about, whilst keeping back but listening in.

ready to aid another, but diplomacy is not part of my skill set ;-)

Thinking that it is pure coincidence, that he heard Shoanti sounds Krojun dismisses the thought of understanding what was said.

"God idea Grigory," Krojun says as the man suggests walking to Irefoot hall and trying to expand on their new found information.

"What do you think the necklace is?" he asks the group as they walk towards Irefoot Hall and continues: "Perhaps some magic to help the man who controlled that creature?"

When they arrive he points: "That is the building inspector, she seas to be arguing with those men, do you know who they are? Well we should properly talk to them one on one, I will take one of the men"

"One is that pleasant anti-Varisian, anti-Shoanti fellow Kinman I warned you about," Grigory tells Krojun. "The other's name is Trintarian, he owns the spell shop. I'd talk to him if I were you and we'll see if Kinman has any more information for us than when we were here earlier."

"I guess we shouldn't have told them they could start going through their shops when we were here earlier, Dublaine," he mutters. "Maybe the City Planner should have headed here first today if she was worried about signing off on safety concerns seeing as the building had just collapsed last night and all. Maybe she could have saved Dr. Lynch and I from our little mis-step with the rubble."

Do our earlier Diplomacy rolls for the shopkeepers still apply?

Not at this point. I'll need fresh ones.

"I guess we shouldn't have told them they could start going through their shops when we were here earlier, Dublaine," he mutters. "Maybe the City Planner should have headed here first today if she was worried about signing off on safety concerns seeing as the building had just collapsed last night and all. Maybe she could have saved Dr. Lynch and I from our little mis-step with the rubble."

Dublaine offers Grigory a sympathetic look, before adding "I don't suppose Kinman is anymore disposed toward us, but we'd better get into things in case the man says something that will make Rumblemountain, live up to her name!"

Dublaine then waited for Grigory to go forward following dutifully behind.

Ok here goes my helping Diplomacy roll 1d20 ⇒ 1 Oooor not! Whoa my first critical...miss that is lol ;-0 What made me think I could be of any help!

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (18) + 9 = 27

"What's the trouble here?" Grigory asks Rumblemountain and the shopkeepers, fully expecting to be blamed for the entire situation.

Well, so not to disappoint...

Rumblemountain rounds on Grigory. "Apparently, some idiot with MSI told these idiots that they could go about searching through the rubble, even though those very same MSI idiots had nearly gotten themselves killed in a collapse themselves. Who the hell are you, anyway?"

"We're sorry Building Inspector if you say it's not safe we'll keep people away until you give the thumbs up." Krojun says. Looking at the merchants he continues: "I understand one of you are Trintarian? Would you mind stepping over here with me?" He points at a spot a little away from the group."Lady Trace, I could use your help over here."

Aiding diplomacy: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (12) + 6 = 18

would love to but I am at the library, couldn't wait to get away from the creepy beard.

"And apparently the building inspector was too busy at the three-day-old pile of rubble at West Naos Market to come look at a more recent collapse, so the MSI idiots went ahead with their criminal investigation." Grigory retorts.

"And we were nowhere near getting ourselves killed. I'm MSI Idiot Grigory, this is MSI Idiot Dublaine, and in case you hadn't been informed, there was a dead body here. If we had waited for you to give us the go-ahead we'd have quite the stench to deal with."