Oblivious to the nearby drama, Heward stashes his gear hastily and follows the odors down to the commissary.
"Morning everyone. That looks good. What 's going on?"
He scoops up a double serving of bread and coffee and sits down.
Oblivious to the nearby drama, Heward stashes his gear hastily and follows the odors down to the commissary.
"Morning everyone. That looks good. What 's going on?"
He scoops up a double serving of bread and coffee and sits down.
Have a look back to post 300. You got ninja'd.
Auriel smiles after Lyeban a moment. She has to admit, he has style. Then she quickly dresses and brushes her hair before heading down to the breakfast table. "Morning, all," she greets them airily, as if she hasn't a care in the world, grabbing a pastry before having a seat.
"Excellent, now we can see what might have been stolen. Could lead to a big break!" says Markiv eagerly as he finishs his breakfast, "Do you mind if I look through these Heward?"
Looking through the inventories will take hours. Markiv is on the inventories, Laya and Heward heading to the City Planners', which will also likely take hours. I'm guessing Calatin will also stay to look at inventories, so that leave Awgin and Auriel, whom I doubt will want to spend her morning analyzing files.
I'll give people a chance to play out these decisions before advancing things.
"I'd better go check on those blueprints before they close the place again," Laya says, and quickly shoves the rest of her food into her mouth. Mumbling while amidst chewing, she says, "Cmng Hwrd?"
Auriel looks alarmed at the dusty scrolls and the alacrity with which Markiv dives into them. "Hey, shy guy," she says, catching Awgin's eye, "don't we have that thing that we had to check on today? That really important ... thing?"
sense motive
Awgin looks at Auriel intently for a moment. "I had planned to speak with the merchants of Irefoot Hall and see if any of them were missing anything from their inventory."
"Right," Auriel answers immediately. "Definitely a two-man job. Let's get on it." She stuffs her pockets with leftover muffins and fruit to carry to the crime scene.
After four hours of cross-referencing the inventory lists, you find two possible common items: Folio Five in the West Naos Market had a copy of the Asmodean Disciplines, which the Cherished Chelish also had, and Triffan's had something called "Ghoulish Enjoiner fragment - enchanted Shoanti pendant", while the Cherished Chelish also lists a Shoanti Pendant.
Awgin and Auriel arrive at Irefoot Hall to find a few Watchmen on duty, guarding the Hall's merchants as they sort through the rubble. They come over once you identify yourselves as MSI to hear if you've learned who was responsible. Hearing that all you want to know is whether they've identified anything missing, however, most of them wander off with a grumbled, "We'll let you know in a month."
Rav Kinman stays around, however, to add in an irate tone, "How many times are you people going to come back here asking the same questions we have no answers for! Just look at this place, will you? It's a complete mess. If you had some specific item you wanted to know about, we could go look for it for you, but just asking us if there's something missing is pointless and a waste of time! I already gave my inventory list yesterday to that slip girl...I mean, to your other investigator. Hasn't it helped you yet?"
Upon your arrival, you find the doors open and go in. A sign indicates the City Planner's office, which is also open. Upon going inside, you see two men sitting behind desks with stacks of paper in front of them and on the floor.
One man, a name plaque on his desk reads "T Canolbar", is a balding man in his mid-forties. He shows evidence on the outside (and inside!) or his rumpled coat of having eaten a few too many sugar-powdered pastries at his desk.
The other man is little more than a boy, his desk devoid of name plaques. Pimples cover his lanky facial features and a mop of limp brown hair covers the teen’s eyes.
Canolbar dusts crumbs off his stomach as he stands up, and the hand he extends to you is covered in a paste of powdered sugar and saliva. "Good morning Watchman, ma'am. What can we do for you?"
Awgin is about to speak when Auriel takes the shop owner away. He stands there fuming while she makes friends with him.
Aid Diplomacy
With Auriel giving him an attentive audience, Kinman pulls up a piece of rubble and goes on and on at length about the various Varisian scum, Shoanti barbarians, filthy half-orcs and half-elves and other undesirables who have the nerve to enter his shop and look about - clearly casing the place. He describes one particular half-elven woman who had come to his shop four days ago, named Madame something-or-other who had come to do some card reading foolishness, claiming that he was cursed for having a copy of that book, "meaning my limited edition copy of the Disciplines or course,". He scoffs at some bald Shoanti guy with faded barbarian tattoos who'd come in a couple days back to moon over his magical pendant a second time, "like that heathen would ever be able to afford the 2,000 gold coins to buy it. These people were conquered by the might of Cheliax long ago, and they should just learn to accept their situation!"
He goes on and on about the degeneracy of half-breeds, seemingly oblivious to Awgin's hulking presence nearby.
Auriel draws upon a tactic, perfected years ago during long lectures from her mother, of seeming to pay close attention, nodding and murmuring in agreement, while letting her mind wander. As soon as Kinman takes a break to draw breath, she jumps back into the conversation. "It's likely the two were actually working together, this so-called fortune-teller and Baldy. These tattoos you mention, they'd be an excellent way to identify the fellow. Could you describe them at all? Were they all over or concentrated in a single part of his body?"
Laya reaches up and shakes Canolbar's hand, then (as surreptitiously as possible) wipes her own hand on the back of her leg to remove the wet sugar from it. "Hello, Mr. Canolbar," she says. "I'm Laya and this is Agent Wallas. We're from Magnimar Special Investigations. We understand the blueprints for Irefoot Hall and Naos Market went missing recently. We were wondering if any others have gone missing as well. We'd also like to see where they were stored."
Auriel draws upon a tactic, perfected years ago during long lectures from her mother, of seeming to pay close attention, nodding and murmuring in agreement, while letting her mind wander. As soon as Kinman takes a break to draw breath, she jumps back into the conversation. "It's likely the two were actually working together, this so-called fortune-teller and Baldy. These tattoos you mention, they'd be an excellent way to identify the fellow. Could you describe them at all? Were they all over or concentrated in a single part of his body?"
Kinman gives Auriel a very haughty stare. "Describe them? They were tattoos, Shoanti ones, all over his face, scalp, neck, arms. Water drops, stars, other things, I don't really know. I only remember because the same guy had been in a month or two before, snooping around. I wouldn't worry about him, though. No way some savage would know how to bring down a building like this. I hear they make the walls of their houses with their dead parents' skins."
Laya reaches up and shakes Canolbar's hand, then (as surreptitiously as possible) wipes her own hand on the back of her leg to remove the wet sugar from it. "Hello, Mr. Canolbar," she says. "I'm Laya and this is Agent Wallas. We're from Magnimar Special Investigations. We understand the blueprints for Irefoot Hall and Naos Market went missing recently. We were wondering if any others have gone missing as well. We'd also like to see where they were stored."
"Missing blueprints? Not possible! Only Thora, Jimmy, and I have access to those files."
Awgin tries to maintain his professional demeanor. "The shoanti came in more than once? Can you give us a description of that pendant he was interested in? And I suppose you haven't found it yet, have you?"
Awgin tries to maintain his professional demeanor. "The shoanti came in more than once? Can you give us a description of that pendant he was interested in? And I suppose you haven't found it yet, have you?"
Kinman looks over at Awgin and his mouth twists into a sickened scowl. He turns back to address Auriel.
"The pendant is a triangle of black gold on a platinum chain, with bits of Shoanti runes etched in the gold. I haven't found it yet, but I haven't looked specifically for it yet. Trinitarian?" he calls out to a man in dusty robes. "Can you help us out a second?"
The man comes over. "Yes?" he asks in a don't bother me way.
"They want to know if that pendant is still here. The magic Shoanti one. Could you do some of your detecting stuff to find it?"
Trinitarian shrugs, scribbles something on a note pad from his pocket, tears the top page off, handing Auriel a bill for "Magical Services - Detect Magic - 5 gp", and then casts his spell. Kinman directs him to the area where the pendant had been, and orders Awgin to help move rubble around. Assuming he does so, you spend a few minutes looking before Trinitarian shakes his head. Kinmman goes ballistic
"That Shoanti scum! Thieves and brigands all of them! I demand that you retrieve my merchandise! I shall speak with your captain, make no mistake, you don't have any other cases until you get it back, you understand me?!" He storms off.
Still holding a piece of rubble, Awgin watches as the merchant storms off. "I could hit him and knock him unconscious from this distance." The rock clacks as he drops it.
"Good work. Now off to the other site to see if there's a shoanti pendant missing from there too."
Laya looks at them with her head tilted slightly. "Really? We were told they were missing. I suppose our information could have been wrong, though. Oh well. In that case, you should have no problem retrieving the blueprints for both Irefoot Hall and Naos Market for us. It would be very useful for us to take a look at them to help us determine how they were knocked down. We are on official business, you know."
She walks around Canolbar's desk and peers behind it, and then over to Jimmy's desk and peers behind it as well. "Jimmy, is it?" she says. "Would you be so kind as to go find those files for me? Thank you."
Laya looks at them with her head tilted slightly. "Really? We were told they were missing. I suppose our information could have been wrong, though. Oh well. In that case, you should have no problem retrieving the blueprints for both Irefoot Hall and Naos Market for us. It would be very useful for us to take a look at them to help us determine how they were knocked down. We are on official business, you know."
She walks around Canolbar's desk and peers behind it, and then over to Jimmy's desk and peers behind it as well. "Jimmy, is it?" she says. "Would you be so kind as to go find those files for me? Thank you."
Can I get either a Diplomacy or Intimidate roll from both Laya and Heward? Your choice which route to take.
Still holding a piece of rubble, Awgin watches as the merchant storms off. "I could hit him and knock him unconscious from this distance." The rock clacks as he drops it.
"Good work. Now off to the other site to see if there's a shoanti pendant missing from there too."
Auriel pulls some leftover breakfast pastry out of her pocket and offeres Awgin one as well. "At least we have some clue what we're looking for now. We can ask this ... Triffan Marblecutter if Baldy or Madame Harrow-Deck were ever seen at his store."
In agreement on their course of action, Awgin and Auriel head off to the West Naos Market. There they find the merchants loading wagons with their salvaged good. Triffan is a jolly enough dwarf wh seems happy to answer your questions.
"A bald man with Shoanti tattoos and a woman Harrow-Reader? I can't say as either of those descriptions stands out in my mind. Sorry. Were the inventory lists we sent over helpful?"
In agreement on their course of action, Awgin and Auriel head off to the West Naos Market. There they find the merchants loading wagons with their salvaged good. Triffan is a jolly enough dwarf wh seems happy to answer your questions.
"A bald man with Shoanti tattoos and a woman Harrow-Reader? I can't say as either of those descriptions stands out in my mind. Sorry. Were the inventory lists we sent over helpful?"
"We've got some of our best people going over them now," Auriel assures him. "It's possible their issues were merely personal ones with the owner of the other antiques store. He didn't seem like the kind of fellow you'd want to share an ale with, if you know what I mean. Have you ever had any dealings with him? Maybe both at an auction for some rare pieces? His name is Rav Kinman of The Cherished Chelish?"
"Yeah, I've met the racist prick," the dwarf says to Auriel. "Not good company, but he does have nice stuff. He got hit, too? I don't know what we would have had in common. He usually only stocks Chelish items, and I usually avoid them."
"That's the odd thing," Auriel replies. "He claims to have had an enchanted Shoanti necklace of some kind that he thinks the thieves targeted. Any idea why he'd be carrying something like that in midst of all his devil-worshippers' paraphernalia?"
Awgin will ask some of the other shop owners if they've seen the two suspects.
Heward waits to see how Canolbar and Jimmy react to Laya's request.
He pushes closer to Canolbar, trying to impress the man with his size. He keeps his voice level but puts a small edge into it. "Missus Rumblemountain herself told me the Market blueprints were missing. We're here to see if the Irefoot Hall blueprints are missing too. You'll cooperate or there will be trouble. A man died in Irefoot Hall. Obstructing a murder investigation won't look good in front of a Justice."
Intimidate:
Even though Heward is bearing down on Canolbar, it's Jimmy who suddenly lets out a yelp and cries, "Terry, just tell them about that guy! It has to have been him!"
"Shut your stupid mouth!" Canolbar yells back, but he can see that the damage has been done. With a glare at the youth, he continues, "Fine. About mid-Arodus, some guy came in, says he was studying Magnimari architecture and wanted to look at some blueprints. I told him that, of course, just anybody can't come in and look at blueprints, but then he, you know, offered some incentive."
"Hey, don't look at me like that!" he protests, whether or not you were actually looking at him in any particular manner. " Not all of us are big shot Watchmen! I was losing my house, my wife was ready to pack her bags and fifty gold coins was the chance of a lifetime! So we took a long lunch break, that's all! When we came back, everything was in order, so I just figured he looked at the plans he wanted and left. I didn't know he'd take them, and I certainly didn't know he was planning on taking any buildings down or killing anybody."
"That's the odd thing," Auriel replies. "He claims to have had an enchanted Shoanti necklace of some kind that he thinks the thieves targeted. Any idea why he'd be carrying something like that in midst of all his devil-worshippers' paraphernalia?"
Asking the other merchants of West Naos Market, Awgin learns nothing. If either of the suspect descriptions were there, nobody remembers seeing him or her.
"Kinman carries mostly Chelish stuff," Triffan says, "but he also carries stuff from the founding of Magnimar, and the wars where Cheliax conquered the Shoanti and Varisians to be able to set up their colonies. Wait! Enchanted Shoanti necklace? Do you mean a ghoulish enjoiner fragment? He had one of them? I haven't found mine yet. Do either of you cast detect magic spells?"
Triffan breaks away from Auriel to start frantically digging through a certain pile of debris. "It's a triangle of black gold on a platinum chain. Help me look!" he calls to Auriel.
Excited at the break in the case, Auriel hurriedly waves Awgin over to join the search. "Not that I expect we'll find it," she tells him. "I'm sure that's why he collapsed this building."
Speaking more loudly, she asks the dwarf, "What does this ghoulish enjoiner do, and how many fragments were there? Do you know if anyone else in town had one?"
Excited at the break in the case, Auriel hurriedly waves Awgin over to join the search. "Not that I expect we'll find it," she tells him. "I'm sure that's why he collapsed this building."
Speaking more loudly, she asks the dwarf, "What does this ghoulish enjoiner do, and how many fragments were there? Do you know if anyone else in town had one?"
Triffan continues searching the rubble for another five minutes before admitting defeat. "It's gone," he finally says.
He stares off into space for a few moments before registering Auriel's questions. "The ghoulish enjoiner? Both you pull up a pile of rubble and I'll see if I can do the tale justice."
"The story of the enjoiner goes back almost three hundred years ago, when the Shoanti conjuror Tyval Khallish Skoan-Quah was desperate to protect his clan’s lands from the invading Chelish of the south. His own craft of summoning terrifying creatures seemed to have little impact on the efficient military machine of Cheliax, so Tyval turned to the necromantic arts (forbidden by his own clan) to craft the ghoulish enjoiner, an amulet which, when used in the casting of a summoning spell, alters the summoned creature or creatures by turning them partially into ghouls. With this new power, Tyval was able to lead bands of Shoanti to repel bands of invaders, literally stopping them in their tracks with his paralyzing monsters. His own people began to get suspicious of his suddenly much more effective minions, but before they had a chance to oust him on their own, a band of Chelish adventurers was sent to dispatch of this nuisance wizard. The five heroes succeeded in overpowering and slaying Tyval, and they took his enjoiner for their own. Not wanting such a foul device to remain intact, they discovered how to separate the pentagram into five components, one for each of them. These components, each still radiating strong necromantic magic but unable to function on their own, became prized treasures of each of the heroes, and the noble Houses they each created in the newly conquered lands of Varisia, settling in Magnimar."
"The names of the five Chelish heroes went down into history, and you can probably still trace them through various noble Houses of Magnimar today. They were: Praxim Hynter, Jessyn Quintari, Regibald Millis, Vanna Gush, and Torrin Harbuck. An art broker, working on behalf of House Pinecrest, a faltering and almost extinct House, sold me the fragment I had, but I have no idea which of the five fragments it was."
"If it is the enjoiner you and this culprit are after, I'd suggest taking a trip to the Stone of the Seers. It was in their library that I found the books which told me this tale. Perhaps you can find information there to help you."
"How long has your shop been here?"
"And you've never seen any other of these fragments?" Auriel asks. "In another shop, or maybe in a museum?" She sighs as she looks at Awgin. "Looks like we're going to have to go back to the Charming Chelish," she says, intentionally misnaming the shop, "and find out where his fragment came from."
Laya walks back over to Canolbar and climbs up on top of his desk. Once she's more or less at his height, she looks him in the eye. "Mister Canolbar, this is a pretty serious confession and could bring some serious consequences." She smiles suddenly. "However, you have a chance now to make amends. Do you by any chance remember which buildings this man looked at? Were there any others besides Irefoot Hall and Naos Markets? Any help you provide us now could go a long way to reducing any punishment for your earlier actions."
She starts to turn away as if to hop back off the desk, but stops and turns back to look Canolbar in the eye again. "Oh, and do you remember what this man looked like? Did he give you a name?"
"How long has your shop been here?"
"Forty-six years this Abadius, though what does that have to do with anything?" Triffan replies.
"No, my dear, I have not seen any of the other four fragments, though I heard that two of them went for auction some time ago at Meisner's."
"Meisner's," Auriel says, turning to Awgin. "We need to go there and find out who bought them. We need to go back to the Chubby Chelish and find out where his fragment came from. And we need to hit the library at the Stone of the Seers. Let's go back and see if we can grab some of the others; the quicker we can cover this ground, the better." She turns back to the dwarf. "Master Marblecutter, thanks for your help. We'll try to get your necklace back. You can have Rav Kinman's too, as far as I care." She is ready to get back to headquarters and share the information with the others.
Meisner's probably refers to Meisener's Auction House, an upscale Auction house for art, furniture, jewelry, magic items, and other things of value.
Laya walks back over to Canolbar and climbs up on top of his desk. Once she's more or less at his height, she looks him in the eye. "Mister Canolbar, this is a pretty serious confession and could bring some serious consequences." She smiles suddenly. "However, you have a chance now to make amends. Do you by any chance remember which buildings this man looked at? Were there any others besides Irefoot Hall and Naos Markets? Any help you provide us now could go a long way to reducing any punishment for your earlier actions."
She starts to turn away as if to hop back off the desk, but stops and turns back to look Canolbar in the eye again. "Oh, and do you remember what this man looked like? Did he give you a name?"
"No ma'am, I never got his name. He ws human, bald, with faded tattoos all over his scalp and neck and arms. I don't know which buildings he looked at. As I said, we just...just left him in the file room." He suddenly brightens. "But hey! If he stole the blueprints for some of the places, maybe he stole others he wanted, too! We just have to search for the missing ones from among the...hundreds of blueprints on file. This is going to take awhile."
And it does. Even with the two of you helping, lunch comes and goes before you "find" the first missing blueprint: Rimblesnuffin's, with an address in the Vista District. Another two hours of searching reveal one more set of missing plans: the Millis' Manor in the Marble District.
By the end of your search, it's almost three in the afternoon.
"No ma'am, I never got his name. He ws human, bald, with faded tattoos all over his scalp and neck and arms. I don't know which buildings he looked at. As I said, we just...just left him in the file room." He suddenly brightens. "But hey! If he stole the blueprints for some of the places, maybe he stole others he wanted, too! We just have to search for the missing ones from among the...hundreds of blueprints on file. This is going to take awhile."
And it does. Even with the two of you helping, lunch comes and goes before you "find" the first missing blueprint: Rimblesnuffin's, with an address in the Vista District. Another two hours of searching reveal one more set of missing plans: the Millis' Manor in the Marble District.
By the end of your search, it's almost three in the afternoon.
Despite the length of time it takes, Laya searches through the files with eagerness and even enjoyment. She makes numerous comments about the various buildings they see, particularly places she's been to before.
She makes a note of the two places they discover missing. Once they are finally done, she says, "Thank you very much for your help, gentlemen. You may have helped us prevent further crimes. Heward, we'd better get back to headquarters and gather the others. We're going to need to visit these two places and keep an eye on them."