MoF's Hells Rebels

Game Master MordredofFairy

Observing the bridge alongside the strix, Boros is able to pick out the defensive emplacements with the former's help. And, like Varuzhan, he notes the lack of protective measures elsewhere along the water. Something about that doesn't strike him as reassuring, and he says as much. "Aye, no guards, no barricades, and yet they don't seem too terribly bothered by the idea o' folks makin' an unannounced crossin' whenever they have the urge? Somethin' about that fair stinks to me."

@Shopping:

While Miranda, living in Yolubilis Harbor, was mostly used to dealing with merchants across the river, she still knew some eligible traders this side of Kintargo.
And while many shops were temporarily out of business, depending on wares from outside the city, or people willing to part with their money for services or luxuries - which most were reluctant to do with the current state of affairs - some trades did really good. Among them pawn shops and used-goods stores. Quite a good amount of people tried to liquidize assets, or get a bargain deal on something that might be more valuable once things went back to normal.

One such shop was "Mister Otomos Curiosities and Oddities", who had just about anything but normal, everyday items in stock, and also was interested in buying such. When you inquire about a water-proof container, he leads you to a moderately-sized, ancient sea chest: "Not only is this beauty waterproof, it is stormproof! You see, not only can you open and close it with a command word for convenience - but when your ship sinks, another command word makes it float to the nearest inhabited mass of land. Not very swiftly, but reliably. The captain that had it commissioned survived a storm that sunk his first ship, the sinking of a second after a pirate attack, and a mutiny on his third ship. Unfortunately his crew mutinied several days out at sea, and in his hurry he forgot to bring along food or water. So when he arrived clinging to the chest, he was slightly dead - but that only goes to show the reliability of this extraordinary item. Only 3000 pieces of Gold. A steal, as you surely see."

He may also have a cheaper option that is ONLY a waterproof container. But do consider what you may want to offload or purchase. He is interested in making a lucrative business deal and not really worrying about who you are or why you are here - but he does NOT want to only make some minor transaction. He can throw in some mundane goods on a deal, but it has to be a big deal of sorts.
Also, you can assume to find buyers for any normal equipment at half price - while you scan for potential trade partners, you almost certainly find someone willing to take those items off you at regular sale price.(well, anything 200 gold or less on sales price)[ooc]

@Riverside:

As Boros and Varuzhan observe the River, the bridge, and consider floating across upstream, they march down to the River, to observe and see if they can find out more. The river is not as wide as in the harbor bay, and the water flows faster - but not so fast that a skilled swimmer would have any problems.
[ooc]Apologies here, that should have been Diplomacy to gather info or Knowledge Local - V should have passed by himself, but also made the diplomacy with Boros's help
Approaching an old Fisherman sitting at the waterfront, with very bad eyes, but very experienced, calloused hands, currently working on his rod, a bucket with 2 fish next to him, they decide to talk to him.
First small talk, about how it's smart to provide for his family by fishing with the isolated state of the city, and about how not more people are doing that, down to wondering if a healthy man could simply get across the river and be gone before the guards could do anything about it.
From close up, his eyes seem glazed over. If he sees something at all, it would surprise you. He shows a grin missing at least 2 teeth, and responds:"Aye, people are not fishing here because they can't."
He fetches the hook of his rod, then attaches a small sea shell to it, before throwing it out into the river. "You see, not many fish here, and those who pass by are afraid. Something else is here though, and it would get your healthy man before he's halfway across. When I was young, half a century ago, there was the story of a Mermaid having made her home here. Good luck for trade, that, but she'd take any young man as lover, then drown him. And the girls, she'd drown them too to free up more man. Load of bull, all that."
His line bucks twice, as if someone had pulled it, and he begins to reel it in, taking a Fish from the Hook where the Shell was earlier.
"You see, they deliberately did not build a wall there when the city was fortified. Something about the ground not supporting that or so. Instead, they contracted a Water Prince and got him to send guards. Kintargo pays for the service each year, and he stations some of his guys in the river. Bloody watery elementals. Won't even see them until they pull you under. But they like stuff from the sea." He shows another grin while attaching another sea shell to the hook, presenting it to emphasize his words.
"If you are smart, you stay away from the River upstream of the bridge. That's the limit they set, after some unfortunate incident with some 2 dozen sailors a good 100 years ago when they jumped into the harbor from a burning ship."

Hearing what lies beneath the water's surface is enough to have the soldier reflexively take a step back from the edge. "Aye, I can see where folks'd be discouraged from dippin' their feet then, with that sort lurkin' somewhere in it," he say with a wary glance at the water where the baited hook was pulled from. He's noted the way that the shell has been replaced with a fish, and suspects (thanks to what he's just heard) that one of the aforementioned elementals isn't all that far away right now.

Boros then reaches into the pouch at his waists, drawing out a few copper coins which he places beside the old man. "We appreciate the history, and the warnin' behind it. Hopefully the good catches continue, but if they don't then maybe this little bit'll help pad out what ya eat tonight." With that, he steps further back from the water's edge and waits on Varuzhan to join him so that they can discuss what they've learned on the way back to their temporary hideout.

Gave the old guy 4 cp.

Miranda 'ahhhh's and 'ooooohhh's appropriately as the merchant shows his wares. Truth to be told, she wouldn't mind watching a presentation of everything in this little wonderful shop. It was a treasure trove! But they weren't here to ogle things. She tried to remember what they had agreed to do ...

The old man takes the copper coins - he worked his whole life, and learned not to refuse good things coming his way. "Gods bless you, and appreciated. Can't catch a good brew this way, and fish needs to be washed down." He laughs, showing a few missing teeth.
Looking at the river once more, you see that there's also some jagged rocks, a few whirls and some flat rapids with following rolling action - the area seemed hazardous by itself, if navigatable by a skilled swimmer, and any deaths could easily be blamed on natural causes. Knowing the real story behind, you suspect that many of the elements were creatively placed by the residenty, rather than occuring naturally.
Either way, Boros and Varuzan made their way back to their temporary hideout to inform the others about their findings.

Meanwhile, Miranda, Nezari and Kith were browsing wares - but nothing really called out to them, nothing was there they'd really NEED.
In the end, they return to the Chest shown initially, and look it over once more.

I could theoretically make that perception check: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

Nope, I could not.

Perception!: 1d20 + 7 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 7 + 1 = 13

Nope not here either :D

"Mm. We'll take it right away. Thanks for the excellent service though!" Miranda beams and leans in to touch their shiny new thing. A little bit of paint, some polish and and ... It'll look perfect soon enough.

No worries, that perception may be easier to make at a later time-

"Very well. Your business was appreciated. Do come again!", he escorts you to the door and bows as a means of expressing goodbye, then returns into his shop.

"Right. That went well don't you think?" The tiefling glanced at her companions, hoping they shared her view. A little at least. "Let's head back to the others."

"Sounds like fun! Say, do you think I should go with the stripes or the plains?" Nez compared the clothes she had purchased.

We did buy the clothes too from him, right? He just wanted at least one big purchase to make it worth his while?

Kith keeps to himself what he's noticed. When they are far out of easrshot though he mutters The chest probably is even more magical than he thought... It's at least a bag of holding on top of being waterproof, maybe even multiple bags of holding based on different command words.

Yeah, anything mundane up to iirc 250gp were fair game. So buy/sell that as much as you'd like :)

"Really? Hey, if he didn't know about the command words, maybe there's some loot already in there!" Nez seems excited by the prospect.

"IT IS?" The tiefling gleams with uncontained excitement for a few moments before, with visible effort, restraining herself. She keeps her mouth forced shut as to not attract any more attention and inspects the chest again. How had she missed that? How had the seller missed it? Was there more treasure inside? Could they access it?

When she dares speak again she does so in a hushed voice. "That's so great! N is right. We'll have to check it out as soon as we can."

Kith is heartened by the glee in his current comrade's voice. He blushes a bit still wondering why he volunteered that information. His old instinct would have been to keep it to himself.

"This could change the whole plan. I was gonna dump my armor in the river, but if this thing could hide it..." Nez ponders the possibilities.

Just... don't put a bag of holding in it... or put it in a bag of holding... but we can experiment to see how much the first command word can hold.

"Yeah, lets find some out of the way spot and see if it'll hold the papers first!"

Aye, anything mundane up to 250 GC was fine.

Boros and Varuzhan make it back to the temporary hideout without much trouble, having mostly stayed in the district with the lowest number of overall patrols.

The team that had been doing the shopping trip has a tense moment on the way back, when they turn a corner and almost run into a patrol. One of the soldiers eyes the group for just a moment longer than you feel comfortable with, but nothing happens as he finally looks elsewhere and follows his group leader without speaking up.

Half an hour later, you are all united in your temporary safe-zone and making final preparations for crossing over to your 'base' territory.

With the group finally back together, Boros explains what he and Varuzhan have learned about the bridge, its protections and, most importantly, about what lurks within the water itself. "With those elementals lurkin' in there, waitin' to kill anyone who hops in, I don't know that riskin' a swim is the best o' ideas. Unless we can work out somethin' with shells like that old man."

Assuming that the others shared the details of the chest:

The soldier's attention then shifts to the chest as he continues. "On the other hand, if that fancy magic box there really does have more than one space inside o' it, we could pack all o' our kit in it and just try to get across the other way."

@Mordred: is that chest big enough that a person could, without requiring some dismembering beforehand, fit inside?

@Boros: Big enough for about 2 bodies to fit inside with some creative limb-placement(oh, how oddly specific...), yeah. Probably 1 person alive, or up to 3 with proper dismemberment. However, do remember that closed extradimensional spaces depend on their limited Oxygen-Supply. If, say, you put someone in there and nobody reopens the chest with the proper command, that person will quickly be in trouble. Just saying. (Also, the water-proof more or less implies that the regular compartment is also "sealed" and will not have much more Oxygen). And as usual, there is no way to open them from the inside. #Hide&Seek-Accidents

Varuzhan frowns. "You can't be serious. All this trouble attacking the convoys and all we got ourselves is a magic box?" He checks over the thing hoping there was something more than what he was seeing.

Perception: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (7) + 14 = 21
K. Arcana: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8

When there's a mention of another possible command word, Varuzhan holds it and starts running through some possibilities.

"Pocket. Cache. Secret. Pouch. Vault. Safe. Open Sesame. X Marks The Spot."

He hands the thing back. "The guards won't think much of this thing either," he says, trying to find a silver lining.

Is the chest too heavy for the under the bridge smuggler part of the party?

The Chest is likely too heavy for Varuzhan to conveniently carry across flying, seeing how it took 2 people to carry it back. Alas, as Boros has learned, the elementals only lurk upstream from the bridge - that is, where there is no city/wall on the other side. Someone can still go try to swim across the harbor.

Even if you have some shenanigans available(Ant Haul and Bulls Strenght, e.g.) that chest is not designed to be 'carried' one-handed - however V would transport it, it would seriously diminish his maneuverability, and make him that much easier to spot(as he can't stick as close to the shadows, or try to hide away quickly if someone looks his way. Just pointing that out ahead of people throwing muleback cords at the Strix.

Seems like someone with Ant Haul could swim halfway across with it and then command it to float to the other side? Seems pretty stealthy?

"A magical box and a bunch of gems and art the magical box will help us get over the river so we can properly fence them." Miranda corrects her feathered friend. In a totally not defensive way. Nope. Just uh needed to defend the box honor! Yeah.

"So water elementals hmh. And Kintago pays them? Now *that* would be a valuable contract to find ... We should make a note to try and get whomever handles it to our side. Imagine in the water elementals would let just us pass."

Well, since I'm vaguely considering the possibility of hiding a person in the chest, or at least the secret part(s) if the command word can be figured out (and on that subject, we STILL haven't figured out how to activate those silver raven wondrous figures), we kind of want to avoid the dismembering. It's not acceptable to trim down your companions to make them fit :D.

Also, how large and heavy is the chest? When you say it needs two people to haul, is that due more to its size than the actual weight, vice versa, or a bit of both?

The soldier smiles and gives Miranda a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "No, no, it's a good chest. Even just the abilities that the shopkeeper actually knew about are pretty damned valuable to us. And if it does have more than a single space in there, and we can figure out how to get at it, that's better still." With that, Boros sighs and shakes his head as he address the halfling's other idea. "Right, gettin' hold o' that elemental control over the water would be nice, but right now we need to figure out how to get by them without gettin' mauled. Most of the plan is still workable, as I see it. It's just the bit about actually goin' for a swim that's in need o' revision."

As he speaks, Boros studies the chest intently, then reaches out and gives it an experimental heft, checking the weight with slight grunt. "Come to think o' it though, as big as this is, we might be able to pass off myself as nothin' more than a porter to haul it over the bridge. We'd need to figure out the trick to openin' the hidden space it might have, throw our contraband in there, and fill the regular spot with just random stuff that'll pass a search." Eyes still fixed on the container, he steps back a pace and offers his thoughts to the others. "Rexus can help me haul it, so that's him covered. We'll be working for Kith there, carrying his goods or whatever. Nez bullshits or charms her way across, Varuzhan'd still fly over, because I'll wager they're lookin' for a fellow with wings like those, and that just leaves Miranda to slink along underneath the bridge." He then shoots a quick grin at the smallest member of the group. "Or, we stuff her in the box too, and hope she can hold her breath for a good bit."

"I still think the only trick we need is the false faces, as long as we can figure out how to put all the contraband in a hidden compartment in the chest. Of course, that's a bit of a big if. If we could activate even one of the holding compartments, that'd do it, wouldn't it?"

After someone informs Nez that they do in fact have one of the hidden compartments able to activate and Nez just didn't pay enough attention to Kith, Nez is all for seeing if they can stuff all the loot/contraband in there. Might as well see if it all fits before making any plans.

"Uhmm..." Miranda peered into the chest. She didn't fancy laying trapped inside for any long period of time. "Maybe if I had a straw or something? Would that even work ..."

"Yeah I'll take my chances climbing I think. Could take a disguise and some very minor contraband as well - so I have an excuse if caught but nothing severe. That said, it's getting harder to know what's severe or not these days ..."

"I can keep all the contraband," suggests Varuzhan. "If they see me, pretty sure they're gonna be suspicious of a person flying under the bridge regardless. The rest of you all can walk across with the big chest."

Either way. I think we should make a decision and go.

Nodding his agreement with the elf's comment, Boros continues to inspect the chest. "Aye, we've spent quite enough time on this task. This chest gives us an option we didn't have, while knowin' what's lurkin' in the river definitely alters our plans for that. So I'm for packin' our stuff into the secret hold, fillin' the other with Kith's wares, and haulin' it over the bridge plain as day. If any o' us can manage a sneaky crossin' without dippin' their toes, they should."

"Varuzhan, I think the idea is you wouldn't even need to fly under the bridge with Kith's false faces and the chest's secret compartment. We could all just... walk across."

I can make four. We're five Kith points out, embarrassed by his lack of alchemical skills.

Frowning, Boros shifts his gaze to the elf, rolls his eyes, and points at Rexus. "Six, we're six. I know he don't say much, but that's not a good reason to forget he's with us." Thinking over what assets they have, the soldier shakes his head slowly. "No, I think Varuzhan will have to glide across under the bridge. And if Miranda can't manage to scamper along the same way, she might have to go into the chest for a time." Growling, he drags a hand over his chin in a gesture of frustration. "Honestly, at this point, I'm wondering if we should just crawl down into the sewers again and see if there's way over down there."

"No way over, from here. Sewer runs into the river, not under it.", Rexus comments. "That said, I'm fine if you go on without me for the time being. There's been some...rumors I wanted to investigate, and as you know, my quarter is this side of Kintargo. I'll also have some paperwork to deal with regarding my ship. Not only because I still want to own it when all of this is over, but because it would also draw suspicion if I don't. I mean, the city is on lockdown and there's martial law, what else would I be doing in the evenings if not the demanded paperwork?"
Rexus sighs, then looks at the documents longingly: "I did wish to help decipher all of that, but we've been delayed for too long now. I suppose any of you that do lead normal lives in this city may also want to take a few days off after you accomplished this. If you are gone too long, people may notice. And when people notice, that's not good for us."

"Mm. R is right. Though - as an apprentice conservator - having an old chest to look over wouldn't be too out of place." The tiefling noted hopefully. "But it might be best if it wasn't seen again after the bridge passage."

"V are you up for flying? With one of Ks extracts I'm sure none would look twice at me. Never does for halflings."

"Oh, this hat I have can handle the disguises for me."

Varuzhan quickly transforms into the appearance of a deck hand for a ship. "So it's settled, then." Hat of Disguise. "I'll come along with you guys. Now that our ill-gotten gains have turned into a weird chest, I think we'll make it home just fine. Anything else we might be worried about, let's stash and deal with another time."

Kith hands out the extracts of False Face for himself and up to three others.

"So, if Rexus is staying this side, and Varuzhan has his own disguise, that's enough, right?" Nez starts counting on her fingers.

Miranda takes one of the extracts and holds it up so she could inspect it. Hmm. Hmmmm. It really didn't look like much. "Yeah, I think so!"

Boros gives Nezari a nod of confirmation as he accepts his own dose of the magical substance. "Aye, that's all o' us covered, so I suppose we should get on with it then." And with that, the soldier swiftly divests himself of armor, weapons, and really anything other than his clothing. He examines the latter with a frown, but ultimately shrugs as he mutters. "Eh, hopefully the dirt and filth'll be enough to hide that this isn't really a proper laborer's sort o' get up."

Ok, so recap: You'll stash the remainder of your loot plus any arms and armor you wore into the hidden compartment, then head someplace(Kith is located this side of the river?) and stash the regular part full of alchemical stuff? Then you head to the bridge and claim to be transporting those goods - 2 more things you may think about: where do you claim to be transporting things, and why do you need 5 people for it? (as in, 2 people carry the chest - what did you bring the halfling for?)) And what do your False Faces look like?

Your new appearance is within the norms for your race, ethnicity, and gender - may still make things interesting for e.g. Miranda who is technically a small half-tiefling. Also need to know if V is still a Strix or trying to pass as something else-(as the hat operates per Disguise Self which allows altering subtype, but carries the usual penalties) - we're moving to the checkpoint but I'll need that info before :)

Well Kith will turn into a well to do elf dabbling in alchemy who bought cheap supplies and is returning home. Two people to carry the chest, a bodyguard, and a servant justifies four. The fifth person can just cross without being a part of the party might be the best.

Know Local for that kind of information on where rich elves live for cover story: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (17) + 11 = 28

Varuzhan takes on the appearance of a strong human male. "You'll need someone strong to carry that thing. Count me in. Boros can carry the other end," he suggests.

I think we're the strongest in the party.

"None questions a slip do they? Nope." Miranda hopes that goes for tiefling ones as well. Probably. Hopefully. She'll rub some dirt on her face just in case. Not too much though!

Before making the crossing, Varuzhan asks for the Mage Armor spell and casts False Life.
False Life: 1d10 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12 12 Temp HP.