"Maybe me and Silvio should check out a few taverns, you know, just in case? Could make it known that we can put a bit of work their way - maybe a commission for a full-length portrait in the buff in your case, captain, and wanting to get something out of the city quiet-like in mine..."
"Silvio thinks that the idea has merit", the chelaxian replies. "Thanks to Silvio's affinity for portrayal it will make a excellent cover story, but how will the promise of a portrait lure a pickpocket or smuggler from their hiding?"
Sekathral sighs inwardly. "Yes. Let's commission the smuggler to paint a picture and ask the painter to get 40 tonnes of ivory out of the city under the noses of the Revenue. Or perhaps we could try it the other way around? If you like the idea of ensnaring this Santos bint with your masculine charms, get practicing your poses. Meanwhile, anyone know how you go about commissioning pictures? Or should we ask the town guard if they know where she is? If so, someone OTHER than me is going to have to do that" He breaks out in a sweat, coughs, and falls silent.
Kyson looks around at the group a puzzled look on his face.
"We do what now? Paint pictures of naked Silvio?" Kyson doesn't think that would be helpful and might only serve to balloon the man's ego further.
A bit more puffing and his ego might require its own split of party treasure.
"Maybe Finn, Zstelian, and I will do another search focusing on the Azure, Merchant, and Shadowshore districts with the new names and info...we'll meet back here tomorrow with any leads?"
Gather Info - Azure
Gather Info - Merchants
Gather Info - Shadowshore
"Spending the day with you is always a blast, Kyson! Let's see if we can't wrestle up some new contacts."
Azure:
Merchants:
Shadowshore:
"Gorum's cods!" Sekathral moves to spit on the floor, catches Lavinia's eye, and stops abruptly. "Blow this. Let's go down the tavern, Silvio - I need a drink. Try describing your eye-popping attributes to the waitress and see if we can attract any of the right kind of artistic interest. At the very least, you might get lucky"
The chelaxian still doesn't seem to be grasping exactly what Sekathral is saying. He doesn't seem to put much thought into it either, instead reacting only to bits of what he's hearing. "Practice? No, Silvio does not need to practice. It all comes natrally to Silvio. Like on the boat, where Silvio bested the captain and his lady friend", he says then catches Kyson's mention of nude portraits and is lend on a incoherent declaration of how popular it would be among the female population of Eleder before Sekathral's second outbursts whips him back into reality. "Silvio always attracts the right kind of interest. A drink for my friends! Silvio will provide", he proclaims with a smile.
At the tavern he talks high and wide about his noble ancestry and his plans of having himself immortalized on a canvas. Among his many boasts he manages to put in a question or two if there is artist that's up to the task.
Dargon starts to worry that it's taking his friends too long to locate the Vanderboren son. Still thinking of him as a young and innocent child Dargon starts imagining all the bad influences the street holds and how they might have taking the good sense out of Vanthus Vanderboren, only to replace it with the vileness of street thugs.
Dargon ends his daydreaming with a single rhetorical question, the summation of all his worries, What happened to cause you to be so estranged from your family, lad?
Then, more to take his mind off things than anything else, Dargon takes a moment to check on Lavinia. So as not to break her concentration, Dargon tries to approach quietly ( ) and says in as soft of a voice as his dwarven lungs will allow "How's it coming lass? If ya be needing me help with anything, just let me know."
You don't find out much new about the artist, but Sekathral is able to learn a good deal about Pinkus at the simply named Shadowshore Tavern.
The smuggler is semi-notorious in the district thanks to his drunken binges and violent temper. Several people suggest he's actually left the area, as he's not been seen as much in the last year, but you also find a drunken sailor who says he spotted Penkus "with some noble-looking fop *hic* at it still floats. *hic* Got into a big'un with th'owner too. Thought it might *hic* come ta blows. *hic*"
Sekathral:
Lavinia looks up at your question, Dargon, a smile quickly wiping away a look of sadness on her face. "Thank you, Dargon, that's awfully kind. I'm fine, just wishing I knew where Vanthus was."
As you leave the room, Kora -- the elderly halfling major domo -- pats you on the arm and gives you a warm smile.
"Thank you for paying attention to Mistress Lavinia, Master Dolgrinson," she whispers. "I know she's trying to put on a brave face, but I think she misses her family terribly."
At the rendezvous, Sekathral,red-eyed and hungover, approaches the company. "I think I might have a lead on Pinkus" He mumbles. "Nasty piece of work. Anybody know where, or what, It Still Floats is? Someone I spoke to said he was seen there with a noble of some sort, having a set-to with the landlord. I feel like the bottom of an ogre's latrine pit, so if we're going, let's go quickly."
Sekathral, you're not sure what It Still Floats is.
Diplomacy (GI):
"It still floats? What still floats?"
"Are you sure it wasn't the rambling of a drunk man?"
Or that you were sober enough to hear it correctly?
Kyson looks confused, but if that is the only lead, he'll go ask about it.
Gather Info/Diplo
"Perhaps we should be looking for a brawl, instead!" Finn adds, only marginally helpfully. "Is there anything sinking?"
Silvio enters as his normal smiling self, raising the question if he ever feels the aftermath of a night out. As he removes his hat to greet his companions it is proven beyond a doubt that he is unable to have a bad hair day.
"It still floats? That is a name for a place? Silvio though that the sailor was commenting on his career. If that is not so, then somebody must now where to find this place. Perhaps you could shed some light on this mystery, my lady", he asks Lavinia.
Lavinia thinks for a few moments and then hesitatingly says, "Yes, I think I remember the place. It's a boat shop. My parents spoke were planning to get a couple rowboats there to go with their ship after the maiden voyage. I think it's near the Shipwright's Guild in Shadowshore."
Kyson looks around worriedly, as if he was being asked to go check it out alone.
"We should all go check it out, right? Not just some of us?" Kyson gathers his possessions: his inkpen, ink, scrolls, and scrolltubes.
We might need some scribing while we are there.
Kyson follows the group to the Shipwright's Guild in the Shadowshore.
Does Dargon know of anything specific about "It Still Floats" that would give us insight in the best way to approach the place? Has he had any business dealing with them . Are they honest, dirty, big, small, friendly, etc?
Without any additional insight Dargon would stick to his style and lean towards just going there and asking about it Pinkus directly.
"Yeah. Come on. Let's go, then I can come back and go to bed" Sekathral passes a hand over his forehead and groans.
Surprise!
It takes a little time, but by mid-afternoon you can find a small shop, the rear panel of a rowboat hanging from a hook with "It Still Floats!" written in now-fading gold paint.
As you enter, a dwarf looks up and watches.
"Hunh," he grunts as you go up to him. "I hope you're not here to cause trouble."
"Trouble? Why would you think Silvio has trouble in mind?" the chelaxian replies and throws his hands up to illustrate is innocence. "Silvio and friends are only looking for a specific person. His name is Pinkus, and he was acompanied by another man of noble birth. We heard that they have been seen here so we come to you in hopes that you can guide us in the right direction."
"Hmph. People cause trouble. That's what they do. Think of how much less trouble there'd be if there were no people. These people you're looking for. They probably caused trouble. Or you're planning to cause trouble for them."
"How about both?" Finn replies. "So, we heard that some troublemakers stopped by, caused you trouble, and now there are more people who want to cause them extra trouble. Tell us, as another person, what's the trouble you'd like to cause on your own?"
Kyson will step forward, timidly.
"Listen, buddy, I don't want trouble. I *really* don't want to get hurt." Kyson is a bit worried, but gets closer to whisper to the dwarf.
"I don't like this any more than you do, but that one over there..." Kyson points gently at Sekathral,"..is into the drugs. And that one..." Kyson points at Dargon, "...is a surly drunk. And mean too. And that one there..." Kyson nods towards Silvio, "...killed 3 people just the other day. Or maybe it was 5, he keeps on upping the number he says he slew...but nevermind that, we don't want trouble.
Kyson leans back.
"So maybe you'll help us find who we seek?"
Diplomacy
"Your words wrong Silvio, but Silvio absolves", the noble insists. "Silvio brings no trouble, humble requests. Surely you can see that Silvio is great captain, a seafarer like yourself! You had trouble with the gentlemen in question, Silvio is here to fix your problem. Make it disappear", he says and gestures with his hands like a magician who just made a dove vanish.
Dargon offers to buy Panchi a drink after he closes shop for the day. Assuming Panchi takes him up on it, Dargon goes out to have a long dwarf to dwarf conversation with Panchi. He isn't actually after more than having a dwarven friend in Eleder but if there's no progress by anyone else before then, Dargon will of course use this time to probe for more info as well.
1st hour:
2nd hour:
3rd hour:
4th hour:
5th hour:
The dwarf does not seem to respond to the odd mix of diplomacy and intimidation at first.
"I'm not looking to cause trouble," he tells Finn with a deep sigh. "Sadly, trouble just seems to find me. It's the way of the world, I suppose."
His eyes do light up, however, at Sekathral's offer, and he grabs the coin as he leaves with Dargon -- "Never too early to close for a drink." The dwarf does not seem to have any more luck than his companions at first, but several hours of drinking finally gets the shop owner in a talkative mood.
He admits he sold a boat to the pair. "They seemed excited, loaded bunch of lamp oil, lanterns and rope in. No, I don't know where they went, but they headed west. Probably burned themselves down to the water, the way people's luck go."
---
While the two dwarves are drinking, a nervous-looking half-elf with messy black hair, a ragged suit of leather armor and dirty hands approaches the rest of the group.
"Hssst," he whispers, "I hear yer lookin' fer Vanthus Vanderboren."
At the approach of the greasy half-elf, Kyson will stand up, look afraid and excuse himself, mumbling.
"Hafta go over th..."
He looked scary.
Sekathral stares at the half elf with narrowed eyes. "Might be. Who's asking, and what's it to you, mate? "
Finn lets Sekathral do the talking while he examines the situation. Is anyone else with him? Paying us extra attention?
"M'name's Shefton Rosk, cap'n," the half-elf replies. "And I might have some information that'd be of int'rest to ya."
Finn, you don't see anyone else who appears to be with him or paying special attention.
"Alright. Sit down and let's hear it, mate. What're you drinking?"
Kyson will pull up a seat about 10' away and listen in.
I do *not* like bars. I cannot imagine a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. I must be cautious.
"I'll take a mug of grog, I guess. But before I start talking, what've you got to offer?"
As you try to listen in over the sounds of a small band, your eye wanders around the bar. You see a pair of humans, one about your age, the other much older, start to enter, trailed by a couple halfling slaves.
They're stopped by a call from the bartender, though: "Hey, we don't serve their kind here."
"What?" the younger man asks.
"Your slaves, they'll have to wait outside."
The older man takes the pair outside, while the younger continues to the bar, before being joined by the older again. They talk there for a few moments with the bartender before a pair of half-orcs approach and start talking to them, gesticulating loudly.
You can hear one of them say "He doesn't like you." The younger man's response is lost to the crowd, but you can barely hear the half-orc continue, "I don't like you either. You just watch yourself. We're wanted men. I have the death sentence in 12 kingdoms. ... "
The older man tries to intervene, gesturing to the bartender who's looking on with horror. He shouts as the half-orc begins to pull a danger, but the old man suddenly gestures and a blade of flame leaps from his hand, slashing through the half-orc's arm, effectively ending the fight before it's begun. The older man grabs the younger and pulls him from the bar before anyone else can react.
Kyson will look under the table to make sure no one has a crossbow secretly pointed at him but otherwise will remain seated.
If I move, the old man might strike me down. I might *not* become more powerful than anyone could possibly imagine.
"We'll pay what the goods are worth, mate - never you fear" Sekathral slides a platinum piece across the table. "That'll do for starters, I reckon. Now spill yer guts, and we'll see if you deserve anything extra after we've heard you out"
Perception
"What was that all about? Ach - bar squabble" Sekathral turns back to Shefton. "Come on. Let's hear it"
Finn continues to play the lookout, wonder why he hadn't bothered to prepare any extracts yet for the day...
Perception: (Take 10, get 18)
Hey, wait a moment... no, those aren't the slaves we're looking for. We can go about our business.
Shefton's eyes widen at the platinum piece. "Full sail ahead, then, cap'n," he says, rubbing one hand through his greasy hair. "Your boy's on Parrot Island, been living there the last few days in some ol' smuggler's tunnels below the isle. For a little more coin, I can lead you to the entrance, you want."
Sekathral nods, then draws a dagger, placing it on the table with a pile of platinum coins next to it. "You'll do that, once I've got my crew together. Steer us true, and there's more where that little white calf came from" He says, pointing to the pile of coins. "Steer us false..." He stares straight at Sefton, playing with the hilt of the dagger on the table as he does so. "We've got a way of making life very uncomfortable for people who p**s us off. Now, while we wait for the bearded wonders to finish reciting their ancestor lists to one another, how about another round? Get 'em in, Finn" He throws a coin to the gnome and leans back in his chair, taking out his pipe and filling it.
Kyson nods as well, but feels much less comfortable here than others.
I'll sit for a while before sneaking out. What I'd like to do is go scribe some nice scrolls.
Kyson gingerly fingers his coin purse, trying to remember how much gold he has left.
"Ah ha!" Kyson remembers his second pouch of gold from Lavinia.
Arising, Kyson approaches the group. "I'm going to go write. Are we meeting on the morrow to go to Parrot Island?"
I'll need some extra paper if I want to do some drawings of the parrots! Sounds like a lovely place to visit!
Kyson will go buy ingredients to scribe scrolls (and extra paper/ingredients as well) and return to his employer's estate, taking some quiet time in the library to scribe scrolls.
AH! I love the quiet here. Great for scribing in silence.
If he has time, Sekathral will go out and buy a potion of CLW (-5pp) and also get a tame magic user to cast Detect Magic on his new rapier (-1pp?). Also, unless we can cadge a boat from the Blue Nixie, Sekathral will ask Dargon to ask Panchi if we can hire a boat off him (as Dargon might get better rates) so we can get to the island. Lastly, he'll attempt to ask around to see if the group can get any background info on Parrot Island.
Getting there...