Navior's Savage Tide

Game Master Navior

Okay, for some reason I was thinking that room with the 3 pillars had water in it, too.

Tippi sighs. "Looks like one of us swims for it while everyone else sits around and waits to be rescued. You up for it?" she asks Festa. "You seem to have the fewest possessions to weigh you down, and you can fight without a weapon. Get ready to cast a light on ... I don't know, his pants or something," she tells Jacinth. "He'll need his hands free. It should last ten minutes, which is longer than he will if he can't find air. Give him the potion. Everything else stays here. No offense," she tells Festa, "but I've only known you a few days. If coming back for us doesn't motivate you, maybe coming back for the treasure will."

Elixir of swimming and light on Festa, and send him through the 5-foot tunnel with his Amazing Glowing Pants. I'm sure we're all supposed to swim for it together with the elixir making up for the arcane caster, but considering none of us a Swim bonus higher than +1, it'd be stupid to risk it.

"He'll also need enough to buy a horse and some rope, but other than that, I agree with Xanthippe. If you'd rather not do this, Festa, I volunteer to it."

"I'm good for it, no worries. I'm more concerned that something nasty is in the tunnel, or beyond. Or guarding the entrance we used."

Festa is happy to take the potion and Take 10 himself through the tunnel.

Cast Light on Festa. "May Sarenrae light your way, Desna guide you to safety, Iomadea bolster your courage, and Gozreh keep you safe."

Felos puts his paw on Festa. "And may Lord Gybrael protect you from Gozreh."

The DC for swimming through the tunnel is 15, so with the potion, you'll have no problem getting through by taking 10.

"And Amsodeus," Shefton mutters. "Don't forget Asmodeus. He rules here. It's probably at his whim that we're stuck in here. We have to throw ourselves on his good graces and hope for mercy." His muttering degenerates into rambled whimpers.

Festa gulps down the elixir as Jacinth casts light on him. Then he dives into the water and heads down the tunnel. The tunnel twists and turns quite a bit, but it doesn't turn out to be horrendously long. Although the diameter fluctuates a little, it remains wide enough to move through relatively easily. At one point there is a large rock to manoeuvre around and that requires just a little bit of squeezing. Otherwise, there are no obstruction--and perhaps most importantly, no nasty creatures waiting to gobble Festa up.

After what seems like ages, but is really only about a minute, Festa emerges from the side of the cliff into the open sea. It's only a short distance straight up for him to break the surface and gasp in air.

The journey's not over however, as he's going to need to swim some more to find a place where he can come ashore, unless he'd rather try scaling the cliff. It's about 20 feet high and doesn't look like it would be a difficult climb.

Tippi spends the first ten minutes after Festa departs casting dancing lights over and over again to keep the dark at bay, as Jacinth can't evoke another light without extinguishing Festa's; then, just to be sure, she casts it for another five minutes. After that, she sighs and suggests, "Shall we go wait under the trap door? I don't think he'll be coming back this way."

"It has been a while. Quite a while." Then he has an idea. "Let's get these chests out of here. We can take them to the room where the crabs attacked us." That should keep us busy.

Felos helps carry loot, drafting Shefton to help.

I'll assume Festa keeps swimming since he has the potion bonus. It's the surer thing, even if it takes longer.

While the rest of you wait for Festa to return, you begin moving the chests from the secret chamber back towards the entrance. It's difficult getting them past the large water-filled chamber, but the low tide helps and by being careful, you're able to do so (although the chests are certainly wet by the time you get them across).

While you do all that, Festa swims along the sea back towards Corentyn. Luckily, the weather is being cooperative, so the water isn't terribly choppy (still DC 15 Swim check). The night sky is clear, and the moon and stars shine brightly and reflect off the water's surface. Eventually, Festa finds a spot where he can go ashore. From there, he begins walking back to where the party is.

Finding the trap door this time is very easy as there's a new pile of rocks sitting atop it. While the combined weight of the rocks is enough to make opening the trapdoor from within very difficult, the individual rocks are not of extreme weight (which makes sense if Vanthus carried them all himself). So, one by one, Festa is able to move the rocks aside and clear the trapdoor. With that done, he opens it, letting fresh air within. He then secures a rope up top and drops the other end down (I'm assuming you made sure he had some rope with him before he left). The rest of you can then begin climbing out and hauling up the heavy chests.

Shefton scrambles up the rope when it's his turn, looking in a near panic as he does so. Once out, he collapses on the ground, sobbing and praising Asmodeus for freeing you all.

Felos smiles and offers Festa a hearty hug once he's up and free. "Good work! I never doubted you!" he says, glancing at Tippi.

As Shefton starts his vile praise of Asmodeus, Felos growls and knocks an arrow, pointing it at the man. "Hey!" he barks, "stop that right now! Asmodeus has done nothing here tonight except motivate people to try to murder us in that vile hole. Got it?!"

"Leave him be, Felos. I am not a fan of Asmodeus either, but Shefton is allowed by law to worship him."

Shefton stands up slowly and wipes his face with the back of his hand. "I've never been very devout," he says. He continues more softly, "I usually even skip out on mandated services. But not any more," he continues more loudly. "I've learned my lesson. I'll be true, and give Asmodeus his due."

"To be fair," Tippi points out to Felos, "Vanthus deceived the priests of Asmodeus to rob his sister; I hardly think piety in that particular direction is what's driving his actions. Still, keep that arrow on your string. Shefton's already sold us out once and would undoubtedly do so again if he thought it would save his own neck; I don't want him running off to encounter such temptation. Speaking of Lady Lavinia and her fortune," she turns her attention to the chests being hoisted up through the trapdoor, "I don't suppose this might be the actual ill-gotten gains? I have no objection to serendipitous treasure, but it does warm the cockles of my heart to think about leaving Vanthus Vanderboren penniless once more."

"I...I won't run off," Shefton mumbles. "I won't sell you out."

"Is it likely that Vanthus would have hidden his money in a place guarded by an undead monster, and then he would try to lock a group of well-armed folks in his money hidey hole?"

"Cause if so, I don't think that makes him very smart."

"No. That secret compartment hasn't been open in a long time. I doubt very much that Vanthus knew anything about it. Let's leave this conversation for later. I need to get cleaned up. I do believe I have a date."

Festa throws Jacinth a look that is half panic, half blistering disdain. "Uncouth youth!" he whispers under his breath.

"I don't like the attention we'll attract staggering through the streets with three heavy seachests," Tippi remarks. "We should hire a cart when we reach the edge of town."

"Sensible," Festa nods. "Where did the deadman's note say we would find the Lady's brother? Should we maybe push that hint to resolution first?"

Tippi consults the scroll taken from the dead man. "'He dwells in the lap o'th'Lotus below th'Taxidermist's Hall. Seek him there, but 'fore he dies he must ken it were Penkus what undid him and guides yer killing blow,'" she reads and then pauses a moment. "You know, I've never met anyone who took the trouble to write in dialect, especially in his dying moments. All the apostrophes in place and everything. It's really a work of art. I'm quite impressed with Penkus's dedication."

Knowledge (local) to know where the Taxidermist's Hall is 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7 Nope. :P

Tippi consults the scroll taken from the dead man. "'He dwells in the lap o'th'Lotus below th'Taxidermist's Hall. Seek him there, but 'fore he dies he must ken it were Penkus what undid him and guides yer killing blow,'" she reads and then pauses a moment. "You know, I've never met anyone who took the trouble to write in dialect, especially in his dying moments. All the apostrophes in place and everything. It's really a work of art. I'm quite impressed with Penkus's dedication."

Penkus may have been a smuggler by trade, but he was a poet at heart. ;)

You gather up the heavy chests and begin the trek back to the city. As you walk, Shefton speaks up, "Um... I... uh... I wouldn't dream of suggesting that, uh, I, um, deserve any kind of share of the...uh...treasure, but, well... I was wondering if you might be able to pass me just a couple of gold so that I can leave town. I don't want Vanthus coming after me. Don't worry. I'm not going to betray you all or rat on you to the Lotus or anything like that. I just want to get a long way away from Corentyn as quickly as possible."

"Sorry, lover," Tippi replies idly. "You're not going anywhere until Vanthus and Brissa have been dealt with. I'm sure you'll feel much safer hiding out in Vanderboren Manor until then, anyway. And how much you leave town with is entirely dependent on how helpful you are between now and then. What about this Taxidermist's Hall Penkus wrote about? Where is that?"

Festa is momentarily alarmed.

Shefton lowers his head and nods. He looks disappointed, but it's also clear he was expecting the answer. "Well, I had to ask," he says. "The Taxidermist's Hall is at the southwest side of the West Drenches near the wall with the Slave Quarter."

"Right, well, treasure back to Lavinia's first, then we'll see about her brother."

Hire cart, back to stately Vanderboren manor. What time of day is it? It was sunset-ish when we went in the tunnels, right?

Yes, it's night now. Almost midnight.

The trip back into Corentyn is uneventful. Shefton remains quiet the whole way (unless addressed). He simply keeps his head low and follows meekly along.

The guards at the city gate eye you suspiciously as you approach, but they don't say anything or give you any trouble. "Adventurers," one of them comments quietly with rolled eyes to another as you pass by.

Inside the city, the streets are quiet and mostly empty. Hiring a cart turns out to be a difficult proposition. There are probably some businesses still open down by the docks, but travelling to the docks would actually take you past Vanderboren Manor, so there's not much point. At any rate, the lack of people on the street means that there aren't many people to find what you're doing suspicious.

You have to wait several minutes at the manor door before a weary-eyed Kora in her nightgown opens it for you. She motions you inside, but stares accusingly at Shefton. "Uh... I'm with them," Shefton says, pointing to the rest of you. Kora shrugs, then goes to wake Lavinia.

"Yes, Shefton will be our guest for a while; hopefully not too long, for all our sakes," Tippi tells Kora. "He's a, uh, former associate of Lady Lavinia's brother."

"He'll need a room with a lock on the door...the outside of the door. Maybe some ropes, or heavy iron manacles. Maybe for safety's sake, we should just club him unconscious?"

"Now, now," Tippi is happy to play Good Hellknight to Felos's Bad, "if he's insensate, he can't answer any questions we might have for him. I'm sure now that he's no longer under the stress of being buried alive and left to die, he'll be able to give us some much more useful information that will necessitate his being conscious and reasonably comfortable, right, Shefton?"

Shefton goes pale. "Well, I... He goes even paler. "I really have told you everything I know. Everything I can think of, at any rate."

"Well, then, think harder," she advises him. "I'm sure Lady Lavinia would like to hear some charming anecdotes about her brother, whom she misses. Preferably ones in which he's not imprisoning and killing people."

"Yeah, because if you have nothing left to say, then Tippi's argument to keep you awake goes right away."

"Well, there's the Lotus Dragons," Shefton says. "Vanthus is trying to rise in the ranks there. I think I told you that already, though. He was supposed to sponsor me until he betrayed me. Um...he obviously betrayed that Penkus guy. Uh... charming anecdotes? Uh, well, he...he can be really funny at times. Great sense of humour. Sort of. Well, rather morbid one, really, but great if you're in the mood for it. Um... He usually dresses really smart. He's got that goatee thing that he keeps trimmed. Women swoon over him. Uh...really intelligent. At least, I always thought so, but I'm none too bright. Um..." Sweat drips from his greasy forehead as he tries to think of more to say.

"Women swoon over him."

"Really?" Tippi cocks an eyebrow. "I must have missed the appeal from deep within the earth where I was being imprisoned. We'll have to see if he improves upon a second meeting. Ambition is good; I'm willing to overlook the criminal organization part of it, given that the law-abiding options are Asmodeanism and the Hellknights. Just leave out the betrayal bit when you're talking to his sister. Kora?" she calls after the halfling. "Any chance for a bath after we've spoken with Lady Lavinia? I know it's the middle of the night, but as long as everyone's up anyway? A dip in seawater always leaves me feeling so crusty, and it can't be good for the skin."

Quite the contrary, seawater (assuming salt water) is great for the skin. Though may want to worry about wet cold clothing.

Kora nods. "I'll prepare you a bath, she says and leaves.

A short time later, Lavinia comes scurrying excitedly down the stairs. "Kora tells me you've found an associate of my brother!" She notices Shefton and seems a bit taken aback by his appearance. Then she notices the state the rest of you are in. "What have you been doing?" she asks.

Jacinth embellishes the truth in his response to Lavinia. "Well we found your brother and he led us on a merry chase. Unfortunatly, he is a slippery one and managed to elude us. Though Shefton here has told us of some other friends he has and in the morning we plan to call on them to see if they can shed some light on your brother's whereabouts."

"Charming," Tippi reminds Shefton out of the side of her mouth, elbowing him while she smiles at Lavinia. "We took a bit of a late night swim and did some ... spelunking. Don't worry; we'll tidy up before we make a lot of extra work for your servants. And look!" she gestures to the chests. "We've found some money! Maybe not yours, but it all spends the same, right?"

Shefton bows clumsily to Lavinia. "Apologies for my appearance, milady," he says. "But yes, I'm a...um...business acquaintance of your brother's, and I can help direct your friends here to where he might be."

Lavinia's eyes widen with excitement. "That's wonderful!" she exclaims. "What sort of business do you have with him?"

Shefton Bluff: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (3) + 8 = 11

"A shipping business, milady," Shefton responds. "Nothing that you'd find very interesting."

Lavinia Sense Motive: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (2) - 1 = 1

"I might," Lavinia replies. "But you can tell me all about it in the morning after you've slept and cleaned up."

"A late breakfast, I hope," Tippi requests. "I won't be worth a lick without my beauty sleep. Not if I hope to make a good impression on Vanthus's friends, at any rate."

8 hours of sleep to recover spells. Someone less rest-intensive might want to get up early to keep an eye on Shefton. Or sleep outside his door, if there's no reliable way to lock him in.

Felos will curl up on the floor right across the threshold of his door.

It's a cat thing. :)

Jacinth gets some much needed rest.

He wakens at dawn and says his prayers.

Kora prepares baths for anyone who wants one. Lavinia returns excitedly to her bedroom, but if anyone is staying up longer might notice her wandering the halls a little later. If asked, she says she's too excited about hearing news about Vanthus to be able to sleep.

Felos curls up by the door of the room that Shefton is in, ensuring that he doesn't sneak out during the night.

7 DESNUS, 4713

While some of you are up at dawn, others sleep late into the morning. Kora has a small selection of food ready for the early risers, but she delays the main breakfast until everyone has woken.

Shefton has cleaned up a little by breakfast time, but you get the impression that some of the dirt and grime on him has been there so long, it's never going away. Lavinia does ask him more about the shipping business with Vanthus and he replies quickly and matter-of-factly. It seems he must have planned overnight, as he relays to her a tale a spice-shipping business that has had some early difficulties and run them into some trouble with debtors. Shefton taking 10 on Bluff (18 total) easily beats Lavinia taking 10 on Sense Motive (9 total).

"Maybe that's why he took the money from the vault!" Lavinia exclaims. "To pay the debts! But why didn't he just say something to me?"

"We will get to him soon, Lady Vanderboren. You'll be able to ask him yourself."

"Undoubtedly, he didn't want you to know he was in trouble," Tippi explains. "After all, if he'd stormed away from home angrily, insisting he could make his own way rather than submit to your parents' demands, how would it look if he came back, hat in hand, asking for help? Maybe he hoped he could complete a few successful ventures and replace the money in the vault before you discovered it was missing." Her head spinning with the lies they're telling to avoid letting the girl discover the extent of her brother's treachery, she begins to wonder how they can persuade Vanthus to toe the party line ... or convince him not to fight to the death at a second meeting.

Jacinth can't help but smile as Xanthippe lies to their employer. At first she came off as a hard woman, but this shows her true heart.