Nevynxxx's CotCT (Inactive)

Game Master Nevynxxx

Basil frowns.

"So much for the girl being safe here... it is very convenient that no-one was stationed inside with her..."

I knew that they could not be trusted...

After a few moments another acolyte runs in, "Father, it was Blackjack! He was seen moving across the roofs with the girl."

Who in the name of the thrice poxed Lamashtu let Blackjack know the girl was coming here, let alone what room she was being placed in?

Modified following clarifications.

"Blackjack? Is he associated with the Marshall?" With that said, Erik stands and moves to the door. He looks back at the others. "Convenient that the Father insisted Basil not stay with Trinia, eh? Pretty damn adamant about her being in here alone." Then he heads out the door toward the cell, intent on looking for clues and climbing up onto the roof.

Climb: 1d20 ⇒ 15
Perception to search for clues: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 2 = 16

"Well," Basil says ominously, "the simplest solution is usually the most likely to be true - which means that it was probably someone from this place who tipped him off."

Trust someone from amongst these bleeding-heart do-gooders to put the good of one person ahead of the collective good of the city...

Erik, the legend of Blackjack is well known through Korvosa, you'd struggle not to have heard some of the stories of his daring do, and how he helps the downtrodden of Korvosa.

Also, you aren't in the room Trin was is, you are still with the Father in the meeting room.

Oh, got it. I've modified my post to reflect this.

Roj shakes his head slowly, shooting the Father a look. "Well, Kroft will be pretty upset by this, and we need to tell her and collect our equipment. Since you can't help us with Miss Sabor, maybe you can help us with the Field Marshal. Come with us and explain what happened to her. As for Miss Sabor, we'll just have to hope she turns up, and that when she does, we know before the queen, and the Guard. I'm sure they'll be after her in earnest now."

"I shall provide a note for the Field Marshall, with my personal seal. You also brought a guardsman with you, I'm sure no blame will be able to fall your way."

"I've never heard of a story in which BlackJack fails. Perhaps Miss Sabor will be better off this way."

Basil frowns, but manages to keep a civil tongue in his mouth.

That sounded rehearsed. I wouldn't be surprised if he was involved...

"Very well. We should report back to the Field Marshall, and give her this disappointing news..."

Erik comes back into the meeting room shaking his head. He's frowning and clearly not pleased.

"Hey, who is this Vencarlo Orsini you were surprised to see earlier? Why were you surprised, and is it possible he's Blackjack? It just doesn't make sense, Trinia being sprung so quickly after our arriving here. Nobody could have known we were coming..."

"No, it couldn't be Orsini. He's already getting old, and Blackjack's been doing his thing for hundreds of years. Blackjack has to be an elf, or some other long-lived person. I don't think thinking about who did it will help with Kroft, anyways. Shall we go and face our judgement?"

Basil's frown deepens.

"For the record, I did not want to leave her alone. With our luck, I figured that something like this was bound to happen..."

"Luck"

It takes a few minutes for the Father to make arrangements, but soon enough you are set on your way with the note he promised.

The guard looks questioningly when you rejoin him outside "Where's the girl? What's all the clanging about?"

Erik shakes his head, a dour expression on his face, and casts a dirty look back at the temple. "What a set up."

The guard falls in and takes you by the quickest route he knows back to the citadel. Within the citadel the guards look nervous, and somewhat agitated.

The man with you asks another what's going on. "One of those Shoanti kids went and got himself killed, and now the rest of them are all worked up—if it’s not one riot about to erupt, it’s another! Field Marshal Kroft’s in her office now, trying to talk some sense into the Shoanti ambassador—in fact, she mentioned that she’s looking for this lot to help with the situation. She said to send you straight up, whether you had the girl or not. who's the girl?"

The guard with you offers to escort you up to Kroft.

Basil frowns, as a look of frustration crosses his face.

"Frankly, I would rather not talk about it."

Nevertheless, he follows the guard to Kroft's office.

Hopefully, this will redeem us...

Erik follows along at the back of the group, hands shoved deep in his pockets, mirroring the frustration that Basil clearly feels.

Here's hoping the letter written by the good priest will lessen her wrath... after our screw up with the barge I am not sure how much patience Kroft has left

"Well, if the Shoanti is already dead, I don't think even we can screw this one up." Roj follows the guard, calm, serene, ready to collapse from stress.

Basil looks askance at Roj.

"Why do you tempt the Fates? He might be dead, but I can think of any number of things that could happen to the body..."

"Yes, but the worse the body's condition, the less we'll be held responsible for whatever goes wrong."

And knowing our fortune, thing will go very, very wrong, and it'll be my fault.

"Come on guys, what's with the depressing attitude? The... accident... with Trinia at the Church was not our fault: we had gotten the girl, she was under the priests' supervision, they were the ones who lost her! I don't see how Kroft could hold that against us. Chin up and let's go see what new mission Kroft has in store for us."

It doesn't take long to get up to Kroft's office, and you are waved inside by a guard. Kroft isn't alone when you enter, with her is a tall, rail-thin Shoanti man of 60 winters. He leans heavily on a walking stick, the polished femur of some giant beast crowned with a firepelt cougar’s skull. He wears a shirt decorated with countless jangling animal bones, many painstakingly scrawled with dozens of tiny symbols and glyphs. A bearskin cloak is draped about his bony shoulders, and warpaint in the shape of a skull decorates his face. The Shoanti’s eyes are milky as if he were blind, though he sees better than most men half his age. He is never without his familiar, a regal red-feathered razor crow named Rats-Eyes.

He watches you impassively as you enter.

"This is Thousand Bones, a Way-Keeper for the Skoan-Quah, the Clan of the Skull. He is a very important ambassador to the Shoanti in Korvosa at this time, and he honours us with his presence at a difficult time."

"Before we begin, did you get the girl?"

Errrr... long story there boss. Did we get the girl? After a lot of hassle yes we got the girl. Do we HAVE the girl now? No.

He watches Krofts brow darken with some apprehension.

Before you blow up on us - Trinia seemed to be the wrong girl for the crime - and the mob was out for blood. We took shelter in a Sarenite temple with the intent of having the girl swear to her innocence in front of the clergy... we had her locked in a room with guards put on the door and everything. As we were talking to the head priest - here is a letter from him stating the situation by the way - this scallywag called 'Blackjack' somehow got into the room and freed the girl.

Kroft sighs. "You got her away from the mob though? That, to be honest was my priority. We have done what we can for her. We can only hope she is now in safe hands. The Queen will be furious, but she would have been that if the mob got her too."

"You may have heard that this last set of violence has triggered old hatreds, and set off a small war with the Shoanti? That is why Thousand Bones is here. He has worked with the city for years trying to garner peace between the Tribes, and the people of Korvosa. Now the mob has attacked, and from what we can see, murdered."

At this point, Thousand Bones chips in. "My people have worked hard to understand yours, yet it seems each day we see new examples of how your people work just as hard to foster old hatreds. My grandson is dead, beaten to death by cowards in your city street. I do not blame you, yet still Gaekhen is dead, and my son and his kin are not so forgiving as I. They wish to return to the Skoan-Quah in the Cinderlands, to join with the Sklar-Quah and rally to war against Korvosa. This would be disastrous, for both our peoples. Amends must be made.

Our ways are not as yours. If a body does not go whole to the fires of the gods, the smoke of a warrior’s spirit cannot rise to the Great Sky. If I could send Gaekhen’s body to the Great Sky with honor and dignity, his father and brothers would listen to me and stay their wrath—the talks of peace between my people and yours can continue. But he was not just murdered. His body was taken from the scene of his death, sold by a peddler of corpses to a necromancer named Rolth, a criminal to both our people. I have spoken with the spirits, and they have revealed to me that Gaekhen’s body has been taken to a place below your boneyard, a place the spirits call the Dead Warrens.

"With this knowledge, I could surely lead a group of my finest warriors into your boneyard to retrieve Gaekhen’s body, but this would be seen as an act of aggression by your people. No, it falls to you to make amends for what has been done. You must bring me Gaekhen’s body, lest we be forced to recover him ourselves. And although it pains my heart to say it—we will not be gentle if it comes to this."

Thousand Bones then rises and leaves the room silently. Koft loks on with some compassion and once he has left says "The man is harsh, and still wrapped in grief, but I agree with his assessment, he has years of experience I cannot deny. Will you take on this task?"

Despite her previous words to her companions, Gwen is quite surprised by Kroft's reaction to the news of Trinia's escape. She eyes the Field Marshall with a puzzled expression.

Sense Motive on Kroft: does she know something more about Trinia's escape from the Sarenite temple?: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (20) + 8 = 28

Basil nods in relief.

"That seems like something we could handle."

A wry look crosses his face.

"What could possibly go wrong on a simple body retrieval?"

I forget, was there a payment in store for 'rescuing' the girl?

Roj nods slowly. "Necromancy and corpse-peddling flies in the face of the Dawnflower's teachings. Let us be off at once. Erhm, actually..." Roj pauses, unsure how to continue. "Actually, we could use a bit of a resupply, and we'll need our equipment back if you intend to send us against a necromancer."

Unless, of course, this is all a cunning and nefarious plan - our still-warm bodies being arranged as a trade for the safe return of the Shoanti corpse ;-) In that case, sending us without our equipment makes perfect sense...

"Your equipment is safely stowed. You can collect it on the way out. Any re-supply will need to be quick, we need to act on this now, or the Shoanti will be irretrievable."

Do you have a map of the Dead Warrens?.

"I don't have a map. The Dead Warrens are huge, and full of tunnels, constantly being built, and collapsing. We have the man who sold Gaekhen’s body to Rolth in custody: a simpleton named Elkaris. He spilled everything when we told him what was going on and how much trouble he was in—in any event, Elkaris says he delivered the body via wheelbarrow to a partially collapsed mausoleum deep in Potter’s Ward, near the southern edge. A toppled and headless statue of a sword-wielding gargoyle lay in the dirt near the mausoleum’s entrance—he was told to leave the body behind the gargoyle. This location matches where Thousand Bones believes the Shoanti burial grounds called the Dead Warrens used to be located, so that’s the best place to start the search."

Basil nods.

"That seems like a reasonable place to start."

I just hope that we end up being paid for this.

He then turns to the others.

"Beyond retrieving our equipment, is there anything any of you want to grab quickly from the Quartermaster?"

"Nope, I'm fine and ready to roll!"

"Okay then. Let's get our gear, and strike whilst the iron is hot!"

Knowing our luck, the body will have been used to make a flesh golem, and the 'off-cuts' fed to ghouls...

"Just let me pick up a mace, or a morningstar, or something, and I'll be ready to go."

Adding a Morningstar to my inventory.

Erik pipes up at the last.

"If the body is in the hand of a necromancer, then, well..." He trails off, glancing nervously at the Shoanti elder. "We may have to subdue it in order to bring it in. And that may mean damaging it. Or the necromancer might damage it too. I, um, just want to make it clear that we all understand the body will probably be in rough condition when we bring it back, and that doesn't mean any disrespect."

Thousand bones left, quite abruptly ;)

"We expect the body will probably be in a harrowing state. The Shoanti are brutal warriors, I'm sure they will be able to handle it. It's having the entire of the body that is important to them."

Erik frowns. "So, what if this necromancer is into mix and matching? Will our mission be considered a failure if we don't get the entirety of the body back?"

"Our attempts to keep the peace will be that much harder if you cannot bring the whole body back. Do what you can."

Erik's face pales, and he nods. Rising to his feet, he turns grimly to his companions. "I'm down a few spells, but that's alright. Most of my enchantment magic will be of no use against the undead. I'll... I'll just try and get at the necromancer himself." So saying, as if attempting to reassure himself, he nods and raises his chin.

Yep, there's no wriggle room in the timeline on this one, it's outright designed to push your resources to the limit. That hit's magic users at this level harder than anyone else really. I'd make sure you have a decent ranged weapon, or some acid flasks or something to keep you useful.

"I'm sorry you couldn't bring Trinnia back, the reward was for getting her to the guard, which you technically did do, before you lost her again. I will give you half what was promised. If you can return Gaekhen, there will be another 1,000 waiting."

Current Treasure

Korvosa’s vast graveyard, a place known as the Gray District, is a mournful place even by day. Alone in the city, this place is quiet and calm in the face of the civil unrest, yet this calm is an unnatural stillness in the air, almost as if the graveyard were preparing itself for a vast influx of new dead. Certainly, this ominous feeling is nowhere more noticeable than in Potter’s Ward, the final resting ground for Korvosa’s poor and homeless. Mounds of unmarked dirt stretch far and wide, indicating sites of mass graves, while crumbling mausoleums from years ago, abandoned by their families as the Gray District expanded to the west,dot the bleak landscape, forgotten and empty. Mourners do not visit here, for the dead buried in Potter’s Ward leave behind few who regret their passing.

Locating the mausoleum described by Elkaris is a relatively simple task.

Lets pick up some alchemical supplies on the way - anti plague would be a must as would be some Alchemical fire.

Buying and consuming one anti plague (on arrival) -50 gp and 2 alchemy fires -50gp.. and back to the action

A forlorn place but one I'll likely end up in one like it when I pass on... hopefully many years from now... and if the gods love me, with a belly full of wine and me cock in a whores mouth.

Borden unlimbers his longspear and seems ready for action.

Hopefully this will keep the nasties at length. He then casts light on the end of his spear.

Borden then starts looking for the way in to the tunnels.

Gwen, you get your favored community bonus on the following checks, but not favored enemy, except the first one. Phew.

If you got that one, then try the next two.

Holy water, anyone?

Perception check DC 15: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (4) + 12 = 16

Done, now the next one:

Perception DC 15: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (7) + 10 = 17

the third one, I can't try it, I don't have the skill.

"Look there guys, tracks of a man, and wheelbarrow leading to one of the mausoleums. Be careful though, that secret door in the floor that seems to lead down?, it's a trap door. Here, let me see if I can disable it."

Disable Device: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (20) + 8 = 28

That's trap door as in, a door in the floor, rather than a trapped door, so no need for the disable device check. Unfortunately!

The knowledge (nature) only depends on the first spoiler, not both of the first two.

Erik agrees wholeheartedly with Borden's decision to buy anti-plague and equips himself with four flasks of holy water. He checks that his existing three vials of alchemist's fire are within easy reach, and then takes a deep breath and follows the group into the graveyard.

How on earth did I end up following this group into a necromancer's lair? One moment I'm avoiding knife games in the belly of a ship, now here I am, surrounded by high minded folk (well, maybe not Borden), attempting something that's so near to being heroic as to be almost painful. Ah well, it was a good life thus far...

Perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7

He keeps darting nervous looks in every direction, and when Gwen locates the tracks he bites his lower lip and edges in closer. "Trap door? Where. Oh, right. Well spotted!"

Readying his shield and blade, Roj steps over to the mausoleum. With Gwen guiding him, he finds the secret door and wrenches it open. "Let's go. Who knows how long we'll be down there, but we should get started."