Odryk takes another stab at the rats hoping some damage will scare them off.
Orn yelps in pain as one of the rats bites into him, pulling his arm back and inspecting the damage.
It hurt, but he should be okay. He kept muttering under his breath as he readied his weapon again, repeating the same phrase. "...I won't be them... I won't be them..." The kobold took a quick leap back, before flinging another assault at the closest rat.
What possible reason is there for not killing aggressive rats?
Despite not understanding why, Kelwin will attempt to comply by shooting at the healthiest looking rat.
Odryn's rapier skewers one of the rats, leaving it squeak its last breath as a pool of blood forms on the warehouse floor. The sounds make Kelwin lose his concentration, causing the bolt from his crossbow to sail wide and make a thunk into one of the caskets.
Orn moves back and attacks the last of the rats, putting it down.
It is clear that one of the rats is quite dead, but two may be able to make it and one is simply unconscious.
You now have the warehouse to yourselves.
Sleggar continues looking for the marked crate.
"Well fine they were rats not bugs as I surmised. But still. Not problems eh?
The marked crate is sitting atop a very precarious looking set of boards that are over the hole in the floor. The boards surrounding the hole do not look safe either... beneath the hole is a fifteen foot drop into the water.
Sleggar looks at the crate's precarious positioning and recalls the boat on the outside.
"Oh hey, we have a boat. Let's just position the boat under the crate and knock the crate into the boat!
Odryk stares down at the rat he skewered and gives Orn an apologetic look.
Sorry Lad, I meant to be gentler, I really did.
He nods his head at Sleggar's suggestion.
Though we don't know how heavy it is. Kelwin, Kelanna, could either of you assist in a magical capacity? I'd hate to tip the boat and end up having to swim for the shipment. Really I'd hate to swim for anything.
I'm afraid not. My telekinetic ability is limited to about 5 pounds.
Sleggar thinks on it some more. Perhap there is a way to stabilize the blank the crate is sitting on - perhaps with some spare wood or crate bits laying around the warehouse.
Sleggar estimates that the crate is probably a couple of hundred pounds. It might survive the fall into the boat, but if it goes into the water, the paperwork that Guaril is looking for won't last long. There are some extra piecesof wood laying around that might be used for stability. It is then that Sleggar remembers that there is a broken crane on the ceiling.
Sleggar tries to make sense of what exactly is wrong with the crane.
"Looks precarious. We should put something in the water...maybe as a safety." Nori emerged from her hiding in the shadows.
Odryk rubs his chin and thinks for a second.
I may have a simpler solution. If you give me two minutes I can make a couple extracts, Enlarge Person and Long Arm. With these I should be able to just reach around the box and pull it closer without fear of standing on the rotting boards. The only issue I can see is that I'd be out of resources for the day.
Odryk will begin mixing components.
SLeggar looks incredulous at Odryk "You're an alchemist?..But you're so gumshoe!
Nori smirked, "Simpler but it expends our resources unwisely. We should devise a way to either reinforce it or grab it from the crane. Sadly, I lack the knowledge to properly use it."
More like a dabbler. I don't have nearly the same skill as a full fledged alchemist, but sometimes it helped in my previous line of work, and it'll definitely help with life as a pathfinder.
Odryk drinks both of his extracts in quick succession. He grows twice his size and his arms take on a strange look as they grow even more than the rest of him. Odryk almost looks like a giant ape, with his knuckles nearly dragging on the ground.
Odryk grabs the crate from what he surmises is a safe distance and pulls the crate over to a safer location as swift as he can.
Sleggar realizes that somewhere in all this junk is parts and pieces that might be used to put the crane into working order, but Odryk decides he will try his hand at being the party's personal crane. His giant form is able to reach past the precarious part and bring the crate over towards a more stable part of the warehouse. This one indeed has the markings you were looking for, the three crows in a circle. It doesn't appear to be locked.
Nori examined the crate, looking for any conspicuous signs of traps or otherwise.
Once satisfied, she glances around, "Do we have a tool to open this? A leverage bar maybe?"
Looking down at the party and trying to figure out how to hold his awkwardly long arms, Odryk will look over the box.
" In this state I may be able to open it with force."
Orn seems completely uninterested in the crate or it's contents, instead trying to stabilize the dying rats and pull them closer to their hiding spot.
Having tried to save as many as he can, he pushes them together and digs through his pack, pulling out some of his rations and setting it near the nest. "This is their home... WE are the intruders." he explained.
The kobold stood up, frowning at the others. "...my tribe was nearly destroyed by intruders, who thought themselves 'heroes'. We should not have kidnapped those children, which is why I helped them rescue the pinkskins. But even after I did and our stupid king was dead... they turned on us and continued to attack us, driving us from our home."
He looked at the ground and snarled a bit. "Now... I am the intruder - the so-called 'hero'. I... I don't want to be one. I won't be them... I refuse."
Nori examines the crate and doesn't find anything that would indicate that it is trapped or locked. Odryk opens it easily and after clearing the hay stuffing inside, finds a smaller mahogany box inside, which contains five books and a few loose sheets of paper in a leather folder. The titles and subjects seem completely unrelated to each other: Practical Thaumaturgy In Accordance with Creation, Geographic Anomalies of the Inner Sea, Under Kaer Maga: A Trial and Travel, Physiology of Dragons: An Illustrated Reference, Lost Sarusan. The leather folder contains cargo manifestos, warehouse inventories, and other financial logs from a dozen different merchant houses and trade guilds.
The crate also contains 10 sets of masterwork thieves’ tools, three flasks of alchemist’s fire, a flask of acid, a dozen jars of various inks, a footprint book, adamantine weapon blanch, three bags of powder, a deck of marked cards, and two sets of average loaded dice...
Orn does his best to resuscitate the lost rats, but it is of no use. They will not survive the day. However, his tiny ears do pick up the sound of more rats scurrying behind the coffins. They do not appear to want to come out.
Sleggar looks over the loot.
I am betting, the warehouse inventories and stuff are what we're looking for but let's just deliver the whole lot of it.
Sleggar will help Odryk take the contents of the crate and go back to see Guaril.
Orn frowns, his fringes drooping as he stood up from the bodies of the rats he'd helped slay. "...never again..." He perked a little as he looked up and peered in between the crates. He heard others back there... as he thought. There was more in here.
Taking the trail rations he'd set down, he pushed them closer to the crevice, frowning as he stood back and bowed. "I hope these will help. I'm sorry."
Once everyone is outside, Orn will take the key, lock the door back and place it somewhere in his pockets. "...I will come back. To make sure they're alright. Just as Lena Pathfinder did for my tribe."
As he pulls open the crate Odryk mentally cancels the spells and shrinks back down to his normal height. After he and Sleggar remove the boxes contents he frowns a little bit.
"I've agreed to do this job so I will, but these financial and shipping logs make me uncomfortable. This type of information could cripple competition and have much farther reaching consequences in the long run. I don't feel we should turn these over unless they are specifically requested. Either way I'll be including the acquisition of such records in my report to the Venture Captain."
Noticing Orns behavior Odryk says nothing, but he gives the young Kobold a silent pat on the shoulder as they exit the warehouse and start walking back to hand over the goods.
Nori peers in at the contents, "If I remember correctly, the old man said we could help ourselves to the rest of the crate." Wasting no time, she snatches up a set of masterwork thieves tools, the flasks of alchemist fire, acid, a bag of power, and a set of loaded dice for good measure. She watches her kobold companion, intrigued at his strange fondness for rodents. The saddest thing, she thought, was that he was sincere in it.
"That would make them valuable..." Nori seemed to suggest, "I say we find the right bidder for that kind of information."
Kelwin also grabs one vial of alchemists fire.
The financial documents are from the specific box we were sent here to obtain. Just keeping it for ourselves is out of the question. If you wish to keep it out of Guaril's hands, I suggest we notify the captain of our findings. At the very least, the society may be due additional payment for such valuable documents.
Odryk bristles a bit at the suggestion that they should keep the documents and sell them.
He nods as Kelwin speaks and calms a bit.
"I've been saying since we started this mess that we should be handing things over to the Venture Captain or the local guard. If anyone finally agrees with me I'd be more than happy to just skip over that slimeballs shop and continue on with our next two objectives. If the Society wants to turn these over they can, but I'd rather someone know the full extent of what we found here today before turning it over."
Orn only perks up slightly at the pat on his shoulder, looking up at the dwarf and frowning a bit. Looking between the others, he decided to keep his two cents to himself, instead digging through the other items in the crate.
The ink he could make use of - he did dabble in writing from time to time, not to mention one needed some to write down new spells - as well as a bag of the powder. The book of footprints intrigued him, sliding that into his pack. One never knew when that would come in handy...
"I believe the esteemed owner of the Pickled Imp just wanted the books. But I could be misremembering." Nori shrugged and stowed her new items.
-Posted with Wayfinder
" You're right Odryk... let's keep these and turn them over to the venture-captain. That's what protocol SHOULD dictate in situations like these. If the esteemed leaders of the society think Karela should have them...well that's the downside to being a member of an organization that isn't as pure as the Hellknights. "
I believe there's some sort of activity to perform on the behalf of Temple of the Shining Star in the Ascendant Court. Something about a delivery to an orphanage. Let's head there - it should be nice to go do a purely good deed after this.
Nori shook her head in disappointment, "You'll make enemies this way. I don't know that we're in a position to rock the boat. You're all fools if you believe that anyone in this society does not have their own ulterior motives." She suggested and shrugged again, "But I'll just give you the 'I told you so' when we face those consequences."
"Being the ones to turn this over to the wrong hands could make us even more enemies, and I'm not blind to the Societies likelihood of corruption. Any organization this large can not maintain clean hands, but I'll be damned if I subvert my own moral code for a few extra coins."
11 Lamashan, 4707, 1:10pm.
The journey from the Docks to the Ascendant Court is like walking from night into day. Gone are the heavy shadows and strange smells, replaced by the light of massive temples and the sounds of several reverent peoples chanting, shouting or simply orating the greatest achievements of their beloved deities. In stark contrast to this are the Graycloaks, the unbelieving, unbiased guards of the district. They nod in your direction as you pass through the gates.
It isn't difficult to find the Temple of the Shining Star. Other than the Starstone Cathedral, it is the second largest temple in the district. As you approach it in its grand splendor, a messenger runs up to your group and hands Kelanna and Vaseida a small scroll of paper. After they quickly read the contents and make puzzled faces, you surmise that they have been called to a different assignment. After a short well wishing session, you enter the temple to Sarenrae.
Inside is almost more grand than the outside. "May the Shining One bless you! Let the Sun be your guide! Trust in her Divine Embrace." Many acolytes can be heard reciting prayers around you and even to you as you walk through the welcoming hall.
While taking in the sights, you hear strong, meaningful footsteps approaching you. Looking up, you see a young woman dressed in ceremonial plate mail armor, her helmet hanging by her side, long black hair tied in two braids that hang down past her shoulders. Her regal look would make you think she is a noble of some sort, but the way she has her hand on the sword at her side tells you she has seen the dirtier side of life as well. She is carrying a satchel over her shoulder and smiles brightly as you get closer, after looking at the crate you drag behind you.
"Thank the light of Sarenrae you have arrived! I knew Ambrus would come through for us in the Silver Crusade. I desperately need you to bring medicine to an orphanage and let me know if the headmistress, Gilga Baltwin, is deserving of our charity. Since our quest began, the needy have clamored for our aid, and I suspect some are abusing our generosity. It may sound cruel, but there are plenty of dishonest people out in the world eager for easy gold.", she speaks in a strong voice that you feel belongs to someone twice her size.
“Do you know of the Silver Crusade? After discovering so many factions splintered the Society, a number of us banded together to proliferate the cause of charity and kindness using the Society’s resources. As it is said, ‘The Dawn brings new light’ and I’ve made it my life’s work to use our recent darkness to bring a new light to the world and to the Pathfinder Society.
"I apologize for straying off point. Will you bring this parcel of medicine to Auntie Baltwin’s Home for Recovery in the Eastgate district?”
Orn's little eyes dart about the crowd, as he watches carefully. A whole plaza full of "heroes"... he'd never felt more out of place than here. No doubt some were looking at him with suspicious eyes... though something does catch his attention. His claw reaches down to pull the talon off his belt.
He didn't trust this place.
Orn startles a bit at the knight's arrival. He thought the dragon king was grand with his entrances... clearly, he hadn't seen anything. Yeah... in our tribe, we call that being smart. If someone is giving handouts, who are we to refuse them? Still, something about her seemed familiar... perhaps a distinct similarity to Lena.
After a moment of consideration, the kobold speaks up. "Suppose she shouldn't have the medicine... what do we do then?"
Sleggar nods knowingly at the words of the Sister Ah yes, it is well known that so long as there are laws, even things as simple as the rules of charity, someone will seek to subvert and pervert them. It would be my honor to do this legwork for you and see if these person..erm walks in the light as it were. Sleggar delivered that last bit awkwardly, trying to appeal to the priestess but clearly struggling.
"I'm sure the medicine is to be delivered either way, yes?" Odryk asks after Orn poses his own question.
"An organization as respectable as the Silver Crusade surely wouldn't dangle medicine in front of children just to take it back."
He twirls his mustache and smiles at the armored woman.
The woman smiles as she answers. "Of course it is to be delivered. Regardless of Madame Baltwin's disposition, charity is not charity if it is taken back. Our biggest concern is making sure the children are getting the care they need. We do appreciate all your help in this."
Nori's eyes followed the mysterious 'tails' that had dispersed. There were eyes on them and she meant to keep aware of it.
Nori smirked at Odryk, "By the gods, man. If the medicine isn't reaching them anyway, then it wont matter whether or not the church donates." She accepted the satchel from the knight, "While the medicine is intended for children, it is the proprietor who is responsible for it. Those who abuse charity should not receive it. And she will have to have to pay out of pocket if she is found...withholding."
Odryk rolls his eyes as Nori speaks.
"Obviously we are being sent to make sure the children are getting the medicine. Even if we decide that this Madame Baltwin is not worthy of the charity she receives, I'm sure we could find a suitable replacement. Surely she's not running this place alone."
Odryk will accept the parcel than look back to the group.
"We took everything out of the crate didn't we? Do we need to drag the empty box behind us the whole way? It's only slowing us down, though I'm sure whoever is following us doesn't mind."