Satisfied with the outcome, Zurz withdraws - happy that they are already in play and so far there isn't a ripple...
"But having done so, one would be even more unwise to antagonise it," Joliryn replies, her hand twitching ever so slightly toward her weapon.
"A great many names," she acknowledges, "listed in the pursuit of artefacts that did not belong to them, and are even now locked away where they do no one any good. Our... mutual acquaintance merely wishes them to be looked after by, shall we say, more benevolent curators."
She pauses, before adding, conversationally, "And a snake which is focused on a single target as its prey, is far less dangerous than a one that would strike at any that are in its path."
Yet strike he must. the would-be traitor says, casting another glance at the Wall of Names, torn by guilt, My actions would be poisonous, so I better not pursue them.
|
Suddenly, Marnarius found himself alone, without skills he need: "Next time I pack my team by myself"
- "Damn, I might lose some gold pieces. Where can I find you during next hour if me and my friend will need your independent advise to resolve our betting?", he ask to man dissapointedly, before he retreats to safe hideout.
- "There is a chance for good distraction, if we let some animals out of cages. I lost Joliryn in the crowd, but I know where to find a guy, who holds the keys."
"I think we have the keys already. This good for us, yes? Have any of you heard about or know where I can locate a man named Aram Zey?" she asks the group when they are all together again.
"Aram Zey is nowhere to be found; he dislikes crowds. Perhaps he will be inside the Grand Lodge?" When the others have gathered, he disseminates what he has learned. "Kreighton Shaine and Marcos Farabellus are both here, but, as we have already discussed, Aram Zey dislikes crowds and dealing with the public. In addition, there are a number of carts unloading kegs on the Center House lawn in preparation for the big speech."
The keys don't look like they would fit the locks of the menagerie.
"So be it," the halfling agrees with a resigned sigh. Glancing around to ensure that, between the trees and the wall, they are still unobserved, she mutters a few arcane syllables and moves her fingers in a complex pattern as she reaches for her kukri. As she draws the weapon, the flames that dance along its blade turn to icy white, and in a single fluid movement she plunges it into the throat of the twice-traitorous scholar.
Bending down, she dips her finger in the blood pooling from the dying man, explaining in a conversational tone, "Suliji will be annoyed to lose a spy, but I can't have you revealing my presence, now can I?" as she uses her bloodied digit to write on the black glass: "Arminaldi Charthagnion".
Straightening, she turns and stalks into the shadows to rejoin the rest of her team.
The ambitious one waits for reports...
As the artist withdraws the crooked knife from the heart of Charthagnion, the face of the man forever bears the emotion of shocked disbelief. Some bird nervously flutter up, and someone seems to be approaching.
"I must find Zey. I will wander where none else have yet." she announces while idly looking through her backpack.
"Has anyone seen my lantern?"
"We got a keyring that should give us access - though I am looking for a double agent rumoured to be around... anyone know of a resident turncoat?"
Hearing someone approach, Joliryn whispers another incantation, then reaches down to touch Arminaldi's remains, which rapidly fade from sight , before walking away.
She rejoins her fellow agents just in time to hear Marnarius's question. "Well, I did, but I'm afraid he's decided not share any more information with us. Or anyone. Ever again." She quickly recaps what happened , ending with, "So anyway, I expect we'll have that distraction any moment now."
"I see. Well, would have been nice to make a meal of it, but what's done is done..."
--- Phase 2---
Experiment - Gather info
Professional - Menagerie
Vengeful - ?
Ambitious - ?
Leader - ?
Artist - ?
---
"Where's that body? Reckon our dead friend might still be of some use to us"
The professional comes to the same conclusion as the Vengeful: one of the zookeepers is carrying the right keys to all the locks.
As Marnarius moves around and tampers with the locks, the ram-headed, lion-bodied sphinx suddenly speaks to him.
Would you like to know what the future hold for one that heeds the wise words of a sphinx?
A time comes when the shackled shall walk among men, voicing their grievances with a hundred horns.These children—who strain at false laws—know not that the time is not today, but no man can chide them, for he knows not their tongue. Their castle of chains shall fall away, and only a lion or sheep shall be their herald, calling out to let them know that their time in the sun has arrived.”
The Leader nods approvingly at the others' progress. "We've got keys to make moving around in the Grand Lodge easier, we've got a distraction in the making, and we've taken care of a traitor...does anyone require assistance with any remaining tasks before we act?"
"Is the distraction going to be a bunch of wild animals and a terrified crowd?"
"That...was my assumption."
"I'll take the keys and the dead mans body, I'll deliver the distraction"
on her way out, the dark elf mentions that she had another potential distraction planned...but didn't elaborate. "Rataji, if you are looking for something useful to do, help me find out where Aram Zey is tonight."
Joliryn smirks at the idea that her victim might turn out to be useful after all, and describes where she left it to the half-orc."Need a second pair of hands for this fun you have in mind, or shall I keep an eye out for the so-called Master of Spells?"
"Yeah, your dead man is going to be the one letting the animals out of the cages - he is also going to be a nice snack for them too"
"Feel like helping me play dress ups and then maybe feed some animals?"
*Take dead body next to menagerie.
*Dress as dead man/put some new clothes on dead man.
*Cut off jaw of dead man
*Open cages with the keys at a certain time
*Make a scene so everyone thinks dead man was just a screw loose Pathfinder agent gone off the reservation.
*Create panic and confusion.
*Hope some of the animals stop to devour the corpse...
*Poor pathfinders believe dead man started all the trouble, but assume dead body is just a random citizen - but as his jaw and bits of head are missing, cant speak with corpse to prove otherwise.
-Pathfinders look bad.
-Aspis lulz.
--- Phase 2---
Experiment - Gather info
Professional - Menagerie
Vengeful - Menagerie
Ambitious - Menagerie
Leader - Gather Info (unless adjusted)
Artist - Gather info
---
It only takes a few meters of movement to drag the body into the nearby overgrowth, where it is much less likely to be found.
Although nearly every Pathfinder at the Grand Lodge is allowed to wander about and relax, several dozen are on guard duty on the walls and in Skyreach. Most of these assignments are punishments for debts incurred to the Society or bungled expeditions. Part of the reason that Aram Zey hasn’t been seen yet is because he is supervising these patrols.
Two of the unfortunates assigned to guard duty are Loshari and Telandril, part of a team sent to Isger to recover a relic lost during the Goblinblood Wars. The venture was a debacle and resulted in part of a town being set on fire and inadvertently let goblins loose in the town square. Most blame Loshari, but Telandril stubbornly insisted on sharing the punishment—likely so that he could lecture her further.
The point of the plan is to create high levels of shock and this will (ultimately) be a very public display of a Pathfinder going off the rails - that the Pathfinder they will blame (based on a costume) is actually the dead body is part of the whole detail. Hopefully the body fed to monsters will end up an unrecognisable mangle of meat - and everyone will remember the clothes and appearance of the Pathfinder and they will wear the blame for their crazy member... hopefully it ends in yelling and screaming. The nutcase Pathfinder will open the cages and throw a body in. All I have to do then is escape fromsight and remove the disguise....
The Ambitious will mix stealth with the Disguise skill.
Maybe we can just 'Weekend at Bernies' our sick friend towards the cages?
322 and her two companions find two bitter Pathfinders on guard duty, one berating the other about her actions and lack of judgement, the other sullenly walking along with her fists clenched in silent suffering. Seeing them, 322 devises a quick plan to draw Aram Zey to their location and cause a little chaos while she's at it.
Hiding in the shadows of a nearby group of trees, she begins an incantation and directs her spell at the female. She then sits back and watches...
With his coded message, it seems the sphinx is making an offer.
A time comes when the shackled shall walk among men, voicing their grievances with a hundred horns.These children—who strain at false laws—know not that the time is not today, but no man can chide them, for he knows not their tongue. Their castle of chains shall fall away, and only a lion or sheep shall be their herald, calling out to let them know that their time in the sun has arrived.”
The shackled walking among men - those are the animals in the cages. The sphinx (the lion or sheep) warns that the animal will go wild immediately when the cage doors are opened, but offers to speak in their tongue to instruct them to create a distraction, and to then wait in their cages until the time is there.
Shohiraj manages to snatch the keys from the guard and looks around. She senses she needs to open at least three cages for the chaos to have any effect.
-At the most opportune time, favourable for him-
Stealth
Disguise (Wasn't sure if I could take 10)
The Ambitious considers that for a moment.
"What an interesting tale, I think I would like to see how that turns out in the future. They'd have clapped at least one of my parents in chains in a heartbeat, so I can see how those in chains might feel..."
The herald trumpets freedom, and receives it as a reward for victory.
The sphinx then starts mooing, cuckooing, cackling, growling, hissing and chirping, and the menagerie comes to life as nearly all creatures suddenly start acting up: bears growl, wolves prowl menacingly in their cages. Monkeys start doing tricks, while the birds flutter about in a pandemonium of animal sound and movement.
Needless to say, this is the best opportunity to act, as the crowd and zookeepers are completely distracted. With the keys snatched from the guard, there is no trouble opening any of the doors, and the Ambitious even manages to dump a body into one of the cages, where a menacing, foul-tempered owlbear seems to hate half-orcs pretty badly, and doesn't hesitate to rip this one apart.
Ushers move across the ground, telling everybody to gather on the north lawn, where Marcus Farabellus is about to give his speech. A huge glyph of the open road is suspended in midair, and the master of swords appears: Greetings pathfinders! ...
This is the key moment the infiltrators have been waiting for. Now is the time to sneak in!
A cold chill touches your side, and you feel your pockets becoming heavier. When you inspect them, you see a small lantern has been deposited. By someone...
Rataji, not willing to leave anything to chance, takes his time and crafts a spell to disguise his features.
The nameless one follows the group, waiting for the opportune time to trigger her distraction.
The party enters skyreach unseen, save for the Ambitious, who receives a courteous nod from a 'fellow' pathfinder.
Skyreach is a huge building, with uncounted areas marked as restricted, or off-limits. Ducking into one the many dark alcoves, the party manages to avoid a pathfinder patrol - three adventurers looking a bit sullen and depressed. The group then makes its way into the basement. Winding corridors, uncounted doors and staircases and basement within basement within basement, there seems to be no end to the underbelly of the tower, until finally a corrdior dead-ends into a door, which has a name shield bearing the name 'Antarnicus Vault'.
Rataji motions the professional toward the door with a mock flourish. "I believe this is where your expertise is required."
At Shohoraj's request, Joliryn focuses on the doorway and attempts to discern any sign of magic.
The leader signals, and the professional steps forward to deal with any traps on the door. quick inspection reveals that the door is locked, and that it is heavily protected by magical wards. A first attempt at disabling them just barely fails, though a second pass would do much better.
The lock looks a lot harder, though, locked by arcane means.
The leader pulls a scroll from his bag. "If you cannot do this, I will use this scroll to dispel the wards."