Marnarius spends some time eyeing up the options. The dinos may be the best bang for the least risk. Maybe the warbeasts as well. Not sure I want to tackle the crazy stuff they got. No sense getting killed before the party. He then alters his focus and spends a few swift actions to study the closest two attendants using his Studied Target ability, giving him an extra +2 to some skill checks.
Marnarius turns to 322 and whispers ”Any good with animals? I hadn’t really planned for help so if you have any ideas speak up. I see a set of keys on one of the guy over there. We could use those as well as my skills with locks to work faster. Otherwise you can hide and cover me in case the guards over there see me while I pick the locks. I figure things may get interesting once the first of them busts loose and I only have one of these potions. It should keep me hidden from the animals, other than maybe the big ones in the tougher cages.”
Arriving at the first cage, he eyes the lock thinking looks easy enough. He pulls out his masterwork thieves tools and gets to work, confident in his skills.
Marnarius pushes the gate open and then moves to the next cage.
"I'm here to retrieve info. What can you tell me?"
322 decides her best option is to hide and cover Marnarius.
Marnarius acts stealthily enough not to be noticed, but the animal in the cage immediately runs up to the vengeful looking for a handout. The zookeepers act immediately, closing the cage and locking the creature back up. Fortunately, neither Marnarius nor 322 has been noted.
When Marnarius is done, the ram headed sphinx speaks a few words at him. I can speak of what the future holds for one who would heed the wise words of a sphinx.
The sphinx, who has a lion's body with a ram's head, speaks: “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 man looks pensively at the names on the wall So many names here. How many more will be added if I do my bit?
It looks like the turncoat is getting cold feet
---First hour's action---
Marnarius - Zoo - ongoing
322 - Zoo - ongoing
Joliryn - Ongoing
Rataji - Success
Zurnzal - Success
Shohiraj - Success
---
--Second hour ---
Shohiraj - Ongoing
Zurnzal - Ongoing
---
Shohiraj moves up to the halfling unseen, but finds that the keys are in a rather hard-to-reach spot - in the halfling's jacket. ()
She whispers to Marnarius, "I'm not sure I understand much of the riddle, but I can help with a tongues spell, if needed." She continues to consider the sphinx's words, hoping for inspiration.
Marnarius reacts to the fact that the stupid dino saw him in the first place with cold glaring anger. He thinks of the empty potion bottle that a back alley druid sold him. Damn druid ripped me off and almost got me eaten in the process. If I make it through the day he is gonna find a knife in his back.
Marnarius pauses to calm his anger and contemplates the riddle.
What the hell is this? Ok. Ok. Lets break it up. Shackled people with horns: Devils? Tieflings? Something else? Can't speak our language: really old language? People from the tapestry maybe? Hell, unless it speaks common I don't know what it's sayin. Castle of chains: WTF do the hellknights of the order of the chain have to do with this? Why would people enslaved in the tapestry break free from that prison? Lions, sheep and a herald: Taldor and whaaa?
Marnarius's face crumple back into anger. Fists clenching.
No. Too damn complex. Think. Think. I am a blasted ram horned talking thing in a cage, what do I want? I want to speak in blasted plain common! Barring that...freedom? Oh. Oh!
Marnarius looks to the sphinx, studies it, and replies "I will free you if you can help."
Geez, can't he just give me the info already?
Joliryn casts a nervous glance around, to see how many others are around.
"It's not like killing's our hobby," she whispers. "The Society just constantly gets in our way. We want a relic? Oh no, we can't have it. It has to be snatched away from us, preferably by killing our agents first."
Joliryn sighs impatiently. "Are you going to give me the info, or not?"
Baron looks at Zurnzal and says Pardon me, brother, but the direction to the concession stand is over there. There will not be anyone to be found in those bushes.
Zurnzal then yanks the arm of the dhampir hard, and the man becomes a bit more cooperative, and slightly nervous as he finds himself in an isolated spot, with just him and Zurnzal in sight I find this change of direction most curious. Perhaps you care to explain?
322 doesn't make anything of the Sphinx' words, but to Marnarius it starts to dawn at some point: the Sphinx is offering to help to release the animals. He will speak to the caged creatures, getting them to create a distraction, and also to keep in their cages until the command is given. ()
As it turns out, I will not. I believe I will have blood on my hands if I do.
[ooc]You can also try to roll some check to influence him.
The presence of the wall weighs heavily on the man's conscience, and seems to harden his resolve.
Shohiraj tries to take the keys again, but this time the halfling notices, turning around and giving Shohiraj a swift kick in the shin and chiding her: Perhaps you’re forgetting that we explore, report, and COOPERATE, you ruffian!
After the sphinx acts, Marnarius moves in stealthily from cage to cage, deftly opening locks. He opens the sphinx cage first, growling "Make them pay."
Zurnzal leans in and whispers: "I have something important to tell you, but it must be away from prying ears. Come with me for a moment."
Once they are in a secluded area:
"There are many snakes in the grass today. Are you afraid of snakes, my friend? You look like you may be a friend to serpents, in fact."
Zurnzal says, without a hint of tact.
If Balon responds favorably, Zurnzal will tell him that he should disappear for the day, just leave the Lodge and don't speak to anyone.
If he does not respond favorably, Zurnzal will quickly cover Balon's mouth with his hand and attempt to quickly choke him out.
plus and a DC 18 Fort save vs. Knockout strike, unconscious for
Once unconscious, he will slit the poor dhampir's throat.
plus and a DC 38 Fort save or die.
|
Shohirah quickly disperses from the crowd and hides around a street corner.
She changes her appearance by removing her goggles, dabs herself with a floral perfume, donning a blonde wig and applying makeup for a sun-kissed tan using her disguise kit. She attempts to pickpocket the halfling again looking like an adoring fan.
"I don't want to harm you, but this could end very badly if you don't tell me what I want to know."
Using prestidigitation, Joliryn makes her eyes flare up with orange flames. "The info. Now."
No idea why he's being so difficult!
I would be most surprised, there no snakes in this at hmpphgmppf. HRRNGNG!!
With a dry thud, the dhampir is knocked out, and a swift stake in the heart is sufficient to end his life.
Shohiraj gets a cold glare from Janira. He retreats, and spends some time disguising herself - brilliantly. Now more certain of the location of her object of desire, Shohiraj's nimble fingers find their way to Janira's pocket, and relieve her of the Master of scroll's keys.
With a furious look in her eye, the pint-sized woman manages to give Arminaldus a decent scare. It doesn't help that - as Joliryn speaks - magically a name appears on the wall.
Balon of Urgathoa
Made one friend too many
Okay, okay, enough already. Arminaldus says, in an agitated, but hushed voice Take your damn papers, take your damn consortium, just leave me out of it.
The sphinx nods in agreement as Marnarius seems to understand the message, then lets out a series of moos, cuckoos, growls and other animal noises. In a flash, the zoo springs to live: birds fluttering, monkey frolicking, panthers growling. The perfect distraction for Marnarius to move from cage to cage and disable the lock. When he is done the sphinx says speak but one word and freedom is yours
---First hour's action---
Marnarius - Zoo - success
322 - Zoo - success
Joliryn - success
Rataji - Success
Zurnzal - Success
Shohiraj - Success
---
You don't have to start your second hour's action yet - you may get help from PCs that are now in their first hour. Still, I don't want to bore you or hold you up...
--Second hour ---
Shohiraj - success
Zurnzal - succes
Marnarius
322
rataji
Joliryn
---
Zurnzal will strip the frail body of the unfortunate dhampir, then stuff it under some bushes or in some other hidden place. He'll make sure to keep the cloak and the holy symbol that was around the man's neck, and shove them in one of his bags. It could be useful to have one of the party disguise himself as this dhampir cleric later on. Given the man's nature, many pathfinders must know about him, and if a chance came to portray the dhampir doing something unseemly, it might sow discontent.
322 makes her way make to the statue , and considers what it would do if animated with her dream-inspired device. Will it work with something that big? she wonders.
With that, Marnarius motions to 322, and departs before the guards focus shifts from the animals.
Once out of the zoo. Marnarius pauses, asking 322 "So do you want backup for your side mission? If not I can always mix in and try to catch some rumors. These young Pathfinders sure do love to talk and brag."
"Thank you," Joliryn replies as she snatches the papers from the man. "Now get out of here, shoo!"
Joliryn reads the papers, hoping they contain info that could be useful for today's mission.
"No, Marnarius, you go ahead and do as you like. I do not anticipate needing assistance."
Rataji will continue his mingling, keeping an ear out for any whispers of the attack (or other info that their plan may have been spoiled).
Now that you've had the time to look through the notes of the traitor, it's value becomes apparent.
The experiment and the vengeful move to the large statue of that ill-revered pathfinder society founder Durvin Gest. It's a busy place, there's pathfinders all around it, mostly in a storytelling circle. There's also a halfling running around, frantically searching for something she seems to have lost from her jacket.
Zurnzal takes the holy symbol of Urgathoa with him, his mind already spinning who of his party members would make the best Balon double.
Not having anything specific to do this hour, Marnarius grabs a kabob of some kind of meat from a near by food stall and meanders towards the statue himself. Staying to the edge of the crowd, Marnarius casually scans his surroundings, looking for any changes in the disposition of the Pathfinders that may hint at their cover being blown and listening for any tidbits of info that may be useful.
Among the crowd Marnarius notices 322 looking at the statue. I wonder what she's up to? Better hang out it the background just in case.
Though his stature is larger, not to mention his tusks, Zurnzal decides that he'll disguise himself as the late dhampir and try to cause a bit of havoc when the time comes. He finds a restroom or something similar, and pulls out his disguise kit, using light skin shades to cover his green-tinted orcish skin, and using sheer force of will to cover as much of his tusks as he can with his lips. Then he dons the dark dress cloak the dhampir had been wearing, black trimmed in silver and dark blue tones. He prominently displays the symbol of Urgathoa around his neck.
Once fully disguised, Zurnzal heads back out into the crowds, trying to look even shadier and more nervous than the poor dead dhampir had.
Once hidden, she attempts to cast murderous command on the confused halfling.
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.
Zurnzal follows a fox-like man to a remote location on the lodge grounds. He loses track of him for a moment, but then sees a blond-haired youth emerge from the perfect place for a costume change. A few moment later, Zurnzal emerges looking uncannily like the deceased priest.
Marnarius hangs back while 322 tries to hide. It's quite obvious - from the comments of onlookers - that she is not doing a very good job. The hiding contest is near the Quadrangle, you should go over there!
Some what chagrined, 322 waves for Marnarius to provide a bit of a distraction, while 322 tries a different shadowed niche (again, within about 40' of the halfling, but out of sight).
Once she believes she's out of sight, she again tries murderous command as described previously.
I can't read minds girl.
Marnarius studies 322 for a second, thinking about what she could be wanting.
Well, considering your crouching in the shadow of that big damn statue, lets assume your trying to hide. Now that Pathfinder 5 feet to your right didn't seem to think you did a good job. Lucky he damn well thought you were lost! So now you want my help. Maybe a distraction?
When there is a break between stories, Marnarius takes a deep breath Here goes nothin! and takes a step forward, pushing through the crowded circle to stand in the middle.
"Fellow Pathfinders!" Marnarius bellows. "Let me tell you a grand and glorious story of the time from the days of past, when we pathfinders were not the only ones exploring the mysteries of the Hao Jin Tapestry." He pauses making sure that he has the crowds attention.
Marnarius then goes on to tell the tail of one of his greatest acquisitions from the tapestry, a weapon of great beauty and power. The story is mostly truthful, though at times Marnarius substitutes in pieces on artful negotiation for the cold murdersome truth.
Marnarius then ends his story. "To my knowledge, that beautiful weapon is still here, in the vaults. One day, I will earn the right to wield her."
Let them chew on that story in a few days when they learn that that very weapon was one of the few things liberated from their vault of conquest.
Joliryn spends the next hour asking people how to get to the museum where the Sky Key's kept, enthusiastically telling everyone how much she looks forward to seeing this great relic with her own eyes. "It always excites me when the Society shows off their findings of the past year!"
322 hides again, and with Marnarius spinning a great story in the storytelling circle, nobody pays attention to the shadow creeping around.
From the corner of his eye, Marnarius sees a halfling woman reaching for her weapon, contorting her face, and then leaving - but other than that, all eyes are affixed on him.
Joliryn gather more and more strange rumours, about the various searches the society had to stage to recover the pieces of the sky key, about how terrible where to get the best noodles in cheliax, and many other things, but she learns very little new in terms of useful information.
--Second hour ---
Shohiraj - success
Zurnzal - succes
Marnarius - Almost done?
322 - Almost done?
rataji - Success
Joliryn - Done
---
After finishing his story, Marnarius takes a quick bow and blends back into the crowd. While a good distraction required him being the center of attention, he doesn't want that attention to linger beyond the moment and interfere with their mission. Once he is again just a member in the throng of pathfinders, Marnarius attempts to reconnect with 322, hoping that she got what she needed out of the distraction.
322 climbs up the statue, unseen because the distractions, and manages to attach the box. Across its silver-sheered surface, the text 'The stars command you Durvin Gest' appears, and 322 immediately understands that this is the code to activate and animate the statue.
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...
"Guys, listen," Joliryn says once everyone's gathered, and quickly tells the others what info she gained at the Wall of Names.
"Tapestry first?" she asks the others.
The queer elf looks unsure. She whispers to the others, "Don't we need to go to the vaults first, to get the notes about how to extract others from the tapestry? Or did I misunderstand?"
"Either way, aren't we supposed to wait for the speech? I hear it's not to be missed." 322 smiles to herself.
Rataji will cast invisibility on himself and sneak in.
Marnarius looks from one member to the next, making sure everyone is here.
Rataji, 322, Joliryn, Shohiraj. Where is Zurnzal?
Marnarius takes another look and notices a pale cleric of some sort standing too close for comfort. Taking a second to further study this infiltrator A spy?
Tusks?? Light green skin under the pale. Ahh. Zurnzal in a disguise of some sort.
"Since we are all here." Marnarius pauses, making sure that the other members notice that he is including the cleric. "322 is right. The vault should be our first target. When the time is right and the chaos begins, lets each make our way inside."
When the time is right, Marnarius makes his move. Using the large crowds and any cover or concealment he can scrounge up, he stealths inside. On occasion, Marnarius pauses as a guard passes. Marnarius uses the information from the note Joliryn collected and his own ability to study individuals to his full advantage.
Zurnzal will nod imperceptably to Marnarius from several feet away, and when he sees Marnarius make his move into the building, he will do the same.
Joliryn nods to show her agreement, and follows the others inside.
While the crowd is distracted by the master of sword's speech, the agents move into skyreach unseen.
Now that the Master of Swords has begun his speech, 332 feels the time is ripe for a bit of mayhem.
She speaks the command words under her breath, "The stars command you Durvin Gest."
Her distraction accomplished, she encourages her party in the direction of the vaults.
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'.
322 warns her allies in a whispered voice, "Should the situation devolve to combat, be warned that I have a 'condition' that might prevent me from understanding you. Does anyone speak Aklo or Auran?"
She is silent for a moment, concentrating. A cloak of black shadow drapes around her, stiffening, but making her outline indistinct and hard to see.
Upon seeing the door to the "vault," Marnarius breaks into a whispered tirade."Presumptuous of them to hang a sign. Dear thieves, all our cool stuff is behind this door. Please feel free to take what you wish. Hah. The traps on that door are probably trapped."
Seeing Shohiraj making her way to the door with a set of keys, Marnarius says,"Well I was gonna say we could play a quick game of Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock to settle who is the first to loose a finger. However....ladies first by all means."
Looking to 322, Marnarius shrugs and replies "Just gesture loudly, things should work out."
"I also do not speak any of those languages, sorry."
Zurnzal, still looking pretty much like a cleric of Urgathoa, will be staying toward the front of the group for combats.