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Terrill pauses a moment before responding to Trippen’s question. ”Well, that’s a bit of a story. I’m originally from Andoran, where you’d think it would be pretty accepted to work for freedom. But it turns out I had a different sense of what that means than my fellows. I started my training to join the clergy of Desna, thinking I’d be working for freedom for all. Well, to make a long story a little less long – a friend of mine was arrested and imprisoned for something he didn’t do. I knew, absolutely knew, that he wasn’t guilty, and I couldn’t believe that Desna wanted him locked up. I broke him out of jail – didn’t kill anyone, though I might have hurt a couple of folks – and helped him get out of the country.”
”Pretty soon after, I had to get out of the country myself. My brothers and sisters in the worship of Mother Moon believed enough in freedom to give me a few minutes’ warning that the city guard were coming for me, but they didn’t believe enough to face up to the authorities and protect me. So I grabbed what I could and hit the road, believing more strongly in Desna than in her church, I have to say. I travelled for a while, and ended up in Absalom, where I think I will try to make a life for myself, living Desna’s way as I see it.”
Terrill sees that they have arrived at the orphanage and says ”Well, we can swap tales later, I suppose. Let’s see if we can’t find the headmistress and learn a bit about her.” He approaches the boys playing marbles and squats down, asking them ”Excuse me, lads. Can you tell me where Mistress Baltwin is? My friends and I have a package for her, that she’ll want right away.”
The young boy, cautious to talk to strangers runs into the house yelling "Auntie Baltwin there are visitors." Shortly after an elderly woman comes hobbling out, a cat skitters across her path and she gives it a swift kick. "Yes, is there something I can help you with?" Only half paying attention to you, she points at one of the kids climbing on some furniture "You, you get down from there!"
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"If we want honest answers, I vote for indirect. Even if she catches us, she can't get too upset because we're doing it so that we can give her stuff that she wants. Having said that, I'd rather be in the group that talks with Auntie Baltwin. I'm not very sneaky. Besides," she adds, "I hate kids. Though not as much as I had puzzles or invisibility."
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"Auntie Baltwin, oh i have been so excited to meet you! Paladin Zadriana sent us here to deliver some supplies." Trippen sets the small crate of supplies down and offers his hand to the Headmistress "We rushed right over, will this be enough? How are the children, it must be terrible to be stuck indoors. The children are upstairs, right? It must be very difficult for you to handle the kids in the field while you are tending to the sick in the loft."
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As Trippen and Polami talk with Auntie Baltwin, Rilmor tries his best to look innocent and wander inside the building. He looks around at the various kids and staff (if any), seeing if he can spot a likely candidate to talk to.
Perception (Take 10):
Sense Motive (Rolling):
"Hi there, my name is Rilmor. My friends and I are just dropping off a package here to Auntie Baltwin. Do you like living with her? How's the food here? (etc.)"
Diplomacy (Take 11, Law Domain Power):
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Seeing Trippen engage Mistress Baltwin with such enthusiasm, Terrill decides he'll try to look around a bit. He bends down to pet a nearby cat, following after it as it moves along, to get out of the immediate area of the conversation with the Headmistress. He then makes as if to move towards another cat nearby, all with the aim of moving into the house and taking a look around.
Auntie Baltwin, hesitates a moment after the halfling sets down the pouch, a noticeable distrust in her eyes.
She swoops up the package and smiles. "Ah wonderful! The Silver Crusade is such a huge aid in taking care of these young ones!" She looks around at the other's all chiming in. "Why don't you all come in, perhaps you would like some tea?"
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Why don't people trust haflings? Not every halfling is a thief
His hand still extended for a moment, Trippen tries to regain a small amount of his dignity by feinting to close a buckle on his gear. "Ma'am if its not a problem i would be more than happy to take to medical supplies to where you need. It must be so exhausting running this orphanage. Here, you bring the medicine to wherever you need to store it and let me get the tea for you. Your kitchen is this way right?"
Trippen walks briskly down a hallway hoping he is going in some way towards the kitchen. Or maybe he doesn't care where he is going.
Ms Baltwin clearly doesn't trust me. so if she is too busy following me then she won't be able to keep her eyes on the others. Not all of them at least.
Trippen keeps a cheery demeanor, even if he is a halfling you can't say no to such a cute face can you? He turns and calls back heartily "Come on now, you wouldn't want to be left behind would you?"
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Callanto whispers to Rilmor,
In a louder voice he announces, Tea sound great Mistress Baltwin, Lead the way to the kitchen.
Callanto tries to usher her toward the kitchen away from Rilmor and torward the crafty halfling. We just have a few follow up questions and we will be out on our way.
If its needed I'll roll Bluff to help move her toward the kitchen
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Before Rilmor leaves the room, he scrutinizes Auntie Baltwin's reaction to the party's arrival. He thinks to himself, Is she actually glad to see us or covering something up?
Sense Motive:
And while Callanto and company try to lure her to the kitchen, he hangs back and waits for an opportunity to look around.
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Terrill watches as the party tries to hustle Auntie Baltwin back to the kitchen, stopping to look at a cat curled in the corner of the room, and taking a careful look around as he does so, looking closely at any children in the room. Like Rilmor, he listens to her speech and how she responds to the party, and lingers in the front room so he can go explore a bit.
Auntie Baltwin leads you to a small sitting room, where she motions for you to sit. She continues toward the back of the house, stopping off at a small office, opening the door and dropping the package of medicine inside. Closing the door she continues on to the kitchen where she prepares the tea. She makes little note of Trippen as he goes back to the kitchen with her.
After returning with some tea and pouring some for any who would like she replies to Callanto. "Not much to report really." she shrugs, "Kids are kids you know and they keep themselves occupied for the most part. They are a great help around the house. There are some we have that are getting over illness and they generally stay upstairs. Overall, especially with the assistance of such wonderufl benefactors like the Silver Crusade, we are managing." After a few sips of tea, she pulls out a small flask and pours some into her tea, before stuffing it away on her person again, then resumes sipping at the tea.
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Rilmor will stick his head back into the main entryway and look around for Terrill . He'll look around and make sure that he can't be spotted by Auntie Baltwin. He motions for Terrill to come over and whispers:
"There's one thing that seems odd from what the kids tell me. See if you can sneak upstairs and get any samples of the medicine the kids are being given. We'll see if one of the others or if the Silver Crusade can identify it."
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Polami indicates the flask. "Ah, now you do drink your tea Varisian-style. If only we were at a campfire, under the stars, it would be perfect."
Polami looks around the orphanage. "I don't know how you do it. I can't imagine caring for one kid, let alone -- how many did you say were here? Twenty?" She shakes her head. "Do they give you much trouble? However do you keep them in line?"
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Drinking while watching the children? I do hope this isn't something she does more than once a week. even that would be a stretch. Well it is getting into the afternoon i suppose. I'll have to remind myself to talk to the neighbors about that.
Trippen sits quietly, his undersized legs dangling off the sofa. Tea was never his strong suite. A rich dark coffee was more to his liking. He cordially sipped on the tea, trying to think of redeeming qualities to counter weight the mistresses taste for hard drink. Maybe she grows more kind after a good drink?
Auntie Baltwin continues on her conversation of taking care of the orphans, disregarding any mentions to her tea addition."The number of children change some stay longer, others come only while they are sick or if someone in the neighborhood needs a hand. It's hard to keep up with them all, but we manage."
Auntie Baltwin ruffles up at the accusation, "Anyone who deals with these kids would do as much. It is loud, it is hectic, and it drives me near insane. At least five times a day they send me to my last nerve. I know I should quit, and if you and yours would be willing to help me quit, I would be more than happy to. So, help me quit, and I will quit. Help... I just need help.." as she finishes her rant, the old woman breaks down in tears, sobbing into her mug of tea.
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Following Rilmor's suggestion, Terrill goes up the stairs rather than entering the sitting room, looking around for a likely place for any medicine to be stored up there, or any leftover medicine that a kid was supposed to take.
He also speaks to a number of the sick children, saying "Real sorry you kids aren't feeling well. Anything I can do to help? Has Auntie Baltwin brought you your medicine? Is there any left over that I should take back downstairs?"
Lowering his voice and smiling, he says "I'll tell ya, I hated taking medicine as a kid, so if you've got some left you want me to get rid of, I won't tell Auntie."
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"Well, if you want to quit, then getting help should be easy. The church of Sarenrae should help. Isn't that what those Dawnflorists do, help people change their ways?" Polami tried to remember what her uncle Yusef had rambled on about when he had gotten all religious, but none of it had stuck.
"Or maybe some of your former charges, or the older kids could help keep the younger ones in line. Or you could, you know, simplify your life and take care of fewer kids. Or something."
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Rilmor joins everyone in the sitting room. "Sorry, I just stepped outside for a bit." Rilmor walks into the room and slaps his hand on on Callanto's shoulder and nods his head to him in greeting.
He looks at Auntie Baltwin and notices her crying. Appearing somewhat confused (), he says, "I'm sure that if there are any problems, we would be happy to be a sympathetic ear. We might even be able to help."
Possibly Diplomacy Aid to Callanto ():
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I see, Mistress Baltwin Callanto nods to Rilmor but continues with Baltwin before she regains her composure. We will inform the Silver Crusade of your reliance on whiskey. And since we are being honest...finally, Callanto adds with a frown, now would be the time to tell us anything else the Silver Crusade should know.
Taking 11 on diplomacy 11+9 + 4 ( two aid another ) = 24
Auntie Baltwin eyes the group over.
She sniffles, and wipes a remaining tear from her eye, "Don't you think you've done enough making an old woman cry? You've heard my sorrows and still you press me like I'm a common criminal?" She shrugs "I suppose there is no winning with the lot of you... enjoy the tea and thank you for bringing more medicine but I believe there are some other errands I must attend to."
She gets up and starts to shuffle towards the stairs to check on the sick children.
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If he sees Auntie Baltwin, he’ll lift the mugs slightly and say ”Oh, there you are! Have you seen my friends? I thought I heard a kid crying as I came in and I went upstairs, thinking I’d find you there. Only kids up there, so I thought I’d make myself useful and bring these empty mugs down to the kitchen.”
Terrill comes down the stairs with a handful of mugs, as Auntie Baltwin heads up, not even too concerned with the man she mostly ignores him as she walks upstairs.
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Terrill sets down the empty mugs and holds up the other with a smile on his face, saying ”Good idea to look for some of the medicine she uses, Rilmor. I found a cup about half-full of the stuff. Might be worth having someone take a look at it, unless one of you knows anything about medicines? Or we could compare it to the stuff we just brought her, since she’s gone upstairs. Why don’t we start with that? Did you all see where she put the medicine we brought in?”
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"Good. Let's save it. I'm afraid I don't know much about medicine. If no one else has the knowledge, we can at least present it to the Silver Crusade to examine. And it's unfortunate that we couldn't convince Auntie Baltwin to trust us with whatever's bothering her." Rilmor leaves the room and heads out of the orphanage.
"I believe we have one more stop..?"
The party heads back to the paladin and reports their findings. She is extremely grateful for the aid and commends your hard work. She promises to look into matters further. You take your leave to continue the tasks assigned to you by Venture-Captain Ambrus Valsin, heading to the Docks.
The Pickled Imp is well known in the Docks District and easily found.
This creepy shop contains myriad odds and ends, most bereft of any discernible use. A number of malformed creatures and creature parts bob in jars on a long, prominent shelf, a tiny fetal devil centered in this macabre lineup. The shopkeeper, a greasy-haired Varisian with a thin mustache, shouts from behind the cluttered counter:
“Ah yes, I see the Pathfinders have arrived. I’m glad Ambrus was able to lend a few of his new recruits to help me. Please come in and let me tell you what I need.”
Looking around as if to be absolutely certain no customers are browsing the aisles of knock-off Thuvian burial urns or supposed Azlanti porcelain, he begins again.
“Well met. I am Guaril Karela. A friend of mine has a warehouse near here and he received a parcel on behalf of me and some of my associates, but there’s a problem. See, Master Gelbane had to leave town in a hurry and our shipment is still waiting at his warehouse. Rumor is he ended up in trouble with the law and the place was seized. I heard tell from someone down at the docks that some creep was snooping around his warehouse just the other night, so I want to make sure nothing of mine was taken. He keeps all kinds of things, from beer to nails, in that old pelican, but every now and then he stores something really special. This is one of those cases."
“There’s a big crate marked with three crows arranged in a triangle. Inside that crate is a smaller container with a few books and papers in it. That’s the only parcel I’m interested in, and as far as I’m concerned, you can help yourself to the rest of the crate. Honestly, anything else you want in the place too. I’m sure the once things get sorted out, the city will seize most everything else anyway."
“My associates and I often work with the Pathfinders when it comes to special relics and documents, getting them in and out of ports and across borders where the authorities ask too many questions. Most people don’t realize what they have and frankly many don’t deserve to have it, so sometimes we help take the goods off their hands. If things work out well and you get this done, I’d be glad to talk with you more and help you out with any future endeavors, as long as you help me out too. I’m good at returning favors, trust me.”