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Rabbai waits till Baltwin and Oric leave and then shakes his head disgustedly at the woman.
He goes in and searches around, keeping an eye out for anything that might help them, as well as remembering to listen up for Oric and Baltwin's return. Before he moves he says half to Broker and half to himself,
"Whether or not this woman is up to no good, I don't like her and I'd just as soon not be helping her at all..."
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Having taken a low profile some distance away as to not cause suspicion of investigative intentions by show of force alone Riika meanders along, notably(to them) ignoring her fellow porential pathfinders and focusing her attention solely on the game being played on the stoop.
Looking rather young, Riika drops all sense of being an adult and regresses to old manerisms. Heya, porch-monkeys. Care to deal a girl in? Whats the stakes and how deep be your pockeys?
"Would you like some tea first?" Auntie Baltwin asks Oric, and leads him to the kitchen. "I was just about to make some. And this... man... can bring his package with him, and then leave." She gestures at Broker.
"You give your marmble to the one that wins," one of the boys tells Riika. The other nods, and adds to that. "Though if you have no marbles you can give some to the other. You want some of mine? I won four today!"
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Rabbai's anger flares when he discovers aid packages from many other charities hidden around the place. He quickly and quietly begins stacking all of the stuff and tries to carry it outside.
If Baltwin comes back in while he's doing this and he didn't hear her or Oric coming he will cover by saying he saw a mouse run behind whatever it is he's trying to collect.
If he makes it outside he will ask Riika to help him stash it somewhere in an alley nearby (if she's not occupied) and then will go back inside and pretend as if nothing happened....
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Broker glares at Auntie Baltwin, keeping up his act and sneers at her. Acting for all the world like some thug, while taking a good look at her for anything out of the ordinary. Stalking into the kitchen, he looks for the kitchen table and puts his contents down.
"There. Unspoken menance in his tone.
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Riika takes 2 copper from her one of her pockets and tosses them lightly in front of the boy. Alrigth, deal me in.
She plays the game with the kids a bit: and sometime during she asks while giving a glance inside with a look of disinterest and curiosity; So...besides marbles, what is there to do around here? I mean, what do you do all day?
Rabbai succesfully carries everything he finds out of the house, while Auntie Baltwin is distracted in the kitchen.
"Put it here," Auntie Baltwin tells Broker, and points at the kitchen table where a half bottle of whiskey stands. "Then leave, shoo!" It's quite obvious Auntie baltwin is intimidated by Broker, and tries to rid herself of him as quick as possible.
"Want some tea, dear?" Auntie Baltwin asks Oric, anxiously looking at Broker. "Could you tell him to leave? I'd prefer sitting here without shady types..."
The kid that offered Riika four of his marbles takes the 2 copper and looks at it with big eyes. After some playing Riika asks her question. "We help Auntie Baltwin with a few things, there's a lot to do," one of the boys answers.
The boys keep quiet and don't answer Riika's question untill Rabbai comes along. "Just small errands..."
"Give that back!" Auntie Baltwin snatches the whiskey from Broker's hands. "You rude man! I'll have the guard come if you don't leave now!"
Auntie Baltwin turns to Oric. "J-just some small things..." After Auntie Baltwin's done making the tea, she puts two cups on the table. She pours tea in both, then adds a bit of whiskey from the bottle to both cups.
"Ah, I see," Auntie Baltwin says. "As you can probably see when you walk around the orphanage, there are many kids here. I'm an old lady, I can't do all the shopping on my own. So the kids go out and do the grocery shopping for me." A few drops of sweat appear on Auntie Baltwin's face, and she anxiously looks around. It's obvious to everyone who can hear; Auntie Baltwin's not telling the truth.
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Auntie, sending out for groceries would not keep so many children busy every day. I am starting to fear the terrible things Broker heard about you might be true. You really should tell me what is going on here or I will not be able to keep between you and him any more. You many not be able to tell but he has a soft spot for children and a terrible temper.
"I... I have no idea what you're talking about!" Auntie Baltwin exclaims, and looks around panicked. "Now leave, or I'll call the guards!"
The party returns to the Temple of the Shining Star, and reports what they found to Ollysta Zadrian. "What?! She's an alcoholic, and she has all these medicines hidden from several organisations? I won't allow this to continue. Thank you for reporting your findings."
Ollysta lets the party know she'll report the completion of the task to Ambrus Valsin. She also tells them the Silver Crusade will find a new shelter for the kids in the orphanage.
The Wise Quarter is the district in the city of Absalom where most of Absalom's government buildings are located, including the residence of the Primarch and the hall of the Grand Council. There are several large mansions the party passes by on their way to the rich estate of Grand Councilmember Dremdhet Salhar. While the party travels to the estate they get the feeling they’re being watched.
The party arrives at the rich estate of Grand Councilmember Dremdhet Salhar, and is greeted by a guard who is expecting the party as they reach the tall, wrought-iron gate. Once the party is inside, a servant walks up to the group. ”Master Salhar is not present. He was called away on important Council business. The Sapphire Sage, master’s most trusted advisor, will receive you. He is available to negotiate any business you may require.”
While the servant explains this he leads the group down welldecorated hallways, past expansive rooms. After a few minutes, the group arrives at a simple study near the end of a long hallway. Inside Amenopheus, the Sapphire Sage, a tan-skinned old man sits behind a desk flipping through pages in a large tome. Scraps of paper jut from the book marking over two dozen different places. As the group approaches the open door, the wise sage silently gestures the party into the study with one thin hand, while closing the tome with the other after finishing what he was reading. Once the party is inside the study, he addresses the group.
”Good day to you, Pathfinders. I am Amenopheus, the Sapphire Sage, advisor to Master Salhar. I understand you were sent here to discuss archaeological permissions. Knowing this was coming, I spoke with Master Salhar at length on the subject and have this to say.”
”Since Osirion was reopened to exploration a decade ago, adventurers, historians, and treasure-seekers flock to my country by the hundreds, perhaps thousands. While most families with ancestral burial vaults maintain guards and keep their sites out of the hands of casual thieves, not all families have the wealth or power to restrict everyone, and as we all know, not every defense is perfectly secure. Unscrupulous tomb robbers and maligned merchant organizations cause Osirion to bleed relics into the Inner Sea—something the descendents of Ancient Osirion cannot afford. We Osiriani have thousands of years of rich history coursing through our veins, and while that power has been out of focus in recent years, we are content to wait, knowing our enemies will wear themselves down. As they fall into arrogance, folly, or greed, we wait for our return to power, knowing we bear the riches of our ancestors at our feet.”
”Master Salhar remains impressed by the Pathfinder Society, orating in their favor a handful of times in front of Absalom’s Grand Council, in fact. Due to previous relationships between him and the Society, Master Salhar has agreed to grant permission to the Pathfinder Society to explore his family’s vaults below Sothis. The only thing he requires is that you retrieve the map of the vaults from his own vault here. The servant will lead you to the basement and show you the room.” The Sapphire Sage’s eyes twinkle as he smirks knowingly, then he turns back to reading his book as though he had never been disturbed.
After leaving Amenopheus’ study, the servant brings the group back through the spacious estate, leading them down sturdy stone steps into the cool basement. Down a hallway, after a couple turns, the party ends up at a plain wooden door. The servant opens the door, gesturing to the room with a bow, and waits silently for the party to enter.
Once every member of the party is in the room, the servant shuts the door and locks it behind them. Written on the back of the door is the message: “Within these cases lies your quest and your way out.”
A plain stone room contains three chests: a copper-banded chest of smooth, dark wood; a red lacquered chest; and what looks to be a cube of solid steel. Behind the chests sits a low table holding a clear glass jar half full of liquid and a covered wicker basket.
Oric can feel a small magic aura coming from the wicker basket, an aura from the entire Copper-Banded Chest, and from the locks of the other chests.
"You have half an hour," the party hears the servant say from the other side of the door. If they try talking to the servant, he won't reply.
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No time like the present for a little investigation! Perhaps it would be best if we stayed apart just in case though. Oric takes a deep breath and walks to the basket to look inside and probe a bit deeper with detect magic. If each of us investigate a different piece perhaps we can figure this out together.
Oric looks into the basket and sees a blue stone key rests atop a pile of crumpled linens. It's the key that gives off a magic aura.
Riika's knowledge of alchemy reveals nothing special about the liquid in the jar.
When nudging the steel chest, Rabbai notices the steel chest is indeed as heavy as it looks.
A writhing, angry green viper rests at the bottom of the basket hidden among the wadded cloth on which the rune-etched key sits. When Oric reaches into the basket it bites him, but it doesn't do much damage.
Despite being bitten by the viper, Oric manages to obtain the key. He tries it on the red lacquered chest, and it unlocks. The red lacquered chest holds a key forged into the end of a jeweled scepter.
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When the chest opens, Rabbai hears a click and looks up to see a golden key hanging from a cord 15 feet up near the ceiling.
He takes a length of rope in two hands and swings it like a jump-rope in an attempt to catch or knock down the golden key.
Rabbai attempts to scale the wall and reach or leap out and grab the key
Oric tries to unlock the copper-banded chest, but nothing happens when he inserts the key it the lock and turns it.
It proves to be quite hard for Rabbai to aim for such a small object, and the rope he throws misses its target. Scaling the room's smooth walls proves to be a horrible idea, and Rabbai doesn't even get from the ground.