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Vinny walks into the house behind the others. She looks around and raises her eyebrows at the statues. "Well, he certainly has a certain...style about his decorating." She flinches slightly when Nixim calls out, but then grins. "Well, now he'll come running for sure. How could he turn down the chance to talk to Nixim Suneater and company?"
The house remains quiet, with no response to Nixim's announcement.
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L.B. seems to let his guard down some, muttering just under his breath as he stalks from doorway to doorway, checking the perimeter of the room
As Pollock walks around the couch, the floor under the couch gives off a bright flash of light. Wisps of light form into three large, glowing beetles, each the size of a housecat. They skitter forward, mandibles clacking as they seek to tear into Pollock's flesh!
Initiative Order:
Pollock
L.B.
Beetle 1
Jan
Nixim
Beetle 2
Giovanni
Vincenza
Beetle 3
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Pollock is surprised by the beetles, but quickly recovers his poise. He hears a whoosh as Elby's shot swishes across the room.
Remembering Vinny's predilection for explosives, Pollock steps cautiously around the chittering beetles, clutching for his dagger as he moves.
With dagger in hand, Pollock swings at the nearest beetle.
Pollock stabs one of the beetles clean through, as L.B.'s shot blows the one in back away. Both melt into mist as the lone remaining beetle glows red, and tries to gore Pollock. It smashes its horn into the nearby chair leg, missing him completely.
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Chastened by the sudden appearance of the choker, Jan is already wary when the beetles appear and is able to turn a startled exclamation into a timely request for divine aid. "What is that...in Desna's name"
Jan draws a dagger and thinks that the motion may become uncomfortably familiar if things continue as they have been.
Giovanni impales the final beetle, which dissolves into mist, the house returning to its quiet.
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"Mind the western door, Giovanni. More magic there than in a minstrel's melodies. Jan goes toward that door, then looks at the rest of the group earnestly "I know we couldn't find Dreng, but is that really a reason to break into the home of a fellow pathfinder, even a suspicious one?"
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"Mind the western door, Giovanni. More magic there than in a minstrel's melodies. Jan goes toward that door, then looks at the rest of the group earnestly "I know we couldn't find Dreng, but is that really a reason to break into the home of a fellow pathfinder, even a suspicious one?"
"This wizard is no Pathfinder - Friends with a false Pathfinder, the one with secrets keeping. If long-lifed gnome had answered Selmius' questions ages ago, then maybe we wouldn't be here now." The wayang makes sure that his trusty crossbow is loaded again. "Maybe tricksy magic gnome is ready to answer questions now," L.B. says darkly.
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Jan shrugs to LB and is about to push open the door when Nixim speaks. Jan shoots the others a glance then call across to Nixim "Nixim, I would feel much safer if a pathfinder of your stature were to introduce us to Fimbrik, or at least face these traps. I don't know if any of us non-gnomes are up to the task"
Nixim opens the door to the right. This study contains a round table surrounded by chairs, and the walls are replete with tome-laden bookshelves. There is a colorfully haired gnome standing next to one of the bookcases, looking through a book. He ignores all of you, intent on his reading.
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"Thank you for your wisdom," Nixim says to Jan. "You and I will get along splendidly."
Once he opens the door, he sees the gnome.
"Fellow gnome! Excuse the intrusion. I am Nixim Suneater...surely you have heard of me. We have come seeking some information from you. You see, I--we--have discovered a treasure trove of information, and your name was all over it. Perhaps we could discuss this over some tea."
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Vinny doesn't even get the chance to get out a bomb before the beetles are dispatched by her companions. She has the tiniest of mopes to herself, but is glad they didn't turn out to be overly dangerous. She follows behind Nixim, Giovanni, Jan, and LB as they enter the next room and see Fimbrik. She hears Nixim mention tea.
"Hello there!" she waves to the other gnome. "Quite the place you have here, and yes, tea would be lovely. We were a bit shook up by those giant bugs..." She mostly avoids letting out a nervous giggle.
Fimbrik continues standing there, reading his book and ignoring all of you.
Vinny examines Fimbrik carefully, while L.B. listens to the one sided conversation. Fimbrik continues to stand there, reading from a book. He looks real enough from a visual inspection, except that he is seemingly unaware of the presence of guests in his library.
The possibly illusory gnome continues to stand there, stubbornly persisting in looking very much like a gnome reading a book and ignoring all of you.
The door is unlocked, and as L.B. slips into the room, a gentle breeze moves through the door, swirls through the main room and blows out through the front door. It begins to waft the newspapers from the stoop into the house and towards the staircase going down at the northern end of the main room, moving back and forth to carry one newspaper at a time.
The room L.B. opened contains enough chairs, pillows, and desks to accommodate at least six visitors. There is a neat pile of papers sitting on a desk near the door, and a pair of potion vials sitting on the window sill.
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Vinny is becoming increasingly frustrated with this situation when she looks through the door that LB opened. Spotting the potion vials, she immediately forgets her annoyance as curiosity overwhelms her. She walks up to the bottles and examines them carefully. "What sort of goodies do we have here?" she says, mostly to herself.
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L.B. paces back and forth with the papers, watching each one suspiciously. He begins cursing heavily in Wayang when Jan closes the door and scurries over to open it again before the... wind-thing is stopped by the door. "It's cleaning," the wayang says to Jan, as though that explains any of what is going on or what L.B. is doing.
The gust of wind seems to bob the paper it is carrying politely at L.B., then continues tidying up the papers left on the porch and carrying them down the back stairs.
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Pollock chuckles at Elby's observation of the cleaning wind. It's a welcome relief from the frustration of this stonewalling illusionist. He moves over to the double doors on the other side of the room. He tries to open them, and if successful, peers inside.
Unfortunately, he's a bit too frustrated to notice the subtle details of the room. He mutters to himself, "I don't like all this poking around, but I guess it's only fair for not being properly welcomed."
Giovanni goes to sit in the chair. It is rather comfortable and clean, but he still does not provoke any reaction from Nixim.
Pollock opens the door, revealing a fine, but empty bedroom containing a bed and a desk.
L.B. Follows the gust of wind down the stairs, where he finds a basement full of years worth of stacked newspapers, sorted by date. It is otherwise empty.
Jan and L.B. rifle through the old stacks of papers, finding that they go back nearly a decade. Clearly, Fimbrik has not been in residence in some time, or else he simply likes keeping all of his old newspapers.
Giovanni searches the room, finding a well stocked library full of books on various magical and mundane topics, but nothing truly of note or out of place for a wizard's residence. Nixim, on the other hand, uncovers a letter placed underneath a pile of papers on a desk that is rather more interesting.
Under that letter is a scrap of paper, with the name 'Hollis “Evil Grin” Thorne' written on it.