[PFS] GM Derek W's The Technic Siege #6-03 (Inactive)

Game Master Derek Weil

Iso spies the healing potion.

"Iso still sore from other battle. Iso would drink nice healing potion"

If nobody objects.. CMW
CMW: 2d8 + 3 ⇒ (3, 4) + 3 = 10

"Skug cut too. Small scratch."

Can anybody use a wand of infernal healing?

Sal answers the group:

"Look, I might as well be honest with you even though you probably won't like what I tell you."

"See, i sold a book to a guy named Arvellos Rand. These guys didn't like that. They're from the Technic League, and they don't like certain secrets getting outside of their homeland, or so they said. I'm ashamed to say it, but I caved. I told them that I sold the book to Rand, that he's a Pathfinder agent, and that he is staying at Sharrowsmith's Exports. I they seemed really stressed about getting that book back..."

Ok, so you have retrieved the baobab root. You can also try to find the Zenj jewel (used to reactivate another of the Lodge's defenses). Aya Allahe gave you a list of jewelers you can try. You also were starting to work on a misinformation campaign. You got the florist on your side, but then ended up following leads for Rand before spreading false trails. Let me know which way you want to go.

Iso pats Sal on the back. "It is hard to stand up to Khellid interrogation. Ice bear eating entrails puts shivers up spine of many brave men.".

He nods to himself in memory of the scene.

"Iso thinks League may be moving on lodge even as we speak. Iso is curious Sal, about how many agents were here and know what Sal said. Iso would like to know forces arrayed against him."

He nods to Skug with a grin "Skug should take more care!"

I think more defenses is probably best, I'm guessing it is going to come down to a fight at the lodge at some stage, the name of the scenario strongly implies that anyway. Disinformation may be a waste of time now Sal has spilled his beans, but if we have time, can't hurt.

"Ooh, this armor looks nice," Mavarion comments upon seeing the magical chain. "Anybody else want it? Anyway, I believe we should find the other ways Aya mentioned of fortifying the Lodge. Sal, would you care to join us, or perhaps seek refuge at our base?"

Van can use wands of Infernal Healing on whoever needs it.

"Yeah, let's go find the stuff we need to fortify the lodge. These Technic League cats really mean business."

One charge brings me back to full.

"Skug thank. Skug like small man."

Belvica says, "Mesa getsa de djem."

Iso scratches his beard, and then sticks a large finder into his ear.

"Iso cannot understand what Belvica says. But Iso thinks jeweler is good next stop. Then ale. Iso is hot."

He realises then where he is, and hunts around for a keg to broach.

Probably best this way. The "reward" for a sucessful misinformation campaign coupled with the other stuff is avoiding the the last fight. I think this group would be more than happy to tackle the League.

?: 1d3 ⇒ 3

After following up on Aya's leads, it still takes a bit of time to find the only jeweler with any Zenj jewels on hand. The shop is a small clay brick building, one of the few in town
with a permanent structure. From within come the sounds of a loud, one-sided discussion.

“You still owe 1,000 gold, Uzoma, you’ve had an extra escape his current situation. week to pay up. Now where’s the money?”

"Iso has not heard the name Uzoma. Has anyone else heard of them?"

Or did we hear this is the name of the Jeweler?

It's not spelled out, but the name would have been given to you by Aya Allahe.

"Not a clue, but time is of the essence and this jewel is difficult to come by. I'll leave something for this jeweler if anyone wants me too, though." And with that, Mavarion is gone, cloaked and inside the building, hopefully not opening the door too conspicuously. After looking for a Zenj jewel, he attempts as subtly as possible to levitate it, as well as some other, less valuable gems (whether he is indulging himself or making it look like less of an attempt on the particular target, is hard to tell) into his pocket.

'Hopefully the mark can't see me this time. I can't believe the last one knew I was there all along and didn't do anything until I thought I had gotten away...'

Stealth, +10 for invisibility: 1d20 + 24 ⇒ (16) + 24 = 40
Perception for the Zenj jewel: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (11) + 13 = 24
Sleight of Hand: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (4) + 14 = 18

So Uzoma is the jewller? Assuming so..

Iso, hearing that there is yet another Person In Need, bursts through the door.

"Hello!" he roars out loud. "I am Iso Soturi!"

As he takes in the scene before him.

Skug moves into the room next to Iso, "And Skug is Skug!"

Iso shakes his head at his simple sidekick.

"Skug is Skug, but how do they know you are Skug?"

Skug looks askance at Iso, then flourishes his dire flail, "Skug have Brax!"

Mavarion enters the shop very quietly, and with both Iso and Skug bursting in, he is unnoticed. He can easily spot the gem, a large black diamond, securely placed within a locked glass display case.

Iso and Skug see a trio of men, one of whom turns to them:

"Take a hike. This fellow here owes us some money, maybe come back once he's paid up."

-Posted with Wayfinder

"Skug want stay. Skug stay."

Iso smiles.

"Iso is curious about how Uzoma ends up owing one thousand gold pieces."

He stares hard at them.

"And who he owes money to. Iso has introduced himself politely. Like Gentleman. Or maybe like Ulfen Guard. Iso is not Ulfen though. Companions of Uzoma have should introduce themselves too." he chats calmly while slowly closing the distance.

While the barbarians engage in diplomacy, Van casts Detect Magic on the room.

"Oh, all right. This really is none of your business, but since you're being so *polite* about it..."

"This unfortunate jeweler here borrowed 1,000 GP from our boss, Tuma. Tuma's a real boon to local businesspeople, always willing to extend credit when the banks won't. Trouble is, Uzoma here says he needs more time to move his inventory. I say we just take it to settle the debt."

Van Potter does not sense any auras.

'That's right, just keep 'em busy...'
Mavarion goes to work on the lock from several feet away assuming it isn't magical.

Disable Device: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (2) + 15 = 17

"Skug want gem. Skug get gem." Skug looks around a moment, then pats Van Potter on the back--hard. "Small man tell. Get gem."

Belvica browses the shop, shaking her head about how these two cannot understand her.

Iso leans against the counter and has a bit of a scratch.

"Iso want to hear what Uzoma says about it." he says slowly.

He looks around the shop.

"Iso Soturi thinks pretty crystals in shop might be worth more than thousand gold, but Iso admits to not being expert on such matters."

Lastly he adds, slowly with a big grin on face.

"Iso was also hoping to discuss matter of pretty gem with Uzoma, but Iso also happy to buy from Tuma's people. If Tuma's people say all of gems is worth one thousand gold, then only one of them must be worth much less!"

Ex-Scazni, now exchange, not that it shows.

Van nearly collapses when given a strong pat on the back from Skug. He looks up with venom, but quickly regains his cool after a moment. "Yo, valuable merchandise here. Let's try not to break anything I need for spellcasting." He says to the half-orc.

The gnome then turns his attention to the loan sharks, "Hey cats, maybe we can negotiate our way through this. Can we give you a deposit on the money he owes you for now to give him another week to get the rest? You seem like reasonable business people, I'm sure we can make some kind of deal."

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (10) + 8 = 18

Skug quickly pulls his hand back and steps away from Van Potter, "No curse Skug! Skug nice. Spells nice too."

The man looks at Van Potter.

"OK, I like the way you think. I'd say that our boss would be willing to take 15% interest for a one-week extension. Only 150 gold, what do you say?"

"That sounds cool to me, but let me talk to my associates for a minute." Van replies with a snap of his fingers, then looks to other Pathfinders for any objections.

Skug stares back at Van, "Skug do what?"

Skug's response will depend on how it's explained to him. Right now, he doesn't have a clue what's going on.

Iso cracks knuckles.

"Iso thinks we should just get discount gem from stand-over men. Or ask shop keeper if he give us gem in return for Iso dealing with thugs."

"Thugs? Where thugs?" Skug looks at Iso, "Thugs like fight. Like fight Skug?"

"If we each give these guys 25 gold pieces, they'll leave us alone and we won't have to fight them. We'll be helping the shopkeeper out too, and that's cool, right?" Van explains slowly to the group.

Skug looks utterly confused, "Skug pay not fight?" then suddenly straightens up and smiles, "Small man say wrong. Skug pay fight."

"Won't Iso then need to pay the shop keeper for his gem ?" asks the confused barbarian.

"Why pay twice?"

Uzoma looksa the pair of thugs and chances to speak:

"Please, don't make things worse by fighting these men. More will just come around when you're not here to help. I can talk more once they're satisfied and gone, but maybe we could call your payment a deposit on any purchases you make here?"

Sorry if it's a bit railroady, but you get the idea that the shopkeeper is being truthful. Going after the local loan shark and bringing down his operation is a bit outside the scope of the scenario.

"Yeah, I think its better if we just pay these guys and work out the rest with the shopkeeper, but if you start throwing punches I ain't going to stop you." Van adds with a shrug.

"Iso agrees."

And then will go silent for the next week, I'm back after the 15th

"Sounds like a plan to me," Mavarion says to Uzoma and the group, dropping his cloak. "My apologies, I simply prefer to remain unseen until my presence is needed, and I thought it might boil down to a fight." The dwarf decides to omit the part where he was trying his best to rob the shopkeeper blind.

@Mavarion: Sorry for not acknowledging before, but the disable check you rolled was not enough to crack the lock.

You pay off the toughs and they leave. Soon afterward Uzoma dusts himself off and speaks:

"You wouldn't by chance be in the market for a particular gem, would you? As you can see, I have a nice selection just now. I'll be honest, this black diamond here is the prize of the lot. It's a nice one, and under most circumstances I'd be asking 500 gold for it. But since you guys just helped me out, I'd be willing to take 10% off the top. Can you swing 450 between you? Like I said, I'll even give you credit for what you paid those sharks, so another 300 ok?"

Anyone who cares to take time appraising the gem can see that it is the Zenj jewel that you're looking for and is easily worth the 500 GP he quoted you.

"Any way you could give us a bigger discount since we've been so helpful so far? It would help us out a lot if you could do a 25% discount. You might have lost a lot of money if we let those thugs have their way with the place." Van counteroffers smoothly with a pleasant smile.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (19) + 8 = 27

Re: Exchange Faction Card. I'm going to assume I'm safe in saying Van can tick off 'Resolve a combat encounter nonviolently through diplomacy, trickery, bribery, or a similar tactic' due to this encounter. If the GM doesn't see it that way, please let me know.

@Van Potter, I agree with you. You may check your box with my compliments!

"You're a smooth one, aren't you? I still do need to come up with that thousand by next week. Let's see, if my buyers come through one some of these other pieces..."

"I could probably get by with 250 now."

So 400 GP total, or 67 each (most of you will make much of that back on Day Jobs). Which is big win, since one of the proposed resolutions in the scenario is for you to "settle his debt" to the tune of the full 1,000 GP!

I'm cool with whatever.

No problem, didn't think I'd make it on a 2.

"Sounds like a deal, and a deal is a deal," Mavarion says amiably, taking out a small coin bag and counting out 67 crowns.

"I knew you were a reasonable man. Pleasure doing business with you, pal!" Van replies with a pleased grin as he pulls out his coin purse from his haversack.

Iso scowls, but as the others seem keen to pay up, he forks over his share of the gold eventually as well.

"Iso go to see pretty lady again now?" he asks.

Skug holds his purse out for Van Potter, "What Skug buy?"

Belvica looks up and down and says, "Mesageevs..." she then hands the man her share of the purchase.

OK, I'm back and ready to go!

You return to Sharrowsmith's Exports. As you enter the courtyard, you see Arvellos Rand running *out* of the Lodge towards you, shouting:

"They're here! They broke through the back gate!"

There is a new map. I have all your tokens on it, but if you decide to enter the Lodge from the front door, I'd guess that you'll move in a double column. But if you'd rather swing out around the back, let me know. We're not quite in initiative yet...