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Azhagoth just begins to weave the gestures to detect any magical auras around the odd instruments when he hears the voice coming from the other tunnel. He decides to abandon his search for the moment and tries to move quietly back along the southern side of the tunnel until his is a few paces from the corner and is ready to strike at whomever or whatever comes into view.
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Az moves up silently to the corner.
Meanwhile, the figure continues scratching himself and ranting to the dwarves. "Did you hear me, Dwarves? I'm sick! The people down here are SICK. You're sitting on top of a leper colony. A PRIVATE leper colony. We want to just hang out and lose our body parts in peace. Unless you want to stay and have bits fall off you as well? First thing to go is your nether parts, you know."
He grins, showing you his raw and peeling skin. He tears off a long, discolored strip of flesh and waves it at you. "See? One day, you're minding your own business, and the next, you're stepping on your own hairy balls, which have fallen in your socks. Is that what you want? I don't think so."
He waves his scrawny, peeling arms. "SHOO! GET OUT OF HERE!!"
Yeah, he's not a leper, and neither are the sick people you saw.
"Yeah, they're mine! What's wrong with you? Do you actually want leprosy? Because I could arrange it if you decide to stay here. Look, why don't you head your big bulky dwarven butt right back up the ladder and leave!"
He holds up the fingers on his hand and starts counting. "Five! Fou... Oh, crap, I'm missing that finger. Wait a moment. I think I dropped it around here someplace."
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Az can't see the man, but he can tell he's lying. These people aren't lepers, and lepers don't just peel skin off like a bad windburn on a cold winter night. Without any further hesitation, the half-orc cries out, "LIAR!" He moves to the corner in a few quick strides and brings the man face to face with the point of his bec de corbin. "Put your hands where I can see 'em or it won't be no LEPROSY that puts you in the grave, LASZO"
"Bwaaaah! Where did you come from? How do you know my NAME?"
Az does intimidate Lazso, and the shaken alchemist changes the pocket he was reaching into and grabs a bottle which he guzzles down instead. Then he whistles and calls, "SPARKY! Time to subdue some more TEST SUBJECTS!"
You see a glowing, sparking bug emerge out of the pipe and head towards Aki.
Ech and Az are up!
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Aki can't quite see whoever was apparently strolling through the sewers though she can hear the back-and-forth between him and Az. Though initially finding the man's claims of them having stumbled upon an underground leper colony to be reasonable, Aki does sense that something is amiss when the man mentions looking for his missing finger. "Now now, there's no need for v-" she begins, only to be cut off by Az as he boldly steps forward to challenge the man.
"Az! He's s-wait, Lazso!?" she gasps, about the time the huge sparkling bug emerges from the pipe behind her. Even though the speed at which things begin happening catches her off-guard, she's still got enough wits to know a flash beetle when she sees one!
"Watch out for the bug! It can dazzle you!"
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Azhagoth's eyes flash with anger as Laszo downs some sort of vial right in front of him. Damn! What was that? I wasn't quick enough to stop him. Better figure out what he just did to himself.
Having failed to stop Laszo from drinking his vial, Azhagoth turns his head toward the others."You all should be able to handle that insect, right? I'll deal with this one!" He turns back to face Laszo and glares at the diseased man. "Laszo the Leper, you have succumbed to the basest kind of evil - poisoning others with your witchcraft and alchemy for nothing but your own personal gain. For these crimes, I find you guilty of the vilest form of cowardice and sentence you...to death!" The inquisitor swings his weapon in a wide arc to his right and brings the point of the beak to slam into the alchemist's side.
___
Az pronounces judgement, and just barely hits the dodgy alchemist. However his strike is true, and cuts a huge swath in Lazso's side. Lazso looks angry. "Do you KNOW what you're doing, you religious cretin? You're interfering with SCIENCE!" Then he pauses and raises his eyebrows. "That orcish skin looks tough though. You might have survived a little longer than my other test subjects do, but I think you might too dangerous to keep."
Ech is up!
Ech'Tan gets into position hastily against the beetle, but his attack glances off the beetle's carapace.
The alarmed beetle flashes his dazzling light at Ech. All the others in the tunnel notice the harsh and sudden burst of light, but only Ech is close enough to receive the full effect of the glare.
Ech covers his eyes, and manages to avoid being dazzled by the pretty lights.
Aki, Borox and Dain are up!
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Trusting in Az and the dwarves to keep Lazso busy, Aki pulls out her shortbow with the aim of helping Ech'Tan with the beetle. Indulging in a bit of whimsy she begins to sing a funny children's song she'd heard once.
"~Oh there ain't no bugs on me, on me
There ain't no bugs on me
There may be bugs on some of you mugs
But there ain't no bugs on me~"
Aki inspires courage with a lovely song.
Borox and Dain are up!
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Botox raises his holy symbol and calls down a curse on the alchemist, "Torag's hammer smite ya."
Dain draws his heavy crossbow and fires at the Laszo, Aki's song guiding his aim as he breathes in time with her song.
Borox dazes Lazso!
Laszo is dazed for a turn!
Then Dain hits with his heavy crossbow!
Ech and Az are up!
And in all that excitement, Az misses!
Ech is up!
The beetle goes down to Estoc's mighty blow!
Dain, if you want to Instead try to move towards Laszo, go for it.
Aki, Borox and Dain are up!
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With Sparky the Beetle no more Aki turns and hustles towards the sound of fighting, stepping over the poor addict on the ground and darting past Borox - singing as she goes.
As she gets a better view of the battle she raises her bow but doesn't fire - yet. "Your bug friend is dead and you're outnumbered! Are you sure you want to do this?"
If Laszo continues to take hostile actions, Aki fires a shot from her bow.
RoBorox bangs his warhammer against his shield(?), letting forth a clamor of steel on steel and calling up divine energy to empower his allies' attacks. "C'mon orc! Ya can hit better than tha'!"
"You killed Sparky! Die, test subjects!!!"
Lazso five foot steps back and throws a bomb at Az...
...and misses!
Az takes four splash damage, but that's it.
The whole team is up! Remember that you have bonuses to hit from Bless and Inspire Courage, totaling +2.
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Aki sighs as her attempts at diplomacy go unheeded. "So be it then," she responds as she raises her bow and attempts to fire another shot at the deranged man.
Though Aki ceases her song the words still seem to echo through the sewers and linger on much longer than they would normally have any right to.
Both Borox and Ech'Tan run through the poisonous sewage in the sewer to get closer to their target. Both are incredibly hardy, and manage to avoid getting sickened by the sludge that now covers them.
Az misses. Borox misses. The readied shot from Aki misses, and Aki just barely misses on her bow shot on Lazso!
Dain is up!
Click. Whirr.
"I said ye'd be wearing my crossbow bolts, and I'm a dwarf of my word."
Dain hits, but does not crit, Lazso! The crossbow bolt goes soundly home and takes the alchemist down!
Do you stabilize him? What do you do here with the lab, the dying alchemist, and the test subjects?
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"Well! That went much better than it could have," Aki responds as she lowers her bow. "And may I make a suggestion before you finish him off right there?" she continues, giving Az a pointed look. "Delroya said to retrieve some of his samples and his notes, but didn't specify what to do with him or anyone else we found down here."
She glances over at the drug-addled man and then back to the others. "I suggest we take what we need and then either leave these poor people with one of the local temples or leave a note with the authorities with directions to this place, so they can get the help they need. Tie Lazso up and let them find him when they come to investigate. Even if we take what we need, there should be plenty of evidence left here to keep him detained for some time - I hope."
When you search Lazso, you find a potion of Cure Moderate Wounds, masterwork studded leather, two daggers, cloak of resistance +1, alchemy crafting kit, formula book, portable alchemist’s lab, and two more vials of the substance that Az identified earlier as whip.
In his lab space, you also find a journal full of cramped notes that are hard to decipher, but Aki is just able to make them out.
The notes detail learn that whip is a drug of Laszo’s own design, and that he resents that the Aspis Consortium has already begun to mass produce the drug from his imperfect formula. He names several specific individuals within Diobel who he blames for allowing whip to spread before he could perfect it.
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"Ooh, this is perfect - he was foolish enough to actually name names in these notes," Aki smiles as she helps the group decipher the journal. "This is just the sort of evidence that Delroya was hoping we'd find!"
Then she wrinkles her nose. "Even if it took forever to make sense of it. This handwriting is atrocious!"
You alert the authorities of the horrible underground lab, leaving most of the evidence in tact. You take separate notes to give to Delroya, in case she might find it useful, and escort all the sick people to the local temple of Sarenrae.
Having had a challenging day, you get to heal and ready yourselves for Delroya's next message.
Around noon on Fireday, Captain Zendrani calls a meeting on the deck of the Sixwing Drake. “An urchin boy delivered this note just a few minutes ago. I tried to keep him here so we could talk to him, but he slipped away without a word and ran off into the city. I haven't looked at the note—but it seems to be from Delroya.” The captain hands over the note.
Your tactics were certainly unusual, but everything turned out as expected. The shipment is delayed, and the Aspis Consortium is occupied with getting everything back in order. Soon, though, the consortium will get its act together and come to the warehouse to proceed with the operation. There is no time to lose. The warehouse is at the southern edge of the Bristles, where Gull Street meets the water. I will meet you there.
Magali Delroya
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Though relieved to have had some time to rest up after all of the ruckus on their first day in town, Aki is nevertheless ready to move on to the next phase of their mission and fidgets with excitement as the group reads the delivered note.
"'Unusual' she says. In this case I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing," Aki muses. "I suppose it must not have been too bad, otherwise we'd likely not have heard from her again."
"So it looks like we're off to Gull Street then - that shouldn't be too far of a walk from here!"
A large warehouse looms into view at the end of Gull Street. Its main level sits at the edge of the street above a ten-foot drop to the harbor's waters below. A door in the western wall of the warehouse opens, and a woman clad in simple leather armor steps out. Her features display a blend of Taldan and Mwangi heritages, and her crisp accent is difficult to place.
“I am Magali Delroya. You must come quickly, Pathfinders. We do not wish to be seen.” Delroya moves briskly, waving off protests or interruptions, and speaks with the rhythm of her steps. “Questions later. Much is at stake. First you must listen.” Her outward display of authority does not entirely mask her fear.
The small room through the warehouse's western door features a round table and several chairs. “This room is for the guards. They are all too busy dealing with our disruptions, so no one is here for now. That door leads to the docks below,” she says, indicating a door in the southern wall. “Come this way. I will show you the warehouse.” She opens a door in the northern wall, revealing a cavernous storage room. Haphazard stacks of barrels and crates almost reach the ceiling twenty feet above. Two large skylights in the ceiling provide ample light during the day, and a dozen unlit lanterns are spaced around the room. To the east, a wide opening in the southern wall looks out over the loading bay ten feet below. A freight elevator platform rigged to a complex set of pulleys and ropes and a staircase both lead down to the loading bay.
“As you can see, the Aspis Consortium maintains a sizable operation out of this warehouse, which they rent from the Kortos Consortium's Locosta family in exchange for alchemical goods. After tonight, I hope that the relationship between Aspis and Kortos will be irreparably damaged.
“We may have delayed the shipment, but my sources tell me that both the Kortos and Aspis consortia are likely to investigate the warehouse later tonight. I had hoped for more time, but I will not able to move the goods until after midnight. I need your help in holding off the agents until everything is in order. They are not likely to work together, so you should prepare for multiple groups of agents. While I have no qualms about fighting the Aspis agents, if possible we should avoid further antagonizing the Kortos Consortium. Their agents may be willing to look the other way.” She gives you a knowing look.
“Because the agents are on high alert, you should stay at the warehouse until they arrive. We wouldn't want anyone spotted or attacked out in the city before we're ready. That gives you several hours to prepare. Most of the items in the warehouse are simple trade goods designed to make this outfit look legitimate. You may want to take some time to look around, though—you never know what the Aspis Consortium might have stowed away here.”
“I can stay here briefly, if you have questions or need assistance.”
Magali thinks for a moment. "It's hard to say. Some of the people on both sides will likely be hired mercenaries. If you force them to come to you, they'll likely get better use out of melee-type weaponry than ranged. The Aspis wear serpentine metal badges that look much like mine. The Kortos Consortium may favor colors of blue or gold, but just like you, they don't always advertise their affiliations."
She looks at Ech and Borox. "How about you two? You're both rather quiet. Do you have any questions for me?" Then she nods to Aki and Az. "I welcome questions from everyone, but you two don't look like you'll need much prompting."
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I dinnae have spells that would affect multiple targets. Borox strokes his beard. I can memorize spells to aid ye such as Bless or Magic Weapon while channeling positive energy to keep all of ye healed if needed. He shrugs his shoulders. Other than that, I can fight on the line. I do have me sling, but wappin' the noggin suits me just fine!
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Aki furrows her brow as she looks around the warehouse. "I do think if we're forced into battle that we should aim to neutralize but not with lethal force - if at all possible," she agrees.
"There are so many entrances to this place but perhaps we can board some of them up or rig up some hazards for them to deal with - or both!" she suddenly grins. "If this place is full of trade goods to make things look legitimate then we should be able to dig up all the rope and other things we'd need to make tripwires and such."
Delroya nods her approval to Ech’s first question. “Once I've moved the shipment to a safe location, I will have time to sort everything out. The drugs will be disposed of safely, and I will return the Kortos Consortium's goods along with evidence of the Aspis Consortium's wrongdoings. That should sufficiently damage their relationship and the reputation of the Aspis Consortium in Diobel. Some of the other goods belong to the Aspis Consortium, and I'll make sure the Pathfinder Society gets its fair share as payment for your help.”
However, when he suggests that she join the Pathfinder Society, Delroya looks thoughtful. “You are presumptuous, aren't you? I will say only this: when our work is done, I expect to meet with your venture-captain to settle up my payment. After our meeting, I do not know where I will go, but your actions in Diobel have certainly given me much to think about.”
To Borox and Aki she grins. “This is a large space, but maybe you can use that to your advantage. I haven’t searched it all, but I’ve found some interesting things. Did you know that this place has secret doors? Because you were so timely in helping me delay the shipment, I had a little more time to poke around, and discovered these two doors right away.”
“I wonder what else you might find if you search the place? If you’re creative, you might be able to change the terrain of this place to something more to your advantage.”
“Any other questions before I go?”