GM Irish, how tall is the ceiling in the area? If I was to summon a lantern archon, can it fly above the other's heads/over the boxes on the map?
The warehouse's ceiling rises to a height of 14 feet, the building itself is completely cluttered with boxes in such a way that it is the textbook description of 'trip hazard'. The entirety of the inside smells of an unpleasant combination of mold and dust, with the peeling paint on the walls appearing to be a faded puke green with a rather significant number of large brown splotches staining the decor. There appears to be space near the ceiling that small flying creatures might zoom above the unsuspecting heads of people below, though the flight lane is filled with just enough dust and cobwebs to be mildly annoying.
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Tereze calls forth a small ball of light and points through the door.
Help ze Warrior woman and Turtle Knight!
As she says this a the small slash on Gwen heals up.
The light zips to he door and touches Gwen granting her the blessing from above.
Then with that taken care of Tereze Casts Detect magic and starts to scan the area for any magical auras.
The thief targeted by Fiona's curse staggers on his feet for a moment, but somehow manages to resist the effect! Meanwhile, Gwendallyn arm-locks the thug into a position he just can't get out of! Tetsudo and Roshi make quick work of the remaining thief, their combination of attacks knocking the man unconscious! The thug in Gwendallyn's pin struggles fruitlessly, the man cursing viciously in Kelish while Nasir blushes furiously at the words he is hearing.
Initiative: (Round 3)
Belal (-16, pinned by Gwen)
Locke
Tereze and Friend
Tetsudo
Gwenddallyn (7 temp HP, pinning Belal)
Fiona
Thugs 1&2 (Red sleeping, Green unconscious)
Nasir
The thug in Gwen's pin flinches at the impending lance that almost perforates his brain, but breathes a sigh of relief at his brief reprieve. The cowering Nasir gets up from his groveling as he comments, "Do you need rope? I have a crate full of them for market. I wouldn't not mind you using some if it would prevent me from being killed by these thieves!" He gestures to a nearby box with stylized Kelish words on the front. Opening it reveals a variety of ropes with a panoply of designs and colors to choose from.
As Gwen deftly begins tying up the thugs, the merchant turns to Locke and Tereze. "Please do not hurt me. See, I help you all, yes? This statue, I did not know it was so important." He turns towards a compartment behind the counter, pulling out a nine-inch tall golden statuette of a giraffe. Nasir thrusts it at the Pathfinders along with a coin purse containing 600 platinum pieces, eager to get it out of his life. "Take it. I will also give you some coins if you will keep this...incident...between us, yes?"
Nasir nods emphatically as he begins to tidy his warehouse. The group continues on their way to collect the final statue.
........
After further information gathering, the Pathfinders learn from several citygoers about the last statue buyer's location. A merchant by the name of "Saldin Marafi" runs a stall out of the back of the Secure Market to the south of the Qalli Trading Post. The Secure Market appears to live up to its name, as the Market itself is a walled-in enclosure that circles the foundations of an ancient tower rises above the businesses below. The wall has a single gated entry, through which a stream of merchants and customers bustle in and out.
A pair of guards stand at this gated entry, near them is a sign that bears what appears to be a paragraph of stylized Kelish words. Underneath it are symbols, passing along a more universal meaning of their intent: a symbol of a sword with a red "X" through it and a stick figure casting a spell with a red "X" through it. The group will notice that the sentry appears to be collecting weapons and the like from individuals entering, tagging them, and storing them in a secure locker to be returned upon their exit.
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Well I can keep you healed, and I highly doubt they will object to me healing myself if it comes to it.
Fiona, well it will be hard to ever get mad at her for just looking at people ze wrong way. So I guess she will be fine.
She looks to Testudo.
Do you want to stay outside, or head in without your weapons? You will probably have ze hardest time.
The group approaches the guard station, where they thoroughly inspect everyone's gear; tagging and storing any obvious weapons in the weapon locker. One guard approaches Tetsudo and questions him about the turtle, giving him a tag to place somewhere on Roshi identifying the turtle's name and owner's name in the event the animal acts unruly. They then allow the Pathfinders to pass through the gate into the Secure Market. The moment everyone passes through the gate, they feel an odd tingly sensation as abruptly all magical items that are carried abruptly cease functioning!
The bazaar in the Secure Market appears very organized, with all merchant stalls very clearly marked by painted lines in the ground and merchant vendor licenses placed almost proudly in plain sight on each stall. Moving about the bazaar for ten minutes will easily locate Saldin Marafi's stall towards the back of the Market. He appears to be a very richly and colorfully dressed merchant, the man boisterously proclaiming his wares to passerby as his two body guards stand brusquely next to him. One of his wares in particular stand out, an exquisitely shaped iron statuette of an eagle in a place of honor amongst his items; priced oddly at almost unobtainable prices compared to the rest of his wares.
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Locke stands still for a second.
Enclosed area, removal of anything dangerous. A strange tingling around the place. Good chance that there is some means against magic active here.
Clever, if inconvenient. My special alchemy extracts will likely not work.
"Fiona may have noticed too, haven't you.", slightly turning head towards her.
"There's some anti magic field active on this place, that continuous tingling sensation is a byproduct of it. Depending on whether the one who did it was a novice or an expert in it, it could last briefly or as long as we're in here."
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As Tereze walks into the market she suddenly looks at the others with worried look on her face.
I can not feel you... Zat means while we are here I can not heal you.
Suddenly faint whispering can be heard by each of you as the spirit that haunts Tereze seems to rejoice in it's newfound freedom.
Well, how do we approach zis statue? Is zis just a negotiation?
GM Irish, what else is sold at the shop besides the statue?
Tereze attempts to take better stock of what the merchant is selling, noting that most of his wares seem to be unusual antiques from regions all across Golarion. Everything on display is market in the tens of thousands of gold pieces, with even the most simple-seeming item in the stall is priced for a small fortune. Saldin notices Tereze's interest in the items, the man approaching her with a broad sleazy smile and his arms gesturing jovially at his products.
"Honored customer, it appears that you have a fine eye for quality! I carry nothing but the rarest artifacts for collectors such as yourself, yes? Come, take a look and see what I have to offer!"
-An ancient-looking drinking horn, purported to come from a lost dwarven keep in the Five Kings Mountains
-A battered harrow deck wrapped in a deep blue silk cloth embroidered with silver stars.
-A prayer scroll written in Thassilonian, a placard indicating it contains a treatise on the Virtues of Rule that formed the basis of Thassilonian society.
-A brightly colored ghoonghat bedecked with glittering gems and gold embroidery, with an exceptionally jarring brownish-red stain in the middle of the veil.
-A well-worn large stone mortar and pestle, supposedly used in the past to make one of the batches of the sun orchid elixir by the alchemists of Thuvia.
-An almost ostentatiously bejeweled scimitar in an equally outrageous sheath, labeled to have been wielded by a mighty shaitan under the command of a Vudran maharajah.
-An exceptionally well-polished set of plate armor, adorned with a significant amount of holy symbols of Iomedae. The set is labeled as having belonged to a templar involved in the First Mendevian Crusades that established the borders of the Worldwound.
-An iron eagle statuette, purported to have come from the vaults of an ancient Osiriani pharaoh.
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You have such a variety of zings. Why don't you tell me about zem.
Like zis armor. Tell me about it and how you came to have something like zis?
Her goal is to get him talking about a few of the items before asking about the statue to see if he is open to negotiating the price, but not making it obvious which item she is truly interested in.
She is also looking to see if she can detect anything fishy in what he talks about.
You have such a variety of zings. Why don't you tell me about zem. Like zis armor. Tell me about it and how you came to have something like zis?
"Ah, yes! I remember this acquisition clearly, as if it was yesterday. Several pilgrims passed through the Market on their way to Katapesh, you see..." Saldin segues into a monologue of unimportant details, the majority of them being heavily embellished praises for the suit of armor. He states that it possess the blessings of Iomedae herself, protecting its wearer from misfortune in combat. The merchant does profess that such blessings are suppressed by the protections of the Market, and that all sales are final; going on to list the armor's price at 10,000GP.
Her goal is to get him talking about a few of the items before asking about the statue to see if he is open to negotiating the price, but not making it obvious which item she is truly interested in.
He does not seem to notice your social engineering of the conversation, allowing the group to learn that he has placed a firm base price of 200,000GP on the iron eagle statuette. Saldin seems especially proud of this particular item, as he boasts that the statuette is purported to grant exceptional blessings and luck to those who engage in the arcane magical arts.
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Hmmm... if all sales are final, would you be willing to let me try on ze armor before I buy it? I would hate to buy something so valuable only to have it not be usable by myself.
She flashes a winning smile at the merchant.
If you have someplace private in back, I could even do zis here. She thinks for a moment before continuing I suppose, iIf you don't have someplace private, perhaps your guards could hold up a blanket near the back of the stall and I could try this on behind the blanket?
The corner of the merchant's mouth quirks slightly at Tereze's request, while the two bodyguards elbow each other with a smirk and snigger at the blanket comment. Saldin clears his throat loudly, silencing their antics as they resume attention. "I apologize, my lady. Due to the nature of these artifacts, I have to insist you buy it first before trying it on. Terrible incident in the past with someone who tried it on before buying it, tried to run away with it you see." He shrugs expansively as he looks at his guards. "Hence, the hired help. People these days, right?"
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Oh! Zat is so terrible! I would have zought ze shoppers here would be better zen zat!
She looks down and reaches out and touches the armor and shakes her head.
Oh well, I guess I need to zink about zis. Buying something like zis without knowing if it would fit... it is a lot of money... Let me look around and zink about zis.
She turns and starts to walk away.
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Fiona sighs slightly, but Gwen puts her hands on her hip.
"You two boys, i noticed those pervy looks. Don't be getting any crazy ideas.", she continues a distraction by berating them on manners towards a lady, at which Fiona softly pokes Locke with her elbow.
Locke quietly wanders towards the blind spot of the shop.
If they miraculously manage to notice, Locke would fly out of the walls quickly to a nearby back alley in sight, and use an extract to alter self into a , kitsune girl.
Stashing the face mask and wearing the mantle inside out to have a slightly different coloring, if possible.
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Between the mixture of Tereze distracting the merchant, and Gwen occupying the bodyguards, Locke is able to find a perfect opportunity to palm the statue. As he slinks away completely and utterly unnoticed, the group extricates themselves from their interactions with the merchant and the guards; rejoining the alchemist a safe distance away further in the Market. Moving quickly and unobtrusively out of the Secure Market, they are able to gather their weapons from the guards at the checkpoint; magic swiftly returning to everyone's gear and persons upon exit from the Market boundaries.
Should the group return back the Lodge, they will find Yasmin waiting expectantly for the Pathfinders. "Welcome back! I hope that your efforts were successful?" she asks hopefully. The Venture-Captain pulls out a sealed envelope, bound by a purple wax seal. "While you were out, a messenger came by to deliver this; asking for you all by name. Were you expecting a letter at all?" she asks as Yasmin passes the envelope to Tereze.
Pathfinders,
It appears that you were able to obtain the statues, and without the ample assistance that I surely could have offered you. I find this most excellent; it appears that the Society still has resourceful agents at their disposal. Should you be amenable, I would be happy to offer dinner at my expense at The Dashing Dune tavern this evening. Consider it...an apology...for the inconvenience happened earlier this morning.
~Torch
P.S. Tell Yasmin that chest won't do squat with those statues. Or don't; I don't particularly care either way. An alloy of noqual mixed with lead will do the trick, if the Society will actually spend money on such things.
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Tereze takes the letter and opens is carefully.
Oh... Then as she finishes reading the letter she hands it to Yasmin. You will want to see zis.
She shakes her head and turns to the others.
Ze letter is an invitation to dinner by Grandmaster Torch. He knows already zat we got ze statues, so clearly he has people watching our every move. After what we have seen, do we want to join him tonight or not?
It will be dangerous, and ze man is clearly out for himself, but do we want to risk getting on his bad side?
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Fiona seems hesitant.
"Past dealings have been...awkward. I can't say i'm looking forward to it, but if it prevents upsetting him...."
Locke nods.
"I've still got all my extracts left for the day, i suspect there will be some small talk from his side, and we might be out sooner than we may expect. We will see."
Yasmin takes the note, reading it with appropriate concern; her eyebrows lifting almost into her forehead when reading the bottom of the letter. She glances towards her warded trunk in the corner of the room and sighs. "That thing cost a fortune. Quite an irony to know that we will have to tell the wizards to keep it down for a while until these statues are moved to the Grand Lodge for safekeeping." She looks back at the group seriously as she continues.
"I will leave it to your discretion if you wish to take him up on his offer. The man's ambitions and objectives are even sometimes a mystery to the Venture-Captains. If you go, keep your wits about you; you could learn something potentially to help you in your future interactions with Torch." Yasmin begins to tidy some papers on her desk. "You are of course welcome to stay the evening here at the Lodge as well. Your payment for the mission will be gathered by tomorrow morning at the quartermaster's office, when you are ready."
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Gwen would probably keep Fiona company if so, and Testudo coming along with us 2, likely, to heroically recount his slaying of a monstrously sized centipede.
Just after they exit the lodge, Locke notices a stand and heads over.
It's a jewelry stand. Earrings, bangles, necklaces, the works.
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Locke browses at the vendor, who seems to try sell the most exquisite to his customer. Who kindly declines, and points at a few select items across the stand.
Gwen: "Unusual, i wouldn't have taken Locke for the type to go and buy jewelry, be it pricey or affordable. You three have fun, as far as could be had, at the dinner with Torch. Fiona and i will take a walk, see you later." Both wave.
Locke returns, after paying the vendor.
"There were items i just -had- to purchase.", comes at a somewhat excited tone."[/b]
"Tereze, would you pick a number from 1 to 5?"
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Locke takes a vial from a pocket, containing an orange-pink liquid, and uncorks it.
Taking from another what seems to be a collection of hair samples.
Dropping a hair sample 4th from left into the flask, it starts bubbling slightly, then calming down to a yellow color.
"Bottoms up.", but still a straw is used.
Locke the pulls the hood back, as long blonde hair grows quickly.
Mask goes off, and at Tereze looks the face of a young brash looking blonde.
"So, how's this. Pretty neat huh?"
*looks into the blade of a carried dagger*
"Since you chose this form, guess i'll try out these items too."
Locke puts on the purchased small earrings and a necklace with sea blue-green stones.
"They look pretty good on current me, wouldn't you say?"
Locke's new appearance seems to be quite well designed, as the alchemist joins Tereze in receiving numerous unsolicited comments from young men along the pair's trip to the tavern later that evening. The Dashing Dune appears to be a well-to-do establishment along one of the more higher end parts of the Qalli Spice Market, with several bouncers standing near the entrance to ward off the overly curious or the uninvited. One of them, a burly muscular male human with a bald sun-burnt head looks at the two Pathfinders as they approach; checking a scroll that he has in his hands as he squints at pair with his beady eyes.
"Welcome to The Dashing Dune, where quality service is not a mirage on the horizon," the bouncer says in an out-of-place deep gruff voice with an extremely bored tone. "Names, please? Guest list says to expect a Varisian lady, not quite sure about your friend."
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During the walk to the establishment, Locke rolls eyes at some of the vulgar comments.
Spiking a water supply with a larger amount of the formulae, would it work? It would be amusing to see a number of multiplets no longer in the position to easily behave like this.
At the establishment,
"My name is Locke."
If the bouncer is searching the list....,
"Perhaps there might be the description of 'masked individual' behind the name, or something along those lines."
The bouncer scans the list before settling on an entry. "Aye, here be your name. Your host had a very vague description for ye. Come on in..." he gestures half-heartedly behind him towards the doorway.
Entering the tavern reveals a large circular central seating area with a crackling open fire pit. Multiple smaller circular side rooms branch off from the center area, presenting more cozier and private areas for guests to sit down to eat. A white-washed stone counter serves as the bar area, with a large variety of alcohols and drinks arrays decoratively on stone shelves behind it. Beautiful women from a modest array of races, dressed in gauzy and colorful veiled clothing, come in and out of a swinging door next to the bar area carrying aromatic food to the tables throughout the tavern.
Torch's table is easily identified by his two brutish half-orc guards flanking the entrance to the side room. The Grandmaster is dressed in clean white thawb, a purple-patterned kufiya covering his scarred head. Arrayed on the table before him are several platters of hummus, fattoush, and tabouleh; with a platter of a variety of breads nearby for dipping and tasting. A clear glass pitcher of water rests on the table, with a number of jeweled drinking vessels nearby await for whatever drinks one desires. Torch is pouring something from a flask on his hip into one of these vessels as Tereze and Locke approaches.
"There you are, wasn't sure if you were going to show up. Missing some of your friends, it looks like." He gazes at Locke for a moment with a discerning eye as he snorts sharply. "Ditched your mask it seems. You can always tell who fiddles with potions, its very hard to cover up the smell of some of the chemical reagents, even with perfume. Have a seat. Feel free to order whatever drinks you want."
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To Locke before the meeting.
I like ze new look. Tereze scans Locke over then seriously says in Varisian. Although, I will warn you that Torch will probablly leer at you. He seems to be that kind of a guy. But you'll get used to it if look like this for a while.
Then latter in the tavern.
Hmmm... that kind of place. The girls could use some dance lessons. If they are going to dress like that, they should look comfortable in it.
But she keeps her face frozen in a smile as she heads as she heads over to Torch.
Ahh Master Torch, So good of you to invite us. It was truely unexpected. She pulls out her own chair and sits down, completely ignoring the body guards. I trust ze rest of your bath was relaxing? Although from you letter, clearly you were listening to the strange events that were happening in the city today.
She catches the eye of a server says off hand Tea please, black with lemon and a small pot of honey on ze side.
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Back at Tereze's approval,
"Thank you.", with a smile.
"This concoction mimics another's form to the literal level, from the moment the hair sample was cut. Thankfully, vocal cords included, yay for absence of vocal impediments.
It lasts only a certain amount of time, so i will be taking a few extra doses during our appointment with torch."
"As long as Torch is not going to act like a lecher, i will be fine."
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Currently at the appointment,
He gazes at Locke for a moment with a discerning eye as he snorts sharply. "Ditched your mask it seems. You can always tell who fiddles with potions, its very hard to cover up the smell of some of the chemical reagents, even with perfume.
"And good evening to you too.
You are correct, some reagents take longer to lose the fragrance of, though there are some exceptions. I like using those exceptions.""Perfume, ah well, i was not able to find a stall with it on such short notice."
Locke's surprised at Tereze's order,
"Eh? You drink your tea like that as well?"
"I will have a black lemon tea as well, if you please."