[PFS] The Fox #4-06: The Green Market (Inactive)

Game Master The Fox

As a reminder, everyone in the party currently has message spell active.

Does message allow us to talk to each other or just to you?

Manuk, with his shrewd bird eyes, will keep on the lookout for any suspicious people or activities.

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24

Replying to Omar, Zeeva says, "None come to mind." She pauses, shakes her head and continues, "Most of these merchants have been partners with the Green Market since before I bought it. I don't think any of them are involved."

Ranar extends his hand palm up to Zeeva. It is noticeable to all but the most oblivious observer that this robotic motion is rehearsed and is a pantomimed gesture meant to create a connection.

We are happy to help. I'm sure it would be wise that we remain with you in case any Aspis fools decide to flex their muscles. Perhaps we should have our more covertly skilled members disperse into the market and the rest of us can create obvious patrols. If I know the Aspis and they have dispensed with subtlety they will soon up the ante and we will be ready to intervene. I'm sure the damage to the market if the Aspis attacks will be minimal, can't say the same about them.

All of my run ins with the Aspis have resulted in a skirmish. It begs the question if the cause is their readiness for conflict or my own.

Zeeva Foxglove takes Ranar's hand in the most natural manner. "Yes, Ranar. You are quite right. Whatever you think is best. That is why my sister recommend you, after all." Her smile is warm and genuine.

"Ok, Pathfinders, what is your plan?"

Everyone can position themselves on the map, wherever they want. If you want to be sneaky, roll Stealth checks. If you want to try to blend into the crowd, roll Bluff or Disguise. If you have any other ideas, just let me know.

Manuk doesn't see anything to cause him alarm.

Out of a side satchel, Ninya pulls out a rather grotesque mask that appears to made of human faces. Sliding it on over her head, her horns and tail seem to be less apparent and she blends even more into her shadowy corner. Her face is unchanged though perhaps less distinct than it was.
Stealth: 1d20 + 23 ⇒ (14) + 23 = 37

"Perhaps I can keep a close eye on the market and your office without being overly obvious. My knives will stay well hidden so as not to raise alarm." Ninya suggests with her best effort at a friendly and warm smile.
Charisma: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (2) - 2 = 0

Zeeva Foxglove recoils at the sight of Ninya's mask, but she keeps her composure. "Just don't...upset any of my patrons," she suggests.

Zahra is uncharacteristically quiet for a few minutes, then speaks up. "I have been up against Aspis three times. Ve had an uncover mission in Bloodcove itself, vhere ve had to hide from the Aspis vhile ve gathered information and support. Another time, ve had to get information on an Aspis operator and uncover the paper trail of his crimes. The final time ve had to deal vith an Aspis assault on the Grand Lodge itself."

She turns to Zeeva. "Each time, if ve fought, it vas the Aspis that initiated the violence. They are ruthless, my friend. If they start a fight vith us or vith you, ve vill finish it because it is our job to protect you. The Aspis likely have been vatching you for some time. They may know your habits. If so, so should ve. Do you live in the vicinity of the market? Vhat is your schedule?"

Zahra frowns as she looks out the office window at the marketplace. "Vhy do you think they vant this spot so much? Are there any stories about the history of this place?"

___________________________________________

Zahra will blend in to the crowds as an ordinary customer, tiger and all.

Bluff, take ten: 10 + 13 = 23

"Thank you Zahra, that is reassuring. I do live in the area, just down the street, really. I'm here six days a week at six morning bells, and I leave at eight or nine bells at night."

She thinks hard on the last question. "Sometimes it seems that the Green Market is..." she pauses searching for the right word, "...lucky. It’s not anything I understand, or control. Yet often I seem to be blessed in running the Market. I don’t know why."

I think we will make that an 18 because of the tiger. (The lie is unlikely.) Tigers are uncommon in southern Varisia, and everyone stares. Still pretty good!

Ninya quietly slips out of the office to a discreet corner of the market.
I should be able to see most of the comings and goings from here without being noticed much.

Without meaning to, her eyes glance over toward the fruit stand she and Vorel had been standing at.
Did [the fruiterer] notice me?, she nervously wonders.
Stealth: 10 + 23 = 33
Perception: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (10) + 12 = 22
Why am I so nervous??

"Darling, perhaps it would work better if Pumpkin came with me?" Omar suggests, hefting his Glaive. With a chuckle, he observes "It isn't like I will not be noticed anyways."

Looking towards Zeeva, he adds "If you don't mind, I will accompany you for the day. When out in the market, I would follow you. When you need to do something in private, please allow me to be within easy shouting range of you."

Sense Motive on people approaching: 10 + 8 = 18 Taking 10, easier than having you roll each time.

"Alright, Pumpkin, you defend Miss Zeeva and Omar!" Before she leaves Miss Zeeva, she raises an eyebrow. "Lucky? Huh. Perhaps Aspis vant to be here not just to sell magic items and veapons. Maybe they vant this place for other reasons."

Zahra blends into the market, looking at the various crafts for sale, and studying the merchants selling them.

Perception: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 1 = 10
Sense Motive: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (14) + 3 = 17

She's too distracted by the pretty clothes and crafts on sale to see much, but maybe she'll notice if any of the craftsmen are acting oddly.

Pumpkin has the 'serve' trick for Omar, and so takes his commands as well as mine. I also have message spell running on him.

Pumpkin looks hopefully at Omar with big, brown eyes as they pass the smoked fish stand. Then he looks hopefully at Miss Zeeva, and balances a fallen fruit on his nose.

"Mrowp?"

Treat?

Yes, Pumpkin has the 'entertain' trick.

Vorel will attempt to stealth in the crowd, he isn't the best at it as he tends to be a rather blunt individual but he will attempt to be stealthy none the less.

Stealth: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (18) + 9 = 27 Turns out he was rather good at it this time

Whispering to the group "Sorry for my outburst, people that underestimate the Aspis are the reason why the Aspis can take such liberties. I have few sympathy for such folk."

Omar reaches into Pumpkin's pack and pulls out a treat. He looks the tiger in the eyes and orders "محافظت می کند!" while pointing at Zeeva. He then gives the tiger the treat.

Standing, he smiles at Zeeva and says "When you are ready, miss."

Ranar stands along with the rest of the group. Suddenly, a thought occurs to him one he turns to his follow agents.

"This marketplace seems to have some sort of unexplained special properties. Perhaps if one of us were able to see the workings of any magics surrounding us we could learn more. I have a wand, however its use is one of my less practiced arts. It may be nothing or it may give us a clue as to why this place is so desirable to the Aspis."

I'll save you the trouble. Omar can cast detect magic but doesn't find anything unusual.

I am on my phone right now. When I get back to my computer, we can move the plot forward again. You all asked Zeeva all of the questions in the scenario except one minor one which won't affect anything. :)

Zeeva begins to give Omar (and Pumpkin) a tour of the Green Market, when a man steps out of the crowd right in her path.

"Zeeva Foxglove," he begins, with a sneer. "Perhaps you should come with us so that we can discuss business in private so as not to cause a scene in such a serene setting as the Green Market."

Two more men, wearing cloaks in the warm Summer air of the semi-open market step out of the crowd to either side of Zeeva.

Zeeva looks to Omar, then back to the man before her. "Narris Devane. You and your hired thugs can go tell the Aspis Consortium that my answer is still 'No.' I have Pathfinders here to help me now."

Perception, take 10: 10 + 1 = 11

Seeing only Omar and Pumpkin, Devane says, "Very well, these lousy Pathfinders are merely an obstacle standing between us and the desires of the Consortium." With that, the two thugs, throw back their cloaks and draw greatswords.

BEGIN COMBAT

Initiative
Ninya: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (3) + 8 = 11
Omar: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2
Ranar: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12
Tika: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (11) + 4 = 15
Manuk: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7 Use Tika's
Vorel: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (4) + 9 = 13
Zahra: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 2 = 13
Pumpkin: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5
Zeeva: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3
Thugs: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (9) + 3 = 12
Narris Devane: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 2 = 20

Initiative Order
Narris Devane
Tika The market is crowded, so you can only charge if you have an ability allowing you to charge through crowds.
Vorel
Zahra
Ranar
Thugs
Ninya
Pumpkin
Zeeva
Omar

My next post will be Narris Devane's turn.

Narris Devane sneers, casts a spell, and says to Omar, "Please make sure that tiger doesn't hurt anyone while we are here."

Will save, Omar: 1d20 + 10 + 2 - 1 ⇒ (12) + 10 + 2 - 1 = 23

Omar shakes off the effect and Devane's sneer changes to a scowl. "Very well, Pathfinder," he spits out the word. "Let's see what your tiger can do." He then moves back into the crowd of people gathered around. You can still see him, though.

______________________

Initiative Order

Narris Devane
Tika — The market is crowded, so you can only charge if you have an ability allowing you to charge through crowds.
Vorel
Zahra
Ranar
Red Thug
Blue Thug
Ninya
Pumpkin
Zeeva
Omar
(Crowd)

Tika, Vorel, Zahra, and Ranar are up. Your actions will take place in the order you post them (unless you specify otherwise).

Even though the market is crowded, you can move normally (except you can't charge). The crowd will disperse at the end of this round, for what it's worth.

If you are using Stealth, Bluff, or Disguise, be sure to make a roll on your turn to keep that up. The DC is 11 in any case, but you can't take 10 now.

Does the market being crowded affect shooting? Cover penalties or perhaps even firing into melee penalties as well?

Does the market being crowded affect shooting? Cover penalties or perhaps even firing into melee penalties as well?

So...the scenario doesn't say. It merely says that the market is crowded. It doesn't even say anything about the crowd dispersing. Let's say that ranged attacks have cover, but no one is in melee at this point. The crowd will disperse at Initiative 0, so the point will be moot the next round anyway. :) Does that sound fair?

Tika, watching the confrontation, surprised the bad guys don't see her and Manuk will see them draw theirs weapon. Since she can't charge, which is her favorite thing to do ever, Tika will draw out her longbow and loose an arrow at red bad guy.

Ranged attack vs bad guy - cover: 1d20 + 10 - 4 ⇒ (16) + 10 - 4 = 22
damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4

"Don't even try to hurt my friends!" Patting Manuk who is ruffling his feathers, "Don't worry, Manuk, we'll get them!"

Heheh. I forgot about Tika and the doomchicken standing there when I wrote my post. :)

Tika's arrow flies true to it's mark. The thug is wounded.

_____________

Tika
Vorel
Zahra
Ranar
Red Thug (4 damage)
Blue Thug
Ninya
Pumpkin
Zeeva
Omar
(Crowd)

Vorel watching the exchange will spit when things turn ugly, draw his bow and cast Gravity Bow on his bow.

Aspis, true to form

He will step out from his cover, revealing himself, "This time Aspis, it is you who are ambushed. Enjoy these last few seconds of your life"

Edit* I forgot to do a spellcraft check, thanks Zahra

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (14) + 14 = 28

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (12) + 5 = 17 Nope.

Handle Animal: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (5) + 18 = 23
"Pumpkin, a spell caster. Grapple him."

She lays down giltterdust on Narris and the Red Thug.
DC 18 or be blinded

Any time, Vorel!

Devane and one of his hired thugs are covered in glittering sparkles. They blind the thug, but Devane turns to look at Zahra and laughs, "You are going to be the first to fall, Keleshite b#$$%."

_______

Ranar is up.

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (18) + 4 = 22 Success! Identified the spell that Narris cast on Omar. Boy was that a wasted spell!

Waiting for my initiative block. Depending on how late it is, it may have to wait until tomorrow before I can post my action.

"Of course this had to occur in a crowded market. What number of casualties would be considered acceptable?"

Ranar moves behind a row of stalls and quaffs an extract.

Targeted Bomb Admixture.

The blind thug (red) steps 5 feet toward Omar and attacks the last place he remembers seeing the cleric. ”Where'd you go? No matter, I'll find you.”

blind attack 1, non-lethal: 1d20 + 13 - 4 ⇒ (6) + 13 - 4 = 15
miss chance ≤ 50%: 1d100 ⇒ 72
damage: 2d6 + 7 ⇒ (6, 3) + 7 = 16

Omar's armor deflects the first blow.

blind attack 2, non-lethal: 1d20 + 8 - 4 ⇒ (15) + 8 - 4 = 19
miss chance ≤ 50%: 1d100 ⇒ 94
damage: 2d6 + 7 ⇒ (5, 2) + 7 = 14

The second wild swing connects. Omar takes 14 points of non-lethal damage.

Will save, glitterdust: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 4 = 13

The other thug lunges toward Pumpkin (Lunge feat) and tries to trip the tiger with his greatsword. ”Here, kitty, kitty!”

trip: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (4) + 13 = 17

Having failed that, he tries again to trip the large cat.

trip: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (16) + 8 = 24

The thug laughs a hearty laugh at the prone tiger, then steps next to Vorel.

_____________

Initiative Order

Narris Devane
Tika
Vorel
Zahra
Ranar
Red Thug (4 damage, blinded)
Blue Thug (–2 AC for one round)
Ninya
Pumpkin (tripped, prone)
Zeeva
Omar (14 points of nonlethal damage)

Ninya and Pumpkin are up.

Hearing the conflict, Ninya moves forward to better view the altercation after quickly drinking her mutagen.
"They're fools"

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (5) + 11 = 16
Stealth: 1d20 + 25 ⇒ (1) + 25 = 26

"Rrr-rr-rr! Rrr-rrr... owww!?" Pumpkin snarls in surprise as suddenly his feet are pulled out from underneath him. Pumpkin has run on grease and ice. He's balanced on beams, climbed the masts of ships, pounced on things from tree branches.

What he's never done before is trip. He didn't even know he could be tripped. He wants to lash out at that smug swordswman, but that's not what Zahra asked him to do. Instead he rolls over, shakes himself off, and runs towards that caster. He has orders, and no Senay tiger has ever disobeyed orders.

Can someone please move Pumpkin next to the nasty caster?

Zeeva uses her healing hex on Omar.

healing: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11

She then runs over to Ranar. "Please, don't kill the Aspis. Just drive them off!" she shouts to her friends.

______________

Omar is up! :)

Zeeva really is a witch! Awesome!

Omar looks at Narris. "That is not my Tiger. It belongs to my wife, who I believe you just insulted."

Quickly looking towards Zeeva, he asks "Capturing them is allowed, isn't it?"

Without waiting for an answer, he then casts Prayer before moving over 15' feet.

Untrained Stealth: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (5) + 0 = 5 The guy is blind, lots of noise from combat, might as well try to confuse him about my exact location.

Cast Prayer, Move

I feel so bad for green bad guy. . .what was that about not killing, did anyone tell Tika that before a guy wondered into the charge lane?

The crowds flee the market. (No more soft cover.)

Narris Devane steps away from Pumpkin and casts a spell on Tika, points and says, "Kill the tiger."

Tika feels that killing Pumpkin is probably the very best thing she can do. (I apologize to Pumpkin for what is about to come around the corner.)

________________

Initiative Order

Narris Devane
Tika (under a suggestion)
Vorel (see below)
Zahra
Ranar
Red Thug (4 damage, blinded)
Blue Thug (–2 AC)
Ninya
Pumpkin
Zeeva
Omar (3 nonlethal)

Tika (suggestion), Vorel*, Zahra, and Ranar are up.

*: Here is Attack of Opportunity info for Vorel. Read AFTER he takes his turn.

@ Vorel: Open these only for the rolls you need, and only after you need them.

I feel so bad for green bad guy. . .what was that about not killing, did anyone tell Tika that before a guy wondered into the charge lane?

Likewise, Pumpkin is lucky to have gotten out of the charge lane. ;)

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6

Zeeva Spellcraft: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (4) + 10 = 14
Darn, I had hoped she might be able to help your characters figure it out.

Narris Devane also yells to the thug, "Bil, they are back over here! Behind you, fool!"

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (10) + 11 = 21

Ninya whispers harshly to Zahra, "Tika's under suggestion!"

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8

Zahra runs past the spell caster, taking the attack of opportunity, and casts mirror image on Pumpkin. "Tika, no! Pathfinders are supposed to cooperate, not kill their friends!"

Pumpkin's Mirror Images: 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5

Devane is unarmed and gives Zahra a dirty look as she runs past him.

Devane points to Pumpkin and tells Tika, "Protect me from that tiger."

That seems reasonable; she can use nonlethal methods, and combat maneuvers.

Tika spurs Manuk into action. Originally planning to attack the red thug her mind now seems clouded and she feels the necessity to protect the spellcaster from Pumpkin.

lance attack/non-lethal + prayer + high ground: 1d20 + 12 + 1 + 1 - 4 ⇒ (13) + 12 + 1 + 1 - 4 = 23
damage: 1d6 + 13 ⇒ (2) + 13 = 15

"Bad kitty"

edit*

Miss chance 1 through 5 is a miss, 6 is a hit: 1d6 ⇒ 3