[Planescape] Barmy as a spire god (Inactive)

Game Master Kludde

Back at the Healing Hovel, the nurse is still there Ohh, Mister Thames is much better now, he is. You can come in and visit him now, you can.

Balthazar Thames is indeed awake, though he still bears bruises and is covered in bandages. He looks at the adventurers and says I don't know you. Who are you with?

Bart presses the business card into Thames' hand, and makes a horrible growling noise as he clears his throat, spluttering a little before looking at the man expectantly.

Balthazar doesn't quite seem to understand That's my business card he says but not my handwriting

"Then it seems that we have a mystery." He will give a quick overview of how they came to get the card and the events that have happened since.

"So, what would you think about that?"

Lun listens as the Oread lays out the tale to Balthazar but does not interrupt.

Ooh Balthazar moans, such strange things have happened lately.

You see, I have nothing to do with getting you that business card. Some red-haired woman gave it to you? I wouldn't be surprised if that were Kylie the Tout, she does that kind of running jobs. Good luck finding her, though, she's better at finding people herself.

Estevan has been awfully pushy lately, he wanted me to investigate some series of portals. Then some guy named Origax, some kind of religious fanatic, he show up and wants to meet me about some leather-bound tome. I thought he was talking about some spellbook, or some book of ancient lore. Instead, he shows me this ledger. Big gargoyle on the cover, just like on that business card. Looked like a merchant's ledger, but contained a neatly encrypted code. Takes a specialist just to notice it's there. Origax asked if I could decipher it, so I set out to take the thing to my office. Next thing I know, some thugs get the jump on me, and I'm left for dead in a Market Ward alleyway. Good thing it wasn't the Hive.

Lun frowns, "It seems that we have been deceived, what shall we do about that my friends?"

"Knew I was right to be suspicious. Bugg'rit, bugg'rit I told em..." the old man says, seemingly unaware of his muttering. "Well, whatever it is it sounds important."

The man folds his arms, mail clinking beneath his brown woolen cloak. "Now, I don't hold with poking my nose in other folks business, but I think we should do what we can to make sure it doesn't fall into hands nefarious."

Origax the floating skull mumbles, Origax is a signer, and a bit of an addle-coved one at that. Bit of a megalomaniac if you ask me.

Sign of One (Signers)
Quite simply, the Sign of One believes itself the center of the multiverse, and that by virtue of this position it can shape the multiverse however it desires. More specifically, each individual member believes themselves the core figure of all that is; some believe they arrived there by chance, some believe in some sense they created it, some believe all individuals are manifestations of the same higher-dimensional meta-intelligence that personifies the whole of reality. Each member of the Sign of One has their own unique philosophy on how they can do what they do, and yet somehow it functions as a coherent organization; it's a common joke that that alone gives some evidence that maybe there's something to it. And indeed, all but the newest Signers can indeed impose their will on the multiverse in minor ways without recourse of magic. Either through prediction or pure force of will, they can achieve small feats that would otherwise be impossible without magic.

"I am confused. Who does the ledger originally belong to. If it is in deed the fellow we gave it back to I see no harm in that at all. Especially if we got it away from this Origax, he sounds like bad news." Cedric says as he scratches his head. "To be honest I feel like I am a bit over my head here. I just wanted to travel the planes."

"The ogre mage was clearly obfuscating the true story from us. The question becomes do we care enough to do anything about that or do we simply move on with our lives and enjoy the fruits of our labors. I would assume that credit note he gave us is still good".

Estevan claims the ledger is his, he came to visit me earlier. Balthasar says.

"So you think that this Origax may have been the one to steal the Ledger from Estevan? We dealt with those thugs, I wonder who they were working for. Even if the book does belong to the ogre mage, he was not completely honest in the telling of his own story".

Cedric shrugs, "It sounded like he may not have been entirely sure who took it." The gnome looks to Balthasar, "was Estevan hostile about the return of his ledger?"

"We will likely never know the whole truth without interrogating all of the people involved. I suggest we move on."

He probably would have been hostile if I had told him about the ledger. You don't keep stuff from Esteban, you know.

He just kept bugging me about this other job, some doors in a 'blink cycle', supposedly only opening every four hundred years. He wanted me to investigate them, but I never got around to it.

"Without the ledger an' whatnot I doubt you'll be troubled again. Mimir. Where can we find this Origax? P'raps he can shed some light on who else is hunting this ledger. What of this Jerkot the merchant mentioned? She with the Signers?"

"First off these old bones could use a rest."

I see two real leads if we want to go hunting for clues.

"We will likely never know the whole truth without interrogating all of the people involved. I suggest we move on."

"But move on to what? Before we were pulled together we were all headed in our separate ways. Now we have been pulled together in something and duped to perform a task. for which we appear to have been compensated. The fact remains that we have been brought together for a mission that we have accomplished.

Do you all believe that these further mysteries regarding the vortex and the Signer are worth looking into? I for one was headed home to my Monastery but if I should arrive there now or a hundred years from now has little import".

Cedric twists his moustache as he thinks. "I think we might be chasing our tails on this one, and I do like the money we got from that last mission." He looks at the still recovering Balthazar, "Seems like you may be out of commission for a while. Perhaps we could take on some of your work load? Like this job with the blinking doors? Sounds fascinating, plus we'd be keeping close to Esteban. We might even earn his trust enough to find out more about that ledger."

"Aye. A portal." Bart says, perking up. "Might be worth looking into." the old man says, pointedly. "A changin' one no less. Could take a feller wherever he wants to go."

Do you have what it takes to be a consulting investigator? Very well, it looks like I'll be her for a while, and I hate to leave a job unfinished.

You might have heard the chant on this man Garmundi, who was preaching at the shattered temple a while ago. He sure gave the Athar the laugh when he jumped down that pillar. Now, call it intuition, but I think that the sudden appearance of that preacher, and the cycle of doors are connected. Perhaps you should talk to Coranthol of the faithless (That's the Attar) and sees if you can get access to where Garmundi - eh - landed.

"I've got nowhere else to go, and I agree with Cedric, the money is good so I'll stick around fer a bit." says the pirate as he accepts the invitation to become a consulting investigator. "I guess it's off to find this Garmundi fellow then."

"Garmundi? I think I've heard of him." he says, "Grew up with the Athar, and I still know people there."

Any place you want to start? The athar?

"Lead the way Krachxton" Cedric says as he steps toward the door.

Krachxton will head back toward his old home and start asking around about Garmundi.

Lun will also ask about Garmundi following Krachxton's lead.

Diplomacy 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (15) + 3 = 18 20 with Outsiders

The group moves through the city, past the great bazaar, passing under the great arch of the gatehouse where the barmies are, crossing that strange stream that separates the hive from the lower ward, to end up at the ruined temple.

It isn't hard to find the latest word on Garmundi: Garmundi? That barmy preacher? Fell down into that gorge in the temple, didn't he? Better for him too, he would have had to pay the music sooner or later. You can't go around in the lady's city spouting things like that! Aoskar returning! The god of portals! The lady would have had him in the mazes for such talk. No, better of counting worms, that one.

From what I heard, the faithless never found his soul bag either. Maybe the gorge was too deep? Nobody is allowed in there, 'cept the faithless. Made the dusties full narky too, happy as a gehreleth's bride they were about that situation, but the attar couldn't be convinced.

Cedric listens to the mans story as the Mimir helps translate some of sigils slang. "So no body has been found and no one knows where that gorge goes? Know who we might talk to if we want access to that gorge?" Cedric asks.

The faithless, for sure. The shattered temple is their turf, after all.

"Is that our next stop then? Have any of you a contact with this faction?"

"As I said, I was raised here." He pauses, seemingly conflicted. "I suppose it's time to go home."

With that, he's going back to his old home to find his parents.

Cedric shrugs and follows Krachxton as he has no knowledge of this place.

"In this gods forsaken place? Always done gave me the creeps." the old knight says, ever the godly man.

The shattered temple of the attar is a busy centre of the faithless. Some of the acolytes are being led around the shattered, guided by more senior members that showcase the failing of the false power.

Greetings, and welcome to the shattered temple. a representative says, what can I do for you?

"I'm looking for Arkaeos and Tzchaka." he says with a smile.

Having never been before, Lun observes the place remaining quite while Krachxton takes the lead.

Arkaeos and Tzchaka? I have not heard of them. the representative says loud enough to be heard by one of the many Attar members walking by.

You, the member say, looking intently at the oread. the sharp features of Arkaeos, but the manes of Tzchaka. Are you truly their son? What coincidence to find you here, if not for the fact that it probably isn't.

Are you seeking advice, or a favour? Either way, our leader Coranthol is rather busy at the moment. What matters are on your mind?

"I am. I have recently returned to Sigil from walking the planes, and I miss them. Please let them know I'm back when you get a chance." He pauses, and then continues in a less sentimental vein. "But our more serious mission concerns the trouble from earlier. We are concerned about the insane preacher. Given the potential repercussions of his foolish actions, we want to ensure that he is dead. We also need to investigate to see if there are others who would continue causing his kind of trouble."

The insane preacher. Yes, he has caused quite the stir. Better his name is forgotten, for what he preached is toxic to the lesser mind. He fell from that pillar, sure to plummet to his death, but his body never was found. We suspect now that the base of the pillar might have held a portal of some sort.

Do you count a diviner among your group? I could be able to grant you a stipend to investigate this matter, as you are properly... aligned.

No Levar snaps from his silence and nudges Cedric as Krachxton speaks to the representative. "It seems our devil friend has contacted me, I was hoping he wouldn't be able to track us so easily in Sigil. He just sent me an annoying little reminder echoing in my head... Should we abide? What about the group?" he whispers to the gnome.

"We have no diviner, but we are skilled at find our way." he says calmly. "I suspect that if he survived, he'll be back.

We certainly do not want this man returning for another round of his dangerous nonsense. Not in this city, let alone at this complex! The tripe he spews is dangerous thought, and goes straight against everything we stand for. I wouldn't be surprised if Origax and his band of fanatics are behind this, seems right up his alley.

So, are you interested in forming a posse to search for this man?

Lun Tsu nods, "Yes, we are".

He looks back at the others for confirmation, to them ... distracted. "Fellows?"

Bart makes a grumbling sound, but whether it indicates approval or disapproval is difficult to say, the old man seemingly preoccupied iwth the suspiciously rat-shaped street meat he purchased several blocks back, smacking his lips delightedly.

Cedric hisses back at No Levar, "You still have it? I thought we were just going to ditch it some where it wouldn't do any harm. That junk plane we were just in would have done nicely."

Distracted by the sudden message of the infernal creature, the pathfinders discuss among themselves, while the Athar clerk waits.

So Krachxton, I have this proposal for you: investigate what happened to Garmundi, the dwarven preacher. Find out who he is, what he knows and where he went. You'll probably find some people here who know the rumour on the streets.