"Just one." the man said, nodding as he lifted up his end. A moment later, he started running forward - and with the fog the way it was, it didn't take the two of you very long to clear out of it, pulling the chest free and lowering it to the ground outside the area. "You go get the other - I need to watch this one!" the man said, pointing into the fog where light was still gathering.
do i think that he is trustworthy? i am wondering if he is actually a member of the enemy. just want to make sure i'm not leaving the baby with the dingo here.
You're unable to tell anything in particular - though visually, he's identical to one of the people you saw carrying the chests before, so at least there's that.
As you move, you can feel psionic energy surging towards one particular point within the mists. Shouting continues to be heard around you, but it's muffled and almost indistinct - quickly dying out as something clamps down on the noise again and leaving you nearly deprived of your normal senses. You've already been through the eastern side of the smoke - that's where you found the other chest - so the remaining one is probably on the western side if it's here at all.
Moments after the sound disappears again, a dark shape suddenly appears, then goes flying past you, only two feet away from your position - and it looked like another of the guards you saw before. Advancing in that direction (to find out what tossed him) or following and checking on the guard to be sure he's all right... they're just two of the options available to you.
As you pass through the mists, you abruptly find yourself right in front of a strange-looking entity that's simply floating there. It quickly raises one hand, preparing to slam out at you...
...but it's just barely too slow to beat your reaction time.
Knowledge (Psionics) DC 12:
The floating entity is an Astral Construct, called into being by a psion of some kind. It seems to be a third-level construct - within the domain of a weaker psion, not a greater manifester.
It is indeed immune to bleeds - as you can see from your attack.
The first blow fails to find purchase, but the second slams into the strange creation, bashing away a bit of armor and vitality. With no hesitation at all, the existence slams out with one arm...
Slam:1d20 + 8 ⇒ (9) + 8 = 17
...but it bounces off of the defenses your mind projects without doing any real harm to you. However, it doesn't seem afraid... or excited, or capable of showing any emotion at all as it continued its assault. Whatever this thing is, it's probably not alive... and nobody's going to complain if you can find a way of breaking it. Well, nobody you care about, anyway...
With the powerful blow, it's becoming increasingly clear that this fight may not favor you unless you take it seriously and give it your all. However, the mist does seem to be lifting slightly, and you can see beyond the strange foe to the second chest. This one still seems to be locked tight - but at least you've found it.
The physical assaults narrowly missed the opposing construct, which turned to face the newcomer and bashed out with its arms in an attempt to strike at your own construct.
It was about the least powerful hit the opposing construct could make, but it landed solidly, bashing at your own creation in an attempt to quickly wear it down.
Your own attacks don't quite manage to land on the opposing entity, but your summoned construct's main attack connects quite solidly - though it doesn't seem to be having much luck tripping its foe.
Slam:1d20 + 8 ⇒ (7) + 8 = 15
The retaliatory strike didn't actually accomplish much, either...
Incidentally, if you'd like to speed things up, you can just roll a bunch of attacks and note your criteria for stopping. "Until I get hit", "Until my own Construct's gone", whatever. ^^ That can help get through these kinds of fights in a much less time-consuming way.
alrighty, i'd keep this fight up until something happens near the chest, or someone else enters the fray, or the construct is down. My construct has two more rounds on it.
One of the unfortunate things about an Astral Construct's trip ability was the need to actually strike the opponent - and neither of its slamming blows managed to land, though at least it had distracted the other construct before vanishing.
At a certain point, watching the constructs flail ineffectually at each other was actually kind of amusing... and one of your flurry strikes managed to connect in the meantime, dealing further damage to the machine before it turned back to you.
After a full barrage of attacks - and one solid blow that hit you - the opposing construct finally flashed and failed, collapsing to the ground and leaving the chest nearby. You hear a sharp cry of alarm a moment later - probably from the person who conjured the construct in the first place and was just alerted to its destruction.
The chest is quite heavy - it's obvious why two men were carrying it instead of just one, and you're slowly able to start dragging it out of the fog. Moments after you emerge, the mist simply vanishes, drawn into a small orb that a figure is holding. This seems to be the source of the light effects from before... and you feel a brief surge of hostility from their direction before they turn and start running the other direction. A few people are still laying on the ground, one of them hurt rather badly, though not all of them belong to the people you were hired to help... and one of the guards staggers over and grabs an unconscious young woman by the hair, limping as he drags her towards you. "Your help... is appreciated." he managed to pant out. "You want this one? If not, I'm selling her as payment for all of this trouble."
The man blinked slightly, apparently not quite sure whether your answer was 'certainly, I'd love my own slave as payment for all of this nonsense' or 'certainly, I'm feeling generous and have no problems if you creatively get something more out of all this because you probably weren't paid enough for this job'. Over the next few minutes, he simply dropped the unconscious slave-to-be by the chests (after tying her hands and feet tight), then went to check on his buddies, rousing them before too many onlookers could reappear.
"All right, job's not finished yet. Everything there, Keth?"
Another guard flipped the lids up, briefly glancing over the contents before shutting them again. "Yeah, I think so. Looks like we managed to stop them before they could run off with everything. Gonna need new locks, though." he grabbed one end, then nodded to you. "Let's get going, yeah? 'Less you wanted to pick the pockets of those other ones first?" he didn't seem like he'd object - it was hard to have sympathy for anyone who'd assaulted you.
"Buncha street rats. They only answer to their own gang." one of the guards said, scowling. "I'll talk to the boss about organizing a hunt, see if we can't round some of them up so they stop bothering honest folk. They're getting far too brazen if they're making attacks like this."
There wasn't anything magical (or especially psionic) on the bodies, but you did manage to find 40 GP in coins. Alongside those were a couple of gems, which one of the guards gave a quick appraisal for - in his line of work, identifying value seems to be important. The most notable is a Black Pearl (worth about 500 GP, possibly used as a focus for psionic powers), as well as a Chrysoprase (55 gp), a piece of Coral (90 gp), and a Jasper (45 gp).
know psionics:1d20 + 8 ⇒ (6) + 8 = 14as to what kind of powers it would be a focus for
"Yeah. Alright, best we move out then before they regroup. Once we make a report, I'll figure out what to do with the girl. Never had a slave before."
planning on releasing her, slavery is kinda icky but maybe she has some good info. i figure she might be better disposed towards Harath if he lets her go free. Also, was she one of the original slaves, or just a victim of opportunity? or one of the aggressors?
The captured girl was one of the robbers attacking the guards. There were no normal slaves being transported with this cargo - just the two chests.
The black pearl doesn't seem to have been attuned very well, if at all - it would definitely suffice as a raw material in psionic crafting, though, as its overall purity seems to be quite high.
The lead guard, however, just grinned. "Always nice to have somebody else carry things." he said as the group began moving forward. "Take care of all the little things so you don't have to. A rat like this is only going to fight you and try to escape until you train her properly. Still, slavery's best for 'em." he added thoughtfully. "Just gonna die young if she keeps being a criminal. A good owner who can keep rowdy slaves in line makes all the difference."
hmmm, sympathy for her is out the window then... perhaps i should just let them take her. Harath isn't much the slave-keeper type (mostly because i dont want to actually roleplay frightening a slave into submission with mental assault, and he doesnt have a place to keep her from a logistical point of view)
That is, of course, up to you. ^^ On the bright side, at least you're getting a better feel for what type of people you're dealing with. Could be helpful, that...
"Hmm, having no slave-keeping experience myself at present, perhaps it is best i keep to what i know, and leave the slave-keeping to the professionals."
With that, Harath assists them in carrying the loot along to its destination.
The guard shrugs - apparently not caring too much either way - and the entire group hustles along before dragging the chests into the building and towards where the other officials are waiting. In mere moments, the bags are whisked out of your hands, and the guards take a few moments to explain the details of the incident to the man who gave you the job. He listens carefully, nodding a few times - and breaks into a smile at the end.
"Right tricky ones, those thieves." he said, a pleased tone in his voice. "Still, sounds like they'll think twice before hitting us again. You've held up your end of things, so let's talk about that job. What are you looking to do here?" he asked.
"Make money, mostly. I have very little beyond what I carry on my person. I just got to the city within the last week, so I want to get my bearings without having to live in an alley."
The guards laughed - seeming honestly amused, not mocking. "Aye, well, the pay here is quite nice." one of them said, gesturing to the chests. The one who seemed to be in charge simply nodded his head, considering.
"We cater to some of the richest people in the city." he said, folding his hands behind his back. "Of course, some of them do have unusual tastes - I once sold fifteen tieflings to a man building a public education facility about the dangers of Hell. Best one-day profit of my life." He gestured to one of the rear doors, inviting you to follow him through it and into a corridor that sloped downwards as it went further back. "The general trade is an important part of our economy, of course, but specialized slaves are where the real money is at. In fact, that's why we were in such a hurry to get those chests - there's an auction going on tonight, with one of our most reliable customers, and we needed the clothes and gems to finish our display. I want you to attend this auction - it'll be an easy transaction and help you get a feel for how we do things. However..." he hesitated slightly. "This slave requires an extra degree of care. The buyer likes oddities, see, and this one's the oddest thing I've ever seen. I'll understand if you'd rather stay away from this transaction."
"Curse you, you play the strings of my curiosity too well." Harath smiles slightly. "An oddity sounds quite interesting, although in what capacity would i be attending this auction?"
"Mostly, you're there to be seen." the man explained as the two of you headed even deeper inside. He held a hand up to his lips a moment later, then pointed into what looked like a small window made of reinforced glass. Within the indicated room, you can see a sleeping female. Several things about her are immediately distinct - but most notable is the fact that the entire left half of her body appears to be made from some kind of silvery metal, and not in the sense of a smooth transformation. Rather, the metals (and minerals, now that you look closer) seem to have formed countless tiny little gears that ensure smooth movement and functionality. "She'll be up late, so we're having her sleep now." the man muttered. "And trust me, she gets weirder. Bloody good craftsman, though." He indicated piles of objects strewn around the room. Weapons, armor, jewelry, clothing, paintings... there didn't seem to be much that this slave hadn't at least tried to do. "We're not anticipating any problems at the event - most of the buyers bring their own guards, and you'd have to be insane to take on that much security - but you'll have a chance to meet some of our buyers and move on from there. Trust is one of the most important things in our line of work."
oh cool, she sounds kinda like my second idea for a character for this game.
When they move a distance away from the slave so as not to wake her, Harath asks, "Interesting, and quite unique as you said. How did this one come to be enslaved?"
After the man elaborates on the event, Harath says "Ah, I can imagine. So the folks from earlier, will they be among the attendees? I can imagine they might be crazed after failing their objective earlier."
"It was actually fairly easy." the man said, glancing into the room for a moment. "Her family came to us, begging us to take her off their hands. They seemed to think she was cursed." he shook his head sadly. "Didn't realize what kind of a treasure they had. Those rats shouldn't show up, though - not unless they're a hell of a lot braver than they should be after losing so badly earlier." Any street gang would eventually strike again if it wasn't totally dismantled - but losing several members (and not even needing to try and rescue one of their own) was a rather good reason to stay far away.
Your (apparent) new boss snorted. "It's all a big show, really." he explained. "The buyers like showing off their wealth, but they have a gentleman's agreement about most purchases. A lot of the bid increases are just for show so they can remind everyone of how rich they are. Still, it's more money for us, so I'm not complaining." he still seemed slightly bemused by the habits of the city's wealthiest inhabitants, as if he couldn't understand who would be that blase about spending. "Expect a few to feign interest... but if they change their minds and start bidding for real, don't worry about it. That's usually when the fun happens."
The man grinned and nodded, then took you back to one of the upper rooms to explain the venue and your task in more detail. Night arrived sooner than it felt like it should have, and you soon joined a procession heading into a tunnel buried at the bottom of the building. Nobody seemed inclined to walk the normal streets, but you did have the chance to see what your earlier job was all about. Five slaves were being delivered to the auction, and each of them had been dressed in fine clothes and jewels, with some serious thought put into the overall design. After ten minutes or so of walking through the twisty tunnels - no place for people who weren't familiar with them - the entire group emerged into a massive underground cavern. A few tall pillars dotted the area, stretching floor to ceiling - and simple observation was enough to note that this seemed to have been constructed beneath a massive building up above.
The buyers and their guards seem to be milling about what looks to be some sort of buffet, and a few room dividers make it hard for them to see back here.
"All right, Adrietta, you're up." one of the guards said. The half-mechanical girl yawned widely, but nodded and focused. The air around her began to twist and warp as psionic energy filled the air, and a faint aura formed around her mechanical side. Two arms literally built themselves out of her shoulder, obviously mechanical instead of humanoid. That was odd enough, but her fleshy half began to twist as well, shifting around as something fused with it and two added shadowy, organic arms pushed out of her right shoulder. She yawned again... and the arms quietly busied themselves with brushing her hair and smoothing out her outfit. Well, now it was clear why her outfit hadn't been covering those parts of her body...
A few of the other slaves had stepped back, looking a bit nervous, but the apparent highlight of today's activities didn't seem particularly bothered by their feelings. Still, with this twisted form, it wasn't hard to see why ordinary villagers might have been just a bit frightened. One of the other guards, meanwhile, flashed you a grin. "The nobs're gonna go nuts for this." he predicted cheerfully. "C'mon, let's get to our posts." he lead the way towards an area behind the stage, where a number of other slaves had been gathered. Most of them were quietly talking to each other, looking somewhat nervous (though not outright afraid). The guards had a more serious showing - quite a few of them were wearing a white outfit with a solid blue stripe going across their chest, and they were barring what looked like one of the few exits to this... auction hall. A wooden platform - its purpose as the auction stage quite clear - separated the area where you were from where the buyers were.
One of your companions tapped you on the shoulder a moment later. "Boss wants you to take a message to our buyer." he said quietly. "Tall man, dressed the same as those guards with the stripes, but about fifty medals on his chest to go with it. Let him know Adrietta's ready as promised and make sure he's still interested. Don't ask him about the money - we know he's good for it."
autohypnosis to remember the passages DC 15:1d20 + 5 ⇒ (19) + 5 = 24
Harath walks into the room and looks about for the man fitting the description. assuming he finds him, otherwise ignore He then reports to the man, "Good Evening, Sir. The one you seek is ready, if indeed you are interested."
Not for eight hours, no. There would've been some leisure time, however.
The man you were sent to find is much as described - and he carries with him the attitude of one who is utterly used to getting what he wants. "Excellent." he said, lifting his glass a bit. "I heard there was something of an incident down at the docks earlier?" he seemed to be inviting you to give your take on it.
The buyer laughed, clearly amused at the thought. "I see, I see. It's always good to hear that one is buying from competent men. Pass my compliments to Erik." he tilted his glass again, attention moving elsewhere... only for him to pause and turn back to you. "...How familiar are you with the powers of the mind?" he asked abruptly.
The buyer looked at you for a few long moments, clearly making a decision of some kind. "It's very difficult to find good help these days." he sighed out. "If you're any good with blocking it, I may want to borrow you from Erik sometime. The powers of my slaves sometimes interact in odd ways, you see, and I'd like to isolate that a bit more without needing to send them all over the country."
"Blocking it? Hmm. I could probably shield a mind from being analyzed to a degree without much difficulty. To do more would require some... improvisation. Admittedly, my abilities are limited, but I might learn something from them. What sort of interactions have you witnessed?"
know psionics:1d20 + 8 ⇒ (12) + 8 = 20 to analyze his response, if any
The man began to sketch a loose outline of the issue. The slaves he bought were - like Adrietta - often on the odd side, and in many cases had power that couldn't be entirely contained within their bodies. Strange colors might appear in the air, or flashes of light, odd sounds... on more than one occasion, fairly valuable objects had simply broken without anyone touching them, particularly when the slaves were a bit agitated by something.
It's hard to say for sure - the man is clearly not an expert on this subject, which is why he's asking you for help - but it may be a case of subconscious rejection on the part of the slaves in question. If one likened their powers to spheres around their bodies, then they might instinctively react when another sphere pushed in on them and threatened their space. The problem would be finding a way to stop their powers from interacting with each other without stopping them from using their powers at-will... this man clearly hasn't been buying exotic slaves just to make them stop being exotic.
If you do wish to aid him, there are a number of options - visiting the site, talking to the problem slaves, researching the phenomenon... most interactions of this sort are more based on magic than psionics, but the problem is probably common enough that similar solutions would work.
I don't know, does he? XD He's your character, and one thing I don't do is dictate lines of thought - the closest I'll come to that is telling you the result of a sense motive check, since that's an actual game mechanic.
The buyer nodded, looking just a bit disappointed, and it seemed that you were dismissed. In only a few more minutes, the lights in the place dimmed somewhat as the guests took their seats - and the stage was illuminated by a pair of torches as a remarkably confident-looking woman strode up, then plunged her hands into the flames, picked them up, and wove them into a symbol that she tossed into the air. It simply hung there, unsupported and unfueled, as she began a welcoming speech. (Knowledge [Religion] to identify it.)
Out of the corner of your eye, though, you did see Adrietta quietly and discreetly moving to the side, a few inches at a time.
well i meant something more along the lines of, does he think it is possible, or does he know something that would make it unlikely such as all the slaves being stored in far-off lands or something.
