The savage tide hits Arcadia

Game Master Scarletrose

Erick looks thoughtful. "Throw in some free meals for the kids, and some legitimate work for them that's not dangerous, and it's a deal." He offers, with a nod.[/b]

"I can't see why not" answers Lavinia "I need to expand my retinue already. I can't see why I shouldn't take some kids in need of honest work"

Gavin's jaw drops at the mention of the retainer. I could have a new home and tavern for my parents in no time with that kind of money!

Bowing low, Gavin says, "Lady Vanderboren, I'd be honored to join your retainer. When you mention going to this vault and that it is small and contains traps and guardians, I guess I am a little confused - how small is small, if you catch my meaning? I would think a vault would be one room with a locking door, but you seem to be talking about something much more elaborate."

As Erick mentions getting work to his orphans, Gavin is a bit taken back by the man's generosity. Perhaps the man is less a bully than just gruff - he seems to care about those kids at any rate.

"Erick, some speculate that Cayden Cailean himself was an orphan. Whether that is true or not I can't say, but his priests often take great interest in orphans and their futures. I'd be honored if you'd allow me to help your kids in any way possible. I could teach them the craft of brewing, perhaps, and set them on the path to gainful employment?"

"I am yet to discover the full talents of the cook that is Kora. Give me a few weeks and I am sure I shall let my belly decide. I am your halfling at your service, my Lady. But what will the Jade Ravens think? We may be stepping on their heels, yes?"

"it's been a couple of years since I started employing the Jade ravens. I was the daughter of a noble couple. I'm the head of the family now, my needs are much greater now.
Don't you worry, you are not stepping on anyone heels.
The Jade ravens alone just aren't enough anymore. And by the way they are traveling to cauldron right now. I anticipate I will need them to travel again from time to time, and I will probably need the same from you.
There is plenty of work for everyone."

Erick looks away from Gavin, obviously a bit uncomfortable with the turn of conversation. "Not sure teaching kids to brew rotgut is a good career choice." He says gruffly, but doesn't turn down the offer. "Not just orphans though... Some of 'em have parents who aren't much better than beggars, or are career criminals. Some of 'em are destined for being like yon..." He waves his hand at the puddle of blood on the deck where the pirate died from a combination of Erick and Gavin's attention. "Some have a spark but no opportunity. It's the ones that can be better that need to be helped. Not given charity, that doesn't help. But given a purpose."

Tessa nods to Erick and hands over the parchment to her employer. "We were just discussing this when you arrived. It's quite cryptic and I honestly haven't a clue of what to make of it. It was stored next to the ring, so perhaps Erick is correct in suggesting it may play some part in helping you in the future."

With the parchment and the ring returned, Tessa some-what grudgingly releases the small fortune back to it's original owner. "... and do not forget these," she says as she jingles the bag.

Tessa suddenly leaps vertically on top of a barrel, balancing herself precariously on the edge as she leans it forward nearly to the point of tipping. She begins waving her open palm across the entire group Tessa smiles broadly, "You have selected quite the crew m'lady. You should have seem them all climbing aboard the ship, taking control and quickly preventing any damage to your vessel. It was quite impressive! I am at awe of your ability to notice talent."

Tessa bows and flips her hat up briefly before stroking the white feather protruding from it. "I would be honored to accompany the lot of you along. It sounds like we may yet have an adventure on our hands -". Tessa leans in conspiratorially and places one hand to the side of her mouth to mock secrecy and whispers loudly, "And I'm afraid I do love a good adventure."

She hops down from the barrel landing near Gavin and playfully punches him in the shoulder and says, "Besides, this one was just getting to the part where we get to have some celebratory drinks, no?"

Before he can respond she winks and spins to face Lavinia again. "So! When shall we depart on our adventure surely to be fraught with peril and mischievousness?!"

Before anyone shoots her a look she simply shrugs and says, "What?! I doubt she is bringing us along because we look pretty."

She straightens her posture and runs her hands down her sides and amends, "Well... Maybe some of us."

x

Kutsya kept her own counsel on the journey back, preferring to just enjoy the sensations of being on a ship again. She healed Soller Vark -- as she had promised -- and made sure he got the chance to drink Gavin's ale before he was taken away.

It had been a fine adventure, but now it was over. She'd enough money now that she could concentrate on finding a captain willing to take her aboard, instead of just taking whatever job came along so that she could eat.

And then Lavinia -- Lady Vanderboren -- made her offer of employment, one Kutsya had not expected. She turned and looked at her fellows. Good companions all. Gavin might be a bit strange, Tessa and the Barber might be frighteningly enthusiastic, and Erick might be distressingly legalistic, but they worked well together and to her surprise she found that she enjoyed their company. So if they'd have her, she could try this a while longer.

"Lady Vanderboren, I'd be pleased to accept your offer. Especially now that you have such a fine ship under your command. If you ever find yourself more in need of crew than of problem solvers, I hope you'd keep us in mind."

Kutsya then turned to her coworkers -- no, to her comrades -- and said, "Now, we're no Ravens, Jade or otherwise, but what should we call ourselves? I wouldn't want a uniform, but a proper name might be nice."

Erick looks around at the odd assembly, and snorts. "Vanderboren's Roughnecks seems appropriate."

Tessa pops up her pointer finger and then snaps her fingers. She looks over at Erick and says, "Ah! That reminds me. Excellent use of the code phrase back there. I would say that Smelly Fish Balls was an excellent choice!"

Erick gives Tessa a quelling look. "I am never using that for a code phrase again. The entire point of a code phrase is that you can slip it into casual conversation without raising suspicions." He looks thoughtful. "For example, one captain I had used the phrase "All officers will meet in the captain's quarters for tea and scones" to indicate trouble was up."

Tessa waves a hand dismissively at Mr. Bonestiff.

"Bah, you're no fun Bonestihl. Live a little. What fun is a code phrase if its about tea an scones? I for one thought it worked perfectly and am in favor of permanent using Smelly Fish Balls as our signature call for help."

Let me know if you want to rest or not before going to the vanderboren and when you want to move on. I don't want to rush you guys if you want to roleplay a little

"I accept but I would rest and regain my spells before we face the guards and wards of your vault. We do not need to hurry, do we? For what it is worth Islaran deserves your honesty and I am warmed by your decision."

Bedu listens to the words of the others and smiles, satisfied that the Gods have proved on his side. He pulls a little at Tessa's arm and shakes his head, "Smelly fishballs was not a good word for trouble. Let us find a better phrase along the lines of a color like red or black, or a drink like beer, ale or snakebite."

The barber prepares to return home and work in the Hakeswill Inn.

Erick chuckles. "Or one code phrase for when we don't want to immediately go into battle mode, and another that means 'attack!'."

He nods at Vanderboren. "How long is the trip? If it's several days, we can probably leave today, our spellcasters could rest on the trip. If it's a few hours, the morning would probably be better served. It also depends on how fast you need to get there. If there's deadlines for payments that much be made, then we can adjust obviously."

I will respond as Lavinia saying it is at castle Terkanian but I guess your question was where is castle Terkanian. It is actually on the map, you can see it on the noble district. It's a well known landmark of the city and you can see it form the docs, and actually, the blue nixie was halfway between where are you now and where castle terkanian is.
"The vault is at Castle Terkanian, we just need to take a gondola."

Erick nods. "Then perhaps early morning would be best? To allow the magical dependent of the group to replenish their eldritch fortitude?" He smiles wryly. "Unless you are certain there's no need for spell casting, in which case, immediately works as well."

"Logic suggest that opening the vault with the proper signet ring should be completely harmless, but then again my parents did not know they were going to die so young and they did not instructed me with the workings of the vault. I guess this note is some sort of instructions but by itself it doesn't offer me any clue. I guess it might become clearer once we get to the vault."
Lavinia shrugs.
"Anyway, I need to reach the vault with a certain urgency but there is really nothing that I could do today that cannot be done tomorrow. So take the rest of the day to rest, you earned it. And feel free to join me for dinner if you so desire. Tomorrow we will go to the vault and then I'll be able to pay you for today's work."

Gavin nods and smiles at the Lady. "Thank you m'lady. I'll gladly have dinner with you tonight, and leave first thing in the morning, after my prayers to Cayden Cailean are done."

Tessa nods along. "I'm ready to go now if need be, but I understand those with powers gifted to them from up above need their rest. I will certainly be in attendance again tonight, perhaps we can witness some new flying pork tricks from our white haired friend? Can you make it land directly on Erick's head this time perhaps?"

Tessa laughs as crosses her arms, glancing over at Erick with a playful grin. She leans back against a stack of crates and says, "So. That leaves the rest of the day today then? Gavin, it's not even mid-morning yet! I say we start making the rounds and singing praise to ole Cailean. By the time dinner rolls around, all of the sailors on the docks will know the story of Bold Bedu, Gallant Gavin dee... uh. borge-uh, Gallant Gavin and Erick Fishballs Bonestihl!"

Tessa suddenly lurches forward as she pushes off the crate and slings her arm around Bedu's shoulder as she crouches down and leans in close, and switches to a dialect often spoken by those who spend a fair amount of time out at sea.

"...So thar we were! Seventeen smugglers closin' in all around us by last count, ferocious nigh-on two fathoms tall animals burstin' from thar crates down below, calls t' burn th' ship ringin' out. As Erick blast one wit' his powdered weapon 'n slides another wit' his cutlass, Kutsya loot down th' leader o' th' pack single-handedly as Gavin swung wit' a mighty flail cursin' enemies wit' strange tongues 'n Bedu, wonderful Bedu, stood beside us all shoutin' words o' encouragement 'n slowly pickin' off targets one by one. Tears 'n screams fer mercy erupted all around th' ship as they all fell t' thar knees."

Throughout her telling she makes grandiose gestures with her hands, recreating acts of sword play, gunfighting and other extremely exaggerated performances.

Erick looks at Kutsya. "If you can somehow manage to lodge the apple in Ms. Steele's mouth with your tricks tonight, I'd be happy to give you a standing ovation, as well as buy you a round of drinks at the tavern of your choice." He says dryly. "And it's a nine-ring broadsword, not a cutlass." He shakes his head at the idea of someone who claims to be a trouble shooter who can't identify a weapon on sight.

---------------

Erick will then take his leave of his new employer, and go track down the kids and buy them some lunch. He'll give them hell for getting beaten up, and then pass out a silver to each of them with admonitions not to put themselves in danger again. He also tells them he's arranged for them all to get jobs with the Vanderboren Household. He then takes them all to the used clothing stores and get's them all a couple of semi-decent outfits for work. Nothing fancy, just sturdy and mostly clean. Basically about 5 GP worth of second hand clothes.

When all of that is done, which should take the rest of the day, he'll bring them to Kora, who likely already knows all about them and introduce them to her, with sharp admonishments about being extremely polite to her, and to do what she tells them. Beyond that, Erick has nothing else pressing today, except for moving out of his tavern room and into whatever room is provided by Lady Vanderboren. He'll show up at dinner sans armor, but with a pistol on his hip and a sword hung on the back of his chair. And a few knives strapped around. Unless someone wants to RP more or RP dinner, I'm fine with jumping to tomorrow morning.

Tessa doubles over laughing at Erick.

Ahhhh I think I'm going to have quite some fun with this one! He needs to loosen up a bit.

After a moment she stands up and is grinning ear to ear at him. "My good sir, I--"

She breaks into laughter again shaking her head and holding out her hand, "No, no - sorry about that. Ehem"

She clears her throat and tries to force the smile off her face. IIIIIII know its a broadsword, but you see what I was trying to do there was to speak in a dialect and so I was using a word that they'd find more recognizable."

Tessa waves a hand dismissively at Erick, "Besides. All elements of stories contain a smidge of improvisation and slight alteration of the facts. It's what makes stories so interesting!"

She places her hands on her hips and puts a stern look on her face as she scrunches her eyes and mouth. "If I had said "a nine-ring broadsword" I think it would have detracted from the tale."

I'm cool with jumping ahead to tomorrow. Tessa will be bouncing around from tavern to tavern, drinking and gloating with whomever accompanies her. She will arrive to dinner (mostly) sober and close to on time. Besides, I've got an apple in my mouth ;)

Bedu spends the day at the Inn, working for his room and board. He performs a new tale about a gang of heroes called "the Nine Rings". It's his first run through but the ring of truth makes it all the better, especially for those who see through the name of the villain, Voller Sark.

Next morning he heads for Castle Teraknian early enough to fit in a quick second breakfast, all from a street vendor just opening up.

After dinner, Gavin bounces around taverns with Tessa taking the enthusiastic young woman up on her offer for drinks. He chimes in when there is the - very - occasional lag in Tessa's storytelling with a detail here and there to add a little realm of possibility to the swashbuckler's story, even though in the spirit of Tessa's delivery those details are made up.

"Oh, well you see, it really was a lucky blow that caved in the smuggler's head."

"Well, I'd quibble a little with Tessa there. Erick really is a tough SOB, but he does have a sense of humor, I assure you. It is just reeeaaaaallllly dry. Like my copper cup. I think I should get another ale, eh?"

Cool with jumping ahead as well...

sorry for the wait, last time I tried to post the forums went down on me.

When you reach Lavinia next morning, she offers you breakfast at her manor.
She hired a coach to take all of you from the manor to high market in noble district, where the group takes a ferry over castle Teraknian. The castle usually hosts grand balls and ceremonies, but you spend little time in the castle itself, stopping only to a clerk who, after Lavinia introduces you as her retinue, escorts you down a spiral staircase into a large circular chamber under the castle.
Over a dozen five foot wide hallways radiate out from the central vault chamber; each of these halls is ten feet longs and ends at a single iron door, the entrance to the family vault.
Once you reach this chamber the clerk bids you good day and returns to his office in the castle above.

Soon enough Lavinia locate the corridor that leads to her family vault.
The short passageway ends at a solid looking iron door.
The portal is emblazoned with a simple rune, an eight pointed star.
Above the door, inscribed in flowing script on a polished silver plaque, is the name "Vanderboren".
A single handle protrudes from the door, just below a circular depression bearing the mark of the Vanderboren signet.

Lavinia is a little puzzled by the rune on the door.
She knows that she saw that before but she can't quite remember where, she expected to see the family blazon instead.

I give you the chance to speak or do whatever you think you need to do before opening the vault

Erick looks puzzled. "You remember seeing this before, but not here? Let's hang up a moment... is yours the only vault with that symbol, or are there more around." He studies the rune for a moment.

Knowledge (Arcana) check?

Whether he knows anything or not, he will (from a distance, so nobody thinks he's trying to break in) examine a few other vault doors to see if they have the same symbol.

From a quick look at the other doors most of them have their family blazon inscribed. Some have nothing at all.
But none of them have the same eight pointed star.

Erick returns, frowning. "I see family crests, or blank doors, but nothing with that star. I don't like it." He checks his gun to make sure it's loaded, considers, and then draws the gun and leaves it at his side in one hand. The other hand rests on the broadsword.

"Do any of the other vaults have the Vanderboren crest on them? It's possible the name placard has been switched."

Kutsya then casts Detect Magic to see if there are any spells on the vault door.

Erick nods. "Good thought, although I'd expect the ring not to work on the door in that case." He examines the name above the door, gingerly touching it with a finger, tracing the letters if nothing bad happens. Trying to see if it's removable or loose.

Erick checks the plaque, and then shakes his head. "You'd need to remorter the wall, or use some magic, to move that nameplate. It appears to have been fused into the stone."

Erick returns, frowning. "I see family crests, or blank doors, but nothing with that star. I don't like it."

"Aye, Erick, I don't like it either. Someone needs to open the door though, and I don't think it should be Lady Vanderboren, so I'll volunteer. I'm not good with ranged weapons anyways, so I shouldn't be towards the back. And, I am good at soaking up damage."

Gavin holds out his hand for the signet ring, while rolling his shoulders, stepping up and down, and moving his head around in circles, loosening his muscles in case he has to dive out of the way of an explosion or trap. "Uh, unless someone has a better idea, of course..."

"Aye, Erick, I don't like it either. Someone needs to open the door though, and I don't think it should be Lady Vanderboren, so I'll volunteer. I'm not good with ranged weapons anyways, so I shouldn't be towards the back. And, I am good at soaking up damage."

"Aren't you overreacting a little bit? Besides I'm afraid letting someone else open the vault is not an option. This ring resonates with Vanderboren's bloodline. Also, for all the traps and guardians a noble family could put into a vault, I doubt they are allowed to put them on the front door facing the common chamber. Too much chances to involve bystanders on the chamber. If there is any trap at all, it must be inside."

Tessa listens to the discussion trying to figure out how she feels about it. She shrugs and says, "I tend to agree with Lady Vanderboren. Just because there's a symbol she doesn't recognize doesn't mean it's trapped or anything. Let her open the door and if something goes awry, well-"

Tessa slides her rapier out into her hand and nods, "We're right behind ya."

"There is very strong magic at work here. Abjuration. But that could well be the locking magic. Especially if this is keyed to the Vanderboren bloodline." Kutsya shrugs.

"Go ahead. It's either dangerous or it's not. And if it's dangerous, then we'll deal with it -- that's why we're here."

Tessa nods to Kutsya, "She's right. Nothing to be afraid of here. We're more than capable of handling whatever this door holds on the otherside. We're ready when you are Lady Vanderboren."

Erick nods, and draws his sword. "With all due respect, Ma'am. You don't pay us to assume the best. It's in your best interest for us to assume the worst. If we're wrong, you can laugh at us for it. If we're right, you can get the hell out of here while we deal with it."

Gavin looks a little sheepish at Lady Vanderboren's rebuke, but grins and sloughs it off. "Of course, m'lady! If you can only open the door then only you can open it. But, I'm with Erick here - something is amiss. Open the door, but let me go in first... please?"

And with that, Gavin stands to the side, mace drawn, ready to shove the Lady out of the way if anything unexpected happens.

Tessa thinks everyone is making much fuss about nothing.

It's just a door. Obviously it's going to be secure and special down here, just like the others.

Tessa rolls her eyes wanting to speak out about when nothing will happen when the door is opened. She doesn't speak out loud though, it's not appropriate in front of her employer. She leans in and covers her mouth with her hand as she whispers quietly to Gavin, "Five gold says nothing happens when the door is opened."

"I've seen that symbol before. By the lion's teeth, where was it. On a wall. Yes I remember on a wall. Beside a merchant's district building. Alas that my feeble mind cannot think of more. I apologise Mistress."

Bedu lets the others argue over entry and waits. The ring must be placed. The chamber must be entered. Bleating will not change these things.

Erick rubs his chin with the barrel of his gun. "Hmm, your parents were merchants and importers and exporters yes? Could this building be something they owned that you aren't aware of? Or that they invested in without your knowledge? We could go check the building after we leave here if you like." Erick seems much less concerned now, although he doesn't put the weapons away.

Gavin grins and whispers back to Tessa, nudging her with his elbow, "Five gold? You've got a deal. Want to tell me where your coin purse is now so I don't have to go rooting around on your corpse?"

Tessa pushes off Gavin with her left palm. She leans lackadaisically against the wall, rapier hanging low at her side. She pulls her hat down on the right side slightly and looks back over at Gavin and laughs softly to herself.

"Alright, sounds like we're all in agreement on opening the door. On three, shall we?"

"My parents were always away from Sasserine in some adventure of sort, so it seems odd that they had interest in some other property they would never visit. But that being said, it wouldn't surprise me. They were pretty extravagant folks who started and abandoned hundreds of projects. I guess if they do have an estate on the city we will find some property papers here in the vault, since in the manor there was no document that mentioned another building in merchant's district."

Lavinia presses her signet ring on the depression above the handle. The Iron door flashes once with blue light, then slowly swings open on creaking hinges.
There seems to be no trap or guardian that is going to stop you from traversing the door and enter the next room.
The floor of this chamber is of polished green marble. Two, fifteen foot wide alcoves have lower ceilings and feature marble pillars carved to resemble coiled snakes. In the center of the room, five similar pillars are embedded into the walls, rising up thirty feet to a dome overhead.
Looking up the dome bears a huge representation of the same eight-pointed star that was engraved on the door to the south.
Lavinia smiles looking inside the room but her excitement is short lived noticing that the door opened nothing but an ante-chamber and the door to the internal vault seems to be concealed.

new map is up. A couple of clarifications since some of my groups in the past had problems with this map.
1) north in this map is on the left
2) the alcoves are around the 2 columns in the middle of the room. the ceiling is lower but all the squares are high enough to allow you complete mobility.
3) the 5 other pillars in this map are black like the background. 2 of them are around Kutsya, the people on the first row are facing the other three. They are easy to see once you know what to look for but many players had problems understanding their locations.
4)you are free to move examine and do whatever you want, there is no initiative order..... yet....

Erick looks at the four pillars. "What was it that parchment said? Chimera looks to sunrise... Cyclops looks to sunset... Ogre looks to sunrise... Aboleth looks to sunset... Basilisk looks to sunrise..." He mutters, looking around at the pillars. Any of them have carvings, or writing? "North is that way, we came from the south. Sunrise is east, sunset is west..." He looks at the two pillars on the ends of the room, to see if one has a sun and the other a moon, or some other symbols of sunrise and sunset.

"I hate riddles," Kutsya mutters, as she walks into the very center of the room, which should be the best vantage to view from.

Her thoughts were running along the same lines as Erick's. "Five lines on the parchment, and five pillars surrounding the dome." Her braids start tapping the ground behind her as she thinks, like oversized fingers drumming.

Kutsya scans the pillars for any carvings. Pictures of the named animals would be nice, but she's not convinced it will be that simple. "Could be letters or runes we're looking for -- the capital letters in each line. But there are some duplicates. Or...it says the Chimera looks. The Cyclops looks. A chimera has, what, 6 eyes? A cyclops has 1, an ogre 2. Does anyone know how many eyes an aboleth has, or a basilisk? This could have something to do with numbers."

Kutsya sighs. "I hate riddles."

After she's looked with her eyes, Kutsya begins scanning with Detect Magic, just to make sure nothing is missed.

Erick grunts. "Basilisk is a lizard isn't it? Thought they had two eyes as well.. No clue what an Aboleth is, sounds like something nasty, based on the others."

As Erick examine the pillars, he seem to notice that every snake, apart from the one in the center of the north wall, has a certain pattern. He was about to look at it when somethings comes out from behind the eastern column.
A metallic construct in the shape of a snake.

The snake hisses at Erick and starts to advance towards the party.

Initiative is up

Initiative: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 2 = 9

"Ma'am, I think your guardian doesn't like a non-family member being in front. You want me to blow it up, or do you want to show it the ring?" He asks, taking a defensive. On his action

Tessa leans in to Gavin and whispers, "Pay up boy-o. Nothing happened when door opened!"

She raises her rapier up to chest level and extends it out, making a few swishing motions.

Initiative: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14

Tessa prepares to engage the enemy and glances at Erick from the corner of her eye. "So quick to blow things up. How do we even know that it is against us? It's probably a defensive mechanism of some kind, no? There should be a way to disarm it? Do you know of any protective measures m'lady?""

Looking over at her employer she holds a hand out, "I'm not so sure I feel comfortable with you being in the front. Show it your ring if you wish, but do it behind us. If it doesn't like it, we'll take it down."