[AP] The Shackled City Adventure Path by GM Rutseg (Inactive)

Game Master Balacertar

"N-no good to p-point fingers now," Marigold says quietly, staring at the corpse of the spellcaster halfling. "Everyone m-made their choices and what's d-done is d-done. Now we d-deal with those ch-choices and f-face the consequences. Like F-Finch here d-did."

She shakes her head. "He used to w-work here too. Not f-family, but...well, a f-friend. Or at least I th-thought he was. M-maybe I was wrong. Or m-maybe he was...and then m-made a ch-choice of his own."

"But I g-guess I'll n-never know."

Marigold also isn't particularly concerned about saving Jil's life unless someone else in the group thinks better of it.

She had her chance to stand down.

With there being nothing she herself can immediately do for poor Fario, she instead turns her attention to identifying the items they've found...

Spellcraft - Scroll (DC 18): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (16) + 10 = 26
Spellcraft - Headband (DC 23): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (4) + 10 = 14
Spellcraft - Slippers (DC 19): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (4) + 10 = 14
Spellcraft - Armor (DC 20): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (20) + 10 = 30
Spellcraft - Belt (DC 23): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (18) + 10 = 28

"We've g-got a scroll of Invisibility, a suit of +1 Shadow Studded Leather Armor and a Belt of Incredible Dexterity +6," she reports after a few moments. "N-not sure about the h-headband or the s-slippers though..."

"N-no good to p-point fingers now. Everyone m-made their choices and what's d-done is d-done. Now we d-deal with those ch-choices and f-face the consequences..."

Kikinnin looks down on Jil, while the halfling lass speaks her mind. "I'm not pointing fingers, Marigold. I'm asking him his mind, so our strategy might be stronger, next time. I don't remember Juraan being much of a fighter."

The black beard looks 'round the doorframe to Maxim.

"Vil du ha henne i live for avhør, bror?"

JJ shakes his head.
"I'm as much one to give second chances as anyone." he says.

"But Jil is as slippery as an eel in a keg of oil. If we save her, there is no way we'll keep her. And I really don't think she is the type of enemy we want. "

He looks out the door.
"I didn't realise she and Ryan had a thing going. Maybe he'll think things differently, but I'd just as rather her body was burned to ashes and scattered to the winds. She had her chance."

Kythel places a hand on Juraan's shoulder, "Let us see what Pharasma has to say about the fate of Fario shall we?"

Kythel picks up the form of Fario and carries the body into the next room and out of the torture chamber placing the body on the floor. He then produces a diamond from the Dragon's hoard out of a robe pocket.

"Pharasma. Lady of Graves. I beseech you, return the soul of Fario to this body that he may have a chance to live once more, release the grip of death and renew him with the breath of life!"

Kythel casts Raise Dead. Takes literally a minute. He will have HP = to his HD, he will also receive two permanent negative levels or if he is 1st level (which I doubt) he will lose 2 Con permanently.

Maxim moves into the smaller chamber at Kikinnin's shout.

With a hard look he surveys the bodies littering the room, and the items recovered from them before answering his bror;

"Reddet fra den døde verden kan hun måske løsne tungen ud af taknemmelighed alene. Jil kender måske hemmeligheder, der kan vippe skalaen til vores fordel ... for en gangs skyld."

The gun-mage moves the stockpile;

Spellcraft - Headband (DC 23): 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (3) + 16 = 19
Spellcraft - Slippers (DC 19): 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (6) + 16 = 22

"Darn Headband is stymin' me too Lil' Miss. Though them there slippers are o' spiderclimbing. Means the wearer can climb most surfaces."

He clocks the chest, moving to it;

"Well-well. What we got here?"

Disable Device DC20: 1d20 + 22 ⇒ (19) + 22 = 41

With a deft touch he jimmies the lock with a satsifying click and opens;

"Huh. Bag o' coin... gold an' all minted with the jester's face... Gear too. Keen edged swords, ring an' armour. Likely yer pal Fario's..."

He wryly smiles as Kythel begins his spell to return the half-elf from the realms of the dead;

"Could take 'em as payment for revivifyin' his life an' soul?"

Among Finch's belongings Marigold finds out a cards deck they usually played with when they were children. The golden-haired was cunning even as a kid and would near always win she and her brother, sometimes in strange ways. Finch always day dreamed on how he would study in the Bluecrater Academy and become a wizard that would protect Cauldron from all monsters one day. But you know... bad companies.

While the group discusses about the convenience to let Jil die or help her preserve her life, Kythel goes all through his ritual and the diamond turns to dust and then disappears as the soul of Fario is reclaimed. The horrible cut on his neck magically seals and the half-elf chest slowly recovers its rhythmic breathing cadence. Fario starts to cough and suddenly tries to stand up "*cough* *cough* ...the party... *cough* ...Rhiavadi... *cough* *cough* we have to *cough* *cough* we have to stop her *cough* *cough* ...already late... *cough* *cough*" although back to life the half-elf is still visibly weakened.

Kythel places a hand on his chest and restores as much vitality as he can to Fario.

Cast Heal ending most adverse condition (assuming any remain after his death) and healing 110 HP.

Kythel smiles, something he rarely does, and turns to Maxim, "I hope we have more of those diamonds...

Welcome back to the land of the living Fario. I am Kythel, an associate and I suppose new member of the Cauldron Watchers".

In response to JJ, Juraan simply says: "I agree, take no chances."
He otherwise pays no mind to the debate about keeping Jil alive.

After the party looks through the loot, while Kythel starts his ritual, Juraan checks the headband and tells Maxim: 
"The headband is good for your abilities, Maxim. Headband of Intelligence (+2)"

... after Fario's resuscitation ...

Overjoyed that his half-elf friend is back in the land of the living,
Juraan helps Fario to his feet. "Take your time, Fario!"
"What's all this about Lady Rhiavadi?"

He then sends a telepathic message to Meerthan about Fario's return
to the land of the living thanks to Kythel.

Then Juraan proceeds to hover around Fario like a mother hen:
"Come on then, give Fario room to breath!"
"Has anyone found Fario's kit yet?"
I know it's been found, but Juraan wasn't paying attention to that
... he'll continue to natter like that until either Fario or Mariogold tell Juraan to put a sock in it.

Fario stops Kythel holding his arm while he starts casting and negates with the head "Save it friend *cough* *cough* You will need that"

"Quickly *cough* you have to *cough* you have to stop her... disrupt her reception *cough* *cough*" Fario is doing a visible effort to keep talking, perhaps too soon still "I had been seeing members of the town guard, including half-orc mercenaries hired by Lord Vhalantru, entering and leaving the manor at all hours of the day and night *cough* Some of the half-orcs head straight to House Vhalantru after leaving House Rhiavadi. Sometimes they stay inside for hours *cough* I decided to investigate..."

"Lady Rhiavadi has not been seen entering or leaving her house in weeks... although members *cough* members of her household staff, all halflings, come and go during the day. She must have a dozen of servants. They told me the Lady has several shady guests staying at her manor" Fario goes on frowning his front and increasingly worried "I infiltrated the service but I was discovered just when I found they are having a secret conference just tonight!"

Marigold shoots at look at the others.

"Okay, th-this is actionable inform-m-mation!"

Quickly she turns back to Fario. "You s-said they're have a c-conference tonight and that it's p-probably already started? H-how can we g-get into the m-manor?"

JJ grabs back the hat.
"I have an idea!" he says trying to take on the appearance of a halfling.

"At least a couple of us could be servants!"

"N-not like it'd b-be the f-first time..." Marigold sighs. "B-but I'll need to l-look like s-someone different if we d-do that. P-pretty sure my f-face is a lot m-more known than it used to b-be..."

"Reddet fra den døde verden kan hun måske løsne tungen ud af taknemmelighed alene. Jil kender måske hemmeligheder, der kan vippe skalaen til vores fordel ... for en gangs skyld."

Kikinnin hears JJ argue for Jil's death, hears Juraan's anger speak for himself, so makes an interim decision.

Kikinnin waves Maxim over. "Get her weapons away from her, and bind her up. If she has anything valuable to offer here, then we negotiate her fate. Fario and his crew might be the very ones to retain her, while we sort out Vhalantru and his reach."

When it's clear that Jil has nothing dangerous on her person, Kikinnin pulls out his Wand of Wound Healing, and tags Jil with the healing energy stored within the Wand.

Wand of CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9

The black beard isn't necessarily interested in healing the woman to consciousness, only preventing her from dying outright. Trying to Stabilize only, if possible.

"Juraan, maybe you should have your friends come here. They can retrieve Fario, and they can take Jil into their own custody."

Kikinnin turns back to Maxim. "You have questions about the Last Laugh, get 'em ready. We'll probably want to ask her what she knows about Vhalantru and the rumors of the Mayor, too."

"House Rhiavadi is an imperious structure with four squat towers, one capped with an observatory. A set of oak doors on the ground floor provides the only obvious entrance *cough* although the building has many windows on the first and second floors, and some foyers going to the roof *cough*" Fario tries to answer Marigold and JJ as best he can "I already infiltrated as service, but I was ultimately discovered. You can try *cough* you can try to bluff the hafl-orcs guarding the entrance with the same trick and hope for more luck, or you can perhaps try posing as some other personality *cough*"

You tight up Jil to the torture rack while Kikinnin taps her with healing and Juraan calls Fellian.

Disoriented Jil recovers consciousness and starts to curse you in a mixture of Chelian, Vudrani, Abyssal, Aklo and Draconic.

"Wow, even I didn't understand all those languages." mutters JJ as the Aklo comes out.

He looks around for a bag to put over her head, so she can not see, and her hearing is muffled. Gesturing for the others to leave the room for a moment he whispers to them.

"Remember, what we can do, so can they. Be careful about what you reveal in front of her. As for our plans... we could try to go as ourselves.. We did get ball invitations after all..."

"I only underst-st-stand a little b-but it's enough," Marigold mutters. She decides to let Kikinnin or Maxim take the lead on putting the questions to Jil, well-aware that they tend to have better luck with such things.

[We have to do this way too often...] she broadcasts silently, through the shared mindlink.

Turning to JJ she asks, in a low voice, "D-did we get invitations t-to that? I'd already f-f-forgotten..."

@GM Rusteg: Was that +1 studded leather shadow armour we
found in the loot small or medium size?

Juraan will send a quick mental message to Felian and the others that Jil
is still (unfortunately) alive, but tied down to her torture rack. And
that she may yet be useful for providing information.

He'll tell the others by the mindlink: [How should we divide up the
kit we just found? Some of it will be useful right now, for gate crashing
that party of Rhiavadi.]

Medium. The halfling had no armor (mage armor).

Short after Fellian arrives at the scene. The half-elf frowns and helps Fario to stand up "I told you to never accept halfling tea"

Fario smiles and taps Fellian's neck passing his arm over the other one's shoulders "I do guess you gained the medal to the better spy after all *cough* *cough*"

"You have to stop them before they come to an agreement and leave to their devices *cough* we do not know when will a chance like this to uncover them all will arise again *cough*" the half-elf finally stands up and tights Fellian closer holding him firmly around the back.

Maxim eyes Jil, patiently awaiting for her tirade to cease, then chimes in;

"Welcome back. Now before you let pride drive yer tongue, know that yer status as live an' kickin' could be temporary. Sass us and we'll open yer throat like ya did Fario. Try to trick us, or speak in riddles. Same. Answer true, an' ya might yet see a dawn."

The gun-mage frowns;

"Do we got ourselves an understandin' here?"

Jil remains silent for some seconds, then she voices up with a cracked tone "Do I have another choice? What do you want to know saviors?"

"You have a choice, where Fario didn't. We can't make it plainer than that. Don't corrupt us into being your executioner. Several of us don't mind you being dead, permanently." Kikinnin points Eldgammel to the others, while he and Maxim speak directly.

"You spoke of your knowledge on the Last Laugh. Speak on Velior, sounds like your boss. Tell us his strengths and weaknesses. Then speak on the Last Laugh and what it's trying to do with the jester coins. We know they're minted below Cauldron. Who mints them, and why?"

Kikinnin eyes his bror, then continues to stack on the questions.

"What does the Last Laugh stand to gain here in Cauldron? Do you know exactly who your allies are in the city? Or are you uninterested in the corruption? Jil, the whole city is in peril. If you have any connections, family, friends, now's the time to think of them, and what you can learn from us, in exchange for what you know that could help us in our fight against the blackness overtaking Vhalantru..."

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (13) + 17 = 30

Though she'd told herself it was best to leave matters to Kikinnin and Maxim, the dwarf's plea to Jil resonates with her as well.

"He's r-right. M-maybe you d-don't give a t-toss about us or all the f-faceless people of C-Cauldron...b-but surely you've g-got someone here in the c-city that you c-care about. That's n-not involved in a-any of this b-business. That d-doesn't have a c-clue about what's h-happening in the sh-shadows. This is their c-city too. Th-think of them."

Diplomacy (Aid): 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (20) + 14 = 34

In front of such strong arguments Jil can no other but soften her tongue "If I talk, you will respect my life"

"The answers to the jester coins, I do not have them. I do not know where the Last Laugh is minting them, nor who runs the operation" the woman takes breath "Velior Thazo is the Jester, the guildmaster of the Last Laugh. I cannot say I have any love for that one. But the poor ones in this city that found no other way of progressing in life that crime, have a very hard time if not submitting to her will. She is a young woman standing barely 5 feet tall, with a slender build and short, curly-red hair."

"What the Last Laugh stand to gain? Well, controlling the crime scene in a city like Cauldron can be... very profitable. The only way to ever touch real coin for many of us. We stand for our own, but on recent times we have been working closely with Lady Rhiavadi and Lord Vhalantru as they gained increased power in the city" Jil draws a smile at that moment in her still painted face "They payed good for us to have close attention and send periodical reports about almost a dozen of unremarkable citizens. When Terrem disappeared we were scared and did not want for others to put their noses while we investigated. But you appeared... and we decided to let you do the hard job. Lady Rhiavadi was very happy of the boy's recovery. But she is not only working with us, Velior was enraged when the Blue Duke was chosen to run her smuggling operation at Drakthar's Way. That is why I helped you to find the goblins lair. Well, the pressure by Captain Skellerang had part on it as well I shall admit. Anyway Lady Rhiavadi was pleased too as she wanted to give Drakthar a lesson at a moment she just did not needed his pass and collaboration any longer. The vampire was getting too cocky."

"Anyway the relation between Zarn Kyass -the Blue Duke-, and Velior has been tight ever since. The Blue Duke is offering his mercenaries with the only hope to gain the heart of the Lady, which Velior despises. Velior profited the antagonism towards the half-orcs to burn down Minuta's Boards, which the Blue Duke took as a personal offense. But Vhalantru and Lady Rhiavadi wanted to make the riots and hate appear to be all the works of the Chisel and Maavu. Thus they did not complain for the move." her look becomes a bit more somber perhaps "Yes, that is too the reason we attempted to kill the guards at the Town Hall events. The riots were a request of Lord Vhalantru and Lady Rhiavadi to show were the chaos of the Chisel was leading too... and it was the break point that allowed Lord Vhalantru seize power and the Last Laugh to gain many richness potential with it"

"Right now Velior is attending a secret conference at House Rhiavadi, meeting with Lady Thifirane Rhiavadi and several others to discuss the future of Cauldron and the Last Laugh's role in the new world order" Jil shrugs at that point "If I were you I would run away while I can. Lord Vhalantru understood you are a danger when you came back from the Darklands unscathed. He made a bad move when he pressed the Pharasmites to kill you. He should have contacted us. We would have known to find you alone in your beds rather than attack you in public... Anyway I won't be surprised if you find assassins knocking at your doors in a daily basis from now on..."

Through the Mindlink, "Is this information we should act on now or go to our allies to provide evidence of this conspiracy?

If we act now and we fail we may be seen as criminals instead of heroes no? But then I have only just recently arrived so I am sure the rest of you have the better pulse on the politics of Cauldron at the present timr".

[I...I don't really know? This meeting sounds like it could be really important if we can get in there somehow and eavesdrop or crash it. But it's all so confusing...it sounds like we have the Blue Duke and Velior on one side and Vhalantru and Rhiavadi on the other side and both sides are vying for control of the city?]

Kikinnin enters the mental conversation for a moment.

"Evil is under constant push-pull, I gather. Never content with their share of the take. They still have enough respect for each other to meet under one roof. I'm thinking it's our chance to sever the heads of several snakes, all at once."

Turning to Jil, Kikinnin finds himself halfway between a frown and a smile, so stone-faced, for now. "I understand you cautioning us, but we're going to defend Cauldron as best we can. For obvious reasons, we can't have you running around Cauldron. So either we find someone to relocate you to somewhere safe in the city, or we find someone to escort you out of Cauldron, a good long ways."

Kikinnin looks to Fario and Fellian. "We're going to attend this meeting, don't worry. You have an obligation here to see Jil safely looked after. You also owe us 5000 gold for the diamond Kythel destroyed to bring Fario back to life. Unless you speak for Meerthan, and relinquish the Hat of Many Faces?"

Despite the seriousness of the situation Marigold feels the corners of her mouth twitching towards a smile and quickly brings up a hand to cover her mouth, making her appear to be contemplative instead.

Poor Meerthan, he's never going to get his hat back, is he? she thinks to herself.

Maxim listens intently, eying the others as their expressions suggest words being exchanged beyond his ken.

At Kikinnin's note that the half-elves owe for the diamond, the gun-mage wryly smiles;

Good on ye bror... The good Abdarite seekin' recompense or trade for services rendered. Makes me darn proud!

He turns his attention back to Jil;

"Sasserine would make sense fir the first leg o' yer journey. After that world's yer open purse lass. Be warned though... if we set you free, one sniff yer still workin' 'gainst us an' we'll track you and leave you buried cold somewhere far from civilisation."

Kikinnin hears something in Maxim's words. "What about Occipitus? Is she safe there, from all the plotting? If we send her there, we'd also be reasonably sure she wouldn't be back any time soon..." The black beard pulls on his beard, racking his brain.

Maxim sagely nods in agreement;

"Got a point there Bror. She holds it down in Occupitus while this shadow-war plays out, then she's proved herself worthy o' freedom. Course would all depend on the Lil' Miss agreein' her realm being used as a holding pen fir Jil..."

An overly serious voice booms in your heads, except for Maxim As said, the hat is a precious present of high value to me. You can keep using it if you need it right now, but it shall return to my hands with no delay. We will find a way to pay you back for raising Fario my friends. Thanks

Fellian approaches Jil with a true face of anger and hate but Fario stops the half-elf holding him from an arm "It is ok. If you touch Jil with the wand of invisibility we can close her eyes and mouth and relocate her to our base until you can bring her to this Occipitus you talk about or other safe prison"

"Um...y-yeah, that would w-work," Marigold responds after thinking about it for a moment. "There's n-not really anywhere to g-go from there. I'm s-sure I can r-rig something up."

Keeping an eye on her would give the proctor something to do, at least...

"B-but if we're on l-limited t-time then she'll h-have to g-go with F-Fario and F-Fellian for n-now and then we can t-take her to Occipitus l-later."

Kikinnin nods his head, acknowledging the possibilities of Jil's fate.

"So, we have a dinner to interrupt. There are half-orcs guarding the way in. JJ got us through the front door this time." Kikinnin turns to Kythel.

"You didn't apply your silence this time, but that might be what we need to overcome the half-orcs at the door at House Rhiavadi. Can't have them raising the alarm." Kikinnin turns to the others.

"If we approach the doors, invisible, one of us with Kythel's gift of silence ready to move up and drop a blanket of quiet, we should be able to make it into the House on the first level, at least. How long does this gift of mindspeaking last? If we're silent, but can still speak to each other, in order to separate when the spellcasters need their voice, then I think we'll have another element of surprise on our side."

Invisibility on each of us, Silence on one of us, JJ to approach and blend in with the halfling servants coming and going, just long enough for the door to open, and the Watchers descend like murder hornets invading a bee's hive...

"We can't just kill everyone in sight" reminds JJ.

"There are likely innocent folk in there, and even the wicked... well.. we don't know what is going on. Jill could be playing us for dupes sending us in to break up a group that is trying to save Cauldron.."

”So you’re ignoring what Fario just told us?” Kikinnin looks askance at JJ.

"No.. but he got caught before he actually heard everything. We've been manipulated before. Who knows how long they knew of Fario before he was caught. Nothing quite like feeding the wrong information to a spy..."

He shrugs. "I'm not saying I don't think he is right, just that we go in with Maxim's gun all blazing we might do more harm than good. Currently I trust the rest of you and pretty much nobody else in Cauldron at the moment. There are so many layers of people manipulating each other I'm hesitant to just jump."

He sighs. "Defeated by innertia. Yes, we have to act, but how do we know what we are doing is right?"

"I've f-found the b-best way to know th-that is usually to ask," Marigold responds softly. "W-we can only act on what we kn-know. As long as we've m-made sure to t-try and know as m-much as we c-can...there's n-not much else to d-do but trust our g-guts and t-try to keep an open m-mind for any s-surprises that get d-dropped on us."

Maxim eyes his companions, then nods grimly;

"Ain't often I agree with Surabar, but goin' in full bore don't sit right with me. You know my stance on these Striders an' the Chisellers. We been played by various factions all the way long this journey."

The gun-mage's jaw hardens as he mulls their options;

"If the echelons o' villainy are meetin' at House Rhiavadi we can't let the opportunity slide to mine 'em for what they know, and what they're plannin'... then drop the hammer on 'em."

"Remember, even uncle Alex was being manipulated. It's like we are all parts of a clock, and even if one bit looks like it is going counter-clockwise... it might be spinning something else going in totally the other direction."

He sighs.

"But I agree we have to go there. Just lets keep our weapons away from throats as long as we can."

"No.. but he got caught before he actually heard everything. We've been manipulated before..."

Kikinnin looks from JJ, to Fario, then back to JJ. "You're suggesting that Fario's intelligence gathering is, uh, not something we can act upon. That it's another trap." Kikinnin looks over Fario.

"I think he's in poor shape because his gathering is touching a nerve." Kikinnin looks to Maxim.

"What does 'full bore' mean to you, bror? I'm not suggesting that the servants are to be treated as the residents, but everyone in House Rhiavadi is a risk to our well-being, once we've entered. Any one of them can raise an alarm, unless we don't mind being found out at the start." The black beard pauses, looking over the others.

"The half-orcs? They're employed by the Blue Duke, eh? Or Vhalantru, all the same to me. So they get no quarter. All the servants are halflings, but we don't know if any of the conspirators are also halflings, and we know they use disguises, like JJ just did." Kikinnin waits a moment more to think, before starting up again.

"Marigold's Eyes, the spell that lets you see the enemy for what they truly are, that'll be necessary here. If we're worried about being deceived, we'll need our guard up, from the get-go."

"We might truly have the upper hand here, if you value what Fario suffered to obtain. If you don't, speak your mind now, so we may know it. If you think Meerthan is manipulating us, then we should demand that Fellian accompany us on the mission, so they have skin in the game."

"Have no doubt here. This is a purge. If you want to settle your minds, we can consult with Jenya, and Abadar, and steel our spines with the knowledge that what we do is righteous. I know you want to pull knowledge from the conspirators, as do I, but I'll not give them the chance to slip away, when they've gathered so nicely for us."

"If we have time to consult with Jenua and Uncle Alex... that would sit better with me" says JJ.

"But time is something we don't have a whole lot of."

"It d-doesn't last l-long but I can d-do that," Marigold nods when Kikinnin brings up her 'magic eye' spell. "At this p-point I'd p-pay to have it as a p-permanent enchantment...and I g-guess I s-sort of *can* b-but n-not that p-particular 'all in one' sp-spell..."

She shakes her head before getting further down the rabbit trail.

"B-but anyway! Um...I agree that the h-half-orcs are all p-probably on the t-take. The s-servants, m-maybe...m-maybe not. But even if they aren't, s-servants usually *know* things...they overhear st-stuff because who r-really p-pays that c-close attention to the h-help?"

"If we h-have t-time to t-talk with Jenya that would b-be great...b-but if not, we st-still c-can't let this ch-chance pass us b-by."

Maxim smiles wryly back to his Bror;

"Full bore? We'll I got me a new spell that I been itchin' to unleash. Let's say it ain't too discernin' when it comes to them that's in the firin' line."

The gun-mage checks his revolver and pistols methodically as the group mull the nature of their entrance to House Rhiavadi

"Half-Orcs'll be mercs. Brave until the pain outweighs the coin. The halflings could be a mix, but Lil' Miss bein' the exception, quite a few o' em seem to have sold out too. I'm jus' urgin' caution til we know the lay o' the land. Then we make our play.

At the last word he snaps his revolver shut with a hard look.

"One thing we gotta consider here. Things go south 'gainst the esteemed guests... we'll be on our own. Chisellers, Taskerhill nor them Striders gonna come knockin'. Things go south we unleash hell o' all an' sundry."

Kythel merely listens as his allies contemplate the possibilities. He added all he could to the politics of the discussion.

"Another way to enter could be through a upper window. Invisible and silent with my spider climb ability I can spy on the gathering, provided that our mindlink continues to function I can relay who and what I see allowing us to gauge overall numbers present within

If there are innocents though, I would not be able to use my negative channeling powers without doing harm to them".

"If we want to try stealth, I've been climbing in windows since.."

He eyes up Kikinnin and then shuts up.

"I mean, I think I could likely get up, unseen, and do some spying too. In fact, two of us together would provide a bit of support if things heated up..."

A plan seems to coalesce into an infiltration that might need the use of force at some points and the stealth help of an advanced group to climb up to a higher floor and use telepathy for coordination.

Lady Thifirane Rhiavadi lives in a formidable manor on Obsidian Avenue. From the distance you can observe House Rhiavadi has walls composed of gray and black volcanic rock like many buildings in Cauldron. The building has two stories and four squat towers. Three of the towers have pointed spire caps. A domed observatory made of alabaster and glass surmounts the fourth tower. A large portico supported by four marble pillars covers the main entrance doors. Each pillar is carved to resemble a dragon. The windows of House Rhiavadi are made of frosted glass set in heavy copper frames, with locked wooden shutters covering them at night.

R1. Front doors
Each door sports a bronze knocker shaped like a balled fist. A bas-relief of a two-headed raven is carved above the architrave.

The sun in the sky starts to hide behind the crater rim, its orange rays casting long shadows from the tall spires of House Rhiavadi.

New House Rhiavadi map available!

From a reasonable distance from the House, Kikinnin listens to his associates suggesting alternative approaches. Keeping his voice low, he offers his own take.

"They're likely gathered on the second floor. Those windows there, frosted, they're not meant for lookouts, so we're probably just as likely to succeed entering the front doors, straightways."

Kikinnin turns to JJ. "You won't find much success spying through such windows, eh?" The black beard raises a single eyebrow, before addressing the others.

"I'm ready. Kythel, cast your silence on someone, either me or someone else, and I'll stay close to them. We'll keep back, and let someone knock on the door. When the door opens, we'll push the silence forward, and start downing half-orcs. We have to battle them quiet, or the sound will echo the halls. We need to secure the entry hall without alerting the second floor, or this will be Jil and the Brass Trumpet all over again."

Still not convinced on the merits of their mission, Maxim approaches the building alongside the others.

He scrutinises the building, discerning what he can from the grande first impression;

Perception DC20: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (4) + 12 = 16
Knowledge Engineering DC15: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (3) + 8 = 11

"Looks ta me like yer usual upmarket den o' villainy that most nobles haunt..."

With a whimsical shrug the gun-mage fishes out his lock-picking set and sidles up to the front door nice and quietly;

Stealth: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (14) + 14 = 28
Disable Device: 1d20 + 22 ⇒ (1) + 22 = 23

perception: 1d20 + 19 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 19 + 2 = 34

"I can't see a soul up there. " he admits.

"If they lock the shutters at night, I'd best see about making my approach now, rather than later."

Perception (DC 20): 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (9) + 18 = 27

"I c-can't see anyone either," Marigold confirms as she looks around. [smaller]"D-do you want me or K-Kythel to use silencing m-magic on you, JJ? We'll have to k-keep talking with the m-mindlink if we d-do, but it m-might help you g-get in without b-being heard..."