Pogug, funnily enough, seems to know to simply nod in agreement with his companions' words.
Semsephiel tries not to draw attention to himself while he searches for traps. It's occurred to him that with the guards distracting the others and no one else expressly keeping watch, now would be a perfect time for an ambush.
Behind him Evalee is saying something that he isn't paying attention to.
Ashak stays to the side, arms folded and head down. His companions can tell he is fingering the handle of one of the knives at his wrist but it's well hidden enough to not be obvious.
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The guard seems skeptical, but concedes. Keep them out of trouble, and I don't want to hear about that one, the guard indicates Pogug, wandering around alone. He gives a signal as he walks back toward the other guards. They let you pass, not pointing their weapons at you, but definitely keeping them ready.
As you pass through the gates, you are struck by the scale of the seaport layed out ahead of you. The long thoroughfare ahead of you stretches on for over a mile before it curves out of sight, following the coastline. It is flanked to the right by miles of docks filled with every type of ship imaginable. The docks bustle with activity, with all manner of goods being loaded and unloaded. To the left, shops, warehouses and factories stand in a row, waiting to accept the goods the ships carry, and offering their own wares for those ships to take away when they leave. Behind several rows of such buildings, a 40ft-high wall marks the boundary of the city's lowest tier. Though much of it is obscured by 2- and 3-story buildings, you can see switchbacking staircases leading up and down at regular intervals along the wall.
Nearby, you see a shop with expensive clothing displayed in the window. A closer inspection would reveal that these are damaged in transit, or are last year's styles that failed to sell in the shops on higher tiers.
Beyond that is a fortified warehouse into which workers load shrouded crates under guard. The next building has thick cables rising at an angle to a station atop the wall. A gondola hangs from the cable, lifting crates to the next level, while passengers stand on another that lowers in synchrony with it.
The smell of sea air is unmistakable here, but it's not the fishy smell indicative of the seafood processing district located deeper in the city. That is where you know the Artificery can be found.
We walk to the seafood processing district!
Pogug looks upon the city in wonder. "Humans build next to polished cliffs? Tall! Bigger than chief's hut - bigger than Orc camp! Bigger than Carn-i-val!" His eyes seem to gleam in adoration to the year's of work put into the city. Looking at the long dock, he says "Boats are big too! But Pogug also see little boats. Why have little boats when yous has big boats?"
Evalee leads the way, hurrying excitedly down the street while the others follow. Semsephiel trails close behind, wishing she would slow down as he turns his head back and forth, searching for threats in the crowd.
Nathaniel similarly follows the wide-eyed pogug, who has never seen a human city like this from the inside. Nathaniel's swiveling head isn't looking for threats though, but rather splitting his time between heeding the guard's warning not to let let the goblin wander off and searching the crowd for a buxom barmaid or nubile fisherman's daughter to ogle. Erin takes the guard's warning more seriously. Ashak pulls his hood low and tries even harder than usual to look inconspicuous, with the smaller goblin attracting exactly the type of attention he is used to avoiding.
When the smell of fish begins to grow stronger, Evalee knows they are getting closer. She darts through the crowd, causing Semsephiel to momentarily lose sight of her. The demon pushes his way through the crowd to catch up. For a moment he thinks he's lost her, when his eye is drawn to a bell ringing as the door it is attached to swings open. He spots Evalee just as she slips through the door, as a spring begins to pull the door closed behind her. The cracked paint on the shingle that hangs above the door reads "The Artificery" in embellished script that has seen better days.
Evalee realizes Pogug has never been inside a city before. All of a sudden she realizes that he's likely never seen a physician or a cleric of high enough level to remove diseases. Are goblin lifespans so should, she wonders, because humans can't be bothered to see them as people?
"Big boats are a lot harder to make then little boats, so they cost more currency. People who can't afford big boats get smaller ones. That, and people who don't need big boats would likely rather not foot the bill. Mostly the big boats, ships, we call them, are used when you need to go far away and/or carry a lot of stuff, while the smaller boats are kept closer to home."
She pauses a moment to draw on her collected lore. "That, and bigger boats aren't nessessarily better, depending on what you want to do. On open water, a small boat can often outmaneuver a big one. And ships have a lot more boat under the water line, so they run aground in shallow water or rivers. Well, rivers are shallow waters. Some of them others aren't. But ships don't run aground in those rivers."
She's worried she wasn't terribly concise. "Did I make sense?"
With his face obscured by his scarf and hood Ashak could easily be a short stocky human, or perhaps a skinny dwarf. He walks close to others glad to have a group in which to hide.
He leans in to Nathaniel
"People like that are exactly why I prefer not to be memorable."
As soon as he lays eyes on the Artificery he makes a beeline for the door, relieved to be off the street.
Erin seems less than impressed by the wonders of the city, but she smiles at Pogug's enthusiasm. She waits patiently for Evalee to finish her explanation, then chimes in herself. "Plus if everybody had big boats, then having a big boat wouldn't work anymore to show off how important you are. And let's be honest, that's like 60% of the reason for having a big boat in the first place.
Nathaniel smirked at Pogug's awe and excitement, but kept his mouth closed. He remembered his first time traveling to a large city, and decided not to rib the goblin about it. As Ashak leaned in and whispered, the young man nodded in agreement. People were already prejudiced against goblin-kin, and a scarred goblin would be worse. Not to mention a memorable person to ask about if there was any trouble.
Nathaniel continued to guide Pogug to stay with the group, the goblin stopping to gawk at all the wonders a large city could provide. He kept an eye out for the buxom barmaids, but also let his green eyes stray to Evalee on occasion, making sure that Semsephiel's attention is elsewhere when he does.
At Erin's words he chuckled, but her words were truthful. Lots of the beauty and wonder of a large settlement like this was based on the competition of the rich and powerful to outdo one another. He sighed in relief as they reach their destination, making sure to usher Pogug inside before entering himself.
As Evalee speaks, Pogug's brow grows more and more furrowed, straining to understand words such as "currency" and "bill." When Erin pipes in, Pogug smiles in revelation. "Ah! Make sense to Pogug. Like how chief need biggest stick. Sometimes goblin find bigger stick, but then chief take that stick cause he needs biggest." Pogug seems particularly proud of his comparison, scarcely noticing Nathaniel's attempts to keep the goblin on a short leash.
The Artificery is a modest single-story building with a shop up front and a larger workspace in the back. Twin beams of light steam in through windows flanking the door.
When you enter, you see a long counter between you and the far side of the room. In the center of the wall, above the counter, hangs an ornate crossbow with intricately detailed gold ornamentation along its edges. It's constructed from a dark wood. Carved arcane runes filled with more gold cover most of its surface. It drips with so much arcane energy that you can almost feel its magical aura from across the room, even without the benefit of divination magic. The crossbow has been dusted with care, but the rest of the room has not received the same attention.
To the left of the crossbow, a doorway sits open, with 4-inch-wide flaps of thick leather hanging down to form a protective curtain. It would be more protective if one of the strips near the center weren't missing. From behind it, you can see flashes of light from whatever magical construction is going on beyond.
To the right, various half-dried herbs hang from a hook attached to one of the rafters.
Turning to your right, you see a wall covered with shelves. Jars of of all shapes and sizes fill most of them, filled with liquids every color of the rainbow. Some are colors that you've never seen before, and that defy description. A few of the others glow softly in dim light. A ladder on wheels offers access to the higher shelves.
Turning the other way, you see long drawers covering the lower half of the wall. There are keyholes below the mismatched handles of each. Above the drawers, various weapons and tools hang from the wall. Each clearly has some magical purpose, but it is not always clear what they are.
Toward the back, a rack is filled with straight, thin wooden shafts. Most of them are made of a light wood, and look almost identical, save for the magical runes carved into the base of each. A closer inspection reveals a label below each, inscribed with the name of a different low-level spell. A few of the slots on the rack are empty, presumably because the wands that normally sit there have recently been purchased.
A burly man in a leather apron pushes the curtain aside and steps through. Protective goggles have been pushed up onto his forehead, and dark smudges on his face end abruptly around his eyes, where the goggles sat a moment earlier. He pulls a dirty rag from his back pocket to wipe away the worst of the similar smudges that cover his hands. His eyes scan across the group, looking a little surprised at your diversity, but less so than you would expect of the proprietors of any of the other shops on this block. Can I help you?
Pogug makes a quick dash towards the man, staring up at him. "Pogug want substances! Substances!"
We've got lots of substances here... the man says, smirking at the goblin. Then he looks up toward the others before continuing, ...anything specific you had in mind?
"We're looking for a few alchemical ingredients," Erin clarifies, though not by much. "Evalee, you've got the list, right?"
Nathaniel looked around in curiosity, the whole building looking like an overly large version of the healer’s hut from the carnival. Not having anything to contribute to give the proprietor clarification, he also looked towards Evalee.
In the meantime, he kept his eye on Pogug just to be sure the excited goblin stayed out of the merchandise.
"Right! We need," she reads off the list, "Distillate of Arjoraam, 12 drams
Dickerberry extract, 52 drams
Powdered Sunstone, 5 ounces
Activated Gavarium, 10% solution, 37 drams
Lanthamine, 30 drams
Realgamar, 10 sticks
Refined Lunarium Ore, 3 ounces
Fine-drawn mithral wire, 2 ounces
Pickled Ironwood Root, 1 sealed jar WITH BRINE"
Evalee looks up from her paper. "As opposed to ironwood root pickled in fresh water. Anyhow, Doc said he needs the ajoraam, dickerberries ... sunstone ... and Gavarium! They 'must be fresh', if it isn't too much bother."
Meanwhile Semsephiel is looking for traps or hidden doors, under the pretense of reading lables.
If this was a trap, we'd have walked right into it. These people aren't nearly paranoid enough. Really, I should have gone alone to stake out the location hours in advance, only letting Ms. Ribbinz in when I knew for certain it was safe. And since we have the manpower, would it hurt to post guards on the roofs of nearby buildings? He shakes his head. He'd been missing an obvious precaution. Why should we enter potentially dangerous situations (such as entering buildings of any sort) ourselves when a street urchin would do it for copper? Wait, no. They'd likely steal the money and run ... what if we hired an urchin to speak with the supplier and establish a meeting place, a public place I can watch surreptitiously, and only then give them the money to make the transaction?
This seems like a sound plan to Semsephiel, what it sacrifices in efficiency it more than makes up for with increased security. He resolves to suggest it to the party when they're alone. For now he'll take up position at whatever location gives him view of the most doors, preferably with his back to a wall.
These people aren't nearly paranoid enough.
The man scratches at the stubble on his chin. That is quite a list. May I? He holds out a thick-fingered hand for you to give him the list.
He scans the list, then pokes his head back through the curtain. Sainnie! he calls to someone you can't see, then gives some instructions in a low tone. Semsephiel is starting to get nervous, imagining that something on the list is illegal, and that he's giving instructions to alert the authorities, when the man turns back to you. Well, this "Doc" is right. Distillate of Arjoraam, Dickerberry extract, Activated Gavarium, and Powdered Sunstone don't keep fer long. I can have the first three ready by this time tomorrow, but the sunstones might be a problem. Last three ships from the Sunstone Isles 've been hit by pirates. Either sunk 'em or took all their cargo. Ya won't find any in the whole city.
The rest of these ain't a problem, though. Don't know what you want Ironwood brine fer, but I got an extra jar I been meanin' to get rid of. I'll throw it in, no charge. It's nasty stuff, 'n' you'd be doing me a favor taking it off my hands. You want 'em now, or should I hold 'em fer yeh until the Arjoraam, Dickerberry extract 'n' Gavarium are ready?
Nathaniel thought to add that even if it was a bother, the things that needed to be fresh should be fresh. Otherwise this test would be a failure and they might as well not indulge in the capture the flag game that had been set up for them. However, the man in charge seemed to know the particulars and knew to get it 'fresh'.
Letting the others decide on how best to procure the goods, the young man set his thoughts to spinning on how best to gather the flag up. He liked the idea of serving as a distraction, but wondered how well-guarded the tent would be. Maybe if they could figure out a way to move in the dark...all the 'regulars' of the carnival seemed to have normal eyesight. If the party could manage to sneak in without a light source, it might go pretty well for them.
Erin frowns. "Okay, let's pretend for a moment that getting the sunstone is really, really important to us. What would you suggest we do?"
Last three ships from the Sunstone Isles 've been hit by pirates. Either sunk 'em or took all their cargo. Ya won't find any in the whole city.
"Was anyone hurt?" Evalee blurts out before realizing what a stupid question it is.
Semsephiel asks for the price of the Sunstone, despite it not being available. He plans return the money or would is cost to Doc, as he has no interest in fighting pirates.
He also says that he'd like the items that are ready now, and they'll return for the others. (If for some reason they can't return, it's better to have some of the items they need then none of them.)
The man retrieves a large, half-full jar of rust-colored liquid from the back room. Well, you could always sail to the Isles yourselves, but I wouldn't recommend it. He sets the jar on the counter and places a spool of bright, silvery metal wire on top. He then retrieves a similar jar one of the shelves. This one is full though, and you can see pieces of dark, gnarled roots floating in the murky liquid. He crosses the pickled ironwood root and mithral wire from the list with a charcoal pencil.
Safer'd be to find a port on another shippin' route that has 'em, since you'd prob'ly run into the pirates yerselves goin' that way. There'd be no guarantees that the other routes ain't havin' the same problem, tho'. He pulls another jar from the shelf filled with chalky-looking, beige-colored sticks, about 6 inches long. He counts out ten of the sticks onto a sheet of parchment, then wraps it around them with a piece of twine. He marks off the Realgamar sticks.
'Course, you could just wait 'n' see if the next ship makes it through. Should be another 2 or 3 days, maybe more if their cap'n gets creative tryin' to avoid the pirates, but it'd be faster than sailin' for another port. Returning that jar to the shelf, he collects two more, walks around the counter, and gathers a balance scale, four glass vials, and a long, tapered blown-glass tube from underneath, laying them out on the counter.
'less you feel like mixin' in up with some pirates, I'd say that's your best bet. From the smaller jar, he weighs out three ounces of something that what appears to be crushed green stone, which he also wraps in a parchment bundle, then swipes a thick line through "Lunarium Ore".
He dips the glass tube into the dark, metallic liquid in the larger jar. Placing a finger against the end to create suction to prevent the liquid from flowing out, he uses it to fill three of the glass vials. Though he's been talkative up to this point, he remains silent while handling the metallic fluid, giving it his full concentration. He places the stopper on the fourth vial when it is only 3/4 full, then strikes through the word "Lanthamine" before returning both jars to roughly the same locations where he found them on the shelves.
Sorry I can't be more help with that one.
After leaving the shop, Semsephiel turns to the others and says, "We should head back to the carnival, to deliver these reagents and describe our inability to acquire the sunstone. After that, we need to decide on a strategy for retrieving the flag; angle of attack, what our distraction is, etcetera."
Pogug has swift dreams of becoming a goblin pirate, before Semsephiel drags him back to earth. "Carnival, yes!"
"Seems like the thing to do."
Ashak slides out the door behind the others with an awkward half salute half wave to the shop keeper.
Nathaniel shrugged at Semsephiel's words, that seeming as good a plan as any. Some reagents was better than no reagents, after all, and it wasn't their fault that the sunstone was unable to be procured. He went with the others to deliver the portion of their cargo that was attainable to the strange healer of the Carnival, then discuss strategy.
Erin shrugs, following the others back toward the carnival. "You know, there's a small part of me that wonders if they knew there was no sunstone, and the whole thing's some sort of test." She walks in silence for a few moments. "Not a very helpful part, I'll grant."
You retrace your steps, following the street that runs parallel to the city's massive dock. Your progress is a bit slower without Evalee running ahead, and you are careful not to drop the two large jars or the several smaller parcels.
Semsephiel's eyes are even more watchful than usual. Not only is his charge again walking this crowded street, but she now carries valuable goods that make her a potential target for robbers and cutpurses. Fortunately, though the docks lay far from the affluent districts of the city's higher tiers, they are the basis of the city's commerce, and plenty of city guards patrol the area to discourage petty crimes of opportunity.
Even at your more careful pace, you arrive at the gates well within the time the guard allowed, and you make sure that the same guard takes note of the group leaving together as you go. He appears to consider inquiring about how you acquired the goods you carry, but to his untrained eye, nothing appears valuable enough to be worth the effort.
You follow the road to where the carnival stands. By this time, the sun is getting low in the sky, and though the carnival has not yet officially closed for the night, few patrons are left milling about. You skirt the edge of the area until you are again standing in front of Doc's wagon.
Once at the wagon, Nathaniel steps aside to allow Evalee and Semsephiel first entrance. They seemed to be able to follow what the strange man was saying better than the rest of them. And he also wished to avoid explaining their failure to get the sunstone. He figured if the summoner told Doc the tale in her normal, jovial fashion then he might take it better.
As they waited, he started to confer with his companions. "So what's the plan, folks? Do we need to go back into town for supplies?"
"Our first order of business, once it has begun, is to conduct reconnaissance," Semsephiel begins, with airs that belie the fact that he does not, in fact, remember most of his military campaigns. "While I would prefer to take a more active role in the operation, I believe that an air elemental would be uniquely capable for our purposes. In the dark, and from sixty feet in the air, the elemental stands a good chance of seeing without being seen. After it reports back to us, Ms. Ribbinz should summon myself, as the ritual is a lengthy one and difficult to conduct in the field. Whitecloak, Ms. Ribbinz, and myself will act to distract the guards and lead them away from their patrols, while the more furtive of our number retrieve the flag."
"Righty then!" Ms. Ribbinz exclaims. "It's not exactly a detailed plan, but we don't really have the details to make one! So we'll just have to rely on people's abilities to solve problems as problems arise! Well, let's drop these stuff off with Doc and then, I dunno, go hide in the bushes or something." With that, she walks into the doctor's wagon.
"Hello! Wait. Was I supposed to knock? Oops. I'm sorry. Anyway, I got the things you wanted, except the things you wanted that we didn't get, which is mostly ok because you knew we couldn't get them but we made arrangements to go back there tomorrow and pick them up except it isn't entirely ok that's why I said it was mostly ok because we couldn't find any sunstone, the shop we visited didn't carry any, and I don't think we'll be able to find a different shop that carries it because pirates have been attacking ships coming from the place, the place where sunstone comes from, you know the place, the aptly! named Sunstone Isles. Aptly. Pirates hit the last three ships that were carrying sunstone and the shopkeeper said we wouldn't be able to find any in the whole city but I think there might be some lying in a private collection somewhere maybe wait no it doesn't keep."
With the sun on the far side and no lamp burning, it's dark enough inside the wagon that Evalee gets that whole spiel out before realizing that she is the only one inside the wagon. Doc and Shorty must be elsewhere at the moment.
As the sun lowers, you see Ashyr walk the grounds carrying her flaming spike. Every once in a while she gives it a quick swing, and a bit of flame jumps off to ignite one of the torches that are set up near each of the tents. Aside from the torches, light streams out from the openings in the bigtop tent. Openings at the tent's twin apices project light upward, and the yellow streamer that is your goal is clearly illuminated.
Once the torches are lit, the tiefling boy lights one of his cigarettes on one and takes up a position outside the big top's main entrance. Upon scouting, some of the other members of the carnival whom you've met, as well as a few you haven't, can be seen spread out across the grounds. The whoooom, whoooom, whoooom... of Halador's weapon can be heard from the open area in front of the tent's entrance
"do you think one of those anchor ropes could support me? If you can create a distraction to the north east, I might be able to climb straight to the flag. Then it's just a quick hop down and we're outta there."
Ashak gestures animatedly with his hands as he describes his plan. The acrobat seems to be bursting with excitement.
"Haven't pulled off a good ol' fashion heist it quite a while."
[dice=kn. engineering]1d20+9
"Hmmmmm . . . well, I'm hardly an expert, but I don't think that those ropes could hold you. And, I am actually an expert, so you should probably take my advise under consideration . . . unless you're more of an expert? I've never actually pulled off a heist before, but I'm pretty confident in my knowledge of, uh, ropes and pulleys and stuff."
"Pogug or Erin could probably make it, though."
Erin raises her eyebrows, considering. "I've done a fair bit of climbing back at, um, anyway, I could probably give it a shot." She pauses, turning to Semsephiel inquiringly. "But you were talking about summoning something that can fly, right? Couldn't it just, like, hoist one of us up there?"
"Unlikely. The elemental is no larger than you are."
Nathaniel listened to the others talk about physics and ropes and whatnot, pretty bored with the conversation. When it got back around to action, he jumped back in. "Ok, so Erin will try to scamper up the rope? How about we flit in and out near the entrance...if Evalee, Semsephiel and I keep moving and don't bother to try and fight, we can probably avoid being hit. Or even if we are, we can absorb enough of the heat that you guys can complete your task inside."
"That leaves Pogug and me to go for the flag from inside, I assume there are several look outs in there but with a distraction it should be doable. If you get tagged head back here? If it goes south we can meet up afterward and see what went wrong, work on a new approach."
Erin gaze slowly pivots as she surveys the scene. "Chi and I should probably sneak up along the right, since the wagons and trees should provide pretty good cover. Your elemental noticed someone over there, right? If you could draw them away that would be perfect." Her eyes narrow. "They'll probably be expecting a distraction, so it'll have to look like you're really going for the flag."
Evalee will message everyone.
Semsephiel concurs. "I'll go for it then. We should have a distraction and an attempt on as many sides as possible."
He takes off, trying to remain invisible for now but eventually planning on attracting attention away from the treeline. He's remarkably stealthy for such a tall creature.
Erin quickly slips off her pack, laying it down behind the wagon as Chi squirms out and scurries into the undergrowth. Erin turns to follow, but pauses suddenly, a slow smile creeping across her face. With a conspiratorial wink to the others, she slides that lovely scrap of cloth over her arm once more, and her outfit changes in the most drastic manner yet. She is now clad in a skin-tight bodysuit that covers her from head to toe in shimmering black, with equally black boots and padded vest worn over it. The halfling's face is obscured by a mask that looks like a face made entirely of flame.
With that, she slips off into the line of trees, progressing slowly forward until she comes up level with the main tent. Chi leads the way, nose twitching as he sniffs the air for signs of danger.