Looking at Alonna, What do you think? I'm not too keen to visit Kaer Maga, or get into someone else's dispute, but that's me.
To the gnome, Counteroffer. Right now those secrets aren't doing you any good. You tell us about a place you've been interested in, but unable to get to. We retrieve some things for you, or maybe find a safe way for you to get there yourself.
Alonna looks slightly insulted as the gnome points out that "none of you three look like engineers". "It comes with the trade," she mutters under her breath, but keeps listening.
When the gnome finishes and Hammas speaks, Alonna turns to her, eyes glittering with excitement. "Sounds intriguing. All we have to do is get some documents, right? We could even disguise ourselves, if you don't want to be recognized." She looks around the tavern idly again, and her eyes settle on Zora. "Oh hey, I know her! She travels a lot, maybe she's been to Kaer Maga by now. Maybe she could be our guide?" She grins and waves to Zora, hoping she sees.
Jeyvara takes a seat halfway through the gnome's long-winded response. Just once I would like to meet a gnome that gets to the point. She finds herself tempted to correct his assumption that she was ignorant in the matters of engineering and architecture but given his obvious passion on the subject she decided against stirring up that beehive.
The mention of long lost treasure and ancient secrets certainly gains her attention, however. "I assume you're talking about one of the old giant ruins in the area? But that's beside the point for now..." She pauses, leaning back in her chair and studying the gnome. "I find myself wondering what sort of research lands you in your current situation."
Jeyvara thinks for a moment that the gnome is the most scheming, devious and evil arbiter of slave trading in Golarion, but the feeling passes as quickly as it appeared.
"These 'secrets' are my current currency," the gnome replies. "I wish to conduct a transaction of services, but completely understand if you are not up to the task. Should you change your mind, I will likely be here, conducting my work." Turning to Jeyvara he answers, "Ah, you want to know the nature of my work, eh? It deals with golems he then goes into a 5-minute, breathless description of his work.
The gnome is an expert in the creation and implementation of golem servants and automatons, and the restoration of ancient ruins - particularly those from the Thassilonian period. He claims to have recently discovered a new process for building golems that would reduce the cost and speed up the production time of golems capable of carrying out more advanced instructions.
"As you can clearly see, there are those in Kaer Maga who would be motivated to shut down my work, eh?"
He is likely referring to the Ardoc family, the renowned golem crafters of Kaer Maga. They operate as unofficial, but universally accepted and respected authority figures in Bis, one of the districts in Kaer Maga.
Alonna blinks at the gnome's description of his work. She understands the more complicated words, but how it all fits together is beyond her. She laughs and pretends she understood, though.
"Ah yes, I can see why they'd want to shut you down. I'm an amateur engineer myself, and I'm intrigued by your work with golems. I'd certainly be interested in helping you out, though." She looks at Hammas for a response.
I think I would like to meet a golem. I wonder if we would have a lot in common. What do you think Mister Bird? Im a bit like a golem in a way, right?"
@Zora Have you ever met a golem? It sounds like that gnome has some golem friends in Kaer Maga. I wonder if we should try to help him. Maybe we could meet a golem.
Jeyvara stares blankly at the gnome as he rambles on and on about golems. She attempts to interrupt the gnome several times throughout his rambling speech but finds herself unable to get a word in as the gnome excitedly continues. When he finally stops, Jeyvara hesitates for several seconds, not entirely sure if the gnome was finished speaking or if his voice had simply given out.
"So our reward for returning your business is your secrets? That seems a bit unfair don't you think? Guaranteed wealth for you in exchange for danger and possible wealth for us? Adventurers don't work for promises, you know."
Jeyvara glanced over at the other two women at the table, not completely sure why she was throwing her lot in with two strangers. Still, she needed money somehow and she never could resist a secret...especially when that secret involved treasure.
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@Rags: You're practically a golem! We could find you a girlfriend. Just kidding. But it sounds like this gnome is talking them into heading to Kaer Maga... maybe we could tag along?
Zora stares at the trio of girls with a look of mirth.
Oh, and did she hear? Adventure on the way back? Secrets? Guaranteed wealth?!
"Guarantees of wealth are rarely worth much. No, I am simply wanting to return to my profession and passion. The secrets, though? For the brave and the foolish, far greater potential awaits."
Suddenly, the sound of shattered glass fills the room as a small brown object makes a hole in the large pane window. A moment later, the small brown object moans and rolls over onto its back.
You recognize this as a halfling boy named Mica from the carnival.
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Zora leaps out of her chair and scurries over to the halfling boy. She stares at him blankly before kneeling down next to him and tapping him on the forehead.
Are you okay?!
She tentatively glances through the window afterwards, confused.
Seeing nothing (more than likely), she looks back to everyone else in the tavern, alarmed.
@Zora We should tag along! Wow. An adventure! I would like an adventure!
The window shatters and Ragman jumps behind his chair. "Ah! We are under attack! Let's get out of here!"
He pauses and peers over his chair when he hears the halfling boy moan.
"Mica? What happened to you? Why did you come in through the window?"
Ragman runs over to check on his troubled friend.
Hammas meets Alonna's look with a shrug. Rather hunt bandits or poke around Hook Mountain, but if you're interested, sure. Let's do it. Why not ask the Varisian if she wants in. If she knows the city we could use the help.
To the other half-elf, I'm with you.
Jeyvara tilts her head slightly to the side and raises an eyebrow at the gnome. "Brave and foolish? What's that-" Jeyvara gasps and jumps in her seat at the sudden interruption of the shattering glass, her hand reflexively moving toward her dagger.
She curiously peers over at the object in the floor, her mouth falling open in horror when she realizes it's a halfling child. She joins the other patrons gathered around the halfling, crouching down next to him with concern. She looks toward the child, the Varisian woman and her friend, and then toward the broken window. Her eyes scan the scene outside briefly, hoping to get a glimpse of whoever did this before turning her attention back to the child. "Are you alright?"
Peering in from the street you see two large, black-haired teens. Their faces are a mixture of anger and fear. "The bloody little bandit stole my coinpurse!" one of them says, pointing to the halfling. "Then he tried to run away and...he...and...tripped. Yeah. Tripped through the window. Clumsy git." The other teen says nothing.
The large cook emerges from the kitchen. He looks from the window to the floor to the boys to the group gathered around the boy. "What in the Gods?!" he asks.
Mica, for his part, smiles as the healing washes over him and his wounds close up. "Thank you Ms. Zora," he says, not knowing who healed him.
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Zora raises to her feet and stares at the boys. With a look of furious anger, she draws her thumb across her throat and then flicks 'the blood' towards the two boys. Little finger and index extended, she points at her eyes and then points at the two boys, a dangerous scowl on her face.
Zora seems two sizes larger than she is. Her presence in the room looms. She points away from the tavern and stomps her foot. She points again, wildly, and it's easy to see-- Get out of here.
She turns around to find a new Varisian taking her spot, and just stands, staring down at the halfling boy. She looks him over for a coin purse or any signs of thievery as best she can, hands on her hips, in case her gut judgment was wrong.
@Rags: Thank you for healing him.
Zora wheels a finger by her ear and then puts her fingers to her mouth, pulling her hand away. Her other hand goes by her mouth, dipping under like a duck diving and then she brings both to either side, palms open and towards her torso. She points at him and raises her eyebrows.
It's incomprehensible.
Jeyvara straightens up when it appears the halfling boy will be fine. She studies him for a second, finding the teen's story fairly believable considering the boy's background, even if their method of reclaiming their money was extreme.
Her attention then turns to the two teenagers, studying them briefly. "Teenagers...nothing but trouble. Wait. What am I saying?! Gods...I sound like my mother!
"Even if the boy did take your money, that doesn't give you the right to throw him through a window. Can you even prove he stole from you?"
Alonna sighs and pushes out her seat, making sure to push her pack carefully underneath it and out of sight. She stands next to Zora, placing a hand on her shoulder and staring the teens down.
"If I were you, I'd tell this woman exactly what happened. She's got powerful gods-given magic, you know. Which gods? See, that's the thing. Nobody knows. I mean, sure, it could be Desna or Sarenrae took a liking to her, but who knows... it could just as easily have been one or more of the evil ones. You know, someone who doesn't believe so freely in redemption. Someone who might not like it if you lied to someone they've chosen to serve a purpose. So why don't you tell her what happened, okay? And don't try to say he fell through that window on his own. I don't think a single person in this room believes you."
After finishing her speech, Alonna grins and gives Zora an all-too-conspicuous wink.
The boys stare at Zora in wide-eyed wonder. "What's wrong with her?" one of them asks, shrugging.
"We didn't throw 'im! He tripped!" the boy protests when accused by Jeyvara. "Check his hands - he has my coin purse!"
Sure enough, the boy is gripping a pouch in his left hand.
The fat man rises and approaches the group as Alonna finishes speaking. "I, for one, believe the boys," he says. "Trevor, go fetch a guard," he says to the boy who hasn't spoken yet. The boy runs off and the fat man says to the owner of the tavern, "Horace, let's get this glass cleaned up and wait for the guard." Turning to your group, he says, "Based on how quickly you've all reacted, I suppose you'll want to speak on behalf of this...var...halfling lad?"
Trevor returns with a guard a few seconds later. He walks through the door of the tavern over to the group. The fat man relays the situation to the guard. When he finishes, the guard looks at the halfling and asks, "So, do you have the boy's coin purse, then?"
The halfling, his head hung, offers the coin purse up, not looking at anyone around. The teenage boy says, "Told you he was a dirty thief." The guard shushes him before asking, "Did these boys...help...you through the window?" The halfling remains silent.
"If you don't answer me, boy, you'll come with me and I'll make you talk," the guard threatens. Still, the halfling remains silent.
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Zora stomps her foot and makes a series of incomprehensible hand motions to the boys until they point out that Mica is still holding a coin purse in his hands.
She then turns to him with a series of incomprehensible hand motions. They're quick and forceful, so obviously she's angry.
Zora crosses her arms while Mica is forced to give up the coin purse. Honestly, it served him right. She'd assumed he was being picked on when he was being a thief, so, honestly? Maybe he did trip through the window.
When the guard threatens him, she tags him in the bicep with a soft smack-- it's likely he can't even feel it through his armor, but it's easy to see her intent is to say Don't speak that way to my friend.
She stares at Mica and makes a gesture, her fingers coming from her mouth. She kneels down and puts a hand on his shoulder, shaking him. Tell him everything, c'mon. I promise I won't be mad.
Mister Ragman didn't like kids much. They would stand at the edge of the field and sing songs about him. He knew it wasn't really their fault. He knew their parents taught them those songs so that they would be afraid of him, so they would leave him alone. Even if it wasn't their fault, it was hard to forgive them for singing along, for hating him and fearing him.
But Mica had never been afraid of him. Mica was a good kid. Wasn't he? Either way it was wrong they way they were treating him. Ragman wasn't sure how serious the guard's threats were, and he didn't want to find out, but scaring the boy further wasn't doing anyone any good
"You shouldn't throw little children through windows. That's wrong. It is, I know that. You shouldn't throw little children through windows. It hurt him, and scared him, and now you are threatening him even more. I know I would be too scared to talk! Calm down and give him a moment to recover and we can figure this out."
"They was making fun of me," Mica squeaks. "Said I was a no-good, smelly Varisian bastardling. They was bigger than me so I didn' want to fight. So I's took theirs purse instead. Didn' mean to cause so's much trouble. Not like there's much in there anyway." He says all this without lifting his eyes. When he finally lifts his head, he looks directly at the teen. "But I didn' trip. I'm not clumsy. He and that other one picked me up and threw me, they did. I swears it."
The guard seems to soften at Zora's encouragement and the small boy's confession. He turns to the teens. "Well, is he telling the truth." They both nod. "Well, we have a theft and an inappropriately aggressive retaliation. I have no desire to pursue this matter much further, but we should decide who should pay for good Mr. Horace's window. Any suggestions?" He looks to the group for advice.
The fat man pipes up almost immediately. "This wouldn't have happened were it not for the thief. Make him pay for the repairs."
Alonna rolls her eyes and sighs. "He didn't defenestrate himself, you know. Those two threw him through it. Make them pay for the window. Maybe it will teach them not to be so aggressive in the future."
Jeyvara excuses herself once the guard arrives. Being around the guard made her far too nervous and brought back some frustrating memories she'd rather not relive. She was on the wrong end of one too many accusatory nobles suggesting that her latest find either was rightfully theirs through some contrived web of family claims or that she simply stole the treasure directly from them for her to want to get wrapped in the discussion.
Instead, she retakes her seat near the gnome and apologizes for leaving so suddenly, though she doubts he even noticed with how engrossed he was by his reading. "So why don't you tell me more about this secret of yours? It doesn't do me any good to help you if your reward is merely speculation or rumor, after all."
Alonna grins at Zora. "Funny, after all this time, that's still a little unsettling. It's good to see you again, and we should talk more after all this is cleared up."
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Zora looks shocked. She gestures to herself and then mimes shaking a bottle and throwing it. If you want to talk about unsettling, let's talk about how unsettling it is that if I shook you I'm sure the tavern would go up in a ball of fire! Oh, and completely agreed, though I'm offended you said talk!
She returns her attention to the fat man, scowling.
Alonna slaps her forehead and groans. Of all the bone-headed things to say... She shakes her head and chuckles weakly. "No offense meant, my friend. I merely meant it's been a while since you did that. It was a bit of a shock, is all. And I look forward to hearing about your adventures - in your own special way of telling me, of course." She gestures to the vials of liquid catalyst at her belt. "And no need to worry about these - they're completely inert. For now. No fire until I mix them with these." She rummages in a pouch, briefly showing a small packet of powder and a flask of a thicker liquid. "That's where the boom comes in."
Daughter of a guard, Hammas doesn't care for vigilantes, bullies, or criminals. The blame is shared, so the punishment should be also. The thief shouldn't have stolen and the boys shouldn't have damaged property. Both pay half, in coin or labor.
Hearing the one-sided conversation, Hammas whispers to Alonna, Maybe talking about explosions in the inn isn't such a good idea. Time for catching up later. To Zora, Well met, I'm Hammas. Alonna and I have been companions for a while.
After the conversation goes back and forth for a while, Hammas stands and gestures to Alonna, Why don't we check out this carnival and mull things over a bit. To Jeyvara and Zora, Care to join us? We'll make a night of it.
"That would be good. All this arguing is giving me a headache." Alonna sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose. She walks back to her table and picks up her pack, shouldering it with a small grunt. "Come with us, Zora. It'll be fun."
"Well, I don't see why not."Alonna holds out a hand to the strange man. "Well met. I'm Alonna Zinthariel, Korvosan alchemist. And you are?"