[PFS_CORE_Aerondor] 00-14 The Many Fortunes of Grandmaster Torch (Inactive)

Game Master Aerondor

“Welcome to glorious Sedeq, Pathfinders. I trust your stay has been pleasant so far.”

The speaker is a strikingly beautiful woman, slender and dark, dressed in the most modern Qadiran fashions. Her study is opulently appointed and seems to have mementos and trophies of past adventures covering every available surface. She favors you and your comrades with a slight half-smile and continues in her thick Qadiran accent: “I am Venture-Captain Yasmin Kal’al—I don’t believe we’ve been formally introduced.”

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"You are correct, Ma'am. We have not had the pleasure. It is not very often that I have had pathfinder tasks entrusted to me and rarer still for them to take me out of Absalom."

The man speaking is tall and burly with the build one would expect armor and an arsenal of blades and weapon. However this man is dress in bright colors, has only daggers on his belt and a cross an quiver. A slight smell of spices surrounds him. All the clothing colors attempt but can't hope to cover the striking red hair and beard cut close and neat. Also an amulet with a strange medallion hangs from his neck.

"I am looking forward to travel. My jewelry stock is running low and the sales are always tedious in the summer. Hopefully you are sending us someplace exotic. I had a blast on the hunting expedition in Jalmeray."

"I am Farlen Mizzul, jewelry craftsman and part time pathfinder, at your service." He adds hurriedly once he figures out he omitted his name in the exchange. "Uhh, I do a little magic, too."

Wylka smiles at the Venture-Captain and bows to her, showing respect. "I am Wylka Forth, my Lady. Follower of all things beautiful and elegant which you are surely. I am a Priest of Shelyn, though I might not be much I will strive to keep my companions alive while we strive to achieve success for the mission you grant us."

Wylka is heavily armed for a priest, especially for a priest of Shelyn. He is wearing a elegantly designed breastplate and carrying a glaive just as well designed.

Farlen, not really picking up on the compliment to the elegant venture captain, tramples on the end of Wylka's pledge to Lady Kal'al.
"Well met, Wylka." "I, too, revere Shelyn as a craftsman of jeweled works of art." "Although my pendants of unicorns and butterflies are popular if not repetitious at the moment." He frowns at the thought.
"But, art is very beautiful in all forms."
He returns to a smile. "It will be very comforting to adventure with you. If my arcane arts can help us in our task, they are willfully given to our cause."

"Greetings all.. Seebonickk here!"

Zekuli sits a little stiffly in the Venture-Captain's study, and looks slightly uncomfortable in armor that has not seen much wear yet. I hope there won't be so much... running around for this mission, he reflects privately.

I have purchased some new masterwork armor and a weapon that I will apply to this chronicle.

His eyes brighten and he leans forward when Farlen brings up the arcane arts. "You are a scholar? A magician? I hope you won't mind if I observe your techniques carefully. As a servant of Nethys, it is both my joy and my duty, you see." He coughs gently into his fist. "Ah, right, my name. I am Zekuli, from the land of Osirion, where we enjoy weather as fine and mild as it has been here since I arrived."

“I am here as you are, by request of honored Venture-Captain Adril Hestram. I have been asked to brief you on the local situation as regards the Osirian artifacts. As you know, the smuggler Matzal Chaim moved the four statues out of Sothis into Qadira. The statues are supposed to be quite valuable and had been confiscated by the Osirian authorities for study. We are not sure how Chaim got access to the statues in the first place—he likely had accomplices inside the Osirian Cultural Ministry. At any rate, Chaim brought the statues here."

"Sedeq is his permanent headquarters, though he spends most of his time traveling abroad. When he is in town, he spends the lion’s share of his time on the Qalli. While most of the city is given over to the human-chattel trade, the Qalli Spice Market is almost as lucrative as the rest of the city combined. Much of the money seen in Sedeq begins and ends in its stalls and processing plants. The saffron trade alone—” she brings herself up short.

“But never mind, this is not of relevance to you. Chaim spends a good deal of his time at the Topaz Pavilion bathhouse. We believe that he uses it as a point of contact with his various associates. Once you find Chaim, you will have to convince him to tell you who he sold the statues to—yes, they are no longer in his hands, we are sure of that. Time is of the essence—if Chaim’s buyer sells to others, the artifacts may quickly move beyond our grasp.”

" I am not familiar with the statues. What do they look like? How are we supposed to know Chaims? Do you have any suggestions on how to get him to tell us him buyer's name?

"I understand the statues are all different, one is of a cat, one a giraffe, an eagle and the last a centipede." explains Yasmin.

"Do they have any special properties? Magical statues, perhaps?" Zekuli asks hopefully. It would make this hunt much more interesting, to know that he is involved with returning magical artifacts to his homeland.

He tries to imagine how a meeting with a smuggler in a bathhouse would go, but the picture is fuzzy. Imagination is not his strong point. Zekuli says slowly, "I suppose we could try to pretend we're interested in buying the statues ourselves, but I have always found the direct approach of questioning to be easier in the end."

Yasmin shakes her head. "Our interest in them is purely historical. I'm not aware of any curses or such, although some ancient artefacts obviously do bear such, I know of none related to these."

"Suppose we do get a lead on the buyer of the statues, are we to go after them or just report back?"

"Is anyone else interested in the statues?"

"I can see statues designed after the cat, giraffe, and eagle. But a centipede seems odd. When we find these statues, I'll see if they radiate any magic."

As for the bath house, he looks at his companions, "it is a good thing all of us are males. A woman might find it hard to enter the bath house unless it is co-ed, which I don't think it would be considering the culture."

"Bath houses here are pretty open.." smiles Yasmin to Wylka.

"I imagine that Chaim is trying to line up buyers for the statues as we speak, so yes, there are likely others who are also interested in them. All the more reason that time is of the essence."

She gives Farlen a hard look. "I want the statues, not a status report. Well, I'll want a status report, once the statues are back."

And assuming there are no more questions?

Following the venture captain's directions the team heads through the Spice Market and locates the Topaz Pavilion Bathhouse. It is located prominently on the corner of Candlewood Street and Shackle Street, a scant block from the ramp down to the Central Market.

Perception DC10: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5

Wylka heads to the bathhouse with the group, but doesn't see anything out of the ordinary.

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 = 19

As they're approaching, Zekuli catches sight of someone who he thinks is the person they're looking for. Before he has a chance to react, the man sees them and flees into the bathhouse.

Zekuli hisses, "I think that was Chaim just now, going in. And I do not believe he is eager to meet us. We might want to hurry in there ourselves."

"He ran from us like he thought he owed us money." "Do you think he was tipped off we were coming?" "Strange."

Seebonickk turns to Farlen "Hmmm...I wonder if there's a spy around?"

Wylka frowns, "Who could've tipped them off."

He heads purposely toward the bathhouse to enter.

Wylka leads the team into the steamy bathhouse just in time to see the figure of Chaim vanishing down a corridor and into the mists of a sauna room.

And to keep things brief, I'm assuming you give chase.

After chasing Chaim through what must have been half the rooms in the bathhouse, jumping pools and slipping across slick tile, the body of Chaim lies on the floor of a steamy room, a bloody gash where his adam’s apple used to be.

An exasperated voice from further in the room exclaims, “'Think,’ I said, ‘before you stab.’”

The steam separates, revealing two sweaty half-orcs in heavy armor, one looking abashed with a bloody kukri in his hand. A man sprawls luxuriantly in a small steaming pool in the center of the room. His visible skin is covered with horrible scars as if from badly healed burns. Behold Grandmaster Torch, a notorious information broker who has helped the Pathfinder Society in the past—but always for a steep price.

Farlen heads towards the bathhouse also. He pulls out a wand and taps himself cause a blueish shimmering of the air around him that almost looks to form armor before blending in again. expends charge 47 of 50 on wand of mage armor

"Well, let's go see what other surprises we can uncover." "So much for being suttle; direct approach it is."

Zekuli pants from the exertion of an unexpected chase - and here I was hoping for less running this time around - but stops short when he comes across the unexpected scene in the bath.

"Our- our information source," he stammers in frustration. "Did you kill him?" He goes to where Chaim lies on the floor (assuming the half-orcs let him do so) to examine the body.

The man stops berating the half orc with the Kukri, and turns to give Zekuli an appraising stare.

"Please forgive the mess—my bodyguard was a bit … overzealous in guarding my privacy. I recognize Pathfinders when I see them, though, and I’m always happy to be of service to the Society.”

He looks over at the body. "Did you need something from him?"

Wylka sighs as he looks down at the dead body of their information source. "We were to question him about a certain set of statues."

“Well, I’m afraid he won’t be able to provide it now. If it was information you were looking for, I’ve got all kinds in stock. Including recent buyers of Osirian statues.. For proper remuneration. Was he..” Here Torch gestures to the body "mixed up in that situation?"

Wylka nods, "We were directed to find out the whereabouts of the statues and retrieve them."

"Well... it seems I have a business oportunity" smiles Torch.

"3000gp will buy you the names of the statues current owners."

"Wow! We are pathfinders, not diamond merchants. That is way above our pay grade." Farlen thinks for a moment. "Isn't there a discount for first time customers or a blue light special for those whose informant was just murdered?" "Perhaps some other arrangement can be agreed upon?"

"Yeah anything else but that! We'd really like to see the statues though! We're really interested in looking at them!"

Torch offers you a withering look. "Ahh, pathfinders. Renoun for their shallow pockets. But very resourceful... I'll tell you what. I'll hand over the information in excange for a future...favor from your society. Exact favor to be determined as I need it."

Wylka knows the favor probably won't be that good, but he agrees. "As long as it doesn't contradict my faith, I am willing to owe you a favor."

Zekuli hums skeptically, his lips pursed. He doesn't like the sound of owing this man an unspecified favor. But his pockets are not filled with 3000 gold worth, and their mission is the most important right at this moment, so he silently nods his assent along with Wylka.

"Tit for tat, is it?" "I am starting to feel like a politician." "But what choice do we have." "We must discuss this privately."
Farlen motions over Zekull and Wylka a short way down the hall, whispering, "Can either of you cast spells to speak with dead? I do not have such magic, but maybe we could opt out of the dirty deal." "If we can get the body away cleanly, we might pool money and buy a scroll." Farlen glances nervously at the obscured e-Grandmaster Torch. "Just a thought..."

"Ahh, a favor for a favor. That is fair, and a smart move on your behalf. Perhaps society recruitment procedures have improved in recent times." laughts Torch.

"The statues were passed on very recently to four different men. Nasir Tandir, Viraj Arpani, Buri Buri-Ban, and Saldin Marafi." he pauses, thinking for a moment before adding.

"And at no extra cost... Keep the statues in a thick bag and don’t let your arcane friends there hold them when they practice their art. Bad things will happen.”

A diplomacy check and some nice words might help get some more information...

"That was very straight forward of you, Master Torch. You have saved us a potential bride and several hours of hints and lies, my least favorite game. I will do as you ask when the time comes."
aid to diplomacy: 1d20 ⇒ 5
"Is there anything else you can tell us to help retrieve the statues."
Though trying to soubd sincere, Farlen sounds more clockwork in his delivery.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (2) + 8 = 10

"Ah... I just new they had to be magical in some way. Thank you for the warning about the statues."

And moving things forward as I have a hard end date and the board reliability has been poor

Torch looks at Farlen with an open hand. "Now that is even more information...

He sighs.
“Nasir Tandir is a jowly fellow who runs a warehouse in the Overmarket near Candlewood and Zephyr. "

If you want any more you'll either need to offer money or come up with a better diplomacy check :-)

Can't seem to be tackful today.

"I think we will pay mister Tandir a visit. Thank you, Master Torch. You have been very helpful."

Farlen prepares to leave and go to the overmarket and find the warehouse.

Given both the site outage and my limited time, I'm going to advance you through to Tandir and let those who want make diplomacy or other similar checks on the side to see if you can track down the others

In the Overmarket, the streets are broader, the buildings farther apart, and the alleyways less dark. The spice levels in the air are much more breathable as well. This is the middleclass portion of the Qalli—not as crowded as the Central Market where the poorest of the poor rub elbows with highpowered merchants. The Overmarket almost has the feel of a residential neighborhood, albeit one with many more shops and stalls than houses and apartments.

With Torch's information you are easily able to locate the warehouse.

Directly inside the front door of Tandir’s low warehouse are two men in the middle of a heated discussion. One, behind the low counter, is a fat, jowly man, looking wary but defiant. The man standing across from him is grizzled but menacing—his body lean but for a sizable paunch and his cheeks scraggly with halfgrown gray beard. The fat man blusters, “I’ve already paid you what you’re owed, Belal. You told me protection would be ten a month, plus another five for the mucks. By those rates I’m paid up through the end of the year!”

Belal reaches across the counter and grabs the man by his collar. “Rates have changed, Tandir. I’ve told you that twice now. If you want my protection”—he jerks on the collar—“you’d better pay me the rest.”

The other customers in the stop are pointedly not paying attention.

Map is open for viewing

Farlin examines the warehouse as they approach.
perception: 1d20 ⇒ 2
"It looks like a warehouse." "These spice smells are making me hungry." "I could go for lamb chops." "Hey ... What's that man doing to that other man?" "That's not very nice..."

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 = 23

As they approach the warehouse, Zekuli mutters to the others, "Don't look now, but there are a couple people following us. Keep your wits about you."

For his own part, he ignores whoever that is for now and enters the building. He takes in the scene and frowns. Nobody likes a bully. Already out of patience from having to make deals with Torch, Zekuli doesn't have time to deal with this delicately.

He takes a step inside the room and calls out to the one called Belal, "We have some business of our own with Tandir. Now, sir, will you be leaving or do we need to help you find the exit?"

Intimidate: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (10) + 1 = 11

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (6) + 8 = 14

Wylka approaches the man with a smile, "What my friend means, we have urgent busines with Tandir and would prefer if you handled your business later."

Darn. Was hoping to get a better roll. Made Wylka sound more threatening then charming.

And here I was trying to sound threatening and came across more like a charming wimp!

The man lets go of the merchants collar and eyes you up warily. "Talk away, my business will keep." he says. He doesn't move away though.

Can you make sure you are on the map. Merchant outlined in red, thug in blue. I've put the two PF characters already on the map with round yellow borders to help distinguish you.

sense motive: 1d20 ⇒ 2

"I think my associate meant that we need to speak with Mr Tandir privately." "Do you think you could be so kind as to take a little break, stretch your legs a little? Ten minutes aught to be plenty."

While speaking, Farlen watches the Belal for sudden movements.

diplomacy aid: 1d20 ⇒ 1

Sense Motive DC9: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (18) + 9 = 27; hehe.. can't fail.

Wylka smiles and then points to two customers for his companions to notice, "It seems like our extorting friend has a couple of extra friends."

Looking back, "I don't suppose your friends and yourself will be just willing to leave?"

Not trying to be diplomatic here.

"Not until you show that you mean Mr Tandir no harm." says the thug quite bluntly.

"Of course, maybe that would encourage him. So me and my mates, we'll just hang around and make sure the peace is kept. "

He turns to Nasir. "Now you are currently behind in your protection... so we won't interfere at all with what these heavily armed and strong looking folk want to discuss with you. Until you confirm your intention to get current with payments again."

The merchant looks a mixture of relieved and worried. "How can I help you?" he finally gets out, sounding worried now.