Tyranny and Anarchy - Curse of the Crimson Throne (Inactive)

Game Master Corsario

"I can't wait to have a look at those letters!" says Corso as he walks down the street with the inflated head of the Righteous and Victorious.

Sorry for posting delays. Work has been busy lately.

Thumbing the stopper of the vial in his hand, Iozif looks hard at the spider bedecked criminal. The city would be better off without scum of this sort running around... Glancing over his shoulder, his jaw clenches in anger as he sees his companions leaving. Looking back to Devargo, he manages to hiss through clenched teeth, "Keep the dragon alive and well, and I'll be back to pay for it. I may toss in some sport as well." Following the others out, he slips the vial back onto his bandolier, careful even in his anger. I will be back for you, little one. Don't lose hope! Thinking the thought over and over forcefully, Iozif hopes the message made it back to the little dragon.

Following the others outside, he barely notices the other's conciliatory words. Once they're out of earshot of the toughs around Eel's End, he turns to his companions and ask, "How could we have left the dragon there?!? It's a sentient being! It SPOKE to me telepathically. It's as intelligent as you or I and caging it is a slavery of the worse sort. That bastard Devargo will probably feed it to his spiders on the first chance he gets. We should go back for it! It asked me to free it and I abandoned." Still fuming, Iozif begins pacing, trying to work of some of his anger, though shame at his flight crept in the more he thought of the situation. I could have stayed and fought and maybe freed it. I shouldn't have left...

"Wow, Iozif, I knew you wanted it freed, but I didn't know you felt so strongly about it," responds Gyllan. "I hate to say it, but it's probably best to go back for it another time, whether to buy its freedom or fight for it. The hard truth is, we'd have likely lost a fight - who knows how many men Devargo could've called in to take us out? Then we'd be dead, and the little dragon would have no one thinking about its plight."

He pauses a moment to think, and let his words sink in, then continues, "But I'd be up for helping you free it, if it's a thinking being as you say. Not sure which will come sooner, us having 5000 sails, or being able to come up with a plan to bust the thing out of its cage, but I've got no love for the Spider and would be happy to help you either way."

Durriken nods. "No creature like that deserves to be a slave."

Stopped on the pier outside Eel's End as night starts to fall, you watch as crowds of people pour into the pleasure dens.

Stopping to read the letters, Corso blushes. These are obviously highly descriptive love letters between Ambassador Amprei and the wife of an important Chelish count. And while there are only two letters, the prose itself is enough to discredit and embarrass Amprei if they were to fall into possession of the husband, a man with a known short temper.

Sizing up the place, you count perhaps 8-10 heavily armed guards, the thugs in the Spider's Throne Room, and who knows what else.

"Ye can worry about wee dragons all day if ye's like, I've got a mission to accomplish," the dwarven guardsman grumbles. "Sure, it'd be lovely to set it free, but it would also blow our cover, and get us killed. There are 10,000 evil things happening behind half the doors and under half the buildings in this city. We cannae stop it all! Ye've got ter keep your eyes on the big picture!" With that, Ulgrim retrieves the letters from Corso. He leaves, going back to the Citadel with the remaining 25 pieces of the guards' platinum that was to be split between them after their job.

Corso takes mental notes of the parts he finds well written, as he his often writing letters of his own.

He nods at Ulgrim and is ready to leave.

Grudgingly leaving the den of sin and iniquity behind, the heroes make there way back to Citadel Volshyenek, where Field Marshall Croft awaits.

The trip is rather uneventful, for a change, and they arrive at the gatehouse to the citadel as the sun is setting on another day in Korvosa.

It is not long before Croft arrives and addresses the group. "So you have returned already. Were you successful?"

Reading through the letters you hand over, she blushes at first but then smiles, satsfied. "It appears this will do the trick nicely. I expect these will put Ambassador Amprei back in his place."

"It is acceptable that you didn't kill or put Devargo Barvasi out of business, but a shame that he survived and still operates nonetheless. Unofficially, you have my sanction to take him off the board should you wish to."

She brings another small coffer from her desk, "If you have any bribe money left, it is yours to keep as a bonus. Additionally, here is the reward from a thankful Queen." She passes along the coffer which holds five more 100gp royal ingots.

"Again, thank you for your service. At present, I have no need for your "special" operations as things seem to be getting back to normal in Korvosa. But unrest is still in the air, and I will contact you again should the need arise."

With that you are dismissed into the late evening air of Korvosa. What do you do next?

Returning with the proof of Amprei's dalliance, earns you 500xp each, moving your total to 2624/3300 or about 67% of the way to level 3. Loot tracker updated with 250gp from bribe money plus 500 gp reward. If you want to shop or upgrade, no problem.

Listening to Gyllan and Durriken, Iozif's rationality begins to return and he begins to visibly grow outwardly calm. They're right of course, death in the attempt does the little one no help. Of course, none of them had the dragon speaking in their minds. Ignoring the welling guilt in his gut, Iozif reluctantly nods. He casts a disapproving sidelong glance at Ulgrim, as the guardsman makes his argument. And if that were a human or a dwarf held in a cage, would you intervene? It was slavery standing in your face and you chose to walk away. Fighting another day is well and good, but we could have done something.

"I think it would make a difference if anyone aside from me had heard the dragon plaintively calling for rescue. As we left, he -or she, I suppose- indicated that Devargo intends to feed it to his spiders. 'If you leave, I will die.' Consider my guilt at leaving after hearing that and think about why I might be passionate about this..."

Fast forward to the castle

Maintaining his brooding silence, Iozif grimly acknowledges the Field Marshal's approval with a cursory nod, but he perks up as she mentions her 'sanction'. A slow smile crossing his face, he follows his companions out into the cool night air. "I think, given what the Field Marshal has just told us, that we should make an attempt to recover the dragon. You heard the Field Marshal, guardsman. We'd be ridding the city of a den of vipers and saving an innocent life in the form of that dragon. You've made your point that we can't blindly rush in, but there's no reason we can't be more subtle. I have a certain degree of skill at subterfuge and I may well be able to get us in more quietly." Looking at each of his companions in turn, Iozif says, "We've an opportunity to make our city a better place. I say we seize it while we can. There's been enough chaos lately that doing some simple good would be welcome for once."

"Fine, but we need ta do it right. We go in in the morning, when the least amount of people are there. We tell the Spider that we've got his 5,000 coins, and as soon as we get into that room, we start killin' with no warning. We don't stop until every last one of them is dead. Then we take everythin' and leave," Ulgrim replies. "If we catch them by surprise we might be able to take them all. If we do it quietly the guards outside the Spider's room won't know what happened until after we're gone either."

Arianna nods in agreement with Ulgrim's assessment. "Delivering that disgusting man to Pharasma's embrace would be doing a service to Korvosa...and the world in general. If we allow him to continue he will become nothing less than another Gaedren Lamm."

Gyllan nods in uncertain agreement as Iozif makes his case for going back and freeing the caged dragon, and quietly concurs with Ulgrim's planned approach. But when Arianna says that not acting will make them just like Lamm, Gyllan blanches and speaks up, "You're right, Arianna! I've been thinking of the danger to us if we try to do anything against Devargo, but that kind of selfish focus is exactly how Lamm would look at this."

He looks at Iozif and says, "You're right, it's time to do some good for the sake of doing good. And Ulgrim's plan sounds like a pretty good start."

Corso stiffens a little: "Though I am always inclined to rid our city of the likes of Lamm, I am not, in general, condoning murder of bystandard. In my view, most of the wretches Devaro has with him are but a different sort of slave to the one that pleaded with you. If we are to kill, we should kill the right ones."

"... I mean, the wrong ones, erhh... YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN!!" shouts Corso as he blushes at his own faux pas.

I'm vaguely disappointed Corso didn't moon over the Field Marshal as she was reading those letters. :P

"That sounds reasonable to me, Ulgrim. If we can catch the guards right before a switch, that would be ideal. We should have a sack of coins, copper being the easiest, to carry in to lend some credibility to our subterfuge. Should we plan to meet to just before first light to get the lay of the land?" Iozif arches an eyebrow at Corso's histrionics. Fop he may be, but he has a commendable point. Nodding his agreement, "Corso raises a good point, we should offer quarter to those who are quick to lay down arms. If we make a show of force, there should be a decent few who lay down arms."

Iozif is going to go buy himself a sap. I don't really need anything else though. If possible, I'll do the same thing as last time and make another potion, though. I'm thinking a potion of cure light wounds makes the most sense.

"I aint no killer unless I have ta be," Ulgrim says. "But, it seems ta me like whoever sits in that room with the Spider has it comin'. They flaunt the rule of law, and are a detriment to society. Abadar won't judge us for knockin' em off."

Inspired by the plight of the psuedodragon and the fear of creating another Lamm, the group makes plans to assault Eel's End, this time in force.

I'll let you work it out a bit, but tell me your plan once it's decided upon.

Meeting at Eel's End just before dawn with a big bag of copper coins to scope it out sounds perfect. I'll go back in my disguise as Scarbarrel Toughbeard.

"I suppose you're right Ulgrim, but in any case, we should try to avoid bloodshed if possible, but not at the cost of our skin... But more importantly, you have to tell me where you find those ever changing clothes you're wearing!"

The night after the discussion, Corso will prepare his kit, smiling as he places the tanglefoot bag on his belt. That should save at least one!

He wakes very early, to find his mother busy in the kitchen. He tells her about his new contacts-in-high-places, and reassures her he's working hard to keep the Gaczi name in good standing with the Queen.

He hurries through the misty streets, his feather and cloak floating in the damp air, a piece of bread sticking out of his mouth, smiling at the fates.

Great post, Corso! We never hear about PC's and their need to reassure their mothers - adventuring is a dangerous business, I'm sure mothers worry.

"Bloodshed is inevitable. Men such as these guard their fiefdoms jealously."

Durriken secures his portion safely to his belt. "I have no qualms with the plan. Nor with eliminating any obstacles."

He departs quietly, returning to the bowyer's shop. The shop is quiet at this hour, his master and his wife having retired. Durriken settles in to fletch a quiver of arrows, his mind racing. Why was he still tagging along with this group? They didn't have a good reason to trust him, Why should they? I wouldn't, yet seemed to all the same. He hangs the quiver on the wall and settles down on his pallet, though sleep refuses to come. He finds himself himself making his way towards Eels End at the appointed hour.

Sounds like a plan.

"Fair enough. If we've nothing else to work through for now, I suggest we part ways to prepare as we each see fit. I'll see you, lady and gentlemen, near the dock shortly before light." With a nod, Iozif departs and makes his way to the familiar sight of the markets at Eodred's Walk. Making a few small purchases, Iozif makes the trip the rest of the way to the Avenue of Arms to his humble apartment.

Climbing the rickety steps, Iozif can't help but chuckle at the absurdity of the past few days. Working at the behest of the guard, learning so much more about Grau and the dirty linens of this city, and now preparing to face a criminal for a psuedodragon. Pfah, what happened to my studies? Classes are not yet in session, but they will be soon enough. The thought of his studies raises a welling of emotion. Satisfaction at his improving master, excitement for what he hoped to learn and, surprisingly, a twinge of regret.

As he began to labor over his alembic and retort to prepare alchemical mayhem, he felt mulled over the regret he was feeling. "There is something to be said for the excitement of this work. And there's significant practical knowledge to be gained that one simply cannot acquire by sitting in a stuffy lecture hall. Perhaps this is a preferable path to my doctorship, but then again, perhaps not." Finishing his work, Iozif retires for the evening only to rise early the next morning. Setting his gear into place, he set out towards Eel's End, already running over his plans of action in the pre-dawn light.

Geared up and ready for a hard fight, the group appears grim as they gather in the pre-dawn light at the end of the pier that is Eel's End. It is apparently true that the place never sleeps, as the party seems to be going full tilt down at the end, with colored lights and loud noises of revelry still in high gear.

Several gaudily dressed folks stumble past you, laughing and pointing as they go. The two different, but still quite sober looking, guardsmen stand at the pier's entrance armed and capable should trouble arise.

Where are you guys headed, just a bee-line for the big ship?

We should just walk in and then go to the Spider's room and tell his door guards we're back to see him, and that we've got money for him. Once we're inside, BAM! surprise round ass kickin'.

Straightforward works for Iozif. :)

Vamonos

Corso replaces his cloak, lights a pipe he holds with nonchalance, and tips his hat sideways in the latest fashion, then nods. He's ready.

Arianna draws a new card from her Harrow deck to provide her a bit of guidance on what the day will bring.

Suit of Card Drawn: 1d6 ⇒ 3 - Constitution; +2 to one Constitution based roll

"Shall we be off and be done with this?

Durriken nods. "If there are any issues with those two, I will hold their attention that you may enter."

Having no reason to challenge you, the guards smile at you as you enter, one's eyes following Arianna in particular.

You work your way through the bleary and wine-soaked crowd on the pier, spying a few more guards along the way and eventually find yourselves back aboard the Eel's End again.

Here you see the same stern door with a spider's image painted on and you see two more guardsmen standing sentinel at the entrance to the what you know to be the Throne Room.

"Perhaps our friends at the door could use a little rest, Arianna?" Gyllan asks in a quiet voice, walking very close to the beautiful Varisian, as if they're a besotted couple out carousing.

due to the weekend, I'll give her today to post, if nothing, I'll run her for the sleep charm.

Sorry, busy past few days.

Arianna nods in acknowledgement of Gyllan's suggestion, but whispers a caution. "Just keep in mind even if it works, they will not sleep long. Perhaps someone should be ready to disarm them while they sleep?"

Following the brief conversation, the young witch targets each of the two guards with her slumber hex.

Will Saves DC 14

Guard 1 DC 14 Will Save: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (5) - 1 = 4
Guard 2 DC 14 Will Save: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (18) - 1 = 17

Assault on Eel's End, Part 1 - Surprise Round

18 Arianna (throwing slumber hex)
16 Gyllan
13 Ulgrim
11 Guard 1 (asleep)
11 Guard 2
6 Corso
5 Durriken
3 Iozif

As Arianna tosses the slumber hex at the two door guards, one slumps over slumbering for two rounds, but the other remains unaffected. He looks this way and that before his eyes lock on the threat at hand.

Will continue as a combat, starting with a surprise round. Remember, move or standard action only on this round. Will use the Eel's End outdoor map for now.

Where are we on the map?

Where are we on the map?

Beat me to it. Map is now active. Remember, Move or Standard Action only during the surprise round.

Ulgrim pulls a blunt arrow from his quiver and fires it at the guard.

Attack (PBS): 1d20 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 2 + 1 = 12
Damage: 1d8 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 2 + 1 = 8

Gyllan takes a quick step toward the alarmed guard, drawing his blade as he does so. In a low, fierce voice, he says, "Not a sound, and you live, get it? You walk away now and you'll be glad you did. Or stay and die."

Move action to come down steps and draw sword, free action to talk to the guard.

Assault on Eel's End, Part 1 - Surprise Round

As the witch's slumber drops one enemy, Gyllan rushes to the other, drawing his sword and encouraging the man to stay down. As if to underscore the point, a blunted arrow from Ulgrim hits the man, but glances off his chainmail without damage, but not without effect on the man's will to fight.

The guard lowers his hand from the hilt of his blade, his eyes cast down. "If you spare me, I will not stop you from entering. Let me go, I beg. I must warn you, you enter at your own risk."

Gyllan Diplomacy: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24

Corso, Durriken, and Iozif can still have actions if you like. The other guard sleeps slumped beside the door.

Corso moves to the sleeping guard to tie him up. "Wise choice lad. Thanks for the warning, but could you be more specific?"

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (5) + 11 = 16

After, he says to the others: "I thought the bag of coins would open the door for us? What happened to that plan?"

"Was just wonderin' that meself..." Ulgrim says, scratching his beard and looking around to see how many people have noticed what's going on. "Now that we've lost the element of surprise, we might as well go in guns blazing. If that damned talking lizard is already dead, I'll be sore pressed to avoid kickin' the piss outta the lot o' you for puttin' me up ter this." His curmudgeonly ways seem to be present in full force at the moment. If no one appears to have noticed them taking out the guards, he relaxes a little bit.

Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (2) + 9 = 11

Gyllan slaps his forehead quietly, then says, "Ah, the coin! Plum forgot that in the excietment, sorry gang. Maybe they'll not have heard us? Then we could just let ourselves in."

He too listens for any sign that they've been heard, while waiting for the guard to answer Corso's question about what specific dangers await them.

Perception: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (20) + 11 = 31

It's been a busy week, I forgot the bag of coin plan when I suggested Arianna put the guards to sleep. Sorry.

It appears my post got eaten by the forum goblins. I'm busy with work for the next couple weeks, but should be able to keep up. If I'm taking too long to post, feel free to bot me.

Iozif doesn't make a point of hiding how out of place he is as they board the Eel's end, armed to the teeth and carrying a bulging sack of coin.

Surprised by Gyllan's suggestion and Arianna's sudden disabling of the guard, Iozif gawks for a moment before he finally thinks to react. What on earth? This wasn't the plan!?! Hoping that no one had heard, he moves towards the nearest guard and assists Corso in tying and gagging him to prevent him from giving warning.

"What's done is done and if that 'talking lizard' -who's got a better grasp on proper grammar than you, incidentally- is dead, then I may well let you beat the piss out of me. I'd have heard its plea for help and left it to die." Casting a bitter glance down at the guard, Iozif retrieves his mutagen from his bandolier but doesn't drink it.

Glancing around the area, Iozif tries to get a feel for the noise on the boat and their chances of bluffing their way in. "So, do we go in loud or do we try to bluff our way into Devargo's presence. We could assert that these fools tried to stop us delivering a bounty to the man or something of the sort."

If we made a lot of noise, Iozif suggests we just use force and he'll drink his mutagen before we go in. If not, he'll try to conceal his hold on his mutagen

Sleight of Hand: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20

"I've got a proper grasp o' grammar, dwarven grammar, lad. We go in hot, no point in delayin' the inevitable," Ulgrim mutters, preparing to kick open the door. He looks to the others, "Ready?"

Snorting in amusement, Iozif nods thoughtfully at the dwarf. Cantankerous bastard, but he's got a sense of humor. Pulling the stopper from his mutagen, he downs the liquid in a quick gulp. Gritting his teeth as the mutagen takes hold, his body begins to transform in front of his companions. A moment later, his features now bestial, Iozif grins savagely, "Yes, I'm ready to deal with Devargo."

Corso grabs his sword in one hand and the tanglefoot bag in the other: "Let's dance!"

Durriken Notches an arrow and nods to the others.

Corso ties up the sleeping guard, who awakens surprised at his current state. He struggles for a moment, then gives in and stares balefully at the group. The man who surrendered gives in willingly to Iozif and is also tied up.

The crowd around you looked your way for a moment, as the quick actions happened, but just as suddenly looked away, not wanting to interrupt their revelry to investigate rough stuff on board. A few of the wiser patrons make for the safety of a different part of the pleasure palace or leave Eel's End all together, but no one seems eager to alert the guards.

The group crowds around the spider-painted double doors, and Ulgrim kicks in the doors. Sitting at the tables, carousing, are the same six thugs who were there earlier in the day. However Barvasi, the King of Spiders, is no where to be found.

The thugs are surprised when the door opens, one even spurting a mouthful of ale out all over himself.

Map for the Aft compartment of the Eel's End is shown here and at top.

Throne Room Redux - Surprise Round

23 Durriken
22 Purple Thug
20 Iozif
19 Red Thug
19 Corso
17 Ulgrim
15 Gyllan
14 Green Thug
12 Blue Thug
12 Arianna
11 White Thug
7 Orange Thug

The thugs are all surprised and will not act in this round. Remember for Surprise Round it is a single Move or Standard Action only. Durriken, bow in hand, starts us off. If you want to position yourselves differently outside the door, you may in advance of moving (except Ulgrim who kicked them in)

"Hello gents! We forgot something last we came. Mind if we have a look around?" says Corso, using his voice to bolster his companions' courage.

Inspire courage round 1 of 9, +1 hit and damage, and vs charm and fear.