"Indeed, now that the - ahem - pleasantries are over, allow me to disclose the reason why I impose upon your time. As you are no doubt exquisitely aware, the city of Korvosa is experiencing interesting times - times of trouble, but also times of opportunity." Panish makes himself comfortable, pausing at "opportunity" to let it sink in and leave an impression. He continues: "I represent a notable and very powerful lady. As you will be able to appreciate, I cannot divulge my mistress identity - accountability and utmost discretion are paramount in my line of work - suffice it to say that you will see her handiwork come to fruition in the foreseeable future." Panish again gives a few moments to allow these implications to settle in. Finally, "Alas, these times are indeed troubled and in spite of the opportunities afforded, there is also a measure of protection needed - insuring ones interests, as it were. Right now I am tasked with discrediting one Darvayne Gios Amprei. Although he has been useful, he has been growing ambitions of his own that are contrary to my Lady's intentions. My inquiries lead me to believe that you are the most suitable source to enable me to trim this weed to size. Are you willing to assist me in this matter?"
"HAH! Straight to the point I like that, I like you people..." He says as he stares at Aliandara lasciviously "You all seem to work well together, I may have need for you sometime. Now, everything has it's price of course, I may indeed have the information you seek, for the right price."
After the spectacular finish Aliandara unties herself: “Now that the fun is over I’ll attend to my prize. I’m just the entertainment after all and business talk is better left off to him” she motions to Panish as she walks to the cage. She looks at the frightened little dragon and softly whispers to it: ”Don’t be scared little buddy, I’ll get you out of here safely.” She checks if the cage is locked or if the cage can be picked up and carried.
After the spectacular finish Aliandara unties herself: “Now that the fun is over I’ll attend to my prize. I’m just the entertainment after all and business talk is better left off to him” she motions to Panish as she walks to the cage. She looks at the frightened little dragon and softly whispers to it: ”Don’t be scared little buddy, I’ll get you out of here safely.” She checks if the cage is locked or if the cage can be picked up and carried.
Devargo tosses the key to Aliandara.
Panish smiles amicably, "This is why it is a pleasure to work with serious businessmen. What would you deem the right price? Perhaps the sum of 300 gold?"
1d20 + 6
Panish smiles amicably, "This is why it is a pleasure to work with serious businessmen. What would you deem the right price? Perhaps the sum of 300 gold?"
Aliandara catches the keys and looks at the little dragon, being nervous that it might interfere with the negotiations by lashing out at Devargo if it is let out. She quietly speaks soothingly to the creature letting it know that she will be getting it out of here and to freedom soon.
Aliandara catches the keys and looks at the little dragon, being nervous that it might interfere with the negotiations by lashing out at Devargo if it is let out. She quietly speaks soothingly to the creature letting it know that she will be getting it out of here and to freedom soon.
1d20+1
1d20+1
It seems in more of a flight mode than a fight mode, once you open the cage the dragon instinctively flees to you, and hides itself in your backpack, it is after all an highly intelligent creature and fully understood what was happening.
Devargo accepts the bribe and then claps his hands in delight "Thank you all for your generosity and entertainment"
Immediately four guards rush into the room for a moment you think this might be an dirty double deal, as you reach for your weapons and drop into defensive stances.
"Calm down my friends, they're just here to watch the room whist I go below to get the papers."
Devargo returns after a few minutes
Devargo confides in the PCs "I learned of a scandalous affair Ambassador Amprei was having with the wife of an important noble back
in Cheliax.
[b]"Apparently, the ambassador and this woman had been corresponding while Amprei was stationed here in Korvosa—when I heard these rumors, I paid the man a visit. I attempted to befriend the ambassador, giving him a gift of several vials of shiver and making a proposition to the man to open a line of trade with Cheliax."
"The fool refused and had me escorted from his home, but I had lifted the man’s house key as I left, later that night I returned the key and stole these."
He holds up several letters.
Devargo laughs "I had been selling the letters back to the ambassador
at the rate of one every few weeks, taking great delight in his discomfort whenever he visits Eel’s End to purchase
one of them. "
The fact that the ambassador hasn’t gone to
the guard and is attempting to keep the re-acquisition of
the stolen letters as quiet as possible says plenty about how
dangerous the contents would be to his career.
Devargo hands over several of the ambassador’s letters to his paramour.
"This should be enough to destroy the man." Devargo nearly cackle with glee.
"Seems likely enough tha man will be undone by his deeds moreso than letters o tha deeds."
"Quite, dwarven stoicism, always looking at things at the deepest meaning."
"Now that our business is concluded...I have an appointment with a nice glass of Chelish brandy and a few lovely bits of flesh."
Hefting the coins given to him, "Let me know if you need any more information, and I'll see what I can do...for the right price of course, my network can be at your disposal."
You attention is drawn back to the corpse of the rogues on the table, as their gear begins to settle as their bodies are becoming dessicated as the spiders, their abdomens tripled in size, gorge themselves.
After Devargo fulfills his side of the bargain, Panish bows, "It is fortuitous that this rat Amprei will not be a bother much longer. Allow me and my entourage to not impinge on your hospitality any longer." With this Panish leaves, trusting that the others will follow in tight order.
As he crosses the planks back onto the shore Panish's cheeks grow more taught. His knuckles whiten slightly as he strides into the night. For the greater good... I must quiet my heart for now. What a stain on Korvosa! I will return in better times and bring this swine to justice. For now I must hold on to his sins: He thinks little of human life, which is unfortunately not enough to prosecute him on; but Devargo openly admitted to theft, bribery and extortion. Besides me there are four reliable witnesses to his crimes.
Panish leads the party on a slightly roundabout route to the Posh and Turtle. Under the din of the place Panish orders something to drink for himself and his companions and after making sure not to be overhead he quietly speaks, "Well done, we're officially off-duty now - so enjoy your time til tomorrow morning; we'll reconvene with Commander Cressida and divide our prize then. Once you leave this place; make sure to not be followed."
Donagar will of course have more to drink!
"Panish ave you any ideas o what tha morrow will bring?"
Finish any role-play you have with Devargo.
When you go to deliver the information to Cressida, she is away on business with the Queen, her secretary takes possession of the papers, then you have 2 weeks of downtime before anything significant happens. These things take time.
Panish toasts a good lager with Donagar, "I imagine we will deliver the letters to Commander Cressida tomorrow. With a bit of luck she will not have an immediate need for us - so we'll be able to pursue our own ends for a bit. If you need to find me, ask for me at the temple of Iomedae. It would be good to hear a bit more of your exploits, and it is always good to find someone who can appreciate at least some of the finer things in life -", here Panish takes another good swig from his tankard, "- you won't believe how much of a hard time the matron mother at the temple gives me when she catches a whiff of liquor on me!"
Noticing the little draconic head of Aliandara's new friend peeking out of her backpack, Panish laughs: "Hey there little one! We're well away from Devargo, I think you can come out and say hi. whoaa you've come away from that spider's nest just in time, look at you!" Panish waves a pretty waitress over and asks her to bring a bit of cheese and a sausage, which he then proceeds to offer to the little dragon.
Sgt. Drakus will also toast the success with a flagon of ale along with Panish and Donagar.
"That were some mighty fancy talkin' Sir Panish! Thought for sure we'd have to kill 'em all to get out." He takes a healthy swig.
"Say Donagar, have ye ever used a tower shield? I'm trying to get the rest of the squad to carry them and form a shield wall at need..."
"Farewell Devargo, it's been...interesting...to say the least, at the least you were a man of your word." Marra drifts back to Field MArshall Cressida's parting words, they could keep the remainder of the bribe money...Calliope's war razor would be getting a brand new blade of polished silver made by the finest craftsman she could find.
Marra lets out a little chuckle, glad everything worked out today, and it a good mood.
"Won't catch me lugging something that heavy around, it's half my weight."
"Let me try a swing o two with tha thing strapped on"
"You did a good job there Marra, I think none of us spotted that rogue had a hidden weapon. I'm glad that we got out of that with relatively little bloodshed everything told."
"You're right Sgt. Drakus! I too was worried that undue bloodshed would be a certainty. I suspect this isn't the last time we see that spider. We've all witnessed him admitting to theft, bribery and extortion - this is unfortunately not enough to go after the man, he'll likely slip through the justice system with just that. But when we have a bit more time and experience under our belt, I think we should visit him again and be more thorough about finding proof of his misdeeds."
"You did a good job there Marra, I think none of us spotted that rogue had a hidden weapon. I'm glad that we got out of that with relatively little bloodshed everything told."
"You're right Sgt. Drakus! I too was worried that undue bloodshed would be a certainty. I suspect this isn't the last time we see that spider. We've all witnessed him admitting to theft, bribery and extortion - this is unfortunately not enough to go after the man, he'll likely slip through the justice system with just that. But when we have a bit more time and experience under our belt, I think we should visit him again and be more thorough about finding proof of his misdeeds."
When the group gets far away enough from Eel’s End, but before they reach the Posh and Turtle, Aliandara opens her backpack. Keeping the bag open enough for the dragon to come out if it wants.
“You can come out now if you want, we are far away from that place and Devargo won’t find you.”
"Bah iffin I has enough drink A tower shield it shall be!"
"Where is tha Ale?"
Donagar is willing to try out a tower shield!
When the group gets far away enough from Eel’s End, but before they reach the Posh and Turtle, Aliandara opens her backpack. Keeping the bag open enough for the dragon to come out if it wants.
“You can come out now if you want, we are far away from that place and Devargo won’t find you.”
Ch'tahl zh'tahk v'shayl goes through your minds.
Aliandara is a bit disturbed by the voice in her head looking around for what the source might be, but soon realise that it must be the pseudo-dragon’s doing.
“If that is talking you are doing then I sadly can’t understand you. But from the fact that you stay with me I assume I should take care of you from now on. At the moment we are going to the Posh and Turtle, hopefully there I can figure out what I can feed you in the future.”
Panish waves a pretty waitress over and asks her to bring a bit of cheese and a sausage, which he then proceeds to offer to the little dragon.
At the Posh and Turtle we try to feed the pseudo-dragon cheese and sausage, how does it respond?
"Bah gives tha lil dragon an ale it'll put a beard on hem!"
"Tis really a bed o a boat stead o a shield!"
"That was strange...I didn't understand that either...anyone get what it thought?"
"It sure is Donagar, but if you stand together shoulder to shoulder, like this..." Sgt Drakus demonstrates. "And overlap your shields like this, you can form a Shield Wall! Takes a bit of training and experience, but the rewards are worth it. Trust me."
Sgt. Drakus grins at the thought.
Others think that the likely duties of your squad would preclude the usefulness of a shield wall, which really takes three or more to be effective anyway.
What does everyone else plan to do during the downtime?
Panish spends his downtime predominantly at the temple of Iomedae; fulfilling his obligations as a preacher - but spending most of his day time in religious studies under the watchful eye of the matron.
He finally bids adieu to his faithful breastplate and instead has a masterfully made armor custom-fitted to him, a blazing longsword (holy symbol of Iomedae) emblazoned on its chest piece. .
Most of the remainder of his earnings Panish proceeds as charity to the church of Iomedae; raising a shining example among young acolytes and scoring brownie points with the matron (and incidentally the female knights-expectant).
Panish spends his downtime predominantly at the temple of Iomedae; fulfilling his obligations as a preacher - but spending most of his day time in religious studies under the watchful eye of the matron.
He finally bids adieu to his faithful breastplate and instead has a masterfully made armor custom-fitted to him, a blazing longsword (holy symbol of Iomedae) emblazoned on its chest piece. .
Most of the remainder of his earnings Panish proceeds as charity to the church of Iomedae; raising a shining example among young acolytes and scoring brownie points with the matron (and incidentally the female knights-expectant).
Hah faithful Breastplate, faithful for all of what...3 weeks?
Donagar will look into masterwork stoneplate and a towershield....
Hah faithful Breastplate, faithful for all of what...3 weeks?
Panish sees off his old armor with mixed feelings. It had been an unused piece of derelict armor made to fit him almost a year prior - the best he could hope for with his social background and meager wealth. Unlike the kids with rich parents that could afford to see their scions off with something well made, Panish's old armor had chafed and scarred him for months before his body had grown accustomed to it. A blessing as the matron had insisted when he complained.
Marra must have gone to the same weaponsmith as Panish, as 13 days after Eel's end, she steps into the "Turtle" with a shining shield with Iomedae's symbol engraved into it, too bright to be silver, this was a mithral shield. She picked up a polished redwood repeating crossbow inlaid with mother of pearl. Her old clothes have been replaced with new ones, deep purple in colored, her backpack looks new with extra straps. She now wears a deep purple lacquered breastplate as well.
Sells: Masterwork Studded Leather (for 87.5gp)
Buys:
Muleback cords 1100gp
Mithral Shirt 1000gp
Masterwork Backpack 50gp
Pocketed scarf 8gp
1 Smoothly polished Hematite pebble 10gp
1 Blue quartz crystal 10gp
1 Pink agate disk 10gp
Money left: 80.1 gp
During the downtime Aliandara, knowing she will face danger again, went to a blacksmith to get a new suit of armour. Not really knowing much about armour she asked for light weight armour that will not hinder her movement. What she ended up with is a chain shirt made up very fine bright silver links. The blacksmith explained to her it is made from mithral and not as frail as it looks. Even though she finds it beautiful she always wears it underneath a normal set of clothes, not wanting to stand out.
Aliandara is very grateful for the pseudo-dragon having the patience to teach her its language and she enjoys the experience of learning to pronounce the foreign sounds.
When Aliandara returns to the Turtle she looks more like one of the young patrons, wearing fashionable clothes with a teal scarf as an accessory. The backpack might be the only thing out of place, with a pseudo-dragon sleepily peering out of the opening, woken by the sounds of the inn.
She is very grateful of the potential sacrifice you made to rescue her, she is intelligent enough to realize that you put your life on the line to rescue her, you realize she loves sausage, the spicier the better. She plans to one day assault the Eel's end with swarms of the local pseudodragons, but it will take time to arrange such an assault. In the meantime, she will warn her kin of Devargo, and occasionally check to make sure none are captured by him, if they are, she will rescue them.
Sgt. Drakus will just train with the new recruits, getting used to his tower shield & bardiche combo. He will buy three potions of cure moderate, if available and bank any excess.
Aliandara will offer to help her rescue other pseudodragons in the city and when she is not working for Cressida she will try to find out where others might be trapped and if anybody sells them. Though during this down time she was too preoccupied learning to understand Chirr'p'grr'chi'pr'r to be busy with such noble goals.
Sgt. Drakus will just train with the new recruits, getting used to his tower shield & bardiche combo. He will buy three potions of cure moderate, if available and bank any excess.
Two weeks have passed since the Encounter at Eel's End. It rained again last night, as it has off and on since the King's death, as though the the weather matches the city's mood. The streets are muddy, the rooftops still dripping from the evening rain, but there are rays of sunshine beaming through the clouds...a good omen.
It has been weeks since Eodred II’s death, and things are finally starting to get back to normal in Korvosa. Yet still the streets thrum with unrest and wild rumors. Crime seems to be on the rise, with pickpocketings, robberies, and assaults skyrocketing. Some still hiss “usurper” and “murdering harlot” at the mere utterance of Ileosa’s name, and more shockingly, rumors that the king’s death was not of natural causes increasing. Rumors that the Queen herself poisoned the King have been uttered, even sung in some of the more seedy taverns.
Now word has spread that a guard has confessed to covering up that a young artist named Trinia Sabor, who had been painting a portrait of King Eodred, slipped a specially prepared poison powder into Eodred’s tea the night he took ill and her portrait of him was completed. The people are up in arms, lynch mobs are forming to comb the city, looking for Trinia, where she’ll get no justice, only a quick drop and a sudden stop.
A Breathless messenger arrives at the inn while you're breaking your fast. He recognizes Drakus, recently offered promotion to Field Sergeant, and assignment to the Special Field Operations unit directly under Field Marshall Cressida.
"Field Marshall Cressida needs to see the Heroes of Korvosa immediately." he manages to spit out before he runs outside to "yell at the gods".
You hear the march of Hellknights slogging through the mud outside. The the loud harsh voice of their Captain. "Rioters reported, HELL HOUND'S MARCH!"
"I can see why the Field Marshall is in such a rush to see us. I wonder if this has to do with the Queen's accused killer. I for one want to see true justice, and a Lynch mob is not said justice."
She gathers up her combat gear, strapping her backpack on securely. Marra rises, has she grown a little? Her stature seems somewhat taller these days...
"There will be no mob to tie and take the freedom or liberty from one unjustly!"
"They are Slavers simply, Slavers working for Death. I will see no one chained!"
"With my fists I shall beat them and loudly I shall proclaim them villans and evil doers, and if they heed me not, I shall have at them completely"
Marra cranes her neck and stares at the dwarf, then shakes her head and releases a slight sigh, wondering who the dwarf thinks are slavers and who's t'be enslaved.
Sgt. Drakus is again astonished at being addressed as "Field Sargent". He had thought his career had been stopped on his conviction for cowardice, but apparently it pays to know people in high places. It bothered him though that it wasn't as part of a regular legion where he belonged. It's not even like he commanded this squad he was in either, with his companions ranks so ill defined.
He sighed a little and stood up straight. Even as part of a mishmash "Special Field Operations Unit", he would not be failing in his duty. Straightening his tunic, he carefully pulled on his helm and took up his tower shield and bardiche.
"All right ladies and gents! The General has called us to orders! Let's march!"
At Marra's words he replies; "Ar, yer right there Marra. No lynch mob goes fer justice, it's just self indulgent righteousness. The opposite of proper order."
Panish visibly brightens when the messenger arrives calling him to Field Marshall Cressida. He bows deeply, his eyes dodging the matron's withering stare, saying, "Please forgive the interruption, I will of course be at your immediate attention on my return." After his hasted exit some may consider it a trick of the light to see the matron break a momentary smile.
Once arriving at the gathering of new friends, Panish stretches his arms wide; his newly shined full-plate gleaming in the light. "What do you think? Fit to rescue a princess?" After hearing his companions describe the rumors and their theories Panish whistles, "Then again, princesses are probably overrated, I hear the arts are all the rage right now."