medlii's Curse of the Crimson Throne

Game Master medlii

Mr. Singh's eyes flash with annoyance for a moment, but his smirk quickly returns. Smoothly, he says "Very well then, I shall make my point and leave you to your business."

"An... acquaintance of mine used to own the warehouse that the Queen's Physicians are using as their hospital. There is a drainage grate in the warehouse's loading bay, which can be reached through the sewers. Somewhere inside the warehouse, there is a cargo lift, to reach the second floor. However, there is a hidden key slot in the lift. If you can find the key, it will descends to a secret lower level, which is much larger than the warehouse itself."

" And what are you gettin' outta this?" Ty asks in suspicion." Why give us this info?"
His anger is mostly gone, now he seems truly surprised that this man would share this information with them.

Trey is wiping her hands clean after handling the deceased. hearing Mr. Singh's advice.

Ty's response seems appropriate as well.

Your acquaintance seems to have some connections, tell me, would you or your acquaintance be needing the services of Sarenrae?

Trey asks of him trying to gaod him into revealing some more information.

diplomacy: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (10) + 13 = 23

I don't trust this guy one bit. We could be walking into a trap.

Away from the main conversation, Tessa casts Message. In the groups' heads, you hear her reedy little voice. "I'm going to have Majenko shadow this character, if he runs off to warn someone where we're heading we should have advance notice."

Bosch leans back, letting his friends speak their various concerns but keeping his eyes on Mr. Singh.

Bandru looks towards Tessa and nods. Bandru listens but does not interject anything knowing that he is not the diplomat that the others can be.

"My acquaintance - my friend - wanted to sell his warehouse. Someone made him a very attractive offer when they learned about the secret rooms." Mr. Singh's oily smile fades and is replaced with a look of suppressed anger. "Two days after the sale, my friend went missing. I tracked down some of his former employees. I could not trace a single one. They were dead, or had suddenly left town for one reason or another. Someone made a very thorough job of making sure anyone who knew about the warehouse wouldn't talk. And not a few weeks later, these Queen's Physicians come to Korvosa and move into that exact warehouse." He remains silent for a moment, as if pondering the thought himself.

Mr. Singh continues after his pause, his smirk back in place. He nods at Trey and Typhon. "So to answer your questions, if Sarenrae's services include revenge, then yes, I would be delighted to procure them, or provide any supplies that you might need. Revenge is what I want, though I would be very interested to know what you find inside, as well. What someone thought was worth killing my friend, and who they were."

Ty nods in reluctant acceptance of Mr. Singh's words.
" I can agree with your sentiments. What we need is a map or plan of the warehouse, including secret entrances and doorways. Can't promise you revenge, Bossman has his own way of doin' things. But information of what we find... That I think we can deliver. IF we decide to investigate this place." He tries to throw a maybe at the last second, realizing that they probably can't trust this guy.
Gotta learn to shut my trap and let the Bossman talk!

Bosch finally speaks up, "We'll look into it. Violence should not be the primary goal here but if the Physicians are linked to those deaths and disappearances then their accounts will need balancing. Mr. Singh, I would appreciate it if you could procure a wagon large enough to carry the lot of us with animals of course. We are courting treason here so we'll be wanting a rough diagram, description of the key and... some masks."

"Though, from what we know already about the physicians, violence is almost assured. I hope my stomach will be ready for when we find what they are using these secret rooms for."

"Good," Mr Singh nods. He finds a scrap of parchment in one of the pockets of his long robes and sketches a rough map. He admits "I haven't been inside the warehouse for some time, but this is what I remember. The front door is on the south side, with a small reception area. On the north side, there are three loading bays. The sewer leads into this room." He marks this with an 'x.' "Just to the east are the cargo lift and stairs to the second floor. The lift goes up nearly three stories as there is a catwalk overlooking the main warehouse area. The second floor houses offices for the warehouse clerks. When I was there, of course it was filled with all sorts of cargo, goods awaiting sale or transport. Who knows what is inside today."

He pauses to think about Bosch's questions about the layout and operation of the lift. "I have never been into the basement. My friend simply bragged about it, how it helped him make a little extra money, shall we say? The lift operated using a lever. My friend had a small, golden key that he carried on a chain around his neck. I assume it somehow interfaced with the lever, but cannot say for certain." Mr Singh indicates the size of the key, smaller than his little finger.

"The wagon and horses to convey you will be simple. Let me know when and where they should meet you. I have a reliable driver, if that interests you. What sort of masks are you looking for? I have plenty of scarves and so forth to cover ones' face, or I could easily find some makeup, if that is what you have in mind. I can send that in the wagon"

There are two slides - the first is the map of the first floor and the second slide for the second floor.
Map.

"The scarves will do. When courting treason, it is best not to have your face known. Black cloaks and tunics as well, armor can be a give away. Grease paint and gloves to disguise what little skin might still be seen. Have your driver wait for us at the second closest sewer entrance," he rambled slightly, thinking out loud. Another knight might not have seen this as the honorable path to take but Bosch was a citizen first and a knight second.

" If you could get a dark feathered, cloak, it would be appreciated. I think it's time Blackjack and the common people had some help. "
Ty adds with a far away look in his eyes.

"Nobody notices a poor lamp lighter," laughs Tessa, as swirling whorls of magic tossle her hair, rub dirt on her face, and sully her clothes. When she pulls out her old lantern, Tessa looks... completely ordinary.

I must ask you to take wing once more, little friend, she thinks to Makenjo via her Message spell. See where this guard goes when he leaves us and come straightaway if he plots treachery!

"Dark clothes, scarves, grease, and cloaks. Including a feathered one," Mr Singh recites with a gleam in his eyes. "Do you plan to set out tonight or do you require time to plan? I ask only so that the supplies and wagon are prepared."

Trey looks to everyone. I am not used to such, stealth, is there a better role I may be more suited to? perhaps I could make my entrance in the front door, hoping to lend my assistance to the doctors inside?

Trey speaks with such naivete, it is obvious this kind of covert operations are very new to her.

"I do not do well with subterfuge either. Honesty is the easiest way to lie and the hardest to detect. I intend to hide as a Grey Maiden, I am sure an acolyte of Serenrae will fit into their dubious plans somehow enough to avoid suspicion." Yrsa smiles wryly, even with a grim light in her eyes.

Looking suspiciously at Mr Singh, Ty turns to the others and quietly tells them of his tentative plan...
" We may not all need to go in at first. I'm not so good at disguisin' myself, but .... If I can get in and into a unseen spot, I can possible open the 'eversmokling' bottle we got from earlier. Then after it lets enough smoke out, I can start a panic, yellin' fire and such. Most peeps fear fire, and will leave the place. It would give us a short window, and if caught, we could say we put it out. Easily enough to fake, just stopper the flask." He glances around at the others then finishes with his gaze on Bosch." Bossman?"

" Or we can try to stealth in with all the dark cloaks and such. I'm pretty sure I could do it, for a ways anyway. Not so sure 'bout the others tho..."

"We go tonight. If we can hide your face with the doc's mask then we can get you inside then you can pop the bottle. That should flush any innocents out and give the rest of us enough cover to get inside and snoop around freely. We'll need to move quickly so hunting down the key might not be an option. How thick is the floor of the elevator?"

Bosch, not sure if you are asking Mr. Singh or the group as a whole. If you do ask him those questions:

The lift is sturdy enough to haul cargo up and down from the second floor to the first floor. If you aren't able to break through the elevator floor, you may be able to bypass the mechanism if you are able to disable it or manipulate it in some fashion."

.

Later that evening - not sure if you had other plans for the afternoon, but these events will happen regardless:

Lord Carowyn thanks you for reclaiming his home and helping him during this crisis.

The two guardsmen, Verik and Nevil, also thank you. "Appreciate you taking out all those ghouls and whatnot. Glad we didn't have to deal with them. We'll just make sure Lord Carowyn here is all settled in for the day and get back to Citadel Volshynek."

.

You return to the Fishery to put together your plan. A few hours later, just before sunset, Majenko returns with his report on Mr. Singh. The pseudodragon sits on the kitchen table and chirps out what he found. "Followed tall one all across the town. He buy things, some black cloths and bottles. Then we go long way north! Fly over the little water. He go to real big house, even bigger than nice house with deads in it! Right on top of a hill. Long red cloth things in the window. Lot of trees and flowers. Lot of stone things that look like animals. A lot of ones that look like... like..." Not knowing the word he is looking for, Majenko flutters over to the many pictures that little Bee has drawn and tacked up on the Fishery walls.

"That! Giant stone things like that! All in the garden and by the door!" he exclaims, using his tail to point at a picture of an enormous gray animal with big ears, a long, prehensile snout, and white tusks protruding from its mouth.

Knowledge: local check to identify the location based on Majenko's description. Do any of you have knowledge local - I did not see that anyone did but might have missed it.

Map of Korvosa here.

for crying out loud, I just noticed that the statblock in my profile is for level 4 Tessa, not level 5. I did put a point in knowledge: local, to represent the growing knowledge of the city now that she's been out and about. I'll update it when I get home from work. I'm going to have Majenko assist me (seems appropriate) as a familiar has all the skill ranks its master does.

Knowledge, Local (Majenko assist: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

and it makes sense he flubbed it too, lol

Knowledge, Local (Tessa): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (20) + 6 = 26

"Bee calls them 'helefumps' and apparently they live on plains to the south of Avistan in large families," Bosch says a small smile crinkling the edges of his mouth for a moment before turning serious. "Anyway, that will be a puzzle for a later day."

He goes to fetch the Typhon's disguise and lays it out on the table. "I'm not going to ask you to do anything you aren't sure of, Ty," Bosch says, giving his friend one last chance to voice his concerns, "The same goes for the rest of you. It could be that the Physicians are manipulating the Queen to their own ends or it could be that the Queen is using them. Either way, if we are caught before we have evidence to back us up, we could face execution for treason."

" Have more to lose now than I ever had before...but, it's because of my association with you lot that I have as much as I do... I'm in iffen you think it's what is needed Bossman." Ty states as he checks to be sure he has his gear, especially the eversmoking bottle.
He will then start donning the physicians robes and mask.
" I'd like to wait til that Mr Singh gets back with t he gear first tho. 'specially my feathered cloak."
Ty shoves his Owlbear helmet into his pack and starts to fiddle with the doctors mask.
" How's this thing supposed to go on anyhow?"

Tessa relays her knowledge to the group, petting Majenko's little scaled head.

"He's probably not setting us up for a trap, but lets not mistake that for him being on our side. All kinds of power-hungry types are gonna be coming out of the woodwork to get a slice if the Queen can't hold it."

Tessa sighs loudly and rolls her eyes when Bosch makes his little warning speech. "So lets not get caught - lets do this!"

After resting to reflect on the day's events, you meet Mr. Singh's wagon at the appointed time just outside a sewer entrance several blocks away from the Hospice of the Blessed Maiden. This part of Korvosa is deserted, though you could hear many people making their way to the Hospice itself.

Despite Mr. Singh's elaborate outfit, the wagon that he provided is as ordinary as can be. It looks like any common cart a farmer might use to transport his potatoes to market, drawn by two calm horses that look like they might have just stepped off of such a potato farm. The driver, who looks just as average as the cart, nods at you, but says nothing. He jerks a finger to point into the bed of the wagon behind him.

Inside the cart are the supplies you requested - a variety of black shirts, trousers, dresses, robes, hats, and capes in several sizes, along with several black scarves and balaclavas. Mr. Singh provided several other items: six vials of thick black grease, a set of masterwork lock picks, six smoke sticks, a crowbar, and two potions each of cat's grace, owl's wisdom, bear's endurance, bull's strength, and eagle's splendor.

Among the dark clothing is a black, feathered cape, as Typhon requested. The the interior is lined with sleek black silk. The ruff of feathers at the neck are tiny, and are longer at the ends of the cloak, making the cloak actually look like the wings of an enormous, black bird. It functions as an eagle cape. It looks kind of like this, but in black.

Let me know if you plan to do this during the day or at night.

Map provided by Mr. Singh is here.

prefer to go at night.
" I'll go in dressed as a physician, let out the smoke, then yell fire. In the confusion the rest of you can come in dressed in the black outfits with your faces covered. Play it by ear from there?"Ty explains/asks as he stuffs the feathered cloak into the pack, inside the helm.
" Worst scenario, I don the owl outfit and lead 'em off so as the rest o' you can get away. 'less Tessa has some better magics that can help?"

"Well, I could set the place on fire for realsies if it comes to that."

Night is good for me.

"That would make searching the places considerably more difficult," Bosch says to Tessa as he passes the smoke sticks and lockpicks to Ty, "Toss a couple of smoke sticks around too."

For any who are looking at the building from the outside, in preparation to sneak in:

The squat warehouse sits by the bank of the Jeggare River. A hastily-painted sign is nailed above the front door, depicting an angelic woman with white wings and a yellow halo. It declares the building to be "The Hospice of the Blessed Maiden." At this time of night, the streets are nearly deserted, save for a few ill Korvosans making their way to the hospital.

" Yeah those might come in handy..."
Ty finishes donning the garb and tucking the equipment away in his inner pockets, under the robe. He will then sling his bag with his other disguise in it, over his shoulder. All the way to the hospice he will practice different walks til he find one that makes him look extremely tired.
On approaching the hospice he will plod in, acting like he belongs and too tired from todays activities to discuss it.
bluff: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (13) + 10 = 23
All the while looking for good places to place the bottle and smoke sticks.
perception: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (9) + 12 = 21
when he finds some he will start the mayhem.
sleight of hand: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (4) + 11 = 15
stealth: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (13) + 11 = 24
"Fire!! Get to safety!! Fire!!!"

Inside the Hospice
In the main entrance, Typhon finds that stinging scent of alcohol and medicine floods the dingy reception room. Three patients are resting in wooden chairs, waiting to see the doctors. Across from the entrance sits a long wooden desk, beyond which a stained leather curtain covers an open archway, muffling moans from beyond. A burly nurse sits at the front desk. She is wearing three scarves over her mouth and nose and heavy leather gloves. She looks up disinterestedly as Typhon enters, and then goes back to ignoring him and the waiting patients.

Beyond the leather curtain, Typhon finds the sick ward. The warehouse's vast interior has been converted into one gigantic convalescent's ward, the stench of alcohol, sickness and waste thankfully filtered by the doctor's mask. Tight rows of low, stained cots cram the stone-floored hall. Every bed is filled with a pitiful story - men and women of all walks of life groaning and wheezing as they are consumed by blood veil, their sufferings multiplied by the enormous chamber.

Four dark-robed Queen's Physicians hover amid the sick. A catwalk above is patrolled by two Gray Maidens. Another two stand guard at the entrance to a door at the north side of the room. None take any particular notice of Typhon. A ramshackle pile of supplies, mortars and pestles, and other alchemical supplies wait on small tables are near the Gray Maidens. They are somewhat blocked from view by the stacks of crates around them. Typhon easily sets up the smoke sticks and eversmoking bottle. As smoke billows through the room, the Queen's Physicians flee out the front door. At first, the Gray Maidens head towards Typhon to investigate. But when they see how quickly the 'fire' is spreading, they rush out the entrance as well, leaving all of the patients behind.

Outside the Hospice
A minor ruckus begins outside as the Queen's Physicans and Gray Maidens assemble outside the warehouse. Smoke seeps out under the front door. A burly nurse ushers three sick people into the street. The doctors and maidens are shouting and pointing frantically, as they search about for a source of water and a way to get it into the building.

Map.

There are patients in all of the beds, but I did not put minis in for them!

Bosch and the others not involved in the immediate infiltration and distraction, wait under the sewer entrance for Ty's all clear. By now, masks and grease have been applied to hide all possibility of gleaning natures of the band. Roscoe has been left with the wagon for now.

Tessa holds her breath and breathes through her mouth as best she can as defense against the stench of the sewers.

We seem to get into these things more often than's good for a fellow, she muses to herself.

Bending low to see and breathe (bottle and smokesticks are real smoke if not fire) Ty moves to the sewer entrance and calls to the others.
" Its clear, but I don't know for how long. These 'Healers' didn't even try to save the patients. Well one nurse did but that was it. Hurry tho, time's short." He then strips off the Physician's outfit and dons the Owlbear helm and feathered cloak, stuffing the physician outfit in his pack.

"C'mon, we don't have long until the muster the courage to come back in," Bosch said, his voice slightly muffled by the scarf over the lower half of his face. "Let's get to the second floor and look for the key."

Outside the Hospice of the Blessed Maiden
Outside the Hospice (where Trey and Yrsa might be standing by), the Gray Maidens have found a random collection of buckets, barrels, and other crockery. Together, with the Queen's Physicians, they form a bucket brigade to the nearby banks of the Jeggare River. But none of them seem eager to go back inside the building. Looking at any bystanders, one of the Gray Maidens barks "Help us put out this fire. Take these buckets of water inside."

Inside the Hospice of the Blessed Maiden
Those entering from the sewer tunnel find that the scent of exotic wood and sawdust fills this maze of barrels and crates, though it is slowly overwhelmed by the thickening smoke. A spider web of ropes and pulleys crisscrosses the ceiling, one thick cable suspending a net of barrels suspended nearly twenty feet from the splinter-scattered floor below. Three great wooden doors dominate the northern wall, while leather flaps lead to the south and east. Smoke seeps under the flaps from the main warehouse.

The scarves and masks prevent some of the effects of the noxious smoke from totally choking you. Visibility is reduced to practically zero as you move deeper into the warehouse. In the main room, you can barely see the hands in front of your faces.

"Head for the lift? Gonna grab the bottle real quick."
Ty asks as he slowly makes his way back to the eversmoking bottle and stoppers it. Putting it away he heads toward the lift.

Grabbing a bucket in each hand and passing one to Trey, Yrsa seizes the opportunity. I'll see what I can do. How many of us are left inside? Has the fire spread to the lower level? she asks the Grey Maiden, hoping to extract some worthwhile information to bring to the others.

while there is still smoke

Trey works to make her way inside. crawling under the smoke looking for sick that have been left behind.

trying to get them to safety as best she can. providing emergency care as she can for smoke problems or acceleration of the Blood veil.

heal skill: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (5) + 16 = 21

still not sure her role in this but her only concern now is the sick that we managed to possibly put in additional danger which she isn't too happy about, but remains silent on that

after the smoke..

trey continues to treat those that may have been worsened by the smoke

Inside the Hospice - The Sick Ward
Trey find that every bed is filled with a pitiful story—men and women of all walks groaning and wheezing as they’re consumed by blood veil, their sufferings multiplied by the echoing chamber. Trey estimates there are over sixty citizens in the room, most of whom are too weak to even rise from their stinking sick beds. The smoke may have aggravated their coughs, but it is clear that they need serious treatment to get well again, and it will take the efforts of many healers.

Inside the Hospice - the Lift
Several cubbies and wooden lockers line the walls of this small
workroom. Four rickety chairs surround a water-damaged table, and a well-used, solid-looking cargo lift rises up through the ceiling. Right now, the lift is on the second floor, about thirty feet above. As Typhon observes the area, the lift slowly begins to descend to the ground floor. Typhon does not hear or see anyone on the lift, though it is still nearly 20 feet overhead.

Outside the Hospice
"Doctor Devaulus is still inside, maybe upstairs in his office. All Gray Maidens are accounted for. There are probably seventy patients still in the hospice." The Gray Maiden's tone becomes stern at Yrsa's last question. "You know we are not allowed in the lower levels, only the Queen's Physicians, Dr. Devaulus, and his guests are permitted. Some of them are probably hiding down there with the two researchers Dr. Devaulus brought in to work on curing the plague. Dr. Rolth, and that elf from Ustalav, Dr. Arkminos."

Map.

Thank you , I'll see what I can do. Yrsa nods to the Grey Maiden and trundles inside, bucket in hand to regroup with the others.

Ty lowers himself into the shadows, drawing both daggers under the cloak.
stealth: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (19) + 11 = 30
perception: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (5) + 12 = 17
Ty is wearing the Owlbear helm
and feathered cloak outfit atm.

Trey suddenly feels bad for all these sick people. Despite the mission she begins doing all she can to aid in their recovery.

she starts a triage look-see but at the same time she is also looking for signs of "experimentation" not trusting the "Queen's Physicians" believing they are partly behind all of this she is worried that they are using these patients to experiment on for new strains of Blood Veil.

heal: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (8) + 16 = 24
perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25

Trey finds that some of the men and women have quite advanced stages of blood veil. While some are beyond hope, others are receptive to Trey's soothing words and treatments. The entire church of Sarenrae might be able to help this large number of patients, but Trey's efforts do soothe coughs, bandage sores, and ease burning fevers.

While she does not find any evidence of experimentation, she does observe filthy cots, dirty bedding, the stench of human waste, and watery porridge. These are probably signs of uncaring, poorly trained doctors who do not even practice basic sanitary measures to prevent the spread of disease.

I'm going to wait on actions from others before proceeding with the events at the lift.

Tessa waits until Bosch starts to move, then casts Bless on those present in the sewer tunnels.

"Fortune look on us fondly!"

Seeing a suspiciously short Grey Maiden approach with buckets in hand, Bosch simply nods to her.

"Any loose tongues out there?" He asks, the better a handle they had on what they were getting into, the few casualties there would be.

All the Grey Maidens have evacuated. They think Dr. Devalus is still upstairs, and he apparently brought in a pair of assistants who are believed to be inside as well, maybe downstairs. Unknown about the "doctors". They're getting a firefighting squad together pretty quickly, I doubt we have much time before reinforcements arrive. Yrsa nonchalantly chucks the bucket over her shoulder. Seventy patients in here, they said... I'd like to see any supply manifests we could find, if possible. Regardless, we should move quickly. Yrsa unsheathes her falchion but tucks it in the crook of her arm. She wants to be ready, but not to scare anyone unduly. Unduly, that is.

"Let's go talk to the good doctor then," Bosch said, drawing his own sword and leaning the hefty blade upon his shoulder as if it were the most normal thing in the world. "Remember, no names incase something goes wrong. Mister... Bird, if you would?" Bosch looked to Typhon and gestures to the stairs leaning upwards.