The servant hurries off, beckoning for Our Heroes to follow.
"If you will follow me, we must consult with a friend of mine, good sirs." says the servant. "My friend knows all the noble houses and will surely point us in the right direction."
Aeryc has the *distinct* impression that this servant is not telling the truth. Something is up.
"Bah- be off with you, cur! Take us for fools, do you?
The servant looks a little startled. "N-no sir?" he stammers.
An amiable-looking old lady wrapped up in colorful Varisian woollens has been listening and watching with great interest. She decides to speak up: "Sirs, to be honest, I'd do pretty much anything for a silver piece!" She grins, revealing a gap toothed smile that is equal measures endearing and unsettling.
The servant looks daggers at the old woman, then back at Aeryc's forbidding gaze. Defeated, he backs way, and bows placatingly. Then he growls out "Greedy old hag!" at the old woman, turns, and disappears into the crowd.
The old woman is looking expectant. "So how about it eh? Cross me palm wiv' silver, and ol' Lizzie is yours for the day. I'll even show you where you want to go! Har har har!"
Lizzie eyes up Kadar appreciatively.
Quilmop tosses her the silver.
Sottovoce: There's more where that came from if you manage to bed, or at least inappropriately grapple with my friend Kadar there by the end of the day...
Kadar longs for Shalelu.
Lizzie snatches the coin out of the air. "Yes milord!" she says, with a sly wink. "Right this way!"
Lizzie bustles off into the crowd. She leads Our Heroes away from the Pediment building. "This is all Capital District, milords. Heart of Magnimar excetera excetera" says Lizzie, gesturing expansively at the bustle and finely dressed citizens. "You want the Foxgloves, you got to go down Grand Arch Way: what they call 'Naos' district." She turns and whispers low. "New money, know what I mean?"
Our Heroes pass through a marketplace, and on further east, past many wealthy homes. Soon the homes take on a more muted tone: wealth is still in abundance, but interspersed are many signs of middle class living.
Lizzie warms to the part of tour guide. "Cathedral of Abadar, milords." she says, gesturing at a sprawling stone structure with hundreds of people darting in and out on temple business. "Bloody big, 'innit?"
Soon after passing the Cathedral, Lizzie turns down a few side streets, and then halts. She points at a townhouse a few doors down. "Foxglove Townhouse milords, as requested." She leans into Kadar a little and touches his arm. "And if you got anymore requests, well.. you just let ole' Lizzie know, eh?"
The townhouse is three storeys tall. Boards have been nailed over the ground floor windows. As Our Heroes observe the building, a patrol of city guards troops by and on up the street. It seems they are quite the common presence around here.
Uncomfortable with the tumult of the Big City, Kadar is eager to find a way into the townhouse.
Eyeing up the building, Kadar says in a low voice: Cousins, I could shape into a lizard and try and make my way inside unnoticed.
To Kadar: Great idea. Why a lizard? Nevermind. Can you do colors? Do a blue one. Or yellow.
To Lizzie: Hey, can you stick around for a bit? We'll pay you for your time, obviously. But it's kind of windy-roads around here, and we'll be out in a bit and probably need some more 'guidance'. Plus, Kadar!
To Aeryc: How do you feel about the area? See anything weird? *Perceive* anything helpful about the house?
Quilmop will also use detect magic around as much as he can, looking for signs of any of the sihedron magic...
The Elders taught me of a lizard-like creature that could see in the dark. Perhaps it could be useful here.
Kadar will look over the building from afar for any potential openings (chimney, eaves, basement entrance, etc). If it looks like there might be a way in other than the front door for a lizard, Kadar will duck into an alleyway and wild shape into a tuatara, attempting to stealthily climb up and/or wriggle his way in somewhere.
If necessary:
Quilmop does not detect any magic from outside the house, although he knows from experience that even a little brick can block such detection.
Lizzie agrees to stick around. She is obviously intrigued by Kadar's suggested transformation. "Reckon you can do an octopus?" she asks Kadar, with a cheeky gap-toothed grin. "I'll bet you could if you tried..." She loses herself in thought, with a small satisfied grunt. It's probably best that our Heroes are unable to sense what she is thinking about.
Kadar finds an alleyway and transforms into a tiny tuatara. There is no obvious basement entrance, but the town house has a very narrow pathway around all sides. Scampering around the pathway and into the back yard, Kadar sees that a third storey window on the north side of the town house (away from the street) is open just wide enough for a tiny lizard to crawl through.
Clambering up the wall of the town house, out of sight from prying eyes (including those of Aeric and Quilmop), Kadar just manages to get up over the overhang of the first storey. (Many townhouses are built so as to make initial climbing difficult, to deter burglars, and this one is no exception). The rest of the wall is easier going, and soon Kadar has slipped in through the window at the very top of the townhouse.
The room looks to be a master bedroom. A leopard skin is laid out at the foot of a long wide bed. The bed looks like it has not been slept in for quite some time. There are some chests of drawers, a cabinet, and a mirror. On the east wall there are two closed doors. On the eastern half of the south wall there are a pair of closed double doors.
Kadar can faintly hear the sound of someone hammering nails. It seems to be coming from somewhere further down inside the house. The doors from this room are not sealed tight: if willing to squeeze, Kadar could go under them without having to change shape again.
Aeryc will also perceive.
Is this roll good enough for at least a reminder about the time of day? Aeryc would like to perhaps try to stealthify his way into the rear courtyard? Is that fenced in?
Kadar will have another listen and a sniff of the air and if all seems safe attempt to quietly squeeze under the northeasternmost door.
If necessary:
Aeryc spies no movement from the upper storey windows, nor anything out of the ordinary from the street. It is mid-afternoon, and mostly overcast, but at least it isn't raining. There is a slight chill in the air.
Aeryc slips off down the side alley and silently clambers over the wall into the back yard. Immediately to Aeryc's left, there is a shed built up against the north wall of the yard. There are closed double doors leading into the townhouse proper, and Aeyc can see another small door into the house to the south, which looks like a servant's entrance. The windows on the lowest storey are boarded up like the front of the house, so Aeryc can't see what's going on inside.
From upstairs, Kadar hears more hammering, and the muffled sound of conversation from a couple of floors down. It is too hard to make out the details of the conversation; perhaps if he crept down a floor it would be easier.
Kadar squeezes under the northeastern door. The room on the other side is a washing chamber, with a fine clawfoot tub and a dresser. There are no monsters and no treasures. None that Kadar can see, anyway.
"It's exciting, innit?" says Lizzie to Quilmop in a low tone of voice, watching Kadar and Aeryc disappear out of sight. "Always did like hanging about wiv adventurers. You never know what they'll do next!"
Kadar will slink towards the conversation, stopping once within earshot.
They do this all the time. Usually it doesn't even matter, we just end up blasting the baddies or slinking away or in my case getting thrashed. But it really makes them happy to slink about and sneak and such, so I usually try and go along with it.
Quilmop eyes Lizzie up and down.
You look like a forward-thinking go-getter. Let me ask you something. How would you like to get in on the ground floor of what I can assure you is going to be the biggest thing in Magnimar fast-casual dining since those fried lizard sticks I saw in the street back where we met? It's a small investment, largely subsidized by yours truly and by just unbelievably cheap chil--... er, I mean, young adult -- labor.
Kadar squeezes back into the master bedroom, and then again under the double doors on the eastern edge of the south wall. There is a T-shaped room beyond, with a couch and a fine-looking fireplace, decorated with two roaring lion heads at either end.
The stairs are immediately to Kadar's right; he slinks down and is able to hear more of what is being said on the floor below.
One voice, from far away downstairs, sounds like that of a young woman. "Hurry it up, human. And then hide!"
Another voice, closer to hand, is the voice of a young man, and sounds like that of the hammerer. "Nearly done." he says, and pounds a few more times with the hammer. "Besides, we have time aplenty, I told Arturo to take them all over the city."
A third voice, again of a man, and coming from even further away, joins in. "It does not seem a wise plan. We do not need these tricks. We can simply suck the blood from them!"
"Best to make sure." says the hammerer. "There, done! I will take the rope upstairs and keep watch from the window. Call loudly when they are in place, and then duck for cover."
Kadar can hear footsteps coming up the stairs from the ground floor.
Meanwhile, outside, Quilmop has piqued Lizzie's interest.
"What sort of investment you talkin' about...?" she asks, warily, but also greedily. Quilmop and Lizzie settle down to talk business while they wait.
Kadar persists in saurian slinkitude, curbing back upstairs enough to keep an eye on the hammerer but stay hidden.
If it looks like said hammerer might migrate to floor the third, Kadar will reslinkify to the master bedroom and hide under the bed.
Just poking his head around the corner, Kadar sees a human - one of the two servants recently seen outside the Pediment building - coming up the stairs from the ground floor, carefully playing out a rope behind him.
The man gets to a pair of doors on the middle level of the house, and turns to open them... and then does a double take, looking towards the staircase where Kadar is quietly observing.
Kadar ducks back, but has the distinct impression that he's been spotted.
As the man with the rope peers suspiciously up at the staircase where Kadar is hiding, Kadar overhears a little more conversation from further downstairs:
"It is still a foolish plan." says the slightly older sounding man. "The house will burn, and attract attention."
"What care we for houses?" replies the young woman. "Come, we must play our part, husband of mine."
"Yeesh, these humans are disgusting, with their faces, and their mating rituals based on property relations. We should not have left the swamp." says the slightly older sounding man.
"But these humans are also delicious, husband dear. Full of warm blood! Now play your part!" replies the young woman.
Kadar will squeeze back under the master bedroom doors, move to the southwesternmost square, and shape into a deinonychus.
Presumably Kadar told Claws to stay with Quilmop.
Claws-with-Lightning is outside in the street, loitering with Charles, while Quilmop and Lizzie talk business.
Quilmop notices that Claws-with-Lightning has perked up as if listening carefully to something. Not sure what's up with that. Could be impending violence. Or flatulence. Who knows with these dinosaurs?
Quilmop will continue chatting with Lizzie about the right water-to-flour ratio in waffles.
Kadar hears creaking from the landing outside. It sounds as if the servant is creeping about cautiously.
Aeryc will stealthily inspect the shed-type structure, particularly looking for any way to quietly open or otherwise see what's inside.
Aeryc quietly opens the shed door, which is unlocked.
It is shadowy inside. There is no one inside the shed. There are many gardening implements, bits of rope and so on. There is also a hole in the floor filled with charcoal.
Aeryc spies an indentation in the dirt on the floor: it looks as though a large barrel was dragged out of here recently.
Kadar will hold his action to rage charge any foe that comes in the room.
"Huh, I am jumping at shadows!" says the servant, somewhere close outside the main bedroom doors.
It sounds to Kadar as though the servant is returning downstairs.
To expedite matters, if Aeryc's go doesn't impact Kadar's situation, Kadar will attempt to sneak downstairs in dino form and spring a rage pounce on the servant.
Aeryc attempts to discern where the barrel or barrel-like object was dragged to by tracking.
Quilmop continues twiddling his thumbs, since no one has told him what's going on.
Hey Lizzy, have you heard of the chowdah-piss boys?
Aeryc stealthily follows the traces of the dragged barrel: they lead to the back door of the house.
Meanwhile, back on the street, Lizzy ponders Quilmop's question a moment. "Nah." she says. "Who're they? Sound like they're the kinda boys Ol' Lizzy would want to charge upfront and extra for, know what I mean?"
Meanwhile meanwhile upstairs, Kadar sneaks over to the door, and turns the handle with his jaws.
"Aha! Got you!" shouts the servant, leaping out from behind the door frame, and slashing at Kadar with a wicked sharp war razor. Kadar has been caught unawares.
The war razor whistles by Kadar's jaw.
"Did you say something?" shouts the young woman from downstairs.
Aeryc, crouched stealthily outside the back door, distinctly hears the young woman yell her question.
Quilmop hears a muffled yelling from inside the house, but can't make out what was yelled.
Excuse me a second, Lizzy. My friends appear to be doing what they do best. Just hang tight.
Quilmop heads toward the front door. He'll take one full move toward it and ready a flaming sphere to be released on the first threatening looking person he sees. Wherever his move gets him to, he'll shout
"Hullo in the house! Is everyone OK in there? This is the City Watch!"
Does Aeryc hear Q?
If so, he will try to quietly try the door to the house while the potential distraction is created, attempting to see what's inside and entering if it appears clear at this side of the house. (Also assuming he perceives no voices or movement immediately near the door before he tries it.)
Quilmop gets to within twenty feet of the front door of the Foxglove townhouse. There is no immediate response from inside.
Aeryc clearly hears Quilmop calling from the street, and uses the distraction to try the back door handle. It is unlocked.
Aeryc pushes the door open slightly and then stops, because on the other side, only fiften feet distant, at the other end of a modest dining room is ... Aldern Foxglove!
Foxglove is leaning out through a pair of double doors that lead further into the house, and gesticulating. He does not seem to have noticed Aeryc.
"Make them go away!" says Foxglove, to someone Aeryc can't see. "This plan is getting worse and worse!"
Apart from the double doors through which Foxglove is leaning, the dining room has a door on west and east walls, and a large dining table occupying the middle of the room.
Kadar rages and goes full slice and dice on the servant.
"Bleaurg..." gasps the servant, as he collapses to the ground, shredded in pieces. The pieces make several wet thuds as they bounce off the walls and hit the ground. The servant's war razor clatters as it rolls free from the servant's grip. From his other hand, a curious looking mask also rolls away. On casual inspection, the mask looks a little similar to the mask that the Skinsaw Man was wearing.
Kadar and Aeryc hear some fierce stage whispering from somewhere downstairs, but can't quite make out what was said.
Quilmop still hears no answer to his query.
Top of his lungs:
Hullo in the house! What's all the racket? I need to speak with the homeowner -- or a responsible adult. If you don't come out to speak with us, I'm afraid we'll need to send in a man or two to make sure everyone is safe. And we don't wipe our boots, if you know what I mean.
We've been getting complaints from the neighbors -- this fine woman here
Quilmop gestures at Lizzie
thinks she may have heard a large bird or some other creature get caught up in the rafters...We really need to speak with someone. You don't want animal control in there...
Quilmop will continue to have flaming sphere ready (for hostiles).
"One moment captain!" calls the voice of a young woman from inside the house.
Charles trundles up to Quilmop's side. He has disguised himself as a small sergeant of the city watch, with big eyes and very lightly pale blue skin. He waggles his finger authoritatively at the house.
Claws-with-Lightning follows close behind.
Aeryc will attempt 2 tangleshot arrows at Señor Foxglove with Rapid Shot. Is there surprise? Can rapid shot be used during a surprise round?
Kadar slinks downstairs, looking for a place where he might poise for a charge. He’s mindful of machinations, eyes peeled for devious devices.