Croq turns to Zincher. "Is if fortified against teleportation? If Leptonia has means to cast a scroll of True Resurrection, I'm sure she has means to cast a scroll of bamphing about. I feel confident in my ability to stop someone from taking something from a box I'm standing on, or something in my bag. Is there going to be anyone with an eye on the scroll itself?"
"Making sure she can't escape should also help. Perhaps a scroll of Dimensional Anchor?"
"...My home isn't fortified against teleportation. That said, the scrolls are well hidden inside the vault, and that's where they should stay," Zincher insists. "Even if Leptonia teleports inside here, she'll need several minutes to actually find the scrolls. I agree with Ms. Farwynd; preventing Leptonia from escaping is a better use of our resources."
"I'm sure I'll hear them coming from a long way off. I can stand watch and then run up and alert everyone that they are arriving?"
"Given how fanatic these people are, they probably intend to break down one of my doors instead of picking the locks," Zincher speculates. "I'd rather stop them from getting inside altogether, but... we can probably take steps to make one door look more appealing than the others. Regardless, breaking down a door should make plenty of ruckus for you to hear."
"Since Leptonia took a boat, she probably doesn't have easy access to teleport spells. Best you work on the other plans -- keeping her from the scrolls and making sure she can't escape."
Seeing that the planning was well underway and that she had little to offer, Kallie excuses herself. "I'll see you soon, Mr. Zincher. I'm going to visit Shorafa Pamodae now."
The others are free to join her, but Kallie is eager to visit the Calistrian.
Aurealia doesn't think she'll have much to offer to the diplomacy, so continues to scout out the best ambush points at Zincher's.
"Speaking of preventing your doors from getting knocked down...not to mention, saving you the loss of your prized scroll, what are you prepared to offer to support the Black Arrows for our efforts here?"
Croq gives a big, toothy, crocodilian grin.
"Speaking of preventing your doors from getting knocked down...not to mention, saving you the loss of your prized scroll, what are you prepared to offer to support the Black Arrows for our efforts here?"
Croq gives a big, toothy, crocodilian grin.
"...One moment please. Mister Magenta, I'll need your help carrying my... contribution to this endeavor," Zincher says before departing. About ten minutes later, the two brawny men return with five bags of coin, five metal ingots, a sealed bottle of fine brandy, and some glasses. "This is all I can contribute."
Mister Magenta sets the glasses, and Zincher himself pours the brandy for anyone interested.
"A toast to good fortunes and our success," Zincher proposes.
After the toast is finished, Zincher and Mister Magenta give anyone who wishes a tour of his estate.
"Feel free to stay in the rooms here," Zincher offers once you reach the second floor. "My butter Hortus and my cook Genna reside on this floor. They've essentially had the place to themselves lately."
"Since Leptonia took a boat, she probably doesn't have easy access to teleport spells. Best you work on the other plans -- keeping her from the scrolls and making sure she can't escape."
Seeing that the planning was well underway and that she had little to offer, Kallie excuses herself. "I'll see you soon, Mr. Zincher. I'm going to visit Shorafa Pamodae now."
The others are free to join her, but Kallie is eager to visit the Calistrian.
"I'm more concerned that Leptonia has something up her sleeve that will let her escape. I seem to recall Mom having such spells in her arsenal," Galatea remarks. She notices that Kallie seems ready to head off her own, so she asks the group for verification on their plans. "Will anyone else be accompanying Kallie and I?"
"Looks like just you and I will be meeting with Shorafa Pamodae," Galatea says. Once outside of Zincher's estate, she materializes Cheshire from her necklace and gives the giant feline's head a gentle hug. "So, how would you like to approach this? I might just be overly paranoid, but I'd rather not walk into a giant wasp nest without a plan."
Kallie rolls her eyes. "We're not attacking the place. I think *that's* the plan. Besides, we're the 'silver-tongued Kailanis' -- we should be fine."
As they walk through the streets of Riddleport, she gestures to the stares she gets. "I'm sure that a courtesan and information-broker like Shorafa will be happy to see us. I'm about as exotic as they come. A centaur with a top half looking like the Runelord of Lust. Plus, Ryli had some sort of history with her, and the way Mama's cheeks burned when she shut down any questions about it, I think it was probably entertaining history."
When they reach the House of the Silken Veil, Kallie brazenly approaches the first bouncer they see. "Hi! Kallie Silversun and Galatea Kailani. Could you let Shorafa Pamodae know we've arrived? I have no doubt she already knows of our presence here in Riddleport, and I wouldn't dream of being so rude as to not stop by for a visit." She puts on her best smile.
"I suppose 'being polite' is a good plan," Galatea concedes with a small grin. When the House of the Silken Veil is within sight, though, she casts another spell on herself. "Just to be sure."
The House of the Silken Veil itself is a large octagonal pyramid. The top is a blood red steeple, and the structure's walls are made of white marble. Back in Cromarcky's day, said walls were supposedly blemished due to exposure to sea salt and other pollutants, but it appears that Pamodae's elevated position allowed for a proper restoration at some point.
The bouncer studies Kallie for a moment before nodding and heading inside. Interestingly, all three of the visible entrances use fresh silk as "doors" instead of the city's more typical wood and iron. A moment later, the bouncer returns.
"You may head inside. Lady Pamodae is expecting you."
Kallie casts prestidigitation on herself to clean off the street's filth before entering. She casts the spell again to add a floral scent to her as she's led inside.
She goes to wherever she's told to wait for the priestess.
"Kallie! Galatea! Wait!" a pretty and familiar voice calls out before you venture inside. Viralane hustles next to Gali's side and holds up a finger, requesting a moment to catch her breath. "M-My apologies. I was speaking with the others, and I completely missed your departure!"
"No worries. We just got here," says Gali. She turns to the bouncer. "Ms. Barvisai is with us."
With that, you head inside the House of the Silken Veil.
"Well, it's... tamer here than I expected it to be," Galatea murmurs as she takes in the interior of the temple. She takes a deep breath to sniff the air. "Smells nice. Can't say I'm familiar with this incense, though."
"...I think it's something from Korvosa?" Viralane remarks.
Indeed, in the main areas of the temple, there isn't anything... too explicit. The statues of Calistria wouldn't be that out of place in an art museum, and everyone is... tastefully dressed in largely socially acceptable attire. However, the further you venture into the metaphorical wasp nest, the more and more things you see that leave Galatea blushing more and more fiercely. Thankfully, you reach the meeting destination before Gali gets flustered enough to faint.
"Viralane Barvisai. Kallie Silversun. Galatea Kailani. Welcome. Please, make yourselves at home," says a voice that's very easy on the ears.
Said voice belongs to very beautiful tiefling woman wearing a... fitting black dress that makes Gali's blush flare up further. She has light lavender skin, piercing crimson eyes, and long, dark raven hair. Interestingly, though she doesn't really need any, she isn't wearing much makeup; the most striking of which is her blood red lipstick. Her perfectly manicured fingernails and toenails are painted black, and her dark purple horns are long but thin. At most, she looks to be in her early thirties.
"Shorafa Pamodae. A pleasure to make your acquaintance," the priestess introduces herself from her nest of pillows. "I have it on... good authority that you wished to speak with me about something important?"
"Y-Yes, I, uh, we, uh," Galatea stammers as she gets seated on her own pile of pillows. At this point, the flustered half-elf needs Cheshire to prop her up. "I'll let Kallie get started."
For part, Viralane (who isn't nearly so flustered) takes a seat and prepares to stay silent unless her input is required.
Kallie does a double take at how much Gali is getting flustered. It's a new side of her relative that surprises her somewhat.
She shunts that into the back of her mind when Shorafa appears. No wonder Rilee asked her for lessons in femininity, she immediately thinks. I might just ask her for some myself.
When Galatea turns it over to Kallie to speak, she focuses. "Thank you for welcoming us. We -- Gali, Viralane, myself and our other companions -- are here in Riddleport on an urgent mission. A fanatical cultist is en route with designs to release a virulent plague upon Golarion, starting here. One of the components for her plan to release this plague is in Clegg Zincher's keeping.
"That's why we've met with Tammerhawk and Zincher, and now you. We're sure you'll appreciate the gravity of our warnings, just as those two have. If you need to see the proof of this cultist's plans and her ability to carry it out, I'll be happy to, but know that it was enough to convince Tammerhawk."
A moment pauses before the priestess replies.
"Indeed. That's precisely why I believe you, Kallie," Shorafa says, sitting up a bit and stretching her toned arms. "Elias was noted to be... unusually worried about something at last night's court, though most people likely didn't notice. After twenty-five years of working with him, I know that anything that worries Elias Tammerhawk isn't something to take lightly."
She glances at Viralane and nods.
"And I believe Viralane here was escorted by Mister Magenta on her way here?" Shorafa adds.
"Y-Yes, ma'am," Viralane says, shocked that Shorafa already knew this. She looks at you and Gali to explain. "Mister Magenta was quite the gentleman, escorting me here to the Leeward District. We went our separate ways once the temple was within sight. I think he had some errands to attend."
"That tells me that you've also won Zincher's support, which isn't easy to earn these days," Shorafa continues, smirking a bit. She's notably more serious when she speaks again, "I have an idea what this cultist is seeking. Not too long ago, a few of Zincher's business transactions with the church of Besmara came to my attention. He spent quite a fortune on the whole venture."
"So that's how he..." Galatea murmurs before trailing off.
"Indeed," Shorafa says, seemingly reading Gali's mind.
"Yes, and we know what the cultist is planning on doing with it. She's hoping to resurrect a Runelord, thinking that he'll be grateful enough for being brought back that he'll help her scheme."
Kallie shrugs a shoulder. "I have no idea how that conversation would go -- I'd like to have a scrying sensor on that wall -- but I'm not curious enough to actually let it happen. We're laying a trap for her, Leptonia, that's her name, since we know that she's going for it. Good news is, she had to take a ship and we got ahead of her through a teleport spell. She has no idea that we're even on her trail."
"This is quite the conundrum," Shorafa muses with a soft hum. She takes a moment to sip a glass of red wine that had been resting on a small table nearby. Somehow, this little display leaves Gali blushing. "So, what exactly do you wish of me? You already seem to have Zincher's full cooperation and some degree of support from Elias."
"Y-Yes... A-About that... Uh... Tammerhawk asked us to... Uh..." a still flustered Galatea stammers before trailing off. She makes a cute face before burying said face in her hands.
"Tammerhawk wishes to present a united front with you. This is too important for a single ruler; both of you need to of like minds," Kallie finishes for Gali.
"We'll make every effort to make sure this battle does not spill into the streets. We'll lure Leptonia in to a place she cannot easily escape. We'll strike quickly and ruthlessly. Then, we'll be gone." She smiles.
Kallie takes a sip of her own wine while keeping her eyes on Shorafa over the glass. "And before you decide to take offense in us going to Elias and Clegg ahead of you, I couldn't help but think that once our business is concluded, there'll be... reasons to linger here.
"It would have been so disruptive if I had to cut our meeting short to run over to the Cypher Lodge."
"Oh, Elias. Always so methodical and cautious," Shorafa says with an amused chuckle. "Very well. You can tell Elias that he'll have my full cooperation. While you deal with Leptonia, we'll keep any... opportunists from inteferring."
She plucks a grape from a bowl sitting on the nearby table and plops it in her mouth. Again, the mere act seems to fluster Galatea. After she swallows her treat, Shorafa addresses your second point.
"And I take no offense to you meeting with Elias and Zincher first. Given the situation, meeting with Zincher sooner rather than later is simply being pragmatic," she adds. "As for Elias, well, Riddleport has been a diarchy of equals for the last 25 years, and we have both been consulted now. Plus, I understand that Elias is a little more... approachable than I am."
Shorafa gives Galatea a teasing grin, which causes the blushing brunette to giggle and avert her eyes.
"Yeah..." Kallie agrees, starting to get really distracted by the way Gali is acting.
"Um, one other thing. Our greatest fear is that Leptonia teleports or dimension doors her way out of our trap. You wouldn't happen to have a dimensional lock spell or three handy?"
"I can contribute something to that endeavor," Shorafa says with a nod. "Give me some time, and we'll see what I can procure before your ambush."
"I believe that Kallie wanted to speak with you about... other matters," Galatea remarks, finally seeming to have found her composure. "I'll... wait in the lobby."
"...I'll make sure she gets there," Viralane says, under the impression that Gali might faint on the way there.
It's late afternoon when Kallie, Galatea, and Viralane finally return from the House of the Silken Veil.
"We're back!" Viralane announces. "I think it went pretty well, all things considered."
"She's onboard then?" Aurealia confirms.
"If so, it sounds like we have a plan. At least until it encounters real life..."
"Pamodae is on board," Galatea confirms. "As for the plan, we're basically going to be letting them break down the front door and then ambushing them? Is that correct?"
Kallie's eye twitches and the hairs on her back stand up. "Yeah, but I wasn't around for that. This was... this was a Calistrian prostitute and I really didn't need to know about that side of my *mother*.
Kallie avoids eye contact for the rest of the evening.
Kallie glances in any direction but Gali's, but adds, "Pamodae said she might be able to provide us with something to help lock Leptonia down to prevent her from dimensionally escaping. Other than that, I think we're ready."
"Is there anything we should ask of Tammerhawk?" Galatea adds. "He could probably hook us up with a bunch of potions or some useful wands."
"Aurealia should get at least one of the trapping implements since she's the best shot."
"Oh, like tanglefoot bags? That's a good idea, Jaya. I'll ask for some of those," Galatea agrees. "I think I'll ask for a heftier healing wand. All I have now is a half charged Cure Light Wounds one."
"Yeah, that's the basic plan."
With your business for the day (most likely) concluded, you decide to accept Zincher's offer to stay at his tenement until Leptonia's raid, which is slated to happen in approximately four days. Zincher's cook Genna Vearaven serves you a nice little dinner, though Clegg himself eats in his office, citing "preparations of my own" that he needs to make. The rest of the day passes without incident.
Bright and early the next day, Galatea goes to the Cypher Lodge to formally notify Tammerhawk about your successes with securing Zincher and Pamodae's support. She returns from her visit to the Cypher Lodge with five tanglefoot bags and a fully charged Wand of Cure Serious Wounds. Around the same time, a nondescript courier delivers a package addressed to Kallie. It contains three scrolls and some materials for copying two of them into spellbooks.
The following two days pass without incident. Late in the morning, Kallie receives a Sending from Pamodae saying that the Sea Moth has docked. The woman she presumed to be Leptonia and the people she believes to be Leptonia's followers disembarked without incident before vanishing into the city. Everyone else aboard the Sea Moth seems to be fine, if a little unnerved by the large group.
"So, today's the big day, huh?" Zincher says at breakfast. He sighs wearily before continuing. "To keep appearances, Mister Magenta and I will be leaving this evening with some of my guards for the auction. Genna and my butler Hortus will be 'running errands' all day and won't be back until tomorrow. As for my remaining guards, I'm not sure how useful they'll be against these fanatics. I’ve watched them spare with you Andosanas, and you kept wiping the floor with them."
Croq chuckles. "Hey, in fairness, the floor needed wiping.
"Seriously though, I don't want them to get killed, and you're right that they won't be able to pull much weight in a fight like this."
When she hears Kallie about Pamodae's sending, Croq says, "Did she say anything about the crew we'll be tussling with? If not, maybe we can go see if anyone else from the Sea Moth knows the skinny on them."
Anyone can at least stand in the way of a sword for a stroke Jaya thinks, scolding herself for it as she does.
"Good idea, Croq" I should have thought of that already.
"It shouldn't take me too long to rundown any relevant details."
"Yeah. Tell your guys to keep up appearances until they attack, but then they are free to leave. I don't want any broken families on my conscious or whatever. The Rangers got this."
Croq chuckles. "Hey, in fairness, the floor needed wiping.
"Seriously though, I don't want them to get killed, and you're right that they won't be able to pull much weight in a fight like this."
When she hears Kallie about Pamodae's sending, Croq says, "Did she say anything about the crew we'll be tussling with? If not, maybe we can go see if anyone else from the Sea Moth knows the skinny on them."
"Yeah. Tell your guys to keep up appearances until they attack, but then they are free to leave. I don't want any broken families on my conscious or whatever. The Rangers got this."
"Very well then. I'll have my men maintain this façade until the attack occurs," Zincher agrees. "And when it does, they'll have orders to fall back until the fighting ends."
Anyone can at least stand in the way of a sword for a stroke Jaya thinks, scolding herself for it as she does.
"Good idea, Croq" I should have thought of that already.
"It shouldn't take me too long to rundown any relevant details."
Jaya is able to verify that Leptonia and her minions are about twenty strong, all armed with finely crafted halberds. Leptonia herself is said to be a somewhat disfigured half-elf with purple skin. Jaya also hears a rumor about the cultists carrying illicit materials meant to secure the aid of fiends. All signs point to them attacking around the moment the auction is scheduled to start (about an hour after sundown).
Kallie activates her armored mask and translucent barding appears around her. Then she settles in to wait, since the rest of her spells are too short of a duration to cast until right before combat.
"Anyone got a deck of cards?"
The day flies by relatively quickly from there. About two hours before the auction begins, Zincher assembles his entourage and prepares to depart. At this point, only a skeleton crew of a skeleton crew remains at the tenement, and they plan to quietly slip out once the fighting starts.
"Good luck, Black Arrows," Zincher remarks before departing with Mister Magenta and his other guards.
He takes one final look at this home before sighing softly and taking his leave.
"I believe we've got roughly two hours left," Galatea remarks, studying some notes in her journal. "Everyone ready for this?"
Aurealia nods, getting an idea. "I'm going up on the roof. As soon as I hear them coming, I'll teleport inside and warn us. Hopefully that gives us enough time to get some short duration defensive spells up before things kick off."
Croq nods. "Sounds good, Sib. When you slide home, I'll hit us up with some of my new favorite jams: Good Hope."
Jaya nods, looking a little paler than normal. "Next time lets try to make a plan where we attack. I hate waiting around for people to show up to try to kill us."
As the sun starts to set, Galatea conjures some water in a large pitcher and then transmutes it into wine. From there, she pours some into the goblet she procured back in the Gecko, as well as a very small amount into Cheshire's borrowed drinking dish. Cheshire promptly licks up the liquid and subsequently perks up, her senses seemingly sharpened by the magical wine.
"Cheers," Galatea says, offering a toast before downing her glass.
For the remaining two hours (give or take a few minutes), Aurealia waits patiently on the roof for any signs of enemy activity. Meanwhile, the rest of you find places to lay low. For now, Zincher's remaining guards continue pretending that all is well. The curtains for all the windows have been undrawn, so you can move relatively freely around the place without being noticed from the outside.
Eventually, Cheshire begins sniffing the air and starts growling.
Kallie takes a drink of the wine.
Aurealia goes around to the west side of the building and teleports down to the ground, then approaches the window in the room where the group is waiting and taps on the glass with her knuckles, peeking through the gap in the curtains, if any. Her ears shrink back down to their normal pointed humanoid size as her nose grows and turns up into a monstrous bat-nose.
Kallie's keen senses can make out the faint sounds of chittering and wood warping coming from all the doors. Galatea takes this opportunity to promptly vanish from sight. Meanwhile, Cheshire seems fixated on the southwestern door and growls again. The tigress perks up briefly when she hears Aurealia tap on the window but swiftly refocuses on the southern door when she just sees her friend Aurealia through a small gap in the curtains.
"Sounds like Aurealia also noticed something," Gali's disembodied voice whispers.
Kallie brings up her shield and unlimbers her whip.
Aurealia ports inside, "There's freaky little things at the doors breaking them with magic!" she exclaims. Then she quickly chants the words to her haste spell, speeding the group up.
Jaya weaves a shield of force around herself and takes flight, ready to unleash fiery doom!
A few tense moments pass, giving you all sufficient time to make your final preparations. Meanwhile, Zincher's remaining guards take the chance to barricade themselves in one of the rooms on the second floor, giving you free reign of the tenement. Thinking aloud to herself, Galatea's disembodied voice ponders Viralane's whereabouts. However, she soon recalls and voices the answer: the redhead was sent to accompany Zincher's cook and butler on their "errands" earlier in the day.
Eventually, however, you begin hearing the sounds of people trying to force down the three doors to the tenement. The two doors to the north hold for the time being, but the southern one nearest you soon fails! On the other side, you see four goons being accompanied by two creatures that look like a cross between a sickly rat, a spider, and Venus flytrap...
You heard the two groups to the north still trying to break down their respective doors, which are holding for now.
"I'll keep these guys busy," Kallie offers. "Make sure the north doors are guarded."
The centaur enchanter throws a spell amid the group to the south, throwing their minds into confusion!
All four of the targeted cultists are affected by Kallie's spell; they abruptly pause in place and seem utterly confounded. However, the vermin companions are totally unaffected by Kallie's magic, evidently not even phased by it.
Aurealia moves to a corner and readies her polearm to trip any of the intruders who come into her range.