[OSP] GM PaleDim's PFS#10-10 The Shattered Shield CORE [Tier 1-5] (Inactive)

Game Master PaleDim

Hootie looks for the head of the body.........

What do you think of that, dear sister? Glory for our father!

...

Abbashin laughs heartily, replying keep someone by your side who keeps your limits for you. I honestly don't like to think about money in much detail, but I do rather spend it as naturally as using the bedchamber. Thankfully for me, I have my shrewd, and rather glum sister at hand. One day she'll realize she doesn't need to suffer my antics.

Ahmande gives the sister a glance of sympathy. "Maybe your sister has a point, my friend. Who is your father? You wouldn't want to tarnish his glory with frivolous purchases!"

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (9) + 11 = 20

Still here! Letting the investigation in the office proceed without me, for the moment. Come get me if I'm needed.

Is there any portrait in the room that could look like the one who it belong?

Gratius search the body for anything that could identify it.

Gratius finds no picture on the desk.

Hootie looks for the head of the body.........

Hootie finds a head but no reference to compare it too.

and I'm supposing you don't want to just walk into the auction hall with a head saying "anybody know her?" :P

Abbashin wrote:

What do you think of that, dear sister? Glory for our father!

...

Abbashin laughs heartily, replying keep someone by your side who keeps your limits for you. I honestly don't like to think about money in much detail, but I do rather spend it as naturally as using the bedchamber. Thankfully for me, I have my shrewd, and rather glum sister at hand. One day she'll realize she doesn't need to suffer my antics.

Ahmande gives the sister a glance of sympathy. "Maybe your sister has a point, my friend. Who is your father? You wouldn't want to tarnish his glory with frivolous purchases!"

[dice=Diplomacy]1d20+11

Still here! Letting the investigation in the office proceed without me, for the moment. Come get me if I'm needed.

Oh, I suppose. I'll just limit it to the one item I had in mind. I didn't come here for nothing after all.

I was seriously tempted to do so but it's not Hootie's style so...

Taking note of the features of the head, Hootie might comes across as disconcerting as her gaze takes in what features she can, commiting them to memory. Then calmly once done, she puts everything back into the safe and closes it.

"We're done here. Let's get back to the auction. If we see soemone looking like this body. We know It's a fake."

Appraising her party members with all the gravity in the world, Yangrit remarks: "Let us ensure that all traces of blood have been cleaned from our persons before exiting this room. Can anyone cast a spell to do that? Otherwise our efforts may be less effective than required." Ugh. That sounded snobbish. Tone it down, next time.

Yes, there is a cantrip to do that... Magic is powerful. But may be the culprit was not a wizard nor a bard?
Do we call the guards?

"I'm not sure if we have the time. Removing our wayward guests might help in the auction and who knows if bringing in the local enforcers might help us instead. The murderer is still around." she pauses.

"We also still have a job to do."

"Ok. So what do we do now? Everyone else just seems to be talking. Seems pretty boring." Kirrote gestures back to the main room.

You're right, mission first. Lets go back to the auction.

So it sounds like this concludes investigation in this room. Back to the taxidermy hall, or onto the auction itself?

Auction

Auction is fine with me too.

"I have this lass that I would like to get a gift for, what do you recommend I should place a bid on. I don't want to spend too much on it in case if it don't work out. you know what I mean."
Aldran talking to the other bidders.

Yangrit has been careful to avoid stepping in the blood, but checks herself carefully before leaving the room to make sure that there is no blood anywhere on (the outside of) her person. She then follows the others to the auction hall, grumbling darkly: "I suppose the others will arrive with the rest of the crowd later, if they are not prevented from doing so."

As they walk, an idea occurs to her. "A bit of strategy, since we are trying to use our credits wisely. Perhaps it would be best to avoid jumping into the bidding until the very end. If we do not bid up the price much, we may have money left over for the other items. What are your thoughts?"

"I have this lass that I would like to get a gift for, what do you recommend I should place a bid on. I don't want to spend too much on it in case if it don't work out. you know what I mean."

Aldran talking to the other bidders.

Pateba approaches Aldran and chuckles, offering up, if you have a well-read person that you're interested in I suggest aiming for a historical item. Otherwise, I daresay she won't even know what you've acquired for her! Honestly though, we need to know more about the lass to give good advice.

You get the feeling that the adventurer gave you incredibly generic advice that you wouldn't use to buy a gift for your cousin or nephew.

Moving us along...

You all make your way to the lecture hall, auction attendants handing you pamphlets containing brief information about the items to be auctioned.

This long and narrow room features a podium at the far end. Two columns of oak chairs with satin pillows cushioning the seats line the northern and southern walls.

Attendees file in, and very soon after an auctioneer steps up to the podium, holding a pair of bracers.

Greetings enthusiasts of divine and other forbidden relics! I don't want to waste your time, you have information on all of the items that will be offered up tonight! So let's get right to the bidding. First up, I have these bracers of divine range! We'll start the bidding at 2500. Do I have a taker?

bracers of divine range function as bracers of archery but provide the bonuses only on ranged touch attacks and the associated damage rolls made as part of divine spells.

The lecture hall begins to buzz with activity as prospective bidders discuss the item with their associates.

Very soon, the auctioneer announces: Abbashin Borkalik for 2500. Do I hear 3000?

Recall that the VC handed you bank notes worth 10k for your use in the auction.

IMPORTANT For each item, talk amongst yourselves (in character, here) about how high you're willing to go, whether you should target an item, etc. Having the program, you can plan for how much to bid now vs. save for the shard at the end.

"I don't like that our item is at the end." Ahmande whispers to his companions. "I'd rather it be first so we know how much we need for it. I'd recommend we stay out of the bidding on these first few items and see how high they go."

"Well, wouldn't it be good to raise the price of items so that other people run out of money?"

"It may also backfire on us. Rather take this time to see if our prospective murderer might be around. Who knows? They might get careless." she looks out to see anyone is behaving suspiciously...

Good discussion so far. Sounds like we're leaning towards not bidding on this item and seeing what happens for one or two more at least?

Hootie doesn't notice anything particularly suspicious amongst the bidders, just the usually conniving around getting a low, winning bid. Hootie, anything more specifically you want to observe?

I says, lets bid on each item once and see how the crowd respond.

Says Gratius who starts looking at each bider to see if one have some trace of blood on him.

Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (1) + 9 = 10 +2 vs human

I says, lets bid on each item once and see how the crowd respond.

Says Gratius who starts looking at each bider to see if one have some trace of blood on him.

[dice=Perception]1d20+9 +2 vs human

Gratius doesn't notice any suspicious bidder activity.

Aldran who still has not linked up the the group yet. Starts to bid on some items. He goes as high at 600 gp Phylactery of faithfulness, 1200 gp for the staff of healing, 600 gp Eldas’s platinum drafting tools, 600 gp for Incense of meditation. Then he walks over to the group. "Hi, did you find anything?"

If he wins any of the bids he stops bidding since he is using his own money.

Hootie is looking out for anyone with blood on their hands or looks like the murdered one?

Aldran who still has not linked up the the group yet. Starts to bid on some items. He goes as high at 600 gp Phylactery of faithfulness, 1200 gp for the staff of healing, 600 gp Eldas’s platinum drafting tools, 600 gp for Incense of meditation. Then he walks over to the group. "Hi, did you find anything?"

If he wins any of the bids he stops bidding since he is using his own money.

Noted. I'll invoke these bids at the right time as you've specified.

"I don't like that our item is at the end."

Yangrit nods in agreement with Ahmande, murmuring low to the group: "I agree. The order of bidding is unfortunate. I would guess that the items anticipated to generate the highest bids are toward the end. But the Society would also be interested in some of these other items as well. I think we should bid on at least a few of them, no more than 700gp or so each. The clockwork statue, phylactery of faithfulness, and drafting tools catch my eye. We would be more likely to bring back more artifacts if we nab some at the beginning."

Hootie is looking out for anyone with blood on their hands or looks like the murdered one?

Hootie doesn't notice anyone with blood on their hands in the auction hall.

Sounds like you want to put in a bid, but not on this item, so I'll move us along.

The auctioneer proceeds after several moments of no declaration rising above the din of whispered, inter-personal chatter.

Going once? Going twice? Sold to Abbashin for two-thousand, five-hundred gold marks.

His sister wears her chagrin on her sleeve as the entitled noble has already begun spending like it was a simple restroom break.

The auctioneer deftly hands the bracers off to an attendant for processing, and then receives an intricate clockwork statue to present as the next item.

Next, we have a clockwork statue of Brigh, the goddess of invention! I daresay if this country could find a way to tolerate the divine again, they'd most readily warm up to such a goddess. But, then I suppose we wouldn't need to have our little fun here.

He cracks a smile before proceeding to get the item started.

The bidding starts at one thousand gold. And I already have one thousand to Pateba. Can I get twelve-fifty?

She waits expectantly for a follow-up bid. You get the idea that this group desires the bidding to go quickly, hurried by the pressure of secrecy and its inherent danger.

Sense Motive DC 20, take 10: 10 + 11 = 21

Ahmande looks to his companions and whispers "I don't think Pateba wants to go higher; shall we throw out an exploratory bid here?"

Sense Motive 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11

"Let him have it." Hootie mumurs as she examines the floor.

"We're bidding for a few items as it is. No sense in wasting our gold."

"Hmph. I don't understand why this is so complicated. Back home, everyone who wanted something just paid what they wanted and took it. If you wanted it more, you just knocked them on the head and took it."

Everyone agreed on skipping this item then? Does the team have a target list you've agreed on (apart from the shard itself)?

It looks like we may be able to get the clockwork statue for just over 1000gp. The rest will likely go higher. I say we bid once (1300gp?) on this one and see how it goes. Yangrit had suggested bidding on the clockwork statue, phylactery of faithfulness, and drafting tools, but no one else had stated anything else specific. Bear in mind, we can pool our own resources to get the Shard if we need/choose to.

+1on bidding for other items

After some furiously whispered conversation with her team, Yangrit holds up the bidder's banner and calls out: "1100!"

Oh, we're going up in coppers now the auctioneer deadpans as she glares at Yangrit.

Very well, eleven-hundred gold to the comely dwarf. Do I have twelve-fifty?

Pateba, still looking unsure, thrusts up his bidder's banner out of necessity and claims 1250 with a squeak.

Twelve-fifty back to Pateba. Can I get fifteen-hundred?

"Well, at least we made him pay more. I do not want to bid too high on this one, but I have a feeling in my bones that this auction will be interrupted before the end. It cannot be this easy to fool the law. It may be well to bid 1400 on this so that we do not return empty handed. What do you think?" Yangrit is clearly having trouble deciding what to do, and holds out the bidders banner so that someone else in the team can take it if they wish. I could cover the difference with my own money...

If the group decides to pass on this one, Yangrit will bid 1400 on the statue, using her own gold to cover the 300gp difference between the bid the group agreed on (1100gp) and her final bid, if she wins. If someone else is holding the bidders banner, she will whisper her intent to them and ask for the banner back, but she won't take it from them if they refuse. She will not bid higher than 1400gp on this item.

As none of Yangrit's teammates speak up, the auctioneer calls the clockwork statue for the adventurer Pateba.

Sold! Twelve-fifty to Pateba.

An attendant approaches the podium and the next item is traded into her hands.

Next up, the Phylactery of faithfulness. Let's start at five-hundred.

This time a series of aggressive back-and-forths erupt between Pateba and the noble Abbashin.

Very good! Five hundred to Pateba. Six hundred to Abbashin! Can I get eight hundred? No? Seven-fifty to Pateba.

The adventurer again gets the familiar nervous look. His resources are either close to empty or depleted now...

Nine-hundred to Abbashin! Can I get one-thousand?

Pateba looks defeated as the crowd watches for the next move, to see how much further this item will escalate...

Will the Pathfinders bid?

Hootie bides her time......

Ahmande nods to Yangrit, indicating that he'd like to place this bid. If she seems uncertain, he takes the offered banner and places the 1000 gp bid himself.

This one is worth 1000 gp anyway, so we might as well get it at cost if we can. If not, maybe we can push Abbashin to spend more and get his sister to drag him out of here. Either is a good option right now.

The down side of having low level characters with no gold to spend.

Aldran reaches for the banner to make his bid, but watches the bid go past his buying power.

Gratius stay silent, continuing to observe each bider.

If the group decides to pass on this one, Yangrit will bid 1400 on the statue...

@GM PaleDim: So I take it that Yangrit wasn't fast enough on the last one?

At Ahmande's nod, Yangrit calls out: "1000!"

Kirrote picks at his teeth and stifles a yawn. He can hardly believe that serious people do this sort of stuff on a regular basis.

I really am interested in what's going on. Just staying IC.

Hootie still remains calm as she's still on the job.

Not to mention that the murderer was still about.

She was already slowly making her way to hide herself among the bustle.

Lol. take 20 to stealth? for total 31?

Yangrit wrote:

If the group decides to pass on this one, Yangrit will bid 1400 on the statue...

Maybe I should have given this one more time, but I was fuzzy on whether the party agreed on a partial bid for this item (and I was also seeing a lot of "move on to next"). I will say, you'll have a better shot when Abbashin (a loaded noble) is not bidding, and there is at least one item that nobody is interested in. So, don't be completely discouraged :) Some of these items are simply sought after aggressively.

Lol. take 20 to stealth? for total 31?

I don't think take 20 could apply to stealth here as you're more or less constantly observed by circumstance of being surrounded by other bidders.

One-thousand to the associates of Torvad!

Abbashin smiles in your direction and raises his banner again. Twelve-hundred. he blurts out nonchalantly, yawning after.

Twelve-hundred back to Abbashin. Can I get Fourteen hundred?

Ahmande shakes his head, mouthing the words too much.

Then I'll stealth 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (3) + 11 = 14 with somewhat awesome rolls. Excuse me as I crawl under some table to weep....

Yangrit's lip curls as she shakes her head. Too much. That's a cocky one.