Nephre saunters into the tavern with a sneer. Sure, she liked her drink, but places like this rarely had any good fighting involved with the drinking.
A tiny metal creature with an oversized eye, a spherical body, and several spider-like legs, is floating near the rafters about fifteen feet above the group.
The little mechanical critter almost appears to be listening to your conversation.
There is a minuscule blinking red light in the center of the eye.
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Over the telepathic bond, Koro will let everybody know about the machine, and will instruct them to play it cool, ignoring the machine.
Out loud, Koro will state the following, "On second thought, I'm pretty tired for now. Try to get us a room, and we'll stay overnight, then travel in the morning."
When he can, Koro will get up to use the bathroom. When he leaves the drone's vision, he will use a free action to gain 20% concealment from Shadow Blend, then utilize Stealth in order to get back around into the main room and tail the machine.
Rattlebones looks up and squints into the darkness. "Huh. What's that thing up there?" He 'hears' the instructions in his mind and quickly looks at the floor. He whispers to Nephre, "It's probably that angel guy keeping tabs on us."
Lehkazeran takes news in stride, he was used to the subterfuge and distrust of high politics, and couldn't see where this was any different.
The plan suddenly changed, he switched his efforts in the tavern from blending in and staying alone to surveillance. He needed to find a person, preferably a drunk patron, who wouldn't be missed, for a few hours at least. The routine was relatively simple: make friends, feed them drinks, and maneuver them out to an alley before they passed out from the drinks such that he could take enough blood to remain active, and without drawing attention. Easy enough, he hoped...
Nephre seemingly ignores the little thing. "We're in a town with a lot of gnomes, and we know there's an inventor's tomb nearby. Could be a lot of other things," she mutters back.
That out of the way she confidently strides forward and takes the first seat that catches her eye. She turns it sideways so the back doesn't get in the way of her tail and wings, sits, and listens. Chances were someone here was talking about business, and that business might be their business...
Dymer continues maneuvering through the tavern, this time going back to the bar for another drink and a snack of some sort before chiming into the discussion, ::Also, that's not the first one. Remember that Sio noticed several of them when we first arrived watching over us. Nephre is correct. Could be anything from a local security measure to our target's heirs keeping an eye out for any interlopers. Or potential employees. A new, large group of unknowns shows up at exactly the time that they're planning on getting a team to clear out the site? Wouldn't sound like a coincidence to me, were I in their shoes.::
Sio notices the device and it's attention, though not the red light in it's eye. If there are any areas of dim light (or darkness) in the tavern, she moves to conceal herself in it, keeping quiet.
The crowd however, interests her; she also keeps an eye open for any other attention to the group.
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They just got to the town and they were already talking about turning in for the night. It was disgusting, regardless of any surveillence.
"I need to stretch my legs a bit, before I tuck. These gnomes are too fun not to play with, if we're heading out in the morn."
Ozzie had some knowledge of design and engineering, mostly focused around building and structural design, but maybe his experience with blueprints would crossover. The best place for free knowledge probably would be a marketplace.
With his shapeshifting and talent for sensing nearby creatures, he doubted he'd have issues with a tail.
"Anyone want to actually see the nearby market instead of ordering in?"
The good(?) doctor acquires a room for the night, seemingly carefree.
Lehkazeran takes a break from his "investment" to check in with Koro, making sure anything they may need to do is accounted for.
After about an hour of observing you, the clockwork spy suddenly teleports away.
Nephre overhears a few people talking about the recently uncovered tomb that you all were hired to raid. There's a lot of speculation as to what might be inside, but nobody here is willing to actually go and investigate.
Dymer raises his hand at Ozzie's question while he finishes his drink and stands up, ready to go. "You know I'm always down for an adventure. And maybe we could find a way to corroborate Mister Valmop's assumption regarding the location of the vault."
Nephre waves at the others of the group and points at the people talking about the tomb. She'd probably end up punching one of them if she tried to do the talking, so better one of them did, instead.
Besides, it'd interrupt drinking.
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Ozzie looked at Dymer, pondering, and then sighed, frustrated, rubbing the back of his head.
"I can't stop you, but please try not to tip our hand to every Gobliana Jones wannabe around. That's why I usually have discreet contacts sort this out ahead of time for me. Maybe we can get some maps out of it."
Ozzie looked around.
"Are you sure, none of the rest of you want to come? There might be fun deadly toys. I'm leaving in 5."
Dymer at least has the good graces to look sheepish. "That was one time! But you're right. I'll stay put. But I'm not gonna like it!"
Lehkazeran reached out over the psychic link, asking Koro: "Shall I...'convince' this group to 'lose interest' in the tomb? The extra attention might be 'undesirable'..."
Dr. Craven stands for a moment, looking up toward his rented room, and then shrugs. In a single deft motion he spins and pushes his spectacles back into position. "Why not? Maybe these simpletons have stumbled on something of value," he says cheerily with an obvious undertone of condescension. "I'll go to the market."
The doctor strolls over to stand next to Ozzie with his hands wrapped around the shoulder straps, giving off a bit of a childish posture.
Rattlebones is feeling restless, and is happy to accompany them to the market.
The market sounds more interesting than sleeping at least; though she doesn't need much of the latter.
"Sounds like it could be interesting. I'm in."
Hopefully not too interesting though; while she wouldn't mind technically, she suspects the guards would look... poorly upon a Kumiho rampage. Pity that.
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To Lehkazeran, Koro will say over the telepathic link, "I don't think they are particularly interested in venturing to the tomb, but if you would like to make sure, by all means, be my guest."
To everyone else in the Telepathic Bond, Koro will state, "Feel free to purchase everything that you think you need, but I want you guys packed and ready to go within the hour. Our group will leave for the tomb immediately at that time. Hope you guys don't mind traveling at night. I don't want whatever that recording thing was to return. And if somebody knows we're coming, I don't want to give them undue time to prepare."
Rattlebones does not have a shopping list, per se, but is happy to tag along. He knows he has a habit of drinking when he is bored, and getting sloshed and starting a wrestling match while on a job is not a great way to impress your boss.
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Niwin seemed quite excited to share the wonders of their open air market that had the most amazing delicacies and wondrous trinkets. It took some convincing and not a little pushing to pry the details of a second smaller market. He suggested that it was a craftsman only sort of place, not as well policed, and filled with merchants with less than the highest reputations, hoping to discourage the group. Instead, Ozzie insisted that it was, actually, exactly the place they needed.
After reassuring their guide, they set out into the desert city. Much of the city was carved out of the local sandstone. Even in the lengthening shadows, the arid heat made the air seem like sandpaper. Perhaps not unsurprisingly, the streets seemed more occupied by gadgets than actual population. The streets became narrower and emptier as they headed towards their goal. The group's wariness seemed to keep any potential stalkers at bay.
Even with their guide's careful directions and the group 's own skills, they failed to find the place until they dropped a few coin with some enterprising younglings. Turns out that they ended up only a couple streets from an entrance. A descending set of stairs followed by a long vacant corridor opened up onto a raging river of bodies, separated only by a thin curtain.
The whole place seemed of another world. It carried one of the most distinct smells of chemicals and spices that Ozzie had encountered. Light streamed through makeshift skylights upon rows of stalls and open shops. The human-shaped goblin tried to say a few words but the din drowned everything out. The height difference that marked them as outsiders also lent itself to him spotting the coffee shop. Motioning for the group to watch their pockets, Ozzie led the group towards the refreshments.
Their host was a dark skinned gnome with an amazingly bushy mustache, that seemed to eat half his face, and a jaded look that promised a lack of surprise if the tarrasque itself showed up as a customer. They were seated around a ring of cushions around a low table, that fortunately had a view onto the rest of the bazaar. Conversation had dried up on their walk between the tavern and here, but the spices and steam coming out of the kitchen seemed ready to erase all of that.
"So do you still have all you coin?"
Nephre starts getting restless after a little while (specifically after a few tankards of beer). She stands and announces to anyone who cares to listen, "I'm going for a flight," then strides out the door.
She doesn't fly anywhere in particular, just aimlessly soars over the town looking around.
Craven looks around as they are lead through the open air markets with unconcealed wonder. The gadgets in particular catch his eye as the group passes. All the while his large box of a backpack jingles away as the beakers and vials tap against each other with the sound of concealed wind chiimes.
When the small of the chemicals and spices became stronger, Craven piqued with interest once more. Craven gave no objections to Ozzie's choice of coffee shop and happily jingled in tow. He threw Nephre an amused look as she made her announcement, his scarred eyebrow raised. "Enjoy...?" he replied a bit quizzically, but said nothing more. At the half mustache man's provocation, Craven picks out a gold coin, on it was a city silhouette that was surrounded by seven angel looking characters. "Do you still have drink?" he quips back with a scarred smile.
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The gnomish waiter squinted at the coin, looking back and forth between the group. He sighed, leaving with the coin into the back kitchen. A couple of minutes later, he returned with a plain large kettle and a ring of mugs. With an efficiency that rivaled the automatons outside, he positioned carefully positioned the cups and filled each one. Each time, he raised the kettle a couple of feet during the pouring process, like some sort of bizarre ritual. Each time, not a drop spilled, and the liquid miraculously stopped just shy of the lip.
Their seating managed to provide a surprisingly amount of privacy from the other customers. Ozzie chose to take advantage to continue the conversation. "It's nice to see some individuals inquisitive minds. Have any of you seen this sort of engineering before?"
Craven happily drinks his new beverage. At Ozzie's question he shrugs and shakes his head, "No, but admittedly I have been out of my box in some time so, it leaves me a bit sheltered."
Facing away from the others Lehkazeran rolls his eyes at Koro's second plan-change in an uncomfortably-short period of time. Why bother giving them the night just to change plans? Was he keeping them on their toes, or just indecisive? Either way, it was frustrating.
Determined to unleash that frustration in a useful manner, Lehkazeran stood slowly and turned around silently in place, before assuming a deliberate and strong, albeit slow, pace. He strode to the fire, standing real and dark above a chair facing the others in a circle around the hearth. From the looks on the faces is those he could see, Lehkazeran saw smiles dry up and lips begin to quiver. The only voice continuing on talking was the single soul in the chair directly in front of Lehkazeran.
"Let me interrupt," he cut in, right in the middle of a sentence,"if you know what's good for you." He turned the chair around with a sharp twisting motion, startling the occupant.
"You can stop talking, now, about the tomb. You can forget whatever you've already heard about it. You can ignore whatever questions are asked of you, and you can forget everything and everyone you see in this tavern tonight. And if you do so if these things, I will forget you. And that, little ones, is a deal that runs heavily in your favor. Because you don't want me remembering you."
He flicked out his long, dragon tongue, from the shadows of his hood, revelling in the moment. "I hope for your sake, we have a deal. Eating you would be a more trouble than you're worth," he added, turning around with a low growl and walking back to his seat at the bar.
-------------------Market Coffee Shop--------------
"What about you two? Magical research backgrounds maybe?"
Ozzie looked between Rattlebones and Sio Tonti.
"Not even one tiny bit." Rattlebones stops briefly to flick at a contraption with his finger before continuing forward. "I live in a forest village with druids and hunters and wood carvers. We have one general store, one tailor, and one tavern. I have an outhouse behind my cabin. My job is to kill bandits, mostly greenskins but some kith as well. I wrestle and drink for fun. So... yeah. All this is a bit lost on me."
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-------------------Market Coffee Shop--------------
Sio Tonti seemed quite willing to ignore the question or any discussion. She gave the coffee a taste, allowing the highly viscous liquid and cardamom-infused notes roll around in her mouth. Looking up, she focused on the crowd outside. Somehow, the din didn’t fully permeate this inner sanctum. That was good. That was all she needed for a few brief moments. She had managed to find the most poorly lit cushion to sit upon, in a shop whose lighting was otherwise quite diffuse.
Ozzie stared at her, expecting an answer, perhaps even a delayed one, but whatever. It didn’t matter. If she was going to brush them off, it wasn’t a big deal. He suspected most of hires might be odd ducks, so what was one more thing. Tasting his own coffee, he grunted appreciatively.
Making a small gamble, he fished out a few more gold pieces and left them on the far edge of the table. Maybe they'd get snacks.
”Do you think the museum and surviving tech inspired the local automatons, or do you think it was the other way around, that this place always had a gadget affinity, which inspired the creation of the museum?”
Nephre soars up and over the town, slowly spiraling outwards as she tries to work out her nervous energy without breaking something. She hated this part of jobs, waiting for other people to do things, gather information, talk to people, that sort of thing. Sure, she could do it when she had to, but... why do it if she didn't have to?
As she soars over the town, Nephre keeps an eye out for anything she could work her irritation off on. Someone that looked like she could get away with kicking in the face--a thief or something, whatever wouldn't get her in trouble. She didn't really think it was a great chance, but hey, she could dream.
She figured she'd keep at it until she spotted people from the group heading back to the inn, so she flew back over that area periodically.
While you aren't sure if it used an invisibility or teleport effect/spell, you are positive no normal clockwork spy has access to either ability.
Whomever modified this spy must be a master at clockwork construction
****At the Coffee Shop****
The coins are retrieved, and shortly after several plates of delicious gnomish desserts take their place. Cupcakes, frosted cookies, brownies, and more are delivered to the nefarious band of villains.
**Back at the tavern**
Lehkazeran unleashes his full draconic dread upon the unsuspecting table of commoners. Such terror instantly silences them, and those within the room smell the acrid scent of urine mixed with the foul stench of excrement. So horrified are they that the lot of them are frozen in place, unable to flee despite every bone in their body screaming at them to run.
**Above the skies of Tinktonk**
Nephre gets a good flight in, though she has to dodge all manner of clockwork contraptions that share the air with her. None of them are particularly large however, so she's able to avoid them pretty easily.
While she doesn't spot any potential 'victims' she does a rather large caravan leave the town. It appears to be heading the same general direction of the tomb, but she supposes it could turn away and head elsewhere.
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-------------------Market Coffee Shop--------------
Ozzie skills at small talk were obviously lacking. To be fair, the underlying tension and distrust between the cutthroats, that they each understood they were, was sharp enough to garrote someone, perhaps several people. He picked at the sweets a few minutes, His favorite discovery from the platter was a bright orange fried mess that held warm sugar syrup in its veins.
The few more cups and scarce conversation didn’t encouraged the group to dally any longer. The din washed over them again as they emerged from their oasis. The bazaar masses moved with a collective mind in dizzying patterns. After elbowing a few faces and stumbling over others, they caught a good rhythm.
After about a half hour of exploring, Ozzie spotted a large attached stall with mining implements and other gadgets. Watching from the back was one of the widest gnomes Ozzie had encountered. If it wasn’t for handlebar mustache and lack of beard, the goblin might’ve mistaken him for a misshapen dwarf. Occasionally another gnome would rush in with a set papers, rattling off some codes that even his spell wouldn’t translate. He was surrounded sheaves of paper.
In his human form, Ozzie perused some of the goods as he entered. They didn’t carry quite the same level of detail as some of the drones, but they were still far more mechanical than anything he’d seen in the city. Approaching, he introduced himself as an assistant of the Nightingale merchant family. They were considering establishing a presence and he was there to gather some materials about local construction conditions,
The gnome eyed him, not bothering to respond. Were all gnomes like this, or was it because he was in his human form, Ozzie casually wondered. He thought he might’ve spotted some of the others in the background. Doubling down on the part of the eager assistant, Ozzie rattled some basic engineering details he needed to research. He chose to follow that up with some honeyed words that if the dear gnome might also be able to get him in contact with someone who sold security tools, that he may be able to ensure some sizable business in the future.
The gnome must’ve decided Ozzie was too annoying to keep around the front. He summoned one of his miniature assistants with a bark, and thumbed to two of them towards a secluded interior with some incomprehensible spitfire remarks. Following along sheepishly, Ozzie found himself in a rather comfortable, if sparse office. Once inside, the assistant seemed far more amicable.Ozzie explained his inquiries again. Playing the gracious host, Nar provided some tea before fetching various materials. The first time he returned with string bound package, including some map cases and a plain book of survey notes. Ozzie negotiated for the bundle and some tunnel creeper he saw outside, to about 350. It seemed like a decent deal. Nar excused himself for a few more minutes and returned with a dozen pamphlets. Apparently some of the local security firms were happy to advertise some of their most amazing security tools.
Stepping back towards the crowd, both the masses and sunlight seemed noticeable thinner. Ozzie looked around, trying to catch sight of everyone. He caught sight Rattlebones and Dr Craven doing their own thing. He wondered back towards their exist, but missed catching sight of Sio Tanti. He keep watching, the market. It wasn’t until he sensed her approaching behind him that saw her emerging from the shadows.
Nephre's eyes narrow a bit. Thinking, she looks around at the nearby clockworks, searching for any watching her.
She loiters for a couple minutes in the air, surreptitiously watching the caravan, then takes a look to see if she can recognize any of the rest of the group.
She also looks around town for any of the other 'agents' she's supposed to be working with. As tempting as flying off after this caravan is, she might actually need the backup. Maybe.
Nephre is fairly certain this is a caravan made up of explorers, adventurers, tomb raiders or the like. They are very obviously geared for some sort of dungeon excavation.
However, as she hovers above them, she recalls hearing some stories of a few other ruins nearby.
Thus, the maftet is left with the following conundrum: She could attack the caravan, but if they are going to an entirely different location, she'll have assaulted 'innocents'. She's able to spot about fifteen people among the group, though only about seven seem to be truly combat capable. They aren't moving super fast, but they'll cover a considerable distance by the time she gathers the rest of her teammates.
Craven is at an alchemical stand when Ozzie emerges into the thoroughfare once more. With a wicked, but friendly smile he waves Ozzie over. As his new ally approaches he sets down the vial he was looking at with blatant disgust. "Well, I didn't find anyone with any useful th ings," he says. "It's like they have only learned the basics of alchemy and then happily stopped there.Truly disappointing. Did you find anything useful?"
Nephre remembers she's supposed to be telepathically linked with the others.
She thinks hard at what she thinks is said magical connection. Hey, you all hear me? Seems like there's an interesting group headed in the direction of our target. Bunch of adventurer-types, or wanna-bes, at least. There's a few other things that direction, too, but we might want to do something about it.
Hearing the call from Nephew, Lehkazeran looks to Koro for approval to go eat some caravaners.
If y'all want to eat them, I understand, but we could... you know, try to scare them off first? Just sayin'. Maybe just tie them up while we get there first?
Ooh, I haven't heard voices in my head since Bash agreed to sleep! I would quite enjoy watching some of you enjoy yourselves. I only ask that I get a live one or two for research.
Whelp, guess we will. Which way to the caravan?
Ozzie spends most of his time at the bar, sampling various brews for taste, texture, and effect, wondering how he might be able to incorporate them into his own set of extracts, or even how to improve the delivery of the extracts themselves - Gods know that extracts really are foul-tasting. He is, however, not surprised that one of the many who left the bar has stumbled upon their peers-slash-opponents in this mission. Still... ::I am inclined to agree with Rattlebones. We don't know how long we'll be here and we don't know if we'll ever come back. It might not be a bad idea to not leave a trail of bodies a mile long behind us. Sabotaging the competition is all fine and dandy, but at least some of us were planning on presenting ourselves as professionals, not just bloodthirsty treasure-hunters.::
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"I propose that those in the Crimson Countess's group deal with the caravan. How you wish to do so (diplomatically or with force) is up to you," Koro will respond to the group telekinetically.
"Those of you under me, report to the inn and we'll set off for the tomb immediately. While we're at it, I would like a full breakdown of speeds, movement modes and fatigue limits while we're at it. We'll be going nonstop through the night to make sure we're the first ones at the tomb, and I need to know what sort of resources need to be spent keeping you all at tip-top shape by the time we get there."