Ebonfist's #4-07 Severing Ties (Inactive)

Game Master EbonFist

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11

"You know your debts, and yet you play games? Why? Even if you had fooled us, others would easily have figured it out and then they would be back. You would never have gotten away with it for long. And you risk your entire operation here. The Consortium are not above making an example out of you. If they were to allow you to get away with it, no on would pay their debts."

if anyone can try an intimidate check
intimidate aid: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10
sense motive: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (13) + 8 = 21

Intim plus Inspiration: 1d20 + 6 + 1d6 ⇒ (4) + 6 + (5) = 15

Kal simply smiles at the woman, but doesn't release the "hostage".

He whispers into her ear, though loud enough for Shorafa to hear.

"I have no desire to hurt you, my dear. But your safety depends on the decisions of your employer... At at this point I don't get the impression she cares for you at all"

Intimidate, to aid: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10

"SO...TEDIOUS!" Shorafa declares in obvious annoyance.

"I find myself in a strange situation. I've never had a group of men so aggressively disinterested in what I have to offer. I believe I am so offended that I will now offer you...nothing."

She picks up the cracked box and leaves the room. "Kill who you like, destroy what you like. You have bored all the interest out of me," she calls over her shoulder.

"Huh."

Castinus looks from the disappearing flouncing rump of the courtesan, back to the rest of the group. "I didn't expect that." He scratches his beard, and frowns.

"Do we stop her and take that back? And, do we now own the brothel?"

Castinus believes the dagger was a decoy, but is not in favour of wanton murder, looting, or vandalism. On the balance of it, he'd prefer to report the situation back to the Aspis, and consult on next steps. What do the rest of you think?

"We can do whatever once the mission is complete." Grandblade says somewhat bluntly.

I would like to go onto wanton murder, but my preferred target is cultists and Aspis. Lets go see if we have a reason to associate them to our blades yet. :)

Hayden nods. "It might hamper us, but that wasn't our mission. Let's see if we can still get Jenk to give us the location of the Cult and get inside."

"I didnt expect this outcome but it is clear that this woman was never going to give us the true dagger, we must report this fact to our employer and that it is he who decides her fate and what we must do to continue our mission."

The acolytes and guests of the Silken Veil watch the Pathfinders leave with undisguised disgust, over their terrible breech in etiquette.

The trip back to Barracuda Cartage is unremarkable, though it is getting quite late. In a city like Riddleport, that doesn't mean that the streets become much less active it just means that the activity becomes a bit more dangerous and shady...which is saying something.

"Excellent, excellent," Jenk says as he looks at the hat (and even tries it on) and mug. He quirks an eyebrow at "Pitt," when the dagger is not present, though. "Shorafa gave you some trouble, eh? No surprise. She can be a handful of a minx. I'll put some more pressure on her later, unless you want to do it when this task is completed.

"No matter, really. 2 religious items are about as good as 3 when you're dealing with religious nuts. I'm sure the Lissalans will be impressed enough with what we have."

"This just came in," he continues, passing over a note (which is posted on slide 1, now.)

"I'd say you've impressed me enough to make the delivery," he continues, taking the hat off his head and tossing it back to them.

Grandblade reads over the note. "Seven Needles is not far. We can deliver, then get some drinks while the night is young!"

I had a whole post about trying to trip her while she walked away typed up, before deleting it all. Kal was *this* close!

Realized I got confused when posting. Note; Grandblade is only for killing Aspis and Cultists, but not for attacking the brothel.

I had a whole post about trying to trip her while she walked away typed up, before deleting it all. Kal was *this* close!

That would have been a bad idea. They don't have her fully statted out, but I can say that she has as many character levels as any 3 of you combined. Violence would not have gone well.

That and she has a possible small army of commoners that would attack us, draining our alignment for getting into a brawl where many would die if we were to survive.

Hayden takes back the mug and takes a drink from it again. "Fine. we'll make the delivery. I'm interested see this underground complex."

Their instructions from the Venture-Captain ring in Castinus' mind:

"I need you to do two things. First, sabotage the Lissalan safe house as completely as possible. Second, throw the blame for the sabotage onto the Aspis Consortium."

He thinks for a minute. The letter he counterfeited back in Absallom which he has carefully hidden inside the stitching of his kit bag ought to help with the last part. The first element might need some more kinetic action.

"Jenk I'm pleased to see you are in The Spider's good books. We'll do as you ask and deliver the mug and the hat to the Lashmistress at the safe house. Easy in, easy out. Then we'll be on our way. I think we can leave you to put the squeeze on Shorafa, yes?". He pauses as a thought occurs to him, "Lash-mistress? Really? You're not sending us to another bloody brothel are you, Jenk?" He smiles insincerely.

Once out of Barracuda Cartage, Castinus turns to the others and tackles the question of timing. "Do we want to tackle the cultists tonight, and try for a night boat out of Riddleport immediately after, or do we rest tonight and tackle them first thing in the morning? I'm weary now and would prefer the latter - but if we want to get it done now I can live with that. What do you say?"

"Fear not, friend 'snake'. I am capable to bring the fight in either case, but am fully prepared to handle any cultists tonight if the situation comes to it!" Grandblade is ready for action, but willing to wait a night if needed.

Other than a few rounds of rage, and a d20 reroll- Kal doesn't gain much by resting. He is happy to, if others need the rest to be fully fit/contributory

"Yes Grandblade, the night is young! Just think of all the revelry to yet be enjoyed. Shame things went like they did at the brothel- but on the bright side, it was probably still a net gain. Embitterment is embitterment, as my Ma used to say." and he cracks a wide smile.

Ok let's push on this evening then.

The Pathfinders decide to pull an all-nighter and head to the tattoo parlor. (Someone MUST need a "MOM" tattoo, right?)

Tenements sprawl across the portion of the Wharf District between Zincher’s Arena and the solid-looking Gas Forges. A shop with a sign reading “Seven Needles” stands at the end of a dim, trash-strewn alley. The tattoo parlor is abandoned, its windows cracked and portions of its wooden trim looking like they were removed long ago.

Hayden gives a low whistle. "Inviting." He looks around for any sign of someone watching them. "Jenk's contact did say it was underground. Maybe a tunnel of some sort?"

Perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 2 = 9

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7

Kal approaches the broken window, and peers inside. However, he gets distracted by the handsome reflection in glass...

Oh hey there handsome!

perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (1) + 9 = 10

Looking askance at the negligible efforts made by the rest of the team to recce the tattoo parlour, Castinus makes a mental note of their performance and completes his own survey: perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (11) + 8 = 19

Grandblade uses detect magic to sweep the building for anything of significant energy.
Spellcraft: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (10) + 13 = 23
Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16

Grandblade detects no magical energy but, while Hayden, Kal'ryon and Ichio are examining themselves and the samples on the walls, both he and Castinus spot a trapdoor near the back. Opening reveals a set of stairs leading down into a branch of a series of tunnels under Riddleport whose original use is now unknown.

Feel free to place yourselves on the map anywhere on the revealed section on slide 7.

let me on vanguard to locate traps and other dangers
trapfinding: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (16) + 12 = 28

"I shall search for any presence of magic. If you wish to have the element of surprise, I would recommend keeping a few feet away from me.
"

Grandblade heads towards the front of the party, and hands facing forward doing a very silent chant.

Ichio finds a glyph of warding right before stepping on it. A little poking and searching reveals that it is connected to the 15' section of wall just to his left and that triggering it will dispel the illusion over it. What that illusion is covering is anyone's guess.

Feel free to make a disable device check to deactivate it...or you can just step on it to set it off, should you like.

Forgot to say Grandblade will just proceed through the hallway with Detect Magic going.

"Can you disarm it?"

Forgot to say Grandblade will just proceed through the hallway with Detect Magic going.

Hmm (darn her, when I'm being contemplative it just seems like I'm copying her)...somehow I thought you had actually said that. I guess it was just good descriptive text from your last post.

disable+mwk tools: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (20) + 15 = 35

Ichio is able to easily deactivate the ward, allowing everyone to pass over it safely. There is a wall of bars at the end of the hallway on the right, 6 inches apart and made of iron but there is a gate that has been left open, allowing easy passage into the next hallway.

That hallway ends in a large room.

Several tunnels meet in this room. Three wooden tables and a number of chairs are stacked here, out of the way, along with a shipping crate about two feet square. To the east, a portion of the stone wall stands ajar a few inches.

Map updated. Let me know what you want to do and where you are in the room.

Kal continues to look around the space, but is much more careful about going only where Ichio says is safe. I think I would have walked right into that..."

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (20) + 6 = 26

He twirls his pole arm absentmindedly, leaving a slight shimmer in the air with each movement that quickly fades.

Hayden moves past the ward once Ichio says it's safe. He takes a look at the shipping crate to try and determine who it's from and what is inside.

Castinus moves to the centre of the group, rapier drawn, looking about at the room and the others' efforts in search it. His brows furrow as his listens for any sign of trouble arising...

Hayden finds that the shipping box contains 40 identical wooden dolls, each depicting a glaring woman with no mouth. These dolls are no mere toys, but rather icons of Lissala carved with careful precision from quality wood and coated in gold paint.

This central chamber is relatively quiet. It is not the quiet of a deserted place, and there is some ambient sound but Castinus is hard pressed to determine exactly where it's coming from.

I cleaned up the map to better show where there are doors and passages. This central chamber is currently empty so let me know which room you want to check out.

Do we know what might constitute sabotage enough to wreck the relationship between the Cult and the Aspis? Would destroying these icons and leaving an Aspis calling card suffice?

Hayden takes stock of the crate. "Lissalan icons. I bet they would be in a fury if the image of their goddess we're defiled."

Kal smiles at the half-elf. "I think you are starting to get it! That is certainly one option. I might prefer a small fire myself, but that is exactly the type of thing to get tonight started!"

I would metagame guess there are a few more things

The sabotage and ruining the relationship are two separate but related things. You guys should be looking around for things you can do that will make this place uninhabitable primarily and figuring out ways to pin it on the Apsis secondarily. That being said, a bigger fire (with all the smoke having no place to go) would fit the bill. Although, I will point out that the place is occupied so you want to be relatively quiet about things, right now. Maybe setting a fire (with the crate on top) could be what you do on the way out.

Hayden chuckles. "Let's not burn this place to the ground, at least not yet. Maybe we should explore more first." He waves the others forward.

Castinus nods in assent at the discussion between Kal and Sir Heyden. He moves further on, cautiously, rapier levelled. "Guys, let's not advance too far and get flanked from multiple directions once things kick off. Let's clear some of these rooms as we go, yes?"

Castinus suggests opening (with the others with him) the door to say the room directly above where we came in, next to where his token is now, as a start.

Kal steps up beside Castinus, giving a subtle nod to make sure the others are ready before opening the door.

The door to that room is by where Ichio was standing. I moved everyone over there. There's another curtain down a short hall but I'm going to let you guys determine marching order retroactively. In the first around assume that you start somewhere in that hallway and move from there.

This room appears at first glance to be an operating theater, as it contains cots draped in clean sheets and tables neatly stacked with surgical implements and dressings, but mixed among the surgical implements are whips, scourges, and other tools of torture.

Two men and a woman are stripped to the waist and laying on cots in the room. They seem semi-conscious, at best and you would assume from pain at first glance as their backs are masses of bloody wounds. The fact that none of them are bound or struggling suggests that they have volunteered for the torture.

Moving between them is a pale blue skinned woman draped only in chains that appear to be as much part of her body as decorations for it. She carefully but quickly and deftly carves a bit of flesh in the shape of a rune from the back of one man (which is obviously not the first) while you watch and is moving on to another when she spots you.

Immediately, she flies into a fury at being interrupted and launches herself at you.

The Bold may act.

Castinus
Bondage Baddy
Grandblade
Kal'Ryon
Hayden
Ichio

Castinus does not hesitate to act - there is no doubt this is exactly the sort of messed-up evil he joined the Pathfinders intending to uncover and negate. With an uncharacteristic snarl of emotion, he moves up and confronts the BDSM woman.

knowledge:local: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7
Does he recognise this woman as human or otherworldly?

If he recognises her as an outsider, he draws his cold iron dagger as part of the move, and attacks with that. Otherwise, he attempts to run her through with his rapier:

dagger!: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 81d4 ⇒ 3
or
rapier!: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 171d6 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7

Castinus quickly realizes that this creature is not the kind to be identified with his local knowledge. She is definitely of otherworldly origin.

Neither of his attacks hit and she lashes out at him with her chains. Two of them from her hands strike out, but two more simply draped on her body strike out like furious serpents.

Does the riposte work if the parry doesn't?

Chain 1: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (11) + 9 = 20
Damage: 2d4 ⇒ (2, 4) = 6

Chain 2: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (14) + 9 = 23
Damage: 2d4 ⇒ (3, 1) = 4

Chain 3: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (15) + 9 = 24
Damage: 2d4 ⇒ (2, 4) = 6

Chain 4: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (8) + 9 = 17
Damage: 2d4 ⇒ (1, 3) = 4

And in a single burst of fury, she downs Castinus (unless my math or your profile is wrong.)

Castinus Round 2
Bondage Baddy
Grandblade
Kal'Ryon
Hayden
Ichio

Kal steps into the room, but is too slow to defend Castinus. He can only stand there while the bladed woman attacks.

Regaining his senses, is anger boils over and he tries to knock the woman off her feet- reducing the threat that she poses. Move, Rage, Trip

Mst Guisarme, Rage, Vs CMD: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (6) + 8 = 14

The blessing of Sarenrae is true and Castinus cannot die while Hayden stands. His deep wounds begin to heal. Hayden feels this and shouts to the others. "Quickly, Castinus needs help!"

The knight rushes into the room as quickly as his limp will allow.

Double move. 5hp transferred from Hayden to Castinus.

double movement for me