Quaveandra looks at Jevar and tilts her head. ”Why are you so interested in it?”
It simply stood out. I assume it's something you want seen on you, given its prominence!
Jevar nervously looks at the other members of his group for a better next-move.
Kolgradd clears his throat.
"I read-I mean we read, that your heartstone is a powerful magical item, and rare amongst such gems for its longevity. Our precursor, a skunk-bearded wretch by the name of Lowls procured one from you, is that right? How much, er, what would you want for it? What did he give you?"
He looks completely out of his element, and immediately guilty as he realises he's probably stepped on whatever clever plans and intrigues Boodiddly was weaving. He shrugs at the others looking sheepish.
Kolgradd clears his throat.
"I read-I mean we read, that your heartstone is a powerful magical item, and rare amongst such gems for its longevity. Our precursor, a skunk-bearded wretch by the name of Lowls procured one from you, is that right? How much, er, what would you want for it? What did he give you?"
He looks completely out of his element, and immediately guilty as he realises he's probably stepped on whatever clever plans and intrigues Boodiddly was weaving. He shrugs at the others looking sheepish.
All of the various servants surrounding the group try—and fail—to hide their shock as Quaveandra slowly turns her head to look at Kolgradd, her fingers grazing the jacinth pendant. ”My heartstone? My primary object of power? That which grants me the power to slink within the Ethereal Plane? That which is unique to me and me alone? That which was stolen from me by that skunk-bearded bastard, forcing me to create a new one?!” The hag’s clawed fingers come dangerously close to Kolgradd’s nostrils. She stares violently into Kolgradd’s eyes. ”Sure. Why not?”
She leans back on the couch and takes a deep inhale from her hookah.
The raven excitedly pipes up from Jevar's shoulder.
Oh! That was easy. Will you tell us how it works too?
She doesn't turn to notice the wizard glaring at her.
Shakur raises his hand quickly, attempting to keep the situation peaceful. He approaches slowly and speaks carefully. "Perhaps you'd like a favor done? We've got bundle of research on the Dimension here, and can likely go far from this place relatively quickly. I understand an object like that can cost quite a pretty penny to replace, even without the time factored in, but maybe we could do something to earn it? I assume you've got enough mundane coin and magical items already."
Shakur raises his hand quickly, attempting to keep the situation peaceful. He approaches slowly and speaks carefully. "Perhaps you'd like a favor done? We've got bundle of research on the Dimension here, and can likely go far from this place relatively quickly. I understand an object like that can cost quite a pretty penny to replace, even without the time factored in, but maybe we could do something to earn it? I assume you've got enough mundane coin and magical items already."
”Oh! You do bring up an excellent point. I was just going to give it to you—outside of my grasp it is nothing more than a glorified antiplague—but I suppose it wouldn’t be fair if there weren’t a certain quid pro quo.”
Quaveandra glances at the various servants surrounding her and the amnesiacs and waves her hand. ”Leave us.” The servants comply, leaving the amnesiacs and the night hag alone. Quaveandra sets down the hose of the hookah she’s been inhaling from and leans forward as she speaks in a hushed voice.
”I have been the target of several assassinations within the past several weeks—poisoned food, a cursed robe as a ‘gift,’ and an ambush by that skunk-bearded bastard, just to name a few. Someone in my retinue must be responsible for this attack on my life. I have narrowed it down to three people: my steward Ammanetta,” She points to a ghoul in loitering in the corner of the room. ”My musician, Kavriki,” She points to a satyr happily playing her pan flute. ”And Dol Theth, my…fortune teller?” She points to a massive efreeti gazing out the window. ”Truth be told, I’m not even sure why I keep him around. Anyway, I can’t approach any of them without tipping them off. So, that’s where you four come in: Pull each of them aside into my private chamber—it’s that one over there—and report back to me on who the assassin is. For this, I will give you my heartstone.”
Quaveandra leans back. ”Think you can handle that?”
Jevar laughs nervously, whispering back a concern. Won't they be tipped off by the interviews following this hushed, private conversatin? I mean, yes, of course we can handle it!
Boodiddly opens his mouth, then closes it after a few seconds. “…Uh, sure! Yeah, we can do that! But, uh, did you have a context in mind for why we would be meeting with members of your staff individually in the back room? I’d hate to raise suspicions before the trap is sprung.”
Meanwhile, his thoughts race. A fellow musician would be easy enough to strike up a conversation with - just gotta lead it to the right topics then. A fortune teller and a steward though… that’s gonna be a tougher but to crack. Hmm…
Quaveandra picks up the hose of the hookah again and inhales deeply before blowing smoke up in the air. "Employee reviews. I'm a very busy woman, so I can't be bothered to do them myself; I often delegate the task to a third party. You'll find files on each of my servants in my chambers...somewhere; I wasn't the one who placed them there, so I don't know where exactly they are."
Shakur claps his hands together as his eyes go wide. "Alright." he blurts. "To your chambers." Shakur randomly points at one of the private rooms and goes, "That one yours, or...is it the one with all the smoke?"
If the assassin is any less evil than a night hag ambassador to a fiendish plane we might have better luck supporting them and taking it off her corpse- oh I hope she can't read minds.
Kolgradd bows, shares a nervous look with the others, and follows Shakur into the chambers.
Shakur claps his hands together as his eyes go wide. "Alright." he blurts. "To your chambers." Shakur randomly points at one of the private rooms and goes, "That one yours, or...is it the one with all the smoke?"
"As I said before, it's that one." She points to a different room. "Do not go into the room 'with all the smoke'; Ashmane has been very cranky today."
Jevar gives a slight shrug, resigned to the situation. He turns to the dwarf.
Kolgradd, why don't we round up the first victim... I mean interviewee and Shakur and Boodiddly can go setup in the room. Let's try the musician, Kavriki, first.
Jevar approaches Kavriki...
Hello there. We've been contracted to do... what was it... "employee reviews." It turns out you get to get yours out of the way first! Could you please follow us? The mage flashes his best grin while making the offer.
Kolgradd grunts his assent and approaches the ghoul warily.
"Right this way please"
His demeanour is pleasant enough, but he's poised in case of an attack, and he does not attempt to hide the magical weapons strapped to his back. He looks Kavriki over carefully for any sign of how they're reacting to this news.
Shakur scrambles into the room and immediately begins looking for some parchment, ink, and something hard to write on. "Okay, okay, uhh....Poisoned food: ask something about their opinions on the food...Cursed cloak: maybe ask about her fashion sense...And Ol skunkbeard: maybe ask about recent visitors? I...This really isn't my element; Boodiddly, you got anything?" Shakur looks visibly frazzled and stressed.
Boodiddly puts a hand on Shakur’s knee. “Don’t worry - I’ll do the talking and let you do the watching. You can’t just jump into these things, gotta ease into them and let folks get comfortable so they don’t keep their guard up and let things slip. And then you let that first slip slip on by you, and maybe the second, and then on the third you give it a little tug to let them know you caught all their previous slips and there’s no way off this slippery slope they’ve put themselves on.” He chuckles and looks for a good seat, as well as some paper and ink. “We’ll also have to be sure to ask them for any feedback they might have regarding their coworkers - everyone knows that’s an important part of performance reviews and growth discussions.”
Jevar and Kolgradd both go to get the musician Kavriki.
Shakur and Boodiddly go to Quaveandra’s private chamber and look for some paper. While looking Shakur decides to look upward—he’s not entirely sure why; perhaps he thought that they keep paper on the ceiling here, because dream world? Whatever the reason, he looks up and notices something interesting: the ceiling is mildly moldy. That in and of itself isn’t super memorable, but it’s now the mold is growing that’s odd: it’s grown to make an impression of a right angle. He stops Boodiddly for a moment as they look at the strangely-growing mold, and they eventually determine its cause: there’s a well-hidden square hatch in the ceiling of the room, clearly with some kind of space above it. The mold seems to have grown down from within that space and outward onto the rest of the ceiling, not sticking well enough onto the actual hatch (likely because the hatch moves more frequently than the rest of the ceiling). Similarly, Shakur notices a hidden latch right outside of the chamber, that seems to connect to the hatch in the chamber’s ceiling.
While the color hasn’t fully developed yet, Boodiddly is able to determine that the mold growing from the space above the ceiling isn’t ordinary mold, but the uncreatively-named brown mold: mold that leeches heat out from the air and grows absurdly quickly when exposed to an open flame.
Jevar and Kolgradd eventually approach with Kavriki while Shakur and Boodiddly are just staring at the moldy ceiling. ”Uh…everything alright?”
Jevar coughs loudly and suggestively.
*Ahem* This is our first performance review of the day. Meet Kavriki! Kavriki, this is Shakur, and Boodiddly.
He points at each of them in turn.
All set, guys?
“One moment,” Boodiddly answers distractedly. “I think I want to talk with whoever is in charge of the building maintenance here. This room’s not up to code.” He leans out the doorway, hands pulling out a pair of pliers and a length of wire from his belt pouch.
“One moment,” Boodiddly answers distractedly. “I think I want to talk with whoever is in charge of the building maintenance here. This room’s not up to code.” He leans out the doorway, hands pulling out a pair of pliers and a length of wire from his belt pouch.
[dice=Thievery to Disable]d20+11
Kavriki looks confused for a moment, but shrugs, sits down, and smiles. ”So, what can I do for you four?”
I presume the order of events here is: flip the switch, go into the room, then Boodiddly attempts to surreptitiously lean out the door to lock the lever in place?
“It’s that time of the year again,” Boodiddly states dryly as he dusts off his hands and finds a seat. “Employee reviews. I’m sure you know the drill already, so let’s get right to it. In your own words, could you describe your performance over the last year. Any projects you’ve started, work finished, processes streamlined - we want to hear how you’ve grown as both a person and a musician.” He folds his small hands in his lap and smiles encouragingly.
Kavriki claims that this is the first employee review she’s had with Quaveandra—she’s only been in the hag’s employ for a few months (Quaveandra’s employee files corroborate this statement). She explains her time with the night hag—providing background music and ambiance mostly. She goes in detail about the various performances she’s done while in the hag’s employ, mostly those to cater to Quaveandra’s mood at a particular moment in time; this goes over everyone’s heads except for Boodiddly, who understands the musical nomenclature used by the satyr.
Everything appears to be in order and the amnesiacs let the satyr go and prepare to move on to the next “candidate.” At that moment, however, Kavriki lags behind a bit. This goes completely unnoticed by Jevar, but it soon becomes clear what the musician is trying to do: she’s trying to flip the hidden switch to reactivate the hazard. Boodiddly and Shakur wouldn’t have even noticed this if it weren’t for Boodiddly jamming the lever making it slightly more difficult for Kavriki to stay inconspicuous.
"Oh, did you forget something?" Boodiddly asks innocently.
"What? Oh, I just saw something stuck to the wall here and it was really bothering me all day."
And that is a desperate attempt at a impromptu lie if Boodiddly's ever heard one.
Jevar's eyes narrow in focus at the satyr as he senses something (but doesn't know what) is afoot. He starts to watch Kavriki more carefully.
“Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that.” Boodiddly’s face is completely serious. “I’ll be sure to make a note in your evaluation about adverse working conditions. But in the meantime, let’s wait for a carpenter to handle that. I’d hate for something unfortunate to happen to your fingers - wouldn’t you?”
Kolgradd waits for the Satyr to leave before he shares his thoughts.
"She tried to drop that mold on us, and whomever we choose to question next..."
He looks up curiously at the mold.
"Do you think that's enough to be lethal, or just to injure us and perhaps destroy the employee files? Either way, she's got something to hide"
He strokes his beard in contemplation.
"Let's do the ghoul next, that Efreeti looks dangerous"
If everyone agrees he marches out to collect the steward.
"So...I was thinking while y'all were interviewing and...well. Do you think this trap may be meant for, you know, HER? But....also...."
Shakur begins to leave the room before turning around, "Uhh, you should interview the ghoul without me. I'm...let's say...biased." Shakur offers a nervous laughter and then begins trying to get another small audience with Quaveandra.
Shakur offers a small bow before immediately getting to the point. "Miss, uhh, I can't help but notice the trap door above your chambers and, uhh, well, I couldn't help but wonder where it goes. Would you mind informing me?"
Sorta. More accurately, you guys are aware that an assassin would try to be deceptive, so it’s not a far reach of an assumption to say that y’all were Sensing Motive on Kavriki. Similarly, if Kavriki DID have something she was hiding, then she also would’ve rolled Deception against each of y’all’s Perception DC (your “passive perception”).
The assassinations have been occurring over the past several weeks. And the spell’s time range would be with respect to apparent time in the Dreamlands.
Shakur goes to make an audience with Quaveandra while the other amnesiacs talk to the ghoul Ammanetta.
Shakur gets the sense that Quaveandra is being genuine.
Shakur leaves Quaveandra's presence and begins looking for the same secret hatch control outside of the rooms adjacent Quaveandra's chambers, hoping this is just a common feature of all the rooms (and that they're connected).
Shakur waits patiently outside the chambers for the others to finish interviewing the ghoul and send them on their way.
And yet the ambassador herself has brought us on to do these reviews. Those details would seem relevant, potentially to the review of one of your colleagues no? Better than we're left to think you have motives to hide...
The amnesiacs meet back up and move on to interviewing the efreeti, Dol Theth.
Dol Theth is a bombastic man who makes grand but vague proclamations about “fates in the stars” or “portents in dreams within dreams.” Of note of the man is that he…genuinely doesn’t a file like Quaveandra’s other employees; officially he isn’t even in her employ (though the genie argues otherwise). His over-the-top manner makes a very difficult person to read. Shakur and Jevar are not convinced of the genie’s words and believe he is lying through his teeth. Boodiddly and Kolgradd, however, believe that Dol Theth is just eccentric and has been hitching a ride in Quaveandra’s retinue, and is otherwise harmless.
With the last of the suspects interviewed, the amnesiacs sit down and discuss their findings.
Jevar frowns and scratches his head as they convene after the last interview.
It's really too bad we couldn't get more out of Ammanetta. I believe it wasn't her. If only we'd interviewed her after Dol... I'd love to see her response to that name. Do you think we could bring her back in for follow-up questions? He looks at the others to see if they think this is unreasonable.
“The satyr is the obvious suspect,” Boodiddly adds resignedly. “Much as I hate to implicate a fellow artist, there’s not really a good explanation for why they would try to activate the trapdoor. The other two seem harmless, but…” He lowers his voice and leans closer to the table. “I’ve certainly no love for the night hag. Do we want to give her another fish to fry and leave the shark in the water?”
Though that might not be the best plan if we’re planning to spend any amount of time in the dream world - she’s got to be dreadfully powerful here and could even follow us back to the waking world…
The trapdoor... seems a bit obvious, though maybe you're right.
If so, that's one careless assassin.
"It is obvious. Like...so obvious that I have a hard time believing Queveandra when she told me she was unaware of the space. I looked at adjacent rooms and it looks like all of 'em have the trap door, but I don't think they connect, so there's specifically something up there that grew the mold.
Speaking of which: Jevar, do you have anything that can kill the mold (deal cold damage)? I'm thinking we should open the space and check it out.
Last thought: The trapdoor is HORRIBLY obvious...I feel we need to ask the satyr what they were trying to do? Maybe it's a misunderstanding? If not, hey, the worst thing that can happen is they attack, right?"
Kolgradd lowers his voice to match Boodiddly's.
"I agree with both of you. We should ask Kavriki why they tried to kill Quaveandra, making out that we might sympathise with her. If she has a good reason, then perhaps we will sympathise with her!"
He stops whispering to address the mold.
"I can conjure cold, it's one of the few cantrips I've mastered, if you think it will help"
Jevar frowns, then grunts. Hmm... not prepared. I can however, concoct a frost vial and have a spare or two of that. Perhaps Kolgradd's more readily available frost cantrip is best.
Boodiddly nods in agreement, chewing a few bristles of his beard absentmindedly.
Kavriki agrees to the amnesiacs’ request to see her again, though the satyr has a different aura about her—she seems a lot less reserved than previously. As she enters the chamber, she looks down at her pan flute and uncaringly tosses it to the side. She smirks as she looks each of the amnesiacs over. ”You’re very clever, you know. You actually had me fooled for a bit there. But I can read it in your eyes what you’re doing now. As you’ve likely surmised at this point, I’m not actually Kavriki; Kavriki doesn’t exist. I made her up. I am actually…” She stops in thought for a moment. ”Well, I don’t expect you to be able to actually pronounce my name, so for now you may refer to me as the Eloquent Call of the Movement. You see, I can’t afford you to staunch my efforts, so allow me to make a proposal: help me. Quaveandra is establishing an underground network of soul-traders here in Dylath-Leen. She wishes to bring the night hag practice of bartering souls to the Dreamlands, as she sees the souls of dreamers as an untapped resource. I wish to end her life to prevent her from imposing this infringement to dream. She is physically here; if she dies now then there is no ‘waking body’ for her to return to. Are you really going to allow this fiend to continue her horrid work?”
The mage frowns at this revelation, a little skeptical.
Who else knows about this underground network, so that we might verify it?
Jevar asks, now dubious of which side is legitimate.
”More than a few know, but none would be willing to corroborate my claims, since they’d be taking the short end of the stick by doing so.”
Kolgradd can't argue with the logic of soul-trading being evil, and looks somewhat swayed by the argument.
"So you're not a Satyr? Would you show us your true form as a sign of good faith?"
"So you're not a Satyr? Would you show us your true form as a sign of good faith?"
The satyr looks at Kolgradd and bluntly says ”No.”