"That is a great idea. But other than canvasing I don't know where to start."
[dice= Local] 1d20 +5 To know if I know anything about the reputation of the man we just talked to. Is his info good?
[dice=Sense Motive ] 1d20 Did anything seem like a lie?
Nothing comes to mind and no it doesn't appear that anything is untrue.
"Well we won't find her here. Let's get out and canvas the area and look for leads. Slavers, tower girls and so one. We can collect information and move on from there if we get any leads."
Zograthy
He looks at the lot of you when Alistar makes that statement.
"Good, Good, you are taking up my time and I have business to conduct! Best you be on your way!"
" What coins I make are from passing whispers from one place to another."
"Then remember there are more coins available from us if worthy whispers come your way." Tiarsus turned abruptly and walked out of the tent. He can't be trusted to hold anything quiet from anyone. Best not talk in front of him.
*******
Once the party finished their conversations with the peddler, the half-elf suggested to the party they make their way out of this dense area with too many ears. "Somewhere with less spies and wider streets would be good."
After they made their way apart from prying ears, he sounded an idea. "If the Sczarni don't like to appear weak, perhaps making them seem so would have them act more overtly. We could get in touch with them directly that way."
"Making them look weak is likely to provoke action, I agree. Making them look strong is more likely to initiate cooperation than aggression. The whole honey versus vinegar thing?"
"I agree with him," Edril indicates Estel. "Antagonizing them doesn't seem wise. I don't think enemies of the Sczarni make out too well."
While folks are discussing how we are going to anger or flatter a gang there involvement of which we are still unclear in. Alistar is going to start hitting up the stalls in the area and listen to patrons in the area looking for information to narrow down their search.
See if there are any signs of Nidalese goods, ships or people in the area.
"It seems that angering them would be more challenging and thus more fun, but as time is currently an issue, I suppose the softer route would be better this once." Arturr shook his head with disappointment, the Sczarni were like any group, individuals could cut both ways, and generally he didn't have too much of a problem with them as they usually looked out for the untouchables in the city more than anyone else, even the churches.
Listening to those around him, Tiarsus reflected on how the Sczarni would take confrontational actions. I guess they're right. Even if that would get us in contact with them, there might be other problems to follow.
Nodding, the priest sighed - not in disagreement, but acceptance. "Very well. I just have learned those who live by aggression usually understand that language best." He turned to Estel. "What honey do you recommend?"
"Sadly, I don't know the local situation that well. It would be best if we could offer them a chance to be seen as solving one of the publicly acknowledged problems. Only one that we really know about, and that's what we want their help with! Alistar may have the right next move, put our ears to the ground and see what the birds will tell us. Wish I was more knowledgeable and smarter, but I'm not." The elf shrugs, some frustration evident in his body language.
Alista will keep wandering and listening until he has something of value to bring back to the group or they flag him to come over.
Outside of Zograthy's Tent
Your group moves outside the man's tent and five of you begin talking among yourselves. Alistar moves away and about the stalls listening and watching the people interact.
You don't hear any rumors that stand out in the stalls of the street fair of the “Professor Callivario’s Stupendous Exhibition of the Outrageous and
Sublime.” It is hard to tell if you notice anything that is Nidalese but nothing stands out as really foreign in design that you can tell.
However, you do overhear two men speaking as you cross from wall stall selling beads and trinkets to another selling small wooden container boxes that are hand carved and stained.
"Aye, the Puffy Pelican...that was the name of it. Some say they do a pick up there but nobody has taken the time to look into it." The one man says to the other... both are Varisian and could very well be gang members...Alistar really can't tell. The other lowers his voice and whispers something in the other man's ear as you cross over and you hear two things from the whisper. ".....slaves....at night..."
Alistar returns to the group.
"It's not much to go on but this is what I have found. (Tells the spoilers). There are very few details I have been able to attain. That means these people are careful professionals or the rumours may be part of a trap to take nosey people as slaves."
Hearing about the possibility of finding the rumored slavers, Keezheekoni seems to bristle with anger. "Few details or not, if we have a clear place to look for these slavers, then we should grab hold - like the tail of a tiger - and not let go. We should find out what we can of this Puffy Pelican and find out what activities happen there at night."
"Your analogy expresses the danger and stupidity of what are we doing. Well done."
Keezheekoni looks at Alistar quizzically for a moment, then breaks out into one of his broad, toothy grins.
"It is only stupid if it doesn't work. Doesn't mean it isn't dangerous, though. Things always are, as I understand." He looks around.
"I think I MIGHT remember something about this 'Puffy Pelican'"
The Puffy Pelican is an old, boarded-up shoreline tavern in the Dockway. It was once known as the Puffy Pelican and there is a old faded painting of a big fat pelican that still graces the facade of the empty building, and the building's back features a half-collapsed wooden deck that hangs over the high-tide mark. As far as you know it has been abandoned for a long time. You think the original owner owed taxes and piled up some gambling debts to the wrong sort of people a few years ago...now it is empty.
Washer's Row - Beacon's Point
Steam and hot air occasionally flow into your space causing you to sweat a bit. The entire area reeks of chemicals and soaps used for everything from clothing to ship sails. As you stand there talking among yourselves carts and wagons go by you carrying baskets of clean cloth, dirty clothes, sails that are in dire need of repair and cleaning. It appears to not stop...just as you think there is a lull more carts and wagons come.
"Let's continue on to the Puffy Pelican. Let's see if there are any local inebriates that may have seen something."
"Yeah, no need to worry about the drunks. Squatters, maybe. Went out of business several years back. Gambling debts or taxes or some such. In Dockway, right on the shore. Not a bad hidey-hole for slavers, I would guess.
Let's go see what we can see, shall we?"
"I actually meant anyone drunk or high in the streets. They tend to see thing and people let their guards down around them and they are rather easy to bribe."
"It's amazing how a few coins makes people into poets, isn't it?"
The course of action selected by the group seemed like it might bear fruit. Tiarsus simply hoped it wouldn't leave them vulnerable to retribution should the wrong people find they were sniffing around. The heavy traffic in the area gave him hope they would be but a few people in a large population, hard to pick-out.
The Group
The group makes its way from the Washer's Row and into Beacon's Point proper. As you make your way to Dockway you pass by several notable buildings and establishments.
You make your east and then north, which is a bit out of the way to Dockway but the congestion to the west leads you to believe it will be faster. As you walk the street the smell of the tavern to your right causes you to take note of the place. Many taverns and other eateries can be found in the tangle of Rag’s End, although referring to some of these rat dens as “eateries” is a charity. The Pig is an excellent example of a Rag’s End drinking establishment. Built in a condemned building that started life as a slaughterhouse, the building’s copious leaks and drafty walls do little to help ameliorate the stink of decades of butchery. Rag's End is "owned by" a slumlord and some of you have heard rumors about him. .
The infamous slumlord of Rag’s End. Jaijarko owns hundreds of the shacks and lots spread throughout Rag’s End, quadruple the next largest block owned by a single slumlord. He employs dozens of
thugs whom he utilizes to collect rent from his tenants, while he rarely leaves the safety of his castle. He is loathed
by many in Rag’s End and for good reason. He is not a man you want to cross blades with.
You make your way out of Rag's End and out of Beacon's Point into Dockway. You go north and you pass on your left one of the monuments of the city. The Fifth Wind: This massive stone weather vane stands amid the docks, its windsocks towering above surrounding buildings so as to give all of Outcast’s Cove an easy method of determining wind speed and power. The sides of the stone pylon that supports the windsocks are carved with complex images of air elementals and cloud
dragons in fierce battle. Just to the north of you is the impound yard for the city. Those docks are where ships are held that have been taken for non-payment, abandoned, and such and sold in auction.
You walk the street passing many people and to your left is an old, dilapidated building. The windows and doors are boarded up from what you can tell. The roof is in a horrible state with many slates missing and some holes here and there on it. The tavern sits on the shoreline of the Dockway. The tavern was once known as the Puffy Pelican—a faded painting of a fat pelican still graces the facade of the empty building, and the building’s back features a half-collapsed wooden deck that hangs over the high-tide mark.
A preliminary investigation of the exterior of the building during the day reveals nothing out of the ordinary.
Just think - this could've been where we had our inn! Higher chance of getting stabbed here than by some highwaymen in the outskirts.
Memory serving, we need to keep our noses clean enough so Jaijarko doesn't feel the need to deal with us. That should be easy enough unless the Pelican's people are in league with him.
"Before we get started here, I should share the man styling himself as the ruler of this place doesn't take kindly to people disrupting his tithes of coin from the people here. We shouldn't have word getting back to him of us if we're tinkering with those things. Let's hope his "tax collectors" aren't present."
Tiarsus drew his cloak a bit tighter around himself in a futile gesture to protect from the dark tendrils of this part of the city.
"You are correct. He may know things about the comings and goings in the area so we want to stay on his good side. Nothing stands out to me about the building as being dangerous or a front. We can either check the inside for leads or stake it out until later."
Estel shrugs. "So, either we go in, or we wait and watch, as Alistar said. Problem is, I don't think we can watch this place without being noticed. We just don't fit in with the locals, do we? If we're going to be seen anyway, I would rather be seen trying to uncover things instead of just waiting. I say we go in now."
"Can you handle entry. I will watch the door with some artillery."
Arturr smiles. "In it is." he says striding toward the entrance.
The Puffy Pelican
Your group stands across the street in the Dockway and Arturr steps off onto the cobblestone and crosses the stree and walks up to the double doors. There are no windows on the front or either sides. The doors are boarded up and the boards appear to be nailed in to the sides of the old tavern and are secure.
The old run-down tavern appears to sit on the sea wall with a portion of its back hanging over the sea wall by wooden piers.
Edril keeps close at hand, not quite wanting to be in the thick of things, but definitely wanting to be near enough to lend aid should peril befall Arturr.
"I would seriously be surprised if this abandoned building had a semi-obvious subtle way in. Crowbar is probably a better tool than picks. Oh, wait. Look. Yep. Crowbar." He scans to the left and right of the building. "Subtle might be under the collapsed porch. Might. Let's do a quick check and see if the doors are really boarded up or if it is a show piece."
Estel moves up to the doors and gives them a good looking over.
"I would seriously be surprised if this abandoned building had a semi-obvious subtle way in. Crowbar is probably a better tool than picks. Oh, wait. Look. Yep. Crowbar." He scans to the left and right of the building. "Subtle might be under the collapsed porch. Might. Let's do a quick check and see if the doors are really boarded up or if it is a showpiece."
Estel moves up to the doors and gives them a good looking over.
[dice=Perception]1d20+11
Estel walks up and inspects the door. The old doors are solid wood in reasonably good shape. It appears the door is locked and there appears to be some sort of reinforced bolt on the inside near the top of each door. The door is boarded up with six solid oak boards that are partially cracked and in some spots dry rotted.
There is no sign of these boards or the door being pried opened or forced open.
"Windows? Just don't go in alone."
Keezheekoni stands nearby, keeping an eye outward towards the street for anyone that may be paying too much attention to them. "Let's not spend too much time. We do not need bad attentions on us."
"Perhaps there is a seaward entrance, or another way of entry that is less obvious?" Edril suggests, agreeing with Keezheekoni's assessment that drawing attention to the group would be a bad idea.
"Should have had a door opening onto the deck out back. Have to see how stable the deck is, I guess. Let's go look."
Arturr, nods and walks around the outside of the building towards the sea. "Back ways it is."
"Sounds good."
"Windows? Just don't go in alone."
You see no windows on the front.
Keezheekoni stands nearby, keeping an eye outward towards the street for anyone that may be paying too much attention to them. "Let's not spend too much time. We do not need bad attentions on us."
[dice=Perception]1d20+6
All sorts of random people are walking by and on many occassions a few give those standing near the door odd looks. The City Watch has not appeared yet nor any "security" that you have noticed.
"Perhaps there is a seaward entrance, or another way of entry that is less obvious?" Edril suggests, agreeing with Keezheekoni's assessment that drawing attention to the group would be a bad idea.
The building expands about thirty feet away from the seawall but there appears to be a fifteen to twenty feet porch on the backside that is in poor repair (just as bad as the buidling itself).
Arturr and Estel
The building's back features a half-collapsed wooden deck.
Both Estel and Arturr can see that there is a wooden deck that has pulled and dropped. It is about twenty to twenty-five feet in length and twenty feet in width (depth). The deck near the building seems like it is level but nearly ten feet of the middle area appears to be collapse and in very bad condition with another five to ten feet of the deck collapsed into the sea and underwater. The entire deck is tilted at 15 to 20 degree angle starting at the collapsed area. The wall is three feet high and the building is built into the wall. THere is a eight to ten foot drop down onto rocks, which appear slippery, and have waves washing over them.
"Do you want me to tie a rope to you in case of a collapse?"
How stable is the Deck?
"Do you want me to tie a rope to you in case of a collapse?"
[dice=Knowledge Engineering] 1d20+8 How stable is the Deck?
The center of the deck going out to the sea is in horrible shape and could collapse with any additional weight and heavy disturbance.
"It may collapse into the sea. Anything could cause it to go. If you want to try the front lock again you could (you can take 20) and the rest of use could try to knock down the barricade behind it."
Shambles, the dock was unusable, maybe a nimble child could use it. Arturr was definitely to heavy.