GM Tealk's - Core - Cradle of Night

Game Master Tealk

At first he does nothing more than nod hello to the shopkeep, assuming that it is in fact Shevarimarr. But maybe not, perhaps the visible desk attendant is cover too.

Or a useful hanger.... worries Pietro, thinking along the same lines, remembering the one time a friend of his donned a particularly fetching cloaker.

His eyes dart suspiciously about the shop--particularly at the coat rack. Did that fez just move!?

Pietro doesn't have any useful abilities when it comes to spotting magical phenomenon--except when he is inebriated of course.

Pietro can find magical stuff as well as anyone!

Will once again tries to find something useful.

perception: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (14) + 16 = 30

I suppose Telos should cast detect magic as well, but.... that is pretty obvious and overt so i figured it's better to exhaust other options and get in some trust with the shopkeep first.

With nothing magicl in the room, you are able to easily tell that there is very little of value or true interest in this room. The archway leads to the reading alcoves further ahead, and you hear some a trio of voices bellowing around in undercommon.

"Geh! Is there really nothing to eat around here...?"

"...oh no, it's all just junk...paper and junk...hey Charkl, you think we could tare off the leather and eat that?"

"No you troll! Be serious for once! Just keep looking!"

What do you guys wish to do?

Telos motions for Aiyana to approach the archway, listen and perhaps translate. Assuming Telos can't understand them, because undercommon.

"FRIENDS!" says the succulent, well-marbled Pietro in his cheeriest, most avuncular voice as he moves past and into the alcove area to address the foreign speakers. "DOES ANYONE HERE SPEAK THE COMMON TONGUE? ¿Hablas Español?"

I remember a request to level up, but that was before we decided to try going here and not skipping an entire part. Are we still supposed to level up? Cause If Will is 9 now I had totally planned to put a rank in linguistics and take undercommon based on the first part of module.

@Will, it's fine the level up would have happened soon regardless! So just keep everything, and please yeah, i was assuming you understoon undercommon anyway.

Pietro's voice echoes down the halls but is met with no response. Rather, peering around the corner, you find a collection of spider-like creatures with front legs which end in immense, grasping claws. Its mouth sports a pair of huge vertical mandibles, but chitters comprehensively, "Food? Looks like food, smells like food, must be food!"

They chitter aggressively, and look very hungry.

Round 1
Active buffs - --
Active debuffs - --

@Pietro -(PfE, Eagle Splendor)
@ Will (--)

! Solifugid (red, organe, blue)

@ Darven[/b] (--)
@ Telos[/b] (-)
+ Aiyana[/b] (-)

Will and Pietro may act first!

Will begins a dirge of doom and faces down his now visibly shaken opponents.

Not food, but if you want to die, continue!

"Eeee! Why is our food so scary!?" They all scramble as Will frightens them.

Aiyana shakes her head, "Poor creatures, maybe we should just let them be?" She starts her bardic performance.

They pounce at Pietro. "Eat the fat one?"
Bite, Claw, Claw: 1d20 + 7 - 2 ⇒ (7) + 7 - 2 = 121d20 + 7 - 2 ⇒ (8) + 7 - 2 = 131d20 + 7 - 2 ⇒ (8) + 7 - 2 = 131d8 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 81d4 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5
Bite, Claw, Claw: 1d20 + 7 - 2 ⇒ (8) + 7 - 2 = 131d20 + 7 - 2 ⇒ (6) + 7 - 2 = 111d20 + 7 - 2 ⇒ (20) + 7 - 2 = 251d8 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 101d4 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6
Bite, Claw, Claw: 1d20 + 7 - 2 ⇒ (10) + 7 - 2 = 151d8 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7
Claw confirm?: 1d20 + 7 - 2 ⇒ (20) + 7 - 2 = 251d8 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12

Only one of the creatures is able to get through, biting at Pietro's boot, piercing the old leather and reaching and biting off his big toe.

Round 2
Active buffs - Inspire Courage, +1/+1
Active debuffs - --

@Pietro -22 lethal (--)
@ Will (--)
@ Darven (--)
@ Telos (-)
+ Aiyana (-)

! Solifugid (red, organe, blue) -shaken

Everyone may act

Biting OFF the big toe?! Savage. Pour out a 40 for the captain of the toes.

Really? We're going to fight inside, here?!

Starting simple...
[standard] Cast flaming sphere, starting in YELLOW's square
FIRE damage (DC18 reflex negates): 3d6 ⇒ (3, 1, 1) = 5 ug
flaming sphere round 1/10

He then draws an alchemist's fire.

[move] draw item

Cursing the damage to his boots Pietro calls upon the drunken strength of his lord and heaves his morningstar up over his head with both hands bringing bringing the beacon-headed morningstar down onto the crawly thing that is attacking him.

2-handed* +1 morningstar v blue (MIGHT OF THE GODS!, power attack): 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (20) + 13 = 33 damage: 1d8 + 18 ⇒ (6) + 18 = 24
THREAT!
confirm?: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (10) + 13 = 23 additional damage: 1d8 + 18 ⇒ (1) + 18 = 19

(2nd attack) 2-handed* +1 morningstar v blue (MIGHT OF THE GODS!, power attack): 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (3) + 9 = 12 damage: 1d8 + 18 ⇒ (3) + 18 = 21

*AC 19/9/19

Pietro, from the sheer pain coursing up his left and through his body, takes a wide swing and completely smashes through the outer shell of this vermin creature. There is nothing left of it, other than black smudge on the floor. The other two scream wickedly, terrified now of both the large man and the singing man. They hurry back into some small holes which they chewed their way to get inside along the walls, and out of your sight.

A few moments later, a dark thick voice beckons from behind some doors ahead in the corridor. "Oi! What's all this ruckus about? You know, i just cleaned by shop a few days ago! If you're causing a mess, i swear on all that is unholy I will smite you with all my wrath!"

Alas, without a big toe Pietro will need the rest of the party to carry him for the remainder of the adventure. Fortunately, he only lost one of the sausages he keeps in in his boots for when he gets hungry while lacing and unlacing them. ;)

I'm curious to see if the shopkeep is going to *interrupt* initiative or *join* it!

We are out of initiative, chat time.

"And that would be Shevarimarr. I think one of you should take this one." Aiyana says nervously.

"WELL, THEN I THINK YOU'VE ROUSTED THE VERMIN FROM UNDER YOUR CUPBOARDS!" Pietro calls back in his overly full-some indoor voice, while whipping the bug goo from his flaming morningstar. "NOT TO WORRY! A BIT OF FIRE WILL SMOKE THEM OUT OF THEIR RAT HOLES, AND THEN WE CAN SPEAK! AND AIYANA, WHY SO QUIET? THIS ISN'T A LIBRARY IS IT?"

He leans down to get a better look into the nearest hole with his brand.

Telos snaps his finger and dismisses the ball of flame before it can come into contact with any merchandise.

Oh, well, it seems your shop had some pests in it. They were quite aggressive. We took the opportunity to creatively passify them!

He pauses for several awkward moments, and looks around to ensure no-one else is in the shop.

You're welcome! Say, we hear you're someone who knows a thing or two going on around town. Is that right? We're looking for some... misplaced council members.

"AND THE OTHER HALF OF MY FOOT SAUSAGE!"

"FIRE? If you set fire in this establishment, you will have much bigger problems on your hands then vermin!" Growls the voice from behind the doors, "Mmmm, a foot-sausage is a real delicacy in these parts, the bigger the toes the juicier meat."

With a silent incantation, the doors swing open, and you find a ray-like creature opens a toothy maw and leers with glaring red eyes. Behind it whips a menacing tail of segmented bone. He wears an incredible gold necklace around his body.

He quickly spots Aiyana in the group, and shakes his head, "Oh it's only you, little girl. How many times have I told you, don't go bringing unwanted attention into my shop."

"Come, into the office - make yourselves confortable." This chamber is just as cluttered as the rest of the shop, but contains no furniture. Instead, items are stacked haphazardly across the floor or in teetering piles against the walls. A few tapestries featuring abstract mixtures of texture and color adorn several of the walls near iron hooks, and two incredibly lifelike statues lean against the south wall.

Hovering, he answers Telos, "Everyone is looking for someone, halfling. But just like everything in life, nothing comes free - especially information. How much is this 'council' worth to you?"

He quickly spots Aiyana in the group, and shakes his head, "Oh it's only you, little girl. How many times have I told you, don't go bringing unwanted attention into my shop."

Pietro takes offence at the thought that he is somehow not welcome anywhere, but takes a seat and kicks his feet up on the furniture to see to his foot--adventurer-spreading all over his corner of the room.

I'd be thinking it has a fair amount of worth to you, that is assuming you like your current station, and not being under the heel of others. Will offers a counterpoint to the man's negotiations.

I'd be thinking it has a fair amount of worth to you, that is assuming you like your current station, and not being under the heel of others. Will offers a counterpoint to the man's negotiations.

"Don't play smart with me boy. The tide of power rises and falls more quickly down these parts, then where you're from. And those with power understand the value of information, unlike yourself. If you have nothing of value, or coin to spend, then be on your way."

You feel like that was the wrong thing to say.

Telos immediately goes into his pack and begins a lowball offer made up of physical quantity over quality.

Um... let's see. A wand of mage armor, a wand of magic weapon, two alchemist's fires, seventeen cold iron sling bullets...

He skips over his wand of cure light wounds and doesn't pull it out...

that's for me... OH! Like six days of trail rations! Eat like the hardy adventurers of the surface. Really get the gritty experience. All of this could be yours! Good stuff, right?

The creature glares at the halfling, "If you have no coin to offer, then you have no business here."

Telos sighs and piles the affects back into his pack.

Oh.. I have coin. Time to find out how much works. For information like this I suspect it won't be cheap. But, we also don't know the local information economy. How does 500 gold coins sound?

Will waits patiently to see how the information broker responds.

Looking at you curiously, he uses his tail to scratch the bottom side of his monstrous chin, "500 gold coins, you say?" After a brief pause, he spits out laughing, "Ehehe...ehe...EACH!" Rubbing his hands together, he flies high atop a shelf, picking up a large tome, which you realize now is a ledger.

"Including you Aiyana. This is what you get for bringing poor customers into my shop."

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (10) + 1 = 11 Is he BS'ing about "poor", did Telos already go too high?

"POOR!?" roars Pietro looking up from trimming his thick toenails on the sculpted coffee table through the holes in his boots and stockings. "AND THEN THERE'S YOU, AND YOUR SHOP WHERE YOU CAN'T EVEN AFFORD TO PROPERLY FEED YOUR OWN VERMIN! DON'T GIVE US 'POOR'! WHY IF THE GIRL HERE HADN'T TOLD US TO COME I WOULD HAVE THOUGHT THE PLACE A VACANT RUIN SET FOR DEMOLITION AND RECONSTRUCTION INTO SOMETHING USEFUL LIKE A COMMUNITY MIDDEN! YOU SHOULD BE PAYING HER TO KEEP YOU IN DRIBBLY CANDLES! COME." he says putting his other shoe back on. "WE NEEDN'T TARRY HERE, WHEN WE CAN GATHER INTELLIGENCE AND FOOD ELSEWHERE."

Bluff: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (19) + 5 = 24

@Telos, he is not bs-ing, but you truly think that you have offended him on more than one occasion now. He is simply increasing the price at this point.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (13) + 9 = 22

He shakes his head, "Where I chose to do my business, boy, is none of your concern. I can see you have other means of obtaining the information you seek, then be on your way." He slams the ledger closed, and a puff of dust scatters across the room.

I feel like you guys are going about this the wrong way. Imagine you are dealing with Grandmaster Torch, but here in the darklands.

It might be time for the bard to do his thing...

I feel like you guys are going about this the wrong way. Imagine you are dealing with Grandmaster Torch, but here in the darklands.

Kill him and take his things?

For his part, Pietro is only half bluffing. For himself he is prepared to leave and search elsewhere for clues.

You can kill him, but you will get no information from him. He is an information broker, he if offering information for coin, as written into the module.

Telos was offering goods and then coin. He truly doesn't know the local information economy, so his approach was genuine. Assuming we don't storm off or go to violence, our options seem to be: keep negotiating somewhat blindly; or else retreat temporarily and Gather Information on the streets about cost expectations with him (i.e., learn the local info economy)

Yep, but 500gp is too little for the information her is offering, and one of you has already offended him. You are looking at somewhere in the vicinity of 2000 - 5000 gp total for the information.

The halfling sighs. Okay, let's see about 500gp from each of us.

He looks around at the other party members for confirmation.

The halfling sighs. Okay, let's see about 500gp from each of us.

"WHAT!? roars Pietro. "THAT'S EXTORTION! AND I SHOULD KNOW! I'VE ENGAGED IN IT ON OCCASION!"

Pietro's willing to play if that's what the majority decides, he's just not happy about it.

"Not extortion, my friend. Truly. Ask yourselves, how much are the lives of your comrades worth to you? Would you lay down your own life for them? Your...purse?"

Pietro considers for a moment. "FINE! BUT HALF PRICE ON THE LITTLE FELLOWS!"