Hall of Wisdom
Ono does his cop duty by pilfering the pockets of the criminals. The diligent elf only fines a freshly bloodied shortsword, a crossbow and 10 bolts.
It looks as if she spent any coin on the Snare that Miss Canella walked into.
Miss Canella's new greenish tinged fur coloring seems to be clashing with her outfit. She decides that literally purging the poison would be beneficial; both health-wise and fashionably!
The rest of our Agents seem to be a bit perplexed at the why of it all!
Miss Canella uses Lay on Hands for 30 minutes.
Miss Canella moves over to the next door.
Are you guys ready?
Pen uncrosses her arms as MacGruff takes a few steps forward. "Y'know, next time I can just try asking the spider why she's here, and if she'd rather just go home. Good job though, I guess. Yeah, ready to go."
Let me know if any of you are still injured.
Father Emmett looks at his fellow officers expectantly, shrugs, and then follows Miss Canella. He is carrying his crossbow, ready for JUSTICE.
Hall of Offerings
At present, this broad room seems to serve as a staging area for construction materials and tools. Flanking the sliding doors to the west are a pair of white stone statues of foxes—one with its mouth open, the other with its mouth shut. To the east lies a precarious mound of loose lumber, rolls of white paper, and countless hand tools such as saws and hammers. The room’s exits are three identical paper sliding doors: one to the west and two to the east.
This most recently was the Battle Leader's main command room.
Pen looks at the statues and ponders the significance of the mouths.
”Finely carved statues, but certainly not elven craftsmanship.”
Hey look. I found a piece of paper with something written on it.
She hands the paper to Pen, Watanabe, and Father Emmett.
Watanabe's face twists in disgust, "Ugh primitive magic."
I can't do much with this scroll. But I can use the MON-AYY! Ahem...I propose we proceed through the north doors.
”North door sounds like a plan, Father Emmett.”
Ono approaches the north door with his standard perceptive caution, and once satisfied there is no danger in doing so, he opens the door.
Veranda
This wide, open-air walkway wraps around the outside of the pagoda. Only two levels of the veranda are currently complete. The bottom walkway has a 15-foot-tall ceiling that marks the floor of the second story, which can be accessed via a wooden spiral staircase to the north. Wooden staircases to the northeast and southeast would have connected to the ground below, but the Stonescales destroyed the stairs during their coup. The first floor of the veranda’s perimeter is fenced with a 3-foot-tall wooden lattice balustrade that looks out and over the fairgrounds below, but no balustrade has yet been constructed on the second story, making for a perilous falling hazard.
Our brave, brave Agents explore around the Veranda. They notice haphazardly tossed tools, a game of Jacks spread on a wooden board, and even a tooth.
Above your heads is a second floor that may (or may not) have something interesting....
After looking around and getting bored, Miss Canella starts wandering around and goes over by the stairs.
I wonder what's up there?
”Only one way to find out.” Ono says as he begins to ascend the stairs.
Veranda Upstairs!
Ono and Miss Canella begin ascending the stairs. Ono hears some quick (ish) foot steps running away from the top of the stairs....
Father Emmett follows Ono and Canella up the stairs, axe in hand.
Bow in hand, Ono uses his unnatural speed to climb the steps at a super-human pace in hopes of spotting the source of the sound.
Veranda Upstairs!
Ono bravely crests the final step. The Elf stands proudly. The wind seems to come flowing through an uncompleted constructed wall; as our Hero Agent of EdgeWatch stares at a kobold who seems to trying to unlock a door in a panic-type of way!
Father Emmett, cranky after a long day and in severe need of a bath, strides up to the kobold looking to bring it JUSTICE.
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Veranda Upstairs!
Now to fully appreciate the violent finality (not to mention quite sudden) reaction by our Good(?) Father Emmett, we must try to place ourselves inside the quite rattled (definitely in need of a bath) Cleric's moccasins.
Back in his early teens, well before Demarrick(?) called on our pious, bathrobe wearing (one would think a bath would be a part of his wardrobe) Priest, Emmett was known to be a patient, empathizing ear to all those who had need. The always joyful and laughing youth would always stop to help an old lady cross a street, save a poor (but so cute!) kitty from the terrifying heights of trees, never step on a crack so as not to break his mother's back. He was always greeted with friendly waves, chats in earnest, and even the occasional help with putting on a roof!
Unfortunately, the young aspiring acolyte of Erastil never really had a chance. The Fates, The Loom, The Nightly Lottery Drawing determined differently....
But before the Narrator could finish his story of why our Father Emmett is wearing a bathrobe, the Cleric casually walks up to the seemingly getting more nervous, a bit panicked kobold; seeing the murderous blood red eyes of this
Why dis humans wearing un bathrobe?
CHOPPED!
The Agents notice freshly sprayed blood on the doors....curious...[/ooc]
Ono nods approvingly at Father Emmett, takes the key from the freshly murdered kobold, checks the door for traps, then proceeds to unlock it.
”I wonder why it was trying to get in here?”
Standing behind Ono, Father Emmett also peers in to the room.
Miss Canella walks over to Father Emmett and Ono irritated with them.
We could have tried talking to him first. We ARE cops after all!
He was just trying to get away. Not very well, now.
Miss Canella winks at both boys.
Now, let's be careful.
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”She’s right, Father Emmett. Next time you need to yell ‘FOR GREAT JUSTICE’ before you engage, so they know we’re serving out lawful justice.”
Ono pauses and considers for a moment, then continues.
”But for what it’s worth, I believe I recall seeing that look in Father Emmett’s eyes when he ran past me. So it wouldn’t really be inaccurate if the report says he yelled ‘FOR GREAT JUSTICE’ first. It’s pretty much the same thing.”
Crawling quietly above the door, multiple eyes blinking in absolute astonishment; a itsy bitsy spider stares incredulously at the bantering Agents.
Pen waves at the spider.
Pen begins speaking to the disgusted spider.
The Spider then spits at the Agents, before quickly crawling away....
Kami Shrine
At the western end of this large, unfinished room, a statue resembling the upper half of an armored warrior seems to float above a stone pillar carved with dozens of tiny creatures. Three mirrors positioned around the statue are angled so as to create an endless line of reflected stone warriors stretching into infinity. At the shrine’s feet, six humanoid workers lie bound and gagged, their eyes wide with fear.
The Stonescale warriors holding this room have erected a squat makeshift barricade using spare lumber; the barricade grants greater cover to Small creatures and cover to Medium creatures.
“Merk mep, mep merk—equal pay or we won’t work!”
This slogan is shouted by the Stonescales!
Be careful, friends! Two of the kobolds are holding hostages with knives to their throats
Miss Canella doesn't notice the rubbish on the floor because she is more concerned about the people tied up.
There are two Kobolds holding knives to the hostages throats! Better be careful Ono and Father Emmett.
She slowly walks into the room.
Boy's, put them down. You may hurt yourselves.
Miss Canella then winks twice using her left eye.
”FOR GREAT JUSTICE!!!” Ono yells as he springs forward and assumes a close range stance. He looks back at at Father Emmett and says, ”See? Now they know I serve true and lawful justice!”
Not at all happy with scowl on the kobold directly in front of him, he fires an arrow in the direction of his lizard-like kobold skull.
piercing
”We must save the hostages!!!”
Not wanting to risk the hostages lives Watanbe tried to put the kobolds to sleep.
Kami Shrine
Father Emmett looks into the room. He watches in horror the knives pressing hard against the throats of two hostages.
Miss Canella calmly enters the room a bit. Her hands held in peace. She calmly addresses the striking workers. Her honeyed words float nicely through the air to the eager ears of...
What the f!$*!, says the kobold in the center looking at a newly placed arrow in his arm!
Watanabe sighs...again. The Wizard reaches deeply...into his arcane hole to relearn Sleep!
Three of the kobolds promptly drop. Loud snores are now heard from behind the make-shift barricade!
Pen starts singing and then yeets a scrap of lumber at the awake kobold.
Kami Shrine
Pen's yeeting has blown away the competition!
So, the brave, brave Agents of the Edgewatch immediately make their intentions known that they do not negotiate with terrorists!
Once the Edgewatch rescue the hostages, they can finally ask questions about the five specialist stonemasons and sculptors who went missing days ago. Unfortunately, the remaining laborers know fairly little about their missing comrades. The five all came over from Minkai together and didn’t associate much with the common laborers. On the night the specialists went missing, however, several people heard them complaining about the shabbiness of their assigned quarters and how they were going to talk to Jeremin Hoff about finding them better accommodations. No one has seen them since.
Watanabe furrows his brows at this information unsure what it means. "This Jeremin Hoff is a person of interest. We should interrogate them."
Father Emmett shares what he knows about Jeremin Hoff
I have heard of this Jeremin Hoff. He is a powerful local labor broker as well as a provider of building materials and temporary housing for foreign workers. He is known to be corrupt in his business practices, cutting corners and bribing inspectors, but his ability to get things done makes him popular. I agree with Ono that we should investigate Hoff's potential role in this.
Now that we freed the hostages. We should take them to Ama outside
to protect them.
”Yes, yes, this Hoffemin person sounds interesting and all, but I can’t help but think that a ‘donation’ of 125 gold—a mere increase of 25 gold—would do so much more for the city, and would definitely make it clear to all that these upstanding citizens were on the side of law and order.”
Ono gives the architects a very intentional look, and continues speaking directly at Ama.
”Certainly not anyone whose activities would be of interest to the law.”
Outside the Dragonfly Pagoda
Our courageous, righteous, a bit overbearing Agents walk the captured Striking kobolds out to the Foreperson Ama.
The cuffed kobolds seem a bit beaten, battered and contrite enough to be lead away to jail without much fight.
One of the female kobolds, Skerix, overhears the Agents speaking about Hoff.
She explains that for some leniency , she can give you what she knows...
Ama looks terrified at the Elf. A strange smell develops around her....she will shakily hand over the 100gp, along with Permanent Free Entry Tickets for the Agents to the Dragonfly Pagoda...
The Agents escort the sleepy, beat the f&#$ed up, and limping kobolds back to the Precinct. The Agents then will do whatever they want; as long as they give their reports in a timely manner to Sargent Ollo!
Ono reports back to Sargent Ollo, making sure to include the part where Father Emmett screamed “FOR GREAT JUSTICE!”.
Back at the Station House, Father Emmett immediately heads to the scrubbing stalls to freshen up a bit. He throws his soiled robes in the trash and puts on some fresh clothes from his locker. From the supply closet, Father Emmett borrows some paint and writes in large letters on his shirt "FOR GREAT JUSTICE!" He looks in the mirror and smiles. Then he rejoins his colleagues, feeling the glow of Dammerich's blessings around him.
Chapter 3: Into the Undercity
If the Edgewatch guards return to the station after rescuing the hostages, Sergeant Ollo listens eagerly to their story, especially the information gained by questioning the hostages and kobolds. He agrees that speaking to Hoff at the House of the Planes is the best move, reasoning that even if the labor boss doesn’t know anything, one of his associates must.
Unfortunately, there’s not enough probable cause to go kicking in the door or demanding meetings with such influential figures—the Edgewatch isn’t all-powerful, and rattling the wrong cages could cause the precinct a world of problems. Instead, Ollo recommends the agents rest until the evening, then go undercover as the sort of high-profile lowlifes to which the speakeasy caters, using the kobolds’ secret back door to slip in, mingle, and covertly investigate. Toward this end, Ollo introduces the agents to the Wardrobe, the precinct’s impressive collection of clothes and costumes kept for precisely this purpose. All manner of disguises, from chic cocktail dresses to garish jester outfits, hang from over a dozen racks that line the walls of the vast walk-in closet. From what Ollo has heard, the agents can probably wear their weapons and armor in the House of the Planes without raising too many eyebrows, but the Edgewatch uniforms will have to go, and with a surprisingly shrewd eye for fashion, he advises them to dress to impress—the flashier the better.
Sargent Ollo is particularly eyeing our Father Emmett's tagged uniform....
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Watanabe looks at the outlandish variety of costumes and wonders, How can this come up so much as to justify the expense?
He grabs a robe much like his usual, but this one is fuchsia. He does not attach his badge to the lapel.
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It takes Ono about an hour of meticulously picking through the clothing available in The Wardrobe before he is satisfied with his undercover appearance. The deep purple of the suit is marvelously offset by the leopard print trim.
"I suppose this will do." Ono mutters to himself. "At least I make it look good..."
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Father Emmett pulls a red beret and matching red pants from the rack. A plaid shirt from a different rack seems to pull it together.
These look nice.
The pants are a little big so he grabs some colorful striped suspenders. The outfit makes him feel like a new man.
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Pen stares up at the enormous racks full of clothes made for creatures 3 to 6 times her height and huffs. She grabs an eyepatch and affixes it to Officer MacGruff, then leaves the room, heading to her locker. "I'll be right back."
When she returns, she's wearing an elegant and scandalously short emerald green strapless gown with a cascading leaf pattern in the skirts. "I was saving this to wear on a date tonight, but duty calls. Lucky I had it here!"
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