There is a bit to unpack there. First Devie's existence is a complete accident. Second Deven and Evie's deaths were kind of Sorshen's fault, or at least her trap's. Most of the rest she didn't understand, but lastly, being this close to the runelord, she realizes how stunningly beautiful she is.
"oh, okay" the clone answers simply, adding a "thank you" at the end, for what exactly even Devie has no idea.
Triel smirks and takes off her hawk mask, letting the Runelord see her real face.
"A pity I couldn't see Ayavah again here--I think we'd both have enjoyed her works."
Hope was a bit surprised to see Ayavah, surprised but happy. The tiefling artist was nice and she kind of liked being around her. She didn't feel quite so alone. When Ayavah turned into Devie though Hope was more than a little confused. She couldn't quite comprehend what was going on here but from what it seemed Devie was Sorshen...?
Despite the near identical look Sorshen was somehow...more? Hope couldn't quite explain it but she felt her eyes drawn more to Sorshen and she finally said, "Devie is pretty but Sorshen is prettier...why is that?" She just couldn't comprehend why two seemingly identical people could strike her so differently.
Devie, who really didn't think she WAS pretty, nodded at the very valid question.
"Personal charisma is more than just looks." Triel turns and explains. "It's a person's confidence, poise, and ability to command attention."
"Someone who actively rejects efforts to beautify themselves yet strides forth with unshakeable resolve and purpose can have a stronger presence than one who cultivates personal beauty, but finds themselves adrift and uncomfortable in social situations."
"That makes sense" Devie says, but is slowly shaking her head. A basic tell saying she doesn't truly understand but is trying. So she asks a different question "Um... you took me to them, then brought us here. Why?"
"In good time, my dear, in good time," Sorshen says. As she steps away from the Gatefoot, her scarf shimmers, and her appearance changes once more, this time to that of a petite blonde woman of average looks. "For now, we have a festival to attend! Let us dip our toes into the shenanigans, mingle with the citizens, and see what this celebration of a tyrant’s downfall has to offer us. Business is always so much more enjoyable when it’s mixed with entertainment, I think. I’ll answer some of your questions through the night, but I doubt I’ll answer anywhere close to all of them. In particular, I have information that will be of great use to you when you face our common enemies. But at the same time, I’d very much like it if you did some favors for me in return—it’s been so long since I’ve seen the sun and haggled for souvenirs, after all!”
"Sure, why not."
"Lead the way."
With a nod, Ayhoka falls in taking in the city as they go.
"Well, come along then. I want to have fun tonight," Sorshen says with an airy laugh. "I'd like at least two of you to escort me through the plaza at all times, though preferably not the same two all the time. We'll see what the festival has to offer and, if you impress me, I'll indulge your curiosity."
As you approach Kendall Plaza, Sorshen pauses a moment, turns to face an alley, and takes a deep breath, holding it for a moment before exhaling slowly, a smile on her lips. Just within the alleyway, a patch of honeysuckle grows around an old rusty sign fallen into the gutter. Sorshen speaks.
"This is a new world to me, but there are hints of the familiar in it. I'm sure you didn't catch that brief whiff of honeysuckle, but it reminded me of a fine perfume that was quite common back in my day before the world ended. It was named after me, in fact—Sorshen's Whisper. I suspect the ingredients are still readily available, particularly in an environment like this, with these myriad merchant's stalls. If you can gather the ingredients for me, I can not only prepare the scent to share with you, but perhaps give you a special reward.
"There are six ingredients, and the scent requires equal parts of all six. I'll require a dozen black spider orchid peals; crypt flower pollen; dried honeysuckle; golden ambergris; ground ember cloves; and last but not least, pure water."
***
Known also as the Plaza of Scions, Kendall Plaza is located in the southwestern corner of Korvosa's Heights district, in the shadow of Kendall Arena and adjacent to Field Marshal Way. The plaza, as with most of the town's open areas, serves as a local marketplace and a venue for street performers. Statues of famous adventurers, including one of Mina Kendall (leader of an adventuring group called the Scions of Puris who saved the neighborhood from an ankheg infestation), grace the central area of the plaza, but a new statue has been erected in the northern portion of the plaza--an exquisitely carved wooden likeness of Queen Ileosa.
The 20-foot-tall statue stands atop a wooden platform. Strips of red cloth hang down from the statue to drape across the platform below, while several house drakes (a local variant of the pseudodragon) perch and fly about above, periodically spattering the wooden statue with dragon droppings. The statue is exquisitely carved, and the red cloth has been alchemically treated to catch fire quickly and burn brightly—at midnight, these strips are lit on fire and the entire statue burns to the delight of the crowd. Until then, passers by are encouraged to hurl insults and rotten fruit at the statue—the house drakes are only too eager to gobble up the fruit offerings so that, once digestion has done its work, they can make offerings of their own.
Numerous merchant stalls fill the plaza near the statue. There is a large wooden pavilion open to the air that forms an upraised platform for performers to show their stuff. A large area of mud has been sectioned off with a wooden fence--inside, several sizable hogs mill about splashed with crimson paint. An eatery called Ye Reel Catch offers ample outdoor seating and specializes in seafood dishes. Tonight, all their offerings are half price.
The sight of the thronging crowds and sounds of revelry is almost overwhelming, but Sorshen appears excited and eager to dive in. She turns to Ahyoka. "Will you accompany me, Madame Ahyoka? I would like to check out the entertainment at the pavilion."
Eating: There are several places in the plaza to enjoy festival food and drink, including barbecued Ailkan oysters, strips of spicy, deep-fried clam meat called “lemchum,” butter-rich fried pastries called “Oliphant ears” that can easily feed three people apiece, tiny and chewy sweets called “pullers,” and a wide variety of ales, ciders, lambics, meads, and punches. In addition, several restaurants line the plaza’s sides, providing a slightly more relaxed venue for those who wish to sit down as they eat. A character who wishes to spend the hour eating and drinking must pay 1d10 gp and then attempt a DC 15 Fortitude save to avoid overindulging. On a successful save, the character gains a +2 morale bonus on all skill checks for the next hour. On a failed save, the character feels sick and takes a –2 penalty on all skill checks until he spends an hour resting or the night is over. Penalties for multiple episodes of overindulging stack.
Entertainment: Whether it’s the antics of a street performer, the performance of minstrels or actors on the pavilion, or a ribald puppet show performed in a stall, there is no shortage of opportunities for entertainment in the plaza. A character who spends an hour watching these various forms of entertainment gains a +2 morale bonus on all saving throws for the rest of the night. Alternatively, a character can provide entertainment by attempting a Perform check to determine how many coins he earns for that hour. Due to the exuberant (and oft-inebriated) nature of the crowd, earnings for Perform checks in Kendall Plaza are double those listed on page 103 of the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook. If a character performs, he must succeed at a DC 10 Fortitude save or become fatigued by the performance.
Games: Several games of chance have been set up throughout the plaza. A character who wishes to spend the hour gaming must spend money to do so, but can choose any amount between 1 sp and 10 gp. At the end of the hour, the character must attempt a DC 20 check chosen from one of the following skills: Acrobatics, Appraise, Bluff, Disable Device, Intimidate, or Sleight of Hand. On a failure by 5 or more, the character becomes fatigued with frustration at the poor result. On a success, the character wins back twice the money she spent gaming; this reward becomes 10 times the money wagered if the result of the check is 10 or more above the target DC. Note that a special game called Crown of Hams will take place at 9:00 p.m.
Mingling: If the PC chooses simply to mingle for the hour, he spends that time people watching, window shopping, and otherwise simply strolling at a leisurely pace through the stalls. A character who spends the hour doing this can attempt a DC 20 Perception check. On a success, he gains a +4 bonus on all skill checks attempted in the following hour to resolve the effects of any festival activities.
Resting: A character who spends an hour in a secluded, semiquiet corner of the festival resting and relaxing can negate all penalties accrued from overindulgent eating, or can negate the effects of fatigue caused by overexertion during a performance or a game.
Shopping: A PC who spends an hour shopping can attempt up to four purchases. Kendall Plaza’s base value is 50 gp—finding something for this price or less requires no check, just an expenditure of 15 minutes of time spent navigating the crowds and examining wares. Anything beyond this value, up to Korvosa’s actual base value of 12,800 gp, requires a successful Diplomacy or Perception check to locate the item for sale. The DC of this check is equal to 15 + 1 per 500 gp of the price of the object being sought (minimum DC 15 for items worth more than 50 gp but less than 500 gp). A failed check can be repeated, but it still counts as one of that hour’s four attempted purchases. You can use this option to attempt to track down ingredients for Sorshen's perfume as well--indicate which item(s) you are attempting to find and the GM will roll the appropriate checks.
Triel opts to spend her time looking for the items Sorshen needs for her unique perfume.
Hope didn't quite grasp the explanation she was given entirely about why one of the two was more attractive to her than the other, but she decided it wasn't that important really. She listened as Sorshen explained what she wanted with them and what she would do and, since Triel seemed to be going off to look for ingredients and Ahyoka went with Sorshen, Hope decided to do the same.
Hope walked fairly close to Sorshen and found herself being almost as awkward as she had been around Ella at times. Still, she made herself stay calm as she went with Ahyoka and Sorshen towards the entertainment. She didn't have any talent in performing anything, so she instead stood with the other two and watched the performers with her powers currently suppressed and said in almost child-like delight, "Wooooow!"
Devie doesn't like splitting up in a strange city, but it seems that is going to be the way, so she hurries after Triel and attempts to find the ingredients. "What do you think 'pure' water is?" she asks as she looks.
"I would be delighted, My Lady!" Ahyoka replies with a smile, and a touch of surprised delight. In all of her study of the Runelords, she'd never imagined she'd be accompanying Sorshen herself...or at least a clone of her through the festivities.
The runelord steers Ahyoka and Hope to the podium, where an impromptu performance of “The Crimson Treason” is underway. This short play is performed by a group of several talented but amateur actors, and takes artistic license with Queen Ileosa’s famed poisoning of her husband, King Eodred. The play interprets the event as one that was much more action-packed, much to the crowd’s delight. As the play concludes, with dead Eodred on the floor, covered with made-up lesions and Ileosa putting on a fake Crown of Fangs, Sorshen wryly notes, “It’s good to know traditions of succession have remained largely unchanged over the years!”
She turns to her companions with a twinkle in her eye. "Perhaps one of you might try to take the stage and grace us with a performance?"
***
With Devie's help, Triel is able to track down the first four ingredients for Sorshen's perfume. The golden ambergris is quite expensive, while the spider orchard petals present their own challenge--each flower only ever grows 3 petals. She'll have to find three more flowers to complete the recipe.
With an nod, almost akin to a bow at Sorshen's suggestion, Ahyoka takes the stage uttering an incantation to conjure dancing orbs of light around her as she goes through a rudimentary dance, taking the opportunity to make an enticing display of her elaborate tattoos as she does.
Triel winces when she sees the prices for the items--the ambergris in particular.
Nevertheless, she pays for what she can.
"Devie, could you pay for the orchids? I'm afraid I don't have enough money for the rest."
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Ahyoka's performance is met with polite applause from the crowd, though Sorshen herself cheers loudly for the sorceress. "Brava! Bravissima!" she declares.
As Devie and Triel return from their shopping trip, Sorshen looks around the plaza and taps her chin. "Hmm. I think I'd like to spend some time people watching and window shopping now. Who amongst you would like to accompany me?"
"I suppose I could, though I'll admit I've got little in the way of funds now." Triel looks down at the bag of ingredients in her hand. "Couldn't quite find all the flower petals, but the ambergris, pollen and honeysuckle are all there."
Devie pulls out the remains of her purse and hands it over to Triel, with a smile. "Enjoy." then with a bit of rosy cheeks, she leans in and kisses the drow's cheek.
Devie asks Ahyoka and Hope is they want to grab something to eat while Triel enjoys shopping.
Triel gives Devie a little smile. "Aw. Thank you, dear."
Pleased with the positive reaction to her performance, Ahyoka is definitely up for getting something to eat.
Hope watched Ahyoka's performance as the woman conjured orbs of light and made them dance around her. It wasn't the most amazing thing she'd ever seen, particularly compared to some of the other performers, but it was interesting and she clapped for Ahsoka when she was done
Since it seemed most of the group might do different things than spend time with Sorshen, Hope said, "I'll go with you again."
Sorshen smiles and takes both Triel and Hope by the hand. The trio strolls through the plaza, watching the revelers in their fanciful costumes and peering at various trinkets and baubles on display in the market stalls.
At one point, a death's head moth flutters from a nearby lamp to land on Sorshen's hand. She watches it, a momentary smile on her face, and then it flies off. Sorshen quickly turns to he copmanions. "Fetch me that moth, but don't kill it! I wish to examine it further."
...we're not going to do that, are we? We've already nearly bankrupted ourselves looking for her stupid ingredients--
Triel disregards the voice in her head and moves to catch the moth.
--you're trying to catch the moth. For f$&&'s sake...
Triel stumbles when trying to catch the moth the first time, nearly barreling through a crowd of people.
Her subsequent attempt is decidedly successful, snatching the little creature from the shoulder of a very tall elven woman. "Hah!"
...are you a drow or a cat? I swear...
"Ah! Thank you, darling," Sorshen says to Triel. The runelord smiles as she examines the moth, then she looks up at the drow. "I wonder, if you were to know that such a creature as this moth was the reincarnation of a hated enemy, what would you do with it?"
Triel looks down at the moth. "Pity them, perhaps? If they were unfortunate enough to be brought back as that, I'm not sure they'd be capable of doing harm to anything other than cloth."
Sorshen mulls over Triel's words for a few moments, then shrugs and releases the moth again. "Tell me, do you know of a man named Erigantus? He is a dhampir necromancer in the service of the Whispering Way who allied, for a time, with the cult of Yamasoth in Magnimar--the very same cult that you recently eradicated. Erigantus is unknowingly paving the way for the return of one of my enemies--Zutha, Runelord of Gluttony. As if we didn't have enough on our plate already!"
As the hour draws to a close and the sun dips below the horizon, Sorshen beckons you all together. "Well, I don't know about you, but I am famished! I would like all of you to attend me as we partake of the banquet offering at... Ye Reel Catch, is it?"
Ye Reel Catch's special banquet offering of lemon-poached salmon, seaweed salad, raw oysters, and strips of particularly spicy lemchum (deep-fried clams), paired with delicious house wine, can be had at the affordable price of 20 gp per feaster. Sorshen makes no move to pay for her meal...
As the meal gets underway, Sorshen eats ravenously and yet with a curious etiquette, stumbling a bit as she looks for additional cutlery not used in ages, mint-scented silks to wipe her fingers and the corners of her mouth, and a crystal goblet to drink her wine from. None of these are available at this establishment, alas, and she grows frustrated as the meal progresses.
"How droll. Please, distract me from the mediocrity of this meal. Tell me some rousing tales of adventure!"
Ayhoka tells a harrowing tale of being caught alone in the wilds, surrounded by a group of hungry Firepelt cougars, hoping to draw Sorshen's attention from her displeasure.
At some point, while the Runelord listens to one of her companion' stories, she weaves a simple subtle spell into the linens, scenting them with mint.
Triel opts for a different approach to Ahyoka's storytelling, preferring to speak of something more comforting...
...leading her to speak of how the cult of the Redeemer Queen first noticed her. She speaks of how it was the Redeemer Queen's people who first made her efforts to keep her family politically relevant and ascendant feel appreciated--something her own Matron Mother never bothered to.
Devie tells a children's tail about two young kids, a talking fish, and a very evil jalapeno. It was amazingly dark (though the kids mostly live through it) quite rambly (the parts with the necrosis ferrets seems like filler), and ALMOST works to entertain the runelord.
A very well placed, accidental, and oddly cute burp was interjected in the story, right as the jalapeno met it appetizing end. Turning and almost failure into just the right amount of entertaining.
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Hope was to distracted by Sorshen's presence to be of any help with the moth but she did listen to the story that was told with some interest as well as the additional information about another Runelord in the process of returning. It was quite disturbing to know more of them were coming back but that seemed to be the way of things lately.
Once they went to eat Hope noticed Sorshen making no move to pay for her meal and decided to do something she had never done before. She pulled out the money herself to pay for someone else's food and then enough for her own as well. Unfortunately it seemed Sorshen was not enjoying things as much as she expected and demanded to be entertained with stories. Hope was unsure how she felt about this but she decided to join in and do her part.
"There was once a little girl from Sandpoint who had the best life a little girl could ask for. A loving mother, a fearsome aunt who spoiled her, and many other children she considered her siblings. One day though her mother left, she said it would only be for a time and she would be back soon but her Mother never came back." Hope's eyes grew a bit haunted as she spoke but Triel, at least, would notice that Hope was staying more grounded in the present than she did the last time she spoke of this. "The little girl was scared and in pain and she tried to leave and find her mother. Unfortunately little girls who run away from home are bound to suffer and she was no sooner gone from her home than she was snatched up by things best not described," Hope shuddered a bit but retained her self control...for now.
"The little girl found herself in darkness, in the great blackness between the stars and only the presence of the unspeakable horrors connected her to anything. She felt them slither into her mind, speak to her of darkness and the insatiable hunger of the hole in the darkness," Hop's voice began to aver and her eyes started to grow darker with a hint of madness in them, "The things told the girl she was to be the bride of their god, the hole in the darkness, and they took her to it and threw her in. Time flowed in strange ways, she aged quicker than she should to those outside but inside it felt like an eternity." Hope's control began to slip as the near hysteria entered her voice but she choked it back and clamped down on the insatiable, endless, unrelenting hunger of the void and took back her control.
After a moment or two to control herself Hope continued, "In the end the Hole in the Dark released her from its embrace. She knew not why or how it could release her but it did and she found herself far from the home she once knew with no way to ever return. It is said that even to this day she is haunted by the terror, the voices, the hunger of the void for though it released her it never let's anything go once it has entered its embrace." Hope shuddered as she finished her story and reached for her silverware to continue eating but her hand shook so badly that she put it down after a moment and focused hard on calming herself down.
Triel's eyes turn to Hope as she tells her story, looking more concerned as it continues. When she starts to shake, Triel's hand slides into Hope's and gently takes it.
Your stories catch the runelord's fancy, and she listens with rapt fascination. She seems particularly thrilled by Devie's and Triel's tale, and she nods thanks to Ahyoka for adding the mint scent to the napkins. "Thank you for the lovely stories, darlings. You have managed to help me forget about this humdrum feast.
"I spoke earlier of Ergiantus, the necromancer who assisted the cult of Yamasoth. As payment for aiding the cult, Erigantus was given a powerful artifact called the Bone Grimoire—a third of Runelord Zutha’s phylactery. The dhampir's use of this item has allowed him to wreak great havoc deep below Kaer Maga among a group called the Brotherhood of the Seal, but in using the book's secrets, he has unwittingly infected his own soul with Zutha's influence.
"Erigantus besieged the Shrine of the Seal below Kaer Maga, and he has taken the site as his own lair while he further studies the Bone Grimoire—and unwittingly further saturates his own soul with Zutha’s inluence. But if you can secure the Bone Grimoire for yourselves, I know a way that the artifact can be used to force Zutha’s hand and, perhaps, put an end to him once and for all."
As the meal comes to a close, crowds begin gathering around the pig pen as a game called Crown of Hams is about to begin! The game involves slathering the pigs with grease, then contestants are given a tin replica of the notorious Crown of Fangs and take turns attempting to crown one of the pigs, to the delight of watchers. The pagoda cedes its role as a pulpit for entertainers and becomes an improvised battle arena in which the Crown of Hams will be awarded.
"Oh! This looks like an intriguing game. Who among you shall participate, I wonder? Do any of you like to get down and dirty?" Sorshen asks slyly, eyes twinkling with mirth as she glances between Devie and Triel.
After some time wrestling with whether or not she should humiliate herself like that, Triel puts on her hawk-mask, alters her clothing to look like dark, spiky leathers and finally casts a spell that makes her look like a surface elf.
So you'll hunt for rare perfume components with no concern for being recognized, but rolling around in mud with a pig is where you draw the line?
Yes. You're surprised?
A bit. I'm more surprised you even remembered to cast a proper disguise spell first.
With that, Triel gets to it!
Hope wasn't quite sure why anyone would want to grapple a pig and stick tags on it's ears but she felt a certain upswelling of desire to show that the darkness hungers and you cannot escape. Just after Triel made her attempt Hope did the same.
Devie watches with wide-eyed wonder as her two friends wrestle pigs. At a particularly close grab, she lets out a Woop, looking around to see if she startles anyone, then Hollars at one the pig clearly cheated on. So on and so forth, trying to encourage them both.
The crowd whoops and hollers as Triel and Hope chase the greased pigs around the pen. The slippery animals escape from their grasp a couple times, but both of them manage to crown their pigs before time runs out! Sorshen cheers loudest of all. "Well done! Queens of the Corral! Splendid! I have something for you."
Sorshen brings you back to the statue known as Gatefoot, then steps around to the heel. A tiny smile on her lips, she runs her fingers across the stone, then pauses as those fingers trigger a hidden catch. "Aha! My memory was not wrong." She opens a small hidden panel in the side of the foot, then invites you to claim the treasure within the small hollow space: a scarlet and blue sphere ioun stone in a lacquered darkwood box worth 500 gp.
As the rounds of Crown of Hams wrap up, the hour strikes 10:00 PM. Night has truly fallen now, but the plaza's dozens of lanterns keep the festivities well-lit. Just after 10:00 PM, a gnome with bright orange hair trundles through the crowd, pushing before him a wheelbarrow containing a keg nestled in a bed of straw.
"Hear ye! Hear ye! I, Lord Malt, have arrived! I am offering free swigs of my newest concoction, 'Fire!' A terribly potent spirit of grains and apples, brewed to exacting specifications from a recipe I purchased from an adventurer, who in turn claimed to have found it in a Thassilonian ruin. Get it while it's hot-hot-hot!"
Sorshen seems intrigued by the scent wafting from the amber-colored drink. "Hmm.. I do believe that Lord Malt has unwittingly brewed up an old Thassilonian drink called miheesh. Come on, let's go check it out!" She tries to drag as many of you along as are willing to go with her.
As you near the wheelbarrow, the runelord stops short, her attention shifting to one of the goblets the gnome uses to pass out samples. This goblet appears as a hemisphere of glass held in a seven-pointed frame of cold iron with a long stem that descends to a spike, so that rather than being set gently on a table, the drinker stabs the goblet into the wooden surface.
"Ah! Look at that! In my time, that was known as the 'lying cup.' Will you get it for me? Pretty please?" She bats her eyelashes coquettishly.
"Um, okay." Devie says, then moves over to the gnome. "Can we buy your cup?"
"Sure thing! That'll be 50 gold. It's a relic, you know!" Lord Malt says with a grin.
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Devie has never been a good judge of prices and money. Once when she was too people, he or she would have balked at the very idea of spending 50 gold on anything, cause well they never had that amount to consider spending it.
The combination of the two of them though, combined with the insane amount of gold that seems to flow out of adventuring... well "Okay." she fishes out 50 gold and hands it to him.
"Splendid!" Sorshen says as she examines the lying cup. "Cups like these were part of a traditional game played by aristocrats. The goal was to fill the cup with alcohol, put a coin in a pot, hold it up before you, take a drink, and answer a question posed by your opponent. You can choose to lie or tell the truth, but if an opponent catches you in a lie that the opponent can prove was a lie, you have to put another coin in the pot, refill the cup, take another drink, and answer another question. If no one contests your answer, you stab the cup down into the tabletop. If none of the drink sloshes out, you pick the next person to play. That person then picks up the cup, fills it, puts a coin in the pot, and answers one of your questions. If any drink sloshes out, you refill the cup and must pay another coin and answer another question from the previous player. The game proceeds until only one person remains conscious, at which point that person wins the money in the pot and keeps ownership of the cup, thus determining who starts the next game."
The runelord looks around to all of you. "Would you like to play a round?"
Step 1. Select a Drinker: The judge selects a drinker.
Step 2. Fill Up and Ante: The drinker fills the lying cup with alcohol and puts a coin into the pot. On the first turn, the drinker picks what type of coin to put in the pot, and all coins to follow must always be of value equal to or greater than the previous coin. If a drinker doesn’t have any coins of the appropriate value to put in the pot, that drinker is removed from the game. Likewise, if a drinker decides not to continue, she is removed from the game.
Step 3. Drink: The drinker must either sip or drink deeply from the lying cup (but she cannot drain the cup dry), and must then succeed at a DC 10 Fortitude save or become affected by the drink. If the drinker chose to drink deeply, she takes a –5 penalty on this Fortitude save. The first time the drinker becomes affected by a drink, she becomes tipsy and takes a –1 penalty on all skill checks. The second time the drinker becomes affected, she becomes drunk and takes a –4 penalty on all skill checks and saving throws. The third time the drinker becomes affected, she becomes soused and takes a –10 penalty on all skill checks and saving throws. The fourth time the drinker becomes affected, she passes out and is removed from the game. This is a poison effect; characters who are immune to poison are considered to be cheating if they play this game!
Step 4. Answer a Question: The judge asks the drinker a question, which the drinker must answer. The judge must then decide if the answer is true or false. If the judge decides it is true, play proceeds to Step 5. If the judge decides the answer is a lie, the drinker attempts a Diplomacy check (if she told the truth) or a Bluff check (if she lied), opposed by the judge’s Sense Motive check. If the drinker lied and the judge’s Sense Motive check beats the drinker’s Bluff check result, the drinker must go back to Step 2 and start over. If the judge decided the drinker was lying but the drinker was instead telling the truth, the judge pays a coin to the pot and the drinker proceeds with Step 5. Otherwise, the drinker simply proceeds with Step 5.
Step 5. Stab the Table: The drinker stabs the cup into a wooden surface (traditionally a table top) with enough force that the cup’s spiked stem keeps the cup upright, but not forcefully enough to spill any drink remaining in the cup. Doing so requires a successful Dexterity or Sleight of Hand check (drinker’s choice). If the drinker took only a sip from the cup during Step 3, she takes a –5 penalty on this check. On a success, no drink is spilled, and play proceeds with Step 6. On a failed check, drink is spilled and the drinker must start over at Step 2.
Step 6. Select a New Drinker: The drinker now becomes the judge, and must select a new drinker. If more than two are playing lying cup, then the drinker must choose someone other than the previous judge to become the new drinker. The new drinker picks up the lying cup and starts over with Step 2.
Winners and Losers: Play continues until only one player remains in the game. A player is removed from the game if he passes out, cannot afford to pay a coin of the appropriate value into the pot, or decides not to answer a question. Once only one player remains in the game, she wins all of the coins in the pot and claims ownership of the lying cup.
Triel smirks behind her mask. "Sure. I'm down for it."
"Why not? I'll give it a try." Ahyoka says with a grin. Though warriors like Devie and Triel were probably much heartier than herself, the sorceress could definitely hold her liquor.
"Excellent! Well, Miss Grey, since you own the cup, you may choose which player drinks first, and then you may ask them a question," Sorshen says.
Devie thinks, which is hard, states at the cup then around the group. She looks a long time at Hope, but then hands it to Sorshen.
"Are you ticklish?" she might be asking for a friend
Sorshen fills the lying cup with alcohol before placing a gold coin on the table. She drinks deeply of the cup, then smiles at Devie. "Why, yes I am. How ticklish, though, is something you'll have to find out for yourself..."
She slams the cup into the table, and it doesn't spill. She removes the cup and offers it to Triel. "Your turn, darling. What is it you want from me?" Sorshen inquires.
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"...er..."
What, you're not going with the obvious question?
No, you imbecile. I genuinely don't know.
...riiiiiiiight. A disarmingly-attractive and POWERFUL surfacer woman in front of you--
That could easily apply to everyone else here.
--and you *seriously* don't know what you want to ask her? How stupid do you think I am?
"...well..." Triel thinks and takes a sip after sliding a gold coin onto the table.
"...a place where I can exist, openly, as myself would be nice."
Triel then stabs the cup into the table--and spills some of the booze. She looks at the mess in disappointment.
...damnation.
Sorshen laughs and refills the cup before giving it back to Triel. "Here's my next question. What is the most wicked act you've done?"
Ooh! Ooh! Let me! I've got a GREAT one!
Shut up. You're not telling her ANYTHING.
Grrrr. You're no fun at all.
Triel puts another gold coin on the table. "...Lady Sorshen, if you've any knowledge of how drow politics work, you'd know how loaded a question that is."
"Most wicked... that'd probably be the time I negotiated the sacrifice of two dozen slaves' hearts to Nocticula to maintain the favour of Our Lady in Shadow--after Talice embarrassed the entire family by acting like a belligerent, pretentious moron at court."
The memory of the incident compels Triel to drink deeply of the cup to chase it away.
She drinks a bit too deeply--or the drink is a bit too enthusiastic in performing its implied duties. The drow looks rather wobbly as she stabs the cup into the table.