Xavien finds little until he gets to Dagio's bolt hole. Once he looks inside, he's overcome with the smell of urine, and promptly vomits.
The find is likely worth it, the crèche contains the dire rat’s treasury. Along with his spellbook, the small room contains four pristine rubies worth 100 gp each and a magical pearl hidden within a pile of chewed and torn paper, as well as a scuffed jewelry box containing a beautiful ring of ancient make.
"Gross," Xavien says, grimacing and holding his nose. His stomach gurgles fitfully. "We will want to wash these, I think."
He flips through the pages of the spellbook, using a dagger to turn the pages , and takes a good long look at the ring.
Lord Xavien finds that Dagio's book has the following spells within it:
2nd— acid arrow, invisibility
1st— comprehend languages, magic missile, shield, Peacebond, Expeditious Construction, Mqge Armor, Detect Undead, Hypnotism, Decompose Corpse
Cantrip— detect magic, mage hand, open/close, read magic
Peacebond
Mage Armor
Expeditious Construction
Detect Undead
Hypnotism
Decompose Corpse
Xavien definitely knows that he's looking at an important relic of Taldor whilst examining the ring. It appears to be an Envoy Ring. This golden ring appears pristine on the outside, but the inside shows centuries of wear, leaving the inner band perpetually polished to a lighter hue than that of the ring’s outer surfaces. A family crest adorns the front, depicting olive branches encircling two crowns, seemingly indicating a house dedicated to ambassadorship and diplomacy.
The ring does actually radiate an aura of moderate enchantment.
Aurelia studies the magic pearl first.
Then the envoy ring that Xavien identitied.
Once done, she'll ask to see the spellbook, knowing that the knowledge within will be of use to her and Ianthe.
Ianthe turns to Kenton.
I'll leave the choice to you. I know you warriors had to leave your battle gear at home for the party. If the breastplate or axe would suit you, then by all means.
Lady Aurelia easily determines that the pearl is a Pearl of Power I.
The ring.... oh the ring. When she examines it with a trained eye she gets butterflies in her stomach. This ring is.... something. There's more to this ring than meets the eye, but what she can tell right now is that:
The ring grants its wearer a +2 competence bonus on Diplomacy, Linguistics, and Perform checks. Once per day, the wearer can speak a command word to transform her appearance and clothing, as per disguise self. The appearance of her clothing automatically matches the customs of the dominant culture around her, typically that of the local nobility or ruling class. Her physical features don’t match those of the local people, but features that would make her stand out diminish, such as elf ears in a settlement where no elves live. This lasts up to 24 hours, but can be dismissed at any time. The caster level of any spell effect generated by the ring is 1.
You experience a vision. It strikes you for just a moment. You're a Taldan sharpshooter, and you're hunting your target a rider on a mammoth.... It passes as quickly as it arrived.
Factor 12 is happy to let Ianthe inspect the items. In both she senses a minor enhancement to their efficacy .
As tempting as the weapon and armor are, Kenton says, I think these will prove most universally useful. He selects the boots.
As he reaches for them, he freezes a moment as if something passes before his mind's eye. He looks about wildly, clearly startled, then regains his composure and slowly reaches for the pair of boots Factor-12 has presented.
Factor-12 produces the boots. "Excellent choice. A reminder that these will need to be returned no later than 2 Calistril 4817 AR."
After returning to the group, Ianthe takes interest in the wand.
Ianthe concludes that this is a wand of shocking grasp with 21 charges left.
Leo checks the make of the armor and selects it. noting it pinches a bit in odd places, he is satisfied.
Once the others return, Xavien proceeds to the eastern door, taking Leo (sans the armor left with Factor-12) with him. "Ladies and gents, with luck, this is it."
He gives the nod for Leo to open the door.
The nobles gather around behind. Most of them hide on the far side of chairs.
Dust-covered couches cover some of the walls in this rectangular chamber. Three doors exit the area, one to the east, yours in the west, and the final to the south.
Xavien holds up a hand before anyone enters. "Leo, do you see any prints in the dust?"
Xavien looks himself, too, though his eye is untrained.
Aurelia whispers a spell that allows her to detect magic auras, focusing her gaze beyond the doorway.
Leo hunches down and scans the dust in the room ahead.
The room has seen some recent use by at least two humanoid creatures...
Aurelia finds no magic.
Leo steps through to investigate the eastern door, and Xavien joins him.
Leo declares the door safe, but Xavien does NOT. There's a snare string attached to the door. He follows the trigger to the ceiling where a spring loaded fan of knives awaits anyone opening the door!
"That would have been a nasty surprise," Xavien says grimly. He contemplates how to keep those knives out of his skin.
"Good eye, Lord Xavien," Aurelia commends the man. "Perhaps everyone should stand back then. My good friend Lady Ianthe knows a spell good at picking up things. Or knocking over candles, as I once learned during our time at the Arcanamirium."
Looking at Ianthe, Aurelia offers up her sword. "Can you magically move this so that it cuts the string?"
Of course. Always happy to be useful.
Stepping out of knife range and waiting for the others to do the same, Ianthe incants the words and mimes grasping the sword. She moves the sword to the door and slices through the triggering line.
The simple trap is easily foiled once seen. The knives, shivs really, spray out in an area by the door. Unfortunately it also releases a small scraps of pipes which are quite loud and can serve only one purpose.
Xavien frowns at the noise. "Something waits for us on the other side, I am afraid." He glances south. "Perhaps we should try the other passage first."
With a nod, he and Leo scout out the other egress.
Maybe thankfully, maybe worryingly, there's nothing on the other side. Once the door is opened it reveals only a short antechamber.
"Perhaps it was Dagio that set that trap, to warn him if anyone arrived from this side." Leo and Xavien move to investigate the antechamber and the far door.
"A thief, having found the first trap, might let down their guard. Let us not make that mistake."
Second guessing the standard check, Xavien takes his sweet time. The nobles start to get restless, eager to get out of here.
In the middle of the process a voice breaks the silence and gives everybody a quick start. While it's only been 45 minutes or so, it feels like weeks since you've heard Martella's voice,
“Out of the senate building. Guiding a dozen or so of the servants to a safe haven...”
In the end, Xavien concludes the door to be neither locked nor trapped.
Xavien gives the nod for Leo to open it.
Two sets of lockers line the northern and southern walls here. A set of rusted swords stands on display in the opened southern lockers. Doors exit to the north and west.
Standing in the room, armed and ready for a fight are a pair of rough looking halflings. "Well, you lot look like you've been through the wringer. This should be pretty easy."
With rapiers already draw, they both close on Leo, looking for a quick kill. "Oi, nobles! Bet they've got some sweet, sweet shinies."
"Holy shit! Imistos? Is that you buddy?"
Before anyone can process, they stab.
for
THREAT
for
They drop the warrior with two stabs, both in his torso!
Round 1:
Guttersnipes: Kill
Ianthe: Go
Corran: Go
Aurelia: Go
Trant: TBD
Kenton: Go
Xavien: Go
Leo: Go (Dying. -9)
"Traitors!" Xavien shouts. He grabs Leo's collar and drags him back through the door, then slams it shut and steps towards the corner.
Fearing the worst and hoping for the best, Ianthe steps to the doorway and calls on the weave of magic, uttering the words of power to bring for a scintillating effect. A rainbow of oscillating colors erupts from her hands at the halflings.
LEO!
Ianthe steps up and blasts color over the field!
But both killers keep their vision and minds clear!
Round 1:
Guttersnipes: Kill
Ianthe: Color Spray
Corran: Go
Aurelia: Go
Trant: TBD
Kenton: Go
Xavien: Pending
Leo: Go (Dying. -9)
"GURRGLE....
Round 1:
Guttersnipes: Kill
Ianthe: Color Spray
Aurelia: Go
Trant: TBD
Kenton: Go
Xavien: Pending
Corran: Pending
Leo: Will be stabilized at -1
Corran sees Xavien go for Leo's body and he prepares for it.
He pulls his scroll of Cure Light Wounds and casts it upon Leo.
Lady Aurelia curses under her breath and executes her signature move, sending yet another summoned eagle into the fight!
The eagle goes to town on the first halfling it sees.
With the last reserves of her strength, Aurelia summons an eagle. It struggles against the target, but does manage a solid scratch on the halfling's face!
Trant immediately rushes forth, heedless of the danger, and not aware of the plan. She stands in the door
THREAT
for
She cleanly beheads the closer assassin!
Round 1:
Guttersnipes: Kill
Ianthe: Color Spray
Aurelia: Summon
Trant: CRIT
Kenton: Go
Xavien: Pending
Corran: Pending
Leo: Will be stabilized at -1
Kenton barges into the room, his new rapier in his hand in an instant, following Dame Trant. He issues a challenge to the remaining halfling: You shall meet the same fate as your companion! FIGHT ME, coward!
Kenton's challenge never fully manifests. Before the halfling can acknowledge what happened, Kenton's rapier skewers him!
In the blink of an eye the others yank Leo to safety, though his wounds are still life threatening.
Tired and wounded, the threat is....
"STAY BACK! STAY BACK I TELL YOU! I'LL KILL"
The party turns to see the halfling Imistos holding a rapier tip under the chin of Lady Gael Urbaen!
Round 2:
Imistos: Readied action
Ianthe: Go
Aurelia: Go
Trant: TBD
Kenton: Go
Xavien: Go
Corran: Go
Leo: Stable at -1
"Imistos, wait!" Aurelia says, holding up a placating hand as she lowers her sword.
She turns to the Clement siblings. "Can you tend to our wounded foes? Prevent them from bleeding out?"
Returning her attention to Imistos, she says, "Whatever it is, I have every degree of confidence that we can some to an amenable solution. No one needs to die, not especially after all we've been through. Let's all just cool our heads here."
Corran observes Imistos and mutters under his breath to Aurelia I'm exhausted and can't sing the right tune, Lady. And unskilled in the healing arts. I... Can try.
"SHUT UP! I don't give a rat's ass about them. I'm going to walk this girl forward as collateral, and you're going to let me leave. Got it? I will kill her if you try to stop me!"
Round 2:
Imistos: Readied action
Ianthe: Go
Aurelia: Diplomacy
Trant: TBD
Kenton: Go
Xavien: Go
Corran: Go
Leo: Stable at -1
Ianthe steps aside.
Leave the lady. No one really gives two figs about you.
Kenton stares holes through Imistos. Release her, and you will walk out with your life this time. You have my word.
You get a feeling in your gut that he's not leaving her alive, even if you do let him past. There's something more sinister at play, but you can't put your finger on it.