Whatever the case, the PCs decide to rest for some time. They gather up as many of the living guards as they can and put them all in a cart to get them out of range of the Anvil of Unmaking. Zorumar, since he’s bound to Lucian, offers to transport the guards away.
During this time, the party also goes about exploring Menador Keep for anything of note—that is save for the secret passage Zorumar told them about.
In the storage room they find 10 moderate alchemist’s fires, 12 moderate tanglefoot bags, a barrel of caltrops (contains 30 times the amount here), and 40 tindertwigs.
In the armory they find various weapons and armor, but the only things worth taking are seven terrifying ammunition (crossbow bolt).
In what can only be described as a torture chamber , there are flayed and leathered pieces of skin with tattoos on them. While gruesome, there are also formulas for the following magical tattoos: reflexive tattoo, familiar tattoo, and fiend-warding tattoo.
In Lucian’s room is a trunk containing eight high-fashion fine clothing, a trunk with eight bottles of magnificent brandy (worth 20 gp per bottle), a crystal bottle of perfume in the shape of a naked woman (worth 50 gp), a superb goblet made of silver and gold with platinum studding (worth 150 gp). Also in here is a heart-shaped locket, inside of which is a portrait of a raven-haired beauty. Opposite the portrait is an engraving reading To Luci, with love. Chance’s object reading reveals this to be a picture of Lucian’s now-deceased wife. The sorrow of Lucian’s grieving has made this locket into a desolation locket (see below).
In the treasury is a locked, trapped chest, but since Lucian had the proper key, it is inconsequential. In the chest are six lesser healing potions and six moderate healing potions, a +1 striking cunning bastard sword, a leather-bound glass flask with a potion of quickness, a pillbox carved with a leering harpy face that contains three doses of dust of appearance, and a lacy white dress, the pocket of which holds three [i]greater thunderbird tufts.
Enchantment, Magical, Spellheart
Usage affixed to armor or a weapon; Bulk —
The surface of this golden, heart-shaped locket is nearly worn through with cracks. If opened, it reveals a portrait of someone the bearer loved dearly and has lost. The spell DC of any spell cast by activating this item is 24.
• Armor The desolation locket numbs you to further despair, and you gain a +2 item bonus to saving throws against emotion effects.
• Weapon (emotion, mental) After you cast an enchantment spell by activating the locket, you emanate an aura of hopelessness in a 5-foot emanation until the start of your next turn. A creature that ends its turn in the aura must succeed at a Will saving throw against the locket’s spell DC or become slowed 1 (slowed 2 on a critical failure) until the end of its next turn.
Activate Cast a Spell; Effect You cast haunting hymn
Activate Cast a Spell; Frequency once per day; Effect You cast agonizing despair
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As the PCs go into the war room , they find that it is strewn about with maps and reports of the Glorious Reclamation’s rebellion in the heartland. It grows increasingly clear that House Thrune has their hands full with the Glorious Reclamation; if Barzillai wants more reinforcements, it would require making an executive order as the High Inquisitor to mobilize the Asmodean Inquisition against the crown’s wishes. A risky move, but entirely within Barzillai’s authority. And Barzillai could gain outside assistance from Nidal or other non-governmental sources. The keep still needs to be closed, but it is clear that Barzillai likely wouldn’t receive any official assistance from the crown.
Several back-and-forth letters between Lucian and an envoy in Egorian make it clear that if Lucian cannot maintain a hold of Menador Keep, the government will send more soldiers to replace him and oust any troublemakers who claim the keep. It is clear that destruction of Menador Keep is not even remotely considered as a possibility.
*
*
Now well-rested and having removed any possible casualties from the premises, the PCs make their way to the secret passage that Zorumar mentioned.
A thick layer of dust covers the floor of this room. Stone doors stand in opposite corners, while four curving alcoves, each fitted with a squat statue of a dwarf armed with a warhammer, stand guard silently.
As Vitalis takes a step into the room, all four of the statues suddenly step forward and raise their warhammers, the dust covering them dispersing into the air!
Round 1
==============
Jisara
Vitalis
Chance/Edrakk
Red
Yellow
Green
Blue
==============
Edrakk quickly draws a small alchemically-treated stone and throws it at one of the statues, then pulls out some handy ingredients to create and throw a small vial of weak acid.
I will leave it up to the champion of Shelyn as to whether the party takes it, but for now I’m assuming that you do.
"Well I can't say this wasn't unexpected. I suppose there's no reasoning with a statue. So smashing our way through, it is."
Vitalis takes a step into the room to give his allies some room to move up and to also cover most of the room with the protection of his retributive strike. Then he starts swinging at one of the nearest constructs (red).
Jisara wracks her mind for anything she knows about dwarven statue guardians, then hurls a bit of lightning at the closest of the two.
Chance casts loremaster's etude and tries to remember anything he might have heard or read about animated statues, particularly in dwarven keeps, then begins to sing an inspiring song.
"This is just rich
How many - four?
We made our way underground
Through a secret door
Send in the dwarves
They're not really dwarves
We could fight off ten more!"
As he finishes the first verse, the bard pulls The Dischordance from his back.
Jisara arcs electricity between two of the statues.
Edrakk throws two bombs in quick succession, the second causing a loud pop!
Only Vitalis is affected by the sudden loud noise, but that doesn’t keep him from moving over and attacking Red!
Chance thinks and sings.
Red turns its attention towards the other PCs and begins incanting in a rustic monotone as it slams its warhammer into the ground.
Suddenly, glowing-hot steel billets—like those just taken out of the forge—manifest around Chance and Edrakk, forging hammers appearing as well to strike the billets, which cause various colors of sparks to fly all over!
Success
Yellow
Success
Unfazed by how ineffective its spell was, Red then turns its attention to Vitalis and swings its hammer at him!
Green likewise attacks Vitalis!
Blue also attacks the paladin!
Yellow Steps over and attacks Vitalis, unintentionally flanking with Red in the process.
Round 2
==============
Jisara
Edrakk
Vitalis (-23)
Chance
Red (-31)
Yellow
Green
Blue (-32)
==============
"Hey, does anyone have anything with the symbol of Torag's church on it? Those statues are divine wardens and they won't attack anyone showing that symbol!"
Chance sighs and takes up his song again, before flinging bits of rock at the red statue.
"So where are the dwarves?
We should have brought dwarves!
But no need to fear..."
"Flugantaj rokoj por ĵokeoj!"
Edrakk pulls some spare reagents from his bag and mixes them together into a stronger acid and chucks it at the nearest statue. He then draws a vial of smokey purple liquid.
"Hey, does anyone have anything with the symbol of Torag's church on it? Those statues are divine wardens and they won't attack anyone showing that symbol!"
"I only display a symbol of my own faith. To present myself falsely as a worshipper of another god would be blasphemy."
Vitalis steps out of being flanked and attacks red some more.
"Are you joking?" Jisara replies, incredulous. She throws two more spells down the hallway, healing Vitalis's injuries even as she electrocutes the two statutes menacing him.
"I only display a symbol of my own faith. To present myself falsely as a worshipper of another god would be blasphemy."
Jisara heals Vitalis and sends an arc of electricity out.
As the electricity strikes Red, the statue begins cracking and spewing forth holy energy, before ultimately exploding outward!
Edrakk throws an acid flask at one of the statues and coats the statue in caustic acid!
Vitalis Steps over and attacks!
Just like Red, Blue is hit by Vitalis’s attack and explodes in holy energy!
Chance is suddenly burdened as Torag curses the gnome for destroying holy iconography to the Forge Father!
Chance sings and heals Vitalis.
Yellow Steps forward and attacks Vitalis!
Green Strides to threaten the nearest target: Edrakk.
Round 3
==============
Jisara
Edrakk
Vitalis (-48) {Fast Healing 8: Round 0 of 4}
Chance {enfeebled 1; stupefied 1}
Yellow (-19) {4d6 persistent acid}
Green (-2)
==============
Edrakk quickly downs the vial he had pulled out a moment ago before mixing up another vial of strong acid and throwing point-blank at the statue.
Jisara hurls a piece of one of the broken statues at its comrade, crossing her fingers that she doesn't share Chance's fate.
I…don’t think that’s how that works in this polytheistic setting. But you’re a paladin, so if that’s what you’re going with then so be it.
Vitalis attacks the statue he flanks with Edrakk.
Chance continues his song, and flings more debris at the green statue.
"Flugantaj rokoj por ĵokeoj!"
Jisara attacks Green.
Edrakk drinks his elixir and throws a bomb at Green!
Vitalis attacks Green, causing it to explode!
Chance then attacks Yellow!
Yellow attacks Vitalis.
Failure --> Success (nat 20)
And Yellow explodes!
Vitalis heals 24 HP from lay on hands. He and Jisara then Refocus.
Dust covers the floor and cobwebs hang from the ceiling of this vaulted, fifty-foot-long hallway. Curved alcoves flank the hallway, four to a side. Each alcove contains a long-dry basin held aloft by a stone dwarf. Runes are carved above the door to the south, while the door itself bears the carved face of a scowling dwarven man.
At the far end of the hallway is a complex-looking door. Above the door are runes that read Vrutan jr eth klarthji avor unmaking, skyx vaa ilv ta vur mjuva ekk prayer ilv eth vulridir avor stjar withaur mjilv inni vaem hja karnr hef bjorgart.
As the one in the group that can read Dwarven, Vitalis does what the runes say.
As Vitalis gives a prayer in Dwarven to Torag, the complex lock on the door disengages and it swings open.
Thick layers of dust cover the floor of this room and the looming contraption of stone and iron it contains. Looking something akin to a massive, squat bell of stone bound in iron bands, the device is connected to pillars of iron to the west, east, and south via taut metal chains. Four iron beams radiate from the top of the central bell, almost like the wheel of an ancient winch.
On the other side of the room are two dwarves, each with beards and warhammers of pure flame. When the PCs begin to move into the room, the dwarves slam their flaming warhammers onto the ground to get attention.
”Speak, outsiders.”
“What business have ye with the Anvil of Unmaking?”
Chance steps forward, voice quavering at first but growing stronger as he speaks.
"Your keep has fallen into the hands of the Thrice-Damned House of Thrune! For nearly a century, the devil-bound rulers of this nation - Cheliax, it is called now - have held this fortress in the name of the Lord of Hell and have used it to control the pass through the mountains! Our home, Kintargo, the Silver City on the northern coast, suffers greatly under the oppression of the High Inquisitor of the Church of Asmodeus, the Dishonorable Lord-Mayor Barzillai Thrune, who rules by iron fist and unlawful decree!"
He takes a quiet breath, and plunges forward. "The people of Kintargo yearn for freedom from this infernal yoke. We have the spirit to overthrow our oppressors and if we faced only the Lord-Mayor and his thugs, we would at least have a fighting chance! Yet so long as forces loyal to the House of Thrune and the Prince of Lies hold the keep, we know that at the first sign that the people are ready to throw off their chains, Barzillai Thrune will call down the full weight of the infernal empire on our heads and thousands of Kintargans will be killed. We have taken control from the imperial army for now, but we cannot hold it."
The gnome points to Vitalis. "If you do not credit my words, then I beg you to listen to our comrade, a paladin of Shelyn, a sworn defender of the very art your people crafted into every stone of this keep. He will explain why this destruction, which would otherwise be anathema to him and to the Lady he serves, is necessary to prevent a greater evil. I am small --" and cursed! "-- and not of your folk, but I swear to you that we would not be here if there were any other way to save our people."
Edrakk steps forward a bit behind Chance, craning his neck a bit to see the device. "A-as much as I don't want to destroy such an ingenious contraption, i-it's thanks to that contraption we have a chance to keep reinforcements out by blocking this path."
"My friend Chance is correct. The destruction of such a marvelous structure would normally be unheard of. But these are not normal times. The dwarves who built this keep were wise to foresee that the need to destroy it might arise. And that time is now. We seek to free the people of Kintargo from the yoke of evil...as much as can be done within Cheliax at least. Whether or not we destroy the keep, we cannot turn back from path we have begun down. But by allowing us to destroy this keep, it will spare thousands of innocents from the bloodshed that would be caused if House Thrune is able to send its military might through the pass. We did not come to the keep for violence and we beg you to allow us to proceed without the need for more."
Jisara is much more blunt than any of her companions. "These bastards are enemies of Torag, and our best way to strike back at them is to bring this mountain down on their heads."
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The dwarves look at each other in silent conversation. After a brief moment, they turn back to the PCs. ”This land has fallen to the clutches of Hell?”
“Then justice must be served. What has been made can be recreated.”
“With Heaven’s blessing, you may use the Anvil of Unmaking. Rotate the wheel atop the bell.”
“You will then have but 10 minutes to leave and avoid the keep’s collapse.”
The dwarves grip their warhammers and swing them against the ground with a sound like struck metal. In a flash of light and flame, the dwarves vanish, their service complete.
Following the dwarves’ instructions, the PCs take the wheel atop the stone bell and turn it one full rotation. Once they do, the chains connecting to the pillars grow taut and shatter the three pillars, which, as expected, were load-bearing.
The groans of the keep’s foundation begin immediately as it becomes clear that the whole structure will begin to collapse in a matter of minutes. The PCs run as fast as possible, creating as much of a distance as possible from Menador Keep. After 10 minutes, just as expected, the arch above the keep collapses down, destroying the keep in a spectacular cascade!
The PCs create their magical chariot and set off back towards Kintargo; they have a ball to prepare for.
*
*
Second, y’all have 10 days of downtime before the Ruby Masquerade. I’m assuming that y’all will want to sell items, so I’ll also need everyone to go through the inventory sheet, mark what they want to keep, and post in Discussion that you’ve done so. Remember that (thanks to Hetamon and House Vashnarstill) you can buy and sell up to 9th-level items. Even though it’s not officially released, I’ll allow y’all to also buy items from Treasure Vault.
But there are also a few more orders of business before we get to the Ruby Masquerade:
First, y’all need to get an invitation. This is mostly hand-waved, as the adventure expects the invites to be easy to acquire, but if you want to give a narrative for how you got the invite, then go ahead.
Second, y’all need outfits and masks for the ball. There are but two requirements for those who secure invitations to the Ruby Masquerade—everyone must incorporate the color red into their outfits in some manner, and everyone must wear a mask. As is tradition in Kintargan masked balls, at the stroke of midnight, masks are removed and the identities of those you’ve spent the evening with are revealed. All I need to know is just how much each of you spend on your outfit and how much you spend on your mask. Just pick a number of gold pieces to spend on each and I’ll figure it out from there. Obviously y’all can choose the aesthetics of your outfit and mask.
Third, equipment. You are allowed to wear light and medium armor to the ball, but heavy armor is not allowed. Additionally, weapons are not allowed and will be confiscated at the entrance. If y’all want to use your heavy armor/weapons, y’all will have to get creative.
Pre-Masquerade Preparation:
Vitalis spends 7 days training Quick Climb to Quick Jump. After the grease fiasco, Vitalis spends days in the Silver Raven's headquarters practicing short jumps and wall jumps all throughout the halls, probably much to the dismay of the other followers who are just trying to walk normally.
For his outfit, luckily, Vitalis bought 55 gp high-fashion fine clothing that incorporated red for his last social encounter, so he'll reuse that. And for the mask, he'll spend an equal amount of 55 gp for a hopefully decent quality one. At the beginning of the week, he'll request the mask-maker craft him a mask in the shape of a red rose growing devil's horns to incorporate both Vitalis' affiliations with Shelyn and the Hellknights. Spend 1 day shopping. (I don't know how much money we'll end up with. If I can afford a +2 weapon rune, I'll try to get one, otherwise I'll continue saving for it.)
For his remaining 2 days, for lack of better idea at the moment, he'll recruit more followers.
As for armor/weapons at the ball, Vitalis will wear the padded armor undercoat from his fullplate and conceal his halberd and a dagger with his ring of discretion and hope the guards at the door don't put us under magical scrutiny. The dagger being for if the halberd is discovered, he can still attempt to keep the smaller weapon hidden. He'll continue to wear his other invested magic items on himself at the masquerade too.
Edrakk spends the first day shopping, mostly buying more formulas to scribe later, but also picking out clothes for the gala. He already bought a nice outfit for the banquet, so he's not going to get an entire new suit, but the last one didn't feature much red, so he does need to make some adjustments. Edrakk's new suit consists of a black waistcoat with a red floral pattern and a sharp black suit jacket lined with red along the edges, as well as a white cravat and the same dress shirt, pants, and boots from the banquet. Once again, he also works to wash out the bloodstains from his healer's gloves.
The mask Edrakk chooses is somewhat reminiscent of a plague doctor mask, with a long snout that goes over his beak and darker goggle-like eyeholes, but the beak is lined with red lace and the edges of the top of the mask have red and black feathers.
In assembling this outfit, he finds buried in one of his bags, almost forgotten, a fan his parents had given him when he left, made of ruby red feathers with stylized black crows embroidered on, and decides to add that to his look.
The next 5 days he spends filling his formula book with the recipes he bought.
Day 1: Chance spends 1 day on the shopping - helping to sell the party's loot, buying other items. He already has a scarlet suit of fine clothing (55gp), purchased for the Queen of Delight's dinner party, and a fancy black hat with an enormously broad brim. The long red feather pinned to his hat did not survive the voyage home from Vyre, however, so he spends 1 gp to buy another.
Transfer of runes: depending on Jisara's availability , Chance would pay 50gp to transfer the flaming rune onto his rapier, 6.5gp to transfer the striking rune onto his +1 silver dagger, and 3.5gp to transfer the +1 weapon potency rune to The Dischordance.
Chance spends 55gp on his mask for the ball. He considers asking the costumer to make the mask in the likeness of Lucian Thrune, but he doesn't have to think about it for long before he can hear the panicked voices of Octavio and Rexus in his head sputtering things like "operational security" and "admission of guilt" and "are you INSANE?" and whatever. He almost does it anyway, but then he imagines Lady Docur looking slightly disappointed and Laria glaring at him, and he sighs because it isn't nearly as much fun winding them up.
It's one thing for your friends to think you might be a dangerous lunatic, and quite another if they think you're an idiot. We're walking into the lair of a dangerous lunatic already, so I'd have to be an idiot to provoke him the moment I get there.
Sigh. Fine, sensible and responsible it shall be. I'll just have to take a different risk later!
Instead, in honor of Nivi Rhombodazzle, he has his mask made to look like one face of a red six-sided die, with six holes where the pips would be. The two top holes open over his eyes, and the others provide some air circulation and allow him to be heard when he speaks without sounding too muffled.
The bard also buys 60gp of assorted batches of incense, herbs, semi-precious stones, and bits of gold and silver ornamentation for his next attempt to call a more powerful extraplanar watchdog. As he is walking out of the apothecary's shop, he spies a handful of large bottles on a high shelf. He climbs onto a nearby counter and pulls one down to examine it. Inside, it contains a tiny hippogriff.
Chance peers at the label and when he realizes what it is, he chortles with glee, hops down to the floor, and rushes to the counter to add it to his purchases.
HIPPOGRIFF IN A JAR ITEM 5
ALCHEMICAL CONSUMABLE EXPANDABLE*
Price 30 gp
Usage held in 1 hand; Bulk L
Activate [two-actions] Interact
This bottle contains a shrunken hippogriff. When opened, the contents reconstitute into a Large effigy of a hippogriff. The hippogriff waits up to 1 round and allows two creatures to mount it, then Flies up to 65 feet and waits 1 more round to give the mounted creatures time to dismount. Creatures who are still mounted on the hippogriff when it dissolves fall prone in the space where the hippogriff corpse ends its movement.
Craft Requirements Supply a hippogriff corpse (Bestiary 2 143).
He also picks up a scroll of invisible item . He isn't sure yet what he will do with it - maybe use it to bring his +1 silver dagger to the party - but he knows it will be useful somehow.
Day 2: The next day, Chance gets up early and wolfs down his breakfast before hauling a sackful of expensive occult miscellany up to the ruined entrance of the Lucky Bones. He empties the contents of the sack onto the floor in front of one of the fireplaces, and sets up for another attempt at his ritual.
"OK, you formless energy beings from Beyond the Veil! Let's get this party started!" He swallows the last of his coffee, carefully places his favorite mug (on which someone has painted "BARD COLLEGE DROPOUT") on the floor well away from where he will be working.
Over the next several days, Chance makes sure to renew his sigil for anyone whose original mark has faded, so that everyone who has free entry to the Lucky Bones can go past the Sentinel without triggering an alarm and overwhelming Chance with inescapable telepathic messages. As he explains to the Silver Council, "You'll all be overjoyed to know that I finally succeeded in installing a more powerful guardian at the entrance to the Lucky Bones! It's also from the Plane of Water (I think) and I'm going to call it Spot because it just guards that one spot and it can warn me of intruders coming in through our front door anyway no matter how far away I am anywhere in the world! Isn't that great? What do you mean, can it warn you if we're out of town again? That's not how it works, weren't you listening? You'll still be taken by surprise, I guess. I mean, maybe there's some way we could send you a message from wherever we are, like with the bird statues but faster? I don't know. But anyway, at least we'll know what happened!"
Days 3 and 4: Chance spends a couple of days going around town with Vendalfek and the Fushi Sisters, spreading rumors that he, Edrakk, Jisara, and Vitalis were each seen at multiple locations in Kintargo over the past several weeks (and not at all on any kind of journey into the Menador mountains).
Before she spends the day working on transferring the rune to Vitalis's gauntlet, Jisara hands Chance a list of materials and items she needs for her workshop, along with a request for a set of armor for her to wear. That takes up the entirety of her share from the Menador adventure, plus a chunk of her savings, so she spends comparatively little on her own mask: 10gp for one of a leering devil face, with colors to match the dress she wore in Vyre.
The mask Edrakk chooses is somewhat reminiscent of a plague doctor mask, with a long snout that goes over his beak and darker goggle-like eyeholes, but the beak is lined with red lace and the edges of the top of the mask have red and black feathers.
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*
*
*
9 o’clock. That’s curfew. The invitations state that they provide an explicit exception to curfew if attending the Ruby Masquerade.
Regardless, the PCs arrive at the ball. Perhaps early. Perhaps on-time. Perhaps fashionably late. Whatever the case, Barzillai’s ball would be going until midnight.
The sheer size of the Opera House makes it clear why the original Silver Ravens chose it as their base of operations—keeping tabs on every single room would be near impossible.
When the PCs arrive, they are met outside by men wearing fine chainmail, red tabbards, and porcelain masks bearing simple smiley-faces. . These men look at the invitations and do a simple pat-down of the guests—not invasively so, but enough.
The Silver Ravens manage to get one of their own to replace a member of Barzillai’s staff for the ball.
The Smiley pats down Vitalis and the paladin immediately notices that the Smiley has very clearly found the dagger on his person. However, the Smiley gives Vitalis a quick wink. ”Sorry for the inconvenience, sir. You’re all clear.”
”Refreshments can be found in the low seating—first door straight ahead—and the assembly room—first door on your left. Charcuterie plates are available for the guests, and the Lord-Mayor has graciously donated bottles of assassin vine wine from his personal collection.”
”Dancing on the stage shall continue throughout the evening. If you wish to pay any offerings to the host, you may do so in the Prince’s Parlor—take the left stairs over there and it will be the first door on your left. Two events are scheduled. At 10 o’clock, Lord-Mayor Thrune will be leading the guests in the Dance of the Damned. At midnight, during the unmasking ceremony, Lord-Mayor Thrune will be giving an announcement regarding our city’s future. Apart from these, you are free to mingle as you wish. Please stay within the appropriate areas.”
The PCs enter the Kintargo Opera House and find the sheer amount of red clothing almost disorienting. The finery on display is truly a sight to behold, with masks ranging from the simple to the extravagantly impractical. Elegant music echoes throughout the halls.
But there is one guest who immediately catches the PCs’ eye: a gentleman wearing a black cape with a brooch bearing the Chelish Cross. He wears blood-red fine clothing with a belt buckle that bears the pentagram of Asmodeus. He wears a red-and-black mask of a stereotypical horned devil. But it is the dagger and mace at his hip (weren’t weapons not allowed?) that give away his identity: this is without a doubt Barzillai Thrune.
Barzillai makes no effort to hide the fact that he is indeed the host of the event, and he is surrounded by a small crowd of mingling sycophants as he walks into another room to greet his guests.
The Silver Ravens manage to get one of their own to replace a member of Barzillai’s staff for the ball.
As Vitalis begins going about his way at the ball, he suddenly notices that there is something in his pocket that wasn’t there before: a piece of parchment.
There are some cockatrices in cages in the assembly room. There’s also a hidden release switch that will open the cockatrices’ cages and let them loose. If you want me to jam the switch, I’m the one with the inside-out tabard.
There are, of course, devils too. Three bearded devils are to the east of the stage. There’s a fury devil on the third floor west security balcony, and two more bearded devils on the opposite side of the third floor. And there’s a bone devil down in the orchestra pit. All the devils are apparently sticking to the dress code, ‘cuz they’re all wearing masks too. That’s all the intel I could get; I tried to get working on a copy of the master key, but didn’t have enough time.
Down with Thrune!
9:00 - 9:30
==============
Chance
Jisara
Edrakk
Vitalis
==============
Vitalis gathers his allies in a quiet corner and shares the letter with them. "It's not a surprise that devils would be in attendance, but I doubt they are here to socialize. The cockatrices could also be bad news. I will definitely tell our insider to jam that switch."
"I'm not really here to socialize either. Neither do I want to cause a commotion just yet, but perhaps we can attempt to silently put a wrench in some of Barzillai's plans? The devils are probably the biggest threat but also the biggest problem. I know some devils can communicate telepathically or teleport so attacking one would likely alarm everyone. But I doubt the dottari have the same abilities. The six dottari stationed in hiding to the east might be a target we could hit. But we probably don't want to take them out too early and risk their absence being discovered either. Perhaps an hour before midnight?"
"The first event is in an hour. Should we split up and explore what other opportunities we could exploit? Thoughts?"
Chance does a double-take when they notice Barzillai and his entourage heading into another room.
"Oh, dang! He's accepting offerings in the Prince's Parlor, and here I am without a gift for our delightful host! Edrakk, perhaps you brought something that might make a suitable impression?"
After listening for a moment to the music wafting through the opera house, the bard shakes his head in annoyance and confusion. "That's odd. The music - it's just an illusion. There aren't any musicians playing!" He scowls at the masked partygoers around them and lowers his voice. "This is Kintargo, for crying out loud! This is the first time the opera house has been opened to the public since Thrune took over, and this city is overrun with fantastic musicians who would kill or die to play here. Hell's bells, if he had been hiring performers for tonight, you would probably have had to tie me unconscious in my room to keep me from auditioning! And he clearly isn't worried about the expense to the public treasury. So why would he fake an orchestra when it's obvious to anyone who is paying attention?"
He listens for a moment longer, then adds, "It's harmless. At least for now. But keep your guard up - it could turn bad quickly. What else does he have up his sleeve?"
Chance does a double-take when they notice Barzillai and his entourage heading into another room.
"Oh, dang! He's accepting offerings in the Prince's Parlor, and here I am without a gift for our delightful host! Edrakk, perhaps you brought something that might make a suitable impression?"
After listening for a moment to the music wafting through the opera house, the bard shakes his head in annoyance and confusion. "That's odd. The music - it's just an illusion. There aren't any musicians playing!" He scowls at the masked partygoers around them and lowers his voice. "This is Kintargo, for crying out loud! This is the first time the opera house has been opened to the public since Thrune took over, and this city is overrun with fantastic musicians who would kill or die to play here. Hell's bells, if he had been hiring performers for tonight, you would probably have had to tie me unconscious in my room to keep me from auditioning! And he clearly isn't worried about the expense to the public treasury. So why would he fake an orchestra when it's obvious to anyone who is paying attention?"
He listens for a moment longer, then adds, "It's harmless. At least for now. But keep your guard up - it could turn bad quickly. What else does he have up his sleeve?"
"Devils and dottari. Now we know it's a party! I may have a surprise for a couple of the devils, at least, and when we decide to go for Thrune's hidden goons, I can keep us all invisible right up to the last moment. We've got an hour until the dance, and we don't know for certain how long that will take, right? We could get another hour between the end of the dance and Barzillai's big announcement, or one could finish right before the other starts. I feel like our priorities ought to be telling your inside ally to jam the cages, then take out the devils - there are only three, and Barzillai probably can't replace them quickly, while he could still send a runner to fetch more thugs within a few minutes."
Chance starts pacing as his anxiety mounts. "But I'm also curious about why we're all here and what the big announcement is going to be. I mean, this has to be some kind of trap, right? Hidden guards are one thing - paranoid dictatorial ruler is gonna be paranoid - and where Thrunes go, devils go too, but there's no explanation for bringing cockatrices to a party that ends well for anybody! But it's too much just to be a trap for us, so who else is he trying to catch in it? One of the other guests? All of them? Did he invite everyone in town who hates him so that he could kill (or petrify) all of us at once? I think we should spend the first half hour or so trying to identify as many of the other guests as we can, to figure out what they - and we - might have in common."
Jisara feigns nonchalance, nibbling at a charcuterie plate she's commandeered for herself. "I'll send Thatch to look around the place, but what's the plan, exactly? Are we here to embarrass him, or"—her voice drops into a low whisper—"are we here to end him?"
"P-put this in your mouth before a fight, and when someone hits you with a metal weapon, bite down really hard and it'll momentarily stun them."
”Refreshments can be found in the low seating—first door straight ahead—and the assembly room—first door on your left. Charcuterie plates are available for the guests, and the Lord-Mayor has graciously donated bottles of assassin vine wine from his personal collection.”
"Oooh, I-I've heard about these!" He very enthusiastically starts eating the charcuterie, and takes a glass of wine, although seems to be saving that for later.
[dice=Will DC 25]1d20+14
Vitalis gathers his allies in a quiet corner and shares the letter with them. "It's not a surprise that devils would be in attendance, but I doubt they are here to socialize. The cockatrices could also be bad news. I will definitely tell our insider to jam that switch."
"I'm not really here to socialize either. Neither do I want to cause a commotion just yet, but perhaps we can attempt to silently put a wrench in some of Barzillai's plans? The devils are probably the biggest threat but also the biggest problem. I know some devils can communicate telepathically or teleport so attacking one would likely alarm everyone. But I doubt the dottari have the same abilities. The six dottari stationed in hiding to the east might be a target we could hit. But we probably don't want to take them out too early and risk their absence being discovered either. Perhaps an hour before midnight?"
"The first event is in an hour. Should we split up and explore what other opportunities we could exploit? Thoughts?"
"I-I think we should split up and just gather information first, see as much as we can. We don't want to make a scene too early, so we should keep a low p-profile for now."
Chance does a double-take when they notice Barzillai and his entourage heading into another room.
"Oh, dang! He's accepting offerings in the Prince's Parlor, and here I am without a gift for our delightful host! Edrakk, perhaps you brought something that might make a suitable impression?"
"O-oh, uh..." He starts running through the mental list of what he prepared. "...no, I'm afraid I don't really. I-I could try and make something I suppose? I'm not sure how much I'd have to work w-with here, though."
Jisara feigns nonchalance, nibbling at a charcuterie plate she's commandeered for herself. "I'll send Thatch to look around the place, but what's the plan, exactly? Are we here to embarrass him, or"—her voice drops into a low whisper—"are we here to end him?"
Edrakk taps his foot as he thinks for a minute, before responding in a similar low whisper. "...I don't think we should go out of our way if we don't get a good chance, cause we'd risk drawing too much attention and taking too big of a risk. If there's an opportunity though..."
Chance accepts Edrakk's offer to Tweak Appearances before the party, then stands awkwardly as the tengu attempts to tame his unruly hair and straighten his clothes. He stores all of his weapons in the bag of holding: +1 striking flaming rapier, +1 striking silver dagger, +1 striking shortbow, arrows, 2 vials of holy water, and The Dischordance, and wears his usual armor with the fancy outfit.
Once at the party, he follows Edrakk's and Jisara's lead and nabs a charcuterie plate. He holds off on the wine until closer to the Dance of the Damned, when he thinks the tremorsense might be useful.
”Unless Barzillai’s big announcement is his resignation, I think our plan ought to be to throw as big a wrench in it as we can because it can’t be anything good. Llike I said, I think the whole party is a trap and I want to know who it’s for - I doubt it’s just about us.”
then take out the devils - there are only three,
Osyluths (more colloquially called “bone devils”) are the sadistic inquisitors of Hell, and are so-called “artists of agony.” They are said to be able to exploit weakened creatures and are able to vanish without a trace in the blink of an eye .
Cockatrices are chimeric beasts whose bite can cause petrification. However, such petrification is usually temporary.
Erinyes (more colloquially known as “fury devils”) are Hell’s vengeful justice-seekers. Where an osyluth interrogates, an erinys apprehends. Any weapon they wield is infused with their fiery anger, and they can send a wave of arrows in a 30-foot cone as a 3-action activity.
9:00 - 9:30
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Chance
Jisara
Edrakk
Vitalis
==============
Chance tells the group everything he can remember about bearded, bone, and fury devils, and about cockatrices.
"I think I'll go check out the main level seating and the stage, see if I can recognize anyone. Meet back here in half an hour, at 9:30?"
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After conversing the outline of a plan, Vitalis breaks from the group and makes a B-line for Barzillai Thrune. He pushes his way through the crowd of sycophants and extends a hand for the Lord-Mayor to shake. "It seems we have similar tastes in devilish looks Lord-Mayor. I can't thank you enough for the invitation. This party is sure to be unforgettable."
Vitalis spends the rest of the half hour partaking in the charcuterie and scanning the opera house for faces he recognizes and especially for the 'smiley' with the inside-out tabard.
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Edrakk follows Thatch up to the balcony, making sure the cat doesn't get into any trouble and perhaps trying to do a bit of socializing to get an idea of who's in attendance here.
Chance moves to the low seating to see if there’s anyone he can recognize. Unfortunately, the abundance of masks makes it difficult to properly discern people’s identities—yes, body types and mannerisms help, but unless he decides to just pick out someone in the crowd and watch them for an extended period of time, it’s unlikely that he’ll definitively determine someone’s identity.
Chance mingles with the various guests in an attempt to try to learn more about who they are, but to minimal success. More successfully, though, is that he seems to get in some of the guests’ good graces. But he does also overhear one interesting tidbit:
“It’s true! My friend spotted a dragon wheeling about in the sky last night in front of the full moon!”
*
Jisara goes to the assembly room to mingle. She finds that the aforementioned cockatrices are indeed in this room. They are in hanging cages suspended 7 feet above the ground. Some of the guests are disturbed by the beasts’ presence, but others seem to enjoy observing the creatures in much the same way that one would enjoy going to the zoo.
As she speaks with the partygoers, Jisara gets an inkling based off of these people’s mannerisms: the guests come from all walks of life. The poor, the rich, the Loyalist, the Oppositionist, the Moderate. Thrune surprisingly made good on his promise: this ball is open to everyone, not just the elite.
”The wine, the food, the company from all walks of life. This ball truly is something….maybe Barzillai isn’t all bad?”
*
Edrakk climbs the stairs to the balcony above the stage. He notices a pair of Smileys standing near each stairwell on this floor. This area seems to have once been seating for any opera being performed on the stage below, but like the low seating a floor down, the seats have been removed to allow for a more open floor plan for mingling among the guests.
Edrakk has a difficult time getting anyone to speak with him; apparently citizens of more noble and elite backgrounds decided to congregate up on the balcony, and they are less than willing to speak with one who is obviously of a much lower class.
*
Vitalis easily finds his contact among the Smileys, relaying to the man to sabotage the release switch for the cockatrices. The contact nods and weaves through the crowd to go do just that.
Vitalis finds that Barzillai and his entourage seem to be lingering in the low seating area. As the paladin tries to push toward the Lord-Mayor, he finds that his entourage of sycophants to be particularly vulturous in trying to curry the Inquisitor’s favor. Each of them are trying to get close to the man to shake his hand, make favors of him, or the like, and likewise try to keep others from doing the same. Barzillai, meanwhile, is reveling in his followers’ scrambling to get his attention.
Unless Vitalis wishes to make a scene (unwise with the Lord-Mayor right there), he will have to play nice and navigate the sycophantic currying of favor.
Vitalis moves his way through the crowd, speaking well enough for them to let him through. As he approaches Barzillai, he manages to shake the man’s hand.
"It seems we have similar tastes in devilish looks Lord-Mayor. I can't thank you enough for the invitation. This party is sure to be unforgettable."
”Oh yes, a man—or woman, I don’t judge—after my own heart. Please, be sure to visit the Prince’s Parlor to express your thanks for the evening.” The Lord-Mayor’s response is boilerplated and half-caring—while Vitalis made an excellent impression upon Barzillai’s entourage, he failed to distinguish himself as more than just a face in the crowd to the man himself.
“Lord-Mayor! There have been sightings of a strange bipedal reptile in the sewers—the creature seems to be particularly clever at throwing off pursuers. Surely something must be done!”
Another of Barzillai’s sycophants (the vultures that they are) vies desperately for the Inquisitor’s attention.
”Is that so? Well, I will surely discuss it with Captain Trex for the dottari to look into.” Barzillai clearly only heard about half of what that sycophant said, just responding to appease the person’s desperate need for attention.
9:30 - 10:00
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Chance
Jisara
Edrakk
Vitalis
==============
Chance weaves through the crowd, dodging carelessly held wineglasses and billowing dresses, toward the entrance hall to check in with his friends.
If I ever decide to give up my career as a Maestro of the Occult Arts - and I think that's how I should introduce myself from now on - I should take up pickpocketing. But I would only work the fanciest parties. He narrowly avoids being clocked by a drunken partygoer's coin pouch. Like this one.
Once he meets up with the others, Chance tells them what he overheard about the dragon sighting. "Do you think it's the Peacock? Could he have healed up, hopped on another dragon, and flown here to wreak a fiery vengeance on the plucky band of misfit heroes - sorry, Vitalis - who destroyed his dreams of conquest?"
"Meet back here right before the dance starts?" Unless someone has another suggestion , Chance heads for the stage again, but only to take the backstage stairs up to the third floor to see what's waiting up there. He nabs a glass of the assassin vine wine to drink along the way.
9:30-10:00
Vitalis excuses himself from the crowd surrounding the Lord-Mayor and makes his way to sneak off into the east wing.
Stealth +9
Perception +11
When no one is looking Vitalis cracks open the door from the foyer, steps inside and closes in behind him. Moving quietly, he inspects the nearby rooms. He listens at the surrounding doors (with red arrows) and also inspects the doors' functionality (if they open inward or outward, etc.) to see if the doors can be jammed (maybe with a chair or a wedge). He hopes he doesn't encounter any dottari or servants, but if he does, he plans to pretend to be a lost guest.
"The crowd appears to truly be made up of people from all walks of life," Jisara says once they reconvene. "I must admit that only makes me even more suspicious."
When they split up, Jisara heads upstairs to the balcony to retrieve Thatch, who then sticks close to her heels as she makes her way to the Prince's Parlor. There, she surveys the gifts the gifts that have already been left for the Lord-Mayor, before finally heading back down the northern stairs to the backstage area.
"The crowd appears to truly be made up of people from all walks of life," Jisara says once they reconvene. "I must admit that only makes me even more suspicious."
"M-most of the people I saw were nobles, and rude ones at that." Edrakk says, obviously offended at being brushed off.
He then heads up to the third floor, trying to mingle with people in the approved areas and perhaps trying to get a covert look into some of the off-limits areas.