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Ehm looks around some more.
Ehm quickly moves to the door, listens, and (if hearing/seeing nothing) opens it.
Ehm quickly moves across the hall to the other door, listens, and (if hearing/seeing nothing) opens it.
Ansha searches the papers in the main office. Although cryptic, her linguistic skills give her enough knowledge about codes to realize the papers are evidence of bribes to city officials. She casually places them in her pocket.
Ehm moves across the corridor and works on the door with Rakesh. Even after 1 minute, they're unable to pick the door.
--Minute 3
Ansha
Ehm
Kitoro
Kyra
Rakesh
Roderick
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Rakesh looks up at Ehm after realizing the lock is too difficult.
"Hey, Ehm, did you happen to find any keys anywhere? They might work on this door and the barred gate in the office over there."
He points his lock pick towards the area where Ansha is.
"That area behind the barred gate may have a lot of incriminating evidence in there."
Kyra offers spiritual guidance for anyone trying to defeat the evil locks.
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Kitoro opens the door to Sloan's office. This small chamber contains chairs and a desk with an appointment calendar resting on it. A receptionist sits behind a desk, and asks her if she has an appointment.
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Cabinets and large ironbound chests line the walls. One chest contains stacks of coins, from mints around the Inner Sea. The other chest contains valuable items left as collateral. Brilliant gems, paintings, and other objects of craft all bear neat labels naming the owner.
An oversized wooden mask with sharp corners, and a prominent forehead adorned with glowing runes, marks the centerpiece of the western wall. The mask’s owner is listed as Maiveer Sloan.
Three of the cabinets contain records. Rakesh finds evidence of the illegal sale of Thassilonian relics, as well as references to another vault in the building.
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Ansha, as well as anyone else with a line of sight into the main office area, sees a sudden uptick of activity within the office. Clerks seem to be hurriedly clearing off their desks, and burning documents in small trash cans.
If any of you approach any of the clerks, they flee the building immediately.
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Well, Calistria's taut-- Ansha curses mentally, noticing the frenzy. Looks like that guard was too perceptive by half.
With that, Ansha hastens to join her comrades in the hallway. "Oh, a mask of mental warding," she says quietly when she sees the oversize wooden mask. "Might want to nab that, just on principle."
[dice=perception]1d20+4[/dice
We might want to get some of those records...before they are ashes...
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Rakesh stuffs the papers containing the records of the illegal sales of Thassilonian relics into his handy haversack then hurries out the door and quickly opens the door near Ehm. He darts down the short hall and opens the door near the warehouse to the south, using the keys if necessary.
He realizes something is terribly wrong with all the clerks scurrying about and destroying evidence throughout the compound.
Opening the door, he turns to address his companions before darting into the room.
"If we need to make a quick escape, I have a potion of invisibility that I'm considering to chug down to flee out of here undetected. If we get separated, let's plan to meet back up at Lady Heidmarch's lodge."
Rakesh finds the key opens the locked door to the south. A small corridor connects two small jail cells, each containing a bed and chamber pot.
The first cell holds a distraught young man named Jardan Viskeni who works as a servant at Heidmarch Manor. He requests Rakesh free him.
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Ehm and Kyra open the door to the north. Jeweler’s tools, brushes, and other devices to clean and repair fine art and ancient artifacts cover the two workbenches in this room. A small tome on one table details common techniques of ancient artists and how to identify their work.
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Kitoro and Roderick sweet-talk their way past the gates as the alarm is sounded.
Maiveer Sloan holds private meetings with important guests and trading partners in this chamber. An ornate fireplace heats the room, with carvings of mephits eagerly reaching for the flames. A polished darkwood desk rests in the center of the chamber.
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""
The Pathfinders look out the windows, and see large patrols (20+ guards and a guard officer) surrounding the building. A small fire brigade is on hand to help put out the fires.
An elite unit loyal to the Lord-Mayor arrives, headed by a gaunt, fashionably dressed Taldan, who quivers with outrage as he approaches.
His clothes are in disarray, but he moves with surety. The two followers accompanying him half draw their weapons but a gesture from the man stops them.
“I am Maiveer Sloan, and you must answer to me. How dare you hooligans trespass here? Are you fools or simply new to Magnimar? I assure you, you’ll be coming to know the Hells quite well. Explain yourselves before I see your families arrested as conspirators in this vandalism as well.”
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After a bit of back and forth conversation, Rakesh believes the prisoner is from Heidmarch Manor. He lets the prisoner out and helps him out an unguarded window to get back safely to the manor.
----------------------
Rakesh resists the temptation of ripping Sloan's heart out of his chest. He waits for the more eloquent members of the group to state their case for the reason that they are trespassing.
Ehm points out the damage done to the Bronze House by the people bumbling about, which embarasses Sloan.
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"You got me. I'm criminally bored! Unable to sit in a seat for, what, 3 hours? We came here to do business, but I can see that working with them will be quite impossible. I've resorted to playing with puppets."
It seems like Kit will pull out her puppets at the least opportunity. Out comes a handful and she plies them masterfully. She takes the guards through a voyage of boredom in an office while the poor, mistreated visitors are forced to come up with their own entertainment.
"There now. do we seem like miscreants to you?"
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Ansha produces the Writ of Authority. "We're here on official business from the Council of Ushers, so perhaps you should be less apt to call us hooligans and trespassers, Sloan," she says. "But we all already know that that's just projection on your part. We found that you've got quite the trove of illegally smuggled artifacts, you know. Not to mention the bribes you paid off city officials with. Do you really want to go down that road?"
Ansha makes a few accusations that make the guards reconsider who they've aligned with.
Kyra watches the newcomers carefully
Sloan looks thoroughly unsettled.
However, that only makes him more volatile and aggressive. "The Council sends rats to steal from me? You vermin have become too bold." Sloan prepares to depart, but now that he is flustered, the Pathfinders can pick at him for information.
• The Pathfinders may accuse Sloan of being involved with the attack on the Grand Convocation - as there is no proof, a Bluff check to feign knowledge or a Linguistics check to present one of the documents as a forgery.
• The Pathfinders may accuse Sloan of conspiring with others to attack the Grand Convocation - a Sense Motive check to read his reaction to the accusation will tell, or a Knowledge (arcana) check to know what magic would have been necessary.
• The Pathfinders may also accuse Sloan of being behind the smuggling operation (presenting pieces of evidence gathered from the Bronze House or the dig site), or attempt a Knowledge (history) check to identify one of his pieces of jewelry as being from the dig site.
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“Come now, Sloan. Are you really that thin-skinned?” Ansha goads. “Or now that we’re here, are you afraid that your attack on the Pathfinder Society’s Grand Convocation will come to light? We haven’t forgotten that, you know. About how a peaceful gathering became a bloodbath, and about how you personally were involved in the slaughter. About how you slipped a dagger into our backs while we were celebrating old friends’ reunions. Was it worth it, the bloodshed? Did it fatten your coin purse as much as you’d hoped?”
Faced with the accusations about the relics and the convocation (), Sloan shakily mutters to himself while scratching at his hand. “Impossible…does it surprise you that one of your masked leaders
dances to our tune? Did you truly think there was honor among thieves?”
The city guards begin closing in, and the Pathfinders get one more try to obtain information from Sloan.
• The Pathfinders can Sense Motive to see whether his claim of a traitor in the Decemvirate is true.
• The Pathfinders can notice details about Sloan with a Disguise or Perception check.
• The word "dances" may ring a bell in some Pathfinders' minds. Spellcraft or Perform (sing) to recall how.
Ansha and Kitoro recall the music played at the Grand Convocation and realize it might have been part of a compulsion effect. Kitoro hums the tune to Sloan, who confesses, “So you know about our unwitting spies. You miscreants turn on each other so easily. When you feel an ally’s blade at your throat, remember I guided it there."
Ehm carefully watches Sloan with Roderick's aid, but still cannot find anything incriminating.
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Oh aye, ye may ha been a wee bit of a bother in the past. But seeings how yer gonna swing fer yer crimes, ya not be a bother ta us fer lang.
He looks at the thugs, Y'all may be wantin ta ken aboot yer devotedness to yonder seevy skuggins. His crimes be now clear and include bribes to the high an mighty. He was stone headed enough to keep records. Thems be wantin to shut any throats that might be implicatin any of them selves. I ken any close ta the boggle may jes swing with im.
Kitoro realizes that Sloan’s claim about a traitor in the Decemvirate is a bluff.
With this matter cleared up, the Pathfinders simply wait for the city guard to arrive. Sloan demands they arrest the Pathfinders, but Kasadei arrives with her own patrol loyal to the Council and a freshly signed order from them.
Kasadei asks what evidence the Pathfinders found in Bronze House. After evidence of the bribes is brought up, her guards secure the evidence and she demands Sloan’s arrest, but the Lord-Mayor’s guards block her. She pleads with them, but backs down to avoid bloodshed.
Sloan smiles and makes parting remarks. “A minor setback, but one I’ll remember, Pathfinders. Can you not see the futility of your efforts? A hundred more wheels are in motion. Your only virtue until now was you were too insignificant to squash.”
The heroes see flames spring up around the city during the trip back to Heidmarch Manor, including the Manor itself, as Sloan cackles maniacally in the distance. Racing towards Heidmarch Manor, the Pathfinders battle the blaze.
Afterwards, the Pathfinders meet Lady Heidmarch in her library. She is soot-covered and burnt, but will survive. Heidmarch Manor is partially destroyed. The venture-captain regretfully lists any fire damage done to the Society’s allies and says the Pathfinders have rebuilding to do as well.
The Venture-Captain listens with interest to the story of the enchanting songs and unwitting spies, Heidmarch shares her suspicion that the Consortium has a highly-placed spy in the Grand Lodge (although Kitoro and Ansha are quick to point out that it's unlikely someone in the Decemvirate).
Word arrives the next day that the lord-mayor launched an investigation into Aspis activities and publicly fined Sloan himself regarding the relic smuggling; Aspis Consortium profits and influence in Magnimar should drop considerably, reducing Sloan’s stature in the Consortium.
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"Let's get a hot meal and a cool drink. I have a feeling our adventure isn't over."
In a huff, Rakesh kicks a stone to the side of the road as he makes his way to the tavern for a nice meal after the adventure.
"I should have just killed the bastard right there."
He mumbles to himself, disappointed he never got to kill Sloan.