Several seconds pass. Belwick exhales a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. He ignores the guards. "Let's move on. We have actual important people to speak with."
When they're properly out of earshot Belwick responds to Caelius' suggestion. "I agree. If we mean to catch Skerrin we need to know where he is and surprise him. I worry that there are now too many ears working for the Scarlet Brotherhood. I don't want to be paranoid, but I worry that the only people we can trust are ourselves."
" It is possible that we can find proof of Skerrin's misdeeds in his own quarters, but with all of the guards it could prove a challenge..."
The nobleman looks right at Venn. "... unless you think you can sneak in, search the place, and sneak back in under an hour? Because I have magic at my disposal that can make you invisible."
Baghotir nods, "And I shall provide you with Freedom of Movement, so if you should be discovered, you'll be able to escape any bonds as easily as walking."
The guards, sensing that there will be no attack today, return to their posts but keep a careful watch on you all.
"Well, looks like this is the way. Let's do this."
Baghotir blesses Venn with a protective ward, making him all but unstoppable.
Freedom of Movement for 1 hour.
Venn vanishes from sight, as Belwick cloaks him with illusion magic.
Invisible for 1 hour.
Venn slips past the guards, right through the front gate!
Where to, Gloomstalker? There is the manor, The Servants Housing, or the High-Security warehouse.
Venn slinks towards the high security warehouse.
There are two guards outside. Venn easily gets past them.
He is in a room with large double doors in front of him, and a small set of stairs off to the right, presumably to some kind of office. The rest of the warehouse is beyond the double doors. Venn hears the sounds of activity even through the doors.
He takes just a moment to look around, specifically for anything of obvious interest. He then actively listens at the door before trying to sneak through.
Through the heavy, double doors you hear shouting--orders, maybe? Nothing scared or frantic. It sounds as you expect a working warehouse to sound.
Up the small stairs, you listen at the door and hear two men speaking in light, conversational tones.
You think one of them may be Skerrin Wavechaser
What are the rest of you all up to while Venn skulks about?
Venn returns to the party, whispering into Bagothir's ear what he's found. While the party decides what to do, Venn then slinks off to check out the manor.
Venn, still concealed, easily makes his way to the manor. There are no guards posted at the house. It is quiet inside. An occasional maid passes by doing mundane chores.
Belwick waits patiently while Venn does his work.
When Venn returns and shares what he discovered with Baghotir the nobleman gets excited. "Excellent work. We know where we need to go next, and I think we need to ensure Skerrin cannot get away. Venn, if you can find out how many guards there are, and if there's an easy way for us to sneak up on the man, that would be... oh, he's already gone? Ah well."
He returns and then gives the rundown on the guards, the room, and the conversation.
Caelius waits as well finding a good stone to sit on. "Are you able to get us all inside Belwick?" We know where he is at. He has to leave eventually. We can snag him then."
Caelius waits as well finding a good stone to sit on. "Are you able to get us all inside Belwick?" We know where he is at. He has to leave eventually. We can snag him then."
Belwick considers the request. "I suspect that Alisanne or I could do something. I don't know that making each of us invisible is going to be possible, certainly not at the same time. I don't have that sort of magic at my disposal, unfortunately. But creating a distraction that will draw the guards away should be doable. Let me think on it while we wait for Venn to return."
Before leaving the manor, Venn will do a quick bit of rifling through whatever he finds. He's hunting for evidence, not theivery.
Then he returns to join in, listening invisibly before speaking up, "I could just kill the two guards. Or, well, knock them out."
"Given the thin-ness of our proof, I don't think we should make a hostile move against the household guards, much as I'd like to. We need more evidence..." Baghotir trails off frustrated.
"Still, if we can find out what's in the warehouse, perhaps the evidence we need is there." he holds out hope, and is happy to help with a distraction.
"OH! I can clairvoyance the place!" Baghotir is excited to try his new-ish, or at least unused, spell. He'll need 10 minutes of quiet, so after this he'll plan to sit in his apartment and sneak a peek inside the warehouse.
As Venn skulks about the manor, he finds nothing.
Nothing.
The manor is the cleanest place he's ever been in. Every inch. Every hinge well oiled, every flat surface free from dust. Only the occasional maid makes noise, humming or softly singing as they go by. It appears that the master of the house is, indeed, not at home.
Venn is about to turn back and rejoin the party when Skerrin Wavechaser enters the residence and carefully cleans his boots before crossing the threshold. He speaks to a first floor maid and she gives him a report. He sends her on her way and then crosses into the receiving room where the party previously met with him, when he set you on Keledek's trail.
He enters the room and regards a portrait of a woman there for a long while. He seems pleased with himself.
"Oh, don't be like that, Mum. I'm taking good care of him, and it won't be long before you're together."
He then reaches into his vest and withdraws a scroll, which he very quickly reads. He clicks his tongue a couple of times and sighs.
"So impatient. Very well. We'll get to it then. Nobody appreciates true artistry anymore."
He uses a lamp and lights the scroll, tossing it into the fireplace.
He looks at the portrait again.
"See? Not long now." He exits the room and heads upstairs.
Venn's invisibility will end very soon now.
What I do next is 100% dependent on what floor I'm on, whether there's a window, and how burned that paper is....
You are on the first floor, there is a large window that is to the north and looks out on the yards to the north end of the compound.
The paper is burning now... Venn goes to retrieve it.
Dexterity Save, DC 15
"Damn!" He takes what he can and retreats to the party.
Using the generously offered inspiration
Venn beats a hasty retreat to report back!
Assuming Venn will be doing nothing else, he arrives back as the rendezvous with his party shortly before the invisibility ends.
"Why would he burn such a letter? Clearly there's some hidden meaning behind it."
Baghotir does not do well at such things, but he'll study the letter in his mind just in case some dim bulb lights up.
"I suggest we fall back and regroup. It'll take me ten minutes, but I'll clairvoyance into the warehouse just beyond the doors and see what I can learn."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Baghotir can not discern any hidden meaning or cyphers in the letter.
"This letter is a tomorrow problem. One task at a time. We've got a warehouse to break and enter."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"Agreed. Baghotir, see if you can place your magical ear within the warehouse. We may or may not gleam anything, but with that info I will once more make Venn invisible to the eye and he can break and enter."
Caelius realizes he had been holding his breath in anticipation most of the time. He relaes slightly as Venn reappears in front of them all. "Great job Venn!" He watches as Baghotir uses powerful mic to peer into the warehouse. "Hopefully we can find some solid evidence."
Baghotir casts his spell and places the sensor on the other side of the double warehouse door, just as Venn describes.
He doesn't see much. Occasionally he sees a couple of laborers wearing Solmor livery moving about, cataloging or shifting crates. He also sees a couple of guards on patrol.
[portion of the map revealed]
He shifts into auditory monitoring...
"...35...36. All here. That's good. <whistle> No wonder Solmor's so rich. What's he like?"
"I forget you're new. Master Solmor is a good boss, smart, and he cares. Just like his mother, rest her soul."
"Wasn't that us? You sound sad about it."
"More like... Regretful. Good looking woman, even for someone who's blood is impure. Very smart, and everybody liked her. It's a shame, really, but I'm sure Uncle would have kept her around if she could have been useful. Well... More useful than she is now, I mean."
<Sharp, harsh, whistle>
"You two! Shut up! See to your duties."
[In unison] "YES SIR!"
"...Prick..."
Baghotir shares the information as he receives it. He's not sure he can figure it out though, "Is it just me, or are they talking about undead?"
"Sounds like they're talking murder. Okay, it's time to take action. Nothing we've learned here has made me sympathetic. It's time to storm in their like an angry storm of Obad'hai. The rest of you can sit around contemplating your belly buttons, but I'm going in."
Venn unshoulders his greatsword.
"Although I would choose words that disparage us less, I agree with Venn. If they would call the late Lady Solmor impure then that suggests that they are part of the Scarlet Brotherhood. The very scourge I mean to destroy in Saltmarsh."
Belwick quickly casts a defensive spell, girding himself with an invisible breastplate made of force energy.
"Yeah... OK. I do not like frontier justice. Know too that most of my spells this day were spent on research. I have little left for an engagement." He takes out his warhammer, "But I have this."
He makes ready to engage the enemy.
"I also don't think we can legally outright attack folks in the middle of town." Caelius seems worried his friends are going to enact chaos. [b]"I would lose my job and end up in jail next to these hired guards. But he does keep his hand on his pommel ready to defend his companions.
Venn looks at Caelius, "These guys? The ones talking murder and mayhem? I'll tell you what, I'll give them a chance to surrender."
He then gets ready to rush them from a position of surprise on the way in...
"I'm not sure it's legal either, but if they're about to kill someone, we have a moral imperative to intervene - don't we?"
Baghotir is more on the fence. However, while he didn't completely understand it, he didn't like what he heard and it's plain they're up to something nefarious.
He just hopes they don't rush in and find... nothing. Then they will spend some time in jail.
He tries not to be too jangly as he follows Venn - from a discrete distance 'cause he knows he's louder.
"Try to knock them unconscious then, Caelius. Who we really need is their leader, Skerrin. But know that these aren't citizens. They're invaders. They're all too new to Saltmarsh, and covertly stand against Keoland."
Let's do this.
Once the group has moved away from the view of the guards, Alisanne whistles a haunting tune. As she does so, a breeze swirls around the group, condensing before Alisanne. As she completes the sone, a lush carpet coalesces from the vapors, floating in wait for her. Alisanne steps on and sits, gesturing to the group.
"Your chariot awaits."
"Not sure I can be as quiet as the rest of you all." His armor clinks and scraps a bit. "I should probably take it off for this."
Thanks to Alisanne's magic and Cloak of Elvenkind, you all get over the fence quickly and quietly. From there, it is a tense move to the front of Solmor Manor. The door isn't locked, and you all slip inside.
There are maids and servants moving about the daily chores. Unless one of you is a complete klutz, or you're discovered by a guard or Skerrin, you should be able to move about unnoticed.
For sneaking into Solmor Manor, each of you earns 700 Experience Points.
You find yourselves in a well decorated and maintained manor, befitting a town council member who has inordinate and bountiful success of late, in fishing as well as importing and exporting, and pirate hunting.
It is mid-afternoon. Some folk may go about serving tea shortly.
I've posted the map, just to make spatial awareness easier. You can continue to describe, generally, what you're doing and what you want to accomplish.
The longer you're here, the greater the chance you'll be discovered.
"We need to find Solmor. Let's start with where Venn last saw him, and if he's not there we should check upstairs."
Belwick keeps his voice to a whisper.
Baghotir nods, and heads upstairs.
You look in the room just to the north. A large fireplace, A large window, two long sofas with end tables. Lots of books. A large painting of a woman with pale skin and dark hair. She is of middle age with intelligent eyes and a strong presence.
Nearby, to the east, you here bustling and movement and the sounds of plates and flatware being moved about.
This is the room where you met with Skerrin the first time you came here, where he put you onto Keledek and served you liquor.
The manor, upstairs, is very quiet. You're in the main hallway. A number of doors and windows can be seen. You JUST miss a maid going by, exiting east.
From this hallway, you can look down, over the banister, to the sitting room below.
Alisanne quietly opens a nearby window.
Bimz, do a quick flyby around the manor. Look in any windows you can. Let's see if we can find where Solmor is. Come straight back in here when you've made your circuit.
Alisanne then changes from sitting criss-cross-applesauce to having her legs to the side and tucked under her to be more comfortable on the floating carpet. She adjust her senses to view through Bimz eyes as he does his recon.
Bimz purrs and chirps, stretches, and balks at you.
I... Suppose... I can do this for you. But what will I get when I return? I don't DO windows, you see. That's a job for an... Animal Messenger or something, isn't it? I expect to be rewarded for performing such a task.
Bimz, for the moment, is satisfied with some scritches and he deftly leaps out the window and takes wing. You feel it as he slips out of... And then back into... Telepathic range.
Upsatairs Maid... Downstairs Maid... Oh, those look TASTY...
You feel him stop and struggle with something. Somewhere in the manor, glass breaks. You all are on edge and alert for a moment, but there's no further commotion aside from some furniture shifting across the hall from you.
It's fine. Hehehehe clumsy human! *nomnomnom*
You feel his satisfaction and he resumes his investigation.
Vs.
Here! There's a man here! He's headed out to... *glurk*
Across the hall from you... A door opens, and a man appears, only to instantly dart back into his room. You hear footfalls and the sound of a window snapping open.
Alisanne feels fear and surprise from Bimz.
Bimz takes 1 Point of damage and is grappled.
He's got me!!!
Apologies to Alisanne...
She sees through Bimz as he zips and zags around the manor from room to room. He sees the upstairs maid, the downstairs maid... He stops by one room to swipe some tarts from a plate.
His last stop is across the hall and he sees Skerrin stand from a desk and walk across the door to his door. Just as Skerrin opens the door he locks eyes with Bimz and Skerrin immediately takes off directly at Bimz. He's grabbed by the neck through the open window and Skerrin locks eyes with you through Bimz's vision.
"Hell-o. What's this now?"