|
“Hmm.” Nigel smooths out his tunic and straightens his spectacles as he considers the information provided. “I really don’t have the time for all of this, but I suppose the matter is out of my hands. I will of course cooperate, and I believe we can handle this matter in a straightforward manner. Allow me to show you a few of our exhibits, some details about the design of this museum, and my financial records. After that, I will guide you to the vault downstairs and we can hopefully Nigel Aldain conclude matters quickly, yes?”
Dhrami excuses herself. "I will leave them to you then Dear. Seems I have a bit of straightening up to do around the house." Nigel brusquely begins the tour of the museum.
Despite the stress he finds himself under, Nigel can’t help but show pride as he presents the museum to his investigators. The Blakros Museum features a vast, open floor plan with several balconies on three different levels to allow for the display of a wide variety of different exhibits. Anybody who enters immediately notices that the museum’s interior seems significantly larger than the dimensions on the outside suggest. "Tell me a bit about yourselves while we move onto the exhibits."
──────────
BOLD: GO!:
──────────
➤ Oskar
➤ Anjo
➤ Jiki
➤ Zallarra
➤ Khunbish
⠀⠀➤ (Khunbish) Irves
➤ Marta
|
|
Nigel looks back at Jiki, "Apparently you have not been with the Pathfinders for very long. plenty breaks." He says with with a grimace. The group seems to make little headway with Nigel, that is except for Marta who believes a small bit of talk on architecture by showing respect for Nigel’s renovations of the museum may make some headway with him.
──────────
BOLD: GO!:
──────────
➤ Oskar
Anjo
Jiki
Zallarra
➤ Khunbish
⠀⠀➤ (Khunbish) Irves
Marta
|
Oskar is delighted when Nigel asks the Pathfinders to talk about themselves and for the next little while he talks extensively about his various plans: for his opera, for an upcoming tour "which is almost certain," the wonders of jazz, etc.
While they chat, Oskar also tries to sort out what sorts of themes are especially interesting to Nigel, in order to ascertain how best to influence him. He has his hired hand assist him with his knowledge of various points about the Museum's place in society.
|
|
Nigel is a difficult man to read as both Oskar and Khunbish have quite a bit of difficulty finding what takes his interest to try and get Nigel's guard down.
"May as well get this bit out of the way as this recent display has caused a significant amount of trouble." He brings you before a simple deck of cards. "This is a Deck of Many Things. The deck can grant wishes and change reality, but it has an equal chance of causing disaster for those who draw from it. This is a replica created by y wife of course." Nigel sighs. "The real deck is offsite for extended study."
"The member of the museum who identified it had the misfortune of drawing the Dullard card, severely reducing his intelligence, followed by the Ruin card, which caused him to lose all his wealth and property. The poor fellow had devoted his life to the pursuit of knowledge,” laments Nigel. “We’re doing our best to reverse the effects and will ensure that the deck of many things remains secure in our vault upon its return.”
You notice that Nigel speaks of his efforts to aid the unfortunate museum employee in the present tense, while a letter contained in Dhrami’s records from her family indicated that the stakeholders considered the matter closed after several failed attempts to restore the employee’s intelligence.
──────────
BOLD: GO!:
──────────
➤ Oskar
➤ Anjo
➤ Jiki
➤ Zallarra
➤ Khunbish
⠀⠀➤ (Khunbish) Irves
➤ Marta
|
|
"Ah, most interesting. Do tell, dear Nigel, your efforts with the poor fellow are ongoing? Perhaps we could meet with him and see if we can help? I know a thing or two about the Medical craft - every great performer needs a day job, don't you know, at least until their moment arrives - and if nothing else a duet between myself and Jiki here might be just the thing to cheer him up!"
While this discussion continues, Oskar keeps trying to work out how best to get on Nigel's good side.
|
|
The group tries to get to know Nigel a bit better to get his attitude a little better considered he is being personally investigated. Over the discussion Oskar gets the feeling that reminding Nigel of the potential repercussions of your group giving him a negative report may go a long ways. Nigel doesn't seem to be as stone-faced as his wife is.
Zallara tries to meet Nigel with conversations of his time as a Pathfinder. Pointing out ways the Deck of Many Things might be useful. This seems to crack a smile from Nigel.
Jiki chimes in adding in another couple of key pointers, finding that truly the art of conversation never fails.
Marta and Anjo keep the topics generalized in nature and notices that Nigel's interests are piqued a small bit when it comes to the occult and religious aspect as well.
Nigel brings you to an empty space. "This is reserved for the eventual display of the Foals of Szuriel, a recently acquired piece that lies in the vault beneath the museum." He speculates that the intricately carved statue of two fiendish steeds was originally crafted as an offering to Szuriel, the Horseman of War. Nigel shows obvious appreciation for the artisanry while abhorring its purpose. "Though not much progress has been made identifying the original, but I commissioned a replica from Dhrami with the assumption that any magic item with such a dark origin poses an obvious danger."
──────────
BOLD: GO!:
──────────
➤ Oskar
➤ Anjo
➤ Jiki
➤ Zallarra
➤ Khunbish
⠀⠀➤ (Khunbish) Irves
➤ Marta
|
|
"Ah, most interesting. Do tell, dear Nigel, your efforts with the poor fellow are ongoing? Perhaps we could meet with him and see if we can help? I know a thing or two about the Medical craft - every great performer needs a day job, don't you know, at least until their moment arrives - and if nothing else a duet between myself and Jiki here might be just the thing to cheer him up!"
Nigel, the curator bristles and says, “True, the Blakroses have some concerns about the cost. But it would be callous to ignore a person’s suffering because of money alone, wouldn’t it?”
Oskar isn't able to get very far but Zallarra helps him along, guiding the conversation. Nigel smiles as she complements his hard work. His smile quickly fades as Jiki reminds him of the severity of what is happening. "No, that shouldn't be a problem at all."
Nigel stiffens a bit. "I suppose you may have a look at the originals once we have concluded this tour."
Khunbisha nd Anjo continue to try and find weak points in Nigel's personality. Khunbish finds Nigel handsome, if not a little disheveled. Nigel cares greatly for social graces. He wears a pair of silver-rimmed spectacles and becomes noticeably uncomfortable discussing academia. He seems to abhor books, is quite unprofessional and tense.
Anjo on the other hand notices that ever since learning about the impending investigation, Nigel has grown increasingly tense.
As Nigel leads you toward his administrative office, he pauses here and there to point out interesting facts about other displays in the museum. "That there is a large frog-shaped idol labeled as the Golden Grippli of the Mwangi Expanse. I speculate that the idol could represent a famous fiend keeper and the peaceful froglike creatures known as gripplis hold such individuals in a place of honor for their ability to keep evil entities at bay."
──────────
BOLD: GO!:
──────────
➤ Oskar
➤ Anjo
➤ Jiki
➤ Zallarra
➤ Khunbish
⠀⠀➤ (Khunbish) Irves
➤ Marta
|
Marta shakes her head disapprovingly. "No, that's not what this statue represents. Ancient grippli revered a demon lord known as Gogunta. I've seen several depictions of this type of idol in the library. Maybe I can have the library send over a few select tomes."
"Speaking of idols are any of the other exhibits magical? How have they been behaving lately?"
|
|
Oskar shifts gears from his previous diplomatic tone to a more intimidating one. "Very well, Nigel, but don't forget that if something happens to this fellow I offered to help and I said nothing about asking for any payment. So be sure, if he can't be healed, everyone will know that it was your own ahem rather limited competencies that were to blame. A pity, really, when you have such a talented crew here at the ready to assist you..."
|
|
"Well, the text of the exhibit came from the idol’s discoverer, Gerhard Pendergrast. Although I disagree with Gerhard’s assessment of the idol’s history, the explorer has friends within the Blakros family who support his personal account despite its dubious historical accuracy. Without speaking too
much ill of Gerhard, let’s just say that he represents one of many unfortunate associations that the Blakros family has picked up over the years." comments Nigel before moving on.
Nigel stops at Jiki and Oskar's comments as the pair really begin to hamemr into the man. "Excuse me?" His voice gets quite heated. "I place a lot of time and effort into making sure this place remains as safe as possible."
Zallarra quickly spins the situation back around as she begins to cool Nigel down.
Khunbish looks on and isn't able to find any weaknesses in Nigel's arguments.
──────────
BOLD: GO!:
──────────
Oskar
➤ Anjo
Jiki
Zallarra
Khunbish
⠀⠀(Khunbish) Irves
Marta
|
|
Anjo stays silent, not wanting to further interfere. When Nigel escorts you to his office, he pauses in front of a large drawing board filled with different floor plans and potential layouts of the museum. He speaks with a bit of pride, "An artifact known as the shadow obelisk, allows me to alter the dimensions of the museum’s interior. That is why it seems much bigger than it is."
──────────
BOLD: GO!:
──────────
➤ Oskar
➤ Anjo
➤ Jiki
➤ Zallarra
➤ Khunbish
⠀⠀➤ (Khunbish) Irves
➤ Marta
|
|
Khunbish continues to hunt for Nigel's weakness, but Nigel is locked up tight after Oskar and Jiki called him out for being incompetent. This doesn't seem to help Jiki as he tries to open the conversation up further.
──────────
BOLD: GO!:
──────────
➤ Oskar
➤ Anjo
Jiki
➤ Zallarra
Khunbish
⠀⠀(Khunbish) Irves
➤ Marta
|
|
Oskar tries a different tack, complimenting him on his knowledge and the brilliance of the museum displays - perhaps laying it on a little thick - rather than his previous harsh words of remonstration.
But perhaps it is a bit too late for that...
|
|
Zallarra and Oskar are met with a stonewalled Nigel as he seems near done with helping out with this investigation. Nigel only seems to somewhat entertain Marta's discussion when it comes to the Obelisk. "There are a lot of dangerous items in the world. Or items that we know little about. What makes this Museum any different from the Pathfinders Vault?"
Entering Nigel's office he pulls out his ledger, which provides a record of all the museum’s finances. This gives you a chance to compare Nigel’s records with Dhrami’s and identify discrepancies. Nigel stands by quietly while you look through this information, occupying himself by studying his drawing board.
Although none of the information seems out of place, your study of the ledger can see that the level of hazard pay provided to employees injured during the museum’s many incidents far exceeds the expected standard. In some cases, employees who escaped with relatively minor injuries or trauma received as much as a full year of paid leave.
Nigel looks over as he sees you key in on this fact. "Such expenses are a matter of simple compassion for those who put their lives on the line in pursuit of greater knowledge." He waves his hand.
You notice that Nigel added his additional explanation for these expenses recently, not when they initially occurred.
As the final portion of the investigation, Nigel escorts you down a spiral staircase accessible only from his office. The descent leads to a deep basement which holds a vault where the curator keeps relics that either have yet to be properly identified or which Nigel has decided to remove from display. The vault’s doorway remains sealed with a superior lock, but Nigel carries the key.
A thick wooden door opens to a sizeable vault filled with chests, bookshelves, wooden crates, and several unusual pieces. Four square pillars spaced throughout the chamber rise to a vaulted ceiling. On the ground, several items look too large to have fit through the room’s single doorway. These large displays include an ogre trapped in a block of ice, statues of fearsome-looking horses, and a giant-sized bronze shield, among other various relics and curios.
For the sake of security, Nigel uses the shadow obelisk to resize the doorway to the vault when a particularly large piece arrives. He restores the doorway to its current size and shape after, making it all but impossible for thieves to steal the museum’s larger and more valuable displays. The ceiling begins at a height of 15 feet on the sides of the vault and rises to 25 feet high between the room’s four stone pillars.
Once all of you enter the room, Nigel closes the vault door and launches into a quick summary of the prominent pieces in the vault.
“Each of the pieces here will hopefully find a home on display in the museum above,” the curator explains. He gestures toward the items around the chamber in turn. “We discussed Foals of Szuriel during our tour. The Frozen Ogre of Kalsgard would be simply a curiosity were it not for the fact that this creature’s corpse remains preserved in an unmelting block of ice. The Tapestries of the Forgotten Pharaoh may hold the secret to a lost Osirian dynasty if we can fully decipher the hieroglyphics. The Amethyst Column of Tannaris has a heretofore unknown connection to one of the ancient Runelords of Envy, and the Eloquent Page of Ytarn is a volume penned by his favorite poet. It seems unlikely that the Danava Shield was truly wielded by those most ancient titans, but we suspect that it might have some connection to a cult of giants who worshiped the creatures. And the Castrovelian Orb possibly originated on the green planet itself."
Nigel pauses and allows himself a rueful smile. “I apologize for giving a history lesson at every turn. Investigate as you wish; you will find detailed records of each of these pieces and other minor curios here, all consistent with reports I sent to the Blakros family.”
As Nigel finishes speaking, he retreats toward the vault entrance and waits for you to conclude your investigation.
|
|
Nigel becomes defensive, "My many duties as curator prevented me from citing a full account at the time of the incidents. So I was able to account for what I could." He explains as a few of you begin to inspect some of the relics below. Suddenly, the stone exterior of the Foals of Szuriel shatters, revealing three fiery horses, who move quickly to attack. Nigel shrieks at the small explosion of stone and covers his head. "What is happening?"
──────────
BOLD: GO!:
──────────
➤ Khunbish
⠀⠀➤ (Khunbish) Irves
➤ Anjo
Horse (Red)
Horse (Green)
Horse (Yellow)
Oskar
Jiki
Zallarra
Marta
|
|
Irves moves forward and guards the corridor as Khunbish speeds himself up with the aid of a little bit of magic.
The trio of horses flaming hooves surge them into the air. The hooves continually exhale black smoke 15' out from the flaming horses making it difficult to see.
The horses gallop through the air, their flaming hooves badly damaging the remainder of the Foals of Szuriel statue, begins melting the frozen ogre, and begins to catch the tapestry on fire. Nigel panics grabbing his hair. "Gah! Don't let them destroy the relics!"
──────────
BOLD: GO!:
──────────
➤ Khunbish │
⠀⠀➤ (Khunbish) Irves
➤ Anjo
Horse (Red)
Horse (Green)
Horse (Yellow)
➤ Oskar
➤ Jiki
➤ Zallarra
➤ Marta
⠀⠀➤ Nigel