"I care not for what you are meant to have done." Urram says flatly. "It is unlikely that you did it. Your antipathy to Shieldmarshal Loveless, and her penchant for falsifying information makes the case quite clear. I am more interested in what you are."
His metallic dome cocks to one side. "Would you like to hear the points in question? Your pace is shorter than would be expected for someone of your height. Your gloves are too thin and, as you are aware, all of your joints are too pronounced. There should not be as much noise when you stretch out your fingers, or walk. Comprenez vous?"
The woman takes a half-step back and her hand falls from her weapon at Urram's observations. She looks around to see if anyone else is listening.
Satisfied that no one is overhearing their conversation, she looks back up at the automaton. "Please do not attempt elvish - your accent is très horrible," she says with a shake of her head. "So what conclusion have you arrived at, Monsieur? And do you plan to share it with anyone else? Or are you planning on keeping it a secret ... pour un prix?"
"My apologies." The automaton replies. "I used to be more proficient. When I had someone to speak to." An astute observer might detect a hint of some, thus far unknown, emotion in his voice.
"My conclusions are my own, unless you will confirm them" He counters. "As for whether I spread them, I see little need. They are theories. Should they be confirmed..." He spreads powerful, metallic hands. "I am a healer when my skills allow, and I follow the healer's code. I do not reveal details of those I treat. If that is sufficient then good. If not I will not offer my services again, since you do not wish for them."
"It is not a matter of what I 'wish', Monsieur, but a matter of ..." she replies before trailing off. Again after checking around to make sure no one is watching, she looks back at Urram and, with a quick movement, pulls off one of her gloves, revealing bare bones where the flesh and blood of her left hand should be. "I would be surprised if your healing services could treat something as extrême as this."
The small bones in her hand shift and move as if being pulled this way and that by unseen tendons. The coloring on some is new while on others it's very old. Not all the sizes match either, as if they've been replaced with the bones of a different creature.
"Cela n'a pas d'importance," she says, pulling her glove back on. "My burdens are mine and mine alone to carry. If you could keep this to yourself, s'il vous plaît?"
"Of course." Urram seems utterly unsurprised by the demonstration. "I could not reverse whatever process made you this way, but should you suffer injury I can at least offer some assistance. I am well versed in breaks and setting bones. Privacy is often requested during treatment so that should be no problem."
He pauses and then speaks again. "If you were willing I would be very interested to learn how you came to be this way. You do not owe me an answer however, I understand this. Consider it a statement of interest should you ever wish to discuss it."
Katherine, utterly taken aback by her co-owner's change of plans, looks aghast; the betrayal showing on her face with the surprise that Foebe had in store.
"Foebe. A word. In private." Katherine says, curtly and stands at the exit to the room, tapping her foot inpatiently.
"Now, if I recall right, when we set up this place we both laid out our plans and made a deal layin' out our wishes to make some good mostly honest dough. Now you're tellin' me that you've got some private patron and this whole thing may have been a bloody scam to get us to do what you say? Foebe - I trusted you." Katherine says, anger growing in her voice, her forhead showing distinctive furrows. "I vouched for you to this whole group and then you go turn your cheek like this?"
Staccato sees everyone pairing off, leaving just her and Sin.
“I can… play a song, if you want.”
For a moment, it looks as if Sansnom is going to reply with a biting comment, but she pauses, considering Urram's words. After a thought or two, she gives a curt nod. "Merci," is her only replay before walking away.
"You know I'dve helped ya right?"She asks rhetorically. "I thought that we were friends, not just partners and all that, and partners stick together."
"If you're vouchin' for her, I trust ya, and I don't think I want her knowin' my face right now if you catch my drift? Just....do me a favor and gimme a heads up next time." She smiles softly and pats Foebe on the shoulder. [b]"Come on let's go put on a good show.
Katherine spends the rest of her evening behind the bar serving too much alcohol to the patrons and fueling any gossip of the days big news.
The next few days pass quickly, as you spend your hard-earned coin and prepare for your next mission. When you are ready, you reconvene in the Bullet & Barrel's back room. Foebe Dusmith paces as she talks. She’s animated and enthusiastic, clearly firing on all cylinders and still reveling in the success of the Gold Tank Reserve heist.
“For this next job,” Dunsmith says, “the duchess has asked us to secure some very precious cargo.” She slides a broadsheet across the table: a poster advertising “Vashon Gattlebee’s Pyronite Exhibition” at Blythir College. The poster includes a woodprint of a harried human man in his fifties—presumably Gattlebee—and some hyperbolic copy promoting the “once-in-a-lifetime explosive showcase.”
“Surely you've heard of Gattlebee,” Dunsmith says. “Talk of the town ever since he leveled half of Blythir’s largest auditorium. Well, Gattlebee’s invention has gotten him a lot of admirers recently. Everyone in Alkenstar wants a piece of the man, or at least a piece of his new invention. Thankfully for us, Gattlebee’s turned down everyone who’s offered to hire him on or buy the pyronite formula from him. He’s been able to hold off his prospectors from the safety of his own home so far, but he can’t hold down that puny brick‑and‑mortar fortress forever.
“Fortunately, the grand duchess and I have managed to convince Gattlebee he’d be better off here, in the saloon’s workshop, where no one will know his location. He’s game, and now we just need to get him from point A to point B.
“That’s where you come in. We need you to meet Gattlebee at his home on the other side of the city and bring him back to the Barrel & Bullet. Once he’s here, I can keep him safe. Simple enough job, right? Go get Gattlebee and bring him back here. I’m paying you fifty gold apiece to bring him back in one piece.”
Leaning against the wall, Sansnom speaks up. She's added a second dueling pistol and they're both slung in shoulder holsters under her arms.
"So we bring him here. Is that regardless of his preferences?" she asks. At some of the questioning gazes she receives, she elaborates, "Sometimes the package changes their mind half-way through the trip when le chaos begins. If he changes his mind, is the mission still to bring him here?"
"Then we bring him here, let him have a drink on the house and send him on his way again." Katherine says with a shrug. "He's already agreed so he must understand its for his own protection. Hopefully if we're quick and clever enough there won't be any chaos anyway!"
"You have clearly not done this very much," Sansnom says with a snort of laughter. "Il y a toujours le chaos."
"Gattlebee can be curmudgeonly and absent-minded," Foebe says, rubbing her temples. "Just get him here however you can. Bop him on the head and drag him if you have to. It's for his own good, and for the good of Alkenstar."
Sansnom nods at the clarification and looks around at the others. "Then as soon as you give us his address and description we will retrieve him," she says. "Unless there are any other questions?" She looks around at the others.
"You've got a few days before Loveless makes her move on Gattlebee," Foebe says. "You may wanna take the time to scout the route from Gattlebee's place back here, so you know the best ways to bolt should trouble find you. Or if you need to craft or buy anything, now's a good time to do it."
SCOUTING A ROUTE
Each character can spend some or all of their downtime casing the streets of Alkenstar. To Scout a Route, a character can use the following downtime activity.
SCOUT A ROUTE
DOWNTIME
You spend half a day scouting a route from Vashon Gattlebee’s house to the Barrel & Bullet Saloon. Roll a DC 15 Athletics, Perception, Society, or Survival check.
Critical Success: You climb to a great vantage point, spot noteworthy details, learn interesting info from locals, or find useful clues related to your escort route. You earn 2 Preparation Points.
Success: You earn 1 Preparation Point.
Failure: You fail to discover any useful information about the route.
Crafting: The workshop called the Bulletworks in the Barrel & Bullet has basic tools for crafting most equipment, including tools necessary for gunsmithing and a small but adequate alchemist’s lab. Dunsmith can send runners to pick up any inexpensive raw materials the characters need.
Gathering Information: The Barrel & Bullet is full of chatty patrons willing to blab about the latest in Alkenstar. A character can attempt a DC 15 Diplomacy check to Gather Information up to twice per day. Characters who come up with creative means of learning rumors can use a different skill for these checks; for example, a character who leads their fellow bar-goers in a shanty can use Performance, a character who tends bar under Dunsmith’s direction can use Crafting, and so on.
Urram, who has never been accused of being overly sociable, spends two days thoroughly scouting the possible routes from Gattlebee's house to the Barrel & Bullet.
He is generally unsuccessful.
These failures eventually come good though as Urram discovers a little used alley which provides a useful and quiet sort-cut.
Sansnom nods in response. "We should gain as much intel as possible," she says to the others.
~~~~~
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Katherine spends part of each day scrambling around to scout the locations and possible routes and then sequesters herself away in the workshop for the remaining time, working on some unknown project.
At the end of the three days, Katherine emerges fron the workshop very proud of her abilities, her right arm now supported by some mechanical dynamo that she keeps testing out.
Staccato fingers her keys and gets a few horny patrons to sing. Figuratively, as in talk, and literally in one case… not that he had a voice for anything besides cigarettes.
Those gathering information hear all sorts of rumors:
• “Alchemists all over town are trying to duplicate Gattlebee’s results, but most are just blowing up their own labs. I heard one of them burned down their entire building! If they had any brains at all, they’d just buy Gattlebee a pint and get him to spill the beans of his own formula!”
• “A group of gnolls was arrested just outside town, in a junkyard. Apparently, they had lots of shackles and fetters; horrible to think they were torturing and murdering folks there. That kind of crime doesn’t happen in Alkenstar!”
• “‘Hearts at High Noon’ concludes next week! Have you been following the show? I wonder who Sheriff Longtusk ends up with.”
• “Another shipment lost! That Powderkeg Punks gang is out of control. They didn’t even steal my shipment, they just blew it up! For fun! What kind of miscreants... did you know they snort black powder?”
• “Ugh. The shieldmarshals shut down my shop again. I don’t sell anything edible; I don’t know why rats would be a problem.”
• “One more payment... One more! That’s what Mugland’s goons said last week. ‘Compounding interest,’ they says. I’ll never dig my way out of this hole.”
***
After several days of scouting, you have managed to learn a bit about the route:
• Gattlebee’s house sits away from the road, amid an overgrown yard full of sedum: sticky, bushy flowers. A small shed sits in front of the house, facing away from the road. The property is enclosed in a chicken-wire fence.
• The Yeast of All Brewery looks like it’s been out of business for a while. All the windows are boarded up from inside, and the doors are locked.
• The best place to cross the Ustradi River is an old stone bridge that many locals call Bottleneck Bridge. Vendors set up tents and wheel in carts to trade here during the day. At night, the shieldmarshals set up a checkpoint on the bridge to reduce smuggling.
• Some nearby shops along Bottleneck Bridge are undergoing renovations and would be perfect hiding spots for an ambush. An anonymous tip to the shieldmarshals should get those sites shut down for investigation, removing them as options for anybody trying to stop you.
***
Once you are fully prepared, you make your way to Vashon Gattlebee's Steamhaven residence. A chicken-wire fence contains a small lot overgrown with weeds and bushy flowers. A small gate separates the southern end of the lot from the street. A rusted lock hangs uselessly from the gate, serving only to keep it from swinging open in the wind.
Beyond the gate, the foliage-choked yard is broken up by large stepping stones, a small shed, and a dilapidated house to the north.
"Gattlebee?" Sansnom calls out. "Foebe sent us. We're to escort you somewhere safe, oui?" Keeping her hands close to her pistols, she slowly opens the gate and moves into the yard, sticking to the stepping stones and watching for traps.
Urram has ensured that tips are sent to the marshals and that the construction sights on the Bottleneck Bridge have been closed, and thus made unavailable for ambushes. He also insists that the escort mission take place around an hour before dusk, thus ensuring that anyone with dubious intentions may have to fend with the Shieldmarshal's checkpoint - probably not a true deterrent, but every little helps.
He leaves Sansnom to do the talking though, keeping a sharp eye on the surroundings instead.
Staccato struts her stuff, confident she can talk Gattlebee into tagging along… if he shows himself.
Where is that asshoIe?
There is no answer from inside the house. Before Sansnom opens the gate, she and Urram both spot a tripwire rigged to the gate. Opening the gate would release a thunderstone to fall on the unwary. Just past the gate, they also spot a small nozzle poking out amid the flagstone path.
Fortunately both the devices are relatively simple and Urram is easily able to interfere with them both - removing the thunderstone and carefully redirecting the nozzle to clear the way to the house.
"I do not like this." He comments quietly. "If we were expected, why was Gattlebee not waiting?"
Still there's no point lingering at the gate so the automaton leads the way up the path.
With the trap disabled, you proceed along the footpath through the garden. The wooden porch of the house shows signs of wood rot. Rickety wooden steps lead up to a ten-foot-wide porch. A boarded-up window to the north enhances the feeling of neglect. A single door to the west of the porch leads inside the house.
"It seems this man is not a fan of guests," Sansnom comments as Urram disables the traps set for the unwary. Forewarned by the reception at the gate, she's even more wary about the porch and the door, looking over each carefully before stepping up and knocking on the door.
"Come now, Monsieur Gattlebee. We know you were contacted by our patroness. We are here to escort you to safety," she calls out again as she knocks.
Unfortunately, Sansnom misses the trap on the porch. As she steps on the porch, a portion of it sinks under her weight. There is a distinctive "click" and a whirring noise, then a hidden device spews a barrage of wooden bullets at high velocity through various holes in the boards covering the window! They batter the gunslinger!
A distracted voice on the other side of the door mumbles, "No solicitors. Come back another time, please."
Sansnom grunts in pain from the trap's assault. "Tu fais chier avec tes conneries!" she mutters to herself before attempting to kick in the door as she draws her pistols.
The door slams open, and you enter Gattlebee’s house, passing through a sitting room and into a laboratory. Reams of parchment, half-filled beakers, lit burners, pots of bubbling fluids, and countless other alchemical detritus are scattered about the work surfaces of this room. Shelves overflow with books, glass containers spill from wooden crates, and a pungent odor permeates the entire area. Amid it all, a stooped human man smokes a limp cigarette and hunches over a small cage, carefully filling a tray with dried pellets. A big-eyed, six-legged chameleon paws slowly around the cage, picking at the dried pellets of food.
Gattlebee sets down the tray and turns toward you. “All right,” he sighs. “You’re persistent ones, you know that? What in Brigh’s name do you want?”
Staccato struts her stuff, lifting her hem to show the keys along her thigh.
”Ever hear of Maestro Giuseppe? He specialized in wooden constructs. That’s not what I am, but…
“You seem to be a man of science like my father was.” This was not the approach Staccato had in mind. Enticing him was the plan. But… the old man is too much like her father. She can’t play him like that. She already has this image in her head, and…
…Staccato respects him. “Alkenstar’s leading lady thinks you’re important. We’re here to see you safe. We have reason to believe you’re not, so… please. Come with us.”
Sansnom hasn't put her pistols away, but they're not currently pointed in Gattlebee's direction. "Oui. You will come with us."
Gattlebee smirks down at Staccato. "Hmm. I'm...something of a scientist myself," he says with a smirk. He glances at Sansnom and takes a puff of his cigarette. "Oh. Yeah, forgot about that. So, when are we leaving?"
"Now, s'il vous plaît," Sansnom replies. She glances around the lab. "Only take whatever's absolument nécessaire." She moves over to peek out through the cracks between the boards on the windows.
"Immediately." Urram says flatly. He is looking outside rather than inside, Sansnom has that under control.
”Alright, just lemme reset the traps and get Slick. Ah bolts, where’d that lizard go?” You can see that the cage the chameleon was in is empty, its door hanging open.
The sounds of breaking glass and shattering wood precede a calamitous sight: Gattlebee’s six-legged chameleon suddenly growing first to the size of a cat, then a dog, then a horse, all in a matter of moments. The chameleon, as startled as anyone, smashes through the table in the middle of the lab and clambers about, spilling papers and alchemical equipment everywhere. Gattlebee pinches the bridge of his nose, exasperated. “Ah, bolts. Slick’s gotten into the growth serum again. You see the shrink potion anywhere? Never mind; what am I asking you for? Just take care of this. I gotta get my coat from the other room, anyway.”
As Gattlebee shuffles off into the bedroom, the enormous chameleon continues to trash the lab!
Finding the potion may be the easy part; getting the panicked lizard to ingest the liquid is another matter entirely. A character trained in alchemical bombs can make a ranged Strike against Slick (AC 18) to throw the potion into the lizard’s mouth; if a character Readies this Strike and designates Slick’s tongue Strike as the trigger, the character gains a +2 circumstance bonus to the attack roll.
A character who can’t throw bombs can get the potion into Slick’s mouth if the lizard becomes grabbed or restrained. To do so, the character holding the potion must be adjacent to Slick and must succeed at a DC 18 Acrobatics or Athletics check. At your discretion, characters can employ other creative ideas or tactics to get Slick to drink the potion.
In any case, a failed attack or check causes the potion to land in a nearby space, while a critical failure causes the potion to break and spill all over the floor, rendering it useless. (A character adjacent to Slick can spend a reaction to attempt a DC 17 Reflex save to catch a potion on a failed or critically failed attempt, preventing the potion from breaking.) A success means Slick ingests the potion and shrinks to normal size after 1 round. On a critical success, the effects are immediate, and Slick instantly reverts to his usual size.
"Does anyone else see the potion?" Sansnom asks as she presses herself up against the stained wall and scans the clutter.
Slick causes a considerable ruckus: knocking over furniture, slamming his tail into experiments, and tearing up floorboards and wall panels as he skitters about. All the while, Slick’s coloration changes rapidly and sporadically to match the messy lab and its colorful contents. Potion bottles, alembics, and potent ingredients violently explode when jostled and accidentally combined!
A jar of alchemist's fire explodes at Sansnom's feet!
Staccato calls out, ”This is definitely a shrinking potion, I kinda think for sure!”
She grabs it and looks ready to shove the potion into the lizard’s mouth.
“Uhhh… can you guys hold those jaws still? They look bitey! …like all jaws.”
Sansnom dodges most of the flames and moves forward to attempt to wrangle the panicked lizard.
Urram strides across the room to help Sansnom.
He jabs one metallic fist into the chameleon's head just behind its eyes and then wedges its jaws open when it shrieks in pain.
"Now Staccato!" He commands.
Slick thrashes in Urram's grip, but it is unable to escape. The giant chameleon tries to chomp on the automaton, to no avail!
Slick's tail knocks over an acid flask near Sansnom again!
Staccato removes the stopper, moves in and…
…with a graceful flourish and a flick of the wrist, she pours—with her little wooden arm inside the lizard’s mouth.
Don’t breathe fire don’t breathe fire don’t…
Slick swallows the serum. A few moments later, the shrinking potion takes effect, and the chameleon dwindles back to his normal size!
Gattlebee returns from the bedroom. He plops Slick back in his cage and locks the door. ”Thanks. Here.” He holds out a bundle of helpful alchemical items for you. The items consist of three lesser tanglefoot bags, two moderate thunderstones, five lesser antidotes, a moderate cognitive mutagen, and two minor elixirs of life.
”Ready when you are.”
"Now." Urram says simply. He spends a moment examining Sansnom, mutely handing her a small vial of a thick, chalky paste, and then leads the way out of the house.
She dodges most of the acid as well, but a portion burns a gaping hole along her left arm exposing a length of bone. As the enlarged pet finally is reduced to its original travel size, she pulls a length of cloth from her bag and quickly wraps her exposed arm.
"I would have had the creature in a moment or so," she says to Urram. "I didn't need your help." Taking the vial, she examines it critically before slipping it under her veil and downing the contents.
Nodding in approval, she hands the empty vial back. "Merci," she says with a simple tip of her head.
You leave Gattlebee’s house and begin making your along the path you scouted. You soon arrive at Bottleneck Bridge, a famously inefficient crossing that’s nevertheless the only option you have to get Gattlebee to the Yeast of All Brewery. The wide stone bridge connects the two shores of a rushing river. Carts and carriages frequent the center of the bridge while pedestrians stay toward the edges. The calls of vendors hawking their wares echo on the stonework as the merchants eagerly entice passersby to their wooden stalls.
You cautiously usher Gattlebee forward, wary of an ambush. And your wariness proves to be warranted—halfway across the bridge, three fishmongers cast off their cloaks, revealing colorful clothes in flashy styles! Two of them reach for bombs, while the third draws a flintlock pistol!
The bombardiers draw two bombs each, rushing forward and hurling them at you! Sansnom and Urram take direct hits while the rest of you are splashed by the flames!
The gunner shoots at Urram, reloads, and shoots again. Both shots go wide!
The crowd on the bridge cries out and scatters! Gattlebee ducks for cover!
Urram ignores the flames since they have no chance of damaging his armoured chassis and lashes out with his chain as he closes with the gunner.