Curse of the Crimson Throne - Foxy Quickpaw

Game Master Foxy Quickpaw

Ernhild has failed her Terry Pratchett lore roll

"Why? Is the goal to avoid eating it?" Ernhild asks critically, settling for slightly more edible food.

Narciso conceals a snigger at Ernhild clowning on Briggi, and then shares a glance (and probably a shudder) with Tisha, "Briggi should NOT be left in charge of the provisioning..."

Ok, I propose not RP'ing the shopping, just make a list in discussion.

Agree…. Let’s see what fruits and nuts they have here.
She glances at Briggi mumbling about Dwarven Bread and leans close to Narciso
Not that we really need too many more nuts…

Ernhild has failed her Terry Pratchett lore roll

Ah, it's from a book I haven't read in a long time :P But my post did follow the same logic x)

Ernhild much prefers tasty halfling food - though she has no sweet tooth, and only goes for savoury stuff.

The thought of looking for a cat to buy or adopt really does not seem to thrill her. "Don't count on me to clean up after it. It will get hair everywhere."

Thats why we should get a pet drake!

Well the drakes of Korsova are rather smart. I think they would be friends and companions.

"And have them destroy everything in the house?" Ernhild scrunches her nose. Evidentely, she's not big on pets. "Do they even need a litter?"

I don’t know… but it would be fun to find out…

Tisha keeps glancing at the sky as they do their shopping looking to see if she can see any little dragons the city is known for so she can figure out what they like.

Ok Foxy we want to set up the house. Per the cost of living it looks like this is 10gp per month for average living. Should we just all drop in 10gp each, and say that gets her house back to average and able to accommodate all of us for a month?
Then if we want anything special (Like Tisha is upgrading locks) we can call that out as being worked on till the next downtime.
Then we can move on and not get bogged down in this shopping.

Briggi buys the food.

Posted above about the amount

I don’t know… but it would be fun to find out…

Tisha keeps glancing at the sky as they do their shopping looking to see if she can see any little dragons the city is known for so she can figure out what they like.

Ok Foxy we want to set up the house. Per the cost of living it looks like this is 10gp per month for average living. Should we just all drop in 10gp each, and say that gets her house back to average and able to accommodate all of us for a month?
Then if we want anything special (Like Tisha is upgrading locks) we can call that out as being worked on till the next downtime.
Then we can move on and not get bogged down in this shopping.

That's fine with me.

Other cities have pidgeons, Korvosa has tiny dragons. The absence of pidgeons hints at their diet. But everyone living in Korvosa knows those creatures that feed on rodents, birds and insects or basically everything that moves and is small enough for them to take down and carry away.

"And how exactly are we going to get their attention? Set a trap? We do have bait." Ernhild eats one of the little halfling shortbread cookies she bought. Apparently, she has no intention to share them.

Maybe share those cookies.Plus trapping them? We'll never be safe if we try that

I have heard they are smart. So I think we have to set up something that attracts them, not traps them.
When we wanted Bats to be near our homes, we set up a place they could live and ready access to with food and water.
I think we might have to do the same thing for the drakes. Make it just comfortable enough for us to have them next near us, and like us, but not so easy they get lazy…

Does anyone know if they can talk?

I have heard they are smart. So I think we have to set up something that attracts them, not traps them.

When we wanted Bats to be near our homes, we set up a place they could live and ready access to with food and water.
I think we might have to do the same thing for the drakes. Make it just comfortable enough for us to have them next near us, and like us, but not so easy they get lazy…

Does anyone know if they can talk?

Narciso delves into the depths of his education, to answer Tisha's question, and too see what other relevant details he can bring to the discussion:

K Arcana, bun-bun, aid another, take 10: 10 + 5 - 1 = 14
5 ranks -1 int

K Arcana: 1d20 + 5 + 3 + 4 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 5 + 3 + 4 + 2 + 2 = 21
5 rank +3 trained +4 int +2 bloodline+2 aid another

I repeat, the easy option is a cat... A small cat that will know better than to muck with Bun-bun.

Bun-bun isn't as harmless as he looks and could probably keep the house clean of rats - if they don't gang up on him.

The pseudo dragons can understand draconic language and communicate telepathically. Like most critters they can be bribed with food and as they are intelligent they can be befriended if treated well.

"Whichever option is the least annoying. At least cats can't talk." Ernhild ever so slightly turns her back on Briggi - who seemed a little too interested in her shortbreads.

While discussing means of pest control you have wandered to the Jeggare river somewhere between North Bridge and Old Korvosa. You see a ship's mast stick out of the water some 100 yards from the shore. Seems to be what is left of the ship that was shot at the night you came back to Korvosa. At the shore you see a broken wooden chest that was opened by brute force.

Tisha goes over to look at the chest.
Seeing the chest broken open she mutters.
Looks like someone invoked the right of Salvage.

Perception: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (16) + 12 = 28

Briggi strolls over as well. Wonder if there is any more cargo scattered around

Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (12) + 9 = 21

"Scavengers must have pillaged the whole thing."

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10

"Scavengers, yeah. But I wonder what was on that ship to justify the guard firing on it. This chest might have a clue about what it was carrying. If it was something valuable, and not ruined by immersion, that ship might be a motherlode. If, of course, we could get at it..."

Narciso (and Bun-bun) examine the chest carefully, looking for clues about what was going on...

Perception, Take 10, aid another, bun-bun: 10 + 5 + 3 + 1 = 19
5 rank +3 trained +1 wis

Perception: 1d20 + 5 + 3 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 5 + 3 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 24
5 rank +3 trained +2 wis+2 racial+2 alertness +2 aid another

It is no surprise that the chest is empty. But checking the surrounding area you find two silver shields.

silver shields are coins.

Looks like we have some evidence! Briggi goes over to collect the coins.

Narciso examines the chest itself (including tipping it up and looking on the bottom) - is it a heavy bullion chest (ie intended for carrying money or is it a generic chest)? Does it have any markings on it?

The chest has no markings. It is a chest with a lid, a latch and a simple padlock. Not your everyday crate to deliver cabbage but also not what one would expect for a chest full of coin.

"Heh, well I guess it wasn't that someone had pilfered the Guard's payroll... There might be more out there, but I don't think I want to swim for it. Shall we move on to see what the Captain-General has for us?"

Perhaps a little off-time treasure hunting? Might be profitable.

"Profitable, yeah, but we know there are man eating crocodiles in that river, and gods know what else..."

"I'm not desperate enough to dive in for a few coins."

I wouldn’t object to diving for treasure, but this does not look to be a lockbox that would carry something truly valuable. Plus this didn’t float here. Most likely the scavengers already picked up anything obvious if they dragged this chest here and pried it open. Otherwise how did it get here?

She looks at the River.
It seems a waste to pay for a way to explore underwater only to come back with a few coppers.

Should we wrap up our shopping and visit Kroft to see if she has any more jobs for us?

"Better than to look for dragons. Or cats."

In a big city, you simply had to tolerate pests - but Ernhild much preferred them outside of her house.

Yea. I'm sure Kroft will be able to give us something to do.

An elderly woman leaves the path above and comes down to you at the shore. "You are those people who work for the Field Marshal, aren't you?" she inquires. "I have an issue you could maybe help with."

You notice, that she has unhealthy looking yellow eyes.

The Field Marshel? Well maybe or maybe we don't. What do you want with us?

Ernhild does her best not to sigh. Perhaps it was time to face the consequences of Briggi's actions. If you magically healed the infected out of the goodness of your heart, word spread.

"State your case. We are all ears."

Tisha stands back and looks closely at the woman to see if she can determine anything about her while the others talk to her.
Perception: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (3) + 12 = 15
Sense Motive: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (20) + 10 = 30

"There are stupid people doing stupid things. And I tried to talk one of them out of doing something immensely stupid. Deadly stupid even. But he doesn't listen to me."

"And now I search someone who can persuade him of the stupidity of his idea. Or if he can't be persuaded, to stop him by all means necessary."

Narciso pauses, realizing he doesn't know a damn thing about were-rats...

Wererats are humanoids, so K Local; I don't have it. Could yellow eyes be a sign of being a were-rat?

He rallies, asking a question "There's mile so sewers in Korvosa, you have any idea where such a stupid were-rat could be found?"

"Yes. Are you willing to take on this task?" the old lady inquires. "I can't pay you though."

Briggi suspects that this woman is more than she appears. And the stupid were rat would no doubt draw the guard down into the sewers and wipe out all the were rats no doubt. Briggi looks at the others. Well I for one don't want there to be a massacre, so I am all for heading in.

Ernhild sighs. This type of problem always seemed to find them. "I assume the path will be dangerous and we need to be prepared for ambushes of all kinds?"

Tisha quickly talks with Zellara in her head to figure out what the two of them remember about wererats and tge local packs.
K:Local: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (4) + 7 = 11

"Yes. Are you willing to take on this task?" the old lady inquires. "I can't pay you though."

"So let me get this straight, you want me to wade through a couple miles of Korvasan sewers, pick a fight at the end of it, and all for the good a pack of literal rat-bastards?"

He sighs theatrically, "I'm in. Tell us all the details..."

"It would be one less front to fight for now, so it is for the better of the city." the woman explains with a shrug.

"And luckily it isn't too long a journey through the sewers, I know the closest entrance that leads eventually to that hidden den..." then follows a detailed description on the path to be taken through the sewers. "If you get the turns right you can't miss it. It's a dug out gap on the left, and if you miss it, you run into a rusty grate just around the corner."

"To recognize Girrigz, look for an upright walking rat wearing a chain shirt and a rapier made of some silvery metal."

"I wouldn't expect ambushes, but there are regular rats of all sizes and Girrigz for sure has some loyal followers that guard the den."

From all the inside knowledge and the yellow eyes you suspect the woman to be a wererat herself, even though she hasn't come clean about that.

She leads you to the entrance she talked about which is some narrow stairs, overgrown, a maintenance entry of sorts.

"Alright. I assume you won't be accompanying us to show us the way?"

Have we recovered our spell slots of the day?

Before we go down, as a PC, I have no K Local, as mentioned previously. As a player, silvered weapons might be a good idea before we go hunting were-rats...

"I would prefer not to. I'm old, and if persuasion doesn't work I'd only be in the way."

"I would prefer not to. I'm old, and if persuasion doesn't work I'd only be in the way."

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 2 = 14

Are we being manipulated (by a would-be gang boss?)
@Ernhild, Tisha, This is another skill that is not my forte...

Know-Dungeoneering: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (7) + 6 = 13