Errde Blackskull--NPC's page

Errde nods sharply and returns to her large pile of paperwork. Two guards stand ready to escort you out back into the city.

Errde's heavy brow furrows as the news of corruption and insanity in her city, among her people is broken to her. She shakes her head in concern "Well I will have to report this to my superiors and see the matter investigated further. As promised, here is a voucher for each of you to draw on our supplies."

350 gp worth of supplies for each of you.

She calls in some guards to take Droki "Now that we know what he was up to, we'll send a proper investigation down into the tunnels. Here is your writ of free passage out of Gracklstugh." She hands you papers signed by her superior.

150 xp each for successfully investigating Droki. What would you like to do now?

Errde's eyes widen at the news then narrow. "This can't be true. Certainly the derro are acting madly and it is good you have discovered the source of the stone giant curse. But the Prince of Demons? No... Us duergar would be showing signs of madness as well..." Her voice trails off "Have you found signs of this as well?" she asks with a mixture of skepticism and concern in her voice.

It was October when that was brought up so here's the reference back to the corruption bit: Corruption sidequest.

I'm going to forgo my normal rule of two because several people have posted without explicitly agreeing or disagreeing with Galenus so I'll assume everyone's ok with that plan. I'll also assume that you try to offload your prisoner before sleeping.

The group heads back out through the Duergar Alchemist's secret hatch, coming out onto the Darklake Docks. From there, they make their way to turn in their prisoner to Captain Blackskull. She looks up at you with surprise as you bring him into her office "What's this? You've apprehended him? That's only useful if you found out what he was up to!"

Thanks, Mel. Somewhere in the busyness I forgot to have Errde respond after hearing from the others.

Blackskull nods tersely. "That about sums it up. I'd like to get this prisoner in a secure location as soon as possible."

Not trying to send a voice from on high to influence your decisions. Just playing Errde and her motivations.

Want to hear from at least one more party member before offering Errde's opinion.

Blackskull looks askance at Kazador's statement that nobody died, glances briefly at the crewmate lying dead on the deck, and gets back to her work of securing the prisoner.

They all have enough HP to live if they failed and none have evasion. So they are all wounded but fine.

Fyrtor, you did notice a small silver circlet on the songbird's head.

Errde Blackskull picks herself up and winces at the shrapnel in her side but walks over to Van Beem with only a slight limp. She nods at Mel's suggestion. "Absolutely. This is my prisoner now and she won't be going anywhere. Captain Muse, I formally request a room somewhere in the Sonder to hold this prisoner until we are able to make port at Helm." Blackskull begins removing the prisoner's gear while the other marines hold her limbs, she starts with the weapons. In all, she lays out:

2 potions
A very nice looking chain shirt
2 daggers with jewel-encrusted hilts
2 silver daggers that also appear quite nice
8 normal looking daggers
A nice looking longbow with 20 arrows
A very well-oiled bull whip
A belt with tigers and lions sewn into it in patterns
A nice pair of boots
A very good set of thieves' tools
A spyglass
A magnifying glass
A cloak made out of some odd, leather-like material
A small keg with a fuse that weighs about 1 pound
A sap
A garotte
A rapier

Just fyi, you definitely don't see van Beem on deck.

Errde calls out to her marines "Focus fire! We're sweeping from bow to stern! Fire!"

Two of the pirates at the bow drop as the marines unleash an efficient barrage of arrows.

I think it makes good sense to know folk a little before you head off into the woods with them. We'll just fall quiet before getting close to the cove.

Blackskull shrugs. "Not much to know. Went into the army. Distinguished service against orcs and pirates." She grunts as she steps over a fallen tree. "Same thing, really. Bishop was organizing a new service. Marines. Field Marshal picked me because I had sea experience."

Captain Blackskull stands straight and salutes sharply. "Captain Errde Blackskull, Bishopric marines. Second division. I can vouch for this crew and the authenticity of those papers... er... citizen?"

She would normally call a stranger "citizen" but as the Serpent Isles aren't properly colonized, she doesn't expect that Fyrtor is a citizen of the Bishopric.

The Marine captain nods. "Alright. I'll come along. Let's keep quiet." She looks to the dwarf. "You might want to leave your armor here and wear something lighter. I have some chainmail you can borrow." With that, ahe begins readying herself as the crew readies the boat. In a few minutes, you lower the boat and row toward the island as Kelian sees you off.

You land the boat on a sandy beach and see a thick forest before you with little in the way of a trail.

The islands not massive but you'll still need to make a DC 18 survival check to navigate here.

Errde eyes the island and considers "Well from what Captain Muse tells us, it sounds like we have a couple of options. We could sail around the island out of sight and then tack upwind to prevent a fast downwind escape. Or we could send a scouting team onto the island from here to take a look first. Or we could send a strike team onto the island to get into position, tack into the cove, then have the strike team try to board on some signal." She shrugs. "No plan survival contact with the enemy. We just have to pick the one that gets the closest."

Brolin, diplomacy may be attempted in combat. Roll one.. Speaking is a free action. Knowing whether or not to spend your turn attacking after the diplomacy requires sense motive.

Kazador, yes that's great.

Kelian looks on uncertainly and draws his longsword while Errde and her men ready their weapons. She looks to Brolin and mutters in a low tone "I don't know what you're trying, captain, but if it doesn't look like it worked, we fire."

Normally I'd roll diplomacy for you here Brolin since your intent to use diplomacy is clear but I'm not sufficiently comfortablr with your shifting medium bonuses.

I guess we'll just chalk it up to excitement. Also, I used "men" to mean troops in my previous post.

The Bishopric's Marines load onto the boat in an orderly fashion. Their captain, a hard-looking short woman with greyish-tan skin in her mid-thirties approaches Brolin directly. "Hello Captain Muse. I'm captain Blackskull. Where would you like us to bunk?"

Errde snorts. "I am a detective of sorts. But you're looking for someone on the wrong side of the law. I can't help you there."

Duergar don't tend to cut deals with lawbreakers so they don't have a lot of informants.

[spoiler=Irdril]
But you can use your background feature! Just describe your contact and where you find them and I'll respond following your lead. Feel free to make up anything that reasonably fits with Gracklstugh.

Errde nods with a stern but pleased look on her face. "Good. Take these." She hands you each a badge with a stone guard insignia on it. She looks skeptically at Derendil but hands him a badge nonetheless. Then she turns to Kanzen "She's from House Mizzrym. Don't know what that means to you." She snorts at Irdril's clear feelings toward the Drow and responds to Galinndan's question in a low tone. "You didn't hear it from me. The Council of Savants is a circle of derro savants who enjoy all the privileges and trappings of a governing body while the rest of their people live in squalor. Only the best thirty-six savants are admitted into the council, and succession almost always includes an incumbent member’s demise. The savants control members of some duergar clans through magic and guile, and are always looking for ways to expand their influence." She then crosses her arms across her armored chest. "Well? Get going with ya."

You can ask her more or head somewhere to look for something. If you're not sure what to do, you can always ask me to list some options to help the plot move forward.

Errde looks at Irdril fixedly. "That depends. Are we working together or not?"

The gray dwarf nods and continues. "I fear that corruption is infesting my city. Bring me proof of this and I'll see you well-equipped from our stores."

Find three instances of Duergar behaving madly then present them to her with a DC 15 persuasion check. Succeed and you each get 350 gp which can be spent on mundane gear or common potions and scrolls!

"Second, I believe this corruption may be tied to a conspiracy by the Council of Savants. My men have been tracking a derro named Droki but despite showing up in the Darklake District often, he has proved very elusive. Follow him, find out what he is doing, and report back. If you do this for me, I can get you safe passage out of Gracklstugh."

She looks to each other you. "Of course, I will make it easier for you to move about our city. You would recieve badges of the Stoneguard while working for me. And I can make sure your little problem stays quiet." She watches your faces closely. "Yes j know about your little run-in with the drow. An envoy came here looking for you. She's still in the city with her contingent."

Hey they fixed avatar selection! Now NPC aliases are easier!