Fosco Tosscobble's page

Rilka follows Tosscobble for a while, waiting to find a time to approach him alone. As she watches the paladin she can't help but remember his death, flashing before her eyes...and here he walks like nothing is going to happen.

As she approaches he frowns. "The city of Grastle Hollow is extremely conservative when it comes to putting criminals to death. Only the most heinous and uncontrollable individuals are condemned to that. I don't believe we've been forced to resort to that in over thirty years. We have no plans to execute any of Villichi's men. Besides, if it must be done than it will be done publicly and legally."

"Yes, it's been long enough. They'll have your things at the front. I'll do what I can with the gnome spellcasters we captured. If I learn anything important I'll find a way to get in touch with you. Same goes for if I hear anything about Chibi."

After Fosco does a little more paperwork, the party is returned all of their gear and are free to go.

So, what's the plan? I know you guys still haven't looked for Alziver's contacts that he told you about, or do you have something else in mind?

"By the gods woman, I didn't protest. I don't need to be lectured."

Fosco frowns. "They're still at the crime scene, it hasn't even been an hour. They'll probably be moved by the morning. If you disguise yourself as one of our investigators you can take a look at them now."

"We intend to question them in great detail."

Tosscobble gets a concerned look. "That's...disturbing. The process for bodies at a crime scene is that we first look for closest kin, and if failing that we bring them to the church where they will be preserved until the weekly burying of the anonymous dead. You will have to talk to one of the heads of the church."

Fosco mutters a curse. "Nothing but a trap than. But was it laid on purpose, or did they take advantage of a rumor?" He shakes his head. "So how do we move forward? What's the next plan?"

"Trust me, I've seen enough of the law-hating type. The kind that wouldn't piss on a guard if they were on fire. If we didn't have an actual guard on scene when the fight happened I swear they'd be trying to have my badge by now." He shakes his head. "Some people just don't get that the law tries to help people. Hell, we're just trying to bring in the people that wrecked his bar. We don't really consider them non-suspects, but I'll be damned if there isn't zero evidence incriminating them of anything. As far as we are officially concerned right now, they're just the victims."

"Yes, I'm just glad nobody was hurt. A dwarven noble by the name of Ianna Trealamhgabha seemed to be the target. I have a protective detail on her now, so unless Villichi throws a full-scale assault against her she should be fine."

Tosscobble takes a seat. "So did you get eyes on this assassin character you were hoping to find?"

"Covering means they protect one side. Hating the law means they tell us nothing about anybody. It doesn't help that they're considered the victims here, so we can't really squeeze them."

"A cleric of Norgorber? By the Light..." He shakes his head. "But where there is life there is hope, we will find him."

Fosco shakes his head. "They weren't covering, they said nothing about anybody. It took twenty minutes for us to make them even admit you were there."

"I'm not familiar with the name, but I'll ask around and check our records."

Fosco gives a surprised look. "They wanted to take him alive? Why would they want that?"

"That's the whole story? Pretty short." He paces the room. "So what happened to Chibi?"

Tosscobble brings the party in and after doing some paperwork brings them to the back, sitting them all down together. "I have to keep you in here for at least a few minute to make it look like I actually questioned you. Anything I should know about just went down? Anything I should be doing to help?"

Getting arrested is so much less of a hassle when you have a guard captain working with you ;)

"I'll see if I can pull some records. I'll do what I can to search the back room but..." He grimaces. "The owners are good though. They're the kind of old-school criminals that know how the system works. We have to fight for every inch with them."

"I'll speed it along the best I can." He thinks on what Toramin said. "It will be hard to legally search the back rooms, they were not a part of the incident. We would have to find something incriminating on the owners."

Fosco gives a grimace. "I was going to ask about Chibi. If I don't take you in and out you through it will raise huge flags. Of course you could always...overpower me."

Tosscobble nods. "Thank you Lopa."

After the party waits around for a little while, the same gnome comes back. "Sir, we didn't find anything else on their persons." Fosco nods. "Check them once more, than bring them in. I'll have more orders there." The gnome salutes and leaves.

"I'll question them, hard. For now we need to go through the motions of an arrest, and I'll get you out again. Try not to make it happen too often, people might start noticing I keep personally questioning the same people."

"I trust Talien with my life. In fact I owe my life to him, one more than one occasion. There's a reason he's the man I sent tonight. However I've kept him in the dark, so he most likely doesn't trust you either." He calls a nearby guard over. "The two gnomes with Talien, search them. Thoroughly. I don't want them bringing in a toothpick, you got me?" The gnome nods and hurries off back towards the Rainbow Barrel.

Talien shakes his head. "We hardly have that kind of time."

Within ten minutes, the place is swarming with guards. A perimeter is set up, groups are separated, and questions are being asked. The bartenders look grumpy, and apparently their answers are frustrating the guard as well. And a few minutes later Fosco steps in, crunching broken glass under his feet and scanning the room. He sees the party and gives a look that says Again? He walks over to Talien. "Good work here. If you would, escort the gnomes back. I will take this group." Talien gives a crisp salute and moves over, leaving Tosscobble with the party.

Tosscobble leads the party out, and once they're a decent distance away he begins. "I thought Talien would be enough to help, but apparently I underestimated how many people would be there. I expected just a lone assassin."

Fosco looks on in silence for a moment, then nods. "I suppose we must in trying times like this." He half-draws his longsword and looks at it. "I only wish the Light would show the path, instead of me having to search for it and hope I'm heading the right direction." He sheathes it sharply. "But such is the world; the path is not always clear and we must do the best we can with what we are given. If everything was told to us it would be easy." He looks up. "But if you speak the truth and it is an antipaladin we are dealing with, and a particularly dangerous one at that, then the Light has indeed shown itself, if even just a glimpse. No matter your personal motivations, your goals cannot possibly be more malevolent than that one that has fallen from the path of righteousness." He gives a reassuring nod. "Thank you for the warning and information. I will put them both to good use." He glances at the prisoner as the invisibility extract wears off. "Go. There is still so much more to do."

"Dealt with their kind before...by the sword's light who are you?" He looks around at the party with a dazed expression.

Fosco gives Toramin a horrified look. "Regenerate?! By the Inheritor what are we dealing with?" He shakes his head and exhales. "How do you know all of this?"

Fosco looks at Toramin in shock for a moment. "An antipaladin..." He leans against the wall. "I knew something sinister was happening, but I never expected something so evil. I only ever encountered one, and he was like a mad dog that just killed everything in sight." He calms himself and looks at Bjorkus. "A third party? Who?" He glances at the invisible prisoner with a frown. "Be that as it may, he will be interrogated heavily."

Fosco immediately swivels and glares at Dalton, eyes furious. "You do not discuss my wife, ever. She is not relevant to this operation at all and you'll do well to remember that."

Intimidate: 1d20 ⇒ 13

Despite Fosco's smaller size, Dalton feels a chill creep down his spine. He's touched a nerve. Fosco is feeling like he's already playing with fire with all this clandestine activity; mentioning his family has only made him more aware of the danger that he and his loved ones are in.

We'll just roll with it Rilka. I didn't roll high on percentages and you guys set up the situation marvelously, so (spoilers) it's going to go smoothly.

Fosco glares at Dalton a moment longer, then turns to Rilka. "Good, thank you." He watches the swap happen, glancing over his shoulder to make sure the hallways remain empty. Once they're swapped he looks over the party. "While we still have some privacy, anything else I need to know?"

Fosco narrows his eyes, apparently trying to perceive the prisoner. "That'll wear off, right?" He asks tentatively.

"Mr. Harold Kellow. I'm assuming you're here about our latest prisoner?" He nods. "You were expected." He turns to look at Ymir. "You, however, were not expected. And you are?"

Tosscobble stares at Rilka hard for a moment, then nods. "Yes, we get weapons delivered, but they're usually scheduled. Go with food, that's less regulated. As for who you come as, we won't just let anybody waltz in and talk to the prisoners. We usually allow visitors, but anybody coming as a casual visitor to a known affiliat of Villichi would raise more than a few questions." He snaps his fingers. "I've got it. Later this afternoon I have a cleric coming in to cure his deafness. Whenever magic is performed on prisoners there has to be a lawyer present to witness it. Show up as a representative of the man. You'll get some dirty looks but it won't raise any suspicioun."

"So have one person come as the lawyer, another come as the food deliverer. I'll make sure you two meet up."

Tosscobble shakes his head. "Anything being brought to a prisoner must be searched and catalogued. Especially for such a high-importance prisoner." He takes a moment of thought. "But I can arrange to check it myself. Just make sure that if somebody saw the open contents at a passing glance no suspicioun would be aroused." He nods. "Yes we can walk the hallway. And I'll do you one better; I'll have you meet one of the officers in charge of interrogations. I'll make sure he's busy elsewhere when you plan to make the swap. You can disguise yourself as him and nobody will batt an eye." He stands up. "Just give me a time and make sure the box has its top part disguised, and I'll do the rest." He goes to the door so they can walk down the hallway together, but he stops and turns around to face Rilka with a stern look. "I'm doing a lot of illegal things to help your group. I'm putting faith in you that you're here to help us. I can trust you, right?"

"Excellent questions. I'll leave the planning to you, just tell me what you need. I'm not used to all this..." He waves a hand in the air. "Trickery."

Tosscobble gives a surprised look. "That was fast. I don't know how you plan the swap, but I can get you alone in a room with him."

Within the hour, Rilka is in a private, walled-off room with Tosscobble.

The short paladin offers Rilka something to drink, then takes a seat. "I hope you have some good news for me. Pure silence won't do well as a prisoner."

Fosco gives a confused look at the sudden topic change. "Uhh, it's art. Pretty amazing art, it changes depending on who's standing nearest to it. Some mix of technology and magic. Nobody knows who made it, it was anonymously donated decades ago."

He frowns. "Anything I can do to help for the city." He steps closer to them. "Just know this: if you're jerking me around, I'll find you. Make no mistake." With one last look he turns to the door and opens it, calling his guard back. A few minutes later and the party is left alone, minus the dwarven siblings, but plus their unconscious and invisible assailant.

Fosco gives a sad smile and nods. He writes down another line. I'll have the city cover the cost of healing your ears. I'll tell them it's necessary for the interrogation. It's the least I can do. He looks up. "Chibi, Lopa, anything else? It's hard to find such a good excuse to meet up, might not happen again for a while."

"I'll double the watch, keep security tight. Just get the bastard." He looks to see if anybody else has anything, and he writes down a brief message for Toramin. Need anything else? I'll keep you safe in prison. Just stay quiet, we will get you out as soon as we can.

The assailant laughs as Toramin mimics his appearance, but otherwise stays silent.

"I'll keep him safe. How do you plan on keeping my men from taking the real assailant? When they walk in here and find two of him that is." He says as he goes and puts cuffs on Toramin.

Toramin you can make a DC 10 sense motive check to pick up what Bjorkus means.

"The plan is for interrogation." Fosco turns to the others. "Sweep the perimeter! I want this area locked down tight." Most of the guards leave except for two who look at him with confused gazes. Fosco gets a cross look and steps over to them. "By the polychrome if miss Ianna is attacked twice tonight I will personally see to it that you never work in the guard again, now go out there and do your job!" With scared looks the last of the guard leaves the room, leaving only Fosco inside. He closes the door behind him and shakes his head. "And how do you intend to keep him from talking about the switch once we have him back?" He says with a glance at the assailant.

His intelligence score is 13.

Tosscobble sighs. "If you can disguise yourself as one of my investigators you would have no trouble questioning the man as long as I'm there. I could also give you...two hours outside of the barracks right now without raising any suspicion. Or I could try to pull some political leverage with the dwarves to get you him for a few days, but that would be a lot harder to pull off."

Fosco looks up and rubs at his temple, as if he can't even begin to wrap his mind around what complicated subterfuge he's involved in. "We need him alive. He is a known accomplice of Villichi." He rubs his chin, subtly covering his mouth as he does so. "How long?"

Fosco is in the far corner of the room with the party while the assailant and the guards are, at the closest, on the far side of the room. To overhear a whispered conversation with the gnome paladin would take ears so sharp it would put Rilka's to shame.

Ten minutes later, the familiar handsome face of watch captain Fosco Tosscobble comes into the room, flanked by a pair of well-armed and embellished guards. He scans the room with his sharp eyes for a moment, then goes strait to Ianna. He gently takes her hand with a reassuring grip. "I apologize on behalf of the city for this terrible attack. Rest assured, we will keep you safe within our walls and we will get to the bottom of this attack." He glances over the rest of the party, then turns to Coalspitter. "Lieutenant, have your detail escort lady Ianna Trealamhgabha to the barracks. Make sure accommodations are comfortable, and I want a guard detail of no less than ten men 24/7. This is your top priority until further notice." With a hurried nod, Coalspitter escorts Ianna out of the room.

Tosscobble looks back at the party with a weary gaze. He walks over to them and appears to be examining a bloody corner of the room and whispers. "Tell me what you need."

Fosco wiggles his nose in dissatisfaction. "He values his privacy. I try not to let people know where he stays. But if it's for the mission..." The gnome paladin gives Ianna directions to a hovel a few hours outside of the city. "I would be careful though. With everything that has been going on, going out of the city might not be the safest route. Give Ziza my regards."

Fosco frowns. "Yes. Smearg has always been an abrasive man. I was only an entry-level guard when he was in charge, but they say he was quite the ruthless bastard in his day. Why does Ziza ask? Smearg is retired."

I am assuming this happens at a different time than Ianna.

Fosco looks a little taken aback, but at the name Chibi he gives a careful nod. "Yes...of course." With a narrowing of his eyes, Rilka is relatively certain from watching Toramin that she was just scanned for evil.

I will get a map up for you later.

Ianna eventually finds the good paladin at a private location as he takes a shortcut through an alley. As she approaches him in disguise he gives a friendly but official smile. "Hello ma'am. Can I be of assistance?"

The paladin frowns at Bjorkus's question. "One thing I've never liked about them is the drug trade. Flayleaf, opium, pesh, and zerk are the big ones."

Fosco greets each person in turn, then looks at the map. "When Alziver was in charge, crime was a misnomer for what they did. When a murder or robbery or something else happened and the guard was unable to solve it, they did their own investigation and within a few weeks had the culprit dropped at our feet with a mountain of evidence. Imagine how certain underground crime enterprises scare local businesses into paying "protection money". Now imagine that it's totally optional, half the price, and is actually effective. Practically legit insurance. Plus they were vigilantes in their own right, but at the end always turned over power to the guard."

Ah, I stand corrected! Still debatable if it's a known thing in Pathfinder, but I think it's neither here nor there.

While the semi-useless information from Fosco is not a surprise, Ianna gets the feeling that he is a very straitforward gnome who doesn't like to banter words or play games. He's not stupid by any means, but he likes to keep things simple where he can. Definitely the kind of person who would absolutely hate politics.

Of course, being flustered is certainly not helping.

Fosco crosses his arms. "We're not here to discuss philosophies, we're here to get Villichi and his band of murdering thugs brought to justice. As long as that's your goal, you have my support." He walks over and takes a look at the map. "I would definitely look in the market districts first, if I had to guess. Beyond that I'm afraid I won't be much help."

It's not that understanding cancer is too complicated, it's just that it hasn't even be discovered yet. Nobody even knows what it is. Medical technology simply hasn't advanced enough. But we're getting kind of flippant now :P

Fosco frowns. "Trying to justify something by changing how it's worded means nothing for the actual action." He looks down and folds his arms. "You do have a point with the comparison though. While it may be...less than legal, it doesn't sound like it's going to be anything nearly as horrendous as what's going on now." He grimaces. "It just feels slimy to me." He works his jaw back and forth, thinking it over. Panrick stands in expectant silence.

"Bah, to the winds with it! The fact that I was approached before anything was put into motion shows a great deal to me. Anybody intending real harm would not be so foolish as to let a paladin know of their actions; at least not without an incredibly complicated plan. Let us...uh..." He pauses and looks around at the party. "Let us fight this evil together. Tell me what you need of me."

While I love the metaphor, I'm about 99% sure that the world doesn't comprehend what cancer is :P

Fosco silently listens to Ianna, his brows rising in surprise at what he is told. At the end he blinks and shakes his head, then turns to councilman Panrick. "I am honored you would entrust me with this." he looks back at Ianna. "Ziza Dibh Muileta. I am very glad to have some more help in controlling the sudden crime spree going on, but I must admit I'm not very enthusiastic about the idea of fighting fire with fire. It seems wrong to stoop to their level."

Finally Panrick leaves the room momentarily and comes back with another gnome. He walks with a careful sort of confidence, eyes flicking about the room sharply. He has high cheekbones and a cleanly shaven face, and his green eyes rest above a somewhat crooked nose. He is wearing an impressive-looking set of full plate adorned with blue and white colors with gold trimmings, and on his back is a small wooden shield and a masterfully crafted lance. He strides up to the party and offers a hand. "Fosco Tosscobble. Guard captain and paladin of Iomadae. I was told I needed to meet with you on a matter of security." He doesn't appear to know much about the situation and is being very up front about it.