Luriel looks at the aasimar carefully. ’Oooh Mr Sour Puss finally decided to come out of his shell’ She thinks to herself but does not say that out loud. ”Ok! You’re hired!” She answers brightly instead. 'Better someone else standing in front then me.' She thinks to herself.”But we set off tomorrow since our healer,” she points at Kizzle, ”is only off tomorrow.”
”Also, my name is Luriel. How would you like us to address you?” Luriel asks. ’I don’t think calling him Big Stupid Fighter would be a good idea…’
Just in case he was too polite to eavesdrop the conversation between herself and Rascallon, Luriel repeats herself.
"These are the jobs that I saw on the post boards.Nekagth the Gelugon has an open request for buying alchemical supplies, most notably monster parts. Golden cats' eyes, al'miraj horns, carbuncle gems, akata larvae, mimi wings, gremlin gizzards. Since you don't wish to work for fiends, this one's probably out. Though selling parts from slain monsters is a profitable business."
"There's a want-ad for apprentice necromancers. Willingness to work with undead a must."
"An alchemist and machinist complains of gremlin trouble and requests adventurers capable of dealing with the problematic little fey. And has the listed Hall to go to."
"Then there's a job for finding a missing person. A missing persons request from someone named C-C. Inquiries are to go through Asphyxyx."
"Then there's another, a merchant describes a warehouse as having been overrun by "tiny green men" that have killed or spirited away his laborers. He wishes them cleared out and writes the hall to meet him."
"A celestial by the name of Galeon Pureblade wishes aid in a quest."
"Then there's also a request for the capture and delivery of small elementals outside the primary four to one "Keriston, Red Wizard"
”Which job would you vote we go for, tomorrow?” Luriel asks the aasimar.
"Nice to meet you Izrafil. Don't worry. I can't sit still myself." Luriel answers him. "Well I'm a scholar and..a fair archer. And he's a wizard."She points at Rascallon. "But our healer, Kizzie will only be off tomorrow. So we'll start tomorrow."
"Ever found out why?" Luriel asks Kizzle. "Ah well - I suppose that we'll just have to wait till tomorrow. And I'll need to find a way to pay for tonight's bill...hmm.."
She then approaches Sholanar on the next music break. "Hi, my name is Luriel and I'd like to ask if I could join you singing for the night to pay for my stay here. It's sort of what I do in Golarion...I've never been very good with money." Luriel admits, shamefaced.
"Well, we'd be glad for your help, Kizzle, but we don't want you to get into trouble with your job either."Luriel answers. "When's your next day off?" Luriel asks Kizzle. "And what nonsense?"
"First order of business. We need to decide what we want to do." Luriel says in a business-like tone of voice.
"These were the jobs that I saw on the post boards.Nekagth the Gelugon has an open request for buying alchemical supplies, most notably monster parts. Golden cats' eyes, al'miraj horns, carbuncle gems, akata larvae, mimi wings, gremlin gizzards."
"There's a want-ad for apprentice necromancers. Willingness to work with undead a must."
"An alchemist and machinist complains of gremlin trouble and requests adventurers capable of dealing with the problematic little fey. And has the listed Hall to go to. "
"Then there's a job for finding a missing person. A missing persons request from someone named C-C. Inquiries are to go through Asphyxyx."
"Then there's another, a merchant describes a warehouse as having been overrun by "tiny green men" that have killed or spirited away his laborers. He wishes them cleared out and writes the hall to meet him."
"A celestial by the name of Galeon Pureblade wishes aid in a quest."
"Then there's also a request for the capture and delivery of small elementals outside the primary four to one "Keriston, Red Wizard"
"My vote would be for the merchant with his warehouse overrun by "tiny green men", but which job would you vote for?" Luriel asks the elf.
"Also, I didn't catch your name. Or any name to call you by."
"Hi, my name is Luriel."She offers a hand for him to shake. "You see, I'm a planar traveller and I'm rather new to this stuff. I spent my lottery money getting here and then I realized that accommodation here is a lot more pricy then Golarion."Words tumble out of her mouth. "Long story short, I'd really love to be staying here, but it means I'll need some form of income. The postboards has some people looking for help, and I think they're jobs for a full adventuring party and not for people alone. Would you be interested in forming one? We set aside an extra share for healing supplies, otherwise we split the payouts equally."
”Maybe it’s time to use the postboard – Amateur Adventuring party looking for meatshieldfighters and healers. We have a wizard!” Luriel says impishly.
”Mitchifer – how are advertisements even put up on the post board in the first place?” Luriel asks Mitchifer. ”Is there an advertising fee that we need to pay?”
Then in a more conversational tone, Luriel speaks to Rascallon. "The problem with all these adventuring jobs is that someone has to stand in front. I'm not doing that. Are you?"
Then her eyes halt on the stooped elf with his shock of white hair that the panther man gestures to come to the table and waves him over to the bar.
Luriel describes the jobs she saw on the postboard to Rascallon, as well as adding her own comments. This is done loudly enough so that everyone in the vicinity can hear - aka including Markus
"Nekagth the Gelugon has an open request for buying alchemical supplies, most notably monster parts. Golden cats' eyes, al'miraj horns, carbuncle gems, akata larvae, mimi wings, gremlin gizzards."
"There's a want-ad for apprentice necromancers. Willingness to work with undead a must."
"I'm NOT working as an apprentice necromancer. The thought of dealing with the dead makes my skin crawl." Luriel says, revolted.
"An alchemist and machinist complains of gremlin trouble and requests adventurers capable of dealing with the problematic little fey. And has the listed Hall to go to. "
"You see the alchemist and machinist job...if we were feeling unethical, we could deal with his gremlin problem, by killing the gremlins, then selling their gizzards to Nekagth the Gelugon. I could use the money." She tells Rascallon.
"Then there's a job for finding a missing person. A missing persons request from someone named C-C. Inquiries are to go through Asphyxyx."
"As I said earlier I do need some money fast since my finances have been depleted, and usually missing people searches take a while. So I'm not for it."
"Then there's another, a merchant describes a warehouse as having been overrun by "tiny green men" that have killed or spirited away his laborers. He wishes them cleared out and writes the hall to meet him."
"I think the one of the merchant with his warehouse full of tiny green men should be a quick and simple job." Luriel remarks.
"A celestial by the name of Galeon Pureblade wishes aid in a quest."
"We could help the celestial named Galeon Pureblade. The problem is the notice isn't very specific on what the job entails.." Luriel's voice trails out.
"A request for the capture and delivery of small elementals outside the primary four to one "Keriston, Red Wizard" Luriel recites.
"How do you feel about capturing elementals? Aren't they sentient? It kinda struck me as a rather icky thing to do." Luriel asks Rascallon.
"Just like Golarion then." Luriel grins."No, I'm really not here to create trouble." Luriel reassures Kizzle.
Mitchifer
Mitchifer wrote:
"What you see there, lass. All eight feet tall and four arms of her. Athas is the Prime she hails from, it's a bit of a roughsack from what I've heard, lots of desert, powerful wizard-kings ruling cruel empires, and a sun that's started to go dark."
"Doesn't sound like a very nice place to live in. Where do they get water if it's all desert, and does that mean their world is going to die when the sun dies?" Luriel asks Mitchifer. All this while as Mitchifer briefs her, Luriel is busy taking notes in her journal.
Mitchifer wrote:
"Most Slaadi do, though there are exceptions." He nods. "They're a type of outsider associated with realms of Chaos, such as the Plane of Limbo. Kind of like Proteans or Ei'risai."
He gestures to one of the many doors along the sides of the room leading out of the tavern. "The Halls of the Serpent are what make up the rest of the World Serpent outside the tavern and the Arena. While the front door takes you back from whence you came - usually, unless it's moved - the Halls wind through the Astral Plane and contain many, many Doors, all of which lead to different places all over the multiverses. Some are marked, though most aren't. Some are locked - literally or metaphorically - though most aren't. And some simply don't function, or lead back in loops to another part of the Halls. And it can all change like that." He snaps his fingers loudly, a sound that echoes through the tavern and causes several of the nearer conversations to pause momentarily before they go back to whatever discussion had just been interrupted. "You may want to see about having a guide or someone with a knack for Doors or Portals before you explore the Halls too much, or make sure any employer asking you to use them knows exactly which Door they want you to take."
"I know Proteans live in the Maelstrom. It makes sense the Slaads have their own Plane, the Plane of Limbo." Luriel replies.
"So beyond this place, besides the door that I came from are the Halls of the Serpent? How would one be able to get a guide, or people with knack for Doors and Portals? Is it possible to use Gloves of reconnaissance to look through a door to make sure you don't end up walking into a lava pit?" Luriel asks Mitchifer.
Mitchifer wrote:
of trouble if indulged at the wrong place and time, miss," he replies cheerfully, tapping the side of his nose with one finger before resuming cleaning a new glass. "The Obsidimen are folk like Miss Hallovein, humanoids composed of a mixture of living essence and stone. I suppose they'd not be too dissimilar to what your world would call an Oread, or other worlds an Earth Genasi, though more specifically so. They're born from great living stones called Liferocks on their homeland."
"Ahhh I can understand Oread. I'll just think of her as an Oread from another world. Though in our world Oreads reproduce like humans do, and not come from rocks." Luriel remarks.
Mitchifer wrote:
I'm not as familiar with Thera or its world as I am some other Primes, but if I recall right it's a world that was dead to magic until relatively recently when it returned with a vengeance. Upset the order of things pretty significantly when all the other races returned from hiding or claimed humans to join them, and when the dragons resumed open control of reality there.
"Dragons control reality? But what type of dragons? Metallic or Chromatic dragons? And yeah I really can't imagine a world without magic! Though the poorer commoners in Golarion usually don't have access to it. Again...there's usually a wandering hedge witch that might be able to help, but again...what price?" Luriel replies.
Mitchifer wrote:
Eberron's a world where magic and technology are closely entwined, rather than opposed or one outweighing the other significantly like on many Primes. Gear's a Warforged, a race of living constructs created for some war or another, then left to find their own way after it ended. He's no mere golem, but a living, thinking creature, just one made of metal and such instead of flesh and bone.
"What are warforged societies like? And who taught them to form their first society?" Luriel asks Mitchifer.
Luriel scans the postboard for those involving level of unusual, esoteric, or highly specific skill necessary to complete (Any fitting my skillset?), as well as those for amateur jobseekers or neophyte adventurers.
He starts with the mantis merchant and the towering blue figure. "Those two are Chch'kraran and Jabal Abl-al-Jameel. She buys and sells weapons, primarily, and is a thri-kreen from the Prime of Athas. He, of course, is one of the Mercane, and has all manner of magical wares available for purchase."
”Sorry, but what’s a Thri-keen? I’ve never seen one before. And what’s Arthas?” Luriel asks as she tries not to gawk TOO much, less the mantiswoman takes offense. ’Those mandibles look mighty sharp, I don’t want to end up on the wrong end of them’
”Mercane I get – I’ve heard they are often interglatical and planar merchants who keep their wares in a secret chest.” Luriel answers.
Mitchifer wrote:
He turns next to the group by the fireplace. "That slaad there is I'tiq. He's... well, very typical slaad. I'm not precisely sure what he does with his time, but he makes his payments on something resembling schedule - again, for a slaad - and manages to avoid making trouble beyond being eccentric, at least within the tavern. What goes on in the Halls stays in the Halls, if anything is." He shrugs and switches to a new glass to clean. "That fellow is Kraksha, he's a Nathzarune Rakshasa from the Prime of Eberron. He calls himself a 'businessman', but I'm fairly certain that's slang for 'smuggler'. The woman with him is Lith Hallovein, an obsidiman from a place called Thera. She's a traveler much like yourselves, so I imagine she's trying to find work or 'business' opportunities from our furry friend there."
”Ok…the Slaad looks a bit like a giant bipedal frog, and what are the Halls you’re talking about?” Luriel asks Mitchifer.
”I don’t care if he’s a n honest business man or smuggler, as long as the goods he provides work as they’re supposed to. What’s an Obsidiman and what’s the world of Thera like?” Luriel asks Mitchifer. ”I’m sorry if I ask too many questions, but curiosity has always been a sin of mine.”
”The arena?” Luriel looks slightly uncomfortable. ”I’m not a fighter…more of a talespinner and scholar really. And statistical probability tends to point out that wagers usually are detrimental to the growth of finances.”
Mitchifer wrote:
His attention next goes to the band. "Sholanar there is part of The Staff, but her bandmates are from all over. I believe the drummer Rukina is from your world of Golarion, the pianist Simtharil is from the Prime of Toril, and Gear is from Eberron."
”Ah I thought the pianist might also be from Golarion…with some draconic ancestry. What’s Gear exactly? The closest I’ve seen to Gear were those Androids in the pathfinder lodge. And what’s Eberron like?”Luriel asks Mitchifer.
”Would the band be looking for any singers? I usually sing for my supper.” Luriel grins.
Mitchifer wrote:
There's also Nekagth, a gelugon who hangs out watching the arena; he sells alchemicals and other non-magical trinkets for what most travelers seem to consider fair prices. I'm sure he does deviltry on the side, no doubt, but as long as you're careful with your wording and don't sign anything you don't read, you should be fine for day to day purchases."
”I’ll bear your warning in mind. Thanks for it!” Luriel thanks Mitchifer.
When Mitchifer shows Luriel the prices here, Luriel gives him a weak smile, ”Wow…it’s pretty upmarket here. Yeah, I’ve never had…that much money sense, preferring to spend it traveling. I guess I’d better start getting a job.”
"Vinsegroth the White Slaad? He won't mind if I peek at the postboard, will he?" Luriel asks Mitchifer.
"Excuse me, Rascallon, could you make sure the other servers don't clear my tea and keep an eye on this seat? I'll go to the notice board to look at what's down there and be right back." She excuses herself from the table.
"Kizzie, also tell your fellow servers not to clear my tea. Actually, if you can tell them not to, and make sure no one takes our seat, Rascallon and I could both look at the postboard."
Assuming assurances from Mitchifer that Vinsegroth doesn't mind an extra gawker
Luriel then goes outside and has a look at the postboard.
"In what sense pearshaped, Kizzie? Do they throw rotten eggs at you if they don't like your performance?" Luriel asks Kizzie. She also takes Kizzie's hand and gives it a hearty shake. "Pleased to meet you."
"I know it's better then the inns we have in Absalom. Many of them are mostly rowdy drunks! Could you tell me more about the current patrons?" She shows Mitchifer her journal where she has been taking notes on various species.
"Like what are the various species around, I have never seen any of them in my homeworld of Golarion." She gestures at the woman carved of obsidian, the mantiswoman and the warforged.
"And also who are the Owners here? Would there be an opportunity to speak to them?" She asks Mitchifer curiously.
"And also, what are your rates for the night here? And where can we be getting adventuring supplies around here?" She asks Mitchifer.
"Ok - does he have live performances or something? I could sing for a living?" Luriel tells the purple haired gnome. "And sorry, I didn't catch your name? I'm Luriel."
"Hey, you're a server here, right?" Luriel looks at the gnome for a name tag.
"What can you tell us about how this place functions? We'll probably stay here, but at some point of time we'll need to get some gainful employment. How's that done here?" Luriel asks the purple haired gnome.
"And thanks for the tea."Luriel thanks the gnome, as she sips her tea.
"Good point..." Luriel concedes. "Maybe it wasn't interplanetary teleport, but gate. If it was plane shift, I think when I go back I will definitely have a long chat wizard and have a chat on the accuracy of the destination. I'm not sure what mishaps you can end up in the wrong place on the Astral plane." Luriel mutters darkly.
"The elemental plane of earth, you can end up suffocating, from being buried alive, the elemental plane of water you can end up suffocating unless you can breathe water, the elemental plane of fire well...you just end up in the fire, and the elemental plane of air is the most livable of planes being mostly air."
”Ahh so it’s going to be one of those days. A stickler for Semantics, aren’t you?” Luriel replies with a sigh.”Yes I could talk about Interplenetary teleport, but I usually keep it short as teleport since most people wouldn’t understand what I’m talking about.”
”But oh, you know, from your robes, wizard.” Luriel makes a tsking sound.” For the discussion of the Acadamia, planeshift should not be relied on its own as a form of transportation. Why there was this tale about some adventurers trying to Plane Shift to Armun Kelisk, only to get mugged by a gang of invisible stalkers!” Luriel begins to recite the tale.”And that’s not the worst that could happen, since Planeshift is not one of the most precise modes of transportation – if a planeshift went wrong in the Plane of Fire, you could likely end up in hot lava!”
"And hey, I waved that guy over, and he's just sulking in a corner." Luriel looks at the aasimar. "You know I'm telling you, I think if he stopped drinking that much lemon juice, he might not be such a sour puss." Luriel snickers.
Tell me if I'm horsing around too much, since being a fan of Kung Fu Panda and Jackie Chan and Will Smith movies - I have the propensity for some sh*t talk. And I AM snarky.
”Hello, Rascallon.” Luriel cocks her head curiously at the tiefling. ”I know you’re a…tiefling, because you’ve got red skin, pointed horns” Luriel says slightly uncertainly, due to previous experience on how some people blow up when the hard truth is told to them. ”But don’t worry, I’m not prejudiced or anything. “ The sentence is babbled out, in an attempt to avert possible misunderstandings. ”Do you mind if I ask you how you came to be here?”
”It’s…a hobby of mine. You can think of me as a journalist. I collect stories and lore about world. If I decide to ever stop travelling, I’m going to write a whole bunch of books so that I get to pass knowledge to the next generation. Afterall, we should never stop learning right?” Luriel adds.
”Oh sorry. I tend to get carried away. My name is Luriel. I won the Absalom lottery, so I got a wizard to teleport me down here, where worlds meet. I’ve always wanted to see what lies beyond Golarion, and I’ve not been disappointed thus far.”
Luriel, dressed in pink wide skirted, long sleeved dress with her gray leather curiass drapped over it, took in the entire scene. Her long, wavy red brownish hair was kept out of her eyes with a gold tiara, as was the custom of her people. This was all new to her, despite her people’s propensity to travel. Most of her people, the Varisians, were content to wander around Golarion. But Luriel was never satisfied with half measures, having won a lottery in Abasalom, had paid a wizard to beam her up to the “The Nexus of worlds”, as described by one of the books she read in a Pathfinder Lodge library.
Luriel soaked in the atmosphere – it was vastly different from many of the taverns that she had been around Absalom. There would be no pleasant, if alien music, just the smell of varnished wood(if the establishment was a good one), or unwashed drunks and puke if the establishment was not. She makes her way to the bar, pulls up a stool and takes a seat by it. She orders a cup of green tea from the spiky violet cloud haired gnome balancing a tray of drinks, as she begins to draw the various inhabitants of the bar, taking notes about their characteristics in her journal. She then asks Mitchifer, ”Could you tell me more about this fine establishment, and how it came into being?”
She also waves the other newcomers, the tiefling, with red skin, glowing yellow eyes and the tall slender figure with metallic hair genially, inviting them to join her at the bar.
Yeah I know it's 2 cp for tea, and I deducted it from my character sheet. Also added ink, ink pen and a journal.
"Fool me for trusting you enough to come to your table when you were just looking for an excuse to start a witch hunt."Luriel snarls back at Oscar, her eyes blazing. For a moment, the lights in the backdrop seem to dim.
Prestidigitation
"Mark my words, boy, your biggotted, holier then thou attitude will be your undoing. HE does not forgive, nor does HE forget." With that, she rises from the table and leaves the tavern, Azathoth following her into the night... never to be seen again...
Officially I have taken myself out of the recruitment.
Sure, but my hair is so long it pretty much covers it anyway. If I really do want to, I could just poof Azathoth, which I might, depending on how I feel about it, but expect me to contribute nothing to a fight. So you’ll pretty much get to carry me through the whole thing. I traded out standard summon monster abilities for some funny things.
The impression I got from the start is that as long as you don’t cast anything, you’re good, and I don’t really need to cast many things much.
"Elven?" Luriel gives a dark chuckle. "Maybe once, not any longer."
"And it is the fools that do not recognize the greater beings that walk among them, to show disrespect to the true masters of this place." She sniffs disdainfully.
"I am but his vessel," She looks at the mishappen creature puddled at her feet, as her eyes glow with religious zeal. "Should I be successful, he will reward me beyond all imagining. Should I fall, another will take my place. As it should be until Golarion is delivered unto him."
"For coin."Luriel answers curtly. 'He doesn't need to know the real reasons. Besides with the coin...there might be ways to create a longer lasting link between here and the Dark Tapestry...'
Luriel isn't one to beat around the bush. The faster they got to it...the faster he could feed. "Tell me how your son looks like, distinguishing features, and which district you last heard about him."
Note this part: A shaman who selects the Dark Tapestry spirit is often a misanthropic loner. While she may well work with others, she rarely does so of her own volition. Instead, she seeks out the aid of a small group (such as a party of adventurers) as a result of an obscure vision or other influence from the Dark Tapestry that she might not fully comprehend. Was actually planning to look for the NPC after the hue and cry had died down, to offer him the traditional "Deal with the devil"
Luriel surprisingly walks to the table on the messaged invitation, with her misshapen creature slinking along. 'There may be some use to these pawns afterall...it will provide me with a cover to gather information.'
"I'm Luriel. We're on the lookout for...opportunities."'That is, opportunities for Azathoth to feed'
She then turns to the man, "If you are looking for your son - I can help you. Afterall - you don't have much where else to turn too, do you?"
'Interesting...missing people usually attract trouble..and when trouble comes, it brings coins, and possibly a chance...for a feast... Luriel thinks to herself. 'We'll just bide our time and keep listening...'
Luriel notices the strange stares she is given from the other patrons but does not pay them any heed. She has had those stares all too often. ’They do not see the truth. They live their petty, miserly lives without even knowing who are the true masters of Golarion.’
She returns to brooding over her drink. She hated sitting at such noisy watering holes with insignificant mortals, yet it was generally in these places that there would be people gathered to talk about their business, which some of it…could prove useful. For with each soul that Azathoth consumed, his link between Golarion and Dark Tapestry grew ever stronger…
A young woman, who might once have been pretty, but for her too thin frame, sunken cheekbones, unkempt hair and vacant eyes sits in the corner of the room, nursing her drink.
She turns those empty eyes on the room, surveying it briefly before turning her attention to the shapeless blob with a single eye, a gaping maw filled with sharp teeth and four tentacles like limbs sticking out of it, puddled by her side. At the end two of the tentacles are sharp appendages, looking somewhat, yet not quite like a talon.
She looks at the creature, speaking to it. "Look at them - all so blissfully unaware of the truths of the universe. How insignificant they are in the greater scheme of things,"while shaking her head. "Everything is transient. Nothing lasts."
"Yes, and you should know magic is finite. I definitely cannot be channeling magic energy all day long." Luriel thinks about it for a moment. "I could make you bigger, if you want, but it makes you a bigger target too."
Unfortunately I did not start with sleep in my spellbook, since I've always been irritated at the 1 round casting time
Doesn't work - because the next +1 you try to add to it would make it +2 in value so its 8k gp
