The keyhole and the key-hand are of similar size. Can't really tell if they are a match or not without trying it.
"No idea," says Saul. "My dealin's may be on t'shady side of t'ings, but I ain't never done no elf no wrong. Not dat ol Saulie knows of anyway. Might jus'be wanna t'other bosses usin' youse like a tool. Wouldn't put it past Tammerhawk t'be up t' somethin' like that. He's a wizard an' prolly knows all types. That must be what's what." He gives you a wink and a point with his good finger, clicking his tongue as if he's figured something out for you.
Clearing the sand away finally, Cherry and Dougal find a flat concrete surface underneath. A small keyhole is drilled in the center with no other handle or means of opening visible. It seems there is some kind of trapdoor down there after all.
"Elves?" says Saul with surprise. "What in de name a'Besamara's blessed boots 'r yeh talkin' 'bout, boy? Saulie ain't got no deailin's wit' elves, 'xcept de rare uns what shows up at t'Goblin for a good time."
He grow wistfully, and looks a bit stricken. "As fer Larur, well, I might like t'do over 'gin given 'nother chance. He were a good fella, alriht, but when I found out he was given secrets to t'nother boss, well I just couldn't have dat. Youse unnerstand dat at least, dontchaa?"
Saul makes a lowering motion with his one good hand, "Settle down dere, sport! Youse guys 'r always jumpin' off ta conclusions an' what not. O'course youse was useful, an' yeah, yeh kept Saulie's head from gettin' smashed like a melon, but really, Zincher wasn't dat big a t'ret ta me. Ol Saulie had it under control, knowwhatImean? It's da Larur mess what started youse turnin' against me. An'dat's when I knew," he touches his key-hand to his temple. "Dat's when I knew I was gunna 'ave t'git rid o' youse. Too goodie-two-shoes to be in dis bidness. An' lookie 'ere, I was right. Saulie's a smart cookie, sport. WhatcanIsay?"
"Now," he says with a sigh, "how's'bout lettin' me walk now? I tole youse what youse wanna 'ear, no youse do yer part. Let poor Saulie go, eh? Never see 'im again. Poof!"
Saul laughs, a chuckle at first that leads into a full-on belly laugh. "Tha's right," he finally says. "Dose patsies I hired'r 'posed ta steal all da loot an' den return it t' me. I'd get de coins dem fat cats dropped durin' de tournament, and keep t' original stake too. Foolproof, 'xecpt nobuddy counted on youse hero types showin' up an' scarin' de robbers so bad de jus' ran. Well, after dat, I jus', yeh know, improvised-like, an' kept youse all on as 'ired muscle; it worked out pretty good too, until yer noses kepp pokin' in where dey ain't 'posed to poke, kapich? Den I t'augt, 'Saulie, youse gotta do somet'in 'bout them partners o'yers'. Never nuttin' personal, strictly bidness, see?"
Cherry starts kicking aside the sand covering the floor at the center of the arena. There is a something hard under they she can tell. It takes a bit to excavate enough to keep the sand from just running back down.
"Yer a proud bastard when I'm locked in a cage an' you hold all the keys, Saphren. Shoulda kilt you meself when I had the chance; now I propped you an' yer friends up, and damned if it ain't Saulie in a cage."
He smiles and shrugs his shoulder. "STrictly bizness my good man. Nothin' personal, you unnerstand, right? We can still make this work, you an' I, cut t'others out of it and rule this town. Whatdya say?" answers Saul, the wheeler dealer to the end.
If you put him to the knife so be it. He was always going to come to a bad end anyway.
The trap door is found rather easily and it appears it does require a rather large key to open. Having escorted Bojask from the premises, Saphren returns with Saul in tow, locking the evil little man in one of the holding pens for the arena animals.
"I hope you get what you deserve down there!" says Saul muffled by the gag in his mouth. "To the hells with all of you!"
Saul bites off a smart reply to Reva as the threat to his person becomes real. "Ok, ok. If you let me go, I'll show where my contact is. You'll need my key," he nods indicating the stump taken from him. "But you gotta give your word to let me go, once I show you."
Kwava looks at you intently, clearly he wants you to agree to the deal, but he also knows your history with the conniving man, and won't push you either way.
Saul swallows hard, gritting his teeth at his wounds and his untenable situation.
"I don't know what you're talking about, elf. Mysterious benefactor, you think I'd be running this hell-hole if I has some sap passing me cash?" He grins up at all of you. "I'll tell you anything you want to know that keeps me alive, you know me. But I ain't got no mystery ally."
Sense Motive DC 17:
As Saul answers it is apparent that he is not truthful, he cuts his eyes to the floor, and then give an involuntary look at the stump of his arm where the key (now held by Saphren) used to rest. Kwava has clearly hit near the mark despite the man's denials. Really with a +12 Bluff, I get a DC 17 (sigh).
To Trig he says: " I needed to get established and keep the other bosses off me. You did all that and more. Thanks..." Saul swallows hard as he is roughed up a bit more by Saphren. "Can't give you a good reason not to gut me. I deserve it, gods know. I'll give you the Goblin and disappear from your lives, that's all i have to trade. What say you?"
Appraise works as good as any. You may take 20, but it will take a day or so to study the records for that to become clear.
Appraise DC 22:
It is clear from the business records, which are done in Saul's own hand, that there is something strange going on. Besides the expected sliding profits from teh top, large untraced deposits have been made recently, helping prop up the moribund state of the finances of the Gold Goblin
You've got it wrong, Saphren, my friend. No one is using me. I, on the other hand, had a use for you lot. Protection from the other bosses and muscle to get what I needed. But it looked like you got too powerful, wasn't sure I could handle you much longer, so I made a play. Take you off the board once I felt secure from the others. Worked perfectly too, 'cept those damn rats, couldn't live up to their end though. Shoulda known better."
Shaking his head to clear the cobwebs Saul grins from the floor as Reva brings him back from unconsciousness. "That half-orc sure hits hard. He and Magnus, what a pair. I knew you were good when I first saw you. That you'd kill me for sure. To what do I owe the pleasure?"
As Magnus and the rest push the barricaded door open, the find themselves face to face with Hans and Beyar, the two head bouncers from teh club. Both the toughs look sorry to be in this place, but they both step forward protecting Saul.
Along with the two bruisers and the short casino owner, another unrecognizable tough hangs in the back, a shortbow ready. Perched in the corner of the rooms ceiling is Old Scratch, Saul's pet imp.
As you enter, the imp begins laughing hysterically.
"Now, now," says Saul his palms outstretched. "Violence never solved anything...Let's not be hasty. LIke I sez it was business. Larur wuz gonna tell yeh I wuz pilferin' off the top, so he had to go. Plain and simple. Seemed like you all were gettin' a bit too tough t'handle, so I sent the rats after yeh. Guess I waz right, eh? So what'll it take for youse to turn around an' leave, eh? How much?"
About an hour before dusk, Saul returns with two small green glass bottles. "Bought these from a wizard I trust down on the dock. Hope you put 'em to good use. Damnedest thing down there, though. Giant flock of seagulls covering the harbor, bigger than I've ever seen. Their just up their circling and circling over the harbor. Strange." He looks up at all of you, and with a choking voice says "Good luck in your mission. Seems like everyone is against us, but we'll persevere. Godspeed!"
Who takes the potions of invisibility? Are you ready to set out to the Boneyard?
Saul grins as it sounds like your game for the mission. "Knew i could count on you blokes! Now you keep whatever you took from the bandits that attacked us here, and go get yourselves whatever you think you need. I can arrange for a couple of invisibility potions if you need them. You'll have to come up with the rest."
"As fer the Boneyard, it is land and water, a bit of both you understand. Most of the water is knee deep or so, but there's places where it gets deeper. Wrecked hulks of old pirate ships lie all over that place, so there should be plenty of cover. The Spar is a place where an old mast juts out of the ground high into the air, you can't miss it."
He proceeds to give you detailed directions and a quick sketch map of the Boneyard. Saul encourages you to be ready to leave by dusk, so you can get to the place in time for the meeting. It's about noon now.
Might check over the loot remaining in the Loot Tracker and decide what you want to do with it, and what you want to sell.
He shifts in his seat, sitting up a little taller. "As for what we should do now? I counsel nothing. Get the Goblin back open again as fast as we can. Show Riddleport we ain't hurt by their attack. We're stronger than them and now the town will know it."
"The dangerous thing, is that now those lined up against us have littlt to lose. Their prestige may be permanently damaged, and that makes them more dangerous, but with as many soldiers as they lost last night, it'll be a while before they can come at us again."
"I do have one bit of actionable intelligence," he says his eyes twinkling. "My contacts tell me that our enemies are planning a meeting far away from prying eyes. They have to be discussing us and their next steps. It'll probably only be a few capps -- the bosses are too afraid to come out, but we need to know what they're planning next."
"My contacts tell me that are meeting tonight in the Boneyard. The old ship salvage area, near the Spar. I know the place and can tell you where it is."
"What do you need from me to get out there and spy on these bastards?"
Soon enough it is time for your meeting with your senior partner. "Well, I am glad you all made it relatively safely through the attack on my Goblin. I was expecting a little backlash, but nothing like this. Any luck confirming who was behind it?"
Only the first item is magical. An Amulet of Natural Armor +1 which had been worn by the half-orc monk. Updated your loot tracker with the result.
Just as the dwarf and half-orc are ready to come to blows, Vancaskerkin enters. "What, you two are fighting? Now? What are you thinking? The whole city is against us and now we stand fighting among ourselves. Stop this instant! Go to opposite sides of the room and simmer down...Now!"
He speaks in a more authoritative way than you have heard before and the two guilty parties separate, for now.
"What have you learned from the captives? With Faje here, it's apparent Zincher was behind the attack, but I wonder if there were others. Half-orcs are Boss Croat's followers usually, and I'm not sure anyone could've pulled this raid off without Overlord Cromarcky involved somehow. Some of these thugs may be gendarmes in disguise."
"Do something useful with that anger, and find something out."
He turns on his heel and stomps off with Bojask to inspect the damage of to the east wing.
Vancaskerkin is as remorseful as anyone else about the loss of one of the staff. "I knew it might be dangerous, that's why I sent you. But I didn't know they'd kill one of the staff. Keeping civilians out of it usually part of the rules. We will make sure his family is well-taken care of. Zincher must be grasping at straws as we get more powerful, he grows weaker..."
The return of the casks grants you a +6 on your next "profitability" check with the Gold Goblin, but the death of one of the staff causes a -2 penalty.
As you gather again in Vancaskerkin's meeting room, he smiles at each of you absently rubbing the key that sits in place of his hand.
"My friends, I have need of your aid once again. I placed on order for exotic and expensive Garundi liquors months ago in hopes of having it for the 'Cheat the Devil' gambling tournament where we met. Unfortunately, the ship from Sargava was delayed, and has just now arrived in port. I have significant investment in that inventory, but I know that every pirate, crook, and crime boss will know about it, and some may try to make a move to steal it. I wouldn't put it past the Overlord himself to make a move on my goods."
"The 4 casks await unloading aboard the cog Foamrunner which is docked at the wharves. Take 4 of our bouncers or staff if you like to help load and carry the stuff, but mostly I want you there for protection."
Saul looks abashed. "Hey I didn't mean to jump to conclusions here. You bring me a bloody cloak of my friend who is missing, what am I supposed to think? I don't think he had any enemies, and I know no one who would've profited from his demise or disappearance. Probably some enemy of mine, I am afraid. Maybe Croat or Zincher? Maybe someone else."
"Do you have any leads on his disappearance? Do we know where he went? Like I said, while we look, I still need this place to run. I need a floor manager and I guess I should make you full partners? What do you say?"
His mouth is set in a grim determination you rarely see in his face which is usually animated and jovial.
"Tell me where he is, and we'll go get him. Tell me who's responsible and we'll make them pay."
"So you're saying, Larur is...dead! I can't believe it! It could be Clegg, it could be Croat. It could be a random deal in the street, I guess. He was carrying more than just an installment, but it wasn't the balance either. What am I going to do? I need a floor manager...and my friend."
He breaks down for a moment tears streaming down his face. Then sighs and regains himself.
"One of you will have to take over. Reva, would you take over as floor manager? You're honest and the staff respects you. I'll start kicking tires with my contacts in the underworld, see if anyone knows anything about poor Feldin. If it was Clegg or Croat, we'll get them back, you just wait and see. Whoever did this will pay!"
Blossom:
YOu get the sense that Saul isn't telling you the whole story. Can't say why exactly and he's pretty convincing, but there's a nagging doubt in your mind all the same.
Meeting the boss upstairs, he looks bleary eyed. "What happened to Larur, did you find anything? Was it Smeed that has him? Either him or that big galoot Zincher. I want my friend back! Who took him?"
Timelines are little skewed here. Blossom is both playing the night before and still at the Goblin with Reva speaking with Saul. The other have split to do some looking for the missing(?) dwarf.
Blossom, the night before:
You are leery owing anyone a favor, and as you ask the halfling weird woman only laughs "It will be in kind, dearie, oh it most certainly will at that."
AS you peruse her scrolls and knowledge you see that she has the following from your list: Mage Armor, Unseen Servant, Charm Person, and Cause Fear. LMK if you want to look specifically for any others. The prices to buy or copy are the same as PRD, 25 gp per spell/per spell level. Per the rules must also make a Spellcraft DC 15+ spell lvl check to make sure your familiar learned the spell or it is lost.
"It is a little embarrassing, but I guess I should tell you. We are partners after all." Saul says shrugging a little sheepishly. "I had to borrow money, quite a bit in fact, to buy the Gold Goblin and keep it operating. But with the money from the Devil's event and the turnaround you've helped with, I sent Larur to pay off a good chunk of that note. He should've been back by now, and I'm worried about him carrying that gold around."
The night before - You follow the itinerant mage, easily blending into the crowd and surroundings so as not to be noticed, even when she turns your way once.
Samaritha Perception:1d20 + 3 ⇒ (13) + 3 = 16
Creeping along, you see her enter a run-down tenement, eventually entering a poorly kept up flat, with a leaky roof and broken windows. Watching from across the street for a good while, you see that she dines alone, and spends the rest of the evening engrossed in books of one kind or another, until she puts out the light. You do not see her leave, or have visitors of any kind.
Stopping in some usual haunts to ask around about Samaritha, you find that none of your contacts no a thing about her.
Blossom:
On your rounds, you hear of a magic shop run out of her house by a hedge witch named Mathilde. Of course there is also the Cypher Lodge and a shop devoted to that group's magical needs. Assuming you go see the witch Mathilde, you find her to be a dumpy Halfling matron, who is one part seer, one part con artist, and one part witch or alchemist, making love potions and the like for superstitious locals. When you ask her about any arcane scrolls, she cackles and says she will show her wares, but requires a favor from you at some point for the privilege of looking. Up to you to respond, or try the wizard's shop.
"I did send him out on an errand this morning, but I expected him back already. He may have friends outside the business, I honestly don't know. We don't really run in the same circles outside the Goblin, you know." He seems sincere and you can't tell anything amiss in his worry or reaction. He screws his face up a bit at Magnus' mention of what's for dinner and quickly continues: "I have business in town today. Please keep an eye out for the poor fellow. It's not like him to be late, not like him at all."
An hour or so later, a pensive Saul Vancaskerkin stops you as you work on mundane tasks around the casino.
"Come to my office, I beg, good partners. I wonder if there isn't a problem."
He sits you down again in his luxurious office, leans back in his chair, and asks you. "Have any of you seen or heard frmo Larur today? I am starting to get a bit worried."
Saul frowns at Magnus his brow's wrinkled with worry. "This is a more delicate situation than that. He has powerful and connected friends and we are not strong enough to take them on yet. Better to see what he's up to then to get in a fight we can't win," says Saul with a wry look.
Vancaskerkin shifts uncomfortably. "Let's just say, this key..."he gestures at his missing hand where the silver key now resides. "...would be still locked up in my safe if it weren't for him. We had a misunderstanding regarding my son Orik, a local working girl, and an alchemist named Falk. Anyway, he and I don't necessarily get along, and his being here, can't be a good sign in anyway. Careful, though, he's a crafty one even if he doesn't look it."
IMO there a few flaws with this AP, and the game time it takes in getting really started is one of them. In this case, we are going to jump forward three days. During this time, you are working in the Gold Goblin or out doing the activities we discussed to help turn profits and grow business. When we start descriptive action again, you will have full spells (please choose them if you have the class ability to pick from a set and LMK here) and HP.
20 Gozran 4709 Absalom Reckoning, late evening
As you gather with your new business partners to eat dinner in the upstairs common room, Saul Vancaskerkin appears with a troubled look on his face.
He motions to you to follow and takes you out onto the security balconies overlooking the gaming floor.
"Look down there. See that big hulking brute?" He points at a man playing at a game table. The man's chest is huge and his arms literally ripple with muscle. His thick neck and crew cut hair only reinforce the image of someone you don't want to mess with. "That is Clegg Zincher. We have...a history. He's one of the underworld bosses in town and runs a competing casino. I don't know what he's doing here, but it's likely no good. Keep an eye on him!"
Saul appears more worried and frantic than usual, as if this Zincher's presence is causing him great distress. He rubs his key stump with his good hand over and over while he speaks.
Afterward, as the sailors are carted off by the gendarmes, Saul Vancaskerkin approaches you sheepishly. "Thank you for risking life and limb for our venture; there's many a soul here in Riddleport that wouldna stood up to those sailors. You've given me the courage to stand up to Zincher or Croat or whoever in the ratty underworld wants to take us down. Thanks!"
He points at Saphren"I'm making you chief of security. Get out there and keep those hooligans out of here, and figure out how to keep weapons off the floor from now on; two fights in a row's gonna be bad for business."
He dispenses all of you advances on your first week's earnings, which is a mere 10gp.
"Sorry to say, the profits aren't more, but maybe there's things besides fighting you could do to promote us or increase business; now that we have some staff, we have to get some gamblers in here."
The AP slows down a bit here, and the time is intended for you to work in the goblin and see if you can make the place a success or not. Give some examples (and associated rolls) of what you might to do make the place profitable in a given week. Each week of game time, we'll add your results up and see if the profit is more or less than before. We won't spend a great deal of time on this before time passes, but give me at least one example.
"Tell everyone you know, the Gold Goblin is under new management. My new business partners," he points at you lot as he says this, "will not allow any lawlessness on the property. I challenge any of you who are here spying for Clegg Zincher or old Boss Croat or any of the other bosses to go back and tell them the Goblin is on the rise! Any further acts of hostility will be met with force. And starting immediatly, the Goblin will enforce a no-weapons policy; all patrons must check all weapons at the door."
His announcements and challenge are met with murmuring grumbles and a smattering of applause. After his speech, Saul leaves the stage and works his way over to you.
"We need to get this place humming again," Saul says. "Work with Feldin on finding the right staff. You may have to work and cover tonight since most of our people have gone AWOL. I'll go see about drumming up some business."
With that, Saul brushes out of the goblin in a whirl.
Feldin nods and welcomes you warmly as junior partners in the endeavor. He answers any questions you may have.
"That is my sincere hope." says the one-handed man shaking with the half-orc.
Not sure if you guys have anything planned for tonight, but I will move the action on to the next day later tonight, we can have some out-of-order play if necessary to keep everyone happy.
Vancaskerkin smiles at you, but not a warm smile, not by a long-shot. "Sure I made mistakes in my past, and maybe there some in this hell-hole of a town that won't forgive so easy. That's why I need you; to watch my back. Tell you what, to square things I will offer to pay you each 50 gold and also buy whatever loot you took off those thugs and want to sell. I'll even pay a fair price, at 20% more than you could re-sell for in town. If that doesn't show my good faith, nothing will."
In my mind, this is before he retires. You are on your own for the rest of this day and then to get back to the Goblin on the next day to see Larur Feldin. Tell me what gear anyone wants, and I'll turn the rest into coin. The 20% is on top of the half-PRD re-sale price, not the list price.
Reva and Blossom: As you look for any "tells" regarding Vancaskerkin's honesty, you seem to think the graying crime boss is telling the truth.
"Mainly, you'll keep your day jobs, you seem pretty talented, but as junior partners, you'll help run the place. Hiring staff, keeping riff-raff out, the like. From time to time, there may be other duties, but we can discuss those as they come up. I don't think any of your goddess' will be disappointed in the work you'll be doing..."
The owner stands and excusing himself says:"Thanks again for your aid tonight; couldn't have done it without you. Welcome aboard the Goblin, I'm sure we'll do fabulously. Report to Larur in the morning and he'll show you about and set you up in the dormitory."
He walks through one of the doors in this anteroom, and disappears for the night.
Stay and talk, figure out your loot, or retire for the night...Just tell me when you're ready to move on.
"My friends, I have a proposition to make, but first, let me tell you a bit about myself..." He sits on one of the couches, admiring the lovely ladies.
"I am a retired gang-leader from the old days of Riddleport, but my life of crime was far from lucrative and cost me plenty. My health, my fortune, my family and even my left hand. After my sons left and my wife died, I took the little fortune I had and scraped together enough to purchase the down-on-its-luck Gold Goblin which was once a famous spot in Riddleport." He frowns a bit, his eyes sad and far-away as he reminisces.
"Being too old to return to a life of crime, I've been running the Goblin as a legit business, but I still have many enemies in town, many of whom would like to see me ruined, or worse...I live every day in the shadow of some thug's retribution."
"This attack tonight is case in point. I recognized the leader, Angvar Thistlecrit as he and his band of toughs have been around the Goblin before. They have contracted out to other crimelords in town, mostly for protection rackets and strong-arm jobs."
"This attack makes me think I should just throw myself at the feet of a boss like Clegg Zincher and beg for mercy, but before I did that, I wanted to ask you a favor." He looks around at each of you meaningfully, searching for acceptance.
"I am impressed by your strengths and abilities. You handled that robbery well. Would you consider working directly for me, as bodyguards, or consultants? I'd pay you each 10gp/week and take you in as junior partners, sharing the Goblin's weekly profits? Heck, you can even live up here in the private apartment. You could continue your jobs here or just enjoy yourself until called upon."
He looks around making eye contact with each of you meaningfully, "Well what say you all? Will you help an old fool out?"
Know Local DC 15:
You know that Saul's story is a little true but missing some details. He moved often from gang to gang, selling out bosses and finally having to juggle his allegiances and stories too much
As the rest of you gather and the crowd as moved on, Saul Vancaskerkin, a short balding swarthy fellow with that key for a hand, advances towards you.
"I owe you heroes a debt. Those criminals would've made off with my 10000 silver sails if it hadn't been for you. And this tournament, well it was to be my last shot, but I have a feeling my luck is changing. I think the Goblin is going to turn around just fine, if you lot stick around to help me see it through." He smiles, revealing a gold tooth and a gleam in his eye that seems out of place for a man who likely lost everything tonight.
"Stick around after this crowd leaves and let's discuss how we---" he points with his good hand all around the group, including himself, "---can make a go of this place after all. It's easy to see your talented, very talented."
He winks, hopeful you'll stay and meet with him, then is off to talk amiably with one of the bigwig gamblers.
