Search Posts
Still nauseated, Tazra dares to poke her head back around the corner as silence falls. "You did it then? Good-" She has to stop and duck back around the corner as she retches. This is terrible. How did they even make something that smelled so bad? Feeling slightly better after emptying her stomach, she makes her way back into the room. Sheepishly, she apologizes, "Sorry I wasn't much help there. That smoke really got the better of me."
Tazra immediately chugs one of the potions. After nearly dying to a single blow, she doesn't want to have any injuries distracting her.
Feeling much better as the last of her wounds close, she checks out the doors. "We should probably look for traps, they certainly had enough time to set them." Although if she found any she might well leave the disabling to someone else. She'd fallen in enough pits for one day.
"We did send you the bird. At the time we weren't sure where the safehouse was, so it seemed the best way to warn you." Tazra smiles at the gnome. "Thank you for your help. Like Souja said, Pemak of the Poisoner's Guild has promised her assistance, and even agreed to see if her contacts in the Assassin's Guild help as well." She shoulders her pack. "We'll come back once this threat has been dealt with. For now, stay here and stay safe."
Tazra crouches down so she's eye level with the gnome. "Timinic. From what you've said and what we've found, it seems like Venture-Captain Bosk broke an oath in order to save you. He knew what that would mean, and he did it anyway." "If you want to leave the Society, you can. No one would fault you. But if you stay...you can make Bosk's sacrifice mean something. You can carry on his work. Ensure that the Society can continue its operations here. We'll take care of the Ghostblades, but we're outsiders. We can't keep Dryblade House open. Not without help." "Timinic, will you help us?"
"Alright then. We'll check on Timinic, see what he might know of the Ghostknives' location, then head to the sewers." Tazra starts to head out the door, then pauses. "I'll, uh, be sure to come back later. To let you know how it went, of course." Anyone looking closely might see a hint of a blush on the half-orc's face. "I think we're all ready. Let's find Timinic."
"Your offer is exceedingly generous, particularly since we need to take out the Ghostknives anyway. If you know where in the sewers they're lurking, that saves us some time. I see no reason not to accept." Tazra grins. "We do have information on Timinic, although I can't guarantee it's the same as what you have. Regardless I agree that we should check on him first."
So the recipe was stolen, unless she's a very good liar. Probably not connected to the Ghostknives then, and she likely was actually a target. Which means she might be our best chance of figuring out what's going on. Tazra is self-aware enough to know that there's more than a hint of bias in her assessment. Pemak is a half-orc alchemist who's intelligent, practical, and apparently offers free medicine to the poor. She might just be a little in love. But biased or not, if they want assistance they'll have to trust Pemak enough to tell her what's going on. Unlike Ramyla, a member of the Poisoner's Guild is unlikely to be upset by the details.
"Very well then, straight talk. Venture-Captain Bosk was poisoned with the concoction I mentioned earlier, seemingly by his good friend Brandur Clovesh. A potion of delay poison, and it definitely was delay poison, only hastened his death. Something in the poison reacted with the potion to create a quick-acting foam that suffocated him." "Tracking the assassin to Brandur's house, we found Brandur dead as well. Same poison, same circumstances. We deduced that the assassin was actually a shapechanger of some sort, taking on the appearance of a friend to get close to their victim. Fortunately they were sloppy, and left a note listing their targets. Ramyla of the Dripping Wall Distillery was named in that note. As were you." Tazra deliberately doesn't mention Timinic. Just in case. "We stopped by the Distillery first and found the assassin there, poising as a customer. We stopped them before they could kill Ramyla. They mentioned something about the 'Ghostknives' as they fell." Tazra leans forward. "So what we want from you is information. You're well-connected; have you heard anything about these Ghostknives? They're clearly not part of the assassin's guild. If we want to make sure Ramyla is safe, not to mention yourself, we have to do something about the whole group. Not just one sloppy shapeshifter."
The emphasis on 'specialized'...what was it Ifzari said about specialists earlier? "A friend of ours already received specialized medical care. There was a distinctive smell about the concoction. A waxy, burned vinegar smell." Tazra continues to smile, although her eyes are sharp. "I'm a bit of an alchemist myself, and recognized the smell as being one associated with your wares. Our friend couldn't explain what the concoction was, so we thought we would come and ask." As she speaks she tries to get a handle on Pemak's reaction. Just because her name was on the list doesn't mean she's innocent.
"Venture-Captain Bosk was poisoned by this creature, who had taken on the appearance of a friend, much like it did here." Tazra tactfully decides not to mention Brandur's death. No point in frightening Ramyla further. "Thank you Ramyla, you've been a big help. We'll make sure Timinic is safe." Consulting with the rest of the group, she says, "Timinic has already been warned, and we've killed the original assassin. He should be safe for now. Since Pemak's Tinctures is only a few minutes out of our way, I'd recommend stopping there first. Hopefully we can find out more about the situation from her."
Feeling a bit better with an extract of shield in her pouch, Tazra rejoins the conversation. "I don't remember seeing anything about 'Ghostknives' in his notes. Although if they're killing people and they're not part of the assassin's guild, which it doesn't sound like they are..." She thinks for a second, pulling out her journal to double-check her notes. "Bosk's notes did mention investigations into a murderer named Cladara. It didn't sound like she was part of the assassin's guild; she wouldn't be being investigated if she was. Maybe she's also one of these Ghostknives. We should keep an ear out for that name too." She turns to Ramyla. "Does any of this sound familiar to you? If not, we should probably go find Timinic and make sure he's safe. I'd recommend going home and locking your doors. We can escort you there, just in case." A thought strikes her as she looks at the body on the floor. "I don't suppose you know where Immy lives, do you? The real one, I mean." The creature killed Brandur before using his guise; it's possible it did the same to Immy. We should check on her if we can. "Also, we should, uh, probably do something about that." She points to the body. "This is Daggermark after all; is there some sort of corpse-disposal guild too? Or an authority we should talk to about an unauthorized assassination attempt?"
The fight is over almost before it began, and Tazra blinks dumbly as the corpse falls to the floor. That was...unexpected. Seeing Ramyla cowering behind the bar, she tries to reassure her. "It's fine. We killed it. Whatever it was. Actually, do you know what it was? Because I feel like I should know, but I don't, and it's bugging the hell out of me."
Needless to say, Tazra is not particularly reassuring. Realizing that, she slinks off to another corner and lets others do the talking. If that thing had hit me, I'd be dead. And I'm pretty easy to hit right now. I should probably fix that. While the others talk, she pulls some chemicals out of her bag and starts mixing them, occasionally referring to a small notebook.
Tazra does indeed produce the earring. "Interesting how your one-of-a-kind handmade earring just happens to have a match right here. However, the powder seems more...conclusive. Here's my proposal. We gather that powder and escort you to a neutral third party where it can be identified. Ramyla, are there any apothecaries in the area you trust?" "If it's medicine, I'll not only replace the dose but additionally compensate you for the trouble. If it's poison..." She shrugs. "Then we'll talk." While her words sound casual, she's keeping a very close eye on 'Immy' and her hand stays on the hilt of her flail. We're backing her into a corner. It's possible she'll try to kill Ramyla, or us, the old-fashioned way. I have to be ready for that.
Tazra does glance at the departing dwarf, just to make sure his sudden departure is due to the talk of assassins and not because he might be the assassin himself.
However she's still reasonably certain that 'Immy' is their target. Rather than follow Davor out the door, she stays with Ramyla at the bar. "'I, Immy, am a regular here?'" She shakes her head. "Weird way to phrase that, don't you think? I have no doubt that Immy is indeed a regular, but this isn't Immy. The person we've been following has been using magic to disguise themselves as a friend of their target." A little louder, she says, "Or does 'Immy' have some innocent explanation for the powder they were pouring in a drink, and for how their earring ended up under a corpse?"
Tazra's eyes widen at Souja's accusation. Seems she found our poisoner! She quickly turns to Ramyla to explain the situation before it all goes wrong. "Ramyla, I'm Tazra, a Pathfinder. A 'Guardian of the Open Roads.'" Don't know if Timinic would have shared that particular phrase, but at this point it can't hurt. "We have reason to believe that person is a disguised assassin who's already poisoned several people and was targeting you next. Just...stay calm. We'll take care of this. It's what we do."
Tazra breathes a sigh of relief. She's here. She's not dead. Then a horrifying thought hits her. Or is she? In a low voice she whispers her new concern to the others, "The murderer took on Brandur's guise, they could have already killed Ramyla and disguised themselves as her. We should avoid making our intentions clear until we know for sure she is who she appears to be." Following her own advice, she moves confidently into the bar and takes a seat next to the dwarf. "Hello there friend. Seems like you've been enjoying some good whiskey. Any recommendations for an out-of-towner?" She may be talking to the dwarf, but she's discretely trying to scope out the other occupants of the bar. I doubt our murderer would have risked getting drunk, while the earring points to a female disguise. That leaves three suspects in the bar right now. Is the culprit one of them?
”We must have just missed them. The uniform the culprit wore is still warm.” Tazra stands up from where’s she’s been examining the clothing. ”I found a list of targets, and a single pearl earring. It seems likely our culprit has taken on a new appearance for their next murder. Luckily, it seems they didn’t search Brandur’s desk. The directions to Timinic’s safe house are still there.” She joins the others outside. ”Can you tell in which direction the tracks are headed? It looks like the culprit plans three more murders. If they’re going in the order on the list then Ramyla is the next one in danger and we should go to the distillery. But tracking them would be safer.”
As the tracks shift, Tazra frowns. "It looks like Bosk was right, that wasn't actually Brandur. Someone took on his appearance. Did whatever spell they were using expire? It doesn't make any sense for them to have shifted midway through running away." It also doesn't make much sense for them to be going to Brandur's actual house...until Tazra enters and sees the corpse. Oh. We're too late. She leaves examining the body for those better suited to it and starts looking around the room for any clues to the murderer's true identity.
Tazra hesitates, then shakes her head. "Timinic's at a safe house, not the distillery. He may have had a lot of contact with Ramyla while he was mapping the sewers, but that doesn't mean she'll know where he is. What we do know is that Brandur killed Bosk. It may be too late, but we should at least try to find him. That's the surest way of ensuring Timinic's safety. If we lose the trail, we can head to the distillery then. But if we go to the distillery first, we'll lose any chance we have of tracking Brandur."
Seeing both Dorrion and Ifzari continue searching the desk, Tazra takes the time to pen a letter to Timinic. I am writing to you from the Dryblade House. Venture-Captain Bosk has been poisoned, either by his friend Brandur or by someone assuming his form. Before he passed Bosk charged us with finding you and keeping you safe. There are six of us, all Guardians of the Open Roads. We will be coming for you shortly. Until then, do not allow anyone into the house, even if you know them and believe them to be a friend. Stay safe. We will protect you. She neither signs nor addresses the letter. Hopefully the passphrase will be enough to convince Timinic of the letter's sincerity. Until they can find him, it's the best she can do. Blowing on the ink to dry it, she asks, "Does anyone else have anything they think should be added?" After making any suggested revisions, she activates the bird feather token and hands it the letter. "Please take this to Timinic."
"We have some leads at least. If we hurry, we might could track down Brandur, if that really was him. Or we could head to Pemak's Tinctures. The fact that the poison came from there and Pemak is apparently connected to the Poisoner's Guild...that seems like a good place to start." Tazra looks again at the mess of paperwork on the desk. "There's so much there...I don't know how much good continuing to sort through it will do. Venture-Captain Bosk told us we needed to hurry and find Timinic as soon as possible. While the maps may be helpful, Bosk wouldn't have left a map to the safe house on his desk. If it was going to be anywhere, it would have been in the safe. Personally I think we should pursue the leads we have. Head to Pemak's Tinctures and start asking questions. Maybe we could use this..." she holds up the bird feather token, "...to send Timinic a message warning him not to let anyone inside, not even Brandur. What do you all think?"
Tazra flinches at Ifzari's accusations. "I didn't...he said to..." she trails off as the now-empty vial of delay poison slips through her fingers and crashes to the floor. Was that potion also poisoned? Did I kill him? She closes her eyes and forces herself to take a few deep breaths. As she does so, she frowns at the waxy smell in the air.
Her voice is much quieter than usual. "I think...I think whatever poison was used came from Pemak's Tinctures. Their wares have a very distinctive scent. They were recently robbed, if I recall correctly. I'll...Bosk was talking about the safe. There must be something important in there. I'll try to open it." Very deliberately not looking at anyone, she pulls her thieves tools out of her bag and sets to work.
The safe opens quickly enough, and she starts leafing through the paperwork inside. "It looks like Timinic, the agent Bosk mentioned, is in a safe house somewhere near the border of the city. If we can find him, the code phrase to identify ourselves as fellow Pathfinders is "Guardians of the Open Roads." Bosk was also tracking a murderer named Cladara, who's apparently under investigation. That's unusual for a member of the Assassin's Guild. And Pemak, the apothecary I mentioned earlier, may be connected to the Poisoner's Guild." She'll hand the paperwork over to anyone else who wants to take a look. "There's a couple useful items in here too. A scroll of share language and a bird feather token...do you think we should try to send a message to Timinic with this?"
A large half-orc with a heavy flail on her hip has been writing in her journal nearby. Seeing the others start introducing themselves, she closes the book and approaches. "Hello everyone, my name is Tazra." What the tengu said suddenly seems to hit her, and she adds, "Wait, did you just say you were nearly eaten by a demon?"
Name: Ever_Anon
For the Day Job Roll, I'm probably going to forego my downtime to fulfill a goal on my Faction Journal Card. (I say probably, because I can only check one box per scenario. If I get the opportunity to fulfill a more difficult goal, I'll take it.) Regardless I'll remind you of this at the end of the scenario. If I do end up fulfilling a different goal, I'll make my Day Job Roll then. Also, since you gm'd Tazra's first scenario, I wanted to give you a heads up that I changed her build. Don't be surprised by her carrying a flail all of a sudden!
Tazra shakes her head. "The Concordance does seem to be an interesting faction. However, I have a...personal stake in Liberty's Edge, so I'm afraid I must decline." Glancing at Eranahu, she adds, "I did enjoy working with you all. If I am able to assist the Concordance in the future, I will certainly do so."
|
