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Tchucko spits and draws his crossbow, leveling it at the townsfolk. "Good to know that the kindhearted townsfolk we're trying to help are brave enough to beat an innocent child to death. You all best run away as fast as you can, or our paladin friend reporting you to the authorities will be the least of your concerns."
"We've uncovered considerable evidence that the Sphinx, and thus the circus, is being framed. We've shared most of this information with the Constable - the rest we just uncovered now." "The most damning evidence was discovered at the original murder scene - we found that humanoid tracks had been intentionally obscured around the body and that the animal tracks that were found were actually incompatible with those of a sphinx." "This lead us to believe that a group of unknown humanoids were really behind the murder and robbery. This suspicion was confirmed when we stumbled across two skulks trapped in the Locked Box' vault. They eventually told us that they were working for a gang of humans who were behind the robbery. They revealed the names of the two skulks who serve as intermediaries between the human gang and the skulk community, but unfortunately, they managed to escape after the recent commotion." Tchucko gives a knowing look to his companions after telling that slight lie.
"When we investigated the most recent murder, we found a number of eyewitnesses who reported three clowns acting suspiciously at the tent near the murder scene. We investigated and discovered humanoid tracks leading out of the back of the tent, and when we followed those tracks we discovered three discarded clown costumes." Tchucko beams a bit before stating this next part. "It is my contention that there is a gang of humans who have used the circus' arrival as an opportunity to kill Archivin, rob the Locked Box and frame the circus for the crime. All of the evidence points away from the Sphinx' involvement and towards a plot to frame the circus and it's star!"
After circulating among the crowd for a while, Tchucko returns to his companions and shares what he has learned. "It sounds like Sister Esrelda had made public plans to speak to Jherizhana the Sphinx today. If someone was looking for frame the Sphinx, this would have provided a perfect opportunity." "There also was an upsurge in pickpocketing around the time of Sister Esrelda's murder. Considering that whatever group is behind this appears to be made up thieves (they robbed the Locked Box, they hire skulks to commit petty crimes for them), they would be more than capable of sending out a crowd of thieves to attempt to make the circus look even worse." "There appear to have been three people dressed as clowns hanging around Jherizhana's cage. We found their costumes at the end of a trail leading out of the tent. We need to figure out who was wearing those costumes and what they were up to. My gut tells me that they were the ones who killed Sister Esrelda." Tchucko turns to Mistress Almara and shows her the clown costumes that the group just found. "I think that who ever is behind this murder was wearing one of these clown costumes. Witnesses saw three clowns loitering around Jherizhana's cage around the time of the murder. Do these costumes belong to any clowns that work for the circus?" "Also, is there any chance that the circus has any dogs or other animals trained at tracking? If we could sniff out the trail of the people wearing these clown costumes, we'd be much closer to cracking this case."
Tchucko doesn't notice anything out of place (other than the fact that there's a dead body), but he starts to circulate in the crowd trying to gather any information he can about what happened and if there were any witnesses.
After gathering some information, Tchucko hears Andoliesa mention a set of tracks leading out of the tent. "We should definitely check those out."
When the skulks spill their guts, Tchucko mumbles under his breath. "Harmless junkies..." He looks around at his companions to see what they want to do, but if no one objects he kicks the rope back down into the pit. "We're going to be heading out of here. When we do, wait a few moments before you sneak out - the constable is upstairs and probably would have more questions for you if she saw you." He also hands the skulks a small bag of coins (25 gp worth). "We don't have any shiver, but we do have gold. If you'd rather work for our tribe, we'll do what we can to help you out. If you think of anything more about Nisku, Kymeth or Onamea that you think we would be interested in knowing, look for us at the Two Water's Inn."
Tchuko is impressed by Pazacku's speech outside, and pats his companion on his wing after his speech disarms the crowds. "Well, here's what we know so far, at least as much as I've been able to put together:" "First, Jerizhana the Gynosphinx is being framed. The tracks found at the murder site were poorly camouflaged. Archivin was murdered by humanoids, who then erased their tracks and attempted to give the impression that the act had been done by the gynosphinx." "To me, that suggests that a group that's not associated with the circus is behind the murder and theft - I have a hard time imagining a scenario where the circus frames itself." "Second, whoever robbed the Locked Box is probably the same group that killed Archivin. The two skulks in the vault named Nisku as the person who was giving them orders. They seemed to imply that he was human (though I don't know how well skulks differentiate between half-elves, elves, humans and other similar groups). Nisku is apparently the leader of a group - the skulks called it his tribe - and at least two skulks named Kymeth and Onamea seem to be important members of this group, serving as intermediaries between Nisku's group and the other skulks." "I have a feeling that skulks are hard to track down, so I think we should focus our attention on Nisku. Let's see if the constable or the sheriff have heard of him. If they have, I think he's our number one suspect for the murder and the robbery."
Tchucko lowers himself to the edge of the pit and leans over to give the impression that he is speaking conspiratorially with the two skulks. "Look, we've all ended up trapped in a pit inside a secure vault in a building that was recently robbed and whose owner was murdered before. It could happen to the best of us. Unfortunately, my companions are a bit more attuned to the straight and narrow than average, and they are probably pretty suspicious about what's going on here." "Assuming you had nothing to do with the murder of this fine establishment's owner, and you return any objects you accidentally picked up while you were down here, I'll do my best to convince my fellow Tengu to let you go. But you need to cooperate and tell us what you know and why you are here."
Tchucko nods at Takashi. In Tengu, he says, "Takashi's right. There is clearly something suspicious going on. I don't think they mean us any harm, but they also shouldn't have been here." After Chack-Qetchack and Pazacku make their way up the rope, Tchucko moves over to Andoliesa and motions for her to pull the rope out of the reach of the two strangers. "We'll be happy to help you out... but after you explain what you were doing in this vault. And, sorry about the stabbing bit. You just caught us a bit by surprise."
Tchucko looks surprised and gets the impression that the creatures in the vault aren't necessarily trying to kill them after all. "Sorry for assuming the worst and stabbing at you, um, miss." The tengu rummages around in his pack for a hammer and a iron piton, and wedges the spike into the open pit in an attempt to keep it open long enough for everyone to climb out.
Tchucko calls out to his allies: "There's something in here, coming at us! It's camouflaged but I can just see it!" He doesn't have enough time to draw his crossbow, but luckily he keeps a sword inside of his walking stick. He draws the sword cane and lunges at the approaching creature!
Unfortunately his aim is off and he stumbles and completely misses his target.
"I guess a hundred gold's nothing to shake a stick at." Tchucko smiles at Mistress Delisen. "Looks like you've got a flock of tengu Pathfinders at your service." Before they leave, he has one last question for the circus' leader. "Do you know if they suspect any particular member of the circus? Cause if so, we'd definitely want to speak with them to help establish an alibi."
Tchucko mumbles to himself... "Six hundred gold..." He then looks up at Mistress Delisen. "Is that 600 gold apiece? Or total? And how much do we get if we find conclusive proof that someone from the circus was involved?" "Cause we wouldn't want to be 'unduly influenced', after all." Tchucko caws a little to himself and looks at his fellow Tengus with a knowing nod.
Tchucko mutters to himself... "This is a turning into a real mess..." He walks over and puts a talon on Takashi's wing. "Don't beat yourself up, kid. You didn't do anything wrong." He then says quietly so that only his fellow Pathfinders can hear, "Besides, I think Takashi's right. I've never been one to believe in coincidences. The 'dragon' attack is too convenient, and the lady who doesn't mind being mugged is off, too. Something weird is going on."
Tchucko hears the worried man calling out to not injure the creature, and he stops reaching for his crossbow and instead dips his talons into his spell component pouch and removes a live cricket. He turns his thoughts to rest and tries to calm his inner emotional state, calling upon his magic to put the "baby dragon" to sleep.
Tchucko chuckles when he hears the sphinx' reply to Andoliesa's question. He tries to flatter the sphinx a bit to butter her up. "I'm sure you are here by your own accord. I can't imagine that anyone in this carnival would be able to restrain as fierce, powerful and intelligent a creature as yourself if you wanted to leave."
"I agree. We might as well see it all. As long as we get to stop by the midway at some point - I'm itching to sink my talons into some of those games." Tchucko happily follows Pazacku towards the Big Top, keeping his eyes peeled for anything interesting or particularly shiny. After a short while, he turns towards his companions. "And remember, you can't always trust your eyes, especially in a place like this. Carnivals are full of tricks."
After watching the workers unload the cage, Tchucko hurries to catch up to his fellow Pathfinders. Luckily, a group of tengus is fairly easy to spot. "I got a good look at what they were doing, though I don't know what it means. They moved a big empty cage, and it was full of pillows, and they jumped on the pillows after moving it. They were talking to each other in a language I didn't recognize, probably Varisian, so I didn't catch what they were saying." "Any luck finding the pawn shop? If not, I don't mind asking around." If Tchucko sees any locals that look non-hostile, he'll try and get some directions to the pawn shop.
Tchucko wanders back to the "flock", surreptitiously examining his new treasure as he walks back. He Tengu:
"Good ear, Andliesa. You all head down to the pawn shop - I'll try and get a peek at the cage and then I'll catch up to you." Tchucko wanders off a short distance, attempting to look inconspicuous, all while keeping an eye on the carnival workers.
Tchucko chuckles a little uncomfortably, realizing that his companions are all far more faithful than he has ever claimed to be. "Don't worry, Andoliesa, I've learned my lesson. I got hurt pretty bad the last time I walked on the wrong side of the law - being a Pathfinder is much less nerve-wracking than always having to watch my back." Changing the subject a little bit, Tchucko says, "I don't think I've ever traveled with a cleric, two warpriests and a paladin before. I'm more of a mentalist than a spell-slinger or a sell-sword. But I do have some special tricks up my sleeve. I don't know which of you is likely to be in the front lines if a battle breaks out, but I can stare into your eyes and work some of my magic to protect you, if you'd like."
"I've seen a lot of strange things in my days, but I've never seen a winged lion with a human head. Takes all kinds, I guess..." Tchucko, a garishly dressed tengu with a nervous habit of fidgeting with a "lucky" coin, chuckles to himself. As the party leaves Sheila's office, he turns to his companions: "Watch yourselves at this carnival, though - the only thing you can trust about carnival folks is that you can't trust them. I should know - I've run my share of cons over the years."
Player's forum handle: HisProf217
____ 1) Any special rules, boons, or corner cases you need to let me know about: Nope. 2) A few sentences about your character and his or her previous adventures, both out of character and in character as your character would describe him or herself. Why are you in the society? Tchucko spent most of his young adulthood on the streets of Absalom, working as a fortune-teller, conman and occasional smuggler. After a smuggling assignment went wrong and Tchucko ended up spending a short time in jail, he decided to try a slightly less criminal path - joining the Pathfinder Society. So far he's only been on one mission (01-55 The Infernal Vault), which was a lot more dangerous and deadly than he had expected. He's still interested in being a Pathfinder, but hope that he gets beaten up less on his next mission. 3) Why do you want to be in a wacky all-Tengu game? What makes you want to be part of the flock? I really enjoyed playing Tchucko in my last game (he's my second PFS character), and am hoping to pick up some good Tengu RP tips from watching my fellow bird folks in action. 4) May I bot you in combat or for an occasional skill check to ensure a fast moving game? Sure, although I'm a pretty fast and frequent poster, so hopefully it won't come up. 5) What are your go-to combat tactics for botting purposes?
I have a Tactics section on my character sheet, but Tchucko's go to attack at this point is to use his Painful Stare on an opponent and shoot them with his crossbow. 6) Will you be able to post 2-3 times a day on average, barring occasional days off (Cons, Work, Short Vacations, etc?) I look forward to a game with frequent posts. :-)
Tchucko staggers to his feet and begins to straighten his feathers. He turns to Jadger with a look of some surprise when the gnome suggests that Celeena join the Pathfinder Society. "You're a kinder bird... I mean man... I mean gnome than I am. But I guess you're right - on the scale of evil scheming, this one has to rank pretty low. And she certainly would be more welcome fighting on my side than against it in the future." He then turns to Smiley and pats him on the shoulder. "Thanks for pulling our feathers out of the fire there, my lucky dwarf."
Seeing Argazhon fall, Tchucko breaks away from his attempts to skewer Celeena and rushes to the fallen summoner's side. "You foul witch! You know you can not defeat us all. Why didn't you just surrender when you had a chance!" Tchucko tries his best to apply first aid to his fallen ally.
Sadly, he's never dealt with burns like this before, and his knowledge of human (or aasimar) anatomy is a bit light.
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