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A quick moment, and the lock clicks open.
Excellently balanced, the door swings open with a touch. Mounted on the wall opposite the main entrance, a stuffed elk’s head glares above a coat of arms. A compass rose inlay fills most of the floor. On either side of the mantle, two separate halls exit south. At the northeast and northwest corners, wide arches open into the two turrets flanking the front door.
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Marianna glances at Shalla sideways, and rolls her eyes as she tucked the two pins back into her hairdo, although a few strands had fallen out of place.
"Oh please," she says, "I'm a professional." However, she regards the scratch with some trepidation. If she hadn't made the mark, someone else did, and that meant someone had broken in.
"If we're all carrying weapons, might I suggest we keep them at hand?" she said quietly.
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You make your way further into the home, and enter the Lounge. A long mantle displays a collection of antique blades and more stuffed animals. Fine upholstered chairs and sofas line the corners, accented with small tables. An alcove opposite the display houses a well-stocked wine bar.
As you enter the lounge three men storm down a stairway deeper in the house, and make their way to the Lounge. All three are dressed in rumpled finery "Here you! What do you think you're doing, barging into my home uninvited! Why, I should have you arrested!" This comes from the man in front, the most finely dressed of the three.
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"Yes, that is me... but I feel like such a terrible host. Let us have some food and something to drink." He motions to one of the men behind him, who dutifully moves to the East, presumably to retrieve some food and drink.
He motions you towards the dining room(to the West), and leads the way, "Please, have a seat. What brings you to the lodge?"
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After the Venture-Captain turns his back Levistus gives a meaningful look to Marianna and then tilts his head to indicate she should take a closer interest in the two moving to the East, "Ah yes, of course Venture-Captain. Think nothing of it, we were but concerned for your well being and are pleased to see that everything is, indeed, well. Everything is well, isn't it? Or is there a reason that the lodge is currently closed? Perhaps we can be of assistance." Levistus' disarming off-handed demeanor and silken tone attempting to put the Venture-Captain at ease.
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"Well....I know this is a formality...but should we not exchange the weekly secret pathfinder society phrase? I know it is silly but rules are rules...."
"I say: An owlbear may be hungry for chesse but... And your response is..."
Olo motions with one of his hands for the response phrase to be given.
Bluff roll (There is no weekly secret phrase) =
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Beneath all three men's tunics, you spot the tell-tale shape of wayfinders. And, you don't get anything with that Sense Motive roll. :p
He picks up on your ruse, "Come now, my good man, don't act silly. We're all Pathfinders here. And besides, owlbears?" He snorts. Turning his attention back to Levistus he responds, "Yes yes, everything is fine, nothing to concern you dear fellow. I am sorry for not coming down sooner, there was quite the heated discussion going on upstairs and we must have not heard you knock." He plops down in the chair at the head of the table and motions to you all to sit, "Now, if you're all done with owlbears and cheese, what brings you here? I know it wasn't because you were concerned with my well-being." He chuckles.
One of the men comes back with a mixed tray of wine and ale, setting it down, and heads back for some food.
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"Oh," Tambric says casually, taking a seat at the table, "we were just asked to deliver some correspondence to you, seems like menial work, but given your reputation as an expert on the Darklands we jumped at the excuse to visit you in person. Perhaps you'd be willing to tell us a little about your recent work on the subject?"
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"Some letters? Of course, may I see them?" He ponders for a moment before responding, "The Darklands, of course... very dangerous territory, you know. Traveling through caverns and passages, with dangerous creatures and such around every bend."
His fellow comes back with some nut butter and bread and he changes the subject, motioning to the food. "Please! Eat! Drink!" He himself tears off a hunk of bread and begins chewing.
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Standing and placing a hand on one of the men's shoulders, "Could you show me the way to the latrine?"
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Olo shrugs and hosters his great axe on his back harness. He grabs a hunk of bread and chews...
Olo thinks to himself: "They are lying about not hearing our knock - but they may have good reasons....."
"Darklands....nasty place that...but gold is gold and business is business. I've heard impressive things about your establishing tade below."
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"Yes... trade is good." He becomes ebullient, gesturing widely with his hands, "Well of course! Its so dark down there, we've been selling torches like you wouldn't believe."
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- Thovar
- Marianna
- Tambric
- Shalla
- Olomorn
- Levistus
- Men dressed in Finery
- Marianna
- Tambric
- Men dressed in Finery
- Olomorn
- Shalla
- Levistus
- Thovar
MAP, but Olo is at E10.
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As Olo draws his weapon, Marianna draws her crossbow and aims it at the supposed 'leader' of the trio.
"You give me reason enough to doubt your identity," she says quietly, "And reason enough for my compatriots to doubt it too."
She leaves a pregnant pause before continuing. "Might I suggest that you start telling the truth, before matters escalate?"
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The three men put their hands up in surrender. Between the angry looking Dwarf, and the dangerous-looking woman, it looked like no contest. The men drop their pretentious air, and beneath you can all see the thugs that they truly are.
"We'll give you all our loot, if you just let us go!" The man in front cries out in a rather un-manly squeal.
The man next to Olo looks the most nervous, the whites of his eyes showing in fear, "It waren't us, theys were already all..."
"Shut up you!" The lead man stares down the squealer, hissing, "Don't make this worse!"
He turns to Marianna with a simpering smile, "Don't mind him, he's silly in the head, just take the stuff... and nobody gets hurt right?" The question ends in a nervous high pitch.
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Looking at the man Levistus' eyes narrow, "Did I mention that I practice the arcane arts? I would suggest you let the man continue...and tell us what you know willingly....before I am forced to rip it from your unwilling minds and leave you even more senseless than you have already proven to be. The choice, of course, is yours...."
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The thugs look between Levistus, Olo, and finally Tambric. They all break down, babbling, "Its all upstairs! You can have it all!" and "We found the bodies, all dead." "We didn't kill them! We jus' moved 'em out back." "Please don't kill us!"
They point out that their loot is upstairs (They'll show you, if you wish), and they lead you around back to the cold storage room:
This open-air porch is closed off with iron lattice covered with thorny vines. It holds a long stack of split firewood. Three sealed barrels have been pushed into the far corner.
The thugs point, but they don't wish to enter... clearly they are sickened by the memory of the bodies.
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Giving Olo a very calculating look, "We may want to have someone with a bit lighter touch than our resident hatchet-man here take a look." Glancing back at the thugs, "Now, this was an excellent start to saving your necks but please explain to me how exactly you came to be here and what exactly you found originally. Spare no details. Oh, and I believe you'll want to hand over those wayfinders and anything else you pilfered." As to you, he looks at a particular thug and holds out his hand, "I'll take that ring now. Explain to me exactly where you discovered it and whether you found anything else with it."
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The man looks abashed as he hands over the ring, and a wayfinder, and some necklaces, and some more rings, and some loose coin, and some trinkets, and...(you get the idea).
"Sir, it was like this sir, jus' we didn't do nothin', but the place was dark and empty-like, and, you see, we were cold and hungry and a mite thirsty... you understand right?" An ingratiating smile, "Wells the place was dark, and we jus' made our way through the door. We were surprised to find thems dead 'uns," he nods to the barrels and tries to count on his fingers, "Three of 'em. I swears we didn't killed 'em! They were all dead like, and it seemed like the killers had gone. We's were tired of livin' on the streets-like and, kinda, moved in... We didn't do nothin' wrong, jus' moved the bodies out here." His eyes flicker between Levistus and Olo's still-gleaming axe.
Obviously B&E is not a crime in this man's book and you can tell that these men are serial criminals, but you can tell he is too terrified, and completely in earnest about the rest.
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He ducks his head "Yessir. Uhhh... I don't remember which one."
Levistus pins him in place with his piercing stare, "...but it was one of these poor souls, was it not? Or did you find it someplace else? Perhaps we should speak more privately." Making an arcane gesture Levistus casts a spell. Levistus then take him to the side, out of earshot of the other two and repeats his questions.
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"Not sure if I remember, buddy." He smiles, lightly punching Levistus' shoulder like they are old pals, "We found a few rings upstairs in some drawers but..." He contemplates the ring, "Yeah, I think it was on one of those dead 'uns." He thinks for a moment, "You're gonna help me out, right, buddy? Jus' let me slip outta here, I won't never bother you again... or maybe we can meet up for a few drinks? I know this great place..." He gives a toothy grin.
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Giving the man a thin smile, "Of course, drinks sound perfect. Let's go someplace a bit more upscale than your usual haunts, shall we? Name the place. Now of course you can go but please make sure you have told me everything that you know about this place and anything else you or the others may have taken or hidden." Glancing over his shoulder at Marianna he raises his voice so she can hear, "Would you be so kind as to make sure none of them have been reluctant to hand over their ill gained goods?"
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"Thank you for being so forthcoming. We'll meet for that drink later. What establishment, of the somewhat more classy variety, do you suggest? If you don't mind hanging around for just a bit longer while we finish our examination of this place, I would appreciate it. Just in case I have another question or two." He raises a questioning eyebrow as if to say "you don't mind, do you?".
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Thurg(the charmed thug) begins leading you on a tour of the manor, as if he were showing off his home to visiting friends, "Well, you've already been in the front, and through the dining room, so if you'll follow me..."
He leads you through the kitchen: This well-stocked kitchen centers on a large cobblestone hearth. Its walls are lined with prep counters. Stowed behind the free-standing hearth is a row of wooden water barrels.
You poke your heads into the kitchen store room: This pantry contains bags of flour, canned goods, and small barrels of potatoes, onions, beets, and apples. Its contents lie in disarray; blood-stained piles of flour create pink smears on the floor that lead to the northern wall, which holds a shelf mostly containing broken spice jars.
He leads you up a flight of stairs to the first floor Conference Room: This room is furnished only with a large round conference table and accompanying chairs.
Off of which are three unremarkable bedrooms and a room for storage(where the thugs' loot is): A set of shelves holds linens, soap, buckets, clean bedpans, and similar household supplies. Shoved into the far corner is a water barrel. Thurg strides forward to show off his loot: The thugs hid the goods they stole during an earlier heist in the otherwise empty water barrel. Their stash includes several valuable oil paintings, an ivory and silver candelabra, silk bed sheets, and a sack containing an assortment of semi-valuable jewelry. Everyone who looks upon it can tell, these goods are not from the pathfinders or the lodge, Thurg confirms this.
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