Hi there. I need a bit of advice on how can be handled a theft of a cornucopia in Absalom.
Briefing: I'm just roling, so I need roleplaying ideas. My character is a half-elf rogue (burglar) lv 11. In short: born in Absalom from a female elf cleric of Calistria and an unknown father, Favola has been raised in her childhood as an acolyte of Calistria, but at the age of 16 she run away from the temple and Absalom itself, landing in Almas. There, she has become a quite famous thief, known as "The Fox" (while out "at work", she wears a fox mask imported from Tian-Xia), and she has lived there for ten years. Working only on commission, a mysterious man hired her for a dangerous quest: to steal a cornucopia from a specific member of the Grand Council of Absalom and to bring it back to Almas. She initially refused, but after the incredible offer of 50000 gp she accepted the job. Now, she is back in Absalom, trying to find a way to steal the cornucopia without giving away her own life in the attempt.
Now, the questions.. is stealing a cornucopia possible for a single person of her level? Is a cornucopia so heavily guarded? And if it is possible, how would the Grand Council react to the theft and handle the situation?
(Sorry for my english, and I hope this is the right section to post this thread..)
Well, your mysterious man obviously wants to be a member of the Grand Council of Absalom. One would have to assume that if you (I'm using "you" assuming you are playing "The Fox") were successful, he would put adequate safeguards in place to prevent the former owner from liberating the Cornucopia. So, you have to assume the current owner (who you'll be targeting) has also put in some top notch security. Would a level 11 be able to breach that? Not if it was mine. The value a Cornucopia has to the owner is probably huge - can you put a price on Grand Council membership? Obviously, someone is willing to cough up at least 50k.
But, lets assume you are successful - you got the goods! Probably about a day later (maybe sooner) you might start to see:
Wanted DEAD: The thief known as "The Fox". A private party is interested in the removal of this miscreant from Absalom society and is willing to pay the princely sum of 50,000 gp to whomever brings him the head of The Fox (heads are useful for "Speak with dead"). For a level 14-16 level party - you'll be 5 minutes worth of work for 50k (scry - teleport - you die).
So, your mysterious man might also realize that given you have limited defenses against divination magic, scrying, etc - you'll be a ripe target for the former owner. I'm sure your employer will wish to remain anonymous, at least until he can present the Cornucopia to the Grand Council and claim his seat. The best way to do that? Liquidate YOU the second you deliver to him the goods - and he tosses your body into a vat of green slime to completely destroy your remains.
Frankly, this job sounds like a death sentence for "The Fox" unless you take some significant precautions! You succeed - you're probably dead, it's only a matter of time. You fail - either you died in the attempt, OR, if lucky, captured and turned against your former employer (and, if you refuse - you're dead).
I'm seeing a lot of x = "you're dead" calculations.
Your mileage may vary ;-)
Also, to specifically answer your questions:
1) Is such a theft possible? Depends entirely on the GM. Any NPC who isn't a complete buffoon should protect such an item with significant defenses against theft/destruction. Think, Fort Knox.
2) I haven't ready any canonical works about Absalom and what might guard a Cornucopia. Others might have and could provide more insight. However, following some basic logic from #1 above, I'd say YES, it is heavily guarded. Why on earth wouldn't one be?
3) I recall reading that Cornucopia's can change hands either openly, or through trickery, theft, etc. The Grand Council just waits to see who shows up with one to claim the seat and may just acknowledge the "mysterious man" (who won't be so mysterious after this) as the new owner and member of the Grand Council. Pretty much falls into the hands of the GM as to how he would have the Council react.
50K is an awful lot. It's probably worth it for the job.
While the current owner and your employer would certainly wish to kill you to neaten up loose ends, they're unlikely to invest any serious time into it. After all, if your employer is smart, which he undoubtedly is, he's doing this anonymously so "Speak with Dead" is unlikely to reveal anything useful and distracts from the main task of getting back the cornucopia. And your employer killing you? You're a useful tool, and also not one that can be used against him. He may not even be wanting the cornucopia for himself. He may be obtaining it for a third party who will in turn gift it to another who will trade it to yet another.
An awful lot of shuffling can go on with the cornucopia before the next yearly meeting, depending on when it is.
This is the first question: How many months do you have to do this job?
If you have a luxury of time, your best bet is to insinuate yourself into your target's household, either as a servant or a frequent visitor. You've trained as a Calistrian so use that to your advantage. If the target doesn't need a new mistress--unlikely, but not impossible--find a member of the staff you wouldn't mind dating for a while and hook up with him. Don't go for the head of security--he'll be too obvious and too paranoid--and likewise don't go for any of the guards. Go for someone not highly placed but who goes everywhere, like the second footman, and use him to find out about his master's security for the cornucopia. The master won't have told him directly, but he'll know enough about the household, the heavily guarded quarters and so forth that you'll know vaguely where the cornucopia is kept.
Alternately, find out if your target has any frequent guests and work your way into their company so that you can go in as the "girl on the arm" of some minor dignitary or family friend to dinner parties and balls. This will give you a good way to find out about the cornucopia and where it's kept.
In any case, you case the joint as the saying goes, and from there you should be able to devise a strategy to get the cornucopia and make off with it.
Depending on your time window, don't go dashing back to your employer the moment you get the thing. The item, being an artifact, is likely scry proof, so the easiest thing to do is stash it for later retrieval. Keep your guise as girlfriend of one of the servants or guests going and act like absolutely nothing is wrong. Eventually you should be able to deliver your package and retrieve your reward.
Yep, I have plenty of time. Nine months, I think. I'll probably try the way of the parties. After a childhood in a temple of Calistria, Favola is a bit paranoid with relationship with men and she'd prefer not to have even a fake one (even if she knows how to make a man happy, in theory).
Actually she is a tenant in a house of an alchimist not so far from there, and I think she won't have much problems going to those parties.
But I'm a bit worried about scrying attempt after the theft. If I'll succeed, I'll be back to Almas as soon as I can. If they hire an Archmage of the Arcanimirium, in a matter of hours or days he will find me. I hate scrying ç.ç Want to get rid of that cornucopia as soon as i can and take the money.
..a naval chase would be great. I imagine the Absalom fleet chasing the ship I'm on.
I'll die, I know.
Anyway, thanks for the help!