The party, not hindered as they attempt to enter this hive of scum and villainy, find a menagerie of brigands populating this crumbling not-a-city-anymore.
The cured skins of several plains lions are strewn about this partially-collapsed ruin.
Resting outside it is a pair of men and a female Centaur, whom is resting on two rolled-out, medium-sized bedrolls.
What was once a domed structure of red stone has been reduced to roofless wreckage. Columns of polished marble lie scattered like children’s blocks. In front of the structure, a carelessly-built pen holds the torn remains of several dogs and other (not dead) animals.
Outside the cages, a man holding a dark-black heavy mace, stained with fresh blood from something , harasses an aged Kelish man locked in a cage by repeatedly ordering the lion to circle around the withering old man.
This once powerful citadel now has massive holes rent in its mighty walls. Half of the top floor has been reduced to tumbled stone and other areas seem to have been burned with acid. The keep’s doors stand in stark contrast to the rest of the structure: they appear to have recently been replaced and freshly painted.
The faint sounds of a raucous instrument being played can be heard from one of the two upper stories.
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Luisila wears a grim expression on her face as she searches the surrounds of this battlefield for items of interest. Over the remains of any body parts she will silently pray.
Calistria grant you what you deserve.
“In his arms, he held three things that I could see; a magical urn, … a mace … and a necklace that throttles anyone who dons it.”
Once she finds the necklace and book, she will call out to the others.
“Hey, over here! I’ve found a satchel that contains a necklace and book. Tribune Bourtze warned us about a strangling necklace that had been stolen. I wonder if this is it?”
Luisila *casts* Detect Magic.
The priestess opens the book to read and points out any relevant passages to the party.
“This appears to be the journal of Lady Ariesin Bourtze. Her final entry describes the planned summoning of an ancient salamander.”
“Does anyone know what a salamander’s strengths and weaknesses are?”
Luisila will also keep an eye out for polychrome lilies in the wetlands.
If she finds any likely looking water lilies, she will call out to her favorite hell-spawn.
“Hey Baz, these flowers look pretty! I’ve established the Order, Family and Genus, no problem. But I’m having trouble identifying the species. Any idea?”
Desmond leafs through a number of multicoloured flowers, though finnaly finds one hanging precariously on the end of a bank. He's able to recover it, however, knowing that applying magics (like Mage Hand) will cause the flower to glow a multicoloured hue and "burn out" the flower.
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At the pre-auction scene, Baz sees the described parts, corresponding with their letters. There's a large number of non-associated woods-burglars around here, though he does get a a chance to read the crowd looking around.
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Desmond leafs through a number of multicoloured flowers.
Luisila offers Desmond a hand to help him lift himself up from the edge of the riverbank. She happily accepts the flowers from the knowledgeable ranger.
“Oh, Des, they’re beautiful! You shouldn’t have!” She adds with a wink.
While Luisila packs the lilies away in a waterproof bag, she answers the paladin. “I don’t think we’ve reached our final destination in this caper yet, Omrax. We are yet to encounter the ‘mace of madness,’ the ‘Alabaster Urn’ or our friends Sabas and Blackfist. We must be getting close though.”
The party … enters this hive of scum and villainy.
Luisila suspects they may be closer to the end-game now. Luisila joins Desmond in his enquiries of the Centaur’s party.
“Any ‘items’ you’re particularly interested in? It could save us bidding against each other if you want something we don’t and vice versa. Do you know where the merchandise is being held? What time does the auction start?”
Do any of the humans look like they could be Wager’s brother?
Luisila also takes note of the Kelish man being harassed by the lion and the man with the mace. She points the situation out to Omrax, Baz and Yushua.
I wonder if the Kelish man could be my contact?
"Do you want to find out what that's all about after we've finished with our new friends here?"
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Luisila has decided to forgive Yushua for his earlier crack about her friend Sure.
Once they are out of earshot of any outsiders she will move to discuss the party's options with everyone.
“I think the loose plan should be to try and quickly gather any extra, inside information on the slaver ring and the jester and then try to take them out. Maybe before the auction begins??”
“Perhaps we socialize a bit with the centaur party and the anti-Libertarian of the Lion and then see what’s behind the well-maintained door, or if there's another way to enter that building more covertly."
Assaulting any other group or individual may garner different results, depending one any specific group's preexisting friction or allegiances. None of these groups seem to be intermingling in any way to imply any current standing friendships. Making enough trouble, though — say, by yelling loudly that they are here to kill the jester (the host of this entire event) — could conceivably bring the entire camp down on you at once.
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The half-woman, half-equine opens a single eye upon being talked to, but closes it upon responding the the barrage of questions. She first speaks to Desmond, though eventually addresses everyone in general, "... I am not. I don't like this place. Too noisy." She opens an eye back up in the direction of the tortured Kelishite man as he lets out a nasty yelp as the lion snaps at him. The man in black armor continues to take great amusement out of the 'dance,' as he puts it. "I just want to get whatever this Alabaster Urn is and be done here. It is the last item for auction after Blackfist won that mace yesterday, so the idea of cooperating is not very prosperous." After Yushua asks his questions, "I do not believe them to be here. If they are, such a thing is not for sale."
"The next auction is in half-an-hour. I recommend meditation; I've been here for an entire day with the savage."
-Posted with Wayfinder
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I will never, ever have a 100% correctness rating on "Using Kelish as a Language, Not Using Kelish As a Race."
After the conversation with the Centaur has concluded, Luisila says to the party.
“If the auction is only half an hour away, maybe we put our faction missions on hold until after we’ve got the mace and urn.”
“If everyone is OK with that, I guess we just need to decide tactics for the auction itself. Do we just bid to win regardless of the price and then tell the auctioneer, ‘Our Employer will pay for it – see him’ OR just take the items by force sometime during the auction? Either way, this should spark a confrontation and allow us to take down the jester and free any slaves.”
She looks at Omrax. “This whole auction set-up seems illegal, Omrax. Does your code prevent any particular course of action?”
As the time for the action within the auction approaches, Luisila will quietly *cast* her one hour buff spells on Varg {Magic Circle against Evil and Protection from Energy (Fire)}.
Vengeance wields an axe!
Quietly she says. “Not long now, I’d say Cleaver.”
“This whole auction set-up seems illegal, Omrax. Does your code prevent any particular course of action?”
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Omrax will detect alignment, starting with the black fist crowd.
"I have no doubts what I will find. The only question is whether early confrontation will upset our auction plans. Either way, the slaver will be dealt with before I leave here. "
He is considering defense of torture as justification of an intervention. The only thing keeping him from confronting the slaver now is the group mission. Omrax has very clear orders from his faction on what to do.
-Posted with Wayfinder
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After the party steps away from the centaur, Desmond pipes up, "Yeah, I'd say if we bid and then promise to pay later? - Oh I don't think that'll go over well. So, these different gangs or clans or whatever - they're not overly concerned with each other. So, let's take them out one by one. I'm sure we could do it."
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Luisila listens to the general conversation among the party members and agrees with it.
“I’m kinda tired of Blackfist or whoever setting the pace. How about we MAKE someone else react to us for a change. I think we should do something to liberate that poor man in the cage with the lion NOW.”
If the party agrees Luisila will walk with them to confront the man with the bloody mace.
“Hey, Blackfist. I think you have something that doesn’t belong to you and we want to take it back to its rightful owner. Call off your lion and release that poor man in the cage at once!”
As the gang of Pathfinders walks their way forward, intent clear as day, Blackfist mockingly puts his hands up to block his line of sight to Luisila, "Help, I’m being repressed!" He then kicks a support board to the lion cage, making it look reeeally shaky!
Inits!
Yus
Bfist
Everyone else! And "no" on husband question.
-Posted with Wayfinder
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Heedless of any danger, Yushua calls down judgements of healing and protection!
"Meet Redemption, foe!" Yushua quickly moves up to G6 and draws his trusty scimitar.
+1 Keen Merciful Adamantine Scimitar Power Attack
[dice="Redemption" attack 1]1d20 + 12 - 2[/dice]
Enforcer:
+1 Keen Merciful Adamantine Scimitar Power Attack
[dice="Redemption" attack 1]1d20 + 12 - 2[/dice]
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-Posted with Wayfinder
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Yushua slices at the lion as it moves past!
1 Keen Merciful Adamantine Scimitar Power Attack
[dice="Redemption" attack 1]1d20 + 12 - 2[/dice]
Enforcer:
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"Redemption is stronger than blood!" Yushua responds as he calls down a bane upon this man
+1 Keen Merciful Adamantine Scimitar Power Attack Bane
[dice="Redemption" attack 1]1d20 + 12 - 2 + 2[/dice]
[dice="Redemption" attack 2]1d20 + 7 - 2 + 2[/dice]
Enforcer:
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He also steps back, out of the ball of fire!
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“We haven’t seen the jester yet. I’m expecting another wave of enemies to appear. Maybe out of that third building.”
Luisila will take a 5’ step to J7, pull a scroll of Silence from her scroll case and ready an action to *cast* Silence on a horizontal or vertical surface near an enemy that she perceives is attempting to use a verbal component as a part of using a magic item, casting a spell or conducting bardic performance.