Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[My Name is Immaterial]

In the cave:

With a toothy grin, Hix'ix'ix raises the beast's head up. "Both. I'm not ssssure about the queen, but she ain't in thisss cave. Thisss cavern isss the end of the sssyssstem. Well, except for the major cave-in over there." He gestures at the end of the room. The wall seems no different from the rest. "Mussst have come on down around the sssame time asss the lassst one, but thisss was a bit bigger. It'sss been sssmoothed over. Either way, loot what you want, and then we'll be going."

Edgrick pokes around the room, confirming Hix'ix'ix's statement. Also, in the egg pile, he finds a potion of Mage Armor, Cure Moderate Wounds and Cure Light Wounds, and a scroll of Displacement, with three spells left, and a scroll of Rope Trick, with one left. Thorngage identifies the scrolls, and the potions have etchings on them identifying them. Either way, Edgrick picks up the short swords, two in total, the dagger, and the three circlets. Luckily, they're not cursed.

In the Stained Brick:

Alaris smiles and winks at the two, "Going out to cause trouble, are we? Don't worry, I'm very familiar with the tune."

Grubby cloak glares at you. "Dont you worry yer pretty little face about it."
Nice cloak glares in turn at his companion, and tosses you a gold piece. "It'd be best to have a bad memory, miss."
They wait until the end of the song, and then leave. You grab the wedge of bread from your plate and stow your violin. Grubby cloak heads to outskirts of the city, while Nice Cloak heads in the direction of Main Street. Who to tail?

[Remuthra]

Commissioner, I have urgent news! The claim we were sent to investigate was apparently the staging ground for some sort of psychic worm which may have infected the area!

[My Name is Immaterial]

The secretary looks at you confused, and then back at the closed office door behind him. "I'll just tell the Commissioner that you can explain it better than I can." As he stands, he seems to be hit physically with a thought. "Wait, weren't you on the Gut Thief case?! Why didn't you say earlier! Go on in!" He sticks his head through the door, and exchanges a few words with the Commissioner, and then opens it for you.

Inside the office, you are greeted by a sight not dissimilar to the one in the Captain's office. A human woman in a Church Coalition dress uniform stands behind a hardwood desk warily shakes your giant hand with her normal-sized one, and gestures for you to sit.
"So, I take it that you are Constable Guy. I'm Commisoner Gorda. I've heard of your quality work with the Elias Jolitun case. Henry says you're here to discuss further revelations? Captain Trewal caught me up on your investigation of the suspect's claim, so I am aware of the presence of these creatures, and of your subsequent incapacitation. I hate to send you out so quickly after you got out of the hospital, but your partner's report included references to two standing corpse. This concerns me greatly, as officers went to go collect the evidence, and did not find any trace of these... things. The recovered notes from the claim refered to them as "Flesh Chariots". Also, the organ-chest was found to be empty, so our current theory is that Jolitun has a co-conspirator would finished the construction of the Flesh Chariots, and that they are vehicles for the Puppeteers. You and partner have the most experience with these Puppeteers, so you're to find and track them down.
"But not today. I want you to rest some more, since you've just had a traumatic experience. Take a vacation. That's an order."

You have begun a week of off-time. You level up, and are free to request equipment from the armory, because they don't pay entry level officers 2,000 GP per week to get you up to WBL.

[AlleeCat]

Well, the nicer looking one seems like more of a professional, but the grubby one might not be as forgiving if he catches me... Then again, I know the grubby one's name, so it gives me a bit more material to build a bluff with.

Follow the nice cloak. Use the bread and make a subtle breadcrumb trail just in case he leads me to an unfamiliar part of town, or on a wild goose chase.

[My Name is Immaterial]

(Move Silently: 18>Listen, Hide: 12>Spot)

He ducks into some alleys, more as habit you figure than from noticing you. But after five minutes he seems to stop caring, and makes a B line for the nicer parts of town, where the AMC officals live. He enters into the backdoor of a small, but nice pueblo-style home. You memorize the address, and scoff at the "Beware of Dogs" sign when you hear the yapping of an expensive breed of small dog.

[AlleeCat]

Follow the breadcrumbs back and turn in for the night. Remember to pick up a notebook and charcoal pencils in the morning. Don't know why I wouldn't have that stuff already, really.

[My Name is Immaterial]

June 13th, 1259

The next morning, you stop by a general store after a free breakfast provided by the innkeeper. (Appraise: 3<Bluff.) The man at the counter claims that the book you just bought for 10 gold was made by Arlan and Co., the most popular spellbook producers in Tomann. It is pretty good quality, but not of the highest. A handful of the pencils costs you another 2 gold.

[Rolepgeek]

Gartens takes off her helmet, holding it under her arm as she shakes out her hair, pulling down the chain coif that had been covering it. "You guys grabbed everything you want, then? I don't like caves anymore." For someone her size, she's surprisingly pretty, though all present save Hix'ix'ix already knew that, and the kobold likely had somewhat....different, standards of beauty. "This armor's also pretty hot by now, so if we could go..."

[My Name is Immaterial]

Hix'ix'ix leads you out of the cave, and into Goril Redmountain's office. You give him a full report, detailing the Puppeteers' infestation.
"This was unexpected, troubling news. We'll send in an extermination team to deal with the infestation. Either way, I imagine you want your pay. I offered you 75 gold per head plus a discretion fee. I am sure that you understand how much of an embarrassment this would be for the my company, so I'm offering you 150 gold as your discretion fee. My secretary has you payment. But before you go, Thorngage, Browne, I'd like to speak to you, PRIVATELY." He pointedly opens the door for Gartens, holding it open till she leaves.

With her gone, and out of earshot, he turns on the pair of you, shouting: "What in the nine hells were you thinking by bringing a Coalition officer along?! She's going to go back to her puppet masters and tell them all about this! Do you know how much trouble I'll be for this? They'll have their men poking around here and is no secret that I have things I don't want found! Now, you've gone and given them an excuse to come around with a warrant!"
The dwarf takes a deep breath, calming his red face.
"I am impressed by your success, but your performance leaves something to be desired, for reasons you are well aware of. I'm going to offer you our contract work, at 5 silver a day, to keep you in the city and open for employment." He hands you two multi-page contracts. "I'm willing to offer you some magical items to sweeten the deal. A few of our previous employees left our employee, and we had given them some enhanced equipment, and we're willing to pass it on to you." He offers a pair of bracers that seem to made from charcoal and a pair of leather gloves  to you. "If these don't suit you, we can find others."

Zako, lawastooshort, Rolepgeek: You level up. Rolepgeek: You receive 17.5 gold for your work with the Coalition. You are free to request magic items from the armory.

[lawastooshort]

”I’m not sure she was on Coalition time, Mr Redmountain, and nobody here has explained to us the subtleties and legalities of the situation with regards to the Association and the Coalition. Furthermore, I wasn’t fully aware that the Coalition had any real legal foundation upon which to base their law enforcement activities, so I am not entirely certain as to why you would freely let them inspect your premises in such a fashion. But then I haven’t been here long, and perhaps need to spend a little longer immersing myself in the… niceties of such a frontier settlement. Now, what are these bracers and gloves? Mr Thorngage, can you discern their qualities?”

Edgrick is not entirely pleased about being blamed for falling foul of a rule of which he was not entirely aware.

Oh, also Edgrick offers the potion of Mage Armor and a scroll of Displacement, with three spells left, and a scroll of Rope Trick to Cado.

"Perhaps you would like these scrolls? I should find out how to pretend to read them sometime...  I've heard the artful user can bluff magical items, with a bit of luck. Anyway. Bit strange to find these in possession of a worm, eh? Although I imagine they belonged to whoever came down here before us. Would you mind assessing these swords, dagger and circlets for any magical qualities please?"

[AlleeCat]

Time to ask the Coalition about shady dealings involving scrolls. Don't tell them too much yet, just that I saw a deal go down.

[Remuthra]

This is no time to be sitting around, I have to go find those worms and stop them! Ascend to a quarter kilometer and scan for suspicious activity.

[Rolepgeek]

Celles sighed once she was out the door and some ways down the road. Her dogs perked up, and she could imagine that their boss wasn't too happy with them...why, she wasn't sure, but it probably had something to do with not getting backup. Or maybe her?...whatever. It didn't matter anyway. What mattered was the metric crapton of paperwork she'd have to do to write this all up, if she wanted to keep her job. The Coalition probably didn't appreciate moonlighting, and if she didn't tell them that something fucked up was happening, the shit would fall on her....

The crusader groaned as she walked. "I hate politics!"

[My Name is Immaterial]

”I’m not sure she was on Coalition time, Mr Redmountain, and nobody here has explained to us the subtleties and legalities of the situation with regards to the Association and the Coalition. Furthermore, I wasn’t fully aware that the Coalition had any real legal foundation upon which to base their law enforcement activities, so I am not entirely certain as to why you would freely let them inspect your premises in such a fashion. But then I haven’t been here long, and perhaps need to spend a little longer immersing myself in the… niceties of such a frontier settlement. Now, what are these bracers and gloves? Mr Thorngage, can you discern their qualities?”

Edgrick is not entirely pleased about being blamed for falling foul of a rule of which he was not entirely aware.

"You're right. They don't have any legal authority. But you know what they do have? A small army and the good will of the people! If I don't let them in, no one will buy my products, and this company could crumble! I've too many men" and women relying on the wages I give them to let that happen." He lets out a forced sigh. "But you don't need to worry about it. In a nutshell, if they only know what they need to do their job, then everyone is happier.
He gestures to the items on his desk. "I can identify these. These bracers let their wearer spew flames, *cou-wearenotresponsibleforpyromanicaurgesandtheirresultingdamages-gh*, and the gloves exert force from their palms at the wearer's command. You are going to have to identify the weaponry you recovered from the cave yourself."
While Redmountain is talking, Cade casts Detect Magic, revealing that the swords are moderately enchanted with Abjuration and Conjuration, while the dagger and circlets are faintly enchanted with Abjuration. The golem that's tagging around is enchanted faintly with Universal.

Time to ask the Coalition about shady dealings involving scrolls. Don't tell them too much yet, just that I saw a deal go down.

"Ma'am, you know we need more than just a name and the fact that something suspicious happened. If you can come back with an address or some other lead, we'll look into it, but it's not enough yet."

This is no time to be sitting around, I have to go find those worms and stop them! Ascend to a quarter kilometer and scan for suspicious activity.

You do so, and quickly spot two figures drawing weapons on eachother. You step in to intervene and arrest the pair, and as part of the customary search, you check them for Puppeteers, which they lack. As you return to base to get them set for processing, you are court martialed for disobeying a direct order from the Commisioner.

[My Name is Immaterial]

Time to ask the Coalition about shady dealings involving scrolls. Don't tell them too much yet, just that I saw a deal go down.

"Most of the spellcasters don't actually have time to make scrolls, except by special order. Are you sure that it was a magical scroll? People use scroll for all sorts of things."