The cast thus far:
Calstenik Zarko:SpoilerYour boss and landlord, owner of Calstenik's Curios. Cal is a man of many seemingly incongruous contradictions, walking that fine line of the so called 'informal grey market'. He is quick to regale any curious customer with grand tales of life in the Great Library of Zilargo, but, when pressed, seems unable or indeed unwilling to supply any concrete details. Cal is both bony and fat simultaneously, with long skinny arms and an ample paunch that rests comfortably below his flushed face and bulbous features. A great mass of balding white hair completes the roster of his physical features. Of his clothes, little can be said, save that he is a gnome and never wears the same ensemble for more than 12 hours.
Cob:SpoilerThe goblin cleaner. As taciturn as Cal is boisterous, Cob handles all the manual labor of the building, from cleaning the shop and rooms to dredging the gutter. He talks little and claims to know less. Employment of a Goblin is mandatory for this district: a dozen or more goblin clans 'run' this section of the wards, and make up the majority of the inhabitants. Refusal to admit or employ a goblin results in nothing short of a non-stop barrage of badgering, boycotts, and in some cases violence. Calstenik and Cob seem to get along well, but the exact arrangement they have is not discussed with you.
Dog:SpoilerCalstenik's iron defender, powered by the soul of his childhood war mastiff, Dog.
Setting:
Spoiler
Sharn, specifically Ward 5, 'Arcadia'.
The dingy lower ward shop holds an absolute plethora of goods, from books and clothes, to furniture, jewelry and items from far off places. The shop was built for tall folk and occupies a three level block split into storage, the shop floor, and the apartments that contain bedrooms for you and Calstenik and an office. Cob sleeps under the stairs, and Dog usually rests in the office. The only windows are iron barred air holes on the shop floor, and there are 3 doors: One main door: a huge iron monstrosity left over from the previous tenants, another smaller iron door in the office that leads to the sky-walk above, and a sewer door in the storage level that has been bricked off. The shop does not maintain hours, and is open or closed based on Calstenik's mood.
It's raining.
Such an inane statement for a city as wet as Sharn, but indeed the only thing that can describe the near constant downpour drenching every facet of the airborne city: Rainy. Just rainy.
It is in such a deluge that we find Quinn, our protagonist of sorts, slogging his way home to Calstenik's Curios after a rather inane pick up from a private post box, a full three quarters of an hour's walk from the warm shop. By now the rain has lost its pure element, becoming polluted with the scum and filth of the 3 'higher cities', lending it a foul black inky quality and a smell like rotten eggs and sewage. The tight, claustrophobic streets merely channel the worst of the filth, adding new smells of sweat, smoke and cheap wine flowing out of the taverns and flophouses.
With some relief, Quinn steps out of the packed street and onto a covered arch-bridge that spans a natural crevice. Here the everburning torches have all been stolen or knocked out. But, for a brief moment the cool wind blows from the Knife river and for once the ever present rain is stanched by the crumbling roof of the bridge.
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SpoilerSorry. Switching from 3rd to 2nd person narrative. A little clumsy.
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A beggar clutching a clay jug languishes in a pool of grey half light, barely slurring out the tune of Blood of Martyrs, the old Cyran marching tune. Playing the the song is illegal of course, but the poor bloke appears to inebriated to mind laws. You pass without a second thought.
As you pass the beggar, however, you hear a faint rustle of fabric. You have lived in the lower section of the city for too long to take such things for granted, and pivot to face the sound, only to have the clay jug collide with your head. It shatters, spilling foul goblin krag across your face! The liquid burns your eyes, but your unimpeded hearing clearly makes out the unmistakable sound of a metal blade clearing a scabbard.
SpoilerYou manage to react quickly thanks to the sound of the fabric cloak, so you are not totally blind. You still take a -2 to AC, but keep your dexterity bonus. Your foe still has total cover, but you do not take the -4 to your str and dex tests. It is your turn. This is my reference:
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemasterin...ns#TOC-Blinded