Spoiler: Theo
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The door opens, and you are greeted by a middle - aged man in formal if outdated garb, greying hair combed across in an ill-advised attempt to conceal his baldness. The man’s tunic strains against a noticeable paunch, and the sickly sweet odour of alcohol fills the air around him.

The man looks you up and down before giving a sneer.

“Another Templar come to join us the flock,” he declares, with the careful inflection of someone overcompensating for drunkenness. “Lord Cornellan will be thrilled. Well, come with me, let me show you to the tradesman’s entrance. You're not traipsing filthy boots on my Lord’s floor.”

He steps out, pulling the door shut behind him.

Spoiler: Spot DC 15
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As he does so, you catch a glimpse of a handful of soldiers, Templars as well as others in unfamiliar uniforms, rushing into a sideroom.


“I am Seneschal Rand. This household is my domain. You and yours would do well to steer clear of it, boy, fancy gear or no.”

He drops his voice to a low mutter he either doesn't realise or doesn't care that you can hear.

“Never would have happened in his father’s day. He knew how to keep the riff-raff in their place.”


Spoiler: Gunn and Perseus
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Lydia greets you with a distracted wave of her hand, eyes on a crystal ball being operated by another Vanguard officer.

“Looks like the disaster’s been averted,” she tells you. “Looked like your Yara was going to throw herself into that planar rupture at one point. Then her soldier friend - what's his name? - got himself challenged to an honour duel by Vaust, Natalia’s bodyguard. Thankfully it’s been postponed until tomorrow. Not a good time to be depleting the Temple defences.

“So, what have we learned? It seems Natalia is absent from the Temple on some errand of her own, leaving Vaust as the only known defender. The inside of the Temple is screened against divination magic - but that's probably Natalia's doing.

“No one suspicious has approached the Temple from the streets. But I'm increasingly concerned that Shroud will use magic to gain access. If he teleported in, or gained access via a transitive plane, our methods of surveillance wouldn't detect him.”


Spoiler: Yara and Hesa
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With Yara taking the lead, it takes twenty minutes to reach Maya’s Temple, and just three to secure a private meeting with Katraya, the Guardian of the Temple.

The sorceress seems to guess your reason for coming, and produces a slightly disappointing hemp sack. From the size and weight, it couldn't contain more than 500 coins.

“The others agreed that your service to us, in returning that lost relic of our faith, was beyond price,” she says warmly, “But I hope this token of our gratitude will be welcome all the same.”

The mouth of the sack falls slightly open, and you catch sight of its contents. Not coins at all, but precious gems, sapphires and diamonds and rubies, pearls and others you cannot readily name. You cannot readily judge the value, but you recognise a fortune when you see one.

Spoiler: The value
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When Yara comes to cash this in, assume a buyer can be found easily enough, and that the price is 18000gp + (2d20 x 100gp) to represent a degree of randomness in how good a deal she gets.