Mask of Diamond Tears IC

[Faulty]

"I believe I did donate some art," he says dismissively, "but I wasn't aware of its theft either. It's a shame though, such a rare artifact would have been a delight to see. Anyway, if there's any reason you could possibly have for questioning me, why not give us a taste or leave us alone?"

[zagan]

"Very well, If you don't want to talk we must give all our information to the proper autority to help in their investigation" Lut turn toward the captain.
"Here's what we know:Thaddius is a talent illusionist and he is a collectioneur of art object, the statue he donate bear a striking ressemblance to his personal retainer, the carriage transporting both can be open from the inside and can be closed without any key adding to that he was in relationship with Tulisa Gadfly the curator of the museum the relationship end just after the theft and finally we found him with you now while you are reponsible for the investigation the theft. That's a lot of coincidence don't you think ?" Lut turn toward his friend. "I didn't forget anything I hope ?"

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Diplomacy check (1d20+17)[19]
Amesoeurs please wait until the other can do an aid another check before responding.

Edit: Freaking dice, I really need that aid another check.
Edit2:Wait !!! I forget about my class feature social intuition, I can take 10 on diplomacy check even if rushed could I used that instead ? for a total of 27

[kpenguin]

Heiron looks around at the rest of the restaurant, assessing how the other patrons were reacting to the scene.

[Faulty]

Captain Talos anger and determination faulter as you bring to bear the evidence against Thaddius. She stares at him incredulously for a second. "You...", she says weakly. Suddenly though, the fire enters her eyes again, but this time it's directed at Thaddius, "...are coming in for questioning," she says, rising. Thaddius pushes out his chair and stands. "Well... you say ladies and gentlemen...", the sentence finishes with an arcane word he speaks as he flourishes his hands and vanishes.

For Trix only:

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Trixauna recognizes the spell as greater invisibility.

For everyone:

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Initiatives:
Heiron: (1d20-1)[7]
Lut: (1d20+5)[6]
Barenn: (1d20+2)[19]
Clotty: (1d20+6)[16]
Bluebell: (1d20+8)[25]
Trix: (1d20+3)[16]

I'll try and get a map up today or tomorrow. Lut and Clotty are right next to where Thaddius was. Everyone else is 15 feet away and if you move diagonally there, you can make it there with 20 feet of movement.

You can tell me what you'd like to do in the meantime.

[kpenguin]

Heiron gets up from the table quickly, but quietly, making sure push in his chair. A pointless gesture, since the fight would likely cause more problems for the restaurant than a unpushed chair.

"Does anyone know what he just cast?!"

If the wizard had teleported away, then they would need to find out where he would have likely went. If the wizard had turned invisible, than divinations or dispelling spells were needed.

The priest of Bahamut looks around at the rest of the restaurant. If a fight was about to break loose, the first priority would have to be getting the rest of the patrons to safety. Hopefully, they were scared enough to start moving away and hopefully calm enough as not to cause a stampede.

Last thing they needed was a crowd panicking and trampling each other.

[Swooper]

Trixauna, who had been sitting quietly and watching while the more competent talkers handled Thaddius, stands up quickly, pushing back her chair (which gives a horrible creak when hitting the floor) while muttering arcane words. She points at the place where Thaddius was standing a moment ago, glowing orange sigils coiling like snakes around her outstretched arm and then shooting forward. "Thought you could get away with a simple invisibility spell, did you!?" she gloats while the spell is taking effect, then grabs a folded scroll from an inside pocket.

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On my round:
No action: 5' step towards Thaddius's table.
No action: Use a 1st level Beguiler spell slot to apply Sculpt Spell to Antimagic Field, via the Ultimate Magus's Augmented Casting ability.
Standard action: Cast Antimagic Field as four 10-foot cubes around the area where Thaddius was when I saw him last, towards the door if possible. The edge of the closest cube must be 10' away from me, but I can probably catch him in it easily.
Move action: Draw a scroll of Dimensional Anchor, just in case.

I reserve the right to add descriptive text/speech/gloating depending on the effects of the spell.

[Faulty]

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So is the area where he was last standing in the field as well?

[Swooper]

Yes, it is.

[Faulty]

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Waiting on everyone else.

[Keld Denar]

Clothilda

Since Clotty was standing so close, she will reach out and grab the impetuous mage. If he's reveiled by the AMF, and not in grabbing range, she will manifest Psionic Lion's Charge linked to an Augemented Expansion. The charge goes off this round, the Expansion goes off at the start of her next turn. Silly man thing get hugged by CLOTHILDA!

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Full attack flurry! All damage is to subdue. All successful hits result in grapple checks due to Scorpion's Grasp.
Att1 - (1d20+18)[4](22) Grap1 - (1d20+24)[34] Dmg1 - (4d8+10)[25]
Att2 - (1d20+18)[8](26) Grap2 - (1d20+24)[44] Dmg2 - (4d8+10)[21]
Att3 - (1d20+18)[13](31) Grap3 - (1d20+24)[28] Dmg3 - (4d8+10)[26]
Att4 - (1d20+13)[15](28) Grap4 - (1d20+24)[35] Dmg4 - (4d8+10)[22]
Att5 - (1d20+13)[10](23) Grap5 - (1d20+24)[27] Dmg5 - (4d8+10)[37]

[zagan]

Lut take is dagger in hand and move cautiously behind thaddius chair and prepare himself for when Trixauna will render him visible again.

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I move in the square behind where thaddius was ans readied and action to attack if become visible in a square next to me.
I'm assuming that I'am in the AMF for calculating my attack roll and I take a -4 for nonlethal damage.
Attack roll (1d20+9)[24]
Damage roll (1d4+6)[7]

[Saintheart]

Barenn

"Son of a mangy dog!" Barenn whipped his longaxe, Reason, to readiness, gritting his teeth. So the mage wasn't going to make it easy, then. But the dwarf wasn't about to try and charge blindly at wherever the spellthrower had just been; invisibility spells tended to foil that kind of direct method.

Instead, he fell into the familiar rhythm he'd had with Trixauna somewhere nearby, instead shifting one foot back, one foot forward and left, feeling parts of him lock into place as he took the first position of Iron Guard, glaring around him and waiting to see where the damned mage would show up. His hand felt strong, right, on Reason's haft. And he felt like giving a weedy spellcaster a good bruising.

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Sorry about the delay, folks. I can only log in x1 per day.
Free Action - command Animated Heavy Steel Shield into readiness.
Free Action - go to Iron Guard's Glare stance.
Delaying my action until Trixauna reveals where the little bugger's gone. If the spell reveals him:
- Power Attack to all attacks this round with a -6 to my attack roll.
--> Longaxe thereby becomes a reach weapon, 10'.
- Move action: to ten feet away from the mage if possible, combining with a draw weapon action (if the weapon's not already in hand.)
- Then standard attack, nonlethal damage only.
Attack: (1d20+14)[27]
Damage: (1d12+18)[28]

If the spell doesn't reveal him, just move ten feet towards the table, combining with a draw weapon action.

[Faulty]

Captain Talos leaps up and calls out to the diners, telling them to remain calm. She throws her chair aside and drops into a fighting stance, fists bared. Captain Talos, Clotty and Barenn, ready to act, tensely wait for some sign of Thaddius. Trixauna's finishes her spell, and the magic energy flowing through her body and she can feel her mental power shape it carefully, before it manifests itself, wiping the magical energies from a portion of the room. The spell reveals Thaddius, standing where he was amount ago, preparing to cast another spell. Captain Talos, Clotty and Barenn all snap to action now that their target is visible, but the Captain gets to Thaddius first. She lets out a 'hra!' as she punches at Thaddius, hitting him hard and in precisely the right spot to stun him. He freezes in place, leaving him an open target for Clotty's blows. Unfortunately her first two brush by him in her haste, but the third blow connects with his firmly. She goes to turn the punch into a grab, but Thaddius' eyes roll back and he slumps over into Clotty's arms. This leaves Barenn, who had aproached the table and was about to swing his axe at Thaddius without a target, and he freezes, with the axe at its apex.

The entire room is transfixed by the lightning fast battle. People around the room hold forks with meat or eggplant dripping sauce, half way to their mouths. A waitress overfills a human woman's teacup at a far table, while the woman merely gawks. Somewhere in the background you hear a man exclaim an explitive, and the shout is followed by a gasp and a splash as his wife throws her water in his face.

You all relax, the combat now over. As you gather yourselves together Captain Talos pulls out her badge and shows it to the room, assuring the diners and staff that everything is OK. She places it on the table and goes over to inspect Thaddius, when you see her narrow her eyes and lean in close. She brushes some hair away from her face.

"****!", she says and looks in your general direction. "This isn't Thaddius."

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While you won't be leveling up before this is done, just so you know, you all get 1658 exp for convincing Varina of Thaddius guilt and defeating him in combat.

[Saintheart]

Barenn

So the Captain's a monk of some kind, thought the dwarf to himself as he slipped his hands back down Reason's long handle, bringing the head back in. There were few other explanations for how she'd managed to bring "Thaddius" to a halt with her bare hands. Impressive...

Acid disappointment filled him, though he still glanced around the diner to see if he'd missed anything or anything stood out amongst the general kafuffle they'd caused. He moved in a little closer to the Captain, peering at the person they'd knocked out. "Somewhat surprising," he said dryly, "given you were here on a ... liaison ... with him. Well, who is this, then? Do you recognise him?"

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Spot check, to see if there's anything funny going on around the diner, and also if there's anything notable about "Thaddius": (1d20+7)[19]

....aaaand yeah, I probably don't see nuthin'.

[Faulty]

Captain Talos furrows her brow and taps her foot on the ground thoughtfully. "I let him in too easily. It was foolish of me to trust a man like this. In my romantic excess," she says, pronouncing the word acidicly, "my vision was obscured. Now that I look at him more closely, I see 'he' is a very convincing clone. You," she says, addressing to Trixauna, "are obviously a talented arcanist. Do you know of any spells that could duplicate a person?"

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Swooper, make Spellcraft and/or Knowledge (Arcan) checks.

[Faulty]

For Trixauna only:

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I decided to roll your checks for you to speed things up. Seeing as you got a freaking 43 on your Spellcraft check, you recognize the "Thaddius" before you as a copy made by a simulacrum spell.

[Keld Denar]

Clothilda

Clotty hops about excitedly from one foot to the other, clearly VERY eager to be on the trail and involved. So captain lady, what do you think we should do next? Should we go to cute man's home? Find out where he is hiding? CRUSH HIM? At that, Clotty pounds one of his oversized fists into the palm of her hands hard enough that the sound echos outward.

[Faulty]

"Calm down," Captain Talos says icily. "Anyway," she says, turning to address the group, "if it turns out that this is not in fact Thaddius, I'm neither I nor the rest of the watch can do anything. Thaddius' chateau is outside my juristiction. If you truly want to recover the Mask, you'll have to go to the chateau yourselves. If things escalate to violence, feel free to defend yourselves, but I'd rather you bring him back alive so that he may be tried. Do these, and I'll forgive you for interrupting my dinner," she finishes, with a tinge of humor in her voice.

In the mean time, the maître d' walks up to Captain Talos and asks if it would be possible for you to leave.

[kpenguin]

Heiron looks longing down at his empty dish. He would have hoped he could have gotten a meal in before getting into a fight and subsequently getting kicked out.

At least there was bread and cheese awaiting back in Lut's apartment. The mission, of course, came first. The food would have to wait until they caught up with Thaddius.

Heiron bows deeply to the Captain.

"I thank you, Captain. My apologies for our intrusion."

He then bows to the maître d'

"Likewise, my apologies for potentially harm a good portion of your restaurant."

He picks up his staff.

"Farewell."

The priest of Bahamut heads for the door.

[zagan]

"Yes, our depest appologies captain. We will do our utmost to neutralize him"

That said Lut follow Heiron outside.

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It's me or are we alone suddendly ?

[Faulty]

Trixauna smiles as she identifies the magic that created the fake Thaddius. "This is the product of a simulacrum spell. This fake is in fact made of snow." "The real Thaddius is most assuredly at his chateau, then," says Captain Talos, "I can give you directions, but as I said, I can't interfere. Be careful, for his chateau is probably trapped and laced with arcane trickery. Do your best to find some incriminating evidence, and try not to kill him." When you all make it outside, she explains where you can find the chateau and bids you good luck, also dropping the name of a nearby drop in restaurant you might be able to grab a quick meal at.

[Keld Denar]

Clothilda

Clotty is not so hungry. I want to find squishy man-toy and squeeze him until he is sorry for being mean to pretty captain lady. After the squishing, we can eat. Nothing like a good squishing to make Clotty hungry! And with that stark revelation, Clothilda heads toward the door, cracking all the joints in her neck loudly as she goes.

[zagan]

"Yes, Clothilda is right we mustn't wast any time and must hurry to his chateau"
Lut began walking with the other toward the border of the town.

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I assume we know where the chateau is and go directly. How long will that take ?

[kpenguin]

"Of course" Heiron says as his stomach grumbles. He'd much rather fight a dangerous wizard on a full stomach, but the mission comes first.

[Keld Denar]

Clothilda

Clothilda looks at the street signs, remembers the directions she was given, and then sets of resolutely with the intent to lay down some serious huggling on a certain wizard...

[Faulty]

You follow Captain Talos' directions and easily find Thaddius chateau outside of town. It's a building of amazing grandeur. The stately chateau is carved with stunning reliefs of breathtaking landscapes. Statues of willowy elven maidens frame the front stairs. The roof of the chateau is shaped like a billowing bank of clouds, and is home to myriad magical creatures. Griffons prance, manticores menace, and rocs soar through the clouds. Each is carved in exquisite detail.

From outside, the chateau is well lit, and music and laughter echo from within. The large arched windows on the east wing glow with light and the prancing silhouettes of carousers flit back and forth inside. The glazed windows obscure vision, but it is obvious that some grand celebration is in full swing.

A 10 foot wide stone path extends before you for about 90 feet before becoming marble stairs, flanked by the 8 statues of elven maidens as the path and stairs rise to meet the elegant dark wood double-doors which obviously lead into the foyer of the mansion.

[kpenguin]

"Well, it appears we'll have to crash another engagement. Perhaps we can try a bit more tact this time?"

[zagan]

"I will follow your lead this time, so the front or the back ?"

[Faulty]

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If you'd like, you can give me marching order here, and I'll assume you're in it unless you say otherwise.

[Keld Denar]

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Clothilda will go 1st, 2nd, or last, as desired. Probably first.