Madness, Blood and Thunder in Ravens Bluff IC

[TheFallenOne]

Aya

Spoiler

Show

the Merchant Assembly currently seems mostly concerned with formalizing the planned cooperation between Quehulio's and the Clerical Circle. Percentages, amount of advance payment for items on stock etc.

The highpriestess mentioned a mass at noon in case you forgot about it. It's not obligatory though; the mass is the public celebration, the revel later is invitation only

Cael

Spoiler

Show

Bitterstone is part of the harbor, often even called the heart of it, and bustling with activity at all hours; it's mostly frequented by common working folk, many of whom have their residence here, and sailors. It's in decent shape, unlike Silverscales, with stone buildings, public lanterns and cobbled streets.

Altarside, like all of Temple, is a bit more classy. It's a prosperous neighborhood, though the least so of Temple. Still, one finds here important sites like civic temples, guild headquarters and major businesses. People of all kinds come through here and those having their residence here are likely better off, but not extraordinarily so.

[candycorn]

Misti Marva's (Night)

Alaister smiles, shaking his head. "It's not about being repaid. I don't generally carry large sums of coin upon me. I only came seeking a few less valuable tidbits of information on the man, to see if you were willing to broker a reasonable deal. For the information you offer, I'd be willing to pay you all I have brought with me, which is fifty gold. But more than that? I have other uses for my coin, ones involving the elf that I came to this city seeking, and cannot afford to slow my mission for his."

Spoiler

Show

Bluffing, with inspiration: (1d20+12)[15]

EDIT: +1 more (feycraft armor) = 16

50 gp is not all I have on me, which is the lie I debated considerably before attempting.

[rypt]

Bitterstone & Altarside

Cael makes a note of the merchant's guard position before continuing on his way to Misti Marva's. The pay is less than he had been hoping for, but he recognizes that there is more value in establishing a reputation worthy of more lucrative opportunities.

Misti Marva's Moonlight Pawnshop

Cael enters Misti Marva's feeling slightly uneasy. He had always made a point of traveling light, and having left Aglarond with only what he thought absolutely necessary, the thought of surrendering more of his equipment -- even if only temporarily -- does not sit well him.

Steeling himself with the notion that the money would surely bring him one step closer to finding his sister, Cael approaches the shop's proprietor with a pleasant smile on his face. "Good afternoon. I was told you are the person to see around here for a loan."

[Jeff the Green]

Rhabie Promenade -> Halls of Mystery

After agreeing to meet with Vandroy tomorrow for lunch at the Raven's Glory, Mirielle heads to the library at the Halls of Mystery, with a stop at the Sign of the quill and scribe for a blank book in case she found something to copy.

Right, she thinks, Amazairyl first, then the Forging. Rituals may go by many names, while most people have but one.

Spoiler

Show

So, a Knowledge check for research. History's probably most appropriate.

(1d20+8)[19]
+2 if Arcana works, +3 if religion works
+10 from divine insight if it applies (5/10/15 hours worth)

She'll work the entire day. If she finds something she'd like in her personal collection (standard topics), she'll ask for permission to greater amanuensis it.

[TheFallenOne]

Misti Marva's Moonlight Pawnshop(night)

The Elven woman scowls in a kind of adorable way. "This doesn't help build trust, you know. If it's not worth that much to you that's fine, but please don't seek us out to tell lies. We'd be happy to help you guys if you want to go against Black Sorrow and his allies. In fact, we could arrange for some compensation from previously wronged parties."
At this moment, Misti enters the main room, wearing a clearly expensive and likely at least a bit uncomfortable red dress. "Well, what do you think?" she asks, turning in place. "It's nice, but way too formal given the occasion. Perhaps the black and white combination we had been saving?

Oh, hey Alaister!" She gives the man a friendly wave like she just now noticed him.

Misti Marva's Moonlight Pawnshop(noon)

"You heard right, dear" the darkhaired woman answers. The sign Cael had seen earlier is lying on the counter, she seems to have opened shop only minutes ago. "I'm Misti. That might seem obvious from the name of the place, but I run it together with my companion Vanet and we don't like to be confused for each other.

I can give loans, but nothing over a thousand gold pieces under normal circumstances. I take items of special quality or magical as collateral and give coin at quarter market price. What do you have in mind?"

Mirielle

Spoiler

Show

it will take a while to get a clearer picture. For now nothing new, mostly getting familiar with the Crown Wars in general, to the extent this is possible to have some kind of context.

There are dozens of books Mirielle would drool over if it wasn't unprofessional to do so while inside the library. I can give some specific ones if you narrow the field down.

[rypt]

"Quarter value?" For a moment, it seems Cael might object to Misti's terms. "Well in that case," he chuckles, "I can assure you, these will be exceptionally 'normal circumstances.' How is the loan to be repaid? With interest or a fee...?"

[Sallera]

The Halls of Mystery

Aya returns to the Halls of Mystery in time to shed her assortment of gear and take a quick bath. She dresses again in her new outfit; although she wears no jewellery, she keeps her slightly mismatched pair of thin gloves, one bearing Mystra's symbol and the other temporarily containing her sword. As much as she disliked leaving her bow behind, it would be of little use without arrows, and she was at least aware that she was unlikely to need it - an awareness that, nonetheless, was not about to extend to going completely unarmed. It was a pity she hadn't had time to modify the hem of her new blouse to include a hiding place for her picks... but that was perhaps going a little far for an evening out.

The rest of her gear is left in her cell; she was reasonably certain the Halls were well warded enough that she didn't need to worry about leaving things there, even if most of the inhabitants were going to be away tonight. Heading to the entrance hall, she joins the priests; at a gathering like this, it would probably be to her advantage to enter with a group.

[TheFallenOne]

Misti Marva's Moonlight Pawnshop(noon)

"Ten percent of the loan per month, for a maximum of six months. Five if the loan is for a tenday or less."

Spoiler

Show

how much did you expect? 50% of market value is the hard limit to make sure she has no net loss if the collateral isn't redeemed and she has to sell it on to a larger shop. That's before taxes, providing storage space and protection suitable to a known collection of magic items.

The Halls of Mystery

The Highpriestess departed for the High House early with a small escort, and the remaining clergy gathered in the main hall. It seems the priests, most of them pretty young, did dress up for the event, though their dress is still decidedly informal, even gratuitously revealing in some cases, with the exception of Nadira in her usual stern clothing style who will stay behind to keep watch of the temple.
"Hey Aya, got a free hand?" Dalair asks, grabbing one side of a wooden crate containing a massive bottle easily holding ten gallons. "Lucky we still got it, but don't ask me why they couldn't deliver a tad further to the High House... Ah well, at least we'll come bearing gifts, hah?"

The High House of Magic

The wizards guild has a large common room in the center back of the building, able to comfortably hold a couple hundred people by the looks of it. The ceiling is high enough to allow a gallery with marble ballustrade about twenty feet up, and the trained eye recognizes the wall hangings are enchanted with illusions, currently depicting alternatedly illustrated scenes and passages of scripture pertaining to Mystra. The subtle background music from a harp is likely illusory as well.

Only a couple dozen people are in attendance yet, most of them members of the host. Mycion is near the back exit into the garden, provoking a giggle from Beliande with whatever he whispered in her ear. Landar and Rikrik are at the tables to the sides, the latter picking up various pieces of the buffet to give them a curious sniff with the knight watching critically. Up on the balcony, Wylam is talking with a massively built fullbearded mage. The Highpriestess is currently not to be seen, and the arriving priests start to mingle into the crowd.

[Jeff the Green]

Some time before the noon hour, Mirielle takes a break from her mostly frustrating search for Amazairyl in the library and heads to the Raven's Glory to meet Vandroy. She leans against the facade of the restaurant as she waits for him, trying to mentally catalog the resources she'd found that morning.

"Ho, Vandroy," she calls when she spots the draconic mage. "How was your morning?"

[TheFallenOne]

The Raven's Glory

"Oh, mostly unremarkable", he answers with a shrug. "By the way, know the meaning of this?" He points at the Use of magic strictly forbidden for your own safety. sign. "Safety from what exactly? A club to the face if I break their rules or what?"
The raven on his shoulder gives a displeasured caw as if in agreement.

[Jeff the Green]

The Raven's Glory
Mirielle smiles. "Possibly," she says. "But more likely in the sense of 'unless we keep you from using magic, we can't keep your enemies from using it either.' It's a good rule for a neutral meeting place, I think; I've used it a couple times.

"Shall we find a booth?"

When they've been seated and ordered (fisherman's stew for Mirielle), she offers up a bit of information to get the exchange started. "I think I have some idea about these greycloaks' goals," she says. "I imagine you've heard of house Ambrath. There's a feud, or covert power struggle, of some sort going on, though I'm not sure what it's about. They oppose Ambrath, and I can't say I really disagree with them on that point. He's a nasty little man. Well, not little, I suppose."

[rypt]

Misti Marva's Moonlight Pawnshop(noon)

Cael nods as he takes a moment to consider the numbers. "How about 35% market price at 15% interest? I don't like owing people money any more than you like giving away, so what say we keep the same tenday payoff?"

Spoiler

Show

I wasn't expecting anything in particular, but I can't imagine Cael has ever pawned anything. He more or less went straight from a life without monetary concern to a life on the government's dime.

[TheFallenOne]

The Raven's Glory

The draconic mage orders the Two Mountains Pladder for himself, and takes a piece of sliced bread from the overhanging basket, tearing it into smaller shreds for his raven. "Yeah, I gathered they don't like Ambrath very much. But I'm not sure it's just him in particular or the Merchant Assembly in general. They are affiliated with one of the big noble players after all.

So... You're just telling me what I already know, from having been there with you. I have some juicy bits to offer, and I 'd like likewise in return. And just to show I can provide, a little spoiler - they had us raid the embassy of Zhentil Keep." He leans back with a smug grin, watching her reaction. "That little 'accidental' fire? All me.

Your turn."

[Jeff the Green]

The Raven's Glory
Mirielle's eyebrows rise. "I wish I'd known that a tenday ago; it would have saved me some time and unpleasant interactions with the guards.

"My contact with them has been more indirect. Magnus, the heavily armored one who was with me when we first met, heard about a goblin tribe that'd been extorting some farmers. Damming up the river and only releasing water when they were paid. So we went up there and sorted the situation out. It was a little hairy in places, but we managed.

"When we came back, we received a note from them. Turns out they had a budget for the job and so they gave it to us." She frowns. "It was stolen, though. Have you ever heard of someone who calls himself Black Sorrow?"

[Sallera]

The Halls of Mystery -> The High House of Magic

"Oh? It's an impressive looking gift, but..." Aya lends a hand on the other side of the crate, inspecting the bottle with a critical eye and a expression rather lacking in the accompanying solemnity. "Is it deserving of a procession? What exactly is in it?"

Once the mysterious bottle is delivered to a suitable resting place, Aya scans the room again, and moves off to the side after a brief deliberation. The location Landar and Rikrik had chosen was a good place to watch the rest of the party arrive, they were currently unoccupied, and she wouldn't look too out of place with the other militants, if anyone was paying attention to such details tonight. She wouldn't mind knowing them a bit better as well, should cooperation without the Sage's direction ever be useful.

"Good evening," she says as she approaches the two. Landar certainly seemed the type to stand on formalities, although she hoped that wouldn't matter as much if she could get him talking. Rikrik might turn out to be more receptive, but he gave less away, and as neither of them had yet said a word of note in her presence, she couldn't read him very well. "It has been a while since I attended a gathering such as this; it seems it is a fortunate time to be in the city, our current business notwithstanding."

Spoiler

Show

Not too important, but Aya did tell Mirielle the reason for that sign yesterday (the wild magic zone). Of course, if she just chose not to say, no worries.

[TheFallenOne]

Misti Marva's Moonlight Pawnshop(noon)

Spoiler

Show

I don't quite understand the last part

so what say we keep the same tenday payoff?

The Raven's Glory

"Black Sorrow?" Vandroy's eyes widen in delight. "That's a sweet name!

But, well, you know how it is. Even two-copper thugs take some often undeserved streetnames to appear tougher and more intimidating. So a nice name doesn't make a nice - as in competent - guy. Anyway, never heard of him."
He takes a bite of the mushrooms and seems to enjoy them quite a bit. "So... Why did they pay you, given you already did the deed without promise of compensation from them? Did the village belong to the lord or what?"

The Halls of Mystery -> The High House of Magic

"Oh, just a fine wine from Cormyr." Dalair gives the bottle a tap like it's a good buddy of his. "Last year we only had red, some white mixed in will be good. It may look like much, but with all the people there... Better have leftovers in the end than stuff running out in the middle of the party, right?"

______________________

Rikrik's scales changed to buff, the lighter chest part beige, matching the color of the walls. Landar, dressed in a black jacket, doesn't seem to agree with Aya's assessment. "Never liked the big gatherings. Meet this person, politely laugh and nod at boring jokes and tales of that person... My job is to protect the innocent and hunt those threatening them harm, how does this help? With our leader stuck researching the thing you unearthed I think I'll have to go back to the roots..."
"Better watch your tongue, knight, or our leader might find a fine lady to ask you to dance", Rikik teases with a toothy grin that comes quite easy to a lizardfolk.
"Hey! I'll have you know I'm a splendid dancer!" He pauses, dropping the hand raised in indignation and lowering his voice. "I'd just... prefer not to."

[Jeff the Green]

Raven's Glory
"I'm not sure," Mirielle says between spoonfuls of stew. "I could speculate, though. They have a special interest in Jorran, so they might have wanted to have him—and us—beholden to them. Alternatively, they might have wanted to encourage us to keep doing good works. Or maybe they're just generous.

"It wasn't a horribly difficult job. It got a little tricky when we had to deal with the infirm and young, but we managed to kill their leaders and force them to leave the area. Even fixed up the dam so the farmers could irrigate their fields better.

"What happened in the Zhentil Keep embassy?"

[TheFallenOne]

The Raven's Glory

"Eh, there is this fellow, former slave of the Zhentarim. Escaped a mining colony up in the Earthspurs not too long ago.
Turns out the cloaks had a spy there. Implanted a message in his mind cause he couldn't get out himself. Gave the guy some strange blackouts until he was fixed. Anyway, whatever was to that, the cloaks wanted some documents from the embassy. Had us go through Sarbreen below, then use a spell to open a path into their basement.

Now, those are some clever villains. They're not allowed to have nonhumanoid guards, on account of being nasty and all. But they had those mechanical roaches. Constructs for the purpose of removing trash with their acid spit, only their definition of trash includes people, and thus us when we stumbled in there. Pretty sure they declared those things 'cleaning personnel' to get around the restriction. Cunning bastards.

Anyway, we got in, had another fight with a mage and some orc guards, then retrieved the documents. Only slightly singed."

He pauses, the tale concluded. "They weren't too happy about the fire, and I can imagine better employers given they introduced themselves by punching me in the face, so we don't work with each other anymore. But if they are indeed interested in you guys you might contact them and learn more. Solve the puzzle, figure it out together."

[rypt]

Spoiler

Show

Misti Marva's Moonlight Pawnshop(noon)

Spoiler

Show

I don't quite understand the last part

He means keeping the same 5% rates if the loan is repaid in 10 days.

[TheFallenOne]

Misti Marva's Moonlight Pawnshop(noon)

Misti Marva sighs. "Fair enough. But I have to set up a new form, the prewritten ones aren't good obviously. Now, what kind of item do you offer?"

[rypt]

Misti Marva's Moonlight Pawnshop(noon)

"I offer these," Cael answers, pulling at the fingers of one gloved hand and then the other. Seeming but ordinary leather gloves at first glance, a set of small stars stitched across the knuckles hint at their magical properties.

[TheFallenOne]

Misti Marva's Moonlight Pawnshop(noon)

"Ah, one of these", she says after inspecting the gloves. She fills out a receipt for Cael and hands him 175 gold pieces in a mix of platin and gold coins.

[Sallera]

The High House of Magic

"Hmmmm?" Smiling slightly, Aya shrugs. "Well, I can sympathize with that desire. Dancing has rarely gotten me anywhere. Good, at least."

"But it's not as though being here is a complete waste. Granted, with this much magic in one place, all they might need protection from is each other, but our little problem aside, when it comes to my job, the Bluff has seemed pretty quiet the last few weeks." Aya tilts her head. "Or maybe I've just been talking to the wrong people."

"Do you three work in this area often? Have projects to get back to?"

[candycorn]

Misti Marva's (night)

Alaister ponders thoughtfully, before saying to Misti, "Why hello, Misti! I was just negotiating some prices from your colleague here, and she seems to have taken minor offense to my nine children starving back at home." At this, Alaister gives an affable smile, before continuing.

"That said, I came here seeking information on Black Sorrow, as I will likely be moving against him shortly, and would be interested in your companion's offer of arranged compensation. Since the information I came here seeking will no doubt assist in our success, I would propose collecting the money from those willing to pay for our service, as necessary expenses for our work. If you like, I would not have any issue with deducting twice the asking price for information on Black Sorrow from our compensation upon completion. If I've worked out everything correctly, you'll be receiving 300 coins for the information, plus whatever commission you take from being an intermediary for our compensation.. And I get paid for something I would likely be doing anyway. Would such an arrangement work for you?"

OOC/mechanics:

Spoiler

Show

Bluff on the nine children, Intentional fail, and badly. I'm not trying to hide that what I'm saying is obviously not true. Basically, I'm playing off the failed bluff as simple haggling, since that's pretty much what it was.

BTW, it just clicked what all you were saying in the last post, about compensation. I can't believe I was confused by that earlier... wow

[TheFallenOne]

The High House of Magic

"No current projects. We're mainly active on either side of the Dragon Reach and sometimes the Moonsea region. Mostly in the wilderness or smaller places, where there's no one else to take care of a threat, the cities usually handle things before we even arrive. And then there are the times we stay in place researching this prophecy, that ancient tomb or lost artifact... I have a feeling it may take a while this time, and I can't contribute much in that regard..."
"He feels obsolete if there's no big ugly he can whack with his sord", Rikrik interjects. The lizardfolk gave some dark cheese and vegetables filled with curd a bite without much enthusiasm, but an orange cake finally provokes a pleasured "Ah!" after a sniff and a bite.
"That's an oversimplification... Oh look the Highpriestess arived!" He points at the entrance eager at a change of topic, where indeed the priestess entered, accompanied by a tall, slender man of stern features with a close-cropped white beard, wearing ornate wizard's robes. "That's the host, Alcide von Tighe, Archmage of the guild. I met him once before, he's actually a way friendlier fellow than one might expect from the looks of him."

Misti Marva's Moonlight Pawnshop(night)

"Oh, the wronging party isn't Black Sorrow, but an ally of his. In fact, we wouldn't be aware of the Netherese in the first place if they weren't associating frequently", Misti corrects.
"That 100 gold? Just to make sure we get our due if you move on Black Sorrow but not his allies, but I'd expect that to be rather difficult. That compensation is better collected by us as some would surely not admit to a stranger they're willing to pay for whatever you end up doing, plus from what you previously said I assumed you prefer to stay largely anonymous. We take a 30 percent finder's fee on the compensation. Your cut would end up about 800 gold I estimate, give or take a hundred."

[rypt]

Misti Marva's Moonlight Pawnshop(noon)

Cael collects his money, offers his thanks and then turns to leave, but he makes it only couple of steps before he stops and turns back toward Misti. It occurs to him that the situation in which he finds himself now might be very similar to the situation in which Liara found herself when she first arrived in Raven's Bluff. Where he needed the money to buy information about the drug trade, she might have needed the money to partake in it.

"Before I go, Ms. Marva, would you mind telling me if you can recall this woman ever coming into your shop?" With a whispered word, he begins to weave light and shadow into the phantom figure of an elven woman. Shorter than Cael, her hair bears a touch of red and her eyes are liquid silver. Whether a true representation, or by the influence of the spell's caster, she seems sad.

Spoiler

Show

Cael casts silent image, creating an illusion of his sister as she appeared when he last saw her.

[Jeff the Green]

The Ravens Glory
Mirielle pulls a face. "I'm not sure how to do that, actually. They've arranged both of the meetings we've had, and never at what might be their base of operations. I can have a look around town, but do you have any ideas?"

[TheFallenOne]

Misti Marva's Moonlight Pawnshop(noon)

"No, never seen her", Misti answers after closely inspecting the image. "But if you're willing to invest some of that money I just gave you, I happen to trade information, rumors and gossip and have some people who can keep an eye out or make inquiries..."

The Raven's Glory

"Eh, dunno, maybe wander around town, looking... approachable? If you're right they'll contact you sooner or later for a job, you just have to go for it and keep an eye out. I can't stand not knowing, but it's not like we have a deadline on the thing, right?"
At this moment, a man in the dark blue uniform and hat of the Raven Express enters the room. He hands one of the waiters an envelope and a short conversation ensues, at the end of which the messenger just shrugs and leaves shortly after. The waiter looks at the envelope sceptically, then raises his voice. "Excuse me, anyone here called 'The Girl Who Lived'?"

[rypt]

Misti Marva's Moonlight Pawnshop(noon)

"Ah, of course you do," Cael smiles. "How much of an investment are we talking?"

[candycorn]

"My apologies. I was under the impression that you would be brokering the arrangement, and that any coin we received would be through you. I'm sorry if it seemed otherwise. If you'd be kind enough to let me know what the job is, I would be happy to get in touch with Jorran and Mirielle, apprise them of the situation, and be back to you within a day or two. Is that acceptable?"