3.5 Political Adventure [IC]

[Starbin]

Stepping back to lean against the wall, Caladeran waited for Aquarius to go about his business.

[sdream]

"Are you sure you want to get further involved in the guild's internal politics? We're heading out of town anyway, lets pick up our supplies and forget about these troubles for a while."

[al'Lan Mandrag]

As Cal puts the weapons out of reach he finds a small piece of paper rolled up that must have been hidden in one of the pockets. It bears a strange message written in code.

[Starbin]

Cal hands over the note to Sel and Aquarius. "I found this on the would-be assassin, but am unable to read it. Perhaps one of you two can."

[sdream]

"An old acquaintance of mine said the best way to break a code is to have your enemy break it for you, then just break him. I'm pretty sure he's still alive, and that says a lot about how smart he was given what was going on at the time."

Sel thinks for a second.

"Of course he also said that usually if you can break your enemy, you don't need to worry too much about what he's been scribbling so much as who might be reading it."

[Starbin]

Caladeran nodded. "Feel free to beat the code out of him."

[sdream]

"Dibs on bad guard, you can play good guard. With good timing we can be much more effective than trying alone."


Wouldn't hurt to learn a new cipher and get a better idea of what's going on.

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If we're digging for info, I'll go whole hog. I'll spend 2 more points (taking me down just under half power for the day, to 12) on Attracting him to me and Aquarius.

This power grants you a +4 bonus on any interaction checks you make involving the subject (such as Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate, and Sense Motive).

All those skills could come in handy, as will Aquarius and I aiding each other, me using intimidate, and him "being reasonable" with his skilled diplomacy.

We can tie him to a chair to gain a circumstance bonus on top of the untyped psionic bonus, and I'll disorient him on waking by straddling him, then smack him around and threaten him with my knife all "crazy chick".

Unless he's literally got iron will and optimized resistance to this, those kind of stacked numbers should be able to drain his info without any problem.

"Find a sturdy chair."

Seal takes a minute to carefully search the man's mouth, hands, and feet for hidden suicide poisons.

[Starbin]

Cal stepped back, letting the others work.

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I'm hoping I got everything off of him ... but you never know!

[al'Lan Mandrag]

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Sorry for the delay. Also wow; I love Seal's interrogation technique!

Seal does the dirty work, but as she pulls her hand out of his mouth she grins in triumph: she is now the proud owner of a pale substance that was stuck to the outside of the assassin's teeth.

He jolts awake, eyes bulging and searching even as Seal sits atop him, waving her blade manically and striking him in the face hard with her palm before he can even think of recovering. After a minute of physical and verbal abuse from the seemingly psychopathic psion there is a tense silence. Seal stands up and taking a step back begins her questioning. The man, gathering his breath stares on wide eyed, but silent.
Another round of beating helps to weaken his resolve and loosen his tongue.

"Jaret," he gasped, "the name is Jaret. The letter, I only got it yesterday. They said someone would be going for the Archa. I was meant to go to the palace today, but Thevya brought me here." He glances up wearily obviously checking to see how satisfied the psycho-b**** is with his answers.

[sdream]

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I expected More action from the "good cop" diplomacy specced guy, but he hasn't peeped much recently.

I'll throw down a sense motive for the sake of things
(1d20+7)[27]

But Sel's not terribly interested in anything other than learning a new cipher... the palace guard seem fairly competent, and more importantly uninterested in my assistance.

Sel squinted at the guy, then looked to Aquarius.

"He sings too quickly for my taste, and his song is lacking verses about why he was hiding in this closet and how to read his little note. Can I cut him like he cut my friend?"

[al'Lan Mandrag]

His eyes go wide, and he starts to babble again: "It's a Pythian cipher, I can show you how to read it." You sense that he is truly terrified.

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It's difficult to portray a hardened assassin who has his mental resolve utterly crushed by a few slaps, but yeah, his will roll was very poor...

"I was left to deal with anyone who came along. Thevya said there were some rats needed catching before we could move on." He pauses then, obviously connecting that information with your presence.

[sdream]

"Theyva's seems to have forgotten the difference between people and vermin. This has landed several of her 'ratcatchers' in hot water and is making her look like a rat to more and more folks."

[Starbin]

Caladeran watched silently, wondering about how much worse this was getting. What caught his attention was that this man was supposed to be at the palace today, indicating that Thevya was planning on killing the Archa. The blatant attack on the temple showed that this woman was ruthless and aggressive in pursuing this agenda. Leaving the city might be problematic, given that they could easily return to find it a very different place.

He waited to bring up his comments, wondering what the others would do with this would-be assassin ...

[al'Lan Mandrag]

Jaret, the chained assassin, muttered something under his breath, and suddenly a wave of mist swept into the corridor, blanketing everything in a dull greyness. It is possible for Seal to make out the figure on the chair a few feet from her, but he is already struggling with his bonds desperately.

[sdream]

Selena steps up so the fog provides no concealment whatsoever and plants her foot firmly on the chair between his legs so that it cannot tip over.

"You took orders from a rat, and now you are the one trapped. The more you make us hurt you, the more you are going to owe the priests for healing."

To drive her point home, she stabs the dagger she had been threatening him with into his leg, carefully avoiding the artery in the inner thigh.

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Sgt. Cookie said he was still interested when I PMed him today...

As for my actions:
- 5' step into his nonthreatening square
- Move action to step on his chair
- Attack on a bound=helpless foe - nonlethal (-4)

(don't forget to subtract at least 9 from his AC for being effectively prone AND having 0 effective dex)

(1d20-3)[2] (nonlethal is at -4, still piercing)

[al'Lan Mandrag]

He cries out in pain as your dagger cuts deep into his leg, but luckily you do manage to miss the worst areas and he simply blacks out from the pain.

[Starbin]

Glancing around at the closing mists, Caladeran waited to see if they fled with the assassin's consciousness. "Interesting ..."

[al'Lan Mandrag]

They remain for a minute, but then begin to thin and dwindle.

[Starbin]

With the assassin unconscious, Caladeran turned to Selena and Aquarius. "Perhaps you anticipated this, but this man was supposed to be at the palace today, most likely killing the Archa. What does that mean for us? For the guild? If the streets are filled with soldiers today, what will happen tomorrow? Do we try to stop the killing? If so, we should hurry ...

Also, I wonder if Thevya's artifact is simply a wild goose chase, designed to rid the city of potential trouble makers and unknowns in her bid for rule of the guild ..."

[sdream]

"The archa has plenty of defenders, and we know she is well aware of the danger of attacks. Sticking our noses in where they are not wanted could be the distraction that opens a chink in her defenses."

"As for the artifact, if Fade thinks there is merit to the rumors, imagine the possibilities if Theyva were to get her hands on it."

"Meanwhile, lets apply a bit more rope to this fool, he still owes me an explanation of that cipher, and he's earned himself the opportunity to explain it while naked and bleeding. Maybe that will cool his ardour to escape."

She begins cutting his clothes off in chunks and pulling them out from under the ropes, tossing the rags into a pile next to the chair.

[Sgt. Cookie]

"I agree. I didn't step in before because you seemed to have it under control. When he wakes up, let me handle it. I think he's scared enough."

"Though, it does seem strange that both Miss Shiel and this assassin broke down under question strangely quickly. There are only two possibilities that I can think of, Thevya only seems to hire weak willed individuals, or, reality itself is streamlining these encounters for us, so that we can get onto other things. And after all I've seen. Both are equally likely."

[sdream]

"Don't forget you have the luxury of an actual mindbender assisting you."

[Starbin]

For two people who saw so many machinations and intrigue in the simplest of places, they rather gave credance to the glaringly obvious areas. Perhaps this was the way of humans ...

Caladeran leaned back against the wall and waited, keeping both his opinions and contemplations to himself.

[al'Lan Mandrag]

Seal indelicately strips the man to make sure he has no more hidden tricks, but she finds none. The three of you are now standing over a naked man with a number of cuts and bruises (not to mention a rather deep knife wound in his leg).
After being slapped a few times he wakes up groggily, looking up rather timidly, obviously suspecting the next phase is coming.

[Sgt. Cookie]

"I apologise for the... heavy handedness of my companion. Now then, Mr. Jaret. Tell me, how do we read this "Pythian cypher"?"


"I am assuming that all the letters were encoded, correct? In much the same way?"

Sense motive rolls:

(1d20+9)[12] To check that the cypher is correct.

(1d20+9)[12] To check that he is telling the truth about the other letters.

[al'Lan Mandrag]

The assassin starts to tell you the cypher, telling you that you have to replace certain letters with other letters, whilst moving the last two letters of each word to the front of the next word. Though he seems scared, Jaret seems to be speaking the truth, if not too eager.

You think it will take you about ten minutes to decode the whole letter.

[Sgt. Cookie]

"Complex, difficult to decrypt and hard to crack. I rather like it. I'll get to work right away. Mr. Jaret stays where he is, if he tries to escape, stab him in the leg again. If, and only if, your information is correct, we will see what happens then.

[sdream]

Sel smiled at Jaret.

"Don't worry about your leg, buddy. There's LOTS of places I can stab somebody that won't kill them... especially a man in your current condition."

She looked his naked form up and down.

If you would like to pass the time peacefully, we could talk about what Theyva did to annoy us and the temple, or something interesting from your past."

[al'Lan Mandrag]

Jaret assumes your question is just that, an innocuous question, and lowers his eyes, trying to avoid your face.
Aquarius is hard at work.

[Starbin]

Caladeran simply watched, knowing that Sel wouldn't kill the man in cold blood, but still not enjoying this part of the interrogation. Once they read the message, perhaps they would know more of what Thevya had planned ...