Megadungeon A (IC)

[Malimar]

DM
I think I was, once upon a time, going to consult my maps and pinpoint the windows. I'll do that now.

The entire north end of the building is two storeys tall; the south end is one storey tall. The windows in the north end all higher than the windows in the south end: the high windows are about 18 feet off the ground; the low windows are about 8 feet off the ground. A ladder is probably necessary for the former, unnecessary for the latter.

I think this is already known, but I'll make it explicit: All the building's windows are effectively Diminutive in size (let's say about a foot wide by 6" tall), so a Tiny creature can fit if it squeezes.

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.......................................
.#...#...#...#...#...#...#####&#######.
.........................#           #.
.........................^           #.
.........................#           #.
.#....................~~~#           ^.
......................~~~&           #.
......................~~~#           #.
......................~~~&           #.
.#....................~~~#           #.
.........................#           #.
.........................^           #.
.........................#           #.
.#...#...#...#...#...#...#           ^.
.........................#           #.
.........................#           #.
.........................#           #.
.........................#-----------#.
.........................v           #.
.........................#           #.
###################......&           #.
                  #......#           #.
                  #......v           #.
       some       #......#           #.
     unrelated    #......#           #.
     warehouse    #......#           #.
                  #......##v##v#######.
                  #....................

. - ground
# - wall
& - heavy wooden door
~ - 10' high platform
^ - high window
v - low window
- - demarcation between two-storey north end of the building and one-storey south end

Okay, so Hipp ventures off to buy a crowbar! Kataun ventures off to buy a sap and uniforms and, like, paint or something! Lauren ventures off to gather as much information as possible! Or you can continue as you were if there's more to say and this can just be me resolving stuff in advance.

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Okay, so, Lauren needs to trance for 4 hours and spend an hour studying her spellbook. Let's say it's about noon Zorday, dinnertime Farday is about 4pm, and let's call it 1 hour on swinging by the market and either buying a ladder (for even cheaper than crowbars and saps! Though wandering through the streets of the city at night carrying a 10' ladder could draw attention) or not, so that's about 22 hours to work with.

A typical Gather Information check takes 1d4+1 hours, so...

Let's see if I remember how to do this...
(1d4+1)[2] - (1d20)[15]
(1d4+1)[5] - (1d20)[11]
(1d4+1)[3] - (1d20)[14]
(1d4+1)[4] - (1d20)[10]
(1d4+1)[2] - (1d20)[15]
(1d4+1)[2] - (1d20)[18]
(1d4+1)[3] - (1d20)[5]
(1d4+1)[5] - (1d20)[5]
(Any of these past 22 hours will just go to waste. I'll assume they're in order of priority.

[bobthe6th]

DAVE
Dave wanders off to procure a spear of the masterwork variety, and a few tangle foot bags(lets say 3).

[Malimar]

DM

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Okay so Lauren has time for about 7 checks. Assigning which goes to which question based on some abstruse, half-arbitrary collection of methods...

First, Lauren spends about two hours searching for abandoned properties near the slave market. Eventually, she overhears a gaggle of human merchants gossiping about a recent warehouse fire near the Black Pier, and, after buying a near-worthless trinket, manages to subtly squeeze from them a near-precise location. The burnt-out warehouse is an empty shell, possibly not entirely safe, but it's conveniently only about two blocks from Nalf's.

She spends about 7 hours asking around, trying to locate anyone who's business may be to help things disappear from the law. This is a tricky, delicate question. She does manage to get a hedge priest (serving the whole pantheon, as many hedge priests do) and a ratcatcher chatting over drinks. The ratcatcher mentions a number of half-reputable pawn shops that are in the habit of bribing officials to overlook their business (probably great for fencing stolen goods). The hedge priest launches into a story about Mirk, and how nothing can be found if Mirk doesn't want it found, unless Numiel shines his light in the darkness. But Numiel's word is not valued in Endeesy; the nearest temple of Numiel is on the other side of Mount Dis, at the Monastery on Perch Hill. (Perhaps it occurs to Lauren that, should they be able to get the escaped slaves out of the city, the priests of Numiel would probably be more than willing to find them new homes.)

Lauren spends a few more hours asking around, finding her way to the Merchant's Guild, and for a few gold worth of bribery (probably more money than he makes in a month), a young clerk lets her peruse their records, where she discovers that all the relevant documents are in Nalf's name exclusively; he seems to be the sole owner of Nalf's Slave Market. She also finds a scrawled, handwritten note among the records, some clerk's warning to any future clerks, "DUDES UNTRUSTWORTHY".

Then it's so late that she's having trouble finding anybody even to talk to, so she goes to trance and study for a few hours. Then, in the morning, she ventures forth again, at which point she discovers that one of the group's hirelings (Aroldo or Mattan, I don't recall which) actually worked for Nalf for a few weeks, once upon a time, and found him a terrible, dishonest, skeevy employer. He recalls there being anywhere from 4-8 guards present on any given day, though that was months ago. He also mentions there being 4-10 civilian workers at any given time, too. He doesn't happen to recall Nalf ever coming or leaving, but he doesn't recall Nalf being exactly omnipresent, either, so he has no idea whether the guy is likely to be there on Farnight.

As for connections to the King or the Kingsguard, the hireling shrugs, then gets all "oh, wait, no, you're right!", and mentions that every Zorday, when the auction is held, Sir Randolph the White would always be there, and would never bid, except that whenever any vaguely reptilian or draconic slave came up for auction, whatever their origin, Randolph would always outbid everyone.

And Lauren asks around about the Kingsguard! Well, what she does first is she buys a history pamphlet, which tells the story: when the Seventh Count Rogan was overthrown and the Kingdom of Gus was founded, there was no Kingsguard, hardly even any guards at all. It was the divine mandate of Quasxthe that cast Count Rogan VII into the sea and raised Baron Terek Rogan up to his cousin's post, and divine mandate that landed the Disreputable City on Mount Dis, allowing the new Count Rogan to found the nation of Gus and crown himself King. At first, it was just Terek Rogan I (eighth Count Rogan, first King Terek), qurSaan his pirate bride, and their crews. qurSaan's crew of mongrelfolk pirates, Terek's crew of gargoyles and vampires, led by Rifa the White Dragon, his oldest friend.

Nobody has seen Rifa the White Dragon in years, since even before the old king was assassinated in the night and his son took the throne (as the ninth Count Rogan, second King Terek). The gargoyles and vampires are long gone, and the remaining members of qurSaan's crew formed the core of the Kingsguard: Sir Peph Box-Cooper the Salty, former first mate; Sir Ravenwood the Wise, navigator; Sir Winden Nek-Smith the Holy; and Sirs Bill the Bolt, Nelson the Axe, Fred the Scoundrel, Gilbert the Stout, Joseph the Short, and William the Tall. To this crew, Terek II initially added his childhood friends Randolph the White and Bigglesworth the Slightly Dim. Somewhat later, the Omorashi ronin Sir Nakazawa declared his undying allegiance to Gus after some incident in which the king demonstrated his worthiness, the details of which are vague.

And, of course, everybody's willing to gossip about the Kingsguard. It only takes a few minutes of asking to conclude that Sir Bigglesworth is huge and scary. Sir Winden is considered a friend to all people, having recently cured a horrible Spelunker's Itch plague. Nobody can find anything bad to say about Sir Ravenwood, either, and Sir Nakazawa is known to be fanatically loyal to his duty to the crown. Most of the others are seen as bland and uninteresting, except Sir Randolph; people's voices drop and their eyes go shifty when they talk about Sir Randolph, quiet and unobtrusive, but each rumour about his alleged sadistic proclivities is more unbelievable than the last.

And then it's Farday dinnertime.

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I enjoy writing for Gather Information checks. Nobody should hesitate to make them! (Unless they don't enjoy reading great big ol' walls o' text, in which case that's fine too.) But, in the future, feel free to refrain from making a whole bunch of them at once...

Dave finds a smithy that'll sell him, for the standard prices, a spear, an alchemistry shop that'll sell him tanglefoot bags. Similarly, Hipp and Lauren have no problem finding a smithy and a carpenter, respectively, that'll sell them a crowbar and a ladder, respectively. And, for that matter, if Kataun wants a sap and/or paint, those are no problem, either. Uniforms'll take a few days to tailor .

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

Kataun comes back, with his faithful mount Rocinante. On the saddle, there are 5 buckets of paints, in 5 different colors, Red, Blue, Green, Yellow and Pink.

"Look!", Kataun pulls out a red outfit sort of loose and flabby around his body, not quite matching the bright red armor of his. "I got this for our uniform! Well, kind of. I wanted five of those for us, but they didn't have five ready to go. Or even one. This one was two-size larger around the waste and this was the best I could get. I think this will have to do for now."

Malimar:

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Will get Sap and Paints. As for uniform...I suppose we'll get them later! X-D

-K

[RCgothic]

Lauren

I'm quite pleased with my information gathering! I decide we should target a downstairs window near the southwest door, so I don't buy a ladder. When I trance I take the opportunity to prepare reduce person. All this accomplished, I head back to the Adventurer's guild to wait for the others, and try to hide my horror at the offences to fashion Kataun turns up wielding!

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Bluff check, appear un-horrified at thought of wearing anything dreamt up by Kataun: (1d20)[19]

[bobthe6th]

Dave

wanders in with a beautiful minimalist naginata, carrying three largish sacks over his shoulder.
"I would suggest the look out takes these, as they would stop any fleeing witnesses... also, I have a shiny new spear! The poor Orimasian merchant was practically giving the things away! Always wanted one of the katanas on a stick..."

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reflufed master work spear

[planswalker]

Hippolitus

Hipp will walk into the first smithy or tool shop that he finds, not bothering to even read the name on the sign. If he likes the business, he'll take note of it on his way out.

"I want a crowbar!" he declares to noone in particular.

[Malimar]

DM
Hipp walks into the first promising shop he finds: Dharblyn's Smithy and Discount Tool Emporium, a pleasant little shop, smelling of iron and fresh wood, just like a hardware store should. The mongrelman behind the counter looks unperturbed at Hipp's declaration, and pulls down a crowbar from its place with its fellows on the pegboard behind him. In an affectless monotone, the mongrelman says, "Twenty silver." (Heeey, that's not 'discount' at all!)


Meanwhile, slightly in the future...

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(1d20-2)[10]

Lauren is spectacularly successful at pretending not to be revolted!

[planswalker]

Hipp plops two gold on the counter. "Sounds fine. Thanks!"

He'll grab the crowbar and leave. Just as he's leaving, he says, "Thanks for selling me that crowbar! Now I can break in to your competitor's house and rob him blind!" He thought the joke was funny and chuckles at it.

[Malimar]

DM
The mongrelman takes Hipp's gold and gives him the crowbar.

To Hipp's joke, the mongrelman nods, still monotone, "Very good, sir." (No telling whether he thinks the joke is very good, or whether he thinks the plan of breaking into his competitors' houses is very good.)

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

The man in Red notices the frail looking elf is interested in the uniform.

"Oh, you like the uniform too? I'll put the word in to the Tailor when I go order my proper uniform. What color you want? Red is already taken. Of course, we might want to keep our identity secret. Cos, you know, that's how we roll, isn't it? We need our own tailor. You don't know how to saw, do you?"

-K

[planswalker]

Hipp returns, brandishing the crowbar and says, "Here we go, a crowbar!"

[Moranica]

Grunfold eyes the others warily.

Hmmpff, spending money like that. Such a waste. We don't even have a clue if this job will give us interest on our investments, let alone pay for such expensive equipment. Then again, if they dislike money that much ....

"Alright guys, seems you all got ..... prepared. I'm ready as I am. Low windows are perfect for me, though a boost would be nice. .... and that does not mean throwing me! as some idiot giant once thought."

[planswalker]

"I can help you with that."

[RCgothic]

Lauren

I manage to control my revulsion at the thought of dressing up like a rainbow for the moment. I cast a glance at Leonora who shrugs her wings and becomes very interested in preening her feathers. I can tell she thinks this is funny, so I shrug my shoulder too so that she nearly loses her balance and flaps in annoyance.

"I think it's an interesting idea Kataun, but I'm not sure body suits are for everyone. And my clothes are already green, see?" I smile and give him a twirl, making my skirt swish.

I turn back to the group. "Ok, so we should probably wait until about 11pm so the guards have the optimum amount of time to spend their wages and get drunk. Then last time I tried this there was a patrolling guard who came out to patrol the perimeter from time to time. He should be easily and quickly subdued.

After that we try the southwest door. If it's unlocked good, we all rush in and storm the place as quickly as possible. If not, I'll cast 'Reduce Person' on Grunfold so that he can squeeze through the window next to the door so he can let us in. The effects will only last a minute, but it should be enough! Plan C is we break down the door.

Once inside we subdue any guards (our intelligence suggests 4-8 in a drunken state plus 8 or so civillians who may have gone home by then), free all the slaves, and then make our way to an abandoned warehouse I found. We can figure out what to do next from there. We should try not to kill anyone except in self defence.

Any questions?"

[planswalker]

"Where in the plan do we have time to grab whatever valuables we can find to give the people we free enough coin that they won't be penniless beggars?"

[RCgothic]

Lauren

"General looting of the slave market can occur at the same time as the freeing of slaves. They can probably help us with that. Any other questions?"

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

"I'm ready! Let's go deliver some justice!", Kataun hops onto his horse, with his polearm drawn. At least he actually looks very competent doing that.

"Oh, one more question! What's our battle cry? We should have one! I think we should yell something like , 'In the name of the marshmallow, we will punish you!' as we kick minions of slavehandlers and such!""

-K

[bobthe6th]

Dave

"But but... murder and mayhem... such a loss. I would suggest allowing me to swarm the outside with bats, so there can be no witnesses..."
Dave giggles a bit at the idea of swarming bats, and the terror they can inspire.
"perhapce I should get a costume as well... a bat costume. I could strike fear into the villas black hearts! Though it needs a name... perhapce man bat? werbat? Man dresed like a bat?"
Then he shakes his head sharply
"must stop listening to Katuan, that almost sounded like a good plan"

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ok, next mision, start vigilanty group...

[Moranica]

Grunfold

"Alright, I'm ready .... though I will hold you responsible if the local cat starts hunting me...."

[planswalker]

"I'd worry more about the local crowbar-wielding gangs out there. But that's me."

[RCgothic]

Lauren

"In that case I think we should head over and subtly observe the place until about 11pm or whenever the guards appear suitable lax."

[planswalker]

"Do you really think snooping around all day long is a smart way to avoid attracting attention? I doubt the slave pens is a favorite place for people to loiter."

[RCgothic]

Lauren

"No, you're right. It's actually earlier than I thought it would be, so maybe I'll show you all to the abandoned warehouse so we all know where we're going afterwards. Then we can wait there until the appointed time whilst one of us observes the target to get a feel for what's going on. It should probably be me, because I don't look much like anything to be concerned about and I can use Leonora as a messenger."

[planswalker]

"Sounds good to me. Lead the way." Hipp, ever the proactive one, heads out the door. In his head, it sounding like the smartest plan to him means that everyone else does too and therefore are behind this plan as well.

[Malimar]

DM
The burnt-out shell was once a big, high-ceilinged wooden warehouse. Somebody must have managed to put the fire out before it burned down completely. It doesn't look like it was particularly full when it caught fire. Several holes in the roof admit the late daylight, and piles of assorted burned rubbish are heaped around the warehouse floor.

It doesn't look like the kind of place you'd necessarily want to be making any sudden movements or loud noises, but it should probably be safe enough as long as everyone's careful. Loose soot sifts from the ceiling, disturbed by the movement of your passage, but no beams or pillars or chunks of roof come down.

[planswalker]

Satisfied that the place is not about to murder him, Hipp finds a corner and naps until it is time to go, his crowbar clutched in one hand.

[RCgothic]

Lauren

"Ok, now if you guys wait here for a couple of hours and try not to attract attention, I'll go and read a scroll someplace I can keep track of people coming and leaving Nalf's. If there're any developments I'll send Leonora with a message. I don't expect there to be any trouble, so if you don't here from me come and meet me at 11pm."

[Malimar]

DM
Assuming Lauren's proposed course of action is acceptable to everyone, she sets off, sets up camp somewhere with a view of one or both of the slave market's two exits, and tries not to look conspicuous, yes?

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I just rolled 1d20 on my desk and said to myself "a high number means there's a cafe" or something similarly convenient right across the road. I rolled a 1.

Turns out there isn't really much in the way of conveniently inconspicuous spots near the slave market. This section of the city is mostly warehouses. Especially around the slave market itself; nobody wants to live or do commerce near Nalf's.

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Pay no attention to the dice behind the spoiler:
(1d20)[8]
(1d20)[2]

Lauren winds up being pretty conspicuous, having little option but to stand out in the open by a warehouse. Luckily, it's late afternoon, a fair number of people are still wandering in the street (a few of whom give her odd looks), and the several men who who leave Nalf's is preoccupied with the money they've just been paid and are intent on spending as irresponsibly as they possibly can. The one guard who wanders out the front door and makes a counterclockwise circuit of the building every thirty minutes or so seems particularly inclined to not pay attention to his surroundings, even though paying attention to his surroundings is probably 95% of what Nalf pays him for.

As the hours pass and the appointed time rolls around, nobody has noticed Lauren, as far as she can tell.

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

While waiting in the warehouse, Kataun starts using the paints he acquired to draw some pictures (alas, his drawings are pretty primitive stick-figure drawings), and some random words, and weirdly, words of encouragement. "We wuz here. We believe!"

-K