Ester: IC

[esorscher]

Reza: Your search for Ali has been fruitful so far. The bartender at the Sledge vaguely remembered sending you his personal effects, but he has sent many such packages all over the world. Rumors of the Unter abound and you could not help but hear of them, and you decided to find someone with knowledge of the Unter to guide you below ground. With the help of a friendly human, you found a rogue, Alterys, who claims to have been underground. The two of you are standing outside the Sledge.

Alterys: You and Reza have entered into a limited partnership with the help of your friend, Deem, who overheard Reza asking questions about the Unter and brought him to you. You have been in the Unter, once several months ago, and the experience was one you did not enjoy. The Unter is littered with traps and monstrous races, many more dangerous than the goblins and kobolds that the surface folk occasionally see. But it is also filled with treasure, and you have agreed to help Reza. The two of you are standing outside the Sledge.

Dagos: After several hours of waiting, a gnome wizard comes to you and says, “The Magii have seen and accepted your application. Join me upstairs.” He passes through an archway but when you attempt to follow, you find your way barred by magic. He looks at you, smiles, and goes up the stairs and out of sight. This appears to be your first test.

Royal: On your morning ride through the halfling section of Eastgate, you happen to spot two men in metal armor beating up a halfling.

Lilina: Your husband has already left the house when you awake, as is usual. On your morning constitutional through Eastgate you happen to glance down one of Ester's many alleyways and spot two men in metal armor beating up a halfling.

[Grishnakh]

Standing before the magical barrier Dagos runs his hand along the surface and says to himself: "I see, so I am to be tested. Well, I guess I should have expected as much, perhaps I can find out what kind of magic I'm dealing with here."
He takes a moment to study the arcane energies, trying to figure out their secrets.

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Spellcraft: (1d20+18)[21]
Knowledge (arcane): (1d20+11)[20]

[tonberryking]

Well, this is one way to start the day. Nudging her immense rottweiler twice in two separate spots, a beefy looking halfling woman in armor holds on as "Henry" leaps forward, barking a roaring indignation. Royal finds that using the dog's temper is a good way to get attention; she brings her steed to bear a few feet out of reach, letting him jump about snarling and baring fangs amidst his noise.

Quickly getting him to reduce the howls to a quieter "constant growl," the halfing looks at the Cuthbert goons with a withering look from under her steel cap.

"Cease immediately." her growl seems more imposing than the dog's, "Boys, I demand to know just what you think you're doing to that poor fellow this instant!" Her use of 'boys' is deliberate, as she doesn't exactly look old herself, but perhaps a bit formidable as her hand grips the saddle pommel tight.

[Felyndiira]

The scene that played out before the noble girl was, quite sadly, a common one. The paladins of St. Cuthbert are best compared to a swarm of locusts in this town, spreading their justice-flavored pestilence without a pretense of concern for the people that they were supposed to protect. Yet, fanaticism aside, most of them -as civilized human beings - are reasonable when it comes to affairs not concerning the savages. No one turns their head when a sparse orc or goblin was tortured and beaten on the street, but for them to treat a halfling like this prompts one to imagine that there must have been some kind of a reason.

Certainly, one cannot rule out the possibility that the "reason" is as hollow as the order seems to be; occasionally, the paladins would take insult to being looked at in a strange fashion, or a stranger accidentally bumping them on the streets. Just as frequent was when they catch an individual in an act of murder or larceny and respond a bit more than appropriate for "in kind" - in which case it would be unwise to let their so-called victim back into the streets. Lilina, also, disliked dealing with the paladins in general: she has some influence over the order due to her position and that of her father, although the mere thought of depending on that man's name was like rotting, infesting poxes of cancer. She would not have it that way.

Still, she didn't like the scene, and would probably have interfered herself had another not already jumped into the victim's defense. The new entrant didn't seem any more intimidating intimidating than Lilina; she was a halfling a few heads shorter than the two paladins, and even in armor looked only about as strong as a muscular child would have been. Nevertheless, the halfling paladin was not lacking in courage; her remark was sharp and commanding, if not a bit in contrast to her height and appearance, as if she is challenging the paladins to a duel of blades.

Lilina's steps grew a bit slower; she was walking in a more lady-like fashion than usual, each step less than a foot's length apart from the one prior. She still didn't interfere in the exchange, although she kept a masked interest in what is happening before her - the girl was quite interested in what the paladins would do next.

[Swami Monsoon]

Reza explains Snowstone to Alterys. "Snowflake obsidian... there are huge deposits of it under Snowstone Home. It's what gives our community its name and it's how we make our living. Let me show you..." He draws the shortsword at his hip. The hilt and scabbard are unremarkable wood and brass. The blade is not so ordinary. It is made not from steel but from a single piece of finely honed and polished volcanic glass. The stone is a deep brown, the color of dark chocolate, marked with many small white spots. Reza holds the edge to a stray thread dangling from his cloak, and the fibers part at the faintest touch... "Obsidian is actually quite a bit sharper than steel, but it's also much more fragile. So if you give it a good whack..." Reza grabs the sword with both hands and slams it hard into the cobblestones. It strikes with a resounding crunch, like the sound of a foot breaking through heavily crusted snow... but when Reza lifts the blade, it is unmarked. Instead, one of the cobbles is now in two pieces. "The last part of that sentence is supposed to be 'shatters into little bits,' but Snowstone is not ordinary obsidian. It's sharper than steel and stronger too. This is actually a low quality piece. The good stuff is even stronger, and some of it is even naturally enchanted. That would be wasted on me. I'm not a real swordfighter..." Reza re-sheathes the blade and continues.

"Ali's tools and weapons were also made of Snowstone. We've never traded much with Ester or anywhere else this far west, so items like that should be uncommon here. That might be one trace of him that we could look for... although brown Dwarves are also pretty rare here and nobody seems to have noticed one lately.
At some point we're going to have to start poking around in the Underground. But if this place is anywhere near as big underneath as it is up top," he says, swiveling his head to take in the crowded cityscape, "how do we know where to start?"

[Jormengand]

Alterys considered. "I could ask another Thief for a good way in," she said, "But then they'd want a share of it. No, we'll have to do some searching ourselves." The Thieves were a minor group as far as the city as a whole was concerned, but they all-but-ruled a small part of it and knew most of it. They also knew how to go places underground.

"The way I used last time may be the only way that we can realistically get in, but there were loads of traps there - and I don't do traps."

[esorscher]

Reza and Alterys: Your conversation continues in the busy street.

Dagos: You are unsuccessful in determining the spell effect already in place.

Royal and Lilina: The paladins glance at each other. One moves to engage you and the other pushes the halfling down and away. “Help,” the halfling cries out, but the paladin silences him with a gauntlet across the face. The one blocking your way says, “Same thing we'll do to you if you don't get lost, now, halvie. This doesn't concern you. Beat it.”

[tonberryking]

The moment the other paladin draws near, Henry bears his fangs and snaps at the air, for all the world looking ready to leap. He does *not* mess around when someone comes towards his rider.

"Oh, I quite imagine that it does have something to do with me. I demand to know what purpose you have in condemning that young man. What crime is so great that that two grown men of Cuthbert are trouncing him within an inch of life over? As holy warrior to holy warrior, pray enlighten me."

Royal hasn't drawn any weapons, or rather, THE weapon that rests along Henry's saddle; a dark wooden lance with steel bands and studs ringing its haft; if she has anything else, it's probably not very large to fit in the quiver on her back...

"Or else you'd prefer to explain to the city guard?"

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May as well throw a diplomacy out to see if it helps any:(1d20+8)[12]

[Felyndiira]

"Excuse me, good sirs and madam." At that point, the aggressor in this situation made himself known, and the girl - still a bit hesitant to banter with a hostile paladin of St. Cuthbert - nevertheless decided to at least try to separate the two parties from each other and to prevent a violent outburst from ruining her morning walk. She imagined that the two men were likely not of very high ranks if they are wasting time here; still, she swalloed her pride and greeted them with a gentle, respectful bow before interjecting herself back into the exchange.

"I'm certain that, as the upholders of law, that you have nothing but the best intentions in protecting the safety of the city. I'm not certain what crimes this halfling committed, but is not the proper course of the law for a suspect to submit him to the city courts for an official trial? I understand the use of force to subdue an unruly prisoner, but it does not believe he is in a state to resist at the current moment."

"If his crime is not truly severe, can I please ask you to forgive him?" The girl added, kindly smiling to both parties to enforce her message while letting her appearance and pose - and perhaps, as much as she hates to admit it, her name - enhance her plea. "There are many poor children nowadays trying to fend for themselves on the streets, and many poor adults that are committing small crimes for the sake of feeding their families. Given that, and what you have already done, I am quite certain that the man would try his best to avoid such crimes in the future."

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Mostly of this is a diplomacy roll to try to get the paladins to leave: (1d20+14)[20].

Meanwhile, Lilina has an action readied in case if something happens (she's still pretty far away from the paladins), and is also doing a sense motive on the halfling victim: (1d20+10)[14]

EDIT: I rolled a four!

[Grishnakh]

Well, that is disappointing...

He must have been more nervous than he thought for him to be unable to unravel the nature of the spell currently blocking his path. Sure, joining the Magii was a momentous occasion and crucial for his future progress, but under normal circumstances he should have no trouble to determine something as simple as the nature of a magical barrier.

Still, the gnome had said to follow him and to do so, thereby passing the first test, he would have to make it past this obstacle. Quickly his mind started racing, thinking of the many different approaches he could take to solve this problem, 'till he decided on the best one. It would take a bit of magical powers, which he might need in future tests that would undoubtedly be waiting for him, but it had to be done. Getting to the other side was the important thing, and the Benign Transposition spell should be able to help him here. The only uncertain variable was the question of magical powers passing through the barrier. If that was possible than he should be able to summon a creature on the other side and switch places. It was worth a shot.

Rolling up his sleeves and bringing the necessary spells to mind, Dagos prepares to execute his plan when suddenly he stops. Dagos, you blundering idiot! Get it together or you will never impress these mages! He had totally forgotten about his most recent acquisition. And after spending so much gold on them too. Only two weeks ago had he finally managed to get the funds together for this new piece of equipment, so this would be it's first real use (accepting of course a little experiment to test their merrit).

Focussing his mind, not on the spells but on his boots, Dagos expends a little of the power needed to activate the magic in them. Suddenly he appeared some distance further up the stairs, behind the magic wall. While the feeling was a bit anti-climactic, Dagos was nontheless happy that his new boots had so soon proved their worth and that he had gotten past the first test. Looking for the gnome and already thinking of what might be next, Dagos continues his way upstairs.

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Using Dimension Stride Boots to teleport past the barrier, 1 charge.

[Swami Monsoon]

"I will defer to your knowledge of the area and of the... uhh.. stealthy trades," Qizilbash says. "When would you like to start, and is there anything we need to obtain or prepare ahead of time?"

[Jormengand]

Alterys considers. "Well, there's only one way I know of getting anywhere useful in the Unter without anyone seeing us and wondering where we're going. Unless there's any adventuring gear you need to get, we can just as well go now."

[esorscher]

Dagos: "That was fast," the wizard says. "My name is Copperfarb. Welcome to the Magii. Normally there would be a tedious examination of your skills, wherein you would demonstrate to your examiner (me) each of your spells in turn. However, since you are clearly a wizard, if you will allow me to examine your spellbook, we can dispense with that." He pauses, and holds a hand out expectantly.

Royal and Lilina: With the arrival of Lilina, the paladins exchange another glance. Your pleas for mercy fall on deaf ears, but whether it is your reputation that precedes you or simply the fact that you are a human witness to their crime, their tone changes. "Take him to the guard," the one standing between you says to the one doing the hitting. The paladin nods and disappears with the halfling around the corner.

"And you," he says pointing at Royal. "I know who you are." From the way he says it, you are not certain if such knowledge is beneficial to you. He then follows the other paladin out of sight. Whether they intend on taking the halfling to the City Guard, or whether they are simply moving their punishment to an unobserved location, you cannot know without following them.

Reza and Alterys: After making whatever preparations you need to make before descending underground, you head to the sewer grate in the deserted alleyway that Alterys knows leads into the Unter. The stench is almost overpowering--almost. You emerge from the narrow stone pipe and drop into a dark chamber. You can feel the floor beneath your feet and smell the musty air, and your darkvision reveals that the chamber is small, at best 20' x 20', with a stone chamber pot and a stone sink. There is a door on the far wall.

(At this point, since you are basically just wandering around in the Unter looking for clues, you'll need to make search checks.)

[Swami Monsoon]

Reza nods. "I'm ready when you are. I just need to go up to my room and get my pack."

[Grishnakh]

Dagos steps up and clasps hands with Copperfarb (likely choosing to misinterpret the gesture). "Pleased to meet you Magus Copperfarb, my name is Dagos D'Malsheem." He moves toward a table by the wall, where he gently sets down his pack. "The sharing of knowledge must be an important factor for an organization such as the Magii. I must say I am quite excited to think of the combined knowledge you must have access to." As he speaks Dagos carefully retrieves his spellbook from the pack. It has quite an impressive exterior, even though Dagos knows it's content is as yet unlikely to impress anyone. First of it is at least twice as thick as most spellbooks, the leather cover made from dragonhide, its pages a high quality vellum in stead of parchment. With a loving touch Dagos removes the book from its protective slipcase and places it on the table, opening it at a random page. He then stands to the side making room for Copperfarb to examine the pages. "You'll see that so far my spellbook contains mostly spells of the Conjuration school, for that is where my interest and specialty lies."

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While Dagos allows Copperfarb to examine his spellbook, naturally, and even turn the pages, as must be done for proper examination, it is quite apparent for anyone who cares to look that Dagos is uncomfortable with handing his spellbook to anyone (even a Magus).

[Jormengand]

"Okay."

A while later, Alterys opened the doors of what appeared to be a small wine cellar to those who didn't know. "Come on." She drew up her hood, and dropped to the ground quietly, trying not to alert anything to her presence.


Various rolls which may or may not be applicable:

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Hide: (1d20+17)[34]
Move silently: (1d20+17)[26]
Spot: (1d20+10)[23]
Listen: (1d20+10)[12]
Search: [roll]1d20+6[roll]

[Felyndiira]

"The nerves of these people, really," Lilina exclaimed. Her eyes followed the paladins as they carted the halfling off to some unknown place - she would probably bet a few gold coins that it was not to the guards or any source of reasonable authority. Beating up on the paladins would cause even more trouble, of course, though she felt a pang of worry about the fate of their victim - it would not really do if they simply switched places and continued on their beatings. "I thought it was just supposed to be the savages that were poorly received in their hands; when did they start going off against civilized people like this?"

"Are you alright?" She turned to the other halfling - the one dressed in full armor much like the ones these 'paladins' wear. Her confidence betrayed the simple fact that she was skilled in armed combat; it looked a bit like a caricature from a human's perspective, that a woman barely three feet tall, riding a trained dog, would be able to stand against people twice her size and muscle mass. The girl has seen stranger, however - the order itself has had a halfling paladin that made quite a name for herself with her heroic feats, and compared with that anomaly, she would not even blink at the sight of a halfling warrior.

"They'll probably just take that poor lad somewhere else," she sighed, her eyes wandering back towards where the other paladin disappeared. The aggressors were not moving in haste; if she were to follow their trail now, the girl reckons that she could still catch sight of them. It would reflect badly upon her to leave the bullies alone like this, but is there really a reason to continue messing with the order?

[tonberryking]

To Royal, it's reason enough. Henry starts barking loudly after the other paladin-- A Yondalla one if the symbol on the buckler's any indication-- quickly excuses herself from Lilina's presence. "My apologies, but my work is not yet done-- Hey!!" she cries as her dog bounds after the two paladins, Royal immediately following after them down their path. Henry sniffs at the air for their scent, the only time he ceases to bark.

"You are not leaving without me, I mean to see that this halfling be given to the guard properly!"

[Swami Monsoon]

Reza whispers to Alterys... "As to where to go from here... Ali said he'd found a lead to the location of the real Unterschaft, where the Lost Tribe of Dwarves is supposed to be living. Of course lots of people have been looking for the same thing, so that doesn't narrow things down much. If they're really still down there, we know two things... that they really don't want to be found and that they're very good at not being found."

Reza nods to the door on the far wall. "You'll have to take the lead. I'm not terribly stealthy, but this might help. It will at least cover our tracks..." With a wave of his hand he produces a palm full of black volcanic sand and sprinkles it on both of them. As the grains touch their clothing and skin they seem to vanish...

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Casting Pass Without Trace on self and Alterys.

Rolls:
Spot (1d20+2)[14]
Listen (1d20+2)[15]
(If needed)
Hide (1d20+1)[21]
Move Silently (1d20+1)[17]

[Felyndiira]

"These are St. Cuthbert--hey, wait!" By the time she uttered those words, the halfling was already gone; really, she was brave, no doubt, but her chasing the paladins alone would just lead to another fight somewhere else in the city. Especially if she is a paladin of St. Cuthbert herself - a skirmish between members of the order would just rouse unwanted attention and get someone - probably the halfling paladin herself despite her best intentions - into major conflict with the order.

Goddammit, she wasn't supposed to get involved any more than just stopping the fight here, but some nagging feeling inside Lilina somehow persuaded her to give chase. It was quite obvious that the girl is not in the best of shape, but still, she managed to keep a running pace as she sprinted after the three paladins, hoping that she can make it in time to halt whatever shenanigans that may have taken place.

[esorscher]

Reza and Alterys: Alterys detects no traps in the room or on the door, and finds nothing of unusual interest. The room is what it appears to be -- an ancient dwarven bathroom. Upon opening the door you see with your darkvision a dark, dank hallway. It has been stripped of anything valuable. Roughly 30' down, it turns left.

Dagos: Copperfarb opens your spellbook carefully and inspects each page with significant interest. When he comes to the last filled page he leafs through the rest quickly and says, "Thank you. Believe me, I'm a wizard myself. I understand how difficult that was." He pauses, then removes a scroll from his pocket. "Go ahead and cast that on me. Take your time." It's not one of the spells in your spellbook. Rather than watching you, Copplefarb goes and sits down at one of the many writing desks in the room, picks up a quill and begins writing something down.

Royal and Lilina: The paladins are in a different alleyway, but it is equally deserted as the last. The halfling is now in manacles, and his face has been healed as if by magic. "So be it," the one who has previously spoken to you says. They do not say anything else but continue making their way through the alleys until they reach Cross St, on which they turn and head uphill toward the center of town.

[Grishnakh]

Hmm, I should have seen this coming. A Read Magic spell would have been usefull about now. But alas, he had not prepared that spell today, so he would have to figure out this spell the old-fashioned way.

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Spellcraft: (1d20+18)[19]
If Conjuration +2, if Enchantment/Necromancy/Evocation -5.

"I am terribly sorry Magus Copperfarb, but it seems I have neglected to prepare Read Magic today and the excitement of coming to the Tower must have muddled my mind some. Is there any possibility I might acquire a scroll of Read Magic to use?"

[Jormengand]

"Well, time for some door-opening, I guess." Alterys walks up to the door, hoping it's not trapped...

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If neccesary:
(1d20+14)[23] Open Lock.
(1d20+8)[22] Reflex (to avoid trap)
(1d20+2)[16] Fortitude (to prevent poison)

(1d20+10)[28] Spot
(1d20+10)[26] Listen
(1d20+6)[23] Search
(1d20+17)[37] Hide
(1d20+17)[25] Move Silently

[esorscher]

Alterys:

Alterys detects no traps in the room or on the door, and finds nothing of unusual interest. The room is what it appears to be -- an ancient dwarven bathroom. Upon opening the door you see with your darkvision a dark, dank hallway. It has been stripped of anything valuable. Roughly 30' down, it turns left.

Dagos: Copperfarb looks up from the desk. "Oh. Well, alright. But these scrolls aren't free, you know." He hands you a scroll of Read Magic.

[Grishnakh]

"Ah, thank you very much. I must admit I feel quite foolish right now." With a rather sheepish look, but clearly relieved, Dagos reaches into his belt pouch and takes out fifteen golden coins, which he hands to Copperfarb. "I believe that should cover the cost." After which he procedes to use the Read Magic scroll to decipher the scroll Copperfarb had given him.

[Jormengand]

Alterys continues down the corridor.

[Swami Monsoon]

Before Alterys moves out, Reza whispers, "How much of an interval do you want? How far behind do you want me to follow?"

[Grishnakh]

After reading the scroll and finding out its content Dagos looks up, confusion clearly written in his eyes. Slowly shaking his head he rolls up the scroll again and places it on the desk next to Copperfarb.

"Esteemed Magus, while I find it questionable that you would have me harm you, I must disappoint you. As I mentioned earlier, my studies so far have focussed mostly on the school of Conjuration, leaving my talents in the other schools somewhat lacking. In fact, the school of Evocation is one of three in which I have no aptitude whatsoever, which might explain my difficulties deciphering this scroll in the first place. Besides Evocation my talents would similarly be wasted on the Enchantment or Necromancy schools, such are the costs of dilligence. I am affraid we need an alternative if I am to pass this test."

He looks at Copperfarb expectantly, hiding his fear that failing this test will get him sent away from the Tower, just when he was so close.

[tonberryking]

Royal wordlessly follows, stern and silent, which can't be entirely said of Henry; the dog lets out a warning growl as he lopes after the pair and their captive.

She doesn't like this at all, but damned if she won't rest until the 'criminal' is safely in the hands of the watch.

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Sense motives on the both of them:
(1d20+5)[24] (1d20+5)[15]

Also, untrained Kn. Local to remind myself if the city watch is actually stationed in the middle of town: (1d20+1)[4]

[Felyndiira]

Lilina felt absolutely silly as she chased the halting paladin, panting rather heavily as her heeled shoes clicked against the roads and unpacked grounds. Here she was, a noblewoman of Ester, chasing after a bunch of people as if she was playing a child's game. All for what - a single half king? To prevent a fight somewhere in town that will be resolved in a matter of minutes anyway, if not always justly?

She chuckled a bit at this, but nonetheless, the girl's nagging sense to at least make right of this scene - and finish a charitable act that she began - drove her onward in following the halflings and the men.

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Lilina will be using sense motive as well, though for her it's on both the paladins and on Royal. She already did it on the halflig victim before:

Royal: (1d20+10)[16]. Paladins: (1d20+10)[20] (1d20+10)[16]

Also, she will try to figure out if there are any potential places in the center of town (church, town guard, prison, abandoned warehouse, etc) that the paladins may be taking the prisoner to:

Know (Local): (1d20+10)[28]