[3.5] The Destruction of Empires - Chaos

[Gavinfoxx]

He shrugs nonchalantly and confidently walks through the door, eyes peeled as to what he will see, or if they will be taking him to any place in particular.

[Xanyo]

You step across the threshold, look around, and find yourself rather underwhelmed. There appears to be nothing remarkable in this room, which appears to be the front of an old dusty shop that probably nobody ever bought from. There's a counter at the back of the room where a shopkeeper would be during daylight hours, and tables covered in random little trinkets. Rods, springs, dice, gears, tops, a hatchet handle, a rusty lantern, a tin candelabra. You even see a model ship made of paper. What the point of being here is, you could not fathom.

Spoiler: OOC to Arielle

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You know that the shop is a simple and convenient cover- always nice to have a little buffer between you and possible enemies. You know that a small statue of Waukeen on a table in the corner contains a key within it, which goes to a hardly noticeable lock on a particular section of wall behind the counter, which allows the opening of the secret door there.

[remetagross]

Arielle follows inside. She is pleased to see that Valen does not hesitate and seems to genuinely look forward to this encounter. She gives a quick glance around...nothing has changed since she left to meet him in the street. There would be absolutely no reason for someone of her guild to have sneaked in and hidden below the counter for spying on them; but a real pro never lets logic files out her reflexes.

"I suppose you have guessed the discussion will not take place directly in this room. Now, I'm sorry for how predictable this is, but I will need you blindfolded before we move on. Standard procedure, not matter how well-meaning the visitor appears to be."

The Silverbrow produces a strap of leather out of her disguise kit and makes a step forward. However, instead of binding it around the Azurin's head, she offers the piece of clothe to Valen.

"Here. Have yourself blindfolded."

This is, of course, also part of the standard procedure. Arielle will examinate whether Valen earnestly tries to blind himself or if he intentionnally ties the knot loose.

[Gavinfoxx]

He sighs, and starts to blindfold himself. "In for a bit, in for a crown." he says, using archaic and foreign terms for a copper piece and a gold piece. He seems to be tying the knot well. Right before he ties it, he pauses and says, "The value of me as an ally significantly outpaces the value of my equipment. Do I have your word that I am to be treated as a Guest?" He says, obviously echoing various concepts of being a good host and rules of hospitality and obligation and the value of a promise that are very common amongst civilized peoples.

Assuming he does get such a promise, he will tie the blindfold thoroughly. However, he does seem to be focusing more on touching his cloak as he walks.

Spoiler: Sense Motive DC 10

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He's fairly game with this as a reasonable request, and is obviously okay, conceptually, with being blindfolded when going into a thieves den.

[remetagross]

Arielle pauses. She had forgotten how it had felt the first time she had been introduced to the guild, and now that she remembers how stressful it has been, she better understands the Azurin's slight hesitation. Well, here is a forthright lad. He knows he is more valuable to us if we keep a perfectly friendly relationship, but he does not content himself with utilitarian reasoning; he also needs some spoken commitment from us, oathkeeping is as reassuring as logic is in his case.

The Ranger calmly answers at Valen, avoiding to take too much of a ceremonial tone.
"Yes Valen, you have my word that you will be treated as a guest, and I don't intend to trick you with any convoluted reasoning about the meaning of the word "guest". I swear it by Astilabor, who hears me as I summon her name. Besides, the blindfold will be removed fairly quickly. As you have aptly stated, the guild wants an eagerly cooperative Valen, not a resentful prisoner, a stash of loot, or anything along those lines. "

The Silverbrow circles around Valen to see the knot he starts to tie. It seems sturdy enough. She raises an eybrow a the hand of the young man clutched at his coat. She then comes back before the Azurin, pulls out a spinter of the signal arrow she picked up earlier in the street and holds it in a menacing, stabbing gesture.
"So, how many fingers am I showing to you?"

[Gavinfoxx]

He frowns, a low half-grumble and half groan building in the back of his throat, "You're flipping me off aren't you? Can we just move this along?"

[remetagross]

"Hey, what can I do, I did not write the procedures" and given that we are observed as I speak, she thinks, "I will not be the one who breaks them. Now, just a few seconds, and I set you free again." The Ranger pockets the arrow splinter. The Azurin has not displayed the slightest instinctive backstep; his blindfold is good enough.

Spoiler: What Valen can only vaguely hear

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Arielle reaches to the counter, and delicately unscrews the head of a small statuette of the goddess of merchants, Waukeen. Paying attention not to make any chiming sound, she slowly turns the headless item upside down and gathers the small key that falls from the hollowed out neck. The Ranger then closes towards the wall. She hesitates a moment, then applies the key to what seems to be a crack in the bricks. With the tiniest of muffled sounds, a section collapses outwards (it makes it harder to force through it, this way). That being done, Arielle puts the key and the statue's head back in place, and comes back to Valen's position.

"Now, put your hand on my shoulders." The Silverbrow offers her back to Valen, who flails about for a few seconds before settling in. Arielle then makes a few complete circles to better disorient the Illumian, which mechanically follows her step, before finally heading to the hidden gate.
"There we go. Thank you for your patience, Valen."
Arielle swiftly closes the door behind them, and finally unties the leather strap.

Spoiler: OOC: Checks for Valen

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Given the guidelines of the SRD, a Listen check should be of a DC ranging from 10 to 15, I suppose. And maybe an Intelligence check to keep track of the useless turnaround he made while blindfolded, and correctly approximate which part of the walls holds the concealed door. Maybe a DC 20?

Here is what Valen hears if he beats the Listen check.

Spoiler: Listen DC 10

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Arielle walks a few meters. A muffled, persisting metallic sound. It stops. A few more steps from Arielle. A rocky, hushed sound. Some more steps. The same metallic sound again. Then Arielle is back before Valen.

[Xanyo]

As it is rather difficult to fit a thief's den in a wall, the small room you find yourselves in is the top of a steep spiral stairwell, leading down to the main of the den. You head down into the "foyer" of the establishment, a room with a few chairs and couches, as well as a table at which sits a representative. There are four doors leading out of the foyer, one on each wall. As the representative, a half-elf with a white scar across his face, sees you he nods, and gestures for you to take a seat across from him at the table. Further description of the half-elf includes his soft black clothing, complemented by a dark cloak with red strands mixed in, probably not something he wears on the job. His hair is black with silver streaks. One eye sports dark blue irises, while the other is white and milky, blind from the scar running across it. A silver dagger lays naked on the table beside him, the hilt decorated with small gems.

Spoiler: Arielle

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The half-elf's name is Vesthal, but his nickname is Veil. He's the most diplomatic member of the guild, and he usually takes position as the face of the guild. I'll put together some stats for him and link them here, just for fun.

[remetagross]

Arielle removes her heavy coat and stretches. Not only to make Valen feel comfortable and indicate that the place is somewhat homey, but also because the room is significantly warmer than the dingy shop upstairs.

"Valen, I would like to introduce to you Veil. He is the guild's top negociator, and has all powers to settle the ifs and the hows of our cooperation."

She folds her coat on the back of the chair before her and sits.

"Now would be the time for you, Valen, to more accurately describe in which manner you intend to topple over the domination of the nobility of this city, and set the true people free. Tell us how and why you want to do this, and how our guild can provide assistance."

[Gavinfoxx]

He blinks as the blindfold is taken off, the glasses made of translucent blue soulstuff coming back into existence now that his blindfold is no longer in the way. When his eyes have re-adjusted, he smiles pleasantly at this negotiator.

"Good day, Veil. Allow me to get situated and show you as I describe what I am getting at. I've got quite a presentation."

He takes off his pack and places it on the table, opening it for easy access to the items inside, before he sits down.

"Well. What I can offer is opportunity. My plan is to cause major, dramatic disruptions in the region's economy, disruptions that will throw huge parts of society into chaos. From this chaos would cause opportunity for real change, from those who would see it coming and be prepared for it, to act first before anyone else."

He pauses and pulls out a large metal flask of, from the scent and steam, is hot tea from his cloak -- a part of his cloak that obviously had no metal flask of tea in it before he reached to that part of the cloak, and takes a swig of it.

"I am not exaggerating when I say I am perhaps the best artisan and magical item crafter of the last thousand years, despite being a mage of only the third circle of magic. My... perhaps overuse of skill-enhancement magic has also given me a unique perspective of what is possible, but not done due to tradition. I'll get back to that in a moment. First, I need to talk about nobles and gold." He gets out his helmet from his pack, where it was stowed, setting it on the table. It matches his breastplate and greaves, and is made of intricately carved, (and if touched, obviously magically improved) Darkwood. It has the give and springiness of steel, but does not seem to be magical itself; there is no glow, nor runes on it.

"As you no doubt know, the way society is set up is inherently unfair to those who don't have the luck to be born to a family of nobles. Most people are farmers, and they owe their Lord a set amount of taxes, which they pay in the output of their farm, in return for things like the rule of law, protection from bandits, having roads, and so forth. In theory. What actually happens is, due to a number of factors, a farm household inevitably ends up in debt, having to sell some of their family into slavery perhaps, or simply with no recourse to prevent their lord being able to take whatever he wants from those that have nothing, for his own benefit. Oh eventually, there's a war, and their lord is replaced with some other oppressive lord, but no real change happens."

Next, he gets out of his pack what seem to be a set of thieves tools. However, they are no 'mere' Masterwork Thieves Tools. Made out of Blueleaf wood, they have been obviously alchemically treated, and are a wonder -- any thief using these to disarm a trap or unlock a door would have double the benefit of a 'mere' set of Masterwork Thieves Tools from the sheer craftsmanship of them.

"Now, those who recognize the injustice of this and want to do something about it often become bandits or thieves or revolutionaries or what-have you, which they try to do from taking from those who have and given to some group of those who have not. But the dice is still ever weighted in the favor of the feudal lord, because no one has come up with any other way to run society. Don't be alarmed."

He places his right hand palm down a few inches above the table, and suddenly a polearm grows out of his gloved hand, which he grabs, and then places on the table. It is also made out of alchemically treated Blueleaf wood, and the curved edge of the glaive-like polearm shines with the sharpness of the edge, and if picked up, which he does not object to, the balance is such that anyone using it would obviously be able to fight as if it were a well-enchanted magic item, yet it seems completely non-magical, with no runes carved on it and no glow.

Continuing where he left off, "Now I haven't really looked into another way of running society, but what I can do is muck up the status quo. You know, things like the fact that farmers don't have any money to pay for debts or improvements or to buy their family out of slavery or serfdom, the fact that most of the population have to actually farm so there's enough food to go around, the fact that gold or platinum or diamonds are a thing which is rare and valuable, things like that."

He pauses for a moment, waiting for what he just said to set in, as he takes off the glove on his right hand, the one the polearm grew out of. This glove is made of leather, and there is the intricate silverwork and goldwork on it and runes that show it as obviously magical. But even a cursory examination can tell that there are at least two enchantments placed on this item, woven together into a cohesive whole, in a way that is not common in this part of the world, if it is done at all.

"Most of my ideas have to do with cheap, easy to make magic items that can repeatedly cast spells -- typically, spells that are fairly normal for a Wizard of the third circle to be able to cast, but if large amounts of people have access to them, suddenly the world starts to change. Further, there are ways to use spells to make permanent things; valuable amounts of iron, valuable granite or marble, salt, alchemical acid, et cetera, even eventually things like as many items of continual flame as the market will bear, or even ways to make any plant object in arbitrary quantities. Saffron notably comes to mind."

He takes another sip, warming his un-gloved hand on the metal flask, "My most dramatic idea came from my examinations of the spell Fabricate; apparently it is stable in the third circle of magic, not just the fifth, so there is probably someone somewhere who can cast it as a third circle spell. Further, if it is placed in a device which casts spells, it does not necessarily require raw materials to be present to create a finished product; it can create a finished items ex nihilo. Consider a Wondrous Item that can, via repeated casting of Fabricate, make an identical, small artistically created bas relief out of metal -- made out of pure gold or silver or platinum perhaps, once every few seconds, indefinitely. How might the introduction of such an item disrupt a society? What if it outputs expensive, delicious and nutritious food, of a type that doesn't spoil, instead? Or valuable building materials, like Glassteel bricks?"

He holds the metal flask tightly, looking at it for a moment, pensively. "As far as why? Here's an example - did you know that Warforged are sapient? Here is an entire species of thinking people, that have never known anything but slavery. Do you know how many villages don't name their children until they are a year old because most children don't survive their first year of life? We live in a world that is complete s--- for everyone who isn't a noble, and I want to do something about it."

He looks at the arrayed items, then back at the negotiator, "I made these all myself, of course. Other than the Druid I had cast Ironwood on the armor. Now what I need from you are resources to make the items I know I can make; a protection against the inevitable price on my head and all the assassins I expect; a buffer against the inevitable persona non grata status from every legitimate guild ever so I can keep buying and selling things; some dedicated, clever people to actually do a lot of the 'taking advantage of the chaos I'll be making' thing to actually change the whole system of power; and clever people who can get the devices where they need to go to do the most good and be the biggest headache for those currently power. Plus a bit of help with preventing being smote by the deities I'm probably going to be pissing off as I do this."

[Xanyo]

Veil raises a single eyebrow, both at the Azurin's remarks, and at the variety of unusual items he presented.
"The wrath of any god or goddess is a foolish thing to invoke. Many would hear that statement and immediately show you the door. But that is not my way - I always hear out propositions. And your ideas intrigue me. But I do have one important question."
Here he leans forward and looks Valen straight in the eyes.
"Your proposition is interesting and all, but as a definitively neutral representative of a Thief's Guild, I must ask: How does this benefit us? What does our guild have to gain from assisting you? Why shouldn't we let you find another sponsor and protector, rather than sticking out our own necks, drawing the ire of not only nobles and other guilds, but possibly even the divine as well? I have no wish to see my benefactors slowly being torn apart by soldiers and assassins in order that you may complete your agenda. How does this help a Thief's Guild? We prey on the rich, the economy is as important to us as it is to the upper class, and it could be detrimental to us if it were to be thrown to the pigs like a bucket of refuse. You have noble intentions, I am sure, but the Guild is not so noble, and may not appreciate your actions. So I ask again: Why should we help you?"

[Gavinfoxx]

He considers the questions, "There are hundreds of gods in several pantheons, each with their own ideologies and domains and obligations. Historically, whenever someone has done something very dramatic, some gods perhaps sponsored them, some were neutral, some opposed them. From what I understand of the divine, many gods have ideologies that closely align with what I am interested in doing. Many, many, many more have ideologies and domains that partially align with what I am doing. Many others are those who I would perhaps...annoy, but have been known to accept appeasement in general. Gods are known to intercede to protect their followers and favored from rival gods, as well. What I would need is boots-on-the-ground help with the reality of navigating that. The same could also be said of more mortal power groups."

He considers the second part for a moment, "As far as why should you help? Well, what is the purpose of a Thieves Guild, ultimately? Is it not to become as wealthy as possible, to obtain as much luxury as possible, in a way that requires the least amount of effort as possible, for those who do not have the luck to be born into a house of nobility? I offer a path to doing that, which like that of the path of a thief, disrupts the workings of nobility, and has a similar disdain for the rules of nobility. Yes, it has risks; any endeavor worth doing has risks. However, these risks can be, for the most part, foreseen and hopefully preempted. Further, if the goal is simply to increase the amount of local luxury available to the members of the Guild or the relative power and wealth of the Guild, such a thing can be done using these methods without incurring the greater risks, which could then be done at more measured, appropriate times as part of a larger, cohesive strategy of political and economic maneuvering. It needn't be a sprint, though I would prefer it were. Finally, never forget that the actual disruption of an economy is to be caused by you, and those people of your choosing, throwing their weight around by having mind-boggling amounts of wealth and money and items."

[Xanyo]

He leans back, considering.
"Yes, one of the goals is that of luxury. But more than that, any Thief's Guild wants to be more powerful than their neighbor, more wealthy, more influential. If you take your methods and make the common people just as rich as the nobles, who are we supposed to be richer than? Who are we supposed to be more powerful than? How are we to throw our weight around when everyone weighs the same? I will not pretend that we are kind-hearted in the slightest. If we were, we wouldn't be a Thief's Guild. You ask us to risk ourselves in many ways, and in return, you will knock us down to the level of a peasant by bringing the peasants to the level of a lord. Seems like a rather raw deal to me. So tell me, is there anything you can hold back? Something hard to obtain, that you can produce, that you can refrain from making available to the common people, so that we may retain an upper hand? We've gone through a lot of effort to be a notch above everyone else, and we wouldn't like all that work to go to waste. We need a return on our investment that will remain valuable in the world you intend to create. Well?"

[Gavinfoxx]

He considers for several moments. "Even in such a hypothetical economy of plenty, there will still be things which are rare, valuable, and sought after. Power, in the sense of being able to tell people what to do and have them do it. Political or religious capital or station, influence, historical noteworthiness, celebrity, fame and recognition. Membership in important organizations. Being the first to do something important or go somewhere important, or the first to gain the benefit of some sort of magic item. Being owed favors of certain sorts of entities, or otherwise favored by them in general -- yes this includes gods. Being owed favors by other people that are powerful for who they are rather than what. It is possible that there will still be some sort of currency which may be possible, likely some sort of magical item or planar currency. Ownership of actual specific souls for the benefits that gives, or mere bragging rights. Control over certain locations that are still valuable for another reason, likely parts of the multiverse that are not local to here, or places of powerful natural magic which are on this world, especially if they can provide people with novel sorts of powers. Control of favorable places to live, such as with great natural beauty. Memories and experiences, including those copied from others. Access to certain services would gain greater importance if 'stuff' is made more common, and having people willing to provide those services to you and not others would be valuable.

"Continuing: ownership of the actual methods of creation, teleportation, other types of mobility, and communication, and thus influence on what gets made, where it goes, when, and where people actually go and where cities get made and who gets created and what gets said. Knowing certain categories of skills which magic can not easily give a person. Being placed in a situation where you are the gatekeeper for some of the other things I believe may be possible, such as methods for immortality, methods of changing people and giving them skills, or entities that are almost-but-not-quite omniscient. Certain categories of magical items, for example, cannot be obtained with a Wish spell, and would still have to be made the old fashioned way, and there would be little desire to put together the resources to make a way of making lots of varieties of those using one of the other methods. There are categories of magical items which no one can currently make, like artifacts which often have novel capabilities. There are theoretical magical items which have not yet been invented. Art is still art, and still valuable for it's artistic merit. Things of historic importance, and originals of certain things as well. Even if everyone is uplifted, you could still be a step above in your access to these things, and I can help you with access to at least some of these things. Does that answer your question?"

[Xanyo]

He thinks on this a moment, absentmindedly rubbing his blind eye.
"Valid points, I suppose, but I still see a conundrum. All of our current assets would likely be rendered worthless. Our skills can be replicated through sufficiently advanced magic. If we were to help you to achieve this, in order to reclaim our position, we would have to go through considerable difficulty. If I were not a man of my word, I would consider having you killed so that you do not ruin us as easily as you shall ruin the rest of the upper class. However, I am a man of my word, and you mentioned the ownership of the methods of this production. I propose that you agree not to provide anyone else with your items, allowing us to control the production and distribution of resources, making us the most powerful group on this continent, likely on the entire plane. Would you be amendable to this amendment(no pun intended)? I believe it would be considerably more advantageous to us."

[Gavinfoxx]

He considers, his eyes cold for a moment. Quietly, he retrieves his glove and polearm, shrinking it back into the glove, before continuing. "There's several tiers of ideas I have in mind, with a variety of methods. Some are more easy to control, by their nature, than others. A few things are of the 'why didn't I think of that' obviousness, if you see them, and these will be impossible to prevent those from spreading. That said, not all of these methods are so easily spread, and a good number of them are quite hidden or unique. Regardless, if this sort of thing starts, like an avalanche, others may replicate my ideas independently, even the obscure ones, especially if they start to abuse skill-enhancing divination magic like I did, which will quickly seem obvious to do. You'd have to defend your monopoly, but you'd be in a uniquely advantageous position to do so. Still, I suppose the introduction of these ideas, even in a limited way, would be for the net gain, considering how monumentally easy it is to keep people healthy and fed and happy with them, and how useless it'd make traditional slavery and serfdom. I'd be willing to work with those limitations, provided you understand that keeping the means centralized won't always work for every method, and you do keep actually working toward the flourishing of the common person."

[Xanyo]

He nods.
"There is always the risk of someone copying your ideas and techniques when you become powerful and influential. We can handle that with our own methods. And while we do not consider this out of the goodness of our hearts, we will continue working towards the good of the common people, both to keep you satisfied, and to keep them complacent. It most certainly would not be in our best interests to try to keep all the resources to ourselves - every Thief's Guild on the continent would have their eyes on us. I believe we can accept your terms.

Now, with that decision made, let us discuss another topic. How are we going to introduce this new technology, if I may call it that, and how are we going to keep you from getting assassinated within a week of its introduction?"

[remetagross]

Arielle has remained silent so far, as her role in this operation was to bring the Azurin to the negociation, not to perform the negociation itself. But thought she keeps a steady face, the words of the artisan ring true in her. The amount of what is now possible, though vague, seems near limitless...
For having flushed out such a game-changing individual, the Urban ranger expects to rise in rank within the guild. But at the moment she formulates this thought, she understands she wants more of a part that just that. Obviously, once-in-a-lifetime upheaval is on the verge of happening, and Arielle wants to play a bigger role than just the bragging rights of having ignited the match.

She feels the flow of conversation is briefly halting. She seizes the opportunity to enter the fray. Arielle uses a calm, ferm and confident voice. Now is not the time to lose credibility by seeming overly enthusiastic and emotion-driven.

"Veil, if you might allow me a few words...
If I were a rival thieves' guild operative, and I saw a flood of exceptionnally cheap and good-quality items surging over and cutting my revenues, I would enquire about where they come from. I would set my Urban trackers on the field. And how do you counter them? By setting up your own against them. As the Urban tracker of our guild, Veil, I can tell you that I know exactly how our rivals will proceed to find Valen, because I know what I would do. And I'm familiar with more than a few of my rivals, too - my job is not very widespread, since divination magic often proves to be enough when one needs to find something, turning to Valen. She moves back to the Half-elf:
"That makes it easier to keep tabs on everyone in the game, their methods, their strenghts and their weaknesses. Now, obviously, we need to hide Valen from our rivals. We also need to insert his products on the market, and reap the benefits, in an untrackable way. I can guarantee that without my intervention on the frontline of the operation, this is bound to fail. Veil, I require to be tasked with the social dissimulation of Valen and his production. I have not been vevry specific so far, but this is because it is in Valen's best interest to ignore some of the processes we will use to turn him socially invisible."

[Xanyo]

Veil seems a little surprised by your marks, but sees the sense in it.
"Yes, it would certainly be wise to have you out keeping tabs on and countering our opposition. That is not a decision I should be making, however. I will bring it up with the boss and inform you of his decision. I believe he is likely to agree, so do not be concerned. We will certainly need a majority of our resources devoted to this endeavor."
He turns back to Valen.
"I hope you will excuse me if I do not sign an agreement as a promise of our cooperation - a number of us could easily forge any document we have access to, so we never use contracts. I hope you will accept a verbal contract instead."

[Gavinfoxx]

Valen is relieved when Arielle speaks up, and it is visible on his face. Still, he has quite a bit to consider as they talk back and forth, and then to him. "As far as preventing being assassinated, my go-to response to a problem on that magnitude is 'throw magic at it', and if that doesn't work, 'throw lots of magic at it'. Magic is very, very good at increasing survivability and enabling useful paranoia, but it is mostly reactive for now, until I can start using it to obtain allies, which will take time. I can also handle means of making myself and the thieves guild and it's members more resistant to magic-based divination and mental attacks, if I have enough access to the safehouses to harden and I know how many people would need protection. I'm not an expert in the more social parts of being and staying unknown. As far as contracts, those can be done in the name of one of your patron deities, within a shrine to them, so the god would have awareness of the deal. Further, I will need to talk with the guild leadership about what my capabilities are and what to do first and how. It'd work best if I could give an actual lecture, with a slate slab and chalk and diagrams and everything. I don't want to be patronizing, but many of the ideas are not just complex, but foreign and weird."

[Xanyo]

Veil chuckles.
"I'm sure that can be arranged. As for meeting at my patron deity's shrine- well, that may be difficult. Erevan Ilesere's clerics never worship in the same place twice. I could probably find one to set up a temporary shrine for this purpose.
Do you have any other concerns that need to be addressed at this time?"

[Gavinfoxx]

He shrugs, "Doesn't need to be your specific patron. I'm sure there's a deity or two that many members of the guild, such as some of members that can speak for it as a whole, feel is their patron, and whose portfolio has something to do with keeping one's word; it's a pretty common sentiment among the divine. And shrines can be portable or set up just for then. The point is to do this in, ah, 'sight' of the deity, with appropriate oaths and such."

[remetagross]

Arielle, feeling confident given how well received her intervention was, speaks up once more.
"Let us all recall that we are presently in the middle of the small shrines district. Not finding any suitable deity among all those represented here would be very unlikely. How about Clanggedin Silverbeard? None of us are dwarves, true, but it does not prevent us from appealing to his portfolio of honor.
As to social protection, yes, this is an area where experience is less easily replicated by magic, since it often involves interacting with dozens of people per day to get even a simple task done. Though I do use a bit of magic myself, too."

[Gavinfoxx]

Valen looks around, "So, when do I get to meet the people I'll be working with, formally become a guild member in whatever initiations you have, do this promise thing, actually be shown around the guild holdings and locations, say hi to whomever presumably has a crossbow levelled at my head and thank them for not killing me, and so on?"

[Xanyo]

Veil smiles, amused.
"In a few days, when I can arrange a meeting; whenever you're ready; soon, I assure you, after I meet with the guild leaders; his nickname is Conner, and he uses a shortbow, thank you very much. He's very proud of his skill with it, and that he doesn't stoop to uses such simple weapons as crossbows."
He waves his arm towards the room in general, and continues speaking.
"He's concealed in one of our many little hiding spots, and you must excuse him for not revealing himself- it's one of our best nooks and we'd rather no outsiders know its location."

[Gavinfoxx]

He considers, visibly at ease despite the fact that his life is confirmed to be in mortal danger. Perhaps the certainty is soothing to him? "I think I'll wait on the oath thing and initiation, not do it yet, get all of that stuff knocked out in a single afternoon. I've got a flat in the artisan's sector of town." He scribbles the address on a piece of paper. "Rents paid for the rest of the month though nothing of value is there. I expect I'll have to leave it soon. You'll contact me when there's an afternoon we can get that all done at once, right? Or do you need a formal promise that this is going to be in confidence? Orrrr am I going to have to stay a guest until you can get it all figured out?"

Presumably there's some clarification, and if they let him leave, he'll go through whatever blindfold shenanigans are necessary and spend some time around his flat until they contact him again, though he will make sure, after spending some time at his flat, to in a walk around town, to see if the other group, the Liberty one, gave him a response message.

[remetagross]

Arielle feels relieved, everything went surprisingly smoothly. A welcome change in the day-to-day life in a thieves'guild. She looks at the paper and quickly memorises the address. She then allows, for the first time since the beginning of her encounter with Valen today, to let her thoughts wander off a little.

Now, I wonder how the other people of the inn are doing with that two-headed elf's operation.

[Xanyo]

As Valen and Arielle work on their agenda, the other people we observe are likely working on preparations for this heist. Let us see what they're up to at this time.

[DontEvenAsk]

Kaer hangs out in the tavern for a bit; her job is to dance in these places, after all, so she's welcome as long as she likes. She considers putting on another dance, but her heart isn't in it; the restless energy that powers her dances is now turned to other things. She returns home instead, leaving her shiftweave in the plainer form she changed it into to prove her point to Lux so as to be inconspicuous on her way home.

She passes through the same district Valen examined and found messages in, for the simple reason that she lives there. She reads the messages with her finder's glass as a matter of course whenever she goes out, and she chuckles when she sees Valen's message. She strolls along and ascends the rickety stairs to her second-story room in what used to be a workhouse. There she takes her finder's chalk out of her chest, slips back out, and scribbles an annotation to Valen's message. It's in Gnomish, and reads, Confirmed by Tikka.

Then she heads back home and gets some rest, taking some of her precious drow toxin to ease her sleep. When she said she would case the house, she didn't mean right then; she wants to be alert and awake when she observes her new target.

She awakes early the next morning, as she always dose, and gears up for the casing. She tries to pick up the location of "Li'Makka's house" by wandering until she's sure she won't be recognized in the neighborhood she's landed in, then striking up conversations about it with random people as if she knows all about it already, continuing the process until someone drops a district or street name. In richer neighborhoods she shifts her shiftweave to look like the clothes of a wealthy mage; in lower-middle class and her native lower-class environments she goes back to the plainer look.

Spoiler: The Mage Outfit

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Spoiler: Mechanics

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I've been very busy these past few months and unfortunately a computer restart lost me about half of Kaer's equipment list that I incorrectly thought I had saved, so rain check on what exactly she's got. I'll get back to you on that. Anything dodgy, she carries in a regular old sack - cheap enough that I can probably tack it onto my much-beset-by-issues inventory without worrying about funds.

Assuming drow poison has the same effect when ingested as it does when it enters the bloodstream, Kaer ingests one dose and forgoes her saving throw against it. Not sure what effect this would have on the saving throw from Insomniac; I feel like expecting it to render that save unnecessary, which invalidates the mechanical disadvantage and therefore half the point of taking a flaw, is a Bad Move, but on the other hand, logically taking a sedative should help, right? Maybe a bonus to the check? Xanyo, thoughts/ruling?

Search (finder's glass): (1d20+22)[36]
Gather Information: (1d20+5)[18]

[Gavinfoxx]

Valen keeps to a routine, as his plan for the rest of the month is mostly to wait until he has been contacted, not using much of his remaining money -- at least, as his rent slowly begins to get close to running out. He goes for several walks around the city, to the various districts, keeping his eyes open, keeping his route and the places he visits varied, making sure to read much of the things he finds, to keep a finger on the pulse of the city. Of course, he continues to subtly look for a response from either of the groups, either the secret text from the one or a more overt response from the guild.