Tales of Crimson Darkness II

[whiteflash]

"Then we have our plan. Maybe we should go, before more goblins show up?"

As they leave, Hissra asks "So he's not going to know any real deep secrets... but you said the question 'did you see what direction Kysalis fled town in' is a good one? Or did you just mean the questions about how he secured his stash?"

[Darth Ultron]

Snagazod the Sneaky "We should stick to loot, yes. Me doubt he know much else. How many questions we get? Not many right?

You should ask your smart questions to Darkspell. "

[whiteflash]

"I think it was four last time, right? So unless we get a weaker priest this time, or can think of one more question to ask about the defenses on the loot (other than where it is, what traps he has, and if there's anyone significant guarding it) we have one extra."

"As for him not knowing much, and saving the smart questions for Darkspell... well, Darkspell had Corbakl spying, right? It's true that Corbakl probably didn't understand much (maybe any) of what he saw: he didn't seem the thinking type. Come to think of it, it'd be pretty unlikely he'd know he'd seen Kysalis, even if she did flee town instead of hiding out somewhere inside it, and even if he did see her."

"But Grazus found Laaz Vando for us by taking something we described and matching it to something Corbakl had seen, right? So if we can't think of anything else to ask about the loot (other than stuff we can figure out ourselves after we take it) and we don't want to risk wasting a question, then we should think of something he might have seen recently that we'd want to know about. Maybe about a female orc fleeing town recently, or any large groups hiding in the local wilderness apart from his own goblins."

Hissra pauses speaking, but continues walking. "I'm... not missing any useful questions about the treasure, am I? Where it is, are there any notable guards, are there traps?... Anything else?"

[Darth Ultron]

Snagazod the Sneaky "Where the loot is..guards and traps...then like follow question. Like if he says there is a poison dart, you can ask what kind of poison. Something like that.

[whiteflash]

"Okay. In that case, I think we have a plan."

"What do we do if we think we have enough information without any followup questions, though?"

[Darth Ultron]

Snagazod the Sneaky "Aks about more other loot? Or, well, guess just ask 'tell us a secret'? Like maybe he tell us something good? "

[whiteflash]

"Just 'tell us a secret?' Can we do that? It would make it easier if we could: we wouldn't have to guess at what he's most likely to know. So it's worth asking if the spell can work that way. If not, then something that could get us more loot is a good idea...

"Maybe he's seen where someone hid some treasure?... No, he'd have taken it... unless the treasure was guarded by someone (or someones) he didn't want to mess with."

[Darth Ultron]

Snagazod the Sneaky "Anything we can gets of value is goods."

[whiteflash]

"All right, so we have our plan."

"First, we ask where the haul is, what traps he has set, and if there's anyone of any note left to guard it."

"If we get a priest who can ask a fourth question, and we feel the answers raise any questions we need to know before we set out, we ask the most pressing one of the new ones. If not, we use the spare to ask if there's any treasure outside town that he's wanted to take, but didn't try for because it was too well defended."

[Darth Ultron]

Snagazod the Sneaky "Sounds all good to me, lets go."

[whiteflash]

"Okay. Let's do this."

They continue walking.

[Darth Ultron]

It's just a short walk to.......

Spoiler: Umm

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Er...where where you walking too? Lol

[whiteflash]

Spoiler: OOC

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I'd assumed we were walking to the Night Gash. Does Snagazod suggest somewhere else instead?

[Darth Ultron]

Snagazod the Sneaky "Night Gash, that is our best place to find a powerful enough preist....that will do it and nots try and kills us or nothing."


It's a short walk through town to the Night Gash. Three orcs in gray robes await just outside the main door.

Orc "Great day to you, what do you need?"

[whiteflash]

"Good day to you. We recently killed a goblin outside town, and we were hoping to have a conversation with his head. Are there any clerics available who can cast Speak With Dead?"

[Darth Ultron]

The group of orcs moves away, leaving only one orc.

Orc "Yes, I can do that. Standard three thousand gold? Trade or coins? "

[whiteflash]

Hissra smiles. "We can afford that much gold, but I'd rather trade if possible. And I have something else you might think is worth it, or might think is worth enough to earn a discount. Or you might not think it's worth much at all, but I'll let you make that call."

Hissra takes out the journal. "This was written by a spy who infiltrated this city for the Red Wizard Kahbsenuf Tantawi. The spy's name is in here, along with those of two of his comrades, but those names probably won't do you much good. We got all three of them already. I imagine you would have figured that out soon enough, and I thought you should know it before you set the price for the journal; I wouldn't want a reputation for cheating the Night Gash."

"The reason I think you might still have some use for it is that this agent wrote down how he infiltrated the city, and enough on his comrades' activities to prove that Kabhsenuf Tantawi was spying on the priesthood of Gruumsh. And to sweeten the deal, I'm willing to tell you how Kabhsenuf Tantawi's agent hid from the priests of Gruumsh, if you want to either try that method yourself or sell it to the Temple of Gruumsh."

"I imagine Kabhsenuf Tantawi is going to try and replace these spies, and since these methods served him fairly well right up until I tripped over these spies, there's some chance he'll use them again. Of course, that assumes that he hasn't already inserted more spies in this city that I haven't yet tripped over, using these same methods."

[Darth Ultron]

The orc listens carefully.

Orc nods "Deal, I'll take that in trade. Do you have your questions ready...once I cast the spell it won't last long."

[whiteflash]

"Thank you. We agreed on a list, yes."

This orc is charging 3,000, but Inkathu charged 1,000? Weird that the new priest says this is the standard price. But I'm not paying anyway.

"How many questions do we get? We were hoping for at least three, but we have a plan that can has room for four, even if the answers we get don't raise their own questions."

[Darth Ultron]

Orc "The magic allows for three questions."

The orc walks over to a small empty courtyard with three stone benches.


Snagazod the Sneaky nods and follows.

The orc casts the spell, and touches the goblin head "First Question?"

[whiteflash]

"Where is your bolthole north of town?"

[Darth Ultron]

Corbakl Darkdrool's head "couple paces north from where I died in the tall grass, under a large flat rock"

[whiteflash]

Hissra's eyes go wide with surprise, and mutters the answer to himself under his breath. "He... said it's a few paces north of where he died? As in another word for 'steps?' Huh. That... simplifies things."

"Our next question is: 'are there any traps protecting whatever belongings you might have stashed north of town?'"

[Darth Ultron]

Corbakl Darkdrool's head "A trip bell on the stone and a basilisk at the bottom. "

[whiteflash]

Hissra's eyes go so wide that a basilisk couldn't have missed them if there was one in the room, but his voice is mostly calm when he speaks.

"O...kay. We'll need to figure out how to handle that when we're done with the head."

Hissra turns to Snagazod. "Hey, uh, our next question was supposed to be 'are there any notable defenders between us and the treasure,' but it sounds like he interpreted 'traps' generously and answered it early. Do we ask it anyway, in case there's anything in there other than the basilisk, or just ask the question about other scores?"

[Darth Ultron]

Snagazod the Sneaky "Nos wells wait. We need to asks how many goblins are down theren or nearby. If there is a trip bell on the stone...wells there has to be someone nearby to hear it. Or it just dumb bell of no use."

[whiteflash]

"Okay. Good idea. How about phrasing it 'how many creatures of what races are guarding your bolthole north of town?'"

"Wait, can we do that? Can we ask a question that requires an answer that specific? If not, obviously we need to drop the 'of what races' bit."

[Darth Ultron]

Snagazod the Sneaky "Well, me pretty sure it gonna be goblins. And he alredy told us about the bask-a-lick. Me doubt he have anything else weirds.

But is it like one goblin guard...or like a big room of twenty, see that is big.

Um...maybe just ask how hears the bell trap ring?"

[whiteflash]

Hissra nods. "Good thought."

He turns to the priest. "Ask 'how many goblins are in your bolthole north of town to respond if the bell trap is triggered.'"

[Darth Ultron]

Corbakl Darkdrool's head "Just one goblin"

Snagazod the Sneaky "Nods, that good....means he does not trust other goblins...because you know....goblins...hehe"