Tales of Crimson Darkness II

[whiteflash]

"That makes sense."

Hissra sighs as he reads the page.

"Well, this last page isn't very useful. Okay. Now I should probably scan this whole journal for magic just to be safe. Before I do that, though... let's see, you have Gretreo's boots, right? I'm nearly positive those are magical, and his armor might be too. And... there should be a ring inside one of the boots that I'd wanted to give you as a thank-you present for your help today; I slipped it in there in a clumsy, obvious way that couldn't be traced back to me hoping the orc I was stealing it from would have Gretreo killed. It was one of the expensive ones, so there might be an enchantment on it. If it's intact after he took that fireball... And I should scan the daggers I got off him...."

"What'd we do with his wrist irons and whip? I forget. I don't think we have any use for those ourselves even if they are magical, but if it turns out they have enchantments on them Grazus Darkspell might know someone who'd want them."

"I was thinking we'd pile all of those up, put the papers on top of them, and just check the lot of it for magic. Maybe even the scroll cases just to be sure. Is... there anything we should check that I'm forgetting?"

[Darth Ultron]

Snagazod the Sneaky "Me got it all. One thing me always do is grab all the loot. It why me called sneaky. Hehe. And making a pile is a good idea.

Snagazod the Sneaky piles up all the loot.

"Me hope it good sneaky magic."

[whiteflash]

"Well, under the heading of sneaky magic: something he was wearing, probably the boots, should have an invisibility spell on it. I think I already told you, but just in case I didn't, he escaped that misunderstanding I arranged for him by turning invisible. I don't think he's capable of doing that under his own power. Especially since he didn't visibly cast anything. It is possible to do magic without gesturing or speaking, but that's really advanced stuff."

"But let's find out." Hissra makes sure all the things he mentioned are on the pile, and then casts Detect Magic on it.

[Darth Ultron]

None of the paperwork glows at all.

The boots do glow with weak illusion magic.

The whip glows with weak necrmancy magic.

[whiteflash]

None of the paperwork glows at all.

The boots do glow with weak illusion magic.

The whip glows with weak necrmancy magic.

"The boots have weak illusion magic on them. I'm now almost entirely certain they were what allowed Gretreo to get out of that second ambush I laid for him. I didn't see him activate them using any sort of gesture or command word, so they're probably thought-activated. And they're also yours, since I can make myself invisible without them."

"The whip has a weak necromancy effect. My guess is that it's a spell to non-lethally weaken whomever the whip strikes, possibly by artificially tiring them or draining their strength. Part of my rationale is that a whip with that enchantment on it would subdue a target very easily but wouldn't kill unless the wielder went out of their way to do so. That seems like something someone like Gretreo would have had a lot of use for. At any rate, we have no use for it, we should probably see what Grazus will give us for it, and split the fee."

Spoiler: OOC

Show

When you say none of the paperwork glows, does that include the scroll cases? I feel weird asking, but I wanted to be sure.

And Grazus's armor and daggers don't glow either?

[Darth Ultron]

Snagazod the Sneaky "Me bet the whip do something like drain strength or such too. That kinda normal catch people magic. We should just sell it.

Oh, invisible boots is useful."


Nothing else in the pile glows.

[whiteflash]

Snagazod the Sneaky "Me bet the whip do something like drain strength or such too. That kinda normal catch people magic. We should just sell it.

Oh, invisible boots is useful."


Nothing else in the pile glows.

"Yeah. We sell the whip, you keep the boots... and nothing else we got off him is in any way enchanted, so we keep what we have a use for. Would you say first thing in the morning before we try to go after Graatch? Hm. No, on second thought, maybe we should hold on to it a little while. We already have money, and let's be honest: only honest or unskilled people really need it on a day-to-day basis anyway. I don't think I've actually paid for anything I've eaten since I got to this town." Hissra chuckles, then gets serious again. "Graatch, on the other hand... the sooner he's dead, the better."

"When we do sell it, Grazus asked that we keep him in mind for any magical item we get by killing Gretreo. And... should we sell those wrist irons, or just toss them aside? For that matter, what do we do with his non-magical spiked chain and his net?"

[Darth Ultron]

Snagazod the Sneaky "Eh, junk does not matter. Just put it in the corner. Me think Grazus only want like interesting magic items.

Thinks we should just get Graatch."

[whiteflash]

"He wouldn't want them to enchant or something, then?"

"And yeah, getting Graatch sounds good."

Hissra looks around. "We should probably rest up for that. I still have the trap spells I prepared for the cave, but... they'll lose a lot of effectiveness in a place with three doors and several windows, or against Graatch. And since we have to worry about both concerns..." Hissra shrugs. "Still, maybe one at each door that opens to ground level, in case someone who can't fly comes knocking. Not much I can do if someone decides to come in a window, though. I guess we'd better hope Graatch doesn't know where to look."

[Darth Ultron]

Snagazod the Sneaky "Me think we should be safe here. Unless they tracks us with magic.

I can put normal traps up. Trip snares on the doors and windows. Or spike the ground. "

[whiteflash]

"Yeah. And depending on what exactly they use they still might not be able to find us right away."

"Right. Normal traps. I'm... glad you know how to use those, because I don't. And with them, this place... might actually be fairly defensible. Anyway, if we're setting normal traps, then I'm not sure I need to prepare trap spells anymore for as long as we stay here. But I might as well cast the ones I have tonight. No sense letting them go to waste."

[Darth Ultron]

Snagazod the Sneaky nods and sets his traps around the windows and doors.

"Like me say, me outside wild orc....traps is part of life, even to just catch food."

[whiteflash]

Snagazod the Sneaky nods and sets his traps around the windows and doors.

"Like me say, me outside wild orc....traps is part of life, even to just catch food."

"Maybe I should learn how to set traps the normal way sometime. Anyway. Let's see, I can make one trap that makes the floor sticky, and another that conjures a trap that works normally. Not a trip-wire: I mean spears, darts, or something else potentially lethal. I think since I only have the two, I should probably put them up at the doors, since anyone who'd be likely to be caught in those would probably have to use said doors. Uh... does it matter which one goes where?"

Hissra looks up at the trapdoor into the house. "Also, do you think you could figure out a way to set up a tripwire on one of the higher rungs of the ladder, to entangle a careless thief who managed to evade the obvious spikes at the edge of the roof but wasn't looking out for anything else, and get him to fall? If we manage that and the thief lands from the fall at the wrong angle, that might solve the problem with no further effort needed." Hissra shrugs. "It won't help against Graatch, but unless his master is really clever with divinations or has other agents watching for us, we're more likely to get a normal housebreaker tonight if any."

[Darth Ultron]

Snagazod the Sneaky settles down to rest on the ground "You worrys too much, we be fine. Not like army is after us or no thing. Rest."

[whiteflash]

"I suppose." Hissra considers casting the trap spells anyway, just because it'd be a shame to waste them, but decides against it. He just puts himself on the floor and goes to sleep.

[Darth Ultron]

Time passes as you sleep.

Hours later you both wake up.

Everything around the house is still the same, and nothing looks to have happened while you were asleep.

[whiteflash]

Hissra looks around to see that the house had, to all appearances, been left alone as they slept. "Maybe you're right. Maybe I was worrying too much."

"Anyway, I need to get my spells ready. Today's probably going to be a pretty big day."

Spoiler: OOC

Show

How much XP does Hissra get for Gretreo and Yuuta? And is anything else Hissra did yesterday worth XP?

[Darth Ultron]

Snagazod the Sneaky cleans his stuff and sharpens his weapons.

Spoiler: XP

Show

Of course.

XP-825



Like:
100 XP per spell level cast to over come major problems
100 XP for learning a new spell outside the ones acquired due to level gain.
500-1000-more XP for creating a permanent magic item.

[whiteflash]

"Okay, I'm done. Are you?"

"When we do get going, what's the plan? Do you intend to stop by Yuuta's room at the Old Tusk to see if it's been disturbed, or do we head right to staking out the Temple of Gruumsh?"

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Okay, thanks.

I don't think I did any of the non-killy ways of getting XP in that list, though. Unless getting the priest of Shargaas to cast a spell for me counts, and not having any other leads counts as a serious problem. Though if both of those are true, that's worth 300.

I did find some scrolls, but I can't cast the necromancy one at all, and I can't add the other two to my spellbook yet.

[Darth Ultron]

Snagazod the Sneaky "Maybe We should check the room. But me guess we just find empty room. Even if the other guy come back, it in like he'd just stay in the room. Right? He'd go back and watch the temple. So that is where we'd go. Unless you gots better idea. "

[whiteflash]

Snagazod the Sneaky "Maybe We should check the room. But me guess we just find empty room. Even if the other guy come back, it in like he'd just stay in the room. Right? He'd go back and watch the temple. So that is where we'd go. Unless you gots better idea. "

"Hm. No, no I think you're right. Unless we were lucky enough to get there right as Graatch did we wouldn't find him. Right to the Temple, then?"

[Darth Ultron]

Snagazod the Sneaky leads over to the Temple. The Temple is a large stone building a bit more like a fortress then a temple, though it is much fancier. Dozens of orcs move around in and out of the temple and countyard, as it is a busy place.

Snagazod the Sneaky stops at the edge of a small alley between two small shops.

[whiteflash]

"Nice place," Hissra says sincerely, hardly seeking to mock solid construction that emphasizes function over form, however slightly.

Hissra looks around for any small flying creatures nearby as he follows Snagazod into the alley.

[Darth Ultron]

There are plenty of birds around, but no flying creatures.

Snagazod the Sneaky "Me no spot nothing. You spot anything?"

[whiteflash]

There are plenty of birds around, but no flying creatures.

Snagazod the Sneaky "Me no spot nothing. You spot anything?"

"Nothing I can be sure is Graatch. There's plenty of birds, and while I think it's unlikely we should remember that he could be a magically sap... he could be a bird with the ability to think, which would make it impossible to pick him out of that crowd at a glance. But we should also remember that it's more likely he's something else, and hiding so that Tlukkah's con... followers can't turn him in for a reward."

Is there a central keep in the temple, or one or more towers rising up from it? And are there places hanging off the walls, or embedded into the walls, or jutting from the walls, where a flying creature could sleep without being seen easily?

[Darth Ultron]

The temple is a chaotic mess of shapes and angles, but does not have any high points or towers. The whole building is full of all sorts of odd places where a small animal or creature could hide.

Snagazod the Sneaky "Maybe he invisible?

Oh, me know, maybe make an illushun of Tlukkah leaving the temple? Likes you know to draw him out?"

[whiteflash]

The temple is a chaotic mess of shapes and angles, but does not have any high points or towers. The whole building is full of all sorts of odd places where a small animal or creature could hide.

Snagazod the Sneaky "Maybe he invisible?

Oh, me know, maybe make an illushun of Tlukkah leaving the temple? Likes you know to draw him out?"

"I... don't have a spell that does that today. It didn't occur to me that we'd have trouble finding Graatch, or that he wouldn't already be within sight of Tlukkah. I do have a spell that would counter invisibility, since it occurred to me that Graatch might try that. But I only have one casting of it. Unless we know that we should be seeing Graatch and aren't, I'd be afraid to waste it."

"Does Tlukkah appear in public often? Maybe proclaim the will of his god to the populace, as some human priests do, or publically execute someone who's offended his god, as priests from a lot of races do?"

[Darth Ultron]

Snagazod the Sneaky "Um, sures, me think. He is popular and well known.....and does to the priest thing for crowds.

I can goes ask, be like a follower."

[whiteflash]

"That's probably a good idea. Only try to be careful. You painted this priesthood as violent fanatics who kill for any or no reason, right? Try not to die."

Hissra looks around at the alley to see how well shaded it is, hoping that there's enough shadow to use his Hide in Plain Sight ability. "Is it safe to assume I should probably stay here? And unseen, if I can help it?"

[Darth Ultron]

Snagazod the Sneaky "Yes, you stays here.

No worry, me can be dumb orc good...hehe. "

Snagazod the Sneaky heads off to the temple, walking right in the main door.

About an hour later Snagazod the Sneaky walks back over to the alley "Me back. He set to give big speech in big courtyard over there this afternoon. "