ChildOfAB 2012/05/15(Tue)21:34 No. 412468 ID: 3ce5b2
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"Of all the irresponsible...what the hell were you thinking, Viirik?"
"I am thinking it is my job to get results."
"Oh, you've definitely done that! There's a riot happening out there now!"
"You don't even know what you're talking about. The riot was happening anyway. I dominated and released the prisoner with the mask to see its leader. I saw him and now we can scry him. I remain efficient and useful in my duty, and you have yet to make an impact in yours."
Viirik starts to mutter something into the hovering mirror and you feel your face getting red. You took this job in "public relations" to get out and meet people, to be helpful and to prove that your father's race doesn't have to define who you are. Instead you're getting called up the morning after your graveyard shift to deal with a gods-damned insurrection, and having to tolerate with this kobold isn't helping you cool down any.
You need some coffee.
"So why was the riot happening in the first place?" you ask, trying to remain calm.
"I don't know, they're savages with a sense of entitlement? Bunch of 'em got in some kind of fight last night after you left, we wound up arresting a bunch." Viirik replies casually, as the reflection in the mirror pops, becomes garbled, and then returns to normal. He starts to mutter under his breath. "Hm, nondetection on the leader, or someone close by. Well, let's see..."
Viirik hovers over to his bookshelf while you try to figure out where to proceed. "Great results you're getting there. In the meantime, what am I supposed to do with this situation?"

ChildOfAB 2012/05/15(Tue)21:35 No. 412469 ID: 3ce5b2
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Viirik hovers up to your face and narrows his eyes. "That is not my problem, Yarla. Why don't you go down there and fry them all with magic?" You just cross your arms and wait for him to get it out of his system. "Oh, right, you can't do that. Well, I don't know exactly what it is you do, but if you want some real magic instead of mind tricks, I'll loan you my apprentice. Get him out of MY horns for a few minutes at least. GEOF!" he yells, and an agitated young human man appears from a nearby doorway. "New job for you: go bother the big girl for a while."
Geof looks up at you and his eyes widen. "T...tall-" he stammers.
"Your best and brightest," you say to Viirik, exasperatedly, and turn to leave.
"Geof! Spell components!" Viirik barks. Geof shakes his head as if snapping out of a fantasy, then hurries to catch up with you clutching a smelly handbag.
Geof starts to stammer out an apology and tripping over himself in an attempt to insist that he's really smarter than he came across there. You are barely paying him any mind as you think about how you should address the problem of the fey insurrection happening outside. Last you heard, there was some kind of emerging scuffle at one of the city gates. You could go down there yourself, or try to manage things from here. You could requisition some lower-ranking guards to deal with it, or some Cloaks. Or, you could try and go gather some more information, either from co-workers who are less frustrating to deal with than Viirik, or prisoners. You personally have some psionic powers, with an emphasis on creation and summoning. And, of course, there's the apprentice here, who's still babbling about how he didn't mean to sound insulting and is blushing furiously for some reason. What do you do?

you need information. just shooting people could make them riot even harder. find some witnesses or something and see why they say the riot is happening.

>>412469
He appears to have a big crush on you. What IS your race, anyway? Half-giant? I suggest reassuring him slightly to get him to calm down a bit so he's more useful to you.

Let's ask for more information before we walk into the riot. You could ask a prisoner, if you can find a sane one.

so how do them rivers work? where does the water go?

you need to find out whats going on, get a more in depth report about what happened last night, people don't riot for no reason, and trust me, just shooting the rioters never works in the long run. each one you kill makes another 3 or 4 people mad enough to riot.

>>412469
Wouldn't take the Cloaks unless you were under direct control of them. They have that predisposition to arrest everyone, and may incite violence. Go out there personally.

And as for the apprentice, just tell him to calm down.

Sounds like the kobold has a entitlement problem too. Any way with a mob as disorganized as this it should not be too had to find some one to tell you the story from their side. More magic will just add full to the fire.

>>412469
>And, of course, there's the apprentice here, who's still babbling about how he didn't mean to sound insulting and is blushing furiously for some reason. What do you do?
Lightly whack him upside the head with a psionic nudge "man up" included.
Go get a birds eye view of the mess outside.
Tell Geof to magic you up some coffee and coffeecake, or whatever passes for that around here. If he can't do that, get it from whatever passes for a cafeteria around here.
Jee-off? Geh-of? Geo-f?

Investigation is the first step. We need to know how far the rabbit hole goes.

>>412503
Jeff

>>412469
Prisoners are good, but your best bet is mingling. Go to a bar or something.

>>412469
So the idiot brainwashed somebody to 'get a look at their leader'? Bullshit. If that were true he would have just made somebody trustworthy invisible and sent them down to take a look. Or he could have just dominated a bird or something; less likely to be noticed than anything, high deniability, and puts nobody at risk.
What really bothers me is that he had the puppet attack its own people; that goes beyond wasteful incompetence and right into malice. OF COURSE they're going to get pissed if you brainwash their friends and send 'em in to kill them. There's absolutely no question that it would turn a brewing riot into an all-out revolt, and sending cloaks down is telling the discontent masses that you're definitely the ones responsible and you don't care about being covert. It's not just poor handling, it's a declaration of war.

That's not just incompetent. That's making an angry mob attack your own people. That's treason.

There were people arrested last night, right? Go ask them what that was all about. For all you know somebody sent the cloaks down to break-up an orgy and this is all the result of incompetence in the chain of command. It's obvious is that something bad happened and the outer city people think you're intentionally screwing them over; you can't even start damage control until you know what the damage you're trying to control is.

Oh, and the kid's attracted to you. Tell him he can buy you a beer after work but you have to focus now.

>>412569
Seven... You do have your moments, man.

prisoners sound good. go gather up some more info on what happened.

>>412569
Okay, I agree. We need to investigate our own back yard first.

Don't actually call the guy on his treasonous bullshit yet, though.

ChildOfAB 2012/05/16(Wed)23:31 No. 412985 ID: 3ce5b2
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With even the slightest tiny hair of forethought it is extremely obvious that Viirik's plan to go kill the rioters is a terrible one. Arrest them, maybe, but you'd like to think of that as a last resort. You silently fume at the kobold's irresponsible behavior, words like "entitled" and "treasonous" whirling around in your head. And that apprentice is still babbling.
You slap Geof on the back solidly. "Forget about it, kid. Name's Yarla, but beyond that bit we've moved on from introductions. Harak possess me, I need some coffee. Unless you've got a summon coffee spell I'm gonna make a detour for the break room real quick."
"Cream or sugar or anything?" Geof asks.
"Black," you respond, absentmindedly thinking that was an odd thing to ask.
Geof mumbles something and there's a flash of orange light. The next thing you know, he's hurrying along and holding up a steaming mug of coffee to you with an excited look on his face.

ChildOfAB 2012/05/16(Wed)23:31 No. 412987 ID: 3ce5b2
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You stop and take the mug cautiously. "You serious? There's a spell for that?"
Geof nods. "Oh man, I'd be in trouble in the mornings if there wasn't! It's a cantrip, and most everyone can use it: wizards, sorcerers, clerics, whatever else. Just be careful, the mug and what you didn't drink sort of evaporates after an hour."
You take a sip, and find it to be the freshest, most flavorful roast you've ever tasted. "Well damn. Score one for Viirik and his 'superiority of arcane power' schpiel, I guess."
"I won't tell him if you won't. That guy's got a wild hair up his ass about it."
You laugh, mostly because you weren't expecting him to say something like that, and he beams a little. "You're alright, Geof. We should get a drink after work or something. I have a feeling I'm gonna need one after this shift."
"Yes, awesome. I mean, that's cool." He looks like he's forcibly shutting himself up. "So, seeing as you don't seem particularly fond of Viirik either, what do you think about that stunt he pulled with the mind control and the mask? Seems to me there were less offensive ways he could have done it." he says, trying to sound nonchalant.
The coffee starts to claw itself into your blood and you feel a little more clearheaded. "There definitely were. I'm not sure how much of it was his idea and how much is him trying to look like it was his idea because he wants to pretend he's in control of everything. I mean, the amount of magic he's gotta waste every day to pull off that hovering, glowy-eyed thing kinda tells you how important appearances are to the guy. And, call me crazy, but lately I've kinda felt like someone higher up has kind of been encouraging something like this to happen." You look to Geof for a reaction, but he just looks apprehensive. "I mean, it's just a feeling I get. Nothing conclusive."
Geof nods. "Hmm. So uh, where are we going right now? Viirik scribed a scroll on the back of the map I got at orientation and I have a terrible sense of direction."
"Prison," you respond, turning another corner and pointing to the teleportation pad in an alcove in the wall. "Need a better idea of these guys' grievances before I can address them."
Geof looks nervous. "Yikes. Hope they got it cleaned up after last night."
"Cleaned up from what?" you ask.
"You didn't hear about the prison break last night? Some huge tree guy ripped a hole in the wall and jumped out of the prison, buncha screaming wardens stuck on his back."
You nearly spit out your coffee. "WHAT?"
"That's all Viirik told me," Geof says.
You step into the teleport pad and activate the rune. The one featureless stone corridor is replaced by a utilitarian stone room, with a glowing archway and a lizardfolk at the desk. You show her your ID and ask if you can talk to one of the prisoners from last night.
"Any one in particular?"
You think for a second, and Geof pipes up. "How about someone who knows a lot of people? A bartender or something."
You shrug. "Yeah, that works."
"Actually, there was a guy, Teak, I think? Pretty sure he said he was one of those," says the lizardfolk.
"Sounds good. Oh, and do you happen to have a spare map?" you ask.
The lizardfolk digs around in her desk and fishes out a map before opening the magical barrier and leading you to a cell.
The elf inside the cell doesn't get up form his spot against the far wall. He inspects you and Geof briefly before leaning his head back and crossing his arms. What do you do?

he's probably been interrogated already so he's thinking "more questions, jeez"
start with introductions, being a friend rather then a jailer should loosen him up slightly.
then tell him your job and that you want his opinion on why there is a riot.

>>412987
"Hello... Teak, was it?
Lets skip all the hemming, hawing, and dancing around. Right now I know exactly dick about what happened last night and I need you to fix that with as much detail as you can manage. I don't care how you were involved; shit, if you can help me unfuck things I'll pull strings to get you out of here. Near as I can tell you're not being held on any charges, and I don't give a damn either way.
Oh, want some coffee?"

Buddying up with a bartender will give you a friendly informant in an excellent position, and getting him out of prison for being your witness is a good way to get him on your side. It'd also help you build a good rep with the outer city people, which will make your job easier.

Tell him you're interested in why there's a mob at the city gates, and you were thinking he might have some inkling of why.

Also add that you heard there was a disturbance in the outer city recently but you have not heard any details about it.

>>413007
>>413003
Keep quiet about the riot. We don't want him thinking we're looking for big names to blame and make an example of, and we certainly don't want him to think we're offering such good terms because we've got a pressing need.

>>412987
>>413012

Start with the basics. Like what exactly happened before the cloaks showed up and arrested everyone, hell, there might even not be a good reason except for paperwork.

honestly? You'd probably have a better time interviewing one of the other interrogators if they've done their job right.

Try to lead the questioning into how things are going on, and just get a feel for how people are outside of the city and how shit's going down.

Could explain the riot without giving you away. So.. has business been good?

I doubt he likes the systme very much, so if you can get him thinking this is a right hand v left hand thing he might be helpful.

"hello , i'm the guy they brought in the fix whatever fuck up happened last night. now the guys who were in charge of the fuck up are doing all kinds of not telling me anything. it seems that they did something stupid and probably illegal and pissed off a good chunk of the under city. you wouldn't happen to know what exactly they did would you?"

Start by offering the guy some coffee for his trouble.

>>412987
Tell him that quite frankly you don't know shit. You're not sure what the people above you are doing, nobody is talking, and you don't even know what happened in the riot last night.

>>413058
>honestly? You'd probably have a better time interviewing one of the other interrogators if they've done their job right.
That is actually the best place to start. Get the reports from the interrogators first

ChildOfAB 2012/05/17(Thu)18:29 No. 413290 ID: 622e4f
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Before you step into the cell, the lizardfolk hands you file on a clipboard with a few bits of relevant information about this prisoner. Geof engrosses himself in the map. You skim the file and sip your coffee as you enter the cell, adopting a frustrated expression. "Hey there, Teak, was it? Name's Yarla. Listen, I'm going to be real with you here. It's my job to fix whatever my various co-workers fucked up last night, but of course no one wants to give me the information I need to do that job. I figured I would have better luck asking someone whose employment wasn't on the line, and it looks like you're it." You flip through the clipboard some more. "Squatting on public property, tax evasion, yeah I've seen this sheet before. Load of bullshit, and doesn't tell me anything. Operating a business without a license? Not too common, but fixable." You put the clipboard under your arm and look Teak in the eye. "Make my day a little easier, and I'll get you a pardon. Sound good?"
You can see his muscles relax a little bit, but he remains in a defensive posture. "It sounds good up to the point where you're not telling me what you need to know."
You nod understandingly. "I just want to know what happened last night. All I've heard is there was some kind of fight, and someone broke out of here."
"Then you don't know about the Singer?" he asks.
"Ah," is all you can say in response. The last attack was what, last month? There's usually been a bigger gap between the attacks than this. "So, he attacked, someone called for the Cloaks, and then everyone wound up getting arrested? Sounds like you had a shitty day. Do you want some coffee?"
"No thanks," he replies.
"You sure?" asks Geof, looking up from the map for the first time. "Let me guess what you like... sugar, cream, maybe some cinnamon?"
Teak looks between the two of you and grins. "And you like tall people with braids. It's nice to see someone else who knows how to read people." Geof blushes, and Teak grins some more. "Oh, did I speak too soon? Second time today. Yes, on second thought, I'd love a cup of coffee."
Geof conjures another mug and you try to suppress an awkward chuckle at him getting called out on his crush on you. You've gotta hand it to the guy, you're pretty impressed by what just happened, and Teak seems to have totally loosened up now. You decide to keep going with the questions. "So, can you tell me anything else about what happened there, Teak?"
Geof steps back, Teak takes a sip of coffee, and answers. "Mmm, thank you sugar, that's perfect. So, near as I can tell, the Singer showed up disguised as a musician, and brought out a big earth elemental. He played some sort of song, and things get kind of hazy there. The folks who fixed me up said everyone was hit by some kind of insanity spell. I remember I was fighting with a friend of mine, but I don't know why. I also remember some big tentacled things, and a big tree fella fighting the earth elemental, and then the cloaks showed up, and I was here. That's about it."
You think that when the Cloaks popped in, they saw everyone fighting, including the Singer. They were probably not given specific enough instructions and they aren't smart enough to prioritize, so they divided their attention equally between every single person committing the "crime" of publicly fighting instead of focusing on the real threat. It's a clever monster, you have to give it credit. It seems to you that none of these people really need to be here, provided that they're not still insane. Teak's story doesn't tell you much, but you haven't brought up the riot yet. You could ask him about that, or anything else, or look for some other sources of information. What do you do?

>>413290
Yep, about time we led into the riot.

were any other plant people at the party? they would be resistant if not immune to mind altering spells. the tree guy fighting the elemental is probably the one that broke out. ask what it's story was from someone. sounds unnaturally strong.

you should probably ask him how things have been going stresswise with relations between the people and the authority, see how much light that might give to the whole riot thing.

also, how much is known about this "singer"?

>>413290
"Tentacle things? As-in plural? Ok, that's new, can you remember anything about that?
And can you think of anything that happened last night that could have caused a riot this morning? Were people already on edge about something? Any rumors floating around?"

If his boss ends up fired or executed for treason or something you need to hire Geof. Even if you don't have chemistry together, he's a damn good assistant.

Oh, and it would probably help if you started making some gentle pushes to get the people outside the city better tolerated. Something like having squatting on otherwise unused land only be a crime if they aren't paying token amount of their income as a tax, or something.

ChildOfAB 2012/05/18(Fri)03:11 No. 413449 ID: 3ce5b2
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"Wait, you said tentacled things, plural?" You ask.
Teak looks thoughtful. "You know, I did. I don't know. Like I said, it's all kind of hazy. It changes shape, you know, so I might have just been confused. Or maybe I was thinking of a cloak, those sort of have tentacles too."
You look over the contents of the clipboard again. "So, listen. I've honestly got a riot going on at the gates right now. I don't suppose you'd have any ideas about how to address them? Anything I should know, anything that might have set them off? I'd like to handle this without any more needless arrests if I can." You finish off the last of the coffee in the mug, and it disappears.
"Not without knowing who started it, and I'm sure you understand I can't help you there. Though, getting everyone here released wouldn't hurt. Too many people just don't come back." Teak replies. "Guy just before the party, even. Cerin, I think? Got picked up, but you guys claimed not to have arrested him now."
That doesn't sound right to you, but if it's based on public opinion it might not be. Still, it irks you. There's something else going on here and you don't have the full picture. Before you can give it any further thought, Geof speaks up. "The name Davin mean anything to you? Hirsching man, long hair, has a pet ape?" You look at him with surprise, and he shrugs back. "Viirik was all excited about finding him and I saw."
Teak nods. "Well, you've got your work cut out for you then. Lot of friends at the party. Plus he's stubbornly decided he will be angsty about the end of his last relationship and isn't going to stop." He looks at Geof. "I keep telling him it's not going to help, but he wasn't the one saying it so it obviously wasn't worth hearing."
Geof chuckles. "Duly noted."
"But most importantly," Teak continues, looking back at you, "He's one of the many who think your people are responsible for The Singer."
You sigh. You've heard that such a rumor was circulating out there, but you haven't come up with a way to officially deny it without doing more harm than good. Crowds are irrational. "Hm. Thanks for the info, Teak. I'll get your paperwork filled out, have you out of here in a bit."
"And everyone else?" he asks.
You nod resolutely. "I'll do my best."
You and Geof walk out of the cell, and the warden locks the magical barrier behind you. Geof turns to you. "Did you really mean what you said about getting everyone out of here?"
You nod. "Of course. Honestly, most of these people are in here on the BS charges they slap on anyone from the outer city. I don't know what good it does them, it's not like they've got any money to tax anyway. But hey, good work there with the coffee thing. Cinnamon? That was a long shot."
Geof shrugs. "I know my coffee."
"You had to ask me, though," you reply.
"You're hard to read," Geof says, and smiles at you. "What can I say? I'm intrigued."
You smile sheepishly. You don't often get a lot of attention from guys, and this one's starting to grow on you. "Tall people with braids, huh?"
Geof chuckles. "Awfully specific of him. He must've had someone in mind."
"I think I know someone who fits the bill, too," you respond.
"No kidding? Bring her along for drinks after the shift then."

ChildOfAB 2012/05/18(Fri)03:11 No. 413450 ID: 3ce5b2
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You spend a few minutes filling out Teak's release paperwork. The Warden says she's got holds on many of the rest of the crowd because they haven't been cured of insanity yet, but you have her pass the paperwork along to your office when it becomes available. With that bit of business concluded, you decide to head up to the office of the Arch-Inquisitor to see if you can get any more answers.
You are surprised to see the door closed. No secretary, no nameplate, nothing. You knock on the door sharply, and a shadow passes behind you.
"You should pray you don't receive a response," a voice hisses at your back. You whirl around to see one of the lackeys of the church of Lunaras materialize in the hallway, scythe strapped to its back. "You will find all behind that door have passed on."
You find that an odd sentiment coming from something sharing as many traits with the dead as it does, and you furrow your brow with concern and look up and down the hallway. "Not sure you should be carrying that scythe around in here," you say, mentally prepping yourself to unleash a mental assault if you have to.
"Oh, you have not heard? We have special permissions from Mother Oasis herself to operate with discretion. How do you not know this? What office do you hold?" it shoots back, its hissing voice reverberating unnaturally.
"Public Relations," you respond.
You almost feel like you can see it smirk. "Mm. Non-essential services. I have work to do." With that, it dissolves into an inky black mass and twirls up through the ceiling.
You knew the Lunaran church and several of the various guilds and departments had ties, but this is the first you've ever heard of shadepriests actually operating through any of the offices here. Before you can give it much thought, you hear the mental buzz of a sending spell prod at your brain. You recognize the sender as one of your subordinates in your department.
"Rebels changed tactics, disseminating propaganda near museum. Nymph speaker extremely persuasive. Civilians, guards attending. Regards domination, subsequent attack by comrade. Leader exited recently."
Argh. Not only have they figured out rioting isn't the best solution, they're mounting an attack that puts your job at stake. You wish you'd known you had one of your subordinates at the site, it would have made your job easier. No one tells you anything.
You can respond to the agent in the field with up to 25 words if you'd like. Whether you do or not, you're going to have to come up with some course of action immediately. You fight back the nagging feeling that something big is going on over your head. What do you do?

If nobody tells you anything, then you've got no verbal ammunition. You can't confront them with nothing new.

Besides, the Arch Inquisitor's office is vacant and all that worked inside are implied to be dead? That doesn't sound great. However, it sounds like an easy place to search for clues.

What's a simple door, and possibly a few undead, compared to your talents? Sneaky times!

>>413450
Ok, yea, if they're spreading around the brainwashing bit then you need to throw somebody under the bus FAST. Tell him the brainwashing is being investigated, and see if you can arrange a meeting between you and somebody the squatters respect. A public meeting, if possible.

With the inquisitor dead, how do you start an investigation? If you can get the mage fired and/or arrested then you can defuse the situation almost instantly, and you need to do that without risking your job by saying "Yea, it was TOTALLY this mage guy".
Also, you should probably find out how the inquisitor died so suddenly. What happened and why?

Well, if you just leave the paperwork there, maybe you could get Teak out right then and there. Tell him you're doing him a favor and you'd like it to be repaid immediately.

We can use Teak to stem the unhappiness from a rebels for a while by telling them that most of the ones still being held are still nuttier than a coconut and that the authorities are doing their best to cure them of their affliction. But, look here, its Teak, come on you know Teak, everyone knows Teak, he bartends that place you know. Teak can back me up here. So Teak tells them what he should tell them and the crowd settles down.

However this is just a stopgap measure. This only buys time for you to find the root cause of this whole problem.

right now the worst possible thing you could do is to be seen responding with force to what has become an essentially peaceful protest, that somehow got though the gate. was the mind control thing legal? if not you can probably calm things down by having your people on site assure the protesters that those responsible for such a gross misuse of power are going to be found and brought to justice. it is starting to look like there is something else going on, and if you can't figure out what it is your not going to be able to do your job. i'd start with finding out how the crowed made it into the upper city.

>>413483
Legal or not it was a terrible idea that directly resulted in violence against citizens. We're going to call it an abuse of power anyway.

>>413477
We're agreed, but we can't just release everybody at once or it'll look like this is appeasement.
We're going to claim that the head inquisitor died unexpectedly, and that's caused a delay in getting everybody processed. Since he actually is dead people will believe it. Get people working on going through the various rap sheets looking for anything worse than ordinary squatter offenses. Keep anybody with more serious crimes, but release the rest a few at a time.
Have everybody who was insane given a bill for back taxes or the cost of treatment, whichever was lower. You can't get blood from a stone so they probably won't pay, but they don't trust you so they'll be a lot more comfortable and a lot less suspicious if you aren't being generous.

Don't forget the insanity... they gotta be resanitied first and it makes a perfect excuse for the delay.

How film noir. I dig.

>>413483
Bam.

Well, crap. Properly addressing the crowd requires that we investigate, but spending time investigating means we lose our window of time to properly address the crowd.

Aren't psions better than magic-users at this whole "communicate over distances" thing? See if you can open up a more permissive communication channel than one that allows only 25-word chunks at a time. You can feed your subordinate the words to say while you investigate, that way.

And might as well ask about that Cerin fellow while we're at it. Might help us figure out why the outer city thinks some people don't come back. goddammit that's the guy Viktor ate right after he got to the city. He said he'd just been called in to testify about a brawl, too.

Well, at least they're curing everyone.

>>413561
What? You mean eating people who annoy you in a city can have repercussions? Crazy talk

>>413450
Need copy of propogandy ASAP to dissect and combat it with our own. Will release healed prisoners ON SITE. Inform first batch being processed.

>>413606
But those repercussions are not bad for victor, in fact they are good for him in this case

ChildOfAB 2012/05/24(Thu)01:26 No. 415629 ID: 885ee8
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You decide that addressing the crowd right now won't do you much good if you don't have any information for them. After a little deliberation, you reply with the message, "Transcribe speech's important parts. Obtain available pertinent written materials. Inform crowd investigation ongoing, mass insanity cure progressing, prisoner release imminent. Stay safe, will rendezvous soon."
You consider opening up a more forgiving communication channel; you can pinpoint this subordinate and have a mental conversation over distance that lasts a couple of minutes, but that power takes you about ten minutes to manifest. If you could find a clear path down, you could also try sculpting an ectoplasmic avatar to go and deliver your speech yourself.
"I think we should investigate," says Geof, staring into the closed stone door a little absentmindedly.
You snap out of your train of thought and push on the door. It doesn't budge, as expected. "Well, step one is to get inside. Preferably without breaking down the door..."
You mentally go through the list of possibilities when you notice Geof conjuring something. A short stone figure rises out of the ground. "These walls are stone, right?" he asks. The figure glides effortlessly across the ground and through the door. A few moments later, it pulls the door open from the other side and disappears.

ChildOfAB 2012/05/24(Thu)01:26 No. 415630 ID: 885ee8
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You hear a dull, constant whistle of the wind through the doorway and you and Geof step through. You are in what appears to be an office. On the far wall is a heavy metallic door with a turning mechanism. Through the hole to the left, natural light illuminates the area through a massive hole in the wall, through which you can see the mist of the cloud canopy. On the right, you see another hole in the wall, leading to a long corridor lined with doors. Through this corridor, you can see one door about halfway down that has been completely smashed--in fact, the wall around the door seems to have been knocked inwards.
Based on the placement of debris, you can tell that something broke through the wall of that room, then proceeded to tear its way through to the outside, likely the escaped prisoner mentioned earlier. From this, you can deduce that he was receiving a private interrogation when he escaped.
The desk appears to be smashed in by rubble evidently flung from the hole to the outside. Cracks along the walls reveal that the far wall is multi-layered, with at least one of those layers being metal. You also note that, with a little cleverness, you could get an ectoplasmic avatar to the people on the ground through the hole here, provided that you give it wings to safely reach the ground.
Geof points to the map from earlier, then to the hole on the right. "Interrogation and remote viewing rooms." He points to the far door. "Confiscated contraband in there, plus the Inquisitor's study. Unlabeled rooms, too."
What do you do?

>>415630
Go ahead and send an avatar down so you can talk with your subordinates.

Do they record the interrogations? Finding out the details of the escape is kinda important. I mean, anything that could bust through that wall wouldn't have any trouble breaking out of the cells, so why did it wait until it was being interrogated and surrounded by guards? What did the Inquisitor say or do that changed its demeanor?

Also, check the Inquisitor's records for what happened to that Cerin guy. Is this a normal missing persons case, or was he disappeared? Teak said that a lot of people who have been arrested don't come back, and I'm pretty sure he's not talking about people in jail for crimes. If the Inquisitor was disappearing people you need to tell your subordinate and then get the hell out of there - the unspoken 'if I go missing everybody will know and you can't say he went rogue' threat is a life saver.

You mean, you'd ride the construct down? If you can make one that big, then go for it. Just make sure it rips open that metal door first. :D There's no point stopping the investigation now just because you've found a bigger door.

Nonintelligent astral constructs lack the ability to speak just like anything else that's nonintelligent. If it could speak it would be even more super awesome.

>>415630

Well, at least we know whatever tore through here was insanely strong. And took out several interrogators. But from the damage, another puzzle arises: Why did it WAIT to escape instead of just leaving immediately?

Surely, if it had done this in the prison, it could have released every prisoner and really kicked up a mess?

ChildOfAB 2012/05/24(Thu)19:07 No. 415823 ID: 885ee8
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You decide to create the avatar to send down after you find some more information; the avatar normally only persists for a bit less than 20 minutes normally, but you can double it with a bit of extra effort. You can only see and hear through either the avatar or your normal body at one time, and you would rather not waste the power's duration while the avatar sits motionless at ground level while you explore, unless you find some evidence that you will definitely get a solid lead.
You try turning the handle on the door, and are surprised to find it opens easily. Stepping inside, you are a bit shocked to discover a large grey beast laying in the center of the room, black lines crisscrossing under his flesh, seeming to originate from a wound in its neck. Your heart rate quickens as you scan the room for any possible danger, but find nothing.
Geof expresses his surprise as you go inspect the body. It feels cold, and a quick mental probe finds no signs of life on the creature.

ChildOfAB 2012/05/24(Thu)19:07 No. 415824 ID: 885ee8
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There are two doorways in this room, and both doors have been propped ajar by rocks. You quietly peek through the far door. The room appears to be an office, and you see no signs of occupancy through the crack.
Opening the door fully, you see a mirror on the opposite wall, and your blood runs cold. In the reflection, you catch a glimpse of something dark flitting out of view behind you.
You whirl around as fast as you can. You see nothing, but hear a distant clatter of something being dropped from the other doorway.
You and Geof look at each other silently, then you dart for the door and fling it open. You see a long room with tables along both walls, with a few items littering them. On the far wall is a doorway leading to stairs downward, and on the ground in front of the stairs is a small wooden staff, still rolling to rest.
What do you do?

something sinister is going on here. did they kill that guy? they are killing prisoners without trials? if the tree guy was passive in the regular cell.. and then in the interrogation room they tried to kill him, would perfectly explain why he flipped out and ran.

for now you need to chase after the guy running.

>>415824
Fuck. Check if the contraband has been broken into.

Who knows what the tree guy was up to, but it is decidedly off about that that shadow guy is sneaking around. If he had legitimate business here he would just confront you directly. Even some sort of cover-up could be accomplished by simply posting a guard to say that the is restricted.

When you get to doors that are propped open, check the inside handles to make sure they can be opened from the inside if someone closes them.

By the way, there seemed to be a puddle around the dead guy. Was that still liquid or was it dried up?

>>415824
Interesting, but not urgent. We don't want to walk into an ambush, and if it's fleeing it will either outrun us or find itself trapped. Neither case gives us reason to follow it at the moment.

Check the records. Pull out files mentioning the Singer, Cerin, or missing persons and experiments thereon.
Have Geof detect magic first, since words can be magical traps.

Checking the contraband room would be wise, but don't split up to do multiple things at once. We already know there's somebody here who wishes you weren't.

use your psion majyyks to detect it.

Wait. Have your little dude set a circle of protection, if he can. Then do your thing from inside it.

Do a quick scan of the room making sure the thing isn't like, hiding on the ceiling. Then pursue it through the door by the staff.

Whatever you do, be sure to stick together.

Chase that figure, but can you possibly use your avatar to pursue without being led into some kind of trap? Also I'm worried about the way both the doors were propped open using rocks. Do they lock if fully shut?

ChildOfAB 2012/06/05(Tue)21:17 No. 419083 ID: 885ee8
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You decide that the benefits of searching for information outweigh the risks of someone running loose here, especially if you can use your avatar power to stay on both sides of the doors at once. But, before you can convey this decision to Geof, he bolts through the door towards the staircase. "Geof, wait!" you shout.
Mindful of the possibility of a trap, and not wanting to be stranded on one side of the door, you quickly pull a silvery, winged image of yourself out of nothingness, force your consciousness into it, and fly through the door after Geof.

ChildOfAB 2012/06/05(Tue)21:18 No. 419084 ID: 885ee8
File 133895629329.png - (211.87KB , 720x720 , 16.png )

...Only to find him calmly walking back to the door with the staff. "Geof, what was that about?" you ask.
"What?" he responds. "Whoever it was dropped their staff. One less thing they've got on hand, now that I have it." He half-smiles and looks your avatar up and down. "Guess Teak was wrong," he says. "You look pretty good with your hair down, too."
You snort derisively and punch him in the shoulder. "What's the staff do?"
"Oh, uh... who knows? Seems pretty strongly magical. If I try to set it off blind, it might just explode or something. Magic's dangerous and all that."
You shrug. "Huh. didn't know that." As you walk through the room, you see several boxes with their locks busted open. There are several miscellaneous items strewn about the tables, mostly what looks like magic weapons or armor. You suspect these are some of the items confiscated from prisoners. If this office is closed down, you're not sure how these things are supposed to get back to their rightful owners, as you don't see any identifying marks or labels.
"So what now?" Geof asks, glancing back towards the staircase before entering the central room with your comatose body.
"I want to search those files in the other room," you respond, making sure the piece of rubble is still holding the door open.
Geof looks a little nervous. "Don't you wanna...I dunno, bail pretty soon? This is getting pretty nuts."
"Somebody's gotta make it not nuts anymore," you respond. "I think that's my job here. Hang on." As you pass through to the next room, you take a second to have your regular body manifest a thought detecting power. At the very least, you aren't picking up any thoughts besides your own within 60 feet of here, though you try to swallow the unpleasant fact that things unaffected my mind-affecting powers, like undead, wouldn't be picked up anyway.

ChildOfAB 2012/06/05(Tue)21:18 No. 419085 ID: 885ee8
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The two of you move into the room with the filing cabinets and, after a little input from you about what sorts of things you're looking for, the two of you start to dig around. The cabinet has obviously already been looted, but you still manage to find a file on Cerin. It seems that early yesterday morning there was a disagreement between members of an adventuring party, resulting in some property damage, and Cerin was called in as a witness. You scan the rest of the file, noting that the adventuring party in question was in town with the stated intent of destroying The Singer.
The file says that Cerin was released after questioning, and you can't find anything else on him.
After a quick, cursory glance at the top handful of files about prisoners, you can't find anything obviously suspicious or indicative of what happened to any missing prisoners, but without additional information, it's hard to tell which ones were missing and which weren't. Cerin wasn't even a prisoner in the first place. Most of the ones brought in on squatting and tax evasion charges were eventually released, though a handful were convicted of more serious crimes or were accused and awaiting trial. Though, some of these trial dates are in the immediate future. Something seems wrong about the fact that this office is locked up and no one seems to have access to the files. You're stumped about who to address this issue to, besides the deceased inquisitor.

ChildOfAB 2012/06/05(Tue)21:18 No. 419086 ID: 885ee8
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Geof reads through some of the files on the table, and you see him draw his map out of his belt and compare it with whatever is in the folder. He picks up the file and walks over to one of the scrying balls along the wall. He touches it, and it flashes a garbled image before going dark again. Geof hmms and tries again, bringing up a second flash of garbled imagery. A third image pops up, this time what looks like an empty space where a massive tree meets a cliff face, but it's impossible to tell which one. Finally, up springs an image of three figures in the street below. By the time your brain registers that that must be the people in the protest outside, the image flicks off, Geof scoops up the map and some of the files, and turns to you, looking concerned.
"Listen, Yarla. This is getting too weird. I'm going to run back to show some of this stuff to Viirik, okay? I can't fit it all in one sending spell. I'll see you after the shift."
What do you do?

...Dude is chill about seeing you naked (- naughty bits). Points for him, I guess?

Otherwise... Yeah, let's do as he suggests? Fucking conspiracies, I can never understand how to act around them.

tell him to have something that wards off undead on if he can.

>>419086
"No. I think he shouldn't know we know about this quite yet.
Viirik did something very, very stupid this morning. That would be fine, except he is anything but stupid. He could have an agenda, he could be under some magical compulsion, he could be an imposter, but right now we can't predict what he'll do, much less count on him to do what's right.

...or I might be jumping to conclusions, if my understanding of magic is wrong. Here, you'd know better than I.
You know that last night the Singer attacked a party the squatters were having, and that we took a bunch of them captive. Early this morning a horde of squatters rallied together around a guy who claims we've been sending the Singer after them.
Viirik decided he needed to scry on the guy who was turning them against us.
Now, this is where either he made an incredibly bad decision or magic is not as awesome as I thought - Viirik decided the best way to scry on this guy was to take one of the people we grabbed, mind control her, and send her out with a couple cloaks to start killing people from the mob. I think he needed the leader to touch something on her, so I guess he was expecting the leader to examine her body personally or something. I dunno.

My question for you is this: Was that the best way to scry on that mob leader? Was there no way that didn't require overt killing of people on the edge of revolt? Or at least a good reason for doing it that way?

If not, then we should probably keep quiet until we know more about who we can trust."

Have him make a copy of Cerin's file. We're going to give it to Teak and tell him on the sly that the inquisitor died in the jailbreak, so if there was any mucking with the records it was done when they were originally written.
Ask him to get you a list of people who have vanished so you can look into them.

>>419086
Wait a tick... Did you say you DON'T detect Geof's thoughts? Can you think of any reason why that might be?

Scratch everything I said before.
Wrap your arms around him from behind like you were hugging him, then pick him up. Calmly and gently.
"We can talk about that in a minute. First, tell me why aren't you pinging on my Thought Detection."

have construct the the stick.

>>419106
Also, take that stick away and toss it off to the side somewhere.

>>419086
Yes. He should send off this info.

Well, assuming he is actually Geof and not someone in disguise somehow.

That "stick" looks an awful lot like the staves Ivet uses.

Before Geof has a chance to leave, inquire about the people on the orb.

ChildOfAB 2012/06/06(Wed)01:37 No. 419174 ID: 885ee8
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Your avatar turns to face Geof as he smiles at you, but some nagging voice in the back of your head suddenly comes to the surface, something that had been bugging you since you failed to detect anyone else's thoughts but your own. You couldn't detect Geof. In the span of a split second, a dozen nightmare scenarios play through your head. He's been taken. He's been mind-controlled. The staff! It must be responsible! You have to take it from him, hold him down! Damn it, why don't you have any powers to break mind control?
Geof sees you freeze. He reads the uncertainty on your shifting facial expression. His face falls. "Shit," he says.

ChildOfAB 2012/06/06(Wed)01:38 No. 419175 ID: 885ee8
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You lunge forward, trying to restrain him, to get the staff away from him as fast as possible. He leaps backward, flipping over nimbly and landing on his feet with a grace you wouldn't expect from an apprentice wizard. He lands, and something flickers in your view. Your brain does a backflip as it suddenly struggles to see what was in front of it the whole time. Beneath the exterior of the Geof you know, you see someone else. Someone too red.
The one you called Geof draws out a magic symbol with practiced ease. Vines sprout from every tiny crack in the floor before you can react, wrapping around you and restraining you in place. The vines spread across the room, and you can even see them writhing up from the floor in the room outside this one. "Sorry," he says, "You seem nice, really."

ChildOfAB 2012/06/06(Wed)01:38 No. 419176 ID: 885ee8
File 133897190039.png - (198.83KB , 720x720 , 21.png )

His form starts to shift and twist before your eyes, as you pull fruitlessly against the vines. You feel like you could tear yourself free of them, if you just got better leverage...
"Kind of holding out for someone else, though," he says, as large, leathery wings sprout from his arms. The staff, the map, the files he was holding...everything melts into his body as he changes shape.
You struggle for words, but the strain if fighting the vines only lets you curse something nonsensical. Before you can say anything else, he swoops over the grasping vines and dives through the ajar doorway.
What do you do?

you are not the construct. you are actually on the other side of that door and he will fly right into you. drop the construct and use some other powers.

Release your avatar, your real body is unbound! And that form is defiantely meant for fleeing. Capturing him should be easy if you can get a hold on him. Do you have anything that can bind a mage?

>>419176
Dispel the Avatar since the bat is flying right at your real body? Or is that the other door? In that case, well, dispel it anyway since your avatar is stuck.

I feel as though we should try to catch whoever it is, but they chose to restrain you and I feel we should respond in kind rather than escalate things.

Yell at her a parting question at least- who is she working for?

>>419176
That was a very smooth replacement. This is an expert. Might be beyond your weight class.

>>419180
Yes. However, since this could be the Singer it'd probably be best to keep your tasty meat as far away from him as possible.

Can your avatar carry you while flying? Going out the hole in the wall would probably be smart.

Shout "WHO ARE YOU? WHAT DID YOU DO TO GEOF?" at him. While its possible that this is a replacement, it's more likely there never was a Geof at all. Being underestimated is very useful.

Actually uh, there's vines in the other room too. It's safe to assume both bodies are bound, so we should come up with a plan for becoming unbound-

Oh. Can't we banish the Avatar then recreate it unbound?

>>419207
Actually, better suggestion:
"I'm NOT going to let that kobold bastard you call master cover this up!"
Re-manifest your avatar, and throw the filing cabinets out the hole in the wall, then grab yourself and jump out after it.
"He'll swing for what he's done, but you can save yourself!"

Also? Get the hell out of here. Get someplace public, and take the records there if you can. Nobody will question a half-giant reading things out of a smashed-up filing cabinet in the middle of a coffee shop.

Hmmm... I wonder if Geoff was Red Guy all along (and thus has infiltrated pretty thoroughly and blowing cover must mean what he has found is damned valuable), or if that moment when Geof ran out the door was enough for Red Guy to mimic him and stash his body (or likely unconscious form, the guy hasn't killed you so likely wouldn't go for casual murder) just out of the way.
If you can't catch him as a bat, first thing is to look around to see if an unconscious Geof is shoved in a cupboard or side-room.

ChildOfAB 2012/06/07(Thu)21:32 No. 419721 ID: 885ee8
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As quickly as you can, you return your consciousness to your normal body, just in time to catch yourself as the vines had nearly toppled your mindless body onto the ground. You catch a glimpse of the bat as it flees the room through the heavy door with the turning lock, and shout after it, enraged, "What did you do to Geof? Who are you working for?" The bat does not respond, and you immediately set about creating another winged avatar. As soon as it forms, the twisting vines start to wrap around it, but you move your mind into it and get away from the ground as quickly as possible. You think about grabbing your real body, and wince as you see it topple over onto the ground, but ultimately decide that you would have no chance of catching the bat if you don't go after it right this second.

ChildOfAB 2012/06/07(Thu)21:32 No. 419722 ID: 885ee8
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By the time you make it out into the broken room and through the hole in the wall, the bat has disappeared into the clouds. You're not sure, but you think you could probably fly faster than it can--the only problem is knowing which direction it went.
You briefly worry that he might have killed Geof, but he referred to the conversation with Teak and the meeting after the shift. You don't know of any creatures that can steal memories that quickly, but you're not very knowledgeable about that dort of thing. On the other hand, it's possible there never was a Geof at all; or, at least, if there was a Geof you never met him. When you saw through the illusion was the first time you had any reason to suspect him, so it might have been present the entire time without you noticing.
At any rate, if this was a new fake, then the real Geof must be in the room where he got the staff, that was the only time he was out of your sight. On the other hand, that doesn't seem very likely to you, and if you want any chance of catching that bat you need to pick a destination and fly now.
What do you do?

>>419722
First: the boy's either dead, or restrained. On both cases, finding him is not an immediate concern. However, Mister Bat is an immediate concern. Give chase.

Also, you can get info from him. Including where Geof is.

>>419729
give chase where? it could of gone anywhere. only direction i can think of is towards the lower city. so try that way.

Go to where you saw the people in the protest in the orb. If they're working together, then that'll be it. If they're not, you've lost him and can address the crowd.

>>419722
You've lost the bat, and with those clouds there's no hope of finding it.
You need to grab the filing cabinet and get down to ground level. Go to the gathered outer city people and tell them the people grabbed at the party weren't released because the Inquisitor stopped being able to do his job unexpectedly, and nobody knew what to do without him. Say prisoners should start being released shortly, but not everybody has been cured of insanity yet.
They don't trust the inner city government, so being kind will only start horrible rumors about what you 'really' did to the prisoners. To prevent this, tell them that since you are personally going to push to have treatment costs waived for non-taxpayers. Say that if that's not possible you'll establish a collection to help those who can't afford the cost. This gives them an idea that's unpleasant enough to sate their distrust but benign enough that it won't cause serious problems.
In the longer term, this also makes them consider you sympathetic to them and more likely to trust you in the future. If there isn't a plan to charge them then the outer city people will still credit you with defending them. If there is, then supplement pressure to waive the costs by diverting PR funds to reduce the bills after they've already been sent.

Next, mention that in your investigation you heard that people have gone missing. Tell them you brought the files with you, and anybody who knows a missing person should tell you their name, when they went missing, and where they were last seen. Write that information down, then look for them in the files. Explain you need to keep the files, but you can show them.

Have a Q&A session before you start digging into the records. Hopefully, somebody will bring up Viikir's brainwashing clusterfuck and The Singer so you can address those immediately.
On the brainwashing: "I'm not allowed to comment on current or pending investigations. You'll have to ask the next Inquisitor."
On the rumor that The Singer is under inner city control: "I wouldn't work here if I believed that. In all honesty, I'm as concerned about that monster as you. As near as I can tell it has stuck to the outer city because we have a slower our response time there. If you wanted I could try to push to have cloaks present at large gatherings, but then there would be the temptation to arrest people for silly reasons.
We're open to suggestions, if you have any idea on how to fight this thing."

>>419722
(in case anyone hasn't caught it by now, the bat is Ivet and I'm pretty sure it was Ivet from the very start. We never met Geof.)

Look for an air current in the clouds. The bat would have left a disturbance behind.

>>419780

((I think you meant "in case anyone hasn't caught it by now/been told in IRC"))

Honestly, the chances of you finding the bat now are close to nil. Do you have any sort of spell you could cast on something he touched/left behind that could point you in his direction? Maybe to the staff it's carrying?

If not, I would remain here where you can actually do something.

>>419823
You're forgetting there was a second spy here, and we don't know whose side anybody is on.
Yarla needs to get someplace public so she'll be too visible to assassinate covertly, and she needs to take the records to prevent them from being destroyed or stolen as part of a cover-up. Right now nothing is more valuable than information.

>>419846

She cold just as easily stay in a public place at work... and take the files while remaining at work.

Honestly, I don't know what you're getting at.

>>419853
Err... You know the entire facility is compromised, right? Two unknown agents, at least one of which was walking the halls freely? A murderous and likely treasonous wizard with the ability to mind control people?

Right now she can't trust anybody in this facility, so her best bet is to go where there are too many people for a conspiracy to have control. Her job is PR, so smoothing things out with an angry mob meets all criteria.

>>419882

As far as we know, we're the only one on the "outside" of this thing that knows anything, other than "Geof." As long as we don't let on to what we know to others, we should be fine. We can't be the only one who is in the dark about this whole thing, and I doubt the two unknowns are brazen enough to kill us in front of other staff members.

... And you didn't say anything about the angry mob, you said follow the bat.

ChildOfAB 2012/06/15(Fri)15:17 No. 422640 ID: 4cc404
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You scan the clouds for any sign of disturbance, but the air is so turbulent up here anyway it's hard to tell which direction the bat could have gone. Regardless, you think it's likely not safe for you up here. That fake could have been working for anyone. Part of a cover-up, a member of the church of Lunaras, even one of the Fey. It wouldn't surprise you if any of those groups were responsible for the "breakout" last night, as well. Frankly, the extent of the plot that seems to be unfolding around you leads you to believe that regardless of what your next step is, you should take it in a very public place.
You'd still like to find the bat, but with no leads, you decide your best bet is to go down to the protest. At the very least, it will allow you to touch base with your coworker and get you into a public space.
You fly back inside and scoop up your real body, noting that your second avatar is still here as well. Since you took extra effort to extend the duration of that one, it will likely stick around longer than the one you're currently inhabiting, and you can swap your consciousness between all of them. For now, this one will do, but it might be a good idea to get the second one to carry the filing cabinet down once you're back on solid ground.

ChildOfAB 2012/06/15(Fri)15:17 No. 422641 ID: 4cc404
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As you drift down, the swirling clouds thin out, allowing you to better see the commotion happening below. You're surprised to see that there isn't much of a crowd gathered in a central area, but a more thorough inspection reveals small groups of outer- and inner-city dwellers alike moving in a coordinated fashion around nearby businesses.
A handful of others are clustered around a woman with extremely long red hair, clothed in little more than flowers, standing next to a harpy woman whose gaze darts around nervously.
Among the others milling around on the outskirts of the situation, you see a few lower-ranking members of the government, including your subordinate, who is not in uniform.
Unfortunately, the bat is nowhere to be seen, nor do you see anyone with bright red skin.
You ponder who to approach first, and what to say to them.

go to your subordinate and say "here, hold this." and give him your body. then swap and carry the cabinet.

If he's not in uniform he might be undercover- gauge this by how the civilians are behaving towards him.

If he's not undercover, ask him who those two are, in the center of attention there. Maybe you could approach and listen to what they're saying.

>>422643
Do this.
We need that cabinet, and this is the fastest way.

>>422641
Fuck the cabinet. Land, wake up your real body, and let people know their concerns are being addressed. You're curing the insanity of the prisoners and the first prisoner to be released - Teak- has already been processed.

>>423549
That's not going to do a damn thing, since this is rage that has built-up over time.
The arrests were the straw that broke the camel's back; fixing that problem isn't going to magically make everybody happy again. We need to address the missing persons cases, and the best we can do for that is showing people the records.
Beyond that? Showing the records for missing people is a good way to get them to start talking about the Singer. If they say anything about thinking the inner city is to blame we'll finally be able to respond to that rumor directly.

Psst, don't steal the files and start handing them out to people on the street, that would be bad for your career.

ChildOfAB 2012/06/26(Tue)01:12 No. 426204 ID: 907d97
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You set down next to your subordinate and switch back to your normal body. "Leron, gimme an update."
He looks nervously at you. "It doesn't look good. The girl up there, the nymph? She said a pretty piece about the outer city getting subjugated by our people. There was a bit about that other one up there, the harpy, apparently getting dominated by someone, I'm guessing in inquisition, to attack her lover."
You wave him to silence. "Get back to me on that later. Long story short, I think she's right. Have you seen any shadepriests here? Any official response?"
He looks concerned. "Shadepriests? Yes, actually. Five of them, they disappeared just a minute ago. Nobody has responded at all. There was some kind of scuffle at the gate to the city. Apparently someone shut it before they got there, but they got it open again somehow. Damaged the wall. I couldn't manage to get close." He furrows his brow. "Look, Yarla, regardless of the veracity of their claims, we need to present a unified front here."
"Someone's not letting me investigate," you reply. "I don't know who, and I don't know why, but I know the shadepriests are involved. Viirik in the Department of Intelligence dominated the girl up there, and sent me out here with an apprentice who turned out to be some kind of shapeshifter. A 'unified front' isn't going to stop this in any way but a civil war. Their grievances are real."
A horrified look slowly starts to grow on Leron's face, but never seems to fully reach the surface. "Yarla, you can't…no, no, it's not relevant. Look, did you get some cloaks or something?"
"The answer to this isn't cloaks, it's dealing with the actual problem! That's my job, Leron, to relate to the public, and that's what I intend to do."
Leron shakes his head, sadly, and looks out to the crowd. "I'll leave you to it, then. There will be a full report on your desk later, if you come back." He turns away and walks off towards the center building.
You take a deep breath and transfer your mind back into your avatar in the executive bloc. You pick yourself up off the ground in the room with the filing cabinet, and spend a few moments staring at it, trying to decide whether it is potentially worth your job to carry it down with you.
The scrying balls along the wall catch your eye, and your curiosity pulls you towards one. You project an image of Geof in your mind, hoping by some blind stroke of luck you'll happen to get an image of the one who ruined you.
To your surprise, your scrying meets no resistance. An image appears in the globe of Geof; not the one you knew, but the real one. His pupils dilated, his clothing gone, he looks lost, but giddy. At his side as he hugs a tree with simpleminded abandon, a halfling and a pixie laugh at him. He smiles vacantly at them both.
"I love tiny people!" he exclaims.

ChildOfAB 2012/06/26(Tue)01:13 No. 426206 ID: 907d97
File 134069841868.png - (267.93KB , 720x720 , 28.png )

You are now Viktor. After arranging a private meeting with the proprietor of the museum, Ivet has produced one of your Ungolan coins for inspection, without revealing how many you have in totality. You watched his life signature disappear into a back room and inspect it for several minutes, and he returns with an interested look on his face.
"As far as I can tell," he begins, "This is a genuine item. We have some records of coinage from this period, and there are perhaps some examples in higher quality, but I could count them on my hand. Furthermore, the Ungolan mint placed upon each item of currency a magical signature that was known to be extremely difficult if not impossible to replicate, which differentiated these coins from any other lumps of precious metal. This coin bears that signature." He nods. "I can offer you 10,000 gold for this one, but only this one, which I think you will find is nearly twice its value. Now, am I incorrect in my suspicion that you are in possession of more of these objects?"
"No, you are not," Ivet responds.
The proprietor nods. "Then, I am willing to pay half that for each of however many additional coins you may have in your possession. The difference in value is, I think, worth the time and know-how required to contact and distribute them across many other collectors, such as myself, on this plane and others. I would like to additionally offer you a 50,000 gold bonus if you would tell me where you found them, and allow me to hire another party of savvy individuals such as yourselves to investigate the area for any other items of archaeological import. What do you say?"
Ivet looks to you, though it's hard to read her expression. You have about 100 of the coins, though, and based on Ivet's summary of about how much a gold is worth, This seems like a tremendous amount of money. What do you do?

>>426206
Take Ivet aside and ask her about how you would store all that gold. You can't very well carry all of it.

>>426213
bag of holding, duh.

accept, tell them about the entrance and the secret room and the Cursed Ungolan Sword. when he asks how you know it was Ungolan, say it has the same marks as the coins and was in the same place as them.

also ask what information they DO have on the Ungolans. since we are on the subject.

>>426206
Keep the location secret, since information there is probably more valuable to you than the museum. I'd say sell all but five of the coins, but that's a rather extreme amount of cash to be carrying. Assuming these are standard gold coins, 510,000 gp would be 5.6 metric tons of gold. Being able to carry that much would be a dead giveaway you're not close to normal. Getting it in platinum would still be around 600kg - far too much to carry without attracting attention.

if he throws in a free bag of holding, fine.

Do not sell the precise location, but express interest in further treasure hunts. There's more profit to be made. Perhaps you can get this gentlemans aid in arranging assistance for another expedition? If such a thing goes ahead then you should be the leader, making a solid percentage of the profit rather than just a single upfront payment.

If Ivet agrees then you could at least reveal (for partial compensation? 5000-10000 gold?) that it was in or very close to Talpid territory. Hordes of money hungry adventurers taking on enemy molemen? Yes please.

Try to haggle a bit too. How good is the condition of that coin compared to the other ones you have? If you have ones in even better shape then try to use that to better the deal. Either way see if he might go for a bit more. Maybe 6-7k+ per coin. Do remark that he is your exclusive middleman for now. You could always approach other agents and then the market price will just crash if multiple people are suddenly selling these coins everywhere. Alone he can auction off these coins separately over the years at great profit.

In any case don't sell all the coins at once. Keep maybe 20-60 for the following reasons: They're small and valuable. You don't need all that cash right now. They might be worth more when sold at another trader.

The coins are obviously worth more than he is suggesting, as he is just as transparently planning on selling them for a massive profit. But he is also correct that to do so requires specialized knowledge and contacts, which we don't have. The coins are worth far less in our hands than in his, simply because we don't know how to vend them appropriately. That is, in fact, why we approached him in the first place.

So I see no problem with his offered price. Assuming he does buy all of them, we're looking at a massive pile of gold. It is unlikely he's prepared to simply hand us that much cash. Some sort of banking institution has to be involved. In which case, we're going to be relying on Ivet's experience to make sure we actually get the money instead of being put through a series of bureaucratic hoops that result in us being penniless. Obviously, for such a service she'd be looking at a 10-15% cut.

Of course, bag of holding works too. Should be easy enough to buy one with all that cash.

>>426206
Holy shit that's a lotta dosh. Accept, then ask Ivet if you really have to carry that many coins because that would be very heavy.

>>426206
Money is the LEAST interesting thing you'll ever have to worry about, so just convert all your damn coins and have the man deliver your gold in a useful, easily portable extradimensional space (less its costs). Money is boring, you are powerful enough to take what you want, and money will not help you face any real threats so you do not need to perfectly optimise the amount of gold you get from this transaction.

you have in these ungolan coins of yours an easily portable source of money, and the value they represent is truly vast to abstraction, so i suggest turning in five, perhaps ten of the coins, and giving him the talpid territory as a rough location. you may be predisposed to lead an expiditiopn there in the future for a share of the proceeds.


I believe it may be imperative that you get this man to give you some sort of reference for info on the ungolans.

Assuming there are no transportation problems, I say go for it. If we're talking D&D terms that's the expected wealth of a party of four characters nearing epic level. You might not have a lot of use for the money, but Ivet sure would, as would anyone else who wants to join up. Hell, we could outfit a small army at that price. Go ahead and tell them about the necromancer lich guy's old lair, too. I think it was pretty well cleared out by the time you woke up, anyway.

The dossier Ivet got says her dead friend worked for the same department as Viirik. That's probably why she blew up about her friend not trusting her or whatever. We really need to ask her more about that stuff when we have a free moment.

ChildOfAB 2012/06/26(Tue)13:36 No. 426336 ID: 885ee8
File 134074301915.png - (337.73KB , 720x720 , 29.png )

You nod to Ivet and hold up a finger to the proprietor. "Please, give us just a moment to consult, if you would."
He nods. "Certainly."
You pull Ivet to the side. As soon as you get out of earshot, she opens her eyes wide. "Viktor, that is SO MUCH MONEY."
"I figured," you reply. "So, you think we should take the deal?"
"I thought we would get maybe 15,000 for the whole bunch, if we were lucky. I don't even...I can't even imagine how much money that is." She nods excitedly. "It's your money but if it were me I would definitely take it."
"Okay, but that's somewhere around 500,000 gold. How are we going to carry all of that?"
Ivet laughs quietly. "Haha, I don't think he actually has that many gold pieces just sitting around. I'd be surprised if he has that many gold pieces, period. We'll have to go through the banks. I still have an account, can we use mine until we get a chance to set you up with one?"
"I guess," you reply. "But, wait, is there any chance Mother Oasis or anyone will get ahold of it?"
She shakes her head. "The banks are usually run out of the brass city in the elemental plane of fire. They don't care about our legal system."
You nod. "Okay. But I want to keep a few, maybe five."
"Are you sure? That's 25,000 gold. That's like, all the livestock you want every day for a century."
You nod, and she moves five coins in her bag, and you both return to the desk.
"You have a deal," Ivet says, and upends the bag of remaining coins on the desk.
As the stream of golden discs drop onto the table with a loud clatter, the proprietor's eyes get wider and wider. His jaw goes slack and hangs open until the last coin rolls to a stop at the edge of the table.
"D...pta...dss..." he sputters, "That's...that's a lot!" He holds up several of them excitedly. "I thought... I thought you had five or six, ten at the most. Wow, I never..." He looks up. "These were worth significantly more at the time than a gold piece is today. Each one could only be created with a Wish or a Miracle, extraordinarily powerful spells that required a... significant investiture by the creators. This would have been a small fortune even back then! And now..." he puts his hand on his forehead and takes a step back. "This is amazing. You have to tell me where you got this!" He exhales audibly.
"Ah, I'm not sure I should do that," you reply. "It might help me make up my mind if I had some more information? I take it you know quite a bit about the Ungolan empire? I found some information about it in the library here, but I still have some questions."
"The library in this city is a joke," he replies, shaking his head. "But yes, yes I think it would be an understatement to say that I know quite a lot on the subject. What would you like to know?"

ChildOfAB 2012/06/26(Tue)13:37 No. 426337 ID: 885ee8
File 134074304390.png - (320.22KB , 720x720 , 30.png )

You think for a second. "Well, for starters, I also found a sword in the same location, also of Ungolan origins. Unfortunately it was cursed, and hurt us when we touched it. It had an image of a horned bird grasping a golden disk on the handle."
The proprietor's eyes open even wider. "Hang on a moment, follow me," he says, and bounds off down the stairs into the museum proper, digging in his pocket. You catch up to him as he presses his thumb to a tag on a key inserted into a display case. The top of the case vanishes, and he holds the object inside up to you.
It's the same sword, but the blade and a wing on one side are both broken. You nod. "Like that," you say, "but intact."
He chuckles quietly. "I have a hunch," he says, "try touching this one."
You prod the hilt of the sword with your fingertip. It burns slightly. "This one is cursed too?" you ask.
He shakes his head and returns the sword to the case. "Depends on your point of view. The Ungolan Empire was well-known for its holy order of paladins. Each wielded a sword like this one, a Holy Avenger. Its touch is harmful to evil."
"Oh," you respond simply, and look at Ivet, remembering that it burned her too.
"What?" she asks, meeting your gaze. "Hey, you're not one to judge."
The proprietor chuckles again. "It doesn't mean as much as you'd think. The unfeeling gaze of the cosmos can brand you evil for small things. Maybe you cast the wrong sort of spell, or relish the idea of revenge too much. Though in Ungola you might have been under deep scrutiny for this sort of thing, we live in a much more permissive society, now." He claps his hands together. "So! If you know the location of an intact sword like this, I am certainly very interested in its location. What else would you like to know?"
"Would it be possible for us to explore the area for you?" you ask.
"I already have a team indebted to me for reasons I do not wish to discuss. I am sure you understand," he answers with an air of finality.
What else would you like to know?

Know anything about the ASH CROOOOOOOOOOW

Should we bring up the ancient God that happens to look exactly like us?

Don't mention the "EXACTLY LIKE US" part.

>>426343

We can ask questions about the three-eyed god-thing we saw depicted in the same ruins without giving away it looks like us.

...is our ridiculous pile of lucre left unsupervised out front while all three of us examine this broken sword in the back?

Why are you so interested in this stuff?

I mean, he is a museum guy, but to be willing to dump that much cash on it, there has to be another reason.
He probably won't tell us, but might as well ask.

Let's tell him where it is, yeah. I see no reason not to, aside from it being part of the Singer's territory and therefore rather dangerous. It's also possible there's another Fragment in there somewhere but I wouldn't really get my hopes up. It's an amazing stroke of luck we found the Ash Crow before the Singer did.

If we can ask about the three-eyed god, we would need to do so in a way that doesn't reveal we know things we shouldn't. I mean the only three-eyed things there were the Ash Crow and us. How would we know to ask? Could we claim to have caught a climpse of a three-eyed tentacled creature loping in the distance, perhaps? Claim to have seen US, in essence.

>>426346
I don't remember there being anything about that, we shouldn't bring that up if there is a chance he'll go there some time.

>>426391
the books on the ungolans make note of the gods and stuff.

I would REALLY prefer that nobody else know more about us than we do and taking these scholars to the closet we woke up in seems like a good recipe for that. If you do end up giving him the locations, at the very least demand to go with him.

ChildOfAB 2012/06/26(Tue)17:52 No. 426441 ID: 885ee8
File 134075835412.png - (175.69KB , 720x720 , 31.png )

"Have you heard of the Ash Crow?" you ask.
"Ash crow? No, never heard of it," the proprietor responds.
"Hm. Well, what can you tell me about these birds depicted on the coins and the sword here?"
He nods again. "Hm, interesting that you should ask. Aurev, golden dragon-hawks. Yes, they were the symbol of the empire. The paladins and the Ungolan militia rode them, communed with them. They were thought to be incorruptible, for a time. They had a reputation for holiness, for possessing the wisdom of Strekarr, their most revered god."
You think back to the book you read earlier. "Now known as Harak? Law and judgment?" you ask.
He raises one eyebrow quizzically. "Certain scholars have drawn parallels between Strekarr and Harak, yes. There's enough metaphysical hearsay, and some say heresy, to discuss that potentiality over the course of several hours."
"I was also wondering if you had any information about something else worshiped then," you reply, "something with three eyes, horns, and tentacles?"
He smiles slowly. "Teyu. The greatest evidence we have that a god may be slain. So an old necromancer's lair. The old lair of the Bone Lord, perhaps? Large plateau, about a day's trek west-northwest. And the Aurev, yes of course. You know, I've talked with several groups who planned to venture in there. They all returned claiming it was totally empty, or else they failed to return entirely. And these riches...that tells me that whatever is left in there is both well-hidden and well-guarded. You two are potentially the only ones to claim any of it and return alive, but I have faith in my crew. You know, it was said that the Bone lord's greatest affront to the empire was his personal Aurev, reanimated by his powerful magic. Supposed to be impossible. The ultimate slap in the face. Perhaps it survived through all these centuries? Or did, before you arrived?" He smiles and turns away, walking towards the stairs up to his private office where you were talking earlier. "35,000 for telling me the location inadvertently. Yes, that sounds fair."
What do you do?

Accept teh monies graciously, get a bag of holding to keep it all in.

>>426441
Tell him 50,000 is the number he agreed upon for giving him that information, in whatever manner you wound up doing so. Urge him not to displease someone who accomplished what you did.

>>426453
we already have a fucking massive amount of dosh, no need to push it.

>>426453
Um, no, let's not mess with this guy who is throwing around several times your wealth-by-level like it is nothing and who lives in a place literally full of ancient artifacts of unimaginable power.

>>426441

More information on our former self and the Bone Lord.

It's obvious the Bone lord was our greatest servant, and when we were struck low he hid our weakened form inside that room to protect us.

At least that's what makes sense for right now.

>>426441

Shrug and accept the monies. It's a slight loss, but meaningless on the scale for our current wealth (...assuming our coins are safe just laying where we left them? I'm nervous we'll turn around and find they were all stolen while we wandered off to discuss history).

Ask him about the Aurev.

Do we want to consider joining this guy on an expedition down there again? We may learn more about ourselves, or the singer. Alternatively, we stay in town, try to do more interpersonal and political stuff, and find some use to put our riches towards (equipment? Vik doesn't need anything, but maybe 'shroom girl could use something... Or hell, we could fund our own political faction in the current mess).

>>426441
35000 and information about the Bone Lord.

Worst comes to worst we can also trek out there and intercept his team.

I think we should find out when the ocean went away...

>>426483
That would be wise.

Also, ask if Teyu had any ties to Mother Oasis.

>>426465
Personally I believe that somehow, Teyu's fragments all wound up getting shoved into the Bone Lord's servants.

Accept, but mention that he may wish to either send an army, or wait some time. The Aurev guardian awoke as you were leaving, and was... unhappy. You did not vanquish it, just beat it back long enough to leave.

>>426469
This. Take the money graciously, but do procure the right to future questioning, as he's clearly knowledgable.

ChildOfAB 2012/06/28(Thu)22:16 No. 427247 ID: 885ee8
File 134094698242.png - (288.60KB , 720x720 , 32.png )

You sigh. "35,000, and more information," you respond. The proprietor glances back and smiles as he begins to ascend the stairs. "Teyu and the Bone Lord, what do you know about them?"
"Teyu, god of the deep things," he responds, with strict enunciation. "He was known and worshiped across the world, and the Ungolan Empire hated him. Suddenly, he was no longer worshiped, and there was no more ocean. It's like the world forgot he existed overnight, but for the relics." He clears his throat as you re-enter his private office upstairs. He disappears into a back room and rummages around. "In my opinion, it doesn't take a scholar to put two and two together, which surprises me when so many fail to do so." The proprietor returns with a device with lenses affixed to a handle and begins inspecting the coins with it, putting them in a separate pile one by one as he does so. "The Bone Lord, I am less clear on. I wouldn't dare presume your intentions are less than scholarly, of course. Nor could I, in good conscience, provide you with any sort of detail about the man and his methods. However, I can say that perhaps your inquiries, scholarly or otherwise, might be better directed at the namesake of the Academy of Gath. The, ah, springs of this city are all Gath's, and lead to various places around his Academy in the Plane of Water." He puts the last of the coins in the second pile, and whistles appreciatively. "95. Five hundred and fifteen thousand gold, all told."
"Did Teyu have any ties to Mother Oasis?" you ask.
The proprietor looks surprised. "No, not that I have heard of. I understand that she had strong ties with At'ya, er, Utia, long ago, and that she seems to be building an alliance with Lunaras now, based on the new church." He waves his hand dismissively. "Celebrity gossip was never my expertise, though." He puts a brass chalice with an elaborate base inscribed with runes on the table. "I hope you aren't expecting all that in coinage," he says.
Seemingly understanding the situation more than you, Ivet steps forward and draws a small brown nut affixed to a wire and silver chain out of her bag and places it in the chalice. The proprietor drops a tiny flower encased in a globe of amber on a similar chain into the bowl, and both of them stare silently into the chalice for several seconds.
A red flash of light emits from inside the chalice, and both the proprietor and Ivet nod at the same time. The proprietor smiles cordially. "Good, good. Now, I have quite a bit of work to do here. Is there anything else I can help you with?"
Confused, you look to Ivet, who places the nut on a chain back into her bag and nods to you.
Is there anything else you want to ask, and if not, where would you like to go next? Ivet said something about making your own account at the bank, which would put you in charge of the money instead of her. Or, you could head straight to the shops.

>>427247
Set up an account. Ivet can keep 10% of the cash, and you'll cover the cost of the equipment you're shopping for.
Get a bag of holding, two communication devices of some kind, a weapon for Ivet, and two rings of Freedom of Movement. Plus whatever else people want to get.
When you buy the rings get down on one knee and put it on her finger. It'll be great, just trust me on this.

Don't get a separate account. For a girl who cares so much about trust, that would probably mean a lot to her that you're trusting her with all your dosh.
Shopping montage!

>>427252
Actually

Ask about a shared account. She's better with this money business than you - and really, would you miss it if she shirked you? Once you turn this into equipment, it won't mean much for you.

SHOPPING!

A shared account would be inappropriate considering we aren't married to her or anything, though... I don't know how relationships work around here. Our undine friend implied they tend to be very informal. Set up a separate account since she suggested it, and discuss with her if she wants a percentage or something, or if we can just treat her to covering her expenses on everything for a while to celebrate the windfall.

And yes, shopping. Ask Ivet on the way if it's possible to speak directly with Mother Oasis. Also ask her if she has a way of getting through the portals to the elemental plane of water- an aquatic form perhaps? It would be a good idea to speak with Gath.

>>427262
okay, but I feel like putting some kind of hard limit on her share of it, like "10%" or something seems a little insulting.
Magic items are expensive, and she's probably going to be getting the majority of them anyway, since Viktor is a badass and at least double Ivet's challenge rating. I doubt we're going to have much money left over. At the very least, I'd save the new account thing for after the shopping spree, so we can better know what a number like 10% means.

>>427262
A business account then?

Well, I don't know if you two are really close enough for a joint checking account yet, but for the sake of convenience I guess we'll roll with it. It's not like anything bad is likely to happen from her having access to your dosh, while your form changing and rebel status could make withdrawals inconvenient.

Let's head for the shops. But let's not focus too much on buying things like magic swords that may become obsolete quickly. Let's go for appreciating assets. Like the shops themselves.

>>427265
Good thinking. Don't worry too much about bank details until after shopping.

Whoever controls it, and whatever the style, we should get a new account. The local government doesn't explicitly control the extra-planer banks, but may be able to use them to track us. Ivet is a person of interest to the dubious authoritative, and they may be able to watch her account.

Get your own account. The reason we want our own account is that I doubt those little charm thingies work for anyone other than their owner and Ivet is significantly more squishy than we are. If she dies, and all of our money is in her account, we're boned. It is merely a pragmatic concern.

Ivet can get 10% of the money for her services. Plus anything we feel like buying her.

Instead of buying her whatever seems shiniest, first ask her what she WANTS. Then buy that and the shiniest things.

You need your own account. Sharing one with Ivet is just stupid.

yes, shared account. just because she's evil doesn't mean she's an asshole who will stab us in the back for money. especially considering how useful we are as a friend and how dangerous we are as an enemy.

go to the shops and browse.

My God, have you people really not seen how untrustworthy Ivet is? We've known her for all of three days (or less??) and you're willing to share your one investment in this world with her?

Come on, guys. Let's be smart about this. I mean, it's one thing if we don't care about the money, but a monster's gotta eat.

I understand she has tits, and you really want Viktor to get with dat, but I think she'll understand if you want your own account.

>>429022
I'm not in favor of putting it in a shared account, but your analysis is overlooking one critical detail: Ivet is pretty damn smart.
If somebody is giving you ready access to a massive fortune it's in your best interests to not get greedy. That goes double when they have the potential to make that pile much bigger, and triple when they could hunt you down and eat you with the greatest of ease.

>>429047
Technically Viktor can't eat Ivet, or at least not digest her. If you'll recall, we found her utterly unappetizing when we first met, which is why we didn't eat her.

>>429065

Unappetizing doesn't mean we can't digest her.

I doubt there is much of anything Viktor can't digest, magic cursed weapons from an Empire of GoodyGoody Two-Shoes paladins being one, and then probably because of the just the magic.

>>429067
I'm pretty sure he could still eat it, but that would be one clusterfucked case of heartburn.

>>429047

Now you're overanalyzing this.

>Is Ivet dumb enough to steal all this money?

Do we even know her well enough to make that assumption? And who's to say she's smart to steal all of your money, and get away with it? You know virtually nothing about this world, she seems pretty damned knowledgable about almost everything you've come across.

How about we don't tempt fate in the first place?

Guys, if Ivet decides to horribly betray us, I think the loss of the only thing more important in Viktor's life than letting the singer eat him is more significant than any lost funds.

More practically? She's given us no real reason to fear such a betrayal, and even if she somehow is just the power hungry selfish bitch you suspect her of being? She seems to like the power having a man eating abomination in your corner brings.

If you're really worried about the party getting broken, think on how we can repair the damage sleeping with squid-girl did, not trying to hoard all the shinies for ourselves.

After all, as we learned in the first chapter, trying to be a dick and keep all the shinies to yourself gets your horribly killed. The end.

>>429141

If you guys are hell bent on trusting her, I say we go for it. For what is life without love?

>>429174

Filled with fun?

ChildOfAB 2012/07/05(Thu)03:05 No. 429224 ID: 885ee8
File 134148271832.png - (391.98KB , 720x720 , 33.png )

You nod to the proprietor, and the two of you make your way back downstairs and out of the museum. Ivet looks a little unsure of herself. "So, bank's over by the hub, closer to the middle of town," she says.
"We can do that later," you reply, thinking it might be nice to let her keep some of the money, but knowing you should probably buy some things before you figure out exactly how much. "Where should we go shopping?"
"Oh, well, there's only really one shop in this town that deals in permanent magical items, but there are a lot of them that sell potions and scrolls and other supplies like that," she answers, and starts walking. "There's also Fourgate, which is a human settlement way outside the desert. They've got this gigantic magic item emporium thing. It's generally pretty cheap. And then there's the mages in Dayseal. They charge a lot, but they're pretty good at coming up with custom stuff, I think."
The two of you approach a tall, narrow ornate building. As you get closer, your enhanced hearing detects a conversation happening inside, but only one life sign.
"Just one piece is all it would take," says a female voice. "I could reverse-engineer the whole thing. Then we'd be in business. Just need a little more dough."
"One, business isn't exactly booming here," responds a monotonous voice with a hint of sarcasm. "Two, they know who you are. You're not getting even one piece."
"Maybe I could hire someone to go and get it for me?" the female voice says, then sighs.
"They're not releasing any pieces of a relic like that without some kind of non-disclosure. You'd need someone they can't use compulsions on," replies the monotonous voice.
"Like you!" the woman replies.
"Pretty sure I'm the more recognizable of the two of us," replies the second voice.
Ivet, evidently unaware of the ongoing conversation, opens the front door. Behind a small counter directly ahead, there stands a woman and some sort of man made of metal and wood. The woman looks up at you like a frightened animal, then smiles widely. The metal man does not look up.
"Hi!" she says. "Selling or buying?"
"Looking to buy," you reply, noting that the shopkeeper's smile shifts a shade more genuine. "Hoping you could help me answer some questions."
"Sure, sure," she responds. "My name's Nosa, I run this shop." The metal man scoffs quietly. "Pardon our state here, we're still getting the gears oiled on this little operation," she continues, ignoring him. "The previous owner retired about six months ago. What can I do for you?"
Nosa steps out from around the counter, and Ivet makes an impressed "Ooh!" sound and wanders over to a multi-colored rack of cloaks. "I'm just not sure what I'm looking for yet, but I have some ideas," you begin, thinking it would be good to have a way to communicate with Ivet so something like the previous debacle doesn't happen again. "Do you have anything that would let two people communicate over long distances all the time?"
"Ah, hm," she replies, looking thoughtful. "I could make you a pair of lockets that let you communicate for one minute, three times a day, if you're within a mile of one another. Or, a pair of stones that let you send a 25-word message once a day over any distance. I'm not sure I can handle permanent, though. I could probably research something if you don't mind waiting a bit, a month or so? My research materials are currently tied up on something else." She looks a little anxious. "Will either of those do? Is that all you needed?"
You were hoping for something a little more substantial. "I don't know if that will work, but that's not all I needed. How about something that keeps you from being grabbed? That would be very useful."
Nosa smiles. "Oh! What you need there is a Ring of Freedom of Movement. I actually have one ready to go right now for 44k, and I can make another one in, oh, 3-4 days." She snaps her fingers. "Hang on, let me bring you the catalog. That should help you decide." She hustles back to the desk and waves to Ivet. "See anything you like, dear?"
"These designs are very nice!" Ivet responds. "Very stylish!"
Nosa smiles broadly as she fishes a sizable book out from the shelf behind the counter. "I'm glad you like them! I designed most of them myself. I like to go that little extra distance that you don't get from the big shops." Nosa returns to you and drops the book into your hands. "Feel free to have a seat and look it over, let me know if you have any questions," she says.
A lot of the effects listed in the book seem to relate to weapons and armor, which neither you nor Ivet seem to use or wear. Ivet balks a little at the prices, but helps you sort out the main useful effects and items, if only for future reference while you go shopping elsewhere.
>>/questdis/56769

Hmm, looks like we're gonna have to go somewhere else, she's kind of ripping us off. Ask what she was talking about before you came in, though. Maybe we can help. Also, ask Ivet what she wants.

>>429224
She's desperate. Should be easy to dicker the prices down. Rings of resistance to fire and acid and the freedom of movement one. I'm too tired to figure out how to subtly broach the whole relic thingy.

But yeah, if they balk just ask Ivet how much teleportation to Fourgate would cost. After all, you've got a LOT of money to spend, might be worthwhile for the discount.

>>429226
A 10% markup is hardly worth the time it would take to travel 'way outside the desert', and the other option is more expensive.

Get the ring, a bag of holding, and two amulets.
I'm leery of the one mile limit, but 25 words isn't much.

the amulets ain't really worth it. I want something permanent. maybe if we buy some stuff she won't mind telling us where we could get something like that.

bags of holding, one for us and one for Ivet. a ring of freedom of movement and a ring of CHA+6 for Ivet. or even a +8 or +10 if they have it. I'm assuming she can wear two rings at most here.

ask Ivet to haggle- I have a feeling she'd be way better at it than us.

there's also the little conversation they were having. they need someone immune to compulsions, someone people don't know. that's Viktor. we don't have THAT much money- 550000g, and we'll be spending a lot of that now. we should take the job in exchange for money or a bigass discount.

>>429224
Why are we balking at prices when we are one of the richest people in town now? (Technically Ivet now is)

>>429234

Bags of holding are always useful, and there's nothing wrong with stacking cha on a cute, manipulative caster.

Now, most of my experience with magic do-dads comes from roguelikes, and not D&D. But it seems likely to me that we're going to see combat at some point, and one of the best things for surviving combat is escape / repositioning options. Can we get Ivet a ring of controlled blinking or something?

I'm kind of stumped as to what kind of rings would be useful for Vic. It's not like he really needs a stat buff. I'd think utility rings of some kind would be more useful, but I'm clueless as to what's available.

>>429246
I was under the impression we were baulking at the perceived terrible value for money compared with the alternatives. (There's no guarantee our bias is correct!)


>>/questdis/56772
>>/questdis/56773
>>/questdis/56774

>>429246
Being rich doesn't mean that you should jump at every poor deal that comes your way. We want to buy quality, and we want our coin to go as far as it can.

>>429272
I agree, but right now our biggest concerns are The Singer and avoiding party splits.
The Amulets give us some split resistance via communication. It's not great, but they'll do as an interim solution until we find something better. At that point we can sell them.
The FoM Ring is essential for keeping Ivet alive next time we encounter The Singer, and provides enough side benefits that it's a steal at 44k. Auto-success on grapple escapes and escape artist checks? Being able to run through a bramble patch without getting snagged on anything? Half of the required magics for deep sea exploration, with the bonus of being able to move at full speed? No penalties for walking through desert sand?
Barter the price down, sure, but with that much versatility we want that ring now.

>>429272
Actually, how about this: We hire Elize to come here and appraise these things for their real market value.
Once we know the real value we can haggle from a stronger position.

How about y'all stop being so stingy on only 5-10% over price when we're planning to look into a job from her anyway. Really, you get worse deals from RL vendors with far less useful wares.

Ask Ivet which size bag of holding she would be comfortable with, get her that one. Should we go for the 35 or the 60 pound bag of holding for ourselves?

Get three pairs of communication crystals, make sure they're distinguishable from each other so you can work out a system of which one to use first, second, and third, should they be needed. Different colored crystals should keep it easy to remember--green yellow red, for example

Get Ivet that +6 CHA item, it's useful.

That Mighty Fists and Adamantine Touch sounds useful, get those.

Mighty fists and Adamantine touch for us.
Charisma boost and bag (whichever bag of holding isn't too heavy) for Ivet and one of the pretty cloaks she was admiring (if we can get her nymph's cloak, she gets the Charisma boost from that and we can get her the freedom of movement too.)

We don't really need a bag do we? I thought we carried stuff in our gut. I guess if it's not too much we can get one for Viktor, too.

>>429367
Yeah, but the bag will make it relatively weightless and not prone to falling out of us. And we can store the bag in our gut!
Also get the FoM ring for yourself

>>429370
The ring is for Ivet. She's a lot squishier than Viktor, and he has advantages that are almost as good as the ring.
Beyond that, it would be a show of trust since grappling is Viktor's primary means of attack.
Also, Viktor can get down on one knee to offer it to her, and that will be hilarious.

>>429376
Vetoing the psuedo proposal

ChildOfAB 2012/07/05(Thu)23:01 No. 429445 ID: 885ee8
File 134155449411.png - (315.14KB , 720x720 , 34.png )

You discuss a bit with Ivet. She says that, while she's not sure exactly how much these things are supposed to cost, she thinks a lot of them are too expensive. You ask her how long it would take to get to the other cities she mentioned, and she explains that there's a public teleport hub node in the city and it would take a 15 minute walk and 5 gold apiece.
You flag Nosa down. "Listen, I don't mean to pry, but I couldn't help but overhear the conversation you were having when I came in."
She looks shocked and scared, then confused. "You couldn't?"
You shrug. "I have really good hearing. You mentioned you need someone who's immune to compulsions, yes?"
Nosa looks nervously over to Ivet, then back to you. "You're not...working for Bethiel's shop, are you?"
Ivet seems curious, and wanders over to where you're talking. "Bethiel's is the big shop in Fourgate, isn't it?" she asks. Nosa nods.
"No, we're not working for anyone," you respond, seeing that Nosa seems agitated. "Do you need help with something?" Ivet looks at you and scowls a little.
Nosa looks back to the metal man, who glances up, shrugs, and goes back to work. She sighs. "Look, I don't want to claim that Bethiel hired someone to rob the shop. I just know that it's common knowledge that I have a...unique sort of magical forge to work with here. I came into possession of a very special, one-of-a-kind outfit recently, called the Stormdancer's Garb. Using my forge, I could have reverse-engineered the magic and mass produced them, but...well, before I could finish, SOMEONE with exacting knowledge of my security systems stole it, and then "sold" it to Bethiel's shop, where they're marketing its uniqueness for a huge profit." Nosa sighs again. "If I still had one piece of the set, just one, I could re-produce the whole thing. And until then, my stupid forge has decided that other work is beneath him. That's why I can't research new effects, see."
She looks pleadingly between you and Ivet. "I raised a big ruckus about it when it happened, but the legal system in Fourgate wasn't too interested in my case. Bethiel's is a big part of the local economy. They know who I am, and no one who works there would even let me buy a piece of it. If I had someone who could go there, buy a piece of it, and bring it back here..."
"Y'gotta tell them about the last ones, Nosa," says the metal man in the back, still delicately etching something on the side of a crystalline sphere.
Nosa looks even more agitated. "We don't know what happened," she replies, "Maybe they just decided it wasn't worth their time!"
"A couple other groups said they would take care of this for us and they didn't come back," the metal man says, still not looking up from his work. "But maybe they just decided it wasn't worth their time."
"Yeah, well..." Nosa holds her hands out pleadingly. "The cheapest part of the set is the leggings, and last I saw, they were selling them for 18,000. If you brought the leggings to me I would reimburse you for their cost. Give you a discount, too! On...on everything in my shop."
You were thinking of at least getting two bags of holding and the ring of freedom of movement now, and possibly some other things after you shopped around, but now you're not sure if you should yet. What do you do?

>>429445
This seems like an extremely easy, quick task to complete and also would save us a good amount of money.

Let's do it. Maybe they'll even pick a fight and we'll get to eat someone.

>>429445
Fuck, man, you can turn into a god damn mouse.

Between the two of you, you can make this much easier than any other group could, and even net yourself a friend who is a 1) person capable of DUBLICATING ANY ENCHANTMENT and 2) a person with a lot of skill in identifying them. If Ivet doesn't want to do this, that's alright - but it's a damn fine idea, in my opinion.

Accept the job--probably don't bring Ivet along for this, since compulsion is a risk, but you'll need to learn how that currency transfer thing works first. TO THE BANKS

This does sound like a pretty simple task to complete. Any challenges that arise should be within your capacity to deal with.

No reason to not buy things now though. As part of our terms for completing the job, we ask for retroactive discounts for the things that we purchase at the moment. When we come back with the shoes, she reimburses us for their cost, and gives us money equal to the difference that would have been if we had waited to purchase those things until after earning her "discount".

Optimal results for everyone, and no capacity for us to cheat her. Though she could try cheating us. Not that it would turn out well for her.

Oh, and it sounds like her "forge" is some manner of living. Possible construct, like that metal dude, but unlikely to be the metal dude himself. This warrants further investigation.

She seems like a useful friend to make. There's shit we want to know more about, though. Most important:
>SOMEONE with exacting knowledge of my security systems stole it,
How might such a thing have come to pass? Has she enemies that would know about this stuff? It's important since it's a potential liability to us, and it could be someone conveniently edible.
It might also be helpful to know what "Stormdancer's Garb" actually does.

And,
>"Do you need help with something?" Ivet looks at you and scowls a little.
We should discuss with Ivet before making anything resembling a commitment. In fact, we shouldn't make a commitment at all if we can help it. It would be better to say something like "we'll scope it out", then leave the shop, discuss with Ivet, and then go scope things out at Bethiel's shop.

>>429454
>retroactive discounts
That way lies madness.

>>429453
Ivet's immune to compulsions because she's a plant. Viktor is either immune because he's undead or has a massive will save.
We were going to Fourgate to shop anyway, weren't we? Tell her we'll look into it, buy the bags and ring (get Ivet to haggle), and see what things look like while we're over there. Reassure Ivet that you're only interested because it seems to be on the way. Oh, and see what robes she was looking at over there. We're shopping with a girl, it's not supposed to be this easy.

>>429459

>We should discuss with Ivet before making anything resembling a commitment.
We're/Viktor's not her bitch. She can stay behind if she likes.
> In fact, we shouldn't make a commitment at all if we can help it.
I agree with this, though.

I say we do it. Seems dangerous, but worth it, and you can check out out some other shops potentially.

okay.

don't buy anything for now. go to Bethel's shop and buy the leggings. we'll get the stuff after she gives us the discount. also, Ivet shouldn't come too close, as she isn't immune to anything.

woohoo sidequests!

Tell her we need to discuss this with our companion.
Tell Ivet having an ally that can duplicate any enchantment would be pretty awesome, and it seems like it should be a quick job. Ask if there's anything she wanted to get done today. Mention that you might be able to grab lunch there.

>>429445
>"We don't know what happened," she replies, "Maybe they just decided it wasn't worth their time!"

>>426337
>"I already have a team indebted to me for reasons I do not wish to discuss. I am sure you understand,"

Lets go one step beyond and investigate what actually happened.
If that curator is involved we can coerce him into paying us to not tell the guards. Then eat him.

Is FoM better than blinking? I suggested the later as a way to keep Ivet out of harm's reach, and FoM seems to be the same thing. I'm not really in a position to know empirically which ring does that better, but I'd think that being able to instantaneously change spacial location does a pretty good job at keeping you ungrappled, and has other uses. Thoughts?

So, to sum up: this side-quest is just to buy something, when we're ridiculously rich, and get completely reimbursed. Rewards: friendship and gratitude of a magic item maker, and discounts.

This is too good to pass up, and easy to do. The mark wants to sell this stuff. He doesn't want it to get back to this shop, and did something to the last group, but Viktor's mind-read proof, and an unstoppable monsterto boot. And as a shapeshiter, can assume a disposable identity we'll use only for the purchase. Easy peasy. There's no point in stealing the item- it would just complicate things. Possibly bring down the law, and give the mark reason to come looking for us.

Make sure we pay in cash. If we use Ivet's credit card crystal amulet thing, that potentially gives the mark a way to track us down later.

>>429481
>We're/Viktor's not her bitch.
What does that contribute to anything? Paying attention to the feelings of other is common courtesy. And discerning the reason for those feelings is pure practicality. She may have a legitimate reason to consider an arrangement with this person unwise, and it would be wise to be apprised of that. I don't know if you're projecting issues from your personal life or what, but checking with other people before doing shit is generally a good thing.

>>429511
>Tell her we need to discuss this with our companion.
That's overly marital, and gives the wrong impression. We're gonna scope it out, we're gonna consider it. Those things are true. Discussion is part of that. Saying we're gonna talk to her has the implied "away from you, because we don't trust you" included, and that's needlessly hostile.

There's no real reason to assume any relation between this and the curator.

>>429525
FoM ring is passive, meaning you don't have to wait for a chance to use it, you can't be blocked from using it, it doesn't have usage limits, and it works even if you're caught completely by surprise.
Also? A FoM ring lets you move across any terrain at full speed with no penalties. A Blink ring also inflicts a 25% speed penalty while in use that stacks with any terrain penalty.

The only advantage a ring of blink gives over a FoM ring is a chance to avoid damage, but I'm pretty sure The Singer can see invisible and attack ethereal so that would only help against some kinds of spells. Sadly, it would also give Ivet penalties for her own attacks and spells. Not worth it.

>>429639
>I don't know if you're projecting issues from your personal life or what...

Haha, no, but looking back I do realize I was unnecessarily harsh in my wording. I did not appreciate and was reacting to Ivet's scowl; you should be able to make a friendly enquiry without sass from her.

Ok, here's what we're going to do:
We're going to buy that FoM ring now, since we can afford it and we're adventurers who could face potentially lethal situations at literally any time.
We're going to get down on one knee to offer it to Ivet - in private, not in the middle of the shop.
We're going to talk this plot hook over with Ivet.
If we bite this plot hook then we are going to negotiate payment once we are back in this shop and have them bent over a barrel. This way the cost of the ring will not be a material concern.

>>432320
>get down on one knee
What possible reason would Viktor have to do that, honestly.

>>432325
Because it will be hilarious.

ChildOfAB 2012/07/18(Wed)14:56 No. 434297 ID: 885ee8
File 134264856865.png - (328.77KB , 720x720 , 35.png )

You nod. "We were heading there anyway. I don't see any harm in picking it up while we're there." Ivet nods and wanders back to the racks.
"What does this Stormdancer's Garb do?" you ask.
"Oh, well it basically harnesses air and storm elementals, and draws power from them. There's five pieces of the set, and individually they're nice, but when all five of them are together it makes the wearer as light as air and makes them hard to electrocute or harm with sonic attacks, some other stuff too. The leggings are the cheapest part of the set, they just make the wearer run and jump faster."
"Do you know how someone would know how to circumvent your security?" you ask.
Nosa shrugs. "I inherited the security system from the shop's previous owner, my father. It could be anyone who worked for him, or any current employees. I have my suspicions but I'd rather not talk about them, if you don't mind."
You decide to get the ring now, and save the rest for later. You point it out to Nosa and she nods. "Certainly. I think I'll have some people get on making me another one anyway, it seems to be a fairly reliable seller. I'll have it up at the counter for you whenever you're ready."
"Oh, uh, I think I'm ready now if-" you begin.
"Can I try this on?" Ivet asks, holding up a dress from the other side of a clothing rack.
Nosa raises her eyebrows at you and calls back, "Sure, dressing rooms are under the stairs!"
You stand around idly inspecting everything while Ivet tries on at least a dozen different things. Nosa stays up at the counter, writing something in an ornate book. "So, where are you guys from?" she asks.
"Oh, uh..." you begin, not sure how to answer. "I really don't like to talk about that, sorry."
Nosa looks unfazed. "No no, I gotcha. Mysterious people, hiding your faces. No offense intended. I was just thinking, usually the girls tend to come out and show off whatever we're trying on. Wondering if it was a cultural thing." You look up at Nosa, trying to think of something to say. Apparently you took too long to think, because she begins again, "I'm sorry, was that rude?" The metal man makes a sound that seems like a combination of a shaken can of nails and a stifled snicker.
"No, no," you respond. "You're fine. I'm just a little hesitant to talk about...my heritage."
"Yeah, I know how that is. Sorry. Uh..." Nosa trails off looking genuinely apologetic. "Just let me know if you need anything." She buries her head back in her book.
The metal man nonchalantly takes a step back towards Nosa. "You should probably floor-test the cloaks of charisma while you're working, nosy," he says, quietly enough that he would reasonably expect you not to hear. She half-smiles and nudges him away with her elbow.

ChildOfAB 2012/07/18(Wed)14:56 No. 434298 ID: 885ee8
File 134264858855.png - (386.87KB , 720x720 , 36.png )

The minutes drag on, and finally Ivet emerges from the dressing room, puts something back on the rack, and approaches you holding a green and gold dress, the first thing she picked up. "Should have gone with my first instincts," she says, "I think I'm gonna get this. Don't worry, it's only 30 gold, and I had a little more than that already."
You're a little upset by the implication that she's not expecting you to spend any money on her. "I'm not worried, I was planning on buying you some things anyway. What does it do?" you ask.
She chuckles. "It's a dress. It's for looking cute in. These places usually have some mundane clothing and stuff for sale, in case you don't have anything ready to put magic on. Usually they're not very nice, but I think the stuff here looks great. You ready to go?"
You nod and walk up to the counter, where Nosa withdraws the ring.
"You know, we actually have a very similar dress in a nice yellow-gold," says the metal man, referring to Ivet's dress. "It might complement your complexion better than the green."
"Oh no, thanks. This one's perfect," Ivet replies.
Nosa grasps a chain affixed to a small silver cog welded to the side of a similar brass chalice like the one from the museum. "44,030 gold," she says.
Ivet whistles. "Viktor, what'd you get?"
"A ring," you reply. "That stops people from getting grabbed."
"And having that effect on magically all the time is better than slathering yourself with a pot of slippery oil every couple hours, but I don't think it's worth fourty three thousand nine hundred eighty gold more. I'll give you 35."
The metal man delicately sets the crystalline sphere down on the shelf and interposes himself between Ivet and Nosa. "I'm going to save you some time, miss, because I'm a nice guy. This can go back and forth as often as you like, but the price is never going to drop below 43. It's just not profitable otherwise. So why don't we save some trouble and put it there?"
"Fourty one five," Ivet says. "And I want the dress too."
The metal man sighs. "Deal," he says.
With that, Ivet places her chain in the cup, the cup flashes, and the two of you step out into the bustling street.
"Hang on," you say, holding up the ring. "This is for you."
Ivet stops and her eyes widen. "Wait, what? Viktor, I thought this was yours! I can't take that, it's way too much money!"
"I don't care about the money, Ivet. I bought it so, if we fight the Singer again, he won't be able to grab you with his tentacles." She doesn't pull her hand back as you take it and slip the ring over her finger. It shrinks down to fit. "If he hurt you, I don't know what I'd do."
She looks at you quietly for a second, and you wish you could read her expression through her mask better. Suddenly, a passing man who smells like ale yells out, "Kiss him, lady!"
A woman trailing him with her arms at the ready as if she's had to catch him several times already shouts back, "I'm sorry, don't mind him!" She turns to the man with a scowl. "It's too early for you to be this drunk. Keep your mouth shut, imbecile," she chides.
Ivet chuckles awkwardly. She slips her hand out of yours with a strange fluidity that you can't seem to grasp. "Thanks, Viktor," she says, and hugs you.

ChildOfAB 2012/07/18(Wed)14:56 No. 434299 ID: 885ee8
File 134264860412.png - (327.83KB , 720x720 , 37.png )

The two of you wander through the maze of ornate buildings, which gradually become more and more crowded, noisy, and plastered with small streetside shops as you approach the center of the city. you reach a white stone structure with a booth and several circles inscribed on the ground under high archways, and Ivet buys a small slip of paper from a bored-looking young human behind a screen.
You step up to one of the circles with Ivet, and suddenly the city disappears.
The first thing you notice is that, while the clouds and fog of Oasis's domain are gone, the sky is still covered by grey clouds, thin rain drizzling white noise onto the cobblestone outside the archway.
The second thing you notice is more subtle, but it seems quieter here somehow. You have a strange feeling like you've gotten used to hearing some sort of noise your whole life without realizing it, and it's suddenly been stifled.
The third thing you notice is that it's almost exclusively humans hanging around. Humans guarding the entrance, humans manning the ticket counter, the smell of humans all about. One of them, a young human man clad in steel and bearing a spear, greets you from the archway. "Welcome to Fourgate," he says mechanically.
"Thanks," Ivet says. "Would you mind directing me towards Bethiel's?"
The guard nods. "Through this arch, down the main causeway, turn right by the fountain. Giant building, glass all on the front. Can't miss it. You guys need umbrellas? Guy at the counter sells 'em."
"I love the rain!" Ivet replies. "Viktor?"
"I'm fine with sky water," you reply.

ChildOfAB 2012/07/18(Wed)14:57 No. 434300 ID: 885ee8
File 134264862828.png - (355.44KB , 720x720 , 38.png )

The buildings lining the street all seem the same to you, built from utilitarian grey stone without much care for aesthetics. As you make your way down the road, you notice that you and Ivet are getting looks from the few townspeople out in the weather. "What are they?" You hear one man say to another after you pass out of normal hearing range.
"I dunno," the other man replies. "Blue and wet."
As you reach the fountain the guard mentioned, you find that Bethiel's is, in fact, very noticeable. A massive buttressed structure with a sloped, curving front lined with glass looms over the corner. You approach the large glass doors in front and step inside. As soon as you pass over the threshold, a stone tablet with a rune on it blinks overhead. You suddenly feel very dry and clean.
A thin blonde woman with a vacuous expression steps up to greet you. "Welcome to Bethiel's," she says, and smiles like she's been practicing in front of a mirror until it doesn't mean anything. "How can I help you?"

>>434300
Shop around. See if prices are better here. When you eventually get to the equipment in question start pricing the entire set. Don't just go for the cheapest part, since that would be expected. Talk over the merits of each piece with Ivet.

Well, they probably want to sell it as the whole set, because then they can justify a higher price, since you're getting more benefits. There's probably going to be an aggressive sell. Or worse, if they've already disposed of the last recovery team and are suspicious.

Definitely make a show of shopping around (heck, you may even find something else worth purchasing). Settle on the magic boots near the end. If they press you on the whole set, you can claim not to be interested in the extra effects, for it to be too pricey, or you can make the excuse that neither you nor your companion is really the type to run around in full armor.

>>434310
Settle on some wilding clasps, a full set of the Storm gear, and an extra pair of shoes.
Ivet doesn't normally use armor, but with the wilding clasps this would be armor that would give her bonuses even when she's taken the form of a dire honey badger.
Also? If one piece isn't enough then we can sell the rest later.

Don't take assistance at first, examine things. Then ask questions about a wide variety of things. They may have something else we want in addition to the gear we're picking up, and it helps disguise our purpose.

>>434342
Yes.

definitely search around first. if you can, I suggest buying more than one piece of the armor, just to make things easier for your employer, as well as to have a spare just in case something goes wrong. Heck, if shop lady gets killed, we will have powerful magic armor!

Definitely get a list of things they have available, this looks like you may find other things useful.

Tell her you're shopping for sets of magic clothing and a set of wilding clasps, and you've heard they tend to have high quality gear in stock.

ChildOfAB 2012/07/19(Thu)21:53 No. 434812 ID: 885ee8
File 134276001243.png - (336.30KB , 720x720 , 39.png )

>>/questdis/57446 possibly save yourself some time here

You were hoping to be able to get a look at the Stormdancer's Garb without drawing too much attention. "I'm just looking around, thanks," you respond. After you do, you notice that, besides the grand and well lit entryway, the mahogany tables and upholstered chairs and expensive chandelier, there doesn't seem to be much out in the open.
"Certainly," she says, and begins to walk towards one of the many curtained archways lining the back wall. "Right this way."
Ivet looks at you and shrugs, and the two of you start to follow her. As soon as you do, another blonde woman steps out of an alcove by the door and takes up the same position.
You look back and see the lifesigns of several seated figures in the same alcove. A hurried-looking man walks in behind you and holds up a card to the greeter, with the letters VIP printed in large letters. The greeter nods deferentially to him and points towards the alcove. "Welcome back, Mr. Davis. Right this way."
You enter the curtained room at the back, and there is a short, high pitched hum followed by a dim green glow from the walls and entryway. The room is a long, wholly unremarkable affair of grey stone with red woolen carpeting, and no items visible, but four more curtained archways by the door. The woman turns to you. "Now, what can I interest you two in?"
You and Ivet both look at each other with the same slightly confused expression. Deciding to take the initiative, you start off. "Well, for starters, somthing to carry things in, and something to communicate over long ranges."
The woman nods and presses her hand to the wall. A patch of stone bricks in the wall flips over, and two more pop out at ground level, revealing several objects. The woman gestures to the wall racks first where there are four racks of simple round bags on hangers sorted by size. They are all uniformly colored in various hues, with golden beads around the tops. from smallest to largest, they are labelled 2,500, 5,000, 7,400, 10,000. "These are our bags of holding, a popular item. Each is larger on the inside than the outside, and their weight is unaffected by their contents. This is the most popular solution for carrying your gear, and we have four different varieties to suit your needs and budget. We also offer portable holes, which are similar but must be placed on a flat surface to activate. If you would like to see those I can bring them up." She gestures down towards the two shelves next. On the left, there are two small green crystals with identical brass binders, and on the right are two silver necklaces bearing a single white stone. At the base of the crystals is a small tag reading 1,400, and at the base of each medallion are identical tags that read 3,000. "These are sending stones and contact medallions. The stones come in a pair and will allow the bearer to, once a day, communicate 25 words back and forth with the bearer of the other stone, over any distance. The medallions will allow, thrice a day, the wearer to communicate to anyone they know within one mile for one minute, and are not limited to anyone else wearing a medallion."
"I was hoping for something a little more permanent," you respond, thinking that these are the same options that you had at Nosa's.
"Our artificers would be happy to produce custom effects or imbue your own items with a given effect. Of course, they do charge for their time and expertise in addition to the costs associated with producing the item. If you're done here, I'd be happy to direct you to an associate who can assist you with that."
You look to Ivet and remember what effects she seemed interested in in the catalog. "Do you have any Cloaks of Charisma?"
"Of course," the woman replies, and presses her hand to the wall a second time. Another section of wall flips out, revealing five racks of differently-colored, but otherwise identical cloaks with price tags ranging from 4,000 to 100,000.
You look down towards Ivet, who is scowling slightly. "They're all so plain," she says.
Unfazed, the woman continues in the same rehearsed voice. "At Bethiel's, we provide magical items in sleek and modern styles for affordable prices. However, if the designs are not to your liking, if you bring us any items you own, I'd be happy to direct you to an associate who would be happy to put the same magic on those items for a nominal fee. I believe this particular effect works best on garments worn on the head or shoulders, though it can be forced onto anything with additional time and work."
"Do you have anything that will keep these things working if I magically shapeshift?" Ivet asks.
"Ah, are you a druid?" the woman asks.
"I guess so," Ivet replies.
She presses her hand to the wall once more. Two more panels flip back, revealing a set of short gold chains and a green vest with a leafy pattern. "These are wilding clasps, which keep clothing items from melding into your body. I would also recommend this vest, which will allow you to shapeshift more frequently."
"Leafy patterned?" Ivet asks incredulously.
"I believe this effect is most potent on items worn around the body or throat," the woman replies.
All this aside, you see that the prices here are a bit cheaper, but Ivet doesn't seem as pleased with the designs. More than that, though, it looks harder to sneakily bring up this Stormdancer's Garb than you had initially expected. You could just say you heard about it, or you could try to describe the effects you know, or try something sneakier.

>>434812
Well first ask what that VIP thing was about.

>>434812
"I have recently come into a good sum of money and can't help but have want for something unique. Incredible, really. I'm curious if I can sate that here, some very special items and such."

>>434817
excellent, but they don't know how much money we have, and are likely to underestimate.

>>434812
"Hmm... Do you have any sets of clothing intended to work well together? I have an affinity for synergy."

Just ask for the grand tour. See if they have anything special or something they might suggest for the hardcore adventurer.

buy a small bag of holding and a portable hole so you can throw one into the other in case of emergency. it's the bestest of distractions.

the leggings are the cheapest, so ask for something that makes you run and jump faster. for some... sports events. in which enchanted gear is legal to use.

>>434853
Get the largest bag of holding. 10k isn't much right now, and we can store plenty of things in there.
For example? Any extra mass beyond what Viktor can mask, and anything that Viktor or Ivet can't directly touch.

Get Ivet the lightest one though. Viktor can carry basically everything, while Ivet just needs to carry her equipment and such.
Also, look into something that makes breathing optional. Those are always good to have on hand.

>>434865

a large one too. the small one is for... disposable purposes.

>>434866
The largest one is 60 pounds. That's more than Ivet would normally carry in it.
The lightest one is 15 pounds, which about as much as a 10' pole, 100' of silk rope, and 50' of chain. All of which are vital for adventurers.

So yes, Ivet gets the lightest one. Any extras would be in addition to that.

(No, we are not going to use a D&D nuke. That is always a terrible idea.)

Could just ask her for something that would make Ivet better for getting away from fighting and whatnot.
"Money is no object, something that would go well with this ring of freedom of movement I just bought for her would be nice. Maybe in blue?"

Get a 2500 bag for Ivet and a 5000 bag for yourself. Also get a message crystal pair. Not exactly what you wanted, but good for emergencies and not very expensive. Something seems strange about this saleswoman though. What do your senses say about her? Is she human, elf or something else? Could she be under some kind of enchantment?

Maybe you could provide her with a unique problem that the Stormdancer kit could solve? Meaning she brings it up instead of you. Ask if it is ok to show her a magical ability of yours without setting off magical alarms. If it's fine then demonstrate and explain that you have a rare ability to alter your mass, but that it doesn't speed you up as much as holds you down and lets you hit like a golem. If there only was something that could let you fight and move using your full power with less of the drawbacks then that could help you with monster hunting, which is what you intend to do... None if it is necessarily a lie and the Stormdancers Garbs lightening and quickening effects would work quite well with what you described. Try to appear like you've got money to spend. Maybe glance over at Ivet and hint jokingly that anything less plain would be nice too.

The bags seem good to get.

Let's avoid the unstylish accessories. A small markup seems worth getting designs that will actually be appealing. Especially on something like a cloak of charisma, really.

Hmm. The setup here means you can really only see items you were interested in. It's kind of impossible to bring our target up casually. They're going to be suspicious the moment we ask after them. (Man, what kind of shop is reluctant to sell goods? Why not sell it after stealing? I guess they want to hurt their competition more than anything else...).

I suppose we could ask after the effect. Got anything that allows quicker movement and jumping?

>>434872
We don't know what the Stormdancer set looks like, and blue isn't Ivet's color.
Also? Money IS an object. We have lots of cash, but not so much that we don't need to be selective.

>>434885
Viktor has a carrying capacity of a few hundred pounds before he starts suffering encumbrance penalties. The largest one is affordable and would add both 1440 pounds and unlimited bulk to that. There's no reason to go for the middle ground.

>>434893
This place is about market value and unstylish. Nora is stylish but more expensive.
Custom work here is very, very expensive.
Custom work at Nora's is relatively cheap.

Viktor: How edible would you rate the employees? That should tell us if they're people or puppets.

Also: We could buy a random piece of the set based on its effects and then head home via teleporter and complete this quest.
After that we immediately head off for here and disguise ourselves as The Singer along the way. Then we loot the shop and steal the rest of the set alongside basically everything else.

Suddenly The Singer has a huge bounty on his head. We show up in different forms and offer to sell information about The Singer's lair. After we kill the singer we come back here as Ivet and Viktor and bring some of the stuff we stole as proof and claim the reward.
Bam, Big Damn Hero reputations and lots of money.

>>434958
>unlimited bulk
No, it's 250 cu. ft. of volume.

the portable hole is preferable to the bags of holding, as you can fit much larger, potentially animate things into it.

>bag of holding and a portable hole
>put one in the other
only if you intend to kamikaze a demigod.

>>435000
Demigods would only be mildly inconvenienced by it. It just draws in everything in a 10 ft radius and sends it to the Astral Plane, nonlethally. The Astral Plane isn't even dangerous, it's just not easy to get out of if you're not a mage.

>It's kind of impossible to bring our target up casually.
Start describing items that would have a similar effects to those of components of the Stormdancer's Garb. Reject them being 'inadequate', until either the guide gives in and mentions the Garb, or begins to look uncomfortable, in which case ask for someone else to help you. Either she'll want to keep any commission she earns and show you to the garb, or you'll be passed up to someone with more clout you can negotiate with.

>She slips her hand out of yours with a strange fluidity that you can't seem to grasp.
At some point we'll have to add some sort of selective immunity to that ring, or plan Save Ivet From Falling To Her Death will completely fail to hit any snags.

>>435062
You can choose to be grappled if you want to be. The ring just lets you automatically succeed any opposing checks.

ChildOfAB 2012/07/23(Mon)02:50 No. 435404 ID: 885ee8
File 134303700007.png - (361.17KB , 720x720 , 40.png )

This woman does seem a little offputting, but you can hear her heart beating and smell the blood in her veins, even through whatever artificial stench she's got on. She certainly seems edible enough. You become more aware of your stomach growling and shake your mind from that train of thought. You pluck up the sending stones and rifle through the largest rack of bags of holding, settling on a black one. "I'll take the sending stones and two of the Bags of Holding." You offer Ivet one of the stones and nod your head towards the rack
"Oh!" she exclaims, taking the proffered stone. "Yeah those are handy. Can I see how heavy they are real quick?"
The blonde woman gestures towards them. "Of course. The sending stones are thought-activated, very intuitive. You simply will it to activate, and then think the words you wish to send into the stone. The sensation is often described as feeling the words click into place as they are selected, so that you may choose your limited message as efficiently as possible. I also feel I must warn you that bags of holding operate via portals to an interdimensional storage space. While our bags of holding that we create are designed to simply close when placed inside another bag of holding, combining these items with bags of holding crafted by other shops or combining them with other objects that create interdimensional pockets can cause unusual and sometimes dangerous results."
Ivet hefts up the smallest bag appreciatively as you address what you've been mentally stewing over. "So, to be perfectly honest, we've recently gotten a rather large sum of money. Beyond a few minor magical items of use, what I'm really searching for is something unique. Something very special." You look over to Ivet. "..likely something less plain, if you have such things."
The woman smiles and places her hand on the wall again. The pedestal once containing the sending stones retreats back inside the wall, while several additional racks pop out. "Such items often find their way into the store," she explains. "To be honest, the vast majority are worth more to us when broken down into magical essence to be reworked. We do maintain a small collection of objects of historical value, however."
You notice, as the final panel clicks into place in the wall, something blink into existence over the woman's shoulder. You can't seem to make out any sort of shape, it just seems to be a nebulous, invisible form. It drifts idly up and towards the center of the ceiling.
The woman gestures towards the pedestals, which are lacking price tags. Ivet looks down the row, makes a sound like a stifled laugh, and then coughs.
You make an educated guess that the object that caught Ivet's attention is what is undoubtedly the Stormdancer's Garb; a garish collection of silver, gold, blue, indigo, and various gems glowing in strange combinations of those colors all over. Draped over the shoulders is a greyish-blue cloak that slowly waves in an invisible wind and billows out into puffs of grey steam.
"I see you are interested in that piece. Called the Stormdancer's Garb, there are several conflicting tales of its origin, but the most popular is that it was forged out of the essence of storm elementals by an eccentiric monk who idolized the raw power of the storm. Using it, it is said that he carved a bloody path of vengeance through an empire of demonic giants, and upon completing his quest attuned himself to the storm so well that he became one with it." She takes a few steps up to its pedestal and holds out her hands. "If such tales are true, magical inspection has revealed no evidence that such an ability is possessed by the suit itself, but the magic is very impressive nonetheless."
She gestures to each item of the collection as she explains its purpose. "With the Nimbus Feet, you can step and glide through the air currents just as if they were solid earth. The Legs of the Gale allow you to run and leap more swiftly and surely than before. The Storm's Eye Vest surrounds you in a pocket of clean, breathable air and allows you to call forth a whirlwind. The Fists of Thunderstrike empower your melee attacks with electrical energy and allow you to direct the winds around you. But the most impressive piece of the set is the Cloak of the Thunderhead. It allows the wearer to channel themselves into a lightning bolt and subsequent boom of thunder, returning to physical form at any point along the lightning's bolt. Furthermore, the suit is empowered by being together." She gestures to a golden horned mask and black clawed gauntlet beside her. "We have encountered pieces of other such sets before, but having them all together in one place is a rare and special occurrence. We value the entire set at 252,000 gold."
>>/questdis/57588

>>435404
It sounds like they only want to sell the thing all at once, and honestly I don't think anyone would want to buy it in pieces. So, it looks like we're going to be buying all of it, and maybe keeping a few of the less-garish pieces for Ivet. Or hell, having the effects copied so she can wear the full set without looking ridiculous.

Ask what the other things are! The mask in particular looks like something Viktor could wear even when shapeshifted.

>>435404
Cloak, shoes and gloves would be very useful. The cloak looks as if we could wear it even if we shapeshift.

The whole set costs a bit to much to be worth it now. We should be able to buy the rest for less when it can be reproduced.

Look at some of the other unique stuff as well.

>>435404
You're holding one of those stones and Ivet's holding another, right? Send her a message.
/* Tempting enchantments, and setting trends for jesters? A bargain! How low do you think we can get the set? 220? /*

have Ivet haggle. maybe starting at about 170k?

what do the mask and gauntlet do?

Okay, yeah. There's no way they want to sell these things as anything but a set. It's a nice set, yes, but it's also half our money. And I'm not sure how useful all this armor would be for shapeshifters. Granted, flying storm-goddess Ivet would be pretty cool.

The floaty wisp thing you're probably not supposed to be able to see. It's some kind of magical security since they brought out the expensive stuff. Could be a remote observer for the owner and/or security, it could be some kind of ward or alarm, it could be some kind of automatic mind rape spell that attacks shoplifters or people who ask the wrong questions. Regrettably, you have no way to know for sure what it does without setting it off.

>>435409
If we want to test the magic communication item with a small words per day limit, ideally the test should be *very* short so we can still use them later. One word long, ideally.

>>435429
You don't get a number of words per day, you get a number of sendings. There are no rollover words; sendings are up to 25 words each.

>>435429
It is not 25 words per day, it is once per day, up to 25 words. That is just how the effect works.

Ask about the other items in the display. Best not to seem too eager. "Well it certainly is eye catching. The creator was clearly not one for subtlety. What are these other partial sets?"

Ivet probably needs a wilding clasp. The tacky leafy vest we can skip on. Of the things in the stormdancer set, the cloak is the only thing a biological shapeshifter like Viktor would have an easy time keeping in place, unless they are also enchanted to resize on the fly. That would be worth asking about I suppose. The cloak also has an interesting unique enchantment, and doesn't look totally stupid by itself. Ask if they would be willing to split up their collection for the right price.

Of the others, the shoes are the most generally useful, but that is a simpler enchantment that other, less expensive shoes could emulate. No plausible reason to buy them without buying at least half the set.
The speed boost from the leggings are nothing to sneeze at, but jump checks would be mostly obsolete with the shoes.
The gloves have an unusual ability that requires fairly specific circumstances to really shine, but might occasionally be useful, and a minor damage boost that is nonetheless interesting because it would presumably stack with enchantments on a weapon. Nice for both what Victor PRETENDS to be, and what he IS.
The vest's permanent effect also requires some specific circumstances to really be useful, but they are circumstances that might come up down the road vis-a-vis god of the abyss. And hey, making everyone around you fall over is always fun.

Well, it's certainly not plain.
We should not give this up or feel pressured to buy the whole thing just because talking to salespeople is hard. Of course she is trying to sell the whole thing, she probably works on commission. We don't want the whole thing, because it looks awful. Which of us is gonna wear that? We should get one piece, and see if we can get the other lady to put the magic for the rest of the set into something that looks nicer.
How about this, use the sending stone to get Ivet to say something about how it looks ridiculous, except for the pants. Go from there, but be firm and don't back down. And yeah, show an interest in the other stuff too, especially that mask, it has too many details drawn on it to be a meaningless background prop. The other shopkeeper knows they're selling the pants alone for 18000, so they must have prices for the individual pieces somehow.
Besides, Viktor is hungry. If the other groups didn't give up because of pushy salespeople, then that means this shop will probably send someone after Viktor to get it back, meaning more food for him.

>>435457

Agree with this guy; don't we want to be inconspicuous? When the heck could we wear this thing?

>>435457
shhhh. we are not thinking about the other shop in case they have mind reading probes.
:V

Victor is probably immune to Mind reading spells. Get the whole set so Nosa can copy all of the abilities. Also, she'll probably super extra double greatful that we got them all back, and we can probably trade her for a copied set that Ivet would be willing to wear.

Ask about helm and gloves.

>>435595
they are both immune to mind reading spells, as well as spells that make you tell the truth, and Nosa said she can copy the entire set from just one piece. There is no reason to buy any more than the cheapest piece of the set.

>>435606
Don't forget, we're trying to avoid suspicion, so we should probably pick a different piece of the set. Its appearance is a good reason to give if they insist that we buy the whole set.

We should also ask about other items before returning the conversation to the Stormdancer's Garb. Never give away what item you actually want while bargaining.

>>435626
AVOID suspicion? Once we have at least one piece we don't really care if they are suspicious or not.

Shit, here I am contemplating making an off-hand comment about having Nosa, specifically, rework the set to not be so damn hideous. Or ask what they did to the last group Nosa sent.

We only need to keep them from getting suspicious until they don't have the option of refusing our business. After that they would have to resort to crime to stop us, which would confirm our suspicions that they did something to the last team while at the same time legitimizing the use of violence. Vik would get to eat and we would get to loot magic items all while staying lawful.

While the effects are rather impressive, it isn't really our style. Not looking to drop that much money so we can look silly. The cloak sounds like it actually looks decent, would probably go with our viking form damn well.

Here's my proposal, buy the cloak and the shoes, state reasons of fashion as your motivation(it's true). The saleswoman will likely be hesitant to part with only a portion of the set, it is definitely worth more all together. If she can't be convinced to let us buy only certain pieces, maybe offer to pay more for those specific pieces than we would otherwise have had we bought the entire set. Still cheaper for us as a whole.

Hopefully when we get whatever piece back to whatsherface, she can duplicate the enchantment without being quite so hideous.

The reason to buy more than one part of the garb is because we actually WANT parts of it. Even if the other shop lady can duplicate it, Viktor is not going to sit around and wait for the possibly months it would take her to actually accomplish that task.

It is a impressive magic set. But also is ugly and we do not know if our shape changing would ruin it. Ask if it has any secondary enchantment for that sort of thing. Sure we could just absorb it into our body when we shift but do not let them know that.

Just get the boots, maybe. They're probably the least tacky thing in that ensemble, right? ...Right?

>>435404
Ask about the gauntlets and the shoes. Also ask about the mask and the gauntlet from the other set. Those look intriguing and we can't just focus on the prize.

ChildOfAB 2012/07/28(Sat)13:21 No. 437134 ID: 5033e8
File 134350687028.jpg - (1.18MB , 1697x1467 , scan0001.jpg )

Trying not to overstate your interest in the suit, you move on to the other two items she mentioned. "And what about these?"
She gestures to the golden mask first. "This item is known as the Dragonhawk's Visage. A refurbished artifact whose other pieces have been lost to time. It empowers divine spellcasting abilities, especially those related to fire, and we value it at 42,000 gold." She gestures to the gauntlet next. "You might be wondering why this gauntlet doesn't come in pairs, like most. It is called Shadowthief. It creates a shadow version of itself on your other hand when you put it on. When activated, it drains the life force from the target of the shadow gauntlet and channels it into the target of the real one or yourself. We value it at 28,000. These are both recent acquisitions."
"Most of these artifacts seem to be things you wear," Ivet says, finally settling on a small tan bag. "Do you ever see any weapons or tools or anything else?"
"From time to time," the woman responds. "Not all artifacts are parts of a set, although these two are."
"Could we convince you to split up a set?" Ivet asks.
The woman retains her vaguely cheerful expression. "While we would strongly discourage such a thing, I would be willing to make that happen. In such cases, we require that the buyer pay an additional fee for the loss of value of the rest of the set overall, as well as take on a geas to not sell the items to another shop."
"Huh, interesting. Are there ever weapon sets? Like, a bunch of daggers that look the same but do different things or something?" Ivet asks, opening up the bag of holding and peering inside nonchalantly. "Sorry if I'm asking a lot of questions, this is just really interesting," she says.
"We haven't encountered anything like that, but it's always possible. Are you two interested in weapons?" the woman asks.
Ivet shrugs and looks at you. "Not really," you reply. "Maybe if it's in the budget after we take care of our protective items. I don't suppose there's any way we could try these out?"
The woman gestures to the curtained arches in the wall opposite the items. "You are welcome to change in here. If you would like to test any of the more destructive abilities we can arrange a secure area for you."
You hear Ivet's voice in your head, though you don't see her speak. "I could say the set looks ugly except for the pants. Your call."
What do you do?

Empowers divine abilities, huh? As a fragment of a god, I wonder if that would boost Vic's natural powers? They mostly don't count as spellcasting though. And testing our unique stuff where we could be seen could be... problematic.

Vampricic life channeling gloves are interesting, but not really relevant, I think. I'm not sure they'd work on the Singer, or if Vic's the kind of evil thing that might be hurt by that kind of healing.

A geas... is problematic. We might be able to rely on powers to see / break the spell. Or, if it's worded poorly enough, we could bypass it (never said we couldn't give it to another shop. Or return it, since it was stolen). They're probably savvy enough to have worded it well though.

>>437134
Reply to Ivet "No Geas, thanks. Lets buy the set. Bargain her down - trend setting for jesters?"

We're resistant to things like that, aren't we? It's why we decided to accept this job in the first place. Ivet knows more about fashion than you do, so if she thinks the pants are the least heinous you'll take her word for it.

Try on the DragonHawk mask, see if it does anything for you or gives you any abilities.

>>437134
Let's buy Shadowthief. The full set of that should be very interesting. The mask isn't useful for us... but druid spells are considered to be Divine magic. Maybe buying that would pay off too!

Buy the pants and boots of the Stormdancer set. We'll keep the pants and give the other shop the boots.

No resale ever? Well thats a bit harsh. Who are they to dictate what a customer does with their own possessions? They already made their profit on the item, after all. And why? Are they trying to be the only store in the planes stocking artifacts or something? Strange behavior.

Anyway, I find myself curious what happens if a god-shard wears something that enhances divine casting. Ask to try that one out, see if you feel anything. And try out the practical applications of the Stormcaller gloves' melee bonus. The Shadowthief is a pretty nifty thing too, if Stormcaller gloves work, I dunno which I prefer between the two of them.

(I dunno what everybody is so worried about the geas for. That is EXACTLY the sort of mind affecting spell we are both supposed to be immune to.)

>>437146
Huh, I thought Geas functioned more like a curse.

Well, then buy the leggings, the mask, and the glove. We're going to bring Nosa all kinds of fun goodies!

>>437134
I want both the new ones, for resale if nothing else. Also, who knows if our warlock powers count as divine for those purposes?

I'm pretty sure Ivet doesn't actually want the pants- They're just the cheapest and what we were sent for. Personally, I'd like the shoes and the gloves.

Actually, I think we should avoid the pants. They're the least useful, thus why they're the cheapest, and that's probably a sign to the shop that you're doing exactly what we're doing.

I vote buy shoes and shadow gloves for Ivet, mask and lightning gloves for ourselves, if the mask works.

>>437134
Actually, what I personally want to do is this: Tell them that this is a major monetary investment and that we need to think about it. Go back home, leave Ivet there, purchase a scroll of teleportation, come back the next day, try the entire set on and then hulk smash through the walls and steal everything.

Or bring Ivet and then also invite Lothar and the whole crew. Have a party, learn about defenses, plan things out.

She wants to put a geis on us to not do the very thing we plan to do. Obviously this is not acceptable. We should go with "sleep on it", and discuss renegotiated terms with our client. And she might also be down to use her forge to complete the set for those other two items. How useful those items might be is something we don't yet know, though. Perhaps we're better off simply keeping our gold in hand and ignoring this merchant conflict.

I hope Nosa has the services of a very high-level spellcaster. it's all pointless otherwise.

unless Vik shapeshifts into a halfling somewhere and steals it during the night.

>Geas/Quest: Enchantment (Compulsion) [Language-Dependent, Mind-Affecting]
>Immunity to all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns, and morale effects).

What is hard about this, people? We knew this was coming. It is why we volunteered for the mission in the first place.

>>437153
Shoes and gloves sound good. Try them and the other artifacts on, first.

If we're immune to the geas, then by all means we should just buy a cheap piece and be off.

The important consideration if they'll be able to tell we're immune when they attempt to force it on us. If they can, they may have additional objections or conditions.

BUY THE FUCK OUT OF THAT HELMET. MELT SINGER'S FACE OF WITH MIND BULLETS.

THEN MELT ALL YOUR ENEMIES FACES OFF WITH MIND BULLETS.
YOUR POWERS ARE DIVINE IN NATURE, AND WE HAVE ALREADY SEEN ONE OF YOUR KIND USE FIRE, BOTH AS A WEAPON AND COVERING ITS ENTIRE BODY. FUCK YEAH.

>>437220
I concur.

I mostly just wanted the set so nobody else could have it, but Victor is a Gentlemen and unlikely to adopt such a childish attitude.

Try the mask out first.

>>437134
Ok, yea, we're buying the mask, glove, and leggings.
If Nosa can reproduce all three sets all the better, but dat mask~ BF

ChildOfAB 2012/08/03(Fri)14:06 No. 438921 ID: 885ee8
File 134402797527.png - (303.97KB , 720x720 , 41.png )

You discretely thumb your sending stone and think back to Ivet. "Agreed. I am interested in these other things, too. We are immune to geas, right?"
You see Ivet nod subtly in the affirmative. "I'm not gonna lie, this Stormdancer thing is kinda janky, but I still like the sound of its abilities. Mind if I try it on?" she asks.
The woman removes the set from the stone mannequin and ushers Ivet into the dressing room as you pick up and inspect the gold mask.
The woman makes note of your interest. "Cleric?" she asks, "or perhaps another druid?"
"Not exactly," you reply.
She nods. "In this town we have various schools and academies to learn different disciplines, but we acknowledge that the disciplines aren't necessarily divided in the same way elsewhere. If you'd explain to me how you tend to operate in combat, I could better assist you with picking something that would be beneficial."
"I'm not sure that will be necessary," you reply, "...or possible." You set the gold mask back down on the stone head and pick up the glove.
"As you wish, sir, though I'm sure we can arrange something. Just let me know if you need anything else."
"Thanks," you respond, slipping the gauntlet on.
Arcs of black energy instantly cascade over your body. It coalesces into a black glove over your right hand, but doesn't stop there. Wispy streams of blackness course over you and solidify in random places, forming hands embedded in and emerging from your body and faux clothing.
The woman displays the most emotion you've seen yet as she recoils in shock. "Oh...oh no. Sir, can you- everything's fine. Take off the glove, though, please, sir. Do you um do you need help?"

>>438921
Take the glove off
"I seem to be alright, but I do not believe that is the intended effect.
I know somebody who can fix magic items; I am still interested, but I think the asking price assumes it is working."

Buy the mask, the gauntlet, and whatever part(s) of the stormdancer outfit Ivet likes.

Haha, what happened there? Anyway, take the glove off, I guess.

Did you feel any effect from the mask? Do you have to try it on to tell?

Try to smile disarmingly. Or, at least, try not to frighten her MORE with your smile. "Don't worry, I doubt it is malfunctioning. But yes, I do not think I will be able to use this artifact."

Don't mention the person you know who can fix artifacts, don't buy anything yet, don't give this away dammit.

Oh, goodness. It created shadow hands for your extra limbs.

That's potentially cool in combat, if that means you can use it do do more attacks than is intended. Probably burns out of charges faster that way though. And it ruins your stealth.

So it's not worth getting, I'd say. Remove it, say your fine. Return the object so they can verify it's undamaged.

Okay, you've broken her out of her routine. Ham it up! I guess it made a shadow glove for all your tentacles? Can you control them? Freak out, make the black claws look like they're spazzing out and clawing at you. If she tries to take the glove off, have the hands all grab onto it. Whenever it finally comes off, be very offended. Say you're going to tell everyone this shop is dangerous. They might give you a discount to keep you quiet.

>>438921
Oh wow, we've confused it.

Tell her it does appear to be malfunctioning, but you're somewhat interested in experimenting with it on your own to see if you can get it to work. Let's buy it, but try to haggle her down since it SEEMS like a defective item.
(the other pieces in the set will probably be confused as well, but that could result in some strong magical effects if we're lucky!)

How many arms can it make? If you form arms after putting it on, do the hands relocate, or make new ones? SO MANY THINGS TO EXPERIMENT WITH

don't tell her shit. especially that you're a shapeshifter. shapeshifters are suspicious number one.

ask for the stormy pants before she comes out of shock and starts thinking straight again. take the glove off afterwards.

>>438934
If we wanted to use it, we could use shifting to very rapidly equip it in combat and not wear it at other times.