Finding the Spark (Pathfinder 1E Quest)
- Thread starter DragonParadox
- Start date
- Fantasy
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- Tags
- pathfinder
- Location
- being near locations is my passion.
I'm not actually sure how many we asked for, but I don't wanna pay for them. It's a lot of money we promised. I wanna murder and loot these slavers - the guy we used to find the barge looks to be some sort of necromancer, and he might have something interesting. All we need is to buy time for a long rest.
[X] Tell Me Your Sins + Dealing with the consequence of our clever schemes.
-[X] Interrogation
--[X] Kori activates the Glibness power of his bracers to gain a +20 Bluff bonus for the next 70 minutes. The Drow holds a great deal of information in his head which could prove valuable, but he isn't likely to share it if he believes doing so won't spare his life.
---[X] "Even if you do not worship the Blood Marquis, your hands are still stained with the blood of untold innocents. If you wish to save yourself, you will tell us everything we want to know. Prove that you can be useful enough to justify the risk of leaving you alive, and share enough that you can never hope to return to Zirnakaynin or any other Drow stronghold for fear of the repercussions for your betrayal, and arrangements will be made to secure your continued existence. We will cast spells upon you to aid us in this. You will allow the spells to take hold, or you will be slain. If you are untruthful, you will be slain. Do you agree?" Sirim will provide Aid Another assistance with Kori's Bluffing.
----[X] If he accepts, Kori will use Shadow Enchantment to cast a Suggestion Spell on him with instructions to answer our questions to the best of his ability. Kori will use his headband to cast Detect Thoughts on the Drow to monitor his surface thoughts throughout the interrogation.
----[X] If the Drow refuses, Cob, Pisca and Gork have readied actions to render him unconscious. In this case, we will resort to the alternative; After we wake him up, Mina will use her Evil Eye Hex to penalize his saving throws by -2 followed by casting an Ill Omen spell to force bad rerolls on him, then Shadow Enchantment: Suggestion by Sirim [If Fortune Hex can affect Caster Level Checks to beat SR, Mina uses Fortune on Sirim] (Kori attempts the spell again (with Fortune to beat SR) if the first one fails) and Kori also uses Detect Thoughts.
----[X] If the Drow resists both Suggestion attempts, we will kill him. Offer to attempt Speak With Dead tomorrow, with the intention of burning the corpse to ash after the attempt is made.
----[X] At this point, Sirim and Cob leave to deal with the slavers (Kori casts Bestow Insight: Bluff into Cob's Ring of Spell storing).
----[X] Throughout this process, Mina will observe using Detect Magic to confirm that both spell effects have succeeded and that they remain in effect. If he chose not to cooperate and we had to try to overcome his resistance, we will kill him if the Suggestion spell ends prematurely.
--[X] If the spells succeed, or we successfully cast Suggestion against his will, we will begin the interrogation.
----[X] How long has he been in Cassomir and what has he been doing here? Who are his contacts here and how did he meet them?
----[X] How many other Drow are in and below the city? What does he know of their assigned tasks and any plan they may have had? What can he tell us of the three-eyed Elf we discovered through Divination?
----[X] Did he receive additional instructions after coming to the surface? If so, how, when, and from whom?
----[X] Who is Marian Cicato and what are his dealings with them?
----[X] Does he have any safe houses or caches of supplies hidden in Cassomir or elsewhere? If so, where, what do they contain, and how are they protected?
---[X] What are his intentions if he is allowed to live? What does he plan to do when he eats his freedom? Will he seek revenge for his capture, or the death of his co-conspirators?
----[X] Who was his Matron and from which House does he originate? How long has it been since he left Zirnakaynin?
----[X] What does he know of the political situation in Zirnakaynin and the surrounding city-states, not only of the Drow but the Duergar and other people's as well? What Houses are ascendant and which are in decline? To which Demon Lords are they subservient?
--[X] After the interrogation, if the Drow refused to cooperate, he will be killed.
-[X] The slave deal:
--[X] Cob (disguised as a halfling) and Sirim leave for the where the trade is to take place as soon as Sirim finishes aiding Kori's Bluff attempt.
--[X] Cob casts Shadow Enchantment: Bestow Insight: Bluff from his ring on Sirim just before the meeting. The intent is to get time for a long rest and then go can rescue these slaves and kill (and loot) the slavers involved.
--[X] Excuse for why we need to delay: Sirim is sent as messenger: "My master's divinations suddenly gave dire omens for us; if your wares were to be purchased morning as previously intended, and I was sent as soon as they were able to confirm that window of peril closes twelve hours from now [i.e. time for long rest]. As you still procured the product in the time requested and the delay caused by needs of safety was no fault of yours, my master will pay you in full when we have inspected them, with a (small) consideration for the unexpected need to store the inventory for longer. My master is confident that your professionalism in this matter will show them that you will be a reliable supplier in the future."
--[X] Note: This slaver just lost his primary buyer, and if we're lucky then he has people watching the barge and has already recived word that it was attacked, and that a bunch of people trying to escape were killed. He's going to want a new income source.
--[X] Cob can provide a second pair of eyes in the area (but is not part of the conversation/is hidden from the slavers), though is primarily present with a Handy Haverstack to help Sirim escape if anything goes tits-up: If loosing the trail proves difficult, Sirim can enter Cob's bag, and Cob can teleport up to 100 ft, and use Alter Shape into a different form in order to loose any pursuers.
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Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
You sure? We were supposed to meet at dawn to purchase the slaves, but the raid on the barge took place less than an hour before dawn, IIRC.
- Location
- being near locations is my passion.
Even if it's a bit late, Sirim (and Cob) can still hopefully try to buy time for a long rest.
If the sellers are still present, waiting for the incredible amount of money we promised and to offload the hot goods (illegal slaves), we can make the attempt to bluff.
If we are late, I think that they'd at least have someone waiting in case we send a messenger to explain why we didn't show up for the deal.
If the sellers are not there, then... we tried.
If the sellers are still present, waiting for the incredible amount of money we promised and to offload the hot goods (illegal slaves), we can make the attempt to bluff.
If we are late, I think that they'd at least have someone waiting in case we send a messenger to explain why we didn't show up for the deal.
If the sellers are not there, then... we tried.
*checks back*, right sorry I forgot the time it took you to get into position there. You have about 30 minutes to get there. There's time, but not a lot
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
The problem is this is a 13th level Drow, meaning he has Spell Resistance 19 at a minimum and a +8 Will saving throw bonus, assuming a Wisdom of 10. The best chance we have by far to overcome his SR and Will save us on Sirim's first casting of Shadow Enchantment.
He casts the spell at 8th level, so he only has a 45% chance of beating SR. Ill Omen will give us one reroll on the SR check. If Sirim beats that, he still has to win two Will saves. The Will DC of his spell is 20 vs a Will save of 8+. The first save will also get another forced bad reroll from Ill Omen. The second save, if there is one, will just be a toss up without extra rerolls.
If we have to rely on Kori's spell, it's even more unlikely to succeed. His caster level and spell DC is lower. There is only so much effort we should spend on a task before the sunk cost fallacy begins to apply, IMO.
There is a lot of the day left and we may have just kicked over a massive hornet's nest. I don't want us to be completely out of spell slots in case shit hits the fan today.
I'm pretty sure DP is just mistaken due to sleep deprivation. We should be well past the meeting time by now.
With the benefit of hindsight, I wish we hadn't pushed for a sell at dawn, even if it was the pressure of arranging that which allowed Sirim to get all that useful info from Skali's head when we were spying on him.
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
Ah, gotcha. Okay, we can work with that if we hurry.
@BeepSmile, I'm going to make an addition to my plan to try to get the slaves and Skali.
- Location
- being near locations is my passion.
Beating SR is a Caster Level check done by the attacker, not a save/skill check done by the defender. Ill Omen won't help with SR.
My read of Fortune is that it does affect Caster Level checks to beat SR, but I'm not sure. DP, can Fortune do this?
(Also, if Fortune does help CL checks to bear SR, then Mina can ready a Readied Action to [Fortune herself next round], then next round she can use her standard action to [cast Ill Omen].
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
Plan updated.
The new part for delaying the slave deal is at the bottom in red.
[X] Tell Me Your Sins
-[X] Kori activates the Glibness power of his bracers to gain a +20 Bluff bonus for the next 70 minutes. The Drow holds a great deal of information in his head which could prove valuable, but he isn't likely to share it if he believes doing so won't spare his life.
--[X] "Even if you do not worship the Blood Marquis, your hands are still stained with the blood of untold innocents. If you wish to save yourself, you will tell us everything we want to know. Prove that you can be useful enough to justify the risk of leaving you alive, and share enough that you can never hope to return to Zirnakaynin or any other Drow stronghold for fear of the repercussions for your betrayal, and arrangements will be made to secure your continued existence. We will cast spells upon you to aid us in this. You will allow the spells to take hold, or you will be slain. If you are untruthful, you will be slain. Do you agree?" Sirim will provide Aid Another assistance with Kori's Bluffing.
---[X] If he accepts, Kori will use Shadow Enchantment to cast a Suggestion Spell on him with instructions to truthfully answer our questions to the best of his ability, then use his headband to cast Detect Thoughts on the Drow to monitor his surface thoughts throughout the interrogation.
---[X] If the Drow refuses, Cob will render him unconscious. In this case, we will resort to the alternative; While he is unconscious, Mina will use her Evil Eye Hex to penalize his saving throws by -2 followed by casting an Ill Omen spell to force bad rerolls on him, then Sirim's Shadow Enchantment Suggestion and Kori's Detect Thoughts before waking him up for interrogation. Mina will try to use her Fortune Hex to help them overcome the Drow's Spell Resistance for their Ill Omen and Shadow Enchantment spells, if she is able. If the Drow resists the Suggestion attempt, Gorok will kill him.
---[X] Throughout this process, Mina will observe using Detect Magic to confirm that both spell effects have succeeded and that they remain in effect. If he chose not to cooperate and we had to try to overcome his resistance, Gorok will kill him if the Suggestion spell ends prematurely.
-[X] If the spells succeed, or we successfully cast Suggestion against his will, we will begin the interrogation.
---[X] How long has he been in Cassomir and what has he been doing here? Who are his contacts here and how did he meet them?
---[X] How many other Drow are in and below the city? What does he know of their assigned tasks and any plan they may have had? What does he know of the three-eyed Elf we discovered through Divination?
---[X] Did he receive additional instructions after coming to the surface? If so, how, when, and from whom?
---[X] Who is Marian Cicato and what are his dealings with them?
---[X] Does he have any safe houses or caches of supplies hidden in Cassomir or elsewhere? If so, where, what do they contain, and how are they protected?
--[X] What are his intentions if he is allowed to live? What does he plan to do when he eats his freedom? Will he seek revenge for his capture, or the death of his co-conspirators?
---[X] Who was his Matron and from which House does he originate? How long has it been since he left Zirnakaynin?
---[X] What does he know of the political situation in Zirnakaynin and the surrounding city-states, not only of the Drow but the Duergar and other people's as well? What Houses are ascendant and which are in decline? To which Demon Lords are they subservient?
---[X] After the interrogation, if the Drow refused to cooperate, he will be killed.
-[X] Postponing the slave purchase:
--[X] While the Drow is being interrogated, Sirim and Cob will hurry out to intercept Skali and/or his men before they reach the agreed upon meeting point in the Locker. If they are too late and Skali's people have already arrived, they will adjust accordingly. Cob will use a different Halfling disguise, but he will try to remain unseen. Once they get within range of the other group, Sirim will remain hidden while contacting them telepathically to warn them.
---[X] "Beware!" he exclaims into their minds. "Busybodies are out and about as the night gives way to the light. There has already been at least one raid by agents of the crown in the past hour. My master's Divinations warn against making the exchange today lest we draw unwanted attention from those same agents. Return to your den for now and await a messenger bird. We will send you a new location for the exchange of merchandise when it is safe to do so. As the fault lies not with you, expect to be paid the full agreed upon price for each suitable subject."
--[X] Kori will cast an Extended Invisibility spell into Cob's Ring of Spell Storing before they go, and a Shadow Enchantment Bestow Insight (Bluff) into Gorok's ring. Cob will carry both rings when he departs. He will use the Invisibility spell as he deems necessary and cast the Bestow Insight on Sirim before he warms the slavers.
The new part for delaying the slave deal is at the bottom in red.
--[X] "Even if you do not worship the Blood Marquis, your hands are still stained with the blood of untold innocents. If you wish to save yourself, you will tell us everything we want to know. Prove that you can be useful enough to justify the risk of leaving you alive, and share enough that you can never hope to return to Zirnakaynin or any other Drow stronghold for fear of the repercussions for your betrayal, and arrangements will be made to secure your continued existence. We will cast spells upon you to aid us in this. You will allow the spells to take hold, or you will be slain. If you are untruthful, you will be slain. Do you agree?" Sirim will provide Aid Another assistance with Kori's Bluffing.
---[X] If he accepts, Kori will use Shadow Enchantment to cast a Suggestion Spell on him with instructions to truthfully answer our questions to the best of his ability, then use his headband to cast Detect Thoughts on the Drow to monitor his surface thoughts throughout the interrogation.
---[X] If the Drow refuses, Cob will render him unconscious. In this case, we will resort to the alternative; While he is unconscious, Mina will use her Evil Eye Hex to penalize his saving throws by -2 followed by casting an Ill Omen spell to force bad rerolls on him, then Sirim's Shadow Enchantment Suggestion and Kori's Detect Thoughts before waking him up for interrogation. Mina will try to use her Fortune Hex to help them overcome the Drow's Spell Resistance for their Ill Omen and Shadow Enchantment spells, if she is able. If the Drow resists the Suggestion attempt, Gorok will kill him.
---[X] Throughout this process, Mina will observe using Detect Magic to confirm that both spell effects have succeeded and that they remain in effect. If he chose not to cooperate and we had to try to overcome his resistance, Gorok will kill him if the Suggestion spell ends prematurely.
-[X] If the spells succeed, or we successfully cast Suggestion against his will, we will begin the interrogation.
---[X] How long has he been in Cassomir and what has he been doing here? Who are his contacts here and how did he meet them?
---[X] How many other Drow are in and below the city? What does he know of their assigned tasks and any plan they may have had? What does he know of the three-eyed Elf we discovered through Divination?
---[X] Did he receive additional instructions after coming to the surface? If so, how, when, and from whom?
---[X] Who is Marian Cicato and what are his dealings with them?
---[X] Does he have any safe houses or caches of supplies hidden in Cassomir or elsewhere? If so, where, what do they contain, and how are they protected?
--[X] What are his intentions if he is allowed to live? What does he plan to do when he eats his freedom? Will he seek revenge for his capture, or the death of his co-conspirators?
---[X] Who was his Matron and from which House does he originate? How long has it been since he left Zirnakaynin?
---[X] What does he know of the political situation in Zirnakaynin and the surrounding city-states, not only of the Drow but the Duergar and other people's as well? What Houses are ascendant and which are in decline? To which Demon Lords are they subservient?
---[X] After the interrogation, if the Drow refused to cooperate, he will be killed.
-[X] Postponing the slave purchase:
--[X] While the Drow is being interrogated, Sirim and Cob will hurry out to intercept Skali and/or his men before they reach the agreed upon meeting point in the Locker. If they are too late and Skali's people have already arrived, they will adjust accordingly. Cob will use a different Halfling disguise, but he will try to remain unseen. Once they get within range of the other group, Sirim will remain hidden while contacting them telepathically to warn them.
---[X] "Beware!" he exclaims into their minds. "Busybodies are out and about as the night gives way to the light. There has already been at least one raid by agents of the crown in the past hour. My master's Divinations warn against making the exchange today lest we draw unwanted attention from those same agents. Return to your den for now and await a messenger bird. We will send you a new location for the exchange of merchandise when it is safe to do so. As the fault lies not with you, expect to be paid the full agreed upon price for each suitable subject."
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- Location
- being near locations is my passion.
I prefer my goal of trying to buy time to go an murder the slavers and take their stuff tbh, rather than...?
Pay for them? I don't like the number of people we have here if we're going to kill and I really don't like that taking Lenotas' men links our interactions with these slave traders to the people who attacked the barge.
At the very least, to stop that link being created, we should lend disguise hats to those we're sending.
And if we're doing that... we don't need Gorok here for the interrogation, but he'd be great for if violence breaks out.
-----
How many did we ask to buy anyway?
Pay for them? I don't like the number of people we have here if we're going to kill and I really don't like that taking Lenotas' men links our interactions with these slave traders to the people who attacked the barge.
At the very least, to stop that link being created, we should lend disguise hats to those we're sending.
And if we're doing that... we don't need Gorok here for the interrogation, but he'd be great for if violence breaks out.
-----
How many did we ask to buy anyway?
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Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
I'm letting my tendency to go fo maximum results get in the way again. The intention was not to actually buy the slaves, but to kill the slavers and free the slaves. That isn't really practical at this point, though.
I agree, we don't want to link Leontas' men to the fake identities we used when meeting with Skali.
Back to updating my plan again.
EDIT: @BeepSmile, here's what I've got for the updated part of my plan. It's similar to yours, but relies more on Skali being wary and having some idea of what happened in the vicinity of the barge. It wasn't exactly subtle, and he seems like the sort to have an eye out for unusual occurrence on his turf.
By mentioning the raid and implying that we might have been a target of one ourselves, we lend weight to the personas we adopted for dealing with Skali. He probably won't actually trust us, but by seeming to go out of our way to warn him of danger, he probably won't be suspicious of us. After all, if we were trying to trick or rob him, why warn him of potential danger?
-[] Postponing the slave purchase:
--[] While the Drow is being interrogated, Sirim and Cob will hurry out to intercept Skali and/or his men before they reach the agreed upon meeting point in the Locker. Cob will use the same Halfling disguise he wore when first meeting Skali, but he will try to remain unseen. Once they get within range of the other group, while hidden Sirim will contact them telepathically to warn them after using Shadow Enchantment to cast Bestow Insight (Bluff) on himself.
---[] "Beware!" he exclaims into their minds. "Busybodies are out and about as the night gives way to the light. There has already been at least one raid by agents of the crown in the past hour. My master barely escaped their blades and has gone into hiding. Return to your den for now and await a messenger bird. We will send you a new location for the exchange of merchandise within the next day. As the fault lies not with you, expect to be paid the agreed upon full price for each suitable subject."
--[] Kori will cast an Extended Invisibility spell into Cob's Ring of Spell Storing before they go. Cob will use the spell as he deems necessary.
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- Location
- being near locations is my passion.
@Goldfish Does Sirim have one Shadow Enchantment or two available? If he has two, then I thnk he should attempt the suggestion spell twice rather than Kori.
Because I value him casting Suggestion more than I value Bestow Insight Bluff, and either way, the Extended Invisibility (functionally level 3) can be dropped into Gorok's ring and given to Cob, unless one can only have one RoSS at a time?
If only one at a time, did Sirim use his invisibility spell yet? If no, Cob can use his ring to cast Koris Bestow Insight, and then Sirim can put an invisibility into it right after.
I don't think we'll be able to intercept the slavers, I think they will be there already with the slaves, waiting for at least an hour or two before the deal is was decided to take place. This is worth a lot of money to them and I think they'd want to have everything in place.
Cob's halfling disguise was as a local guide, so I don't think he should be in that form again in case he gets caught/seen. Why not just have him be a different halfling somewhere very close by/outside the building, and have it so Sirim was sent on his own
Finally, I think that saying that we have people actively after us rather than "divination said peril" will have this very paranoid man just cancel the deal so that he's not put at risk. Agents of the crown won't just... give up. They'll keep hunting. They'll look for loose threads and leads. Like him.
Is there something wrong with "divination magics said so" that I'm not seeing?
Because I value him casting Suggestion more than I value Bestow Insight Bluff, and either way, the Extended Invisibility (functionally level 3) can be dropped into Gorok's ring and given to Cob, unless one can only have one RoSS at a time?
If only one at a time, did Sirim use his invisibility spell yet? If no, Cob can use his ring to cast Koris Bestow Insight, and then Sirim can put an invisibility into it right after.
I don't think we'll be able to intercept the slavers, I think they will be there already with the slaves, waiting for at least an hour or two before the deal is was decided to take place. This is worth a lot of money to them and I think they'd want to have everything in place.
Cob's halfling disguise was as a local guide, so I don't think he should be in that form again in case he gets caught/seen. Why not just have him be a different halfling somewhere very close by/outside the building, and have it so Sirim was sent on his own
Finally, I think that saying that we have people actively after us rather than "divination said peril" will have this very paranoid man just cancel the deal so that he's not put at risk. Agents of the crown won't just... give up. They'll keep hunting. They'll look for loose threads and leads. Like him.
Is there something wrong with "divination magics said so" that I'm not seeing?
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
You make more good points.
I've updated the plan again. Sirim is casting Suggestion on the Drow if he resists. Still hoping he won't, because we are very unlikely to force him to answer if he does.
Cob is carrying both Rings of Spell Storing, one with Extended Invisibility and the other with Bestow Insight he can use on Sirim. Also had Cob use a different disguise, just in case.
I've changed Sirim's warning to remove the part about his master being targeted by the crown. Now it's just a general warning that making the purchase today is dangerous. There is nothing wrong with using the Divination warning of perils angle, but you should never be too specific with that sort of thing if you can help it. Divinations are notoriously obtuse and difficult to decipher most of the time. Better to leave it a bit open-ended for the sake of believability, if possible.
This way we can make arrangements with the governor, get all our ducks in a row, then have Gorok send messenger bird to Skali in a day or two when the pretend heat has died down.
- Location
- St. Petersburg
Any reason we aren't buying slaves and taking money off Skali's cooling body (or WWC coffers) later, perhaps with the governor's approval even?
They are already suspicious of the deal, and it is only greed that blinds them to the scam. Absent money, their blindness isn't going to last.
The point of acquiring slaves would be supplementing information we get from the Alchemist. Who is involved with the slave trade, their numbers, their routes (where they get their slaves from), etc.
It can also help us legalize our findings. We can't take the Alchemist to court and have him testify against... whoever the plot belongs to. But if we have a slave freshly freed from unspeakable horrors perpetrated by a merchant house? I heard Sir Pisca say this kind of thing is highly illegal in Taldor.
They are already suspicious of the deal, and it is only greed that blinds them to the scam. Absent money, their blindness isn't going to last.
The point of acquiring slaves would be supplementing information we get from the Alchemist. Who is involved with the slave trade, their numbers, their routes (where they get their slaves from), etc.
It can also help us legalize our findings. We can't take the Alchemist to court and have him testify against... whoever the plot belongs to. But if we have a slave freshly freed from unspeakable horrors perpetrated by a merchant house? I heard Sir Pisca say this kind of thing is highly illegal in Taldor.
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Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
I guess we could do that. It would simplify some things, that's for sure.
What if we tell the governor about the meeting and ask him to scramble some of his guards, perhaps under Pisca's command, rush to the meeting site to take Skali and his people into custody? Maybe have Sirim follow along to keep an eye on things and provide a bit of additional magic support, if it proves necessary?
Like you said, it would give him corroborating evidence of the Drow, plus additional threads to pull on in the criminal conspiracy that has been working with them.
- Location
- being near locations is my passion.
It didn't occur to me to go down that route.
Personally I want to kill Skali now so we can see what interesting loot he might have. And keep our money for ourselves rather than risk it vanishing. I want yet more spell scrolls, and if things somehow haven't got too hot for us in this city, I want to build The Elegantly Dancing Slurk and I also intend to use as many buffs for the design and creation of that ship as the thread and DP will allow.
And I prefer adventures where the slavers are killed rather than paid.
Also, this drow stuff isn't ever going to reach the courts, and the WWC won't be put on trial. The governor will learn stuff abut the drow and what was going on, and probably a number of the governor's allies, but he won't be in a position to give us legal permission to murder and loot the WWC.
----
Sirim convinced him to do nothing with this information. Publicly at least. Evidence is not that valuable here. More threads to pull on probably is useful though.
I think that the guards will have a much much harder time getting the drop on Skali and his people than we would, also I want to poke about in Skali's loot.
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- Location
- St. Petersburg
I am perfectly fine with it, but, uh.
We've been told, repeatedly, that they have their men in the Guard. It might backfire. Then again, the most a mole can do is give a warning, and the timing is so tight there isn't a lot of room to make any moves.
... I guess it'd be the ideal solution if it works.
As if we had a legal permission to assault the drow. Our legal status is grey at best, comes with being 'deniable assets'.
Don't confuse a blessing with permission.
Someone is going to take a fall for this, and we might be able to pick their pockets as they do. Particularly if we are the ones tripping them up.Drow stuff might not. The eskelete stuff might.
What are WWC going to say, 'demon elves did it'? Everybody knows demon elves do not exist.
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Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
Okay, so how about we ask Leontas' to lead his men (at the governor's expense, of course), along with a small contingent of his personal guards, and Sir Pisca for added legitimacy to arrest/kill the slavers and rescue the slaves? Sirim and Cob can tag along while remaining out of sight to provide backup, while the rest of the party stays back to continue interrogating the Drow?
It's a half hour until the arranged meeting time. Even if some of the guard is compromised, the chances of those particular members being asked to participate and being able to send a warning in time to matter are very small.
No need to be fancy or anything with this part.
It's a half hour until the arranged meeting time. Even if some of the guard is compromised, the chances of those particular members being asked to participate and being able to send a warning in time to matter are very small.
No need to be fancy or anything with this part.
- Location
- being near locations is my passion.
The drow don't have legal protection like the WWC business. And by legal protection I mean "if the governor is found out to have sent us againt the WWC, his internal political enemies will have ammo against him".
"Someone is going to take a fall for this" <- Sirim rolled a diplo check to prevent the governor from going public about all this. There won't be a fall to take.
Personally I really prefer for the party to do this ourselves, tomorrow. Also, how much do you want to pay Leontas for this?
Pisca is also going to want to be in the interrogation room rather than tidying up a loose end.
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Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
Another revision. New part in red at the bottom.
[X] Tell Me Your Sins
-[X] Kori activates the Glibness power of his bracers to gain a +20 Bluff bonus for the next 70 minutes. The Drow holds a great deal of information in his head which could prove valuable, but he isn't likely to share it if he believes doing so won't spare his life.
--[X] "Even if you do not worship the Blood Marquis, your hands are still stained with the blood of untold innocents. If you wish to save yourself, you will tell us everything we want to know. Prove that you can be useful enough to justify the risk of leaving you alive, and share enough that you can never hope to return to Zirnakaynin or any other Drow stronghold for fear of the repercussions for your betrayal, and arrangements will be made to secure your continued existence. We will cast spells upon you to aid us in this. You will allow the spells to take hold, or you will be slain. If you are untruthful, you will be slain. Do you agree?" Sirim will provide Aid Another assistance with Kori's Bluffing.
---[X] If he accepts, Kori will use Shadow Enchantment to cast a Suggestion Spell on him with instructions to truthfully answer our questions to the best of his ability, then use his headband to cast Detect Thoughts on the Drow to monitor his surface thoughts throughout the interrogation.
---[X] If the Drow refuses, Cob will render him unconscious. In this case, we will resort to the alternative; While he is unconscious, Mina will use her Evil Eye Hex to penalize his saving throws by -2 followed by casting an Ill Omen spell to force bad rerolls on him, then Sirim's Shadow Enchantment Suggestion and Kori's Detect Thoughts before waking him up for interrogation. Mina will try to use her Fortune Hex to help them overcome the Drow's Spell Resistance for their Ill Omen and Shadow Enchantment spells, if she is able. If the Drow resists the Suggestion attempt, Gorok will kill him.
---[X] Throughout this process, Mina will observe using Detect Magic to confirm that both spell effects have succeeded and that they remain in effect. If he chose not to cooperate and we had to try to overcome his resistance, Gorok will kill him if the Suggestion spell ends prematurely.
-[X] If the spells succeed, or we successfully cast Suggestion against his will, we will begin the interrogation.
---[X] How long has he been in Cassomir and what has he been doing here? Who are his contacts here and how did he meet them?
---[X] How many other Drow are in and below the city? What does he know of their assigned tasks and any plan they may have had? What does he know of the three-eyed Elf we discovered through Divination?
---[X] Did he receive additional instructions after coming to the surface? If so, how, when, and from whom?
---[X] Who is Marian Cicato and what are his dealings with them?
---[X] Does he have any safe houses or caches of supplies hidden in Cassomir or elsewhere? If so, where, what do they contain, and how are they protected?
--[X] What are his intentions if he is allowed to live? What does he plan to do when he eats his freedom? Will he seek revenge for his capture, or the death of his co-conspirators?
---[X] Who was his Matron and from which House does he originate? How long has it been since he left Zirnakaynin?
---[X] What does he know of the political situation in Zirnakaynin and the surrounding city-states, not only of the Drow but the Duergar and other people's as well? What Houses are ascendant and which are in decline? To which Demon Lords are they subservient?
---[X] After the interrogation, if the Drow refused to cooperate, he will be killed.
-[X] Dealing with Skali:
--[X] If we haven't already explained exactly how we discovered the Drows' location, Sirim will quickly do so before we begin interrogating the prisoner, including how it required us to arrange the purchase of slaves as part of our cover. The meeting time to make the purchase is approaching and we have yet to fully recover from dealing with the Drow threat. Given the stakes involved and the danger of allowing potential worshipers of a Demon Lord to act unopposed, we cannot afford to delay the interrogation of our sole prisoner.
--[X] Ask that the governor temporarily employee Leontas' mercenaries to accompany a small contingent of his trusted personal guards and Sir Pisca to hurry out and deal with the slavers before they grow suspicious and leave with their victims in tow.
--[X] Sirim and Cob will tag along as well, remaining out of sight and ready to provide assistance if it proves necessary. Kori will cast a Bless and Invisibility spell into Cob's Ring of Spell Storing before they go.
[X] Tell Me Your Sins
-[X] Kori activates the Glibness power of his bracers to gain a +20 Bluff bonus for the next 70 minutes. The Drow holds a great deal of information in his head which could prove valuable, but he isn't likely to share it if he believes doing so won't spare his life.
--[X] "Even if you do not worship the Blood Marquis, your hands are still stained with the blood of untold innocents. If you wish to save yourself, you will tell us everything we want to know. Prove that you can be useful enough to justify the risk of leaving you alive, and share enough that you can never hope to return to Zirnakaynin or any other Drow stronghold for fear of the repercussions for your betrayal, and arrangements will be made to secure your continued existence. We will cast spells upon you to aid us in this. You will allow the spells to take hold, or you will be slain. If you are untruthful, you will be slain. Do you agree?" Sirim will provide Aid Another assistance with Kori's Bluffing.
---[X] If he accepts, Kori will use Shadow Enchantment to cast a Suggestion Spell on him with instructions to truthfully answer our questions to the best of his ability, then use his headband to cast Detect Thoughts on the Drow to monitor his surface thoughts throughout the interrogation.
---[X] If the Drow refuses, Cob will render him unconscious. In this case, we will resort to the alternative; While he is unconscious, Mina will use her Evil Eye Hex to penalize his saving throws by -2 followed by casting an Ill Omen spell to force bad rerolls on him, then Sirim's Shadow Enchantment Suggestion and Kori's Detect Thoughts before waking him up for interrogation. Mina will try to use her Fortune Hex to help them overcome the Drow's Spell Resistance for their Ill Omen and Shadow Enchantment spells, if she is able. If the Drow resists the Suggestion attempt, Gorok will kill him.
---[X] Throughout this process, Mina will observe using Detect Magic to confirm that both spell effects have succeeded and that they remain in effect. If he chose not to cooperate and we had to try to overcome his resistance, Gorok will kill him if the Suggestion spell ends prematurely.
-[X] If the spells succeed, or we successfully cast Suggestion against his will, we will begin the interrogation.
---[X] How long has he been in Cassomir and what has he been doing here? Who are his contacts here and how did he meet them?
---[X] How many other Drow are in and below the city? What does he know of their assigned tasks and any plan they may have had? What does he know of the three-eyed Elf we discovered through Divination?
---[X] Did he receive additional instructions after coming to the surface? If so, how, when, and from whom?
---[X] Who is Marian Cicato and what are his dealings with them?
---[X] Does he have any safe houses or caches of supplies hidden in Cassomir or elsewhere? If so, where, what do they contain, and how are they protected?
--[X] What are his intentions if he is allowed to live? What does he plan to do when he eats his freedom? Will he seek revenge for his capture, or the death of his co-conspirators?
---[X] Who was his Matron and from which House does he originate? How long has it been since he left Zirnakaynin?
---[X] What does he know of the political situation in Zirnakaynin and the surrounding city-states, not only of the Drow but the Duergar and other people's as well? What Houses are ascendant and which are in decline? To which Demon Lords are they subservient?
---[X] After the interrogation, if the Drow refused to cooperate, he will be killed.
-[X] Dealing with Skali:
--[X] If we haven't already explained exactly how we discovered the Drows' location, Sirim will quickly do so before we begin interrogating the prisoner, including how it required us to arrange the purchase of slaves as part of our cover. The meeting time to make the purchase is approaching and we have yet to fully recover from dealing with the Drow threat. Given the stakes involved and the danger of allowing potential worshipers of a Demon Lord to act unopposed, we cannot afford to delay the interrogation of our sole prisoner.
--[X] Ask that the governor temporarily employee Leontas' mercenaries to accompany a small contingent of his trusted personal guards and Sir Pisca to hurry out and deal with the slavers before they grow suspicious and leave with their victims in tow.
--[X] Sirim and Cob will tag along as well, remaining out of sight and ready to provide assistance if it proves necessary. Kori will cast a Bless and Invisibility spell into Cob's Ring of Spell Storing before they go.
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- Location
- being near locations is my passion.
the potential danger to the city, <- I don't think we have any reason to believe that the city is in particular danger, at least in a time sensitive manner?
We're in danger of the drow somehow escaping or being rescued much more than the city is under urgent threat.
We're in danger of the drow somehow escaping or being rescued much more than the city is under urgent threat.
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
The governor can afford to pay Leontas' rate for a morning. I'm not worried about that.
I think Pisca would rather go kill/capture a bunch of slavers and rescue their victims, something he can brag about and polish his reputation with, instead of sitting in on an interrogation he'll never be able to tell anyone about in public. It's not like we'll keep the information from him. Remember, the dude has WIS as a dump stat and seems to crave glory and adventure.
I would like for the party to handle this, too, but this could be a time sensitive issue. If Skali or his associates get spooked, they could all go to ground, possibly after getting rid of the slaves in the most expedient manner possible. Delaying the exchange was going to be a risky endeavor no matter what, so if we can just bypass that entirely, I'm fine with us not being the ones to tie up that particular loose end.
We don't have to personally handle every mission, and this is one we can delegate to others.
We don't know what the Shax worshipers were planning, so the city very well could be in danger. We haven't interrogated the prisoner yet, and he wasn't exactly chummy with that bunch, either.
I updated the wording a bit to make it sound less hyperbolic.
- Location
- St. Petersburg
I hope there will be. The way I read the exchange between Sirim and Bozbeyli, they decided to keep the existence of the drow hidded so as to not aggravate the elves. That does not mean anyone who was dealing with drow gets a pass, it just means any incriminating information should come from a different source and omit certain details. The involvement of WWC in illegal slave and necromancy-adjacent drug trade with unspecified criminal parties is a sovereign Taldan matter, and the governor will not let it slide so they could invite the next conspiracy and political scandal in his city.
My biggest objection to 'let's do it next time' approach is that I don't believe there will be a next time. Being stood up with the money gives you time to think, and the deal was already looking like a blatant scam giving Skali +10 to Sense Motive checks. Then the news of the distillery hit will come out (the primary shipping route for slaves), and if they have any lick of sense left they will go to ground until the storm passes.
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- Location
- being near locations is my passion.
I suppose it depends on how much power the WWC has. If they are big enough then they can defend themselves against evidence-less accusations in a way that the governor's political opponemts can jump on, and if they are small enough (the better to stay hidden), the governor would be able to have them destroyed while needing to provide minimal/no evidenced evidence
That's the gamble. We could try and track him down tomorrow regardless (Divination and such)?
My hope is that the lure of steadyish repeat custom and "consideration fee for the delay" (with a Reroll'd Sirim Bluff) will suffice to keep him interested/greedy enough.
If he knows about the barge he'll be spooked, but also wanting a new income source to maintain his current lifestyle. I'm gambling on his greed & Sirim's (re-rolled) skill
That's the gamble. We could try and track him down tomorrow regardless (Divination and such)?
My hope is that the lure of steadyish repeat custom and "consideration fee for the delay" (with a Reroll'd Sirim Bluff) will suffice to keep him interested/greedy enough.
If he knows about the barge he'll be spooked, but also wanting a new income source to maintain his current lifestyle. I'm gambling on his greed & Sirim's (re-rolled) skill
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