First off, I want to say this is going really fantastically Srboyceboat.
Second that; definitely a kick-ass start to the game. Below is a link to the closest pic I could find to how I envisioned Clank. Get rid of the mouth, change the separate eyes to a visor, and the face is basically the same. His plates appear to be wrought-iron, with rubberized sheathing visible between the plates. His voice is projected from small speakers lining his throat.
Clank nods as Rievekari begins her examination. "We should work quickly. Cleg is not the most reliable being I've met." He looks over Baldrin's remains, scanning particularly for any signs of pre-death trauma.
Not sure what rolls make the most sense, but here is Perception and Heal
Apologies for the extreme delay, everyone. Should get back on a more regular scheduled soon.
Mos Nasam & Vered vs. Bemiin's Boys
Map:
Apologies for the crudity of the map.
Notes:
Way deep down, all the red stuff, is The Cogs, it's like a 5 mile drop. Don't fall.
The two boats are airships that are tied off and floating adjacent to the ledges.
Immediately next to and below the bridge ares moorings for airships. These are a 10-foot fall and every square is difficult terrain. If one were to fall onto them, it would require you to get over to a ledge wall and then an Athletics check at DC 18 in order to climb on up. If using a rope with the aid of another, that requires an Athletics of 5 from each.
Dwight and Sterling:
Sterling's one history check is enough to cover both.
Ulman Rickson was the bard. A less-than-deservedly famous playwright. His only acclaim came from writing fluffy, light-hearted romances that, after the initial period following Mourning, was all the upper class could stomach. The more knowledgeable elite among those who enjoy theater, literature, and poetry knew his secretly to be the venue of a cunning satirist, constantly searching for holes in the facade of Sharn's social structure and mocking the society's focus on thin improvements in magic and high-brow art. The quote is often seen as a joke among the in-crowd of respectable theater elites: Ulman constantly employed high-quality artificing in his plays, complex machines and magical devices that contributed to their being so absurdly expensive to produce that few companies could actually afford them. It helped contribute to his downfall as a professional.
He also wrote a fair number of dark comedies and tried to launch a whole genre of mystery and intrigue writing. It didn't work out. He overdosed on Ribald powder about ten years later, close to 85 years ago. Sael'iana may have met him, given the fact that she's an eladrin and they live a long time, but it's unlikely she had any familial ties. He died alone, unwed with no offspring.
Sterling, you don't remember anything about Sael'iana's brother. It doesn't exactly surprise you, because it's not like you make a habit of reading the University's roster every semester, and that might be the only place with an official record of his existence.
Dwight, your insight tells you she isn't lying about having a brother. That part is definitely true. She's also honestly concerned about something, and the way she reacts (horrified) when you imply she never had a brother to begin with, gives you the distinct idea that she really believes that her brother is in serious trouble, and she believes it's connected to the falling-folk murders. Dwight, first part is pre your OOC comments, second. After the *** is after your OOC comments
Sael'iana nods as you lead her to the front door, seeming to dry her eyes and focus on what's around her. Chaeryl enters, looking confusedly at the three of you, her arms full of bags of food from the market that she clearly bought for six. She tilts her head out from behind the bags as she thumps them down onto the table. "Um, Detective, who is this? Where is everybody else? And where are you going? I thought --"
Dwight shakes his head almost imperceptibly, cutting off further rambling on the part of his assistant, and pats Chaeryl on the shoulder. "Chaeryl, glad you're back. This is our new client, Sael'iana. Take her information for how to contact her, and file everying I left on my desk appropriately. We'll be stepping out to look into where her younger brother may have gotten to."
Chaeryl nods, eying the eladrin discretely but severely as she goes about her task of collecting the information from the eladrin. She catches Sterling's eye and the silver-haired woman's extremely subtle quirk of a wry grin communicates enough: Sael'iana isn't to be trusted...yet.
***
As Dwight finishes locking the door and staring coldly at the eladrin woman, shock overtakes her. Her eyes grow stern as Sterling moves past, a quiet shadow of intimidation.
As Hartigan turns to face her, waiting for his answer, she sets her shoulders squarely.
And slaps him across the face, singly, hard.
"I don't need to patronized, Detective." She says warily as Sterling grips her sword fiercely and takes a half-step forward. "Why would I pay you, offer you anything to search for a made-up person? My brother is real. Tellarin is real, alive, and in trouble, and you want to make jokes and insult me?" She's clearly flustered, but the rage is subsiding, and there's a desperation that's more readily coming to the surface. "Ok, so sometimes I forget that I'm not the only art and history fan in the city and I fudge quotes and facts to make myself seem more significant: but you know what, I'm not the kind of girl that would -- that would ---" She inhales deeply to steady herself. "If you're willing to believe me and respect my problem enough to take my money, I should think you can respect me enough to keep comments like that to yourself. I'll cancel my appointments. If you want to reach Tellarin's before dark, we should go now."
The trio make their way up to the middle city and toward Morgrave University, the students therein spilling out into a quiet night after a long day's studying and filling the streets. As Sael'iana takes her leave of you as she approaches the quarter where her brother was housed, Hartigan stops a young halfling student who has the clear appearance of an Artificer student and asks about Tellarin, showing the picture. The kid is able to tell you that he recognizes the kid, but he hasn't seem him. He tells you he thinks he lives in the apartment complex that Sael'iana gave you the address for, but to be careful: someone said they had seen ribber-runners around the building recently, a big, bad-ass looking Minotaur with the kind of itch every student knows how to recognize.
It's trustworthy enough information to proceed cautiously: students notoriously keep their ears to the ground to avoid the nastier parts of Sharn whenever they crawl up from the middle and lower city and the Cogs.
I'll get you more about Tellarin's apartment later tonight.
Rievakari and Clank:
Rievakari located documents in Cleg's office to indicate that the first murder victim, the kid, had been moved to a House Jorasco facility rather than a city facility, and was likely already being destroyed by now, the Aberrant Dragonmark considered to dangerous to be left lingering. Baldrin was scheduled for a similar fate, so it's good you got here when you did.
As Clank examines the body with the trained eye of an individual capable of breaking people, he comes across an interesting inconsistency: There is a pattern to the destruction, a radiating circle of more extreme breakage that seems to start at the dragonmark and extend outward. The initial impact site was the ribcage, which is where Clank expected to find the most damage, but it seems oddly preserved: only a few fractures and busted cartilage. As it radiates outward however, in an almost spiral shape, the fracture become more severe: compound at some points, multiple bits of bone piercing the flesh, and bursting forth. What's particular odd about it all is his right hand: two of fingers are broken in the wrong direction. Based on the autopsy report and Hartigan's own recounting of the event, Clank can gather that the fingers had been broken - deliberating, and by a tool apparently - before the victim was killed.
Clank is experienced enough in this sort of thing to know that breaking fingers that way is often a torture method.
Shuffling her cards and closing her eyes significantly, Rievakari opens them with an almost pale blue glaze surrounding her face. The body begins to glow slightly, and a blue light sweeps across it, casting an almost blacklight-like effect. Marks, scars, and stains appear on the body as the light passes over it, and the dragonmark, which to this point had the appearance of a poorly-healed scar, begins to glow and react.
You discover that it's the Aberrant Mark of Madness, and that it did not originate on this body. Focusing more, a ghostly imagine of a small container filled with viscous, glowing orangish-brown liquid appears as an image in your mind, and the thought of that being shoved into Baldrin's mouth before he died grips you strongly. The mark was planted on him, not developed naturally (or preternaturally, as is the case with aberrants). Rievakari knows this shouldn't be possible.
Fight Status:
Mos Nasam Initiative: 1d20+6 24 | HP = 40/40 | AC 18 | Fort 13 | Ref 16 | Will 18
Vered "Mr. Kaboom" Tavar Initiative: 1d20+8 23 | HP = 44/44 | AC 20 | Fort 14 | Ref 16 | Will 17
Githzerai Thug | Initiative 15, HP = 1/1 | AC 16 | Fort 16 | Ref 18| Will 16 (G1)
Githzerai Thug | Initiative 7, HP = 1/1 | AC 16 | Fort 16 | Ref 18| Will 16 (G2)
Githyanki Bruiser | [url=]Initiative 15[/url], HP = 40/40 | AC 18 | Fort 15 | Ref 14| Will 14 (G3)
Skill Challenge Status:
You earned a Streetwise Success (2 of 5)!
You earned an Arcana Success!
You earned a Heal Success!
Headed out to dinner, so a more in-depth post later, but was there a decision regarding on if the groups could communicate with one another at a distance by some means?
The muzzle of Vered's gun roars at the toughest-looking of the Gith, the artificer's custom 'Bang Bang' rounds burrowing into his green guts and exploding. Bits of meat and bone are strewn everywhere, and the thug's explosively disembodied head falls to the ground with a *thunk*.
The Deva then grabs a spherical clockwork device from his pocket, lofting it at Mos Nassam. The device bursts into a swarm of buzzing mechanical wasps; if either of the remaining thugs tried to lay their hands on the shardmind, they'd receive a lethal dose of neurotoxin for the infraction.
Hits the Bruiser after his defense penalty is assessed. Bruiser goes squish.
Mos Nassam is the allied target for Halo of Thorns. Until the end of my next turn, anyone who hits Mos Nassam with a melee attack will take 4 poison damage.
Yeah, I don't know what was happening there. I couldn't seem to find out where the second block was coming from every time I edited the text.
Also, apparently Vered and Mos dialed "M" for Murderate. Maybe you should explain to Mos Nasam that, in this country, that's not the normal response to things, lol. He may go around blowing peoples' heads up in response to sour glances.
Do the bad guys' roless
Mos Nasam & Vered Tavar:
Utterly flummoxed by what they've just seen one of the two remaining thugs drop to their knees in the glittering remains of their fallen comrade. The other makes a muttering, sobbing retreat toward one of the airships, covering his head with his hands as he runs from the hail of deadly bolt fire and psychic energy.
The stricken, prostrate, terrified thug throws both arms over his head. "Please! Please, I'm sorry! Look, we didn't mean nothin' by it. Just don't do me like you done Garrik!"
Standard: Total Defense (+2 To All Defense until Start of Next Turn)
Free: Whimper, Cower, Rethink life choices.
G3: Remain a bloody smear.
Fight Status:
:arrow:Mos Nasam Initiative: 1d20+6 24 | HP = 40/40 | AC 18 | Fort 13 | Ref 16 | Will 18 (4 posion to Melee Attackers EO-Vered's-NT) Vered "Mr. Kaboom" Tavar Initiative: 1d20+8 23 | HP = 44/44 | AC 20 | Fort 14 | Ref 16 | Will 17 Githzerai Thug | Initiative 15, HP = 1/1 | AC 16 | Fort 16 | Ref 18| Will 16 (G1) Githzerai Thug | Initiative 7, HP = 1/1 | AC 16 | Fort 16 | Ref 18| Will 16 (G2) (+2 All Defenses TSoNT) [strike]Githyanki Bruiser | [url=]Initiative 15[/url], HP = 40/40 | AC 18 | Fort 15 | Ref 14| Will 14 (G3)[/strike]
Ender:
I like the idea of you having the equivalent of a machine gun, but I changed my mind on firearms. Just for fluff purposes, let's keep it flint-lock stuff for now. You still have a bad-ass repeating crossbow with a drum magazine that looks like a Thompson, but think of some cool name for it other than an actual gun. It breaks the aura a bit. The ammunition can be small shells that extend to full length crossbow bolts as they're drawn up out of the magazine, for example.
Also, I'm a bit of a stickler DM, so take note of your magazine size and ammunition use. That's 1 of 10. It's not listed, but I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt that you had an extra magazine or two on your person. Obviously, you can reload during a short rest, but in an encounter, if you fire more than 10 times, you'll have to pop out that magazine and click in a new one as a standard action. Of course, if you get through 10 attacks in this encounter, it will have been a sad day.
Rievakari & Clank:
For whenever you intend to exit the building (presuming you head out the way you came in), make a perception check but don't fully leave until I give you the go ahead.
You have no private means of long-distance communication, no cell phones or radios. Scattered through Sharn's Middle and Upper City levels are elementagraph (phone) nodes, but they're 10 silver to use. That's more than a mile's worth of cab fair. They're expensive, and they're probably extremely traceable given that they're all owned and operated by a Dragonmarked house, as is the entire node web that connects all the different devices. Mostly only good for calling a person's specific residence or office, since you'd have to guess at what pay-node your desired person would be at, but you can call Chaeryl at Dwight's office, and she can relay messages as people call in. Gathering back at Dwight's may be the best course of action, though, to share information in detail before you move on to the next phase.
Not gonna lie, feel a little bad about the whole brother thing. I thought it may have just been a ploy to get us to do something unsavory. I think Dwight is gonna apologize after the case is done
As you climb the stairs, you can hear, just behind the whirring and buzzing of Clank's joints, an odd sound coming from Cleg's office. It's like a rhythmic dripping sound...but the dwarf is nowhere to be seen and there wasn't a sink, basin, or faucet that you noticed last time you were through.
Sterling & Hartigan:
I'm assuming you guys are continuing on to Tellarin's apartment...
As you continue to progress you through the city toward Tellarin's apartment, you notice that the student population things out aggressively, giving you some level of confirmation that the student's information was accurate. You finally come across the suite of apartments where Tellarin is staying just as the sun dips below the line of the Upper City's towers, casting the University district in the typical bluish twilight glow of Sharn's night.
Map:
Blue areas are open air for 100 ft or so. Don't fall (it's the city of towers, y'know?)
Any blue area where there's a walkway is bordered by a 4-foot railing, so it's difficult terrain, i.e. costs 2 squares of forced movement to push/slide/pull someone over. If you do get pushed over, you make the normal saving throw to avoid it + another saving throw to grab the side.
The buildings are between 15 and 30 feet higher than the walkway you're on. Rooftops with no grid on them on 30 feet. Rooftops with grid on them are 15 feet.
The marble area at K1 through L4 is the entrance to the apartment. I'm assuming you want to go in, but I'm giving the map as a reference so that you can ask me about specific things or make any checks before we get too far into anything.
The fortune-teller raised one hand to halt Clank, before motioning in the direction of Cleg's office. Wait... something has happened.
She advances towards the office, searchingly probing with her mind and raising a card from her deck to eye-level, although Clank can't see the face of it...
The Telepathic Sensitivity feat gives Rievakari an additional +5 to Perception checks made against hidden living beings. Her passive Perception is 21 against them, 16 normally.
Clank follows Rievekari towards the office as quietly as he can, the dripping sound staying just audible over the gentle whirr of his joints and the muted clank of his footfalls. He leans towards Rievekari, keeping his voice barely at a whisper. "Best let me through the door first..."
I didn't realize your passive perception was so high.
The room is devoid of creatures trying to hide their presence; of this you are sure. The dripping sound is noticeably louder. It seems to be coming from underneath the disheveled desk you rooted about in earlier. Among other things, you notice particularly what wasn't so in the high-ceilinged room the last time you came through here: There are more folders and papers scatteredon the desk than you remember moving about, and a steaming mug of what you guess to be coffee sits, unattended, on the desk.
Cleg, despite having ownership of the space, is nowhere to be seen.
Yinz could roll perception again, if you please, now that you're closer to the source of the strange sound. In lieu of that, Rieva could make an Arcana check. I'm giving her passive perception the credit of being able to notice something mystic or alchemical might be afoot.
"Agreed, but lets not draw our weapons until we have to. Don't need to be spooking any college kids into being too scared to talk to us." He flashes Sterling a wry grin
I will get you guys an updated map when I get home tonight. Hope this description suffice for now:
As you move into the lobby, you're immediately struck by the surprising quality of the establishment. The floors are a fine, polished marble that extends through the entire first-floor lobby. There is a grand staircase straight ahead that spirals up to the second floor, where you can see a balcony with a string of apartment suite doors and a finely crafted wrought-iron banister. The first floor seems to house maintenance and staffing facilities, but at this late hour, no one seems to be attending to them.
Again, an unusual silence hangs over what should be a bustling, crowded college living area. You know because Sael'iana told you that Tellarin's apartment is 2A, the one closes to the front wall on the second balcony.
Clank:
As you scan the room, your gaze is drawn upward to the vaulted ceiling, and what remains of your ability to be horrified after many months spent in the employ of Roses shivers at the sight:
Cleg, pinned to the ceiling with no less than 12 crossbow bolts, his skin a pallid blue color, frost forming at his lips, over his craggy face, and around his thinning beard, stares dumbly back at you, all life drained from his body. On his head is carved a marking that can only be the vilest of gang symbols, or perhaps the rumored "dark house" of Dragonmarked nobles. He's not bleeding, which is incredible enough as it is, and he looks stricken with cold.
The Smiler won't be collecting on Cleg's debts anytime soon.
Steeling yourself with some level of reserve at the sight, you nudge Rievakari in the direction of the body, then move into the rest of the room proper. Dipping a finger into the coffee cup, you run a quick alchemical scan of its contents to see if there's anything an organic with a sense of smell would notice. Even to your cold-iron digits, the coffee is noticeably very warm, almost fresh. Cleg couldn't have made it but shortly after you and Rievakari descended into the morgue proper.
"Grinspore. Why would someone lace his coffee with Grinspore?" You wonder. It's not poisonous in and of itself.
While running the analysis, you notice the papers that are shuffled on the desk, in particular: The order commanding the dead youngster moved from this morgue, and a handful of other papers. Cleg was the only mortician that saw or serviced either of the bodies. His official report to the Watch had never been filed, and remained on the desk. The order to move Baldrin's body sat first and foremost with a smear of dark, arterial blood that had created the dripping noise as it spilled to the floor which must have alerted Rievakari to things being amiss in the office.
Sorry if my assumption that you'd share your findings was inaccurate. Also, grinspore is a drug you named in your background, which I liked, so I put it in his coffee. I'm guessing it's a delirium-inducing narcotic with mild amnesic effects...like a combination of rufilin, ecstasy and marijuana.
This has turned into D&D : Sharn DEA. But drugs are a part of modern crime/noir, so I figure in a place as effed up and magical as Eberron, the retreat into drug use would be fairly common...and very useful for planting evidence.
All's well, Boyce; Clank would likely have shared, and that is basically what I'd figured grinspore to be as well.
I'm going to wait on DarkMatter before posting further, but quick question, seeing as we've got a significant body count going, are we able to pull killing blows, so as to leave various miscreants available for questioning? I looked through my books for a mechanic on it and didn't find anything, though I might have missed it
Rievakari warded herself from the horrific vision in the ceiling with the back of the card she had been holding, which turned out to have been the Waxworks, a portent of physical paralysis and horror. She looked steadfastly away from the ceiling as Clank finished his investigation before speaking up.
"Positively delightful. I would linger here to gather an aura reading of this scene, but the cold nature of this murder argues against that line of thought.
As someone versed in these matters, I suggest we simply make haste to the Detective's office and count our manifold fortunes."
So long story short someone's trying to set up House Tarkanan, that's right, the one with the crazy Aberrant people. I don't know what kind of insane guts it takes to mess with them, nor do I want to find out without a full party behind us.
And my Passive Perception scores are only that high because of the skill benefit of being in the Star Phase from Student of the Cosmos. Otherwise it's a -2 point hit to both of those stated scores.
Sorry that she's got such a weird array of modifiers to keep track of. I could always just swap Telepathic Sensitivity with Skill Training (Perception), which would have been the simple and mechanically sound choice. But the other one was so cool.
All's well, Boyce; Clank would likely have shared, and that is basically what I'd figured grinspore to be as well.
I'm going to wait on DarkMatter before posting further, but quick question, seeing as we've got a significant body count going, are we able to pull killing blows, so as to leave various miscreants available for questioning? I looked through my books for a mechanic on it and didn't find anything, though I might have missed it
.
Sort-of; after you Bloody them, you can typically make an Intimidate check in order to take the fight out of them rather than outright killing them.
Actually, in the PHB under or near the section about reducing an enemy to 0 hit points, you have the option to pull punches and simply knock them unconscious.
I don't know how it would work mechanically in other games, but in our game at that point, like players, they start making death saving throws. Unlike players, any Heal check above a 1 will stabilize someone you've beat senseless. If your killing blow (the one you're pulling the punch on to knock them out) reduces them to their negative bloody value, you kill them outright.
And yes, leaving bodies available for questioning is not the worst idea in the world. Intimidating a bloodied foe is a good call if you're well versed in it and can demonstrably show that you'd otherwise ruin them. It's also a chance to end a long, difficult fight against a powerful opponent once you've shown yourselves capable.
Dark, it's totally cool. I like Rieva's flavor. I like everyone's flavor. Part of how y'all made the cut. Are you making any checks or anything, or just content to leave ASAP? Also, send me a PM to let me know what Rievakari's running from. Y'know, hooks and that.
Clank's ready to bounce as soon as Rieva is, assuming the original Perception check would have revealed anything else of note in the room. Otherwise, he'd give the office one last sweep, with a Perception score of 17, before doing the following.
"Affirmative," Clank intones, as gathers the orders to move the bodies, and the late Cleg's watch report from the desk. "Cleg's absence will be noticed soon, and we ought be far away from here before then."
Dwight moves straight ahead, walking up the stairs he keeps his eyes and ears open to anything out of the ordinary. "Well Sterling, something feels wrong. Obviously the lack of students is cause to worry...but even if they were in their rooms we should be able to hear something!"
Still just using passive perception/insight: which is 20, 20
Sterling wrinkles her nose and nods her head. The Detective is right.
"I agree, Mr. Hartigan." She pauses. "We should not loiter. Time is of the essence and I do not like the feel of this place regardless. We should make our way to 2A."
She pauses again, squeezing her weapon's scabbard. "Do you mind if I take the lead, Mr. Hartigan? For your safety."
This room is wholly unoccupied. You could proceed all the way to K12 without encountering another creature, especially given your passive 20 perception. That should help you confirm there's nothing immediately hiding in here.
(I get that I'm a new DM, so it's understandably scary as a player entering an apparently empty room for which there is a map, but there's not likely to be traps and pits and gelatinous cubes in an apartment complex. ...even if it is empty.)
Map:
Clank and Rieva:
I'll wait on additional checks if you guys want to do them, but in the meantime...
As you finish your speedy investigation of Cleg's office, you can distinctly hear laughing as the front door to the morgue swings open, two pleased, jolly voices echoing down the hallway. You can hear their footfalls as they make their way toward the center of the building and, more importantly, Cleg's office.
Also, Dark080, it's a mystery. You may have one piece of the puzzle, but give me a little more credit than that, huh? I should hope you guys wouldn't be able solve it right the fuck up front.
Now, for Mos Nasam and Vered, do you just want to have him delay? Wassermelone's been incommunicado since Sunday. I'm not inclined to bump him from the game or anything for a brief delay, but, Ender, if you're ready to roll, we can just delay his turn.
Ok, Dwight is fine with going up to the room, but he's gonna inspect the door before using the key. I'll just use a passive perception, not really thinking it's trapped so I'm not too worried right now. I'll be more careful inside the room.
As you and Sterling reach the door, something about it bothers you, but you can't place your finger on it. It might not be related to the door directly, it could be your laundry, it could be the fact that you haven't had a drink in gods only know how long, it could be the weird silver-haired lady with the magic sword behind you, it could be the sting from Sael'iana's slap (or her particularly low neck line) popping through your memory uninvited. Something bugs you, and the feeling is stronger than it's been anywhere else, here, by the door.
Map:
This may give my hand away a little, but are you playing Dwight a little cocksure here, or are you not aware of the fact that your Passive Perception doesn't extend into a Passive Arcana with your Dragonmark? Is he just assuming that he's awesome enough at his job that he doesn't need to concentrate? I'm cool with it; I think it makes for an interesting sort of Detective, and I love commitment to a character, so I'm down. I just want to make sure you're not assuming something about play mechanics that I don't know.
No more of it makes sense that if you are gonna boobytrap something you will do the door (which is why I said Dwight is cool with going UP to the room, not opening it without a through inspection), it would be stupid to boobytrap a lobby if you trying to take out someone specific or stop someone from going somewhere specific. A trap in the lobby would be too likely to take out an innocent and that would bring unwanted attention. Basic logic process that I feel Dwight would have, since it's what I figured too.
As Dwight nears the door the hairs on his neck tingles and he inspects the door, going over it with a fine-tooth comb his Dragonmark starts to glow and his eyes get a blue hue as he looks beyond his normal sight as well.
Two Perception Checks as per the Dragonmark, followed by Arcana (also allowed by Dragonmark): 1d20+10 = 28, 1d20+10 = 16, 1d20+10 = 16
Perception Roll: 28
Arcana Check: 16
I keep expecting that ribald-addicted minotaur you mentioned to pop out of the floor at any second and be like SURPRISE, MOTHERFUCKER.
I also feel obligated to point out that Sterling's hair is white! It's her eyes that are silver.
As the Detective inspects the door, Sterling takes a position just outside of it and keeps watch. She's confident enough in her ability to quickly throw herself between him and any potential threats that she does not feel the need to follow at his heels like a lapdog.
"Do you notice something peculiar, Mr. Hartigan?" She's been with the Detective long enough to know when he's got that curious itch... and the unmistakable activation of a Dragonmark only confirms that. "I also noticed it, when we first came inside. Very strange."
Got it. At a table, I might have understood that. As it stands, I hope you'll forgive me trying to play fair. :P
Dwight's Check Results:
Perception: There's faint, incredibly faint conversation on the other side of the door. It's muffled, more muffled than it should be: almost like you were trying to listen to a conversation underwater. You can make out at least two distinct voices, and some other noises: tearing cloth, cracking wood, broken glass being stepped on. There's activity of some kind going on in there, definitely. The language is hard to determine, but it sounds like heavily accented common, maybe with a word or two of another language thrown in.
Arcana: (I'm giving you a bonus to this from being able to hear.) Being able to hear through the door is normal enough for you, so your keen senses give you an idea that there's magic afoot: possibly a ritual, device, or some equally powerful incantation which had otherwise masked the activity within the room from your normally extremely sharp senses as you approached it initially. It now occurs to you as the voices seem to subside, that the silencing effect may not have been a two-way trick.
Dwight & Sterling:
If you choose to enter the room, the door opens from the south side in toward the apartment, meaning you could place yourselves in either K13 or J13.
Or Sterling can move on in.
Either way: No need to roll your initiative until you enter the room, unless you'd like to do so out here. Whoever or whatever is in there won't roll theirs/its till you enter (if you do).
"I'm not sure Sterling, will you take a look at this for me? I'm ok with sensing the arcane, but I think you might have a bit of better luck than me...this time." With a grin me nods at her sword, "Might want to get that thing handy...just in case".
With that Hartigan slides his hand inside his coat and pulls out his rapier and steels his nerves for what he might walk into. Almost a whole day since I had to be ready with you...well except for the morning with Mos
Edit: After the post by boyce
Dwight makes a hand to show 2 voices, and that he wants her to go in first. He smiles as he mouths the words, "Try to leave at least one of them alive this time"
Sterling only smiles and nods her head, unsheathing her weapon; the blade makes a keening sound like a tuning fork as it slides free of its lacquered scabbard. She flexes her free hand into a fist, and an arcane sigil flares to life on the back of her palm as she activates her ward. She's ready.
As the Detective turns the key and opens the lock, she grabs the door handle and pushes down hard, throwing the wooden slab open on its hinges. Sterling rushes across the threshold and right into whatever is taking place on the other side, prepared for combat.
Posts
Second that; definitely a kick-ass start to the game. Below is a link to the closest pic I could find to how I envisioned Clank. Get rid of the mouth, change the separate eyes to a visor, and the face is basically the same. His plates appear to be wrought-iron, with rubberized sheathing visible between the plates. His voice is projected from small speakers lining his throat.
Pic
Clank nods as Rievekari begins her examination. "We should work quickly. Cleg is not the most reliable being I've met." He looks over Baldrin's remains, scanning particularly for any signs of pre-death trauma.
Perception: 1d20+5= 18
Heal: 1d20+10=15
Mos Nasam & Vered vs. Bemiin's Boys
Map:
Apologies for the crudity of the map.
Notes:
Dwight and Sterling:
Ulman Rickson was the bard. A less-than-deservedly famous playwright. His only acclaim came from writing fluffy, light-hearted romances that, after the initial period following Mourning, was all the upper class could stomach. The more knowledgeable elite among those who enjoy theater, literature, and poetry knew his secretly to be the venue of a cunning satirist, constantly searching for holes in the facade of Sharn's social structure and mocking the society's focus on thin improvements in magic and high-brow art. The quote is often seen as a joke among the in-crowd of respectable theater elites: Ulman constantly employed high-quality artificing in his plays, complex machines and magical devices that contributed to their being so absurdly expensive to produce that few companies could actually afford them. It helped contribute to his downfall as a professional.
He also wrote a fair number of dark comedies and tried to launch a whole genre of mystery and intrigue writing. It didn't work out. He overdosed on Ribald powder about ten years later, close to 85 years ago. Sael'iana may have met him, given the fact that she's an eladrin and they live a long time, but it's unlikely she had any familial ties. He died alone, unwed with no offspring.
Sterling, you don't remember anything about Sael'iana's brother. It doesn't exactly surprise you, because it's not like you make a habit of reading the University's roster every semester, and that might be the only place with an official record of his existence.
Dwight, your insight tells you she isn't lying about having a brother. That part is definitely true. She's also honestly concerned about something, and the way she reacts (horrified) when you imply she never had a brother to begin with, gives you the distinct idea that she really believes that her brother is in serious trouble, and she believes it's connected to the falling-folk murders. Dwight, first part is pre your OOC comments, second. After the *** is after your OOC comments
Sael'iana nods as you lead her to the front door, seeming to dry her eyes and focus on what's around her. Chaeryl enters, looking confusedly at the three of you, her arms full of bags of food from the market that she clearly bought for six. She tilts her head out from behind the bags as she thumps them down onto the table. "Um, Detective, who is this? Where is everybody else? And where are you going? I thought --"
Dwight shakes his head almost imperceptibly, cutting off further rambling on the part of his assistant, and pats Chaeryl on the shoulder. "Chaeryl, glad you're back. This is our new client, Sael'iana. Take her information for how to contact her, and file everying I left on my desk appropriately. We'll be stepping out to look into where her younger brother may have gotten to."
Chaeryl nods, eying the eladrin discretely but severely as she goes about her task of collecting the information from the eladrin. She catches Sterling's eye and the silver-haired woman's extremely subtle quirk of a wry grin communicates enough: Sael'iana isn't to be trusted...yet.
As Dwight finishes locking the door and staring coldly at the eladrin woman, shock overtakes her. Her eyes grow stern as Sterling moves past, a quiet shadow of intimidation.
As Hartigan turns to face her, waiting for his answer, she sets her shoulders squarely.
And slaps him across the face, singly, hard.
"I don't need to patronized, Detective." She says warily as Sterling grips her sword fiercely and takes a half-step forward. "Why would I pay you, offer you anything to search for a made-up person? My brother is real. Tellarin is real, alive, and in trouble, and you want to make jokes and insult me?" She's clearly flustered, but the rage is subsiding, and there's a desperation that's more readily coming to the surface. "Ok, so sometimes I forget that I'm not the only art and history fan in the city and I fudge quotes and facts to make myself seem more significant: but you know what, I'm not the kind of girl that would -- that would ---" She inhales deeply to steady herself. "If you're willing to believe me and respect my problem enough to take my money, I should think you can respect me enough to keep comments like that to yourself. I'll cancel my appointments. If you want to reach Tellarin's before dark, we should go now."
The trio make their way up to the middle city and toward Morgrave University, the students therein spilling out into a quiet night after a long day's studying and filling the streets. As Sael'iana takes her leave of you as she approaches the quarter where her brother was housed, Hartigan stops a young halfling student who has the clear appearance of an Artificer student and asks about Tellarin, showing the picture. The kid is able to tell you that he recognizes the kid, but he hasn't seem him. He tells you he thinks he lives in the apartment complex that Sael'iana gave you the address for, but to be careful: someone said they had seen ribber-runners around the building recently, a big, bad-ass looking Minotaur with the kind of itch every student knows how to recognize.
It's trustworthy enough information to proceed cautiously: students notoriously keep their ears to the ground to avoid the nastier parts of Sharn whenever they crawl up from the middle and lower city and the Cogs.
I'll get you more about Tellarin's apartment later tonight.
Rievakari and Clank:
Rievakari located documents in Cleg's office to indicate that the first murder victim, the kid, had been moved to a House Jorasco facility rather than a city facility, and was likely already being destroyed by now, the Aberrant Dragonmark considered to dangerous to be left lingering. Baldrin was scheduled for a similar fate, so it's good you got here when you did.
As Clank examines the body with the trained eye of an individual capable of breaking people, he comes across an interesting inconsistency: There is a pattern to the destruction, a radiating circle of more extreme breakage that seems to start at the dragonmark and extend outward. The initial impact site was the ribcage, which is where Clank expected to find the most damage, but it seems oddly preserved: only a few fractures and busted cartilage. As it radiates outward however, in an almost spiral shape, the fracture become more severe: compound at some points, multiple bits of bone piercing the flesh, and bursting forth. What's particular odd about it all is his right hand: two of fingers are broken in the wrong direction. Based on the autopsy report and Hartigan's own recounting of the event, Clank can gather that the fingers had been broken - deliberating, and by a tool apparently - before the victim was killed.
Clank is experienced enough in this sort of thing to know that breaking fingers that way is often a torture method.
Shuffling her cards and closing her eyes significantly, Rievakari opens them with an almost pale blue glaze surrounding her face. The body begins to glow slightly, and a blue light sweeps across it, casting an almost blacklight-like effect. Marks, scars, and stains appear on the body as the light passes over it, and the dragonmark, which to this point had the appearance of a poorly-healed scar, begins to glow and react.
You discover that it's the Aberrant Mark of Madness, and that it did not originate on this body. Focusing more, a ghostly imagine of a small container filled with viscous, glowing orangish-brown liquid appears as an image in your mind, and the thought of that being shoved into Baldrin's mouth before he died grips you strongly. The mark was planted on him, not developed naturally (or preternaturally, as is the case with aberrants). Rievakari knows this shouldn't be possible.
Fight Status:
Skill Challenge Status:
You earned an Arcana Success!
You earned a Heal Success!
Skill Challenge Progess:
5 Successes (of 10)
0 Failures (of 3)
Time consumed: 5 hours. It is now Evening in Sharn.
DCs across the Challenge have moved up to the next difficulty level.
Is it supposed to be?
Are we going to be using Wassermelone's attack & roll & stuff? If we do, can we assume he did that to the non-minion guy?
EDIT: ...Also, uh, I don't think you were supposed to roll 2d10 for your damage, Wassermelone?
tumblr | instagram | twitter | steam
The muzzle of Vered's gun roars at the toughest-looking of the Gith, the artificer's custom 'Bang Bang' rounds burrowing into his green guts and exploding. Bits of meat and bone are strewn everywhere, and the thug's explosively disembodied head falls to the ground with a *thunk*.
The Deva then grabs a spherical clockwork device from his pocket, lofting it at Mos Nassam. The device bursts into a swarm of buzzing mechanical wasps; if either of the remaining thugs tried to lay their hands on the shardmind, they'd receive a lethal dose of neurotoxin for the infraction.
Hits the Bruiser after his defense penalty is assessed. Bruiser goes squish.
Mos Nassam is the allied target for Halo of Thorns. Until the end of my next turn, anyone who hits Mos Nassam with a melee attack will take 4 poison damage.
Also, apparently Vered and Mos dialed "M" for Murderate. Maybe you should explain to Mos Nasam that, in this country, that's not the normal response to things, lol. He may go around blowing peoples' heads up in response to sour glances.
Do the bad guys' roless
Mos Nasam & Vered Tavar:
The stricken, prostrate, terrified thug throws both arms over his head. "Please! Please, I'm sorry! Look, we didn't mean nothin' by it. Just don't do me like you done Garrik!"
Map:
Fight Status:
Vered "Mr. Kaboom" Tavar Initiative: 1d20+8 23 | HP = 44/44 | AC 20 | Fort 14 | Ref 16 | Will 17
Githzerai Thug | Initiative 15, HP = 1/1 | AC 16 | Fort 16 | Ref 18| Will 16 (G1)
Githzerai Thug | Initiative 7, HP = 1/1 | AC 16 | Fort 16 | Ref 18| Will 16 (G2) (+2 All Defenses TSoNT)
[strike]Githyanki Bruiser | [url=]Initiative 15[/url], HP = 40/40 | AC 18 | Fort 15 | Ref 14| Will 14 (G3)[/strike]
Ender:
Also, I'm a bit of a stickler DM, so take note of your magazine size and ammunition use. That's 1 of 10. It's not listed, but I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt that you had an extra magazine or two on your person. Obviously, you can reload during a short rest, but in an encounter, if you fire more than 10 times, you'll have to pop out that magazine and click in a new one as a standard action. Of course, if you get through 10 attacks in this encounter, it will have been a sad day.
Rievakari & Clank:
You have no private means of long-distance communication, no cell phones or radios. Scattered through Sharn's Middle and Upper City levels are elementagraph (phone) nodes, but they're 10 silver to use. That's more than a mile's worth of cab fair. They're expensive, and they're probably extremely traceable given that they're all owned and operated by a Dragonmarked house, as is the entire node web that connects all the different devices. Mostly only good for calling a person's specific residence or office, since you'd have to guess at what pay-node your desired person would be at, but you can call Chaeryl at Dwight's office, and she can relay messages as people call in. Gathering back at Dwight's may be the best course of action, though, to share information in detail before you move on to the next phase.
She helped the warforged (as best she could) clean up the morgue chamber then prepared herself for the trip back to the top.
Also: I haz more of a scribble.
Sterling & Hartigan:
As you continue to progress you through the city toward Tellarin's apartment, you notice that the student population things out aggressively, giving you some level of confirmation that the student's information was accurate. You finally come across the suite of apartments where Tellarin is staying just as the sun dips below the line of the Upper City's towers, casting the University district in the typical bluish twilight glow of Sharn's night.
Map:
Any blue area where there's a walkway is bordered by a 4-foot railing, so it's difficult terrain, i.e. costs 2 squares of forced movement to push/slide/pull someone over. If you do get pushed over, you make the normal saving throw to avoid it + another saving throw to grab the side.
The buildings are between 15 and 30 feet higher than the walkway you're on. Rooftops with no grid on them on 30 feet. Rooftops with grid on them are 15 feet.
The marble area at K1 through L4 is the entrance to the apartment. I'm assuming you want to go in, but I'm giving the map as a reference so that you can ask me about specific things or make any checks before we get too far into anything.
Just using a take 10, so passive perception of 20
Wait... something has happened.
She advances towards the office, searchingly probing with her mind and raising a card from her deck to eye-level, although Clank can't see the face of it...
The room is devoid of creatures trying to hide their presence; of this you are sure. The dripping sound is noticeably louder. It seems to be coming from underneath the disheveled desk you rooted about in earlier. Among other things, you notice particularly what wasn't so in the high-ceilinged room the last time you came through here: There are more folders and papers scatteredon the desk than you remember moving about, and a steaming mug of what you guess to be coffee sits, unattended, on the desk.
Cleg, despite having ownership of the space, is nowhere to be seen.
Yinz could roll perception again, if you please, now that you're closer to the source of the strange sound. In lieu of that, Rieva could make an Arcana check. I'm giving her passive perception the credit of being able to notice something mystic or alchemical might be afoot.
"Stay alert, Mr. Hartigan. There is something off about this place."
tumblr | instagram | twitter | steam
As you move into the lobby, you're immediately struck by the surprising quality of the establishment. The floors are a fine, polished marble that extends through the entire first-floor lobby. There is a grand staircase straight ahead that spirals up to the second floor, where you can see a balcony with a string of apartment suite doors and a finely crafted wrought-iron banister. The first floor seems to house maintenance and staffing facilities, but at this late hour, no one seems to be attending to them.
Again, an unusual silence hangs over what should be a bustling, crowded college living area. You know because Sael'iana told you that Tellarin's apartment is 2A, the one closes to the front wall on the second balcony.
Clank:
Cleg, pinned to the ceiling with no less than 12 crossbow bolts, his skin a pallid blue color, frost forming at his lips, over his craggy face, and around his thinning beard, stares dumbly back at you, all life drained from his body. On his head is carved a marking that can only be the vilest of gang symbols, or perhaps the rumored "dark house" of Dragonmarked nobles. He's not bleeding, which is incredible enough as it is, and he looks stricken with cold.
The Smiler won't be collecting on Cleg's debts anytime soon.
Steeling yourself with some level of reserve at the sight, you nudge Rievakari in the direction of the body, then move into the rest of the room proper. Dipping a finger into the coffee cup, you run a quick alchemical scan of its contents to see if there's anything an organic with a sense of smell would notice. Even to your cold-iron digits, the coffee is noticeably very warm, almost fresh. Cleg couldn't have made it but shortly after you and Rievakari descended into the morgue proper.
"Grinspore. Why would someone lace his coffee with Grinspore?" You wonder. It's not poisonous in and of itself.
While running the analysis, you notice the papers that are shuffled on the desk, in particular: The order commanding the dead youngster moved from this morgue, and a handful of other papers. Cleg was the only mortician that saw or serviced either of the bodies. His official report to the Watch had never been filed, and remained on the desk. The order to move Baldrin's body sat first and foremost with a smear of dark, arterial blood that had created the dripping noise as it spilled to the floor which must have alerted Rievakari to things being amiss in the office.
Sorry if my assumption that you'd share your findings was inaccurate. Also, grinspore is a drug you named in your background, which I liked, so I put it in his coffee. I'm guessing it's a delirium-inducing narcotic with mild amnesic effects...like a combination of rufilin, ecstasy and marijuana.
This has turned into D&D : Sharn DEA. But drugs are a part of modern crime/noir, so I figure in a place as effed up and magical as Eberron, the retreat into drug use would be fairly common...and very useful for planting evidence.
I'm going to wait on DarkMatter before posting further, but quick question, seeing as we've got a significant body count going, are we able to pull killing blows, so as to leave various miscreants available for questioning? I looked through my books for a mechanic on it and didn't find anything, though I might have missed it
"Positively delightful. I would linger here to gather an aura reading of this scene, but the cold nature of this murder argues against that line of thought.
As someone versed in these matters, I suggest we simply make haste to the Detective's office and count our manifold fortunes."
And my Passive Perception scores are only that high because of the skill benefit of being in the Star Phase from Student of the Cosmos. Otherwise it's a -2 point hit to both of those stated scores.
Sorry that she's got such a weird array of modifiers to keep track of. I could always just swap Telepathic Sensitivity with Skill Training (Perception), which would have been the simple and mechanically sound choice. But the other one was so cool.
Sort-of; after you Bloody them, you can typically make an Intimidate check in order to take the fight out of them rather than outright killing them.
I don't know how it would work mechanically in other games, but in our game at that point, like players, they start making death saving throws. Unlike players, any Heal check above a 1 will stabilize someone you've beat senseless. If your killing blow (the one you're pulling the punch on to knock them out) reduces them to their negative bloody value, you kill them outright.
And yes, leaving bodies available for questioning is not the worst idea in the world. Intimidating a bloodied foe is a good call if you're well versed in it and can demonstrably show that you'd otherwise ruin them. It's also a chance to end a long, difficult fight against a powerful opponent once you've shown yourselves capable.
Dark, it's totally cool. I like Rieva's flavor. I like everyone's flavor. Part of how y'all made the cut. Are you making any checks or anything, or just content to leave ASAP? Also, send me a PM to let me know what Rievakari's running from. Y'know, hooks and that.
And by look I mean an updated map
"Affirmative," Clank intones, as gathers the orders to move the bodies, and the late Cleg's watch report from the desk. "Cleg's absence will be noticed soon, and we ought be far away from here before then."
"I agree, Mr. Hartigan." She pauses. "We should not loiter. Time is of the essence and I do not like the feel of this place regardless. We should make our way to 2A."
She pauses again, squeezing her weapon's scabbard. "Do you mind if I take the lead, Mr. Hartigan? For your safety."
tumblr | instagram | twitter | steam
This room is wholly unoccupied. You could proceed all the way to K12 without encountering another creature, especially given your passive 20 perception. That should help you confirm there's nothing immediately hiding in here.
(I get that I'm a new DM, so it's understandably scary as a player entering an apparently empty room for which there is a map, but there's not likely to be traps and pits and gelatinous cubes in an apartment complex.
Map:
Clank and Rieva:
I'll wait on additional checks if you guys want to do them, but in the meantime...
Also, Dark080, it's a mystery. You may have one piece of the puzzle, but give me a little more credit than that, huh? I should hope you guys wouldn't be able solve it right the fuck up front.
Now, for Mos Nasam and Vered, do you just want to have him delay? Wassermelone's been incommunicado since Sunday. I'm not inclined to bump him from the game or anything for a brief delay, but, Ender, if you're ready to roll, we can just delay his turn.
Map:
This may give my hand away a little, but are you playing Dwight a little cocksure here, or are you not aware of the fact that your Passive Perception doesn't extend into a Passive Arcana with your Dragonmark? Is he just assuming that he's awesome enough at his job that he doesn't need to concentrate? I'm cool with it; I think it makes for an interesting sort of Detective, and I love commitment to a character, so I'm down. I just want to make sure you're not assuming something about play mechanics that I don't know.
As Dwight nears the door the hairs on his neck tingles and he inspects the door, going over it with a fine-tooth comb his Dragonmark starts to glow and his eyes get a blue hue as he looks beyond his normal sight as well.
Perception Roll: 28
Arcana Check: 16
I also feel obligated to point out that Sterling's hair is white! It's her eyes that are silver.
As the Detective inspects the door, Sterling takes a position just outside of it and keeps watch. She's confident enough in her ability to quickly throw herself between him and any potential threats that she does not feel the need to follow at his heels like a lapdog.
"Do you notice something peculiar, Mr. Hartigan?" She's been with the Detective long enough to know when he's got that curious itch... and the unmistakable activation of a Dragonmark only confirms that. "I also noticed it, when we first came inside. Very strange."
tumblr | instagram | twitter | steam
Dwight's Check Results:
There's faint, incredibly faint conversation on the other side of the door. It's muffled, more muffled than it should be: almost like you were trying to listen to a conversation underwater. You can make out at least two distinct voices, and some other noises: tearing cloth, cracking wood, broken glass being stepped on. There's activity of some kind going on in there, definitely. The language is hard to determine, but it sounds like heavily accented common, maybe with a word or two of another language thrown in.
Arcana: (I'm giving you a bonus to this from being able to hear.)
Being able to hear through the door is normal enough for you, so your keen senses give you an idea that there's magic afoot: possibly a ritual, device, or some equally powerful incantation which had otherwise masked the activity within the room from your normally extremely sharp senses as you approached it initially. It now occurs to you as the voices seem to subside, that the silencing effect may not have been a two-way trick.
Dwight & Sterling:
Or Sterling can move on in.
Either way: No need to roll your initiative until you enter the room, unless you'd like to do so out here. Whoever or whatever is in there won't roll theirs/its till you enter (if you do).
With that Hartigan slides his hand inside his coat and pulls out his rapier and steels his nerves for what he might walk into. Almost a whole day since I had to be ready with you...well except for the morning with Mos
Edit: After the post by boyce
Dwight makes a hand to show 2 voices, and that he wants her to go in first. He smiles as he mouths the words, "Try to leave at least one of them alive this time"
As the Detective turns the key and opens the lock, she grabs the door handle and pushes down hard, throwing the wooden slab open on its hinges. Sterling rushes across the threshold and right into whatever is taking place on the other side, prepared for combat.
Gonna go ahead and roll initiative now.
Initiative: 1d20+2 14
tumblr | instagram | twitter | steam
Initiative: 1d20+8 = 16
The following is assuming we can see people in the room, if they have moved to another one ignore...
Stepping into the room Dwight takes everything in trying to crystalize the room in his head before anything happens. "Stop right there!"
ohhhhhh wellllllll~
Not like I'm a rogue or nothing but man I'm dumb!
tumblr | instagram | twitter | steam