Pond Creek Mill 07

[Corwin]

19:03 <•Anastasia> OOC: Right, let's go.
19:04 <•Anastasia> Thus the party returns to Starre. The little room's cramped with all of you, but the group manages. After basic introductions...OOC: Go ahead and set yourself up and how you two want to approach this conversation and I'll roll with it.
19:06 <Skaya> "Oh wow, an elf!" Skaya exclaims once she's in the room. Somehow, no one actually bothered explaining that to her!
19:08 <•Anastasia> "Yes," Starre says simply, "Elves aren't common here, but we have more important matters to discuss."
19:10 <Devar> Devar nods in greeting, for now just standing to the side to discuss things!
19:10 <Skaya> "No they are not," she agrees, offering her hand in greeting. "I'm Skaya. A pleasure to meet you, truly!"
19:13 <•Anastasia> "Starre," Is the introduction back, "So you're chasing Brachidos? Devar told me some of it."
19:13 <•Anastasia> "We're chasing him and we're going to end him," Rina speaks up here, quietly, staying back.
19:14 <•Anastasia> "Get in line," Starre's smile is tight, "But don't expect it to be easy."
19:16 <Skaya> "We ran into him a while back, as he was probably propping up a group of bandits back in Laremy," Skaya muses. "I thought it was strange, the way such a huge and active group suddenly came to be. Guy just disappeared from a locked warehouse, and I don't think it could've been stealth. But he chose not to fight it out with me even though he had an advantage in numbers through that bandit leader, so I'm honestly stumped at his motives."
19:21 <•Anastasia> "He spreads disaster and suffering wherever he goes," Starre begins, "The same sickness is spread everywhere he goes, and leaves behind ruined lives, filled graves and heartbreak. He's always a few steps ahead, always moving towards some purpose that only he sees. He serves the Adversary - have you heard of him before?"
19:22 <Skaya> "Isn't he that sneaky bastard that people aren't even sure is still alive?"
19:24 <•Anastasia> "He's alive as far as I know," Is the answer, "And Brachidos serves him. What little I've found on him suggests he's tied to disease, suffering, poison, spite and misery. He's like a disease that infects  others, and those others go about and cause so much illness in society."
19:24 <•Anastasia> "That sounds a little like," Anne needs a moment, "Loviatar, I believe? At least they have some crossover." OOC: Anne takes 10 on the relevant check.
19:25 <Devar> "And Talona." Devar says with a grimace.
19:25 <Skaya> "Yeah, we've heard of him using poison here. Hey, Starre, mind if I ask you how you got involved in this hunt?"
19:25 <•Anastasia> Anne snaps her fingers, "Talona may be a better fit, or I may have her and Loviatar mixed up."
19:28 <•Anastasia> "He offered council to my best friend's parents, and lead them to commit suicide, and take the rest of the family with them." Starre answers, "What's worse, he left a false trail, and baited me into-" A moment, "Baited me into massacring an innocent man and his family. By all rights I should have been executed for this, but I was given a second chance by the Opal Angel."
19:29 <Skaya> "I'm sorry for your loss," Skaya says, because what else can you say here.
19:29 <•Anastasia> After that Starre looks down and shakes her head slowly, "I was so lost in revenge that I foresook the law and its protections, ones that would have proven my wrath misguided. There was no need ot do what I did, except out of the desire for revenge. I'm another of his victims, and I'm lucky by any standards."
19:30 <Devar> Devar frowns at the story but stays quiet.
19:30 <•Anastasia> Rina's stone quiet at this, while Sanda looks more than mildly queasy. It's Anne who gathers herself, "In this case at least, we can be fairly certain that he needs to be put down like a rabid dog."
19:30 <Skaya> "Where are you from, if you don't mind the question? It could be helpful to understand where Brachidos is traveling from."
19:33 <•Anastasia> "I suppose it's a reasonable question. Gorgeland," Is her answer, "Far east and south of Welland. I lived deep in the Gorgewoods, dark forests at the bottom of deep gorges. Places where the sun never rose between the gorges and the canopy of the forest. I've followed him as he's wandered generally west and northernly."
19:35 <•Anastasia> "So  by the odds, is he going somewhere or wandering? It sounds like he knows the lands, and is an experienced traveler." Sanda reasons.
19:35 <Skaya> "Yeah, any chance he's actually headed somewhere? Either looking for something or maybe just on vacation, and all the evil is merely casual on his side, a way to pass the time? Perhaps to some ancient draconic ruins?"
19:37 ⇐ Kobot quit (~dunefar@lunarnet-82C188CE.hr.hr.cox.net) Ping timeout: 180 seconds
19:41 <•Anastasia> "Nothing I've heard about," Is the answer, "But his deeper motives are still opaque to me. But-" A stop, "The feeling I get from my patron is that there's something important about stopping him. Urgent."
19:42 <•Anastasia> "It may be worth getting our hands on a better divination scroll as well," Anne suggests, "Though if he's particularl ypowerful or if his patron is, it's possible it won't work."
19:42 <Skaya> "In that case, since it looks like he's traveling in a certain direction, why haven't you tried to circle around him? Way to the north and west?"
19:43 <•Anastasia> "I can guess, and I have, and sometimes I get closer and it helps. But then I guess wrong and I'm put weeks back, and can spend months making up that gap," Starre explains.
19:46 <Skaya> "That's fair. We have more options working together, but before that... we came here to get a scroll of speaking with his victim and co-conspirator, but should we return with the scroll now? There is a fresher victim here that we could question just as well, or we might even save the scroll for now and try to head this guy off."
19:50 <•Anastasia> "Do we have any idea where he's going next?" Sanda asks at that, "Or just guesses?"
19:50 <Devar> "Speaking to the victim here may give us more information." Devar nods in agreement. "I still don't know that we have enough to try and make a guess as to where else he might show up."
19:50 <•Anastasia> "Wait, can we afford a second scroll? Hint, yes," Sanda points out, "We can always question both."
19:51 <Skaya> "While we can, the whole point is that the trail is fresher here. Going back with the second scroll adds at least two days to get back right here."
19:55 <•Anastasia> "Then fine," Anne agrees, "I'm fine with it. Haste has a certain value."
19:56 <•Anastasia> "As long as we're doing something," Rina seconds, "I don't object."
19:57 <Skaya> "Then let's see if we can get our lead here. If so, we'll just send word back and go on our way. If not, we'll buy the second scroll and try again at the expense of more travel time," Skaya concludes, since it seems there is an agreement. "What questions do we ask? We'll only get two of them."
19:58 <Devar> "Starre, didn't you mention that Brachidnos has tried to attack you before?" Devar asks. "I don't mean to suggest we use you as bait, but if we get some sort of lead we might be able to get his attention somehow."
20:02 <•Anastasia> "Yes," Starre agrees, "I'm fine with it if it works. If."
20:02 <•Anastasia> "If," Anne echos. "As for questions, hm. Do you have any ideas, Skaya?"
20:04 <Skaya> "Honestly, I was grasping for straws originally. Finding out whether he was traveling along a certain vector would've allowed us to try and overtake him. But Starre's answered that one for us. So maybe... where he was going next, specifically? What goals he had during their collaboration? Or maybe if he knows any other co-conspirators that are still alive?"
20:05 <Devar> "Maybe 'Do you know why the man in the mask killed you?'" Devar offers up. "If there was a motive, that might give us something to follow."
20:12 <•Anastasia> "Good ideas there," Anne agrees, "Anything we can use for more information or to build on. That' swhat we need more than anything else."
20:13 <•Anastasia> "Motive's good," Rina agrees as she thinks, "Where he's going next is another winner, but I doubt it'll work."
20:13 <•Anastasia> "I wouldn't put it past him to lie to someone abut that, too," Starre says, "Or for all I know to change his mind, but still worth asking."
20:15 <Skaya> "What if we hire a local priest to cast the spell?" Skaya voices. "We might manage three questions, then. And we'll save the scroll in case we need it. If so, we'll ask about motive, about the criminal enterprise they were involved in and finally under what circumstances Brachidos made his acquaintence? Rina and Starre have a point about lies, so that makes the future suspect, but we can try to understand what actually happened before."
20:16 <Devar> "We got some answers from a ... less valorous sort about what he was doing here, specifically." Devar says. "If we need to clarify the answers from our victim, we also might be able to through that."
20:17 <•Anastasia> "Learn your enemy and predict him?" Starre murmurs, "Wise words, even if I've struggled with that for him. Too much of his motives are simply unknown."
20:17 <Skaya> "If we understand how he's recruiting these guys, we might be able to either save one of them in the future or track them down more easily. That's the hope, anyway."
20:21 <•Anastasia> "Then let's find a priest who can do it?" Sanda urges you along, "Do you have anyone in mind?"
20:22 <Skaya> "On the one hand. Mystra's guys will do it," Skaya muses. "Let's just pay them for it unless Starre's got connections that could provide the favor for us?"
20:24 <•Anastasia> "Not enough quickly enough," Starre says, "Very well then, I'll cooperate with you. Anything to help bring him down faster."
20:28 <Skaya> "Then it seems like it's settled," Skaya begins to say, before slapping her forehead. "Right, so what's your skillset? Just the highlights, if you don't mind?"
20:29 <•Anastasia> "Melee fighting mostly, and a little magic I've picked up," Is thea nswer, "But I'm best in the front line."
20:29 <•Anastasia> "That-that'll help," Rina murmurs, then shakes her head.
20:30 <Skaya> "We'll be frontlining together," Skaya agrees.
20:30 <Skaya> OOC: Let's hire a CL6 Mystran cleric to cast Speak With Dead for us? And we'll use our writ of authorization to get the local guard to provide us access to the corpse first.
20:32 <•Anastasia> roll 1d100
20:32 <•Anastasia> OOC: Oh huh. One sec to fix.
20:32 → Kobot joined (~dunefar@lunarnet-82C188CE.hr.hr.cox.net)
20:38 <•Anastasia> roll 1d100
20:38 <Kobot> Anastasia rolled 1d100 --> [ 1d100=20 ]{20}
20:38 <•Anastasia> It's not hard to get one. A middle aged man, mostly bald, and in light robes. He nods, "I understand the gravity of the situation, so please have your questions chosen and chosen well. Do you have any questions about the spell?
20:38 <•Anastasia> "
20:41 <Skaya> "I think we have a working understanding, but this is the first time for me to resort to it. I know the answers can get cryptic, so please reword any question for better response with your expertise," Skaya requests. "Our questions are as follows. Why did Brachidos, the masked man, kill you? What was the business you were involved in with him? And the third question would depend on the answer for the second. Does it work so far?"
20:43 <•Anastasia> "Very well," he answers, "Hopefully he was not particularly willful, as sometimes the spell can be resisted," he warns.
20:44 — Skaya nods, saying, "If he was working with Brachidos, then we want to ask 'Under which circumstances were you recruited to work with Brachidos?'. If they weren't working together, please ask, 'Whose gold were you hiding in your storage unit?'. I think that works."
20:46 <Devar> Devar nods. "Those will give us a lot of ways to handle this."
20:49 <•Anastasia> "Very well," Is the agreement, "Anything else?"
20:50 <Skaya> "Like you said, let's hope he's not too willful."
20:57 <•Anastasia> A nod. The corpse is not in a great condition - quite dead on a glance, but it's good enough. With a chant of strange words...
20:57 <•Anastasia> roll 1d20+3
20:57 <Kobot> Anastasia rolled 1d20+3 --> [ 1d20=17 ]{20}
20:58 <•Anastasia> Yet nothing happens. A shake of his head, "Unfortunate, but I prepared a second casting due to the urgency of your request. I will try again," he offers.
20:58 <•Anastasia> Anne blows out a breath, "May we be protected in this and may it not fail again."
20:58 → Iddy joined (uid408070@lunarnet-423F0355.irccloud.com)
20:58 <•Anastasia> roll 1d20+3
20:58 <Kobot> Anastasia rolled 1d20+3 --> [ 1d20=1 ]{4}
20:58 → Devar_ joined (~igloo@lunarnet-D6DF3D51.res.spectrum.com)
20:58 <Skaya> Geez, if that were their scroll-- she'll need to try and use it herself and pretend to be a bad person while doing it, too. When the scroll is used.
21:00 <Devar_> Devar stays quiet and watches!
21:05 <•Anastasia> This time the corpse rises, watching blankly. Clearing his throat, "Why did Brachidos, the masked man, kill you?" he asks of Jack. For his part, the corpse stirs and then answers, "I don't know for certain, but I believe it was so he could take the lost gold. What else makes sense?" he asks back, dully, voice uninterested.
21:06 <•Anastasia> A hum at that before the next question, "What was the business you were involved in with him?"
21:07 <Skaya> There will be a bit of a delay between answers with this sort of spell, theory says, so if the answer is unexpected Skaya is prepare to offer an alternative third question!
21:09 ⇐ Devar_ quit (~igloo@lunarnet-D6DF3D51.res.spectrum.com) Read error
21:10 <•Anastasia> Going on from that, "We had an agreement to find the rest of the lost gold, and he believed that my trading expertise and contacts could help with that. In return he wanted me to help him with things here, and to show up, act along with him."
21:12 <Skaya> "Since he told us how he got recruited, please ask, 'What is the story behind the lost gold?'," Skaya tells the priest. It's mostly in the same vein they were going to use, just refocused with Jack's answers.
21:19 <•Anastasia> "What is the story behind the lost gold," Is dutifully asked.
21:22 <•Anastasia> "The lost gold is the Lost Gold of Ianthe," Is the answer, "And the Lost City of Ianthe."
21:22 → Devar_ joined (~igloo@lunarnet-D6DF3D51.res.spectrum.com)
21:22 <Skaya> OOC: What knowledge would cover this?
21:23 <•Anastasia> Then the corpse goes still once more, as...OOC: L:History or K:Local for something here.
21:23 <•Anastasia> roll 1d20+11 Sanda has K:H
21:23 <Kobot> Anastasia rolled 1d20+11 Sanda has K:H --> [ 1d20=16 ]{27}
21:23 <•Anastasia> .
21:23 <Skaya> roll 1d20+12+5 K:Local
21:23 <Kobot> Skaya rolled 1d20+12+5 K:Local --> [ 1d20=7 ]{24}
21:24 <•Anastasia> "The Lost City of Ianthe? I read about that," Sanda pipes up, as you recall something about it. The Lost Gold of Ianthe is said to be the gold of the city treasury of the Lost City of Ianthe. Little is known about it these days, merely as tory of a long ago kingdom that was impossibly rich."
21:25 <•Anastasia> "It's a city that was lost long ago, and had a treasury with more gold than you could ever spent," Sanda's voice picks up, "And it's said that if you found the city and that treasury...well, you'd be rich forever. But if someone has some of it and knows where the rest is...?"
21:25 <•Anastasia> "I do recall thes tory, my mother told me of it," The priest turns, "What Miss Sanda says is broadly in line with the old stories told here."
21:27 <Skaya> "That's... I don't know if it's a clue or not. But if Brachidos was after the lost city, maybe that's where he's headed?"
21:30 <•Anastasia> "At the least, it means there's more to that money we found," Anne points out, "As well as possible complications."
21:31 <•Anastasia> "I doubt his type is that interested in money," Starre speaks up here, "But whos ays that's all there is in a lost city?"
21:31 <•Anastasia> "Maybe, maybe," Sanda says, "There might be magic items and who knows what, too!"
21:34 <Devar_> "It could be some sort of metaphor." Devar says.
21:34 <Skaya> "Money is a amazing draw, and not just to lowlives. But a fabled lost city would have a great deal more than just a treasury," Skaya agrees with Starre and Sanda. Then again, it is not out of the question that he just wants enough funding to outright overthrow a few nations, is it?
21:38 <Devar_> "So where does this leave us?" Devar asks.
21:40 <Skaya> "Let's investigate Jack's whereabouts and actions in the couple months up to now?" Skaya proposes. "It's not the sort of journey I'd imagine he took far, so if we find clues in the area we could look into them.'
21:43 <Devar_> Devar nods.
21:47 <•Anastasia> "It's our best lead," Starre thinks it over, "And were we to find that lost city and it be unrelated, then at least the gold could be put to worthy uses."
21:48 <•Anastasia> "I'd never again have to worry about my orphans, and so many more could be cared for," Anne points out, "AS it is, that find of gold bars will do them exceedingly well."
21:49 <Skaya> "Let's spend a couple days looking into this, then, before reassessing."
21:50 <•Anastasia> OOC: Okay then, what's your plan to do so?
21:53 <Skaya> OOC: If the guard collected any sort of information about previous whereabouts or acquaintances of Jack, let's get that information and follow up. If not, talk to the owner of that storage unit to see how and when it was rented to help us focus our queries.
21:53 <Skaya> OOC: After, let's split up and check with the guards who manned the gates to see if they recall him coming in, check with places that rent wagons or dispatch caravans since there's no way he straight up carried that money chest.
21:55 <•Anastasia> OOC: Give me a Diplo check for GI to cover a bunch of things.  Whomever has the highest can roll and gain the aid another of the rest.
21:56 <Skaya> roll 1d20+10+5
21:56 <Kobot> Skaya rolled 1d20+10+5 --> [ 1d20=5 ]{20}
21:57 <•Anastasia> OOC: Okay, since you did that. Devar, can you give me Perception as well?
22:02 <Devar_> OOC: take 10 for 22
22:05 <•Anastasia> OOC: Fantastic. We're at that time, so I'll prep up responses for Saturday.