Ester: IC

[esorscher]

Reza: Your search for Ali has been fruitful so far. The bartender at the Sledge vaguely remembered sending you his personal effects, but he has sent many such packages all over the world. Rumors of the Unter abound and you could not help but hear of them, and you decided to find someone with knowledge of the Unter to guide you below ground. With the help of a friendly human, you found a rogue, Alterys, who claims to have been underground. The two of you are standing outside the Sledge.

Alterys: You and Reza have entered into a limited partnership with the help of your friend, Deem, who overheard Reza asking questions about the Unter and brought him to you. You have been in the Unter, once several months ago, and the experience was one you did not enjoy. The Unter is littered with traps and monstrous races, many more dangerous than the goblins and kobolds that the surface folk occasionally see. But it is also filled with treasure, and you have agreed to help Reza. The two of you are standing outside the Sledge.

Dagos: After several hours of waiting, a gnome wizard comes to you and says, “The Magii have seen and accepted your application. Join me upstairs.” He passes through an archway but when you attempt to follow, you find your way barred by magic. He looks at you, smiles, and goes up the stairs and out of sight. This appears to be your first test.

Royal: On your morning ride through the halfling section of Eastgate, you happen to spot two men in metal armor beating up a halfling.

Lilina: Your husband has already left the house when you awake, as is usual. On your morning constitutional through Eastgate you happen to glance down one of Ester's many alleyways and spot two men in metal armor beating up a halfling.

[Grishnakh]

Standing before the magical barrier Dagos runs his hand along the surface and says to himself: "I see, so I am to be tested. Well, I guess I should have expected as much, perhaps I can find out what kind of magic I'm dealing with here."
He takes a moment to study the arcane energies, trying to figure out their secrets.


Spellcraft: [roll0]
Knowledge (arcane): [roll1]

[tonberryking]

Well, this is one way to start the day. Nudging her immense rottweiler twice in two separate spots, a beefy looking halfling woman in armor holds on as "Henry" leaps forward, barking a roaring indignation. Royal finds that using the dog's temper is a good way to get attention; she brings her steed to bear a few feet out of reach, letting him jump about snarling and baring fangs amidst his noise.

Quickly getting him to reduce the howls to a quieter "constant growl," the halfing looks at the Cuthbert goons with a withering look from under her steel cap.

"Cease immediately." her growl seems more imposing than the dog's, "Boys, I demand to know just what you think you're doing to that poor fellow this instant!" Her use of 'boys' is deliberate, as she doesn't exactly look old herself, but perhaps a bit formidable as her hand grips the saddle pommel tight.

[Felyndiira]

The scene that played out before the noble girl was, quite sadly, a common one. The paladins of St. Cuthbert are best compared to a swarm of locusts in this town, spreading their justice-flavored pestilence without a pretense of concern for the people that they were supposed to protect. Yet, fanaticism aside, most of them -as civilized human beings - are reasonable when it comes to affairs not concerning the savages. No one turns their head when a sparse orc or goblin was tortured and beaten on the street, but for them to treat a halfling like this prompts one to imagine that there must have been some kind of a reason.

Certainly, one cannot rule out the possibility that the "reason" is as hollow as the order seems to be; occasionally, the paladins would take insult to being looked at in a strange fashion, or a stranger accidentally bumping them on the streets. Just as frequent was when they catch an individual in an act of murder or larceny and respond a bit more than appropriate for "in kind" - in which case it would be unwise to let their so-called victim back into the streets. Lilina, also, disliked dealing with the paladins in general: she has some influence over the order due to her position and that of her father, although the mere thought of depending on that man's name was like rotting, infesting poxes of cancer. She would not have it that way.

Still, she didn't like the scene, and would probably have interfered herself had another not already jumped into the victim's defense. The new entrant didn't seem any more intimidating intimidating than Lilina; she was a halfling a few heads shorter than the two paladins, and even in armor looked only about as strong as a muscular child would have been. Nevertheless, the halfling paladin was not lacking in courage; her remark was sharp and commanding, if not a bit in contrast to her height and appearance, as if she is challenging the paladins to a duel of blades.

Lilina's steps grew a bit slower; she was walking in a more lady-like fashion than usual, each step less than a foot's length apart from the one prior. She still didn't interfere in the exchange, although she kept a masked interest in what is happening before her - the girl was quite interested in what the paladins would do next.

[Swami Monsoon]

Reza explains Snowstone to Alterys. "Snowflake obsidian... there are huge deposits of it under Snowstone Home. It's what gives our community its name and it's how we make our living. Let me show you..." He draws the shortsword at his hip. The hilt and scabbard are unremarkable wood and brass. The blade is not so ordinary. It is made not from steel but from a single piece of finely honed and polished volcanic glass. The stone is a deep brown, the color of dark chocolate, marked with many small white spots. Reza holds the edge to a stray thread dangling from his cloak, and the fibers part at the faintest touch... "Obsidian is actually quite a bit sharper than steel, but it's also much more fragile. So if you give it a good whack..." Reza grabs the sword with both hands and slams it hard into the cobblestones. It strikes with a resounding crunch, like the sound of a foot breaking through heavily crusted snow... but when Reza lifts the blade, it is unmarked. Instead, one of the cobbles is now in two pieces. "The last part of that sentence is supposed to be 'shatters into little bits,' but Snowstone is not ordinary obsidian. It's sharper than steel and stronger too. This is actually a low quality piece. The good stuff is even stronger, and some of it is even naturally enchanted. That would be wasted on me. I'm not a real swordfighter..." Reza re-sheathes the blade and continues.

"Ali's tools and weapons were also made of Snowstone. We've never traded much with Ester or anywhere else this far west, so items like that should be uncommon here. That might be one trace of him that we could look for... although brown Dwarves are also pretty rare here and nobody seems to have noticed one lately.
At some point we're going to have to start poking around in the Underground. But if this place is anywhere near as big underneath as it is up top," he says, swiveling his head to take in the crowded cityscape, "how do we know where to start?"

[Jormengand]

Alterys considered. "I could ask another Thief for a good way in," she said, "But then they'd want a share of it. No, we'll have to do some searching ourselves." The Thieves were a minor group as far as the city as a whole was concerned, but they all-but-ruled a small part of it and knew most of it. They also knew how to go places underground.

"The way I used last time may be the only way that we can realistically get in, but there were loads of traps there - and I don't do traps."

[esorscher]

Reza and Alterys: Your conversation continues in the busy street.

Dagos: You are unsuccessful in determining the spell effect already in place.

Royal and Lilina: The paladins glance at each other. One moves to engage you and the other pushes the halfling down and away. “Help,” the halfling cries out, but the paladin silences him with a gauntlet across the face. The one blocking your way says, “Same thing we'll do to you if you don't get lost, now, halvie. This doesn't concern you. Beat it.”

[tonberryking]

The moment the other paladin draws near, Henry bears his fangs and snaps at the air, for all the world looking ready to leap. He does *not* mess around when someone comes towards his rider.

"Oh, I quite imagine that it does have something to do with me. I demand to know what purpose you have in condemning that young man. What crime is so great that that two grown men of Cuthbert are trouncing him within an inch of life over? As holy warrior to holy warrior, pray enlighten me."

Royal hasn't drawn any weapons, or rather, THE weapon that rests along Henry's saddle; a dark wooden lance with steel bands and studs ringing its haft; if she has anything else, it's probably not very large to fit in the quiver on her back...

"Or else you'd prefer to explain to the city guard?"

May as well throw a diplomacy out to see if it helps any:[roll0]

[Felyndiira]

"Excuse me, good sirs and madam." At that point, the aggressor in this situation made himself known, and the girl - still a bit hesitant to banter with a hostile paladin of St. Cuthbert - nevertheless decided to at least try to separate the two parties from each other and to prevent a violent outburst from ruining her morning walk. She imagined that the two men were likely not of very high ranks if they are wasting time here; still, she swalloed her pride and greeted them with a gentle, respectful bow before interjecting herself back into the exchange.

"I'm certain that, as the upholders of law, that you have nothing but the best intentions in protecting the safety of the city. I'm not certain what crimes this halfling committed, but is not the proper course of the law for a suspect to submit him to the city courts for an official trial? I understand the use of force to subdue an unruly prisoner, but it does not believe he is in a state to resist at the current moment."

"If his crime is not truly severe, can I please ask you to forgive him?" The girl added, kindly smiling to both parties to enforce her message while letting her appearance and pose - and perhaps, as much as she hates to admit it, her name - enhance her plea. "There are many poor children nowadays trying to fend for themselves on the streets, and many poor adults that are committing small crimes for the sake of feeding their families. Given that, and what you have already done, I am quite certain that the man would try his best to avoid such crimes in the future."

Mostly of this is a diplomacy roll to try to get the paladins to leave: [roll0].

Meanwhile, Lilina has an action readied in case if something happens (she's still pretty far away from the paladins), and is also doing a sense motive on the halfling victim: [roll1]

EDIT: I rolled a four! :smallbiggrin:

[Grishnakh]

Well, that is disappointing...

He must have been more nervous than he thought for him to be unable to unravel the nature of the spell currently blocking his path. Sure, joining the Magii was a momentous occasion and crucial for his future progress, but under normal circumstances he should have no trouble to determine something as simple as the nature of a magical barrier.

Still, the gnome had said to follow him and to do so, thereby passing the first test, he would have to make it past this obstacle. Quickly his mind started racing, thinking of the many different approaches he could take to solve this problem, 'till he decided on the best one. It would take a bit of magical powers, which he might need in future tests that would undoubtedly be waiting for him, but it had to be done. Getting to the other side was the important thing, and the Benign Transposition spell should be able to help him here. The only uncertain variable was the question of magical powers passing through the barrier. If that was possible than he should be able to summon a creature on the other side and switch places. It was worth a shot.

Rolling up his sleeves and bringing the necessary spells to mind, Dagos prepares to execute his plan when suddenly he stops. Dagos, you blundering idiot! Get it together or you will never impress these mages! He had totally forgotten about his most recent acquisition. And after spending so much gold on them too. Only two weeks ago had he finally managed to get the funds together for this new piece of equipment, so this would be it's first real use (accepting of course a little experiment to test their merrit).

Focussing his mind, not on the spells but on his boots, Dagos expends a little of the power needed to activate the magic in them. Suddenly he appeared some distance further up the stairs, behind the magic wall. While the feeling was a bit anti-climactic, Dagos was nontheless happy that his new boots had so soon proved their worth and that he had gotten past the first test. Looking for the gnome and already thinking of what might be next, Dagos continues his way upstairs.

Using Dimension Stride Boots to teleport past the barrier, 1 charge.

[Swami Monsoon]

"I will defer to your knowledge of the area and of the... uhh.. stealthy trades," Qizilbash says. "When would you like to start, and is there anything we need to obtain or prepare ahead of time?"

[Jormengand]

Alterys considers. "Well, there's only one way I know of getting anywhere useful in the Unter without anyone seeing us and wondering where we're going. Unless there's any adventuring gear you need to get, we can just as well go now."

[esorscher]

Dagos: "That was fast," the wizard says. "My name is Copperfarb. Welcome to the Magii. Normally there would be a tedious examination of your skills, wherein you would demonstrate to your examiner (me) each of your spells in turn. However, since you are clearly a wizard, if you will allow me to examine your spellbook, we can dispense with that." He pauses, and holds a hand out expectantly.

Royal and Lilina: With the arrival of Lilina, the paladins exchange another glance. Your pleas for mercy fall on deaf ears, but whether it is your reputation that precedes you or simply the fact that you are a human witness to their crime, their tone changes. "Take him to the guard," the one standing between you says to the one doing the hitting. The paladin nods and disappears with the halfling around the corner.

"And you," he says pointing at Royal. "I know who you are." From the way he says it, you are not certain if such knowledge is beneficial to you. He then follows the other paladin out of sight. Whether they intend on taking the halfling to the City Guard, or whether they are simply moving their punishment to an unobserved location, you cannot know without following them.

Reza and Alterys: After making whatever preparations you need to make before descending underground, you head to the sewer grate in the deserted alleyway that Alterys knows leads into the Unter. The stench is almost overpowering--almost. You emerge from the narrow stone pipe and drop into a dark chamber. You can feel the floor beneath your feet and smell the musty air, and your darkvision reveals that the chamber is small, at best 20' x 20', with a stone chamber pot and a stone sink. There is a door on the far wall.

(At this point, since you are basically just wandering around in the Unter looking for clues, you'll need to make search checks.)

[Swami Monsoon]

Reza nods. "I'm ready when you are. I just need to go up to my room and get my pack."

[Grishnakh]

Dagos steps up and clasps hands with Copperfarb (likely choosing to misinterpret the gesture). "Pleased to meet you Magus Copperfarb, my name is Dagos D'Malsheem." He moves toward a table by the wall, where he gently sets down his pack. "The sharing of knowledge must be an important factor for an organization such as the Magii. I must say I am quite excited to think of the combined knowledge you must have access to." As he speaks Dagos carefully retrieves his spellbook from the pack. It has quite an impressive exterior, even though Dagos knows it's content is as yet unlikely to impress anyone. First of it is at least twice as thick as most spellbooks, the leather cover made from dragonhide, its pages a high quality vellum in stead of parchment. With a loving touch Dagos removes the book from its protective slipcase and places it on the table, opening it at a random page. He then stands to the side making room for Copperfarb to examine the pages. "You'll see that so far my spellbook contains mostly spells of the Conjuration school, for that is where my interest and specialty lies."

While Dagos allows Copperfarb to examine his spellbook, naturally, and even turn the pages, as must be done for proper examination, it is quite apparent for anyone who cares to look that Dagos is uncomfortable with handing his spellbook to anyone (even a Magus).

[Jormengand]

"Okay."

A while later, Alterys opened the doors of what appeared to be a small wine cellar to those who didn't know. "Come on." She drew up her hood, and dropped to the ground quietly, trying not to alert anything to her presence.


Various rolls which may or may not be applicable:
Hide: [roll0]
Move silently: [roll1]
Spot: [roll2]
Listen: [roll3]
Search: [roll]1d20+6[roll]

[Felyndiira]

"The nerves of these people, really," Lilina exclaimed. Her eyes followed the paladins as they carted the halfling off to some unknown place - she would probably bet a few gold coins that it was not to the guards or any source of reasonable authority. Beating up on the paladins would cause even more trouble, of course, though she felt a pang of worry about the fate of their victim - it would not really do if they simply switched places and continued on their beatings. "I thought it was just supposed to be the savages that were poorly received in their hands; when did they start going off against civilized people like this?"

"Are you alright?" She turned to the other halfling - the one dressed in full armor much like the ones these 'paladins' wear. Her confidence betrayed the simple fact that she was skilled in armed combat; it looked a bit like a caricature from a human's perspective, that a woman barely three feet tall, riding a trained dog, would be able to stand against people twice her size and muscle mass. The girl has seen stranger, however - the order itself has had a halfling paladin that made quite a name for herself with her heroic feats, and compared with that anomaly, she would not even blink at the sight of a halfling warrior.

"They'll probably just take that poor lad somewhere else," she sighed, her eyes wandering back towards where the other paladin disappeared. The aggressors were not moving in haste; if she were to follow their trail now, the girl reckons that she could still catch sight of them. It would reflect badly upon her to leave the bullies alone like this, but is there really a reason to continue messing with the order?

[tonberryking]

To Royal, it's reason enough. Henry starts barking loudly after the other paladin-- A Yondalla one if the symbol on the buckler's any indication-- quickly excuses herself from Lilina's presence. "My apologies, but my work is not yet done-- Hey!!" she cries as her dog bounds after the two paladins, Royal immediately following after them down their path. Henry sniffs at the air for their scent, the only time he ceases to bark.

"You are not leaving without me, I mean to see that this halfling be given to the guard properly!"

[Swami Monsoon]

Reza whispers to Alterys... "As to where to go from here... Ali said he'd found a lead to the location of the real Unterschaft, where the Lost Tribe of Dwarves is supposed to be living. Of course lots of people have been looking for the same thing, so that doesn't narrow things down much. If they're really still down there, we know two things... that they really don't want to be found and that they're very good at not being found."

Reza nods to the door on the far wall. "You'll have to take the lead. I'm not terribly stealthy, but this might help. It will at least cover our tracks..." With a wave of his hand he produces a palm full of black volcanic sand and sprinkles it on both of them. As the grains touch their clothing and skin they seem to vanish...

Casting Pass Without Trace on self and Alterys.

Rolls:
Spot [roll0]
Listen [roll1]
(If needed)
Hide [roll2]
Move Silently [roll3]

[Felyndiira]

"These are St. Cuthbert--hey, wait!" By the time she uttered those words, the halfling was already gone; really, she was brave, no doubt, but her chasing the paladins alone would just lead to another fight somewhere else in the city. Especially if she is a paladin of St. Cuthbert herself - a skirmish between members of the order would just rouse unwanted attention and get someone - probably the halfling paladin herself despite her best intentions - into major conflict with the order.

Goddammit, she wasn't supposed to get involved any more than just stopping the fight here, but some nagging feeling inside Lilina somehow persuaded her to give chase. It was quite obvious that the girl is not in the best of shape, but still, she managed to keep a running pace as she sprinted after the three paladins, hoping that she can make it in time to halt whatever shenanigans that may have taken place.

[esorscher]

Reza and Alterys: Alterys detects no traps in the room or on the door, and finds nothing of unusual interest. The room is what it appears to be -- an ancient dwarven bathroom. Upon opening the door you see with your darkvision a dark, dank hallway. It has been stripped of anything valuable. Roughly 30' down, it turns left.

Dagos: Copperfarb opens your spellbook carefully and inspects each page with significant interest. When he comes to the last filled page he leafs through the rest quickly and says, "Thank you. Believe me, I'm a wizard myself. I understand how difficult that was." He pauses, then removes a scroll from his pocket. "Go ahead and cast that on me. Take your time." It's not one of the spells in your spellbook. Rather than watching you, Copplefarb goes and sits down at one of the many writing desks in the room, picks up a quill and begins writing something down.

Royal and Lilina: The paladins are in a different alleyway, but it is equally deserted as the last. The halfling is now in manacles, and his face has been healed as if by magic. "So be it," the one who has previously spoken to you says. They do not say anything else but continue making their way through the alleys until they reach Cross St, on which they turn and head uphill toward the center of town.

[Grishnakh]

Hmm, I should have seen this coming. A Read Magic spell would have been usefull about now. But alas, he had not prepared that spell today, so he would have to figure out this spell the old-fashioned way.


Spellcraft: [roll0]
If Conjuration +2, if Enchantment/Necromancy/Evocation -5.


"I am terribly sorry Magus Copperfarb, but it seems I have neglected to prepare Read Magic today and the excitement of coming to the Tower must have muddled my mind some. Is there any possibility I might acquire a scroll of Read Magic to use?"

[Jormengand]

"Well, time for some door-opening, I guess." Alterys walks up to the door, hoping it's not trapped...

If neccesary:
[roll0] Open Lock.
[roll1] Reflex (to avoid trap)
[roll2] Fortitude (to prevent poison)

[roll3] Spot
[roll4] Listen
[roll5] Search
[roll6] Hide
[roll7] Move Silently

[esorscher]

Alterys:
Alterys detects no traps in the room or on the door, and finds nothing of unusual interest. The room is what it appears to be -- an ancient dwarven bathroom. Upon opening the door you see with your darkvision a dark, dank hallway. It has been stripped of anything valuable. Roughly 30' down, it turns left.

Dagos: Copperfarb looks up from the desk. "Oh. Well, alright. But these scrolls aren't free, you know." He hands you a scroll of Read Magic.

[Grishnakh]

"Ah, thank you very much. I must admit I feel quite foolish right now." With a rather sheepish look, but clearly relieved, Dagos reaches into his belt pouch and takes out fifteen golden coins, which he hands to Copperfarb. "I believe that should cover the cost." After which he procedes to use the Read Magic scroll to decipher the scroll Copperfarb had given him.

[Jormengand]

Alterys continues down the corridor.

[Swami Monsoon]

Before Alterys moves out, Reza whispers, "How much of an interval do you want? How far behind do you want me to follow?"

[Grishnakh]

After reading the scroll and finding out its content Dagos looks up, confusion clearly written in his eyes. Slowly shaking his head he rolls up the scroll again and places it on the desk next to Copperfarb.

"Esteemed Magus, while I find it questionable that you would have me harm you, I must disappoint you. As I mentioned earlier, my studies so far have focussed mostly on the school of Conjuration, leaving my talents in the other schools somewhat lacking. In fact, the school of Evocation is one of three in which I have no aptitude whatsoever, which might explain my difficulties deciphering this scroll in the first place. Besides Evocation my talents would similarly be wasted on the Enchantment or Necromancy schools, such are the costs of dilligence. I am affraid we need an alternative if I am to pass this test."

He looks at Copperfarb expectantly, hiding his fear that failing this test will get him sent away from the Tower, just when he was so close.

[tonberryking]

Royal wordlessly follows, stern and silent, which can't be entirely said of Henry; the dog lets out a warning growl as he lopes after the pair and their captive.

She doesn't like this at all, but damned if she won't rest until the 'criminal' is safely in the hands of the watch.


Sense motives on the both of them:
[roll0] [roll1]

Also, untrained Kn. Local to remind myself if the city watch is actually stationed in the middle of town: [roll2]

[Felyndiira]

Lilina felt absolutely silly as she chased the halting paladin, panting rather heavily as her heeled shoes clicked against the roads and unpacked grounds. Here she was, a noblewoman of Ester, chasing after a bunch of people as if she was playing a child's game. All for what - a single half king? To prevent a fight somewhere in town that will be resolved in a matter of minutes anyway, if not always justly?

She chuckled a bit at this, but nonetheless, the girl's nagging sense to at least make right of this scene - and finish a charitable act that she began - drove her onward in following the halflings and the men.

Lilina will be using sense motive as well, though for her it's on both the paladins and on Royal. She already did it on the halflig victim before:

Royal: [roll0]. Paladins: [roll1] [roll2]

Also, she will try to figure out if there are any potential places in the center of town (church, town guard, prison, abandoned warehouse, etc) that the paladins may be taking the prisoner to:

Know (Local): [roll3]

[Jormengand]

"Hmm. Thirty feet or so should do it. Pretty much so that if something blows up it doesn't hit you, but we can fight things that are attacking either of us."

[esorscher]

Reza and Alterys: At the turn in the corridor it you see it continues another thirty feet before stopping. There are two stone doors on the wall to your left, opposite a stone archway about 15' down the hall to your right. The doors in the hallway are both closed but the archway is open. Looking through it you see a room roughly 30' x 30' with another stone door directly across from the archway, also closed but more ornate than the others.

Dagos: "No evocation?" Copplefarb raises an eyebrow. "No enchantment, or Necromancy, either? No matter. This test works either way, I can cast magic missile on you, or you cast it on me. I'll give you a moment to cast your shiel--no, you don't have that in your spellbook." He reaches into his pocket and takes out a different scroll, which he exchanges for the magic missile scroll in your hand. "Cast this, then I'll hit you with a magic missile. Or don't." He smiles.

Royal and Lilina: You know that there are four buildings in the center of town: The Cathedral of St. Cuthbert, The Tower of the Magii, John Henry's Iron Sledge, and City Hall. You guess that they are taking the halfling to City Hall. He whispers (in halfling) "I recognize you, you're one of the Dogsaddle Clan. Please, get me out of here, I'm innocent. My name is Nemo. I was just--" The Paladins notice him speaking, but don't understand what he is saying, and hit him in the back of the head. He shuts up. You are nearly to City Hall.

[Grishnakh]

Dagos accepts the scroll, which he assumes is a scroll of Shield, and prepares to cast the spell.

*hoping the dice-gods will give me something other then 1s or 2s this time.*
Spellcraft: [roll0]

Of course if the scroll is something other than Shield I'd like to know, if it is Shield Dagos will cast it on himself.

[tonberryking]

Royal's brow furrows under the steel cap, but she mouths the halfling word for "endure" under her breath where the fellow halfling can see it. "I'll ask you not to strike that halfing anymore. One more time, and I will personally be taking three criminals to city hall."

[Felyndiira]

"Seriously." The girl grinded her right heel against the ground, still panting as the halfling and paladin troupe was finally within sight. One would think that she should have been glad that the scene was seemingly able to resolve itself with minimal interference, although the girl was quite annoyed that she . "After all of the energy I wasted chasing you people," she whispered to herself, almost leering at the two men walking before her, "you ended up actually staying true to their word. Making me look silly now, exhausted and with my feet aching from running in heels - all while being concerned over some phantom situation."

"Well, I guess most of it was my fault anyhow," she sighed, leaning against the nearest pillar. Here, she had almost perfect vision of every crucial building within the square, and as long as the paladins remain in the center of town, she should be able to ascertain their destination. If not...

Well, she'd prefer not to think about that possibility.

[esorscher]

Dagos: Copplefarb gestures and five magic missiles erupt from his fingertips, all of them absorbed by the shield spell. "Well, that's about it for your application. I'll pass the results along upstairs. You can wait here if you like, or you can wander around on this floor and below. I should know in a day or two whether or not you've been admitted; I'll contact you as soon as I do."

Royal and Lilina: The paladins laugh at Royal's threat, but no more blows are given. The five of you reach City Hall and the paladins go inside with the halfling. Following them in, you see a busy police station, and the man at the front desk recognizes the paladins and says casually, "Another troublemaker?"

The paladins laugh and pass the halfling off into the City Guard's hands. "This one was resisting arrest," the talkative one says, and the Guard writes it down in his logbook. Another Guard takes the halfling to the holding cells out of sight.

[Grishnakh]

Dagos was glad the magic shield had done its job properly. Five of those missiles would have seriously hurt! Magus Copperfarb must be quite powerful to be able to use that spell to its maximum potential. But then, he must be for otherwise he would not have been in charge of the application, now would he.

"Thank you Magus, I will leave my home adress should you need it."

What to do now...
He had expected there to be more tests, so he was done earlier than he'd thought. Perhaps there would be other trials to come, but for now he had no further business here. On the other hand, he had come all the way to the Tower today, so maybe he should have a look around before heading home. Copperfarb had said he could wander the first two floors.
Dagos decided to take the long way home and take a tour of the Tower, starting with this floor and then the one below.

[Jormengand]

Alterys walks up to the door and opens it.

[roll0] Move silently
[roll1] Hide
[roll2] Search
[roll3] Spot
[roll4] Listen
[roll5] Open Lock

[Swami Monsoon]

As instructed, Reza hangs back about 30 feet, waiting for the door to open and watching for the signal to move forward.

Move Silently [roll0]
Spot [roll1]
Listen [roll2]

[Felyndiira]

Lilina did follow the two when they entered the Town Hall. She was trailing a bit behind the rest of the group, although she made no attempts to hide her presence as her heel clicked against the pavement. "I just wanted to make sure a fight didn't break out," she assured the two with a quiet smile; it was quite apparant to the girl that a frail noblewoman trying to stop a fight between paladins was an inconceivable image, but she paid it no heed when she walked with them into the building.

She frowned a bit when the paladins made their case, however; it wasn't hard to figure out who really was at fault in this situation, with words of such duplicity and the guard's casual acceptance without much of a trial. It's about what one would expect, she sighed to herself, then spoke with clarity to the two men: "well, I guess that's that. Say hi to your captain for me, will you?"

The girl's eyes quickly scanned the room as she turned as if to leave. Within only a few steps, a rather gruff voice could be heard from the largest cluster of guards in the room. The voice sounded in every way as a guard muttering to himself, only accidentally losing enough control over his voice so that the important players - the paladins, Royal, the guard at the desk, and the guard escorting the victim - could hear it: Yeah, resisting arrest my ***. You were just pulling some lad off the street and beating the snot out'f 'im like usual. And th' noble ain't no smart enou'ta even not--oops, crap..

Feigning ignorance to this new development, Lilina turned towards the voice in surprise and shock, stoping just outside the hall entrance.

Lilina casts ghost sound somewhere within the densest cluster of guards, and making the voice sound like some guy talking to himself and accidentally speaking too loud. Slight of hand to hide casting if needed: [roll0].

Bluff check to act really surprised and genuinely like she doesn't know what's going on: [roll1]

[tonberryking]

Royal's eyes flutter in dull surprise at the sudden, mysterious outburst. With Henry having been whisked away to whatever Ethereal realm his dog house lies in, she's at a much lower standpoint in the Hall.

That doesn't change how large her own voice is, quickly picking up where the 'heckler' left off, stomping up towards the front desk.

"A moment here! Whoever that was, they were correct! I saw these two paladins pummeling that poor man within an inch of his life, but not once have they established what crime he committed in the first place to necessitate an arrest! Even if he is guilty of resisting them, they have yet to explain what this whole matter is over. Please, enlighten myself and the officer here, if only to give you lads an excuse to humiliate me."

She crosses her arms over her breastplate, looking rather stolid despite the lack of size.

[Felyndiira]

"That was a bit embarrassing," Lilina laughed, still pretending to know nothing about her own spell. "I feel a bit insulted now, but still, they do have a point. An honest defender of justice like you must have a reason to arrest the man, right? 'Resisting arrest' as a solitary crime looks a bit, you know, bad on the law books."

Her voice was spoken as if it was addressed not only to the paladin duo, but to the entire room as a whole. "I am just a foolish noble girl with little understanding of such affairs, and even I, now, realized that resisting arrest is at best not a reason to deny a resident of the city his freedom. It would set a horrible precedent in the future if anyone in this office - or worse, our husbands, our wives, or our children - could just be pulled from the streets just because an official with less scrupulous morals - unlike our honorable paladins - deem it profitable or fun to cart them off to prison."

"So please, for the city's future and for maintaining the ideal of justice...". As Lilina spoke, her eyes carefully wandered about the hall; she had cast a quick Detect Thoughts spell while the crowd's attention was turned to Royal, and was especially focused on the paladins' unspoken response to these pleas.

Lilina casts Detect Thoughts. She's mainly focused on the thoughts of the two paladins and that of the man behind the desk. Of course, she'll pick up the thought of the other guards as well, as well as Royal and possibly the halflling.

The post is also a diplomacy appeal to get the other guards to agree and speak up: [roll0].

[esorscher]

Reza and Alterys: The door opens and you see a wide corridor, with many similar doors. Evidently this was at one time a residential neighborhood. The corridor is divided into several large stairs, each more than 20' across, and you can either head up, down, or to the door across from you.

Dagos: The tower has a single stairway that continues to lead up to the next floor but seems to be blocked by a similar arcane barrier (you may make a new spellcraft check to determine it if you wish). This floor is one large room, with writing desks and supplies, bookcases filled with labeled buckets of scrolls and potions. You know that the Magii produce magic items for Ester; this seems to be where they do it. There is also an open space in the center of the room for the apparent practice of magic.

On the ground floor there is a desk where a different gnome wizard is now waiting for visitors, and beyond that nothing but stone floors and walls. As you are leaving, a red, scaly humanoid rushes past you, carrying several scrolls. "Thief!" the gnome wizard behind the counter cries. "Stop him, please!" he addresses you.

Royal and Lilina: After a few moments concentration Lilina is able to pick up the following surface thoughts:

From the paladins: trying to come up with a crime; getting annoyed at how difficult this turned out to be, both with you two and someone named Oded.

From the guards: many lustful thoughts and also not thrilled with the disruption of normal activity, but not angry with you. Most don't care about the halfling but care about getting you two to leave peacefully.

"Obstruction of Justice, and resisting arrest," one of the paladins finally says. "Satisfied?"

[Jormengand]

Alterys decides to go down, since she's apparently the leader here.

Hide: [roll0]
Move silently: [roll1]
Spot: [roll2]
Listen: [roll3]

[Grishnakh]

What?! Who would dare steal from the Tower?

Dagos doesn't waste any time, with a few quick gestures and some arcane phrases a summoning circle appears right in front of the door opening. With a flash, a little smoke and a smell of brimstone suddenly a Large Fiendish Monstrous Centipede block the thiefs exit.

"Grab him!" Dagos shouts in the Infernal language, to make himself understood by the creature.

Without any delay the enormous vermin darts at the thief as it comes his way, attempting to obey his masters demands and take hold of the criminal.

Using Summon Monster II

I assume the thief (hands full of scrolls) can not make an attack of oppertunity, otherwise he now has the chance.

Melee touch attack: [roll0]
Grapple: [roll1]

[Swami Monsoon]

Reza hopes Alterys has some idea where she's going... well, she is the only one who's been down here.
He continues to follow, maintaining his 30 foot interval.

He's deferring to her for the moment because of her local knowledge and scouting/stealth skills.

Listen [roll0]
Spot [roll1]
Move Silently [roll2]

[tonberryking]

"Not. At. All." Royal tut-tuts with a waving finger and approaches closer, clearing only more annoyed.

"What act did was he obstruct? Did he aide a thief in escaping? Is he covering for someone who committed a darker crime? What justice were you pursuing when the time came for you to thrash that poor halfling within an inch of his life, all the way here?" Royal's taking something akin to a school marm's reproach, and her thoughts show that not only does she feel that these Paladins have shamed themselves, but if it were up to Royal, she'd be teaching them some manners and humility. Flashes of imagery pass by of (a much, much larger) Royal forcing the pair into menial chores or work, feeding the destitute, and otherwise trying to get these two stupid punks to straighten up.

...It's a little humorous when someone actually sees her thoughts, but her earnestness is nothing to laugh at.

Rolling diplomacy moreso to win the City Guard guy over than shaming the paladins, but if it works... [roll0]

[Felyndiira]

Lilina had tried her best to stifle a burst of uncontrollable laughter, and despite her efforts a soft chuckle, soft enough and suppressed beneath bitten lips to sound more like a low growl. She had not intended to read the halfling paladin's thoughts with her spell, but it came to her as an unintended consequence. Oh wow, the image of the halfling as a taskmaster and the paladins with the same circumstance as kids being punished for not doing their arithmetic homework...the girl coughed loudly as she intervened, barely dismissing this line of thought.

Her hands were hidden behind her this time, but if there was a time when she really needs to hide a sell being cast and ensure that it works as expected, this was the time to do so. Her hands moved quickly enough that her somatic gestures could not easily be seen, mingling the words for Charm Person in a flurry of casual pleas.

"Look," she whispered, leaning on the counter and speaking with a voice soft enough so that (hopefully) only the paladins could hear her. Her voice was a mixture of a plea and mild annoyance, as if she, too, was detest full of this whole situation. "I'm not really interested in this whole thing; I originally stopped you on that street to prevent a fight between you two and the halfling paladin.". She turned to give Royal a concerned expression, as if telling her that she would handle everything in her favor. "I have no doubt that you'll win the court marshal that will inevitably follow," she added, "but the whole thing will reflect poorly on the order if the common folks were to see three paladins brawl with live weaponry. As the daughter of the bishop and a noblewoman, cracks in the common folks' views of the church is not really in my interest, nor is it for anyone in the city."

Lilina's voice became a bit colder when she mentioned the word 'bishop', although she quickly managed to catch herself and resume her silent plea. "I understand that you're frustrated at this - I am, too. This whole justice persona that I have to maintain as a public image is just as tiring to me as this whole scene is to you. The halfling, though, is just going to tail you the entire way if you keep this up, though; so, can I ask you to just drop the case in her favor? If the halfling prisoner didn't do anything to really threaten the order, just say that 'it's probably forgivable, as long as he won't do it again', let the guy out of jail, and walk out as a paragons of mercy. It'll make her happy at least, and if not, I'll have a bit more of a leeway to talk her down afterwords."

"It's a win-win for everyone here. You can get the halfling off your back and walk off as moral paragons; I can stop putting up this ridiculous image and the guards can go back to work proper. I can put in a good word at the next ball or party, as well. Please? For the best wishes of everyone here?" Lilina's eyes looked at the paladins as if a puppy begging for affection, pleading to the two with allof her heart while hiding her annoyance at having to resort to something like this.

Charm Person on both paladins; DC to resist should be 17. She's also using distract assailant on one of them, so DC 17 for one and 18 for the other.

Assuming that charm succeeded, the paladins should be regarded as friendly, so they should not really resist a reasonable request (like this). Just in case, though, adding a diplomacy check to change his attitude to helpful: [roll0]. I think the request is well within reasonable, though, so I should not need a charisma check.

[esorscher]

Reza and Alterys: Continuing down you see many doorways similar to the house you left. Most of them have been marked with chalk X's, a sign you interpret as meaning they have already been picked clean of any valuables. You continue down until you reach a massive and incredibly ornate dwarven door, which reads in dwarven:

ESTERHAME

Dagos: Your centipede manages to grab the red humanoid, who is unable to wrest itself from the creature's drooling mandibles. As it struggles, another wizard comes down the stairs to help you. She is a goblin who blasts both the thief and your centipede with a Burning Hands spell for [roll0] damage. The thief is slain. "Thank you," she says to you, turning. She then goes and kneels next to the thief. "Kobolds," she says, spitting. "Brazen, even for them."Your quick thinking saved us a good amount of coin." She pauses. "I know you aren't an official Magii yet, but would you mind doing me a favor?"

Royal and Lilina: Both paladins gain a brief and unusual look in their eyes as Lilina's disguised spell affects them, but the more stoic one of them shakes his head and his eyes return to their dark and merciless expression. As the talkative one turns to him to argue in agreement with you, the stoic one raises a hand and makes a signal with it that you notice but don't understand. Before either of them speak, another of the crowd that has assembled around you speaks. He is a trim man wearing blue denim pants, leather boots, and a dazzling mithral breastplate etched with a large Dwarven rune in the center.

"Look. I understand your position. I really do. But you need to understand mine. Here in my possession I have one halfling, arrested by two of the Paladins of St. Cuthbert, an order which I'm sure you know is empowered to do just that. You claim that they were beating this halfling, but I have only your testimony to support that claim. The Paladins I'm sure will testify to the opposite effect, and so its your word against theirs. Maybe if the halfling had some bruises, but this guy doesn't have a single scratch.

Now, your friend has been arrested, not convicted of anything. Say what you will about the laws of Ester but their our laws and I'm not going to do anything to violate them. While I may be inclined to agree that the logic of the Paladins charges is a little... wonky, to say the least, as an officer of the Law I am duty-bound to hold him for trial. At that time, I'm sure you'll have a chance to ask and have answered all your questions."

[Felyndiira]

"Seriously." At this point, Lilina doesn't even know whether she's more pissed at the fact that a (non-savage, too!) person could just be plucked out of the street and beaten up for no reason, or the fact that her control over this whole situation seems to be slipping so much. And she wasted so many spells on this stupid, insignificant halfling, too - this is not just a normal matter to her anymore; it felt almost like an insult to her command over the school of enchantment. "F*** this, I'm rectifying this. Right now." The girl quieted her slowly rising temper with these thoughts as her hands moved in secret behind her for a second time, once again targeting the paladin that somehow managed to shake off her enchantment.

She ignored the guard for now, concentrating her effort on the paladin that seems to have shaken off her spell and weaved another Charm Person at his mind. As soon as she was certain that both have fallen under her spell, she spoke to them again - quietly, once again, as if they were friends asking each other for a favor:

"Please, understand that I'm trying to say. Whether you can get another observer or not, the halfling paladin, at least, does not seem the type to back off so easily with just a word like that." She sneaked another glance at Royal, almost pleading with her to continue with her resistance so that she could resolve all of this and satisfy her own pride. "I don't really want to be here forever, either, but at this point I could hardly just leave as if I had no part in all of this. I'm sure it's the same with you guys; if it's not a grave situation, like an order from the above, it would be so much easier if you could just let the halfling go. Play the part of the merciful; that way, the halfling paladin gets off your back, and to these guards, you become like merciful messiahs. If she does not...well, I would have much more of a voice to be able to stop her."

"If there's any reason that you could not release him, I'm willing to lend my ears." She spoke truly, and entirely, as if she was concerned with their interest. "If there is some other barricade to all of this, maybe together, we could come up with another solution that would satisfy everyone and allow all of us to be free about the wonderful city, rather than trapped here in some sort of social quandary."

"So, can you please consider my request for a second time?"

Lilina will cast Charm Person again, this time on the stoic paladin. She will do this a maximum of two times in succession (Charm Person does not have any penalties for consecutive uses, and Lilina is still not threatening the two). Of course, if the first one succeeds, she won't cast it a second time. DC 17 to save for both instances.

Concealed casting (second one only if necessary): [roll0] [roll1]

Lilina has now burned way more spell slots on this than she (or I) could have expected, so it's a matter of sunk cost fallacy and pride for her now :smalltongue:. Also, edited for the OOC post that the charm worked.

[Grishnakh]

Well, that seemed a bit excessive ... evokers!

Dagos sighs and slowly shakes his head. These evokers were always so rash, blasting first and thinking later (if at all). The kobold wasn't going anywhere, they could have put him to the question or turned him over to the guards or something. And though he cared little for the creatures that served as his summons, this was hardly an appropriate way to thank the centipede for its services. With a quick gesture he released the centipede from the conjuration allowing it to return where ever it came from. At least it didn't seem as if any of the scrolls were damaged. More luck than wisdom that. Using a Burning Hands spell in a situation like this, madness!

Turning to the goblin Maga Dagos bows slightly. "You honor me with such compliments, Maga, I'm sure the culprit would not have gotten far. I cannot help but wonder, though, if any thief would truly be brazen enough to steal from the Tower. Even with high profits surely the risk would be to great for most, which leaves the question if he was not working for someone. To bad we won't be able to ask him." Dagos casts a last glance at the charred remains of the kobold, then turns back to the Maga.
"As I am not a Magus yet, I must consider it a rare privilege that you should ask me a favor. So yes, Maga, I would be honored to help you." If anything this could only look good for him, both for his application and for his future in the Tower.

[Jormengand]

Alterys looks up, down and around the door to make absolutely sure there's nothing strange/deadly/whatever about it.

[roll0] Search if anything bad happens on a failure, otherwise take 20.

[esorscher]

Reza and Alterys: The door is not trapped, but it is sealed shut, and you see no way of entering through it without heavy excavation. As you are inspecting the door, you hear footsteps behind you. Turning, you see four red scaly humanoids about 3' tall. They say something to you in draconic: Who are you? Why are you here?

Dagos: The goblin smiles. "Yes, he was probably working for someone. The kobold gangs below ground are itching for magic items, even scrolls, and if he wasn't working for them, he was probably trying to profit himself." She shakes her head sadly, but her expression shows little remorse. "Anyway, the favor I need your help with is unrelated. I have a package that I need delivered, but my work is at a critical stage right now and I can't leave the tower. I'm not even supposed to leave the third floor, but for the commotion down here. Will you pick it up for me?" She hands you a slip of paper. "I don't imagine you'll run into any trouble, even though its in Westester."

[Grishnakh]

Dagos nod at her explanation, appearently this was not the first kobold to try and raid the Tower.

"But of course Maga, I understand, your work must be very important. I would gladly run this errent for you." Dagos accepts the slip of paper and puts it in his pocket. As he is about to leave he turns back to the goblin. "Excuse me, esteemed Maga, but in the commotion it seems we forgot to properly introduce ourselves. My name is Dagos D'Malsheem, though I expect you knew that already. Might I enquire after the name of my new employer?"

After the introductions, Dagos leaves the Tower on his way to Westester. On the way there he will read the note.

[tonberryking]

Royal looks up at the other interloper to this whole mess, but doesn't voice a creeping concern that she may be more than just laying on metaphorical syrup to her words. She's too busy finding holes in all these excuses.

"Not a single scratch? He's been hit in the face two or three times by much larger men wearing armor. Add: "And gauntlets!" to this outburst if in fact the Cuthberts are wearing them " I daresay that I contest this notion of no marks on the poor halfling. Unless these men have taken a weapon off him, or if they arrested halfling happens to be a monk, no matter what their status is as Paladins you, sir are in danger of negligence in your role with the city constabulary by not checking the matter of your new prisoner's health."

Diplo: [roll0]

[Felyndiira]

"See?". Lilina shot a rather coy smile toward the paladins, followed by a long sigh, as if in resignation herself. Her voice remains as still as a whisper, addressing only the two paladins and none of the others in the town hall. "I don't know about you guys, but I would, at least, not want to stay or have someone hound me for the remainder of the night."

[Jormengand]

Alterys looks back at the creatures, and responds in their language.

"This dwarf was looking for someone believed to be in the Unter," she says, "The Unter is generally considered a neutral area, but if you think that we are trespassing then of course we will leave. I don't even know that we're in the right place."

[esorscher]

Reza and Alterys: The creatures seem surprised that you speak their language, and confer among one another quietly and briefly. They speak again in Draconic:
"That door hasn't opened in decades. Get lost."
They brandish their spears.

Dagos: She tells you her name is Rivana and you head to Westester. As you walk you read the note--it is nothing more than an address, which you find with only a little difficulty. It is a door tucked in a narrow alleyway between two larger buildings, and you walk past it without noticing it the first time, it is only after backtracking you find it.

Royal and Lilina: The well-armored guard smirks. "Hey, Jerry," he calls back. "Bring out the halfling just came in." Within moments the halfling is produced. As you can plainly see, his skin is unblemished. You notice the paladins smiling to one another briefly, and their faces soon return to grim determination. "You were saying?" the well-armored guard says to Royal.

The paladins do not respond to Lilina. You get the sense that they don't really care how much fuss you two raise.

[Swami Monsoon]

Reza whispers to Alterys, "Unless we are certain these people are standing between us and Ali, we should retreat. We are flying blind down here. Perhaps it's a good idea to regroup and try to get more information..."

[Grishnakh]

Dagos walks up to the door and knocks.

When it is answered he clearly states his business. "Good day, my name is Dagos D'Malsheem. I was sent by Maga Rivana to pick up a package for her."

[Jormengand]

Alterys nods, and responds.

"Very well, we shall leave. But please, answer me this: have any dwarves been here recently save this one?

(You should probably do the diplomacy secretly so I don't know how well I did).

[esorscher]

Reza and Alterys: The kobolds shake their heads and wait for you to go. You return to the surface without difficulty, retracing your steps. Once there, you must decide where to go next in search of information about the underground.

Dagos: A slot in the narrow door about waist height opens and you can feel someone looking you over. When the door opens a halfling woman in simple clothing (pants and blouse) is staring at you. Behind her you see a simple room with a couch facing the front door, on either end flanking the middle cushion are sitting two large halfling men (large by halfling standards). To the right of the couch is another door, closed, and across from it in corner sits a large gray bulldog, head resting on its crossed paws, staring at the couch. She says to you, "Have a seat," not warmly but not coldly either, and the only seat you see is the middle couch cushion. She closes the door behind you and goes through the closed door.

[Grishnakh]

Dagos thanks the halfling lady and enters the room, however upon seeing the crowded couch he decides to remain standing next to the door. He just patiently waits there for the woman to return, he did not come here for chit-chat and the two men on the couch don't seem eager to talk either. Dagos just wants to get the package and return to the Tower quickly.

[Jormengand]

"Well, that went well. What now?"

[Swami Monsoon]

Reza frowns.
"Well... that place is huge. We could spend days searching down there, even if nobody tried to stop us. And clearly there is somebody... We're going to have to do more legwork. Maybe we can find more information on Ali's last whereabouts. Maybe we can find out more about those Kobolds, and find a way to negotiate with them under less stressful circumstances.
Perhaps you could consult your... less official... contacts while I visit whatever passes here for a town hall or courthouse to see if there is any trace in the public record..."

[Jormengand]

"Uh, right. Major legal centre and a major crime centre. We have all our bases covered." Alterys smiled. "Sure, I can get the Thieves to start a manhunt. Though they usually want payment, I'm sure I can... do something about that." The dwarf probably didn't know what do something about that meant, but at least the said something wasn't killing anyone. Or even illegal. "Well, how about meeting back here this evening?"

[Swami Monsoon]

"Sounds like a plan. I'll meet you here at six o'clock."

Reza turns and begins the long walk to City Hall.

He's heading to City Hall to check (or re-check?) if Ali has left any traces in police reports or any other official records. I'm not sure how much of that should happen "off-camera"... unless I meet another PC or important person there.

[Jormengand]

Alterys went to the nearest hideout of The Thieves. The Thieves essentially ran several parts of Ester, including as much of the Unter as any one organisation could reasonably be expected to hold. Even then, they had several barricades below ground which were manned constantly, and some of them were almost always locked in fighting.

The Thieves' Path was a long road which was rumoured to get you almost anywhere in the Unter. This cost you, unless you were a Thief or were with one, but it seemed likely that anyone who had entered the Unter would have used it. Even a squad of city guards had used it once, and the Thieves had even granted them free passage - mainly because they were helping them.

In any case, this dwarf would probably be on the registers. Alterys walked into the middle of a less-used street, and picked up one of the larger cobblestones - it was a secret entrance. She jumped in - it was only a few feet deep - and replaced the stone. She started to wark down the torchlit path.

She saw one of the Administrators looking at her. Artan, that was his name. "Ah, Artan. Good to see you again, but I've got business to do, as usual. I don't suppose I could look at the record book?" The record book had a list of all the people who had ever used the Path. The book aquired new pages as the old ones were filled, and whenever something was written in any of the books, it was written in all of them - a source of great annoyance for those trying to write atop one another. Finally, the bookmark on the record book absorbed anything written on it, and then made the book show all the names containing what had been written. If this dwarf had used the Path, she would know.

Diplomacy: [roll0]

[esorscher]

Dagos: After what seems like an eternity of waiting, the halfling woman finally returns. She hands you a box wrapped in brown paper and twine and sends you on your way.

On your way back you take a shortcut through the alleys and while in a deserted back alleyway you spot a figure leaning against a wall up ahead.

Reza: You head to city hall and hear a commotion coming from the Guard Station. Do you investigate, or continue on to the Records Department?

Alterys: Artan hands you the record book. You find that Ali did indeed use the Path, about three months ago. You recognize the name of the Thief who went with him, Sylvain. He and his brother Nemo are two young halflings who are rising stars within the Thieves. You don't know where either of them can be found, but Artan might know something.

[Grishnakh]

With the box safely tucked away in his satchel, Dagos is in good spirits. Just a quick trip back to the Tower and this little mission would be accomplished. Noticing the man in the alley Dagos politely nods his head and continues on his way.

[Swami Monsoon]

A City Hall clerk directs Reza to the Records Department. One glance at the walls of filing cabinets makes him wince. This could take all day, even if somebody shows up to help me. Maybe I should talk to some actual people first... He retraces his steps, looking for the Guard Station. Maybe instead of finding the report, he could find the policeman that had filed it...

As Reza approaches the station he hears what sounds like a loud argument. What the hell?

[Jormengand]

(While I'm at it, can I check which part of the Path Ali used? It would be noted which entrance he used and which part he left in.)

"Thank you. Do you have the assignment records?" The assignment records would tell her which Thieves had been assigned to the defence of which area - if they were so assigned.

Post deleted and then re-done to fix roll.

Diplomacy: [roll0]

[esorscher]

Dagos: As you approach the man steps in front of you and blocks your path. "What's in the box?" he says, suddenly reaching for it.

Disarm attempt:
Dagos AoO (unarmed): [roll0], [roll1]
Thug disarm attempt (unarmed): [roll2]
Dagos disarm attempt (unarmed): [roll3]


You swat his hand away and prevent him from grabbing the box. Another man steps up from his hidden position in the alleyway and prevents your escape. Roll Initiative.

Reza: You enter the guard station and see a man in a magnificent breastplate you immediately recognize as dwarven-made in conversation across a high wood counter with a halfling in full armor who seems at the very least annoyed. Two Paladins of St. Cuthbert also stand before the counter, as does a well-dressed woman. Several guards are watching the conversation from behind the counter.

Alterys: You find the assignment records and find Sylvain's assignment, which you copy down onto a piece of parchment. It is deep along the Path but you should be able to find it. Nemo is not currently assigned.

Royal and Lilina: A dwarf enters the guard station.

[esorscher]

Dagos: The first thug draws a club and attempts to strike you with it. [roll0], [roll1]

[Grishnakh]

Bleeding badly Dagos staggers back, trying to get some distance between him and the thugs. He certainly hadn't expected this to happen. Taking another couple of steps back, he quickly grabs a wand from his belt and activates it. The effects are clear as Dagos vanishes instantly.

5-foot step away from the thug and using wand of invisibility

[esorscher]

Dagos: The second thug's swipe hits nothing but air as you disappear, and he is left looking speechlessly at his fellow thug. The first thug swings his club where he last saw you (in the square you 5' stepped to). [roll0], [roll1] (Miss Chance 51+ [roll2]) He misses.

[Grishnakh]

Dagos is now faced with a choice, fight or flight. Normally he would avoid conflict and certainly delivering his package safely is important, but this blatant assault on his person has angered him and besides, this might not be a random mugging. If they were specifically after the package, Maga Rivana would want to know.

Being invisible he has no fear of the thugs making use of any openings, after all they can not see them. He casts a spell and behind the thugs appears an enormous scorpion easily as big as a man that attacks the one who had hit Dagos. Without waiting for the attacks to complete Dagos walks away to a safe distance to watch what happens.

So casting Summon Monster II and walking 30 feet away from combat.

Scorpion:
Attack 1 (claw): [roll0]
Attack 2 (claw): [roll1]
Attack 3 (sting): [roll2]

Damage 1: [roll3]
Damage 2: [roll4]
Damage 3: [roll5]

If either claw hits it starts an automatic grapple.
Claw 1: [roll6]
Claw 2: [roll7]

If the stinger hits it injects poison: DC15, damage 1d3 Con (both initial and secondary)

[Swami Monsoon]

Reza frowns.
"Uhhh... Am I interrupting something?"

[Jormengand]

Alterys travels down the road in search of Sylvain.

[esorscher]

Dagos: The scorpion tears the first thug in twain. The second, seeing how quickly his comrade was dispatched, turns tail and runs off down the alleyway. If this was more than random chance, whoever sent those two thugs after you severely underestimated you.

Reza, Lilina, Royal: The well-armored guard says, "Interrupting? No, not at all. I believe we're finished here." He leads the halfling into his office and the watch commander returns to the counter. The two Paladins of St. Cuthbert leave the station, probably to return to the Cathedral.

The watch commander looks at Reza. "Is there something I can help you with?"

Alterys: You begin walking down the road. It will be some time before you reach your destination.

[Grishnakh]

Running would not help the man. Dagos knew the scorpion would be much faster than the thug. "Go and finish him.", his disembodied voice tells the scorpion. Not waiting to see the end of this Dagos turns and heads for the Tower, making the most of his invisible time to get there without further incident.

The scorpion goes after the thug and since his speed is greater than that of a human he will easily overcome him. Looking at the fate of the first one I'd say there are now two torn up man lying in the alleys, but since Dagos walks away he wouldn't know, so I leave the decision (and rolls if needed) up to you.

[Jormengand]

Alterys walks down the Path, and whistles a dry tune.

[Swami Monsoon]

"Yes, actually... I'm looking for some information on a missing person. His name is Ali Anwar... he's a brown Dwarf like me. He came to Ester to explore the Unter... yes, I know that was not a good idea... then he dropped out of sight several months ago. Before I dig into all those records on the other floor and look for a report of some kind, I thought it might be easier to actually find the police officer who filed it..."

Reza gives a description of Ali and explains what he knows about his last confirmed whereabouts. He then brings out his pocketknife and opens the blade. Like the sword, it is made of snowstone.

"Even if nobody actually saw him, items like this might be a clue. He had a number of tools and weapons made from the same stone. So if anything like that were to show up on the streets..."

Diplomacy [roll0]

[Felyndiira]

"You're right, we're done here." Lilina was visibly annoyed - not really at not being able to save the halfling, but at how little influence she had in what would otherwise be such a simple situation. No doubt, this 'Oleg' person is of some importance in all of this, but she did her part - helped the halfling as much as she would reasonably have done as an observer to this whole situation. The rest of the burden is not on herself, but on the paladin.

Still, she stormed out of the town hall and into the town square without another word to the guards, completely ignoring the dwarf that had just now appeared within the doors to the place. She didn't really care where she was going at this moment - just...somewhere where she could relieve her stress, and maybe sharpen her mastery of enchantment a bit further so that she wouldn't feel so...helpless the next time something like this happens.

I'm not going to wait for TBK to post anymore. Apologies for the significant delay in all of this.