Path to Power - Solo Campaign

[LittleCarp04]

At a dirty tavern that many of the higher class citizens of Corentyn actively ignore, an elegantly dressed man who looked truly out of place sits at the bar. The tavern was not very busy that night but still you have to slam your cup down on the bar to get the attention of Abar, the old grizzled barkeep who owned the Wilting Dragon.

"Another one for you then, Thaul?" He asked, already reaching for the bottle of aged Fire Whiskey imported from the dwarves of Highhelm, one of the more expensive liquors that Abar had on hand, and the one he knew that Thaul enjoyed above all others. He poured the drink into the same cup that Thaul had been using, the same cup he always uses that is left hanging behind the bar.

The young man in the corner strumming on his lyre and singing a slow tune was falling in and out of sleep. It was well past last bell and dawn was closer than sunset. A man found his way in and appeared to be as drunk as possible and still be able to function and stumbled his way up to the bar, "Ih'll haf yoor best, barman!" he said drunkenly while trying to steady himself on the bar. He quickly downed the drink that Abar set for him and laid 2 coins on the counter then fell over nearly onto Thaul. He caught himself in the last moment, and apologized. " Soory there man, didn't *hick* see you there HA!." He ends with a boisterous laugh sending spittle across the ar.

As he leaves the tavern shortly later you notice that he has slipped a note into your pocket that reads, *A new shipment is arriving at the call of the rooster, please hurry to the warehouse to help us with receiving.* It was signed *Dorin - Azure Brand Merchant Company*. Of course you recognize the code of your group and interpret it accordingly.

It is a summons to the backroom of your merchant groups warehouse to discuss a new contract, for the Azure Brand is not just a merchant group specializing in the shipment and distrobution of fine furs, clothing, accessories and other fine goods; they are also one of the more popular assassin organizations in Corentyn. You have about an hour or so before the time you are to be at the warehouse.

[ScoutDraco]

So my guy is always disguised unless he is working. [roll0]

Glancing around the bar to see if anybody was looking/dropping eaves Perception [roll1]

[LittleCarp04]

There is no one else in the bar that seems to be paying attention, your disguise is good but Dorin is a fellow member of the Azure Brand and recognizes you farily easily.

[ScoutDraco]

Thaul, in his elegantly out of place attire is a regular at the bar. Nobody there knows who he is or what he does. Every now and then he may cryptically discuss with the bartender about the various goings on in life (always leaving the details out), however as far as Abar is concerned, Thaul has a specific drink and tips well. Having received the message, he looks around to see if anybody was looking at their exchange before reaching into his pocket. He gives the note a quick glance to confirm his suspicions, pulls out a platinum piece from the pouch on the right side of his belt, and turns is mug upside down on the bar over the coin. He heads upstairs to a guest room that Abar keeps empty for him. Once the door closes, he takes a deep breath as he mentally prepares himself. He wraps himself in his cape, the elegant folds concealing all but his boots. When he opens it, the clothing he wore over his accouterments is gone and what remains is the cape, his armor, and his weapons. He flips the cloak around to expose the dull black inside, then peers out the window to make sure no one is in the alley and he climbs up to travel a few buildings over before he steps onto the street.

Perception: [roll0] Climb [roll1]

[LittleCarp04]

Thaul easily climbs up the building, the handholds and bars are as simple as walking down the street for him, even though almost to the roof his foot slips on a wet pipe unexpectadely but Thaul uses his strength to prevent what would have most likely been a bone breaking fall.

The walk to the warehouse where the Azure brand holds their headquarters is uneventful, even though you do see what seems to be an abnormally large amount of people on the street, but you attribute it to the festival happening three days hence, workers are everywhere rushing to finish last minute projects and prepare for all the customers and protect themselves from all the thieves.

Upon arrival to the warehouse you head around the side and push on a concealed panel that opens inwards and without a creak, you head down the wide staircase and his small broach on his cape allows him to past unmolested past the multiple traps and other magical attacks any intruders would suffer.

In the basement you come to the war room and find your father, Bulrin, in the throes of one of his many rants, Well where is he then?! If you went and delivered the message as ordered Dorin he should be here already, so who is incompetent here hmm?? You or him?" You hear your father say with a sneer obviously referring to you. He used to at least feign a positive attitude toward you, but as you have grown in power and status within the guild he has begun to treat you worse and worse, even comparing you to someone as low as Dorin, who is a simple messenger boy and pickpocket.

[ScoutDraco]

Stealth to sneak up to the conversation unnoticed [roll0]

Thaul smirks at the conversation. Incompetent he says? , thinking to himself, we'll see about that . Thaul sneaks up to the conversation, positioning himself out of view of either of them. Slowly stalking, he considers casting invisibility upon himself, however, he may require the use of it later tonight, and using magic is still rather irksome to him. As he approaches, he motions his hands like as if holding a dagger to stab Bulrin in the right kidney.

[LittleCarp04]

As you fully enter the room crouched low you also see Falrim, the second in command of the Azure brand. Falrim is a notoriously vicious man who relishes in perform his work as a hired killer. He is proficient at sneaking and traveling places unnoticed but also has a stong grasp of sorcerery and magics. Standing directly in front of your father is Dorin, the low man on the totem pole in the guild but also an able sneak.

As you sneak across the room you realize that Falrim and Dorin both see you but seem to be happy to watch this play out. As you near your father he turns abrtuptly and slams a staff of what appears to be solid shadow, as odd as that sounds, into the ground. "HA! It will take someone more skilled than you to approach me unawares boy." He says with a sneer holding his staff in a ready position in case you are foolish enough to attempt to follow through with your threat.

It is about time you appeared. I thought that Dorin may have simply been the dunce we all think he is when you took so long to arrive. Stop your foolishness and sit we have work to discuss."

He motions to a long oak table sitting off the side of the room with papers organized on it in neat piles. He moves over to sit down and the others follow.

[ScoutDraco]

Thanks sits at the table, regretting his failure yet again. He's often played this "game" partly out of some dark for of entertainment, but mostly as an assessment of his abilities. The idea that people are stronger than him fuels his desire push his limits. As everyone sits, Thaul breaks the awkward silence, I assume you've summoned me for a job, who's the target? As he speaks, Thaul pears at both Falrim and Bulrin, paying close attention to every word and gesture. He never trusts his mission briefs to be completely honest with either meaning or intent. He would study Dorin as well however it would be pointless and distracting.

Studied target on Falrim and Bulrin. Sense motive on same two dudes 1d20+15

[LittleCarp04]

As you sit at the table Bulrin turns to Dorin and dismisses him, “Ok Dorin you can go, check on our weekly deliveries, I’ve heard there has been commotion down at the docks and want to be sure we get our shipments this week, the Yizali’s won’t be so patient if its late again.”



With that Dorin nods his head and leaves. It was only after he was gone when your father turned and made a mystical pass with his hands and you heard the door audibly clicked locked and felt the cool wash of magic fall over the room. He turns to Falrim who focuses his attention on a spot in the distance and then blinks and nods to Bulrin.



“This job is serious, it’s not often that we get a request from the Redcloaks but when they ask, we don’t question. Of course we are receiving a large sum of money to complete this but it must be done with utmost discretion and care. A man stole from them, well their warehouse down near the docks anyway. Your target is this man,” He says as he casts another spell and a shimmering window appears hanging mid-air and you see a young man maybe 20-22 years of age in a tavern strumming a lute and singing a rowdy song to the crowd. “Obviously he doesn’t seem overly imposing but our sources have confirmed that he is an able sneak and has been known to steal from many high value targets. This time all he got was one small vial before being spotted and escaping their guards.



Our contract terms are to obtain the vial back intact, determine if he informed anyone else of the vial or if he opened it at all, and of course, eliminate the target. The Redcloaks want this to be bloody, they need everyone to understand you don’t want to steal from them. So Thaul, you have to find this target, tail him and dispose of him quietly, then arrange for some sort of public display to dissuade others. I know it’s not your preferred mage target, but this is a client that would do very well for us if we can impress them.



It is imperative that we return that vial to the client. You must not open it, nor tell anyone else, even those others not in the company. When you retrieve the vial you are to bring it directly to the Recloacks at their headquarters.” With that he passes you a bag filled with a hefty amount of coins, “Here is an advance of 300 gold to make any preparations. You’ll receive the rest upon completion of the job of course.” he then makes another pass of his hands and you hear the door unclick and feel magic course through the room again, probably some sort of spell to protect against magical intrusion was cast earlier.

"The Redcloak's are a local mage guild, they are fairly well known through the city and hold much influence over magic users, they are in a backrooms war right now with teh Church of Asmodeus to control more of the city but its not been bad lately, no major hits are going either way, but our contact with the Redcloaks, Jordovir, is concerned that the theft might be connected to the Diabolists.

He was hired on as a hand to help them handle shipments, whoever did their checking on him didn't quite know what they were doing as he worked for them for over a month before he stole. They have strong magic wards and guards as well, but once someone is already inside, its hard to stop them at that point, but because of their quick actions he only got away with one vial rather than the whole stock.

This man, who is known as Iolan is a low man in the local theives guild, they claim he isn't connected at all and have cleared his murder with no problems, they don't want to provoke the Redcloaks. We don't even think he truly knows what he took, but he did know that the Redcloak's were being extra precautious with that shipment, Jordovir is concerned that Iolan will try to get the vial into the Devil Worshipers hands and that can not be allowed to happen.

Iolan his a rather boring man in his day to day life, he makes money primarily by playing songs and telling tales in the taverns in the West Drenches, he doesn't always frequent any with regularity, but he can be found there among the four or five taverns found in that district. He lives where he can find a space, he may have a permanent aparment but its location is not known to us at this time.

The vial is a simple vial with a red string tied around the tip of it with a arcane rune embossed in the top, it is a spell that will harm anyone who opens it but it is possible that it may have been bypassed if someone strong in the magical arts were to take the time to study it, and that is what we must avoid. This theft just happened yesterday and they want it returned before he has a chance to sell it to someone else.

After you have the vial and Iolan is taken care of, head to the Redcloak's compound in the High Quarter and ask for Jordovir, he will be expecting you. If you can find out if Iolan spoke with anyone else about the vial use your judgement, the knowledge of the vial is not as important as the actual vial itself, if they can be disposed of easily then you may do so, but there is no more reward, or less, for doing so."

You can ask any questions you may want to ask and Ill retcon them in before continuing.

[ScoutDraco]

1. Who TF are the Redcloaks? Are they someone that my character should be aware of? Google didn't turn up anything substatial.

2. Have we heard from the Redcloaks how he was able to sneak in past their guards? What kind of intrusion defenses, magical or other wise did they have up which he bypassed?

Do we have any history of past jobs he is confirmed or suspected to have done?

Who/where is my point of contact to the Redcloaks to make the drop? How to make contact with 'em?

Does the thief have a name that we know of? Where does he live? Does he have any common hangouts? What else do we know? Essentially I'm looking for pattern of life

Did they give us a description of the vial? Anything that I can use to make sure he doesn't try to slip me a fake one?

If he spoke with anybody else, do they want me to kill them too?

That might be it for now.

[ScoutDraco]

What time is it right now ish? Also, does there exist a general description of the different districts of the city? Building style, heights, layout, etc. Also is there a calendar somewhere and any details of the upcoming festival?

[LittleCarp04]

Right now it is the 9th of Rova, on the 12th is the Signing Day:
Signing Day is a Chelish holiday, dating back to the height of the empire. Observed on the second Oathday of Rova, this is the day on which new laws in the empire took effect. The significance of this day expanded over many years until imperial marriages, significant business arrangements and oaths of fealty were all conducted on this day.
Originally, the holiday began as a celebration of the mutual-defense pact between Cheliax, Isger, Galt and Andoran when the united nations threw off the shackles of Taldor, declaring themselves independent from the empire. Observances of the holiday vary, but often include firework displays, feats of strength, and public debates to showcase speaking and rhetorical skills.[1]
As Cheliax degenerated to civil war and diabolism after 4606 AR, blood pacts and infernal contracts also began to be signed on this day. As a result of Cheliax's new affiliation, Andoran and Galt began to distance themselves from Cheliax and the original interpretation of the holiday. In Andoran it continues to be the day that most national laws take effect as well as being a traditional day of marriage, and the date on which new Steel Falcons are inducted.

The time after your meeting with them is about 8am

Calender of common festivals is found: http://pathfinder.wikia.com/wiki/Holidays_and_festivals.

Corentyn details here: http://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Corentyn