The Savage Tide Rises - IC

[RPZip]

Chapter 1: Shadows in Bright Water
OOC (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?471791-The-Savage-Tide-Rises)

“…and I hope to be speaking to you soon!”

The invitation directs you to an imposing mansion in the nicer section of the Merchant’s quarters, built up close to the tall stone walls that surround it on every side. The mansion has a variety of statues of dancing, demon-faced creatures and beautiful nymphs, but the impression they give is less imposing and more tacky. The gate is unlocked, swinging open at a touch, but the grounds are conspicuously absent of life. A small halfling woman opens the door just before you can knock a second time, the same one who had delivered your letter, before ushering you inside to a small side room with some expensive-looking chairs, a small table with refreshments, and a sturdy-looking stone bench that seems to have been dragged in from the back garden before being carefully placed in the corner.

Not long after you are ushered into the side room an attractive human woman (http://i.imgur.com/ZAaZHEM.jpg) wearing a fancy headpiece enters with the halfling trailing right behind her. She looks around the room, peering carefully at each of you while making some notations on the pad of paper she carries. “Welcome, welcome,” she says. “Thank you all for accepting my invitation. My name is Lavinia Vanderboren, and you’ve already met my assistant, Kora.” Lavinia looks down at her pad of paper, crossing off two lines towards the top, before continuing.

”Each of you has shown some propensity towards adventure. You,” she says, pointing at Serena with the tip of her pen, ”have done some exemplary work in the arena. And you, sir,” she says, nodding towards Keiter, ”well, I’m told that the basement of Trient Manor has never been more insect free. And as for you two, you both have, ah…” she says, looking between Être and Atronur as she trails off, ”your own skills.” Lavinia looks down at the pad of paper in her hand with a frown and crosses off another line before looking back up to face you once more.

”I’m in need of some assistance. As you may have heard*, I recently inherited this estate from my parents. Along with this lovely house came some rather unlovely debts owed to the city, the harbormaster, and about half of the guilds in the city. It seems that my parents, for all their… own skills, were not quite as good with money as you might expect. If I’m to get my debts paid, I’ll need to access my family’s vault. And therein lies the problem. The vault is magically locked, keyed to special signet rings. Both of my parents had one, until… well. Until.”

Lavinia takes a moment to clear her throat. ”As I was saying, my parents had special signet rings, keyed to the vault. My mother’s is lost, but my father never wore his if he could help it; he had a thing about men and jewelry. Instead he kept it hidden on his ship, the Blue Nixie. The problem is that the harbormaster seized the ship until someone pays for the last few months of mooring fees. Which I did, to an odious little man called Soller Vark. But when I went to go claim my ship, his men stopped me from boarding it and claimed that I hadn’t paid. I spoke to Vark again but he denied ever getting my payment.”

Lavinia sighs and sits in one of the empty chairs. ”It was foolish of me to not get a receipt, but I wasn’t expecting something like this. And unfortunately, that was the last of the money I had on hand, so I can't even try to take this up with the harbormaster. Lavinia's hand clenches a little and then relaxes. There’s something going on with my ship, something that Vark and his men are up to. And, well, if he won’t play my way, I hope that I can find someone who can play his game better than he can. If you can figure out what he’s using my ship for, or better yet get the money back that I already paid him, I’ll pay each of you a finder’s fee once I get access to my parent’s vault.” She looks up, seeming hopeful. "So, are you interested?"

Not one of you has heard.

[Macros]

Serena let out a sigh at hearing her prospective employer's story.

"In other words, you want us to steal back some money you may or may not have given him, and since you currently don't have any, from what you told, we basically have to pay ourselves."

In fact, the whole thing could look like plain thievery, especilly considering who was hired. Somehow, she doubted she had been hired for her detective work, and the half orc didn't look especially suited for a diplomatic mission. Yet, the disgraced Deneith found it hard to care. It was still work, there was a chance their employer was honest about it, and, frankly speaking, she had nothing better to do. The arena had been a welcomed distraction, but that was not a life.

"I can't speak for the others, but... very well. Anything you could tell us about this Soller Vark?"

[Terrador]

Keiter approaches Lavinia, resting his hand on hers for a brief moment before addressing her with a gentle smile.

"My sincerest condolences, Lady Vanderboren. I, for one, concur with Lady d'Deneith. I have no doubt that, wherever you find ruffians and thieves, you find..." Keiter pauses, his smile hardening into a grin, "vulnerabilities." The kobold pauses for effect before continuing. "I would speak of terms, but for now, I second Lady d'Deneith's question. Every bit of information you offer us hastens our success."

...perhaps unbeknownst to the others, Keiter used the momentary distraction of the consoling touch to peek at Lavinia's pad.

Bluff (avoid being noticed): [roll0]
Spot (scanning notes, particularly checking for a list of names with some struck through): [roll1]

[RPZip]

The paper is covered in a dense web of notes, hard to read upside down, but you recognize your name along with a brief description of yourself (‘short’) and your activities (‘crispy spiders’). One of the crossed-out names is T-illegible scribble Kietni, but the rest are too difficult for you to read from where you are.

Lavinia doesn’t notice your peek, but Kora does and gives you a sharp look before surreptitiously blocking your view of the pad.

Lavinia looks a bit put out at the question. “What? No! The money I paid is to the city for the mooring fees. And once I have that paid off, I can recover my father’s signet ring and regain the access to my faults, and then I’ll pay you from that.” She pauses a moment and reruns that sentence in her head before deflating slightly. “Okay, you may have the gist of it. But I’m not asking you to rob the city. Just… get the money back from the man who pocketed it, so I can pay my due.”

She flips through her pad and paper, coming to another page of apparent notes that she reads out loud. ”Soller Vark. Harbormaster’s assistant. Ugly. Drinks at the One-Eyed Dragon down at the dock, but hasn’t been around recently.” Lavinia puts the piece of paper aside with a sigh. ”Crooked as the day is long, but old Harbormaster Islaran is too busy with his own troubles to listen to anything without solid evidence.”

[Terrador]

Keiter scratches his chin, mulling over the possibilities. "Lady Vanderboren, if I may try your patience a touch more. Could you tell us of the debt you paid, in magnitude and form? What of the location of the signet ring aboard the Blue Nixie?" The kobold chuckles, winking at his hostesses. "Quite a few avenues to reclaim what is rightfully yours may open themselves; I should hope that it does not come to confronting Ser Vark directly, especially with such a small group. While I have no doubt that we would stand favorably against his goons, I question whether four could cow such a crook."

[Cardea]

"It would only take one." The half-orc says, speaking up for the first time since arriving. He had arrived with no introduction, with no greeting. It wasn't as if it was needed. He took a seat on the stone bench, listening in as conversation took place, as others arrived, and held his hands together in front of his face as he looked down. But he looks up now, his voice coming from a jagged jaw outlined with outlying scales. "I need a description of the ring. Or a painting, if one was ever made."

[Stegyre]

"In other words, you want us to steal back some money you may or may not have given him, and since you currently don't have any, from what you told, we basically have to pay ourselves."
Être smiles at the gladiator's skepticism, reflecting his own thoughts. Other than that, though, he stands quietly. The others are already asking the questions he would ask.
She has a ship?? That would be something to see. (To sea? :smallwink:) Getting to it – that should not be a problem; getting aboard – not a problem; doing so unseen – not a problem. Just need to know where the ring is.

Oh, and any traps. Those could be a problem.

Of course, it it's not her ship, this would be stealing, which would be wrong.

This will be interesting.
He resolves to find out more about Ms. Vanderboren and her family at the first opportunity.

[RPZip]

Lavinia rummages through her notepad. "Eight hundred and thirty-four gold pieces for the docking fees. And the ring should be in the captain's cabin. There's a secret compartment in the headboard that my father showed me once. As for the ring itself... hmm. Follow me."

Lavinia stands and beckons the group out of the room and back into the main hall. She stands underneath and impressively large portrait depicting an older man and a woman with their hands on the shoulders of two teenagers. The girl looks like a younger version of Lavinia, with a slightly older boy standing next to her. Lavinia stared up at it for a long moment before she points at the hand of the older man in the portrait, resting on the shoulder of her younger self. He's wearing a finely made silver ring, with an intricate cross-cut pattern adoring the top.

Lavinia turns back to Atronur. "That's the ring. You can write down a -" she says, before cutting herself off and turning slightly to address the rest of the group. "You can write down a description, or make a sketch."

[Terrador]

Keiter rummages about in his pack, producing first small sheaf of paper, then a quill, then finally a vial of ink. "I'm no artist, but I can take down a serviceable reference." He scrawls away, producing a crude facsimile with succinct, if clear, notes about the design. As he takes down the last of the notes, he turns his thoughts towards what rumors he heard about the family.

Bardic Knowledge (Vanderboren son?): [roll0]

[RPZip]

Nothing rings a bell.

[Stegyre]

Être

Être takes a good look at the ring in the painting but sees no need to copy it down. It's not likely there is a hoard of rings in the secret compartment, or that we could take only one if there were, he thinks.

"The Captain's Cabin. That will be directly below the Quarterdeck, then."

And even if the ship is guarded, it may be left empty, unless the "captain," himself is there, he adds, mentally. This really sounds too easy.

"Is that a brother?" he asks their hostess. "Where is he?"
So, get the ring. That's the primary mission, as the family vault presumably holds more treasure. But also recover the harbor fees or an acknowledgment of their payment from Vark: 800 guilders is nothing to throw away.

And finally, there is the question of what Vark and his men are doing with the Blue Nixie. That may require some additional scouting around.

Sounds potentially dangerous.

Sounds exciting.

[Cardea]

Atronur looks upon the painting, holding his hand up near the painting, but not touching. He commits the ring to memory. "No. Needed to see it." He retreats back to the side room, picking up the plate of food, and returns back to the main hall, eating the offered morsels. "Are we leaving now, or do you three need to delay us?"

[Stegyre]

"Are we leaving now, or do you three need to delay us?"
Yes, I'm curious about this family, Être thinks, but he comes from a place where being known for curiousity could be – unhealthy – so he keeps his mouth shut.

[Terrador]

Keiter shakes his head before responding to Atronur. "Don't let us keep you, friend. If anything useful comes up during dinner, we'll keep you apprised." He scratches his chin before continuing. "What say you we meet at Fifteen Horses and a Mule tomorrow night, sometime around sundown? I'm sure somebody would be glad to help me poke around a tad"--here, a wink at Être--"and if you two have anything to attend to, well, I have my doubts that the Blue Nixie is going anywhere tomorrow!"

[Cardea]

The half-orc stares down... way down... at the kobold. He crouches, placing another piece in his mouth, and talks while chewing. "Unlike my brothers, I am not an Inquisitive - I do not wait and ponder. I am going to the ship tonight. If you want to 'poke around', as you say, you have until then. But our employer has given us a job, and I will get it done, or we will get it done. Your decision. I am going to drink at the One-Eyed Dragon today, I think. I need something to wash down this..." He says, looking from the kobold, to the plate, to the kobold once again. "Food."

He stands up, looking at his employer. "Thank you for the hospitality. You will have your ring back."

[Stegyre]

"I am going to the ship tonight. If you want to 'poke around', as you say, you have until then. But our employer has given us a job, and I will get it done, . . ."
Être's eyebrows rise in surprise. (No one has ever accused him of having a poker face; it is good he does not play.)

That could be interesting, he wonders how the large man would get aboard the ship and into the Captain's Cabin, and useful..

"I'm sure we can meet up at the 'Dragon,'" he volunteers. "I should run an errand first, too."

[Macros]

Serena had to hold up a sight at the half-orc tirade. Not five minutes in, and already tempers were running hot. A few months ago, she probably would have tried to play peacemaker, but right now, she had a hard time to even care.

"The Dragon then. Fine by me. It's not like I have anything better to do anyway."

She could only hope their collaboration would be a little smoother than their introductions. She only knew the names of two of them by chance only, and was pretty sure the half orc never bothered to introduce himself. Then again, neither did she (though clearly Keiter did at least heard of her somehow).

"With your permission, my lady, we'll take our leave."

[Terrador]

Keiter blinks slowly, swallowing his fear before looking Atronur dead in the eye.
"Do recall that we are tasked with reclaiming the Blue Nixie as well. If you storm aboard for the ring, Soller Vark is on his guard, and any evidence of his wrongdoing rots in vast seas. The bard cracks the barest hint of a grin as he gets into his groove. "You could do as you wish, compelling Lady Vanderboren to reclaim the ship from her newfound funds, but... I would consider that a poor business decision, and rude to boot. Wouldn't you~?"

[Cardea]

"Then I will bring it back up myself. The oceans will not keep it from me." Atronur says with a shrug. "But if it came to that, you'd be the one who let the big, unclever brute go alone, yes? I might be rude, but you would be irresponsible." He laughs, a deep, menacing thing. "I can wait until early morning, if you want to poke around, as you say. I'll check the ship from afar, and then join the dinner rush at the Dragon."

He begins to make his way out of the mansion, walking with heavy footsteps. "Cheer up gladiator. You may soon show your worth in a real conflict."

[Macros]

Serena only snorted at that last remark.

"Hmph. I'm done trying to show my worth, I think. Spent most of my life doing just that. Didn't work out."

In truth, she had been rather indifferent to the relative fame associated with the arena. She went there only because she didn't know what else to do. For someone whose skills were to be found in the way to handle a sword, options tended to be limited. Lady Lavinia's offer was a chance to try something new... though this was not the most promising start.

[RPZip]

Lavinia closes down a bit at Être's question, seeming slightly upset. "Yes, he is. Vanthus. He's- well, he's not here."

After that, she keeps her silence with pursed lips as the group bickers until the enormous half-orc walks out of her mansion, carrying a tray of individually skewered mango-glazed shrimp. "He didn't even bother to take the toothpicks out..." she says in a horrified whisper before coming back to herself. "Right. For the record, the objective is my father's ring, but I would consider it a bonus if you would not get my ship destroyed in the process."

Lavinia's mistake was in not spelling this out beforehand. It might be her first time working with adventurers.

And with that, Kora politely but firmly ushers the rest of the group out of the mansion and into the mid-afternoon sun. There's time to do some snooping before dinner; what do you do?

Snooping can be done out of character; give me a brief description of what you want to try and investigate between now and then, along with some kind of a roll, either here or in the OOC thread.

[Stegyre]

Lavinia closes down a bit at Être's question, seeming slightly upset.
*Sigh* I always seem to have the effect on people.

. . . and for much the same reason, Être's inclined to leave the information gathering to some high-charisma character, who is more likely to succeed, anyway.
He will, however, secure a small rowboat for some nighttime fishing. Since doing such things was already, coincidentally, in his back story, I assume that is not a problem?

(By the same token, I assumed it would be alright for him to know the location of the Captain's Cabin on a ship, having but recently sailed here and working on a ship. I hope that was okay.)

EDIT: Oh, #@!@#. For no good reason, I was thinking this was the OOC thread. :smallredface: I've added spoilers for OOC material.