3.5e Batman Campaign (IC Thread)

[Molan]

CHAPTER ONE: OF SINS AND SHADOWS

The four of you find yourselves on a dark, gloomy dock just north of the Narrows Bridge in Midtown, Gotham City. Gotham is an old, ancient, sprawling and congested city. It's the dark, menacing pearl of the Empire, as valued and coveted as it is vile and cursed. For as long as anyone can remember, the city has been in a state of decay; street drunks and doomsayers wail that it's drowning in it's addiction to Arcane Magic, and the Arcana Industry that it depends on for sustenance. Others say it has more mundane enemies; be it the ineptitude of it's high lords or the insatiable avarice of it's noble houses, each vying for a piece of an ever shrinking pie. You stopped asking yourself high minded political questions a long time ago; Gotham is a place where the only thing separating you from a the corpses in the gutters is a full purse -- and perhaps a sharp blade at your side.

You knew how to find this place without needing to be told; The Merchant's Guild Docks have run business out of this part of town for more than a hundred years. Yet now that you've finally arrived, you feel surer than ever that the dark, looming city behind you is getting ready to swallow these docks up at any moment; or perhaps push them into the river.

The Merchant's Guild was once the principle mercantile property of House Wayne; the former Lords of Gotham. The Waynes founded the city and ruled over it for hundreds of years. Though Lord Thomas Wayne, the last "Lord Wayne of Gotham" died only a little more than twenty years ago, it feels like their once mighty house has been gone for a century or more. The Merchant's Guild has found itself besieged on all sides by the other Houses and their own businesses (or, when business failed, their armed men). It's assets have shrunk ever narrower. Now, the Guild Docks is the last territory this once mighty institution has left; and from the looks of things, the docks won't last much longer either.

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/d2/b5/bd/d2b5bda0955842c122b1b7b792d6e870.jpg

It's around 10 at night. There are a few ships and boats docked at the harbor, but almost all of the workers have gone home, and only a few, sputtering torches light the walkways. You find that you have an easier time navigating by starlight (or your Darkvision) than you do by the dock's lanterns. You've been walking along the docks for nearly twenty minutes and so far you haven't seen any armed guards, and leaving merchandise and valuable goods lying around without armed protection is something no Gotham merchant in their right mind would ever do. You imagine it's a miracle the place hasn't already been cleaned out.

To your left, lying on a few crates and piles of tarps and fishing nets, is a guild worker. If he has a home to go to, he's clearly decided it would be preferable to stay out here with the bilge rats, getting blasted on rum and Devilweed. Up ahead, you can see the Guild House. It's a ratty, miserable looking thing; it's as if the entire building is sort of sagging from exhaustion. On the bright side, it's the only part of the docks that's well lit. The assembled torchlight glows in the darkness, calling you like a moth is called to a flame. Nearby you can see a few other guilders, a couple of them guards and a few more workers, milling about or lounging. This is where the bounty notice has directed you; presumably the Guild Master, Lucius Fox, should be waiting for you inside.

And that, of course, is the reason you're all here. The Merchant's Guild has put out a call to handle a job; the notice was a bit light on details -- you're not sure if it's an investigation or simple mercenary work. Either way, you only need to worry about getting the job done and getting paid. For all you know, the Guild won't be here tomorrow -- but as long as you've collected your fee before then, it doesn't really matter.

[gawwy]

Barbara pushes the ill-maintained door open, wincing at the screech of the hinges then immediately berating herself for letting the surprise show. She scans the room expecting to be greeted with a dozen judging stares. No ones paying any attention to, well anything really, least of all her. The inhabitants seem as downtrodden as the guild house itself.

The only exception shows a small sign of curiosity. Making an educated guess Barbara assumes this is the bounty poster and marches toward him before her nerve gives out.

Hi, you must be Lucius. Im here for the bounty. Barbara says as she flashes what she hopes is a confident smile. Who do you need bringing in and why?

[roll0] bluff being confident
[roll1] sense motive for if Lucius says why. (probably not necessary just want to get in the habit)

[jesterjeff]

Jason follows Barbara into the Guild Hall. He looks around, eyeing each of the doors and windows; expecting at any moment one of a dozen petty street gangs and drunken lunatics that have settled the area to explode from them and raid the place for anything not literally nailed down. He lets Barbara speak for them because he long ago realized he had the uncanny skill to piss off anyone in the room just will a well timed "Hello."

[MCollarsen]

Richard entered the guild house about a minute after another pair had before him. As he surveyed the room full of disinterested parties, his eyes alighted on Guild Master Lucius, he'd seen him before at a few formal occasions - occasions the corrupt used to flaunt their opulence and berate their "lessers".

Two figures, the two who'd been a scant 100 yards ahead of him were speaking with the man.

Damn.... having competition is one thing, but being late & having competition is another. He surveyed the two, was that...an insignia of house Gordon?

So even the last of the honorable nobles have been reduced to common bounty work....not that i'm one to talk.

The scion was attractive without being seductive, and seemed to be either in charge or the more nuanced of the two, her partner stood behind her scowling.

Friendly that one...

He approached the group and waited for a moment to introduce himself to the guild master & his current guests.

Clearing his throat, Hmm... My Lord, I recieved your message, Richard of House Grayson at you service. Glancing at Barbara & Jason he continued, Am I to assume this is an open contract? With payment to go to whomever succeeds? or...

OOC - The lighter text is thought (in case it isn't obvious), the darker is spoken. I know I don't know their names yet, but I got tired of calling them "the pair".

[Vrock Bait]

“Hello.”

A woman stood directly besides Richard, her dark cloak contrasting with her blood red hair and deathly pale skin. She wore the kind of mask a noble would don to a costume ball, dark and predatory.

“I suppose I am also interested in this venture, pay forthcoming.”


I’m gonna assume the appearing suddenly thing that Bat family members do auto-succeeds because Kate has +21 on Hide. Roll here for posterity.

[roll0]

[jesterjeff]

Jason turns as the others step forward, sparks of eldritch energy crackle between his fingers before creeping up his arms and fading as they flow behind his mask.
"Oh fabulous, more company. It looks like we'll be splitting the bounty four ways. Either that or we're all going to a ball after this meeting."
He turns to Lucius.
"If this is everyone, I assume introductions are in order." He bows theatrically.
"I am known as the Crimson Masque."

[Molan]

When you approached the Guild House, none of the men outside paid you much mind. The man who approached the party when Barbara pushed open the door is indeed the Guild Master; he's dressed in high quality but well-used and utilitarian clothes; a heavy coat to keep out the cold, a thick layered tunic, sturdy breaches and thick heavy boots. He's clearly highborn; he carries himself nobly and moves with the relaxed ease of a person who's used to owning the ground he walks on. And yet he's also sort of worn down and tired; thick laugh lines crease his face, his hair is gray and his hands looked rough and weathered. Highborn or not, this is a man who's been through his fair share of troubles.

Despite the drab and unpleasant surroundings and his tired looking mannerisms, he greats you with something approaching a wry smile and a cunning gleam in his eye.

"I know who you are," he replies to Jason. "The Crimson Masque's reputation precedes him." Looking towards Kate and Richard, he seems only briefly startled before sort of waiving their concerns off. "Yes, yes. We'll discuss the contract details here in just a moment."

He quickly turns away from the others and towards Barbara.

"And hello to you as well my dear; apologies but do my old eyes deceive me? Has Lady Gordon herself come to visit our humble guild house? To what do we owe the pleasure?"

Having delivered the formality of addressing the daughter of the Marshall of the Justicars directly, the Guildmaster leans back against a long desk which faces the entryway, apparently eager to hear why Lady Gordon had sought him out before providing the bounty details to the other sellswords. The desk is about two yards inside from the entryway, and the party in still standing more or less in the threshold of the door. Fox hasn't asked you to come in or take a seat, so there's a feint awkwardness about the exchange. You're left with the vague sense that he doesn't especially trust you, even if he does know who Barbara and Jason are (even then, only by their reputations).

And yet despite that sense of latent tension, you find any inherent suspicions the Guildmaster has towards you at least somewhat easy to understand; you can't really trust anyone in Gotham, and judging from the sorry state of affairs you found the docklands to be in, Master Fox seems just as vulnerable to being robbed by his hired help as he would be from the thugs and brigands he's paying you to stop.

You are all entitled to spot and listen checks.

Sorry if those sentences were a little long winded; I'll get into the groove I promise lol.
You are also entitled to an Investigate (Search) check while you're talking to Lucius; you can add your Knowledge (Dungeoneering) synergy.

[jesterjeff]

OOC listen check 1d20+2

[Molan]

OOC listen check [roll0]

Your roll didn't work for some reason.

[Molan]

Huh. But it seemed to work when I quoted you? Lol. Do you want to accept a 20 result?

Damnit. I keep forgetting. Also:

I keep forgetting to mention; you are also entitled to a Trapfinding check.

[Vrock Bait]

Spot: [roll0]
Listen: [roll1]

[Molan]

Spot: [roll0]
Listen: [roll1]


Spot: The Guild House is a long building, and though most of the lanterns are no longer lit, you can see that it stretches back more than fifty yards from the doorway. It's filled with bookshelves packed with scrolls and ledges, and various crates, barrels and boxes fill the empty corners of the space, along with a series of desks where the Guild's ledger men clearly work.

Off to the right, behind one of the bookshelves, you can see the shadowy outline of a slender figure leaning against the corner of the shelf and the wall. Whoever it is is deathly still and the corner the figure occupies is so dark you barely noticed them hiding there at all. The figure is humanoid, and whoever it is isn't crouching or lurking but sort of casually blending into the gloom. You can't tell if they're watching you, but they're definitely listening.

Behind Master Fox, lying on the desk he's leaning on, you can see what looks like an elaborate light repeating crossbow, covered in eldritch runes. A tool for self defense, perhaps? Most of the rest of the items on the desk are papers and books, but there are two other heavier objects besides the crossbow; a lit candlestick and a black marble statuette of a knight.

Listen: You don't hear anything out of the ordinary.

[jesterjeff]

OOC: I'll take the 20. also trapfinding [roll0]
Jason gives the room a quick scan as Lucius speaks.

[gawwy]

It was a good question, why was she here? Was it for the thrill, the chase, the challenge? No, she could get all of that with the Justiciars. Coin or glory? No... had plenty of both of those through her family, as she was being reminded of here. An outlet for her anger? She was angry, angry that justice was doled out on a who can afford it basis. Angry that the eyes of every Justicar on the street just glazed over for certain people, if they had the right connections that was. Angry that she could bring in people all day every day for them, but they would never be the right people, the ones that needed bringing in...

Just going where my help is actually needed. Barbara scrutinizes the decrepit guildhall. [color=orangered]Hopefully I'm in the right place.[color] The last part is almost murmured to herself.


I dont actually have trapfinding D:

Search: [roll0]
Spot: [roll1]
Listen: [roll2]

[Molan]

OOC: I'll take the 20. also trapfinding [roll0]
Jason gives the room a quick scan as Lucius speaks.


Listen: Besides the conversation with Lucius, you can hear the gentle lapping of water under the docks beneath the Guild House. Outside, you can hear the two Merchant Guild guards who were watching the front door having a low conversation; "...Old Fox really think he can buy his way out of this one?" "No one's gonna risk they're necks for this dump when Zucco's boys show up." "You think when this falls through Fox'll wise up and get the hell out of here?" "Hell no man. He thinks the Dark Knight's gonna come save him." They both snicker.

Trapfinding: The room is trapped. The entire entryway inside the door is actually a trapdoor; it's about 10' wide and 15' long, and it appears to separate in the middle. All four of you are standing on the trap door; it appears to be some sort of defensive arrangement. If the trap is triggered, any unwelcome intruders standing in the threshold will likely be dumped straight into the Gotham River beneath the docks. You cannot see any obvious mechanisms to activate or disarm the trap, though you suspect it could potentially be jammed shut if you were able to shove something in between the two sides of the door, given how tight the seams are. But with Lucius staring directly at you, there's no way to surreptitiously attempt to manipulate or sabotage the device.

[Molan]

I dont actually have trapfinding D:

Search: [roll0]
Spot: [roll1]
Listen: [roll2]


"Well, that's good enough a reason as any," Lucius replies. "In any case, I'd like to believe you're in the right place. We don't work for any High Lords here anymore; except perhaps for Lord Bruce, but he hasn't had much interest in politics or business or...well, anything else frankly. So if noble intrigue is what draws you I'm afraid I don't have any of that here. What I do have is quite a lot of poor folk who depend on these docks for work; I'm not going to be able to help them if we get forced out of business. That sound like the kind of thing that might interest the daughter of the city Marshall?"

He smiles warmly at you; it seems like he's hoping he knows your answer. It's hard to trust people in Gotham, but Lucius has a calm, warm demeanor about him. It seems like he trusts you, for whatever that's worth.


No you don't, but Jason does. That was for him.


Search / Investigate: Your detective skills, honed from years watching your father and the Justicars' trained Bloodhound investigators, take in the scene with great detail. Some aspects of the interior of the Guild House are reassuring, others are alarming. You notice that the papers scattered on Lucius' desk are largely not the normal cargo manifests or bookkeeping ledgers you'd expect of a Merchant Guild leader, but are instead a series of letters and other official looking documents. On the top of the desk, very near to Lucius' left hand (your right) is a Gotham Herald; the Herald is a special journalistic scroll that Gotham's Bards Guild creates every day and sends out across the city via an ancient, magical network of communication. Heralds are temporary; unless someone creates a permanent copy a Herald Scroll with dissolve at the end of the day, as they're created magically.

You didn't read the Herald this morning; some Gothamites insist the Herald is a vital way to stay abreast of what's going on in the city, but most of the lower classes see the scrolls as propaganda; the Bards Guild is wholly owned by the Wizards College, and the Wizards operate under the thumb of the lords of the city; many noble house members are College members themselves. You've grown especially sour on the Herald; the Bard's Guilds directors, inherently political and scheming animals that they are, have taken an unseemly amount of glee pillorying the Justicars and painting your father as inept and helpless. They've also reported extremely negatively on "The Dark Knight", a vigilante that many see as a hero to the common people.

But the presence of the Herald copy on Lucius' desk is interesting; you can just make out part of two titles: "--OL'S GUILD' STRIKES AGAIN", and "MYSTERY ATTACK RAI--"

Lucius' work, whatever it is, clearly isn't centered entirely on protecting his mercantile prospects. He appears to be investigating something.

That's not all. You also notice that the black marble knight figurine on his desk appears to affixed to the desk itself, like it's nailed down or otherwise adhered. The desk is also unique; all of the rest of the furniture in the Guild House is portable; Lucius' desk appears to be built permanent with the rest of the building, and it's constructed directly into the floor, making it impossible to see what's under or behind it.

Finally, in the back, beyond the candlelight, you notice at least one of the ledger desks and the bookshelf behind it has been turned out; the drawers are emptied and piled to one side, and a spray of papers cover the area, and books that were once on the ledger's bookshelf are now stacked high on the desk, some of them open. The whole scene is too dark and chaotic to properly make out more evidence, but it's plain that something has been going on here. Perhaps Lucius is dealing with some internal issues as well as external ones.

Spot: The Guild House is a long building, and though most of the lanterns are no longer lit, you can see that it stretches back more than fifty yards from the doorway. It's filled with bookshelves packed with scrolls and ledges, and various crates, barrels and boxes fill the empty corners of the space, along with a series of desks where the Guild's ledger men clearly work.

Off to the right, behind one of the bookshelves, you can see the shadowy outline of a slender figure leaning against the corner of the shelf and the wall. Whoever it is is deathly still and the corner the figure occupies is so dark you barely noticed them hiding there at all. The figure is humanoid, and whoever it is isn't crouching or lurking but sort of casually blending into the gloom. You can't tell if they're watching you, but they're definitely listening.

Behind Master Fox, lying on the desk he's leaning on, you can see what looks like an elaborate light repeating crossbow, covered in eldritch runes. A tool for self defense, perhaps? Most of the rest of the items on the desk are papers and books, but there are two other heavier objects besides the crossbow; a lit candlestick and a black marble statuette of a knight.

Listen: Besides the conversation with Lucius, you can hear the gentle lapping of water under the docks beneath the Guild House. Outside, you can hear the two Merchant Guild guards who were watching the front door having a low conversation; "...Old Fox really think he can buy his way out of this one?" "No one's gonna risk they're necks for this dump when Zucco's boys show up." "You think when this falls through Fox'll wise up and get the hell out of here?" "Hell no man. He thinks the Dark Knight's gonna come save him." They both snicker.

[jesterjeff]

"Master Fox. You have a pair of guests eager to be uncivil outside."

[Molan]

Lucius seems oddly unconcerned. He waves his hand dismissively.

"Mmmm, don't worry about that for now. I'm hoping you all might really be the kind of help I've been looking for. Are you interested in hearing the details of this assignment?"

[gawwy]

Barbara's smile widens as she connects the dots on the reason behind Lucious' bounty. She still remembered following Zucco's trial and the ensuing plotting by the nobles. It was her first real introduction to Gotham politics and it had made her sick listening to her father's private rants about it. Obviously keeping the guildhall open for the common folk was the right thing to do, But knowing she would get to stick it to Zucco in even a small way... Yea she was in.


"Master Fox. You have a pair of guests eager to be uncivil outside."

Lucius seems oddly unconcerned. He waves his hand dismissively.

"Mmmm, don't worry about that for now. I'm hoping you all might really be the kind of help I've been looking for. Are you interested in hearing the details of this assignment?"

Departure via a rear exit is probably wise. Barbara nods along with Crimson Masque before enthusiastically spinning back to Lucious And yes! I'm very interested in hearing what needs doing. Doubly so if the alternative is second rate thugs closing this place down.

Suddenly realizing she may have reacted a bit too enthusiastically Barbara attempts to recover and politely adds, Please.

In all the excitement she had almost forgotten about the hidden stranger, almost.

Bluff 1d20+8 attempting to play off the excitement.

[Molan]

Barbara's smile widens as she connects the dots on the reason behind Lucious' bounty. She still remembered following Zucco's trial and the ensuing plotting by the nobles. It was her first real introduction to Gotham politics and it had made her sick listening to her father's private rants about it. Obviously keeping the guildhall open for the common folk was the right thing to do, But knowing she would get to stick it to Zucco in even a small way... Yea she was in.

Departure via a rear exit is probably wise. Barbara nods along with Crimson Masque before enthusiastically spinning back to Lucious And yes! I'm very interested in hearing what needs doing. Doubly so if the alternative is second rate thugs closing this place down.

Suddenly realizing she may have reacted a bit too enthusiastically Barbara attempts to recover and politely adds, Please.

In all the excitement she had almost forgotten about the hidden stranger, almost.

Bluff [roll0] attempting to play off the excitement.

Doesn't look like your Bluff roll came through for some reason.

Lucius claps his hands and rubs them together.

"Alright, excellent. Allow me to explain. To make a long story short, we've been having some trouble down at the docks. Shipments have gone missing, workers have been harassed, and last month one of our guards disappeared. I can't stay in business if I can't keep the docks secure at night, and I can't get sellswords to work here in the evenings anymore."

Lucius shakes his head. "These slums didn't always used to be this bad; back when the Waynes were in power they took good care of Fort Clinton. But these days, folks are getting desperate. The Justicars are usually out in force during the day...but at night..." he shakes his head again.

"Anyway, here's the job. I need you all to patrol the docks at night. You're not just here as a deterrent though; I need people here who are either tough, stupid or crazy enough to actually go looking for trouble. There's next to zero chance that the folks who've been harassing our operation are done with us. I need you to find the people who're doing this. I need you to stop them, and I need you to find out who's been behind the attacks.

If you walk the docks at night, it's only a matter of time before our attackers show back up. When they do, it's not enough that you chase them off; I need to know who's been giving the orders to attack the Merchant's guild. There's money in it for you; a hundred gold for every thief you capture...or I suppose, scalp you take, if it comes to that. Plus a hundred gold per night, split four ways just for your time."

Lucius tosses a coin pouch to Barbara as he speaks, to pay them and also to underscore the point.

"If of course you do find the evidence I need to figure out who's been ordering the attacks on the docks, I'll pay you four thousand to split, plus potentially an opportunity for a second job after that, if you're up for it."

Having made his pitch, Lucius stood up and strolled around his desk, sitting down behind it and looking over his papers.

"Now I've got to tell you, times have been tough for us. This is all the money I can afford to pay you for this job, so I'm not going to be able to negotiate. But if you all pull this off and our shipments are able to move in and out of the docks unmolested again, there'll be plenty more where this came from. So."

He leans back in his chair and fixes you with an even stare. "Do we have a deal?"

[jesterjeff]

Jason looks to the others. After a moment, the thin bit of lip visible under his mask curls into a grin. "I don't know about the others, but you had me at the needs of the small folk. I can't help but want to crack the skulls of the foolish. The Crimson Masque is at your disposal." He says with a small bow.

[Vrock Bait]

“What goods are being imported?” Katherine asked, face impassive. “There must be reason for these attacks as a whole.”

She kept her eyes on the darkly lit figure to the back.

[Molan]

The Guildmaster smiles.

"I'm glad to hear it!" he says to Jason.

When he hears Kate's question, he raises an eyebrow. He looks concerned, and his initial suspicions about the party seem to be rapidly returning.

"We ship a wide variety of goods both in and out of the city. What business is it of yours?"

[gawwy]

"We ship a wide variety of goods both in and out of the city. What business is it of yours?"

Actually she has a point. If you want us to find who stole your shipments, it might help to know what exactly was stolen. Obviously, if the motive of the theft is to shut you out they would've stolen it no matter what it was. But we might be able to find some of the goods being sold and work back from there?

You also said something about a missing guard? How long ago was that? Got any details we can use?

I am in by the way, not wildly in love with the idea of being bait, but if there's some backup Ill wriggle on a hook....

[Molan]

Lucius shrugs. "Alright, fair enough. Follow me."

The Guildmaster gestures to the party and walks past them, back out the door and onto the docks outside. The two guards watching the entrance fall silent as Lucius and the party walk past. There's two workers playing cards at the other side of the entryway, and only three other men loading up a shipment onto a boat near the water. Other then these men, the docks are completely diserted.

"Alright Rav," Lucius says to one of the men near the boat. "Open one of 'em up."

"Rav" looks concerned. "You sure boss?"

Lucius looks back at the party, smiles, and nods at the dockworker. "Yea I'm sure. Rav. Let's see one."

Rav and one of the other dockworkers heft a box over to where it's contents can be seen in the dim torchlight, and Rav pries the lid open with a crowbar. They brush aside the straw padding cushioning the box's contents and reveal what's inside.

At first, it's not especially obvious why the box's contents are special. It initially appears to be just a large book and a set of quills and ink vials. But after staring for a moment you realize it's so much more. The book is braced in brass finishing and comes with it's own padlock, and it's leather cover is inscribed with arcane runes and mystical symbols. The vials inside are all filled with different colored liquids, and some of them are mundane looking while others are scintillating and appear to glow. The "quills" and pens are made from bone and lead and other unidentifiable materials, and several empty glass containers and strangely shaped measuring tools looks as though they were crafted by alien hands.

It's a wizard's spellbook, and the expensive components required to write spells in it.

Rav leans in and grabs a pair of rope handles from inside the box and lifts upward. Beneath the first arcanum set is a second, almost identical one; the two look different from each other in ephemeral, indiscernible ways, but it's clear that the whole box is probably filled with four or five sets total.

"How much ya think is in here boss? Ten thousand?" Lucius smiles and slaps Rav on the shoulder.

"Twenty Thousand, one hundred Imperial Gold Pieces exactly Rav, not counting tariff costs."

"Hot damn." is all Rav can mutter in reply.

Lucius turns back towards you, arms out at his side as if to say, "Whelp, you asked!"

"You see, these days when you want to ship merchandise in or out of the city, there's a ton of markup. You've got to pay the Imperial tariffs when you send out, and city tariffs when you bring in. But nowadays, you've gotta pay whatever noble house runs the docks, the crime gangs taking their cut, a bunch of middlemen guilds that exist for no reason...it's brutal. Most of what the Wizard's College creates is non-essential, so they're unhappy about the extra costs but they can live with it. But these...these are essential. This is the one arcane product the Wizards can't live with out. It's the only exclusive contract the Merchant's Guild still has."

Rav decides to chime in; he's clearly important enough to know the contents of a box that's more valuable then all the money he'll ever own are...Lucius must trust him.

"We're the only shop left in town that'll ship without the extra...bonus charges. But that means the margins are tight. We keep losing boxes like this one..." Rav trails off, and Lucius finishes for him.

"It's all over." The old guild master still manages to smile as he says that; he's clearly hoping the guilt trip will buy some reliability from you.

"So," he says. "Satisfied?"

[jesterjeff]

Jason clicks his tongue against his teeth as he looks into the crate, "Impressive cashe Master Fox. I'd have assumed it was armaments or alchemical brews from Coast City. But enough of these and the College could churn out enough practitioners to retake the city from the Families and madmen. Maybe even root out the Fae. I'm in. It would be interesting to see families walk the streets of Gotham at night."

[MCollarsen]

I'm in as well. Richard had been silent for most of the discussion. He turned to Rav, Has anyone bothered you yet? Have you ever been around when a crate was taken...realizing how he might be sounding he quickly held a hand up. I'm not suggesting nor suspecting you, you obviously have guild master Lucius' trust, to be blatantly discussing our employment in front of you.

Turning to his ...teammates?.... companions?.... associates? That was going to be an interesting line to draw, he'd heard of House Gordon, but never met Barbara, he'd heard some street stories of the Crimson Masque, and he'd heard little to nothing of Kate, hells I don't even know what they might look like under those masks.... I should pursue that idea myself.

Miss Gordon, I like your idea of bait, but if you don't mind I think I'd draw less suspicion, not to mention, he gestured at the weapons of his companions, you seem to be geared towards ranged combat. I wouldn't mind getting surrounded by these hoodlums and gangsters, knowing i've got three bows on nearby rooftops. I'm next to worthless at any range, but I handle most people in close quarters.

He paused, his mind was racing with possibilities and ideas, but was still partially racing into oblivion as there were so many possibilities & unknowns.

If I can work with Rav or someone here, we can ensure nothing additional is stolen why having a good chance of intercepting anyone who's looking to take it, and hopefully working up the ladder.

[jesterjeff]

"That seems sensible. I am equally talented at ranged and close combat. I think if we keep watch until delivery or retrieval we should be able to face any...troublemakers. Does that sound amenable to the Greyson?"
The slightest of smiles is visible from under the mask as his eyes sweep from the group to the shadowy corners of the docks.
"A quiet night, seasoned with vigorous violence sounds lovely this evening."

[Molan]

Rav snorts.

"Bothered me? Like you mean how we have to pay the thieves guild protection money every week so we can still keep walking to work? Or about how the Justicars in Fort Clinton are more concerned with collecting bribes then they are with collecting pick pockets. People harass us every day buddy."

"This is more or less what I was trying to share with you," Lucius adds. "Rav and the crews that work near the Guild House are some of the only men I have left who'll even work after dark. During the day it's easier to get help to work the docks, but this dockland is nearly two miles long."

Lucius stretches out his hand, pointing west along the dark gloomy shore of the Gotham River.

"We don't have any men at arms who'll patrol the docks at night; every ship moored here and all of the merchandise we're moving are liabilities for us so long as this place is unguarded. Someone could be offloading one of my boats right now and I wouldn't even know it. This is why I'm paying by the head; it's not enough to chase off petty thieves. One of our 'neighbors' is sending armed men to attack us every week and the docks won't be secure until my guards can be sure they'll live long enough to see their family's again after a long shift. I don't need to chase away petty thieves, I need you to catch our *real* enemies in the act, kick their cans into next week, and find out who's paying them."

Rav looks out over the shadow docklands and shakes his head. "We need the help, that's for sure. But I gotta tell ya...." he spits at the ground. "I wouldn't want to walk these docks this close to midnight without an army behind me." He looks up to see Lucius giving him an exasperated look.

"But...I mean. You lot look a lot more dangerous than I am. You'll be fine. I'm sure of it..."

[MCollarsen]

Duly noted. But I don't think we'll need the army tonight, most thieves are cowards, they may put up a fight, but we should be able to stop them at first, then we'll invariably get a few more coming to investigate the first, they might be a bit more wary, but should go down similarly. That's when larger groups are likely to show up, but by then we should have a better idea of what we'll be facing.

Turning to Masque, I know you probably prefer lasting messages, but turning to Barbara, I'd presume your father would rather us not kill the corrupt Justiciars? Or is he the type to weed the garden of the bad stock even if it'll leave him understaffed? I was thinking, a warning, a message then retribution for the "lawmen" and skipping the first two for anybody else?

Returning to Lucius, can you re-direct any unofficial fee collectors to us for the next few days?

My plan...if you agree with it, is to let them slam into a brick wall for a few days of unexpected opposition, then adapt to their initial response, gauge their strengths then go after them at home when they try to respond.

[jesterjeff]

Laughing, "I can deal with bruises, lacerations, and lingering nightmares as we hunt their superiors."

[Molan]

Lucius replies,

"Well, as I've said, things are very different at night then they are during the day. You won't find any Justicars out tonight. If you all can help us secure the docks in the evening and run down our attackers, I might have more work for you. It sounds like we've got a deal; any other questions?"

[gawwy]

I can't speak for the others but we do indeed have a deal Mr. Fox. Things make a lot more sense knowing the cargo. I will have a few questions, mostly the details around this missing guard, but I can get those off you later.

To the group, but especially Richard. I would rather we not kill petty criminals, that could escalate things to a full-blown gang war. "bruises, lacerations, and lingering nightmares" as The Masque puts it on the other hand... Are probably long over due.

Thanks for offering to be the bait, Richard. Makes a nice change of pace from having to play the damsel in distress.

If we're going to capture and interrogate we're going to need a place to detain and... Interview... The thug in question.

Lucius do you have a room free of prying eyes and ears we could use?

She leans in and whispers There was a shadowy figure listening in on our conversation earlier in the hall for instance. I suspect you may have a mole.

[Molan]

Lucius smiles.

"I might have some space for you to work. Tell you what, you make sure all my spellbooks and Arcanum remain in their gods-damned boxes tonight and tomorrow we'll come the Guild Hall for moles, how's that sound?"

[Molan]

The four of you consented to the Guildmaster's terms; the evening wears on, and you find yourselves the only souls left on the long, winding warren of the Merchant's Guild docks. As far as mercenary work goes, you can't help but feel a little disappointed. The docks are as quiet as the grave and it's hard not to feel like a job that could just as easily be conducted by a squad of Justicar recruits is beneath you.

And yet...the seemingly innocuous, almost boring type of merchandise the Guild is moving has piqued your interest. A single trading vessel filled with these spell book materials could be worth literally millions of gold; the rumors of the Merchant's Guild's demise appear to have been greatly exaggerated. Whoever's after them clearly has massive motivation to bring the Guild down. Who knows, maybe you'll get lucky?

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/5a/c3/5a/5ac35a70280c91f268bc6ca2e05b9503.jpg

The docks are not a straight, uniform row of piers but instead a jagged, winding and byzantine path along the Gotham River. Some of the piers are long, wide, deep water docks tethering large sailing ships, while others are much smaller. Some of the piers stand taller out of the water than others. In some places, artificial inlets connect the Gotham River's waters to the city's interior and you have to cross short bridges to reach the next section, and everywhere large stacks of barrels or crates obstruct your view, and some parts of the waters edge forms bays and inlets so you can't see very far ahead in most areas as the city juts out in front of you. There are occasional small buildings, shacks, and storage sheds and in several places boats are suspended in dry dock. The entire place is a maze; the only way for you to navigate your way through it is to keep the water on your left so you know you haven't gotten lost.

You keep a weather eye out for any signs that something is out of place, and pay special attention to docked ships, closed warehouses, deeper shadows and dark alleyways, looking for any important clues or signs of shenanigans.

Feel free to come up with a strategy or marching order for exploring the docs. You can make checks here at will, and work together to try to track down signs of trouble.

Hit me up in the OOC thread if you guys have any additional questions or concerns about what to do here.

[Vrock Bait]

“Fox was hiding something from us.” Katherine said, “whoever was hiding back there either worked for Fox or with Fox. The Owls or Assassins, maybe. Either way, he’s taking no action against whoever was back there. He has his own agents, there’s no reason he couldn’t have sent them after the mole immediately.”

[MCollarsen]

In response to Kate's revelation, Makes sense I suppose, if he intends to start pushing back, hiring us without some form of insurance is risky. Shrugging and pacing a few steps, I mean he might know who we are, but would you just show that much "easy" money to 4 strangers in the middle of the night? In Gotham? Shaking his head, No he was probably testing us, with someone watching his back in his own house, and besides he's offering solid coin & the opportunity to knock some scum around.

Let's get started...

[gawwy]

I agree that there's more to Mr. Fox than he would have us believe. If he knows about the eavesdropper then the obvious assumption is that they're in cahoots. Maybe we're not the first ones he's hired on as "special" protection?

The contract he's still got must be an old one and it must be quite lucrative. If the scuttle bug about it being Barron Zucco that's been harassing him is true then it hasn't been going on long. Not as long as the guild has seemingly been in trouble for at least. The guildhall shouldn't be as run-down as it is.

Maybe it's a front for something else? Or there's been some long-running embezzlement going on. I couldn't see much but the state of the records indicated that Mr. Fox had been doing a very thorough check of accounts, so the latter is more likely... So he's bringing in an outside team to clean house but needs to test us first... Barbra takes a breath from her stream of consciousness ramblings, "I would expect some form of loyalty test at some point too" she thinks to herself.

There was something off about the desk too, probably irrelevant but I swear it was built into the floor and that statute was nailed right down onto it.

[jesterjeff]

"One must love an exam. If we do our job, Master Fox will reward us with more duties and more information. If we fail, it's just four more corpses in Gotham. Sounds like a delightful night to me. If you do not mind...I'll take the high ground." Jason bows arrogantly and walks to the nearest wall . he leans against it and steps up, walking up the wall, his cape hanging off of him.

Hide check 1d20+7

[gawwy]

Barbara watches Jason walk straight up the wall her next sentence dying on her lips we should... pair.... up...

Well, I kinda failed the rope climb in training. So guess I'm down here on the docks. Who wants to be bait with me?

[Molan]

Barbara watches Jason walk straight up the wall her next sentence dying on her lips we should... pair.... up...

Well, I kinda failed the rope climb in training. So guess I'm down here on the docks. Who wants to be bait with me?


"One must love an exam. If we do our job, Master Fox will reward us with more duties and more information. If we fail, it's just four more corpses in Gotham. Sounds like a delightful night to me. If you do not mind...I'll take the high ground." Jason bows arrogantly and walks to the nearest wall . he leans against it and steps up, walking up the wall, his cape hanging off of him.

Hide check [roll0]

Your party is standing near the water's edge; Katherine frowns deeply, suspicious of Fox and concerned that the other sellswords she's found herself working with are perhaps too comfortable taking the Guildmaster at his word. Richard and Barbara have kept their eyes on their surroundings, eager to find something out of place. It's difficult to see much around you; several small boat masts and a few different piles of barrels and debris block a lot of your vision.

Ahead of you, you can continue traveling west down the docks in between two rows of staged barrels. To the right, another path opens up along the cobblestones, running in between a nearby warehouse and a few other buildings beyond.

The Crimson Masque is undeterred by the shadowy and hostile terrain, and walks straight up the warehouse wall in front of you as though he were walking along the flat ground. From the top of the roof, he can see that on the far side of the warehouse, ever more boxes are stacked up; he he didn't have his spider climb ability he'd still be able to climb down from the other side of the building, though this was all hidden from Barbara on the north side of the structure. A row of different buildings run along the north side of the docks, opposite the water. They're ramshackle, sometimes lopsided, and all of different heights, but they're jammed together so close it would be fairly easy to move from one rooftop to the other, if necessary.

Up ahead, the docks branch out into the river again and several large multi-pronged piers spread out into the water, and you can see a few different sized ships moored there. The docks are similarly laded with piles of crates and barrels and there are occasional storage sheds puncturing the landscape both on land and over the water. About a hundred yards west, another large warehouse looms right where the river cuts back north, obscuring your view of the next pier. Several other piles of supplies near that warehouse create a sort of choke point before you will be able to round the next bend.

Finally, in between the two warehouses are several tight paths with lots of looming shadows and odd angles; the place is messy to the point of seeming more like a maze then a well ordered industrial center. You don't see any signs of movement -- yet. There's plenty of places to hide.

Barbara and the Masque might be onto something; it's too difficult to cover enough ground if the entire group is standing next to each other. Since the Masque has no problem walking to the top of a building and Barbara's stuck on the ground, it might be a bit easier to clear the area.

Am I the only one who's not getting the roll results from the roll macro? Now I don't have a hide result for Masque at all.

[MCollarsen]

I'm not particularly adept at climbing at the moment, gesturing to his attire, and besides in theory at least any goods will be moved by boat or cart if they expect to move quickly. I'll stay down here with you, but we should probably keep some distance between us and spread out, so we can cover more area, and have eyes & ears in more than one place. shout if you hear or see anything.

Barring objections from the others, Richard will walk around the docks "looking for anyone moving goods, acting suspicious, or generally being there (as It appears deserted).
Spot: Should be a 15
Listen: Should be a 14
Taking 10 on the pair &/or as passives. Waiting to have something happen, will call to the others after seeing & ID'ing something (provided he doesn't get attacked), will be listening for their calls of help or signal. Will check in every hour or so if he doesn't see anytihng.

[Molan]

Kate shrugs, and spends a moment climbing up a stack of salt crates before scaling to the roof of the warehouse to join the Crimson Masque. She's nimble and athletic, but it still takes a good deal more effort to get to the top of the building than when the Masque simply walked up the side. With the two of them on the roof, Richard gesture's to Barbara to follow him.

"Come on, let's go."

Barbara and Richard continue their stroll down the docks, looking for signs of trouble. Kate and Masque scan the surrounding area above them. When the pair on the ground reach the other side of the warehouse, they find themselves in a five way intersection; behind them is the way they came, a stack of crates separates two different routes toward the cobblestone part of the docklands, and the dock itself splits in two different directions.

As they walk into the "intersection", Barbara and Richard see a pair of figures walk out of the shadows to greet them. One's a rough, ugly looking man in a suit of well-worn brigantine with a broken nose, his arms tucked around his sides. The other's a big, hulking, heavyset half orc in gross looking hide armor. His arms look like tree trunks; one of them grips a well-used club, the other has a small wooden shield with a stabbing blade attached to it.

"Well well well, what's this now?" the half orc growls in a deep voice.

"Sweet little couple out on a date maybe?" His companions smirks.

"I think you picked the wrong docks." the half orc replies.

Knowledge: Arcana, Dungeoneering, Architecture and Engineering:
You can't know for sure if these two don't have other buddies around, though you haven't seen any. One of the barrels stacked in the pile behind them has an alchemical industry marking for a substance called "Malodone", which when mixed with water produces the effect of an Obscuring Mist spell.

Some of the barrels and crates around you are poorly stacked. The 20sqft. area of docks that you and the other two men are standing on is particularly worn and rotten. The entire surface area around you is covered with mud and seawater.

It's not obvious whether these two goons know that Kate and Masque are on the roof behind you.

Spot: Off to the right (north) of Barbara and Richard below you, you can see a third thug, still hidden in the shadows. He's carrying a short sword, and it's drawn. He's actually quite stealthy, you only just barely noticed him. It's possible that there may be others, but if their are you can't see them.

[gawwy]

This was the part she hadn't been looking forward to. The other bounty hunters all looked like they could handle themselves in a fight. But Barbara knew that one on one in a fistfight with either of these she would lose. The Malodone would usually be her first choice. Puncture the barrel and use the resulting mist to hide from the ruffians and hit them one at a time. That would prevent the rooftop support from getting clean shots though.

Breaking the rotten dock boards or tripping the roughians on the slick surfaces might work. Should the opportunity arise.

The best course of action, for now, was probably to stall out the brutes until the other two were in position. they seemed pretty keen on violence and hopefully that meat they would shoot first and eliminate one of the opposition. Then she would have a moment of confusion where hopefully she could hit whichever of the two was left standing with a standard-issue sleep vial (OC the spell sleep), and bam fight over.

That was a plan at least, Barbara cursed herself for not explicitly going over it with the others and wished she had some way to covertly communicate with them. In the meantime, she had to stall them... This was going to be embarrassing.

No, no my fine fellows we are a pair of, admittedly lost, wandering performers. Barbara flourished with her hands whilst cringing inwardly. Without giving the pair a chance to question them further Barbara nudged Richard. And a one, and a two, Before launching into a recitation of Drunken Sailor.


bluff = [roll0]
fasinate = [roll1] possibly +2 if richard is willing and able to hit the aid another dc.

[Molan]

The human seems to slow down, and forget what he was going to say before going slack-jawed and silent. He listens to Barbara's song and his hands drop to his sides, while he smiles slightly, if stupidly and his foot begins to tap on the dock. When his hands move away from his sides you see he's wearing a pair of punching daggers.

The Orc looks irritated that Barbara's singing and takes another step forward, but he buys the explanation.

"The fug're you Bards doin' here?" he growls, loudly enough to talk over her silly song. "This is Guild territory. You hear to pay us or get knocked around eh!?"

Knowledge: Local: The Bard's Guild, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Wizard's College, controls the Media in Gotham and most of it's entertainment, among other services. The half orc appears to have bought your explanation, but may assume you're here because you want something. He is still not likely to be friendly towards you, and you're not sure how many refrains of Drunken Sailor he'll tolerate before he loses his temper.

Looks like the song worked on his compatriot.

[MCollarsen]

Language my friend Language, - just because you have no sense for music doesn't mean you should spout such expletives in front of a lady. As he spoke he let a ripple of arcane energy race down his arm and into his middle finger, moving his hand up he brought his thumb to meet the building power. She performs for the ears, I perform for the eyes. He snaps his fingers letting a blinding flash erupt in the half-orcs face.


Using Arcane Attunement 1 of 8 to cast "Flare (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/flare.htm)" on the Half-Orc as a surprise round action. (GM's call if this distracts from Bab's song (if so "Sorry") but anything else I have definitely would (distract) or else is of no relevant help.

Flare DC 15 to avoid being dazzled ( -1 on Attacks, Search & Spot checks)

Rolling Initiative & a Knowledge Nature Check (since targets are humanoid) via knowledge devotion.

Initiative: [roll0]
K. Nature: [roll1]

[Molan]

Old, scintillating elven magic flies from Richard's fingertips before bursting into a flash of light. Both the Half Orc and the Human, who's inferior eyes were already squinting in the deep gloom, are dazed by the effect. The man with the punching daggers steps back, covering his eyes, clearly confused after being yanked out of his temporary reverie.

Looking at the way the two thugs are standing and moving, and by observing their armor, Richard gets some rough ideas of where to strike the two to maximize his effect.

Flare is successful against both targets, but fascinate is broken. The double surprises from Barbara's and Richard's ambush magic effects have taken the human completely by surprise, and he's slow to react.

You gain +1 against both targets via your Knowledge Devotion roll.

[Vrock Bait]

Init [roll0]
Do I get a surprise round to shoot them first?

[Molan]

Yes, you and Jason both get a surprise round.

[gawwy]

[spoiler=init][roll0]

Things running a bit slowly
[/init]

[Molan]

[spoiler=init][roll0]

Things running a bit slowly
[/init]

It is. I've been waiting for our surprise round-ers. I left a longer update in the OOC thread for next steps.

[Vrock Bait]

Katherine quickly slid her longbow over her shoulder and notched an arrow. Without hesitation, snapped the bowstring back and launched the missile straight at the thug below.


I use my move action to draw the bow because Quick Draw is a thing that I don’t have, and attack roll.

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Molan]

In what seemed like an instant, the docks exploded from oppressive, brooding silence into a burst of light and violence.

Richard effortlessly flung magic into the air, summing a flash of light that temporarily blinded and stunned the man and the half orc in front of them. From atop the storage building, Kate fired a shot from her heavy composite bow into the shadows behind one of the barrel stacks; no one else could see what she was shooting at, but her shot was rewarded with an angry cry of pain and fear. The Crimson Masque wasn't far behind; appearing at the edge of the roof, he balled his fist, summoning forth a bright confluence of burning, eldritch energy. The air briefly swirled in a nauseating pattern around his hand before he released the energy in a searing blast. The bolt struck the half orc down on the docks. The thug tried to block the attack with his wooden shield but failed rather miserably, and the blast took a chunk out of his hide armor, ripping a piece of his torso with it. The half orc howled in rage and his allies quickly responded.

From behind the barrels a third figure emerged; this was a half elf, with a wiry body and a long, hawk-like nose, wearing leather armor and carrying a shortbow. He was well hidden from his perch, and he appears as a surprise before quickly firing off two shots with his shortbow in rapid succession. The first shot whizzed past the Masque's head, but the second one struck him in the side, near his kidney. It was a brutal wound, and Jason felt himself reeling from the strike.

The half orc barrels forward; he first jabs at Barbara's neck with the blade at the end of his small shield before sweeping his right arm around to crush her with his club. The shield strike swings wide, but the club manages to catch her shoulder, causing a survivable but considerable injury.


The half orc is badly hurt, but he and his human friend were clearly not the only thugs waiting at this intersection. His human friend was dazed but is rapidly recovering.

Everyone needs to make Spot and Listen checks. No taking 10 due to Combat.

Also Initiative order is posted in OOC thread.

Masque takes 13 damage. You can now see the thug that Kate was shooting at, he's got an arrow sticking out of his side and is limp/running as fast as he can way from the scrum.

He's partially covered by the stack of barrels where the half-elf is posted up. You're 20 ft. away from the barrels, and a total of 40 ft. away from the injured thug. In lieu of chasing him, you can also clear your LOS by moving 15-20 feet to your right along the roof, which will put him in LOS before he runs away.

Barbara takes 5 damage.

The thug you'd Spotted hiding in the shadows with his short sword was badly wounded when you shot him and he takes off. He's hurt and plainly panicked, but now he's running instead of fighting. He has Cover from your attacks based on where he's currently positioned and where you're standing. If you hold off trying to kill him for a turn, his path *may* take him back into your LOS on his next turn, but he'll be around 80 feet away from you by that point.

The half orc is badly hurt, but Masque is clearly worse off. Barbara just took a pretty serious clip from the Club down below you, and there's now a half elf with a short bow on a stack of barrels 30 feet away from you.

[gawwy]

Barbara staggers back a couple of steps (5ft step out of threat range) reeling from the half-orcs blow. She jerks her hand up out of her utility belt (spell component) pouch, sleep capsule ready to go. She almost throws it at her nearly dead assailant. Her tactical instincts managed to win out and aim the pellet closer to the entirely unharmed human, trusting Richard to clobber the rest of the sense out of the orc. (Casting sleep on the human, its a 10 ft radius burst and might get them both? Will save DC 16). Then she draws her shortbow.

[Vrock Bait]

Do I roughly know where he is? I have the a Blood Seeking enchantment that lets me negate Cover if I do.

[Molan]

Barbara tosses her sleep vial in between the two attackers and it releases a short burst of magically-inlaid gas. The gas cloud bursts and the man with the punching daggers is immediately knocked unconscious, but it doesn't reach far enough to hit the half orc. As the human hits the docks with a *thunk* the half orc presses in, growling at Barbara.

The rules for Sleep (https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/3e_SRD:Sleep) stipulate rolling 2d4 to see how many HD of creatures are affected; I didn't see a roll from you, did I miss it? I made a roll myself in roll20 and came up with a 5, at your option you can either keep this result or try to roll again. To peel back the DM screen for a moment, the magic number to knock out both targets was six.

I did roll will saves for both enemies first, and they both failed; so if you keep my 5 result then the human will stay asleep and the half orc will not. If you decide to reroll 2d4 you might be able to catch the half orc, but you might risk rolling more poorly and waking the human. Up to you.

You do know where he is; if you have Blood Seeking then that would work handily in this situation.

[MCollarsen]

Now Now ugly, you need to learn that being overbearing is a real mood killer. With a swing and a grunt, Richard whirls his mace from its place on his back and straight towards the half orc's temple.

Move: Draw wpn
Attack: [roll0]
Confirm: [roll1] (if needed)
Damage: [roll2]

[gawwy]

Almost forgot
Spot = [roll0]
Listen = [roll1]

[Molan]

Now Now ugly, you need to learn that being overbearing is a real mood killer. With a swing and a grunt, Richard whirls his mace from its place on his back and straight towards the half orc's temple.

Move: Draw wpn
Attack: [roll0]
Confirm: [roll1] (if needed)
Damage: [roll2]

The half orc takes the hit from Richard's mace hard and staggers back. The gaping hole in his side and the crushing mace strike have begun to sap a lot of his piss and vinegar. He's still not down, or even retreating (by the gods these brutes are tough!) but he raises his shield defensively and holds his club at the ready in order to defend himself and hold his ground, and he's no longer bearing down on Barbara.



Almost forgot
Spot = [roll0]
Listen = [roll1]


You hear a faint, sharp breath, almost like the sound of someone cursing. The hairs on the back of your neck rise and you catch a glimpse of someone moving behind you.

It's kind of a miracle you ever saw or heard the halfling at all. He's a miserable looking runt, wearing worn and ripped leather and covered in dirt, his wiry hair tied back in a bandana. He was deadly quiet, and he'd blended into the shadows so well even your elven eyes had missed him when you'd walked into the intersection -- you actually walked right past him!

But despite his formidable stealth, he's witnessed hostilities breaking out and clearly decided he wanted no part in it. He's currently slinking away from the fight, still moving silently, heading east away from you, back the way you all had come. He's got two small halfling-sized daggers still gripped in his fists; if he'd wanted to, he could have leapt out and opened your throat. Fortunately for you, his spinelessness appears to have gotten the better of him.

Of course now you have a problem; the half orc is still very much up and fighting, and you've learned rather painfully how hard he can swing. The human with the punching daggers is down for now, but the sleep effect doesn't last forever, and the half elf on the barrels looks to have nearly killed the Crimson Masque.

Your keen senses have also revealed the faint outline of a fifth assailant run-limping north, just beyond the half elf with the bow. That must be who Kate had shot at. You definitely won't be able to chase him with three of his buddies standing in the way.

[EDIT]: Since Jester's afk for now I'll roll for him.

Furious and in pain, the Crimson Masque summons another bolt of dark energy, and hurls it at the half elf who shot him. His injury's clearly getting to him, however, and the Eldritch Blast flies wide.

[Vrock Bait]

Kate couldn’t see the thug very well, but still she knew roughly that he had ducked behind some crates and was clearly wounded. But with only a melee weapon he wasn’t much of a threat; so instead she launches her next arrows at the half-elf with the bow.


I Rapid Shot them - I have enough BAB it’s probably effective enough.

Attack:
[roll0]
[roll1]

Damage:
[roll2]
[roll3]

[Molan]

Kate knocks and fires two arrows in rapid succession. Each shaft strikes their target, piercing the half elf's light armor. He cries out, clearly wounded. The half-elf grits his teeth and attempts to return the favor; Kate's managed to draw the sniper's ire away from Masque, who's still badly hurt, and towards herself. The half elf fires a pair of shots of his own -- but shooting with a pair of arrows in your body turns out to be harder than it looks. His shots go wide, passing a foot or more to either side of Kate's position, and leaving her unscathed.

The half orc takes a careful step back, his shield still raised. There's now about ten feet between himself and Barbara, and five feet between himself and Richard. He holds his position, daring Richard to come after him, but he's opening suffering and stuck on the defensive. His compatriot remains asleep, and the man with the short sword that Kate had shot earlier continues to run west along the docks, putting more distance between himself and the fight.

The halfling with the two daggers moves another fifteen fit east away from you; he's now about 30 feet away. If any other party members have noticed him, they haven't reacted. He's still relatively close to the building Kate and the Masque are hanging out on.

[gawwy]

Barbara takes stock of the situation.

Richard is unharmed and in a one on one with a rather bleedy looking orc. He should probably be able to deal with it.
Kate is similarly unharmed and in a shoot out with a pin cushioned looking elf.
Masque was also raining down on the elf.

There were two assailants running from the scene, one injured, one probably thinking he hadn't been detected.

The group only really needed one alive to question and the guy using the docks as a pillow solved that issue.

Barbara considered following the halfling, he might lead her back to wherever these guys meet up.

Too dangerous to go alone though, and the fight here wasn't won yet...

Barbra took another step back as she contemplated the situation, muttering to herself, she found herself fidgeting with a pair of dice as she snapped out of her reverie.


Stepping around to place Richard between Barbara and the half-orc. Move action.
Casting improvisation and a charge from the arcanist gloves at CL 6. giving 12 luck points to be spent in lots of up to 3. As a standard action.

[MCollarsen]

Look mate, you keeping fighting back you're likely to get your brains bashed out. Just sayin, drop your weapons & get on your knees and we'll let you live. As he advanced a few steps Richard swung the mace again, this time tilting the flanged edge away from the orc's body, aiming to bring the cretin down alive but unconscious.


Free 5' step
Attack Taking -4 for non lethal dmg
Confirm: if needed, again taking -4
Damage: 1d6+1 dmg

[Molan]

Richard's mace clangs off of the half-orc's shield. From atop the roof, the Crimson Masque fires a third burst of Eldritch Power, this time stretching to the outer limits of the blast's range. It strikes the fleeing man with the short sword and leaves a scorching mark in his back. The fleeing man is -- miraculously -- still not dead, but he's very nearly mortally wounded.

[Vrock Bait]

Katherine pays little heed to the arrows each whizzing about a foot around her, though she keeps to herself the image of her old instructor yelling at fresh cadets. She notches in a new arrow and prepares to finish the enemy once and for all, but keeps an eye out for the injured swordsman.


I use a move action to try to check where the swordsman went and determine if he’s going to be an issue. Even though he’s a relatively weak at the moment, it’s still better to roughly know where they are for Blood Seeking next turn.

Spot: [roll0]

Anyway, attack:

Attack: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2]

[Molan]

Kate fires her heavy composite bow again but misses, her shot whizzing past the half elf's head.

The half elf fires back: twice. But whatever brutal marksmanship he first displayed when he nearly took the Masque's life seems gone now; Kate's two arrows are still sticking out of him and his hands shake as he fires. Both of his shots go wide, embedding themselves in the roofing along Kate's flank.

Down below, the half orc swings hard with his club before a follow up jab with his bladed small shield. He's still blinking from the flare spell, and between his injury and his effort to keep his defenses up, his form has suffered badly. Both swings *whoosh* by Richard, he's able to dodge them mostly by footwork alone.

Looking ahead of you, you can see the first thug you'd shot limping away. He's more than 60 feet away now but he's cut left, lurching towards a pile of boxes and wagon wheels on the far docks. He's not *dying*, but he's near death and is looking for any way to survive.

He's still only around 60 feet away but the effective distance might now be closer to 70 ft. as he's cut towards the pile of supplies. He's not quite behind cover yet.

The halfling has skulked away from you and cut left (your right) behind the building that Kate and Masque are standing on. He's now out of your LOS.

[gawwy]

Barbara came to a decision. Richard was in little danger, the orc had yet to hit him. Kate and Masque on the roof were in more dire need of aid. She knocked an arrow and let loose.

[roll0] to hit [roll1]damage.
Burning a charge of improvisation to add to the attack roll for a total of +9
waiting for the result to post move action in next post

[gawwy]

Barbara attempts to duck around the orc making her way to the stacked barrels (and climbing up a few if possible) aiming to gain higher ground.

[Molan]

Barbara took advantage of Richard's position, and climbed up onto the stacked boxes near the warehouse, and fired at the half elf, but even with her magical enhancements, the shot went wide. Richard landed another firm strike against the Half-Orc, and the brute howled in pain; he's still alive, but he's clearly fading fast.

Atop the warehouse, the Crimson Masque has had just about enough. Glaring furiously at the half elf, he builds up a new charge of eldritch energy and hurls it at the archer. The blast strikes the half elf in the head; blowing it into a million pieces.

The half elf's decapitated corpse drops backwards from it's perch, the hole where it's neck once stood still smoking from the blast, and it collapses onto the cobblestones somewhere in the shadows below.

With two of the group's attackers fleeing, and the human still fast asleep, the badly-injured half orc is now the only threat remaining nearby.

[Vrock Bait]

“Get the half-orc!” Kate yells to the others. She aims her bow at the two fleeing combatants, knowing that they still had the sleeping human to interrogate.


Rapid Shot.

Attack:
[roll0]
[roll1]

Damage:
[roll2]
[roll3]

[Molan]

Kate shouts orders to her compatriots and fires an arrow over the melee, to the far dock where the thug with the shortsword had been limping. The arrow's shaft cuts deep into his torso, stopping his heart. The thug drops like a rock to onto the dock and a puddle of blood begins to spread around him.

In one fluid motion, even as her first shot is still whizzing through the air, Kate effortlessly draws and knocks an second arrow, twirling around on one heel to face the fleeing rogue behind her, letting her second shot fly. This arrow proves itself even truer than the first; it flies straight from the rooftop into the fleeing halfling below, burrowing itself in his left ear canal and bursting violently from his right. The halfling drops like a sack of bricks, dead before his body even hits the cobblestones.

Bleeding from multiple wounds, stunned, semi-blind and hopelessly outnumbered, the half-orc finally panics and runs, trying to put some distance between himself and the party.

Damn, way to flex on everyone! lol.

Since it wasn't *super* clear, I made some executive decisions regarding your shot placement and I rolled to confirm your crit and your extra damage.

One shot to the shortsword, killing him, then a critical hit on the halfling, triple damage for a composite longbow, 28 damage total. He dead as hell.

Make an attack of opportunity against the half orc.

[MCollarsen]

Time to sleep buddy. Richard swung his mace as the Half-orc presented him the opportunity.

attack: [roll0]
confirm: [roll1]
damage: [roll2]

[Molan]

Richard's mace smacks the Half orc in the back as he flees. He stumbles away, bleeding across the wood planks and the cobblestones, but still he doesn't fall.

[gawwy]

Barbara Knocks a final arrow and attempts to bring the running half-orc down before leaping back off the boxes and running to the bleeding out half-elf.


to hit 6 + improvisation 3 = 9
To hit [roll0]
damage [roll1]

[Molan]

Barbara shoots at the limping half orc but misses again. She curses under her breath and jumps off of the boxes, running west towards the thug with the short sword. He was bleeding all over the docks, but there was a chance she could save him.

Richard springs into action and quickly catches up with the limping half orc. He cracks him over the top of the head, knocking him unconscious. With the halfling and half elf dead, and the man with the punching daggers asleep, the danger seems to have passed, for now.

Jason walks off of the roof...slowly. He walks vertically down the side of the building and back onto the docks where "punching daggers" is snoring loudly, holding his side to staunch the flow of blood all the while. He looks down at the sleeping thug and sighs.

"Why do I have a feeling...you aren't worth the trouble?"

To the west, Barbara reaches the shortsword thug and begins wrapping his worst injuries with a blessed bandage. The line of glowing thread running along the edge of the bandages thrums as they come in contact with blood, and within a few moments his breathing stabilizes, and the blood stops pouring out of his woulds. He's ripped to pieces and still has two arrows sticking out of his body, but he's alive.

She takes a moment to look back over her shoulder, and sees Kate standing alone on top of the warehouse, her cloak behind her, the long boughs of her heavy composite bow flared out at her side, looking down on her bloody handiwork.

These are some fine friends she's collected for herself. There's no way to know if she can trust them, but at least they're useful.

[gawwy]

Barbara pulls out her manacles and locks up each of the still-living thugs.

Well.. ****. Didn't expects as many to jump us at once... Let's get the against that wall and ask them who their boss is.

Once the unconscious yet living thugs are manacled and arranged in a line against a wall Barbara casts Improvisation again then kicks the human awake. As he's the least likely to strait up die from getting slapped.

Morning friendly stranger, your friends seem to be in a much deeper sleep than you. The ones that'll wake up and get to go home anyway. Now were reasonable people, you work for someone, you can't really be held responsible for trynna rob us right? Its your employer that we should really be filing our grievances with, right? So help us out. Who told you to rough up people on the docs.

lets try diplomacy first 1d20+15

[Molan]

The human thug snaps awake, looking equal parts groggy and shocked. The last time he'd been awake, he was getting ready to attack the party; now he's manacled, helpless, and his friends have been more or less wiped out.

"W...what...what the hell did you do to me you fuggin' skag!?" he curses.

Barbara doesn't relent, and prods him further.

"You idiots really have no idea what you've stepped into, do you? This whole coast is Raam's territory. You think old Fox is gonna save you once the Captain comes to pay you back for this? You're all a bunch of corpses, you just don't know it yet."

Barbara leans down, looking into the man's eyes sympathetically.

"If we're corpses already then what's the hurt of talking to us, hmm?"

The thug sighs, exasperated.

"You really don't get it. The Guild owns this part of town. I can't help you. Even if you four somehow stood a chance against Raam and the rest of his crew," he takes a moment to look the party over, shaking his head, "And believe me, you don't, the other bosses aren't gonna take kindly to you comin' down here and messing with our business."

It was an odd sentence. You were here under contract with the Merchant's Guild...why would the guild care that they were down here? The thug had to be talking about some other organization entirely.

"Just tell me who Raam is," Barbara presses. "Why's he have you jumping people on the docks?"

The thug looks around nervously, but with the half orc and the other human unconscious, he's all by himself in front of the party. His breathing quickens.

"Look, I didn't say this to you, okay? Just leave me out of it when Raam's pulling your fingernails off one at a time. Me and Dench," he briefly nods his head towards the unconscious half orc, "we're just here to jump anybody that gets close to Pier 45. Raam doesn't want anybody nearby till him and Gex 'n the boys are already off of the Chraal. We're not even the ones you've gotta worry about; Aust and his boys are the ones actually guarding the pier."

"Uh huh, sure. But who are Raam and Aust?" said Barbara.

"Man, you're really not from around here, are ya toots?" he says, sounding bewildered. "Raam's the Captain, ya got it? Our crew runs the whole south stretch of Fort Clinton. And if you don't know who Aust is then he clearly hasn't lit any of your loved ones on fire. Consider yourselves lucky."

Roll search checks in the surrounding area / crates. Anyone who wants to interrogate prisoners can do so.

Roll for Investigate and Knowledge.

[Vrock Bait]

Katherine takes a look around the area, assuming her talents won’t be of much use with interrogation.


Search: [roll0]

Might as well Spot and Listen too if that could help:

[roll1]
[roll2]

[MCollarsen]

Smiling Richard squatted in front of the manacled man, looking at him through the visor of his helmet.

In a friendly manner he asked, How many "boys" does Aust have guarding the pier? Where are they located?

You may as well fess up anything you know, I admit I'm not well up on knowing folks around these parts, but its time to fix that. I've always found having someone help you break into a new area helps.

By the way what's your name? I've got his, Dench right? Richard pointed to the half-orc. Tell him not bad by the way, he gave me a good warm up, got my blood pumping.

Before he can speak Richard continues, by the way, Fox may be benefiting from our involvement, but he certainly doesn't shelter us. Honestly I don't think he even LIKES us.

Anywhos.... how bout answering? I'm warmed up, & ready to crash a party, so why don't you help me break into the private event on Pier 45.




Search Check: : [roll0]

Diplomacy (if needed) hopefully I can ride the Coattails of Gawwy's
[roll1]

Raam
K. Local: [roll2]
K. Nobility: [roll3]

Aust
K. Local: [roll4]
K. Nobility: [roll5]

Gex
K. Local: [roll6]
K. Nobility: [roll7]

Pier 45
K. Local: [roll8]
K. Geo: [roll9]

Chraal - Ship?
K. Arch & Eng (seems applicable if its a ship): [roll10]
K. Local: [roll11]
K. Nobility: [roll12]

[Molan]

The thug is receptive to Barbara and Richard's interrogation, but he's beginning to look increasingly nervous.

"My name's Renk. You can tell the Justicars that when they show up tomorrow, but they already know me." Renk seems proud of this fact. "But listen, I can't talk to you anymore, alright? You all wanna go get yourself killed out on 45 be my guests, but leave me out of it."

Richard and Barbara stand over him for a few moments longer, staring back quietly.

"Aust is pretty much always running with Eberk, Dimble and Gohl. Alright? If you don't know who they are then fug off back to whatever tavern Fox picked you up in and check the bounty board. That good enough for ya? There's no way they won't see you comin'. Even if you did somehow get past em, Raam'l just split you in half. If I were you I'd piss out of Gotham while you still got the chance."

Search: Nothing.
Spot: Renk and the unconscious thugs are all carrying coin purses, small belt pouches, and Dench is even carrying a small napsack.
Listen: The docks are deathly quiety, but somewhere off to the west, you swear you could have heard someone yell or curse...but it could have been nothing.

Search:One crate nearby is packed with hay, a couple tanglefoot bags, a potion of magic fang, and two potions of cure light wounds. A second crate has three flasks of alchemist's fire.

Raam
Know Local: You've heard this name; he's a local criminal gang leader, and his name instills an enormous amount of fear.
Know Nobility: Raam is not a noble. Criminality is not a barrier to nobility in Gotham, but Raam is a member of the underclass.

Aust
Know Local: Aust is also a well known terror in this side of town. You happen to know for a fact that Aust is a notorious enforcer for the Thieves Guild, and is wanted for murder.
Know Nobility: Nothing.

Gex
Know Local: Gex is also rumored to be a Thives Guild enforcer. His widely rumored to be psychic; he's also Raam's right hand man.
Know Nobility: Nothing.

Pier 45
Know Local: One of the bigger and more active shipping piers for the Merchants Guild docklands. Since it's wholly owned by the Merchants Guild, and their guards are refusing to work at night, you won't likely find any other trade company sellswords guarding the pier.
Know Geo: Pier 45 is less than a half mile west of your location.

Chraal
Know Local: Nothing.
Know Nobility: Gothamite Nobles tend to name their ships after monsters; a "Chraal" is a kind of monster you've heard tavern stories about.
Know Arch & Eng: Unless it was a more notable vessel, then the Chraal is more than likely a simple, two-deck trading ship, with a single mast, and shallow enough to dock nearer to the shore.

[MCollarsen]

Well alright folks. Lets leave Dench and Renk here tied up, and we'll drop them off later on. Lets get down to the pier and keep working.

Before leaving (Grayson proceeded to rummage through the various crates looking for anything of use.

Grayson proceeded to head towards Pier 45, taking his time to survey the area in front of him. He was looking out for the member listed. the members of Aust's crew.

He looked for cranes and buildings hoping to approach from a distance and from above.

Rolls
Spot
[roll0]
Jump
[roll1]
Climb
[roll2]

Will take some items from the crates (if we are allowed to do this???)

[Molan]

Richard retrieves some of the useful supplies from the crates around the dock and then moves away from the rest of the team.

Up ahead are several large wooden shipping cranes, and Richard is able to scale one and jump up to a higher lever, getting a pretty good look from up high at the docks below and the area around the bend of the river.

Spot: This worked out pretty well. The river bends back north from where you all are before cutting back again, and in the short intake you can see Pier 45 jutting out far into the water. You can see two key items of interest; the Chraal, parked near the end of the pier. There's movement on the dock and on the top deck of the ship.

Second, near the area where the pier meets the shore, there's a large warehouse with a wide overhanging awning; you have to pass under the awning to access the pier by foot. Though you're high up and the awning obscures much of your view, and although stacks of barrels and crates obscure much of that area, something catches your eye. You see what looks like a tiny, almost indiscernible burst of orange light, gone as quick as it appeared. In it's place, a tiny glowing red spot -- perhaps the ember of a lit cigar. A distant puff of smoke curls into the air.

Someone is waiting at the entrance to the pier.

[gawwy]

rolling investigate(search)[roll0]
Bardic knowledge [roll1]
Know local [roll2]


Barbara watches Richard climb up on the roofs, not wanting to risk the fall she takes the docks. She trails a slight distance after him making sure to not lose sight of him. She checks around each corner carefully not wanting to be caught out alone.

See sees Richard settle down on a roof, and checking the corner sees that he has a pretty good view of pier 45, she peers into the dark herself but assumes Richard can see more than her.

How do you want to approach? point up for the roof, forward for on foot or down for swimming she whispers, her voice is carried on the wind to Richards's ears.


casting message to communicate.
being sneaky hide [roll3]
being aware listen [roll4]
looking at the pier spot [roll5]

[Molan]

Barbara was pretty pleased, all things considered. The interrogation had gone fairly smoothly, and the thug had spilled the beans faster than she'd expected. He might have been convinced that Barbara and her newfound allies were simply "out of towners" who were out of their depths, but he'd revealed far more than he'd intended.

Before moving on, Barbara searched the thugs' persons and the surrounding area, hunting for evidence and clues that would further their investigation; these efforts also yielded fruit. Eventually she finished up, and gestured to Katherine and The Masque, as if to say, "Let's get going."

Up ahead, Richard had found a perch balanced on one of the high wooden loading cranes along the docks. It looked like a tough spot; the quiet gray elf's dexterity was incredible.

She quickly tossed together a message spell to communicate with him, and advanced forward, doing her best to move quietly along the docks, staying inside the shadows of the various stacks of supplies. Up ahead, she could see that the docks cut around a corner, obscuring her view, before cutting back again further away. As she pushed up she could see a bit more of what Richard was seeing.

Around the bend was Pier 45. Part of it was obscured, but she could see a larger-to-medium sized merchant vessel tied up at the end of it. She couldn't see much else going on at the ship, but based on what she'd learned, it was most likely the Chraal. At the entrance to the pier was a large warehouse, and the front side of the warehouse was covered by a large wooden awning. The awning was supported by two large wooden beams at the front end, and connected to the warehouse itself on the back. At least two large stacks of crates and barrels obscured the area under the awning from her view. There were at least three or four different approaches to get under the awning, and a couple of other paths to get from the over-crowded, maze-like docks onto the pier itself, but she had no way of knowing for sure what, or who, might be waiting for them behind those crates.

A reminder that Jason is pretty badly hurt. Someone may want to try to help him out if you're headed into more trouble. (I assume for now I'll keep auto-piloting him until Jester returns or you guys decide to drop the character. Up to you.)

The awning is close enough to the entrance to the pier that you'll pretty much have to pass under it to get onto the pier proper. There are only two routes towards the Chraal; walking down the pier, or swimming through the frigid waters of the Gotham River from where you are to the ship itself.

We can also assume, given Jester's absence and Vrock's intention to let the skill monkeys do their thing, that Kate and Jason are just following behind Barbara, unless those players have any other ideas.

Investigate: Upon searching the thugs and the area, you come up with several pieces of important evidence. First, and most crucially, each thug carries one object on them that, to the untrained eye, would be inconsequential; a single, broken bronze key. Each one of the keys is slightly different, but they've all been smashed with a hammer. Second, the thug who'd spilled his guts to you has a small scrap of paper in his pockets with a letter scrawled on it.

You also find a flask of acid, a potion of minor healing, a tanglefoot bag, two thieves tools kits, and some rope on the miscreants.

You notice the half orc has some markings on his neck. Upon closer inspection you can see it's a series of four separate identical tattoos -- all of them keys.

The letter reads as follows:
"Pier 44, 10pm, same as last time.

Don't bother looking for old man Hedron; he went looking for the Freak near Fox's vaults, we ain't heard from him since. You're on your own tonight.

Tell Jibs to stop panicking; the Black Knight's not fuggin' around with the docks anymore. He's got bigger problems.

-- G"

Knowledge Local and Bardic Knowledge: The thug on the dock really sold the farm. His reference to the "Guild" was a bit of a give-away, but the bent keys on their bodies and the markings on Dench's neck verify your suspicion: these thugs work for the Thieves' Guild. This explains why they're in the business of disrupting Fox's Merchants Guild.

The official/unofficial symbol of the Thieves Guild is a key with a skull on it. Guild members are given a broken key once they've finished their first job and become inducted as members. Carrying a key bent in this manner is usually unwise; if someone from the Guild finds out you're impersonating a member, reprisals are typically harsh. Dench's neck tattoos would have, at the very least, given away that he was a former member if you weren't sure he was a current one. Key tattoos are meant to signify when a member has killed a law enforcer or a noble. Given the fight Dench gave you guys, you're not incredibly surprised. The bounty on this half orc must be considerable.

"Renk" described his boss Raam as a "Captain". That also makes sense. You know already that the Thieves Guild has a huge presence in the Fort Clinton Slums, which is where the Merchants' Docks are located. The Guild operates in a tiered fashion; the Guild spans the entirety of the Empire, but each region is home to a separate chapter, and each Guild Chapter is essentially independent of the others. You already know that the Boss of the Gotham Chapter is named Santo Hesk, and his Underboss is a ruthless enforcer named Kysel Velnire. The highest ranking Guild officers under those two are the Captains, and each Captain runs a "Crew" of between 5 to as many as 40 Guild Members. Since you'd never heard of Raam till tonight, he must be the Captain of the crew running the southern part of Fort Clinton. Renk and the other thugs you dropped are his men.

You've never heard of Renk, or Dench. But you have heard of the other men he'd mentioned, specifically Aust and Gex. Both are ruthless thugs in their own right; Aust is supposedly a rogue mage and operates arcane magic illegally outside of the Wizards' College purview. That makes him extraordinarily dangerous. Gex is a bit more of a mystery; you've heard he's psychic but the stories are foggy on the details. One rumor included that he never carries a weapon, which would be odd for a member of the Thieves Guild. Another rumor claims he cut a Justicar Lawman (meaning an armored Knight) in half. Both stories couldn't be true, or at least you don't think they could.

The Chraal, best you know, is just one of literally hundreds of ships that come in and out of Gotham's ports every day, it's not especially notable, outside of the fact that Raam's crew clearly thinks there's something of value on board. You know two things about the ship specifically; that it's captain has a bit of a drinking problem, and that the ship is owned by House Crane. It would seem even if most of the nobles have taken to cannibalizing the Merchants' Guild holdings, the Farm Lords have at least seen fit to keep doing business with them.

This information is all still slightly confusing. The rumors you'd heard going into this job indicated that Baron Zucco of the Dark Market was the man most likely responsible for the raids on Fox's facilities, but these men don't work for Zucco -- they're his competition. Stranger still, none of the thieves mentioned the Guard who Fox had mentioned had gone missing. In the short term, you realize that these questions probably don't matter. If you and the other sellswords you're working with can stop the raid, you'll have done your job, regardless of who gave the Guilders their orders. If Raam himself is participating in the raid, then most of your questions will be answered before the sun rises, one way or another.

Still, you're left with some doubts in the back of your mind. Who was the shadowy figure watching Master Fox when you spoke to him at the Guild Hall? Who -- or what -- was the "Freak" Renk's letter had mentioned? The letter also mentioned the Black Knight, but whoever'd written it seemed extremely confident the "Black Knight" -- Gotham's nameless vigilante avenger -- wouldn't show. How could he know that?

Spot/Listen: You can't see much beyond the boxes, but you do notice the slightest, faintest wisp of smoke rise from underneath the awning. However, you are successful in detecting voices coming from that area; their voices are carrying over the water, and despite being more than a hundred feet away, you can make out good chunks of their conversation.

(Rasping Voice) "Would you......ut the fug up? I can't concentr........yapping like that. Go walk the d.......run your damn mouths."
(Pitched Voice) "........in a wad Aust..........at's so important anyway? No one cares.......inish.......ooodoo."
(Low, accented Voice. Sounds dwarven.) "aam told us t'stay......uard the pier. Write yer..........erish on yer own time."
(Rasping) "..........t least get that........og out of here. That thing smells like garba...."
(Low Dwarf) "....ya daft idiot. Pago 'ere's more useful than...........I tracked down more bounty's with 'im in the last year than you've ever........in yer whole life."
(Rasping) "Just keep the.........away from me."
(Lowborn Accented Voice) "Eberk ya got any........to spare?"
(Low Dwarf) ".....ug off."
(Lowborn) "I've.....cured meats for Pago I can trade ya."
(Dwarf) "Fork it over."
(Finally, you hear what sounds like growling or yipping, and the dwarf and rasping voice each saying something indiscernible.)

[gawwy]

So I can hear four distinct voices up ahead, and one of them said something about a dog, I think. We can probably take them if we get the drop on them and hit them hard, but if Gex or Aust show up and there's still back up for them we might be in trouble. I'm assuming there's more inside, possibly Raam. Either way, this could quickly become a slog of a fight and I found a restorative on our new friends if there are any takers?

If we had time to set up a disguise I would suggest someone pretending to be the Dark Knight to spook these mooks, alas this window probably won't last.

The docks are pretty rotten though so maybe we could smash it and drop these guys in the water? I saw a barrel of Malodone that we could roll into the water, or just drop on the docks, to create ourselves some cover as well if someone wants to double back and grab it.

Actually yea lets do that, someone sneak up onto that awning to attack them from behind, we'll blanket the area in fog and try and split them up take them out one at a time, we might be able to see them through the mist from above which would give us a decent edge here. If one of the bosses show up well drop them through the dock

Any thoughts?

[Molan]

The Crimson Masque throws back one of the healing potions you'd found earlier and breaks the silence as the wounds in his torso begin to close.

"Alright then, enough faffing about. Katherine, you go grab the barrel. Barbara, can you message Richard and have him move to that crane over there?"

He points to a wooden crane looming just over the awning covering the warehouse near Pier 45. "Have him hold position until we attack. The three of us can move to the east side of that awning and if we're lucky, we can ambush them."

He thinks for a minute, then trains his ghoulish fey mask on Barbara.

"Did you say something about a dog?"

[MCollarsen]

After hearing Barbara's message Richard maneuvered towards the crane and began climbing.

He worked himself out towards the edge of the crane.

He waited for his allies to commence


Climb check : [roll0]
Balance : [roll1]

[gawwy]

Yea I heard them arguing over some meats for "Pago" and then some doggish noises. Could be something else I suppose.

Barbara cups her hand and whispers up to Richard Masque asks if you can move to the crane above the awning, we're going to try and ambush from the east. Wait for us to start the party.


hide= [roll0]
Move silently= [roll1]

[MCollarsen]

Richard stepped gently across towards the spot Barbara had indicated and waited for them to begin the second round of skull bashing.

Climb, Jump & Balance (respectively) if needed
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]

[Molan]

Richard clambers over to the crane above the awning, where he can get a better view of the scene below; a gang of four thugs are hanging out below the awning guarding the pier.

Jason, Barbara and Kate sneak along the dock until they reach the stacks of crates separating the area under the awning from the rest of the docks, close enough to be able to clearly hear the thugs' conversation coming from the other side. They can reach the thugs under the awning by either heading right around the crates, left, or by climbing over them. They were quiet and stealthy enough to reach the spot without being seen or heard.

But when they reached the far side of the crates, one of the first things they hear is a sudden growling noise. The rumbling noise quickly escalates to a bark, and you can feel the mood suddenly change.

You hear a voice with a dwarven accent suddenly speak up.

"What is it little nhada?" You hear him ask.

[MCollarsen]

Focusing quickly, Richard let his mind fill with the memory of a sound, as he did he he searched the ground, hoping to find a spot where the dwarf could turn, leaving his back exposed to Richard's allies.

Richard let the magic surge and projected it towards that spot, so that a feline "rrhyoer". Richard cut the magic short, letting just a single yowl escape from the arcane ability. Afterwards, he crouched, preparing to leap and land on either the dwarf or his companion.

Using Arcane Attunement to spell like ability Ghost Sound. A cat's surprised and panicked yowl.
Spot Check for any other enemies in the immediate area. [roll0].

Preparing to attack whoever doesn't get attacked by the group. (technically have to wait since you can't ready a move action but...)

[Molan]

There's an almost imperceptible ripple of magic through the air, and behind one of the crate it sounds like a cat loudly yowls. Things become chaotic quickly.

A dog loudly barks and leaps out from the area under the awning, jumping towards the crate where the sound had come from. His dwarf master yelps and jumps after him, moving out from behind the boxes exposing his back to Barbara, Kate, and Jason.

The other thugs who'd been under the awning all jumped at the same time, and there were a few moments of scrambled shouting. Through the commotion, a few lines are clear:

"Och bloody 'ell what're ye gettin' at dog!?"

"Would you get that fugging dog d---hey, stand back you two idiots there could be Justicars out there!"

"What is it Eberk, sumthin' out there?"

There are four thugs under the awning; a dwarf with a short, braided beard wearing studded leather armor and carrying a repeating crossbow. He's just leapt up from his seat, dropped his cigar and chased after his dog.

There's a human man with a shield strapped to his arm, and his hand on a sword hilt at his hip. His back is to the crates that the other party members are hiding behind; so it's like [thug] - [crates] - [party].

Off to the far corner, you can barely see the low shoulders of what looks like a gnome with a longer, thin gray beard. He's got a long spear resting on the ground leaning against his shoulder.

At the far corner of the awning, looking towards the dwarf and the same area the PC's are hiding, is an elf wearing a long surcoat and carrying a large book, which he's just slammed shut and placed next to him. His hand is resting on the hilt of a wand tucked into his belt. He's got more than one.

[Molan]

*ANNOUNCEMENT*: Unfortunately this campaign is now over. We lost Jester a long time ago and Vrock just decided to bow out. Thank you everyone for playing; I'll look at restarting again after the holidays if people are interested.