Good Strikes Back (IC)

[Aracor]

If there is no town crier, do you have any idea why there was someone yelling news when we first arrived in town yesterday? He was talking about bans on enchantment spells, negotiation with lizardfolk, fines for selling out of city alcohol, and word of a dragon having a 50,000 gold bounty offered for its head.

It seems weird if they were doing that without being paid by someone...

Spoiler: OOC

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Diplomacy roll: (1d20+10)[12]

[MikelaC1]

I honestly have no idea of what you are talking about

[Aracor]

Tessa sighs. Okay, no problem.

Do you have metamagic rods? I'm looking for Greater Extend.

And what about custom work?
I was thinking a Runestaff of Magical Defense.

She proceeds to describe exactly the spells she'd like it to give her access to (listed below).

Spoiler: Runestaff of Magical Defense

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Mind Blank 1/day (8 * 8 * 200 = 12800)
Energy Immunity 3/day (7 * 7 * 200 = 9800)
Moment of Prescience 2/day (8 * 8 * 100 = 6400)
Contingency 1/day (6 * 6 * 50 = 1800)
Resilient Sphere 1/day (4 * 4 * 50 = 800)

Total cost: 31,600

[MikelaC1]

Come back in the afternoon for the Extend Rod. I have one in my warehouse. As for the second one, thats a very custom item and would take some time, probably a couple of weeks.

[Aracor]

Tessa nods. I get that. I'll come for the rod. I doubt I'll have time to wait for the Runestaff, so I'll skip it for now. But thank you, and I'm glad I may be able to come back and order it later.

[ngilop]

Just wondering.. might you have an item or two to assist in healing? Tinac says as he glances over everything he thinks to himself, as well as everybody linked to his mind it is odd that the shopkeep has no idea who or even what the towncrier is.. maybe the guard you chatted with earlier will be of more help in that field Sora?

[MikelaC1]

What sort of item are you looking for?

[ngilop]

Hmm, i was thinking of something along the lines of like something that allows me to speed up the recovery of a patient that I would be treating.

Spoiler: OOC

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I am thinking of an item that allows me to use the heal skill to do a full-day of long term care in like a round or a minute. like a fancy balm/bandages that are used up when applied.

[MikelaC1]

Sorry, but I have never heard of such a thing. Maybe its a research topic for you.

[Cavir]

"Alright, let's be off then." Corrina gives a respectful nod to the shop keeper then heads outside. "Tinac, wouldn't your request in there just be covered by simple cure wands?"

"Yes, the 'town crier' is a curiosity. Let's take a stroll through that market square. Be wary of pickpockets. If that doesn't help we can check out the area Cat pointed to on the map." She checks the map for the path back to the are where the crier was then heads off in that direction.

[MikelaC1]

The walk back to the town square where the cryer worked is uneventful and the clearly watchful nature of the party (not to mention their bristling armaments) is enough to dissuade any would-be pickpockets. When they arrive there, nothing seems out of the ordinary, vendors calling out the worth of their wares and people going about their daily shopping

[DebbieD]

Sora/Corrina

"You found his room? That gives us a part of the city to start with. Whereabouts? Did you learn anything about what others thought of Ravager? If he wasn't hated there could be people to further question. Where he would go? Who he would see? What was known of him? ... The caveat is asking the wrong person may draw unwanted attention to us. Cat, are those questions you can go hunting for? If so can we be of help some way? In the meantime, have you noticed anyone noticing us here? If so we should finish our breakfast then continue our talk upstairs. I have a map of the city we can look over. At some point I need to pick up my purchases."

When appropriate (preferably up in a room to not draw attention), Sora will share the map and point out what she knows of so far from her foray the day before. Telepathic Bond on the party while up there too.

Its like one moment the Cat is not there and in the next moment she is, without even a sound that she was approaching.
Information on the Ravager is becoming harder to come by, some of my sources that I cultivated before are either no longer in the city or not available to talk. He seemed to talk mostly to adventurers, and only those whose who frequented the mountains. He didnt have any real enemies in the underworld but he didnt go out of his way to make friends either. I think however that the way word on him is drying up is an indicator that at least someone in the government is taking notice of this line of questioning. Has any of this made the daily news with the cryer?

[Cavir]

Sora/Corrina

Inwardly Sora didn't like someone being able to sneak up on her like that, but glad Cat was on their side. She knew that her own focus on magic precluded mastering stealth and hypersensitivity of her surroundings like Cat had. Woe to the one that tried sneaking up on her to cause harm though. The automatic magical retribution was something that very few would have even a chance to survive.

Corrina listened to Cat's update. "It's been claimed that the city does not have a crier, which not only marks the crier information as unreliable, but is likely set as a trap. Some of it is probably true to obfuscate the deceit. As for the specific dragon bounty, the same source says there's just the generic bounty for good dragons, although any dead dragon is a good thing regardless of type."

"It seems the city has an extensive intelligence network, which shouldn't be surprising. That makes the uprising impressive even if it failed, if it actually happened. It also means we're probably being closely watched even now. This is the market the crier was in. Maybe some merchants here would have more information, even if that 'crier' wasn't official and just likes to show off his vocal skills?"

"Beyond that, can we make contact with some of those adventurers that frequent the mountains without mentioning Ravager? It'd be in line with our stated goal of wanting to explore the mountains."

[DebbieD]

The Cat moves among the stalls and vendors, trying to find out if the cryer has a regular time to appear based on when his appearance yesterday was, and if anything more is known about him.

Spoiler: Gather Information

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(1d20+35)[50]

[MikelaC1]

The Cat receives the same blank looks everyone else has been getting, she gets told by everyone she asks that there is no town cryer in Terkaton and no one even remembers seeing the one that the group saw when they first arrived.

[ngilop]

Welp... that does it. Town criers are officially on the 'do not trust' list. Tinac says

[DebbieD]

I dont see it that way at all...we are in an evil city and our one good ally needs to leave a clue that no one else can come across or use.

[Aracor]

I dont see it that way at all...we are in an evil city and our one good ally needs to leave a clue that no one else can come across or use.

I didn't think about that as an option, but that's a cool thought, too. Of course, it then goes back to the original question: Do we trust them or not?

[Cavir]

I dont see it that way at all...we are in an evil city and our one good ally needs to leave a clue that no one else can come across or use.

"I would be happy to be wrong here and Cat be right. For now, let's explore that. Maybe the crier was an illusion programmed for us. Let's see if it will repeat." She indirectly leads the group back toward the entrance they came in so they can re-enter the market and then takes the same course they had walked the first time.

[MikelaC1]

Sgt. Lakusta is on duty when the party arrives and is able facilitate them actually leaving the city and coming back in with no questions asked. Once again the party moves into the town square and once the cryer is there....

The cast for the Emperors production of The Last Phoenix has been set and all chosen members will be advised.
The break on taxes for exports has been rescinded as the Emperor requires more revenue for the planned military expansion.
The enchantment school of spellcasters has had their ban extended for another month, as investigations continue into their role in last months uprising.
The on again off again peace negotiations with the lizard men of the western swamp are off again, following a raid on the Terkaton outpost of Kalireth.
A dragon has been spotted in the northern region of the South Komath mountains, as it is gold, a bounty of 50,000 gold is offered for its head.
Any Inn found to be serving out-of-city alcohol will face fines of 10,000 gold, in support of the Buy Local campaign.
The sign tendering process for the new military signs has now been initiated, forms to apply are available at City Hall

[Debatra]

While she always has it active on her person, this time Mulcri will actually pay attention with her Arcane Sight as they pass the apparent crier.

[Aracor]

Tessa thinks to her friends:

Well, they're calling attention to some kind of performance. Cat? Can you find out if there's something relevant there? Maybe they're allies in hiding?

The second line seems to be a warning of military build-up in general.

Don't use enchantment abilities. Seems like a solid warning since we're Amazons.

Lizardfolk fighting in western swamps. May not be anything we're interested in, but it's possible that there's some relevant information there.

South Komath Mountains - gold dragon? That certainly seems relevant to our interests.

I'm not sure what the last two have to do with us, but we should at least keep them in mind.

[MikelaC1]

While she always has it active on her person, this time Mulcri will actually pay attention with her Arcane Sight as they pass the apparent crier.

The cryer is a Programmed Image, but modified in certain ways...based on the fact no one else in the square seems to be reacting to it, Mulcri is pretty sure of the modifications is that only the party can see it.

[DebbieD]

You cannot see under the cowl that the Cat wears (come to think of it, you have never seen her face for that matter) but you almost get the feeling that she enjoys the harmless fun she has in suddenly appearing at Sora's side, even before she thinks about asking her something. Once again, she disappears into the crowd, weaving her way to the performance hall where the Last Phoenix is to be shown.

Spoiler: Gather Information

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(1d20+35)[45]

[DebbieD]

The Cat returns with information that the theatre production is just that, a theatre production. However she does have something else to say.
You look at the second word in line of the message

The cast for the Emperors production of The Last Phoenix has been set and all chosen members will be advised.
The break on taxes for exports has been rescinded as the Emperor requires more revenue for the planned military expansion.
The enchantment school of spellcasters has had their ban extended for another month, as investigations continue into their role in last months uprising.
The on again off again peace negotiations with the lizard men of the western swamp are off again, following a raid on the Terkaton outpost of Kalireth.
A dragon has been spotted in the northern region of the South Komath mountains, as it is gold, a bounty of 50,000 gold is offered for its head.
Any Inn found to be serving out-of-city alcohol will face fines of 10,000 gold, in support of the Buy Local campaign.
The sign tendering process for the new military signs has now been initiated, forms to apply are available at City Hall[/QUOTE]

That cant be a coincidence, can it?

[Aracor]

Woah! That's neat! Can't hurt to try it, right?

I don't have that spell, but I'm sure we could procure a scroll if no one else does.

[Cavir]

Sora aka Corrina

Sora had been deep in thought on the apparent riddle. She really perked up with Cat's solution. "Well done!"

"Let's visit one our rooms so we can make preparations just in case things get... interesting once that is done. Anyone here able to cast that?"

[Debatra]

Mulcri will speak up at that. "I have the spell ready to go, but I agree we should prepare first."

[Cavir]

Sora aka Corrina

"Excellent, we have a plan." She leads the group back to the inn and up to her room. In there she casts a number of spells on herself and the group.

Spoiler: OOC

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Group:
Resist Energy, Mass (Fire Resist 30) (SL5) on whole party (just before break enchantment) 200 minutes
Telepathic Bond on whole party (SL5) (just before break enchantment) 200 min
Chained, Greater Magic Weapon +5 (SL6) 20 hours
Chained Keen Edge on group (SL6) 200 minutes (just before break enchantment)

Personal:
Shield (SL1) (just before break enchantment) Extended by Rod. 40 minutes
Protection from Arrows (SL2) (just before break enchantment) 20 hours
See Invisibility (SL2) (just before break enchantment) Extended by Rod. 400 minutes
Moment of Prescience (SL8) 20 hours (just before break enchantment)
Absorption (SL9) (just before break enchantment) 200 min

Use a charge from my vest to recover an SL9 slot

[ngilop]

That is smart, dare I say genius! Tinac says as he smiles to Cat. He makes sure that before they leave he cast heroes feast and any other long lasting spells anybody from the group may want.

Spoiler: Heroes' feast bonus temp HP

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(1d8+9)[10]+ immunity to fear and a +1 morale to will saves for 12 hours.