Erekose's Savage Tide - Act 1: There is No Honour

Tereg simply bows his head and says, "Well met again Lady Lavinia, I was pleased to serve your mother well and I'll be glad if I can be of service to you too. I am here at your pleasure so only to glad to assist you."

"Next time, we'll all know to get a reliable receipt for any money we pay in the viscinity of the harbor master. 200 gold pieces may not mean much to the nobles, but it is very good pay for me, M'Lady. I am willing to work for you on this one. I've known such men as this Vark. I'd be happy to help put him in his place." Julian says.

Rystil Arden said:

"Hmm...I see. A most interesting case, my lady, though the payment...if the others would like their 200 they are welcome to it, but I understand that you are strapped for cash at the moment and 200 is a trifling sum. I will not deign to impose upon you now when you have so many other debts to fulfill. I shall offer my services to you for free, fair lady, as a personal favour...and it is my dearest hope that later, when I need a favour, I will have the blessings of a newly healthy and vigorous House Vanderboren, and of my lady as well."

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"Thank you Alix, from what I've heard you've had a run in with thugs of Vark's callibre before. I remember you from school, and Ms. Lidu as well, I know that her family must be very happy you came to her rescue." she says nodding towards Nathan, but knowing not to touch on it further given his own relations with his family.

"Without access to my family vault at the moment, it is far from trifling for me, but I am most gracious and can certainly see some opportunities in the future between us. Hopefully this venture will solve some of the problems that my parents have left me with." replies Lavinia. Alix (and the others) notices that Lavinia pauses a moment as she finishes and looks up at the portrait on the wall.


[sblock=Sense Motive DC 15]There is something sad with the way that she said, "That my parents have left me with." perhaps having something to do with the portrait of her brother.[/sblock]

Verbatim said:

"To share Master Meravanchi's sentiments, I am not without my own means at the moment, and in the spirit of goodwill and the prospect of a future kindness from your House, I offer the aide of the Merchant's Friend. While our numbers may not rival the Cudgels, we seek to assist those we can. If I may ask, have you brought your case before the Cudgels? If this Vark must be spoken to in a less civilized manner as you have hinted at, it would help if you, and those acting in your interests, were seen as the innocent ones should there be questions."

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"A good suggestion Nathan, and I have approached the watch and the government with complaints, but unfortunately the burden of proof is mine. I gave the money to Vark, but I do not have evidence of it. Yes, it was foolish of me to hand it over without someone I know witnessing it, but what is done is done. The city watch promised to look into the matter, but without proof, the investigation takes a backseat to other, more pressing matters." she replies.

Malarky said:

Tereg simply bows his head and says, "Well met again Lady Lavinia, I was pleased to serve your mother well and I'll be glad if I can be of service to you too. I am here at your pleasure so only to glad to assist you."

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Lavinia smiles, while she had never worked with the Faen, she knew him and that counted for a lot. "Thank you Tereg." she says simply.

Manzanita said:

"Next time, we'll all know to get a reliable receipt for any money we pay in the viscinity of the harbor master. 200 gold pieces may not mean much to the nobles, but it is very good pay for me, M'Lady. I am willing to work for you on this one. I've known such men as this Vark. I'd be happy to help put him in his place." Julian says.

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"Lord Islaran is an honourable man, but with his failing health and lack of heirs to his position of Harbourmaster he leaves much of the day to day affairs to his staff. Vark is a weed in his organization, but one which unfortunately the Harbourmaster is not inclined to pay attention to at the moment. Thank you though Julian I am happy to have you on board and promise that your reward will be paid in full once we have gained access to the Vault." replies Lavinia.

[sblock=Know (nobility) DC 15]Castle Teraknian is not in any of the seven districts, and yet it belongs to all of them. Below the castle are the King's Crypts - burial chambers for the Teraknian Line, the original founders of Sassarine. This area has been closed off.
[sblock=Know (nobility) DC 20]The only portion of the castle basement still in useid the Noble's Vault, a place for Sassarine's nobility to store valuables away from their personal estates.[/sblock][/sblock]

[sblock=Know (local) DC 5]Castle Teraknian is not in any of the seven districts, and yet it belongs to all of them. It is on an island in Sassarine Harbor. Teraknian was the founder of the city ages ago and his family were the rulers of the city until about 100 years ago.
[sblock=Know (local) DC 15]The castle itself is no longer in use. Below the castle are the King's Crypts, which is also closed off.

The Blue Nixie is a ship moored in Sassarine harbor at pier 5 in the Merchant's District, just north of Lavinia's estate near the Merchant's and Smith's guildhalls.
[sblock=Know (local DC 20]The only portion of the castle still in use is the Noble's Vault, a place where the noble families are said to store vast amounts of wealth in incredibly secure trapped vaults.
[sblock=Know (local DC 25]Soller Vark is a smuggler, his crew smuggles dangerous and exotic animals into Sassarine for sale in Shadowshore's black markets.[/sblock][/sblock][/sblock][/sblock]

(OOC: You mean grateful when you said gracious, I'm guessing?)

'Hmm...her brother. I'm guessing that is one of the problems of which she speaks. He's probably done something unsavoury. Best not to mention it now, of course, but I may want to look into it further.'

(OOC: By the way, though I failed my Kn: Nobility check presumably to know where the Castle is, do I get any sort of bonus due to the fact that it is visible from my house according to the map? )

OOC: Sense motive fail; K-local success

"So we should use caution in our doings, and not mention your name, in case we are discovered. We will attempt not to run afoul of Lord Islaran." muses Julian.

"We will need to know what your ship looks like and where it is docked. Also, do you have any advice for us about accessing your ship? Are there any keys you can provide? Secret entrances or compartments we should know about? Any idea where would your father have kept his ring on this ship? Anyone loyal to you aboard or working at the docks?"


"On another topic, do you know where your mother lost her ring?"

'Murphy's Law says that wherever the former Lady Vanderboren lost the ring, our enemies found it and will also be able to access the vault, leading to a hostile encounter once we bypass all the traps for them,' Alix ponders, 'And of course, Lavinia will not know the location of the traps or secret passwords yet because her parents didn't tell them to her before they died...It's how these things always work...'

"This Vark does not sound like a positive addition to Sasserine's citisenry--rather than bypass him and make an enduring enemy, perhaps we should consider...removing him...from his position of power, so that he may not continue in his depraved perversions of justice."

"That said, we thank you for your hospitality, my lady, and rest assured that you shall see what is yours rightfully restored. Friends, shall we take our leave and begin our quest to help the lovely Lady Lavinia? I have a few ideas of where to start..."

'If anyone has dirt on the Islarans and their men, it has to be the Kellanis, hands-down. Old Heldrath has been jonesing for control of the harbor for some time now. A clever old shrew, if unscrupulous and dirty in her dealings, but still, her rise from ruffian to respected noble is a sign of true talent...I should probably ask Rowyn--beautiful girl, Rowyn, if twice as ambitious as her mother. Yes, she's a real hottie--she might have actually been attractive if not for the double-whammy of her selfishness and the fact that Zebula had tried to grasp onto the coattails of the Kellani's rising star by setting the two of us up, and that never goes well...Still, Rowyn has a keen mind for opportunity and the Game--it made my skin crawl during the arranged date, since she seemed to be looking through me and seeing my money, status, and power, but it could come in handy right now: Her family has nothing to lose and much to gain by a blow to the Islarans' power.'

'Then again, somebody will really need to check up on Vanthus. I'm now convinced that Lavinia didn't burn up her parents, which leaves the prodigal son as the number one suspect. There could be any number of reasons, though the most cliched would be the whole 'Boo hoo, they left all the money to my stupid sister and not me? They'll burn in Hell for it!' Still, it's clear with all the sketchiness surrounding him that there is something up. It isn't out of the realm of possibility that he is the one behind all this.'

(OOC: Note--much of this information brought to you by reading the Player's Guide again. I also made up that part about Zebula trying to set Alix up--let me know if any of it is a problem)

Listening to the Lady speak of her problem and of the bulk of her inheritance stored within the depths of Castle Teraknian, Nathan glanced upwards towards the picture of her brother just once and then focused his mind on the task at hand.

~Lord Islaran's blind devotion may open the door to his fall sooner rather than later, but perhaps this could work to our advantage all the same. If someone was to approach Vark with Islaran's seal...~

Finishing his wine as Alix spoke of leaving before the meal, Nathan looked towards the others and his hostess to see what their reaction was to his suggestion. He had no wish to offend the Lady of the house, but perhaps combining their thoughts quickly after pledging their support would gain them further favor in Lady Lavinia's ledgers.