IC The Thirteenth Moon: Night of the Blood Moon

The psicrystal moves up and down as if nodding in assent to Alise's telepathic command, but she knows deep down its own tendency to mislead is bound to creep into its report. It moves up along the wall swiftly and effortlessly, like an insect creeping. About 30 feet up, it comes to the window and pokes its body up against the frame. The psicrystal relates what it sees telepathically:[sblock=telepathy to Alise]I see a gathering of numerous flesh beings. One appears to be short and have pointy ears, like a gnome. He is drenched in blood from head to toe! The others are a mix of humanoid races. All wear robes of deep crimson as they speak to the one covered in blood. They are speaking in whispers so I cannot hear them well. But I do believe I heard one claim to be the murderer of the elf!

Alise senses that the psicrystal is clearly exaggerating about the drenching in blood. But blood certainly seems to be present. Furthermore, she doubts the psicrystal can hear anything of substance, much less a clear confession of murder, attempted or otherwise. It seems to be more or less truthful about the other details.[sblock=Bardic Knowledge, Religion or Local DC 10]Crimson robes are well known to be the favored garb of the followers of the Blood of Vol. The Blood of Vol is a relatively common religion in Karnnath, though the faith of the Sovereign Host remains dominant. In Sharn, their followers are believed to be a small and silent minority.[sblock=Bardic Knowledge, Religion DC 15 or History DC 20]At various times in Karnnath's history, the faith of the Blood of Vol has waxed and waned in popularity and acceptance. The present time is a waning period. Followers of Vol call themselves Seekers.[sblock=Bardic Knowledge or Religion DC 20]The fundamental belief of the Blood of Vol is that death must be conquered, not endured. The undead are revered as champions in the struggle to conquer death and show mortals the path to godhood.[sblock=Religion DC 25]A number of undead take active roles in the rites and leadership of the Blood of Vol. The greatest center of worship is the Crimson Monastery, in the Karrnathi city of Atur.[sblock=Religion DC 30]Vol the lich is the active though hidden leader of the faith.[/sblock][/sblock][/sblock][/sblock][sblock=Bardic Knowledge or Local DC 15]In Sharn, the practice of the Blood of Vol religion is generally looked down upon, although it is not technically illegal. Few follow the Blood of Vol openly; those who do are typically shunned socially, politically, and economically.[sblock=Bardic Knowledge or Local DC 20]The followers of Vol in Sharn generally congregate in the Graywall district of Middle Tavick's Landing. They also believe in the existence of the gods of the Sovereign Host--and despise them. The core belief of the Sharn sect is that death is the greatest evil of all. There is no glorious afterlife, no rebirth. Death is oblivion at best, and eternal torment for a soul taken by the Keeper.[sblock=Bardic Knowledge or Local DC 25]It is rumored that the head of the household of a powerful smelting family, the Hazals, is the High Priest of the Blood in Sharn.[sblock=Bardic Knowledge or Local DC 30]There is a suspected to be a group of vampires lairing in the Ocean View district of Upper Tavick's Landing. These vampires are said to have ties to the Hazals.[/sblock][/sblock][/sblock][/sblock][/sblock][/sblock][sblock=all players]If Alise chooses to relay this information in detail, you may all read the telepathy stat block so that DarwinofMind need not simply repost everything.[/sblock]

"My crystal sees a gathering of beings, one short possibly a gnome, may or may not be covered head to toe in blood. They wear crimson red robes. And are wisphering. It claims to have heard a confession but I know from experience to doubt it's honesty. I know when it is lying always. So there are humanoids, and a gnome, and red robes, but no confession."

Bardic Knowledge check

(Dorius doesn't know anything about red robes...)

Bennet

Bennet looks carefully at Alise after her comment about hiding things in her dress. "I can think of ... actually, nevermind."

"No one has a rope? Dorius, could you make a note that I need to buy a rope?"

"Red robes, eh?" Bennet thinks. "Those guys might be Blood of Vol. There's not a lot of them in Sharn, but they're around. Oh, waitwaitwaitwait wait - the Blood sect in Sharn think death is the worst possible thing. If they tried to kill that elf they're really upset with him, like more than just mad he walked in on their secret meeting up there or something. Guys, this is bad. This is the real deal. The Blood in Sharn absolutely hate the Sovereign Host. They're bad news." He draws his rapier and looks up at the window nervously.

"Hey, if we go where we need to go and it goes bad, the Blood generally hang aroudn the Greywall district of Middle Tavick's Landing," Bennet says. "One of us needs to get word to someone that they're up to, uh, something. Crap."

If it were possible for Vigil to appear more rigid and tense, he would perceptibly do so. "Blood of Vol? If the interlopers are indeed Blood of Vol, then by the Light of the Flame, they must be purged from this world."

Pointing to the window with his morningstar, Vigil grimly adds, "A way into the tower must be found, and it must be found NOW."

Vigil canvasses the tower looking for a means to enter. He readily locates several possible means of ingress. If he travels to exit the alley on the east side, he locates a large set of double doors made of solid wood with reinforced steel on the bottom level of the east side of the tower; this is the level where the party is presently located. There is a built-in lock upon the doors however. Two walkways lead up from both the east side of the tower and the west side. Each leads to a single door made of similar materials to the bottom door. Theses doors also have locks built in. The west door on the second level also has two paned-glass windows on either side of the door from which lamp light can be seen flickering within. There are no other doors leading into the tower which you can see. There are windows on the third level however on the north and south sides. And on the third level there is also a balcony leading out above the walkway to the west side door. The tower is enormous, and likely contains many rooms and segmented areas which are inaccessible depending upon where you enter. Whether or not the locks are open is a matter of speculation at this point, but given the atmosphere in the city, it is safe to assume they are locked.[sblock=Bardic Knowledge or Local DC 10]Breaking and entering is a crime with stiff penalties in Sharn.[sblock=Bardic Knowledge or Local DC 15]Crimes against the wealthy and nobility (which is likely in this case given the stature of the University District) often carry much stiffer penalties than usual.[sblock=Bardic Knowledge or Local DC 20]The right document can get you a pardon for a crime you haven't committed yet, such as a Letter of Dispensation.[sblock=Bardic Knowledge or Local DC 25]Such letters always closely detail exactly what permissions the bearer is given and are issued by high-ranking government officials only to trusted parties. The Citadel has the authority to grant a Letter of Dispensation.[/sblock][/sblock][/sblock][/sblock]

Dorius sees Vigil inspecting all the entrances and finding them locked, and muses aloud "Well, breaking and entering is obviously a crime, and in a wealthy district like this, I think we'd be even more likely to attract the attention of the local constabulary..."

Dorius moves to the walkway on the western side, attempts to slip into the shadows and peek in the window lit with the candlelight on the second floor.

Dorius can clearly see beyond the window a young man sitting at a table with pen and ink working feverishly on writing something. He occasionally stops to consult one of many of the books that are stacked upon the table, but focuses his main efforts upon writing. He does not appear to notice Dorius.[sblock=Spot DC 10]Some of the books he is consulting lie open and have indistinct pictures.[sblock=Spot DC 15]You make out circular and ovular forms on the pictures in the books.[sblock=Spot DC 20]One of the open books clearly shows a blood-red moon.[sblock=Spot DC 25]Beneath the blood-red moon illustration you can just barely make out the heading "Kharesk" and smaller letters beneath.[sblock=Spot DC 30]You can make out even smaller inscription below the heading, Mark: Death, Dragon: Unknown, referred to as "Crya" in Giantish.[/sblock][/sblock][/sblock][/sblock][/sblock]

Bennet

Bennet looks around the building hurriedly. "Yeah, we can't break in." He looks up to the walkway where Dorius is hiding.* "Depending on what Dorius sees in there, we may want to just go knock on the door and confront the Vol-ists. Vol-ites? Vol-ian? Bloods? Anyway, we shouldn't let them hole up forever or sneak out."

[sblock=* OOC]I'm assuming that since we could observe Dorius the whole time we can still see him where he's hiding from the guy inside.[/sblock]