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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Grendel_Khan" data-source="post: 9431502" data-attributes="member: 7028554">LIEF plays out a handful of potential scenarios. Him sputtering about Seekingstone's obvious terror, but making no new points. Tackling the old man and rifling his pockets in front of a mortified gathering. Worse things, painting the room with blood.He settles on doing nothing. He's no predator in these hunting grounds. Lief bows his head to Lady Markelhay, then gives Vorn a meaningful look, eyes darting toward the Loremaster as the shifter leaves the room.In the hall outside Lief offers halting assurances to the merchants and boy, but he's watching Seekingstone shuffle away. Mid-sentence he breaks from the witnesses, saying "Scream like an animal if you need me!" and prowls after the Loremaster. The pursuit isn't easy. Whether out of paranoia or intuition, the old man takes a winding route, even doubling back at one point, forcing Lief to scramble, ridiculously, behind a curtain. The smell of the heavy fabric against his nose, the luxury oozing from this place like pus from a wound—Lief is nauseated. The Mogul had an answer for this corruption: Fire. He pictures slinking from room to gaudy room, setting curtains alight until the whole place burned, then he'd wait outside to down the flushed, fleeing prey—Lief doesn't snap out of his reverie, or even realize how deeply the Elect's teachings have wound through his brain like an invisible stitch. He hears his quarry scraping away, and follows.The shifter rounds a corner just in time to see a door in a dead-end hallway close. As he steps closer a lock engages. Lief waits a minute, then produces his lockpicks and sets to work. He feels the tumblers flowing into place. He smiles, fangs bared—A clockwork ticking starts, vibrating the heavy wooden door. His lockpick grinds, then snaps with a high, metallic "PING!" Lief hears movement inside. He's tripped some sort of trap or alarm. The shifter leaves his broken pick in the lock and applies a small crowbar to the doorframe, screaming as he splits the wood around the lock. The mangled door is finally open, any element of surprise long gone. Lief bursts in, no choice but to blunder straight into whatever the ritualist has prepared for him.Intent: Shadow Loremaster Seekingstone to his room and gather physical evidence of his involvement with the Elect.Primary Skill: Stealth. r(6)+12 = 18 vs. Medium DC (13). Success.Primary Skill: Thievery with +2 from Thief's Tools. r(1)+5+2 = 8 vs. Medium DC (13). Fail.[HR][/HR]Complexity 1 SC, Level 3 (DCs 9/13)Goal: Convince the Markelhays there is at least one Elect spy in their midst.2/4 Successes/1 Failures/0 Hard DC Available/1 Secondary Skills available/0 Advantages available/Primary Skill Training exhausted; Insight, Stealth, Thievery</blockquote>

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