Adventure: The Power of Knowledge (DM: Fragsie, Judge: TwoHeadsBarking)

[Tomalak]

Pulling out sword and shield, Andrec moves quickly to the doorway, but he stands to one side quietly looking in. With his off-hand he gestures the others for quiet as he tries to determine if the culprits are still inside.
[sblock=dm]If there's no sign of anyone inside:
After a moment, Andrec nudges the door open with his shield arm and slips inside.
If there's sound of conflict or hostile-seeming voices, Andrec will listen in, trying to see what he can learn.[/sblock]

 

[TwoHeadsBarking]

From his vantage point, Andrec sees that the doors open into a reception area. The large circular room is adorned with cushioned benches and paintings of idyllic country landscapes. A spiraling staircase clings to the wall, and near where it meets the floor a pretty young woman sits behind a desk. She is awake, technically, but her eyes are glassy and unfocused, and she doesn't seem to be completely aware of her surroundings. "Hello? Is someone there?" she asks dreamily.

A large censer has been placed in the center of the room. The smell of the narcotic is much stronger inside.

 

[Tomalak]

Quickly stowing sword & shield, Andrec strides into the room, his face a mask of familiar routine. "Miss, I have been sent to see the Ambassador. I come from the city office with grave news regarding a colleague. Please inform Ambassador Glasston at once." Once again betraying his profession, Andrec manages to sound both urgent and bored at once. He is relying on the narcotic effect to hide his unusual attire from the receptionist's attention long enough to get useful information. Affecting a routine expression, he makes an effort to breathe as little as possible of the narcotic aroma.

 

[TwoHeadsBarking]

The receptionist stares at Andrec for a few seconds before responding, "I'm sorry sir, do you have an appointment? Because you need an appointment to speak with the ambassador. He's a very busy man..." She drifts off for a moment, her gaze dropping to the floor. When she speaks again, she doesn't look up, "Besides, the ambassador is in a meeting right now. They showed up right before you did, I think. Did they have an appointment?" She looks up at Andrec, frowning in confusion, "Do you smell something weird? Something's not right."

 

[Tomalak]

"I can assure you those men did not have an appointment, as Ambassador Glasston was expecting to meet Professor Scrupworth today. That is why I have come, I'm sure the Ambassador will meet with me." Speaking evenly but in a long stream so as not to allow her a word edgewise, Andrec slips toward the (stairs/door/whatever) "If someone from the Mayor's office comes by, will you inform them that Andrec has already arrived? It would make my job so much easier, thank you. My associates and I know the way to the Ambassador's office, we'll see ourselves there. Thank you very much for your help."
Obnoxious bureaucrats. They never listen to what you are actually saying, just talk right over you as if you have no reason to object. Sometimes though, they can be useful - Andrec gestures his companions in as he finishes talking. Before turning and leaving the room to go deeper into the building however, he points to the censer and says quietly "get that out of here.'

 

[JRYoung]

Skalisss grabs the censer and quickly pulls it outside where he dumps it into the dirt and smothers it. cough, cough

He then returns to Andrec's side.

 

[Tomalak]

we go in, hustling to get to the Ambassador's office before they escape.

 

[TwoHeadsBarking]

As you head up the stairs, you hear the receptionist groggily murmur, "But, do you have an appointment...?"

The stairs lead to a hallway, which itself terminates in a pair of heavy oaken doors. Andrec suspects that the doors are intended to prevent curious eavesdroppers from hearing what is being said in the office beyond. While they probably sufficiently muffle normal conversations, you can hear shouting from the other side, although the words are unclear. A shrill voice yells something, and while you can't hear the response, the first person responds with more yelling.

The doors are closed, but they don't appear to be locked.

 

[JRYoung]

Skalisss makes sure his sword and shield are ready as he heads straight to the door, bursting through immediately.

 

[TwoHeadsBarking]

ooc: Sorry about the delay; MapTools was giving me trouble.

The ambassador certainly has a nice office. Well, it's probably nicer when it's not being ransacked by thugs. The statue in front of the window, if its twin on the other side is any indication, almost certainly looked better when it was in one piece, rather than smashed to the ground. But at least now it doesn't block the window anymore.

Most of the men in the room look like pretty much what you'd expect from a street gang, although one of them looks a good deal more competent than the rest. Ambassador Glasston doesn't look quite as dignified as he did when you saw him at the docks, now that he's sporting a long cut across his forehead. He doesn't look scared, but he does appear concerned. The young woman with a bloody knife beside him however looks... absolutely beautiful. You haven't seen anyonequite this lovely ever since Mikara got cursed. In fact, there's something of a resemblance between the two. She is wearing a smaller version of the censer you found downstairs around her neck, and the same familiar odor emanates from it.

While she may be pretty, her voice is pretty rough,"For the last time, we don't need an appointment you stupid-" She abruptly stops shrieking as she turns around and sees who you are. It is a short-lived relief, "What? What are you doing here? No, it doesn't matter! Kill them!" Unfortunately, her cronies are incredibly slow to react, possibly a result of prolonged exposure to that substance.

[sblock=Status]
Andrec (37/37)
Skalisss (45/45)
Growl (35/35)
Bad Guys
You guys handily win initiative. Not even close. As a reminder, turns are resolved in the order they're posted. Be sure to roll for the Cloying Odor aura (see below).

The desk and statue in D1 grant cover. The broken statue in D7 and E6 is difficult terrain.[/sblock]

[sblock=Monster Info]
Beauty:
AC 16 | Fort 13 | Reflex 15 | Will 13
Cloying Odor: Aura 5, when an enemy starts his turn in the aura, they suffer an attack of +5 vs Fort. On a hit, that enemy grants CA until the next time they are hit.
MBA: +6 vs AC, 1d4 damage

Bruiser:
AC 18 | Fort 16 | Reflex 15 | Will 14
MBA: +10 vs AC, 1d10+3 damage and the target is marked

Thug:
AC 15 | Fort 13 | Reflex 11 | Will 11
Strength in Numbers: A Thug gains +2 to all defenses if it is within 5 squares of at least two other thugs.
MBA: +6 vs AC, 4 damage[/sblock]