And the Uppity Shoeshine... (DM:twilsemail; Judge: renau1g)

[Xeterog]

Fredrock heads to Castor's place (assuming it's easily found at the docks). Once there, he questions the man My good man, I've been told that a Mikhail and a Shod came to you looking for adventuring work. What did you tell them and where did you send them off to? and listens carefully to his answers

[sblock=insight] Insight to determine if what he answers is the truth or not.[/sblock]

 

[Mewness]

OOC: Boy are we doing badly. I think this young man may be doomed

 

[Iron Sky]

OOC: That's what I was thinking; you guys rebuilt a bridge in an afternoon, waltzed through a city of undead with casual ease, meandered through the underground labyrinth that was home to (un)dead gods untouched and now are getting your butts kicked by... asking questions?

 

[twilsemail]

The majority of the party heads down to the docks to investigate. Scarmiglione takes the lead in questioning the locals after Castor while some of the others depart to do their nature-y thing.

OOC: Some of the following is stolen directly from Mal in 6 Eagle Down

Castor's is a small but well-maintained inn. It is not luxurious enough to really stand out in the commercial district but is certainly beyond the means of a sailor; This establishment caters to the naval officers and merchants.

The building is three stories high and has an adjoining fenced yard and you need to go through a gate to enter the inn through the side. Both entries are guarded by a well dressed thug. That being said, the establishment is clearly open for business and the guards let in anyone who doesn't seem like a troublemaker.

Surprisingly, the group does manage to avoid the 'troublemaker' label and enter the inn without problem. You can see that the bar of the establishment is making great business; the room is packed and pricy liquor seems the norm. A simple query learns them that Castor is the shady looking dark haired man in the corner with the two bodyguards and the two pretty blondes.

A human male sits in the rear of the establishment, sharing a table with a lovely, if vapid looking, young woman. His whispers in her ear and she titters. His two impressive looking bodyguards flank the table, apparently hearing nothing.

Scarm learns that there may be work for “thems that want it.” It pains him to not correct the man on the noun’s declension. Scarm learns that if he wants work, he has to make Castor aware of it. He requires payment for all of those seeking employment through his establishment. Further, if you do find work here, he requires a cut of the profits.

Fredrock is a bit more direct approach. He strides in after Scarm has settled in. He walks towards the corner confidently and brushes past Castor’s twin guards, who are somewhat stunned by it all. ”My good man, I've been told that a Mikhail and a Shod came to you looking for adventuring work. What did you tell them and where did you send them off to?”

Without batting an eye, Castor smiles and lies to Fredrock’s face. “I’m afraid I’ve no idea who you’re talking about.” It’s a lie, but Fredrock knows it’s a lie. At least that’s a start; the man knows something. No matter how he tries, Fredrock cannot get more information out of Castor on his own.

Toeto and Yishim question the local wildlife, as it is, and have a bit of luck. When presented with Yishim’s wavering image, a seagull squawks that it remembers the boy walking with a very appealing looking statue. If the statue hadn’t kept moving, the gull certainly would have liked to roost there. They have been down here a few times in the last few days. Each time they were in better spirits. The last time the statue fed the gull some bread. The time before that, the boy walked with a woman.

Eithal surprises an urchin hiding in a barrel. The girl screams something about “another one” and runs off. She appears to have left a shoe behind. The reaction gets to Eithal a bit and her confidence is temporarily shot.

Kaz stalks the house like a cat. He listens at doors and waits behind curtains. He hears Rustavich grumbling about stooping to hiring adventurers to find his son. He hears Reeve muttering to himself in Eladrin about finding better employ when this is all over. The man’s accent is odd, but Kaz cannot place it. He’s sure that there’s little else to be learned from the two men here.

[sblock=Progress]
Round 2 results
Kaz: Stealth 26; 3 Points; +2 on next round's roll
Scarm: Bluff 21; 2 points; +1 on next round's roll
Yishim: Arcana 17; 1 point; -1 on next round's roll
Eithal: Nature 15; 0 points; -2 on next round's roll
Toeto: Nature 16; 1 point; -1 on next round’s roll
Fredrock: Insight 11; 0 points; -2 on next round's roll

Round 2 Total
7 points; 1 Victory point and complication: -1 Penalty to all future skill checks.

[MENTION=79440]H.M.Gimlord[/MENTION]; while it won’t make a difference for the round total, I’ll remind you that you can spend one of your bajillion healing surges to boost that roll up a level. It at least reduces your penalty for next turn.

[sblock=Finding Mikhael]
I am using the skill challenge system presented by Iron Sky in this post.

Rounds: 3

Individual’s Skill Rolls
15-: 0 points, -2 on next round's skill check
16-20: 1 point, -1 on next round's skill check
21-25: 2 points, +1 on next round's skill check
26+: 3 points, +2 on next round's skill check
Natural 1: -1 point, lose a healing surge
Natural 20: +1 point, gain a healing surge/AP/treasure parcel as appropriate

Round Totals
0-5 points: 0 Victory Points and Disaster: -2 cumulative penalty to all future skill checks
6-11 points: 1 Victory Points and Complication: -1 cumulative penalty to all future skill checks
12-17 points: 2 Victory Points and Advantage: +1 cumulative bonus to all future skill checks
18+ points: 3 Victory Points and Miracle: +2 cumulative bonus to all future skill checks

Final Victory Points
0-2 total points: Disaster, appropriate consequences
3-5 total points: Complication, appropriate result and consequence
6-8 total points: Advantage, appropriate result and benefit
9+ total points: Miracle, appropriate benefits

Individual Actions

Repeating Skills
Repeating a skill two or more rounds in a row results in a cumulative -2 penalty to the skill roll.

Action Points
Action Points may be spent to roll an additional skill roll for the round. It must be different from the skill already used.

Aid Another
PCs may take -3 on a roll to grant an ally a reroll this round.

Heroic Effort
A PC may decide to expend a healing surge to gain +3 to a check before it is rolled or to apply +1 to a check after it is rolled or both for two surges.[/sblock][/sblock]

OOC: I’m sorry all. This is my first time with this system. I like it a good deal, it’s just not your day with the dice, I think.

 

[Mewness]

Observing Fredrock's questioning of Castor, Scarmiglione decides against taking a similar approach: the man appears to be a very tough nut. Instead, he takes advantage of the distraction to sneak into a back room. After all, why question a fellow when one can simply rifle through his desk?

[sblock=ooc]I took a -3 to give someone else a reroll this round. Also, since Kenkus are supposed to have an advantage when aiding another, Iron Sky ruled in Beyond the Rerisen Tower that a reroll granted by Scarm would be at +1. Is that OK?

Scarm is also willing to spend an AP this round if the overall result looks like it's going to suck.[/sblock]

 

[twilsemail]

[sblock=ooc]I took a -3 to give someone else a reroll this round. Also, since Kenkus are supposed to have an advantage when aiding another, Iron Sky ruled in Beyond the Rerisen Tower that a reroll granted by Scarm would be at +1. Is that OK?

Scarm is also willing to spend an AP this round if the overall result looks like it's going to suck.[/sblock]

GM: I'm cool with both the +1 and the retroactive AP. Go team! ETA: Wow, you knocked that one out of the park, neh?

 

[Iron Sky]

OOC: Quick note: in my system, group penalties from round to round are cumulative. Because they got complications two rounds in a row, they'd all be at -2 for the third round. That said, modify it as suits your game.

 

[H.M.Gimlord]

OOC: @Iron Sky : That's for the round totals, not individual...right?...please? At least that's the way I'm doing it in Land Ho. @jsb420 : Thanks for reminding me, I will do so...especially in light of Iron Sky's comment.

 

[H.M.Gimlord]

Eithal waves the shoe in the direction of the fleeing child, "Gal! Yew lost yowah..." she trails off as she realizes that the girl is nowhere in sight, "Ah declayah! Thaya poah gal's gonna stayep own somthin'" She stares at the abandoned shoe and wonders if it has anything to do with their situation, "Kinah remahnds me ova storih, but it whas a glayass slippah, iffin' Ah remayembah c'rrectlih."

*EDIT*[sblock=Perception, rerolled]1d20+8-1(individual penalty)-1(round penalty)+3(healing surge)=15

1d20+8-1-1+3=24
I'll go down to 10 healing surges to get back up to 16.
I still took the +3, so I'm at 11 healing surges. Wouldn't have made a difference, but it made me feel like I had more of a chance.

Thanks ronakshah2000![/sblock]

 

[Iron Sky]

That's for the round totals, not individual...right?...please? At least that's the way I'm doing it in Land Ho.

OOC: Individual's round results only affect their next round. Group results are cumulative and affect all future rounds.