Anything But Normal, Sailing the Endless Falls...

[Rystil Arden]

(OOC: Finding one person in a city is quite an incredible feat, even with the Scent ability. and Survival But if he does manage to find Nissa)

"Ah, yes. The tempest twins could be useful in such an endeavour. I will mention this to them, as they seem to like activities such as that."

"As to the arcane materials, I know exactly why they want them...Appease is not the right word--they are trying to perform a ritual to seize control of the weirds that will take time and many components. As such, disrupting those arcane components is more important than disrupting trade obligations."

 

[Kelleris]

OOC: Don't forget Gather Information. And it's not like you were hiding from me or even hurrying from place to place. I figure I can cover ground quickly enough to find you *eventually*, it's just a matter of how much time I have left over after my stops at the King and Cat and Raven's Claws. All I have to do is go back to the Khoira Aisa, pick up your scent, and use my speed and dimensional travel to cover the same ground you did more quickly. Pretty simple, if potentially more time-consuming than I'd like.

So it's even worse than I thought. I agree, we need to make this our top priority. If the elementals gain control over the weirds, our fight will be over before it's even begun. How would we best go about dealing with this threat, and how much time do you think we have? I'm afraid I will have a hard time locating their suppliers without expending considerable effort on the task. Would you be willing to pose as one of the time lords' agents so we can get closer to their operations? It might require a certain... edge... that you've chosen not to display thus far.

Stretching his jaw in a gesture that's part laugh and part yawn, Lupaz adds in a bemused tone

It's not like I can pass myself off as a humanoid trader, after all...

Lupaz then gives Nissa as detailed a listing as possible of what he knows is being shipped to the time elementals.

 

[Rystil Arden]

"An edge?" Nissa asks, as they make their way back to the ship where they can be sure their conversation, mental though it may be, is private, "Like this?"

*Nissa's shawl of seafoam ripples slightly and vanishes, as she transforms into the shape of a time elemental.*

"Follow my orders, you sniveling wretch, for I am the harbinger of a new world order!" Nissa states in the voice empty of malice but full of ominous portent and relentless arrogance.

 

[Kelleris]

Nissa's performance elicits a deep, rumbling laugh from Lupaz.

Very good! For a moment I was afraid that that love and peace rhetoric was all you could manage.

Lupaz gives Nissa a look of something that expresses mixed pride, interest, and wariness before "speaking" again.

I have one more errand to run before the night is over, but... I think at think at this point it's clear that you might be the best one to coordinate our efforts. I'll report back before morning, and then you should determine what our next move is.

[sblock=Rystil and Isida]It's clear to Nissa that Lupaz offering to put himself at Nissa's disposal goes against his original plans, but that he's reached a grudging respect for her intelligence despite her obvious naivety. He's not sure how it'll work out in the end, though, so she'll have to be careful how she deals with his lone wolf insincts.

OOC: That last paragraph was me playing nice with Nissa's high Sense Motive and Diplomacy, of course.[/sblock]

 

[Rystil Arden]

*Nissa shifts back to her usual form

"That sounds good. Do you have an idea where I should go if I'm to ferret out their supply lines for the arcane ingredients?"

 

[Kelleris]

[sblock=Everyone]OOC: Woot! The natural 20 I just rolled on Invisible Castle would seem to indicate that I do. Isida, Knowledge (local) to identify arcane suppliers for Nissa (20+11=31). The name I used is "Lupaz", naturally enough. Hopefully that and the information I already have will let Nissa take over from here in the invesitgation, with or without backup, as she desires.[/sblock]

 

[Rystil Arden]

*Nissa will keep in contact with the tempest twins and use Lupaz's leads to ferret out the suppliers.*

*If she deems it appropriate for a time elemental to appear here in person, she's confident enough in her disguise and acting skills (which are around +30) to try to pull it off, but if they work through middlemen, she's happy to turn into one of their minion races and go for the bluff. She knows enough about Ananke and the general court time elementals to pull off either pretty well, and so she'll find the supply lines and ask the tempest twins to disrupt them if they can.*

 

[Shayuri]

Assuming nothing but speaking occurs in Lupaz's run-in with Nissa...

Lupaz passes quietly through the dwindling crowds of Tin Street, almost unconsciously avoiding attention by taking on the sidelong bearing of one of the countless homeless curs that frequent any sizable city. Moving up to Trebuchet once he spots him standing quietly and patiently out of the main wash of traffic, Lupaz resumes his usual proud bearing and meets the warforged's eyes.

Good, you're here. I thought we would look for a spellmonger with discretion, to contact this young friend of yours. And of course that means looking at night, when the kind of person whose loyalty can be bought with coin and rumor is best to be found. Will you be willing to do the talking? I wouldn't worry about diplomacy, though - these are the kinds of allies best made with a show of strength and an undaunted mien. And you have both in spades, from what I've heard.

"Certainly, Lupaz!" Treubuchet announces. "I regret only that I am not personally aware of where precisely these spellmongers you speak of may be found. However, I would be quite satisfied to speak to them on your behalf. Lead on!"

 

[Kelleris]

And with that comment making Lupaz wonder if Trebuchet might pass the intimidating test and completely flunk the subtlety test, Lupaz leads the warmage into the darker crevices of Bluegorge, looking for someone who might be willing to do business. Lupaz leads the way, telepathically guiding Trebuchet to their quarry, and as the night goes on and the people they deal with become harder and less trustworthy, the hound's visage grows more and more terrible. In the darkest hours of the night, a black, cat-like shadow joins the duo. By the time they finally find the person they're looking for, word has probably already reached him or her that the construct spellcaster and his strange pets have serious business to conduct...

[sblock=Isida and Shayuri]That "black, cat-like shadow" is my Dark Companion (from the PHB II), and he'll do a little extra intimidating for us.

I'll make a Gather Information check to find a spellcaster (clerical or wizardly) who can cast the sending spell, is willing to do it discreetly, who is not entirely untrustworthy, and preferentially one who bears or can be convinced to bear a grudge against the Kingdom's new "rulers." With any luck, there'll be multiple names and I can get Trebuchet to roll Knowledge (arcana) and myself to roll Knowledge (religion), depending on their spellcasting persuasion, to narrow it down to the best choice(s). But beggars can't be choosers, so I won't be surprised if there's really only one viable option that meets all of the criteria to a reasonable degree and that we can find.

Also, I'm not sure how you want to handle this, Isida - regular speed or fast-forward? It's fine by me if you want to skip a portion of the game where two PCs are split from the rest, but if that's the case you should know that I plan to use curses liberally to inflict -13 penalties on the skills people are using to oppose Trebuchet's end of the deal. And in any case, my main contribution here will be finding the people to make the arrangements with - Shayuri's going to have to decide how he wants to proceed from there.

So, without further ado, some skill checks:

Gather Information to locate a suitable spellmonger with Trebuchet. (1d20+17=36)
Knowledge (religion) to vet any clerical spellcasters my Gather Information turns up. (1d20+5=19)
Intimidate check to keep any of the crooks and scoundrels we deal with from getting any "clever" ideas. (1d20+21=31)

Does all that sound good to you, Shayuri? Lupaz will lay out "the plan" before we actually head out, of course.[/sblock]

 

[Voidrazor]

As Nissa is heading to investigate Lupaz's leads she hears a commotion around the next corner., followed by a tugging on her leg. Looking down she can barely make out the camoflaged form of Oobobooboo. Moments later a pair of merchants burst around the corner yelling, "Stop! Theif!"

Unless Nissa stops them they keep running. Oob holds up a knicknack of the sort sold to less discriminating tourists the world over. "They try take my new shiny. Look."

OOC - Isida, I hope I wasn't taking too many liberties with NPCs. Just wanted to add a little flavor to Oob's reappearance.