Cerebral Paladin's Storyhour (updated 4/22)

[Cerebral Paladin]

Session 16:

5/29

After some further discussion the night before, the group has a plan for how to get more information on Desi. The plan really begins with Vannser's meeting at the Imperial Arms at noon, but the group takes care of some preparations beforehand. Melania and Dove shop for disguise supplies, and Melania does her best to make it not entirely obvious that Dove is Desi's sister. Ginara asks Kinric to prepare a fake of the Commander's Seal, in case they need to make an exchange. Kinric warns her of the dangers with this plan, but agrees to have it made.

Around noon, Vannser leaves his station and heads to the Imperial Arms. The rest of the group has already set up. Melania waits in the Imperial Arms, blending in with the rest of the clientele. Ginara is in the street outside the tavern, most of a block away. Dove, disguised as best as she can, watches Ginara from further away. Lhovrik, in turn, waits outside a temple on a side street, ready to follow Dove. Finally, Sister Aurora, the most obvious person in the group besides Vannser, prays quietly in the temple, waiting to hear from Lhovrik.

Vannser arrives at the tavern and takes a seat at an empty table. He looks around the room, but does not notice anyone except for Melania paying attention. Fortunately, Melania notices that a heavily built, balding man in leathers is clearly focusing his attention on Vannser. After a few minutes, a nondescript man, perhaps thirty years old, with light, unkempt hair and a thin, clean-shaved face approaches Vannser's table and seats himself.

After looking around to make sure no one is listening in, the man gets right down to business. "Did you bring it?"

"I couldn't yet. I haven't had a good opportunity to get one. It wouldn't do any of us any good if I'm stopped while trying to smuggle it out."

"You were supposed to bring it today."

"How do I even know she's safe? You have to let me see her."

The man sneers. "You know I can't take a chance like that. You'll see her when you get us the thing. We're not interested in hurting her-- if you make the delivery, we'll let her go."

"I still need proof that she's alive. Have her write a note to me."

"Will you be able to recognize her handwriting?"

"I wouldn't be able to recognize a good forgery." Vannser pauses. "I'll ask a question that only she would know the answer to."

The man thinks for a bit. "Alright. But you'll need to bring it with you next time. When I give you the note, I expect you to give me it back." He takes out a scrap of parchment and a piece of charcoal and passes it over to Vannser.

Vannser quickly scribbles a message:
Desithia- this is Vannser. I need to know that you're actually safe, so please describe your wedding dress so I know this message has reached you. I'll get you free soon.

He folds the scrap and passes it back to Desi's captor.

Melania concludes that she's seen what she needs to see. She quietly slips out, carefully watching to make sure that neither the man Vannser's speaking with nor the man in the corner who was paying so much attention to Vannser pay attention to her leaving. Satisfied that she wasn't recognized, Melania hurries over to Ginara and gives her a description of the man Vannser was speaking with. Having mostly finished her part in the plan, Melania heads to the temple where Sister Aurora is praying, and begins offering some prayers in another side chapel.

The kidnapper puts away the note. "You understand that we'll need to get the object next time. I don't want any funny business."

"I understand. But it might take me a while to get it. They keep a close eye on the Seals."

The man looks skeptical. "With your position, it should be easy to get."

"It might take a while to do it secretly, though. I think I could get it for you within two days."

The kidnapper thinks that over. "No good. You can have until tomorrow evening. But I expect to be able to get it from you then."

"I can do that. It will be a little difficult, but that should be enough time."

"I'll meet you here at about 6 tomorrow evening. I expect you to have it with you."

"I will."

Vannser remains at the table as the man leaves. He wants to give the man some time to get ahead of him.

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

Session 16 (cont'd):

Ginara easily spots the man Melania described. He doesn't appear to have spotted her, but he's moving quickly and seems to be trying to avoid being followed. Ginara sneaks after him, careful to avoid being seen while trying to keep a clear view of the man. Dove follows Ginara easily. Lhovrik spots Dove beginning to move and calls in to the temple for Sister Aurora. When she doesn't leave immediately, he calls in again. Melania concludes that they're being a little more obvious than anything she wants to be part of and stays behind as they fall in behind Dove.

Ginara follows the man as he makes a few quick turns and carefully hides as he looks over his shoulder. She isn't sure whether he's seen her, but she's slowly following further behind him.

Meanwhile, Vannser leaves the tavern and begins walking towards where Lhovrik and Aurora were waiting. As he sees them approaching, he turns to join them. Sister Aurora is rather surprised, since she thought the plan was for the rest of them to follow the contact while Vannser went his own way to avoid revealing any pursuit. Still, they all begin walking along until they notice that when Vannser changed directions, a bystander also stopped walking along and then followed in the new direction. Vannser realizes that the bystander was one of the other people in the tavern, the large bald man. Much to Lhovrik's confusion, Sister Aurora and Vannser insist that they stop for lunch and pull him into a different tavern. To nobody's surprise, the man follows them in. They eat a quick lunch-- with someone following them, they clearly can't follow Dove and Ginara without giving up the whole plan. Much to their chagrin, they can see that the man is writing on a piece of parchment. After looking more carefully, they realize that he is sketching a picture of Lhovrik. They finish their meal, and then disperse before heading back to the cath Kalissar house to continue their planning.

Ginara continues to trail the man who spoke with Lhovrik, while Dove keeps a watchful eye on her. After about a half-hour of travel, the man loses Ginara, leaving her at a major intersection. She knows he turned, but isn't sure whether he headed left, towards the noble district, or right, towards the Merchant Quarter. She makes a quick choice and heads right. Her guess is rewarded when she sees the man she's been following taking a cross street deeper into the Merchant Quarter. After that close call, she's easily able to follow him the rest of the way. As he enters the Dock Quarter, the man begins to walk casually, apparently believing that he's lost any pursuit he may once have had. Ginara increases the care she takes to remain hidden, and follows him to a tenement building. She watches as he heads in the main door of the tenement. After a few minutes of waiting with Dove, they conclude that he must be holed up somewhere within the building and return to report to their friends, arriving right as the rest of the group begins worrying about whether anything has happened to them.

The group quickly discusses what to do next. The discussion focuses on where the kidnappers might be hiding Desi in the building that Ginara and Dove found. Lhovrik thinks about how scrying can be blocked and realizes that a basement area would be the easiest to proof against scrying, because a simple layer of lead in the ceiling of the basement would be sufficient, whereas an above-ground room would need to have lead along all the walls. They begin planning ways to further investigate the basement of the building that the kidnapper returned to. Dove and Ginara report that there were two basement apartments, each with its own entrance from the outside. The group initially discusses searching them, but concludes that since the kidnapper went into the main entrance, it's likely that there's an internal connection to the basement.

Melania sets off to gather more clues. She heads into the tenement, notes the stairs leading down into the basement, and knocks on the door of the groundfloor apartment that belongs to the landlady. A plump, friendly older woman greets her.

"I was wondering if you could rent me a flat."

"Aye, I do have some rooms available."

"I don't have a lot of money, so if you have anything really cheap, like a basement apartment, that would be perfect."

The landlady thinks for a second. "Both of the basement apartments are let right now. I do have a small room on the fifth floor, at a reasonable price."

Melania allows the landlady to show her the room. "I'll have to think about it. There are some other places I'm looking at." She makes a show of looking around. "Do you have any storage space available?"

"Oh, yes. You could rent one of the bins in the basement for a silver each month."

"Can I see them? Even if I lodge elsewhere, I may want to rent one."

The landlady takes Melania down to the basement. The stairs lead to an area of wooden stalls, some locked, others merely latched close. All of the stall doors would allow enough sound out that Melania confidently concludes that Desi could not be trapped in any of them. She also sees from the layout that in addition to the two basement apartments, the two first-floor apartments must each have a private access to the basement. To keep a way into the building, Melania agrees to rent one of the storage areas and heads out to report.

She describes what she's seen, and the group quickly hammers out a plan. Desi must be in the basement of the other first floor apartment, so Ginara and Dove will enter the building under the cover of Lhovrik's invisibility spell. Lhovrik, Aurora, and Vannser will wait outside, while Melania lurks among the storage bins, ostensibly moving her stuff in. The plan is to give Dove and Ginara about 30 seconds to get the door open, at which point the rest of the group will charge in. They figure that after they've captured the kidnappers, they can sort out any problems this may cause with the watch easily enough.

Dove and Ginara slip in to the building quietly. They rush to the door to the suspected apartment, and Ginara quickly picks the simple lock on the door. Both Dove and Ginara can hear loud conversation within, so Ginara cracks the door open a little, trying to get a view of the miscreants within. Instead, she sees a large family having dinner, until the father mutters at one of his kids for leaving the door open and walks over to close it. Desperately sure they must have made an error, Dove and Ginara rush out and tell their anxiously waiting friends that they need to check another door, mere seconds before the rest of the group would have charged in and attacked. They next try the landlady's apartment; she's doing some knitting in the bedroom, so Dove and Ginara are able to slip entirely inside. They check the basement, the kitchen, and even the privy, but there's no sign of Desi or of any den of kidnappers. They quietly exit, and once again prevent their friends from attacking innocents in a mad rush. Much less sure of their plan, they approach the basement apartments more carefully. Some investigations confirm that Desi is not in these, either.

 

[thatdarncat]

I like the weekly updates, thanks

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

Session 16 (cont'd):

Our heroes regroup, as the invisibility wears off. It now seems that Desi is not in that building's basement, at least. But they still know that the man who contacted Vannser must be inside. Ginara and Dove both hide where they can keep an eye on the building, while the rest of the group go to a nearby tavern to wait for their signal. Ginara keeps Misty, Lhovrik's familiar, with her. Lhovrik finds the empathic smug contentment Misty sends him as Ginara pets her far more annoying than Misty's usual emotions.

After a few hours of watching, the kidnapper emerges from the building. Ginara and Dove both tail him and he shows no sign of having noticed them. After a few minutes of walking, he enters a small store. Ginara and Dove lurk outside and decide to ambush him if he heads back to his home. Ginara ducks in one alley, while Dove waits in another 50 feet further on. Each readies her sap, or in Dove's case, saps.

Sure enough, the kidnapper begins walking back the way he came. As he approaches the alleyway where Ginara waits, he spots her waiting with her sap out. He warily draws two daggers and gestures at her, letting her know that she's been spotted, but makes no aggressive moves. Ginara straightens up and makes it clear that she's not planning on attacking an aware target. The kidnapper walks onwards, unperturbed but more alert. After all, this sort of thing happens in the Docks all the time.

When he spots Dove a little later, his attitude changes. His face betrays recognition and worry, and he turns to run. Unfortunately for him, Dove is faster and leaps out from the alley to begin battering him with her saps. Ginara runs up to help, and the man begins fighting back, sure that his only hope of escape is to defeat one of his attackers. But before the combined attack of both Dove and Ginara, he is quickly pummelled unconscious.

"Quick," says Ginara, "let's get him into the alley where we won't draw any attention."

"Right." They drag the unconscious form back into the alley and hide it behind a pile of rubble. "How can we get the rest of them to join us to interrogate him?"

Ginara looks at the cat, contentedly sitting by her feet. She begins petting it, pleading "Good Misty, send for Lhovrik, tell Lhovrik we need him, let Lhovrik know to come." Misty just purrs and snuggles up to Ginara. Back at the inn, Lhovrik only feels an increased sense of happiness and tries even more resolutely to ignore Misty. After a few minutes of ineffectual pleading, Ginara gets a pained expression on her face. "I'm really sorry about this Misty..." At the end of petting Misty, Ginara grabs the cat's tail and yanks hard. The sudden feeling of fear, surprise, and pain gets Lhovrik's attention.

"We should go. Something's happened to Misty. With luck, she won't make it, but we need to make sure Ginara and Dove are okay."

It still takes the rest of the group some time to find Ginara, but they eventually do through a combination of Dove looking for them and knowing that Dove and Ginara are somewhere near the tenement. When they are all gathered near the prisoner, Lhovrik proposes a plan.

"I'll cast charm on him, we'll wake him up, ask if he's my friend, and then we can see if the charm worked."

"I'd lie, if I were in that situation," Sister Aurora objects. A second later, she clarifies, "I mean, <b>I</b> wouldn't lie, but I think he would."

"Right. So I'll just have to start asking him some questions."

The group carefully binds and gags the prisoner, and Lhovrik casts his spell. They then wake the prisoner up.

Lhovrik begins speaking. "You know that you can trust me, right?"

The prisoner nods.

"Can you write?" The prisoner nods again. "Untie one of his hands so that he can write." Dove unties his right arm, but looms menacingly over him. "Could you write your name, so I know what to call you?"

--Olin Charit. Can you untie me?

"My friends won't let me. But you can trust me. I won't let them hurt you."

Olin pauses. --Your friends are dangerous. You need to get away.

"They won't hurt you. They're just worried about Desi. Do you know where Desi is?"

--Yes.

"Where is she, Olin? We need to know that she's safe."

A war of wills takes place as Lhovrik tries to use the power of the charm to force Olin to answer. Olin shakes his head. --Can't tell you.
Olin gestures at where he already wrote "Your friends are dangerous."

The group leaves Olin back in the alley and moves further out to discuss what to do next.

"I won't be able to compel him to answer," explains Lhovrik.

Sister Aurora points out, "I could cast a zone of truth."

"But he wouldn't need to answer."

Sister Aurora looks grim. "I think we should just zone of truth him and leave me and Vannser in a room with him." Several other people seem slightly shocked by this suggestion, but Vannser nods enthusiastically.

Lhovrik responds, "We would need to move him first to a place where no one would hear him before we do that."

Sister Aurora points out, "I can cast silence."

"Ummm...then we won't be able to hear him." Vannser reminds Aurora, who looks quite crestfallen.

 

[spyscribe]

Sister Aurora points out, "I can cast silence."

"Ummm...then we won't be able to hear him." Vannser reminds Aurora, who looks quite crestfallen.

Doh! An adventurer's best-laid plans...

 

[GreenArmadillo]

As he approaches the alleyway where Ginara waits, he spots her waiting with her sap out. He warily draws two daggers and gestures at her, letting her know that she's been spotted, but makes no aggressive moves. Ginara straightens up and makes it clear that she's not planning on attacking an aware target. The kidnapper walks onwards, unperturbed but more alert. After all, this sort of thing happens in the Docks all the time.

I don't know if this was a good Bluff roll by Ginara, a bad Sense Motive by the thug, or just a great Craft (Gameworld) roll by Cerebral Paladin, but the result was cool. This seems like the type of thing that might happen in such a seedy area, but it isn't an example that I can recall ever seeing before.

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

Thanks, GreenArmadillo. I don't think there were any dice rolled in that interaction, although I can't remember for sure. It was just trying to think through how the NPC would react.

Anyway, time for a (little behind schedule) weekly post...

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

Session 16, cont'd:

"Before we try any of that, I could also charm him and try to convince him to talk," suggests Melania.

"Why don't we move him first? It'll be easier if we do that in a private place, where we can safely let him talk," Ginara responds.

After Melania rejects the idea of using another of her apartments for interrogation purposes, the group moves Olin to a private room of an inn that they rent specifically for this purpose. Melania and Lhovrik go into the room with Olin while the rest of the group waits outside.

Melania casts her spell and begins trying to warm Olin up. "Are you from Lir Sanek?"

Olin, glad to finally be able to actually speak, responds, "I've been here for a long time."

"Where did you come from?"

After a pause, Olin answers, "that's not really important."

Lhovrik begins getting impatient. "Ask him the important question."

Melania faces Olin. "We really need to know where Desi is. Can you help us Olin?"

"I can't tell you that. It's too important, and your friends are dangerous. I know you and Lhovrik are good people, but your friends ambushed me. If I tell you where Desi is, they'll just try to rescue her. We can't let that happen."

"Is she safe at least?"

"Oh, yes. I checked on her earlier today, and she was fine. A little scared, but unharmed. We don't want to hurt her..."

Lhovrik thinks for a second. "How did you know my name?"

"One of my allies saw you with Vannser, sketched a picture of you, and then asked around to find out who you were. When he did, he passed on the picture and information to me, so I could keep an eye out for you. I didn't realize then that I could trust you." Olin shrugs apologetically for having doubted his "good friend" Lhovrik.

"Was your friend the bulkier person who watched your meeting with Vannser? What's his name?" Melania asks.

"Yes, that was him. Morgan."

"Is Morgan your boss?"

"Not really. He's sort of acting that way with this thing, because I'm the one who's exposed, so it's better for him to keep an eye on things. But we're really at the same level. We report to the same person."

"Who do you report to?"

Olin struggles as he tries to avoid saying, but gives in. "Feldmar."

"Can you tell me about Feldmar?"

"He's a priest who has been running all sorts of things. He set up the whole plan. I only got involved after they had already captured her."

"Do you know what god Feldmar serves?"

"Lurdana, I think."

"How many other people do you work with?"

"Really, Morgan and Feldmar are my only contacts. What we do is dangerous; I've always expected to be killed eventually. It's best if we don't know many people to avoid revealing too much if we're captured. Feldmar arranged for a couple of thugs to work with me on this, but I think they're just hired muscle."

"Do you have any other guards for Desi?"

"Feldmar supplied me with some undead he created and two ogres. I wasn't really thrilled about the undead, but the cause is worth it."

"Where did he get the ogres? They aren't common around here."

"I don't know. I didn't ask. Feldmar has some sketchy contacts. He needs them to do his job."

"Do you also have Marna?"

"The halfling? No." Olin looks uncomfortable. "We sold her... Look, it's not what any of us would want to do. But operations like this take money, and there's a good market for halflings..."

After some further questioning which doesn't yield much, Lhovrik returns to his house and borrows a scroll of Suggestion from his mother, desperate for some way to get the key piece of information from Olin. He returns, reads the scroll, and says, "Tell us where Desi is, Olin."

Olin looks at him with surprise. "Why did you cast a spell on me, Lhovrik? You know I can't tell you where she is."

End of Session 16

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

Session 17:

5/29, late at night:

While the charms still last, the group gets Olin drunk so that he will sleep soundly till dawn. After he falls asleep, they discuss what to do next. Sister Aurora suggests that she could prepare a Detect Thoughts spell at dawn; with luck, and combined with a skilled interrogation, that might get some more useful information from Olin. In the meantime, the consensus is that they need to keep an eye on Olin's building in case Morgan comes to check on him.

Ginara, Dove, and Vannser set up a stake-out in the alley across from Olin's tenement. They each sleep for 4 of the 6 hours before dawn, with Dove taking the middle watch because of her better ability to function with low levels of sleep. By the morning, they are all very tired, but have learned nothing new. They continue watching as the street begins to bustle with morning activity.

5/30:
While Olin still sleeps, Lhovrik and Melania both cast additional charms on him as Sister Aurora prays for her spells. Lhovrik carefully blindfolds Olin and then wakes him up, while Sister Aurora and Melania stand ready to beat him unconscious if the charms failed.

Olin immediately begins reaching for the blindfold. "What's going on? Why can't I see?"

Lhovrik tries to calm him. "Everything is alright, Olin. It's me, Lhovrik. Leave the blindfold on." Olin pauses for a second, with a dubious expression on his face. "My friends don't trust you and want to keep you blindfolded while you're here. I know that we can trust you, but I don't want them to get angry with you."

Olin grimaces. "Lhovrik, your friends aren't good people. The best thing for you to do would be to get away from them."

Convinced that the charm is working, Sister Aurora slips out of the room into the hall and quickly casts Detect Thoughts. She reenters the room and nods to Lhovrik to begin the interrogation as she reads Olin's surface thoughts.

"I was wondering if you could tell us where Desi is."

Sister Aurora senses only annoyance from Olin. "We've been through this before, Lhovrik. I can't tell you where Desi is."

"I was just wondering if you could help us out a little. We'd heard that she was being kept in the Gnomish Quarter..."

Olin's thoughts betray surprise. <The Gnomish Quarter? We must be doing a really good job of feeding them false information.> "I can't tell you anything, Lhovrik. I'm not interested in helping your friends figure out where it is to try a stupid rescue attempt."

"Maybe you could think about the building where she's being kept? Try to form a mental picture of the building where she is."

<Form a mental picture?> Olin thinks incredulously. <What a bizarre request... Why would he want me to do that?> Comprehension dawns. "Are you trying to read my mind, Lhovrik?"

Sister Aurora rolls her eyes in exasperation over Lhovrik's inept questioning. Lhovrik tries to defuse Olin's suspicion. "No, what would give you that idea? I'm just trying to make sure that Desi is safe. I mean, how can you know that your thugs won't hurt her?"

Possibly as a result of the charms, Olin accepts Lhovrik's denial. "Don't worry; I know my men won't hurt her." <The ogres are between the thugs and her, anyway; that should keep them from doing anything stupid.> "Besides, I check on her to make sure she's safe. She's just a little scared."

"How often do you check on her? It must take you a while to travel to your hideout."

<Oh, good... I can make Lhovrik's friends think the hideouts far away, instead of just up the street.> "Yeah, it does. It takes me the better part of an hour to walk there, but I check in two or three times each day." As Olin finishes his lie, Sister Aurora's spell lapses.

Sister Aurora raises her sap meaningfully. While Olin continues to talk meaninglessly, Sister Aurora, Melania, and Lhovrik all prepare to attack at once. With a series of thuds, they quietly beat him unconscious. They bind and gag him before heading to the alley where their friends watch Olin's home.

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

Session 17 (cont'd):

Sister Aurora, Melania, and Lhovrik explain the new information to their friends. They turn to trying to identify the specific building where Desi is being held, while maintaining the stake-out in case Morgan investigates. Melania asks around the neighborhood, hoping to find some neighbor's suspicions. Unfortunately, at least this early in the morning, she is unable to find out anything useful. Meanwhile, Sister Aurora and Lhovrik patrol the area around Olin's building. Lhovrik spends his time hoping to see something obviously wrong. Sister Aurora, for her part, casts Detect Undead, hoping to detect Desi's guards. Lhovrik warns that the lead barriers that blocked the scrying attempts will also block weaker divinations. Much to Sister Aurora's satisfaction, however, she detects a group of weak undead in an old building about a block away from Olin's house. They return to their friends and plan the next step.

Ginara and Dove scout the building, carefully hiding in shadows and moving discreetly in an effort to avoid alerting any occupants. The building is a decrepit old house. At one time, it was the home of a wealthy family, perhaps a ship captain, but wealthy families no longer live in this section of Lir Sanek. The house is about 45 feet on a side, with two stories and perhaps a basement. The front door is heavily boarded up, as are the windows that face the street. The scouts pass down the narrow alleys between the house and the neighboring buildings. The house has an alley on each side, both somewhat filled with trash and debris. Neither doors nor windows face onto the side alleys. A backalley runs between the back of the house and the buildings that face the next street over. Some pitiful shacks and hovels stand in the backalley, where the poorest try to make do. One lean-to even abuts the back wall of the house, but Ginara confirms that the lean-to is not occupied and does not conceal an entrance to the building. A backdoor from the house has also been boarded up, but Ginara notes that the boards on the backdoor, unlike on the front door, do not actually extend beyond the door itself. In other words, the backdoor is still probably useable. Several windows also face the backalley on each story, but those windows have been carefully boarded shut, like the front windows. The ground story windows do not look promising for a break-in. Confident that they have discovered the best route in, Dove and Ginara return to their friends.

In preparation for the assault, the group casts several spells. Lhovrik makes Ginara, Vannser, and Dove invisible, while Sister Aurora makes Lhovrik, Vannser, and Dove invisible to undead. The group moves into position in the backalley, with the invisible group clustered around the door while their visible allies are somewhat further back in the alley. The group tries to be stealthy as it moves into position, but some are more successful than others.

Ginara hurries up to the door. She notes that it has a lock in it, but searches the door for traps before worrying about the lock. She notices three slots in the door, presumably containing spring-loaded weapons of some sort. Her first attempt to block the slots fails, but not badly enough to trigger the trap, and she's able to force some debris into the trap's mechanism on her second try. She quickly turns to picking the lock, and a few seconds later, the door swings open.