Dreams In The Deep

[Lazlow]

The man peer at you through slitted eyes, and takes the silver, pocketing it. "A word of warning," he says very quietly, "no good comes of asking too many questions on this island." He eyes you for a second more, then continues: "Molly was on duty last night. She'll be here in about an hour, if you want to wait. I'll have the porridge out presently, and your rashers." This last bit he says jovially, in stark contrast to his previous statements.

In the meantime, Romanna has taken a seat close to the fire.

 

[Gray Shade]

Pollock never stops grinning at the man, even as he gives him a grave warning. Once he's finished speaking, Pollock responds, "Excellent! I cannot wait for breakfast."

He'll then join Romanna by the fire and say to her, "Apparently no good comes of asking questions on this island, but it's working better than not asking thus far for me! A maid named Molly probably saw them last night. She'll be in in about an hour. Why don't we have breakfast and wait in here where it's warm." He's not looking at her through his last sentence. Instead he is looking at any other patrons of the pub. "We can while away our time people-watching." He then glances about at other people in the establishment, trying not to look like he's staring, but watching for any clues or goings-ons of interest.

* * *

By the way, how large would Pollock say the town is, from what he's seen on his walk across town? 50 people? 200 people? 2,000 people? Or, how many buildings? Just want to get an idea of about how many people are in the town.

 

[Lazlow]

There are scant few customers in the inn at this hour, as it's past the normal breakfast time. An older couple sits on the other side of the fire pit, and after an initial stare for a moment or two they go back to their meal. A lone man sits in a corner far from the fire, and his initial stare doesn't back down, even after you meet his eyes for a moment.

The innkeeper, who introduces himself as Hamish, arrives shortly thereafter with your breakfast and tea. Romanna remains quiet as you eat, and barely touches her own food. She starts to speak, but is interrupted.

"I'll be plain with the both of you. We don't want you here."

The lone man has left his corner and has approached your table. He stands a few feet away, between the door and you.

"This here island is dedicated to Surlamon, and heretics won't be tolerated." With that, he turns and quickly leaves, disappearing into the rain outside.

The innkeeper, seemingly as surprised as you and Romanna, meets your gaze for a split second, but looks away quickly, busying himself in his ledger once again.

===============

OOC: You figure there could be a few hundred people in the town, maybe 400 or so. It's a fair-sized town, mainly built up around the harbor. There are easily a hundred buildings in the "metropolitan area", so to speak, which includes houses on the outskirts and other buildings along the harbor and in the town proper.

 

[Gray Shade]

An unrattled Pollock glances reassuringly to Romanna and continues eating. "Ah!The mark of a man of true conviction and an argument worthy of debate: He mumbles three statements and exits stage right." Leaning toward the door, but not bothering to stand, Pollock calls after the man, "Is that all you have to say? Could we discuss this over tea? There's excellent porridge! My lovely companion and I have almost an hour to kill that we would happily spend in religious debate with you." Assuming he doesn't return, Pollock turns to Romanna and says, "Was it the word 'debate'? People assume debate will lead to hurt feelings and anger, but I only meant it to mean 'intellectual discussion'." He looks toward the older couple, and assumably catches them staring. "I did. I meant no insult. I love intellectual debate." He looks to the bartender, who also is assumably trying not to look like he's staring. "You've a fine island here. I see no reason he would think--" Suddenly he grips the table in a spasm and puts his nose close to Romanna's. "Should we follow him? He might have had something to do with your brother's disappearance. We're losing precious time!"

He bolts to his feet and while helping Romanna get her cloak on says to the bartender: "Lovely porridge! I'll make sure all my friends here of the--" he looks up at the sign as he's leaving "Sturgeon."

Outside he's in a hurry looking back and forth for the man and says to Romanna, "Well, come on. Hurry! We're loosing precious time with all your lollygagging."

If he cannot see the man immediately, he thinks: Oh, for--! Do you sense that man anywhere near? He also says (to Romanna), "Do you see him?"

 

[Lazlow]

Flabbergasted, Romanna follows you out the door and into the rain-soaked street. She barely has a chance to voice any protest when she spies the very man turning a corner a block or so down the street.

"Th-There he is! He's heading toward the docks!"

My my, this IS exciting all of a sudden!

The two of you hurry in the direction of the man while people peer out of windows and doorways at you, astonished. Turning where he did, you see that the ground starts sloping downward toward the bay. You can see him, walking quickly but unhurriedly toward the docks below.

Romanna turns to you and says, "Should we follow him, or confront him directly? I do not wish to cause unrest between these people and the Gamaelians, that would be wholly against the sole reason we've come. But... I've got to know where my brother is! What do we do?"

 

[Gray Shade]

Holding Romanna back and pulling her gently between a pair of houses (hopefully out of sight of the curious onlookers), Pollock opens his bag of holding and digs through it, trying to find something. He says, "We follow as discreetly as possible for now, but we don't lose him. We'll see who he meets with. If it is no one, or at least no one related to our endeavors then we will confront him when the opportunity presents itself. But if he meets with people who, it is apparent, share his contemptuous views, then we will attempt to eavesdrop and observe and learn what we can."

After a quick glance after the man, Pollock continues while pulling a pair of items from his bag of holding, "You must be brave now. We're going to split up. I want you to follow him as well as you can, but if it comes down to a choice of him seeing you or you loosing him, loose him. Do not be seen. If this happens, return to The Sturgeon and await me there." He glanced again around the corner, then looked up the building they stood near, and pulled on his Masterwork Climbing Claws. Then, noting her expression, he added, "No, no. You're going to be strong here. Don't worry, I'll be following along as well. Here, take my staff, it will help protect you. If anything goes wrong, DO NOT call out for me--I will know if you are in danger. Hurry now, don't lose him. When he gets where he is going, hide and observe, I will meet you there." Before she can protest, he pushes her back out into the street with Cadmus in her hands.

Watch out for her best you can, old friend. Call me if there's trouble.

He waits for her to start walking after the man, urging her on with impatient gestures. Once she's out of sight, he will make his way after the man as fast as he can. He will climb buildings (with M.W. Climber's Kit, climb +9), leap from roof to roof (jump +25), run when he can (base move 60') without being seen, and essentially sneak (hide and move silently both +7) in whatever way is best at the time until he gets in position to shadow the man as closely as he can (hopefully from rooftops, where the man will not likely be expecting to be followed). While he moves, he'll try to keep an eye on Romanna, and keep another eye looking ahead to anticipate where the man is going. It's a tall order, but he does his best.

* * *

I imagine the rain will help with the Hide and Move Silently, but hurt the Climb, and perhaps cause Reflex saves after the Jumps. But I'll leave you to figure all the technicalities of what happens--you're the DM, after all!

 

[Lazlow]

"I... I'll do my best." Romanna, still a bit unsure of herself, walks back out into the street and follows the man's footsteps.

You easily make it up on the top of one of the lower buildings, and have no problem moving along most of the rooftops. The thatched roofs are slick but soft and giving, like bales of hay. You try to keep yourself positioned so that you can see both Romanna and the man, but the twists and turns of the streets and the varying heights of the buildings make it a bit difficult. The streets down by the docks aren't very wide, and you can easily make the leap from one side of the street to the other, given you land on a thatched roof and roll with the landing.

After a few minutes, you find yourself on top of a tall stone building, at least three stories high and sitting right on the edge of the water. Looking straight down the front, you see a stylized rendition of an ocean wave in a triangle, the symbol of Surlamon. This must be a temple to him - indeed, you recall something about many of his temples being located directly on the water's edge, many times right on the docks.

About a hundred feet away you see Romanna. You cannot see the man just yet, as the street curves a bit, but just then the girl ducks back behind a building, out of sight, and the man walks into view. You can make out some of his features, even from this high vantage point: Tall, slight build, sun-bleached brown hair and beard. Dark woolen breeches and leather boots, a heavy dark coat with a large collar wrapped around him, collar up in an attempt to protect him from the elements.

He walks directly down the street towards your building. As he rounds the bend, you see Romanna step back out from her hiding spot, Cadmus in hand.

So far so good, Pollock. We've a brave girl here, that's good.

Romanna seems to react to Cadmus' comment, as she quickens her pace and comes within a scant few yards of the man. You cringe at her approach, feeling in your gut that she'll be spotted any second, but unable to yell out for fear of revealing yourself to the man who is very nearly directly below you now. Romanna slips across the street, putting herself on the same side as he, and makes a mad dash to duck past the side of the temple as his head is turned, looking down towards the sea. He approaches the front and heaves the heavy door open, the large iron hinges creaking loudly.

Uh, Pollock, mate, I'm not so sure about this...

Two seconds later, the door opens again, and Romanna slips inside.

 

[Gray Shade]

No, no, no, no, no. Was I not clear? She is putting herself at extreme risk following him inside! I'm following closely, old boy, keep me updated if there's trouble.

With that thought, Pollock quickly searches the sides of the building for the closest window. Once he sees it, he climbs down to it and, carefully as possible, looks inside (if it is shuttered, he will use his Ring of X-Ray Vision to look in). If there is no one inside, he will try to open it. If there IS someone inside, then his next action will depend on the description of what he sees in the room. If no one is in the room, he'll climb on in if the window/shutter is unlatched. If it IS latched, he'll use his Hand of the Mage to throw a Mage Hand in the room and unlatch the window/shutter (note: if it is a shutter, he'll continue to use his Ring of X-Ray Vision to see in so that the spell works). If it is locked and not just latched, then instead of the Mage Hand, he will whip out his crowbar and attempt to pop the window/shutter open. Once open, he will climb inside as quietly as possible. Hope that's all clear.

* * *

OOC: Pollock's on top of the Temple, right? If not, before doing the above, he moves to the roof of the temple.

 

[Lazlow]

You quickly circle the rooftop, looking down the walls for windows. There is a large, circular window about five feet across in the front of the building, about 10 feet above the front doors. There are also a number of smaller, rectangular windows on the remaining three sides, most of them only about 3 or 4 feet from the rooftop. None of the windows are shuttered, but you cannot tell if they are locked or latched from your vantage point.

In addition, you notice that there is a (trap) door set into the rooftop towards the rear of the building, in the center.

No trouble yet, she's keeping to the shadows. But I suggest you get in here, who knows what she'll do next...

===========

OOC: To better clarify, the building is made of stone, mostly blocks, but not all uniformly cut. The rooftop itself is large, thick planks of wood sealed with pitch or tar. There is a "lip" of about three feet of wall around the edge of the rooftop.

 

[Gray Shade]

Pollock rolls his eyes at himself for having formulated such a detailed plan and looked for windows . . . and then nearly tripped over the trap door. He looks at the door. It can't be that simple, can it? He looks through it with his X-Ray Vision. As long as no one's on the other side, he tries to open it. If it is latched, he'll go with the combination X-Ray vision and Mage Hand, if it is locked, he'll switch to the crowbar and pry it open.

* * *

A door?! Sheesh!