Niobe's Dilemma (Manzanita Judging)

[Rae ArdGaoth]

Rasereit Vundinn, Dwarven Barbarian

"Well, 'e was 'ere the other night, recruitin' for some kind o' job. Ah'd venture t'guess that he's in other gatherings o' warriors an' wizards aside from this 'un, lookin' for 'elp. That's jus' a guess, though. What d'ye think, Ogrin?"

 

[Rystil Arden]

"Well, this is at least a good sign, as it indicates that he does not have as many allies as he wishes to have if he is recruiting," Lasair ponders, "We will simply have to refine our search and continue until we can track him down. If he has been visibly recruiting, people will have seen him, and we can perhaps trace his hideaway."

 

[nimisgod]

Wil frowns "Or perhaps that he has recruited a decent amount of muscle now. Either way, his strength is growing. Shall we away? Sers, will you join us? If this Man can afford to hire mercenaries to his cause..."

OOG: Switching to Dark Red to differentiate from Razh.

 

[Rae ArdGaoth]

Rasereit Vundinn, Dwarven Barbarian

Razh nods but says nothing, looking to Ogrin for a final decision.

 

[rln]

Ogrin sits silent for a while, listening to the others before he speaks up.

"So, you do not know who the man is, what his strenghts or weaknesses are, where he can be found or if he has any help - or, for that matter, that this woman is still with him. To be honest, it seems your investigation is merely started.

An adventurers reputation is his bread and butter. I just don't want mine to indicate I'm the one who always get shafted in the end. If there's truly just this man anda couple fo his lackeys to take down, the deal sounds fair. However, if this turns out to be a longer endeavour, we'll likely be wanting a share equal to the work we put in. If that's fine with you, we're happy to work with you. Deal?"

OOC: Workers of the world, unite! For metagaming reasons, I'm a bit unwilling to accept a pay of 1000gp when the others will be gaining 9500gp each...

Assuming the others approve, Ogrin asks to hear the whole story, and interjects with some questions here and there. When he has heard all of it, he sits down with an ale and ponders for a minute before speaking up again.

"Aye then, let's see. It seems whoever has had anything to gain from this can be found among these four: Carsis aka Cedric, Thomas VanLandingham, Victor Regenstein, or Vander Denari. The first one you've put out of your minds, so I'll trust your judgement on that. These other three, what do you know about any of them? Is our man to be found in the family or emply of one of them, perhaps? Does anyone of them have a townhouse nearby?

"The Inn where the ransom is to take place - have you investigated it? We could ask the prince to send a man with the note there, and take turns watching the place, I guess. Oh and these Mountain and Tiny - they're some kind of gladiators I gather. Whoever wrote that is obviously in touch with local happenings. Perhaps he's even part of the action.

"We have a lock of hair. Perhaps we can use that to ask a cleric to scry on her and glean something of her location - or at least see if she's unharmed. Though our mark seems skilled in deception and perhaps has cast spells to misdirect such an attempt. If so, that would suggest he has a wicked wizard on retainer, or that he is one himself."

Ogrin will also describe the man in detail, in particular noting the scar over his face, and any other details he might have noticed about him - such as if his clothes looked worn or new, cheap or expensive etc. The kind of things a professional thief would look for

OOC: Sorry for the monster post I'm back from travelling, now I only have a two-oxen cartload of work to take care of. Posting should be less sporadic, at least.

 

[Rystil Arden]

OOC: Workers of the world, unite! For metagaming reasons, I'm a bit unwilling to accept a pay of 1000gp when the others will be gaining 9500gp each...

(OOC: There are metagame reasons not to also. We've been sitting here on this adventure for six months while you guys were out adventuring, but we didn't beat any major encounters, so you guys are likely to get an equal amount of XP. Can we at least get more gold? Remember, it is going to be 1000 + more vs about 9000 + more (minus our expenses) (and the disparity will likely be less than that, actually--see below).

Lasair also has in-character reasons for doing this--one is that she is testing them because she wants to hire people who are altruistic and want to help more than they want money. Now, unfortunately, this probably isn't true of Ogrin and Razh (who appeared in the evil game with Bront earlier), but she isn't going to hire people who seem so interested in only money. She's actually probably going to give them more than the initial amount based on what they actually have to do, but she wants to see what their true heart is, and she wouldn't hire them if they keep going on about the money and try to push for an equal share. In her mind, an equal share is earned by deeds.

Tell you what--if you beat Lasair at a Diplomacy check, she agrees to 2000--sound fair?)

"No, our investigation is ending. In a temporal sense, we have completed over five sixths of the investigation already, guaranteed based on the day of ransom. I have made you an offer of equal share of the treasure located plus a bonus of 1000 gold if we save the girl. Do you want to save the girl, or are you just interested in digging more gold from our pockets and not those of the enemy?"

 

[Rae ArdGaoth]

Rasereit Vundinn, Dwarven Barbarian

OOC: I see your point. I think we could keep it at 1000 + loot for now and if it turns out that Razh and Ogrin are vital pieces in this little chess game, then as you say they will have earned a greater share. rln, what's your take?

"Hey nah, there's no need t'get defensive, l'il lady. We're naught but adventurers, tryin' t'make the world a better place an' t'make a bit o' coin on the side. Ogrin an' meself 'ave been through some awfully dangerous situations, an' we think we're worth a bit more than ye're askin', tha's all. But ye know what, Ah like ye all, ye're an honest bunch, an' Ah trust ye. So how about we do what we kin to 'elp ye, an' we'll talk money again when all's said an' done. Ogrin, mate, what d'ye say?"

 

[rln]

OOC: I see your point. I think we could keep it at 1000 + loot for now and if it turns out that Razh and Ogrin are vital pieces in this little chess game, then as you say they will have earned a greater share. rln, what's your take?

OOC: Yes, that was the gist of my message too, though perhaps not clear enough above.

"Too each and every one what he deserves. As long as we can all agree on that, we're with you. I'm certain you'll find our services worth your while."

 

[Rystil Arden]

"Everyone always receives what they deserve, except for cowards who hide from their zij," Lasair agrees.

"Scrying on Niobe seems pointless--if it had worked, the lord would have just done that, and besides it would probably just show her in an unidentifiable dark room. Scrying on this honourless dog we chase would be an option, but we do not have much time to wait for a wizard or priest to prepare a scrying and then cast it...I wish we had a Seer here, but I've said that before. We already tried to find information about the three rivals to no avail"

(OOC: I remember specifically stating we checked on them when we gathered info, but then, our gather info check bonus isn't great)

"The gladiators seem to be a...you call it the name of that inn, yes?" she turns to her companions before nodding to herself "Yes, a red herring. It's just a cover for the transaction."

 

[Bront]

"I believe Pician mentioned that scrying was to no avail," Troi mentions, "But the man we seek that you spotted is no wizard, though he is cunning."

OOC: Let me know when you have a plan