On a Spider's Advice...

[Kelleris]

It is a bright Astrulayr day in Dromus, and the clouds look entirely innocent of any intentions they may have of maybe, possibly drizzling something nasty on the city below.

In Khorvaire's Square*, it's business as usual. All around you you can hear the sounds of an exceedingly active bazaar. The voices blend into the sweet hubbub of unmitigated commerce, and there's no better day than today to see if it's really true that anything anyone could possibly want can be found in Dromus.

As you make your way through the winding rows of booths and more permanent buildings, for whatever reasons drew you here, you come out onto a great plaza, strangely lacking in people. At the center of the plaza stands one of Dromus's most well-known landmarks, the Grand Orrery. This titanic sphere represents the ebb and flow of planar energies in and around Dromus, and stands some forty feet tall. Of those studying it, there seem to be a preponderence of scholarly types.

You involuntarily gaze up at it for a moment; even those of you familiar with the ways and places of Dromus have probably never seen it in person, so to speak. As you do so, you see a small, scorpion-talled and bat-winged figure crouched on one of the Orrery's many intersecting bars and icons. He passes his gaze from one of you to the other, slowly and deliberately, but nobody seems to notice him. Even the guards whose duty it is to guard the Orrery remain placidly standing in place, despite the obviously malevolent appearance of the being.

Once it is sure it has your attention, it reaches across from the bar it is perched on to one that is slowly swinging by it, representing who-knows-what minute fluctuation of energy. With a tiny, clawed hand it very deliberately reaches out and bends a specific pin, pulling it out of alignment just a bit with its fellows. It then turns back to you, it's impassive gaze apparently waiting for your reaction.

{Yes, I know Eberron already called Khorvaire. They're no relation. And remember when you write your "this is how I got here" post that this is the center of Dromus and possibly very, very far from your suburban home.}

 

[Uwohali]

Tyndra strolls happily through the bazaar, pocketing her latest reward for transporting a nobleman's daughter through the perilous countryside. Before returning to her cottage, she decides to stop for a well-earned drink.

As she passes the Orrery, she can't help but gaze up at its wonder. A small figure catches her eye, and Tyndra gasps as the creature deliberately realigns a small pin. Running up to the nearest guard, she desperately tries to get his attention.

"Sir! That creature up there! Look at him!" Unfortunately, her 3 foot stature, though well-suited for her adventuring life, does not usually gain the attention of the towering giants above her. Still, she feels compelled to direct their attention to the mischief-maker atop the monument.

 

[Kelleris]

The guard gazes down at Tyndra with bored eyes. You can tell he is trying to decide if this is some kind of prank or not.

"Sorry, ma'am, but I don't see anything. The Orrery is magically warded anyway, so there couldn't possibly be anything up there. Anything climbing around on it would set off all kinds of alarms. The Sorceire and the Guild'd both be here, lickety-split."

{Roll a Sense Motive check, Tyndra.}

 

[Uwohali]

Tyndra frowns derisively at not having been taken seriously. She gazes at the guard, taking in his words carefully.

DM:

Spoiler

28 on Sense Motive. I also noticed that he didn't even turn around to look, so any bonuses?? Pretty please?

 

[Kelleris]

{How about a laughable DC instead? Though giving circumstance bonuses for noticing things in my description is a great idea! Consider it stolen and waiting to be implemented.}

Everything about the guard says "yeah, right, kid" to you. It's very frustrating. In fact, from the way he talks, it's obvious that the nonsense about the magical wards is just that, nonsense. You do notice that nobody else in the area, including several mages studying the Orrery like their lives depended on it, have noticed anything out of the ordinary.

The imp also seems to be on the move. He hops from one slowly-aligning bar to another, and repeats his nonsensical bending of pins. It is incomprehensible that nobody would notice this activity, unless something very strange indeed is going on.

 

[Ferrix]

Keys mingles into the crowd, her veil pulled tight about her face. This little stroll of hers was obviously not intended to carry her this far, she had no interest in the Orrery, but now as she gazed at the crowd a thought sparked into her her, not a bad place to bob a few saps too intent on watching the convulsions of a piece of a metal. Her gaze carried itself up to the moving wonderment and would have just slipped on past if the impish creature didn't snap her attention. Now that's odd... She pauses in her motion, people pass by her, and her hands are uncommonly still where they normally would have been fleecing the ignorant sods.

 

[Kelleris]

The imp stares down at Keys, without blinking, as though expecting her to be impressed by something. After almost a minute, it shifts its gaze to a young gnome standing near a guard, getting her attention before looking back to Keys.

Once it is sure you two have noticed each other, it darts through the maze of gear-driven pylons and makes one more "adjustment" to the Orrery, moving with obvious purpose. After doing so, the imp, with a flutter of wings, alights on the immobile central rod of the device, continuing its silent observation of the two gnomes. It might almost be waiting for something specific to happen, or someone to arrive.

{OOC: Both of you roll Perception and Knowledge (local) checks, please.}

{EDIT: Ferrix, could you post a link to the professional thief PrC? And remind me what "resourceful troubleshooter" does?}

 

[Ashy]

Skaith stepped out onto the second-story balcony, letting the moth-eaten tarp fall impotently back over the doorway. Vainly, it attempted to serve its purpose and block out the sound and light from the tawdry alehouse behind him, but it merely managed to muffle the sounds within. Skaith's bloodless, ice-blue eyes scanned the city. He had held out as long as he could but the relentless drum beat behind his eyes, in his ears and in his veins would be denied no longer.

He knew that he had to slate his thirst, if only a little, or else he would go insane.

He needed prey...

His corpse-like eyes fell upon a strange little imp-like figure sitting upon the Orrey, which Skaith could plainly see only a block away. His smooth, alabaster brow furrowed. He knew that the wards and magicks upon that device would vaporize any foolish enough to attempt such a stunt!

For the moment, his hunger was suppressed a little; his curosity, however, was perked... Inwardly, deep within the recesses of his black soul, he was happy. This was the reason why he traveled the known planes day after day, never resting long in one spot.

The only effective weapon he had against his abominiative hunger was, ironically, adventure. Pricking his mind and soul with new experiences was the only way to keep him from pricking someone's artery and gorging himself on their warm, liquid life.

Skaith cocked his head a little, trying to watch the imp-thing closer... What would happen next?

 

[Kelleris]

The imp does the same trick with you as with the others, making sure that everyone sees everyone else before going back to calm staring and an occasional languid flutter of its wings.

{OOC: Going to have to do something before anything else of interest happens. The ball's in your court!}

 

[Ashy]

Skaith catches a glimpse of the veiled gnome out of the corner of his eye; he notices that the gnome's line of sight leads her eyes towards the imp, while the vast majority of the populace seems unaware (or uncaring) about the creature. The pale-skinned human cocks a cleanly shaved brow.

'My, my, my - if this isn't terribly odd', he thinks to himself.

In mere moments, Skaith has navigated the stairs and the bawdy patrons of the inn and finds himself on the street level. The thunderous drumming in his ears and behind his eyes returns as he presses into the sweaty, hot-blooded throng atop the smooth cobbles. He nearly swoons with hunger, but he focuses on the mystery at hand; quickly following the mental map in his head.

He approaches the masked gnome.

'If it were not for her mask, I likely could not have found her again', he thinks to himself as he extends his hand.

"I am Skaith, and I, too, can see the creature up there." the odd-looking human points with his chin towards the Orrery. "I can only assume that you can, as well. Have I deduced correctly?" He smiles, his lips parting to reveal a mouth full of teeth meticiously filed to glittering points. This, in conjunction with his dead-man's pallor, eyes so ice blue that they seem colorless, and the total lack of body hair, gives him a jarring, almost demonic look.