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PDA... eh.
I was also highly amused by stringbean's Dr Phil even though it couldn't make it in-character.
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The young zombie herder blinks a few time in surprise.
-''Are you out of your mind?!
'Do I speak or do you make me speak?''' the young man says, parroting Jarel. ''That scary beast guy
just asked me a question and I answered, didn't I? Do I look like I am clamping down? So why are you throwing pointless threats at me? It's not like anything you can do to me is worse than what Rinch will do to me if he gets the chance. After this fiasco, he will feeds me alive to his zombies and then trap my soul in my own corpse. You think you can do better, huh, tough guys? Killing me might be doing me a favor!''
He takes a few deep breath to calm down, straigthening mechanically his dirty clothes.
-''Look, you want to go after Rinch, be my guest. I am done for anyway if I meet him again. I never bargained for that when I joined. I just didn't want to starve and be able to take care of my brother. It's not like working the docks allows you to take care of a... well it's none of your business. But Rinch has gone crazier of late and now I am knee deep in bloody zombies. Rinch is... well, he died last week, okay. It's like... the third time that this happens, as far as I know. Each time, he comes back worse and crazier! I don't think he can be killed for good and that encourage him to take crazy risks. His blood creates the zombies and they are slave to his command. A lot of the zombies are the corpse of his enemies, you know. That will be you if you are not careful!''
He shudders at the thought. It makes him look even younger. He is probably sixteen at most.
-''I didn't see him since his last death. He changes a bit each time but I guess he is still a tall, thin guy with long pale blond hair. Maybe they are white by now, I dunno. Gets paler every time. Right now, I don't know where he is but I know he is looking for something he calls 'The Heart of Darkness.' I think it has something to do with his zombies. It may help him somehow. He seems really bent on getting it. I have no clue where it is supposed to be, but the way he was speaking, he does.
I guess your best bet would be to ask his lieutenant, a crazy bald old dude name Jarec. He is a mage. I don't know where he lairs, but I know where he should be right about now; directing a heist against Vena's Grace Hospital. They want to steal more bodies from the morgue. There are never enough zombies to satisfy Rinch, you know. But you have to hurry if you want to catch him. When I was left in charge of the pen, close to an hour ago, some of the gang were leaving for Vena's. I guess they intend to use the sewers but I wouldn't recommand going that way without one of the rat people guiding you and we have none on hand. Besides, they might be done any minute now, I guess.''
[sblock=skill challenge]
You can exchange a few more reply, but when the herder says 'right now' he means it (High insight PCs detects now deception).
Right now, the crooks are inside the morgue, through the sewers, and the hospital staff is none the wiser.
The goal is to get there as fast and (in the last stretch) as quietly as possible.
The stake is how favorable the conditions at the beginning of the fight will be; will you fall on the bad guys like a SWAT team or will you bungle your entry and arrive late or noisily?
4 successes before 2 failures.
DC 12 / 17 / 22 (depending on how appropriate the skill used and the quality of the justification).
Which skills? Depends on each step.
First step is getting there fast (2 success, not the same PC twice, obviously).
I'll update after 2 success.
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