Snail Mail
GOOD NEWS, EVERYONE.
The guild has a job for you.
Recently, a collection of... enormous snails was located lurking around the sight of an airship crash. Study by one Alba has revealed that the pilot had been carrying a number of chemicals in his airship that created permanent, enlarging effects on animal life, when he crashed for unknown reasons. The goblin pilot did not survive the airship crash and thus can not be asked /what the hell man/.
It is unclear whether or not he was carrying the snail collection with him when they were affected by the spilled chemicals or if they simply found the spilled alchemical mixture on their own and there's no easy way to tell. Even a careful search of the crash site did not help, unfortunately.
This is where you come in.
See, it turns out that the airship pilot had a manifest and had stopped over in Alexandria. Nowhere did he mention in any documentation or declarations that he was carrying alchemicals. There's a certain degree of care and reporting required when dealing with dangerous substances, after all, and this means he was, in effect, smuggling them. And that they were produced in Alexandria, since the airship had been docked for a good three months before this instance. They've been unable to deduce just where he got the chemicals or from who or for what purpose they were originally going to serve, but they'd like to know. Because there's now a collection of giant snails at Alba's farm and they don't really want to add to that. Alba's farm is creepy enough already.
And that's where you come in and that's why you're standing outside the entryway to Flying Eagle Trading. The unoriginally named business seems to be closed. This should not be surprising given it's lone pilot is dead. The hope is that there may be something present that sharp-eyed adventurers and investigators might be able to locate that can tell the government where he got the chemicals, and they'd like you to follow that lead as far as you can report back.
Flying eagle trading rests in the lower trade district and, well, it's closed up. You have permission to break in.
Walery is here with the group. "I could maybe try to hire on with the company in order to lull them into talking? Or are we just sneaking in, or what?" he asks quietly of his companions.
The warrior known as Darius is alone tonight, perhaps because this sort of thing is too dangerous for a little girl in training, or a huge panther that sticks out like a sore thumb in the city. He arrives with the group and eyes the closed shop and says, "We could kick the door down, but that would alert whoever's in there that they have been discovered by the Guard, unless anyone of us happens to have thief skills?"
"The place is closed up", Elisabeth says, gesturing at how it's clearly so. "Given as we've permission to break in, I think kicking in the door, if we can't get it open otherwise, is perfectly acceptable."
Elisabeth then simply walks up and tries the door, to see if it's unlocked, or to discover how it is locked.
Walery ohs about kicking in the door, and says, "I think we can do it more quietly than that."
Razen looks at the door suspiciously. He has experience with doors. He, is not going to kick it in, or try to 'thief' his way in. He watches Elisabeth try the handle and grins at Walery. "If the door is not open, perhaps we can go in through a window?" He moves around the group somewhat so that he can look for open windows. Or ones that would be easy to break in through without much fuss.
Kore sighs softly, watching as Elisabeth tries the door. "It's locked," she'll murmur as the woman is discovering the same thing for herself. She flashes her compatriot a quiet smile then, perhaps amused by the fact they're only a few inches apart in height. Then she reaches up and comes out with--- a hairpin. "One second. It's not trapped or anything..." It'll only take a moment to pop the lock. "Window is a good idea, though. Next time. When they have a proper lock."
GAME: Elisabeth rolls perception: (14)+15: 29 GAME: Kore rolls perception: (18)+17: 35 GAME: Walery rolls perception: (17)+10: 27 GAME: Razen rolls perception: (7)+9: 16 GAME: Darius rolls perception: (7)+8: 15
With Kore easily clearing the way into the traditional shopfront. It really does look like you'd expect. There's a few desks with papers everywhere, airship routes marked on a great map of the known world that looks relatively recent, a lot of dusty old books on best trading practices, papers and notations on a lot and, of course, a small safe.
Yes, there's a safe that's going to need to be opened.
The papers you go through quickly reveal he received a large payment recently, as he was making several requests to the bank of Alexandria to arrange for payment to his creditors and for his airship. Seems like his cash flow had been poor before. Did someone take advantage of it? Seems that way.
The safe, hidden behind the map and quickly identified by Kore and Elisabeth, to say nothing of Walery's quick noticing of it as well, is easy enough to open due to you having someone quite good at doing that sort of thing with you; in Kore. Inside are several gold bars and one vial of pinkish-blue liquid.
The recent clearing of dust would indicate, given the lack of it on the bars, that this must be part of the sum he was paid to make that delivery.
There's also a few pieces of paper beside them.
Walery looks over the papers, and eyes the liquid. "Is that a bit more of the snail enlarger?" he wonders. "We'd better be careful." Checking out the papers might identify who'd paid them the money?
"We'd better take the vial back for examination, to see if it's more of that stuff", Elisabeth says, plucking up the vial to put into her pack -- after wrapping it up in oilcloth and tying the bundle up, in an effort to prevent leakage of any kind.
Darius looks around, I think we should take it and leave, this place might be watched."
Razen stays well away from the odd vials mostly due to Walery's words. He's more interested in ferreting through everything else in the little space. Until he finds nothing and then he stands near the doorway with an air of interest that suggests that he's not about to do anything rash, but that he might like to do /something/. "Who would be watching this place? And why should we fear them?" This at least seems interesting. "I would like to meet someone watching us here!"
Elizabeth, after stowing the vials away, moves over to look at the papers. "The goblin's business was rather slow... until recently. Is anyone experienced at reading business ledgers? That would make finding out with whom he was doing business happen more quickly, I should think...", she says, as she goes through the papers one page at a time, trying to keep them in order.
Walery is going through the papers as well, but he's an engineer, not an accountant, and he will pass them to the others.
GAME: Walery rolls craft/artifice: (12)+13: 25 GAME: Walery rolls sense motive: (11)+1: 12 GAME: Elisabeth rolls sense motive: (8)+11: 19 GAME: Razen rolls sense motive: (7)+0: 7
"Kore... would you bring the gold bars from the safe? If we find record of such bars being used as a method of payment for recent activity here, they may be evidence... if not, we're well within our rights to claim salvage on such things", Elisabeth says, after a while of going through the papers.
GAME: Darius rolls sense motive: (6)+0: 6 GAME: Kore rolls sense motive: (7)+24: 31
"We should also search this place thoroughly, in case he has anything hidden away in hard to find places", Elisabeth adds, in a tone that sounds like it's an afterthought. "Any volunteers for the in depth search, while I continue to go over these transaction records as best I can?"
Darius pulls down one of the window shades and peers out into the street and says, "I don't like this..." frowning. He says, "Are we done here yet, let's just take what's in the safe and anything else suspicious... like I said, whoever was behind the pilot might have a watch placed on here, and if they see us searching the place might decide to pull up stakes and cover their tracks." He looks to see if there's anyone outside that's being a little too interested in the airship business.
"So, if he kept a sample he must have known something might happen," Kore suggests slowly, watching as Elisabeth goes through the papers. "Wanted to analyze it... Or maybe he could connect it to the people who made it?" She is eyeing the vial. "Something in those papers, maybe."
"Don't drink those." Razen states quietly, observing the way that Kore is staring at the vials. He leans against the wall near the door casually. "Also, I'm not worried. If anyone tries anything we will just fight them." Easily done. He's already searched the place as best he can so he does what oruch have done for millenia when they've got nothing better to do. He looms in the corner and hums a death-dirge.
Elisabeth eyes Darius, purses her lips. "I agree, to be honest", she says to him. "But we need to do as much of our investigation here as we can, as this is where the evidence is to be found. We'll take the paperwork all with us, in any event, to continue to research with later. We do need to look about for other places he might have stashed other illicit goods, or things related to these alchemicals he was smuggling."
Walery ahems as the vial of stuff is put away. He says, "Um... that vial ... is not the original container. It was decated into there from the original container. The problem is ... it's unstable and dangerous in that configuration." He takes a few steps away. Quite a few.
Elisabeth arches a brow... and gets the vial back into the safe, after emptying the safe of everything else it previously contained, and closes the safe up to contain whatever might happen with the unstable stuff.
GAME: Razen rolls reflex: (17)+1: 18 GAME: Darius rolls reflex: (12)+5: 17 GAME: Walery rolls reflex: (17)+11: 28 GAME: Elisabeth rolls reflex: (18)+6: 24 GAME: Kore rolls reflex: (3)+12: 15
Naturally, it's already starting to bubble after Walery says that. As Elisabeth turns, the damn thing EXPLODES in ehr hand, embedding glass from the vial in it. Her armor protects her from most of it, but ow. The room is filled with a glowing mist and the force fo the blast hurtles you all backwards!
When the smoke clears you're.... elsewhere.
On a great, wooden expanse of floor, actually, that extends as far as the eyes can see.
Wait, no. There's the desks. And up on the wall is the now MASSIVE painting! OH NO!
YOU MADE THE BUILDING HUGE!
...wait, no.
No, that's not it.
Actually, you're six inches tall, or thereabouts, now.
On the floor.
In the middle of a building.
With a closed door.
"Well... that was unexpected...", Elisabeth says. "My apologies. Perhaps I should've let it be..."
"..." Darius looks around, unamused and says, "Ok... first things first... we need to get off the floor. I get the feeling that explosion is going to bring people running and we're liable to get trampled."
Walery uhmmmmmm. "This looks very bad," he says, and he's already looking around to check for rats.
"...I can try to remove the magic on ONE of us", Elisabeth says. "It didn't work for the snail I tried it on, before, however..."
"...Oh dear." Kore checks her belt and then breathes a soft sigh of relief. Whatever is in that bottle she leaves it in the belt pouch for now, turning to slowly look around. Kore comes up beside Elizabeth, the only one present who is her own height. The half-Mul studies her surroundings for a moment before murmuring, "Other than enlarging myself there's not much I can do. But perhaps we'll find something down here? Maybe we should say small for now."
Razen lets out a roar, a scream. A half-terrified, half-enraged noise that should shake the walls... but he's pushing seven inches at the moment and all it does is sound like a roar to the group of companions surrounding him. He glares at Elisabeth and it's clear who he blames for this. His hand falls to his heavy flail. "CHANGE. US. BACK."
"I can -try- to dispel the magic that has changed ONE of us...", Elisabeth says to Razen, holding up one finger. "If, and that's only -if-, it works, that person could then go to seek help... otherwise, I suggest you not blame me, again. I do not take kindly for being blamed for things that are NOT my fault, Razen. Be calm, before you make things worse than they already are."
The good news:
The good news is that you're right. The explosion may bring people running. May.
The bad news is it already brought some other denizes out of hiding as they run for cover.
Rats.
A handful of them. Rats that are now /looking at you/.
Hungrily.
On seeing the rats, Elisabeth says, as she draws her sword, "... on second thought, Razen... don't calm down..."
GAME: Kore rolls Intimidate: (5)+7: 12 GAME: AllergicToSleepPool rolls 1d20+8: (2)+8: 10 GAME: AllergicToSleepPool rolls 1d20+8: (2)+8: 10 GAME: AllergicToSleepPool rolls 1d20+8: (4)+8: 12 GAME: AllergicToSleepPool rolls 1d20+8: (4)+8: 12 GAME: AllergicToSleepPool rolls 1d20+8: (1)+8: 9 (EPIC FAIL) GAME: AllergicToSleepPool rolls 1d20+8: (19)+8: 27 GAME: Kore rolls weapon0+1+1: (14)+13+1+1: 29 GAME: Kore rolls weapon0+1+1: (3)+13+1+1: 18 GAME: Kore rolls weapon0+1+1: (9)+13+1+1: 24 GAME: Kore rolls weapon0+1+1: (10)+13+1+1: 25 GAME: Kore rolls weapon0+1+1: (9)+13+1+1: 24 GAME: Kore rolls 1d8+strength+2+1: (2)+4+2+1: 9 GAME: Kore rolls 1d8+strength+2+1: (7)+4+2+1: 14 GAME: Kore rolls 1d8+strength+2+1: (5)+4+2+1: 12 GAME: Kore rolls 1d8+strength+2+1: (5)+4+2+1: 12 GAME: Kore rolls 1d8+strength+2+1: (7)+4+2+1: 14 GAME: AllergicToSleepPool rolls 1d6+5: (5)+5: 10 GAME: Walery deactivates his Titan Armor. GAME: Walery rolls 1d20+10: (10)+10: 20 GAME: Walery rolls 3d6+5: (10)+5: 15 GAME: Elisabeth casts Blessing of Fervor. Caster Level: 8 DC: 17
Walery acks as the rats attack, and slaps his titan armor activate button. A reticle slips down over his eye, and he levels his death ray, firing from the hip. He snaps a shot at the nearest rat, and a blip of raw fire squirts out, lancing at the rat and scorching it, leaving a patch of burnt fur.
Elisabeth lifts her sword, calling out in the celestial tongue, >> Daeus! Let us your might in this battle! << Light runs down the length of her sword, from the tip to the crossguard, following the gold inlay of the sun and sunbeams, then the light flares out from the sword, touching, enveloping, and then fading into each of member of the party.
To anyone or normal size observing the room, there's a squeaking not too much unlike that the rats are making, and from one of the action-figure-sized people near the rats, there's a glint of light, then a small 'puff' of light about a foot in diameter.
Elizabeth starts her chant to Daeus and then Kore takes a deep breath. She's placed herself just in front of the rats, her feet shoulder width apart, hands up in front of her in a pretty classic combat pose. Then the rats descend upon her. It's a black wave of fur, beady eyes, and chittering maws glistening with saliva. The tiny Monk becomes a whirling frenzy of kicks and punches, deflecting bites with well time strikes to extended noses or under the jaw. She's a blur of sudden violence.
GAME: Razen rolls weapon13: (15)+11: 26 GAME: Razen rolls weapon13: (16)+11: 27 GAME: Razen RAGES!, gaining +2 to melee attack/damage/Will saves and 12 temporary HP GAME: Razen rolls 1d20+8: (16)+8: 24 GAME: Razen rolls 1d10+8: (6)+8: 14 GAME: Razen rolls 1d10+8: (2)+8: 10 GAME: Razen rolls 1d10+8: (6)+8: 14 GAME: Darius rolls weapon7+2: (19)+13+2: 34 (THREAT) GAME: Darius rolls weapon7+2: (8)+13+2: 23 GAME: Darius rolls weapon7+2: (13)+13+2: 28 GAME: Darius rolls weapon7+2: (6)+13+2: 21 GAME: Darius rolls weapon7+2: (4)+13+2: 19 GAME: Darius rolls damage7: aliased to 2D6+10: (5)+10: 15 GAME: Darius rolls damage7: aliased to 2D6+10: (3)+10: 13
Razen glares at Elisabeth. There's no trace of forgiveness there. No sense that her words have earned her an iota of leniency from the half-oruch. This /is/ her fault. Rage is boiling up in his blood, and his gray eyes have gone storm-dark, his hand clears his heavy flail and then it's in his fist, his muscles cording with the need... And there's something to kill. Something to vent his frustrations on and it is /good/. Razen lets loose a furious howl and slams his heavy flail into one of the rats over, and over, and over again. The creature goes down smoothly and Razen roars his victory viciously. There's no mercy here either.
GAME: Darius rolls 4D6+20: (19)+20: 39
Darius, shaking his head at Razen's brute force method of fighting and simply moves up and like the trained swordsman he is, swings his greatsword in an arc, slashing and wounding two rats and managing to behead the 3rd rat, as the other two still alive manage to slip away enough to be missed.
GAME: Chay rolls knowledge/nature+4: (15)+8+4: 27 GAME: Chay casts Lend Judgment. Caster Level: 8 DC: 15
"...ser, one apologizes for being late. Alba said she may be this way and--" the sith-makar has a pack over a shoulder. He slows as he sees Razen. "--one ssaw potions being thrown about sser, and the results. One rather thought one ought to make the ssame mistake, sser, but deliberately."
"..." the sith-makar slows further as he sizes up the situation. Hunter-caste. Wide-eyed and twitchy; especially this one.
"... ... ..."
"...ser, one feels one should inform you that rodents carry disease, sser. Please accept this aid so that none of us end up back at the Defense. It is not that one doubts your abilities, sser." The hunter-caste makes an efficient motion, his eyes keen, keen, not sick and there's a far away howl of a Hound. The edges of Razen's ears darken slightly; bits of tufts about the shoulder and jaw.
GAME: Kore rolls weapon0+2+1+2+1: (7)+13+2+1+2+1: 26 GAME: Kore rolls weapon0+2+1+2+1: (1)+13+2+1+2+1: 20 (EPIC FAIL) GAME: Kore rolls weapon0+2+1+2+1: (9)+13+2+1+2+1: 28 GAME: Kore rolls weapon0+2+1+2+1: (9)+13+2+1+2+1: 28 GAME: Kore rolls weapon0+2+1+2+1-5: (3)+13+2+1+2+1+-5: 17 GAME: Kore rolls 1d8+strength+2d6+1+3: (6)+4+(7)+1+3: 21 GAME: Kore rolls 1d8+strength+2d6+1+3: (3)+4+(4)+1+3: 15 GAME: Kore rolls 1d8+strength+2d6+1+3: (7)+4+(9)+1+3: 24 GAME: AllergicToSleepPool rolls 1d20+8: (5)+8: 13 GAME: AllergicToSleepPool rolls 1d20+8: (11)+8: 19 GAME: AllergicToSleepPool rolls 1d20+8: (15)+8: 23 GAME: AllergicToSleepPool rolls 1d20+8: (18)+8: 26 GAME: AllergicToSleepPool rolls 1d6+5: (1)+5: 6 GAME: AllergicToSleepPool rolls 1d6+5: (1)+5: 6 GAME: Kore rolls 1d8+strength+2d6+1+3: (2)+4+(7)+1+3: 17 GAME: Kore rolls 1d8+strength+2d6+1+3: (8)+4+(3)+1+3: 19
When Elisabeth finishes proclaiming her spell Kore finds an instant to look over at er. Wide blue eyes study the woman intently for a second and then she briefly bows her head. Whatever her thoughts of the matter she doesn't voice them. She is too busy sidestepping a lunging, slavering rat. Then there's a furious flurry of violence, wild kicks and bone breaking strikes that shatter rat bones and sends them squealing to the floor. Kore is leaving rats scattered all around her. That's two who will not be getting up. And the Monk continues her relentless assault with renewed vigor.
The rats appear to be enraged. Driven mad, perhaps, by the impact. Regardless, animal fury and there being enough of them has them on the attack with bristling burt and long browning teeth.
They bite into darius, two of them, while two others are on Kore. Razen would've gotten some attention, but well, he killed the one that had its eye on him. Evidently, they don't understand what Walery's doing enough to prioritize him. The same with Chay or Elisabeth, really. SQUEAK.
GAME: Walery rolls 1d20+12: (4)+12: 16 GAME: Walery rolls 3d6+5: (12)+5: 17
Walery ratches back a lever on his death ray, and a smoking brass lump is ejected. He replaces it with another runed cylinder and cranks it into the weapon. He brings it to his hip again and fires, launching a jet of raw fire at another rat. The burn goes deep on this one, and the rat twitches a couple times after falling over.
GAME: Elisabeth rolls melee+1+2: (19)+11+1+2: 33 GAME: Elisabeth rolls melee+1+2: (18)+11+1+2: 32 GAME: Elisabeth rolls melee+1+2: (4)+11+1+2: 18 GAME: Elisabeth rolls melee+1+2-5: (5)+11+1+2+-5: 14 GAME: Elisabeth rolls 2d8+8: (14)+8: 22
Elisabeth steps in against the last rodent of relatively unusual size, tapping the heels of her boots together as she does... and her blade's movement becomes almost a blur. The 'huge beast' is left with a cut along its shoulder for the woman's efforts.
GAME: Razen rolls weapon13: (14)+13: 27 GAME: Razen rolls weapon13: (3)+13: 16 GAME: Razen rolls 1d20+8: (18)+8: 26 GAME: Razen rolls 1d10+8: (6)+8: 14 GAME: Razen rolls 1d10+8: (10)+8: 18
Walery cycles the spent brass from his death ray, the rune-encrusted brazz still smouldering slightly, and slides a fresh shell in, but it looks like it won't be needed right now. "Let's get out of here. They might be able to restore us at the Guild. Or else maybe leaving here will fix us?"
Razen hardly notices that he's missed at all so furiously is he beating the rat with his heavy flail. It dies and he slams his weapon into it one last time to make certain that it is down before huffing. The end of his rage leaves him winded, but there's still fury in the lines of his body, still anger in his storm-gray eyes. Killing the rats hasn't changed what made him so angry to begin with, and he hasn't just forgotten it. How could he with the rats looming over him. "SHAMAN!" He roars out the word and rounds eyes falling on Elisabeth. He's not calling /her/ a shaman, but... "Fix this! Fix this right /now/!"
"First... you calm down and stop blaming ME for a dead smuggler's illicit alchemicals", Elisabeth says, turning to face Razen. "You know very well I chose -this- as much as you did!", she says to him. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll try to make use visible to anyone else who comes in here, so we don't get stepped on!" With that said, she calls out, again in the Celestial tongue, for Daeus to allow her to borrow some of his light... and the blade of her sword glows brightly.
GAME: Elisabeth casts Light. Caster Level: 8 DC: 13
In the building, over near some dead rats and what look like animated children's toys... a bright point of light appears, neatly illuminating a couple of feet of floor in that area. There's a lot of 'squeaking' that might be heard in that area, too.
"sers," Chay says, his voice even and dead and flat. He glances to Kore, then the rodents. "...This one might try to reverse the magic, ssers. However...one's magic appears cursed at times, ssers," he says. The corner of the mouth twitches, as though involuntarily.
"...and one is not ssertain ssers, what they used the potions for. These potions are unusual. They are sstronger than they sshould be, sser." To Razen, "Sshe is not shaman-caste," as though that phrase would explain so much. Well, to another sith-makar it might, and for a moment, the sith's inner lids flicker. For a moment, he goes as still as the log amid the swampwater.
He shakes himself. "This one means, one doubts sshe possesses a sspiritual understanding of magic, sser. This one sser, is no sshaman-caste, only hunter. One ssuggests we may need to muddle through as best we may, sser, with resspect, sser."
-TBC