Talij, an ifrit new to Loperg, found himself in suspicious circumstances after accepting a job from drunken tavern goer Hiram. In the morning following an evening of guard duty, Hiram failed to return to Talij to deliver payment. Curious, tired, and not interested in losing the pay for a lucrative job, Talij searched the house and found Hiram to have disappeared. Instead, he found a halfling hiding in the cupboards of the kitchen pantry. After Talij threatened to char broil him to a cinder, the halfling confessed to being a spy for a man named Julio for reasons unknown. Under further coercion the halfling admitted to seeing something strange- a dwarf in the darkness carrying a human skeleton that siphoned itself into the fireplace and subsequently vanished.
Letting the halfling run free, Talij took his time dismantling the boards around the fireplace, finding nothing helpful within. By the time he finally left the house, the city guard was waiting for him outside.
Meanwhile, a gun-for-hire by the name of Mike was investigating a string of murders on behalf of Scarpering Jen, local gunsmith. The trail led him to the guardhouse where Talij was being questioned. Talij, unable to leave Loperg until the crime was solved, agreed to share information with Mike and even accompany him on the investigations. Together, they returned to Scarpering Jen to ask about Julio, the man that was spying on Hiram. The genial moonrat told them that Julio was a rich paladin who lived in the Sun Chapel district.
Arriving at his mansion, the pair found it to be under guard. They tried to talk their way past the two guards out front but they were not permitted entry. They did earn the pair’s trust, enough to learn of the heavy security measures in the house, including a guard in the main hall that would tan their hides for letting anyone past. Instead, they gave Talij and Mike advice for breaking in, telling them of two unlocked windows and warning them of the flame traps inside the house.
The four of them parted ways, with Talij and Mike scoping the house before returning to Mike's place to rest until evening. When darkness was projected in the void above Loperg, they returned to Julio's home under cover of night. While Mike carefully scanned the wrought-iron fence around the estate for a point of entry, Talij grabbed him by the shoulders and teleported them both in with a burst of magic.
They got in through the lounge window and made their way to a swimming pool, where an oblivious moonrat was frolicking. Mike stuck to the shadows while Talij hollered at the rat, causing him to panic. After cutting him off from escape several times, they quickly talked him down. After promising not to rat on him for swimming in Julio's private pool, they learned that Julio had become increasingly paranoid and withdrawn, spending most of his time in a hidden panic room.
Leaving him to his swim, the pair next came upon another set of slacking guards, these entirely disarmed. The guards were prepared to fight with improvised molotov cocktails until the fiery Talij convinced them that fighting an ifrit while surrounded by high-proof dwarven fire ale was, at best, highly inadvisable. The fight was again finished nonviolently.
Exploring the main hall, Mark singed his eyebrows on a fire trap but was otherwise unharmed. Upon hearing chatter, he imbibed a magical potion of stealth to scout ahead. He found three guards waiting for them, and warned Talij. Together they crept through the darkened hallways and slowly up the carpeted stairs. On the fourth step Mark tripped and landed with a soft thud. The party held their breath, but the guards below were too engrossed in a talking portrait to hear this fumble. As they chatted among themselves, Talij and Mark came to the balcony and the second floor.
Upstairs they found a velvet curtain that opened up into a small theatre with leather seats and a low stage. When they continued to the hall, they were gently approached by a faintly ticking clockwork person. It danced, slowly and alluringly, closer as a quiet music box echoed through the hall. Talij and Mark found the thing too unsettling, and retreated to a second room, this one unlocked, and immediately opened it to a another clockwork construction, far less human in appearance with several legs and arms. They slammed the door on it just as the ballerina returned.
This time the pair stood their ground as the construct approached Mark. As it reached slowly for him, Mark decided he was uncomfortable with the intimate contact and struck the machine. In the ensuing combat, Mark was heavily wounded but stood strong as Talij turned magical fires and a summoned hyena on the clockwork creation. Though it retreated into the room for repairs when wounded, the pair were able to recover from their own wounds in time to finish not only the dancer but also the clockwork servant that was healing it.
Having explored the entirety of the second level, Talij recalled the moonrat's words about a hidden panic room. After searching the walls and tracing the audible rants and murmuring, they found a secret switch that revealed their target. Both Talij and Mark swore that they meant Julio no harm, and though clearly nervous Julio invited both of them to have a seat while he "confessed." Julio continued to ramble at them, his words making sense only to himself. He spoke of some past crime and began to accuse both of the intruders of coming here only to murder him.
Moments before Talij could ready a charm spell, Julio triggered a trap door, dunking Mark into the pool below, followed shortly after by Talij. Julio activated a clockwork bodyguard to pursue them, sending it to a hidden switch that turned the pool into a slick pit only a second after the pair had escaped the water. Julio ordered his creation to throw them both into the trap as he flung javelins to disrupt Talij's spells from above. Mark kept the tin man occupied with assistance from Talij's shining hyena, slipping out of its grip constantly. Talij blasted it from afar, running right through its torso before a missed shot nearly sent him tumbling into the pit.
The tin man managed to throw Mark into the pool and began to focus on Talij. Moving at the speed of flame, the ifrit stayed just a step ahead of the construct and slowly melted it to scrap. Meanwhile, Mark found a control panel for the pool trap… but had to way of disabling it. While he waited in the pool, he caught a glimpse of something in the trap door above: Julio, dangling by the leg held in a small child’s failing grasp. The kid’s grip failed, dropping Julio onto Mark before vanishing from sight.
Talij managed to melt the tin man’s motors and destroy it, but the sounds of approaching guards scared him off. He made for the courtyard where he and the moonrat from the swimming pool simultaneously slipped under the notice of several guards patrolling the courtyard… mostly. Halfway through, Talij was noticed and made a magic jump to avoid capture. He blinked across the field, evading the arms of a particularly persistent halfling. He used his last dimension hop to dart through the fence, his pursuer scaling the fence not long after. In all the confusion, the moonrat slipped away like a shadow.
Mike was unable to find a way out of the pool, and taken into custody the following morning.
Letting the halfling run free, Talij took his time dismantling the boards around the fireplace, finding nothing helpful within. By the time he finally left the house, the city guard was waiting for him outside.
Meanwhile, a gun-for-hire by the name of Mike was investigating a string of murders on behalf of Scarpering Jen, local gunsmith. The trail led him to the guardhouse where Talij was being questioned. Talij, unable to leave Loperg until the crime was solved, agreed to share information with Mike and even accompany him on the investigations. Together, they returned to Scarpering Jen to ask about Julio, the man that was spying on Hiram. The genial moonrat told them that Julio was a rich paladin who lived in the Sun Chapel district.
Arriving at his mansion, the pair found it to be under guard. They tried to talk their way past the two guards out front but they were not permitted entry. They did earn the pair’s trust, enough to learn of the heavy security measures in the house, including a guard in the main hall that would tan their hides for letting anyone past. Instead, they gave Talij and Mike advice for breaking in, telling them of two unlocked windows and warning them of the flame traps inside the house.
The four of them parted ways, with Talij and Mike scoping the house before returning to Mike's place to rest until evening. When darkness was projected in the void above Loperg, they returned to Julio's home under cover of night. While Mike carefully scanned the wrought-iron fence around the estate for a point of entry, Talij grabbed him by the shoulders and teleported them both in with a burst of magic.
They got in through the lounge window and made their way to a swimming pool, where an oblivious moonrat was frolicking. Mike stuck to the shadows while Talij hollered at the rat, causing him to panic. After cutting him off from escape several times, they quickly talked him down. After promising not to rat on him for swimming in Julio's private pool, they learned that Julio had become increasingly paranoid and withdrawn, spending most of his time in a hidden panic room.
Leaving him to his swim, the pair next came upon another set of slacking guards, these entirely disarmed. The guards were prepared to fight with improvised molotov cocktails until the fiery Talij convinced them that fighting an ifrit while surrounded by high-proof dwarven fire ale was, at best, highly inadvisable. The fight was again finished nonviolently.
Exploring the main hall, Mark singed his eyebrows on a fire trap but was otherwise unharmed. Upon hearing chatter, he imbibed a magical potion of stealth to scout ahead. He found three guards waiting for them, and warned Talij. Together they crept through the darkened hallways and slowly up the carpeted stairs. On the fourth step Mark tripped and landed with a soft thud. The party held their breath, but the guards below were too engrossed in a talking portrait to hear this fumble. As they chatted among themselves, Talij and Mark came to the balcony and the second floor.
Upstairs they found a velvet curtain that opened up into a small theatre with leather seats and a low stage. When they continued to the hall, they were gently approached by a faintly ticking clockwork person. It danced, slowly and alluringly, closer as a quiet music box echoed through the hall. Talij and Mark found the thing too unsettling, and retreated to a second room, this one unlocked, and immediately opened it to a another clockwork construction, far less human in appearance with several legs and arms. They slammed the door on it just as the ballerina returned.
This time the pair stood their ground as the construct approached Mark. As it reached slowly for him, Mark decided he was uncomfortable with the intimate contact and struck the machine. In the ensuing combat, Mark was heavily wounded but stood strong as Talij turned magical fires and a summoned hyena on the clockwork creation. Though it retreated into the room for repairs when wounded, the pair were able to recover from their own wounds in time to finish not only the dancer but also the clockwork servant that was healing it.
Having explored the entirety of the second level, Talij recalled the moonrat's words about a hidden panic room. After searching the walls and tracing the audible rants and murmuring, they found a secret switch that revealed their target. Both Talij and Mark swore that they meant Julio no harm, and though clearly nervous Julio invited both of them to have a seat while he "confessed." Julio continued to ramble at them, his words making sense only to himself. He spoke of some past crime and began to accuse both of the intruders of coming here only to murder him.
Moments before Talij could ready a charm spell, Julio triggered a trap door, dunking Mark into the pool below, followed shortly after by Talij. Julio activated a clockwork bodyguard to pursue them, sending it to a hidden switch that turned the pool into a slick pit only a second after the pair had escaped the water. Julio ordered his creation to throw them both into the trap as he flung javelins to disrupt Talij's spells from above. Mark kept the tin man occupied with assistance from Talij's shining hyena, slipping out of its grip constantly. Talij blasted it from afar, running right through its torso before a missed shot nearly sent him tumbling into the pit.
The tin man managed to throw Mark into the pool and began to focus on Talij. Moving at the speed of flame, the ifrit stayed just a step ahead of the construct and slowly melted it to scrap. Meanwhile, Mark found a control panel for the pool trap… but had to way of disabling it. While he waited in the pool, he caught a glimpse of something in the trap door above: Julio, dangling by the leg held in a small child’s failing grasp. The kid’s grip failed, dropping Julio onto Mark before vanishing from sight.
Talij managed to melt the tin man’s motors and destroy it, but the sounds of approaching guards scared him off. He made for the courtyard where he and the moonrat from the swimming pool simultaneously slipped under the notice of several guards patrolling the courtyard… mostly. Halfway through, Talij was noticed and made a magic jump to avoid capture. He blinked across the field, evading the arms of a particularly persistent halfling. He used his last dimension hop to dart through the fence, his pursuer scaling the fence not long after. In all the confusion, the moonrat slipped away like a shadow.
Mike was unable to find a way out of the pool, and taken into custody the following morning.
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Posted on May 06, 2014 14:21
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