March 2nd

Having arrived successfully in Kinshoy, a bustling trade port in the Hebian-To Province of the Sho Empire, the party has had time to reconnoiter and hook up with the local marshal, Glurghk of Squallidsallow, who was a former Undermarket spy who has agreed to supply the Exchange with information, so long as he retains his financial incentive.  He has given the party a significant amount of information on their two possible targets.

The food magnate they were considering working for, whom they may also rob, is Kinzh'Lizakh.  He owns and runs a private manor, which is where he apparently keeps the key to his reliquaries of food supplies, as well as several warehouses along the docks and near the eastern edges of town.  The manor itself is not heavily guarded per say, but rather well Woven with detection alerts and traps, often two or more covering any given entrance.  There are three known entrances to the manor; by the docks (it sits on the coast), by the front gate, or by the service entrance.  There are windows as well of course, but they tend to be watched.  Glurghk of Squallidsallow has informed you, thanks to his insider information, that Kinzh'Lizakh also has his pockets in the local militia and most of his detection alarms will inform them directly to intervene.  The manor itself is two stories tall (already a sign of opulence in Sho territories, as a successful Zeiss roll shows), and takes up most of a city block by itself.

The other wealthy Burun of the area, Lorkhihf, is the one Kinzh'Lizakh contacted the Exchange about robbing in accordance with standard Sho politics and procedures.  A successful roll shows that because Lorkhihf has not yet earned her Name of Worth, they still do not contribute significantly to Sho society (at least in terms of perception, culture, and politics).  There is less information on their manor, for it is actually outside of town.  This makes it easier to approach at night (it rests in a small valley in some rolling hills), and as Lorkhihf has no access to military assets she is reliant upon her own hired mercenaries to defend her.  By contrast however, her own mercenaries are ex adventurers who are quite well armed and trained, and since they answer to no higher authority other than her are far more willing to simply kill rather than detain.  Her manor has 4 entrances that are known; the front, the servant's entrance, the side warehouse entrance for larger carts or caravans, and the entrance leading specifically to a small 'barracks' type area where the mercenaries sleep.  Unknown the total force inside the manor or number of traps, but it is known that she has a small Woven lighthouse built into one side of the building to 'promote safe transit and trade' in the area which also doubles as a weak but effective Woven canon that has a range of several miles.

It is the morning of March 2nd.

Zeiss gathers the party at a discreet location so they can discuss their next step.

OOC:

*dozens upon dozens of rolls*

Zeiss runs up to the gates.  By the time he gets there a multitude of weapons are directed at him, but fortunately a well-placed shot actually manages to pierce Zeiss' arm, sending him tumbling forward in surprise and pain, while a giant blast of lightning nails the outer fence along with some Fires from Kolson.  Sufficiently inspired, Zeiss lies his way in and the guards quickly let him in and 'fight off' the attackers... which includes one very well aimed shot from the cannon which does considerable damage to Kolson and Rory, leaving them significantly wounded (86 damage).  The party is forced to retreat under additional cannon-fire, but Zeiss has managed to make his way inside and is almost immediately brought to one of the outer rooms which has nothing in it; a make-shift prison.  He is left there for only a few minutes before a young Moarsman woman enters and demands to know whom he is and why he is here.  Fortunately or unfortunately, Zeiss says he is with the Exchange and seeking an alliance against the Vyeotians, given their recent string of anti-criminal activity.  The woman identifies him regardless of him giving his name, as he already has a bit of a reputation for his role as Warlord of the Exchange Bloc.  The woman is heavily suspicious, but Zeiss manages to lie convincingly enough for her to allow him leave to stay here until a meeting with the Lady of the Manor is arranged.

Zeiss will wait patiently for this meeting.

When he does meet Lorkhihf, he will tell her what he knows about the Vyeotians. They seem to have attacked all the Middlers of the Undermarket at the same time when war was declared to cover up their involvement. They also attacked Janwall just to get rid of one surviving Middler. Following that, there were several assassinations attempts on Zeiss and Kolson. One of Zeiss' bodyguard "disappeared" and Kolson was saved from one more obvious attack by an Exchange agent (Sareth). Then there was the simultaneous assassination attempts on the families of High ranked members of the Exchange. These assassins were pushed back and some of them were captured. We discovered that they were Desolates who could mask their presence by wearing a strange device.

When they woke up, they translated away, but we put a tracker on them that led us here, at the peninsula of the Sho Empire. Which brings us to this meeting. Since Zeiss suspects that Lorkhihf shares similar "activities" (meaning she's a crime lord), he thought they should form an alliance to protect their common interests. He's also suspicious of Lorkhihf's staff, since the Vyeotians might have infiltrated her compound already. If Lorkhihf asks why they have not attacked her already, Zeiss will suggest that they may be waiting for a specific event that would again cover up their involvement, like when war was declared. If the Vyeotians are targeting her, she probably isn't the only one they want to take out. But from the attack Zeiss just suffered outside, it seems they want to stop any kind of alliance.

What Zeiss wants is any kind of information that would allow him and the Exchange to find the Vyeotians and strike them at their home base. If Lorkhihf wishes to help with the attack, she would be more than welcomed to do so.

OOC:

Lorkhihf listens patiently to everything Zeiss is saying, though you can tell thanks to a good roll that a decent amount of what you tell her is nothing new to her.  After you finish your spiel, she agrees to take Zeiss to one of her office rooms inside the manor to look over information that's come in lately, though she resents the assumption that she is involved in anything illegal.  If pressed, she will confess she makes her money by acting as a middle-woman in getting mercenaries and ex-adventurers jobs within the entire province. 

As you are walking towards the room in question, chatting idly with her about business, you spot the mirror that is the object of your goal.  It is beautifully adorned with gems of red, blue, and violet, nearly perfectly symmetrical and much smaller than you perceived; barely 5 inches across.  It is sitting on a small pedestal in the hallway, clearly out on display, and your path takes you directly by it.

Zeiss, curious about this mirror, looks at it as they pass by it.

OOC:

The mirror does not appear to be trapped.

You are left a guard to oversee you in the room with paperwork to peruse it at your leisure.  It seems to be mostly accounting info and the like.  Lorkhihf excuses herself as soon as she arrives at the office and leaves you to it.

OOC:

Zeiss does take a look through the paperwork, though he wonders why she is letting him do that. While he waits for Lorkhihf to come back, he discreetly checks the room for traps and exit points and examines the guard's equipment.

The guards seem fairly well equipped, wielding Granite and Steel gear.  Lorkhihf made it clear to you she has no intention of returning anytime soon, so you are very on your own.  The room at a glance does seem to have several traps and what you believe might be a magical monitor.  The only exit is the doorway leading out to the hallway you came from.

Zeiss approaches the monitor to examine it.

OOC:

I'm pretty sure she's testing you, btw. I'd put money on it.

You realize that the monitor is not what you'd normally consider a monitor, but rather a sort of sensor that grabs data and sends it somewhere else to be monitored.  You've seen this type of device before, though this one is not particularly sophisticated.  The traps appear to be guarding this monitor device, the door, and there is one laid out on the ceiling where the door opens.

Zeiss stares at the monitor for a few seconds. He then puts his hand into one of his biggest pouches and takes Rainbow out of it. The little Eevee purrs and observe the room they are in. She suddenly finds herself on a table just in front of the magical monitor. Zeiss shows her where the trap is and warns her not to approach it, to which Rainbow nods vigorously. And unexpectedly, he makes her stand up on two of her paws then says in a high-pitched voice:

"I am Orfia of Aggressor! Primarch of the Pinnacle!"

Rainbow, confused at first, suddenly understands what Zeiss is trying to do. She takes a more serious posture, as best as she can anyway, then acts all superior and powerful.

"I'm one of the good guys! And we'll make sure to better the lives of everyone in Dereth, whether they want it or not!"

She starts walking back and forth between the sides of the table.

"Discord is the best outcome for everyone! Yes! This world has yet to feel the purifying flames of chaos in full!"

Rainbow twirls an imaginary moustache.

"One continent, lost, but another yearns for its grasp... We will succeed..."

She dramatically points at an imaginary crowd.

"...with or without you!"

OOC:

I'll bet the guards would like to know what you've been feeding that thing.

The guard in the corner has never stopped looking at you since you entered the room, but he seems nonplussed by your antics.  There are two traps that you can determine; both magical in nature, one disables a person's ability to move and the other continuously shocks them with subdual electricity.  They have separate triggers, but are both tied to the device itself.

When Rainbow finishes her speech, she gets back on her four pawns and starts making herself comfortable on a corner of the table. Zeiss turns towards the guard and asks :

"So how much time must I stay here? Because I'm running out of things to do..."

The guard raises one scaled eyebrow at you.  "You were the one who wanted to come here, Elf.  But if you want to leave, I can call for someone to escort you out of the manor."

Zeiss will try to engage the guard in a conversation, asking him questions about his work and how he ended up here. Expecting the rest of the party to do something, he hopes that they provide him with a distraction that will allow him to go for the mirror without raising too much attention. If nothing happens after one hour, or if the party successfully create a distraction, he will ask the guard to escort him out of the manor (urgently if the Vyeotians seem to be an "attacking"). If they pass by the mirror, Zeiss will try to discreetly steal it (which I figure is unlikely - still going to check for traps again, just in case). If he fails, he will use the smoke bomb Kolson gave him, summon Advoc then make a run for it

If they take a different route than the one that pass by the mirror, he will try to convince the guard to go this way with the same intent. If that fails, he will use the smoke bomb right there, summon Advoc then run for the mirror. Advoc will provide cover with his Holy Radiance spell in any case.

Zeiss will use his cover as long as possible and if he meets any other guards during his escape, he will try to lie his way through them, saying that he won't risk his life staying at a place where the Vyeotians are obviously going to break in and they should do the same.

My actions are: I'll toss one of my smoke bombs at my feet and then run like hell. I'll stay behind the smoke for 15 feet and then cut to the right at a 30 degree angle to throw off the cannon's sighting.

I'll still generally head towards the horses.

Rory reaches for his drought, absently wondering why, and is bewildered to discover that he is out of anything remotely capable of inducing a mind-altering sense of euphoria. "I am getting loaded after this," he babbles as he takes a potshot toward the tip-top of the tower(if it strikes anyone, it'll more likely hit their foot or leg than anything else), and runs for the horses at a sprint.

Higaide finishes scrawling "They maDe me dO it" on the dirt, with a stick. Then Kolson and Rory run for the horses, and he does too.

Amidst the smoke and noise, two cannon-shots ring out into the air.  One of them hits directly where the smoke was, the other manages to nail Javan despite his maneuvers, dealing 92 damage.  Nevertheless he manages to make it inside the cannon's relative fire range, dodging and weaving amongst arrows and bolts being fired at him from the outside gates.  A successful Athletics roll later Javan leaps over the outer fence, putting him inside the compound proper and under fire from about a dozen people, though by some miracle only one of them manages to hit (another 5 damage) before he gets in range of the tower and Jumps up solidly into one of the three cannoneers there manning the thing, killing the Moarsman instantly.

After hearing the noise from outside, Zeiss asks the guard to escort him out, which he does begrudgingly.  Zeiss checks quickly for traps, sees none, and after a Deftness check pockets the mirror in his inside coat.  The guard does not appear to notice.  Claiming that the Vyeotians are clearly about to invade, Zeiss manages to lie his way back out.

This just leaves Javan up on the tower at low health with the other cannoneers.

Zeiss steps outside and says to the guard escorting him out :

"Well, time to run away before they manage to kill me. Good luck."

He then starts sprinting towards the horses and summons Advoc in attacking distance of the lighthouse while making sure he doesn't appear near him. Whether he sees Javan or not, Advoc will cast Holy Radiance where the cannon is.

OOC:

Weren't we hoping to do this non-lethal?

@Zeiss: How do you plan on getting outside the outer walls, out of curiosity?