"I think this will be great!" Erik can't help but be excited "I've just learned some transmutation magic Perhaps I can pose as a student. Can you tell me more about her personality? Her likes her dislikes? Does she stay within the university or her own private residence?"
Eirril looks down his nose at you "I suppose if you possess a little magic you might pass as a first-year student. Tolith is a had-working goody-two shoes. Never willing to take a risk. I suppose she has some small modicum of talent, but without the daring to go with it she will never be great. She's quiet and people seem to like her for some reason. She lives just off the campus in a private residence. I think she has a husband and some children, but I've never cared to check."
Leaning against the wall. “How do we blend in at the arcaneum?”..... “What if she does get killed, if something goes wrong?”
Following your first question, Eirril looks at Pike. "I thought you said these were your best? Shouldn't they know how to pass unseen?" He looks back at you. "I don't care how you blend in. There are all sorts around the university. Lots of mages of course, but lots guards, tradespeople and administrators as well. You could disguise yourselves if you want. Or find a secret passage, sneak around at night. I don't know, this is your line of business!"
At your second question, Eirril balks and begins to splutter. Pike cuts in "Eirril has made it clear - Tolith is not to be killed and neither is anybody else. Eirril would find that... distasteful and, more importantly, it would draw a lot of questions and that risks the whole operation. If Tolith is killed, you will not be paid for the mission and it will be classed a failure. If anybody else dies, you will receive half payment. If you knock out some guards, that's fine of course. Just make sure it doesn't get linked back to the Blades and Eirril. If something goes wrong, I would suggest you get out of there and try again when the heat dies down - you have a month so there's no rush."
Brayton grumbles under his breath “get your head out of the books and into the real world.... damned wizards.” Clearly loud enough to be heard by everyone before he walks out of the room.
Harpy's tail twitches in a cat-like manner feeling some sense of satisfaction that the wizard's words and abrasive manner confirmed her gut feeling regarding his nature. Harpy remains quiet and in her out of the way spot.
"I can make myself many unassuming forms," Ruhvon says from the side. "With the use of the halfling's potions, getting into places will be easy... Since you brought it up, where is her house?"
Laza, listening, adds "I too have some talent with the arcane, though it came a bit more naturally for me. Perhaps Erik and I could pose as students to get an initial understanding of the security situation in the academy."
If Rothnar feels disappointed that the mission is not to kill a dangerous target but just to steel and frame he doesn’t show it.
”I only have three questions” says in his low voice “ does the Academy has gardens? And Aren’t you worried that they could find what happened using magic? Don’t you fear a spell could reveal your plans once we had succeeded? Last one concerns the book itself. Perhaps we can steal it, and make a copy for you, or at least for the parts you need and leave it on her quarters. Have you seen it before? We could make a fake one with the same covert and leave it at the library for the time you copy it. If it is forbidden no one would go and check it. Then we can out the original at her quarters and remove the decoy. “
Brayton grumbles under his breath “get your head out of the books and into the real world.... damned wizards.” Clearly loud enough to be heard by everyone before he walks out of the room.
Eirril bristles a little and you hear him mutter "Well I never..." under his breath.
"I can make myself many unassuming forms," Ruhvon says from the side. "With the use of the halfling's potions, getting into places will be easy... Since you brought it up, where is her house?"
Eirril replies "I'm not entirely sure. I heard her mention it was near the Arcaneum during a faculty meeting once, but I've never been there. I'm sure the address will be in the administration's records somewhere. Or you could try following her I suppose. Her office is in the Department of Enchantment, you can't miss it. She also gives lectures on Tuesday mornings in the Department of Enchanting lecture theatre I believe."
If Rothnar feels disappointed that the mission is not to kill a dangerous target but just to steel and frame he doesn’t show it.
”I only have three questions” says in his low voice “ does the Academy has gardens? And Aren’t you worried that they could find what happened using magic? Don’t you fear a spell could reveal your plans once we had succeeded? Last one concerns the book itself. Perhaps we can steal it, and make a copy for you, or at least for the parts you need and leave it on her quarters. Have you seen it before? We could make a fake one with the same covert and leave it at the library for the time you copy it. If it is forbidden no one would go and check it. Then we can out the original at her quarters and remove the decoy. “
At your first question, Eirril looks puzzled "Well, yes. It has several quads, a large botanical garden used for growing herbs for the alchemists and a recreational garden for the students. How does that matter?"
At your second question Eirril looks a little uncomfortable "Well, there is always a risk, but Forensic Magic is still fairly basic and truth spells are only so effective - anyone would expect a competent mage like Tolith to be able to keep lying under their effects so her denial would only mean so much. So unless you leave physical evidence linking me to the theft, I should be fine. If you get caught I will, of course, deny any knowledge of you. And Mr Brickbane here has assured me that you're excellent at not getting caught and wouldn't reveal me if you were. And he tells me the Silver Blades have ways of getting their members out of tricky situations." he looks at Pike and Pike nods slowly. You suspect they're referring to the fact that the Guard and much of the judiciary of Dun Farum have been compromised by the Blades in some way. Unless the truth is undeniable, the Godfather can normally get charges dropped.
When you begin talking about the book, Eirril looks excited. "The book is an ancient and powerful artifact. As the name suggests, 'The Well of Souls' actually contains a number of trapped souls, captured in a ritual to the god Kelemvor. It's a powerful item in itself and its wealth of power comes more from the words on its pages. As such, a copy would not satisfy me, nor would you easily be able to make a replica to plant on Tolith that would stand up to more than a quick glance. You'll need to come up with another way of implicating her. Perhaps you can make it look like she hid the book somewhere to explain its disappearance? As for the book itself, I haven't seen it, but have heard descriptions. I believe it to be a large black leather tome bound with a gold clasp. It has an illustration of an upright skeletal arm holing a pair of scales on the front of it. I imagine it will be in the Enchanting Section of the Controlled Section, but I've never been in so I don't know for sure. You need to worry about its power unless you open it. And I strongly recommend you don't do that"
Kelemvor is the God of Death. He values rules and law and has the alignment Lawful Neutral. He does not wish ill on people, and his followers believe death is to be understood not feared. You don't know of any specific rituals that captures of binds souls associated with Kelemvor, but you're fairly confident that you wouldn't know of them in any case, so this isn't odd to you.
Erik is the only one trained in Arcana (and you'd need training to understand the wizard's intent). Arcana: 18 You know the following:
Such books are powerful and rare magical artefacts. The knowledge stored within them is often powerful and the ability to use it is often tied to the power imbued in the book itself. In this case, that would be the souls captured in the book. Such a book could be used for good or evil or any degree of morality in between. You can't know Eirril's true intent, but the description of the book and his stated intent of using it to increase his enchanting abilities and knowledge are plausible. It's also quite likely such a book would be kept under tight control by the Arcaneum.
"Do you know if the Controlled Section is warded in any manner?"
"I'm not entirely certain - the security details of the Controlled Section aren't generally made public. I've seen there are some very strong-looking doors with a couple of guards at the entrance to that section of library though. I strongly suspect that there are some wards and traps in there as well. I expect you have some -ahem- experience of breaking into secure locations? If you wanted to find out more before going in, I suppose you might be able to find the plans or get someone in security to talk?"
Harpy sits back and continues to listen to her companions question the wizard wondering how many more questions he will answer before getting too irritated and putting a stop to it. Listening to his responses Harpy was quickly coming to the conclusion that he was not really being very helpful at all which seemed to fit given how he looked down at the group. We are just the hired help Harpy thinks to herself. They would only find out what they truly needed to know by investigating and casing the school, etc.
With that in mind, Harpy quietly and unobtrusively slips out out the back of the room looking to get to work.
OK, I think we're nearing the end of the questions? Unless anyone has any more, do you want to head out? Where would you like to go? I'm happy for you to split up again (now or later) if you want to.
Because of the timescale of this mission, you're also welcome to say things along the lines of "I want to spend the next week watching X" or "I want to spend two weeks researching Y", etc. If you chose to do something like that, I'd make the action jump to any interesting events that occur while you're doing so.
To Erik, Laza says "I think you and I should spend a few days as prospective students just to get a lay of the land in there. See what we can learn about the layout and guards."
Harpy after leaving the Q & A session gets right to work and flies over the Dun Farum Arcaneum campus and it surrounding environs scouting out the various eateries, watering holes, and taverns easy walking distance and proximity of the campus itself. Primarily she is looking for those places that seem to do the most business or rather has the most foot traffic coming from the campus itself into them during peak periods like lunch and dinner to late afternoons and evenings.
Spending a good three days just observing from the air and rooftops. Outside of those stated times of day, Harpy will do flyovers of the campus, in general, itself and how it is all laid out, landing to walk about to read the building names and signs and then flying over to get a better feel for the lay of the land and where the various buildings are located i.e. administration, library, housing and other things similar to competing fraternities, sororities or houses of magic, etc.
After her initial three-day survey is complete of the taverns and other hangouts she will switch to hoofing it and walking ground level to visit over the next week (7 days or so) visiting the more popular spots she had observed from above. Harpy intends to generally vamp about and hang out; mingling, schmoozing, eating, drinking and partying. Looking to make friends and contacts with various campus groups as she manages to encounter from administrators, instructors, students as well as other misc campus support staff like janitorial, clerical and security.
Harpy figures, for the most part, there will be a bit of overlap but then there should be more specialized hangouts that appeal to or favored by each of the individual groupings that they would tend to call their own. Since most will probably be snobs that don't want to mix too much with anyone outside their own group/sphere. Ideally, Harpy looking to make contact with a representative from each group. Preferably some bored or lonely males, cheating spouses looking for some companionship especially since Harpy has no intention of having to pay for her own food and drinks.
After the first 10 days, Harpy will then start to move closer to her real objective, the next phase over the next four days and nights being the library itself and those she can find/meet with greater and greater access to it that she can seduce and wrangle private tours of the various non-public and restricted areas. Additionally, she will seek to find out whatever she can about both Eirril Frilstaer and Tolith Crana from her various contacts and those she met informally during the entire two-week period.
So the first two weeks is basic research leaving her another two weeks remaining to start to come up with some ideas and making initial plans of what to do next. Meeting with the others in her merry band of thieves to share intel with.
OOC: Alright the above is her Harpy's general action plan and timeline all laid out. So any needed specific RP needed/required during any of various times can be handled where the DM prefers to jump into the thick of it during one or more of the various points along the timeline and I will respond accordingly to attempt to ferret out greater detail with whatever RP interactions come up. As for a cover story if it comes up, it will depend on who she is talking to from her just being a young party girl looking for fun good times, a vamp looking to bag a rich mage husband from a good family to a poor prospective student with no money looking for funding opportunities or a campus job (library) to get her foot in the door before the next term starts up.
Brayton will spend the first week observing the area for any parcel delivery service and groundskeeping/janitorial work in the arcaneum. Also trying to keep an eye for our target and her normal “schedule” of office hours etc.
"It matters "replies Rothnar to Eirril " because that could be a way to infiltrate the compuond. I do not question your methods in your art good sir, please show us the same respect." he says. There's something in his voice that makes most of his words sound like a thread, as if there is a meneance hidden in his words.
"I will need 150 gold upfront for this work. "he turns to Pike " You could deduct it from my reward at the end of it"
If they give him the money he will go and buy the gloves he had reserved at the Emporium
He then will try to take himself a job as gardener in the arcaneum.
Ruhvon will spend the first three days mirroring Harpy, but working from the ground. Utilizing his wildshape by turning into rats, spiders, cats, and other small/tiny beasts. He will try to locate the records room where the floorplans may be located as well as taking notice of who the security is at the doors of the library. Another two days or so would be spent skulking in the sewers around the area, looking for possible points of entry from below, and mapping the area to be able to move quickly between buildings of the Arcaneum.
To Erik, Laza says "I think you and I should spend a few days as prospective students just to get a lay of the land in there. See what we can learn about the layout and guards."
Let's see how well the pair of you manage to bluff your way around the campus with some deception rolls:
Laza: 6 Erik: 4
Without the proper student identification, you're unable to bluff your way into the buildings on campus. There are guards outside many of the main buildings, including the library and the Enchanting Department and they don't seem willing to believe your stories about having lost your identification. However, you're able to walk around the external areas of the campus a decent amount and talk to the students. Most seem to be a bit wary of you as you but a few open up. It turns out that Tolith is liked by most students and Eirril is viewed as eccentric and arrogant. Enchanting lectures are held by Tolith on Tuesday mornings (basic class) and Thursday afternoons (advanced class).
You make note of the times the guards rotate (midnight, 8am and 4pm) and where the guards are stationed around the campus. There's generally one outside the library and another outside the Enchanting Department at all times and a few patrolling the site as a whole. After a while, you feel confident that you can predict that a patrolling guard will pass each given point roughly every ten minutes.
Your run-ins with the guards let you know that every student and staff member has an enchanted card that displays the identity of the owner. These are difficult to forge and all students and staff should carry them at all times.
Harpy after leaving the Q & A session gets right to work and flies over the Dun Farum Arcaneum campus and it surrounding environs scouting out the various eateries, watering holes, and taverns easy walking distance and proximity of the campus itself. Primarily she is looking for those places that seem to do the most business or rather has the most foot traffic coming from the campus itself into them during peak periods like lunch and dinner to late afternoons and evenings.
Spending a good three days just observing from the air and rooftops. Outside of those stated times of day, Harpy will do flyovers of the campus, in general, itself and how it is all laid out, landing to walk about to read the building names and signs and then flying over to get a better feel for the lay of the land and where the various buildings are located i.e. administration, library, housing and other things similar to competing fraternities, sororities or houses of magic, etc.
After her initial three-day survey is complete of the taverns and other hangouts she will switch to hoofing it and walking ground level to visit over the next week (7 days or so) visiting the more popular spots she had observed from above. Harpy intends to generally vamp about and hang out; mingling, schmoozing, eating, drinking and partying. Looking to make friends and contacts with various campus groups as she manages to encounter from administrators, instructors, students as well as other misc campus support staff like janitorial, clerical and security.
Harpy figures, for the most part, there will be a bit of overlap but then there should be more specialized hangouts that appeal to or favored by each of the individual groupings that they would tend to call their own. Since most will probably be snobs that don't want to mix too much with anyone outside their own group/sphere. Ideally, Harpy looking to make contact with a representative from each group. Preferably some bored or lonely males, cheating spouses looking for some companionship especially since Harpy has no intention of having to pay for her own food and drinks.
After the first 10 days, Harpy will then start to move closer to her real objective, the next phase over the next four days and nights being the library itself and those she can find/meet with greater and greater access to it that she can seduce and wrangle private tours of the various non-public and restricted areas. Additionally, she will seek to find out whatever she can about both Eirril Frilstaer and Tolith Crana from her various contacts and those she met informally during the entire two-week period.
So the first two weeks is basic research leaving her another two weeks remaining to start to come up with some ideas and making initial plans of what to do next. Meeting with the others in her merry band of thieves to share intel with.
OOC: Alright the above is her Harpy's general action plan and timeline all laid out. So any needed specific RP needed/required during any of various times can be handled where the DM prefers to jump into the thick of it during one or more of the various points along the timeline and I will respond accordingly to attempt to ferret out greater detail with whatever RP interactions come up. As for a cover story if it comes up, it will depend on who she is talking to from her just being a young party girl looking for fun good times, a vamp looking to bag a rich mage husband from a good family to a poor prospective student with no money looking for funding opportunities or a campus job (library) to get her foot in the door before the next term starts up.
OK, let's walk this through. During your flyovers, you're able to ascertain the layout of the campus very well. You can find your way to any of the buildings and have a good idea of the main thoroughfares and the less-travelled shortcuts as well. Perception roll: 16 You spot a few hidden pathways, but none that seem to relate to any of objectives.
The main administrative building is near the centre of the campus and is a large stone building with impressive architecture and a distinguished historical look with many towers and ornamental battlements. It seems many administrative and maintenance tasks are carried out from this building. The library is next door and has a similar grand style. You see students moving in and out at all hours, but it's busiest in the afternoon and evening. It doesn't appear to ever completely shut. There are a couple of halls of residence dotted around the campus and a few in the nearby areas of the city which students commute in from. It appears these are segregated by year of study and gender, with newer students on campus and final-year students outside the campus. There are three student associations similar to a fraternity or sorority, but each seems to have male and female members. Your fly-bys don't tell you much about them. There is one department for each of the eight schools of magic.
During your time on foot, you try your best to charm your way into social circles (Deception: 13), but you're met with little success. Some of the less cool students hang out with you and the parties are a little limited, but you still gain some information about student life. The fratenity-like organisations are referred to as "leagues". Alpha League tends to contain rich kids intend on making contacts, Gamma League caters more toward the intellectual students and Zeta League caters to those who want to party. Around a quarter of students belong to one League or another and there's a friendly rivalry between them. You gather that, about three weeks into your month to complete the mission there will the annual Olympiad where the Leagues compete against each other. Most students and faculty normally attend the event which takes place on the main gardens, towards the outskirts of the campus. Events include magic tournaments and a number of silly student games. There's also an unofficial party that evening which also keeps most students occupied most of that night.
You spend time in the main cafeterias of the campus and taverns in the surround area. You prey upon the bored and lonely to try and find weaknesses to exploit. In one tavern you encounter a number of the guards gambling and you manage to make your way into their game (intelligence roll to see how well you do: 6) and you make 1 gold. You also learn that one of the guards there guards the Enchanting Department on Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights and seems to be very into his gambling.
You try to get private tours from the people you've met (Persuasion: 20) and you get a private tour of the main administration building from a bored secretary, the Enchanting Department from a junior researcher and the library from a librarian. In the main administration building you see a room marked "Records and Plans" which is full of people at the time you pass. It's on the second floor on a corner of the building with several large windows. There's a large tree outside the building whose branches are fairly close to the window. As you move around the Enchanting Department, you notice a door with a large gold plate marked "Professor Tolith Crana". The door is shut and your guide is leading you down the hallway straight past it. In the library, you're led through the maze of shelves. They appear to be roughly arranged by school of magic. You spot a large wooden door with two guards sat outside of it. Your guide introduces it as the "Controlled Section" and tells you there are many secrets hidden in there. You get the impression they're trying to impress you. (OOC: I think these are probably the most interesting places to jump into a deeper RP. If you want to do anything specific whilst on these tours then let me know and we can RP it).
Eirril looks down his nose at you "I suppose if you possess a little magic you might pass as a first-year student. Tolith is a had-working goody-two shoes. Never willing to take a risk. I suppose she has some small modicum of talent, but without the daring to go with it she will never be great. She's quiet and people seem to like her for some reason. She lives just off the campus in a private residence. I think she has a husband and some children, but I've never cared to check."
DM - Silver Blades homebrew
Vonrak Hammerstone - Fighter/Wizard: Pick and Play
Following your first question, Eirril looks at Pike. "I thought you said these were your best? Shouldn't they know how to pass unseen?" He looks back at you. "I don't care how you blend in. There are all sorts around the university. Lots of mages of course, but lots guards, tradespeople and administrators as well. You could disguise yourselves if you want. Or find a secret passage, sneak around at night. I don't know, this is your line of business!"
At your second question, Eirril balks and begins to splutter. Pike cuts in "Eirril has made it clear - Tolith is not to be killed and neither is anybody else. Eirril would find that... distasteful and, more importantly, it would draw a lot of questions and that risks the whole operation. If Tolith is killed, you will not be paid for the mission and it will be classed a failure. If anybody else dies, you will receive half payment. If you knock out some guards, that's fine of course. Just make sure it doesn't get linked back to the Blades and Eirril. If something goes wrong, I would suggest you get out of there and try again when the heat dies down - you have a month so there's no rush."
DM - Silver Blades homebrew
Vonrak Hammerstone - Fighter/Wizard: Pick and Play
Brayton grumbles under his breath “get your head out of the books and into the real world.... damned wizards.” Clearly loud enough to be heard by everyone before he walks out of the room.
Harpy's tail twitches in a cat-like manner feeling some sense of satisfaction that the wizard's words and abrasive manner confirmed her gut feeling regarding his nature. Harpy remains quiet and in her out of the way spot.
"I can make myself many unassuming forms," Ruhvon says from the side. "With the use of the halfling's potions, getting into places will be easy... Since you brought it up, where is her house?"
Laza, listening, adds "I too have some talent with the arcane, though it came a bit more naturally for me. Perhaps Erik and I could pose as students to get an initial understanding of the security situation in the academy."
PbP 🎲: Tyekanik; Moneo Noree; Korba Muris; & occasional DM:
If Rothnar feels disappointed that the mission is not to kill a dangerous target but just to steel and frame he doesn’t show it.
”I only have three questions” says in his low voice “ does the Academy has gardens? And Aren’t you worried that they could find what happened using magic? Don’t you fear a spell could reveal your plans once we had succeeded? Last one concerns the book itself. Perhaps we can steal it, and make a copy for you, or at least for the parts you need and leave it on her quarters. Have you seen it before? We could make a fake one with the same covert and leave it at the library for the time you copy it. If it is forbidden no one would go and check it. Then we can out the original at her quarters and remove the decoy. “
PbP Character: A few ;)
Eirril bristles a little and you hear him mutter "Well I never..." under his breath.
Eirril replies "I'm not entirely sure. I heard her mention it was near the Arcaneum during a faculty meeting once, but I've never been there. I'm sure the address will be in the administration's records somewhere. Or you could try following her I suppose. Her office is in the Department of Enchantment, you can't miss it. She also gives lectures on Tuesday mornings in the Department of Enchanting lecture theatre I believe."
At your first question, Eirril looks puzzled "Well, yes. It has several quads, a large botanical garden used for growing herbs for the alchemists and a recreational garden for the students. How does that matter?"
At your second question Eirril looks a little uncomfortable "Well, there is always a risk, but Forensic Magic is still fairly basic and truth spells are only so effective - anyone would expect a competent mage like Tolith to be able to keep lying under their effects so her denial would only mean so much. So unless you leave physical evidence linking me to the theft, I should be fine. If you get caught I will, of course, deny any knowledge of you. And Mr Brickbane here has assured me that you're excellent at not getting caught and wouldn't reveal me if you were. And he tells me the Silver Blades have ways of getting their members out of tricky situations." he looks at Pike and Pike nods slowly. You suspect they're referring to the fact that the Guard and much of the judiciary of Dun Farum have been compromised by the Blades in some way. Unless the truth is undeniable, the Godfather can normally get charges dropped.
When you begin talking about the book, Eirril looks excited. "The book is an ancient and powerful artifact. As the name suggests, 'The Well of Souls' actually contains a number of trapped souls, captured in a ritual to the god Kelemvor. It's a powerful item in itself and its wealth of power comes more from the words on its pages. As such, a copy would not satisfy me, nor would you easily be able to make a replica to plant on Tolith that would stand up to more than a quick glance. You'll need to come up with another way of implicating her. Perhaps you can make it look like she hid the book somewhere to explain its disappearance? As for the book itself, I haven't seen it, but have heard descriptions. I believe it to be a large black leather tome bound with a gold clasp. It has an illustration of an upright skeletal arm holing a pair of scales on the front of it. I imagine it will be in the Enchanting Section of the Controlled Section, but I've never been in so I don't know for sure. You need to worry about its power unless you open it. And I strongly recommend you don't do that"
DM - Silver Blades homebrew
Vonrak Hammerstone - Fighter/Wizard: Pick and Play
A religion check to see if any of you know of Kelemvor:
Ruhvon: 3
Brayton: 8
Erik: 12
Harpy: 17
Laza: 18
Rothanr: 5
Erik, Harpy and Laza know the following:
Kelemvor is the God of Death. He values rules and law and has the alignment Lawful Neutral. He does not wish ill on people, and his followers believe death is to be understood not feared. You don't know of any specific rituals that captures of binds souls associated with Kelemvor, but you're fairly confident that you wouldn't know of them in any case, so this isn't odd to you.
Erik is the only one trained in Arcana (and you'd need training to understand the wizard's intent). Arcana: 18 You know the following:
Such books are powerful and rare magical artefacts. The knowledge stored within them is often powerful and the ability to use it is often tied to the power imbued in the book itself. In this case, that would be the souls captured in the book. Such a book could be used for good or evil or any degree of morality in between. You can't know Eirril's true intent, but the description of the book and his stated intent of using it to increase his enchanting abilities and knowledge are plausible. It's also quite likely such a book would be kept under tight control by the Arcaneum.
DM - Silver Blades homebrew
Vonrak Hammerstone - Fighter/Wizard: Pick and Play
"Do you know if the Controlled Section is warded in any manner?"
"I'm not entirely certain - the security details of the Controlled Section aren't generally made public. I've seen there are some very strong-looking doors with a couple of guards at the entrance to that section of library though. I strongly suspect that there are some wards and traps in there as well. I expect you have some -ahem- experience of breaking into secure locations? If you wanted to find out more before going in, I suppose you might be able to find the plans or get someone in security to talk?"
DM - Silver Blades homebrew
Vonrak Hammerstone - Fighter/Wizard: Pick and Play
Harpy sits back and continues to listen to her companions question the wizard wondering how many more questions he will answer before getting too irritated and putting a stop to it. Listening to his responses Harpy was quickly coming to the conclusion that he was not really being very helpful at all which seemed to fit given how he looked down at the group. We are just the hired help Harpy thinks to herself. They would only find out what they truly needed to know by investigating and casing the school, etc.
With that in mind, Harpy quietly and unobtrusively slips out out the back of the room looking to get to work.
OK, I think we're nearing the end of the questions? Unless anyone has any more, do you want to head out? Where would you like to go? I'm happy for you to split up again (now or later) if you want to.
Because of the timescale of this mission, you're also welcome to say things along the lines of "I want to spend the next week watching X" or "I want to spend two weeks researching Y", etc. If you chose to do something like that, I'd make the action jump to any interesting events that occur while you're doing so.
DM - Silver Blades homebrew
Vonrak Hammerstone - Fighter/Wizard: Pick and Play
To Erik, Laza says "I think you and I should spend a few days as prospective students just to get a lay of the land in there. See what we can learn about the layout and guards."
PbP 🎲: Tyekanik; Moneo Noree; Korba Muris; & occasional DM:
Harpy after leaving the Q & A session gets right to work and flies over the Dun Farum Arcaneum campus and it surrounding environs scouting out the various eateries, watering holes, and taverns easy walking distance and proximity of the campus itself. Primarily she is looking for those places that seem to do the most business or rather has the most foot traffic coming from the campus itself into them during peak periods like lunch and dinner to late afternoons and evenings.
Spending a good three days just observing from the air and rooftops. Outside of those stated times of day, Harpy will do flyovers of the campus, in general, itself and how it is all laid out, landing to walk about to read the building names and signs and then flying over to get a better feel for the lay of the land and where the various buildings are located i.e. administration, library, housing and other things similar to competing fraternities, sororities or houses of magic, etc.
After her initial three-day survey is complete of the taverns and other hangouts she will switch to hoofing it and walking ground level to visit over the next week (7 days or so) visiting the more popular spots she had observed from above. Harpy intends to generally vamp about and hang out; mingling, schmoozing, eating, drinking and partying. Looking to make friends and contacts with various campus groups as she manages to encounter from administrators, instructors, students as well as other misc campus support staff like janitorial, clerical and security.
Harpy figures, for the most part, there will be a bit of overlap but then there should be more specialized hangouts that appeal to or favored by each of the individual groupings that they would tend to call their own. Since most will probably be snobs that don't want to mix too much with anyone outside their own group/sphere. Ideally, Harpy looking to make contact with a representative from each group. Preferably some bored or lonely males, cheating spouses looking for some companionship especially since Harpy has no intention of having to pay for her own food and drinks.
After the first 10 days, Harpy will then start to move closer to her real objective, the next phase over the next four days and nights being the library itself and those she can find/meet with greater and greater access to it that she can seduce and wrangle private tours of the various non-public and restricted areas. Additionally, she will seek to find out whatever she can about both Eirril Frilstaer and Tolith Crana from her various contacts and those she met informally during the entire two-week period.
So the first two weeks is basic research leaving her another two weeks remaining to start to come up with some ideas and making initial plans of what to do next. Meeting with the others in her merry band of thieves to share intel with.
OOC: Alright the above is her Harpy's general action plan and timeline all laid out. So any needed specific RP needed/required during any of various times can be handled where the DM prefers to jump into the thick of it during one or more of the various points along the timeline and I will respond accordingly to attempt to ferret out greater detail with whatever RP interactions come up. As for a cover story if it comes up, it will depend on who she is talking to from her just being a young party girl looking for fun good times, a vamp looking to bag a rich mage husband from a good family to a poor prospective student with no money looking for funding opportunities or a campus job (library) to get her foot in the door before the next term starts up.
Brayton will spend the first week observing the area for any parcel delivery service and groundskeeping/janitorial work in the arcaneum. Also trying to keep an eye for our target and her normal “schedule” of office hours etc.
"It matters " replies Rothnar to Eirril " because that could be a way to infiltrate the compuond. I do not question your methods in your art good sir, please show us the same respect." he says. There's something in his voice that makes most of his words sound like a thread, as if there is a meneance hidden in his words.
"I will need 150 gold upfront for this work. " he turns to Pike " You could deduct it from my reward at the end of it"
If they give him the money he will go and buy the gloves he had reserved at the Emporium
He then will try to take himself a job as gardener in the arcaneum.
PbP Character: A few ;)
Ruhvon will spend the first three days mirroring Harpy, but working from the ground. Utilizing his wildshape by turning into rats, spiders, cats, and other small/tiny beasts. He will try to locate the records room where the floorplans may be located as well as taking notice of who the security is at the doors of the library. Another two days or so would be spent skulking in the sewers around the area, looking for possible points of entry from below, and mapping the area to be able to move quickly between buildings of the Arcaneum.
Let's see how well the pair of you manage to bluff your way around the campus with some deception rolls:
Laza: 6
Erik: 4
Without the proper student identification, you're unable to bluff your way into the buildings on campus. There are guards outside many of the main buildings, including the library and the Enchanting Department and they don't seem willing to believe your stories about having lost your identification. However, you're able to walk around the external areas of the campus a decent amount and talk to the students. Most seem to be a bit wary of you as you but a few open up. It turns out that Tolith is liked by most students and Eirril is viewed as eccentric and arrogant. Enchanting lectures are held by Tolith on Tuesday mornings (basic class) and Thursday afternoons (advanced class).
You make note of the times the guards rotate (midnight, 8am and 4pm) and where the guards are stationed around the campus. There's generally one outside the library and another outside the Enchanting Department at all times and a few patrolling the site as a whole. After a while, you feel confident that you can predict that a patrolling guard will pass each given point roughly every ten minutes.
Your run-ins with the guards let you know that every student and staff member has an enchanted card that displays the identity of the owner. These are difficult to forge and all students and staff should carry them at all times.
DM - Silver Blades homebrew
Vonrak Hammerstone - Fighter/Wizard: Pick and Play
OK, let's walk this through. During your flyovers, you're able to ascertain the layout of the campus very well. You can find your way to any of the buildings and have a good idea of the main thoroughfares and the less-travelled shortcuts as well. Perception roll: 16 You spot a few hidden pathways, but none that seem to relate to any of objectives.
The main administrative building is near the centre of the campus and is a large stone building with impressive architecture and a distinguished historical look with many towers and ornamental battlements. It seems many administrative and maintenance tasks are carried out from this building. The library is next door and has a similar grand style. You see students moving in and out at all hours, but it's busiest in the afternoon and evening. It doesn't appear to ever completely shut. There are a couple of halls of residence dotted around the campus and a few in the nearby areas of the city which students commute in from. It appears these are segregated by year of study and gender, with newer students on campus and final-year students outside the campus. There are three student associations similar to a fraternity or sorority, but each seems to have male and female members. Your fly-bys don't tell you much about them. There is one department for each of the eight schools of magic.
During your time on foot, you try your best to charm your way into social circles (Deception: 13), but you're met with little success. Some of the less cool students hang out with you and the parties are a little limited, but you still gain some information about student life. The fratenity-like organisations are referred to as "leagues". Alpha League tends to contain rich kids intend on making contacts, Gamma League caters more toward the intellectual students and Zeta League caters to those who want to party. Around a quarter of students belong to one League or another and there's a friendly rivalry between them. You gather that, about three weeks into your month to complete the mission there will the annual Olympiad where the Leagues compete against each other. Most students and faculty normally attend the event which takes place on the main gardens, towards the outskirts of the campus. Events include magic tournaments and a number of silly student games. There's also an unofficial party that evening which also keeps most students occupied most of that night.
You spend time in the main cafeterias of the campus and taverns in the surround area. You prey upon the bored and lonely to try and find weaknesses to exploit. In one tavern you encounter a number of the guards gambling and you manage to make your way into their game (intelligence roll to see how well you do: 6) and you make 1 gold. You also learn that one of the guards there guards the Enchanting Department on Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights and seems to be very into his gambling.
You try to get private tours from the people you've met (Persuasion: 20) and you get a private tour of the main administration building from a bored secretary, the Enchanting Department from a junior researcher and the library from a librarian. In the main administration building you see a room marked "Records and Plans" which is full of people at the time you pass. It's on the second floor on a corner of the building with several large windows. There's a large tree outside the building whose branches are fairly close to the window. As you move around the Enchanting Department, you notice a door with a large gold plate marked "Professor Tolith Crana". The door is shut and your guide is leading you down the hallway straight past it. In the library, you're led through the maze of shelves. They appear to be roughly arranged by school of magic. You spot a large wooden door with two guards sat outside of it. Your guide introduces it as the "Controlled Section" and tells you there are many secrets hidden in there. You get the impression they're trying to impress you. (OOC: I think these are probably the most interesting places to jump into a deeper RP. If you want to do anything specific whilst on these tours then let me know and we can RP it).
DM - Silver Blades homebrew
Vonrak Hammerstone - Fighter/Wizard: Pick and Play