"Well, if you were me, this is what I would ask," Kale says to Al-Ashari, before he retires for the evening. "And before you do that ritual, be sure to let me inspire you with a song or poem of some sort. It may help with your concentration."
Kale lists off the questions he would ask very specifically (where [the party]means naming all members of the current party by their full name, as listed out in the first question):
"1. Is it possible for Al-Ashari, Donfaldo Stoutgirdle, Hakim Whitegaze, Jetaro Jordilyn, Kale Fencan, and Merric Rosewater to leave Elysium and return to our homelands alive, healthy, and sane?
2. Is it necessary for [the party] to solve and resolve each of the riddles Cicero gave us in his Tarrock reading in order to leave the city?
3. Is Cecilia still alive, able, and willing to be rescued?
4. Is someone from the Great Library actively hunting [the party] because of the book which Soveliss took?
5. Is someone from The Adamant Asylum actively hunting [the party] because of Kale's trickery of Nurse Joy?"
Kale spitballs some alternative questions if the ones he suggested aren't satisfactory:
Can [the party] find someone among the Vistani who can and would help us leave the city?
By now Whitegaze is plenty drunk and just agreeing and flirting with Al-Ashari, "Come on, one drink won't hurt you? Better to have ten though, the world's gone crazy, time to act like it."
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
To Al-Ashari Whitegaze's idea of flirting looked like an annoyances of a drunkard. If simple ignore was not working already and mental loud "enough!" did not stop him either, Al-Ashari would use a strong Suggestion to him to finish his drink, go to his room and sleep there until morning. (Technically, she has "Mass Suggestion", but number is "up to", should work on one person as well).
"Some good ideas," nodded sorceress to Kale, "a bit too many conditions, though. Assuming I will be able to perform the ritual and the god - or other higher being will answer at all, they work more like our good old wishing well - trying to weasel their way from a straight answer. Questions have to be short and precise, excluding any uncertainty... I will try to do it now. Even in the worst case, by the morning I should be fine."
She wished everyone goodnight and retired to her room. Locked it up in a way she would not be able to open it herself if she falls to madness, sat on on the bad as comfortably as it was possible and started the ritual.
9
(DC Int 15) To her surprise, ritual worked. She never knew who answered her in the rare cases when she used that spell, but it did not matter - the important thing was to get the answers.
In case spell worked as intended, she would ask following questions:
1. Is it possible for her and her companions to leave the City alive?
2. Can Vistani transport us from the City?
3. Do we need to solve all the riddles from Cicero to leave the City??
4. Will we find the key to the room in Dancing Spider on the Infinite Stairs?
5. Is Asylum a more dangerous place than Duchess's house?
He gives you an amused smile, at your attempt to intimidate him.
"The dutchess knows more about them than anyone I would guess, but they cannot bring you out of the city. As your companion there has said, we all would have left long ago if that were an option." He shrugs. "As to where to find them, you will happen on them rarely in the city, and it is more likely that you find a room key laying on the street than find one of them."
Merric nods his thanks. "I'm thankin' ye fer the information, O'Purveryor of Spirits. As fer leavin', praps tis that the question's not bin put tuh these Vistani the right way, if ye can follow my thinkin'. Can you be tellin' us how to find these stairs? I'm thinkin' you mentioned somethin' earlier but I cannot recall it at the moment."
Turning to Al'Ashari he says, "I'm thankin' ye fer the offer, my dear, and wishing ye a good night. And I'm agreein' with Kale as to the questios but thinkin' that mayhap you could ask if visitin' the mad house next tis the thing, or findin' them stairs. From what you're sayin', that be two questions and ye'd know better'n me how many you could ask, so tis just a thought."
As he turns away, he glances significantly at Whitegaze, he sends telepathically, "Humans...bluster and charm mixed together." Merric infuses fondness in the sending and a certain commiseration. "I've always enjoyed their company, though leaving it is often the cherry on top, if you understand my meaning."
"I'm also fer bed. Toss me a key, good Cicero." Catching the key, Merric nods a good evening to all and heads to his room. He inspects it thoroughly for anything out of the ordinary, checks all his weapons and gear, then goes to bed, one hand on his Rapier of Warning.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Kale companionably claps Whitegaze on the back. "Don't worry, friend... I'm sure you'll regret that in the morning. And if you don't, I'm sure Al-Ashari will make you regret it. Why don't you retire to greener pastures for now?"
Persuasion: 17
Just because Kale is Kale, he makes sure Al-Ashari absolutely sees him trying to throw Whitegaze off the path, before he looks over Whitegaze's shoulder and winks at her.
When everything has settled down, Kale will return to his room for the night to try and get some rest. It's not easy coming, as the events of the previous day churn endlessly through his head. He'll admit it openly to himself, at least - he doesn't want to meet whatever might be powerful enough to have snapped his control over Nurse Joy. Still, if the others insist on going to the Asylum, there's likely little he can do to dissuade them... desperation makes a dangerous bedfellow to seasoned adventurers. I suppose crossing the director of the Asylum is less risky than crossing my own group here. Still, when sleep finally comes, it's restless and disjointed.
Whitegaze will eventually stumble off to a bed, hopefully his, and try and sleep it off. The next morning he'll wake and get ready and head downstairs early for breakfast.
"Then it is settled - at the morning we are going to the Stairs (providing Cicero would share it's location). We fight the "prowler" and try to find the key, which might lead us to Cecilia. And with the news about Cecilia we can return to Duchess and get some information about Vistani."Al-Ashari sighed, "why nothing can ever be simple..."
Before retiring to her room, Al-Ashari explained her hesitation before when she was talking about the means to leave the city: "There is a ritual, allowing to communicate with the higher beings... It is dangerous and most of the time not worth it - you can rarely get something other than simple "yes" or "no". Still, we are in a tough spot and I might risk to do it. What would you want me to ask it the ritual works?" ( Contact Other Plane )
1. Is it possible for her and her companions to leave the City alive? "Yes"
2. Can Vistani transport us from the City? "Unlikely"
3. Do we need to solve all the riddles from Cicero to leave the City?? "Would make chances better."
4. Will we find the key to the room in Dancing Spider on the Infinite Stairs? "No"
Before he goes to bed, Joetaro is going to pray to Selune and ask for her guidance. He will also attune to the sword he received. In the morning, he wakes up, goes downstairs and has some food.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I have an intelligence of six, I know what I'm doing.
(I believe Al-Ashari cast her spell in the evening, right before taking her long rest.)
The morning dawns bright and early, and Kale feels... well, refreshed would probably be the wrong word, but rested enough to face another day of madness, at the least. As the others begin to gather in the taproom, Kale beckons them to have a seat, taking the place of the pianoman for the morning entertainment.
"Day after day, they send my friends away to mansions cold and grey, To the far side of town, where the thin men stalk the streets, while the sane stay underground!
Day after day, they tell me I can go, They tell me I can blow to the far side of town, Where it's pointless to be high, because it's such a long way down!
Don't set me free, I'm as helpless as can be, Because I'd rather stay here with all the madmen, Than perish with the sadmen roaming free!
And I'd rather play here with all the madmen, For I'm quite content they're all as sane as me."
Kale finishes his song, allowing everyone to be inspired by his leadership (add 21 temporary HP to your character until your next short rest.)
"Hope you do not mean it." Al-Ashari was in a good mood (a decent sleep can do wonders!), already had her breakfast in her room and was ready to share the news - aloud even. "There is still hope for us to return. So, do not get comfortable just yet."
She sat down and explained: "Fist good news, Sivellius left us a gift - book of rituals. At least I think it's his, but the important thing - I can decipher it. There are quite a few rituals there, and if now we come across something magical, it is possible to find out what we are dealing with."
"Now about the one ritual I conducted yesterday. It looks like we might be able to leave this place." Al-Ashari listed the questions and the answers she got. "We still have three unresolved mysteries - Cecilia, "Invisible man" in Asylum (unless "place of mad" is the whole city) and that "darkness that we have to face". But it sounds like Infinite Stairs is not the place to look for the answers. Unless we want to make our move around the city easier."
Whitegaze will move over to Al-Ashari and bow his head a little, "Sorry if I offended you last night, but I still think you need to loosen up a little, too tightly wound in this place will only cause trouble. But yes, it looks like the Asylum is our next destination, unless anyone has a better way to find this other tavern."
Al-Ashari gave Whitegaze a polite smile, acknowledging the apology and her acceptance of it, but then remembered that they were still missing one piece of information (among the sea of another): "Cicero, can you explain how exactly Infinite Stairs allowed citizens navigate the City?"
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
(Something I've forgotten - beard roll: 1, grow on 3+)
You notice something a little different about Kale today. His goatee looks a bit ragged, as though it was hastily shorn off in the morning, almost as if it had grown into a full beard overnight. Not quite the composed look you usually expect out of the group's bard...
Kale pulls out the badge he lifted off of Nurse Joy and spins it around. "This will likely come in handy if we go there," he tells the others. "Thought I suspect I might be known to the administrator of the place, considering how I got ahold of this. Whatever the thing is that runs that place, it's psychic... and powerful." He nods as Al-Ashari asks her questions. "Admittedly, we won't be going anywhere quickly if we can't even find the Asylum in the first place."
"Well, if you were me, this is what I would ask," Kale says to Al-Ashari, before he retires for the evening. "And before you do that ritual, be sure to let me inspire you with a song or poem of some sort. It may help with your concentration."
Kale lists off the questions he would ask very specifically (where [the party] means naming all members of the current party by their full name, as listed out in the first question):
"1. Is it possible for Al-Ashari, Donfaldo Stoutgirdle, Hakim Whitegaze, Jetaro Jordilyn, Kale Fencan, and Merric Rosewater to leave Elysium and return to our homelands alive, healthy, and sane?
2. Is it necessary for [the party] to solve and resolve each of the riddles Cicero gave us in his Tarrock reading in order to leave the city?
3. Is Cecilia still alive, able, and willing to be rescued?
4. Is someone from the Great Library actively hunting [the party] because of the book which Soveliss took?
5. Is someone from The Adamant Asylum actively hunting [the party] because of Kale's trickery of Nurse Joy?"
Kale spitballs some alternative questions if the ones he suggested aren't satisfactory:
Can [the party] find someone among the Vistani who can and would help us leave the city?
By now Whitegaze is plenty drunk and just agreeing and flirting with Al-Ashari, "Come on, one drink won't hurt you? Better to have ten though, the world's gone crazy, time to act like it."
To Al-Ashari Whitegaze's idea of flirting looked like an annoyances of a drunkard. If simple ignore was not working already and mental loud "enough!" did not stop him either, Al-Ashari would use a strong Suggestion to him to finish his drink, go to his room and sleep there until morning. (Technically, she has "Mass Suggestion", but number is "up to", should work on one person as well).
"Some good ideas," nodded sorceress to Kale, "a bit too many conditions, though. Assuming I will be able to perform the ritual and the god - or other higher being will answer at all, they work more like our good old wishing well - trying to weasel their way from a straight answer. Questions have to be short and precise, excluding any uncertainty... I will try to do it now. Even in the worst case, by the morning I should be fine."
She wished everyone goodnight and retired to her room. Locked it up in a way she would not be able to open it herself if she falls to madness, sat on on the bad as comfortably as it was possible and started the ritual.
9
(DC Int 15) To her surprise, ritual worked. She never knew who answered her in the rare cases when she used that spell, but it did not matter - the important thing was to get the answers.
In case spell worked as intended, she would ask following questions:
1. Is it possible for her and her companions to leave the City alive?
2. Can Vistani transport us from the City?
3. Do we need to solve all the riddles from Cicero to leave the City??
4. Will we find the key to the room in Dancing Spider on the Infinite Stairs?
5. Is Asylum a more dangerous place than Duchess's house?
Meili Liang Lvl 5 Monk
Dice
21 Wis Save
Whitegaze is still undeterred.
OOC: Whitegaze is drunk - penalties to Wisdom.
Meili Liang Lvl 5 Monk
Dice
Merric nods his thanks. "I'm thankin' ye fer the information, O'Purveryor of Spirits. As fer leavin', praps tis that the question's not bin put tuh these Vistani the right way, if ye can follow my thinkin'. Can you be tellin' us how to find these stairs? I'm thinkin' you mentioned somethin' earlier but I cannot recall it at the moment."
Turning to Al'Ashari he says, "I'm thankin' ye fer the offer, my dear, and wishing ye a good night. And I'm agreein' with Kale as to the questios but thinkin' that mayhap you could ask if visitin' the mad house next tis the thing, or findin' them stairs. From what you're sayin', that be two questions and ye'd know better'n me how many you could ask, so tis just a thought."
As he turns away, he glances significantly at Whitegaze, he sends telepathically, "Humans...bluster and charm mixed together." Merric infuses fondness in the sending and a certain commiseration. "I've always enjoyed their company, though leaving it is often the cherry on top, if you understand my meaning."
"I'm also fer bed. Toss me a key, good Cicero." Catching the key, Merric nods a good evening to all and heads to his room. He inspects it thoroughly for anything out of the ordinary, checks all his weapons and gear, then goes to bed, one hand on his Rapier of Warning.
Investigation 14
Tandor the White, Human Life Cleric
Kale companionably claps Whitegaze on the back. "Don't worry, friend... I'm sure you'll regret that in the morning. And if you don't, I'm sure Al-Ashari will make you regret it. Why don't you retire to greener pastures for now?"
Persuasion: 17
Just because Kale is Kale, he makes sure Al-Ashari absolutely sees him trying to throw Whitegaze off the path, before he looks over Whitegaze's shoulder and winks at her.
When everything has settled down, Kale will return to his room for the night to try and get some rest. It's not easy coming, as the events of the previous day churn endlessly through his head. He'll admit it openly to himself, at least - he doesn't want to meet whatever might be powerful enough to have snapped his control over Nurse Joy. Still, if the others insist on going to the Asylum, there's likely little he can do to dissuade them... desperation makes a dangerous bedfellow to seasoned adventurers. I suppose crossing the director of the Asylum is less risky than crossing my own group here. Still, when sleep finally comes, it's restless and disjointed.
Whitegaze will eventually stumble off to a bed, hopefully his, and try and sleep it off. The next morning he'll wake and get ready and head downstairs early for breakfast.
Joetaro is going to head to bed as well. "Sweet Selune, I pray we can make some progress in the morning."
I have an intelligence of six, I know what I'm doing.
1. Is it possible for her and her companions to leave the City alive?
"Yes"
2. Can Vistani transport us from the City?
"Unlikely"
3. Do we need to solve all the riddles from Cicero to leave the City??
"Would make chances better."
4. Will we find the key to the room in Dancing Spider on the Infinite Stairs?
"No"
You all have a long rest. Everyone can level up their characters.
What do you do in the morning?
Before he goes to bed, Joetaro is going to pray to Selune and ask for her guidance. He will also attune to the sword he received. In the morning, he wakes up, goes downstairs and has some food.
I have an intelligence of six, I know what I'm doing.
What about "5. Is Asylum a more dangerous place than Duchess's house?"
Meili Liang Lvl 5 Monk
Dice
(Is she actually casting the spell in the morning then? If so, I think we're waiting on that.)
(I believe Al-Ashari cast her spell in the evening, right before taking her long rest.)
The morning dawns bright and early, and Kale feels... well, refreshed would probably be the wrong word, but rested enough to face another day of madness, at the least. As the others begin to gather in the taproom, Kale beckons them to have a seat, taking the place of the pianoman for the morning entertainment.
"Day after day, they send my friends away to mansions cold and grey,
To the far side of town, where the thin men stalk the streets,
while the sane stay underground!
Day after day, they tell me I can go,
They tell me I can blow to the far side of town,
Where it's pointless to be high, because it's such a long way down!
Don't set me free, I'm as helpless as can be,
Because I'd rather stay here with all the madmen,
Than perish with the sadmen roaming free!
And I'd rather play here with all the madmen,
For I'm quite content they're all as sane as me."
Kale finishes his song, allowing everyone to be inspired by his leadership (add 21 temporary HP to your character until your next short rest.)
"Hope you do not mean it." Al-Ashari was in a good mood (a decent sleep can do wonders!), already had her breakfast in her room and was ready to share the news - aloud even. "There is still hope for us to return. So, do not get comfortable just yet."
She sat down and explained: "Fist good news, Sivellius left us a gift - book of rituals. At least I think it's his, but the important thing - I can decipher it. There are quite a few rituals there, and if now we come across something magical, it is possible to find out what we are dealing with."
"Now about the one ritual I conducted yesterday. It looks like we might be able to leave this place." Al-Ashari listed the questions and the answers she got. "We still have three unresolved mysteries - Cecilia, "Invisible man" in Asylum (unless "place of mad" is the whole city) and that "darkness that we have to face". But it sounds like Infinite Stairs is not the place to look for the answers. Unless we want to make our move around the city easier."
Meili Liang Lvl 5 Monk
Dice
Whitegaze will move over to Al-Ashari and bow his head a little, "Sorry if I offended you last night, but I still think you need to loosen up a little, too tightly wound in this place will only cause trouble. But yes, it looks like the Asylum is our next destination, unless anyone has a better way to find this other tavern."
Al-Ashari gave Whitegaze a polite smile, acknowledging the apology and her acceptance of it, but then remembered that they were still missing one piece of information (among the sea of another): "Cicero, can you explain how exactly Infinite Stairs allowed citizens navigate the City?"
Meili Liang Lvl 5 Monk
Dice
(Something I've forgotten - beard roll: 1, grow on 3+)
You notice something a little different about Kale today. His goatee looks a bit ragged, as though it was hastily shorn off in the morning, almost as if it had grown into a full beard overnight. Not quite the composed look you usually expect out of the group's bard...
Kale pulls out the badge he lifted off of Nurse Joy and spins it around. "This will likely come in handy if we go there," he tells the others. "Thought I suspect I might be known to the administrator of the place, considering how I got ahold of this. Whatever the thing is that runs that place, it's psychic... and powerful." He nods as Al-Ashari asks her questions. "Admittedly, we won't be going anywhere quickly if we can't even find the Asylum in the first place."
Must have missed that one, sorry.
Answer would be: Unclear.