"Of course I know what I'm looking for!" The gnome says without looking up. "Right now I'm looking for the roof of Kalazath's laboratory so I can excavate the rest of the mound more carefully with magic. Half of these things are trapped, so if you don't mind, I am trying not to get us all blown into mince."
"We're trying to hold up our end of the deal now that the tribe has arrived, and I'd rather convince them unearthing this lab is worth breaking their taboos, so if you could tell us exactly what you hope to get, that would help,"Dog says to Finnegan, expecting the gnome to once again be the opposite of helpful, but counting on the proximate threat of the goliaths to loosen his tongue.
He asks the party (mostly Tock) if anyone has any charm magic to use against the goliath band, because he doesn't see them listening to logic, and the only other option he sees is fighting and perhaps slaughtering people he may be related to, because they're worried a mage wants to do terrible things again. If it comes to fighting, Dog doesn't want to kill them, so he'll be trying to knock them out.
Does Finnegan seem like he's casting spells? If not, Dog could cast invisibility on him and then they could try to convince Sturdyoak that the mage is actually gone. Otherwise, it's either charming/convincing them that Finnegan's okay... or subduing them with force.
Ronis would rather attempt to convince Finnegan to let the goliath look for whatever it is they need. He'll say that they seem to know whenever he arrives, and that he doesn't think they'll be susceptible to being tricked. He is also one hundred percent against fighting them, and is actually on their side on this.
"He is trespassing. This is their land, their culture, and maybe what he says is down there can help us, but he's given us no informaion on what is or does. For all we know he's just using us to get at whatever is his obsession. He's asked us to come with him because he needs help; we don't help him, he can't continue. Present the goliath's solution as the only one, and he'll capitulate."
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Tock:
The following lore, likely from a treatise on the Mage Wars, springs to mind:
Kalazath's laboratory, never found in the aftermath of the destructive Mage Wars, was sought after by arcanists, historians, and treasure hunters for generations. Eventually the lost laboratory was forgotten by all except the most ardent Mage War enthusiasts. Kalazath no doubt placed his laboratory in the hills north of the Cloudspire Mountains, where many of the battling mages fought to stake their claim within reach of the dangerous peaks of the infamous mountain range and the heavenly power atop them. Kalazath's laboratory, like most wizard sanctums of this age, were hidden beneath the hills and even under the rivers to gain as much advantage as possible against their arcanist competitors. Most of these hidden mage dens have remained so for the centuries since the end of the Mage Wars.
DM shield:
5
Finnegan is not using magic at the moment, now.
The gnome wizard sighs with frustration. "I don't expect you to understand, but it was one of Kalazath's final inventions," he says at last. "He saw the gods were set to intervene in mortal affairs and so he changed his tactics. He built an alternating radiant-infernal temporal cage. The like of this has never been seen before or since. Now, if you can't keep them distracted for long enough, then just silence them permanently. Leave me alone so we don't all die in a horrible explosion."
Tockbacks off quite a bit and winks at Dog and Ronis, whispering "I'll try something, talk with me. I hope this works."
He starts quietly explaining that it would be very helpful if Finnegan would be more helpful and explain everything he thinks and does in a friendly manner. What he really does is he's trying to somewhat conceal casting Geas on Finnegan - the command actually being something along the lines of "explain everything you are thinking and doing in a friendly and understandable manner".
Dog looks to Ronis, whose instincts have been spot-on thus far, and Tock, who he trusts completely. "I honestly don't know what to do here. I trust you all," he says quietly.
Tock says, "It seems that we need to get more info out of Finnegan in any case. I don't imagine it would be easy for us to get him to leave either. Lets go talk to him."
He walks up to the wizard once again. "Hi, we need to talk. I understand that you are busy, but this is important, a question of life and death. We have an offer from the tribe that we are seriously considering. They ask for you to leave right now and never return in exchange for themselves doing the excavation and bringing us what we need. It does seem like the better option given the information we have."
He looks at Finnegan dead serious. "We are going to take that offer unless you take a break and be forthright with us right now. This, " as he points to the four of them (assuming Dog and Ronis came with), "is a circle of trust and truth." (.. as he casts zone of truth encompassing all of them)
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
DM Shield:
Deception: 22
CHA(17) Save: 17
Finnegan doesn't notice Tock casting the spell until it is too late. A pressure washes over everyone within range of Finnegan and Tock, alerting them to the magical imperative holding sway over them.
"You don't trust me?" Finnegan says, beginning to bluster. He calms himself quickly, however. "I suppose I cannot blame you."
Tock has the gnome's full attention, the wizard staring at him as if across a dragonchess board. "Explain it to me again," he says.
Tock obliges, quickly summing up the situation, Finnegan reddening as he does so.
"This is my discovery!" he says. "It is mine to..."
The gnome catches himself. He pauses again, considering his options. Eventually he closes his eyes and gives a nod. Opening his eyes again, he says, "The filthy brutes won't know what they have found. I am afraid they will break it, too, and I know they will not recognize it once they find it.
"The unfortunate truth is that I won't stop until I have walked out of here with the ARITeC device or a complete schematic. The fortunate conclusion is that I guarantee that I will never return to these gods-forsaken hills. And, except for the fact that they are arcane idiots, I would be happy to have them do all the work and take all the risk.
"As I see it, we have only a few options at this juncture. One, you kill or capture the savages and let me work in peace. Two, you kill me...capturing won't cut it here, kenku...and see what happens with your celestial unraveling. Three, the goliaths stay and watch me work until I am satisfied and then I leave, and they will then be satisfied. Or Four, I supervise while the goliaths do the work, with the same result."
The gnome looks squarely at Tock, as if to say, "Your move."
Tock nods as well, "Understood. Thank you. Continue your work and let us know if you need any assistance, arcane or otherwise. We will deal with the goliaths."
He looks at the others, "Lets go and have a chat. We can pull some strings. They might care about a royal decree of some sort or another for example. There is a lot we can make happen but haven't needed so far."
"I'm sure we can convince them to supervise if he's willing. A godly cage doesn't sound too bad. Worst comes to worst and they're still obstinate about it, I'm afraid to say there's not much I can do. I'm not going to kill them or anything ridiculous like that, and fire doesn't exactly relent."
Tock asks Finnegan, "Do you actually know what you are looking for?"
"Of course I know what I'm looking for!" The gnome says without looking up. "Right now I'm looking for the roof of Kalazath's laboratory so I can excavate the rest of the mound more carefully with magic. Half of these things are trapped, so if you don't mind, I am trying not to get us all blown into mince."
Tock will take his time and cast legend lore on "kalazath's laboratory"
"We're trying to hold up our end of the deal now that the tribe has arrived, and I'd rather convince them unearthing this lab is worth breaking their taboos, so if you could tell us exactly what you hope to get, that would help," Dog says to Finnegan, expecting the gnome to once again be the opposite of helpful, but counting on the proximate threat of the goliaths to loosen his tongue.
He asks the party (mostly Tock) if anyone has any charm magic to use against the goliath band, because he doesn't see them listening to logic, and the only other option he sees is fighting and perhaps slaughtering people he may be related to, because they're worried a mage wants to do terrible things again. If it comes to fighting, Dog doesn't want to kill them, so he'll be trying to knock them out.
Does Finnegan seem like he's casting spells? If not, Dog could cast invisibility on him and then they could try to convince Sturdyoak that the mage is actually gone. Otherwise, it's either charming/convincing them that Finnegan's okay... or subduing them with force.
Ronis would rather attempt to convince Finnegan to let the goliath look for whatever it is they need. He'll say that they seem to know whenever he arrives, and that he doesn't think they'll be susceptible to being tricked. He is also one hundred percent against fighting them, and is actually on their side on this.
"He is trespassing. This is their land, their culture, and maybe what he says is down there can help us, but he's given us no informaion on what is or does. For all we know he's just using us to get at whatever is his obsession. He's asked us to come with him because he needs help; we don't help him, he can't continue. Present the goliath's solution as the only one, and he'll capitulate."
Tock says, "Dog, I do have quite a few tricks that help convince people. I can use these if it comes to that."
Tock:
The following lore, likely from a treatise on the Mage Wars, springs to mind:
Kalazath's laboratory, never found in the aftermath of the destructive Mage Wars, was sought after by arcanists, historians, and treasure hunters for generations. Eventually the lost laboratory was forgotten by all except the most ardent Mage War enthusiasts. Kalazath no doubt placed his laboratory in the hills north of the Cloudspire Mountains, where many of the battling mages fought to stake their claim within reach of the dangerous peaks of the infamous mountain range and the heavenly power atop them. Kalazath's laboratory, like most wizard sanctums of this age, were hidden beneath the hills and even under the rivers to gain as much advantage as possible against their arcanist competitors. Most of these hidden mage dens have remained so for the centuries since the end of the Mage Wars.
DM shield:
5
Finnegan is not using magic at the moment, now.
The gnome wizard sighs with frustration. "I don't expect you to understand, but it was one of Kalazath's final inventions," he says at last. "He saw the gods were set to intervene in mortal affairs and so he changed his tactics. He built an alternating radiant-infernal temporal cage. The like of this has never been seen before or since. Now, if you can't keep them distracted for long enough, then just silence them permanently. Leave me alone so we don't all die in a horrible explosion."
Tock backs off quite a bit and winks at Dog and Ronis, whispering "I'll try something, talk with me. I hope this works."
He starts quietly explaining that it would be very helpful if Finnegan would be more helpful and explain everything he thinks and does in a friendly manner. What he really does is he's trying to somewhat conceal casting Geas on Finnegan - the command actually being something along the lines of "explain everything you are thinking and doing in a friendly and understandable manner".
DM shield:
Deception: 31
WIS save: 21
Finnegan stutters a bit, trying to answer Tock, but he ultimately shakes his head waves his hand at the kenku, saying, "Bah! Let me work!"
Has Dog ever heard mention of an alternating radiant-infernal temporal cage? Could he puzzle its function out?
Does it seem like a way to capture and freeze a god/angel/demon in time?
Arcana: 27
Dog has never heard of such a thing, although he would likely draw that conclusion based on the description.
Dog looks to Ronis, whose instincts have been spot-on thus far, and Tock, who he trusts completely. "I honestly don't know what to do here. I trust you all," he says quietly.
Tock says, "It seems that we need to get more info out of Finnegan in any case. I don't imagine it would be easy for us to get him to leave either. Lets go talk to him."
He walks up to the wizard once again. "Hi, we need to talk. I understand that you are busy, but this is important, a question of life and death. We have an offer from the tribe that we are seriously considering. They ask for you to leave right now and never return in exchange for themselves doing the excavation and bringing us what we need. It does seem like the better option given the information we have."
He looks at Finnegan dead serious. "We are going to take that offer unless you take a break and be forthright with us right now. This, " as he points to the four of them (assuming Dog and Ronis came with), "is a circle of trust and truth." (.. as he casts zone of truth encompassing all of them)
DM Shield:
Deception: 22
CHA(17) Save: 17
Finnegan doesn't notice Tock casting the spell until it is too late. A pressure washes over everyone within range of Finnegan and Tock, alerting them to the magical imperative holding sway over them.
"You don't trust me?" Finnegan says, beginning to bluster. He calms himself quickly, however. "I suppose I cannot blame you."
Tock has the gnome's full attention, the wizard staring at him as if across a dragonchess board. "Explain it to me again," he says.
Tock obliges, quickly summing up the situation, Finnegan reddening as he does so.
"This is my discovery!" he says. "It is mine to..."
The gnome catches himself. He pauses again, considering his options. Eventually he closes his eyes and gives a nod. Opening his eyes again, he says, "The filthy brutes won't know what they have found. I am afraid they will break it, too, and I know they will not recognize it once they find it.
"The unfortunate truth is that I won't stop until I have walked out of here with the ARITeC device or a complete schematic. The fortunate conclusion is that I guarantee that I will never return to these gods-forsaken hills. And, except for the fact that they are arcane idiots, I would be happy to have them do all the work and take all the risk.
"As I see it, we have only a few options at this juncture. One, you kill or capture the savages and let me work in peace. Two, you kill me...capturing won't cut it here, kenku...and see what happens with your celestial unraveling. Three, the goliaths stay and watch me work until I am satisfied and then I leave, and they will then be satisfied. Or Four, I supervise while the goliaths do the work, with the same result."
The gnome looks squarely at Tock, as if to say, "Your move."
Martin nods. “Folks… we need him. Greater good ‘n all that.”
Paladin - warforged - orange
Tock nods as well, "Understood. Thank you. Continue your work and let us know if you need any assistance, arcane or otherwise. We will deal with the goliaths."
He looks at the others, "Lets go and have a chat. We can pull some strings. They might care about a royal decree of some sort or another for example. There is a lot we can make happen but haven't needed so far."
The goliath party is waiting stoically where Ronis, Dog, and Tock left them.
"I'm sure we can convince them to supervise if he's willing. A godly cage doesn't sound too bad. Worst comes to worst and they're still obstinate about it, I'm afraid to say there's not much I can do. I'm not going to kill them or anything ridiculous like that, and fire doesn't exactly relent."
"Well?" Sturdyoak says once the trio return to face them.
Martin keeps his bow trained on the goliaths
Paladin - warforged - orange