Totmacher and Villhalas have raced to the water tower, and having arrived, begin their surveillance.  No obvious miscreants appear to be lurking. The tower itself is a wooden affair, standing some 30 feet high.  The tower consists of heavy wooden legs that angle up to a large, drum-shaped storage tank some 40 feet in diameter and forty feet in depth, capped by a wooden-shingled, conical roof.  A copper pipe runs from a pumping mechanism up to the top of the tower.  A large wheel with harnesses indicates that mules or other draft animals are employed to pump water from subterranean sources up into the tower for storage.  A ladder runs along one of the legs and continues up the side of the tank, reaching the conical roof.

No one seems to be loitering about the tower; most individuals in the immediate vicinity are either moving towards the dying fire at the inn, or towards the one still burning at the warehouse.

Ten turns of the minute glass past six bells.

As Totmacher and Villhalas watch the water tower, several people trot over to the tower, flanking a wagon drawn by a tired-looking mule.  Most of the people appear to be citizens, but two watchmen--armed with long swords and short bows slung over their backs, and wearing studded leather armor--are directing the activities.  The back of the buckboard wagon is filled with all manner of large vessels, ranging from oversized ewers to huge ampullae to barrels.  One of the watchmen unlocks the big padlock that holds a large valve closed, and the other swings a copper-lined, hinged chute that depends from the tower into place above the wagon.  With a turn of the valve, water from the tower cascades down the chute in a torrent, drenching the wagon and surrounding ground, but filling the many vessels that crowd the wagon bed in the process.  The watchman holding the chute maneuvers it to get to as many of the various containers as he can.  Soon, the other watchman shuts off the valve and replaces the padlock with an audible *click*.

Well gang -- I'm rethinking our approach a bit here.  Given we're simply speculating at the pentagram correlation to points on the [Borderton] map, I'm can't say w/any real degree of confidence that reconning the various points on our own will yield the desired results.  With that, perhaps we need to recruit some help - and hone in on the factor we are pretty comfortable with:  that our Zante Disciples will be running around in Zorro outfits..

With that Kevin, Villhalas will approach the two guards at the tower and make a diplomacy check.  Intent is to (1)  determine the level of awareness they have of the two recent arsons, (2) determine what rank they hold  (3) attempt to recruit them to assist Tot and I in scouting out the suspected locations (back to the pentagram/map points concept) - keeping an eye out for Zorro, (4)  attempt to have them assist us in getting additional help from the guards for this -&- (5) do this all relatively quickly given that the clock is ticking..)

V

Burgomaster,
Revenge comes under the stars from five points
Point one is the first place
Point two is the most likely place
Point three is the least likely place
Point four is the impossible place
Point five, of course, is the only place left
Here's hoping you make the right connections
                          --Zante Barbaras

BTW - now that I've had a chance to viddy the map a bit -- I think Tot and I are in the wrong spot (doh!~).  I believe we're actually at the fourth point (the "impossible place" - the water tower) rather than the third point (the "least likely place).   If we follow the tracing of a pentagram - we should probably be due East of the warehouse -- somewhere in the vicinity of the fountain/town square maybe..??

Thoughts?

V

Or the Library perhaps...

It's tough to tell now if the pentagram theory even holds water, but if it does and it remains relatively proportionate, and we belive that the water tower is point four, "the impossible place", then, we may have to look even farther east to buildings 46 to 53. But by the look of them on the map, they don't appear of any consequence. Maybe that's what he means by "the least likely place", I don't know.

Either way, as long as we are devoting such a large pecentage of our group to fighting fires as opposed to preventing them, we definately need to recruit some help.

I *really* need to work the rust out of the 'ol D&D gears here..  I've totally ignored my favorite little recon buddy up to this point.

Kevin - what are the odds that my owl will be able to identify a black clad humanoid out of the citizens milling about?  It's probably worth a shot.  I'll put him aloft w/the necessary instructions (fly the rough area of the pentagram, in search of our next arsonist) -- after we've chatted w/the guards a bit (I assume my diplomacy check would be hampered by the concentration it would take to communicate w/my familiar???)

V

If we can recruit some local kin to assist with solving the riddle, Tot is in favor of sending one group to one of our "suspected" targets--Tot will follow whichever location Vil thinks is most logical--maybe buildings 46-53?

For a moment, I thought Tot was still peacebonded...whoops wrong adventure...

My memory may have lapsed as well--but won't the "impossible" place be a target as well?

Peacebonded..  nice.

Yeah - impossible target looks to be #4 - vs. #3.  Perhaps one of us can camp here - and the other can move NE to the suspected #3 location.  Let's see how my measely 13 roll pans out w/the diplomacy chk.  would hate to have to default to your big ulgy ass for the diplomacy route..  May have to default to a bit of the 'ol intimidation if that's the case..  =)

let's see how this pans out.

V

Villhalas and Totmacher, after spending some time perceiving the goings-on around them at the water tower, decide to move towards the town gates in the hope of engaging a guardsman or constable.  Smoke from the Pilgrims' Rest continues to billow up into the night sky, but the bucket brigade that formed as Aine and Asher left appeared to have the fire contained.

The half-elf and half-orc trudge down the dusty main thoroughfare of Borderton, moving towards the two wooden towers that flank the gates of the town.  Upon reaching the foot of the tower, Villhalas hails to one of the guards stationed there.  The half-elf attempts to engage the aid of the guard or his fellows, speaking as reasonably and logically as he can.  The guard shakes his head.

Not t' be done, sirrah.  Belike what y' say may be so, belike not.  'Tain't fer me t' say.  I've me orders, an' they don't include gallavantin' 'bout town wi'out some say-so from me captain.  Me an' th' boys keep watch on th' gate, an' th' gate's where we be stayin'.  The man's voice lowers a bit, sympathetically.  "I 'ppreciate yer view, man, but it can't be done.  Seek out Savin...he warned th' burgomaster o' this, I'm told.  Or take t' aidin' in puttin' th' fires out, if y' will."  The man straightens from his position leaning over the wooden parapet to speak with Villhalas.  "But we can't help y' here, now...orders, y' see."

The previous interaction set the clock for Vil and Tot at...

Twenty turns of the minute glass past six bells.

Villhalas turns away from the tower, frowning.  The town guard and constabulary appeared to be of little aid, currently.  Events were moving quickly, it seemed, and awaiting the relatively slow cog-turning of the civic machine might not be the best strategy.

So ruminating, the sorcerer-rogue gave a low whistle that nonetheless carried some distance.  From a perch on the wooden stockade nearby, a short-eared owl leapt into the air and glided noiselessly on its wings to alight on Villhalas' shoulder.  The half-elf touched his head to the owl's, briefly, and the bird sprang back into the air, wings beating to gain it altitude--uttering its raspy, barking call as it did so.

The half-elf closed his eyes, bonding his mind with his familiar.  Once again, the sense of rushing through the night became an almost palpable feeling for the sorcerer-rogue, and the sense of unabated hunger that attended it was strong.  Villhalas winced.  The hunger always seemed to center around voles, or shrews, or deer mice, or harvest mice, or cotton rats, or bog lemmings, or baby bunnies, or...

Villhalas shook his head to clear it.  The sense of a panoramic view from above was his, but little else could be ascertained.  Villhalas realized that the black clothing he wished the owl to look for was impossible for the owl to distinguish from *any* dark color--green, blue, maroon, brown.  The superior night vision of his familiar was a black and white vision...color had little place in the low light environment of the owl, and its eyes had little capacity to distinguish color.  Still, the bird is aloft, and Villhalas reflects that some reconnaisance might prove useful.

Twenty-five turns of the minute glass past six bells.

Fair enough.  Not the foggiest as to where my PHB is atm.  Kevin, I'm assuming I can move at a brisk walk and maintain the empathatic link at the same time?  If so, Vil makes the remark to Tot "Well little brother - shall we move for point #3 together - or would you like to keep a set of eyes on the target here??"

Intent will be to move for the library -- while keeping the currently nameless familiar of mine in the air -- looking for anyone pushing a cart about the area -- a cart w/fairly large cylindrical containers in it (eg. oil)...

V

Kevin - parting remarks for the guard:

Nodding in acceptance, Villhalas comments:  "Fair enough.  I'll leave you to the protection of the vill then.  Oh, one last thing - Savin neglected to tell my party where the Burgomaster could be found.  Would you be so kind as to tell me where is residence is located??"

(I don't recall seeing it on the map.  seems logical that that may be the final arson site.. ?? )

V

Tot will proceed with Vil to suspected target #3.

OOC:  What, exactly, IS suspected target #3?  Inquiring minds want to know...

"Aye, sirrah.  Th' large structure jest t' th' north o' here--y' can't miss it.  'Tis th' burgomeister's home an' offices, like."

OOC:  #13 on the Borderton map.

Well - apparently my 'Suggestion' half-spell has failed miserably..  I was hoping that if I said "we'll head for Site #3" enough -- you would succumb to my Will and simply lead us there.  Shit.  Alright - if you must know, we were thinking that of one of the buildings due East from the lumber warehouse (eg. the rectory, the playhouse or the library)...  With Site #4 (the impossible site) being the water tower...

V