THE SAVAGE TIDE ADVENTURE PATH
Module One: There is No Honor... (Dungeon #139)
Chapter Three: The Vanderboren Vault
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:29, Tue 23 June 2015.

A few minutes after the PC's finish interrogating the thugs the district watch appear, headed by none other than Keltar Islaran himself. The old sailor is red in the face from the exertion of running across town, and it is clear that he is deeply troubled by the news that has just been presented to him. “Lady Vanderboren, I am so sorry for the injustice that has been done to you,” are the first words he speaks, then he continues his apologies with many mutterings of “In my own harbor, I can’t believe it” and “I should never have trusted the rascal Vark”. He arranges for all of the thugs on the vessel to be slapped in irons and then placed on a gondola for direct transport to Castle Teraknian where he promised that would sit in the dungeons while awaiting sentencing. The thugs need to be physically dragged onto the boat, and the two charmed persons are very sad to say goodbye to their friend Celene.

Lavnina then completes some commercial business. She presents the payment for the overdue mooring fees to Keltar, and at Celene’s urging gets a notarized document with the wax seal of the harbormaster at the bottom to prove he has received the money. The harbormaster also arranges for the contraband cargo to be  removed from the Blue Nixie and impounded until the Dawn Council decide what to do with it. Then he and his men make their exit, with a final coughing fit interrupting his otherwise graceful last apology.
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:43, Thu 02 July 2015.

After those formalities are finished, the sun is low in the sky and the party realizes that they are all hungry having skipped lunch that day. Lavinia takes it upon herself to organize an evening meal for them all, but insists that they eat it on the boat since she is worried about losing her precious possession again. “Kora! Oh Kora!” calls out the noblewoman. “Be a dear and see if you can find a local tavern who will bring some food out to us here on the pier.” Lavinia then adds something else in a low voice, that only the closest party members manage to overhear. “Oh, and make sure it is somewhere that will extend us credit, there’s a dear.”

Soon the party is eating a fine dinner on the main deck of the Blue Nixie as the sun quickly sets in the west. “My dear people!” says Lavinia, getting to her feet from a bundle of rope that had been serving as a seat, and raising a glass of wine. “A toast to you all for returning my ship to me, retrieving my lost payment and most importantly, finding my father’s signet ring! Well done to all of you. Now, we must complete the second half of the mission. If you will all meet me here on the Blue Nixie at eight o’clock tomorrow, we will head over to Castle Teraknian together and you can assist me with entering my family’s vault. As you can understand, I will much more comfortable with an armed guard since I will be retrieving quite a bit of coin in order to stabilize my family’s affairs. After we get it back to the Vanderboren mansion, I will pay you your two hundred gold then.”

OOC: Can I get a paragraph from each of you describing how you spend the night, or what you do the next morning.

This message was last edited by the player at 07:44, Thu 02 July 2015.

Celene would under normal circumstances head back to the temple for prayer and rites, and to do her chores. However, under these special circumstances, she doesn't really feel it's safe to leave Lavinia behind, with Vark still on the loose. Sleeping on the ship might be fun, too.

She therefore returns only temporarily to the temple of Wee Jas, asking Magus Eseriel that she may stay with the Lady Vanderboren to guard her, hopefully gaining a favour with the Vanderboren family for the temple of Wee Jas. She also reports on the events of the last days.

Already, the church places very few restrictions on the arcane spell casters connected to the temple, so she expects no problems. Should this not be so, she will of course defer to the Magus. But if all is in order, she is back at the ship in time to find some decent sleeping quarter - if that's available.

Kassius greatly enjoys the meal on the Blue Nixie, eating heartily and saying little. He interprets Lavinia's words as a dismissal for the night, and stands up hesitantly. He considers asking to sleep on the Nixie, but decides against it. Too awkward, and I'd end up making it seem that I'm homeless. Hah! He thinks to himself as he exits the ship with Kibeti and the two begin the walk to the Sunrise district.

He arrives at his grandfather's house, politely greets his mother, and then heads straight to his room. It had been a long and stressful day, and Kassius has little interest in the stress that actual interaction with his family would cause. Thankfully, his grandfather doesn't seem in the mood to contest that for now. After a bit of grooming and tending of Kibeti's wounds, Half-Orc and panther are both blissfully asleep.

Kassius casts Cure Light Wounds on Kibeti. Since Kibeti was only down 2 hp, that brings him to full.
In response to your earlier question, you can generally assume that Kassius uses all but one of his spell slots on CLW each night. Except in special circumstances, he keeps the last slot available in case of night-time emergency.

Logan enjoys the evening with Lavinia and his companions, especially the fine food and wine.  At the end of the evening, he discreetly sets aside a bundle of food, taking it back to his hovel, where he shares it with Tessara, giving his mother the best meal she's probably had in months, maybe years, not that the the elf seems to notice it at all.  The next morning, Logan goes out to retrieve breakfast, and leaves some with Tessara, arriving back the Blue Nixie with about a quarter-hour to spare.

HIT POINTS & MISFORTUNE

Angati  HP: 11/11   <MF NOT USED>
Alohan  HP:  9/15   <MF NOT USED>
Celene  HP:  7/ 7   <MF NOT USED>
Kassius HP:  8/ 8   <MF NOT USED>
Kibeti  HP: 14/14   <MF NOT USED>
Logan   HP:  9/ 9   <MF NOT USED>




Magnus Eseriel listens to Celene's story with interest - she is impressed with the young novice's deeds and is open to her continuing her association with the Vanderboren family. She raises no objection to Celene sleeping on the Blue Nixie.

For her part, Lavinia is overjoyed to have some company as it means that she can send Kora back to look after Vanderboren manion. The young ladies then start cleaning up the captain's quarters and officier's bunkroom so that they will each have a room to sleep in.
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:05, Fri 03 July 2015.

Celene welcomes the gritty work, as that leaves a chance for her to thoroughly check out the ship for any other items left behind by the thug crew. A whole ship for her playground and treasure hunt sounds fascinating to her. She gets to work cleaning,but also investigating.

Angati burns her last 1st level slot to cast CLW on Alohan.

09:16, Today: Dungeon Master rolled 9 using 1d8+1. CLW on Alohan.

HIT POINTS & MISFORTUNE

Angati  HP: 11/11   <MF NOT USED>
Alohan  HP: 15/15   <MF NOT USED>
Celene  HP:  7/ 7   <MF NOT USED>
Kassius HP:  8/ 8   <MF NOT USED>
Kibeti  HP: 14/14   <MF NOT USED>
Logan   HP:  9/ 9   <MF NOT USED>

After the delicious feast, Alohan bid farewell to his friends. His goodbye was quick since he'd see them again first thing in the morning. The sun was low in the sky and Alohan contemplated seeking the loving embrace of Rowyn. Lavinia barely paid any attention to him putting the crown prince in a bit of a dejected mood, one where only sex could possibly remedy. But his wound itched something fierce as the arcane bindings and his own body fought to heal the damage done by the rhagodessa. Plus, he was a bit fatigued and the Native knew he wouldn't be able to perform at his best. Off the pier he set, seeking out Rodolfo for a quick trip across the bay to Shadowshore.
---------- ------------

Alohan woke the next morning at first light even before Remmi started to stir. He grabbed his loin cloth and set off, departing their simple apartment to the streets of Shadowshore. Up till this point, Alohan had virtually ignored Master Haku's teachings. He was in good physical condition with great eating habits and a naturally quick metabolism. He almost felt time spent conditioning the body as a waste -less time for things like corrupting females and eating. Yet his run in yesterday -and his inability to be effective- had reminded him what Haku had continuously told him -"Focus your Mana". Alohan was getting the sense he could no longer trust his rage and inner pele to accomplish his needs.

So he ran. Ran until the sun had cleared noble district. Then he swam. When he was finished, Alohan had found Remmi awake and pacing the room. Alohan suspected his hoalhoa was worried for the crown prince. "Good morning my hoalhoa," he announced, entering the room already a bit fatigued but energized. "Hold my cloth, my hoalhoa, I be havin' little time "

Remmi is relieved to see his charge reappear, but perhaps a little less happy to help yet again with the royal ablutions. "Yes Sire, of course Sire," says Remmi as he attends to the royal loin cloth. "<sigh> Perhaps you will propose to a young lady today Sire?" he asks wistfully, imagining himself back home in the palace with people to do this sort of thing for the young price.

Those on the Blue Nixie have a quiet night and in the morning a simple breakfast of bread and cheese is prepared and eaten in the small wardroom. It is a tight fit to get everybody in there, but Lavinia insists that they talk somewhere private. She explains that they will travel over to Castle Teraknian on a gondola, retrieve a substantial amount of wealth from the Vanderboren family vault and then make their way to the gondola and back to the mansion. Lavinia says that she has never seen the vault under Castle Teraknain herself, but from the things that she heard her father say over the years it is a relatively small and safe vault.

Without further fuss, the party makes their way to the city Castle, but unfortunately spend little time in the keep itself. They just stop long enough to talk to a clerk who verifies Lavinia's identity and her signet, then get her to sign a huge log book.

"Oh, my goodness," says Lavinia as she examines the book before my signing. "Look at that, Vanthus, that is my brother, was her EVERY day for..." she flicks back one page, and then another, "...every day for the last month, well, his last visit was three days ago."
Lavinia looks as the clerk. "But that means that you must have allowed him in without a signet ring! That is against the rules!"

"Lady Vanderboren," says the clerk in a very certain tone. "I can assure you that he had a signet ring. Entry is impossible otherwise."

"My goodness..." says Lavinia to no-one in particular. "But my father's ring was hidden on the Blue Nixie and my mother's was lost... about two months ago. Strange, strange, strange..."


The clerk escorts them down a spiral staircase into a large circular chamber under the castle. Over a dozen five-foot wide hallways radiate out from the central vault chamber, each of these halls is ten feet long and ends at a single iron door - the entrance to each vault of the great families of Sasserine. The clerk does not accompany the party to the actual value; he merely points out the Vanderboren vault and then bids a good day and returns to his office in the castle above.

The party heads down the short passageway until it ends at a solid-looking iron door. The door is emblazoned with a simple symbol - it is the eight pointed star of the Vanderborens. Above the door, inscribed in flowing script on a polished silver plaque is the name 'Vanderboren'. A single handle protrudes from the door, just below this is a circular depression bearing the mark of the Vanderboren signet.

Lavinia hesitates at the door. "My goodness, it is you all that are the experts. What do I do?"

OOC: It's a new day. All spell slots are restored. Remember, last chance to buy mundane adventuring equipment. don't complain about missing something once you are in the dungeon! PM me if you want to buy something additional.

Angati healed Alohan before leaving the party and promising that she would be there first thing in the morning. She made a big detour all the while mumbling with herself about just keeping the scissors for a few days and make him learn a lesson... but what did that make of her ?. At any rate, by the time she was almost in the brink of making a decision, she had already walked far too much to walk back just for simple pettiness. So she went to the tailor, and handed him the scissors "This is all that we have been able to recover... I hope it means something to you".

---

Then it was her home, she dropped by her sister's to let her know about the economic situation of Lavinia, and the dangerous liasons of her own brother Vanthus. She also added that Lavinia seemed to be a good woman, if only a bit innocent, that abode the law, and handled herself with as much dignity as she could. She also added that she was finding adventuring rather spicy and given the day's she had left in her, she was thinking about taking to it and maybe leaving the shrine.

---

Her next stop was the shrine, she looked for Karthach and found the dwarf just about to leave. She felt quite a bit of warmth for the older dwarf and so she told him of her day. When she was done with it, she went on... "I am thinking of leaving the shrine... I am not sure yet, but I feel more alive if I am doing these kind of things than if I rest here... I am old, and... well, what's there to loose ?. I really want to feel like I am not just letting time slip you know ?"

---

The next morning she took all her goods... her shield, the morningstar, the scale mail, and settled her backpack to leave. She did not wear the scale mail while navigating just to be able to make a swim to the coast in case something happened.

When they arrived, and after hearing the exchange with the guard at the entrance she really had to bite her tongue not to go with a 'Told you!!!' regarding Vanthus. Still, upon Lavinia's comments she sighed and said:

"Lavinia, if there were only two rings, one was hidden, which is the one you hold, and the other was worn by your mother, who has gone missing, and that ring is now carried by your brother... I'd be very suspicious about your brother. Please, we may come to a point where we all depend upon your judgement of your own brother, and while I really appreciate what family means, please think things out coldly because your life and ours will be at stake". She wanted to add, think were might your brother keep your mother in case he is keeping her alive which is doubtful... but she just could not find a wording that would not be devastating... and it was just not the time.

She paused there a bit, as she asked Logan to help her with settling the scale mail on her, and she held the shield on her left hand "Now... I'd say... let's find out what goes on in there...".

OOC: What money should we use for those purchases ? you got us working for free here or on credit which amounts to the same thing :P

OOC: Umm... Actually the scissors were just one thing in the black velvet bag. There was also a some expensive cloth, thread and a whole lot of gold at the bottom! Are you going to give it all back, or just give him the scissors? He is probably hoping for a little more than just those! :D

---

Zelina is overjoyed that Angati has found something interesting to occupy her final years, although surprised that 'adventuring' is her choice. She supports Angati in her wish to leave the temple, as long as she can find suitable lodgings somewhere else.

---

The old dwarf looks sad. "We'll I will miss you, but I understand why you want to get out and look around. Remember, we are always here for you if you need help."

---

"Oh," says Lavinia. "I am sure it is just a co-incidence. Maybe there was a third ring that I never heard about." But she seems unsure and unsettled.



OOC: Yes, money is a little bit tight here at the beginning, but if you completed your intro quest then you would get a little reward from that. (Hint hint...)

Kassius looks at Lady Vanderboren, and struggles to keep his face impassive. The naivete of this woman in trusting her brother despite all evidence overwhelms him, coming out as a snort that he barely manages to disguise as a cough. "Frakking dust." The half-orc explains.

Looking at the door, Kassius affects a high-class, overly pompous accent and announces, "Well in my expert opinion on such matters, I would expect that the signet ring would go into the circular ring-sized depression. Then perhaps one would exert a pushing force on the handle, causing it to depress and then allow the door to be pulled open." He finishes off with a few harrumphs and then a slight chuckle at his own cleverness.