A Tide arrises......

[Vinny]

As Kayla leaves his side, Vieta steps forward, his hand casual resting on the butt of his holstered pistol, as if leaning on it.

 

"Is there a problem, sir?" he asks, sensing tension and ready to face it.

 

Sense Motive- 7

[haldir]

Vieta

 

"No, there isn't any, I figured two gentlemen like yourselves would be carrying a bit more gold on them, but I see I was wrong." Malik says as he puts the bag of coins in his pocket. The half-elf looks at you but you don't notice anything about her. Yarrin comes back & says "Come on Vieta, there is nothing for us to gain by provoking him any further."

 

Tolan

 

"I hope you find your friend in one piece, Penkus was known for temper." the halfling barkeep says as he pockets the coin & pours you anther beer. "Panchi, would be your best bet to see where they might be." he adds, while wiping the bar.

 

"Hey barkeep, anther ale!" one of the men at the bar says. "Ehh, hold your horses....I have an actual customer here!!" he says in response. He pours a ale for the man & walks over to him, standing on a crate when he gets there. "5 coppers, you lug." he says & the coins are exchanged. You down the beer & decide to take heed on the barkeep's advice & make your way back over to "It still floats!", a ramshackle of a shack that sits right next to the gondola station that you used earlier.

 

As you make your way down Rubble Street, you get near Alinara's Vixens, a gaming hall you know all to well, you hear "Hey bub, how about handin over some of that gold, you were flaunting earlier." You turn to see the two scruffy men from the bar, one has a dagger & the other has a club & they are ready to strike you if you don't comply with their demands! (Roll for iniative!)

[Vinny]

Vieta listens to Yarrin and nods to his comrade, not taking his eyes off of Malik. His face is cold and emotionless, as it always gets when he is roused to quarrel.

 

"I hear ya..." he replies to Yarrin, his eyes always on the brothel proprietor.

 

With his right hand still on his pistol, Vieta's left hand reaches into his pocket and produces a shiny gold coin. He casually twirls the metal disc around his fingers, catches it between thumb and forefinger, holds the object close to his eyes as if inspecting its worth, then tosses the coin on the floor in front of Malik as if throwing a bone to a dog.

 

"There! Have a nice day, mate..." Vieta spits, and turns to leave with Yarrin. His hand, however, remains clutching his pistol, ready to shoot Malik down if the man tries anything.

[Voladilk]

"Mate, I don't have very much at all. Hence why I was asking about work," Tolan tells the man. "How much would it take to prevent a confrontation here?" Tolan asks as he readies himself for a fight.

 

 

 

(Initiative - 16)

[Unglef]

"Aye, Kora's still with 'em, an' yoor 'xactly right aboot tha oothers, too. Good folk all aroond. As fer tha armor, since ya have it almooos' reddy, Ah'll take tha' fine lookin' breastplate there. If'n yoo c'n add a waraxe splittin' an orc skull on tha froont, Ah'd appreciate it," Heleger says to the smith. The dwarf strokes his beard for a bit, and adds, "Hoo aboot Ah give ya this busted chain shirt, an' we make it an even hunnerd?"

[haldir]

Heleger

 

"Good, good" Gil says about Kora.

 

"Alrighty then, I should have this done for yah in a couple of days. Just come in when your ready & give me the coin then & it was a pleasure doin business with yah." he says about the breastplate.

Tolan

 

"My ears are better then me looks, mate" one of the men says "You were askin about Penkus. A man known to have some coin of his own." & with that man swings the dagger at you, but misses terribly. The other one follows suit with the club, but he too misses. You can smell the alcohol on them as they get near.

 

Vieta

 

The man does nothing, he even leaves the coin on the floor, as he exit the room. You leave the brothel, as you are a few feet away from the place, you hear "Hey sailor." you turn to see the half-elven lass standing at the doorway. "You wanted to know about Vanthus Vanderboren right." she says as she looks behind her. "A woman that use to work by the name of Brissa, use to be one of his regular girls. She was also known to be a pickpocket here in Azure, thou she started to go straight. She also left the brothel as well, so I have no idea where she might be. You might ask around for her as well, epically the seedier areas." She blows you a kiss & dissappears back into the brothel.

 

"You sure have a way with the ladies, eh Vieta?" a smile comes across Yarrin's face. "So now we have anther name to use as well. Barissa" Yarrin says, "Lets hit the docks & check there."

[Unglef]

"Tha' soonds fine, jus' fine," Heleger says, clasping the smith's forearm to seal the agreement. He turns to his gnomish companion. "Weel, noow, le's goo an' check oot these taverns o' yers, then, Gilhurst. Lead tha way."

[Voladilk]

As Tolan dodges their strikes he says, "If Penkus has some coin of his own mate, then why don't I distract him with talk of work while you guys sneak into his place and relieve him of some of his extra coin?"

[Vinny]

Vieta chuckles as Yarrin speaks to him. In reply, all he says is:

 

"It's an art, mate. An art..." he says.

 

Knowing the District well, Vieta thinks if there is a good establishment that he frequents often but haven't yet visited. He proposes the idea to Yarrin and attempts to questions bartender, maids, and perhaps familiar faces if they know of Vanthus or the Barissa woman and their whereabouts.

[haldir]

Tolan

 

"Penkus is too much of a @$$ to give us coin, even if we took it, beshyd we have your coin" a toothless grin appears as the man swings again, but misses. The other one moves behind you, but even with the advantage, he misses badly.

 

Heleger & Gilhurst (thou I'm not sure if CC is still playing???)

 

After giving the dwarf your approval, he says that it'll take a couple days before everything is ready. He has a couple jobs he needs to do, then he can get to work on the engraving. You decide to check out a couple taverns here in Merchant District, you cross the bridge move up Relic Street & take a west on Main Street & head off toward a tavern called the Ticklish Ogre. Inside the tavern is farely busy given the time of day, but you ask around about Vanthus, mostly people just give you a "Nope, never heard of him." response but you do come across a scruffy looking half-elf that says

 

"Yah, I've seen him, he was in here a few days ago with some lassy on his arm, she was all over him, but where he is now I have no idea. They have a home here in the district yah know, might try & ask there."

 

Vieta & Yarrin (Outkast will be back in a few days...I hope)

 

Yarrin, just shakes his head & says, "Come on, couple places we haven't check here yet. If nothing turns up in those will head off to anther district."

 

You leave the walled harbor area of Azure District & make your way back down Harbor Street, crossing a couple bridges when you come to a tavern, with sign that shows a gravestone & a open pit, it reads "The Empty Grave". Entering the tavern, your eyes have to adjust a bit due to low lighting of the place, a big half-orc bouncer stands near the door. "Weapons." he says to you & Yarrin, "Lets try not to cause any trouble." & Yarrin hands over his scimitar, the half-orc holds his hand out for your weapons now, Vieta.

[Voladilk]

"Well mates, I see you have had one too many pints today and that reason might not sink into those tiny little minds of yours," Tolan does little to hide his sneer at the two thugs. "I offered you assistance, but since a large sum of gold is not preferable to the few measly coins in my purse, we will have to do this the hard way." Tolan widens his eyes so the two fellows can see the deep red glow emanating from their depths. He then launches a blast of eldritch energy at the nearest one. "Say hello to the little curse that befouls my life!"

[Unglef]

"Well, knoo," Heleger says to the half-elf with a smile over his mug of ale. "Tha's innerestin'. An' where might this home be? Ah'm afraid Ah'm noot quite familliar with tha district."

[Vinny]

Vieta stares at the half-orc for a moment and nods. He loosens the scabbard of his cutlass, holds it by the blade, and hands it to the bouncer pommel forward...

 

"Ain't lookin' for trouble, mate." Vieta says, and proceeds into the bar.

[haldir]

Heleger

 

"Ah, well their place is a big manor home on the eastern side of this district. Big, white wall around it. You can't miss it." the half-elf says as he takes a drink.

Vieta

 

The half-orc takes the blade & places it near Yarrin's scimitar. As you are about to walk away he grunts. "The pistahl." & he has his hand out again, waiting for your answer.

 

Tolan

 

Firing the hellfire blast as one of the men, you strike him in the chest, he drops the club & clutches his chest, the hellish energies radiating around the wound & his body & he slumps to the ground. His arm clutching the wound falls to the ground, his chest stops moving, the man has breathed his last breath.

 

"Demon!!!" the other man shouts as he drops the club & runs off back the way he came. (if you'd like, you can get a AoO on him)

[Vinny]

Vieta feigns confusion and scratches his head.

 

"Pistol? What pistol?" he says, and looks down at his belt.

 

"Oh! Ya mean this old thing?" he exclaims, putting his hand on his gun.

 

"This here ain't a pistol, mate! Tis an heirloom of the Vieta family. You know what an heirloom is, mate? Tis one o' them old dusty stuff scallywag noble-likes collect. This here pistol is my grandpa's! It can't even fire! Tis just a toy, friend. You don't even need to take it away, it ain't gonna harm nobody."

 

(Bluff roll- 20 (without modifiers))

 

OOP- not sure if I need a diplomacy check here...