Mattiverse Next - Session 24

Goofin'

• The Boys spend a couple of days gathering some minor intel.
  • They stake out the Hadriarch's Reserve. Of note, the guards (two shift changes over the course of the day) all come from somewhere inside the city and never enter the gates. In fact, very few people go through the gate in the day (one of whom is Bethenalay, who shows up toward evening).
  • House staff (mostly halflings with management composed mostly of longshanks) all live on the property.
  • Bobwhite follows Bethenalay afterward. She meets up with the head of the Protestor faith, but he learns little else.
• They hang out with the Ag-Hicks after.
  • Bobwhite wakes up in a haystack (actually, it's probably straw) with Katty, remembering little. She dismisses him promptly, and he complies.
• They check in with the Ghostwise, who have little to report except that they've fully lost contact with the lizardfolk, and the Swamp Run has doubled in price again.
• They don't get up to much else.
• The next day, they go to their appointed contact. Beldon picks up a nice red iron chisel.
  • Some spy hijinks happen, and eventually they find themselves crowded into a red iron weaponsmith's shop (the Red Knife Swan).
  • Eventually the proprietor comes out, and they finally get down to business.

GM: walks to the door and bolts it.
Beldon: we have very accommodating tastes bro you wouldnt imagine some of the stuff weve drunk
GM: Brinbarrrow bids you welcome.
Four: That cider is not actually very good
Four: Oh, that could be why you use it as a signal...
[TURN] Shopkeeper
Bobwhite: Not a great idea if they've gotta finish the flagon, we're easy though
Shopkeeper: Alright. So, our initial thoughts on this operation are as follows:
Four listens patiently.
Shopkeeper: We will need some more information about what it is. Not an excessive amount, but something more than "A macguffin."
Shopkeeper: Secondly: It is not enough for you to steal the item. They must never know it was stolen.
Shopkeeper: If you get away scot free and then they realize they were robbed, that puts us in danger.
Beldon: fair, good to be working with professionals finally
Shopkeeper: We know the location in the Cathedral where the item is most likely kept. It will have magical guards and wards, probably of an unconventional type. Our ability to learn about those is limited.
Beldon: we're great investigators youd be real surprised
Beldon: its on account of some of us can read
Beldon: seems like you run with a lot of wizards am i right?
Banner: from what we've gathered they don't know what exactly it is they have currently, so replacing with a different wand would probably be enough
Shopkeeper: So, what we are planning involves (a) finding a way to make sure the theft is not detected, even after the fact. (b) finding entry into the vault, (c) recovering the correct item and (d) getting out without detection
Shopkeeper: The good news, such as it is, is that actual guards will be few in number. It's deep inside church property with robust protections -- the Hadriarch does not feel the need to keep it actively guarded.
Banner: we suspect they're still doing inventory on Edi's old junk piles and this is probably just another line item on an inventory sheet for now
Bobwhite: But not for long
Beldon: yeah we got a good sense of what its like bobby hear read a book about what the church is like in the middle of the night
Shopkeeper: So, mostly you will have to overcome passive things -- guards , wards. If there is some sort of aggressive watchdog, it's more than likely nonintellegent constructs.
Shopkeeper thinks.
Shopkeeper: Interesting. they are taking an active invnetory you say?
Four: Indeed
Shopkeeper: Perhaps we can use that to our favor.
Bobwhite: Seems like it's taken a lot of the Archon's time lately
Shopkeeper: Well, the Old Man was by reputation something of a hoarder, and he recieved a great many gifts - personal and state -in his lifetime.
Shopkeeper: I'm not suprised he had closets full of unexamined kit. It's worth the inventory.
Beldon: yeah they had 4 or so wands they hadnt processed yet last week, i dont think beth is making a lot of progress now with holiday prep
Shopkeeper: That is probably true. I would expect the upcoming Summer Supplication would be the best time to act. The church will be focused outward.
Beldon: two weeks back? shit boys how long were we out in the woods again?
Bobwhite: Long enough
Shopkeeper: Hm. The easiest way to obscure the loss of the object would be to remove it from the official inventory.
Beldon: anyways youre buddies all wizards? we seen some awesome wizard fighs in ubrekt between zombie cats and dogs you know where we can catch a show around here?
Shopkeeper: Of course, it is probably in a secure area and its absence, if detected even for a moment, would no doubt throw alarms.
Shopkeeper blinks, takes a beat, then continues talking -- ignoring Beldon's questions.
Bobwhite: Well, we know where that book was at least recently, if you've got some sort of "edit text" spell or something
Shopkeeper: We have... something like that.
Shopkeeper: We would need physical access to the book for some short amount of time -- say a half hour.
(Four): afk one second
User has gone AFK. (Mattie)
Shopkeeper: We could magically alter the contents to remove one of the wands. Then, when the inentory is complete the number of identified wands would match up with the number of unknown wands
Shopkeeper: and they should be none the wiser.
Shopkeeper: And, as a side bonus, our organization has a mostly comprehensive list of all of the magic items under church control.
Beldon: is it easier to swap it out with a wand?
Shopkeeper grins.
Beldon: fine makes sense
User is back. (Mattie)
Shopkeeper: Swaping out the wands woudl also work.
Shopkeeper: Depending, of course, on how detailed the descriptions are in the logbook.
(Four): Could also get a few extra wands if we have some duds to swap in :D But Four doesn't think that
Shopkeeper: If your replacement wand looks too different -- is made of a different material, say -- the theft might be detected or it might be written off to administrative error.
Beldon nods
Bobwhite: We know how we can get to the book, what's your thought on getting one of yours in to do a half-hour's work?
Beldon: its more complicated but possible we can bring a book
Shopkeeper: I think the best way is to get the book out, turn it over to us, have us copy it, return it to you, and have it replaced.
Shopkeeper: Either as part of the heist or, more probably, as a precurser to the final move.
Shopkeeper: Though, I would say you should act shortly after the adulteration -- it wouldn't be hard for the archivist to notice 4 wands where three is listed.
Beldon: we'll probably need to do another recon of the vault before we make the real move anyways
Shopkeeper: I think it likely the entire project will be paused for Supplication, so as long as the ntire projuect happens during that window.... I think it's a good plan./
Shopkeeper: Smart, I agree.
Bobwhite: I can describe the book, give us a dumb placeholder without too much worry about the contents and we can at least make the shelf not look empty
Shopkeeper: I can tell you where the vault is. You should reconiter it particularly with an eye towards traps, alarms, sigils, and wards.
Beldon: hot
Shopkeeper: If you can detect magic and or have a competent trapsmith among you, so much the better.
Bobwhite: I can describe the book, give us a dumb placeholder without too much worry about the contents and we can at least make the shelf not look empty
Beldon: i cant belive your suggest that about us
Shopkeeper: A placeholder book is possible, or if you can orchistrate it all in one go the book should only be missing from the shelf for an hour, maybe two.
Shopkeeper: The only advice I can give to you is impatience is the cardinal sin here. Greed and speed kills.
Shopkeeper: I know something of you reputation from the dog track.
Beldon: yea yea yea that dude totally had it coming
Shopkeeper: But, we are on a clock -- Supplication is the perfect window for this. Id rather have been working on this a month ago.
Shopkeeper: But, it sounds like you've done some preparatory leg work. That makes it easiedr.
Beldon: but fine theres times to move fast and times to do your homework
Shopkeeper: I think there will come a time in this operation that moving fast is the plan.
Shopkeeper: But until then, cautious and measured.
Beldon: that's where I come in ;)
Four: We're very good with cautious and measured...ness
Beldon: yeah its on account of theyre monks
Shopkeeper: Very well. It sounds like we have a good phase one plan. You decide your plan for your.... visit.... to the Admin Complex.
Beldon: ok tell me a bit more about you and your pals. yall figured out what you want from us yet?
Beldon: you get some info out of it, what else?
Shopkeeper: I will continue to collect what information we can about the inside. It's hard, as very few people go down there. But, knowing this inventory project gives me an angle to get more information.
Shopkeeper shrugs.
Shopkeeper: We're not going to ask you to commit murder, if that's your implication.
Shopkeeper: Otherwise, sometimes the fewer questions the better. You came to us. Choosy beggers is not a good look.
Shopkeeper: I'm optimistic, I have to say.
Beldon: not really but we got the wander lust if you want your payment in 6 months of babysitting maybe that causes me some issues
Four: Oh, we're always optimistic, too
Beldon: yeah its our optomism makes us such reasonable people. theres a way to make everyone happy
Shopkeeper: As part of your preparation, you might want to find access to key ritual spells. Dectect magic, sure, but also Detect Traps.
Beldon: yeah yeah lets skip to the intermediate level material bobby hear read a textbook about it already
Shopkeeper: That would be the easiest way to find any magical wards and glyphs, which are often overlooked or impossible to find by conventional means.
ut you do learn the general nature of the danger posed by a trap you sense.
Shopkeeper: Additionally, Dispel Magic would be highly useful since there are almost certainly magical protectiosn to overcome.
Shopkeeper: do you have access to such magic?
Bobwhite: Not easily
Beldon: he's just messing with you
Shopkeeper laughs,.
Beldon: i can dispell something right now let me show you
Shopkeeper: Well, I would keep those as your most precious commodity. Even if you detect a sigil or ward, you will need magic to overcome it.
Beldon: yeah and reset it after the fact, right knuckleheads?
Beldon glares at bobwhite
Bobwhite ignores the barb
Shopkeeper: That's a good thought. That would be tougher, although if you could determine the nature of the wards they would be easier to replace.
Shopkeeper: Or, I guess worst case, if the wards are discovered to be down the next day and nothing is missing...
Shopkeeper thinks.
Shopkeeper: I'll have to think on that point, it's a good one to raise Beldon.

• Session ends