Quarks Tower

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Inferno
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Re: Quarks Tower

#21 Post by Inferno »

Jack, lost boy:

Having been discovered by the old man, Jack smiles guiltily a moment and then bolts off, racing back the way he came.
DM:
The Horror at Briarsgate (1e): Lovecraftian Gothic Horror (N1, homebrew)
Lost City of Eternity (1e): Hyborian Age Sword and Sorcery (B4, JG102, homebrew)
Once and Future Earth (1e): Post-Apocalyptic Sci-Fi Dungeon Crawl (X1, B1, ASE1, homebrew)
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Agax Gryyg: Gamer of Urth, Ravenloft
Azoth Al-Aziz: Lovecraftian Cultist, Tamoachan
Blodget: Foolish Young 9th Level Hobbit, Dark Clouds
Dredd Doomsmith: Dwarven Deathtrap Engineer, Tomb of Horrors
Elijah Crowthorne: Marooned Prophet, Pirates
Jack in the Green: Ancient Child, Giants
P.T. Codswallop: Larcenous Impresario, Dimwater
Sir Ugghra: Bestial Half-Orc Aristocrat, Brotherton
Swilbosh: Savage Lizard-Warrior, Keep
Tantos Vek: Failed Paladin, Under Streets
Ulfang Chainbreaker: Barbarian Liberator of Slaves, Tharizdun

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Re: Quarks Tower

#22 Post by OGRE MAGE »

Once Captain Quark returns to his ship, to find that his brig is now empty, save for a small puddle of grey water on the floor of the cell, the man really starts to wonder what is happening here.

He looks to his first mate with a stern glare.

"Are you salty bastards putting me on or what? Enough is enough here, tell me what is really going on now."

The first mate produces the key to the cell door and just shrugs at his boss. "This aint no joke that I know of, Cap'n, sir! Bing was in here yesterday. I know he was! I talked to him myself!!!"

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Re: Quarks Tower

#23 Post by Quonundrum »

Andronichishche
Narrowing his eyes in concentration, Andron sets his gaze upon the contents of the cage.

Are the clothes gone along with the body?

After a few moments he turns to regard the first mate ... What did Bing say to you? Please concentrate on this, every detail matters. Was he also wearing the same clothes as when you found him?

Motioning to the cage ... Let us also open the cage and check for anything remaining.

Captain, I suggest a complete search of your ship. We are uncertain as to the motive behind this mystery, and given your long animosity with Captain Bing along with his recent loss of business from Mr. Nehru, you may be the intended target for whoever is responsible.
Last edited by Quonundrum on Tue Aug 20, 2019 1:06 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Quarks Tower

#24 Post by Bluehorse »

Liam

He studied the floor of the cell. What is below this floor? just for the sake of taking a look, Liam also looks up at the ceiling. An old superstition he learned some time back when the habit had saved his life, realizing while on a campaign that people rarely look up.

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Re: Quarks Tower

#25 Post by OGRE MAGE »

Andron studies the floor of the cage while Liam wisely looks up. There is no clothing found, only a small puddle of greyish colored water where the man was laying. The ceiling looks normal and shows no signs of danger or tampering.

The first mate pops the cage door open with his key, but no further clues are found inside the cell. "He was here I tells ya! I'd bet my soul on it! Clothes? Ya, he was wearing clothes! He talked about how glad he was that we found him out there after his ship was attacked and sunk. And that he couldn't believe that he was the only survivor.......stuff like that. He didn't say anything about being able to disappear, though!"

The captain ponders Andron's words for a moment.

"There is nothing but a wet bilge below this floor, where only rats and crabs could survive for long. If this dopplethingy can change its shape, enough to get itself out of this cell, could it not find other suitable hiding places on board the ship? I hate to say this, but if the creature went through this much trouble to get back to this island, I doubt that it wants to stay on board. I fear that we may have inadvertently brought this thing right back to where it wants to be."

"I will call for a complete search of the ship once everyone returns, just in case I'm wrong, but I think the damage here has already been done."

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Re: Quarks Tower

#26 Post by Quonundrum »

Andronichishche
Andron looks around the small room established as the ship's brig, attempting to find some other clue ... anything that would connect the data points and elicit the truth, but he eventually relents and calmly folds his hands at his waist as he addresses Captain Quark.

"I am inclined to agree with you, Captain. It is possible that this creature impersonated a member of your crew and slipped away in the hustle to the tavern. I doubt any would have been looking for or even suspected a duplicate among themselves. The apparent change in clothes when we discovered the body may be evidence of this. If true, then it would suggest that when the creature mimics another it dissolves and leaves this pool of murky water." Andron motions to the puddle of greyish water on the floor of the cage.

"Our working theory then is Captain Bing somehow made it appear that his ship was destroyed and left behind a doppelganger in his image, expecting you would rightly rescue any survivors and bring them here to the island. The objective of this creature must therefore be in the town as Bing could have released it elsewhere on the island himself. Whatever Bing is after he needed something that could infiltrate without being detected."

Andron pauses for a moment with his eyes closed deep in thought. "Mr. Nehru is the only known connection to the pirate in town, we should proceed there next. Whatever magical item he kept in his office cabinet may be of interest to Bing. There was also a note on his desk with a reminder to ask around about someone named ... Bonnie? Mr. Nehru thought the town was being monitored and this Bonnie may be involved."

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Re: Quarks Tower

#27 Post by OGRE MAGE »

Quark nods at the logic of Andron.

"Bing was no wizard. And I know what I saw. That ship went down, I tell ya! I watched the whole thing through my spyglass. Never seen anything like it before in my life!"

"I find it hard to swallow that this was all just an elaborate ruse to trick us into bringing a malevolent creature here, but that does seem to fit your theory. I just don't think that Bing had the smarts......or the resources to pull something like that off."

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Re: Quarks Tower

#28 Post by Quonundrum »

Andronichishche
Andron carefully studies Captain Quark as he recounts what he saw two days prior. "I believe you, Captain. One does not obtain command of a ship without years of experience at sea, and to create a convincing enough illusion to deceive one such as yourself would require very powerful magic, indeed."

His brow furrows in obvious concern as he considers the implications. "The other possibility to my theory is that we are dealing with a particularly intelligent and malevolent monster. One that infiltrated Bing's ship and possibly caused its destruction. If true, where it came from and what it wants we have no suggestions to. It would raise the question then as to why your crew was spared the same fate, unless its short term objective was transport to the island."

Andron sighs wearily and rubs a hand across his face. "In any event, whatever we're tracking is likely in town, perhaps disguised as a crew member ... or one of the townspeople by now. Lacking evidence otherwise I suggest we continue with investigating Mr. Nehru's shop. I would be severely remiss not excluding it as a possibility and placing lady Nallissa in grave danger."

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Re: Quarks Tower

#29 Post by Bluehorse »

Liam

Shakes his head. We are still making a lot of assumptions. Admittedly I know little about such creatures much less how to surmise this kind of evidence that this is ever what we are dealing with. If it is man or beast, we know that it would have an instinct to self-preservation... so it would make sense that regardless of other motivations, it would rather be taken prisoner than to die at sea.
So... we cannot assume it had a malevolent intent, but if it was something passing so well as Bing... I have to say that the idea of an intelligent doppelganger doesn't seem to far fetched. How can we identify one? Does it have to injure or kill someone to take their form?
Is there a magical aspect that lets them absorb memories and the like to pass around those that would know them? Obviously, if this is the case they were smart and able enough to fool the good Captain here... I agree we should check Mr. Nehru's office for clues, even if only a possibility of intent. Oh gods... with Mr. Nehru dead... if it takes his form... he could cause some real chaos before we caught up to him.

Bonnie... that woman's name keeps coming up time and time again. She was the one tricked us into heading up the trail. She passed it off as a simple mapping expedition to me, and a diplomatic mission to Mr. Nehru... then led us to the old Logger's Cabin that we found zombies had treed Grimm, a dwarf that had wandered away soon as he got away from the StoneGuts who were apparently using him for scab labor. She then lead us north up a thin trail. All well past the trail itself to a ruined temple that apparently is housing a necromancer I can only assume she works for. That is where we lost Nehru to a tentacle beast that was in the fountain that ate him alive. When we went after her into the temple, there were zombies and skeletons waiting to overtake us. Hrothgar, and myself barely made it away. Once we got to the cabin, we took a wrong turn and found ourselves heading east rather than south. That is where we ran into Daisy in the wilderness.

It was another day or so that we continued east, trying to find the river, which luckily we did. We ran into some of the natives... They call themselves the In-Di-Juns. They are interested in resisting the hold outs of Bing's men. They are hold up near the mouth of the river. There is an outcropping of rocks near there where he had been docking to take on slaves and presumably other contraband.
Grimm has stayed back with them to work out a plan. We are to meet them in 3 days. My thought was that we could gather some adventurers from here, and if we can find a druid, also link up with the Phanatons to mount an allied attack against the remaining pirates. But now... all this... I admit, my head is spinning...

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Re: Quarks Tower

#30 Post by Quonundrum »

Andronichishche
Bluehorse wrote: We are still making a lot of assumptions. Admittedly I know little about such creatures much less how to surmise this kind of evidence that this is ever what we are dealing with. If it is man or beast, we know that it would have an instinct to self-preservation... so it would make sense that regardless of other motivations, it would rather be taken prisoner than to die at sea.
As Andron is listening to Mr. Liam his eyes widen slightly in surprise, a disconcerted expression perceptible for a moment. "Indeed ... we've been making assumptions based upon the available evidence, which at this time suggests a doppelganger like person or creature. A short lived simulacrum of Captain Bing would seem to be the less likely possibility. However, you speak with the wisdom of Rao. We do not know if it is malevolent or has malevolent intent for the town. Thank you ... in my short time here I have grown rather fond of this small settlement, and I fear that in my zeal to protect it I disregarded reason and acted more as a Billet of St. Cuthbert." Andron chuckles quietly to himself at this last reference.
Bluehorse wrote: How can we identify one? Does it have to injure or kill someone to take their form?
Is there a magical aspect that lets them absorb memories and the like to pass around those that would know them?
Andron nods in approval at Mr. Liam's questions. "All very valid and cogent questions. From Captain Quark and the first mate's interaction with it, identification is our primary problem. The water on the floor of the cage suggests when it has assumed a new form. Considering the entire crew is accounted for in the tavern it would seem that injuring or killing its intended victim is not required. I sincerely hope it's not able to absorb memories, though ..."
Bluehorse wrote: Bonnie... that woman's name keeps coming up time and time again. She was the one tricked us into heading up the trail. She passed it off as a simple mapping expedition to me, and a diplomatic mission to Mr. Nehru...
Andron raises a hand and shakes his index finger as if recalling important information. "Mr. Nehru in his notes mentioned a necromancer by the name of Gorman. I expect the undead you encountered are his minions. Pacing now the length of the small room, Andron slowly thinks aloud, punctuating each point with a gesture of his hand. The thread we've been following in this mystery is slowly spreading into a web of related events. It would seem that the threads of your business with Bonnie along with Mr. Nehru may be linked with Captain Bing and Captain Quark. Consider that both events occurred about two days ago, and all three of you are prominent members of the town. Mr. Nehru though, had connections to both Bonnie and Bing. Mr. Liam, do you feel that Bonnie's intention was to lead yourself and Mr. Nehru into a trap?"

"In less than two days time on the morning of the 15th I have agreed to join an expedition to the small island nearby. If we return before you meet with Grimm, I will certainly like to join your group and assist in any way I can. For now it would seem we are agreed to investigate Mr. Nehru's office?"
Last edited by Quonundrum on Wed Aug 21, 2019 3:16 pm, edited 3 times in total.

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Re: Quarks Tower

#31 Post by OGRE MAGE »

Town Constable Glansandi rushes into the room next, surprising the captain who didn't actually give him permission to board his ship. He keeps his thoughts about that to himself, for the betterment of the conversation. The constable listens to everything proposed and remarks.

"Yes! Please! Lets not start jumping to conclusions here. I still don't know if we have all the facts to be able to form a reasonable hypothesis about all of this, but the more we tell and learn, the better this will go."

"We cant go running around town screaming about an evil shapeshifter unless we are certain one exists. The poor members of this community have suffered enough, and are only now starting to make a little better life for themselves here with the help of people like us. People who care and want to see progress continue here. Spreading rumors and chaos will only work against us."

I suggest that we search the ship now, Captain Quark. And once that is done, and if we don't find anything sinister, then we go investigate Mr. Nehru's office. There is much about the story of his demise that I am very interested to hear about."


Finally acknowledging the newcomer, the tall elf holds his hand out to the half-elf priest of Rao. "I am Constable Glansandi, I trust that you are here to help?"

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Re: Quarks Tower

#32 Post by Quonundrum »

Andronichishche
OGRE MAGE wrote:Finally acknowledging the newcomer, the tall elf holds his hand out to the half-elf priest of Rao. "I am Constable Glansandi, I trust that you are here to help?"
Andron bows respectfully to the Constable at Glansandi's greeting."Very pleased to make your acquaintance, Constable. My name is Andronichishche of Niole Dra, of the temple of Rao in the same. I recently arrived as a passenger on Captain Quark's ship. I visited the store to secure accommodations and the lady Nillassa was terribly distraught with the thoughts of Mr. Nehru's disappearance. I assisted her with the shipping registers, and subsequently meeting with Mr. Liam and the Captain here stumbled upon this mystery."

Changing his vocal tone to a more serious sounding level. "I absolutely agree with not alarming the townspeople until we know for certain what we are dealing with. I have already requested Captain Quark and now his first mate to keep this mystery from the rest of the crew, and to my knowledge only lady Nillassa suspects of Mr. Nehru's demise. I also agree with an immediate search of the ship, but as this should take some time and we don't know if we are indeed hunting a doppelganger, I suggest allowing Captain Quark and his first mate to conduct the search while Mr. Liam, yourself, and I proceed to the store. Lady Nillassa has been most kind and I am eager to see to her safety."

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Re: Quarks Tower

#33 Post by Bluehorse »

Liam

Holding up his hands. It's the Captain's ship. I think this falls more on his jurisdiction as to who helps or doesn't in the search.
I submit to his decision there. But I do agree we need to get to the late Mayor's office. Constable... There is something else you need to know. One, Hrothgar, a stout and able man was with us, and was witness to all events of the failed... hell I have to call it a goose chase now... we were all tricked by Bonnie and she said as much. He will back my statement. He didn't seem too keen on keeping tight-lipped about this... There was also Daisy, I trust her and she seems good-hearted and well-intentioned, but that doesn't mean she wouldn't spread the news if only inspired by those same good intentions. I asked them to keep it hush for now, but the news may well be already spreading.

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Re: Quarks Tower

#34 Post by OGRE MAGE »

The constable takes in all of the information, nodding at each new revelation.

"I agree with each of you. Captain, please see to the task of searching your ship however you see fit and report anything unusual to me as quickly as possible. The three of us should go break the terrible news about Nehru to Nallissa, if she hasn't already heard it. Once we talk this over with her, perhaps a search of the mans private office would be a prudent next step."

"I will of course be watching the town closely for any unusual activity, as should we all. But for now, lets gather all the information we can about this situation before announcing it to anyone else. We can come up with a way to inform the town once we have talked this all through."

"Gentlemen, shall we proceed to the Hi-Lo?"

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Re: Quarks Tower

#35 Post by Quonundrum »

Andronichishche

As Andron was listening to Liam his eyebrows raised at the mention of Daisy. "Miss Daisy, the halfling? Yes ... I've already met her at the tree house tavern. I agree with your appraisal of her Mr. Liam, I sensed only good will and a kind heart. She's also of the cloth, although I don't recall of which deity at the moment. Hrothgar I have not met, although to be honest I was attempting to distance myself from many of the men in the tavern at the time ... they were rather loud and boisterous."

After the Constable suggests a course of action, Andron nods in emphatic agreement. "Indeed, let us proceed post haste to the Hi-Lo ... and for the sake of full disclosure, I did perform a cursory search of Mr. Nehru's office when I was checking the ledgers, but I was only concerned about dangerous artifacts he may have stored there. That is when I detected the presence of a magical object in the cabinet, although I did not investigate as it wasn't my place at the time. I did caution lady Nillassa to avoid touching anything she wasn't familiar with and she expressed no intention to do so."

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Re: Quarks Tower

#36 Post by OGRE MAGE »

The constable's left eyebrow raises after Andron tells them of his prior investigation.

"So, you have already taken the liberty of getting a head start on the investigation into the mans private office, it would seem? You can understand how that might look in my eyes at this point, cant you?"

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Re: Quarks Tower

#37 Post by OGRE MAGE »

Suddenly, a dull thumping noise is heard coming from a wooden crate in the corner of the small room. The pounding noise is followed by muffled cries that seem to be coming from inside the crate.

"What the hells is this now?" The captain remarks as he strides towards the square shipping container. "Looks like our search will start right in here."

"Hello! Hello? Bing? Is that you in there?" The good captain thinks for a moment before finishing his thoughts. "How in tarnation did the fool barricade himself inside a crate all alone in here?"

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Re: Quarks Tower

#38 Post by SirOwen »

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A faint voice comes from the crate. "Help... I'm out of water and no one has heard me yelling. I don't know what a Bing is."
"There is no spoon."

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Re: Quarks Tower

#39 Post by Quonundrum »

OGRE MAGE wrote:"So, you have already taken the liberty of getting a head start on the investigation into the mans private office, it would seem? You can understand how that might look in my eyes at this point, cant you?"
Andronichishche

Andron nods apologetically, accepting the appearance of impropriety.

Absolutely, Constable ... hence, my disclosure. In truth, the manner in which lady Nillassa spoke of Captain Bing and the mysterious disappearance of her employer had me concerned of nefarious activity ... activity which may have proven a danger to herself. As I had only reasonable suspicion and lacking official authority, I limited my investigation to the shipping manifests and any notes left upon the office desk. The former of which I was assisting lady Nillassa with the customary shipments. The desk drawers and other objects in the office I did not examine, except for a scan to detect arcane emanations, to which I already referred.

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Re: Quarks Tower

#40 Post by OGRE MAGE »

Captain Quark looks to Andron as he explains his actions to the now appeased constable. Then he looks back at the crate again. Then he looks to Liam and Glansandi, not exactly sure how to handle the situation of the talking crate.

"Uuummmmm.......can you tell us who you are then? And what you are doing stowed away in my cargo hold?"

The seaman looks around for a crowbar to pop open the top of the clearly occupied crate.

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