Before he sleeps, Sarm would not hesitate to create some water for himself, or at least find some in the temple, for having to breathe in the cutting frozen winds from the flight through the otherwise skyless Sigil have left him with a very irritating sensation in his throat and lungs. He would feel much relief just from tepid water.
Having hastily prepared himself that morning so that he can catch up with the others to meet, he joins in on the conversation at hand, "I am unfamiliar with how the Lady would react to such a business, but that does seem to be the case. We were also warned not to press any attempts to shut down their trade, as we would not compare to how large they have established themselves."
Until now, Suvne has worn a mild expression of confusion and frustration, due to the extreme moral ambiguity of their task, coupled with the severe lack of information. When Val offers up his theory of the shadow-man's intentions, she seizes the metaphorical foothold and latches on. "That goblin must be stopped," she says with complete conviction. "Any who would keep and sell slaves deserves the cruel hand of justice. If that hand belongs to the Lady of Pain, then I think Pelor could forgive us for denying him the pleasure."
Tarkus nods, taking the opportunity to follow up on Suvne's statement: "Goblin was sniveling creature of ugly trade. Not certain purpose of Lady but doubt his presentness in shop go unseen by eye of demi-goddess. Her passing maybe kill two bird with one stone." As far as how the rest of the group can help with the infiltration, he is unsure.
"Shall we both go sneak in? Or do you think it would be better for you to go in alone? We only have some many potions, and that is a BIG tower to be searching. I can keep in contact with you from outside with my Telepathic Bond spell, and possibly Scry as well, though I wouldn't be surprise if such magic was block inside that tower..." says Quintus to Val.
Although the logistics of the infiltration have not yet been ironed out, after gearing up and getting ready, everyone hops on board their pegasi and makes the flight to the center of the city. They arrive around noon, and things are exactly as Val and Quintus left them the previous day.
Scoping out the entrance to the tower, Val takes Quintus' assessment under consideration. "You probably have the right of it that there's liable to be safeguards to intercept and interrupt magical communication between inside and outside the tower, it's probably best we both go in. Should things go... Sideways, would the telepathic link be sufficient to try and teleport us both out of there, or would we need to be in proximity? Presuming teleportation is even an option once inside..."
Quintus says "I will have to be able to touch you to teleport out... anyways, give me a few minutes to cast this spell and we'll go in." and then begins casting the Telepathic Bond spell.
As Quintus completes the casting of the spell, Val is struck with the queer sensation that another being is present inside his head, and can hear his thoughts. He reflexively stops all surface-level conversation with himself, for fear that the intruder might divine Val's deepest and darkest secrets - though in reality there is no danger of that, as Quintus should only be able to hear what Val directly transmits to him.
((Use Italics to signify telepathically-transmitted messages))
Quintus feels the same sensation, though it isn't quite as foreign to him, as he had more team-building exercises using this spell during his time in the academy than he'd care to remember.
((Whenever you guys use Invisibility and attempt to sneak in, each of you make a Stealth check. I will add in your invisibility modifier myself.))
((Unless you want to also go in, then yes; Val and Quintus are the only ones who stated they'd like to go. But if you want to discuss it in-character then go for it. If you don't go in, you can also decide something else to do in the mean time))
As Quin & Val prepare to enter the tower, Tarkus dismounts his pegasi and remains behind, idly patting its mane while in worried thought. Rejoining the others, he confers with Sarm and Suvne. "Two idea. Create distraction or stay on watch for danger."
Before the two sneakers down their potions Tarkus wishes them luck. "No return in too long or sign of danger, will charge entrance for you."
Val feels a change, as though some sensory perception that he has always possessed but never recognized has suddenly engaged. "Well this is certainly... different..."
Speaking aloud for the benefit of his non-telepathically endowed associates, he says, "In the event a distraction proves necessary, have a care to stay well outside the guards' reach. Tarkus may be tough, but those beasts are sure to make short work of most anyone."
Counting that the ambient noise of the street will be enough to conceal the noise of their passing, Val opts to conserve the silencing oils for now and sticks with the potion of invisibility. Closing in on the entrance unseen, Val suddenly wishes he knew more about the acuity of a rhino's senses.
Hopefully their olfactory capacity is not particularly noteworthy...
After properly preparing themselves for the task ahead, Val and Quintus watch their selected tower entrance with eager eyes, ready to quaff their invisibility potions and go to work. They spot a slow-moving and distracted Halfling approaching the door as he rummages in a carrying satchel for his papers; this is their chance.
Each of them downs their concoction and immediately appear to vanish from sight. After mentally exchanging half-sentences to confirm that they're on their way, Val and Quintus move quickly and quietly forward.
The halfling is still stopped at the door, looking for the proper papers when they get there, and there is an awkward and tense moment where it looks like their mark may not be able to get in... but finally he produces an official-looking scroll (with a specific design that Val no doubt files in the back of his mind for possible later use). The rhino-man glances down and nods, and extends his arm to open the oversized metal door.
The two of them slip straight past both guards and the absent-minded halfling, and have now gained entry to the Watchers' Tower.
They find themselves in a wide, expensive-looking hallway with marble floors and smooth, polished wooden walls. Along those walls are pieces of artwork and doors; most of the doors are closed, but after observing one that has been left open, it appears that the doors lead to large, ornate offices. Curiously, these offices seem to have very large windows with a clear view of the outside, though these windows were completely invisible from the outside.
The hallway is not entirely empty; there is a trickle of people passing through in either direction. Val and Quintus follow the hallway forward, and after less than a block's worth of distance, the hallway feeds into a very large and wide-open square-shaped lobby. The floors are still made of shiny, dull-green marble, and now it becomes obvious that each entrance to the building leads to a hallway which feeds into this room. There is a slightly higher concentration of people here.
In the center of the lobby is an enormous spiral staircase leading up... and up.... and up.... and up. The end of the staircase is not visible from here, and it's entirely possible that it leads all the way to the top of the tower. There are countless floors between here and there, though, and at each one is an access point from the stairway.
The very base of the staircase is enclosed in a fancy-looking blue, metallic archway, with a blue gem at the top. Quintus recognizes it immediately as a device that suppresses magic, which means that if either Val or Quintus were to step through it, all enchantments on them and their worn items would deactivate. Based on the design of the staircase, it would be difficult- but not impossible - to bypass the archway ((would require a DC 25 Climb check)).
Arcana DC 34 for more detailed info
The anti-magic field seems to be heavily modified with metamagic. Passing through it going up the stairs will suppress all enchantments for as long as the person is in the tower. When the person passes through in the other direction, their enchantments reactivate.
Bypassing the archway by climbing onto the stairs from another point would allow someone to keep their enchantments.
There also seems to be some mechanism to prevent teleportation into the tower; the efficacy of teleportation to escape is impossible to guess from here.
Also, if Val steps through the archway while wearing the Handy Haversack, it would immediately explode in much the same way that the Bag of Holding full of rocks did during the tournament bout.
((On your next post, both of you go ahead and roll a Search check if you intend on looking around and exploring; your result will determine how much you find. This may or may not be relevant, depending on what you decide to do and/or whether you're successful at it))
"Okay, we cannot go though that archway, and no way I'm I gonna be able to climb around it like this... however I can cast a spell of levitation to get over. Thinks its loud enough for no one to notice? If not I could use this ring I picked up a while ago. If you've got any other ideas, they are welcome of course."
While admittedly he knows absolutely nothing of the layout of this tower, it doesn't take a genius intellect to deduce that any bunch called "The Watchers" who are tasked with maintaining a watch on a city the size of Sigil would need quite the vantage point to accomplish this. Combine that with the obvious security surrounding the foot of the staircase spiraling endlessly upward, and well... Seems self explanatory enough.
"I've got some rope, but if I can't see it, it won't do us any good. I'm going to guess our supply of silencing oil won't mute the sound of spell casting? The ring might be our best chance, how does it work?"
Val looks around to see if he can't find anything to go all MacGuyver on this problem, because he's pretty sure somewhere in the multiverse that's a reference that makes sense.
"Normal silence would keep me from being heard as well as casting any spells that require me to speak at all, but I have an item that will allow to avoid that problem, temporarily at least."
Impatiently pacing before the two devout servants of Pelor, Tarkus waits for the two infiltrators with a keen eye on the door guards for sign of trouble.
Taking a few moments to scout out the bottom floor as much as possible, Val deduces that the offices here are made for the big-wigs of the establishment, so to speak - those who are in charge of the rest of the tower.
It makes sense, considering how arduous it would be to scale the enormous staircase every day. This doesn't do much to help discern an alternate way around the anti-magic archway, however.
The immense central concourse of the tower is relatively sparse in terms of anything that Val might find useful for sneaking past the enchanted archway at the foot of the staircase. He doesn't see anything that might clue him in on how to turn it off either, which doesn't surprise him; what good is a security measure if any Johnny-Know-Nothing could come along and throw a lever to deactivate it?
"There's nothing we can use down here, let's see how this ring thing works out."
a time travelling robot arrives and proceeds to beat val to death using dice forcefully taken from his hands. after mere moments of beating, the robot turns and leaves val to die a slow and painful death, one that he most likely does not deserve. giving him some last moments of recognition, the robot mutters:
a time travelling robot arrives and proceeds to beat val to death using dice forcefully taken from his hands. after mere moments of beating, the robot turns and leaves val to die a slow and painful death, one that he most likely does not deserve. giving him some last moments of recognition, the robot mutters:
Quintus stands next to the stairs and tries to guide Val next to him. Not too hard to pull off, but the invisibility probably makes its tougher then you'd think it would be. Once there he activates the ring, creating a zone of absolute silence around the two heroes. Quintus then silently casts a levitation spell, and floats upward while holding Val... or what he hopes is Val. If anyone gets to close to the area of the silence effect, he will shut it off so as not to cause a commotion with someone freaking out thinking they've gone deaf or something.
a time travelling robot arrives and proceeds to beat val to death using dice forcefully taken from his hands. after mere moments of beating, the robot turns and leaves val to die a slow and painful death, one that he most likely does not deserve. giving him some last moments of recognition, the robot mutters:
After a precarious lift over the anti-magic archway, Quintus and Val successfully bypass the security checkpoint, and find that for the most part, the rest of the tower is theirs to explore. They do not encounter any further obstacles, and in fact security is rather lax in from here on.
Even more convenient: the different departments and functions throughout the tower seem to be very clearly labeled, and it will be a simple matter to determine what functions are performed and where.
There's only one problem, and it occurs to Quintus after about fifteen minutes of moving about: because of the sheer size of this place, the invisibility potions will not last nearly long enough for this task to be accomplished. The concoctions that he purchased were more potent than average, and will last for about an hour a piece; both he and Val are fairly certain that at minimum it will take two hours just to get a reasonable layout of the facility, and that's not counting however much additional time will be required to manipulate the Lady of Pain's schedule.
Compounding this problem is the time limit on the telepathic bond that currently links the minds of the heroes. It will expire in not-quite-an hour and a half, after which point it will be unwise for the duo to split up.
Even as they explore the building and make headway in their mission, they silently discuss methods for dealing with these contingencies.
"This is... less than optimal," Val broadcasts to Quintus. "At this rate, it'd be cheaper for us to come up with the hundred thousand gold pieces instead of altering the schedule... We should see if we can't at least determine where these 'Watchers' are, and if we're extraordinarily lucky, maybe we can lift an authorization form. Then I'd have to come back and act like I belong here.
Not too terribly thrilled about that idea, I'm not keen on the possibility of running afoul of the security of the seat of power of an entity called the Lady of Pain..."
"Agreed. Let's just see what we can find out before this stuff wears off."
Quintus sends a little more time looking for info on the 'Watchers' and those papers people use to get in here(Search: (1d20+7=18) in case a roll is needed), then heads for the exit with Val before they lose contact.
As the pair frantically (and quietly) scramble to cover as much ground within the sprawling facility as they can before their time runs out, they find all manner of bizarre and wondrous machinations. Handheld communication devices - some portable, others attached to machines by way of wires - seem to be the order of the day, facilitating rapid communication between disparate sections of the tower; small desks, contained in partially-walled off cubicles, fill the vast majority of each floor beyond the first two, with only a few actual offices. These desks are manned mostly by halflings and gnomes, with the occasional full-size creature, including a number of humans.
It becomes apparent that the vast majority of the work done in this tower is data analysis; most of the data gathering seems to be done on the top floors, who send it down here to be arranged and cataloged, and utilized to construct an around-the-clock route for the Lady of Pain's caravan to follow.
While figuring all of this out, on the fifth floor Val and Quintus stumble upon a room with the door hanging open. Inside is a lone halfling seated at a desk; on the desk is a smooth, flat, upright piece of glass that's bigger than he is. There seems to be some kind of map being projected onto the glass, and the halfling is manipulating the view of that map with his fingers, moving the focal point of the map, zooming in and out, and more. Val and Quintus can make out a red line that has already been sketched onto the map that runs along streets, though from outside the room it's tough to see in much more detail than that.
There is still another half hour remaining on the duration of the Invisibility Potions, give or take.
"I think this might be it... tempting as it is to just jump in there and turn that guy into a newt and change the route, perhaps we should just come back tomorrow better prepared. What say you Val?"
Val nods in agreement, momentarily forgetting that he's not visible. "This certainly looks like the spot. No time now, but we'll need to take enough time to observe the operation of this device, and figure out where our target is on that map. Then we'd have to return the day of to reroute the Lady of Pain. Timing is going to be tricky...
Quintus and Val creep into the room to get a closer look at the fancy magical device. It seems to be quite intuitive; the controls are built into the screen itself, allowing the user to manipulate more than just the image. There seems to be a time range on the particular map being displayed, and a few moments of observation and deduction reveal that it's displaying a proposed route for two days from now. The halfling seems too absorbed in what he's doing to notice anything is amiss, and after fifteen minutes of observation, both Quintus and Val feel confident that either of them could at least utilize the device competently enough to pull up the route scheduled four days out and manipulate it as the shadowy figure requested.
A short walk down the stairs brings Val and Quintus to the archway, where the pair presumably pull another levitation trick to get safely to the other side; from there, it's a trivial matter to slink out alongside a clueless departing worker. By the time they reunite with Tarkus, Sarm, and Suvne, the invisibility potion has already worn off.
It is all Tarkus can do to resist charging up to the duo as he spots them making their way, quite visibly, towards him. As they approach he coughs and then speaks in a hushed tone "Success?" Curious and eager to be done with tempting the fates of Pain, he suddenly has a change of heart and mounts his pegasi. "Better to talk elsewhere."
Val gives his fingers an experimental wag before his eyes, as though his restored visibility might be revoked at any moment, or perhaps as though to check and make sure no digits had been left behind. "Success?" he echoes as he clumsily attempts to clamber up atop his own mount. "Yes, I suppose we met with some measure of it. Let's be away from potentially prying ears and talk about our next move someplace more secure."
((Just to be sure I've got things straight, the map is the course two days out, which makes the next day the day to manipulate it to meet the target, right?))
Once everyone has flown back to the Temple of Pelor and found a place to discuss their plans, he would ask Val to begin "I am thankful that both of you were able to perform without being seen. What sort of success is it that you have found?"
Val recounts what he and Quintus discovered. "We found a room which seems to be the scheduling center or something. There's a large device that resembles a giant iPad they seem to be using to chart the Lady's path though the city. It seems simple enough to use, and it goes out far enough ahead of time that it should theoretically just be a matter of returning to the room, distracting the operator, and setting the new course.
"Needless to say, I expect numerous complications."
((Waiting on you guys to describe how you're planning to return to that room, since I'm assuming you're going to change things up compared to last time. Or maybe you're not changing anything. Either way, let me know))
((Hrm, I'd just figured we'd use the same scheme, make a beeline for the room, then probably distract the operator by knocking something over on the opposite side of the room or something.))
Val can only shrug noncomittally. "Who can say? But I can't think of a better option without considerable investment of resources we're currently lacking."
"Then I will hope that even if they notice the change, that it would not result in our being in grave danger."
He thinks for a moment then adds, "I do think we should arrive differently, if that is possible, as I'm sure they will begin to become suspicious of Pegasi and ourselves constantly appearing and then leaving."
((Teleport might be worse considering magical observation))
Tarkus blinks incredulously at the description of what Val & Quintus found . "Just alter gnome screen...that all?" His face betrays his bewilderment at the innocuous simplicity of it all. At Sarm's suggestion he crosses his arms, nodding in agreement. "Different land point...walk more to entrance. Not be too careful with sneaking." His eyes shift uneasily and he grunts in frustration. "Wish more we do for helping..."
"Well, now that we know what we are looking for, we could try and find a way to get one of those papers so we can just walk in... unless Val thinks he can make a decent copy of one. The original plan seemed to work well enough, so if need be we can still use that as a backup plan."
((Teleport is a viable option to get to anywhere Quintus has already been on this plane. If you decide to cast it, then tell me where you're teleporting to, and give me a Caster Level check alongside it. You're not supposed to know about the CL check beforehand; I'm only telling you for expediency.
Also Val can give me a Forgery check if he wants to try and replicate the papers he saw on the way in))
Val's expression looks quite perturbed. "We don't know enough about the security measures of this place to get fancy. I'm willing to bet a high value location such as that tower has all manner of warding and detection spells, so I'd be quite surprised if that were going to work. No, I think we do an encore performance of today's scheme, since that worked out well enough. Tarkus is right though, we need to have the pegasi alight somewhere removed from the tower to avoid raising suspicion.
"I got a good look at the authorization paperwork the workers were carrying, I think I can dummy up the sigil of... Er... Sigil, but if there's any subtle differences between what each form is used for, it could blow up in our face. We'll just keep it in reserve as a means of last resort."
