Requesting Advice- (Completed!)

[Caowyth]

Ok, I've got a bit of a situation in the game I play in, and I was hoping to get some advice from the other roguely types here.

Background-

In the campaign world I'm playing in there was once a master swordsmith who created 7 Great Works. 300 years ago he went insane, stole all of his swords back, and hid them around the countryside.

Currently-

My character has found the location of one of the swords.

Problem-

The sword is held in the hand of a statue of Ishtar, and the statue is located in a government building in a neighboring country.

It gets worse. This neigboring country is a theocracy of Ishtar, which makes the government building in question a temple. And the citizens of said country are zealots.

Oh yeah, and there is some possibility that the statue is a golem, since the creator of the swords was a powerful mage.

Resources-

Myself, 20th lvl Assassin. A 21st lvl NPC rogue. A decent amount of wealth. One teleportation device (2/day 2 people max) on a world where teleportation is extremely uncommon. I haven't seen the room the statue is in as of yet, so I can't just port into it, and I probably can't port on and off of temple grounds either.

What I want to accomplish-

I want to get the sword out of the Temple/Government building without angering the goddess in question, angering her fanatic worshippers, or letting them get any inkling of the value of what I'm taking.


I've played with the gamemaster in question for years, and he tends to know my strategies and the way I think. I'm looking for some ideas that will allow me to take him off-guard. =)

And help would be appreciated.

Cao Edited by: Caowyth at: 4/29/02 12:29:59 pm

[EZ_Telurinon]

Using disguise skills, infiltrate the temple as an initiate.

Spend time examining the statue. As an assassin, you have access to spells, use them to determine the risk/reward. Is it a Golem? Detect magic would reveal this. Are there glyphs and other such protective measures? Find out.

You have a decent amount of wealth. During the off time from your duties as an initiate, find out who the enemies of the temple are. There will be some. Using Bluff and Diplomacy and Gather information, convince a group of fanatics of the opposite side that the temple of Ishtar is weak and ripe for the looting. Make certain to be in disguise during every meeting with these malcontents.

Out of the country, acquire scrolls of disentegrate, Nystuls Undetectable Aura and Non Detection. Also beads of force or necklace of fireballs.

Make certain the malcontents attack at the best time by feeding them information. Know when they plan on acting. Manipulate them into making the attack big and noisy.

Just as their attack begins (or shortly before if you can time it right), use disentegrate on the statue, grab the sword, toss the entire necklace of fireballs/beads of force into the room and activate the teleport to someplace far away. Use the Scrolls of Undetectable Aura and Non Detection on the sword.

If possible, leave an unidentifiable corpse dressed in your initiate disguise somewhere on the premises.

If all goes as planned, it will appear to be a random attack by fanatics who somehow managed to get a couple powerful, but disposable items. The statue (and thus sword) would appear to be destroyed to must observers. Even if an investigation is immediately begun, the Non-detection and Undetectable Aura spells should protect you to a large degree. Since you were always diguised and used false names at all times, you will be hard to track.

At least, this is what *I* would do. Feel free to come up with your own variations. :) Telurinon Aelvenborne, 50th Rogue of Black IsleMangore Orcsplitter, 39th Warrior of Black IsleDewin gan'Bran, 24th Wizard of black Isle
Skating away on the thin ice of a new day.

I don't know if there is a god; I think there is some power behind all of this but I don't think it is aware of us as individuals.
If it is, I am SO going to kick it's ass when I meet it.

[DarthEnder]

Go from house to house slitting everybodies throats while they sleep.

If they aren't awake, they can't technically get angry at you, they just get dead.

Once the whole town is dead, go take the sword.

Best...plan...EVER.

[EZ_Kintire]

Your biggest problem here, as I see it, is the goddess. While the infiltration plan will take care of your mundane problems, avoiding the attention of the goddess could be tough, especially if you have become an initiate. in some campaigns this gives the goddess some power over you, and stealing and defacing the statue could smack of treachery. Deities hate that.

I suggest you avoid defacing the statue. Why not get a sword made up that looks exactly the same and do a swap? The goddess should mind less and the worshipers should never know.

[Caowyth]

Tel-

Good plan. Some of the aspects of it wouldn't work because of the way things work in the campaign world. I will use the initiate disguise idea though, or a variation of it to gain access and to examine the area in question.

Ravenwinged-

Umm, this would get me dead really fast. I'd have Ishtar fanatics chasing me for the rest of my days.

Kintire-

You're right about the problem being avoiding the eye of the goddess. While not directly active in the campaign, Gods can influence their worshippers, and I don't want to be the target of a church of fanatics. Like I said, they control a whole country on the campaign world (Monotheistic Theocracy).

If I was to actually join the temple as an initiate, then Ishtar would hold power over me. But I can't actually join the temple as an initiate, as I'm a priest of Haserix, Lord of Flame (See the whole 'my current character' listing). But disguising myself as an initiate, and forging a document to allow me access will probably go over fine.

I suppose I should go over a couple of things as well so that my resources are better known.

In the campaign I'm playing in, Assassins do not have spellcasting ability. It's a modified 2nd edition, not a 3rd edition. But I am a priest, so I do have access to priestly magic. Sometimes priestly magic doesn't work on another churchs holy ground though, so I can't count on it.

Plan A-

1st- Use a disguise and forgery to gain access to the temple. Examine the statue when no one else is around (Night probably). Find out if it's a golem or not.

2nd- Get a replica made for the sword if it appears it can be moved. If it doesn't appear it can be moved I move on to plan B.

3rd- Get back into temple using step one if still available. Swap swords at night. Leave again in the morning and never come back.

Plan B-

1st- If the sword cannot be removed it gets harder. Get a new statue commissioned that is the same size as the first one, but much nicer (quality and workmanship).

2nd- Arrive with the statue and documentation that the existing statue is to be replaced with the new one.

3rd- Leave with statue. Have someone take special care to remove the sword while doing the least amount of damage to the statue.


Let me know if you see any weakness here. If it turns out it's a golem, I'm not quite sure what I'll do. Maybe it will talk. =)

[EZ_Telurinon]

My assassin type characters generally are much smarter than wise. The plan I came up with reflects that. :)

I really like Kintires variation, too. Much more subtle and more the sort of thing I would do with a thief character. /shrug

If it IS a golem, consider getting a Rod of Cancellation and use it to disable the magics animating the golem for a couple rounds. If you move swiftly, you may be able to per form the swap prior to it become aware again, and depending on its commands it may never react to the theft.

[Caowyth]

Tel-

Great idea!

Especially considering something else from our campaign. Rods of Cancellation are extremely effective one shot devices. This is the perfect thing to use, and I didn't think of it. Thanks!

[EZ_Swipey]

If you have a goodly ammount of wealth to spend:

1) Search the world for a truly great artist.
2) Have him or her make an even MORE beautiful statue of Ishtar.
3) Hire agents to start a whispering campaign about the current statue of Ishtar saying that while it is nice, the goddess really deserves something better.
4) When the whispering campaign has had enough time to circulate, and there is rumor of discontent throughout the land, its time to switch statues

How to switch statues :
Method #1 : Convince the heirarchy of the temple to switch the statues for you.
1) Determine if the statue is indeed a golem. If so, can you dispell it without having it activate and change poses? If so, do so. If not, the convince the priesthood scam will probably not work. Remember that a simple detect magic coming up positive is no guarantee it is a golem. It could just be blessed, protected from pigeons, or some other such effect.
2) Research the cult of Ishtar. Do their temples allow only one central statue of Ishtar? If so, great, go to step 3a. If not, is the statue you want likely to get moved to another location in the same temple? If so, go to step 3b.
3a) Approach The temple guardians, offer up the even more valuable/beautiful statue as a replacement for the statue you want, the one the people are unhappy with. The temple guardians will switch the statues for you, de-consecrating the statue to be removed, and removing it from holy ground for you. This will let you avoid the anger of the goddess because you are offering her an even nicer statue (goddesses are vain) and the statue removed will not actually be consecrated to her once it is outside the temple. Once the statue is outside, it will most likely not be under as tight of security, and the temple people will not care as much if it is stolen as it is no longer their divinity embodied. Down side on this is that if it IS a golem, the temple guys may have some trouble removing it, and may decide that the statue coming to life is a pretty direct omen that the goddess isnt happy with the switch idea. Also, if the con doesnt work, they are forwarned that someone has an interest in the statue, and may start investigating as to why.
3b) If the temple is likely to keep the statue on its grounds, the following con may work. In the whispering campaign, spread the rumor that the statue in the temple is not the most beautiful of the goddess. Someone has made a better one. When you approach the temple guardians (through agents from whom you are insulated, always!) Put forth the following story : The agents represent a highly devoted and wealthy follower of the goddess who has commissioned and recently had delivered a truly beautiful statue of her. The spreading discontent with the statue at the temple he has taken as a sign from the goddess that it is wrong to withhold the vision of his statue from his co-religionists. As a result, he is offering up this statue to replace the one currently in the temple, and will accept the lesser statue for his private chapel. Advantage : the goddess is again appeased by having a better statue, the temple is not desecrated, as the priesthood will remove the old statue with all due ceremony, AND the statue you want will be delivered to your agents (and thereby to you). Disadvantage is again that if it is a golem, the priests may have trouble, and if the con fails, they get suspicious.

Method #2: Switch the statues yourself.
1) As per method #1, determine if indeed the statue is a golem. Also, since you will be doing the switch yourself, determine if there are any other magical protections in the temple, as Telurinon said. If the staue could be or is a golem, go on to step 2 equipped to deal quickly and quietly with a golem armed with a magic sword, in addition to being equipped to deal with other magical and mundane protections. This scouting run will allow you to get a look at where you're going so as you can use that teleport device. Also, you could find the stupidest acolyte of the temple and charm him (1st level spell), then question him regarding the security arrangements, and maybe use him to gain access. Down side of this is that afterward he can talk, unless you silence him, but that may offend the goddess...
2) Arrange to have your beautiful statue shrunk (1st level spell, growth, reversed) to a small enough size that it can be carried while you teleport. A 9th level wizard casting it will shrink an item to 1/10 its normal dimensions, or 1/1000 its normal mass. (a twice man sized statue, 12 feet tall, about 6400 lb, will reduce to one 1.2 feet tall and about 6.4 lb) and will stay shrunk for 45 rounds.
3) Port into the room.
4) Disable any protections, destroy the golem (if it is one), using growth (reversed) again, shrink down the remains of the Golem (or the staue), and remove them from the pedestal. Put your shrunken staue in its place (be very careful to place it properly so it is in place when regrown) and either wait for it to regrow, or dispell the shrink on it.
5) Port out with the shrunken golem body (or statue) and pry the sword out at your convenience.
6) use your established whisperers to spread the idea that the mysterious replacement of the statue by an even more beautiful one was a miracle of the goddess.

Again, what the priests dont know wont hurt them (so long as this was all done quickly and quietly) and the goddess will be placated by having a more beautiful/valuable representation of her in the temple. She may even tell her priesthood not to worry about it should they ask her if the switch was her doing.

If you do use charm on an initiate/acolyte (a stupid one to extend the usefulness) you will probably have to arrange a deadly "accident" for them before they come out of charm, or they will blow the whole scam wide open.

[EZ_thal0012]

Are they all truly fanatic worshippers? Maybe one has a weak link, some attachment to a certain hooker in the redlight district you underworld guild has its hooks into. Maybe another vice he doesn't want know or more important to him than the now old drudgery of saying his prayers and standing around in a temple hours a day. The more evil route, maybe family or something that would be a rough choice when you came at him with blackmail or threats. If you aren't on a time limit, tell your GM you using your underword ties, street urchins, bribery and your own stealth skills to "get to know" the people in the temple and what makes them tick. Maybe your GM will love a dark, conniving , thinking mans approach to the problem, rather than just rushing in with magic items and a bag of holding or something

Now if he just stonewalls you with a, NO you can't do that approach. Its likely obvious he just wants the boring old route of sneak in, invis, find traps, blah blah blah.

[Caowyth]

Swipey- Holy crap thats a mother of a plan. I'll go through it and see if it could work.

Thal- Yeah they're all fanatical worshippers. All other religion is outlawed there, and if anyone even suspects you might be worshipping another god you end up in the salt mines for 20 years or something.


New Twist in the Plan-

Ok, I said there were seven swords right?

Our party had found out where another one of the swords was hidden, but we got stumped at a puzzle that was there and left. It was in a temple of a forgotten god that was infested with undead. Apparently the swordmaker went there and kicked some of the undead out for a bit to hide the sword.

Well we went back there the other night and managed to figure the first puzzle out. Figuring out the puzzle opened a secret door that led to a trap filled hallway. Or at least it 'appeared' to be full of traps. There were real pressure plates that didn't do anything, etc.

At the end of the hallway was the sword we were looking for, embedded in stone in true 'Excalibur' fashion. We figured out that there really was a trap guarding it though, so we fashioned a means to extract the sword without having to physically pull it out.

Upon it's removal the walls crashed in on the small room it was in. The sword had smacked against the floor on it's way to us, and upon further examination, turned out to be a fake.

Another secret door, 3 of the most devious and cunning traps I've seen in a while, and a puzzle later and we approached a golem, bearing what appeared to be the real sword. The golem awoke and asked the reason we sought the sword. The leader of our party said to protect the people, and the golem gave up the sword, and it's service.

After seeing the stats on the sword I really want to get the other one more than ever. But it's starting to look less and less like it will be a simple extraction, and more like a puzzle solver. I'm afraid I might even have to bring the group along. =)

Cao

[EZ_Turlo]

Money you say? Perhaps here is a solution for you. Leave your assistant at home. You will need to hire a mage. Oh...a fairly high level one. I like the idea of scouting the temple before hand. Sneak in at night, have the mage use improved invisibility on him or herself, then lead them to the statue.

Have the mage inscribe their arcane mark on the sword. Don't worry, it won't hurt it. Then, transport out of there. In the safety of...anywhere but the temple...The mage then casts Drawmij's Instant Summons.

IF...the statue is not a golum, the sword is yours. IF it is...well, the spell will let you know. None of it would alert the golum. If that is the case, a second plan would need to be generated. At least this way, you would be miles away when the sword is actually stolen.

Oh, and since you ARE an assassin...wack the mage. You don't need witnesses. Turlo Lomon
56 Blackguard of Drinal
Officer of Raised By ProphecyProfile Equipment

[EZ_Kehvrynne]

Notes on Method #1:

Simply removing the statue from the temple doesn't immediately deconsecrate it. Holy relics are occasionally moved from temple to temple. I doubt the temple would "deconsecrate" a statue of their goddess simply because a newer, more beautiful statue had been commissioned. It may be moved to another location in the temple or moved to another temple (perhaps a new temple in another city/town), but works of art - particularly holy statuary - aren't things you simply destroy when you get a newer version.

I like the scam in step 3b, though. It will take time, though, to make your faux nobleman well-known in the area (think The Count of Monte Christo here). That could work, but I'd recommend you regularly patronize the Temple of Ishtar (translation: donate heavily) before approaching the priests to suggest the swap. Also, keep in mind that the cration of a statue by manual means will take a long time - six months of dedicated work at the least once materials have been procured. Finding an appropriately-sized block of the right kind of stone may take twice that long, and it won't be cheap. You could have a mage create some sort of magical similaricrum, but that would radiate magic and may cause undue suspicion.

Notes on Method #2

Using Shrink/Growth has some logistical issues. In the example given, recall that 45 rounds is only 45 minutes. That's less than an hour to get to where you need to go before you're stuck with a 6500-pound statue again. Perhaps you can teleport into the temple - but perhaps you can't. In any event, simply popping in has some interesting risks associated with it. It's impossible to know who's in the temple chamber without actually being in the temple chamber, and the last thing you need is to have some insomniac priest admiring the beauty of his goddess witness your less-than-routine arrival on the scene. Not saying it won't work - just be aware of the potential for GM deviousness. Thieves must remember two things when planning any job: the KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) principle and Murphey's Law.

The bit about the goddess being placated by the more beautiful statue is... optimistic. Regardless of whether you replaced the statue, you still desecrated her temple by stealing and destroying a holy statue.

I do like the "goddess replaced the statue herself" bit, though. Unfortunately, it's easily verified if the temple master(s) commune with the goddess on a regular basis. While the temple may do nothing to counter the rumor (I mean, how would it look if word of the theft and desecration go out?), but you'd best be counting on having the priesthood hunting for the perpetrator.

Overall, either of these two plans may well accomplish the major goal of acquiring the sword. However, the minor goal of not pissing off the goddess isn't going to happen in either case. In fact, I don't see any way to acquire the sword without rising the ire of the diety.

That said, it may be possible to acquire the sword without bringing the fury of a god down upon yourself. Say for instance that the statue was moved for some reason to a smaller temple in a distant town. Obviously, this would only be done at the behest of a great patron of the cult of Istar, and only then if the cult would benefit greatly from the expense, (Let's face it - moving a holy relic ain't a cheap proposition!) but for the sake of argument let's say it's being done. Of course, moving a statue is going to attract a lot of attention - and we all know first-hand how dangerous the roads can be to travel (**conspirital wink**). The cult will have a caravan with temple-supported guards, and possibly a mage or combat priest. Now let's say the unthinkable happens, and the caravan is set upon by brigands. Orcs, perhaps (at least, that's what the only survivor says). The caravan is wiped out, and the statue lost. Over the course of time and circumstance, an honest soul - such as yourself - who likes to collect swords of rare beauty happens across this particular sword at a bazaar in some far away land and manages to acquire it for his collection. The goddess will perhaps desire its return, and the temple may commisson a search party to seek out and return the sword, but certainly YOU cannot be held responsible for the sword's unfortunate history. You acquired it fairly, and for a goodly sum. Should the cult of Istar wish to provide appropriate compensation...

Obviously, this plan violates the two principles above all over the place. However, a good GM will see the opportunity for LOTS of fun and adventure with such a plan (of course, a GM's idea of fun is often slightly different that a player's definition), and isn't that what this is all about?

I offer this knowing nothing about your GM's plan for these swords. If you're in some sort of save-the-word-from-ultimate-destruction sort of campaign, he may not want to derail his greater plot line for what could well be a campaign in it's own right. If the object, however, is simply to acquire the swords then (s)he may appreciate your input for furthering the story. Kehvrynne Quickblade, Professional Damsel of Distress
No matter how subtle the wizard, a dirk between the shoulder blades will seriously cramp his style.

[EZ_Kintire]

I remain unconvinced about how unlikely the goddess is to mind if you swipe her entire statue. Also, I would be inclined to use the absolute minimum of magic, since the temple will almost certainly be plastered with detect magic and warded to the nines.

However, if you are a priest of an enemy deity, I guess there is only so mad at you that she can get.... and you may be on for some divine protection.

Whispering campaigns do have one slight drawback in a theocracy... 'that statue could be better...' 'BLASPHEMY!!!' <KERSPLATTT>.... so make sure you are not known to be the source.

Last but not least, scope out the temple, and have at LEAST three escape routes if it all goes ploopy. And if I were you I'd hold my companion in reserve with instructions to crack you out if you get nobbled...

[Caowyth]

Overall I'm willing to bet that the goddess doesn't even know that the sword is in her temple. It's disguised. As long as I don't kill anyone, or otherwise alert the temple to it's value in some way I won't anger them, or her. Well, maybe her but it wouldn't be a direct danger as I live a really really long ways away from them. =)

With what I saw with the other sword, I'm almost willing to bet that the sword in the statues hand is a duplicate, and possibly trapped. I should have the results of my investigation in the next couple of days so I'll let you know what I find out.

There's a few other points of research I'm going to do before hand. Since they've got a bit of beauracracy there, I want to know the pertinent details of when the statue was placed there, who commissioned it, etc. I also need to get the floorplans, renovation details, basically anything pertinent to the timeframe that the weapon was placed there.

We aren't on a huge 'Save the world' campaign, but there will be a big war soon, and the swords would be nice to have for inspirational pieces. They are more of a sub-plot though. I'm currently wondering if the GM is going to force me to use the rest of the party or if it is something I can do without having to use them.

Cao

[EZ_Kintire]

I'd force you to use the party if I was GM. Nothing is more annoying than the party splitting up...

[Caowyth]

My character is already seperated from the main campaign group. Basically when we found out what was happening I put my main character into semi-npc mode. Reason being that he had the highest social standing in town and we needed someone to handle logistics. I've been playing another character with the primary group.

All of the work put into the weapon I'm going after at the moment has been done behind the scenes. As are most of his actions. A lot of the things he does are handled more like a Birthright regency turn than anything else.

I agree otherwise. I hate it when people in the group insist on splitting up in some way, and I'd really hate it as a gm.

Cao

[EZ_Swipey]

Yeah, the part about the even more beautiful statue placating the goddess IS optimistic. But the problem is that it is very difficult to come up with a plan to rob a temple that wont upset the deity to whom it is dedicated. How much the deity is aware of varies from campaign to campaign. How much power they have in the world varies also. Getting the Sword from the statue/golem is be the easiest part. Not getting the clergy down on you while doing it makes getting the sword slightly harder. Not getting the goddess upset is completely up in the air. And if she is upset, the clergy is upset, because she tells em to be.
In my plan I made the assumption that the goddess was placatable or at least trickable because otherwise there will be no way short of another divinities intervention to keep her off the characters.
The whole consecration thing would seem to be dependent on the particular rituals of the cult of ishtar, The statue in question may not even be a devotional object. If it isnt a devotional object, it should be just a hunk of stone once removed from holy ground.

Anyway.. gonna try logging into EQ again...

[EZ_Kethaal]

Do a bit of investigation. Historically, a sword wasn't Ishtar's weapon, it was some type of hand-held piercing weapon, like an oriental sai. Bring up this point somehow to the temple, offer to replace the weapon in her hands at your cost to show your loyalty, as long as you get the sword in return.

Of course, in your friend's campaign, Ishtar's dietal weapon could be a sword, in which case, think of something different.

Always remember, Golembane Scarabs are your friend. My monk always had trouble with Golems, until he found a couple of those scarabs.

[Koru]

What you can also do is try to arrange some way to damage the statue 'accidentally'. An earthquake spell or heck, anything that can cause the statue to be marred. Then you have a choice between setting yourself or those in your employment up as master craftsmen who can repair it, or to offer to pay for a better more grand statue to a godess who surely deserves far better than a mere repaired statue. Of course you'd be more than willing to have the original taken to a lesser temple where it's imperfection would not offend the godess.

If you go the way of setting yourself up as master craftsmen naturally you must work from your workshop to protect the secrets of your craft! Or have a great deal of privacy if you must work on it on the site. Enough privacy that you can examine it in much greater detail.

You say things are brewing up for a war.. Well, one of your problems is to get the followers out of the temple so you can have your way at the statue. One of the ways to help a minor conflict along the way then infiltrate the city. Preferably outside the city (invaders, not a revolt which would cause the temple guardians to rally around their temple) insuring that the people in the temple have their attention squarely outside the temple and possibly be out defending the city, not looking for intruders within it. Stiring up a bit of trouble can work wonders for distraction - just make sure you have a good getaway plan.

It's a tough call though, I don't know how active the gods and clergy in your campaign are. If they're the kind to carry out thorough magical investigations if something goes amiss, immediately know if they've been tricked in any way. Or even send the flaming Avatar of Asskicking after anyone who steals from the temple trying to suck up and buy the sword or statue may be a whole lot safer. Having gods pissed off at you can range from being slightly annoying to having the life expectancy of a Zent in Shadowdale depending on the GM.

[EZ_Kintire]

'300 years ago he went insane, stole all of his swords back, and hid them around the countryside.'

Just a point.... Why? It might be worth finding out just why he went mad before you start grabbing these swords....

Also, how mad? 'Mildly dippy' mad? or 'tortured spirit cannot rest but inflicts curses, haunts and gruesome death on any who hold his treasures' mad?

[EZ_Kehvrynne]

"flaming Avatar of Asskicking"

That's great, Koru!

/e swipes the phrase for later use Kehvrynne Quickblade, Professional Damsel of Distress
No matter how subtle the wizard, a dirk between the shoulder blades will seriously cramp his style.

[Caowyth]

Kintire-

No one knows what happened to the swordsmith. I think it's more rumor that he went insane, because he stole the weapons back from people he had given them to. The nobles weren't very fond of him either because he made swords at his own pace, and on whims. He wouldn't just make them swords when they asked for it.

He was apparently sane enough to hide his weapons up to thousands of miles away from each other, and keep them hidden for over 300 years. Not even the golem he left with the sword that the party found knows what happened to him.

I should have answers to my preliminary investigation tonight.

Koru-

The goddesses level of involvement is an unknown. Gods aren't usually allowed to take a direct hand in the affairs of men, although I can recall one exception in a previous campaign where an actual avatar appeared at the end of a war to cleanse a city.

Since Ishtar has a lot of temples (The game tends to think in a multi-planar sense) she probably doesn't know exactly what is inside this specific temple. If I can get it out without alerting her priests then I should be fine. If her priests realize somethings missing, she'll turn her eye this way, and possibly realize what she's lost. Then she might be mad. =)

Or there's the possibility that she already knows what she has and that I might be in trouble regardless of how sneaky I am, but thats a risk I am willing to take.

The weapons power is such that if I let them know what they had I would not be able to afford to buy it.

I'll drop an update tomorrow morning when I get the results of my investigation.

Cao

[DarthEnder]

I don't know what an Ishtar fanatic is, but it sounds like it would be fun to kill it when it chases you!

Best...plan...EVER

[EZ_Kintire]

Well, you could always do plan B. You're an assassin and have a rogue follower right? And the temple is in a peaceful area right?

Charge in there, lay down hellacious carnage on every Ishtari in sight, grab the sword and beat it.

Neither the GM nor the temple will expect THAT one!

[Caowyth]

LMAO Kintire. Nothing new to report yet. My information is moving faster than the actual campaign so I have to wait for the rest of the world to catch up.

And believe me, not a day goes by that my character doesn't think he should just kill everyone and get it over with. But thats what years of training and discipline are for. =)

[EZ_Kintire]

Bah. I didn't become a Rogue to go through years of training and discipline! That's what Monks, Paladins and other boring people do!

Take the easy way! Better yet, dupe someone else into taking the easy way and giving the results to you!

[EZ_Inestyne]

Hire a raiding party and go kill the golem, when you have the sword port yourself out and leave the lackeys to take the fall, of course give them false information and wear a disguise but at least you won't have to involve your trusted freinds.

[EZ_Qutsemnie]

you need HELP. your a thief. you need an army =)

infiltrate their country and wayleigh some of each type grab tell tell pieces indicating the zealots involvement. preferably find away to secretly wax copy an important seal or two.

dress up as zealots and attack their neighbors as them =) leave plenty of clues. documents that the "time had come to convert the heathen neighbors." Then make some further strikes into your allys hearts leaving zealot clues behind.

Preferably have a friend get close to those that would investigate these attacks so they can make the proper conclusions.

EDIT: a good rogue never misses an opportunity to pilfer something that will lead back to one person and wont be missed by that person for a good long while. such a thing is a nifty red herring to have on your for emergencies.

when it gets messy. make your move leave clues pointing back to your allies in the descrated temple. Let the two envoys from the nation make noise while you go hide in the mountains.

also wealth buys influence with your "front" in your homeland use that to be in the right place at the right time.

Also if your inherintly good... to good to be attacking innocents. find corrupt targets in the neighboring states targets those states wont see as corrupt but they were corrupt nevertheless. If you kill a corrupt magistrate in the form of zealots this should mitigate some of your evilness into something towards neutral/good.


so campaign looks like this:
1) find corrupt but reputable targets in the neighbors
2) use your "front" and wealth to buy access in those neighbors. wine and dine. do favors. do some work on their behalf probono. dont forget to find things to pinch for the end game in those neighbors while your doing this.
3) identify targets in the zealot state. wayleigh low levels get their stuff shouldnt show up on radar. get impressions of seals
4) forge documents. clues leading back to the zealots. dress up your party as zealots.
5) attack and kill the corrupt but reputable targets in their neighbors dress as zealots. leave plenty of clues behind pointing to the zealots. unfold a story for the npc's.
6) having bought access help the zealots neighbors come to the right conclusion. have them provoke some weakness in your target for some reasons that they think benefits them.
7) when the time is right and the temple is weakened due to this external problems. make your move. leave clues that your stole pointing back at your friends... mahahaha


actually now that i read this.... i think this was a d&D adventure i played once cept in that case you were the investigator that had to detangle this mess. but hey learn from experience: now that player gets to leave the tangled mess behind =)




Edited by: Qutsemnie at: 4/7/02 8:55:10 am

[Caowyth]

Heh, trusted friends, that's a good one. =)

Still no update on this. The normal campaign has become bogged down in a prolonged dungeon crawl. I'm hoping we'll finish it up on Friday and I'll have an update next week sometime.

Cao

[Glip the Gnome]

So how did it go?

[Caowyth]

Heh, was just going to post on this. It ended up taking two sessions to finish up. =)

The team-

Myself, Edric Leonson. Assassin, Priest, and overall extremely charismatic gentleman.

Aron, Flind (see Gnoll) Fighter/Thief. A bit quirky and eccentric, but overall reliable and an expert in his field.

Hamad, Human Fighter/Thief, reliable and an excellent puzzle solver.


The set up-

We arrived in Thona and quickly got to work. Hamad and Aron used magical disguises to hide their appearances, while I made some minor changes to my own with my disguise skill.

I had set up some forged papers for the trio (With an extra set of papers just in case) which we picked up in town. We then procured lodging and discussed the plan.

Aron went out to set up contacts and to gather information on the building. He procured a map of the part of the building we were interested in, and some information on the guard patrols. We managed to locate several points on the map that could be the place housing the statue, but we weren't certain of it's exact location.

We decided to infiltrate the building and check things for ourselves.

The government palace was huge. We were interested in the East wing of the building, which luckily was away from the temple grounds. I climbed up the wall, waited out a guard patrol, and then unlocked a window and dropped a rope for Aron and Hammad.

We explored the offices, and then moved to investigate the points of interest on our map. We found several statues, but it wasn't on the second floor so we headed down to the first floor. There, in a small atrium we found the statue.

I cast True Sight and examined the statue. I didn't notice anything magical or otherwise. I began to wonder if the information I received was false when Hammad noticed a small hole in the back of the statues base. When I examined it with true sight I noticed magical writing above the hole which read "The Red Lion see's what you seek".

Remembering that there was a statue of a red lion back on the second floor, we jaunted back up there real quick to take a look. Aron noticed that the eyes of the lion were different, and proceeded to pry a gemstone out of one of them. Before we put the gemstone into the hole Aron put down a silence cube, just in case.

It turns out his fears were warranted, as a stone slab in front of the statue slid open. Inside the slab was another message from the master smith Travanco. "What you seek was hid within the locked."

Now this could mean many things. With a lot of information to think about, we decided now might be a good time to slip out. Aron noticed that the gem we placed within the statue had dropped down where the new message had been revealed, and he picked it back up. As soon as he picked it up the stone slid closed once again.

After a day of rest we decided to break into the buildings archives and see if we could find an architectural drawing of the building. I spent much of the night searching the archives to no avail (Aron and Hamad weren't much use, as I was the only one that could read Thonian). We were getting ready to leave when we heard the door start to open. We hid behind the shelves when a rather homely looking libararian type arrived to begin working early.

I noticed a plaque by her desk with a name on it, and decided to gamble a bit. I pretended to have just entered the room, and used my charm, good looks, and acting ability to bluff her into getting the information we had been searching for. After promising to meet her for dinner later that evening, we snuck out and headed back to our rooms.

We examined the map and noticed that there was a vault in the East Wing. Although it was down near the guards a bit. I headed off to dinner, while Aron went out to find information on the vault. It turns out that the vault is a clockwork creation, nearly impossible to pick. However there are three keys to it, and Aron plans to go out and steal one of the keys. The bad news is that the keys are on the Lion Lord, the Lady Lion, and (I honestly can't remember the third one). All of them are higher ups in the temple (High Priest, High Priestess, and Lord Templar).

Hamad and I would only get in his way on this so we decide to meet him later. Aron manages to steal the key from the Lady Lion, and we sneak down to the vault. We "subdue" the guards without killing them, and open the vault. While Hamad and I start looking around for where the sword might be hidden, Aron pops open his bag of holding, and starts loading up loot (It's never good karma to rip off a church, but then hey who am I to talk.).

Hamad finds a hollow section of tiles against one wall and proceeds to start removing them. He's not moving fast enough for Aron however, who comes over and starts smashing the tiles out. Inside a depression in the wall is an object wrapped in oilcloth. Hamad reaches in to pull it out and promptly slices one of his own fingers off (Mental note, do not pull on sharp objects). We finally manage to pull it out and unwrap the sword.

A blade of hundred times folded alloy of earth, fire, water and air steels. The metal has a prismatic effect when reflecting light. A guard of shaped copper oak leaves and quilions with a pommel of gold.

And this is where the questions began. We got out as quickly as possible, but did we get the right sword? Detect magic revealed nothing (As is sometimes the case with powerful items), but the other sword had a decoy, could this also be a decoy?

After a fruitless attempt to Commune with my diety about it (Another mental note, don't bother Chaotic Neutral elemental entities unless its about the business of the church.) I decided that there had to be something more to it. Aron had left to return the key to the Lady Lion, so Hamad and I went to examine the statue again. At this point many questions were running through my head (Such as, who gave me the information for this in the first place?). It turns out that we couldn't do anything with the statue until Aron returned due to the fact that he had the gem.

When Aron returned we put the gem into the statue again, and again the panel opened. This time we forgot to use the silence device, so the sound of stone grating on stone filled the area and alerted the guards. We hid while they tried to figure out what made the noise, eventually they left.

I went over and examined the revealed area extremely carefully. I noticed that a comma in the message was actually a hole, about the size of the blade I carried. I inserted the blade into the stone. Immediately all of the plants nearby began to grow at an alarming rate. Roots cracked walls, trees broke through the ceiling and skylight, and eventually the guards came a running. Fortunately the area was so overgrown that they couldn't see much.

I went back over and pulled the sword out. One of the trees that had grown so much turned towards me, and said "Give me the sword". It held out a bark covered hand towards me. I did as it requested, and it asked "Are you worthy of this sword?".

I said "I believe I am, yes".

"Then take the sword"

Which it dropped into a mass of vines. I quickly reached after it and had my arm entwined in the vines. I was unable to reach it, but then I remembered that I had another arm, and reached into it with the other arm and grasped the hilt. The vines didn't want to give up though, and I was pulling for all I was worth...

In the meantime the guards were trying to hack through the bushes to get to us in the middle, while Aron threw stars at them covered with sleeping poison.

After a few seconds of meaningless tugging I had an idea and asked the vines to let go of my arm. Which they did. Then I asked the plants in question to clear a path to the exit for us, which they did. Then we got the heck out of Thona as fast as we could. And I am now the proud owner of The Oaken Blade.

I assume the Thonan's are going to be royally pissed about their vault being plundered, their building damaged, and having an artifact weapon removed from beneath their noses, but hey sometimes you gotta break a few eggs.

Cao

[EZ_Prenn]

Did whatshisname get his finger reattached by a healing prayer later? <u>Pren, Human Master</u> on The Tribunal Server
We came to drop bombs
Callin' every man in the arms
And yo, sound to your law
Smartbomb

Mithril heart Brigade

[Caowyth]

Yeah, I fixed his finger. It hurt worse than having his finger cut off, but that is the price one pays for the blessing of the flame. =)

Cao

[EZ_Ronix Praetoriax]

Great story, I enjoyed following along

[EZ_Zoogie]

That was beautiful, man.

It just made me roll up a character after two years of not playing AD&amp;D. Many thanks!

I'm contacting my old DM right now . . . Thanks again!

[EZ_Maloscat]

Bravo, and well earned!

- Malo
Level 54 Barbarian Bartender
Leader, Raven, Fennin Ro

[EZ_Kintire]

Not bad! Not enough collateral damage though.

[Caowyth]

Well amusingly enough, we managed to get enough loot out of the vault to make us want to do something similar again.

There's a country a bit to the north that has some evil temples and corrupt officials around. We've decided to make a habit out of ripping off bad people. =)

Oh, and I get to burn their temples down without feeling bad about it later.

Cao

[EZ_Zoogie]

(This message was left blank) Edited by: Zoogie at: 5/11/02 1:09:05 pm

[EZ_Zoogie]

Please tell us if it turns out cool. I'd love to hear more.

[EZ_Zoogie]

(This message was left blank) Edited by: Zoogie at: 5/11/02 1:09:34 pm

[DarthEnder]

That was a damn fine read.

[EZ_Dading001]

/cheer

motivated me to start playing again