[IC] Pharaoh of Sphinxes

[Throndir]

Grey can take a turn. Skipping turn by Wednesday evening.

[Mysticsage]

Grey breaths hands raised slightlyas he tried to steady himself from teleportation sickness. Getting into a fight now would be a major problem and now they had tried lying and failed so he was on edge. However, there was one avenue left to them that might bare fruit because of state law almost every young person in the country spends a predetermined amount of time in the military service. While the average soldier was little more then a boarder patrolman the sheer number of people and severity of punishment for laws kept people in line.

But he only hoped that because of the manditory service that perhaps a bribe might smooth things over. After all one versus four  was not favorable for the man and as long as he was not overly proud of his position perhaps a bit of coin might be just what they need. "Look, we don't want trouble," Grey said hands still raised and green in the face. "I'm a business man, a traveling merchant. These people are my guards just here to help with a thief who sneaked his way into Shadar to hide. He owes me money and to make sure he couldn't run I had to sneak in myself. So why can't we come to an agreement here?" he said jingling his coin pouch. "The desert is a dangerous place regardless and there is no way that anyone would have to know or us even be safe. So how about 500 gold to look the other way and let our tracks be taken by the sand and wind ?"

attempting to bribe 500 gp the guard to turn away and let us pass without problem

Rolled 1d20+8 : 11 + 8, total 19

[Throndir]

The guard continued to stare suspiciously as he whirled to face Garret. The Tengu may have disappeared, but there was still the guild members to deal with. A glimmer in his eye told you he was interested in the offer. He seemed to look at the offered money in anticipation.

"Leave the coins on the ground, and get out." The guard said, you noticed he didn't put away his weapon, and only continued to waive it threateningly.

If this route is chosen, going to let the players do some actions if they want, otherwise, going to next scene by Friday.

[FoxyPox]

*Roxy adds a handful of marbles to the table and shepards her guard dogs away.

[Dan-e]

Markus quietly and quickly heads to the door.

[Throndir]

Confirmation on Garret of dropping the gold. Will assume so by Friday, and post up the next scenes.

[Mysticsage]

Grey did as he was told taking from inside his armor producing his bag of holding and simply tipped it over and gave it a small shake along the coins to spill out like water attempting to further distract the man and give them that much clearer of a path out of there and into the desert air. Fools like that would find that their greed could be quite a sharp weapon against them he would not short change him now but he would be a mark in the future.

[Throndir]

The guard soon took up the bag of coins, and keeping his eye on the others watching them leave, he began to pull it out and count the gold coins within.

"Chronologists... hah. Make sure I don't see you anywhere in our city of Tawaret." As the party members left the building, they were instantly greeted by the heat of overhead sun, as well as the dry and blazing temperature of the area. This was far different from your kingdom of Korinthia, the temperatures here were warm. What greeted you next was something you hadn't seen before, it was a different flavor exotic than what the markets back in Ternadan had.

In front of you was a quiet section of the city, with cracked dirt that stretched on in some areas. Most of the buildings were created with a similar material as the desert around them. A hard, clay-like material that made up most of the structures. The building you had just come out of looked to be part of a wall, and as you looked around both sides of the building, you see a variety of other small dwellings, possibly other mini-homes or shelters like the previous one you were just in. Those too had guards posted at each door. For some reason the security was tight. Likely, with word of the newly discovered runes, the kingdom of Shadar seems to be putting in more effort in closing their borders, and having most of their guards out to keep an eye on any of the more-secluded regions of their cities.

Garret recognized the name of the city the guard used before. Tawaret was a couple days journey south from Izolé, which also happened to be a day's journey from their intended destination in the Parched Dunes. When Garret had showed his map earlier for their route, you remember seeing that particular section.

The high security, as well as Shadar's xenophobic tendencies served only to accentuate that first point. Tawaret was prepared for unwelcomed visitors. Though they didn't outright expel foreigners, with the discovery of the ruins, passage, at least with the authorities, would be much harder earned.

If the party is stuck, or I feel it's going slow, I'll throw some things in the way. Otherwise explore the city as you see fit. Feel free to state actions you want to take while in the city, and possibly knowledge checks as long as you provide a use-case for it.

Exp earned from guard encounter.

[Mysticsage]

Now seeing the city in its entirety Grey took a deep breath of the dry desert air it was time to get to work. There was two things he needed to do before they could leave. People think that the best place to find information in a town is a pub however grey knew that was only good for rumor and secondhand tales. If you want cold hard facts, numbers, and the way things actually function you go visit the general stores and armories. Men need food and equipment more then they needed soft beds and ale even the most devoted man was forced to spend money. Just follow that trail and everything just falls into place. After getting his information he also needed to work on getting an escape plan.

But first finding some shops and perhaps looking to buy a few things he said rubbing his hands together.

Rolling to find an armor or blacksmith shop
using knowledge architecture to find the right building

Rolled 1d20+7 : 11 + 7, total 18

[Dan-e]

Ahh yeah, sorry about that everyone... that uhmm chronologist bit sometimes goes better than that. Markus said a bit sheepishly. Anyway, I'm going to head out to a general store to get some things before we head out, just in case anyone else has similar interests.

Knowledge: architecture

Rolled 1d20+4 : 11 + 4, total 15

[Throndir]

Both of you find the shops you were looking for.

Markus
"Something I can help you with?" The person asked as he considered you. "A foreigner? Better be careful around here, the guards have been looking for any reason to round up foreigners."

Garret
You eventually find a smith, with displays of armors and weapons. It was a girl, and she herself didn't look like one of the natives of Shadar. If anything, she looked more like someone from the country of Naroese, the nation north of yours.

"Can I help you?"

[Mysticsage]

"Good day miss," said Grey pulling at the edge of the leathers around his neck to get a bit of air. "Do you happen to sell any unique armor sets? "he asked looking around. "I like to collect unique pieces from all over the place and I thought I might stop in to see what you have but I noticed the recent influx of soldiers. Hopefully they have not run you out of stock. I know that many men need a lot of maintenance for their gear." Grey continued to chat with the girl while he quickly took stock of the place and did some quick maths.

Grey is looking to buy a full set of unique armor as a key item set

actions
Appraise the style of shop goods ect

Rolled 1d20+10 : 6 + 10, total 16

Knowledge architecture to see how much out of stock this girl is to attempt to figure out the kind of forces at the dig

Rolled 1d20+7 : 11 + 7, total 18