Re: [2.02] The Grand Ceremony
OOC: It sounded like I could accept the slightly changed deal with Vindarn as part of last turn's negotiations. If it takes this turn's action to finalize that deal, I'll delete this post.
After finishing her deal with Vindarn, Elena spotted Kael standing alone in a corner, seemingly glaring at Vaylen Goldfield, the Ambassador from Galt. Poor Kael, she thought with a mix of amusement and genuine sympathy. While Elena might feel out of her depth as far as politics are concerned, at least she liked parties. Kael, on the other hand, looked miserable enough to just walk out the door any second.
After a quick conversation with Kael, she clued in to the problem. Goldfield was being suspiciously evasive about what he actually wanted in the stolen lands. And that evasiveness made Elena worried. It put her in mind of another treasure hunter who wouldn't quite admit to what he was after: Tartuccio.
She decided to help Kael get to the bottom of things. She would tell Vaylen about what little archaeology they had done during their travels: The Elk Temple, the Tiger Lord tomb, the cyclops...observatory? While she talked, Kael would watch the treasure hunter's reaction, to see if he gave anything away.
Smiling, Elena approached Vaylen and introduced herself. "You know, you're not the only archaeologist I've run into with an interest in the Stolen Lands. Have you ever met a gnome named Tartucchio? Bald, rude, and somehow both really clever and a complete idiot at the same time? He was certain that there was a fallen star somewhere in the Stolen Lands. Had a map and everything, though he never said where he got it..."
Elena continued with the story, doing her best to pique Vaylen's interest in the Stolen lands. While she was mostly forthcoming, she left out a few details, the first of which was that she never discussed where the ruins in question were. The second was that she didn't mention Tartucchio's betrayal, merely that he had been a part of the expedition and was dead. If Vaylen did have some sort of connection to the mad gnome, he'd be more likely to let it slip if he didn't know he was talking to Tartucchio's killers.
OOC: Using aid another to add +2 to Kael's check, and also talk about the Cyclops ruins.
17:46, Today: Elena Sazikova rolled 12 using 1d20+1 with rolls of 11. knowledge arcana to aid Kael.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:50, Thu 02 Sept 2021.