The Heist - 5e D&D Game

[Dusk9]

Veska (and Uragh?)

"Svern tenpiswo. Ti batobot coi geou selgtarn. Veska wer Nurocuirgarh, jinthil? Jaka itrewic svern tenpiswo vur dryic dout thurirl. Si mi filki zahae authot mrith jacion."

The Kobold squints up at the ledge, but naturally sees nothing. Regardless he scales the wall and, after checking Kerash over, easily hefts the unconscious Kobold up into his arms.

"Vur lae wux re tirir batobot, kikrem svanoa nomeno shinalta. Tir wux ti tepoha tikil Jennu Harroc di dout kurjh? Thric arytissi? Svabol svih re wux de?"

Si mi Barusk, Clan Harroc di wer Onyx Bekifi."

"Batobot ui shio si shilta yenta ihk jaka. Yth zklaen jaseve temep, ghoros throdenilt Crawlers confn. Astahii re korepa ini wer gazziz di marfedelom."

Without waiting for an answer, he turns and leaves, climbing back down with surprising speed despite the new weight over his shoulder.

Veska doesn't recognise the name Barusk, but as far as she can remember the Onyx Depths are the main clan for this part of the sewers. They tend to favour raw strength and endurance over speed, but are otherwise pretty normal Kobolds. None of her people had heard from them for weeks, but the clans rarely got together for social meetings, so such an absence wasn't highly unusual.

Jax and Kytiel

"And you make use of one of these vaults to store the keys I assume?"

Barric gives Jax a knowing wink and taps his nose, but otherwise says nothing.

"May we see the other vaults while we are here? The standard one is very impressive, but I would like to see the other options in person before we decide. Tell me - is this gnomish craftsmanship? Or dwarven? I have no affinity for the arcane I'm afraid, so I think we shall have to trust that whatever magics bind the door are secure."

"Our external measures don't tend to vary from vault to vault. In fact, we try to keep as few differences between their exteriors as possible - security through anonymity, you understand. And the internal measures we can discuss more in detail once you have a better idea of the amounts we are to hold. We like to customise these things to our clients wishes, you see? For example, should you turn out to have the funds for a modified private vault, I would have my people draw up some custom blueprints to get us started."

"As for the door: the stone is imported from the finest Dwarven craftsmen, carved by hand in the heart of a mountain. While the locking mechanisms are based on my own designs, incorporated with arcane protections from the top scholars of Greyhaven."

[thinkslogically]

Jax wonders if he recognises the name Greyhaven and knows anything about it.

((What would the knowledge roll be for that? Also, can Jax try and read the wink as affirmnig or denying his guess, or is it completely impossible?))

[M0rtimer]

Uragh just curls up on the ground and groans audibly

Uragh waits, crossbow lowered, but ready to fire should something go amiss...

[SuperVaderMan]

Veska freezes at the mention of 'Crawlers'.

"Keh... mobi re throdenilt di nomenes youwei? Svabol wer Uoinota, svanoa tira coi itrewic hefoc nomeno?!"

Without hesitation, Veska climbs down after Barusk, asking questions along the way. "Svanoa drong tepohaic nomeno coanwor shinaltir? Nomenoi youwei re ti de wer sewer. Svaklar re astahii confnir de?"

Veska stops halfway across the room, suddenly remembering Uragh who's been waiting until he can play again in the shadows.

"You comin' big guy?" Veska says into the darkness, not sure where the half-orc decided to hide himself. "Kobold business. Says there's more o' that thing we just killed lurkin' 'round up here. I dunno if there's a payday in it for ya, though, save fer gratitude from a bunch o' sewer rats."

[M0rtimer]

Uragh strides out from the shadow once more, slinging his crossbow back over his back... Letting out a grunt more out of a combined sheer of frustration rather than this particular slight.

"This one didn't seem too tough... If they're in the way of our mission, we'll smash em, sure. Not planning on becoming sewer hero, though."

"How you speak... Lizard, anyway?" Uragh says after some pause, trying to think of what language kobolds would even use, and failing.

[SuperVaderMan]

It takes Veska a second to register Uragh's question and why he was asking it

"Ah... you know. Ya spend long enough 'round kobolds, ya pick up some things," Veska explains, not putting a lot of effort into her deception. She has bigger things on her mind.
Deception on where Veska learned to speak Lizard: 1D20+2 = [7]+2 = 9

She turns her head invisibly to Barusk. "Heh, sia thurirl. Jaci siofmeic si mi vi rauhiss."

"It's Draconic, by the way," she corrects Uragh. "They's can speak the language o' dragons. One o' the few things they got to proud of."

[M0rtimer]

Uragh cocks an eyebrow... But doesn't remark anything else on it.

insight: 1D20-1 = [16]-1 = 15


fluff intelligence: 1D20 = [10] = 10


(Uragh's suspicion level has gone up..! )

[Dusk9]

Veska and Uragh

"Keh... mobi re throdenilt di nomenes youwei? Svabol wer Uoinota, svanoa tira coi itrewic hefoc nomeno?! Svanoa drong tepohaic nomeno coanwor shinaltir? Nomenoi youwei re ti de wer sewer. Svaklar re astahii confnir de?"

Barusk growls and snaps back in Veska's general direction.

"Ti jaka! Yth zklaen itrewic kerash ekess tokeqwim. Confn, yth tepoha vi bekim nearby. Si geou anyui dout visidarkic mobi."

Then Uragh steps out of the shadows, making his presence known. Barusk's reaction is instant - dropping into a defence stance and raising his club with his free hand. But then he realises that the pair of you are acquainted.

"Surface-dweller...not welcome here," he spits out in broken Common.

"Heh, sia thurirl. Jaci siofmeic si mi vi rauhiss."

"...vi rauhiss? Ui jaci vin malai? Wux keefum ehis hefoc ir."

"...fine. You come. If you fit in den. Or leave you for Crawlers."

With that he turns and quickly exits, not waiting to check if either of you are going to bother following him.

While this is all going on, Uragh also wonders aloud where Veska learned Kobold-speak. Getting a not-so-convincing excuse in return. He's not quite smart enough to put two-and-two together (yet), but he's definitely not buying her flimsy reasoning.

Jax and Kytiel

Jax tries to figure out what Barric meant by that wink. He's pretty sure the gnome was being intentionally cryptic about it - don't want to go around telling everyone where he hides his keys, after all.

That said, Jax is pretty sure a guy like him wouldn't just leave the keys laying around anywhere, so they're probably stashed somewhere secure. Somewhere he could keep an eye on them, too. Which narrows it down to either a vault, his office, or possibly even his home - not even keeping them in the building would really screw with any unprepared thieves.

He also considers what he knows about Greyhaven, but all he can remember is that it's a mountain city famed for it's wizarding university.

[SuperVaderMan]

Veska shrugs invisibly and follows along with Barusk.

In the meantime... Crawlers. Does that sound familiar? She tries to piece the name together with the Tentapede, wondering if she heard about these things from somewhere, before.

Nature check to see if Crawler sounds familiar: 1D20-1 = [2]-1 = 1

Nope! Doesn't ring a bell!

She'll keep calling them Tentapedes in her own mind.

[thinkslogically]

Jax returns the smile and nods.

"That is disappointing but I suppose it is a reasonable precaution. Very good, I think we have seen most of what we need to for now. But tell me, what are the bank's hours of business?

<waits for the answer>

I see. And if we should need to contact you outside of those hours, is there some way to do that?"

Jax leans in and speaks quietly: "We are awaiting the transfer of funds within the next week or so, but it could come at any time. I'm sure you can appreciate that we are not overly keen to leave such a quantity of funds unsecured while we wait for the bank to open."

[M0rtimer]

"I'm not scared of these things or you, little guy." Uragh states plainly... Making no motion of hostility, though neither does he try to strike a friendly figure.

"Though make no mistake, I'd fit in this burrow of yours if it's required... Why, though-" he asks, now turning to look back at Veska. "Are we still en route to this supposed spot..? It's looking more and more like we're getting caught up in your... Underground business, rather than why we came down here."

[SuperVaderMan]

"What, ya think the pipes'll up and leave if we take too long?" Veska jests irritably. She sighs. "Fine, fine, lemme think...."

Per Uragh's prompting, Veska tries to recall whether the pair are still headed for where the bank's plumbing should be.

[M0rtimer]

"I just don't like to be solicited without my own approval..." Uragh states plainly, gazing at Veska a bit longer than he ought to...

[Dusk9]

Veska and Uragh

Entering the tunnel after Barusk, Veska and Uragh find that the friends he was hissing at are a small group of rag-tag Kobolds, skulking in the shadows. They react similarly to Barusk did on seeing Uragh, readying their weapons, but fall into line without complaint when he hisses at them. Seems he's the leader, then.

After a tense, silent journey through the sewers, the Kobold at the head of the group ducks down and...disappears? No, wait...there's a small offshoot tunnel, almost as invisible as Veska is in the shadows. While one holds the grate covering it open, the rest of the Kobolds scurry inside - until it gets to Uragh's turn.

He probably can fit through it...but it's gonna be a hell of a squeeze.

((Entering the tunnel is going to slow Uragh by half, and give him Disadvantage on attack/Dex rolls.))

As they're travelling, Veska tries to figure out where they're heading in respect to the bank. She's pretty sure they're sill under the Upper Quarter. But she's also pretty sure the Tentapede's chamber was closer to their goal than this den they're going to, especially since they're going deeper underground.

Jax and Kytiel

"That is disappointing but I suppose it is a reasonable precaution. Very good, I think we have seen most of what we need to for now. But tell me, what are the bank's hours of business?

"Regular hours, I'm afraid. We do have to sleep some time! We usually open around eight o'clock, and close just before six."

"I see. And if we should need to contact you outside of those hours, is there some way to do that?"

"I...don't see why you would, quite frankly. It's not like banking is a particularly urgent matter. Most of the time, at least."

"We are awaiting the transfer of funds within the next week or so, but it could come at any time. I'm sure you can appreciate that we are not overly keen to leave such a quantity of funds unsecured while we wait for the bank to open."

"Ah. I see..."

Barric pauses, giving Jax a critical look.

((Roll Deception for me, please))

[spiderwrangler]

"I... I don't come from money, this inheritance was quite unexpected. I just want to make sure I'm making the right decisions to keep it safe. From what you've shown us, I am confident that your institution is the right decision, but I'm not sure I'll sleep well until it's safe in your hands."

((Can I Help?))

[SuperVaderMan]

"Heads up," Veska says aside up at Uragh, "I think this den o' theirs is further from the bank then that Crawler thing was. I dunno what the Hell things like that're doin' so close to the bank, though... ya think that's a coincidence?"

Regardless, Veska will head along inside with the other kobolds, once they reach the den. Whether Uragh wants to come along or stay outside, she doesn't care.

[thinkslogically]

((Deception with help:
Deception: 2D20.HIGH(1)+11 = [1, 7]+11 = 18
))

Jax returns the manager's odd look with the best innocent expression he can muster right now, which isn't much, but at least Kytiel is helping...

[M0rtimer]

Uragh grunts, standing his ground for a moment... Not budging for a moment as he addresses the gnome.

"Then why should I still follow along..? This ain't part of the mission- From the moment we got down here, it seems as you've got distracted by other stuff, rather than what we ought to be doing..." he pauses, before sighing... Seeming to offer at least a hand.

"Just two questions. First, was this planned, or actually just a mess we just stumbled upon... And secondly- Why do you have to help these guys, or what is it that's going on here..?"

[SuperVaderMan]

"Oh piss off," Veska snaps with an invisible eye roll. "This's the first time we been off course since we came down here. And no, it wasn't planned that we'd run into a giant centipede-lookin' thing that's apparently been eatin' a bunch o' my kobold pals."

"If you wanna check out those pipes so bad then-," she catches herself, wanting to say something about Uragh taking his chances on his own in a sewer supposedly full of Crawlers. "Then just... bear with me fer a sec," she says instead, more diplomatically. "We'll see what these guys gotta say, then we can head straight there to check things out. Sound OK? After that I'll prolly stick around down here. If you wanna stay or go back topside, whatever, yer choice."

[M0rtimer]

Uragh sighs... And then nods. Guess that's all he needed to hear, really. "Fine. Let's go then- We'll get back to what we have to do after you do... Whatever it is you need to do."

[Dusk9]

Veska and Uragh

As the Kobolds disappear down the tunnel, Uragh grills Veska on what the new plan is. He's not too happy about how things are going, but eventually agrees to go along with this little Kobold adventure. For now.

Then Veska disappears down the tunnel, leaving him to drag himself down it alone. Great.

------------------------------

Crawling out of the other end of the tunnel, Veska finds herself somewhere that reminds her of home. Albeit a slightly less well-maintained version. The "den" is basically a temporary warren, a couple of roughly carved stone caves connected by short tunnels. She sees some basic supplies, beds made from scraps of rat-fur, and....that's it. Other than the group she arrived with, there are only a handle of other Kobolds hanging around. Not nearly enough to account for the entire Onyx Depths clan.

There's also a fire sitting in the corner of the room, underneath a pipe repurposed as a makeshift chimney. Which is a slight problem, seeing how Veska's Disguise Self ran out about an hour ago.

Luckily, Uragh is still struggling through the tight tunnel. Though it won't delay him forever.

Barusk is over by the fire, squatting next to the unconscious Kerash with an unknown female. They barely glance up as Veska approaches.

"Nakta jacion warm. Jaci ui plythu, shar ssifisv geou letoclo."

"Si geou. Vinxa ihk dronilnrir jacion spical ekess ve."

"Si mi ti wer ir wux jalla tiichi."

Finally acknowledging Veska with a nod, he stands up and stretches some of the kinks out of his back. Now that you can see him in the light, you realise that his scales are a dark green, with darker patches showing scars from previous battles.

"Si mi persvek dout nbelaern, twice svern. Tor dout visidarkic. Si geou anyui lae bensvelkilti si shilta."

Jax and Kytiel

Barric definitely seems to be growing more suspicious over Jax's questions...but then Kytiel chimes in, giving the lie some extra meat. Which thankfully seems to distract the gnome just enough.

"I... I don't come from money, this inheritance was quite unexpected. I just want to make sure I'm making the right decisions to keep it safe. From what you've shown us, I am confident that your institution is the right decision, but I'm not sure I'll sleep well until it's safe in your hands."

"Of course, I understand completely. I can see you're both quite anxious about it! Well let me assure you, you definitely came to the right place."

"I typically work a little late, so you can find me here at the bank any time before sunset. After that, you can contact my assistant Erin at 9 Dragonfly Row - he'll know where to find me should you need my advice urgently for any reason. I hope you don't mind me keeping my home address private - security protocol, you understand."

"Now, if you don't have any other questions, I'm afraid I do have some matters to take care of..."

[M0rtimer]

Uragh is never going on a sewer mission ever again once this is all over.

[thinkslogically]

"Of course! Just knowing that it is possible to reach you through your assistant is greatly reassuring. Thank you for your time, you shall be hearing from us in due course."

Jax gives Kytiel a quick, grateful look for stepping in to rescue him and then follows the manager back up to the main entrance, deciding that he's probably pushed his luck quite far enough for one day.

[SuperVaderMan]

Veska almost casts Disguise Self again, but stays her hand mid-incantation. If she's going to help deal with the Crawler problem like she's thinking she's going to, then she'll need to conserve her magical reserves. With a grimace, she decides it's time to come clean as to her identity - the fate of this pack is more important. If the half-orc decides that will be a problem, then he can stuff it.

For now, it's time for questions.

"Ui nomeno coi?" Veska asks incredulously, looking about the warren. "Ui nomeno shio batobot gahri di dout svih? Tira wux tangis xoal ekess spol ihk letoclo?! Wer Achiusk Majak-Baclax svih ornla spol ve, sva gekip! Wux re vrinpict si confna mrith voga cep!"

Veska shakes her head, running a clawed hand over her scaly scalp. With a sigh, she's back to business. "Svaklar tira nomenoi youwei confn de? Svern? Kii tira wer Onyx Bekifi ti svent astahi, re mobi batobot throden? Tir astahii tepoha vi hrrac? Svanoa tir yth pok astahi?"

[M0rtimer]

Uragh presumably eventually arrives in the den, and... Doesn't spot a Veska..? Where did she get off to..? There's no other exits, right- Hand cautiously moving just a bit to one of his scimitars, internally wondering if he'd be able to take this many kobolds at once, or would need to get inventive...

"Veska..?"