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((This adventure is now underway, but more players are quite welcome.))

Traldar was the first to step into the cool night air, glad to be out from the suspicious gaze of the guards within the Adventurer's Mart. His red eyes quickly adjusted to the bright moonlight outside, but four crimson slashes of light forced him to blink a few times. It seemed to be a night for the color red; huddled on the ground about twenty feet away was a thin man in red robes. Not particularly known for his wisdom, the tiefling thief stepped forward to examine the human.

The door opened again behind Traldar as Geon Gervaise stepped out, the flame motif of his armor and surcoat adding yet more red to the scene. The cleric frowned suspiciously at the thief, who merely said, "I was just going to help him up."

By this time, the red robed-man had staggered to his feet. He put out a fist, as though he were about to lean on an invisible staff, then caught himself. Although he bore no visible wounds, he seemed quite weak and exhausted. "Who are... no, there's no time. Listen, please; I need your help, and I'll make it worth your while."

"Have you ever heard of the Staff of the Magi? It is a wondrous item, an artifact of great power. I sought to craft one for myself, but I created... something different. The Soulspire. It has... had... a malevolent spirit bound within it. This spirit would intercept spells cast against me by mine enemies, then bend their magicks to do my will. A moment ago, in a moment of weakness, I lost control of the spirit. It shattered the Soulspire and drained my magic, then fled into the city. My power will return with time, but the spirit may cause untold damage to the city in the meantime. I need you to find the broken parts of the Soulspire and return them to me, that I might re-bind the spirit." He bent down to the ground and picked up an object that he had been sprawled across: a fist-sized sapphire, set on the splintered end of a staff. "This was the head of the Soulspire; it should lead you to the other parts."

The red-robed man reached into a fold of his robes and withdrew a large, golden-hued sword; an adamantine bastard sword. "As you can see, I can reward you for your actions. Take this as advance payment; it may serve you well if you should happen to encounter the spirit in your search. When you have all the sections of the Soulspire, return them to me in the Adventurer's Mart and I shall present you with the balance of your payment." He offered the sword and the Soulspire head to Traldar.

Calcereous gazes into the fist-sized sapphire. Although the gem itself is smooth and unfaceted, it is bound by a metal lace that partially obstructs his view. Holding it by the half-foot of rune-etched bone that used to be its shaft, he slowly rotates, his pupilless eyes pulsing red and blue from the gem's light. He narrows his eyes as though trying to tear through the enchanted corundum through force of will alone. The orb begins to pulse slower, long periods of red broken by pauses of blue, then stays glowing red. Minutes pass as Traldar and Geon wait impatiently.

Finally, the orb begins pulsing again, and Calcerous slowly lowers the crystal and rubs a hand across his eyes. "Two feet of ensorcelled bone, and none of my handiwork, either. It's in the slums, held by a beggar in an alley; the damned fool's trying to chew on it. I couldn't read any street names, but I could see a tavern sign nearby, a dull golden crown."

Geon's never been to the Slums before, but Traldar's all too familiar with the area and knows exactly where Calcereous is talking about: the Copper Coronet. A popular dive with the 'rougher' crowd, where coin is spent on wine, women, and arena battles, no questions asked. As Calcerous gives a few more details of what the beggar's street looked like, Traldar thinks he could find the alley without any trouble.

((Btw, I did edit a post above, noting that the bastard sword has a +2 bonus, not +1; just in case anyone missed it.))

The bastard sword is about four feet long, so "safely stored" doesn't exactly equal "out of sight", but Traldar distracts the other two adventurers by pointing out various landmarks as he leads them to the Copper Coronet.

From that tavern, he leads the group to the alley Calcerous had described, just under a hundred feet away. As the three men enter the alley, they become aware of beady red eyes following their progress. The chittering of rats fills their ears as the three continue down the alley. At the end of the alley (dead end), they can see a thin man in rags huddled on the ground, the two-foot shaft of bone clutched in his emanciated hands. When the three adventurers are about sixty feet away from the man, the chittering stops suddenly stops.

Everyone, please roll 5D20:
1st D20 = Initiative
2nd D20 = "Special D20 1"
3rd D20 = "Special D20 2"
4th D20 = a Spot check
5th D20 = a Sense Motive check
After rolling the dice, please state what you are doing/saying/etc. You're not in combat yet, but I'd like to get the initiative roll out of the way early.

Edit: Fig, Barendor, also please list which spells your characters currently have memorized.

((AAAAAAUGH!!! I accidentally hit the back button and lost my post when I was almost done! Nooooooooo..... aw, foob it =p ))

((<sigh> because I really don't feel like typing all that all over again, the abbreviated version:
Fig: 0th level x5, 1st level x5, 2nd level x4 (I think, don't have my book handy to check). Sense Motive is useful for stuff like telling what someone really thinks, such as when they're lying or bluffing; adjusted by Wisdom.
Lin: Can't hide, being observed by... eh, you'll see.

Initiative: Calcereous, Traldar, Enemies, Geon, in that order.
Spot: Calcereous is surprised, but it doesn't matter because nothing attacks him anyway. Traldar and Geon ready weapons in meantime.

Sense Motive: Geon would have succeeded, except he's... rather distracted (see below).

Special 1: checks to see who looks the most intimidating (Bluff); Geon "wins" with natural 20.

Special 2: Geon fails Reflex Save, takes [8 -6(AC bonus from armor)] = 2 hp damage. Traldar makes a successful Listen check. Calcereous makes a successful Knowledge: Necromancy check.))

The smile slips off Calcereous's face as the beggar looks up and snarls, revealing glowing red eyes and elongated canines. "By Myrkul's grave! A vampire spawn!" He knows from his past experience with the Undead that vampire spawn, while not as dangerous as full-fledged vampires, are nonetheless dangerous foes.

Traldar, doing his best to stay out of the direct moonlight, is startled when a faint whisper tickles his ears: "Freee mee... "

The mysterious voice is drowned out as a *wave* of rats practically flies out of the nearby buildings and swarms over Geon, drowning the cleric in a flood of fur. He screams in outrage as they crawl over his body, seeking openings in his armor.

((Fig, your turn; please note Calcereous's currently memorized spells.

Linsaran, now that all the rats are distracted, Traldar can attempt to Hide again.

Each turn, whoever the rats are attacking must make a Reflex Save or take 8 damage, -1 per point of AC from armor. If the target actively dodges, fends off the rats, etc, the DC of the Reflex Save is 15; if the target ignores the rats and does something else, the DC is 20.))