progress

sections/5-the-carrion-bird.md

@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ friendly neighborhood drug dealer, and the drug I sell is
 easy access to information!  Be careful, it's addictive!"
 
 Rico Sparks is a dwarf-human hybrid - technically, a "Mul."
-He is the height of a human, but he is quite muscular.  Muls
+He is as tall as a human, but bulky, like a dwarf.  Muls
 are entirely hairless.  Rico is also plane-touched: his
 fingers crackle with little sparks.
 
@@ -144,25 +144,28 @@ than you can afford, baby!"
 
 If you ask Rico why he calls himself a drug dealer, he says,
 "Touts provide easy access to information, and easy access
-to information is a drug. It makes you lazy, it makes you
-stop trying to solve problems for yourself. Soon you'll find
-yourself calling me because you need me to tell you how to
-tie your shoes. That's my income stream, baby! Addicts who
-can’t stop calling me to tell them what to do every minute
-of the day.”
+to information makes you lazy, it makes you stop trying to
+solve problems for yourself. Soon you'll find yourself
+calling me because you need me to tell you how to tie your
+shoes. That's my income stream, baby! Addicts who can’t stop
+calling me to tell them what to do every minute of the day.”
 
 Rico’s price structure is simple: "it costs 5GP to have a
 conversation with me. First conversation’s free, baby, like
-any good drug dealer!" During a conversation, he will gladly
-answer all the questions you have, as long as he knows the
-answer off the top of his head. Rico knows a lot about
-what’s going on around the city, and he has good general
-knowledge about many subjects, but he’s not a database of
-all information in the universe. If you ask something that
-requires research, he’s willing to do research, but he
-charges 10GP per hour, sometimes more, depending on the
-challenge level. If you ask Rico for information that might
-put Rico in danger, then that’s a hard no.
+any good drug dealer!"
+
+During a conversation, Rico will gladly answer all the
+questions you have, as long as he knows the answer off the
+top of his head.  "It doesn't cost any extra to ask a lot of
+questions, so ask everything you can think of!"  Rico knows
+a lot about what’s going on around the city, and he has good
+general knowledge about many subjects, but he’s not a
+database of all information in the universe. If you ask
+something that requires research, he’s willing to do
+research, but he charges 10GP per hour, sometimes more,
+depending on the challenge level. If you ask Rico for
+information that might put Rico in danger, then that’s a
+hard no.
 
 "If you want, you can retain my services.  If you do that,
 I'll show up every couple of days and see if you have
@@ -185,17 +188,21 @@ summoning me fast costs 30gp, but I can usually get there
 in an hour."
 
 Rico is very good at extracting money from his customers.
-However, he also does develop a fondness for some of 
-his customers: he is meant to become a friend to the PCs.
+However, he does develop a fondness for interesting 
+customers: he is meant to become a friend to the PCs.
 He will always charge quite a bit for his services, but
-his information is reliable and he is going to do his best
-to provide useful information.
+his information is reliable and he tries to make himself
+useful.
 
 The PCs should probably ask Rico where to find Rennick.
 Rico will ask the PCs, "what do you know about this Rennick?"
 If the PCs point out that Rennick is a member of the
-Fraternity of Order, then Rennick will suggest visiting
-the courthouse.
+Fraternity of Order, then Rennick will point out that
+the courthouse is the Fraternity base of operations.  If
+the PCs tell Rico that Rennick is involved in casino
+regulation, then Rico will tell the PCs that all regulatory
+agencies are located in the courthouse.  It looks like
+the courthouse is a good place to start looking.
 
 
 ## Taking Care of Pig
@@ -209,7 +216,7 @@ Eventually, this draws the attention of the landlord. The
 bazaar is spread across several dozen plots of land owned by
 several different landlords.  Pig can play music for a few
 days without being noticed, but eventually a landlord will
-show up and ask the PCs, "does this Ogre belong to you?"
+show up and ask the PCs, "does this ogre belong to you?"
 The PCs will have to negotiate to rent a plot of land where
 Pig can play his music.
 
@@ -234,11 +241,11 @@ bazaar.
 
 If the PCs go to one of these, they will have to pay for the
 Greater Restoration spell, which is expensive, but it gets
-the job done.  Pig doesn't heal immediately: the priest
-explains that "Pig is recovering now, but he has lost a lot
-of muscle mass.  He will need lots of protein. Make sure he
+the job done.  Pig doesn't heal immediately.  The priest
+explains: "Pig is recovering now, but he has lost almost all
+his muscle mass.  He needs lots of protein.  Make sure he
 eats like an ogre, and over the course of the next few
-months, he'll get very strong."
+months, he'll get strong again."
 
 We are deliberately timing this so that Pig cannot provide
 real combat assistance in *this* chapter, but he *will* be
@@ -259,7 +266,7 @@ a bit, have them make a perception check.  They hear somebody
 say the name "Rennick."  It turns out that two Xaositects,
 Sergei and Jinn, are searching for Rennick.  Their strategy?
 Just asking people at random on the street: "We're looking
-for Rennick.  Have you seen him?"
+for a guy named Rennick.  Have you seen him?"
 
 Sergei is a Xaositect who has learned through the grapevine
 that Rennick has gained the ability to predict random
@@ -272,18 +279,18 @@ He occasionally changes his mind and decides he's the
 "chairman" of the Xaositects, or the "emperor", or sometimes
 even the "factol."
 
-The other Xaositect, Jinn, refuses to make any assertions
-about anything.  She explains: "Your friend tells you that
-there's an excellent cheese shop about two blocks north.
-But think about it: they could be lying. They could be
-telling the truth, but they may have a bad sense of
-direction.  They may be misremembering.  You may have
-misheard them.  They might just have terrible taste in
-cheese.  There are just so many different ways that our
+The other Xaositect, Jinn, is enigmatic.  She refuses to
+make any assertions about anything.  She explains: " Suppose
+your friend tells you that there's an excellent cheese shop
+about two blocks north. But think about it: they could be
+lying. They could be telling the truth, but they may have a
+bad sense of direction.  They may be misremembering.  You
+may have misheard them.  They might just have terrible taste
+in cheese.  There are just so many different ways that our
 knowledge can be broken.  We act as if our knowledge is
 good, but over and over it just turns out our memories, our
-perception, or our communication is flawed. It's safer to
-just assume you know nothing."
+perception, or our communication is flawed - sometimes, all
+three. It's safer to just assume you know nothing."
 
 Jinn has no hostility toward Rennick, because she doesn't
 know anything about who Rennick is, or what he did, or...
@@ -303,18 +310,16 @@ Sergei knows how to push Jinn's buttons: "How do you know
 you're not my servant?"  Jinn has no answer for this.
 
 Sergei is a male bariaur, a LV4 fighter.  Jinn is a female
-water genasi.  Her class is unknown - she has different skills
-on different days.  Jinn carries around a "loot bag," which
-contains unexplained items that she has no idea where she
-got them, but it often contains something relevant to what
-she needs.
+water genasi.  Her class and level are unknown - she has
+different skills on different days.  Jinn carries around a
+"loot bag," which contains random items that she has no idea
+where she got them, but the loot bag often contains
+something relevant to what she needs.
 
 The two Xaositects both come across as morons.  For Sergei,
-that perception is entirely deserved.  Jinn is
-knowledge-free, but also, extremely intelligent, which is a
-strange combination. Unlike Sergei, she doesn't act like she
-knows everything, and she actually does seem to be competent
-at times.
+that perception is entirely deserved.  But Jinn is a little
+hard to pin down.  She knows nothing, yet, she's very
+intelligent, which is a strange combination.
 
 Each time the PCs go to another location, there's a
 substantial chance that Sergei and Jinn will already be
@@ -324,14 +329,84 @@ Rennick.
 
 The reason for this is Jinn's special ability to
 just be in the right place.  But it's not the right time
-yet, so she can't do what she needs to do yet.
+for her to do what she needs to do, so she's just hanging
+around waiting, and looking for Rennick.
 
 In addition to asking around about Rennick, the two
 of them both enjoy drinking.  Sometimes, when the PCs
 show up, Sergei may already be passed out on the floor,
-with Jinn just hanging around until he wakes up.
+with Jinn just sipping liquor until he wakes up.
 
-## Rennick's Office at the Courthouse
+## An Appointment with Rennick
+
+The courthouse is the base of operations for the
+Fraternity of Order, of which Rennick is a part.  The
+main door of the courthouse leads to a large antechamber,
+with a big receptionist desk.  Working the desk is a 
+harried-looking man named Timon Pherenikos.
+
+Timon appears human, however, he is actually the son of a
+Human and an Oread.  Timon's Oread heritage has left him
+with two unusual traits: he's extraordinarily patient (which
+is why he's the receptionist), and he smells slightly of
+earth.
+
+Timon points out that Rennick works for the department
+of casino regulation.  He explains: "the purpose of the
+department of casino regulation is to inspect casinos
+and certify that their games aren't rigged."  He says,
+"if you want to go see Rennick, you'll need an appointment.
+And to get an appointment, you have to be a casino that's
+applying for certification.  Those are the rules."
+
+Of course, the PCs will try to short-circuit the rules.
+Timon won't allow that: He's a member of the Fraternity of
+Order, and rules are rules.  However, Timon is surprisingly
+patient with people who try. For example, if try to pressure
+him to let you through, he won’t, but he’ll explain why he
+can’t, and he won't hold a grudge.
+
+The PCs may try charm magic.  Timon is zero-level, so a
+simple “Charm Person” would succeed in bending him to your
+will. However, the Fraternity has silent alarm systems in
+place to detect the use of magic in the courthouse, and
+moments later you’ll be facing a Harmonium patrol.
+
+The Harmonium is used to outsiders trying spells like “Charm
+Person” in the courthouse - it happens all the time. As long
+as you were nonviolent, they’ll just take you outside, give
+you a stern talking to, and let you off with a warning the
+first time you try it. The leader of the patrol is actually
+a little sympathetic: he too finds the bureaucracy to be
+exasperating, but the rules are the rules.
+
+In the end, the PCs's best course of action is to actually
+play by the rules.  If the PCs decide to go this route,
+Timon is quite helpful: he is happy to assist people in
+navigating the bureaucracy.  
+
+Timon hands the PCs a blank copy of form CM1-228: REQUEST BY
+CASINO FOR INITIAL CONSULTATION FOR ACQUISITION OF
+CERTIFICATE OF FAIR PLAY.  This is the form the PCs will
+need to fill out to get an appointment.  The form is in an
+appendix.  It contains many questions that the PCs couldn't
+possibly know the answer to.  The PCs have no hope of just
+filling it out.
+
+The PCs may attempt to fill out the form with bullshit. If
+they do so, Timon will look at the filled out form and say,
+sympathetically, "If I send this upstairs, they'll just put
+it in the circular file.  You need to fill in real
+information.  Your best bet is to find somebody who has
+actually run a casino before.  Pay them for their help.
+They will know what to do."
+
+Now, at this point, the PCs should be thinking to
+themselves: Green used to own a Casino in the city of Sigil.
+What happened to Green's Casino? They should also be
+thinking: Green's employees returned to the city of Sigil,
+including Edric, the steward of Green's operation.  If the
+PCs fail to remember this, let Lada remind them.
 
 ## The Hall of Records