✎ resources:adventure:heist_society [animus]

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====== Heist Society ======
===== Initial Brief =====

Word has gone out around Esteban that Lucretia Kealstat the Silver tongued of Esteban is looking for discrete individuals to aid in preparations for the annual displaying of wealth.

===== PCs =====

   * Elias of House Esteban
   * Mabel of the Throne
   * James Grover's PC
   * Eli

===== Summary =====

Lucretia explains that the leader of House Esteban is decided on a yearly basis by who can make the greatest display of artifacts and wealth. She has hired the party to steal the Orrery of Uxciveon from her rival Flavia Taan to swing the display in her favor this year.

The party are given invites to the ball and spend some time socializing with the upper echelons of Esteban society.
Lucretia explains that the leader of House Esteban is decided on a yearly basis by who can make the greatest display of artifacts and wealth. She has hired the party to steal the Orrery of Uxciveon from her rival Flavia Taan to swing the display in her favor this year.

The party are given invites to the ball and spend some time socializing with the upper echelons of Esteban society. During the party Eli tells Flavia Taan about the the plan to steal from their vault.
The party persuade the sommelier to give them a tour of the wine cellar. They promptly knock him out and steal the oldest wine and blackmail him about it’s loss before heading across to the vault. As the party make their way into the vault they encounter guards, traps of greed and the remnants of some other party who seem to have also tried to infiltrate the vault. Eventually the party come to an open plane in which the floor is covered with scattered glass butterflies these swirl up on an unseen wind to attack the party but are eventually driven off as the party make their way towards the glass castle in the centre. 

In the castle the party find the remnants of a previous group of thieves who are now too beaten up to escape. There is also a paladin chained to the floor with a fine silver chain. Over a meal the chained figure tries to persuade the party to release it which Eli and Mabel attempt to do but they are opposed by Elias who eventually entombs the figure in the floor to stop further interference.

Heading into the vault the party find it full of items each displayed prominently on a plinth. Eli’s eye is drawn to a fine cloak which they attempt to pick up from the plinth only to find it works too well and the cloak sticks to their hand. Mabel’s eye is drawn to an ornate puzzle box which they successfully wrest from the plinth. The erosion weaver meanwhile picks up a large still beating heart. 

This leaves Elias to attempt to wrest the orrery from it’s plinth which he only partially succeeds at finding it too sticks to his hand in prominent view. As they head back out the party are met by another guest who also seems to have plans for the vault. They claim to have been hired to steal a small puzzle box, Mabel promptly hides the puzzle box in her person and after a search the party are allowed to leave.
Moving further out the party realise that Flavia Taan themselves is waiting for them outside the vault, almost as though they had been tipped off. Elias quickly collapses the ceiling to allow another means of escape any the party run away fighting through some far less threatening guards.

Back in the ballroom Flavia appears to know something is up and sticks right next to Lucretia making a hand of impossible even if the orrery was not stuck to Elias’s hand. In a side corridor the Erosion weaver is able to perform a ritual to remove the orrery but corrupts the workmanship as they do so ensuring that the artifact will eventually break down as darkness spreads throughout. 

In a tense standoff in a sideroom Flavia confronts Elias and Lucretia but they just about manage to make the handoff unnoticed. This allows Lucretia to steal the show at the end and emerge victorious for now in the games of prestige which dominate the house. The Orrery turns out to contain a incredibly detailed miniature map of the empire at it's height which can be projected outwards with lamps.


===== Debrief =====

In the aftermath the party examine their finds. Mabel manages to solve the puzzle box finding within a strange black jewel. She, Elias and the erosion weaver examine this but none of them can tell what it is. Eventually Elias reached a hand in to touch the jewel and find that his hand begins mutating from just a touch. This mutation continues as they rush to the commission but fortunately the high ranking commissioner who the problem eventually escalates to is able to stop the process at Elias shoulder. The black gem is promptly handed over hustles away inside several layers of obsidian box into the depths of the commission. 

The erosion weaver examines the heart and finds it belonged to a great erosion denizen who now hovers on the verge of death. They also meet the cult of the cleansing flame but find it incompatible with their goals. 

Eli finds a connection weaver to sort out the cloaks sticking issues.

===== Consequences =====

====Elias====
  * 3 favour

====Mabel====
  * 3 favour
  * An intricate puzzle box

====Eli====
  * Net zero favour
  * An artifact cloak which is bound by connection rituals to always find it's way back to her.
  * The cloak seems to sometimes have a mind of it's own and in particular can act as an impromptu parachute making the wearer immune to falling damage.

====Erosion Weaver====
  * 3 favour
  * Erosion Heart this can once per adventure be used to open a portal deep into erosion or to cast an extra erosion ritual of the most powerful the weaver can currently do. This ritual has an extra black bead however and failures will have effects in line with the hearts desires.


{{tag>"heist society" adventure}}
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