AWKWARD ZOMBIE

You speak with lord Houton, and as he brushes you off saying he's busy holding the auction right now, he agrees to see you afterwards.
"Are there no other bidders for the scepter? Going once, going twice..."

Krom: stand up and shout "Krom challenges man to mentlegen's duel!" while pointing at the man who bid on the scepter.

The auction is suddenly put on hold, Houton draws behind the stage to speak with Shinsa. Nameless rich guy w/fez, robe & bubble pipe stands up, "And what sort of mentlegen's duel shall this be?"

Shinsa first ensures none of the guards are around before she talks to Houton. "Greetings lord. Ordinarily I wouldn't be bringing this up, but after helping to save this fine city last night I'd rather not see it go down in flames again. To that end, I need to bring your attention to the guards you hired. Namely, the fact that many of them have bounties on their heads. I do believe in second chances, but some of them will abuse their position and to be honest that would not reflect well on you when someone from the kingdom comes calling. So, I have a suggestion. You permit me and my associates to clean up the ranks a bit. We will only take down those who are Evil, leaving the Neutrals alone to try for a new life. In exchange for this service, we would need a writ with your seal giving us the authority to do so, as well as the bounties for the heads brought back. You needn't worry about us misidentifying anyone either, as no Evil can hide from a paladin."

Roll = 17+6=23

"This is all well and good, but consider that there is no one else taking the job. Regardless of whether their betrayal is inevitable or not, we need to keep them around to at least keep the illusion of safety to prevent mass panic. And who's stopping them all from causing chaos once it's revealed that you know of their identities? The guards? Ha. At least by feigning ignorance for now, we can wait until some actual authorities arrive. But at least now, I'll keep a close eye on them. And really, I'd rather have corrupt guards than useless guards. Did you see any of the previous guards? One of them wouldn't let people into my mansion unless they were armed. Unless. They. Were. Armed."
"And be careful with detect evil. Sometimes, the results are a little... well, I'm sure you know already, being a paladin and all. It's not always the evil ones that do the worst of things."

"If that's your choice. And I know it quite well, but at least I can identify the evil ones. The other kind requires a lot more work, and luck. Well, if you're going to keep them busy for a while, have them look into why three elves and a human tried to burn down the city with a fire slime and how they got that giant thing in."

(So uh, did I have any success identifying the liquids I got? I think you might have missed my post)

If you couldn't tell already, I want to nip the Invisibility ring off the "guard" who bought it which is why I said I was keeping an eye on him. Specifically I'd pay attention to where he put the ring after he took it off - presumably, since I know he left and came back - and where and how he's standing: whether he's lounging about in the middle of a group of his fellows, or kind of around the edge, whether they're up front where all eyes are on them, etc.

"Krom challenge to Roshambo! Last one standing wins!" (No, not Japanese rock-paper-scissors.)

Ah, I see. You follow him to the guardhouse where he places it into the "confiscated items chest", where normally prisoners deadly stuff is taken off and put in. Your hide check was near perfect and your move silent only succeeded on the grounds that you have a higher bonus than he does listen. The chest itself has no lock, not like the guys in their cells are gonna take anything, and not like you wouldn't crack it even if it were. You take the Ring of No Visibility, which I have renamed since it's been revealed what it does. He then went off to collect his fellows who ran off.

Blanche, I could have sworn there was an alchemy skill, but I don't see one so I'll just go with concentration for heavy thinking, for now anyway. The orange liquid is an irritating chemical, and the nat20 on the deep crimson vial reveals that it is Super Alchemist's Fire, a 4d6 equivalent of alchemist's fire. And because that doesn't really seem impressive for a nat20, you also learn the recipe should you ever try making more. They had no labels either.

"Sure, I may as well let you identify them for me." Since this part is pretty open and shut, with no one wearing lead armor or anything like that, it goes over successfully, and you bring the results back. "Intriguing. Very well, let us now watch the duel before we finish up the auction." He pokes his head out of the curtains to watch.

If it's not rock paper scissors then what is it? Wait (searching) ah, okay, I see. Hmm, does he know whether it is that kind of roshambo or not (18) surprisingly enough, yes. Are you wearing the boots for this duel? Also, he decides to go first. No attack roll since guarding is inmentlegenly, and I suppose this kind of kick is guaranteed to crit, but I rolled anyway to see if I'd get a nat20, and I did not, so no permanent damage to you yet. He deals 7 damage, and I don't know whether it should be lethal or nonlethal in this case.

(I'd say nonlethal. No special boots. and was DR taken into account?)
Krom's turn: (unarmed strikes are D4, yes?) Roll 2 +4 STR +4 from Power Attack X2 for auto crit. 20 damage.

(What weight is the alchemy sprayer?)

Oh, didn't even have to go for his pocket. That'll work. I'll take a quick (and quiet) sift through the chest and relieve it of any similarly small and easily carryable objects (and purses) I might find then make my sneaky getaway.

Did the guard turn invisible when he put the ring on?

Yes, he was invisible while wearing it.

Ah, no boots? It would have been even more fun that way. I did not take into account DR, I had forgotten about that as quickly as I gave it to you. Anyway, I'm surprised you didn't go for a two handed kick to get even more str/power attack bonus, not that I would have approved of it, but still, you knock him unconscious

I had completely forgotten about weight also, until you reminded me, but it was supposed to be buckler weight +1 for every 3 vials inserted, with enough room for 12 at a time.

"Alright, let us resume the auction. Now, I don't suppose he will be raising his offer in the event of a counter bid, but where was I... ah yes, going once, going twice..."
The bid was at 3200g, even a copper higher and you'll win. If no one wants it then we can move on.

Can I pickpocket the now unconscious man and make a bid with his cheddar plus 1 copper?