We had an excellent session Saturday playing in the Mosaic campaign. Our goal: to gain information from Hakima Bahor, a boss rakshasa, who apparently has Derral Feodar in custody. Feodar is the guy whose journals were of interest to our now-missing masters, and about whom the other rakshasa, Hakima Avishandu, told us. The whole reason we came to gods-forsaken Oubliette. (Well, forsaken by any gods our PCs care about.)
Quin, my iron witch giant, cast what I always considered a useless spell: discern preference (from Arcana Evolved). Hey, not so useless after all! Using it we determined that Bahor is fond of his hookah, and enjoys exotic things to smoke in it. After sending off a diplomatically worded request for an audience with him, we went to the Artisans District and obtained a small brick worth 500 gp of something called Black Heart. We got our first taste of how skill challenges work in negotiating for more of the substance than the dealer was at first inclined to give us.
We were granted an audience the next day. Having already reconnoitered the area where his obstentatiously-unguarded mansion was, we arrived precisely on time as requested. The rakshasa Bahor was slimy-creepiness personified. He led two gorgeous nearly-naked women on ribbons and they knelt before him. One was a drow priestess, the other a sun elf priestess. Wearing each other's raiment. Yikes.
Rashmali took point, with Mordecai assisting. Quin was too busy mentally pummeling his lawful good intelligent longspear Cry of Heaven into submission, and Bellos was too awed. Scott later told us that to win the challenge, we needed to have 10 successes before 5 failures. We ended up with only 1 failure (when Mordecai rolled a 1). He ran it just like a combat, with rolling initiative and each of us taking turns saying what we would do. Mostly Mordecai echoed what Rashmali said. The rakshasa liked the gift, which gave us a +4 to all rolls. We got out of there with our lives and virtues intact, with a promise to be allowed to speak with Feodar–IF we come back with news that we have “taken care of” Avishandu, Bahor's rival. Bahor said it more subtly, of course.
Now we get to visit Avishandu's brothel headquarters, the Succulent Pear. Mordecai's quite looking forward to that.