The Bounty Hunters of Ragnon Group Prime

[Averagedog]

OOC Thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8382526#post8382526)

This is the IC Thread:

In this magical world of Magerra many ships braved the Oceans of mystery while many more disappeared within the mysterious mists of the Oceans of Mystery for a variety of reasons. The main continent of this world of Magerra is, simply put, over populated. War and strife ravaged the continent between warring factions of two different human empires, the allied elven conclave with the dwarves, the horde of many evil creatures and men, and the Dragons of the old world. Just as all hope was lost for peace, a band of so called multi racial heroes gathered together and braved the Oceans of Mystery and discovered what appeared to be a large uninhabited landmass. Needless to say, all fighting for territory ceased and treaties were made among all of these factions, except for the horde of evil of course :P. Soon many colonization ships filled with those with hope, those that wish to escape a dead land, those with greed, those with a free spirit, and those filled with patriotism for the further glory of their faction.

Out of the 50,000~ ships that left for the new mysterious continent only 10,000~ of these ships successfully made it to the new landmass. No one knows what happened to the others, but they have never been seen in this age. The survivors of the journey quickly built several cities, each ruled by one of the separate factions from the old continent. The 2 of the 5 cities were ruled by men, one was ruled by the elves, another ruled by the dwarves, and the last ruled by Dragons. From these cities, many towns and villages spread outwards to cultivate the land, find resources, and create trade between all the cities. After 3 human generations have passed and the lands of all of these cities have expanded enough, these peoples from the old continent finally came in contact with the Felids. The Felids are a cat like race that comes in several types. They are long lived, perhaps even longer than the elves and they have cultivated this continent they have called "Ragnon" for thousands of years. They are a mystical race that draw their magical energies from the land, their souls, and an unknown source they have never revealed to the foreigners. The Felids offered their greetings to the newcomers of the continent and informed them of the many dangers outside of the zone they have created to protect them for these three generations. This zone was maintained through a constant vigil of the highest ruling class of the Felids located in their capital city in the direct center of the continent. This city is unlike any ever seen by the foreigners. It is a terraced living mountain that seems to disappear into the clouds. Everything they would ever need to subsist grows on the mountain, livestock and other animals live on these terraces in their own carefully crafted ecosystems. With the Zone taken down, the Age of Colonization was at an end. Threats of burgeoning hordes of monsters and other malicious/or neutral/ creatures suddenly came slamming at the borders of the five cities. A call for mercenaries was set forth to all corners of the known land. The military force of each city was increased but never strong enough to do more than just protect. Many organizations were created for the purposes of hiring mercenaries and distributing them to places that needed help. The younger Felids left their isolated communities and their capital in an effort to learn from the new races on their continent. Many of them sponsored and created Mercenary companies to help the cities with their problems. The second age of Ragnon has begun.

You, the character, find yourself sitting in one of the few Taverns in the Felid Enclave of the Human city of "Vigilar." You have been employed by a powerful Felid named Wendell who owns the enclave and consequently the mercenary groups under his sponsorship. He has called you to this particular Tavern to meet with others such as yourself to be sent on your first assignment. You agreed for your own motives, but you hear the pay is good and possible rewards great. You sit at your table and wait until two other mercenaries sit at your table. The bartender, a crusty looking dwarf wearing a blackened leather apron, a white cooking chefs hat and an eye patch, gives you a free round of drinks and some dinner that consists of roast veal, potatoes, and some nuts and cheese. He then notifies you and your cohorts that Wendell will visit personally shortly. You feel the need to strike up a conversation with your newfound allies.

[Loki 14]

Looking at the people around him he bites into his food. tasty... he thinks to himself before saying. "So i guess we should get started, whos level what and what classes are we all?" he says expectantly looking from person to person, eating more of his food.

[Phiktional]

Murdoch looks hungrily at the food in front of him. Without much hesitation he digs in, he hasn't had cooked meat in a long time. He had almost forgot how good it was. He finally looks up and realizes he is being talked to. He smiles real big, canine teeth just a little too long for a normal human. "My name is Murdoch. Wolf Fang Druid of the Third Season." He says quickly, before going back to his food.

[Critical]

Ur takes a bite, before responding to the temmates question. "Name's Ur, Hashashin/Swashbuckler. Sneak attacking the baddies, you know. And no, the name's not assassin said by a drunk." - he says and continues eating, but then remembered something and added. - "And you?"

[Loki 14]

"im Kai the...." Kai looks around nervously, stopping in his sentence. "Im a knife master" he says looking around to see if anything even knew what that was.

[Critical]

"Cool." - Ur says and finishes his food, not paying attention to an unknown name. As he finished eating, he fixed his white robe's hood on his head, so that his eyes couldn't be seen. - "So, are we going to head out or no?"

[Loki 14]

"I believe for storyline reasons we need to stay here" kai says looking at his team mates.

[Averagedog]

After some more small talk between the mercenaries, the door opens and two tall cloaked figures enter the tavern, each holding a large brown sack. The dwarf looks up from his cleaning of the bar table and his face lightens up.

"Hello good masters," the bartender says, "Would you like a your free customary rounds?"

"No" both of them say simultaneously, "We are here on the behalf of our father, Wendell. We were told that two of his new mercenary hirelings were told to meet here for their first assignment."

The Bartender points towards your group and the other you see across the bar room.

With that, each of them turn towards the two mercenary groups.

The one that approaches your group takes off the hood of his cloak revealing the catlike features of a Felid. You have never seen a felid this close before as they generally are confined to their various ambassadorial compounds. Whenever they leave, they usually wear their cloaks to hide themselves from the general public. This one had a lion like head with golden fur, a dark mane streaked with blonde, and piercing silver eyes. Taking off the rest of his cloak, wet from the rain outside, revealed his breastplate armor made out of a material you have never seen before worn over a leather vest and a large gauntleted glove over his left hand with a large cat's eye jewel embedded on the center. At his side rests a curved bastard sword with a customized pommel with a golden lions head crest with ruby eyes. His long tail is wrapped around his waist, several times over. Other than that, he wears leather breeches with customized buckled boots for his feet.

(( a person can roll a knowledge nature check if they have the skill ))
(( a person can roll a knowledge arcana check if they have the skill ))

The Felid man bows politely, much like the way a musical conductor would, then says, " Hello Humanss" then looking at the druid and ***** his head at an angle with interest, "ssmall human, I am Denssel (Densel), a sson of Wendell. He hass ssent me herre in orderr to give you and yourr cohorrts yourr assignment"

Densel falls silent as if waiting for a response from the group.

[Phiktional]

Knowledge Nature Check.
[roll0]

Murdoch bears his teeth and let's a growl slip out. Remembering himself he straightens up, brushes the food out of his long goatee. "Pleased to meet you, what kind of fun does our new employer have in store for us?"

[Averagedog]

The druidic Training Murdoch underwent reveals to him that to the Felids, the length of the tail shows the overall age of the creature, the longer it is the older the Felid is. There is no telling how long the tails of the eldest Felids are, but Murdoch can tell that this particular Felid is quite young. His tail is only wrapped around his waist, twice. Murdoch estimates that Densel is around 240 human years old. Murdoch can also sense something unnatural about him, perhaps a hidden aura of magic?

((assume Densel is speaking in his heavy accent with the drawn out "s" and "r" sounds))
"My father Wendell requests that you and your new companions retrieve a stolen magical item for us. 3 ten days ago ((30 days ago)) a caravan containing a variety of goods was attacked and pillaged by a small band of Orks((orcs but bigger and badder)) near the town of Greensend. None of the common goods are of any significance except for a magical quiver. This quiver contains moderate magic that creates infinite arrows for its possessor and enchants these arrows with an anti undead enchantment. The quiver was meant to go to the captain of the guard at Greensend but the Caravan never made it. Wendell wishes that all of you go and retrieve this quiver from the thieves then deliver the item to the captain in Greensend. Your reward from Wendell will be given by the captain, though I would expect that the citizens of Greensend would be grateful for your efforts in more than just thanks.

"Should you all accept this quest, you are also entitled to the contents of this Sack up front for your journey" Densel says gesturing towards the Sack.

[Loki 14]

Kai nods his head in agreement before reaching his hand out on the table in the direction of the bag.

[Averagedog]

Inside the sack Kai finds three smaller bags, and within each is a care package of 4 cure light wounds potions, 1 delay poison, a sugar cookie, some dried out catnip wrapped in a bundle, and a small flask labeled "Hard Liquor."

[Critical]

Ur nods in agreement of accepting the quest at the same time as Kai does. "The thieves should be sneak atta... I mean, punished." With one large bite he finishes his food and stands up ready. "Alright, grab the stuff and lets go. What's your name by the way, knife master?"

[Loki 14]

"Once again im kai." he says reluctantly taking the hard liquor out of the bag and putting it in his backpack.

[Averagedog]

the mercenaries bound by the job at hand continue their small talk and soon turn in for the night. Densel left the group and told them that should they succeed in this quest, they will be contacted in the town they are to deliver the item in. The next morning, the three set off from the city starting their 3 day journey to the East...

Day 1:
[roll0]
A Very uneventful day, filled with birds singing, sunlight, and some howling wolves at night


Day 2:
[roll1]
You guys come across a burned out cottage by the side of the road, there are no bodies and no signs of a fight. The cottage contains nothing of value.

Day 3:
[roll2]
You guys come across a the remains of a burned out Caravan, the Caravan Densel described. It is in an open clearing surrounded by a wood. You notice that some of the pine trees have been burned to the ground. There are no bodies to be seen, though there are some fresh graves to the side of the robe marked by a A Square with a Star in it as a Grave marker. From what you have been told, it has been at least a week and a half now since the caravan was attacked. ((feel free to explore the area/do what you want))

[Critical]

Tavern

"Ow, right. Just that it kind of sounds like Sai."

Caravan

"Seems like we're getting closer." - Ur says, examining the caravan graveyard.

[Loki 14]

Spot [roll0]
"it seems we are" He says taking a sip of the strong liquor. "Where to now?" He says once they stop.

[Phiktional]

Murdoch, now in wolf form, nods his head in agreement and moves up to check the area out.


[roll0] - search
[roll1] - listen

[Loki 14]

Raising his arm to point at murdoch he says "that...was pretty *ucking cool."

[Averagedog]

Murdoch sniffs around the area noting the clarity of many many foot prints everywhere. He smelled the scents of humans and elves, and even a dwarf or two that were pretty recent then the smell of something different than them, something that smells like orcs but not quite it. This particular scent is old, but the odor is strong enough to follow. It leads into the woods to the north of the camp site.

While generally searching around, Murdoch notices something glinting from under a burnt out wagon. It must have been too heavy for the good folk of Greensend to dig out or lift easily, or it may have been too dark for them to see it was there in the first place when they buried the bodies...

[Phiktional]

Murdoch shifts out of wolf form and relays the information to the party.

[Loki 14]

When kai ears the news he goes over to inspect the shiny thing. If he can move stuff to get a good look/pick it up he does.

[Averagedog]

Kai had to squeeze a bit, but with his training in his... profession it wasn't too much of a problem or a hassle. It took a little digging with a sharp object but Kai freed the object, which was actually much smaller than originally thought, and brought it to the rest to show. After cleaning it, it was a rather finely cut looking piece of clear quartz, and with further cleaning there appeared to be something inside of it. It seems to beckon towards anyone interested enough to look at it...

[Critical]

Ur comes closer to further examine that thing. "Shiny." - he then takes it into his hand and starts inspecting it closely.

Untrained Appraise - go! [roll0]

[Loki 14]

"...Can i have the shiny back now?" He says holding his hand out as ur inspects it.

[Averagedog]

Beams of light shoot out from the quartz and delves into the eyes of Ur and Kai. Both of them are assaulted by vibrant and extremely realistic images.... of the events of the attack of the caravan. It is almost as if they are watching the event in third person. They watch as a fat elf merchant rushes over to the front wagon and takes out a black onyx box. He opens it and removes piece of Quartz and promptly enchants it to record the event.

The recording seems to expand the vision of the affair as roughly 10 regular orcs wearing hide armor burst yelling and shouting from the wood followed by 3 much larger Orks in the back with bows and arrows The Orks start lighting the caravans on fire with their arrows as the Orcs quickly engage the caravan guards dispatching them easily with their large battleaxes and clubs. The guards fought valiantly but ultimately failed. the Merchants that were not killed quickly ran, the portly elf crawled underneath a wagon instead because he couldn't run fast enough.

The Orks come to the wagons and start looting, among them is what appears to be a large ornate chest. An Ork opens it to view the contents, inside, among several scrolls, a bag, and a necklace with a wolf's head pendant, is a quiver with intricate glowing runes on it.

The recording shifts as the portly elf gasps in shock as 4 Orcs look beneath the wagon he is hiding. The elf responds quickly by shoving the quartz into the earth beneath his large frame. The Orcs Drag the kicking and screaming elf out who is promptly tied up and dragged away.

The recording continues on for what seems like hours, though the entire affair took only a few moments in real time for the party members to watch, as the wagons finish burning, rain comes then goes, several wild animals invesetigate the scene, the villagers of Greenswood coming to bury the dead and clean up the area, and a squirrel or two dancing around the quartz and hiding some of their acorns next to it. The recording shuts off as the enchantment ends.

Ur and Loki come back to themselves as the recording ends.

[Loki 14]

Slightly dazed kai says "Ok no more hard liquor for awhile...then again..." he then takes it out and takes a small sip also offering it to Ur. "calm the nerves you know" kai says winking at ur.

[Critical]

Ur, now with somewhat enlarged eyes, accepts the liquor and takes a few sips. Then he starts looking more normal and starts speaking: "Phew, that was one hell of a ride. Should we follow the path where the orcs came from? Someone might be alive, and the treasure there was pretty neat."

So, with my appraise check, how much would that thing cost?

[Phiktional]

At the mention of the orcs, Murdochs ears perked up. He immediatly started to sniff around again. Finding the trail he heads towards the woods and begins to bark, as if to tell his companions something. If only they understood wolf...

[Averagedog]

as far as you can tell, the stone itself is worth all of 50 gp. the enchantment is gone.

[Critical]

"Hey, the druid found something, lets go." - Ur says, stuffing the stone into his pocket and following the wolf.

[Averagedog]

The wolf leads the party through a small trail that was a little overgrown. After several hours the woods expand into a large clearing where there are signs of a recent encampment. There is the remains of a campfire with several large logs dragged to it, a lot of holes, presumably where stakes were put in for the tents, a latrine, and a trash pile. In the center of the campfire is a stake and upon it, a burned up dessicated body of a humanoid. The body is so thoroughly burned that one cannot tell what it's original race was other than it wasn't short enough to be a halfling or gnome. It is around noon time and there is a light breeze in an otherwise perfect day.

[Loki 14]

"come on keep going see if you can find there trail!" kai says once they got there.

[Phiktional]

Murdoch sniffs around some more, trying to find the scent again. He knows its around here somewhere, he just had it. *sniff sniff*


Survival check:
[roll0]

[Critical]

Ur looks at the burnt little body for a long time. "They will pay." - he says, clenching his fist.

[Loki 14]

"Dont forget ur were here for the bounty" Kai says trying to assume a leaders roll.

[Critical]

"If it's not specified, it's dead or alive." - Ur responds.

[Averagedog]

it takes a few minutes, but Murdoch catches the scent again and leads the party on. Along the way the party finds more evidence of the Ork's passing. Some fine goods ruined and thrown aside, bits of luxury food and empty wine bottles as well as a few other trinkets as well. At one point they come across a rather plush chair that was thrown aside. It was pretty large with what used to be white silk cushions and a nice soft seat, but it has since been ruined by dirt, water, and blood.

After about a day's travel The group crests a large hill to see another camp far off in the distance in a valley below, probably a day or two ahead and a few more before the Orks reach the mountains.

((if you guys wanted to investigate anything please post as if you are doing it presently))

[Phiktional]

Murdoch let's out a long howl. He can finally see his quarry, and he can't wait to taste there blood. Nothing they passed really caught his attention. He leads the group on, down the hill, towards the enemy.

[Critical]

"You really want to attract some XP, do you?" - Ur says, responding to the druid's howl.

[Phiktional]

Murdoch smiles a wolfy smile. These orcs might as well be wearing big signs stating how much they were worth.

[Averagedog]

immediately, the campfire in the distance goes out and some shouting is heard in the distance.

[Critical]

"Well, now that's an opportunity to use that huge hide modifier!" - Ur says, getting a sling out and hiding in the bushes.

Hide - [roll0]