[3.5]Genre Savvy Silliness! IC

[Shadowleaf]

As you emerge from the shimmering portal, the first thing you notice is the smell of wet grass. The air is moist, but the sun is shining bright and warm. Dark clouds dot the sky.
Before you stands a stone altar of sorts. It is a simple construction - a flat square stone balanced on two smaller stones, forming a sort of natural table.
As you look to your sides, you see four other figures who obviously are not from around here, either. You see a portal similar to your own wink out of existence behind them. You turn, and your own portal is gone, as well.
Behind you is a forest, to your left are rolling hills of grass, and on your right is a dirt road. You can see what appears to be a city in the distance.
After a few seconds you notice you feel.. Different. You feel confined by a new set of rules, in a way. Your breathing pattern appears to be different, the speed you move seem.. Standarized, and you eyesight seems in all different.


(OOC) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=155629)

[CWater]

A woman with light hair and pale skin looks around with a somewhat perplexed expression, as if not sure if all this is truly real, but the amount of details quickly assure her that this is definitely not a dream. A curious face replaces her confusion. She looks like she's around 20 and is wearing blue jeans, black shirt with text that is not English, worn out blue jeans jacket and black shoes. She carries a red/green backpack that looks like it could have been a schoolbag. She also has a small black bag on her shoulder. If you're close enough, you can also see that she has a dragon shaped necklace around her neck.

She looks at the other people, hesitates, and asks something in a foreign language.

Which you probably don't understand, since I doubt any one of you speaks Finnish.:smallwink:

[Ella]

A woman wearing a nightgown and slippers stumbles through the portal, her blonde hair stands out in every possible direction enough to draw a comparison between it and an angels halo if you felt charitable, Einstein if you weren't.

Down below at ground level trails her cat, he is hunting and pouncing, chasing her slippers which are shaped like puppy dogs. She stops and picks the cat up and places him in her handbag.

Turning to the cat she whispers "Looks like we aren't in Sydney anymore Lobster."

[--Lime--]

Lime lands heavily on the other side. Just what the other side is is somewhat of a mystery to him, in more ways than one: he's fallen flat on his face in his rush to get through.

A moment of realisation causes him to scramble to his feet and turn around quickly - "I left the computer logged into my email!" he cries, and attempting to leap back through the portal, it closes with a "whoosh" behind him. And so once again, he lands in a heap, on the ground.

Not the best of starts, to be sure. It isn't that Lime is clumsy, just that he's tired from working till 3am in the morning, when the portal appeared... and the minor fact that the portal disappeared right as he was about to step back into the office, several feet above this new world's ground.

Picking himself up and wiping the dew off his hands onto worn blue jeans, Lime notices the others.

So, Lime thinks, We've got Bedtime Dorothy from Down Under and...
He attempts to read the T-shirt. It looks like... Danish? No, they have circles, not umlauts. But it isn't German either. Lime gives up. Even when she speaks, he doesn't recognise the language. Knowing that "Hi" is pretty universal, he begins with that to the rest of the group.

"Hi guys... does anyone know how we all got here? Or more importantly, where 'here' is?"

This Englishman has short, dark hair, and long dark eyebrows. A nose which some say is "well-defined" while others ask if it's been broken in the past. A day or two of stubble on his face, he's dressed for the series of rainy days York has been having. Brown leather jacket with double cream stripes down the arms, navy Umbro jumper, unbranded jeans and battered silver Nike trainers that look at least four years old. Probably because they are. All in all, casual but not dishevelled, dressed for chilly but not cold weather. The clothes are not obviously cheap (though that's exactly what they are) but are far from designer or the latest fad in fashion.

While he waits for the others to respond, he leans down and picks up his grey and black rucksack. Though it holds only a few snacks, pens and razors, and several heavy books, Lime is glad to remember that in there is Shakespeare's Complete Works. Well, he chuckles to himself, Some Desert Island I've landed on here!

There's a programme on BBC Radio 4 called Desert Island Discs. Basically, they get someone famous and ask them what three records they'd take with them if they were stranded on a desert island. At the end, they get to choose one luxury item to take, as well as being given a survival kit, and... the Complete Works of Shakespeare. So, that's the reference here :)

[VinGoodman]

I'm through! Er, now what. Vin looks about him and notes he appears not to be alone in being out of place. There seems to be some chattering, but he fails to catch what any of them said, as disoriented as he is by the run through the portal.

Instinctively, his hands go to the various pockets of his pastel pink dress shirt and fine pressed black slacks. He breathes a sigh of relief when he confirms he has his keys, wallet and phone. Everything else can be dealt with, he thought to himself as he turns his brown eyes over to the others and size them up. He realizes very quickly they are all strangers to him.

I wonder if any of them know each other...

ooc Did the book series/movie exist in the world they came from? That is, would there be any chance of recognition of the stone altar? I'm just wondering in general how much RL knowledge we could translate to our alter ego in this world.

[Ella]

Ella tosses the possiblities through her mind, while the world looked more like the sort you would through a wardrobe or a looking glass it was entirely possible she had hit some sort of natural stargate on her way to get a cup of coffee.

"Hey" Ella waves to the gentleman with the english accent with her free hand.

"So what sort of world do you think this is, is there some sort of test we can perform to check? I was hoping it was a portal to the Victorian Era or at least the 80s."

I am hoping we find out what sort of world it is sooner than later, because I want to explore :P

[--Lime--]

Lime looks over to the city.

"Well, from the lack of skyscrapers, I'm guessing it isn't the '80s. Let's say..." he sniffs the air. "Well, let's say pre-industrial revolution, since I can't see any factory towers, and that path's made of dirt, not coke and cinders. Although, that theory relies on this being England, and judging by your accent, we're not there."

He pauses, and cracks a wry smile.
"Unless, of course, you work in a bar in London."

Picking up a handful of grass and dropping it, blowing slightly in the breeze it falls again to the ground.

"On the plus side, up still seems to be up, and down, down, as far as gravity is concerned, and we aren't suffocating. Best way would probably be to head towards the city. Snoop about a bit, though, before opening our mouths in case we offend some local custom, because - and I'll be frank, here - I haven't the foggiest where we could be."

And it is in that moment that Lime began to wish he'd worn a blue suit, a loud tie at half mast, and a pair of converse. I could so be doing the Doctor Who thing right now... he thinks, but alas, it was not to be.

I'm guessing all current knowledge we have. If we can know about the DnD game, I'm sure we could know about the film. For me, that means knowing it exists, but never having seen it.

[CWater]

Watches Lime's...performance and covers her mouth with hand to hide a smile. Oh, these guys speak English, well at least the Brit.* Removes hand. “Uh...hi!” What do you say to a group of complete strangers after you have just been swept into a fantasy world? At least I think this is a fantasy world, the portal seemed pretty magical...hard to think it could be accomplished with science... I wonder if I'm in a shock, since I feel pretty calm considering the circumstances. Well, I'll think about it later, or tomorrow.

Notices that the others are already talking.
Well...I guess I could introduce myself. “Hi, again... I'm Karoliina Meriläinen, uh nice to meet you, I guess."


*You have an accent, I presume?
I could try to describe mine, but because the Finnish one is so different from all the others, I really don't know where to start. :P

[--Lime--]

"Hi Karoliina, I'm Lime. Nice to meet you too. So, where are you from?"

I have a neutral English accent, due to elocution. That means, what I am not is:
Stereotypical Posh
Stereotypical Cockney
Scots (Highland, Glaswegian or Edinburgh)
Irish (North or South)
Welsh
Stereotypical Bumpkin Farmer
Stereotypical Northern
Brummie

If you want to know, it's probably something along the lines of a VERY toned down "posh" with a hint of Northern.

[Ella]

"Very nice to meet you too, Karoliina" Ella turns to her and smiles.

Ella turns to look at her cat in her handbag, and smiles he is asleep and oblivious as per usual, but then this was a cat with a long standing reputation of sleeping in the fruitbowl no matter what was in it.

Well there goes my theory that this was some sort of commonwealth secret meeting. She walks over to the stone altar and takes a seat for a minute. Perhaps the illuminati...No thats not it either.

"I know this is a silly question, but did that portal remind anyone of a cartoon from when they were younger?" Ella blushes at the admission that she had watched the show in question, and was hoping someone else would know and save her the embarassment of explaining it.

[--Lime--]

Lime shrugs.

"Not me. I just came through because life is -"" He realises with a shudder the reality of the situation. "Life was going hard on me. No chance I'd have passed on an opportunity like this to escape it. There's very little left there for me, only really responsibilities that rely on my having a future in that world. And I do think that this is a different world, or some obscure part of the planet which might as well be a different world. Unless things turn out to be worse here, no way am I going back.

Lime takes his jacket off in the sun, and places it outside-down on the damp grass, before sitting on the lining. He takes a packet of cigarettes from the inside pocket, and draws one out.

"Does anyone mind if I...?"
He trails off. Unless he's standing with a group of other smokers, he always asks, and never minds if he's told no. Before he started smoking, he hated being anywhere near smokers. Funny how things change.

Not shown in the UK as far as I remember :P

[Ella]

"Go for it, but I think I think I need a drag to just give me something to concentrate on, stop the world spinning"

Ella pats the stone altar next to herself and gestures towards the englishman.

"I do appreciate it though, at least you have ruled out the fast that my horrible, boring assignment hasn't caused me to leave reality, well at least hasn't caused me to leave reality alone."

I quit smoking IRL, well almost completely quit, I still will do it if something really good or really bad happens. It amounts to maybe 3 a week.

[CWater]

Answers Lime's first question: "From Finland, you know, that little cold country in the north-eastern corner of Europe. You're from Britain?"

Karoliina notices Ella's cat and her face immediately chages to Awww... Misses part of the conversation while staring at the cat with a said dumb expression.

Wakes up when Lime says something about smoking. "Um...I've got slight astma and I really dislike the smell, but if I keep a few meters distance, I should be okay." Does not want to be rude towards people she just met.

Should we wait a while until VinGoodman and Raistlin post something?

[--Lime--]

In response to being told she's from Finland, Lime says:
"Cool. I've never met a Finn before. Worked with someone from Norway once, but that's the closest you'll get!" he jokes

"You'll like these, they're Spanish."

He takes a deep drag then passes the black, gold-banded cigarette to Ella.

"They've got coconut and vanilla oil in them."

He waits for her to take a drag, then asks:
""What's your name, by the way?"

[CWater]

"And what's the name of your cat? I have two cats, well my parents have actually. They don't allow pet's in the place I live...or...used to live."

[Ella]

"His name is lobster, if you look closely at his front toes he is missing one leaving a gap, makign them look like lobster claws from the front." Ella reaches down and rubs Lobster on the belly, he studiously ignores it.

Lighting the cigarette Ella inhales deeply, a tell that she was worried about what is happening, despite her somewhat cool exterior.

"Ella by the way, and you?"

[--Lime--]

Lime joins Ella on the altar, and they (presumably) sit facing Karoliina. Lime offers his jacket as a seat for Karoliina, as she doesn't want to be near the smoke.

"Call me Lime, everyone else does."

Taking another drag he says, gesturing to the cigarette in his hand:
"I needed this. So, what do you think about heading down to that city? I'm all for exploring woods, as long as we're back out again by dark. Problem then is that we'd have to find our way down to the city by moonlight, and I'm not sure if we'll even get any of that. The clouds could be covering it, or it might be a new moon -" he laughs briefly, ""- or there might not even be a moon at all! Perhaps it might not even get dark... but I doubt that. In any case, tripping and breaking an ankle is the last thing the group of us need."

[Raistlin1040]

A long-haired teenager in a David Bowie t-shirt falls through the portal. He doesn't look particularly flustered at first, until he feels his back and his eyes widen. He positions himself at the front of the portal, and is knocked over when a brown electric guitar falls through the portal. He manages to catch it, and stands up, slinging the strap over his shoulder. He seems fairly concerned with himself, until he realizes other people are around. He straightens up, re-positioning all of his items.

Uh, hey. I'm Matt. He says curtly. I'm going to assume someone here has some idea what's been going, or why we're here, or somesuch.

WIS roll for the day: [roll0]

[CWater]

Karoliina twitches as Lime mentions broken ankles. "Yeeeah, we don't want that to happen", she says in a voice that is hard to describe, something like ironic/nervous. "But I'm fine with either. Woods or town, I mean."

Notices the newcomer. "Oh, I guess we got more company." To Matt: "Don't ask me, I'm as clueless as you are. Nice guitar."

[--Lime--]

"Hi Matt!" Lime calls from the altar. "Keep assuming, because none of us has a clue! I'm Lime, by the way, this is Ella and Karoliina."

Taking another drag, an idea suddenly strikes him.
"Hey, this is a bit of a long shot, but does anyone have a compass on their phone? I mean, we might still be on Earth, we might not, but if this planet has a ferric core, we can get a sense of direction and also a rough idea of time."

Noticing the guitar, Lime adds:
"You any good with that?" but then chuckles, "From the looks of things, it doesn't matter. The city doesn't have any skyscrapers, and I haven't seen any power lines crossing the landscape. Speaking of which, we're trying to decide which way to go."

What flavour of American are you? :P

Also, apparently I've been scan-reading without realising. Karoliina, ignore the invite to sit with us, changed it to an invite to sit on my jacket (keeps yer bum dry :P) and edited in a response to your question

[Raistlin1040]

Matt scowls and takes out his phone. Damn. No service. He shoves the phone roughly into his jean pocket. Thing's a piece of junk anyway. At the question about his guitar, Matt shrugs. I'm decent. I'm in a band back home, an acoustic one.

Northwestern, Washington/Oregon/Idaho area. Unfortunately, though we have some accent I assume, we don't have any fun verbal tics to make fun of, that I'm aware of.

[--Lime--]

You don't need service to use the compass... also I was just wondering, I wasn't going to make fun of you!

Well, if nobody has any network coverage, I think we can pretty much assume we're reliant on ourselves. That just makes me want to head to town all the more."

[Raistlin1040]

Actually do on mine. I have an older-style phone, so it's not an App, it's a web-browser thing.
Do we have any idea what sort of town it actually is?

[--Lime--]

"A big, far-off one, but other than that, we're all in the same boat here: just arrived. I was working late at the office, and this portal opened so just grabbed my bag and jumped through."

Lime explains about the compass not needing coverage again, and finishes with:

"At any rate, it might be afternoon, it might be morning, but that city's the only civilisation I can see around here, and we're best getting as much walking done as we can, if that's the direction we end up agreeing on."

[Raistlin1040]

Well it's probably better than staying out in the woods. Considering we don't know what kind of animals live out here. Matt adjusts the guitar strap again, to keep it from falling, and then makes sure his backpack is securely fastened. He shrugs. I'm ready to go anywhere, I guess.

[CWater]

"Haven't got a compass on this thing", Karoliina says pulling a really old fashioned cell phone from her pocket, "it can't even play decent music." Throws in it the air (since the ground is soft) and tries to catch it. "What kind of music is acoustic? Sorry if I sound dumb, I don't know music terms in English; I'm Finnish, by the way."

Sleight of hand? roll: [roll0]

Phone falls on the ground. Damn! I usually catch it. Heading for the town sounds good to me.

[Raistlin1040]

Acoustic means that we don't use electricity except for microphones. An acoustic guitar is a hollow-body. We play stuff like Voltaire, and then acoustic versions of David Bowie, Marilyn Manson, The Beatles, etc.. Matt explains. At the mention of Finland, he nods. Like Lordi and Nightwish, then. Good stuff.

[--Lime--]

" brown electric guitar" - that's what threw me

Hearing mention of Lordi, Lime pipes up:
"Ah, a Eurovision afficionado? It is certainly good for a laugh. As for your tastes in music, I wholeheartedly concur with everything mentioned! There's very little that I can't appreciate musically."

Lime gets another idea:
"I've got a radio on my phone! Even places without mobile coverage and widespread electricity will usually have a radio station somewhere. Ever since Mao, even tinpot little dictatorships aren't without them.

Lime gets out his newer phone (cheap, like everything else in his life) and plugs in the hands-free kit. He selects the radio to scan for channels and...
"Nothing but static. I don't think we're on Earth any more, which means this could just be a warm day in winter. The sun could set very quickly and who knows what sort of dangerous wildlife or political or criminal groups there are around?"

He takes out his pen knife, and chooses the longest, widest blade: an intimidating three inches long =/

[Raistlin1040]

Matt does have his/my electric guitar, but that's because it's the guitar I use 90% of the time. I bought it myself, it's mine, and it's all I use outside of acoustic band stuff. My acoustic is a cheap 99$ piece of superjunk.

Hardly an afficionado, since they don't show it in America, as far as I've seen. He nods at Lime's last mention. Right. So we should probably leave, rather than just sit here.

[--Lime--]

Ah, that's fine, I thought you brought up the acoustic band because of my mention of electricity... and then I started thinking it was an electro- or semi-acoustic. Vote results will be changed once we've all posted, but to move things on for now there they are.

"Well then, that sounds like a four to one, in favour to abstention."

Penknife in hand and heading towards the city, along any path that might exist in that direction - since paths mean people - with an odd spring in his step.

[CWater]

"Ah, okay then, good bands, by the way." Karoliina puts her cell back in her pocket."Yeah, eurovision, so bad that it's actually fun. Though I bet I'll miss it one day, if our trip here turns out to be a long one." Laughs.

Glances at Lime's pen knife. "Now, that one looks certainly threatening. Careful, you might kill someone with it." You can detect sarcasm in her voice. "Hope we won't run into trouble.."

"Right, we should get moving. Say, does anyone of you have a feeling like...like there were some...invisible restrictions...or something that has to be followed?"

[--Lime--]

"Funny you should mention that," Lime says. "Let's try a quick race"

[Raistlin1040]

What exactly is a race going to accomplish? Matt inquires, adjusting his guitar strap again.

[CWater]

"Um...I would prefer...not to run, if you don't mind. 'Cos you know, um...astma..."

[--Lime--]

"It's the best way to test these "invisible restrictions". Since we don't know how strong we were beforehand, that's very subjective. But a distance will be easy to see the difference in."

Lime adds:
"Just a short distance. Ten seconds or so."

[CWater]

"Okay..." Gives a stern look at her feet. Don't you dare to fail me know...

[--Lime--]

Very strangely, both end up running exactly the same distance at exactly the same speed.

"That shouldn't happen..." says Lime, "I'm a good deal taller than you, so longer legs, never mind the asthma..."

Looking back, Lime makes a quick view of the distance.
"Would you say that was ten metres, give or take?"

[CWater]

Wait! I need to make my Flaw check!

[roll0]Okay, DM said all our small flaws have disappeared, however Karoliina did not know this, so I don't need to edit the last posts.:smalltongue:

Okay, nothing unsual happens. Except that both of us run the same distance in the same time, of course.
"Huh, strange indeed...Wonder why? Hey, try to race with Matt!"

[--Lime--]

You know, you might want to PM the DM about that...

"Any ideas why that might be?"

[VinGoodman]

Vin watches all the antics with interest. This is definitely not how people behave back in Indiana...

Realizing he's the only one left to introduce himself, and possibly be left behind if he doesn't join the group soon, he quickly step up to each of them and introduces himself. "Hi there. The name's Vin. What did you say your name was again? Sorry, I'm so very bad with names, but I will get it eventually. Really. I think I once worked with someone a year without knowing their name. But won't happen here..."

He pauses to catch a breath...

[--Lime--]

"I'm Lime, this is Ella, Karoliina, and Matt." he says, pointing them out.

"Group decision seems to be to head for civilisation, which means that city over there. If we can get some sense of direction it should help if we become lost, but we seem to be totally on our own here. Fact is, we don't know anything about this world, like what the weather's capable of or how much daylight we'll be getting, so it's best if we make the most of what we have right now. The only thing we have noticed is some sort of standardisation - for example, myself and Karoliina here run at the same speed, even though that shouldn't be. Have you noticed anything like that, or why it might be so?"

[VinGoodman]

"Hmm...interesting." Vin takes a moment and looks at his watch, and then realizes it's saying 3:24, which it's been insisting since about a week ago. I really should've gotten new batteries.

So, how do we go about testing this world...

"What do you think?" Vin replies and waits a moment, before realizing he had not voiced his prior inquiry out loud. "Any thoughts on testing this world? I mean, the big picture things seem to be the same. We can breath, we can talk, we seem to be held fast on the earth, probably by gravity. Gravity..."

Vin starts poking around, looking for things to throw...

As he searches, he continues his ramblings. "Have you and Karoliina tried running in opposite directions? Say, one uphill while the other downhill? Perhaps you should mark your starting points, making sure one is significanly uphill of the other. Then you run towards each other's starting points, and see if there is a differential. That would tell us something about gravity. No?"

[Ella]

"You know, I hope we aren't going back for a while."Ella grins, the look on her face is one of joy.

"If I never return, I never have to complete the essay I have to write about my hopes, goals, dreams and aspirations."

Ella stands up on the stone altar. "Well if you want to find out if there are different rules in this world, the best test I can think of is this." She Leaps off the altar arms spread.




Essay due in two hours, the reason for my silence.
jump: [roll0]

[Shadowleaf]

Ella jumps 5 feet forward.

[CWater]

"Nice jump, I don't think I'd be able to jump that far..."

Takes a small running start and tries to jump as far as she can.

Karoliina used to be really bad at jumping. Whenever she had athletics in P.E. she was always the worst. :P Let's see what happens in this world...

[Shadowleaf]

[roll0]

Karoliina jumps 5 feet.

[Ella]

"When you get down to it, I just jumped higher than I ever have in my life. Whatever the rules of this world are I like it."

[CWater]

"Huh? Really didn't think I could do that..." Hmm...that doesn't prove much though, it has been a while since I last attended a PE class. And we don't usually jump around at karate practice, well not forward anyway...
"Well, all of this is really interesting, but shouldn't we start walking towards the town? After all, as Lime said, we have no idea how much time we have before nightfall."

[Ella]

"Then we had best get going, because I wouldn't mind finding out what is going on here.

Ella picks up her handbag with Lobster sitting inside it and starts off towards the town, beckoning the rest of the group to follow her.

[--Lime--]

Lime begins walking again going at the pace of the slowest member of the group. Which is nobody, as everyone manages to go at exactly the same speed. Somehow.

[CWater]

Stops for a moment to check if the ground and stones on the road are any different from usual, then follows the rest of the group.

[VinGoodman]

As they move towards finding a town, Vin finds random things to throw. When he's had enough to play with, he tries to throw them all in the same direction as far as he can, watching their path of flights and acceleration and trajectory tendencies. "Boy, I could use Excel and some measuring tools right now..."

As they continue, a thought occurs to him and he turns to the group. "Hey, what are we going to do exactly, when we find a town?"

[Raistlin1040]

Ugh, these people are math-y. Matt mutters to himself as he follows with the group, keeping his hands close to his guitar and his pack, as if worried that they might be stolen, or fall.

[--Lime--]

"First thing I'm going to do on reaching the city is to walk around and try not to stick out like a sore thumb - nobody likes a tourist. See if we can get a handle on what language they're speaking, then find a place to stay. If there's a bureau de change that'd be great, but I somehow think we won't find one."

Lime returns to his earlier thought:
"I know it's off the wall, but I don't think we're on Earth any more. Cities normally have electricity, even in the most deprived parts of the world, and I can't see any power lines. So my priorities are these: not drawing attention to myself, watching my back, getting shelter and food, and only after I've done all that, starting to worry about where we are or why we're here or even how we get back. For now, though, we seem to be the only ones around, I think I'm alive and I've still got some snacks, we're heading towards our best chance of shelter and supplies, so that puts me onto trying to figure out what the hell is happening - until we reach the city, at least.

It isn't said angrily, simply as an explanation. In the back of Lime's mind, however, are more worries about the weather, and daylight, and anything unseen which would mean they weren't alone after all...

Yeah it sounds like I'm shouting at you if you read it, but that isn't how it would be said!

[Shadowleaf]

The town is located somewhat below you, as you are apparently walking down hill. To your right (next to the forest) is two farms off in the distance, with fields and what appear to be cows and chickens.
On your left - maybe 600 yards away - is a lake with crystal blue water, almost hidden behind the grassy hills.
The road is muddy, but not wet enough for you to get your feet stuck.
As you transcend down the small hill, you get a pretty good look at the town. It's small - you'd assume a maximum of 100 houses, and.. Odd. Smoke comes out of almost every chimney, the thatched roofs are old and some slightly broken, and all the houses are Mud-Dirt brown, Dirt-Mud brown, Mud-Mud brown or Dirt-Dirt brown.
You are roughly 900 yards from the town. It is pretty obvious something is wrong here - those are not replica houses, of that you are sure.

[--Lime--]

Right, revise what I said about cities and factories time...
"Still no power lines, no phone cables... still, at least the livestock looks normal... says Lime, as they walk downhill.

"Thatched villages aren't too unusual, though, in terms of houses round where I live. Except that the road would be paved, there'd be cars parked outside, and though some houses might still use open fires, a fair number would have central heating..." He trails off again, realising that the number of differences and their importance outweighs the fact that they could just be in the English countryside.

"Perhaps we've gone back in time. At any rate, small towns come with their advantages and disadvantages: we'll be instantly noticed, news of us will spread fast, and the community might be tight and not give us answers." As he lists the bad points, the final one strikes him of the play, "The Government Inspector", where the inhabitants of an isolated Russian town pull together to maintain their lifestyle and hide their mistakes, in order to deceive an inspector sent by the government.

"On the plus side, if we can convince them that we mean no harm, they might be used to outsiders dressing, acting, and speaking strangely, even if they're rare. And I'd also assume muggings are bottom of the list if everyone knows everyone."

Saying this, Lime puts the pen-knife in his outside jacket pocket, though he doesn't fold the blade away.

"I'm all for heading straight in, but trying to stay low-key until we know what we're dealing with. What do you guys think?"

[Raistlin1040]

Sounds fine with me. Matt mumbles. I guess it all depends on how smart these people are. If they're not any more intelligent than I suspect, we should be able to lie our way out of any trouble if we have to. I can't imagine we'll run into very many problems, though, as long as we refrain from cowtipping. Matt wrinkles his nose at the farms.

[--Lime--]

"Smart?" asks Lime. "It's the dumb ones you need to look out for. They're more likely to fall back to the letter of the whatever obscure laws they might have, or what they did in the past to deal with a similar situation. It's the dumb ones that would burn us as witches because last time they did that, the sick cow got better, or if this was Iran, stone the girls for not wearing the right head covering; not the smart ones who might listen to logic or give us a chance to correct our faux pas."

Thinking about what he's just said, Lime rethinks walking in freely.

"Actually, we've seen nobody else about. That's a little odd in itself, but could be explained by the small population and isolated nature of the place. Perhaps one or two of us should go in for an hour while the others hide, and return later on with information. It means if something goes wrong, the others can escape, or come up with some sort of contingency plan, while not splitting us up for too long. After all, we're going to have to rely on each other until we can be sure otherwise."

[Ella]

"Ahh we are in my element now." Ella squeals admiring the hamlet.

Ella skips along the path, twirling around happily in part because the clean air and sunshine improve her mood, but also just secretly out of spite. She had an advantage here and it made her feel special.

"If you want Lime, I will accompany you into town,its best to do it in a couple or at least the appearance of one because authority figures are more likely to assume good intentions from a couple than a single individual or a small group."


I'm from a farming family and spent a good number of years on one. I should be able to verify if the chickens and cows are known types of chickens and cows.

We had chickens, cows and sheep.

[--Lime--]

"I couldn't agree more," concurs Lime, "Question is, do the others?"

[Ella]

"There is the quick and the dead, lets go."

Ella strolls towards the town, her handbag over one shoulder with Lobster sleeping soundly inside, her other hand extended towards Lime.

"Don't try to blend in too much, because they will all recognise each other anyway, far better to stand out for being harmless." She turns back towards the other three members of their little group."If you find yourselves waiting too long come in after us, we might need rescuing after all."

If we wait for confirmation after each time someone has an idea, we are going to have a slow paced game. Permission vs Forgiveness and all that :P

[Shadowleaf]

Lime and Ella walk bristly towards the town, which is far enough for others to catch up, should they want to.

As you come closer to the town, you can make out the people in there. They look like something out of a Robin Hood movie - peasants in cheap and dirty linen clothes. Some are walking with baskets, other with rough bags, some are carrying bundles of wheat - basicly what you would expect from a small farming town in mediavel times.
As you come even closer, you are noticed by the local population. You notice two women of roughly 20 years of age pointing fingers at you, then running off into the center of the town. Others are standing outside their houses, facing you and talking to eachother.

Before you can make it into the city, a man comes running towards you. He clinks with every step, obviously wearing some sort of metal armor - most likely a chainmail - underneath what appears to be a tabard. He has long brown dirty hair, and looks slightly confused. He is wielding a sword.
He stops some 60 yards in front of you, and shouts something which sounds an awful lot like "Wer sind sie?"

[--Lime--]

Oh god, you brought the cat. We're gonna be burned as witches. Game over, man, game over! :smalltongue:

Lime stops and holds his hands up to show that they're empty. Lowering them back to his side, he keeps them bent out from his body, so that they don't become uncomfortable but still show he's open and defenseless.

His mind starts racing: That's a Teutonic language if ever I heard one... he thinks, and because they're the only ones he really knows any vocab for (but no grammar!) he opts for German.

"Ich bin ein... tutor... of - der - sprechen. Ich komme aus... England. Ist ein... Oh sh*t, how do you say far away... ein lang Distance. Ich heise Lime, der, die, das? Well it's not das... 50/50 chance... ...die? frau ist meine freunde. Ich spreche nicht... Deutsch I'm really not sure it *is* even German..., vile ich noch nich nacht hier gefaren bin."

The whole thing takes an excruciating half minute for Lime to stumble through. He's sure he's screwed up somewhere, but there's nothing can be done about that now. Instead, he keeps his eyes on the man with the sword and is ready to react... not that it'd much of a fight.

Everyone in my family except me and my mum learned German at some point, and my uncle lives in Holland. Please be kind interpreting my spelling, I don't think think I've ever written it.

[Shadowleaf]

The man looks very confused. "Was sagst du? Du kannst nicht was sprechen?"

[Ella]

Ella is shocked by Lime's linguistic prowess, and perhaps even a tiny bit ashamed that the only language she ever studied outside english was latin, a language useless she assumed unless the portal moved a fair distance in time as well as location.

Ella raises herself to her full height, straightens her shoulders and puts her head high in the air.

"Salve." She tries while waving.

[CWater]

Karoliina watches as Lime and Ella approach the town and then, because she is not good at standing still, starts to walk around without strolling too far from Matt and Vin.

[--Lime--]

"Ich sagst: Ich kannst nicht spreche dein vorten. Ich komme aus ein... stadt? ein plats? sehr lang... distance."

He feels just like the people who try to make things Spanish by putting -o on the end of every word, like the cringe-worthy "no remembero", and is trying to twist the sentence to use any word he might know the meaning of, and still try to keep the meaning intact.

Lime is not sure that it is working.

Where Spanish has random -o's placed by fakers, he is going slightly red as it seems more and more apparent that "English with more Ks" isn't getting him too far.

[Shadowleaf]

The man looks at Ella with a very surprised expression. He holds up his index finger, indicating a '1'. He then turns around, and starts running back into the village.
Roughly 30 seconds later, he returns with a man hot in his heels. The man is roughly 40 years of age, with shorttrimmed black hair. He is wearing what looks to be a red dress.
The two men stop 60 yards away.
The armored man points at Ella, and mutters something. The man in the dress shouts something in what sounds like latin.

Latin:

Do you speak Draconic, woman?

[Raistlin1040]

Matt frowns. So, German and... He pauses as he thinks. Latin, maybe, but I've never heard it actually spoken, only seen it written. Pretty obvious that these people don't speak English. I wonder if any of them know French. He pauses again. Not that I'd really be able to have a conversation if they did, just convey general ideas.

[Ella]

"Parum" she replies holding up her hand, holding her thumb and index finger close together hoping the idea translates.

Ella stumbles over her grammar, her strong point was always pronounciation and sounding capable rather than any actual use of the language.

Potesne mihi succurrere, quaeso? She crosses her fingers and hopes they will take her to some sort of village authority, the headman surely will know more languages to help him deal with outsiders.

Not entirely sure how good the translation is, but I was going for can you help me please.

[Shadowleaf]

The man in the dress looks both confused and annoyed. After a quick chat with the guy next to him, he begins to walk towards you. He has a slight smirk on his face.
Do you do anything?

[Ella]

Ella gives her most charming smile and waits to see what happens.

Even if they take her away, because they might be declaring her to be there ruler.

[Shadowleaf]

He walks right up in front of Ella. He looks her straight in the eyes. His right hand rises as if he wants to high-five her - he clutches his fingers and move his hand down. While doing this, he murmurs something which sounds like bogus Latin. After 2-3 seconds, he reaches out and touches Ella.

Ella

You now speak and understand Latin fluintly, just post the text in English in a spoiler labelled "Latin".
You also speak and understand German fluintly, but only one language at a time. You can switch between them with a mere thought.


The man speaks more Latin.

There, you understand me better now?

[Raistlin1040]

Seemingly irritated by being left out of the conversation, Matt pipes up. Pardon. Est-ce que vous parlez francais? He asks, aware that he's probably mangling the language, and that his accent needs work.

[Ella]

"I understand you perfectly now, thank you." She takes a step back and curtseys.

"I am so glad we can communicate now, do you mind telling me where we are, I'm afraid I am completely lost and so are my companions. Oh and my name is Ella."

Do I list this in my languages section or Abilities but is seems sort of supernatural to me.

[Shadowleaf]

Ella is suddenly speaking Latin fluintly.
You others probably have no idea what's being said.


Ella

You don't - it's a temporary effect.


The man in the dress takes a step back and looks at you.

More Latin:

"Hello, Ella. My name is Charles. My friend Lars - he thumbs backwards - wants me to ask you who you are before answering any questions."

[Raistlin1040]

Looking indignant, Matt takes a step back. Obviously not. Stupid dead languages.

[CWater]

After seeing that the others don't appear to have been eaten alive, starts to walk closer.

[Ella]

"Why I am Ella, unless he means who I am in a social context or perhaps even a career related way?"

Ella is confused, however determined to be helpful.

"Either way, I am happy to answer any questions you might have."

[--Lime--]

Noticing the change in Ella's speech, Lime decides to give Latin a try.

"Salve," he greets, Ego sum Lime. Nos... sumus? amices."

[Shadowleaf]

The man in the dress speaketh moreth Latin:

Where do you all come from?

[--Lime--]

Lime can't make out the word "Where" (apparently, according to grammar I looked up, it isn't "ubi" so it isn't on my list of vocab) but recognises "you from". Having no real answer, though, he repeats what he said before.

"Ego sum Lime. Sumus amices"
Oh, forgot to translate. "I am Lime. We are friends." Ella, correct me if my Latin is wrong. It probably will be :smallwink:

[Shadowleaf]

The man in the dress smacks his forehead. He does the same gestures and mumble the same bogus latin, but this time he does not touch anyone.

"I don't know why I didn't think of that earlier, sorry. I assume you understand me?"

He is speaking perfect English.

[--Lime--]

"I do now!" answers Lime, "What seems to be the problem here, Sir?"

He remains very polite, and smiles, showing that he isn't afraid. Hopefully, that should put the town at ease too.

[Shadowleaf]

The man in the dress points at your clothes.
"Your clothes are odd, your hair is well washed and cut, you are clean and you speak in a weird language. Are you foreigners?"

[--Lime--]

"Indeed we are, sir. We are five weary travellers in search of a meal and a bed, not to mention directions." Lime calls to the others to come closer. "We are simply passing through and mean no harm. We are not bad people. We are lost, and will probably move on in a few days - not back to where we came from, but deeper into your land."

He adds the last part so it's clear they won't be reporting back to anyone.

[Shadowleaf]

The man looks convinced.
"Well, I don't see any harm in that. There's rentable rooms in the village, as long as you have gold, of course."

[--Lime--]

Lime's ears pick up at the mention of gold. Putting it in the same box as "Draconic" in his head, pieces start to fall into place. Still, anything's worth a try.

Lime gets our his wallet, and offers the coins.
"Would these suffice?" he asks, If not, what do travellers normally do to secure lodgings? If it's anything dishonest, I'm afraid we will not be party to it.

Best not to pass up an opportunity to show how innocent you are, thinks Lime and waits for the reply.

[Shadowleaf]

The man smiles. "I guess they pay up or sleep in their cloaks."

He inspects the coins. "They're a fine quality. I'm no craftsman, but they look expensive. You can probably trade them for a room. I doubt the locals will understand your funky language, however."

[--Lime--]

"Is there no chance we could wash dishes, or repair anything to earn a bed for the night?" asks Lime. As he looks around, the place does seem a little delapidated.
"Or have you some sort of currency exchange? I'm terribly sorry to put you to all this trouble."

I have a real problem trading above their technology level. Stuff like that never works out. Helping them and letting them see you create a solution from scratch is less likely to get "Witchcraft!" shouted at you.

[Shadowleaf]

"I can take you to the local market and translate for you. The owner there might be interested in your odd currency."

[Raistlin1040]

Matt pulls out his own wallet. Well, given that you seem to exchange in coin, I can't imagine this'll be much use, but would anyone here accept these? He pulls out a few US Dollars and a smattering of quarters and dimes. And while we're asking questions, maybe you could tell us where we are, because like Lime said, we're lost as hell. He, perhaps subconsciously, puts his other hand protectively on the neck of his guitar.

[--Lime--]

If Matt hasn't been affected, I translate for him, but makes it all really polite and respectful. For example "lost as hell" becomes "very lost indeed"

[Shadowleaf]

"As I said, sir, I am not a craftsman or a merchant - I but this town's humble Wizard. I wouldn't even be here had I not retired from the king's service some 3 yea... I babble, excuse me. I do not know the value of your coin, but maybe the owner of the market will.
You do not know where you are? You wandered into our proud nation on accident? Past the great walls? That's.. Odd. Anyway, you are in Mercantia, the greatest nation in the whole of Faerron."

[Raistlin1040]

I assumed that he was casting Tongues or a similar spell on himself, so that he could understand us and speak to us.
At hearing the word 'Faerron' Matt recoils visibly.

[Ella]

"We would be honoured if you did accompany us to the money market. Perhaps you could point out anywhere local and notable as we pass?"

Ella, gives the pair of strangers her most charming smile.


I'm just glad my cat is grey, that should prevent any accusations.

[Shadowleaf]

If Matt hasn't been affected, I translate for him, but makes it all really polite and respectful. For example "lost as hell" becomes "very lost indeed"

The guy cast Tounges on himself, not you. He can now understand and speak English.

[Shadowleaf]

"Sorry, young lady, it's a magic market, not a coin market." The man smiles.

[CWater]

Karoliina walks down to the others, but doesn't say anything, thinking that it is better to let the others do the talking.

Huh, gold? That hasn't been used as a normal currency for ages. Well, except for games. Waait...no, it cannot be, silly thought.
Hmm, that Lime seems to be good at talking, maybe this can work out after all.

But what did that man do? First he was like he didn't understand a word, but now he's speaking like English was his native tongue. Then again, after seeing that portal, I probably shouldn't be surprised about something like this.

[Raistlin1040]

Matt mutters to himself. Faerron, Faerron, why does that name sound so damned familiar? He frowns at the wizard's words. Magic market...says he's a wizard...Faerron...

[--Lime--]

"Then we head on with you, my good man, so that we might honestly acquire a room for tonight."

[CWater]

Okay, now he's starting to sound like a bard or something. But for some reason that kind of talk doesn't sound too funny in this world. And what did that man say this place was called?

[Ella]

So, the obvious solution here is that I woke up and hit my head in my morning tiredness. This is a dream or delusion or perhaps even a relaxing weekend away from sanity, either way I am going to enjoy it and make the most of this adventure. Puzzling over there situation Ella can't help but feel like this cannot be real.

Ella follows along quietly, her mind busily trying to figure out what is going on.

[Shadowleaf]

The man in the dress gestures for you to follow. He turns around and walks towards the town. "I'm Charles, by the way."
The guy with the tabard sheaths his sword, but follows you into the town.
As you pass through the village, several commoners peak their heads out to sneak a peak at the foreigners. Children run in groups around the city, dogs are loose here and there, one of them running scared away from Lobster.
Charles lead you straight into the village, and after roughly 200 yards he turns a corner.
He leads you to what appears to be a simple building. Unlike the buildings around it, however, it has a solid oaken door.
The inside of the house is nothing special - a bed is pushed against one of the walls, a simple iron stove with a roaring fire stands next to it. There are 4 lockboxes inside the room. A lean man in his late 20'ies sit in a chair next to the stove. He is sleeping.
Charles walks up to him and gives the chair a kick. "Huh, whu, what?"
Had the guy not sounded sleepy, it would have been perfect English.

[CWater]

Karoliina looks around curiously and taps one of the walls.

[Shadowleaf]

Tap tap tap.


The two men whisper for a few seconds, then turn to face you. The guy sitting down opens his arms. "Welcome to my shop! I am Matthias, I believe you wish to trade, yes?"

[--Lime--]

Lime waits to be introduced.

£10 of my money is in beautiful blue-green notes. The rest is in change.

EDIT:
Gah! Ninja'd me!

"I do hope so. What value would you put on these?"

Lime presents all the coins, from the small but riged nickel 5p piece, to the heptagonal 50p coin, to the £2 coin made of a brassy-coloured metal with a silvery centre - and everything in between.

[Raistlin1040]

Yeah. Matt dumps out his wallet. He's got about $80 in bills and around $7 in assorted change. Matthias, hm? Then we've got the same name, if I remember anything about German. He remarks, as an aside.

[Shadowleaf]

Matthias asks to see them. "That depends.. What are they made of?"

He faces Matt. "We do? That's neat, Matthias!" He picks up Matt's coins, as well.

[--Lime--]

Lime has a fair idea that it might be best to play dumb here.
"I have heard they are manufactured of an alloy harder than steel, more resistant to tarnishing than gold, and rarer than..." Time to get ballsy... "Adamantium."

None of this is untrue. It's just selective truth, that's all.

[Raistlin1040]

It's just Matt where I'm from, but the translation is the same. Matt shrugs. What about the bills? They're worth even more than the coins. He says, following Lime's lead.

[CWater]

Karoliina looks at Lime an Matt and thinks:

What is he saying? Adamantium? But surely he knows that's not a real-...wait...could it be that... No, that's not possible. But does that merchant man speak English? Or does he also have a... ...spell cast on him...

[VinGoodman]

Vin follows the conversations with entirely too much interest. As Matthias speaks with Lime, Vin turns to the man who helped bring them to the store. "Good sir, you called yourself a wizard. What did you say your name is again? Are you then familiar with the forces, or energies, that shape this world, and in turn gives power to those who can harness the same energy?"

As he speaks, he removes his watch and hands it to the shopkeeper for inspection. "And you, sir? Your name again? Would you be interested in a watch. And, being new here, forgive me for sounding ignorant. Are you familiar with contraptions such as this?"

If the merchant (and the wizard) indicates they are not familiar of what a watch is: "I have here a delicate piece of jewelry, that may be of interest to some, especially those with understandings in engineering or in electricity. You see, this is built of fine steel, composite metal alloys and polished glass, with designs that, truth be told, would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to replicate by human hand. If you were to have a jeweler or engineer with sufficient skill..."

Vin flips the watch over, "...you may find the wheels and cogs that lie within of even more interest. There is a battery. That is, an object that harnesses electricity and utilizes it to move the mechanical design within..."

Vin turns the watch back to the face, "causing the three delicate arms within to move in a regular fashion."

[Raistlin1040]

Absently, Matt begins to lightly pluck the strings on his guitar, sliding his hand up and down his fretboard to form a circular riff. Vin, I don't think you're going to get much out of that. I haven't seen any lights or powerlines or anything. I have a theory about where we are, and it doesn't involve any electricity. He says the last sentence quietly.

[Ella]

Ella pats herself down trying to find out if she has anything of value on herself, but her nightgown has no pocked and the handbag over her arm is empty except for Lobster.

She stands near the back of the shop trying not to look too amused by the idea that they were going to trade money for money in a magic market.

[VinGoodman]

Vin smiles in response. "You see, Matt, I have a slightly different take. I think this may be near priceless, if for the workmanship alone. Consider the tools it took to make this watch possible. As a rare piece of jewelry, what I have may truly be one of a kind."

[Raistlin1040]

Matt rolls his eyes and raises his hand, displaying the watch on his wrist. Plus it's digital. It might be a cool fashion statement, but if they don't even use a 24 hour clock, and if they don't have any way to power it because they don't have batteries, it's just a trin... He pauses, having a Dr. House-esque idea. Wait. My watch is digital. Vin, I need you to help me with something. We need to go outside.

[Ella]

Ella heads outside quietly, waiting to see what discover has been made.

[Raistlin1040]

Seeing that Vin is occupied with his watch, Matt scowls as he steps outside. he looks around. Alright. Ella, jog to that building and back. He says, pointing out a building a short distance away.

[Ella]

Ella jogs for the building and back, leaving the cat in the bag next to Matt.

Upon her return she gives him a puzzled look.

[Raistlin1040]

Matt makes a "hm" sound as he looks at his watch. He walks slowly over to the building, taking even, measured steps until he's at the building and Ella is where he was. He brings his watch up to eye-level again. Alright, this time I want you to run at me, and hit me as hard as you can.

[Ella]

Ella continues to just do as she is told without thinking, because this is a dream or a nightmare or a delusion and either way things did not have to make sense.

She runs at Matt. as she approaches she calls out "You are going to get out of the way right?".

[Raistlin1040]

Yeah, definitely, just at the last second. Regardless of what he says, he stands still, even when she's right in front of him.

[CWater]

Karoliina pokes her head out to see what the two are up to, just in time to see Ella collide with Matt.

[Ella]

Ella runs into Matt, she has her eyes closed so that she doesn't freak out at the idea of charging straight into him.

[Raistlin1040]

Matt goes back against the wall and grunts. Well I was actually expecting you to hit me, like a punch, but I suppose that works too. He nods as he looks at his watch. Six seconds. It took you six seconds to run to this building and back before, and it took you six seconds to run one way and slam into me. Unless you were consciously slowing down, you should've had at least a second or two to spare.

[Ella]

"Continue, I see your point however I have no idea what it actually means, and no I didn't intentionally slow down."

[Raistlin1040]

Punching someone, if you're quick and just doing a snap punch or something, takes less than a second. Running into someone, especially if you're already running, takes almost no time. There is no feasible reason why it'd take you as much time to run and slam as to run twice. UNLESS we were following someone else's rules. Someone's rules that specifically outline movement, and fighting.

[CWater]

Steps outside. "You mean...", Karoliina stops and takes a deep breath, "You mean like in Dungeons and Dragons? You know that game?"

[Ella]

"I am willing to believe it, it might even qualify this dream for one of my top ten weirdest."

Ella pauses for a moment.

"If this is like that game, that you just mentioned. I really hope we aren't NPCs."

[Raistlin1040]

Of course I mean like Dungeons and Dragons. Or something like it. Just hope we're not playing something stupid like FATAL.

[Ella]

"If thats the case, I think we should go inside again and see what the others think. If you are correct well, I just really hope we are the playable characters in the scenario not the easily disposed of mooks."

[VinGoodman]

Inside, Vin continues with his haggling.

"...and please note the finely polished glass! The perfectly circular face so uniformly contained by the stainless steel! Stainless! See how the dirt just rubs right off? Surely this must be worth a good amount of gold to someone..."

[Shadowleaf]

Matt looks at Lime. "That's not Adamantium! What do you think I am, stupid?"

He then looks at Vin, as the others exit the house. "I am familiar with clocks - but not with ones of such high standards. A truly gifted Artificer must have built it for you. You are looking to sell, yes? How much do you want for it?"


Charles faces Vin. "My name's Charles. I am quite familiar with them, in the sense I use them every day - I would never claim to understand them fully, though."

[VinGoodman]

Vin nods. "I fear I do not know the standards of living here as well as you. Against my better judgment, I shall allow you the benefit of first offer."

He looks about the shop. "If you can give me the prices of some of the items here in store, perhaps that will give me a better sense of the value of gold here as well."

Making sure to be civil, Vin turns to Charles to respond. "Ah, Charles. It is a pleasure to meet you. Please, I am interested. What does it take in this world for one to be considered a wizard? Say, if somehow I were to apprenticed to be a wizard, what would I, at minimum, have to be able to do or know?"

[Shadowleaf]

Vin looks about the shop - he notices the 4 lockboxes, the bed, the door the stove and the chair. Lots of items to choose from!

Matthias: "Ah, but what items are you interested in comparing it with? Perhaps we can do a trade! What would you like? Something that makes you smarter? Stronger? More handsome? A Sword to slay dragons with, perhaps? Or a set of armor to make you invurnable? The choice is yours!"

Charles: "Well, it is a selfproclaimed title more than anything. I guess it requires you to understand - and use - the magic you wield. You see, there are also those who do not understand their abilities, and instead of think, they simply do. Some call them wizards, other call them sorcerers or witches. A Wizard's apprentice would be called apprentice by the Wizard and those who knows him, but should he fare on his own, I guess he'd be Wizard. Maybe."

[Raistlin1040]

Matt comes back inside the building, looking curious. He picks up his guitar from its resting place against the wall and slings it back over his shoulder.

[CWater]

Karoliina leans against the door frame and watches the town outside. She has set her backpack down on the floor.

So, am I to think that we really have ended up in game world or something? Hard to believe that it really could be true...but I guess I'll have to consider it as a possibility... I wonder if the peole who live here are aware of these rules like in that webcomic...or do they just live by them without noticing. I mean, it's not like normal people in our world would think much about the laws of physics...

[Ella]

Once Matt goes back inside, Ella feels unable to resist the temptation, if he was right well... the possiblities were endless.

She closes her eyes and concentrates really hard on producing a small flame.


Who hasn't thought magic powers were awesome at least once.
Not expecting this to work.

[Shadowleaf]

Even though Ella really really tries, nothing happens.
Guess you do not have magical abilities, at least not yet.

[Ella]

Giving up Ella slinks back inside slightly ashamed of herself for trying to use magic.

She slips off her puppydog slippers and takes them up to the counter. "I guess I wont be needing these anymore."

[VinGoodman]

"Dragons, you say? We are in a world with dragons and wizards?" With a smile and jest in his voice, he turns to Charles. "I'm guessing you're going to tell me wizards need advanced preparations to decide what they can cast in a given day and sorcerers do not, but are instead limited by what spells they know. So, tell me, do all wizards here learn the Prestidigitation cantrip, and use it to experiement and develop their understanding of arcane energy? Are there clerics here as well? What gods do they worship here in this land?"

Turning back to the merchant. "Since you are speaking of tools strange and fascinating, do you by chance have something I would call a Handy Haversack?"

Taking a moment to consider the joke the two people are perpetuating on them, Vin mutters to himself, "did I just stumble into a town immersed in LARP or something?"

[Shadowleaf]

Charles answers cheerfully: "One would assume Dragons and Wizards were known world wide, but alas that is not the case?
Yes, I have to focus my mind every morning in order to imprint the complicated rituals needed to bend the arcane energies to my will. I do not 'cast' Magic, I 'use' Magic. And cantrips is such a demeaning name for a section of spells. But indeed Prestidigitation is a wonderful spell of the Zeroth Circle. Especially for learning!
You mean priests? I think they prefer priests. Or paladins, I don't know - I'm not much of a churchman myself. I guess Cleric is good.. You do not know of the Gods? Of Vecna and Boccob, of Hexxor and Heir..I... I can never get his name right. The other War God. And all the others, of course."

Matthias: "Erh yes, I believe I have six or seven lying around. Might you be interested in one?"

[--Lime--]

Cupronickel is harder than steel

"I didn't say it was adamantium, I said it was rarer than adamantium - I should not be surprised if you haven't seen a metal like it in all your days. I have a fair number of these coins..."
Lime is suddenly very grateful to the Royal Mint for choosing such a substance for low-denomination coins.
"I've also many copper coins of varying size. Would you be able to give me their equivalent weight in the copper of your currency for them?

At the mention of the Handy Haversack, Lime's guess is confirmed.

"Charles, I wonder if I might spend my time here studying under you? As you rightly say, magic is rare if not unknown where we come from, and I should be a fool to pass up such a rare opportunity to understand more of this world's workings."

[Shadowleaf]

Matthias: "Certainly, just place them on my scal-.. Wait a minute."
Matthias gets up from the chair and walks over to one of the lockboxes. From it, he pulls out a small bag. He puts his hand into it, and pulls out a set of scales way bigger than the actual bag. He then places the scales on the floor. "As I said, place them on the scale. We'll measure against normal copper coins. Deal? I don't deal in foreign metals though, sorry."

DM rollin'

[roll0]



Charles: "Huh, erh, well, I'm retired, but I guess I wouldn't mind. Why would you want to look over the shoulder of an old crazy fool like me, though?"

[--Lime--]

Lime places his copper coins (5 2p pieces and 7 1p pieces) on the the scales, and as they are being weighed, says to Charles:
"Sir, I find you to be no fool. As I said, magic is a wondrous rarity where I am from. Anything you might teach me would be sure to be of incredible value."

[Shadowleaf]

Strangely enough, your coins weigh the exact same as 17 copper coins. Matthias offers you a small pouch with the coins in it.


Charles:"I'm a smart fool that hides it well. I guess I could take a fresh green under my wing. You have any experience, kid?"

[--Lime--]

Lime thanks the shopkeeper for the exchange.

"Not as such, but at everything I've tried, I've been a quick learner. I hope that I can do myself proud under your tutelage."

He puts the new coins in his wallet. Taking out the other denominations he says to the trader:

"Is there nothing you can exchange for these? They are all harder than steel, though due to their different chemical composition they are different colours. You might use them to stud leather armour. The thing is, I fear I may need more than 17 copper coins to stay the night somewhere -
As he says this, an idea grabs him
" - unless it might be possible to sleep in front of your hearth, Charles? I understand if it is not."

[Shadowleaf]

Lime

Check OOC


Matthias: "Eeeerh. I guess you can try the smithy. He knows a lot more about metals than I do. I just trade magic items, I know prices, not the quality of obscure metal."

Charles: "I think my wife would object to that. The guard's captain is looking for someone to help him with a job, maybe you can earn some gold there?"

[--Lime--]

To Charles:
"I shall discuss it with my fellow travellers, but I should be surprised if they are not as eager as I am to help out. Offending your wife is the last thing I want to do."

To Mattias:
"Very well. Could you point me in the direction of the blacksmith's forge, perhaps?"

[Shadowleaf]

"Sure, you go outside, and head for the house with the loud thunks and thicket smoke!" Matthias says with a smile.

[--Lime--]

Explaining to the others that he'll see them in the inn later, Lime heads to the blacksmith.

[Shadowleaf]

You easily find the blacksmith - the sound of iron striking iron is easy to recognize, even if you've mostly heard it in computer games.

The blacksmith is an older grizzled man with scars across his face. He looks almost exactly as large and strong as both Matthias and Charles.
He looks up with his blue eyes as you approach. "Hallo, wie gehts?"

[--Lime--]

Oh no you didn't...
"Ein Minute..." says Lime, and returns to Charles.

"Charles, I don't suppose you'd be able to use your magic so that I can understand the language spoken around here, would you? I don't wish to trouble you further, but in the interests of taking up as little of your time as possible, it would be simpler if I could deal with the blacksmith while you help the others here."

[Shadowleaf]

Charles: "Oh, I'm sorry, I already used up my mental space dedicated to the Tounges spell. We don't get a lot of for-"
Mattias interrupts: "I am sure I can help. I have an item which lets you speak and understand all languages. If you agree to help out the captain, you can borrow it."

[--Lime--]

"I can certainly say that I will." agrees Lime, "And I shall do so to the best of my ability."

If he requires the agreement of the whole party, then obviously wait for them. If he's using "you" in the singular, I thank him for the item and return to the blacksmith.

[Shadowleaf]

Matthias pulls off a ring and throws it to Lime.


Lime

Permanent Tounges spell.

[Ella]

Ella leans against the counter, just relaxing in the magical market. First she turns to Charles "So what can you tell me about the guard then? Is it likely to be dangerous work they are offering."

And then turns to Matthias "Of course I will help the guard, it would be an honour and all that." She dangles her puppy dog slippers in one hand on the counter. "I just need to acquire some sensible footwear before I do anything."

[Shadowleaf]

Charles: "I don't know the exact details of the issue, but apparently some goblins has taken hold in a mine closeby. The guard is already busy with patrolling the perimeters of the town, and is asking all adventurers to assist them with the manner. I am sure the captain would allow you use of their armory, should you agree to help him."

[--Lime--]

"Marvellous, I love a good adventure, me!" Lime says, "Thank you for the loan, I shall return promptly."

And once again, putting on the ring, he heads off to the the blacksmith.

[Shadowleaf]

The blacksmith is an older grizzled man with scars across his face. He looks almost exactly as large and strong as both Matthias and Charles.
He looks up with his blue eyes as you approach. "Hello again, how goes?"

[Ella]

"Goblins? I was hoping for Kobolds." Ella can't help but grin kobolds being her favorite of all the enemies in dungeons and dragons, she had always found them cute for incomprehensible reasons.

"You have been most kind and helpful Charles, if we need to find you again where should we look?"

[--Lime--]

"Hello again, sorry about before. I have some coins of an obscure metal which is harder than steel and rarer than adamantium. I wondered if you might be interested in them, perhaps to stud some armour; or melt them down and use them for whatever. I'm interested in selling, since I don't have the currency of this land."

[CWater]

Karoliina's serious expression changes to a excited smile as an idea occurs to her. She walks towards Matthias and asks:
"Excuse me, sir. I have a...uh, magical device that can...create...pictures of what I see very quickly. I...make them because I like to remember where I have been. Would you mind if I made one of your house?"

Pulls a small digital camera out of her handbag.

To Charles:"And what do you think the townspeople would think if I took some around your village? And I would be happy to help the captain, though I'm not sure how much of use I will be. I know in theory how to fight unarmed, but I don't have much experience in real combat."

[Ella]

Ella turns to Karoliina, while waiting to find out more from Charles she asks "If the Dungeons and Dragons theory is true, what class do you think you will be? I think we obviously saw Lime will be a wizard how about you?"

[CWater]

"I'm not sure... I think I'd like to try monk, even if some people think they're underpowered", a small smile slips to her face, "Though it would be fun to take one wizard level, if just for the cantrips. What about you?"

[Ella]

"I'm not really sure, I must have wisdom as my dump stat after all I walked through that portal without even picking up equipment. I wonder what class would make the best use of my stats which must include high cha and int and precious little else."

Ella smiles.

"Feel free to make suggestions, I can't think of anything that it really works for."

[CWater]

"Well, I'm not really optimized either, since I have more intelligence than wisdom, I think, but for you... Hmm, well from the core classes there's always rogue and bard you could consider. As for other non-prestige classes, I think my memory fails me."

[Raistlin1040]

Matt blinks and gestures to his guitar. Pretty sure we already have Bard covered. He frowns slightly. Take Warlock or something. Free utility spells that we can use, and way powerful at low levels. If we survive to being high level, then you can prestige or multiclass or something, but I'm sure we could use a blaster, at least for now.

[Ella]

"So you are going to be our bard Matt." Ella beams, she had been worried that she might be pushed into that role and she knew for a fact she lacked any sort of musical aptitude.

"Wizard, Monk and Bard sounds like an interesting party to me. I think I might cast divine magic."

[CWater]

"Hmm...true; you seem awfully calm about our situation, by the way. Are you not worried at all?"

[Ella]

"What is there to worry about, dreams cannot hurt you. I might as well have as much fun as I can before my alarm goes off."

[CWater]

"You think this is a dream? Well, you must have pretty awesome dreams then, my dreams are never this detailed, so I ditched that option already. Though I suppose some sort of hallucination could be possible..."

[Ella]

"I have been considering what the various options to explain this are, and I am currently believing the one I find most likely. Either its a dream or I am going crazy or portals to fantasy lands exist."

"If we are in a dungeons and dragons world, and thats a big if, I just hope we don't have to deal with tome of battle otherwise I will spend each and every battle sitting down confused trying to remember how to attack."

[VinGoodman]

Ok, this is clearly a LARP for dungeons and dragons. I wonder if this is 3.0 or 3.5. Vin decides to play along for now. "Six or severn you say? Yes, I would be interested. To be fair, perhaps one or two will suffice. May be with a pouch of gold thrown in so we can properly purchase some mundane gears in case we run into some of the more hostile creatures? Again, I fear I am unable to value such a unique piece of jewelry adequately, and must trust your judgment on what you believe you can get for it in return, with a certain amount of profit for yourself taken into consideration, of course. If at any time we're working to a deal mutually agreeable, you are to find my offer offensive, please know that it was due to ignorance and not intention. So, with little to go on, I will venture with a wild starting point for our negotiations. Mind you, I am unawares of the relative values, and could easily be very off without realizing it or meaning to insult. Would you consider two Handy Haversacks, one Mithril Buckler, and enough gold for us to equip ourselves...say 200 gold pieces each?"

And so, the negotiations continue thus, until the merchant Matthias finally accepts an offer.

Realizing his fellow travelers are taking off on Charles' suggestion, he gathers up everything and calls out "Wait up!" With a nod to Matthias and a thanks for business and to Charles with a word of desire to discuss the nature of magic in this world further at a later time, Vin rushes to join the group and journey on.

ooc As Vin is basically broke at this point, he will take any offer with Matthias of at least one thousand gold (sufficient to equip the group, basically), and as much as possible. I don't want to dwell on this overly long, as I'm not sure it's that interesting for the rest of the group, and it looks like I'm the slow poster as it is, so feel free to jump to the conclusion from here, and know that at every juncture, Vin is doing his best to show the Matthias and Charles all the respect he can muster.

I sense Diplomacy as a class skill here, with possibly Appraise.

[Ella]

"So how about you Vin, what class do you imagine yourself to be, in this weird world?"


It is actually rather interesting watching your haggle.

[VinGoodman]

"I've played many a dungeons and dragons games, although never LARP. I've always fancied myself a wizard or a cleric...er...they call them priests here, apparently." Vin chuckles. "Have you ever seen the Dungeons and Dragons cartoon? I wonder a liitle old man will show up, call himself the Dungeonmaster, and give each of us a magical item."

[Raistlin1040]

We have no tank. I really hope we find an NPC meatshield, or, as casters, we will find out exactly how squishy we really are. Matt adds, frowning again.

[Ella]

"I remember that cartoon, back when I was much younger it was on tv just before M*A*S*H"

Ella grins, she is particularly impressed by Vin's determination to get the group equipped and not just himself.

"If only the portal was still open, I would get into my room and bust out heroforge and min/max us all. It is kind of funny worry about classes when it is so obvious that we will all end up in awesome prestige classes, I mean just look at us have you seen a more promising pack of potential adventurers?"

[Raistlin1040]

Oh cheese. Matt says. And I had just started a thread on a forum I go on about how to Powergame a Bard, too. So yeah, optimizing, sounds like a plan.

[Ella]

"I once made a bard, she was a thinly veiled ecdysiast. I hope you can resist the urge to follow suit, or unsuit as the case might be." Ella giggles.

"You know I spent two years in the real world so far learning to be an archivist and librarian I am going to be horrified if I find out there is an alternate path that involves just killing things. I still have two years of study to go."

[VinGoodman]

"Oh, given the classes we my be trying for, there may well be more studying ahead for us all. As for optimizing..." Vin pauses and thinks on all that he's played to this point. "...it would be best if we somehow survive to reach our optimized potential."

"I wonder what the rules of class progression are in this world..."

ooc I'm going to have to assume Vin has seen a Handy Haversack and the impossible - something that should not fit, squeezed into an "extra dimensional" space that should not have been possible to create. This should suffice in Vin changing his view of this being some sort of LARP to the real thing...

[Ella]

"Don't you worry we will survive, I have Lobster to protect me, and you have me to protect the rest of you, just like I know you will protect me."

[VinGoodman]

Vin smiles at Ella. While he's used to his characters downing enemies by the dozens, he has doubts he can replicate what his characters did in the imaginary worlds. Come to think of it, he's never had a character that downed enemies by the dozens...

He looks at the Lobster. I better make sure we get that magebred heavy warhorse...or at least a magebred guard dog.

"So, what do you think you'd want to be, all things considered? Given my physical aptitude...or lack thereof, I think I'd best play something of the more...contemplative orientation."

[Ella]

"It all depends really, I mean, I have the stats to make a truly alarming dread necomancer, but who would believe it, no one would fear the dread lich Ella."

"Well now we have a monk, a wizard, a bard and a contemplator I think I need to figure out what the gap in the party is and fill it."

"My highest stat is cha so that makes the obvious classes spirit shaman, favoured soul, sorcerer, witch, warlock. If I could get away with charismatic priest cheese on an archivist that would be rather interesting too. I'm not really cut out for front line fighting but that doesn't mean I wont try."

[CWater]

"I don't really know much about character optimization, I just used to create characters that interested me, how they fared in battle was not so important. Though once I played a ranger/barbarian who was quite effective... speaking of which it would be interesting to have one barbarian level too, would be nice to know how it feels to rage. ...I'd have to take that first though, since monks can't multiclass; stupid rule in my opinion. Then again, I'm not sure if I can take monk at all, since I doubt I could be described as 'lawful'." Karoliina sighs.

I would really like to play a monk, can we house-rule that they don't need to be lawful? *puppy eyes*

[Shadowleaf]

Blacksmith: "Well, let me see it then, boy. Where'd you get it? And can you get more?"

[Shadowleaf]

Matthias gestures Charles over. Charles translates for Matthias:
"Matthias says it's a bit on the expensive side for him. He will agree to one Haversack, the Ring the young man borrowed, and 500 gold."

[VinGoodman]

Vin nods. "If you mean we can keep the ring for future use, beyond the duration of this engagement, you've got yourself a deal! But first..."

Smiling, he takes the Handy Haversack and examines it visually. This is...interesting. He reaches in...and realizes he's not touching bottom! Surprised, he peeks into the bag more carefully, and pokes his hand back in to look for the boundaries. "Er...this is REALLY a HANDY HAVERSACK!?"

Vin slumps to the floor with the backpack in hand. What have I gotten myself into? I'm going to die, aren't I...

...wait, no I'm not! This is DnD, and 3.5, by the looks of it. Well, may be 3.0, but the difference isn't much. I know 3.5. In my gaming circle, I'm the resident guru. There's no way I'm dying here if I know the rules as I do. This will be...interesting. Fun, even!

With a sudden stupid smile plastered on his face, Vin stand up with a "YES!" and thanks Matthias profusely. "Is there an expert animal trainer in town. I'm looking for a very special breed of riding dogs."

Now, let's see, a riding dog - may be a nice oversized Huskie, 150gp. Template doubles...so we'll need to set aside 300gp. That leaves 200gp to equip everyone.

Vin takes a quick look at his group. Nope, no one looks the type to be walking around in full plate here. I think we can make do with the 200gp. We'll upgrade once we take on the first job. The goblins are medium, too, so their gear may come in handy. This is too...cool!

Vin bursts out laughing as endless thoughts of Dungeons and Dragons race through his head, revealing to him the countless possibilities before him.

[Shadowleaf]

Matthias: "How trained? We have some nature-y types who keep dogs, but if you need something more specific, you'll probably have to travel a while."

[VinGoodman]

Vin takes a moment to nod to Lime, indicating that the ring now belongs to the group and for him to keep using it to facilitate the conversations. Turning back to Matthias, "I am looking specifically for animals that have are magebred. While dogs and horses are usually most common where I...came from, I would consider more exotic animals if chances present themselves. If some travel is required, we will wait until we have helped the captain."

Vin considers for a moment. "For the help, we will likely need some equipment. Are you aware if the captain has some gears of war for those who help him in...militant fashions, or should we speak with the captain himself for details?" Vin points to his and his companions' outfits. "As you can see, we are not really equipped to engage in combat at this moment."

[Shadowleaf]

Charles: "I'm sure the captain will have some basic equipment - some chainmail, a few swords, spears and stuff like that."

[Ella]

Ella smiles and Vin's bargaining, it was good to know someone knew haggling, bargaining and getting the best deal possible, she however was eager to start negotiating their work with the guard.

"Say Vin, when you are done here, whats say you accompany me down to the captain of the guard?"

[VinGoodman]

Ah, this will be most interesing. Now am I going to be able to use them? I guess we'll see.

ooc Boy Vin will be surprised and embarrassed when he sees his first goblin and realize they're small, not medium.

Returning to the conversation, Vin continues with the equipping of the group. "Say, do you carry the more mundane of gears here as well? Perhaps some rations, sunrods, tindertwigs, torches and other goods of the sort?"

Turning to the party, Vin inquires, "Say everyone, if you're familiar with Dungeons and Dragons, we may want to have a list of gear that we think will be useful here. I'm assuming standard rules until we run into exceptions. What do you think?"

[Ella]

"I have always been more of a slaughter the enemies and steal their stuff style player, however thats why wisdom is my dump stat after all. Would you feel it prudent to do so?"

[Shadowleaf]

Matthias: "Erh yes, I should have what you need. Tell you what, why don't you consort with your friends, and come back with a list of some sort?"

[Ella]

"A bag or marbles, acid, garlic, a silver holy symbol and sunrods come to mind when I think about it, between those four items we could fight almost anything."

[VinGoodman]

Vin smiles at Ella's list. Those were sensible items indeed. They will surely survive...nay, thrive, in this environment. It will be fun.

"Sure, Ella, let's go have a chat with the captain. Do you have a good sense of what the others have in mind for classes? It probably doesn't matter much, since we should keep to relatively simple gear for now."

With a nod to the others and a promise to put together a consolidated list, Ella and Vin heads over to have a chat with the captain.

ooc Of course, everyone else is welcome to join us for the visit with the captain. Just follow and hop in the conversation if you get around to it!

[Shadowleaf]

((You might want to make sure Lime is coming, as he is currently holding the Ring))

[Ella]

"I am sure Lime will figure out where we are."

Ella starts to walk towards the door before turning around to ask "So how do I find the captain exactly?"

Who needs words when you have actions :)

[Shadowleaf]

Charles "The guard - Lars - who, erh, greeted you when you approached the village will escort you there."

[Ella]

"Understood and thank you for all your help, but I have this itch to get into some action, I need to find out what my capabilities actually are."

Ella walks out the door, and heads to where Lars was waiting to see if anyone is coming with her.

[CWater]

Since Matthias doesn't seem to object, Karoliina takes a quick photo of the house and then hurries after Ella.

[Ella]

Ella approaches Lars, she prepares herself for what will be confusing and difficult, stretching and preparing herself to try to signal what she wants. Who needs language anyway.

She stands infront of him, and places Lobster's bag on the ground for a moment.
"Captain". She says the world a little slowly hoping he will understand and she wont have to draw on her knowledge of foreign cinema to pick the right word out.

[Shadowleaf]

Lars raises an eyebrow. "Cap..Tain.. Kapitän?"

[Ella]

Ella nods, hoping the man has the right idea about what she wants.

[CWater]

Karoliina follows Ella, hoping that she* could start to be of some use around here. Though she doesn't speak German either, so we shall see...

*Karoliina

[VinGoodman]

Vin follows the group to Lars, and hopes fervently Lime catches up soon as he sees Lars' expression in response to Ella.

[Shadowleaf]

Lars leads you through the village, passing even more curious bystanders. You go up a small hill, and approach what looks like an old farm. Archery targets and training dummies are positioned outside, and a longsword over a kiteshield hangs from the door - the same symbol present on Lars' tabard.

He leads you inside to the first room - a large room with several tables and chairs positioned throughout the room. Two doors lead further into the house. Two large paintings of heroic knights doing battle against fiends hang on the wall.
Lars holds up a hand and points towards the chairs, and exits through one of the doors. A few minutes later, he returns with another man.
He is slightly larger and more fit than Lars, with short blond hair and striking blue eyes. He is wearing a chainmail and has a kiteshield slung across his back. A longsword hangs from his belt, and a single ring adorns his right hand - which could perhaps mark him as a nobleman.
He points towards his mouth, then his ear, then holds up his hands in a questioning gesture.

[Ella]

Ella approaches the man she assumes to be the captain, and quickly tries to puzzle this out. She needs to use words with either latin or german etymologies.

She tries, "I kill goblins." performing actions as she speaks, first pointing to herself on I, then turning side on to the captain and away from everyone and making punching motions on kill and finally putting her hand flat and by her hips as if to say small for goblins.

[VinGoodman]

Vin sighs. Is now the best time to be trying to dust off that high school German? He had hoped not to need to make a fool of himself with this.

"Er...Wir kommen...von Charles und Matthias. Er...auf Charles und Matthias?" Vin mentally screams in anguish as he struggles to remember the basics of vocabulary and grammer. A baby from Germany can do better than this!

"Wir werde Goblins kaput?"

Kaput? Is that even German? Vin looks at Lar and the man who is likely the Captain with a worried look, wondering if he managed to get the intentions across.

[Shadowleaf]

The captain looks puzzled. Lars leans over, they whisper for a while, and then stand back upright. Lars coughs slightly.
The captain motions for you to follow. He leads you through the other door in the back of the room, which leads into what must be their armory.
The walls are adorned with weapons - daggers, shortswords, longswords, maces, morningsstars, a flail, a battleaxe, among others.
Two kiteshields, a longbow and a short bowstand against the walls, next to three racks carrying breastplates.
Two barrels stand against the back corners of the room - one filled with arrows, the other with javelins.
The captain gestures for you to take a look around.

[Ella]

Ella grabs a dagger and a handful of javelins, holding each one to see how it felt balanced on her hand.

[Shadowleaf]

It feels alien to wield the dagger. The weight is oddly balanced, and you have a hard time judging the length of it when extending your arm.

The javelins feel cumbersome to move through the air. The weight also is not distributed as you would like.

[VinGoodman]

Vin turns to the party to discuss their needs. We will not be proficient for now. We'll have to a bit more inventive on how we take care of the first goblins. I assume at some point, with enough critters taken down, we will "suddenly" be able to use the equipment better. I suggest crossbows, daggers and morningstars. May be some spears and clubs. Let's keep to the simple weapons for now. How many do we know have inspirations of venturing beyond the simple weapons? I'm guessing two - a bard and a martial type. So, one longbow, one shortbow, some arrows, a greatsword and a...what do bards use anyways? Oh, and let's everyone wear leather armor. I don't think it slows us down or hurts our chances at landing a strike.

[CWater]

Karoliina picks up a shortsword (she has high enough wisdom score to understand that it might not be the best choice to start with a long one) and tries to swing it a little. While making sure that the others are at a safe distance.

[Shadowleaf]

The concept of wielding the sword as an extention of your arm seems unnatural. The sword feels clumsy and heavy.

[VinGoodman]

Vin looks for a leather armor built for his size, and dons it to see how his movements feel with it on.

OOC Assuming the 0 Armor Penalty means no minuses:

Sensing no meaningful obstruction of his range of movements, Vin nods to himself as he looks to the pile of weapons.

[Shadowleaf]

Vin - it feels restrictive around the arms, and would probably interfere with sword-swinging.

[VinGoodman]

Vin - it feels restrictive around the arms, and would probably interfere with sword-swinging.

That's why I chose the Leather Armor, with its Armor Check Penalty of zero:

Nonproficient with Armor Worn
A character who wears armor and/or uses a shield with which he or she is not proficient takes the armor’s (and/or shield’s) armor check penalty on attack rolls and on all Strength-based and Dexterity-based ability and skill checks. The penalty for nonproficiency with armor stacks with the penalty for nonproficiency with shields.

Hope that makes up for the faux pax with the goblin size :smalltongue:

[Ella]

"Vin, there is one thing missing, do you have much coin left, if you managed to purchase some poison we could eliminate goblins with mere scratches."

[Shadowleaf]

Vin

Sorry, my fault - I remembered it as taking the armor bonus as a penalty on attack rolls.
The armor feels like wearing a t-shirt, then.

[VinGoodman]

Vin nods as he considers the option. "Perhaps. However, I have always hated to spend gold on use it and lose it type of equipment when it's costly. I'm thinking pets would be nice since they'll be around after this goblins ordeal. We could rig traps, too. There may be other options. But, let's do keep the poison use in mind as a possibility."

"By the way, try the leather armor on. They seem to work as expected - without hindrance!"

[Ella]

Ella turns away from everyone for the sake of modesty and puts on some leather armour to match Vin, she then puts her nightgown back in her handbag beside Lobster.

"It might be expensive, but at least in my experience a point comes along in dungeons and dragons where you are wealthy, or at least no long at risk of struggling."

[CWater]

"You are probably right", Karoliina says and puts the sword back. She picks up a spear instead. "This one has no sharp edges, so there's a smaller chance that I accidently cut someone I don't mean to harm with it. By the way, I have rethought that class thing. Since it would be pretty awesome to learn to use these weapons, I think I might want to become a duskblade instead of monk. I'd get some spells too, which would be awesome.

But I've never played a duskblade in a game, I just like the idea of the class, so do you have any idea if it's any good?"

Karoliina does as Vin suggested and starts to look for a leather armor of her size.

[VinGoodman]

Turning a moment to Lars and the Captain, Vin inquires. "Wo ist diesen Goblins?" As he inquires, his mind wanders back to those days. Is it dies or diese may be? Why did I take German again? Oh, yeah, her. I guess I have her to thank for this, even if she never did want to go out with me. At the thought, Vin blushes, and tries to snap out of it and refocus his attention to the present situation.

[Shadowleaf]

The captain quickly picks up on the lack of additional leather armor, and gets Lars to go fetch another 3 sets of armor.

The captain faces Vin. "Die Goblins sind in der Mine, westlich von hier, ich glaube dass es rund zwei Meilen von hier ist. Du verstehst Common, ja?"

[CWater]

...Did he just say that the goblins are in a mine west of here...couldn't make anything out of the next line...Maybe a description of how far they are? And...he asked if Vin speaks Common. So...common is german here. Sigh, I should have taken that german class instead of art after all. Why does dad always end up being right in the end...

[VinGoodman]

"Duskblade, you say?" Vin considers the class. "Well, it's a pretty solid gish class. Not too many condemning weaknesses as far as the class goes. You get all the base attack bonus I think, and some good abilities and a nice, if limited smattering of spells."

Turning to Karoliina, Vin continues. "Is your desire then some sort of fighter type who can support the fighting style with some arcane spells? Let me know if this is the case, and I'll try to help you put together a combination to match your style."

"By the way, are you familiar with the Factotum or the Warblade classes? They are both solid base classes upon which to build a martial character. Of course, they both can be somewhat complicated to play if you're not familiar with them. I'm actually contemplating the Factotum myself..."

Turning to the Captain. "Ich verstehe Common, aber nur ein bisschen."

Oh boy, much more of this, and my lack of command in German may be exposed...

Turning to the party to explain as best he could, Vin translated, "The captain says the goblins are in the mines west from here. He believes it is about two miles from here."

Oh yeah, remember it's die Goblins. Is that a plural thing?

[Ella]

"I know Factotums well enough" Ella pipes up. "You would want intelligence first and most of all then constitution, charisma, dexterity, strength and finally wisdom."

While Ella didn't know a fighter from a barbarian she had in her pp(preportal) life had a strong preference for characters of unusual classes.

"If you can become one of those, definitely do so, its one of the most useful classes I can imagine."

[CWater]

"Sorry, those classes doesn't sound familiar, well I might have heard the term 'Warblade' but that's all. But yeah, I fighter who has also access to some spells would be nice." Karoliina blushes a little. "I've always dreamed of having magic powers. But I think I'm really more of warrior type than wizard, that's why I started with martial arts to begin with, well that and to learn some self-defence. One never knows when that might come in handy. But in a world like this..."

Hey, I actually understood something! Not sure if the credit goes more to Swedish or English though.

[VinGoodman]

Hey, nothing wrong with a wise factotum!

Even as he exclaimed so, Vin knew that Ella was right. Wisdom was always considered a dump for factotums. For Vin, he really is built to be a wizard, cleric or druid. His physical build, or lack of it, has always been a sore point.

Perhaps if I exercise more...

Upon hearing Karoliina's words, Vin's mind begins to churn...

OOC WARNING: Rambling commencing
Let's see now. Classic and core would be something like wizard/fighter/eldritch knight (is that the right prestige class?). I think the eldritch knight class is the right way to go. What are its requirements now? Oh, yeah, five levels of wizard. Ouch. Any other ways? Oh, wait what about Beguiler? Does she have the charisma to pull it off? Well, even if not, there are equipment and spells to overcome that. It sounds like she'd like to keep things simple, though. And, nothing's really wrong with wizard 5. Say, fighter 1/wizard 5 to get the most out of the HP? Then right to Eldritch Knight? What about Spellsword? Where does that fit in? One level only of course, may be right after the wizard 5. Ok, let's suggest Fighter 1/Wizard 5/Spellsword 1/Eldritch Knight 10. Why does that look familiar?

[Ella]

"Perhaps you could do some factoting with your wisdom, but you would be sacrificing something somewhere."

Ella holds her dagger as if it were a sword and swings at the air.

"Do you think there is a god that would make me its favoured soul, the idea of someday flying is incredible."

[VinGoodman]

Vin grins. "I'm sure one of the gods will answer your call. After all, aren't the various deities' spheres of influence affected by the followers they attract?"

"Of course, if you want to fly, there are plenty of other ways to do so. Still, Favored Soul is a pretty good way to go."

[Raistlin1040]

Matt catches up, still lugging his backpack and his guitar behind him. Hey, you guys just took off. What's this about weapons and armor and stuff?

[--Lime--]

"I might well be - my fellow travellers had similar money."

He hands over the coins for the blacksmith's trained eye to examine the metal.

"How is business around these parts? Is there much call for blades and armour, or is it mostly horse-shoes and doorknobs?"

[CWater]

"We are trying to equip ourselves since we will be helping with a goblin problem of some sort, I don't know the details of that. What was the problem again?" Karoliina looks at Vin, hoping that he knows more.

[Ella]

"Sorry Matt, I had this idea about a way of communicating that pretty much failed, but at least we got this." Ella points at the leather armour she has on.

[VinGoodman]

Vin greets Matt warmly, and tries to relay what he's worked out so far. "Hey Matt, glad you could join us. Is Lime about ready? We could use his translation skills. The best I could work out is there are goblins in the mines, about two miles west from here. Now, I'm not sure about this part, but I think they're letting us equip ourselves from the armory. You should try on a leather armor. They seem best if you are unaccostumed to wearing them, and I definitely fall in that category."

[Ella]

"So Matt what sort of bard are you planning to be?"

[Shadowleaf]

"Ya, there's always a need for swords and armor. We live in volatile lands, with goblins and kobolds always at our doorstep. We live as peacefully as we can, though, and let Sir Ulrik's Guard do the ole gobbo-choppo. We don't have many horses 'round these parts, so ne'er made a horseshoe in my life.
Anyway, this coins seem to be of good quality. If you return with more, I can judge a price more fairly."

[VinGoodman]

"Karoliina, I think duskblade will be fine. You could try fighter/wizard/spellsword/eldritch knight as well. It's all pretty core, and you end up with plenty of spell power while still being a pretty decent fighter. We will have to find you some twilight mithril chain mail or get the wizard to teach you mage armor and greater mage armor. There are other spells to help with the armor class as well. Just be careful, since you likely won't have as many hit points nor as much armor class as a pure martial person."

Addressing the group as a whole, Vin continues. "I assume we are looking to take down the goblins, since they are usually the baddies, and I happen to like this town and am willing to side with it for now. Should we start considering ways to do this?"

Vin grabs a crossbow and three quarrels of bolts. He also picks out a dagger, a morningstar and a longspear. Finally, he starts poking around for a set of spiked chain. Can't use them well anyways...might as well look for the mother of all weapons.

[Shadowleaf]

There is not a spiked chain in sight.



It's the local militia. None of them are proficient with it. :smallwink:

[Ella]

"I wonder where Lime is, I'm all ready to go crush some goblins."

Ella stretches, trying to get used to the armour.

[--Lime--]

Sorry if this counts as godmodding, but I'm just trying to make sure this doesn't become stagnant.

Lime thanks the blacksmith and leaves. Others around inform him that his companions are in the armoury.

That's exactly where Lime goes, and is soon caught up with the rest of the group. He tells them that the coins were of interest to the blacksmith, and is in return told of the goblins. Hoping to clear up matters, he asks of the guard:
"Could you tell me the details of what's required?"

He selects some leather armour, and begins eyeing up the weapons on offer.

[Shadowleaf]

The captain smiles at Lime. "Ah, finally someone who speaks Common. I believe introductions are in order - my name is Sir Ulrik Lionhart, I command the local defence force, Lionhart's Lions. Who are you and your travelers, if you do not mind me asking?"

[--Lime--]

"We are exactly that - travellers. Wishing to learn more about the world we struck out, and on our journey arrived here. It would be our pleasure to help in any way possible. My name is Lime, that's Karoliina, Matt, Vin, and Ella," he says, pointing them out. "How may we be of assistance?"

[Shadowleaf]

"We have a problem - a band of Goblins have infested the local mine - driven out the workers, and are now using it as a base of operations for Pelor knows what. We need to have them taken care of, but my Lions are already stretched thin as it is.
If you wish to help us, help yourself to whatever you need from the armory. Go to the mine and take care of the problem, and we will have a reward waiting for you when you return. Let us say something in the vicinity of one hundred gold pieces per person? And of course the written word of a knight that you are free to travel our lands as you please."

[--Lime--]

"We are very grateful, Sir, for this opportunity."

Lime interprets for the others.

He looks around the shelves to see what weaponry is on offer.

[Shadowleaf]

Battleaxe (1)
Daggers (4)
Longbow (1)
Longswords (5)
Maces (2)
Morningstar (1)
Shortbow (1)
Shortswords (4)

Javelins
Bolts

Protection:
Leather Armor (1)
Kite Shields (2)
Breastplate armor sets (3)