Nath's Hunger, Revamped (IC)

[Derjuin]

You stand at the gates of Angol Brim'thar, a great dwarven city carved from the very stone of the mountain it rests on. Huge painted stone statues of various dwarves line the arched and vaulted hallway behind the gate. The hallway is practically deserted, save for a few armored-and-armed dwarves, presumably guards. Further into the city is what could be a bazaar, though it appears to be just as deserted as the front hallway.

A rather large sign is posted out front, and several copies of the parchment attached to the sign are strewn about the walls and ground.

The sign reads,
"POWERFUL INDIVIDUALS NEEDED! REPORT TO TORGARN BRASSTACKS AT MINE ENTRANCE IF INTERESTED. REWARD NEGOTIABLE."

It then lists several other lines in various languages; specifically, a flowing and beautiful script, and a rough and jagged script, and also provides directions to the mine entrance.

Though deserted, the hall and grounds about the entrance to the city are dotted with the occasional covered wagon, broken-down caravan or seemingly unused vendor stall. The place appears to have once been a meeting place or free market, though now it seems wholly abandoned.

[Keld Denar]

Ursu

The grubby half-orc stands before the sign, rubbing his arms uncomfortably and glancing nervously at the dwarven guards, occasionally casting furtive looks back at the forest behind him. The scents ahead intrigue him, but he is unsure of what to do. Most of his previous encounters with dwarves involved lots of angry-sounding shouting, raised weapons, and a quick escape into the deep woods where the heavily armored stocky warriors had trouble following. Ursu shifts his considerable weight back and forth trying to determine if anyone else knew how to read the strange symbols on the message board before him.

[RaginChangeling]

Alina

Whistling merrily as she walks, the halfling Alina looked up at the gates of Angol Brim'thar. Noting the rather extreme presence of guards, she arches an eyebrow at a very uncomfortable looking Half-Orc who looked rather lost.

"You a 'powerful individual' looking fur the reward too?" She asks him, her words slightly slurred. "My name's Alina, and I have to say I hope they're looking for quite a few people. You look a bit more the part than I." She smiled up at him, laughing softly.

[Cadian 9th]

Li'karia

A soft padding of powerful footsteps is heard, then a dull thump behind Alina and by extention, Ursu. A gentle purring grows to a low roar, as a large tiger, snow white with black stripes, lands, bearing a tall, slender elven female. She's quite beautiful, with long, white hair and slanting eyes, and wears paltry leathers to cover her vitals but leave her legs bare against the exotic saddle the sits on. In one hand, she bears an oversized bow, of master craftmanship and magic, the other, a lance of elven work, with a longer blade than a usual lance. A green, shiftng cloak covers her shoulders, and two leather bracers adorn her arms. A slight glow emnates from her, and the determination in her eyes suggests total dedication to a cause.

" Greetings, Travellers. Orc-kin, Halfling. I trust you are " Powerful Individuals " "? She says, reading the sign. The huge tiger moves to sniff the halfling. Li'karia keeps Ursu in her view all the time, but makes no move just yet.

[Keld Denar]

Ursu

The half-orc looks at the little girl, remembering the little girl from the villiage down south that he saved. This girl looked different, but not much in the eyes of the half-orc. He considers the words she spoke carefully, especially the part about powerful individuals.

When the tiger lands behind him, Ursu does not start. Instead, his feral instincts kick in. He brings his hands up quickly to a defensive posture and he bears his fangs, all the hair on his arms and back bristling, hissing back at the large cat. The massive muscles in his legs coil beneath him...tentatively, he sniffs the air in front of him, not dropping his arms. His eyes flick quickly between the elf maiden and the large tiger, unsure why the beast hasn't already pounced.

[Fan]

Not far behind follows another elf, this one of less fair complexion, tanned skin marked with light scars that gave tell of eons of battle. His silver hair cascaded around his shoulder in an unkempt manner that while not refined, had it's own wild appeal.

In his hand is a single kukiri of superior craftsmanship, flowing script down the edge of the blade glowed in a dull blue that gave off a glow that while not especially bright, served to illuminate the area around him enough to give the appearance of a cerulean aura.

In his off hand he carries a map marked with strange silver markings, one of which branched off from a nearby forest, and had just hit Angol Brim'Thar.. what this meant even to someone of exceptional magical knowledge was likely very little as it was a personal cipher that was designed only to make sense to him much like a mage's writings in his spellbook.

"So it seems we've drawn a crowd."

[sitandbehitski]

"It seems we have," Another elf appears, this one bares a face of equal parts sadness and the wrinkles of time. He is dressed in simple brown clothes with a dagger on his belt and a bow and cache of arrows on his back that look like they have been hand crafted recently, the bow still holding a single green leaf near the top where the string is attached.

The figure moves forward and stops a few feet from the rest of the group eying each with a curious look. "I assume we are all here to answer the call for aid by Torgarn Brasstacks," He says. If so it is likely we shall be working togethor in the near future, no use in being strangers if this is the case. I am Lorenzo Merriweather of Sul Valore, Archer, Fletcher, and Magician. Who might the rest of you be? In name and profession if you don't mind me asking."

[Keld Denar]

Ursu

Looking around, Ursu sighs. Surrounded by elves...

[Fan]

Ursu

Looking around, Ursu sighs. Surrounded by elves...

"Excuse us for thinking all races had an equal chance at the job."

Armas says with a scathing tone to his voice, but his immediately preceding chuckle tells you that this is his, very bad, attempt at a joke.

[The-Mage-King]

On the top of the gates, a man with strangely blue hair, and armor of the same color, listens to the gathered group, before nodding to himself.

Taking a rod from his side, he clicks a button on it, deploying a grappling hook, and sets it against the wall, before jumping off.

Rappelling down from the inside of the walls, Drake nods to the guards, who sigh at the not-entirely unexpected behaivor of the mage, and lands on the ground near the group, clicking a second button and reeling in the rope. .

"Ah! Fellow adventurers!" He says, looking at the gathered group. "Planning to head on down to the mine to see what's happening?"

"If so, would you care for a little fire to help you?" Drake asks, a small spark appearing above his held up index finger in demonstration.

"And by a little, I mean a lot."

[Derjuin]

One of the guards patrolling the entrance hall to the city-fortress notices the gathering near the sign, and rushes over to the group, as fast as a dwarf can rush in heavy, clanking armor. She stops and, in between huffs and puffs, asks, "Are you here to help stop whatever is under our city?" in a gruff voice.

She looks around the group and says "If you are, follow the main road into Angol Brim'thar. Sir Brasstacks will be at the end of it. He'll let you know more about what's going on down in the mine." She points directly toward the city entrance, and the long and well-maintained stone street lining the hall that extends further inside.

[Keld Denar]

Ursu

Ursu looks left, then right, then shrugs, quietly walking in the direction the dwarf pointed. Walking slowly, the large orc pulls a piece of unidentifyable jerky from his pouch, tears off a chunk with his considerable fangs, and chews slowly on it while looking up curiously at the massive buildings around him.

[Derjuin]

The massive buildings are of simple make, generally large squares of stone. Some bear illustrations or graffiti, which mostly just looks like scribbles, and others appear adorned by their owners, though said owners appear to be nowhere in sight - such a city would seem like it would bustle in a lively manner, but there are in fact no apparent citizens on the streets or in the buildings. Most have large stone slabs for doors, liable to be almost impossible to break through.

[Cadian 9th]

Li'karia

" Hmm... The dwarves here seem rather willing to ask for help. Whatever is causing trouble must be deadly serious... " She says, recalling her prievous experience with Dwarves.

Jakiro sniffs the air. Li'karia spams attempts to detect evil, and particuarly uses her divine power to locate her sworn enemies, aberrations.


Detect evil spam! And Nemesis feat, any aberrations within 60ft are detected even through walls, but lead sheets block it, I think.

[The-Mage-King]

"Indeed it is. One of their paladins went into there with a small group, and he barely made it back alive." Drake replies, continuing on the path.

"And by barely made it back alive, I mean died when he left the tunnel."

[Derjuin]

Cadian 9th:


No one shows up as Evil to you, nor do any aberrations appear on your radar sight.


Suddenly a large group of dwarves surround the group, and usher each of you inside, straight to Torgarn.

Torgarn, an old and surly-looking dwarf in plate armor, sits at a table with a rather large book, a sheaf of parchment and a pen. As soon as he spots the dwarves with the party in tow, however, he immediately leaps to his feet and rushes to the group.

"Are ye powerful indiv'duals? Have ye come ta kill what'ver'n tha Nine Hells is killin' our people down th'r?" He nearly shouts at the group. "If ye are, I'll warn ye like I warned th' last ones ta go down there: don't turn yer back on AN-Y-THING." He appears to be quite serious about not turning your backs on anything, as he clearly enunciates, even through his thick dwarven accent, each syllable of the word. "Whatev'rs down ther's kill'd two Paladins o' tha' Deep Mother, one o' 'em our finest."

[Fan]

Armas raises an eyebrow at the.. unfamiliar.. accent on the dwarf. It had been awhile since he had seen a dwarf that was anything more than stoic loner, of course, it had also been awhile since he had been to a Dwarf City period. Still, something capable of killing the finest paladin in the city was nothing to be trifled with. Especially if he had backup, as that usually ruled out a sneak attack.

Thinking on this.. he guessed now was the best time to ask this question.

"Excuse me, what type of wounds did the Paladin have? Bite marks, burns, perhaps internal wounds without any external signs of penetration?"

[Derjuin]

He 'xhibited a single hole, bored inta' his skull. A'sides from mutilated flesh on 'is arms an' legs, an' a disease or six. We lost two more of our denom'nation thanks ta' tha' diseases..." Torgarn wipes his brow and sighs heavily, looking uneasy about recalling the paladin's wounds.

"If'n ye succeed in killin' what'ver creepy-crawlies' 're down there killin' us an' bring back proof, ye'll be entitled ta a reward o' seven thousan' five hunnerd gold coins."

[Fan]

He 'xhibited a single hole, bored inta' his skull. A'sides from mutilated flesh on 'is arms an' legs, an' a disease or six. We lost two more of our denom'nation thanks ta' tha' diseases..." Torgarn wipes his brow and sighs heavily, looking uneasy about recalling the paladin's wounds.

"If'n ye succeed in killin' what'ver creepy-crawlies' 're down there killin' us an' bring back proof, ye'll be entitled ta a reward o' seven thousan' five hunnerd gold coins."

"Disease? On a Paladin of his stature? That is.. foreboding. Usually the gods provide some protection against even magical diseases to their champions. The single hole means it was likely an ambush and he was encircled by the creatures the mutaliations are keys signs of multiple lesser wounds from smaller creatures before the proverbial alpha struck the killing blow, likely with a stinger akin to a scorpions. From there they attempted to feed, but were prevented from finishing by the arrival of your larger retrieval party. We're dealing with pack hunters here, with the Alpha dealing the killing blow."

He says nodding sagely, ah experience in the wild, more oft than not, this lead you horribly astray with far creatures.

[Keld Denar]

Ursu

Ursu growls at the thought of being the hunted, rather than the hunter. The fine hairs on the back of the orc's muscular neck bristle.

[The-Mage-King]

"Interesting... No wonder they made me leave the sheet on while I started the pyre..." Drake mutters, stroking his chin.

"I don't suppose that we could get part of that money up front, could we?" He asks, looking towards Torgarn.