Realms of Redblight(IC)

[bloodtide]

This is the In Character thread, the Out of character thread is here:OOC Thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=231877)


You are each involved in your normal everyday activities, when suddenly your surroundings are filled with bright blue fire. It quickly whisks you away from wherever you were and deposits elsewhere.

You find yourselves in a large, circular stone room. Bright sunlight streams in from several windows set high in the walls near the ceasing. You find yourselves standing on a large, flat metal disk that is floating above a pit of roaring blue fire. The blue flames lick around the edges of the disk, but do not come any closer. You can feel the heat from the flames, as well as a static tingle like you'd feel from electricity.

The rest of the room is filled with a couple of desks, tables and bookshelves full of arcane items.

At the edge of the pit you see a small human woman, with her hands upraised, watching you. She is quite small and petite, only being about five feet tall. Her dark black hair is wild, unkempt and flows around though there is no wind to blow it. Her skin has a bit of a dark tan to it and her features are sharp and deep. She wears a bright white robe and a pair of white sandals. Several pieces of jewelery adorn her body from head to toe. She does not stand on the floor, but floats a couple of inches above it. She looks you over and drops her arms to her sides.

"Well Met. Don't be alarmed, I mean you no harm. I simply had need of you. So I sent out my scryfire to scryport you here. I have need of you. I can offer great rewards, but the danger is equally great."

[sidelar]

Eshed scans the room quickly going over a check list his master had taught him to get over the disorientation caused by teleporting. He grips the glaive at his back not drawing it but ensuring that it is there.

"You could have sent a messenger, lady" , he says, annoyed at the sudden summons. He had spent a large sum of money to get access to a nobles library for a day, and been pulled away from a book on the tactics of ancient Cormanthyr soldiers.

Calming himself , "I trust that whatever you need must be important then?"

[Kaed]

Garrl tried his best to do good. Sometimes it was awfully hard to live up to it, but he tried. Like rescuing kittens from a tree - that was good, right? Poor silly things got caught up there and didn't know how to get down. And they made such a fuss about it, you wouldn't believe!

But no one [I]told him he wasn't supposed to break branches off of the tree. Seeing as the small beast had many claws and teeth and was really quite upset, Garrl had thought it best to just... retrieve the branch it was on, and carefully carry it down. Less scratches, and just as safe a kitten afterwards, right?

Apparently not. How was he supposed to know it was an apple tree that had been in the family line for a couple generations? The way the peasant human female made things out, he had murdered her apple tree, instead of just breaking off one of the branches. He was in the middle of trying to point out to her that the tree would be just fine, minus one branch, when suddenly the area around him burst into flame. He reflexively leaped to shield the peasant human female, but she wasn't there anymore by the time he reached her.

Or, maybe never even got close, it seemed. The gnoll fell over onto his face with a clank, overbalanced as he was from the leap. He didn't immediately get up, as he was a little confused about what had happened, explanation or not. "Uhmmm... what? Ah. Right. Magic."

Obviously that single word explained everything. Except... it really didn't. He sighed, slowly getting to his feet. "At least the kitten is alright..."

[Nai_Calus]

Kerazt hisses and groans in the sudden light.

"By the Masked Lord, woman, must you... Argh." He gathers his composure and puts away the dagger he'd drawn reflexively, though he keeps his hand near his hand crossbow, just in case.

"And if you have need of us, this is rather an odd place to bring us to. Feels a bit more like a prison."

The drow priest narrows his eyes, whether in suspicion or against the glaring sunlight it's impossible to tell. He's dressed in an immaculate black silk shirt over a blackened steel breastplate, tight black pants, high black boots and a black mask that covers the upper half of his face, with several black-bladed daggers and a black-bladed rapier carried about his person.

[ZeltArruin]

Eldred appeared in the room as unprepared as everyone else, though he had been working only moments prior. He quickly cleaned the blood from his dagger and slipped it away, looking around the room. His eyes went wide, then narrowed when he saw the drow.

"I understand why you might scry-need some of us, but him? I find that scry-doubtful," Eldred said, picking up on a word the magic user seemed to favor.

[Kaed]

Garrl found himself in a room full of other confused-looking people, and the mage who was apparently behind it. His magic knowledge was limited, but he had a feeling it was possible there was some sort of ill intent going on behind their capture. So, for now, he remained silent and took the time to scan the room and it's inhabitants, searching for any signs of maliciousness. It would hardly do to cooperate with some sort of fiendish, mad mage.

[Using Detect Evil ability on the room and other team members]

[bloodtide]

Garrl
Nothing in the room, nor the floating human mage glow with any evil light.

Of the others on the disk with you, the two humans and the drow, none of them glow with any evil light.

[Kaed]

After satisfying himself that there was no obvious villains in the room, silently twirling their mental mustaches, he settled down, looking less like he was about to leap away at the first opportunity. Admittedly the human who hurriedly cleaned his dagger of blood after recovering his bearings was a bit suspicious, but there was nothing technically [I]evil about suspicious behavior. For all Garrl knew, he had been skinning a deer.

The elf worried him more, though. For some reason, his charming looks had never really hit things off with elves. Or their pointy arrows. This one didn't seem to have a bow, though, and was darker than usual. Maybe he would be a nicer elf?

For the time being, however, the gnoll straightened and put on his best authoritative pose, though since they were in a small room he toned down the booming voice a little bit. "I see no reason to believe you mean us harm, strange mage, but you could have given us some warning. But I'm sure we would all be happy to join on your quest, if it is just." He paused, giving the human with the dagger a sidelong look, then added, thoughtfully. "And there is money involved. Tell us more, then."

[ZeltArruin]

Eldred grinned as the Knoll Gnoll looked at him, mid-speech. He never minded most surface species, but the drow had a special place of fear and loathing in the young man. "Aye, as he says, what's the deal with our 'summons'?"

[bloodtide]

"My name is Iryala 'Bluefire' Oborskin, Weave Mistress of Mystra, Keeper of the Holy Blue Flame, Eldritch Specialist of Mighty Magic and High Lady." says the floating human woman as small blue sparks and flames dance around her. [/COLOR]

"This is my tower, The Tower of BlueFire Mysteries. We are in the eastern stretch of the Inner Sea, just outside the city of Escalant, that stands just outside of the hated realm of Thay." She stops to raise her left hand flat in front of her and an image of a dark red land scape full of red fire, burning chains and dark shadowy figures forms just above her hand. She watches the image for several seconds then closes her fist around it and the image winks out in a puff of blue smoke.

"Yes, Thay! The Vile Land of the Red Wizards! And they are up to something! More importunately my brother is up to something! And I must stop him, for it is Mystra's Will and my own Great Responsibility. But I am betrayal but my own power!" Tiny blue flames dance along her skin, then shoot into the air, forming tiny rain-like drops before falling to the floor and fading away.

"I can't move, can't act without half of Thay knowing. Worse my link to my brother keeps us aware of each other." She holds up her right hand flat in front of her face and an image of herself, floating above her hand pulling on a long unrolled scroll with a human male in red robes pulling on the scroll from the other end. She looks at this image for several seconds before closing her eyes and the image fades away.

"And so I have need of you. Ones from far away. No one local, no one I know, no one I have ties too. But with the right sets of abilities to be useful and get the job done. I need you to go into Thay, find out what my brother is up too and report back to me." Tiny drops of blue water-like energy fall off her body and scatter on the floor, as she looks down.

Blue fire then starts to whirl around her."The danger is great of course. Thay is a Vile and Deadly place. It is not a place for the faint of hearts. But still your not a group of Greengrocers by any means. The Divine Arcane Mystery Might of Mystra's own Augury has told me so. And so it shall be." She spreads her arms out wide as twin waves of blue flame crawl along her arms and spread out much like wings for several moments before fading away.

"I can offer you each a Great Reward. My knowledge of the Mysteries of Magic is great. Or if you would rather have base things such as coins or shinny rocks, I have them too. So what say you all? All of the lights, sparks and blue fires around her body wink away as she crosses her arms and looks at each one of you.

[Nai_Calus]

Kerazt snorts.

"Oh, so a dark elf can't be useful? We'll see about that..." He raises an eyebrow as he recognizes the gnoll's attempt to suss out evil, and raises it further at the lack of reaction. Most Paladins immediately tried to murder him when they detected his god's power in him. Well, now. How interesting.

"So. What is this about? I mean, this is all very impressive, but there are things I could be doing."

[sidelar]

Mystara, Eshed thought, the library he had been torn away from was now far less important.

"so, we have to stop your brother, hmmm, well Ive done worse things for less before. I will do what I can. The reward better be worth it though, going up against the red wizards is no easy task."

Eshed puts his hands on the back of his head, more casual now that that he knows who hes dealing with. " Since that link keeps you connected, do you have idea what he might be planning?"

[Kaed]

[Sorry drow-man, I was going on what the DM said. He said there t'was no evil in the room, and he's in charge xD Maybe she's blocking it so we don't attack each other yet.]

Garrl knew vaguely about the Red Wizards, they were one of the major Evil groups that his order had spoken of, alongside the Pasha's in Calimshan. He hadn't thought he would already be dealing with them though! He was still doing things like... clearing out kobolds and rescuing kittens from trees. But, maybe it was time he moved up to Greater Things.

"So... you have a brother doing... something... that you don't know about, and it involves the Red Wizards. Can't you give us more than that? Like, what your brother looks like, where he is?" He darted another glance at the dark elf, noting the raised eyebrows. Suspicious, maybe he had missed something. "Is he a mage like you, too?"

[ZeltArruin]

"Thayvians!? Great," Eldred said, shaking his head. This situation was getting worse by the moment. He grinned, albeit briefly, at the fact that they were standing on what could be considered a frying pan over a large blue flame.

[bloodtide]

Iryala 'Bluefire' Oborskin"My brothers plans are to take over Thay, take over the Realms, corrupt magic for evil, the usual. I don't have many details, the link can tell me where he is and things like what emotions he is feeling, but I can't read his mind.'' She says as she pounds her left fist into her right hand with a tiny puff of blue smoke.


"He looks like this..." She reaches into a pocket of her robe and pulls out a small scroll that floats over in front of you and unrolls. On the scroll is a nicely drawn picture of a bald human male in red robes sneering.

"My brother is a user of magic, but not like me. I am a holy Servant of Mystra! He is a Vile and Evil Corrupter of Magic. We are nothing alike." She says as tiny bolts of blue lighting crackle in her hair.

She points a single finger at the empty space next to her, and the air shimmers to reveal a seven foot tall owl with snow white feathers all with a blue tint. "This is Ashema. She knows all the details you may need to know."

"If all of you agree to do this task, I'm more then willing to give you each an advance. Anything that I can grant without too much trouble to me. After all, I want to see you succeed."

[Kaed]

Garrl admittedly had not met a whole lot of mages in his time, and those he had were certainly not as powerful as this one. Nevertheless, he wondered if all mages became this overly dramatic when they gained enough power. Was it necessary to constantly crackle with lightning and swirl with flames? And how did it not burn the furniture? The gnoll was so occupied with pondering the improbable pyrotechnical displays that he almost didn't notice the sudden appearance of a giant, slightly bluish owl.

"Ah, right, yes. The owl will explain everything to us, will it? That is... convenient." He frowned at the bizarre, overlarge owl. The gnoll remembered some time back when he had eaten owl stew - which had been reasonably tasty, actually - and hoped the enormous and probably angelic bird wasn't aware of that. "I do not think I need... anything right now, except perhaps a map of the area? I have never been to Thay. Where your brother is."

While Garrl had seen the image of the human, it looked pretty much like all the other hairless apes, only extra hairless, and wearing red. Hopefully the other people here would remember it better.

[sidelar]

"An advance would be greatly appreciated. Surely you have something that could help us pierce a wizards defenses." Eshed says, turning to the other people standing on the platform. "I may as well introduce my self then. I am Eshed, and this is my familiar Tzivrifr." ,pointing to the hawk sitting on his shoulder.

[bloodtide]

Iryala 'Bluefire' Oborskin looks at Eshed, "Well met. What would you need to 'pierce' his defenses? I'm not sure I understand." Whirls of blue fire dance around her head and each curves towards itself, looking a lot like question marks.



Ashema speaks in common: "Yes, gnoll mate, I know much about many things, for I am a sage. And I am no more an owl then you are a hyena. I am an archon. A holy servant of Mystra from the great celestial forest in the sky."

Iryala meanwhile pulls another scroll out of a pocket and has it float over to Garrl, where it unrolls and reveals itself to be a nicely hand-drawn map of Thay.

[ZeltArruin]

"Introductions then? I am Eldred Vaan- er no wait, Vaan Eldred. Whatever, call me which ever you like in whatever order you like," Eldred said with a bow to the others, one hand over his chest, the other out wide to his side.

[Kaed]

[perhaps picking a slightly more visible color for owl speech would be good. It's a little difficult to read pink on white xD]

Garrl blinked at the owl, thinking for a moment and remembering that archons were indeed a kind of angel. Good thing he had listened during his religious lessons! Well, if anything proved this wasn't some evil ploy, the presence of an archon was probably it. He bowed slightly to the creature "Very well, Ashema. I stand corrected." And he plucked the map from the air, studying it for a moment - not long enough to memorize it, but to confirm that it was, indeed, a map of "Thayan lands" - and then rolled it up and slipped it in a pouch at his side, along with the drawing of their target.

The gnoll nodded and glanced back at the human to his left, motioning to him with a hand. "This Eshed has a point, mage. Your brother sounds as strong as you are, at least, and you have been surrounded by visible magical energies since the moment we arrived here. None of us possess that much raw power." He paused, glancing at the others on the disk and frowned, amending himself. "Or at least, I do not. I cannot speak for them, but I don't think you would call me here unless I was a useful member to this group."

He seemed to realize he had digressed a bit from the point, and rolled his shoulders, the flail on his back clinking it's chain. "Uhm, that is, how are we supposed to defeat your brother without something to defeat his magic?"

[bloodtide]

Iryala 'Bluefire' Oborskin "I don't want you to kill my brother....I will kill him! As you say your surely not up to the task. I don't need a group of assassins, I need a group of agents. People who can get in close and see what is going on, people with no ties to me or Thay or anything else around here."
small wisps of flame rise and fall off her hair and onto the floor.

"I need to know what he is up to...his plans...his scams...and all. I can't just go in with fireballs blazing without knowing what is going on. And maybe most of all, find out his back-up plan, or his escape plan, or what trap he has for me." She scratches her chin slightly as the blue flames puff out and she is surrounded by a soft blue light.

Ashema"Yes, yes"

[Nai_Calus]

"Heh. Well, we who follow the Masked Lord are certainly good assassins, but we're pretty good at spying too. Sounds fun, and I've got no love for the Thayans." He smirks. "I can't promise not to kill him myself if I have the opportunity, though. Skill isn't all there is to it, there's luck as well." He grins, then turns to the others, giving an exaggerated, sweeping bow.

"Kerazt Vareth, Nightshadow of Vhaeraun, at your service." He flashes a charming grin beneath his mask.

[Kaed]

Garrl turned to peer at the elf with mild suspicion at that last declaration. True, he had scanned him for signs of evil, but perhaps something had been blocking his perceptions. He had always been told that particular gift from his god was not completely infallible. And he was not so foolishly idealistic that he did not think even Good required an assassin at times.

Masked Lord... had he heard that title before? The gnoll thought hard about that.

[Making a Knowledge (Religion) check]

[roll0]Not sure if I should be making my own rolls here, but I'll try xD

[bloodtide]

Garrl

*Knowledge (Religion)-In the Realms a cleric, divine follower or worshiper of a god will include that information with their name along with their introduction. Very often they will simply add ''of (Gods Name)'', such as Adon of Akadi. It is also quite common to say ''cleric of(Gods Name)'', though religion also has titles so someone might say ''Adon, Airwalker of Akadi''. In most cases the identification of faith will supplant any family name.

So when you hear ''Kerazt Vareth, Nightshadow of Vhaeraun'' That tells you the persons name (Kerazt Vareth), the fact that they are a cleric(Nightshadow in this case as the religion specific title), and the god they follow and worship(Vhaeraun).

You have only heard a little about this drow god Vhaeraun and that he is not quite as bad as the rest, notably Lloth.

[ZeltArruin]

"Ah, so to set up to get him to his back up plan that we alone have prepared for, clever. And a classic, if a little un-used tactic, I like you," Eldred said to the mage, her showmanship and penchant for dramatics was not lost on the boy.

[sidelar]

"ahh, we are just to find information. Well that makes this much easier. Is there some way to contact you once we have found out his plans?" Eshed says. He turns and looks over the other members of the party.

wow a drow and a gnoll, at least we have some variety he thinks.

[bloodtide]

Iryala 'Bluefire' Oborskin reaches into another pocket of her robe and pulls out two small scrolls. She tosses one scroll into the air and it floats over in front of Eshed. "It is a message scroll, you know of such things. What you write on one scroll also appears on the other. It's simple enough graphology." she says as the blue light around her flickers.

[Kaed]

Garrl eyed the drow with mild suspicion for a few moments longer, but he finally looked away, satisfied that no immediate action needed to be taken. They would certainly talk later, though. Perhaps the elf simply did not know a better way than to follow his evil drow god. After all, did not many of his own people still worship Yeenoghu?

Well, now that they seemed to have everything in order to set out, the gnoll crossed his arms, looking to the owl archon expectantly. "Where is a good place to start, Ashema? And what do we need to know to complete this quest as effectively as possible?" On that note, he took out the map he had been giving and took a closer look at it. If they were told somewhere to start, he might as well figure out where it was. "And, I don't believe any of us actually know where we are now. That would be helpful to know. Escalant, I believe you said, mage?"

[bloodtide]

Ashema"I'm not sure of a good place to start. The whole idea of being in outsiders was to get a new and different approach. I'm not sure what you need to know, so ask anything that comes to your mind."

"We are just a bit north of the city of Escalant. Outside of Thay, officially, at least for today. His plantation is further northeast of us, in side of Thay, but a couple miles inward. His lands are somewhat typical, a large citadel surrounds his personal tower and all of that is surrounded by his farmlands. His lands are all worked by slaves, of course. He has a force of gnoll guards, though he treats them poorly and they have revolted several times in the last year. Over the past couple of months, a large number of drow have taken up residence in this outbuilding, and he has bought several dozen dwarf slaves. So we know he is digging out this area for the drow.''

[ZeltArruin]

"What exactly are we looking to uncover, miss? While I understand you don't know that much of your brother's machinations, it would be very difficult for us to just wander into Thay so defenseless, so to speak," Vaan said, motioning to the others when he used the word, 'us'.

[bloodtide]

Iryala 'Bluefire' Oborskin"He is up to something...some plan, some plot. I need to know what. I need details. something that I can use against him. A weakness. A hole in this plan. Something he has over looked." she says as whips of fire curved like question marks form around her head.


Ashema"We can't get a clear answer from divinations. We can't scry on his plans. We have had trouble getting a spy or such past his guards and defenses. That is why we are hoping you outsiders can do so."

Ashema"You won't be wandering through Thay, we have offical travel papers for you. You will be posing as merchant scouts, looking for a new market.

[Kaed]

Well, Garrl at least understood now why he had been summoned. If there were gnolls working for this brother mage, he would probably be uniquely suited for negotiating with them. It also explained the dark elf, though that was less his business and more the suspicious drow cleric's. Hopefully there would not be any last minute betrayals in this quest.

"Very well, I suppose... I can be a hired bodyguard for the other 'scouts' on our mission. But I will not lie to those who ask what we are doing. If it happens, I will just remain silent." The gnoll rolled his shoulders, looking a little uncomfortable with the whole 'false identity' plan, but understanding it would be important, and not feasible to go knocking down doors For Justice. "For all the Thayans will know, I do not speak Common, or am too stupid to talk much."

He glanced to the others, then added. "If that is all, shall we begin?"

[ZeltArruin]

"I've no more questions. I think I could pull off a market scout. Or another body guard if someone else thinks they could be better at it," he said with a grin and a shrug. Something about the situation agitated the rogue, though he did well to hide it. It wasn't that he didn't trust those he was working for or with, but simply that he was not used to this line of work, usually his jobs were a little more...dirty.

[bloodtide]

Ashema"My thoughts exactly. Gnoll body guards are common enough. Thayvians like having gnolls around, almost like pets. But they are second class citizens at best, and mostly all slaves. It's common enough for a gnoll servant or bodyguard to be ordered not to speak to others. So you will be able to blend in just fine. In fact, there is even a resistance made up of good gnolls, I lot like yourself. And they are able to blend in without much trouble.

[Nai_Calus]

"Drow, eh?" Kerazt strokes his chin for a moment in thought. "Wonder if they're spider-kissers, or sensible followers of the Shadow. Either way." He grins. "Well, those of my faith are always looking to expand our presence and influence here in the Night Above. Wouldn't look too suspicious for me to be attempting to do so."

[Kaed]

Garrl didn't like the sound of gnolls being treated as pets, at all. It was bad enough that the furless races went around exterminating them - not that it was always without cause, he had to admit - without them enslaving his people. His ears flatted against his skull, and his own voice went flat too. "I shall be having a talk with anyone I see 'owning' a gnoll. Maybe after our mission is over, but eventually." The gnoll couldn't really say he'd stand back and do nothing if one of his people was being whipped or something, though...

He turned to the others, now that the talking seemed to have been completed, and straightened his shoulders. "Shall we be off then, comrades?" This gnoll was ready to hit the road - and possibly a slaver, if it came to it.

[sidelar]

" This sounds like an excellent plan, we should set off soon, as I assume time is of the essance here." Eshed says. " Though, when we do arrive, we should have one person do most of the talking, so we do not get our story mixed up. I am not well versed in economic matters personally, so I would suggest Vaan be the leader of our "expedition".

[bloodtide]

Ashema"The less you say is better. Kerazt is a good choice for leader, and most drow don't say much to humans other then things like 'get out of the way', so you won't be expected to talk much.



The metal disk you are all on floats over to the north wall. As soon as the disk touches the wall the stones from themselves into an opening. Through the stone tunnel you can see green grass and sunshine outside.

[Kaed]

Garrl wasn't sure this quest was going to be very engaging if he spent the entire time in stoic silence. However, the quest seemed to be a worthy one, at least so far, so he could hardly complain about boredom. He looked down as the platform began moving, and took a moment to steady himself. That sunlight and grass sure did look inviting!

The gnoll turned back briefly to wave at the mage and owl archon, before stepping outside into the sun. It took him a few moments of blinking to adjust his eyes, but he took the time to examine his surroundings. Had he been in a wizard's tower or something? Perhaps underground?

[ZeltArruin]

After stepping out into the sun, Eldred said,"Ah, I'm glad to be on our way, something about that place had my skin crawling." He glanced at the drow with a grin as he enjoyed the sunlight.

[bloodtide]

As you exit the stone tunnel, you see that you were in the base of a large square tower. The towers stones are all blue and sparkle a bit in the sunlight. Otherwise the tower is quite plain and no decorations. There are a couple of small wooden outbuildings; a shed, a barn and a stable. A medium sized garden is planted along the back of the tower. Several halfling workers move about doing job and don't look over at you much.

The land around the tower is mostly flat, with only a couple gentil hills rising here or there. Green grass covers most of the land that you see; cut down short around the tower, but high and wild elsewhere. Small groups of trees are scattered about, but no where near enough to call a forest. A single dirt road leads from the area around the tower northward.

It's quite warm and sunny outside with a light breeze blowing. The sky only has a couple large white puffy clouds.

[Nai_Calus]

Kerazt smirks as he's mentioned as best choice to play leader, but the smirk fades when the wall opens to reveal the sunny day. He pulls his cloak hood up over his head, but the sudden sunlight still blinds him for a moment. You notice that for a moment, as his eyes slowly adjust, that a look of deep sorrow has crossed his face.

[Kaed]

Garrl's eyes adjusted to the sunlight soon enough, and after surveying his surroundings, he decided it was time to make plans. The little halflings probably wouldn't be able to provide much assistance. So he pulled out the map of Thay and motioned for the others to come closer so he could talk to them. The gnoll pulled out his quill and made a small mark on the map in red ink.

http://s11.postimage.org/qqns9b2kz/Thay_Map.jpg

"We are about here, companions." He tapped a claw lightly on the X for emphasis, then continued, moving his hand down the map slightly. "We should probably stop in Escalant first to pick up supplies, and we can gather information on... er... did she ever actually give us her brother's name?" The gnoll frowned, thinking back on that. He couldn't remember any name other than 'my brother' being given. "Though I think she said her name was Irelia Ogreskin... hmm. I think I'm misremembering that. Anyone here pay more attention than I did at the beginning?"

[ZeltArruin]

"Iryala 'Bluefire' Oborskin..." Eldred recited. "I've got a thing for names...Anyway, I like your plan, Garrl, information is the second best defense against a Thayvian wizard," Vaan continued, nodding his consent as he looked at the map with great interest, though he was careful not to obscure anyone's vision.

[Nai_Calus]

"It's always wise to know your enemies. Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer." Kerazt squints at the map, wishing the sunlight wouldn't bother his eyes so much. "And it certainly can't hurt to stock up on supplies at any rate. Let's go."

[Kaed]

Garrl frowned at the drow, wondering about the random piece of spouted philosophy, but maybe that was just how the elf talked. Elves were mysterious things, after all. Since they seemed to be in agreement, he rolled up the map and put it away for now. "Let us start for Escalant, then. I am not sure how far away it is, but the sooner we start, the sooner we will get there."

And with that, he took a glance at the sky to check direction, and headed off to the south without further commentary. The others would probably follow anyway. Right?

[bloodtide]

After walking no more then an hour through the high grass you come upon a wide, well used dirt road that leads southwards towards the coast. Ahead you can see the the land gets quite flat and becomes fenced in farm land. row after row of crops are planted in fields as far as you can see. The road is the only option unless you want to walk through someones farm field. And as the road is well traveled and goes south, it likely goes to Escalant in any case.

[Kaed]

Oh no, Garrl had already made that mistake once. Okay... maybe more than once. But still, he knew if he started to walk through someone's field - even if it was a shortcut - inevitably some farmer in charge of the land would decide he was a raider and come running at him with a farming implement. Or maybe with some friends and an assortment of torches and farming implements. Either way, a hassle that negated the several minutes of time saved.

"I am sure this is the road to Escalant. Seeing as there are no other cities mapped around here, these are probably outlying farms that feed the city. We should be there in less than another hour, I expect. If any of you have..." The gnoll glanced at the drow, but only for a brief moment, and his tone did not change as he continued. "Anything you need to hide, you should put it away now."

He face twitched into a toothy grin, and he added, "Of course, if it is something illegal we will be having a talk first."

[Nai_Calus]

"Do you think me foolish enough to carry anything illegal openly?" Kerazt snorts.

"Besides, I tend to get enough hassle simply on the grounds of what I am." He glares at the Paladin meaningfully.

[sidelar]

"Once we arrive, I suggest we head to the market first" Eshed says, "Unless his keep is self-sufficient, someone must have delivered goods to him recently, and we can at least get an idea of what this wizard has "

[ZeltArruin]

"I don't think this is where the wizard we seek will be...but it might be," Vaan said with a shrug.

"And I'm sure none of us have ever done or had anything illegal," He said to the drow and gnoll flashing a grin at the paladin.

[Kaed]

Garrl grinned back at both of them, clearly amused, then gave them a slightly mocking bow. Noble paladin or not, he seemed to have missed the meeting where sticks up the rear were implemented. "Of course, good sirs. I do you an injustice by even suggesting it." The gnoll jerked a hand absently behind him, in the direction of the path, his expression still not terribly serious. "If you'll forgive me, perhaps we can continue, and reach the city before nightfall."

He looked skyward, judging how long they had, then shrugged his shoulders, adding wryly. "Not that any of us should be afraid of the dark, but I am certain us fine, upstanding sorts would have no business that requires the cover of darkness."

[Nai_Calus]

Kerazt snorts.

"Oh, I've probably done things that would make your blood curdle in your veins, and given that I'm a drow, whether what I do is best done by night or not, I tend to do it then just because the sun has this annoying tendency to blind me... But yes, of course, I've never done anything like that." He smirks. "Well, let's get going, anyway. I can see just fine in the dark, but you humans tend to just fall all over yourselves. I don't want to have to cast a healing spell because you tripped on something and broke an ankle."

[bloodtide]

The road does, in fact, lead right to the city of Escalant.

Escalant:This coastal city, situated on the west bank of the mouth of the River Lapendrar is a large sprawling city. Only the central section of the city has a wall around it, the rest of the city just spreads at around along the land. Much of the southern half of the city is taken up with docks, warehouses and other such naval related areas.

The city is much of an eye sore as it's clear the city has no building plan or style to it. Each building is done in it's own style and often clashes with buildings around it. Colors of all types fill the cities buildings as well as various flags. Each building also seems to have at least one cloth kite flying from it's roof top.

The city is filled with various people of various races coming and going about. You see a good mix of surface races, but you see no elves. Several groups of gnolls in chain mail move about the city dresses and acting much like soldiers.

A large, open air market takes up most of the east half of the city. A massive area of a few permanent wooded buildings, and a huge mass of tents, stalls, carts and wagons.

The road your on branches off to several parts of the city. One well used road leads right to the open air market.

[Kaed]

Garrl wasn't entirely comfortable with that Suspiciously Specific Denial, but again, he had yet to see any evidence the drow was evil rather than possessed of a dark sense of humor. Which was, while slightly unpleasant, certainly not warranting smiting.

He had to agree though, humans were awfully useless in the dark, always hugging lanterns and similar light sources close just to avoid bumping into and tripping over things. "Yes, let's go."

It was getting darker by the time they reached the city of Escalant, and the gnoll took the time to size up the city as they entered. It was obviously not a very orderly city, with all the halfhazard building designs and locations, so rule of law was probably looser than it would be in a more organized city. He was glad to see gnolls about in positions of authority, rather than the slaves the mage-lady had mentioned. Maybe she had been exaggerating how prevalent that was. "I think I will go talk to some of those gnoll guards, if you want to meet me at the market later." He obviously wasn't very good with the whole 'undercover' thing...

[Kaed]

[*cricket chorus*]

[bloodtide]

A group of five gnoll guards, each in banded mail and has a lot of weapons, perk up their ears as soon as they see Garrl and quickly move over to follow along with him as he enters the city area.

Other then the couple of merchants that take note of everyone entering the city area, no one else seems to take much notice of the group.

[bloodtide]

A warm breeze comes in from the south....

[Nai_Calus]

Kerazt notes the lack of elves with a frown. Well, so much for superior beings. Ah well. He mills around the marketplace, listening in on various bits of conversations.