Loki's D&D Next IC

[Loki_42]

The sun is high, making a beautiful day for your first day in the city of Berin. Once through the gate, the sounds and smells of the city assault your senses. Fresh meat cooking in the halfling caravans, hawkers selling their wares in the marketplace, children running through the streets, and guards scuffling with thieves. But one site rises above the others, that of the Baron's palace, right next to the Ivory Tower. The baron is hiring adventurer's to help rebuild Blingdenstone and earn the gnome's trust after the recent Drow attacks. Do you have what it takes?

[ZeroNumerous]

Juliana

A well dressed woman (http://i.imgur.com/UzM0X.jpg) picks her way through the streets with practiced ease. She avoids miscreants, peasants, children, merchants, and guards alike so as to keep her outfit immaculately clean. She pulls her shawl closer to her body to create an imaginary distance between herself and the rabble of the city. The woman, known as Juliana Ironhand to her compatriots, comported as if she were nobility. Of course, she was no such thing, but being a member of the Arcane Order made one act in certain ways. Of course, she was not so cold as to refuse beggars their coin, or to act as if she were high and mighty. Rather, she simply had an air of grace and nobility that few aside from true bluebloods conducted themselves with.

[YodaFlakes]

Sinas

A few yards behind the woman trails a traveler in worn clothes (http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/deeskayden/313_TurntimberRanger.jpg), who could have passed for a human mercenary if not for his angular features and the tribal tattoo weaving across the side of his face, giving him away as an elf. Sinas strides smoothly through the crowd, eyes darting from person to person and an inquisitive look on his face. More than a few people eye him back, especially the elegant, leaf bladed greatsword he has slung over his back. Hes pretty pleased to have finally made it to the city of Berin, after living so long in the seclusion of his home tribe, and is ready to accept the baron's request.

[Ichneumon]

Lucentio

Following Sinas and Juliana is Lucentio. He's walking slowly, always nervously looking around, as if expecting an ambush, even on this quiet peaceful joyful day.

Lucentio might be one of the most grim people you've ever seen, but he has reason to be grim. He knew what kind of creatures are hidden away in the deepest caverns and shadows, where the sun is but a legend and where the weight of the world crushes all hope of ever walking in the light again. He knew. He had seen them, he had worshipped them. He had escaped, he was now serving the gods of good, but he was scarred. Physically and mentally.

Although he is strong, muscled, trained for physical combat, he doesn't look healthy. His skin hangs loose and sickly, from all the malnourishment from the time he was nourished not but food, but by his simple devotion to the dark alien forces. Dark bags under his eyes reveal that Lucentio's torment isn't over and robs him of his sleep, the lingering voices of dark alien gods still echo in his mind, calling him, tempting him.

This strengthens him though, making him determined to be a force of good in this world, instead of a follower of evil. He doesn't laugh often, but he is totally committed to his cause and to his party, he'd die for them.

Lucentio wears black armor and a long black cloak, having long dirty black hair. He still looks like the evil cultist he once was. He wanted to do away with his old clothes and armor long ago, but something... something in the back of his mind stopped him and convinced him not to...

[Loki_42]

The group of four makes it through the city with no problems, and ends up in front of the palace. It is relatively small compared to the wizarding tower right across from it, but easily dwarfs the other buildings around it, with it's own attached tower standing even taller. It has a large fountain in the courtyard, with a pathway leading up to large, opened doors. Standing inside of the building appear to be some other adventurer's, most likely applying for the same job as you. Before you can step in, an interior door slams shut, and a tall human with a bow walks briskly out of the building, almost knocking Julianna over.

[ZeroNumerous]

Julianna

A flurry of cloth covers Julianna's rather clumsy attempt at catching herself from falling. She glares at the man who blew past her so rudely. "Hmph! Why I never. At the university some people had the decency to recognize a student of magic when they saw one!" Julianna's righteous anger holds tight, and her lips twist into a thin smile that anyone who knew her well would recognize. That smile said "I'm going to get petty revenge" to her friends.

[YodaFlakes]

Smitty takes a step out to block the man's path. "You should be careful where you step, brother," he says, with a smirk on his face that reveals the exaggerated canines of his elvish heritage, giving him the look of a hyena mid laugh. "You owe this lady an apology," he says, crossing his arms and giving the man a predatory glare, "I see you're coming from the keep; care to tell us whats been going on in there?"

[Kaiisaxo]

"Yes you owe her" Dan hadn't spoken a lot on their way there, but he couldn't shut up on times like these. "You cannot just go around being careless of who you step on" He was likewise dressed on worn clothing as Smitty, but he carried very different equipment, most of it was needed to survive in the wild more than survive a straight fight, yet he moved confidently.

[Ichneumon]

Lucentio

Lucentio watched the group carefully. Of course, if Juliana had been in real danger, he's rushed in, drawn his weapon and smashed the guy's skull in, but the guy was just being rude and his other friends were already dealing with the situation. He saw no reason to get involved at let things escalate.

Instead, he just remained there, quietly watching and observing. He didn't trust this guy, at all.

May I roll for sense motive? If I may, wisdom (+4) en trained in sense motive (+3): [roll0] If I'm not allowed to roll, ignore this please.:smallsmile:

[Loki_42]

Lucentio:From viewing the man's body language, you get the sense that if nothing else, he's extremely angry right now, a rage that's quickly rising as the smell proceeds throughout his clothes.

With no one moving in to stop her, Julianna's magic takes hold, causing a foul stench to rise up through the man's clothes. Visibly shocked from the action, the man raises up his hand, preparing to strike at Julianna.

Initiative(Party): [roll0]
Intiative(Man): [roll1]

[Loki_42]

Sorry for the double post, but I can't edit in Die rolls.

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

The man swings for Julianna, but misses by a wide mark.

[Kaiisaxo]

Dan quickly moved to react to the man's aggression, he focussed his inner strength to try to defuse the situation.

Unarmed attack [roll0]
Damage [roll1]
If suceed to hit him I use stunning fist (Wis DC 14 or he is stunned)

[Ichneumon]

Lucentio

Seeing the guy in anger and attacking Juliana, Lucentio draws his mace as well. Now the guy went to far. When he sees Dan attack, trying to defuse the situation, he smiles and says to himself: "Pfff, typically Dan. Doesn't he know it's already to late? As soon as the guy lay his fingers on one of us, he was doomed..."

He runs to the guy and tries to smash his skull with his mace, shouting: "Fool! Kneel before us!"

Roll to hit with mace (1d20 + 2 (for weapons) + 4 (strength): [roll0]

Roll for damage if hit: [roll1]

[ZeroNumerous]

Julianna

Juliana ducks out of the way none too elegantly, then straightens her clothing once more. "Why I... The nerve! You sir deserve the foul smell you've attained. Do you have an excuse behind your actions, or is trying to harm someone a greeting in your country?" The young wizard brushes herself off then gathers her arcane might, but holds it in check in case the man decides to attack again.

Julianna disengages 10ft away, then readies an action to Ray of Frost the guy if he keeps fighting. If it's not possible to do both, then she simply readies an action to Ray of Frost him.

Magic Attack: [roll0](+3 Magic Attack, +4 INT)
Damage: [roll1](+3 base, +4 INT) frost damage. His move speed is reduced by 10ft if it hits.

[YodaFlakes]

"HEY HEY HEY!" shouts Smitty as his friends begin to beat the tar out of the jerk-off human, "Lets be civilized about this...no weapons, Lucen. C'mon man we've been over this." Smitty then proceeds to gleefully aim a swift kick for man's crotch.


Unarmed strike: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Loki_42]

Wis save: [roll0]

Dan's fist meets the man's face, and he reels back in pain. He resteadies himself, then looks out across his opponents. As Lucentio's mace nearly hits his head, he raises up his hand's in surrender.

"Please, please, no weapons! I'm sorry. I've just been having a really bad time of things, and these are brand new clothes."

[ZeroNumerous]

Julianna

The spell-slinger releases her grip on the arcane and just sighs at the man's antics. "Well now you've learned something: Be respectful and polite. Particularly to beautiful young ladies. In fact, for apologizing I will do my best to fix your problem." Julianna summons her magic once more for another burst of arcane energy. This time, she cleans the man's clothing. She casts it once more in order to replace his skunk musk with the scent of fresh pine needles.

Casting Prestidigitation, again as an At-Will due to Academic, and choosing to clean his clothes instead. Then another casting to cover up his smell.

[Ichneumon]

Lucentio

Without saying anything, Lucentio puts his mace away. He doesn't smile though, still looking as grim as ever.

"Pfff, coward," he mumbles.

The voices in his head add to that,"Why is one given life if one fears death, little one? Burn like a torch, Lucentio, if only for an instant."

Lucentio quickly looks around, making sure no one heard that.

[YodaFlakes]

"Alright brother, no harm done" Smitty says amicably. "My name is Sinas, but my friends call me Smitty. Back to my earlier question, what exactly is going on in the keep that's causing you such problems? Maybe we can help each other out."

[Loki_42]

The man thanks Julianna for fixing his clothes and turns to Smitty. "Thanks for the offer, but I don't think you could help me. The Baron is looking for adventurers to go and help the gnomes at Blingdenstone, and I decided to give it a shot. There's not a whole lot here in town I want to hold on to. But I was interviewed, and they said they didn't want me working for them. So I don't think you could change their mind."

[ZeroNumerous]

Julianna

"With your attitude? I would hope not. Maybe now that you've been taught proper respect, you might find yourself a smidgen more employable." Julianna turns toward the door the man exited and starts heading inside. Whether Smitty wanted to bring the man along like some kind of lost puppy was none of her concern after all.

[YodaFlakes]

"Alright then, friend, best of luck." Smitty replies, "Were gonna go make us some money!" He then scampers off after Juliana, having lost interest in pine-fresh man.

[Ichneumon]

Slowly, Lucentio follow the rest, but first asks one more question to the man: "Did they tell you why they didn't want you?"

Lucentio figured the answer might help them in their own interview.

[Loki_42]

At Lucentio's question, the man looks sheepish. "Well, I don't like to admit this, but I have a criminal record. Nothing major, but the town guard knows it. I thought that doing this might help me change my reputation, but I guess I'll have to find some other way. The name's Derrick, by the way. Sorry about my attitude earlier, I've just been having a terrible week."

The group heads inside. The building has a fabulous interior, easily matching the beauty and grandeur of the exterior. A woman sits at a desk, furiously scribbling ink onto paper. She looks up and says, "Are you adventurers? Go in there!" She points to a side room, where you see another adventuring group leaving, likely having received the same response as Derrick outside.

[Ichneumon]

"Nice to meet you Derrick. My apologies as well. Here is my card." He hands him a card. "Maybe we can have lunch sometime? I have a bad record myself, worshiped evil darkness for a couple of years, nothing too serious. People like us should look out for each other."

He smiles, says goodbye and continues, following the group.

[ZeroNumerous]

Julianna

Julianna follows Smitty's lead on this. After all, she had a tendency to cause problems that Smitty didn't, so she would happily defer to his command concerning dealing with others.

[Kaiisaxo]

Dan doeasn't feel much sympathy for the man, while his past seems worth of it, his overall attitude leaves too much to be desired. He then motions inside following Smitty while speaking to the rest of the group.
"Well, let's go. We don't want to make our possible employers wait"

[YodaFlakes]

Smitty strides through the door and announces to the room, "Your search is over! The greatest adventures who have ever lived are here! WOOOO!" He then slaps the nearest person in the face, for emphasis. (assuming there is someone in melee range)

[roll0]
[roll1]

[Loki_42]

Unfortunately, the closest and only other person in the room is a halfling in leather armor, who you smack square in the face.

Milo can now enter.

[Meltheim]

Milo

The halfling tumbles backwards off of the small bench he had been sitting on. The sounds of his leather creak a bit as he gets to his feet. He's got brown hair, greenish eyes, a ruddy complexion and a bit of a belly. He looks far more like a brewmaster than anything else.

"Who calls themselves an 'adventurer' these days? I mean, really? Aren't we all just trying to get by? Snag some coin, pinch a tush, drink a bit? Adventures seem entirely overrated . . . " He says the last to himself while eying the newcomers.

[Ichneumon]

Lucentio

Lucentio watches the halfling from the back of the group. He doesn't know what to think of him. At first he might seem nice, friendly and harmless. But don't all villains, all knaves, look friendly at first before stabbing you in the back? He looks too innocent, not dangerous enough. He surely doesn't look fit for an adventure. Adventurers should look more dangerous, that's what Lucentio thinks.

He keeps gazing upon him from the back of the group, trying to make him feel uncomfortable. "Show us your real face, halfling" , Lucentio says to himself.

[Meltheim]

Milo

"Real face, eh?" The halfling's eyebrows knit together in exaggerated confusion. A half second later, his eyebrows pop up as a huge smile crosses his face. "This?" he says, showing a somewhat goofy expression, "or that?" He points toward Lucentio, just as the man feels a slight tug at his cloak, where a knife has buried itself in the frame of the door, pinning the fabric in place.

"Look, I'd much rather be a brewer who's good at nicking things, than a thief who's passable at brewing. Either way, I'm answering the baron's call, as I am sure you are as well."

[ZeroNumerous]

Julianna

The wizardess remains quiet throughout the exchange, but her expression visibly sours when Milo mentions his thief-based background. "Hmph. I'm not a fan of thieves, whether they're on my side or not. But I am willing to trust you, so long as you keep your hands to yourself young man."

[Meltheim]

Milo

"Well, nobody said we had to work together." The halfling chirps, tucking his dagger back into a small sheath at his hip. With that, he turns his attention back to other things, namely, waiting for his turn to be interviewed.

[ZeroNumerous]

Julianna

"The Baron would be quite foolish if he refused the aid of a group such as us simply because you appeared, or refused your aid simply because we appeared. With that in mind, it would be ludicrous to assume we would not be working on the same problem. Assuming, naturally, that the Baron is intelligent enough to recognize worth and skill when he sees it."

[Kaiisaxo]

Dan
The ascetic wasn't very amused by the halfling's words
"Or that he would pick an unknown brewer over a fully realized team that includes a war veteran"

But he also wsan't that happy with Lucentio trying to test the small fella's patience and so he spoke to the wizard a little more appart than the rest

"Calm down man, we don't want to put a escene to our potential employer"

[Meltheim]

Milo

"Oh I see," Milo says, nodding in an exaggerated fashion, as if he were talking to a small child, or one who had been struck repeatedly in the head. "A veteran! Quite useful for adventures. Less useful for rebuilding a stronghold, engendering trust, easing the sting of war." Shaking his head and chuckling, Milo says again, "The last group had TWO veterans. I'm sure the next will have three. The Baron will do with us as he wills, nothing more, nothing less."

With that, Milo begins singing to himself, kicking his legs back and forth, patiently waiting his turn to be interviewed.

"Brewer in the kitchen; with a job of work to do.
Mistress up above, slipping on a robe of blue.
She dances down the staircase, her fancy all so free,
crying, brewer, oh, dear brewer, won’t you pour a pint for me?"

[Ichneumon]

Lucentio nods to Dan. He says, somewhat annoyed: "I'm sorry, guess I just have a bad experience with halfling thieves. In my experience they're misfits and troublemakers. Long ago, I was in an adventuring party with them and he backstabbed us and escaped with all the loot, while we were busy fending off hoards of kobolds. However, that's no excuse for my behavior and Milo can't be blamed."

Lucentio walks to Milo and kneels, so they are more on eye's height. He offers him his hand. "My name is Lucentio Shadowspell. I've had far worse companions than brewers and thieves. Welcome."

[Meltheim]

Milo

Milo accepts the man's handshake and returns it with one of his own.

[YodaFlakes]

Smitty, who was previously polishing his greatsword in the corner, finally stands up, tired of all this idle chit chat. "Well as much as love hearing every detail of your lives, shall we get on with this job? I'm dying of boredom here!"

[Loki_42]

With near perfect timing, a door opens and out walk another disappointed group of adventurers. A voice comes from the room, saying, "Next group, please enter!"

[Meltheim]

Milo

With a wave and a murmur of apology to the exiting group, Milo turns to his newfound companions. "We doing this as a group then, eh? Well all right." He puts on his biggest grin, fixes his hair, spins on his heel, and walks toward the beckoning voice.

With an amiability that halflings are known for, Milo tries to set the tone of the interview on his terms.

"How nice to see you again, dear sir! Now I must know, how did you like that bottle of Greyfallow brandy? I told you it would be splendid - bits of cinnamon and star anise - they just set it above the rest! Now, now, meet some of my friends here." He extends a hand, beckoning the others. "Come now, don't be shy!"

I'm going to throw in a Persuade check, once we get some dialogue going.

[ZeroNumerous]

Julianna

The young spell-slinger frowns as Milo switches from "I don't wanna work with you" to "Mr. Best Friend". "I don't like him already. He's two-faced." Regardless, if Smitty goes along with this ploy then Julianna does as well. Otherwise, she's quite happy to leave the halfling out to dry on the interview.

[Loki_42]

Inside the room, a man sits at a solid, nicely polished hardwood desk. On your side of the desk, there are six chairs arranged facing the front of the desk. Four guards stand to the back, armed with longswords and crossbows.

The man behind the desks smiles at Milo's friendliness, and invites the party to sit down. "Ah, yes, you were the one who sent that, weren't you. Well, I quite liked it, thank you very much. So, you're here because you want me to hire you to go to Blingdenstone, correct? Why don't you all introduce yourselves and tell me a bit about why you think you should go?"

[Meltheim]

Milo

"Yes yes, I thought you'd enjoy the spirits. I am a man skilled at procurement. I'm particularly talented in getting things where others have failed, whether it's a special brandy," he says, gesturing to the half-empty bottle on the back table, "or supplies for an emerging nation. I know people who know people, and if I don't know people, I make an effort to get to know them. Know what I mean?"

Milo looks down towards his shoes for a moment, then back up, "Plus, wee folk have to stick together. The gnomes need me and I'm happy to help."

Persuade check with +6 bonus (+3 from Charisma, +3 from Skill training) = [roll0]