Knife of Invern (Homebrew guinea pig, Hamste, Invern)

[Zaydos]

The courier had worn the insignia of one of the Low Lords of the city, lord Clarigor Ironarm if his word is to be believed. The letter was simple, direct, and to the point.

The letter
Pyrom
Having heard of your exploits as a problem solver for hire, his lord Clarigor Ironarm, Low Lord of Invern and 7th of his line, requests your attendance. This courier will lead you to the Ironarm manor. Should you perform the duty that will be explained to you upon your arrival there is a sizable sum of gold which will serve as your reward.
Signed and sealed
Clarigor of the House Ironarm

After handing you the letter the courier stands at attention waiting for you to finish it, and give your response.

[Hamste]

Interesting... no harm in heading there to check it out and see if it was worth it. A sizable sum sounded quite good. Hopefully it would be an easy in and out mission.

Ok, let's go to Lord Clarigor. While we walk, care to tell me a bit about him? Pyrom said smiling. It was always good to learn more about your employer and your enemies. Very few times could knowing more cause more troubles then it was worth.

[Zaydos]

"Lord Clarigor is one of Invern's Low Lords. The Ironarm family was founded three hundred years ago, by his ancestor Thrangi Ironarm the son of an Imperial prince of Karavin and a human maid. He made a name for himself as a commander of men, and was the commissioner in charge of Invern's city guard and was rewarded with the position of Low Lord for his service. Clarigor himself is an honorable man, esteeming to follow in his ancestors' footsteps as a man of great deeds. He is sometimes a harsh man, but he holds himself to the same standards he holds others," the courier says as he begins to lead you towards the gardened manors of Invern's elites.

[Hamste]

Sounds, like a good man. Pyrom said while musing and walking.

Sorry about taking so long, I had looked at this when I didn't have time to post and forgot about it. Not much to add until something else happens.

[Zaydos]

After several minutes you arrive at the Ironarm manor. Built on the Street of Gold, the manor is an impressive building and the surrounding lawn, less than an acre, is massive by the standards of Invern where people live packed closer together than sardines. It is one of the smaller manors on the street, with smaller grounds, even so the courier does not lead you to the front door, but down a path to the servant's entrance on the side.

As you are led, a man emerges from the servant's door. About 6' 10", the man wears a heavy, dark cloak with an embroidered sword dividing its back in two. You catch a look of the man's deformed face, one side larger than the other, as he walks out muttering. You can recognize the man as Klorash the Hunter of Men, one of the city's many bounty-hunters; said to be a quarter ogre, Klorash is rumored to take an unhealthy pleasure in bringing any bounties dead instead of alive.

Entering the side entrance you find yourself in the servants' area. The furnishings here are sparse, the floor common wood, the walls and ceiling stone, but even so they are above average for the city, and the building is almost comfortable. You can see several servants running to and fro at work as the courier leads you up the stairs into the main house. The floor is covered in marble in the main building, stylized columns rise up to the roof in a hallway large enough for 2 men to fight abreast, the walls are still stone, but fine cut rock chosen for an impressive look instead of just utility. Finally the courier leads you to a oak door and opening it points you inside.

The room seems to be a large conference room. There are several others already seated, men and woman of various races and builds but the ones you recognize have one thing in common: each one is a sellsword of sorts, willing to perform tasks of heroism, or villainy, for a price. There is: Harad Ghost-tongue, the half-orc tracker from the Red Sea whose tongue and cheeks were destroyed by an axe in battle and who now speaks with an illusory tongue; a large man whose coppery skin and long braided hair shows he is from the Dragon Marsh, and whose companion confirms he is Jal-leon, a "hero for hire" who travels with the wizard Tomz; a gnome, dressed in black leather too light for armor, Elizar the Shadow said to be a master "retriever" acquiring "stolen" objects to "return" them to their "proper owners"; Asl, the red-haired warrior-woman whose fabulously valuable Jewelblade hangs in a scabbard at her waist. Another three you don't recognize, a male elf, a strange reptilian creature with a be-tentacled face and strangely swollen cranium, and a female dwarf, also sit gathered here, finally there is a man who stands out among this crowd. He is dressed in a dark suit with the Ironarms insignia across it, obviously a servant of some sort, seeing you he gestures towards an empty chair, "Please be seated, his Lord of Ironarm shall be with you soon."

The walls are covered in tapestries showing various hunting scenes and battle scenes. There is one odd exception, the portrait of a young boy with dark curls, pale, freckled skin and almost almond colored eyes.

OoC: Yeah it happens to me a lot (poke me in the OoC if I don't respond quickly), and yeah I know what you mean I had to give you the chance to ask questions and any follow up questions, but at the same time once you're done asking questions it needs to move to the next scene. Also don't forget the other IC thread.

[Hamste]

The boy was probably important if he was on the scene with the other heroes. Possibly a current or dead son of the Lord. He even entertained the thought that it might be the current lord which would lead to an interesting set of circumstances but the chances of that were low.

Hello there, I'm Pyrom. How's everyone on this fine day? Pyrom said smiling as he sat down. It was somewhat nerve wracking to be near this much fire power. Some of the strongest fighters were here. What was even more worrisome was how much money this person must have to hire the best fighters, many servants and even the ability to afford these expensive walls. It would probably be ok as long as the lord was on his side but better not mess this up.


I have posted in the other thread, it's just waiting for your reply

[Zaydos]

Harad turns his face towards Pyrom, his scarred cheeks permanently twisting his mouth into a bit of a smile. "Name's Harad, and I just hope that whatever this is about it's worth my time to come here."

Jal-leon places a hand on the table, "So has no one got an idea why we are gathered here?"

The servant, places his hand on the table, "I now present to you his Lord Clarigor Ironarm," he says as a far door into the room opens.

A powerfully built man, aging but not yet old hair just touched with gray, enters the room. He wears a velvet cape, and a stole made from some silver-furred creature, and beneath it ornamental armor although under the gold-work you can see what seems to be the black gleam of adamantine. He wears a velvet glove on his left hand, but an iron gauntlet covers his right.

His brown eyes are deep-set beneath a heavy brow, and his brown hair is kept short except for a small pony-tail in the back.

"I am Lord Clarigor Ironarm, as I am sure you are all aware. I have asked you each here, and others, to offer you a bounty. During the night my son was abducted from his chambers. I am offering a five-thousand gold reward to whoever brings me back my child alive. Should he have already been killed I will pay one-thousand gold for his remains, and I shall make it my personal responsibility to see that whoever is responsible for his death faces the worst end that I can give them. Any questions?" The man finishes.

Before you can speak up, the elf stands up, "You expect us to work for a mere five thousand gold? And not even the certainty of it, but to compete against each other?"

"You don't seem otherwise employed," Lord Clarigor says, "besides supply and demand. There are many, many sellswords in this city, while not all are as famous as others, I am certain that there are many of you more than eager for even the chance at five thousand gold."

Apparently it didn't add to my subscribed threads properly.

[Hamste]

I am also sure that a lot of those jumping at 5000 gold are also the ones that would attempt to ransom them instead of sending them back. Of course, I wouldn't do anything so stupid but you might want to consider raising the payment for the child to better guarantee that no one would try to do something so greedy. I do have to ask though, you seem to have to have a lot of strong men in your service already, why send in a bunch of over competitive bounty hunters after him? Pyrom said frowning. That was quite a handsome sum of money, with this many bounty hunters it might be hard to do. On the bright side he was right about his guess that this was the son of the lord.

[Zaydos]

"You think my men aren't on this already? I believe in redundancy. And having a Lord of Invern think fondly of you is worth far more than a few thousand gold. Besides if my men were as competent as they have assured me they are this wouldn't have happened in the first place, so maybe you could view this as a means of seeing if your services are worth turning to in future times of need," Lord Ironarm says.

[Hamste]

Interesting. Pyrom said as he thought. A lords favor would be pretty good. Of course, they did just admit that there was even less chance of them getting anything...not only did they have to compete against the other bounty hunters but also the soldiers of the Lord. Hopefully, that would scare off some of the other bounty hunters. The most worrisome part though was all the bounty hunters...chances were at least one of them would try to increase their profits by killing the other bounty hunters off.

[Zaydos]

"You only get quality work for quality pay," the elf scoffs, "And this isn't quality pay."

Harad grins. "The pay is bad," he muses, "I'd not blame anyone for deciding it weren't worth it, but me I'm bored, so sure I'll look for your little lordling; who knows maybe whoever took him might put up a fun fight."

Jal-leon and his partner seem to be having a hushed discussion involving debts and whether this will make the necessary gold quickly enough.

Lord Clarigor looks over the gathered mercenaries and says, "So if we're done haggling like housewives at market, any other questions?"

[Hamste]

Eh, it's a bit low considering we have to beat out all the other bounty hunters and your soldiers but I will do it. Will we be allowed to walk around the palace and to examine the boy's room? It might be able to help me find him...also was there any ransom note or anyone who would want your child for? Pyrom said frowning as he thought about it a bit.

[Zaydos]

"My servants will show you to his room and any other chambers that you think may be related to his disappearance. There has been no ransom note, and I am a Lord of Invern I have more enemies than I could possibly be aware of, but I do not know of any who would do this in secret."

[Hamste]

Well, I will start whenever it is ok. Is this discussion over? Pyrom said as he considered. Atleast the guy was not a fool, that was promising. He would follow the servants to where ever the rooms are and hopefully there would be some evidence around here.

[Zaydos]

"If you have no other questions," Lord Ironarm says and the servants lead you to the third story and a richly furnished bedroom. The floor is covered in toys, some intricate works of precious metal, some simple wood save for enchantments which cause them to move on their own. There is a large wardrobe against one wall and a large, softly pillowed bed. A pair of hinged stained glass windows are shut in one wall.

A steward of some sort is waiting in the room. "Another mercenary," he sighs, "Do your best not to change anything, in case the next one needs to look the room over."