[IC] A Strange Story of Spirit

[cosmonuts]

Out-of-character thread. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?339274-OOC-A-Strange-Story-of-Spirit&p=17249428#post17249428)

Our protagonists find themselves standing outside open city gates under the hot midday sun. The city is Feldkirchen, and just as the rest of Strumica, the city looks prosperous. Merchants, craftsmen, farmers, hunters, and so on--all sorts of people are passing in and out of the city. Ten guards stand by the gates, eyeing the traffic for suspicious behavior.

The city walls are tall, you estimate them to be about ninety feet high. They are made of stone, and look well-engineered.

The protagonists are not spotted yet, but when they walk towards the gates, the guards will undoubtedly see them, as there are few concealed places, and none useful given the bright daylight.

[Illven]

Tiffany looks up at the array of people that have joined her at the front gates, but says nothing.

[Rofltrollcopter]

...ONE SIDE, COMING THROUGH! The assembled people around the gate have barely any time to react as a tall human wearing a chain shirt sprints along the crowd. He suddenly turns, goes through the crowd and takes shelter in a nearby ditch. A few moments later, a group of dwarves come running up the road "Let's see how tall ye are stretched out on the ground ye pig faced screechy rat!". The dwarves stop and look around angrily, but having lost sight of their quarry, one of them shouts "He must have given us the slip and doubled back" The dwarves turn around and head back down the road. The man dusts himself off and looks up at onlookers. "I never knew dwarves could be so touchy, all I did was ask them how to tell the difference between a dwarf woman and a man. How was I supposed to know that the dwarf I was talking to was their clan lord's daughter?"

[cosmonuts]

Some of the passerbys look amused by Audrick's actions. Others shake their heads and continue about their business.

The guards, however, are definitely unhappy. Five stay by the gates, while another five approach Audrick. "What's the cause of this commotion?" says a guard. The guards look cautious, although not hostile. They also look annoyed.

[Anubis Dread]

In all his travels of... a few weeks, he'd never seen a wall this big before! He wondered how big the city in it was? Was it like goldfish, where the bigger the container the bigger it was? Did it grow to fit the wall? Or maybe it was like a hermit crab and the city periodically moved to a place with bigger walls. No that was silly, buildings didn't have legs! ...not the one's he'd seen anyway. Hm...

Scraching his cheek thoughtfaully, the elf gazed up at the large gate pondering what it all meant. Completely oblivious to everything around him, even when the running adventurer practically knocked him over running past.

Eventually he blinked, his attention coming back into focus as he looked around at the new state of things. "Commotion?" Bhalndir asked the adjacent guards, genuienly confused as to what they meant.

[Rofltrollcopter]

Hmm? oh, yes Audrick says, Well you good gentlesirs, I was just... going on my afternoon run, and then I found this interesting flower in a ditch. Some flowers are sacred to the followers, of Ehlonna god of Nature, of which I am occasionally a member, so I was obligated to check it out. Being caught up in a fervant mood and desiring to commune with the spirits of nature, I had to get as close to the earth as possible, hence why I was in the ditch. I believe that should explain everything. He says cheerfully, he then idly plucks a wildflower and shows it to the guards, "Pretty little thing, ain't it?"

[cosmonuts]

The guards stare at Bhalandir and Audrick. One groans and says, "It takes all kinds..."

"Stay back, Sir," says a guard to Bhalandir.

Another guard approaches Audrick and says, "Sir, what business have you in Feldkirchen?" He ignores the flower.

[Illven]

Tiffany facepalms at this moment, but says nothing.

[Rofltrollcopter]

Audrick blinks Business, what does one need 'business'. That Old Stump told me that city dwellers were strange, but I never imagined that would be this weird. He says to no one in particular. The King has sent out a call for Adventurers has he not? Well here I am! The finest Archer in the land! He brandishes his bow, a fine elven composite bow that sets out a stark juxtaposition compared to his vagabond appearance. After the moment passes he says weakly "Well, maybe the finest archer on this road. He looks around the road Alright, maybe third finest. The point is now that whatever problems your kingdom is facing, you can rest easy, because I am here to help!" Audrick is practically bursting with enthusiasm.

[Anubis Dread]

Bhaldnir's face lit up, and a wide excited look of awe came over his face... before fading rather quickly. Oh, he WASN'T the best archer in the land... that was kind of sad. It would have been neat if he was meeting someone so important! Wait, did he say something about adventurers?

"Oh! I'm here for that too!" the elf claimed excitedly. "Oh, but if he says it will be okay because he's here you probably don't need me as well... can I at least tag along?" the naive swordsman asked the man.

[Rofltrollcopter]

Audrick nods to the elf and addresses the guards in a grand, commanding tone It's alright, he can come in too. He's with me.

[cosmonuts]

The guards stare at Audrick's bow. Some of the guards by the gate went for their weapons upon seeing Audrick brandish his bow, but the guards nearby wave at them reassuringly. The gate guards look confused, but nonetheless back down.

"Very well, Sir," says a guard to Audrick, half-addressing Bhaldnir as well. "If you're here on the King's summons, then you are welcome to enter or leave Feldkirchen as you see fit. But you need to be on your best behavior." Then, directly addressing Bhaldnir, the guard says, "As for you..."

Another guard steps in. "He says he's with archer fellow."

"I heard," says the first guard with a frown. He relents. He turns to the other guards and says, "False alarm!" The guards move back to their posts.

You hear a guard mutter, "Adventurers..."

[Anubis Dread]

That guard muttering... yay! He was officially an adventurer! And was obeying the summons of a king no less. Granted, he was basically just tagging along with someone who was likely much more suite to the task, but it was still a chance to get a taste of the questing life. Plus if he helped here it would be a step towards becoming a famed and renowned warrior.

Bhaldnir coughed into his hand to collect himself before doing anything else. "Thank you, you're doing a good job." He thought. Was it normal for them to thoroughly question renowned archers and nature priests? All they seemed to do was stand around not letting many people inside. Then again if he was a city he wouldn't want people crawling around inside his shell either unless they were good people.

Oh, right. The gate. Forcing himself back to attention, the elf strode to enter the city.

[Illven]

Tiffany sighed and also entered the gate.

I suppose I am working with you? She questioned, hoping for the first time in her life that she was mistaken.

[cosmonuts]

Audrick, Bhalandir, and Tiffany stand inside the city near the entrance gate. The city's buildings are well-built, and its denizens active. The roads are fairly crowded. A few guards patrol among the crowd, but they seem relaxed.

From here, you can visit—

The center of the town, with coliseums, theaters, guilds, and banks.
The poor residential district, with cheap inns and seedy taverns.
The regular residential district, with blacksmiths, carpenters, artisans, regular inns, and reputable taverns.
The rich residential district, with mansions of merchants and nobles, as well as some interesting shops, inns, and taverns.
The market district, with, well, you can guess.
The temple district, with churches and government builds.
The port, with all its traders and ships. The warehouses are also located here.
The palace, where the King resides, which is also next to the barracks.

There are more places to go to, and you must either search for them or ask around.

[Illven]

We should probably go to the palace first. It's foolish to keep any king waiting. Let alone the king that is our prospective employer. Tiffany suggested pointing to the palace.

[Anubis Dread]

So this was a non-elven city... it was much bigger than he'd expected! Plus it was all paved and built up, which was really different. Now, the only real question at this point was where the king would hang out. Where would you find a king in a place like this? Hm... well he supposed he lived in the palace, but did he really hang out there all day? With all this stuff around he wouldn't be surprised if he only really went back to sleep! Still, his new companion was right - it was the best place to start.

"Right, the sooner we know what our new adventure is the sooner we can go on it! To the big building!" Bhandir agreed.

[Resasi]

Tove pads up just as the others are deciding on where to go. She doesn't know them from any other passing adventurer, but something about this group just feels right. Instincts like these are commonplace with her, and she's long since given up on second guessing them.

A truly massive white-furred wolf, as tall at the shoulder as many human women in their prime, with stark white fur and a turquoise glyph glowing on her forehead, Tove's appearance does not lend itself to blending in, and so she decides to continue with her direct approach. It worked for the guards at the gate after all, who had let her pass after she spoke a few words to them in their own tongue. One might almost think they had never been approached by curious Avatar before. Such strange people.

"You seek the one who names himself lord of this land?" she asks from behind the group of Tiffany, Audrick, and Bhandir. No introductions, no hesitation. Simply a direction question... from a wolf. She tilts her head curiously, awaiting an answer. "Is it not an insult to speak of him as you do, without the rhythms?"

Behind Tove, her two perpetual companions watch silently, mimicking her movements precisely. A pair of smaller wolves, their bodies made of opaque blue-white ice that remains unmelted even in this heat, their eyes flickering spheres of rimefire, their appearance does precisely nothing to make Tove less of an oddity, though she pays no heed to them or to the reactions they draw.

[Rofltrollcopter]

Audrick turns to address the woman who was following him and the Elf. "AHA! It seems as if our esteemed reputation is already attracting followers." He looks at her with a stern gaze "Tell me, what makes you think that your qualified for ADVENTURE along the likes of Audrick: the third greatest archer of the Feldkirchen road and.." he is at a momentary loss for words. "I don't actually know who you are" he says sheepishly to the Elf.

When the party was confronted by the enormous wolf-beast, for the first time, Audrick was at a loss for words. He was awestruck by this paragon of the natural world. His sense returned to him, and he shouted out loud "ITS SO FUZZY" before he rushes over the wolf's side and burys his face in its fur.

[cosmonuts]

The crowd parts way when Tove moves. Whispers of fear and confusion—why is there a big white wolf in Feldkirchen? Why is it being followed by two skeletons, like in the stories of necromancers? Parents lead away their children and blacksmiths reach for their swords. The guards stare at the wolf warily, but indeed, the gate guards had let her in, she was obviously here on the King's summons.

A half-orc woman walks up to your group. She is wearing full plate and carrying a greatsword. Her demeanor is confident. Indeed, as she approaches the group, the crowd stops whispering about Tove and begins whispering about her—

"It's her!"

"Is she going to the King?"

"Is she with them? Wasn't she with someone else?"

Ignoring the whispers, the woman addresses the group directly, "You are here on the King's summons? Make your way to the palace fast, then, lest the guards mistake you—" she nodded at Tove "—for a threat. Or perhaps you are a threat. I have not met many talking wolves, and certainly not any who walks with the dead."

[Rofltrollcopter]

Audrick feels the need to speak up in Tove's defense. "With all due respect sir madam sir, you are overlooking a crucial fact. This is a fuzzy talking wolf. How many fuzzy things do you know of also happen to be evil?"

[Anubis Dread]

"Oh, it's Bhalandir. I'm an artist- I mean, swordsman," the elf replied to Audrick's inquiry. Was he up there in terms of being one of the best swordsmen on the road? Probably not. Still, it was great that they were getting new comrades! That was big part of adventuring! Well... he thought it was. Most tales of his brother had him crusading solo. But maybe that was just because he was so much stronger than Bhalandir was.

Was it normal to pet a new companion like that? Still, now they were four, so they should go to the palace! It seemed someone had the same thought they did though, as they were soon approached by a woman in full plate. Was she a paladin?? That would be pretty amazing!

"Oh don't worry, we're all just getting introduced! As soon as we get it together we're heading straight to... talking wolf?" the elf frowned in confusion, looking behind him and staring at the wolf blankly for five seconds. Before his eyes suddenly widened in shock. "Wow, it IS a giant wolf!"

[Resasi]

Tove doesn't outwardly react to the happenings beyond twisting her head to look briefly at Audrick. Beneath her fur, his face finds a lattice of painfully cold blue-black ice that flows along her flesh like a second, imperfect skin. She takes one step away before he can hurt himself, then looks between Bhalandir and the newly arrived woman.

"This tongue is so imperfect... rhythmless. I am not certain what is jest and what a threat, so I will overlook any slights against me for the time. Know that I do not suffer either fools or enemies lightly, however." She pauses a moment, staring impassively at the woman before continuing in a more moderated tone. "I bear none of your kind ill will. I am no foe of you or yours save that they make such of me. My companions are a tool, nothing more. It is not our way to allow such useful tools to go to waste, but do not confuse me with the twisted necromancers of your own land. We take only that which has already gone to endure the trials of the North Wind, and do not seek to hasten any journey to his halls."

Tove is wearing blue ice armor, which is supposed to be painfully cold to the touch, so... yeah. Not fluffy, per se. :smalltongue:

[The Dark Fiddler]

Homer walks calmly to the gates of the city. If he were a different man, he'd be awed by the sight of the city, far greater than any he'd seen in his life. And if he were a different man, he might be worried about being late to his meeting with the king. But he wasn't a different man.

"Hello there, I'm here to answer the king's summons," he says flatly to the guard at the gate. Wait a second, people still smile when they introduce themselves, right? With substantial effort, he contorts his face into what he hopes passes as a smile.

[cosmonuts]

"Very well, wolf from the north," says the woman to Tove. "Go in peace, except where others lay harm upon you. Tolerance and compassion, to both your friends and you enemies. I wish you and your unusual companions luck. We shall meet again soon, I expect."

The woman leaves, but is followed by a crowd of people, many of whom are trying to speak with her.

"Miss, over here!"

"It's an honor to have you. We are humbled."

"Thank you for all you have done."

As the woman fades into the distance, so does the crowd, and eventually the street is as it always is, except with fewer people, undoubtedly due to Tove's intimidating appearance.

[cosmonuts]

The guards at the gate look at Homer.

One is taken aback by his strange smile. "The King's summons...?" says the guard confusedly.

"Let him in," says another guard in a tired voice.

"Oh, yes, sir!" The first guard waves Homer in. "Stay safe, c-citizen."

The other guard sighs. "He's not a citizen, he's an outsider."

"Y-yes, sir."

[Rofltrollcopter]

Audrick strides past the half-orc, and keeps going to the palace. I wonder who she was..

I believe druid's lose their equipment when they shapeshift, therefore Tove would be fuzzy. Checkmate:smallbiggrin:.

[The Dark Fiddler]

"And a good day to you as well." Homer walks past the guards into the city, not even noticing the disease the one has. He certainly isn't the man he was when he was younger.

Well, now, he thinks to himself, I suppose the best place to go would be the palace. Perhaps those people with the wolf could assist me. He strolls over to the large, eclectic group as though there's nothing odd about a wolf, two skeletons, and several people simply standing around. "Hello there, would any of you happen to know the way to the palace? I'm here to answer the kind's summons." Remembering earlier, he repeats the smile he gave the guards. Odd and unnatural, it definitely doesn't believe.

[Rofltrollcopter]

AHA Audrick yells, pumping his fist into the air."Yet another follower is drawn by the reputation of the third best archer of the Feldkern road and the great Elven warrior-artist!" He gives the newcomer a stern gaze."Tell me, what makes you think your qualified for ADVENTURE "

[Illven]

Tiffany no master of social situations herself fails to notice the unnatural smile.

The palace is that way. She says pointing to the palace. Are you here answering the king's summons? She questions.

She also turns to Audrick.

To answer your question. I was valedictorian of my wizarding school. Does that make me "qualified" to join you? She says harshly.

[The Dark Fiddler]

Unfazed by Audrick's bravado, Homer answers simply. "I have seen many more years than you, and many of those were spent living the life I have come to rejoin. I may not look it now, but I was once considered a hero by many." He then turns to Tiffany. "Indeed I am. I hope that in return for services rendered he will be able to assist me with a curse that has been placed on me. I assume you are also answering his summons? We will no doubt be working together in the future, then. I am Homer Strongarm." He stands there in a way that no doubt seems awkward to those around, not even offering his hand in greeting.

[cosmonuts]

I assume you're all headed to the palace. If not, ignore this post.

The group arrives at the palace. It is a magnificent stone and marble building of the highest craftsmanship. Out front is a colorful flower bed, with many gardeners actively tending to the plants. There is a large fountain with several statues by it. The inscriptions on the statues read the names of the prior kings of Strumica.

Many guard patrols could be seen. The guards here look more disciplined than those elsewhere. The barracks is nearby; you could hear the battle drills coming from over a hill.

The group stands on the outside of an iron gate leading into the palace. Five guards stood by the gate. The gate is closed, and a line has formed outside. The line appears to be composed primarily of adventurers, some twenty to thirty of them. The adventurers are unhappy.

"Let us in!" says an adventurer.

"My apologies, sir," says a guard. "We are waiting to find a place to put you."

"You let the others in already!"

"We let in adventurers who have already proven themselves. You will have your chance to join them. Be patient."

[Rofltrollcopter]

Audrick shakes his head at Tiffany's explanation. "Wizards don't go on the open road. They stay in towers and libraries and stuff, everyone knows that. Well, I always approve when someone tries to overcome their natural limitations, welcome!

Audrick extends a hand towards Homer A curse you say, what do you speak of? Perhaps I can help. Regardless, you seem like a trustworthy fellow, so welcome!

Audrick does not say anything and tries to get a read on the crowd, what sort of people had the king's edict attracted, how well armed and competent where they, why were the guards keeping people out? Now that he thought about it, he didn't actually pay any sort of attention to this supposed edict, he only heard about it yesterday from a traveler on the road.


Spot [roll0]
Sense Motive [roll1]


He approaches one of the adventurers "excuse me, what is going on here? Why are they keeping people out?"

[Anubis Dread]

That was quite the line. He wondered if they could cut in somehow? There had to be some way the guards decided who was important and who wasn't. Oh... they chose adventurers who were famous. Darn, that meant he was right out. He was still new at this sort of thing! Wait, wasn't...

"Excuse me, if you're letting adventurers in who are famous can you let this Audrik in? And the three of us with him? He keeps saying he's the third greatest archer on the road, so he must be pretty famous!" Bhalandir requested. Wait... one, two three, four... five six?? "Oh um, the five of us I guess," he amended, looking at the two newer members of their party.

[The Dark Fiddler]

"I doubt you could help," Homer replies to TIffany's inquiry, and rather bluntly at that. "I've been to many magicians and clerics, and none have been able to help so far. But those under the employ of a king, logically, should be the most powerful of them all, no? To actually answer your question, though, my curse is that my heart has been frozen. For well over a year and a half now I have been increasingly unable to feel any emotion. It's why, after many years of retirement, I've gotten back into this adventuring business." He nods, feeling as though he has sufficiently explained himself, and waits patiently to be let in, saying nothing about the obstacle. While he very well may be the type of "proven" adventurer they're looking for, it's hard to be impatient when you can't feel anything.

[Illven]

Tiffany twitches at Audrick's response.

Turns out adventuring work pays alot more then sitting around a library, shock of all shocks. She says frostily.

She turns to Bhalandir

I've also proven myself. She replies offended.

[Anubis Dread]

Bhalandir blinked. "Oh right, you were a valedictorian. That is pretty impressive," he admitted. "Definitely more impressive than my list of accomplishments - I was privately tutored in magic and swordsplay, so I don't have a title. I don't know if that's enough to get by though since they seem to be looking for seasoned adventurers. Like... that guy!" he realized, pointing at Homer. "He's an ex-adventurer, is that good enough?"

Come to think of it he had no idea what the guards were looking for... they may just need to wait their turn.

[cosmonuts]

"excuse me, what is going on here? Why are they keeping people out?"

An adventurer huffs. "I don't know what's going on. The King summons us and we're kept out here, in the dark about everything."

Another adventurer says, "The guards say they're letting in the renowned adventurers first."

"Excuse me, if you're letting adventurers in who are famous can you let this Audrik in? And the three of us with him? He keeps saying he's the third greatest archer on the road, so he must be pretty famous!"

"He says what?" says a guard. "I say I'm the Elf Queen of Ellorlon."

"No entrance unless we say so," says another guard.

"It's almost as if," says an adventurer, "the King doesn't want heroes to take up his quest?"

A guard shrugs. "It's more that, the King wants the heroes on his quest to return alive."

"Whatever His Majesty wants done, we can do it," says an adventurer.

"Oh, ha!" says a guard. "Overconfident amateur."

The adventurers start yelling at the guards.

[The Dark Fiddler]

Homer shrugs at Bhalandir's recommendation. "I'm sure the king is looking for the best first, as is most reasonable. While I do have some experience, I'm well out of practice. We should simply wait to be admitted, unlike this rowdy bunch. I don't think royalty takes kindly to troublemakers, so they're probably only hurting their chances." He tries to speak this last bit as loudly as he can without needing to shout, mostly so the other adventurers will calm down and not start a fight or anything of the sort.

[Rofltrollcopter]

Hmmph. Anyone have any ideas? I didn't come this far to just get turned away. He tries to grab the attention of one of the guards "HEY YOU. WHOSE HEAD DO WE HAVE TO BUST OPEN BEFORE YOU WILL LET US IN?" Before the guard responds, Audrick turns to the party "If they don't give us a good answer, there may be another way to get inside.. " his eyes begin gleaming with a maniacal look.

[Illven]

Tiffany looks stunned for a moment. Before facepalming.

This man does not represent us. She calls out pointing at Audrick. Hoping against hope the guards would merely arrest him.

[cosmonuts]

Homer speaks: "I'm sure the king is looking for the best first, as is most reasonable. While I do have some experience, I'm well out of practice. We should simply wait to be admitted, unlike this rowdy bunch. I don't think royalty takes kindly to troublemakers, so they're probably only hurting their chances."

The adventurers scoff, but nonetheless quiet down. The guards give Homer a grateful look.

Audrick says, "HEY YOU. WHOSE HEAD DO WE HAVE TO BUST OPEN BEFORE YOU WILL LET US IN?"

A guard sighs. "Outsiders these days."

Tiffany says, This man does not represent us.

"No worries, miss," says a guard. "Thick skin comes with the job."

The hot midday sun is getting to a few of the adventurers, who decide to leave. Nonetheless, the adventuring crowd is still large. Some attempt to set up camp, until the guards scowl at them, at which point they quickly pack the equipment back up.

An older man walks out of the palace to the front gates. He wore light armor and carried a rapier. The guards stand at attention. He speaks in hushed words to the guards. The guards nod. The man passes through the gates and addresses the crowd. "I was told there were adventurers. I see only children. Poor, undignified behavior. Impatience. Disrespect for the watch. You are no adventurers. You are commoners with neither the ability nor will to become great heroes."

He pauses, then continues: "It is as you've heard, we only admit those who have a reputation. The King does not wish to send children to their deaths. But, even now, the His Majesty wishes for some new heroes to rise out of the masses."

His eyes sweep the crowd and stop on Tove. "Interesting," he says. Turning away, he tells the guards, "Admit those who have behaved well. And the wolf." With that, he leaves.

The wolf! The adventurers turn to face the eccentric group. Indeed, some had noticed the wolf already and reacted with discomfort, but many adventurers only just realized that there was a wolf (and certainly not a normal one, either).

The guards step forward. They beckon to Tiffany, Homer, Tove, a quiet adventurer in a traveling cloak, and an inexpressive adventurer in a full suit of armor.

"Do you have companions?" the guards ask the two adventurers. They shake their heads. "Come on in," say the guards, and they open the gates of the adventurers. The adventurers pass through.

Turning to Tiffany, Homer, and Tove, the guards ask, "Do you have companions?"

[Illven]

Tiffany sighs

I guess these two are my companions. She replied pointing to Audrick and Bhalandir.

Unfortunately. She finished.

[cosmonuts]

I'm going to speed this up a bit. I don't know why we had that useless scene outside the palace and town. No important choices or worthwhile things to do. Bad DMing on my part.

The guards stare at Audrick and Bhalandir. "Should we let them in?" says a guard.

"I don't know," says another.

The guards are silent for a moment, at which point a guard sighs and says, "Very well. Enter."

Ushered in by guards and led by servants, you make your way to the throne room. The interior of the palace is regal, with expensive furniture and tapestries lining the halls of polished wood, smooth stone, and black marble. Red carpets run down the halls with imposing suits of armor looking down upon visitors.

You enter a room with thirteen people in it, not counting your group. All thirteen look to be experienced, including the two you saw admitted at the front gates. There is calm chatter going around the room. Upon your entry, the briefest of glances is given your way, before the rooms occupants return to their discussions.

By a group of adventurers stands the half-orc woman from earlier.

In this room, Tove is not the only strange creature. A pixie woman is fluttering by a marble column. The pixie waves at you and flies over.

"You're new," she says. She has a charismatic and cheery smile. She turns her attention to Tove and her skeletal minions. "Wow, I thought I was the odd one." Returning to the rest of the group, she says, "We're all waiting on the King right now. My name is Atameties. I am a member of the Feldkirchen Vanguard, many people of different talents who undertake quests for His Majesty. Might I have your names and professions?"

[Illven]

Tiffany speaks first.

I'm Tiffany. My profession is wizard. She replies mechanically.

[Anubis Dread]

Had he been rude? ...they thought he'd been rude. That was sad. It was his first time meeting a king and he was making a bad impression. Maybe he would do better when the king actually showed up. Hm, he wondered how many other adventurers had been admitted?

He wouldn't need to wonder long. And there were a lot! Quite of few of them looked really interesting!

"Thank you for taking us with you by the way," he remembered, addressing the wizard before turning his attention to Atameties. "I'm Bhalandir! I'm a swordsman trained in the elvish ways! And an artist too, but that isn't as impressive. And it still isn't as impressive as being of the Feldkirchen Vanguard or being a wizard trained in a real institution with a title and everything."

He paused for a moment, before a look of surprise took over his face. "Oh! You're a pixie!"

[The Dark Fiddler]

"Hello, Atameties, ma'am. My name is Homer Strongarm. I was an armorer for a long time, but after recently having my heart frozen I returned to adventuring as I did when I was younger." Homer beings examining the other adventurers gathered. Almost all of them are younger than him, as far as he can tell. The thought occurs to him, not for the first time, that he may be too old to do what the king will request. Suddenly a bit sore, he puts his hand to his back and massages it, attempting to loosen it... something he's had to do all to often recently.

[Rofltrollcopter]

That's fine, it gave a chance for some character interaction before the main quest started

Audrick gets annoyed when he sees how the guard's words affected his elf companion. He whispers to Bhalandir as they walk in "Don't listen to 'em. Tell me, how many songs have you heard where it went like "and the noble and brave heroes filled out the legendary forms and braved the great peril of the queue of a thousand men in the midday sun. Thus, these heroes showed they were the stuff of legends" He shakes his head. "A bunch of fancy ornaments like them?" he gestures to the guards in their well kept armor "Wouldn't know a hero if one lopped off their heads"

Audrick tries to evalulate the mood of the room, focusing his attention on the half-orc they met earlier.

Sense Motive [roll0]

He the greets the assembled group in a cheery voice"My name's Audrick, I'm an archer from the Mondon Steppes, far to the north"

[Resasi]

I am the North Wind. Tove thinks automatically, in response to the pixie's question. Gusting winds immediately surround her, whipping snowflakes and tiny shards of ice conjured from nothingness along with them. When it becomes clear that the others do not understand her answer however, Tove dips her head slightly and the storm vanishes as quickly as it appeared.

"Apologies. I am not accustomed to answering such questions with simple words. You may call me Tove, once-member of Clan Ranagh. I am the N-" she cuts off abruptly, jaws snapping together. She shakes her head in annoyance, then continues: "I am an emissary from the clans of the frostfell."

Since Audrick is sensing motives and all, he'll notice that Tove is apparently displeased with having to use actual words, and that she speaks in an oddly toneless way - the words are all perfectly precise, but the nuances behind each is entirely missing. Her words seem hollow, though not insincere.

[cosmonuts]

Tiffany: I'm Tiffany. My profession is wizard.

Atameties grins. "To the point. I like you already. We will get along famously."

Bhalandir: "I'm Bhalandir! I'm a swordsman trained in the elvish ways! And an artist too, but that isn't as impressive. And it still isn't as impressive as being of the Feldkirchen Vanguard or being a wizard trained in a real institution with a title and everything. Oh! You're a pixie!"

Atameties' otherwise-perpetual smile falters for the briefest of moments, imperceptible to all but Audrick. "I am a pixie! I also appreciate your flattery, but the Vanguard is less an impressive coalition of heroes than it is a humble group of brothers and sisters in arms."

Homer: "Hello, Atameties, ma'am. My name is Homer Strongarm. I was an armorer for a long time, but after recently having my heart frozen I returned to adventuring as I did when I was younger."

Atameties looks puzzled. "Your heart is frozen? Not literally, I hope?" Casting a sideways glance at Tove, she says, "I guess you never know..."

Audrick: "My name's Audrick, I'm an archer from the Mondon Steppes, far to the north"

"Far to the north! You don't say. I don't think I've ever been as far up as the Steppes, and I travel quite a bit."

Tove: "I am an emissary from the clans of the frostfell."

"Hmm? Is it standard practice in frostfell clans to reanimate the dead?" Atameties shrugs. "Feldkirchen is tolerant, but other cities, not so much. Between wolves and skeleton wolves... well, you will be interesting to work with, that's certain!"

The mood is relaxed but careful. Everyone is brimming with curiosity, about what the King has to say.

The half-orc woman is speaking in a straightforward and honest manner. She seems trustworthy.

Atameties turns to the other two adventurers who were admitted at the front gates. "Care to introduce yourselves?" she says.

The adventurer in the full suit of armor spoke. It was the voice of a woman, and a surprisingly young one at that. "My name is Aleydis of Romont. I am here on pilgrimage."

"Romont!" says Atameties. "You have traveled far." Indeed, at the mention of Romont, many in the room turn their attention to Aleydis.

"All nobles of Romont must prove themselves in combat to retain their title," says Aleydis flatly. "My Liege has given me an unusually difficult task, but the times are dire."

"Indeed?" says Atameties. "May I ask, what's so dire?"

"I know not," confesses Aleydis. "My Liege is worried. Or perhaps he is delusional. I will say nothing more. He is my lord and I am loyal to him."

"You are an interesting one," says Atameties. "Perhaps when I retire I should visit the Empire of Romont, to see if its fountains of liquid gold are real or not. The journey is quite far, however... and you!" Atameties turns to the adventurer in the traveling cloak. "Who are you?"

"I am Zedia," says the adventurer. He wears his traveling cloak so that his face is obscured. "I am interested in learning what troubles this land."

Atameties frowns. "Hmm? Where are you from?"

"Far away," says Zedia. He says nothing else.

"So mysterious!" says Atameties with a sly grin. "I like the mysterious. I will unravel you before the end of this, I swear."

[Illven]

So what does our liege require of us? Tiffany asked mechanically.

[Anubis Dread]

"Wow, we have a lot of interesting people here!" Bhalandir exclaimed. "We have pixies, famous archers, wolves, skeletons... wait skeletons? Skeletons!! No wait... they seem peaceful," he puzzled, scratching his cheek a bit in thought as he stared blankly at the undead wolves. Was it normal to have undead animals walking around like this? Foreign places sure were interesting.

"This king must be really important to gather all these big time heroes," the elf mused around. Come to think of it, what King lived here? And where was here? He'd been wandering a little aimlessly for a while now. "You said this was the Feldkern road leading up here right?" he asked Audrik, frowning thoughtfully. If that was the case, then he could probably puzzle it out.


Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty) check - 1d20+9

EDIT: For some reason it is not working. I think I would need to post again for the roll to work, so here is the roll I got on the Dice Roller Test Threat III to avoid clutter: (1d20+9)[28]

[cosmonuts]

With a roll of 28 you know a lot.

You are currently in the King of Strumica's capital city, Feldkirchen. Strumica is a centralized monarchy (that is, there are no fiefs within Strumica, as the King owns all of the territory) and its economy is primarily agrarian. Feldkirchen, on the other hand, is a trading center, with multiple guild hubs for crafting, artistry, magic, and so on. Feldkirchen is small compared to many of its neighbors, and is negligible on a continental geopolitical scale.

The nobles who do exist in Strumica all live in Feldkirchen with a few exceptions, and said nobles are primarily bureaucrats who help standardize governmental influence.

King Gavril III succeeds a long, unbroken bloodline, as Strumica has always been protected by the Kingdom of Edhegion (which exercises a hegemony over the local region). Gavril III is known for his caution, as he is acutely aware of the power disparity between Strumica and some of its neighbors (e.g., Edhegion). He is most likely lawful neutral in alignment.

Gavril III employs an adventuring party known as the Feldkirchen Vanguard, composed of seven members well-known to the people of Strumica. The Vanguard used to be independent, and went by the name (then) Crimson Arrows. The Vanguard is well-known for its successes in mediating disputes between nobles, warlords, and generals. They are usually also quite capable of defeating dangerous magical beasts, but when possible, they give such tasks to better-equipped adventuring groups, such as the Iron Dragoons. All members of the Vanguard are nobles, but there is friction between them and the bureaucrat nobles.

Gavril III employs a court wizard known for his loyalty. The court wizard, known as Finrahel, is from Edhegion's magical academies, and as a result is quite competent. Gavril III's military commander is his uncle Leward, an old man known for his prowess in battling mountain skirmishers (primarily barbarians). He is also an expert duelist who has been the death of many overconfident nobles. Leward is tough and harsh, and sometimes disagrees with Gavril III, but respects the throne greatly.

Tiffany: So what does our liege require of us?

"None of us know yet," says Atameties. "Oh, look, it's starting."

Royal Guards walk out into the room and form ranks. A court wizards, three advisors, and then the King himself walks out behind the Royal Guards.

The King wears surprisingly "simple" clothes, being indistinguishable from his advisors in their noble outfits. Indeed, the King could be mistaken for a noble. But he is the King, clearly, as he walks in a regal, dignified manner, followed by his advisors in tow.

He turns to look at the people who are assembled before him, the adventurers, and of course, you. He says, "Some of you are new faces. Welcome to Feldkirchen, I hope your travels were comfortable. In this room I also see my loyal Vanguard and the esteemed Iron Dragoons. I am glad to have you back."

He stops, and rubs his brow. He looks tired, with dark bags beneath his eyes. "Let me be brief. What I tell you now is secret, for it will surely incite panic if word was to leave this room—a blue dragon has taken residence in the Sharbharak Mountains."

He goes silent. The adventurers look at one another: This is serious. Aleydis and Zedia, however, are impassive.

"We are currently not equipped to fight a dragon," says Atameties. "Galodhing, where are the Dragonslayers of Azabrar?"

The Azabrar Dragonslayers are perhaps the most well-known adventuring group, with tales of their exploits spread across the world.

An elf man standing near the half-orc woman says, "They are currently in Romont, I believe, grieving for their dead."

There is some murmuring around the room. "The Dragonslayers have lost their own? What's the cause?"

Galodhing shrugs. "It's no concern of ours, since they are halfway across the world."

The King clears his throat. "We need to be practical. We do not have the means to tackle a dragon."

"How old is this dragon?" says the half-orc woman.

"We do not know," says the King. "I would like to know this answer too as soon as possible."

The court wizard speaks: "The dragon is too small to be a fully developed adult, from the scouts' estimates."

There is silence, as if the King is waiting for suggestions.

[Illven]

Has the dragon exhibited signs of sorcery? Tiffany asked.

That could also help narrow down it's age.

[Resasi]

"More importantly, I think, is the question of whether the dragon has yet given signs of ill intent." Tove says, staring hard at the king. It was so difficult to know what these people were trying to say in truth without the rhythms. Was this a leading question, or was the dragon's aggressiveness supposed to be inferred? "Ah... your... lordship? That is the right word, is it not?" Tove trails off, searching for the correct phrasing in this alien tongue.

[The Dark Fiddler]

"A dragon is truly a fearsome adversary," Homer says, almost in awe at the task ahead of him. Almost. "I suppose reasoning with the creature has already been tried or is impossible? If we could avoid bloodshed, that would no doubt be best... it's unlikely we could force it away or kill it without losing some of our own."

[Anubis Dread]

A dragon? A DRAGON?! This was amazing! The elf couldn't help but grin, though he tried to hide it as well as he could beneath his hands. His first real adventure with other people and he was taking down a dragon! A blue... dragon... Bhalandir's smile faded as he looked down concerned at the rapier at his hip. Those were the zappy kinds right? If that was the case then his strongest technique was going to be useless against it. Well that's what heroes did he supposed - overcome things when they were stacking up against them.

Wait, why were they talking about the dragon having ill intent. "It's a blue dragon. Blue means evil, doesn't it?" the elf asked a little confused. "Anyway Gavril wouldn't have asked us all here if it was a good one, right? Oh, sorry, that was probably rude," the elf realized a bit embarrassed to the king. "I know your name and you don't know mine! I'm Bhaldnir, nice to meet you Gavril! Er... sir Gavril?"

"Anyways," he continued. "We have some strong wizards here. Can't somebody scry it or divine it to work out how big it is if that's a problem? Though I think we should just go up there and slay it before it leaves!"

[Rofltrollcopter]

Audrick keeps a level eye on the king. Despite his bravado, he has a realistic assessment of his abilities. He is suspicious that anyone powerful enough to have wizards on their payroll are still hiring strangers to do a job this important.

(i'm not going to do this everytime)

Sense Motive: [roll0]

Knowledge checks for the Blue Dragon (+5 from collector of stories)

knowledge: Arcana [roll1]
knowledge: Nature [roll2]


Regardless, he starts talking. "When your dealing with a big problem like this, you need to break it down into a bunch of smaller problems. Dragons have several things going for 'em. They can fly, they are built to murder things with their teeth and claws and whatnot, they're smarter then most people you meet, and last but not they have such bad breath that they make late nights at the tavern seem like the first day of spring in a meadow."

It's probably going to try to start raiding caravans, merchants, stuff like that. It's going to look for stuff that it can add to its hoard. If we try to pick a fight with it there, its just gonna fly away and we will back to where we started, plus its going to know we are after it. I don't fancy playing cat and mouse with something that can fly out in the mountains. Seems like a bad idea. We need to pick a fight with it in a place where it will fight to the death. That would be its lair, where its keeping its hoard. We need to find out where it is, and you can leave that to me. Once we find the lair we wait for it to go hunting, and take advantage of that time to set up a battleground of choosing, trying to neutralize as many of its natural advantages as possible. Hells, if its lair is in a cave and we can trap it in there, that would be ideal. Once the fight begins, I have a solution to this dragon problem. He picks out an arrow from his quiver and starts fiddling with it. "I happen to have a few dozen on me"

He stops twirling with his arrow and looks at the King. "With all due respect your kingliness, you haven't mentioned what the reward is.

[cosmonuts]

Tiffany: Has the dragon exhibited signs of sorcery?

One of the King's advisors shakes his head. "The scouts give conflicting accounts. Some speak of sorceries, others do not. As you might understand, our scouts are not used to seeing dragons. Undoubtedly, some would have mistaken mundane dragon behavior for magical ones. You may question them directly, if you so wish..."

Tove: "More importantly, I think, is the question of whether the dragon has yet given signs of ill intent. Ah... your... lordship?"

The King and the court wizard whisper back and forth.

"'Your Majesty' is sufficient," says an advisor with a scowl.

The King says, "In this room, you may drop the honorifics. But outside, I do wish you would adhere by them, outsider, as it would be disrespectful of the throne."

"Talking wolf is correct," says a human woman standing by the half-orc woman. "Prepare for the worst, hope for the best! We should send emissaries to the dragon. Unless..."

"Who should we send to die?" says an advisor dryly. "We have not yet made contact with the dragon. Blue dragons are often servants of Tiamat, and it would be foolish to assume otherwise until we know as much."

Another advisor says, "A Royal Guard regiment is attempting to track the dragon as we speak. They have been attempting to do so for the past few days. They have been unsuccessful so far, but they are brave."

Bhalandir: "I know your name and you don't know mine! I'm Bhaldnir, nice to meet you Gavril! Er... sir Gavril? Anyways, we have some strong wizards here. Can't somebody scry it or divine it to work out how big it is if that's a problem? Though I think we should just go up there and slay it before it leaves!"

The advisors turn purple. "Are you insulting the throne? Guards!"

The Royal Guards move towards Bhalandir, but then the King holds up his hand. "At ease, men," says the King. "I am weary, and am not interested in persecuting a socially-challenged individual for a minor slight."

The court wizard smiles slightly. "To answer your question, I have been attempting to scry the dragon the past few days. I have failed thus far, but perhaps will eventually make progress. One can hope."

Zedia, who has been sitting at the back of the room, unmoving, stirs suddenly. He says, "Exactly how many days have you been scrying the dragon?"

"The last six days," says the court wizard. "Are you thinking of something?"

Zedia says briefly, "Nothing important."

Audrick: (Audrick says a lot of things.)

The room listens as Audrick speaks. Some scoff, some stay silent, some nod. A half-elf woman speaks up. She sounds irritated. "I think you are trivializing the issue, archer. If the dragon is young, say a child, then it is likely accompanied by its parents, and this may be the worst case scenario. If the dragon is older, say a young adult, then it is difficult to defeat it in a straightforward fight, even one in a cavern. Few in Strumica are so powerful that they can match a developed dragon in combat."

"That's a terrible thought," says the King, "that this dragon may be accompanied by older ones."

"Your overconfidence irks me," says the half-elf woman to Audrick. "If you wish to fight the dragon directly, then do not involve me in your death sentence, amateur."

"Calm down, Inyel," says Atameties. Inyel relents and backs down.

An advisor steps forward. "The Vanguard will be compensated separately. Between the Iron Dragoons and the rest of you, you will receive one-thousand six-hundred platinum coins. This is a nontrivial sum, but our treasury can handle it."

I roll all your sense motives opposed to NPC bluffs automatically, so I assume you're sensing for a hunch?

The King, court wizard, and advisors appear to be trustworthy. The adventurers, as well, seem to have no ulterior motives. With the exception of Zedia and Aleydis. You have a strong hunch that both Zedia and Aleydis know something more, but you cannot place your finger on exactly what gives you this feeling.

You know blue dragons tend to live in deserts. They are moderately intelligent in general, and enjoy flying. They shoot bolts of electricity from their mouths. They rage from medium to gargantuan in size as they grow older, except for the newly hatched, who are small.

[Anubis Dread]

Hmmm, so they couldn't scry it... that was strange. Did the dragon know magic that prevented scrying? If it did it would have to be a wizard right? Or maybe it was just in a place that had natural defenses against that sort of thing. Some kind of ruin another wizard cast some form of scrying defense on that lasted long enough that it was still active today. He doubted that it was just because Finrahel couldn't handle it, he HAD to be good considering he had an even higher educational pedigree than his new comrade.

For the most part the elf listened, frowning in thought as he tried to process it all. Okay, so they were all worried that the dragon would be a hard fight, that made sense. But hard fights were the best... kind... wait what?! "Wait... You're offering to PAY us for taking a dragon down??" the swordsman asked a little incredulously. "If anything I'd think you'd have to charge for that sort of thing! Er, your majesty," he added quickly, remembering how people got upset the last time he said something without adding the right title on. But seriously, PAYING people for the privilege of fighting a dragon? This was amazing!

[Illven]

Tiffany turns to the court wizard.

I presume once you can scry on the dragon, you'll send any relevant info right? She asks.

She turns to Bhalandir

They are paying us because dragons are dangerous, and some or all of us might die. She said clearly annoyed at the elf's foolishness. If I didn't have two hungry mouths at home, I'd probably not be doing this.

[The Dark Fiddler]

"While Audrick's overconfidence may be a bit worrisome, I think he makes a potentially valid point about the dragon. At least, I believe so; I'll admit I'm not well-versed in draconic behavior. Still, the location of its lair -and be extension any horde it might have- could be valuable information, no? Again, I'm no expert in the field, but might it be possible to plant some treasure for the dragon to take, and use divining magic on the coin instead of directly on the dragon? Since using such magic on the dragon directly has failed, I mean..." Homer stops for a second to consider further. "Or, gods forbid this is necessary, somehow sneak a scout into the lair in the same manner - perhaps in a chest full of treasure? That could return valuable information about the dragon's age and if it has any family."

"Of course, that would be all but a suicide mission for all but the stealthiest of mortals." Unfortunately, he's mostly thinking out loud rather than actually directing his questions to anybody in particular.

[Anubis Dread]

"It wouldn't be much of an adventure if there wasn't a little danger," Bhalandir chuckled. Still the idea of adventuring for gold was... strange. He guessed adventurers had to eat and all, but why adventure if all you wanted was money? Surely there were safer ways to do that, and he didn't think those who just wanted money were all that keen on danger?

...this was boring. "Or we could just walk up to its lair and fight it like we're supposed to," the elf sighed. "We're going to fight it eventually anyway, why not just be upfront about it?"

[Rofltrollcopter]

Audrick snaps at Tiffany when she scolds Bhalandir. "Lay off the kid. Can't you find some butterflies' wings to pluck or some other way of sharing the joy of your presence with the world?" his face twitches when Tiffany mentions that she has kids, although he doesn't say anything about it.

Well its a good thing you have me Audrick says cheerily when Homer mentions needing the stealthiest of mortals. "Dragons don't have as good as a sense of smell as natural creatures, and with a bit of magical assistance which I am sure the king in his generosity would be more than willing to provide access to, I should be able to get in and out easily enough."

Only his four companions (who had met Audrick more than five minutes ago) would notice it, but something about the exchange in the room causes Audrick to tense up and become wary. He turns to the half-elf woman, who in Audrick's head was in a fierce competition with Tiffany for the title of "Miss Doom and Gloom". "I was operating under the assumption that you already had reliable intelligence. If we don't even have answers to basic questions like: "How many dragons are there?" Then yes, there's no point in talking about how to kill it. I too would like to interview the scouts that were sent out.

He turns to face the King. With your majesty's leave, I propose we send an expedition to the region for the sole purpose of gathering information about said unkhown Dragon or Dragons. Fighting more than one of the beasts would be significantly harder than fighting just one, regardless of age." Audrick frowns and muses to no one in particular "Now that I think about it, Blues like to hang around the desert. Whats one doing up in the mountains? Is there a desert region nearby"

[cosmonuts]

Bhalandir: "If anything I'd think you'd have to charge for that sort of thing! Er, your majesty."

The King looks as if he wants to facepalm, but he remains dignified and does nothing. He says, "You are free to pay for this honor, if you so wish."

The advisors snicker.

Tiffany: I presume once you can scry on the dragon, you'll send any relevant info right?

The court wizard nods. "I will indeed. The Sharbharak Mountains are far from here, however. Approximately thirty leagues due northwest, following a certain river path. That is one-hundred and twenty miles, or a five day journey at walking speed, assuming no interruptions. Messaging such a distance would be difficult. Perhaps we could employ carrier hawks, but the journey may take them around three days."

Bhalandir: "We're going to fight it eventually anyway, why not just be upfront about it?"

"He's so cute!" says the human woman standing by the half-orc woman. "I want to hug him and tell him everything is going to be okay."

Inyel is staring at Bhalandir in disbelief. "How did he get in here? Am I in the wrong place?"

"Now, now," says Atameties, "don't be mean."

Audrick: "With your majesty's leave, I propose we send an expedition to the region for the sole purpose of gathering information about said unkhown Dragon or Dragons. Fighting more than one of the beasts would be significantly harder than fighting just one, regardless of age. Now that I think about it, Blues like to hang around the desert. Whats one doing up in the mountains? Is there a desert region nearby?"

The King says, "I recommend you discuss this matter among your companions. Regarding your latter concern—Finrahel?"

The court wizard steps forward. "There is no desert region nearby, but an eagle traveling south for three hundred leagues should run into one."

"I doubt the dragon comes from there," says Aleydis. "The population centers are dense traveling south due to the Nazca River's connection to the ocean. Reports of dragon sightings would be prevalent."

"Well, your first priority is to determine if the dragon is a threat, and if so, remove it," says the King. "Good luck and god speed, companions."

The King leaves, with his three advisors following close behind. The Royal Guards leave the room save for four, who stand guard.

The court wizard stays a while longer. "The Royal Guard regiment tracking the dragon is in the village of Liburh, which is a four day journey from here, on the same path as the one to Sharbharak. The scouts who initially spotted the dragon should be at the barracks."

The wizard sighs. "Wish I could help more. If you need anything else, you can find me in the palace study. For now, the commander of your expedition will be the leader of the Feldkirchen Vanguard, Atameties." And with that, the wizard leaves.

Atameties says, "We need to leave for Liburh as soon as possible. I know the path, so don't worry about navigation, maps, or supplies. If you have any business you need done, or perhaps you wish to visit your families, now is the time. At sundown, meet me by the gates. We will begin traveling tonight."

[Illven]

Tiffany turns to Atameties. We're going to travel at night? That seems unnecessarily dangerous. She says surprised.

[The Dark Fiddler]

Homer blinks a few times as Audrick acknowledges his comments. Had he been speaking out loud? How odd, then, that nobody else commented on his ideas... perhaps he had been mistaken about the situation, then. Not exactly a big shock.

Once the king has finished speaking, Homer looks briefly around to see if anybody might need his help. After all, he has no business to take care of for himself, and he knows all too well that he might just stand around all day without something to occupy him. He wanders a bit closer to Atameties, as she is the leader of the excursion, and manages to overhear Tiffany's comment. "I'm sure with such a large and well-armed group we have no need to fear anything that may be lurking in the dark of night. What bandits would be numerous enough to challenge a band of adventurers such as ourselves?" He pauses and turns to the pixie. "Are there any preparations I can help with? My schedule is free until we leave tonight."

[Anubis Dread]

The elf burst into a furious blush. Cute? Was it the good cute or bad cute? He didn't think he'd been saying anything overly childish... then again how would he know? Maybe he was childish and didn't know it. Or maybe she was talking about something else. Still it was kind of strange that the blue dragon was hanging around if it liked to live in deserts like Audrick said. Maybe someone had brought it to the mountains as an egg and it just hatched there? Oh right, they were the electric ones, so he would need to buy potions that rested lightning for everyone before they left. Maybe the marked had... where did the king go?

Oh, so the pixie was going to be in charge! He definitely didn't mind that. She seemed nice, and also knew what she was doing. One day he'd be doing this sort of thing solo, or at least as the leader or among equals, so it was best to just follow along and learn how it was done first.

"Homer is right, plus most of the nasty things will probably be asleep by the time we travel," Bhalandir noted, before frowning in thought. So they were meeting at the gate... he didn't really have anything he needed to do before then. Maybe he should just hang out at the gate and wait for everyone else. Wait... "Potions!" he remembered, whacking his palm with his fist. "Oh other than picking some of those up I'm free too."

[Illven]

Tiffany put a finger to her lips.

Hmm. And I should probably get a scroll of resist energy to scribe into my book as well. She mused.

[Anubis Dread]

"I know it as a spell, but I don't use a spell book. Sorry," the elf apologized. "I could probably cast it a bunch, but then I wouldn't have any magic to use for fighting. Then again, my strongest spell is electric based..." Bhalandir continued, sounding more than a little concerned over that fact. It may still be useful for taking out any lackeys the dragon had though.

[cosmonuts]

Tiffany: We're going to travel at night? That seems unnecessarily dangerous.

Atameties says, "I would prefer to travel immediately, while it's light out, but I know some of us would rather have dinner with their family before heading out, and I will not deny anyone this much. As for why I do not wait until tomorrow, that would be waiting too long I think. I wish to reach Liburh four nights from now, to use the time available to us as best as I can. The road I will take may be dangerous, but I guarantee you, between the Vanguard and the Dragoons, we are protected from common dangers at least. The dragon or dragons, as it may be, are likely not running around in the open, otherwise we'd be inundated with reports of dragon sightings, and this meeting would not be secret."

Atameties stretches and smiles. "Well, conduct your business, and have supper with your families. If your families are too far away, then you may join me for supper tonight. I live on Granhill Road. It's the house with the red clay roof. You won't miss it."

Homer: "Are there any preparations I can help with? My schedule is free until we leave tonight."

Atameties shakes her head. "Travel wise, we're set. Isn't that right, Nomad?"

At the mention of 'Nomad', an adventurer who had been sitting by the back of the room steps forward and reveals himself under the sunlight shining through the stained glass windows. Nomad does not look like a living being. His body is composed of metal, like a statue or a machine. He has a face of sorts, a metallic one. Nonetheless, he moves with organic grace, like a living creature.

No knowledge check I think will reveal what Nomad is, so I'll just say it right here to give you a visual image of what he is: a Warforged.
"This is correct, Atameties," says Nomad in a flat voice. "We have sufficient rations to make this journey and back, calibrated for expected variances."

Atameties frowns. "Well, actually, I've been helping with festival preparations up till I was called in by the King. It's the Sunlight Festival, where worshippers of Pelor from all over the continent gather in Feldkirchen's Temple District to celebrate. Apparently this city is built over an ancient holy site, which is why they come here. The Festival is about two weeks from now. I suspect I may miss the main event, but would like to help with the preparations anyways. If you'd like, you can come with me. You don't need to help around, but you can see how seriously the locals take their festivals. Well, the King doesn't even care about this one, but he's got plenty on his mind."

"And after that," adds Atameties, "you can accompany me for supper. I'm a good cook, I promise! What's that, Zedia?"

Zedia, who had said nothing for a good while, has been looking interested at the mention of the Sunlight Festival.

"Would you like to join me, for the Festival preparations?" says Atameties.

"Very much so," says Zedia.

"I will join as well," says Aleydis.

[Rofltrollcopter]

Audrick speaks up with Aleytis and Zedia. "I would like to come as well"


When people begin to leave the chamber, Audrick quickly gathers the party, making sure there is no one else around. "This stinks." he says flatly. "I don't like the looks of the tin woman and that cloak man" (Audrick makes a mental note to try and come up with better nicknames) They were not on the level with us. Last time I had a feeling like this, an Innkeeper tried to slit my throat while I was sleeping. I'm going to keep an eye on both of them. Tiffany, I would suggest you get some more details from the court wizard. I don't even have enough magic to turn hardtack into a complete breakfast, but I don't think spells just 'don't work'. Bhalandir, if you wouldn't mind picking up some additional supplies for me: (insert list here). I'll meet you at the gate. Come sundown.

I'll add the list later

[Illven]

Tiffany nods to Bhalandir's statement It's better for more then one person to have it anyway. She stated.

She turns to Atameties

My family is too far away. I'd be honored to join you as a guest. She states.

[Anubis Dread]

It seemed everyone was splitting up for now. That was fine, they all had things to do! He had to buy potions, and... festival??

"I'd love to come! It's a shame we'll be missing the festival itself, but it will be fun to see all the preparations!" Followed by dinner in a pixie's house. Was this how it was all the time for adventurers? So far he'd been given the chance to take down a dragon, which he was being paid for no less, met a whole bunch of new people and was now going to see an important festival in the making. His journey so far had been boring compared to this!

Then everyone left for a bit, with his closer comrades lagging behind and... huh? "Were you having trouble breathing?" Bhalandir asked with a frown of confusion. That was the only reason he could think of to slit someone's throat. Unless you were trying to kill them, but why would you want to murder a guest? Or stay in an inn where the innkeeper wanted to kill you? "I don't think the spells not working is a big deal. Either the dragon is staying somewhere scrying resistant or someone is helping them with spells to hide it. Either way its not the cour wizard's fault. And I'll pick up everything on the list while helping with the festival," the elf went on, taking the list and tucking it away. Before his eyes widened and he slapped his fist into his hand. "Potions! I'll need to pick those up to. I nearly forgot!"

[Rofltrollcopter]

Listen to me Bhalandir Audrick hisses. Trying to convey the urgency in his comments. "Sometimes, they are bad people int this world. There are people that will hurt you for money, or because it amuses them. Those two, Zedia and Aleydis could be like that. I don't fancy wandering around in the wilderness with people who might try to kill us. Think about this, the King said that the reward would be divided amongst us. The fewer survivors, the more gold each individual gets. I knew men who kill for much less than what the King offered."

Audrick will go stealth if Zedia or Aleydis try to go somewhere else before they go to Atameties's place

[The Dark Fiddler]

"An invitation to dinner is most welcome. I've had quite a bit of trouble remembering to eat these last few months. And I'd be equally glad to join in assisting with the festival. Might as well make myself useful." Besides, good favor with the god of the sun could be helpful in thawing a heart, right? Homer sighs to himself. Time would be he'd jump at the chance to be helpful for the sake of it, but now he has to logic himself into a reason for it. Things just aren't the same.

"What could possibly make you suspicious of them?" Homer asks Audrick. "I don't see it." Not that he would. He can't feel suspicion anymore. He goes to follow Atameties, not interested in Audrick's paranoia.

[Anubis Dread]

"If you're so worried about being killed for some platinum why not just offer do it pro bono?" Bhalandir asked somewhat wryly. "I know there's bad people in the world, but I've yet to come across many of them. I certainly doubt they look anything like this bunch of adventurers trusted by the King. Unless you're saying Gavril can't be trusted, in which case wouldn't our whole adventure be a bust to begin with?"

The elf sighed. "You seem strong Audrick, the third best archer on the road is a pretty impressive title to have. But there's no point in being strong if you're not going to use it when the chance to kill a dragon comes around. I mean, a dragon! I can still barely believe we're being given a shot at this! Oh, we better catch up with the others," he realized, beginning to leave. Let's see... he had some things to do tonight other than the festival... something to do with a list of potions? No that didn't sound right.

[Resasi]

Tove listens quietly as the conversations take place around her, saying nothing. Once the groups begin to go their own ways and Audrick has made his worries known however, she nods in agreement. "The one who calls himself Zedia... he seemed to know more than he was willing to say. If there is nothing else that requires my presence, I would accompany them in their preparations. There is little else of value I could do in this city before we depart in any case. If nothing else, perhaps my presence will prove sufficiently distracting that you may study them unnoticed, Audrick. Winds willing, we will find that they are simply cautious, rather than malicious."

There really is nothing else for Tove to do here anyway. 5gp doesn't go very far. :smalltongue:

[cosmonuts]

The adventurers murmur their goodbyes to one another and split up.

"Let's go," said Atameties.

Those following her are led out of the palace, through its neatly trimmed hedges and marble fountains, and then the gates. The guards salute Atameties as she passes.

It is afternoon, and the sun is not shining as brightly. There is a light summer breeze which cools you down. Atameties alternates between flying and walking at random. She is humming some tuneless song, but her voice is beautiful, making for a very strange juxtaposition.

Nearing the populated centers, Atameties leads you through the streets deftly to the Temple District. Many denizens of Feldkirchen appear to recognize her, calling out to or waving at her as she passes. And then they see Tove and her skeletal minions, and they back off with an uncertain look on their face.

Temple District is primarily made of marble and stone buildings. Feldkirchen City Hall is an enormous stone-and-wood building, obviously old, with many officious-looking bureaucrats wandering in and out. There are several other government bureaus around, but none stand out in comparison to the City Hall.

There are temples, as one would expect of a Temple District. The most magnificent is the Temple of Pelor, which is a large, ancient-looking marble building. A large relief of a sun is carved into the Temple's front side. Priests and townsfolk walk in and out of the Temple freely. There are some half-finished wooden constructs and a lot of workers moving about, putting together stands, putting up banners, setting up seats, tables, and podiums, or just generally shuffling crates and items around. You can hear the sound of hammer and carpentry, next to the sound of prayer from within the Temple of Pelor.

There are smaller temples, but without obvious dedications. It looks as if these temples have the altars of many other deities within.

As Atameties approaches, the workers stop and turn to her expectantly. Waiting. Listening. They see Tove and there is a minor commotion, but calmed by Atameties' cheery smile, they quiet down. Several priests walk out of the Temple of Pelor to listen. They, too, seeing Tove, back off nervously, but stay around nonetheless.

"So, what did the His Majesty want?" says a worker.

"I have an unfortunate task," says Atameties. "Involving some poorly-behaved individuals in the countryside. So I regret to announce, I probably cannot partake in the festivities."

There is a general sound of disappointment, but Atameties laughs and says, "You'll be fine. Why are you standing around? There's still a lot to do!"

Everybody returns to their work, although slightly perturbed by Tove and her skeletons' presence. A workman approaches Atameties. The workman says, "One of our suppliers isn't giving us the ale we ordered."

Atameties sighs. "Is this Vigo? This is Vigo. He causes trouble every year. What does he want this time?"

"His caravans have been attacked by bandits," says the workman. "He says he can't afford to sale ale at the bulk price. He wants to charge us more."

"This is the King's money," says Atameties. "By His Majesty's grace, we have funding for the Festival. Please do not tell me Vigo wants to renege on a contract with His Highness?"

Atameties turns to you and your companions. "I'm interested in seeing you problem solve, if you are willing," she says. "The King will not pay extra—he cares little for this Festival. But if we do not get enough ale, well, you can imagine what troubles will emerge in the festivities. It would be disrespectful to the event and its traditions, at least. Vigo lives in the residential district. The rich one. It's a, hmm, extravagant mansion. In front of the house he will have a statue of himself, made of gold. You can't miss it."

She winks. "Please get me the ale. Without harming anyone. I have nothing much to offer, so feel free to decline, but I am tired of dealing with Vigo every year. It may be best he meets some new faces this year." It is pretty clear she means Tove by that last part.

...

...

In the meantime, those who do not follow Atameties or are traveling to other town districts may visit the following places:

The center of the town, with coliseums, theaters, guilds, and banks.
The poor residential district, with cheap inns and seedy taverns.
The regular residential district, with blacksmiths, carpenters, artisans, regular inns, and reputable taverns.
The rich residential district, with mansions of merchants and nobles, as well as some interesting shops, inns, and taverns.
The market district, with, well, you can guess.
The temple district, with churches and government builds.
The port, with all its traders and ships. The warehouses are also located here.
The palace, where the King resides, which is also next to the barracks.

[Illven]

Tiffany is clearing sweating a bit. Long flowing robes are not the best material for keeping cool on a summer's day.

Yeah. I'll try talking to him. Tiffany says in between gasps, and chugs of her waterskin.

I'm not sure how effective it would be, but I'll try. She finishes.

[The Dark Fiddler]

"Can you not get the ale from somebody less troublesome? Especially with backing from the king? Someone so inconvenient can't be worth dealing with year after year." In contrast to Tiffany, Homer is perfectly cool. Perhaps, even, a bit chilly. He pulls his own cloak a bit closer to protect from the wind as he speaks. "Regardless, is there anything you can tell us about Vigo and his business that might be helpful?"

[Anubis Dread]

"I'm not all that good with words," Bhaladnir admitted. "But we can't let all these people down. I'll give it a shot." All these people were working hard. It would be a profound disappointment to let one person not doing their job properly stand in the way of it. Besides, he didn't have anything else to do before they left other than pick up Audrick's potions. Though this seemed important enough to the people that he'd probably choose this over shopping anyway.

[Resasi]

"We will speak with this Vigo. I am certain he can be persuaded to do what is... in your city's best interests."

And if diplomacy with a positive Charisma modifier fails, I'm sure we can persuade him in some other way. :smallwink:

[cosmonuts]

Homer: "Can you not get the ale from somebody less troublesome? Especially with backing from the king? Someone so inconvenient can't be worth dealing with year after year. Regardless, is there anything you can tell us about Vigo and his business that might be helpful?"

"It's a long story," says the pixie, "but it arises from the bureaucrats who mandate we buy supplies from their merchant friends and ridiculously marked up prices. It's not as if we have much of a say in the matter. Anyone who knows me can tell you this is where most nobles and I don't see eye-to-eye."

She sighs. "Well, you understand how it goes. Systemic corruption. His Majesty is too preoccupied with less petty things to concern himself with bureaucrats giving their friends favors."

"I do not think I will be undertaking this task," says Aleydis. "I wish to visit the Temple."

"Of course," says Atameties. "Let me show you around. How about you, Zedia?"

"I will go speak to your friend Vigo," says Zedia flatly.

"Thank you for this," she says, and then she leads Aleydis into the Temple and both women disappear.

Assuming you actually go directly to Vigo's mansion, the below occurs. Otherwise, ignore!
Those who were going to Vigo's mansion find themselves standing outside his mansion gates. It is a gaudy place. Things which should not be made of gold are made of gold. Jewelry is tacked onto the building tastelessly and randomly.

The front gates are guarded by a burly human man. Shock passes across the man's face as he sees Tove. The man says, "D-do you have an appointment?"

Zedia wanders off as the burly man speaks to you.

[Illven]

Tiffany speaks up. We need to speak to Vigo. We're here about the ongoing negotiations on the city's behalf.

[Resasi]

"Yes. Just now. Please stand aside. I am certain your master would be most displeased with you if you were to delay an emissary from your king." Tove speaks unthreateningly, but with a certain urgency in her odd, toneless words. Even so, her intent doesn't translate well into the common tongue, and she somehow manages to come off as brusque and aloof.

If necessary, Diplomacy: [roll0] Edit: Hah...ha...ha. Edited post to reflect her failure.

I just realized I had 55 gp, not 5, so I added a masterwork diplomacy tool to Tove. If that's not okay, subtract 2 from the above.

[jimmyjjohn]

The guards, however, are definitely unhappy. Five stay by the gates, while another five approach Audrick. "What's the cause of this commotion?" says a guard. The guards look cautious, although not hostile. They also look annoyed.

[cosmonuts]

The burly man blinks at seeing Tove speak. He says, "W-Well, if you're from H-His Majesty then I guess it's f-fine." He quickly unlocks the front gates and steps aside.

As Atameties had said, you see a gold statue of a halfling in the mansion's courtyard.

The interior of the mansion is well-decorated and maintained. The servants scurry out of your way. Without much trouble, you find a butler who is willing to lead you to Vigo.

Vigo's office has multiple bookshelves filled with trade ledgers. Vigo himself, a halfling who matches the statue outside, is sitting at a desk.

Vigo looks up. "What's the meaning of this?" he says.

"They wish to see you, Sir," says a butler.

"Do they have an appointment? Well, no matter now, serve us some tea."

The butler bows and leaves.

Vigo turns to your group. "What?"

[Illven]

Tiffany speaks up first.

Why are you charging more for the sell of your ale? She questions, wondering if the story would change.

[cosmonuts]

Vigo clears his throat. "Oh, so pixie girl sent you. My caravans are being raided by bandits, you see, no doubt sent by my competitors. So now, if I sell my ale so cheap, I won't make a profit. Well, obviously, my prices are still fair. Two gold per gallon."

[The Dark Fiddler]

Before speaking, Homer takes a deep breath to steady himself and his mind. Not that he has much going on to distract him. "From what I hear, this isn't the first year that your caravans have been raided. Perhaps you should consider investing in better security or getting the law on those responsible, lest you lose business from those who don't care to deal with somebody who is consistently raided by bandits and can't protect his goods."

Taking ten on a concentration check (+11 for total 21) to gather psionic focus. Psionic Meditation makes it take a move action, if that's relevant at all.

[cosmonuts]

Vigo yawns. "Well, if the good Council of Feldkirchen wishes to change their suppliers, they are free to do so. As is, I still have the contract because I'm the most trustworthy. And I won't be intimidated by some pixie's magic dog. The price is going up to two gold per gallon."

[Anubis Dread]

Huh. If anything inside of a wall was like a hermit crab, he wondered what sort of hermit crab lived in a place like this? Probably one with little taste. Or someone who was compensating for something rather vigorously. ...ohhhh, he was a halfling. He was guessing the second one then.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't paying much attention when we were told how much it was normally," Bhaladnir admitted. "Exactly how much would it cost to pay for the difference between what you already got and what you're charging now? Also, are contracts flammable, because if so that would be a good solution to you still having it if you don't want it. I mean, if you wanted it you'd deliver on your end right?" he asked innocently.

[cosmonuts]

Vigo says, "Well, you're ordering four hundred gallons, yes? So you were originally paying four hundred gold. Now that price is eight hundred gold. I have the four hundred from the pixie's initial deposit, so you need only pay four hundred more."

[Anubis Dread]

Hm. He wasn't much of a diplomancer, but he did know sometimes the best solution was the simplest. It didn't seem that they could buy off of someone else, and they didn't really have time to go bandit hunting on the halfling's behalf. So that just left paying him off. Unfortunately with their expedition looming they couldn't really spare too much in the way of funds, but...

"We're going to be paid a fair bit of money to do... something secret... for the king," Bhalandir explained to the halfling. "If you get the festival their ale for what they already paid, can I promise to pay youy the difference when we get back? It should only take half a month or so."

[The Dark Fiddler]

"Don't be silly, Bhalandir. His caravans being robbed does not mean he can rob the king, or you for that matter. And as an experienced merchant, I'm sure he knows that the council isn't going to shell out twice the price they were promised. He's just hoping to pressure them into paying more, as he apparently does every year, and you're falling into his trap."

[Anubis Dread]

"I know he's trying to be rude and get more gold than he deserves, but do we have a choice?" Bhalandir asked. "We're not allowed to go to anyone else because of the contract, and it seems like somebody who makes a solid gold statue of themselves to make up for a small penis wouldn't be all that willing to negotiate when in a position of strength. Especially when they have a legitimate concern over bandits cutting into their profits."

Unless... they didn't have time to kill bandits, come back to the Halfling, have him deliver the ale after a tedious back and forth and get to the gate before sundown. But if the bandits were robbing the Halfling, then... "I know! The bandits probably have some of the ale from the robbings! Maybe we could just beat them up and deliver that ale directly! Oh!" Bhalandir realized, bowing his head in apology to the Halfling. Sorry for calling you rude."

[Illven]

Tiffany spoke up as this point

Why don't we just demand half the shipment now. Since we've already payed for that much, get the other half from the locals at non-inflated prices, and just have him drawn and quartered for breaking a royal contract. She stated impatiently.

[cosmonuts]

Vigo spits. "Do you louts know who you're talking to? The nerve on you commonfolk. I would have you bow and apologize if you weren't here on that damned pixie's behalf. Do as you wish. Take half of your ale. I care not." He raps on his desk. "Get in here!"

Two servants step into the room.

"Show them the casks," says Vigo. He addresses your group. "Get out of my mansion."

The servants bow to your group and say, "When you're ready, we should leave."

[Anubis Dread]

Bhalandir frowned, opened his mouth, then promptly shut it. There were too many replies to make up his mind on. Like how they were probably all at least somewhat high blooded whether it be through birth or taining. Or how he'd already been bowing his head, and did he just want him to do it deeper? None the less, it seemed as though they weren't going to get anywhere at this point. He wondered if it had been something one of them said?

"Thank you for having his, Vilngo," the elf bowed his head again in parting, turning to follow the servant. Looks like they'd need another plan. He supposed his originaly idea to just pay the halfling WAS kind of rude to Gavril, since he was effectively handing the King's money over to someone for them being a jerk.

[Resasi]

"I cannot help but wonder," Tove says slowly, deliberately sitting on her haunches and staring at Vigo when he demands they leave. "Why it is that the people of this land are so intrinsically petty. Threats from one side, and bluster from another. Storms, but it is tiresome. A question before we depart then, if you please, Vigo. Even if we were to buy half your stock at your requested price, what would you do with the rest? You cannot have hopes of selling it to others for such a price, and selling it for less when it becomes clear you will find no other fools to buy it would surely be a slap in the face of the king and his emissaries. He may overlook the slight you are giving him here and now, but you cannot imagine that he will stand for an outright insult, can you? What, then, are you to do with your stock? Give it freely to your men? At what gain? You will have taken in only the coin promised, and have gained considerable ill-will from the crown. Would it not be better, this one year, to garner good will instead? Surely a royal contract bears some weight, and knowing that a merchant such as yourself has the favor of the king and his advisors would just as surely be a boon to your other ventures."

Diplomacy, go! Take 10 for 19, which should be enough to shift him from unfriendly to indifferent.

Maybe even with a little circumstance bonus for having a solid argument? :smalltongue:

[Rofltrollcopter]

For the sake of continuity, assume this takes place before the party talks with Vigo



Audrick takes note when Aleydis leaves with Atameties. It wasn't likely that she would be able to try anything suspicious with the pixie around. When Zedia wanders off he says "don't mind me, I need to get my bow washed. Yes, that's it. He takes off his armor and passes it to Bhaladnir."Look after this for me would you? If I don't catch up with you lot, just tell the pixie I got bored and went drinking instead."

Audrick follows Zedia through the crowd, using the map he was given and his plethora of movement adjustment abilities to maintain his distance when the crowd was thin/catch up when appropriate.


Hide:[roll0]
Move Silently (if they need to go through an alleyway or whatnot): [roll1]

Spot: [roll2]
Listen: [roll3]



Dem rolls...

[cosmonuts]

"Oh?" Vigo raises an eyebrow. "The pixie's dog speaks? Well listen here and listen well, and tell your pixie this. I am the sole provider for all of the Council's trade goods. They will not purchase from suppliers other than me. I have this contract so long as the Council stands. All of this ale will sell, if not to you, then to the barracks. Or to another festival. Or to the King's table. And I tell you now, the Council will back me and not you. Do you think the King is the only man who gets to decide things in this place? Get out."

The servants bow to you. "Excuse us, but if you have nothing more to say, then we'd like to show you the stocks."

...

...

In the meantime, Audrick has been following Zedia. Zedia appears to be walking towards the warehouse district, but then gets confused. He doubles back, and he does not seem to notice you as you quickly duck into the crowd, which provides cover.

After following him for what seems like a while, with Zedia getting lost every so often, you follow him to the marketplace.

Zedia approaches a merchant and says, "I need laborers to carry four-hundred gallons of ale."

"I sell horseshoes," says the merchant, raising his eyebrow. Indeed, the merchant clearly sits at a booth labeled "horseshoes" with only horseshoes on display.

Zedia leaves and approaches another merchant. "I need laborers to carry four-hundred gallons of ale."

"I saw you talking to the other guy," says this merchant, who is clearly running a booth for farm implements. "Have you tried asking a worker's guild, maybe, instead of us metalsmiths?" The metalsmiths start shaking their heads. Their faces show bewilderment that someone could be so clueless.

You realize at this moment that Zedia is playing dumb. He performs the role of an idiot so deftly that even you can barely recognize that it is an act.

Zedia makes his way to the worker's guild, a well-made but humble wooden building in the town center. He is greeted by a worker at the guild.

"Can I help you?" says the worker.

"I need laborers to carry four-hundred gallons of ale," says Zedia mechanically.

"Naturally," says the worker. "May I take your name? This service will cost, hmm, around three gold if you want it done in an hour or two. Where is the ale to be delivered from and to?"

"I don't know," says Zedia. "Somewhere in the warehouse district."

The worker stares at him. "Well, that will cost extra. What's your name again?"

"Artur Bromont San-Lisban Zedia Helena of House Lostrec," says Zedia.

You sense that he is being untruthful.

"I'm not writing all that down," says the worker. "I'll just take your first name. Artur. I'll take the payment now. Six gold, since the workers will be doing nothing till you find the exact warehouse."

Zedia wordlessly hands over gold coins.

[Resasi]

"I see," Tove says. "A pity an insect like yourself has to be so unreasonable, but no matter. We will relay your words precisely. Were you more important, I might deign to try further to convince you, but you are a trifling annoyance; a man with a head too large for his body, in more ways than one. Good day and fair winds, Vigo." With that, she turns to follow the servants.

[Rofltrollcopter]

HA! No one is better than me at faking the role of the idiot. Especially since I am so close to being one already. Audrick thinks. He muses about what he has just witnessed. Is it possible that Zetia delivered a code phrase to one of the merchants? Maybe he just got his kicks out of complicating simple tasks as much as possible? Regardless, Audrick will still follow Zetia until he goes back to the group.

[cosmonuts]

Zedia with a large group of hirelings make their way to the warehouse district. Audrick follows quietly.

I'll assume you're accompanying Tove to the ale if you're present in the last scene.
The two servants lead you through the streets to the warehouse district.

Homer immediately feels that something is off.

You are led to an old stone building by the port. The streets are deserted. The servants unlock the building doors. "Come on in," they say.

You spot a clearly-dangerous individual with a drawn longsword and leather armor sneaking up in the alley behind you.

[Resasi]

"Hold." Tove says sharply, whirling about in a blur of white fur. "Identify yourself, stranger." As she speaks, her two frozen companions hunker down threateningly, as if about to pounce on something down the alley. A chill wind springs up around Tove as she lets out a low, menacing growl.

I just realized I forgot to include Tove's Honest trait bonus in her diplomacy checks. Whoops.

Assuming initiative is coming up... [roll0]

[Anubis Dread]

Hm... in retrospect he probably could have just offered to paint the halfling or something. Perhaps a nice shade of blue or red! But seriously, people with prumped out egos tended to love being painted. Perhaps something along the lines of... Virgo on a winged bear lancing a half-golem dragon over an active volcano. Something over the top and ego fueling. The man DID have a solid gold statue of himself after all.

"Okay," the elf replied simply, going to step inside the warehouse... before a wolf growl behind him. A wolf! What was it doing inside... oh, right. Puzzled, Bhalandir looked behind him, his hand straying to his rapier.

I am seriously considering ret-conning Bhalandir to have some flaws >.>

In all seriousness though, if there is a combat, here's the initiative roll: [roll0]

[Illven]

Tiffany sighed.

Somethings happening Lassie. Did Timmy fall down a well? She snarked as she got ready for combat.


Casting nerve skitter for +5 init
[roll0]

[Anubis Dread]

Bhalandir frowned in confusion, before looking at the wolf. "Your name is Lassy?" he asked, almost forgetting to keep his hand on his blade.

[The Dark Fiddler]

"I'm going to assume you see something threatening, Tove? I must admit, this situation feels odd to me..." Homer draws his shield from his back and places his hand on his mace. "And if it feels odd to me, I'm surprised none of you noticed anything. I'm sure if anything were to happen it would reflect poorly on Vigo."

Initiative: [roll0]

Homer's hand on his mace is a misdirection. Readying an action to manifest Energy Ray (cold) at the first person that isn't in the group (so Bhaladnir, Tove, and Tiffany; Audrick and Zedia he probably wouldn't recognize fast enough to interrupt his instinctive attack).

Attack: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2]

4 PP/25 spent if the power goes off.

[cosmonuts]

"Well, that's too bad," says one of the servants. "It makes no difference to us how you die."

And from their hiding places, more men with longswords and bows appear. In total, there are nine of them, including the two servants. Their intentions are certainly deadly.

The average for player rolls is 19.8, rounded up to 20. (Initiatives will be rounded up due to the inherent disadvantage to all acting in the same block.)

As for Homer's readied action, that can't happen unfortunately, as the enemies do not pause to give you time to ready an action.
Zedia arrives on scene as the fight is about to start, followed by twenty-some workers. Audrick is close behind, sneaking by.

The workers sense the hostilities in the air and quickly back off.

Zedia stares. "What?" he says, stunned. "Why are you fighting already?"

Nonetheless, he regains composure quickly and, in one fluid motion, draws his quarterstaff, dashes across the alley, and strikes an enemy. He strikes twice with incredible speed. Both blows land on the enemy's neck, killing the enemy immediately.

It is now the players' turn.

[The Dark Fiddler]

"Well, I'm sure that this will make for an interesting story when we make it back to Atameties." Homer takes a few steps to the side and focuses inward, toward the curse that has frozen his heart, and wills the ice outward. It shoots forward from his fingertips toward the nearest enemy, a bolt of pure icy energy. "Unfortunately," he grunts, "they've picked a fight with a man who literally cannot feel mercy."

Same as before, Energy Ray. Marked the target with a light blue x on the map.

Touch attack- [roll0]
Damage - [roll1]

[Illven]

Tiffany suumons a celestial riding dog three squares down from her, and four to the right. (Adjacent to an enemy).

Boo, Boo! Rip it's heart out! She commanded, as the angelic dog attacked.


Bite
[roll0]
[roll1]
Cold [roll2]

For potential crit.
[roll3]
[roll4]
Cold [roll5]

[Resasi]

"An unwise decision. But then, what should have been expected from the underlings of such a despicable man?" Tove sighs, then bears down on the servants before her in a single large stride. She lets out a piercing howl, and the winds around her whip into a tempest, fist-sized chunks of ice whirling through the storm. She glances to one side, and the winds surge in that direction, crackling with bolts of black energy as they buffet one of the servants and another unfortunate assailant.

Nearby, the two frozen wolves dart off down one of the side passages, quickly surrounding another of the would-be assassins. Rime-covered teeth tear at the man's ankles, trying to bring him down.

Tove 5-ft steps down and uses her Rime Dragon ability on the path indicated by the bright blue line below her on the map. Both of the enemies in the path take [roll0] uttercold damage (half cold/half negative energy), Reflex DC 13 halves. If they take any damage from the ability, they are bull rushed for [roll1] along the path, up to the end (so, into the water if they fail by enough).

The wolves move to flank the eastern assassin, then bite at it.
[roll2] for [roll3] damage. On hit, [roll4] strength check to trip.
[roll5] for [roll6] damage. On hit, [roll7] strength check to trip.

Rolls include flanking bonus.

Edit: Bah, accidentally made two lines. Disregard the one that goes into the middle of nowhere.

[Anubis Dread]

"I call a strong... oh," Bhalandir sighed. "There aren't any. In that case you'll have to do!"

Dashing towards the nearest enemy, the swordsman withdrew his rapier. He guessed there was no reason to hold back... that being the case, lightning crackled along his weapon as he lunged at the enemy.


Arcane Channeling Shocking Grasp
Attack Roll: [roll0]
Base Damage Roll: [roll1]
Shocking Grasp Roll: [roll2] lightning damage.
If Critical - Confirmation Roll: [roll3]
If Critical - Damage Multiplier: [roll4] and [roll5] lightning damage.

[cosmonuts]

Homer: Attacks enemy.

Struck by Homer's energy ray, the enemy collapses unconscious immediately.

Tiffany: Dog attack enemy.

The dog bites at the enemy, but fails to penetrate the armor.

Tove: Rime Dragon and wolves.

Tove's Rime Dragon blasts one of the servants and knocks him into the water. The other is struck but manages to dodge the brunt of the attack, and is knocked back only five feet. Into the water anyways.

The wolves bite, and both find their mark. The first manages to knock the enemy prone. The second attacks only moments later, knocking their quarry unconscious.

Bhalandir: Attacks enemy.

You strike true, and your electricity surges through the enemy's body. The enemy drops unconscious.

[Rofltrollcopter]

Audrick curses. Showing up now would be vary suspicious, but he couldn't just stand back and watch. "WRONG MOVE FREAKS". He ducks beside the cover that the attackers were using, and shoots an arrow at the nearest one.


Point Blank shot range
attack:[roll0]
damage:[roll1] (will use cunning surge insight if it hits)

[cosmonuts]

Audrick: Moves, attacks.

Audrick's arrow strikes true. He hits the opponent. There is a lot of blood. The opponent grunts from the pain.

The enemy Audrick had struck says, "I didn't sign up for this!" He dashes over his friend's unconscious body into an alleyway.

Another enemy who has been behind concealment the entire time surveys the scene and decides to run for it.

One of the enemies knocked into the water (the one who managed to avoid the worst of Tove's Rime Dragon) swims to shore, looks around, and makes a dash for the alley.

The remaining servant standing in front of Tove attempts to run into the building (provoking an AoO).

Assuming Tove's AoO doesn't kill him, the following occurs to the servant who may be AoO'd.

The servant dashes for the door inside the building and hastily opens it.
Finally, the servant who was knocked into the water flounders in the water and is unable to move.

Zedia moves quickly over to where Tove is, apparently heading for the warehouse. "At least we have the ale," he says cheerily.

It is now the players' turn.

As the enemy will be acting to flee now, and the fellow in the water can't swim well, you may opt to end the encounter. If you give chase, that will end the encounter. I will adjudicate the chase based on any options (spells, items, etc) you may have available, character move speed, dex bonuses, str or dex skills, etc.

[Rofltrollcopter]

YOU CAN KEEP THAT ONE AS A SOUVENIR Audrick shouts at the fleeing man who was struck by his arrow.

Ha! Audrick laughs "Nothing like a good fight to get the blood flowing... His words trail off as he sees the frozen corpses, and realizes just how outclassed their assailants were. I think you lot overdid it he mumbles. He starts checking if any of them are still alive. "What exactly happened here anyways? I wouldn't expect a bunch of common thugs to try this sort of thing."

[Anubis Dread]

Well that was depressing... Bhalandir sighed. Seemed as though he wasn't going to get a good challenge here. He was never going to get stronger unless he could find and beat stronger opponents.

"Oh! Audrick! When did you get here?" the elf asked curiously, looking down at the enemy at his feet before looking over to the enemy flailing in the fountain. "Can you patch up the one I cut? I'm not very good at that sort of thing," he admitted, before walking over to the fountain and leaning in, holding out his arm.

"Well hurry up and grab on! I can't fight you again later if you drown now."

[cosmonuts]

The enemies had fled. One of the servants had fled into the building with the ale and disappeared into one of its rooms.

The servant in the water is still floundering about. Bhalandir reaches over and pulls him out.

The servant is soaking wet and breathing heavily. He looks over at Bhalandir. "I don't know why you saved me, but thank you." He looks around. "It may be more merciful to just kill me, though. I don't fancy having my fingers cut off. The ale in that warehouse is perfectly good, mind you, if you're still interested."

Zedia does not seem to notice the strangeness of Audrick's sudden appearance. The workers Zedia had brought with him wander over. "What in the nine heavens happened here?" says one.

"I don't know," says Zedia, "but can you carry ale?"

"This is way outside of our contract," says a worker. "We're calling the guards." Some workers leave, others crowd around the scene.

Zedia turns to you and your group. He says, "Some of your would-be attackers are still alive. Unconscious, but alive." Indeed, three are on the ground, wounded, but alive. One is stable, whereas two are bleeding out.

[Resasi]

"Your treachery will be your master's undoing," Tove snarls, then lashes out with her massive jaws to take the fleeing servant by the leg and thrash him to the ground.
AoO: [roll0] for [roll1] damage. If it deals at least 10 damage, Tove gets a free trip attempt ([roll2]), and a free followup attack. She'll make the followup attack nonlethal, canceling out the attack penalty with the prone penalty to AC. She's trying to knock the man out so they have witnesses, not kill him.

Secondary attack roll, if needed: [roll3] (technically only a +4 bonus and a -4 penalty to the prone servant's AC, but eh.) for [roll4] nonlethal damage.

If the servant is already knocked out from the initial damage, she'll forego the second attack.

[Rofltrollcopter]

Audrick sighs at the elf"kid, if you brake something, you should know how to fix it."

Well, we can't have them die on us. We need to turn them over to people in funny robes who will kill them for us, that's how the system works. Audrick will go over to the people bleeding out and use one charge of his healing belt on each of them. "None of you lot try anything funny. That big wolf loves to play fetch." He shakes his head "Why would you lot try something so stupid? Wouldn't there be easier marks at the festival?" His voice trails off again "Wait, you mentioned there was ale here?" Audrick brightens up and goes the warehouse, where he begins to help himself to its contents.

[Anubis Dread]

Bhalandir grins sheepishly at Audrick, before turning back to the servant. "You dieing doesn't do any good. I mean it's not like your a bad person or anything. Granted you did try to kill us, but we're adventurers! Doorways try to kill us when we enter a room!"

He frowned a bit in thought. "As for the ale I guess we'll take half like we arranged and work out the rest from there. Funny that there was an ambush leading right up to the warehouse, that was a pretty big coincidence! Make sure to tell Vilno thanks for us... wait, someone wants to cut off your fingers?" the elf went on perplexed.

[Illven]

Tiffany rolls her eyes as Audrick starts drinking.

Well I think we have the ale now. She responded.

Then she heard Bhalandir.

.... Hun... You can't be this stupid. You wouldn't have survived childhood. The servants are behind the ambush. Possibly on their master's orders. She replied face-palming.

[The Dark Fiddler]

"I think we need to go have another talk with Vigo. But first..." Homer follows Audrick into the warehouse and takes the ale from him. "This isn't your ale, this is what we were sent to get. We agreed to get the full amount, and we'll bring her the full amount."

[Rofltrollcopter]

Wait a second, Vigo? The little guy we were supposed to get the ale from? Audrick begins to piece the facts together

I am assuming he is up to speed with everything else up to this point

Audrick glares back at Homer "Look around this place, I am sure there is more than enough for the order, plus extra. You can't really be upset with me taking stuff from Vigo? Besides, its meant for the people celebrating the festival, and I am celebrating". Audrick quickly grabs another one and starts to drink. "PRAISE PELOR".

[Anubis Dread]

Bhalandir blinked for a moment, before his eyes widened. "You set up that ambush?!" he asked the servant incredulously and a bit hurt. "...well it's in the past, doesn't matter to much now," he shrugged it off, letting go of the servant and looking around at the scene.

"Still that Vingus guy sure seems to like his ale if he's willing to throw so many men at making sure it stays put. We were only going to take what we paid for, so why would he get so upset?" he frowned, thinking back to their conversation. "Do you think it was when I said he had a small pe- oh hey Zedia! When did you get here?"

[Resasi]

Tove lays her thoroughly-bruised-but-definitely-not-dead victim down after one final thump on the ground for good measure. "Most likely," she says, poking a head into the room though the doors just barely large enough to accommodate it. "Vigo's arrogance was a front, and our threat of reporting his promise to sell his ale to others for less unnerved him. Perhaps his position is not so steady as it seems. Regardless, it hardly seems an issue of great importance. What are a few barrels of ale compared to the looming threat of a dragon? Surely our time could be better spent once we retrieve the ale and have done with it."

Just how much does 400 gallons of ale weigh, anyway? Tove should be able to carry something like 2,800 pounds of it, or at least drag it around with relative ease if the barrels are lashed together somehow.

Alternate carrying method: load her up in giantess form and then she shapeshifts, melding it all into her form. Good luck finding your missing ale now, Vigo!

A pity she won't be hanging around the city long enough for that to be viable, because... yeah. Best thief ever.

[cosmonuts]

Tove had knocked a servant unconscious during combat and now he lies on the floor, unmoving.

Retcon; nobody ran into the warehouse because he was AoC'd by Tove.
"You missed this guy," says Zedia. He prods the servant. You cannot tell exactly what happens, but almost instantaneously the servant is awake and perfectly healthy.

The servant gasps for air. "Wh-whaa?"

"Actually, I wonder," says Zedia. His expression is one of dry amusement. "While I was being followed around by an incompetent sneak, I wonder how you got into a fight with my companions. Did Vigo order you to attack?"

The servant looks up at Zedia, speechless. He is, fortunately, docile, seeing the scene around him.

"Hmph," says Zedia. He turns to the other servant, who Bhalandir had pulled up from the water. "How about you? I healed your friend. Will you talk?"

"Well," says the servant, "I really don't know, he just gave us the code to kill you guys. When he said 'casks'. He never talks about ale like that."

Bhalandir says, "Do you think it was when I said he had a small pe- oh hey Zedia! When did you get here?"

"Hello, my clever friend," says Zedia. "I arrived with some help to carry the ale. I delayed too long, doing something idiotic; had I arrived earlier, we may have avoided this fight. Or perhaps not. They showed poor judgment once already."

Tove says, "Vigo's arrogance was a front, and our threat of reporting his promise to sell his ale to others for less unnerved him. Perhaps his position is not so steady as it seems. Regardless, it hardly seems an issue of great importance. What are a few barrels of ale compared to the looming threat of a dragon? Surely our time could be better spent once we retrieve the ale and have done with it."

Zedia says, "Our original objective here was to bring ale to the Temple District. Regardless of some local brat Vigo's behavior, we should continue with our task." Zedia turns to the workers. "I need help carrying this ale to the Temple of Pelor."

The workers do not budge. "No way. You just got into a fight, we're waiting on the guards."

Zedia looks murderous, but sighs and says, "When the guards get here, will you transport the ale?"

"The contract says no fights," says a worker stubbornly. "You got into a fight."

[Anubis Dread]

"From my understanding contracts are quite flammable," Bhalandir points out helpfully. "Do ale casks fight back? If they don't I don't see how carrying them could be considered fighting... I guess you could get a splinter or something. Are you all afraid of splinters?"

Hm... on the one hand he kind of wanted to go back to Voltron and confront him about this. Capture him and bring him to the guard. If this was common enough that they had a code word for it it was clearly a problem. But at the same time the temple district needed their ale, and they left to slay a dragon this evening...

"Tell V guy to keep his nose clean. For now we're in a hurry, but if we get back in town and he's still causing mischief I AM going to cut him and bring him to the guards," the elf told the servant. "As for the ale, if the laborers are afraid of splinters we don't have a choice but to carry it ourselves." With that he began to walk into the warehouse.

[Illven]

This contract is going to need further explanation. Tiffany stated.

Because right now, it sounds like Vido got out of it, because we got attacked.

[The Dark Fiddler]

While Bhalandir walks toward the warehouse, Homer comes back to the main group. "So, while I was unsuccessfully trying to get Audrick to stop drinking the ale, did we come to some conclusion about what to do next? I still think we need to go talk to Vigo."

[cosmonuts]

Tiffany: Because right now, it sounds like Vido got out of it, because we got attacked.

"You needn't worry," says Zedia. "These workers are with the guild, not Vigo. Likely they had a clause in the contract (which I never got to sign) which says that they can't transport for violent clients."

Zedia eyes the barrels. He says, "I don't know how much Atameties wants, but there's some eight-hundred gallons here. That's six-thousand four-hundred pounds. You can go confront Vigo. I will stay and convince the workers to deliver the cargo."

[Rofltrollcopter]

Audrcik shrugged, he was still suspicious about Zedia, but he hadn't sacrificed any babies or anything particularly sinister. Besides, having a chance to go tweak this Vigo character sounded like it would be a lot more amusing. Hmm, too bad there were witnesses. He steps outside and cheerfully address the party. "Lets go find Vigo and thank him for his generous contribution. It was quite kind of him to donate all of the ale in this warehouse to the city's festivities. Oh, before I forget"

Audricks grabs one of the servants that he healed with his Healing Belt. "Your going to help us get into his office m'kay?"

[Anubis Dread]

Bhalandir stopped, frowning a bit as he turned to Audrik. "I thought we were going to slay the D word tonight? Do we really have time to be messing around with someone like this? I mean sure he sent people to try and kill us, but he isn't exactly trying to kill us this very second right? Plus we still need to do shopping."

They also had comitted to dinner at the pixie's house later that evening, and that sounded too fun to pass up. More fun than scaring a little halfling with too much money anyway.

[Rofltrollcopter]

"You have a good point Audrick turns to the servant "Inform your master of his generous donation. If he protests and wishes to ruin the festival, remind him that he lives in a very flammable house and we adventuring types get bored very easily."

[The Dark Fiddler]

"If the rest of you don't want to, I'll still go speak to Vigo. I have nothing to do but help with the festival, and Atameties asked us to solve this." Homer puts his hand on his mace, previously untouched. "And besides, I could use a bit of a warm-up, if anything gets out of hand. Anybody who wants to is free to come with me." He returns to speak with Vigo, with a servant if possible.

[Rofltrollcopter]

Hm, i'll tag along then in case he has something else up his short little sleeves. But let's not take too long. Know that I think about it, I have all the supplies I need anyways, no need to go shopping. A couple dozen good spitons would be nice, but we should be able to find those at our destination

[Illven]

Tiffany shrugs and figures she'll let other people do the talking.

[Anubis Dread]

"Well if everyone else is going I guess I will too. You may need a strong sword," Bhalandir relented. It seemed like it might be a bit of a time waster, but at the same time everyone else was going along with it and they WERE comrades.

Shopping though... oh! That reminded me! "Speaking of which, before I forget, here's that list you wanted Audrick," the elf smiled, holding out the folded out list for him to take. Wait... was that right?

[Resasi]

"Must we confront the odious little man again?" Tove sighs. "Very well then. But I'll not stand his insults a second time. Let us be done with this affair and be on our way; I grow tired of this city already."

[cosmonuts]

The enemies your group healed look around meekly. The servant rescued from drowning says, "I appreciate that you spared me and my friends. I will keep us out of trouble. We will be in hiding, of course; if you need to find us, speak to the guildmaster of the blacksmiths."

Zedia says, "When you are done, the ale will be at the Temple."

...

I assume all of you are headed to Vigo's mansion?
It is late afternoon. The sky is turning orange. You see a commotion at Vigo's mansion. Town guards surround the place. You see your attackers who ran away from the fight. A bloodied one is talking to the guards.

"We were showing 'em the ale, yes?" says the attacker. "Well, they get violent on us for no reason."

"What do they look like?" says a guard.

"They got this big wolf—"

"You are mistaken," says the guard. "The big wolf is with the Vanguard."

Vigo walks out in bathrobes and takes a deep breath. "Hello, officers," he says. "I think they were sent by Miss Atameties to kill my men. She is jealous of my success."

"Due to current events," says the guard, "the King has declared that the Vanguard is pardoned of any extralegal actions they may take."

"The pixie is obviously taking advantage of this," says Vigo.

"We're sorry, sir, but we cannot take action," says the guard.

"Do you know who I am?" says Vigo. "If you want to keep your jobs, then make sure the Council investigates this travesty of justice."

[The Dark Fiddler]

Homer walks up to the guards, Vigo, and all others who might assembled without a hint of fear or trepidation. "I assure you all that the pardon on our behalf is unneeded, as we did nothing but defend ourselves. I can, of course, give a full explanation of what has transpired and clear whatever wool these ruffians have tried to pull over your eyes. My companions and I were sent to negotiate a lower price for the upcoming festival's ale, and the council was unhappy at Vigo's sudden price change to two whole gold per gallon. He says his caravans had been attacked by bandits and he needed to raise the prices to make a profit." He stops for a second, having almost forgotten his point.

"Ah, but the reason for the price hike is rather irrelevant. Regardless of the reason, we were sent to negotiate to the original price, a single gold piece per gallon. Our attempt was unsuccessful, and Vigo had his servants lead us to the warehouse to take the stock that had 'already been paid for', though because of the new price that was half of what the council ordered. When we arrived, we were ambushed by a quite sizable group of armed men, but... well, the king does not choose poorly when he chooses those who works for him. I think that should explain it all." If Homer were a normal man, he might stress the price of the ale - both old and new - to try and gain some sympathy. He might point out how the council had already paid for its stock and THEN had the price raised on them. But as is, all he can do is present the facts. The emotional appeal never occurs to him.

[Illven]

Tiffany is standing in front of Bhalandir trying to get him not noticed, so that we wouldn't speak. Before she has a flash of insight.

Why don't we let Homer handle this. After all, all great heroes have aides to speak for them. She whispers.

[Anubis Dread]

Wait, didn't the people who ambushed them... well, ambush them? That being the case why was Viltro... he was LIEING! To guards no less! And to make him and his new friends look bad! He was trying to get them all into trouble!

The elf gritted his teeth. He was all for letting the halfling off with a warning, and he was still trying to cause trouble for them all! He should just... knock that giant gold statue over and onto his head! Actually that WOULD be kind of funny. Ironic, really. Hm...

Starting a bit, Bhalandir looked at Tiffany. Oh, Homer was trying to handle the situation... "That's fine then. As long as he has it all handled already..." He should probably just keep his mouth shut and his arms at his sides if he couldn't trust either of them not to do something rash.

[cosmonuts]

The guards nod as Homer speaks, then one says, "It's good to hear the other side of the story. Unfortunately, it is your word against Master Vigo's. Master Vigo and the Feldkirchen Vanguards have been quarreling for some time now, so I imagine the Council will likely throw out your testimony."

"We should await a court official," says another guard, and the guards nod in agreement.

Vigo is angry. "I'm a respected member of the community," he says, "and you take their word over mine? These outsiders?"

"Sir, we're not taking anyone's word over anyone else's," says a guard. "We are delaying judgment until a court official should arrive, which may be some time." Turning to you, the guard says, "As members of the Vanguard, you are allowed to perform extralegal activities within the scope of the King's employment, and so you may travel freely. There is no need to stay here. When you have time available, we will send you a messenger for your court summons, if the Council concludes that you need stand trial."

"This is incredible," says Vigo. "Is there no guard with a sense of duty to his city? These people are common criminals!"

The guards turn to Vigo. "Sir, as a well-respected member of the community, you are permitted to travel within city limits, but no further. You may go to the Council to appeal your travel restrictions."

Vigo laughs. "Appeal my travel restrictions? You'll be appealing for your jobs if you keep this up."

[Anubis Dread]

"Wait..." Bhalandir began, pushing past Tiffany a bit. "I'm confused. Why do you keep threatening to get these guards fired?" he asked the halfling. "I mean, I get it, you have a lot of money and lots of people would do a lot for some money. But wouldn't whoever you could pay to get these guards or anyone in this system get even more money if they let you be caught and punished?"

The elf frowns as he counts points off of his fingers. "First off, it is your word against ours, but the guard just said that our team and yours are at ends. So it seems like your testimony is just as untrustworth as ours. Secondly, from my understanding if someonel like you gets arrested all their belongings end up going through evidence. Since it's in evidence, if someone WERE corrupt enough to want your money, couldn't they just take it all at that point? Lie and say it was all stolen and is thus guard property or something? Granted that means you need to be condemned in court by a jury of your peers, but we're the kings men right now! I doubt even with bribes, if that's what you're doing, they would go against our teams word. Plus these guards are going to have free reign over your entire property for some time - if they WERE fired, they could probably just get a year's worth of salary from your statue's toe," the swordsman pointed over his shoulder. "If they were bad guards, but if the guards around here are GOOD you couldn't use money to get them fired to begin with."

"Then there's the fact that you're a jerk and we're nice, so we're likely to have a lot more willing witnesses than you. Who are actually telling the truth, which is another big one since there are a lot of high level clerics that can cast high level spells that divine truth around here I'm sure since it's a capital city and gathering place for adventurers. So knowing all that why are you being so rude to people who could justifiably clap you in irons right now and keep you there even if they weren't in the right to do so?" he finished, cocking his head in confusion.

[Rofltrollcopter]

Audrick's eyes kind of glaze over, he has had a fair amount of ale to drink already. He starts speaking in a loud voice "I guess you could say the little guy tried to 'short' change us. Its not surprising that he has such 'low' business standards. "

[Resasi]

Tove lets out a low growl of annoyance. "What does it matter? We have freedom to move about, and the truth will come to light by one wind or another when that time comes. Let us be about our business, and let this cretin stew in his city."

[Rofltrollcopter]

Yeah your right Tove he begins muttering "Who names a wolf Tove anyways? I would've preferred Snowball, much better name for a white wolf". He stumbles over to the gateway to Vigo's mansion "I just need to take care of something first... ah thats much better" Audrick drops his trousers and relieves himself on the entrance to Vigo's mansion. He pulls up his trousers and says "Let's get on with it shall we? Sorry about the troubles guardsmen, enjoy the festival!" Then he takes off and makes for the pixie's house.

[cosmonuts]

Vigo points his finger. "That elf accused me of bribery!" he says to the guards. "That's unwarranted vilification of a public figure! That's definitely a crime that isn't justified under their employment with His Majesty!"

"Master Vigo," says a guard, "as His Majesty's employment of the Vanguard is secret, there is no way to know whether or not it is a part of their employment." Turning to your group, the guard says, "To avoid further conflict, I would like to request that you return to your prior business."

And, as he speaks, Audrick relieves himself on Vigo's mansion's grounds.

"What the—" says Vigo. "Do something!"

The guards stare at Audrick, then one says, "New member of the Vanguard, we cannot arrest you, but using His Majesty's permissions to commit crimes out of spite (minor though they may be) will embarrass both the King and the veteran Vanguard members. Please leave immediately."

[Anubis Dread]

"Wait... we can't be arrested?" the elf looked up to the giant golden statue, then back down at the little halfling. He looked thoughtful for a few moments, before eventually shaking his head. They needed to be respectable if they were acting on the King's behalf. Plus if it was two words clashing when it came to court they needed to prove they were not just hooligans with swords. He was blissfully unaware of what was going on behind him.

He supposed he should just go and buy some potions already... he had no idea where to get them though. "I suppose I'll be on my way th- wait if accusing you of bribes is illegal, wouldn't you accusing me of accusing you of bribes be just as illegal?" the elf frowned, before shaking his head. "It doesn't matter. Oh, Mr Guard, can you direct me to the nearest store that would have a good stock of potions by any chance?"

[Illven]

Tiffany is leaving. Trying to distance herself from those that embarrass her.

[cosmonuts]

"Potions?" says the guard. "I suspect your average shop will not carry magical items."

Another guard says, "Potions may not be common in regular shops, but there is a magical trading post, as well as the Mage's Guild, which is always a good place to try for magical equipment and services. Our usual magical tradesman is Dainarv. His shop is called 'Sorcerous Oddities', you won't miss it in the market district. But, as I recall, your friend in the Vanguard is also an expert magical craftsman. Good enough to catch the King's eye. He's called Nomad, isn't he? A strange, metal fellow."

...

"Well," says Atameties, "what took you so long?"

The day is turning dark as you arrive in the Temple District. You see Zedia and Aleydia standing with Atameties. The pixie wears a stern demeanor, unlike her previous cheerful mannerisms. There is a large stack of ale barrels by the Temple of Pelor. It appears as though all the ale in the warehouse was transported, well over four hundred gallons.

"I wasn't expecting this much ale," says Atameties, "and Zedia said nothing, and that he'll leave it to you to tell me what happened." She pauses a moment. "I'll tell you something you don't know. Our esteemed High Commander Leward, who you may recognize as the man who admitted you at the palace gates, secretly told the guards which of you to admit. I hope you didn't think that the guards just admitted those who behaved well. He, together with Court Wizard Finrahel, chose which of you seemed most capable.

"Now, I fear that getting Vigo to part with so many barrels of ale is a result of violent negotiation, and I strictly disapprove of such means, and so would High Commander Leward and Court Wizard Finrahel. I don't wish to accuse you of anything yet, but to behave poorly would be disrespectful of both the High Commander and the Court Wizard, as they were the ones who entrusted this position with you. Please keep this in mind when taking any actions on behalf of the throne.

"Now, onto less serious matters." Atameties smiles cheerily. "I'm sure you were justified in your actions, given that this is Vigo we are talking about. So please, explain to me how you got your hands on so much ale. Also, we're heading over to my residence, but we'll pass the market and guilds on our way there, so feel free to shop as we're walking."

[Rofltrollcopter]

Audrick yells at the elf Hey, don't go for potions. There a scam, get scrolls instead. Scrolls never let you down.

Audrick thinks to himself Wait, so people actually choose to let me in? He chuckles at Atameties
You need to relax a bit, no need to look for clouds in every silver lining. It was nothing serious, Vigo got a sudden attack of civic responsibility made a generous donation to the festival. The man had the most lovely flowerbed, and we all got a nice bit of exercise. I assure you that we treated him better than he treated us.

Audrick will buy four pitons on the way over, for one silver a piece
(http://www.d20srd.org/srd/equipment/goodsAndServices.htm#adventuringGear)

[Anubis Dread]

As Bhalandir had no idea that the crew were planning to shop on the way to the pixie's home, he instead elected to wander into the marketplace by himself and join up with the group later, after getting detailed directions from the guards on both the store's location and making arrangements to meet up with the others later. He was a bit absent minded at times, but he wasn't completely oblivious... or rather he wasn't completely oblivious to his complete obliviousness.

Let's see... couldn't miss it huh? He supposed this had to be it then. It certainly did look a lot different to the rest of the stores. He was still kind of amazed that there was only one real magic store around! It seemed so strange. Still, he hoped he could find some good potions - or scrolls, remembering Audrick's advice - in this Sorcerous Oddities place! Both for resisting electicity and maybe some other dragon slaying goodies!

After staring at the outside for a while the Duskblade ventured in.

[cosmonuts]

Atameties frowns. "Is that so? Well, alright, but the miniature lecture I gave you still stands. We accept all kinds of people in the Vanguard, and some abuse their status. For these individuals, while they are exempt from the law's devices, the King gives much harsher punishments. As a result, I have to give this talk every time we get new members."

...

Audrick purchases four pitons from a metalsmith.

...

In the meantime, as Bhalandir walks into Sorcerous Oddities, he is greeted by a dwarf.

"My name is Dainarv," says the dwarf man. "I travel and trade across this continent. How can I help you?"

[The Dark Fiddler]

Homer shakes his head. "Perhaps you should take what Audrick says with a grain of salt, Atemeties. Vigo refused to negotiate and had his servants lead us to the warehouse to collect the ale you payed for, albeit the smaller amount the new price would afford you. We were attacked by thugs that I can't guarantee were hired by Vigo, but really, who else would hire somebody to attack us on the way to collect ale from him? Sadly, there's likely to be an investigation once we get back from this expedition, but I'm sure we'll be absolved of any crimes. All we did was protect ourselves."

[Rofltrollcopter]

Audrick rolls his eyes Stop being so dramatic Homer. Attacked implies they were a threat. They didn't land a hit on us. Its kind of obvious Vigo hired them, the servants that led you to the warehouse pulled weapons, remember? Spiteful little bastard, trying to kill people over a batch of ale. Wonder how many other people he has made disappear, ordinary folk that wouldn't have been able to fight back. He sounds a bit worried at this point. He shakes his head How could you let that little lawn ornament push you around like that?

[Anubis Dread]

"Hello Dainarv, I'm Bhalandir!" the elf replied in a friendly tone. Oh wow, a dwarf! He'd never met a dwarf before! But he decided maybe with everything else that had happened today it was best to keep as much inside of his mouth as possible.

"I'm looking for provisions for a secret mission! Do you happen to have any scrolls or potions of Resist Energy? More specifically Resist Electricity," the swordsman asked.

[cosmonuts]

"Oh," says Atameties. "It's unusual for Vigo to attack Vanguard members, but not unheard of. I'm happy to hear they were of little threat to you, for our task is certainly much greater. Although, I wonder what you could have done to antagonize Vigo; it's strange even for him to attack others over a pittance of beer. No matter. I will tell you that Vigo always gets away with it. Bureaucratic corruption is deep and ingrained, not the arms-length money exchange people imagine." Atameties shakes her head. "Well, be on your guard. Vigo can be more of a nuisance than you might expect. He's not a danger normally, but in the Council he is considerably powerful."

...

Dainarv is taken aback by Bhalandir's enthusiastic greeting. "Well, hello elf friend," says the Dainarv. "Resist energy? I can do that."

Dainarv wanders off to some shelves, filled to the brim with scrolls. He searches through them, mumbling to himself. Then he returns with several scrolls.

He says, "How many do you need? Each goes for one-fifty gold."

In your response, just assume that you are sold as many scrolls as you buy.
...

"Here we go," says Atameties. "This is my residence. I would've purchased a bigger place, but my money goes to keeping myself alive out in the field." She looks at Tove. "Not sure if you'll fit through these doors."

It is a medium-sized but comfortable building, in the wealthy residential district. In the backyard you see homegrown fruits and vegetables.

"I am going to explore the city," says Zedia. "See you in a bit."

Atameties says, "No supper? Well, stay safe. We'll meet at the front gates at sundown."

...

Tove manages to squeeze through the front door.

The inside of Atameties' residence is meticulously clean and neat. Almost all of the furniture is wood.

"I don't eat or work with meat," says Atameties. "So I bought some stewed mutton and cheese from an inn for those of you who are carnivores."

"Thank you for your hospitality," says Aleydis. "I appreciate it."

"In return you'll be telling me stories of Romont," says Atameties. She turns to your group. "But first, if you have any questions about the Vanguard (we'll be stuck together for the next week or more), now's the time to ask, while I'm preparing food. And waiting for Bhalandir."

[Illven]

How long do Vanguards typically work for? Tiffany asked.

[Resasi]

"I prefer my meat uncooked, but thank you for the consideration all the same. If it is not an imposition, I would prefer to hunt alone outside the city walls before we depart." Tove says, hunkering in one corner to stay (somewhat unsuccessfully) out of the way of the other diners. "I will take my leave when Bhalandir arrives and meet you at the gates when we are ready to begin our journey together. Before I go, I would ask what talents you and the other members of the Vanguard possess. I prefer to know the strengths and weaknesses of my allies before we are tested together."

[The Dark Fiddler]

Homer thinks for a moment. "Obviously you might not be at liberty to talk about some of your work, but what are some of the more notable or dangerous assignments the Vanguard has covered in the past? Best to know what we might be getting ourselves into in the future."

[Anubis Dread]

"150 each? Hm... guess I'll take four," the elf mused, taking the scrolls and handing the money to the shop keep. That took care of that, but there had to be something else he could do here. A dragon had more than just its breath to deal with, and they were heading into some serious danger if they weren't prepared for everything...

"I'm sorry if it sounds rude, but do you have any scrolls or magic items that are on the slightly cheap side that could keep a creature from flying?" he asked curiously. "I can't think of anything that fits the bill, but if you have anything in stock that would be great. If not that's fine, I know it's a huge ask."

[cosmonuts]

Tiffany: How long do Vanguards typically work for?

"Not sure what you mean," says Atameties. "Well, you're technically not a formal Vanguard. You are considered an affiliate, having been brought together with the Vanguard for this one assignment, with all the regular privileges the Vanguard receives. You're free to leave whenever you wish, but if you leave in the middle of a quest, there is disgrace associated with that, and the throne will not ever reconsider you for any other duty. You may leave when your task is completed with full accolades, however.

"Typical work involves about a week's worth of travel, planning, and setup, and maybe only a day or two of actual work. That is to say, we aren't going to be fighting a dragon for a week. We'll be preparing for our confrontation with it for a week or two, and when it happens, it will last all of a minute at best. Hopefully with the dragon cordially agreeing with our terms. Dungeoneering is quite different, but we don't regularly tackle dungeons.

"If you mean, how long do I stay a Vanguard... technically, for the rest of my life, but I am likely to die much sooner, as are most Vanguards. Eventually, we'll run into some exotic group of necromancers we can't deal with, or more likely, in our current political climate, we'll be invaded by Romont and we don't really stand a chance against them. Such is the way of things. Most veteran Vanguard are prepared to give their lives."

Aleydis looks down. "I am sorry for my nation's behavior," she says. "My Liege, the Emperor, has developed warlike tendencies recently."

"There's nothing you need to apologize for," says Atameties. "But Romont invading other nations is a nontrivial issue. To wit, it is the only military whose standard equipment includes magical weaponry. It is a very powerful nation which is exercising its might unjustly. I hear your Emperor has been influenced to go to war by his Supreme Commander, Niramar? That human who's always wearing a mask so nobody recognizes him? He's not even a native of Romont, is he? A name like Niramar sounds like some ancient draconic language..."

Aleydis nods and says nothing more.

Atameties sighs. "Not to mention your nation's racist and genocidal policies... but that is another rant, for another time. Your country, I hear, is very beautiful, for all its faults."
Tove: "I prefer my meat uncooked, but thank you for the consideration all the same. If it is not an imposition, I would prefer to hunt alone outside the city walls before we depart."

"Certainly," says Atameties. "Although try to hunt in the woods. There are some, hmm, overly aggressive adventuring groups who watch the plains very closely. I doubt they are a match for you (I suspect even a house cat may be a threat to them), but all the same, avoid violence whenever possible."

Tove: "I will take my leave when Bhalandir arrives and meet you at the gates when we are ready to begin our journey together. Before I go, I would ask what talents you and the other members of the Vanguard possess. I prefer to know the strengths and weaknesses of my allies before we are tested together."

"That's a lot of information," says Atameties. "Well, I can tell you, but prepare to be overloaded with names and professions. Strictly speaking, there are two groups (besides yours). There is the Feldkirchen Vanguard, a company of local (around the Strumica region) adventurers who have proven themselves. And there is the Iron Dragoons, who are the more competent adventurers who hire to good-aligned states. The Iron Dragoons we regularly work with, especially with difficult tasks. They regularly travel across multiple continents to seek adventure.

"The Vanguard is composed of Arthund, our halfling shaper; Bethil, our human enchantress; Francent, our gnome cleric and healer; Inyel, our half-elf blade of war; Nomad, our warforged artificer; and Wisym, my loyal human knight. These people are my family. As for me, I am, well, a pixie. I've also studied the draconic arts in my time in the wild, but nowadays have developed more diplomatic talents. As for the Iron Dragoons, it has four members. Galodhing is their elf archer-cleric, Threror is their dwarf druid (he has a dinosaur companion), Tshada is their half-orc warrior, and Nina is their human bard and leader.

"I am hoping to run into other adventuring groups. The Order of the Mithral Spear would be fortunate to have. They are perhaps the most experienced in our continent. The Green Shields are quite good as well, perhaps slightly more capable than the Iron Dragoons. There are others, but they are not necessarily good-aligned. I doubt any'll show up if they never bothered responding to His Majesty's summons."
Homer: "Obviously you might not be at liberty to talk about some of your work, but what are some of the more notable or dangerous assignments the Vanguard has covered in the past? Best to know what we might be getting ourselves into in the future."

"We normally handle border disputes," says Atameties. "And dangerous magical creatures. An necromancers. And, in general, civilians not behaving like good members of society, but who are too dangerous for the regular guard to handle. Often we deal with nobles and bureaucrats. Nothing too epic, I think. Leave that to the Iron Dragoons, who slay dangerous giants, and who regularly dungeon delve.

"When I was young, and just initiated into the Vanguard, the first thing I learned was that, though we are the best among the adventurers of this nation, we do not match up to adventurers from larger regions. The most obvious example being Romont's adventuring groups. The Azabrar Dragonslayers? You've heard of them? They live up to their name literally. I had one opportunity to work with them. It was refreshing to be able to teleport everywhere rather than go on foot. Unfortunately, I was not of much help to them.

"If only we could contact the Dragonslayers from here. A sending from our High Priest would do the trick. But, as it were, they are currently in Romont, and we are pretty terrified here of Romont's magical might and militaristic strength. Keeping off Romont's radar is best, and that means no communication to anywhere near that place. They say that Supreme Commander Niramar defeated a high general of the heavens named Achiel. That is a feat that few else in our plane can equal, and none on our continent.

"You know the concept of a plane, perhaps? It is a big discovery by theologians and magicians. Not a lot of people without education have heard of it. Well, they tell me we're not alone in this big existence thing, and this comforts me. Oh, goodness, I speak too much; the spinach is overcooking."

[cosmonuts]

"You know, now that you ask," says Dainarv to Bhalandir, "I have been thinking this some time. I'm a dwarf, see, and I don't like flying, but I don't know how to keep others from flying and attacking me. Like bandits with sorceries. You can try stunning 'em, but there ain't much I have here, I don't think..."

He sighs. "If you can think of a spell, I'll be happy to provide. I'll go get it myself crafted from a mage's guild if I must, and deliver it to you by hand no matter where you are."

[Rofltrollcopter]

Audrick stands up Let me give you a hand with that Its been a while since someone has invited him to dine in their home, so Audrick insists on behaving as a gracious guest. Something that Tiffany had said earlier was bothering him "Is it normal for members of the Vanguard to have families?"

[Illven]

Tiffany responds to the planes comment.

If anyone wants or needs a more indepth explanation I can provide one.

[Anubis Dread]

Bhalandir frowned in thought. Let's see... if the shopkeeper didn't have anything on hand anyway, there was no harm in asking for just about anything. They were already well prepared for ground combat and breath attacks, the only thing they needed to worry about was the dragon running away. He could ask Lassy to prepare some Entangles for the day, but they were useless once the dragon actually took flight.

Let's see... what spell would be good for this... they had a Wizard, so they could cast spells well beyond his own level. What could- "Earthbind!" he realized suddenly, striking his fist into his palm with the thought. "It's a little rare since it was designed as dragon slayer magic, but do you think you could get a hold of it?" Bhalandir winced, thinking about his remaining finances. "For 300 gold or less? Though I guess I could return one of these Resist scrolls..." Thankfully if they managed to get an Earthbind scroll Tiffany could prepare and cast it multiple times if the first one failed.

Earthbind if from the Draconomicon, and it's a level 2 spell.

[The Dark Fiddler]

"My wife is a baker. Baking requires bread, bread requires wheat, and since she is quote knowledgeable about wheat I can assure you I've learned much about plains from her... though I'd expect any simpleton to know about plains, and I've never known them to contain literal heavens, so I imagine you must be talking about something else? Is it likely to be relevant in our confrontation with the dragon?"

[cosmonuts]

Audrick: "Is it normal for members of the Vanguard to have families?"

"Depends," says Atameties. "A few in the Vanguard have families. Arthund and Francent, off the top of my head, have wives and children. Inyel is a noblewoman so she gets plenty of suitors, if they count. I believe Tshada of the Dragoons has a husband and a child on the steppes, and Threror has a sister in his mountain homes. As for me, being that I'm a pixie, I don't have any family among the civilized races. Among pixie-folk, I did have family, but that is far away from here, many years ago."

Tiffany: If anyone wants or needs a more indepth explanation I can provide one.

"Thank you," says Atameties. "I was never quite good at the schooling I went through upon initiation into the Vanguard. We went over important items like planes, but I still don't quite understand much of it. My eyes have always been turned to human affairs."

Homer: "Is it likely to be relevant in our confrontation with the dragon?"

"Doubtful," says Atameties. "I bring it up only because I mention it in passing."

...

In the meantime, Bhalandir is at Sorcerous Oddities, asking Dainarv a question.

Bhalandir: "For 300 gold or less? Though I guess I could return one of these Resist scrolls..."

"Don't have that spell on me," says Dainarv. "But I'm always looking for new spells. Tell me where you're headed, and when I come across scrolls of earthbind, I will deliver them to you, for a fee of one-fifty gold per scroll. The same price as your resist energy scrolls. Can't tell you how long it'll take me to find any, though."

[Anubis Dread]

The same price as the Resist scrolls? That was a really good price considering it was a higher level spell! If that was the case... he'd been hoping to just get one scroll for Tiffany's spellbook, but he could afford two so they'd have an extra just in case.

"I'll take two then once you find them!" the elf replied happily, handing over the gold. He didn't have much left at this point, but that was the price for preparing for taking down a dragon. He supposed the King's platinum WAS useful to recoup the losses he'd taken for these scrolls at least. Though still, a DRAGON! He'd still have done it for free.

"As for where we're heading, we're heading to the Sharbharak Mountains for... duck hunting," the swordsman lied incredibly unconvincingly. "I've been told we'll be travelling and preparing for a week before arriving."

Unless the shopkeeper had anything else to say or advice to give, Bhalandir heads to the pixie's home with a wealth of scrolls.

[cosmonuts]

Bhalandir arrives at Atameties' residence. Supper is laid out on a table.

"Well, I guess you're here now," says the pixie. "Care to join us?" Turning to Aleydis, Atameties says, "How about telling us of Romont?"

"Well," says Aleydis, "I think that Supreme Commander Niramar defeating the angel Achiel is a myth. Some Romont nobles believe it, but we don't have reason to. Anyhow, Achiel is a figure of legend; it's hard to tell whether or not he existed to begin with, never mind whether or not he was killed in battle. Romont is a strange place, but there's nothing much to say. If you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer."

Atameties says, "Your Supreme Commander, then. How is he?"

Aleydis shakes her head. "I can't read Niramar's intentions when he wages war against a country. It's opaque and almost arbitrary. Certainly, to the nobles, it appears this way, and this has been the cause of some disgruntlement, but we don't plan on betraying Emperor Avital. So long as Niramar is supported by the Emperor, this is the way of things.

"This is also all irrelevant to the task at hand."

"As you say," says Atameties. "Let us focus on tomorrow and not the other side of the world."

[Rofltrollcopter]

I can't help but notice in that little dossier that you didn't mention having an infiltration specialist. Tshada? Which one was she? Hm, I imagine with the type of money that she would make, she would be able to move her family to a better place. Its a boring place to be, lots of scrubland and cold days. Hmm, Audrick gets a little nostaligic "hm, its not that bad of a place actually, its kind of all right. We had these nice little furry hats. I miss those hats" He shakes his head "I can't imagine having kids while going adventuring. Mighty irresponsible, and this is coming from me."

He takes interest in Aleydis
"What's Ramont like anyways? Not that political stuff, I mean the people the food the culture. I might have wandered inside a few times on my journey from the Steppes, I was never one to pay attention to border markings."

This might be a tall order, but at some point would it be possible to get a map, or some kind of more in depth description of where the places that have been mentioned are in relation to each other. e.g. the two kingdoms, the mountains, etc.

[Illven]

Tiffany gives a death glare at Aurdick.

I for one, love my little darlings. She growled.

[Rofltrollcopter]

Audrick sobers up and gives a neutral, level expression back at Tiffany. His voice is deathly serious as he speaks There is a very high chance that not all of us are going to make it home Tiffany. If I die, no one is going to miss me. I know i'm going to end up in an unmarked grave in some foreign land, but it will be alright, because no one is depending on me for anything. Can you say the same?

[Anubis Dread]

So this was a pixie's home! And a pixie's meal! Awfully normal considering. Then again he bet people thought that of him whenever he was the first elf they'd ever met. He was awfully normal himself, after all.

"Thank you Atameties!" Bhalandir greeted warmly as he sat down and began to eat. "I got a bunch of great stuff for a dragon hunt! But I suppose that can wait until after dinner."

Hm? The elf frowned, turning to Audrick. "That's awful silly," he told the man plainly. "I mean, at the very least we'll all miss you. And if you think adventuring is so bad why do it? I don't intend to die, I adventure so I can become stronger and do the right thing! I don't think anybody would just stab themselves in the heart for a lot of gold, so I don't see why you think adventuring works that way."

[Illven]

I for one, intend to make sure my children are provided for, without spending 15 hours in a lab each day, and never getting to know them. Tiffany replies stung.

[Anubis Dread]

"Hey Tiffany," Bhalandir attempted to change the subject before Audrick could open his mouth again. Seriously, Tiffany was their friend! There was no reason to make her upset. "I managed to pick up a Resist Electricity scroll for your spellbook. And some extras to use so we'll have more spells for the day," he smiled, pulling out one of the scrolls to show her.

Then the smile turned into a grin. "What's more, I managed to put a commission in to scribe a pair of scrolls of dragon slayer magic! Earthbind, not as poweful as some of the other kinds but it will keep the thing on the ground while we slay its scales off! That will be a good thing to put into your spellbook to, you never know when you need to clip an enemy's wings!"

[Rofltrollcopter]

Audrick gives Bhalandir a level look and sighs.Look, I've been on the road for the last eight years of my life. I don't regret it for a second, I've been able to see many more things then I would have been able to if I stayed on the Steppes. I do it 'cause wandering is in my blood. But I've had more than a few close calls. One of these days I'm going to slip up and it will be the end of me. Might be tomorrow, or twenty years from now. Either way, I won't get the chance to see it coming. He gives Tiffany a cold, dead stare which almost works as a passable imitation of Homer. "As long as your kids can get to know you by your grave. Take it from me, growing up without your mother sucks."

[Illven]

How did you lose your mother? Tiffany asked, giving Bhalandir a quick nod to let him know she heard him.

[Rofltrollcopter]

I don't know if it counts as 'losing' someone if you never knew who they were to begin with. The merchants who chucked me out of their wagon in the steppes said I was some whore's son that they picked up in the city of Bohn. That's all I know Audrick sighs again "Look, just stay safe for your kids alright?" He seems to have sobered up a bit more at this point, and is suddenly embarrassed about being close to the center of conversation. "Enough about that. Hey Kid, what was that about the scrolls? Do you think I could use one of 'em? How complicated is this Earthbind spell?"

[cosmonuts]

Atameties laughs. "We're arguing before we even set out. Good start to any journey."

"Archer," says Aleydis, "to answer your question of Romont, I don't think you've been there, as it is at least three thousand leagues away from us. What is it like? I don't know, archer. Romont encompasses an entire continent. You will find a great diversity of cultures there. But when most people think of Romont, they think of Skybeam Spire, the capital city. Not many get the opportunity to travel there, but if you do, take it. It is a magical place, from its foundations to its peaks. Enchanted by the Emperor himself, and his predecessors. Great castles of adamantine and mithral, soarwood airships and glass towers, wine fountains and gold crumb cakes. I miss it." Her expression turns dreamy for a while. "But now I am on pilgrimage, and must forget such luxuries until I have completed my journey."

"Sounds like an incredible place," says Atameties. "Just like the stories."

"It is," says Aleydis. "But most of Romont isn't that well-developed. Only the Capital is so... heavenly. This is because of its history. Long ago, a powerful sorcerer from another plane known as Starcatcher built an arcane research library on our relatively obscure world, the library we now call the Cloud Archives in Skybeam Spire. This was long before Romont existed. Starcatcher passed away but he had a long line of successors, who have turned Skybeam Spire into a center of magical might. Our current Emperor, Avital, only recently came to power. The prior Emperor, Pyriel, named Avital as the next Emperor before disappearing."

"That sounds suspicious," says Atameties.

"Oh, not at all," says Aleydis. "Pyriel deliberately left. He tired of ruling and researching from behind a desk, so he set his affairs in order by nominating a successor, then traveled to some ancient realm, never to return."

"Where did he go?" says Atameties.

"Only the current Emperor knows the answer," says Aleydis. "This is a tradition, and every Emperor before Pyriel has done the same. Avital will follow in Pyriel's footsteps, when he bores of leadership. But he is young, and that won't be for a while. Anyways, I digress; as a result of Skybeam Spire's history, it is disproportionately magical and advanced compared to other parts of Romont, which are quite well-developed, but nothing remarkable. Well, that's not quite true either; there are plenty of natural and architectural beauties around, but nothing reminds me of mortal hubris quite like Skybeam Spire."

[Anubis Dread]

Oh wow, seems Audrick had had a hard life... the poor guy. He needed a hug! ...by someone he wasn't likely to stab for doing so, he was REALLY grumpy sometimes. Though not as grumpy as some of their other comrades. Come to think of it he was probably the least serious friend he had, and he was still pretty down at times!

"Oh! Um, it's dragon slaying magic, though it can be used for anything with wings really," the elf explained. "Basically it's designed to keep things on the ground. It's not that difficult, and both wizards and even druids can cast it, but since it's kind of specialized its pretty rare. I'm getting two, so sure I don't see why not. I can't cast it myself, I only know the basics," Bhalandir apologized sheepishly. Hey... "And I'm over a hundred and twenty," he pouted.

[Rofltrollcopter]

Its the names mentioned in the prologue OHMYGOSH

"Hm, I'll have to try and visit there sometime. Maybe with my share of the reward money once we are done." Audrick looks at Atameties. "Weren't there supposed to be other guests coming around at some point?"

[The Dark Fiddler]

Homer stares quite steadily at his food, eating with an odd diligence. His bites match an almost constant rhythm, and he barely acknowledges the conversation going on around him.

This is assuming the food being laid out means we can start eating. If not, disregard.

Also, sorry for not participating earlier... came home for the weekend, so I've had no leisure time for over a full 24 hours.

[cosmonuts]

Let's skip this completely pointless scene pls. It went on way longer than I thought it would. I expected 1-2 posts, but due to weird timing it dragged on too far.
The sun has set and the stars are out, and a gentle breeze tugs at your clothing as you walk. Your group stands at the front gates, and you see that the Vanguard and the Dragoons are present. Aleydis is in her armor as always, but unexpectedly Zedia shows up no longer in his traveling cloak, but in a mithral chain shirt, and in an eclectic collection of clothing.

"You look very strange," says Atameties.

"Poor fashion sense," says Nina, a human woman with the Dragoons.

Together there are eighteen people assembled at the front gates, all competent-looking individuals, all about to begin a long journey.

Atameties stretches and says, "I will be invisible for the larger part of our travels. You will follow be following Wisym. He is familiar with the path and will lead you well." And, with that, the pixie vanishes.

Wisym, a human knight man with the Vanguard, says, "Yes, ma'am." He turns to the group. "This journey will take place primarily in the dark, so that we are not spotted as we approach Liburh. We will be taking a little-traveled forest trail, and time our resting periods with settlements, so that we can sleep in relative safety and comfort. Don't yell or shout, but feel free to make small talk. I do not think there is anything on the road which poses a threat to us, as we are now, so you needn't be too wary, but nor should we be too bold, lest we forget that it is a dragon we are after."

Wisym faces the road away from Feldkirchen. "If you are ready, we should go."

He takes one step. And then—

"Halt!" shouts a voice behind you. You hear metallic marching. A large company of soldiers are at the town gates, approaching your group. You estimate there are around fifty soldiers.

The leader of the soldiers says, "By order of the Council, all of you assembled here are summoned to the City Hall, to stand trial for conspiracy to commit murder. We will accompany you."

"What in the hells is this," says Threror, a dwarf man with the Dragoons. You notice that he has a vicious looking medium-sized dinosaur at his side, usually quiet, but now growling. The soldiers stare at the dinosaur, with no small amount of discomfort in their eyes.

Atameties reappears in front of the leader. The leader almost stumbles back in surprise.

"Well," says the pixie, "as head of the Vanguard, I contest the Council's right to detain the King's emissaries. Did the Council explicitly state that their order supersedes the King's authority? That would be treason."

"N-No," says the leader. "We are loyal servants of Strumica. I know not what the King has said, but the Council has ordered—"

"Are you daft?" says Atameties, losing her patience. "This is simple. If you stop us, you are committing treason, as the Council oversteps it authority with this order. So what will it be? I have a solution: Why don't we do this after we return from our work?"

"No," says the leader. "The Council, at the behest of the people of Feldkirchen who are angered by your brazen attempts to commit murder, has ordered you to appear right now. If you leave the Council will declare you criminals."

Aleydis steps forward. "Such disrespect for your liege would never stand in Romont. You and your Council are treasonous and deserve to be executed."

"Obviously the King's power is waning," says Zedia, "if the soldiers would rather follow the orders of the Council than that of His Majesty."

[The Dark Fiddler]

"Atameties," Homer says, stepping forward to speak to her, "I have no doubt this is Vigo's doing. You may have underestimated how far he would go to keep his two gold a gallon ale."

[Rofltrollcopter]

It was worth it for the character development and foreshadowing

This is what happens when you let people get away with attempted murder on multiple occasions. Laws or no laws.

Audrick cannot believe what is happening. He shouts back at the guardsmen. Look, We all like Strumica, we can all hymn along to the Strumician national anthem, we all partake in the traditional Strumican hobby of saying-bad-things-about-Romont-but-not-too-loudly-because-they-scare-us-silly (no offense Aleydis). So why don't you deescalate this and put your weapons away so we can talk about this in a more peaceful manner. I mean, these guys are famous, they risked their lives for you on multiple occasions, they're not going to start anything. Audrick lowers his bow on the ground.


Diplomacy check to get the guards to calm down. [roll0] (spending inspiration point to use cunning knowledge to add 4 to the roll)

Sense Motive to get a read on the guard leader [roll1]

[Anubis Dread]

Hooray! They were finally out to go on their adventure! This was going to be great! Travelling at night was a serious drag, but at the same time no matter how frustrating the trip there was dragon at the end of it, which would more than make it worth while! So time to... oh...

Bhalandir sighed. Why did this have to happen? The guards were spouting gibberish and they were holding up their travels! Wait, what if... "I know!" the elf realized. "The Council wants to question us right? Well we're way too busy to head back into town, so why doesn't the council just come to us? I mean, they probably won't catch up to us unless they're super quick, but they'll be able to meet us on the way back! Unless the Council thinks that staying in their comfy homes is more important than justice they should be happy to do that!"

[Illven]

Really starting to hate Vido. Tiffany muttered.

[cosmonuts]

Atameties sighs. "You are probably correct," she says to Homer.

Audrick senses nothing out of the ordinary, and moreover, his diplomacy attempt fails.
"We have nothing against you," says the leader of the guards. "We must carry out the Council's orders, however. As for you, elf—" the leader faces Bhalandir "—it would be in your interests not to disrespect the Council."

"As a noblewoman of Romont," says Aleydis, "your detaining me would be an act of war."

The guards look at one another uncertainly, but the leader says, "You must stand trial by the Council's orders."

"Come and get me," says Aleydis.

The guards do not move.

"I see now," says Zedia. "If we just leave, they are too weak to fight us. Well then, let us ignore them and continue on our journey."

"I concur," says Inyel, a half-elf woman with the Vanguard. "Knight Wisym, lead on."

[Illven]

Tiffany whispers to Zedis.

Are there records of my family Vido could access?

[The Dark Fiddler]

"We shall be moving on," Homer states, clearly and confidently. "We were told that considering our status as members of the vanguard, and furthermore the need to wait for a court official, we were free to pursue our duty to the king until such time as we were summoned for. There is no way that the official has arrived by now, if his presence was an issue, and as such we shall be gone until he arrives at which point we will fully cooperate."

I guess this'd be a Diplomacy check if anything, to convince them to let us go due to the previous agreement. Not that I expect it to work.

[roll0]

[cosmonuts]

To Tiffany Zedia says, "I don't know; I'm no local."

"Not unless you gave our halfling friend your name, no," says Atameties. "Let us just leave."

Wisym proceeds to lead the group away from Feldkirchen. As Zedia had predicted, the guards did not act; they merely looked on with uncertainty. Atameties once again disappears.

And so the journey begins.

As Feldkirchen disappears into the distance, the nighttime air becomes still and quiet. Wisym leads confidently and deftly, and quickly you find yourself off the well-traveled path and on small, barely noticeable trails. You pass grassy plains and rolling hills underneath the bright moonlight. Eventually the trails lead you into a light forest, whose canopy filtered the moonlight into beautiful silver beams between the large green oak leaves. Bethil, a human woman with the Vanguard, walks to the front with Wisym, picks up a stick, and says, "Light," to which the stick begins to glow.

Hours later, you come upon a river. The river is quite large; the other side is barely visible even under the clear moonlight, and the river widens as you travel. It becomes apparent that Wisym is following the river.

"This is the River Nazca," says Wisym. "It carries fresh rainwater from the desert mountains in the center of our continent, the Nulbilgil Range in the Kingdom of Edhegion, all the way to the coast and ocean."

Traveling along the river banks, the forest grows thicker, but the path never wavers. Then, all of a sudden, forest gives way to plains, and once again you are traveling under the starry night sky. You see hamlets composed of wooden cottages with smoke rising from their chimneys. Near these hamlets are fenced enclosures containing cows, goats, sheep, and chicken. Out in the fields you see bales of hay standing tall, silhouetted against the horizon. You see horses on the fields, some asleep, some grazing.

After eight hours of nonstop travel, you arrive at a village surrounded by farms. Its buildings are primarily stone and wood, and of craftsmanship one would expect of local villagers. Judging by how long you walked, it is nearing dawn, and the village is dead silent, and the streets empty.

Wisym leads you to a large wooden building near the center of the village. He knocks on the door. Your group waits for a moment, and then the door is opened.

"Can I help you, sir?" says the man who opened the door, rubbing his eyes groggily. "A wolf! Undead! Please, sir, we are poor farmers and—"

"Bed for eighteen," says Wisym. "Or seventeen, if our wolf friend wishes to sleep under the stars."

Wisym calms the doorman, and arranges and pays for your "beds", which are merely straw mats on a wooden floor in a big common area. Nomad, the warforged with the Vanguard, produces many trail rations from his bag. The rations are made of soft bread, oats, grains, berries, nuts, and honey.

Atameties reappears and says, "Get some rest, then we'll continue our travels immediately."

...

In the morning, you find the building surrounded by curious locals. Children, men, and women. An older man walks up to your group.

"I am the village elder," he says. "If I am correct, you are the Vanguard?"

"You are correct," says Atameties.

"I am honored to have you stay at our village," says the elder. "Please forgive us for keeping you in such poor conditions. Our village is small and can provide very little." He pauses. "I know not where you are traveling, but word from surrounding villages is that there is trouble in the country. It is too close for comfort, I should say. We would be deeply indebted if you helped..."

"We are busy," says Atameties, "but willing to listen."

The elder sighs. "I hate to ask this of you, madam, but magical beasts have been disturbed from their wild homes and have begun appearing in civilized land, attacking our farmers and hunters. To the northeast of us are woods with four of our lumber mills. Terrible creatures now inhabit these places... it would be too much for us to ask of you to make it all safe, but perhaps you could at least clear our lumber mills?"

"How far?" says Inyel flatly. "And what kind of creatures?"

"You can make the walk in an hour," says the elder. "It is not so far, and the path is clearly marked. The creatures we speak of are armored, burrow, and have fins. They have ferocious tempers. We know little of such unnatural things."

[Rofltrollcopter]

Audrick listens with a careful ear.

Knowledge arcana check (assuming the creatures are magical beasts): Take 10: for 16 total

[Illven]

Tiffany also takes a ten for a total of 21

[cosmonuts]

You know nothing of such a creature.
You know of a magical beast called the bulette, which has a fin, is armored, and burrows. It is a huge creature, and very much dangerous.

[Anubis Dread]

Bhalandir yawned as he looked over the village. Nice place... He wasn't used to travelling at night. The novelty had worn off rather quickly, and though he'd gotten enough sleep to replenish his spells the change in what hours he was awake and which he was asleep was hard to adjust to. What's more the prospect of an adventure had excited him, but it was just a bunch of walking so far. He supposed it would pick up once they got to the dragon.

Still he kind of wished something else would... happen in the... ohhhh! The swordsman's eyes lit up as what the villager's had said registered in his mind. "Of course we'll help!" he told the villagers immediately. "If those whatever the things they are are bothering you it's our duty to get rid of them as adventurers! Or members of the Vanguard... are we members of the Vanguard officially? Oh well it doesn't matter, it's not like we have to be to help out!"

[Illven]

I'm not sure we can take these creatures. Tiffany whispered to the rest of the party, rubbing the back of her head nervously.

[Rofltrollcopter]

What are they? Spill the beans. Audrick says before he turns to Bhalanidr. "Its not our decision to make." Audrick looks to Atameties "Whats the call then? If anyone gets hurt, it could slow us down. I don't remember you mentioning having a healer in the group."

[cosmonuts]

"We have healers," says Atameties. "Francent, Galodhing, Threror..."

"I can heal," says Aleydis.

"Well, I still do not know if this is a good idea," says Atameties. "Our friend Tiffany has reservations."

"If we cannot fight this, then we cannot fight a dragon," says Inyel. "Do tell us, what is this creature?"

A human woman with the Vanguard called Bethil speaks. "If it is what I suspect, then I agree with Tiffany. The bulette, isn't it? Big and dangerous... the Dragoons may be able to handle it."

"We can," says Nina, "with some difficulty."

Atameties laughs. "If it's difficult for Nina, then it's too difficult for the Vanguard."

"This cannot be," says the elder in dismay. "We must tolerate living near such horrible beasts?"

"I cannot tell you how strange it is," says Zedia, "to find a bulette in these regions. Well, the environment is about right, but they tend to live far from civilization. Nonetheless, I know of this beast. I can fight this, and so can Aleydis."

"I'll trust Zedia," says Aleydis. "If he says I can fight, I will."

"Then perhaps," says Atameties, "we should split up. Zedia, Aleydis, and the Dragoons will clear out the camps. The rest of us will travel ahead. We'll meet up later, then? Do you know which way we are going?"

"Yes," says Threror, a dwarf man with the Dragoons. "Nazca. Liburh. Sharbharak. Got it."

"How does this sound to you?" says Atameties, turning to your group.

[Anubis Dread]

Bhalandir pouted. "I wanted to kill the bullet thingies... buuuuut I do agree that our current mission is more important. If it's an either/or situation rather than a 'do this and then that' sort of situation, I have to stick with team d... duck hunting," he remembered at the last minute that they were not supposed to be blabbing to the public about hinting dragons. "And I really can't fault the logic of splitting up when we have so many people. We can afford to do so."

[Rofltrollcopter]

Audrick frowns. It doesn't make sense to me to split our forces. If we intend to fight them, we should go all out with everyone we have. Less chance of someone getting killed, and if one group is delayed our entire timetable is pushed back. Audrick pulls out his bow. "I can engage those things from a distance." Audrick thinks to himself and I would rather not let Zedia out of my sight. He had a window of opportunity when we were in the city to set up something. Is he trying to get Aleydis killed?

On that note, Audrick is going to be wary of Zedia and Aleydis for the duration of the journey. Relevant Spot/Sense Motive checks etc.

[Illven]

As strange and foreign as the words are to my ears, I agree with my friend Aurdick. It makes no sense to split up. That just increases the risk of injury and death. Tiffany replies.

[The Dark Fiddler]

"I'm being redundant here, but I agree with the predominant sentiment here. We should go all-or-nothing, not send a weakened force into danger."

[Resasi]

"It would be foolish to throw away the lives of those too weak to fight the creatures..." Tove muses thoughtfully. "Still, if we must do this, it should be done together. Unless, of course, there is a good reason for leaving behind the most capable of our group given the rather more... pressing nature of our primary task."

Logically, splitting the party = bad. OOC-metagamey, dying to the first real encounter also = bad. Consider this a null vote, Tove will go with either camp regardless of the results.

[cosmonuts]

Atameties raises an eyebrow. "Seems the opinion here is we stick together."

Zedia scowls. "If they become liabilities in combat, Aleydis and I will have to waste our actions protecting them instead of, say, fighting the bulette. Whatever! Do what you want."

"Let's go together," says Inyel. "I am eager to see these things."

"Very well," says Atameties. "For this, I will cede my leadership to Nina, who knows of bulettes better than I."

"Okay," says Nina.

"You will do it then?" says the elder. "Praise the gods."

...

The villagers react with fear upon seeing Tove and her skeletons, but seem to trust the reputation of the Vanguard sufficiently to not complain of her presence.

Regardless, the village and its denizens disappear over the hill as the group follows the path to the lumber mill. At this junction, the road splits into four, each clearly labeled as heading to different mills.

"Well," says Nina, "the vote is stick together, so let's head down this one for now." She points down a path.

Zedia huffs. "You go down this one, I'll go with this one." He points down a different path. "Let's not waste time here. We have a dragon to find."

"I agree with Zedia," says Aleydis. "I am confident the bulettes will give us no trouble. You can travel together, but we'd prefer to finish this as quickly as possible."

[Rofltrollcopter]

Not sure if DM is trying to tell us not to do this. Eh whatever, we need to get exp somehow.

Also, were Zedia and Aleydis working together before we had the audience with the king?


Audrick rolls his eyes. Tell you what Zedia, I heard that some monsters are attracted to whining. So why don't you go ahead and act as bait, when they pop up to maul you we will blast them from a distance.

He turns to Nina "In all seriousness, I would suggest we find some sort of farm animal capable of being as loud and obnoxious. Maybe some goats or something. We drive them ahead of us, when the monsters pop out to munch on 'em we pop out and turn the bulettes into the world's largest porcupines."

Audrick looks at Bhalandir, kid, you've got a lot of spirit in you but I think you should let the dragoons take point on this one. Let's put that bow of yours to work eh?

[Anubis Dread]

So they were helping out after all? Great! He'd felt awful having to leave it to someone else. That wasn't really the right thing to do. But now they were helping out, and it was great!

So which mill did they need to go to? He wanted to stick with his newer Vanguard members... deputies... temps? As much as possible. So he supposed he'd just go to whichever mill they did. Still he... wait what?

Bhalandir scowled at Audrick... before sighing. "I'm a swordsman, not an archer. But you're probably right. If they can burrow super easy there's no way to guarantee I can get there in time to land a slash if they start playing whack-a-mole. ...can we all get hammers?" he asked with a grin. "That actually sounds really fun! Though if they're strong I guess we don't have time to play around and need to take them out quickly."

[Illven]

Hopefully the NPC's eat the beatings.


Can you use a bow at all? Tiffany asked Bhalandir.

[cosmonuts]

Zedia and Aleydis leave down a path and disappear into the distance.

"There they go," says Nina. "Well, anyways, Threror can summon a wolf to scout for us. I think."

"Yes," says Threror. "But it will not last very long."

"Long enough to bait bulettes!" says Nina. "Which is long enough for me. Are we ready to go?"

[Rofltrollcopter]

Audrick strings his bow and readys an arrow. Let's do this. He makes sure to stay close to the back, letting the more experienced and better equipped adventurers take the lead.

[The Dark Fiddler]

As he did when first confronting Vigo, Homer takes a deep breath and focuses his mind. "I am ready."

Taking ten on concentration to gather psionic focus.

[cosmonuts]

https://app.roll20.net/join/365019/Lwb7fw

This is going to be so incredibly annoying to run, with so many NPCs. ;_;
Atameties sighs. "Wisym, Nomad, you go with Nina. I will take Francent, Bethil, and Arthund to make sure Zedia and Aleydis are still alive." Atameties leaves with her group.

Wisym and Nomad say nothing.

"Let's go," says Nina.

...

It is not long before your group arrives at the lumber mill.

The forest is dead silent. One would expect to hear birds and insects (and perhaps animals), but you cannot hear any of these creatures' sounds.

"How eerie," says Atameties.

"There's the place," says Nina. "Threror, send your wolf ahead."

Threror says, "Summon nature's ally. Speak with animals." A wolf appears. Threror says, "Scout ahead. Run around in big circles. Make noise."

The wolf dashes ahead. For a while nothing happens as the wolf runs around, and your group waits.

"Careful," says Nina to the group. "If there is more than one, we just want to bait one at a time. They're not very clever, and if they're underground, then they can't hear us up here. They do have tremorsense, though, so do take care."

...

About a hundred and fifty feet away from the group, the wolf is about to finish its patrol and return to Threror, when underneath it the ground erupts loudly and a huge beast (accurate to the elder's description) bursts out. The creature, undoubtedly the bulette, clamps its toothy maw around the wolf, killing it immediately. The wolf disappears, which disorients the bulette.

Wordlessly, Threror moves forward and readies an action. His dinosaur companion dashes forward to a tree and readies an action.

Wisym readies his spiked chain and moves forward quickly.

The bulette rapidly advances towards your group, squeezing between trees and causing the ground to shake as it moves.

Tshada holds an amulet and mumbles a prayer. She moves forward.

It is now the players' turn.

[Anubis Dread]

"Of course I can use a bow," Bhalandir replies. "All elves can! ...which is kind of strange, now that I think about it. Anyway, my style of combat isn't ranged, but it meshes with it a lot better than some other ones out there. I should be fine.".

-------------------------

So they were luring out the bulette with a wolf? Kind of boring, but he supposed it was better than just running around at random. Still wasn't it kind of cruel? He guessed the wolf would have a fair shot at just evading the monster, but even so it seemed - holy nine hells!

The elf blinked in shock at the monster just erupting out of the ground... before raising his bow and grinning. "I may only be able to shoot that thing, but it will still be fun! ...oh, it's too far away to get a clear shot," he pouted. "And there's a tree in the way... sorry guys, I'm going ahead!"

Infusing his legs with arcane speed, the swordsman... er bowman... rocketed into action, shooting ahead of his comrades and even some of the other combatants to get into range and get a clear shot. "Much better!" he smiled, before shooting off an arrow at the monster.


Expending a 1st level spell to cast Expeditious Retreat (Swift) before advancing.
Attack Roll: [roll0]
Damage Roll: [roll1]
Confirmation Roll if Crit: [roll2]
Damage Roll if Crit: [roll3]

[Rofltrollcopter]

Audrick's head spins while he tries to think of the best way to attack the creature

Knowledge Devotion: [roll0] Arcana

[Illven]

Tiffany chuckled. As she called upon her arcane energies, not to summon a creature as she normally does, but to conjure a field of annoyance for the creature.


Casting Grease under the creature.

DC 16 reflex save.

[Rofltrollcopter]

Audrick ducks behind a rock, trying to make sure that the beast cannot easily charge him. His hand shakes as he draws his bow, he doesn't think his weapon can actually hurt the thing, but he tries his best and looses an arrow.



+2 to attack and damage due to knowledge devotion
Attack: Spending 1 Inspiration point to add +4: [roll0]

Damage: Spending 1 Inspiration point to add +4 damage (only if it hits)
[roll1]

[cosmonuts]

Tiffany knows she is too far to cast grease under the bulette.

Bhalandir: Moves and attacks.

Your arrows miss the bulette.

Audrick: Moves and attacks.

Your arrows barely miss the bulette... the distance is quite far.

[Illven]

Right... She'll just summon a celestial riding dog as far as she can to the bulette.

[The Dark Fiddler]

"This creature... it may be large, but as far as I can tell, it's just a beast. No doubt ruled by its emotions. If only..." An idea occurs to Homer; cut off the beasts's emotions and may very well be easy pickings. He attempts something he's only done once before. Stepping forward, he pictures the ice in his heart creeping forward toward the bulette's. Granted, he has no idea where that is, but it should work nonetheless, hopefully. He attempts to freeze the bulette's heart as his was, even if temporarily or partially.

Going for a longshot here... casting Ego Whip on the bulette to try and take it down through Charisma damage. Sadly, wild surge is one short of giving me the PP needed to up the DC and damage, so it's only Will 16 and 1d4... dazed if he fails, half damage is he succeeds.

[roll0]

[Resasi]

"A dangerous creature to be certain," Tove murmurs, loping forward. The now familiar chill winds spring up around her again as she locks her gaze on the bulette, tracking its every movement. Beside her, the two skeletal wolves move up to form a (rather flimsy) barrier between Tove and the beast.

Tove moves forward and readies an action to Rime Dragon the bulette if it comes within 20 feet of her. 2d6 uttercold damage (Ref 13 half) and, on the off chance the rolls go amazingly in my favor, a +10 bull rush if the bulette takes damage.

The skeleton wolves move up to be cannon fodder.

[cosmonuts]

Tiffany: Summons celestial riding dog.

Homer: Ego whip.

The bulette shakes its head in discomfort, but appears to have avoided the worst of Homer's attack.

Tove: Moves and readies action.

Galodhing moves up quickly towards the bulette.

Nina moves up quickly and says, "The bulette's charge can be blocked with trees!"

Nomad quickly moves up behind Galodhing. "I have no magic items which are useful here," he says flatly. "Besides color spray."

"Stay back, then," says Threror. "Call lightning. Stay with me, Snowpuff." The dinosaur runs back to Threror.

Wisym moves forth and readies a strike.

The bulette moves forward and stops in front of Wisym. It prepares to strike.

Tshada charges at the bulette and leaps—

The bulette bites at Tshada twice, who takes the brunt of the damage without flinching.

And Tshada brings her greatsword down on the bulette with a powerful blow, striking directly through the weak points in the bulette's armor. Blood sprays across the grass. The bulette roars in pain.

It is now the players' turn.

[Anubis Dread]

Hm... still not close enough that he could just charge in there swinging, at least not without opening himself up to a strong counterattack and not being able to use any spells with his blade. Seeing how badly his arrow missed Bhalandir considered blasting it with magic instead, but he had no idea how many of these things they'd have to fight. He couldn't expect himself too quickly.

Sighing, he pulled back his bow string and nocked an arrow, before letting it loose. He somehow expected this fight to be a little more interesting. Though the fact the thing was still fighting so furiously and hadn't seemed to take any damage was a little concerning.


Attack Rolls: [roll0]
Damage Roll: [roll1]
Confirmation Roll if Crit: [roll2]
Damage Roll if Crit: [roll3]

[Illven]

Tiffany sighed as she started walking up, she wanted to stay as far as possible, but her spells had limits.


Tiffany moves closer to the bulette by 30 feet, and casts Glitterdust at it.

DC 17 will save to avoid blindness.

The dog takes a double move action forward.

[The Dark Fiddler]

Homer does his best to figure the effectiveness of his attack. It doesn't seem like much, but the monster is too far for his other attacks, so there's not much else to do. He again tries to freeze the beast's heart, to expand the mere layer of frost that has covered it, stepping ever closer so to be able to contribute more effectively if this plan fails to show effectiveness.

Second verse, same as the first. Thank goodness ability damage stacks, right? Again, DC 16 Will for half and to avoid being dazed.

[roll0]

[cosmonuts]

Bhalandir: Attacks.

Your arrows strike and hurt the bulette.

Tiffany: Moves, glitterdust.

Tiffany carefully casts glitterdust on the bulette. The bulette shakes its head in discomfort, but appears to have avoided the worst of your spell.

Tiffany's summoned dog moves up.

Homer: Ego whip.

As before, the bulette appears to shrug off the primary effect of your power, although clearly it has been discomforted by the attack.

[Rofltrollcopter]

Audrick's jaw drops as he watches the bulette withstand the brunt of the arcane and martial onslaught. He got the sense that this thing way outclassed him. Still, he had to try, and looses another arrow from his hiding spot at the creature.


Attack: [roll0]

Damage: Spending 1 Inspiration point to add +4 damage (only if it hits)
Damage: [roll1]

[Rofltrollcopter]

Critical Confrimation:


[roll0]


just barely hits :smallbiggrin:

[Resasi]

Tove sprints forward and directs the hail flying through her frozen winds into a stinging attack against the bulette.

Move forward, Rime Dragon on the bulette. [roll0] uttercold damage, Ref DC 13 half. [roll1] bull rush if it takes damage (maximum movement is back 1 square if I get very lucky, would provoke an AoO though).

Wolves move up to be meatshields.

[cosmonuts]

Audrick: Attacks.

Your arrow strikes the bulette between its armor plating. The bulette flinches; you can tell it is in pain.

Tove: Moves, attacks.

The icy blast barely fazes the bulette, which endures the attack without complaint—the bulette is noticeably injured, however, from the onslaught of attacks it has just received over the course of the past fraction of a minute.

Galodhing draws his bow and fires, but is unable to puncture the bulette's natural armor. "No matter," he says. "The beast is done for."

"Perhaps," says Nina. "You and I need to prepare hesitate, just in case." She does not act.

Nomad does not act. He stands patiently.

Without much warning, a bolt of lightning from the clear blue sky strikes the bulette. The electricity proves too much for the beast. It is heavily injured.

"It better start running," says Threror. "If it wants to live."

Wisym steps forward and strikes the bulette on its head with his spiked chain. Blood spurts out from the newly opened wound. The bulette looks almost pitiful with its injuries.

"Let's finish this," says Tshada. She cuts precisely into the bulette, creating a deep gash in its shoulder. The bulette collapses with a loud crash from its injuries, unconscious, kicking up a plume of dirt and dust.

Nina sighs. "Should we stabilize it? It's still alive, barely."

"Never mind that," says Threror. "Tshada, did you use your amulet?"

"Unfortunately," says Tshada, "yes."

Nina groans. "Let's hope there's not another one... I don't want to see you tanking one of those hits."

"I'll survive," says Tshada.

...

The lumber mill is a large compound with many log piles lying around. It has a big wooden storage building in the center. The mill looks quite old. There are partially-eaten bodies of locals scattered around the compound, accompanied by bloodstains and bone piles. After scouting the mill with a summoned wolf, and finding that it is clear, Threror gives the group a thumbs up.

"It's so strange," says Nina. "I can't hear anything. Birds, insects, animals... anything."

"Agreed," says Threror. "Snowpuff is perturbed." Indeed, his dinosaur seems discomforted by the lack of life; it is pacing restlessly. "Also, we haven't decided what to do with the bulette. It's going to bleed out in a few moments."

"The door is locked," says Galodhing. "The door to the storage."

"Well, it's not like we're here to take anything," says Nina. "So I guess we'll leave it be?"

[Anubis Dread]

Hm... curiouser and curioser. And even more curioser to boot. He didn't think there was any more curiousness than that, but it was still curious. So there were no animals around... made sense, that big monster would have scared anything off. But the door was locked. In this situation it could have been locked from the inside, which means anything could be in there. Most likely survivors if there were any!

"It's a monster, shouldn't we just kill it?" the elf asked curiously, walking right up to the locked door. "There may be survivors in here, so we definitely can't just leave it! Or it could be another monster. Even more dangerous than this one. In which case we DEFINITELY can't leave it," he grinned. Before knocking loudly on the locked door. "HELLO! ANYONE IN THERE! WE KILLED THE DIG THINGIE!"

[Illven]

Tiffany blinks again.

I suppose that's one way to make sure everyone is safe. She spoke.

[cosmonuts]

Bhalandir receives no response from the other side of the door.

Threror says, "We may want to kill the bulette, since it is a threat to locals."

"It's a mindless beast, so it cannot be evil," says Tshada. "But I agree. It's a nontrivial threat to the locals. It must be dealt with."

"Hey," says Nina to Bhalandir, "we're not here to break into farmers' things."

"Unfortunately," says Galodhing. "Say, Nina, what's on the other side of this forest?"

"An ocean," says Nina. "And then the warring continent of Vacia. And then the Empire on the continent after that. Damn, do I miss Romont's honey cakes."

"I want to explore this forest," says Threror. "Find out where the animals have gone off to."

"Bulette scared them off?" suggests Galodhing.

"No," says Threror. "Doubt it. When have you seen a single lion or gorilla scare off an entire ecosystem's worth of animals? Where did these bulettes come from anyways?"

"Are we going to head back?" says Galodhing. "Or what? I want to see what's in that storage."

"I'm guessing wood," says Nina.

[Rofltrollcopter]

Kill the beast and be done with the matter. I thought you lot were supposed to be adventurers, not a group of travelling philosophers. Nina, we don't know where the farmers have gone off to, I strongly suggest that we find out what happened to them, just to make sure that they are alright. Considering that there were mas a monster near their home, they could be injured. If you lot are that concerned about these missing animals you can check that out and leave my group here.

Audrick checks the area to see if there are any sign of where the original inhabitants have gone to. e.g. blood trails, tracks, stuff like that.


Spot:[roll0]
Listen:[roll1]
Search:[roll2]
Survival:[roll3]

[Anubis Dread]

Bhalandir looked at the door blankly for a few moments. Okay, so no-one was in there. No-one alive anyway. What if there were bodies in there? What if there was some psycotic killer on the loose using the storage as some kind of human meat locker?? What if there was nothing in there but wood, but it was like, demonic possessed wood???

"We have to open this... stay back," the elf gestured, before stepping back himself and giving the door a solid kick. Better to be embarassed and it be something innocous than there be something bad in there, right?


Strength Check: [roll0]

[Rofltrollcopter]

Audrick sighs "No need to be busting up their property, they might not take kindly to that."

Audrick walks up to the door and pulls out his lockpicks. "Kid, you may recognize these as illegal instruments. I assure you that they have only been used for heroic and daring purposes."

Audrick Takes 20 to pick the lock.

[cosmonuts]

Audrick sees what everyone else sees: the half-eaten bodies of locals strewn over the ground, accompanied by bone piles and bloodstained grass.

You see and hear no animals or insects. You find nothing by searching, except the bulette's giant footprints and evidence of its burrowing.
"May as well put it out of its misery," says Tshada, who quickly strikes the bulette through its skull, killing it.

Audrick manages to unlock the door.

Inside the storage there are many piles of wood stacked up against the wall. In the center of the room is the dead body of a farmer. He appears to have bled out. He is clutching onto a journal.

"What's this?" says Nina. She picks up the journal.

The journal appears to describe logging and hunting activities. There are maps, time tables, and brief notes scrawled on its thin parchment. The last page, however, details something very unusual.

Animals coming from deep forest. Look pretty scared. We think it's wolves.
More animals! I guess our hunters are happy.
Not wolves. Wolves running too. ??? Needed to kill wolves because dangerous.
Today is rest day, and yet stranger animals coming down. Never seen before.
Some hunters went to forest center to find cause.
Hunters didn't come back today.
More logging.
Hunters still gone?
Today busy, lots happening.
We're going to leave now. Some of the animals aren't actually animals. Too dangerous.
Thunderstorm, we can't leave...
Big monster in distance. We need to leave now.
Big monster gone? No idea where it went.
Pig farmer hallucinating, hearing sounds from underground.
More bad weather? When can we leave???
I saw something strange flying over the deep forest... looks like a boat?
I'm hearing the noises underground...

"Looks like a boat?" says Nina. "What looks like a boat and flies?"

[Anubis Dread]

So there was something in there after all... a dead body and a journal. The two ingredients to make any adventure start! But what exactly was going on in the woods to cause all of this?

"Maybe the dragon is incredibly portly?" Bhalandir hazzarded a guess. Before his eyes widened and he burst out laughing. "'Boat looking' and 'portly', that was totally unintentional! But seriously," he went on once his laughter died. "Dragon hunting is all well and good, but whatever is going on in this forest probably deserves a detour."

[Rofltrollcopter]

If they saw the dragon, they probably would have described it as one. Audrick thinks if there is anything he would know of that matched the effects described in the world using the description of the animals and this 'flying' thing that they saw.


Knowledge
Nature:[roll0]
Dungeoneering:[roll1] (for aberations)
Arcana: [roll2]
Religion: [roll3]
The Planes: [roll4]


Audrick turns to Nina What do you think? Is this worth checking out?

[The Dark Fiddler]

"If you were to ask me, I'd say that since we took care of this boo-let that they were worried about, we should get back to our main task. We do still have the lizard to deal with."

[Illven]

Tiffany starts bursting out chuckling at Bhalandir's pun.

That was a good one. I might have mis-judged you.

[cosmonuts]

Nothing comes to mind.
"I agree with this guy," says Nina, pointing at Homer. "It's worth checking out, but not with our time constraints... Let's head on back to the village."

...

Back at the village, your group arrives safely, but Atameties, Zedia, Aleydis, and the rest of their group are nowhere to be found, search as you might. This frustrates Nina to no end, who spent an hour searching and waiting.

There is no heroic "welcome back" from the villagers. Indeed, confusion seems to permeate the air. The villagers stare at your group, uncertain.

"Excuse me, heroes," says the elder.

"Yes?" says Nina. "It's done. The creatures are dead. Unfortunately, so are your people."

The elder shakes his head. "I'm sad to hear our friends have passed, but I am joyous that you have cleared the camp of those terrible beasts. It's not much, but we'd like to supply you for your journey, wherever you might be going. We have prepared a bag of trail rations and filled water skins for you. We also have some dried beef—"

"Enough of this," says Nina. "Where are the others?"

"That's what we wanted to ask you," says the elder. "A lady traveling with your group came back alone. We tried to speak with her, but she ignored us and left the town northwest."

Wisym steps forward. "What is this? A joke? Where is my Captain?"

Nina looks grim. "Which lady is this?"

"She's in metal armor," says the elder. "The rest of the group that went with her still hasn't come back yet."

Nina sighs. "Okay. Please clear out this place; I need to discuss with my group privately."

"As you wish," says the elder with a bow.

The elder and the villagers quickly shuffle away, returning to their duties. Nina beckons the group to an empty field, far from any local. It is midday, and the sun is shining strongly. The countryside fields are quiet as always, but not disturbingly so as the lumber camps are.

"It sounds like Aleydis came right back and headed straight for Sharbharak," says Nina. "I want to give chase, but I also want to see what happened at the mill they went to. She's in full plate, so she can't move very fast, but if we go look at the mill, we'll be set back by about two hours. What are your thoughts?"

"That woman," says Wisym. "I never should have trusted her with my Captain. We need to send word back to Feldkirchen about what happened. But first, I want to pursue."

"This is trouble," says Tshada. "May I suggest we split up, or is that too much? I want to catch up with Aleydis and scout the mill. But, these new Vanguard are correct when they went against splitting up—it is quite dangerous."

[Rofltrollcopter]

Audrick gives the village elder a level look, and tries to determine if he was being deceptive.


Sense Motive: [roll0]


Audrick whispers to the party "Bet you 50 copper that Zedia was involved in this"

Audrick speaks up "We should head for the mill. Leave no one behind and all of that. That being said, we shouldn't just let Aleydis wander off either. Can someone use a horse to catch up to her quickly? Maybe have one of the strongest dragoons go, in case she tries something?

If that doesn't sound appealing, maybe my group can after her by ourselves? Even if she tries something, there is no way she could take all five of us.
"

[cosmonuts]

You sense that the elder is being completely and utterly truthful.

Also, OOC, I roll all sense motives opposed to bluffs, so you don't need to worry about those.

[Anubis Dread]

This was getting confusing... so part of their group split, but they weren't supposed to. And they still had to deal with the dragon. But also the forest was a problem, because there were flying fat dragon boats going around. Wait, just flying boats. That was... better?

"I'm sure your continued insistence that Zedia was up to something would frustrate me if I could remember which one that was right now," Bhalandir sighed, rubbing his eyes a bit. He was still kind of stuffy headed from the change in sleep schedule, and everything was happening a bit too fast. "Wherever they went they aren't going to do bad things right? If they aren't, then we can probably just trust them to leave them alone. Unless they are doing bad things, in which case we need to chase them."

That was... not helpful. "Oddly enough the dragon is the least time critical thing happening right now. It's sort of just chilling in the mountains, so there's no real pressure to get rid of it aside from the fact it's a dragon. Which IS critical, but not TIME critical, if that makes sense. So the best thing to do would be to follow the most time critical thing, which is... the forest, because we have timers on both the dragon and our run aways. We DON'T have a timer on what's going on in the woods. It could kill everyone in the village two minutes from now for all we know. Until we have more information we probably need to take care of that first."