The Seven Adventurers of Chamar IC

[IamL]

Defending Chamar from the siege is beginning to look like a lost cause. It has been two and a half years years since the army first encircled the massive citadel of Chamar. The surrounding army currently stands at about three quarters of a million strong, consisting of orcs and kobolds, lead by a group of young-to-adult dragons looking for more territory, and, despite the thick walls, stout warriors, three elite groups of soldiers (of which you seven are the weakest), and large silos filled with food in the eventuality of a siege, the invading army currently has the upper hand. Morale is low, the food supplies have nearly run out, and the dragons found and blockaded all of the routes you could have used for assistance. Your warriors are strong and brave, but the invading army grows each day as allies of evil join it. Each orc you kill is outpaced by two orcs to replace it. Rumors have been spreading that a hundred thousand drow will be coming to aid the invading in two months' time in exchange for the right to take slaves in Chamar after the siege is finished.

Things are looking grim, especially for squadron three, the elite group of warriors the seven of you make up. You're the weakest of the three elite squadrons, but you still hold higher positions in Chamar's military than almost any other soldier. You know each other quite well; each of you have saved the others' lives countless times. The job pays extremely well, but you know that it is likely to get all of you killed at some point. You've been put in charge of holding the southeast wall, and a counterattack you led to try to force open a trading route to get much-needed supplies failed, leaving countless dead.

You have some ten-thousand fighters, three thousand archers, about a hundred clerics, and fifty or so mages left to their quarter of a million, and the supplies to feed them for about two months. You're in dire straits, and things are just as bad all throughout the city. Your walls are holding, but you are bound to run out of food eventually.

The seven of you are sitting in your war-room, planning your next move, when a loud, thrice-repeated knock sounds at the door, echoing through the empty stone halls for a few seconds before finally dying down.

[Archmage1]

Sitting furthest from the door, Elizabeth looks up as it knocks. She hadn't been expecting anyone, but she doubted that it would be good news. Glancing around quickly, she pulls up her hood, concealing her yellow slitted eyes, and horns, as some had reacted badly to her appearance in the past, thinking her a spy. Mind you, she had worked as a spy in the past, but not this time.
Apart from that almost automatic movement, she makes no other actions, content to wait and see what the source of the knocking was.
A distraction? Perhaps. But we aren't going to be able to hold out much longer, and it might be good news. Probably not, but you never know. Maybe the enemy army decided to get up, and leave, having had enough of war. Doubtful. Still, it's better than this planning. I know we need to, but I can't see a way to win this, and I can always see a way to succeed, or, at least, to survive. This time... this time, maybe I went a bit too far.

[dupersudi]

Raz was sitting on the ground trying to whet his adamantine greatsword. It wasn't going well given that he was using a normal whetstone, and didn't need wheting anyway, but he was still getting frustrated. The knocking on the door was the last straw, he abruptly stands up, marches towards the door, and rips it open. "WHADDYA WANT?!" He yells.

[unseenmage]

Motif has managed to once again wedge himself into a corner of the room to keep both sides of his back against two walls, a point that his Familiar, Polish, is explaining to him at length (again) when the door sounds. Motif startles, his hands going to his weapons as he forces his back almost painfully against the corner of the room.

When Raz shouts it does nothing to calm Motif's nerves, "Well! Who is it! What do they want!", he mutters loudly.

The parchment he was scribbling on lies on the floor, yet another half-formed plan of action half finished and filling half a page.

[Feathersnow]

Bix looks up from hir studies, trying to research anything that might help in this protracted seige. When the noise comes from the door, ze sets hir familiar, Squeaky, to get ready for action, should it be assassins.

"Hello! This is the office of Squadron Three." Ze turns into a fearsome male goliath to enhance hir ability to intimidate any attackers.

[Centaur Hero]

"We can ill afford another failed counter attack, if our intel is correct, their army is going to grow expidentially, and the clever Drow will surely have plotted a way in by then as well, they are not as dumb as these orc rabble, I think our best shot would be a small group perhaps, sneaking it's way through to get some aid. Or perhaps some sort of tunnel...."

At the knock on the door, Pelvar gethers up the maps he had spread before him, no need to show the world their plans.

[IamL]

A grim, armor-clad warrior walks in. You recognize him as being the paladin from Squadron Two.

He says only six words, then walks out.

"The dragons attacked the East Wall."

[Feathersnow]

Bix relaxes into hir natural form. Ze grabs hir crossbow and prepares for battle.

What color dragons, what size, what minions are backing them?

Forewarned is forearmed, the motto of the arcane scholar,.

roll Knowledge arcana [roll0]
Give me anything, especially elemental resistances and whether they have magic, that the roll might entitle me to about the dragons.

[IamL]

The paladin shakes his head.

"You'd best see for yourself." He motions for you to leave with a wave of his right hand.

The dragons themselves have never attacked in a group, preferring to sit back and order the rest of the army around. This is grave news indeed.

[Feathersnow]

Foolish Paladins! Come, Squeaky! Bix heads out toward the battle.

[DogbertLinc]

Yes, let's go...see this thing...now. - says Mist, getting off his chair, pretending to be able to act as a leader, usually just a weapon that is pointed at enemies

Uuh...How likely is this to work to our favour? We can just toss everyone at their leaders, can't we?

[IamL]

"We could. The problem is our walls. Even if we're able to kill all the dragons, which I doubt, our walls will take a severe beating, maybe even fall. If that happens, all hell breaks loose. Even without the dragons, three quarters of a million orcs, goblins, and kobolds within the city walls would kill us."

[Archmage1]

Elizabeth speaks up, her voice seemingly soft, but quite clear.
"If we ignore them, they can destroy the walls. If we don't ignore them, they can still destroy the walls. However, it's possible that if the dragons are dead, we might be able to get the enemy army to destroy itself by playing upon their tribal identities."

[littlebum2002]

Waldak was sitting at his chair, using his blade to clean his dirty fingernails. He hated these meetings, he would rather just go out and fight. But no, they always wanted to waste time planning, and what would they decide to do? Go out and fight. Just like every other meeting. A waste of his time.

However, he jumped at the mention of dragons.

Well, some on! What are we waiting for? I've been waiting for months to get a piece of those dragons, and they're finally throwing themselves at us? This is our chance to finally take 'em out!

[Centaur Hero]

"Pelor protect us." Pelvar says under his breath. A mixture of anxiety and relief at the same time. Perhaps we can finally make up some ground. Let's move out people! Let us bring some light to quench the darkness!

[DogbertLinc]

Are they up for diplomacy, then? We either fight or run, now. Sounding aprehensive.

[dupersudi]

Raz glares at the people who are still in the room. "Why are you lot talking? We gotz Dragonz on the wall that need to be killded!!!" He then charges after Bix.

[Archmage1]

Elizabeth sighs.
"Whatever we do, if we stay put, we accomplish nothing. Let's go."
Elizabeth stands up, and walks out the door, moving gracefully, making sure to not overtake the more eager members.

[IamL]

As you arrive on the scene, the combined efforts of the acid corrosion of the black dragons has torn a weak spot in the wall, damaging it severely.

The battlefield is as gruesome as ever, even more so now that the dragons are on the stage.

Thirty five or so dragons of mixed color, aged juvenile to adult, are viciously assaulting the walls, an army of orcs and kobolds behind them, ready to rush in if and when the walls fall.

A group of about ten dragons are flying over the city, raining hell down on the soldiers. Hundreds lie dead within the walls.

Thousands of the city's men are on the walls, and thousands more stand in front of them. Hails of arrows are fired from the battlements, but the dragons seem nearly unaffected.

I'm assuming you sent a messenger to gather your troops; they should arrive at some point (determined by moi), as readying thousands of troops for battle takes a while. If you want a specific number of them, let me know either in the OOC or IC thread. In the OOC thread, you should probably determine who's in charge of what portions of your troops, if anybody, or if you just act collectively, or what your whole party structure of command is like.

[Archmage1]

Elizabeth observes the battlefield, worry on her face(Helpfully concealed by her deep hood).
All of the dragons seem to be here, so if we could take them out, it would go a long ways towards ending this siege. But the arrows from the battlements are having little to no effect, which means we need something else to discourage them. They are quite resistant to magic, and they see illusions for what they are. Fog would hardly slow them. We might be able to draw one away, and take it out, but the rest would no doubt respond with force. There should have been a plan in place for this. Those arrows are hardly doing anything. Perhaps focusing on the wings, to render them unable to fly might work, allowing a ground attack. But... that's a lot of dragons. Maybe one of the other squads is powerful enough to do something more than just plan about it. Maybe convincing one or more of them to fight each other, but they are resistant to magic, and I don't think that my spells are powerful enough to get through. It might be possible to lure them into the town, but that would be risky, as I don't know if we can beat them.

[Centaur Hero]

Pelvar screams upwards, "Come coward birds! Test yourselves againt the might of the third squadren of Chamar!" After issuing the challenge, he screams a call to arms to all the men in the frey. "Bring them down! Show no mercy to these fell creatures of the darkness! Smite them to ruin!

Taking a deep breath, Pelver holds his holy symbol before him proudly, and chants a prayer to the god of light. Palor, fail us not, come forth and purge the dark before us!

Pelvar cast's prayer. All allies of mine within 40ft, get +1 attack, damage, saves, and skill checks. All enemies take -1 to the same things.

[Feathersnow]

Bix stares, at a loss for words for once in hir life. Ze collects hirself, If we can break their armies, the dragons will have to land! Counterattack!!

Initimidate [roll0]

[IamL]

Raz and Bix' displays aren't good enough to scare anybody, but they do improve troop morale and (less fortunately) garner you the attention of about three dozen dragons.

Ladies and gentlemen, I now get to say my three favorite words:

Roll for Initiative!

[Feathersnow]

GAAAH! Spellthief/shadowcaster here, that's about three dozen more dragons than I can effectively handle. Hopefully, our soldiers got my back. However, my doppleganger blood allows me to present whatever face I choose, and now I show only steely resolve.

[roll0]

[DogbertLinc]

Mist looks up to the sky, under the guise of nearby structures - This is really not the fight I've been looking for, and so not worth the risk. - he whispers to himself.

They better be willing to negotiate

[unseenmage]

As he lays eyes on the carnage before him Motif can't help but wonder if there strongly consider (again) the theft and use of a Hat of Disguise for the purpose of fleeing this wretched siege.
Instead of all that he simply sighs heavily and shoulders his crossbow.

"All right Polish, just as we planned. Scatter the bait as best you can.", the familiar nods knowingly and scurries off with a belt pouch in its hands. Motif calls after hastily, "And try not to make it too obvious!"

Polish proceeds to stash six gems, each worth roughly 50gp each, about the battlefield strategically so they a) can be seen by flying dragons but not by the foot-soldiers, and b) don't appear too out of place such as possibly stashed inside a now broken portion of masonry or clutched in a severed hand that went flying onto a rooftop, that sort of thing. He doesn't go too far afield, never into the line of scrimmage but close enough to get the job done.


Init: [roll0]

Each of the gems is affected by the spell Dragoneye Rune (DM66) so Motif will know where they are when he wants to retrieve them.
Will roll a Bluff check (or six) in OOC for Polish just in case it's necessary. :smallsmile:

[littlebum2002]

Waldak surveys the scene. There's only one thing he can possibly do now. He takes a few steps back, and starts to run. When he hits full speed, he sets his feet and makes a flying leap, aiming for the back of the nearest dragon.



Initiative [roll0]
Jump [roll1]
Balance [roll2]

I'm waiting for the results of the rolls to post what I'll do next.

[dupersudi]

Raz begins cackling manically upon seeing the dragons.

[roll0]

He will move towards the nearest landed dragon. Charge attack it if it's in range.

[Archmage1]

Seeing the dragons heading for them, Elizabeth casts the one spell that she knows will help, haste, altering the others perception of time, allowing them to act more quickly, to think faster.
Sadly, she was not powerful enough to enhance her own perception in the same way.
Once that was done, she takes cover behind the parapets, hoping to not die, as it would be rather inconvenient.


Haste for the 6 PC's who are not Elizabeth

[littlebum2002]

Waldak, riding on top of the dragon, begins to hack away at the beast's back. He slashes once, twice, 3 times with the blade in his left hand, ending with it jammed into the dragon's hide to keep him balanced. Then, he attempts to strike once more before the dragon attempts to shake him off, so he plunges his right blade into the dragon's back as well.

Left hand: (critical range 15-20)
Attack: [roll0]
damage: [roll1]

Attack: [roll2]
damage: [roll3]

Haste Attack: [roll4]
damage: [roll5]


Right hand: (range 18-20)
Attack: [roll6]
damage: [roll7]

[DogbertLinc]

Seeing the incoming dragon brawls, Mist provides cover fire to Waldak, while he makes his leap.

Dark purple magics gather on his hands and turn to large claws, that then extend to spears and strike the one Waldak is leaping on. And run away behind any cover he can find, afterwards


Free action: Make Eldritch Claws
Standard: Eldritch Spear Claws: [roll0] vs AC; dmg: [roll1] untyped.; 15 vs SR
Snap Kick Eldritch Spear Claws: [roll2] vs AC; dmg: [roll3] untyped.; 10 vs SR
Move action: get behind cover

OOC: I'm pretty sure that's one less ability I can use vs this guy

[Centaur Hero]

Pelvar Casts Empowered searing light at the dragon Waldak is riding.

Attack roll [roll0]
Damage before empowered [roll1]


May Pelor's light smite the foul creature!

9 damage total.

[IamL]

Waldak expertly jumps and lands, balancing precariously but firmly on the back of the juvenile red dragon, one of the leaders of the assault on the walls. Two of Waldak's left-handed attacks and one of the right-handed attacks pierce the scales of the dragon.

For the sake of maintaining reality, I've decided that sitting there with a blade in its neck and holding on has initiated a sort of pseudo-grapple. Follow normal grappling rules, but you can make a Balance or Ride check instead of a normal Grapple check, with your Strength modifier added as a circumstantial modifier.

Young Adult Red Dragon: 14 damage


Mist Tombstrife's claws shred through the dragon's hide, ripping at its chest and leaving it bleeding profusely. It lets out a roar of pain and agony, screaming profusely towards the heavens.


OOC: Juvenile red dragons don't have SR yet. Lucky for you.
14 damage plus 76 damage from your strikes is 90 damage.

Pelvar's light slams into the dragon, the holy light piercing its scales and causing it to scream to the heavens once more.


90 damage plus 9 damage from the holy light is 99 damage total.

[Archmage1]

Seeing that her allies had things well in hand, Elizabeth fires an arrow at the dragon, ducking back behind the crenelation afterwards, having little desire to get incinerated by a dragon.


[roll0] attack
[roll1] damage

[dupersudi]

Raz charges the Red Dragon, pouncing at the last second and unleashing a flurry of devastating blows with his Adamantine Greatsword.


Alrighty, using charge/pounce combo with POWAH ATTACK taking a -2 to offset the charge bonus
Swing 1
[roll0]
Swing 2
[roll1]
Damage 1
[roll2]
Damage 2
[roll3]

[IamL]

Before y'all can continue, the dragons have their initiative order. And it shall be hell. I should have it all worked out by tomorrow morning at the latest.

[IamL]

Most of the dragons continue their assault on the walls, but about half a dozen of them turn towards you, swooping in and striking from the sky at both you and your army.

Two are red, one is white, two are green, and one is blue.

The dragon that Waldak is holding onto for dear life also spins around to you, rolling and diving and attempting to throw Waldak off.
littlebum2002, roll a special Grapple check. Roll Balance plus your Strength modifier in place of a normal grapple check to maintain the grapple; the dragon is attempting to escape the grapple.

The other dragons fly towards you, breathing crackling lightning, searing fire, frigid ice, and corrosive gas, centering around Mist, whom they believe to be the biggest threat.

Mist, make six Reflex saves.

Everybody else, make three.

[Archmage1]

Elizabeth, hiding behind one of the crenelations, gets breathed on by multiple dragons.


Reflex Rolls. If she counts as in cover, she gains an additional +2 to these.
Everyone else gets +2 from the combination of haste and prayer.
[roll0] reflex
[roll1] reflex
[roll2] reflex
Please tell me the types of breath attacks, as she has DR to multiple elements.(Tiefling)
...
Which, judging by those rolls, is going to be quite important. :smallsigh:

[dupersudi]

Raz lets out a tremendous oath and then tries valiantly to avoid the cascade of foul breath attacks.


Reflexes
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]

[unseenmage]

Motif lets fly a hushed expletive and runs for cover doing his best to not be seen in the process. 'I must get out of sight, I have no chance against one of those things one on one.' He trusts Polish to hide and not get his reflective hide scorched off by dragonbreath.


Reflex Saves:
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]

Hide check:
(so long as there's somewhere within 5 feet to hide, if not please disregard)
[roll3]

Hide check for Polish:
(will move and hide each round trying to finish planting gems as dragonbait and get back to Motif)
[roll4]

[littlebum2002]

The dragon tries to toss Waldak, but Waldak holds on out of pure hate!


FYI: I forgot to add favored enemy stuff last time, but if you want to add 2 damage from each of my attacks that hit, be my guest.

Also, I don't HAVE a *^&#*&$ strength modifier....
[roll0]

Reflexes:
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]

[Centaur Hero]

Pelvar tries his hardest to dodge the flames, but heavy armor and poor reflexes make it difficult.

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]

[Feathersnow]

sorry, missed that post
reflex rolls

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]

[Feathersnow]

squeaky makes reflex rolls!

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]

also, how does a level 7 character get a +16 to a save?
and add one to the saves on the previous post for prayer, if that matters.

[IamL]

The blasts of acid and fire rain down, burning and corroding and freezing your skin, but you survive.

All of you, that is, except for Mist, of whom nothing is left but his name; a misty vapor rises from the spot where he once stood.

A cry comes out from the sergeant-at-arms who serves under you, a tall, broad man whose voice seems to resonate throughout the heavens.

He's dead. He's Dead. HE'S DEAD!

It is then that the six of you wake up, and, unfortunately, realize that Mist will not be. Ever.

A monk that you recognize as a promising soldier (that would be you, lolthfollower) is standing outside, mouth gaping open, repeating "He's dead" over and over again.

Mist's head has been severed.

The stone walls your quarters are located in are shaking, and the temperature increases significantly, giving you the sinking feeling that your dream is about to come true.

[Feathersnow]

"What happened!? Was it just a dream? What's that outside?" I stay in my natural form.

[IamL]

The walls continue to shake, and the stones continue to heat, like you're trapped inside an oven. Quickly, the metal frames of your beds become hot to the touch, as does the steel of your weapons.

And then, a loud crash encompasses your mind and body as the world seems to collapse around you.

The mighty walls of Chamar have fallen, and the hordes rush in.

But you don't see the hordes, nor do you see the dragons, nor do you hear the screaming.

No, all you have time to do is fall in a moment of panic to the ground, the walls crashing down on top of you.

It's strange, but you could swear you saw a white flash before you fell unconscious under the rubble of the ancient city.

[Archmage1]

Elizabeth, after her fall, dreams, a nightmare of pain.

[IamL]

You sleep deeply, in a comatose state that resembles death.

When you awaken, the landscape around you seems barren and worn, the stones that were once cut by the world's greatest masons and painted by the world's greatest craftsmen are dulled, subdued, and smooth.

It would seem to you as if an age has passed, and yet you all remain alive and well, seemingly no older than before. It's another miracle that none of you were crushed in the fall. You're able to retrieve Mist's body fairly quickly. It's in very poor condition; the head was severed and the limbs have been crushed. Nothing short of a Resurrection is going to bring him back.

Examining some of the area around you, you find it all barren, a seeming wasteland. Scorched stumps of trees and weathered, marred skeletons lay around you. What used to be the marketplace square is now just a scorch mark and a few lone lengths of rotting wood and iron reebar.

You're not sure what has happened since you fell, but you're guessing it wasn't good.

[Archmage1]

Elizabeth dreams as she lies there, unconscious. From her parents came her memories, and her ability to review them as she rested. She spent what seemed an eternity looping through her memories of that day, trying to find her mistake, where she had erred, but every time... she failed. She had no series of actions that would have resulted in victory, and that knowledge... that knowledge was something that she was ill prepared to accept. The blood from her ancestors, the blood that made her so often an object of contempt, that blood sang to her, seeking to persuade her to be more like it, seeking power, any power, at any cost.

And then, she woke up, to a world that had seemingly been destroyed by war.
She stands, staggering, seemingly more than a bit feeble, and turns, surveying the area, looking for some sign of what had happened, some sign of how much time had passed. Her mind still roiling from her long unconsciousness, she seeks a path of action, although what path remained unknown.

[unseenmage]

Motif stares in disbelief while a whispered expression escapes his lips, "By what foul knowledge was this done!"


Know Arcana to identify whatever magic preserved them: [roll0]
Another Know Arcana to identify what magic ruined their surroundings so suddenly: [roll1] (And yeah, I will totally understand if the first makes the second unnecessary)

[lolthfollower]

Devis stands, staring in shock at the rubble of the once beautiful city and the mangled state of Mist's body.

[littlebum2002]

Waldak, suddenly remembering he was in the midst of battle, jumps to his feet, blades drawn. But he sees no dragons, and no hordes.

He drops the scimitar from his left hand, and throws the one in his right hand as far as he can, yelling in frustration at losing his trophy of a valuable dragon carcass.

[lolthfollower]

In desperation, Devis starts to pry away rocks in hopes of finding any other survivors.

[dupersudi]

Raz wakes up with a snort, he quickly looks around trying to figure out where he is and what happened to the dragons. Seeing Devis moving rocks he hurries over to assist him. "That was weird dream, what happened to city? And how long we sleep?"

[Feathersnow]

I don't know, but keep on your guard. Anything could be out there.

[Archmage1]

Elizabeth continues to look around, her voice sounding distracted.
"I'm not sure what happened. From the looks of things, it has been years, since we fell, but... it doesn't make sense. It would take centuries for the wear on the stones to occur, but in far less time, than that, the wood would have rotted away, and scavengers would have dispersed the remains. I think that whatever happened, magic was involved, which makes things difficult. Do any of you remember the white flash? It happened just before I passed out."

[lolthfollower]

Turning from his work to search for survivors, Devis replies " I saw it, but what it was I could not tell. Was it a creature or magic? My guess is some form of magic, but we must be open to possibilities." Having said this, Devis returns to searching for others.

[IamL]

Motif realizes that there was some magic put into place to freeze you in time, but the exact spell is far beyond his ken. In addition, he thinks something's a little bit off, but can't quite place it.

Then, when Elizabeth makes her remark about the seeming discrepancy between the wood and the stones, the connection fires in his mind; tidbits of old lore and time spent with his nose stuck in a musty tome collect and come back to him.

The wood would rot away completely, reducing into nothing, relatively quickly, in about a half century or so, but, as Elizabeth pointed out, the weathering of the stones would seem to suggest that you've been asleep much, much longer than that. The logical conclusion, then, would be that people were here after the city fell, and both constructive and destructive magic has been cast in this area; that would explain the existence of the wood. What that doesn't explain is why the city wasn't rebuilt by those who came, though that is more easily dismissed than the wood failing to rot. Still, something seems to be at the edge of your mind, a logical conclusion and solution to the whole system that you can sense but not quite state.
After more observation of the surrounding area, you find that it is barren for miles around, desolate and void of all signs of life.

[Feathersnow]

Then all we have worked for is lost, vanished. Come then, we will find new lives somewhere. Bix tries to be a bastion of confidence, but ze is perhaps hit harder than anyone. Hir work in Chamar had been partly to just convince people ze wasn't some manner of eldritch horror. Now ze was even more alone than the others, separated from hir secretive race and craft as well as hir time and country.

[lolthfollower]

Realizing the search is hopeless, Devis gives up and wanders about the ruins of the city.

[Archmage1]

Elizabeth, finished at last with her survey of the surrounding area, speaks up again.
"Unless any of you has a large amount of food and water handy, I think we need to find water, and quickly. If we can do that, we have options, but in this place... if we don't have water, I'd be surprised if we lasted two days. I remember a stream, about seven miles north of here. Hopefully, it's still there. If it isn't, maybe we will find something there. Regardless, there seems to be little point in staying here. Now, we were near the east walls, so north should be to the left, if we are facing East. Which means this way."

Elizabeth points towards what she thinks is north, before she starts walking in the direction that she hopes is north.

[dupersudi]

Raz starts getting angry at the thought of being magicked, he stops listening to everyone around him and storms off, muttering curses under his breath. Once he gets around a hundred feet away he YELLS. "WHO DARES CAST MAGIC ON RAZ!"


By the way, Raz doesn't like magic, and I'm pretty sure his SR kicks in on EVERYTHING cast at him. So buff someone else instead, cause you'll just piss him off if you succeed, and if you don't and his SR eats it he might think you attacked him :smallwink:. Forgot to mention this earlier, my bad.

[lolthfollower]

Devis rushes over to Raz to calm him, but realizing nothing he could say would calm him, returns to the others.

[unseenmage]

After relaying his realizations to the others Motif turns to contemplate his familiar who gazes up intently at its master. "My little friend we should get you covered up with something. I had meant to buy you your own set of clothes and armors before the month was out but that plan, as with so many others, is kaput. Go search the ruins little one. Search them for useful things and see if you can't discover for us some clothes for you, eh? And be careful, as you are now you will shine out here in the sun like a beacon. Beware of that."
Polish nods emphatically and scampers off, its footfalls clattering on the stones like scraping glass.

To the group he adds, "Come morning I can prepare some magics to find us water. Perhaps even make some small quantities of ice for immediate relief. For food I will be slightly less useful I fear."
Then he sighs and folds his hands behind his head as he gazes at the sky contemplatively, "I do wonder why us though. Why are we the only ones denied our deaths, our plans, our vengeance?"

[lolthfollower]

"I have enough food to last us 14 days." Devis replies.

[Archmage1]

Elizabeth sighs as no one follows her, and instead choose to stand around, lamenting the past. She pauses, knowing that as a group, they have a far better chance than they do separately.
"Motif, once Polish is done seeing what we can find, we need to get moving. While the soldier was prepared for a long campaign, we were not. If we can't find water, you magic will be invaluable, but if we can find water, we can follow it downstream, and find a larger stream. Eventually, we will find some civilization along the rivers. I am unsure as to why we are alive, and no one else seems to be. Perhaps it has something to do with our room. Perhaps it was enchanted in some way."
That said, she turns to the soldier, and tries to talk with him.
"Soldier, what's you name? It would appear that we are all that's left, so we should get to know you a bit better. Where did you serve?."

[lolthfollower]

"My name is Devis and I served in squadron two. What else do you want to know? Also, we should go somewhere soon. If we don't, we will still need food and water but be no closer to finding more. "

[Archmage1]

"Why don't you tell us a bit about yourself? Where you are from, why you decided to join, what you can do, that sort of thing?"

[lolthfollower]

"Well, I was orphaned at a young age, so I had to resort to pickpocketing. I was barely surviving on the streets, and nobody was willing to donate a single copper piece to help me, so I grew up seeing humanity as corrupt. When I was 18, I decided to join the army so that I could do good in this world, protecting people, even if they were corrupt. I came from the city you now see in ruins before you. I do not have many talents, but when I was surviving as a thief I learned to hide and silence my footsteps and climb buildings for when I was seen. "

[Archmage1]

Elizabeth shakes her head, her face sad, although it is concealed within her hood.
"It's always sad to lose family, but it always seems that those with the harshest lives are the most capable of survival. I wonder if anyone's studied that in more detail..."
Her voice trails off, before she shakes her head, and continues.
"Your talents at stealth could prove helpful indeed. I presume that you have seen us fighting previously, so you know what we can do?"

[lolthfollower]

"I have seen you fight, but I doubt I have seen everything you are capable of."

[Archmage1]

"Just a few illusions, and some enchantment from me. Nothing too spectacular. The others, well... I'll let them tell you."

[unseenmage]

"Motif, once Polish is done seeing what we can find, we need to get moving. While the soldier was prepared for a long campaign, we were not. If we can't find water, you magic will be invaluable, but if we can find water, we can follow it downstream, and find a larger stream. Eventually, we will find some civilization along the rivers. I am unsure as to why we are alive, and no one else seems to be. Perhaps it has something to do with our room. Perhaps it was enchanted in some way."

Motif nods agreement his braid bobbing and adds, "You should know that neither I nor Polish will require nourishment nor drink. Polish's home plane has neither and I have my magics to keep me sated. So that subtracts two from our rationing calculations."

He shuffles about a bit, kicking over the occasional stone, "For my part I would prefer to leave after a night's rest and I have a chance to ready spells that are more divinatory and less combat oriented. In short, finding food will be easier if I have spells available that can find it for us."


A minor fib there, he has a Ring of Sustenance so it's a magic item and no his personal magic that keeps him fed and watered.

[Archmage1]

"Not needing food is quite the advantage, but didn't we just finish resting? Well, sort of, but but it might be enough for you to memorize. However, staying put seems quite foolish, as there may be a threat along the way. There is no shelter, no food, and no water here. The stream may have water, or it might be completely empty, but it should only take a couple of hours to get there."

[lolthfollower]

"I agree with... Elizabeth, correct? We should head to the stream. Even if it has dried up, we alreay know there isn't water here. We may as well go somewhere where there is a chance that water remains."

[Archmage1]

Elizabeth nods as he remembers her name correctly, hoping to reinforce that knowledge.

[lolthfollower]

"Unless you have a better idea, I shall head in that direction by sunrise tomorrow."

[Archmage1]

Elizabeth shakes her head.
"We should be leaving long before than. As soon as Polish returns with anything that he might have found. There is nothing to be gained by standing around here."

[lolthfollower]

"That I would classify as a good idea."

[IamL]

Polish returns (after about twenty minutes of searching) with a suit of leather armor. It's moldy and old and doesn't quite fit him correctly, but it hides the shine he would give off and offers him a modicum of protection.

[lolthfollower]

"Now, likeElizabeth said, we should start towards the stream."

[Archmage1]

"Agreed. There is nothing here for us."
Once more, she slowly starts walking in the right direction, allowing the others the chance to come along, if they so chose.

[lolthfollower]

Devis follows Elizabeth.

[Feathersnow]

Bix follows Elizabeth also. Ze tells squeaky to scout ahead.

[lolthfollower]

Sneaking ahead, Devis joins squeaky on scouting.

[IamL]

The trek passes rather uneventfully as you go to the river, but when you get there, you notice a trio of cloaked figures crouching near the stream. The cloaks conceal their faces, but they appear to be humanoid. It is late evening, and the barren landscape is cooling fast, seeming to have dropped ten degrees in as many minutes.

[Archmage1]

Elizabeth indicates the presence of unknowns to the party, giving them the chance to prepare, and she observes the unknowns carefully, trying to get a sense of their intentions.


[roll0] hide
[roll1] move silently
[roll2] Sense motive(Hunch, maybe?)
[roll3] Listen
[roll4] Spot

[Feathersnow]

What race are they?

[lolthfollower]

"With any luck, they won't try to kill us, and will hopefully help us."

[dupersudi]

"If they try and kill us, we can kill them and take their stuff." With that thought in mind Raz walks over and hollers at the cloaked figures. "OI YOU LOT! WE WANTS TO TALK WITH YA!"

[lolthfollower]

Devis stands, gaping at Raz as he marches boldly towrds the humanoids. "Is Raz always this reckless?" Devis says to the others.

[Feathersnow]

Well, that's one approach. I was going to imitate one of their race and try to approach them by myself.

[Archmage1]

Elizabeth sighs, and shakes her head. She remains concealed, choosing to observe.

[lolthfollower]

"I would scold him, but I don't think he would take kindly to criticism." Devis says as he slips back into hiding.

The new hide roll!
Hide: [roll0]
Move Silently:[roll1]

[littlebum2002]

Waldak, not really one for planning, follows the others. If they said they needed to find water, then that was probably the case. He usually let the magicians handle the food and water, or failing that, the other rangers. He never had time for any of that stuff. His parents told him he wasted his training, but he didn't care. The rangers had taught him how to fight, and that's all he needed. They could keep their survival skills; he had lived fine so far without them, hadn't he? So he retrieved his scimitar and followed the others. When he came upon the cloaked figures in the road, he followed Devis' lead, and hid.

[roll0]

[unseenmage]

Motif trails behind the others fiddling with Polish's new used armor. When the stream and its visitors are discovered Motif pulls Polish down and they both hide while trying to get a good look at these possible aggressors.
Motif simply shakes his head and watches his allies' recklessness.


Works for the rest works for Motif and his shiny little friend. :smalltongue:
Though they'll be Taking 10s. Motif's the cautious sort after all. :smallsmile:

Motif's rolls:
Hide 19
Move Silently 19
Sense Motive 11
Spot 15
Listen 16

Polish's rolls:
Hide 26
Move Silently 21
Sense Motive 11
Spot 18
Listen 18

[lolthfollower]

Sneaking over to Motif and Polish, Devis whispers "Can you tell what or who they are?"

[unseenmage]

"Not without a closer look, no. And I am reluctant to expend a precious spell of invisibility on what might maybe be a trifling encounter with starving vagabonds lost in the wilderness." Polish nods emphatic assent at his master's words.

[IamL]

The three figures turn around revealing two men and one woman. The first man on the left is incredibly tall and broad, with a greatsword strapped to his belt. His skin is light grey with dark tattoos across it, and an amulet hangs around his neck. The woman stands in the center, human in appearance. She is fairly short and very curvy, wearing leather armor and carrying an assortion of trinkets strapped to her. The final man on the right is tall and thin, with various scrolls and books attached to his cloak or his backpack. They appear kind, even after Raz's less than cordial greeting. The woman calls out in a cheerful, sing-song voice.

"You can come out now; we mean you no harm. We come only to retrieve water." Her eyebrows then furrow as she seems to realize som. "What are you doing here, coming from the south side? We're as far south in the Barren Lands any northener will come, and you sure as hell didn't cross the Barren Lands from the south side. Where are you from?"

[Archmage1]

Seeing that they were relatively friendly, Elizabeth comes out, with a smile(Not that you can see it in her hood).

"Ah, you aren't going to try and kill us. In that case, I apologize for my more direct companion. I think he is a little confused, if you take my meaning. We're travelers, but magic was involved in getting us here, and our information seems to be rather out of date. Perhaps you could help us out a bit, and answer a few questions? Nothing too important, just general information. This place is rather different than what we were expecting. Our maps may have been a bit out of date, but they showed a city, and some relatively fertile ground. At least, it was colored green. Perhaps you could tell us what year it is? We might be better off discarding our maps, and getting new ones if they are this inaccurate."

Elizabeth's voice, is soothing, calm, and confident, with just the right amount of curiosity.


[roll0] bluff(Maps out of date)
[roll1] diplomacy(Because being friendly is always polite.

[littlebum2002]

Waldak does not know if the 3 people approaching know how many were in their group, so he continues hiding. Nothing could be gained by revealing himself, after all, since he din't want to chit-chat with these strangers, and having a concealed ally might prove beneficial if they turn hostile.

[dupersudi]

When Elizabeth mentions magic Raz spits at the ground and angrily mutters some less than flattering words describing whatever person magicked him using words he learned amongst his people. "Magic changed much. Place has become, unfamiliar. At least sky hasn't changed." He looks at the sky for a while and calms down some.

[Feathersnow]

Bix waits to see what happens. Ze turns into a human as to be as inoffensive as possible.

[IamL]

The woman in the middle smirks and raises one eyebrow. "You might find that telling straight truths rather than half truths and lies to be better for your health aroubd here. The only ones who lie and live are those extraordinarily good at it, and while you're good, you aren't quite good enough. You seem quite friendly and polite, though, so I'll give you a deal: We help you out, give you new maps and supplies, in exchange for the unadulterated truth, something I happen to be a collector of, and a few favors."

[Archmage1]

Elizabeth smiles once more.
"That could work, although... What sort of favors? You must understand, unknown favors can get quite nasty. The truth is, at least in this case, rather prosaic."

Win some, lose some. There wasn't really a believable explanation of how we got here, but... we definitely need more information, and they have all of it.

[lolthfollower]

Devis comes forward and says "How can you collect truths? Is it some form of magic?"

[Feathersnow]

Bix approaches and tries to signal to the others. If they want to try to lie, ze is the person for it.

[littlebum2002]

Waldak remains in hiding, weapons drawn.

[IamL]

In response to Devis' question, she pulls out a rectangle of thick paper about the size of a playing card and hands it to you. It appears to be a business flyer. The thin man bows and talks to you in a nervous and fast-paced but eloquent voice. "Allow me to provide you with an introduction. We're information brokers, the best in the business around here. You want to find something out, you hire us. We're also adventurers, and try to lend a hand wherever we can whenever we have spare time."

The woman nods, and says "I suppose I should introduce our company. The goliath is Grall, a traveling warrior-cleric from the mountains; he's the strong, silent type. I am Nala, jack of all trades and the leader of the operation. There's nowhere on this side of the continent I can't get in and out of. And finally, the bespectacled wonder who just handed you a business card is Solomon, a collector of lore and knowledge. The favors wouldn't be big, just doing a job or two for our company and getting information or fighting off a few beasties. And if you prove yourself, who knows, maybe we'll hire you."

Grall motions to Nala and says something in a language none of you can understand. She nods, and he moves backwards a few steps, turning his back to you before unsheathing his sword and placing it point-down into the earth, starting to speak in a strange tongue.

Nala turns to you and briefly explains.
"He's meditating and praying for his spells. You know how Clerics are."

[Archmage1]

Elizabeth listens as she speaks, and once she is done, she smiles, briefly, before continuing to talk in a more confident tone.
"Introductions would seem to be in order. The angry one over there is Raz, a warrior, The one who briefly stood is Devis, a monk, and I am Elizabeth, with a skill set not unlike your own."
She pauses, before smiling once again, and continuing, this time, in a more soothing tone.
"Now, I still find myself having trouble agreeing to unknown favors, so perhaps a compromise. We have the right to refuse a given task, and you can continue to offer them until we have completed three. We, of course, can't refuse them all, but if they are unreasonable, or we are not willing to do them, we may decline a job."
She pauses again, before continuing.
"Now then, since that is out of the way, we are, as I said, wanderers, and before that, mercenaries. Unfortunately, we have ended up here, which seems to be about the most inhospitable place I remember seeing."

[IamL]

She ***** her head. "Where did you work last?"

The goliath raises his sword and begins performing an exquisite sequence of subtle techniques with them; those who care to watch see his blade flicker and flash as if it were a third of its size, his large frame surprisingly agile and lightfooted. He continues talking in a strange, guttural tongue.


Spellcraft roll: He appears to be doing a form of martial meditation that most Clerics of Kord use to rejuvenate their power.
Sense Motive roll: They appear to be good-natured and friendly, and have a genuine desire to help you out.

[Archmage1]

Elizabeth answers, with one word, hoping that her impression of them was accurate.
"Chamar."

[lolthfollower]

Devis slowly walks away from them and leaves Elizabeth to do the talking.

[unseenmage]

Motif remains in hiding but wonders if the act is worth the effort, little though it may be. He kept catching himself plotting the most expedient route away from these strangers. That this entire region was now unknown to him was all that kept his fears in check and his legs still.

Polish, sensing his master's unease, put one mirrored hand on Motif's shoulder. Little good that it would do. Motif was never at ease among friends, let alone when confronted with strangers in a strange land.

[IamL]

In response to Elizabeth's response, Nala and Solomon exchange a look you can't quite read; it's between excitement, wonder, and doubt.

Nala tilts her head and looks over Elizabeth, judging the veracity of the statement. She nods, and smiles widely.

"This...This is big. The fall of Chamar happened 1300 years ago, at the start of the Great Destruction of the Mage Wars, and nobody survived. The city, and with it, all of its records, customs, history, practices, and technology, was destroyed, and replaced by these goddamn Barren Lands. Solomon and I both study history voraciously, and this is very exciting news. I have no idea how you survived, but as long as I haven't judged you incorrectly, you need to tell us all you remember about Chamar."


(first off, let me say that you guys can feel free to request another houserule about this if you can justify it with a realistic explanation of why you'd gain a bonus/penalty/both)
You may make Knowledge(local) checks instead of Knowledge(history) checks when attempting to recall something from your time. In addition, you gain a circumstance bonus of +3 on all Knowledge checks made about ancient times. Finally, you gain a -2 penalty to Knowledge (architecture and engineering), Knowledge (arcana), Knowledge(religion), Knowledge(Nobility and Royalty), and Knowledge (history) due to your outdated scientific, arcane, and historical information. This penalty continues until you take one or more additional rank in the applicable Knowledge skill, at which point it disappears entirely.
In addition, you gain a +1 circumstance bonus to Diplomacy and Bluff when dealing with elves, dwarves, or other long-lived races due to knowledge of their customs, but gain a -1 penalty to Diplomacy and Bluff when dealing with short-lived races like humans, half-orcs, or halflings due to a lack of knowledge about modern customs. This penalty lasts for 2 years or until you take a rank in the applicable social skill, at which point it disappears entirely.

[Archmage1]

1300 years? She could be lying, but... I doubt it. But... then... everyone I knew, my parents... everyone I know... everyone I knew... they are all gone. I wanted to go home to tell my mother and father, and now... now it's all gone.
Elizabeth, her face concealed by her hood, seems shocked, almost stunned by the news, tears flowing down her face as all her hopes and dreams of ever seeing her home again are smashed in an instant.

"I..."
Elizabeth is clearly quite stunned by the news, and is having trouble comprehending such a massive shift in the world.
"Are... are you sure? 1300 years? How..."
Her stricken voice fades away once more.

[lolthfollower]

"1300 years? My god, the magic that preserved us must have been extremely powerful indeed! Perhaps my friend was not lyng when she said our maps are oudated! Considering how out of date we are, can you explain any major events in the past few years?"

[Feathersnow]

Bix approaches upon hearing this. It is even more important you tell us all you know of this new world.

[unseenmage]

Polish tries to stop him but Motif jumps up and rushes forward at the news. "That cannot be right! There is no power strong enough to shove us all that far forward in time. None! You have to be lying!" He stops just short of a swordlength from these new folk and continues loudly, not yelling or shouting but with definitely raised voice. Shaking his clenched fists at his sides, "Why! Why us! Why would I be denied my vengeance out of every soldier, every man, woman, and child of that era?!? Why would someone take my family's legacy from me so... ultimately...?"


The force ebbs from his voice with that last. His words trailing into a sad sigh as he falls to his knees. Polish strides up and puts a hand silently on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort his master.
Motif just kneels there whispering, "After so long, so very long, I'll never find it now. Never. I'd be better off searching the past itself than trying to find it in the here and now. My family's legacy, three generations of research just gone. Like so much dust in a storm."


After this Motif just kneels there quietly as Polish pulls his hood up and secures it so that his master's face is obscured. He knows how much his master needs privacy. His master secured he leans in close and whispers, "Master Motif, all may not be lost. Remember there are some realms that are timeless master. Some planes, like my own home, that do not change even after so very long."

[lolthfollower]

"It appears my companions were afected by this more than me. I guess not having a family to return to made it easier to take."

[dupersudi]

Raz looks confused. "What about my tribe, the Tribe of the Lion? If it has been so long, where have they moved to? And how did Chamar fall? We saw... visions, but strange and unclear."



Feel free to invent something with my tribe or just say they bit the dust IamL.

[Feathersnow]

Changelings don't have families or societies, but my cabal is gone, and Chamar accepted me without question. I will help you, because you are the only identity I have left.

[littlebum2002]

Waldak, ever on a hair trigger, sees Motif jump at the 3 travelers and springs into action. He jumps out at the nearest one and brings his scimitars into action, crossing them right in front of the man's throat, ready to remove his head at a moment's notice. Motif calms down, but Waldak keeps his scimitars on the man's throat.

My friend here seems to think you're pulling our leg, and in my book that's just asking for trouble. So you better start making more sense, and quickly. I would love nothing more than for you to resist and let my blades taste the blood they were denied yesterday.

[Archmage1]

Elizabeth sees that the situation is rapidly degrading, so she tries to calm things down, the needs of the moments distracting her from her inner turmoil for a moment.
Her voice is sharp, commanding.
"Waldak. Stand. Down! This is not the time for that!"

[lolthfollower]

"They hqve done nothing to deserve our hate. So stand down and keep your blades eady if you must, but until they take ac5ions to harm us, do not attack." Saying this, he turns to the trio and says"I apologize for his actions. If he makes anoher unprovoked attack, know that I will not help him."

[unseenmage]

My friend here seems to think you're pulling our leg, and in my book that's just asking for trouble. So you better start making more sense, and quickly. I would love nothing more than for you to resist and let my blades taste the blood they were denied yesterday.

Motif looks up from his stupor moved by his ally's passion, "Be at ease Waldak for there is little point in doing otherwise. I thank you but if these folk are in fact to blame then they are far too powerful to face with blade or spell alone. If they tell the truth then what good would slaying them do? Either way we are lost and adrift in a strange place with little recourse but to beg for their mercy."

He lays a thankful hand on Polish's shoulder as he stands, "Futile though our current situation may be so help me some day I will discern the source of the power which brought us here and force it to explain why we couldn't have simply died when our time was up."



He turns a guarded gaze to the strangers, "As for you lot, I am sure we all have our questions for each other burning in the fore of our minds. Do you have a camp nearby where we may quiz and query to our heart's content or shall we all stand here in the hot sun conversing on this bank for the remainder of the day? Lead on I say, for we have little choice but to follow you regardless of your intentions."

[lolthfollower]

"He has a point. It would be nice to escape from the sun for a while as we discuss anything that we must know or you want to know"

[IamL]

Nala tosses you some warm, heavy cloaks.

"We'll be staying the night, and the chill in the Barren Lands is legendary. The sun is almost down already, and it will get exponentially colder since almost nothing here will retain heat well. In the morning, Solomon and I will tell you everything you need to know about recent history as we head back to Miresdale, if you will answer our questions about the customs of Chamar when we get there. For now, it's best we eat quickly, set up a watch rotation, and get some sleep."

Dinner that night consists of dried beef and fruit, an assortment of nuts, and bread. It's cold, but well-prepared, and tastes good.

Who takes first watch?

[Archmage1]

Elizabeth takes the cloak, and eats almost numbly, not really tasting the food, the horror of having lost over a thousand years still creating inner turmoil. When the possiblility of watches was mentioned, Elizabeth looks to the others, and seeing that no one else was going to speak up, she did.
"I'll take the first watch, as there is a lot to think about. So much has changed. So much has been lost..."
Her voice sounds like she is struggling to control her emotions, her voice trailing off at the end.
She settles on a rocky outcropping near the group, arranging the cloak so it would look warm. She didn't really mind it being hot or cold, but most people did, and reactions to her had left her good reason to disguise what she was.


Spot and Listen of 10, if that matters.

[lolthfollower]

Taking the cloak and eating the food, Devis sits, thinking about the most important things to know about this time.

[dupersudi]

Raz eats as much food as he can, and then wraps himself up in his winter blanket. "Wake me for second watch. I see in dark."

[littlebum2002]

Waldak backs his blades off the throat a bit, then steps back, keeping them at the ready.


Elizabeth, you can take first watch if you want, but make sure you watch fro trouble from these three as well as from anyone outside our camp. I still don't trust them.

With that Waldak slouches against a tree far from the 3 strangers in a position to watch them. He chooses not to eat any food they have provided.

[unseenmage]

Motif gestures to Polish and himself, "We have no need of food nor drink at the present time so do not consider us in your rationing. I need only rest, and little of that. If you'll all excuse me."

Motif and Polish try to find a place where they are as protected from everyone as possible while still within the confines of camp. They eventually settle on sitting back to back with legs crossed. Motif casts at least one spell into the ground before him, those who know him figure it is most likely a trapping spell of some kind. Then he rests; he'll only need to sleep for a couple of hours after which he'll awake and choose new, more travel friendly, spells. Polish needs no rest and stays up watching out for Motif through the night.

[IamL]

After an uneventful night, you all wake up, fairly well-rested, considering the circumstances. The trio leads on, trekking through the flat plains for what seems like an eternity whilst explaining the recent history of the region.

Nala and Solomon go back and forth, explaining what happened to the region.

"After the fall of the great city Chamar 1300 years ago, the dragons who'd led the siege started bickering over the riches, slaves, and territories gained. Draconic rage scorched and corroded the landscape. This, of course, attracted the attention of two groups of people: First, of the Council of Archmages at Lystul, who attempted to mitigate the disaster. Secondly, with the gods themselves, who did nothing yet. Crusaders of holy orders came by the droves to slay the dragons and restore order to the region, less reputable sellswords fought and backstabbed and fought tooth and claw for the massive riches the area held, and a vile group of the Council of Archmages rebelled against the Council, starting another group of powerful wizards. They attempted to control some of the dragons, and, by extension, their armies. Few succeeded, but those that did cut a wide swath of destruction, expanding the destroyed regions tenfold. Clerics and archmages, feeling it to be their only option, petitioned the metallic dragons to come to their aid and controlled other chromatic dragons.

And then the gods got involved: first Tiamat, enraged that her children were being controlled, stepped in first. Then, Bahamut, ever her rival, pledged the Metallic Dragons to the side of good and embroiling them and the Chromatics into full-on warfare. Pelor, Boccob, and Moradin joined Bahamut shortly after, Gruumsh One-eye and Nerull allied with Tiamat. Garl Glittergold joined Bahamut's alliance. Wee Jas joined Tiamat. The other gods formed quickly in succession on either side of the conflict.

It was a brutal war that lasted hundreds of years and slaughtered many, far past when there was nothing left to fight for except the hate that had embroiled the land in conflict. Steel and magic, divine and arcane, destroyed an enormous expanse of the G'Lop continent, rendering it barren and desolate and infertile. That is the ground we stand on.

None know how the war ended, but it did, about three hundred and fifty years ago.

After the war, the true extent of the damage was discovered. The Barren Lands are uninhabitable, totally desolate. The Drow were almost all killed, pushed underground for what most people hope is for good. Good, strong leaders carved large empires and rebuilt."
Nala and Solomon finish.

Solomon turns to you.
"That's the basic summary, anyway. Any particular details you want to know about?"

[Archmage1]

Elizabeth tried to console herself during her watch, trying to integrate the massive world change into herself, trying to truly understand it... and failing. Every time she tries, it seems that some part of her mind just refuses to accept it.
Once she is relieved, she tries to find reverie, but, in her mind's chaotic state, she is unable to do so, so she sleeps instead, and in her dreams, the end repeats over and over again.

In the morning, she listens to the explanation, before she asks what is sure to be the first of many questions.
"Could you cover recent events? What groups are intact, what groups have risen, what groups have fallen, that sort of thing?"

[lolthfollower]

"The mages that attempted to control the chromatic dragons sound like a vile group. Are any still around?" Devis asks as he marches across the land.

[dupersudi]

Are there any bad dragons left to kill? Who capable of magick to make us come to this time? Was it now wizard, or then wizard? And can I kill them?

[Feathersnow]

Bix considers the story carefully during hir watch. It seems likely that other shadowcasters survived and even reached prominence during the war. But it is all to likely they came in on the side these people view as the villains. Quite likely with reason, to be sure. But still. Ze must find out more, without making it too obvious what ze is about.


That morning, ze asks the group from the present, "do you know anything about the magically powerful factions that have emerged since the war?"

[unseenmage]

Motif ponders this new tale, chewing his lips and twisting his complex braids as he does so.

"So you say the deities 'got involved'; but how much so? Did they come and physically walk the earth? Or did they merely lay down embattling commandments from on high as is their want? I am also curious if any of them were slain and if their worship is still as strong as it was or perhaps stronger after such cataclysm." As he asks Motif keeps making worried faces in the direction of the sky. Seeing this Polish admonishes humorously, "I doubt there is a trap big enough to catch a god master."

Motif smiles wryly, "Indeed, but I do wonder if this long history of torment and sorrow isn't just for their amusement. Or more, for their profit. Creatures in power do tend to seek to remain in power. And to an immortal creature such as a god investing in a few centuries of people's suffering for some long long term gains is a pittance."

[littlebum2002]

Waldak ignores the history lesson as being uninteresting. However, he walks along and hears the newcomers drone on about something or another that happened thousands of years ago, he notices his companions are trusting them, so perhaps he should as well. He begins to lower his guard and no longer carries his weapons at the ready.

But sure, he had a question he would ask.

Where can we get something to drink?

[lolthfollower]

"Really?! That is your bigest concern right now? We have lost everything we once knew and have only recently gained access to the most basic history and your biggest concern is getting drunk!?!

[littlebum2002]

Meh, I wasn't too fond of everyone I knew anyway.

[lolthfollower]

"I am just amazed. Even I, who had less to lose, was more affected by this.

[IamL]

Solomon listens carefully to your questions, then pauses for a moment, collecting his thoughts before opening his mouth to respond to them.

"I'll start with the simpler questions. There are many places to imbibe alcohol, none of them near us. Miresdale, our destination, has a few pubs, taverns, and bars, but it's still a few days' travel from here. I only suggest you stay away from alcohol for at least a month, residual time warping magic and alcoholic comas don't usually mix well.
As for gods, some fought, some merely commanded. Wee Jas fell to Boccob in a duel of magic. Other than that, only a few minor gods actually died, but many were greatly wounded. Their worship deepened, but didn't broaden. Worshippers became more fanatical, but the number of worshippers remained roughly constant. The evil archmages were defeated and pushed into hiding. They exist, but not in any great power. Those that remain have just enough power to avoid getting executed, but a group known as the Cleanup Crew is doing a damn good job of eliminating them. Dragons still exist, and always will. They are nothing if not cunning and prudent, which makes them damn hard to kill.

In terms of magical factions that have come into the limelight, loremasters, beguilers, shadowcasters, and bards have become much more useful due to the need for knowledge and the commonplace political intrigue.

And finally, all other factions...guilds of thieves, assassins, and spies are doing quite well. In terms of countries, you're standing in the largest empire that recorded history has ever known, the Kingdom of Kalam. It spans across most of this continent, G'Lop, and much of the Southern Lands as well.

Any other specifics?"

[dupersudi]

"What happened to the Lion Tribe?" Raz points in the general direction of his homeland. "And where we go next?" Raz then pulls out a gold coin. "These still worth things?"


OOC: I have no actual idea where they were BEFORE we got thrown through time, feel free to make it up.
I also forgot how much $$$$ I still have... You never really comprehend how much of the stuff you buy is magic until you're not allowed.

[littlebum2002]

A few DAYS before I can get a hot meal, a good beer, and a bed to sleep on? Aww, someone's gonna pay for this.

Waldak started grumbling and fell in line walking in the back of the group

[Feathersnow]

Uh, tell me more about these... "shadowcasters" did you call them?
Rolling bluff to mislead her as to why I'm asking10+1d20

[lolthfollower]

"Obviously we missed a lot in the 1300 years we have been comatose. I guess my main question is probably one you can't answer:Why was it us that was prserved, and why did we suddenly wake up now?"

[unseenmage]

"Hmmm, so the gods actively got involved huh...", Motif chews the nails of one hand while fiddling his fingers up and down his complex braids with the other. Polish meanwhile eyes his master with pity and concern.

Eventually Motif speaks again, "How about the other established leaders of the mortal world? I am speaking of monarchs, emperors, and merchant groups. Those sort of leaders of men. How many of them have persisted who might have had the clout or the connections to instigate such a disaster and the arrogance to believe they would survive to reap the rewards of the aftermath?"

[Archmage1]

Elizabeth smiles wryly as everyone starts talking all at once, waiting until they were all done before speaking.
"Perhaps you might start by telling us about Kalam? I've never heard of it. Where did it come from, who leads it, what are its goals, what are its riles like, that sort of thing. I realize that this is a lot of information that we want, but we appear to be a bit out of date. At least common didn't change much."
As usual, her voice is cool, and calm.

[IamL]

Solomon raises his eyebrows at Bix's question.

"I know a shadowcaster when I see one. I'm sure you know plenty. You'll be pleased to know, however, that a decent number of shadowcaster factions have gained a considerable amount of clout and respect amongst the general populace. Some other factions...well, you know how shadowcasters can be.

The Lion Tribe...almost all of them perished in a heroic charge against the mages and dragons. They killed many, but many died in exchange. I'm not sure where the remaining members are. And yes, gold is still a valuable commodity, and it always will be.

Rulers that persisted? The most important and dangerous is the Lich King, my ancestor, Mordechai the Deathweaver. He led the evil cabal of wizards. No living being has faced him and stayed living. He is ruthless and cunning. Other than that, only a handful of wizards and assassins have survived since the times before the Cataclysm. And maybe the Watchers, an organization nobody knows much about except to stay out of their way. We've had our run-ins with them, and they are dangerous indeed.

Kalam is a powerful force of good and justice in the world. It is a fledgling nation, only a hundred years old, but the largest and most influential in the world. Its ruler, king Xaxyg II, is likewise a new ruler, but he has accomplished much: forming the Cleanup Crew, cracking down on crime, alleviating the plights and miseries of the poor, creating hospitals with clerics and doctors, and renovating schools. He isn't too popular with merchants, but everybody else loves him. It's primarily human, but only just slightly; it's one of the only places you can find dragonborn aside kobolds aside tieflings aside dwarves aside elves. It's a big melting pot.

As to info on who could have caused you to jump this far forwards in time, we know it was magic. Other than that, info on who could have saved you is going to cost a lot. It would take extensive research and field work to find out, and possibly involve tangling with Mordechai or the Watchers. We are information brokers, and we do have a business to run, no matter how much I am personally intrigued and inclined to help."

[unseenmage]

Motif sighs heavily, as though the very conversation has exhausted him, "Well I thank you for your information. As well as for your patience in reeducating us. As refugees from the distant past we are in your debt."

[Archmage1]

Elizabeth, listening, nods.
"Interesting. I think that's probably enough information for now. We will probably need to see things for ourselves to really learn more, unless we want to just stand here talking for a day or two, but I think we can manage that. So much has changed..."
Her voice trails off, but soon enough, she recovers, and continues talking.
"In the meantime, perhaps we should get moving? I don't think we have enough food and water for an extended stay in these barren lands, even though it is actually a nice temperature."

[littlebum2002]

Hey!

Waldak had an idea, and this wasn't exactly a common occurrence for him. He made sure to relish one whenever it made an appearance.

What if the dragons did it? They're pretty good at magic, and we were fighting them when it happened, right? I'll bet they were involved somehow.

[Archmage1]

Elizabeth looks at Waldak, and shakes her head.
"While it's an idea, it isn't a likely one. It would have been simpler to kill us than to jump us in time. Indeed, if whatever effect that altered time hadn't happened, we would be dead. It doesn't make sense for the dragons to be responsible, which means that some as yet unknown third party is involved."

She looks to Nala and Solomon.
"What can you tell us about these Watchers? Could they have been responsible? What are their goals?"

[lolthfollower]

"Well, your information is certainly valuable. You have my word, as long as it's not unreasonable, that I will do one task for you, even if the rest of my group refuses to do it."

[littlebum2002]

Waldak grunted in dismissal. He never really cared for the elf, or whatever she was, she was too smart for her own good. Those intellectual types always felt like they knew the answer to everything. But sometimes, you had to think with your gut. And right now, Waldak's gut wanted a heavy beer and a large meal, neither of which he saw himself getting in the near future. So he slunk to the back of the line and started hoping Elizabeth would get sucked another thousand years ahead in time.

[IamL]

At the mention of the Watchers, Nala huffs and starts walking faster. Solomon chuckles softly to himself. "Don't worry about her. She's pissed and embarrassed because the Watchers are the only people thus far who have been able to elude our attempts at infiltration and best us in battle. I think that says a lot about them. They are powerful, and have a great deal of influence over global politics, though most don't know of their existance. Kalam hasn't been seized by them yet, but I figure it's only a matter of time. We know nothing of their goals but that they, like almost all people, seek power."

After a great deal of walking, sleeping, and talking, you finally make it to your destination. Miresdale is a sizable city, controlled by a council of men of magic and steel. There are four councils whose two leaders each are part of the Great Council. The Council of Steel contains the mercenary's, archer's, warrior's, and knight's guilds, and is led by Sir Grant Long and barbarian Binwin Bronzebottom. The Council of Shadow is an amalgamation of the thieve's, assassin's, and detective's guilds, and is led by Derse Mordechai (apparently the world's greatest detective) and Drake Green. The Council of Arcana is a group of wizards, sorcerers, shadowcasters, and other weavers of arcane magic, and is led by Jim Darkmagic and your new friend Solomon. Finally, the Council of the Holy is a council made up of clerics, druids, and paladins, and is led by Omin Dran and Skaia Wreath. The industry is primarily martial and military in nature; 60 percent of the population is currently serving in the Kalam military, and another 20 percent are now-retired veterans. A decent portion is also in trade and adventuring; Miresdale is the closest sizable city to the Barren Lands on the north side and is home to many adventurers, the start of many journeys, quests, and expeditions. Nala, explaining that their headquarters isn't roomy enough for ten, leads you to a set of rooms at the Phoenix Tavern, a name you find quite appropriate. After all, you are rising from the ashes of the fallen, once-great city of Chamar, and from your own burned goals and dreams.

Nala tells you to get a good night's rest and two hot meals before heading over to their headquarters in the morning.

Everything goes smoothly, until the morning. Just as you wake up, you find a tall, broad-shouldered patron stone-cold dead in the hallway on the second floor, foam at his mouth, with purple-black skin and an eye painted in his own blood on his forehead.

[lolthfollower]

"Hmm. That was quite unexpected. Do any of you know what that symbol is?"

[Archmage1]

After resting, and quite a lot of thought, Elizabeth still feels off balance in this new world. Most of her knowledge is now useless, and her skills are likely countered by new and improved magics developed during and after the war. Being one thousand years behind in any profession would be almost insurmountable.

When she wakes in the morning, her instincts tell her that something is wrong, so she gets fully dressed and armored before heading out into the corridor, and finding Devis kneeling besides a corpse. It was a strange corpse, purple black skin, foam in the mouth, and an eye on his forehead.

Examining the body, Elizabeth thinks.
"Odd. I'm not sure if his body is normally that color, or if it is the result of extensive bruising. The foam could indicate poison, but I'm hardly an expert in such things. The eye... there are groups that use it, usually as a sign of alertness or knowledge, but this looks almost like a ritual. I think that we will need to leave this investigation to someone else, as I know little of such investigations, and we are likely some of the more prominent suspects. Which means that we might want to conceal the body, and move it elsewhere, but if we are discovered, that would be a major sign of our guilt."
She pauses to consider for a moment, and then shakes her head.
"I think we're in trouble here. Unless there have been other deaths, a group of strangers are likely to be blamed for strange happenings, and we have few allies here. I think that perhaps you should head downstairs, and inform them of the corpse. You're human, and a monk, so they might accept your word that you didn't do this. I think it's our best hope. We don't want them to simply declare that we are guilty."
With that, she heads back into her room, closing the door behind her. Soon after, you hear the sounds of cloth rustling.

[lolthfollower]

Going downstairs, Devis tells the innkeeper (or someone ele that works there) and says "I believe there is something you would like to see. On the second floor of this fine establishment, there is someone who was recently killed. You may want to inform the city guard or someone else responsible for the safekeeping of your citzens so they can perform an investagation."

[unseenmage]

Motif expends his remaining spells on making where he sleeps as "safe" as possible; trapping his immediate surroundings. He dreams of his grandfather. In the dream he is a boy and he keeps asking his grandfather for answers to the most vexing of questions. His grandfather just smiles and nods and nods and nods off to sleep.

Abruptly Motif is awakened by Polish's hand on his shoulder. Putting his hand to his face Motif finds that tears rim his eyes. He'd been weeping while he'd dreampt.

When morning comes and the corpse is discovered Motif immediately retreats to prepare his spells. He squeezes himself tightly into a corner of the room and has Polish watch how the situation unfolds and report back.

[littlebum2002]

Waldak yawns and wakes up long after the others. He, of course, ignored the stranger's advice and went to sleep fat and happy on a hot meal and a belly full of ale.

When he stepped into the hallway, he almost ran into the body. Horrified, he started investigating it for any signs that perhaps he drank more than he remembered and was somehow responsible.

[lolthfollower]

Coming upstairs to see Waldak examning the corpse, Devis says to him "I hope you didn't move the corpse. Even a single inch off of where the body was could make it impossible to find the killer."

[dupersudi]

Woken from his snoring slumber, Raz drags himself to his feet from the floor where he lay, he never had gotten used to beds. He walked right past the group gathered around the corpse and went outside to relieve himself. Having done that he wanders back inside the inn, orders some food, and walks back towards his room. This time he sees the corpse, he keeps eating as he looks more closely at it. "Never seen body rot like that. Huh." He then goes back into his room and continues eating.

[IamL]

The bartender of the establishment is tall and broad, built like a bear. When you approach him, he's in the middle of laughing from a particularly humorous story from a patron. The smile wipes right off of his face when he hears about the death. He runs upstairs to check the body, and explains that he'll have to ask you all to stay until the police arrive. He stresses that he doesn't suspect you of anything, noting that you're friends of Nala, Grall, and Solomon. He apologizes for the inconvenience, then waits for the police to arrive. When they do, they quickly cordon off the area and begin inspecting the area around the room for clues.

A tall, well-muscled man wearing a police uniform approaches you. He has an sword strapped to his waste, and a brace of daggers on his chest, belt, and ankle. In addition, a bow is slung over his shoulder. You suppose that he is the leader of this particular group of investigators. The badge on the left side of his chest reads "Daniel Red."

"I'm going to have to ask you some questions. Firstly, are any of you capable of arcane or divine magic of any sort? If so, specify."

[Archmage1]

When the police knock on her door, Elizabeth yawns, and asks "Who's there?"
Once they reveal that they are the police, she calls out "Just a minute!", before she gets dressed once more, concealing her face as is her wont before heading out to face them.

When they ask their question, she pauses to consider for a moment.
They want to know if I can work magic? There are spells to verify that, and I can't really avoid that, which leaves honesty as my best bet. Since enchantment could have done this, I'd best understate my abilities as well.
She speaks calmly, doing her best to reduce the tension in the room.
"Magic? I can work some minor tricks, mostly illusion and enchantment. Nothing much."

[lolthfollower]

"I do not know even the simplest cantrip"

[littlebum2002]

Waldak remained silent. He slept through the lessons where he was supposed to be learning magic, and even if he did know any, he certainly wasn't going to tell a pig that. He still wasn't 100% sure he DIDN'T kill the man, so he was invoking his right to save his own butt.

[unseenmage]

Through either overhearing the call for spellcasters or through Polish conveying the information Motif gets the message. He creeps from his room, casting about warily and replies, "I am capable of casting a minimum of spells each day. But it takes me a day to reset my selection and I have very very few spells to work with."

[dupersudi]

"Don't insult Raz. Magic is for weak cowards."

[Archmage1]

Elizabeth, who isn't very weak, and also isn't cowardly(Cautious, perhaps...), shakes her head sadly as her phobic companion comments.

[lolthfollower]

"Raz, why do you hate magic so much? It is merely a tool. Do you think hammers are for the weak and cowardly? Are weapons for the weak and cowardly? That really is all magic is."

[littlebum2002]

Raz is right. Magic is for people who are too weak to USE hammers and weapons.

[Archmage1]

Elizabeth speaks softly, gently.
"Not all strength is found in a weapon. The greater strength by far is knowing when not to use one."

[littlebum2002]

That's easy for you to say, Horns. You wouldn't know which end of a sword to hold.
Let's face it, if it weren't for Raz and I protecting you while you cast your magic, you would have been cut down long ago.

We can survive without magic, but you can't survive without us.

[Archmage1]

Elizabeth smiles softly.
And even more in finding someone else to hold the weapon.

[littlebum2002]

Waldak grunts at the silence and continues looking at the body.

Stupid elf. Should let HER hold the blade one day, see how easy it is.

[dupersudi]

Raz gives what he considers sage advice to the party. "Magic never good, just pretends. Power can be bad, if used bad. Rely on self is best. Others give magic, self gives real power."

[Archmage1]

Continuing to speak softly, and kindly, Elizabeth shakes her head gently at Raz's statement.
"Magic comes from many places, but arcane magic is yours. Divine magic is different, but arcane comes from within."

[lolthfollower]

"If you will never trust magic, then fine. Just know that someday, you may need magic to save you."

[unseenmage]

Motif just sits on the stairs, shakes his head, and mutters, "Only a fool would deny options and opportunities out of stubborn pride regardless of their reasons."

[IamL]

Bid turns to the man, avoiding mentioning his shadowcaster nature. "As many said before me, I can do some illusions and minor offensive cantrips, but nothing this...brutal."

The policeman raises his eyebrow at your debate.

"If I'm not interrupting terribly, I have some more questions. Where were you all at about one in the morning last night?"

[Archmage1]

Elizabeth shrugs.
"To my knowledge, we were all in our rooms, resting."

[dupersudi]

"Asleep. Nothing to hunt here, don't know what we'll be doing next, but rested is good start."

[unseenmage]

"In as defensible position as I could find in our room for my part. Would seem such a precaution was more justified than usual on this particular night too."

[lolthfollower]

"At one in the morning I was fast asleep."

[littlebum2002]

Waldak hesitates. Stupid cops always had to ask hard questions.

At one? Well, I was still down at the bar, I'm sure of it. You can ask the barkeep, he'll vouch for me, I know he will.

Waldak learned a long time ago that it was always a good idea to tip your bartender generously. You never knew when they would need to become your best friend at a moment's notice.

[IamL]

The police officer turns to Waldak.

"And you never left the bar?"

Then, he turns to the rest of you.

"You're not from around here, are you? Mind telling me what your business here is?"

[Archmage1]

Elizabeth speaks softly, her voice still quite calm.
"We've traveled for a long time, and we have a debt to repay. Once that is done, well, we'll probably be looking for paying work."

[littlebum2002]

Of course I never left the bar. Why would I? I mean, except to go bleed the lizard occasionally, of course.

[unseenmage]

"For the record, that debt she mentions involved being discovered in the wilderness and guided to civilization. Nothing more or less nefarious or criminal than that."

[IamL]

The man nods. "I should inform you that, right now, you're the prime suspects in the crime, but I don't have any solid proof or clues as to who killed him. He was the carpenter, one of my friends, and a good man. You have a three o'clock appointment with me at the guards' headquarters. Now, I'm going to have to ask you all to exit the crime scene."

[Archmage1]

Elizabeth shakes her head, sadly.
"You have nothing to suggest that we were involved at all, and yet we are the prime suspects in your eye. You make a better suspect than we do, but you don't have the "advantage" of being outsiders. Perhaps you should keep an open mind? It doesn't seem to me that you have enough information to even have a suspect."
Her opinion of his statement aired, she heads back into her room to retrieve her items, before heading downstairs, to await the others.

[unseenmage]

Motif nods sagely as Elizabeth speaks adding, "I agree with what she said. Emphatically.", before following suite.

Though for their part Polish does most of the actual gathering of things while Motif paces and mutters. "At least at war we always expected to get murdered and always knew who was most likely to do it."

[dupersudi]

Raz grabs his stuff and wanders downstairs to join Elizabeth. "Things simpler when you just ran up and hit enemy in face. Never had laws that accused you of magick. Miss old days."

[Archmage1]

Elizabeth looks at Raz, quite clearly shocked at his statement.
"It's only been a day or so. The rule of law hasn't really changed. They still accuse the easiest target, and then ignore all evidence to the contrary."

[dupersudi]

"I thought we from long ago? But yeah, been accused before, people think I'm suspi, suspicis, sketchy. But not of magick, no one used to be insulting and stupid enough to accuse me of that. Hurts Raz's feelings." Raz stays quiet for a bit before continuing. "Can we find something to kill soon? It'd make me feel better. Just something in the sewers maybe, always something people want killded in the sewers."

[Archmage1]

Elizabeth pitches her voice so that only Raz can hear her.
"Raz, it might be best to keep quiet regarding our history. We don't know who arranged it, and we don't know why. Until we know more, talking about it openly is quite foolish."
Continuing in a more normal tone of voice, Elizabeth frowns, although it is concealed by her hood.
"Sewers really aren't my style. I've spent time in them, and that is an experience that I don't want to repeat. Before you start satisfying your urges, we need to learn more. Operating in a vacuum is quite foolish."
I wonder... does he have a working mind? Or maybe even something that resembles one? He really doesn't seem to think before he talks. Maybe ask an illithid to take a look.

[unseenmage]

His belongings gathered Motif stands with his back to a wall and his eyes darting about nervously, "So, when do you think they will send the town guard to collect us for our collective hangings then? I mean, we are the outsiders here. And someone has to take the blame for the death of a beloved member of a close knit community. Might as well be us, right?"

His voice gets shrill at points and his hands continually clench and unclench, clench and unclench. Those of you who know him know he can get like this at the drop of a hat. Literally, someone drops a hat on a bed and the man will become critically exasperated; much as he is now. Though this time he has reason to be worried, his behavior still doesn't help much.

[IamL]

You quickly pick up that the man, named Jonathan Day, was well-liked throughout the community, and had practically no enemies; certainly, he had nobody that truly hated him to the point of murder. He was honest, kind, and had a great deal of integrity. His only vice was his love of drink, but even that was partially counterbalanced by his inability to hold liquor, and the fact that he tended to be a happy drunk. The whole town expresses remorse at his death.

You realize, unfortunately, that you are now quite late for your meeting with your new bosses.

[Archmage1]

Shaking her head at how she knew this was going to end up, Elizabeth heads out, hoping that their employers wouldn't be too upset by their tardiness.

[littlebum2002]

Waldak, following, falls in step next to Motif and speaks softly, but tries not to attract attention due to whispering.

Why don't we just split town? If they find us innocent, we'll be free anyway, and if they find us guilty, at least we'll have a day's head start.

[Archmage1]

Speaking quietly, the sharp eared tiefling tries to answer Waldak. As always, her voice is cool, and calm.
"We are in a fairly large empire, and losing the ability to work here would likely have a significant impact on our potential incomes. Additionally, the neighboring polities are unlikely to protect us, since there is unlikely to be a political reason to do so. We are better off convincing our new "friends" to help take care of this. If they are unable or unwilling to do so, then faking our deaths would likely be a better way to handle this."

[IamL]

You arrive at their headquarters just in time to see Nala enter. Apparently, she was late, too.

She talks quietly to the other two before turning to you.

"I found out about the murder a brief while ago, and I talked to Derse about it. He'll be taking over for Dan Red in the investigation, which means that if you're not guilty, and I don't think you are, you have nothing to worry about. Now! Down to business; your first job is a fairly straightforward one, and involves somebody you've met: a client of ours wants to get some dirt on one Officer Daniel Red, and that is the first job I want you to do. Consider this both a test and your first job."

[Archmage1]

Elizabeth looks at Nala, and asks a few questions. As always she seems quite calm.
"Daniel Red is the leader of the team that is investigating us, correct? Will Derse's takeover be well known? Is the client seeking the incriminating sort of dirt, or the embarrassing sort of dirt? What can you tell us about Daniel Red, or do you feel that gathering all the information is a part of this test? Does the client seek evidence, or simple knowledge, so he can imply evidence?"

[littlebum2002]

What methods are we allowed to use to get this dirt?

[Archmage1]

Elizabeth looks a bit disappointed as Waldak asks his question.
"Now, now employers don't need to know that. The main concern is being undetected. We don't want him to know that we got the information, nor do we want him to know that someone has it, allowing the client to choose the time of release."

[littlebum2002]

See now, that's where we're going to have to disagree. Get me and a scimitar alone in a room with someone he banged, and I'll come out telling you all KINDS of freak stuff he's into.

I'd put my money that he likes getting spanked.

[Archmage1]

Elizabeth shakes her head, disagreeing with him.
"Despite your crude phrasing, you didn't think it through. Whomever we persuaded to talk would potentially warn him, and that would be unfortunate. Such a method certainly wouldn't encourage him or her to keep quiet about it. Now, you might think that you could solve that issue, but doing so would certainly break the law, and either leave a live witness, or a body that you are responsible for. This is more a matter for careful investigation, observation, and quiet talking, not brute force."

[unseenmage]

Motif shakes his head as though shaking off a chill, "I find I must agree with Elizabeth on this one Waldak. The less well known we become for strongarm tactics the less likely it is that we become embroiled in anymore murder mystery plots, gods willing."

"Now, were we to get in over our heads whilst trying to go at this problem soft then your scimitar would be absolutely pivotal in assisting with our escape you see. So not to worry, there will certainly be a place for you in whatever plan is devised to complete the mission."

[IamL]

Nala, in response to Elizabeth's questions, smirks. "Find any info you can, any way you can, with any amount of supporting evidence. Leave no stone unturned, but try to keep it low-key. As to Derse's takeover, he's technically listed as a consultant and usually tries to keep a low profile. Hell, only a few people know what his face looks like."

[IamL]

Solomon turns to you following a brief period of silence after Nala's responses. "Now, I hope you'll pardon us, but we have to prepare for a...slightly more dangerous assignment, so you'd best be off unless you had something else to say."

[Archmage1]

"No, I believe that answers my questions fairly well. With us knowing nothing about this town, they will be a bit more difficult, but I believe we can answer that question for you."

With that, Elizabeth strides out, and tries to learn where the police spend their off duty time.

[roll0] gather info

[IamL]

There are a few places a police officer would probably spend his off-duty time. For one with money to burn, maybe the marketplace, but more likely one of the town's few taverns or bars. For the less morally inclined, there's always the towns sole brothel. On occasion, when a hard wanders into town, there's usually a decent gathering around here. And of course, there's the age old profession that those in search of wealth, game, strength, power, or anything else often turn to: Killing things and taking their stuff, abbreviated to "adventuring."

[Archmage1]

Finding the group again, Elizabeth explains her plan, and her information.
"Getting information on someone is relatively easy. First, you learn their schedule, where they spend their time, both on and off duty. Then, you see about searching their home while they are away. There may or may not be incriminating evidence there. If there is, then you have what you seek. If not, they likely have somewhere odd they go occasionally, which means that you need to follow them to learn what it is. Now, he is a policeman, so he likely goes to the marketplace, if he has gold, one of the towns taverns, or a brothel. It's also possible that he goes adventuring, but I suspect that he wouldn't want to take that risk. Now, if he's dirty, he'll probably have extra money, so I'll check out the marketplace. Raz, can you cover the brothel, Motif, can you and Waldak cover the bars? We're just looking for him tonight, nothing more."

[littlebum2002]

Let's see...bumming around bars all night looking for leads? Yeah, I think we can handle that.

[Archmage1]

Elizabeth smiles softly.
"I thought you could."

[littlebum2002]

Mo, I think our first stop should be the tavern where we stayed last night. The bartender seems like the type that has a great memory for the right price. What you think?

[Archmage1]

"That's certainly a reasonable start. The issue with that sort is that if they are willing to sell info to us, they are perfectly willing to sell info to our target, and we want to keep this investigation somewhat quiet, which limits us to direct observation."

[unseenmage]

Motif has stood relatively silent for a while now then suddenly, "I'll play along and help complete jobs for now in exchange for help from each of you in searching for my family's stolen treasure. Even with all of this time there is very little reason why it shouldn't have survived in some form or another. Understand though, that my primary concern is my safety and finding my family's lost property. So long as this organization can offer either I'll contribute." For those of you that know him that last comes as exactly no surprise.

Dusting exactly nothing from his hands and clothes, "As for this current job, give me eight hours and I can whip up a few magics that would allow us to listen in on and follow a given mark with ease."

[Archmage1]

Motif gets the sense that Elizabeth is gazing at him, but her voice is calm, as it always seems to be.
"We understand your goals, Motif. It is likely that a large information network has information on the items you seek, and, for now, if you are risking your life, something went wrong. While I appreciate the offer, for now, we are just following. We want to know where he goes after work, and where he lives, who he talks to, things like that. Once we know his routine, we can search his home while he is away, and observe any deviations from that routine, which will likely lead to the evidence we seek."

[unseenmage]

Motif shrugs at Elizabeth's response, "Simply making sure we all know where we stand."
He pats Polish on the head casually, "And we have an extra pair of eyes for that if we can keep their owner's gleaming skin from drawing too much attention."

Polish nervously tugs at his coverings in a vain attempt at hiding more of his mirrored skin.

[Archmage1]

Looking at everyone, Elizabeth nods.
"All right. We know what we need to do, so let's meet back at the tavern in the morning, and talk about what we learned. Time to go."
With that, the cloaked woman walks off, heading towards the market, intending to look around, and see if she could hear anything useful, or see anything useful.

[IamL]

The market is fairly busy today; apparently, a shipment of steel and weapons came in yesterday and there is a large crowd around the steel merchant's stall. Dominating the bidding are the local blacksmith and an officer of the guard; he appears to be buying up the steel and raw material portions of the shipment whilst the guard is buying a majority of the weapons. A few of the town's police officers are scattered like jacks across the marketplace in a seemingly random array.

[Archmage1]

Elizabeth wanders through the market, looking at the items in various stores, trying on the occasional item, to seem as if she was interested, but ultimately not satisfied with it.
What she's really doing, is something different. She listens for rumors, for mentions of the name of Daniel Red. She also listens to the bidding on the steel, wondering why the guard needed so many weapons.

[unseenmage]

Motif too sets out across the marketplace, primarily seeking some sort of bodysuit to help disguise his mirrored familiar. He sets Polish to work keeping an eye out for their mark.


Search or Spot or Gather Info for shopping for a specific item?
I want to say Gather Info as per MIC but that was for specific Magic items IIRC.

[Archmage1]

Quietly, Elizabeth makes her way over to Motif, and she speaks, her voice being conveyed to his ear through magic.
"Motif, you're supposed to be keeping an eye on Raz, not casing the marketplace."

[unseenmage]

Motif rolls his eyes in disdain and responds almost as quietly, "Well if you insist on us following this person, and in person, of all things then I'll need a cloak or suit or something to put Polish in. Sometimes I think the little guy stands out and shines more in a crowd than he does in the blazing sun of the desert!"

Polish puts a calming hand on his master's forearm to which Motif replies, "Well seriously, what is the point when I could just send a scrying sensor out tomorrow?!"

Polish gives his master a stern look and Motif relents, "Fine. Fine, I'll do it the hard way. But we'd best get one of my spelled gems into his pockets soon else he skips town or some other foolishness intervenes."

Polish turns to Elizabeth with an apologetic bow of his head, "Sorry, the events of the past while have put my master under much stress. Please forgive him."

[Archmage1]

Elizabeth shakes her head in exasperation.
"I don't want him followed, I just want to know what tavern he prefers. I figured you had a way to hide Polish already. Hopefully, you can make it to Rex in time to stop him from doing something incredibly stupid."

[unseenmage]

"Well hiding him wasn't really an issue when we were all going to die on the battlefield."

Motif palms his chin briefly, "But fine, I'll babysit Waldak if you take one of these gold pieces and see if you can't put it into the guard's pocket. They're bespelled so I can always know where they are. Will make it useful to scry on him later."

He produces and hands off the coin. "Come along Polish, lets go see if the scimitar wielding madman wants to go shopping." With that Motif and his familiar weave their way back to their other ally and ask if he would help them find a covering for Polish.


I mentioned on his sheet that during their time in the barracks Motif cast Dragoneye Rune (DM66) on all his belongings since he's so paranoid about theft.

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

PS, OOC I totally forgot about watching Waldak, IC so did Motif. :smallwink:

[Archmage1]

Elizabeth pockets the coin.
"If I encounter him, I'll see what I can do. Picking pockets isn't my forte."
She resumes her wanderings through the market, looking for Daniel Red, and listening to what discussions she can.

[IamL]

Elizabeth overhears snippets of gossip in the market, though she doesn't find Daniel.

"Carpenter's dead..."
"Did you hear?"
"not a coincidence..."
"Dan Red's on..."
"Newcomers..."
"Watchers..."
"that eye..."
"third murder this season..."
"brutal..."
"not poisoned..."

[Archmage1]

Interesting. It seems that there is a rash of murders recently. That might be enough to get us out of the investigation, but not enough.
After another couple of hours, Elizabeth heads back to the tavern, quietly slipping inside, to listen to the gossip there as well.

[IamL]

Elizabeth hears other snippets as she enters the tavern; these ones are more nervous and emotionally charged than the ones in the marketplace.

"not safe anymore..."
"should have listened..."
"watchers?..."
"not safe..."
"should die.."
"scared..."
"damned Nala..."
"bringing in newcomers..."
"at a time like this..."
"can't sleep..."

[Archmage1]

Choosing a dark corner to sit, Elizabeth tries to listen in more, hoping that someone might mention something useful.

[IamL]

Elizabeth, alert from her eavesdropping at the marketplace, is at her highest form when trying to overhear useful conversations. Even so, she is barely able to hear out a few hushed sentences between two cloaked figures.

"Clean work. Who's next?"
"That woman has been a thorn in our side for far too long."
"Understood."

They then exit the tavern.

[Archmage1]

And isn't that interesting. A removal squad? But for who? And why? Usually, there is but one conspiracy in a town. Unless these are simple thugs, but... either way, interesting.

After waiting for them to head out, Elizabeth quietly follows them, being careful to not let them see her as she goes, wondering what they were heading to.

[IamL]

They appear to be walking to the outskirts of town. Elizabeth does fairly well following them, and they don't appear to notice her as they slip into a small shack on the northern edge of town.

[Archmage1]

Secret clandestine meeting in a shack in the middle of nowhere? Seems interesting to me.
Still moving quietly, to keep out of sight, she moves to the shanty, hoping to find a concealed spot where she could listen in to any conversation happening on the inside, and could use invisibility to create for herself a small way to look in.

[IamL]

Motif finds a dark blue cloak and mask that cover Polish well. Motif knows from his arcane study that the cloak is enchanted and allows the user to cast Darkness three times per day as well as having a resistance enchantment on it; the seller probably doesn't know that, however, and will sell the cloak for 750 gold pieces. The mask is a dark purple color, and appears to be plain. It is on sale for 30 gold pieces.

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

Elizabeth hears a clattering, then two sets of three soft steps.

[Archmage1]

Elizabeth, afraid that she was discovered, freezes, listening carefully, seeking any other signs of detection. If they don't detect her, she looks for a way to see inside as well.

[littlebum2002]

Shopping? I don't need no shopping. I have everything I need.

Look, you guys wont let me ask questions, won't let me bribe, but at least I can look. How about while you're shopping, I'll go crawl all the taverns and keep an eye out. I won't do anything stupid.

[Archmage1]

Before heading out
"That is what I suggested you do, Waldak."

[unseenmage]

Shopping? I don't need no shopping. I have everything I need.

Look, you guys wont let me ask questions, won't let me bribe, but at least I can look. How about while you're shopping, I'll go crawl all the taverns and keep an eye out. I won't do anything stupid.

"How about a compromise? You help me find what I need to disguise Polish and then Polish and I will help carry you home after you inevitably drink your weight in booze. Sound like a plan?"

[IamL]

Elizabeth finds a small peephole from where a knot in the wood fell out. She looks into the small shack and sees two neatly-made bedrolls on the ground and a small supply of food stocked on a shelf in the far wall. The room is sparse but clean and well-kept.

Elizabeth can't see any people in the shack.

[Archmage1]

A secret door? Let's see if I can't get a little closer. But first...
She checks the door to see if they set anything unpleasant up(From her current location), before she heads around to the front, and quietly tests the handle.

[IamL]

Elizabeth doesn't see any traps, but the door appears to be locked when she tests the handle.

[Archmage1]

Speaking softly, Elizabeth starts chanting the words to her clairaudience spell, meaning to place a sensor below the trapdoor.(10 min casting time)