IC The Kingdom of the Valles de Ogro

[Felhammer]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v614/RHO1/1a%20Dying%20Sunrises/manchopping_zps6e73aa76.png

A season ago, Paulo Melhor Rastreador e Santiago (a halfling fur trapper that each of you each happen to know) sent you a letter requesting your aid in protecting him as he traveled from Viviana to Rosaverde. Apparently, this year's haul was above average and he had grown quite worried that the bandits and orcs that trouble the north would see him as an easy target. He had known each of you to be stalwart, upstanding people of good repute and believed each of you to be the sort of folk he would prefer to hire and, perhaps more importantly, travel with. Each of you happened to be in the general area, so the journey to Viviana was not difficult. When you arrived in the sleepy town, you discovered that Paulo had paid for your room and board at Ester's Alehouse, a quint little inn run by a kind and quite young halfling named Ester Metade e Espirito. The lass has a high pitched voice and a kind heart. The tavern was made with halflings in mind, so the ceiling is but seven feet off the ground. The two human-sized tables dominate the common area and look quite out of place next to the sea of halfling-sized tables and seats. Only two big people-sized rooms were available, so Ester split them up along gender lines. The rooms are well furnished but each piece of furniture showing signs of wear from heavy use.

The village has a wooden spiked barricade surrounding the main settlement, half of which has been replaced by a true wooden wall. At the center of town lies Candelas Manor, which is a pleasant looking estate owned by the Baroness of Viviana - Caterina Candelas y Viviana. Beside the whitewashed home is a small, stone chapel dedicated to Corellon, which serves the Baroness and her family exclusively. Across the street is the much larger Church of Santo Gustavo, which serves as the main congregational house for those faithful to Pelor, Corellon, Moradin and Yondalla. Four stained glass windows line the right and left side of the building, each in the shape of one of the gods' holy symbols. Currently Priest Francis de la Viviana is overseeing a gathering of Corellonites. His sermon is peppered with elven, thus making it somewhat difficult to follow for those unfamiliar with the language. Those gathered seem enthralled by the man's natural charisma. At the same time, a blacksmith in town is hammering away at a particularly defiant piece of steel. The dwarven curses can be clearly heard almost a block away.

Beside the town in the mighty Verde River, although it is more akin to a very large stream from this far east. The tributaries downstream swell the river, especially as the snow melts in mid to late summer. You expect the river to be in full force once you reach Ramona. Your eyes drift up from the crystal clear river to the surrounding countryside. Most of it has been put under the till. You spy collections of huts in pretty much every direction. Every third or fourth cluster has homes made with roofs that are much more steep in their incline. This style was popular in the lands to the south-east, especially in the village of Chetumal that was destroyed by an orcish tribe some years ago. The survivors were resettled around Viviana and Ramona.

It is mid-summer currently, the heat of the day can be quite exhausting, especially with the added humidity gifted to the area by a recent spate of thunderstorms. Back in the Alehouse, Ester has opened all of the windows and doors in an attempt to allow any breeze that wafts by ample means of gusting through the tavern. Just as lunch was being served (cold fish stew and small bowl of apple muse), one of the local farmhands runs into the tavern. He looks quite winded, obviously having run a great distance. The fifteen-ish year old human boy with shaggy hair and clothing that is slightly too small for him smiles when he lays his eyes upon your group, "Paulo sent me to tell you that he will be arriving in an hour or so. He caught sight of some black hare and said he knew someone in Torreon Norte who would love some rabbit fur mittens, or some such." After nodding to the party he looks over to Ester and says, "I got me seven silver for that little run." He eyes the deserts on your table, "I'll take a heapin' bowl of that apple muse!"

Ester frowns, "You should save that money Bieto, you know your father would not approve of you spending such a large sum on a single desert."

The boy shakes his head, "My pa said I could spend this silver any way I wanted. And I want..."

Ester scowls

"A small bowl."

The halfling smiles as she doles out a heaping helping of the desert.

[Arjen the Red]

Everem Dalpherkiir

Everem looked up from his spell book for no more than a few seconds to here Bieto's announcement. I'll wait two hours if need be. he thought, adverting his attention back to the spell book. He continued paging through his spell book and other tomes looking for mention of Rosaverde. Rosaverde. Rosaverde. Every time he heard the name of the town something in his mind tinged a bit. He still had no idea why the town had any meaning to him but going along with Paulo's furs would certainly get him in a right direction. Sitting here had done nothing. The answers had to be somewhere.

[Infernally Clay]

Leif Baudin

"An hour?" the Half-Elf said, amused, "You can always trust a merchant to prioritise a sale."

Leif thanked the boy and made a note to pay Ester for his portion of the pudding as a reward. She knew the boy had been paid already, but something about spending most - or all - one's wealth on apple muse felt wasteful. After having finished her food, Leif decided to pay the blacksmith a visit. If Paulo wouldn't be here for an hour, then she had an hour to pass. Picking up her greatsword and hoisting it on her back, she made her way to the smithy. She had always enjoyed the company of blacksmiths, although she never really understood why. Perhaps it was their mutual respect for steel or their shared devotion to hitting things really hard until they did what you wanted. She knew the dwarf there was having trouble with his work, as well, and Leif almost enjoyed the idea of helping. She had done so several times for Bruno, a blacksmith in Florina, due to her unnatural physical strength being rather useful for working out the kinks in steel.

Walking past the Church of Santo Gustavo, Leif bowed in respect to the priest delivering his sermon. She had no time for religion herself, dedicating herself to more tangible beliefs - she held faith in people, not Gods - but that did not mean the clergy was undeserving of respect. She understood their purpose in this world and they performed their task admirably. A few minutes later, she was standing outside the smithy. The heat was palpable, made worse by the weather, and Leif was unsurprised the dwarf working there was in a bad move. In this heat, with this weather, anyone would be more easily frustrated. Worse yet if a task was proving more difficult than it should have been.

"Hello," Leif said, poking her head into the smithy, "I have an hour to pass until my caravan leaves... Do you mind some company until then? I'm pretty handy with a hammer, too, if you'd like a second pair of hands."

[Felhammer]

The blacksmith is covered in soot from head to toe. His normally blonde hair is as black as coal, while his skin sopping wet from the humidity mixed with his own sweat. He looks up from the sword he is currently pounding on, his blue eyes are made all the more striking when set next to his dirt-covered body. "One of those adventurers came to town a few weeks ago and sold some orc-made weapons to me. I figured I could melt them down and make something nice but... I don't know where those bastards got their iron but it was from a truly poor source. I started off with six greatswords - SIX GREATSWORDS - and believe me you, those were orc-sized greatswords. After I melted them down, removed the impurities and threw out the poor quality iron, I was left with just enough material to forge a single longsword!" He hammers the sword a few more times, "And even this is proving too ambitious." He slams his hammer down and says, more to himself than you, "I should have made a dagger!"

He sets his tools to the side and whisks away the sweat from his brow. A puddle of sweat is flung on to the ground, you'd imagine enough to fill up a drinking glass from the Alehouse.

"If ye want to help, be my guest! I can't pay you much but I'd like the company." He pours himself a stein full of amber ale, takes a seat in a rocking chair next to the door and motions for you to have a go.

Make a strength check to see how you fare with the orc-iron. :)

[Jon D]

Michelangelo perched uncomfortably in his chair. The halfling sized ones were just a tad to small, while the human ones were just to large. So that was part of it, the other part was that his fingers itched to crack open the hostess's cash box and indulge himself in some honest thievery. Which would destroy the entire plan.

Instead, the young (by dwarf reckoning) turned to the other member of the group present, Everem.

"I hope this isn't a boring trip. I'd hate for us to have come all this way for nothing, what say you?"

[Arjen the Red]

Everem

"I doubt this trip will be anything but boring!" Everem exclaimed, again looking up from his tomes. He closed the book and gave a thoughtful look at Michelangelo. "Tell me, what do you know of this town, Rosaverde?" Everem opened another book from his bag and showed the young dwarf a passage that looked to be some sort of spell and the word Rosaverde was written in the margins two different times.

"I have little recollection of my past friend and I could use any help that you may have.

He slid the book over to Michelangelo and stared at him awaiting a reply.

[Felhammer]

Ester chimes in from the kitchen, "Rosaverde is a really pretty town! Very large market filled with all manner of goods from all across the frontier. Its the largest city in the kingdom. The Countess is supposed to be the most beautiful woman in the whole realm but I have never been privileged enough to lay my eyes upon her before. Perhaps you lot will be when you go there with little Paulo. Oh, I think I heard one of the travelers say that an ambassador from Mur Rouge was going to visit the Countess to negotiate a possible marriage between her and the Duke of the Green Port. Maybe you'll be lucky enough to see him too, eh?"

Meanwhile, Leif hammers away at the chunk of orc-iron and finds his stride. The dwarf looks amazed, "You've done it laddie! You're actually working it into a blade! Praise Moradin!" He jumps up from his rocking chair, grabs a spare hammer and begins smacking the iron with the half-elf.

[Gorgon_Heap]

Sister Esperanza

As the mismatched pair begins to talk, a young human woman walks somewhat tiredly through the door. Pausing a moment to catch her breath and allow her eyes to adjust to the dimmer light, she smiles gently toward Ester and makes for the bar.

She is perhaps in her early 20s, though it’s difficult for dwarves and elves to judge, and only a hair over five feet tall. Large, expressive brown eyes dominate her sandy-skinned face. Her clothes, though dusty, are fine and easily mark her affiliation with the Church of Corellon. A long white skirt reveals only the toes of pale boots while a fine white tunic dulls the light jingle of chainmail. A beautiful blue cloak and matching leather vest – both with white stitching and embroidery – offer a crisp, colorful protection against the elements. Blue gloves and bracers never stray far from a spear and stowed oval shield. Her hair, perhaps lightened by the sun but certainly well-kempt, is the color of coffee, and is pulled back securely and fed into an elaborate silver piece at the base of her skull. From that streams three thin braids that run all the way down to the back of her thighs.

She politely asks for a cup of wine and, hearing Everem’s question, speaks before even turning away from the waitress. “Why, Rosaverde is the great marketplace of north, Master elf.” The high register of her voice likely does not command respect from the pulpit, but armed as she is sermonizing isn’t likely her specialty in the church. She faces the men at the table and walks a little closer, giving a thoughtful cant of her head. “But it is also where I personally witnessed Paulo Melhor Rastreador e Santiago carted off to the cellars on two separate occasions. Both times he reappeared the next morning no worse for wear,” she says with bemused wonderment. She sips from her cup and gives an abbreviated curtsey. “I'm Sister Esperanza. I guess you're some of Paulo’s many friends?”


Whoop! Had to do some rereading there to get my facts right.

[Jon D]

Everem

"I doubt this trip will be anything but boring!" Everem exclaimed, again looking up from his tomes. He closed the book and gave a thoughtful look at Michelangelo. "Tell me, what do you know of this town, Rosaverde?" Everem opened another book from his bag and showed the young dwarf a passage that looked to be some sort of spell and the word Rosaverde was written in the margins two different times.

"I have little recollection of my past friend and I could use any help that you may have.

He slid the book over to Michelangelo and stared at him awaiting a reply.

"My friend, I wish I could help, but I do not even know the language this book is written in. I'm afraid I Cannot help you."

[Arjen the Red]

"My friend, I wish I could help, but I do not even know the language this book is written in. I'm afraid I Cannot help you."


"Well I appreciate the effort. I'm sure something will start making sense soon." Everem takes the book back and looks up again at the dwarf. "So how is it that you know are common friend?"

[Felhammer]

A little girl comes rushing into the Alehouse. She, like the boy before her, is very out of breath. However, she has a terrified look on her face. Tears are streaming down her face. "Th... They... ORCS! Orcs attacked Paulo! They captured him and dragged him off! T... Told us peasants to... o not tell anyone in town or else they'd kill Paulo... I was hidden real... Good. They never saw me... Please, you have to help Paulo! He's my friend..."

The girl collapses. Ester runs up and cradles the girl in her lap. She swings her head up to the the group, "Don't forget your friend either! Bieto! Go tell the Baroness! We need to garrison the village and ensure Viviana is not attacked! Go! NOW!"

The group quickly dons their armor, grabs their gear and are quickly joined by a sweaty Lief. They make haste for the north-west, to the last collection of peasant huts before the Cuchillo Hills. As they round a dirt path they can hear someone yelling in orcish. The party ducks into a small copice for cover. They can barely make it out but it looks like the orcs are herding the peasants into one of the shacks. It is mid-afternoon but one of the orcs has a lit torch. Several corpses dot the land surrounding the shacks, all of them beheaded.

The group has a surprise round.

[Infernally Clay]

Leif Baudin

"Quietly, quietly," Leif whispered to the others, "We need to sneak up on them, otherwise they might hurt those innocents. We should jump them from within the trees to minimise casualties. Then some of you should break away and free the prisoners while the rest of us handle the Orcs. I can take one by myself, so who wants the other? Just remember to kill them quickly so they can't call for help."

[Arjen the Red]

Everem

Blasted orcs are always a recalcitrant congregation. Everem whispered as he pulled the hood down from his cloak looking with agitation at the corpses lying in the distance. "I agree, we need a calculated, punctilious attack less we endanger the innocents more. There has already been too much blood shed here today." Everem quietly unsheathed his shortsword and crouched in the direction of the edge of the woodland. "Let us quietly make for the edge of the woodland. I can give that orc on the right a harrowing taste of magic if one of you charges in to finish him off." He looked back at his companions to see who would pair up with him. "But we must act post haste my friends. The orc don't seem interested in keeping many of the innocent with their heads attached."

Everem slowly crept towards the edge of the woodland.

[Gorgon_Heap]

Sister Esperanza, crouched among the shade trees with these strangers, frowns in impatience as the verbose elf wastes a lot of breath making a single good point. At last she nods agreement to the others. "I can strike the orc on the left. We attack at range and allow you," she indicates the hulking half-orc and brawny half-elf woman, "rush in."

Her eyes immediately turn with angry concern toward the peasants - clearly thinking further planning is unnecessary.

[Felhammer]

The Orcs shove another peasant into the shack. One of them chuckles as he pantomimes smelling the delicious scent of cooked meat...

[Jon D]

Michelangelo fingered the dagger at his belt as he took things in. Have to find the lead Orc, and remove him first off, and them the rest should fall. Coming to that conclusion, he vanished into the undergrowth, to wait for things to get started.

[Gorgon_Heap]

The priestess closes her eyes for a calm moment, then nods to herself and turns to nod to the rest of you. Seeing the dwarf is already gone, she raises her spear toward a distant orc and whispers a prayer to Corellon ...


Casts Sacred Flame at O1
Save DC 14 or take (though I'd argue they're disadvantaged - I haven't checked what surprised does)

[roll0] damage (I don't see anything that indicates damage-dealing spells automatically add your attribute bonus)

[Felhammer]

Saving Throw! [roll0]

The orc is lit aflame by the spell! He screeches in pain!

[Arjen the Red]

Everem

Everem slowly, but silently makes his way to the edge of the copse of trees. He rises from his crouch with care just to the right of a tall tree and flicks his hands in the intricate pattern of the Art. With the whisper of a few words three glowing darts of ice blue magical energy race force from his hands and head straight towards the second Orc.

[roll0]