13 Dragons IC Thread

[giles92]

There are two possible locations depending on where you ended things with your background. The first is if you followed the woman willingly and the second as if you were difficult.
An Hour Past Noon, Somewhere on the Droamm Border
You get out of the simple carriage as the woman stops it and begins to unhitch the horses. Her movements are swift, but not hurried, as if she'd done this a thousand times before. In fact, all of her actions had that same kind of experienced speed. As she turned and led the horses to a small wooden stable built off the towers side, you mind experienced an uncomfortable wrinkle as her face disappeared from memory. The magic was aggravating, but had happened often enough you were used to it at this point.
As the rest of the small party climbed out the other side, you caught glimpses of their draconically tattooed flesh. The ride, filled with people of such differing backgrounds, had been moderately awkward and no one had spoken much. The woman identified herself as Lorsvek, but if you were fluent in draconic you knew that simply meant "prophecy". She had promised answers, but so far had delivered none. The squat tower, supposedly where everything was to come to a head, looked immensely unimpressive. Indeed, even the door was just a sheet of wind filling a small hole cut in the stone.
Lorsvek finished stabling the horses and filling their feed bags. She then walked to the castles door and invited you inside. If the outside seemed incredibly plain, the inside matched it perfectly. A simple stone fire place filled with junk wood, two simple pots rusted with age, a plain oak chest, and an iron set body mirror were the rooms only additions. It looked like a fugitives hideout and a poor one at that. Lorsvek breathed it in like a mother who'd recently come home from a short journey. She unclicked a silver choker and set it aside on the chest, finally revealing her true form.
Her body, only partially obscured by a short tunic, was covered in the whirls of a dragonmark, even larger than that of a Syberis Heir. On closer inspection, the lines were inlaid with prismatically bright scales rather than the usual supernatural ink. Turning around, you were greeted by yet another shock. Two large golden horns jutted from the handsome woman's strawberry blonde hair and her thin smile was full of fanged teeth. With one clawed hand, she brought a purplish bottle from inside her leather pants and shattered it on the ground. "I hope you don't mind, but some other guest(s) are sleeping upstairs and I don't enjoy repeating myself." A small wrist flick and whispered word uncoiled a rope set into the ceiling, which Lorsvek then grabbed and pulled down a ladder. She started to climb upward, leaving you here to ponder temporarily.

[This part is only if you were difficult]
A small crash awoke you, like someone had dropped a glass on the ground. Jerking awake, you expect to find a cell or at least a room with a sturdy door. Instead, you find a circular living space with a set of straw bunk beds, one of which you are currently sitting on. Beside the beds are combined nightstands and footlockers, with a bookcase between them. A polite cough turned your attention to the front of a room, where a strangely tattooed woman's head was poking out from a hole in the floor. Smiling, she started to talk, her husky voice the last thing you heard before falling unconscious. "Not like you have a choice, but please come down quickly. No one will be happy if I have to get forceful, but you will at the very least listen to what I have to say. After that, you'll be free to leave. I'll even tell you which direction is Shar and which direction is Droamm."

[Saidoro]

On entering the lair and inspecting her surroundings, Talva felt the strange urge to derust the pots. It felt wrong somehow that whatever presumably important thing they were doing would be done in a place so poorly maintained. Of course, pointing that out would be rude. Best to do it when no one was watching. These musings came to an abrupt halt as Lorsvek removed her choker, Talva suddenly being more concerned with integrating and trying to seem unsurprised by this new information. Good Artificers always knew what they were looking at.
Talva held her hands in front of herself as she waited, her left hand finding the signet ring on her right. Things had happened so quickly, she had emerged from her work to find her dragon mark grown into something strange and alien, entirely unlike the greater marks she had seen on other Cannith, and dutifully reported it. It had certainly occurred to her to hide it, it wasn't the sort of mark a Good Cannith wore, but no Good Cannith would hide this sort of thing from their colleagues either. Investigations didn't get far, being quickly interrupted by the arrival of this strange, beautiful woman, and before Talva knew what was happening she was packaged into a carriage and on the way to who knew where.
Talva glanced again at the others the beautiful woman had collected and then settled her eyes on her hands.
Frey, this doesn't seem like the right sort of place. What could we need to be at some broken down mound to do that we couldn't do at the Enclave?

[QuidEst]

Kyoni had considered circumventing the woman's spell. It was a nuisance losing a bit of her memory periodically, and it would only be fair, since her own protective measures had clearly been bypassed to locate her. It wouldn't be hard- just transform into her while looking at her and take a look in a mirror. But the woman had bypassed her natural wards, which meant she had considerable talents, likely greater than her own. Since she had been quite amenable to working out a mutually beneficial arrangement, Kyoni was quite happy to leave well enough alone. Besides, it wasn't like she was any harder to recognize. "Impossible to recall" was a facial feature in and of itself.

The others on the journey were extended similar courtesies by virtue of being the woman's guests. No attempts at reading their minds or subverting their will in order to learn more about them. They all had dragonmarks of varying nature, making her and Lorsvek the only ones who definitively appeared to not have a mark. For her own part, it was concealed by her transformative magic. Unlike Changelings, who couldn't hide or mimic something like a missing finger or a scar, she could manage much more thorough transformation with her limited scope. She was in her usual human form, a beautiful black-haired woman of middling height. She was dressed up for the occasion, wearing her favorite dress, red silk with touches of black and gold.

When they finally arrived, Kyoni looked around curiously. Bit of a dump, but she supposed that it was probably to avoid drawing attention. She preferred hiding in plain sight for that, personally, but not everyone felt the need for comfort and company as strongly. Her musings on how best to balance such things was interrupted by Lorsvek removing her necklace and transforming. Kyoni found herself a little envious of the predatory beauty of the woman's true form, and wondered whether she'd be able to remember it later, or if it too would be wiped. That was to say nothing of the large draconic mark, which went a long way towards explaining the sense of power she exuded. "Oh, no objections here," she answered, curious at how the secret room worked. That could be very useful- if nothing else, as a place to store people she was temporarily impersonating.

[weary atlas]

Aurelius

Carriage rides are the worst.

It might please the sheltered nobles to ride in the warmth and quiet, but to me it feels a bit too much like being caged...like an animal. I much prefer the screaming wind in my ears and the sweet call of the beckoning horizon.

These two women, though...they were strange company. The blonde seemed huge, as if she emanated too much presence for the cramped cabin to hold. It's all I can do to just slouch in my seat and avoid edging away from her. The raven haired girl was just the opposite, though...like she wanted to just disappear into the walls.

Strange company, indeed.

I followed her into the tower after lovingly stowing Vera in her sling. The place is in terrible shape. Not the accommodations I would expect from someone who promised contact with "jobs worth my valuable time"...
Ah, well...Worth taking the time to listen, I suppose.

I lean against the closest wall, pull my hat down low, and settle in to wait for answers.

[TheEmperor]

Diomedes' awakening was swift, brought upon him by a sudden noise, one similar to the crashing of glass upon the ground, that breached through the void of sleep that had surrounded him for such a long time. His eyes snapped open, and his consciousness quickly pulled itself out of the depths of his mind, and the first thing he registered was his location, which was odd in that it seemed nothing like the open skies of where he was right before.

Memories began to flood right back in, giving Diomedes some context on his situation. He'd been speaking to some lady, who wanted to speak to him. For some reason, her face seemed to elude his mind for the moment, but he gave it no attention. The last thing he remembered was drawing his sword in defense, since she expected him to come with her somewhere, or something along those lines.

She must've knocked him out somehow, through magic or some other means he couldn't fathom in his current state.

Realizing he was staring at a wall, the angelkin rolled over with slight soreness in his body, and tried to push himself off the ground, but stopped when he noticed someone coughing in order to catch his attention. Swinging his head to look in the direction in which the sound came from, he saw the lady sticking her head up into the room, and immediately recognized her voice when she began to speak.

So he was in captivity, to some woman presumably powerful enough to force her will upon him. Perhaps listening to what she had to say was a smart idea.

With a quick glance to the sprawling and mutated golden mark that covered his hand, he pushed himself off the ground, and spoke to acknowledge her words.

"Right then, I suppose if there's nothing else I can do, then I'll be forced to listen to you. But it's not exactly a very trust worthy system you've got running here, abducting innocent fellows off the streets." were his words. He stepped forward, brushing off any dust, real or imagined, from his sleeves.

[giles92]

(I'm assuming Diomedes follows her down the ladder for the purposes of keeping the campaign going quick.)

Lorsvek looks at the gathered party with a smug smile on her face, but no hint of malice or condescension makes it way into her words. "To make this go as simply as possible, the first thing to do tell you exactly what I am. I am words given form, a sentient vessel for an immensely powerful idea. I am the Draconic Prophecy in the flesh. You must understand what the Prophecy truly is, for there is more than one. Most of the complexity regarding it has always been because those reading it have been trying to understand two books at once, their words layered atop each other. When the world reaches a certain point of chaotic energy, which you must agree it has been building up towards for a while now, the two Prophecies must combat each other through six candidates that the universe has chosen. Indeed, there is little doubt my contemporary is gathering his as we speak."
Lorsvek stops speaking for a moment and closes her eyes, but then opens them. "Yes, he is quite close though I've brought mine together first. The two prophecies have battling in this way for centuries. Unfortunately, my counterpart won our last engagement. His path is one of constant change, growth and destruction. To put things into perspective, the last time we combated Xen'drik was still a powerful nation. His victory insured that stability would not last, which is not something I wish to see done to Khorvaire. If I succeed this nation will come together and last for several thousand more years. If I don't.... Well, you can see what Droamm is like. Nothing but insane cults, savage warlords, and the strong abusing the weak."
"I don't expect you to do this for nothing. Whomever wins has the power to tweak prophecy by the tiniest amount. I will fulfill each of your heart's desires through the manipulation of fate itself."

[QuidEst]

Kyoni made sure to get a good look at the angelic man. It seemed like the work might come with some fringe benefits. Still, the dragon-lady was speaking. Prophecies were never a particular interest of hers- it was far too much work to extract anything useful from them. If you could change them, then they weren't any good. If you couldn't, relying on it only resulted in a catastrophe when you'd misinterpreted it. But here, there were two prophecies in opposition. "So you're… what, a prophecy of order?" she asked, considering. "And we can earn ourselves a position in this new order, and in destiny itself." She had to wonder what the other guy was offering. Recruiting malcontents, perhaps. There were plenty of people angry enough to not care about what came after 'tear it all down'. She'd planned on letting things sort themselves out to the point where a victor was all but a matter of time before getting involved, but when one side just wanted to break it all, there wasn't much of a choice. She considered a moment, then shrugged. "Fine. I'll join- if he does too," she said, gesturing to the man she'd brought down from the hidden room.

[Saidoro]

Oh, now that is exciting! I bet she brought us here so that the enemy wouldn't notice. You worry too much.
No, that doesn't make any sense. Well, that does. Sort of. But the rest doesn't, why not- Hold on.
Once she had decided to do so, Talva spoke far more assertively than her previous demeanor would have suggested. Good artificers spoke their mind without hesitation.
"I'm afraid that I'm not following. Why would you chose to fight this other prophecy with six soldiers instead of - let's say an army of warforged. If you're the one on the side of civilization it would seem to be easy to gather allies. That is if you are the one on the side of civilization. Which isn't something we are able to determine with certainty on the information given thus far. And there are only four of us."
Having spoken her piece Talva simply stared at Lorsvek expectantly. Obviously, a project couldn't go forward until everyone working on it had had their concerns cleared up.

[weary atlas]

Aurelius


Oh-ho-ho. Prophecies made flesh? A twist of fate? Perfect. That's exactly what I need to make a name for myself. Even if she doesn't really do anything, it'll be a great story. Amaranth would have a field day with this...Assuming it's not a suicide mission.

"What's the job?"

Aurelius shifts against the wall as if he's faintly uncomfortable. His arms cross over his chest, and he looks away, dreading her answer.

[giles92]

Lorsvek replied quickly, as if she expected the questions and was ready to answer them. "Certain boundaries were set before the contest began. We're both free to break them, but we chose intermediaries for a reason. Rather, it was chosen for us. The exact nature of me and my brother is a complex one, not something as easily explained as I've done for the sake of convenience. I did not choose you to be the representatives for my side of the prophecy, but mother Fate did. I could assemble an army of Warforged, convince the nations of Khorvaire that my cause is righteous despite looking like I do, and hunt down the other group. But then my brother could do something similar. For either of the prophecies to properly succeed, certain players must be in a certain place, at a certain time. If those players die amidst a war between Khorvaire and some demonic or undead army, than neither prophecy will succeed and Fate will be considerably upset."
"As for where the last two members of this troop are, well, you won't like the reason why." Her eyes glance guiltily off to the side for a moment. "We are opposites, but also the same. Whatever I see and say, he automatically knows. As long as I never lay eyes on the last two, my prophecy has a chance to succeed even if you four fail as they won't be marked as targets. Like you already are. This cuts both ways, so I'll tell you what the current members he's recruited look like. The first is a half-elf child of around fifteen summers, recruited in the Reaches. He seems to be an archer and wields a bow taller than his body. He has red hair and silver eyes. The second is much more distinctive. She's a heavily tattooed dark elf, recruited off a boat coming from Xen'drik. A scorpion chain is looped about her body, though she can also cast moderately powerful magic. The third is a tall human male, that many would find handsome. Recruited off the same boat, he has jet black hair, an eyepatch, a bastard sword, and pockets filled with oddities. I've yet to see him fight, though he seems adept at surviving in the wild. Currently their party is in northern Thrane."
Finished exploiting the connection, Lorsvek reaches into her pocket and pulls out a dark blue gem. "This is a Khyber dragonshard. Like me, it is prophecy in physical form. There are over a dozen such items scattered around the world, with each three forming a part of the prophecy to guide you. Ultimately, your task is to insure certain events come to pass and these prophetic gears will reveal to the clever what those events are. They can be anything, though most have significantly important forms, magic or otherwise, to insure their safety throughout the centuries. After being joined you are free to do with them as you will. They are often valuable, magical, or both. Each part acts as a guide to the others, gaining heat when moving in the right direction."

[TheEmperor]

Caught off guard by the seriousness of the words that the woman spoke, Diomedes did not respond to the curious demands that one of the other women in the room so chose to place. Instead, he simply stayed quiet, continuously listening to the discussion and making his choice. He was obliged to, at the very least, listen to the woman's tale, and then decide whether she could be trusted or not.

He felt as though she spoke the truth, although it was purely instinct on which this feeling was based, since the markings on her body were similar in nature to the marking on his hand, and with reasonable deductions, the markings on the bodies of the others who had been brought together here.

With a quiet cough preceding his words, he said "I see. And suppose that I do decide to assist you, how would we begin? And what sort of confrontations can we expect?"

[giles92]

Lorsvek throws the dragonshard to Diomedes. "The stone should be enough to lead you to the other parts. For the most part, I have no idea the challenges you'll face. Each of the Prophecy Gears are valuable items in their own right, so getting a hold of them won't be easy. My brother will also be attempting the same thing, so expect heavy resistance from his group."

[weary atlas]

A silent sigh escapes the coated figure as his shoulders lose their considerable tension.

"Heists?"

Get in, steal things, get out. Simple. Nothing I haven't done before.

An appraising stare takes in the dragonshard, wondering at the cost of such an artifact. A frown creeps across his face as he considers the task.

"Do we have to kill the others?"

[giles92]

Lorsvek is quiet for a moment before answering. "Know that my brother will also be aware of this conversation, so don't take my advice as an absolute certainty, but I would avoid it until you know more the prophecy. Their lives can be just as important to a certain event coming to pass as your own. Also, you should be aware that they are not necessarily evil. No doubt my brother phrases his quest to be far more righteous than my own, citing the atrocities committed by reigning governments and organizations. They'll be fighting for personal freedom, without seeing the true dangers of anarchy."

[Saidoro]

I don't like this.
But it sounds so exciting! We get to save the world from darkness.
Maybe. But we don't know what her endgame is. And she's flat out admitted that she could be deceiving us about it. Her and her brother are apparently bound by the same rules.
Well sure, but we still don't want him to win.
Clearly. But what if we don't want her to win either.
And how are you gonna make that happen at the enclave?
She did say an army of warforged could manage it.
And they're going to give you an army of warforged to use against her? After she was able to walk in off the street and walk out with a dragonmarked half the house was itching to examine?
Point. I suppose it's probably best to stay where I can influence things directly. I'll just have to research on the road.

"Okay, I'm in."
Talva walked over to the golden man and inspected the dragonshard he held.
"I may be able to rig a less primitive locator for this en route."

[giles92]

I don't like this.
But it sounds so exciting! We get to save the world from darkness.
Maybe. But we don't know what her endgame is. And she's flat out admitted that she could be deceiving us about it. Her and her brother are apparently bound by the same rules.
Well sure, but we still don't want him to win.
Clearly. But what if we don't want her to win either.
And how are you gonna make that happen at the enclave?
She did say an army of warforged could manage it.
And they're going to give you an army of warforged to use against her? After she was able to walk in off the street and walk out with a dragonmarked half the house was itching to examine?
Point. I suppose it's probably best to stay where I can influence things directly. I'll just have to research on the road.

"Okay, I'm in."
Talva walked over to the golden man and inspected the dragonshard he held.
"I may be able to rig a less primitive locator for this en route."


Basically it would be a device that actively tracked distance by measuring the amount of heat the prophecy gear is giving off. Should be simple enough for even a moderately skilled artificer. It'll cost about a 1000 gp and six days of work, eight hours a day. A day on the trail should even out to about five hours. I won't give more specifics until she is ready to start construction, which she can't until reaching a city with materials.

[TheEmperor]

Catching the Khyber shard with both hands, Diomedes stared at it's smooth surface for a moment, before he made his decision. He had to be decisive about this, and what he was about to agree to was possibly going to create a hell of an impact on his life.

He really had nothing to do with prophecies, he felt, and taking part in this was taking part in an endeavor that could end badly. He sighed, as he realized that perhaps there was no other choice. Chaos and destruction was where his father would revel, possibly able to even utilize it to become more powerful.

So his life's goal would have to wait.

Outstretching his hand to the woman who approached him so as to allow her to take the shard, he said "Then I shall commit to this. We ought to begin immediately, or fall behind our opponents."

[QuidEst]

Kyoni looked at the shard with interest. There was some very useful magic that could be done with one of those, although she supposed that spells to avoid detection wouldn't really work out so well when they relied on something that they were actively looking for. Still, they were collecting them anyway, so it might be useful for anybody else. Two others agreed to the woman's terms, and Kyoni gave a satisfied nod. "Well, that's enough for me, then. I'm in. As much as I'd love to discuss details in depth, the longer we talk, the more he knows." She looked over at the only one who hadn't assented- the one with a weak stomach over a bit of killing- to see if he'd agree.

[weary atlas]

They know everything that she knows...

"Deal. Let's move quickly, then."

Aurelius straightens up and stretches as he walks to the door. Outside, he waits to see how the rest of the party will travel.

[giles92]

Lorsvek directs them towards the horses and reveals enough food for over a fortnight of travel. The carriage also has several blankets, a few tents, horse feed, fresh water, half a gallon of oil, and over thirty yards of rope. By turning the Dragonshard around, you notice it gets marginally warmer in one direction, directly over the Graywall mountains to the west.

[Saidoro]

When they got outside Talva waved the shard around wildly to see if she could get a rough guess at the distance. She waits for Lorsvek to leave before pointing towards the mountains to eliminate the risk of the other group narrowing down the shard's location based on her heading.
"Looks like we're heading that way."
To adventure!
To the mountains, anyway.

[TheEmperor]

Slowly looking around as he followed the rest outside, Diomedes felt strangely uneasy with his situation. Perhaps it was due to him having just woken up, and forced to process so much new, but something seemed off at that particular moment.

Ignoring his seemingly unjustified feelings, he walked up next to the fellows who were going to be his comrades for a while, before raising his hand to his forehead in order to get a better look in the direction which one of the ladies claimed they were going to have to go. Although it was not helpful, he was able to see that there were mountains there. If it were in the depths of the mountains, they could possibly encounter some terrors nobody wanted to deal with that he had never even imagined.

Turning towards the supplies provided for them, he said "Seems like it'll be enough. Pray tell, what is the name of those mountains over yonder?", while pointing in the direction of the mountains he'd attempted to look at.

[QuidEst]

Kyoni sniffed indignantly. "Nobody's getting the name of any mountains before we get each other's names. And that's not happening until I get a bit of basic warding up," she announced. She made a knot like pattern with her hand around her eyes and ears, reciting a brief incantation.

It's Detect Scrying.
You don't recognize the spell she's casting.
It's Detect Scrying.
"There. That will let me know if anybody's watching our progress magically. Do stay nearby if you're interested in finding out as well- beyond a dozen yards or so, I might not catch it. I'm Kyoni Vasad." She smiled, and her features shifted briefly to match Talva's, her clothes shifting as well a moment later. "Or at least, I am when I want to be." Her form reverted and she continued matter-of-factly. "My specialty is enchantments. I'd be happy to work with anybody who wants to practice resisting mental influence." There was a brief glance in Diomedes' direction. "Although I'm hardly limited to that. Flight, invisibility, and sundry parlor tricks," she said, waving her hand dismissively.

[weary atlas]

Aurelius' eyes light up at the prospect of invisibility. He offers a gloved hand out to Kyoni with a friendly half smile.

"Aurelius. Marksman, Relic-Hunter, Trap disposal."

He produces several coins, a dagger, and a small gem which he juggles briefly, and just as quickly hides them on his person.


[roll0]


"If you can use Invisibility, you're my new best friend."

He looks over the other party members inquisitively.

"...And you?"

[Saidoro]

Talva looks rather uneasy about Kyoni impersonating her, even briefly.
"Talva d'Cannith. I mostly work with multi-shard-"
Talva pauses as she realizes that may be a bit to specific. Another Cannith would doubtless know what she was talking about, but she'd never heard people talking about that sort of thing in her excursions into town. They just used a simpler term.
"I'm an artificer. And this is Uric d'Cannith."
Talva reaches up to her shoulder and a small bird sitting there hops down onto her hand.
"My assistant."
The bird eyes the group warily.
"And they're the Greywall Mountains, Mister..."
Spellcraft:[roll0]
Know Geography:[roll1]

[giles92]

Talva looks rather uneasy about Kyoni impersonating her, even briefly.
"Talva d'Cannith. I mostly work with multi-shard-"
Talva pauses as she realizes that may be a bit to specific. Another Cannith would doubtless know what she was talking about, but she'd never heard people talking about that sort of thing in her excursions into town. They just used a simpler term.
"I'm an artificer. And this is Uric d'Cannith."
Talva reaches up to her shoulder and a small bird sitting there hops down onto her hand.
"My assistant."
The bird eyes the group warily.
"And they're the Greywall Mountains, Mister..."
Spellcraft:[roll0]
Know Geography:[roll1]


Judging by the directions the cart took and the locations marked on your way, you know you're roughly four days travel from Ardev and Galethspyre, which puts your location in the immediate direction of the Skyraker Forest.

[giles92]

(If you have additional preparations please state them in the OC thread, but this adventure is about to get underway!)

Traveling in the carriage is bumpy, with such few roads in the heavily forested area. On the second day you notice a small flight of dragons, four in total, ominously heading in the same direction. As you get closer to the second Prophecy Gear, the Khyber dragonshard becomes noticeably warmer. Not enough to tell just by holding it, but the difference is substantial after just a few hours of travel. On the third day you finally encounter signs of civilization, though very rustic.
It's a small logging community, filled with unshaven burly men. In the center of town there is a small goods store, tavern, and lodge house, despite being only two stories high. A hand painted sign, though very weathered, names the place Barktown. It rests immediately to the east of Skyraker Forest and is probably the last friendly group of people you'll encounter if you continue to head in a straight line.

[TheEmperor]

In response to both Kyoni's words, and Talva's prompt, Diomedes replied slowly with "I am Diomedes, and I am nothing but a hunter." He wondered if perhaps giving the name he had was a smart idea, considering Sharn had his face and name, or at least, his father's as a notification for being public enemy for a rather long time. Perhaps that time had blown over.

However, what interested him was the fact that one of his new compatriots was a member of the Cannith house, the same house his mother came from. Perhaps he would inquire about it later on, but for now, speed was of the essence if they were in a race against another group. Diomedes quickly boarded the carriage, and made ready for their departure.

...

Their arrival in Barktown had been quite well-timed, as Diomedes had become increasingly distressed by the sheer loneliness of the many nights that he sat on top of the carriage while the others slept. He'd contemplated taking up the offer he'd received from Kyoni on the mental training simply to find something to do during these times, but he'd refrained out of seemingly unnecessary paranoia.

His interactions with the others had been... interesting, to say the least, but he'd begun to grow onto their personalities and learn their habits.

Pulling up into the town, Diomedes jumped off the carriage with the excuse of demanding some form of stretching, as their journey was of a type that he was not used to. Walking was more his style, but he had to stay with the carriage or be left behind.

[QuidEst]

Kyoni did her best to make their journey a pleasant one. While they had been provided with plenty of supplies, the nature of food meant for long journeys meant that it wasn't the finest fare. She took it upon herself to remedy this, combining supplies to prepare some approximation of proper meals and finishing it off with a bit of magic. Her broad experiences with exotic cuisine meant that waybread and jerky could taste like any number of fine dishes- most of the preparation was getting the texture to match. She took special requests under the condition that for any request she got, that person had to try something Kyoni was fond of to broaden their horizons. It was clear from her selections that she enjoyed pork as an ingredient, but not so much that it was predictable.

Much to her disappointment, Diomedes remained distant and oddly cautious. He spent the nights up on top of the carriage keeping watch. Not that she minded that on principle- beauty rest aside, she needed to recover her arcane energies. Still, it meant he was sleeping for much of the ride, and meant conversation in general was more hushed. He turned down any offers to rotate. When it was clear that even a rain shower wasn't going to keep him from it, she pulled an umbrella out of her satchel, spoke a brief spell, and instructed the umbrella to keep him dry. It obediently floated out and opened, hovering over the aasimar throughout the night. The next night, she volunteered to share the watch with him so he'd have somebody to talk to.

~~~

Kyoni looked out at the small town ahead as they approached it. "This is what you meant when you referred to 'the last of hospitable civilization'?" she asked Talva, who had been filling in details for the geographically ignorant of them. "I might've defined the end of civilization a little earlier, personally…" she muttered. Her clothes rippled, turning from her usual dress into more common clothes. The dirt of regular use began to appear as she shifted into slightly taller woman with slightly darker skin, brown hair, and some changes to her facial structure. It wasn't nearly as attention-grabbing as her usual self. "Anybody need anything in particular? I can make some purchases without leaving a usefully identifiable face for people to describe later on."

[Saidoro]

"Well, last bastion of hospitality anyway."
The maps made it look so much bigger.
Not one tower.
Most cities don't have those.
Why on earth not? You can fit so much more in them than these huts.
Sharn's in a manifest- never mind I'll explain later.
Talva had spent most of the trip taking notes on the prophecy gear, noting its temperature, their direction of travel and whatever magical information she was able to pick up. Most of it wouldn't be terribly useful, but it seemed like what a good artificer would do.
"I suppose you could see if they have any of the supplies we talked about?"
Talva looked doubtful. She'd talked with Kyoni about her design for the detector on the way over, and while she was confident the woman could find the parts if they were to be had, this town didn't seem to have anything like the material shops in Sharn.

[giles92]

Kyoni if you enter the shop, you find it practically abandoned at this time of day. Barktown is a very busy place and most people barely look twice at the strangers, intent on their work. The shopkeeper, an older woman lame in one leg, hands you a rough handwritten list listing her goods. Plenty of logging equipment, such as saws, thick leather wraps, and axes. There's also quite a bit of goods clearly made for adventurers going into the Skyraker forest, as its prices are all nearly double what they should be.

1 Week of Journey Food- 5 Gold
1 Month of Journey Food- 15 Gold
Camping Bundle (Tents, Sleeping Bags, Blankets, Simple Fire Starter)- 20 Gold
Exploration Bundle (2 Sunrods, Herbalism Kit, and a Grappling Hook)- 80 Gold

[weary atlas]

Aurelius passes the trip mostly up an away from the wagon, flying on ahead to search for any potential ambushes or obstacles to their safe passage. He always manages to catch up before nightfall, though, settling in for the night alongside Diomedes. He pulls out a small metal rod and a cleaning cloth from one of the pouches on his bandolier. The rod is swished about for a moment (casting Keep Watch), before he stows it away and begins carefully oiling and polishing down Vera's gleaming wood.

Come the morning, he returns to the skies and periodically returns with some berries and edibles from the local flora and fauna.

The following night he instead retreats inside the dry interior of the cabin, muttering something about wood warping under cold temperatures.


[roll0] UMD, repeated if not 20-
[roll1] Survival to produce food to supplement our rations

[QuidEst]

Standing in the small, grungy shop, Kyoni considered the mark-up on the goods. "It says tents here, ma'am- how many individuals are these bundles intended for?" She was considering whether or not it would be worth it just to charm the old lady and be done with it, but there were plenty of situations where that wouldn't work, so it was just as well to get some practice the old-fashioned way.

[giles92]

The woman starts polishing a wooden mug, clearly not giving her full attention. "Party a six, more if ya one of them small folk. We don't sell fewer and we don't break apart the bundles. Our provider don't like it, say'n something profit margarines. If ya lookin to go into the Skyraker, you'll need em. That fancy carrige won't make it past a single root without bustin apart."

[QuidEst]

"A month of food for four and the camping bundle, then." Kyoni said. At six people, the deal seemed fair enough under the circumstances. "Let me go get some help to carry it all first, though," she added.

~~~

Back out at the carriage, she found Diomedes. "We'll be stocking up on travel rations and camping gear in case anything goes wrong with the carriage. Would you mind helping me move everything? It'll take me ages to get it all moved over, and I don't think anyone else will be of any more use." She glanced over at Aurelius. "No offense."

[TheEmperor]

While Kyoni was out doing actual work, Diomedes had been spending much of his time stretching his limbs and practicing his swordplay in an inconspicuous fashion around the back of the carriage. While he was quite good with his words, he preferred to speak only in times where it was required, and therefore let his newly found comrade do the talking.

When she came back and requested his help, he sheathed his sword, and checked on his carefully folded artifact banner, before heading along with her, assuming that she required his assistance as he seemed as the most physically capable member of their little brigade. "Sure, where is everything?"

[QuidEst]

Kyoni nodded in the direction of the store. "Just over here. We can make a couple trips if you want." When they were back in the shop, Kyoni repeated her purchase request and fished out the gold to pay for it. "Say, ma'am… while it's a stretch, I know, do you know where the nearest place one might obtain artificer's supplies might be?"

[giles92]

There was a slight pause as the woman seemed to take a minute to digest your words. "If ya lookin for fancy junk like that, yourin luck. Some brain came up here a few months back on a Forest trip. He was the only one ta come back and payed me with his bag a shiney stuff. Ma boy said he'd come back from the big city and take a look at it next week, but with a decent offer'll part with it. There's a whole mess a stuff, so you'll have to get it in the back." With that she turned towards her back room, bad leg and cane making a pronounced thud with every step. The old woman clearly intends for you to follow her.

[QuidEst]

Kyoni looked back at Diomedes. "I'm very sorry… could you fetch our friend to come over? She'll be able to do a proper appraisal; I'd only be guessing."

[TheEmperor]

Diomedes nodded in response, taking a glance around before he set off right back towards the carriage. It was a bit of a daft job he'd essentially gone through, because he felt a little bit like a courier, but he dropped those thoughts once he reached the carriage, when he called out for Talva, and explained "We got lucky, and found parts, but since we're not sure, it'd be nice if you could come to check the parts out."

[Saidoro]

"Fantastic."
So nice to have things work out.
Talva eagerly followed Diomedes back to the store, having nothing at all to work on had been getting to her. Good Cannith shouldn't waste so much time.
"You have something for me to look at?"

Taking 10 on an appraise roll for 24.

[giles92]

Talva, following the woman back to her storage room, you notice how the doors seem to cut vision from the shops front. Piled on a small workbench are a variety of moderately valuable materials, including gold wiring, crystal lenses, and a smattering of bronze gears.


Make a Perception check.

[Saidoro]

Talva set a keen eye to looking over the assorted materials.
Perception: [roll0]
Uric Perception: [roll1]

[giles92]

The materials looks very standard, but servable. You should be able to construct what you need from these supplies and as you're considering this, Uric starts screaming at you. The woman's cane has a metallic glint at the very end and is ready to plunge it into you!


You have time to make a single swift action before the lady pokes you with her stick. This can be a one syllable yell or any swift actions you have available.

[Saidoro]

Excellent, this is plenty. I'll even have some left over.
I had a good feeling about this place.
I'm sure. Let's see, we can probably get this for -
"Talva! Look Out!"
Talva turns at Uric's shout and sees the glint of steel. A great many thoughts pass through her head at great speed, but one rises above them all.
"Knife!"

[QuidEst]

Kyoni waited in the idly in the shop front, waiting for Talva to finish inspecting whatever junk the old lady wanted to pass off as quality materials. There was a shout from the back room- two actually, the bird and Talva. Fail to charm one merchant, and this was what happened. Well, at least she'd be having a little fun.

Since initiative is probably going to be important, [roll0]. As soon as we can take actions, she's heading back there with Hold Person on the tip of her tongue.

[giles92]

Talva, the small blade plunges into you and you immediately feel the effects of some kind of poison. Your joints become stiff and seize up, preventing all movement and you fall to the ground.


Make a Fortitude save.

[Saidoro]

Talva!
Fortitude: [roll0]
Frey will look for a chance to make Talva invisible while no one is looking.

[giles92]

With no control, you're left on the floor incapable of movement. The woman, moving much faster than before, locks the door with an iron bar and sets to moving aside heavy boxes. Talva, from your position on the floor you can clearly see the boxes uncovering a cleverly hidden door.

*The rest of the party now has a chance to act and respond. For convenience sake, there are two minutes until the woman finishes with the door and tries to leave with Talva. Kyoni is still standing near the front desk and clearly heard the shout. Diomedes is just outside, having loaded up the supplies. Aurelius is hanging out by the carriage.*

[QuidEst]

Kyoni rounded the corner only to find a closed door. She shoved at it in the futile hope that it hadn't been locked yet, then stepped back. A quick wave of her hands and an arcane word, and a piercing whistle sounded, drowning out anything else in the area with its volume. That should get the attention of the others if the shout hadn't.

Move to the door and check it. Cast Ghost Sound to create the sound of an emergency whistle, amplified to be louder than a dragon's roar. (If it matters, will save DC 19 to disbelieve.) The sound rapidly grows louder, then just as quickly drops off, going silent within the round.

[TheEmperor]

As the angelkin messed about with the supplies outside the shop, he was entirely ignorant of what was going down inside. Perhaps if he'd heard any of the racket, he'd have rushed inside, but he hadn't. What did grab his attention, however, was the crazy alarm style noise that burst from inside the shop.

Drawing his blade as he anticipated danger, the swordsman burst into the shop with a questioning look on his face. He looked around, and found himself looking at Kyoni, to whom he said "What in the heavens is going on in here?"

[QuidEst]

"The bird shouted a warning to Talva, she shouted 'knife', and by the time I got to the door, it was locked," Kyoni rattled off quickly, still mentally running through what she could do to get through the door. Most of it consisted of slowly burning or dissolving the door, which wasn't exactly expedient. "I signaled to get everybody here quickly."

[giles92]

As the mysterious woman moves one of the boxes, it clatters to the ground and alchemical reagents fall out. She continues to work, revealing a broad doorway with a thin frame. Hearing the commotion from the front of her shop, the woman's motions turn from hurried to frantic. With the boxes out of the way, she reaches into her belt pouch and pulls out a glass ring. Her wrinkled hands pull apart Talva's clenched fingers, affixing the ring. Though still paralyzed, you're now considerably lighter.

[TheEmperor]

Diomedes only Kyoni a quick glance as she explained things, and launched into action as the word "knife" came up into the conversation. Clenching his hand just a tiny bit, he initiated his shield to pop up, and then brought his sword up to muster his strength. With the force of a battering ram manned by many men, he brought his sword down upon the (presumably) wooden door, attempting to break it, and get past the obstacle.

Swift action to get into Golden Lion Charger Stance.

Well, I probably hit the door, but here's the attack roll incase of crit.
[roll0]
EDIT: Nvm objects don't get critted.
Activating Ring of Force Shield, gives +3 AC
Hitting with Golden Swipe
"Melee attack inflicts an additional 6d6 points of damage and moves the opponent 10 ft. in a direction of your choosing."
It probably doesn't do the 10 ft thing to the door, but if you rule that any pieces go forward, then just 10ft forward it would be.

[roll1]
[roll2]

[weary atlas]

Aurelius

The rogue hauled back on the action of his crossbow as the sorcerer completed the invisibility spell. He drifted up a few inches and finally let out a hidden, savage smile.

Someone is messing with the wrong girl. Ah well...Their funeral.

...And he silently willed himself inside.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The world blurs around him as the magick took hold, suddenly snapping back into focus inside the shop. He floated a few feet off the ground in the right, front section of the building, just on the other side of the door.

Hazel eyes tighten their focus on the bustling shopkeep, biding their time until she started slipping a ring onto his friend's hand.

Enough

A volley of enchanted death spews from the corner..



Total stealth bonus of 54 (including invisibility) from the OOC thread roll- Hoping that's enough for a sneaky entrance.

1st attack-
[roll0] -Threats a crit on a value of 33-36, x3 crit if confirmed.
[roll1]

2nd attack (Rapid Shot)-
[roll2] -Threats a crit on a value of 31-34, x3 crit if confirmed.
[roll3]

Last attack- (Iterative)
[roll4] -Threats a crit on a value of 26-29, x3 crit if confirmed.
[roll5]

Spending 3 grit points to bypass her armor on all 3 attacks- I don't like risking coup-de-grace moments. Should do full damage and only allow her deflection bonus on a save vs a critical as she should be denied both Dex and Armor/Shield/Natural bonuses.

Oh...+2 to the first attack due to being invisible. Pardon me.

[giles92]

You fire off the multiple shots just as the door burst open, showering you in shards of dark wood. All four of the bolts pierce her body, not even giving the aged woman time to scream. Her lifeless body falls to the ground in next to Talva, landing at an odd angle due to the multiple quarrels. As she dies, her face changes into that of a young looking changeling, it's skin a dull grey.

[QuidEst]

Kyoni eased her way into the room, making her way over to Talva what had up until recently been an old lady. A quick check of the pulse reassured her that Talva wasn't dead. When the same produced no results for the changeling, she sighed and looked over at Aurelius. "This is why I wanted you to bring me along. I'm very good at getting information out of people while they're alive, and I can make sure they don't cause any trouble." She knelt down next to the body, beginning to search the pockets and so on. "Uric, would you mind filling us in on what happened?" she asked, taking a moment to extend her senses and check for magic.

Casting Detect Magic, looking at both the changeling and Talva.

[TheEmperor]

Immediately as the door burst into splinters at the force of his strike, Diomedes rushed right into the room, expecting a fight, but instead, he was greeted with the quickly dying body of the old woman. Her form was quick to change into that of a changeling, after her death, which complicated matters. He looked up, and his first response was to move over to Talva, with the words "Damn, what device did she use? I don't like the look of this. Some form of immobilization effect, obviously, but what side effects does it have? Was it poison, or magic, or what? We should really have kept her alive."

[Saidoro]

Uric is fluttering frantically around the room, landing momentarily on whatever objects or people happen to be nearby before jumping into the air again.
"I don't know! Talva was looking over the gear and the old woman just walked up behind her and drew a sword! And I tried to warn her, but it happened so quickly!"
Uric lands on Talva and looks at the stab wound worriedly.

[giles92]

Detect Magic reveals that the other ring around Talva's finger is magical, as well as the cane the woman wielded. She also carries two scrolls, which you can identify later. As you search her, your eyes are drawn to a symbol burned into her hand. It looks like a strange box with some sort of wisps flowing through it.


Make a Knowledge Check to recognize the mark. I will accept Local or History.

[QuidEst]

Kyoni pressed her hands over her eyes, and sighed again. "Sorry, that was unfair, Aurelius. Poor communication. She's alive, and anything beyond that will wash out in the long run. We'll have to get her back to the carriage and wait for it to wear off. Whoever the changeling was impersonating is probably indisposed at the moment, so…" She hunched over, her form shifting to match the old woman. Shortly after, her clothes shifted as well. "That should buy us some time to collect supplies from here." She took the cane, fiddling with it for a moment to figure out how to get the blade back in, and leaned on it to complete the disguise. The two scrolls were quickly pocketed to assess later. "Thank you, Uric. Now, does anybody recognize this mark?" she said, holding up the dead changeling's hand for the others to examine.