Portly Bluebird

[RoamingSorcerer]

The sun rises over Jingo, catching the stately manors hidden behind the thin palisade in a rustic glow. Beyond the barrier is the slight sprawl that has slowly risen as the mass of commoners attempt to make a life for themselves while working long hours for the four noble families.

The majority of the town has already left to make the daily trek to the distant farms and ponds, where they will toil away for food and silver. You, however, are one of the lucky ones. You are skilled in more ways than one, and have managed to avoid the backbreaking labor that is so common for others. You awake at sunrise, eager to meet a strange friend at Yondalla's Blessed Libido, a local tavern run by Fiora Wittlebane. That friend is Groff the Educated, a young Academy trained Half-Orc wizard who wishes to form a "Mercenary Guild" to take care of the local problems the militia cannot or will not fix. Being trained as an accountant, he assures you this guild can be highly profitable. The only issue he has is that it will take most of the day to charter the guild in accordance with Imperial guidelines and his current employer has not had his brewery's shipment arrive yet. The shipment must be transported to Jingo by sundown in order to make the monthly caravan. You are meeting Groff so that he can fill you in on where to go to check on the shipment.

You arrive at Yondalla's Blessed Libido and see a sleepy looking Groff, clean shaven and hair cut very short, yawning into a mug of beer. He is wearing a dark blue scholar's outfit and has a toad sitting next to his mug. The toad appears to be asleep.

The tavern itself seems unusually full for the time of day. Scores of merchants and caravan drivers appear to be eating breakfast and discussing the monthly news. A couple of human waitresses in commoner's clothes try and keep the customers fed. In the corner, under a giant waterclock decorated with images of Yondalla sleeping in her burrow, is a beautiful Halfling female with dark eyes and dark hair loosely wrapped into a bun playing a small piano for ambiance.

The following is the order that characters enter into the tavern:
1. Ellywick Folkor Littledeer
2. Tymor the Black
3. Ellidine Boggins
4. Malthus Malcomson Temple

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aV3y6Pbb6Iw

[heyshowtune]

Ellywick Folkor Littledeer, ally of nature, peers dubiously into the tavern. Lots of people...Elly hates people. She scowls as she peers around, trying to locate Groff, struggling to see through the crowds much taller than she is. She should have known he wouldn't keep his promise. This entire thing was stupid; she might as well go back to the forest...

Despite her grumbling thoughts, continues to look for Groff, and her eyes find him soon enough. She wastes no time and hurries across the tavern floor, dodging the legs of the other tavern-goers as she goes with the ease of someone who's used to doing this sort of thing. Behind her, Stomper stops holding the door and follows at her shoulder. He clears a much wider path than Elly does, being both unusually large and stoic-looking for a dog, but Elly doesn't notice the difference; she's traveled with Stomper for more than five years, now.

Elly arrives at Groff's table without too much trouble (maybe a couple bumped knees, but it's not as if she cares; these sorts of casualties are normal when she goes through crowds). With a little bit of difficulty, she hauls herself up onto a chair opposite him on the side closest to a wall. Stomper sits patiently behind her, just tall enough his entire head is visible above the table.

"You said it wouldn't be busy at this hour," Elly accuses Groff, glowering fiercely. The din of the tavern is giving her a headache; a waitress passes by and bumps her shoulder accidentally, and she bristles like a cat, outraged by the personal contact. She crosses her arms angrily and fumes, supremely uncomfortable.

[hannahbbug3]

Tymor steps into the room, looking around the tavern with his dark eyes. He leans on his staff as he tries to locate the rest of his group - was he early, or simply too short to see over the crowd? It was probably the latter, at least, he blamed it on that and not his poor perception. But there was definitely no missing that mutt of Ellywick's, he could hear it breathing across the room. He'd never liked that dog, it always seemed to put poor ol' Blink, his raven, on edge, and that never did wonders for Tymor's own nerves. He'd never gotten good at being around people.

At any rate, he was supposed to be here, and he was here, wasn't he? Tymor makes his way over to the agreed upon table and plops himself down in one of the taller seats, so he is sitting at eye level with Groff and Ellywick. Blink shifts from Tymor's shoulder to his wrist, which the dwarf has placed upon the table, and blinks at Groff's toad.

"Well," Tymor speaks up in his rough accent. "I'm here, at least." He glances at his two companions - Groff, half-awake as usual, and Ellywick looking as upset at being in this crowd as Tymor is. Just a bit harder to read his expression because of the beard. "Where are the others? Late?"

[RoamingSorcerer]

The six-foot-four Half-Orc seems pleasantly surprised by Ellywick's appearance.
"I assumed it wouldn't be. But, then again, this is caravan day. Besides," he says looking at all of the tired and gossiping people, "These people haven't commented on an Orc being in this tavern once. I like these types of people."

To Tymor, Groff nods with a smile. "Did you expect anything else?"

[heyshowtune]

"Well, they'd better hurry up," Elly snaps, glaring a hole in the hardwood and failing to acknowledge Tymor's arrival with anything remotely friendly. "I hate taverns."

[IronRoses]

Ellidine Boggins arrived quietly, as halflings often do. She had a spear (tiny though it was) strapped to her back, and carried a walking stick. She slowly danced across the room, nimbly dodging the large feet of other creatures. Despite always being nearly stepped on, Boggins tended to love taverns. You could hear so many good stories just from dancing around a room.

She approached the rather unhappy-looking group of people sitting around her half-orc friend and smiled. "Good morning, everyone!"

[RoamingSorcerer]

Groff greets Elli with a wave.

[MadMax]

Late. Always running late. But could he be blamed? Was it his fault that as he was heading in to the tavern he saw the rabbits off in the distance? No. That was the hand of fate and the will of the gods, and now Malthus would have a good breakfast and lunch.

Regardless now he was most undoubtedly late. Nothing to be done about it.

Entering into the Tavern, Malthus spotted Groff quickly, after all, nothing sticks out as much as a half-orc. He recognized the Druid quickly, for there weren't a great many hunting grounds in the region, and competition was always on his mind. The Dwarf looked familiar, but he couldn't quite place where he had seen him before. As for the third body around the table, Malthus was absolutely clueless.

Making his way to a clearer part of the table, Malthus throws down the rabbits and begins skinning, gutting, and cleaning them in preparation for his meal.

"Morning folks, what'd I miss? And anyone want some rabbit? Very fresh.

[heyshowtune]

The cheerfulness chafes. Ellywick bristles with annoyance and glares at Ellidine sullenly, but says nothing, and otherwise fails to greet her. Stomper wags his tail once; Stomper likes Ellidine.

[heyshowtune]

The rabbits hit the wood with a thud, and Elly looks on impassively as gore splatters across the table. Stomper perks up hopefully at the sight and smell of food.

[RoamingSorcerer]

"MALTHUS," the piano music stops as Fiora looks to Malthus' rabbits with slight disdain. "Honey... If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times: no fresh kills in the dining area. Take it to the kitchen until you leave."

[MadMax]

"Yes Ma'am, sorry Ma'am, won't forget next time Ma'am"

With that Malthus quickly moves the rabbits to the kitchen before returning to the table.

[heyshowtune]

Elly shoots Groff a flat look. "Can we please get on with this." She doesn't want to spend any more time than she has to in this tavern.

[RoamingSorcerer]

She smiles at the young lad, and goes back to playing a medley of bluesy piano tunes.

Groff seems slightly off-put by a speck of blood that made its way into his mug, but eventually decides to continue drinking it.

[IronRoses]

Elli scritches Stomper under the chin and tells him that he is, in fact, a very Good Boy. Unphased by the rabbit that seems to have been gutted in front of her (the adventurers she aids are often far more barbaric than this), she hops over to greet Malthus. "Oooh rabbit! Yes please!"

She says this quietly so as to not make Fiora believe she is encouraging him.

[hannahbbug3]

Well, this was certainly turning out to be an interesting group. Tymor wasn't sure which was most surprising - the amount of animals at the table (living and dead), the fact that he was taller than two of the other party members, or that so many people had shown up. Huh, Groff must have a personality in there to make up for that face. "Looks like ye've got some skill with a blade, there," the dwarf comments to Malthus. He looks back up to Groff. "I don't suppose ye'll be tellin' us what yer about, now, saying ye've got a money-making venture an' all."

[MadMax]

Turning to the Halfling, Malthus explains that the rabbit will have to wait temporarily.

And to the Dwarf, he expresses his gratitude for the compliment.

[RoamingSorcerer]

"Right, absolutely. Well, I am glad to see everyone is here! As I told you all individually yesterday, a (light) mercenary guild is just what this town needs! Tymor and I have crunched the numbers, and the money we could make in a week could potentially be more than we make in a month! Hells, maybe more.

"I will have a charter for you all to sign later in the day, but first I need you four to go to the Milton Brewing Facility and check on our monthly shipment to Redford. It was supposed to arrive two days ago, but is late. Milton needs me to make sure it arrives before I quit, and I will be too busy today to take care of it. All you have to do is head out and help them get it together. If the drivers are sick, just take the brew cart to the caravan at the South of Jingo by sundown. Come find me after you are done, I'll be here, and I'll pay you for your quick help. Given the urgency of the situation, Milton is prepared to offer each of you 10 gold for your work today.

Any questions?"

[MadMax]

"Excluding the fact that I can't quite write yet, where do I sign?"

[hannahbbug3]

Tymor clears his throat sharply when Groff mentions his aid in the calculations for the company - this was what Groff had in mind? Well, then, there was certainly money in it. "When he says 'we've' been crunching the numbers, he means mostly me," Tymor put in, crossing his arms. Blink hops back up to his shoulder. "...at any rate, I thought ye implied it'd be more... interesting than running errands," he points out, quirking a bushy eyebrow.

[RoamingSorcerer]

"An X will do later, when I have the paper."
Groff is grinning from ear to ear. He likes Malthus, and is glad his friend has so readily agreed to join the guild.

[IronRoses]

Ellidine shakes her head fervently. No questions. "Sounds like fun, let's go!"

Elli's idea of fun was very simple. Anything that sounded remotely like it could lead to an adventure or travel, even the most humble of tasks, was exciting. Her whole family had been this way, which probably explained why Fharlanghn had favored her family for generations.

[heyshowtune]

"Where exactly is the brewery, and what route did the cart take?" Elly asks, still grumpy, but looking slightly cheered at the prospect of leaving the city.

[RoamingSorcerer]

Groff waves his hand dismissively,
"Oh it will be. This is not a guild activity, this is merely helping a friend with a problem. Our usual clients will be nobility with... issues that the militia will not be able to handle. Along with the occasional case of a child getting trapped in one of the wells around town."

[hannahbbug3]

"Pah," Tymor sighs and shakes his head. "I suppose if yeh really need someone for the job."

[MadMax]

"Keep the rabbits as a gift, Fiora, I've got to leave now! We're going on an adventure!"

[RoamingSorcerer]

Groff produces a small map.

"The Brewery is just five miles to the west of town. You'll see a small pine grove nearby; its where we get the wood for the barrels from. Since the rest of the area are plains, should be easy to find. Just look for John Nonose, he is the forman in charge of the brewery and will answer any questions. And yes, he does, in fact, have a nose."

[RoamingSorcerer]

She looks up from her piano and sings in tune with her song:

"Thank you child for your food, we will pay you after assessing the proper value of the rabbits you have caught."

It was not her best work...

[heyshowtune]

With that information acquired, Elly shoves her chair back and stands.

"See you at sundown," she says. She makes her way out of the tavern without another word to the rest of the table, Stomper following after.

[hannahbbug3]

"Right, Mr. John Nonsense," Tymor says as he stands up to his full four feet (and two inches, don't forget the two inches!). "Best be off, then. Shouldn't take more'n an hour to walk over there. Let's get movin'."

[MadMax]

"But we need to have the cart there by sundown! Wait!"

Grabbing his spear, Malthus chases after the rest of the group

[heyshowtune]

Outside the tavern, Elly mounts Stomper and checks the saddle. She glances towards the south of the town longingly, but doesn't leave, looking back towards the tavern with a sigh and waiting for the rest of the party to emerge with impatient hands gripping the reins.

[IronRoses]

Elli prances after Elly and Tymor, thanking Groff for the task as she went.

She begins humming along to Fiora's tune, but decides that the words just weren't her best. (She is normally a big fan of Fiora's work.)

[RoamingSorcerer]

With the map that Groff gave you, you all estimate that it will take around an hour to get to the brewery. You walk through town and make your way to a well-worn path that, according to the map, should take you right to the brewery. The path is around ten feet across (to accommodate two wagons) and the grass on either side eventually gets to be around five feet high.

The sky has a few fluffy clouds in it and the weather is around 70 degrees. It is, empirically, a nice day.

[MadMax]

Malthus gets out his pipe, fills it, lights it and begins to puff as they walk.

[RoamingSorcerer]

You are all travelling. Ellidine notices faint black smoke off in the direction of the brewery.

Survival rolls can grant you information about the fire once your character can see it.

[hannahbbug3]

By St. Cuthbert, it was too blazing hot for any man, woman, or child to be outside. Tymor walks with a scowl on his features, and Blink is wearing much the same expression from his shoulder as she watches Stomper suspiciously. "I think I should be in charge of the map," he says for the third time, glowering over at their navigator. NOt that it would really make a difference, when they were just following the road.

[heyshowtune]

Elly faces forward, eyes on the road as they continue on. Once a reasonable amount of distance is between them and the town, she'll start looking around, but for now, she and Stomper ride in silence. Stomper, for his part, is happy; Stomper likes being in nature, and Stomper likes carrying Ellywick. Going places with Ellywick is fun, Stomper thinks.

[IronRoses]

Elli follows beside Malthus, stretching out her arms and breathing in the warm air, careful to avoid the smoke from his pipe.

"What a beautiful day. Every day is a good one for traveling, but this one especially..."

As she's stretching, she stops short, her mood quickly changing. "Oh, that doesn't look good at all!" She points to the direction of the brewery. "We might need to hurry!"

[MadMax]

Survival
#20#+3

[heyshowtune]

Once Ellidine sees the black smoke, Elly is on alert. She whips Stomper's reigns and leans forward in the saddle; Stomper speeds up, sensing the urgency, and looks ahead too.

[roll0]
[roll1]

[MadMax]

Survival Check
[roll0]

[hannahbbug3]

There was an odd smell in the air, and Tymor looks down the road to see the smoke at Elli's call. "What in blazes is that?"

Tymor rolled 16 for survival.

[RoamingSorcerer]

The fire is still ongoing, and is not out of control. It is likely a bonfire sized flame. However, this is strange given that neither a pine grove nor an inside brewery would need such a flame.

[IronRoses]

"A blaze, I believe," Elli responded seriously, running ahead.

[IronRoses]

Survival Check
[roll0]

[MadMax]

"Something strange is happening, my friends! Make haste to the flames!"

[heyshowtune]

Elly, hearing Malthus's call, nudged her heels into Stomper's side and murmured in Gnomish, "Come on, boy." Stomper sped up with determination.

[RoamingSorcerer]

Malthus [roll0]
Elli [roll1]
Elly [roll2]
Tymor [roll3]


You begin running towards the flames (well... running about as well as you can with a halfling and dwarf trying to keep up).

You estimate you are around 5 minutes away from the brewery. The wagon trail allows you to see ahead. The black flames are coming from behind the brewery. It is far away, so you cannot accurately tell if the wagon is ready to go or if people are injured.

However, you can tell that something wrong has happened as two arrows fly towards the group. They are fired from both sides of the path, around 20 feet ahead of the party cluster. A spot check of 15 or higher will yield more information.

[hannahbbug3]

"I'm comin', I'm comin'!"

[RoamingSorcerer]

Arrow one to Malthus: [roll0]
Potential damage roll: [roll1]
Arrow two to Elly: [roll2]
Potential damage roll: [roll3]


The arrows miss the party.

[IronRoses]

Spot Check:
[roll0]

Elli looks ahead, squinting to try and make out the scene in front of her as she runs.

[MadMax]

[roll0]

Malthus readies his spear for throwing and holds his shield up, covering his face, and reducing his vision.

[RoamingSorcerer]

You see two Hyena-like humanoids kneeling in the grass off of the path. They wear leather armor and have short bows.

[hannahbbug3]

Spot Check:
[roll0]

[heyshowtune]

Elly draws her scythe with a snarl of anger. Stomper bares his teeth.

[roll0]
[roll1]

[RoamingSorcerer]

The attackers move first. To those that see it, they drop their bows and pick up what looks to be bloody handaxes and thick wooden shields with leather strung over it. These are primitive weapons and shields, in that they do not look forge made.

That completes their turns.

[MadMax]

[roll0]

Malthus perks up his ears, attempting to discern something, anything..

[IronRoses]

Elli switches out the quarterstaff she has been carrying for the spear on her back.

[RoamingSorcerer]

You hear heavy breathing and an occasional hyena-laugh-like grunt

[MadMax]

Hearing what sounds like a Hyena, Malthus lets loose his spear

1d20+4-15

[MadMax]

[roll0]

He throws his spear blindly!

[RoamingSorcerer]

The Spear lands with a thud around 7 feet away from the Gnoll closest to you

[heyshowtune]

Elly and Stomper charge in towards the nearest enemy. Elly lashes out with her scythe, Stomper with his teeth.

Elly:
[roll0]
[roll1]
Stomper:
[roll2]
[roll3]

[hannahbbug3]

"What in blazes-" Tymor exclaims as he motions frantically with one hand, sending a Ray of Frost at the closest creature.


Ranged touch attack:
[roll0]
Potential Damage
[roll1]

[IronRoses]

Elli sees the arrows flying past the group, and watches Malthus blindly throw his spear in the direction of the creatures. She watches Elly and Stomper charge into battle. Not quite close enough to do anything else, she casts Shield of Faith on Tymor, as the two of them had been lagging behind the others. Buy hey, it wasn't their fault that their legs were short.

[RoamingSorcerer]

Elly and Stomper rush to the Gnoll on the right (Henceforth Rightgnoll). The whole package of characters and weapons catches the Gnoll off guard, allowing Stomper to bite firmly on the Gnoll's leg and Elly to easily catch the Gnoll in the chest with the scythe. The gash is narrow, but deep. He howls in pain.

Tymor successfully frosts the nose of Leftgnoll for 1 damage. He seems tickled and unamused.

Rightgnoll attempts to hack at Elly wildly,


Attack [roll0]
Crit confirm [roll1]
damage [roll2]

Leftgnoll stumbles onto the road and begins running for Malthus. You aren't sure if it is because he is a weird creature, but he seems intoxicated. He drunkenly swings his axe at Malthus.



Attack [roll3]
Crit confirm [roll4]
damage [roll5]

[RoamingSorcerer]

add the following to damage taken:
[roll1]

[MadMax]

Drawing his bastard sword, and feeling Rage fill his body.
As a second wind of health fills him and strength courses through his body, Malthus swings at the beast who had just bled him!


Attack
[roll0]
Potential Damage
[roll1]

[hannahbbug3]

Well, now the things have shown themselves. Tymor runs forward with his quarterstaff, and hopes that, if he dies, some necromancer will bring him back.

Attack Roll: [roll0]
Potential damage: [roll1]

[RoamingSorcerer]

attack w/ scythe: [roll0]
crit: [roll1]
damage: [roll2]

attack w/ dog: [roll3]
damage: [roll4]

[IronRoses]

Elli runs into the fray, but her allies are already in the thick of fighting. She manages to get close enough to heal Malthus, who she saw was bleeding profusely, and seemed rather beside himself with rage.

[roll0] (+2 bonus from Augment Healing feat in Complete Divine)

[RoamingSorcerer]

Elly's scythe ripped into Rightgnoll's throat, decapitating him cleanly.

On the Leftgnoll front, Tymor's quarterstaff skills are tested by the might of the Gnoll's shield. They failed their test.

Malthus feels his deep anger at the Gnoll give way to a strange wet feeling. His bastard sword pierced the Gnoll's side and drew considerable blood.

The Gnoll seems slightly dazed with all of this stimulus and decided the best way to handle this is with a swift axe to the head. Which head? He doesn't care, swinging wildly.


attack roll: [roll0]
confirm: [roll1]
normal damage: [roll2]
crit extra damage: [roll3]

Tymor falls to the ground with a serious wound in the side of her head. She is bleeding profusely.

[MadMax]

Feeling the Fury of the Horde coursing through him, and seeing his new friend fall, Malthus lets loose with his full wrath at the creature.


Attack
[roll0]
Crit Confirm
[roll1]
Damage
[roll2]
CritDam
[roll3]


In his fury, Malthus misses completely

[RoamingSorcerer]

Elly and Stomper run over to aid with the last Gnoll:



[roll1]
Stomper:
[roll2]
(1d6+3

The blood on the scythe drips down, momentarily blinds Stomper. He bucks Elly as she goes to strike the last Gnoll.

[IronRoses]

Ellidine sees Tymor fall, and rushes forward to try and attack the creature that had just knocked out her friend. Running around Tymor so as not to step on him (and flanking leftgnoll the process), she strikes out with her spear.


Attack: [roll0]
Crit: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2]
Crit Damage: [roll3]

[RoamingSorcerer]

The Gnoll attempts to strike the raging man, who it views as the biggest threat.


attack: [roll0]
damage: [roll1]

Malthus is gashed across his left arm. He is bleeding a moderate amount.

[MadMax]

Once more, blind to the pain of the beast's axe blow, Malthus strikes out with his blade!


Attk
[roll0]
crit
[roll1]
Dam
[roll2]
CritDam
[roll3]


Once more, he misses.

[RoamingSorcerer]

[roll0]
[roll1]
Stomper:
[roll2]
[roll3]

Elly and Stomper, together, are able to kill the remaining Gnoll. Elly fells him with the scythe and Stomper rips out his throat.


All characters gain 150 XP for this encounter

Please maintain initiative order for what you wish to do until the next fight.

[IronRoses]

Elli sees the beast fall, and immediately falls to Tymor's side. She places her hands on his wounds to try and stop the bleeding.


Heal: [roll0]

[RoamingSorcerer]

Tymor is awake but immoble

[hannahbbug3]

Tymor looks up at the sky. Well, this is rather the good first impression.

[MadMax]

With the beast dead, Malthus relaxes and lets his rage leave him.
Looking down he notices his wounds, turning to his comrades he says,
"If you have any other healing, it would be greatly appreciated"

[MadMax]

search check
[roll0]
With that he begins to look over the bodies.

[MadMax]

Search Check!!!
[roll0]

Malthus collects what he finds.

[RoamingSorcerer]

Malthus looks over the body of Leftgnoll. Other than the now damaged Leather armor, he is able to find a Heavy Wooden shield (round), a moderately well made handaxe, and various pouches that contain 17 silver, 3 gold, and a small collection of meat.

Rightgnoll also has damaged leather armor, a round heavy wooden shield, handaxe. He has pouches with 10 silver, 5 gold, and a small collection of meat.

Malthus goes over to where the Gnolls were waiting.There is a small pile of gold (87 total) at each waiting spot. Apparently the Gnolls were counting it to stave off boredom. There is also two jugs of hard alcohol, both half empty, that the Gnolls were drinking. The jugs are marked with the sign of the Milton Brewing Company.

And with that, the session will end for now. See you guys next Saturday, here's hoping the next one will go a little quicker. Hope you enjoyed it.

[heyshowtune]

Elly wipes her scythe on the grass, then dismounts. She pets Stomper's blood-covered head with her equally blood-covered hand.

"Good boy," she says. Stomper pants happily. With that done, Elly goes over to Tymor and kneels, then casts Cure Minor Wounds on him.

[IronRoses]

Displeased with the fact that Tymor still seems incapable of real movement, Elli furrows her brow and tries to heal him more. Unfortunately, her reserves seem to have run dry, so she is only able to Cure Minor Wounds.

Tymor is healed for 1, and is now at 1 health. He should easily be able to stand now.

[RoamingSorcerer]

Tymor's head wound has closed, leaving behind a rather unpleasant horizontal scar on his right temple.

Malthus drags the gold and liquor back to the group (the Gnolls's equipment are still on their bodies). He seems rather pleased with himself before a dainty puff of rainbow smoke emits from his right shoulder. The smoke wafts to his face. He unceremoniously drops his sword and falls to the ground.

Simultaneously, a puff of rainbow smoke hits Tymor in the face as well. The dwarf falls to the ground as he is attempting to get up.


The party has to claim ("we take X") whatever loot I describe to hold it. No one has, yet, claimed the loot from the battle. At the end of each session, I will compile a "Loot" spoiler that the party will split OOC.

[IronRoses]

Elli darts over to Malthus as he falls to the ground, pumping out more of her bare-minimum healing in an effort to be useful.

Malthus is healed for 1 hp.

[RoamingSorcerer]

Malthus is healed slightly but still unconscious. You see a small rainbow colored beetle on his shoulder. If you have ranks in Knowledge Nature, you may make a check.

A heal check will provide more information about his condition.

[IronRoses]

Heal check:
[roll0]

[RoamingSorcerer]

Malthus is unconscious due to a poison or toxin. Based on the rainbow colored puff you saw earlier, as well as the rainbow colored bug, you may deduce that this... thing knocked him out. Only time will tell when he is able to recover.

[IronRoses]

Elli sweats nervously, and looks around for any other threats, attempting to pull her friends into the shade or the shadows so that they may hide.

[roll0]

[RoamingSorcerer]

Elly and Stomper help you, and you drag Malthus and Tymor over into the grass, 5 feet from the path. This takes you both around 7 minutes. Nothing is around you.

[IronRoses]

Satisfied that the two unconscious are safe for now, Elli remembers that there is still a fire burning ahead. She hurries ahead to see what she can see or hear, trying her best to also be stealthy this time.

Move Silently: [roll0]
Listen: [roll1]
Spot: [roll2]

[RoamingSorcerer]

Elly volunteers to stay behind and guard the others.

You make it to the Brewery in 10 minutes (trying to move silently slows you down).

The bonfire is behind the building, and you see nothing out front. No cart, no people, nothing.

You smell burning flesh, however. You also hear, faintly, a rapid guttural language coming from the bonfire area.

The entrance to the building has been boarded up hastily. There are no windows. The grass is high around forty feet away from the Brewery walls. You can attempt to sneak to the back of the brewery with no limitations.

[IronRoses]

Elli sneaks slowly around to the back of the brewery, listening and looking around carefully as she goes.

[RoamingSorcerer]

You slowly make your way to the back. The sounds become louder, and you see a horrifying sight.

There are three hyena creatures sitting around a massive bonfire, cooking what appears to be two sets of ribs bones, humanoid. Tied to a thick wooden pillar are six human males and one human female. They are gagged with cloth. Off to the side, around twenty feet away, are the hacked limbs and flesh of two humanoids.

Away from the other gnolls is a greying male gnoll with thick hide armor. He is sitting on a beer barrel with a quarterstaff, covered in dried blood, held loosely like a scepter. The barrel is against the brewery wall. His eyes are closed. He seems majestic, in a weird way.

[IronRoses]

Elli has seen a lot of things in her travels, but this is likely the worst. Her eyes widen, and she quietly backs away. After seeing what just two did to her friends, she decides it wouldn't be wise to try and take on four alone. She looks around to make sure she remembers the area and if there might be a way to sneak near the humans to untie them later.

After backing away, she runs as fast as she can back to where Elly is waiting.

[IronRoses]

Gasping for breath, Elli attempts to recount what she saw to Elly. An idea dawns on her, as she stares at Stomper and the wild gnome.

"Wait... you two are fast, right? ...Ok, I have an idea. You need to draw them away from the humans just long enough for me to cut as many of them down as I can. You're covered in blood. Perfect! They'll love you. All you have to do is run. And, uh, hope they can't use magic. What do you say??"

[heyshowtune]

Elly, meanwhile, has been cleaning blood from herself...or trying to. She hasn't been very successful. Stomper's got plenty on him, too, but he's been licking it off his front paws and making decent headway, so she's not worried about his cleanliness. She looks down at her own armor and sighs in disgust, glancing ruefully at the two unconscious bodies she's hidden in the grass. They don't have any blood on them...

The grass rustles. Elly perks up, as does Stomper, then calms when Elli emerges.

"What news?" Elly asks, glancing toward the faraway smoke.

[heyshowtune]

Elly closed her mouth slowly as Elli steamrolled right over her, raising one eyebrow slowly as the Halfling explained her plan.

"I...suppose that could work," Elly said slowly, after a brief pause. Assuming they chased her...

Her eyes drifted towards the headless bodies of the Gnolls. That...that could work. After a brief moment's consideration, she walked over to the bodies, grasped one of the heads by the longer fur between its ears, and mounted Stomper, drawing her scythe.

"Let's go," she said to Elli, the dead Gnoll's head dangling from her bloody hand.

[IronRoses]

Elli stared at Elly as she grabbed the gnoll's head, and then, in spite of everything, just started giggling.

"Wow, ok. Perfect. But, wait until I am in place to draw them out. I won't be able to get there as quickly as you."

And with that, she started running again towards the fire.

[RoamingSorcerer]

Ellidine is able to get into position fairly easily. The three younger gnolls are quite loud.

Elly sees the scene from the grass. The older gnoll seems to be a tad displeased with the noise. His left ear twitches, and his tail (grey at the tip) begins tapping against the barrel.

[heyshowtune]

Elly waited until she knew Elli was in hiding, glancing towards the patch of grass where she knew her friend was concealed. She'd put away her scythe, and now, she leaned forward, grasped Stomper's reigns, and braced herself. What a hare-brained plan.

She and Stomper burst into the clearing. Without wasting any time, Elly flung the head down, glanced at the leader in a way she hoped seemed imperious, and booked it.

Now, she thought to herself as the wind streamed through her hair, it was Elli's turn.

[RoamingSorcerer]

The three gnolls begin yelping their strange language, staring at the head and then begin running after Ellywick.

Opening his left eye, the Grey gnoll looks down at the head without showing emotion. In a deep, James Earl Jones-like voice he speaks to the others in their language.

The three stop, look angrily towards Elly, and then begin heading towards the captured humans. The cut three of them (one light skinned male, one dark skinned male, and the light skinned female) and tie them to stakes in the ground around the bonfire. They push them down to the ground and the Grey gnoll speaks in Common with his deep, powerful voice:

"Stand up and calmly look towards me. Face away from the grass, and you will not be harmed. If you fidget or try to escape, I will personally kill each of your remaining cohorts one limb at a time. Mumble if you understand me"

They each do as he says, mumbling while they stand and face him.

[RoamingSorcerer]

"Show yourselves!" the old Gnoll yells in common.

[IronRoses]

Elli remains as still as possible, though glaring at the old gnoll who has ruined her plan.

He did say that the humans would not be harmed. Perhaps if he became convinced that the gnome had been alone, he will stick to that. And besides, there wasn't much else she could do.

And so she waited. Elli hates waiting.

[heyshowtune]

For several seconds, no sound but the wind comes from where Elly disappeared into the grass.

Finally, without a single word, the second Gnoll's head arcs out from within the shelter of the grass and flies towards the leader.

[RoamingSorcerer]

The Grey Gnoll walks towards the heads, picks up both of them, and carries them over to the back door of the Brewery. He opens it, revealing to Ellidine a wagon that the group was, presumably, supposed to be taking to the caravan. It is filled with barrels. The Grey Gnoll kisses the forehead of each head, and lowers them into the wagon. He closes the door.

The three younger Gnolls yell in their language towards where the head was tossed from. One has his bow drawn, the other two are wielding shields and handaxes.

The Grey Gnoll speaks calmly to them in their language.

He then says, in common: "Come out. We have no quarrel yet."

[IronRoses]

Elli musters all of her strength, closes her eyes, and says a quick prayer to Fharlanghn. She opens her eyes, emerges from the grass, and looks the gnoll leader straight in the eye.

"Hail, gnolls. I come as an emissary from my group. I apologize for the threats of earlier, but we had hoped to avoid further unnecessary conflict with your people. Your brothers saw fit to attack us on the road, as we were hurrying towards this fire. You see, we are a group sent to keep peace. And what I see here is not peaceful. I understand that your people must eat to survive. But surely you can understand then, that my group cannot leave these humans to die. Our numbers are greater than yours," Elli said, conveniently not mentioning that two of her friends were unconscious, "but we wish to resolve this peacefully. As it seems that you have already had quite a meal here, these humans appear to be your excess. What would lead to their safe release?"

[roll0]

Elli is unsure where this enormous show of bravery is coming from, but she hopes that she can keep it up.

[IronRoses]

To cover any potential bluff-bases:
[roll0]

[RoamingSorcerer]

The Gnoll with the bow pulls it back a little further, and the other's seem a moment away from pouncing...

But they do not.

The Grey gnoll, whose head was turned towards Elly, seems a little surprised at your appearance, Elli. He takes a moment to think over what you said, and seems to smile.

"Good morning she-halfling. I am Akira of the Akine Tribe. I hope your morning was pleasant.

In response to your statement: these are not food, these are slaves. The two men we killed were older, and would not have been adequate labor for our tribe. The Gnoll you see before you are runts, and these are their first slaves. I am simply here to provide guidance. It is not within my power to take from them what they properly claimed. It would be wrong, furthermore, for me to interfere in their right of passage.

However, you and your 'cohorts' (he smiles diabolically as he says this) did slay Takashi and Masanori. You are entitled to the three slaves that they claimed. Those slaves are currently before you, as I imagined they both had died.

In addition, we were going to leave this place later today. You may take whatever we cannot carry with us. In this, I offer freely from my own claim.

These terms are the most I can offer you. Should you decline, we will have conflict. What say you?"

[IronRoses]

Elli quietly contemplated whether it was preferable to be eaten by a gnoll, or taken as a gnoll's slave, but realized that she did not have much time to decide. Nor did she really have any bargaining chips left.

"That does seem reasonable, as you say these others are not to be eaten, and as you are clearing out of this area. Very well. I accept your terms. Send them towards my other friends." She indicated towards where the head had been thrown from.
"But I do wish to know, if you do not mind my asking, what kind of life does one of your slaves lead? Are they beaten often, or are they treated well to keep them in good condition?"

[RoamingSorcerer]

Akira speaks to one of the Gnoll's with an axe drawn. The Gnoll looks incredulous, but goes over to the dark-skinned man. He cuts the rope binding him, and the man walks over to the grass where Akira is pointing. Tears are flowing down his face.

"The first slave of a Gnoll is special. They often reside in the home, and help the Gnoll dawn their armor and sharpen their weapons."

The Gnoll-runt goes over to the light-skinned man. He too shuffles over to the grass, overcome with emotion.

"If a slave does not follow instructions, they are beaten to within an inch of their life for the first offense."

The female is freed. She stands in place, staring at the group of slaves remaining. Slowly she turns, head down, and sobs uncontrollably while she walks towards the grass.

"After the second offense, the slave is skinned alive in front of the tribe and the other slaves. After the slave dies, we starve the other slaves for around two to three weeks. Then, we feed them the flesh of their fellow slave so that they may know the gravity of disobedience. Slaves who become too ill or old are killed quickly and fed to the family that owned them."

[IronRoses]

Elli was almost sorry that she had asked. But she felt she had to stall and make sure that the humans were safely away from the immediate reach of the gnolls. She paused for a moment, attempting to steel her reaction.

"Oh, well then! It sounds like that is a very efficient system for keeping them in line. I guess these guys better be on their best behavior. I am pleased we were able to reach a more peaceful conclusion to this encounter. Best of luck to each of you." Though this last comment is definitely meant towards the humans and not towards the gnolls, she is hoping that they will not notice. She nods firmly towards the older gnoll, and then slips into the grass after the humans.

[RoamingSorcerer]

The two Ells get 125 xp each for rescuing three of the slaves.

[RoamingSorcerer]

The younger gnolls seem angry at the sight of the halfling leaving. They turn to the Grey Gnoll and begin speaking in an accusatory tone. He waves his hand, and begins a longwinded explanation. He and the other Gnoll show no signs of following Ellidine.

[IronRoses]

Elli walks with the humans, attempting to comfort the female. As soon as they are out of sight of the gnolls, and it becomes apparent they will not be followed, she collapses to the ground momentarily and breathes a huge sigh of relief.

"Let's.... never do that again."

She gets up and continues heading back towards their unconscious friends.

[heyshowtune]

Elly continues watching them. She wants to see what they'll do, if they'll leave.

[RoamingSorcerer]

Thirty minutes after Elli left with the slaves, the Gnoll are getting ready to leave. They place the heads in sacks and begin trudging the slaves to the north, towards their tribe. Akira is the last to leave, and takes the rear. Right before he enters the grass, an arrow with a gold band around the middle flies and strikes his neck. He falls, slain instantly. A young man in studded leather armor watches on as the Gnoll runts fail to perceive that Akira no longer walks with them.

[heyshowtune]

Elly saw. Stomper saw. She and Stomper come skidding out of the grass into the clearing where the party is gathered.

"Someone shot the old one," Elly says without any ceremony.

[IronRoses]

Elli had really just sat down when Elly and Stomper came thundering in.

"You're kidding. That means we have additional allies? We may be able to take on the little ones and save their friends after all! I'm still completely drained, but I can stab 'em with the pointy end." She stood and brandished her spear. As an after-thought, she went to check on the two unconscious one last time to see if they might be waking, or if she could further secure them before they left them again.

[MadMax]

"Where am I? What's going on?"

Gurgled Malthus as consciousness began to return to him.

[IronRoses]

"Too much to explain. We have to go kill some gnoll children to save some humans. You up for it, or do you need to stay here?"

[heyshowtune]

"We found more Gnolls," Elly says to Malthus, looking off in the direction of the brewery. "They took the humans as slaves. Someone just killed their leader."

[MadMax]

"Let's get to it then."

[rs2excelsior]

Separate from the party, Alegas smiles grimly at the shot. He waits several moments to make sure the other gnolls have taken no notice of the death of that big grey one, then carefully knocks and draws another arrow, sighting in on the gnoll now at the back of the group.

I figure this is the most logical next step, although if you want they can just go out of sight, or make it so that I can't just snipe one without the others seeing)

[RoamingSorcerer]

For Aelgas: the grass provides cover. Akira's head was recovered quickly, after around a minute. Then, the Gnolls hurried on back to the tribe (due north). You will see the party arrive.


The Gnolls could not be found. The head of Akira was gone when the group made the five minute trot back to the Brewery. For all their searching, the group could not find the Gnolls. In the sea of grass, they were simply too hard to find.

The wagon was there, though.

[RoamingSorcerer]

The party is able to push the wagon, with the rescued people, back to Jingo. It takes four hours. Upon making your way to the caravan, you discover Groff waiting for you. He seems pleased you made it, at first, before becoming horrified to discover that 6 workers were either eaten or made slaves. The female, Justina, sobs onto his abdomen as she tells him that they took "Gregory," who you have determined to be her husband. Groff hands a fancy letter to the group and then goes off to tell the Baron and Milton about the attack.

The party is paid 10 gold per person before he leaves.



The Charter of the Portly Bluebird Guild
Composed by Groff the Educated

We the Undersigned agree to join in partnership together and form a Guild. This Guild exists for the purposes of Mercenary Work as defined by the Redford Economic Cooperative Regulations Title 4, Section 3, Subsection d (4 E.C.R. (4 E.C.R. § 3(d)). We agree to abide by all such regulations as required by law. We agree to limit our services to those that are supportive or benign to the rulers of Redford and acknowledge that any act taken against the Redford Emperor is Treason and waive all defenses to the prosecution of such crime.

We the Undersigned agree to split evenly all bounties, ransoms, rewards, sales, tokens, and other forms of income between all members of the Guild that aided in the creation of said income.
We the Undersigned agree to evenly pay all costs associated with healthcare incurred during the completion of Guild activities.
We the Undersigned agree that any new member shall be voted in by unanimous consent by all current members.
We the Undersigned agree that any current member shall be expelled from the Guild should any member steal from, assault, or batter another member. They shall not be entitled to any unpaid fees they earned when they shall be expelled.
We the Undersigned agree that this Guild shall be called the Portly Bluebird Mercenary Guild and shall be headquartered in the town of Jingo until such time that necessitates a move.
We the Undersigned agree that though legal work will be accepted, any member of the Guild may choose to decline work for any reason.

Signed,
Groff Nomansson, the Educated.
______________________
______________________
______________________
______________________
______________________
 

[heyshowtune]

"...Groff," Elly begins, staring at the contract with disgust, "this is a stupid name, even for you." Insults aside, everything seems reasonable, so she scrawls her name on a line. Stomper dips his paw carefully in ink, and places a surprisingly neat pawprint by Elly's signature.

[MadMax]

" I quite like it, with any luck, by the end of these ventures we'll all be portly bluebirds." Smiled Malthus as he took a bite of the meat he found by the Gnolls' liquor.
"Can you sign for me, Groff?"

[IronRoses]

"Don't worry, I would be happy to sign for you. Just place your hand on mine as I write and that will be close enough. We have witnesses who can say you tried."

Elli signs for herself, and then for Malthus. She then takes a step back to further reflect on how she came face-to-face with evil, talking hyenas and lived. She wonders if she will be haunted forever, knowing that she let gnolls take off with 4 human slaves without a fight. Eh, maybe. She tries not to dwell on it.

[MadMax]

"Thanks Elli!"

[rs2excelsior]

Aelgas sights carefully along the arrow, waiting for a clear shot. He is just about to let it fly when the gnolls disappeared into the tall grass, along with their slaves. Grimacing, he returned his arrow to its quiver. He recovered the head of the leader and searched around for traces of the gnolls, but found none. Suddenly, Aelgas hears several people approaching and swiftly takes cover in the grass. He sees a strange group approaching--they seem to also be tracking the gnolls. Quickly sizing up the situation, Aelgas stands up and introduces himself.

"Hello, friends! Were you tracking a party of gnolls that came through here? I killed their leader, but couldn't get the rest of them. They headed that way," he waves vaguely in the direction the gnolls went, "but I doubt we will be able to find them now. What brings you all here?"

---

After deciding to join with this group on their way back to Jingo, Aelgas hears about their plans to start a guild and eagerly offers his services as, in his words, "a burglar, or a professional treasure hunter, more accurately." He meets Groff and explains where he comes from, and eagerly signs the charter.

[IronRoses]

Groff, having just realized that two of his best friends and coworkers were eaten by gnolls, and that 4 other coworkers (including the husband of the woman who is sobbing on his abdomen), is in a state of shock. When he handed the letter to Ellywick, he muttered, "I've got to go." He then went to speak, as the DM stated before, to the Baron and his boss. He does not hear you or watch you sign it. He is not there. Again, several of his best friends were just eaten or captured by gnolls. The guild, for the rest of the day, is no longer a priority. He will discuss it with you, the party, at some point in the future.

[MadMax]

After his mark has been added to the charter, Malthus sets out to find somewhere to sell the belongings of the - now deceased - gnolls, as well as his old shortbow and shield.

[RoamingSorcerer]

Malthus is right by other caravan wagons, so the search is over quickly. The armor is deemed worthless, save for scraps, but the handaxes and shields are exotic enough to find a noble collector. The caravan driver offers you 3 gold for the lot.

[MadMax]

Malthus attempts to bargain for 6 gold, and also inquires as to the worth of his own shield and shortbow.

[RoamingSorcerer]

Roll a diplomacy check



[roll0]

[MadMax]

Diplomacy Roll

[roll0]

[RoamingSorcerer]

The caravan driver keeps a still face... Before bursting out in laughter.

"You are one cocky Sonnofabitch! Hell's, you remind me of a younger, uglier me! I'll give you 14 gold for the lot. It was worth the laugh."

[MadMax]

"That's a deal!"

Malthus takes the money and jogs off back to Fiora's inn.

[RoamingSorcerer]

Fiora is now dancing with a Gnome suitor when you enter the tavern. When you sit down, a fair-headed, button-nosed waitress (the other is dark complected) comes over with a roasted rabbit. Her name is Jayna and she started working at the tavern around when you arrived in Jingo. The rabbit is cold, but given that you caught it, was clearly prepared with care a few hours after you left.

"On the house, sweetheart." She says with a warm smile. The waitress taps you on the shoulder while walking past you.

[MadMax]

"Thank ya kindly!" With that, Malthus began digging into the rabbit, thinking about his odds of winning the auction for Abandoned Shack #3.

[RoamingSorcerer]

Given that no one other than Malthus in a PM expressed any interest in loot, here are the following monetary rewards for this session:
Aelgas: 10 gold. Your arrow was taken with the head of Akira.
Ellidine: 10 gold.
Ellywick/Stomper: 10 gold.
Groff: 0 gold.
Tymor: 10 gold and one bad headache.
Malthus: 111 gold, 7 silver pieces, (unknown to him) human flesh, and half a bottle of whiskey.

[RoamingSorcerer]

Malthus, with more wealth than he had seen in his entire life, bought a foreclosed home – abandoned Shack no. 3 – for the low price of 60 gold the next day. Upon seeing the size of the home, he quickly offered his new guildmates lodging. Malthus was reimbursed 50 gold for opening his home up to the Guild. Now, The Bluebird's Perch, houses most of the guild members and has a quaint little mailbox where people can submit requests for guild work.

Aelgas Gnollslayer, as he is called by the guild, quickly fit in. His love of the outdoors and general badassery with a bow was well received by everyone but Tymor, who was quick to say: "Wait, do we really need another member?" In time, even Tymor became impressed with Aelgas's marksmanship.

Thus began the Portly Bluebird Mercenary Guild. Tymor and Groff’s calculations were indeed correct: the payday from one week of mercenary work was worth more than an entire year’s wages. Even when split, the money quickly elevated all members of the guild to newer and wealthier heights.


For the next 78 days, the guild toiled for the three of the four noble families of Jingo: Farnsworth, Moore, and Renhart. The guild protected a mining expedition for the Renharts (they discovered small iron deposits, but nothing of real value); for the Moores, the guild captured 6 wild horses, tracked and hired an acting troupe for Deborah Moore’s 53rd birthday, and attempted (unsuccessfully) to teach Erethorn Moore (male, age eight) magic (Tymor refuses to discuss this sad and frustrating chapter of his life); the Farnsworth family, as Barons of Jingo, used the guild to investigate the proximity of the Gnoll tribe that attacked the brewery. The investigation was largely unsuccessful, causing Baron Farnsworth to redact his payment. This was the only blight on the guild’s young record.

The guild also did significant work for the merchant class of Jingo: Angelica’s Remedies hired Ellywick and Aelgas to procure a rare stone necessary to complete an important elixir. Ellywick tracked down the required Albino Bison and Aelgas harvested more than enough kidney stones. Angelica gave Ellywick a two Potions of Blur and gave Aelgas two Potions of Alter Self as payment.

Fiora Wittlebane hired Malthus and Elli to track down a waterclock repairman who failed to repair her clock. After a grueling fourteen day investigation in Redford, the repairman was found and “handled” (i.e. returned her money and added some for punitive damages). Fiora was pleased to see her 27 gold returned and even more pleased to see 238 gold given for her trouble. She had two random rings that were left behind by a couple caravan drivers that she never bothered to have identified and gave one each to Malthus and Elli. They are still unidentified.

Kirk Hineman, owner and operator of Kirk’s General Store, feared for his family’s safety after the Brewery attack. He hired Groff and Tymor to find a buyer for his store so that he and his family could leave for Redford. Though Tymor complained incessantly, both he and Groff found a respectable young Gnome, Blastick, from the City state of Duranda who agreed to buy the store for a reasonable sum of money. While protecting Blastick en route to Jingo, Groff and Tymor looted an amulet from a bandit who tried to attack the group. Though Groff killed the bandit, Groff lost the rock-paper-scissors game on who got the amulet. The amulet has not been identified.

Groff, on day 78, was wondering the streets of Jingo at night, stargazing, when he came across a sight that made him angry. A couple of Elven guards had found a young Half-Orc female who wandered into town and were attempting to kill her. Groff responded by doubling in size, broke one of the guard’s legs with his Morningstar, and scared them off. The young Half-Orc’s name was Ovak (age 13), and she had recently wandered into town in order to scavenge for food. Groff decided to take Ovak in and teach her some respectable skills. Unfortunately for the sorcerer-pretending-to-be-a-wizard, Ovak now assumes that Groff will teach her wizardry. Groff has yet to think of a way to get out of this conundrum.


Ovak is an thirteen year old Half-Orc female. She has 1 level of commoner, and no skills or feats. Her stats are the base for a thirty-point-buy (which is 10, 8, 8, 8, 8, 6 with Charisma being randomly assigned her negative modifier – per the houserule on Half-Orc stats). Her “points” will be assigned based on how the PCs interact with her. Her class will be chosen based on what skills and abilities Groff and the others teach her. When Groff later takes the Leadership feat, she will become his cohort and her character will be finalized.

It should also be noted that during this time Malthus and Groff entered into an agreement: Malthus agreed to teach Groff some basic fighting techniques, including how to wear armor, while Groff began the herculean task of teaching Malthus to read and write Common.

On the seventy-ninth day, the Portly Bluebird received two letters. One came from Baron Farnsworth's son, Fensworth. He is the captain of the guard in Jingo. The other came from the Calico family, the fourth (and poorest) noble family of Jingo.


To the Guildmasters of the Portly Bluebird Mercenary Guild,

I must first apologize for the behavior of my guards yesterday. Please understand that not all Elves behave that way towards civilian Orcs, and we are handling their punishment internally.

Now on to the matter at hand: thank you for your work attempting to track the Akine tribe down earlier. Though my father did not appreciate your efforts, I did. In my spare time I have been scouring the to the Northwest attempting to find them. I have not succeeded.

Yesterday, though, something strange has happened. Six of the seven wells in town were poisoned when someone cut the throats of hogs and dumped their bodies into the wells. This occurred last night and no witnesses are available. I have twenty guards guarding the last well non-stop, as we are very close to having no fresh water for the entire town. I suspect the Gnolls might be involved.

I would like your guild to guard a water caravan that will head towards Link Pond tomorrow. I think an ambush will occur, and this is precisely the lead we need. For your aid with this caravan, I shall personally pay you 20 gold pieces. Should you be ambushed and find information on who has sabotaged our wells, I will pay a bounty of 50 gold per captured individual.

Please inform me as soon as possible if you would accept.

Your grateful Captain,

Fensworth


To the Guildmasters of the Portly Bluebird Mercenary Guild,

Hello and good day. I am the chamberlain of the Calico family. My lord, Francis Calico, has need of your services. His second son, Jasper, has recently come of age. Master Calico desires his son be sent to Khu’ Berat so that he might learn a useful profession befitting someone of his station. In exchange for protecting master Jasper en route to Khu’ Berat, my lord is prepared to offer a – non-negotiable – sum of 700 gold pieces. Two hundred shall be paid up front, with the remaining 500 offered once you return with a certificate of enrollment offered by the Headmaster.

Once you have determined whether you shall accept this bid, please inform me of your decision.

Thank you for your time,

Stonehouse, chamberlain of the Calico family.


The guild agrees that Aelgas, Ellywick, and Tymor should respond to Fensworth while Ellidine, Groff, and Malthus respond to the Calico family.


And that is the intro! Hope you all enjoyed it. Since we will be splitting into two groups, we should probably create two new threads. Next week, I will DM the Jingo adventure while MadMax takes Ironroses and me to Khu'Berat. We will reevaluate groups depending on how the plots shake out.

[RoamingSorcerer]

The following characters have gotten the following gold as profit from their jobs over the past 78 days (discrepancies are due to differing jobs and various personal expenses):
Aelgas: [roll0]
Ellidine: [roll1]
Ellywick: [roll2]
Groff: [roll3]
Malthus: [roll4]
Tymor: [roll5]

Each character receives 3000 XP for their adventures
XP totals should be:
Aelgas: 3000
Elli: 3275
Elly: 3275
Groff: 3000
Malthus: 3150
Tymor: 3150