[IC] Obligations of Blood

[sarge67]

Three months ago, a scribe delivered a letter to your parents from a Headman Korvain Bearclaw Greeting my dear *Brother, Sister, Son, Daughter, Grandchild, Nephew, or Niece*, it is I Korvain. I know it has been a long time and after this letter it shall be even longer. I am at the end of my life's journey and calling out to you to provide one final boon upon my death.

I grant you and your kin three settlements, they are yours to rule over as lords, receive taxes, and grant you each a minor rank of nobility. The settlements of Sudak, Kerch, and Derbent are found along the ridges of Mount Shkhara. All of the settlements are about two days journey from each other and each has access to fresh water flowing from the mountains into the nearby rivers of the Olba and Irgoth.

I do regret not keeping in contact in the past and hope that you accept this offer. Korvain Bearclaw **A melted wax symbol of a bearclaw**.

The local lord was notified of this letter and granted your family 4 Oxen, 2 Wagons, and 130 GP to begin your journey. He informs the family that the can not remain on his lands because they are now nobles. (You can describe family if you want and they can be used as henchmen to help with tasks)

Your family have traveled for two months now, but finally you are within 5 miles of the first settlement of Sudak. It is the middle of the afternoon in late autumn and the surrounding area is mushy and muddy from the recent rains. Though you can enjoy the aroma of the season's last flowers blooming at the moment, soon enough the last traces of nature will be gone for several months. It will take you another four to six hours to arrive at the settlement because Oxen don't move fast. If you choose to continue, it will be dark upon your arrival or you can choose to camp one last evening and arrive in the morning.

ADDED INFO: About a month ago, your family came across three other family groups with the same letter (relationship part is different) and heading to the same location. For the past month you have worked together in finally arriving to the area. ((Next Post will describe first Village))

[sarge67]

Approaching the village of Sudak, you see eight straw and mud huts with holes in the straw roofs. The fields around these huts appear good for agriculture, but require plowing and actual preparation. There are about five citizens meandering near the forest while about a dozen kids ages ranging from 4 to 12 are running around playing tag with two dogs.

The roads are mushy and very muddy so the grassy areas need closer inspection to determine whether the ground is marsh and swampy or suitable for planting. Further out is a thick wood-line to the south of the settlement, low mountain ridges north of the settlement run in a northwestern direction. The sounds of a creek in the eastern boundary can be heard, but closer inspection would be required to determine suitability. About two dozen cows lounged around the fields while a large bull stood guard over his harem.

Approaching the settlement you see patches of dead grass smothered by waste and mud. Farm animals are walking the streets openly and fighting for buckets of rotten food dumped into the streets. The foul odor of feces is overpowering. The only buildings in the village that are kept in a clean state outside are the stables, blacksmith, and the mead hall. The tailor and cobbler shops are made of wattle and daub, but are in disrepair. The doors are off the hinges and leaning against the front wall of the house.

The trades people were leisurely going about their business while peasants were collecting eggs. One child was being chased by an angry rooster through the sewage filled street The wicker fencing to keep the settlement's pigs in has fallen over and is clearly not strong enough to stop a newborn lamb much less large hogs. The large size of the town's hogs was stunning, it would be monumental to find similar size. The biggest of the hogs were three about the size of a small cow.

The only two story wood built building outside of the mead-hall. A sign hanging over the front door with the painted picture of a goblet. The smell of vomit and cheap ale, the muffled noises of drunks too intoxicated to shout. Through an open window the group sees a short round man with thinning hair. If he had pointed ears he'd compete with the largest hogs in a size contest. He was dressed in a much better quality of clothing than the rags worn by the peasants. At least the smell of the pheasant in the back was inviting, with a female voice singing in the kitchen area.

Behind the mead-hall was an old brick oven, a kiln, and a grain mill. Though they appeared to be functional, it was clear they hadn't been used for years.

The actual Mead-hall was a long building, Goat horn lamps were lined up along the walls of the building, keeping the gathering place lit in a soft light. A throne of red wood with cushions of exotic material was raised above the rest of the communal area. The frame had been hand carved with depictions of battle scenes as a bearded hero fought in each scene. The craftsmanship was stunning and stained in a dark reddish oil.

The communal area had a very long semi-oval table with pull out seats. A large hearth was built within the semi-oval space with several logs piled within a stone crafted pit. The chairs were an assortment of quality, condition, and style. From the original chairs that matched the tables mixed with simple slabs of wood and three carved pegs or a simple bench for two or three people to sit. In the back was a screen separating the community area with the lords living quarters.

[Forsaken]

As the sky grows darker, Arturious looks upon the shabby village of Sudak. Taking a deep breath he sighs. If Korvain, his grandfather focused more on tending his land. This village wouldn’t be in such horrible conditions.

Arturious knowing that this will not be an easy project. Looks towards his kin that he knew less than a month ago. I will be going to the Inn first, then towards the Mead hall to get a rough idea of the land and surroundings. What will you be doing? His eyes sharp. Looks firmly at you. His upright and strong aura clearly shown. His blonde hair and blue eyes have traces of a pure line of nobility. If he wasn’t malnourished due to his humbler upbringing; he would have more of a nobleman vibe, rather then a commoner.

[Twelvetrees]

With the wagons rolling to a stop on the village outskirts, Magda hops clumsily out of the bed of one of the wagons, landing hard. A curse escapes her lips and she looks quickly in in the direction of her aunts, hoping neither of them had heard. Whatever their reaction, she quickly forgets it as she scans over the village, her lip curling in disgust at the smell.

"Going to the mead hall. Going to see if Uncle left us anything. Someone tell people why we're here." Her voice is nasal and grating, like a creaky iron gate.

The wind tosses her cloak about as she walks off to the mead hall, head down and eyes forward. Her mangy cat comes with her, clambering down from the back of one of the oxen.

Anyone familiar with Magda's uncle would have been hard pressed to see the family resemblance. Korvain had been a tall, muscular hero with a magnificent beard, while Magda was a short, scrawny woman with a permanent scowl stamped into her features. They might have caught a hint, however, from her walk. She has a peculiar, rolling stride that sends her swaying from side to side, like a cornstalk in a stiff breeze. Korvain's walk had been similar, if less exaggerated.

She pushes the doors open, grunts at the sight of the throne, then beelines for the screen in the back and begins rummaging through anything she finds, hoping that Korvain had something good in his personal belongings.

[Metastachydium]

Niss follows suit, hopping off the wagon and looks around. Why, this must be the single most impressive heap of dung I've ever seen. What's wrong with these folks? She sighs. Anyhow, I'm with you for now, Art. I think I'm going to have a few words with Grand Master Pighead in there. She puts on her signet ring smiling with poorly concealed self-importance. Meanwhile, try not to pocket anything valuable before I'd catch up, sister! I'd really rather get at least something nice out of this.
With that, she heads for the inn.

[sarge67]

Magda enters the dimly lit hall, walking directly through the distant screen separating the communal area from the private space. A full sized hand carved bed with feather stuffed mattress sat in one corner and a hand crafted table and chair set in a second. The chest at the foot of the bed was left opened with only a goblet, four rings, and about 300 GPs which barely covered the bottom of the chest. On the table are four letters.

Letter 1; From John Steward; I took my pay from the chest for providing services as an advisor to the Headman. (written one week ago)

Letter 2; Letter from the council of Kesk village requesting aid. They are filled with tradesmen, but are too old to perform the labor and things are fallen apart in the village (written three months ago)

Letter 3; Letter from Jarl Orwell the Fair, I passed through your lands in chase of the dastardly criminal Vischkoff the Vain. If you or your representatives do not report to me by (date in one week), I will seize these villages and evict you. It is unacceptable allowing your people to reside in such squalor. (written three weeks ago)

Letter 4; Letter from Jarl Warren Heimolak, It is with sorrow that I hear of your grave illness my old friend as well as the news regarding the loss of your sight. I am sending a team of young ambitious assistants to aid you in the administrative duties required. I send you John Steward to manage the daily affairs, Martha Longshore to aid in accounting and logistics, and Gallen Stonecutter is an engineer. (Letter written five months ago)


The morbidly obese man noticed the two approaching the door. Quickly he grabs two tankards and blows any dust out and wipes them down with his filthy apron. As Arturious enters the tavern and inn, the fat owner pours cheap odorous ale into the cups "Welcome, Welcome" the fat man cheerfully greets "Sit, Sit...Please and I have a free ale for the both of ya." as he rushes to an empty table, brushing his sleeve over the top to clear off the crumbs. He places the two mugs on the table and kicks a bucket half full of vomit to distant wall.

There are three tables in the tavern and a step ladder leading to the second floor. A young dwarf about 60 years old is slumped over his table barely keeping his ale horn balanced between his forehead and the table. A second table has two human males in dark drab green cloaks with hoods silently drinking at a corner. One is boasting a field dressing on his forehead and a splint on his left arm.

[Forsaken]

Arturious seeing the heavy man scrabbling and kicking a bucket of vomit on the wall frowns slightly as the foul smell increase. I am Arturious grandson to Korvain. I’m here to ask about the local situation here. Townfolks, any hostile creatures in the area, how the farming season was held. Crops etc. Any information you have will be greatly appreciated. He says as he sets 5 gold pieces onto the table in front of him ignoring the ale as he wants to keep his head as clear as possible.

Looking towards Niss Anything I missed? he asks to make sure all basis are covered while waiting for the heavy man to catch his breath for answers.

[Metastachydium]

The stench nauseates Niss as she enters the room, but she does her best not to show her disgust.
No need to be so very abrupt, Art. she says, pressing the man's arm gently, before she turns towards Pighead, sitting down with what is intended to be regal simplicity. I'm led to presume you were notified that our arrival was due. I am a niece to the old man. She places her right on the tabletop, showcasing the ring on her index finger, bearing a rudimentary carving of Korvain's bear claw sigil on it. Of course, in case you can answer cousin Arturious's questions, you will have our full gratitude. She pauses, grabbing one of the cups and taking a few sips of the horrible concoction. She closes her eyes for a moment as her stomach turns, but she manages to swallow the liquid. But first, there are a few more pressing issues to discuss. She sits back staring straight into Pighead's broad face with a friendly smile on her own. Most importantly… she bites her upper lips briefly before finishing the sentence. …is Uncle Korvain still among us? If not, well, I'd suppose he must have had a, uh, caretaker of sorts in the village, who oversaw stuff around here. A foreman or deputy or whatever you'd call it. If you could direct us to this person, we could perhaps bother them with our questions, and press them for the details in your stead, first thing tomorrow.

[sarge67]

TAVERN/INN: The puffy jowls of the fat man's cheeks began to bounce with his laughter, his morbid gut shaking "You're talking about John Steward!!" mixed in with his laughter "You're old man died three months ago, Steward took all of Bearclaw's unneeded treasure and vacated the village about three weeks ago." he turns around and heads back to his spot behind the bar.

The half passed out Dwarf rose his head and finished the last swig of ale "He took me tools too. Called dem a drunk fee an now me can't cut them stones. Trouble?? You got plenty here. In the mountains you got Orcs, the hills Goblins, and the forests got bandits. Lot worse the deeper ya get." He scratches his head "Ya think one dem gold coins can get me another ale?"

[Forsaken]

Arturious glancing towards Niss briefly. Then turns his attention back to the fat man then the drunken dwarf afterwards.I can. But I can also do you one better. I have a pick you can have along with a steady source of coin in the future for the items you mine. (items being stone, minerals and materials.) Arturious says while setting his untouched tankard of ale on the dwarf’s table.

Turning his attention towards the cloaked figures in the corner and seeing the field dress he assumes they are combatants of some sort and plans to talk with them after he finishes his business with the dwarf.

[Metastachydium]

Niss exhales loudly and grimaces. Majestic. – she mutters as she stands up. Thank you for your time, gentlemen! She picks up her ale and tosses it in front of the dwarf while drawing near Arturious. Sounds like we were robbed, Art. – she whispers tensely I'll go find Magda and maybe Ulber. I suppose I can trust you to keep pressing them for the odd bit of useful knowledge. She taps the man's back and storms off.

[Mark_Elderfire]

Arriving into the village filled Ulber with much Dread. This is what he and his new family had to work with? Well we had to start somewhere. He sees Niss and Art heading towards the tavern but decides to follow Magda into the mead hall. "Holler if you need anything, we'll do the same." Ulber says to Niss and Art.
________________________

Walking into the mead hall he is amazed at how much better it was compared the rest of the village. Obviously his father did not care that his people lived in squalor so long as he had exotic merchandise in his quarters. Getting Magda's attention Ulber offers a proposition, "I'm no good at pricing items, but there seems to be some pricey items in here. If we need extra gold, which we probably will," eyeing the chest of gold, "We could try to scale down on the fancy stuff."

Ulber then begins reading through the various letters on the table. The one that really catches his eye however is from Jarl Orwell. "Oh my, we only have a week to report to the Jarl before he edicts the village...He's looking for a man named Vischkoff the Vain, you ever heard of him?" He doesn't give Magda much of a chance to answer him though before he's already hastily taking out his writing supplies. He takes a seat at the table and begins writing a diplomatic letter to the Jarl, hoping a raven might be able to get to him in time.

Dear Jarl Orwell the Fair,

On behalf of Korvain Bearclaw (may he rest in peace) and the village of Sudak, I, Ulber Snakewood son of Korvain Bearclaw, would like to inform you that myself and 3 other family members have inherited this estate and are willing to take every precaution to revitalize the squalor our predecessor has left us and your people in. The process will take some time, and I cannot emphasize that more. But with lots of hard work, determination, and fairness I believe we can make this village flourish once more. I will be keeping in touch with you frequently so you may see the growth for yourself. I can only pray that this letter gets to you in time of your specified date as we have just only arrived in Sudak as of writing this letter. In all your fairness I hope you consider the proposal to your liking and allow us the time to heal the wounds that have been caused between our villages.

Sincerely,
xUlber Snakewood, son of Korvain Bearclaw
x______________
x______________
x______________

Once finished he hands the letter to Magda, "It would be more legitimate with separate signatures, so I left a spot for you all to sign."

[Twelvetrees]

Arriving in Sudek

She puts on her signet ring smiling with poorly concealed self-importance. Meanwhile, try not to pocket anything valuable before I'd catch up, sister! I'd really rather get at least something nice out of this.
With that, she heads for the inn.
Magda nods. "I'll grab you something shiny."
____________________________

The Mead Hall
The chest disappoints Magda. Only a bit of gold, a goblet, and four rings, plus some letters. She tosses the letters on the table after looking them over, then focuses on the remaining items in the chest.

Why would this John Steward have left them behind? Was there something special about them? Something bad about them? She begins muttering, still staring at what is left in the chest, her fingers twitching spasmodically.
Casting Detect Magic to scan the goblet and rings for magic auras. Then scanning the rest of the room for anything magical
When Ulber walks in, he finds her still muttering and twitching, eyes slightly crossed. She nods jerkily at his suggestion of potentially selling some of the fancy decorations and shakes her head when asked about Vischkoff the Vain.


Once finished he hands the letter to Magda, "It would be more legitimate with separate signatures, so I left a spot for you all to sign."
It takes Magda a good five minutes to read Ulber's letter and she unconsciously mouths the words the entire time. She signs a messy scrawl at the bottom of the letter, her tongue between her teeth.

"You write pretty good, cousin. I think this guy in charge of the fairgrounds will like that."
____________________________

Back Outside
Magda will bring the letters out for the others to look over. While they do that, she wanders over to the tailor and cobbler shops to peer in the doors, trying to figure out if anyone is still using them.


Letter 1; From John Steward; I took my pay from the chest for providing services as an advisor to the Headman. (written one week ago)

Letter 2; Letter from the council of Kesk village requesting aid. They are filled with tradesmen, but are too old to perform the labor and things are fallen apart in the village (written three months ago)

Letter 3; Letter from Jarl Orwell the Fair, I passed through your lands in chase of the dastardly criminal Vischkoff the Vain. If you or your representatives do not report to me by (date in one week), I will seize these villages and evict you. It is unacceptable allowing your people to reside in such squalor. (written three weeks ago)

Letter 4; Letter from Jarl Warren Heimolak, It is with sorrow that I hear of your grave illness my old friend as well as the news regarding the loss of your sight. I am sending a team of young ambitious assistants to aid you in the administrative duties required. I send you John Steward to manage the daily affairs, Martha Longshore to aid in accounting and logistics, and Gallen Stonecutter is an engineer. (Letter written five months ago)

[Metastachydium]

At around the tavern

Oh. Magda. Niss takes the letters from her sister and looks into them, her face going dark at first, upon reading Steward's note, and then pale as she scans through the one from Jarl Orwell.Holy…
She looks up to see that Magda has already trailed off. She shakes her head slightly, muttering Typical. So typical and she begins to approach the Mead Hall.

Within the lord's quarters

Ulber. Good. I suppose Magda showed you these. She tosses the letters on the table.
[Ulber shows her his draft and stuff?]
Good idea, good idea. she nods twice while reading Ulber's draft. But I'd add a few things to the letter. She begins to size up the room, its furniture and then contents of the chest as she speaks. I'm coming from the tavern. I've had a chat with the inkeeper, the one that looks like a hog. Uncle Korvain's been dead for three months. The letters tell us he went blind months before that, so this friendly fellow, Jarl, uh, Warren sent some handpicked folks to run the villages for him. I don't know about Longshore and Stonecutter, but Steward – he practically ran off and robbed us in the process, taking Uncle Korvain's „unneeded treasure” as Pighead put it, and not just that: he robbed a few villagers as well. She looks up from examining the rings. Now, Orwell was surprised to find squalor 'round here three weeks ago. Who's to say it's not really Steward's fault? He's been running the place for months after your father's death, after all. While he certainly did not build those mounds of mud our smelly peasants live in (I have no idea how these people survive the winters, by the way), the rest should be his doing. At any rate, Uncle Korvain's hardly to blame and even if he is, we have the perfect scapegoat to pin the current, uh, state of affairs on. She pauses. What do you say? Once we include all the details, I'll be happy to sign, and I'll even close it properly: I've got some sealing wax on me, and had this made before we set off. She shows Ulber her bear claw ring, smiling proudly.

I happen to have ranks in Appraise, so here's Niss trying to determine what the stuff in the room (furniture included) is worth:
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[roll6]

[Mark_Elderfire]

Ulber's eyes grow wide with the revelation that his father wasn't just some oppressor of these simple people. "Well thank you Niss for the information. That eases my mind a little. By all means let's make any changes so the one at fault is know to the Jarl. Definitely does not seem like the kind of guy to tick off right now. We'll get Arturious to sign and send it off straight away."
But as Niss presents her signet ring, Ulber's face quickly grows uninterested eyeing the ring and Niss' beaming smile, "I hope you'll excuse me. That crest has grown quite lack luster to me. The only real times I've seen it were either history of Korvain's accomplishments or a letter about how he wouldn't be around yet again."

[sarge67]

The dwarf stumbles for a moment as he stands up and begins walking to Atrurious with a hand of greeting "Name is Gallen, Gallen Stonecutter. Stone Quarry master when I ave me tools an just a drunk when I don't. Dat rat Steward run dis place to da ground. Da few tradesmen dat was here did jobs but werent paid. So dey all up an left. Steward even made dem do stupid jobs instead of things that would elp out round here. Da ones ya see now are da ones dat got no place ta go." shaking his head in pity he holds his hand out to the young warrior.

Of all the remaining items found in the chest, only two coins glinted of having magic. Very weak magic though.

[Twelvetrees]

Outside

Oh. Magda. Niss takes the letters from her sister and looks into them, her face going dark at first, upon reading Steward's note, and then pale as she scans through the one from Jarl Orwell.Holy…
She looks up to see that Magda has already trailed off. She shakes her head slightly, muttering Typical. So typical and she begins to approach the Mead Hall.

At the doorstep of the cobbler's shop, Magda turns back towards her sister and calls "I squinted real hard at the coins in the chest. Two were extra shiny, magic shiny. I set them off to the side."

She turns back to the shops, looking through the cobbler's and tailor's stores to try to figure out when they were last used.

[Forsaken]

Grasping his hand he shakes while replying.”Nice to meet you Gallen Stonecutter. I’m Arturious grandson of the former Korvain. I am not sure what you need to properly do your job if you can write up a note we can try to get you the proper tools. We need all the stone we can get. After my kin and I finish touring the surrounding villages I will set off to gather the needed tools.. He says while getting Gallen his only pickaxe. While keeping a part of his attention to the quite duo in the corner.

[sarge67]

The Dwarf began spouting "Ya know, the pick is just the start for a good stone quarry. Ya need Stone chisels to break them in a specific manner. Then ya need a hatchet for special jobs, ya place it along the score line and the back is tapped with the 3-lb. hammer. Ya need a Rock Hammer, Brick Hammer, Sledge Hammer, nails, Crow bars. Ya know Quarryin aint just smacking rock; its an art form that has to be done just right or ya mess up the whole job. You ever do any rock pickin? Of course you have, you look like a rock quarry man." it was certain, this dwarf loved his craft..and the cheap drink helped him talk endlessly about it.

Continuing to tack on the nails to the shoe, the cobbler glances at Magda's feet "You needing new soles on those shoes? It'll cost ya 2 coppers and about 3 hours. If not, why you botherin an old cobber?" the cobbler was an older man in his fifties and balding along the crown and front of his head. The sides were short and gray connecting to a short well trimmed beard. He wasn't overly heavyset, just a pudge of belly fat. He wore an old faded gray tunic with a dark reddish brown apron and dark ash colored trousers. The best thing on the man were a pair of well made leather shoes.

The shop had several tacking hammers of different sizes hanging on the wall. The shelves were covered with awls, various sized knives, spools of thread, needles, and bottles of dyes. There were two buckets, one for cut pieces of leather and the other stored wooden lasts. a shoe stand was mounted on a stand in front of an old wooden stool. Two lanterns hung in the corner over the table. In the back was a wood burning stove, a single old bed with a straw mattress. On a footlocker, sat two plates, two tin cups, an iron pot, and a set of wooden utensils. Ten clay jars sat on a second set of shelves. The straw roof had holes in it where straw had collected too much water and collapsed into the living area.

[Metastachydium]

The smile disappears from Niss's face. I didn't mean to… I was, well, I was just thinking Orwell might care about these, uh, formalities or… But never mind. I'm sorry. I didn't know. She quickly pockets her ring, returns to examining their newfound „riches” and firming her voice, she changes the subject. Could you perhaps finalize the letter, while I go through these? I'd like to know how much money, exactly, are we sitting on. She fishes the two coins Magda mentioned out of the chest and places them on the table, next to the letters. And make sure to keep an eye on these shinies. Magda says they are magic stuff. She turns back to the chest agian, avoiding Ulber's eyes. Once we're done here, I recommend that we go catch up with Art in the tavern. He has to sign the letter, and I'd have a few more questions for Pighead about this Martha Longshore. I'd love to take a look at her logbooks if they are available.

[Twelvetrees]

Cobbler's Shop

Magda thinks over the cobbler's question and comes to a decision. "Boots. I want winter boots. Do you make boots?"

She places three silver pieces in front of him regardless of his response, clearly intent on getting boots from him. "Where's your leather come from?"


Tailor's Shop

After her business with the cobbler, Magda ambles over to the tailor's shop to see if it is occupied.

[Forsaken]

Listening patiently and clearly hearing that this dwarf knows his business he calmly raises his hand. I see. Gallen I’ll do my best to try and acquire the items you need. I would like you to prepare as much as you can beforehand. If there is anything else you need please tell me again after I finish my tour around the surround villages. Then we can get this started. . After politely wrapping up the conversation with the dwarf he walks towards the two in the corner.

Hello there. My name is Arturious. Might I inquire who you two might be and if your apart of this village? He is trying to see if there apart of the town maybe guards. He wants some of there basic info name and maybe occupation. Due to how they look Arturious is unsure if they are related to this village so being a tad cautious due to his minor suspicions.

[sarge67]

The old man looked up at Magda "I certainly do know how to make winter boots. Too bad the only material I have is old leather scraps to make them with. Dat Bastad Stewad took all my best rolls of leather and hides callin them taxes." He quickly ushers the young lady into his shop offering her the chair "First I gotta measure your feet, now how high do you want them to go? Do you want wool sewn on the inside for warmth or single seams to keep your feet dry? Do you want natural color or a dye?" he quickly transfers measurements onto a wooden rail by marking notches.



As Arturious begins to leave the dwarf Gallin makes one more request "I'll be needing a wagon and pull animals to get them boulders organized."

The young warrior approached the two hooded figures "My name is Arturious. Might I inquire who you two might be and if your apart of this village?" the uninjured figure flips his hood back revealing his elvish ancestry [COLOR="#FF0000"]"I am Dealvyn and my brother is Saernal. We were attacked by one of those Orc tribes a couple days to the north of here. We chose to mend here, though there are no healers here. We also heard rumors that fat man saw two goblins rushing from behind the mead hall about three evenings ago." he pulls out an old map and unrolls the parchment and points to a spot just north of the mountain range.

[Metastachydium]

Now, for some good news. Niss looks up from the chest. While that dogborn bastard Steward is most definitely filthy rich now, we are not quite as broke as I thought we are either. Between the goblet, the coins and the rings we are looking at well more than 3000 golds. I should perhaps change the lock on the chest, though. Some dwarf told Art in the tavern that the surrounding area is swarming with goblins and bandits and other hostile uglies.

[Mark_Elderfire]

Having finished the letter Ulber finally looks up to Niss as she gets his attention. "Oh wow! Well all we gotta do is find the right buyer and we'll be golden. I was curious if there would be any goblins around these parts. This ol' pig sty of a village would be perfect for their kind to make a home. We must be cautious indeed."

Ulber gets up from the table and stretches, his wrist mainly. That's his good writing hand, gotta take care of it. He puts away his writing supplies back into their case. Prepared to leave, he asks Niss, "Are you about down here as well? Wait...you mentioned Magda told you those coins were magic? Let me take a look at them." Ulber waves his hand and utters some arcane words to cast a minor spell, Detect Magic.

[Metastachydium]

I'm good to go whenever you are. Niss quickly signs the letter without so much as scanning through it. Once you're done, we can go get Art.

[Twelvetrees]

Cobbler's Shop

Magda sits down in the chair and begins answering the man's questions. She motions to her mid-calf for how high she wants the boots. "Wool. Natural color."

While her words are terse, she appears genuinely pleased with the straightforward nature of the conversation. As the cobbler continues to make measurements, Magda's cat clambers into her lap and she absentmindedly pets it.

"Did Steward take things from other people?" she asks.

[sarge67]

The old cobbler nodded his head "These tools are old things I had stored under me bed. But, Yup Ol Steward took drunk fees, craft fees, farm fees, animal fees, building fees, meal fees, creek fees, and if you wanted to complain or protest the treatment? a public speaking fee. Things got so bad when Bear-claw got sick an couldn't see. That pretty young las that Jarl sent over pretty much left the moment she arrived...and left all her things behind. I saw Steward puttin her stuff in a wagon and after chargin me 4 silver for a public speakin fee told me that he was taking her stuff to her." after measuring her foot and jotting notes, the cobbler went to the basket and began selecting scraps of leather "John is the name by the way, kind o' rude of me not ta introduce myself. I forget that ol Steward took me sign for a sign fee. That grubby toad in the Tavern has the gold to pay them fees, but the rest of us we just lose our property."

[Forsaken]

Arturious nods once more to the Gallen After I finish my tour of the remaining villages and purchase the needed items I’ll give you a wagon and oxen. You should prepare for my return.

To the elves One of my kin happens to be decent at treating injuries. If you would like we can go find her to treat your wounds a bit more while we discuss the matter of goblins. Are you hunters? Or perhaps travelers? Arturious inquires trying to see if he can get some more able bodied figures. These two surviving an orc attack makes them either pretty strong. Or very lucky. Either way he wouldn’t turn down either.

[sarge67]

The elf responded to the question "Saernal and I collect syrup from the maple trees and gather an assortment of berries and spices to brew a few brands of brandi, whiskeys, and wines. We saw a set of wagon tracks in the mountains and thought it curious since there are no roads or trails to travel on."

[Twelvetrees]

Cobbler's Shop

"Magda."

A frown creases her face and her hands still, resting on the back of her cat. "How did Steward force you to pay? When the village kids used to steal my pocket money they had to beat the snot out of me for it." She gives a gap-toothed grin. "I lost some teeth, but they never got the money without a fight. Ma still worries they rattled my brains."

There is a pause and the smile fades as she lapses into thought. "Is Steward big? Is that how he made everyone pay?"

[Metastachydium]

Mead Hall

Alright, let's get moving and see if we can find this Martha Longshore. Niss closes the chest and sets out for the tavern again.

[Forsaken]

Arturious thinks to himself Wagons in the mountains where the orcs are supposedly located at. Are humans helping them? Are they preparing for war or a large raid? This village would be destroyed by even 5 orcs warriors they wouldn’t stand a chance.

Turning his attention back towards the elves Thank you for the information. If you wait here I will try to find my kin and ask them to treat your wounds a bit.

Did they perhaps tell him if they were part of the surrounding villages or just passing through?

Arturious leaves the inn and heads to the meed hall looking for Magda.

because that’s the spot she said she would be in.

[Metastachydium]

You're gonna run straight into me, then.

All finished with the drunkards, Art? Anyway, Niss starts talking very quickly, not giving Arturious a chance to answer the question or state his own business. half the reason why we wanted to check out the tavern again would be that we kind of need you at the moment, and it's a bit of an urgency, because some dumb Jarl's noticed that something's seriously wrong with this place, and he intends to kick us out of our damn villages unless we clean up the mess, so we wrote a letter for him to explain that it's this John Steward guy's fault that the whole place is swimming in dung; Ulber will show you the letter, all you have to do is to sign it. Now, if you'll excuse me she begins to move around Arturious I have a few more questions for Pighead and the smelly ale crew.

[Mark_Elderfire]

"Yes! Of course, we must be off. There are a couple more villages to check on. Hopefully they do not have it as bad as the people of Sudak." Ulber follows closely behind Niss out of the Mead Hall as she bumps into Arturious.

"Ah Art, just the man I was looking for! His face brightens as he explains, Like Niss said, We're just coming back from the Mead Hall. Got this letter made out to the Jarl so he doesn't eat us alive. Once you sign I'm sending it off. Hopefully our butts will be covered!"

[sarge67]

Everyone's investigations took a good two hours, the sun is setting quickly as the temperature is dropping quickly. On the side of the mead hall is a pile of burning logs for the hall's hearth in the main room. The shops are closing up and the weaver shut down before anyone could get a chance to question either of the ladies.

The mead hall has plenty of space to temporarily set up sleeping areas and is one of the only places that have the lamps to keep the inside lit. The tavern won't close for several hours still yet not much activity is going on.

The elves were never asked nor did they offer up information regarding their origins or that of their village. A nagging aspect keeps on A's mind about the wagon tracks in an area no wagons would attempt.

[Forsaken]

Arturious starts to turn and scold Niss but is interrupted by Ulber. Looking towards him not bothering to hide the mild glare in his eyes. Grabbing the letter he reads it. His eyes narrowing further. I refuse to sign this. Why use flowery words and push all the blame onto others. We have inherited this land and these people. Even if we were not the cause of this suffering it is still here. We should have come back sooner and help them earlier even if it meant to remove YOUR father from power. I am held responsible for not protecting my mothers homeland. But you even more so. Instead of writing all the blame onto others. Take it and bare it. Even if this steward stole and ran this place into the ground it is our kin’s fault. Why would these Jarls care. I wouldn’t. You are telling them that we don’t know what we’re doing. New management might even make them want to claim this land even faster.

Think both of these Jarl’s might have purposely known our weaknesses and purposely weakened us further. Jarl Warren sent advisors and wrote a letter explaining his reasoning even through your father was blind. If he was truly his friend he could have come here personally and offered. Right now we are in hostile territory. Sighing deeply he hands back the letter to Ulber.

I will not sign this letter as I take blame for what has happened. You should too. From what I have gathered. Orc’s in the mountains are using wagons to either prepare a war band or are gathering support from humans. Goblins have recently been spotted by the mead hall a few days back. I don’t know if they might be working together with the orc’s as forward scouts. Or on there own. Ulber due to my mother and father I am not even supposed to inherit any of these lands. If he had a proper will drawn up you would have taken over everything. I have no family name to me. If you wish to send forth this letter be my guest. I told you what I think. Arturious says while walking off towards the mead hall to look for any tracks the goblins might have left while being on guard in case they come back. He is not willing to let any of these people get hurt due to anymore negligence on his part.

[sarge67]

Arturious lights a torch and proceeds around the side of the mead hall to the old brick oven, kiln, and grain mill. While there is no evidence of creatures around the other buildings, the grain mill shows two sets of very deep goblin tracks next to the horse shaft (probably to unharness). Though Arturious knew no goblin reached such a large size, it was more probable that one stood on the other's shoulders to reach the bridle.). The oak axle that guided the grinder was dismembered with several parts missing and light scuffle marks in the areas.

The group entered the Tavern again, just as the dwarf was walking out with a pick ax. "Me back in Bitness (business) wit me ol pick ax" he snorted in delight leaving the place without even noticing the group. The two shadowy figures remained sitting in the distant corner and the fat tavern owner attempted to imitate cleaning the bar top. The music in the kitchen area stopped and the place was more of a morgue than festive hall.

[Metastachydium]

Towards the tavern

Niss freezes dead on her tracks as Arturious begins to rant, and stares at his back incredulously as he storms off to behind the mead hall.Art is being impossible. she tells Ulber after all with barely contained anger. I haven't even known half these villages exist until I got that damn latter from Uncle Korvain. I mean, seriously. How on earth would any one of us be to blame for any of this? And how on earth does he think we'll clean up all this filth in less than a week? I'm not losing these lands or my title just because of his, his misplaced sense of honour! At this point, she's practically hissing. But you know what? He's right about two things. First, you're the son and heir. Your signature alone should suffice, and three of us have already signed the letter. Art may shove his opinion. We'll send the letter and be done with this whether he likes it or not. She exhales loudly a couple of times, trying to calm herself. Secondly, while the notion that Orwell and Warren just want to take over 'round here is truly ludicrous, since they could have done it five or three or two months ago without a hitch, Warren may very well be bad news. And we'll find out if he is in short order.

In the tavern

Niss heads straight for the counter in an energetic stride, ignoring the dwarf and then the elves. She puts a pleasant smile on her face and looks at Pighead. I need your help again. Do you happen to know anything about a certain Martha Longshore? Or, for that matter, an engineer called Galen Stonecutter?

[sarge67]

The fat tavern owner looked at Niss with a confused look "Are you serious?" after a moments pause and Niss wasn't amused the owner continued "Galen won't be hard to find, he is the only dwarf in the village and if you can't find him in the tavern he's probably at the stone quarry." he lifts the rag and inspects the bar table before spitting on the table and restarts wiping it with the rag "An that pretty las? well Steward was sure pourin on the honey thick with her. She weren't too fond of that so we thought she left barely after arrivin here."

[Metastachydium]

That would be my luck. Longshore's long fled and Stonecutter is a melancholy, drunken wreck. mutters Niss scratching the bridge of her nose idly. Incidentally, did the dwarf fill Cousin Arturious's head with the idea that an army of orcs is somehow dragging wagons across the mountains?

[Twelvetrees]

Outside

John the cobbler hadn't given her an answer to her question. Magda didn't mind. She was getting boots!

She walks by the wagons to let everyone know they were bedding down at the mead hall for the night.

Mead Hall

The torchlight flickering behind the mead hall catches Magda's attention. Walking around the building, she finds Arturious investigating the ground.

"Did you lose something? It will probably be easier to look in the morning if you did," Magda says, giving a yawn.

"Some guy named Steward took a bunch of money and tools from the townsfolk before we came here. He also took a bunch of money that had been left to us. Niss will probably be mad about that." Rubbing tiredly at her eyes, she accidently smears dust from the road over her face. "Do you need help?"

[Forsaken]

Arturious looks as Magda approach’s and points towards the goblins track. Goblins at least two. It seems they stole some items. He sighs. This village is unprepared for even small goblins. Let alone orcs. We will need to hire some guards.

Turning his attention away from his thoughts for a moment he looks back to Magda I can use your help if your willing. There are two injured elf’s due to an orc attack in the mountains. If you can treat them I can spare some gold your way. They brought useful information towards us and have some valuable skills we can use for trade. (20g pieces 10g per elf.)

As for the steward we will get answers for what he has done. We still have 3 more villages to check out. Then prepare for winter. Afterwards I think we should hire a few trained guards for each specify and visit both Jarls to find out there true intentions.

[Twelvetrees]

Behind the Mead Hall

Turning back towards the rest of Sudak, Magda tilts her head. "I don't hear screams of pain. I'll look at them in the morning." She spins back to Arturious. "Gold isn't interesting. I want my share of what we find or Niss will nag me to no end. But it isn't interesting." She continues in a lower voice. "And no one really ever believes I should have it."

In response to his comments on plans for the future of the villages, Magda gives a nod. "Sounds smart." She looks a little lost, like she's not quite grasping everything but is willing to go along with it.

[Forsaken]

Hearing Magda clearly due to them being alone. He speaks looking towards the sky To be honest with you. None of us truly deserves any of the gold or lands granted to us except Ulber. But fate has either granted us a chance or is just playing with us. I recommend you grasp onto it and hold on. As this might be your last chance to change your stars.


Turning to face her directly. If you feel it’s to much you can come talk with me and I will give you some counsel. If you don’t want any of the responsibilities at all and just want to sell your share and leave you can do that as well. Your life is in your hands now.

As for the elves they can wait till tomorrow. You should get some sleep early tonight. We will have a lot of traveling to do tomorrow. After that we can have a break to recover from our travels. Arturious says while handing Magda his torch to let her find a room to sleep in with some light to guide her.

Strapping on his shield and grabbing onto his spear he drapes his blanket onto himself and tries to hide himself from sight close to the mead hall where he spotted the goblin tracks. Preparing an ambush in case they come tonight.

[sarge67]

This village was as boring as it could possibly get. It was probably the only tavern that shutdown before midnight as the place was completely void of any activity. The elves probably paid to sleep upstairs for the evening and the village was peacefully silent outside of the occasional snort from that hog and the irritating snoring from that fat barkeep.

Hours passed in silence before the hog began snorting more frequent, the rooster was beginning to stir as the hens became restless. The creaking sound of the carts rocking in place (possibly forgot to unhitch the oxen).

[Forsaken]

Arturious looks towards where the live stock are kept and slowly makes his way over while trying to be as stealthy as he can be as he readies one of his spears to throw at any sign of hostile activity.

If he can see them from where he is at he will only move from his position to throw a spear and ready another one. If he can’t he will move foward.

Spear throw range is 20ft sadly.

[sarge67]

Arturious snuck around the corner to see three goblins. One was walking backwards tossing something on the ground as the giant hog slowly followed. Two others were sticking their hands under the hens trying to collect eggs. Sure enough the oxen were stirring more for discomfort of the harnesses than the goblins. Every step by the oxen made the wagons creak an annoying sound.

[Forsaken]

Arturious slowly arcs his arm back and throws swiftly towards the goblin leading the hog. Drawing out his second spear and readying his shield in front of himself to face the goblins while trying to stay in the shadows hoping to get another sneak attack off at the 3 invaders.

[Twelvetrees]

Behind the Mead Hall (earlier)

Magda shakes her head at the thought of giving up this opportunity. "I want this. Responsibilities are fine. Stuff needs to be done."

She snorts. "I'm not explaining this well. Niss is good with gold, people, this." She waves a hand at Sudak vaguely. "I'm good with wounds and weirdness." There is a pause before she speaks again. "You offered me a lot of gold to look at the elves. That would interest Niss. I'm not my sister. Don't treat us the same."

Magda walks off, heading into the mead hall to sleep.

[sarge67]

The goblin squeals in pain, but quickly drops to his knees and flat into the filthy muddy road. The other two goblins are alerted and begin looking around as they pull out their short bows and draw arrows.


Throw one more spear (attack of opportunity)
Roll Initiative
Note if you kill the second goblin, the third will flee

[Forsaken]

Arturious steps closer and throws his spear at the goblin furthest away aiming towards his chest. As he charges closer drawing out his sword that’s strapped onto the inside of his shield.

Throw spear (action)
Draw sword (free)
Move 20ft closer bringing me directly in front of the one closest to me not the ones hit by the spears.

Approaching the last goblin he readied his sword for combat!

[sarge67]

One of the two elves stood up "That may have been our fault ma'am. I told him that we were tracking wagon tracks up the mountains which was unusual because of the rough terrain. we also explained that my brother and I were attacked by Orcs. Neither associated with the other as far as we know.

[Metastachydium]

In the tavern (earlier)
Niss raises her eyebrows. Huh. That sounds… Improbable. The thing with the wagon tracks, I mean. But I believe you, and we'll look into it. She nods at the elves and the inkeeper appreciatively before turning towards the door. Anyhow, this would be it for now. Good night, gentleman.
Once outsidel, she makes her way to the wagons, climbs into one of them and picks up her belongings to lug them to the mead hall. She'd really rather not leave them out for the night.

Inside the mead hall (earlier)
Niss enters the lord's quarters and carefully placing her stuff on the floor, sizes up the room again, removes her boots and cloak and lies down on Korvain's bed. I've had quite enough for today. Good night, everyone. she mutters before falling asleep almost immediately.

[roll0] (Ouch. Looks like someone was really tired.)

[Twelvetrees]

[roll0]
[roll1]

Mead Hall

Magda snaps awake as she hears a squeal of pain.

[sarge67]

The first goblin squealed when it dropped to the ground. The second squealed when a spear pierced him into the hen house. Still alive, but dying quickly he makes the most miserable squealing sound. The third goblin begins hopping up and down in anxiety trying to think what to do with his partner pinned to the coop and spears flying from nowhere killing his team.

[Forsaken]

Arturious charges forth towards the last Goblin that’s is closest to him (uninjured one) and swings his sword with a deadly arc towards his neck cutting deeply into it.

If the one pinned to the wall can’t move and all others are dead he will walk towards the first one and stab his sword into the dead one to confirm it’s dead then pull out his spear.

Then he will stab the one trapped to the wall in the throat with his spear he just reclaimed confirming all three are dead before cleaning his weapons of blood.

[sarge67]

Arturious walked up to the uninjured goblin trapping it between his sword and the chicken coop. In a moment the blade swung causing a sack of blood to explode into the early winter breeze. The goblin's blood spewed out in all directs including covering the young warrior.

The second goblin had squealed as Arturious approached, but slumped it's head in final death when the warrior entered melee range. Now one goblin lay in the center of the nasty road where the giant hog was gnawing on it's leg. Two more goblins are dead at the chicken coop.

[Forsaken]

After confirming that all three goblins were dead he finds a nearby cloth to clean off the blood on his blades (spears and sword.) not caring all to much about the blood on himself at this moment. Sheathing his sword in between his shield and the arm it’s strapped to he puts his spears in their large quiver on his back.

He lights a torch to start a quick patrol around the mead hall to make sure there are no more goblins nearby.

(This time you probably catch up to the goblins shrieks and see him covered in blood with three corpses on the ground. About to start his patrol with a freshly lit torch.)

letting a chance for interaction lol.

[Twelvetrees]

Mead Hall

The door to the mead hall creaks open and Magda peers out. Catching sight of Arturious holding a torch and covered in blood, her eyes widen.

"Are you hurt? What's going on?"

[Forsaken]

Looking towards Magda he says Its nothing I’m unharmed. Just three goblins who were trying to steal from us it seems. He says while pointing to the three dead goblins.

[Twelvetrees]

Magda's brow scrunches. "What did they think was worth stealing?"

She scurries over to the bodies of the goblins, checking to make sure that they are dead. Blood pools at her feet, starting to smear the bottom of her boots, although she doesn't seem to notice. Mumbling to herself, she pulls a candle from beneath her cloak that glows with a steady white light.

Without turning around, she raises her voice. "Were there others? Do we need to worry about more sneaking in?"
Magda will make sure the goblins are dead and then partake in the time-honored tradition of looting the bodies, looking for "interesting stuff." The candle isn't lit, merely glowing from the light spell she just cast.

[Forsaken]

He kinda stabbed all three in the throat confirming there deaths first before lighting the torch lol. Also he has a torch lit you don’t have to use a spell.

Seems as if they were stealing eggs. One of them were dropping something on the ground trying to lead a hog away. I’m not sure if they are others I’m going to do a quick patrol around the area. I don’t think there will be more then these three but I am going to check regardless. He finishes while scanning the area with his eyes letting Magda use his torchlight to loot them easier.

(Waiting until she goes inside or follows him since he won’t leave someone in the dark alone especially since there were goblins around.j

[Twelvetrees]

I needed an excuse for looting. :smallbiggrin:

And I'm using the spell so Magda has her own light if anything else happens. It also has the handy effect of emphasizing that there's something strange about her.
Magda tucks the glowing candle back into her thick cloak. "I'll come with you."

The night air blew coldly about her, making her teeth chatter and her hands shake. The village needed serious changes to prevent scavengers like the goblins from being able to enter as they pleased, but Magda didn't know anything about how to organize that sort of effort.

Niss would know. Niss always had ideas. Arturious seemed to have ideas too. That was good.

[Forsaken]

Seeing Magda hands shake and chattering teeth he looks at his blanket he discarded before killing the last goblin. Reaching down he picks it up and passes it to her. Okay. Let’s do a quick sweep of the rest of the mead hall and grain mill then head towards the village.

Patroling the mead hall then the grain mill then heading towards the town for a quick loop.

[Mark_Elderfire]

In response to Arturious:

Ulber was almost appalled and his face showed as such. "These flowery words may just save us from a garrison of soldiers marching through our walls and usurping everything we're trying to accomplish here! And I for one sure am not going to take the blame for any of this. Last time my father actually spoke to me was when I a child. We shouldn't be held accountable for what happened behind our backs. But you don't have to sign, I was just giving you the curtesy since you all have been given equal power. I have no plans on taking that from you because I'm only here because it was the right thing to do. If I hadn't gotten that letter, same as you, I'd still be in a library copying old scrolls. So I'm sorry you feel so responsible for what happened here, but now's the time to make your own family name. Hell with this title alone you could go marry a Baroness or something!" Ulber just shakes his head and rubs his forehead in disappointment as he walks away to finish out his plan.

A final, "I'll be back." is heard before he is out of sight.


_______________________________________________


Hours Later...

Ulber finally arrives back at the Mead Hall, seeing Magda and Art making their way towards it. The harrowingly long mission of chasing down a bird and sending out his message was not without complications. He was no animal tamer and he wasn't the best when it came to the lay of the land. But what he had managed to accomplish was tying his letter to the bird without getting too many scrapes on his face. However as soon as he did tie the letter, the bird had slipped from his hands and off it went through the air. He didn't point it in a direction, so who knows where it went. He could only pray that it ended up in the hands it was meant for.

Ulber obviously notices the blood on Art and quickly talks through the chill in the air "My god man, you mentioned goblins nearby but I didn't think they'd already be here!" His mind began racing over what could happen even as soon as they leave Sudak. So he inquires from Art, "Any idea on what weaponry these people have? We could always leave some family here to keep watch after we set off for Derbent or Kerch tomorrow."

He then turns to Magda so to not leave her out of the conversation, "The guy in charge of the fairgrounds hopefully shouldn't send his goons to mess with us now. You should have seen me trying to catch a bird!" Ulber laughs for what seems like the first time in many months.

[sarge67]

The group searched the dead goblins, their hands cold and stiff. They each wore rags and cloth tied over their feet in makeshift shoes. Around their waists were worn leather belts with make-shift sheaths with a dagger in each. They had belt pouches with 23 Copper pieces in each sack. One had a letter of instruction

Take all of their food reserves and that hog can feed them for a month, get that or kill it and poison the meat. That fool Jarl Warren wont even find out about my actions for another month and by that time we can chase these peasants out of here and claim the mine for ourselves. Master JS

[Twelvetrees]

Mead Hall

Back in the warm mead hall, Magda passes Arturious his blanket. "Thanks."

She turns and nods to Ulber. "No goons. Good. Was the bird hard to catch?"

Whatever his response, she walks past him and dumps the goblins' daggers on the table. "If they need weaponry, we found these." Looking around and finding no sign of her sister, she heads into the lords living quarters and sees her sister asleep on the bed.

Well. That was something. Of course she slept through goblin shrieks. Magda doesn't say a word, just reaches into her cloak and pulls out her brightly glowing candle, tossing it onto the bed right in front of her sister's nose. The copper coins are dumped with a clatter into the chest with the gold and when her sister wakes, Magda will pass her the letter.

"Goblins snuck in. Arturious killed them. They had this."

[Forsaken]

Arturious takes off his armor when he returns from his round. Grabbing a bucket of water an a cloth he cleans it throughly. Looking to Ulber, and Madga he speaks. It seems that someone is trying to claim these mines. JS most likely stands for the steward especially with the mention of Warren. I’m not going to jump to conclusions but judging from the town conditions it’s safe to say the fighting force will be small if none at all. There’s a few options available to us. One is I say back in this town alone and try my best to reinforce it until you scout out the remaining villages. Gallen was going to start Quarrying in the mine soon due to me giving him a pick axe. I don’t want one of our craftsmen to be injured or die. This steward also confiscated his tools.

Two we split into a three groups. Two heading each to a separate village to quickly find out the situation there. If they have extra troops relocate some here and try to reinforce all three villages as quickly as possible. While the last group holds out here in case of attack.

Three I can try to travel as quickly as possible and take a portion of the gold left behind to temporarily hire a large band of mercenaries, or adventures to guard our towns and hunt down the goblins for us.

Regardless of which options we choose we will have to move quickly. I think all plans have some valid points for each of them he puts on his armor again while washing his face quickly using another cloth to dry it off. He looks onwards to the group wanting to hear their thoughts.

[Metastachydium]

The combination of sudden light and noise wakes Niss, and she rolls on her back with a pained expression on her face. Why would you… Upon hearing what Magda says about the goblin attack, she freezes mid-sentence. Oh. She sits up slowly and with all the grace of someone who would really rather sleep a bit more and takes the letter from her sister. Wonderful she mutters. Turns out I'm even brighter than I've previously thought. She then stares at Art somnolently as he presents his take on their situation.
Right. she says as Art stops talking.I'll readily jump to conclusions at this point. Our main problem is called John Steward. This also sets our priorities We must first deal with this guy. She pauses for a moment to stretch clumsily. Now, we know he has lackeys and he wants our quarry, right here. Unless the other villages are full of beautiful people living in prosperity, which I doubt, visiting them would only be useful to us inasmuch as we can learn whether Steward has designs for them or not. What I mean is that visiting them can do more harm than good, especially if we have to, you know, split up to do so. she makes a few vague gestures and closes her eyes for a second. Y'see, we cannot spread out too thin. Not with Steward's goblin army or whatever all around us. And we absolutely cannot afford losing our one and only professional soldier. She pauses again and points at Art. That, uh, that would be you. So please don't ride intio the sunset all alone. Or stay here on your own, trusting that the smelly, fat peasants will, uh, stand their ground. She exhales loudly. So. How about we try and ask around a bit more, see which village may be of use to us now or in danger or whatever, and then we split in two groups, at most and if it seems it might be worth the risk. You stay here, we'll leave, say, Hilde, she's a good shot, and Hannes with you, pay handsomely to your elven friends to join in and that's already, uh, five. We know they are after our food supply, and I can help you focus your efforts even further. Once the sun comes down, uh, I mean up, I may try to check out their tracks, see where they came from. That could help, I suppose. She stretches again. And then, the rest of us can move out and check a village or two. I'd postpone the full tour, though. Niss stops abruptly and rubs her eyes. Another thing. she says suddenly. They are after the foodstuff now, but we have other, uh, resources to protect as well. The thing is, we'll need our money real bad now, and Steward knows where we keep it. So. I can try to put a new lock on the chest if, you know, my head clears up a bit. Or we could find another, safer place or whatever for it.

[Twelvetrees]

Mead Hall

A look of confusion comes over Magda's face "The goblins died quick. There were three, not an army. They snuck in, too, so even the peasants probably scare them."

She looks back and forth between Arturious and Niss. "What's Sudak got that we need to protect right now? Food? Get the elves to guard it. Unless Steward is real close, he won't know the goblins are dead for a while."

It seemed simple enough to Magda. Much like picking herbs, you looked to see what was around you before you started. Sudak was like beetroot. She wanted to see what the other villages were like.

[Metastachydium]

Niss makes a defensive gesture. What Magda said made a surprising amount of sense. Look, I'm half asleep, so feel free to ignore me. It's just that I'd bet Steward has more than three goblins under his, uh, command and we don't know how frequent their visits are or were, as the case may be. She sighs. This place might be a dunghill, but it is our dunghill. I wouldn't just, you know, leave it to lie about unprotected when danger lurks around.

[Mark_Elderfire]

Art's plans sounded fine. All but leaving him behind. Even Magda was talking a lot of sense. But he address Niss first, "You should definitely get a new lock on the chest if you can. I'm sure a dwarf with a pick axe is at least a good start to defending this place, even if he is in the mines. Daggers are better than nothing in the hands of these villagers. But you are right Art, we don't want to risk losing any of our experts here. So yeah asking the the elves to guard would be great." Ulber stops to rub his neck before turning to Art directly and continuing, "I do prefer the second option. No its never a great idea to split up but i think it might be in our best interest. What you say, you and I travel to Derbent and the girls can check out Kerch. I'm fine either way though."

[Forsaken]

Listening to their statements Arturious pauses and thinks. We can travel Ulber. If these towns don’t have troops to defend instead of coming back we can head to a larger city afterwards and hire troops. Oxen are too slow. Hopefully this Sudak have some horses.

As for the Steward he is too dangerous to pursue at the moment. We don’t know if he has ties with the orcs in the mountains as well. What if he left their with a wagon and the tools. Explaining the tracks the elves saw. If he has Goblins. Orcs aren’t that far off. He wrote he wanted the mines and I think have strong orc warriors mining will be easier then Goblins. He already has payment for the looking at our low coffers.

We first should stabilize the villages with some guards before going after the steward. If we don’t have to worry about the home front it will make hunting down and reclaiming our lands easier. The elves aren’t warriors though but they might be able to track as well.

Lastly if we are splitting up I recommend dividing anything sellable here into two groups one for us the other for you. That way if we need to head to a larger city to hire guards we can sell them off and fully supply the rest of the town.

[Metastachydium]

Yeah, well. Niss says with a pained grimace. Almost forgot about the orcs. And, for that matter, the bandits that Galen fellow mentioned. She looks at Art shaking her head slowly. I'm glad that you can take three goblins in a heartbeat, without breaking a sweat. I truly am. But the thing is, I don't think I can do that, and while Magda is really good at what she does, well, this is not what she does either. I wouldn't feel safe travelling in a small group and, as a matter of fact, neither should you.

[sarge67]

The rest of the evening passed uneventfully, the most distasteful experience being the crows of the rooster long before actual sunrise. Gradually movement from the town began to take place.

The smell of eggs, salted ham, and baked bread being cooked from the Tavern/Inn. The female voice from the previous evening singing softly as the notes carried through the village.

[Twelvetrees]

Mead Hall

Rolling to her feet from her place by the fire, Magda yawns and stretches, joints popping. She smacks her lips, takes a swig of water, then catches the scent of food wafting in from the tavern.

Squinting for a second, her face scrunches as she recalls that there were a couple of wounded elves who Arturious had asked her to take a look at. They ought to be interesting.

She makes sure she had everything and then walks out the door, calling out to her family, "Getting food. Going to poke at elven wounds."

Tavern/Inn

Magda shuffles into the tavern and immediately looks around for the elves. She'll get some food while she's there, especially if she needs to wait.

[Metastachydium]

Niss's been lying flat on the bed with open eyes for a while. As Magda departs, she calls after her sister. Could you perhaps ask them if they want free money for being on the lookout for a few days?
Shortly after, she gets up too and kneels down by the less than neat pile of her belongings to find the lock and her tools. I'll try to change the lock on the chest as quick as I can and then I might take a look at those tracks outside. She looks up for a moment as she carries her things over to the chest and addresses the others. You know, I woke up early and I've been thinking. Steward's note confirms that Warren should be on our side, so it would probably be wise to send him a letter as well so that he knows what became of Stonecutter, Longshore and especially Steward. We could use some help, I suppose. She sits down before the chest and begins working on it as she speaks.

I have no idea what I need to roll on this or what the DC of changing a lock to a pre-made one could be. For now, I'll make a Craft (locksmithing) check and hope the best.
[roll0]

[sarge67]

Dealvyn and Saernal were sitting at the table they used the previous day. Both of the elves owned thin chiseled facial features with sharp angles in the jaw and cheek bones. Both had forest deep green eyes and straight blonde hair that fell to their shoulders. They both had lithe builds though an astute observer could see Dealvyn slightly heavier. The two elves wore a hardened leather vest with a gray tunic underneath, brown leather pants, and high boots.

A short, thin human lady with curly red hair and blue eyes and a smile arrives at their table with a large tray with plates of eggs, bacon, biscuits and jam, and a bowl of berries. She held the tray with an arm and a tea pot hanging from her fingers as she served the early morning meal.

[Twelvetrees]

Tavern and Inn

Magda sits down at the elves' table without bothering waiting for an invitation, scraping a chair back. "My sister wanted you to know we could pay you to keep a lookout over Sudak. You interested? Also, Arturious said you had injuries. Where?"

She eyes the food, then asks the woman with the tea pot if she can get the same.

Today was a good day. Wounds to see to and fresh food instead of trail rations.

[sarge67]

Dealvyn listened to Magda speak when she requested the same breakfast. The young human lady smiled "On the way darlin"

The elf waited for the cook to walk away before speaking up "My brother suffered deep cuts to the crown of his head and a second deep wound to his right shoulder. But you are going to pay two bee keepers to defend a town? Against what? Orcs? We don't have much of a chance against orcs. Now that Dwarf your friend scooted off yesterday would have a better chance or we can if you bring him back here."

[Metastachydium]

[Mead Hall]
The lock should fit, but something's not quite right. Damn. I'm supposed to be good at this. Niss mutters to herself as she gives a task a second shot.
[roll0]

[Twelvetrees]

Tavern and Inn

Magda waves a hand. "Keep a watch, not defend. Warn folks if you see trouble. Didn't know you were bee keepers, but unless you've got hives, this is a chance for some coin to keep an eye out."

She looks at the wounded elf, searching for bandages. Everyone loves to complain about cuts to the head. Magda figures he's up and walking about, then he's doing fine. Standing up and circling around the wounded elf, she gets uncomfortably close to stare at the top of his head.

"Hmph. Deep cuts?" She abruptly jabs her finger into the wound. "Does that hurt?"

Casting cure light wounds when she jabs him.

Hit points restored: [roll0]

[sarge67]

Dealvyn stands up and begins to unwrap the bandage around Saernal's head wound, a deep gash with a deep purple bruise around the cut. "This is not an imaginary wound." as the elf steps to the side.

Magda's spell though not completely healing the patient, was able to heal the majority of the wound leaving a slight discoloration on the skin.

Dealvyn continued "Yes, we are bee keepers and we also collect syrup and berries to brew a few brands of brandy, whiskey, and wine. We'll keep watch, but only if you bring that dwarf back."

[Metastachydium]

Much better. Niss packs up her tools and the old lock and rises with a triumphant smile. As she washes herself hastily, she briefly considers following Magda to the tavern, but ultimately decides against that. She's not that hungry yet and there's much to do before they can set out for next village. She puts on her boots and, with some difficulty, her armor. She loads the crossbow, fastens a case of bolts to her belt and exists the mead hall, heading for the site of the night's battle behind the building. Once there, she crouches down and begins to examine the tracks the goblins left.

[roll0]

[Mark_Elderfire]

I'll try to change the lock on the chest as quick as I can and then I might take a look at those tracks outside. She looks up for a moment as she carries her things over to the chest and addresses the others. You know, I woke up early and I've been thinking. Steward's note confirms that Warren should be on our side, so it would probably be wise to send him a letter as well so that he knows what became of Stonecutter, Longshore and especially Steward. We could use some help, I suppose. [/SPOILER]

Ulber groggily replies to Niss as he himself rolls out of bed, stretching his limbs and getting the kinks out much like if he had gotten stuck at a library through the night, "Yes I could do that. Perhaps later though. Must ready the wagons for our trip."

After fully waking up and going over his spellbook he only grabs some rations to sate himself as he leaves the mead hall, whist waving good morning at Magda and the elves. He heads straight towards the stables to take stock of what horses we had. Ulber could only hope they find faster steeds than their oxen, the swifter they can make it as a group the better.

[sarge67]

The lady returned to Magda with a plate of eggs, bacon, biscuits and jam, and a bowl of berries. A moment later a mug of milk and hot tea. "Enjoy the meal sweetie." as she headed back to the kitchen.

Ulber snacked on his rations while leading the oxen to the steering bars on the cart harnesses. A sparkle of light mostly covered in a pile of hay caught his eye for a moment before disappearing in the shadow of the stable (sun stopped shining on the item)


Niss began at the chicken coop, slowly tracing the steps of the goblins. Both sets led to the northwest edge of town where the third set meets. This spot was where they broke off from each other. Niss looked at the area, low unkept brush piled up for about ten feet in length. Further west was a tree stump with vines covering much of the base. Had a person traveled another 100 meters, they would reach the edge of the mountains with a thin tree line along the ridge.

[Twelvetrees]

Tavern and Inn

Food arrives at the table and Magda busies herself with stuffing her face. Around a mouthful of food, she manages to get a few words out. "Looks imaginary to me."

My intention was for Magda to heal the wound before it was uncovered. This dialogue makes less sense if she must wait until they unwrap it to heal him, but I'll still stick with if I have to.

A minute or two passes. Magda continues eating. The food is delightful after days of nothing nothing but trail rations and she is more than willing to savor the taste of it. For a town the size of Sudak, the tavern's food is a wonderful surprise.

Eventually she sits back and responds to the request to bring the dwarf back. "I'll talk to Arturious." She immediately heads for the door.

Making sure to pay for the food, then looking to find Arturious.

[Mark_Elderfire]

Ulber was not new to the phrase, "needle in a haystack," but his curiosity got the better of him. He ties the oxen up to a couple stalls before pulling out a sunrod. Striking the sunrod's tip to light up the stables he begins to search the pile of hay for what had caught his eye.

Search check: [roll0]

[sarge67]

Under the pile of hay was a smaller pile, a short sword, a sack with four gems, An accounting book, a blue dress with dried blood, and money pouch with 7 Silver pieces.

[Metastachydium]

Niss inspects the two paths and then looks up towards the sun, sighing. Why can't life be easy? On the one hand, she probably shouldn't wander too far alone, and she should really check what other target the goblins had in the village. On the other hand, it's daytime and she'll have to circle back into the village anyway, so she can check the safer fork once she's done with the trickier track.
Finally, she makes up her mind. Alright, let's do this dumb thing. With that, she begins following the path leading towards the mountains.

[roll0]

[Mark_Elderfire]

Ulber was surprised to find an accounting book, but more-so a dry-bloodied dress...He should return to Magda and the elves, the steeds could wait. Whatever was in the book could probably help put things together here. He shuffles the items into his arms and carries them back to the mead hall, hoping Magda is still there with the elves.

Entering the mead hall Ulber sets all the items by the chest save for the book and dress. Approaching the table they were at he openly asks before setting the dress on the back of a chair, "Heeeyy uh, do any of you recognize this dress? Don't want to be the bearer of bad news, but I can't help but think maybe someone has gone missing. Perhaps during that goblin attack last night? I have to study this accounting book though, we definitely need more answers."

Ulber takes a seat as well, opens the cover of the book but then begins looking through the pages backwards, starting from the end. Info from years ago could possibly help, but it was what has recently happened that we needed to know more urgently.

[Twelvetrees]

Tavern and Inn

Ulber enters the tavern as Magda heads for the door. At his question, she shakes her head, then looks to the elves and the innkeeper.

"I don't recognize it." She picks it up from the back of the chair and examines the blood stain closely. "Where did you find it?"

This isn't one of the listed uses of the Heal skill, but I'm hoping I can use it to try to identify what sort of wound the blood stain would indicate.

Heal: [roll0]

[Mark_Elderfire]

Ulber quickly answers Magda's question before sticking his nose back into the accounting book, "I was going to get the horses ready, but I found this all buried under a pile of hay. There was even a short sword, some gems, and silver. I dumped 'em by the chest."

[Twelvetrees]

Magda ponders that for a second, then turns back to the elves. "Either of you recognize the dress?" She looks over to the innkeeper. "Do you know whose this is?"

She worries her lip, wondering if the goblins from the night before had something to do with this.