Eberron: Merylsward Exhumed

[King Tius]

The Party
Aesop Wynde (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/view.php?id=49569) - Loquacius
Ajaba (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/view.php?id=47280) - FrereSebastian
Orestes d'Lyrandar (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/view.php?id=56286) - Zoobity
Delan (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/view.php?id=57729) - Captain Decadence


I: Prologue

If this game were made by Blizzard or Black Isle, the opening cut scene would look a little something like this:

A low hanging chandelier casts its light upon a large, ornately carved table covered completely in maps. The jewels of the chandelier glitter brightly but most of the room remains dark save for the table and the three faces looking down upon it. A trick of the dragonshards, no doubt. The first to speak is a tall man, nearly a full head above the other two. His dark green and gold garments are the height of noble fashion with a short waistcoat and wide cuffed shirt. His accoutrements, most especially a large ring and a gilded rapier, are adorned with emeralds that match his deep green eyes. With his short cropped black hair and a thin mustache he looks down at the map and extends a long finger to a town near a small line of coast. “My ancestors once held a large estate here on the cliffs, just across the bay from Merylsward. The local fishing town and surrounding farmers where once sworn under my family before we relinquished control to the crown. The ir’Kusk Keep was destroyed in 824 during the same storm that sundered the cliff face and blocked off the bay. After the town was permanently half underwater and our estate was destroyed, my family retired to other land holdings in eastern Aundair. With the war lasting as long as it did, my family had almost entirely forgotten about the Merylsward Keep. Fortunately for me, it became a tradition of sorts to pass down the estate in the family Will and Testament, rather than ridding ourselves of it years ago. Now that some semblance of peace has returned to Khorvaire, I seek to reclaim the land holding that was passed to me.” The man in green and gold removes his hand from the table and stands fully erect, watching the two women across from him intently. The taller of the two, dressed in the long jacket and tight breeches of an airship captain, brushes a strand of her curly brown bangs off her face and tucks it behind her half-elven ear. Spreading her hands to the edges of the table as she leans over it, her misty grey eyes remain transfixed upon the northern coastline as she speaks. “We have been looking to expand our northern influence for some time now. Though our airships routinely reach Breland, Orien controls nearly all the grain movements north of the lake. With a port here we can ship west on our larger sea bound vessels. If this cove were reopened, it would provide one of the only fishing havens along these cliffs for miles. With a sky dock, we could use Merylsward as a trade hub to reach our newer outposts.” She too stands fully upright now and gazes at the nobleman. “If you can provide us a reasonable showing of protection and draw the labor force, Lyrandar will establish ourselves at Merylsward and form a trade alliance with you, Baron ir’Kusk.” With a brief nod the Dragonmarked woman and the Baron both turn to stare at the second woman at the table. The youngest and shortest of the three, she is dressed in jewels upon gold upon silk. A resplendent crown sits upon her golden hair and the jeweled crest of Aundair hangs around her neck on a pendant. Her piercing grey eyes glance briefly towards the door of the room. Standing at attention and nearly invisible in the shadows is a man. He nods almost imperceptibly as her gaze alights upon him. Turning her attention back to the map, the third woman speaks. “Aundair cannot support any activity within the Reaches, at least openly. If Merylsward were re-established and run by someone loyal to the crown, it could prove integral in winning back the Reachers. Tell me, Baron, can I trust your vows of fealty?” The nobleman of the Kusk family bows deeply towards the young woman. “May the Dragon Below take my life and land should my loyalty ever falter, Queen Auralia.” Standing in silence for a moment, the Queen once again stares at the map before glancing at the Lyrandar matron. “Very well, we are in agreement. Aundair shall bolster the coffers of House Lyrandar through the usual means and they will in turn assist you in rebuilding Merylsward.” The baron and matron bow towards the Queen who nods at them and extends her hand towards the door. As the two nobles leave, the queen removes a pearl earring and carefully jabs it into the map at the indicated location before exiting the room. The man by the door slowly approaches the table, removes the pearl, rolls up the map, and exits the room without a sound.

Dawn of Zor, the 19th of Therendor

The city of Fairhaven wakes to the last morning frost of Therendor, the first month of Spring. Since it is Therendor, month of the Mark of Healing, House Jorasco is offering a discount on all services for the duration of the month. As the city vendors begin to open their shops and the streets begin to bustle with the morning trade, Delan, Aesop, and Rhyn greet the day looking for work. Though there are plenty of ways to make an honest day’s pay in the city, our three adventurers go to the Sivis Station looking for the higher paying, higher risk jobs. At different points throughout the day, the three of you approach the small tower bearing the crest of House Sivis. The building, made of white stone, has large wooden doors that open to a room full of small letter boxes and a high counter. The upper levels of the tower have smaller windows and closer spacings than one would expect of a human building, showing that this is indeed a gnome establishment. Several message boards are posted in the small courtyard outside the building, each littered with parchments. As you scan these, all kinds of job opportunities present themselves. A scholar from Morgrave University is leading an expedition into Xen’drik. A long flyer recruits for the Blademarks and Defenders Guilds. An exacerbated mother seeks a babysitter for her half-ogre twins, and some rich collector looks for a group to help find “the Sankara Stones and Save Children.” One particular piece of fresh parchment, written in a particularly flourishing script and green ink, offers the following:

The Baron ir’Kusk seeks those of stout heart and sword arm for the refounding of Merylsward. Inquire within for details.

Inside the main chamber sit two gnomes, one male and one female, at opposite ends of the large counter. Behind them, amongst the giant piles of tomes and parchments sits the messenger stone that the Sivis gnomes use to transmit their arcane messages. After you’ve waited in line along with the other assorted customers, you finally have the chance to speak to the male gnome. He looks down at you from his high counter and says with practiced courtesy, “What can House Sivis do for you today?”

[captain_decadence]

Delan

Knowing that some prejudice still exists against his people, Delan bows slightly to the gnome and tries to act as courteously as possible:
"Greetings, I am here to inquire about the finer details of the refounding of Merylsward that was posted outside. I am currently looking for work of some kind, especially work that takes me out of the city, and the refounding of a town sounds like an interesting experience to say the least. I am an Artificer by trade, skilled in woodcrafting and blacksmithing, and I know my skills would be very helpful to your efforts."

Knowing that he is pouring it on a little thick, Delan then waits for a response from the gnome.

[Loquacius]

Aesop

(OOG: While typing this, I accidentally typed "Cedric" on several occasions. That's what happens when you play a character for two years.)

Aesop isn't thrilled with his options so far. Scholarship bores him, he'd never last a week in a fighter's guild, the thought of babysitting makes him cringe (although he begrudgingly admits he'd be pretty good at it) and he doesn't imagine he could work for that rich collector type without despising him inside of ten minutes. I don't even know what Sankara Stones are. Probably an aphrodisiac or something. That one's a last resort, I guess, but for now let's move on.

Then Aesop sees the Baron's flyer. Stout heart and sword arm? Well isn't THAT cryptic. Hm. Seems to be a good cause, though. He takes the flyer in for a little longer and comes to a realization: Merylsward? That's... that's in the Reaches, I think? Or it WAS, anyway. Good place to start. I wonder if my heart's stout enough for them? How does one quantify that? After a few more minutes of reviewing his options, Aesop decides that it's either the Merylsward thing or he works taverns for another thousand years, and quite frankly telling folktales to drunkards is already boring and unfulfilling after only a century of it. Besides, he reminds himself, I'm 200 years old now. (That's like hitting 30 for an elf.) About time I did something with my life. Aesop walks in and waits in line.

When he comes to the front, Aesop hits the gnome with his best male-bonding smile (and Diplomacy check). "Good morning, sir gnome! I'm here to inquire about the rebuilding of Merylsward? I'm Aesop Wynde, storyteller by trade, although I've picked up a smattering of other skills over the decades." Here, in a rare break of his rhythm, Aesop almost adds something else, but decides against it and hesitates for a second before getting his flow back. "My principal skill, sir, is negotiation--the flyer indicated you were seeking individuals with a stout sword arm, and while I'm not averse to that type of work" (here he indicates the rapier at his side) "I find myself wondering whether any serious effort at urban renewal can really progress without a negotiator, to cut through the red tape and whatnot. I believe, sir, that I can fill that role. Now. I realize that my skillset is probably more oriented toward a management or diplomatic role, but I'm seeking field work for two reasons: First, I have been living the life of a transient storyteller for the past century and I have found in recent months that that kind of history is frowned upon in a management context, and second, I have a lot of youth left, but still I'd rather use it to its fullest instead of waiting until field work is no longer possible. It occurs to me now, sir, that I've been talking for a longer time than anyone before me did" (this was actually a calculated decision due to Aesop's presentation of himself as a 'talker', but Aesop isn't letting on) "so I'll end my pitch here and let the line move along. Tell me, how do my chances look?"

[Elysium]

Rhyn

An unremarkable man steps on to the streets of Fairhaven, his steps carrying him forward with a purpose, but no direction. Eventually he comes upon a cluttered message board and by chance grabs the Baron's notice. The man reads the note quickly, his interest piqued. A new town - that means new faces, new experiences, and just maybe a new identity. Rhyn ducks into the shadows of an alley and emerges an athletic half-elf with a rugged touch evocative of a frontiersman, staff tied to his back. He enters the Sivis tower and speaks to the gnomes, adopting a halting, no-nonsense tone to impress his would-be employers.

[King Tius]

II: Your Mission, If You Chose To Accept It…

OOG: You are all more than welcome to read what happens to each of you. I've put them in spoilers to cut down on size and just in case you want to stay as in character as possible. That being said, I think you should read them, since I wrote them. Cheers!

Delan
The Sivis gnome nods in recognition as Delan speaks. “Ah yes, the Merylsward project. Just a minute, let me find that book…” Turning to a stack of giant tomes next to him, the gnome grabs hold and lifts up the pile of books that easily weighs as much as he does. A small red ring on his finger glows slightly as he effortlessly picks up the books and moves them to one side. Opening the newly uncovered book and flipping to a specific page, he clears his throat and reads the job description (see below). Once finished, he looks at Delan and says “Now if you’re still interested Soldier, pass me your I.D. and Traveling Papers. You’re in luck, the next supply train to Merylsward leaves tomorrow at daybreak outside the west gate.”

Aesop
As you wait in line, the half-orc in front of you almost reaches up and grabs the little gnome in frustration during his transaction. He keeps yelling about a “message from da boss” but the Sivis gnome seems to have no such message for him. When the brute finally storms out of the tower, the gnome rubs his temple and sighs deeply before turning to you and delivering his canned greeting. As you lay out your tale, the gnome’s sullen face begins to lighten until he breaks out a full-on smile. “A story teller now? Well coo! I’m a bit a yarn-spinner myself. Back before I took this job for mother I was holed up in a little tavern over on…” With an almost inhuman (or rather, in-gnomish) accuracy the silent female gnome on the other side of the counter picks up a small book and hurls it at the male gnome, never looking up from her scribblings. The book strikes the male gnome square in the temple and he howls in pain. “BY THE HOST!” He screams as he turns to look at her with a venomous glare in his eyes. He raises his hand and wiggles his finger before pointing directly at her. A small ray of ice shoots from his pointer finger and sails towards the female gnome. Again, without looking up from her tome, the other Sivis gnome leans backwards and snaps her fingers in front of her face. A small ball of flame ignites above her thumb, perfectly intercepting the ice ray intended for her ear. A fine mist of water comes spraying out the other side and onto a conveniently waiting potted plant. Clearly this little dance has gone on before. Looking up to the ceiling, the male gnome recites “A Sivis Clerk will maintain customer neutrality with all of his interactions, regardless of circumstances.” Looking down to Aesop, the male gnome winks before reading the Merylsward job description (see below). “So Sir, if you are interested, I’ll be needing your I.D. and Traveling Papers. The next caravan for Merylsward leaves from the west gate tomorrow morning.”

Rhyn
The male gnome opens the large tome in a similar manner as he did to Delan and reads the enclosed job description (see below). “Now, if you’re interested, I’ll need your I.D and Traveling Papers, as well as a brief description about you. Is that stick on your back just for show?” The next supply train to Merylsward leaves tomorrow at dawn. You’ll be able to find it at the western gate if you’re interested and pass the job screening.”

To all three of you:
“If you need either set of papers, please go speak to my sister Elsie.”

Merylsward Job Description
The Lord Baron ir’Kusk has undertaken the restoration of the once-glorious town of Merylsward. Once a major port and fishing town for the northwestern part of Old Aundair, tragedy befell the town when the bay entrance was blocked by a rockslide. Those seeking to assist in the reconstruction of the town or the reclamation of the surrounding lands shall be paid according to the services provided. All items retrieved in the reclamation, so long as they are not Kusk family relics or plunders from hardworking citizens are to be kept at your discretion. Any persons with relations to the druidic sects of the Eldeen Reaches should make their connections known. Karnathi need not apply. Specific job assignments shall be delivered by Baron ir’Kusk or any other overseeing personnel assisting in the reconstruction of Merylsward.

Papers
Most citizens of Khorvaire have I.D. Papers. They're like a driver's license. Traveling papers are like passports, issued by the kingdom you reside in and granting you passage to most other places on the mainland. As I glance over your backgrounds (except for Jeff, because I still don't have his...) it seems like Delan and Aesop would have I.D. Papers. Aesop, having ventured back and forth from the Reaches, would also have Traveling Papers. Delan not so much, unless you want to have them to begin with, which is fine. Rhyn, however, being a changeling, has a decision to make. Normally changelings who like to hide their existences have several sets of (forged) I.D. papers for their different disguises or openly declare themselves and take the gamble. Since you need I.D. papers to get travel papers, you either need to fake it and apply for I.D. papers now or revert to a "signature" form which you have fakes for. Since I didn't make you pick this before hand (because I forgot) you can have two sets of I.D. papers to start with of any two reasonable personalities you want. Either way, unless you want to apply for a new one, you'll have to step out and come back as someone else.

[Loquacius]

Aesop

RETRO: Aesop watches uneasily with one hand on his rapier as the half-orc in front of him makes a spectacle of himself and is just thinking that maybe he should step in with a kind word or two (or maybe a magic one... no, never mind. Again with the dumb ideas, Wynde, you're going to get yourself killed.) when the brute leaves on his own. Enough poking into other people's business, I've got a pitch to make.

Aesop is visibly trying not to smile as the gnomes unwittingly perform for him, and failing. When the job description is read to him, Aesop isn't quite impressed with it--it didn't really tell him anything he didn't know before--but once again, he doesn't let on. "Sounds good, friend. I've got the papers right here. When, where, and to whom shall I report?"

[captain_decadence]

Delan

Delan brings his ID out of his travel papers and hands it to the gnome.

"Unfortunately, I do not have Travel Papers"

Once the gnome tells him to go to his sister for travel papers, Delan picks his ID back up and moves over to the female gnome. For the second time in his life and the second time today, he is not looking straight down at the top of a gnomes head and chuckles softly to himself. He hands the female his papers and addresses her:

"Your brother told me that you would provide me with Traveling Paper. Are there any specific forms I must fill out?" Delan sighs inwardly at the prospect of paperwork. He has never particularly liked bureaucracy and filling out forms is one of the activities that he loathes the most. Still, he looked forward to working in the outside world so he tried to keep his feelings to himself. These gnomes seem to enjoy the order around them for some reason.

[Elysium]

Rhyn

"To be honest sir, I don't have any identification papers. My village was destroyed during the war and I ended up in a refuge caravan that was lost in the Reaches. The experience left me bitter and distrustful and I only recently decided to come back to civilization. Along the way I lost almost everything that I owned. To be honest, that's why I'm interested in this job... I'm looking for a fresh start. What can I do about getting the right paperwork?"

Rhyn's story has just enough truth in it to be believable. His village was destroyed and he was made a refugee, but it was a village of changelings who rejected life amongst the common races. Rhyn doesn't have ID because up until now he never needed it. He hopes that he can continue to bluff his way into the job in order to establish an identity.

[King Tius]

III Meet the Wagon Crew

OOG: So what if it’s 2 AM, I promised to post and The Fridge always delivers!

Aesop
The gnome finishes writing down your information and hands back your I.D. papers. “The caravan will be leaving around 8 am tomorrow morning from the courtyard just outside the Western Gate. It’s just a supply line and a settler or two, I think, but one of Baron ir’Kusk’s men should be leading the train. Good day to you, sir, and thank you for using House Sivis.” The gnome clears his throat and nods his head ever so slightly towards a small jar on the counter labeled “gratuities.”

Delan
“Alright, your papers check out. Not that there’s any reason to question if a Forged has forged papers. Ha! That’s a good one! I should write that down. Elsie will see to your other papers.” Over at the female gnome the welcome is much colder. Still scribbling with her writing hand, Elsie reaches out towards you and says “papers please” in a short and distracted tone. Finally pausing to look away from her work, she frowns slightly and says “you Forged are tricky for paperwork. Even if you were forged here in Aundair, you aren’t really “Aundarian.” Give me a moment to write up a basic pass permitting entrance to and from the Reaches.” About five minutes later, she hands you your newly penned Traveling Papers and says “That will be 2 silver pieces.”

Rhyn
Your pseudo-sob story has no trouble winning over the Sivis gnome. “It’s a crying shame what’s going on in the Reaches these days. I’ll make a note of it. Go see Elsie and I’ll get your information from her.” Just like Delan you are greeted by the all-business female gnome with her usual mirth. She begins to ask you a series of questions regarding your current residence, nationality, name, and a physical description of yourself. After giving her the aforementioned and waiting ten minutes, she hands you your new I.D. and Traveling Papers. “That will be 2 gold and 2 silver pieces.”

You all may spend the rest of the day to your liking. If you are staying at an inn, you might want to go pay your bill….

Dawn of Far, the 20th of Therendor

Just as dawn breaks the three of you pack your belongings and head towards the West Gate of Fairhaven. As you exit the tall walls of the city on this crystal clear morning you see before you a train of four wagons. The first has a large man standing in the back of it barking orders at two younger men who are fiddling with a cover on the second wagon. In the third wagon sits a middle aged man with slight streaks of grey in his hair that seem to match the tabard he wears. Emblazoned on it is the symbol of the Church of the Silver Flame. Sitting in the back of the wagon are two young adults, one boy and one girl, who appear to be siblings by the way they are shoving each other. The final wagon, currently unmanned, has three interesting characters standing next to it. The largest of the three is an armored hobgoblin with a greatsword strapped across his back. He has his back to you as he rummages inside the wagon. Standing next to him is a goblin wearing a bandana (like Little Stevie) which has one ear poking out of it. The goblin is using one of his daggers to pick at something in his teeth. Sitting on the ground on the opposite side of the hobgoblin is a meek little kobold, dressed in a red tunic and carrying a small shaman-like totem. As the three of you begin to converge upon the caravan the hobgoblin turns at the sound of your footsteps. He takes one look at Aesop, spits on the ground, and goes back to his rummaging. It is at about this point that you become aware of one another as there aren’t many people right outside the gate. The fat man barking orders looks your way and shouts “Well are you four going to help or just stand there like a bunch of bleedin’ gargoyles?” At first thinking the man had miscounted, you turn to notice that another half-elf has just exited the gates and approached the wagons as well.”

This may be a good time to describe yourselves physically, now that all four of you are together.

[Loquacius]

Aesop

RETRO: Aesop flips the gnome a silver, winks, and is on his way. He spends the rest of the day simply walking around the city, as a sort of farewell to it.

Aesop Wynde is rather on the tall side for an elf, and dressed in gaudy clothes probably meant to make him look like a swashbuckler, complete with rapier and buckler. The clothes seem to have started their life a little too brightly colored to complete this illusion, but long travel has dimmed them a little and they seem more in place now. His long, flowing dark hair adds to the image, but he lacks the appropriate meticulously-greased facial hair--elves, alas, cannot grow any. His age is not easily guessed, especially due to his elven lifespan, but he appears youngish.

Aesop grins at the hobgoblin upon eye contact, and is slightly taken aback when the brute doesn't instantly like him. Huh. That doesn't usually happen. Might have to Charm him later. For now, though, Aesop ignores him and observes the other party members. Rhyn gets another greeting smile, but Aesop flinches a little upon seeing Delan. Whoa. Easy now, Wynde, war's over now, he's just another guy. Try not to picture him caving in your skull. Deep breaths. Aesop's reverie is cut short by his new boss barking orders at him. Ah, a man of action. Sometimes it's hard being the only socially adept person present. Before walking over to get his new orders, Aesop waves the other party members (and the new guy he just noticed) over to him to walk over with them. "Hi. I'm Aesop. You guys headed to Merylsward too?" As introductions are made, Aesop declines to shake Delan's hand if it is offered, but smiles apologetically.

[captain_decadence]

Delan hands his two silver pieces over to the gnome. "Thank you for your assistance."

Delan walks out of the Guild House and back toward the temple. Now that he has a job that will take him out of town, he will spend one last night here. Before he leaves the next morning, he says goodbye to the people who have helped him as he goes off to find a place in the world.

As he walks toward the wagons, Delan watches all of the interesting characters that seem to be gathered. The adamantium armor that covers most of his body gleams brightly in the sunlight as he approaches the wagon and he stops at the man's words. Thin for a warforged and taller than most men, he has been compared to an armored scarecrow. Those comparisons usually ended when people realized how much punishment he could take before even beginning to hurt.

"Of course," he replies in a deep baritone. "What would you have us do?"

After assisting the man with whatever task he requires, he moves to the group. Towering over everyone else in the vicinity, Delan introduces himself to each of the people standing around the circle. As he reaches out to shake Aesop's hand and sees that Aesop is not going to shake his, he pulls his hand back quickly. He knows a lot of people carry prejudices against his people. He whispers a quick prayer to the Sovereign Host that there will be no problems during the trip if he travels with those who don't like his kind.

[Loquacius]

Aesop

After the group has been given their duties, while they are performing them, Aesop takes a few deep breaths and approaches Delan. His mode of speech is usually fluid and eloquent, but partially-concealed fear has left him awkward. "Hey, uh, sorry if I was rude earlier, it's just, well, I haven't really seen any, any Warforged outside of a really bad context, but that was a long time ago and I realize you're just trying to make a living now, same as me. In order for me to properly fill my role in this party, it's important that I'm on good terms with everyone around me, so I think it's only professional that I try to put this behind me. If I were to shake your hand, it wouldn't, um, crush my bones or anything, right? I ask just to make sure." Assuming that it does indeed turn out to be safe for him, Aesop shakes Delan's hand. "Okay, now let's get back to work!"

[Elysium]

Rhyn

Rhyn does his best to blend in with the rest of the group around the wagons as work begins. He cordially greets the other members of the party, but when questioned only gives noncommittal answers about his past. To the other workers Rhyn appears to be an athletic but otherwise unremarkable half-elf. Without thinking consciously about it, Rhyn tends to hang around Delan because, let's be honest, who will be paying attention to a mere half-elf when there is an imposing Warforged walking around. If anyone is paying close attention, they will notice that Rhyn's movements are unusually fluid and seems to move in harmony with his surroundings.

[Zoobity]

The half-elf walks out the gate, smoothing his tunic out and pulling his long sleeves tightly around his wrists. He hefts a pack on his back uncomfortably, as if the weight was unfamiliar. His only visible weapon the dagger that hangs off his belt. As he arrives he hears the large man barking his orders. The gray-eyed half-elf introduces himself to each of the three around the wagon, in turn. "Orestes, a scholar. I'll be documenting this trip. I'm pleased to see that my companions are able-bodied." He laughs, "That isn't so much the case for myself, is it?" He wraps his left right hand easily about his left wrist to prove his point. When he meets Dalen, he shakes the warforged's hand and then walks around him, eying him up and down. "Hmm... interesting chassis. Do you have any knowledge of your creator's original intent?"

After that he assists the three prepare the wagon and waits for the rest of the group to take their positions on the wagon before helping himself to a seat. At some point he says to the goblin, in the goblin tongue, "Make this trip often, friend?"

[captain_decadence]

Delan

To Aesop: "I think I understand where you are coming from here. Many of my people fought in the war and terrible things were done. I do not ask that you love me or even be friends with me if you don't want to but I would like for us to be civil. And as for crushing your hand, well, we only have so many hands to go around at the moment so I'll let them be for the moment." Delan tries to put a little humor into the situation but he knows that this is hard for Aesop.

To Orestes: Delan laughs. "I could ask the same about your...chassis. The only thing I can see that your creator intended was that you be eaten by most anything bigger than a cat. As for my creator, I assume that I was meant for the battlefields, though I never was extraordinarily good at it. They tended to put us together without consideration for our differences and individualities. I've learned to work with what I was given."

[King Tius]

IV Welcome to the Reaches!

The fat man motions to the wagons as he gives out orders “Help strap down these tarps and stow this cargo. If you can pack it tightly enough, you can ride on the back. It’s two weeks to Owl’s Perch and another ten-day to Merylsward. If any of you can hunt it will make the meals more savory along the way.” After about a half-hour’s more of rearranging cargo and securing tarps, the wagon train departs. The fat man, who is in fact called Barley, drives the lead wagon. The two young men drive the second cart while the cleric of the Flame drives the third. The final wagon is left to you and the hobgoblin to drive. There is room enough in the back of the wagon for two of you to sit at once (or for Delan alone). As the wagon sets off, the hobgoblin grabs the kobold by the neck and tosses him into the wagon. The goblin finishes picking his teeth and clambers up to sit on top of the tarp. He looks to Orestes and replies in the goblin tongue “Wrex and I are here same as you, to go make money in this new town. How does someone as prissy as you speak my tongue?”

Road Banter:
Along the way to Owl’s Perch, the first town across the river in the Reaches, you have quite a bit of downtime walking and riding to get to know each other. The hobgoblin finally opens his mouth to Delan first as it is their shift to walk alongside the wagon. “So where were you stationed? I fought in the war same as you. I was stationed along the Breland-Cyre border, working for the Deneith Blademarks Guild. What were you killing? Undead? Cyrans? Goblins? It’s long over now, time for soldiers like us to make some coin however we can.”

The goblin, unless spoken to, spends his days napping on the wagon. At night he sneaks off from the wagons and brings back small game for roasting. Eventually Wrex begins talking to the rest of you, though he openly shows his dislike for Aesop still. “This kobold is my slave. I know you pale skinners get all angry about slaves, but in Darguun it is the way of things. That one’s name is Bin (pointing to the goblin) and he’s a bit of a sneak. I’d not make him angry. I’ll at least kill you when you’re awake. So what are your stories? I’m sure you’re dying to tell me.”

Barley and his two hands, cousins of his actually, are employed by the Baron to transport goods to and from Merylsward. Three of the wagons are his and though nobody says it out loud, you all know instinctively that he’s running his business in direct opposition to House Orien, the undisputed tycoons of all things ground transportation. The Cleric of the Flame and his children keep mostly to themselves and build their own fire just away from the groups. Though they are pleasant enough to you all, they have made no effort to become acquainted with you.

Your first dozen days of travel give you no resistance other than a broken wagon wheel and some dreary rain. As you cross the bridge into the Eldeen Reaches, you are met at a guard station by Aundarian military. They check all your travel papers and bid you fair travels in the Reaches. A day before you reach Owl’s Perch the following occurs:

Late Afternoon of Zor, the 5th of Eyre

As your wagon train travels along the road to Owl’s Perch the late-day sun filters through the high treetops of the Eldeen trees. The forest around you is not the fabled woods deeper inside Eldeen territory, but nevertheless provides a nice shade to make the day’s travels pleasant. Wrex is driving the wagon while Bin snores loudly behind him on the wagon. The two half elves (wink wink) have the back of the cart while Delan and Aesop walk. Barley calls out from the front of the train “Look alive, someone’s waitin’ for us up the road.” As you all look down the path you can see several figures standing around a makeshift barricade. You can see half a dozen men as you draw closer. The two children seem nervous and their father tells them to keep quiet and their heads low. Wrex reaches behind him and pokes Bin where his other ear should be. He wakes with a snarl and a drawn dagger, but stops when Wrex grumbles something in Goblin which Orestes understands as “party.” (OOG: Aesop does not have languages listed. Jesse, sends me them! You get three on top of Elven and Common). Bin springs to his feet and crawls underneath the wagon. The meek Kobold, who is known only as “slave” whimpers slightly.

Your wagon train pulls up the barricade and comes to a halt. Manning the road block are five humans and a half orc, all wearing the same forest-green tunic under or over their assorted armors. Two of the humans carry crossbows while the others have swords and bucklers. The one half orc sports a dire mace. One of the humans speaks up to the wagons as the other slowly spread along the caravan. “The Baron of Moss welcomes you to his land! If you would kindly step out of your wagons and lay down your weapons for a moment, we must search your caravan and collect the Baron’s tax before letting you through.” A snapping twig alerts Rhyn and Orestes that four more men have emerged from the woods behind the wagon train, crossbows ready. A sharp scream comes from the cleric’s daughter as one of the men grabs her by the arm with a grin. The cleric is on his feet with his hand raised in the air before anyone can react. A ball of silver fire springs to life in his palm as he points to the man and yells “unhand my daughter you lecherous thug!” The rest of the Moss Baron’s men draw their weapons as their leader calls out. “Whoa there grandpa! Don’t make this any harder on yourselves than it has to be.”

OOG: Any retroactive moves, such as sneaking alongside the wagons in the woods or palming daggers before the wagons hit the barricade is perfectly acceptable, though be careful. I also realize that I just jumped the game ahead two weeks but hey, who wants to post over and over about riding in a wagon? If there’s anything special you’d like to do along the way, just retro post it.

[captain_decadence]

Delan

Road Banter:

To the hobgoblin: "I am not sure where I fought, though I know I fought mostly humans. The war was my childhood and my memories of it tend to be a bit fractured. But we are now just former soldiers, trying to make our way in the world. I hope that you've found something here that works for you." Delan knows that slavery is a way of life in many cultures but he doesn't like slavery. So he goes out of his way to try to talk to the Goblin. If the Goblin doesn't speak Common, he tries his other languages. He is not trying to convince the goblin to run away or turn against his master, only trying to be friendly to the little thing.

Down the road:
As the bandits appear, Delan gets ready for something. He has faced bad people in the past and he knows that something bad is about to happen. He doesn't try anything yet though. The child's life is in danger and he won't do anything to endanger him just yet.

[King Tius]

Wish List Stuff!!!!
After some careful number crunching, I've decided to give you each one magic item costing less than or equal to 1000g. This can be a wondrous item, a first level wand, or anything else from the site below. Also, this can be applied as a +1 bonus to a weapon or piece of armor. If your magic item is combat based, please post it before blood is (potentially) drawn.

http://www.d20srd.org/indexes/magicItems.htm

[Loquacius]

Aesop

(OOG: It seems cheap of me to say now that Aesop knows Goblin, but I probably would have picked that anyway, so I'll go with Goblin, Orc, and Sylvan.)

Also OOG: There wasn't much on that list that cost under 1,000 gp--could I go with a Wand of Cure Light Wounds?

RETRO, upon meeting Orestes: Aesop is glad to see he no longer appears to be the only intellectually-inclined person present. He clasps the half-elf's hand warmly. "Well met, scholar! Are you solely a chronicler? What areas have your studies covered?" After listening to the reply, if it has not been mentioned yet, "And have you studied any magics or arcana?" (This strikes Aesop as relevant information.)

During the ride, Aesop sidles up to Wrex at some point to start up a conversation--in Goblin--without letting him see it coming. He doesn't like not being on good terms with his comrades--he figures if he could fix things with Delan, he can fix this. First, he attempts Diplomacy: "You fought in the war, didn't you, Wrex? You can tell a veteran on sight, I've found, by the way he carries himself and his scars." (In reality, this is actually a guess, but Aesop is pretty confident about it.) "Personally, I wasn't in any army during the war, but I consider myself something of a veteran of it anyways" (here, Aesop pulls up his shirt to reveal a wicked-looking scar on his belly) "and as you can see, I've a few scars of my own. I was in this very country when it was abandoned by Aundair. The Lhazaar pirates and the blasted Karrnathi" (Aesop spits that word out with contempt) "turned it into a hellhole. They filled the whole place brimful of bandits. Foul, cruel, honorless ones. I barely escaped with my life." A contemplative pause, but of calculated length. "Where were you stationed?"

As the wagon approaches the barricade, Aesop is hit with a pang of worry and decides to run forward and hide himself in the lead wagon for the moment. From this vantage point, he listens to the exchange between the Baron's men and the cleric. THIS has gone far enough. Still inside the wagon, Aesop peers through the front until he sees the leader, quietly casts Charm Person on him, then reveals himself and once again puts his diplomacy skill to the test. He speaks not in a hostile tone, but in a slightly wounded one, as though a friend has betrayed him. "My friend! You've a job to do, and so do we. You are here to inspect our cargo and collect the tax, not to bully a girl. Kindly restrain your man, unhand the girl, and we can conduct this business like civilized men." If that works, before the baron's men can inspect the wagons: "Hold. What tax does the Baron demand? We will pay it up front, so your men need not extract it from our cargo themselves."

[captain_decadence]

Delan

Wish List: Just a bag of tricks (gray) and a token of anchor. I know that's weird, but I'm okay with that.

Road Troubles: Delan tries to place himself in front of the other child (if he can) if things look like they are getting bad.

[King Tius]

Sons of Dis, where has half my party gone?

[Zoobity]

On the Road:
To Bin Orestes replies, "I learned Goblin a few years back to handle some business for my family. Nothing dangerous, I assure you. It worked out well for both sides."
To Aesop, "I primarily handle scribal duties, though I have, uh... dabbled in the arcane, yes. Nothing to brag about, though. So what is it you do, exactly?"

At the barricade:
Orestes lays as low as possible in the wagon, hoping to keep his presence a secret for as long as possible, though he suspects exposure is inevitable. He takes all of the enemies and their known locations into account, using his few moments of safety to devise a mode of attack. After a moment, Orestes reaches into a pouch at his waist and places a pinch of sand into his right palm. After whispering a few words in elvish he casts "Sleep," blowing the grains towards the crossbowmen.

[King Tius]

V Lets Get Those Swords Wet

Item Wish List:
Delan: Bag of Tricks, Gray
Aesop: Wand of Cure Light Wounds with 5(d10) = 27 charges
Orestes: Bracers of Armor +1
Rhyn: Cloak of Resistance +1

On The Road
Delan strikes up a conversation with Bin in common and finds that he too served in the war. Bin was a scout for Wrex’s patrol and tagged along with him after the war ended. Aesop finally gets Wrex to speak to him, although he is still far from friendly. “I fought along the Breland-Cyre boarder.” He smiles so the large that cuts across his lip flares red. “See this scar? I picked it up from an ambush by some Aereni Elves. Took the head off the one who gave me this. I still have his ear.” Here he reaches underneath his armor and pulls out a dried up Elven ear on a leather necklace. “Just don’t get in my way and I won’t add one of your pointy little ears to my collection.”

At The Barricade
The leader of the group is slowly losing his patients “Come on now, out of the carts or my boy here will take his liberties with the girl. “ Aesop casts his spell upon the man and tries to persuade him. “I suppose you’re right. Billock, unhand the girl.” Back to Aesop “The Baron of Moss demands complete inspection of all wagons entering his territory. We’re to be taking anything valuable and a quarter of anything that ain’t. Now out of the carts. I’ll not ask again.” Delan hops off the wagon and walks forward, putting himself between the young boy and one of the thugs. At this point Orestes casts his spell upon the crossbowmen. Three of them fall to the ground in slumber while the fourth gives a shout. One of the swordsmen, who has been circling around the carts, looks to the sound of the shout and cries out as well. He waves his sword and screams “Boss! They’ve knocked out the archers! Get ‘em!” Wrex leaps off the cart and, in one swift motion, draws his greatsword and hacks the man’s head clean off as he falls. The priest throws his small ball of flame at the face of the man holding his daughter. The thug stumbles backwards and lets go of the girl, grabbing his face as he screams. The lone rear archer fires his crossbow at Wrex but misses. Barley ducks down in his wagon, as does his two cousins. Slave jumps off the wagon next to Wrex and waves his shaman stick at him. A shimmering field flashes around Wrex before dimming into almost invisibility. The two forward crossbowmen fire at the Cleric, one of whom manages to strike him in the shoulder. The priest cries out and falls into his wagon where his children catch him. The boss and the other swordsman advance towards your cart, seeing you as the only threats. The half orc hefts his dire mace and advances towards Wrex. The boss man, who stands right before Delan, stabs him with his sword for 5 hit points of damage.

Since maps are a bit hard to come by on this server, here's how the enemies stand. The half orc advances towards Wrex and Slave, who stand on the right side of your cart. The burned swordsman is also on the right, now moving down the line towards your cart. The boss man stands next to Delan on the left side of the wagon. The two archers begin to advance down either side of the wagons, reloading their bows. Orestes and Rhyn are still in the cart while Aesop stands next to the cart on the left, a wagon away from the Boss man. The archer in the rear reloads.Your move, n00bs.

[Loquacius]

Aesop

Well, that was a waste of a spell. Aesop isn't as angry as one might expect that his admirable diplomatic effort was spoiled, though, as that tax was way too heavy and he'd honestly rather just kill these jerks than suffer through several posts' worth of tedious haggling which they'd probably ignore anyway. That Baron fellow probably isn't going to deal with their new town too kindly, though. Not that he would anyway.

Aesop draws his bow and creeps around the wagon he's near, toward the one where the action is going on. He'll take the first shot at one of the melee fighters that presents itself, but his primary target is the boss.

[Elysium]

Rhyn

Rhyn is no stranger to a fight and goes about his business with a silent purpose. He draws his staff as best as he can inside the carts and uses it to try and pivot his weight around to face the "tax collectors" as he jumps out of the cart. (Tumble) Rhyn attempts to use his staff to stun the closest enemy at the first opportunity. (Stunning Fist) In general Rhyn will attempt to disable his opponents if possible, but he doesn't pull any punches.

[Zoobity]

With only one rear archer remaining (kind of) Orestes slings a tiny pebble and, casting magic missile, watches as it ignites and hurtles towards the remaining crossbowman. After that he drops low again to plan his next move.

[King Tius]

VI Wake up!

Aesop draws his bow and ducks into a crouch, moving in between the fourth and third carts. He pops his head up and lets an arrow off at the burnt swordsman, but his aim is off. Rhyn takes a running jump and pole vaults off the fourth wagon. Landing gracefully in front of the Half-Orc, he tucks his quarterstaff behind him and slams the Half-Orc with his stunning fist. The brute staggers backwards and feebly begins to shake, though he keeps his footing. Orestes fires his magic missile at the remaining conscious rear archer. The bolt strikes him square and the chest and the man falls backwards, screaming and flailing his arms as he does so. The combined thud/death scream/impact of someone falling on them is enough to rouse two of the sleeping archers. They open their eyes and sit up, looking around confusedly. Delan grabs hold of his wound and casts repair light damage returning him to full health. The boss man gets a free attack in on him but is unable to connect as the steel soldier sidesteps his blow. Seeing an opportunity, Wrex charges forward and runs the Half-Orc clean through with his great sword. The burned swordsman, with the half orc dead and Wrex bearing down on him, turns and flees towards the woods. The boss man drops back from Delan, moving closer to the wood line on the left side of the wagon train as well. The leftwards forward archer cries out in pain and falls to the ground with a sliced calf muscle. Bin leaps onto his back as he falls and readies his knife for the killing blow. The right archer fires a shot off that seemed meant for Wrex but actually was aimed at Slave. The poor kobold takes the bolt square in the throat, hurling him backwards and pinning his limp corpse to the side of your wagon. The two formerly sleeping archers realize a fight is afoot and go reaching for their weapons. From the wagons in front of you, you can hear the Cleric’s daughter sobbing loudly.

[Loquacius]

Aesop

Aesop scowls as he watches his shot go awry, but switches his attention to the fleeing boss. If he appears to be in Close range, Aesop drops his bow long enough to cast Daze on the swindling jerk, hopefully keeping him in place long enough for Wrex to work that half-orc magic. If he's not in Close range, Aesop's next arrow is for him. That'll teach you to extort ME, human. Taking anything that's valuable? It's like they're trying to KEEP this place from re-developing trade.

[Zoobity]

Orestes remains low in the cart, gets out, and loads his crossbow. If he has time he fires at one of the drowsy crossbowmen.

[Elysium]

Rhyn

Rhyn runs to protect the cleric and his family from the remaining archers.

[King Tius]

VII Dazed and Confused

Aesop digs into his pouch and extracts a pinch of wool. Shifting his weight to view the boss thug, he blows the wool towards him and casts daze. The thug chief stops running and stands still, looking at the ground. Orestes hops out of the cart and fires his crossbow at one of the sitting archers. The bolt strikes the man in the chest and he falls over, going limp as he hits the ground. (OOG: I’m going to interpret ‘protect’ here) Rhyn charges the remaining forward archer and plants his quarterstaff to deliver a flying kick to the man that knocks him backwards. The archer drops his bow as he falls. After floundering a bit, the archer clambers to his feet and draws a knife. Delan turns to peer inside the cart of the Cleric. He finds the man unconscious and bleeding. The young girl is curled up around the man’s feet, sobbing. The boy places his hands over his father and closes his eyes. Light begins to radiate from his touch and seep into the father’s chest. The burnt swordsman disappears from view as he sprints away. The final awake archer finally gets to a crouch and loads his crossbow. Wrex glances quickly around the scene, shouts out “Keep the boss alive!” and rushes after the burned swordsman. Bin drives his knife into the neck of his prey, killing the archer in a spray of blood. He begins to stalk towards the boss, keeping low to the ground in a very cat-like way.

OOG: Gary Gygax died today. A moment of silence for the father of DnD, please.

[Elysium]

Rhyn
Rhyn is tired of playing games with these thugs... if they can't recognize when they are beaten and back down then they deserve what they get. Using his staff as a weapon for the first time, Rhyn attempts to sweep away the archer's legs and then plant a crushing blow on his head.

[Loquacius]

Aesop

Aesop hears Wrex's order, notices Bin sneaking over to the chief, and sighs. "You can just run there, y'know, he's not going anywhere!" Of course, in just a few seconds that will no longer be the case, so it falls to Aesop to keep him where he is until Bin arrives. Such is the lot of the artist. He pulls out another pinch of wool, murmurs an incantation, and blows it once more in the boss's direction.

[Zoobity]

Orestes loads another bolt and points his weapon at the boss. "You're outnumbered and you have no idea who we are or what you're dealing with. You'd be best off dropping everything and placing your hands in the air."

[King Tius]

VIII Fight, then Speech

Rhyn sweeps his quarterstaff and manages to knock out the archer’s legs. He once again falls backwards and hits the ground, this time not getting up so quickly. Aesop draws another piece of wool and once again puts the boss man in a trance. Orestes reloads his crossbow and shouts at the lead thug, but the man is still under Aesop’s spell and does not move or respond. Delan moves back towards Aesop to serve as a shield. The conscious rear archer fires his crossbow bolt at Orestes, hitting him in the lower back for a whopping 7 damage. The other archer continues to sleep. Bin makes his way to the leader and quickly slashes both his calf muscles. The man wakes from his daze with a scream and falls to the ground, feebly clutching his legs. From the woods to the party’s right another scream is heard. The scream is definitively human, not hobgoblin.

[Loquacius]

Aesop

Aesop winces at Orestes' misfortune and, reclaiming his bow, returns fire against the conscious archer.

[Zoobity]

Orestes cries out in pain as the bolt sinks in. The half elf whips around and closes the distance between himself and his attacker before returning fire. If he manages to pull that off he looks about to see who's left alive before finding cover and reloading his crossbow again.

[captain_decadence]

Delan

Delan continues acting as a shield for Aesop, though he currently is worried about the little kobold. He thinks to himself that as soon as the bolts stop flying, he is going to try to save it.

[Elysium]

Rhyn
Rhyn smashes his opponent's face with his staff, hoping to knock him out of the fight for good.

[King Tius]

IX Shhhhh, He’s Sleeping!

Aesop lets loose on the lone awake archer. His arrow flies true and strikes the man. Orestes also fires and manages to drop the archer with his bolt. Rhyn jams his quarterstaff into the man’s face, freeing his mortal coil. Everyone looks around for bogies and sees that the sleeping archer and the slashed bossman are the only ones still alive. Delan moves to Slave and finds that the little kobold is dead and beyond anyone’s power to revive. Barley and his cousins peak up from their wagons and begin looking around. The Cleric’s daughter has stopped crying, though all three of that wagon are still hiding. Bin rolls the boss over onto his back and hops onto his chest. Sticking the point of his dagger on the man’s Adam’s apple, he sits and waits patiently for someone to come deal with him. Wrex appears from the woods, his great sword sheathed, and carrying a throwing hatchet. He is dragging the swordsman’s body along behind him by the collar. He enters the clearing and looks around. “Any of the runts left?”

[Loquacius]

As Wrex returns, Aesop, who is in the process of reclaiming his arrow from the other archer, raises a finger to his lips and indicates the sleeping one. He Moves Silently over to the man, with the intention of relieving him of his crossbow, but if he should wake up before Aesop can get there, Aesop draws his bow, pointing at his face an arrow still red with the blood of the man's ally. He makes an (untrained) Intimidate check: "You're the only one left, buddy. Drop your crossbow and get down on the ground with your hands behind your head and this might not have to get ugly." If the check fails and the man does something drastic, Aesop fires.

[captain_decadence]

Delan

Delan looks down at the tiny creature in his hand. He never really got to now him but he still regrets its death.

Looking over at the drama near the final archer, lets his companions deal with the man. He has no desire to interrogate the man even if he does want to know what all this was about. He waits until the man is either dead or surrendered and then he puts down the Kobold.

Moving over to the wagon with the priest and his family, Delan peeks over the edge. "The danger is over, thank the Host. Are you all fine?"

[Zoobity]

Orestes looks around for a moment and catches his breath. He sets down his crossbow and leans over the side of the nearest wagon, trying to keep any weight off the wound in his back. "A little help here, please," he calls out to no one in particular. "Delan, could you perhaps at least check the injury for me?"

[King Tius]

X Post Game

Aesop creeps over to the magically sleeping man and removes him of his crossbow. He flips it around and trains it on the man, though he does not wake him. Delan moves towards the wagon and finds that the Cleric is now lying in the back of his wagon, his head resting on his daughter’s lap. “We’re fine, Servant of the Host, thanks to you and your friends.” Orestes calls out to the group and the priest coughs a bit before continuing. “Take my son to see your wounded friend. He can help bandage the wound till I can provide healing. Bring him to me once he’s bandaged and I shall heal him as best I can.” Wrex comes over to Aesop near the back of the wagon. He looks down at the sleeping archer and hefts his throwing ax. “Back up, Pointy, I’m gonna put this one out. Go help Bin tie up the boss.” Wrex takes a knee and raises his ax, ready to chop the sleeping archer’s head off. Delan and the Cleric’s son, who looks about eighteen years old, go begin to care for Orestes. “Lay down on your stomach so we can get this bolt out” says the young man. “Easy now, let me help you down.” Barley and his cousins hop out of the wagon and move over towards Bin and the boss man. They have all grabbed makeshift clubs. Rhyn moves back towards his companions to see how everyone has faired.

[Loquacius]

OOG: Sometimes it's hard being Chaotic Good.

Aesop bristles at being called "Pointy." "Hold it, Fuzzy. He can't do us any harm now; his buddies are dead and I've got his weapon. Let's just leave him to his little nap and get out of here." Should Wrex argue, Aesop persists with one of his patented Diplomacy checks: "What's he gonna do, glare at us? He doesn't even know where we're headed! This Baron Moss sounds like a class-A jerk, but one soldier won't make a difference to him. If he wants to give us trouble, he'll do it whether we let this runt live or not. So save your ax the wear and tear and let's just leave him."

Before the party leaves, though, Aesop takes the liberty of inspecting the dead half-orc's equipment, and also the boss's. You never know what you might find.

[Zoobity]

Orestes listens to the boy and lays down on his stomach so that his wound can be bandaged. When/if that finishes he'll walk over to Aesop and stands next to him as he questions his captive.

[captain_decadence]

Delan

Delan helps the young boy take the bolt out (Heal Check) of the wizard. "Did your father teach you the healing arts?" He inquires of the boy.

[King Tius]

XI End of the Intro

Wrex glares at Aesop and grips his ax tightly. After a moment of staring hard at the elf, the hobgoblin relents. “You’re right about one thing. Whether we kill him or not this Baron Moss will hear about us. If you want to let him live, make sure you sing him a lullaby before we leave.” Wrex gets up and moves back to your wagon, whistling something garish and dissonant. A scream is heard from the boss’s direction as Barley and his cousins move back to the cart. Bin stays by the corpse a moment to clean his dagger before climbing back to his sleeping spot. Wrex picks up Slave’s body and looks at it for a moment. Grabbing the small totem stick that the kobold carried, Wrex tosses it to Bin and unceremoniously hurls the kobold’s corpse into the woods. His whistling begins again. Delan assists the lad in removing the quarrel from Orestes’ back. He grits his teeth in pain but manages not to cry out. After it has been bandaged the Cleric feebly comes out of the cart and places his hands on Orestes’ back. In a loud, clear voice he delivers a brief prayer of healing to the Silver Flame. As he does so Orestes feels warmth flood into his wound and his pain subsides. Though the damage is repaired, he is still sore from having a bolt in his side. The young boy answers Delan “I am learning the way of Silver Light from my father. The other priests back in Thrane started to teach me, but my father has decided to take me and my sister to this new town. I suppose I’ll train under him for now.” Rhyn continues to do nothing. Aesop finds nothing on the half-orc of interest but does manage to find the coin purse which held the “tolls” collected from the road. A later count of the purse reveals that it holds 600 gp. Aesop also finds a key on a lanyard around the boss’s neck, though without searching for this group’s woodland hideout, the key is probably useless. As everyone is preparing to leave you glance back and notice that the sleeping archer is gone.

OOG: well, I’m off to California. Unless you go looking for the hideout or chase down that archer, the next post when I return will bring us to Merylsward. GET PUMPED! I’ll be home on the 23rd and will hopefully be able to post that night.

[Loquacius]

Aesop

Upon finding the gold, Aesop breaks into a grin. Ahh, the first big find of the job. Just smell that gold! Smells like... victory! He takes advantage of the job description's treasure clause and keeps it at his discretion, but of course he keeps in mind that everyone else who helped in the fight deserves some too. If they want to use any of it (but not too much of it of course), he'll gladly fork some over.

When they find that the archer is gone: "Good. One less thing for us to worry about. Remember, he doesn't know where we're going. We've seen the last of him. Maybe not the last of the good Baron's men, but definitely the last of him."

[Zoobity]

Orestes rubs his back with his left hand, "That bastard better not show up again here any time soon. I've got a few tricks that I meant to show him." He rubs the inside of his left arm with his right hand. "Perhaps we'd be best off moving all the bodies into the woods. In my experience there's nothing like stench and vultures to get the message out to your enemies. I say we clean up and then get out of here." He walks around to make sure their numbers haven't dwindled too far, and while he makes sure everyone is healthy and of sound mind he doesn't try to talk much unless someone insists, in which case he rolls with it. After that Orestes hauls his sore body into the cart and spins his finger around in the air, "Hoist anchor, unfurl the sails, kick the elementals, place your hand on the lever, your foot on the pedal..." until his voice trails off into sleep.

[captain_decadence]

Delan

Delan helps bandage anybody that needs healing and, if need be, hauling the bodies off. He wonders why people would do things like this, especially when it was (apparently) just as dangerous to them as to others.

While on the road, he tries to speak to the priest and his children. While not directly addressing their faith, he does ask them lots of different questions about their lives and opinions on many different topics. If he can work around to it, he asks them how they feel, as followers of the Silver Flame, about the Sovereign Host. He wants to get along well with all of the new inhabitants of the town and needs to make sure that he won't have any conflict with these two.

[King Tius]

XII A Night’s Roost

OOG: Sorry for the D-lay, we are losing Rhyn and I wanted to make sure I had a replacement in line before I missed the opportunity to drop him in nice and easy.

The bodies of the brigands are dragged off the road and put under cover. Your wagon train slowly begins moving again, leaving the little battle scene behind. While en route Delan converses with the Silver Flame family and finds them to be pleasant, though a bit haughty. The father does most of the talking, as expected, and says that almost all worshipers of The Flame acknowledge the Sovereign Host and respect them. “After all, in the war against darkness only a fool would shun his allies.” The remaining day of travel passes without incident and you arrive in the small town of Owl’s Perch. The town consists of a small tic-tac-toe board of roads with a simple wooden wall erected around the outside. The guards at the gate nod at Barley as he leads the wagons in. “Alright lads, we’ll be staying here till the day after tomorrow. I’ve got some business to take care of for the Baron. We’ll be leaving at dawn with or without you. If you wouldn’t mind, could you go tack this by the local pub?” He pulls out a roll of parchment. “Might as well keep advertising, seeing as we need all the help we can get.” He hands the document to one of you and begins taking the horses to be stabled. Upon examining the parchment, you find that it closely resembles the note you found outside the Sivis station, except that it directs those interested to find Barley directly. The cleric and his children begin stabling their horse before heading towards the inn. Wrex walks up to the group and says gruffly “Let’s go get some ale. Maybe we’ll find something interesting in this fart of a town at the tavern.” He grabs Bin by the back of the shirt and picks him up like a briefcase as he walks away. Bin tolerates the abuse just long enough to clear him from the wagon before kicking Wrex square in the side, freeing himself and landing nimbly on the ground.

[Zoobity]

Orestes stretches his back out as he steps off the wagon and receives the poster. Once the rest of the small group (three now?) is ready, Orestes walks the streets until he finds the pub. Before tacking up the poster he goes inside the bar and asks the first employee he finds to point him to the owner or manager of the establishment.

[captain_decadence]

Delan

To the cleric: "I agree and that's why I have never seen why there is a problem between our groups. We are all warriors in the fight against the darkness of the world." Delan likes the man, even if he is a little pompous. He finds the children interesting as well; he has never had a lot of interaction with the young of any race.

Once they get to town:
Delan helps everyone unload who needs it. He is used to this kind of mindless labor and it keeps him occupied. He thanks Wrex and the rest of the wagon crew for getting them to the settlement. When Orestes goes into the bar, he follows him so they can find out what their new job is.

[King Tius]

XIII That's Some Bouncer

Orestes, Delan, and Aesop follow Wrex and Bin as they head to the pub. Rhyn nods politely to everyone and says “I’m going to stroll the town a bit, I will meet up with you later.” Upon entering the pub the few people populating the place look up and stare at you. The bartender (human) stereotypically cleaning out an ale mug, watches you enter and asks what you want to drink. A seven foot tall gnoll sits on a stool at the end of the bar nearest to the door. He stands up when you walk in and eyes you up and down before returning to his drink, clearly the bouncer of the establishment. Wrex and Bin both nod to the gnoll and move to an empty table in the middle of the room. “Come on, first round is on Bin, he lost our bet” chuckles Wrex as he waves down the barmaid, a rather pleasant looking half-elf. A group of three shifters sit huddled in a corner scowling at the rest of the place like caged animals. Two humans sit at the bar shouting loudly and drunkenly hitting each-other in the arm. Two dwarves and another two humans sit at a table nearby. Their conversation stops and they glance at one another as your group enters. Orestes approaches the barman and asks for the management. “You’re looking at him” replies the bartender. “What can I get you?”

[Zoobity]

"I've received an order from my employer to tack a 'for hire' sign outside your establishment and I just wanted to clear that with you." Orestes nods towards the gnoll, "You don't seem like the kind of man I want to piss off." If the bartender gives him the go-ahead, Orestes tacks the sign up outside. If not then he rolls the sheet into his belt and orders the weakest drink they offer that's not water. He tries not to look towards the group that fell silent at their entrance.

[FrereSebastian]

After gazing around the pub making sure the two up front don't begin to throw punches at any other patrons, Ajaba notices the group walk into the place. Standing, he quickly notices that they have no violent intentions so sits back down. When the half elf speaks Ajaba grins showing long canine teeth and replies, "as long as you keep to yourselves pointy ears, you wont have to."
If Orestes puts up the sign Ajaba goes and looks at it out of curiosity, if not then he goes over to with the Hobgoblin and the Goblin that had just sat down and tries to speak with them in Goblin.

[Loquacius]

Aesop

To the barman, after Orestes has made his request: "And if you'd be willing to let us put up our little sign, and also give us our night's refreshments free of charge, I'd be willing to provide you and your patrons a night's entertainment in exchange." He takes a bow. "Aesop Wynde, storyteller by trade, and one of the finest in Aundair if I do say so, although I've been trying to kick the habit."

Aesop knows he doesn't have to do this sort of thing anymore, but it's been a while since he's seen a place like this without being "on duty," so to speak, and his instincts just kind of kicked in. At least it's for a good cause now.

Should the barman take Aesop's offer, he puts a chair on top of an empty table and places on the table an empty mug and a sign reading "Donations graciously accepted! All proceeds directly benefit the Baron ir'Kusk's Initiative to Rebuild Merylsward. (Employment offered! See sign outside for details!)" The prep work done, Aesop gets a full mug of ale for himself, takes a swig, and clambers onto the table. He gives himself a spotlight of sorts with a quick Dancing Lights spell. "Friends! Eldeens! Inebriates! Lend me your ears, minds, and feeble attention spans, and for the benefit of the once great town of Merylsward I'll brighten your evening with the tale of the clever gnome Drongo's sojourn in the land of the Giants! Our story begins in the tiny hamlet of Littleroot, many years ago, where a certain young gnome lived in one room with his seven sisters and seven brothers..."

Should the barman turn Aesop down, he just shrugs. Probably for the best anyway. I don't do this for a living anymore. "In that case, my good man, all I want is a tall mug of ale." He sits down with the group and subtly eavesdrops on Bin and Wrex's Goblin conversation with the bouncer.

[captain_decadence]

Delan

Delan sits at a table and slowly looks around the establishment. Nothing seems to be happening so he takes out his tools and begins to widdle. It passes the time, especially because he doesn't need to sleep.

[King Tius]

XIV Some Local Color

“Yeah sure, go and post it up by the door if you’d like, long as it don’t stir up any trouble” says that barkeep to Orestes. Ajaba heads to the table and tries to pick up a conversation with Wrex and Bin. Wrex looks up at him but doesn’t speak. Bin glances over at Wrex before turning to the gnoll and speaking, in common for some reason, “what is a gnoll doing out here in these lands? Didn’t think we’d see any others from Darguun out here. What were you doing during the war? Sit down.” Aesop pries the barman for a job and gets the following in reply: “How about you play first and we’ll see if it’s worth a night’s stay.” As you sit the waitress comes around and brings you all pints of ale. Throughout the night she keeps your glasses filled.

Over the course of the night as Aesop serenades the small establishment the group sits around talking. At one point, Wrex finally speaks up from his relative silence. “I can’t believe of all the people we have to guard on our little caravan it’s a bunch of Flame worshipers. If I wasn’t gettin’ paid I’d give them something to pray to their little torch about.” The group sitting next to you, who have been drinking much faster and heavier than you have, catch wind of Wrex’s statement. One of them stands up and turns to your group (the bad spelling is meant to reflect the drunkenness). “Houw dare you be talken bout zuh fff…fffflame that way. I outa put darm animals in yer place!” The others at the table stand up and shout in approval, some having a little trouble standing up so quickly. Wrex grins and stands up, cracking his knuckles. “About time. You want to say that again to my face you little runt?”

[Loquacius]

Aesop

OOG: Sorry this post is so long. Character development is hard, and Aesop has to realize he can Fascinate SOMEtime before we gain a level, so here goes. Suggested listening for this post: "Gonna Fly Now" by Bill Conti.

As the tension in the tavern escalates, Aesop gets increasingly agitated. Not that he's worried for Wrex's safety after seeing what he could do against those highwaymen earlier; he just doesn't want to see a barfight upstage what has been a perfectly good performance so far (OOG: Btw, I'm making the standard Perform check for tips). Dammit, Wrex, not while I'm working... Of course, Aesop can't interfere with kind words the way he usually does without disrupting his performance just as badly. What a dilemma. Maybe I could throw an intermission in here somewhere and defuse this whole thing before starting up again? It becomes clear when everyone stands up, though, that he has no time. Crap crap crap crap. Gotta make them all sit down and start paying attention to me again.

Racking his brain for something to do, Aesop suddenly remembers a night kind of like this one, in a tavern kind of like this one, when a drunk kind of like that one had made some menacing moves kind of like the ones that guy just made. Aesop had panicked, kind of like he's in danger of doing now, and had just told his story a little... harder maybe? That doesn't seem like the right word, but there was definitely a different kind of fervor behind it. Anyway, the drunk had just stood there, dumbstruck, until he forgot what he was angry about, and Aesop didn't even have to stop his performance. That would be pretty convenient right about now. Hell, it's worth a shot. Worst case, Wrex knocks that guy out and Aesop has to pay for his own room for a change. He can afford it now anyway.

Here goes nothing... Before Drunk Guy Number One can say that again to Wrex's face, Aesop pours his heart into his storytelling, which had started to slow due to Aesop's distraction, and concentrates really hard on getting that idiot's attention and making him shut up.

[Zoobity]

Orestes rubs his left arm again before pulling a loose bit of wool out of his pocket. Not one for bar fights and slow to release anything concussive in the tight confines of the pub, Orestes begins to sweat a bit. Focusing intently on Aesop's fable (...) Orestes presses the fleece into his left palm and, mumbling inaudibly under his breath, casts silent image. After a few seconds whom or whatever the protagonist of the story is appears in a ghostly haze between Aesop and the crowd, illustrating the bard's tale (...).

If the storytelling plan falls through Orestes rolls up his sleeves and waits.

[FrereSebastian]

Ajaba grinned as he sat down. "Well I'm here to make a living as well as you I see." He let out an unsettling chuckle, "as for being this far out of Darguun, I was with a pack of three other Gnolls until our employer decided to cut the funds, placing me here in this backwater town waiting for the next opportunity to get out of here."
Ajaba looks around and says, " as for the war, I fought in Breland, Cyre, and Darguun. I ran with my pack looking to taste some elf flesh and some coin. Saw a few battles, made freinds and feasted on my enemies." He grinned, "just doing official buisness."
With the mentioning of the Silver Flame, Ajaba lets out a growl of approval that turns into a bark when the drunken men stand up. In common mixed with a menacing growl Ajaba says, "You should sit down, its been too long since Ive tasted flesh of a Man."
He looks to Wrex, "You look like you're good in a fight, watch my back. I might even let you get a punch in." Ajaba stands to full hieght and looks down on the man, "sir it is my job, no matter how pathetic it may be to keep the peace in this place. Now I'm going to ask you one more time to back off, or it will be your blood on the floor." He smiled, "and what is left of you on my plate."

[captain_decadence]

Delan
Delan sets down his knife and piece of wood as the conversation turns heated. He looks at Wrex and shakes his head but doesn't say anything. He knows that provoking either side will only cause problems. He does rise slowly to his full height and move towards the gathering. He has been in the corner long enough and he wants to be close if something needs to be done.

Seeing the small image form in front of the drunks, Delan hopes that they are distracted long enough that everyone loses interest. Only problems could come of interfering while there is a chance of reconciliation.

If things look like they are taking a turn for the worst, Delan touches his chest and whispers softly. The words are ancient magic but he calls to the Host to protect him (Shield of Faith) and then steps between the groups. "Hold!" he yells at them and uses his body as a barrier. "There is no reason for fighting, especially between those who are better served by working together." Delan is not a particularly strong warforged but he's tough and willing to let a drunk punch him and hurt his hand.

[King Tius]

XV What a Show!

OOG: I am going to mess with the post order for maximum effectiveness. Mea Culpa

Ajaba rises and snarls his words at the drunks. As Wrex and Delan stand to join him, the combined menacing presence of three bruisers knocks the fire out of the drunkards (synergy bonus part 1). Just as the drunks are beginning to step backwards and look at one another doubtfully, Aesop kicks his performance into high gear. As he weaves his tale Orestes quickly adds his magic image to help fascinate the drunks (synergy bonus part 2). The multimedia show manages to grab the attention of everyone in the pub. Aesop keeps his story cranking, but not for too long, knowing that it is best not to drag things on and diminish the show. As he finishes his tale everyone who was previously standing realizes that they have found their seats again. The patrons of the pub begin to clap and cheer as Aesop finishes his tale. Coins are tossed in his direction and a drunk or two rushes forward to shake his hand. One of the men by the bar makes eye contact with Orestes and nods knowingly in his direction. The barkeep approaches Aesop and extends his hand. “That little show was worth a night’s stay for sure. My bar will be packed tomorrow if word spreads around town about you. Will you be here tomorrow?”

The rest of the night passes without event and you all get rooms in the inn if you’d like, free of charge. Aesop collects 10g from tips for his show. Dawn breaks and you find yourself with a day to kill in the small frontier town of Owl’s Perch.

Note: (I am fast forwarding a bit to keep things rolling. Retro-post your activities if you want to do anything particularly sweet).

However you spend your day, it passes by and the following morning you rise and meet Barley and the others at the wagons. As you saddle up, Ajaba comes walking towards the wagon train. Rhyn is nowhere to be found and hasn't been seen since the train first arrived.

[Loquacius]

Aesop

Aesop grins at the barman. "We'll be here 'til the morning after that, actually, and I think it'd be safe to expect me here tomorrow night, yes. Now, if I could get another ale and maybe some beefsteak?" Aesop is trying to leave this phase of his life behind him, yes, but the rush of what just happened excites him a little bit and he wants to try it again. (OOG: That sentence would sound strange out of context...) He's not sure whether there really is some kind of strange and mystical power in his stories or whether he just had a really good night, but it's clear to him that, for whatever reason, he can do much more with his words than he had previously believed. He'll definitely have to look into this a little further.

Aesop spends most of the next day preparing for his encore performance while practicing archery, and the following night he entertains the tavern's customers again with the story of Saladin the rogue urchin and his magic Wand of Summon Djinn. He doesn't have Orestes' knack for images, but he dabbles into a little special effects of his own with a couple of Ghost Sound spells, and Fascinates the crowd again at the story's climax. This new talent of his isn't worth much if he can't do it a second time.

As the wagons prepare to leave, Aesop notices Rhyn's absence, but doesn't think too much of it. The half-elf had been a good fighter, but had seemed to Aesop to be a strange quiet sort--not the kind of person Aesop gets along with at all. He'd half expected something like this to happen with him. After his successes in advertising the group, he expects a couple of new recruits anyway. As the gnoll bouncer approaches the caravan, Aesop grins. "Hi! Come to wave your farewell as we fade into the distance? Or does working a tavern not give you enough opportunities to eat people? Well, if you'd like work, you'll be wanting to speak with Barley. The big guy who likes the sound of his own voice even more than I like mine. Go and speak with him; I'll see you around."

[FrereSebastian]

After the humans backed down Ajaba shook his head in disgust, humans never had a spinehe thought. Ajaba turned around to see what the bard was doing and watched as the cantrips danced around. As he watched the performance, Ajaba looked at Delan, "You know I fought against your kind in the War... Amazing fighters, almost impossible to kill and my what weapon smiths. See these scimitars? They were forged with blessings to break through that armor of yours." With a laugh Ajaba walked over to the Goblins and said, "Tell me about this group that you're both in." Ajaba tries to get as much out of the hobgoblin and goblin as he can about the group. Its been a while since he's seen fellow creatures from Darguun and he talks to them for as long as they stay in the pub that night.
The following day Ajaba reads up on the poster about the job position. It would be nice to get out of this dump. I would love to be out on the road again, all these Scimitars are good for in here is for show.... I would love to get to use them again. He stays around the pub thinking to himself about joining the group and towards the afternoon he goes and speaks with the manager and says that he is going to be leaving in the morning with the travelers. No matter the reaction, Ajaba has his mind set to leave this town. Later that night he looks at the Bard performing again and wonders, I wonder if that pointy ears is any good in a fight? Ajaba goes over to the two Goblins if they are there in the bar that night to talk but if they aren't there he goes to get sleep, he has to wake up in the morning.
The next morning, Ajaba gets ready to leave and shows up to the train on time, when the bard hails him Ajaba just looks at him then walks toward the elf said Barley would be. "If you really want to get anywhere in this place you'll need two things elf. One, a good tracker and two, someone who knows the lay of the land. And I seem top have both of those qualities. Besides I need to get out of that human town, and you all seem to need the assistance." With that Ajaba walks over to Barley and says, "I heard that you need assistance for your travels, I'd like to apply for a position. The name's Ajaba, probably the best tracker around in these parts. I don't need that much pay I work long and hard and the only thing that I won't kill are other gnolls. So what do you say?"

[Zoobity]

During the day, Orestes spends his time wandering the village, looking for the odd sorts of places that deal in tomes and folklore. However, he checks in with the wagon train several times throughout the day.

That night, at the bar, Orestes shows up to catch Aesop's show but has no intention of casting any spells. He sits back, leans against the bar, nursing a pint with his arms folded across his chest.

Back at the wagons the next morning Orestes is laying back in Wrex's wagon, flipping through his (mostly empty) spell book, wondering whatever happened to Rhyn. When Ajaba arrives he stows his stuff under the tarp and heads over to the gnoll. He nods after Ajaba greets the group and says in goblin, "I'm not so sure we NEED you, and I can't speak for Wrex, but I'd be glad to have some muscle along." He waits until the train gets moving before hopping back in again.

[King Tius]

XVI A Dire Situation

Aesop puts on another performance, this time to a much more crowded pub. He manages to deliver another good show and this time receives 36g in tips from the crowd. Again the innkeeper/barman puts the party up for the night, free of charge.

Wagon Train
Ajaba introduces himself to Barley who looks plainly back at him. “Suit yourself. Welcome to the wagon train. Yours is in the back with the others.” Looking around, he says “Say, where’d that other half-elf get too? We’ve got to be taking off. I’ll give him another minute or two, and then we’re leaving without him.” As expected, Rhyn makes no appearance and since nobody goes looking for him, the wagon trains take off.

Three days into the journey, after traveling over countryside and scattered farmland, the road enters another forest. During your trip you have encountered almost no other travelers save for a farmer or two transporting grain. As you travel in the woods you come upon a wrecked wagon lying smashed against the trees on the left side of the road. A path of snapped sapling and scraped trees leads from the right side of the road straight into the wagon which has split in twain as it was slammed into the woods. Two bodies lie on the road before you. To your left a similar smashed trail leads into the woods. At least two distinct voices can be heard screaming from off to your left, one of which is female and sounds quite terrified.

[Loquacius]

Aesop

After Aesop gets paid, he gives Orestes 5 gp, half of his first night's take. "Here, at least some of this belongs to you after you helped me out last night. That was a pretty neat trick." He grins. "40 gold with free food and lodgings isn't too bad for two nights' work, eh? Reminds me of how I got into that business in the first place, but then anything gets old once you've been doing it for a hundred years. About time to make something of myself anyway." He raises his mug. "Here's to making our mark on the world, one dead town at a time, right?"

The next day, when Aesop sees the wagon wreck, he draws his bow. "Careful, guys. Here's trouble." He cautiously approaches the wagon to investigate until he notices the screaming, at which point he runs off urgently in the direction where it came from until he can see what's going on.

[Zoobity]

Orestes hops out of the wagon and draws his crossbow before running over to the two bodies. First he checks to see if they're alive. If they are he calls for the clerics. If not he tries to determine how they received their wounds. After that he moves quickly into the woods, following Aesop from a safe distance, being sure to keep a tree between himself and the threat.

[captain_decadence]

OOG: I posted but apparently it didn't stick. I wrote quite a big post... oh well.

Delan

Delan wanders with Orestes the next day and chats with him as he looks around the town. During the night, he widdles and wanders around town looking at the stars. He loves watching the stars late at night because he feels that it must be like sleep, peaceful.

At the crash, Delan jumps out and begins to run down the path made in the trees as the woman screams. As he runs, he casts shield of faith on himself with a small muttered prayer to the Host. He doesn't wait for the others because he thinks it may be too late if they all try to slink or sneak.

[King Tius]

XVII Well, this trip certainly isn’t boaring…

Orestes quickly checks the two bodies and finds that the second man is alive but unconscious. He has a large gore wound on the lower left side of his stomach that looks fatal. The cleric and his children quickly hop out of their cart and rush over to the fallen man. Following the screams, the four of you rush into the woods following the broken trail. Wrex and Bin chase after you. Delan casts his spell upon himself as you hustle the hundred yards of broken trees to the following scene:

A small clearing in the woods reveals a dire situation. A massive boar, covered in molted tough skin and spiny armor stands with an arched back taller than even Delan. Half clutching, half skewered on its back is a middle aged human woman from whom the screams are coming from. She desperately holds onto one of the other boar’s spikes as it thrashes about and slams into the tree in front of it. Her dress is red and you can just make out a spike protruding from her left leg. The tree under assault is a particularly ancient oak with massive roots arching from the ground. Beneath one of these roots is a human man, trying his best to use the root as cover as he jabs feebly at the boar with a short sword. The boar grunts and roars (boars roar, right?) as it foams at the mouth and its devilish eyes gleam. You approach the scene from the boar’s back right. It does not see you.

[Loquacius]

Aesop

Aesop gapes. What the hell is that thing doing here? Is it native, or what? He's not entirely sure what he can do against a beast that size, but he has to save those people... He raises his left hand into the air and slowly counts to three with his fingers. On three, he pulls out an arrow and fires, expecting others to do the same. Maybe if they all shoot at the same time, they can do some damage...

[captain_decadence]

As the others attack the creature, Delan steps in front of them so as to be the first target that the beast sees once he is attacked. Hopefully his armor, his shield and his spells will protect him while the others stop the creature.

[Zoobity]

From his cover behind the trees, Orestes focuses his mind on the rear knees of the boar, casting True Strike. When he gets a chance he swings out of cover and fires a bolt at the boar's back legs.

[FrereSebastian]

Ajaba draws his scimitars and watches the Boar. As Delan stands in front trying to grab the attention of the beast, Ajaba sneaks off to the back using the treeline for cover. Ajaba sees Orestes shoot the boar in the knee and prepares for a strike at the other knee.
"We need to keep it from moving! Take out its legs!" Ajaba yells as he lunges for the knee that Orestes didn't shoot at. Ajaba then slashes at the joint aiming to cut the tendons and ligaments to disable the beast.
I hope this works, I have no idea how we can take out this boar while it's moving... He thought. If the boar is still working on Delan, then Ajaba turns to work on its other hind knee, if not then he retreats back to the tree line to wait for another opportunity.

[King Tius]

XVIII Caught between a tree and a warforged

Aesop draws an arrow and fires at the boar. The arrow strikes the boar in one of its molted plates and fails to do any damage. Delan steps in front of the others to provide as a human (as it were) shield. He’s careful to leave a row of trees between him and the clearing to provide additional cover. Orestes casts his True Strike spell and fires an arrow bold and true at the boar. It strikes the boar low on its hind left flank. Wrex hurls a throwing ax and Bin fires a crossbow bolt, both of which strike the boar as well. The creature roars in pain and anger and turns towards the party. The boar charges full tilt straight at Delan and slams into the row of trees in front of him. The two trees it collides with crack and fall backwards towards the party. Orestes, Aesop and Bin manage to dive out of the way but Delan and Wrex are not so lucky and are caught and pinned by the trees. Delan takes 6 points of damage from the impact and crushing force of his tree. The boar roars again and begins trying to scrape at Delan and Wrex where they lay pined. Ajaba dashes out of the bushes and takes a double slash at the boar’s right hind leg. His right scimitar manages to slice flesh, though his left one meets the boar’s tough molting. The boar’s right leg gives out momentarily and it drops to its knee as it bellows even louder than before. Orestes and Aesop clamber to their feet just in time to see the Cleric’s son come rushing down the path towards the group. He has a chain shirt thrown on hastily over his tunic and brandishes a long sword.

[Zoobity]

Orestes snatches a pebble up off the ground, muttering an incantation as he launches a Magic Missile at the boar. He ducks back behind cover when he has the chance and motions for the boy to do the same.

[Loquacius]

Aesop

Aesop is annoyed. Everybody managed to hurt the thing but him. He drops his bow, draws his rapier, and is about to move in to slash the boar when he's struck with an idea: His stories can distract people, yes, but what if they could also inspire them? He takes a deep breath and begins telling a story, to everyone and no one, about some brave adventurers who slay a fierce beast. (OOG: I'm Inspiring Courage, in case it wasn't perfectly clear.)

[FrereSebastian]

After scrambling back to the tree line, Ajaba takes in the situation that he and the others are in. Ajaba looks to his left and sees the Wizard cast his spell and goes to charge the Boar again. When he reaches the legs, Ajaba slashes at the knees with both scimitars. Afterwards, he stays to keep attacking the Boar to get a shot at the Boar's underbelly. There has to be a weak spot on this monster He thought. So if the opportunity presents itself, Ajaba strikes at the Boar's stomach, if not the he does the best he can on the Boar's joints to disable it.

[captain_decadence]

Delan

Delan attempts to push the trees that have fallen on him off but he's made for endurance, not lifting. If that doesn't work, he tries to keep the attention of the boar on him so the others can damage it. Yelling and waving his hands so as to keep the thing coming after him instead.

[King Tius]

XIX BBBoooaaarrriiinnngg.

Orestes fires his Magic Missile spell and the bolt flies unerringly at its target. Aesop begins his tale of courage, inspiring the group and making you all feel more courageous. Ajaba scampers out and slashes at the boar, again. This time, both his scimitars make contact. Wrex tries to reach for his other throwing axe but can’t grab onto it. Instead he starts trying to get out from under the tree and manages to get half his torso squeezed out. Delan manages to completely free himself from the tree. Bin fires another crossbow bolt that catches the boar in the face. The young man, whose name you still don’t know, holds his hand to his chest and mutters a prayer. A shimmering field of magic flashes briefly around him before becoming almost invisible. The boar gets back to its feet and turns quickly, bringing its tusk to bear on Ajaba. Luckily for him, the angle isn’t right for a gore but he is still flung backwards and takes 5 points of damage. Ajaba lands gracefully on his feet as the boar turns to face him and lowers its head to charge. The woman impaled on the boar’s back has stopped her screaming and gone limp, her body now only being supported by her impaled leg and the spike she had braced between her arm.

[Loquacius]

Aesop

Continuing his story, Aesop begins to act it out, assuming a fencing stance and darting in to slash nimbly at the boar like the feral brute it is.

[captain_decadence]

Delan

After pushing the tree off, Delan stands and sees the beast begin to charge Ajaba. He moves so that if the beast hits him, he will be able to help his companion by patching him up or by distracting the beast.

[FrereSebastian]

After checking for anything broken, Ajaba looks at the Boar about to charge him. He looks to see if the boar has any trouble with the legs he was slashing when it turns to face him. Ajaba readies to jump out of the way when the boar charges, and if notices any limp he jumps to that side of the boar. (Ready an action to dodge the boar when/if it charges)

[Zoobity]

Orestes is getting nervous with the woman now limp and his combat abilities being what they are. He loads and fires another bolt at the boar.

[King Tius]

XX Finish Him!

As Aesop continues to weave his tale, Delan moves towards Ajaba and where he thinks the boar will be. The gnoll readies himself to dive away from the boar and notices that the boar is limping badly on its left leg. Orestes fires off his crossbow quarrel which successfully penetrates the boar’s tough hide. Bin likewise scores a hit with his crossbow. The boar seems to be hurting quite a bit from its several crossbow wounds and slashes. Wrex finally frees himself from the tree and gets to his feet. The boar makes his charge towards Ajaba but the gnoll is able to dive out of the way to the right as planned. As the creature makes contact with another large tree, the unconscious woman on its back is finally launched off and slams into a nearby tree like a rag doll. The man hiding under the large root cries out when he sees this and foolishly takes off at a run towards the fallen girl. The Cleric’s son goes rushing towards the boar with his sword raised high. Wrex shouts out a loud curse in Goblin and takes off after the boy, drawing his Greatsword as he runs.

[Zoobity]

Orestes reaches into one of the pouches on his belt and produces another pinch of sand. Whispering the incantation over the grains and casting Sleep he flicks them at the charging boar, hoping to stop it in its tracks.

[Loquacius]

Aesop

OOG: Hmm. I guess I don't get to take actions while Bardic Musicing even though my hands aren't used for it? Fair enough. The fact that I don't need an instrument for it is still pretty cool.

Aesop is lost in the tale he is weaving, his eyes rolled back into his head as the words of power flow unceasingly from his mouth. His rapier swishes around in the air as he uses it to act something out, but that's as close as he gets to actually participating in the fight.

[King Tius]

OOG: Oh, I thought you were merely dancing around and not actually attacking. For some of the skills I believe you can take actions while still singing. Also, the effect lasts for five rounds after you stop, so you could let up towards the middle of a fight and resume attacking.

[FrereSebastian]

After diving out of the way, Ajaba sees that Wrex is heading over to the Boar. He checks for any thing that might be broken, seeing none and that its only bruises, then he sees the human run for the woman. Ajaba tries to intercept the man before he gets to the woman.

If he succedes Ajaba bowls the man over and says, "Can't you see that she's unconcious if not dead? She's not moving so she'll be there after we finish with this thing. So do us all a favor and stay out of here!"

If Ajaba doesn't reach the guy, he does his best to chase the man and shout various profanities until he reaches him and then throws him into the bushes.
Afterwards either way Ajaba heads back for round two with the Boar. Ajaba laughs, this is going to be a great meal once we take this monster down.

[King Tius]

XXI Pig roast, anyone?

Orestes casts his sleep spell upon the boar but it seems to have no effect. Aesop continues to tell his story.

(Aesop, you may have missed it in my reply to your OOC, but I think you can attack, depending on which bardic ability you can use. Also, the effects last after you stop talking, so you may want to take that into consideration. All bardic abilities take a standard action to start, but ones like inspire courage do not require one to maintain, so you can make an attack and roll a concentration check to keep your focus).

Delan moves into position near Ajaba and gets ready to assist the gnoll if he needs it. Ajaba runs down the man and tosses him out of the way into the bushes. The man screams incoherently as the gnoll bears down on him and disappears in the underbrush before he can form anything coherent. The Cleric’s son rushes forward with his sword and jabs the boar in the side. Though he isn’t the strongest lad in Eberron, he still manages to draw blood. Another crossbow bolt comes from the bushes where Bin has taken refuge, though his shot goes wide. As the boar turns to try and face the young man Wrex finally catches up to him and rams his sword into the boar full force. With a loud cry the boar drops to its side and lies still. Wrex pulls his great sword out, inverts it, and jams the blade into the boar’s neck, spraying himself and the Cleric’s son in a mist of blood as the boar finally dies. He stands there panting for a moment before looking around, his face flushed with anger. Turning to the young man, he grabs him by the collar with both hands and lifts him off the ground. “By the Dragon Below what’s gotten into you? Stay out of our way or you’ll end up like this pig.” Wrex unceremoniously drops the young man and moves towards Ajaba. His fists clenched in apparent rage, he gets within range of the gnoll and socks him in the jaw. Ajaba stumbles backwards from the blow but remains standing. Wrex points a finger at him and says in a low growl “you’ve spent too long under the heels of these humans, dog. A real warrior would not give up the fight to save a whelp like that one.” He turns his back on Ajaba, leaving himself vulnerable to the gnoll as he yells at the rest of the party. “And what of you? The golem runs around while the elf dances and sings? We’re dead out here if you don’t start fighting smart.” Wrex looks at Orestes but seems to have no angry words for the wizard. Bin crawls out of the bushes and yawns. Apparently he’s used to these kinds of angry tirades. You here a sobbing “help!” come from the direction of the thrown woman and man somewhere in the forest. The Cleric’s son scrambles to his feet and runs towards the cry for help.

[Zoobity]

"That kid really needs a leash." Orestes takes off after the boy, crossbow cradled in his arms.

[FrereSebastian]

Ajaba checks his mouth to feel if any teeth were chipped and wipes away blood. As Wrex continues the tirade the hackles on the back of Ajaba's neck begin to rise and a low growl begins to escape his lips. When Wrex looks to Orestes and others to try and find someone else to yell at, Ajaba grabs him by the shoulder and with a bark punches Wrex in the mouth.

Ajaba stands in front of Wrex and growls, then says, "What do you know of being a warrior? Your'e always supposed to watch your surroundings and the whole fight you were caught under that tree! I don't know what you were taught back in the war, but our pack always comes first Goblin. Who knows they might have info on what we are looking for, and anyone is better alive than dead for a while at least." Ajaba spits. He stares at Wrex, daring him to reply.

If there is none then Ajaba walks over to the Boar and bends down to the neck and takes a large bite out of the throat, letting the blood drip down his fur. He eats his fill of the boar and then begins to start cutting up parts of the meat, wrapping them and puts peices in his pouch.

[captain_decadence]

Delan looks at Wrex for a moment as if he will reply but when the boy goes running off after the two people, so does he. He makes a note to talk to Wrex later, even if Wrex will probably never understand.

Pushing through the bushes, he tries to keep the boy in sight as he runs toward the woman.

Delan asks Orestes to stand watch and he helps the boy with the woman. Even if his powers can heal her, he might have to set bones or just carry her back to the camp if she's passed out.

[King Tius]

OOG: Before I update, and before Jesse posts....

I have been very slowly taking your character sheets and putting them up on Myth Weavers so that you can see them. Jesse's is the first one I did and I noticed that you sold yourself short on spells. You qualify to cast one first level bard spell per day. This means that you now get to pick two first level spells to know. Also, since we're level 2, you get an additional (fifth) first level spell to cast. Here is Aesop (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/view.php?id=49569) as I have filled him out. Let me know if you spot any discrepancies and I will keep the rest of you posted about the status of your sheets.

[Loquacius]

OOG: I sent you my 1st-level spells in an email before the game started (I think)--they were Charm Person (which I've already used) and Cure Light Wounds (although with our entire family of clerics, and my new wand, that one isn't quite so important anymore). I don't see any other problems with the sheet, though. Looks pretty good. Also, sorry I've been slow to reply (and didn't revise my post after the misunderstanding was cleared up); I always seem to log on right when the server is slowest.

EDIT: Come to think of it, I got a bonus attribute point which I put in Dex, and that isn't on the sheet. I think that was decided in the same email where I picked the spells, though, so it makes sense.

Aesop

Aesop ignores Wrex's tirade for the most part--he's excited that he found a new use for his magic stories, whether Wrex noticed or not. He's going to have to work a little more on keeping his concentration enough to actually participate in battle, but he anticipates having plenty of practice. He reclaims and sheathes his weapons, then follows the rest of the party to the wounded people.

Approaching whichever one is getting less attention from the other healers, he gives them a reassuring smile before plucking a still-living leaf from an overhead tree, which he presses to their wounds. He closes his eyes and murmurs an incantation to siphon the foliage's abundant life into their battered frame. When he removes his hand, the leaf is brown and withered, but the wound has closed. (OOG: Cure Light Wounds, woo.) Once this is done, he helps assist the wounded back to the caravan and loads them onto a wagon where they can get looked over by a proper cleric.

[King Tius]

XXII Thar she blows

OOG: Alright Jesse, all fixed. That’s one down, three to go.

Orestes, Delan, and Aesop leave the Goblinoids and follow the boy to the fallen woman. She’s unconscious and badly wounded and the man crying over her body has some nasty gashes too. The Cleric’s son pulls out the pendant around his neck and again the glowing light fills his hands as he applies them to the woman. Aesop heals the man’s wounds and is thanked with a sobbing hug that nearly knocks him over. Delan lifts the unconscious woman and the little troupe moves back out into the clearing just in time to see Ajaba start gnoshing on the dead boar.

In response to the gnoll’s speech, Wrex grins slightly and says “Maybe you aren’t so bad after all, dog.” Bin chuckles at the new nickname and adds, after the others have gone into the woods: “Are you two done already? It’s hard enough teaming up with these pansies, let’s try not to make it any worse.” Ajaba realizes that Bin is very well spoken for a goblin as he moves towards his feast.

Once Ajaba has supped a bit, everyone moves back to the wagons. Barley has moved the one unconscious man into his wagon on top of his supplies. As you walk from the woods the Cleric’s daughter jumps down and hugs her brother. “Caelan! You’re alright! I was so worried. There’s blood on your sword! What happened?” The Cleric is virtually beaming with pride as he smiles approvingly at his son. The man you rescued seems to have finally reclaimed his voice and begins to thank you profusely. “Thank you, thank you, by Syberis thank you so much for saving my darling Liza and I. When that boar hit our cart I thought for sure we were all dead. What is something like that doing running around here anyways? We aren’t that close to the deep woods.” He turns to his cart and to the dead body and sighs “Look at this mess! Ruined, just ruined. All our supplies are crushed and one of the hired hands is dead. Now we’ll probably never get that bonus the Baron was promising.”

XXII Thar she blows

OOG: Alright Jesse, all fixed. That’s one down, three to go.

Orestes, Delan, and Aesop leave the Goblinoids and follow the boy to the fallen woman. She’s unconscious and badly wounded and the man crying over her body has some nasty gashes too. The Cleric’s son pulls out the pendant around his neck and again the glowing light fills his hands as he applies them to the woman. Aesop heals the man’s wounds and is thanked with a sobbing hug that nearly knocks him over. Delan lifts the unconscious woman and the little troupe moves back out into the clearing just in time to see Ajaba start gnoshing on the dead boar.

In response to the gnoll’s speech, Wrex grins slightly and says “Maybe you aren’t so bad after all, dog.” Bin chuckles at the new nickname and adds, after the others have gone into the woods: “Are you two done already? It’s hard enough teaming up with these pansies, let’s try not to make it any worse.” Ajaba realizes that Bin is very well spoken for a goblin as he moves towards his feast.

Once Ajaba has supped a bit, everyone moves back to the wagons. Barley has moved the one unconscious man into his wagon on top of his supplies. As you walk from the woods the Cleric’s daughter jumps down and hugs her brother. “Caelan! You’re alright! I was so worried. There’s blood on your sword! What happened?” The Cleric is virtually beaming with pride as he smiles approvingly at his son. The man you rescued seems to have finally reclaimed his voice and begins to thank you profusely. “Thank you, thank you, by Syberis thank you so much for saving my darling Liza and I. When that boar hit our cart I thought for sure we were all dead. What is something like that doing running around here anyways? We aren’t that close to the deep woods.” He turns to his cart and to the dead body and sighs “Look at this mess! Ruined, just ruined. All our supplies are crushed and one of the hired hands is dead. Now we’ll probably never get that bonus the Baron was promising.”

[captain_decadence]

Delan

Delan sets the woman down gingerly beside the wagons. "Could you see to her?" he asks the father of the two youngsters. "The boar hurt her and we could not treat her effectively in the woods." After the woman is set to rights, he turns toward the man who is ranting at the

Delan offers to help them put the wagon aright and salvage anything that wasn't killed by the boar. "Was there a bonus if you got to town quickly or with all of your goods intact?" Delan tries to get information out of the man as he talks to him (Gather Information, I guess).

He watches how Wrex and Ajaba are dealing with the delay and the aftermath of the combat. Both seem blood thirsty and not likely to understand his feelings on violence.

[Zoobity]

Orestes walks back to the road with the rest of the party. He keeps quiet and crosses his arms until The wounded guy mentions the Baron. "If you don't mind, sir, what were you carrying?" He ignores the family drama going on behind him and thanks the gods that the goblinoids are so eager to take the brunt of the combat.

[FrereSebastian]

Ajaba puts a few of the best peices in his pouch and tucks it away. He wipes off his fur while he looks around at the carnage that the boar caused. When the man mentions bonus, Ajaba's ears perk up. He listens while Delan speaks to the man. Afterwards/During Ajaba goes about looking at the wrekage and looks for anything useful to be had.

[Loquacius]

Aesop

In response to the man's thanks, Aesop shakes his head. "Nonsense. We couldn't just stand by and watch. Which Baron is this you're working for? A run-in with a beast like that couldn't possibly mean you'll be getting paid LESS. Where were you taking these supplies, anyhow?" At some point, Aesop goes over to the wreck and helps Ajaba Search through it for anything notable.

[King Tius]

XXIII All is not lost

“My Liza and I were headed out to New Merylsward to answer the call for farmers. This Baron fellow…Ir’Kusk I think his name was, is offering to match any crop profits made within his lands by harvest time this year. As soon as we caught wind we sold our home and everything we had to head out here and get plowing. Our wagon was full of seed and supplies to start farming. We’d brought these two along and promised to split the bonus with them if they helped kick off our farm. Now that our wagon’s busted and most of the supplies are dashed, we’ll be lucky if we grow so much as a single bean by harvest time. Liza and I were planning on at least getting a half-decent crop up. We...(starting to lose control)…we couldn’t afford all the supplies up front. If we don’t pay…” The man loses his grip and begins to sob softly, cupping his face with his hands.

The Cleric moves to help the woman and begins to cast his healing magics upon her. As he works he asks his son about what damage was done to her and where he applied his healing pendant. As the father works, he seems to be instructing his son about where best to place his spells and how to properly deal with the woman’s injuries. It seems that this particular clergyman is knowledgeable in both the magical and mundane forms of healing.

Ajaba and Aesop begin shifting through the wagon and find that the man’s story checks out. Several crates of grain have been broken open, though two remain in tact. A plow head and several farming tools seem to have survived the impact. While the wagon is shot, only one of the wheels was destroyed. As they begin setting aside intact cargo Wrex walks over and silently picks up one of the grain crates. He carries it over to the group’s wagon and places it in the back. Bin slinks over to the dead man and rifles through his pockets.

Barley walks over and pats the man on the back. “There there lad, all’s not lost. You’re still breathing and so is your Mrs. We’re headed to Merylsward ourselves and can give you and the rest of your goods a lift. You can pay us back once you get those crops up.” One of Barley’s cousins starts to protest but a quick glance from the wagon master shuts him up.

[Zoobity]

Orestes looks at the farmer in his plight and smiles kindly. Orestes looks him in the eye and says, "If you're willing to carry stone I can guarantee you that you'll find a job in Merylsward. Please, gather what you can so we can all be off." Orestes heads over to the broken wagon wheel and attempts to cast Mending on it.

[Loquacius]

Aesop

Upon hearing the farmer identify the Baron: "I thought as much. We're working for ir'Kusk too, actually. Not as farmers, as you can probably guess. Had to make sure you were talking about him and not this... evil twin he seems to have in the area, name of Moss." Ajaba, come to think of it, is not privy to this information, so Aesop addresses this next to him as well as to the farmer: "Sent a bunch of highwaymen out to hassle us a while back, but they're not hassling anyone anymore. You'd be best off following where we can protect you in case he sends some more. Most likely some robber baron who thinks having enough thugs do his bidding makes him a noble, but I could be wrong." Aesop takes a second to think about anything he might have heard regarding a Baron Moss (OOG: Bardic Knowledge. Don't know why I didn't do this before). If he can think of anything, he tells everyone.

Later, Aesop helps move the farmers' salvaged goods onto their wagon train, unless Orestes can fix the wagon wheel, in which case he attempts to help get their wagon ready to go again.

[FrereSebastian]

Ajaba

After finding only grain and a few tools Ajaba stands up and walks over to the wagon. When Wrex puts the grain on the cart Ajaba just looks at him curiously. I wonder what that's for He shakes his head None of my buisness, I guess
Aesop hails him and snaps him out of his thought, when Aesop begins to catch him up on Baron Moss, Ajaba just yawns. "It doesn't matter if it's a boar or bandits, pointy ears. They both taste pretty good all the same." With that Ajaba laughs, walks over to the cart and leans against it shaking his head.

[captain_decadence]

Delan

As the priest begins to heal the woman, he watches him talk to his son about what he's doing. It's very interesting that he uses both magic and mundane skills for healing when he obviously has the magical skills.

Delan is unsure what's going on when Wrex moves the box but he thinks that they should help the two get to town. He understands that Barley is only helping them so that they are in his debt but he would rather they get the help and be in debt than have to stay in the wilderness.

[King Tius]

XXIV Merylsward at last

Orestes casts his mending spell upon the wheel and repairs it. The frame of the wagon, however, is still too damaged to be salvaged by your gang. Aesop, after filling Ajaba in on what he knows, racks his brain about The Baron of Moss. He recalls that the Baron is one of several gang-leaderish types who have taken up residence in the Eldeen Reaches, claiming large swaths of forest as their “kingdoms” and demanding taxes on waylaid travelers and local farmers. The Baron of Moss is one of the larger crime lords with a large fort allegedly somewhere in the northern forests. With the man’s supplies loaded into your wagon, you once again set out for Merylsward. After the remaining few days of traveling you at last reach your destination…..

Your wagon train slowly crests a small hill and you are struck with a beautiful scene. Off in the distance the blue haze of the ocean hugs the horizon as the sun reaches near its zenith. Before you lies the fabled lake. To the west the first trunks of the great Eldeen Forest creep up almost to the lakeshore itself. As the lake approaches the coast the beach transforms to cliffs, eventually peaking and almost touching at the coast of the beach. A large piece of the cliff face had collapsed into the gap long ago, raising the water level considerably and turning this once-upon-a-time cove into a lake. As you stand on this hill southeast of the lake, you see the ruins of Old Merylsward to the south of the lake. Built on either side of the river that feeds this lake, Old Merylsward is now half submerged in water and has been abandoned by the common races for a long time. Near the eastern shore of the lake you can see smoke rising from the site of the new town. You can vaguely make out the shape of building or two but cannot see anything specific from this far out. (You will one day be able to see a map of this, perhaps when we switch back to LV’s server).

With no reason to dilly-dally, the wagon train moves on towards the new town. As you get close you see that several building are currently under construction while three seem finished. Many tents have been set up around the area, some in clusters, others arranged where building will one day stand. The banging of hammers and sawing of wood greets you as you enter the town. Many folk, at least three dozen from a quick glance, are at work on the surrounding houses. Some are digging foundations while others build frames or mortar stone. Barley stops the wagon and hops out. “You lads will probably want to see the Mayor about your new jobs. He’s over in that building yonder.” Barley’s fat finger points towards the largest of the three erected buildings, one that looks like a town hall sort of deal. A high stone wall has been set up around it and it seems located towards the very center of the tentative town layout. As you look around, you notice that one of the half-build houses has two stone elementals rumbling around it.

[Loquacius]

Aesop

At the wreck:
Aesop is not rattled by Ajaba's reply. "Oh, but they don't taste EXACTLY the same, do they? If you don't keep up with intelligence, how will you know what wine to get? Dire boars go fairly well with white wine, I imagine, perhaps a pinot grigio if it's chilled properly, but with a robber baron you need a nice dark cabernet sauvignon or the flavor is entirely wasted. Not even worth peeling off the chainmail to get to it! To say nothing of the marinade choices..." Aesop loves food, like any right-minded follower of Olladra does. He keeps this up until Ajaba stops looking so smug, at which point he simply smiles, says "Frankly I have no idea how you manage this eating-people business without proper preparation. Must be a great hobby, though!" and walks off whistling to check on the farmer's wife.

At New Merylsward:
Aesop gazes wistfully at what's left of Old Merylsward for a short time--he'd been here once, before the whole world went to hell, and that had been a fairly nice little town. Too bad what happened to it. But then that's why they're here. "C'mon, guys, let's get a move on. Bet we've got a hefty sack of gold waiting for us already after what we went through getting here." Whistling again, he sets off toward town hall.

[Zoobity]

Orestes looks at the party. "If you'll excuse me, I have to go check in with my family's representatives." Orestes rolls up his sleeves, revealing the dragonmark on the inside of his left arm before he goes off to look for any sign of the Lyrandar reps in the outpost.

[FrereSebastian]

On the Road:
While Aesop rambles on and on, Ajaba looks at him and says, "You talk too much pointy ears..." With that Ajaba walks to the front of the wagon and looks out for other obstructions in the path. He does this until they reach Merylsward.

Merylsward:
Ajaba rolls his eyes at Aesop and looks to Wrex and Bin, "how do you stand him talking?" Ajaba shrugs his shoulders and takes a quick look around the town to see the lay of the land, looking at the people there as well. If he sees any Gnolls then he greats them without a second thought and tries to get as much information of Daargun, and here as he can. If he doesnt find any, then he just goes around the town looking for vantage points and other important areas in the town's layout.

[captain_decadence]

Delan

Delan helps the woman up after she is healed and then simply watches as everything else happens. He's interested to hear about the Baron of Moss but he doesn't understand why the man would want to claim large parts of the forest. It seems to be mostly wilderness with a few random passengers. Certainly not enough to support even a "kingdom" of a few hundred.

In town:
Delan strolls into town with the rest and then proceeds to the town that Barley has pointed them to. The earth elementals are an interested touch because usually manual labor like this is done by warforged. He makes a mental note to ask about it later, once they have gotten briefed.

[Loquacius]

Aesop

On the road:
Aesop ignores Ajaba and follows him, still talking, until he's good and done. When he makes his astute observation, Aesop winks. "That's why they hired me!"

At New Merylsward:
Aesop raises an eyebrow at Ajaba's unusually strong objection to two sentences of banter. In a joking tone rather than a confrontational one: "Sorry. Did I distract you from being ugly? I can understand if that takes a lot of concentration." Whistling resumes.

[FrereSebastian]

At Merylsward:
After Aesop says that, Ajaba chuckles, "No elf, you're not distracting me from being ugly. But you are tempting me to make that face of yours a little less pretty." With that Ajaba lets out a hyena like laugh, waves, and jogs on over to check out the lay of the land.
Pointy ears is starting to grow on me Ajaba lets out another chuckle as he begins to head over towards the area of tents.

[King Tius]

XXV: Meet the Mayor

OOG: Aesop is 200 so I will allow that he has been to Old Merylsward. I had the accident set somewhere around 150-200 years ago, so 150 works. Did I say accident?

Orestes sets off looking for his house. After checking the few buildings in various states of “built”, he finally spies his house standard piked proudly out in front of a large, nicely made tent toward the middle of the proposed town. Pulling back a flap to venture in, he is immediately greeted by a female voice. “And who’s this?” Orestes finds the owner of the voice to be a slender half-elf lounging lazily in a hammock strung up on one side of the tent. Her dark brown hair trails down well past her shoulders and she wears the haphazard attire of the lazy upper class. Wrex and Bin chuckle at Ajaba’s comment. Bin starts to speak in Goblin but corrects himself and switches to Common: “they’re not so bad once you get used to being around them. Me and Wrex been round them a long time with our war patrol. They’re ugly and stupid but these ones ain’t bad.” Anyone who looks at Bin, most likely out of shock that he spoke, or spoke in Common, or spoke nicely, gets a curt nod but nothing else. Ajaba starts to scout the area and finds the town being built on top of a small hill just by the water. The shoreline doesn’t become cliffside for a good ways towards the coast and the forest is thin and set back on this side of the lake. All in all it seems like the best defendable position around, other than up on the cliffs. Delan, Aesop, Wrex, and Bin head off to the main building. Passing through the gate, you venture inside and find yourself standing in a bare atrium. Though the outside looks like a standard government building, the inside is still very much in need of finishing and furnishing. As you enter a woman peaks her head out from a side door and quickly disappears. A moment later a burly human man walks out and extends his hand. He is middle aged and very weathered, as if he’s seen his fair share of the world. “Welcome to New Merylsward. What can I do for you?”

[captain_decadence]

Delan

At the wagon:
Delan looks a little shocked at Ajaba's threat to Aesop's face but since no one else seems rattled, he tries to forget about it. He can't be sure sometimes if the others are joking.

Inside:
Delan moves toward the man and reaches out to shake his hand He's not sure of the man's reaction toward warforged so if he pulls back, he just shrugs it off.
"We have been hired by the Duke to help with the reclamation of Merylsward. I am Delan, an officiant of the Shining Host and a trained Artificer." He pauses and allows the others to introduce themselves.

"We've all taken this job but I do not know what duties it will entail. From all the trouble we had getting here, I assume that we will be dealing with all the dangers of the wood, no?"

[Loquacius]

Aesop

Upon Bin's critique of elvenkind, Aesop nods. "I'm actually with you on this one, Bin. The elves just might be the stupidest of the common races. If you live for a thousand years and never quite figure out where you're wrong, you have a problem. I'm not so sure about the 'ugly' part, though. I guess you've never seen our maidens." He gets a faraway look on his face for a second, a century's worth of fleeting romances playing through his head.

Inside, after Delan mentions how they were hired: "Yes, we heard you had need of, ah, stout hearts and sword-arms? Anyway, I'm Aesop Wynde, sir. Swordsman, diplomat, mage, magic storyteller." (Good old Diplomacy check here, to make a good first impression.) "And I would conjecture that the matter where you need our help has to do with a certain Baron Moss? His men ambushed us on the road. Quite the obstacle to progress, that one."

[FrereSebastian]

Ajaba

At Bin's reply Ajaba just chuckles again. Then jogs off to search the area. After he searches the area for decent lookout and vantage points, he doubles back to the town hall. When he makes it back he slows to a trot. Its been too long... he thought. The last time he had to do this was back in the days of the war and by the hags did it feel great.

He sees the rest of his party with the large man who must be the mayor. Ajaba slows to a walk and makes his entrence. He looks to Bin and Wrex and makes his report. "The town is in a great vantage point surprisingly... These settlers did a good deal of scouting to start the town here, the only other good place of defense is the cliffs. We're in a pretty good base of operations."
He gives his attention to the mayor and waits for more information on thier duties.

[King Tius]

XXVI: Time to Settle In

“The Duke? You must mean Baron Ir’Kusk, or else there are other noblemen with stakes in this town I don’t know about.” As Ajaba gives his report to Wrex and Bin, the mayor seems pleased “glad you approve.” The mayor smiles at Aesop (positive diplomacy check), “so you’ve met some of the Baron of Moss’ men? Too many Barons to keep track of in these parts, but don’t tell Kusk I said that. That Moss clown is nothing more than a crime lord who doesn’t like cities, but he’s got quite a hold in these parts. As for your role here, we’ve got ourselves a sizable work force of masons and what not to help build the town. We even have a few dedicated guards on loan from Aundair to help keep order and protect the town proper. Problem is there are all manner of folk and creatures who don’t want us putting this town up. You’ve got the lizard folk across the water, the crazier of the druids in the forest, the Baron of Moss, the local fey, and the angrier of the locals, just to name a few. What we need you adventuring types for is to deal with the grittier exploration and diplomatic relations that this town is going to need to stay afloat. The Baron has sponsored farmers to move into the region, but it’ll take a smooth tongue or a swift kick in the ass to get those druids off our backs. Don’t even get me started on the lizard folk over in the sunken town. Enough of that for now, it’s your first day in town and you should go get settled. Grab a patch of grass to set up your tents near the outer rim of town. If you want to pick out an actual plot in town and build yourselves a house, you’re more than welcome to, though you’ll have to pay. Come back tomorrow and I’ll have one of my assistants set up to deliver your assignments and deal with your payment. When you’ve got downtime, which I’m sure you will, there’s a whole town to be built, so you can always find some manual labor. Any questions?”

The blonde half elf looks impatiently at Orestes. “Cat got your tongue or has my overwhelming beauty rendered you speechless?”

[captain_decadence]

Delan

Delan realizes his mistake about the Duke/Baron problem but he doesn't apologize. It's already too late and he's never been good at keeping the strange hierarchy that humans use straight. It makes sense to him to have a command structure but the strange one seen in these lands is confusing at best to him.

Not needing to sleep, that night Delan walks around the town. He keeps watch for danger but he also takes time to keep his woodwork in practice. Whittling, strange as it may seem, is one of his favorite hobbies. He can make things as well, but the simple scrape of the knife calms him.

[Loquacius]

Aesop

Aesop shoots the Mayor a quick salute. "Looking forward to it, sir. No questions. Good day."

(OOG: If we weren't supposed to say how we spend the rest of the day yet, disregard the rest of this post.)

Aesop finds a secluded spot by some trees to pitch his tent, then spends the rest of the daylight hours walking around town and starting conversations with people--he always likes to make a few connections whenever he's in a new place, before he does anything else. When night falls, Aesop locates a campfire with lots of people around it, makes an entrance, acquaints himself with everyone present, and entertains them for the evening--he spins a couple of folktales, but adds to each of them a chapter entirely of his own design. He's trying to get into original fiction, and if he can win over a new crowd while simultaneously using them as a test audience, so much the better.

[Zoobity]

Orestes laughs. "I assure you that your beauty has nothing to do with my speechlessness. I've come a long way, you see." He opens his left arm to the woman. "I'm the house rep. I'm assessing this location's viability as a 'ship hub. Now, no offense to a woman such as yourself, but who are you?"

[FrereSebastian]

Ajaba

With the dismisal of the Mayor, Ajaba just sniffs and walks away. He pitches his tent next to Wrex and Bin if possible, if not then he sets it up close to the group. With the rest of the day, Ajaba goes to walk around a bit more and look at the construction of the new town. The information about the lizardfolk interested him...

I wonder if I should go take a look...

[King Tius]

XXVII The Tasks At Hand

OOG: Sorry for the hiatus. This post was five pages long in Word and the sheer enormity of it made it hard for me to sit down and write. Posting should resume normally from now on.

Aesop expends the rest of his day meandering about the town and taking in the sights (I’ll get to those). He finally settles for the evening around a campfire of masons. The group of men (and two women, mind you) are sitting around and talking about how they should form some type of guild or “house” as Aesop shows up. He finds himself incredibly well received among these hearty folk and manages to make fast friends as it were with a few of them. When he leaves them for the evening, they all entreat him to return again whenever he is in town.

Orestes flashes his dragonmark and queries the woman. “Well look at you, marked and all! No wonder they sent you out here on such a big and important job.” Orestes resists the urge to pull out a handkerchief to wipe off the dripping sarcasm. She adeptly vaults out of her hammock and approaches him, hand extended. He notices a little begrudgingly that she is taller than he is. “Daphne. Never mind what my mother named me. You can call me Daphne. Why am I out here? It was this or get married to some horrid cousin and I’m not the delicate marriage type. I heard my father talking about how we were sending someone out here and this is about as far from civilization you can get and still have a servant on hand, so here I am.” A light clicks on in Orestes head as he realizes who this woman is; Daphenia Maye d’Lyrandar, his third cousin on his father’s side. The two of you have never actually met (big family and all) but the name rings a bell. It would seem that Daphne is unaware of your familial connection.

Whether you spent the day actively walking around and shaking hands or got it all from Aesop, the following things are most unlikely to escape your notice….

”A Stroll Through Town”

The Town Hall: The first building constructed in New Meryslward! The ground for the foundation was broken ceremoniously by Baron Ir’Kusk himself. A ten foot wall surrounds the modest courtyard of this sturdy building. Clearly it was built first to act as a fort in case of need (what with there being no acropolis to build). Most of the rooms are currently being used for dry storage or lodging, though Mayor Fryhle has taken an office for himself and one for his few underlings.

Elementally Unbound: The sign hung haphazardly in front of this half-finished building has its letters burned in the wood, though it looks like someone wrote them with a shaky blowtorch. The most notable feature of the building in its current state is the small swarm of elementals that seem to inhabit it. Around the outside two large sized earth creatures carry carefully hewn stone and place them along the walls. A fat and awkward looking homunculus teeters uneasily on the wall carrying a mortar board and spatula to secure the stones as the elementals place them down. Peeking inside from a safe distance, a small tornado whirls about the inside of the place moving crates and wooden beams with surprising accuracy. Once in a while a thin and unusually wiry and built gnome is seen scurrying about carrying an armload of tools or reagents. A cacophonous crash and a string of gnomish curses periodically break the dull rumble of the elementals. The curses seem to come from a particularly deep basement.

The Gilded Loon and the Red Moon Inn: The only other completely finished building in town, the Gilded Loon boasts a well crafted sign of a golden water bird spreading its wings before a crescent red moon. The sign is old and worn, clearly coming from some previous establishment. Upon the moon is painted the dragonmark symbol of House Ghallanda. Unlike most inns, the Loon holds no tavern or bar for rowdy clientele. It too is currently functioning as housing and storage like the Town Hall, though it still has a “vacancy” sign posted under the sign.

The Drunken Clam: (couldn’t help myself) Next to the Gilded Loon stands two walls of the town watering hole, still under construction. Inside the frame of the house a large pavilion style tent has been rigged. While the tavern may not be open yet, the bar sure is.

”Dwarves”: Another building with only one of its walls built has the name “dwarves” chiseled into a nice stone sitting in front of the lot. A large furnace is being built in the building by two dwarves, both with jet black hair and long braided pony tails. Unlike all the other buildings under construction, no masons are seen working on this building. Apparently these dwarves like to do things themselves. A large and sturdy wagon is parked inside the house’s plot which is full of pieces of metal and assorted weapons/armor. An anvil sits awkwardly in the ground where it was pushed off the wagon.

The Church of the Silver Flame: Though they arrived along with you, the Cleric of the Flame has taken his family to a double plot of land that appears to have been waiting for him. His children have helped him pitch the family tent and then they have immediately gone about erecting a primitive altar in the grass so they can begin holding services. Their arrival has spurred conversation among many of the mason workers and carpenters who feel that other house projects should be halted until the church is built. Quite a few more people seem to be grumbling that the church is that of the Flame and not the Sovereign Host.

Dockside Warehouse: Though no docks have been built yet, a large storage building is nearly finished being erected to encourage farmers to bring their wares to store here.


People of Interest

Mayor Fryhle: Appointed by the Baron himself, Fryhle is a large and even-handed man. He was with the first group of workers to arrive at New Merylsward and has been leading the building of the town with an almost military efficiency. The workers revere him and though he keeps to himself he occasionally makes an appearance at The Drunken Clam. Nobody as of yet has managed to pry his past out of him, but he seems to know which end of a sword to hold and how to get things done.

Khayla of the Twin Oaks: When the first foundations of the town were being dug, the good folk of New Merylsward were besieged by a small band of crazed druids. Wearing skulls on their clothing and calling forth swarms of insects, the half dozen of them took the workers by surprise. Luckily Getty’s elemental friends stay close at hand or else the town might never have gotten off the ground! Not two days after the attack Khayla appears in town, walking with two doe (does?) flanking her and bearing an olive branch. The slender and beautiful Elf explained to the town makers that the Eldeen Reaches are home to many types of druids and that she is much different from those who attacked. Offering her services to the budding town as a liaison to the local friendly druids and fey, Khayla has begun building, or rather growing, her home on the very edge of town. With her magical druidic powers she is causing a great oak to grow at an incredible speed. She can often be found working her ways on the tree or wandering through the shallower groves of the forest line, always with woodland creatures in tow like Snow White.

Getty Ginglegrook: The curious owner of “Elementally Unbound,” this little gnome is surprisingly lean and well built for a gnome. He keeps a small cadre of magical companions ranging from two large earth elementals and an air elemental to his odd little homunculi. It is rumored that Getty used to be one of the chief elemental binders for the famous airship factories before leaving and joining some nut-case cult.

The Workforged: A group of Warforged, now out of a job with there being no war, have banded together and formed a contract labor company. Run by the Cannith artificer who claims to have built every one of them, the Workforged have been hired to help clear the opening to the ocean. The Workforged keep almost entirely to themselves and do not assist in defending the town or its inhabitants as it is not “part of their contract.” Their “father” Hugo d’Cannith does all the talking on their behalf.

Cliffwalker Tribe: While the lands around the lake have become mostly inhabited with monstrous creatures, a small band of semi-nomadic shifters have also claimed the cliffs as part of their home. They have done nothing to help nor hinder the budding town and have presently moved off towards the eastern seaside cliffs. The arrival of the Silver Flame has caused some unrest among them.

Haskul: A tall and thin elf who always seems far too busy to give you the time of day. He is the mayor’s assistant who has been assigned to managing your tasks. He will inform you of any jobs that need doing around town, provided you ask nicely.


NOTE: These sections will be filled in and updated as the game progresses. I will likely move these lists along with your completed character sheets to the front of this thread for easy access.

You pitch your tents on the northern edge of town and spend your first night in Merylsward (Orestes, will you be staying in the Lyrandar tent or with the party?). Ajaba makes sure his tent is next to Bin and Wrex’s. The two of them spent the better part of their day walking through town and glaring at the inhabitants.

Dawn of Sar the 16th of Eyre

The party regroups at the Town Hall and meets with Haskul, the tall and disinterested elf who has been burdened with the task of giving you your assignments. He looks disapprovingly over all of you (yes, even you Aesop) before sighing and sifting through some papers he is holding. “What a rag tag band we have here. I feel it is a waste of breath to read all these jobs if you won’t survive a one of them, but I suppose we must all do our duty. Can any of you brutes write? Perhaps you want to scratch this on a rock or something since I shan’t repeat myself.”

THE LIST:

Lizardfolk Nuisance: Those lovely little mud dwellers have taken a liking to harassing the work crew clearing the rock debris at the opening of the cove. The lizards aren’t attacking the workers directly but are destroying equipment at night and dropping rocks from the cliff face above. This problem needs to be dealt with immediately. I’m not sure you’re smart enough to set a trap for these overgrown alligators so maybe you could just go knock on their nests and ask them nicely to stop? However you manage to fail to deal with this, the sabotage is delaying the opening of this town.

Ominous Cavern: Along the path to the bay’s mouth is a dreadful looking cave entrance nestled in the low cliffs. Howls have been heard coming from around the cave and many townsfolk are worried about such a den being so close to our dreary new home. It could also be used as an outpost or even a nice little home for you to go live in. You seem like cave types.

Moss Bandits: The mayor informed me that the Baron of Moss must have even worse recruiting standards than we do since apparently you dispatched a band of his men on your journey here. Since this is something you have proficiency for, one of the baron’s outposts is rumored to lie due east of here in the forest. If the Baron keeps attacking and taxing farmers and merchants traveling here, we will all be starving before the winter.

Missing Persons: Several workers and townspeople have gone missing in the past week. They have all been younger men and one was seen wandering off towards the great forest. I doubt you are any good at tracking, but you do have a dog with you, so maybe you’ll be able to find the missing men? Apparently the ladies in town report that they were the better looking of the hideous plebs.

Ir’Kusk Manor: Our Most Benevolent Benefactor Lord Baron Ir’Kusk has requested that the ruins of the old manner on the northwestern cliffs be investigated and cleared out of any new residents. He asks that any antiques or items bearing the Ir’Kusk family crest be retrieved intact. Stealing and grave robbing will not be tolerated.

Hammer Time: The pesky little gnome Getty has requested a few “able bodied fighters” to help him with an unbinding of some sort. Even if you die your corpses could act as shields for that little psychopath.

Farmer Dissent: While not every farmer in the Reach is overjoyed that we are building this town, one in particular is trying to rally the local dirt diggers against us. His farm lies a day’s ride south of here. This man goes by the name of Calhoun and needs to be quieted. If you can’t reason with him to join with us or bribe him to stay quite, bash his skull in. That, at least, I’m sure even you can handle.

Crazy Druids: Though we were able to repel those crazy druids that besieged us a week ago, many of them retreated back into the Towering Wood. They will undoubtedly strike again, probably in greater numbers and maybe even with those Lizards.


Haskul sighs deeply again and looks at you once more. “That should keep you children occupied for a while. If you manage not to get yourselves killed return here for your reward once a job is completed. If you need help, which you undoubtedly will, ask around town for information. Khayla or those cliff loving shifters know the area well, provided you can get anything out of those barbarians.” Without even a nod or disdainful sigh Haskul turns and walks through a side door, shutting it behind him before you can ask him any questions. Wrex chuckles. “Snotty little elf could use a few days in the pit, eh Bin?” Bin nods and looks towards the door. “Reminds me of my mother, that wretched whore.” The little goblin spits on the ground and looks around at the party. “So how are we deciding where we going? Drawings straws? Arm wrestling?”

[captain_decadence]

Delan

Strolling through the town:
Delan looks about the town and likes the diversity he sees around him. He watches the elementals work for hours and then continues to stroll.

At any building site he tries to strike up a conversation with the warforged but he knows that they will probably not talk much while working so he doesn't expect much. If they have any free time, he will return and try to talk to them again.

After the naming of the missions:
Delan laughs slightly to himself at the snootiness of the elf. It's almost refreshing to see someone who is rude to everyone instead of just him, especially because the elf is an underling in the middle of nowhere.

For the decision on where to go next, Delan thinks that we need to investigate the mansion first. Being a noble's manor, there should be interesting stuff and possibly they could use some of the things they find to help out the town.

He begins to ponder about building a temple for the Sovereign Host. There should be representation of his faith, he thinks, for him as well as for the others that follow the Host. After the decision of what to do next, he asks Haskul about finding a place in the town that he could set up a shrine, at least temporarily. He begins to think about carvings that he could for the members of the Host, at least until stonework or something else could be done.

[Loquacius]

Aesop

OOG: Luckily I found some Internet to steal. W00t.

Aesop is a little weirded out by the Workforged. He just has this thing about warforged from his experiences fleeing the Last War, and while Delan is personable and human enough, something about those silent automatons, working singlemindedly dawn till dusk, gives him the willies. He does a few double takes upon seeing Khayla for the first time, making a mental note to strike up a conversation with her once he's had the opportunity to build up a little local reputation.

Aesop doesn't bother to attempt to win Haskul over. He knows that changing an Elf's mind, particularly one as stubborn as this guy, isn't something easily done. To win his trust, they'll either have to cajole him for a few decades or get something accomplished, and a little common decency will probably be too much to ask until that's finished. In other words, it's time to do a mission or two.

To the group, after Haskul's briefing: "The lizardfolk and Moss's bandits seem to be the most direct threats. I vote we deal with them first. I see your point about gathering artifacts, Delan, but first things first--we have to protect our people. Soon as that's done, I'd love to sit down and have a chat with that Calhoun fellow--I was brought on as a diplomat, after all--but I doubt he's raised TOO large of an army just yet, so that can probably wait. Thoughts?"

[captain_decadence]

Delan

"You're right Aesop, I guess we better deal with dangers before we move onto things that are merely helpful. I think that we should probably deal with Baron Moss's group, as they are an organized threat that do attack people where as the lizardmen, up till now, have only attacked equipment."

[Zoobity]

Orestes

Orestes explains his relationship to his cousin and his appointment to Merylsward. He tells her that he'll be surveying the area and determining when they can start the construction of the site. He spends the night with the party.

After meeting the elf he leans over to Aesop and says, "Let's pray this guy is out of a job in a few weeks... for everyone's sake." Orestes agrees with Aesop and Delan, "I think we should deal with the moss bandit's first, then the lizards. I'd like to get up to the old manor before too long, however. That position is too valuable not to be in our hands."

[King Tius]

XXVIII Anyone Know the Way?

Contrary to what Delan initially thought the normally stoic Workforged come alive when they see him. He begins a conversation with two of them as they unload a large wagon which they pulled by themselves into town. “Hail Brother! Come to join us in our battle against the rocks? Or are you here for some other purpose, perhaps you bring word from the Lord of Blades?” At the Town Hall Delan tries to ask Haskul about a shrine but the Elf has already walked away, ignoring any questions that follow him out.

Orestes finds himself wrapped in a big hug after he reveals himself as kin. “I thought you looked a little like my mother! I almost feel bad that you got caught with some of her looks, too. Maybe I can help you out with your little building project. Being a Lyrandar daughter, I of course have wasted many days of my childhood being forced to draw and paint. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help, since I’m not about to go lift stones and it is dreadfully boring out here with nothing but Baldric (the manservant).”

Wrex nods his agreement at the apparent consensus for heading to the Baron first. “Always best to kill the viper before it can strike. We’ll need to figure out where to start looking. Someone should get us a map and start asking around about this hideout.” Bin nods and drops to a crouch. “Bet you a pig’s tongue there’s a map in here.” He begins to sneak off into the Town Hall in search of such a map. Ajaba emits a low growl and pulls out a scimitar. “After we deal with these bandits we’re going after those lizards. A threat so close to den, no good.” He sheaths his sword and sniffs the air. “Where did the bandits attack you on the road?” “A day before we reached Owl’s Perch” replies Wrex. As if on cue Bin comes slinking back to the party, map in hand. “Let’s take this outside before they notice I opened the Mayor’s case.” Stepping out of the town hall, the goblin takes the map back to the tent and lays it out on the ground. Ajaba and Wrex begin to pour over it, pointing and talking about where the best location for a fort would be.

[captain_decadence]

Delan

With the warforged:
Delan chuckles lightly "I fear I was not forged to do war on rocks and I have heard no news of the Lord of Blades, only the rumors that always seem to float about. I have been hired to work for the Duke here, though I am still not sure what we'll be doing. I would like to hear about this place from all of you, how it is to live and work here? Could we meet sometime when you are not fighting the good fight?

While Ajaba and Wrex pour over the map:
Delan looks to see if he can help but the two seem to know what they are doing. He tells them that he will be back later; he's going to ask around for more information.

Figuring that the person that would know the most about people living in the forest is Khayla, he suggests to the others that they go see her. Hopefully she will have some information about the Baron and his hide-out.

Notes: Delan will be talking to Haskul after this is all sorted out, sorry if that seemed like he wanted to talk to him right then.

[FrereSebastian]

Ajaba


Ajaba scans the map looking at the point in the path where they were attacked before. He scratches his neck and mutter half to himself and half to Wrex. "Moss have long reach if he can attack here," He points to the attack point, "All the way to here." He points to New Merylsward. Ajaba looks to Wrex for any comment as he continues, "If Moss stationed outpost in forest, then it would be in easy reach of a path or way to town. Since most of activity and raids happen at road, the fort would be in a easily defendable part of the forest, that is close to the road. Do bandits attack at same point all the time? Or is it more spread out?"

Ajaba looks to Wrex to see if he is making sense and see what Wrex thinks.
After Wrex discusses with him, Ajaba says, "Maybe me and you search woods with Bin, scout along path... try to find fort while others look around town and talk to WoodElf (Khayla) to find more information?"

[Zoobity]

Orestes

To Daphne: Orestes returns the hug half-heartedly, not really tightening his grip as much as his distant cousin. "Yes, we're cousins or something like that. And shame on you, drawing is not a waste of your time." He scratches his head for a moment, "What the hell are you doing out here?"

As the party pours over the map and decides to talk to Khayla, Orestes volunteers to talk to Ginglegrook at Elementally Unbound. "You guys pursue that angle, I'm going to see if I can negotiate some kind of divination on the leader of the bandits. Sever the head and whatnot. I'll meet you back here in a bit."

[Loquacius]

Aesop

Aesop had hoped to postpone his first encounter with Khayla until he'd gained a little local standing, and he hadn't planned on involving his business with it, but duty calls and all that. "Okay then, I'll deal with the wild woman. Fairly good chance she knows exactly where he is."

Upon finding Khayla, Aesop takes a deep breath, gives Olladra a quick thumbs-up, and approaches the lovely druidess with a deep bow. "Your works, fair lady, are truly a wonder to behold. If I may introduce myself, I'm called Aesop Wynde--storyteller, adventurer, and your faithful servant. I'm afraid that the pressing manner of my duties force me to proceed straight to business-- I've been called upon by the good people of Merylsward to do anything I can to ensure their safety, and if you could be so kind as to offer your assistance in one particular matter, it would help greatly toward that end. May I prevail upon you for some information?"

[King Tius]

XXIX Helllllloooo Nurse

The Workforged gives a hearty laugh. “None of us were forged for moving rocks, brother, but what’s a soldier to do when there’s no war? You are always welcome to our barracks, brother. We will tell you all about this new town. Master lets us off work around midnight, so come by then. They call me Wedge. Never Rust, brother.” If Delan had ears, they would have perked up at the word “Master.” Though they were crafted by Cannith Artificers and are, in fact, golems of sorts, Delan has never heard a warforged refer to another being as his master.

Note: “Never Rust” is a piece of Warforged jargon, somewhat like “break a leg” and “cheers.” It serves as a general hello/goodbye/good luck between 'forged. It is one of the few pieces of Warforged speak that isn't directly related to war.

Ajaba and Wrex scan the map for a few moments and discern about where the outpost might be. Located not too far from the road or Merylsward is Stillwater Valley. Ajaba nods confidently after thinking it over again, sure that the fort is located in or near this valley.

Orestes looks questioningly at Daphne as she answers his question. “Weren’t you listening? I came out here so I wouldn’t have to get married.” The mage doesn’t buy it and it shows on his face. She falters a moment and bites her lip in thought. “Well, you see, my mother arranged my marriage with a cousin of mine, but he was nearly forty and dreadfully ugly! I told her I’d never marry him and I’d sooner die. She informed me that I had one day to come to my senses and obey her or she’d disown me. So I ran away. I’m sure she’s already made a huge fuss about the entire thing and has held a funeral service for me. Though we may be cousins, it looks like we’re in different families now.” She looks around sheepishly. “Should I leave? I don’t really have anywhere else to go. I had heard father talking about this operation, that part was true, so I grabbed a few things and made my way out here as far away from the city as I could before my mother knew I was gone.”

Later Orestes makes his way over to Elementally Unbound to inquire about some Divination. Dodging an earth elemental as he enters, Orestes finds himself caught in a small windstorm as the air elemental moves around him as if he was not there. Getty comes walking up from the basement with his hands full of tools and throws them up into the air as he sees Orestes. “Dragon Below, you scared me halfway back to Zilargo!” He drops to the ground and begins frantically picking up his tools. “What brings you to my humble abode? I hope my friends aren’t making you nervous! There have been some complaints. I assure you, they are perfectly harmless! As long as you don’t provoke them, that is. What can I do for you?” Orestes mentions purchasing some Divination and the gnome again drops all his tools, this time because he has fallen to the floor, grabbing his stomach and hooting with laughter. It takes him a minute or two to compose himself again. Still snickering, he asks “Do I look like some tea leaf reader to you? I’ve no skills or interests in Divination. Never studied the stuff. Too boring. Now if you want to know about Summoning, that we can have a good long chat about. Maybe over some tea.”

Aesop and Delan approach the large oak tree growing on the outskirts of town. As they approach they find Khahla with her arms up to the elbows inside the great oak. The normally loquacious (see what I did there?) bard is struck temporarily speechless by the woman before him. She is dressed in a simple green gown and has long golden hair that reaches down past her shoulders. She is barefoot and has piercing green eyes that always seem to be smiling. As you approach you see that there are two deer lying in the grass nearby who watch you intently. She does not look up until she has slowly pulled her hands out of the tree; a feat which would be absolutely impossible if not for her druidic magic. She smiles and nods to Delan before turning her eyes on Aesop. He has just delivered his complimentary introduction which drew the faint smile in the first place. “You walk with a lighthearted gait not seen much in these lands, yet still you bear the signs of an Eldeen. I know where this camp you seek lies, Aesop Wynde. I shall even show you there myself, if you’d like.” She rises to her feet and turns to face them. Aesop notes begrudgingly that the “wild woman” is taller than he is. “The outpost lies in Stillwater Valley. Tell me, Eldeen, do you know the way?”

[Loquacius]

Aesop

Aesop is taken aback at Khayla's divination of his personal history--sort of. He subconsciously drops his formal, rehearsed dialogue in favor of more relaxed speech. "Well, um, I was born in Aundair, actually, but I've kind of split my time between that land and this. The Reaches really are a... beautiful country, though. I grew to manhood walking its woods. It's, um, a shame what happened here during the war." Upon Khayla's offer to guide them to the camp, Aesop blurts out his response. "Sure! Great, I mean, we'll take all the help we can get, definitely!"

If Aesop knows where Stillwater Valley is (making a Bardic Knowledge check if necessary), he replies as such: "I do, but surely bringing along someone as... obviously capable as yourself would be to our advantage nevertheless. Moss is a cancer on this land. We must be rid of him and soon. Will you help, fair lady?"

If he doesn't know where Stillwater Valley is: "I'm afraid that I do not." Ajaba probably does, but instead of mentioning that, he continues: "But if you could show us the place, and help us strike at that foul cur, this country would be all the more beautiful in his absence." (and once again) "Will you help, fair lady?"

[FrereSebastian]

Ajaba

After seeing Aesop and Delan move out towards the druid's abode, and Orestes move out to the gnome's wierd home, Ajaba looks at the map one more time and adresses Wrex and Bin. "To get to Valley, stay away from path. Scouts must watch path for intruders." Ajaba smiled, "We come from townside of valley but spread out within birdcall of each other, just like in War. Once in sight, we scout out fort until others find it. Stay safe, of course there is chance they have guard patrols...." Ajaba grins. "We must get ready, meet at forest in an hour." With that he moves to his tent.

Before he goes, Ajaba checks his weapons, and rendez-vous with Ben and Wrex just before the treeline of the forest. He makes a motion to the goblinoids to follow. From this point on Ajaba only speaks in whispers, the Gnolls rarely speak when on the hunt, he only makes gestures unless nessecary. As they plunge into the forest, he almost breaks the silence trying to keep from laughing, there was nothing better than being on the hunt.

Once they reach the treeline towards the Valley, Ajaba checks to see if there are guards/scouts making rounds then procedes to scout out the fort until he can notice the others arrive, or Wrex and Bin have other ideas.

[captain_decadence]

Delan

Delan waits until Aesop and Khayla have finished talking and then says "Well, now that we know the location of the bandits, we should probably go back and meet the others. Let's find Orestes and go back to where Ajaba is."

[Zoobity]

Orestes

Back with Daphne: Orestes shrugs. "Sure, you can stay here, I guess. Why not? Alright, I'm going to be busy clearing the air, so to speak. If you want to play the part of my secretary and personal representative while I'm away, I'll let you stay here and I won't betray your identity to the house. Deal?"

Realizing that the gnome will be unable to provide the sort of subtleties that he's looking for at the moment, Orestes heads back towards the party tent. He's excited that they met Tom Bombadil's sister and gathers his gear for the quest.

[King Tius]

XXX Hey Tom Bombadil, Tom Bombadil-o

OOG: Minus 50 DKP for your insolence


Aesop does in fact know where Stillwater Valley is located. Khayla smiles and nods her assent. “I will accompany you, though I doubt we will find the Baron himself. His hold on these lands is deep and long reaching. It will take more than wiping out an outpost to rid us of his influence.” The three of you head back towards the camp, catching Orestes as he leaves Elementally Unbound. You find Bin, Wrex, and Ajaba nearly ready to depart for their scouting mission. With everyone on the same page, you leave en masse. The trip to the valley takes just a day and a half of travel on foot. You arrive at the edge of the valley just as the sun begins to set. A thin column of smoke rises from inside the valley, near the far end of the basin. Khayla points towards it and raises her chin as she speaks. “Therein lies the blight of Moss. With nobody to challenge them, they make very few attempts at masking their presence in these lands. Nevertheless, they do patrol this valley.” Ajaba reiterates his plan to spread out and use birdcalls to signal one another. After a brief moment of selecting a few bird calls you spread out and descend into the valley, heading towards the smoke. Ajaba takes point of your spread out formation and Khayla stays towards the back. You proceed down into the valley and near the Stillwater creek. As you come to the tree line by the creek you hear Bin’s attempt at the bird call for “trouble” coming from your right. You can just make out one another in the fading light standing by the edge of the tree line. At the sound of the call you see Wrex hunch down and draw his greatsword as he slowly creeps in that direction.

[Loquacius]

Aesop

OOG: Old Tom Bombadil is a merry fellow.

Aesop follows Wrex's lead, drawing his rapier and creeping toward Bin's location.

[captain_decadence]

Delan

During the trip:

As the 'merry band' goes towards Stillwater Valley, Delan talks to Khayla about her beliefs. "How do druids see the gods or do your people not acknowledge any gods other than nature itself?" After he gets an answer to that, if she talks, he asks her about how druids feel about the warforged. He tells her that he knows she doesn't speak for all druids, but knowledge is power and he wants to at least have a basic understanding of what druids think about this stuff

At the base:
Delan tries (and probably fails) at being sneaky until he hears the trouble cry. He then moves slowly toward the sound, staying out of the way of the others and hoping the bandits don't hear him.

[Zoobity]

While the group travels Orestes remains reserved. He watches Goodberry closely, though he does whatever he can to be completely courteous.

After Bin gives his call, Orestes tries to sink further down into the shadows. If everyone rushes over to that location then who will keep lookout?

[King Tius]

XXXI Power Outage

OOG: My house has been without power since that colossal storm hit and probably will remain so for a few days. Hopefully I will still be able to post.

OOG2: Delan, I will continue your conversation with Khayla once I'm not posting from a Penn computer lab

Aesop draws his rapier as Ajaba pulls his scimitars free. The three of you (attempt to) sneak towards the sound of the distress call as Orestes remains back. Khayla also remains back, drawing nearer to Orestes. As you move through the underbrush you catch a glimpse of Bin scampering silently up a nearby tree. In front of you is a small clearing around the creek. In this clearing a small waterfall and natural damn have created a serene pond. Standing thirty feet in front of you are three men, all dressed similarly to the bandits who accosted you previously along the road. They are standing in a circle and arguing quite furiously and pointing towards the pond. "You idiot, I saw it land over here! It has to be in there." "Are you out of your mind? I'm not diving into some pond just because you think it's in there. You go get it if you're so sure!" As you approach Delan steps on a twig that snaps rather loudly. The three men quickly turn to face the tree line, drawing their weapons (two swords and a bow). "Who comes there? Show yourself!"

[Loquacius]

Aesop

Oh, for the love of... Aesop holds up his sword hand, palm out, and puts a finger of his other hand to his lips to indicate to Delan that moving at all at this juncture would be a supremely bad idea, then slowly removes a pinch of black powder from his materials pouch, which he throws to the ground at Delan's feet. A sound comes from the empty ground, which sounds exactly like an animal about the size of a raccoon or badger running away. (OOG: Ghost Sound.) There. Hopefully they'll buy that. Don't want them raising any alarms. He keeps his rapier at the ready, though, just in case his little gambit should fail.

[Zoobity]

Orestes

Orestes picks up where Aesop left off and casts Dancing Lights on the far side of his comrades, trying to get the brigands to show their flanks to the fighters with four torch like lights.

[captain_decadence]

Delan

Delan freezes as he is signaled to. He waits to see what the others do.

[King Tius]

XXXII Dancing Lights, Ghost Sound, Action!!!

Delan freezes in place as Aesop cats ghost sounds. A small snarl and the sound of rustling leaves emanates from between the Warforged’s legs. Orestes weaves his own dancing lights spell and summon four orbs of light off to the party’s right side. The three brigands seem to dismiss Delan immediately and turn to face the lights. “Damn fey! How many sprites and satyrs will we have to kill to clear these woods once and for all?” The archer lets off an arrow in the direction of the lights as the two others turn sideways and move defensively towards the lights. Apparently judging this as the appropriate time to strike, Bin takes a running leap off of a high branch and comes crashing down upon the archer, dagger in hand and arms cart-wheeling as he silently flies through the air. The goblin strikes the archer square in the chest and the two immediately tumble into the water. The two swordsmen turn around and face the water in confusion, glancing back and forth between the lights and the splashing mass of their buddy/Bin. Their backs are now facing you. Wrex suppresses a laugh and gets into a crouched position, preparing to charge.

Prior:
Khayla smiles at Delan’s inquisitive nature. “We Druids worship the Gods just as any other. Some of us simply acknowledge the existence of every deity while others tie themselves more closely to one god and his affects on nature. As for your kind, I must admit that when I first encountered a Warforged I thought it an abomination. I have since learned, as many of the Wardens and Greensingers have, that Warforged are people just as Elves and Humans.

[Loquacius]

Aesop

Aesop had been planning on waiting for the sentries to leave or become sufficiently distracted for the group to sneak past, but this works just as well. He joins Wrex's charge, introducing the pointy end of his rapier to whichever guard looks less crowded.

[captain_decadence]

To Khayla: "So, there are other groups that don't like warforged... Well, I can't do much to change that. I'm glad that your people have realized we are just like the other races. If all the druids of the forest were against me, I do not see even a chance at survival."

At the battle:
Delan curses lightly to himself, he didn't expect the others to rush out, just to distract the guards. He runs out to join the others, trying to look as big and intimidating as possible and maybe drawing some of their attention to him.

[Zoobity]

Orestes gets his crossbow out (loaded already) and tries to maintain a clear shot of the fracas in front of him. He doesn't fire until a.) he gets a clear shot and b.) things get dire enough that he wants to blow his cover. He motions for Khayla to cover his back.

[King Tius]

XXXIII Where Were We?

Wrex rushes out of the woods towards the two bandits, followed closely
by Ajaba and Aesop. The hobgoblin lunges at the first swordsman but
his attack misses. He stumbles forward from the missed charge and
nearly falls in the water himself. Aesop attacks the same man and
manages to nick him with his rapier, though not by much. Ajaba gives
the one-two to the second guard but is unsuccessful with both slashes.
Delan rushes out of the woods and stands there menacingly but both
bandits are engaged in fighting and don't notice him. Orestes moves
forward a bit and finds a clear view of combat. Though he has a clear
shot at the second bandit, the situation is not yet dire enough to
meet his firing criteria. Khayla watches the fighting intently but
makes no move to attack. The first bandit hacks at Aesop but the spry
elf deflects the blow. The second manages to score a hit on Ajaba,
doing 4 points of damage. From the water the sounds of splashing and
yelling can still be heard

OOG: It has taken me days to post this simply because I had to get lucky and find a time when the Forums weren't crashingly slow. This infuriates me to no end. We may be moving this game in the near future if GITP doesn't get their S#it together

[Loquacius]

Aesop

Hmm. Well, bandits haven't gotten any better at fighting. It's been a while since I've done things like this, but it's comforting to know some things never change.Aesop figures this is as good a time as any to try inspiring courage in his allies again. He figures Wrex is in no position to criticize seeing as he just barely avoided falling into a pond.

Maybe he can psyche the Mossers out a little bit too. Or at least confuse them. That'd be fun. Adopting an impish grin, he locks eyes with the bandit who just failed to hit him and starts talking about a band of intrepid heroes who soundly defeated a band of evil thugs with poor hand-eye coordination.

[captain_decadence]

Delan moves up to the bandits that are attacking his companions and yells at them threateningly.

OOG: I can haz flanking bonus.

[Zoobity]

Orestes motions to Khayla and begins circling through the underbrush to where the party is currently located. If he has another clear shot as he moves, he'll take it.

[King Tius]

XXXIV Morality Checkpoint

Aesop drops to a defensive stance and begins his inspiring words. They uplift the party as you slowly pick apart these two brigands. Delan moves up next to the one bandit to flank him. Fortunately for the warforged the bandit doesn’t get an Attack of Opportunity since he is flanked. Orestes moves sideways with Khayla in tow. He manages to get a clear shot at the second bandit and scores true. Wrex finds his footing and drops this second bandit with a blow from his mighty greatsword. The kicking and screaming from the water stops and Bin’s head pops to the surface, dagger between his teeth. With both his friends dead, the final bandit drops to his knees and holds his hands up in front of his face. “Please don’t kill me!” Bin slowly walks out of the water and grabs his dagger, poising to slit the man’s throat. Khayla emerges from the treeline, watching your actions intently.

Ajaba’s ears suddenly perk up and he looks off to the east, up towards the top of the valley. Orestes and Aesop’s keen ears hear an ever-so-faint howl that sounds as if it is many miles away coming from that direction.

[captain_decadence]

Delan

"Stop! He has surrendered to us, we cannot kill him."

Delan waits to see what the others say before he argues the point. If they support him, he's not going to monologue.

[Loquacius]

Aesop

Aesop is annoyed that this man should surrender at a point in time where just letting him go would seriously endanger their mission, but luckily he has some rope on him. "Save your energy, Bin, and keep alert while I have a word with our new friend. I think I might hear more trouble coming." He puts his rapier against their new prisoner's throat. "Quick, lackey. Anything important we should know about wolves or friends of yours who are like wolves in some way?" Upon getting his answers: "You're too kind. Don't go anywhere!" Aesop sheathes his sword and commences tying the bandit up, then takes any weapons that might be lying around in the area and throws them into the pond (unless one of them looks like it might be worth something). "I think we're done here. Let's go."

[Zoobity]

Orestes steps out of the bushes and loads another bolt. While the rest of the party is focusing on their prisoner he stays on watch. "I can't think of a good reason to kill him," he says, his back to the party, looking over the woods. "However, I can think of a dozen reasons to tie him to a tree and gag him."

[King Tius]

XXXV Where Wolf?

As you tie up the bandit, he shakes his head and struggles feebly against his bonds. "It's a forest, of course there are wolves. I...I don't know anything." Once he is bound you begin to make your way onwards again and notice that Ajaba has disappeared. Bin nods off in the direction where the howls came. "He ran off full tilt, growling something about 'family'. I doubt we could catch him at the rate he went off. Let's keep going." Continuing on, you move through the rest of the little valley without interruption. You come upon the bandit camp, a large fence of crossed wooden pikes rings a two small buildings and one large barn. From your post in the woods, you can see two men standing guard at the open gate, though one seems to be slumped asleep against the wall.

OOG: I know it was lame, but this is how I'm writing Ajaba out of the game so I don't have to NPC him forever. He'll be back, maybe.

[captain_decadence]

OOG: This game loses people faster than...something that loses people really fast.

Delan

Delan, after seeing the building, has some doubt about this situation. A bandit king who is able to terrorize large parts of the forest and he's got...two bungalows and a barn. Feels funny.

He explains, in a low whisper, his feelings to the others and sees what they have to say. He knows they should scout but he's obviously not the one for the job.

[Loquacius]

Aesop

Aesop is confused by Ajaba's sudden departure. Right in the middle of a hunt? Must be some big family reunion or something. I'm picturing the main course as a spit-roasted halfling with an apple in his mouth. And an open bar of little bowls of dirty water. Maybe a gnoll wedding? I bet he always cries at those.

Shaking his head, Aesop refocuses on the task at hand. "If we can get those guys away from the gate we should be able to get to the buildings easily enough. Another magical diversion, perhaps? Khayla, do you have anything, erm, special we could use?"

[King Tius]

I HAVE GIVEN UP ON TITLES

Khayla turns to Aesop and again smiles. "I could call upon the creatures of the wood to try and draw their attention away from the gate. If we found any feykin they might also aid me. What would you have me do?"

Bin speaks up, directing his inquiry largely at Wrex. "Think you could toss me over that wall? I might be able to do some damage and create a diversion inside."

Wrex shakes his head. "You've gotten fat since the war. Maybe if the 'forged gave me a hand."

OOG: I need a definitive decision before we move on. I promise this boring quest is almost over. Then the good stuff starts!

[Loquacius]

Aesop

Aesop thoughtfully strokes the place where his beard would be if only he could grow facial hair. "I think I overheard something about a fey problem earlier. Sorry to postpone your fun, Bin, but I think that would work better than sending you in on your own. Let's magic us up a distraction!"

[captain_decadence]

Since Delan has never seen any of the fey, he thinks that a distraction involving them would be interesting as well as less dangerous to Bin. His companions may be bloodthirsty but at least they didn't kill innocent travelers like these bandits do and he's grown slightly attached to the odd pair.

[Zoobity]

OOG: Sorry for the long delay. My "part time" job has become a 70 hour a week job. Asses will be kicked.

Orestes looks at the sleeping bandits. "The fey sound interesting, but these guys aren't very good at their jobs. Why don't we save our resources and just knock these two out ourselves from back here?" He pats his crossbow and component pouches. Seeing things not working out in his favor, "But fey work, too."

[King Tius]

Khayla nods and casts a quick spell. A small sparrow swoops down and alights upon her outstretched hand. She whispers to the bird for a moment before letting it fly away. She turns to the party and says "the two should be here in just a few minutes. Hopefully they are awake." After about five minutes have passed, a rustling in the bushes behind you reveals two satyrs. One carries the token pipes while the other an ornate bow. They both glance at the party with mildly amused looks before turning to the Druid and bowing low. "A pleasure to see you again, sweet Khayla. I hope we did not keep you waiting." "Not at all, dear friends. Would you mind doing us a favor? We'd like to draw those two guards away from the gate so we me slip in unnoticed." The two satyrs glance quickly at the fort. "Anything for you, Wardeness." Without another word the satyrs sprint over towards the two guards, finally stopping about 40 feet from them along the path that leads to the fort. They begin to hop up and down wildly while the one blows an inane tune on his pipes. The lone awake guard cries out an alarm and rouses the sleeping one before taking off after the satyrs. The newly awoken guard shouts into the base and two more men come running out, all in hot pursuit of the goat-men who have just ran off into the forest away from you. Wrex shakes his head and picks up his sword. "Damn fey and their games." He begins to move through the woods towards the fort, followed by Bin.

[captain_decadence]

Delan

Delan follows the two as they move into the base. Now that the guards are gone he doesn't have to worry about sneaking, never his best asset anyway.

The fey were different than he expected. More wild and earthy but he shakes his head and tries to concentrate on the mission at hand.

[Zoobity]

Seeing that the guards are out of the way, Orestes follows the goblinoids and the warforged towards the hideout. He keeps a magic missile at the ready in case the party encounters any resistance.

[Loquacius]

Aesop

That went surprisingly well. I guess now we just waltz on inside. Rather than waltzing, Aesop Moves Silently, a good distance behind the front-liners.

[King Tius]

The group enters the bandit compound and finds that it is more of a refitted house than a fort. A wooden split-pole wall has been run up around a two story house and it's barn. Another one story building of considerably lower quality is also built within the walls. This little shack has the same construction look as the walls about the compound and was clearly added on by the bandits as well. Standing in the center of the place facing away from the gate the barn lies on your immediate right and the two story house ahead of you. The shack lies on your left. Khayla turns to the group and says "I do not know how long the satyrs will keep those brigands occupied. We should act quickly." Bin nods his head and pipes up in Common for everyone to hear. "Search fast or set a trap, but we do it fast! (Those of you who speak Goblin notice that Bin's normal eloquence seems completely lost in his limited Common) I say we get out fast." Wrex shakes his head as he looks around the compound. "We came here to deal with them, not rob them. Let's wait for them to come back and burn this camp to the ground." Khayla casts a quick spell and raises her hand. A little sparrow alights on her outstretched finger and she begins to titter to it. After a second the bird flies off. "My little friend will warn us when the bandits are returning. We must hurry."

[Loquacius]

Aesop

OOG: I almost had Aesop light a cigar in this post before I remembered he's not Cedric.

Aesop nods decisively. "I'm with Wrex. These men are a threat to Merylsward until they've been defeated. Mess with their resources and they'll just take more. Let's tear this place up." (OOG: Puff.) "Those guys probably weren't the only ones here anyway--if you were Baron Moss himself, would you run out after a couple of satyrs? Let's deal with the guys still here, and then when the others come back we won't have to fight everyone at once." If everyone's in agreement, Aesop peers into the house for reconnaissance.

[captain_decadence]

Delan

"I would prefer that we take these men prisoners and take them back for justice but we must do what we must. They are criminals who prey upon the innocent."

"Let's shut this operation down for good. If we can find this Baron, taking out the leader would probably be the best way to stop the organization. Then again, bandits without a leader can still do a lot of damage so we should try to do as much as possible here."

Whatever the others decide, Delan studies their surroundings. A good understanding of the layout of the compound and the house will serve them well no matter what decision they make.

[King Tius]

Delan studies his surroundings and sees a wagon parked near the gate that might serve as a good hiding/vantage point. Aesop peers inside the house and sees that it still looks like it is being used as a home, albeit a very scantily furnished one. Khayla moves off to one side and crouches behind a barrel near the barn. Bin ducks behind one of the open gate doors and Wrex stands behind the little shack, ready to charge. As everyone moves to their respective ambush locations (post yours, plz) you hear the sound of arguing men coming from the woods outside the fence. It sounds like the bandits are approaching the fort from the woods and have to circle the fence to reach the gate. You have maybe a minute before they enter.

[captain_decadence]

Delan moves behind the other open door of the gate and gets ready to slam it once they've all gotten inside.(I'm assuming it's a two door kind of gate, if not please correct me)

[Zoobity]

Assuming that there's no one inside the house, Orestes swings around and hides inside the doorway, ready to spring out and fire his magic missiles.

[Loquacius]

Aesop

Aesop had hoped they'd have a little more time to scope the place out and/or remove any bandits still inside, but you can't always get what you want. He draws his rapier and lies in wait around a corner of the house.

[King Tius]

As the four guards come sauntering back into the compound none of them see you laying in wait. After the last bandit has come in Delan gives the door a great shove, slamming it into place behind them. The four turn around in surprise to look at the warforged, hastily drawing their weapons as they do so. Orestes cracks the door open of the house and fires his magic missile at the closest of the four. As the magical bolt strikes the unsuspecting brigand roots erupt from the ground in a circle around the bad guys. Unfortunately Delan is also caught in the mess. While two of the men avoided the roots, the hulking warforged was not so lucky. Wrex comes charging around the corner but skids to a halt at the sight of the entangle spell. He reaches over his back and draws his throwing ax. Bin, who had taken refuge behind the same door as Delan, is nowhere to be seen. Three of the men have drawn swords and one a bow.

OOG: I did not know if Aesop wanted to charge or switch to ranged weapons, so just say so and he can get his move in before the next round along with his action for the second round of combat.

[captain_decadence]

Delan bellows at the bandits, attempting to attract their attention solely on him as opposed to his friends.

"Fiends! Your time plaguing the innocent is at an end!"

He then touches his chest and infuses himself with "Shield of Faith."

[Loquacius]

Aesop

FIRST ROUND:
Figuring that Wrex, Bin, and (possibly to a lesser extent) Delan probably have the front lines handled, Aesop decides to aid Khayla and Orestes in their long-range support modes. He drops his rapier and draws his bow, but on a whim, he pauses for a second to begin telling a story before attempting to fire. It's a story about a dim young man who had been a bandit but now must endure all manner of terrible fates in the dungeons of the wise and just King. Sort of like a high-fantasy Oz. (OOG: This is the last Bardic Music effect I get today, better make it count! Oh, and I'm Inspiring Courage, for the record.)

SECOND ROUND: now that Aesop has gotten his story off the ground, it no longer requires his full attention and he's able to keep telling it as he snaps off a shot at the bandit holding the bow.

[Zoobity]

Orestes

Orestes loads a bolt and fires his crossbow from the cover of the door. He looks for whatever brigand gives him the clearest shot. He also scans about for a leaderly looking one to cast his sleep spell on.

[King Tius]

Delan attempts to draw the attention of the bandits (intimidate check) and manages to get them to turn around. He casts his infusion and a magical shield springs to life around him, provoking an attack of opportunity from the nearest bandit. Fortunately his attack misses.

OOG: Aesop, you have to declare which Bardic Music ability you are using so I don’t mess it up.

Aesop begins his bardic poem and fires off an arrow at the already injured bowman. Luckily his arrow strikes true and the bandit’s limp body drops to the ground, caught up in the roots. Orestes likewise attempts a ranged assault but misses his target. The bolt goes flying by the man’s shoulder and lands with a thud into the wall. Wrex hurls his ax and nails one of the bandits square in the chest. The force of the blow knocks the poor bastard backwards and sends him slamming to the ground, hinged on his rooted feet (critical!). Khayla stands by and watches the scene, unsure of what to do. Still no sign of Bin. The two living (and unhampered) guards both take a swing at Delan. One’s swing goes wide but the other’s strikes true for 5 points of damage.

[Loquacius]

Aesop

OOG: Yeah, I was Inspiring Courage. I threw that in in an edit after I realized I forgot, but I should probably have made it a little more prominent. Sorry.

Aesop nods with satisfaction to see his target go down, but furrows his brow to see that the remaining targets, being currently in melee, will be harder to hit, and he's actually at risk of hitting Delan. Well, nothing ventured... Continuing the story (he's just getting to the part where the bandit remorsefully and overdramatically wishes he hadn't robbed all those people), he fires off another shot, this one at the guy who just hit Delan.

[captain_decadence]

Delan tries to break free.

[King Tius]

you can break free as a full round action

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/entangle.htm

[Zoobity]

Orestes loads and fires another bolt, trying to distract the bandits attacking Delan.

[King Tius]

Aided by the bardic music, our two archers are able to take down both of the bandits. With all threats eliminated, Khayla waves her hand and dismisses the entangle spell.

OOG: Alright, time to get this up and running again. You all just gained enough experience to level up. I'd like it if you all took over your character sheets since it's a pain to keep track of. I think I have Aesop and Orestes made up already, but you should consider making your own anyways. If this game is just plain dead, I understand

[captain_decadence]

OOG: Woo-hoo level up.

Delan looks down at the bandits and wonders how he should feel. On one hand, he helped bring about their death but they also would have done much more harm if allowed to live. While this question has been posed to him before, he has always had trouble with it.

Shaking his head, he dismisses philosophy for now. "We should search this base and get as much information as possible from this base."

Delan moves into the house and begins to search the contents for anything that might provide more information. He also piles up valuables to split amongst his fellows.

[Loquacius]

OOG: Sweet, level 3. Here's Aesop's new character sheet: http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/view.php?id=79692

Aesop

Aesop sighs and puts his bow away. He's pretty sure none of those guys was Baron Moss himself. The operation is perhaps crippled, but sure not dead yet. He nods to Delan. "Wonder if the Baron himself is somewhere in there. Let's take a look, and if we can't find him we'll just have to ask a few more questions of our friend we left out front." Drawing his sword, Aesop searches the house room-by room, doing so stealthily in case anyone is still inside.

[Zoobity]

Orestes

Orestes assists his compatriots in searching the building for anything interesting, specifically plans or maps of some sort. After they're done he folds his arms, rubbing his dragonmark somewhat nervously through his sleeve. "If we can't occupy this place, perhaps we should, hm, get rid of it. Burn it, blow it up, send it to a pocket plane. Something. It's best our work doesn't become unworked."

[King Tius]

A quick search of the compound reveals that there are no more bandits around. You find that the barn has been used as a storage center for captured goods. Several wagons ladened with goods, supplies, and assorted town-building tools seem packed and ready for movement. Buzzing the house you find that the place is stocked with food and beds to house a dozen or so people. In one small room you find a small office where the administrative aspects of the operation were handled. You take a large log book and several maps off the walls, some marking ambush points and other bandit compounds. A medium sized chest also resides in the room, though it is locked. If you'd like there are several person lockers of the bandits you could raid.

OOG: Red Ring of Death! NOOOOOO!

OOG2: I'm going to have you start doing your own rolls for searching and combat and such. The rolling system on the server is #d#. We will implement that once your sheets are all up to date.