D&D 3.5 Anime edition (Surprisingly less ToB then you'd think)

[Illven]

You had all gotten them.

Whether you were adventuring separately or together, or mixed. You had gotten them. Letters from the King of Birthlandia first of his name.

Spoiler: Letter text

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To the glorious adventurer this letter finds itself to.

Our glorious kingdom of Birthlandia faces itself in severe danger. All seemed well in our glorious kingdom until this past week when the Red dragon, which our scholars tell us is name loosely translated The Inferno that consumes all. Flew over the skies of our city. Our solders had no hope against such a fell beast, and many of them immediately deserted their posts. They are of course being disciplined.

The dragon didn't kill us, it didn't loot us. All it took was my son. My one and only son. Please. Answer my call brave adventurers. Please. He's my only son. I will give you anything in my power to give, if you return my son to me.

Whatever your motivations, you stand right outside the throne room. As a pretty young maid opens the doors, you hear her mutter. "Welcome great heroes, and heroines." As she refuses to meet your gaze.

Inside you see the king sitting on a throne of pure gold who seems overjoyed to see you.... and several girls of various ages on thrones of copper.

"Greetings! Grand heroes! Come in, come in! Thank you for answering my call!" He says beckoning you over.

How do you respond?

[Snowbluff]

Phobos

A tielfing wearing scholarly robes enters the king's audience chmaber. He brushes his black hair out of his blue eyes, studying his surroundings carefully.
"I am honored to be in your prescence, my king. How may the hand of the Assembly aid you?" Phobos is asking to be polite. He already knows about what must be done. His voice is like ice, completely cold and placid.

Spoiler

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Sherlock mode, activate!

First, Lore (Bardic Knowledge): (1d20+14)[31] + 8

Knowledges (taking 10s)
Arcane: 33
Local: 32
History: 23

[LoyalPaladin]

Bunni Bunni-Chan

"Greetings, your majesty!" Bunni's ears are at attention and she solutes. "When the king beckons, I come hopping!" Her ear twitches slightly in distaste at her bad pun and she shoots a glance to her fellow adventurers, hoping they don't laugh.

[Sjlver]

Hiro

A broad grin spreads across Hiro's face as he tries in vain to stifle a laugh. His twinkling chain shirt shimmers and rustles and he chuckles lightly.

He then turns his attention to the king and takes a deep bow. "My Lord, I have come at your request. I will aid you in whatever matter you need me to attend to. Adventure is my speciality!"

[VirusInk]

Miu

Towering above the others at an impressive height of 18"4', Miu looks down to her fellow adventurers. She spends a moment considering why the small rabbit girl is so peppy, but then decides she better direct her attention to the reason she came in the first place: the king.

"What'dya need again? I skimmed your letter.... something about your son being taken, yeah?" Her voice is surprisingly high, but has no problem filling the room. She hasn't really bothered to make eye contact, in fact it looks like she's messing with her nails. "I'll help."

[Snowbluff]

Phobos

Phobos stares back at Bunni. "Why are you looking at me?" he asked, confused by the exchange.

[Illven]

Spoiler: For Snowbluff's eyes only....

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If you're going to peek tell me so that I can pm Snowbluff future ones.

Bardic knowledge and Knowledge local tells you that King Richard Birthlandia. (All royals take the name of their country, estate, etc. In this region of the world) Is considered a good king. Although meek, and with a fondness for women, taxes are low, harvests are good, adventurers prosper and before now there's been no major crisis's in the 30 year history of his reign.

History tells you that many of Birthlandia's prior kings and queens have been more war like in nature. Perhaps this beast wanted revenge for something that happened in the past.
Arcana. Arcana tells you that the blood of royals is used in many elixirs that are supposed to help control age. Typically this is used to preserve youth, but with a little modification to the most common rituals, in theory this could make the dragon grow older faster.

The king doesn't even seem to notice that one of your own hasn't spoken up yet, so grateful is he for all your shows of support.

"Thank you, thank you kind heroes! Please tell me what it is your hearts desire and if it is in my power to give, you will have it. Gold, titles, one of my daughter's hands in marriage. Or more then one if you're into that, you can take them all if you want!" The daughters who have endured the gold, titles, and one of their number being married to a stranger stoically, now look at their father as if he were a fool.

And perhaps he was, for what father could endure his sons kidnapping. "My son was taken a fort-night ago. Which is really strange. I mean usually if you're going to kidnap a royal it'd be a princess. And I mean I could understand it if I didn't have any daughters, then he'd be making do with the best he could grab, but I have eleven of them. Why did the dragon take my son? This I do not understand."

[Snowbluff]

Phobos

"I will need time to conclude my investigation, my lord. In the meantime, I will need any information you have on the dragon, it's size, traits, including it's heading. I wish to determine where it was headed, if at all possible. Is there somewhere the information you have is being kept? Perhaps a study or with an officer of the guards?" Phobos is considering his options. He's already thought of several solutions, but they are either incomplete or less than flattering to the aristocracy.

[LoyalPaladin]

Bunni

Ignoring Phobos' comment, Bunni taps her foot vigorously. "Your offers are kind, your majesty. But I think the reward of doing some good is enough for me." She looks around. "Would you be able to escort me to the prince's last location and point us in the direction he was taken?"

[Sjlver]

Hiro Uginson

"As much as I am for a good adventure and just slaying the baddies all day, how do we know that the dragon even did anything wrong? What if he is just misunderstood? We shouldn't just kill a dragon because we think it did something bad. My father is a dragon and he's a cool dude." Hiro expresses with a smile on his face. His optimistic attitude seems to shine through despite his slight grievances with the issues.

He turns towards the bunny. "We aren't gonna just kill the dragon, are we?"

[LoyalPaladin]

Bunni

Bunni nods her head at Hiro. "Correct. The suspect is innocent until proven guilty!" She tilts her head to the side a little "However, the current evidence is quite damning. Hopefully he doesn't resist arrest or provoke the use of lethal force."

[Snowbluff]

Phobos

"We will cross that bridge when we come to it. We need to know where he is first." Phobos says. "Ideally, we'd find out where the dragon is before we make any other decisions. The location and what kind of surroundings we will be dealing with are going to be vital for formulating a strategy."

[VirusInk]

Miu

Miu squints in either bewilderment or annoyance as the King lists off potential rewards, "I don' want your daughters." Before Miu can say what she does want though, the conversation carries on.

"Well, first things first lets go find this dragon."

[Illven]

King Richard gestures for a scribe, who starts taking notes rapidly.

"Put down that Bunni, desires nothing. That Miu specifically doesn't want my daughters as wives."

He looks at Hiro with sheer rage that looks totally out of place on the king.

"Do you think, that if I had any belief that my child, my only son wasn't actually kidnapped by a dragon I have called you here to find out what actually did happen? What possible reason would he have to kidnap my son!?" Sighing he puts his face into his hands in desperation.

"We know that the dragon was a red dragon, that it was huge, we also know that it flew north to the Bramblevine mountain range. A active volcano range, my scholars tell me that they believe that the dragon makes those mountains home."

[LoyalPaladin]

Bunni

Tilting her body in a cute lean sideways towards Hiro, while still maintaining eye contact with the king, Bunni whispers to the badger. "Time and place, the king looks a little uneasy."

She straightens up. "Well, that's some valuable information. What do we know about red dragons and the Bramblevine mountains?" She taps her foot quickly on the ground as she thinks. "Red dragons breath fire and are the big bads? The Bramblevine mountains are actually active volcanos? That's too simple. I feel like I'm missing something..."

[Snowbluff]

Phobos

"Very well. I will now depart, my king," Phobos says, giving a gracious bow. Without comment or complaint, he heads out the front door, ready to begin his mission.

Spoiler: OoC

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Sense Motive on the King: (1d20+11)[29]

Knowledge Geography for the Bramblevine Mountain Ridge: 25
Knowledge Arcane for Huge, Red Dragons: 33

[Sjlver]

Hiro Uginson

"You make a good point," Hiro whispers to Bunni, "I'll try to be more sensitive in the future. But ya know, dragons."

"Excuse me, my lord, I will depart to... confront the dragon as soon as possible!" Hiro says with a bow.

[Illven]

Birthlandia's Capital. 10:00.

As you depart the castle wave after wave of men, cheer you on. Telling them how you'll be great heroes and rescue the prince from the foul dragon. As you leave the castle decked out in floral lays, the city itself is mostly silent. In mourning for their presumed to be dead prince. Although economic activities still go on, it goes on in hushed whispers.

Not at all helped by the fact, that you draw stares everywhere you go. As you continue moving towards the main gate, eventually a group of six people pull from the alleyways and march in front of you.

"So the conquering heroes, huh? Is this the best they could scrounge up?" Their ring leader questions.

[Snowbluff]

Phobos

"Objectively speaking, yes," Phobos says, slightly smug. "Perhaps you have me at a disadvantage, but perhaps not." He glances over the group, his eyes answering any real questions about these men he may have. "I am Phobos, Exalted Philosopher."

Spoiler: Skills here

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Sense Motive(1d20+11)[16]
Knowledge Local: 32
Bardic Knowledge (if applicable): (1d20+20)[36] (1d20+20)[35] (1d20+20)[38]
Search for visual clues, as per investigate (Sherlock style!): (1d20+26)[43]

Mindsight for intellects of the six.

[LoyalPaladin]

Bunni

Bunni stays quiet through the majority of their grand departure, only really piping up once confronted by the group. "The best and the brightest." She adds, hopping up gracefully into the air and landing on Miu's shoulder casually. After the startling 18' jump, she adds. "Birthlandia's finest." She pats Miu's shoulder, breaking apart a carrot and handing the second half to the goliath.

Spoiler: OoC

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Easy jump check.
Leaping Dragon Stance for the +10ft.

Jump
(1d20+89)[96]

[Sjlver]

Hiro Uginson

"Duh. Why else would we have been the ones to be summoned. I mean did you get summoned? Something tells me you didn't." Hiro says after a whistle at the impressive jump. "And really? You're confronting us about this. Talk about being petty. Just don't do anything too rash, yeah?." Hiro bares his teeth in a smile.

[VirusInk]

Miu

Miu again gives her agitated stare, squinting her eyes and scrunching her nose as if smelling something foul. She pats Bunni's head with one of her fingers before leaning down to get to ring leaders height; locking eyes with him.

"Do we have a problem, pipsqueak?"

Spoiler: OoC

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Intimidate
(1d20+14)[24]

[Snowbluff]

Phobos

"Expeditionary force, they are armed. Concealed weapons. Possibly small arms, daggers." Phobos imparts to his teams.

He concentrates briefly, splitting his mind for combat.

Spoiler: OoC

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Manifresting Schism
There is now a mini, ML 5 schism in his head

Dispensing with Displays: [roll1d20+17[/roll], DC 21

[Illven]

Surprisingly they manage to stand firm against Miu. It might be courage, or the booze they all smell faintly of.

"Doing something stupid huh!?" One of the non ringleaders pipes up.

"We've all got brothers and sisters in the palace guard. The king complains about how his son was kidnapped. But they imprisoned our siblings for fleeing the dragon..... It's said when you return with the prince. They'll all be executed!"

[Snowbluff]

Phobos

"Oh? And what do you want me to do about it? Plead for there lives? I could easily achieve that with the clout returning the prince would earn me, but you have something to offer me in exchange?" Phobos says. He's as bored and disinterested as he can be, but that still doesn't mean he should leave a stone unturned.

Spoiler

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Sense Motive: (1d20+11)[16]
Diplomacy (Via bardic knack), but only really because this situation seems to call for it: (1d20+7)[19]

[LoyalPaladin]

Bunni Bunno

"I believe that my friend said rash, not stupid, gentlemen!" Sensing the situation is getting a little tense, she leans in to Miu's ear. "Be ready for a ballroom blitz, Miu. These fellas smell pretty drunk." She looks at the surrounding area for high ledges, in case she needs to make a quick escape or use her ambush tactics. "I think you ought to go home, gentlemen! Don't disgrace your brothers or cause your family more trouble."

Spoiler: OoC

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Spot to scout for tall ledges that Bunni can hop to. Listen, because she's paranoid they might be ambushed.

Spot
[Roll]1d20+18[/Roll]

Listen
[Roll]1d20+23[/Roll]

[Draconium]

A sight came from the back of the group, from a small figure that had until now remained absolutely silent, merely watching as these events unfolded. Now, however, she stepped forward, twirling her small parasol around in her hands as she looked up at the drunkards.

"Now, now," Sinthea chided softly as she smiled. "There is no need to be so rude. I am truly sorry to hear of the predicament of your families. However, I doubt the king will be willing to listen to reason until his child is safely returned. So here is what I propose." She lifted a hand and gestured around. "You allow my companions and I to pass through without trouble. We shall hunt down the dragon and retrieve the prince safely. The king shall be ecstatic to see his child return. And in the euphoria of the moment, we can then talk to him about a stay of execution, or even amnesty. I would imagine he would be more than willing to accommodate us." The little one's eyes glittered for a moment. "And I can assure you - we will not fail in this task."

Spoiler: OOC

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Diplomacy check: (1d20+22)[37]

[VirusInk]

Miu

Nodding her head to Bunni, Miu readies herself. However, when Sinthea begins to speak, Miu's stance relaxes a little.

_{"I still think we should squish 'em..."} She pouts to the rabbit on her shoulder.

[Illven]

A sight came from the back of the group, from a small figure that had until now remained absolutely silent, merely watching as these events unfolded. Now, however, she stepped forward, twirling her small parasol around in her hands as she looked up at the drunkards.

"Now, now," Sinthea chided softly as she smiled. "There is no need to be so rude. I am truly sorry to hear of the predicament of your families. However, I doubt the king will be willing to listen to reason until his child is safely returned. So here is what I propose." She lifted a hand and gestured around. "You allow my companions and I to pass through without trouble. We shall hunt down the dragon and retrieve the prince safely. The king shall be ecstatic to see his child return. And in the euphoria of the moment, we can then talk to him about a stay of execution, or even amnesty. I would imagine he would be more than willing to accommodate us." The little one's eyes glittered for a moment. "And I can assure you - we will not fail in this task."

Spoiler: OOC

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Diplomacy check: [roll0]

"And... and you think he'll let them go?" One of the smaller members of the group replies lowering his weapon.

[Draconium]

"And... and you think he'll let them go?" One of the smaller members of the group replies lowering his weapon.

Sinthea gave him a small smile. "I don't think, dear boy. I know. This is not random guessing, but a statement of fact. You have my personal assurance that once the prince is safe, your families will be free." There was something about the way she said the last sentence, though. An unspoken implication, perhaps, that it would happen one way or another...