Pursuing the Exiled Prince - Game Thread

[gryffydd65]

"You handle the mystics, Cara will handle people and I will handle protection. I will go to this Black, he needs laborers and you two will not cut it. I need you two to help get food etc. See if you can trade this deer meat." Zand says as he hands the pouch over ti Cara.

[Tibbius]

Zand: The warehouse by the river is not hard to find. It has its own dock with a couple of well-built rafts tied up to that. Three burly rough-looking men lounge outside. No sign of the prince.

Cara and Aveus: Left to devise a plan of action at the paddling duck, the two unknowns eye each other. What will they reveal to each other? What will they conceal? Courtiers and wizards both are known for secrets ... and what will they make of this strange new town in the highlands, so much more civilized than the castles and hamlets of the forested flatland North?

[gryffydd65]

Zand Zand approaches the three men. "Excuse me, I am looking for work and was told that I could get an honest days pay for a hard days work."

Cara Cara looks at Aveus, "I hope we find the prince soon, I was not cut out for all this traipsing around the countryside. Maybe you could put on a show and we could share a hot bath and a room. " she says looking at man and smiling.

[UselessBlob]

Though it stung Aveus' wizardly pride to be reduced to a mere carnival showman, he had to admit that that was most of what his present abilities amounted to. He lacked the intuitive control over the fundamental essence of the world that master wizards possessed, so he needed to use rituals to properly channel magic for anything big. Putting on a show would probably be the most useful thing he could... wait, did she just say "share a hot bath?" Aveus opened his mouth to ask what whether she meant "share at the same time" before realizing that it was a stupid question that would make him look like a lecher. Instead he responded to Cara with "Ahah, yes, quite. Let us go to the market and find someone willing to buy a... sack full of uncooked dear meat."

[Tibbius]

Zand The tough looking trio swiftly look over your person and equipment. One, whose head and face are covered by close-shaved stubble, grunts. "Where'd y'hear about the job?" he asks suspiciously.

Aveus and Cara It is easy to find the market in the main square right outside the inn. There is a butcher shop a few buildings over from the Paddling Duck. The butcher is a muscular young man with an eager face. He greets you cheerfully and looks closely at the meat that you pull from the sack. He quotes you a price that seems fair: some coins, plus an evening's meat for each of you and Zand. You can gain 1 Wealth each (including Zand) if you accept the deal.

[gryffydd65]

Zand " Some drunk at the Paddling Duck told me that my mate was working for Mr. Black. So here I am. Are you hiring or is Mr. Black? " Zand says looking at each of them.


Cara Cara looks at Aveus "We would be honored to accept. Is there any where you would recommend for dinner and a hot bath?"

[Tibbius]

Zand The stubbly fellow scowls and his face wrinkles strangely around a scar that runs from chin to ear. The other two thugs lounge calmly with their butts on boxes and their backs to the planks of the closed warehouse door. "Who's Black?" asks the scarred man. "Wait. What's your friend like?"

Be imaginative in describing the prince.

Aveus and Cara The jovial butcher chuckles. "The Paddling Duck is clean and cheap," he says. "Those coins will easy buy you each a room and a bath. They'll cook the meat for you, too."

[UselessBlob]

"The Paddling Duck, eh? We know where that is, thank you." Aveus looked down at the coin in his hand and then back to the butcher. "You wouldn't happen to have any bacon, would you? It's been ages since I've had real bacon."

[gryffydd65]

Zand Zand looked at the man. "My prince is taller than most men, stronger than most men and handsome as the sun. Have you seen him? He is looking for good men to help him regain the throne. "

Cara Cara smiled as Aveus mentioned bacon. "Come on let's get going, aren't you looking forward to a hot bath."

[Tibbius]

"The Paddling Duck, eh? We know where that is, thank you." Aveus looked down at the coin in his hand and then back to the butcher. "You wouldn't happen to have any bacon, would you? It's been ages since I've had real bacon."

This would be a "very cheap" purchase, so rollv 3d6 and if any come up 5 or 6 you can spend 1 Wealth to gain a meal of bacon for you and Cara and Zand. If you want to roll additional dice, then you would end up spending additional points of Wealth, 1 per extra die.

[UselessBlob]

((I thought he said we would get an evening's worth of meat. Or does bacon cost extra? If it does, here you go.))

(3d6)[4][3][3](10)

[Tibbius]

"Oh," says the butcher, "you want bacon instead of the fresh cuts? No problem!" He takes back the fresher meat and gets you a few slabs of bacon.

[UselessBlob]

"That looks perfect!" Aveus says as the butcher wraps up the bacon in parchment. Aveus takes the packaged meat and turns to Cara. "Well, that's all we needed to do. I guess we can go see about this bath you're so excited about."

[Tibbius]

Zand One of the still-seated hard men chuckles. "The big half-naked pretty one? Yeah, he's here. You want to help out, huh. C'mon in." He stands up in a smooth way that is incongruous with his battered appearance, and opens a small door cut into the big plank wagon door of the warehouse.

Do you enter?

[gryffydd65]

Zand Zand entered the building hoping if he is not back soon his friends will come looking.

[Tibbius]

Zand Inside the building, the light was dim from a few high windows near the roof fifteen feet above. A few men sat on boxes in a semicircle facing the door, passing a big pottery jug around and taking swigs from it. The air reeked of alcohol. A couple more jugs were scattered in shards on the dirt floor amid darkened patches where there had been puddles of booze.

One of the men had a black beard and curly black hair. He wore dark gray or black tunic and trousers and boots, and sat next to the prince.

The prince was taller than any other in the room, even seated, and was as impressively muscled as Zand remembered. His naked chest and biceps bulged. He sat in his kilt with his knees manspread, hands resting on those knees. His long brown hair hung around his shoulders. His sandaled feet were planted on the dirt. The hilt of Bonebiter, his ancestral great sword, peeked over his thick shoulder.

"Zand!" rumbled the prince. "Well met!" He took the jug in his big hand and gulped a mouthful, then held it out toward Zand. "This is my faithful forester," he said to the black-curled man beside him. "Zand," he said, "this man is Jenkins Black. He has a job that you can help me with." He belched, waiting for Zand to take the jug.

[gryffydd65]

Zand Zand took a knee, "My lord, what ever you need just ask, I have come south with Cara and Aveus is with us as well. I believe at the Paddling Duck. "

[Tibbius]

Jenkins Black chuckled. "He looks like he's good with a knife," he said contentedly. "You trust him; that's good. Let's go over the plan again, lads. Drink well and listen up!"

He concisely unfolds a plan to rob a mansion further up the river. The group will arrive at sunset, take the four guards prisoner and tie them up ("no need to kill 'em," says Black, "they know what's best!"), threaten the merchant owner of the mansion to obtain the location of the strongbox, tie up the merchant, and bring the box down to a large rowboat that will meet them at the mansion's dock. They all will ride in the boat downriver to the warehouse dock, where Black and the three men sitting outside will meet them to unload the box.

Cal Arath and Zand will help the four other men now sitting on boxes when they capture the guards and interrogate the merchant. "Don't be too rough," says Black. "We can get away with theft, and some hard play, but murdering one of the gentry - that's a long stretch. He probably knows that, too. Ask him whether he's covered for losses, that might soften him up."

Zand and the prince don't know what that last bit means.

[Tibbius]

Does Zand assent to the plan? What do Cara and Aveus do?

[gryffydd65]

Cara Cara follows Aveus to the Paddling Duck. She gives the food to the inn keeper. She then requests a bath and when she is done with the bath, she invites Aveus to use her water. "See I told you we could share a bath."

Zand Zand follows his prince, hoping this plan works. If it goes wrong in any way he will sacrifice himself to protect the prince.

[UselessBlob]

Aveus juggles balls of heatless fire while waiting for Cara to finish her bath. He isn't great at juggling, but the ball's aren't actually being moved with his hands, so they wouldn't fall even if he walked away.

"Good grief, I really am a circus performer, aren't I?" he asked out loud. Master taught him the useless party tricks both to give him something harmless to practice with, and to entertain the simpleminded nobles the prince had a habit of attracting to his court. The only proper magic Aveus had learned before Ventus took a little off the top was scrying. He was lucky that the teleportation spell had actually brought him to the right spot, instead of in a lake or ten feet underground.

When Cara emerges from the bath and tells Aveus to use the water, he obliges, albeit with some hesitation. The inn likely charges for extra hot water, so it makes financial sense. What brings him pause is the woman's readiness to share bathwater with a man. Nobility would never do something so unseemly, at least not openly, though Aveus is sure his brother is the sort of pervert to enjoy such a thing. Who exactly was Cara?

[Tibbius]

Cara and Aveus finished cleaning up and returned to the common room, where they got the server's attention and their bacon with peppery cabbage and beet-sugared beans. Flagons of ale to wash it down - "or wine for the lady?" asked the server.

The Paddling Duck was a busy inn, frequented by the type of folk who washed at least weekly and smelled of a hard day's work in shops and streets, not fields or stables. The drink flowed easy, the food was hearty, and the conversation was loud and cheerful. Indeed it was difficult for Cara and Aveus to make out what each other was saying. Naturally each was curious what had happened to the other since the fateful Usurpation Day.

Zand found himself sitting with the prince and drinking cheap hard liquor from a pottery jug as the beams of light from the high warehouse windows crept across the floor and up the wall.

"It was an interesting road from the palace," Cal Arath said to him. "Hungry most of the time, glad for the lessons you taught me when I was younger. My horse died near Jakor's Folly, she fell in pursuit of a deer. Chasing down deer with a big old sword is not the easiest way to hunt. I wish I'd found a bow before I ran. Anyway, I searched the ruin for treasure, fought some ghosts at the well in the center court, then forded the river and came south. In the hills just north of town I had a bad encounter with a halfling, believe that? Got this from him." He patted an oddly ancient-looking dagger with a clipped hilt hooked onto his belt. "But Bonebiter served me well," he added. "Not so much this town... I'm out of funds, you see, and there's not much work for a prince here. We'll probably have to flee the area after this job, hoping we get some good loot from the merchant."

He turned to Zand. "How did you get here? Did anyone else come with you?"

[gryffydd65]

Cara Cara told Aveus about their travels to here and especially the troll. " Maybe I should part ways? This life is rough and we still have not find the prince. Maybe Zand has had better luck."

Zand Zand looks at the prince. "I came down with Cara and we just ran into Aveus. We had bad luck with a troll at the ruins. Meet a nice merchant who told us about the Paddling Duck and you. "

[Tibbius]

Zand Time passed until the light from the high windows touched the roof fifteen feet above. "Time!" said Jenkins Black. "Follow Urfan." He gestured to a short muscular man with long greasy blond hair and protruding goatee. The man wore a long knife or short stabbing sword in a sheath at his belt. He had a disreputable expression.

Urfan led Cal Arath, Zand, and the other three ruffians along deserted streets to and beyond the last buildings at the north edge of town. The gravel road or path was only twelve feet wide and lined with closely-spaced cedars twenty feet tall, which loomed ominously in the twilight. After a dozen minutes they reached a stone arch at the right side of the road. A guard sat on a small bench beneath an oil lamp that hung from the sidepost of the arch. He looked up when they approached.

"Urfan," he said easily.

"Tommic," responded the greasy blond. He reached into a pouch that hung from his belt opposite the sword, and counted out a half dozen silver coins, which he passed to the guard.

Tommic the guard tucked the coins into his boot, then turned his back to the group and held his hands behind his waist. One of the other thugs unwrapped a couple feet of rope from a coil round his waist, cut it off with a wavy-edged dagger, and tied Tommic's hands at the wrists.

"For your safety," that one said, and slashed Tommic across the arm with the dagger. It made a gash from which blood poured. Tommic cried out and spun around.

"Now they'll believe you fought us," Urfan said calmly. He stepped forward and yanked the guard's sword from its sheath, then handed the blade to Zand.

They walked through the gate as Tommic cursed them.

The paved stone path led from the gate straight through a garden of twisty waist-high bushes in bright fall foliage to a broad patio paved in an intricate geometric pattern. Across the patio stood a stone mansion of three stories, broad as a warehouse, lamplight gleaming from several windows on the first floor. Another guard stood on the porch of the mansion. He shouted in surprise as the group stalked out of the gloom-covered garden.

"Knock this one down," muttered Urfan to Zand as they ran up onto the porch.

"What's with Tommic?" the guard asked quietly as the group surrounded him, Zand taking a place behind him. "Heard him shout."

"Had to cut him," Urfan responded. "Pay you later." He nodded to Zand.

What does Zand do?

[gryffydd65]

Zand Zand takes the pummel of his dagger and aimed his swing for the man's temple. He tries to catch the guy as he falls.

[Tibbius]

Zand tracking, shooting, or hand-to-hand combat [1d6] = 4[1d6] = 5[1d6] = 1

Zand struck the guard expertly on the side of the head and the man fell limply; the forester eased him down to the polished tile floor of the porch.

"C'mon!" Urfan urged. They could hear running footsteps in the house. Urfan yanked open the door and motioned the other five men to enter.

Cal Arath unhesitatingly hauled out his sword and stepped inside.

what does Zand do?

[gryffydd65]

Zand Zand takes the prince's back , dagger held in a defensive position to guard them both.

[Tibbius]

Inside the hall two men come running toward the door with drawn swords. When they see Cal Arath and Zand. They halt and take wary postures blocking the passage. Cal Arath sweeps his sword from wall to wall, brushing the plain cream colored tapestries that hang between the steady burning almost smokeless candles in their ornate brackets.

Then Urfan steps in through the door and the two wary men become deferential. He advances past the prince and the forester and delivers a few silver coins to each guard. One of the other ruffians enters with the rope and binds their hands. It all happens quickly.

"Guard!" a middle aged man calls with a haughty tone. "What is going on?"

"House breakers, master!" one of the guards responds. "We're over done by them!" Urfan gives the man a nasty look.

Turning to Cal Arath and Zand, he says, "Get in there and find out where he keeps the box. We'll stay out here. Quick now!" He gestures toward a door way where the man's voice came from.

Cal Arath looks anxiously to Zand as the two of you enter the richly furnished dining room, where the paunchy ponytailed master of the house sits before a silver plate with a crisp white linen napkin tucked into his collar. He looks at them expectantly.

"Well my good men," he sneers sarcastically, "what do you want? Who sent you?"

what does Zand do?

[Tibbius]

Back at the Paddling Duck Cara and Aveus have bathed and supped and are trying to get comfortable in a common area filled with dozens of cheerfully drunken shopworkers and crafters. Nobody's paying you much attention, maybe a few glances at Cara's beauty and at Aveus' fine court clothing and his somewhat over-precise gestures as he talks.

Do you wonder what's going on with Zand and the prince? Do you try to do anything to find out? Or do you just sit tight and wait?

[gryffydd65]

Cara Cara approaches the subject about Zand and the prince. "Well supper has passed where do you think they are? If they don't come back soon should we go to see this Mr. Black fellow?"

Zand Zand brandished his dagger. "We just want the money, if we got this far, you know your men have been taken care of by the rest of the men."