Beyond the Eyes of the Iron Gods: An Iron Gods Adventure Path (Inactive)

Game Master Terquem

Bing’s Bells and Whistles

Morning of the first day of Summer; approximate time of day, 10:00 am, (turn 61)

Carson Foster Bing, the owner and proprietor of Bing’s Bells and Whistles, stands behind the bar of his small tavern, on the trail west of Torch, near the White Tail River, polishing a ceramic mug with a clean cloth, while he explains things to the newcomer

“Among the farmers and prospectors who live along the small strip of fertile soil northwest of Torch, there is a saying,” the tall, thin, clean and dapper looking human says,

Nothing good comes out of the west

The town of Torch, established 96 years ago, is peculiar in this part of the world. It is a small town, with a population of around five thousand people (counting the outlying farms and prospectors cabins) and it lies in the foothills on the eastside of the Red Rock Mountains. The Red Rock mountains are not a particularly high mountain range, rising only to a height of eight thousand feet at Prospector’s Peak, but it isn’t the height of these mountains to the west that keep people from moving further away from the Empire of Starfall, no not the height, it is the width.

One of the reasons Torch is peculiar is its isolation, the vast plain where Torch is found is two hundred seventy miles from the nearest other city or town in Starfall, far to the east. The rain shadow created by the Red Rock Mountains makes this vast plain nearly uninhabitable, the low rain fall coupled with the high elevation (the central plain here is at five thousand feet, while Torch sits in a low land depression only two thousand three hundred feet above sea level) mean growing food is practically impossible, and the barren landscape is littered with dangers unnumbered not the least of which are the Lizard-folk who still cling to the belief that this land belongs to them and them alone.

Another reason Torch is peculiar is that no one has ever come to Torch from the west. Not one person (naturally Lizard-folk do not count) has ever come to Torch from the west to tell the citizens there what the world beyond the Red Rock Mountains is like, and no one, not even the agents of the Technic, League has ever set out to cross those mountains and returned. All that is known about the land west of Torch is that the mountains are scarred with deep impassible gorges, treacherous gullies that can become torrential rivers during the brief and intense summer storms there, and that the only things that live there, besides the antelope, bison, bears, and mountain lions, are kobolds and Lizard-folk, hiding in caves and scraping out an existence hunting anything that dares to enter those mountains.

Of course, the most peculiar thing about Torch, well, after all, is the Torch, but everybody knows about it, and how it has gone out recently, which sort of makes Torch less peculiar than it used to be. Oh, it’s still peculiar, but not as peculiar as it once was.

As Bing goes on, talking about the people and places of Torch, filling in as many holes in the strangers information about Torch as he can, he eventually gets around to talking about how this new situation, a mystery in town, has been bad for his business. With the torch out, the prospectors that usually come by his place, well, those brave enough to risk exploring into the Red Rock Mountains anyway, are now packing up and heading northeast, or east, back to more civilized places. If this goes on, he says, Nodding across the bar to those few people of Torch that he knows are regulars who like to come out to his place to get away from the more busy taverns on the hill, as he calls it, he sighs, and then looks at the stranger one more time, and asks

Where did you say you came from again, stranger?

Off to one side sat a lovely young woman at a table alone, Kleora sat there enjoying her meal after having finished a mediation job for a pair of locals. With money in her pocket she had decided to treat herself to a meal out for a change. The young woman stood out in the tavern, not because she was dressed in a daring outfit that hid little, or because of her beauty, no, she stood out because of her ears. Despite being human Kleora was missing her human ears and instead had a pair of fox-like ones coming from the top of her head. Her auburn colored hair, done in a braid during the meeting, has been let down and fanned out in waves along her back. Kleora, while not known by name, was known by site by most people in town and she gladly returned their greetings as she ate.

A dot so that it shows up on the app

The roast beef gently dripped it's gravy back to the plate as it hovered halfway to Azariah's mouth, her attention focused on the texts before her. It was regarding the bones, and the differences between the various common races. How diet could affect long term healing without magic, which foods and drinks helped to strengthen them.

It was a fascinating read, hence the hovering mouthful of food, but her attention was wrenched back to the here and now as Bing mention the Torch. It's going out had been a shock, like the sun not rising one morning, and Azariah had no intention of it staying that way.

As soon as she had some idea of how it worked and how to fix it...

This is...disconcerting. The thought is something of an unwelcome one, and yet Cerebeth is not able to dismiss it. That so grand a technological advance as the town's eponymous Torch should just sputter away one day seems an ominous sort of warning that Cerebeth is unable to completely dismiss. If even the Torch itself could die, then...

With a minute shake of her head, Cerebeth forces her mind away from the path which it has followed all too often in the days since the Torch's violaceous flame faded away. Taking some time away from this place may be advantageous, she decides. There is little to gain from lingering here. Logic dictates that the fires will either reignite of their own volition, or that they will not. Either way, events will proceed whether I am here or elsewhere.

Her stomach twinges, reminding Cerebeth that she has not eaten since sometime yesterday. She needs not check her pouch to know that her cash reserves are slim, but buying food is not yet too much of a stretch. Bing's Bells and Whistles usually has acceptable nourishment at prices that are not too extravagant, and so Cerebeth resolutely turns her back on the darkened Torch, heading west toward Bing's establishment.

Felicia blinks at the sunlight as she lay gasping on the dusty ground. Where am I? Why does it smell so odd here?

She stands shakily, using her blade as a cane. And why hasn't Evie powered up yet? She can't have lost her charge, I don't even know how long that would take. She undoes her armor a bit against the heat and sniffs the air. "That smells delicious, let's head that way..."

Bing’s bells and Whistles

It is a normal, quiet night at Bing’s, a few local farmers sit together at one table enjoying a local brew of their own, while three prospectors sit at another table and share a bottle of cheep whiskey. A few of the town of Torch’s local residents sit at tables alone, enjoying the quiet.

Meanwhile, to the south of Torch, in a cave on the side of a ravine…

Deep in a cave most of the locals of Torch call, Heneker’s Curse, a flash of blue green light flickers momentarily, and as it does it illuminates the ceiling of the cave and shows what no one has seen for over a century. High above the cave floor is a massive mural; a painting made from natural colors extracted from the bounty of the desert, in shades of gold, reds, browns, and greens, a picture is painted of a sitting Lizard-folk female. Her arms are folded across her chest and she stairs up into a brilliant yellow sky. Her clothes are simple, a robe and a shawl made from the hide and feathers of a great desert Adabssil Bird, adorned with polished stones and rare woods oiled to a lustrous shine. She sits on a blanket weaved from the fibers of the desert plants. Though no one would know, she is Manashiejawasi, the priestess of the once powerful Damagutti Lizard-folk clans of the High desert. It is here that she is buried, her spirit can be felt in these caves, by those quiet enough to listen for it.

For just a brief moment there is enough bright light to reveal this sacred and beautiful mural on the cave ceiling, and then the light is gone.

It is early in the evening, the sky above the desert west and south of Torch is clear, and the stars and moons give a pale yellow glow to the world below.

Slowly, cautiously, a pair of figures emerges from that very same sacred cave. No one from Torch knows that they have appeared here, and the two step out of the cave into the nighttime desert world. It is cool, and the air is dry, the wind is still and they look north to the hill where the town of Torch can be seen just a short walk away. The lights from a few buildings flicker on the hill that is the main town, but to the left of these lights there is another light standing almost all by itself away from the rest of the town. This other light is bright, and warm, and feels inviting.

Stella looked around the dark cave. Her eyes not adjusting well to the darkness. Concentrating slowly her halo started to illuminate the cave as she started to look around. Stopping for a moment she would kneel and clasp her hands. For a very long time she sat there in quiet contemplation. Only after a good hour past as she gave her respect did she speak.

"Sacred Spirit of the Cave. Thank you for your shelter and protection. I hope your spirit rests well and is happy."

Standing she would pick up her carpet bag, upsetting the black cat who had been laying on it. With a yowl she jumped down and went to Oscar demanding attention.

Stella delicately brushed off her robes and turned heading to the entrance. Her small wings flapping in the air before resettling. They barely even covered her shoulders and couldn't do anything but flap, but they looked like part of the simple black robes she was wearing.

"Look at that. So beautiful. Well, shall we go Corrine? Let's go check out the more inviting light. Come on Shakespear." The cat yawned and would follow as she made her way towards the town she heard was called Torch.

"We have a city to save. Hopefully I can help the people here as they help me."

Inside Bing’s Bells and Whistles,

It is early Evening, the sky is clear, dark, and it is cool. Turn 111, approximate time of day, 6:20 pm

Azariah looked from one small book on the table to another. Back and forth, back and forth, realizing the texts were talking about the same thing, the process of smelting copper, but finally realizing that it was in no way at all helping her figure out why the Torch had gone out. She lifted her head and looked across the small crowd within the tavern, noticing a few farmers and a couple of prospectors, and then her eyes fell on the strange woman with the fox like ears. What was her name again…

Outside of Bing’s Bells and Whistles,

It is early Evening, the sky is clear, dark, and it is cool. Turn 111, approximate time of day, 6:20 pm

As Cerebeth approaches the Bells and Whistles tavern on the west end of the town, she sees an old prospector. She isn’t sure of his name, but she has seen him around town.

When she is close, the old man, approaches Cerebeth, and holds out a flat piece of dried and hardened leather in front of her face.

Talking to Cerebeth

Say now, miss. Er you off tonight, to Bing’s, eh, eh. Lookee here. Lookee here found a piece of that N'merun Steel out in the hills today, a good piece, fine piece. I’ll sell it to you for ten dollars, eh, what do you say. A woman like you can use a piece of this rare material, I can tells I can tells.

After reaching the bottom of the hill, Felicia turns to look west, and sees the familiar smoke rising from Bing’s, and ahead of her she a slender woman who has come to a stop on the road just a short distance before reaching Bing’s and out of the shadows an old prospertoc steps up to the slender girl and holds something that Felicia cannot see up to the girls face.

Felicia can overhear what the prospector is saying if she can make a successful Perception Skill Check, with a DC of 20

South of Torch, the Well Digger’s Road

Stella finds an obvious road as soon as she walks only a few paces toward the lights of the town in the distance. As best as she can judge, the town is only a mile to the north. After following the road for a few paces, Stella passes a strong stone cottage on her right, and then a side road appears, and there is even a sign post stuck in the dirt, where these two roads meet. The sign post has two signs on it.

Stella cannot read the cryptic symbols on the signs, but they are pointed, and one of them points toward the town, ahead of her, while the other points to the right, and seems to indicate another road going off into the distance into the dark.

South of Torch, the Well Digger's Road

"It seems Corrine that I will have to become a bit of a linguist. I always liked languages but this should be a nice challenge." Stopping for a moment she would put down her bag and rifle around in it. Pulling out paper, quill and ink she would take a moment to copy the symbols to ask about them later. Putting everything back up she petted Shakespeare who purred.

"Aww aren't you cute. Let's not disturb the people in the cottage. It is late." Shakespeare jumped on her shoulders as she bent over and batted at her wings before sitting comfortably on her shoulders as she stood.

Her Halo illuminated the area around her as she once again picked up her carpet bag. "Well, Corrine, shall we enjoy the evening air and seeing the stars?" She said taking a moment to look at them hanging over the town. This would be strange for her and she would have to learn these stars.

Stella turned towards town and would start walking that way.

Heading towards Bing

Outside of Bing's

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20

Felicia's keen ears pick up the voices and she taps on the strange collar around her neck to translate. I haven't seen her around before... Ooh shiny thing, I like shiny things! I should go say hi!

She scratches the tip of her feline ear and jogs toward Cerebeth and Raphael, an action which would likely draw the attention of any men nearby.

Felicia overhears an old prospector as he offers a strange piece of something called N’merun steel for sale or trade to a woman on the street. When she approaches the pair, all three of them are distracted by a faint flash of light in the west. For only a moment, a light twinkles in the west as if a reflection of the moons was caught on a shiny surface falling out of the sky, and then the light is gone.

While Felicia is just about to ask the prospector and the stranger what it is they are haggling over, she sees a tall woman and a small child coming toward the Bells and Whistles from the south. The woman and the child each dressed in expensive looking clothing and are making their way toward the Bells and Whistles under a magical floating light that glows with about the same intensity as a small hand held oil lamp. The light takes the shape of a circle and floats above the woman’s head.

This is clearly a wizard or some other practitioner of simple magic.

Along the Well Diggers Road

Stella sees a steady wafting of smoke rise from a pair of chimneys on the building ahead of her, on her left., and as she grows closer to the outskirts of this town she can now see other buildings, all in a line along a road that winds to the northeast, going toward the hill that must be the center of this community. These other buildings are dark, their windows, and doors closed against the cold night air, but they also have chimneys with smoke rising into the sky.

As she comes closer she, Stella can begin to make out the shapes of small hand bells and large box shaped whistles hanging from a rope wrapped around a beam that sticks out from the front of the building above the door.

When she is only a few dozen feet away from the place, Stella notices a single female jogging along the road lined with small cabins coming toward her.

Stella and Felicia will approach the Bells and whistles at the same time.

Meanwhile, inside the Bells and Whistles…

A prospector leaves his table and goes to the bar, where he orders another bottle of whiskey, and while he waits, he takes a step toward Azariah’s table and looks down at her books.

The sound of the whiskey bottle being set down hard on the bar distracts the prospector and he then recovers the bottle, drops three small gold coins on the bar, and then heads back to his table, and his friends, but as he passes Azariah, he smiles and says

To Azariah
What you looking for in them books girl?

The Well Diggers Road, where it ends at West Low Street and Bing’s Bells and Whistles

Oh no! Oscar comes to a stop suddenly when Stella mentions casually that she might not understand the people of this town We forgot to ask what languages these people speak. Look there’s a few people standing right over there, maybe we should approach them first, before we march into a public place and discover that we can’t even order a glass of wine.

Down the road, in the dark of the night

"*Hzaw-jaraw..." Ritmush mutters as his left foot twitches, the rest of his body curled up in the multi-strapped chair he had fallen asleep in.
"No Rawldraw.. Thas' mah bacon. go eat all tha' speargus instead." The human waking with a startled snort as movements occur, smacking his lips he tries to move and jerks to a stop in the harness. A flash of fear crossing his face and his frantic struggling increases before he fully awakens and realizes where he was.
"Righ.. righ... Tha flyin' bathtub. Hey, sky wizards, how do'ah get outa' this weird spider-y belt thingah?" Ritmush asks as he scrabbles with the strange device, chewing on one of the upper belts with a frustrated noise.
Gerrofah' meh.. ya bathtub serpent!"

Down the road, in the dark of the night, to the west of Torch...

Agent Hughes releases Ritmush from the harness, and then steps out of the raft onto the desert floor and points toward the hill to the east

Well, that must be the town that K’vin told us about, but I don’t see any flare or “torch” as he called it.

Agent Danvers climbs out to stand next to agent Hughes, and he shows her a small device in his hand, and whispers to her

Yes, yes. This is, this is, not great, not good at all, but, um, wait, what is this Agent Hughes points at the device in agent Danvers’ hand and then shakes her head.

Look, the woman holds out her hands to all four of you and pleads, These readings are off the charts, and they don’t correlate to anything in our database, and that is not something that usually happens. We need to get back to our ship and file a report, right away, but don’t worry I haven’t forgotten my promise. I’ll head back to For Horizon and pick up supplies, a couple of good sized tents if I can find them, and be back here tomorrow night. After we drop of the tents and the supplies we are going to head to our base, which is a long way from here. We need to file a report, and catalog what we’ve discovered here. There is a good chance that once our superiors learn about what is here a lot more of our people will be headed to this world. So, in the mean time, good luck I hope you find Drespor and discover what he is really up to, and if you learn anything about this town that you think might be helpful to us, anything at all, just open a journal in the goggles and record your findings, you can talk about what you found, or even ask the goggles to capture images of what you can see. After tomorrow night we won’t be back for five days. So six days from now we will return to this spot, and hopefully by then all of us will have succeeded in our missions.

Down the road, in the dark of the night, to the west of Torch...

Ritmush falls out of the chair with a thump before rapidly returning to standing.
"Alright so this's tha' town! uh yeah why's it called torch anyway? Does Diana know? How bout' you Cantillope, yer real smart." The human asks tilting his head and shifting to try and catch a glimpse of whatever is on the agent's screen.

"I get ya's got all yer fancy sky wizard work ta go do. Uh a journal is onea' them write-y things ain't it? Ol' beard-y in tha forest used ta have lotsa those! They were really good tinder."
The human comments scratching the back of his head and kicking a nearby stone.
"How tha' heck'm ah' suppose ta write on these things anyway?" Ritmush asks pulling the goggles off his head and muttering "tiny book" as he turns the article over in his hands looking.

a voice comes from the goggles

Open "Tiny Book" application / Saving registry / would you like to name your book now?

Uh sure, Diana. buh how'm ah suppose to write in tha' thing?" Ritmush asks as he presses the goggles up to his head so he can hear his ghost friend easier.

Speaking with Cerebeth, prospector Raphael, Felicia Outside Bing's

"Indeed we did." She stops and looks back at Corrine when she realizes she stopped walking. "But that is okay. I had already thought such a thing would occur. We did travel quite the distance. Alright let us head towards them."

Turning, Stella looked over at the individual jogging towards them and cocks her head slightly. "Seems more is coming."

Walking over to the group as she waves in a friendly manner to the woman jogging before turning to the individuals who were talking.

"Excuse me, sorry to interrupt. But I was wondering if you could help me." Stella chose the common tongue of her world to start with.

Shakespeare yawns on her shoulders, the black cat, having blended in and looked like a mere decoration a moment before. Looking around curiously as he purred on her shoulders.

Around her neck was a necklace that had a very unusual design. Two crescent black moons with their points facing each other and a small golden diamond shape in the middle of them. It looked incomplete. Her robes were embroidered with black and gold. Her eyes were heterochromatic, and in the light of her halo the golden eye seemed to glitter, even as her black one seemed to shine. What at first had looked like a headpiece of white, turned out to be her white hair, carefully set over her companion.

The colorful carpet bag was held in her hands with an umbrella tied to its side.
Think Mary Poppin's bag

Azariah looked up, the small jolt and thrill of 'girl' running through her as she did. "Right now? I'm seeing if there is anything in these books that can help with the Torch. So far I can't find much, but...can't give up yet."

Glancing at the bottle of whisky, she added, "Are you celebrating a good find or commiserating? Or is that just for fun?"

Unbolath stands next to the agents and Ritmush as they dismount the flying device. He looks around the area carefully and takes in the night. As the agents speak he nods and notes their request. He waits patiently as Ritmush fiddles with his goggles and talks to himself.

Perception to overhear the reason Azariah's reading the books: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (13) + 9 = 22
[ooc]Gonna assume that makes it, it should.

Kleaora was just finishing her meal when she overheard Azariah explaining the reason for the books and found herself intrigued. Interesting, I wondered why the fire went out and if it could be re-ignited. I'd imagine so, but who really knows. I think I should ask what she knows about it. Her mind made up Kleora rose and caught one of the waitresses and said, "Another of mine, and one of whatever she's drinking on me." Kleora gestured towards Azariah to indicate who she meant and then went over to Azariah's table and asked, "I'm Kleora, mind if I sit with you?"

"Please, feel free. Nodding to the seat by her, she added, "My name is Azariah. What can I do for you?"

Kleora had a seat and accepted the drinks when they were brought handing on to Azariah, "There, a bit of bribery always helps doesn't it?
She laughed with amusement and continued, "I overheard you saying that your trying to find a way to relight the torch, I'd like to help if I can. This town's gonna crumble without the torch to bring in business and I don't want to see that happen."

Bing's Bells and Whistles

The old prospector lifts the bottle high in the air, and says to Azariah

Celebrating the demise of this lazy little town. In a few more weeks there won't be any cheep whiskey to buy, what with everyone talking about packing up and moving east, back to civilization. We're making good while we can

He then moves aside for Kleora, gives the new girl a smile and a wink, then says

Good luck looking for the solution to this problem in them books. Me, if I was younger, I'd be looking under the hill for a way to turn that thing back on, if there was a way under the hill that is.

Down the road, in the dark of the night, to the west

" So howaw' we sposeta' find deer-spoor anyway? Jus' look fer tha' biggest pile of weird sky wizard crap an' hope it works like normal crap fer bugs like him?" Ritmush asks generally as he keeps the goggles stuck to his head with his hands.

Making a sour face for a moment at the gentleman's comment, Azariah reached for the drink with a nod of thanks. "Yeah, that's pretty much what I've concluded. I can't find any reasonably solid ideas behind how it even worked for so long, let alone ideas of how to start it again. We need to see what was going on before we have much chance of doing anything...but unless someone knows something I don't, the only way I can think of is digging down to find out."

Taking a sip of the honeyed tea and whiskey, she added, "Of course, it seems pretty likely that this wasn't a naturally occurring phenomena, since the closest thing I can find to this in my books are coal fires and they burn out within a life time, typically, whereas Torch has been lit much longer. So if it is artificial, it stands to reason there must be a way in - I just don't know where it is. That was going to be what I looked at next."

Kleora listened with interest as Azariah explained the problem as she saw it and finally agreed, "I think you're right. Getting below there is the key. Have you gotten any leads on how to get below it?"

Unbolath replies to Ritmush, "We will have to follow leads. Someone like him will require connections and people. It is hard to keep that sort of thing secret, even if he isn't the face of it. Somewhere, somehow a trail will lead to him. We need to start asking our own questions while trying not to tip him off. We may be able to lure him out with some of the artifacts, or at least a claim to artifacts. Your goggles may come in handy as bait."

"We should probably make our way to this town. He is unlikely to be under a rock or log out here."

Ritmush frowns and examines one of the nearby rocks closely, squinting as he does so. "Dunno, tha' rocks roun' here are kina' weird. If tha' cave's big enough even a fat dwarf coul' hide down thar."
Ritmush then looks back to his goggles still wondering where this "tiny book" is supposed to be hiding.
"Alrigh' ah guess unless you sky wizards gots anythin' else ta say we can get goin anh' we'll see you in a week. Well les' we get eaten by locals."

Assuming Ritmush is told how an audio log works and there are no other burning questions I'm set and ready to go to Bing's

Sorry for the delay. I was working at a different place yesterday, and didn't get much spare time.

Azariah shook her head. "Not that I've seen, but I haven't really started looking yet. If there is, there might be a record of it or an old story about getting down below I've forgotten about, but it might have sealed and hidden before the town was built. In which case it might be tough."

"Tough, but not impossible. It would certainly be an interesting adventure just trying to find an entrance, sealed or otherwise." When the idea of old stories was suggested Kleora thought of those she knew here in town to come up with some idea of whom to talk to.

Knowledge (local) untrained (max of 10): 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3

Unfortunately Kleora's knowledge of the locals was fairly limited. As annoying as it was she couldn't think of anyone and so said, "Best to ask around for people who collect old stories like that. I have an idea thought." Kleora stood and made a shrill whistle. Once she had everyone's attention she stood on her chair and said, "Alright, my friend and I here have a bet going. She swears there is a way underneath the hill under where the torch burned and I say she's a fool for thinking such a thing. I'll buy the next round for anyone who can help us find evidence one way or another. Does anyone collect old stories or know of someone who does?" Those who speak up she gestures to and said, "Come join us and we'll see about that drink." With that she sat again and waited for any takers.

Take 10 on the diplomacy roll if I can, total is a 16.

Felicia is dumbfounded at the approaching woman. "What kind of light is that? How is it floating above your head???" She reaches experimentally for it when Stella comes near enough.

I forgot the proper description in the first post so here goes.

Felicia looks human at first glance. She is a fit but voluptuous young woman wearing a fitted black outfit made of a tightly woven fiber. What sets her apart, though, is the feline ears and tail adorning her, covered in fur that matches her strawberry blonde hair. A close look reveals that her pupils are slits and her movements follow the same fluid grace as a large cat.

Stella turns looking at the woman. Now that she is within the light she can see her better. Was she wearing a body suit, and ears and a tail. Oh, a neko woman. She had seen quite a few of those in certain parts of her home city.

"It is my Halo. It is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Stella, and this is Corrine and Shakespear." She points to the young girl beside her first and to her shoulder second where a black cat is sitting. She seems not to mind the fact Felicia is reaching to touch he light above her head and lets her do it.

Her accent is thick and she isn't from around here.

"Halo? Like an angel? are you an angel?" she passes a hand through it once or twice and dismisses it as a holo-thingy or trick of light. Her attention is captured by the cat around Stella's shoulders and gently offers a hand to pet Shakespeare.

Inside Bing's Bells and Whistles

It is evening, but not late

When Kleora makes her announcement, a few patrons mutter and mumble among themselves, saying such things as, “She’s had enough,[/b] or First there are the headaches then come the delusions

But in a far corner of the tavern, an old dwarven woman stands up, picks up a bottle from her table, and her mug, and walks purposefully toward where Kleora and Azariah are siting. She doesn’t say anything at first, but pulls back a chair, and sits at the table. She pours brandy from the bottle into her mug, takes a small sip, then leans back and says

Dolga Freddert says, to Azariah and Kleora

Good evening. Let’s skip the introductions. I think I know who you two are, that is, I try to know everyone in this town, but it’s possible you two keep your heads down. I like that. Everyone knows me. I don’t keep my head down. Now look, I’ll come to the point. Rumors about some kind of, caves, or something, caverns, tunnels or some such that were found under the hill are spreading through town. A friend of mine took it upon himself to verify those rumors, and unfortunately, two things happened. First, he proved it was no rumor, and second, he has disappeared.

My friend is very important to this town and there is a reward for anyone who can find him, and bring him back. If the two of you are serious about your curiosity about these caves, maybe we can do business.

To the west of Torch

Unbolath sets his sights on the glow of the lights from a small building to the east. Smoke rising from two chimneys on the building is an inviting sign.

Ritmush, Portia and Calliope follow as Unbolath leads the small group into the outskirts of what appears to be a large town built at the base, and on the slopes of a small flat topped hill.
It isn’t a long walk and after a while the building is just ahead, and from the glow of light coming out of the open door of the building, which faces south, the small group of travelers can see a few people standing under what must be a lantern hanging on a pole in the street. It appears to be a group of women and one small child.

Unbolth, Ritmush and the others are within sight of Felicia, Stella and Cerebeth.

Unfortunately it appears that Cerebeth has disappeared. I will send one more PM to the player and if there is no response I will drop the character from the roster.

Kleora gestured to one of the barmaids to bring Dolga the promised drink. As she got the money out to pay she said, "How fortuitous, I'm certainly interested in the proposition. What are the details?"

"Well, actually I am angelic blooded." She said and would smile and turns letting her pet Shakespeare, who, as all proper cats do, purred in appreciation.

Her small wings flexing and fluttering slightly.

"My twin always thought it was funny I got a halo that lights up."

Unbolath heads towards the small building taking in details of the town and the hillside. He makes his way to the building and the people standing outside, as surely they may have information about Drespor, or know where to start.

Azariah nodded eagerly. "That sounds pretty much like what we were looking for. I'd be interested to hear your deal." Just the confirmation of the caves was a boon, although it was possible the woman was trying to rip them off. It depended on what she wanted from them.

Outside Bing's Bells and Whistles
It is evening, but not late

Stella and Felicia notice a group approaching the tavern from the west, just as Cerebeth and the old prospector turn away from them and start back into the town proper, with Cerebeth arguing with the prospector over the nature of his peculiar “find".

Cerebeth leaves the story, while Stella and Felicia become aware of the approaching Unbolath, Ritmush, Portia and Calliope. Which group will make the first salutation?

Inside Bing's Bells and Whistles
It is evening, but not late

Dolga Freddert says, to Azariah and Kleora

The situation first, then the deal, Dolga says with a smile, Shows you are smart pair. Let me try to make this brief. Our famous fire, what gives the town its name, as you both know, went out eight days ago. My friend learned that a group of explorers discovered a way below the hill, by going underwater at Weeping Pond. Now, I don’t know the details of what was found by this expedition, or how many others might know about this way below the hill, but my friend may have tried to look into it. The situation then is this, simply look into this way under the hill and see if there is any sign of my friend, by the way, the friend I am talking about is Khonnir Baine, a well respected member of this community. The town is offering a reward of four thousand gold pieces for Baine’s safe return. As to the deal, well, if you take on this challenge on behalf of the town I can provide you with discounts at several merchants in town, for supplies, and our priest may have a way for you to explore the pond safely. I will speak to him and make those arraignments. Aslo, I understand that Khonnir Baine’s apprentice, his adopted daughter, Val, has closed the family’s tavern, and she might allow you to use that place as a base of operations. You can hire some help, but I can’t help you with that cost, and how you divide any reward is up to you to figure out. First thing I’d do if I were you is get a good night’s rest, and then go see Val about using the tavern of hers and her father’s for a while, and then see Joram Kyle as soon as you are ready to look under that pond, but before you go check with Val

To the west of torch/ Bing's

Ritmush had waved to the sky wizards as they scuttled on in their strange magic machine. Finally figuring that as a wizard book he'd just have to wave his hands a bit and talk. Hopefully he'd find the tiny book. The tricky wizard magic would likely make it easier than it looked.
"So those look lik' people. Uhh, soh do weh jus walk up an ask'em if they've seen some shifty dwarf makin' off with shiney-glowy crap?" Ritmush asks as he looks at the other people in the distance.

"Mah this town is strange hardly any ligh's fer a town tha's called Torch" The human complains as he looks in the direction of the bar.
"Hrmm. Ah' bet they'd wan' som bacon, shame ah' don..." The human then face palms and gives off a frustrated noise.
"Why didn' ah think'ah tha' in that last town! Auuuggghhh! Ah' coulda' had bacon ta' eat fer tha whole trip here! Stupid shiney stores wit' all tha' shiney things! Well time to go meet the locals an' get's me some now!" Ritmush states, with great certainty in the fact that as this is a store is must have bacon. To say otherwise would be wrong.

With that Ritmush belts the remaining distance to the tavern a quick
"Hi bright lady, cat lady an' short lady!" As he passes them before entering the Tavern and rushing up to the person who looks most like an owner. Entirely possible that he is wrong in this.
"You!" the young man announces and calls pointing in the direction of the man behind the bar
"Ah'd like ta buy things anh ah' have these weird paper-y thin's tha' are spose ta count 'smuch as real money so ah'll trade ya somea' these things fer bacon!" The human rattles off excitedly looking around the shop before settling back on the man and frowning slightly
"You.. you got bacon righ'?" the human asks with no small amount of pleading.

As he just ran past basically everyone I'm just going to provide a description OOC. You all saw him.
Ritmush is a gangly human seeming to be in the middle of a growth spurt, somewhere in the middle teen years. He has blonde hair with a thick set of goggles resting on his brow. He has sunbaked skin, a wide grin on his face and dirt in just about every crevice of his body. He wears a slightly too big set of dark cloth clothes with many pockets on them. Additionally He wears a backpack stuffed with all sorts of odds and ends enough that some dangles off it. Making the act of Ritmush running a noisy affair.

As Ritmush comes bolting through, his companion Unbolath steps up to the group of people accompanied by Portia and Calliope.

Unbolath is tall and certainly not human, in fact you aren't sure what race he is. He looks strong, but not the massive burly strength of someone used to heavy labor, but the wiry athletic strength used for economy of movement. He wears no shirt, and his bare chest is crisscrossed with scars. Fastened across chest and back are heavy chains of some black metal that look like they were forged in some dark place that clink as he moves. His skin is the color of granite but smooth and marbled, his head and face shorn. His completely black eyes pierce the night, emotionless, taking in everything. He meets your gaze and seems to look into your soul. Looking back you see one who has surely seen or experienced the worst horrors imaginable. One for whom there is no mirth, emotion, joy or pain. You see in his eyes one who exists in the world but does not experience it. You suspect he eats for sustenance, not for the experience. For Unbolath, there is no music, no laughter, no love or loss. A heavy pack is slung from his back, along with a massive sword. He carries a heavy bow, already strung, with easy access to a quiver of arrows. With all the politeness of a rock, he steps to the group and booms in a gravelly voice "I am looking for a dwarf by the name of Drespor. Do you know where I can find him?" While his tone is flat and emotionless, you get the sense that Unbolath isn't here to share a beer and catch up on old times with the dwarf.

Portia tries to stay awake, but quickly passes out from sheer exhaustion from all the recent events. She wakes, slightly more rested than before, but still worried about what she has gotten herself into.

She takes a giant breathe, and sends Issabelle into the open air above. Issabelle makes a few squawks of happiness. It is short-lived, as Portia calls her friend back to her, mostly out of worry since she cannot keep an eye on her properly in the dark.

She wishes the Agents the best of luck as they go, as she listens to the plan form between Unbolath and Ritmush.

Ritmush, things may never be strait forward or direct. I wish they were, but it is usually never the case. Be patient, and we will find Karl Drespor, because I demand answers as well.

When she sees the light, she perks up. She lets a smile creep on her face, as the light means a warm bed, and hopefully a possible lead in finding the bastard that has put herself in such danger, let alone anyone else near Fort Horizon.

She sees people coming up, and whistles to Issabelle to stay near, but hover around her. She listens as other introduce themselves, and look over the group. Issabelle sticks close to Portia.