Merle's jaw drops open at the sight of Karrin again riding out the worst of the spell. Surprise quickly turns to anger as Merle begins to get the feeling that Karin is doing it on purpose "Doing great Karrin" this time barely even trying to hide the anger in her voice Merle begins to cast another spell.
Ekuur listens to Sigrid intently, asking many questions about her home plane, especially the City of Brass. He mentions how he himself is recently returned from the Plane of Fire, and even details how he was tasked directly by the Sacred Flame itself to destroy the ice-portal abomination. He doesn't go into a huge amount detail of why he was there, since he's not the type to wag his tongue and spill all of his new employer's business (and to be honest, he's still not entirely clear about what's going on since he's only been with the group a few days).Sigrid grows interested when Ekuur mentions the Plane of Fire.
"It is unusal to meet someone who has travelled to my realm" She says
She explains she is a Janissary that is part of the household guard of the Efreeti merchant Malik Ibn Munarr. The merchant is busy in conferences, and Sigrid has curiosity about the city.
"Have you been in this place long?"
"No, not really. I arrived about six months ago, from a usually-closed world called Athas."
He looks at Sigrid for a moment, in thought. "You would probably like it very well, I think. As if part of the Plane of Fire was merged with the land itself. Water is nearly non-existent. A vast Sea of Silt separates the city-states of the sorcerer kings, who are worshipped as the 'gods' are here. Most importantly, on Athas iron or bronze is as valuable as gold is here. Most weapons are bone or wood or onyx. I think most inhabitants of Sigil would find it ... unpleasant. But it was home, and I still miss it." Ekuur trails off a bit, lost in thought, then gives his head a shake and makes a slight smile.
"But enough of that. I apologize for boring you. Did you have any specific places you'd like to see in the 'Cage', I think it is called by the locals?"
"Try this on for size" Merle cries out charging towards Karrin her hands rippling with electricity Unfortunately in her anger Merle temporarily forgets about the large puddle of grease she made
Reflex save dc 15
"Reeeowwwrrr" Merle shrieks as her foot slips on the grease and she goes head over heals onto her back
Karrin lunges forward trying to save the catfolk:
touch attack:
Strength Check:
New Reflex:
Karrin Grabs for Merle's hand to try to steady her. The surprisingly agile and unnaturally strong tiefling snatches at the catfolk's paw as she falls. But as quick and as agile as Karrin is Merle simply falls past her grasp. Amazingly Karrin maintains her balance.
Karrin extends her hand to help Merle up.
"You okay?" She asks.
Seph from his perch on Nari's shoulder almost falls off laughing at what has just happend.
Nari's eyes twinkle with amusement as she lowers her guard a little. Hopefully Merle had worked out her anger now and would start to be more reasonable. She reached out and steadied Seph before he could fall down.
Isaac perks an ear to the stage and shrugs.
"My jink's on 'drunker'. Mebbe it's a taste thing, though. Never liked these Xaosman screeds 'n Dustmen dirges."
Realizing that he's the Cager on duty with his Silver Rose companions now that Swire is gone, Isaac eases up the pace on his bub. "Reckon I'll have to play tout again before next Peak.", he thinks.
"So, Justin, now that we're on our way to bein' top-shelf bloods what d'ye think ye'll spend yer mountains o' jink on? I tumble to gettin' me a shirt with buttons. Think I'll look disintinguished with a fancy pipe? Mebbe yeh gotta be a spellslinger to smoke them, though..."
Justin leans a thoughtful ear towards the stage, then nods wryly in agreement with Isaac's judgment. He takes another drink, more of a sip really, of his ale. Obviously he is considering the possibility that if he drunk enough to make the screeching Xaos-ballad sound good, he's probably had about enough. He looks thoughtful at Isaac's question.
"Hm. Hadn't really thought about. Yet. New clothes are always nice, but I'm more of a 'If it ain't ripped don't replace it yet' kinda guy. And as far as I know, there's no rule requiring you to be a caster to smoke a pipe. But I'll let you in on a little secret." He says, leaning in so as to look conspiratorial.
"Most wizards don't smoke a pipe to look distinguished. Most are so wrapped up in their books they don't care. They smoke to cover up the less pleasant smells of their spell components! Have you ever gotten a good, close, whiff of bat guano?" He asks, sticking his tongue out with a theatrical shudder.
Merle from her position on her rear red faced and close to tears simply sits there staring at the ground feeling totally humiliated.
"You alright Merle," Karrin asks again, sounding genuinely concerned, "I'm not sure what you were trying to do, I mean you're a way better caster then me and I could only follow some of that, but maybe it was a little advanced for even you. I mean you are still recovering from poison and that stuff can get into the brain sometimes, maybe we should try some of the things I got planed for the time being and we can try yours again tomorrow when you're feeling a bit better. Alright?"
Karrin kneels down beside Merle.
"Let me help you up," Karrin says, "it's real dangerous in this stuff. I mean I'm doing alright but I've done a lot of training. Torreen used to make me balance on the side of a barrel for stability training. I had to cast and stuff and let me tell you swinging an axe is way harder on a barrel! I ended up in the straw more times then I care to remember! Anyways all three of us have had sheltered lives, I'm going to bet that you guys don't know about positioning and vector awareness, but I'm gonna teach you how we can work as a group. How to keep you guys safe and blasting our enemies."
Karrin smiles. Over the course of the next few hours Karrin runs the three through drill after drill after drill. Most revolve around keeping Karrin between the person acting as caster and the one acting as attacker, but Karrin throws in some basic self defense techniques.
Incidentally if Merle is still looking for a bit of revenge Karrin gives her ample opportunity when Merle plays the roll of attacker and Nari does her best to stay behind Karrin. Merle finds herself holding a practice weapon and Ksrrin practically encourages her to try to get through her to get to Nari.
Ekuur will be doing some scroll scribing, and of course will spend some time showing Sigrid about what he knows of Sigil. She's welcome to come to his first sermon, which he will give on the appointed time right in front of the ice temple. He will come back often, trying to build up a bit of a following, and trying to annoy the ice priest enough to either drive him away or get him to attack first. He'd like to start the seeds of a cult or church devoted directly to the Sacred Flame.
Isaac will pick up work here and there with his Godsman contacts, turning out small items at the forge in the hotter spots now that his gem protects him from flames and finding time to make himself a masterwork guisarme and masterwork kukri to keep himself armed to the teeth. He'll also volunteer to forge his new comrades anything they need. In his spare moments, he'll hit the bubhouses, restaurants and dance halls of Sigil. Part of him is always keeping an ear out for his estranged ladyfriend, but he knows it's likely time to let go. He'll also act as tout when necessary when the Clueless Silver Rose members need it.
For the weapons (DC 15)-
Craft (weaponsmithing):
For the masterwork component (DC 20)-
Craft (weaponsmithing):
Cost for each will be 1,030 silver pieces for the guisarme and 1,026 silver for the kukri.
What will Drazek be doing aside from Bethany?
Training occasionally, probably getting into the occasional magic discussion with Justin.
Familiarizing Bethany with Sigil. Although his stubborn attitude is the reason he refuses to speak cant, he does have a pretty good grasp on the city and how things work.
And of course, getting into trouble, probably while doing the last activity.
Probably going to see if Skrint is back in Sigil from time to time (and going on to see him if he is) as well as going on Karrin's training runs
On a side note when Merle does go on Karrin's training runs she really does push herself constantly trying to outdo Karrin whether it be spellcasting, jogging, balancing on barrels, or whatever task Karrin sets out for them.
This is from the discussion thread but I'll re-post here:
1)Meet up with her old pal O.L.L.I. at the library.
2)Confront Veria. Karrin believes that the devil Veria knows something about Karrin. Karrin isn't sure what though.
3)Find out more about her Axe
4)confess her sins and ask for forgiveness
5)try to find a way of sending a letter home.
6)Help out at the shelter.
7)Karrin also want to help show the ropes to her mercenary friends. Nari and Merle in particular (mainly because Karrin thinks of them as her closet friends).
Karrin would also like to consult O.L.L.I. about her dreams.
On a side note when Merle does go on Karrin's training runs she really does push herself constantly trying to outdo Karrin whether it be spellcasting, jogging, balancing on barrels, or whatever task Karrin sets out for them.
Karrin LOVES competition and if she ever gets the vibe that someone is competing with her her competitive nature kicks in and she does almost anything to win! Including (what some would call) cheating. If Karrin is left to make the rules in a friendly sparing match for example she will most certainly design the rules to give her the edge or will hide some stipulation like "no kicking below the belt" so that when she kicks someone in the head or punches them in the groin she can quickly point out that what happened was clearly not against the rules. Karrin is the type of person that would hip check a four year old to win a sack race.
Heheh, Justin would be glad to have some discussions about magic with Drazek. I can imagine those 'discussions' becoming quite lively. ;P
As mentioned before, Justin needs to scribe those scrolls into his spellbook, and then copy at least one for all the casters, including himself. Then, giddy with his new-found wealth, he will probably do something 'magical' with his amulet most likely. That, or find another enchantment he can put on his leather coat for better protection.
Hm,... having a friend who can actually craft makes item creation more,... interesting. I love possibilities. ;) (I'll get back to you on that!)
Justin will be,... unenthusiastic, about Karrin's training sessions, but is actually glad for any training that helps keep him alive! He needs to learn more about the layout of the city, so he won't get lost if he needs to run himself! He's still looking for any clue to a portal that would lead home, or if there are any rumors about either of his two teachers. But he is also taking Isaac's suggestion, and starting to learn the way things work here, so he can start to become a 'player' himself!
The carousers have their drinks and their fun at Caritas. They end up chipping in for a carraige, as several of them are a little too pie-eyed to be wandering around the darkened streets of Hellgate and the Lower Ward.
The next morning Renkar announces that Eliath is able to return to his home near the Lazz School of Vivid Unpleasantness. He thanks the party and departs, presumably to take up his old line of book researcher.
Mr. Swire:
Ekuur:
At the end of the tenth-cycle, Sigrid hugs Ekuur and bids him farewell, asking him to visit her in her quarters in the Souk Dhimmi should he ever find himself back on the Plane of Fire. He finds her leaving sad, and he throws himself into his temple as a distraction, bringing in a trio of acolytes to run things should he be called away.
Issac:
Hergik is also promoted to shift-leader on the polishing floor, and he, Issac and Springhill Jak sample the fruits of a hundred Lower Ward bub houses during the two tenth-cycles. There is still no word of his lady love, but he does meet a friend of heres that said she had talked of a trip to the Astral Plane before she disappeared.
Karrin:
O.L.L.I mentions that he is currently investigating a disturbing report of a fiend-tainted Secundus modron who relocated to Acheron with thousand of similarly-tainted modrons. There are rumors that these tainted modrons are planning to take over Regulus, the city-hive of the Modron race.
"This unit cannot computate the permutations to the order of the Great Wheel should that happen." O.L.L.I says in what passes for a dolefull voice. He asks Karrin to keep her eyes peeled for any indication of rogue evil modrons in her travels. He offers to assist her with any translations/transcribings she should ever need.
When she tells him about her dreams, O.L.L.I bleeps sadly and replies that since he has never experienced a dream state, he is not well-versed in their meanings. Perhaps her dreams are a symbol for something else?
Karrin confesses her sins to her confessor Brother Meynard, at the Temple of Rao. He admonishes her on her temper, and tells her to do an act of contrition by helping out the poor. This works out great for her since she wanted to help down at Allesha's Pantry anyway. She ends up spending a lot of time there, serving food, washing dishes and occasionally keeping the peace.
Fortunately, the presence of the enigmatic Angelic being known only as Unity-of-Rings keeps most berks in line. He(?) is often there helping out. Karrin is still a bit intimidated by his celestial presence, but he is so nice her reserve eventually breaks down. He is good to talk to, almost as good as a confessor, and he tells her that he sees much of importance in her destiny. When she presses for details he quips:
"Revealing the details of your destiny are an assured way of making sure they don't come to pass, friend Karrin. Let time reveal the path for you as fate intends."
Not the best answer, but she doesn't press.
She steels herself to go talk to Veria. Her little shop off Hell Road near the Civic Festhall is just as it was when she went there with Zigel. Veria comes out dressed in a short plaid skirt, a frilly lace bustier and the normal golden wing chains. Her wingfeathers have been dyed a rainbow hue. The result looks very garish to Karrin's eyes, but then again, so does Veria.
"Karrin! Daaarling!" The erinyes devil comes up and hugs her, her hands a little too familiar for Karrin's taste. Ferissirion vibrates when the devil touches her, and suddenly Veria is five feet away, looking upset. Her face clears and she chats with Karrin as if nothing happened. When Karrin asks her if she knows anything about her, Veria smirks and mentions that she might, but information like that is costly. Karrin, feeling uncomfortable, tells her she will be back to discuss the price later and flees the store. .
Karrin consults all sorts of smiths about Ferissirion. They agree that the axe is Frost Giant work, most likely from the Paramental Plane of Ice, since the axe is some sort of hardened ice product, perhaps even enchanted eternal ice. Other than that, the empathic axe keeps its secrets well. Surprisingly for a Frost Giant item, Ferissirion has a strongly good aura.
[i]Karrin finds a courier service that goes to Oerth. A letter post rate usually goes for 100 Ladies, as the portals to that Prime world have been deactivating steadily over the past few years. Even gates that have stood active for centuries are slowly winking out, stranding many. A few still work though, so Karrin can send a post if she wishes.
Justin:
Skyy continues to live at his kip, and their relationship remains good without falling over into matrimony. Skyy is a very free spirit, and still dances nightly at the Fallen Angel club. She takes over the cleaning and cooking, and Justin appreciates having the little things taken care of by a cute girl.
Towards the end of the downtime, a mutual friend of his and Murphy's comes calling. Notary Four Chandler is a member of the SVU unit. He quizzes Justin about Murphy, and lets it be known that she resigned from the force and hasn't been seen in the last few weeks. When Justin mentions the conversation that they had at Caritas, Notary Chandler frowns and mentions that that episode is still under investigation. The vampire was never discovered, and he confides in Justin that he is afraid that Murphy had decided to go after the undead herself.
Justin follows this up with some inquiries of his own about the group known as the Black Tears. He doesn't find them, but he does find a tout who claims to know how to contact them. He promises for 100 Ladies to get the word to them that Justin is intersted in a meeting. .
Merle/Seph:
Nari:
Drazek:
Bethany:
Karrin runs the group through several drills weekly. Renkar approves highly, and is very complimentary of Karrin's leadership skills. Her comrades are a little less complimentary, especially when covered in bruises from sparring.
At the end of two tenth-cycles the team is ready for action. Renkar summons them to a meeting. He looks them over and smiles
"So my friends, are we ready for our next job?"
Karrin's stuff:
Karrin visits her friend O.L.L.I at the Lady's Library, a massive building housing tomes from all over the Great Wheel. He is usually best talked to after hours, when he and Shactal the Ice Devil are on duty. The head librarian, Goldfeather, is a bit of a prig, but he allows Karrin to talk with O.L.L.I at night as long as she isn't allowed past the front desk.
O.L.L.I mentions that he is currently investigating a disturbing report of a fiend-tainted Secundus modron who relocated to Acheron with thousand of similarly-tainted modrons. There are rumors that these tainted modrons are planning to take over Regulus, the city-hive of the Modron race.
"This unit cannot computate the permutations to the order of the great Wheel should that happen." O.L.L.I says in what passes for a dolefull voice. He asks Karrin to keep her eyes peeled for any indication of rogue evil modrons in her travels. He offers to assist her with any translations/transcribings she should ever need.
"You bet O.L.L.I!" Karrin says, "I'll be on the look out. I know you can no longer go home but you still have your beliefs! I'll help out any way I can."
Fortunately, the presence of the enigmatic Angelic being known only as Unity-of-Rings keeps most berks in line. He(?) is often there helping out. Karrin is still a bit intimidated by his celestail presence, but he is so nice her reserve eventually breaks down. He is good to tlak to, almost as good as a confessor, and he tells her that he sees much of importance in her destiny. When she presses for details he quips:
"Revealing the details of your destiny are an assured way of making sure they don't come to pass, friend Karrin. Let time reveal the path for you as fate intends."
Not the best answer, but she doesn't press.
Karrin is indeed honored that the angel chooses to address her. The usually verbose Karrin is quite tongue tied around the angel. She accepts everything (s)he says as gospel and Karrin does whatever she can to please her/him.
She steels herself to go talk to veria. Her little shop off Hell Road near the Civic Festhall is just as it was when she went there with Zigel. Veria comes out dressed in a short plaid skirt, a frilly lace bustier and the normal golden wing chains. Her wingfeathers have been dyed a rainbow hue. The result looks very garish to Karrin's eyes, but then again, so does Veria.
"Karrin! Daaarling!" The erinyes devil comes up and hugs her, her hands a little too familiar for Karrin's taste. Ferissirion vibrates when the devil touches her, and suddenly Veria is five feet away, looking upset. Her face clears and she chats with Karrin as if nothing happened. When Karrin asks her if she knows anything about her, Veria smirks and mentions that she might, but information like that is costly. Karrin, feeling uncomfortable, tells her she will be back to discuss the price later and flees the store. We can do a more in depth P2P interation if you wish later.
. Karrin also buys the disguise kit.
[i]Karrin finds a courier service that goes to Oerth. A letter post rate usually goes for 100 Ladies, as the portals to that Prime world have been deactivating steadily over the past few years. Even gates that have stood active for centuries are slowly winking out, stranding many. A few still work though, so Karrin can send a post if she wishes.
Karrin happily pays the fee and sends 400 gold along with the letter. She writes to all the monks but especially to Kron, she apologizes for her harsh words, explains that she is well, she's eating healthy, she's found a priest of Reo, and she's doing good and walking in the light. She explains that she's happy and successful. She doesn't feel up to writing about Torreen yet. She also promises to send more money when she get's the chance.
Karrin approaches Renkar in one morning in the Copper Cauldron:
"Hey Renkar," she says, "could I have a minute? I have this hypothetical friend, let's call her . . . Erin, and she has this problem. You see she was a adopted and there was this other person who might know her real mother or something but she's not sure if she should look into it. You see she was adopted as I said and she's pretty much grown up and has this whole other life, and you know what kind of mother gives their kid up for adoption really? Anyways she's pretty sure she isn't interested but there's this other twist you see the person who knows this information is . . . um, let's just say that she's a devil or something and she wants a favor in return for this information . . . So it seems pretty easy right? I tell her to forget about her mother right? Seems pretty basic. I mean I'm only asking for a second opinion, you know to tell this friend."
Mr Monkey;
NICE work BTW, thanks for all the hard work! I am truly enjoying this game! And now to work,... ;P
For Da Monkey;
Thank you! Nothing Justin would like more than to have a place he can study, with books he didn't have to buy! ;) He wouldn't have left any 'open-ended freebies' (if possible) but would have most definitely agreed to do some work for the club as payment (or discount) for the fees. (Tracking down miscreants who have stiffed on the fees and convincing them to make good? A little more 'kneecapper' job than he would prefer, but within the realm of possibility! Esp since a good pyrotechnic display usually prevents having to actually go through with it!) ;P
Sorry, forgot to mention Skyy. Yes, he has decided that he likes having her around. (The fact that she IS such a 'free spirit' and won't tie him down too much probably helps.) He was worried that she might not like hanging around him too long! He will take her out 'on the town' on a fairly regular basis, (At least once/week or so), trying to have some fun as well as find out what makes her tick. He won't go overboard and try to shower her with gold and jewels, but once he finds out what she likes, she will be on the receiving end of presents! (And no matter how normal or crazy they were, I never dated a girl that didn't like presents!) ;)
Justin will be talking to Renkar, chatting about how the crazy politics of the Cage works, and start trying to figure out how he can get in. Probably gonna have to actually join a faction,... hmmmm,...
The Jink for the scrolls he has! Just trying to figure out what (item?) he's gonna spend the majority of his loot on,... Hmmm, (again), You don't happen to know where any magical talking skulls that are a repository of centuries of arcane knowledge can be found cheap, do you? (A very long winded joke with no laugh if you haven't read Harry Dresden novels!) ;P
Justin sits in a chair opposite of Draz, his feet also up on the table, smoking a new pipe. The new polish on his boots contrasts with the dinginess of his leather coat. Smoke curls lazily up from the pipe as Justin holds out his tobacco pouch to Drazek and Isaac with an inquisitory gesture.
"Certainly Sir. Anything would be better than being used for pummeling practice,... again." He responds cheerfully. He gives a dark look towards Karrin, but there is a twinkle in his eye, and his smirk is fighting a losing battle trying to stay hidden.
DM
On the other hand, Ekuur is very pleased at the way in which his little congregation is growing; better than he expected. He makes sure to invite some of his Athasian expat friends, although since not all worshipped fire, he doesn't expect many. Still, he checks in often at the Silver Rose, but his free time is spent at his temple in sermon, prayer, and the day-to-day administration.
At Renkar's suggestion of a new mission, Ekuur nods and responds, "Yes, I could use a little action."
Bethany stands next to Drazek, her arm casually draped over his shoulder as he lounges.
"I think I'm ready for more of what this damnable city can throw at me. What've you got for us?"
[/ooc]OK, Bethany's Description has been updated to take into account her new equipment. She's saving the rest for future enchantings...[/ooc]
I just thought I should point out that Karrin isn't sparing with the mages. If they're set to sparing it's sparing with each other. Karrin would try sparing with Issac or Ekuur but she would see no point in fighting someone weaker then herself. She would be running the spell casters through all sorts of training. Including concentration practice. That's where the unfortunate cater tries to cast spells while Karrin and the others try to disrupt the spell. Karrin insists on trying all sorts of different negative stimulation, including being upside down, blindfolded, and with excessive noise. That's in addition to what Karrin calls "physical stimulus".
If Merle wants to compete with Karrin they tiefling gives her plenty of opportunity. There are all sorts of mental and physical challenges that Karrin comes up with, she's usually open to Merle's suggestions, and she really seems to feed off of the competition. Once Karrin realizes Merle's competitive nature she works a competition in every training session.
I mean I'm only asking for a second opinion, you know to tell this friend."
Renkar smiles and gestures for Karrin to sit down
"Well, Karrin, I would tell your friend that there are all sorts of reasons why a mother might feel it is best to give a child up for adoption. Maybe there were issues in her life that she had to deal with or maybe she had no choice."
He frowns
"I would reccommend that you tell your friend that dealing with devils is a very dangerous matter. Not as bad as demons, but potentially life threatening. Remember, devils are not just people in funny costumes. They are planar spirits. Their purpose, when you strip everything down to the basics, is to garner souls for Hell. Many of them have been devils for thousands of years. They know every trick and twist to get what they want. If she insists, I would tell her to make sure everything that is discussed is written down and gone over by a really good lawyer beforehand. Never give a devil a handshake deal or a vague agreement."
I just thought I should point out that Karrin isn't sparing with the mages. If they're set to sparing it's sparing with each other. Karrin would try sparing with Issac or Ekuur but she would see no point in fighting someone weaker then herself. She would be running the spell casters through all sorts of training. Including concentration practice. That's where the unfortunate cater tries to cast spells while Karrin and the others try to disrupt the spell. Karrin insists on trying all sorts of different negative stimulation, including being upside down, blindfolded, and with excessive noise. That's in addition to what Karrin calls "physical stimulus".
If Merle wants to compete with Karrin they tiefling gives her plenty of opportunity. There are all sorts of mental and physical challenges that Karrin comes up with, she's usually open to Merle's suggestions, and she really seems to feed off of the competition. Once Karrin realizes Merle's competitive nature she works a competition in every training session.
Drazek would spar with Karen except for the fact that Drazek doesn't really do non-lethal very well.
Renkar smiles and gestures for Karrin to sit down"Well, Karrin, I would tell your friend that there are all sorts of reasons why a mother might feel it is best to give a child up for adoption. Maybe there were issues in her life that she had to deal with or maybe she had no choice."
He frowns
"I would reccommend that you tell your friend that dealing with devils is a very dangerous matter. Not as bad as demons, but potentially life threatening. Remember, devils are not just people in funny costumes. They are planar spirits. Their purpose, when you strip everything down to the basics, is to garner souls for Hell. Many of them have been devils for thousands of years. They know every trick and twist to get what they want. If she insists, I would tell her to make sure everything that is discussed is written down and gone over by a really good lawyer beforehand. Never give a devil a handshake deal or a vague agreement."
"So do you know any good lawyers?" Karrin asks, "you know, for my friend I mean."