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Finnrick takes a step to line up the half elf and Etam then he raises his hands and with them rises a wall of water, before the half elf can do anything the wall rushes towards him, pushing him backwards.
OK by me. Unless I can beat myself up. That would be cool...
After some more complaining from the half-elf, the group finally knocks him out. Finally, with no more outside targets, you each turn on each other until Sato finally emerges the victor.
Once the combat is over, Krant waves and a few of the spectating cultists rush over to revive the unconscious and usher you in to a group for the man to address. "That was...adequately enough done I suppose. Some most notably did better than others. Though really, for the first half I thought most of you were freaking bal-er-inas rather than warriors, prancing about." He shakes his head. "Perhaps tomorrow I'll have you do something more be-fit-ing of those skills. Brother Silas here will take your loaned weapons and go fetch your re-wards. Then it's time for dinner."
The rest of the day follows the previous ones, though most of you are noticeably more sore from the impromptu sparring match. There's dinner, evening prayer, and then everybody but Sato has their evening transcription duties.
After disarming the half-elf and tripping the sorcerer Jaed grows overconfident about his ability to handle the flail. He starts swinging it harder until one of his attempts to disarm Etam misses its target with such bad luck that the momentum makes the weapon's head meet the rogue's head. After a few moments knocked out on the ground he wakes up to a triumphant Sato.
The perspective of recovering one of his swords does a bit to alleviate his headache. He tries to convince brother Silas that the pair of swords count as one weapon. "They are like twins, they should not be separated one from another"
Later in the day Jaed takes care of the transcription duty as fast as he can only thinking about taking some rest.
After being knocked out, Lily is a bit sore and morose. She goes about her chores dutifully, and requests her satchel of material components. A few times it looks like she wants to say something to the group - a lifted hand here, and turn of the head there, even though the mask obscures her expressions - but in the end, she keeps her words to herself.
Etam, increasingly stressed with maintaining a front of a good Razmir follower and not harming his friends, hears an annoyed voice inside his head before blacking out completely: 'Oh, sod off, lad, this is going on for too long!' The young warrior starts cackling madly, jumping on Jaed and pelting him until the rogue knocks himself out. Etam manages to land a few blows on his companions before Sato's incapacitating touch.
---
When he comes back to it, Etam asks for his weighted spear back. The rest of the day's chores goes by quickly, until the dreaded transcription duty. It starts off as slow as the previous days until he realises that he had already transcribed the text he had been handed. The warrior finishes his duties and goes to bed soon after.
Krant strokes his chin. Or rather, the chin of his mask. Finally he shrugs. "They're not butterfly swords, but I s'pose." He waves his permission to Silas, who brings Jaed a pair of swords.
The next continues like the previous ones. The physical labor continues to get easier. When afternoon rolls around, after an hour of more practicing to walk in step, you're collected in a group with some of the other acolytes. One of the other black-robed priests then addresses you.
"It's time for you all to assist in our sermon to the people. Today, I want you all to move through the crowd individually praising the great Living God as I give a sermon. Impress the masses with your skills and abilities, whatever those may be. Keep the people, especially those on the edges, entertained. Let them all see the the glory and strength of the followers of Razmir."
With that, you're lead out in a group to the front of the temple. All the practice you've been doing to walk as a group comes in handy as you exit seamlessly. The man who had addressed you begins his sermon. It's quite similar to the one you heard earlier before joining. As he talks, you are waived towards the edge of the crowd and signaled to begin showing off.
The half-elf immediately draws a sword and begins yelling. "Behold the strength and grace granted to me by the great Living God."
He begins swinging it wildly about, but it's rather clumsy. A few of the on-lookers shake their head and start to look disinterested.
The morning goes by. Jaed is happy about having his swords back. Let's see if I get to use them soon enough. I know they are eager to meet that Krant.
Jaed walks to the edge of the crowd with resignation and disappointed about the task given to them. What I said before, are we clowns now? Whatever, let's focus on the mission.
He looks for someone carrying a pouch and who is distracted by the half-elf performance. Then, mimicking the half-elf, the rogue also yells: "The Living God made me light as the wind...," as he performs a back-flip, landing next to the distracted citizen and intentionally bumping into him.
He swiftly takes the pouch from its inattentive owner and performs another back-flip as he tosses the pouch back to his owner.
"..and fast as lightning. Can't touch this!"
Unlike with the half-elf's performance, the crowd seems delighted by Jaed's display of nimbleness. Although the man whose pocket he picked looks distinctly conflicted, uncertain as to if he should be outraged that his purse was taken or amused that his purse was so easily taken. Those close to him are much less conflicted, playfully elbowing and ribbing him for being so unaware.
Lily seems hesitant, and she glances from one member of the group to another - but everyone's faceless visages make it impossible for her to get any reassurance or sign of inspiration. Finally she says, "Size is not strength! True power is not measured with a blade! The wise man knows when to fear!" Her voice nearly cracks, making the delivery almost comical. She then whips through the crowd, brushing her hands across onlookers and spreading fear in her wake. Murmurs turn into discomfort and gasps.
Etam mirrors Lilly's unsureness about the whole thing, adding to that his indignation 'A spear is not a toy meant for fancy displays!' Nevertheless, he tries to follow the orders; his lack of effort is clear as he spins the spear and rehearses training movements with decent form but no real effort or passion.
Well, sorry folks. Please bear with us.
Sato murmurs a few words. Singling out the richest of the attendants and casting a spell on them where others attentions are distracted with the performance.
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Please sir, might I get my spell component pouch back? I'm next to useless without it.
At the gathering Finnrick moves to the middle of the crowed and casts Enhanced diplomacy on himself. "I hope I can pull this off," he thinks to himself, and casts a quick spell then begins to speak in as loud a voice as he can
"Razmir has engulfed me in his love, as he does now to you. Give unto him and he will in turn give back to you."
As he says these words a bank of golden fog floats through the crowed fascinating them. Finnrick then begins to move through the crowed humming a song that Olmira used to sing to him when he was young. He moves toward the edge that Etam is and whispers to him as he goes by.
"We need to met tonight after our transcription, let the others know"
Finnrick says a silent prayer of forgiveness and then casts one last spell on the crowed trying to find if anyone is a true believer of Saranrae or if he really is alone in this strange city.
"PLease know that I have not forsaken you Oh great Saranae, I have not forsaken that who has given me life, surly there must be others hear who believe in you."
Enhanced Diplomacy = +2 Diplomacy
Euphoric Cloud = You create a bank of fog similar to that created by fog cloud except its vapors are intoxicating. Living creatures in the cloud become fascinated. This condition lasts as long as a creature is in the cloud and for 1d4+1 rounds after it leaves. Any creature that succeeds at its save but remains in the cloud must continue to save each round on your turn.
Detect Faithful= Basically Identifies anyone who is faithful to Saranae
Do I fall asleep (again), I hope not:
I will attempt some acrobatics to impress the crowd:
And since I have my weapons, a little ax play:
And lastly, do I notice anything going on:
Etam nods lightly at Finnrick's voice. Using the fact his performance was very uninteresting, he goes to Lilly and whispers "Let us meet tonight after transcription duties, mistress Lilly. Pass it to the others."
Sato being the closest person around, Etam moves closer to the sorcerer and repeats the message.
Lily nods slightly at Etam's message, and tries her best to pass it quietly when she has the chance to move by one of the team.
As you all perform for the crowd, they seemed most enthralled by the acts of magic, though Artair manages to gain a following of small children attempting to walk around in a faux-drunken manner and imitate his axe swings. Many of the adults walk around in a similar manner, though thanks to Finnrick's spell, they have a bit less of the 'faux' part of the drunkeness. Several of them appear so drunk as to be throwing themselves at the other cultist in an attempt to donate to the cause. On man even seems to be semi-unwisely attempting to throw copper coins in the face of the masked priests while yelling "Make it rain!" Luckily for them, their masks protect them from losing an eye or two, and the clinking of metal on metal does kind of resemble odd bursts of rainfall. Some of the non-"drunk" people are also throwing themselves at the priests, though in a slightly more reserved and far more pompous manner, each trying to out-do the next by loudly declaring what generous and noble a person they were and how honored they were to have the followers of the great Razmir in their city.
Meanwhile the screams of a few terrified people around Lily brings a couple of guards running. When they see what's going on, one joins the other members of the crowd in laughing at the people who seem to be cowering before an unthreatening-looking elven woman. The other one simply looks confused at all the pandemonium going on.
Finally the sermon comes to a close and Krant begins ushering you all back inside the temple. There's a noticeable amount of disappointed "awwww"s and even a couple of "boo"s at your exit, though the extended swinging of weapons, jumping around, or yelling to be heard over the now rather rowdy crowd for an extended time is being to become quite tiresome. Once safely inside the temple again, Krant speaks to you all. Though you can't see his face, there's a definite note of pleasure in his voice. "Well, well, well, color me sur-prised. You all had the crowd prack-tic-cally hopping in ex-sight-mint." He shakes his head as he waves over another white-robed initiate, holding his hand out for some coins to be placed in it. "You could learn a thing or two from these ones, eh Ronnie?" The comment is directed at the other white-robed person, who nods his head dutifully before scurrying off as soon as he's finished placing the money in Krant's hand. Krant then hands you each 8 gold. "Keep this up and there'll be much more of that in the future. Much more."
The rest of the day continues as before, though Krant maintains his good mood for the rest of it.
Jaed, Sato, Lily, and Finnrick all get done transcribing their work about the same time and are escorted back to their shared room. It looks like Artair and Etam will be at least another hour, possibly more though.
Hours pass whilst Etam tries to get the transcription done. He makes mistakes halfway through the text and needs to start from scratch and knocks the ink pot two times until he finally something more or less presentable – and which looks curiously like the scribbles of a 5-year-old, as Asar makes sure to point out repeatedly.
Halfway through his papery ordeal, he sees the dwarf getting up. He looks at him, back at his text and sighs, singing something that attempts to be a very bad nursery rhyme "And then they went for tea without him…" He stops immediately after, not wanting to draw punishment.
My turn...
And my fort save:
Well,Etam, seems like we are both equally bad at this...
I would suggest you guys leave us be and fill us in in the morning.
When they arrive back in the room Finnrick is bursting with excitement and contempt at the cult. After an hour passes and Etam and Artair are still not back He decides that they can't wait any longer.
"I wanted to wait for the others to finish up but those to could be hours." Finnrick says looking around to make sure that he is not overheard. "Jaed, go check the door, make sure the coast is clear. And can one of you do that thing you do to detect if there is anything magical that could hear or see us. He says gesturing to the two wizards.
After making sure that they are the only ones around Finnrick continues.
"Today while we were performing for the crowds did any of you notice what they other high ranking members were doing? They were stealing, STEALING, from the townsfolk. I hate raising money for these creepy followers of some "living God" but at least people are giving their coin willingly, but stealing from them for the sake of this Razmir." Finnrick spits the final word.
After calming down a bit he continues.
"I will not be apart of it, and anyway we are not here to become thieves. In fact we are here as, Spies he mouths. Any way the point that I am getting at is that Millsy and I have hatched up a plan. I can't normally speak to her like I speak to you but This morning during meditation I was sent a spell that I think could prove useful. It would allow me to talk with her for a few minutes and during that time I can tell her to scout the place and report back to me. I only have one spell left so I won't know what She found until the morning but I think we need to do something. What do you guys think, is it a bad idea... it's a bad idea isn't it, what if she's caught. Oh never mind its a bad idea, too much could go wrong. Finnrick continues to worry until he is cut off by someone else.
[ooc]Good idea or bad idea. And What should she be looking for?
"I agree that it's distasteful, but in the long run our cause will serve the greater good. If you can investigate discretely, I suggest you do so. The sooner we can shed this facade, the better."
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Jaed is happy to break the rutine. Finally! Some real action.
When they are back to their room, Jaed does as suggested by Finnrick and checks the surroundings.
Once he feels no one is listening he joins the conversation.
"I noticed the pickpocketing during the first sermon we attended before joining the club. Not that it disturbs me as much as you, Finnrick, but obviously we cannot trust these people. Like if there was any doubt about that."
He thinks about Finnrick's plan. "It is a good plan, specially as it looks like Etam and Atair may have fallen sleep over those books." What is taking them so long?
"I don't know if you noticed it but I saw one of the black-robed cultists on the second floor watching our sparring. I would tell Millsy to start looking there. I can also go to take a look. No offense, but I think I would have a better chance of not being caught if I go alone. And if I do, well, you can always rescue me later. I hope," he says as he smiles.
The half-elf does share a room with you, but he falls asleep pretty much as soon as he gets back. When you first enter there are a couple of other acolytes playing dice at the table in the center, but they leave after about 30 minutes. You begin to talk quietly in one corner as Jaed stands guard at one of the two doors, listening for approaching footsteps. He raises his hand a few time as someone seems to approach, but the footsteps recede rather than entering the room.
Eight wooden double bunks rest in this room, each outfitted with simple straw mattresses and a thin blanket. A communal table sits in the center of the room, flanked by four chairs. Two chests lie open between the bunks, each one loaded up with fresh white robes. Pegs are mounted to the walls above the chests for the acolytes to hang their masks on when they are not wearing them. An everburning torch rests in a cloth-draped frame hanging from the ceiling above the table.
There are two doors on the northern side of the room, which from your walk to and from the room, you know both lead to a hallway with some stairs around the corner that lead up to the ground floor where the transcription room is. Also adjacent to the hallway is a dining room where you've been eating breakfast as well as another room you haven't looked in yet.
"Be very careful!" says Lily. "We caused quite a commotion and the guards basically did nothing. The cult has the local authorities in their pocket, or at least looking the other way."
"I don't want to send you om your own, unless you are up for it. Millsy could go with you as back up, and I'll tell her to follow your orders if anything gets dicey. You would probably be better at telling us what you see then her anyway... she is an animal after all,"
The last part is met with a distastful growl from Millsy.
"Shhh Millsy or you'll wake our roommate"
Jaed gives some thought to Lily and Finnrick's words. "It's true that it may be dangerous. Having Millsy with me is a good idea. And if someone hears or sees something we can pretend that the big cat went for a walk. Finnrick, can you tell her to stay by me while I scout? I'll try to get an idea of what's in this temple and be back before anyone notices anything."
Jaed will wait until everyone is asleep and then he will go scouting with Millsy. They will start with the unknown room in the same floor that they are and make their way up to the second floor. If at any time there is any sign of danger, they will go back to the common room.
I know I am not part of the conversation, but we should also try to figure out how to get out to meet up with our contact on the outside as well.
Several doors leading to other underground chambers flank this long hallway. A simple carpet, stained and worn, runs down the center of the hall. At the west end is the symbol of Razmir, crudely painted on the wall.
This chamber contains two long, wooden tables, with chairs arrayed on either side. Scraps of the morning meal litter the floor and the smell of stale wine hangs heavy in the room. A green everburning torch provides light.
Sacks, barrels, crates, and other cooking supplies dominate much of this room, and the stench of dirty pots is almost overwhelming. In the corner, a few dying coals smolder in a simple cooking hearth.
Grand tapestries depicting the might and power of Razmir hang from the walls of this long vestibule, and a richly embroidered carpet runs down the center. Opposite the large doors leading outside is a pair of tall, slender doors, with a gigantic silver mask emblazoned on the front. A pair of smaller doors is set into the north and south walls. A flickering green light plays throughout this chamber from masked sconces that run along the walls.
This room has plush, gilded chairs and a fine table made from highly polished Andoren darkwood. A painting adorns each wall, each one depicting the Living God as he battles all manner of foul beasts and bends them to his will. The staircase down to the lower levels is covered with a simple silk curtain.
The routine of the temple is beginning to become habit to each of you. Wake up. Labor in the yard. Religious studies. Lunch. Cleaning . Afternoon prayer. Training. Dinner. Evening prayer. Transcription. The only thing separating one day from the next seems to occur during the afternoon training period. It's really the high light of an otherwise monotonous schedule.
Today after doing some warm ups, Krant approaches you flanked by another two acolytes. "After yesterday's rounding suck-cess, I think it's time I gave you all a real task. A local baker by the name of Welton Grompus is late paying his pro-tech-shun money. Now, we do a lot to ensure biz-ness-es like his don't suffer from the various riff-raff and crim-nals lurking about in this here neighborhood. Since getting one thief offa the streets helps all the stores and not just the ones wise enough to con-tri-bute to the cause, we can't go having free-loaders like him reaping the benefits of other's gold. So I want you lot to go have a nice little chat with Mister Grompus. Me and these two-" he jerks his thumbs towards the white-robed cultists next to him "Will make sure your con-ver-sation is nice and private-like. Any questions before we head out?"
OK, we have graduated to being thugs. This is cool. So who wants to beat up a baker? Or is there some other way to play this out? Thoughts? I mean, I am sure Etam and I can rough up a baker and smash his bakery up if he will not cooperate, not like it is transcription or something. But is that really the route we want to go down?
Etam shakes his head. "I can prance around and be their stable boy, but this is simply against the law. And against the way of a true warrior. Master Artair…don't you think Krant's been missing his protection payments?", he says to the dwarf in a quiet voice.
"I can convince the man to play nice... for now." Sato assures Artair once they've some privacy. "Once we've broken this cult we can free the merchants of the problem."
The first idea on Jaed's mind during his night walk is to find the room where the rest of the weapons are kept. There are some rooms on the east side of the basement so he thinks that is a good place to start.
Once he is done scouting the basement, and still curious about what's on the second floor, he makes his way up, crossing the transcription room and the ceremonial room. He takes a quick peek to what is up there and goes back to his bunk.
Jaed is not surprise by the new task given to them. He exchanges a quick look with Sato while Krant talks. I hope he can play with that poor fellow's mind to convince him to pay. I don't think the others will be happy to beat an innocent man.
After peeking in the kitchen and sneaking past the dining room, Jaed finds another staircase heading up that mirrors the one to the transcription room. The door leading in the direction of the cells you were initially kept in is locked.
He then makes his way up the stairs and through the transcription room. The man watching over Etam and Artair makes no comment while his companions continue to write line after line, only to have to cross it out and start afresh. Once in the worship hall, since he is not busy scrubbing the floor, Jaed is free to admire the various murals lining the walls. They seem to start on the northern wall and move around the room. The first ones depicting a young and ambitious man, garnering great riches and power while helping the poor and the weak and encouraging them to flock to his banner. The next set shows him entering the Starstone Cathedral in Absalom to undertake the test to become a god, while those following show him emerging victorious, with a mask shrouding his face, so that all could worship him without fear of looking upon his ascended countenance. Finally, he is seen founding the nation of Razmiran and spreading his faith all around the world—this last sequence a hopeful plan for the future, as his dominance is far from certain. He manages to take a few steps up the stairs before a voice rings out, informing him that the upper floor is for senior members of the faith only.
Before hurriedly retreating, he's able to at least see that the stairs lead up to a balcony-like area that surrounds the worship hall with a set of doors heading to the area that must be above the rest of the temple.
Lily is able to handle the demands of the temple for now.
As the group assembles quietly, she says, "I've been thinking... they must have some way to keep new recruits from just leaving. Maybe something to do with the masks. But... it would be really expensive to be able to scry on them and see or hear what people are doing. Perhaps they can just locate them with magic. I wonder..."
"Another horrible task for us to do, turning us into common thugs. At least it will give us a chance to get back into the city. Maybe I can track down some of those followers of Saranrae while I'm out there."
Etam closes his eyes and sighs "You are right master Shisui, but…this needs to stop soon. It's been almost a week and we have nothing on those bastards. Nothing we can show authorities." He looks at the so far unnamed half-elf "What about him? Anyone tried getting acquainted with him?"
I tried to talk with him a couple of times. Does not seem to want to make friends. I can try a little more, I suppose.
"We can also have a talk with the half-elf while we are in that bakery. It is probably the closer we will be to have some privacy."
The other stair case leads up to an armory on the ground floor. A pair of weapon racks sits in the center of this chamber, each bearing a variety of arms, most of which look new. Each rack appears to be secured with an iron bar and lock, though some of the smaller items could be easily removed. Mounted to the walls is a host of steel shields as well, each one painted with the symbol of Razmir.
Out in the courtyard, you can see a number of cultists protrolling on top of the walls. Keeping to the shadows, Jaed manages to sneak around the perimeter to check out the two doors on the other side. One appears to be a tools shed of some sort while the other door is locked. His exploration now complete, Jaed manages to sneak back to his companions and share his findings for the night.
Seeing that you have no questions, Krant and his two cronies lead you three blocks away to a bakery called the Harvest Hearth. Once there, the acolytes begin turning away customers, slowly emptying the store. As they do this, Krant gives you your instructions. "Now then, Grompus owes the temple 100 gold is missing payments. Once the store is all empty-like, go in and get it from him. We'll make sure you're not dis-turbed. While your at it, go ahead and mess the place up some to teach him not to cross us."
As he says, once the bakery is empty Krant sends you all in before turning his back and forming a semi-circle with the two acolytes around the door. When you enter, a rather round man covered in flour greets you. " 'ello there mates. Might I...err...get something for ya?" There's a brief pause before he hurriedly continues, picking up a basket of fresh bread and offering it to them. "I mean, 'o course, you should go an' take this here bread. On the 'ouse!"
Near the entrance to the bakery is a counter with a variety of breads and muffins on display. Behind that you can see a table for kneading and rolling the dough as well as several bags and barrels, presumably full of other ingredients. Towards the very back of the bakery seems to be another door, and all along the eastern wall is a line of 4 ovens.
Jaed puts his finger in front of his mask's mouth as an answer to the baker's words. He then turns to the others. "Soo, what now?"