EndlessForms |
Will: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4
The stirge seems effected by Variel's hex, but Celfwyn also notices a thin rope around its midsection.
Celfwyn the Blind |
In that case...
Celfwyn draws a rapier, ready to defend himself if it turns out to be not overly friendly. Total defense. AC currently 21.
"It seems this may be not too wild. Hey! We found Applesauce!" he calls out.
Rhoswen Faerondalan |
"Well, I'll try to keep it alive." Rhoswen calmly states as she steps up to the stirge and tries to strike it with the butt of her hilt.
Attack, Nonlethal: 1d20 + 8 - 4 ⇒ (14) + 8 - 4 = 18
Nonlethal damage: 1d10 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14
EndlessForms |
Rhoswen tries to knock the insect unconscious but as it falls to the ground, you notice some ichor leaking out of it. It's at -4 and bleeding.
You hear the young boy's voice call excitedly from the left, "What? Who's there? You found Applesauce?!"
Celfwyn the Blind |
"Yes! Come quickly! It's injured!" The tone of his voice sounds pained as if this little diplomacy actually hurts him to feign kindness.
-Posted with Wayfinder
Vasily Petrescu - PFS |
Vasily rushes forward grabbing the rope with one hand and drawing forth his wand of CLW with the other. "I can heal him back to normal if you think it wise," he says, turning to look at the others for permission.
If the party agrees, will use one charge on the stirge. Remember Vasily is securing the rope to keep the thing from flying or attacking if it comes back.
CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9
EndlessForms |
The small boy bursts through the grass just as Vasily is healing the stirge back up. "Oh, you've found Applesauce! Thank you!"
The boy grabs Applesauce's leash and pats the insect creature on the head.
Vasily Petrescu - PFS |
Vasily deftly slides his wand away, and steps to the front kneeling in front of the boy.
"What the nice man means to say is: That sure is a swell stirge. His name is Applesauce you say? It's a great name. What's your name, lad, and where are you from? Do you live near here?"
Channeling my inner Eddie Haskell...
Celfwyn the Blind |
Celfwyn chuckles at the death's questions. Good points.
-Posted with Wayfinder
EndlessForms |
The boy excitedly spits out his introduction, barely bothering to take a breath, "My name is Ornigaard Korzha and I'm from Ravenmoor and Applesauce is my pet stirge and I call him that because I liked applesauce a lot when I first got him and well I still like applesauce a lot but it's not really my favorite anymore and now I've got to go home and put Applesauce in his cage but if you want you should talk to my pa, he knows everything."
With a quick blush, the boy grabs his pet stirge, which nuzzles up next to him in a disturbing fashion, and takes off running for a farmhouse on the edge of the village.
Vasily Petrescu - PFS |
I guess we should go talk to the man who knows everything," says Vasily with a grin, "maybe he knows where our missing tax collector has gone." He turns and follows after the boy in as non-threatening a way as possible..
Variel Arivae |
I will settle for a reasonable explanation why in the nine hells his kid have a stirge for a pet! Variel says exasperated while following the others.
Your point being?.. Asks the black bird at his shoulder.
EndlessForms |
Arriving at the farmhouse, you find a handsome and friendly farmer working on repairing his barn. He has brown hair worked into a part down the middle and a chinstrap beard. "Good day! Viorec Korzha. And you must be the city folks that helped Ornigaard find Applesauce?"
EndlessForms |
"You're just like most folks, misunderstandin' the poor creatures. They make fine pets once you train them a bit. Unusual, I'll admit, but it's fairly common around here if not where you come from. Where do you come from?"
EndlessForms |
"Plenty of wildlife around here to feed 'em."
Viorec thinks a moment, "Well, he'll be running about town somewhere, probably making last-minute preparations for this afternoon's Founders' Festival and the traditional Founders' Feast tonight. O' course, you're invited to join along as guests, but there ain't no inn in town if you're thinkin' of staying for a while. There's a-plenty of land out there to pitch camp in. If you're talking to the mayor, he might let you stay in his manor; it's the largest building in town, after all. I'd offer my own home if I could but I couldn't fit more'n one of you inside for the night."
Rhoswen Faerondalan |
"You could lodge with Master Korzha here, snuggle up with Applesauce," Rhoswen smirks at Celfwyn.
She turns her attention back to Viorec, "So, what goes on during the Founders' Festival? You know, I can't say I've been to Ravenmoor before. What is the town like?"
EndlessForms |
Viorec shrugs a bit. "It's a small town, mostly quiet. The Founders' Festival is our monthly harvest festival, nothing too special about it. Games and contests and the like, with a big Feast at the end o' course some of the families present their daughters for the Founders' Feast Queen. Like I said, you're welcome to join in; I'm sure the rest of the town will be delighted to have some visitors."
Rhoswen Faerondalan |
They can't be too keen on visitors if the town doesn't have any proper inns to speak of.
"Sounds very festive - I hope we have time to see the coronation of the queen - though, that seems like an awfully short reign for a queen. Only a month?" Rhoswen shakes her head slightly, "No matter. Sir, you've been most kind and friendly with us. I do have one more thing to ask. We're searching for a man we were told had been on business in Ravenmoor not too long ago. An Ulfen man by the name of Kyle - Elias Kyle. Do you happen to recall seeing this gentleman?"
Vasily Petrescu - PFS |
Having spent many nights in his wanderings around Varisia, Vasily is perfectly fine with camping out in the village square; he's certainly slept in rougher places.
Vasily perks up when Rhoswen mentions the lost tax-collector to the local farmer. "It's a bold approach...not sure if it'll get results, but certainly direct and to the point." He rolls his eyes as the others look for a house of libation.
Continuing his Eddie Haskell impersonation, Vasily lends a hand to Rhoswen questions. "It sure is a nice farm you have here. Village must be quite nice as well. I've seen lots stranger pets than stirges, too."
Diplomacy, Aid to Rhoswen if required: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (15) + 9 = 24
EndlessForms |
"There's a tavern, certainly, we just don't get enough visitors to warrant an inn. Elias Kyle, you say? Yeah, I seem to recall a funny-looking redhead in town during last month's Founders' Festival. He didn't mix much with the locals-he spent most of his time talking to the mayor. As far as I know, he was here to collect the taxes and left the next morning. I certainly haven't seen him in town since. I'd recommend you ask the mayor though."
Rhoswen Faerondalan |
Rhoswen reaches out to shake Viorec's hand. "Well, you've helped us quite a bit. Thank you so much for your time." After shaking the man's hand she seeks out the boy and ruffles his hair a bit and says with a smile, "And you keep that Applesauce on a tight leash. I'd hate for him to break loose again."
She turns to her companions, "So, shall we seek out the mayor? If he lives in a mansion, I can't expect it would be too difficult to find."
Rhoswen is ready to leave.
EndlessForms |
Anyone who lives in town can point out the mayor's manor-it's the tallest and best-preserved building in town, after all.
When you approach, you are met before you actually reach the door by a surly-looking young man who abandons his yard work to demand, "Now what do you strangers want?"
EndlessForms |
Oh, and I made a mistake before: the mayor's name is Andretti Kriegler not Leonard Kriegler. Accidentally picked out the first bolded name under the 'Meeting the Mayor' section and didn't realize I had glanced at the wrong name.
EndlessForms |
The man gruffly informs you, "Well I'm his brother Leonard, but Andretti is busy right now so you should probably move on." He grips his sickle tightly but before anything can happen, the front door opens and a tall, lean man with a severe bearing, keen stare, and imposing mien steps outside.
"Hello there!" Leonard steps aside as this newcomer walks towards you. "I apologize for my brother's attitude. I am Mayor Andretti Kriegler, as I'm sure you guessed. Welcome to Ravenmoor! I was just now heading down to the Festival Grounds to aid in the last-minute preparations for the festival. You are, of course, invited to come along to today's festivities. Would you mind walking with me to the grounds? I will help you in any way that I can."
Variel Arivae |
Thank you Mayor Kriegler. Variel says smiling and walking with the man. You have a lovely town, we look forward to see the festivities. Unfortunatly we are here on business, we came to collect the late taxes. It amount to five hundred gold pieces I believe.
EndlessForms |
The Mayor's mood seems to darken somewhat but he nonetheless retains his helpful demeanor. "I'll admit that Ravenmoor hasn't paid taxes for some time and I apologize for this but had Magnimar bothered to send someone out here yearly such an unfortunate situation never would have happened."
"Now you probably know that Elias Kyle came into town last month and wasted no time making a fool of himself-ordering townsfolk around and making unreasonable demands when he should have just come to me."
"Once he came to see me, I assured him that we would pay the taxes in full but it would take some time to scrape the funds together. I invited him to stay in my manor and enjoy the festival, but he had little interest in what called our 'backwoods hootenannies.'"
"Kyle did eventually take me up on my offer of board, however, and went to bed early. The next day I paid the taxes in full in a locked coffer and he left town just before dawn, presumably heading back to Magnimar."
Celfwyn the Blind |
Sense: 1d20 ⇒ 4
"And he went back the way he came? Now to find the tax collector. Can't be hard. We just have the entire open road and its surrounding areas. And here I was hoping to stay indoors."
Celfwyn the Blind |
Motives are for candles! ...wait, that's votive, ain't it?
-Posted with Wayfinder
EndlessForms |
"He never made it to Magnimar? Honestly, I'm not surprised to learn that. I've heard rumors that he lit out for Riddleport, in which case I fear the taxes are as good as gone. But the fact apparently remains that we still owe a payment. You strike me as much more trustworthy agents, frankly, but I'm afraid we don't have the full payment available to pay the taxes again if that's what you're getting at."
"I'll extend to you the same offer I extended to Elias, though-enjoy the festival and tonight's feast, stay in my home, and I'll see what I can scrape together from what remains of the town's funds to pay at least part of what we owe. Perhaps at a later date Magnimar might send you north to Riddeport to find out what became of that scoundrel."
Variel Arivae |
Yes, as far as Magnimar is concerned your town still own its late taxes but I am sure we can work something. I appreciate your generous offer of lodgings, let me talk to my companions about it and we will have an answer shortly.
About Elias Kyle I am afraid we will need to look into that. The man was an agent of the crown, his disappearance is unacceptable. If he is dead we need to find the body, if he is a criminal he must be brought to justice. Can we count on your office to help us investigate the matter mayor? Rumors you said, we would like to talk to the people spreading said rumors. Who was your source?