Upon arrival, Quassine bows low to Thain Ironfist at the same time Commander Klavin does.
On the way to the throne room Xanya quickly casts a cantrip on herself to better her chances in the coming negotiations.
Xanya curtsies sensually in response to the dwarf's words. She might be more lithe than normal for a dwarf, but she is of similar stature and her body is brimming with muscle. She looks good in her new tight fitting leather outfit. "Thank you from the bottom of our harts for your warm greeting Thain Yarvik Ironfist IV. I am Xanya Zellor and my compansions are Quassine Alator, Simon Saito, Goliath, War Scion of Ragathiel and Kiki Bitterdew. Cryxial and Aster are also with our group, though we were afraid you might view them as pets due to their quadruped forms, despite them being intelligent speaking a wide array of languages just as ourselves." She holds out her hand in turn to each of the members to point them out.
Quassine's tentacles start squirming after The Thain's request to swear allegiance to him and bows in respect after Xanya introduces him to The Thain, "Well met Thain Ironfist, it is a pleasure to be before you." Quassine lets Xanya continue, knowing, hoping she will not swear allegiance to The Thain.
"I agree that there is opportunity here. We can both help each other. We are good at fighting, and you need that in defense of your lands against these giants. You have wast wealth and a wide array of tools at your disposal, which can probably help a great deal in finding our mentor. Attacking you unprovoked is an evil thing to do and hence defending you is good. As such, we will aid you in this and help defend your lands. Swearing allegiance though, I'm not sure exactly what you mean by that concept. Back in my day, that meant serving someone forever. I don't think we can bind ourselves to that. We are going to find our master and do good whereever we can in the world. That does not coincide with forever serving you. However during battle, whether it's on a strategic or a tactic scale, it's best to have a clear line of command. As such, following your commands when it comes to the defense of your homeland would be wise. Is this good enough for you and sufficient for acquiring your aid in finding our master?"
Diplomacy Aid.
Simon does the hand-clasp nod and speaks after Xanya.
"I believe what she means to say is, we wish to do right by you and your people. We would pledge ourselves to the defense of your people, the goatlings, and our family here with you, but if we were to pledge ourselves to you, what would that entail past the current defense of this fortress?"
Simon helps, trying to rephrase. Though Xanya had a bit more charm, with her personality she tended to out things somewhat bluntly, and needed a little bit more sugar coating on some things.
"Mighty Thain Ironfist, we will spill blood and possibly bleed beside you as we assist in these troubling times. To swear an allegiance to you is a conflict of interest when it involves our mentor, Archmage Goodwin. We also did not swear an allegiance to the Goatlings but they are a strong ally which is also our goal with you."
Quassine bows
"Good Thain. I am called Goliath. Forgive me my Lord. I serve the General of Vengeance, Ragathiel. I relish the chance to prove myself in battle and throw down my oppressors with wrathful vengeance. This I will do for you and your people. You must understand that my duty and service is to my master Goodwin. While not a king, I have vowed to find my master. For this I can not swear fealty to another, but you will have my sword and destructive strength in defense of your people until their army breaks. This is my pledge to you."
Goliath takes a knee as he pledges a vow, but not fealty.
"while I am hesitant to swear allegiance, I would be happy to come to an agreement about mutual aid. Finding Goodwin is our main goal right now, so binding us to anyone, even if they have our mutual best interest at heart, would be counterproductive to us. But aiding the innocent against the forces of evil is in agreement with what Godwin tough us."
Kiki bows (kneeling wouldn't look right with her anatomy).
The Thain furrows his brow but nods. "Understood. Your group is focused on finding your mentor. I do not require fealty but you have pledged to help defend our fort, that is welcome enough. Your group is quite eloquent, and would be in need of diplomats, we would welcome that, however your appearance, does not aid you. If you have skill on the battlefield we welcome that even more. If you would fight with us, you have options, you can join the advance scouting forces and work with Head Marshal Hawke to eliminate threats from afar, if you wish to defend the base, you will work with my commanders here to fight when the rabble arrives here to strike at our fort. I will leave the decision to you."
He waits for a bit.
Quassine looks at the group, "Although there are certainly books here at the keep I can research, I believe that our experience will improve much faster and we will provide better service to the Nordron Holdings if we were on the Scouting detail option. Garrison and Keep defenses, our progress will be slow and since Thain Ironfist gave us the scouting detail as option, he does not feel the fortress is under immediate threat of falling. In summary, my vote is for the Scouting option." Quassine looks back at The Thain and bows once more.
"I wish to be on the scouting detail as well. The more people we can save outside the fort the better for all."
"Before we heard talk of some strike team. Is that the same as this scouting option? Either way, I don want to sit holed up here. Let's go out and make a difference as soon as possible!"
"If you are in agreement and wish to strike at the heart of our enemies, you will next work with Head Marshal Hawke. His group of griffon riders scouts the skies and have been flying missions to keep track of movements. If your group is fleet of foot he can use you to traverse to areas where he has pinpointed enemy units and eliminate them. He is currently flying an important mission now, checking with another group of your kin who went to slay some giants. He will return soon, and then he will see to your needs, we will attempt to get you some serviceable gear."
He pauses, then as an afterthought, "Do you have any brief questions?" Although you have not known the Thain for more than a matter of minutes, it seems uncharacteristically polite for him to ask for your questions or thoughts, given his gruff no nonsense demeanor. Perhaps your politeness and diplomacy has softened him, or perhaps your zeal to fight the same enemies.
Quassine bows low ...
"Mighty Thain Ironfist, thank you for honoring us with serviceable gear. As we honor you and your people, and assist in the defense of Cliffort and the Nordron Holdings, I hope you continue to honor us with equal appreciation."
And bows low once more again.
"I have my blade great Thain. It is all I require to throw down my enemies. Provide whatever was set aside for me to another so they may better defend their home. I would ask for a pair of boots but I don't think you carry my size."
He gives a hearty laugh as he bows.
Quassine laughs at Goliath's tension relieving comment regarding his big feet.
The Thain nods and Priest Stonehammer has a fiery look in his eye. Sadly Goliath's humor has been lost on the dwarves and no one even utters a chuckle or slightly forced air through their nose. Tough crowd. It's also made slightly creepy by Quassine's Illithid laugh, which comes out as some sort of hissing gurgling noise, and some spittle and drool slips down his tentacles.
"We will attempt to provide as we can. Making gear for abnormally sized people is a challenge that we can meet, but it of course takes time."
Quassine quickly wipes the drool off his tentacle before it drips to the ground, looks frustrated, then gains his composure, and bows low.
"We humbly thank thee Mighty Thain Ironfist."
"Those are kind words great Thain. I hope the master I serve one day after mast Goodwin is found, is as generous and dutiful as you."
Realizing his humor is lost Goliath stands stoic and proud.
Xanya curtsies cutely again. Quite at odds with her normal fierce personality, then again, she is often acting erratically, so maybe not. "I'll look forward to working with him and you. Hopefully we'll both be able to help each other achieve our goals. If I would have a question, it would be, do you know something that Hawke doesn't, but that can be of vital importance to our mission? The lay of the land, the origin of the giants and why they chose to come, their tactics and powers or anything else? Of course we can ask these questions of Hawke too, so if he knows, you don't need to answer."
He looks at Xanya for a while before responding, almost uncomfortably long. Just as it is about to get awkward, he replies, "Head Marshal Hawke, " he pauses emphazising his title, "will have the information, you will require for your mission."
There is another uncomfortable pause, and then he states, "Fight well." He nods to an officer at the door, who steps out and your escort is there waiting to return you to your quarters.
Simon stays quiet on the preferences, knowing from experience that he would be completely out voted on preferring to stay and defend from the arrival of the giant's army.
"We thank you for all of your help, and we look forward to helping defend your home. Best of luck to you all."
Simon does the H.-C. N., and goes with the escort.
The group is escorted back to their quarters. The commander says "Stay here until Head Marshal Hawke returns, then you will get a mission." The commander seems less gruff, but there is only so much improvement possible with this man, and perhaps all the dwarves here.
He closes the door, and again sentries are post outside.
Xanya curtsies as if nothing happened. "Thank you. We will talk with him. See you later." She finishes with a wink at the gruff dwarf before following the others.
Once back to their quarters she says. "Well, that went well, at least until the end... Sorry. Hope we'll be able to deal with Hawke even better. Let me summon Cryxial. Maybe Hawke will want to see him? And it would really help if we could get a channel." She jumps down on the bed and starts rolling around, making sounds that sounds more like moans than chanting. After a minute of wiggling around Cryxial suddenly appears and she hugs him closely.
"Must be too soon for humor, that or they see me still as an agent of the enemy. I'm sure we will see others of my kind out there. We should rest and focus on the task to come. I will prepare myself for battle."
Before leaving The Thain's war room, Quassine bows low to all in the room. After the commander drops the group off at our quarters, Quassine bows high to him.
Quassine shrugs, "I am sure our initial meeting may be about the same with Hawke as it was with The Thain so let's be serious until we prove ourselves or at the very least, observe Marshal Hawke's demeanor. Besides, aren't dwarves always serious before battle and when they don't trust their company? I mean really, they are used to most of us being sworn enemies and now they are working with us and we are throwing them off with our diplomatic skills. I am positive once we prove ourselves, they will relax and we will be able to joke with them when the time is right." Then Quassine nods in agreement, "Time to meditate and prepare just in case Hawke wants to test us immediately."
"That went fairly well."
Simon smiles happily as he saunters into the room, tail swishing back and forth with his hips.
He takes a post on a chair at the table, stepping onto the seat with a short fan of his wings, turning on the ball of his foot, and crouching with his elbows on his knees and fingers laced and flat to support his chin as his wings make a half circle around him and his tail curls around his feet.
"I'm going to wait until we're outside to summon Aster. He hates the feeling of stone under his feet. It'll probably be easier to get around too. They seem to prefer us in smaller groups."
Day 5 - Late Afternoon
Your group is getting antsy in the quarters. They bring you more food and water one time, and a servant comes to empty the chamberpots. They inform you that Head Marshal Hawke is on his way and when he arrives, you will be meeting with him and some of the marshals to determine what your role will be in taking on the giants.
You wait for a few more hours and take some more food and eventually the knock comes.
"Follow us, we will take you now to the planning room."
Again with a heavily armed escort you are taken through more tunnels, halls and locked doors.
You are led into a large room with Marshal Hawke standing at the front of the room. Many others of your brothers and sisters are also assembling and filing in with escorts. Marshal Hawke stands at the front with some other marshals and he is holding a large scroll. A big map is hanging from the wall.
The room is lined with benches for everyone to sit on.
He waits patiently while the groups file in.
As soon as Quassine files into the room, he bows low to Marshal Hawke then proceeds to a bench with his group.
Xanya spends the waiting time doing random things. Dancing, singing and making noise with her innate abilities. She tries to not be an annoyance for the rest of the party though. She'll also discuss their situation with the others. She doesn't like that Goodwin is gone and that they don't know much about the world, but she is optimistic that they can get through this.
Right before entering the room Xanya once again casts guidance on herself. Xanya comes into the room with a happy saunter. Not riding Cryxial indoors this time, though he is walking by her side. She curtsies sweetly to the marshal and goes over to the benches, but doesn't sit as she hasn't been offered that yet. She recognizes the man from the goatling camp "Greetings Marshal Hawke, it's a pleasure to finally busy. I recognize you from your trip to the goatling village. I am Xanya Zellor and my compansions are Quassine Alator, Simon Saito, Goliath, War Scion of Ragathiel, Kiki Bitterdew and last but not least Cryxial, my trusted companion, mount and spirit guide. Thank you for taking time out of what is undoubtedly a busy day to meet with us. We already talked with Thain Yarvik Ironfist Iv and agreed to aid you in defense against this evil invasion. He sent us to you to best figure out what to do with us. You probably know some if not all of this already though, you are a smart man. May we sit?"
The Head Marshal nods and waves his hand, "Yah, have a seat. We don't need to be so formal here. This isn't a tea party. We got work to do." He doesn't seem to be particularly happy that you brought Cryxial, but you suspect he realizes its not an animal and isn't like to chew on the furniture or poop on the rugs. You also get the impression he doesn't have time or energy to deal with it.
"OK, not everyone is here yet, but that is to be expected. Let's get this rolling and I can dole out duties if we get any other recruits from your people. Here is what is happening. A fire giant name Rambanchus, self stylized as a king of some sort, has been mighy successful in raising an army of monsters to come and sack this fort. This fort, as you know is a bastion of power in this wilderness and is fairly impregnable against your run of the mill ragtag band of orcs or what have you. A lot of trade and resources come down the river, past the dam and on to the towns and cities of the kingdom. The economy of this is at stake. Clearly if a major army appeared, it would be met with an equal army sent by the king. However we are not at war with anyone, and you don't often see that level of organization among the tribes of the various humanoid races."
"This is something a little different, not an army, but not just a raiding force bent on stealing a few cows. Due to the unique nature and powers of the creatures the enemies have assembled, we need to unique response. The Thain has already determined to not ask for aid from the King, feeling as though it is not needed, wishing to deal with it himself. Dwarven pride and all that."
"Anyhow, we know that Rambanchus has divided his forces into smaller groups, able to move faster. They are also not crossing that great of an area. They don't need supply trains and a giants can carry a lot of food for the few weeks it would take to come here and wreak havoc. We know that there are plenty of orcs, goblinoids, ogres, trolls, ettins and cyclops among the forces. Apparently Rambanchus has been quite successful in emptying the hills and mountains of these creatures and forming them into some sort of band with the promise of war, food, and riches. They are stemming from the mountains to the north. These rugged areas are harsh and many of the ranges are covered in the black ice, but beneath the ice lie hundreds of miles of tunnels and open areas. The ranges are volcanic in origin and large portions of the ice have melted leaving, huge caverns that could hold entire towns. A griffon rider cannot see any of this from the sky. We don't even have maps of what lies under the ice. Some of these bands have come to the surface and we are seeing them moving."
"Your role is to pick a group of these creatures and strike at them. Whether through full assault or through sowing fear, doubt, dissent, or creating chaos to cause these groups to break apart or fail, I don't care. We need people willing to take these risks. My riders are already spread thing, and this is not the kind of things they do. The dwarves are slow moving and would just as soon meet these forces head on in battle to the last one standing. That won't always work. If you can manage it great, otherwise get in, and get out. While we have these individual groups weakened, slowed or eliminated, we can focus on the leadership, which will be much much more difficult. We know little so far, but with some magical scrying and divination we have discovered he is no slouch. To prove this, our scrying was blocked shortly after our first attempts. Rambanchus has skilled arcane and or divine magic aiding him as well. "
"None the less, with some luck most of them won't even make it here, and will give up without a cohesive force or leader."
"I have identified on these maps where these sub-groups are moving from. As mentioned most are some combination of humanoids, giant types and the like. They have recently added aerial support, manticores, wyverns, and they have hell hound scouts as well as other minions. Expect to encounter other creatures in their service a well, many that we have not seen yet. Our plan is simple. For those of you going, pick a spot on the map to travel to, strike at the group and do as much damage as you can for as long as you can. If you have to fall back or return here, do so. We would rather have the information learned from a failed assault than have you throw your lives away."
"We can provide equipment for this from our stores, but we don't have gear for large sizes, like ogres or minotaurs, or other exotic weapons or special materials premade. Some of this can be fashioned, but clearly you can't make a suit of ogre sized armor over night. Keep your requests logical. The Thain has authorized roughly 100 gold per person in supplies. This includes healing potions. He has authorized that you may keep any spoils, but you must report it because we need to know the level of wealth, weaponry, armor, and magic that these enemies have. If they are raiding ancient ruins, lairs and tombs, we wish to see the items to record from what era and culture they come from."
"You probably have a lot of questions. I can take a few. Keep them brief, but clearly I wish to answer them if they are important."
@Xanya, yes the share languages is still running.
Additionally, Hawke seems to be using your Common Tongue via magical aid.
Head Marshal Hawke elaborates further, "Each group seems to be led by a fire giant, along with a smattering of lesser giants or humanoids like ogres, and a band of goblinoids, orcs or the like. Many groups have some other monsters along as well, whatever they could convince to join on it seems."
"Since the addition of wyverns and manticores and other flying beings, we have not been able to gather as much information through scouting. We have tried divination, but it is time consuming and costly and we are out of time."
"If you are in, pick a spot on the map and we will assign it your group, and we will get you outfitted and on your way."
"You don't have any information about what we might face in the different locations right? Do you have anything that can help against fire? Sounds like something the fire giants would use. I would like a saddle for Cryxial. I will be able to work much better if properly mounted. Will it be possible to alter one of your saddles for this purpose? Some armor would be nice too. Ideally a mithral breastplate, but I understand that is way out of the budget,. Studded Leather would do nicely, but maybe I'm to small for what you got? Surely you got something fitting halflings or gnomes? Some chakram's would be nice too, in case I can't reach our enemies. You said they had flying creatures as well. Kiki probably needs armor as well. Do you have rosewood armor? I heard her mention that previously. She is more dexterous than me, so either that or a normal leather armor would serve her better than me. I don't suppose you have something that can serve as tiny short swords? It's about the same as a small dagger I suppose. So a dagger sized for a halfling or gnome. Wakazaki's would be ideal, but I'm guessing you don't have that." Xanya strokes Cryxial and Kiki affectionately as she talks about gear for them.
"Ok there, well nothing to help against fire. I will see about potions, but our people are backlogged as it is."
He walks over and looks at Cryxial, "Might be we can modify a saddle for the creature." He scribbles something on a piece of paper with a quill. "Mithral breastplate, dream on. Studded leather it is. We have armor for small people, a few tweaks it should work." he scrawls some more stuff. "Chakrams, no, none o' that exotic stuff. How about a crossbow? Rosewood armor, good one, hah, umm no. Ok, some tiny daggers for the spider..person. No wakizashis, are you kidding? These are dwarven smiths."
"Thank you for what you can provide. It'll help a lot. A crossbow wouldn't let me hit the enemies with my full strength. Do you have any other thrown weapons? Pilums? Amentum Javelins? Also I guess some rope with a grappling would be nice, maybe some flint and steel, chalk and charcoal? you never know when you might need such gear. Are there any really tiny creatures, like swarms with the invaders? If so, some flasks of acid or alchemist's fire would nice. I would make it myself, I'm quite good at it, but I don't have the raw materials. I could probably make quite a bit of alchemical items while we travel, so if you have just the raw materials that would help out a lot."
"Have you fought against these creatures before? Do you know what kind of tactics they employ or what weapons they use? Are there anything they are particularly vulnerable or resistant to, magic, items?"
"Thank you for this chance of valor marshal. Javelins would be welcome. Especially some longer ones as some men are longer then others. A fire giant is a mighty foe. My tribe was ruled by hill giants. If possible I would request a Scroll of Obscuring Mist, Magic Weapon, Ice Armor, and Divine Favor."
He writes some more information on his paper. "Some of those may be difficult to come by quickly."
"Whatever can be provided is fine. I have my strength and conviction. I need little else." He bows to the Dwarf.
"I would volunteer us to take on the most dangerous of targets, but I can not put my brothers and sisters at risk. We will accept whatever mission you need us on Marshal."
"I agree with Goliath, let's not hesitate at all. If we have to wait for stuff, I would rather head out at once. A saddle would be nice, how long would that take?"
"If I get someone working on a saddle today, we might have it tweaked by the morning. Would you wish to leave in the morning? Oh, and right now, well we don't know the most dangerous of these advance groups. Clearly the leader and his entourage will be the mots dangerous but that will be the main force, and we don't expect any one group to tackle them."
He paces back and forth a bit in thought. "We can probably round up the rest of the stuff to by morning. How does that sound?"
When Marshal Hawke approaches Quassine, Quassine bows low. And since the magical language spell is active, Quassine speaks normally, "Well met Most Valorous Head Marshal Hawke, I am Quassine Alator. All I wish for is a Masterwork Backpack and a Portable Alchemist Kit with supplies to make various Alchemical Items. I wanted to make a backpack of high quality from the materials the Goatlings gave us, however the leather was not fine enough and the tools were rudimentary at best but still a humble gift. In addition and if a Masterwork Backpack can be granted, I would like a crossbow with a quiver of 30 bolts. And oh, one more thing, thieves tools of masterwork quality and if you prefer to grant them as we leave, that sounds good too. Since you do not know us and most of us are traditional enemies of Dwarves and Humans, I am most humbled by whatever you feel I or we should need to be a benefit to your cause and in turn, ours. And tomorrow morning delivery sounds great!"
Quassine bows low again.
Hawke nods at Quassine, "What ya be needin lock picks and drills and stuff for out in the wilds? Alchemical kit we should be able to round up from the gnome alchemists. Why do you need a masterwork backpack for the mission? Won't a regular one do?"
Goliath's belly growls quite loud, loud enough fore others to hear.
"Oh and maybe some provisions so we don't need to distract ourselves with hunting. If that is not too much to ask, surely if we are to die, a request of a full stomach is within reason."
He rubs his belly while giving a simple laugh.
He writes some more information on his paper. "Some of those may be difficult to come by quickly."
"I didn't mean actual potions, but rather the raw materials required to make some. I'm quite good at brewing potions myself and we got spells to put in them as well, but we are lacking the various ingredients. Would it be too much to ask to get some of that?"
"As for what we might need tools for... We don't know their tactics, they could be using traps and being able to disable those would be nice."