Quateros Revisited

Game Master sunshadow21

Time passes, and you all find yourself in Borentia, this time summoned specifically for some purpose yet unknown to you. It's been a year and a summer since that fateful lottery, and though things started out promising, you can't help but feel that at least some of the promise never came to be, even if you were able to make what most would consider a successful go at your respective paths.

The group in the south, after defeating the spider nest, found inside the cave system a path into the Great Light, which turned out to be rather dull. Stairs, a barely functional freight elevator, a storage floor for the fuel, and a light that could be fixed if someone really wanted to take the time to do so. Still, they reported it and the spider eggs to their employers, who sent out a team to secure the peninsula and explore their options. After a couple of months of trying to investigate the origins of the spider nest, and finding nothing, not even a nibble, they finally settle into the business of starting the tavern/inn as a business retreat for ATA operatives and executives. Now, however, at least a few of you have been summoned to Borentia for a special assignment, which is a bit unusual because it's fall, and they are usually wrapping up projects at this time, not starting new ones.

The group in the north explored several old ruins in the Great Waste and the Iron Valley, but none of them produce anything particularly interesting, at least as far as the party is concerned. There are some notable architectural discoveries made, but really all the ruins they explore raise more questions and answer few, if any, of them. It is clear that there is much to understand about the mysterious vanishing overlords of the past. Still, the jobs pay you well enough, and you get a decent amount of training in the process, so it's not a total loss. Now, as you were just starting to think about settling into another winter of the north, you get a summons to Borentia for an urgent task.
------
You are called into one of the side drawrooms of the main headquarters. It's a comfortable room, simple but elegant, and clearly not where field agents typically get their briefings, raising your curiosity that much further. You are told that someone will be along shortly to explain your summons and to help yourself to the refreshments while you wait. There are a number of folks in the room, some you know, some that you don't, and a small conversation is struck as all of you wait to see what turn your path of destiny is about to take this time.

Crispin helps himself to the refreshments noting the food is quite a bit better than the the last time he was here. He finds a chair that allows him to view the entire room without being obvious. He looks around the room seeing who he might know. Zhiyo is here but none of the others he was hopping Twitchy might have been invited and all of the others. Until he gets a handle on what is happening he observes the others waiting to see the talent that shows up.

Morbak enters the room, and is almost immidiately asailed the smell of various foods. Having developed a hefty appetite from the long road, the Half-Orc indulges himself to the different meats and some mead.

Crispin smiles when he sees Morbak and waves to get his attention. "Hail, Morbak

Morbak looks around to see who called him. After a couple of moments, he spots a familiar little fellow. A Halfling he hadn't seen since the spider nest, where Morbak refused to let any escape and left to track down the rest. To no avail, but his hunt never stopped.

Despite the pain that memory caused, the Half-Orc responded, "Hail, Crispin. Fancy seeing you here. I assume you received a summons as well?"

Crispin saw the pain of rememberance cross his face he kne the memory that as there the time of the spiders when Crispin the rest had failed.

shaking off that memory "Yes sir I was, I am a bit excited to see what they have in store for us this time, come join me for a drink."

"Certainly, old friend."

Grabs another flagon of mead and joins Crispin.

Crispin smiles as Morbak joins him it feels good to see those he knew they are the closest thing to family he has now.

"Good to see you." Crispin stands on his chair to be eye level with Morbak and extends his hand "I hope the time has treated you well."

Evrail sits in one corner of the room, waiting to see what the summons was all about. He watches the Halfling and Half-Orc speak to each other. He than turns back seeming to be lost in thought.

Takes a swig of mead, set the flagon down, and says, "Not as well as I would have hoped, haven't seen a single vermin since I started my hunt." Takes another draught of mead.

Taking a swig himself, he looks up at the half-Orc, "Vermin comes in many sizes and shapes sir, I know I had to deal with a one of the human variety while we were apart." he pauses "What type of Vermin are you looking for.

Looking at Crispin, he states simply, "The eight-legged kind."

Dotting. Don't have a lot of time at the moment, but I'll get a better post up sometime today.

Crispin looks down "Oh, those kind" he takes a drink finishing it off "I think we need more alcohol"

Atokos nods to Evrail as he enters, taking a seat nearby. As he hears the conversation going on, he pipes up. "More Alcohol is seldom a bad thing.

"No it is not, would you care to join us." he looks down at his empty cup "We just talking about the lottery from last year and what they might have in store for us this time." Hoping to change the subject from the subject of vermin.

Morbak gets up and asks, "What do you want?"

"I'll have what ever you are, while you are getting drinks I'll grab us some more food." Crispin still not used to being served needs to do something to help. He gets up and heads to the food table.

"Mead it is then." Heads over to the refreshment table and grabs a couple of flagons.

Once back the table, and after Crispin gets back, Morbak asks, "So... how has the past year treated you?"

Crispin brings back a platter of food and retakes his seat as Morbak asks his question thinking how to properly answer, then just comes out with it. "It did not go as well as I had hoped." he caresses the dagger his former Mistress gave him "I had to attend a funeral."

"Sorry to hear that, my friend." the Half-Orc replied as he reached for the chicken. "When was this?"

"It was about 5 months back, my former employer." the way that Crispin says employer there could be more to it "She passed away before her time."

Atokos nods solemnly, getting himself a mug of mead. "Funeral... Sorry to hear that, friend. A drink to your former employer, then," he says, raising his mug.

Crispin raises his glass "To Lady Miranda" he drinks his fresh mug in one shot.

Morbak raises his mug as well, then drains it in one swallow.

Three men enter the room. One is wearing the colors of the ATA and is clearly an official of some importance. One wears the clothes of a mariner, and his entire bearing backs it up. The last is tall, has silver hair, and is wearing an outfit that seems like it would be more fitting in the desert than here. The company official speaks, "Thank you for coming on short notice. We have recently had something fall into our laps that requires both discretion and immediate action. Sir Agor and Sur'kil here can explain." With that he steps back and allows the others to take over. The mariner speaks first, "I am Sir Agor of the Tunoth Confederacy. The whole matter began earlier this year when I led a colonization squadron to a promising small island along the southerly edge of the Western Zerit Sea that lay close to our holdings on the southern tip of the continent.

At any rate, we arrived in mid spring, and got to work building up a small settlement by a freshwater river that flowed into the bay. Things progressed as expected, the lizardfolk pretty much left us alone as long as we stuck to the plains and stayed out of the marsh, and than the problems began when one of our trading parties got lost in the marshes and stumbled upon an ancient ruin. Their lizardfolk guides tried to keep them from disturbing it, but they ignored the advice, and decided to explore a bit. They found a pair of sleeping black dragons that, when pressed, the lizardfolk said were the guardians, and would only be awaken when the time of the rebirth was at hand. They also found a sealed door that the lizardfolk were terrified of, and when the guide wasn't looking, managed to unseal it, only to discover it was a false door. Disappointed, they mentioned nothing of that last part to their guide, and the party kept on traveling. This was early summer; by mid-summer, it was clear that something was wrong in the marshes, and the previously peaceful lizardfolk were getting increasingly agiated. That agitation zenithed in an attack on our settlement, resulting in the capture of many women and children, last month. We struck back, trying to reclaim our people, and traced them to the afore mentioned temple where apparently the dragons had waken up, and many of the lizardfolk had taken up residence to serve these new "gods". We are able to recover a few of those taken captive, but something about them was different. They spoke stories of strange dreams, of dragons flying in the sky, men growing wings to join them, and similar other visions. Also, many of them manifested strange new powers and abilities. They were sent back to our main city for further investigation, and after some conversations with various scholars and priests, we came to the ATA to seek what help they might be able to provide to resolve this matter in exchange for a trade agreement if they would help us secure the island. To that end, here I am, and here are you. That is all I have to say." He nods to Sur'kil and falls silent.

Sur'kil takes over, his smooth quiet voice a sharp contrast to the martial intonations of Sir Agor. "We believe that this temple dates back to the early Dragon Civil War, and as such is both intriguing and dangerous at the same time. While there are theories as to what it's function was, it is clear that something powerful lies hidden there, and must be dealt with as soon as possible."

The company official speaks up once more. "You have been chosen for your skills as both merchants and warriors for this task. Ordinarily we try to avoid sailing this time of year, as the seas can get quite rough, but we have arranged a couple of ships to take you, Sur'kil, and Sir Agor back to Freeharbor, the Confederacy's primary city in these regions, and where the affected individuals have been taken for observation. Once you have received a full briefing there, the ships will take you on to the island where you are to deal with the dragons and find out, and to the extent possible, deal with, whatever it is that has been reawakened. Do you have any questions at this time?"

"So you want us to stop some black dragons, lizard folk and any empowered people that they may changed?" Evrail asks after hearing the whole story.

Hmmm..... Sounds interesting. I can't think of any questions, at least not right now.

Sorry for not replying to the big post earlier, turns out someone was logging onto my computer and doing things to bother me, like resetting my "x new" counters.

"You had me at 'old ruins'" Zhiyo smiles amusedly.

"We need to resolve the situation. If that means killing everything that gets in your way, resolution is resolution. I suspect, though, that you will find trying to kill what is probably an entire tribe's worth of lizardfolk and two black dragons is going to be easier said than done, and I would recommend at least considering alternate approaches when they present themselves." The company representative answers Evrail's question.

Hmmm, this sounds interesting "What worries me is these powers they are getting, this doesn't seem right."

"Something had to be very powerful to have two black dragons serve guard duty, and thus whatever a really powerful person or group wants to guard that badly must be something powerful or dangerous. Thus to not be worried about that would be foolish."

Morbak leans over to Crispin and whispers, "Do you think Sylvia or her parents might know anything about this? If so, we should see about getting word to them somehow."

whispering back "That is a good idea they might be able to help or we at least warn them."

"If you have no further questions, you are to escort Sur'kil here to the Roderick Estate, as if that was the entire reason you were summoned here in the first place, where you will find transport waiting for you to the ships that will take you to your destination."

Briefly, the ATA is the one that actually bought the estate, as it came attached to a fair bit of land, and you could not afford it on your own. They have set up a small, but pleasant company retreat on the property. Still, they did recognize your role in making the purchase possible, and you were able to set up your tavern just outside the compound with most of the fees and costs on the admin side of things being waived.

"Very well."
Zhiyo awaits Sur'kil.

Awww, so do we share our profits with the ATA as well?

No, you own the tavern, and have a long term, cheap lease with the ATA on the land. Basically, they own the estate, and have leased out plots of land to folks like yourself to set up the businesses such an estate requires. You and Rolanda, who had a tidy nest egg herself and is the one who runs the day to day affairs of the place, share the profits, which thus far have been mostly paying off the initial costs, but as the initial costs are paid for, even with some set aside for future growth, it promises to be a tidy sum for each partner. The retreat is a popular destination amongst the ATA for those seeking a break and/or a discreet place to do business.

"Understood" looking at Morbak "looks like we are off on more travels together."

You realize this means we will meet a bunch of spiders now right? cause Morbak is a spider magnet!"

"Not if this past year is any indication." the Half-Orc replies to the Sorcerer.

You get everything together, and the journey back is quiet. You see signs of winter approaching here and there, but fall still dominates as farmers are out harvesting their crops.

Go ahead and RP the trip. I'll put a post up tomorrow for when you approach your destination.

"Nice breeze today. I hope we can get there before snow sets in. I love snow but it makes travel rather difficult. When I was young, we would have the battles where we threw balls of snow at each other all through town. The adults of would yell at us every time a stray snowball hit them it was fun. I remember one time when Gary got tackled just as he threw a snowball, and it went high right into the window of the house above us, and into the pie Mrs. Silvertail was making. She was not happy. We ran like never before." He recalls with a fair amount of humor.

"I loved snow fights back home that was one of the only times all the kids got to play together."

Atokos thinks for a while. "Yeah, I think we had a snowball fight or two back when I was growing up. Quite fun. Well, except for the snow that gets caught up against your skin in your clothes if you're not bundled up enough. That wasn't much fun," he says, shivering at the thought

Morbak just sits by his companions, gazing off into the horizon, lost in thought.

Zhiyo looks quizzically for a moment then a flash of understanding sweeps his face and he goes back to memory lane.

You are about a day's travel from your destination and setting up camp for the evening. Sur'kil has been quiet for more most of the trip, watching each of you in turn very intensely, as if examining your very soul.

I need a watch order.

I can go any watch I have no spells to deal with.

I'll take first.

I can also go on any watch.