Db3's Narrator's page

Grinning and walking through the forest with Rikka still perched on her head, Sylvia leads you for about an hour before she stops and looks around. There doesn't appear to be anything or anyone around though..

"Bad animals have been here. They weren't around here yesterday though.." She starts moving again, without explanation, and it's not long before she leads to what appears to be the other side of the forest. The trip through should have taken the better part of two days though..

You can see tents in the distance.

"Those weren't there yesterday either! Why are the bad animals coming to our forest?"

She is trustworthy.

Sylvia giggles again as Fitzwater winks and Rikka growls.

"Mama said I can help them through the forest so the don't get surprised by a bad animal camp. She also said not to take anyone to the house unless it was an emergency."

Sorry, got caught up in some other things.

Sylvia giggles as Rikka scurries up to sit on her head.

"So you are not helping the bad animals? Are you fighting them?" She asks Lobo. "Mama said I could help anyone fighting them as long as I didn't fight."

She's moved to the ground actually.

Sylvia frowns at Lobo's display of aggression.

"Why are you mad? I'm not going to hurt, I'm a good girl! Mama's says I'll grow up to protect these woods one day." She says, hurt. Then her eyes widen and she takes a step back. "You're not some of the bad animals, are you?"

Sylvia tilts her head to the side and says, in perfect Noble Fauna, "Why don't you have time to play?"

"Nice to meet you Sylvia. I'm Lily. Is your mother nearby? And when you say bad men and animals, do you mean Drostardy or Karakia by chance?"

"Hi Lily! No, Momma went to get some food and said I could play while she's gone." She explains. "What's Drostardy and Karakia?"

"And where did the kitty cat go?"

Rikka smells the acrid scent that Minna mentioned coming from the newcomer, though it's faint. The new girl smiles sweetly down at the squirrel before looking back to Lily.

"I'm Sylvia. Momma says that some of the men and animals are bad, and that we should stay away from them, but you don't seem bad. The bad men and animals don't stay in one place long either. Momma says she doesn't know why they keep moving."

She looks like THIS except she is wearing a slight tattered green dress. She looks to be about seven or eight years old.

Quietly, the manling Lily spotted crawls along the branch and disappears behind the trunk of the tree. Moments later you hear a sweet voice from behind you.

"Hi Miss! Are these your friends?" The small child asks Lily. "It's good to have friend with you in the forest right now, bad men and animals have been moving in it."

While Fitz and Rikka are oblivious to the scent clinging to the wind, both Minna and Lobo catch a strange scent carried on the breeze...

Lily spies something out of place...

Lobo manages to find the scent again(with some help) and the mix of`animals starts following the trail again. After an hour of travel, everyone gets the strangest feeling.. like their being watched.

I'll need two Perception checks from everyone. One for sight and one for scent.

"Of course." The Sheriff says as he opens the door and motions for you to come inside. He leads you a fairly decent sized room with a table surrounded by chairs. "Now, perhaps you could refresh my memory? It's been a strange day and I fear I may have forgotten important details needed for this meeting."

My way of getting Eadric to bring the others up to speed. :)

Lobo's Survival: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10

With the bodies of the dogs giving off their scent rather strongly, Lobo can find the trail they took to get to the meeting with only a bit of time spent searching. Unfortunately, the farther the group travels, the harder it is to pick up the scent.

You believe you have made it about halfway to your destination.

I belatedly offer the same things as Beckett and Eadric

While Luminiere haggles her way to slightly fairer prices, Eadric looks around for anyone following them and finds that the group seems to be on their own for now. If asked, Lumi doesn't notice anyone either.

When I was toying around with the thought of having you followed, I got 22 total for a Stealth roll. I decided to go easy on you though. :)

Making your way through the market is fairly easy, and you make it to the Sheriff's house on time(or at least fairly close to on time). He's actually outside talking to someone, though arguing may be a better word, and he sends the man away when he sees you.

"The day hasn't gone badly for me yet, save for having to get my window fixed. How have you faired?" He seems a bit more relaxed to Eadric than he was earlier.

<tap, tap, taps mic> Hello? Is this thing still on?

Yes... and it's a mimic! 0_0

I was actually kinda waiting for you guys to leave for the Sheriff's, since lunch is over, though now I realize I probably shouldn't have waited a tenday...

As you get ready to leave, Leon and the other three older children separate the younger kids into groups. After a bit of discussion, Leon is left free of children and he quickly takes his leave. Keiyanna casts a worried look his way as leaves, but doesn't move to stop him.

"Well, I wish you three all the luck I can. Other than that.. be careful and stay out of trouble. Making a fuss will help no one."

Initiative
Lobo
Minna
Rikka
Hunting Dogs
Fitz

Lobo howls and steps between the dogs and the rest of his group, while Minna hisses and spits fire at one. Rikka is unsuccessful in scaring either of them.

The two canines seem to laugh at Lobo, snarling their replies as they close in to snap at him.

Hunting Dog 1's Bite:1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6
Damage:1d4 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10

Hunting Dog 2's Bite:1d20 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14
Damage:1d4 + 7 ⇒ (4) + 7 = 11

While both of their jaws snap shut with brutal force, neither manages to sink his teeth past Lobo's(now thicker) fur.

At this point it is Fitz's turn. Since we don't know how long he's to be gone, I'll wait a bit before taking his actions for him. Eric could if I am not available of course.

Initiative
Rikka/Minna
Even Rikka goes first:1d20 ⇒ 17
Hunting Dogs
Fitz

One of the dogs yelp as the fire's heat gets past it's barding, but it keeps running even as Minna runs for the trees...

Rikka is up, the dogs are within 30ft.

"So, now that we are human free," Kotori says as he glides gently down to the ground. "We can discuss the various ways you can get to Karakia from here, or at least some their mobile nests or 'camps' as they call them. You should stay away from hunting trails the farther away from here you go, Karakians will be using them as well. Hmm... the entire forest could be considered hunting trails though..."

"Let me see if I can spot a quick trail." With powerful flaps of his wings, Kotori shoots up into the air and begins to glide around looking for a trail that looks less used than others. Those of you watching him notice a small black dot even higher than Kotori is following the same path as him.. then it dives and collides with the owl.

At the same time the bays of hunting hounds echo through the air and moments later two dogs burst into the clearing and charge right at the group!

Initiative!
Enemies:1d20 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7

Two kingdoms at war. One the righteous Drostardy, the other the tyrannical Karakia. It almost sounds like the start of a minstrel's tale. Nothing can get a young soldier's blood pumping like the thought of battle, nothing can change their way of thinking quicker that feeling a sword cut into their flesh...

But this war is not fought by man alone. No, Karakia found allies in the most unusual of places: the forest. An unfair advantage to be sure, had not the good forest-folk gotten word of this alliance. How they got the news is unclear, but now they are mobilizing to make the war fair again, and protect the good people of Drostardy from their evil kin.

For if their existence is made common knowledge, they shall not know peace. Legends tell many tales of their kind helping heros survive or making them heroes in the first place, but each time they are written off as shapechanged fey or even gods.

Now they must ask themselves a question. Do they follow the Law of Challenge or Serve to the word and protect Drostardy, possibly revealing themselves, or do they let the kingdom fall and live under Karakia's rule? Each must make their own decision.

I'm going to let Eric take over from here, as this little intro was suprisingly hard for me to right... :(

"Little one. Who else has dreamed of, . . . Zipper?", and after thinking about it a moment, "Or more importantly, who is it that has not dreamed of Zipper? Is there anyone that is affraid of Zipper, or other dreams here?"

"Um.." Lily says as she thinks. "Momma K says she hasn't seen Zipper. Nora, Coren, Leon, and Lara haven't either." She points to the four oldest children as she says their names. "But no one is afraid of him. He's really nice."

well, i guess being blessed with timelessness comes with not only that, but the envy of various scholars. and i have always highly valued being able to hold onto a child's innocence. and with everyone's approval, i'd like to instead of trying to remember the years, live under my perpetual appearant age as one of Keiyanna's ward's yet again.

"I haven't an issue with that, and maybe it might help to ease her burden."

"I have no problem with you staying here, but I think you are chronologically old enough to no longer consider a ward. Having someone who doesn't look like an adult should help keep some of the younger kids from getting into too much trouble around the house." Keiyanna chimes in as she cleans the face of a especially messy child.

I know in the Races of Destiny book they had an age chart, but I don't have the book with me right now. Also, just checking in on the conversation.

And out of habit, she has kept buying honey over the years. More so than she actually needs, but she's gotten a good deal! ;)

Lily, the young gnome, looks up from her food as she hears the conversation between Eadric and Luminiere. She quickly gets up and moves to sit next to Lumi, where she begins to talk excitedly.

"You've met Zipper too? He's really nice, huh? I've got a nice blue ribbon I want to tie on his tail but he won't let me! He can jump from bed to bed too and I'm try to do it too but I can't." She takes a deep breath and a bite of her food before she continues. "Sometimes I don't even have to be asleep to play with him! He gets really tall and stays to play for a little bit but he always leaves before I'm ready to go to sleep! One time he even took me up to the roof to see the moon. I've never seen the moon so big before, it was like I could reach out a grab it! But's it probably really heavy, so I might drop it, right?"

"Lumi, meet Liliana, or Lily for short. She's got quite an imagination and daydreams all the time." Keiyanna says. "If you call share a story she's never heard, you're pretty much her friend forever. And Lily, don't talk with your mouth full, it's impolite!" She scolds lightly. Three other children immediately stop talking and swallow, trying to avoid a scolding themselves.

"Yes Momma K." Lily says(after swallowing her food of course).

It is possible, but I think we may need to wait another day at least to be sure. If you are the only one left, do you feel up to doing this by yourself?

Okay, I got my NPC names mixed up, the girl's name is Lara.

Children NPCs you have met that have names.
Leon: Human male. One of a set of "Troublemakers"(other members currently unknown). First met by Basha and Eadric.
Coren: Half-Orc male. Secretly works in a forge. First met by Beckett.
Nora: Human female. Watches small groups of children when they want to go out. First met by Luminiere.
Lara: Human female. First met by Eadric, Luminiere, and Beckett.

The best laid plans of DMs and dragons...

Everyone
"Well then, I think we need to be very careful with our little 'farm'." Keiyanna says before she calls the children in for lunch. "I won't let the 'crops' whither though, no matter what blight tries to take hold."

Most of the children are in the kitchen almost immediately for their lunch, but two(Leon and girl whose name you think might be Nora) are late. Leon pauses when he spots Eadric, but otherwise acts like all the others.

Everyone!

Keiyanna comes back to the kitchen with another person in tow..

Eadric and Beckett

"That's a very good idea Eadric, if you can get the sheriff to agree." Keiyanna says as she starts setting out plates. "But Beckett has a point too. The.. deceased family may have already had them buried."

"Oh! I almost forgot! I'll be right back." She says as she hurries out of the room.

Luminiere

The dream begins to waver as you hear someone calling out for you to wake up.

"Lumi dear, it's almost time for lunch."

"Careful how you talk about wizards, Eadric. I wouldn't want you turning into a newt!" Keiyanna says with a weary wink. "Did you meet with the Sheriff like you had planned?"

Eadric and Basha

"Thank you Beckett."

"Lydinia actually sent word that she may not be back for a while. She's helping my other grown child that stayed her investigate a lead." Keiyanna tells you. Azharten was here, but he left when I wasn't looking.. and wasn't Basha with you?"

Beckett and Eadric

"Some help would be appreciated. It's just the simple sandwiches you had when you stayed here, but.." He shoulders fall a bit. "I've been a bit under the weather lately, and I've been needing a bit more help."

"Which reminds me, if one of you could go to the market tomorrow and pick up everything on this list I'd be grateful." She says as she points out the list pinned to the wall.

Eadric and Beckett

As you talk, Leon grows bored an goes into the house. A few moments later Keiyanna walks out.

"Beckett! It's been so long! She says happily. "And Eadric, I hope Leon didn't cause too much trouble for you. Come in, the both of you, I'm making lunch right now and the kids aren't much for conversation when they're trying to sneak into the kitchen and steal a bit of lunch." She ushers you both into the house with that motherly way that allows no argument. Once inside she goes right back to work on lunch, but you can see the stress of the accusations is taking a more visible toll on her as her hands shake..

Luminiere
As interesting as that sounds, Zipper is spoken for already. And we wouldn't need to use an iguana, sine there are already stats for lizard familiars.

Zipper seems surprised by your offer of friendship.

"It is not a lonely as you might think, the children daydream and take naps too, and I usually sleep when there is no one here. But.." He pauses, seemingly worried about something. "It would be nice to have a friend, but I do not think it would work out well. Our ways of helping Keiyanna are vastly different, I think." He jumps to his bed again and lays down on the pillow.

Luminiere

Zipper looks at you for a moment before answering.

"I would love to know the answer to that question myself. The only memories I have from before I was here.. are a call for help and answering."

Luminiere

"Potentially? I know several. Times change, and people change with them. Who you knew then may not be who you know now. I can tell you this: Keiyanna did not commit the murders." The little lizard jumps from the bed it was on to your own. "And my name is Zipper."

Luminiere

"Ah, another here to help. Interesting. Perhaps you won't interfere like the others did. Do you know how you are going to help?"

0.o
No, I think you've got everything. Except that the "dream-invading lizard" refers to you as "children" and was called by someone to protect the Orphanage.

Leon's Sense Motive:1d20 ⇒ 18
Wow, that's just on a plain roll too.

"I saw that.." Leon mutters as he sees Eadric nod at him.

Luminiere
After a while the lizard stirs and stretches before looking around the room and noticing you.

"You are the third new child I have seen in two days. Why are you asleep at this hour?" The small scaly one asks.

I did tell him in a pvp thread we're both in that your were waiting on him...

Re: What did I think Eadric would say.
No comment other than I was going to use yourself against you.

And since the other avatar was meant to scare the players in my "Prisoner's Vacation' game, I thought I new one for this game was appropriate.

Luminiere
The lizard appears to be in perfect health.

"Plan, meet Players. Wait, why aren't you working?"
Seriously, I had an outline for Leon's retort to what I thought you might say, Eadric. But that just went right out the window! XD

Eadric and Beckett
Leon is startled by Eadric's way of introducing him, and keeps a wary eye on him out of habit.

"Uh, hello Beckett.. It's good to meet you."

Luminiere
Like Eadric, you have surprised me, though by asking about something I hadn't thought about.

For the most part, the room seems about the same. One of the strange things about the room is that it looks newer. <- Perception

Eadric
You recognize that he was one of the other orphans from your childhood, whether you remember his name I'll leave up to you.

"How many adults do you know, besides K, that take kids seriously?" He asks, his voice suddenly very soft. "Especially orphans? If I had come up to you when you first got here and said I wanted to help, what would you have said? Keep out of trouble and help around the house, watch the little ones to K can have time to sort things out?"

"Sometimes it's better to ask forgiveness than permission. Sometimes you shouldn't ask for either."

Beckett

"Sure. It's no problem. I just need to go home and hide the apron before someone tells Momma K I've got it."

Once the pie is finished(it was very good) and Coren says farewell to the dwarf, the young half-orc leads you through the town and soon the Orphanage comes into view.. along with a man on a horse who appears to arguing with a young half-elf about Coren's age(in half-elf years anyway).

"Aw, Leon got caught! That guy there is called Eadric, he's one of the people who came back to help Momma K." Having said that, Coren nods goodbye and ducks between the houses to go the backdoor. Probably to hide the blacksmith's apron.

Eadric

"Ha! And they say I lose my temper to easily! I did what I believe I had too, what I believe was right, to repay her for everything she's done for us! That's the same reason you're here, isn't? Because it's the right thing and you want to help her?"

"If you think I care about getting in trouble for doing what I think is right, you are wrong."

As you get closer to the Orphanage, you can see a man and one of the orphans walking toward the Orphanage as well, from the opposite direction. When the child spots you, he says something to the man and ducks between the houses.

Luminiere

You are able to get quite close to the lizard without waking it, though it does twitch once. The result of your Stealth check

Beckett

"They're staying at the Orphanage right now, in the spare room. I think that's where they stayed when they were little." He says as he eats the pot pie. "One of them was a preistess, a half-elf I think. Then there was two humans, one scary that had two swords and one that seemed nice. Then there was one that looked a little scary but he cast some really neat spells for the little ones."

"What do you do?" He asks curiously.

Characters being described in order: Lydinia, Azharten, Eadric, Basha.
Sadly, Lydinia, Azharten, and Basha are no longer with us.

That's good to hear! And Eadric is correct, I have used dreams for RP before. In fact...

Luminiere

As you nap, you find yourself dreaming of the room you are in. You can see yourself and what appears to be a small lizard resting on the pillow of the next bed. It appears to be sleeping as well.

This particular lizard was seen by both Basha and Eadric in their dreams, and is somehow connected to the murders.

I hope not! :( It's sad having to go recruit new people so much!

Of course, considering that you and Basha got one of the kids(I did roll) that actually starts stuff..

Eadric
Leon is telling the truth now.

”Just some of the other kids like me, that watch over the little ones when K needs us to. And who's hindering? If you didn't see us following in broad daylight, how were you going to catch a night-time killer?!” Leon snaps. ”Do you even have a single clue?”

He notices you glance back and smiles.

”You split into two groups, so only two of us had to tag along. Adults don't like when kids test them, do they? Makes them feel less safe.”

”And turning me into a newt was more 'juvenile' than anything I've done today.”

Eadric

"It was just for fun. We just wanted to see how long we could follow you without being seen!" He says urgently. "If ya didn't see us then you wouldn't be much help to K, would ya?"

Beckett

"I wanted to make some money to help Momma K. I usually just work the bellows and get the tools."

Eadric
On your way back to the Orphanage, Leon wakes up with some of Basha's spell still effecting him. He tries to clear his eyes by blinking a lot.

"He turned my into a newt, didn't he? That's why I can't see like normal!"

Beckett

"Only on days when I work at the forge. Don't tell people about that though, I've been telling Momma K I've just been doing odd jobs, like carrying food to people's homes and such."

"He makes a spiced chicken pot pie that's pretty good." Coren says as he takes a seat at the bar and orders.

"A nervously broken down storm in a building.. yep, time to get this going." Taron says as he gets up. Kamen follows quickly, but LK takes a moment to say something to Danae.

"Tell her she can start speaking to me soon."

He then walks off into the crowd and manages to disappear from view. A couple minutes late and Taron and Kam are back on stage. They start to play again, but this time, they aren't the ones signing.

"This is for the butterfly."

There's no one else on stage, but someone is still singing into the microphone.

After a few more songs, Taron and Kamenwati take a break. A moment of checking to see if Arielle is watching later and LK is at their side, talking in hushed tones. Whatever they are talking about, they all seem to be in agreement. A few moments later and Taron taps LK's forehead.

Then they all sit in a booth to relax and tell jokes.

Okay, I think we can consider Azharten officially out of the game. We'll give Basha some more time. Until then, carry on like you've got a "bad cop" on your side now as you decide what to do with Leon. After that, he can go to the library he was looking for(kept forgetting about it.. ]: If he doesn't show back up, there were some people in the recruitment thread we can choose as replacements.)

Eadric
After a few people take a closer look at the unconscious boy and recognize him, they roll their eyes and mutter something about it being "just another Toublemaker prank". Upon hearing this, the rest of the people go about their business like nothing has happened. Apparently, Leon has a bit of a reputation as a prankster..

[ooc]Luminiere
As you nap, you find yourself dreaming of the room you are in. You can see yourself and what appears to be a small lizard resting on the pillow of the next bed. It appears to be sleeping as well.

Beckett
"I think so. I don't know where they are right now though. I'd have to ask Leon when I see him, he and Lara thought it would be fun to see how long they could follow them around without being caught. Name's Coren by the way." He says as you arrive at the tavern. He pushes open the doors and calls out his arrival, which is returned in kind by the tavern owner.