It appears for one of solace and control has much to learn as a paladin and much more for the enlighten path he so wishes to journey down. Yuri notices the coins twirling on the table, moves over to the counter, and rings a bell that was tucked under the counter, a very nice silver and gold bell. Within seconds, a blue streak flashes past Hung and over to Yuri, only for a split second does it pause in front of Yuri, she gives a nod and before you could blink the Silver on the table is gone as the blue blur vanishes out the door. The creature looked to be no taller than a Gnome, yet had blue skin and white hair, and very slender, features resemble that of an elf but there was little time to really make a judgment of what sort of creature this was.
Yuri looks up to the gathered group and says:
”Your mes..message sent!”
As for the guard that was listening to the information that was given nods and mentions to the woman speaking; Zorza:
”Ma’am, We will tighten our defensives but as this town is, still growing our staff is limited and we don’t have the man power or the resources to go on a hunt for Ogres. People like you and your friends are most needed around the world these days, few have the courage or the skill to handle threats. We are grateful that you were able to acquire the missing child, and mourn the others that are lost, but we truly don’t have the skills to handle the threat.”
The guard jesters towards the child:
”It appears that your group is highly skilled and has everything under control. May you decide to assist the town; there is a task the Sergeant has for groups with your skill.”
After two hours has passed, a scroll is left on the bar, while a blue streak blurs in and out, and you can still see the scroll spinning in the glass. Yuri looks up and says to the group once more:
”Th..thats for you.”
"Highly skilled maybe, but we haven't officially formed any type of group. It is only coincidence we came together today. There definitely seems to be a need for people willing to risk their well being for a just purpose, so I think it might be very fortunate for us if we did join forces and work collaboratively and split some of these bounty rewards among ourselves. Though this is a discussion for tomorrow as we have scattered for the evening. Needleleaf's daughter will stay in my room tonight, and tomorrow we can collect the reward and split profit." Thas stands from her chair and takes up Suarin's hand to guide her to her room for the night. "Thank you guardsman... er sorry what was your name?"
Before she went to bed, Zorza replied to the guard, "We will speak with sergeant about task. Is paying gig? Then yes, we will be asking him about task."
Up in her room, she continues to sleep, her paws grabbing at the air as she dreams about chasing an elusive ball of yarn.
After what seems like a night that just never ends and a few members of the group having restless sleep such as hung, and Thasitalia, the morning finally dawns. The sounds of birds could be heard chirping a sweet tune, and for some a ray of light was piercing through the room, the curtains hung just right to cast rainbow along the wall yet again from a dangling crystal like charm on the window of every room. The smell of a healthy breakfast is brewing in the belly of the Waywyrn Lodge, as the aroma fills the rooms. Many awake and pace to the floors below where they feast upon a more traditional style menu this early morning consisting of eggs, sausage, and some fashion of grits and bread. A sign at the bottom of the steps and the front of the door reads:
”Welcome Hungry Patrons, Breakfast only 1 silver, 2 Eggs, Sausage, Grits, and Bread. Drinks sold separately!”
While the odd sign brings in customers, it’s very typical of advertisement. Yuri is very busy this morning, though immediately your senses catch you off guard as Krong doesn’t appear at the front bar; A human in her mid 20’s with long red hair and slender form has replaced him on this Friday morning. This lady looks over to each person as they enter the bar, or approach from the steps:
”Morning Love! Would you care to eat breakfast for only a silver.”
Her tone was a bit high but in a relaxed cheerful sense that she was ready to serve as one needed for Breakfast. Yuri was taking care of the food prep as the red hair woman delivered the food as ordered.
Shortly after everyone arrived, a husky women a bit more dressed than when she was first encountered; Ms. Needleleaf. You could still hear the horses outside the Lodge that were pulling her wagon right up to the front door, practically. With a stern look and a bit worn clothing, she looked around and asked the first person she saw.
”Have you seen Mr. Dong, he informed me my daughter was here. Is she here or is this to be made a mockery of me?”
A simple commoner replied, to Ms. Needleleaf:
”Hey miss, I don’t know, you need to ask the bar lady or Mr. Dong.”
Ms. Needleleaf glanced around the room to see if a person would respond, calling out for:
”Mr. Dong!!!, Mr. Dong!!!”
The red head lady responded to her:
”Please Miss, have a seat, I am sure he is resting and will be down shortly”
Ms. Needleleaf still tired from her midnight journey, looked around for an empty seat, and then planted herself rather hard into the chair, her clothing tattered and worn from strenuous travel, but she waited patiently, since she had waited this long a few more moments wouldn’t hurt.
Thas opens her eyes from her what would be the last bout of sleeplessness. Checking on the girl often through the night and worried that the ogre mother was a powerful enough magi to have scryed Thas's location and would soon exact revenge left Thas weary, but not enough to fatigue her with worry.
Thas allows the girl to rest for the duration of all the spell rituals Thas has been following faithfully every morning for the past twenty years and wakes her to dress before descending to the common room to continue to wait, or in this case, reunite with the girl's mother.
Zorza awakes feeling slightly better than she felt the night before, though still quite drained. She cleans, dresses, and arms herself before heading downstairs for breakfast where she orders a plate of the eggs, sausage, grits and bread. Seeing Ms. Needleleaf seated alone at a table, she approaches her and says, "Good morning, Ms. Needleleaf. May I sit with you? Suarin should be down soon. We rescued her from family of ogres. We killed two of them, then escaped. Unfortunately, we arrived too late to save her boyfriend, so she will be needing some comforting, I am thinking. How was road from warehouse? We heard rumor that road is not so safe." Zorza listens to the blacksmith's response, then notices Thasitalia and Suarin descending the stairs. "Look, here is your daughter now."
Hung Dong comes in from outside.
"Hello Ms.Needleleaf"
Qalifa awakes in a room not remembering clearly how he got there. He gets dressed seeing tochraise Curled up on the floor. Pokes him with his foot. wake up lazy bones. I smell breakfast. they proceed down the stairs to the common room. two breakfasts he orders from the strange woman behind the counter. Sitting with his companions. Watching mother and daughter reunite.
Zorza is happy to see more familiar faces. "Good morning, Qalifa. Come, sit, join us. I feel better after resting. Should be ready for next adventure in one week, maybe two."
Vernonia joins the other for breakfast and watches as mother and daughter are reunited.
"It looks like the day has started well. I wonder what adventure awaits us day."
She thinks about the conversation last night between Thasitalia and the guardsman.
"Highly skilled group? Were we really working together as a group? Like a band of adventurers? Protecting the innocent, destroying evil, claiming vast fortunes? Well, maybe? I wonder where this will lead? Besides I have nothing better to do today."
After breakfast is finished and mother and daughter have left she moves over to Thasitalia and says, "Thasitalia, last night you mentioned forming a group. How do we go about this? I would love to join one."
Thas yawns and longs for the days long past when elfs didn't need sleep. She looks over to Vernonia and considers the answer before replying, "Well to be honest, it is no different than when any group of like minded individuals come together for a common purpose. I suppose in our instance we were already in a group, but we really only have banded together out of the need for surviving while we each pursued our own agendas. This isn't a bad thing, but there is room for discussion and better understanding of each other as well as knowing how our training and histories for together to best ensure we succeed. I think there is room for improvement on how we work together but I know that will come in time. An agreement on sharing the spoils would be important to a few of us, I'm sure would be good going forward. The semantics like jobs we do take, causes we support, and group structure are ultimately up to us to decide though."
"Of and a name! Any professional adventuring party worth its salt, as they say, has a name for recognition's sake. My previous group went by the name of the Company of the Tabby Cat, though we were often overshadowed by the infamy of the organization we broke off from. The cat was a pet of the party's leader."
"'Company of Fortune-Telling Cat' is good name," suggests the fraudulent feline fortune-teller with a wink.
Father wind heed your servants call heal this noble cat restore the balance within her body.
Well considering most of us have feathered companions I would suggest The Wind's Raptors. Speaking of which. Has anyone seem Aereck?
Aerek descends the stairs to the public eating area with his spear in one hand and Ruhk sitting calmly upon his shoulder.
After getting a meal to break his fast, the Kellid warrior begins to pay attention to what the others are discussing. At this point he has nothing to add, but continues to listen to his comrades' words.
Zorza feels a surge of positive energy flow through her, utterly undoing the damage done by the undersized ogre occultist. "Thank you, Qalifa. I feel like I could take on infestation of giant bugs. With your help, of course."
"Fair morning to you Aerek, your timing could not have been timed better. It could just be me, but I think we generally are all eager to establish a longer term relationship beyond last nights excursion and work together toward various purposes. The names are amusing enough, so what do you think about the 'Mithril Chain;' after our first precious reward?" Thas says looking at Suarin and blinking so long it looks like for a moment that she might not open her eyes again.
"I was thinking that we should commemorate where we meet in our name. The Company of the Walking Man or Walking Man Company. Something like that"
I think vernonia has a great idea for the name.
"Mithril chainmail is very nice," says Zorza, "but I have never had pleasure of wearing any. Is supposed to be good for climbing and sneaking."
Aerek nods in acknowledgement of Thasitalia's salutation, with Ruhk doing the same.
I am not adverse to us becoming tribe. Surely the Midnight Spirit guided me to this place for a purpose and it would seem that I have found it with you all.
At the mention of the Midnight Spirit, the raven caws before taking flight for the rafters.
The night was long and Suarin needed the rest after such tragedy but the look on her face was not of enjoyment or excitement to see her mother. She walked over to her mother and stood before her, words of a whisper crossed her mouth, that of which even those of great hearing struggled to hear.
Even those who couldn’t hear it noticed the tone at which she said second to her whisper.
”Mother”
Ms. Needleleaf stood and greeted her daughter with a happy tone, and you can even see a tear drop fall from her eye.
”Suarin, my daughter, I am so happy you survived!”
Typically at this point you would see parents hug their children but it was more like the arms patted her on the back, as the daughter failed to return the hug.
”You know you shouldn’t have run off with that hood rat, or you wouldn’t be in this situation.”
The daughter didn’t reply yet again, though you could quickly see her teeth clinch down. Ms. Needleleaf turned to the group and mentioned:
”Yes there the matter of the award, Elven Chain, it’s on my wagon, I have slaved over that suit for several weeks, those links are rather hard to assemble.”
She turned and walked towards the door, and a few seconds later, she returned. She tossed the Heavy elven chain on the table as if it was a feather, though it still weighed 20 lbs.
”I am grateful for your service, though I must be going…Come along dear!
Finishing her tone rather sharply to her daughter, though her daughter moved in command to her mother she still seemed locked in trance of some sort, perhaps it was the lost of her lover or the careless response her mother gave, either way she appeared to show no happiness and possible a bit of anger.
In short, Ms Needleleaf manages to catch up on her work and over the next day, she completes Mr. Thunderscar weapon due to her daughter arrival. Though the day has not changed as of yet.
Creatures-Young Ogre Witch CR2: 100 exp
Creatures-2 Young Ogre CR 3: 135 exp
Conditions: effects/Traps/etc CR 1: 65 exp
Completing Mission CR 2: 100 exp
Bonus Objective CR 1: 65 exp
Total Experience: 465 exp each
"How about we name it The Party Party, after old Thunderscar."
Zorza hears Suarin's whisper as clearly as if she had shouted it. She observes the emotionally cool family reunion, wondering how much of the wintry reception could be attributed to adolescence, how much to the emotionally scarring events of the past few days, and if there was anything left over to attribute to some other cause. Then the shiny object is tossed on the table and she loses interest in Needleleaf family dynamics. "Was pleasure doing business with you, Ms. Needleleaf. If ever we can be of assistance in future, do not hesitate to ask." She runs her paw admiringly over the intricate links of the elven chain. After the blacksmith and her daughter leave, she says, "I would rather keep armor than sell. If we do more jobs together, everything will even out, eventually. Who, besides me, has interest in wearing?"
"You can wear it. It looks good with you fur."
"I can keep it?!" exclaims Zorza. Her smiles extends almost beyond her face as she jumps up and down and wraps Vernonia in a tight embrace. She takes the chainmail and carries it up to her room to change into it.
I care not for the chainmail. But not everyone has made their opinion on it clear yet.
Qalifa says this while putting a restraining hand on Madam Zorza
"I am gingerbread cat. You cannot catch me!" exclaims Zorza as she tries to wrench away from Qalifa's grasp. She wrestles with him for a few seconds that seem like even more seconds before setting the elven chain back on the table in a huff. She quickly composes herself and asks, "Is anyone else interested in this armor?" Her eyes narrow as her stare pierces deep into the souls of the other party members searching for a hint of covetousness for the full suit of mithril chainmail.
"Suarin, remember my offer stands. Whenever you want, come see me for whatever reason." Thas finishes saying before moving to the matter at hand.
"I think it is fair for you to wear it Zorza, but I think it is fair to say it belongs to all of us. All of us earned that armor and in time when either we retire or we find something better, we should sell it and split the difference equally." Thas pauses a moment pulling out the postings she took last night. "Now lets say we work on getting everyone else some coin here by tackling these issues of big bugs and roadside ambushes. Which one is closer by do you think? The farm most likely?"
Zorza says, "It belongs to all of us until one of us pays others market resale value, or goes without equivalent amount of treasure." She waits to see if Aerek or Hung express an interest or lack thereof before reclaiming the chainmail.
"Bugs are probably closer," says Zorza, "And we could use reward to buy healing magic that helps us survive ambushes."
Having waited long enough to satisfy herself that no one else needs or wants or is strong enough to wear the elven chain, Zorza says "Give me half hour, then we start new job," and takes it upstairs where she changes into it. She brushes the cat hair off of her leather armor and takes that out to a shop to sell it. Then, noticing that her load is still heavier than she would like, she sells some excess food and arrows.
Zorza returns to the inn and says, "Let's go kill some bugs! We need to find man who owns cellar. Yuri, do you know about these jobs posted on your wall? Where is cellar?"
Then it is settled. Congratulations Madam. Now shall we kill bugs or go after these raiders? Qalifa looks around the table to see what his companions opinions are.
"Oh, right." says Zorza. "Decision is still being made. Conversation sounded different in my head. I will be warming myself by fire. Let me know what you decide." She orders herself a pint of beer and sits in a comfy chair by the fire.
"Yes, uh Yuri was it? Which one of these is closer by?"[b] Thas asks before looking back to her new companions. [b]"We will do them both, hitting whichever is closer first yes?"
Zorza stares into the flames and listens to the crackling of the fire while the other party members deliberate. Just as she is draining her first mug of beer, she catches the scent of fresh made scones wafting from the kitchen. She has Yuri bring her a second mug of beer, and a pot of tea and a plate of hot buttered scones for the rest of the party at the table. Then she takes her violin out and tunes it.
"I should write song about our adventures," she thinks to herself, "but first I write poem."
There once was a knight of Irori,
Who slept with a dwarf drunk and snore-y,
Though he craved hugs and kisses,
The dwarf weren't no Mrs.,
And this tale very nearly turned gory.
"Hmm... What rhymes with 'Qalifa'?"
Yuri is very busy bustling with orders and making a quick go at every table as she gives people food and without even messing up one order, assisting the red had as needed. She does cater to the group who is apparently admiring over some new armor that was received, though she hadn’t spotted the entire mass of the group this early morning, even though everyone had arrived. She stopped to answer a question for Thasitalia:
”Ye..Ye..Yes, Miss. Th..That would depend on th..the sit..situation. Th... the farm is nearby, it’s the winery ju..just south of th..the t..t..town. Th..the at..attacks on the t..town out..t..post is random at..at. best.”
She bows before skittering off to do the rest of her job.
The red hair human lady approaches the group.
”Morning, Is everything to your liking? Pardon me for forgetting to mention my name, Yuri has told me so much about you guys already. Oh yes, my name, how nearly clumsy of me to forget yet again, the name is Sacora! I want to thank you for feeding my cat while I was gone. Yuri told me of your nice jesters the other evening. Well I won’t hold you guys and gals up much longer, I hear your after the bandits and bugs.. Have fun dears, not my cup of tea.”
Sacora turns and starts to walk off to finish serving other people, while Yuri cooked in the back.
"The farmhouse first, then we'll track down those bandits. I'm going to gather my belongings and get ready to go. I'll meet you in a hour or so by the door here."
Thas doesn't need Sacira much, feeling as if she was addressing the others and their deeds prior to Thas meeting them.
Bugs... bandits. It matters not to me which we handle first, so long as we perform ably and with honor.
Vernonia calls Yuri over to her table, "Yuri what does Mr. Thunderscar usually have for breakfast?"
"I agree we should go kill some bugs, so those less experienced can have some practice."
Or we could find out why they are attack the farmer. Maybe a lack of their normal prey or their nest was disturbed?
Zorza smirks as she looks up just in time to see the dwarf go back into hiding. She plays her fiddle to pass the time until Thasitalia's return. Then she is ready to go.
After all that talk it ends up being a short walk, no more than about 30 minutes, you arrive at the edge of a very large grape field. In the center of the field is a fairly large establishment of multiple buildings around a central building. The Sign at the pathway that leads up to the house reads:
”Blue Fey Berry Farm”
Upon reaching the door a old man sits in a rocking chair staring off into the distance with a twig in his mouth and a old farmers hat, he doesn’t seem to pay anyone attention. The sound of people working around the farm is apparent, many of which are walking back in forth to the several buildings dressed in casual labor clothing. A large red door stands before you with a finely crafted Orc head knocker on the door.
Madam Zorza looks at the orc's head door knocker, then over at Hung, then back to the door knocker. "Likeness is uncanny. Looks just like him." She locks eyes with the knocker as she sways back and forth saying, "Everywhere I go, his eyes keep following me. Hung, is there something you want to tell us?"
"Hansome Knockers"
Hung Dong then winks at Zorza.