"You wouldn't dare! Find a proper metal polish or some kind of oil!" The sword exclaims!
Joe gets more upset. "I've been wanting to ask a blacksmith or weaponsmith what they recommend, but seeing how we , and the lateness of the hour, you'll have to make due with what we have, which is And in case you've missed it, I still have , so I'm going to quickly polish you with what's available, then go get some rest, so I can be in some kind of shape to train tomorrow!! If okay with "
"Nice to meet you Bazizz and Velerait." Chuckling at the comment, Einar starts gathering food for his drake companions, opening cans and giving the dragons the food they ask for.
At the arrival of the others, Einar gestures to the dragon currently imitating a dog in a kiddy pool. "That's Velerait, and this fella on my shoulder is Bazizz. Scratching at the back of his head, he adds hesitantly, "They were...hungry."
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" That won't do, go wake the blacksmith. Though in this rink a dink village I didn't even see an anvil let alone a proper crafting station. Roland was likely our best bet and he is a day back. Your wounds will mend, and if they hurt that bad you should go talk with your cleric, go speak with Jellena. If anything I would accept your tears!" The sword demands of Joe.
The little dragon likes the attention and purrs. "Well we did do good last night, otherwise Einar would be a pancake right now."
"GrrRRRRaaa!" Joe growled. With Excalibur in hand, the paladin stomped over to what he thinks was the Mayor's bedroom, and knocks loudly on the door.
"Jellena! Sorry to bother you, can you open the door, please?!"
Splashing mostly just for the fun of it the snake like dragon enjoys the water and waits for food to be tossed to it or brought. Lightly nipping anyone who passes without giving him a token of passage, food.
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You can hear a bit of moving and after a few minutes a scraping of metal on metal before the door opens a foot. With one lantern on behind her you can see more of her silhouette than anything else. Her hair is damp and a towel is wrapped around her. She lifts one eyebrow in irritation and interest as she asks simply, "Bother me yes, but it must be important... Do I need to let you in?"
With an exasperated tone, Joe asks for forgiveness.
"I'm very sorry to bother you, but when you are decent, could you heal my wounds from today? In the hussle-and-bussle of today's events, I was either too busy and/or too tired to ask earlier. I'm very sorry."
Ash and her brother wake up well after breakfast has been served and come out to the smells of food with hungry appetites.
Once breakfast is ready to be cleared from the table you hear a knock at the door. A sturdy man in leather armor with two clubs attached to his belt by leather cords awaits.
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"Okay hold on." She simple replies and closes the door. Within another minute she opens the door again and with an open palm indicates for him to enter. Closing the door behind him she offers you a stool to sit on. Laying her hands on you from behind she begins to massage your tense shoulders and whispers, "Mistress bring ease to my ally, allow those wounds and pain cease and be mended." She moves her hands side to side over his shoulders in a swift motion healing him again, .
Joe leans Excalibur nearby, and sits on the stool. The shoulder massage along with the healing energies sooth the paladin's body, but the aches and some injuries still remain.
"Thank you, Jellena", Joe responds after the priestess is done with her assuage, "That will do for now. Thanks again." The paladin stands and retrieves his mighty weapon. "Now to shine Excalibur before he'll let me get some sleep". Joe face lights up a little with realization. "And you gave me an idea on how to do that."
Standing by the door, Joe looks back at Jellena. "Good night. See you in the morning."
Artemis blinks a few, the water from Velerait splashing onto his face as he just stands there, not really expecting the two dragons to be in the kitchen let alone splashing water towards him. Wiping his face off of water, he enters the tabled room, forgetting the question he had just asked Frank due to the unexpected presence of dragons.
Seeing Delman tied up as he walks in, Artemis quickly walks over towards the bound man, ungagging him and opening the bag that Artemis assumes has his cat inside, "Delman, why in the hell are you tied up?"
The paladin and the magic weapon walk back to the bedroom Joe claimed. Taking out the fancy former-pillow, Joe sits on the edge of the bed, and lays Excalibur on his knees.
"When Jellena was healing me, I remembered something Zenli taught me."
The paladin casts prestidigitation on Excalibur and using both spell and rag, Joe works hard to get the intelligent weapon to a fine shine.
"This will have to do until we find something more ..substantial. I figured since you are magical, you would be adverse to be cleaned by magic", Joe explained to the blade in his hands.
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”Excellent! That is using your noggin! Thank you... oh yes... just there.... aaaahhhhhh! .... mmmm... oh YEAH!” The sword gladly says and then begins making sounds as Joe cleans the sword.
As the sun rises the sword yells one word then continues at conversational level, ”Excellent! Good morning paladin... don’t forget to pray... perhaps to Heiroious today?” The sword gleefully says waking up the 40 year old man.
At breakfast the sword humms a song.
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”Good night Joe!” She says happily enough, closing the door behind him and then securing it again with the rod. Then she jumps onto the bed and begins reading again. At midnight she prays to her goddess and gets a few hours of sleep.
After sleeping in she cleans up, collects her items, collecting a lot of items that easily travel into her bag before praying to her goddess again though shorter this time, ”Thank you Mistress for all that you give and take away! May I use what you give and follow your direction to serve your will. Coming down and getting to the table just after there is a knock at the door. She grabs a few items that are left and looks at the men, [b]”So who do I have to thank for this meal?” Whoever speaks up gets a ring and a kiss... if Joe just the kiss and a question, ”Who gets the ring today?”
Edit: In response to the sword she says, ”Only if everyone agrees to delay the ring making.” Looking around her face scrunches up and she asks, ”Where is Delman
As the sun rises the sword yells one word then continues at conversational level, ”Excellent! Good morning paladin... don’t forget to pray... perhaps to Heironeous today?” The sword gleefully says waking up the 40 year old man.
"Heironeous?! Sure", agrees Joe. "He was my 'Main Man' back in 3.5. I'll pray to him, among others."
The paladin sends his prayers and progress report to Heironeous, Alethia, Bahamut, and for good measure, God. After prayers, Joe takes about 15 minutes to mediate before grabbing Excalibur and going outside to do his morning training.After morning exercises, a winded paladin walks back into the mayor's house to the smell of breakfast. Damn. Only a little bit, Joe. Keep to the program.
Joe unsheaths Excalibur to stare at it.
"You can read my mind?!" The paladin asks incredulously. "Oh! You bet your hilt we're talking about this later!"
Artemis just turns back towards the kitchen and then the door, really confused on how the dragons were able to overpower Delman. As Jellena walks in and asks about Delman, Artemis points at the still ajar door, "He ran off towards the ferry, looks like Einar's dragons don't like him at all, found him tied up with his cat trapped inside the sack." He pauses for a few, "Anyways... he said he would be waiting for us so I don't think he is going to go across the river anytime soon."
Joe claps his hands together. "Well, ladies and gentlemen. I got an idea to what I'll be doing with the rest of our morning. I will use two uses of the mending and prestidigitation spells to clean and mend the leather armor we found, allowing two of us to wear some armor until we find anything better."
"Well, you're not wrong." Tossing food underhand to Velerait, Einar gives Artemis an apologetic shrug. "If I had know I would have let you know."
As the bound Delmen is unbound and explains urgently what happened, the youth turns to his magical companions with a disapproving stare. "Care to explain why you tied him up?" Groaning, he gestures to his shoulders and his holsters. "I definitely should discuss things with you later, but we should try to keep up with them. You can choose how we travel."
Nodding, Einar adjusts his jacket. "I guess I'm with you folks for the foreseeable future. It's not like I know how this world works."
"I'm sorry we weren't properly introduced", the big man steps forward. A little sweaty, this shaven-headed man with a mustache, who looks like he's in his 40s, wearing a cut-up, charcoal gray polo shirt with black slacks and shoes, extends his hand. "Joe Waskalis, paladin. And the shiny sword on my shoulder", the paladin thumbs the golden-hilted sword in the scabbard on his back, "is Excalibur. Yep. That one!"
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Frank finishes up with breakfast and brings out a large plate of cheesy scrambled eggs and whatever meats he could find and sear up in the pan.
"Everyone come eat. We are traveling today. It will be a long day." Looking again to Einar after ignoring the dragons and their playing around in the kitchen.
"So these dragons were your gift then. Fair enough. You are welcome to stay with us. You know our purpose hear then? To stop the dark ones, but much like a video game we need to grind it out and gain some experience and wealth so we can take on the big bads of this world."
After introductions with the newcomer and his dragons, Joe asks the warlord for his help.
"Frank, you know a lot about armor, right? Could you observe as I mend the leather armors. I'd like an expert eyes to make sure it's correct."
The dragons look at each other and laugh... at the mention of moving they both turn into swords ready to be carried.
The sword simply responds to Joe with an empathic, Eeep.
The group hears a knock at the ajar door. A sturdy man in leather armor with two clubs attached to his belt by leather cords awaits. He looks in but does not pass the threshold, he does cordially say, "Lady Norisce requests your presence before you leave."
With Frank's keen eye for armor detail, Joe mends two pair of leather armor and claims one for himself . After Frank offers his advice on the best way to put on the armor, the paladin puts the rain coat and wide-brimmed hat on as well.
The group hears a knock at the ajar door. A sturdy man in leather armor with two clubs attached to his belt by leather cords awaits. He looks in but does not pass the threshold, he does cordially say, "Lady Norisce requests your presence before you leave."
Coming to the door, Joe tells the guard. "I think we're nearly ready. Where is Lady Norisce currently?"
He replies simply, "She is across the river dealing with fey situations... one she hopes you will be able to solve for her. Come the ferry waits." He leaves heading to the ferry.
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"No problem Joe. Leather is hardened in two ways, either by boiling wax or water hardening. Either way if you get it up to around 150 degrees you can mold it as you see fit. There is a third way I have heard of but not tried. It involves wearing it into the sea letting it saturate and then laying on the beach letting it dry and mold to you. I guess the salt helps to harden it. Mending will prolong the life well as hardened leather gets chewed up from sword strikes and what not. Yeah the lady said the fog would take us across when ready. If everyone is lets move."
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”So who do I have to thank for this meal?” As Frank speaks up she gives him a ring and a kiss...
"Off we go then," she happily says as she finishes up her plate in a rush and follows the group out, thanking Ash as she goes, "Thank you for cleaning up for us. We might be back today, tonight or in several weeks. We will be back." After a quick hug she follows the other out and to the ferry.
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Frank blushes a bit as even the simple touch and act of a kiss while harmless did remind him of his wife.
Well I would want her to move on and be happy. I have to let her go.
He smiles back at Jellena.
"Miss Jellena is this a proposal?" He jokes.
"The eggs were good, but were they that good?" He smiles again and thanks her.
Extending his hand to give Joe's a proper shake, Einar goes through his response slowly. "Einar...bladesman I suppose? I don't believe I have any magic at the moment." At the mention of the legendary blade, the boy's eyebrow lifts. "The Excalibur of Arthurian myth?"
Snatching his dragons blades from the air, he slips them into their holster. [i]That sounded very unproductive."[/b]"Sounds about par for the course. Any idea who the dark ones are, or we just supposed to look for whoever is juggling babies and wearing black?"
Watching Jellena and Frank interact, Einar only sees the murdered woman and child. Turning to face the door man, his face appears stonelike. "Lets go. I need to apologize to...Delman for how my dragons acted."
Snatching his dragons blades from the air, he slips them into their holster. That sounded very unproductive.""Sounds about par for the course. Any idea who the dark ones are, or we just supposed to look for whoever is juggling babies and wearing black?"
"A great evil in the world", the paladin posed. "But now that I have the ability to sense evil, evil is either a more present force, or it's always been there, and I'm just noticing it", Joe said glumly.
Shaking himself from his thoughts, Joe asks "Einar, huh? Are..you from Earth? I ask because your name sounds almost Norse."
Artemis would finish up the meal, grabbing and shouldering his rifle as he gives a nod and a smile to Ash, as he heads towards the door, lingering in the doorframe for the answer to Joe's question, curious as he then leans against the ajar door.
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Frank is ready to go when the others are.
"I changed my name, perhaps he did as well. I went 80's actions hero he went viking maybe."
Frank stays quiet as the others most likely continue to talk and interact as they approach the ferry and the fog. He steps on offering assistance to each as they step on.
"Did the witch say what we were supposed to do again or is the fog aware?"
Frank is ready to go when the others are.
"I changed my name, perhaps he did as well. I went 80's actions hero he went viking maybe."
"You did?!" The paladin asks incredulously. "Joe Waskalis is the name I was born with. I have some pride in that name." Joe then let's out a small chuckle. "Heh. My dad was really into Jimi Hendrix as a teenager, and I was named after the Jimi Hendrix song, Hey Joe. So I was named after a fictional murderer. Heh. So I like to tell people I was weird right out of the womb!"
Frank stays quiet as the others most likely continue to talk and interact as they approach the ferry and the fog. He steps on offering assistance to each as they step on.
"Did the witch say what we were supposed to do again or is the fog aware?"
Joe thanks Frank as the warlord helps everyone on the ferry. "Lady Norisce did say the fog was alive. I think we use muscle power to get us across."
The paladin carefully walks to the front of the ferry and begins to pull on the rope connected to the other side of the lake.
Patting the paladin on the shoulder, Einar gives a lift of his shoulder. "I would wager this world does not work on the same laws as ours."
At the comment about his name Einar snorts. "Nothing so epic. My great great grandfather was Danish, and my parents were looking for something uncommon." With a sort of sad fondness, he smiles. "Yep. I was born and raised in the Rockies."
Stepping next to the waterside, Einar attempts to stare through the fog. "Alive you say. Wonderful."
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"Interesting... it seems we have a mix of want and change for our names. I myself took my gamer name coming to this world. My original name on Earth was Jessica." She says inserting herself into the conversation still turning and looking around as they walk.
At the ferry she thanks Frank, "Thank you for the help! I think I will leave the heavy lifting again to you all." She stays away from the edges of the ferry staying more centrally located.
The man is still with you, walking before the group to the ferry and helping others onto if needed. Once on the ferry he begins to pull on the rope with the other men and the ferry slowly moves out into the river, a few hours later and you find yourselves on the other side of the river safe and sound.
More savvannahs stretch out as far as you can see.
The man leads you to a door in the side of a hill, like a hobbit house. He knocks three times and then two slow times. He then opens the door and points his palm into the doorway indicating for you to enter.
Entering in you find a stairway slowly leading down and curving. After a good 100 feet the door is open and then find yourselves in a large room with a glowing crystal on the ceiling the size of a school bus. It glows lots of different colors but just illuminates the room not putting shades of colors into the room. Lady Norisce is in a red dress flowing around her, beauty ever present upon her form, talks to three humanoids. They sit at a table and stop their discussion as you enter.
She brightens and smiles as you enter, "Ah yes... as I was saying the Saviors of the village could help us with this situation. Come, come, join us."
More chairs form out of the stone floor to accommodate the group to sit at the table with them. Then she continues, "As I was saying with the contract in place I or the previous mayor needs to provide protection and only that so that Velliath can get to the town of New Faces. I don't know what other things were agreed upon but as the new mayor, if the Saviors are willing, they will escort him to the temple there at New Faces." Looking at the group she asks with a little of frustration undertoning her voice, "Would you be willing to escort this, Velliath, to the town of New Faces. I am willing to pay 5 gold each for this service. He is willing I just need to make sure he has protection. To put it simply his family has a feud with another fey family. With your numbers I am sure they won't attack or that you will easily be able to fend them off."
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Delman waits on the ferry for the group and continues to sit when they approach, get on, and begin to move the ferry. Once the ferry is in the open water he stands up and stretches a bit and then begins to help pull the rope.
He sticks to the back of the group. Even going down the stairs he waits for the others to go first. Down in the room with the Lady he shrugs showing his indifference.
When Lady Norisce mention an agreement with the former mayor, Joe frowns slightly and detects evil on the three fey individuals at the table.
Wobbling on his legs for a moment, Einar quietly rides on the small boat, idly popping his swords in and out of their holsters.
Moving in the middle of the pack, the young man takes the step two at a time. Watching the crystals subtly changing colors, he quietly murmurs, "This refraction has some very interesting implications for physics of this universe."
Waiting for the others and seeing no immediate response, Einar asks, "What's so important at the town of New Faces? Also, what sort of threats would we be facing?"
The lady tries to explain, ”The town of New Faces is the next town a place where you can change your race and begin anew. He is done with the fued and wishes to leave, this is one of the options laid before him. The other family is mostly made of rogues, they might try to snipe him or charge your group with melee, but with your size of group I doubt the second if not the first. If you don’t take the contract then I will need to with my very few resources now, leaving the village defenseless.” The last bit said with sorrow.
Sitting next to Frank, Joe taps his shoe under the table to get his attention. When the warlord looks to who tapped his boot, Joe looks into the Frank's eyes. The paladin reaches up to touch below his own eye, subtly notions with his head to the fairies at the table, and shakes his head 'no' ever so slightly.
Artemis takes a seat beside Delman, listening to the witch as he remains silent, listening to the proposal and the questioning. Shifting a bit in his stone seat, Artemis nods a bit to show his approval towards the quest, whispering towards Joe, "I'm down to take the contract if you are."
Joe leans over and gives Artemis a small nod.
Joe speaks up to the fey enchantress. "Lady Norisce, how far is New Faces from here, and what would be the safest route there?"
Shrugging his shoulders, Einar eyes the lady and the humanoids. "I don't particularly care either way." Pausing for a moment, the armed youth adds, "She mentioned sniped. Are guns a thing here?"