The companions approach the front gates of the lodge. They spot a few armed guards looking back at them through the closed, twin portcullises. They stop their own private conversation. One motions for another to go off and do something, the two remaining guards stand at attention and watch, with growing suspicion, as the companions approach closer.
"HALT!" one of the guards commands them.
Some twenty feet from the twin gates, the guard then questions the companions,
"WHO GOES THERE?!"
The guards appear well armed and armored. Probably combat veterans, not to be trifled with. Possibly they are mercenaries, judging by the lack of uniforms and uniformity of their equipment.
Through the gates, you can spot a few additional, well-dressed individuals deeper in the compound. Their heads turn and look on with curiosity at the twin gates.
Fulk agrees that a direct approach is probably best.
--------------------------------
Fulk stays toward the back of the group. He knows from experience that burly half-orc sorcerers are often not the best choice for diplomatic relations with humans.
|
Zelda watches the guards for any sudden actions. ",Greetings, I am Zelda. I bieve you want to see my invitation. I have it right here."
Zelda slowly pulls out her invitation carefully moving so she does not startle or worry the guatds.
As she gets out her inviatipn Zelda looks around subtly just in.case
The guard squints back at Zelda's upheld invitation unimpressed.
"And the rest ov you lot?" He looks at the other companions expectantly for their invitations.
"Have your papers ready for th' por'er. Wait right there, ee's on 'is way," he explains in a thick Caliphasian accent.
The other guard, without removing his beady coal eyes for a moment from the companions, spits at the ground.
Two more guards emerge from the guardhouse with the other two behind the portcullises: a dwarf and another human. They stand at the ready, sizing the companions up with stern expressions through the iron bars. A fifth guard as well appears, with the sixth now climbing the slate steps and entering what appears to be the lodge's front pair of iron-shod timber doors some sixty feet from the front gates.
Minutes go by as the companions wait for the sixth guard to return with, presumably, "th' por'er..."
In the meantime, near the lodge's main entrance sixty feet in, the three well dressed onlookers continue to just stand there, staring back at the the gates, and talk amongst themselves.
Several additional figures, one or two well dressed, the rest less well-dressed, approach the three from the front doors in that time as well. They continue to converse amongst themselves while all eyes remain transfixed at the front gates.
About five minutes later, the sixth guard emerges from the front doors of the lodge with a shorter figure. The tidy, well dressed halfling gentleman accompanying the guard approaches the left portcullis.
"Greetings, travelers. Belik of Courtaud, porter of Ascanor Lodge, at your service."
Inspecting the companions up and down, "Might I inquire as to your purpose here this afternoon?"
"...unexpected guests?"
"...intriguing... ...should be entertaining..."
"...servant, fetch me... ...and you, Lord Margrave? ..."
"...quite dangerous... ...do orcs bite?!"
"...have a brandy..."
You also spot a few additional figures in the lodge itself, looking back at the companions through a window.
As the other guards and their leader arrive a writ floats up out of Rhia's gear, unfolding itself into her hands as she presents the invitation with her name signed in elegant script.
"We were invited."
Grod smirks a bit as he overhears chatter.
Nodding as Rhia speaks, he says "But not as a group, mind, we fell in together on the road. These woods are dangerous for stragglers." with that, he presents his invitation.
Sookie and Christoph produce their invitations as well.
Belik of Courtaud graciously accepts the invitations from you.
"Please, wait patiently here. I'll be just a moment."
The porter seats himself at a table between the portcullises. With a pair of spectacles placed upon his nose and lips pursed pensively, he spends the next several minutes perusing the invitations, one by one, in minute detail. A guard retrieves a thick tome and places it on the table beside the porter. Eventually, he begins to flip through the pages to find a particular spot.
Finally, he looks up. He approaches the portcullis again to hand your invitations back.
"I apologize for any misunderstanding," Belik responds, "but as the porter of Ascanor Lodge, I cannot permit your entrance at this time. You do not have reservations in our books, and despite your claims, I have no evidence to justify allowing strangers into the lodge. From the looks of you, unlike the rest of my guests, you haven’t come here to take a peaceful retreat. I want no trouble, so off with you all, and take whatever troubles you bring somewhere else!"
Meanwhile, the well-dressed crowd from the lodge now walks closer to the gatehouse to get a better look at this entertaining exchange.
Sookie has been eyeballing Belik while he checked his books. After his refusal, her eyes narrow at him, and she mutters under her breath to Rhia next to her:
"I don't trust him. He's actually enjoying this, lording his little power. The evil bugger."
With arms folded, a sour-faced Christoph grows impatient as the porter takes his sweet time checking their paperwork.
With the porter's refusal, Christoph grunts and facepalms for a moment. Grim and not particularly diplomatic, he looks to the more charming ladies to say something convincing to get the little s*** to let them in already.
|
|
"First of all return our invitations. I do not believe they belong to you. Clearly you are not in charge or you would honor our invitations. Please return them then let us talk to the one who is truly in charge so we can get the foolishness completed and I xan refresh myself and Chang into proper clothes. This forest is simply dreadful."
Zelda waves her hand in front of her face like a fan. Looking quite displeased with being forced to wait on this foolishness man.
Rhia subtly nods as Sookie whispers in her ear, focusing her attention on Belik as well.
Studying those behind the gate she nods at Zelda's words, taking a deep breath and standing a bit taller (or was she actually floating up a few inches?), her speech pattern slipping into a much perfected aristocratic manner.
"Upon consideration, I would have to agree. Were you the one in charge here you would clearly know the weight carried by the Van der Geist name, and the accompanying respect afforded by facilities such as this. Or has such great ill befallen the region that proper courtesies have fallen by the wayside?"
As the exchange heats up, the small crowd near the gatehouse draws mixed reactions. Some of the onlookers seem curious, while others wear haughty sneers. All whisper to one another, as if anxious to see the outcome of the disagreement.
As Zelda and Rhia state their case, at first Belik's eyebrows furrow angrily at the insinuation of not being in charge. Before he has a chance to protest, his brows lift in surprise, then in recognition, on hearing the Van der Geist name. Scratching his chin pensively for a moment, the porter reconsiders.
"Ah... Yes, the esteemed Van der Geist family. Of course... My sincerest apologies. I was not expecting a member of your rather minor but reputable family to arrive." Eyeballing the rest of the companions, "Nor with such well-armed servants."
Belik grudgingly motions for the guards to allow the companions inside. Moments later, the left portcullis lifts, and the companions can now enter Ascanor Lodge.
Once inside, they remain the center of attention for the small crowd of nobles who continue to either stare or sneer at them. Several servants standby, awaiting their lords' orders, largely unconcerned with the arrival of the companions.
But in short time, a new interruption breaks the tension. A rough-and-tumble-looking woodsman heads for the gate, followed by a young noble dressed in finely tailored, studded hunting leathers. Despite the commotion about the companions, the two men push through the crowd, oblivious to anyone else’s concerns. Several scruffy-looking hirelings follow behind them, leading a pair of horses and carrying wooden crates marked with heraldic symbols.
You catch the young noble in mid-sentence, apparently badgering the woodsman with many questions.
"...any howls? Or footprints!"
As they shuffle past, the woodsman calls back to the noble, “For the last time Duristan! I’ll take you there, but I ain’t bringin' my dogs!”
Duristan, the young noble, continues to excitedly badger the woodsman with more questions.
"But did you try tracking the prints around the carcass? And did you measure any of the claw or bite marks on the body?!"
Duristan catches sight of the companions now, and stops to size them up. He calls to you all,
“YOU there! Fall in with me, I need more able sword-arms for the hunt!”
When he gets a chance (especially if he can caast Message unnoticed) Fulk says to his companions "Those are the sigils of the Ariesir, a very wealthy family from the county of Ardeal."