Tsaran Vitrakis. While Ashar may be the largest city, Volos Pell the most powerful, many knew Tsaran Vitrakis to be the jewel of the Old World. Over centuries it grew from an oasis village to a great city; over millennia it grew fat and rich from trade. Fought over by generations of Emperors and Sultans, only in the last centuries did it lose its independence and come under the rule of the Emperor in far off Volos Pell.
Now, however, the trade has been replaced by fear; the babble of a dozen languages replaced by whispered rumors. As refugees pour in from the West, armies arrive from the East and adventurers from every direction, Tsaran Vitrakis stands at the edge of the Abyss. It is to this city that you come.
You are shunted into a small ancillary hall in the oldest wing of the palace. The room is shockingly tastefully decorated compared with the norm in Tsaran Vitrakis, with a stained glass window depicting a triumphant flight of dragons. Clearly this room was far down the list for renovation when the Dragonborn fell. The east wall has several large windows, now with their curtains drawn against the night. The west wall is hung with tapestries depicting various romanticized scenes from history.
Lord Hissarion Tayir, Marquis of Tsaran Vitrakis and of the Wardens March takes his seat to a litany of his titles and ancestry, flanked by guards both martial and arcane and the courtly event begins. A succession of personages of mediocre importance parade before the Marquis, who is clearly wishing he were somewhere else long before the parade of invitees reaches you at the back of the room.
Arioch stands in the back of the hall, arms crossed as he waits for his turn to speak with the Marquis.
His purple skin and slightly glowing eyes easily mark him as tainted by Shadow. His clothing shows that he comes from the west, dark in color. He holds his right palm slightly outstretched, a few silver coins hovering in air above it, flipping around and spinning in place. As they flip around and around, they do not glint. Indeed, they are covered by a very thin film of shadow.
He seems bored, and perhaps a tad anxious. His eyes flit around watching those around him, some staring at him, at his contaminated appearance. These he pays little attention to, as well as the pseudo-nobles speckled into the crowd. He focuses mainly on the adventurers, their presence much different from those who surround them.
Curden leans up against the wall with a piece of wheat in his mouth. The picture is a pretty good representation of him, except he also has a large many-pocketed jacket that looks like it contains any multitude of things. He casually plays around with the wheat and observes the other adventurers
Gunk looks around and examines the room and its inhabitants as he fiddles with his equipment belt absentmindedly. 'It's going to be a long time before I get a chance to talk to the Marquis' he thinks to himself. His eyes fall on Fizbert standing near bye and his eyes light up.
Good heavens! he says as he approaches Fizbert. Never in a million span of years did I expect to see another gnome here. Gunga Mai is my name. Though my friends call me Gunk he offers Fizbert his hand. Be careful. With all these tall folk standing about getting agitated, we might get stepped on.
Curden chuckles to himself, then says in a deep throaty voice
"Well you don't have to worry bout me little man. Always had a bit o' respect for you gnomes, always up to date on the technical stuff'
You see a short fellow decked out in the latest court fashion, accessorized with glittering jewelry. The clothes look new and were probably bought special for the occasion. He keeps trying in vain to get a glimpse to see how long the line is.
@Curden:"Fancy pair of revolvers you've got there. Six shot shot capacity by the looks of them. Always wanted to get my hands on one, but for some reason the thought of gnomes and explosives makes some people uncomfortable. Could you do me a favour and tell me how long this blasted line is?
@Gunk:"Well hello, what are the odds indeed. The fey folk are sure in short supply around here. . Fisbert Toppletotter, gentleman adventurer, at your service."
He bows with a flourish, accentuating the maneuver with a shower of brightly coloured sparkles.
You see a short fellow decked out in the latest court fashion, accessorized with glittering jewelry. The clothes look new and were probably bought special for the occasion. He keeps trying in vain to get a glimpse to see how long the line is.
@Curden:"Fancy pair of revolvers you've got there. Six shot shot capacity by the looks of them. Always wanted to get my hands on one, but for some reason the thought of gnomes and explosives makes some people uncomfortable. Could you do me a favour and tell me how long this blasted line is?
@Gunk:"Well hello, what are the odds indeed. The fey folk are sure in short supply around here. . Fisbert Toppletotter, gentleman adventurer, at your service."
He bows with a flourish, accentuating the maneuver with a shower of brightly coloured sparkles.
Curden raises an eyebrow, then covers himself with the coat.
"Might want to keep that bit down, i'd sure appreciate it. As far as the line, looks like we're it. Seems that maybe the fella is gonna talk to all of us"
'Lady Nobilis' stood at the back of the great hall, gossiping with the lesser nobles as she looked onto the crowd, watching who was beseeching Lord Tayir. Walking up up to a rougher looking man- Curden- she took a long analyzing look at him, deciding to start up a conversation with the intriguing man.
"Aren't you a little overequipped for an event like this?" 'N' asked the man, nodding down towards his jacket, "I would think that such barbarism should be kept to the armies, not to a gathering such as this. No matter, what brings you here?"
Looking upon her, she is impeccably dressed, with fine clothing and jewelery. There is a not-insubstantial amount of jewellery on her (about 150gp worth by your guess). If you should touch her, or otherwise interact with her body, a DC 18 Will save will allow you to recognize as a glamer.
'Lady Nobilis' stood at the back of the great hall, gossiping with the lesser nobles as she looked onto the crowd, watching who was beseeching Lord Tayir. Walking up up to a rougher looking man- Curden- she took a long analyzing look at him, deciding to start up a conversation with the intriguing man.
[dice=Perception]1d20+7
"Aren't you a little overequipped for an event like this?" 'N' asked the man, nodding down towards his jacket, "I would think that such barbarism should be kept to the armies, not to a gathering such as this. No matter, what brings you here?"
Looking upon her, she is impeccably dressed, with fine clothing and jewelery. There is a not-insubstantial amount of jewellery on her (about 150gp worth by your guess). If you should touch her, or otherwise interact with her body, a DC 18 Will save will allow you to recognize as a glamer.
** spoiler omitted **
Curden gives a sly grin, then responds
"Well miss, i think my 'equipment' handles most situations about right. Anyways i'm not an army man, just a drifter. Heard there was some good in it for me if I showed, and seeing as how I'm running a bit short on coin I figured it was a good idea. You?"
"I'm here for the gossip. These gatherings are great for meeting up with friends, making new contacts and making trade deals. And who doesn't like going to balls?"
'N' gave a roguish grin back to the man, then curtsied.
"I'm Lady Amelia Nobilis. Who are you?"
"Haha right ya are!"
Curden takes off his hat and presses it to his chest, then takes Amelia's hand and kisses it. You can feel the whiskers tickle your hand.
"I am Curden Craw, man of little fame but many stories"
Arioch comes over to the group, putting one hand in his pocket but keeping the other out, still floating the coins.
I don't think I've ever seen this many gnomes in one place. At least, not recently. That line's got a ways to go, though. It's going to be a while before any of us get up there. he says, solemnly.
He otherwise keeps to himself, listening to the conversation between the jacketed man and the Lady.
Curden tucks his guns away, no longer allowing them to be seen without a very trained eye.
Gunk smiles at Fizbert and says Hell, if the thought of gnomes with explosives makes people uncomfortable, I must give them fits. That's what I do, I blow stuff up. Tee hee.
Gunk thinks to himself 'I wonder if that's true. Will people mistrust me? I'm a gnomish sapper. I might need to be careful I suppose.'
Perception:
Out of the corner of his eye he sees Curden putting on a bit of a flourish with his pistols but then all of a sudden they just vanish.
Oh that was most wonderful Mr Craw. How did you make them disappear? Was it magic? Wonderful. Simply wonderful indeed.
Gunk smiles at Fizbert and says Hell, if the thought of gnomes with explosives makes people uncomfortable, I must give them fits. That's what I do, I blow stuff up. Tee hee.
Gunk thinks to himself 'I wonder if that's true. Will people mistrust me? I'm a gnomish sapper. I might need to be careful I suppose.'
Perception: 1d20+13
Out of the corner of his eye he sees Curden putting on a bit of a flourish with his pistols but then all of a sudden they just vanish.
Oh that was most wonderful Mr Craw. How did you make them disappear? Was it magic? Wonderful. Simply wonderful indeed.
Curden frowns a little. Dang how'd everyone notice em? need to be more careful
"Ha well no magic, never cared much for the fine arts. Just a well built coat is all"
@N:"Lady Nobilis was it? That's an interesting style of dress you're sporting. I don't think I've heard of your house before. Where might you hail from?
@Curden: I didn't know that firearms were not allowed. I apologize for my indiscretion."
@Gunk: "Truly? You are living the dream my good Sir. You'll have to show me one of your explosions sometime."
Curden tips his hat towards the perceptive gnome, then grunts and waves his hand to tell him it's fine.
'N's mind raced. Did the gnome detect her disguise? If he did and suspected... no, even if he recognized it he had no reason to suspect that she was who she was.
"I'm from a small noble house that hails from well out of town. I came to the city several years ago with only a few retainers to try and establish ourselves here in Tsaran Vitrakis. I'm surprised you haven't heard of me, I've been fairly active in the social scene over the past couple of years."
Would you like a demonstration? I could make a bomb now if you like. Do you think they'd mind if I blew something up in here? It'd be something small.
Arioch shakes his head at the little Gnome. "That's not going to get you closer to the Marquis, I can tell you that."
Oh um I guess thats true. Perhaps some other time.
@N:"Indeed? You'll have to tell me more bout your family, I always try to keep track of the local nobility. It would be a shame for me to have missed one."
@Arioch and Gunk:"Are you sure? The Marquis has so many fine things, I doubt that he will mind us exploding one. In the name of progress, of course."
Curden lowers his head so that his hat covers his eyes, and puts on his smirk
@gunk "Oh im sure if ya took something little out the man wouldn't mind. Perhaps that vase?"
Gunk fidgets uncomfortably. His hand going instinctively to his ammo belt caressing the vial containing the reagents for his explosives. It doesnt take much to see that he is clearly torn.
After a short while his shoulders slump and he sighs as he says "perhaps some other time. These tallfolk dont view science the way we do. It will probably get me locked up."
There is a minor commotion as a very strange sight comes riding into the back of the room. Mounted on a beast resembling a white lion with bull's horns, is a halfling like man with blue iris-less eyes. On his forehead is a complex glowing blue symbol , the same can be seen on the head of the lion thing. His blonde hair is curly and short, and he wears only a simple harness on his torso. A small musket is slung across his back, and there is a longsword sheathed at his waist. His pants and boots are of unadorned though well made leather. Looking around at the line gathered to see the lord he says, "想知道為什麼我們在這裡已經被傳喚？" to the lion creature.
"Wonder why we've been summoned here?"
"只有時間會告訴我們，耐心主。" comes the creature's perhaps surprising response. Apparently it is intelligent and capable of speech.
Curden's smirk lessens when he realizes the gnome isn't going to give him some target practice. Then he notices the strangest darn thing, a halfling and a weird lion-like creature walk into the room, and start talking to each other in a weird language. on top of that he has an old musket. he tips up his hat and somehow manages to motion towards them with the wheat in his mouth
"Well looks like i'll be keeping my eye low most o' the time with this crowd. So, what brings you and that interesting lookin' creature here?"
Most of the petty nobles in the hall look wise eyed and begin furiously muttering in disapproval at the sight of a mutant lion being ridden right into the hall. The guards flanking the doors and stationed along the walls look exasperated as if they are not entirely sure who let this happen, but it is of course the rank and file that will have to deal with it if it turns out to be a problem.
As the audience continues, the room empties out enough that you can get a better view of some of the dignitaries at the front of the room. Besides Lord Tayir and his guards, there is another noble present. A young man in inconspicuous but clearly expensive clothing, accompanied by a woman with the casual look of a very experienced guard. Unusually, neither of them wears any sort of arms identifying who the man might be. The young man is paying rather more attention to the proceedings than Lord Tayir.
Also in a place of honor near the lord is an Ashari man with a tightly curled beard and hair. He is wearing layers of red, orange and gold robes . His eyes light up with interest and a small measure of wonder as Shemm enters the room.
Curden notices the decreasing crowd size and decides to direct attention away from himself. Wanna keep a low profile, but don't wanna look like that's what i'm trying to do He pulls out an interesting looking contraption that's he's been trying to turn into a puzzle. knowledge (engineering)
While making some decent progress on his puzzle, he still stays aware to the situation around him
Another servant of the Great Lord. Perhaps he can explain this. Shemm turns to look briefly at Curden, mounted on Baph Alar their eye level is approximately the same. He says, "A summons." in heavily accented common. It sounds more like "ah sah-mon-sih" Then he spurs Baph Alar forward through the few remaining people until they are within a couple meters of the Ashari man. "大哥，為什麼我在這裡被稱為?" he asks the man.
"Brother, why have I been called here?"
Looking at the diminishing crowd, 'N' wondered who the two men were. She didn't recognize either of them, despite the fact that she thought she knew most of the nobles in the city. Especially the ones around that age.
Who is he? 'N' thought, Who so young ranks so much higher than Lord Tayir? Whoever he is, he'll make a great mark. With power comes money. But that swordswoman... she looked competent, even more so than the guards that local nobles usually hired.
Arioch sighs at the entrance of the lion, becoming less and less surprised with each strange acquaintance. As they move up, he looks ahead, no idea who the people up front are other than Lord Tayir.
"Do any of you know who they are?" he asks, whispering as he motions towards the pair.
"The young noble. He's not from around here, and he commands the room around here, even Lord Tayir seems to be deferring to him. Whoever that man is, he is an incredibly powerful man." 'N' spoke back to the fetchling, though at a tone not audible at where the throne was "No clue about the well dressed Ashari man though. Though I would recommend not to whisper, it'll draw more attention than just speaking will, not to mention it's just plain rude."
'N' smiled at the high nobles as she waited her turn, they would get to speak to Lord Tayir soon, and this whole mystery would be cleared up quickly. Not to mention, that young man was kind of cute.
Finally somthing to distract him catches Gunks eye. He sees the mechanical bauble Crunden pulls out and stares at it in amazement for a few moments completely oblivious to the newcommers in the room. is that a puzzle Mr Craw? May I see it? He asks with the wide eyes of a child.
Knowledge engineering:
Perhaps I can help you with that
As Shemm approaches the front of the room, the soldier and spellcaster flanking Lord Tayir tense up, clearly expecting trouble. The woman accompanying the mysterious young noble glances at the strange sight with the imperturbable calm of the extremely competent, or perhaps the supremely overconfident. The robed Ashari man shushes Shemm and gives him a subtle hand gesture to wait a moment as the last petitioners ahead of you finish their speech.
As they turn to leave, the man speaks up. My Lord, tonight I have to honor of presenting to you something seen but once in an age on the worlds of men... He is clearly drawing Lord Tayir's attention to Shemm, but that attention is clearly far more concerned with the two gnomes in the room. The young nobleman, however looks at Shemm closely and whispers something to the woman at his side.
Shemm examines the figures closely, hopping down off of Baph Alar's back and executing a short bow. "My name is Shemm. Why you call me come here?" he asks Lord Tayir.
Baph Alar lays himself down on the floor next to Shemm, his eyes trained on the soldier and spellcaster flanking the lord. In fact, they mirror each other. Their bodies sending the messages of ones ready to protect their master.
@gunk.
"A helpful word is always appreciated, but I think we should save this for another time, looks like it's our turn"
Craw puts the odd contraption away, then rests his hands near his sides, looking up so it's clear to see he's paying attention
"The Ashari man appears to be a Priest of Marduk from the Great Library of Ashar, though I've never seen one dressed so, outside of manuscript illustrations."
"Well, shall we go make our introductions?
Craw's head starts spinning a little at all the nobility and religion talk. He decides to latch onto the gnomes idea so it seems like at least he knows something.
"I'm with ya partner, let's get this rodeo runnin' "
"Let's go," 'N' said, as she approached the front of the room. Curtsying a deep bow, she directed it in a way that it was for both nobles.
"Milord Tayir, it has been an honour to be invited to your party, and thank you for seeing me."
Craw walks up a bit slower, still trying to take in all these new developments. He gets right up to 'N', just by her left ear
'N' spoke softly, barely audible except to everyone adjacent to her.
Curden decides to take his hat off and go for a deep bow, traditionally putting the hat over his chest but also going with a bow. not quite as deep as 'N', as he is also taking her advice about keeping his revolvers hidden. while he's bowed
"Curden Craw, at your service"
...an Emissary of our Lord Marduk, come from the Realms themselves.. As the Ashari priest drones on, and Lord Tayir nods his head to acknowledge N and Curden's greetings, the honor guard to the right of his throne suddenly shoulders his musket and fires at the spellcaster to the left of the throne, catching her in the side of the head and dropping her instantly bleeding to the ground.
The female bodyguard reacts first to the echoing crack of the unexpected gunshot. Almost seeming to begin to move before the shot is fired, she steps between her protectee and danger, shoving him behind her against the column, and casting a spell on him as she does so.
Gunk, annoyed at the fact that Curden put the puzzle away, follows him absent mindedly to the front of the room. He is somewhat oblivious to what is going on around him at the moment as his attention is drawn towards the pocket where Craw put the puzzle device. Still working out its mechanisms and inner workings visually in his head he fails to see that Curden has stopped and he bumps gently into the back of him before coming back to reality ...
Oh my goodness. My apologies Mr. Craw. He notices the dignitaries up at the front of the room for the first time and then he steps out from behind Crunden and with two hands pulls down the front of his coat and smooths out the wrinkles in his pants. He then proceeds to give an overly formal bow with much theatrical flourish being careful to avoid direct eye contact. 'My mom taught me how to do this' he thinks to himself.
Gunga Mai presenting himself for your approval and examination.
Gunk gives himself a self congratulatory nod of satisfaction and straightens himself up proudly.
edit: ninjad please move this just after curden's post
perception:
Sense motive:
init:
Curden quickly walks to his left (ending at E2), pulling hit pistols out subtly and watching where the flickering lights come from
sleight of hand for pistols:
Initiative:
Perception:
If that is enough to be aware of the situation, Gunk recognizing the sound of gunshot, quickly mixes up a bomb mixture and prepares to toss it at the shadowy figure on the balcony.
Otherwise, he stands there in awe of what is happening.