"Took advantage? that was the plan. We spotted you with the eagles, and then he had us wait, while he circled around to attack you from behind. We would never have disobeyed Norgrimm. Are you dumb?" he motions to the winter wolf body, "That was our commander. Norgrimm."
"Whitethrone is a fortress! you'll never get in! I don't know what whitethrone knows. Like we said, Norgrimm kept his commands and the details to himself. We're just members of the Winter Guard. Falconers. We hunt quarry, and we were his backup."
Gondork gives a bashful smile to Ten-penny, cheeks blushing red. He softly mumbles something inaudible.
Sigh... what a woman.
Then, when his face turns back to the soldiers, it is as hard as granite once more.
You better answer her. She means it.
Giacomo turns to the others, making sure the guards don't catch any of what he says by forming a group huddle.
"Guys, what should we do with these guys? They're just flunkies, they're not some evil mastermind needing to be stopped. But I remember what happened in that other tower, if we tie them up or let them go, they'll probably stab us in the back."
He turns to the guards and yells out, "Hey, if we free you, will you promise to leave us alone? And not tell anyone we're here? We'll kick your ass again if you lie!"
"You killed our falcons. You took down our winter wolf commander. Believe me we rather not go back and take punishment for failure. We'll leave you alone. We just want our lives. Please, Show some mercy. "
Giacomo's face lights up.
"See, perfectly honest folk. I'm sure they can be trusted."
"Giacomo, you're a dear, but last time we got away with the skin between our teeth. They may be with a few, but seriously, I do not want to go through that again."
At the response of the hunters.
Seems like they're harmless now. It would be a bit evil to just kill them in cold blood now, having surrendered and posing no threat. You can't sell their gear anywhere, they're pretty worthless to you. May as well just take what you want and let them fend for themselves out here. The wilderness might kill them anyway.
Arwyn turned a cold eye on the hunters.
"Leave them their stuff. Except their skis and snowshoes. We have places to be." She said flatly.
"If you say so, Arwyn. I'll trust you're judgement." Ten-Penny then sizes up the party. [b]"I do still suggest that we lay low for a while though. We're in pretty rough shape..."[b]
caladan heals up ten-penny a bit.
"We are pretty rough for travel. I'd say drink up, and conserve the spellcasting in case we find more trouble today."
"We're close anyhow, there's a small stone bridge across a river just an hour or so away, and then the fish camps will only be another hour or so after that. Then we can find my uncle, and figure out how to get you into Irrisen."
"We'll need to ditch the Winter Guard's sleigh before the fish camps anwyay. And they'll already see us as outsiders, i'd hate leaving the horses too, but maybe we can sell them in the camps."
A small river cuts across the path, heading south toward the cliffs that overlook Glacier Lake. A stone bridge crosses the river, seemingly constructed with horse, wagon, and caravan traffic in mind. The bridge is well maintained, and the snow has been cleared from its span. Four-foot-high stone railings run along both sides of the bridge, topped at either end by iron spikes upon which clean and meticulously polished skulls have been carefully impaled and turned as if to observe the traffic. A white-painted signpost greets travelers approaching from the east. (as you are)
The sign has three boards, written in Common, and repeated in Hallit, and Skald.
Foreign merchant licenses are required to do business in Whitethrone. You may be stopped for inspection without any cause. Those seeking licenses should apply at the city gates.
"Have I told you much about Ringeirr? My husband's uncle? Uncle-in-law i guess. He's Hjalnek's mother's brother. When my husband, late husband,.. " she reminisces, but finds her glance falling towards Giacomo, "When he was just a boy, Reingeirr's wife and son were taken by the White Witches and brought to Whitethrone. Ringeirr went to the city tor escue them, but through he was able to secretly enter the city and leave it again many times, he never saw his family again. My late husband told me that Ringeirr stays near Whitethrone. The last I heard, Ringeirr was living in the fish camps, working as a smuggler. "
"Whitethrone is built high atop cliffs overlooking Glacier Lake. The cliffs make fishing in the city impractical. So, Whitethrone's fishing industry is carried out in small shanty towns a few miles east of the city. Life there is hard, but there's less direct opression from the Iron Guard (I guess they're calling themselves the Winter Guard now ). "
Ten-Penny drinks 1 of the CLW potions, just to be sure.
"A successful smuggler you say? That sounds like our best option. To the Fishing camps it is, then."
As your motley crew moseys up to the bridge, deciding whether the sleigh can handle it or to just ditch the sleigh now in the river, three ugly things emerge from the water.
>> it came from the frigid waters <<
They're clearly some kind of giants by their enormous stature, each looking 12 ft. tall and close to 500 lbs. These giants have pale green, scaled skin and large, webbed hands and feet. On either side of its neck are slotted gills.
They block the western side of the bridge, and say loudly in broken Common, "Papers please"
Ten-Penny whispers:"Anyone a good idea?"
huge goblins!
::big dumb guards is what they are. probably. they're related to ogres. but they breathe air and water. we might be able to fool them with any old papers, or just intimidate them? they're pretty dumb. and probably aren't actually working for Whitethrone collecting taxes.
"Horse. Tax."
Giacomo looks back and forth between the Merrows and the party.
"I don't want to piss off these people, they look pretty strong. They might not actually work for Whitethrone, but they're not necessarily evil. They're just trying to scrape a living together."
Arwyn looked across at the giants and shook her head.
"I don't think I can intimidate these guys. But I don't want to sacrifice a horse to them either." She said, musing aloud.
"Da Dogs also good."
These are merrows.. simple ones. They are outmatched. Leave this to me.
Gondork looks at them defiantly, not moving a muscle.
They back off and allow you to pass.
Perception checks?
Once you have crossed the troll bridge, you soon enter a forest of leaf less birch trees, and after half a day of travel, the city of Whitethrone comes into sight. Nadya turns aside at this point, guiding you toward the shantytowns east of the city called the Fishcamps, where her late husband’s uncle Ringeirr lives. You ditch the sleigh, keeping the horses to see if you can sell them.
Arctic gulls fill the overcast sky with their cries over this small shantytown. Ramshackle huts are erected on the cold ground, hard packed and barren from generations of foot traffic. Dories and other small fishing boats are moored to dilapidated piers nearby or pulled ashore on the gray pebbled beach of Glacier Lake. The pervasive smell of fish is everywhere, sometimes fresh, but often with the underlying stench of centuries of decay.
"Desna wept! I can't believe that worked..." Arwyn said, turning to look behind them.
At the Glacier Lake, Arwyn crammed the Ummshaka down on her head, pulling the earflaps down and so concealing her most distinctive features.
She grabs the Rimepelt and wraps the party's longarms; the bows, the javelins, the battleaxes and greataxes, into a misshapen lump.
Since the guards identified Giacomo by his priestliness, he tucks his holy symbol under his clothing.
"That was a good idea, Caladan."
Ten-Penny hands Arwyn her Shortbow and Quivers to hide in the Rimepelt. She then takes her small weapons (her Daggers, Short Swords and Hand Crossbow) and hides them in her Cold-Weather Outfit. She is wearing light armor, which she wears underneath her clothing.
"Helps when a half-orc in full plate looks like he's going suicidal."
Nadya turns to Gondork, in his hellplate. and gives the impression that she's tapping her toe, but inside her boot.
What's wrong, Nadya? You seem nervous.
(To the others)
I think it would be wise to hide in the mirror for the night, who knows who might come knocking. I don't want to endanger others with our presence, either.
Arwyn looked at Gondork's plate armor with an arched eyebrow.
"We don't want to spook the locals with your plate armor Gondork," She said, waiving her hand at him. "Especially with plate armor of THAT design."
"As for hiding in the mirror, if we can do that without spooking the locals either I would be good with that."
"It's nothing. We should start down by the docks, see if you can sell the horses, and ask around for Ringeirr Malenkov. I dont know where he lives."
"if we dont find him tonight, we can at least camp near the village, im not opposed to hiding in a mirror, though it sounds strange to me, very much like the winter witch mirror magic. Superstition says not to carry mirrors, if theyre looking for you, its said they can watch from within."
Small groups of fisherfolk congregate on the piers or around shacks, engaged in whispered conversations, but with watchful eyes on what transpires around them.
An occasional child can also be seen, toiling to repair nets or performing some other chore.
An initial round of asking around at the docks produces a slew of blank stares and shrugging shoulders.
If you succeed at this check the DC of the diplomacy or intimidate check is 15 instead of 20
If you want you can try and win them over:
Or be a bit more of a bully:
Ten-Penny has had it with being nice to everyone. She just wants to get this over with, and people are going to cooperate if they like it or not.
"Hello? We're looking for a Mister Ringeirr. It's a family issue, we need to find him. Please? It's urgent, we don't have much time. Don't worry, we can handle whatever problem there might be."
Giacomo flashes his holy symbol, to show there isn't much to fear.
What do you mean, that design? It belonged to me grandfather, and he was a very respectable man.
"And makes you stick out like a sore thumb! Take it off!" Hissed Arwyn.
"Arwyn is right, Gondork. Now stop being stubborn and take the armor off before we get spotted! I do not want to get in to another fight with guards today." says Ten-Penny, showing some serious irritation on her face.
...Make me.
Gondork says defiantly, keeping his gaze fixed on Ten-penny.
I'm sorry Arwyn, but this woman gets to me like no other..
Ten-Penny pauses a while when Gondork issues the challenge. She considers her options. She cannot stab him, since we're rationing the healing for today. She could shout at him, but he probably like that, the perv...
That's it... she'll need help with this one. Out of nowhere, she suddenly lunged at Gondork, swoopt around him, and tried to put him in a headlock.
"Arwyn! We're cracking him open! Grab the crowbar at my belt and start with the joints!"