Gameplay open!
Morkai arrives into town after a long trip.
His first idea is to find the local in or tavern to get a warm meal. He also needed to ponder how he was going to go about approaching the local mage.
He hoped he could convince the local mage to take him on as an apprentice. The guilds he had found all demanded coins in exchange for teaching him magic and Morkai barely had enough to pay for his meal at the Inn.
Morkai had taught himself all he could so far, in order to further his skill he needed a teacher or at the very least a new source of learning material.
Hopefully the lone scholar living here would be wiling to teach in exchange for his services or even better teach and pay him!
Well the meal came first finding the wizard could come after...What was his name again? Hopefully someone at the Inn will know...
The trip from Oppara has been rather easy so far, almost too easy by your standards, and especially with the rumors of hobgoblin raids along the trail. Except for a broken wheel early on, your journey north has been pretty uneventful, and it is just about at its end!
You all signed up for this job little over a week ago in Oppara. The head of a caravan train, a slender man by the name of Silas Gribb, has hired you on as guards to protect some merchandise he is bringing north to Belhaim before continuing on to Wispil to resupply and eventually head up into Galt. Silas has promised to pay you all handsomely upon the completion of the trip, which would appear to only be about a mile or two away!
A sweet summer breeze blows up from the Verduran River as your caravan train finally exits the plains and enters the Verduran Forest which the river runs through. After about an hour of lazily winding through the forest trails, you all finally cross the wooden bridge leading into the sleepy little town of Belhaim!
However... entering the town does not hold the cheery reception that you were perhaps expecting. The town sheriff, a gruff man by the name of Benhovy, and his deputies are waiting on the other side of the bridge. Several guards on horseback immediately close in behind you, effectively trapping the caravans on the bridge! Sheriff Benhovy steps up the side of the driver's cart, a light crossbow held ready in his hands and pointed up at Silas Gribb. The sheriff shouts up at him:
"Silas Gribb! You are hereby under arrest for crimes against the great nation of Taldor! I have here a warrant to arrest you for known smuggling of illegal goods in and out of our country, as long as selling national secrets to Galt, putting your nation and your nation's citizens in danger! If you try to escape, I am authorized to take you in dead or alive!"
Seeing as there is little to be done, Silas quietly raises his heads and gives you all a weak and mouths the words 'sorry mates' to you all. It does not take much convincing to explain to the sheriff that you were all simple hired on recently and had no knowledge or involvement with any of this, and you are all set free to go. Within the hour Silas is in shackles and on his way to the prisons to the south in Cassomir. Unfortunately, this essentially leaves you all trapped in Belhaim, and needless to say, Silas did not pay you before he was arrested...
Lucky for you though, Talia Orem, the young (and sexy) proprietor of the Wise Piper's Inn, takes pity of you all and offers you free room and board for a few days; at least long enough to figure out what the hell you are all going to do next.
As the sun begins to set, you all find yourselves in the Wise Piper's common room, enjoying a meal of watered down mead and fresh bread and cheese. A young bearded man wearing the robes of a wizard sits at the far side of your table, silently listening to your conversation and looking rather interested in joining in.
Talia sits down to join you all after making sure the other guests are taken care of. She turns to you all and asks:
"So, crazy business with that Silas, eh? Where is it you are all from? What were your plans before this mess? I imagine you didn't intend to stay here in our sleepy little town? Oh, and don't mind Morkai here. He checked in the other day, and seems to think it fine to eaves drop on my customers.
She smiles as she looks at Morkai and says this last part.
Morkai had been examining the group and is surprised to find their focus suddenly directed to him "My dear one can learn all sorts of fun things by eavesdropping in Inns and taverns but it's not very nice for a hostess to get a guest in trouble with a group of well armed strangers by pointing it out. Where I'm from that would lead to a lot of punching and stabbing..." he replies slowly reaching for his dagger but when the strangers make no move for their weapons he relaxes. "Lucky for me this is a friendlier place."
RAU has taken the whole series of events with great equanimity. She may have blinked once or twice when Silas was arrested and the accusations against him were shouted out loud.
She may have blinked again when Talia offered the hired help free roam and board. Her response to the meal was minimal; she ate, she drank, she gave no overt sign of enjoyment or disapproval, she just ate and drank what was put before her.
When Talia asks her questions, RAU blinks again, and answers in softly accented Taldan: "I am from Numeria, originally, but I have been a resident of your fair nation for three years now. My fun -- intention is to visit places of great learning and acquire knowledge. Alternatively, ancient monuments are welcome areas of study. Or perhaps you have unusual wildlife I might study and/or disect."
It may take one or two moments for people who hear RAU talk to realize she asked a question just then.
The Kellid girl hesitates a moment, then asks another question, this time with the proper intonatio: "Is there the option of visiting prisoners in your city's secure isolation facilities?"
Morkai examines the rather bizarre girl, seemed like she had been trough quite a bit herself "I can respect that, your purpose is very similar to mine but why would you want to visit a prison?" he says.
RAU blinks again. "Obviously," she says. "I was unaware of the moving of contraband under our watch, so I wish to ask Silas what the nature of his smuggling might be. I detest incomplete information."
"You know, I thought the pay for this job seemed a bit too good." Says Leven in grumpy tone. He wasn't too thrilled about the recent turn of events upon arriving in Belhaim. "But that might not do you any good, girl. I don't think they'll be letting just anyone in to see someone expected of treason."
Leven runs a hand through his bushy auburn hair. He bunched it up in the back and then ties it with a thin leather thong. Famished from the trip he swigs some mead and bites into the bread. He looks to Talia and speaks. "Again, thank you for the meal and room. That is more than we could have asked for. I myself was just planning on finishing this trip and then looking for another job or perhaps somewhere to study. And I grew up in a town larger than this, but not too different, so no, I wasn't planning on staying specifically."
Well i wonder what now. At least i wasn't arrested and send to prison.
Jack is an easy going rather cheerful person usually. Currently dressed in black pants and a bright colored shirt.
Talia gives a quizzical look at RAU and wonders to herself; 'What a strange... girl?'.
"I don't reckon that the sheriff would be too willin' to let you talk to Silas, on account of he just agree y'all had nothing to do with his crimes. Would look a little suspicious if ya ask me."
She busies herself making sure everyone is good on food and refilling drinks. She catches Leven's eye and blushes deep scarlet. She quickly turns to Jack and says:
"My my but aren't you the quiet one? That's a mighty fine shirt there."
You all continue to eat and talk among yourselves for a little while, when suddenly the walls of the Wise Piper rattle violently as if shaken by thunder!
Talia nearly drops the mugs of mead:
"Oh, dear heavens! It is much too late in the season for a thunder storm! What could that have been?"
Those of you who make your checks recognize this sound is really more akin to a landslide than to the sound of thunder. Also, it would appear the sound came from the northeast
"...Not thunder...An earthquake?" says Morkai he eyes the ceiling and walls warily looking for any sign the building might collapse.
Talia's brow wrinkles as if deep in thought:
"No no... we never get earthquakes up this far north... perhaps some trees fell in the wood...?"
As if waiting for her to complete her thought, a young man bursts into the tavern, his brow damp with sweat. He catches his breathe for a moment before shouting, eyes wide:
"THE WITCH TOWER HAS COLLAPSED!!!"
"Which tower?" The tavern folk unanimously reply.
"THE WITCH TOWER!!!!!!"
This news sends everyone in the tavern hurrying outside. Sure enough, a dark plume of smoke rises up to the northeast, presumably where the tower once stood. (In fact, if you think real hard, you do remember a tower being there before).
Everyone, including the party, quickly shuffles their way across town to the site where the tower once stood. The young man who brought the news continues to ramble on as everyone gawks at the collapse. He mentions that the rumor is the bodies of dozens of kobolds have been found in the rubble. Two of the sheriff's deputies named Letha Mulle and Varyl Hodd, clearly out of their element with their boss out of town, sort of putter about trying to keep order.
Suddenly, someone from the crowd suggest that somebody go ask the wizard Hunclay if he knows what happened, after all, the wizard's house and observatory shares the hill that the tower is on.
Rumor around town is that Hunclay, an avid researcher of the Dark Tapestry and astronomer, as long been petitioning to demolish the tower so as to get a more unobstructed view of the sky from his observatory.
Curious as to what the commotion is all about Morkai follows the crowd to the site of the destruction. "Kobolts? Nasty creatures, always causing trouble when they are around."
When the wizard is mentioned he perks up and steps forward.
"I some have business with this Hunclay myself. I shall go to his home and ask him if he known anything. I don't suppose anyone could point me to his home?"
Mulle and Hodd walk over to Morkai and the party and introduce themselves. Hodd, who has clearly decided himself in charge (though it is clear neither one of them have any idea what is going on), speaks up:
"Greetings, we are what's left of the Sheriff's Deputies while he is out of town, bringing that traitor Silas to the prisons down south. I wouldn't pay any heed to those rumors of the kobolds... truth is we only found two corpses so far. Two more than any of us expected but still..."
"If you wish to speak with Balthus Hunclay, you might as well come with us. Something about that old man don't sit right with me... I don't know you stranger but I'd hate to see anything... unnatural befall ya. Come now, I'll show you the way to that old curmudgeons place."
As you approach Hunclay's place, the first thing you all notice is a thir kobold corpse, this one terribly charred and burnt, lying upon the wizard's doorstep. Deputy Hodd steps up and bangs on his door. After a few moments, he bangs again, but no one answers.
"Hmm... how odd. It would appear nobody is home."
Mulle harrumphs and steps forward and reaches for the door, but Hodd quickly grabs her wrist:
"Are you crazy Mulle!? The place is clearly trapped, and whatever magics that burned up that kobold may very well still be active... we best leave this place alone for now. Come on, let's all head back to the rubble, the Baroness should be here shortly, and we best hear what she has to say on the matter."
The townsfolk, and the party for that matter, become rather curious at the wizard's absence, and wonder if perhaps he had something to do with the towers collapse...
Soon enough, the Baroness of Belhaim, Lady Origena Devy, arrives with her son Arnholde to take charge of the situation. They spend a few moments listening to misguided accounts from the locals gathered at the site, and then from the clearly overmatched deputies. Desperate for someone with some sense to assist her, her eyes scan the crowd, and then fall upon the party. Those eyes narrow as a smile creeps upon her face before she approaches you all.
"Today's your lucky day, stangers. Mulle and Hodd here can't handle this without the Sheriff to hold their hands, and I want to know what happened here. You seem to be a capable bunch. If you go in there and look through the rubble - find out what happened and why there are kobolds in my town - I'll pay the lot of you 500 gold pieces. While you're looking around in the ruins, keep an eye out for any signs of our local eccentric, Hunclay. It seems somewhat suspicious to me that he's not answering his door. Let me know what you find"
Those of you who make your checks notice a strain in her voice. If questioned about it, she sighs and says tersely:
"Yes... my fool of a husband, bless his soul, lost his life poking around that damned tower. I had honestly come to think of the place sort of as his memorial... I am not surprised the dangerous old place finally fell; Hunclay has been pestering me for permission to knock the thing down for years. Very suspicious he is not here..."
RAU looks at the Baroness for a moment -- then kneels next to the Kobold's corpse and starts to examine it without saying a word. Oddly, the Kellid girl hums happily while studying the charred cadaver.
Morkai is more interested in the door and the dead kobolt than what the lady has to say but the mention of gold gets his attention.
"But of course I'd be happy to look into this little mystery of yours for such a generous pay." he says
He notices the strain in her voice but doesn't question her about it.
The kobold was clearly killed due to the intense burns it received. Faint trances of magical residue can be detected among it as well, leading you to believe it was killed by some sort of magical fire.
The Baroness smiles.
"Ah, that is most wonderful news. Morkai was it? Thank you for this deed. And what of your friends here? Will they be joining you? It isn't safe to go alone."
Sure i have nothing to do and could very much use the cash
Jack will turn toward the door and cast a detect magic.
The door certainly detects as magical, though you can't quite read the aura. That being said, the burnt kobold carcass on the steps is a pretty good clue as to what the door does.
Leven watches the chaos around him unfold. The tower fallen, the ruined pile. The shocked crowd and the frightened deputies. He said nothing when they knocked on the Wizard's door.
Well this will be interesting, I guess.
When the Baroness propositions the party he just smiles. Turning toward the rubble and looking for a path through he says, "Where do we pick up the money once we have your information?"
Many of the towns people disperse, but a small crowd still remains gawking at the wreckage and the heroes who are about to investigate it.
You all walk over to the rubble of the collapsed tower. An enormous heap of cracked stone and splinted wood from the towers lies in a low mound here, tumbled partially down the hill to the southeast. The mound of rubble forms a natural ramp that leads up to the now-exposed second floor of the tower above.
RAU hangs back a bit, and scrutinizes the debris closely, looking for a likely cause of the collapse -- and bits of masonry that could still be hazardous to investigators!
Morkai examine the rubble looking for anything of interest.
Take 20 if I can for 22.
Will also scan the area with detect magic.
It is mostly a pile of rubble, but some of the structure is still standing. Part of what was once the second floor is exposed, and the rest of the rubble sort of forms a ramp up to that. You imagine there is stuff underneath the rubble, and the tower had basement levels, though there is no way to tell just by looking how much of the basement remains.
Your perception checks reveal that the rubble appears rather unstable, though it does form a nice ramp, and you will have to be careful if choosing to climb it. Other options are to try and scale the parts of the wall that remain standing, though you imagine that will be more difficult of a climb.
There is no magic in the immediate area that you can detect.
Morkai examines the area and looks to see if there is a way to reach the second floor if not he looks to see if he can find an entrance to the basement.
It would appear the only ways up are going to be climbing the rubble one way or another. The two best options seem to be walking up the 'ramp' made by the debris, or attempting to scale one of the remaining stone walls.
There does not appear to be an entrance to the basement from here, but perhaps from inside?
Leven starts his way up the ramp, using his staff for added balance. He tries to keep alert of what is going on around him.
"Do you have a rope?" RAU calls up after Leven. "If so, tie it off to something heavy up there and roll it out for us."
watching all the people around him to make sure nothings bad happens Well i wounder is there something underground that open.
Leven easily makes his way up the rubble to the second floor. Open to the sky above, this exposed upper floor contains only some smashed furniture and a sprinkling of rubble. A trap door is set in the floor against the northwest wall, but a stout and heavy timber has fallen across it.
"I don't, but you should be able to easily walk up the ramp. It's rubble but it was pretty sturdy," he calls down to RAU.
Having noticed the trap door and the timber upon it he thinks, I'll probably need some help with that, I'm strong but not that strong.
"I found a door. It may be a way down but there's some debris across it. Come on up, everyone. We'll need to work together to get it cleared up."
"I'm afraid my climbing skills are really quite bad, does anyone have a rope we can use? says Morkai looking around.
"Hurry up and get up here if you want part of that 500 gold!" Leven calls down to the others. He turns and moves closer to the trap door. Wedging his staff under the timber he attempts to lever it off.
Leven pulls the timber out of the way and sees that the trap door is not locked, and it can easily be pulled open. He calls down to his group and awaits their climb before he heads down.
Alright, alright i am coming jack will carefully climb up taking his time
Seeing no other option Morkai attempts the climb...
Jack slowly picks his way up the rubble, making sure to find solid footing (), and he makes it to the top to join Leven.
Morkai, as you clamber up the rubble, your robe gets stuck on a bit of broken lumber. Trying to pull it free, you shift the beam which causes a chain reaction of the whole ramp shifting! You fall down and get carried along back to the bottom in an avalanche of rubble and debris and take damage as rocks and splinters of wood buffet you.
"Ouch...Like I said really bad at climbing." says Morkai getting back up.
Morkai will climb going very slowly.
Let's say RAU climbs up as well. Everyone makes it to the top safely and decides to head down the trap door, which creaks open and you all notice a rickety ladder leading down 10' to the ground floor below (remember you climbed up to the second floor). It is easily climbed.
The tower's ground large ground floor has mostly collapsed under the rubble, but along the western portion of the room a section remains clear of debris. An iron trap door set in the floor is directly below a companion door in the ceiling above. Shattered wooden furniture lies scattered around the corpses of two small, green scaled creatures: more kobolds.
The only source of light here is what sifts in through the open trap door above.
"Visual information processed. Compensating for terrain-related difficulties" the odd Kellid girl mutters as she makes her way up the ramp, arms spread wide like a scarecrow to maintain her balance.
RAU does not seem to have any difficulty moving in the darkness; in fact, she moves into the ground floor without any noticeable difficulty and zeroes in on the Kobold corpses. "More specimens for analysis," she calls back to the others as she bends over the corpses.
Jack cast a light spell and looks around him for an entry point where the kobold would have come from
It would loos like they came up from the other trapdoor, as you see no other way in or out... but that may also be because the whole place collapsed and any other passages there used to be are now destroyed.
The kobolds appear to have been crushed. On them you find...
- 2 small leather armor
- 2 small short spears
- 2 small slings
- copper
- silver
- gold
"There is some minor coinage here," RAU reports, "as well as some equipment, sized for smaller creatures."
The Kellid girl blithely strips the Kobolds' corpses of their equipment and money and places both in neat piles next to them.
"Intriguing. I wonder whether they really did cause this collapse. If so, they did it sloppily, to be crushed in their own sabotage."