""Ill be happy to keep the orb safe on myself. Im good at hiding things?" she suggests as she listened to them talk
"You, when we leave and if we have to take the sphere with us"
She gives them her open smile again
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Paul stiffens a little, then turns to look at Yuki.
"Well, maybe before we decide who gets to keep what, why don't see what Miss Leera's got in mind for the orb first; she claimed it square, not any of us," he says with a dry voice.
"Meantime, how about this Nesher Mine place? Anyone got a line on where to find it?" he asks the group.
"I'm not hungry or thirsty. Priestess Alyssia gave me some fresh drinking water. But thank you." Leeara patted Paul's arm.
"I will stay in my room and only take visitors that I know. I need the rest anyhow. It feels like I haven't slept in months", she assured the boy.
Responding to the young woman, "As for you will keep the orb safe, I have already given it to your priest, there. The boy and he have promised to keep it safe and they would investigate if it is magical or something. Best the priest hold onto the orb for the time being. He seems reliable." Leeara shrugged as she barely knows any of you but is willing to place her trust in those who rescued her.
Addressing all the adventurers,
"As I mentioned earlier, you have my gratitude for all that you have done. If you need my help, I'll be hiding out in my room here at the inn, resting. I've seen enough trouble for a lifetime, to be honest with you."
"As I mentioned earlier, you have my gratitude for all that you have done. If you need my help, I'll be hiding out in my room here at the inn, resting. I've seen enough trouble for a lifetime, to be honest with you."
Paul nods.
"We took plenty of your time, I reckon - you maybe need to get some rest or something," he adds.
"You need anything else, you let us know. And watch out who you open the door for - there's lots of ways that magic-folk can trick you into thinking they're a pal when they're just a guy in magic disguise, you know?"
"Anyhow, I don't have to tell you that - you know the score."
"I reckon me and the others may want to finish up details proper-like without other townsfolk trying to listen in..." he says, hoping that if his companions want to discuss details they'll do it the relative private that the room offers.
He he sees Leera get up to leave, he stands as well and tips his hat to her.
"Ma'am," he says, then lets her head out.
After she leaves, he turns to the others.
"So... how you all want to deal with these cutlists? You want to be sly with 'em and do some knife-work from the shadows; or do you want to just go in guns ready - you know; sort of make a big mess to scare the rest of the scum out of town."
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"Meantime, how about this Nesher Mine place? Anyone got a line on where to find it?" he asks the group.
"Nesher Mine is one of a few operational mines in the area. You go back onto the trail road you travelled to find my cave. You will find a narrow trail extending from the old bridge and leading into the southern hills. Locals know it well enough, but you being strangers to these parts, I guess you'll be needing a map."
Leeara finds some paper and an inkpen and sets about drawing the map from memory. She has travelled these trails often enough in search of her herbs and supplies.
She hands the completed map to Paul.
"Don't forget those so-called prospectors are staying here at the Mineshaft. Wouldn't hurt to keep an eye out for them."
With that she stands from the table and cautiously makes her way out of the backroom and heads toward her room, securely closing/locking the door behind her.
"Don't forget those so-called prospectors are staying here at the Mineshaft. Wouldn't hurt to keep an eye out for them."
With that she stands from the table and cautiously makes her way out of the backroom and heads toward her room, securely closing/locking the door behind her.
"Thanks again, ma'am," he says to her as he nods.
After she leaves, he turns to the others.
"Right - well, we could maybe let the word slip that something's up - then when the "miners" go do their thing, we head out after 'em quiet-like and do the job on them proper," he says, holding up a knife.
"Or we could go in now; kick open the doors and ask them the hard way what's up; put the fear of gods in them and any who mess with us..." he adds with a shrug, then glances around.
"Either option works for me; what do ya'all think?" he asks them.
"i can always try to infiltrate them?" she raises her hand in suggestion
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After walking back to the inn, Ayreth walks Diamond into the stables. If the stableboy is willing to help this time, she will use his services to unsaddle her and brush her down; otherwise, she will do this on her own. Ayreth sees Paul come in to the stables to check on his horse and gives him a nod of acknowledgement. "I will be inside shortly. Diamond deserves a good rubdown. She did well today." Ayreth has to hurry a bit to join Paul as he goes inside.
Joining the others in the small kitchen, she listens to poor Leeara tell her story yet again. She is surprised when Bart picks up the tale where Leeara's leaves off. He has seemed more reticent to draw attention to himself in the short time that the group has been together.
Her interest is piqued when Bart glosses over Alar's involvement and the obfuscating description of the starry lion. Eventually, Bart finishes his recounting of events and Dalviss responds.
Then Dalviss stands, a determined look on his face.Paul glances up at Dalviss.
"Now hold on there, boss," he says to him.
"We go after these guys we'll have - at best - a trial; and while we deal with their word verse Miss Leera, the big boss'll be slipping through the cracks," he adds.
"I say maybe we keep Leera hidden, if possible - we let these basterds dangle a little."
"They'll go after that ball sooner or later... when they do, we can track them, maybe..."
"They'll skip out of town from here; we can follow 'em to their boss and see what's going on with them on the sly instead... What do you all think of that?"
Ayreth looks puzzled at Paul's proposal. "Miss Leeara has been through quite an ordeal. She is clearly exhausted, physically and emotionally. Using her as bait seems.... questionable. Also, I simply prefer to be more proactive in my solutions."
"She doesnt have to be bait, i can be bait in her place? Or just merely infiltrate them as one of their own?" she makes her suggestion again
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""Ill be happy to keep the orb safe on myself. Im good at hiding things?" she suggests as she listened to them talk
"You, when we leave and if we have to take the sphere with us"
She gives them her open smile again.
Ayreth stares at the "young woman" with the chaotic and easily bored personality incredulously. After a few moments, Ayreth looks to Paul as he responds.
Paul stiffens a little, then turns to look at Yuki.
"Well, maybe before we decide who gets to keep what, why don't see what Miss Leera's got in mind for the orb first; she claimed it square, not any of us," he says with a dry voice.
"Meantime, how about this Nesher Mine place? Anyone got a line on where to find it?" he asks the group.
Ayreth stifles her laughter. That was remarkably diplomatic. It seems that he has a few surprises up his sleeve.
"As for who will keep the orb safe, I have already given it to your priest, there. The boy and he have promised to keep it safe and they would investigate if it is magical or something. Best the priest hold onto the orb for the time being. He seems reliable."
When Leeara responds as well, the stifling takes more effort. Even a half-crazed, exhausted, traumatized person with a curse hanging over her head can notice her "reliability."
"it cant be that hard to play a new recruit. I can lie pretty well. Yes ma'am. No ma'am. Sorry ma'am" she grins
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"it cant be that hard to play a new recruit. I can lie pretty well. Yes ma'am. No ma'am. Sorry ma'am" she grins.
"Perhaps not, but how do they recruit? What trials might one have to endure to become a recruit? How do you know about this mission? These are just a few of the many questions they might ask." Ayreth shakes her head. "While we appreciate your fearlessness, it is a risk that we can ill afford."
"Well, then let mw be the thief who stole their orb thingy!" she looks at the cook
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She just gives those there a knowing grin
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Paul rubs his hand over his face.
”Hey – ain’t nobody talking about dressing up as ‘bait’, alright?” he says with some frustration.
”Look, here's the facts worth knowing; there were boys in the swamp that were doing bad stuff. Their boss lady cursed Miss Leera; Miss Leera got some orb – so the boss lady sent her boys to do a thing but Miss Leera did the job on them so now they ain’t coming back.”
”Never mind Miss Leera for a minute –the fact is that this crew lost their orb-thing and they’re going to want it back,” he adds.
”If that boss lady who did the curse can’t get her orb back, and suddenly two of her lads ‘disappear’ on her, that means she’s going to start looking for them; either to see if they did the job, or to see if they stole from her – but she’ll look hard, cause I reckon this orb thing’s worth something.”
He shakes his head.
”Now it won’t be no trick to find them either… it’s not like we hid the bodies, nor chopped the bodies up, or nothing like that; so yeah – she’ll find the bodies, sure as thunder.”
”And it ain’t going to be too hard to search that cave and find the tracks of seven lads and lasses – hell; we didn’t even try to cover our tracks – and tracking a horse ain’t nothing to it – she’d have to be pretty stupid not to put two and two together and figure out her boys got knifed and she got robbed and someone from the town did it,” he adds.
”And come to think of it, it ain’t going to be a trick to figure out more,” he says with a growl.
”She’s a sorceress, or priestess to some dark god – or something like that… When she finds her dead folk why don’t she raise them from the dead and ask what happened? Or at least throw the bones, or cast a spell, or do whatever it is folk do to talk to dead and flat out ask them what happened? Point is – she’ll find out if she wants her damn orb back.”
He sighs and tries to come to the point.
”Look – we know that they got knifed about two days before we found Miss Leera. By now they’re overdue – they’ll send another group out – maybe it’ll take ‘em two more days to figure out what’s what – maybe less if they start from the town – maybe that lady’s using wizardry to send messages to her boys in town with some magic crystal or magic mirror or some raven that don’t talk but can somehow deliver notes for people – hell, I don’t know,” he says with frustration.
He looks at Yuki.
”You want to try joining up with a crew that worships dark gods and all that – what, you think they’ll ask you some questions and you’re in? Come on!”
”If you try to join with them straight, it’s likely that they’ll check you with magic – hell, if they’re hooked up to dark gods and so forth – well, I sure as hell would – I’d put you through the damn magical ringer before I let you join a crew of mine when folk are dealing with things that hard – but point is, we don’t have time for all this shilly-shallying about, you know?”
”For all we know that boss lady’s throwing the bones now and asking her Seer where the location of her property is – and the bloody Seer will likely be dancing around – or whatever a Seer does before they get a knowing on something – and then they’ll know it’s here, if they haven’t done it already.”
”So now ain’t the time for jibber-jabber; it’s the time for action,” he says somewhat emphatically.
”We got four lads in town – they may know now with magic and stuff that the orb ain’t home to Boss Lady; they may even know that the orb’s reached town… They’ll at least know that six Outlanders came from outside to Hicksville here; stayed for a night after being a hassle at the inn – then left town, were gone for about a day, and came back with seven folk covered with swamp marsh clinging to their clothes and boots and so forth – ‘cause we didn’t exactly clean that crap off after legging it through the swamp – and then the six Outlanders, plus their new masked friend riding the horse, well we all went to the temple in town and did some stuff secret-like inside with the swamp covered horse outside the temple, then we all went to the inn and have been all quiet inside behind locked doors since.”
”Hell, this joint ain't like a bloody metropolis – there’s barely a couple hundred folk around here – sure as hell that those boys pay off lads in town for a tip and maybe they got a spy in this place anyhow; which we all figure and it's why we’re behind closed doors doing this talking now, right?”
He sighs.
”So they’ll know what’s up for certain by the end of the day. When we leave, they’ll either follow us, maybe – or they’ll do something else.”
”We can either deal with them now or later – your call; but whatever it is we do, let’s be smart and let’s be quick – and as for using folk as bait? Damn! I never said that; hell, that ain't right... But the way I see it, I figure the orb is bait enough to track with a spell or something, and they’ll track it whatever we do however they can just because we're the new folks in town; never mind all the other stuff that'll draw folks attention; then we got trouble when they do whatever it is they do,” he says, punching his hand into his fist.
”Now – what’re we going to do,” he adds, looking around at the group.
Blue Heron watches the exchange quietly. That woman is a child, if they don't let her do something she will continue to act out. Her energy must be channeled to some useful purpose.
After Paul's long explanation, she recommends, "Only one answer suffices, defeat the wicked sorceress. Gii, could she have cursed this entire village?"
After Paul's long explanation, she recommends, "Only one answer suffices, defeat the wicked sorceress. Gii, could she have cursed this entire village?"
Paul glances at Blue Heron with raised eyes.
"You can't do that until you know where she is," he says.
"We don't - we got only clues - but I bet the boys in town know at least the location of the lady who pays their bills."
"And if not, what're they going to do to the town after we leave if we don't put the squeeze on them before we leave?" he adds.
"One might be forgiven in thinking she is still at where the cook girl found her last, guarding her treasures. Is starting a battle in the town wise? If we fight them in the mines less villagers would be exposed to harm."
"One might be forgiven in thinking she is still at where the cook girl found her last, guarding her treasures. Is starting a battle in the town wise? If we fight them in the mines less villagers would be exposed to harm."
"Alright, then we don't fight them - I don't care about that - but my thinking is we play it smart."
"If we figure that we're being watched, after this little chat-fest we head out to the common room, get a few pints and let slip our 'plans' to do whatever it is we do - leave town and figure that the boys may come after us; and when they do..." he draws his finger over his neck.
"Or we could just ask them the hard way to know what this lady's got -what type of magic; what type of gear; how many guards - you know, tactic-stuff."
"But I reckon if we leave they're not going to just sit back and relax - they'll do something ugly, and I'd just rather make that not happen."
Gii sighs, a little put off at the suggestion of dealing with the miners. "I can agree with that, Paul," he says to the other man. "But we must be aware that these cultists may possess more power than we realize."
"We will triumph. I see nothing wrong with tricking these cultists into following us. If they spend the night here someone should guard the cook."
Gii sighs, a little put off at the suggestion of dealing with the miners. "I can agree with that, Paul," he says to the other man. "But we must be aware that these cultists may possess more power than we realize."
"Aye," he says, nodding to Gii.
Doc probably don't want to knife folks unless he's sure - much less ask them the hard way... Still, don't hurt to toss out options....
But wait - maybe I'm being too hasty... Slow down a piece, son, toss all the facts on the table, and then everyone weigh in - that's the best way; that way if you think of something that you think is stupid, well - maybe it is; but maybe it gets one of your mates thinking something brand new and they come up with a bang-up plan... You know, lad, just do some bloody-ass brainstorming...
Paul looks around and takes a deep breath.
"Look, we're in this room on account of the fact that we figure we got rats in the house, right? I mean - you know - that folks may spy on us..."
He thinks a moment, then elaborates on his guess.
"Thing is - I been in a lot of small towns; frontier work and all... There ain't much going on. The fact that six strangers with strange gear and strange manners from all over the whole country, hell - maybe even farther..." he shakes his head.
"Town like this is dull; boring, you know? To them we ain't blending too well - hell, if anything, we look maybe like a traveling fair or something; you know - something to stare at and talk about for the next couple of weeks."
"I figure folk are already sitting around jawing about us - hell; I reckon that it beats asking each other if it's 'hot enough for ya' or if they think the goats are doing good all day..." he says with a grunt.
"But we got to figure that the miner folk in town are trying to learn all they can about this berg on account of the fact that they're looking for stuff."
"My thinking is that they set up camp here to take loot and convert it to more mining gear and foodstuffs for their mates who are out in the field... Maybe every couple of days a rider comes in to get new supplies from the lads here and exchange news and other hash..."
"Doubly so when their own boys are missing and a rare item's been pinched," he says with a frown, considering options.
"So maybe if we kill 'em or push 'em hard for news, then if one of their mates comes in to see what's up, they'll know something's going on..."
He shakes his head, clearly frustrated.
"Still, if we say nothing then they'll likely spill the beans when one of their pals comes in and maybe they'll go after the innkeeper who we were hanging out with - not to mention the priestess..."
He glances at Blue Heron.
"Yeah... You and I both know something about tactics," he says.
"When you fight a crew; take out their casters first - if you can - no telling what those basterds can do; especially a lass that can cure a bloody curse that you're using as a weapon and especially a lass that we went to and seem friendly with - like that priestess... More so if they don't like us and want to hurt us, that is..."
He thinks a moment.
"If we could go out in public and give the spies a false story - throw 'em off the scent, then maybe we could bluff them into thinking we ain't mates with Dalviss or the good Sister at the temple so those miners don't come after them to do some harm to stick it to us if we ain't here..."
He glances at Yuki.
"You're pretty slick at bluffing folk - maybe if we all figure out a good story you and the kid," he says with a nod to Bart "could go out and spread the news - you know - give them a trail to follow... Cause I know this about tracking; if you want to throw 'em off your trail, give 'em something else to follow, or they'll keep looking to find you direct."
He glances at Ayreth and Gii.
"Ya'll are good at priesty magic stuff, eh? Well, you know more about this hash than I do - maybe ya'll could rustle up some gear? You know, something handy in the wild..."
He dumps the two Masterwork daggers he picked up on the table.
"Now maybe we could sell these two things and pool our loot and maybe the Doc could get himself a Wand that cures light wounds - it's a hell of thing to have after a big fight, and they ain't too pricey, nor hard to use for a guy like the Doc... So, if selling these here daggers gets us closer to getting things, well... then that's what I think we ought to do..."
He glances at Yuki a moment, noting the magical blade that she claimed in the wild, shakes his head, and continues.
"Meantime we're all doing contract work for this guy at the inn; but ain't none of us talked about being a crew formal-like, nor on how we split what we find on the trail."
"Way I see it, if we're going be partners and doing a job as a straight crew... Well, I reckon something ought to be said on that now so we ain't killing each other later on account of a few shiny's we find in the field later, you know what I mean?" he adds with a doleful sigh; clearly not eager to discuss that aspect of business, but recognizing that it ought to be sooner rather than later, especially if they were going to go out and get communal gear.
"Look - I just tossed a bunch of suggestions out there. They ain't no bloody orders, I ain't no man's boss; but I figure that they're things worth thinking on... That said, what do ya'll think?"
Yuki nods and grins
"How about that we found her, she died due to an unknown illness but what about the orb? what do we tell them about that?"
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”Hey – ain’t nobody talking about dressing up as ‘bait’, alright?” he says with some frustration.....[lots of stuff]
”And come to think of it, it ain’t going to be a trick to figure out more,” he says with a growl.....[more stuff]
”She’s a sorceress, or priestess to some dark god – or something like that… When she finds her dead folk why don’t she raise them from the dead and ask what happened? Or at least throw the bones, or cast a spell, or do whatever it is folk do to talk to dead and flat out ask them what happened? Point is – she’ll find out if she wants her damn orb back.”
He sighs and tries to come to the point....[even more stuff, ironically]
”So now ain’t the time for jibber-jabber; it’s the time for action,” he says somewhat emphatically.
”We got four lads in town – they may know now with magic and stuff that the orb ain’t home to Boss Lady....[brevity]....which we all figure and it's why we’re behind closed doors doing this talking now, right?”....[bringing it home]...
”Now – what’re we going to do,” he adds, looking around at the group.
"My, my, Mister Antairis, solitary life in the wilds has made you prone to speeches," she observes, clearly amused.
"If Miss Yuki appears as Miss Leeara while Miss Leeara hides, then there is no reason to search for her. It is not bait, it is... misdirection." For some reason, Ayreth appears slightly uncomfortable about using the word, as if revealing something about herself.
"The lady in the dress may be a sorceress, or she may not. There is no reason to assume one way or the other. But that hardly seems the point. Either we are good people who do something about the situation, or...." She lets the moment hang, not saying the word 'cowards'.
"As to the men who were in town, those are the men that Miss Leeara followed. By my 'reckoning', two are dead, and two are in the mountains, possibly in this Nesher Mine. As to why we are meeting like this, it seems just a precaution. One that is easy to take and costs us nothing." Ayreth begins walking towards Paul.
"As to what we are going to do, that is what all this 'jibber-jabber' is for." Tiny Ayreth is standing in front of Paul, quite defiantly. "We, as a group, discuss and decide things." She pokes Paul in the chest with a finger. "It is not..." poke "...so that we..." poke "...have an opportunity..." poke "...to be condescending..." poke "...or dismissive!,"poke she ends, her eyes blazing. Both of her eyes are visible at the moment, her hair falling away because of the angle she needs to meet his gaze.
Fighting to keep a smile off of her face, Blue Heron listens to Ayreth dress down Paul. She is not wrong. Speeches germinate on his tongue like seeds in fertile soil. Yet, despite his loquacious tongue, Paul was correct that they need to be able to better work together.
'What is happening?' A silent question hung in Bart's mind for a moment before fading and the lad found himself smiling a little as he replied.
'The adults are fightin. Seems like dat doesn't change wherever we go. Some good ideas bandied around wit some bad. I'm tinkin we might be gettin into a fight soon dough. The ones that be poisonin Leeara.'
Bart can hear the pleased feeling in Alar's thoughts. Well, hearing wasn't exactly what it was, but it was close enough. 'I would very much like to rend those wicked forces with my claws.'
Bart shivered a little, recalling the image of the two dead bodies rent apart by miss Leeara, and he looks to the woman for a moment before glancing back toward the wall he had been staring at. 'Yeah, they be deservin it for what they put her through. Ting is, dere be more to this. Gotta be... I think they're only the start.'
'Have you told the others your thoughts?'
Bart wrinkles his nose, as he often did when he had a sour thought, and nods. 'Tried to. Den dey started arguin. Blue seems to be in favor of goin to their cave, but none of de others are really interested in de why. Or de what. Might be there's a lot more to dese orbs then just treasure. Might be chargin in be dangerous. Might be that chargin in could save lives too. We simply don't know enough.'
Alar gives his approval for Bart's caution, but otherwise does not comment, leaving the lad alone with his thoughts for a few minutes. When the group finally started to calm down with all of the talking Bart looks at them, adjusting his hat and his goggles a bit. "Couldn't hurt ta look, no matta what we do. Maybe if we be goin tonight, we can be catchin dem off guard? We need answers ta some tings at least, and we need to find out what dey be doin wit the ship or if dey even found it."
Dalviss sat, absently rubbing his bearded chin. "The prospectors from Druma, well ... there's always been four of them, even after Leeara disappeared. I can't tell you more than that as they keep mostly to themselves after they leave their room in the evening." He lowered his voice, "The two Leeara killed in her cave, they may be other cultists...perhaps there's more in town than we thought. That is an unsettling thought."
Bart wrinkles his nose even more and sends out a quick, sharp warning to Alar about Davliss' words. The lion hadn't moved from his hiding place though and seemed pretty confident that no one would be spotting him any time soon. Bart let out, what must have seemed to the others a completely random, sigh of releif. "Dat be the case, den takin the fight right to em be the worst bet. We piss em off enough dey might start trouble in the town and good people will get hurt. We be needin more info."
"As to what we are going to do, that is what all this 'jibber-jabber' is for." Tiny Ayreth is standing in front of Paul, quite defiantly. "We, as a group, discuss and decide things." She pokes Paul in the chest with a finger. "It is not..." poke "...so that we..." poke "...have an opportunity..." poke "...to be condescending..." poke "...or dismissive!," poke she ends, her eyes blazing. Both of her eyes are visible at the moment, her hair falling away because of the angle she needs to meet his gaze.
Paul looks down at Ayreth’s finger digging into his chest.
He reaches down and snatches her wrist quickly in his hand, staring at her eyes.
”We all been watched; folk know where we’ve been and who we’ve spent time and do business with – if people want to hurt us and we ain’t here; they’ll hurt those who are our friends; like Dalviss and the priestess.”
He shakes his head.
”I don’t let folk take a fall for me.”
He lets her hand go and glances at the rest of them.
”We work for Dalviss; but we ain’t a bloody crew, not yet; right now we ain’t nothing but a bunch of mercenaries.”
He takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly.
”I asked if we could pull together and maybe talk particulars on what we'd want as a crew formal-like; working as crew, you know? How to divide loot; how we do tactics in a fight; who we want to do business with; who talks for us when it comes to haggling; what kind of marching order we want to take; hell, how we want to bust up watches at night – any and everything that a crew needs to talk open and square about so there ain't problems later.”
”I said my piece and hoped to hear some answers, or at least ideas... All this time and what’d you all decide, eh?”
He thinks for a moment, but for now he says nothing. He pauses and looks at Ayreth and cocks his head, studying her.
”You know what – you’re right; I talk too much.”
He shakes his head and scoops up his daggers and stuffs them back in his pouch.
”Alright then; I ain’t part of a crew at this point – I asked about it, but no one seems interested in talking particulars so I reckon that ain’t happening. We're all just independents working a job and trying to get things done.”
He shrugs.
”Fine; Dalviss is still my boss right now; I work for him direct.”
He considers Dalviss’s words that the miners leave the town at night; every night, and that they travel together.
That they leave as group – at night, and likely walking the same trail at the same time, or – if they’re not on foot, then traveling on horses which were a hell of a lot easier to track…
He considers options.
He looks at the others and picks ups his gear, slinging it over his shoulder.
”I got to do a thing – we'll talk later,” he says, then tips his hat and heads out.
"Hold up. Im joining you!" she calls out and joins him
When she catches up she smiles
"No need to do things alone. People usually dont work together at first it takes time"
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Dalviss nods, a weak grin across his tired face.
"You've done much to help us this day, and I can't thank you enough. But I think the majority are right here. We...all of us...need to rest. We can't do much helping if we're walking around like...well, zombies I guess."
He begins to slowly get up and make his way out of the (crowded) kitchen area.
"I'll have Nalan make you something to eat and drink. He can bring it to your room if you'd like, it's the least he...we can do."
Nodding at Yuki and Paul as they make their way out.
"Please, take something to eat and let me fill your skins before you go. No telling how long you'll be out. I'd suggest trying to be back before dark, though."
With that, and after everyone has left the kitchen, Dalviss has some words with Nalan, instructing him to be "at your service." The large slouching man grumbles, but finally agrees, and sets about preparing some fresh food.
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Dalviss sat, absently rubbing his bearded chin. "The prospectors from Druma, well ... there's always been four of them, even after Leeara disappeared. I can't tell you more than that as they keep mostly to themselves after they leave their room in the evening." He lowered his voice, "The two Leeara killed in her cave, they may be other cultists...perhaps there's more in town than we thought. That is an unsettling thought."
"That is unsettling. Are you certain it appears to be the same four each night? We should ask Leeara if the two she dispatched were part of the group she followed. If they are able to disguise themselves that effectively, that gives us a hint as to their capabilities."
At the mention of food and rest, Ayreth agrees. "I can stay up for a while after we eat. As has been noted, we should stay vigilant and keep watch even in town."
"Please, take something to eat and let me fill your skins before you go. No telling how long you'll be out. I'd suggest trying to be back before dark, though."
Paul turns to Dalviss as he's about to leave -
"I ain't going to be back after dark; in fact, I intend to be back well before sundown - well, the whole trip shouldn't take me more than an hour - tops," he says with a matter-of-fact voice.
"Begging your pardon, boss; you got a line on the place in this berg that sells or buys good weapons?" he asks.
"Meantime, while I'm at it, I got a few other questions for you, real specific-like; you have a minute to answer them now before I hit the dirt?" he asks Dalviss as he pauses by the door.
"Paul is right that we need to work better together. At the very least we need to prepare signals so our scouts can relay their intelligence to us."
"Begging your pardon, boss; you got a line on the place in this berg that sells or buys good weapons?" he asks.
"Meantime, while I'm at it, I got a few other questions for you, real specific-like; you have a minute to answer them now before I hit the dirt?"
Dalviss gives a firm nod of his head.
"Aye. The best place for such dealings is with Belak Greyaxe, our Dwarven blacksmith. He crafts most of the weapons in town. Probably be able to tell you if he can't get or make something you need."
"And, if I'm able, I will answer your other questions. The Mineshaft doesn't open for business for another half hour ..."
Gii stretches, his bones creaking as exhaustion from a busy afternoon begins to catch up with him. "Before you do anything," he says to Paul and Blue Heron, "Allow me to bind what wounds you may still have from earlier. If you are to be dealing with the people of Dustpawn, it would be best to be in your best condition," the Nethian suggests, a tired grin on his face. Lifting his holy symbol, a wave of white light begins to pour off the man's form, gently cascading over all the people gathered.
Bart nods to Dalviss and then walks over to Gii. Resting definitely seemed like a good idea. They could get their heads together tomorrow when they were ready and work out what to do next. Still, before they went to sleep for the night he wanted to have the priest do one more thing for him. He grabs at the mans robe gently, largely to just tug on it and get his attention, and then gestures for him to follow. Of the group, Gii was the most likely to be able to spot Alar's differences from a typical summoned creature, but he also seemed to be the most skilled healer. When they were outside, Bart would lead Gii to one of the sides of the building where Alar waited, practically invisible thanks to his shadowy form. "If ya don't mind, Alar could use a bit of healin before I dismiss him. He don't heal all natural like when he gets sent back, ya see."
Paul nods at Gii –
”Thanks, doc,” he says.
Pausing at the door, he glances at Dalvis –
”Yeah – I got a few questions; here’s the rundown –“
1. Do the four miners who travel from this place have horses?
2. If they do have horses, do they take them when they leave at night, or do they travel on foot?
3. If the men use horses, how reliable is your stableboy? Is he trustworthy and if we ask him questions will he be honest with his answers – as in; here are all the details I know – or; I don’t know anything?
4. What race and species are the miners?
He turns and glances at Yuki.
”Alright, let’s get going,” he says to her.
1. Do the four miners have horses here; or pack animals such as mules or donkeys? Or both?
2. When the four miners leave at night; do they come here to get their mounts – if so; what type of mount and when do they come here each night?
3. If you maintain their mounts, do they bring any gear with them – food, camping supplies, and especially lights? Are they carrying arms/armor when they come to the stables to get the horses (assuming they do come here)?
1. Paul will show the dwarf the 2 MW daggers he found and ask for an Honest Appraisal (he’ll ask Yuki to Sense the Dwarf’s Motives on the price of daggers). Once he gets it, he may decide to sell the daggers to the dwarf, or he may hold on to them (this largely will depend on the answer he gets under the next sub-set of questions below via the priestess section).
2. Once he knows what their relative value is formally for resale; he’ll ask the dwarf if he has raw materials to sell and if so – how much raw materials is he able to buy?
3. Finally, Paul would like a quick inventory of the Dwarf’s merchandise so he can show this to his friends.
1. Do you have a Wand of Cure Light Wounds for sale?
2. If so, are you willing to discount it for friends of the town?
3. If you don’t have one can you Craft one if we bring the materials for the wand to you?
4. If we bring the materials to you for crafting directly, can we get the wand for the cost of the parts (which we provide)?
Once he’s got that done, he’ll move back to the tavern (given that half of these questions would be asked while at the tavern – the only real issue is that I don’t know far the Dwarf’s shop is – but as it can’t be more than a mile; it shouldn’t take Paul more than 35 minutes round trip from the Dwarf and this includes questions, I hope.
As for the rest of the questions; I’m hoping the whole thing shouldn’t take more than an hour.
"And, if I'm able, I will answer your other questions. The Mineshaft doesn't open for business for another half hour ..."
Paul returns to the inn as soon as errands are finished.
He sees a barmaid and lifts his hand - "Evening miss - can I get a whiskey?"
He nods to Dalvis.
"Thanks - you gave the square word, that's for sure. That Greyaxe guy was a straight arrow all the way," he says with a nod and smile as he swings himself into a chair; picks up the bottle that the barmaid brings him and pours himself a glass.
As he drinks takes a drink he looks around the room and notes who else is there...
Once turns to his friends in the room and nods to them and motions them over.
"Well, I got tell you, there was a lot of information I just found..."
"Where to begin, where to begin?"
Dalviss scratched his head.
"They walked into the Mineshaft with some bags between them. I noticed no horses stabled, so I supposed they came in on foot."
Dalviss' crinkled blue eyes peered at the adventurer before him.
"I have not followed them after dark. They leave the inn on foot and from here I have no idea where they travel to. Perhaps to the mines, perhaps elsewhere. I have not kept track of their movements for I had no reason to be suspicious of paying patrons. I run a business, and I was more concerned about what fell from the sky and my missing cook than four quiet strangers."
When questioning turned to the four prospectors, Dalviss chuckled, "Son, the prospectors said they were Druma and appeared human - men like you and me. I can't tell you anymore than that. They kept to themselves -- didn't bother me nor Nalan."
When the adventurer began asking about the stableboy, Dalviss' looked toward the bar and the sullen Nalan cleaning the bartop.
"Tommi? He's Nalan's kid and I've never questioned the boy's or the father's honesty. Nalan runs the stables, Tommi helps out."
"I was not expecting to see you again this day. What can I help you with Paul?"
When the adventurer asked about a wand of CLW, Alyssia smiled apologetically. "I have one wand but it only has 9 charges remaining. You may have it for free, if it will aid you in your mission. And I'm sorry, but I cannot craft wands. I mainly brew potions and create scrolls. If you require any magical items, there is only one place in town which might be able to source what you seek. However, you must first arrange a meeting with one of her agents... but you must impress the agent before Elladas Demos will do business with you. I mentioned her earlier, when your party was attempting to cure poor Leeara of her afflictions."
Yuki helps Paul to explain the happenongs to this point. Smiling and making sure that they are trying to help.
Not easy when you are the new comers, so best to make sure the locals know you are there to help and aid them, rather than just take their resources
Tommi comes out from the back of the stables, yawning and rubbing at his eyes. There is a general look of tiredness on his face, strange for such early evening.
"Oh, it's you, again. I still have my chores, mister, but I'll answer your questions", occasionally glancing at the smiling girl standing nearby.
As Tommi places fresh hay in the stalls for the horses and the mule, he answers in his usual fashion,
"The prospector gents have no horses or mules, here. I just look after your animals. The prospectors pay me no attention and I pay them none."
Tommi pours fresh water into the troughs.
"They carry packs on them and weapons--daggers mostly that I've seen. That's all, mister. I have to finish and get some supper. My da's waiting on me."
"Got daggers have ye?" The dwarf takes the blades, noting their masterwork quality with his keen eyes, turning the blades in his hands, feeling the weight and balance.
"These are worth 302 gold apiece. Are ye wanting to sell them?"
Paul considers specifically what was said by Dalvis. He glances at his companions – keenly aware that as the conversation occurred in front of his mates before he left they are all aware of the responses.
However, the information – while not overly surprising – clearly proves many of the theories earlier; so that’s good news.
In regards to “The Mineshaft” – for some reason I thought that was the name of the Tavern/Inn. Quick point of clarification: Was Dalvis speaking about the actual Mineshaft that the miners go to, or a building with that name?
Paul will listen to the boy’s response, nodding at the lad’s words and offering subtle words of encouragement to Yuki to try to make the boy comfortable.
When the boy is done with assistance, Paul will offer the boy a tip in the form of a gold piece. Given how the relative variances for Profession Skill should work, I’m hoping that’s a relatively generous tip as he only answered a few questions.
Paul will indeed take the wand and thank her for it.
He will also suggest to her that it is likely that people looking for Leera and that orb may track them to this town and possibly hurt friends of Leera or friends of his companions.
Paul recommends that she does what she can to keep an eye open for any possible threats.
Paul will tell him he may want to sell the daggers; but right now he’s not sure.
Paul is also interested in finding a shopping list of what the dwarf had to answer – his plan was to be able to take that list back to his companions.
Finally, via the “Crafting Supplies”:
I’ve been in other games before when people wanted to Craft things; such as Wands or possibly a shield, or whatever. The GM in that game said such actions could be done provided the players had the right tools; but also “Supplies”.
In this case “Supplies” were divided into two types: Magical and Mundane.
So if Paul lost all of his arrows on the trail (for example) and he wanted to craft new arrows, he’d be able to do that – but only if he had Mundane Crafting Supplies (a term for the stuff needed to make the stuff; so long as it wasn’t magical).
I’m aware that we would need a relative Crafting Skill to make things like Arrows or Shields or whatever – but I also know that we’ve completed multiple Challenges with the average CR being pretty high; we’ve done a lot of great Social RP; we’ve completed an actual “micro-quest” and I’m thinking (fingers crossed) that at some point leveling may occur; when it does, the existence of Supplies will radically effect Paul’s build.
This is a mining town, so there’s clearly going to be plenty of “Mundane Stuff” you could make into “Mundane Stuff” – (i.e. wood for arrows, or loose wood for a shield; or – if I had a forge – loose iron/steel for making a sword – or something like that). But generally the point was to confirm the existence of Mundane Crafting stuff as well as possibly discover how much Magical Crafting supplies they had in town.
In any case, that was his chief concern with that question.
I was in a Skull And Shackles game before; we had a simple and cut-and-dry mechanism for Bargaining at shops. It was very easy; much easier than the somewhat lengthy and complicated system found for bargaining under Diplomacy.
Would that be possible to incorporate at this time into the game for purchasing things? I’d have to go find the link, but I can do that if necessary; but I believe the simple rule was:
1. Both players make an opposed Diplomacy Check
2. Whoever wins the total selling/buying price goes up/down in their favor by 5%.
3. For every 5 points over the total, it goes an extra +1%.
Example: Merchant meets with Player; player wants to buy a 100 Coin Item.
Both roll –
Merchant gets 25; player gets 19.
The price for the item is now 100 + 5% and +1% because the Merchant beat the Player buy 5 points (and would be +2% if he rolled a 30; since it is in 5 point increments). The cost oft the Item is now 106 coin.
If the rolls were reversed the Player could have bought it for 94 gold.
Okay – just checking. Thank you for any information on this.
1. I’m still waiting on issues like the Moon Cycle. This will definitely affect Paul’s ability to track the men at night after they leave the town and when/if he decides to hunt them.
2. I’m not sure if I can “Take 10” on a formal survival roll to determine the weather for the next few days – if you’d like me to roll to get that information, I can; just let me know.
3. I’m going to send a PM.
As the others filtered out of the room where they had had a tense conversation, Blue Heron goes to the hallway where the cook's room is and assumes the lotus position. She begins to clear her mind -- angry words had been exchanged -- but these were of little consequence. Passion was as good of path to enlightenment as reason. It was all about purity, she channelled all of her hopes and fears into her inner light as fuel for a fire that would one day burn her imperfections away. In the meantime she would guard the cook.
As the others filtered out of the room where they had had a tense conversation, Blue Heron goes to the hallway where the cook's room is and assumes the lotus position. She begins to clear her mind -- angry words had been exchanged -- but these were of little consequence. Passion was as good of path to enlightenment as reason. It was all about purity, she channelled all of her hopes and fears into her inner light as fuel for a fire that would one day burn her imperfections away. In the meantime she would guard the cook.