Gabriel continues to attack the scrag he smited.
"Est Sularus oth Mithas"
Gabriel's sword cuts through Scrag 2, opening up another wound. As for the Scrag on the ground contrary to what Terevalis said the creature appears to still be bleeding out and dying and blades appear to be effective against these creatures.
Jor I believe is first.
On his turn the Black Robe will tell everyone, Do not get in the life of effect from where I am as he moves up and pulling out some fur and a little metal rod casts lightening bolt Ast retera ret orie
DC 18 Reflex
Round 3
As the another Scrag attacked Alathea, Jor moved swiftly to its back and brought his sword down
Jor hits the scrag hard with his blade opening up a deep wound in its gullet.
A bolt of lightning then flies at the Scrag
VS Lightning Bolt
The bolts hits the Scrag, scorching its skin with electrical energy.
Gabriel then moves forward and activates his blade and it bursts into holy grey fire and makes an attack. "Fall creature of evil!" he yells.
The blade slices across the Scrag burning a scorching wound on the other side of its torso. The creature is still on its feet but still horribly injured and barely alive.
The kender will stab at the scrag with the Shard of Light.
damage
Backstab is she can
Total 23
With the second Scrag disabled and the third having dived away with a bountiful feast the battle appears to be at an end. The sailors cheer your victory and Captain Yassim Imar approaches you and gives a respectful nod
"Your aid was most appreciated travellers. These waters are often treacherous and it appears that those dammed Scrags decided my ship was a good target. We have seen such creatures before. Do not toss the bodies back in the water or they will regenerate to attack other ships. Best idea would be to take the corpses back to land and burn them in a pyre. For helping my ship, I will refund some of your money as a reward."
He gives those who paid back 40 steel pieces.
Casting as many spells that he did and with Nuitari being far away, the wizard will return to his cabin, exhausted.
So the ship continues on its way and late in the evening the ship moves up on Port Balfor. The place for a lack of a better word appears to be a ruined town. Traditionally a haven for evildoers, the town has been a base of operations for a number of evil forces throughout history. Still its unsavory reputation did not save it from the wrath of the Dragon Overlords and the Red Marauder and her minions burned away a good portion of the town. Most of it now is ramshackle hovels, and slums and the few original buildings that stand bear markings of battle damage that has not bothered to be repaired.
The ship sails into one of the numerous docks, in fact the docks are one of the few maintained areas of this town due to the traffic it gets on the bay of Balfor and reliance on sea for trade. Still for those who know this place is a dangerous place to be for your types. The Dark Knights rule here but have done little to bring law to this town and it still as it always has been a haven of smugglers, pirates, rogues, fugitives and other ner-do wells.
Exiting the ship and grabbing your things and look out into the dark town that only has the light of a few windows illuminating the darkness. You now must decide what to do next. Do you seek a place to rest for the evening? Do you try and depart into the Desolation or do you try and seek out Sir Aldreth Auchuran in hopes of finding out his fate? The choice is up to you.
Are there any Mage shops in the area?
That would involve using a Knowledge Local check Terevalis to Streetwise the town.
I dont have that skill but can I make it untrained?
The closest thing that Terevalis can think of as Magical Item sellers is the Dark Knights as they tend to horde such items. Of course dealing with them is another matter entirely.
Are there Thorn Knights in the city?
"So, what are we going to do now? Should we look for some place to rest and plan things ahead? I would actually like to eat something for now and maybe find a map to see if we can make a bit sense about our surroundings" Jor ponders as he looks at others
"I have some business I must attend to. It would be best done alone to not draw attention. Let us find a place to stay the night first."
Gabriel will get a room at the inn with the others before going to the slums. He covers himself with a cloak and smears dirt on his face and hands. He talks and gathers information on the man named Daven Coldblade.
Once the scrags are dead on the deck, she pokes the scrags with the shard, making sure they are really dead before sheathing the shard. She searches the bodies to see if there is anything of value, before helping with dragging the bodies to a more sheltered and secured location on the ship's deck.
"I say get an inn for the night and at day break depart this bad town. I travelled through this town to Khur. Remember to keep your hands close and keep a look out here."
[b] Since this territory is controlled by the Dark Knights we must be careful not to bring undue attention to ourselves. I suggest that we complete our business here sooner rather than later and then make our way out of town. [ooc]
Likely is Thorn Knights in the town according to Terevalis's knowledge (Port Balfor is a town not a city, the population is roughly 1500 people.)
Anyway before you leave the captain says to you, "This town is a pretty rough place so watch yourselves and be extra careful of rubbing the Dark Knights the wrong way. If you need a place to stay and want to avoid attention, I would recommend the Hope's End Inn at the far end of Main Street."
Assuming you go to the inn he suggested you find the location is actually in reasonable repair compared to other buildings. Going inside you hear a jovial sound of musicians and see a good mix of rough and tumble people of varying types. You easily are able to get a room for 3 steel which also includes meals and ale.
Gabriel goes asking around the tavern asking a few people about Daven Coldblade as it seems the logical place to start. They shrug when the name is mentioned. But then Gabriel feels a tug at his leg. Taking a look you see a kender dressed in a chain shirt with a black overcoat with spiky blonde hair. He has a Kender-sized falchion across his back. He bears some battle scars on his face and appears to be despite his size someone whose seen a good share of battles.
"Ho there friend, I would be careful drawing attention to yourself here by asking those kind of questions. I think I can help ya find who you're looking for though if ya willing to buy me a drink and share that booth over there for a chat."
He points to a booth in a dark corner.
"Sure friend, You take a seat I will grab the drinks."
Gabriel motions for two drinks and points to the table and heads over and takes a seat with the kender.
"So what can you tell me of this name friend?"
Going to the table he looks around carefully to see if anyone is listening in. He nods to the barmaid as he receives the drinks and waits until she's well away before talking in hushed tones.
"I'm Harlowe, one could call me a sheriff, if this town could even consider having any kind of law enforcement. I was watching the docks when you came into port and knew you weren't the typical sorts that came to this town on vacation. Its a good thing ya came here at night and there wasn't any dark knights around or you'ed stand out like a sore thumb and be locked in irons quicker than I could count. I'm a good judge of character, part of my job and I've got the feelin that you and a good deal of your friends are the noble sorts that the Dark Knights don't take a fancy to. Going around here rattling your mouth about Daven is going to attract the wrong kind of attention. There are spies everyone in this town and odds are word is going to get to the Dark Knights. Best guess is you got an hour or two here before a patrol arrives to investigate. I'll do what I can to keep the patrols off you but your best idea would be to head to Gloom Town if you're looking for your friend. Recently some Draconian bounty hunters have been asking about him so this Daven is in great danger. I have a contact out back that can lead you into Gloom Town through the back alleys. Don't stay here cause the last thing we need is you mudding waters here by causing a fight. You understand me right?"
Alathea travels to Hope's End Inn (presumably with Athola, Jor and Terevalis). "This seems as good a place as any to stay for at least one night".
"You are a man of honor in such a place of deceit. Can you tell me anything of the dark knights? I hear a new divine power is in play on their side. It is this information that may have got Daven in trouble. Thank you for your help in these matters."
Gabriel sips his ale and takes a look around to take note what the others are getting into.
I hate to cut their revelry short but it seems I have endangered them all.
The Black Robe will order a glass of their finest elven wine and order a cheese and fruit and bread plate.
Harlowe says, "They're up to something all right. They're sending a whole lot of patrols into the Desolation looking for something and lots of folks from Darkhaven have been coming and going from this town. As for what they've kept it hush-hush but maybe that Darvan fellow might know. As for a new divine power, first I've heard about it, Dark Knights haven't been advertising any new patron and acting just as thuggish as they've always been."
He takes a quick gulp finishing off his drink and says to Gabriel "Welp, I've gotta go before people think I am getting too chummy with you. I'll make sure to do what I can to mislead the Dark Knights but the sooner you leave town the better. Good travels."
With that he puts the hood up on his cloak and moves off vanishing into the crowd of patrons and out the door.
Terevalis asks for elven wine and he gets a number of dirty looks from the patrons. He gets the sense elves are not a welcomed bunch of people in this town. The barmaid says, "We don't sell pointy eared swill here. We've got some Kender Wine from before the scourging though if ya looking for something different."
The Black Robe will simply offer a half smile behind his cowl at the insult given by the barmaid. Apparently this establishment then is not in need for the coin I could provide it since you do not sell swill here though from the porcine appearance of many here it might be your stock in trade, madam.
Gabriel nods. "Thank you friend."
Once gathered back with the others he speaks in hushed tones.
"The dark knights have found something among the desolation. They are sending patrols to retrieve it but have yet to bring it back. I'm not sure what it is but it seems to be powerful enough for them to focus on. I ask the rest of you if you wish to investigate this. If we could secure or destroy what they have found it could weaken them."
Anything to keep the Knights of the Thorn from a position of advantage would be in the best interests of the Orders of High Sorcery and the Black Robes. says the elf in Solamnic.
"I would not be surprised if there still an powerful evil item lying around considering Malystryx was here, being a dragon, no doubt was hoarding powerful items."
"Yes agreed we should pursue this course of action. have you found out anything about making contacts here before we go?"
"Making contacts with who? There is no allies in this city beside the name I was given. He is most likely already dead."
Then we should be about our business sooner rather than later. Having a true cleric, even of a god of balance, a knight and a wizard, is not to our benefit in a city controlled by the Dark Knights. advises the wizard.
"I think we should not give up on him so quickly Gabriel, have you any leads as to his whereabouts?" Alathea asks in hushed tones.
"Yes there is someone out back that will lead us into the slums of Gloom Town. The man I am to find is a knight, yet I fear the worst. The kender spoke of Draconian bounty hunters after him so that means he was still alive of recent. Let us meet this contact and hope to find him before the bounty hunters. He can tell us whats going on here."
Gabriel finishes his drink before standing and heading out back to meet the contact.
The group rises and slips out the back door of the tavern into a dark alleyway. There they meet a black haired kender vagabond who nods to your party, looks you over and says and says, "Did Harlowe send you?"
Assuming you say yes, he says, "Good, I will guide you through Gloom town. Its a maze in there and full of traps so stay close. There is someone there who you'll want to meet lest you might find travel in the district... difficult."
If we are going to do this, we should do it quickly.
The Kender leads you through a winding path of alleyways. You soon enter the Gloom Town, a ramshackle area of ruined houses, hovels and buildings made out of scavanged wood of ship hulls. Eventually you're lead into an area where a number of Kender armed with hookpacks watch you from the shadows. You approch the upside down hull of a large ship. In its hayday it probably was once a great vessel. Now its a scorched hulk hastely crafted into some kind of structure. You are lead inside over some fallen planks and timber frames through a hole in the hull. The place appears to be some sort of warren with dimly lit rooms from hanging laterns. Looking into some rooms you see more Kender who are sleeping in cots, throwing dice, scimshawing or talking to one another. Still by the dour nature you can tell that these are Afflicted Kender and not the more jovial sorts.
You are lead into a room that seems once to have been perhaps a captian's quarters. There is a view of the bay through a series of portholes. There is a desk made of a wooden door and barrels and sitting behind the desk is a grizzled old Kender with grey hair, old by even Kender standards. He currently is smoking tobacco out of a pipe and was looking over some maps before he was interrupted and gives a gaze to the party.
Behind him is an elf with a skin tone and tattoos marking him a Kagonesti elf. He wears a red cloak and is well muscled and athletic and has a wicked scar across his right cheek. He stands behind the Kender and looks over to the party, analyzing their looks. He especially takes a seedy look at the black robe wizard but says nothing, letting the kender at the desk say the first word.
The grizzled old Kender then says, "Now you ain't the types we usually see around these parts. Adventurer's eh? Few travellers of your sort would have the balls to set foot in Port Balfor let alone the Desolation. Still, might as well make ya welcome. The names Kronn Thistleknot. Some might call me a hero of these lands, well whatever is left of em."
He hocks a loogie into a nearby spittoon with a plink and continues to speak. "So what brings ya to this burned out hole in the earth?"
The elf will greet the kender in kenderspeak Greetings Kronn Thistleknot, son of Kronin Thistleknot, Hero of the Lance, responsible for the death of Fewmaster Toede.
He will return the stare of the Kagonesti.
Kronin can't help but give a little smirk at Terevlais and respond in Kenderspeak. "Yea that was quite a time for me back in the old War of the Lance days. Too bad that wart of a Toede couldn't stay dead. He's now in charge of the City of Flotsam of all places." He gives a slight chuckle although rather reserved compared to a real kender and then continues.
"So a black robe eh and an elf at that. Reminds me of the day when my old friend Serinda Elderwood saved the life of a Black Robe and was gifted with a magical ring. Probably saved her life more than once. Still an elf black robe, now that's a sight to see. Following the steps of Dalamar eh?"
The Kagonesti stares back looking on guard but not reaching for any weapons... yet.
"Well met Kronn, I am Gabriel Barca. Knight of the Crown. I was sent to find an agent of ours. A man named Daven. I hear draconian bounty hunters are after him. Have you heard of this man or know of his whereabouts?"
His eyes look at Gabriel and says, "A Knight of Solamnia, well that's a sight for sore eyes. About time ya got more involved in these parts. Aye, I have met with Darven Coldblade, even gave him a place to hide out when the heat got on. My troops have been keeping an eye on those draconians, they've been shifting through these ruins for days looking for him. Having my men keep a wide birth though. Don't want to stir up a hornet's nest by attacking mercs from the Dark Knights. Before I can tell you where he is, I'll need to know more about what you are doing here. They wouldn't send an entire adventuring party for just to contact one man."