"...I, uh, um...", very surprised by the token reward.
Garret turns and straightens his back, the end of his tail twitching like that of a pleased cat.
"R-right, uh, what I can remember off the top of my head was the quest was supposedly given by a leatherworking witch and you had to gather a large amount of a special kind of spidersilk.", he says with his eyes closed recalling the snippet from the tons of information he had compiled in his mental catalogues.
"But for this delivery, it looks we have multiple choices", showing the others the note.
"Although, the request sheet did say 'Correct outpost'. Probably oughta go ask which one."
"Maybe there are labels on the packages?" Ise pulls out his and searches for a label.
The old man looks at Board a little puzzled and then asks, "And what would you give in return first?"
Before anything else could be said about the matter Baris yells, "No worries I will go find out, be back in a jiffy!" Then he is off in a blurr, leaving dust in his trail as he dodges those in his path.
Likely right after Ise'dranl tells the group about the labels that he finds Baris shows up again, no more than a few minutes after he left.
In high speed halfling he blurts out, "Thepackageshavelabelsonthemtotheoutpoststheyaresupposetobedeliveredto." He looks around and realizes that most have confused looks on their faces. "So sorry halfling speak, The packages have labels on them to the outposts they are suppose to be delivered to."
He pulls off his backpack and begins pulling out another 20 packages. He looks them over and begins putting them into piles. Soon he has four piles likely with Board's help; he points to them saying, "Delman, Friggorius, Jasper, Iber's Hope, and I stand where Sanctuary is currently in relation to the outposts. Please inspect your packages and put them in the right piles."
James fails to stop any of the oncoming Lumberjacks, so that he is now facing three of them at once. Quickly he lets himself crush the man, so that now he's only slightly outnumbered.
Garret looks at the packages he's holding seeing the labels and after checking the other's, "Looks like Iber's Hope is our choice. If everyone wants to do this, that is."
He looks at the map he was given to correlate the positions between Baris and the packages.
"The map shows that Iber's Hope is the southern-most from here, on the eastern side of the river."
Considering Jellena's suggestion, Garret looks at her, "You're right, Miss Darkling. It may be wise to get that Pack sooner rather than later. So, which do we attempt first?"
"I think that witch is still in town if we can just catch her." Ise puts his package in the Delmar pile. "And if the quest sends us close enough to the small outpost piles we could deliver their packages first! Killing two birds with one stone!"
"Urrgh, yea, let's find the witch first.", Garret says so with his eyes closed and arms crossed, struggling with the decision.
"Looking at the layout and the map, it looks to me the only outpost in the path would be Jasper. Delman is in the opposite direction and Friggorius would be quite out of the way.", pointing at the piles and map in turn.
Placing his and Jellena's packages in their respective piles, "Lord Baris, would you mind holding the packages until we're ready to depart?"
Please tell me collecting spider silk doesn't involve heavy lifting.
He drags his package to it's pile.
If it does, I'm gonna need a new back.
So we deliver to Jasper and get the witches quest?
"We'll find the witch, get the quest from her, do whatever is needed to finish that, get the Packs, then we'll do this delivery. On the way, we'll deliver to Jasper as we head for Iber's Hope."
Garret says to Aien, "I have a feeling we'll need to kill alot of big spiders before we can even get to the silk we will need. And silk is extremely light in comparison to it's volume."
"I can hold onto 20 of them in total. I will grab the ones you don't want. Good luck with the crazy witch!". Baris says before he loads up his pack. He then responds to Board, "I would suggest getting the quest with the others. All the outposts are at least several hours travel."
Then he stops and says, "You go figure out the quest and send board back once it is determined where you are going."
He then motions to Board to come down to his level and whispers to him
Round 5
The Jacks are missing just as much as you! Luckily Theldore has knocked out the others who have within range.
"Thank you, Lord Baris. Let's return the packages meant for Delman and Friggorius to Town hall. That way, we don't have any unneccessary surplus baggage.", Garret says, while considering the available space.
He looks about, twiddling his moustache, "Now, to find the witch. Would anyone among us happen to have any leads on her whereabouts? Otherwise, we should split up in pairs and look for information."
, Garret begins asking around about said witch.
At the town square Bastion tells those that are there:
"I am afraid I won't be able to join you on your adventures right now. I have decided to have Hephaestus mentor me for some time. But do feel free to come see me any time. I will make sure to get you the best weapons and armor you've ever seen"
Bastion then heads off to Hephaestus
"Hm, I see. Good luck in your studies, Bastion.", Garret tips his hat in farewell.
Ise waves at Bastion with a big smile. I hope I get to know each other and work together in the future. Good luck!"
Ise turns back to the group. "The witch should be in the working quarter. We should start heading that way." Ise begins to walk that way.
The group follows Ise'dranl. Soon they are surrounded by one story buildings. Many folk sit outside and work on their labors as they talk. The smell of tanning and other pungent work is very evident. After asking for directions you get to the nearest tanner. You find out that the man working knows of the witch and tells you her tannery is next to the gate. Leading to the group to the compass direction towards the gate you find an extra pungent tannery with vacant buildings all around it.
"I suppose this must be the place. Seems rather desolate.", Garret looks around dubiously.
He walks up to the front door, knocks, and calls out, "Hello? Anyone home?"
Round 5
Round 6
Round 7
An old croaking voice comes out from the building, "Confound it all! Just give me a moment." A minute later you hear the voice again, "I am not taking any more orders. Do you want something else?"
Round 5
One of the jacks scores a critical slicing deeply into Tin_man's shoulder, downing him to the ground.
Round 6
You wake up with a wave of positive energy through you, Thedore has his hand on you. You take out one of the men near you. Still one threatens you.
Round 7
The Jack misses just as badly as you. One Jack approaches with his hand axe misses as he is distracted by Theldore.
"We're not here to place an order, ma'am. We heard you were running low on crafting materials, so my friends and I came by to offer our services in acquiring whatever you need."
"Specifically, we're interested in the extradimensional storage packs. We've heard you're one of the best, if not the best, at making them.", Garret says in hopes of getting on her good side.
At hearing that she opens up her door after unlocking it and greets, [b]"Ah music to my ears, please come inside. Have some tea. Have a seat.
"Certainly, ma'am. Thank you for the hospitality.", Garret says holding the door for the others.
"Ladies first, Miss Darkling."
The very old lady with many wrinkles and some warts shows you to her main room and she appears to be wearing tatters of clothing. She slowly collects some cups and pours tea for each of you one at a time out of her cauldron over the fire. Meanwhile she responds to your statements, "Ah excellent so are you web weavers or simple collectors? I am aren't I, you have come to the right place for extra dimensional bag creation. Or do you need training on spider silk collection?"
The group comes in. There are five seats, they all look old and decrepit. If you do sit down you find them to be sturdy and comfy even for some of the larger framed individuals.
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Jellena goes in first and takes the seat closest to the fire. She shrugs at the dust and smell. Taking the tea she thanks the old woman, "Thank you for the tea but we are here to help you. I don't think any of us know how to collect the silk. Are there special tools that we should use and exactly how is it done, or can we take it from webs already spun?"
The witch looks about at your group counting, "Three, four, five... I guess I could train you, that would save me some time. I can work with the material I have now. I will need delivery as soon as you can get some though, likely send one of you back once you have a ream of spider silk. The easiest way to get spidersilk is to tame a spider and have it produce reams for you. My matron recently died and thus I have less supplies than orders. I was actually heading out to the Shadow Forest to collect silk and possibly a new matron when you came along. Yes there are special tools." She pulls out a metallic needle the length of Jellena's forearm though about a centimeter wide. "I have three spares of these. A curse goes with them, though it only goes off if I don't see you in a weeks time. I will have my man create some new ones for your group but I need three reams for each needle or spike. Then the other tool is charming the creatures, either with a magical item or your own skill. I use this pheromone filled glove but you must know which spider to use it on. Any of you know your spiders?" She pulls out a glove that looks like it is made of brambles and thorns.
"Shall we begin?" She asks making sure you are ready. Assuming you are several hours pass and she goes through the process of taking the spike and spooling it around spidersilk. It can be done with webs already in place but she needs specific spider's silk. A black widow, a crystalline jumper, or the emerald devils. She has several of her pet spiders make lines for the group to practice on.
Receiving the tea, "Ah, thank you. Mm. For now, we're simple collectors. Yes, training will be greatly appreciated."
"Hm, I'm sure we'll have returned before a week has passed.", Garret says considering the implications of curses.
Looking at the odd glove, "You could say we're more or less new arrivals to this realm. As such, we have very little knowledge in this area's flora and fauna. If you could give us pointers on identifying the proper creature or the characteristics of their webs, that would be helpful as well."
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"Well, I am not really sure what you are in need of... I am a good body guard, I have really good strength and I can strike really hard. If you need me to do any of that, I can surely help you out with that...but what is it you want in exchange for what you were talking about earlier?" Gathering up the packages into my pack for Baris.
Ise sites and watches the demonstrations.
"I have a little bit of knowledge on the natural world. I'm pretty sure I can figure out the different kinds of spiders, but any reference aid you can give would definitely help."
"Ah yes... The two places that you would find these types of spiders would be in the North in the Shadow Forest, the second level of the dungeon, and the fifth level of the dungeon. I am not sure any higher or lower than that. All the spiders come in all sorts of sizes though they all have long thin legs and large abdomens. The black widows are pure black and have a red hourglass on their abdomen; their webs are nearly perfectly spaced out. The crystalline jumpers are nearly translucent and typically hunt in packs, their webs are along the ceilings or blankets to cover them before they strike. The emerald devils are always the size of a small dog, their webs cut like razors if you force your way through them." She obviously loves to talk.
Round 8
Three lumberjacks stand menacing above you with their axes.
Listening intently while working with the practice, "Hm, hm, I see. I assume the safest would be the Shadow Forest, since you mentioned that's where you were going to go yourself."
"What kind of identifier would we be looking for in the spider to use the glove on?", he says after pondering for a moment.
Mostly to himself, "Seems Emerald Devil spidersilk could be used as a weapon or trap..."
"The glove would work best on the emerald devils but it can work on the others as well. Yes it can be used as both." She says with an evil grin.
"Ooh, like-minded individual, I see.", with a matching smirk.
"So, you were going to the Shadow Forest for Emerald Devil silk and a matron? What marks one as a matron? Is the Forest where they are most prevalent? What about the other two, and each type's threat level?", Garret asks over the course of practice and tea.
"Sounds like the Crystalline Jumpers are troublesome, if they are pack hunters."
"Sorry for all the pressing questions. Better to be informed and prepared."
"Yes... I was going to the Shadow Forest for any spider silk that would do and a matron. Typically a matron is bigger than the others and has lived for several seasons, they control the spiders around them as well similar to an ettercap. The larger the spiders the more of a threat they are, as for the emerald devils beware of their numbers. The jumpers can be troublesome but their packs are typically small unless bigger prey has been around for some time. No, don't worry you are doing the hard and dangerous work, I only hope I can prepare you." She relays back as the questions are asked. She sees that you are all truly interested and her demeanor becomes happier for it.
Ill stand and lets see if I survive 3 AoOs.
"Hmmm, do each of the spider types coexist in a territory or are they usually competitive? Hopefully, we'll only have to deal with one type at a time.", Garret asks, wracking his brain for any other important questions.
"Do you know if the spiders are immune to mind-affecting magics? 'Cause if so I might stuggle if and when combat ensues ." "About the pheromone glove, does it work on the Emerald Devil Matrons as well as the normal Emerald Devils? And what does the pheromone do to the spiders? Is it an attractant, repellant, or some other sort of distracting agent?" Ise asks through out the demonstrations and practice.
Aien trains with his silk tools, practicing with the needle, while the others are talking. At Garrets question, he says:
Since the Matron can control other spiders,i suppose they could control the other types as well, making them cooperate, but without their influence... well, as they say, survival of the fittest.
At Aien's inference, "That's very probable. I was thinking perhaps the control was only among the same species."
As you stand the three swing and only one clips you,
Jellena is happy to stay and learn all they can in the day.
The old woman continues, "The spiders don't coexist and have their own environments. I use the glove as a vessel for the pheromones. Which I create separately. They are used to calm the spiders down. They are animals after all and likely could come under the spell then. Yes matrons only control the same kind of spider."
"I guess the only serious remaining question would be...What other dangers lurk in the Forest that we should be wary of?", sipping his tea.
The whole day passes
The old woman responds, "There are many dangers in the forest, but if you stick to the trails the more dangerous creatures shouldn't stumble upon your path."
Between the two attacks that hit and render you out cold once more.
The next thing you know you are waking up in a bed looking up at the top of a tent. It is dark in the tent but you can tell the filtering light from outside can be seen on the walls and ceiling.
Your gear is on the second cot in the tent. Outside you can see a different camp. The lumberjacks are moving equipment and taking their time. Near the center of the camp the scarlet witch sits in a stock which has some runes glowing around one of her hands.
"Hm, shouldn't, not much can be done about that though.", somewhat jokingly.
"Guess we should figure out who's taking what of the available tools.", he says looking at the spikes and glove.
At the end of the day, "Well, that took a bit longer than expected. What should we do about lodging for the night, folks?"
Garret ponders for a moment, "Rather, what are you men gonna do about lodging? I think Miss Darkling and I could rest in our Temple. Believe that falls within the useage of booths or am I wrong, Miss Darkling?"