"Well that is four of us. Now... what about you Coglen? Ready to take on a job already?" Dorin smiled, turning to the man.
"I'll have a bit of the same," Coglen remarks when the food comes out.
"As for the local law, I'm sure they've got their hands full at the gates, and it is probably a good deal more lucrative than beating down some old animated dead. I suppose I can help out with that. I've come a long way, and am in no particular rush to get where I am going. I have no fears about the conflict ending before I get there."
When her oatmeal arrives, Kaley begins eating it with alarming speed. As she takes a breath, she says nonchalantly, "So, where should we be heading, in order to help out with this undead problem?"
We? Are we a we now?
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Embra Morsk appears quite visibly pleased at the pick-up in business. "So that will be five people four four nights?" She looks quickly to Kaley and nods. "A bowl of oatmeal, I'll be just a moment while you decide. As for keeping your some valuables you don't want to be hauling around over-long, the High Mother can help you with that as well. She does keep the vaults dedicated to Abadar after all."
Embra leaves once more, and returns with oatmeal, as well as a small scoop of brown sugar on the side and some extra milk, and puts it before Kaley. "Four nights for all five of you will be eight gold in total. So, do we have an arrangement?"
Dorin finished up his breakfast and sat back on his chair, smiling broadly. He grinned before reaching in to his pouch and pulling out some coins. He counted them out on the table, before sliding eight golden coins across to the woman. "I do be covering this. It is good to make new friends and it is nice to be nice. Allow me to do this as a thanks for the good company. It do be not much but it would be my pleasure!"
He grinned at his new friends before leaning forward again. "Mistress, could I have a mug of ale to go with my pipe while I wait? I'll move over by the fire so as not to bother you all eating!"
Frowning behind his mask, Petros tapped at the coins he had left at the bar. "Thanks for the offer Dorin, but I'd prefer to pay my own way" he whispered. Leaning back in his seat, Petros reached for his backpack and took out his book of formulae.
"That reminds me, Mam, do you know where a caster may find a store that caters to his needs?" Petros asked Embra, glancing at her eyes for only a moment before looking away again.
Dorin shrugged but pulled back two of the coins before looking at the others. "I am but doing this as a sign of friendship. It do be nothing more. No one do be beholden to me in any way. But if the rest of you feel as Petros does I can take it back!"
"Well, I'll have to owe you one. I don't have many coins on me, and the few I have aren't golden."
Qot shies, but he recognizes the sign of friendship. He has enough for his share, but for sure the debt can be repaid some other day.
You're very kind, Dorin. You have my thanks. - he says, politely, avoiding dismissing the token of friendship Dorin offered.
"Thank you, Dorin."
Dorin taps the coins on the table and smiles. "Think nothing of it!"He waved away there thanks before he pulled his pipe from his belt pouch again and began to thumb it full of tobacco. "You all enjoy your meals and we will go find the Mother Superior when you are ready. It do be some damn fine eating!" He pushed his plate, now empty and spotless, across the counter towards the Tavern owner. "Thanking you kindly M'lady!"
"I'm ready," says Kaley, setting her dish beside Dorin's.
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As you finish, Embra takes your plates, and Dorin's coins as payment, smiling as she does so. She returns with a set of keys, handing off a single one to each of you in turn. "When you go up the stairs and turn right. The rooms will be numbered one through five, respectively." She handed off the keys in order of Dorin, Qot, Kaley, Coglen and Petros. "The balcony upstairs has a lovely view of the market as well. Best of luck with the High Mother!"
Your accommodations settled, you set out for the Temple of the Golden Key. Although it is virtually on the other side of the town, following the main thoroughfare of Juliver Way, past the town square with its fountain depicting a half-elven maiden in half plate staring out into the distance in vigil, you eventually reach it without incident.
The temple itself is ornate, ostentatious even, as befitting a temple dedicated to Abadar, god of commerce and cities. Brass statues figure heavily into the decoration of the exterior, depicting scenes of city life. As you enter, vaulted ceilings with frescos hang over sturdy pews of oak. A few acolytes are able to direct you to High Mother Sarise Dremagne's study in a corner of the temple.
In the study, you see an elderly Avistani woman in a robe with white and golden accents, and broad shoulders. She is reading a book entitled 'Explaining Commerce: A Study of Monetary and Banking Policies of Post-Jistaka League Garund'. Dremagne looks up to you, a smile appearing on her wrinkled features as she lays down the book. "Can I help you all today?"
Qot didn't have the faintest idea of anything - he wasn't the most intelligent, or knowledgeable, of men. As they got inside and the Avistani spoke, Qot gave the best of his smiles, bowed to the elder, then stepped sideways so Dorin could speak.
As they walked through the town, Dorin took in the sites with a careful eye, making note of the general lay out around him. It was an old fall back to his days at home where everyone was expected to know where the most defensible parts of the city were, where every choke point was and where they should congregate in an emergency.
"Tis a nice little town this, if you can look past its metallic shell!
As they arrived at the Temple and were directed to the Mother Superior, Dorin pulled his heavy silver holy symbol from the neck of his shirt, letting it hang free upon his chest on its heavy iron chain. When they arrived in her chambers, Dorin stepped forward, after they had been addressed, and bowed.
"Greetings Mother, I do be called Dorin and this do be Qot, Kaley, Coglen and Petros. We do be freshly arrived in your town, having only time to break our fast in the Tavern, when we heard about the dangers the town was facing. The Undead, specifically. We have come to offer our aid in this matter!"
Taking his keys with a whisper of "Thank you", Petros retreated upstairs. He was thankful for his mask as it hid his expression of guilt. He wanted to convey his thanks to Dorin for the offer and try to explain why he could not accept it, but, as far as he was concerned, he had simply come across as self-important.
Still kicking himself after his complete lack of tact, Petros followed at the back of the group as they made their way out of the tavern and towards their destination.
Though he slipped forwards, Petros did not speak, preferring to have Dorin or someone else take the lead in the conversation; he tended to do a lot better dropping comments than he did as a direct conversationalist.
Coglen takes his key and offers thanks, then follows Dorin to the Temple. Making note of the particular statue and fountain, he listens as Dorin explains their situation to the Abbess.
Taking 10 on Knowledge (local) and Knowledge (history).
Kaley simply nods as Dorin speaks, still feeling a bit of an outsider in this town where everyone seems to know their calling.
Either it will be good for me, or I'm an idiot for coming here. It will take time to tell for sure.
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High Mother Dremagne inclines her head at the dwarf's polite greeting, and waits until he finishes speaking before nodding. "It is a pleasure to meet all of you. And yes, people around the town and travellers have been speaking more and more of undead sightings. Some local wizards have detected attempts at scrying, and there are even people who have gone missing."
Dremagne folds her hands over her lap. "Of course, if you still want to help with all of this, you'll no doubt need a letter of warrant, basically a written license showing that you have the authority to carry out the interests of Fort Inevitable. Lady Audara Drovust has entrusted me with a warrant to dispense to whomever I felt would be capable of getting to the bottom of our recent troubles. I hope you understand, but for everyone's safety, I can't hand it out until I'm certain you are all capable of handling yourselves. Have you anything to convince me of this?"
Kaley looks around at her fellow travelers, before turning back to Dremagne. "Look, you're probably expecting us to make some sort of show of strength or wit. And that makes sense; you want to make sure you're dealing with someone capable. But I don't want to make any promises I can't keep, so I'll just say this:
I don't know exactly why I came to Fort Inevitable, but now that I'm here, and now that there's something I'm needed for, I'm not going to give up on this town. Or the people in it. I can promise you that."
Kaley looks back towards the others. "And as for the rest of us, well, I haven't known them for very long. But they just came halfway across the Kingdoms to fight in a war they've never seen and help people they've never met. I think that counts for something."
"And of course, we do have a couple of tricks up our sleeves."
As she says this, her flesh seems to warp, stretching and curving as Kaley grows taller and more graceful. Her skin grows paler and paler until it is deathly white. Her facial features shift beyond recognition, and most of her hair retracts into her head. She smiles, revealing long, vicious fangs.
And a moment later, she's back to normal, with no indication that anything has happened at all. She seems almost awkward now, and she steps slightly toward the back of the group.
Coglen reaches into a pouch at his waist with one hand, producing a packet of fine powder. He tosses it up in the air, and as it falls he cuts through it with his quickly-drawn short blade. When the powder is exposed to air, it catches flame and the incendiary mist traces the movements of his blade for a moment before he sheathes it.
Nodding as the woman expressed her need for a showing of competence, Petros mentally commended her for her practicality. Frowning as Kaley prattled on, Petros set himself to the task of thinking up what he might showcase to impress the Avistani woman before him. Glancing at Kaley just as her features reached their peak of their transformation, Petros blinked in surprise before applauding lightly.
Having made his choice as to what he would do, Petros removed his a dagger from it's place on his hip. Gritting his teeth and steeling his nerves, Petros grabbed hold of the blade, wincing as the blade cut flesh and he bled. Once he was confident in the amount of blood he had spilled, Petros let go of the blade and wiped it on his pants before sheathing it once more.
"She's not wrong about us having a few 'tricks', though mine are more focused on bold-faced arcane talents rather than subterfuge"
With eyes closed, Petros took a single deep breath as he drew upon the odd, sort of fizzing sensation he had come to associate with the workings of his abilities.
Ignoring the terrible itch on his palm, Petros held his hand open so that the Avistani woman could watch as his flesh knit itself closed.
"You have no idea how much I want to scratch the new skin on my palm off...."
Dorin rips his axe off of his back and twirls it round his head, one handed, before stopping, gripping the weapon in one hand. He touches the head of the axe and his palm begins to grow bright red, a rune mark burning hot on his forehead as he does. The magic bleeds down from his forehead, blood red ruins swirling around his arm, before the burst upon the blade as Dorin pulls his hand back and the axe head bursts in to flame.
"Aye. We do have some tricks!"
Qot knees in the floor, putting the bow slowly over it. He concentrates and turns Dancing Lights above his body. Almost immediately after it, he puts the hands over his head and moves up quickly, pulling his bow and shooting against one of the lights.
He goes to retrieve the arrow shot in the air, in silence, while he moves his hand to dispel the spell effect. He smiles to the old lady and knees again, guarding the bow.
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Looking thoroughly impressed by your displays, though flinching at Petros' self-inflicted injuries, the High Mother nods as Kaley speaks. When she is done, Dremagne nods again. "While your friends certainly have a brash flare for the dramatic, they seem to have a level head in you, and quite capable in other regards aside. Very well..."
Dremagne opens a drawer in her desk, and takes out a sealed letter. Breaking the seal, she pulls out a small but thick piece of velum. She hands it to Kaley. "That is the letter of warrant. With it you'll have the authority to explore and fight against even typically-civilized races without infracting any of Audara Drovust's laws so long as you have reasonable cause. You'll be entitled to any goods or treasures you find in the process, minus thirty percent as a tax. Normally the letter would have a a 50 gold registration, but I will cover that, I feel it shan't be wasted."
Rising from her seat, Dremagne walks to her bookshelf. "Now, I have been attempting to divine some clue as to the source of the undead for some time, and I've come across two clues. One was brought to me by a local trapper. He said that while he was near the Emerald Spire in the Echo Wood, he saw several zombies seemingly teleport into existence at the edge of the forest. Secondly..."
Dremagne pulls out a small book, and from it produces a piece of parchment. On it lies a drawing, similar to that which could possibly found on a wax seal or signet ring. It shows a stylized skull with an ornate crown set upon its brow. "I believe this to be a symbol, an emblem for whatever is causing this. I feel it is your best chance to investigate the tower and keep an eye out for that symbol."
"Now," says Dremagne as she returns to her seat, hands folded over her lap once more. "Do you have any more questions regarding this?"
"I do have one question, how much resistance do you be expecting to be out there? And were the undead spotted all just zombies?"
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"Well, the Emerald Spire has always attracted unsavoury sorts to its depths, and there are several other types of undead: skeletons, ghouls, shadows, mohrg and the like. Zombies have been by far the most frequent. However, I hear tell that the ground level of the Spire itself is currently the home to a band of goblins. I do not know if they've been weakened by the undead roaming around their base, but you should be aware that there will likely be more than just undead in your way."
As you reflect one what you know of zombies, you remember that are very slow creatures, but are also highly resilient against many types of weapons such as maces or spears. Swords and axes are of greater use in fighting zombies.
"Thank ye kindly for the information Mother, and may Abadar bless yeah. It do be seeming like we do be in for a bit of a fight. I relish it. Swords and axes, lady and gents. Zombies do require edged weapons, we must to cut them to bits!"
"Got it." Coglen says, simply.
"Thank you." Kaley pockets the letter.
She asks Dremagne, "Do you know where we could find an alchemy shop? If we can pool our money, it might be wise to buy a pot of Holy Weapon Balm, for our arrows and other projectiles."
Dorin nodded softly, that was a damn good idea and a thing they should look in to doing. "Aye. That do sound good!"
Agreed... - the Zen Archer said - ... Not sure I'd be much effective right now, but anything I can do to help, I'll try.
Wiping his now healed hand clean on his pants leg, Petros smiled behind his mask and nodded to show that he too was interested in finding an alchemy shop; he wasn't quite as keen to work on acquiring holy water, but he was definitely interested in seeing how the shops differed this far East.
"Barring an alchemy shop, somewhere like a prominent church with an ample supply of holy water or perhaps some sort of private healer would also be helpful"
Petros knew little of the undead and even less of how to deal with them, beyond what Dorin had just said. However, he did know how he would fight or prepare for combat normally, so he intended to do just that and leave the rest of the details to the others.
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Dremagne nods, going to a cabinet and unlocking it with a key. "I can provide you with some holy water at cost, twenty-five(25) gold each." Opening the cabinet there are several vials of the stuff. "Oils of bless weapon would cost fifty(50) gold. If there are other supplies you need, Braddon's General Store on the other side of the town square should be able to provide what you need."
Dorin pulls his bag of gold out of his pocket and moves to the desk, emptying it out on the tabletop. He counts out 5 columns of coins, 10 gold high each, before sliding the remaining four gold back in to the belt pouch. "That do be it for me. I do be tapped down to all but 4 coins. Anyone else? I would suggest we do take the oil of bless. Tis a handy thing after all and will destroy undead like no ones business. If'n we give it to Qot to use on his arrows then we do all be effective against the shambling hordes!"
"I have very little money at the moment, just some alchemical glue I was hoping to be able to trade, if we found an alchemist. We'll just make do with whatever we can get."
I can most definitely help... - says Qot - I will buy the same Oil myself, Dorin.
Qot picks his coins and put on the table. He's excited to be there, but makes an effort to sound more "zen" about it.
"I've but ten silver to my name."
"Well very soon we will have more coin in pocket lads. If there be Goblins, I am sure there do be gear we can recover and sell. We will all take a cut of the profit, minus a 30% o course, it do be right and proper to pay our due after all!"
Not commenting on the prices or his relative wealth, Petros slipped his hand into his belt pouch and retrieved his real coin purse. The one he actually placed coins in. The one he wore on his hip, beside his belt pouch was just for show and contained little else besides sticks of chalk and lint. Grabbing the bottom quarter of the bag, Petros dumped out the rest in a heap beside Dorin's orderly stacks. Glancing into his purse, he was confident he had just left about fifty-six gold coins in that heap. Glancing sheepishly, he scraped five back, leaving fifty one behind.
"I'll take two vials of Holy Water." Petros said to Dremagne with a nervous smile.
Turning to face the rest of the group, Petros clucked his tongue disapprovingly. "You're thinking like Ulfen, and not the clever ones. The oils cost more and can't be used by some of us effectively. Some of us meaning, predominantly, me. But anyone can throw a bottle of priest piss at someone or something"
Dorin frowns at Petros before speaking. "What yeah be referring to as Priest piss would o course be Holy Water, part o the tools o this lovely womans trade!" He gestured towards the Mother Superior, the high ranking Divine Caster of the church of Abadar. "Or indeed part of my trade, as both a Smith, and a low ranked Priest of Torag. And the benefit of the Oil over the Holy Water, would be the duration. Holy water is a one shot and some creatures take more than that!"
He turned back to the woman and inclined his head slightly. "I do be looking for an Oil also Mother, thanking you!"
After the group makes their purchases, Kaley says, "I feel like we should get started as soon as possible, but I have no idea how long of a journey it is from here to the Spire. Do you guys think we should head out today and camp in the area, or just wait until tomorrow?"
Dorin bows to the Mother Superior, before the leave her study, thanking her for her help. As they walk back down the hallway and out in to the midday sun, he frowns, stroking his beard softly. "It do probably be for the best that we get some proper food and sleep tonight, as ye say, we dinnae know how far away this thing is. Nor how big. I do vote for setting out at dawn!"
"dawn sounds good." Coglen says, buying nothing.