GM Woran's Rise of the Runelords

Game Master Woran

The ratfolk harumphs as showmanship yet again triumphs over accurate reporting, and winds up being passed around like a teddybear, pondering at how children seem to be able to summon infinite amounts of grape jelly onto their hands no matter how furiously he prestidigitates it off of himself.

"please tell me they don't have more ribbons.."

"please tell me they don't have more ribbons.."

"You're soft mister!"

Rodrak spends most of his time telling about his own difficulties learing the language, realizing that he might not be able to help her with her vowels but a self-confidence boost might be just what the caretaker ordered. Thickening his own accent a bit, he tells the story of the market square.

"... also, it wasna fruit cart. It was a sizable mellon. Ne'er underestimate mellons inna pinch. That Gob did'na see tha' commin."

Rodrak quickly gathers a gaggle of children in front of him. He's not as animated in story telling as Rataji, but the children find his accent facinating. He's also not leaving out any details, and the children 'oh' and 'ah' and 'ew' as if on cue at all the right spots.

Justin waits till he gets to the part of the story with the melons.

"Todays vocabulary lesson, oxymoron. A word or phrase that contradicts itself, such as jumbo shrimp, military intelligence, precision fire, or zap "or Giant dwarf."

"and thank you. I use a lot of different shampoos to keep it from getting stringy

Meanwhile, Vy is playing a game with his pupil, to learn to take words apart. One of them calls out a word, and the other one makes jumps as many as that word has syllables.
"Longsword" Two jumps.
"Appropiate" Four jumps,after some confusion.
Soon, more kids play along, jumping all over the place, trying more and more longer words, shouting out the syllables

"No.Oxymoron IS one word"

Having completed the last of the braided coronets, Taj hastens to join in the syllable jumping game with the girls. "After all, we can't allow the boys to have all the fun, can we?" She cartwheels across the open space to where Vy is. "Come, count the syllables with me!"

"Jump! 1!" She leaps.

"Cartwheel! 1-2!" A leap and a tumble.

"Acrobat! 1-2-3!" Realizing that only some of the kids can cartwheel, she chooses to just go back to the jumping, clapping out each syllable.

"Celebration! Come jump and sing! 1-2-3-4!"

"Serendipity! Happy circumstance! 1-2-3-4-5!"

"Syllabification! What we're doing right NOW! 1-2-3-4-5-6!"

"Onomatopoeia! When words sound just like they should! 1-2-3-4-5-6-7!"

"Indefatigability! How long can you all keep going? 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8!"

"Lattitudinarianism! Embrace a variety of views! 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9!"

Then she gasps with the kids and grins. "Your turn now. One syllable to as long as you can go!"

Slowly, more and more kids leave. Either because they are needed at home, or have jobs to do.
Eventually, only the orphans are left. You recognise Luca, who is sticking close to Oskar.

Veznutt eventually interrupts the improvised story time. "All right kids, looks like you are especially lucky today. Ameiko dilivered curry puffs and there is enough for everyone. Lets go upstairs, and wash hands. C'mon."

The kids take off like a stampeding herd, suddly aware that they are very hungry.
Veznutt takes is slower, and Ilosari joins you at the bottom of the stairs.
Upstairs the building has been converted to living quarters. There is a living room with a small kitchen and a large dinner table. There are two big sleeping rooms, with single beds where the young children sleep. Ilosari shows you that for the older kids, there are small personal rooms. They contain a bed, a trunk and a small desk. Most kids have decorated the space above their bed with small items. Shells, feathers, a few drawings.
There is a washing room with a large sink that runs the whole side of the room, where the kids can all wash their hands and face at the same time. Laundry hangs criss cross on lines trough the whole room.
There are only two rooms upstairs with locks: Ilosari's private chamber, and the pantry.

The puffs are in large baskets on the livingroom table. Noisily the kids file into the room, and take seats at the table. Ilosari takes up position at the head of the table.
He motions the children to be quiet. They reluctantly fall silent. He leads them in a small prayer to Desna. With the final word barely out of their mouths, the children dig in.

With the kids mostly quiet (talking with your mouth full is no problem when you're a kid), and reasonably well behaved, Ilosari and Veznutt take you to a corner of the room. There are a few loose chairs here where you can sit.
Ilosari runs a hand trough his graying hair. "I love those kids, but sometimes I feel I'm trying to herd a pack of firelizards here. Thank you all very much for helping out. So, how did it go?"

"Curry puffs! Yum!" Tired from all the jumping, she leans on Vy. "I may have jumped a bit too much!" Seeing Luca sitting beside Oskar, she grins at the boy. "We missed you today. You must be a very good student!"

When Ilsosari and Veznutt take them off, Taj says, honestly, "The kids were great. I think that I may have had as much fun as they did, and they're all eager to learn. We couldn't have asked for better." She looks to Justin and the others as if daring them to say otherwise. "Right, boys?"

Oskar takes a deep breath. "Uh, yeah," he does his best to convey enthusiasm, but his head's spinning.

It was an interesting challenge from his first moment with Dennis. “Yeah, I did it well. S’funny, ‘cuz in Orcish, you use the same word for ‘well’ and ‘good’. It’d be, ‘Ya trakhal yego khorosho.’” Oskar panics a moment, Gorum, I hope none of these kids can speak Orcish or I’m in trouble already. He shakes his head to himself. “But we’re not here to learn Orcish, we’re here to do adjectives in Taldane.” Oskar does his best to make himself not think in Skald or Orcish for the day, but it’s exhausting.

As he slouches back against the wall, Oskar asks, “Are we really sure we can’t just let the kids roam the streets like feral dogs? There’s valuable skills to be learned that way, too…”

"I can't believe they learn anything when you coddle them this much. Though with the amount of time you spend teaching them I'm not surprised something sinks in despite the lack of throwing things at them."

Oskar perks up at the mention of throwing things. "What sort of things ae we talking about throwing...?"

Oskar perks up at the mention of throwing things. "What sort of things ae we talking about throwing...?"

"erasers, pencils, knives. Nothing serious. I don't want to be the mean teacher and throw things when you get the questions right....

One wonders about the Ratfolk educational system

"erasers, pencils, knives. Nothing serious. I don't want to be the mean teacher and throw things when you get the questions right....

"Well of course not. No one wants to be That Guy..." Oskar stares off into space absentmindedly, holding his chin with one hand while the other twirls one of his darts.

"Well enough, all considered that I usually mind caravans instead of children. Our differin' teaching philosophies not withstanding..."

*Glances at Justin and Oskar with a slight grin*

"... I think these kids are getting a quality education."

Ilosari enjoys a curry puff. He uses it also to gesture when he speaks. "We dont let the children "roam the streets like feral dogs." Most of these children have jobs to do. Either because they are needed at home, to help with younger siblings, or ailing parents or grandparents. Or because they have to earn some cash to help put food on the table. Roaming around with nothing to do is a luxury most of these kids cant afford."

Veznutt hands Ilosari a napkin as he's managaged to get curry on himself doing the airquotes. "After classes are over, the orphans usually make a meal for themselves, and help clean out the classrooms and put things in order for the next day. After lunch, they get devided into groups and work on homework, preparation for dinner or do work on things that develop real life skills. While they are unfortunate that they have lost their parents, do do get a better start then some of the children that do have a family. We help them learn to balance their 'household expenses', learn how to do basic sewing, we grow vegetables in a patch at junkers edge, so simple household repairs and such. And we try to get them apprenticeships at the local buisnesses. Most kids inherit their parents profession, but we strive to find things that fit the kids best. Its hard work, but..."

Lightning quick, Ilosari stands up, and grabs a boy by the scruff of his neck. "Aldin! Dont think I did not see that! How many times did I tell you it is not OK to pinch your brother and sisters. Now go stand in the corer and think about what you did!"
Aldain sputters some excuse for a bit, but Ilosari managed to look even more stern, and the boy droops off to stand in a corner.

With a sigh, Ilosari sits down, while the kids start eating again. "I dont remember what I was saying. I am glad for the help. We're all doing this because we want to make a difference. The town pays for the building, keeping it in good repair, and we get some basic food items. We supplement that by growing our own, like I said. But we mostly live on direct donations. Whether that is food, usefull items like clothing, or time donated in the form of taking a kid on as an apprentice for a while. I do this full time, and Veznutt and Vorvashali help out as much as they can."

Veznutt makes a dismissive sound. "Pfwah. I dont dont this out of kindness Ilosari, and you know it. I do it because the little critters would drive you insane. And then I would have no one left to be my wingman when we go drinking." The gnome gives Ilosari a fat wink.

Ilosari rolls his eyes, as if he's heard it a thousand times before. "Yes Vez, love you too. So anyway, it would help us out of you could do regular tutoring sessions. We strive to give all kids as best an education we can, with the resources we have. If would only take up your morning, leaving your afternoon free. And it doesnt have to be every day. One day a week would help us out immensely."

"I suppose I need a base of operations somewhere. I can't guarantee that I won't be taken out of town on business though if I'm in town I can certainly stop by and tutor. Just give me a small place for me and bitey to curl up and we'll call it even. I can also give the place and some of the students a MUCH needed cleaning." A pestidigitated mop head, sans handle, shoots behind him back and forth as he says this. " So THATS where that one went... "

Ilosari looks Justin over. "Well, size wise you dont take up more space then the kids. We're currently not full up. So if you need a place to stay, you could get a bed in one of our rooms. You would need to keep it tidy yourself, and clean the linnens too."

"hey, that hasn't been a problem since i was s.. Oh you mean normally. Got that more than covered. I got most of the floors too while you were talking."

Taj looks around the noisy school, then back at Justin. She raises an eyebrow as she looks at Oskar and shrugs. I give him two weeks before he goes INSANE.

"It's a good idea, I suppose, for us to find rooms here in town. Pateba, Vy and I can't stay at the Inn forever. Do any of you have suggestions for where we should go looking for a more long-term housing arrangement? Unlike Justin, we're not small, so the school would not be the best fit in more ways than one."

Rodrak glances about.

"I dinna... don't know if staying here is a good idea for me in the long term, but staying in the inn will quickly deplete my funds. And probably also make me burst out of my chainmail because their food is really good..." He looks pensive for a moment. "Ya know, I've been living from job to job the last few years, wandering where ever the work took me. I'd like to help out here a bit, and stay a while."

Seemingly enthousiastic he asks to no one in particular: "Are their vacant houses, some place that stands empty and needs some maintainance? Perhaps a place we can collectively rent for a bit in trade for our various professions or a good days' of fieldwork?"

Oskar considers debating Ilosari on the merits of packs of feral children, they're gonna learn valuable things like earning their place in a social hierarchy, and decides the town may not be ready for his way of doing things.

As Rataji catches his eye and makes a questioning face, Oskar smirks in agreement. Two...?!?!

He shrugs at Rodrak's question. "Sorry, no one idea on that one. I didn't really put a ton o'effort into it when I get here. I saw Nisk's joint, made him offer me the job, then just kinda took the room in the back. Was easy, once the old coot got rid o'the stupid notion I was tyin' ta rob him..."

I'm up in the Finger Lakes with my family for a last gasp of summer. Might not get another post in before Wednesday night, buy I'll try.

"Ha!" Veznutt exclaims. "As long as you young heroes keep Ameiko's ail flowing, I'm sure she'll give you a room and food for free a while longer."

Ilosari rolls his eyes. "Veznutt just longs for the days that he was young and adventuring. Not pretty though. He's always been a mangy gnome."

Now its Ilosari's time to wink. Veznutt feigns being hurt. "Well, at least I have my charms you old relic. Last time the ladies gave you a look was while you were stealing their pies of their windowsills. Back when Thassilon was still young."

They continue to rib each other for a while. Its clear from their banter they have known each other for a long time and take great pleasure in mock insulting the other.

After going back and forth for a big, Ilosari stears the conversation back on track. "While I am sure you can stay at the inn a few more days, if you plan on staying a few weeks or longer, it might be better to seek rent elsewhere, although I'm not familiar with what is available at the moment. If you're looking for cheap and a bit of a fixer-upper, you could swing by the town hall. They will know what houses are currently empty. Just dont move out of the Dragon too soon. You might hurt Ameiko's feelings."

"My own bed...truly humans build to excess. I doubt she could object to putting a little more defense here. And it might give me some more time to study what's in the basement. I heard it's the skull of a lich that will answer three questions if you give it a drop of blood.."

Veznutt bearly contains his laughter. Ilosari looks with a completely straight face at Justin. "Nah, I traded in the liches skull years ago. Turns out he was just making stuff up. I'm building a homoculous now. I need someplace to put the naughty children."

Oskar perks up a bit at the 'shop talk'. "If you're making it from the kids, how are you getting around having their blood making them the 'master'? Or have you figured out some kinda way to transfer control...?" Oskar gets lost in thought for a moment trying to puzzle this out.

"Yer a bit obsessed there, Os..."

He looks about him.

"So, want to head to the town hall, see what we can rustle up?"

Oskar perks up a bit at the 'shop talk'. "If you're making it from the kids, how are you getting around having their blood making them the 'master'? Or have you figured out some kinda way to transfer control...?" Oskar gets lost in thought for a moment trying to puzzle this out.

"you make some sort of super homonculus first that can override the other homonculi. Erm. Or so i read. Once. Somewhere.

"Good luck at the town hall. Dont tell anyone I'm making homoculi out of the children. They'll fire me. And where would that leave me?"

You have no idea how Ilosari can keep a straight face. Veznutt however appears to be biting the inside of his cheeck to keep from laughing.

Taj grins. "Okay, we'll swing by town hall, but also give Ameiko a chance to fatten us up first!" She looks around the group, and raises an eyebrow. "If we're done planning enough necromantic acts to turn us into Runelords, shall we go?"

Then she offers an arm to Oskar. "Will you do the honor of escorting me?"

Still trying to figure out how a master control homonculus would work, Oskar's a bit lost in thought. That's gonna be a [bleep]-load of clay. This might be a bit out of my league...

"Will you do the honor of escorting me?"

Oskar comes back to the here and now with all the grace of a landed piercer. "Oh, uh, yeah! Yeah, sure!" Taking Rataji's arm, Oskar tries about two or three ways of holding her arm before setlling into the one that feels the least awkward, It's not a wrestling hold, dummy, be gentle. As they head for the door, he whispers, "Where are we going again? I got a little sidetracked."

She raises her eyebrows. "You'd asked me if I wanted to go out for dinner between your moments of mad alchemy, and your conquering of Avistan. I said yes. Remember?"

Oskar pauses a moment, his free hand stroking his chin, before giving a nonchalant shrug and resuming his pace. “Sure, let's go with that. Sounds better than any plan I was gonna come up with. Wanna mix it up some? 'Stead of eatin' at the Dragon again, we could go to the Hagfish…” And give Vy that much less of an opportunity to 'accidentally’ break a mug across my face, he thinks to himself.

"Nothing wrong with absolute power as long as you have the right person wielding it."

"Hagfish? I've never been there, so sure. I'd love to try it. " She grins. "Thanks for inviting me. And on the way, we can visit Town Hall..."

Then she turns to Justin. "And just who do you want wielding that absolute power, sir? I've studied my history... It always seems to go wrong, even with the best intentions. Still, it's kind of fun to fantasize about. If I were in charge, everyone would give me footrubs, and there'd be a resumption of the games that we missed yesterday. Unfortunately, I haven't done much other planning for my period of autocratic rule, so we'd have a few glorious years of excess before everything fell apart. It may be better to NOT put me in charge, come to think of it."

"Rulers that have had absolute power and not abused it tend to sink quietly into history with naught but a few aqueducts and roads to be remembered by. The others tend to stand out a bit...

Before you leave, Ilosari makes the kids thank you for the dinner. They are enthousiastic, several of them still with pieces of curry on their face.
Luca, shyly comes up to Oskar. "Thank you for doing the games with me mister. I had a lot of fun."
He seems to want to say more but lost his nerve.

Ill summarise your trip to the town hall tonight when I can get behind a computer. Typing a lot of text sucks on a phone.

Prestidigitates face on the way out muttering to himself

"Perhaps some sort of gravity fed pressure system with nozzles and we could run them all through...."

Having said your goodbyes to Ilosari, Veznutt and the kids in general (and Luca specifically), you head to the town hall.
Its not far from the orphanage, up on main street.

The door of the hall is open, and a cleric quickly guides you upstairs to the offices.
The majority of the ground floor of the two-story building consists of a meeting hall large enough to seat most of Sandpoint’s adults, although town meetings have rarely been even half so well attended. The upper floor contains offices and storerooms, while a vault in the basement below has functioned as the town bank for decades. Plans to build a proper bank have been stalled for various reasons since the town was founded.

Upstairs, you all have a talk with the cleric. You explain what you are looking for. Large enough to house you, but cheap on rent. A fixer-upper is no problem.
The cleric listens, and write down some notes. He lets you know he'll see what he can find. Something with that many rooms, or room enough to be divided into rooms, is not that readily available, but he would do his best to find you something. Maybe two houses next together that you could re-divide into a single house. Once he's found something suitable, he will let you know at the Dragon.

Back at the Dragon, you sit at your regular table. Bethana brings you drinks. "How did it go fellows? Ameiko will be along shortly."
Bethana also brings you some cheese and dried sausage to snack on.

A while later, Ameiko comes into the common room from the kitchen. Her left cheeck is bright red, as if she got slapped. "Hey, good to see you all back. See you did not get eaten by the kids. Tell me how it went."

"Well enough, I think. We'll probably see if we can help more often, and see if we can stick around a bit longer. Also, it helps that you fed the kids. They were less ravenous and more disposed to listen."

"there were many ribbons and I don't know if they learned anything besides the fact that ratfolk have soft fur. and what an oxymoron is. "

Ameiko snorts. "Well, oximoron IS one of the most important things you can teach them. While I love sandpoint, a lot of my jokes fly over the heads of most people. I could use some clever wordplay in the future."

Ameiko chats with you a bit, interested in what you did that day. With dinner approaching, she leaves for the dinner rush.
A little later, Pateba joins you. His spirits are high. This evening he will perform together with Ameiko at the Dragon. Nothing fancy, just a friendly collaboration. But music is music, and it is clear he is exited to collaborate.

During dinner, Pateba eagerly listens to what you have been up to. He is very pleased you all did something to help the community. Especially something to help the kids. (Rataji and Snowflake both know Pateba is very pro-education).

After dinner, Ameiko and Pateba take the stage. The Dragon is quite full, as they did some word of mouth advertisement during the day, and the people of sandpoint are looking for a diversion.
Ameiko plays the Samisen, while Pateba sings.

Drinks flow freely. When its Oskar's turn to get a round of drinks at the bar, a young woman turns around. She's got bright red hair and she's very pretty.
"Hey there. You're one of the heroes. I am Shaylis Vinder. I've heard of you. You're Oskar, right? Its my pleasure to meet you." She holds out her hand, and bats her eyelashes at Oskar while turning on a killer smile.

As word of Pateba’s performance breaks, Oskar leans over to Rataji and says in a low voice, "So I guess it’s a raincheck on the Hagfish, okay? But I gotta take you there, that place is a trip."

Still, it’s not like dinner at the Rusty Dragon is ever bad, and Oskar certainly enjoys himself. When the girl introduces herself to him, the first thing he notices is her bright red hair, Wow, that’s like, the exact same color as Agda’s hair back home. Oskar smiles wistfully, thinking of home for a minute before snapping back to the here and now. "Uh, yeah, that’s me, Oskar Dragenaev. Pleasure's mine, I guess." A thought occurs to him. "Any chance you’d be the one sent me that little thing th’other day?"

“Ladies and gentlemen. Tonight, the part of ‘The Regal Beagle’ will be played by ‘The Rusty Dragon’.”

Shaylis lets out a little giggle. "Ow, you got my little gift! I was afraid it might not reach you, but I am so glad it did. I saw you a couple of times in my fathers shop, you know. And I wondered, you being a hero and all, if you could help me out?" She bats her eyelashes again and bites her lower lip ever so slightly.

Now that she mentioned her father's shop, the name Vinder does ring a bell. He owns the general store, but you visited him for his under the counter trade in hard liquor. Vinder is the only man between Magnimar and Riddleport who manages to get his hands on rotgut, the fairly illegal and very, very strong orcish brew.

Before:

Taj nods to Oskar. "You won't want to miss one of Pateba's performances. We'll do the Hagfish later. It's a date!"

Now:

As she notices Oskar being accosted by the cute redhead, Taj gets up. "Oskar? Why don't you take these drinks back to the table why Shayliss and I have a little chat?" Oddly, her hair is only partially alight. Shayliss is pretty, but she also looks like an idiot, and Taj knows already that Oskar likes banter. There's no way this girl can keep up, long term.

He's so out of your league, sweetheart...

"Help you out, how?" Rataji's eyes narrow as talks to the flirtatious girl. "I'm not saying no, but I'd like to hear what's at stake before the boys' hormones overwhelm their common sense."

Shaylis pouts for a moment when Rataji butts in, but her eyes gain a sparkle once she looks you all over.
"Oh hello. I am Shaylis. You are one of the other heroes I've heard about. They said you were spirited, but they never said you were this beautifull."
She twirls a lock of her hair around her finger.

There is a note of jealousy in her voice, but there is no malice or mean tone, which you were expecting.

"You're very pretty yourself," Taj acknowledges, trying not to be impatient. "I'm Rataji." She does not invite this flibbertigibbet to call her Taj. That's the name friends call her, and Shaylis hasn't earned it yet. However, she is mollified by the girl's lack of malice. "If you'd like to meet all the heroes, I'm sure we can arrange that. What sort help were you seeking?"