GM Woran's Rise of the Runelords

Game Master Woran

The guard captain quietly listens to the conversation happening at the table.

"I'm glad you're feeling better. What happened at the glassworks was horrifying. I've seen wounds and the dead in my life... but these people were tortured..."
He absentmindly stirs his porridge for a moment, lost in thought.

He looks surprised at Justin and Vitro. "Thats actually pretty much what the mayor is wanting you to do. She wants to ask you personally. And she's got to discuss some things with Ameiko."
He looks impressed and calculating at the same time. "The mayor said you were smart people."

"That's what I keep 'em around for," Oskar smiles around a spoonful of porridge, making a pair of fists. "When thinkin' it through with these don't work."

The captain grins. "Cant beat a good pair of fists. Cant loose them, cant forget them next to your bunk, and can only be disarmed when you are dis-armed."

He laughs at his bad joke.
"Let me see if Ameiko is ready, then we can go visit the mayor."

Prestidigitates himself and fluffs himself to look his best... as best as anyone can in a hand me down orphans outfit

Ready as I can reasonably get

Oskar rushes through the remainder of breakfast, not particularly choosy about whose food he stuffs in his face as fast as possible, then brushes crumbs and bits off his shirt. When he sees Justin prestidigitate himself clean, he says, "Hey, give me a hit of that."

"Hmmm what?" Justin is already starting on Oskar's boots and working his way up

"Yeah, that's the stuff. Here, get this spot too," Oskar holds out his right elbow. "A couple weeks ago, Nisk put a tray of some godawful goop down right where I'd had my arm. I swear he does this s%^& on purpose..."

"I don't know what color that IS, or what plane it's from but its well past a simple cantrip.

The captain brings his bowl back to the kitchen and a few moments later he emerges with Ameiko in tow.

Arriving at the town hall, the captain asks you to wait in the empty meeting hall on the ground floor. The mayor wants to speak to Ameiko first.

Your wait is longer then expected. Nearly half an hour later, you see Ameiko walk past, her mouth set in a hard line. She doesn't even acknowledge you as she goes outside.
The captain comes to pick you up and brings you upstairs to the mayors office. You've been here before, but its even more cluttered then last time. Paperwork appears to be everywhere. Tsuto's journal takes up a prominent spot in the middle of the mayor's desk.

The mayor asks you to sit, for as far as its possible in the cramped office. She looks pale, and you see dark bags under her eyes, as if she barely slept.
"Thank you for coming. And thank you for again saving sandpoint from something much worse."
She sighs and steeps her fingers. "It is again a horrible loss we suffered, and by the hands of our own no less. We're trying to keep it under wraps, but gossip spreads like wildfire in this town. We'll have to deal with the fallout of that later."

She pushes Tsuto's journal forward. "I've studied this. Thank you for bringing this to me. It has made a great deal clear. I had wanted to ask Tsuto some very direct questions about the information contained herein. However..."
Pausing for a second, she seems unsure how to proceed, but then seems to make up her mind and go for the direct approach. "However, this morning we found Tsuto dead in his cell. He managed to hang himself. I informed Ameiko just now. Its not the only bad news I had to deliver. Going by the information in the journal, Tsuto convinced Lojiku to loan him some wagons, claiming to help out with the festival to better his life. It was all a ruse to smuggle the goblins in. Lojiku found out, but Tsuto had forged evidence that implicated Lojiku in the attack. He used that to further blackmail his father in opening up old smuggeling tunnels under the Glassworks. We found Lonjiku at the glassworks. Dead. He was encased in glass. Judging by his wounds, he was encased while alive..."

Swallowing hard, the mayor rummages in one of her drawers and pulls out a bottle, and pours herself a tumbler of what smells like strong alcohol. She offers you also a glass. "So this is all a right shit-storm, pardon my language. The glassworks workers will get a good funeral and we will arrange for funds for their famelies. Ameiko is helping in that, as she is now suddenly the sole inheritor of the Glassworks and the Kaijitsu fortune. We found no other goblins, and the tunnel from the sea cove to the Glassworks is clear. We did however find a tunnel branching off. It looks much older and appears to have been there before the glassworks have build."
She drains her tumbler in one go, and pours herself another. "This is why I've asked you here. You have been heros to this town so far, and I'd formally like to request your aid. I have no idea what is at the end of that tunnel, only that it looks to travel further under the town. There could be Desna knows how many Gobs down there. I have a militia to mobilise and cant spare the manpower to properly explore it. But if we dont, it could pose a serious threat in our backs."

Rummaging again trough her drawer, she puts a small bag on her desk. "I can offer you a substantial sum for your help. I've got 500 gold pieces here. You can also keep whatever you find down there as spoils of war. Barring any dangerous objects of course." She gives Justin a sideways glance.
"You should also speak with Ameiko. She looked pretty upset when she left, but I have given her Tsotu's belongings. She told me you could have several of the items."
She sigs again. "Its a lot to ask of you, I know. But I dont have anyone else to turn to."

"I don't suppose we could get half of that now, for supplies and whatnot, before heading down? " he holds the hem out on his skirt. Some of our pockets are stretched a little thin, and I'd like to increase the chances of getting the other half.

In the background there is a sniffle. Vy is fighting back tears.
"So much..unnecessary deaths. These...these are people I used to know when I was a kid. This madness...it has to STOP!"

Justin scooches the chair a bit to put Oskar in between himself and Snowflake

Oskar nonchalantly gets up and looks out the window to get Justin back in between him and Vy.

If I live through this, you are going to make the most adorable tusked fluffy bunny ever.

The mayor pushes the purse forward. "If you accept, you can have it all now."

Her gaze softens. "I am sorry snowflake. Seeing all that death must also have been hard on you. You were always a kind soul."

Justin's delicate little fingers rapidly flit through the gold, dividing it into four piles.

"Authorization to begin negotiating a deal with whatever's down below that she's trying to make a deal with might also be helpful. There's always a lot of things from the surface that are hard to get from down below and vice versa. If we can get them on our side, or at least make them not care who wins, we could buy lives for a few pounds of cinnamon "

He pours the mayor a tot and hands Vitro the bottle.

"Yer short a pile there, Justin..."

"I thought you were pretending to look out the window...Well that will make it even easier. Now that the evidence is moot, did Tsuto have anything useful in their dwelling? "

"Ill authorise you to broker a truce with what is down there, but nothing more. We do not know what we are dealing with here. You do not have permission to speak for Sandpoint."

The mayor looks calculatingly at Justin. "You are a little too morally... flexible.

" I prefer Pragmatic ma'm. It's useful when the entire warr..town is on the line. It's not as though I could trust anyone that asked me to betray a community that gave me a place to sleep and set up shop. Or that Rataji wouldn't have Oskar toss me in a sack and shake it if i tried something. But a truce works"

"Or that Rataji wouldn't have Oskar toss me in a sack and shake it if i tried something."

Oskar looks over at Rataji. "She din't say nothin' to me, but I can get a shakin' sack, hell yeah..."

facepalms, and remembers not to give the orc ideas in the future...

The elf is grinning from ear to ear, watching the rat dig himself in in front of the orc. Then he remembers the serious topic and wipes it off his face, hoping Vy didn't see him being inappropriate while talking about the town's traumas.

He puts the bottle on the table and puts the ring next to it with a big gesture designed to divert attention.

[b]"Yeah, he had a few things on him that we could put to use.. a healing potion, and a ring that'll soften blows aimed at you. I figure we could turn those to our advantage."[b]

"Oskar should hang onto the ring. Rataji's sword is her best defense, and Oskar and Rataji are our defense " if that won't persuade the Orc to forgo the shacking sack, it might get him to at least get a clean one...

Vy mutters:
"...and I even haven't made my vow of poverty yet..."

The mayor raises a single eyebrow, a wry smile creeping onto her face. "Looks like you did not submit all evidence. Its not for me to distribute. You will need to discuss that with Ameiko. After all, those are her dead half-brother's things."

I am assuming here you did keep those things and not turned them over. If you did and I misunderstood, please disregard this post

No, I identified and pocketed them, and then we hadn't gotten round to discussing them yet.

"Was he on trial for bad taste? I mean who tried to princess cut Tourmaline?"

"I'm afraid that there is nothing I can tell you about what you might find down there. Everyone who might have known is dead now. When you are ready to head down, ask for the captain at the Garrison. A guard will keep watch at the tunnel entrance at least."

"Then why waste time? Let's gather up our stuff and my sister, and end this tragedy"

"May Desna watch over you down there."
The mayor gives you all a firm handshake.

Back at the dragon, you look around for Ameiko. Betnana is behind the bar.
"Ow, just give Ameiko some time will you? She just needs..."

From the half open kitchen door, Ameiko's voice rings out. "No Bethana, I'm FINE. Let them come in. I want to talk to them."

Bethana sighs and waves you trough. In the kitchen you see Ameiko. Her eyes are red and puffy. There is a satchel on the table in front of her. "Well, you also talked to the mayor. So you know my brother and father are dead."
She pauses for a moment. "My brother was never the smartest man. Its not surprising he got coerced into believing something bad. My father was never a nice man, but he took good care of those who worked for him. In the end it doesn't really matter. Someone is plotting against Sandpoint. My town. The mayor told me she wanted you to look into what was in those old tunnels."

Mirroring the actions of the mayor earlier, she too puts a purse on the table. "I know she had some funds to offer you, and I want to add my own to what the mayor offered you. Because I want you to go there, and kick the asses of whatever it was that caused all this pain and suffering. And then I want you to come back safe and sound. Because you are my friends."

Justin's tiny little paws twitch at the sight of the gold, but this is more than a business transaction for Ameko. It's a matter of loss and honor, so he fidgets with his tail a bit instead.

Oskar listens to Ameiko, and when she's done, says, "I guess what, a year and a half ago, Councillor Bravok all but grabbed me by the collar, said 'Yer comin' with me', and dragged me a thousand miles to dump me here. He never explained why me, or why here. But, now I'm in a spot where I can do what I do fer a good cause. So hell yeah," he smacks one fist into the other. "You want asses kicked, I'll do it with a smile on my face, Miss K." Gettin' a nice stack of coin is just gravy on top, he thinks, eyes glinting at the thought of the goblin ass-kickings to come.

"We'll put it to good use saving the town "

"I didn't know you were from out of town. You fit in well here. "

The elf thinks for a bit, but there's a glint in his eyes showing appetite for battle.

"I came to this town looking for ancient lore buried below it, I guess I'll get to look out for that while trying to help the people here. Win-win. Well, assuming we do."

Hesitating a moment, he then slides the ring over the table to Oscar.

"Could be good for any of us, but you're up front most, so it makes sense you have it."

"Also whoever crafted this had no sense of good taste. Look at that garish gemstone. Who still uses that cut?"

Ameiko smiles a sad smile. "Thank you. Thank you so much."
She puts two items on the table. A set of thieves tools masterwork, and a quiver with 20 arrows.

"They found the tools in the room Tsuto was using under the glassworks. The money he stole I will put to use to compensate the families of the workers. They also found this quiver of arrows. You can have the tools and arrows. They might come in handy down in the tunnels. They never did find his bow."

Vitro coughs a bit awkwardly and pulls a shortbow out from under the table. "This one? It's got a nice pull to it."

"erm, in our defense we were running back to town half expecting it to be on fire and covered in 200 goblins. Holding onto the bow seemed like a good idea at the time."

Although sad, Ameiko snorts at Justin's comment. "Yeah, that would be something for you lot."
It looks like she finds thei mage of you all on fire covered in goblins amusing.
"Keep the bow if you can use it. I'm more of a throwing knife type myself."

She gives the purse of money to Snowflake. "Its 500 gold pieces. I would give you more if I could spare it, but I'll need to make my fathers affairs in order. We've been estranged for so long I have no idea how he was doing financially."

She lets out a deep sigh. "Let me know when you leave for the tunnels."

Oskar looks skeptically at the ring. "Is there any way to like, get the stone outta this thing without muckin' up the magic? That's not really my style."

"Nope. An objects entire form is intrinsically tied to its function. The gem acts as a focus for that, an taking it out would disrupt the harmonics" his tail reaches over to swat Vitro if he opens his mouth.

Vy is pumping himself up. He really dislikes what has been done to his town, and Ameiko's trust in him, emboldens him even more. Even he is surprised when he turns around to Oskar and growls:
"I know a way to get rid of that rock in that ring. Bash some goblin heads in with it!"

Justin makes sure he's got a chair in between himself and snowflake and talks with his hands held up.

"A little preparation now can save us later. An hour to gather supplies before we head down? If I chipped in my share would it be enough to get Rataji a better rapier? Assuming you can get such in this town without having it commissioned... or a pair of healing potions. One for you one for me. "

Ameiko eyes Oskar. "Potions should be no trouble. Best bet for weird weapons is Savah's Armory. She's got all kind of weird stuff. If she doesnt have it, I'm afraid you're going to have to comission it from Red Dog Smithy. Das Korvut has a mean temper, but he can make near anything, as longs as you dont need it magical."

Vitro doesn't really understand what the tail is for until "Well the stone shouldn't bnggggg"

"No, it can't be gotten rid of now, it'd have to be re-enchanted by someone with good taste."

"Anyway, the journal talked about a demon... are we equipped to fight demons?"

Seeing tail-related antics from Justin and Vitro, Oskar puts on his not-sure-if-serious face...

"I know a way to get rid of that rock in that ring. Bash some goblin heads in with it!"

Until he gets snapped out of it by Vy's comment, and nods in appreciation. "Lookit you! It's tough to really do that, though; you hit someone leading with your ring finger like that, Vy, you're gonna f^&* up your hand kinda bad..." Oskar trails off as he notices Vy isn't really listening.

Vitro leafs a bit through his spellbook, looking for notes on the perfidious drow and the demons they're in league with - anything he needs to be prepared about, like how to hurt them with magic or steel.

Knowledge (Planes): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (3) + 8 = 11

Demons are the opposite of devils? As in, devils are lawfull and demons chaotic? And eh... they come from the abyss? Devils and demons hate good things. That's easy. But did you hurt them with silver or with cold iron?

Vitro's looking through his notes, head almost in the book, seeming a little more frantic. (How to admit ignorance without seeming ignorant?) Without looking the others in the eye he remarks;

"Just to be on the same side, maybe we should bring both silver and cold iron weaponry? When bad guys start summoning fiends they sometimes dip their toes in both pools..."

"Or cut out the middleman and get some of that paladin weapon oil? I think I'm gonna stop by the temple of Desna for some holy water too. Between undead and possible demons chances are it'll come in handy."

I'll buy two flasks of holy water.

Let me know what your shopping lists are and I will tell you what is available. Two flasks of holy water is no problem