Hmm..Then we should perhaps just refill our basic supplies like potions and wait for more supplies to come in. We can request a wand of healing be ordered.
[ooc]If anyone takes a walk through Oleg's 'store' area of the trading post, they will see the following items available for sell:
- Several weeks worth of dry rations
- Hemp and silk rope (5 50ft sections of each)
- Seven pairs of snowshoes
- 3 fishing poles
- 12 animal traps (3 small, 6 medium, 3 large)
- knives for various purposes
- 4 lanterns
- tents (2 small, 1 medium)
- blankets and bedrolls
- 6 potions of clw
- 3 scrolls of clw
- 2 scroll of cmw
- 20 pitons
- chain (8 lengths of 20 ft each)
- 5 handaxes
- 2 dozen candles
- 4 tindertwigs
- 2 thunderstones
- 3 Tanglefoot bags
- 10 bottles of alcohol
[ooc]
Alright, anyone need any supplies from here? Alexander starts unloading their loot and laying it out. He starts with the weapons and armor and waits for Thaliar and Eduard to appraise the rest.
Looks like we've got an almost perfect amount of gear for you here Oleg, and a nice spread this time.
Alexander takes four days of rations from their own stores.
Seeing no rations for sale, Eduard will take 5 from the group stores.
Liz takes 2 days of rations
970/5=194 gp each
Instead of taking equal shares, I suggest we use it to order the healing wand we talked about Although such a thing will no doubt be more difficult to purchase than a normal healing wand.
Soran remains customarily quiet during the exchanges between his party members and the newcomers, and later asked Oleg when he is alone about the specialty arrows he mentioned before.
Did you have any luck attaining the supplies I asked for last time? The arrows? If it's easier, you can simply acquire the materials and I can make them myself.
Radomir will take a few rations (5 days worth).
"The trader that I was expecting that shipment with should be here by tomorrow. Though if you want me to put in a request for the materials too, I can do that."
When it gets close to dinner time, two strangers (to you at least) come riding through the gate. Oleg will wander back over to your group and mention that the fellow with the nice breastplate and longsword is Kesten Garess.
As the two men are dismounting and securing their mounts, Svetlana rings the dinner bell and people begin to make their way to the tables by the firepit.
Kesten Garess. I'm familiar with you, sir. Alexander Orlovsky. A pleasure to meet you. Alexander offers his hand. I hear you're helping Oleg protect the fort. I must admit that I was worried about several so called mercenaries coming by and 'offering' aid to Oleg and his wife. But once he mentioned your name I knew the offer was genuine. He smiles, We're a bit protective of Oleg out here.
Andrea nods her head to the two men. Pleased to meet you. She lets Alex take the lead in schmoozing.
Kesten leaves his mount for his companion to finish unsaddling and moves over to Alexander and shakes the offered hand.
"It's a pleasure to meet you sir. Glad to see that there are other souls brave enough to tame the wilderness out here and to make it safe for travelers and merchants."
Kesten and his three men will sit at one of the tables and partake of the food offered by Svetlana and will continue to answer any questions asked of them. They will talk alot about the improvements that want to make to the fort. Things like, fixing up its defenses, putting a second story on the guest house and figuring out the best way to enlarge the wall.
I'm sure Oleg will be happy for the help. There's a lot of work to do around here. He sits back and relaxes as the men talk and lets them tell the group about their plans. Alexander tells a few military stories to pass the time during the meal.
..and then the horse kicked him!
When the meal is over he becomes a bit more serious. Our Charter demands that we explore this land and clear it of bandits, but we, of course, would never turn away aid from men such as yourself. Alexander stands and stretches. Oleg is as good a judge of character as I've known. If he trusts you then you have my trust as well. Serve him well and we'll all profit from the bounty of this land.
Radomir glares at Kesten, having otherwise remained silent throughout the night. And if you prove false...
He leaves the threat hangining as he follows Alexander out.
Andrea chuckles some at Alex's tale. Indeed, Oleg has been sore pressed by the bandits of these lands, having you here will certainly help the trading post grow.
Choosing not to dignify the implied threat by Radomir, Kesten replies to Alexander and Andrea. "The tales of the bandits in the area have implied great numbers of them. Since the main objective of your charter is exploration, I had thought that it would be prudent to ensure that this humble bastion of civilization in the wilderness remains safe, even in your absence. Be assured that my men and I will do our best to protect from any threat."
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The next day, dark clouds are heavy on the horizon, blocking out sight of the rising sun and seem to be blowing their way towards the fort. Svetlana hurries breakfast, trying to make sure everyone gets enough to eat before any downpour occurs.
Just as everyone is cleaning up from their meal, a voice calls out from beyond the gated doors of the fort. "Hello in the fort! Open up the damn door before the storm comes Oleg, I brought the goods you asked for."
Oleg heads on over to the gate and opens up one side to let in a dwarf leading a pair of mules pulling a laden cart covered with a tarp. Trailing behind the cart is gnome holding the reins to two shaggy ponies.
"Ah Gevan, Sparky, good to see you both. Bet your glad to beat those clouds here. Come on over to the fire, I bet there's still breakfast if you are hungry at all."
Oleg will motion over to any of your group still present at breakfast time this morning. "Friends, this is Gevan and Sparky. Both traders and crafters who handle some of the more esoteric needs of adventurers. Also a good pair to help move any later items you may turn up after fights."
Pleased to meet you Gaven, Sparky. My group has an interest in purchasing a wand of healing magic, to a certain specification. Andrea looks over at Alex knowingly about what they wished to purchase.
Pleasure to meet you Gevan and...Sparky. Alexander steps forward to shake their hands. Why don't you get settled in and after breakfast perhaps we can talk a little business? We'll, of course, go through Oleg for the purchases, but it'd be good to know what sorts of things you men have access to.
Alexander lets the two men relax and eat before discussing trade, though he makes sure to mention the supplies for specialty arrows that Soren needs and the possibility of finding a buyer for the Owlbear eggs.
The two shake hands with Alexander. "We sure wouldn't mind a bite to eat first. We broke camp early and skipped breakfast to get here before those clouds. Storm here abouts can be unpredictable, so we had no desire to get stuck out in one."
After the meal, Sparky speaks up this time. "When Oleg sent word that it was a group of the charter holders that was wanting supplies, we just naturally assumed that one of your main interests would be healing supplies. We do have a couple of different wands, some potions and scrolls with us. We also got the order for some specialty arrows and we brought some with us."
At the mention of the eggs, both traders look rather surprised. "Well now, we're rather impressed you managed to actually capture some eggs without the parents chewing you up. We should be able to find a buyer. We do know a couple of mages that keep trying to one up the other and neither has access to any owlbears yet. We could likely get a good price by playing the one against the other."
When showing you all the contents of of their wagon, they have all of the arrows that Soren requested, 20 of each type. They also have one wand of infernal healing, and one of cure light wounds. The potions are clw as are the scrolls.
They also have a variety of alchemical items, like fires, acids and tanglefoot bags, holy and unholy water and an assortment of cold iron weapons.
Soran picks over the supplies and smiles at the arrows.
Now these I can work with. Should make our lives easier out there, Alexander.
He browses through, making his selections, and then stashes them on his pack.
Its good we're attracting people out here already. It bodes well for our long term plans.
I very much suggest the wand of infernal healing to be bought in exchange for the goods Alex tallied up. Supplemental healing will be very valuable.
Agreed. He turns to the men after they finish their food, We were wondering if you and Oleg could look at some jewelry and other fine items we've found in our travels. Perhaps we can trade some for the healing supplies?
That sounds like a fine plan with the eggs. With any luck it'll work out sooner rather than later.
Radomir sighs a bit to see the owlbear eggs go, but shakes it off. Alexander and the others were clear. It's not his place to question his betters. Instead, he'll peruse the cart looking for better weaponry. Not seeing anything, he'll make a bad attempt to speak with Sparky.
Hello, what news from beyond the fort?
" Not much new of note has happened in the civilized lands. In fact, the most exciting gossip going on is about what is happening out here. Nearly everyone is making bets on which charter members are going to be the most successful and which ones will be the among the first to past into the next life."
"I'm sure that Oleg and I can come with decent price for your fine items. I even have an incentive for making sure that you live and do well. I bet rather heavily on your group you know. Sparky and I are quite fine with taking items in trade rather than for coin. We've dealt with adventuring types for most of careers and know that hard coin is hard to come by in the wilderness, but that fine trade goods an abound."
Sounds like a plan Gevan. Alexander gathers up the loose jewelry and sundry that they have along with a few gold coins and works out a purchase for the wand of infernal healing. That should do it for now, though the others might have some requests and ideas on what to keep an eye out for.
Alexander hands the wand to Andrea, I think you're best suited to hold on to this? You seem the best at keeping out of trouble so far. He smiles as he delivers the magical stick.
Now I have the power of life and death over them all!
Thank you, I will make sure to keep the group healthy.
" Not much new of note has happened in the civilized lands. In fact, the most exciting gossip going on is about what is happening out here. Nearly everyone is making bets on which charter members are going to be the most successful and which ones will be the among the first to past into the next life."
i see. I do not approve of betting on the success of my mission. We will pacify this region! We have already slain the bandits plaguing this small outpost.
Soren purchases:
Grappling Arrows (5): 5gp
Incendiary Arrows (20): 10gp
Thistle Arrows (10): 10 gp
Instead of making small talk with the newcomers, he spends his time in a corner, arranging his quivers so that each has a selection of ten regular arrows, five blunt arrows, 2 thistle arrows, 3 incendiary arrows, and one grappling arrow.
He attaches one to his pack, and the rest to his horse, who he also brushes down and sees to her hooves and feed.
Andrea has her horse tended to as well and gets ready for their next expedition.
Seems we're ready to head out. We'll keep an eye out for that temple. Alexander looks up at the darkening sky and smiles. It's going to be a lovely day. Not too much sun! He chuckles as he mounts up and prepares to ride.
Shall we head out and explore more of the forest? We can plan on taking a little more time now that we know Oleg has a few more here to protect the fort. Perhaps in the general direction of this temple and we can finish off the northernmost part of this map.
Agreed, to the temple.
Soren nods briskly.
The temple is a good idea. Clearing it out may attract even more people here.
Eduard nods, smiling a bit. "And who knows what information we might be able to liberate in doing so?"
After securing your gear and mounts for the expedition, you head east towards the forest and spend half the day riding back to the edge. Skirting the top edge of the section that contained the radish patch, you avoid wasting time on already mapped territory and head into the forest at a sharp angle and adjust your course to plow deep into the woods.
You seem to make it to the cover of the forest canopy just in time as you soon hear the sound rain on the leaves. Luckily it seems to be just a light shower and only the occasional raindrop makes it through the leaves to hit the ground. The cloud cover plus the thick leaf canopy has the effect of making the forest appear to be in an all day state of twilight, giving it a rather ominous look as you travel through it.
Andrea sees EVERYTHING!
Thaliar paid no heed to the merchant when he arrived, there was nothing he direly needed right now and his fellows handled the egg trade just fine.
He just nods when the others decide to go to the forest and is happy to tag along. Finding that temple of Erastil would surely attract more people to the area he just wasn't sure it were the people he wanted.
As usual Alexander is more interested in conversation or his drums than in their surroundings. He idly looks about, not paying attention to anything in particular.
Eduard rides steadily toward the rear of the group, looking through notes and papers as well as the newly-found spellbook rather than doing much in the way of scouting.
Two rather odd nests around forty paces upwards. Andrea points to the nests.I am no expert in bird nests but those look different. Rather perilous to investigate though.
Soren doesn't spot them himself, but when Andrea does he peers into the canopy, trying to see if he can identify them.
Good eyes, Andrea. Those are well hidden. Let me see if I can a better look and see what they are from...
Hrm? Nests? He squints and looks upward, How far up are these nests?
Looks like birds to me. Alexander chuckles, But I'm no expert either.
About forty feet, rather risky to look for baubles they have collected.
Alexander laughs, Not sure we need to be stealing from birds...or whatever they are. But it would be nice to know what sorts of odd and curious things are living in these woods.
I believe we shouldn't disturb them, the fewer unneeded confrontations the better.
Not birds. Fey. I knew I should have ordered some cold iron arrows.... Up to you what we do about them Alexander. Could be a nuisance in the future. I don't really see any kind of alliance with trickster folk ending well for us, though...