Scarlet strips down to her undergarments and plops into bed. She starts snoring almost immediately.
Zokon considers his options he almost draws his sword but then he decides to play it by ear.. he takes a few steps back and then just walks in to the kitchen.
"Hellooo cook, I was wondering if there was something to eat one of the ladies is..." Zokon stops in mid stride and sentence and just stares at his half-brother " My Lord Ariston? What are you doing here?"
Zokon considers his options he almost draws his sword but then he decides to play it by ear.. he takes a few steps back and then just walks in to the kitchen.
"Hellooo cook, I was wondering if there was something to eat one of the ladies is..." Zokon stops in mid stride and sentence and just stares at his half-brother " My Lord Ariston? What are you doing here?"
[dice=Bluff to look like he was really innocently coming down tot he kitchen]1d20+4
It takes him a moment to recognize you then shock followed by the sharp angling of his thick dark eyebrows. Yep, that's the look Zokon remembers.
"What am I doing here?!" He snaps. "See this crest. I'm a captain in the city's night watch, except we've been on round the clock duty since the bombing in the sewers earlier today. And you? Been reduced to a common barfly? Selling your blade for silver to get by have you?"
He maybe all of two months older than Zokon and running on no sleep, but even now he looks younger and more cocksure with that stupid crooked smirk on his face.
"Okay well it's good too see you've done so well, I am actually on a supply run at the moment i'm a member of one of the Stolen Lands expeditions. So No not a barfly, but I am living it up a little before I go back to the frontier"
Zokon sorta turns to go thinks better of it
"Well dear brother i'll leave you to your important work and i'll go tell the ladies the kitchens were occupied"
Now Zokon turns to leave and will take off upstairs
"One of Drelev's riff-raff then?" Ariston mutters to the cook. "A lot less professional than Varne's men."
The cook nods though Zokon's not sure that he really means it.
Zokon slows slightly
"Thanks for the information brother as I am in neither of those two groups, at least I can research them now"
and continues back to the room
After a dismissive "Bah!" Ariston returns to his conversion with the cook.
|
Naleksa laughs warmly at the joke and joins Numalar at the table.
By actions rather than words she explains precisely what she wants. She does tell you a little though which you think is probably true. Naleksa has grown up in the wake of encamped armies of noble houses, Worldwound crusaders, and mercenary gangs, earning her keep serving as a medic, a menial, a counselor and, well, a lady of leisure. She puts her hand on Numalar's thigh and wonders aloud if perhaps he (and his fellow party members) might have need of such a person. Naleksa seems to hope that the next few hours til dawn might be spent as a sort of paid internship (2sp)....
Numalar chats merrily with Naleksa, and shows interest in her tales of life in the company of Noble armies and Worldwound crusaders. When it becomes clear that she is interested in his silver rather than his personal attributes, he remains polite and friendly...
As the night wears on and the tavern patrons begin to leave, Numalar reaches into his pouch and places 10 gp on the table.
"Dear Naleksa, I'm afraid you are too tall for someone like me... I'm not much of a climber," Numalar winks. "But allow me to offer you this as a retainer for future services. You have many skills which surely will be valuable. And now, I must bid you good night. Meet us in the morning here and we will set out together. If you don't have a mount you can ride my mule Gertrude; she has served me well in that capacity but I have acquired another mount recently. And now, I will bid you good night. See you in the morning."
Numalar tips his hat to Naleska and walks up the stairs to his room alone. Those that see him pass on the second floor might note a world-weary look on his face.
As Zokon mounts the steps to his room, late that evening after leaving his half-kin, who do you suppose he finds loitering about his door?
In the morning, most likely a bit later than everyone else Posh comes down the stairs, rubbing his eyes.
"So, let's get going on our adventure, shall we?" he smiles, ignoring all the drama from yesterday in the hopes everyone else has dropped it too or forgotten. "I wonder how Oleg's is doing?"
"Dear Naleksa, I'm afraid you are too tall for someone like me... I'm not much of a climber," Numalar winks.
Scarlet tumbles out of bed. She remembers to put on some clothes before stepping out. "Morning. Hungry, one sec." She makes a beeline for the eating room.
Zokon finally notices the girl next to his door he is intensely running thoughts and implications through his head
He looks at Naleksa and stops
"Uhhhhh .. Hello there... ummm.."
Scarlet tumbles out of bed. She remembers to put on some clothes before stepping out. "Morning. Hungry, one sec." She makes a beeline for the eating room.
Posh laughs, but he too feels his stomach growl for attention.
"You've got the best idea." he states, making his way to join, but making sure to use a knife and fork if provided with whatever meal there might be available.
On Posh's flirtation attempt, Alia looks confused for a moment, then looks at Scarlet, back to Posh, alternating a few moments between them, before regaining her composure: "I did not mean to imply you would be kidnapped for ransom, I feared that you'd be taken for revenge. If they would use you to set a trap, we'd walk right in trying to safe you. We don't know how involved they were with Vernon's plan..."
Retiring to her room early to evade the crowds and commence kitty training, it's quite likely sometime later in the evening she'd fetch a bit to eat, or some more chicken for Clawthulhu...
Alia raises early in the morning, figuring there's still some preparations for the journey to be made. Aside from the shopping the group planned to do, to spend part of their earned money, there was one more thing that she needed to take care of.
One last time, she'll return to the temple and check on Faeria the Sane, and hand back her spellbook to her, wishing her best of luck for the future.
"I think you would be a great... asset, yes asset, on our journey but tonight I must remain clear headed as I have just had a run in with someone who may just want to kill me, so I suggest you sleep in a different room tonight"
At that Zokon slides past her and then closes the door, furniture can be heard moving as he braces something against the door and then again against the window
He then goes to sleep with his wrist sheath on and sword next to the bed
When he wakes Zokon stumbles downstairs and looks at Scarlet before making his own way to breakfast
[dice=sense motive]1d20+2
Sometime that evening. Posh hears some one rapping at his door.
Sometime that evening. Posh hears some one rapping at his door.
** spoiler omitted **
Posh smiles, he was still dressed when he answered the door as he had to think about a few things. His mind wonders to earlier and the other women in the group, then Raven as he looks up to her. For a moment he wanted to turn her away, but decided he wasn't tied to anyone yet and could have a night with this young woman. It wasn't his first time with a tall-person afterall.
"I think I have time to discuss your ets." he gives a smirk with the innuendo, checking the hallway first before letting her in and closing the door, locking it too.
Posh takes his time with the meal before looking around and seeing how many people have joined at the table yet. He smiles towards Scarlet.
"It appears the others have slept in quite late, huh?" he asks, attempting small talk, though knowing Scarlet so far, assumes she won't answer from her food right away. "Thank you for your words yesterday. I don't want to be evasive to the party, but I have many skeletons in my closet as I'm sure we all do."
Posh takes his time with the meal before looking around and seeing how many people have joined at the table yet. He smiles towards Scarlet.
"It appears the others have slept in quite late, huh?" he asks, attempting small talk, though knowing Scarlet so far, assumes she won't answer from her food right away. "Thank you for your words yesterday. I don't want to be evasive to the party, but I have many skeletons in my closet as I'm sure we all do."
"We all have somethin' we don't feel like talking about." Scarlet munches on a turkey leg. "No point in pushing you into something you don't want to say. Gods know I've had plenty of things I didn't want to talk about..." Scarlet's kind words are obfuscated with a loud burp after she chugs down some water.
"When you're ready, and trust me, you need to be ready at some point, find someone you trust and spill out your guts." She leans back and rubs her tummy. "Well, not literally."
Posh takes his time with the meal before looking around and seeing how many people have joined at the table yet. He smiles towards Scarlet.
"It appears the others have slept in quite late, huh?" he asks, attempting small talk, though knowing Scarlet so far, assumes she won't answer from her food right away. "Thank you for your words yesterday. I don't want to be evasive to the party, but I have many skeletons in my closet as I'm sure we all do.""We all have somethin' we don't feel like talking about." Scarlet munches on a turkey leg. "No point in pushing you into something you don't want to say. Gods know I've had plenty of things I didn't want to talk about..." Scarlet's kind words are obfuscated with a loud burp after she chugs down some water.
"When you're ready, and trust me, you need to be ready at some point, find someone you trust and spill out your guts." She leans back and rubs her tummy. "Well, not literally."
Posh goes silent for a moment on her words and mentioning he may need to tell someone he trusts.
She doesn't look it at first, but she has a great wisdom... and then he sees here laying back and rubbing her stomach and he just hangs his head, almost as if she purposely decided to do this after saying something so wise."I'll keep that in mind. Thank you, Scarlet." he laughs and pats her on the shoulder "Don't eat too fast. I hear you can get stomach pains from riding a horse so soon after eating."
Zokon stalks into the room, looking here and there before taking a seat..
He grabs a few bites to eat and then says
"My half-brother Lord Ariston paid the inn a visit yesterday and I happened to run into him, he's also a city guardsman investigating a certain explosion in the sewers. He doesn't like me very much either, two very good reasons for us to get out of the city very quickly"
Celyne stumbles downstairs with Luna at her side.. yawning...
She finds someplace to sit with the others who are downstairs as well and nibbles half-heartedly at breakfast. "Leaving quickly are we? Well, I hope we have time to eat before we have to skedaddle. So who is this brother of yours and do you think he'd figure out the explosion had anything to do with us? If so, you're right, we should probably leave as soon as we can."
She gets Luna some rare or even raw meat for breakfast. Luna digs in with gusto.
Posh's smile fades at Celyne's words and nods before speaking in a hushed voice.
"Let's not rush too quickly. If we make sure to have our meal, take our time and then we leave, as planned. Otherwise we might draw attention if we were to rush ourselves." he looks over to Zokon then "Afterall, if we're innocent we wouldn't be running, would we?" he gives a sly smile at this point, but then something comes to mind "Oh, we'll need to get some transport for Naleksa too."
Naleksa also makes frequent use of cantrips to move the night along more smoothly.
Naleksa springs down the stairs at a enthusiastic gait.
"I'm ready!" She beams.
Scarlet looks at Naleksa, then looks back at Posh. Then she shrugs.
"Yeah, we should savor last night for just a little longer."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Alia leans over to Scarlet and whispers:
"I guess she needs transportation despite having found something to ride on-"
then continues enjoying a proper breakfast...probably the last for a long while.
|
|
Numalar emerges from the tavern after his morning ablutions. He does not seem to notice which room Naleksa came from, though he overhears the comment whispered by Alia, and lifts an eyebrow. But he shakes his head, and smiles.
"Good morning everyone! Everyone ready to head back into the wilds?"
Numalar then gets his packs ready and rummages around for some things. He pulls out a bag full of acid flasks.
"I took the liberty of stocking up on these; we discussed it but it wasn't clear how many I should get. So I got us all two each. I also picked up enough rations to double our supply. We may be able to acquire more at Oleg's or forage for food when we are not in a hurry."
After hearing Alia's comment, Posh smirks before then saying.
"I didn't know you'd be so jealous, Alia. If you want me all to yourself, all you have to do is ask." he does a mock bow with a wide grin on his face "Of course, I should know from my own experience with Elves that they act very different in public than in the bedroom."
Scarlet erupts into laughter. "Hahaha! Just don't wake me up from my beauty sleep and we'll get along just fine, Naleksa." Scarlet leans back.
"Jealousy? Me? Never, as long as you don't try and steal Scarlet away from me!", Alia jests, putting a hand on Scarlets shoulder, then looking at Naleksa:"Though I do hope that if you need transportation because you plan to tag along, you have other qualities as well, otherwise camping in the wilds will feel awkward - even more so than back when we ran into that young hippopotamus..."
A fatigued character can't run or charge and takes a penalty of –2 to Strength and Dexterity. Eliminating the nonlethal damage also eliminates the fatigue.
A character can walk for more than 8 hours in a day by making a forced march. For each hour of marching beyond 8 hours, a Constitution check (DC 10, +2 per extra hour) is required. If the check fails, the character takes 1d6 points of nonlethal damage. A character who takes any nonlethal damage from a forced march becomes fatigued. Eliminating the nonlethal damage also eliminates the fatigue. It's possible for a character to march into unconsciousness by pushing himself too hard.
"Jealousy? Me? Never, as long as you don't try and steal Scarlet away from me!", Alia jests, putting a hand on Scarlets shoulder, then looking at Naleksa:"Though I do hope that if you need transportation because you plan to tag along, you have other qualities as well, otherwise camping in the wilds will feel awkward - even more so than back when we ran into that young hippopotamus..."
[dice=Perform Act/Comedy]1d20+2
Posh smiles, loving this reaction.
"She can heal wounds and bring us back to our fighting spirit. I have to admit, she is very skilled in what she does and I think she'll make a great edition to our little community we're building down south." he states with a smile "Now we better get moving, but only when we're safely out of the city then we push ourselves."
"So THAT's what you call it?... and are you back to your fighting spirit this morning, mighty warrior?" Celyne smiles and winks at Posh...
|
|
Mounted Movement: A mount bearing a rider can move at a hustle. The damage it takes when doing so, however, is lethal damage, not nonlethal damage. The creature can also be ridden in a forced march, but its Constitution checks automatically fail, and the damage it takes is lethal damage. Mounts also become fatigued when they take any damage from hustling or forced marches.
"I wouldn't want to push the mounts too hard. If we goad them a bit for an hour or so each day then we should be able to reach Oleg's by the afternoon of the third day. We would miss the beginning of the festival, but I would rather do that than kill the horses."
The first two days of the trip are pretty uneventful. No one is at the gate to chase you out of town or arrest you . No one marks your passing through Nivatka's Crossing that afternoon . There are no trolls camped along the roadside waiting to share stories and horse-flesh with that evening. And the next day is little different aside from the growing sense remoteness. There is not one bit of civilization that the caravan can see from the road aside from the road itself. The rest is all sweeping prairie and small copses of trees that cling together--you suspect out of loneliness. Overhead silver-gray clouds roll by until the they blanket the whole of the world that night.
That night on Scarlet and Zokon's watch, Zokon can hear the distant baying wolves in the vale. One from some distance up the road they'd traveled and close to a half-dozen answering calls from hills nearby.
"They seem like robust animals...I think they can take a bit more stress. And if it's close, we could always dismount and march on, giving them some rest from us."
Zokon also prepared his Cold Iron Arrows with the silver weapon blanch 40 cold iron arrows
He will set out a couple extra torches (Stab torch into ground 30 ft out from camp) and make sure his bow and arrows are fine, bow in hand
Then he walks over to Scarlet "Hmm this seems like we may have wolf problems, let the others sleep for a few more minutes"
Scarlet enjoys the trip. It's good to get out of town and enjoy the outdoors. "I wish Belia and Vernon were out here..." she mumbles. "Maybe they would have enjoyed their lives peacefully in the wilderness, instead of..."
Scarlet tries to be nice with the Thrice-Damned barmaid, asking her if she's doing alright and if there are any chores an unskilled Ifrit can help with. The manager's stern gaze puts an end to that, though.
At camp, Zokon gives Scarlet a heads up about wolves. "I'll check down there. You can stay here." Scarlet pulls out her longbow and peers into the darkness.
"Why would wolves be up and about at this time of night?"
"So THAT's what you call it?... and are you back to your fighting spirit this morning, mighty warrior?" Celyne smiles and winks at Posh...
Posh smirks at Celyne's words
"I don't know. Would you like to find out?" he returns her wink and a smirk.
---late before going to sleep----
Posh decides to spend the night by himself, believing that things would be awkward in the camp otherwise
"ZZZZzzzz...
"Why would wolves be up and about at this time of night?"
Suddenly the noise ends. And all is quiet.... Too quiet.
Scarlet thinks she can hear panting along the wood's edge.... THEN!
WOLVES!! Wolves come charging out of the brush running full tilt at the party!!
And on the other side of camp:
The Bold May Take a Standard or Move Action!
________________________________
__ Numalar
__ Alia
__ WOLVES!
__ Zokon
__ Naleksa
__ Poshment
__ horses
__ Sir Didymus
__ pony
__ Scarlet
__ Celyne
__ Luna
[ooc]I didn't realise that the noises could be heard that close in future if the howling can be heard in the hills around means close, can you say it's uncomfortably close or something, I woulda woken people up{/ooc]
Zokon uses studied target on the wolf facing him, holds his bow in his buckler hand and strikes with his spiked gauntlet
"AWAKE ALL WOLVES ARE ATTACKING!!!"