Muroi: Heryn pauses when you mention Dreng, and turns to face you. "Ah, right... OK, just let me get caught up with these orders and I'll take you down to the wine cellar." She rushes off with more drink orders.
Dismoon: Your tone is suitably disgusted at the Aspis to join the conversation, although much of it is over your head in terms of details. Apparently the Aspis have some big plot going on right now that has the Society angered, and most of the people at your table are in favor of open warfare against them and their operations. Interestingly, you drink order comes faster than everyone else's.
Soumral, Natalia, Therin: "I like to keep seats available for visitors," he replies. "One never knows what one can learn from a new acquaintance." He greets you all in turn. "I gather from what your friend at the bar -" he indicates Muroi - "says, that you are Pathfinders as well. Old Dreng has cut you loose from his apron strings, yes? He may seem strange, but a truer Pathfinder you will never meet."
To Natalia's question: "Indeed, I have my share of stories... of secrets uncovered, of quests completed, of friends lost. But I find my inspiration in the earlier days of the Society, when lone individuals would go off into the unknown and bring back knowledge once thought lost to history. Durvin Gest did not accept missions only when he had a hand-picked team of agents to back him up - he prepared himself to handle any situation on his own, through skill, equipment, or pure boldness. That is the greatest lesson I have learned - specialization is valuable, but versatility is more valuable. "
He takes a sip of his wine. "Especially when old Dreng wakes you up in the middle of the night and assigns agents to missions based on who's name he could remember that day, eh? I was once sent to represent the Society at a social gathering with three barbarians. Great fighters, whirling death... saved my life when we went to the Worldwound together, but they only had three words and five teeth between them. Nearly started a war with Cheliax because they couldn't do anything but kill." He looks around at the three of you. "And you - what tales do you have to share with an old man?"
Lulu: The halforc lady slaps her companion hard. "That Garl, my brother. I Shrade. We twins! We celebrate, uh..." Garl picks up the conversation immediately: "We celebrate Pathfinder Discount! " The two slam their ale mugs together, down them, and yell for Heryn. She appears shortly, with six more ale and two glasses of milk. Shrade begins to give Lulu and inventory of her scars, including the story of where each one was won, but then pauses. "Where you fight, little one?"
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"First mission!" says Lulu, toasting Garl and Shrade's mugs, not minding if a little beer gets in her milk. "I've only gotten into a scrap here and there--somehow, the Pathfinder Society deemed me fit for service." Her grin turns a little more horizontal. "Oh, this one." She touches her scar around one eye. "Oppara. I used to run with a crowd there. Some young buck wanted to give me a 'Narrows Smile' with a broken bottle, for....reasons. I ducked, but didn't duck low enough." Her smile creeps back. "First time I figured out how to throw aether--before that, I just threw things. I knocked him downt, and ran away, bleeding. But the next week, I found him again, knocked him cold, and left him tied up in front of the Constabulary with a list of his crimes pinned to him."
She sips her milk. "Nothing like you two have seen, I imagine."
Heryn looks down at Dismoon as she rushes back to the bar. "'Twas just your friends' turn, milady," she replies, smiling, and throws a wink to the others at the table.
Suddenly, the door slams open, and a extremely tall half-orc woman comes running through the door, a sheepish look on her face. Heryn rolls her eyes and yells across the room. "Glenda! 'Bout time, get behind that bar and get to work!" She heads over and starts chewing out the newcoming for being late to work again.
Meanwhile, the two half-orcs, Garl and Shrade, seem to have a hard time following Lulu's rapid-fire speech, but roar approvingly when she reaches the end of her story. "Hah!" Garl grunts. "You should get a good axe - that's something worth throwing!"
Shrade hoists her mug in agreement. "Nothing that an axe can't fix," she intones sagely, then downs her ale.
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The only story I have worth mentioning involves a well known Pathfinder, Kalkamedes. Perhaps you have heard of him? Strangest thing...he was....possessed is too strong a word, I fear. He was influenced by a spirit from ages past that made him walk in his sleep. I swear by the Lady's Light it was the strangest thing I had ever seen. And his sword, Gamin. It talked! I had only heard of such weapons, but it did.
Therin takes a sip of his drink as he revisits his first mission as a Pathfinder.
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Soumral takes a sip of her wine.
"I am with the Pathfinder Society as an observer on Kyonin's behalf. The Pathfinder Society has, on several occasions made overtures to Kyonin for an enhanced relationship. I am to serve in the Society in order to better understand it's workings and goals. Kyonin may then use my findings to determine whether a closer relationship with the Pathfinder Society is in its interests, and if so how to proceed."
Lulu: Gral grunts appreciatively, but Shrade scoffs. "Dagger good for picking teeth, sometimes for shave... but takes too many pokes to do work! You need axe. I tell you true, if you fight, best to fight fast and win fast. Then time for Pathfinding."
Gral agrees. "Me like you. If you need fighting help, come get Gral and Shrade. We help other Pathsfinding peoples! Not so good at Explore or Report, be we always copterate!" he annouces proudly.
Natalia, Therin, Soumral: Aram listens intently to you tales in turn. "You all seem to be well on your way to having your work published in the Chronicles," he observes. "If you ever require assistance, I operate Kaleel's Curiosities in the Foreign Quarter when I'm not here or on assignment. My son Majaere is also a Society member, and can contact me if I am away." He drains his glass, and places a small card on the table in front of you, which lists the shop's name and address. Woven into the design is a Glyph of the Open Road with a stylized letter "L" replacing the central star. "Explore, Report, Cooperate!" he replies, and pays the tab for all of you before heading on his way.
Dismoon: The folks around the table smile at the bartender. The Shoanti sitting next to you leans over and confides, "We're... regulars, you might say. We've been in the Society so long, we tend to get a bit of preferential treatment on our few days off. My name's... Born. That's Kes and Sipher. We're what you might call trouble shooters for the Society... 'specially when it comes to Aspis." The other two spit at the sound of the word. "It's the worst kind of piss," replies Kes, and they raise their glasses at the old joke.
Muroi: After Heryn gets her replacement in place, she comes over to you. "OK, let's go... I'll get you Drendle's package."
Heryn gathers you all up - you can retro finish up your conversations as you'd like, or ask any further questions.
Once you are all together, she leads you behind the bar and through the kitchen to a stout wooden door. "We're heading down to the wine cellar... hand me that lantern?"
She unlocks the door, revealing a small storage space with a stone staircase leading downwards. As she leads the way, she explains. "Sorry about the mess - the earthquake of 4698 did a lot of damage, and we haven't been able to repair the foundations. Watch your step."
She leads you down the stairs and through another door into a large cellar area. Crossing the center of the area is a wide crack about ten feet deep, spanned by a wooden plank. "Been meaning to replace that plank, too," Heryn offers, a slight smile playing around her eyes. "Drendle's next vintage is Erinyes' Wing 4660 A.R., a nice Chelaxian red. Across the plank, down those stairs and into the wine cellar. It's not well-organized, so you'll have to look for it. I'll wait here for you - sorry, but I've had trouble with some of the folks Drendle sends trying to make off with my wine."
As Natalia reaches the center of the plank, it begins to flex and crack. She manages to leap to the other side as the plank breaks completely and plummets the ten feet to the chasm's floor.
Heryn's squeals in surprise. "Goodness, I guess I'll have to replace that plank sooner than I thought! Oh, well, good thing you Pathfinders are such resourceful types - I'm sure you'll have no trouble dealing with this."
Ahmed leaps across the chasm with ease, while Dismoon climbs down the rock walls. She nearly slips but manages to reach the bottom safely. The chasm doesn't extend far beyond the edges of the room, narrowing until it closes completely only a few feet past the walls.
Therin: you think you might be able to jump that distance, but there's not much room for a running start, and you'd be landing on a 2'wide ledge of stone with a bunch of wine shelves below you on the other side. Tricky landing, but you think you could clear the distance.
Soumral gracefully leaps the chasm. Therin's leap is the opposite of grace, but gets him across... barely.
He manages to just avoid flying forward into the wine cellar, catching himself on his tippy-toes and hanging over the gulf for a moment before planting his feet firmly on the ground.
Dismoon invokes her magic to clean the wall, giving her a bonus to Climb. She easily makes it up the wall unscathed.
Muroi jumps in the air and lands on the edge of the precipice. He hangs there suspended, for a second, swinging his arms in wild cirlces, before slipping backwards and tumbling into the chasm, landing with a thud.
Lulu also leaps the chasm with little difficulty.
With everyone across the chasm, you stand facing the dark wine cellar, lit only by the glow of Heryn's lantern behind you. Your long shadows obscure most detail, but you can see endless rows of shelves of wine, some covered with the dust of ages.
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Lulu pulls out a candle and tindertwig, ignites the 'twig, and uses it to light the candle. She floats it about 10' in front of her, serving as a lit guide, but is careful to not let it get too close to anything flammable. She lets it 'scan' in a slow loop, bringing it back towards her hand. She grins.
"Aether trick. Well, lots of bottles that I wouldn't drink. Where's that special one, then?"
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"I almost did it. Did you see? Well I have some scratches, but nothing to worry about... I guess. Soumral, again, thank you. What an adventure! Well, now we are here and need that Erinyes Wing 4660, but..." Murio stops a moment "What do we have here?"
Muroi stops looking around and after a second he moves slowly his fingers and pronounce something not clear and in low voice.
The wine cellar is at a lower elevation than the northern part of the room - the dark shadow represents a 5' drop. The stairs on the right side of the map are solid stone, and appear sturdy.
As your light sources illuminate the room, you see the enormity of the task at hand... there are hundreds of bottles in the racks. You fan out and begin searching.
You search around, looking for some rhyme or reason to the organization, but there is none you can discern. After several minutes, Muroi stumbles across the correct bottle. As he goes to remove it, it seems jammed for a moment, but then pulls out approximately 6 inches and stops. There is a grinding sound, and the entire wine rack in front of him pivots forward into the wall. Ahead is a narrow tunnel which leads into a small room faintly lit from within. At the far end, you can see a desk covered with cobwebs and papers.
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Muroi, scared at first, not knowing what's going on, turns this strange feelings into emotion. "WOW! This was awesome. Did you see it? Did You see it?" Looks around as crazy.
Muroi looking on all directions, "Fellows, I guess we have to follow this new path." Then, he focus his 5 senses on the new path to gather information.
"Heryn, did you know about this room?" Muroi asks without turning his sight from the new room in front of him.