OK, once I've OK's the players, I'll set the opening.
The red haired lass in traditional Varisian moves slowly between the tables taking orders and delivering drinks. Occasionally she stops and speaks quietly from a patron as she walks by.
Uncharacteristically, for those who know her, Cilyanka is smiling as she works.
Sparrow entered The Rusty Dragon full of excitement. She had gotten lucky this week, starting with some good luck fishing, moving on to a few decent catches from the traps she had set out in the woods for game. More coins in pocket than had been there for awhile, she decided tonight was going to be a celebration.
Eyes quickly adjusting from the outside, she finds a well-placed table and calls out to the server. "Afternoon Cilyanka! Bring me out a drink, and a good plate of food. And don't worry, I do indeed have some money, enough to start drinking now." Sitting back in the chair, she considers to herself. "Probably should pay for a room now, doubt I'll remember to later. And might be nice to have a soft bed tonight."
An unusual-looking Gnome walks into the Dragon. He doesn't sport the garish hair color, oversized eyes, exotic skin tone, or flamboyant clothing typical of his race. Rather, his somber black eyes rest in a pale face framed by a long mane of blue-black hair and punctuated with a neatly trimmed goatee. His clothes are equally uninspired. He wears a deep blue robe, touched with embroidery, in a rich fabric.
The gnome glances about the room briefly before moving towards an open space at the bar. He shucks a well-made backpack and punts it accurately into a corner before springing lightly onto a bar-stool. He gives the barkeep a disarming smile, "Port - if you have it. If not, what would you recommend for a weary traveler?"
The scarred, extremely large human walks into the dragon. He is close to eight feet tall and is wearing a battered chain shirt. His crystal clear blue eyes look around the bar and he is careful to avoid hitting his head on low hanging fixtures and doorways. Curiously, he is devoid of any weapon except for some light hammers in loops in his belt. They seem strange weapons for someone that is obviously physically strong.
He politely addresses the bar maid in a strange accent, "I would like a large dinner please. I am quite famished."
After his food is brought, he gets a serious look and speaks to the patrons, "If anyone knows of any wandering Varisians who are capable of strong feats of mental magic, I would appreciate you sharing their location with me."
An unusual-looking Gnome walks into the Dragon. He doesn't sport the garish hair color, oversized eyes, exotic skin tone, or flamboyant clothing typical of his race. Rather, his somber black eyes rest in a pale face framed by a long mane of blue-black hair and punctuated with a neatly trimmed goatee. His clothes are equally uninspired. He wears a deep blue robe, touched with embroidery, in a rich fabric.
The gnome glances about the room briefly before moving towards an open space at the bar. He shucks a well-made backpack and punts it accurately into a corner before springing lightly onto a bar-stool. He gives the barkeep a disarming smile, "Port - if you have it. If not, what would you recommend for a weary traveler?"
Seeing the gnome walking into the bar, Sparrow thinks to herself, "Now that guy needs to lighten up some." She calls out to him, "Hey stranger. You look new in town. I've got a table here and no one coming to fill it. Why don't you bring your drink over and share some company." She kicks out one of the chairs. "Traveler's usually bring in some good stories, I'll even cover a drink or two for ya."
The scarred, extremely large human walks into the dragon. He is close to eight feet tall and is wearing a battered chain shirt. His crystal clear blue eyes look around the bar and he is careful to avoid hitting his head on low hanging fixtures and doorways. Curiously, he is devoid of any weapon except for some light hammers in loops in his belt. They seem strange weapons for someone that is obviously physically strong.
He politely addresses the bar maid in a strange accent, "I would like a large dinner please. I am quite famished."
After his food is brought, he gets a serious look and speaks to the patrons, "If anyone knows of any wandering Varisians who are capable of strong feats of mental magic, I would appreciate you sharing their location with me."
"Mental Magic. You mean like enchantment spells? I'm sure you could find a few of those." She gives out an ill-placed laugh, "Why don't you come on over, take a seat. Looking for a specific varisian, or just someone able to perform some tricks?"
Cilyanka walks over to Sparrow's table carrying a large bowl of stew Hello Sparrow, the hunting trip went well I assume?
Cilyanka flashes a knowing smile Should I reserve you a room now, just in case?
"I do think I'll take that offer tonight. Just hope I stumble into the right room this time."
Ryu just finished his delivery to that old woman for Ameiko, and began to walk back to the inn. To "home". He snickered a bit as he imagined that this is a place he actually can call home, he still wasn't used to it.
He politely greeted the people he came across, meanwhile made a mental list on those who looked hateful towards him, or avoided him. Those lists may come in handy later.
Ryu arrived at the Rusty Dragon. He looked around as he placed the little wooden box with the handle he made for food deliveries into the kitchen, and noticed that there were some people he never saw before. Of course he could have just not met them yet, but they could just as well be foreigners.
As he himself was not used to many of the people and didn't know all roads of Sandpoint yet he decided to atleast nod towards them nevertheless, then walked towards Cilyanka whom he spotted serving at the tables.
"Greetings girl, do you know where my sister is? She isn't in the kitchen and if I remember correctly she said I still have to make one more delivery today." He smiled at her, waiting for an answer, and as usually, ignoring the fact that they are almost the same age.
She calls out to him, "Hey stranger. You look new in town. I've got a table here and no one coming to fill it. Why don't you bring your drink over and share some company." She kicks out one of the chairs. "Traveler's usually bring in some good stories, I'll even cover a drink or two for ya."
The Gnome looks over his shoulder at the friendly Elf, considers the woman and the offer briefly before smiling. "If you're buying, I'm drinking. I should warn you my tastes are expensive... and I don't think I've got all that many good stories to tell."
He slides off the high stool, retrieves his pack as an afterthought, and weaves through the crowd to arrive at the Elf's table. The dark-haired newcomer unceremoniously boots the pack beneath his chair and hops onto the seat adroitly, not spilling a drop of his drink. Standing on the chair, he offers his hand to the Elf. He practically 'towers' for a Gnome - coming in at 3' 8" tall. "I'm Straehan, or 'Strae', if you like. That generally describes my travels too - straying wherever the wind blows me."
Sparrow takes his small hand. "A pleasure, Strae. They call me Sparrow around here. Well usually, sometimes it's a few other choice words. And when it comes to stories, anything you got is a welcome change to the fishing stories you usually hear."
Seeing Ryu come inside, she gives him a small wave while taking a drink of her ale. "So what brings you around here?"
Smile fading at Ryu's entrance Cilyanka responds in a somber monotone Check the celler Ryu, maybe you'll get lucky.
Eyes downcast and all traces of her smile gone Cilyanka trods out back. Is it too much for the brat to at least remember my name!
A few minutes later she reappears with a tray of food and ale intended for a group of somewhat roudy fishermen near the fireplace. After delivering her load, she returns to the gathering of outsiders, eyes downcast.
Can I get anything for either of you gentlemen?
Ryu mumbled a soft "thanks" as he turned around and began to move towards the door to the cellar. After a step taken a feint grin appeared for a moment on his face before it quickly disappeared again. It was fun to mentally poke at Cilyanka now and then, the girl believed to have had suffered a lot while it was just a day of massacre and affected her only about four years ago. There was no living on the streets or being a slave in her past.
Ryu still recognized the wish for revenge in her eyes and for that he had respect for her, she wasn't as weak as the first impression would suggest, and in fact he kinda liked her, although he didn't realize this himself.
Reaching the door he opened it, the stairs to the cellar were unlit, the air wasn't fresh. This meant no one was in the cellar recently. Ryu turned back and walked towards the tables, Ameiko probably went for delivery herself. Ryu couldn't help it, the old woman just didn't want to let him go without a chat, and in truth it surprised Ryu how locals like that woman knew his name already before ever meeting him. This settlement was indeed different from Absalom or the other places he was at before, probably because it was much smaller.
Ryu was just thinking about using his coin to decide to either help Cilyanka out a bit or to sneak out to explore the outskirts again as he had nothing to do at the moment, when a sudden headache made him almost stumble into a nearby table.
"Excuse me.." He raised his left hand to rub his temple as he looked over to the table to check whom he almost knocked out of the a chair. "..Strahen." Ryu finished the sentence and hoped he got the name of the blue haired gnome right, he did hear it only once so it was not ensured. To hold his balance he quickly sat down to a close empty table. "Again, damn it." Since he left the Phoenix Order two years ago these headaches began, and the strength and frequency of them increased. Ryu sighed.
A hulking grey skinned half-Orc enters the inn's common room. He limps slightly and those who look see that his right foot is twisted and mishapen. He is dressed in the rough leather and furs of the northern tribesmen. He surveys the room at a glance and takes a seat with his back to a wall.
After delivering her load, she returns to the gathering of outsiders, eyes downcast.
Can I get anything for either of you gentlemen?
Straehan slides a gold coin along the table into the reach of the barmaid and holds it there until he catches her eye, picking up on her mood. He offers her a smile, "Whatever is hot and that you'd recommend, please, Miss."
The Gnome releases the coin and is about to turn back to his new tablemate when the gargantuan man, nearly three times the gnome's height, draws his attention.
He politely addresses the bar maid in a strange accent, "I would like a large dinner please. I am quite famished."
Straehan raises an eyebrow at the announcement and fires a grin at Sparrow before amending his order with the barmaid, "I'd suggest you wheel in a ox for dinner and a cart to be used as a toothpick for that large fellow. He looks like he could handle it."
"A pleasure, Strae. They call me Sparrow around here. Well usually, sometimes it's a few other choice words. And when it comes to stories, anything you got is a welcome change to the fishing stories you usually hear."
"So what brings you around here?"
Strae sits back in his chair and nearly disappears from view. With a frustrated sigh, he pulls his backpack onto the seat, shapes it into a passable cushion, and sits on it so his head and shoulders appear fully over the edge of the table. "Damn low chairs... Sorry, what was that? What brings me 'round? Actually, you do in a strange way. I was in a mood to take a holiday among tall folks and I heard that Varisia's Gnomes tend to stick to their own so any non-Gnomish town had to be full of all sorts of interesting tall people." He lifts his arms as if to say voila! "And here I am."
"Excuse me.." He raised his left hand to rub his temple as he looked over to the table to check whom he almost knocked out of the a chair. "..Strahen."
Straehan takes the jostling amiably, having gotten used to the fact that big people often didn't see him. "Think nothing of it, friend. Have we met? If so, I don't seem to recall the occasion or your name."
"No, I don't think so." The boy politely turned towards the gnome once he began to speak to him. Checking his feet with which he barely kicked the table earlier, he replied after searching his memory for a moment on possible occasions he may have met the gnome. "I just happened to hear your name earlier when I was looking for my sister, sorry for interrupting you." Ryu learned well in his slave days that being polite can easily lead to better results than otherwise. He looked at the elf across the gnome, seems like no one noticed that he kicked the chair, except his own foot of course. Ryu wasn't a big, muscular person so it's no wonder.
As the headache slowly weakened then finally passed, Ryu stood up and searched with his eyes for Cilyanka. "Hey girl, find one of the higher chairs for this man here. It must be hard to enjoy the meal when one can't even see the top of the table properly. I will go look for sis in the city meanwhile." Ryu nodded towards both the elf and gnome then began to walk towards the door. He decided he will help out in the kitchen once he found Ameiko and notified her about the increase of customers, if the usual drunkard bunch also comes later, many of the rooms will end up being handed out to those who can pay but not walk home, so preparing rooms for the more decent ones should be done fast. Maybe buying some potatoes would also be wise, last time checking the kitchen Ryu noticed they are almost out of it.
Strae sits back in his chair and nearly disappears from view. With a frustrated sigh, he pulls his backpack onto the seat, shapes it into a passable cushion, and sits on it so his head and shoulders appear fully over the edge of the table. "Damn low chairs... Sorry, what was that? What brings me 'round? Actually, you do in a strange way. I was in a mood to take a holiday among tall folks and I heard that Varisia's Gnomes tend to stick to their own so any non-Gnomish town had to be full of all sorts of interesting tall people." He lifts his arms as if to say voila! "And here I am."
Sparrow toasts the gnome's arrival in town. "To no gnomes in sight then, as good a reason as any to drink!" she takes a deep drink of her ale before returning to the conversation.
Seeing the half-orc come in, she considers leaving him alone for a moment, but decides the more the merrier. "Well if you want to meet more tall people,
Cilyanka walks over to the table with the gnome and the giant carrying a tray with two bowls of stew, a loaf of bread two flagons of ale and a small tin of butter.
You have the first room at the top of the stairs Sparrow. If any of you need anything else, just let me know.
"Thanks, Cilyanka."
Straehan raises an eyebrow at the new entrant. A Half-Orc, a near Giant, and an ebullient Elf - strange table companions. "You certainly have an eclectic town here."
"Only been here a couple years myself, so hardly enough time to really get to know the place. But they haven't managed to kick me out yet."
"Straehan, I am not one to be anything but direct. I am looking for a Varisian psionic, she should be quite advanced in age, and her powers should be enough to entice a giant with aspirations of greatness to throw them all away and settle down for a time with a non-giantesss."
Realizing he is carrying his heart on his sleeve, the large half-giant tries to recover.
"Drinks for my gnome friend and me. Between Streahan and me, if you average our height and weight, we are human tonight. To humanity, may they understand that their tolerance and diversity is their greatest asset."
As the half-giant raises a tankard to toast, it is obvious the half-giant has hand some drinks before coming to the Dragon tonight. It is also obvious that it would take many more tankards to intoxicate him. From his toast it is also apparent that he is an amateur philosopher.
Kaddoc wanders over and takes a seat at the table with the others.
"Thank you for the invitation. I've not had much chance for conversation lately. My name is Kaddoc, formally of the Shoanti."
The Gnome hooks a slender thumb at himself and then points at the Elf, "I'm Straehan and this is Miss Sparrow, Master Kaddoc. I've never met a Shoanti. What are they like?"
The Gnome hooks a slender thumb at himself and then points at the Elf, "I'm Straehan and this is Miss Sparrow, Master Kaddoc. I've never met a Shoanti. What are they like?"
"Not been in Varisia long then, I take it. The Shoanti were the true lords of Varisia, until the Chelaxians invaded. They forced my people from the lowlands, but we still live free in the northern highlands."
Kaddoc tries to flag someone down to grab him some ale.
Cilyanka walks over toward the half-orc waving his arms in the air and asks in a dour tone, Will that be Ale, Grog or Orc Rotgut?
"Not been in Varisia long then, I take it. The Shoanti were the true lords of Varisia, until the Chelaxians invaded. They forced my people from the lowlands, but we still live free in the northern highlands."
Straehan smiles, "I've just arrived, in point of fact. New to Varisia and new to... what's this town called? Sandstone? Sandpit?"
As you all start to get to know each other, you hear grumbling from a seemingly drunk local at a corner table. The gist of his complaints seem to be about 'adventurers' and their utter uselessness.
Cilyanka and Ryu, you would recognize the grumbler as Das Korvut, local blacksmith. He lost his wife and child to the Chopper and blames anyone who didn't stop Stoot before it was too late.
To Cilyanka: "Ale, and keep them coming."
To the drunk: "Ho friend, if you have a problem with the scenery, there are other places to drink."
"Just ignore him for now. Can't let one person ruin our fun. The invitiation is open, though Sparrow doesn't expect he'll accept.
Cilyanka delivers a foaming mug of ale to Kaddoc, I'll try to talk to Das, see if I can't calm him down some. Can't blame him though, not really, not after what he went through.
Heading over toward Das, Cilyanka places her hand on his shoulder. Shush Das. I know how you feel, really, I do. Just please, don't start another fight tonight. I'll bring you a refill, on the house, just please, not tonight.
Ryu took his steps quicker as he left the inn and went to look for Ameiko, Das Korvut is just another reason to quickly find her. Ryu considered the possible whereabouts and had to stop on the street for a moment when he realized: the only place where Ameiko would be for this long has to be with their father, or maybe Amaya and the girls.
Ryu decided to check the Kaijitsu estate, he was always careful to show up there atleast once per week, have some polite chat with the stranger who is supposed to be his father, and to smile and nod when Lonjiku complains about Ameiko or a missing half-brother he never knew. He came to this place looking for a family, and not to find enemies. Best way -in his opinion- was to avoid confrontations.
Ryu only once lost his temper despite being intelligent enough to know not to oppose Lonjiku and remarked nonchalantly when the attitude of Ameiko towards his father got mentioned that everyone was childish, rebellious, or immature in their life at least once if not more.
Thankfully Lonjiku didn't seem to notice this "everyone" would also include him for various reasons.
Ryu believed things will work out if he manages to keep on the fence without falling down either side of it during a fight between his father and sister, but sometimes he had a feeling it would be easier to negotiate peace between two warring nations than to get this father and daughter duo calmly sit in the same room without an argument erupting.
"Now then, if I remember right I wasn't there yet this week anyway." The red eyed boy continued to walk towards his goal, while getting mentally prepared for a meeting with either his father alone, or -gods forbid- also with Ameiko in case the two are in the same place. At the very least Amaya is not someone who he had to prepare a strategy for just to meet her if going there.
according to the PM:
adopted:6-i: Tsuto (m; half-elf; b 4686 – d 4707; illegitimate; mother Atusii; father unknown elf)
but the timeline in discussion says Tsuto was still around in 4710, this confuses me. In case he isn't dead I will edit my post.
At the Dragon:
Das stands up and shorts rudely. "Don't patra...potri...leave me alone. Th' dreams..."
He heads out followed by another local who stops at the door and mutters "It's the anniversary of their deaths. He's dreaming about his son's ghost again. I wish they'd at least found the kid's body or some trace. Maybe if he knew for sure what happened to the boy he'd be able to put it behind him."
At the Kaijitsu Manor:
As Ryu approaches, he sees a fancy carriage pulled up and a man, a half-elf stepping out. The stranger turns and takes a small bundle from someone inside the carriage, the turns to face the remaining members of the Kaijitsu family.
"Father" the stranger says with a sneer."Meet your new grandson."
He hands the baby to the startled Lonjiku and walks past everyone into the house. At the door he turns.
"Am I allowed the good guest room? Oh, and don't worry, I'm not staying long. I'm just going to take my son to his grandmother's grave. Ameiko, my dear, maybe you should take him. We wouldn't want grandad to drop him off any cliffs, now would we."
"Was just hoping to try and cheer him up. Still, it's a shame. I've heard the stories, but happened before I came to town."
in the Rusty Dragon
"Who ordered the bottle of Black Jack?"
In coming through the Rusty Dragon's doors
"Ah, a tavern, I can finally get a Drink."
"Dreams,"Kaddoc rumbles thoughtfully, "dreams can be a powerful omen. Dreams of the dead, doubly so. I would know more of this man and of his loss."
Mai's jaw drops at the sight of the new comer
she thinks
"Dam, she's more curvy than me.
and what's with her clothing?
Well at least she's a customer."
Alkaid takes a seat next to the table with the others.
"I'll take a Dragon's Ale, A set of Ribs, and a Salad."
Ryu wandered right into an interesting situation, one of those situations he wished he would never get into.
"Oh, hello everyone. This is merely just a guess, but I got a bad timing at getting here, right? Shall I just turn around and leave again as if nothing happened, or should I get behind my sister and smile from the shadows as if this scene is the most natural thing that could ever happen?" Ryu was no idiot so he knew who this half-elf was, heard about him quite enough. At the same time, it may not have been the wisest idea to try to break this "glooming threat of imminent slaughter" in the air with some witty remark. Well, for a moment at least his appearance stopped any rash actions that his father could have done, or things he could have said.
Ryu stepped forward, checking the faces of the family members and servants who gathered to see all kind of interesting emotions on them, and looked into the eyes of Lonjiku just after he also looked at Ameiko, seeking his eyes, and considering if his father had enough time to calmly think the situation over or not.
It may seem as a bad idea to speak up at such a moment, but if this is Tsuto, the meeting couldn't be avoided anyway, and now that Ryu appeared as he did, he will most likely see some true reactions of even those who tend to hide or disguise their true personality. Ryu was usually acting more calm and silent since he came here, so he thought the shock of appearance and acting unusual may benefit his observations. Well, then there is also the fact that Tsuto barely appearing already tried to involve Ameiko and get her side with him, better give her a moment to think things over too.
If you watch Game of Thrones then I would compare my appearance and speech to how a certain Lannister dwarf makes his speeches to make people around him drop their guard to see behind masks, as that is also my intention.
Diplomacy = 12 + 7 = 19 (for trying to calm people and make a good impression with my appearance instead of making a fool out of myself)
Sense Motive = 15 + 3 = 18 (to see if I notice any interesting reactions to the presence of Tsuto or my own appearance)
I don't know how rolls are handled yet, so if I do it wrong just tell me.
"Dreams,"Kaddoc rumbles thoughtfully, "dreams can be a powerful omen. Dreams of the dead, doubly so. I would know more of this man and of his loss."
Of all the people and conversations swirling around the table, the ruminations of the Half-Orc draw the Gnome's attention. "Do you have the gift of interpreting dreams?"
Alkaid takes a seat next to the table with the others.
"I'll take a Dragon's Ale, A set of Ribs, and a Salad."
she walks over to Alkaid
"So you'll have one dragon Ale, a set of ribs, and a salad, anything else?"
"No, that will be good."
One of the locals comments to Brindophin "Anything you want to know about Varsians around here, talk to Old Neska. Neska Mvashti. She's older than the hills, and has probably seen it all. If anyone fits that description, she'd know of them."
As Ryu speaks up, Tsuto turns to face him. Several emotions quickly ripple across his face before he regains control, with a completeness that implyes either a very strong will or training as intense as yours.
He looks in turn, puzzled, then realization dawns, followed by fury, quickly swept away to blankness before being replaced by a friendlyness similar to what he displayed to Ameiko. "And who do we have here? I don't believe we've met? I am Tsuto, son of Atsuii Kaijitsu." He bows, formally, in greeting.