The Destiny of the Queen (Inactive)

Game Master The Little King

Norme seemed to consider the doorman's offer as he fixed his somewhat oversized (when compared to him anyways) hat.

(N)orme: "Well...I suppose we can stay for a dr-"

(J)ezebeth: "We'll take a room for two. Sleeping outside is only tolerable for so long, mmmhmmhmm."

As Jezebeth started giggling and fixing her own hat in a method meant to mock Norme, he grew quite perturbed.

N: "Hey! This is my money here! We've thrown quite a bit of it away already! Besides, you don't even sleep with m-err, you don't sleep on this pla-err, that is... Look, you don't even use the bedrolls we have when we do camp for a night, so of course it's not tolerable!"

J: "The bedrolls are too scratchy to sleep in alone."

Catching his hint, she made her comment and provided a pout that was quite convincing to go along with it, causing Norme to sigh deeply.

N: "I'd rather sleep by myself, thank you very much.", he replied. He addressed the doorman. "Ehm, sorry you had to see that. She is a bit of a problem from time to time, but we're stuck traveling together for the time being. My sister and I are good friends of hers, and so w-"

J: "We are not friends!"

N: "Fine. My sister and I are 'acquaintances on good terms' with her, and we're agreeing to travel with each other just until we can find my sister at least. In pursuit of that goal, I suppose we can take the room for 2 gold, since we likely won't be leaving until tomorrow anyways."

Norme began reaching for his belt pouch that actually jingled, one of two he wore on his belt opposite a very genuine (if travel sized) spellbook. Pulling out 2 gold pieces, Norme added one last thing.

N: "Also, if it isn't a problem, could you tell us where the local center of religion is in this town? Myself and my 'acquaintance on good terms' have been approached in a hostile manner by certain, more militant, churchgoers in the past, and so we like to be prepared if we need to go through those areas. Thanks in advance."

Norme gave his warmest smile he could. He was at least sincere if nothing else, even when Jezebeth caused minor mischief that made them bicker like some kind of married couple.

Pocketing the two gold, the doorman smiles congenially, and opens the door for the two of them, "I'll show you to your rooms." The stone-skinned man, clearly hired for his countenance seems to contradict his purpose with every action. "Also, if you'll hand me your map." Taking it he points out a couple of buildings, "Toward the docks, you'll find the Temple to Milani. And the temple of Shelyn is on the eastern side of the lower city, here." Numbers 17 & 18 on the map "You don't have to tell me how bad religious zealots can get," his voice seems to crackle and rake as he dips in to his Terran accent.

As he leads the two "love-birds" in to the Lounge, he introduces them to the exotic K'senya, "Here is the Lady of the House, K'senya. Ma'am, these are our two newest guests, they'll be in the Finch room."

"All our guests are of upmost important to the staff here at the lounge," K'senya's flowing voice and bright eyes seem to caress both Norme and Jezebel at the same time, "Please let us know if there's anything we can do to make your stay more enjoyable." She bows and leaves, allowing the doorman to show them up two flights of stairs to the Finch room. Inside, they find a small, but still quite lavish room with two opposing beds, and quite a few paintings of Mwangi Finches, and even a few stuffed.

"I'll let you two get settled," says the doorman as he closes the door, and trots down the stairs rather awkwardly from the sound of it.

Odd'n rolls over in the bed as K'senyas voice draws him out of his dream. Milani's glory... Milani's champion.. yes.. chosen.. for.. wha, who.. someone.. here..

Rubbing his eyes, Odd'n focuses on the ceiling before turning towards the voice. "Searching.. for us..? Did they.. do they.. look like.. ban..dits?" Odd'n quickly sits up and throws a pillow at Garret to rouse him. "Garret.. they found us! The Upright man.. his men.. they must have followed us..!" Anxiety begins to creep into his voice as he springs off the bed towards the foot of Garret's and begins shaking the mans legs as he rambles on about the trouble that has 'followed him home'.

I wake and listen to what K'senya actually says rather then Odd'n's incoherent mumblings. "Two strangers who have rented a room here were asking for us? Well, we will be leaving first thing in the morning so unless they decide to attack us in the night, which they shouldn't since they haven't been informed of where we are, I think we are safe for now. I for one need my sleep in order to prepare properly for travel. If they want to cause trouble they can find us in the morning." With that I thank K'senya and return to sleep hoping to sleep through the night peacefully.

K'senya reassures Odd'n, "They're no bandits I've ever seen around here before, and they seem a mite too polite--or at least one of them does--to have that in mind. According to my door man, they were looking into some local kidnappings?" When she hears talk of sleep, she looks out the window and sees that the sun hasn't quite begun to set and adds, "If you'd like to know more, feel free to join us downstairs for dinner. It's included with the price of all our rooms. I'm certain the new guests will be there."

Hint hint wink wink, Norme...

"Others are looking into kidnappings as well? It is a long shot.. but maybe this is related to those taken by the bee-thing!" Delighted at his new 'lead', Odd'n forgets his anxieties about the strangers and hounds K'senya about the offerings for dinner as they descend the stairs.

Don't mind that I'm not posting much. I am checking the boards at least once every 24 hrs. The way I see it is the kidnappings are Odd'n's thing except for when it overlaps with the mayor's son.

I let out a sigh, "So much for trying to get to sleep early. May as well meet this mystery man."

I follow our hostess to the dining room.

Once inside the room, Norme turned to Jezebeth and sighed.

N: "You are too much."

Jezebeth, to her credit, was already sprawled out on one of the beds, having taken off the "wizard" attire that matched Norme's.

J: "This will do quite nicely."

N: "Don't get too comfor-"

Norme averted his gaze and rolled his eyes.

N: "-table. Since we're here, we might as well take advantage of the fact that they cover food with the cost of lodging...which explains the higher price. Oh, wait, forgot, Outsider. Right, you don't need to eat."

J: "Indeed, but that doesn't mean I don't like eating with others. It gives me a chance to interact with them too."

Jezebeth got off the bed and slid up behind Norme giggling, her hooves barely making a sound on the floor. When she reached him, she began slowly sliding her hands and chest up his back, her arms moving to wrap around his neck as she rose.

J: "Humans are so entertaining if you're anything to go by."

N: "Really? Wait, that was an insult!"

Norme frowned as Jezebeth's giggling became laughing. He reminded himself internally that she was a Chaotic Evil entity that normally spent their time ruining people's lives, and that this sort of behavior from her was perfectly normal as a result.

He just had to resist the influence, admittedly a task made a lot easier since the bonding process granted him a large measure of resistance by weakening her immensely.

N: "Look, let's go downstairs.", Norme said as he pried her off of him. "We can finish thi-argh, we can discuss this more later. Right now, we need to talk to those two individuals, and they may be there. Odd'n and Homeros, we can find them! ...Man, I'll never get used to pronouncing those names right."

With a pout, Jezebeth slipped the scholar's outfit back on. When fully donned, she appeared simply as a beautiful and well-endowed Tiefling Wizard in appearance, her otherworldly perfection perhaps the only giveaway to trained eyes as to her origins. Fixing her hat, Norme seemed satisfied with the look, and proceeded to head downstairs with Jezebeth closely following, leaving most of the traveling supplies they had in the room for now.

N: "Remember, Jezebeth. If people ask about us being together, we're close friends. You are a Tiefling with Succubus heritage if anyone asks about the tail or wings. That should do well enough to garner us enough sympathy that people won't look into it further. If a 'Paladin' shows up, our safe words are 'nice blade'. If a 'Cleric' or something shows up, the safe word is 'good faith'. Okay?"

J: "Right, right, right. Whatever you say, shortstack."

Norme sighed again as the two of them reached the bottom of the stairs. He looked at the place to get a grasp of the people there, as well as to identify anyone that could possibly show suspicion towards his "companion".

A quick nudge with his elbow provoked Jezebeth to shoot a sly grin at him before she nudged him back in an effort to antagonize him. She then proceeded to look around the area for anyone who could cause problems, much like he was doing.

Norme's Perception (to notice any individuals who could potentially cause them problems): 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4

Jezebeth's Perception (to notice any individuals who could potentially cause them problems): 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (17) + 12 = 29

Norme found his observations messed up by the nudge as he gritted his teeth and looked back at her. She was far more attentive though, smiling as she felt the glare Norme was giving her.

Giving up once more, Norme sighed. At least others wouldn't have to be subject to her, since she was bound to him. "Man, I feel sorry for others who have run ins with one of her kind when they aren't restrained in power.", he thought to himself with a worried look.

If Jezebeth cleared the place as having no individuals who may cause problems, he would lead her to a seat at a table where the two of them would wait until they could see anyone matching Odd'n's and Homeros' descriptions.

sorry for the delay Normebeth can see that the Lounge's guests are all far too occupied with themselves to notice the two of them at all, much less what they think of Jez.

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Norme's Perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 2 = 17

Jezebeth's Perception: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (13) + 12 = 25

Looking up, Norme immediately picked the two out of the crowd.

N: "Hey! There they are Jezebeth. Let's go! We need to talk to them. If they happen to know anything, it would be a great help!"

Norme got up and went over to the table that Odd'n and Homeros were at as Jezebeth grumbled and followed.

N: "Um, hello! You wouldn't happen to be Odd'd, would you?"

Norme was addressing Odd'n, whom seemed to match the description he was given to a perfect tee.

N: "I was told you would have some information on a personal matter I've been looking in-"

J: "The kidnappings, Norme, the kidnappings."

Jezebeth put emphasis on it as she did exactly what Norme didn't want to do.

N: "Jezebeth! Please! Well...now the beans are spilled. Great."

Norme was a "Wizard" by all appearances. The unmistakable robes, the mantle, the somewhat too large for him pointy hat, and the fancy brown boots and brown gloves. At his belt were two pouches and a more compact spellbook. It was incredibly noticeable when compared to his companion that he was quite short and small, and couldn't be taller than 5'1" or 5'2". He seemed to have trouble keeping his left hand aloft when motioning with it.

His companion was almost otherworldly in her beauty. She was a lot taller, perhaps 5'8" at a glance. The perfect example of an incredibly beautiful woman. When her pointed tail and fiendish wings were factored in, she almost had to be a Tiefling, which was always a rare sight. Of note however was that she was dressed almost identically to Norme, albeit with a more feminine version of his robes and other accouterments. She had an identical hat as well, although it seemed more appropriate on her by size.

If by some fat chance anyone used Detect Magic on the two, both had a faint glow, and some of their objects on their person glowed as well, namely Jezebeth in her entirety, and Norme's left hand and forearm. Although being "Wizards", their glowing could be safely ignored most of the time.

Norme continued.

N: "Well, yeah. Erm, I suppose now that you guys know...we were told that you could share some information on the case with us, Odd'n, if I may call you that."

He seemed amicable enough, although Jezebeth payed attention only out of politeness for now.

Odd'n turns to the pair as they address him, bits of meat still clinging to his lips as he slowly chews with his mouth open. "Er.. uhm.. a bee.. lady.." Odd'n can barely get sensible words out as his eyes fall upon Norme's companions. "Bee.. lady.. took a friend."

At the word 'friend' Odd'n points to Garret, not at all comfortable with calling the mayor's son his friend.

"And, uhm-- someone in.. er.. outside.. the city. His.. wait, no.. her.. daughter! Same! Taken! We hope to help?" Odd'n ends the sentence on his question, his eyes darting to Garret hoping to draw the man into the conversation and take their unwanted attention off him. Why do they want to know? They.. she.. pretty.. to pretty.. the Upright Man.. maybe he sent them.. maybe..

Perception; for any suspicious individuals who may be 'with Norme': 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3

I roll my eyes and harrumph. Apparently I was getting dragged into this silly kidnapping business after all. "since the whole world seem to know about these kidnappings I don't see why we are the ones mounting a rescue. Yes, someone in our charge was kidnapped. As well as, apparently a few others. We are leaving to investigate tomorrow."

Odd'n only just understands that the two magic wielders are there much less any unwelcome guests they may have brought.

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Come on, Odd'n and I had this game humming along for about a month, what happened?

Come on, Odd'n and I had this game humming along for about a month, what happened?

Waiting on Odd'n's reaction to the results of his Perception. If he hasn't posted by tomorrow's end though, I'll post Norme's response to Garret's comment.

Haha- sorry; I figured we were going one-after-another.. and since Odd'n didn't notice anything of import I was waitin' for Norme :P

Still stuttering and entirely uncomfortable with the presence of Norme and his overly-attractive companion, Odd'n nods at Garrets brief description of events. "We had, uhm.. a run in with some bandits on our way into town.. back into town.. er.. on our way back to the city. These two," Odd'n gestures to Homeros and Alistair, "were amongst those we fought! Milanis wisdom saw to their.. survival, and now.." Odd'n lets out a resigned yet happy sigh before continuing, ".. and now they travel with us!"

Lost in the reverie of his memories, of battles end, Odd'ns anxiety melts away a little bit. Maybe.. maybe.. more friends..?

"As Garret said, our friend.. er.. charge was.. taken. Coming through town we ran into another whose child shared the same.. fate. We have to return the other, ours, so I.. uhm.. promised.. we would get her daughter back."

Just making sure you know, there are officially three children missing: the ifrit, Minah, the kitten, and Norme's sibling. The catlady described that to you. Odd'n knows that in addition to Minah, there are two other youngsters missing.

N: "Well, I think we're in business then. I've had almost zero success on my front. Finding you guys was the first major boon in a while for us! So, how about you let us travel with you guys? At least just until we find the kids...and my sister. After that, we'll see what happens."

J: "Sounds fair to me, Norme. I can get along with four more of YOU. It'll be no sweat."

N: "Hey, look, Jezebeth. This is the most success we've had in a while. We should use the things given to us. It's not every day we run into four individuals who are certainly better equipped and prepared then us to mount any sort of search and rescue."

Jezebeth huffed.

J: "Very well then, Norme. Like I have another choice for the time being."

Turning back to Odd'n, Norme responded.

N: "Alright, we're on board if you'll have us! We can use magic to help out where we can, and we'll share whatever we have with you guys too. My sister is important to me and Jezebeth after all."

"Great, more retainers." I say sarcastically. "Just don't expect a free handout. We leave at dawn tomorrow so be ready." I finish what I care for of the meal and head back to the room to sleep. Ready to get this silly little adventure over.

Agreed on the time and day everyone retires to their appropriate room. You sleep soundly throughout the evening and night and awaken well before dawn to the smell of what you assume is an early breakfast. You take this time to go about your morning routine. Those of you who want it head downstairs for the complementary breakfast of pheasant's eggs, salmon and bread.

Odd'n & Garret: Now would be a good time, if you like, for your rogue companions to R-U-N-N-O-F-T. If you want my opinion, Alistair would not want to stick around much at all; if he does it's just for the money; and Homeros is intrigued by Odd'n, but it makes sense that he would be intimidated by the idea of making friends with someone new. Just a thought.

Go ahead and roleplay the morning and meet the Chief at the barracks when you're ready to go. I need a minute to set up the next bit

Waking up feeling quite refreshed, Odd'n throws his pillow over at Homeros who is still snoring despite the sun streaming in through the window. "Come, we may as well take advantage of this mornings meal!" Strapping on his leathers, and sending flakes of dirt and detritus onto the carpets around him, Odd'n stalks to the door with Homeros in his wake. Finding a small table out of the way, Odd'n plops down and offers Homeros the seat across from him.

"Well, it would appear our party has grown larger still! I.. I don't mean to be blunt but.. perhaps now is a good time for us to part ways. What lays ahead is surely more dangerous than Beshoi and his men, no offence, and I won't have you dying for our cause. Maybe.. maybe we can set you up here; I can provide enough coin for you to get by and hopefully buy you some manner of protection from the Upright Man..."

Before Homeros has the opportunity to respond Odd'n reaches into his worn pants and draws out a small baggy, tossing it onto the table in front of Homeros. "200 gold.. and a (Gem #: 1d3 ⇒ 1) gem of some kind. I don't know what.. but it will hopefully buy you a little more safety in this place. Milani has a temple here.. maybe you can find sanctuary and work there. The choice, and gold, is yours however.. "

Odd'n lets his eyes linger on the man for a moment, but is quickly distracted when food is placed on the table in front of him. Picking at it with his fingers, Odd'n munches on a few things before pausing to await Homeros reply.

TLGM; pick a gem.. ANY GEM.. as long as it is less than 300g :P

I choose alexandrite 172gp

Homeros' eyes widen at the sight of Odd'n's gifts. "This," he started, "this could buy passage for my family and me. We could go anywhere!" He gets serious and puts a hand on Odd'n's shoulder, "I need you to understand something," he looks around, making sure he isn't being monitored, "there is no 'safe from Upright Man,' on this island. Not here, not in Fwey, nowhere. You need to either get out of here or lay low for a while." Looking back at the gold and gem, he scoops it into his pack, and gets excited again saying, "I heard there's a ship headed to the colonies out west! We could make a brand new life, even own our own land!" Homeros tears up, stands puts his pack on, puts both hands on Odd'n's shoulders. "Thank you, Odd'n Lhrar. You are the best man I've ever met." With that Homeros walks out of the main door to the Lounge K'senya, and turns left: straight for his family.

Okay, I think I've done the prep work for the next bit. No rush, go ahead and RP all you like in order to get to the Barracks.

Odd'n watches the man leave with a spring in his step. Farewell friend, may Milani see you and yours safely away and to a new life..

Turning his attention back to the table, Odd'n realizes Homeros had barely touched his plate. "Well.. can't let this go to waste.." he mutters out loud as he reaches across the table. May as well fill my belly while I wait for the others to come down..

Norme made perfectly sure that he summoned Jezebeth before he left the room. Wouldn't do to have her be missing so they all discover whom he really was as a sham of a proper wizard.

His morning routine otherwise was uneventful and bland, even with Jezebeth's machinations factored in.

N: "Same stuff today, Jezebeth. We'll travel with that group and help them out. If they happen to ask why you're clawing at people when we get into fights, its because you used transmutation magic."

J: "Yeah, yeah. Whatever. I'll use your silly acid orb spell most of the time anyways. You are pretty squishy since you're small."

N: "Hey! Not cool!"

As a Jezebeth started laughing a bit, he straightened her hat and his before entering the main room, looking for the group he had met just the prior day.

Once he found them, he'd secure two seats for him and Jezebeth.

N: "Well, I believe we're ready. We have everything we have with us on hand; if that makes any sense."

His question was directed to Odd'n as he contemplated eating some of the food there as well.

I wake bright and early the next morning to find Alistair missing and all his gear gone. I frown and take a quick inventory of my gear to make sure nothing is missing, apparently I struck enough fear into him that he left it all untouched before leaving.

I send Tanwen down to eat and gather something for me. "I have to stop by the alchemists before meeting at the barracks, special order." I smile thinking of the 20 new 'fire' arrows that were waiting for me.

I make my way out. Making sure my tab is taken care of before leaving No sense in making enemies here. I think to myself. Once I arrive at the alchemists I inform him I am there to pick up the arrows I had ordered the previous day.

Jarl grinned and clapped his hands as he produced a long parchment package tied off with multicolored string. "All ready!" He cackled a bit before adding, "Jarl hasn't had such fun in many moons! Come back if you need something else! It might be cheaper for you than someone else!"

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I smile at the mad creature and take the package, thanking him and assuring him that I will let him know how they perform in the field.

Once I get to barracks I separate out my arrows and cast prestidigitation. Coloring their fletching to tell them apart. Then I place 10 normal arrows, 5 alchemy arrows and 5 cold iron arrows into my quiver, stowing the rest carefully wrapped in the package.

I look around to see if anyone else has arrived yet.

Is Garret in our room doing his magics, or in the common area?

Odd'n shrugs at the mans comments. "I don't quite know why you are reporting.. to.. me.." he ends with an awkward stutter. "The noble is our connection with mayor, and besides- he just ran up to his room without paying me no heed moments ago. Don't know how you missed him, guess it may have been someone else. But I must say.. something about the way he carried himself made me think it was him from where I sat.."

Picking at the last of the plate, Odd'n pushes himself back from the table and stands up. "What say you we go find him, eh? He insisted on an early start and I've had time enough for two meals!"

Garret has left the building, gone to a meeting at the Alchemists and is now waiting at the Barracks for everyone. Tanwen has gone to breakfast to grab a doggie bag for him.

Don't think Odd'n knows the barracks were our martialing point. But if its all the same-- Norme and I will follow Tanwen there unless he or TLGM have any objections?

Seeing the priestess speaking to a server, Odd'n nudges Norme with his booted foot before leading them over to Tanwen. "Well priestess, it would seem we may have missed your man this 'morn. The morning rolls in-- lead us to Garret so we may be on our way.."

Okay, I had completely forgotten the part where the Mayor is going with you, not Captain Csaszar...oops.

Tanwen leads Odd'n, Norme, and Jezebeth to the Krisol Barracks. Mayor Minoj is there on his "steed", a giant lizard which reared up and hissed at them as they approached. As it did so, a wide frill splayed from its neck. "Down!" the mayor shouted, and it obeyed, returning its forelegs to the ground and calming down. "Good, you're here, take any steed you like," the mayor waves his hand to the stables, "We have many horses, and also other large creatures native to the island."

As you look over the stables, you see he isn't joking, you see a giant chameleon, a giant gecko, a giant vulture, a tiger, and a boar (outfitted for a smaller guard) among others.

"Be quick about it!" The mayor says, hurrying you along.

I've decided that as long as we're going to be any race we want, you can have a special mount, if you want. These are just on loan until you complete your mission (a.k.a. the rest of the campaign, pretty much).

Odd'n, amazed by the variety of creatures, walks amongst the beasts. Maybe.. maybe one such as Milani's messenger may be found. Oh the glory of gliding into combat atop such a creature..

Perception; types of mounts: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 2 = 14

The closest thing to an Ercinee that Odd'n can find is the giant vulture; but that's using the word "close" very loosely, it's nowhere near the beauty and majesty of the bird Odd'n saw before. The vulture, however, is roughly the same size, and can fly which gives it more traits in kind with the "messenger" than the other mounts available.

I've listed all the available mounts; the "others" I mentioned are just horses, ponies, donkeys, and mules as you might expect in a normal stable

His first impression of the beast was not too good, but after inspecting each of the other available mounts Odd'n returned to the vulture to eye it up once more. Well, what are looks worth in this world? May not be as beautiful as Milani's, but perhaps it suits me. An ugly beast for an ugly man.. he thinks with a chuckle as he slowly reaches out the stroke the birds neck. But.. how in the blazes do I ride this..?!

Waving over a stable boy, Odd'n asks for directions on how to mount the thing.. and stay on it in flight.

Norme merely sighed when they went to the stable.

N: "Take your time guys. We can wait as long as we need to."

Somehow, he seemed agitated, to which Jezebeth quipped.

J: "Be sure you make your choices carefully~ So yes, please, take as long as you need."

She finished with a giggle as Norme sighed again.

N: "Ha ha. Very funny Jezebeth."

He didn't seem in a rush to find himself and Jezebeth a mount.

I look about, interested in the exotic animals. "The chameleon could be good for hiding behind. But the climbing ability of the gecko could be better." I say going over to the giant gecko. I get my gear situated and mount it, moving outside, ready to go.

The stable boy grins, and gathers up a strange looking black and steel saddle. He approaches the bird and says to Odd'n "Vultures are carrion birds. They rely on intimidation to get what they want. The key with Phara here, is not to back down no matter what." The bird's blue and red head snaps to face the talking boy, she rears up and splays its wings. The boy simply stands there waiting. The bird comes back down, and he puts the saddle on her, and pulls the horn of the saddle down to a level where the left side stirrup is accessible to Odd'n. The gecko is much more amenable to Garrett than all that, and Tanwen waits for Normebeth, not wanting to cross her new friends just yet; however she's not hiding her affinity for the large tiger.

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Odd'n tries his best to act indifferent to the birds show of prowess, but his curiosity towards the Phara keeps winning over. "Phara, nice name for a funny beast.." he slowly speaks to the beast as he takes the reins to tug the it outside. Phara resists; the beast rears up and emits a rather painful screech. Odd'n returns it in kind. Staring the bird in the eyes, he shouts at the thing for all he is worth before attempting to lead the bird outside once again. "Come Phara, Milani won't much appreciate us fighting before we even get going."

Odd'n walks outside with Phara, chuckling at the birds awkward hopping gait as he goes. He makes a point to stand back from the mayor, still uncertain about the fire-man. Seeing Garret sitting atop a large lizard-like beast brings a much louder laugh; "I've seen nobleman on horses, even a nobleman on a stag.. but a nobleman on a lizard?! AHAHAHHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"

Wiping tears from his eyes, Odd'n turns to Phara once again. "Alright beasty, no funny stuff." He takes a moment to lock eyes with the beast before mounting it, no so quietly muttering a prayer to Milani the entire time. Looking back to the stable he sees that Norme and his companion are still deciding on what to take. "Aye, come now! We've held Garret up already this morn' and now you got me waiting for you! Pick something and let us be off!"

N: "Man... Do we really need a riding animal? You guys can't walk or something?"

Norme moved to look at the horses, taking a regular horse that looked capable of seating two riders.

J: "How thrilling, riding a beast of burden."

N: "Those two are weird. But we haven't much choice I suppose. They're our best chance at finding my sister."

J: "At least I don't have to ride you now."

Norme looked incredulous.

N: "Don't even go there!"

With that, he made sure himself, his companion, and his gear, was all set on the horse, before having it catch up to Garret and Odd'n.

N: "You guys are quite impatient and bold."

Odd'n smiles stupidly at the stout man as his stead impatiently hops from foot to foot, flexing and flapping it's wings in preparation of the flight to come.

yaaayyyyy adventure

"I am always up for trying new things." I say, shooting a wink at Jezebeth.

"Walk?!" the mayor shouts at Norme, "We've wasted enough time as it is!" With that, the mayor speaks some crackling words of Ignan, and his lizard takes off at full speed down the western road or if Krisol.

Tanwen shoots Garrett a mean look and looks as if she's about to say something, but is quickly distracted by the fact that Normebeth didn't choose the tiger! She runs headlong into the stall and hugs its neck, giving the stable boy quite the start. But to his surprise, the tiger seemed more startled and exacerbated than angry at the wild woman.

I'll get to the next encounter sometime tomorrow or Thursday, feel free to role play the first stretch of the ride out

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"Giddy-up!" Odd'n shouts as he jabs at the birds with his heels. Phara merely turns her head to the man and squawks in his face in defiance. Must not back down Odd'n thinks to himself. Slowly leaning forward, bringing his face closer and closer to the birds, Odd'n is taken by surprise when Phara begins sprinting forward a few feet before taking to the air in a few quick flaps of her wings. "MILAAAAAANIIIIIII SAAAAAAAAVE MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!" is all the big man can get out as he rises above the city, Phara smart enough to follow after the mayor.

Once the bird reached a comfortable height, for itself-- not Odd'n, and stopped flapping so incessantly, the ride became a little more smooth and Odd'n found he could finally untense. It wasn't until this point that he also realized he had been holding his breath. Taking in a few quick gulps to calm himself, Odd'n awkwardly sits upright to take in the view. This, unfortunately, caused a shift in his weight which Phara took to mean HIGHER and causing the ride to get a little bumpy.

This went on for the next little bit, Odd'ns changing posture being interpreted by the bird to fly higher, lower, faster or slower. By the time he had reached the city limits, Odd'n had managed to figure this out and knew his weight balance in the saddle, be it forward or back, and grip on the bridle were used to have the bird behave. "Well Phara, you may not look it.. but you may make a valiant steed just yet! In Milani's name-- ONWARD!" Odd'ns shout is met with a cry from Phara as they dove down towards the Mayor and back up, then circling around as their party continued on its way.

Perception; irregularities in the road ahead: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 2 = 18
Survival; predict weather for day ahead DC15: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (12) + 5 = 17

I haven't done much flying in my pathfinder experience, so if I need to role a 'fly' or 'handle animal' let me know! I'll do some reading myself in the mean time as well.

Having heard of these giant geckos being used as mounts before, though never having done it myself, I experiment with how it responds to commands with all the time Norm is wasting. I am finally getting a feel for how the gecko moves and consider if it likes being petted and settle for scratching its neck behind its ear hole.

The giant lizard closes the eye on that side of its head and leans into the scratching, settling its belly onto the warm dirt. "You like that eh boy?" I say gently as I continue scratching.

When the Mayor takes off I click to the beast and move the reigns. It lifts up high on its legs and begins taking quick alternating steps, its body undulating in a back and forth motion that is not unpleasant, quickly catching up to the mayor. I speak to him in Ignan.

As the odd, but intimidating caravan makes it's way toward Auro, the mining town to the west, the forest grows thicker and thicker, until finally it splits into two See map.

Before the group can decide which route is faster, Mayor Minoj whispers, "Look!" and points a finger at a large ape-like creature nearby. He quickly downs a potion from inside his robes before the beast notices them, and slips off his mount to the ground. This commotion causes the the ape to see them, and attack!

Place your avatar in the blue box on the map, and roll initiative. If you roll higher than a 14 (+2 bonus) then you're up!

Initiative: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20
Ride; fast dismount: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 = 22

Having come down to discuss with the group which route they were to follow, Odd'n is startled by the mayors sudden gesture towards the beast. In a blink of an eye, the beast turns towards them-- its posture clearly aggressive. Sliding forward from his saddle and landing on his feet, Odd'n takes the briefest moment to smile at Phara for having mind enough to lower her head and allow him to dismount off her shoulders and over her neck.

While the others prepare themselves, Odd'n springs ahead into combat. As he draws up near the beast, Odd'n lashes out at the beasts midsection-- putting all his weight and momentum behind a punch that would have knocked the wind out of any man.

Pwr Atk: 1d20 + 2 + 4 + 1 - 1 ⇒ (7) + 2 + 4 + 1 - 1 = 13
Dmg: 1d6 + 4 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 4 + 1 + 2 = 10

Initiative: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

It takes me a moment to notice what the mayor is pointing too, due to being busy looking down the other path. When the mayor calls out for us to look I am still contemplating the other path and it takes me a moment to turn. When I finally do see the creature, I slip off my mount to the ground and ready my bow while standing next to and slightly behind my Gecko.

EDIT! I forgot to add my armor check penalty to my 'ride' skill check; it is (-2). Thankfully I still hit that 20 though ;P

As Minoj is drinking his potion, Odd'n sprints forward to meet the beast with a punch to the gut. To the fighter's dismay, however, the ape doesn't seem phased by the hit.

I'll roll Norme's initiative to see if he's up: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 1 = 19; and he certainly is! Take it way, Norme! And a note: pay attention to the terrain on the map: squares significantly taken up by bushes or rocks count as difficult terrain (x2 to move through).

Norme dismounts rather quickly, as does Jezebeth, when the mayor points out the creature.

N: "Come on Jezebeth! Let's show them why we aren't 'dead weight'!"

J: "Finally, the fun part, mmmhmmhmm."

Jezebeth Initiative: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (15) + 3 = 18
Ooh, she can go too. Norme delays initiative until after she goes.

Rushing forward, Norme charged a blue orb within his left hand that turned into a magical ball with what seemed to be a small blizzard howling about it. Vines of a demonic reddish-purple seemed to interlace within it's composition however, very thorny.

N: "Jezebeth! I'm throwing the Snowball! Get in and do your thing!"

J: "Of course, short stack."

Jezebeth also ran forward with him, getting relatively close to the ape creature before hurling a glowing green orb of acid forth at it.

Acid Splash (Close Range Ranged Touch Attack): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16

If Hit: 1d3 ⇒ 2 Acid Damage.
If Miss: No change.
Either Result: Jezebeth cannot cast Acid Splash again today.

Regardless of whether the orb hit or not, Jezebeth was already readying herself, as the fingerless gloves she wore compared to Norme showed their reason as she sharpened her claws to move into close combat.

Norme would quickly attempt to identify if the Acid Splash seemed to draw the attention of the creature off of him and his allies.

Perception (To Observe a Behavioral Change): 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4

Making a dangerous move in assuming that the tactic was a success, he finally lobbed the charged orb of swirling snow and ice at the ape creature, the reddish-purple thorn vines lashing out to try and entangle the ape creature for quite some time.

Rime Snowball (Close Range Ranged Touch Attack): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (15) + 3 = 18

If Hit: 3d6 ⇒ (1, 6, 5) = 12 Cold Damage. The ape creature can attempt a DC 15 Fortitude save to avoid becoming Staggered for one round. Whether the save succeeds or fails, it is entangled for one round.
If Miss: No change.
Either Result: Norme expended one of his 1st Level spells for the day.

In any case, Norme would clutch the hand he threw the Snowball with, which was his left, as though he was in slight pain for his efforts.

N: "Aww, come on, not now..."

He spoke through gritted teeth. To himself, he criticized his action.

N: "I need to be more careful with Rimeing my Snowball. It wouldn't do to have the hand reveal itself. Plus, I've been through quite a few gloves unintentionally already."