The Gathering Storm (4e)

Game Master Rev Rosey

Andrus looks to his friends and says, "O.K. We'll take it, for now. Let's get back to Winterhaven and claim our reward. Maybe find out about Padraig's relationship to Agera." And he heads out to the wagon, and preps the wagon for the journey. Once his friends are on, he says, "Hee-ya!" to the horses and begins the long journey back to the city.

final vote-3-2-1 the ayes have it. your share of the treasure doesn't need to go to upkeep on the Tor, Urlag. and maybe we'll get a land grant and a title out of it. :)

"Wonder if the lady o luck would like it for a new chapel. Or at least a portion of it."

The journey back is uneventful and the gates of Winterhaven are closing for the night as the group arrive. A grizzled guard looks speculatively at the party.

"Been off at Storm Tor have you? Lord P asked me to keep an eye open - reckoned you'd be on your way back around now, if you were coming back at all, that is."

"Yeah, he was right. So are you going to let us in, or just bore us out here?" Urlag asks testily.

"Less of that. There's exactly one of me and the gate needs to open wide for that cart."

The guard starts hauling the gate open, looking pointedly at Urlag as he does so.

"Of course, you could help out, but being adventurers, I don't suppose you'd lower yourselves."

The burly half-orc grunts, perhaps appreciatively, and lends a hand.

"That's more like it. And a bit of a turn up if I may say so. Better than that last lot, I'll give you that. Lord P's waiting up at his place."

He nods approvingly at Urlag. "Good muscles you've got there. Suppose you need them in your line of work. Name's Barnard. Barnard Castle."

"Wonder if the lady o luck would like it for a new chapel. Or at least a portion of it."

"Considering the keeps shadowdfell conection maybe we should invite a Raven Queen cleric do a once over?"

"Also what kind of gifts would mushrooms like? Maybe next time we're there we could drag a waterloged tree trunk down for them to grow on."

"I'll remember. Not many stand themselves up and cooperate. Not both."

Urlag proceeds through.

Andrus smiles at Urlag's conversation with the guard before urging the horses through the gate. He tips his hat to the guard in a respectful manner, but otherwises says nothing.

Awww.... Urlag made a friend. :) Always good to be friends with the guards, I always say. I didn't want to upstage Urlag so that's why I didn't mock him. We'll tease him later.

Where to folks? You can stop for a quick wash and brushup at the Lion Rampant if you like, head straight to Lord Padraig or do something else entirely.

I vote for wash and brushup, it would just be a good sign to the people after the oppression of the last group of heroes

What would be this wash and brushup of which you speak?

Doesn't matter to me.

Andrus pulls up in front of the inn. "It's been a long journey. Anyone who needs to wash up or change clothes or anything like that can go ahead. We'll wait here for you. Then we can all go to Padraig together and get honored as a team. Unified front and all that." Then he stands and stretchs for a moment before sitting back down.

if you want to refresh yourself, go ahead, if not, let us know that.

Tenja walks into the inn to wash the dirt from his hands and face, and knocks some of dust off his cloths. "Good enough for mum, good enough for the Lord." After some time the dwarf comes back out but does not look much different than before, but he seems refreshed.

Andrus helps Tenja back up into the wagon. "Anyone else?"

"Oh hell yes to a bath and new clothes, I've still got encrusted jelly cube all over me."

[/ooc]Kel will be back from the bath in about 1/2 an hour to an hour.[/ooc]

"Ah, civilization. It's been far too long. The lord has waited this long, he can wait a bit longer." Zareth heads into the inn.

Adeliza is openly delighted to see Tenja, Kel and Zareth return. She swiftly organises hot water and arranges for a change of clothes for those that want them.

"I've got clean things to fit both of you," she nods to Tenja and Kel, "I'm not so sure about you, but I'll find something, I'm sure." Her smile stays a little longer on Zareth.

Kith will freshen up as well.

"Urlag, come up here and play cards with me while we wait for the others." Andrus says as he pulls out his deck. He shuffles and cracks the deck a few times. "Swords? Poker? Or Hearts?"

Cleaned up and wearing the best that Adeliza can supply, the friends regroup and head out of The Lion Rampant to visit Lord Padraig.

Unless there's anything else you'd like to do or anyone else you want to talk to?

nah. let's go to Padraig.

Kel will toss Adeliza a bag with 100gp as he leaves, "For future damages and to keep all the kids fed."

"Allright lets go and grill Lord Paddy about his bony lost love."

Adeliza catches the bag deftly. "That covers the breakages for a few years too, Kel. I'll see it gets to the right kids."

At Lord Padraig's house, the man himself invites you to join him for a meal. "You seem to have done well up there. Tell me about it and eat at the same time. Are they gone?"

Andrus begins. "We found that a tribe of Kenku had found the Tor and decided to make it their new "nest". Andrus uses the finger signs for quotations to show that he doesn't know what to call a kenku's home. After fighting them and a couple of nasty gelatinous cubes, we found the mauseleum where we found a wraith, a couple of spectres and some more kenku. There we found the bodies of the Emerald Warlock and Illugi Swordbreaker, two of the last Stormcrows. Their wounds seem to indicate that they turned on each other and killed themselves. Then it was traps, traps, traps. Then we found the inner sanctum where we were attacked by Agera, the last of the Stormcrows." he pauses there to check Padraig's reaction to the news "Sadly, to call her the last Stormcrow alive would be a lie, as she was more undead than living and under the control of a wrathstone which contained a powerful entity devoted to Asmodeus." Andrus makes a sign warding off evil (like crossing himself, only the Avandra version) "They, the entity and her were very powerful, they threw us around for a while, made us attack each other, but eventually we broke free of their control and destroyed them. I prefer to think we freed her soul at the end, but it is hard to say in these cases. Then we looted the vaults and found some very interesting information."

He pulls out the shoe, the papers and asks Urlag to present the locket. "This is an account of Agera's last days. How she attempted to free herself of this wrathstone's control and failed. She mentioned you several times, always warmly. You were friends, I take it?"

Then he shows the shoe and the locket. "Or were you more?" And the question hangs in the air.

diplomacy= 15+9=24, if I need it.

"You have earned your 75gp each then."

Padraig looks at the locket and the shoe for a long time before speaking again.

"So she died there. I wondered and I feared. May I?"

He extends his hand for the items.

"As you have guessed, we were once more than friends. Truth be told, we were never friends, but we were close for a time. I am sorry she died."

"Certainly. That is why we kept them. Do you want to talk about it, or is it too painful?" Andrus asks carefully, and places his hand on the older man's shoulder. andrus is clearly digging for more, and if padraig doesn't want to talk about it, here is his out.

"I am curious.... about the boy. Who was he?" this is why I rolled the diplomacy check to manuver this particular hurdle

"Who was he? I hope he still is."

Padraig takes the shoe and puts it in front of him before looking at the locket.

"He is my son and Agera's, as you probably guessed. I saw Lukas when he was a baby and once more when he was five or so. Agera kept him with her when she was forming the Stormcrows. She wanted him to grow up away from Winterhaven. I doubt he'd know me now."

"As for the story, it's simple. We met in Port Nentir, we were together a short time, we parted. Agera was ambitious and ready to make her way in the world. I had responsibilities I couldn't leave. You may have guessed that it was I who invited the Stormcrows here originally. You can imagine my feelings when things turned out the way they did. They were my responsibility to some extent."

"You've started to make adventurers acceptable again and you've cleaned out the old Tor. That's one thing. Then there's Agera. I can't imagine what kind of power would be needed to possess her, but if you've freed her, I'm grateful. She would be too, if what you're saying is true. There are two unresolved issues though. I'd like to know more about this wrathstone and I want Lukas back. The last is by far the more important to me. Can you help?"

"I can imagine." Andrus says dryly. "First off, the wrathstone is no more. We combined our magical power and brute strength and smashed it into a thousand little pieces. That stone will cause no more trouble. Of that, I am sure. But of your other problem, I see little hope of accomplishing that task. We have no idea where to find the boy, if he is even still a boy. How old would he be now?"

"Lukas is twelve or close to that. I haven't been a completely absentee parent, despite her wishes, but I don't have infinite resources and my knowledge is limited. Agera left him in Port Nentir with friends of hers. Sir Walden and his wife were raising him and he seemed happy, but I've heard nothing for some months. I agree it's hardly a task for you, but I am concerned."

Padraig taps the table and fixes Andrus with a look. "The wrathstone that held Agera was destroyed. Do you think it can be recreated?"

"Bah, why would you want to recreate the vile thing?"

"I wouldn't, you idiot."

Lord Padraig looks affectionately at his old acquaintance.

"You know me better than that. But someone else might have other ideas."

"Nope. I have the pieces and I'm going to scatter them to the four winds. Besides, it's not the STONE, per se, it was the entity inside that made it so dangerous. The stone was just a conduit for the demon. HE may be trouble, if he finds a way back to our plane, but that is not as easy as the campfire stories say it is. This wrathstone was once part of a lich's treasure that the Stormcrows liberated. They just didn't know what they had until it was too late. No, I am fairly confident that the wrathstone will trouble us no more." Andrus says warmly and confidently.

"As for young Lukas, will he come with us if we ask him to? Or does he regard the noble Sir Walden as his father now? He has already been abandoned by Agera. Would you deny him the only stability he has in the world? Out of ..... Andrus searches for the right word here sentimentality? Or do you believe his life to be in some sort of danger now? Is Sir Walden just going to give the boy up? These are my concerns with the task you have laid before us. Explain the situation more to me, and I believe we can bring your boy back to you." Andrus says as he looks Lord Padraig in the eye.

Padraig will need to address these concerns before Andrus will agree to the job. We are not kidnappers. And Andrus is truly concerned with what is best for the boy. He is twelve years old. We have no idea if he even knows he is Padraig's son. We don't know how long he has been in Walden's care. From what I know of foster home situations, when you get moved around a lot, and then find a stable place, you tend to cling to that. (my knowledge is pooled from TV, movies, and books. I am not a foster care kid, FYI) He has to want to come with us. Or at least be open to the idea.

"Andrus, I don't know. That's why I'm asking you to find out. I can't leave Winterhaven to track him down without significantly more information than I have. I don't know Walden and his wife at all. The very little I have to go on is provided by the occasional merchant. I've kept my enquiries as discreet as possible and I'd like to keep them that way until I now what Lukas's own wishes are. Since I'd rather not rouse a hornet's nest and advertise my private life to the whole of the Nentir Vale without good cause and Lukas's own permission, I'm asking for help."

"Of course we'll go see him besides we don't realy have anyother place we need to be at the moment." "Oooh..we get to see the pretty ships too."

Rev, what would Kel need to make something like a tanglefoot bag that instead of sticking would dye a sheep sized animal pink?

Kel - is this a one off missile you're wanting? If so, Valthrun can probably cook it up for you. Does it have any effect bar the colouring?

Nope, I just want a very quick way to paint Padraig's flock pink.
If there was a way to attach them to a blunt arrow that would be great.

OK. You can use the stats for level 2 Alchemists acid (burst 1 within 10. Market price 70gp. Make a saving throw at +2 to see if you get caught in the burst yourself. Fail, and you too will be a cheerful shade of pink.

trick arrows? Green Arrow would be proud.

"O.K. We can act on your behalf. We'll start in the morning. Why don't you take the night and compose your thoughts to write the boy a letter? We'll convey it along with your wishes and see what the boy's situation is and how he feels about it. While we're gone, I would like you to "talk us up" a bit. You don't have to give us official status or anything like that, but just tell the townfolk what good people we are and how well we handled that Stormcrow situation. We need to start building our reputation and we can't do that if we are running private, secret errands for you that nobody will hear about. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind the work. I just want the locals to start treating us like friends and not potential enemies. Do we have a deal?" Andrus asks as he holds out his hand for a handshake.

guys- how do you feel about the name "Stormbreakers"? We control the Storm Tor and we "broke" the Crows and we definitely broke the wrathstone. Just a thought.

Andrus is more concerned with reputation than money. But Padraig is a Lord and he wants us to do him a BIG favor. If any of you are interesting in getting paid, you might want to interrupt at this point. Point out that we also need some money-for expenses. Andrus won't bring it up as this does not seem like a dangerous mission (yet) and it's for a good cause.

Strombreakers sounds good, Tenja has been a friend of Padraig long enough that he would not ask for payment

"No, Andrus. I won't do that. There's no need. Your own actions are speaking louder than anything I can say. Word is spreading very nicely. Adeliza has thrown a couple of people out of the Lion for ill-judged comments and you impressed Barnard. Most important of all, everyone here knows Kel and Tenja."

"In case you hadn't noticed, this is a very small town. Everyone knows everthing worth knowing. I don't think you need to worry about your reputation in Winterhaven. Outside this town, I doubt anything I say will make any difference."

"Are you taking over the old Tor?" he adds, curiously, as he heads for a writing desk.

"I shall write to Lukas. Tell him I shall respect whatever decision he makes, but I would like to meet him again and talk to him."

"Yes. I believe we are." Andrus says as he puts his hand away. "It's a good fortress, easily defended, and we even already hired some guards. Can you draw up the paperwork legitimizing our squatting? Or is the Tor not part of your terriority?"

that's interesting. he won't agree to put his own reputation on the line for us and he didn't shake my hand. if he doesn't have the authority to give us the Tor, i am going to lose my affection for good ol' Padraig.

"Excellent. I'll give you the deeds."

"Andrus," he continues, sensing a certain froideur in the cleric, "please use your sense. The last time I sang the praises of adventurers, it did not end well. Why do you think my word on this issue is going to make any difference at all? The only impact I'd have would be negative. In Winterhaven they already know you're not of the same cut as the Stormcrows. Outside Winterhaven, I have no influence."

"Don't worry. Our actions will have to speak for themselves." Zareth finally breaks his silence in the corner.

"Also, I believe my friend was asking less about an official recommendation and more about a deed. Write up a quick contract, we'll sign on the dotted line and we'll go on our way.

"I'll be candid, Lord, as you have been with us. Whether or not it made any difference is unimportant to me. What was important was your willingness to try. But I'll settle for the Tor. Make the deed out to the Stormbreakers. What happens when a storm breaks? The sun comes out again and everything is right with the world. So let it be with us. Andrus Blake, Athsirion Keledilinthir, Kitherra Darkforge, Tenja, Urlag, and Zareth Edemont." As he says each person's name, he smiles and points to them. "Make sure to spell them correctly." Andrus is not as tense as he was, but it is clear that he expected more and was a little disappointed.

Lord Padraig hands a sheet of parchment to Andrus.

"I believe you will find that this is all in order. The Tor is yours. Good day."

Shaking hands formally with each of the group in turn, he leaves the room.

"Let's go back to the inn. I want to get a good night's sleep before setting out tomorrow. We can go over our plans and such when we get to the inn. And divide the spoils." Andrus tells the others before heading back to Adeliza's.

Rev, is there a backroom or someplace we can meet and discuss? If not, I will invite everyone up to my room and we can go over what we need to go over and split the coinage. I believe Padraig gave us all little baggies with 75 gp in them, so we don't need to split that. But if you want any more of the loot, I can divy it up then. Also, Rev, I am not familiar with Winterhaven's layout. Stores? There's a wizard, right? Does he sell rituals? And what is the temple situation there? If I can make a sacrifice to Avandra for the successful completion of a job, I would like to. Also talk to the priests there to find out more about the place we are going. The deed is going in the "group treasury". (that bag of holding we found)

"Hey, Adeliza." Andrus greets as he comes in. "Do you have a backroom where we can meet and discuss our plans privately? And could I have a cup of your finest ale as well? Now that the job is done, I want to relax a bit and take the edge off."