The Iron Carnival - Pentor Lionsmane's Mercenary PbP - #2 Squad

Game Master Monkeygod

Torque listens intently to the story, visibly shivering slightly at the talk of such violence. He thinks for a few seconds after Fury is finished.

"You made the right call fury. There are plenty of things in this world that a brave man with a sword just can't face. I guess that's one of the reasons why you go through the effort of keeping folk like me and Valen around and safe. If any supernatural killers mess with our team we might just have answers."

He drinks a slug from the watch sink before restoppering it and handing it to Tok.

"Not to be arrogant. There are plenty of things in this world that mortals simply can't take on. Still, we're smart enough to leg it if one of them is waiting for us in that keep tomorrow"

He then lightens up a bit

"That was a timely cauntionary tale Fury. But how about a time when you delivered a well-deserved ass kicking? Anyone got a story the Carnival can take pride in?"

Acune keeps her eyes half-closed and pretends to be fully asleep, but listens in on the stories anyway.

Nodding softly, Fury smiled. "If something that bad is in that Manor, we run, take the Villagers and all they can carry and head to the nearest City!" he laughed softly and grinned, taking his axe on to his lap, and beginning to run clean the edges again.

"I have a few but lets hear from the others first, while I gather my thoughts!" He stares off in to the night, studying the tree line.

Perception-1d20 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 1 = 10

Before moving his eyes back to the camp, and studying it and its inhabitants.

Perception-1d20 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 1 = 21

In complete solemnness, Tok says, "Once, the monastery's cook prepared an exotic meal that created a similar inside-out explosion from all of the monks. It wasn't nearly as deadly, but it was terrifying. And ass-kicking."

A slow deep chuckle builds in Jax at the Dwarfs words, changing in no time to become a fit of hysterical laughter, as the large Half Ulfen man, clutches at his sides. "Ass-kicking... I like that. Maybe you ain't so bad short man!"

The last few hours of the night give way to the dawn. As you all get ready for the coming day, Mirri's younger brother comes running up to the camp "Helena has invited you all to come and have breakfast at the Golden Lion. She says to come as soon as your ready"

Jax straightens from where he was polishing his armor and grins at the lad. "Thank the Lady for us will you lad? We will be along shortly!" He tosses the boy a gold coin, before returning to his work.

Stretching and yawning loudly Valen comes out of his tent looking immaculately clean and smelling faintly of cologne. "Ahhh, I knew making friends with the locals would pay off. And here we've already been invited to breakfast. Well then, we shouldn't keep them waiting." With a gesture and some words Valen's tent begins to take itself down and fold itself neatly. With another gesture the tent secures itself to Valen's pack.

Acune folds up her bedroll and quickly re-braids her hair. She notices the results of Valen's morning preparations and smirks slightly.

As Valen walks by, Tok says, "I am sure the undead will appreciate the care you have taken to look nice for them. But perhaps you are wise: surely the flavor of flowers and spices on one's flesh is unpleasant to their kind."

Nine Tail stretches and steps out of the round depression he was sleeping in. His bedroll and blanket still mounded up in the center of the depression.

"What? Some child came by offering us food? Was it all whitish and see-through?"

Gremm tosses aside the log he used as a makeshift pillow for the night and quickly gathers his things. After a period of about four seconds to grab his sword and his satchel, he puts on a smile.

"Breakfast, eh? Ma always said that breakfast was important. She's right, you know. If you travel around a lot, you rarely get another bite until dinner time."

He chuckles.

Valen smiles at Acune and throws a wink at Tok. "Ahh, haven't you heard any of the wives' tales and stories? The dour unlikeable person is always the first to disappear. And generally once you're gone you're as good as dead,"He replies good naturedly. Turning to Gremm. "Your mother was right of course, Gremm! Unless of course you stop for midday meal."

Gremm snorts.

"Ha! If we were so lucky. There are days when we woke before the cock crowed and slept after the wolves woke. Pa was more stubborn than our mule somedays and would have us moving the entire time. That's why breakfast was so important to Ma. Every so often, that's all we had time to eat. Business is always moving, as Pa would say."

Having stowed his tent and extractor, Torque joins the rest of the squad.

"It's starting to sound like you joined a mercenary company to get some time to relax Gremm"

Gremm sighs.

"Yes, to relax..."

Gremm moves over to the group, saying nothing else.

You all make your way to the Inn, Two-Bears included, and are presented with the sight of a massive breakfast: eggs of every sort, a huge plate full of bacon, a giant fruit salad, several loaves of warm fresh baked bread, pancakes stacked high, and a few jugs of juice.

Helena greets you all warmly "We wanted to thank you for all that you have done, and what ever you may end up doing for us. These last several months have been hellacious for us and hopefully will soon come to an end. Mirri has volunteered to be your personal sever, so sit down, dig in and enjoy! Everything's on the house, so please, eat as much as you want"

AS they walked slowly towards the Village, Jax grins. "You know Mage... You should really listen to those stories better. The next person to die is always the smart mouthed pretty boy!" Laughing softly, Jax pushes his way in to the inn.

Smiling, Jax bows to the woman. "You are too kind Helena. Really, it is our pleasure to help in any way we can!" He grins, before taking a seat, placing his back against the wall and leaving himself a good view of the door in to the Inn.

"This is not right. We have done nothing to earn this."

Acune sits politely down at the table, nodding gratefully to Helena and Mirri, when she enters. Though she attempts to hide it, she looks slightly discomfited by the villagers' extravagant gratitude.

"Relax Tok. Didn't the merchant we escorted here pay us partly in advance? Nothing immoral about a down payment. It's not like we're going to bottle out at the last minute"

Torque eagerly gulps down some fruit juice before tucking in. He glances at Helena and Miri

"Thankyou very much for this by the way. We won't disappoint"

Valen smiles widely and makes sure to sit after Acune. "Lady Miri, Lady Helena, you have truly outdone yourselves here. Surely your hearts are made of gold. Making a breakfast as amazing as this, although unecessary since just a smile for the two of your lovely faces is more than enough, is thoroughly welcomed. I know that with a breakfast such as this my companions and I will certainly have a great amount of strength to do whatever we can to help you and your village out." Valen takes a bite of the pancakes and swoons slightly. "Truly these pancakes are divine." He states and winks at Miri.

Gremm quietly sits down and begins to eat. Soon enough, he's on a roll eating enough to satisfy the appetites of three men.

"Thank you very much for the food!" Gremm says, with a mouthful of bread.

Tok, still uncomfortable with this lavish spread, only takes a slice of bacon, a helping of fruit and a slice of warm bread. "I apologize for appearing ungrateful, Miri and Helena. My thanks."

"Come now, Master Silverfist, surely you're more hungry than that! These flapjacks are truly divine. I must insist you try some." He says jovialy and piles 3 or 4 pancakes on a plate and places it in front of Tok.

Haha! The peer pressure begins.

Helena looks a bit hurt at Tok's initial reaction "You do not understand good sir. We have tried to get help from neighboring towns, passing caravans, even bandits, and we've either been turned down, or those who've tried to help have failed and never returned. The last attempt was over a month ago and we were losing hope we'd ever find help. Now you've come along and seem genuinely concerned so we wanted to show our appreciation and thanks."

As Tok only takes a small plate, Mirri smiles at him "Your friend Valen is right, our pancakes are county renowned, you should really have some"

Acune helps herself to the fruit and bread. "The pancakes really are very good."

ZOMG!!! ACUNE SPEAKS!!!

Valen smiles and stands behind Miri gently putting his hands on either of the young woman's shoulders. "See Master Silverfist, county renowned pancakes. How could you possibly turn those down? Let alone county renowned pancakes offered to you by a young woman with such beautiful features?" Leaning in Valen whispers in Miri's ear. "Quick, put on a pouting face, it may encourage him further."

Small Nine Tail eats like he is eating for two. He only samples the pancakes as he doesn't want to get too filled up. Eggs, bacon and fruit though are piled high. When he catches the occasional look, he swigs some juice to get down the mouthful of food, "I learned long ago, you never know when your next meal might be..or when it might be..well, I will leave it at that. Very good food, thank you Ma'am"

Tok glowers at Valen. "I don't doubt their deliciousness. But, I have taken a vow of sacrifice - not excess. Already I am violating my vow. Do you wish that I neglect my faith completely?"

Whoa, this looks to be getting out of hand

"How about we bag up a few morsals for lunch and be on our way? If we can make it to the keep and check it over before nightfall it can only be a good thing"

He smiles at the two inn staff

"We'll be back for seconds once we discover the fate of Grimatar."

Valen sighs in an overly exasperated tone. "Ahh, well if you so insist Master Silverfist," Valen replies sitting down. "I guess I'll just have more for myself then." Valen whispers some familar words and gestures at a stack of pancakes which begin to lazily float into the air and onto his plate. Taking a a fork and knife Valen takes a large bite. "Mmmmmm, simply divine, m'lady Miri, simply divine."

people can make perception or sense motive if they look at Valen eat for more than a few moments.

Nine Tail leans over to those next to him. "And here I thought nothing could go on thicker than this syrup..yip-yip."

I'm intigued

Perception check (untrained):1d20 ⇒ 10

Torque, however, is apparently not

Two-Bears takes a seat and helps himself to a huge plate of food. As he eats he says "Remember lads, we have to meet with the mayor first before we go running off to Grimtaur's keep. So that means we enjoy our generous meal until we're told he's ready for us. Now quit ur bickering and eat up!"

Satisfied that the argument is won, Tok finishes his small meal. He does reach for several more slices of bread, but refuses - with difficulty - the pancakes. His refusal is one of stubbornness more than piety. He studies Valen as he eats the pancakes.

Perception Check: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15

Sighing softly, Jax piles his plate with bacon and eggs, adding a couple thick slices of bread, before beginning to eath methodically, electing to stay out of the argument. When all of the food on his plate is cleared, jax reaches for some fruit, and begins to skin and eat it. 'By the gods they argue like family...' He shook his head soflty and laughed.

Tok and Torque neither of you notice anything. People are still welcome to make the check.

Nodding and taking a bite of some fresh fruit Valen turns to Miri and Helena. "So, what do you know about the mayor?"

perception 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (13) + 10 = 23

1d20 + 20 ⇒ (9) + 20 = 29 search check for Jax.[/dice] your presence is requested in the land of grey mists and on a taven wall where we check for adventures :-)

Jax is reporting for duty! :)

Dotting...

I'm at a wedding reception for some co-workers so I'll post later tonight once I get home

Helena answers "Mayor Berano's a good man, though he's currently at his wits end trying to save our town. He's spent a lot of his own money trying to help us out, from buying extra goods from passing caravans to hiring out those bandits."

"Hiring the Bandits was indeed a good idea, if not the most... Legal." Jax smiled, sitting back and taking a drink from his mug of watered ale. "And had it not been for us escorting the Caravan, I am sure your village would be a whole lot wealthier now. For that we apologize, but it was not in our mandate to allow the Caravan to be robbed for your villages gain!" He grinned, before pulling his pipe from his pocket. "Well anyway... Here we are. We intend to see your village on better times, and have the full backing of our immediate command structure and our employer. We will do what needs to be done!"

"Ha! I think you've got the wrong end of the stick Fury. When me and Tok went to talk to the preacher he said a group of bandits were hired to go and investigate Grimatar's castle. Those are the ones the mayor hired, not the half-wits we scattered on the road."

Jax looks stunned for a second, before he laughs softly and shakes his head. "Hiring bandits to investigate something? By the Gods that was foolish. Bandits know two things; thuggery and how to soil themselves when a real threat comes along, other than that they are useless. To hells with that. The really Soldiers are here now!"

"Was the current lord mayor in charge when Lord Grimtaur took over the keep and claimed these lands?"

Acune continues eating, glancing around the room a couple of times.