You all find yourselves, for one reason or another, in the Great City of Atlantis. Those of you who have been before know your way around and can maneuver through the city with ease. Those of you who are just now visiting find yourselves overwhelmed with many people swimming back and forth. Not many fish around here due to the large amount of humanoid residents. You see large buildings of coral and rock. Few you may see what looks like stone, the type you would see in a Greek city. The few remnants of that time have long gone.
A young gillmen approaches each of you swimming up to wherever you are:
"Excuse me, sir/madam"
"I believe i have a letter for you"
He wears normal clothing for the area. Mildly fancy with tones of red and yellow. It appears to almost have an old medieval feel to it, despite the swimming drawbacks. With the exception of a shoulder bag he wears that, as you can see, contains other scrolls of sorts.
The young lad puts his hand out and gives you the scroll and swims away in a hurry.
You open the scroll,(perhaps confused of how paper exists under water) it reads:
"Sir or madam I summon you to the royal court to show your worth and loyalty. I have asked my royal handy-boy to give this scroll to anyone he sees may be worthy of the task at hand. Please proceed to my court at once so that i may prief you on the matter at hand."
-Lord Poseidon
As far as everyones races go... AS big and as popular as this city is. The residents here have seen just about everything. So it would take a truely rare race to even remotely surprise them. So you don't get any odd looks from anyone here.
Actually more people will ignore as they go about their busy day. In the streets (water ways between buildings) its almost hard to see much from ALL the people.
There is also a building for everything here. So if your looking for something for something odd, its probably here somewhere :P
Incredibly overwhelmed by how busy the city is, Olrune is grateful for a destination and work found so early. He hurries to the royal court, keeping Sivir close at hand.
Incredibly overwhelmed by how busy the city is, Olrune is grateful for a destination and work found so early. He hurries to the royal court, keeping Sivir close at hand.
Azure was quite occupied and oblivious to the world at large when the young Gillmen approached; his attention wholly focused between a set of well worn waterproof books and a set of ancient carvings upon a marble slab from one of his most recent adventures.
Without even hearing the messenger at first, Azure simply held out his hand to shoo the young pest away too engrossed in his research to be bothered, until a scroll was placed into his hands.
Realizing something strange had just occurred Azure looks up just in time to see the young man swimming away, Azure then looks to the note in his hands and reads it.
“That’s odd; what would Lord Poseidon possibly want with me?” he mutters to himself.
Deciding it would probably be a bad idea to keep the lord of the seas waiting Azure gathers up his latest findings and his books placing them into his backpack before departing the small market place table he had occupied and heading off to his small home to collect his arms and armor; and from there heading to the royal court to meet Lord Poseidon.
Anala finds herself browsing the markets this morning, searching for supplies and anything that looks particularly useful for her planned upcoming trip. There wasn't a whole lot of plan to the trip however, with Laganru passed she now had to find her own destinations... and well it was a little hard to consider continuing without Laganru, and Atlantis did have a lot to see which she hadn't had time to explore the last time she was here. She'd been here almost half a year now however, what with waiting to have her armor crafted, and her own quiet mourning.
When the messenger approaches her she just looks at him strangely, sure that he is mistaken. She takes the letter proffered, examining it, and by the time she looks up to question the messenger he's already gone, causing her to sigh. She looks to Yaci, showing her the letter, the little plant shrugging.
"It's... odd, but it's an interesting opportunity." Yaci observes
"I haven't had a chance to see the royal court, and it might finally give me a destination..." Anala muses to the plant creature. "Alright, well I had best make myself presentable."
A short time later--after a trip back to her room to 'freshen up' and ready her things for a quick departure if necessary--Anala arrives at the gates to the underwater palace. It takes her a little while to gather up the courage, but eventually she swims forward, presenting her letter the guards. "I received a summons to the court?" she offers, feeling a little intimidated by the surrounds.
Having lived on land most of his childhood, Gorkhan blinks in awe at the crowds of aquatic people in the grand city of Atlantis. Clutching the invitation in one hand, me heads towards the court of the Lord Poseidon.
Swimming along looking for something to do, Livyathan is happily surprised by the boy's suggestion that the letter(once he reads it) is for him in a roundabout way. Telling the small merfolk child he had been telling the 'real' legends involving his ancestors too that he was sorry that he had to go, he goes back gathers up his gear and swims speedily toward the court.
Swimming above the crowds, Livy spies something he hasn't seen before: a landwalker in the city!
::Hi!:: He says right into Gorkhan's mind, rather excited. ::Why are you in the city? I've never seen a landwalker down here in Atlantis before!::
For those of you who have never been, finding the royal court is easy. For one it is the biggest building in the city. And also you could easily ask anyone if you could get them to stop long enough to talk.
As you arrive at the gates you see two wimpy looking gillmen guarding the gates. The gate is open however due to numerous people also clutching a scroll is pouring in.
As you go through the rocky gates you see a large coral/rock castle that is just the sight of the area. As you swim in you realize that the immediate inside of the castle is big and open.
You see maybe twenty or so other "warriors" as you enter.
You also see a abnormally large gillmen looking man sitting on an extravagant throne clutching a large shining trident. His clothing is different from others in the room. He seems to be wearing less clothing yet more expensive clothing. He what almost seems like a short skirt of golden silk around his waste and then golden shoulder pads (as a sign of royalty). The only other thing he wears is his amazing crown with numerous jewels in it. It shines brighter that any gem you have ever seen.
Lord Poseidon sitting on his royal throne says:
"Yes come, come. All of you in here, hurry now"
You begin to realize the servants walking around the room. They have very little on them. Most of them wearing rags but in nicer colors wondering about with different items carry them to different areas. A Gillmen stands beside Poseidon with better clothing than the other servants. He wears a big red round hat.
As everyone enters the large steel doors slam.
Poseidon:"Ahhh yes... The brave travelers."
He gets up out if his throne clutching his trident.
You see the whole room bow the king.
Entering the city Arvin is, at first overwhelmed by the size of the place. Coming from nothing but small communities and villiages. amazed by everything Arvin almost never noticed the delivery of the message.
A chance to meet Lord Poseidon this is exciting, perhaps he can help me in my quest
Upon entering the room with several others Arvin scans the surroundings as well as those with him.
but before he has a chance to greet those with him the "King" stands and the room bows.
not wanting to arrested in his first days in the city Arvin bows as well showing respect for the "King"
The initial intimidation of an invitation to the palace fades as she approaches the place and experiences for the first time what the place is like. While the building itself is impressive the inhabitants--apart from the king himself--are rather less so. The fact that there were so many others who had received the same letter took the pressure off her too, and so she files into the throne room with them contentedly.
When the king stands she is a few steps behind everyone else, glancing around quickly before doing her best to imitate their bows, peeking up at the others around her and the king, wondering what was going on.
Azure swims into the room with the rest of the crowd. He looks about somewhat confused as to why he had been selected re-reading the note he had been given, until the king speaks.
As everyone bows so too does Azure.
Gorhkan gawks around the room in awe at the crowd and the splendor of the richness of the palace. He bows with the room as his eyes reach the being sitting atop the throne. Are the rumors true? Is he truly a God? What would one like him require of the likes of me? He tilts his head as another thought passes through his mind. I wonder why he chooses the appearance of a Gillman?
1d20+5
Gorhkan gawks around the room in awe at the crowd and the splendor of the richness of the palace. He bows with the room as his eyes reach the being sitting atop the throne. Are the rumors true? Is he truly a God? What would one like him require of the likes of me? He tilts his head as another thought passes through his mind. I wonder why he chooses the appearance of a Gillman?
Are you trying to make a perception check to see what's around the room.. or?....
Swimming down to the floor, Livyathan dips his head to Poseidon as it is the closest to a bow he can accomplish. The he starts to look around with idle curiosity, mental sentences barely heard by those closest as he thinks to himself.
::Ah!:: He thinks aloud after a few moments, seemingly embarrased. ::My apologies, Lord Poseidon, for not introducing myself, but your palace is the first I've seen. I've only heard of them before, you see, and it's quite interesting! I am Livyathan Coretin, and I have come to offer my humble services.:: He broadcasts with barely contained excitement.
Olrune slowly makes his way in, taking a look around then lowering the seaweed covering the lower half of his face. A wicked looking falcata (curved, sharp edged sword) sits on his back, and a belt of daggers are on his waist. He nods to acknowledge any others that look his way, then settles himself into a corner. I hope Sivir will be ok outside
Anala looks around at the excited mental projection, glancing towards the king before paddling discretely closer to the being that she had heard of only in stories. She was surprised to find one here, her family had not spoken of them living beneath the waves.
"Hello Livyathan, my name is Anala, an explorer and teller of tales. Do you know why we're here?" she asks softly, the small creature having been the only one to speak so far.
::Nope, not a clue! The young gillman gave me the scroll, and once we read it, I decided to come here.::
"Hmm... Well they say he's a god, so who knows what he wants..." she whispers back. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see."
As mutterinf begins to start among the crowd Poseidon hits his trident hard against the ground and says:
"SSHHH!"
"Do you not realize you ate in the court of royalty!? It would you prefer to start talkaing among yourselves!?"
Anala startled at the crashing of the kings staff, looking up at him before back to Livyathan with a puzzled look. If he'd just get on with it instead of standing around trying to look impressive, then they wouldn't need to whisper amongst themselves. Really...
Olrune, who has been sitting quietly in the corner, smiles to himself as everybody else gets chatised. He pulls out a sandstone rock and hums to himself while slowly shaping it, waiting for events to get rolling
Poseidon:
"Now i doubt you all know why i brought you here...
So I, will tell you"
*He says in a very snobbish way*
"We have found a sort of.... "artifact" that we need to be "explored".
As my advisers said when we found it.... "we should get our best "scientists" and "archaeologists" on it right a way" *he says in a mocking tone*
But i said "NO! We must send out our best champions out at once!" *he says in a confident tone with his trident held out*
*all of the servants and people clap as he ends what he was saying*
[b]"Champions!? No clapping!? Feh... *he says waving his hand out in a derogatory manor* Perhaps our champions will be better at fighting and killing then they will have manors!"
*some of the other champions look at each other confused as you guys probably do as well, except three champions at the front who seem to be wearing nice armor, they kneel *or more like a bow as they are underwater* at the king and then say*
Knights:
"Our king!" *they say all at once*
Poseidon:
" Ahhh.. The rest of you could learn from these three... However... i don't like kiss ups"
*He smashes the end of his trident along the closest, right across his face*
Poseidon:
"And you two knights could learn from his wounds"
*The other two knights help him up and away from their spot close to the throne*
Poseidon:
"Now... Where was I? Oh yes... We have found a door way to what my advisers say is a sunken dwarven something another*he says as he probably didn't pay attention to what his advisers say... he never does*... But the blasted door won't open! So i am sending you... My champions *he says with a smile and his arms held out* to "investigate". My advisers said this Dwarven something could be VERY big. But most definetly contains something nice *he says with a big smile*. So go champions! bring me my something nice. Get whatever supplies you need from our supply room i have set up for you guys, and figure out how to open that blasted door!"*he points at a room as he leaves the room*
Everyone rushes in and all six of you are left standing in this grand room as everyone left the room as he ended his speech, even the servants. The supply room is directly right as you enter the grand room. You all start to notice the three brilliant chandeliers that are atop the tall ceiling oddly showing light as if lit by fire? All the servants and king entered one of the two doors the are on each far side of the wall with the throne. As you all walk towards the room with supplies you hear them fighting over everything with an "argh!" and "thats mine!" and they all quickly leave the room and start to exit the castle before you could even realize what happened. They all with different items. Some had chests over their shoulder and glowing swords and odd looking weapons.
As your group walks in (I figured you guys would want to talk as you walk towards the room as you all see that you are left out) you see a room about 15ft by 15ft with chests littered everywhere completely empty and some even turned over. You do however see a rope hanging over the side of one chest.
Stranger:
"Hello all! *you see a small gillmen enter the room with a scroll in his hand* Savages all of them! But don't worry, im sure if you look you will find one or two items left. They always leave a few *he says with a smile*. My name is Albius Greynorn Alfru Eleuite Alandrip Manormane, but you six can call me pip, as everyone does *he says with a smile*. I am here to guide you six to the sunken dwarven dungeon. As i am the last guide left they all ran out. I always stay for the last few who aren't savages and haven't done this sort of thing before. *yet again with a smile*
"Well, he's certainly not acting like any god I've ever heard of." Anala whispers to Livyathan conspiratorially, observing "He seems more like a petulant child."
When Lord Poseidon finishes his speech and walks out of the room she just shakes her head in amazement, this was certainly not what she had expected from an invitation to the Palace of a city as impressive as Atlantis. When the other attendee's, the 'champions' race for the indicated room, jostling and kicking each other she lets out an indignant squawk, before starting to jostle back without much success. As the crowd thins she finally get the room to gesture properly and launches a few spells after the stragglers, leaving them dazed as they drunkenly swim after the others.
"and people think the Merfolk are the savages!" she observes again, looking to Livyathan to see if he is still there and okay, before spotting the other 'newbies' left behind by the stampede for the supplies.
"Well, hello! It seems I'm not the only foreigner without a clue." she observes with a smile. "Shall we go see what's left?" she proposes, kicking off at a sedate pace towards the room, shaking her head at the condition of it all.
When they get there and are greeted by a much more pleasant seeming gillmen than they've encountered so far she offers him a smile. "Hello Pip! My name is Anala, and this is Yaci, my companion, and Livyathan, who I just met. I'm afraid I don't know these other fellows yet." she observes looking at the two Merfolk and two Undine.
Yaci, appearing to be an animate humanoid clump of seaweed--since that is more or less what she is--wearing 'armor' constructed of discarded sea shells woven together just offers a small smile and a wave.
"yes yes... Hello all... I suggest you round up what you can before the others raid this dungeon of its spoils before you have a chance to get to it, this is of course assuming they are smart enough to get through"
*he says smiling*
"Hmm, well I wouldn't be holding my breath on that one." she observes cheerily enough despite her words. She looks around the room for a moment, before starting to hum and then softly sing an odd tune, moving her hands in time with the odd beat, before looking around again, starting to poke through the chests.
"Hmm, well I wouldn't be holding my breath on that one." she observes cheerily enough despite her words. She looks around the room for a moment, before starting to hum and then softly sing an odd tune, moving her hands in time with the odd beat, before looking around again, starting to poke through the chests.
You are overcome with the heavy presence of magic, it seems to be everywhere.
"Eek!" Anala wobbles a bit as she finishes her song/spell, blinking quickly as she looks around. "W-well... " she murmures, rubbing at her eyes as she allows it to fade from her vision, smiling at Yaci's concerned look. "I'm okay, that was just brighter than I expected." she observes to her companion, who continues to watch the Nixie closely for a while longer as she tries to blink away the after images.
"and people think the Merfolk are the savages!" she observes again, looking to Livyathan to see if he is still there and okay, before spotting the other 'newbies' left behind by the stampede for the supplies.
::Like sharks around blood, my uncle says.:: Livyathan thinks to her as he swims down from above. ::Said anyway. He's changed his mind now.::
Curiosity filling his tiny frame, Livyathan swims into the supply and looks around for the smaller items, things mostly likely overlooked or passed over.
Azure lets out a long sigh as everyone rushes to the room with the items. “No wonder so few artifacts remain for study… idiots, thieves, and now kings plunder them without regard for the history they could potentially destroy in the process.”
Thinking that Dwarven ruins don’t really fall into his field of study Azure turns to the leave when greeted by the Nixie woman in Sylvan. He stops swimming long enough to reply with a
He makes it as far as the door to leave before he realizes that this could be a great opportunity for the Pathfinder Society (If this in fact not Golarion then insert some random Surface world university) to learn something new, and possibly a fun adventure outside of the norm.
His mind made up he makes it to the room that the others are gathering at (Most likely) last.
"Eek!" Anala wobbles a bit as she finishes her song/spell, blinking quickly as she looks around. "W-well... " she murmures, rubbing at her eyes as she allows it to fade from her vision, smiling at Yaci's concerned look. "I'm okay, that was just brighter than I expected." she observes to her companion, who continues to watch the Nixie closely for a while longer as she tries to blink away the after images.
[dice=Perception]1d20+3
You find the following: the rope i mentioned, a short sword, an everburning torch and a torn sack. The everburning torch you find under a chest in a corner. (for your nat 20)
"and people think the Merfolk are the savages!" she observes again, looking to Livyathan to see if he is still there and okay, before spotting the other 'newbies' left behind by the stampede for the supplies.::Like sharks around blood, my uncle says.:: Livyathan thinks to her as he swims down from above. ::Said anyway. He's changed his mind now.::
Curiosity filling his tiny frame, Livyathan swims into the supply and looks around for the smaller items, things mostly likely overlooked or passed over.
1d20
you find a crowbar in a chest
*a gillmen female servant comes over and hands pip a bag*
"i also sent for you some rations that will last and no cooking, as usually the ones last to leave are the smartest and you will have more of a chance of lasting to the point of starvation"
*He hands Azure a large sack with rations for (if used wisely) is good for six people for 2 days*
"The rations consist of fish prepared so they will last. Made specifically for adventurers such as yourselves"
Olrune mostly sits to the side and follows them around, deciding not to talk yet
"Tell me when you are all ready for we must go in a hurry. No time to look at architecture for my Lord commands your assistance elsewhere"
Arvin Takes a look around seems kind of diappointed at the "King's" attitude and his inability to question him about his quest but perhaps this old catacomb could be what he is looking for.
Arvin searches the remaining supplis to find anything useful.
There isnt anything left :P
The nat 20 got it all. lol
Anala gathers up what she can find, spotting a glow from beneath one of the chests and slowly prying it up to reveal an apparently burning torch glowing away despite being underwater.
"Well, it's not much..." she murmurs as she brings it back to the others, showing them the 'supplies'; a rope, a short sword, an everburning torch and a torn sack. She looks around at the others who remain mostly quiet, despite her subtle suggestion to introduce themselves, and then back to Pip. "Well I'm about ready to go. I'll just need to collect my belongings from my room, and settle the bill. I didn't quite expect things to be so rushed." she admits with a smile.
Gorkhan follows the others into the room after the god-king's display. He shakes his head at the rush of people into and then out of the room carrying items.
"I am Gorkhan," he says when introductions are made. Turning to Pip, he asks, [b]"Out of curiosity, these... 'supplies' everyone has been clamoring for. Were they magical, or mundane?"
Gorkhan follows the others into the room after the god-king's display. He shakes his head at the rush of people into and then out of the room carrying items.
"I am Gorkhan," he says when introductions are made. Turning to Pip, he asks, [b]"Out of curiosity, these... 'supplies' everyone has been clamoring for. Were they magical, or mundane?"
"The king never really specifies, its different each time. Some may be magical and other may be mundane. No one can really say for sure."