Stone goes outside and winks at Myv and says loudly - so the children can hear: "Well, it appears I got here just in time before she turned you into frogs or made you glow in strange colors!” Stone gets on one knee and asks the children with a smile: “Who would like a horse ride home? I promise only to jump a few times on the way back home.”
Stone gives the two children a horsey ride while the others pack up anything of value from the smithy. Elisa is light enough that the monk barely notices her weight, but Borat is a little hefty and Stone has to put him down soon enough.
The party is able to put many things in the wonderful magic coffer, and there are enough sacks to wrap up more bulky items like the suit of full plate. When planning the route back to Cauldron, Gjoren suggests heading south and travelling along the main trade route between Eleder and Cauldron rather than trekking across the veldt. It's a less direct, but more safe route home Hearing no objections (considering the safety of the children), the party sets out.
The trip takes almost three days. The first night is spent at the Golden Coin inn. The guests of the inn are curious about the strange caravan and ask many questions about where the party is from and where they're headed to.
Myvannuii is glad to have Stone take the children off her hands for a while, though she hopes they don't think that she would turn them into frogs. At least, not unless they really, really wanted her to, and if she could change them back. Since such a feat is beyond her yet in any case, she contents herself with pulling a disarmingly silly face and keeping an eye on Elisa and Borat as the group sets off for Cauldron. If she has a moment, Myvannuii will poke through the stuff from the smithy, her curiosity drawing her to anything unusual.
Check result 20+:
You notice there are two distinct types of document, written by the same person. One set of sheets seems to be a record of financial transactions; you think you recognise Ignan numerals in one column. The other is some kind of prose, it seems.
Check result 25+:
Several residents of the Golden Coin are curious about the party's business. Does anyone wish to discuss the matter with them or ask about the news from Cauldron?
Several residents of the Golden Coin are curious about the party's business. Does anyone wish to discuss the matter with them or ask about the news from Cauldron?
Try as she might, Myvannuii finds the inscribed sheets the group discovered baffling, and she turns away from them only to try again in brief, unavailingly obsessive spurts. On the other hand, the distraction prevents her from spinning out too complicated a prevarication in response to the questions about the party's unusual baggage. Instead, she mutters darkly to herself in the abstracted fashion to which many wizards are susceptible until her lack of progress leads her to set the task aside and attempt to mingle less obtrusively among the clients of the Golden Coin.
A leather-skinned message rider from Cauldron jolts forward in his seat at Stone's description of the adventure.
"You've found the missing children!? And these are them? Hot damn! The folks in Cauldron will be keen to know this! But weren't there another one?
The whole city has been in a tizzy lookin' for the baker, Keygan Ghelve. I expeck he got out of town right fast once he knew folks were on his tail. The mayor put a bounty on his head, so he's a wanted man. 'Course, Skellerang's men couldn't find their own arse with both hands and a wayfinder, that's what I say between you, me and the lamp-post."
He turns around to another messenger loafing in the common room. "Zeb! You get on your horse and make your way to Cauldron, hell for leather. I reckon the folks in town will pay to hear about this!" Zeb agrees, and -- taking one stirrup-cup for the road -- gallops off down along the Cauldron road.
The children are tired and sore from the day's unaccustomed ride and are ready for bed. They're still in a daze from the events of the past few days, but they've stopped crying at least.
The children are tired and sore from the day's unaccustomed ride and are ready for bed. They're still in a daze from the events of the past few days, but they've stopped crying at least.
Myvannuii darts a look of alarm towards the messengers as she hears the exclamation of the one and the precipitate exit of the other. She stalks over to Stone, looking around for Bron, Daegan, and Gjoren so that they can all confer together. She explains her concerns briefly, "Although it's probably best if we are expected, I hope our rider has the discretion to find the guard first before crying the news to all Cauldron's corners. We are short one child, after all, and I'm still not sure what Flask meant by it. Too many matters unearthed by our investigations remain obscure for my tastes."
She frowns down at the sheets she still holds in one hand, then turns to the group again. "Since Flask's flight suggests there's more to these children than we know, perhaps we should keep closer guard until our own return. Shall we share the watch over them tonight? I could begin, or take the dawn watch, as it please you."
Bron appears to be going through the motions. He's been quiet since the fight in the smithy and simply agrees to whatever is being suggested without any real input.
Talking low to his companions, "We should keep a watch over the remaining children. It seems that they were not kidnapped merely by chance, but for something specific, although it is possible that only the child whom Flask abducted had whatever specific trait or quality was being sought after..."
The adventurer keeps a close watch on the children and the night passes without incident, fortunately.
The adventurers continue their journey onwards, making another stop at the Lucky Baboon Inn, and then continue until they reach the west gate of Cauldron. The two guards on duty eagerly hail the adventurers once they come within sight: "Welcome back, heroes! Lord Mayor Vhalantru, wishes to see you at once!"
Bron seems underwhelmed by the guards. He gives the rest of the group a cursory glance and then returns his gaze to the floor.
Stone bows to the guards. "I do not feel like a "hero." I am afraid we were not able to rescue all the children. I would like to make sure the children are returned safely first and then we will see the Mayor."
Myvannuii twitches her ears in mild annoyance, thinking that any overtures of audience with officialdom could wait until they have at least entered the town's walls, never mind delivered their charges. She follows Stone's lead, adding, "I concur; with respect for the Lord Mayor's solicitude, I would prefer to first inform the temple of Abadar, by which we were called together, and reunite the children with their guardian. They have been separated too long as it is, and we would like to set that to rights ourselves."
One of the guards winks and mutters: "I can't blame you; I'd rather get in the mayor's bad books than Father Iverson's. A few drinks and he'll probably forget the whole thing."
One of them trots off to inform the mayor.
============
The adventurers bring the children along to the Vault of Abadar, and enter the richly appointed church. An acolyte agrees to summon Father Iverson, and after a five minute wait, the cleric comes out to greet the party.
The priest's face is stony as he speaks: "Well, there are two of the orphans. Where is the third?"
He doesn't appear very grateful.
Bron fixes the priest with a cold stare. He opens his mouth to speak but instead shrugs his shoulders and lowers his eyes to the floor.
Myvannuii, still trying to find a way to tactfully answer the mayor’s unexpected summons, meets the cleric’s stern displeasure with what she hopes is equal restraint. Skin crawling with embarrassment, she starts to offer an explanation through a tight grin.
“Father,” she says, wondering interiorly if he really thinks they would be brazen enough to return two of the children while retaining the other for some nefarious purpose, and whether she should be offended or flattered by his estimate of their cunning in that case, “with Gjoren’s woodcraft we were able to follow tracks from Ghelve’s bakery until we fell upon bugbear slavers. After we defeated them, we learned that they had sold the children to an azer smith, who we located and confronted in turn. He refused to surrender. Now, while we rescued Elisa and Borat, the guardsman you asked Captain Skellerang to send with us, escaped with Terrem through the use of magic I was unable to identify. His motives remain unclear, but I will gladly ask the Captain myself if this was part of a plan which we were not partners in.”
Myvannuii forces herself to speak calmly and with even emphasis. The effort leaves her words somewhat clipped as she struggles to control her resentment, the knowledge of the delicacy of the adventurers’ situation as dubious mercenary outlanders proving little comfort to her consciousness of innocence. She awaits the priest’s prodding for details with as much equanimity as she can muster, wishing she’ll be able to navigate his questions without having to drag all of Cauldron into clearing the group of any designs on Terrem.
Father Iverson nods abstractedly. "All right, I will have a word with Captain Skellerang about this 'Flask' fellow. In the meantime, you can return these two children to Mrs Oakleg, and if you manage to recover the third one you can claim your reward."
He dismisses the group with a gesture and heads back towards the sanctuary.
Father Iverson nods abstractedly. "All right, I will have a word with Captain Skellerang about this 'Flask' fellow. In the meantime, you can return these two children to Mrs Oakleg, and if you manage to recover the third one you can claim your reward."
He dismisses the group with a gesture and heads back towards the sanctuary.
Stone bows and says the following:
"Understood, we will take the 2/3 of the reward now. You have so many pressing matters to deal with - we don’t want to bother you with it again with another meeting. We thank you most honorably for keeping your word and setting an example of honor and integrity for the community. I will share with the world how respectfully you treated us and how overjoyed you were that we returned two of the children.”
The quiet that settles as Father Iverson withdraws, street sounds only vaguely trickling into the Vault, feels faintly oppressive. Myvannuii sighs, discreetly stretching to loosen up after the interview, and turns to the others and the children. Addressing the latter first, she puts on a brave face and coaxes, “Sorry it’s taking so long to get you home. We just wanted to come here first because it was the priests who sent us to look for you. Now, it’s straight home to Mrs. Oakleg! Can you think how happy she’ll be to see you back? Let’s go!”
As she encourages the boy and girl, she hopes that she doesn’t seem too careless, but admits to herself that she will be glad to deliver them to their guardian. Managing children has not been a large part of her life to date, and she would much prefer to keep it that way, magic demanding (and rewarding) so much of her attention. Gently shooing them on, Myvannuii speaks lowly over their heads with the big people. “Once we see Eliza and Terrem safe home, I think we should find Captain Skellerang ourselves; I, for one, do not like having others act on matters touching me when I am able to go personally.” She shakes her head. “That is, if no one objects to rushing about this seething place all together. We can sift it all later – the children should be returned first.”
Father Iverson completely ignores Stone's logical argument. He doesn't even turn around.
======
Borat and Eliza are very eager to see Mrs Oakleg again, so the adventurers move along to her house. Along the way, they note that Ghelve's bakery is shuttered and the door is boarded shut. The two children shudder a bit as they hurry past, not wanting to bring up memories of the horrible events of a few nights ago.
Once they're within sight of home, Borat starts shouting: "Miz Oakleg! Miz Oakleg! We're back, we're back! They rescued us!" They break into a run and throw open the door and Mrs Oakleg hurries to meet them. The lines of worry disappear from her face and she begins to cry in gratitude.
"My little ones! You made it home...you made it home! Shhh, shhh; you don't need to tell me what happened. Nothing bad will happen to you ever again, mark my words."
A look of fear comes back to her face and she looks at the adventurers, mouthing the word: "Terrem?"
By now, Bron's silence is deafening. He's avoided any contribution to the conversations since the party has returned and Mrs Oakleg's silent remark has him staring at the ground and shaking his head.
Finally, he walks a few paces away from the group and stares off into the distance. You are sure there are tears in his eyes.
Sorry to see it go. As a late entrant, thanks for the opportunity to play in it. I'll just have to use that Cavalier concept in another game.
abstract xp - Bron L
hogarth,
Thank you very much for running it for us - being a GM is certainly a Herculean task. I'm sorry I haven't been able to do much on my end to keep it compelling for everyone, given the equilibrium I seem to have reached with my studies (Midterms this past week! Yippee!). Again, many thanks for having us; it was greatly entertaining.
Good luck!
Qunnessaa, alias Myvannuii
P.S.: Hmm... I couldn't quite think of a closing salutation like "Farewell!" that didn't look a bit weird to me on a messageboard, although that was what I was aiming for. Vale!
-Q.
Let me add my thanks to Hogarth for running the game (as it's been said - a lot of work behind that) and the players. A lot of fun and I hope to see some of you one day around a gaming table - be it PaizoCon or GenCon.
Over and out,
Ed
www.swordandpaper.com