Durnim:Valia politely accepts, and as she curtsies, your eyes are drawn to the prominent Holy symbol of the Goddes of Death Hapi that hangs on her chest, then drawn to her ample bosoms which it seems to accentuate. You recall that she is the top Priest/Priestess in the local temple of Hapi, and a representative of the Reapers, the organization tasked with hunting down unlawful/unnatural acts of life extension and necromancy.
Rubius:At the mention of Hill giants, a young dwarf you do not recognize chimes in, "We'll have to fight the hill giants before this war is over," he says forlornly, "And they say their leader- High Chief Nag Og Tir Tian Tim can't be slain. Invulnerable to might or magic, or so the stories go."
Kragg: "Cousin Kragg!"Zimtar begins, "good to see you out and about!"[b] Yimtar breaks in, [b]"A fine evening! Hopefully there's no altercations about!"
Based on your conversation, you're reasonably certain they want to fight to fight.
The ladies smile and blush, and offer you their hands politely.
Thurgrom: You think you recognize a few Dwarves you've seen about before, but mostly from the peripheral houses. Most of the real "power players" of the Peak are arriving fashionably late it seems.
Vargas: With the ease of the intrigue set you slip into the room and gather the layout, whereabouts, and dispositions of the nobility. You manage to snag several minor bits of juicy gossip you think could be turned to your advantage if need be.
Dvalin: As you give your speech you attract a minor crowd of on lookers, making a fairly strong impression on the room.
Current Effects:
Dvalin: 1 room influence point
Durnim- 1 room influence point
Kragg- 1 room influence point
Thurgrom 1 room influence point
Vargas- 1 room influence point
or specifically attempting to charm Gelda Goldbeard, who, though homely and nearing the end of her potentially fertile years (whatever the dwarf equivalent to a 35-37 year old human female is) is very, very rich. . .
(after that, more people will arrive in the 6 PM hour to interact with)
Rubius nods to the young fellow. "Oh there be a load of stories about him, alright. But we'll make him bleed like all the others, when it comes to it." He beams encouragingly at the lad.
Rubius decides to make himself useful by tagging along with various others of his crew and giving them a subtle read on the situation. "Kragg, this one is trying to lure you into saying something that he can make a fuss about. Lookout." He ambles over to Vargas and listens in on his conversation. "Compliment the food more. That lady there seems to really like it every time ya do. Probably helped arrange it." He claps their newest member, Dvalin, on the back and states "That was a mighty fine speech. You really roused some support for us with that."
Durnim's attention lingers on Valia Stormhammer, "I look forward to our dance later this evening, so we can get better acquainted. Please excuse me, to thank the celebrated lady of the evening."
He politely turns his attention to charm both Gelda Goldbeard and Asger Stormhammer.
”Not me, my friend. The others. The two of them...they’re better at demolition than tunneling, if ye catch my meaning.”
Kragg knew what he had to do. He didn’t like it, but the reputation of the clan was at stake. He had to distract his cousins and get their mood off of brawling. His personality and theirs were far different, but what choice did he have but to babysit them?
The conversation came easy enough. Good food and alcohol did that. But the thrust of it was that he had been assigned to leave the hold and to go into the wilderness...as a reward! An Oldstone, on the surface, a virtual banishment, because he had done well. Imagine where they would have sent him if he had caused trouble instead? He did what he could to implant the concept of consequences onto his Cousins without letting them knew that he had (with Rubius’ help) figured out their scheme.
Durnim: You turn your attention towards Gelda, and she appears genuinely flattered by it. You dance with her and then chat with her date Asger. He is a young and very eager seeming dwarf, barely an adult, but genuine and friendly.
Kragg: You keep an eye on your cousins, and throughout the hour twice intervene and diffuse situations that could easily have led to fight.
Rubius: You float through the hall watching and listening, picking up useful cues on how different dwarves might be influenced.
Finnius "Finn" Cirrus arrives with Eloise Rain; he is dressed in the bleeding edge of fashion, including a rather, if you're being honest, silly looking hat.
More minor house dwarves have filtered in now, and the beer and punch is flowing. The four piece string band continues to strike up dancing tunes and the dance floor is getting progressively more crowded.
Current Effects:
Dvalin: 1 room influence point
Durnim- 1 room influence point / 1 influence point with Asger/Gelda
Kragg- 1 room influence point / 1 influence point with Oldstones
Thurgrom 1 room influence point
Vargas- 1 room influence point
Vargas, Thurgrom, Dvalin still have rolls for 5 PM, and everyone can act for the 6 PM hour.
5 PM
Thurgrom introduces himself to his distant cousins, Asger and Broodfist Stormhammer, along with their escorts.
So far so good. But there was still something to do for this clan. To get the idea in the head of his cousins that this party wasn’t worth being at, because there were far more interesting places to be. At the rate of two potential fights an hour, he didn’t know how’d he make it through the night with them here. And for the sake of his clan as well! The repercussions of a fight at a time like this were unthinkable. Not that his cousins cared about any of that. Luckily, with no real entertainment here, they might well be prodded into buggering off.
Dvalin, having the attention of some listeners, does his best to keep the conversation going. In his experience, people - and especially his brethren - were stubborn about their opinions. Telling them something was not the way they believed it should be would be met with resistance.
It was much easier to gently guide the conversation to a topic in a way that made them come to the wanted conclusion themselves. That was even easier if it was on someone else's behalf, as the speakers motive was less likely to be called into question.
And his life WAS very much saved by his new companions, so he hardly had to get creative in letting people know about their accomplishments and worth.
6 PM
Thurgrom attempts to make it through to the crowd surrounding the Cirrus twins and introduce himself.
Thurgrom: Asger is young and eager, very friendly, but Broodfist seems like he's looking for an angle. As your talk to them, you get a feeling that he's running some kind of con, or looking for one to run at any rate.
Dvalin: You continue telling tales, and though the dwarves that surround you have shifted some as you went, you have kept a steady stream of some listening to you. There are a fair number of younger dwarves who seem especially entranced by any tale of violent action.
Kragg: You stick close to the Oldstones for a while, but as the 6 PM hour wears on eventually they find themselves a new target- Rilbis Coal, a Fire Dwarf who owns a smelting business and several other properties in the Red District. You go to intervene, but then very quickly the conversation turns to real estate- the other true love of the Oldstone clans, and the pair begin working out the details to purchase some of Rilbis's properties (he having lost a hand in the recent battle is looking to scale back). You feel that you can safely turn your attention elsewhere in the next hour, having successfully guided them away from potential pitfalls.
A hush went through the entire ball room shortly after the clock had struck 7 as Cinnamare Ironfire arrived. While her date, Duwain Dundlemore seemed singularly out of place beside her, the Fire Dwarf maid, and current acting head of House Ironfire was radiant in a magma red gown, complete with rose gold trim and wearing a necklace with the largest ruby you'd ever seen, all of it enhancing her natural womanly charms.
A few minutes later, another hush hit the room as Countess Cheryl Dawnstone arrived. Dressed in an appropriately demure black, the natural beauty of the foreign Countess shone through. With her husband's disappearance, the control of House Dawnstone fell to her, and she made the delicate choice to arrive alone to the ball.
Current Effects:
Dvalin: 1 room influence point (2 applied to others)
Durnim- 1 room influence point / 1 influence point with Asger/Gelda
Kragg- 1 room influence point / 2 influence points with Oldstones
Rubius- 2 room influence points
Thurgrom 2 room influence points, 1 influence point with Asger & Broodfist Stormhammer, 1 influence point with Cirrus
Vargas- 1 room influence point
Vargas still have rolls for 5 PM, Rubius and Durnim have rolls for 6 PM, and everyone can act for the 7 PM hour.
At 6pm Durnim greets his kin, Finnius "Finn" Cirrus arrives with Eloise Rain, when they arrive.
At 7pm Effendi Durnim greets Countess Cheryl Dawnstone, when she arrives.
Khazuk, always a part of Kragg, remained silent. Try as she might there was precious little information she could give that wound help Kragg in what he really needed to do: impress the important nobility.
So Kragg did what any Oldstone would do without a chaperone...he talked shop. Drawn into the same desire as his cousins to increase the land owned by his clan, he joined in the deal making. The three of them made a ruthless team, with the two of them playing hardball and Kragg ensuring a lack of conflict.
His Familiar kept trying to get his attention. Something about someone important or such hogwash. Leave to a bird to not realize that true influence came from having property rights to the stone itself?
Rubius decides to make himself inconspicuous and see if he could pick up any morsels of information by moving quietly around the room. Unfortunately, he proves less than subtle at moving through the strange world of high society.
Thankfully, he proves more adept at picking up pieces of information with his sharp sense of hearing, honed from years of surviving off of his ability to hear a small animal moving in the brush.
7 PM
Thurgrom diplomatically makes his introductions to Cinnamare Ironfire and Duwain Dundlemore, then a very respectful greeting to Countess Cheryl Dawnstone.
After a few minutes of transition with Thurgrom greeting Countess Dawnstone, Durnim seeks out Valia Stormhammer for his saved dance.
Kragg: You and your cousins close the deal, then share several rounds in celebration! Though not usually generous, they offer you a portion of the profits once the money has been collected!
Rubius: You move through the crow silently for a while, then focus your efforts again on gathering gossip and interesting dynamics. You notice two minor house dwarves who are each surreptitiously checking the other out, and with a swift introduction, set them and together from there the two become inseparable!
Durnim: 6 PM: as you talk to Finn Cirrus, eventually after he has some drinks in him he becomes ruminative: "The Clouds were our birth right, and we lost them! Centuries of indignity, and cloud dwarves on the ground. My family is wealthy here, and powerful, and the Kings and Queens of Nimbus have made Goldpeak their domain, but once we live in the sky! Why can we not again!?"
7 PM: You speak with Countess Cheryl, and she thanks you again for the help with the caravan. She mentions that she is thinking of sending agents to contract with mercenaries for the upcoming war.
8 PM: You dance with Valia Stormhammer, and chat with her for a while. After your dance she opens up about the ambitions of House Stormhammer, "My father nearly destroyed our house. We had to go before the council and have him removed from leadership. We are children of Bruidon Storm every bit as much as the Thunderbars, but they have risen and we have only fallen. But I will find a way to take back our family's prominence, and make the name Stormhammer feared again!"
[b]Thurgrom:You seek out Cinnamare Ironfire, and very quickly it becomes evident how dull she finds Duwain Dundlemare. You remember that his family is a striving one- minor nobility, but with a proud father who sees them as more than they are, but Duwain seems ill suited to social climbing. As you hand her a drink, Cinnamare's hand brushes yours and your eyes lock for a second. A friendly gesture, surely, or was it something more?
Current Effects:
Dvalin: 1 room influence point (2 applied to others)
Durnim- 1 room influence point / 1 influence point with Asger/Gelda, 1 influence point with Dawnstone, 1 influence point with Cirrus
Kragg- 1 room influence point / 3 influence points with Oldstones
Rubius- 4 room influence points
Thurgrom 2 room influence points, 1 influence point with Asger & Broodfist Stormhammer, 1 influence point with Cirrus, 1 influence point with Ironfire
Vargas- 1 room influence point
Vargas still have rolls for 5 PM on, and Dvalin has 7 PM I believe
The storm dwarf can't help but grin, as it appears the stunning Cinnamare Ironfire might be showing interest. Perhaps some further study is required.
"Master Dundlemare", Thurgrom began. "Might I convince you to allow me one dance with Lady Ironfire?"
"Some people say the Cloud Kingdoms were just a fairy tale, but they were real. Castles built not on foundations of stone or earth, but on the clouds themselves. I've seen the drawings in the Annals of House Cirrus, in the oldest volumes. They were magnificent! The Cloud Speakers could move them too- imagine, not having to march your armies to war, but to simply will your castle over the area you meant to attack?
But then we gave them up; we forgot the magic, more and more we moved to the ground, and when the cloud giants struck- well, our path to the sky was lost. Ten hundred years- it's not so over long, is it?
But I've been thinking, what do you know about the Hidden Plateau where these orcs hail from?"
Countess Dawnstone: "Where I am from, in the Empire, they have a whole system for it- so much for matching and guarding, so much per battle, so much per dead soldier, and a fee for the generalissimo. The Condottieri they are called, and there are many bands. I'm sure I could convince the council to set aside some gold for them- but we'd need someone to travel to the Empire and negotiate the contracts and choose which bands to hire."
"I don't much about the Hidden Plateau. Why? What about you?"
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Thurgrom:You dance with Cinnamare, and you feel the rush and excitement as she presses close to you in the appropriate parts of the section, though the fire dwarf maid's cheeks are already quite red, you think you detect a hint of flush to them. After the dance she says, "I hope you will find me again later this evening."
Durnim: Finn nodes at your suggestion about the drawings, "aye, next week you should come to Cirrus Manor and I will show them to you.
They say the Hidden Plateau is shrouded in mists perpetually. Mists which seem magical in nature and hide the entrance- and what are mists but clouds come close to the ground?
I don't believe orcs could control the mechanisms of the Cloud Kingdoms, but perhaps they found some small measure of the magic and took advantage of it, no?
Wouldn't their plateau be as good a place as any to start looking for the Clouds?"
Later: Counties Dawnstone thinks for a minute then responds, "depending how you went you might make the trip in a fortnite to the World's End; think about it and confer with your companions- if you will undertake the journey I can arrange to have several captains meet you there."
Thurgrom bows in a deep courtly bow, and in a low voice, "I shall ever watchful of your beautiful countenance, my lady." The mynrughdaer leaves Cinnamare Ironfire to mingle back into the party, in hopes of throwing off any onlookers.
"There is a lot of uncertainty in the Gold Peak. A mission to the Hidden Plateau would be a counter-attack. We would need Gold Peak behind us. But, they don't need to know the real mission."
Durnim- you can tell Valla is somewhat interested, but it appears that you have a competitor for her interests in Perical Ironfire (Cinnamare's cousin, and a somewhat renowned Paladin of Recifer, the Lord of Choices and Time)
Other dwarves to arrive in the 8 PM hour include the aforementioned Perical Ironfire and Ariel Wrenwrain with Elric Cirrus (Wrenwrain is the house with the Griffons/Pegasi). Truly the ball is in full swing now! With representatives of every major house save Kilgain present. . .
8 PM
Thurgrom introduces himself to the newly-arrived nobles, leaving Perical Ironfire to last. If there is time, the mynrughdaer will try to talk with Percical about his paladinic duties, as Thurgrom comes from a house of paladins. Perhaps a good impression from Perical could lead to a better impression from Cinnamare.
High Nobility. Kragg thought with displeasure. The kinds of dwarves who loved gold but who would never be seen digging for it. Not his kind of people. Nor did he want to draw attention to himself with them. Rather, still happy over making the deal, Kragg decided to just enjoy himself for the evening. He went to get drinks, chatting with other dwarves in the room and overall just relaxing.
Rubius keeps a close eye on the crowd, watching for any unusual pairings or any folks trying to slip off to be alone.
8pm
Durnim enjoys his time with Valia Stormhammer and tries to determine if she is a dis girl or a pursue girl. A dis girl wants to do the pursuing and believes obvious attention of her is unattractive in the boy. Pursue girls want to be pursued and wooed.
He also observes Perical Ironfire and refuses to compete for her attention. There are plenty of other ladies. He thanks Valia for the dancing and promises to call on her again.
Durnim: You would label her as more of a "dis girl" under that heuristic, she's the head of an ambitious if small House and a High Priestess of Death, so she is definitely active more than passive.
Thurgrom: Perical Ironfire greets you warmly. The fire dwarve's face shines in the light of the ball, and his impeccably tailored gold embroidered jacket is very impressive. "Ah, yes, the duties of a Paladin are endless it seems, but it is quite rewarding, on't you think? Some people worry the vows are too restrictive-- but I must tell recruits that is is only a vow of chastity not a vow of celibacy after all! But, Recifer gives us all choices, and leaves our fate in our own hands! What philosophy do you follow then?"
Kragg: You spend some time working the room and garner a positive buzz around yourself from the assorted nobility.
Rubius: As you are spending more time just observing, you notice several of the staff are acting strange. With further inspection, you identify three particular ones who are acting somewhat tricky. As you follow one of them towards the kitchen you catch a glimpse of something even more strange-- his ears see to point slightly for a second, then return to normal. You think even that he appears for a moment to have. . . whiskers? Fur?! But before you can get a better look he was into the kitchen out of sight. . .
Current Effects:
Dvalin: 1 room influence point (2 applied to others)
Durnim- 1 room influence point / 1 influence point with Asger/Gelda, 1 influence point with Dawnstone, 1 influence point with Cirrus
Kragg- 2 room influence points / 3 influence points with Oldstones
Rubius- 4 room influence points
Thurgrom 2 room influence points, 1 influence point with Asger & Broodfist Stormhammer, 1 influence point with Cirrus, 2 influence point with Ironfire
Vargas- 1 room influence point
Thurgrom: Perical Ironfire greets you warmly. The fire dwarve's face shines in the light of the ball, and his impeccably tailored gold embroidered jacket is very impressive. "Ah, yes, the duties of a Paladin are endless it seems, but it is quite rewarding, on't you think? Some people worry the vows are too restrictive-- but I must tell recruits that is is only a vow of chastity not a vow of celibacy after all! But, Recifer gives us all choices, and leaves our fate in our own hands! What philosophy do you follow then?"
Thurgrom nodded in agreement with Perical's assessment of reciferian dogma. "Well, being a Thunderhammer, you are inundated with paladinic philosophy at an early age, all the way to adulthood. Yet, as a mynrughdaer, the focus changes from the high values and ideals of paladins to the high values and ideals of the entire dwarven race. History never seemed to alive and so crucial until I took the vows of the mynrughdaer. My mynrughdaer teachings are now framed in paladinic ideals."
Thurgrom continued, "I feel both dwarven paladins and mynrughdaer so genuinely needed during this fractious time in dwarven history. Our people now look to Gold Peak for guidance and our very future."The storm dwarf scion leans in a conspiratory manner. "Now, young Ironfire. Any advice you can give concerning your dear cousin, Cinnamare?"
Rubius follows the suspicious fellow carefully, trying not to be conspicuous as he slips back into the kitchens.
Durnim will give Valia and Perical space and tour the ball using the excuse of drinks and food. He has fun without purpose.
Rubius:You follow the suspicious person, and he continues beyond the kitchen to a cupboard; after a minute of not returning from the cupboard you follow him in and find he has disappeared.
[spoiler=DC 15 Engineering if Perception was successful]You can tell that there's a room on the other side and think there's a way to get to it through the hallways.
Rubius casts a brief spell to help him be careful in this odd situation while Tawny follows him quietly through the kitchen.
Rubius notes the hole "Ooh strange... I wonder where this goes, boy?"
No, you would definitely need to be size tiny or smaller to go through the whole- nothing larger than a big rat perhaps could get through.
Stymied, Rubius casts detect magic to try to determine what the heck is going on here and if the fellow cast a spell to become invisible or to squeeze through the hole.
You think he was definitely tampering with the food and as you look further around the room you spy the bowl he was carrying perched out of sight atop the shelf.
With detect magic you catch no signatures- whatever power he used had to be a natural one (ie EX not SU or a spell).
It would be knowledge local to identify creatures with that type of ability, and knowledge nature to examine the body's content for poisons.
Rubius casts detect poison and looks around the cupboard.
There is definitely poison in the bowl. Detect poison will allow a Wisdom check to know the kind.
The type of poison is beyond your ability to recognize and you find yourself out of paths forward on this matter without assistance it seems.
Blissfully unaware, Kragg remained behind, enjoying himself at the party.
Rubius calls out to whoever is in charge of the kitchens. "Lookout! There's poison here! I want a full investigation! Stop serving anything!" He then rushes out to find his comrades and inform them about everything he's discovered in a hushed and hurt conference.
Hearing Rubius, Kragg called out in his loudest and most authoritative voice:
”Stop! Nobody panic. Poison has been uncovered. Send for the clerics and nobody leave!”
”Stop! Nobody panic. Poison has been uncovered. Send for the clerics and nobody leave!”
Thurgrom quickly looks around and slaps food or drink out of anyone's hand. "Don't eat or drink! Everyone away from the doors!"
Vargas had spent the evening watching and learning. His instinct to hang back away from the forefront of the crowds. He drank little while being actively at work, little thought of play despite the setting. Moving through he looked for the flow of social power around the room as groups formed and split. Looking for discussions of interest to his group, or other factions paying attention their new lands.
As the excitement breaks out with the declarations to the crowd Vargas moves in to backup his group, calming people. "We are dwarves, let us not worry about poison... Caution is called for... "