Lefty maintains his red-headed half elf disguise. Yes, let's find a place to stay, and find out what's going on.
"Reserve me a room. Will keep guard over Drost until his business is finished." Valessa smiles, but it comes out more as a sneer. "What part of 'don't draw suspicion to ourselves' did they not understand?" Shaking her head, she turns to Drost.
"Lead the way, I will protect you from any thugs or corrupt guards."
Yaz shrugs and sticks with Drost and Valessa. He says to the others "We'll be along presently, I'm sure"
Gaskar Drolp:
Gaskar Drolp replies back
"I believe the Inn here is called Dead Man's Well."
Gaskar Drolp quickly gets all his business done at the Forest's Bounty before departing out of town.
A two-story construction of stone and timber towers above the rooftops of nearby buildings and rivals the watchtowers for prominence.
A sign near its entrance depicts a stone well surrounded by weeds. Bronze letters affixed to the sign above the picture read “The Dead Well.”
Long-railed hitching posts frame a wide stoop and tall, narrow pine doors providing entrance into the inn.
Wood smoke wafts from stone chimneys rising from the steep, wood-shake roof, carrying the promise of warmth and a hot meal within.
Once inside you can see an Old man running most of the inn and a attractive barmaid. running the mini bar on the first floor of the Inn.
Tobar goes up to the old man, and addresses him in a sultry voice
"Hello there. My name is Glarthana. We need dinners and beers all round, please. "
Zero accompanies Tobar to the old man. "He there. And I am Kari.." She added to Tobar's greeting and had almost used her real name as her fake fake name. "Nice place you have. And wow, what a nice sword is that on your hip? You look like you can still swing it, right? Anyway, what's on your menu? We're reaaaally hungry."
Valessa escorts the merchant back to the gate before nodding to him as he leaves. "On our own now. Time to get to work."
Valessa nods to the guards at the gate as she heads toward the Inn. Stepping inside, she nods to Tobar and Zero as she sits down. "Drolp finished his trading. Escorted him to the gate. You find out how much rooms are?"
Not yet, Lefty answers.
He turns to the barmaid. Hello, I'm Telsyn. Who do we talk to about getting some rooms for the night, Miss..?
Coming in with Valessa, Yaz gives the barmaid a wink before sitting with the others and saying "When does the beer get here?"
Valessa nods in response to Lothorian, but at Yaz's question she holds up her hand.
"I will be taking all meals in my room once I have it, thank you. If I have to carry my plate and mug up there myself, so be it." As she says this, she stretches her arms up as if trying to work out a knot in her shoulders, before resting her gauntlets on her helmet with enough of a metallic twang to be audible at the surrounding tables.
"It is rude not to take off your helm at the table when eating, or so I am told, and I would hate to be less than polite in a new town." The illusion of her face smiles warmly enough, but her eyes are darting frantically between her companions for a moment. "Please take the hint please please please..."
Daniel enters the inn and sits with the others, "I understand completely. A nice quiet meal can be so relaxing. It was a tiresome trip here and we are all do some relaxation. Maybe you can even take a nice relaxing bath."
When the food arrives he asks, "It's our first time in town, can you tell us of the local sights and ways? Wouldn't want to step on any toes."
Lothorian continues with the barmaid. He points to Valessa. My friend here would like a room right away. Can we make that happen?
Seemingly out of nowhere, he produces a gold coin.
Ben replies to Tobar
"Welcome to Deadman's Well, I hope then you don't mind our limited selection of meals and drinks.
As the The Conqueror’s Blade has a larger selection of meals and drink."
Ben replies to Zero
"I did some adventuring back in the day, can't really feel safe without my lucky sword.
As for Meals, we have meat and potatoes, stew, and recently added Boerenkool a type of Stamppot to the menu.
Looks a bit odd but has a good taste to it."
Ben replies to Valessa
"Rooms are 2 silvers a person, but the common sleeping room is 1 silver per person."
Jasmine replies:
"For rooms you talk with Ben over there."
Seeing the trick she give the cute trick but not impressed look as if she's seen that trick many times before.
"Nice trick, Ben is the one who rents the rooms."
Valessa nods to the Ben the proprietor, pulling out and handing the man a gold piece.
"One room for me then. Not sure how long will be staying, but at least a few days. As I said, I will take my meal there if there are no objections."
Turning to her fellow "guards" she smiles. "You are welcome to join me, though I can't say how much space we will have."
Hoping to enjoy himself a bit before some stuffy strategy session in a cramped room, Yaz leans back and says "Oh, maybe after a few beers, yeah?"
Grab a big pitcher and bring it with you. Time is an issue. We've got to figure some things out, Lefty says to the big barbarian.
Valessa rolls her eyes at Yaz, but nods.
"As you wish." Taking the key to her room from the older man and a plate of food with her other, she walks to her room and closes the door behind her. Finally.
Taking off her helmet by gripping the hidden faceplate and pulling it off, she is immediately grateful that her instincts were accurate as her armor returns to its normal color and shape, the hat having stuck to the inside of the helm. Thought it would do that. Would have left more of an impact than I want at this stage. Muttering to herself, she fishes out the hat and puts it back on her head, the illusion of an open faced helm returning with the rest of the illusion as she does.
Valessa puts down her fork and answers the door, allowing her companions inside. Closing the door behind the last one, she gestures to her physical helm sitting by her pack.
"Hard to eat while wearing that. Also, hat likes to catch on the inside of it... problematic for removing in public." She smiles and sits on her bed, setting her plate on her lap.
Yaz stands with the pitcher of beer in hand like a large stein that he is quaffing. He says “So what do we know now we didn’t a few hours ago?”
Zero is not up for going to their rooms and prefers to mingle with the crows in the common room.
When Lefty commands the group up, she relucantly joins Yaz.
Tobar has another drink (a slow one) before going to join the others. Lefty certainly isn't her boss and she has no problem letting him know that. As she comes in
"Just to be clear, Lothy, you're not the boss of me. Don't act like you are"
Of course. I just think we should put our heads together and decide what to do, here. We just got here, and I don't have the first clue about how to achieve our objective. Let's decide on the first steps.
We get one disguise, and it's not foolproof.
Valessa shrugs at Tobar's outburst.
"Someone has to be in charge, at least nominally. Not saying it should be me, but am saying we should make up our minds about that soon... if not now."
She gestures to her helmet sitting by her pack. "Was not saying that everyone needed to come up immediately. Was saying that removing my face so that I can eat might not be a good idea, at least in public. But since we are here, might as well agree on a course of action. First, any of you able to make the room less... observable? I remember hearing of magics that can do so... might be useful."
Perception checks for Zero and Tobar
Did someone hear Lothorian say Disguise?
Sorry, Valessa. I don't have any spells for that. We'll just have to speak quietly, unless one of you has a spell, he says to the others.
I suspect the barracks have a schedule. The baron must have some sort of routine. We need to know when we can catch him when he's vulnerable. We need to gather some information without arousing suspicion. We can probably start right here in the inn. Listen and learn.
Tobar also casts Detect Magic to make sure there are no unexpected auras in the room
When everyone is in the room Zero suddenly stands up. "I just thought of something."
She speaks a few words aracen words and looks at the meals that everyone is having standing up or on his lap.
"That would be rather fast, though..."
Yaz shrugs and says "I thought maybe one o' you might like to get the lay o' the land round here, find out what people think o' this lord and whatnot. But if ya want to just rush the keep, I'm game." and he takes a heavy drink from his pitcher/stein.
Valessa pauses eating while Zero takes a look at her plate.
"See anything?"
After hearing whether or not to keep eating, she shrugs at Yaz and Lothorian's musings. "Perhaps the lord is hiring mercenaries. We are posing as guards, after all... would not be out of the question for former soldiers to swing by the keep and inquire for work. If we are lucky might be able to get better access to the keep and schedule that way."
That could work. You'd be able to talk to the guards and get some info. We need to know when we can get to the baron. Maybe he's going to make an appearance somewhere. Maybe he's going to visit his mistress... Something...
"Maybe Valessa could pose as his new mistress..." Zero tries to make a joke.
"I somehow doubt that would work unless he he worships Zon-Kuthon." Valessa's smile is grim as she takes off her hat, dropping the illusion. The beauty of the glamoured face reverts back to the horrible mass of crisscrossing scars and burns, before returning back to beauty again as she pops the hat back into place.
"Think you or Tobar would be better suited to that role. Would probably be better off trying to be a guard in general. I would say I could aim for personal bodyguard if we had the time for it, but that could take months of building trust just to get considered. We have time, but not that much."
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As the others go upstairs, Daniel stays in the main room and eats, getting a sense of the others in the room.
He calls the server over. "The food was great. Could I have another please? I've just completed my stint as a character guard. Do you know of any similar jobs available in town? Workers in the inns usually have the best information on jobs."
you notice a number of folks in the common room and the ground floor glance at time to a spot with two men whom look like they are watching everything in the Inn.
Jasmine replies to Daniel
"Another serving will cost the same, "
she then continues with a whisper
"If your looking for guard or similar work, drop the idea as the Baron will only allow locals that job.
Also Watch what you say in town or you could find yourself in trouble."
"If anybody plays the mistress, I think it should be me :-).
Uh oh. Don't look now but there seem to be 2 people in the inn who are looking at everybody. Looks like some kind of agents or spies to me!"
"ya. I noticed them, too."
I think we should wander a bit, listen and learn. I'm going back to the bar to try and observe what there is to observe, Lefty says to Valessa.
He moves back towards the area, looking for the others.
Valessa nods at the revelation of spies in the building, being grateful again that she insisted on eating in her room behind a closed door.
"Will keep in mind. Perhaps someone more stealthy can follow one when they leave."
Opening the door for Lothorian, and any others returning to the common room of the Inn, Valessa nods. "Would join you but never been a drinker. Probably will set out for a stroll after my dinner then retire for the evening. In the morning we will see about getting... meaningful work, yes?" After all who are leaving have gone, she closes the door again and finishes her plate of food in silence.
I think I can follow them easily enough. It just depends on what that would reveal, but so far we've got nothing, so it's worth a try.
Lefty has some spells that could help. He returns to find Daniel, Tobar, and/or Zero.
What's going on, guys?
Daniel smiles at Jasmine, "Of course. He slides her a gold coin and says the rest for your wonderful service. If you have any other suggestions I'm open to hearing them as well." He waits for his next plate and starts eating it when it arrives.
"Lefty have another plate of this delicious food. It so much better than what we eat on the road." he says when Lefty arrives. He points his fork toward the two spies in the room.
Yes, don't mind if I do.
Lefty takes a seat and catches Jasmine's attention. I'll have what he's having.
He sizes up the two men. Well, I guess our best bet is to just hang around a bit. When they leave, I'll follow them and see where they go and what I can overhear.
Tobar wanders by the two watchers, casts a flirtatious come hither look at whichever is the more handsome, and then walks just outside of the inn, standing around at the entrance getting some air.
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Back in the main room, Yaz is about halfway through his pitcher and making unsubtle eyes at the barmaid. He's got a smile on his face and a decent buzz going, all he needs to round out this pleasant visit is a good fight.
Lefty watches, hoping one of the men will fall for the succubus's charms.
Site has been slow and problemmatic for me a number of times today, hoping it is fixed tomorrow.
Valessa finishes her dinner at last, seeming to savor the last bite. Always enjoy meals. Never know when will be the last. Shaking the thought away, she retrieves her helm again, placing it over her hat once more. The helm melts into the illusion with a brief ripple before her face returns to its "normal" glamoured look. Picking up her plate, she ensures that her pack is secured safely and her shield, sword, and quiver are fastened in places she can quickly draw them before leaving the room and locking it behind her.
Lefty scans the room, looking for likely places he could use to cast a spell or two, unnoticed.