Arkadi lingers in the back, hoping to avoid drawing more attention to himself, but speaks up with the others are close mouthed. "We were simply hoping you might spare a little of your time and wisdom, sir."
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Arkadi waves away the barkeep. "My thanks, but I drink nothing that would diminish my faculties. I need a clear mind to perform my duties to Iomedae." He seems unimpressed by the man but reluctant to refuse him entirely, and looks to the others for their lead.
~Level Up!~ Arkadi becomes Inquisitor 2 +4 HP (average)
Cunning Initiative (Adds Wis bonus to Init)
0th level spell: Detect Poison
Arkadi nods stiffly to the councilman and keeps his lips tight. When put to the question he keeps his answer brief. "It's perfectly natural for young men to want to protect their town and loved ones. However, being young, they sometimes lack the wisdom to apply their efforts where they're truly needed. I advise careful thought and sincere prayer so that they might improve themselves."
Arkadi walks with the others with a silent assent. To Davor's questioning he pauses before answering, obviously picking his words with care. "I sought them out. The source of my ...condition had the entire town in thrall. It was the Iomedaen crusaders who drove her away. When I was old enough to decide that I would choose my own path, I went to them and refused to leave until they took me on as an apprentice."
My apologies everyone. I pushed myself a bit and it left me kind of drained and unfocused. In my head I said to myself, "You're not very clear headed right now, better to post tomorrow." It's only now that Levelee has thumped me and I count the days I realize it's been a week and a half. Even saying that it doesn't feel real. It's annoying to be recovered enough that I feel like I can do things as long as I sit around and don't actually do anything, because doing something shows just how much I still haven't recovered. Enough whining. Again, I'm sorry, let me try and get something up.
Arkadi leans in close to speak in serious tones, sincerity giving iron to his words. "There is a dark cloud over this town. Already it brings misfortune and danger. Strange creatures attack in the day, frightening haunts roam at night, respected citizens die of 'accidents', children seem on edge. Surely you've noticed at least some of this." He sweeps a hand to indicate the entire town. "These are not happenstance. They are a poison that will grow worse if the source is not treated. As a sworn devotee of Iomedae and a friend of the Professor, I cannot turn my back on this." He bows his head. "But as I said, I can only bring justice to what I can see. Right now my eyes are clouded. So I ask of you, please let these learned ladies make use of your records. Their wisdom might be able to point me where I am needed."
Arkadi cleans his blade and mutters a soft prayer before joining the others. As he does so he mutters quietly to Levelle, "There was still something odd. See if you can get a look at the flute." As he joins the group his voice cuts across more loudly. "It's fortunate that only modest injuries were sustained today. But what about tomorrow? Insects usually come from a nest or hive of some sort. Perhaps these were lost scouts, and this was all there are. But it may be wise to check for reports of dead livestock with drained bodies. My sword stands ready if there are more monsters to slay, but I can only defeat what I know to fight."
Arkadi winces at the result of Levelle's spell. "...I'm getting too paranoid." Angrily he slashes at the one still clinging to Uriah.
Hey Levelle, CMB is rolled just like an attack. It's CMD that's static.
Arkadi looks on in horror as the unnatural creatures latch onto his companions. He barks out, "Someone stop that boy's fluting, it seems unnatural." If the stirges have already been dealt with he sees to that himself, otherwise he'll ready his faith and make a slash at the nearest one.
Needing no warning, Arkadi snaps into an alert defensive posture and draws his weapon.
Arkadi blanches slightly. "Drinking? In public? But..." His objections trail off and his bows his head. "We asked your advice, and you've given it. I suppose we'd be fools to seek it out and then ignore it. Thank you for your time."
Arkadi shrugs. "I've no idea. It isn't a ward against any sort of monster I know of." He follows after Jofra to the more remote corner. "Did you hear from the Professor why he wanted such an odd thing, Mistress? I would wager that it relates to the events of his death and what lead up to it. Which, as it happens, is one of the other things we're seeking facts about. Stories passed from one generation to the next twist and change, but you where there when Harrowstone stood and when it burned."
Arkadi, still in charming mode, bows to her. "Excitement, Mistress, is not something we lack. We have secret cults, frightening haunts, ghastly children's rhymes, and dark secrets that linger in the shadows. What we find ourselves short on is facts. Facts are the tool to pin a mystery to the ground and force its exposure to the light of day." He flashes the smile again. "As one of the wisest elders of the town, we were hoping you might supply us with some."
Arkadi gives the boy a respectful nod and turns on the charm, a transformation now becoming slightly familiar. A winning smile appears from nowhere on his usually dour face, his clipped words become delicate and polite, and honest sincerity radiates from his body. "The simplest explanation is that we're people who had a debt to the Professor, one he passed on to his daughter. Miss Kendra has asked us to look into the odd happenings that haunt this town as a way to discharge that debt. As Mistress Jofra has a long history with the town we were hoping to treat her to lunch so she might share some stories of the past with us. Fixing a thing when you don't know what part is broken isn't an easy task, you see."
Arkadi nods hesitantly. "Indeed so. I begins to seem to me that we deal with more than a single murder here. There is much strangeness in this town."
Arkadi quickly steps up to bolster Levelle's stiff efforts with a smile that is too easily charming. "That's a very interesting song, children. Can you tell me what it means? I bet smart girls like you know everything about it."
"It does sound very... exact. Like a recounting of a specific crime. Or a ritual of some sort. Does anyone recognize its significance?" Arkadi focuses his attention on the area around them as he thinks back through his studies.
Arkadi keeps his head low to try and shade out the painful sun, so his expression is hard to see. Still it's plain he sounds slightly troubled. "Odd. Children have their games and rituals, but those are usually well known in the area. And their dress... I don't recognize the words, though."
Arkadi arrives to the table late and looking poorly rested. But he does his best to sit straight and enjoy the meal. "You may be right. There is a conspiracy at work here, one we must discover and root out. That means we must mingle with the locals and identify those guilty." He pauses in thought for a moment. "I'd like to at least speak with this Ghoroven and ascertain his motives. And having our more scholarly versed members inspect the records is a good idea. Harrowstone may be the site of the crime, but its motivations and perpetrators lie elsewhere."
Arkadi displays some weariness as he stands. "I too will take my leave. In the light of tomorrow's day we can consider what we know, what we seek to discover, and what we should do next." With a bow to the ladies he departs for his own quarters for the night.
Arkadi frowns but nods. "Though reluctantly, I am forced to agree with you. My experience in these matters is perhaps a touch short on the practical. Theory, controlled conditions, a few experiments with the Professor. But one haunt was enough to send me fleeing into the night."
Arakdi stays silent, merely grunting in acknowledgement as the others apportion the tools. Davor's question seems to pass by him at first, but then it registers and he looks up with a start. His eyes meet the priest's for a long moment before he sighs and looks away again. "As I said before, when I was very young I had a close encounter with the undead. I still live and breath and eat the food of men. But some qualities of the risen cling to me. As you noticed, negative energies have a restorative effect, and I would not react well to the normal curative magics." He looks up again with a challenging light in his eyes. "But with the Professor's help I have learned to use this against them. I can sense their presence, see through the darkness that conceals them, and resist their attempts to drain my soul. I don't hunger for..." He hesitates a moment. "I don't drink the blood of the living or anything like that. In most ways I am a normal man. No, as a warrior of Iomedae I have weapons against the undead that most lack. In return I have a sensitivity to bright lights and a need to heal my own wounds. Is that really so bad?"
Arkadi seats himself and sets to meticulously cleaning his blade and garments of the stains of battle. "I believe the place is also haunted by a spirit of unfriendly demeanor. Its malign presence was almost overwhelming." Though his voice doesn't waver, he does not raise his eyes to match anyone's gaze.
Wow. Poor Arkadi. First he heals himself with an Inflict spell, a fact that most of the group picks up on. Then he acts oddly in response to a noise that no one else hears. Then he goes fleeing into the night for no perceptible reason. The boy doesn't look at all good.
Arkadi shudders and tosses aside the corpse. "We shouldn't be here anymore. We've disturbed something, and we need to leave NOW." Following his own words he looks both ways for danger, then sprints for the exit of the cemetery.
Arkadi stands baffled for a moment. Then, reluctantly, he calls on his inner nature and slowly turns about with his senses tuned.
Arkadi shushes the others at the noise. For a moment he freezes in thought, then he snatches up the severed upper half of the first centipede he slew and quickly marches to the door. Holding the corpse obviously at his side he pulls the portal half open, making sure to block visibility past himself. "Yes?"
Arkadi utters a slightly odd spell and his wound seals itself again. "Indeed, questions of discovery aside, this is not the most pleasant of places to be inspecting scrolls and relics. Let us retreat and assess our arsenal in a safer place." He wipes the ichor from his blade and helps distribute the items to be carried back. Spellcraft DC 16:
The creature's fangs score a painful scape where Arkadi's armor leaves his collarbone exposed, but he grimaces and shakes off the blow. His stance shifts to a slightly more defensive one, but he still thrusts up at the centipede with full intent to slay the creature.
Arkadi lunges at the second monstrous insect and slashes wildly with his blade. "Step back, I'll hold its attention."
Cursing himself for being too slow to protect his companions, Arkadi circles for a clear strike. His anger fills him with a divine wrath and he lets out a shout as his thrusts at the monster.
Damned cross posts, sorry about that. I'll revise it if I got the setup wrong.
Arkadi spins around and barks out, "Danger behind us!" He hurries to block the stairs and protect the others.
Arkadi looks around disapprovingly. "This place has not been well tended to. I don't believe it's been tended to at all, actually. I can easily believe it's been forgotten by it's former caretakers." He kneels down next to the sarcophagus and inspects it carefully for hidden dangers before he opens it.
Arkadi utters two shorts prayers. One to Iomedae to ward his path, one to Pharasma to forgive his trespass in the name of greater need. Those done he advances down the stairs, still following hte footprints.
Arkadi glances down and nods. "Indeed. One set. Presumably the Professor's, but we should still be on our guard." Drawing his sword and shield for comfort he leads the way down, following the footprints forward.
Arkadi waves a hand dismissively. "We are doing what is needed. If there must be an accounting later, I will stand by the righteousness of our actions." He steps forward and lifts the locks aside to allow entrance. "Let us not tarry. The night is not our friend, even here."
Doesn't Davor fall afoul of the last clause, though? If he's only got three spell slots at 1st level, then one spell is a third of his total. I can't think that Orisons count.
How to put it. There's levels of meta-knowledge. The disruptive sort is when players act on information their characters can't have or deliberately manipulate the system. The helpful sort is the players knowing what sort of genre the story is and what the ground rules are. What I was talking about was knowing "the PCs are part of the community; their actions have effects on the town and the citizen's attitude is part of the game". That means that I won't be distracting from the important parts of the game if Arkadi takes the time to talk to people and listen to their concerns. Keeping his reactions IC and not saying "oh, well I need to keep the Fear score low so he'll go make a speech in the town square" is the important distinction. It's like, in a Dracula movie, all that matters is the half dozen or so main characters. The fearful townsfolk and dark whispers are just window dressing. Dealing with them instead of researching vampire myths in the library would be a wild goose chase. If in this case The Town is a major character in the story, I'll know to treat it as such instead of trying to focus entirely on the "fight monsters" aspect. That will certainly be a major concern for Arkadi, given his nature, but it doesn't hurt to have the meta knowledge that it isn't the entirety of the story.
I have no problem with there being a trust mechanic, so long as we have some idea that it exists. I hadn't known about it before, but now that I do it'll play into some of my decisions. At this point I think we're still all sort of feeling out how this is going to work. A lot of games the adventurers move around a lot and don't bother putting down roots. If it's communicated clearly that "hey, you're going to be sticking around here for a good while, try and make friends and interact with the community" I don't have a problem with there being a hidden score for it.
I'm not absent. I was also waiting for the brothers. And since Arkadi was being a bit forceful in directing the action earlier, I wanted to pull back a little and give everyone else a fair turn in the spotlight. I know I have a tenancy to jump forward and I try and restrain it until I have a feel for the group.
Arkadi shifts uncomfortably before replying, "To be honest, yes, I can. But I'd prefer to have some idea what and where I'm looking before we set ourselves to this task."
Arkadi frowns. "I dislike sneaking in the dark like some night creature, but you may be right. A little deception for their own good is not too dishonorable." He looks around at the others. "A quiet visit this dusk, then on to Harrowstone? I suggest you all come armed and ready, if you still wish a part of this."
Arkadi had been leaning against a pillar outside, and moves to join the others as they finally emerge. "I must agree. Further, too much investigation may give our enemies time to go on the offensive against us." He takes a deep breath before addressing Kendra. "The Professor's body was desecrated at his death. Your Sheriff mistook it for part of his fall, but it's the method the Whispering Way uses to silence the ghosts of their enemies. I consider it almost certain now that they were the cause of his demise." He turns back to the others. "We should gather those brothers, gather what supplies may still be cached, and investigate Harrowstone without delay. Time, I fear, is not our ally."
As someone who is, honestly, still recovered from my own appendix experience last year, you have all of my sympathies. Fortunately it sounds like your mother had it treated well before I did, which should have limited the damage. I wish you all the best.
Arkadi shakes his head. "I make my prayers each morning and night, to both Iomedae and the pantheon. There's too much work to be done to spend more time in contemplation. But we'll bide a time outside while you pay your respects. There's a few things for us to discuss."
Arkadi frowns at being given the runaround. "The ones pertaining to Harrowstone. I understand your mandate is to preserve the sanctity of the departed, as well as the peace of this town. But it's already too late to try and simply hold off trouble. It's here, now, and only the judgment of steel can stop it now."
What sort of check should I be making here? Diplomacy to get them to be helpful or a Knowledge of some sort to specify just what we're looking for? |