"I shall be Karl. Can't say I've farmed before, but I know the land enough to fake it."
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I am updated as well. For Barcos I got some more HP, BaB goes up to 6 (finally giving me an iterative attack), saves and skills increase, finally got 5th level spells too! I also got Mental Strength from urban druid, making me immune to charm and compulsion effects. Baron Barksley got some more HP, a BaB increase also giving him an iterative attack, a feat (improved natural attack), and some more skill ranks. He also got bullying thrill, giving a +2 morale bonus on attacks and damage until the end of his next turn on a successful combat maneuver.
Barcos eyes his dog's meeting with Taldogis briefly before turning to the reunion between siblings. Earnestly happy to see a family reunited, his normally crooked half-smile spreads to cover his whole face. He stays quiet, not wanting to disrupt the clearly powerfully emotional moment. There would be time for words, assuredly many of them, but that time would be later. For now, he is simply happy for a sister reunited with a brother she thought long lost.
Barcos smiles to Faenia, "Quite well, I'd say! Found a...person of no small amount of interest in Yanmass. You'll meet him soon, I expect." When they meet with Martella he nods, "Discretion's a fine plan. Let's be off."
Barcos gives a wave and a friendly nod to Faenia, "What ho, friend! Good to see you again."
”Well, pleased to make a friendly acquaintance with you, Xan. The name’s Barcos, and this ‘ere hound is Baron Barksley. Don’t be alarmed if he talks to you, does that from time to time.”
Barcos gives a slim smile, "Thank you, truly. What's been done to the boy's a crime, but he's not to blame. Seems like a brave lad, holding up surprisingly well given the circumstances."
"The Circle is quite powerful, moreso than one being, no matter how strong, can take on alone. Their existence is well hidden, our knowledge of them beyond a single name, scarce. Can you watch over the boy unseen, keep him safe like some sort of morbid guardian angel? He's...well, I hate to say it so coldly, but he's evidence against them. If the star witness dies before his appointed time, our ability to find them falls apart. If you can do that, then you're part of busting the real culprits here."
”Besides, the boy’s mortal, same as the rest of us. He’ll die eventually, once he’s had his natural span of life. Then the Lady of Graves can see his case. A handful of decades makes no difference to eternity, but a world of difference to those like us.”
”If he’s commited crimes, they’ve been without his knowing or consent. If it must come to blows though, I’ll do my bit to protect him.” He nods to Baron Barksley as he murmurs a druidic incantation, casting a spell on his trusty hound.
Though he doesn't show it, Barcos finds the name of his new crossbow quite funny. A weapon made for hunting down those much like himself. He nods to Marius, "I concur most heartily. "
Barcos does so as well, hoping primarily to do what he can to keep Carrius in as good spirits as possible given the boy's odd circumstances. Though both he and Baron Barksley are in their high society guise, he's sure a few subtly well-placed words by his loyal hound can convince Carrius he's still the same Barcos underneath his magical disguise.
Barcos, too, kneels before the boy. He gives him an easy smile as he speaks. This would not be the first lost child he's tried to comfort, and he does not think it will be the last. "I'll let you in on a little secret, Carrius." He points to Baron Barksley, "You see my dog, there. He can talk, sometimes, only folks who are tough and brave can hear it." The Baron sidles over and gives the boy a good long look before saying, "A dog walks into a bar. He heads on up to the barkeep and says, 'I can't see a thing! You know, I'll open this one." He pauses for a moment as he lets out a soft bark and growl before saying in Common, "Doesn't translate quite as well from dog." Barcos chuckles, "No it does not, my friend. I appreciate the effort." Turning back to Carrius he says, "Well, his jokes might be a bit odd, but I bet you still heard him, I reckon? You seem the type to be able to."
Barcos sends the Baron in to be similarly menacing, as he says to the cultists, "What my frightening companion says is true. Got no desire to kill you, it can go a much better way for you folks."
Barcos gives Baron Barksley a ruffle between the ears, murmuring a druidic chant as he enhances his companion's fur to be like shaggy redwood bark.
Having gotten the ram to calm down from actively murderous, Barcos hangs back with it while the group finishes searching the compound. He sends Baron Barksley away for a moment, asking him to use his collar of disguise to make himself look like one of the great white dogs that Taldan farmers use to guard sheep before returning. Taking a different approach, he simply sits near it at a safe distance, humming a shepherd's tune he learned as a boy while chewing on a stalk of grass. Herd animals like sheep trusted their own, and he did his best to make himself seem like one. He says calmly to the ram while maintaining the mystic connection possible from his druidcraft, "Your master is hurt. We can help, but only if you let us. Come with her as she comes with us, and we will heal her as best we can."
Barcos makes a somewhat bashful expression, ”Well, it’s not exactly a surrender. It seems intent we should not approach it’s master. I can try to communicate with it further, but it may take some more time.”
Barcos motions to Baron Barksley to back off. The ram was alone, it's master dead. To kill it now would be to kill a scared animal. There was no honor in that. He lowers his head and stomps several times, a show of force and restraint, as far as sheep are concerned, as if to say, "I could butt you, but I won't." He then raises his head and locks eyes with it, extending a hand to it in the same way he had to the elephant. The connection was wordless, but the message was, "Be calm. We have no wish to hurt you. You can be free from fighting, and find soft grass to eat, gentle hills to roam, and many lambs to raise."
Barcos tries to fire a couple of bolts at the ram as well, but his aim is rather shoddy.
Barcos takes the full brunt of the electric sandstorm. With no good way to enter the room through this hallway, he darts back around through the hallway, running with magical speed to get outside near Elmar.
Barcos' eyes go wide. Though not a stranger to violence, this was next level. Baron Barksley is absolutely chuffed at the violence, but refrains from talking. A speaking dog would not help this situation any more. Barcos takes a moment to compose himself before saying, "You know, you would do quite well to lay down your weapons, as my companion suggested. No need for you poor folks to join your officer on the way to Pharasma's judgement."
Barcos calls out in Common, "It's a grassling! It's a fey, not a plant." He then switches to Sylvan, "We have no desire to hurt you! Help us, or at least stand aside, and we'll do what we can to help you in return." The druid then nudges the Baron to head in and attack the human.
Barcos creeps closer to the elephant. While the song of the city is weak out here, he can still connect to beasts. He takes a deep breath and his posture gets noticeably more confident as his gaze grows sharper. He reaches out a hand to the elephant. It's a wordless method of communication, but it serves to say, "You deserve to be free. We can free you, if you let us."
Baron Barksley begins to float into the air. He lets out a brief whine of terror dealing with something he absolutely doesn't understand, but Barcos places a hand on his flank and says softly, "It's alright, friend. It's a spell that lets you fly. Think about going forward, or up, and you'll go there."
Barcos nods, "Grim but necessary work. Care to do the honors?"
Though Barcos is charming, he's not quite charming enough to get anything out of the assailants.
Barcos takes a step back from the lions and places a hand on the back of his canine companion. He mutters a phrase in druidic and Baron Barksley's mighty bite gets just a bit stronger.
Barcos raises a hand and calls out a druidic incantation. The tall grass begins to twist and write, growing rapidly to ensnare the ambushers.
The Barcos that arrives at the meeting with the Baron is not even recognizable as the hobo druid, and his loyal hound is unrecognizable as well! Rather, he is in his guise as Reginald Weatherby, the foppish half-elf with his "new pet," a somewhat scraggly little terrier with a pink bow around his neck. If any of the party comments on it, the dog speaks in a voice that is unmistakably that of Baron Barksley, just a fair bit more high pitched. During the meeting with the Baron, Reginald is the height of etiquette, delicately nibbling at the provided food and creating subtle distractions so his canine companion can eat his fill as well, "It is ever so lovely to know that you're back to sleeping well." He nods emphatically to Elmar's points, "My, my, a skilled mage with a razor-sharp sense of politics. I see I've got competition."
Barcos also notes to the Baron that he won't be in attendance at the ceremony. Once the party is finished up with the Baron, he says to the party, "Well gods above, I am beat. I feel like I could sleep for a year."
Barcos places a hand on Baron Barksley's flank, healing his loyal hound's wounds.
In another, more insectoid life, Barcos would be on the picket line as well, but in this one, he does what he can for the peasantry.
Not noticing the trap, Barcos nods to Shendra, "More wasps? Spirits, these divs love them, it seems."
Barcos laughs at his faithful hound's antics and ruffles the fur between the dog's ears before looking Elmar in the eyes. His tone is mirthful, but there's a steely edge beneath it, "No. I am of one world. One of squalor, of suffering, of the heavy cost incurred by the fortunate who see my fellow paupers as disposable. I respect those caught between them, but I know the world in which I live, and I know that I cannot leave it behind."
Barcos chuckles at Rose's introduction of him as Lord Weatherby. "My ragged appearance belies my high station in...nah, I jest. Reginald's a character I've got that's useful when dealing with the gentry. The name's Barcos, no fancy titles beyond that." Though initially speaking in a voice that drips with the idle privilege of Taldor's upper crust, he switches to the brogue of the Taldan lower classes almost immediately, sounding a bit more natural as he does so.
Baron Barksley bites at the div on the ground, trying to finish her off. Barcos calls out to his monkeys, ”Only attack the women with claws, and go
He directs them one square to the south.
Barcos speaks in the sibilant tongue of the druids, tracing sigils in the air with his hands as a teeming throng of monkeys pour in from thin air, chattering and screeching and adding an odd levity to the grim scene.
He nods, "I can do my best, certainly."
Barcos kneels beside the man, taking his hand, ”I’m sorry I can’t do more for you friend.” He rummages through his pack and produces a worn tankard from his mess kit, invoking the spirits of the land to rather paradoxically produce some water to fill the cup. ”Here, take this. Drink it slowly, stop if nausea overtakes you. We will be back, I promise you this, and I’ll help to get you back on your feet.” As the druid stands he shoots a look at Baron Barksley, urging his canine friend to stay quiet. A talking dog might just frighten the poor man to death.
Barcos fires his crossbow at the div. There wasn't much he could do the them, with such strong physical resistances, but it was something.
Barcos moves forward and murmurs a few words in the cryptic tongue of the druids, enhancing his crossbow’s punch factor.
Barcos stands beside Faenia in surveying the room for threats or opportunities, though his usual perceptiveness fails him.
Barcos pulls out his crossbow and fires it at the barghest. The arrow goes quite wide.
Barcos places a hand on Baron Barksley's back and the hound's fur takes on a slightly barklike color.
"Well, this does feel like a place that a nightmare controlling horror would spend it's time."
Barcos nods, "Unfortunate, but necessary. I'll do my best to tend to her when she wakes up." He thinks for a moment, "Anyone have rope? Could be worth tyin' her up."
Barcos takes a moment to assess how earnest her desire for the group to stop it.
Baron Barksley bites at the medusa, trying to drag her to the ground. Barcos, meanwhile, draws his crossbow and murmurs a few words in Druidic, enhancing the punch of it’s bolts.
Barcos mutters a few words in Druidic, giving Baron Barksley a pat between the ears as he does so. His hand glows with soft light while he does this, light that the hound seems to absorb. He says quietly, "Keep your eyes away from her, but give her hell."
With that, the hound rushes in, trying to bite the medusa.
He doesn't do too well, however.
Barcos nods, "Afternoon then. Must say I'm curious how you came to be sitting here so serenely, seemingly private knowledge of just how this elephant came to be petrified." He mutters under his breath, "Bloody bastards, any who'd toy with beasts for vanity's sake."
Barcos nods up to the crest, "Sign of the Taldan 'Orse right there, newer than the manor by a wide margin. Could be they decided it needed a makeover for clandestine meetings and whatnot."
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