Daerokh Arrandur's page

I understand, and to be 100% honest I'm surprised this didn't happen sooner. Since we're in a bunch of other games together I've seen you stretch yourself pretty thin, Dragoncat, and I was concerned you might need a break.

I had a lot of fun playing as Daerokh, and I loved the opportunity to play in a part of the Inner Sea region that hasn't otherwise seen a lot of coverage! And if Joie does take over, I'll happily pick up where we left off, even if I'm useless at mystery-solving in the sense of me sucking at making connections between clues and figuring stuff out.

E-HUGS FOR EVERYONE! *e-hugz!*

GAAAAH, IT TOOK SO LONG FOR ME TO GET BACK AFTER THE SITE WENT DOWN, I'M SORRY!!!

You and me and the rest of us, honestly. Take as long as you need, Dragoncat! <3

Same to you, Tuco! And thanks for the update GM! :D

Daerokh gives Joie a concerned look. He empathized with her situation. Torag knows he'd heard many a lecture on "duty to clan and kin above all but the gods," but the whole reason he was out here and not back at Dongun Hold was because he was his own dwarf, and would do his duty as he saw fit. He hoped Joie felt the same way about her duty, rather than stubbornly clinging to following orders.

Joie snorts; she had expected resistance, but clearly found it to be foolish.

"You have seen what Geb does, even here, outside of their own territory-- murder and necromancy. Nex is the country fighting them. If we put this into Nex's hands, it could help keep people-- actual people-- safe."

"Or it could restart a war that devastated these lands and would wipe Alkenstar and Dongun Hold off the damn map!" Daerokh exclaims. "I may know little about spellcraft but I know lots about history, and history shows Nex has just as much blame for the state of the Mana Wastes as Geb did."

"Um...to whom?" Daerokh asks politely.

Daerokh watches Tuco work, an uneasy look on his face as he readies the bucket. Then he lowers it when it's clear it won't be needed.

Jase had been thinking Tuco was kidding about the water, but when Daerokh returned with a full bucket, he looked over at the half-orc in alarm. "Ummm, I didn't think setting a fire was part of it...is it?"

"Probably not, but we're in the part of Alkenstar where magic can get away from you if you're not careful, so better safe than sorry."

Daerokh trundles back up to the room with the bucket.

"Just in case. Ready when you are, Tuco."

Daerokh trundles back down to the bar and asks the bartender for a bucket full of water.

Daerokh shakes his head.

"I've read a few things about spellcraft and magical items, but mostly in terms of how my clan can profit selling certain stones to magefolk, and this feels a little outside of my mineshaft."

Daerokh eyes the bartender warily...after dealing with so many pale bastards today, one more seemed suspicious.

"Maybe we should talk at your quarters, Jase."

"You got a place in mind? My lodgings in the city aren't really suited," Daerokh replies, wiping his mouth as he finishes his meal and quaffs the last of his lager.

Daerokh chuckles.

"Darn right, Tuco. I mean, you know how much those Jalmeray humans will pay for simple quartz?"

Daerokh listens quietly and continues eating.

Daerokh stops mid-chew at Tuco's announcement, and pauses to finish and gulp his food down before speaking.

"Good thing those of us at the station weren't aware of what you found at the time: the conversation could have gotten a lot uglier if they knew their prize was in our possession."

"Thank you, Ms. Saya! May your ancestors smile on you always."

Daerokh digs in, though he proceeds at a slower, much less methodical pace than Joie.

"I just hope we haven't kicked too big of a wastewasp's nest this time...The adventuring life has NOT been what I expected, thus far."

We'll miss you, Brainiac. See you in the Iron Gods game!

"I'll have the garlic bread and mushrooms as well."

"I'll take some ribs, pork tends to pair well with lager." Daerokh adds. "Anything you'd recommend to accompany those?"

Daerokh blinks.

"Wait, what's going on, Jase?"

Daerokh takes a seat with Tuco and blinks in a little surprise at Tuco's trick, but says nothing. When Saya introduces herself, he nods.

"Evening, Ms. Saya. I'll take your brownest and tastiest amber lager, please."

With my Bluff check, my pass message attempt auto-succeeds to the recipients. So Daerokh understood Jase's intention.

Really? All the same, Daerokh is relatively naïve and hasn't really trained to read people like he can read an environment...

Wisdom: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (14) + 3 = 17

Daerokh gives Jase an incredulous look.

"You're kidding, right?! Are you slagging me right now?!"

"I dunno," Daerokh replies, his brow furrowed. "Given what we've learned over the course of just a couple of days, we've REALLY put our foot in it...we broke off a branch of this conspiracy, but the root's still there...that's the right surfacer metaphor, right?"

Ranger level 3:

HP +9 (5+3+1)
Saves: Will +1 (ABP: Resistance +1)
Base Attack +1

Feat: Precise Shot

Skills:

Knowledge (Dungeoneering)
Perception
Spellcraft
Stealth
Survival
* Craft (Alchemy)
* Craft (Firearms)
* Craft (Weapons)
* Knowledge (History)

Ranger Stuff:

Bonus Feat (Endurance)

1st Favored Terrain (Urban)

"Living then...and what was in it for him?"

"And what kind of contact would that be?" Daerokh asks, raising a bushy eyebrow.

"Hrrmm...my thoughts exactly, Tuco," Daerokh comments.

I've been there. Was there this week actually in another game I was in, which just changed GMs as one book of the AP ended and the next began, that I'm still catching up on.

"Yeah, Joie's right," Daerokh comments. "We're just deputies, and don't really have the authority to do pinning of any kind. And even if Caeric's an @ss, he doesn't deserve THAT."

"Thanks, Tuco. No one got hurt except the desk."

"In an unexpected way: Mexerius here was sold out by his lawyer, who you just saw leave in a hurry, and it appears this "bloodstone" we've been hearing so much about is less a substance and more an artifact of some sort."

He turns back to the prisoner and raises an eyebrow.

"So...where do we go from here? I can't imagine Xanviar will let what just happened slide...even if we believed his bullsh!tting, it's clear Geb will consider you a liability now, and you're still on the hook for the deaths of these scribes...so the question is this: how much are you willing to tell before you're a dead man again, this time permanently?"

Daerokh yells in shock as Mexerius lunges for the kill and Faithe makes an admittedly badass display, his pelletbow rising instinctively, but then lowering as it looked like Faithe might have cowed both...men.

He waits for them to react before opening his own mouth.

I know how that goes. Please, don't push yourself too hard.

Wisdom: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16

Daerokh looks over at Mexerius, not sure whether to feel pity or disgust. He's so focused on the ghoul's reaction that he misses the dhampir's.

"Sounds like you're being thrown under the coach-wheels, Mexerius. You going to let him put words in your mouth? What's this really about?"

So excited for my birthday tomorrow! :D

"Okay," Daerokh replies. He turns to Xanviar. "Well, all of the scribes who've been murdered were looking into something called 'bloodstone.' And from what we've gathered, it sounds like this bloodstone's incredibly important in Geb. So your client, patriot that he seems given your description of him, is either having the scribes killed to take what they know because he's looking for said bloodstone, or having them killed to keep knowledge of it hidden because he doesn't want OTHER people finding it."

So do we tell him about the bloodstone or not? That's why Daerokh gave that "what do we say" look. He's honest and unsubtle, unlike the much more cunning Faithe and Joie.

As I said, I thought she was in the room already...

Faithe, Joie IS here, she just hasn't said anything since Daerokh let her in.
Daerokh shoots Faithe and Joie a look that says "How much do we tell him?"

"Bad traffic." Thayn curtly replies before shouldering his way into the interrogation room. "But I am here now, so we can dispense with the--"

He stops when he sees the ghoul seated at the table. His eyes widen in surprise, then narrow with what sounds like a resigned sigh.

"--Mexerius?" He asks, his tone turning from mildly annoyed to decidedly irritated.

The ghoul, Mexerius, leans back in his chair. "Glad you could make it, Mr. Xanviar. These jokers want to lock me up for murders that I had nothing to do with. Typical, you know--"

"Enough." Thayn cuts Mexerius off before turning to the others. "What charges are being brought against him this time?"

Daerokh's eyebrow raises at the lawyer's reaction. Even he could see that this was going to be an interesting conversation.

"Well, there's a number of things I can think of, off the top of my head," he begins, counting on his fingers. "Squatting in a condemned building, possession of stolen property, bribery, extortion and either murder or conspiracy to commit murder. For that last one, we're just trying to determine which. You've probably seen the headlines about the murdered scribes? Our investigations into them led us to your client."

"What took you so long?" Daerokh asks dryly.

The ghoul snarls. "We'll see. Where's my--"

There's another knock at the interrogation room door.

Daerokh, being the polite boy he is goes and opens it to peek out.

"Hello?"

"That doesn't quite help your case, you know: it only shifts you from the active murderer to the guy who hired that murderer. Or bullied him into it. Scribes are still dead, and you're still involved," Daerokh replies.

"Huh...learned something new today, and I'm not quite sure I wanted to."

Daerokh shudders at the idea of a vampire and a human ****ing.

"You being literal there? Vampire lawyer or something?"

Sorry for the delay in posting. Been beaten down by the summer heat and humidity.

Will post in the morning.

I know THAT feeling.

Daerokh wrote:

"I...don't suppose you wanna gloat or something about your lawyer coming to get you?"

"Don't need to." The ghoul responds. "He'll get here and take it all out of your hands."

Wisdom: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (16) + 3 = 19

Daerokh may not have been the best at reading people, but even he could read this...guy.

"Maybe you could tell us who your lawyer IS so we can get him here faster? From the way you're speaking it sounds like he should have been here by now, and he's not."

When Joie knocks, Daerokh goes to answer it.

"Ah, Joie, good. Come in. His lawyer hasn't shown up yet."

He opens it wider to usher her in.