"Probably best not to disturb them for the moment. It looks like they have a lot of work to do and we dont exactly have a small amount of things to get done this morning ourselves."
Yes I am indeed cleaning out my room. At this point I will be filling my saddlebags and offering to let Seebo rife behind me so that we can get around quicker.
"Agreed. Lets go check out that halfling first then while we have time. I'm going to go and get Nightsong first though, I have a feeling we won't be back here for a while."
"I'm pretty cerain the dead halfling was not Fenwick since I am certain that it was Fenwick I met last night. Do you have any ideas on anything else we should do? Do you think we should go and have a look into the dead halfling to see if there is anything we can do?"
"I think it would be best for us to actually see if we can pick up the jobs as caravan guards. If nothing happens to the caravan, at least it is a few easy gold."
"He was advertising for caravan guards was he not? One moment and we can look at the notice..."
Heading to the message board where the notice was spotted, Davkul points it out..
DM Charles Evans wrote:
Merchant wishing to travel to Citadel Adbar seeks companions of the road:
Juzilan Greyfrost, Merchant of the Amber Traders League of the city of Sundabar, is looking for reliable travelling companions to escort him to Citadel Adbar in time for the Midwinter Fair of 1384 DR. Given the recent reports that goblins driven by desperate hunger may be preying upon travellers upon the Adbar Run, the aforementioned Juzilan is seeking companions who will NOT BE AFRAID of a little peril, and who will be used to rough camping conditions given the limited number of settlements to be found between The Fork and Citadel Adbar.
Travel expenses of such companions will be met, and a modest donation to represent his thanks, upon safe arrival at the gates of Citadel Adbar, will be made.
Candidates for the trip are to meet in the former offices of the Redstar Mining Company, for a discussion at about noon, on the 30th day of the month of Nightal.
THOSE OF NO MORAL STANDING WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED.
With a bow from the neck towards Orcbane and his troop, Davkul gives his thanks before bouncing out of his chair.
"I beleive we will find that we do not have much time now before we must meet with that merchant. Shall we get moving as quickly as we can? I certainly want to make a good imprssion on a possible employer."
"The only suspicion I have that you have not touched on is that the man was most likely hiding from somebody. The clearest evidence of this is that he was using an assumed name. Pophilov is not a name, but the Undercommon word for 'nobody'. As a matter of fact, that is one of the major factors that piqued our interest."
Davkul stops for a second and starts to rub his chin in thought."Come to think of it, it could be that that attack on the inn last night was nothing more than a distraction so that somebody could come in here to poison his water. We ourselves are proof that his room is not difficult to find and get into."
"Delegated Authority eh?" Davkul gives a slight smirk as he begins to rattle off information in a brisk but efficient manner.
"A few things to check up on, his belonging have been thoroughly searched so this was most likely not just an assassination. You will probably note the piercing marks on the soles of his boots.
You may also want to check up on who this man actually is because as I recall, Popilhov is the undercommon word for 'nobody' and would never be used by any self respecting man.
Lastly please be very careful with that water jug and glass as we are almost certain that it was dark reaver powder."
Closing his book with a snap, he looks up the the apparent captain. "Is there anything else you would like to know? We don't have all day since we are due to go represent our group to a local merchant in an hour or so."
Sitting down in the desk chair, Davkul pulls out one of his tomes and opens it at a random spot, appearing to be hunting for something within.
Audibly to those outside the door, Davkul growls out: "And make sure no-one touches that damn water jug, the poison could have been in there!"
"If we cannot trust the law and those who are supposed to do what is right, we must do whatever we can by ourselves. But we must remember that order is not always about what is right or wrong, for there is often also order in the darkness."
"It is entirely possible, perhaps it is best we collect what evidence we can now before we head on to the meeting, perhaps we can find out more there." With that Davkul begins smoothing out and rolling the scrapped sheets of paper so that he can examine them later for clues, or hand them on to someone in a higher position of authority.
Casting his own detect magic, Davkul looks around the room, meanwhile beginning to search for evidence of some kind as to who the Pophilov man might have been, or even better, who killed him.
With a sigh, Davkulshuts the door behind him and leans against it for a moment. "How you got here first, I am not sure, but I am almost glad that you did." Jerking his head towards the body on the bed he asks, "Any idea how or why yet?"
Questions for the boys:
What do they know of the 'other' man meeting with Mr. Pophilov?
How long was Mr. Pophilov here?
Ask after anything they thought might be suspicious these last couple of days.
"Heh, smart lad you are..." reaching into his pocket, he pulls out 2 gold pieces. "How about this, a gold each for taking me to Mr. Pophilov's room, and a custom prank just for you boys if you will keep quiet about this. Nothing dangerous on the prank now though."
Davkul approaches the boys and quietly asks them...
"Excuse me boys, do you happen to know where Mr. Pophilov has gotten to? He was supposed to be meeting me for breakfast and he is very late now. I know he likes to be underground so I though he might be down here, but it looks like I was wrong..."
Bluff Check (if needed): (1d20-1=11)
I'm willing to place my bets on below ground. So I'll go below and have a nose around until I either find something of interest, or I judge 10 minutes have gone by. In which case, chances are I think I will either have found something, or I was wrong.
If Mrs. Prestwick and Black Baz are indisposed at the moment, perhaps an efficient use of our time would be to visit the blacksmith first, then ask around the locals for any rumors about the merchant once we are done there.
While I am not going to go with you, I will add 10g of my own funds to assist the pair of you in purchasing some Cold Iron armaments, since my own armaments primarily come from my own spellbook. That should be enough to maybe even get Nim a glaive instead of just a dagger.
That having been said, I would like to make an inquiry about purchasing a Cold Iron shaft cap for my quarterstaff, just in case I ever get into dire straits again.
"I have an idea, why not have 2 of us go to represent the group to this merchant, perhaps Donnie and myself or Seebo, while the others go to retrieve this chain and see what we can make of this area during daylight hours. This way, we will not have to worry about missing the appointed time."
"Do you recall what material that chain was? I did not get a good look at it. From what I can tell, something seems to be hunting those of the church of Midnight and those fae and worse are probably involved." A cruel smile flashes across Davkul's face, "Come to think of it, I wouldn't mind doing a little hunting for follwers of that usurper myself..."
Davkul's ears prick at the sound of this news. Turning to the group in this discussion, Davkul asks if there was any description of the poor halfling fellow, and (if the description resembles Fenwick)where to find the shrine, a slightly desperate look in his eye.
Assuming that everyone is about to retire to bed, will you prefer to get up early and prepare all your spells before breakfast, carry out preparation but leave some slots open, or wait until after breakfast?
And whilst Nim has removed the satchel with him, he has left the map on the table, so unless he comes back to collect it, could someone else please add it to their inventory?
Before I head off to bed, I will collect up the reading materials that are left on the table and ensure they are stowed safely away. My spells will be prepared before breakfast. I would also like to puchase a small glass of wine before I leave. This wine I will be sealing into a vial and stowing in my spell components for when I eventually learn the False Life spell from that scroll.
Growling in frustration at not being able to read anything pulled out so far, Davkul pulls a second roll of parchment from his pocket (from Fakcal) and tries to read that one.
Nothing spectacular happening from me durning Easter, so I will be a ble to continue posting.
Very strange... For some reason, they only show up when I am editing my profile. I will post them here and separately in my profile now. Common, Gnome, Infernal, Undercommon, Chondathan, Netherese
EDIT: Also put my explaination of what Nightsong can do under his section(now spoilered for ease of use)
After a minute or so of frowning over the text, Davkul declares "I'm not entirely sure what this writing is, I'm probably going to have to sequester myself in a library for a few hours to even make heads or tails of it."
"Right then, lets get down to business." Davkul pulls from his vest pocket 2 rolled pieces of parchment. Choosing the one given to him by Fenwick, Davkul starts to read.
"That should be easy enough." Walking to the other side of the the door we just came through, Davkul sends Nightsong to a rafter just above the door with a Defend command. Having no physical means of attack, Nightsong would just make a lot of noise if anyone approaches.
Davkul points out the lone set of tracks coming in off to the side. "That's the way I came up trying to get to you lot. I wouldn't go back that way, since there was something tried to get the jump on me back there."
Information on what davkul can do with Nightsong - Spoilered for convenience.
Spoiler:
[ooc]At this point, Davkul is unable to give more than basic instructions to Nightsong, nor can he understand more than emotions from Nightong. The best that can be done are the equivalents of the Handle Animal tricks:
Attack - Deliver touch attack (currently unavailable until 3rd level).
Come - Return to me.
Defend - Follow a character around.
Fetch - Retrieve an object of 1/2 a pound or lighter.
Stay - Remain at specified location.
Track - Follow a scent or sound.
At 5th level, I will then be able to talk to Nightsong and therefore use him to gather information. At 13th, I will be able to see through his eyes.
[ooc]
"If I sent Nightsong back there to check it out again, it would do nothing more than scare him at best or get him killed at worst. Best that we try heading back this way tomorrow when we are refreshed and we have the full day to do what needs to be done."
Davkul joins the rest of the party in heading back.
"Fenwick delivered a small scroll to me, I managed to get it just before everything went to pot. We can have a look at it when we get back to the inn. Whatever it was seems to be very important."
Davkul's eyes widen in terror as he sees the blobs, but cannot identify them. With a yelp he beats a hasty retreat, fighting the gorge that threatens to rise from his stomach at the sight.
"Something tried to ambush me about 10 minutes ago back the way I came, but I am pretty sure I managed to throw it off my trail with a well placed figment. Whatever it is that I sense ahead of us is about 60 feet or so in that direction" Davkul again points to the south. "I have a single offensive spell left for the day and it's not a very good one at that, so if you want to fight whatever it is I am not going to be of much more use than a distraction."
"It looks like we are going to have more company from that direction," Davkul warns while pointing to the south "Whatever that disturbance I feel is, it's close."
Davkul murmurs a quick incantation and both his and Nightsong's eyes seem to gain a heat shimmer as he shares a Detect Magic with his familiar, turning to look in that direction.
Davkul jogs up to the group declaring, "Boy are you lot a sight for sore eyes. Do beware there's likely to be one of those damn invisible things on my tail." Calling Nightsong to his shoulder, Davkul gives him a fond pat in thanks for his help.
Knowing that this thing can probably keep up with him, Davkul casts a Silent Image of himself running into the woods on a slightly different path to himself and originating from the same square then carries on his way. Now whatever it is has a 50/50 of following Davkul assuming it cannot tell the difference between the image and Davkul himself. (Will save DC 16 to disbelieve the illusion if it is interacted with)
I did notice about the disturbances, however for the moment, I am going to assume it is either more of those bugs or an invisible fae...
At which point I am fairly sure I stand very little chance against them on my own and rather than be taken down, I prefer to carry on moving at high speed and (hopefully) pass them by
