Search Posts
Duraelo finishes off his breakfast of rations and can't help but smile at his newfound friends' determination. "Sounds like a plan. Should we let Kyra know what we're doing? She did help us out the first time we went there. Otherwise, I think I'm up for heading out whenever everyone's ready."
Duraelo joins the group, sitting back down after having a fantastic night's sleep, with any zombies or other monsters being completely absent. "Try again...how though?" he asks Sjora. [b]"The only thing we have to show for our investigations so far is plenty of bruises and cuts, a bunch of unusual things we don't know anything about in that cave system, and Etienne's fancy new bow and arrows. And my potions, but that's about it. I'd love to meet the pyromaniac idiot who thought torching everyone in the inn was a good idea just as much as all of you, but where would we start looking?"
"And if he takes your offer and there's riches inside, he's lost much more than what you would have. Seems like that makes it come out more in your favor than ours." Duraelo leans back against a wall, a small smile on his face. "Rufon, I'm not going to tell you what to do. You found that thing, you can decide. But if it were me, I'd just open this damned thing and be done with it."
It's cool, Etienne. Glad you at updated us. I've met a few people who wouldn't even do so much as that.
"Hey, I'll be more than happy to help pay you back later, Sjora. But honestly, we know he's probably not going anywhere. Let's check and see about these two barmaids, and if they can't help, we can easily come back and pay. Caylin and Ana are probably a lot cheaper than this guy," Duraelo adds, making sure his voice is quiet enough to be contained in the group.
Duraelo thinks through the elf's offer. He didn't notice anything magical when he checked back in the cave, so the box having some sort of important magical item is highly unlikely. Even so, letting this stranger have first pick of something that he didn't even find rubs him the wrong way. But where in the hell are they going to find sixty gold pieces? "Well, for that sort of offer, you'll need to check with Rufon here," he says, nodding his head towards the Druid and his tiger. "However, maybe you could let us just talk this out amongst ourselves?" He motions to the rest of the group as he says this. "So that we can come to a consensus at least?"
Diplomacy check!: "Sixty gold seems like rather a lot just to open up a box. How about, say, thirty gold? We'll pay you after you open up the box."
"Yeesh. I guess we got lucky with dealing with it. Do you know anyone who can open up that box without damaging it? Seems like a shame to destroy some quality craftsmanship just to see what's inside."
"And as for the rocks, mud, and hot water, you can probably add horribly mutated wolves, traps that set people on fire, a PENTAGRAM, and some horrible abomination that can summon darkness," Duraelo adds, pulling out the two vials and presenting them to Jalind.
"Hello there, sir!" Duraelo calls out to the now awake elf. "You must be Jalind. We were told you might help us with examining a few things we found last night. If you're not busy, do you think you could help?"
"Hey, as long as I'm breathing and no parts are missing, I'll be fine," the half-elf tells Sjora. Duraelo then tells Kyra "Excellent. I'll be sure to give him a quick visit. Rufon, interested in coming along? Maybe he can help you out with your mystery box there."
"In the meantime, I need to find someone who can check these out for me," Duraelo says, pulling out the two vials filled with mystery fluid. "Say, Kyra, do you know anyone in town who's experienced with potions, alchemy, that sort of thing?"
"Hmmm. Nothing magical about it. Someone back in the town might know something about it." Duraelo looks around at the group. "I say we get out of here before anything else decides to try and kill us."
"Well if you're offering up daggers, I won't say no. But hang on with that box for a second. I just want to check something." As Rufon holds the wooden box, Duraelo casts a concentrated Detect Magic spell on it.
Duraelo sees the items that Rufon pulls out of his heap of trash and can't help but chuckle. "Just my luck that I end up with the one without the fancy daggers and box. What's in that thing, anyway?"
"Hell if I know what any of this stuff is. Odds are it's going to be random junk they used for....I'm not sure I want to know." Duraelo moves over to one of the junk piles Rufon isn't searching and takes a closer look, moving a few items around to see deeper into the pile. Perception:
"Oh gods.....I don't.....I need to sit down...." Duraelo collapses in a semi-controlled manner, sitting down on the floor. "Whatever the hell that thing was, I really hope we don't see anything else like it. That...nasty GUNK it hit me with just felt wrong."
Duraelo takes a deep breath, concentrating with this next spell. This creature has been a harassment long enough. "Alright, everyone, heads up!" He focuses on the freakish monster and casts a Sleep spell, centered on JUST BEHIND the creature.
Duraelo launches another Ray of Frost. Attack:
"Sjora! SJORA! Damn it, where are you going???" Duraelo sees her running away, briefly glimpsing a look of unnatural fear on her face. He focuses his attention back with the group, stepping forward and firing another Ray of Frost where the creature had disappeared. Attack:
Duraelo shouts in pain as the darkness hits him. He reflexively takes a few steps backing away from the creature and fires another Ray of Frost at the...THING. Attack:
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT THING?" Duraelo shouts in fear. He's looking around, trying desperately to see into the darkness. He has never seen anything like...whatever it was that had just dropped down from the ceiling. Lights. We need lights. Lots of lights. If we can get rid of the darkness, this thing won't be so much of a threat. Please. Please let that be true. To be safe, he launches a Ray of Frost towardsI-22. Attack:
Duraelo peers around the room, unsure of what to make of all the junk surrounding them. Nothing seems to be organized in any way, shape, or form. "Not sure I want to meet whatever caused all this to happen," he says aloud, looking around to see if he can find anything of interest or use.
"Lead the way," Duraelo says. He's more hesitant than his companions, hoping that they won't come across any more of these elemental based creatures that Etienne was talking about earlier.
They're definitely magical in some way...highly doubt it can be anything good. Probably shouldn't leave them here then. "I highly doubt there will be any problem with taking them. Someone from the village might be more experienced with potions and the like," he says, agreeing with Sjora's advice. He places them inside a separate pouch in his backpack, making very sure they don't get damaged.
"Whatever works for you," Duraelo says distractedly. The two bottles of clear liquid still seem puzzling to him, but he has no idea what they could be. He decides to perform a "Detect Magic" spell on them, just on the off chance they might be something unusual.
Duraelo moves closer to the alchemist's table, intrigued in particular by the filled vials. He makes sure to give the wolf-dog abominations some space. "Looks like whoever was cleaning up forgot to take these two things, whatever they are."
Duraelo takes another step, (this time to L-12) trying to get out of the creature's way, and fires off another Ray of Frost.
Duraelo is surprised by the appearance of two monsters and steps forward (to L-11) to help the rest of the group. He unleashes a Ray of Frost at the creature still standing.
"I'm not one for arguing with a tiger. Lead on."
Yeah, waiting would have been a much better idea, now that he brought it up... "Well, if we're going to head out, we'd be going through the way we came in, and if Sjora heard that laughing from that direction....I don't think we'd run into people that we would want to meet, given, well, EVERYTHING so far."
That's what I look for in a player. Aye. Someone smart enough to play along with the story, but stupid enough to do everything possible to cause craziness to happen. I think that's EVERY DM's dream player.
"I don't know...wait. Sjora, Kyra." Duraelo turns to look at the two of them, starting to recall what they had said earlier. "What did you say earlier about...laughing? I didn't hear anything like that. Where was it coming from?"
Why am I not surprised? Duraelo decides to speak up. "Just hand me the torch, will you? I can't see a damn thing, but I think I've got just the spell to light it back up. Let's all just stay calm, everyone. We can handle some simple darkness." Duraelo tries to reach for a nearby candle. Once he has one in his hands, he casts Spark, attemtping to light it, and tries to listen for anything in the dark besides the group. Perception:
"All right, I have NEVER seen anything like this. Can't make heads or tails of it, it's written in some...thing that I think is supposed to be a language." He slams the book closed and quickly walks away from it. "So I say we forget this creepy center of evil and start moving on out. It can't be a ritual since no one's in here. Let's just follow Etienne out." He makes his way towards Etienne, staying safely behind the bow-wielding ranger. "Lead on, good sir. Unless anyone else has a better idea?"
Duraelo cautiously stays as far away as he can from the circle in the center of the room, then offers to take a look at the book. "I'm not...entirely sure, but I suppose I could take a look. Destroying it might be a safe bet, but let's not do anything too hasty. After all, given what happened last time someone thought just shoving a sword into something was a good idea..." He glares at Rufon, and makes his way over to the book to investigate.
Knowledge: Arcana:
"If you want to barge in, Sjora, lead the charge. Hopefully there's something behind there that's worth getting burnt over."
"SON OF A B****! AHH!" Duraelo screams in surprise and pain from the trap being triggered. The fire burns him and everyone else. When he finally has a chance to regain his senses, he notices that Sjora and Kyra appear to be fine, but everyoneelse seems to have gotten caught in the blast. "What the hell did you DO that for?!?!" He shouts at Rufon. "Were you TRYING to get us all killed? Have you never heard of caution? Good gods, that was idiotic!" He takes the time to lean against the cave wall and catch his breath. "I don't suppose anyone's decided that maybe we should leave that door alone, now? Besides me?"
"Alright then, that sounds like a majority vote." Duraelo moves a bit closer to inspect the door properly. Nothing about seems dangerous, but it does look immensely creepy. He looks around at the group and touches the handle, simply checking if it's unlocked or not.
Duraelo seems to almost feel the rest of the group's unease. He sees the door and is almost tempted to knock on it just to see if someone would answer it. "So, shall we check to see if someone's home?" he asks, motioning to the door. "Or just keep going past?"
Duraelo makes sure all his gear is secure and that his morning star and dagger are within their proper holding places as he stays towards the back of the group. He looks around at his surroundings, taking in the scenery. He knows that they might run into some sort of center of evil here, but it doesn't take away from his enjoyment.
"Fascinating. I'd never guess that it was being used by insane cultists." Duraelo looks around at everyone, checking to see if all of them are ready, and positions himself towards the back of the group. "Lead on," he tells Kyra with a gesture of his hand toward the cavern and a polite smile.
"Steaming caverns? I didn't know the area had them. Seems like an interesting place to check and see if she might have sneaked off in the middle of the fire. Maybe you could lead us there, Kyra?"
"Kyra, please. We're all on the same side here. I certainly don't want more buildings going up in flames, especially if they have me in them, and I'm sure everyone else here can agree with that. I'm sure we'd all be happy to assist you in some way that can help bring the people who did this to justice." For an appropriate fee, of course. "I'm sure you're angry, I'm angry too, but we need to have a clear head." "So...what DID make you suspect this Susanna? Seems like a rather odd choice, but I'm sure you have a good reason."
"Not much more than anyone else. The four of us were inside when the fire was started. We ended up also being attacked by zombies that seemed to explode if you hit them hard enough. They nearly killed Rufon here," Duraelo says, motioning to Rufon. "Beyond that, I don't know anything."
Duraelo takes a look over and sees Sjora close to the ruins of the inn. "It's a pity," he says. "I really was starting to like their brew." He refocuses his attention on the elf. "So this...Kyra, you said her name was? I'm going to guess from the smoking ruins over there that she hasn't been as successful as she'd like finding these demons and practioners."
|
