Haytham withdrew from the swarm, batting frantically (and uselessly) at the flames covering him.
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Stop drop and roll was actually a thought...
Haytham moved forward, slowed by his armor. Returning his blade to its scabbard he took his shield in both hands and began smashing it down on the advancing swarm.
Haytham nodded to Janus and sheathed his blade to take up position; however, notably, he kept his shield in place and used it for additional leverage. "Ready when you are."
Haytham smiled slightly, "Grapnel? No such luck I'm afraid. Though one would hope there was another way up there."
Haytham looks up a moment when Janus addresses him before returning his gaze to the sarcophagus, "Zosiel or Josiphel?" He thought a few moments, perhaps a power or outsider?
Haytham raised an eyebrow upon seeing the sarcophagus and adjusted his grip on his blade, "Well, not to break with my usual stoicism," he smirked slightly, "but I'm willing to bet something nasty is about to jump us."
Haytham stepped forward, leading with blade this time, and went for a rising slash.
Finding purchase, he pulled the strike through and forced forward with his shield once more. "You hurt Janus?"
Haytham took half a step back at the abrupt attack. Leveling his blade he made for the beast on his right, trying to keep the other two safely away.
His blade connecting with his foe, he slid the killing edge in wordlessly before giving a sharp twist. "Press the right, take them one by one."
Haytham took the lead, shield raised, as they advanced on the eerie light. "Did I read something once?" he mumbled a bit to himself.
"Guess not..." He cleared his mind of the odd Auran symbol and kept his eyes sharp.
Haytham eyed the tunnel, "That's going to be a bit tight, anyone good at wriggling?"
Haytham watched as Janus tried his trick with the moss. With a wan smile he nodded and pointed, "North is that way." With that he resettled his gear and took the lead toward the ruins indicated in the letter.
Haytham nodded and removed a gauntlet, searching the area around the outbuilding and worked in an ever widening circle.
Haytham delivered Janus a wan smile, "Probably have to be more specific, champions of the lanceboard have other concerns than whores. It's good you didn't take the oath. I wasn't about to mention it ahead of time as it would impugn my honor to do so, but having someone not bound by the oath could be very useful." He thought a moment, "We should get a head start, I'm probably better in the wilds than our competition but I'd rather not take chances and this armor isn't exactly light."
Haytham stepped forward and took the oath, shedding blood from his wrist in the name of the Morninglord and the Lady of the Lanceboard. He bled more freely than was necessary and after took a soldier's oath to mirror the first. The whole time he watched the other party, intense blue eyes focusing on Khellek as if to say "the game is on."
Haytham stood off to one side, leaning nonchalantly against a handy wall and filing his fingernails. He nodded to Khellek and Tirra as they arrived and raised an eyebrow at Auric. This is why my intentions at the brothel fell through? Bringing his pride done a peg or two will certainly be amusing.
Haytham smiled but the expression didn't quite reach his eyes, "That's right Bluto, easy. You see the young lady throwing those knives over there? I want information. Find out what you can about her and come back and tell me what you've got. I'd do it myself but I'd like to keep eyes on her for now. If you get information on her friends I may even throw in a bonus."
Haytham slid into a spot just inside the door. Lounging against the wall, he carefully watched the interplay around Tirra. His eyes were colder and more intense than normal, but his stance was at ease. From the looks a few patrons cast his way this was not his first time at the Happy Cow. When he flagged down the serving girl, any suspicions the young noble frequented the place were solidly confirmed. "Hi Lise, how's the crowd tonight? Anyone getting too handsy? Grab me a beer, the good stuff, on my tab if you will." His eyes snapped over to the fighting pit, "Nice of Ol' Bluto to put his face in here, especially at the cockfight... when he still owes me from the last time he lost. Well then, when you're grabbing that beer would you be so kind as to tell him to come over and have a chat with me? Tell him, 'I might have it in me to forgive his debt, for a little easy work.'"
Haytham gave a wan smile, "It is the place of the clergy of the Lady of the Lanceboard to advise, and to watch. We're strategists and generals, not captains of the cavalry or elite soldiers. The Lanceboard teaches us to try to play things carefully and use the most efficient methods to win." The priest turned his piercing eyes on Chaia, "It was good to learn about my foe while you engaged him. He knows you now and you know him, but I'm still an unknown quantity. He can guess at my abilities and those of our comrades, but only guess. The less we reveal the better. If he's as clever as he thinks he is then he'll be working on a similar tack. Also, stop leading with your armsmen like that, leaves too many openings. That's where he got you."
Haytham watched the exchange impassively, not saying a word. A few times, as Chaia moves a piece he frowned slightly before returning to his flat affectation. The Red Priest shared a look with Khellek before the final moves were made, as if to say, "I saw that, and you saw that, and I won't be near as easy." As Chaia finished Haytham moved into step by her side, "He's wily, and skilled, though I have suspicions about his patience. Pressed he would be sloppy, but very dangerous for it." He rubbed his morning's stubble with red gauntlet-clad hand, "At least, that would be my estimate as a servant of the Knight. From what I've gathered of his acquaintance this morning, the man is likely to bludgeon through problems. Which leaves the last known member of their party. I'll bet that she's the most dangerous in a pinch and the best at thinking on her feet. Any successful group requires all three components to have any sort of longevity in this business."
Haytham quietly followed the others inside, his eyes and ears open. It took more than a little willpower not to engage in a game but his mission here wasn't pleasure, and besides, if someone wanted to play a priest of the Red they need only ask.
"Why wouldn't I be able to come in?" Haytham's stone faced look at Saeri lasts only a moment before his lips slightly quirk and reveal teeth. He gestures, "After you my dear."
"Subterfuge is doable, but can be costly, and there's too much of it in probing him like that. May I suggest truth? Or rather a measure of it, tell him that we're mercenaries and the competition and offer to work together to get a better price out of both our employers. If we find them untrustworthy we can always deal with them later, of course they'll probably take a similar approach so we would have to keep our eyes open." Haytham leans against a nearby wall, "Not the best plan but the point of failure is easy to spot and easy to watch for and it's simple, no one needs to keep up with any lies."
Haytham nods to Lucrecia, his mouth remains fixed in a frown but his eyes lighten a bit. The moment is short lived however. He retreats inward, thoughts coalescing slowly. Kasyomite's voice is the catalyst that brings thoughts together. "The whores seemed to start at something and get spooked, the pimp came up with his story afterward. This could be a long shot, but did any of you work the Art in there?"
I seem to recall a difference of acceptance of Divine vs Arcane magic in the Realms, though I could be off base.
Haytham chuckled before easing the girl off his lap, "Oh, I will most assuredly keep you in mind my dear." He stood with reluctance and readjusted his armor, "Well, I suppose I shall take my leave." He eased out of the room and joined Chaia and Saeri outside. Once away from the courtesans and their pimp his face darkened, "You ever get the feeling that fate is working against you? No matter, it's gone as far as it can go there. Did you find anything interesting?"
Haytham had been sitting quietly, watching the proceedings with a lazy interest while stroking the arm of his chosen companion. At some point he invited her into his lap, though the point of that with the armor he wore seemed dubious at best. He gazed at her with a strange mix of boredom and desire so often attributed to nobles or soldiers with too much time on their hands. Shifting his shoulders to stretch, he revealed his holy symbol more fully. "Surely it would be little bother if we were to entertain ourselves elsewhere my dear. It's the quality of the thrill I seek, not the location." He smiled confidently, eyes roaming along the elven doxie, "Perhaps you and I can slip out for the night, I assure you on the name Raventree of the... er, purity of my... intentions" The Waterdhavian noble was laying his accent on a bit stronger than before.
Haytham's eyes gleamed, "Ah, a vision, come here my dear." Haytham moved to the table and pulled out a chair, indicating for the elven girl to join him, "Lucrecia do select a companion and come join us for some cards." After Haytham's choice of entertainment (and information) took the offered seat and joined her and gestured for a few drinks to be served. His hands moved with casual practice as he shuffled the cards, "And what is your preference of game my dear?"
Haytham follows along silently. He doesn't move with any particular grace but never seems to misstep or bump into something, his eyes seem to take in everything at once. Upon reaching the Black Stone Inn he smirked. He drew his dark grey cloak around him, partially concealing his red armor and holy symbol, but left his sword hilt noticeable. "A bit of leisure before choosing from the wares I think, perhaps a game of cards and a drink? And then I'll select a girl that strikes my fancy, no?" His Waterdhavian accent was particularly strong, he sought to emphasize his origin.
"Black Stone Inn sounds like a decent starting point, usually a game of chance in such establishments that I can take advantage of. Let's do this reading and then I'll check it out, I would be happy for someone to accompany me."
Haytham nodded a few times and leveled his gaze at the Yellowknife, "Know where they decided to lay their heads? The sooner we move the more leeway we have once we get there."
@Kasyomite: I have a few reasons for taking stealth and scouting ahead isn't really one of them. First, while doing crunch I knew I wanted to have my Red Knight class (cleric or warpriest) on one side and a martial on the other to duplicate some of the feel of the specialist priests of the Knight in 2nd ed. Well, after waffling a bit I decided to go cleric as I wasn't sure how the party would look and wanted to ensure a 9 level divine was in the mix, also the free leadership from Nobility domain was a bit of a bonus. This left me with the martial side to consider. Strong contenders were Fighter, Bloodrager, Ranger, Slayer, and Brawler. Now Red Knight's priests generally wear the heaviest armor they can get their hands on so Brawler's light armor focus was out, medium was my minimum. Bloodrager would of been a bit too MAD as I was already aiming for full and bonus spells as a cleric. Ranger was attractive but didn't fit as thematically as I would like. This left Fighter and Slayer. Fighter would of been more classic but I like the thematic ties of the Studied Target for a Holy Strategist (and I have a love of skills that I can't deny). So I picked Slayer as my second line. For the sake of effectiveness Wisdom took the top spot so I could milk as many bonus spells as I could, allowing me to use buffs and summons to make up for other failings. Strength would need to be decent to carry full armor and shield and for the sake of melee and Charisma would help with Channel Energy. Con would be good to have a positive modifier and get a few extra HP. Int gets me skill points, a slight bonus to knowledge, and is a thematic choice harkening back to 2nd. Dex got short end of the stick cause I'm going to be in at least medium armor and use a shield and ideally will never have to pull my crossbow. That being said, I did pick Slayer and part of my internal justification was that he was trained for reconnaissance duties so I felt I should drop a bit into Stealth. I was already getting a bonus to Perception from high Wis and Half Elf so the free Skill Focus was a fairly easy call to offset some armor penalties. The choice of campaign trait was harder, when given all the campaign traits as options I was I little uninspired. So I sketched a deeper background and then looked for a trait that matched. Originally I chose Missionary as a partial justification for being in Unther which was no longer necessary in Haytham's home area. I looked and found a few options that looked promising but Noble Born kept calling out to me. It offers a few different families and one in particular caught my eye, giving a +1 to CMD (As a front liner this will be nice) and a +1 to one of three skills one of which was Stealth which already had some investment. So that ended up being the winner. Somewhat arbitrary but sometimes its nice not to go all out, and once we start picking up levels the benefits of cleric//slayer will outweigh these arbitrary choices. TL/DR: Stealth is a character choice and due to my weirdness, if it comes up it won't be from scouting. Also I think it's kinda funny that the stompy guy in bright red armor can occasionally catch people by surprise.
Haytham remained silent for some time, candlelight playing across his patrician features. He steepled fingers before him, elbows sitting upon the table and rested his chin on his thumbs. "Fellows from the City of Splendors, an interesting quarry." his accent clearly Waterdehavian aristocracy. "And an unexplored tomb... Negotiation should be undertaken from a position of strength, let's see what we can find out about them and move from there. If these are typical adventurers they'll like to spend money and they'll like to talk, we should check the taverns and see what we can turn up." He lifted his face abruptly, a lock of long blue-black hair falling across ice-blue eyes, "Does the fellow on the third lanceboard know you have mate in three?"
Updated campaign trait, picked up Noble Born for +1 to CMD and +1 to Stealth. I'm more tied to the area than I would be Unther so missionary made less sense and Noble Born seemed the most appropriate and useful.
@Kasyomnite: No worries, high Wis means more buffs and healing spells, which means I can go get stuck in where I like it and keep swinging. The Studied Target also compensates for lower strength, and eventually Sneak Attack and a summoned monster to help flank. And then there's the shield, notice how I treat heavy shields as light weapons? There's going to be some brutal two-weapon fighting down the line. I'm looking at other campaign traits, I'll have a decision tomorrow at work (overnight security, I'll have plenty of time to think)
Yeah, disabling traps isn't highly likely on my stompy self, though finding them should be easy(er). Heavy armor isn't out of the nature of a Holy Strategist (Red Knight specialty priest back in the day) so I'm eyeing that for later on, though it might conflict with my weapon styles, that's for Samnell to make a call on. It might be best to think of Haytham as a warrior who happens to call on divine aid and has a few skills rather than a priest who can fight. I picked up the Legacy of Fire Missionary trait, seemed more appropriate at the time. Looking at others to see if anything strikes me the same way.
Ah, a temple of Tempus, patron of the thrice-blessed Lady of Strategy and the Lanceboard, where those who follow the Red Knight may feel welcome. Such lovely climes that Daggerford offers, it makes this stifling armor almost like gossamer. And so close to the city of splendors. This shall be a lovely assignment.
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