Presenting Meurasod, dwarven rogue for your consideration. The alias should be complete. Thanks for being a DM.
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Thank you for being a DM. It was fun while it lasted and we need more like you.
Meurasod unslung the shield from his arm and tossed it into the ground. With both hands he gripped his war axe, raising it high above his head before bringing it down on the door.
Continuing his assault on the door was starting to wear on his nerves, but Meurasod would not stop until he couldn't stand. Sooner or later, one of them would give way. Hopefully it would be the door. What kind of stories would they tell about him if the door stood resolute against his tirade?
With his shield hefted up in front of him, Meurasod ducked his head and put his shoulder into the door full force in an attempt to force it open. To the raving dwarf, hiding behind doors and walls was cowardice, no matter smart the strategy may be. A rebel against his own people and traditions, Meurasod was no builder. He was the destroyer.
With his shield hefted up for cover, Meurasod moved forward slowly. "Stay behind me lads, but be ready to fan out."
Once Walter and Zurka had given the all clear sign, Meurasod pushed the others forward. "Alright ladies, down ya go. Katara, you first." Once everyone else was down, the dwarf took a deep breath and scaled the ladder down. He never did like heights. Maybe it was a dwarven thing. Regardless, he moved slowly and deliberately down the ladder. Once down and whole with the group once more, he again spurred them on. "Still alive I see. Good. Now break time's over. Let's push ahead. Zurka, Walter, you two stay on point. Katara, give them some room but not too much. I got the rear."
"Zurka, you go first. Then Walter follows. Once you two give the all clear the rest of us will follow." He turned to look around for a moment. "Anyone got a rope?"
+9 Hit Points (6+3 con)
"Lets move on. Ain't no mages in the chest...right?" Meurasod's statement of certainty turns into a question about half way through.
"Haha! Good eyes, lad. Well done" Meurasod exclaimed as the hidden door was revealed. "Alright, lead on. Let's be quick about it. We've still gotta find these blasted mages, and keep your eyes open for those grimey misty spiders. Zurka, Katara, you two stay near Walter. I'll bring up the rear."
"What? What is it? What do you see? Why don't you tie some rope around you if you're going to get that close? We don't know if that last spider is coming back...or with more spiders. And unless I miss my guess we still gots some more doors to open."
The dwarf rushes past Zurka, moving to block the spider's path towards the others.
Meurasod continues swinging his dwarven axe at the nearest spider.
Stepping past Walter to stand next to Katara, Meurasod brought his axe down towards one of the spider's many legs. "More of ya freaking buggers, eh? Well come on then, let's see who's stronger" Meurasod shouted, having already forgotten his scene with the tiny spiders.
"Hhmmmppphh. Whatever it is it's not good for us. Zurka's right. Let's keep moving." Meurasod moved up to stand next to Walter as the Tiefling made ready to open the door.
39, or my wife says "almost 40!"
"Haha. Well done lad" the dwarf says as he smacks Walter hard on the back.
"Oooohh that stings!" Meurasod falls back towards Walter trying to keep himself interposed between the tiefling and the swarm of spiders, swatting himself as he goes. "Get em off me! Get em off!"
"Fall back! Everyone, fall back!" Meurasod slowly backtracked a few steps away from the door as the spiders began to pour out.
"The torch goes in first, and any oil if any gots some. I close the door and we lets it burn for a minute or two. If anything comes out from under the door, use the alchemist's fire. Of if we open the door and find a problem, use the alchemist's fire."
The dwarf nodded as Mary's spells took effect. "Alright, let's get to it then" he said as he moved to open the southern door. He balanced his axe between his shield and shoulder and used his now free hand to open the door.
The dwarf followed along behind Walter, his armor and weaponry clanking as he went. "Go ahead and check out that door. I'll watch this hallway while you work. The others are behind ye so no worries there. Take your time."
I don't really have any issues with taking our time or standing next to Walter to double check things, but I think taking 20 when looking for traps is up to the GM. Failing to notice a trap may count as a penalty for failure type of situation that would prevent taking 20.
Meurasod nodded as he looked to the south where Zurka pointed. "Alright Walter. You're up. This place had some surprising floor traps so I wouldn't blink twice if some of the doors were trapped, but I don't remember seeing any yet."
Once outside of the fort, Meurasod took the lead and started walking back towards where they had left the bone brothers behind. He kept his eyes open as they marched, also looking for a patch of land large enough to accommodate their group but still provide some shelter or shielding from the elements. After a few hours of walking, he finally spoke up. "Alright, we should be out of earshot. What do you twos know about that rock?"
"More seem to want to go then stay. We leave. If the knights try to stop us with arms then we'll stay. Until those gates are closed though we are free to come and go, so let's go. Be ready to move at dusk."
"Best to wait until less ears surround us. I guess we leave tonight then. Meet at the gates at dusk. We can make camp a few hours from the fort, walk the rest of the way to the Spire in the morning. Should we get some tents or something?" Meurasod spends the rest of the day eating and drinking in the tavern.
Meurasod nodded as he looked around the table. "Well? What do the rest of you say? Stay or go? I knows you got thoughts on the matter so let's hear 'em."
"As far as we know the mages are just missing. Our employer didn't make no mention of their activities, legal or otherwise that I recall. You should know that we were asked to bring back their heads with the tongues cut out, the sooner the better. I can do that part myself if it's too messy for ya." Having a minute to sit and think and talk about their mission reminded the dwarf of a few of the finer points. "Zurka's right. This deed needs to be done quick, we've got want we came for and we don't need to be bothered by the locals. We set out for the Spire first thing after the funeral tomorrow. Everyone be ready. You gots anything left to do, gets it done tonight. Questions? Complaints? Spit 'em out now.
Meurasod shook his head in response to Zurka. "Uh, something about freedom fighters of Cayden or some other and something about slavey. I don't know, overheard one of them as we were passing through the gate." "So, any luck with the supplies?"
"Scholar huh?" The dwarf turned and looked at Mary before addressing her. "Show him the rock and the note. Maybe he can figure out what it means." He turned his focus back to Walter. "I assume you'll be joining us then? If ye can't be trusted, we'll just have to kill ya. But I won't be payin' for your funeral if that's the case." A second later the dwarf gave a loud chuckle and took another long drink of his ale. He wiped his mouth with his sleeve before continuing. "The first level we came through was infested with goblins. They seemed to be working for a hobgoblin I think. Honestly they all look alike to me, the big ones anyway." He shrugged. "The next level was mostly spiders, traps, and a few undead. There was this smart, talking skeleton, he's the one that did our friend in. We finished him off permanently, but called it a day at that point. Once we're rested, we'll be heading back in. Another day or two, tops. Finish resupplying today, day of mourning tomorrow, then back to the grindstone. That's the plan anyway."
Loot list updated. Wand added. 750 gp removed.
The surly dwarf walked through the streets with a scowl on his face. He made no direct effort to wait for Mary, she was quicker and lighter on her feet than he was anyway. He kept his eyes on her though. He was not about to let a similar fate befall her, especially with the recent events so fresh in his mind. He quietly hoped the others had faired well in their endeavors. He wanted nothing more than a good night of drinking, eating, and sleeping after the couple of days they had had. He was already tired of merchants and he hadn't even really dealt with any. He secretly wondered how Gorok was doing and if she had made the right choice in setting off alone. It wasn't long before he caught sight of the Juliver Inn. He walked up to the front door and held it open, ushering Mary in. The smells of food and ale filled his nostrils and for the first time in days, he smiled. His shoulders relaxed a little as they entered the establishment. With all of the hustle and bustle of the biggest inn in Fort Inevitable, it took his eyes a moment to spot Walter. He had only known the Tiefling for less than half a day and part of that was the darkest of night so he wasn't entirely sure of his features until he waved.
Green light go!
Ok so adding in Zurka's 50 gp means that we need 123 gp. Assuming Walter wants to contribute that, then we arrive at the fort during the day, shop and acquire room and board, and arrange Baldrek's funeral. The next day is the actual funeral and then personal time/day off or whatever. Day 3 we head back to the fort at first light?
We have 577 total and need 173 total, not each. If Walter wants to contribute the 173 gp, that would probably go a long way towards smoothing his entry into the group and building some trust, but that's totally up to Walter. I wouldn't normally like it but since we're the bad guys team I'm okay with it. Maybe Zurka can pay for room and board? Any other items we need?
I updated the loot list and sold off some extra armor and weapons (assuming standard half value) including some of Baldrek's gear. This puts us at about 577 gp before selling off any of the more valuable items like the ring of feather fall or the horn of fog. If we can scrounge up about 180 gp, we can keep the better items and still afford the wand of cure light wounds at caster level 1. I think this is our best move, but it also pretty much empties the coffers and doesn't net anybody any money. It does go a long way towards cementing our survival though.
I say we pull cash. Both of those items, while not amazing, could make an encounter or obstacle much easier to handle. Between the weapons from the skeletons and the gems/cash I think we'll have enough, but we really need to update the loot sheet. Katara, are you available to tally everything up or can you grant others edit rights to the sheet?
"Something more grandiose. I don't know if he was celebrated in life, but he will be celebrated in death. How long will the arrangements take? Is there a ceremony of some sorts? When would that be?" Meurasod pulled out his money pouch and counted out 40 gold pieces. After concluding business with the priest, he turned to leave. He glanced over his shoulder at Mary. "You coming? I'm starving."
We also have Baldrek's gear...
"I'm afraid I can't tell you much. I don't know what gods he may have prayed to, but I know that he was a good man. I didn't know him for very long, a few days at most, but he earned my respect. I can pay 40 gold. Is that enough to bury him proper?"
"Alright, so we got a lot to do. We need rooms for a night or two, we need to pick up a few supplies, and we need to bury Baldrek. I can take care of the burial but anyone that wants to is welcome to come. Aralu, Zurka, and Katara, you three wanna pick us up a healing wand and a healer's kit...and anything else anyone can think of? While you're doing that, the rest of us will find some rooms for rent. Any objections?"
Meurasod gave a simple shrug and proceeded to fall in line to enter the Fort. "Come on. I'm hungry and could use a drink." Muttering the words out loud reminded the dwarf about the corpse he was carrying and the promise he had made to the fallen tiefling. Drink on my tab... The words echoed over and over again in his head. He grumbled to himself as he stood in line. The longer he stood there, the angrier he got at himself. He should have done more. He couldn't help but glance back in Walter's direction. He quietly swore to himself to protect this one better.
"Hey Aralu, will those things lie down if you tell them to? Maybe we just leave them laying on the ground in the woods while we're in town? Pick em back up on our way back to the Spire. If anyone happens upon them while we're in town, maybe they don't look too close at a pile of bones..." At seeing the long line of people trying to get into town, Meurasod looked at Walter and lacking Mary's subtlety, simply asked "they looking for you?"
Meurasod continues to look at Walter. "Aye, as the man said. We have a contract to locate two missing mages last seen in the Emerald Spire. We already lost our...scout, to the perils of the Spire. We need a point man. Someone with keen eyes and quick fingers. Think about it. For now, rest up. You'll be safe enough in our camp. That goes for the lot of ya too. I'll stay up and keep Zurka company on the last watch. Hmm, come to think on it, he looks pretty bad. Some of those cuts look pretty deep. Anyone got any healing magic left?" "In the morning we make for town. Probably be there a day or two to recover and resupply. You can go your own way from there, or join us if you're up for it."
The dwarf listened intently as Walter answered his question. He nodded, more to himself than to anything. "Fair point. We should all get some rest, but it would probably be a good idea to double up on the watches. We'll continue on back to town in the morning. Walter, you can decide what to do then. If you happen to know your way around locks and such, we could probably offer you a job, or at least a fair split."
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