Ever dance with the devil in the pale moon light? And if so who led?
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"I was just thinking," Orick says as they walk through the woods, "if we're going to some area that has sink holes, shouldn't we be taking some sort of precautions? Maybe get out some of the rope?"
"Ya Daetha," Orick says holding up his hand as if to say stop, "I believe is sharing the wealth as much as anyone, but that's your birthright. Your mom and dad must have saved that for your family's future, you have to save that, and use it to do your parents proud."
"Do you guys hear a thuding noise?" Orick says looking around.
"Thank Norebo we didn't run into the owlbear eh guys?" Orick says as he helps gather equipment, "that was lucky if I do say so myself. Make sure you got enough rope. Man can never have too much rope. At least that's what Hortin says."
Orick gently rubs his holy symbol. "Best not to take too many risks," Orick says, "let's buy some rope and supplies in town. Finding these slugs won't do anyone a lick of good if we get trapped. We were lucky finding that hidden stash but let's not push our luck by going into something unprepared."
INT: 1d20+2=22
When young lived fey, and trees ruled all,
The witches tea, made warm not hot,
A fresh lucksy sprig, bright green shiny slug,
Never be glum, the true nectar wins,
It's unlikely that Orick would have heard what transpired in the house so this second reciting of the same rhyme likely signifies something.
"You guys found those herbs yet?" Orick asks.
Orick glances over at Vladimir when he curses orcs, then he quickly glances over at his half sister. Although younger he's very protective of his sister and doesn't like it when people speak poorly of her. 'It's not like he insulted her directly', Orick thinks to himself, 'he meant that in general. Beth has heard worse from her other brothers and sisters.'
Orick edges outside. "An owlbear," he mumbles to no one in particular, "that sounds dangerous. Let's hope we're lucky and we don't run into it."
"Ya," Orick says looking up at his sister, despite there being only one year in the age difference the height difference between the two is remarkable, "I think Daetha will understand, I mean mom's been running us pretty ragged these last few days. But now's not the time. Let's wait till we're heading home. Daetha has got to confront some demons right now and he'll probably want to be alone with his thoughts."
Orick's eyes dart about. This place is old and deserted. It's a small wonder that vandals or squatters haven't found the place yet. He glances at Daetha, this place has bad memories for him, and it was only luck that this wasn't also his tomb. This was something Daetha didn't need to hear at this moment though. He winces a bit at his half sisters remarks. Orick nervously glances at the group. What would they find here? Orick's right hand sits on the hilt of the knife the militia had entrusted him with and his left slides under his shirt to grasp his holy symbol. 'Will I need Norebo's luck today?' Orick wonders silently to himself. "Father Chance, it's time to roll the dice, please bring luck to me and my fiends," Orick whispers out loud, "and help us find medicines for the sick and dying. Amen."
FW: Spoiler: D'oh, that was my first thpught when you said free luck re-roll :D
Orick suddenly appears from out of the crowd. "That could be a dangerous part of the woods," Orick says, "You'll probably do better with numbers and a bit of luck if we should stumble across anything. I'll help you guys out if you want though . . ."
"Why do gods let bad things happen to good people?" Orick says, trying to put his friend's words into words that Orick himself can better understand, "that's a question I can't answer, not yet anyways. All I can say for certain is that life is just one big toss of the dice. I'm praying for everyone . . . seems that's all I can do . . . when I'm not burying my head in work." Orick gives the two space when Palfourd approaches, Orick has been working at disappearing into crowds . . .
Orick can't help but be slightly confused over these last few weeks. His father, a man who could have lent much aid to the small village, had decided to stay in Greyhawk. His mentor, a priest of Norebo, had also decided to avoid the town. Hortin, a merchant, and perhaps the first sort of person you'd expect to abandon the town was one of the few outsiders willing to risk their lives to try and save it. 'If I were a priest,' Orick thinks to himself, 'I think risking my life to save this town would be a worthy gamble.' Orick's mother, being an apothecary, has probably made good use of Orick and his half sister Bethsemane running medicines around the town. That, combined with helping Hortin, and his militia training has left the poor lad very run down most nights. Orick is almost thankful for the town meeting as a bit of rest . . . almost . . . and then when the shouting starts he's quickly reminded why he prefers to observe these big meetings from the outside.
I'm done aren't I? If not, what am I missing? Also did Orick make any money working for Hortin these last two years?
Orick is somewhat disappointed that he doesn't seem to be making much progress towards becoming a priest, however now with a proper teacher, and with a few adults that seem willing to mentor and teach him, Orick feels particularly hopeful about his future. Who knows? If this priest thing doesn't work out he might be able to find work as a merchant. Orick's earlier education was (he thought) very focused. He'd spent a lot of time reading and observing. Now Orick intends to take a much broader approach: mind and body! Not that he had much choice . . . the town requires militia training and Orick really couldn't avoid his duty much longer. Orick is growing, almost five feet tall now, and could hardly pass as a child any longer. Although the militia trains with shield and spear Orick is going to try and sweet talk the comander into letting him learn how to use a dagger. Priests of Norebo favor the dagger . . . as do the priests of Wee Jas, and if Orick is given too much hassle about it he'll simply state that it's a weapon sacred to his father.
One thing Orick was going to do after the fair was spend his coppers on candy for his friends. Orick believes in sharing good fortune and he knows some of his friends (and half sister's friends) haven't been dealt very good hands.
Oh no! Work! What would Norebo think? :P The merchant and his friend, Tillispey, occasionally offer to take the boy away from home for a few days, maybe to Narwell. It is there that the boy runs into Septimus, Hortin's mate and a cleric of Norebo. The cleric is familiar to Orick but doesn't remember him well. At first he advises the boy to train at Ehlonna's shrine, but eventually changes his mind and offers to take over from Palfourd. I don't know if you noticed but I've included the first set of random events in my character's history. This Septimus is the cleric Orick helped in the woods correct? The one that gave him a holy symbol? Soon Orick is drawn into a circle of Hortin's friends all merchants and travellers and he is able to spend whole weeks at a time away from home (if he wishes). Orick loves traveling (as long as it's on someone else's dime).
int, wis, cha (1d4 1=3, 1d4 1=4, 1d4 1=3) knowledge (religion), 0 level spells, diplomacy (1d20=8, 1d20 1=8, 1d20 1=3) Ok, now I'm worried. Curse you Invisible Castle. Looks like Orick learns nothing.
He's just so molest-able
Just to be clear: 11 & 20 means two good things. The 'good things' are: 11) A dryad asks you to pass onto Orick Faust a gift of thanks, a cure minor wounds (gnarled stick) wand, 10 charges. (this can only be rolled once) "I am Orick!" the little wanna be priest exclaims "You are?" asks the sick, sick Dryad, "you're even more handsome than I remember." "Wait . . . what?" Orick manages to sputter. " Glomp!" "Aaaaaaaaaghhh!" 17) A dryad or satyr grabs you and takes you away from the village for a month, gain +1 Cha and +1 Wis from this maturing experience. Orick stumbles back to town several weeks later clutching his new wand.
Orick dashes over to Hortin's wagon and uses the water skin to refill the bucket. "There you go Mr. Hortin," Orick says, "all filled up." Orick feels as though he should tell someone about the fight he witnessed but he's not really sure who he should talk to. Orick glances up at Hortin but he decides that he doesn't really know the merchant well enough.
Rolls: 11, 20, 11, 17 Two good . . . OMG! What is it about Orick that says 'abduct me!' Seriously. Looks like I stumble across my old dryad friend and yoinks me . . .
Orick steps out from hiding when he sees the bully fall. "Hey everyone," Orick says, "I saw almost everything, you guys need a witness I can help . . . but maybe you should talk those other two boys into squealing on the bully. I don't think they wanted to be part of what Jarrid had planing." Orick pulls out his waterskin and quickly fulls it. Orick takes one more glance then runs off.
Orick looks for a rock or two, good sized ones for throwing, and seeing as halflings are quite fond of throwing rocks there's probably something passable lying around the halfling barn somewhere. Then he looks to find a suitable location to watch things unfold. Orick didn't want to do nothing, but he was the smallest boy here, and it seemed unlikely that he could be much use in a fight. He would throw rocks if needed, although a rock thrown by his small arms would unlikely do anything more more then sting or leave bruises, a well thrown rock at the right moment could work as a distraction or as deterrent. Orick knew this Jeridd character was dangerous, but there were already four against one, and if he could avoid getting involved he would be a better (and more credible) witness. Sometimes reading father's books paid off.
Orick is still not entirely sure what's going on here. He's going to delay until the start of next initiative. Hopefully then he'll have some idea what to do . . . besides telling an adult.
Orick quickly runs back to retrieve his valuable waterskin. Then he creeps over to the barn to see what the others are up too.
Orick is torn. On the one hand something exciting is going on, on the other hand he's agreed to help Mr Horten, and already that's gotten him a silver coin and a few coppers. Then again Mr Hortin is only in town once a week but the others he sometimes plays with are here all the time. Orick hasn't really been good at making friends (far easier to spy) but these kids had at least (at one point or another) been nice to him. Orick's young mind reals . . . suddenly he forms a plan. He looks to his new, yet empty, water skin and quickly pulls it off. He hides it near the water butt grabs the jug and the food and runs back to Hortin's wagon.
When Orick drops the food off he pats his shoulder like he's just noticing that he's missing something. "Oh no!" he exclaims load enough for Hortin to hear, "I've left my water skin behind the Stag! I'll have to go get it!" Orick darts off before Hortin can say anything.
"I wonder what they're up too?" Orick says to his new companion, a mischievous smile creeping across his face, "want to go spy?" His smile quickly fades though: "Oh wait," Orick says with a thoughtful look in his eye, "I can't, not today anyways, I gotta help Mr Hortin."
"Thanks Daetha!" Orick says taking half the muffin and handing the other lad the jug of cider, "I'm helping out Mr Hortin in the market. He says he might pay me a silver. That's a working mans wages. I'm only eleven and I got a paying job! So what are you doing today?"
"Petunia said that I could get the lunches for Hortin and Tillispey from here. I don't want to be a bother but I'm not going to argue with her! Also I'd like to get my water skin filled while I wait if that's not a problem." Orick glances over at Daetha. "Hello Daetha," Orick says, "running errands for your mom?"
"There you go Miss," Orick says pulling out the gold coin from his coin pouch, "Very busy today," he says before slapping the coin down on the counter and dashing for the door, "I hate to buy and dash again, but . . ." Orick then runs over to the Stag to see the halfling mistress about the merchant's lunch. "Excuse me Miss Wottinbrook?" Orick says when he spots Petunia, "Master Hortin said that I should come to you to fetch his lunch for himself and his assistant Tillispey. I'm running earns for him today! Also, could I get this water skin filled with water while I wait? I got to keep his bucket filled."
Orick decides to dash back to the store first before heading over to the Stag, he wave to the store clerk as he enters, then he quickly dashes about the store looking for a waterskin. Orick waits till he's out of sight of both the shop keeper and any other customers before digging at the loose seem of his belt. Tucked inside Orick has four gold coins hidden away, he carefully pulls one out before tucking it into his threadbare coin purse. Orick loved his gold coins, rather the idea of owning a secret treasure more then the actual allure of gold. More then once he wondered what his friends might think if they knew he had fifty gold coins tucked away! Times had been tough on the town, few could claim such a hoard these days, and Orick knew that he and his family were very lucky indeed! Orick didn't dare carry that much gold around with him, he only kept four coins hidden on his person . . . most of the others were hidden under the loose floorboard in his room, but a handful more were buried under a rock near the dryad's tree. Orick didn't know why he hadn't seen his forest friend in a while but he trusted her to keep his secrets . . . besides what would she do with gold? Buy some wind chimes? When he'd produced his coin and found a proper waterskin he quickly made his way to the counter. "How much for this?" Orick asked as he placed the waterskin on the counter.
"Well I'm not very strong but I am kinda smart," Orick says with a smile, "I'll help you as best I can! This is kind of exciting. I never had a job before! Ya, sorry my dad's no farmer, heck he's not even home enough to use the darn thing, but I'll ask him when he gets home. A pump like that could be useful for regular folk as well as farmers!"
"I know miss Wottinbrook," Orick says, "I sometimes hang out at their inn. I love halflings, adults are always looking down on you, or treating you bad just cuz your small. Halflings treat you with respect. Sure I'll fetch your food, what did you want to eat?"
Orick quickly counts out the five copper and hands them to the bigger lad with his thanks, "there you go, half a day's wages for half a minute's work, but don't thank me. Thank master Hortin for his generosity and thank Norebo for the good fortune. Now you'd best be getting back to the inn before anyone sees you missing," "Well done my lad. That's just in time for the display. Stay around it should be good," he beams down at Orick. "Thank you sir," Orick says smiling up at the man, "I was glad to help, but it sure was lucky I came when I did!" Orick finds a spot near the stage to watch the demonstration.
"Wow, neat!" Orick says as he watching the water pump in action, "That'd make fetching water so much easier!"
"I need you to fill this bucket with water and bring it over to master Hortin's trailer. As fast as you can!"
"Thank you!" Orick says quickly counts out 4 silvers, grabs the new bucket and one copper's worth of candy, and waits for his change, "I'm in a bit of a hurry so I hope you don't mind me dashing off." Orick then runs towards the Scabbard's Inn and quickly looks about for a stable hand. Preferably a strong looking one, and one that looks as though he could use some coin, perhaps one of the orphans from his father's 'charity'. "How would you like to earn five coppers for just a few minute's work?" Orick asks the likely candidate.
Orick nods and darts off toward the general store, it's relatively close, and it's sure to have buckets for sale. Orick takes the broken bucket for reference.
Orick dashes into the store and looks for a clerk. "Excuse me," Orick gasps, "do you have any buckets here like this," he asks while holding up the bucket, "I'm in a bit of a rush. I only need the one thing."
"Sure thing sir," Orick says rolling the bucket over in his hands, "but you being an honest man must realize that buckets aren't free, and if I were to borrow one from one of my neighbors without asking they might not look too kindly on me. I don't want to get in trouble."
Orick always sort of liked Hortin, he had a smooth way of talking, and his gnome assistant seemed pretty neat as well. Orick can't help but notice the bucket and wonder why a man who employs a tinker would have a bucket with a hole in it. Perhaps it's a prop of some sort. Orick glances around and sees that no one at the moment is paying the merchant much interest so Orick creeps out of his hiding hole and approaches the man. "G'afternoon Mr Hortin," Orick says, "nice weather we're having. Couldn't help noticing that your bucket has a hole or two in it. Not too lucky having a bucket with a hole in it you know. Plus it makes fetching water harder for sure."
Any chance on Orick getting introduced in the game thread before you head out on vacation?
Sounds good. If the fellow, or his gnome assistant, believes in luck even better.
If all goes according to plan Cleric of Norebo . . . I'm wondering if I might try for the Cloistered Cleric variant from unearthed arcana (pg 50), especially if I take Trickery as a domain, but it's all speculation at this point. I had a longer, much more detailed post, but it was eaten.
Yes, if I take the trickery domain these become class skills, but maybe I'll change that and work on diplomacy (Cha). Anyone is town known for being a quick wit or having a silver tongue?
Orick is a curious little fellow . . . in multiple senses of the word! He's inquisitive, he loves hearing how things work, and learning about plants and nature. He sometimes is seen snooping or spying around town, interested in other people's secrets or observing people when they don't know they're being watched, but he almost never asks prying questions. He's also curious in the sense that he's seemingly quite odd, and a host of contradictions. He often disappears when there's serious work to be done but can often be found at the shrine sweeping or helping out. Which is also odd because his father is priest of Wee Jas and not someone people in the town would think of disobeying. He's silly and incredibly childish, and yet other times (like when he's standing up for / or protecting his half sister Bethsemane) he seems extremely stoic, and acts like an unflappable pillar of support. He loves town (and often speaks of visiting a big city like Greyhawk) but is often seen in the forest climbing (and some say talking to) trees.
Olick is only 11 remember, he's still got plenty of time to grow. (Also I think I've chosen my 3 choices for training and Militia wasn't one of them) |