Are we down to just the two players ? Or are the other players just waiting a bit?
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"fine with me. Let's do that tomorrow, and then head on the next day"
"do you have any ideas on how to secure it without possibly drawing attention to it? I'm afraid that I don't. And since it has obviously been abandoned for years if not decades hopefully nothing will move in soon. But if you have any ideas I'm happy to help"
Platros continues to chat to the old man for awhile before thanking him and taking his leave. He heads back to the inn and joins his companions "Well, we've obviously arrived at the edge of a civilized area. There is a greatplace of learning called the Thumatergery that can be found several weeks journey south of here in the Princedom of Janiss. Lets go in that direction, its going to be a lot quicker to just check the books there than to stop and try and map ourselves. We can, of course, map a little as we go along"
Platros leads the old man over to a bench and sits down, hoping that the old priest will follow his lead. In Draconic:
My companions and I were sent here from far away in order to learn more about your country and people. Not, I assure you, for any nefarious purpose but just in the hope of gaining and sharing knowledge with others. I'm quite surprised that things seem so familiar here. This town could almost be the one that my grandfather grew up in. Your village seems to be well cared for. The people look reasonably contented and safe. Do you have any problems with Orc raiders or other sorts here? Do you know where I could find a large temple to my God? Or perhaps a large university or other centre of learning"
"No, you wouldn't. My friends and I just arrived here in Dothen. As you can see, I'm a priest of Anok and I thought that I should pay my respects to the spiritual leader of this fine village. Perhaps we could sit down and talk?"
Platros turns to his companions: "I think that I'll check with the Priest of Illya to see what he knows. Hopefully the fact that we are both priests will work in my favour. I'll meet you in the tavern later" He then heads over to the temple and goes inside "Greetings. Is there anybody here?"
So, we say goodbye and head to the town
To the commander : "Thank you. Is there any centre of learning in Dothen? And do you know what churches we might find there? And could you possibly recommend a decent inn there?" To the others in our group : "Somebody jog Norman to complete the map. We should head off to Dothen while we can still make it today"
Platros talks to the commander "Sir, we are very grateful for your hospitality and help. Perhaps you would tell us a little bit about where we find ourselves. What is the name of this kingdom and how far is it to the nearest town? And are there any dangers along the way that we should be aware of?"
"Definitely worth a try. But nothing makes him shut up for very long" Platros quickly jots down a very rough draft of a map
While he is doing so, he talks to the commander "Sir, we are very grateful for your hospitality and help. Perhaps you would tell us a little bit about where we find ourselves. What is the name of this kingdom and how far is it to the nearest town? And are there any dangers along the way that we should be aware of?"
Well don't push yourself and focus on getting better Agreed
"Norman, let's PLEASE try not to piss off the nice men with weapons. Even if somebody here knows of the university its unlikely to be guards at a border post. We're guests here, we have NO authority, and we should act that way. Let's talk to these guards and make our way towards civilization To the guard: You are quite correct sir, we are civilians. I apologize if my associate gave offence. He did not mean to deceive"
Assuming nobody objects, once the door opens I suggest we go in.
Damn, Norman may have been right after all "Where we come from, which is a land far away and NOT part of the Orc lands, donkeys are the normal beast of burden."
"You can see that we are harmless travellers. May we please enter to discuss things with you?"
As Platros approaches "His name is Ciabatta. He is what we call a donkey. Similar to a horse, if you have them. He is a loyal and hard working animal. Are there many predators around large enough to consider him a mere snack?"
I suspect he mistyped "Let us approach openly and speak with these people." Unless somebody objects, Platros gets into the distance where a shout can be heard and calls out "Greetings. We are peaceful travellers. May we come nearer?"
Yes, I certainly think that we should bring everything with us, including the donkey. Assuming that nobody objects, we head off for the tower, being careful to look for any signs of life along the way.
"let's rest here for the night and head off in the morning. I'll take middle watch since I can cast a light can trip. We'll use less fuel that way." Take the saddle and stuff off of Ciabetta, rub him down, give him some food and water. Then just relax until I fall asleep
"Going out into the night seems like a poor idea to me. Lets look around here in the cave first and see what we see Whatever the cages represent, it looks like whoever owned them is long gone so hopefully it won't matter their original purpose. But I'm guessing slavers :-("
"We should definitely at least look outside. If nothing else, I'm sure our poor donkey would prefer the outside to staying in a cave. At least, he will if it looks safe"
Platros detects magic, just to be on the safe side. Once that fails to detect anything (I'm presuming) "There doesn't seem to be much of interest here. Shall we go up the stairs?"
"perhaps if we were all to help you, together we will be able to bash it open. As Anok teaches, there is strength in numbers" Aid another on the strength check to open the door
Platros will examine the room, looking for either another way out or a secret latch to the door. . If that doesn't work "I don't see any other way out. Perhaps we should just bash the door in? Or maybe call out and hope somebody hears us and comes to open the door"
Platros takes out and loads his crossbow but is careful to NOT be aiming it at anybody. He goes over to the door and checks to see if he can hear anything behind it.
Looking towards the others "after you"
"Excellent. This is going to be SO interesting." Platros proceeds to cast Light on his holy Symbol.
On the assumption that we all agree with the above purchases and all spend 40 Platros is going to split his remaining gold as 10 gold piece worth gold bar
The rest in various exotic spices. He'll then spend the rest of the time in the library, perusing what material there is on Agerach
"I don't know about you, but a donkey is about as much as I can handle. And, when we DO end up in a city having a dire boar might attract attention. But as long as you, Norman, promise to look after the boar, take it for walks and clean up after it you can have it as far as I'm concerned. But it becomes your responsibility that worked on my kid brother. And Norm reminds me a lot of him
"We're getting 100 gp each. Why don't we each contribute 25 gp to a group fund. From that we can buy a donkey, a tent, some food, some basic camping gear, etc. Enough to live on for a few days at least. We then each get 1/4 of the donkeys remaining capacity (volume and weight) to fill as we deeem appropriate." I kind of like these people. Norman is bright and even more naive about the world than I am. Tukata is clearly the practical one who may just keep us alive. Never really met a dragonkin before, he at least recognizes the values of the Gods and will have a different perspective on things
The conversation is raising a few interesting points. How expensive are books? Which largely translates into when the printing press was invented. In general, what is the tech level, at least here? Guns? Faux medieval or faux renaissance? Is it OK with us just inventing minor world details? I'd like to make a minor change to the character. I realize that Platros definitely should have knowledge local trained.
"Make sure that you tell the library where you are taking the books and get permission. I can't imagine they'll be happy to lose them or see them destroyed" "bringing a donkey is an excellent idea. But we should burden it with more than books. We don't even know if we'll be landing in civilized lands As to art work and jewels, the value of these things can vary greatly by culture. If we were to bring an expensive painting to the lands of the Gintarri they would just use it for fuel"
"its a pity you didn't get here in time to hear all the fascinating details. Short form, we're off to Agerach to explore and map it. Leaving quite soon but we get to buy some supplies first"
Platros looks at Saipres, trying to determine what religion he belongs to.
"nice to meet you all. I am Platros and I have the great honour to be a priest of Anok." He then turns so that he is mostly addressing Saipres and Tukata "Although I hopefully won't be a complete liability should combat arise I am doubtless far less skilled than either of the two of you" Turning towards Tukata "While you're right, you'll forgive me if I intend my meeting with death to be delayed for many years. There are far too many places to go and books to read to die just yet"
"I presume that you will be supplying us all the supplies that we need to make maps? And at least a few days worth of rations?. How large an area are we supposed to map before returning? Do we go for a set time and map as much as we can or a set area and get back when we can? I am also assuming that by "map" you mean create physical and ethnographic maps and that we should also investigate cultures, magical secrets, different technologies, etc. Do we know which religions are practiced in the area?"
"Do we at least know what languages are spoken there? I know several so it is likely that I know at least one"
"Do the people where we are going know of this university and its great work? Should we identify ourselves as part of this effort or will that get us into trouble?. Do we have time to consult the library for what little is known before departing?" |