Let's hope it's something as benign as that.
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Here and ready!
I understand how you feel, Birch. I lost a close friend a few months ago, and I was in no state to play anything for quite a while. Take as much time as you need, we'll be happy to wait for you.
Wilthorn nods, before checking the door to the next room.
Wilthorn's eyes narrow at the site of the monstrosity, his face in a grimace from the creature and the room. "Yeah, I'd reckon that's the golem what's-his-name was trying to build. Looks like we got here before he could finish it, though. I hope, anyway."
"If everybody's sure this time. Down we go."
"With pleasure." The ranger hikes his sword up onto his shoulder, before heading down the corridor.
Wilthorn strikes at the other stirge.
Wilthorn leaps out at whatever he was hiding behind, and slashes at the creature.
Wilthorn gives the room a cursory glance, before starting down the tunnel.
Wilthorn gives a quick galnce to the tracks. "Hell if I know, Gwernach, but I'm sure it's nothing good." He keeps quiet for the most part - he may not be a superstitious man, but respect for the dead doesn't need superstition to be important. A Roran's insistence to be the lead, he shrugs and says "If you want to stick your neck out, that's fine, but Gwernach did have a point about being sneaking up on whatever's in here. Besides, I'm just as tough as you are, and I can protect Callie just fine if that's what you're concerned about."
Wilthorn leans up against a wall, with a small grin on his face. "Hmm? Oh, It's just amusing. You always see the worst in everything, all the time. Hired to do a job? Obviously because we're expendable, and not that we've had excellent success in handling sensitive matters, and our employer knows it. Clearly Kroft is trying to wrangle us into being her... something, and not that she needs our help. If it makes you feel better, think about it this way: if the guards are as horrible and corrupt as you think, what better way to fix it than from the inside?"
With all due respect, those items sound questionable. 3 scrolls of Fireball would total 1125, and all three would be 5d6, rather than 1 5d6 and 2 3d6. Either way, it's a big investment for a one-shot item. There is the issue of not having a wizard, but someone has UMD, right? Hide from Undead in a wand would far more expensive than a scroll, especially for something we won't cast 50 times. A scroll of CL 3 HfU would only cost 75 gold to buy, and half that to craft, and even then, it's only useful as an escape mechanism, because if you attack anyone, even non-undead, the effect of the spell ends. We certainly can't just kill the necromancer and flee, and leave a bunch of undead milling about. Holy water and Alchemist's fire, for 25 and 20 GP a pop, don't actually do that much damage. 2d4, and 1d6 (for 2 rounds) damage is not all that impressive when I do 2d4+9, and Roran does 2d6+13. When you consider we both have cleave, I wonder about how effective they really are. I'd use them for sure if we happened to find some, but I don't know how wise an investment it would to buy any. If I had my way, I'd have us divvy up the credit line, and I'd cash out for my 500 GP, which would put me at just enough to buy a +1 Falchion I've saving up for it. If you would like to buy holy water and the like with your allotment, that's your business, but I know what I'd prefer to purchase. I dunno, just thinking out loud here.
Wilthorn stays quiet during the proceedings. His eyes do roll as Callie goes on another tirade, but he has a visible grin when Roran speak up. pleased with his... enthusiasm. "I wouldn't worry about what the queen is thinking about too much. I've got a feeling we'll find out why in due time."
Wilthorn nods. "We were hired to get her back to Kroft, and that's what we oughta do. We can trust the Field Marshal to fill us in, her suspicion of the whole incident is why we were brought in in the first place."
"I'll take her along the rooftops until I find a good place to drop down. Invisible or not, I don't want to land right into a crowd. Someone, see if you can distract the crowd while I'm heading off. If we get separated, I'll meet back with you at Volshyenek" With this, Wilthorn hefts Trinia's unconscious form over his shoulder as he starts heading back the way he came.
No expert in wrestling, Wilthorn's style would look amateurish to anyone practiced - luckily, the girl isn't either. As they struggle, he tries to talk some sense into her. "Look, we're here to help. Stop struggling and we can talk. You want to - Ow! - keep away from the mod, right? We want you to stay out of their hands too." As he see Callie come into view, his grimace gains just a hint of smile, before going back to a grimace as Trinia elbows him in the stomach. "Callie! You wanna talk to her? I'll let go of her if you want me too."
Wilthorn nimbly leaps and rolls over the protruding elements that make up the barely-stable roofs to the Shingles. As he gets within shouting distance of his mark, he starts yelling "Stop running! We're on your side! Well, as much of side you're going to get. Stop running and we can talk this over!" Assuming she doesn't stop, as Wil get close, he launches himself at her in a flying tackle, aiming to stop her without inflicting harm.
Hearing the shouts from below, Wilthorn climbs as fast as he can. When he reaches the top, he immediately scans the area to see where the girl ran off too, dropping his coat and chasing after her if she's visible. He shouts, "Damn fool girl, we're here to help you! C'mon, Val, hope you're light on your feet." before sprinting off.
Wilthorn wraps his cloak around himself, hoping to not draw too much attention to himself or the group.
Listening to Kroft's explanation of their next job, Wilthorn's face as clearly marked with a look of concern. "Suicide? Shortly after giving a name... eesh." He shakes his head, thinking the situation over. So, the queen's riling up a mob... but why? The guard almost has the city back under control, why undo that now? What does she gain by causing unrest? It certainly gets the people together for a witch hunt, and I suppose pulling attention of herself would be to her advantage right now. Getting them together, siding on the honor of the late king, against the painter, putting the queen in good graces for now, a kinda friend-of-my-enemy status. Looking up from his thoughts, Wilthorn asks "Do you know anything about the building this Sabor lives in? Any way we might be able to sneak in our out of to draw less attention?"
Back at Zellara's, Wilthorn waits impatiently, eager to find out what the field marshal needs them for next. "We really should be going to the Citadel. I don't want to keep Kroft waiting. She probably has something important for us, and the city needs all the help it can get."
Wilthorn closes the final door, heading back to the main room, where Gwernach and Valeria are waiting. Sheathing his sword, he looks hard at the three guards. "We were never here." Turning to his allies, he continues. "Now that we've cleaned the place out, we should get out of here, but anybody else shows up asking questions. We have an appointment to keep." With this, he heads towards the door, ready to leave.
Wilthorn gives the letters a quick scan, before stowing them into a side pocket. "Looks like the guy was holding after all. I'm sure Kroft would love to see these too. Every bit helps." Keeping a tally in his head, he also stashes the various goods and treasures they find on his person or in his pack, before moving on to the second-to-last room.
A look of mild confusion appears on Wilthorn's face as Callie gives her metaphor, before smiling. "You give me too much credit in thinking I had a plan for the stuff. Interest was more on a 'just in case' basis. But whether used to lure out dealers, or for anything else, there's always other options. If one upsets a close ally, why even go there, is my thinking. But either way, we should wrap this up soon. The other's are probably getting impatient, and we should be out of here before anyone else shows up to ask questions. Let's keep moving." Wilthorn follows closely behind, leaving the bilge behind for the room Callie's investigating.
Seeing Callie's intense reaction, Wilthorn pauses. He stares off into space for a few seconds, thinking, before sighing and looking towards her. "Let me tell you a story, storyteller. About a year ago, I was working in a 'special task force' on the side, a mix of freelancer like myself, and the best guards on the force, working under one of the sergeants in Volshyenek. A similar thing happened to us: we found something... unsavory, but useful. One man didn't want use to use it, even for fighting a greater evil. Came to the point where he had to resign, and it didn't take long for the whole group to tear itself apart afterwards. The point is, tools of any kind are all potentially useful. Allies are always invaluable. Different things are important to different people, but no one doesn't want a friend fighting with them. That's why I supported Ellie and that dragon, and it's why I'm doing this. Here." He pulls out both the Shiver and the spider venom, handing them off to Roran to dispose of, before continuing to investigate the ship. Probably had a sibling or a parent addicted to the stuff. Guess that's the consequence of growing up alone, Wil, you can't relate to other people and family matters.
After examining the vials, Wilthorn looks over his shoulder at the pair. "Roran's right - again. Never dream of using it - I had a partner of sorts who got hooked on the stuff, nasty deal - but it might come in handy for something. You never kn... Hello?" His eye notices the vial of spider venom. Holding it up to the light, he pockets it and leaves the room. "Stay on your toes. Where there's dream spider venom, dream spiders probably aren't too far behind." Drawing his Falchion, he moves up the next door, taking a peek inside.
As Callie spends a minute thinking, Wilthorn returns his bow to the hook for in on his back, and carefully places the unused arrows back in the quiver. Giving a quick glance at the guards, he heads downstairs. Looking at Callie, he gives a nod and a small grin, saying "Nice kill. Roran had a moment of brilliance, grabbing him like that. Set him up for an easy finish, and weakening him under the pretense of sport... Deceptively clever."
Seeing Devargo go down, Wilthorn nocks an arrow and draws his bowstring, pointing the business end at the three of the guards. "I'd say you should listen to the lady," he states, matter-of-factly.
Wilthorn whips his bow out, readying a shot.
Agh, the way this went down is infuriating (In a good way), because I came up with the same plan as what Devargo pulled off! Oh well, maybe next time.
Wilthorn tenses just slightly at the loss, and tries to casually walk to a position where he has a clear line of sight on both Devargo and the guard. Feigning scratching an itch on his shoulder, he gets ready for the signal to fight. So that would have worked after all. I mean, he just did it, and won. I should have said something, or been expecting him to try the same thing. Damn.
Wilthorn rises early in the morning, readying his gear, polishing his armor and sharpening his weapons. As everyone goes about their morning preparations, he keeps a sharp eye on Ellie, concerned about her mental state. After getting dressed, he stares at the medal he got from Kroft, before shaking his head and stashing it into a pocket. As Callie hands out the vials, he thoughtfully takes one, mentioning "This is a smart idea." before going into another room to apply it. He returns shortly, somewhat disconcerted by the smells, but ready to go regardless.
Pssh, I'll give you one. I'm not buying anything, saving up for a Mithral BP. Conveniently puts me at exactly 1500 G.
"The plan sounds good, Gwernach. I'm not too concerned about anyone allied with Devargo. Except for maybe the Cerulean Society, anyone related to him will be less interested in us than in filling the power vacuum Devargo'll leave.
The 1000 per is just the cash payment from Kroft, for completing the job about Devargo. Unless my memory is shot (which is certainly possible), I don't think we really looted anything during the last job.
She thanks you again, and hands over 6,000gp. edit: And I also should read the entirety of posts. Whoops!
I guess you and I got different reads on Devargo - I got the impression he was sort of a guy who we could fight, but it wouldn't be easy, and he might come in handy later on. There we're probably several endings to that scenario that end with a fight, and a large number of those ending with him dead, leaving us free to lot his ship. We did get several very good diplomacy rolls, so that's probably how we were able to get the info we need without a fight. For bookkeeping, everybody gets 1033.33 Gold, after splitting both the payment and leftover bribe money. Also, DM question. I have the Urban Ranger Arcehtype, so we have a roguish person in the party. At level 3, instead of a Favored Terrain, I get a Favored Community - functionally the same, just more specific on where I can use it. Would I be able to take "Korvosa" as my favored community, or do I need to specify "Korvosa - Northpoint", reffering to a specific district or something like that? Either way, I'll start leveling Wil up. Thanks! edit: Apart from the favored community, I've finished leveling up. Here's my gear listing:
Spoiler: 25 light mace 50 Armored Coat 02 Belt pouches 04 CI dagger 375 Mwk Falchion 50 Greatsword 01 Sap 12 Warhammer 600 Longbow 800 +1 arrows 02 37 arrows 02 20 blunt arrows 09 ranger's kit 00 Whetstone, twine - negligible 30 Thieves' tools, common 750 Oil of Keen Weapon ?? Adamantine Arrowhead 1501 Gold 6 silver 3 copper Total value:
It's a lot, but keep in mind nearly half of it is consumables. The oil is a one shot deal, for 50 minutes when I need it, and the arrows are gone if they hit, and have a 50% chance of breaking if they miss.
Listening quietly to Ellie's explantion, Wilthorn sighs and wipes his brow. "Listen, I don't quite understand everything you just said, but enough of it came through for me to get the gist of it. It's not hard to guess Devargo's a bit of a creep regarding that dragon. However, I really don't think it's a good idea to pull this right now. With no time to prepare, slim odds of success become even slimmer. Are you sure this can't wait for even a day?" Wilthron gives a sidelong glance at the guards in the room, keeping an eye out in case they're starting to get suspicious.
As requested, Wilthorn pulls out the purse with 1000 gold in it. "If there's one thing I've learned in the business, it's that you don't haggle with an information broker. If the broker's unhappy, you end up unhappy as well. We'd be fine if you just gave us a price, and we pay you, fair and square. Then we'll be on our way, and you can go back to your own business, with a non-insignificant amount of coin in your pockets."
As they walk, Wilthorn pays little mind to the conversation, thinking hard about the Eel's End and the best plan of attack; or so it appears, anyway. Hmm... There's really no good way to say it. "I've got a place..." No, no, that sounds horrible. Completely wrong direction. "I know you're worried about, uh..." Maybe I shouldn't preface it? Agh, I wish I were better with words. I mean, look at Callie, hitting it off with Swords over there. She knows how to say the right thing, the right way. You really should learn to get better at things other than stabbing people, Wil. It'll only get you so far, and what about when you're done with this business entirely? Are you really going to be fighting for other people until you drop dead? Even during the discussion of swords and maintenance, Wilthorn stay mostly quiet, only occasionally piping in on the conversation. As the group arrives at the Eel's end, Wil shakes Orisini's hand, telling him "Thanks for the directions. Let us know if you ever need help with anything" before walking up to the building.
Wilthorn stands, nods to Mr. Orsini, salutes Kroft, and then walks out, thinking about the dangers of the Bridgefront.
"Right, Val lives there... How'd I forget that? Sorry, guess I'm not fully awake yet. But still, we oughta stay aware. Won't hurt, anyways." |