"Grey, wherever we're taking Furry you need to come along."
Kallista struggles slightly with the writhing chick.
True gives Kallista her backpack, after spreading the equipment around.
"Here, use this, in case we meet anyone. Bronzewood, Hetta show us the way, unless you know a trainer we cannot enter town with this chick."
Mikel turns back to see the group faffing with the chick/cub/chub/chib.
They're all crazy. But there aren't many as decent as them.
Kallista carefully stashes the chick in the proffered backpack.
"If I walk in front of you, he can see you and maybe he'll stay calm Grey. Now, let's get on with this. Furry's lovely and deserves the best we can do for him, but Alastor and those disgusting grave robbers are just as important."
"Mikel, do you wish to spy out Daggerford alone? We could meet you at Kallista's Inn."
Mikel nods, and turns seriously to his companions, "So, you, Hetta and Greylan will go the Lodge?" he asks True, "Right. Kallista, you're with me." he says, a smidgen of the noble scion emerging.
He turns away and makes to head off again, before turning back with a sly smile, "I have a plan..." he says wickedly and makes for town.
"Works for me. I'd like to meet some of the Lodge members. Come on, Furry."
"I am? - oh alright. Greylan, here you are. Mind you look after him."
Handing over Furry, Kallista follows Mikel.
"So, what's the cunning plan?"
Mikel taps the side of his nose, "The less you know, the better it will work. How're your acting skills?" he asks.
Mikel taps the side of his nose, "The less you know, the better it will work. How're your acting skills?" he asks.
"I can turn down unwanted advances quite well." she says dubiously. "But I'm more of a dancer. What did you have in mind?"
"You'll see."
DM
True accompanies the druid, dog, wizard and his chick.
Mikel:
Grey, True and Hetta get to the lodge and are greeted warmly. They find a wild elf druid by the name of Quamara who agrees to watch over the cub. She appears to be quite young for an elf facially but a streak of silver hair that runs through her deep brown hair hints that perhaps she is older than she appears. Her large wolf companion never leaves her side during your meeting with her.
True:
Only one has noticed anything odd with the graverobbing situation. A few days ago Quamara found the grave of a ranger out in the wilderness had been disturbed. The grave wasn't open but the earth was suspisciously freshly turned.
"Quamara, thank you for assistance here. This cub...chick...has suffered a great deal at the hands of those we are about to punish. If there is any way you can communicate with it, it would help us greatly. I'd rather not have to tear Daggerford inside out to find them. But I will, if need be."
Greylan clenches his fist; "This owlbear is alone now. We killed his mother, but it was not our intention. Understand that it was wounded, and terrified. It was only trying to protect this little one. When I looked into it's mothers eyes, I felt something. The beast hated me. Truly. In it's rage, it could not differentiate between us and those who murdered the others and attacked it earlier. We ended the mother's pain, but it was just the beginning for this little one."
Greylan, heart-heavy sighs, relaxes his fist, and continues;"Please understand that we need to make these people pay for what they did. Including the defiling of the graves of the plague victims. We have an idea who one of them was, but this little guy is the only one that saw them. If there is any way that you can communicate with him, it would help us greatly. I need to stop them. Destruction and desecration are all that they will bring to this town. And I'd rather not burn the whole thing down. I was just starting to like it."
Quamara smiles gently at Greylan's words "Do not trouble yourself so much. Owlbears are full of rage, I'm sure you had little choice with an upset mother" Reaching out she tenderly touches the top of the cub's head and 'Fluffy' looks up at her with curious eyes. "I will speak with him but it will take time. I will send word once I have settled him enough to glean the information you require from him"
MIkel fills Kallista in on the basics of his plan as they head back to town...
Once there, he proceeds to put on a subtle show of estrangement from her, and they go to the best place to meet hired swords and their hirers.
Pulling herself up to her full height and muttering about upstart rogues with glib tongues, Kallista stalks beside Mikel.
"You're really easy to hate sometimes. Incompetent wastral." she hisses venomously. And winks.
"Incompetent! You couldn't hit the tarrasque if it exposed its flank to you! You're lucky I don't just kick you back to the gutter I found you in."
In the Happy Cow the half-orc is sat with his group of cronies, today this includes a wiry man with long clumpy black hair, a man with short brown hair cut into a flat-top & a red scar that marks the left side of his face and finally a bald, pale man dressed in dirty robes.
Can I have bluff checks from Mikel & Kallista for their plan?
"Incompetent! You couldn't hit the tarrasque if it exposed its flank to you! You're lucky I don't just kick you back to the gutter I found you in."
"Says the "companion" who let us get poisoned because he was too busy treasure-hunting. It's all money with you. Hard-nosed moron. If we're that pathetic, why are you even here?"
Bluff check for Mikel's cunning plan: (1d20 2=22)
She sounds like she means every word.
"Fine! Screw you hicks! You bleeding heart Ilmaterites can go hang yourselves for all I care! You guys want money but you're too scared to bloody your hands. I'm through with this. You're now minus one swordarm, blondie. Suck it up. "
With that Mikel heads moodily to the bar.
Kallista's hand goes to her longsword and she steps in front of Mikel before he gets to the bar.
"The closest you got to blood was a face full of acid. The only sucking you'll see if the day your flesh falls off your bones in pretty shreds. I'll be watching and I'll be waiting to cheer on whatever's doing it. That's if you don't dissolve your guts in alcohol first."
She spins on her heel and heads out.
I hope that sounded convincing ... I'd really hate to let him down by not doing it right. Maybe I should go back in there and slap him... although, I'm a lot stronger than him and I might knock him out... No, better leave it.
Mikel: The half orc and his companions all give some laughter at Kallista's ouburst. Swaggering over the man with the dark clumpy hair leans heavily against the bar against Mikel. "Don't worry 'bout 'er." He slurrs "She 'as a rod so far up 'er rear it's a wonder she can walk straight." He adds before smiling as sweetly as he can manage at the girl behind the bar and ordering himself another ale.
~~~
Grey & Kallista: Hetta decides to stay with Quamara and learn a little more from her and the other druids for a while. They promise to get any onformation they can from Furry within the next day or so leaving Greylan & Kallista free to do as they wish whilst they wait.
Grey will head back to Ondabarl's, and interrogate him about the shiny black shards from the large mirror or portal in the cairn. Maybe he knows something about it; if he's very keen, we can organize an expedition to retrieve the large thing.
Beyond that, Greylan will use Detect Magic and his Spellcraft skill on all the gear the group collected in the cairn so far.
"If you're going to Ondabarl's, can I come with you?"
Kallista wrinkles her nose. "The druids are kind and they're looking after Furry but I feel out of place."
"I won't be any more in place at a wizard's tower, but we could work on that dance routine we started at the miner's hut while we're waiting to see if Mikel finds out anything useful."
"That sounds good to me. Maybe I can get someone else to conjure some magical lights too. I wouldn't mind doing a little dancing myself."
"That's great Grey. But you have to promise to put the backpack down. The ladder we can use, but the pack just doesn't work."
Mikel replies to the fellow, "Yeah, that's the not the only thing she needs jammed up her, know what I mean?" he says with a lewd gesture and grin.
"I tell ya, some of these so-called sellswords are like white knights or something. Man's gotta get gold, hey? Doesn't matter how it's got, right?" he says moodily to the ruffian. "Where's a blade going to get money in this town? Aside from the mines, that is? Anyone looking for... ah, discrete help?"
Yend:
Yend has met most of his apprentices, one in particular is noteworthy, especially of late. Greylan Mooneye, quite probably much older than Delfen but insists on calling his mentor 'old man'. lately Greylan and his friends have become local gossip after they set out to become adventurers. Delfen was a little annoyed that he left without notice or at least asking for some tip for starting adventurers but is happy for the elf.
It's a particularily fine and sunny day today and yend is taking a lesson with his mentor on some of the finer points of spellcasting, both arcane and divine in the garden beside the tower when they're interupted by the returning Greylan and a woman Yend vaguely recognises from the local tavern The Happy Cow.
Greylan and Kallista head to Delfen's tower, only to find the sage of Daggerford sat out in the garden, enjoying the sun as he instructs a human man.
Grey:
As the pair pair approach Delfen gives a bright smile. "Survived your first brush with adventuring I see!"
~~~~~
Meanwhile...
The man drunkenly and suspisciously looks over Mikel for a moment before grinning. "Your best bets to get into one of Smenck's mines. He keeps his eye on the workers and picks a select few to take on more.. interesting.. jobs.. and I think, soon, he may need to take on someone else.. with skills like ol' Skutch.."
"Huh, right. Man's gotta eat. I'm a useful guy though, and maybe I can be as 'interesting' to Smenck as Skutch is. I'm good with property; sometimes mine, sometimes other folks."
"Master Onabarl, it's an honour to meet you."
Kallista bestows her sunniest smile on the ex-adventurer.
Greylan sheepishly looks at the ground. "And, I, uh, I got your note."
"But I brought you something! Some...things. Some somethings!"
The human sitting cross-legged next to the Sage of Daggerford rises adroitly. He is unassuming, except for a complete lack of body hair. He wears dark gray robes with white trimming, a motif of orbs and lines depicting the Weave. From his neck hangs a silver orb with a crystal in the center.
"If Sage permits?" he excuses himself for speaking, "Greetings, Montebuth is his name. Montebuth sees that Greylan is still as much himself as ever. His female companion, he is not familiar with."
"Kallista. Dancer turned adventurer. Only I'm not very good at it yet."
"But in striving and doing she is the future and all that can be. You are a dancer, have always been." The cleric smiles warmly, emphasizing the kind nature of his obfuscating words.
"Oh. I never thought of it like that. Fighting as choreography. But you know, you're right. If Grey can come up with dancing lights as a fight accompaniment, I might get it right. Master Ondabarl, would it be possible to enchant my sword so produces lights when I use it?"
"And Greylan sees that Greylan will ever be Greylan seeing Greylan."
He smirks a little.
"Good to see you again, Yend."
"Montebuth", he emphasizes, "is ever happy to see him as well." The cleric smiles thinly, but with warmth. "Sage, why are they here? He has had a worrying lately, as has Montebuth, but what is the nature of this business? How can Savras aid?"
"Grave robbers. The old Land family graves had been violated. Grey thinks they might be going to raise the dead. The whole idea makes me very sick. Mikel's in town trying to find leads. Or at least I hope that's what he's doing. He was getting drunk when I left."
"This is entirely inappropriate. The places of the dead are sacred, no matter the God. Though it is not his place to be guardian of the dead and their lands, his holy nature compels him to aid you in this matter."
Montebuth clasps his holy symbol in one hand, bowing his head with his eyes closed. He holds the bow, as if waiting for a response.
Kallista maintains her polite smile while she tries to work out Montebuth's syntax.
"Thank you. That would be helpful I'm sure... at least it would be if you mean that grave-robbing is inappropriate and you'll help."
She turns her attention to the ex-adventurer.
"Master Ondabarl, do you know anything that might help? Mikel seems to think that there's some connection with the mines."
Delfen politely listens to the group with a small smile, the look in his eyes hinting that he is perhaps remembering his own adventuring days. After a while he nods in Kallista's direction "It seems most things these days are linked to the mine owners" He comments, his voice quite neutral. "I will do all I can for you to help look into this matter, but in the meantime it's probably best if you look into the leads you have yourself. Now 'young' Master Mooneye, what were these 'somethings' you brought for me?"
The man gives a small smirk of a smile at Mikel's words "Those're the skills our group's missin' but really. If I were you I'd find another group to work with. Smenck pays well but his new business partner is an utter loon. More danger than it's all worth really.." He proclaimns blearily.
Greylan rummages in his pack, searching for the black shards. He passes them politely to Ondabarl.
"We found them lying beside a bigger structure. Something that seemed to be a protal, or a gate, or something. To who knows where; I have no idea. I thought you might want to take a look at them. I have some sketches, as well, of the glyphs and symbols on the thing. I'm pretty sure it's for teleporting."
Greylan holds out his sketches for Ondabarl to see as well.
The man gives a small smirk of a smile at Mikel's words "Those're the skills our group's missin' but really. If I were you I'd find another group to work with. Smenck pays well but his new business partner is an utter loon. More danger than it's all worth really.." He proclaimns blearily.
Mikel returns a sardonic grin, "Hey, money's what I need, friend. Loon or no loon. Hey, how loony we talking?" he asks jovially.
Delfen takes the shards and looks over the sketches with an intrigued expression "Now that is something, definately teleportation and old. The runes seem to have their roots in Auran, but for more information than that I'll need to consult my books"
-----
"Experimenting alchemist and spellcaster loony" He replies bluntly with a small disturbed shiver.