"So Pavel any idea where we should go first"
The big ranger frowns in thought.
"Well, talking to the guard is the first choice for a general idea. After that? I'm thinking we could split up to do a little legwork. Sell some of the weapons and armor we got out of those knobgoblins this morning and take the chance to chat up the clerk. Find stables for the horses and maybe Gal can get some ideas from the other horses, the dogs in town, things like that. There's a big half-orc population here: Mullis Town's mining operations thrive on half-orc laborers ever since they extended citizenship. Soll may be able to turn something up with them. Ivo and Branomonrik can probably go looking into rumors of ruins or strange sightings. Tavern and inn may have some merchants from out of town loading up ore and other goods: that's a good place to get a sense of things outside the Corridor. We need to arrange lodgings one way or the other, so we might as well head there, too. I might also get in touch with someone here on Vesh business."
He rubs the back of his neck.
"That's all I can think of. Let's keep the Barconius angle quiet if we can; we're sellswords looking to spend some coin and maybe find caravan work if anyone asks. Likely as not, whoever's up to no good already knows something about us, but that don't mean we need to be obvious. "
Pavel hails one of the guards before the gate as the group approaches.
"Hail! Watchman! I've not been in Mullis Town for a time: why is there so much security about? Has there been trouble?"
David
"About a week ago, a group of students from the university uncovered an old ruin near the river. Since then we have been under attack by strange creatures. We tried sealing the ruin again but the creatures keep coming," the guard tells you.
Pavel
"That's a right shame. Have there been many casualties? What did these creatures look like?"
"They weren't snake looking were they?"
"Mostly they looked like gargoyles with a strange crystal horn in the center of their head," the guard says. "Some have been strange balls with gemstones floating around them, and a few have just been dark shadows."
At an appropriate moment, she will ask Pavel where the church to Corean is. She may be able to learn something from her brethren.
After finding out where they will meet up, Gal grunts and says "I shall go speak with some of my.. friends. I will see you later."
Gal will wander around the town for a while, when he can do so surreptitiously, he will speak with various animals to see what other kind of information he can glean. From horses to rats, dogs to chickens, he will speak with them all as he understands they all have unique viewpoints and often have a chance to observe things most 'two legs' do not. At the appointed time, he will make his way to the rendezvous place with the others.
At an appropriate moment, she will ask Pavel where the church to Corean is. She may be able to learn something from her brethren.
"Well... Corean's the official Mullis Town religion, but, well, they don't really have a church, at least they didn't the last time I came through. This is a frontier mining town, after all, so a lot of the citizens don't really hold with the Avenger. There's a shrine over that way, I think and there may be a priest in attendance. There's also a church to Tanil on the outskirts."
Pavel nods to Gal as he heads off.
"Sounds like we need to get in to this excavation when we're settled in, see what's going on."
|
After finding out where they will meet up, Gal grunts and says "I shall go speak with some of my.. friends. I will see you later."
Gal will wander around the town for a while, when he can do so surreptitiously, he will speak with various animals to see what other kind of information he can glean. From horses to rats, dogs to chickens, he will speak with them all as he understands they all have unique viewpoints and often have a chance to observe things most 'two legs' do not. At the appointed time, he will make his way to the rendezvous place with the others.
"Well... Corean's the official Mullis Town religion, but, well, they don't really have a church, at least they didn't the last time I came through. This is a frontier mining town, after all, so a lot of the citizens don't really hold with the Avenger. There's a shrine over that way, I think and there may be a priest in attendance. There's also a church to Tanil on the outskirts."
Kelindra listens with a disapproving frown. She's about to comment on the obvious lack of devotion of this town, but stops just before the sanctimonious words can leave her mouth. She realizes that she's been spoiled living the cloisters for the last few years and that hard working folk don't have the luxury of building large temples and meditating on the word of Corean. They have to grow food and catch fish for people like her.
It is a sobering moment of introspection, and keeps Kelindra quiet for a while.
At Pavel's suggestion, Soll stares at him for a moment before murmuring "Yur... Me half-orc, so me go talk to half-orcs... Good idea." He then meanders off into the town.
As he wanders the town looking for an out of the way place to hole up, an unwelcome thought nags at him. Dammit, he's got a point though. If the half-breeds in town do know anything, they'd be most likely to give it up to me...
With a sigh, he reluctantly trods off seeking the mining camp. 'Sides, if I do learn anything useful, I could always sell the info...
Pavel turns a little red, only now considering that maybe he shouldn't have put it that way...
"Well, I mean... I thought.. you know, you'd have an easier time than... you know, undercover and all... well, okay, you're going, uh, see you later."
It seems like everywhere you go in town, people are telling the same story, creatures coming out of the darkness and attacking indiscriminately. Or at leat that is what it seems like. Once you have a chance to meet back up and discuss it, it seems that the area around the temples, shrines, and the university have experienced the most attacks.
It seems like everywhere you go in town, people are telling the same story, creatures coming out of the darkness and attacking indiscriminately. Or at leat that is what it seems like. Once you have a chance to meet back up and discuss it, it seems that the area around the temples, shrines, and the university have experienced the most attacks.
I suggest we get a good night's rest in town and start our investigations at the temples and shrines in the mornings. I'm concerned about Sol's wound and would like a chance to heal it after I meditate on Corean's word in the morning.
"I say we find an inn for the night, and see about finding information about our mission. But I get an unsettling feeling the events here and ours are connected. May just be paranoid"
Gal eventually meets up with the others at the appointed place. Unfortunately he has nothing much to report as the creatures didn't seem to bother the animals at all, solely focusing on the two-legged inhabitants.
You find a nice looking inn and tavern named the Prancing Unicorn. Lively music and the smell of warm food waft out from the doorway, beckoning you to enter.
"Better than nothing" he says to himself as he enter the establishment.
"Better than nothing" he says to himself as he enter the establishment.
Kelindra's stomach growls. "Bread, cheese, stew, and ale. I may have found Heaven."
"Better than nothing" he says to himself as he enter the establishment.Kelindra's stomach growls. "Bread, cheese, stew, and ale. I may have found Heaven."
Gal, though uncomfortable around so many strangers, will eat with the others. To sleep though he will try and find some empty space in the barn, or, if need be, happily sleep outside. He'll call a few rats or other small animals to chat with and ask them to stand guard over him while he sleeps.
Gin pack his gear in his room before heading out again.
"Pavel any leads you want us to check or places we need to go? I not I'm going exploring a bit. I haven't been in Mullis since I was a kid, and I'd like to see the town"
Pavel plunks down coins for everyone's stay and meal, opting for the communal room with a fireplace unless there are objections.
"Well, we oughtta look into the university, the shrines and the temple since that's where the attacks are going. If you want to sit down and eat first, I'll go with you. Been a while since I've come through, myself. Anyone else up for a look around tonight? Also: I got a fair amount of coin from the armor we took from the hobgoblins. If you want to divide it up, we can do that right now after I've payed the bill and you can get some new equipment or anything. "
"Well, we oughtta look into the university, the shrines and the temple since that's where the attacks are going. If you want to sit down and eat first, I'll go with you. "
"Yes, I'll head to the temple after supper. I do speak the language."
"Food sounds like an excellent plan. After that wwee can go where we're needed" A smile crosses his normally withdrawn face.
Ivo's eyes perk up at the mention of food!
Kelindra sits with her companions and eats ravenously. She pauses only to lick her fingers between bites.
"Sorry, I don't know where my manners are. I didn't realize I was that hungry. I don't care what anyone says about iron rations, they just don't taste like real food."
Gal wanders in late to the common room, looming large and with bits of hay still sticking to his clothes and hair, fully looking his part as the 'wild man'. As well a faint oder of stable accompanies him. His sleep in the hay and been one of the most comfortable he had had in recent times, much better than those 'beds' in the city and he had allowed his body the luxury of the extra sleep it needed to fully recover from his previous wounds.
The smell of food awakens a great hunger in him and, seeing the way Kelindra is eating, hegrins widely and sits down tucking into the meal in a like manner, except in far greater quantities. Not stopping to speak until he is satiated, he leans back and with a great and loud burp exclaims his contentment and compliments to the chef.
Looking to their 'leader' (Gal has not yet fully given in to Pavel's Alpha Male status in the pack, but he does understand that the ranger is far better suited to the job, at least in these civilized lands, than he himself would be) and says "So, what we do today?"
Pavel packs away a lot himself plus a lot of ale. He's got a pretty good tolerance for alcohol and other poisons, though, so what would have gotten a man half his size good and drunk just gives him a buzz.
"Next we check out the university and the temple, see who knows about these ruins the guard talked about and look at any damage to the structures to get a sense of what we may be up against."
The big ranger rubs the stubble on his chin.
"We should probably talk to whoever's in charge, too, if we're going to go poking in the ruins. Wouldn't want any misunderstandings."
After dinner and checking into your rooms, you head to the older part of town where the temples and the university are. The structures themselves do not seem to have been disturbed that much, although several statues of the gods have been defaced.
You hear the sound of something large flying overhead.
Pavel's instincts take over: he runs under cover (or falls to the ground, if there's none available) and keeps an eye to the sky to see what the hell could be up there.
Gal follows a course of action remarkably similar to the rangers, except he unconsciously flowed into wolf form as he did...
Gin looks lazily into evening sky trying to find the source of the flapping.
Kelindra looks up with curiosity. Used to a cloistered life, her instincts and reflexes are a little dull.
You see the form of a winged humanoid creature flying across the sky. So far it doesn't seem to have seen you.
Putting his knowledge of woodlore and titanspawn to use, Pavel tries to figure out from the silhouette of the flying creature what it could be.
Perception:1d20+6=26, Knowledge (Nature):1d20+5=16
"It doesn't appear to have noticed us, and if it has we don't seem to be worth it's time. Perhaps we should continue on before it changes it's mind."