|
Duke Hanzin, king of Lerrith-without-Crown in all but name, has not been seen by anyone outside Hanzin Keep for six days, and those inside the keep are not speaking.
Lafiel:
Rin:
Qadim-Sul:
Drivish:
Barshevy:
Raivek:
As each of you arrives at Hanzin Keep, a servant shows you to guest chambers on the second floor . There are two lavishly-appointed rooms for your use, just across the hall from some of the Duke’s personal rooms. The servant explains that when Captain Ryo arrives, the meeting will begin.
"Well, seems i'm the first to get here. One would figure meeting the Captain would be a little higher on their priorities. Hmpf, I hope this is quick. I want to cut something already," he says as he sits at the table, waiting for the next person to arrive.
Enter a dragonborn, over 6 feet tall and built like an ox. His scales are the color of dull silver that occaisionally gleam if they catch the light just the right way. He is dressed in full battle regalia, well polished scale armor of overlapping bronze plates. And he carries a massive steel halberd in a harness on his back, alongside a heavy travelling pack.
The servant shows him into the parlor and introduces him as Drivish Ammasin. The dragonborn gives a formal gesture of greeting, actually more of a salute. "May the light of Bahamut shine upon you."
Another servant escorts a thin woman, which enters and sits on a chair with her face to the doors and her back to the wall. Between her regular clothes, you can see a leather armor, and the hilt of what must be a short sword.
The woman throws a look over the room and its contents and smiles to herself while looking at both human and dragonborn.
"I'm Lafiel". Other than that, she stays silent, waiting for others to speak first.
A tall, lithe man walks in, with purple skin, flashing silver eyes, and glowing silver crystalline spikes on his head. He wears bright cobalt blue leather armor and his arms are wrapped with white leather straps, the gaps between them revealing the glowing silvery energy lines etched on his skin. A curved khopesh hangs from his belt.
He goes over to a small table and pours himself a glass of wine. Leaning nonchalantly against the wall, he looks over the people already gathered in the room.
"None of you are wearing the Duke's livery, I see," he says by way of introduction. "Freelancers then?"
Another man appears; this one is an older human. He hesitates at the threshold, as if he was considering turning around and leaving. He enters, smiles nervously, and seats himself. As he listens to the conversation his eyes betray unease and even suspicion towards the non-humans.
An elegant, slightly raffish figure appears in the doorway. Short for a half elf and surprisingly stocky, his heavy coat is made of terracotta velvet, shot through with silvery thread. The effect is marred by sundry chemical stains inadequately wiped off. Round one arm is a mourning band in black.
He pauses at the doorway, surveying the others and bows politely.
"Am I the last? My apologies if I've kept you waiting. Rin Lyulfsson."
He crosses the room and finds a chair. "So, does anyone know why we've been summoned? It's a mystery to me."
As each person enters, I stand and salute, and introduce myself as appropriate. Although I do not initiate any conversations, I do politely (and stiffly) respond to any questions.
To Qadim-sul: "No sir, I am not currently in the Duke's service. I have come on my own buisness."
To Rin: "I know that I have been honored with a meeting with Captain Ryo concerning rumors of the long forgotten sorcerer-kings. However, I did not know it was going to be a council."
Rin quirks a curious eyebrow.
"Is Captain Ryo that worried by the Duke's absence? I can't think of any other reason he'd be calling a secret meeting. My friend simply said my talents might be useful."
He relaxes back in his chair and idly constructs a whirling pool of coloured lights. The effect is that of a small kaleidoscope as points of light merge into random shapes, blur and change.
"It's either that or he wants to complain about my experiments, and I don't imagine he'd need such eminent folk around to do that."
At Rin's mention of distinguised persons, the older man chuckles. "No, lad. The only thing that distinguishes me is my growing paunch and balding pate."
Lafiel eyes each new person who enters the room. At Qadim-Sul's entrance she instinctively winces, as she never saw a genasi before. After that, Lafiel keeps sitting silently at the table while the others enter, and waiting a moment after Rin's question to answer :
"I'm here for a job and more importantly, for the gold. This job should make any of us who survive <Lafiel grins> rich enough to retire for some time, and thats all I want now."
To Drivish : "Who are these long-forgotted sorcerer kings ?"
"This Captain Ryo seems like an interesting person, knowing all of us and apparently much more. Who is he, except for being Captain of the Guard here ?"
I inform the lady as to the nature of the sorcerer-kings.
"They were powerful and evil users of magic that enslaved all. My people were key to their downfall, but alas, almost all information on them has been lost. Rumor of them has begun to circulate again. I have come to speak with the Captain, should our missing Duke have any more information."
Seeing Lafiel's reaction to his appearance, Qadim-sul pours another glass of wine and takes it over to Lafiel. He smiles and hands her the glass and says, "I am Qadim-sul. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Lafiel." He sketches a small bow.
"I can't think of any other reason he'd be calling a secret meeting."
"I don't know how 'secret' this meeting is," Qadim-sul says. "Every guard from the gate to the stairwell saw us all walk in. Captain Ryo's got something up his sleeve, all right, but I think secrecy is off the table."
"This Captain Ryo seems like an interesting person, knowing all of us and apparently much more. Who is he, except for being Captain of the Guard here ?"
"I know him only as Captain of the Guard. If he has a more mysterious identity, it's a mystery to me." Qadim-sul flashes a smile. "Then again, there has been a rash of disappearances from the mess hall lately. Buns going missing, kegs of ale mysteriously tapped...I wonder..."
After apparently dozing off at the table, Raivek seems stunned by the appearance of the purple man and falls from his chair. "Holy! Ow! What the.." he gets up to brush himself off. Raivek stands 6'1", 185lbs, and has an athletic build. Light brown hair swept to the back, and lime-juice coloured eyes. He carries a bow on his back, a shortsword on his left side, a scimitar on the right, and wears a dark coloured hide.
"What the hell are you?" he asks Qadim-Sul. Looking around at the others, "Sorry, um.. when did you all get here? It seems the lot of you are going to help me with whatever it is the Captain has in mind, eh?" He smiles slyly.
"My only contact with Captain Ryo has been when he had me arrested after a party. I'm really hoping he's not going to rake up ancient history. I apologised, I paid the fine, I mended the wall..."
Rin grins happily at some memory and continues to juggle the small coloured flames.
"They were powerful and evil users of magic that enslaved all. My people were key to their downfall, but alas, almost all information on them has been lost. Rumor of them has begun to circulate again. I have come to speak with the Captain, should our missing Duke have any more information."
To Drivish : "Interesting. However, I must admit all kinds of long lost powerful evil wizards aren't exactly my thing."
Lafiel stares at Qadim-Sul, but takes the glass of wine he offers her and puts it in front of her on the table without drinking any of it. Her eyes show suspicion for the gensai, and she keeps an eye on him as he walks back from her.
It seems the lot of you are going to help me with whatever it is the Captain has in mind, eh?"
Lafiel looks at Raivek and answers : "Help you ? Finance me well enough and I'll help you with anything you need."
Lafiel falls silent, and seems distracted looking at Rin's coloured flames, as if she's remembering something.
Now the dragonborn grins, baring overlarge teeth. "I have solved the riddle. All of us seem to be here for completely different reasons, from the dissappearance of provisions to minor vandalism. The answer must be the most blatantly obvious one. The Captain wishes to meet with all of us....
...individually. Our being gathered in one sitting room is merely coincidence. Though, I'll admit, the riddle did help the time pass."
"I wouldn't call it vandalism myself. More of a difference in taste. I tried to etch my beloved's countenance on a passing wall. Some would regard that as a token of devotion. The Guard as it happens did not. Sadly, the lady also disapproved."
Rin does not seem noticeably upset by this.
"What the hell are you?" he asks Qadim-Sul.
"Genasi. What the hell are you, pinkskin?"
Looking around at the others, "Sorry, um.. when did you all get here? It seems the lot of you are going to help me with whatever it is the Captain has in mind, eh?" He smiles slyly.
"Help you? Seeing as I'm the only member of the Duke's Guard here, perhaps all of you are here to help me. Not that it really matters to me. Ryo says, 'Jump!', I say, 'How high?' And then I go and do whatever I was going to do anyway." Qadim-sul flashes his own smile.
Seeing that Lafiel is not drinking the wine he brought her, Qadim-sul finishes his own glass and picks up her goblet.
Rin looks up cheerfully from his fiery doodles and nods at Quadim-sul.
"You're a windsoul, right? I'm happy to meet you and even happier we're meeting now rather than on that other occasion I just mentioned."
Lafiel eyes Qadim-Sul moving towards her and puts her hand on an unseen weapon in under her upper jacket. When Qadim-Sul takes the goblet and walks away, she relaxes a bit and puts her hand back on the table.
"Help you? Seeing as I'm the only member of the Duke's Guard here, perhaps all of you are here to help me. Not that it really matters to me. Ryo says, 'Jump!', I say, 'How high?' And then I go and do whatever I was going to do anyway."
"Well, genasi, windsoul or whatever else you are ,if you're the only member of the Duke's Guard, you should know more than all of us freelancers and mercenaries about the reason we're all here... Especially when we're all supposed to work for your boss."
Lafiel falls silent, looking straight at Qadim-Sul. After a while, she stands and leans back against the wall, keeping all the others and the door in her sight, ready to move quickly if needed.
Rin looks up cheerfully from his fiery doodles and nods at Quadim-sul.
"You're a windsoul, right? I'm happy to meet you and even happier we're meeting now rather than on that other occasion I just mentioned."
Qadim-sul narrows his eyes at the half-elf. "Stormsoul, actually. Currently, at any rate. Pleased to meet you as well."
"Well, genasi, windsoul or whatever else you are, if you're the only member of the Duke's Guard, you should know more than all of us freelancers and mercenaries about the reason we're all here... Especially when we're all supposed to work for your boss."
"Ah, that would assume the good Captain keeps me in his confidence, which sadly is not the case. But I feel duty-bound to point out that I'm the only member of the Duke's Guard, just the only one here. Although admittedly it would probably be a much more effective Guard if all the guardsmen were me."
Qadim-sul narrows his eyes at the half-elf. "Stormsoul, actually. Currently, at any rate. Pleased to meet you as well."
"Forgive me." Rin stands up and offers his hand. "For once I really meant no offence at all. I know very few genasi, but ignorance is no excuse for poor manners."
To Qadim-Sul, Raivek dismissively says, "Well, whatever.. When's the Captain supposed to be here? My blades are thirsty, and I'm sure he's got something for us to quench their thirst. In any case," he says facing the group as a whole, "I'm Raivek. I've some expertise in spelunking, and I'm trained in two bladed combat. I think if we're going to be working together, it'd be best if we knew each others strengths."
At this point, convinced that he has no buisness with these people, Drivish will politely shut up.
"I'm Raivek. I've some expertise in spelunking, and I'm trained in two bladed combat. I think if we're going to be working together, it'd be best if we knew each others strengths."
Rin turns to Raivek and shrugs. "An impressive roster of talents I can't hope to match. I talk too much, I can't fight and my spells are chancy. When they work they fry things or freeze them. The fire is my father's legacy, the freezing is all my own."
|
|
As you reach a lull in your conversation, you notice that the citadel is eerily quiet. Even the flickering torches seem subdued, as if deadened by a fell enchantment. Your heads nod and droop, and the taste of copper is thick on your tongue.
Rin and Drivish fall asleep in their chairs; Lafiel and Qadim-sul collapse where they stand.
Barshevy, Raivek:
"What the hell is that?" Says Raivek in surprise. He stands and walks toward the noise with his scimitar in his right hand, and flings open the door with the other. "Who goes there!" Raivek yells, hoping to catch them off guard.
Drivish releases a loud snort, startling himself awake. "What the?"
Barshevy seems frightened by the ape-creature. He practically jumps out of his chair ... to politely speak to it. "Oh, hello there," he stutters. "Have you seen Captain Ryo? He's supposed to meet us soon."
Lafiel opens her eyes, realizes where she is and gets ready to stand up.
|
|
As the others start to shake off their stupor, Raivek opens the door to find the enormous ape-man. Barshevy rises as well and tries to parley.
The creature, however, seems uninterested in Barshevy's overture. Snarling, it draws its shortsword and focuses for a moment on Raivek's face, then lands a precise thrust to the ranger's midsection.
Deft Strike, Shuriken (1d20+7=18)
Deft Strike, Shuriken Damage (1d6+4=5)
Lafiel quickly jumps at her feet, advances to a better position, reaches for a shuriken inside her sleeve and throws it at the ape creature. The shuriken hits the ape creature on the left hand, probably hurting it a bit, but not much more than that.
Raivek draws his shortsword. Slashing at his chest with his scimitar and lunging with his shortsword, Raivek is overconfident that he can quickly dispatch his foe with another display of weaponry and tries again.
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1769614/
Barshevy yelps at the ape's swing at Raviek. "Pelor preserve me!" he cries. He pulls out the sun-faced medallion of his god. That act seems to calm Barshevy. Sparks of courage flicker in his grey eyes. He moves forth and calls out for his god's power.
Rin staggers to his feet and shuffles across the floor, readying a spell to use as soon as he can get line of sight on the assassin. Try as he will, he can't throw off the aftereffects of the sleep spell.
Qadim-sul shakes his head as he comes out of the unnatural sleep. He gets groggily to his feet and staggers towards the door, drawing his sword.