Andrea demurs at joining the crowd at the Smiths...
"We should not draw attention to ourselves..I will meet you later as I need some herbs of a special sort"
with that she slips off looking for a herbalist or apothecary...girls in her profession have ways of stopping unwanted children and her supply is running low
Paellet;
They will willingly accept your drink, after meeting gazes with each other. "We don't know nuthin' about no ruins. You're welcome to get yourself killed in whatever danger is out there, if ya want. That is, after the siege is over. No one's going anywhere for a good while."
Buckets and Bellows;
Seeing you enter again with Guligak, Smaar comes over and introduces himself. At Jon's request for some care for his gear, Smaar is eager to assist.
"Sure I can help you with those things. You'll need to keep your weapons sharp. Take this kit. It's on me. And remember, if you need a place to stay, you're more than welcome here."
Approaching the Baron's keep;
You split up from the women, and travel up Keep Road. The Baron's keep is surrounded by another wall. Before you even reach the gates however, an explosion of dogs barking comes from your left. Growling and barking at Ka, a number of restrained mastiffs pace frantically on the other side of their fenced-in enclosure. Only then do you even realize that something more than a shack is in front of you.
Crouched in the shadows of the tall northern wall of the keep proper, a humble shack occupies one corner of an open yard surrounded by a crooked iron fence. A row of doghouses lines the western side of the yard, while kennels occupy the space along the fence opposite them. Several mastiffs wearing spiked iron collars roam the yard, masters of their small patch of land, while younger ones pace back and forth within the confines of the kennels. A sign fastened to the gate in the southern portion of the fence reads, “Shenk’s Dog Yard.”
The Black Candle;
Rose accompanies Andrea on her task, and the two travel a short distance to reach the local herbalist.
"I have little need of a Smith, even one that is on our side. I taught myself how to fight and kill with my bare hands. It's certainly more advantageous to be armed and prepared precisely when your enemy suspects you aren't."
The Black Candle;
This squat building sits at the middle of Dawn Lane. Ivy covers much of its walls and partially blocks several diamond-shaped stained-glass windows. Near the front entrance, a large iron arm thrusts up from the ground, its palm facing the sky. A black candle nestles in the palm, a bright flame dancing on its wick.
Pushing open the front door causes a string of bells hanging in front of it to jingle loudly, and at the chain’s end dangles a sprig of mistletoe wrapped in yellow ribbon.
A raven-haired half-elven beauty with green eyes and pale skin greets you as you open the door. Incense smoke swirls around her head.
"Greetings, fair ladies. Are you injured?"
"Injured..No ma'am..I am here for some wild carrot and pomegranate if you have them"
reference here..who says you don't learn things playing D&D
"I do have all the coin you might need...now where is that purse"
She makes a show of dipping into her bag for her coin purse pulling out a number of small items including her own sprig of Misletoe tied with the same yellow ribbon.
Buckets and Bellows;
"Sure I can help you with those things. You'll need to keep your weapons sharp. Take this kit. It's on me. And remember, if you need a place to stay, you're more than welcome here."
Jon nods. "I appreciate that. Thank you." He nods at the door. "Do you always have armsmen here?"
The Black Candle;
"Wild carrot and pomegranate?", the woman asks with a sly smile. "Do I look like a grocer?"
She giggles playfully as she crosses the room and opens a small cupboard. "I'm just playing around. While I may not have the things themselves here, I have their extracted essences. I can sell you the tinctures for only 10 gold pieces. My name is Viaren."
The apothecary's eyes dart to the mistletoe, and back again to Andrea's eyes. "Ah, you must know something about the application of special plants. For instance, you must know that Mistletoe is often used to great effect in removing certain cancers.
Buckets and Bellows;
"No, I don't usually have any guards. I can certainly take care of my own. In fact, I don't usually stand for this kind of bullying. If it wasn't for my boys here, they'd answer to my blade. But, now that my wife is gone, I'm afraid I can't risk openly assaulting them. You have all the support I can give, if I have your promise that you will take the Baron down."
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Approaching the Baron's keep;
You split up from the women, and travel up Keep Road. The Baron's keep is surrounded by another wall. Before you even reach the gates however, an explosion of dogs barking comes from your left. Growling and barking at Ka, a number of restrained mastiffs pace frantically on the other side of their fenced-in enclosure. Only then do you even realize that something more than a shack is in front of you.
Crouched in the shadows of the tall northern wall of the keep proper, a humble shack occupies one corner of an open yard surrounded by a crooked iron fence. A row of doghouses lines the western side of the yard, while kennels occupy the space along the fence opposite them. Several mastiffs wearing spiked iron collars roam the yard, masters of their small patch of land, while younger ones pace back and forth within the confines of the kennels. A sign fastened to the gate in the southern portion of the fence reads, “Shenk’s Dog Yard.”
Guligak howls back at the dogs, trying to be twice as loud and intimidating. Froth flies from his lips and his eyes roll alarmingly. He whirls his sword threateningly at the pack as well.
Gorum help us. He can't resist any challenge. I hope he's not a true beserker. Jon shakes his head and looks around. "Easy, Guligak. We're within sight of the walls. We want to impress them as steady men-at-arms. Not champions of a dogfight."
The Black Candle;
"Wild carrot and pomegranate?", the woman asks with a sly smile. "Do I look like a grocer?"
She giggles playfully as she crosses the room and opens a small cupboard. "I'm just playing around. While I may not have the things themselves here, I have their extracted essences. I can sell you the tinctures for only 10 gold pieces. My name is Viaren."
The apothecary's eyes dart to the mistletoe, and back again to Andrea's eyes. "Ah, you must know something about the application of special plants. For instance, you must know that Mistletoe is often used to great effect in removing certain cancers.
"The tinctures will be fine thank you..will they be sufficient to last me for a cycle"
"And I would be interested in your views of how best to treat cancer..." she looks around carefully before lowering her voice "..maybe we could speak privately...my name is Andrea..this is Rose I believe we have a mutual aqquaintance"
"I think we've seen enough for now. Let's head back to the pub."
The Black Candle;
Rose stretches out her hand, revealing her own yellow ribbon. Quickly, she replaces the ribbon and eyes the apothecary warily.
The Black Candle;
"A mutual acquaintance? That very well may be. Tell me, where exactly did you get that ribbon, and why do you think it should mean anything to me?"
Approaching the Baron's Keep;
At Guligak's mighty roaring and display with his large sword, the dog's quieten; ears back and flat along their heads, they resort to a low growl. They stop altogether and run to hide in their kennels when another figure appears, crawling out of a little shack.
A shaggy-haired, freckle-faced man emerges from a glorified doghouse within the compound. He's got a makeshift club in his hand, which he brandishes about wildly! "You stupid dogs! Stupid! Stupid! Shut up!"
He wears a bright yellow cape that is far too large for him; it threatens to trip him with every angered step he makes toward the kennels. Banging loudly against the tops of the doghouses, he rythmically pounds out; "Be quiet! Be quiet! Be quiet!" over and over again, obviously missing the irony of his actions.
A passing villager leading her mule through the town looks at the debacle and shakes her head.
"YEAH! STUPID DOGS BE QUIET!" Guligak hollers helpfully.
"HELLO, DOG-MAN! YOUR DOGS ARE NOT VERY BRAVE, I THINK. I, GULIGAK, CAN HOWL LOUDER AND LONGER THAN THEY CAN! DO YOU WORK AT THE PALACE?" he continues to shout.
Shenk's Dog Yard;
At Guligak's yelling, the man in the yellow cape stops banging on the kennel and smiles. "I not Dog-Man! Me Bumbo!"
When Guligak mentions working at the palace, Bumbo raises his eyes and cranes his neck toward the keep. He takes a few steps back, mouth open wide, gawking at the keep, before his backwards movement finally catches up with his cape. He tumbles to the ground, landing in some mud. "No! I work with Shenk! Here! The Baron works in the palace, Goo-Lee-Gak."
At Guligak's yelling, the man in the yellow cape stops banging on the kennel and smiles. "I not Dog-Man! Me Bumbo!"
"Hail, Bumbo. Who is Shenk? Does he sell dogs? I might buy one of your dogs: how do they taste?"
Shenk's Dog Yard;
Paellet, the finer details of animal husbandry are obviously lost to this dim man. Somebody else is clearly doing the bulk of the training here.
Bumbo laughs heartily at your suggestion of eating them. He approaches closer to you, wiping off some of the mud, but inevitably just spreading it around more. "No. That little man is right. These dogs are for wars! And fighting! Not eating! You're silly, Goo-lee-gak." His words come slowly but steadily. "Shenk owns the dogs. He trains them, and I help. But Shenk's not here to sell you a dog now. If you're really hungry, I can show you where food is. Want me to?"
Guligak shakes his head. "Not hungry now, maybe later."
Andrea drops her voice to an almost inaudible whisper hoping the womans keen ears will pick her up
"We were given this two days ago in Olfden from where our mutual friend sends his greetings and hopes to cure this..sickness...without killing the patient...but to do that the cancer must be removed with a surgeons precision...can you help us with this...we do not ask that you administer treatment yourself merely give us advice on the patients condition and where best treatment can be applied"
Andrea hopes fervently that her metaphor is the right one to use in this case
The Black Candle;
"Very well. You must be skilled in the healing arts to know so much about cancer, and remedies. I can confide in you that there is a great cancer in this town. It must be removed, at all costs, to prevent it from spreading. However, I have little skill in these matters. I can only provide rudimentary support."
Viaren moves to a cupboard on the far side of the room, and unlocks it using a key that hangs around her neck. A number of jars and boxes line the small shelves. She selects a few, and places them on the table.
"Malyss root paste, Oil of Taggit, Terinav root, and Blue Whinnis. These are all very dangerous items, but as such, they are very effective at combating certain diseases. Though I'm sure you are quite skilled surgeons, please let me explain their use. Malyss root need only make contact with the skin before it starts to work. It flows deep into muscle and bones, stiffening whoever touches it. This Terinav root is a stronger version of that. Oil of Taggit can be added to almost anything that would be consumed. It's flavourless, odourless, and it causes sudden drowsiness. Blue Whinnis is also a powerful sedative, except that it must enter the bloodstream. From there it circulates and does it's work."
Viaren places these items in a small box, and slides them across the table to you.
"I have little more to add; I'm afraid I don't know very much for certain. I do have concerns, though. Lately, the cancer's agents have purchased a number of herbs and concoctions used to preserve dead flesh. I worry that he would use the Undead against the Andoren army. I--" Viaren's speech is cut short by a customer entering the shop; the telltale ringing of the door-bell snapping her back to herself. "And remember, chew those minty leaves 50 to 60 times in order to freshen your breath. You're not going to win the heart of that man if you smell like a cow.", she laughs heartily, throwing her hands up as she leaves you to go help her next customer.
Andrea scoops the box into her capacious sling bag and thanks the Apothecary before motioning to Rose that they should leave.
Once outside she finds a quiet corner before speaking again.
"I had hoped for some information..not just poisons...we need to know where to strike to best effect..and this talk of undead unnerves me. I have never faced them myself...Do you know what we would need to destroy them..apart from faith in the gods that is"
Andrea;
"The talk of the undead worries me as well. I have some tricks up my sleeve in that regard, but not many. I can channel some light that will damage them, but I'd rather not face an army of the things, regardless of my talents. If he is truly creating an army of these abominations, surely there must be enough deaths or disappearances to substantiate that? Where would the bodies be?" Rose sighs, and for the first time shows a glimmer of emotion, even if that emotion is simply exhaustion. "I think we have quite a bit of work ahead of ourselves yet. Shall we seek out the church? Surely they would know if the number of dead have increased, or if the dead have gone missing..."
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"We need to gather information to figure out how to remove the Baron as quick as possible...supposedly there's a tunnel that leads to the castle underground, we need to explore that avenue perhaps?"
I'll use my barbic knowledge ability to take 20 on my knowledge:engineering to locate accessible entries to the underground structure. 20+8=28
Paellet takes some time to search his memory for any clues relating to the architecture of Piren's Bluff, when suddenly it hits him. Amazingly, what he is looking for is right in front of his nose. A large estate sprawls out before his eyes, towering over Shenk's Dog Yard. Paellet's knowledge and analysis of historical architecture and engineering would suggest that although the Baron's keep is the central focus from which the rest of the town has sprung up, it is certainly not the oldest building in town, nor was it the first. This building is.
A tall estate made of timber, red bricks, and silver-flecked granite, oddly out of place both in its elegance and design, rises into the air like an enormous needle. Narrow stained-glass windows depict mountains and dragons, and leering gargoyles peer down from perches over the eaves. Stone-shingled roofs rise one atop another, tapering to a stark peak surmounted by an iron spike ending in a horizontal crescent moon cradling a nine-pointed star.
This estate has stood at this spot long before Piren's Bluff was even chartered. If there was any knowledge about a series of underground tunnels to be found, surely the place to start would be here.
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Paellet takes some time to search his memory for any clues relating to the architecture of Piren's Bluff, when suddenly it hits him. Amazingly, what he is looking for is right in front of his nose. A large estate sprawls out before his eyes, towering over Shenk's Dog Yard. Paellet's knowledge and analysis of historical architecture and engineering would suggest that although the Baron's keep is the central focus from which the rest of the town has sprung up, it is certainly not the oldest building in town, nor was it the first. This building is.
A tall estate made of timber, red bricks, and silver-flecked granite, oddly out of place both in its elegance and design, rises into the air like an enormous needle. Narrow stained-glass windows depict mountains and dragons, and leering gargoyles peer down from perches over the eaves. Stone-shingled roofs rise one atop another, tapering to a stark peak surmounted by an iron spike ending in a horizontal crescent moon cradling a nine-pointed star.
This estate has stood at this spot long before Piren's Bluff was even chartered. If there was any knowledge about a series of underground tunnels to be found, surely the place to start would be here.
I think he was expecting you to be gone longer, and we were gonna go shoot the shiz in the pub, for background fun...at least that's what I got from his post
I inform Guligak and Jon of my knowledge, and that we should explore there...and that we need to get the lasses...while I check the exterior of the building, searching for any possible secret doors or catacomb access points.
"That's good to know, Pae. Even though I'm planning on walking in the front door, it'd be real handy to have a back door in case things go south. Let's check it out. I'd suggest you go first. 'Gak and I are too likely to scare off someone opening their door."
Andrea;
"The talk of the undead worries me as well. I have some tricks up my sleeve in that regard, but not many. I can channel some light that will damage them, but I'd rather not face an army of the things, regardless of my talents. If he is truly creating an army of these abominations, surely there must be enough deaths or disappearances to substantiate that? Where would the bodies be?" Rose sighs, and for the first time shows a glimmer of emotion, even if that emotion is simply exhaustion. "I think we have quite a bit of work ahead of ourselves yet. Shall we seek out the church? Surely they would know if the number of dead have increased, or if the dead have gone missing..."
"Yes..we should see if the local clergy are still loyal to Andoran or if they too have fallen into the clutches of the Chelaxians...who better to create undead than those who have care of the dead after all"
"'Gak and I are too likely to scare off someone opening their door."
"Sometimes scaring people is handy. And fun, too. You should try it some time." Guligak smiles at pleasant memories of making other clansmen soil their britches.
"Sometimes scaring people is handy. And fun, too. You should try it some time." Guligak smiles at pleasant memories of making other clansmen soil their britches.
Mindful of eavesdroppers, Jon can't speak as directly as he would like. "Right now, we're new in town and I would like to stay a long time. We need to make friends. True friends. Not to cow someone into saying they're a friend, while they resent us.
"When we enter battle with the enemy, then let us shatter his pride and drive him before us on the field of honor."
Guligak continues to smile and says nothing.
Paellet; This building does not seem to hold any religious significance. The crescent moon and nine-pointed star don't register as icons Paellet would recognize.
As you skirt the edge of the estate, signs of life abound; a long line of white laundry flaps in the wind at the rear of the building, and a woman's soft humming floats out of a nearby window. There are two entrances, it would seem. One at the street-front, and one in the back.