"It looks like Ruing and her cultist allies were using this circle of summonation and the portal ritual in this book to move about. Given more time, I would love to examinate its workings, but I suspect we need to be after those warforged. I do hope we are able to come back here again."
"Blondie was leading a much more exciting life than she lead us to believe. Reckon I'm of a mind to call her out on that."
Typhus says something cryptic with the jist of "I have a dragonmark."
Any last minute details you need to wrap up before you head out?
Malick swiftly stashes the usable supplies in his backpack and takes a last look around.
"Ferdinand, you need another vein opened for you?"
"Typhus, I'm sure Lyrander's going to be thrilled.
"Well, I can always use more donations."
"Here you go."
"Let's get on the road. Time to follow the forged. Should be easy enough. They've got a ton of good points, but stealthy wasn't one of them last time I looked."
.
Steath Check
"And if we don't want to be seen, remember that invisibility is always an option," Rennik says with a smile.
Mountain states his intention to stay at the warehouse as he doesn’t feel right about fighting his own kind. He pledges not to interfere with you but will not assist you anymore.
Oddjob 101: Stepping from the warehouse the wind blows a mildew smell from the marshes over you as you head out. The warforged are easy to follow as they stay to what’s left of the road. The army also has the side effect of keeping the Mournland creatures away from the area.
At what range do you intend to follow the army?
Give me a stealth or nature roll if you intend to stay hidden.
Paladins: After watching the warehouse for about an half hour a group of 5 (a gnome, a half-elf, a shifter and 2 humans) exit and begin to trail the army but seem to stay back and not try to join the army.
Ragna: give me a perception roll.
Give me stealth or nature roll if you intend to stay hidden and a perception roll to keep Oddjob in view
Mountain states his intention to stay at the warehouse as he doesn’t feel right about fighting his own kind. He pledges not to interfere with you but will not assist you anymore.
Oddjob 101: Stepping from the warehouse the wind blows a mildew smell from the marshes over you as you head out. The warforged are easy to follow as they stay to what’s left of the road. The army also has the side effect of keeping the Mournland creatures away from the area.
At what range do you intend to follow the army?
Give me a stealth or nature roll if you intend to stay hidden.Paladins: After watching the warehouse for about an half hour a group of 4, a gnome exit and begin to trail the army but seem to stay back and not try to join the army.
Ragna: give me a perception roll.
Give me stealth or nature roll if you intend to stay hidden and a perception roll to keep Oddjob in view
"Are those the men you're after", asks Uriel as the men emerge from the warehouse.
"Invisibility is not an option for all of us. Armour and halberd's always going to be kind of clanky."
Even so, Malick is reasonably light on his feet. Years of climbing out of illicit windows have given him a measure of skill.
The paladins remain hidden.
"I think I should have no trouble making all of us invisible for a relatively short burst, if the need arises," Rennik explains. "I can't do much for your general noisesomeness, however."
I think we would be staying at a considerable distance from the warforged.
Fixed above.
"Right. They aren't that hard to track, so there's no reason to risk letting them see us."
1d20+7
"Right. They aren't that hard to track, so there's no reason to risk letting them see us."
Perception roll:
As Oddjob begins to head out after the army a figure stands up from hidding to their left and says...
As Oddjob begins to head out after the army a figure stands up from hidding to their left and says...
As Oddjob begins to head out after the army a figure stands up from hidding to their left and says...
"Halt, I believe you have some explaining to do. Starting with why did you kidnap Jassolen in Sigilstar?"
Diplomacy
As Oddjob begins to head out after the army a figure stands up from hidding to their left and says...
"Halt, I believe you have some explaining to do. Starting with why did you kidnap Jassolen in Sigilstar?"
Diplomacy 1d20+16
A somewhat surprised, weather beaten, older man in plate armor, who is in desperate need of a shave, suddenly rises from a nearby bush, sputtering in disbelief at Ragna. "Warn me when yer gonna do that, kid!" As he turns his attention to the five infront of the warehouse, he straightens up quickly, sizing up the five with his one good eye.
"I apologize, I will do better the next time we are stuck in a gods forsaken land.", Ranga says with a smile.
"I apologize, I will do better the next time we are stuck in a gods forsaken land.", Ranga says with a smile.
Uriel gives Ragna a wry smirk, clearing his throat with a sound that can only be described as "a vile atrocity", expelling the phlegm on some poor, unoffending bush.
"I knew you were a good kid, kid."
Ferdinand whirls around and points his spear at the newcomers, electricity crackling along it's shaft. "First off, who's asking?"
Ferdinand whirls around and points his spear at the newcomers, electricity crackling along it's shaft. "First off, who's asking?"
Ragna, holds her hands out wide away from her weapons.
"I am Ragna, a guard, the lone guard you left alive when you made your escape. My companion will introduce himself if he wishes."
Ferdinand whirls around and points his spear at the newcomers, electricity crackling along it's shaft. "First off, who's asking?"Ragna, holds her hands out wide away from her weapons.
"I am Ragna, a guard, the lone guard you left alive when you made your escape. My companion will introduce himself if he wishes."
Uriel nods his head at the five before him. "The names Uriel De'Mar", says Uriel in his gravelly, wine addled voice. The reek of cheap booze permeates the air around him, as he sways slightly, while his one good eye watches on intently.
Rennik, a gnome with a far-off look in his eyes and clad in outlandish arcane robes, speaks up: "Ah, so you are, Ragna, and a great distance you've come. My first thought is that it's for revenge that you've made your way here, but now that can't possibly be true, unless my eyes deceive me and your company is more than a pair. I suspect then, that you've come for answers, and that is a quest I can respect, although in these dark days we find ourselves in greater wealth of questions than of answers. Why does this Jassolen concern you so?"
"I am Ragna, a guard, the lone guard you left alive when you made your escape. My companion will introduce himself if he wishes."
"So, revenge then? Lovely. Like we didn't have enough to deal with out here. Malick, you remember why Ruing wanted the crazy?"
Ferdinand continues to keep his spear pointed at the paladin.
"Jassonlen was our High-Inquisitor, we were there to protect him and to keep his insanity from spreading.
Gnome, I was originally out for revenge, but the years since the incident and loss of more companions has tempered me. I seek truth and justice, but I will be the judge of what is needed. One of the highest ideals of my order is to bring relief to those that suffer, and in a way you relieved Jassonlen. Now I just need to know was it for the good of the world or for ill."
Ragna appears tired and ready to listen.
Malick leans on his halberd.
"This could be interesting. Ferdinand - why would I know what Blondie wanted him for? My life is not complex. If she said, "Hey gorgeous, go kidnap a crazy." , I went and kidnapped a crazy. You too, as far as I remember.
All I was ever doing was keeping in her good books, staying alive and trying to renew some warmer acquaintance with her.
Problem is, as of right now, I don't know if it was for the good of the world or not. Don't much care, personally, but it turns out our Blondie had hidden depths. We're kind of wanting answers to a few things ourselves. Care to tag along?"
He grins suddenly. "That's booze I'm smelling. Share a toast to finding our missing leaderene? There's a concussed cultist reckons she's marching with her army. Which would be the warforged we were trying to follow."
"By hidden depths, he means megalomania." Ferdinand finally lowers his spear and smiles. "I'm Ferdinand Salatic. Artificer for this band of mad men. Malick's the only other sane person here and is the closestthing we've got to a leader. Rennik is an illusionist, and Typhus is, well, you remember Typhus, don't you?"
"Once met, never forgotten. Like he said, except for the part about my being a leader. I'm just mouthy. That over there pretending to be shrubbery is Flint. Useful guy to have in a fight. Shifts right along."
"What kind of answers are you looking for? And what are you trying accomplish? I may decide to join you until I can decide what to do, but I need more information."
Malick leans on his halberd.
"This could be interesting. Ferdinand - why would I know what Blondie wanted him for? My life is not complex. If she said, "Hey gorgeous, go kidnap a crazy." , I went and kidnapped a crazy. You too, as far as I remember.
All I was ever doing was keeping in her good books, staying alive and trying to renew some warmer acquaintance with her.
Problem is, as of right now, I don't know if it was for the good of the world or not. Don't much care, personally, but it turns out our Blondie had hidden depths. We're kind of wanting answers to a few things ourselves. Care to tag along?"
He grins suddenly. "That's booze I'm smelling. Share a toast to finding our missing leaderene? There's a concussed cultist reckons she's marching with her army. Which would be the warforged we were trying to follow."
Uriel gives a steady nod in acknowledgement of Malicks comment, carefully reaches into his cloak, and produces a previously opened bottle of wine. Tossing it to Malick, Uriels says "Aye that there is booze. Yeu've got the nostrils of a sea captain long too dry fer his likin'.
Stepping carefully closer to the five, he gestures towards Ragna. "I'm with Ragna here, so if she says she's following ya, then I'll be along as well."
Reaching once again under his cloak, he pulls out his own wineskin and takes a generous gulp.
"Do you reckon why those Warforged are on the move?"
"What kind of answers are you looking for? And what are you trying accomplish? I may decide to join you until I can decide what to do, but I need more information."
"You know, why did she choose us to join, did she cause all this *Gestures at ruins of Cyre*, why is she trying to conquer all of Khorvaire and unleash unending madness on it, standard stuff."
"She's certainly got something up her sleeve with all of these warforged. They seem bound to her will. Through some sort of compellment they have followed her call."
"Got the right priorities there."
Malick catches the bottle and drinks deeply.
"Serious rot gut you have here. Impressively bad."
He grins and goes on.
"No idea what Blondie's up to or why. Aiming to find out though. Gal had us stringing after her close on five years. I told you, I'm not complex, but I kind of resent being made a fool of that long for a cute smile.
Do me a favour and just check there's no egg I don't know about sitting someplace, will you Ferdinand? She's got some fancy beetles implanting folks. Not a pretty sight," he adds to the newcomers.
DM
DM** spoiler omitted **
"It sounds like you are trying to find out why he went insane? These bugs you speak of, do they give people similar ailments? What is this "blondie's" name?"
"He means Ruing, our erstwhile commander. It was she who took such an interest in Jassolen, and it appears to be she who has wrought this destruction for her own insane ends."
"She is using some large clockwork beetles that implant eggs into a living host. They appear to be some sort of derivitization of slaad eggs, and there are whole vats of them back in the warehouse."
"And why Jassolen went insane hasn't really been a priority. We've been trying to figure out why everyone else is going insane."
"Never was curious what made your inquistor crazy. Not my problem. Besides, work with Typhus for any length of time and "crazy" takes on a whole new dimension. Mainly I'm after finding Blondie. Got a mighty thirst of curiosity there."
Malick passes the bottle back to Uriel.
"What ya all think? Follow the forged and hope they know the way to Blondie or try and find our own way out. That inquisitor's still alive. Locked up in a cell in Fort Thorn near the Black Cap mountains. Could be good to talk to him."
"I doubt he'd tell us anything Typhus couldn't. Let's keep following the 'forged."
"Good point."
"Never was curious what made your inquistor crazy. Not my problem. Besides, work with Typhus for any length of time and "crazy" takes on a whole new dimension. Mainly I'm after finding Blondie. Got a mighty thirst of curiosity there."
Malick passes the bottle back to Uriel.
"What ya all think? Follow the forged and hope they know the way to Blondie or try and find our own way out. That inquisitor's still alive. Locked up in a cell in Fort Thorn near the Black Cap mountains. Could be good to talk to him."
Uriel takes the bottle from Malick and peers with his one good eye into the corkhole before taking another generous gulp. "Tha' wines not much, but during times like this when the pickins' are slim, I'll take what I kin' scrounge up. Especially in this godforsaken place, tis' a sad sight for a sober man." With that, Uriel hands the bottle back to Malick, and judging by his depth perception and accuracy, he is far from sober...
"Well I'm very curious about them warforged and your 'blondie'. Are those 'forged headin' in the direction of Fort Thorn?"