Merlin sits quietly. The troubled youth stares blankly at the wall across from him.
At the end of the others conversation about the sword, Merlin aeems to awaken from his self-reflective state.
I believe that I need guidance in my journey.
The soldier looks Alberus in the eye.
I feel as if my place is beside yours.
Uriel was torn. He had carried his grandfather's blade since he became a paladin. It was a family heirloom with a long history of service to generations of his family. But this blade...this was the weapon of a legendary crusader hero, thought to have been rendered impotent by her death. But in his hands, it seemed to still hold some of that famous power. My blade will always hold meaning to me. But this is a weapon of special power. Perhaps the exact sort we need, in these desperate hours. With deliberate movements, Uriel sheathes the golden sword, then unstraps his old sword, replaces it with this new blade, and stows his old sword with his pack. He turns back to the others. "I'm going to the garrison."
"As am I," Arloric says.
"The sooner we keep the Wardstone out of Areelu Vorlesh's hands, the more time we buy for the Crusaders."
The elf nods. We should be off
GARRISON
Aberus Ocelliio
Kelly Littlekettle
Merlin Brokencrown
Uriel
Arloric Dziergas-Highbough
Telerin Quenya
TOWER
Iomenna bet-Melkiel
Luciana Moretti
Darya Flamekissed
GARRISON
Aberus Ocelliio
Kelly Littlekettle
Merlin Brokencrown
Uriel
Arloric Dziergas-Highbough
Telerin Quenya
TOWER
Iomenna bet-Melkiel
Luciana Moretti
Darya Flamekissed
Alexa Dorne
Sario Ulum Taliesin
With hunger sated by your meal (extravagant by the standards of the dying city), you have a chance to engage with some of the survivors to trade goods. People are only too happy to take weapons off your hands in exchange for useful supplies, or to trade you things that they can't use (or don't anticipate needing).
She will probably change out some of her spells.
Merlin sleeps soundly that evening. The youth feels a sense of purpose to be presented, an understanding of his powers to be awakened, a fulfillment of their fruitful activities to bloom.
After catching up with the others, Arloric gets some rest, comforted by the knowledge that they were about to strike back at last. Red Branch lays down next to him and nuzzles him before falling asleep himself.
When they wake, Arloric is up with the dawn, droning a chant of praise to the sun and the land before joining the others to plan their attack
Kelly spends the evening preparing travelling rations for her team. Dense yet flavorful biscuits, dried jerky and fruit. In the morning, she is up with the sun, and prepares a large breakfast, probably the last hot meal everyone will have for some time. Eggs and bacon, sausages and fruit.
The next morning the sky is gray, and drizzling rain comes down, carrying ash with it. Streaks of grayish ooze mark everything that the rain falls upon.
As you head toward the Gray Garrison and the noble area of town, you pass by a burned-out husk of a shop and residence. Next door another building is intact: A wooden sign above the door bears a carving of a bundle of orange herbs and flowers hovering over a beaker filled with smoking orange liquid. The building’s windows are tightly shuttered, but the front door hangs halfway off its hinges.
An armored man is placing empty glass and ceramic bottles outside the building, presumably to collect rain (to who knows what end, as it's so full of ash that drinking it is probably a bad plan), spots you, shouts "Crud! It's a bunch of crusaders!", and runs into the shop, slamming the door behind him.
Aberus watches the scene ahead of him with slight bemusement. After the door has been shut for a few seconds, he says, "Well. That's not suspicious at all, is it?"
Merlin nods in agreement, taking out a Tanglefoot bag.
Some of us should cover the back.
The youth prepares to do just that...
Aberus nods. "Good idea. Someone should keep an eye out front, too. If I was going to lead people into an ambush, acting obviously suspicious would be a start."
Uriel nods. "Even so, we shouldn't leave potential enemies in our rear."
"Good thing Red Branch came with us. Anyone who tries to sneak out back'll get a face full of antlers!"
Red Branch huffs in agreement.
Merlin begins to head out back.
Kelly draws her big knife, and follows Merlin around the shop.
The elf grasps her quarterstaff.
You rush to the building to investigate, as the culprit scrambles inside. You hear muffled shouting - they definitely know you're coming.
Aberus hears the scrambling and shouting inside and says, "Well, I guess they aren't going to try and bluff their way out of this. Uriel? Do you have any suggestions on how to go about this?"
With a smile, the aasimar shrugs. "Sure, but they're decidedly unsubtle. Blast the door of its hinges and charge in, surround the place and threaten to burn it down if they don't come out, that sort of thing. If you want to interrogate them, you probably don't want me to do the planning. What is our objective here, anyway?"
Merlin looks around for another entrance. The soldier mutters a phrase in celestial.
Satisfied that there is only the front door, Merlin rejoins the group.
Only acouple shuttered windows out back. What's our play?
Aberus rubs his chin. "I'd like to know what's going on here. That means going in, though whoever opens that door is going to get a nasty surprise, I think." He thinks for a moments, then says, "Here's an idea: just open it cautiously and slowly."
"Hold on a moment, let me check something." the copper-haired man says, before stepping toward the building. He pauses there, and his eyes begin to glow with a fiery light.
The elf will cast detect magic.
”There’s definitely no demons, nor any of their most fanatical cultists, within. I can tell you that much. I’m ready to smash the door off the hinges, unless someone has a better idea.” Uriel say, drawing his new sword as he speaks.
"Let's try something they aren't expecting," Aberus says. He lowers his voice. "Someone get on the other side of the door, and get ready to catch it and hold it open. Everyone else, stand clear of the entrance so you aren't in view."
He stands to the side of the door so he isn't in front of the entrance, reaches across to the handle, and gives it a slow turn.
Kelly stands ready with her knife, but whispers, ”Couldn’t we just knock?”
We could just talk to them, of course. We only have one startled example to base our actions on?
"You don't knock to enter a shoppe. You simply open the door and go in. And that's more or less what we'll do, just ... more cautiously."
Hey you in the shop! We are just looking for other survivors!
Merlin stands 10' in front of the door.
There are some magical auras in the room, perhaps potions she remarks.
Aberus nods in response to Telerin, acknowledging her comment.
He cautiously steps through the door, and says, "Do any of you need help?" He gestures back behind him with his thumb and adds, "And ... you know this door opens into the street, right? I mean, that's pretty dangerous. There are a lot of wounded people out there, and that doesn't help."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Arloric folds his arms and watches.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"No, uh, we're fine in here. We're all fine," comes the reply from inside.
There is a brief pause.
"How are you?" comes trailing off. You hear a scuffling sound, like someone getting punched in the arm.