1st Aventure: The Fey One (Archive)

Posts : 7109 Join date : 2017-05-17

Zeiss wrote:

During the ride:

Saemon doesn't seem to distrust the party's allegations against the thieves, even though his lack of reaction could indicate the opposite. And just as he is going to respond, Konrad makes a comment about his appointment as chief of the militia, which earns the red mage a furious look. The young chief is gritting his teeth, barely managing to restrain himself from committing any regrettable action. Fedler is doing a facepalm.

"Of all the fucking things to say..." she whispers.

Mihai's intervention manages to disarm the situation, which allows Saemon to calm himself. He stares directly into Konrad's eyes, then asks with a dry tone: "Any proof of this official business? My job is to uphold the law after all."

OOC:

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K wrote:: Mihai glances between Steve and Konrad.

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Kolson wrote:: "Right here, actually." Steve smoothly pulls a piece of paper out of his belt pouch and holds it out, content to let the chief come to him if he wants to look. "It's a warrant for the recapture of the items and execution of the thieves. It's all in order."

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Zeiss wrote:: "Just take the damn warrant Saemon," says an impatient Fedler.

The young man doesn't let that perturb him, and approaches Steve to take the folded piece of paper from his hand. After almost a full minute of reading, he finally gives the sheet back to the black mage with a much more serene attitude. "It's as you say; all in order," he confirms. At this moment, all of you hear a young child shout: "Fedler!"

A young girl who is no more than ten years old comes running, her black hair flowing behind her. She wears brown pants with a green tunic, and carries a shoulder bag made of animal skin; probably from a stag. The hunter climbs down her horse and let the little girl hug her, then places a hand on her head. "Hey Yen."

"Are these people going to kill the wolf?" asks the young girl.

This question makes Fedler frowns, who then turns to Saemon. "Weren't we supposed to keep this a secret?" she inquires.

The chief sighs and tells the whole party: "I ordered the whole militia to stay silent about this matter and keep people from going into the forest, which wasn't difficult since everyone is preparing for the spring festival. But Igor, that's our local idiot, had the amazing idea of gathering a few volunteers and going after the wolf themselves."

He pauses, uncertain on how best to proceed, but then decides to just be straightforward. "The others were intelligent enough to run away before the wolf got to them, but Igor lost his right hand, and the infection is settling in."

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Kolson wrote:: Clearly concerned, the black mage starts rapid firing questions. "When did this happen? Has the fever set in? What treatment regimen are you giving him?"

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Zeiss wrote:: Saemon quickly answers: "You should be asking Silver, she's the one taking care of him; they are in the city hall, right over there." He points to the only building with a second floor. "I know he's doing bad though."

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Kolson wrote:: Whatever anyone else does Steve will stuff the warrant in his pouch and immediately ride over to city hall as quickly as he safely can and find this Silver person and the patient.

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K wrote:

ooc:

Mihai leans over to Konrad and asks in a hush tone.

"Does your redportoire include any healing magic?"

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Rory wrote:

the ride:

ooc:

Konrad raises an eyebrow, taken aback by the sudden spike in the chief's ire. "Proof, right. Papers. Steve?"

Konrad shakes his head as Steve runs off. To Mihai, he responds, "No, I never studied White Magic, or the healing arts."

"Sorry about him, he's a little overeager. Smart, though. We're sure to find out something useful with him and Silver having a look at the man's stump. Igor, right? How did he find out?"

town mage:

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Zeiss wrote:

OOC:

The ride:

"How did he find out about the wolf?" repeats Saemon. "Well, I told the militia about it."

He seems calmer, and appears to be more diplomatic that he would usually be to compensate for his recent loss of control.

The little girl has approached your horses, and she is looking rather intensely at Mihai. "Hey Fedler, look! His clothes are loose, just like you!" she exclaims.

The hunter shakes her head, and replies in a playful manner: "Shh! It's a trade secret amongst people like us." Yen signals her understanding with a long "Ooh", and Fedler gives Mihai a smile which tells him to go along with it.

Once Steve enters the city hall, which consists of only one large room with many benches placed in row, he bumps into a man a few inches taller than him and a lot more muscular. His baldness and his large eyebrows, alongside his mature looks that place him in his late forties to early fifties, make him even more imposing than he already is, despite the fact that he only wears the simplest of shirt and pants.

"A new face," he states. "What can I do for you?"

He is clearly blocking your path, and you can see that behind him, far in the back, there is an aged woman wearing the uniform of the Citadel mages and who is kneeling over something. After a few seconds of examination, you realize she's looking at a man who is lying on a stretcher made of wood.

The Citadel uniform:

Posts : 7109 Join date : 2017-05-17

Rory wrote:: "Right, and is Igor one of your men?"

Awareness+Deception vs Mihai and Fedler
You guys keeping a secret from me? Don't be shy, I'll store it in the memory bank.

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K wrote:

Mihai winks at Yen, with a lopsided smile.

detail:

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Zeiss wrote:

Saemon sighs. "Unfortunately, he is. Why these questions?"

OOC:

Yen appears to be pleased to be let on a secret, and smiles back to Mihai because of this. Mihai then notices the young girl's shoulder bag move very slightly, to the point of being almost imperceptible. She seems alarmed for a moment, then after saying a quick "Huh, see you!", she rushes off to somewhere out of view. Fedler, exasperated, explains: "She must have found another animal she keeps around as a pet."

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K wrote:: Mihai makes a slight wtf face at the implications of the little girl's pet habits.

"What, from the wild?"

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Kolson wrote:: Annoyed at the delay the black mage introduces himself and starts to explain why he is there. The whole time he keeps looking back at the man dying on the floor. "My name is Steve Oldturn, recent graduate of the Citadel. My colleagues and I are here on the Cursed wolf job and I came to see the patient. I have an interest in Cursed lore and wanted to see if I could help."

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Rory wrote:

ooc:

Zeiss of Dreamkeeper wrote:: Saemon sighs. "Unfortunately, he is. Why these questions?"

"I only wish to be certain of the root cause of the issue, nothing more, chief." We'll come back to this. "I think I'd better go with Steve. I know a thing or two about curses myself, and I doubt we'll be able to pry him away from his...pursuit, until he's ready."

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Zeiss wrote:

OOC:

Fedler smirks. "What? Not a fan of the countryside?"

She takes the reins of Steve's horses and starts walking towards the village's plaza.

Saemon responds: "Best to follow him then", and heads for the city hall.

As you arrive in the village proper, you now notice the villagers who are setting up tables, benches and braziers onto the plaza, as well as poles on which they'll able to tie wreaths of flowers between them. They appear to be cheerful, but it is clear that many are concerned about the matter of the cursed wolf roaming the forest. But as soon as they spot Fedler, pretty much everyone stops what they were doing -including a young man who was stabilizing a two side ladder on which his female coworker was standing- and rush around the hunter to voice their concerns and ask if she was successful in bringing reinforcements from Highwind. In the background, you can see a young lass lying on the ground besides a ladder, shouting insults at an apologetic man. Everyone ignores them.

"Please! Dammit, listen to me!" yells Fedler. The crowd starts to quiet down. "I have found mercenaries at the Storming Maiden who are willing to help us. They are members of the Coins, and one of them is already speaking with the mayor. We'll take care of this."

The villagers all turn to Konrad and Mihai, and have now rushed around them to express their gratitude and thank them for their bravery. Fedler has slipped away into the city hall, abandoning the two of you to this cruel fate.

As this happens, a man wearing a chainmail armor is standing on the steps of the local inn, arms crossed. He is observing your party.

"It's okay Irving, I know him."

The bald man turns around, and Steve instantly recognizes the warden who is approaching him; Velstar Rosewoods, his first teacher, the one who taught him how to read and write, as well as the basics on how to control magic. It has been almost ten years since he last saw her, for she asked to be transferred to some town in the Free Feathers, and despite her long hair which have turned grey and the fact that she is now shorter than Steve, there is no doubt that it's the same woman. In fact, Steve now realizes that she must have been quite the looker in her younger years, and a certain elegance still radiates from her.

She doesn't hesitate to hug her former student, and say affectionately: "It's good to see you Steve." Once she lets go of him, she lets her hand linger on his face for just a moment, and adds with a smile: "Still a troublemaker?"

Fedler enters the room, but you do not notice her.

For Steve only:

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Rory wrote:: How does she know we're with the Coins?? So much for a low profile, oh well. Steve will tell us if he's able to help Igor sooner or later.

"Thank you, thank you! Indeed, we heard word from your friend about this beast terrorizing the countryside, eyeing up the city of Waterglass and the fine folk who live here. We can't very well let that thing keep you all awake at night, which is why we'll be pitching in for the plan to run it down!" Konrad does the talking, grabbing the center stage and "humbly" accepting the townspeople's preemptive gratitude with marked flourish. He keeps an eye out for any two people who look alike as he rumor-hunts through the crowd, asking people if they know of anything that might be able to help - where was it last seen? Have they noticed any strange goings-on about town? His line of questioning guides them toward suspicious activity that may help him correctly size up the thugs they're after on their original assignment.

Deception
Diplomacy
Working the crowd and pretending as though we're doing this out of the goodness of our hearts

Gather Information
Information on the wolf is well and good, but I'm trying to dig up clues about the thugs who passed through here, presumably four of them. I'm fast-talking through the information about the cursed wolf to try and get to the subject of discussion as people start to come down from their excitement over us. If they mention a stranger out at night or folks who didn't want to be bothered, I'm going to fish for a description. I'm not gonna tell them what I'm looking for, I'm only going to let the info come to me, at which point I can freely prod with (almost)any questions I want to.

Awareness
Sense Motive
Spellcraft
Any twins in the crowd? How about with noticeably feminine features? Barring that, anybody paying attention with little or no than the others? How are they acting?
Misinformation on what Green Mages' aspects looked like led me to think "twins". So what I'm looking for is the "elemental silhouette", maybe just very subdued.

Posts : 7109 Join date : 2017-05-17

K wrote:

Fedler wrote:: "What? Not a fan of the countryside?"

"Just impressive, is all. When i was her age, i was..." - he checks himself - "...never mind."

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villagers wrote:: ¡Oh please Mister Mercenary, save us from the big bad wolf!

Friendly diplomatic mode: on

"Uh... yes! The Wolf! We're here to kill it." - he manages, extremely uncomfortable.

Posts : 7109 Join date : 2017-05-17

Zeiss wrote:

Fedler - before the crowd forms:

A few villagers pat Mihai on the back for committing to this dangerous contract, for which they feel a lot more relieved. As competent and dependable Fedler and Saemon are, this wolf is just too much for them alone.

Mihai:

Konrad didn't notice anything strange going on with Mihai, nor could he since he's pretty busy already.

OOC:

The villagers are more than receptive to Konrad's natural charms--except Saemon, who frowns at your display of "good nature"--and it makes it a lot easier to gather information from them. Here is what he learns:
* Nobody has noticed anything they would qualify as suspicious--except maybe the fact that Fedler was seen leaving the blacksmith's house at night, but hush no talking behind her back--and the only "thugs" they know anything about are those squatting the ruins of the old fort near Waterglass.
* One of the "thugs" came to town yesterday evening to buy supplies from the general goods store, and she seemed polite enough. If they ever caused trouble, the militia would take care of it.
* There's this woman and her bodyguards who've been lazing around for the last three days, and they've refused to get involved with the wolf, which is why Fedler had to leave the village to find some help. Great thing that she didn't have to suck up to the elected representative of Highwind and got help from hardened mercenaries instead.
* Oh, also, the baker of Waterglass, a bulky woman in her late-thirties, is complaining that someone stole a fresh bash of vanilla cupcakes, and she is willing to prepare a meal to the person, or people, who finds the culprit. Her cuisine is exquisite. No, really, it's out of this world.

Some people are clearly impressed by the burn on your face.

The only people out of place that Konrad notices is the individual in chainmail armor looking at you, who is soon joined by another armed man who whispers at him, and both of them go back into the inn. An elderly villager nods at you and confirms that these are the bodyguards that woman came with. Freaking cowards, not like the three of you.

Spellcraft:

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Kolson wrote:

Zeiss of Dreamkeeper wrote:: "Still a troublemaker?"

Steve is completely gobsmacked. Velstar Flowner was the last person he was expecting to see. He almost misses the beat. Almost. "I have my moments," he declares proudly, "Did you hear? I'm engaged now."

"Does she know?" asks Veldar with a sly smile and feigned seriousness.

Steve shrugs. "She'll find out soon enough." After a beat they both start laughing.

"Seriously, it's good to see you. I heard about the victim and thought maybe I could help. Do you have enough [insert plant that we talked about here] for the treatment?"

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K wrote:

Uncomfortable with all the attention, Mihai tells Konrad - "Uhh.... i'm gonna try for the Inn while i still can. Later."

He then does his best to slip away from the crowd.

Zeiss:

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Rory wrote:: "Thank you, thank you, you've been very helpful. Go on back to the daily grind now, folks. You have my word, the wolf will be dead by dinner!"

He waves off the crowd and catches up to Mihai, who is heading toward the inn, and claps a hand on his shoulder. "Hang on, mate. How are you gonna play this?"

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K wrote:: Mihai looks confused.

"Huh? You mean the job? Well, i doubt we can reason with a mad wolf."

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Rory wrote:: Konrad lowers his voice. "You didn't notice them? I meant the thugs squatting at the inn. Could be keeping an eye out for merc types like us, keeping watch. They've noticed us already. We'd better keep focused and go after the wolf as soon as we can, deal with them later. Unless you're up for playing pretend...?"

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