Sirius concludes that Sephek must have some dark magic granted by the Frostmaiden since he doesn't carry weapons. Maybe stopping this murderer, this evil warlock, will be the first step in achieving something great so I can go back home, Sirius thinks.
As he surveys his new companions, Sirius's attention is first drawn to Aubreen, who looks like he can certainly hold his own. However, he is more intrigued by the other three. All three represent races that Sirius has only come upon in text books and none seem to sport the type of martial prowess Sirius is familiar with. They must have some magical abilities, how else could they manage mercenary work. Sirius thinks excitedly, he's always been very fascinated by magic though it never really stuck with him when his private tutor tried to give him lessons.
"Well I suppose it's best if we get going right away, it's only a matter of time before they kill again." Sirius says grimly while starting to get up from the table. "I think we should fetch some steeds from the stables so we have the best chance of catching them before they have a chance to kill again."
At Sirius’s mention of finding some steeds, Perrin shakes his head. In a perfect mimicry of Yurgrunn’s voice, he says, “Targos,” and holds up one hand. In the young woman’s voice he’s used a few times, he says, “Brynn Shander,” as he holds up his other hand. He brings them close together and squints, hoping that everyone else can understand what he was trying to say. Bryn Shander and Targos were practically neighbors. Heck, on a clear night, you could see the fires from the neighboring towns. It shouldn’t be too bad of a walk.
As long as you're staying on the roads connecting the towns, travel is indeed a manageable affair. Here are estimated foot travel times between towns. Going into the deep snow of the wilderness is a different story, almost necessitating snow shoes and sleds.
The dwarf grumbles on, responding to Aubreens inquiry. "Each town posts its own militia and enforces its own law. There are inter-town agreements in effect by the council of speakers, although in these times, it's mostly everyone for themselfes. Everyone's locked into heir own home, trying not to lose another finger to frostbite. Sister of mine in Caer Dineval hasn't sent word for a year, the old trout."
Morthal snorts in response, his deep voice sounding out. "It is natural is it not? There is no visible foe to unite against, only the choking grasp of winter."
The smirk falls from his face as his posture straightens out, "That being said, if they serve the Frostmaiden, such a problem is worth routing out, especially if they lack weapons, such things are always a bad sign for those sorts."
Morthol considers the situation while suppressing a sigh. Cultists always made a pain of themselves, actively going out of their way to be as irritating to deal with as possible. Better to nip things in the bud. After another moment's consideration, he orders a round of drinks for those at the table.
(ooc: rereading it, seems Morthal would not have ordered the drinks if leaving was on the agenda)
Morthal: Yurgunn nods. "Cursed lands and cursed times these are."
The old dwarven woman looks into the round, gruffly aknowledging that the job has been accepted. She puffs on her pipe, the flavorful tobacco making its way to the ceiling before being scattered by the cold winds whistling through the cracked wooden walls.
"Berronar guide you back to me."
You'd be ready to leave. Anyone want to do anything in Bryn Shander still?
Sirius contemplates getting a mount, even though the trek is short, just to keep the image of a noble knight alive, but quickly realizes that being stationary on horseback would make the cold even more unbearable. The fact that Sirius no longer has practically limitless resources, since he's been effectively exiled, is starting to set in.
Sirius figures he'll have plenty of time to do research in the temple after completing this quest so he is ready to go.
Zenos standing and looking at his new found companions "I am ready for another adventure if everyone else is". Thinking to himself that he is glad there are some well armored and massive individuals in this group to help fend off danger.
Aubreen steps out upon the porch, gazing into the darkened sky, looking for signs and portents. Allowing the wind to catch in his hair. He makes the sign of Torm, a prayer for strength amongst the coming storm. Guide me, against the moral battles that may come, for they are what I fear more than the physical conflict that may occur. The years have moved on and not been kind to these people, yet I still harbor anger for what has past. I look upon their faces and see a child, cold, alone, afraid. Who is this child? Is it me, crying for help, ignored, shunned or is it them, here, now, helpless in the face of this god forsaken land?
Finally pulling the hood of my heavy coat over my 'Flamehair' I stomp the snow from my boots and fall in line with my unit, companions.
OOC: Not sure how to best to do travel in this format, but for now I'm going with: if the majority of people initiate it, we move forward. If your character would have done something in advance of travel, you can always still RP that out as a "separate timeline", then rejoin the others when that is resolved.
Morthal, Perrin: Let me know if you would have done anything in Bryn Shander before departing.
You pass Bryn Shanders walls, a sturdy construction of heavy wooden beams, shored up with stone. A heavily bundled up militia guard nods to you as you walk by.
Even though it is afternoon, it's already getting dark. The days are short here, if the dim light from behind the horizon could be considered a day at all. For travel before 10 am and after 2 pm you're gonna need something to light your way (Aubreen somewhat excluded) or wait until Auril's aurora or the moon appears in the night sky.
The way down the hill that Bryn Shander is built on is simple enough. In the better times, someone laid a rudimentary road here, which still gives you better footing than the thick mantle of snow everywhere else. It's snowing only lightly, so you're able to see the lights of Targos in the distance.
Like Bryn Shander, Targos is encircled by a wooden wall, which helps to protect the town against orcs and other threats from the wilderness. The wall extends out into the lake, creating a safe harbor for the town’s boats. But now Auril’s long winter has frozen the water in the harbor, and many of Targos’s boats are trapped in the ice. Fishers must drag their smaller vessels across the ice to get to the unfrozen lake beyond the harbor walls.
Targos:
It's dark as you arrive, but you find the main gate easily on account of large braziers positioned there to keep the guards warm. You see people going about their business in the faintly lit streets, sometimes carrying lanterns. Out on the lake, you faintly see figures moving on the ice, dragging boats back to the town. Some people are leading a strange sort of bird around as a pack animal. These are called axebeaks, a variant bred for colder climates, being able to move across snow much better than horses on account of their webbed feet.
Axebeak:
Perrin: You remember well that Triglio is a general store for all sorts of supplies and Three Flags Sailing is a tavern frequented especially by the fishers. The Luskan Arms is tavern and town speaker residence combined, one of the oldest buildings in all of Tentowns.
Zenos walking confidently up to one of the guards at the gate "Good evening fair sir. I am hoping you could help us with finding some some traveling merchants that we think may be in town. The Torg's, headed by a Dwarf named Torrga Icevein, or perhaps one of their employees a human with olive complexion, dark hair and eyes of ice. Have they possibly passed this way?"
The guard nods at Zenos. "I've seen that troupe around in the market square yesterday, but I think they've already left town. Couldn't tell you where to though."
Sirius enters the conversation with his signature greeting, "Sirius of the house of Barwin, pleased to make your acquaintance." Sirius continues "Did you happen to see where they visited besides the market square? Maybe someone there knows more about where they're headed now."
"Yes and who could I talk to about acquiring one of those majestic bird creatures?" Sirius gestures toward an axebeak someone is leading. One of those would make the perfect mount for me, they seem distinctive enough to make the legend about me stand out. I could be called the Bird Riding Knight. Or maybe something even better. Sirius starts getting lost in thought.
The guard looks at Sirius, clearly a bit taken aback by the formal introduction and awkwardly responds with "I'm Wystan, pleasure's all mine".
"I'd assume that they probably stayed in one of the large inns here, probably Three Flags Sailing. It's a comfortable enough place for folks traveling through."
He looks in the direction indicated by Sirius. "Ah, looking for an axebeak? One of these'll cost you around 50 gold I believe."
"Good sir", I say to the guard, "is there another gate in the wall? Leading to Bremen perhaps?".
After hearing out the guards I call my companions over. "I feel a part of me was expecting Sephek Kaltro to just be standing in the middle of the road when we arrived. Since that is not so, we are at a cross roads and perhaps should find discourse upon our collective actions!" Looking for reactions I ruminate on our position. "It is late afternoon or early evening. Bremen is a short jaunt to the west, an end of the line. Termalaine is to the North, and a longer trek at that. If we choose wrong Sephek could come back and behind us and then a true Hunt it would become as they disappear into the Ten-Towns to the East. To safe guard against this we should split up. 3 of us head to Bremen, check it out and return. The other 2 remain in Targos to ensure they have left and keep an eye on the crossing so they dont get behind us. If nothing is found in Bremen we rejoin and head north to Termalaine?" My damaged vocal cords make my voice gruff and scratchy, and much deeper than it should be for my size. Everything I say comes out as a statement, commanding even when my body language shows it to be a question!
Sirius replies to Aubreen, "Perhaps we should go to the inn to inquire if they might have heard any plans of the company. If that yields no answers, your plan sounds like the way to go."
The guard named Wystan squints at Aubreen through the light snowfall. He nods at the inquiry and continues speaking, his breath condensing heavily in the freezing air. "No second gate, but you can get to Bremen if you follow the lake's shore in a westward direction from here. Used to be a road there, gone now on account o'the blizzards. Still, little chance of getting lost and you should get there in two hours."
"I hear they're having trouble pulling fish out of the water. Tales of a monster attacking the boats." Wystan pulls his furs in a more comfortable position and spreads his hands in the direction of the brazier. "Better stay here if you fancy fish I reckon."
At the suggestion to split up, Perrin nods in agreement. That sounded like a pretty solid plan. At the suggestion to go to the inn first and do some reconnaissance, he also nods. That sounded like a better course of action instead of splitting up right away. There were a few inns he knew around town that could be good spots to start some sleuthing, though he decided he wouldn't take him to his family's inn.
Once the conversations with the guards dies down, Perrin cocks his head and repeats Sirius, "Perhaps we should go to the inn." The Three Flags Sailing tavern sounded like a good spot to start at, and then maybe they could go to the The Luskan Arms afterwards. Or maybe they could split up here as well and cover both inns in half the time.
Head still cocked to indicate a question, he mimics Aubreen "Split up?" Then mimicking the guard, he points towards a direction in the city and says, "The Three Flags." Then, pointing in a different direction, he says, "Inn." He couldn't say which one it was since nobody else said it, but he hopes his point got across.
"Hmmm, perhaps we don't need to split up after all," Aubreen muses.
"Sirius, Zenos, Do you think you could persuade the guards, to be our eyes here at the gate for a couple hours!" Fishing a pair of silver from my purse. "You seemed to have already created good will with the one called Wystan! Use these as payment for service, make sure its not a bribe!"
"Then it seems we are in agreement to check the taverns and Inns before heading to Bremen!" Aubreen looks questioning to his companions.
(OOC: sorry for being a bit assertive but I don't think there's really a risk in splitting up for these taverns and I think this'll just make the progress a bit faster without everyone's confirmation)
Sirius translates Perrin's idea. "Got it, we shall go to the Three Flags Sailing with you", Sirius nods at Perrin. "The rest of you three look for some other inn, try to get as much information about the company as you can."
As the party splits up to search for information from the inns, Sirius takes the silver from Aubreen with an approving nod and walks back over to the guard called Wystan. "We'll soon be leaving for Bremen, would you mind keeping an eye out for the troupe we spoke of? If they pass through, just tell us when we come back." Sirius offers up the silver from Aubreen to the guard. "These are for your good service and for giving us valuable information. I would give you more but I am saving up for one of those Axebeaks." Saving up for something, never thought I'd have to do that, Sirius thinks.
As Sirius is walking for the Three Flags Sailing with Perrin he tries to spark up conversation with him which ends up being mostly bombarding him with questions. "I don't think I ever did catch your name, could you write it in the snow or try to get me to say it so I could address you properly. How did you end up here in the far north? I do most sincerely apologize if this offends you, but I thought your kind favored living in cities, according to my textbooks anyhow." Sirius tries to suggest possible explanations to make it easier for him to communicate: "Did you run away from something, come here to reinvent yourself or from pure wanderlust? Or are you from around here?"
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"So a hunt it is to be" Aubreen searches the faces of his new found companions. The bird difficult to read.
"We will find this man but his innocence or guilt has not been determined. The suspicion of our hostess does not determine the outcome."
"I am unsettled to say the least, to hear of the sacrifice to Auril that these settlements are engaged upon. Are they not murderers as well?"
"If this is our course, shall we not away. Targos is only a couple hours away, no sense waiting for the sun to rise, if it ever does."
Aubreen dons his coat, rising g from the table expectantly.
Sirius concludes that Sephek must have some dark magic granted by the Frostmaiden since he doesn't carry weapons. Maybe stopping this murderer, this evil warlock, will be the first step in achieving something great so I can go back home, Sirius thinks.
As he surveys his new companions, Sirius's attention is first drawn to Aubreen, who looks like he can certainly hold his own. However, he is more intrigued by the other three. All three represent races that Sirius has only come upon in text books and none seem to sport the type of martial prowess Sirius is familiar with. They must have some magical abilities, how else could they manage mercenary work. Sirius thinks excitedly, he's always been very fascinated by magic though it never really stuck with him when his private tutor tried to give him lessons.
"Well I suppose it's best if we get going right away, it's only a matter of time before they kill again." Sirius says grimly while starting to get up from the table. "I think we should fetch some steeds from the stables so we have the best chance of catching them before they have a chance to kill again."
At Sirius’s mention of finding some steeds, Perrin shakes his head. In a perfect mimicry of Yurgrunn’s voice, he says, “Targos,” and holds up one hand. In the young woman’s voice he’s used a few times, he says, “Brynn Shander,” as he holds up his other hand. He brings them close together and squints, hoping that everyone else can understand what he was trying to say. Bryn Shander and Targos were practically neighbors. Heck, on a clear night, you could see the fires from the neighboring towns. It shouldn’t be too bad of a walk.
As long as you're staying on the roads connecting the towns, travel is indeed a manageable affair. Here are estimated foot travel times between towns. Going into the deep snow of the wilderness is a different story, almost necessitating snow shoes and sleds.
Morthal snorts in response, his deep voice sounding out. "It is natural is it not? There is no visible foe to unite against, only the choking grasp of winter."
The smirk falls from his face as his posture straightens out, "That being said, if they serve the Frostmaiden, such a problem is worth routing out, especially if they lack weapons, such things are always a bad sign for those sorts."
Morthol considers the situation while suppressing a sigh. Cultists always made a pain of themselves, actively going out of their way to be as irritating to deal with as possible. Better to nip things in the bud. After another moment's consideration, he orders a round of drinks for those at the table.
(ooc: rereading it, seems Morthal would not have ordered the drinks if leaving was on the agenda)
Morthal: Yurgunn nods. "Cursed lands and cursed times these are."
The old dwarven woman looks into the round, gruffly aknowledging that the job has been accepted. She puffs on her pipe, the flavorful tobacco making its way to the ceiling before being scattered by the cold winds whistling through the cracked wooden walls.
"Berronar guide you back to me."
You'd be ready to leave. Anyone want to do anything in Bryn Shander still?
Aubreen: 4 cp for the ale
Sirius contemplates getting a mount, even though the trek is short, just to keep the image of a noble knight alive, but quickly realizes that being stationary on horseback would make the cold even more unbearable. The fact that Sirius no longer has practically limitless resources, since he's been effectively exiled, is starting to set in.
Sirius figures he'll have plenty of time to do research in the temple after completing this quest so he is ready to go.
Zenos standing and looking at his new found companions "I am ready for another adventure if everyone else is". Thinking to himself that he is glad there are some well armored and massive individuals in this group to help fend off danger.
OOC- 4cp - noted)
Aubreen steps out upon the porch, gazing into the darkened sky, looking for signs and portents. Allowing the wind to catch in his hair. He makes the sign of Torm, a prayer for strength amongst the coming storm. Guide me, against the moral battles that may come, for they are what I fear more than the physical conflict that may occur. The years have moved on and not been kind to these people, yet I still harbor anger for what has past. I look upon their faces and see a child, cold, alone, afraid. Who is this child? Is it me, crying for help, ignored, shunned or is it them, here, now, helpless in the face of this god forsaken land?
Finally pulling the hood of my heavy coat over my 'Flamehair' I stomp the snow from my boots and fall in line with my
unit, companions.Morthal, Perrin: Let me know if you would have done anything in Bryn Shander before departing.
You pass Bryn Shanders walls, a sturdy construction of heavy wooden beams, shored up with stone. A heavily bundled up militia guard nods to you as you walk by.
Even though it is afternoon, it's already getting dark. The days are short here, if the dim light from behind the horizon could be considered a day at all. For travel before 10 am and after 2 pm you're gonna need something to light your way (Aubreen somewhat excluded) or wait until Auril's aurora or the moon appears in the night sky.
The way down the hill that Bryn Shander is built on is simple enough. In the better times, someone laid a rudimentary road here, which still gives you better footing than the thick mantle of snow everywhere else. It's snowing only lightly, so you're able to see the lights of Targos in the distance.
Like Bryn Shander, Targos is encircled by a wooden wall, which helps to protect the town against orcs and other threats from the wilderness. The wall extends out into the lake, creating a safe harbor for the town’s boats. But now Auril’s long winter has frozen the water in the harbor, and many of Targos’s boats are trapped in the ice. Fishers must drag their smaller vessels across the ice to get to the unfrozen lake beyond the harbor walls.
Targos:
It's dark as you arrive, but you find the main gate easily on account of large braziers positioned there to keep the guards warm. You see people going about their business in the faintly lit streets, sometimes carrying lanterns. Out on the lake, you faintly see figures moving on the ice, dragging boats back to the town. Some people are leading a strange sort of bird around as a pack animal. These are called axebeaks, a variant bred for colder climates, being able to move across snow much better than horses on account of their webbed feet.
Axebeak:
Perrin: You remember well that Triglio is a general store for all sorts of supplies and Three Flags Sailing is a tavern frequented especially by the fishers. The Luskan Arms is tavern and town speaker residence combined, one of the oldest buildings in all of Tentowns.
All: What do you do?
Zenos walking confidently up to one of the guards at the gate "Good evening fair sir. I am hoping you could help us with finding some some traveling merchants that we think may be in town. The Torg's, headed by a Dwarf named Torrga Icevein, or perhaps one of their employees a human with olive complexion, dark hair and eyes of ice. Have they possibly passed this way?"
The guard nods at Zenos. "I've seen that troupe around in the market square yesterday, but I think they've already left town. Couldn't tell you where to though."
Sirius enters the conversation with his signature greeting, "Sirius of the house of Barwin, pleased to make your acquaintance." Sirius continues "Did you happen to see where they visited besides the market square? Maybe someone there knows more about where they're headed now."
"Yes and who could I talk to about acquiring one of those majestic bird creatures?" Sirius gestures toward an axebeak someone is leading. One of those would make the perfect mount for me, they seem distinctive enough to make the legend about me stand out. I could be called the Bird Riding Knight. Or maybe something even better. Sirius starts getting lost in thought.
The guard looks at Sirius, clearly a bit taken aback by the formal introduction and awkwardly responds with "I'm Wystan, pleasure's all mine".
"I'd assume that they probably stayed in one of the large inns here, probably Three Flags Sailing. It's a comfortable enough place for folks traveling through."
He looks in the direction indicated by Sirius.
"Ah, looking for an axebeak? One of these'll cost you around 50 gold I believe."
"Good sir", I say to the guard, "is there another gate in the wall? Leading to Bremen perhaps?".
After hearing out the guards I call my companions over. "I feel a part of me was expecting Sephek Kaltro to just be standing in the middle of the road when we arrived. Since that is not so, we are at a cross roads and perhaps should find discourse upon our collective actions!" Looking for reactions I ruminate on our position. "It is late afternoon or early evening. Bremen is a short jaunt to the west, an end of the line. Termalaine is to the North, and a longer trek at that. If we choose wrong Sephek could come back and behind us and then a true Hunt it would become as they disappear into the Ten-Towns to the East. To safe guard against this we should split up. 3 of us head to Bremen, check it out and return. The other 2 remain in Targos to ensure they have left and keep an eye on the crossing so they dont get behind us. If nothing is found in Bremen we rejoin and head north to Termalaine?" My damaged vocal cords make my voice gruff and scratchy, and much deeper than it should be for my size. Everything I say comes out as a statement, commanding even when my body language shows it to be a question!
Sirius replies to Aubreen, "Perhaps we should go to the inn to inquire if they might have heard any plans of the company. If that yields no answers, your plan sounds like the way to go."
The guard named Wystan squints at Aubreen through the light snowfall. He nods at the inquiry and continues speaking, his breath condensing heavily in the freezing air. "No second gate, but you can get to Bremen if you follow the lake's shore in a westward direction from here. Used to be a road there, gone now on account o'the blizzards. Still, little chance of getting lost and you should get there in two hours."
"I hear they're having trouble pulling fish out of the water. Tales of a monster attacking the boats." Wystan pulls his furs in a more comfortable position and spreads his hands in the direction of the brazier. "Better stay here if you fancy fish I reckon."
At the suggestion to split up, Perrin nods in agreement. That sounded like a pretty solid plan. At the suggestion to go to the inn first and do some reconnaissance, he also nods. That sounded like a better course of action instead of splitting up right away. There were a few inns he knew around town that could be good spots to start some sleuthing, though he decided he wouldn't take him to his family's inn.
Once the conversations with the guards dies down, Perrin cocks his head and repeats Sirius, "Perhaps we should go to the inn." The Three Flags Sailing tavern sounded like a good spot to start at, and then maybe they could go to the The Luskan Arms afterwards. Or maybe they could split up here as well and cover both inns in half the time.
Head still cocked to indicate a question, he mimics Aubreen "Split up?" Then mimicking the guard, he points towards a direction in the city and says, "The Three Flags." Then, pointing in a different direction, he says, "Inn." He couldn't say which one it was since nobody else said it, but he hopes his point got across.
"Hmmm, perhaps we don't need to split up after all," Aubreen muses.
"Sirius, Zenos, Do you think you could persuade the guards, to be our eyes here at the gate for a couple hours!" Fishing a pair of silver from my purse. "You seemed to have already created good will with the one called Wystan! Use these as payment for service, make sure its not a bribe!"
"Then it seems we are in agreement to check the taverns and Inns before heading to Bremen!" Aubreen looks questioning to his companions.
(OOC: sorry for being a bit assertive but I don't think there's really a risk in splitting up for these taverns and I think this'll just make the progress a bit faster without everyone's confirmation)
Sirius translates Perrin's idea. "Got it, we shall go to the Three Flags Sailing with you", Sirius nods at Perrin. "The rest of you three look for some other inn, try to get as much information about the company as you can."
As the party splits up to search for information from the inns, Sirius takes the silver from Aubreen with an approving nod and walks back over to the guard called Wystan. "We'll soon be leaving for Bremen, would you mind keeping an eye out for the troupe we spoke of? If they pass through, just tell us when we come back." Sirius offers up the silver from Aubreen to the guard. "These are for your good service and for giving us valuable information. I would give you more but I am saving up for one of those Axebeaks." Saving up for something, never thought I'd have to do that, Sirius thinks.
As Sirius is walking for the Three Flags Sailing with Perrin he tries to spark up conversation with him which ends up being mostly bombarding him with questions. "I don't think I ever did catch your name, could you write it in the snow or try to get me to say it so I could address you properly. How did you end up here in the far north? I do most sincerely apologize if this offends you, but I thought your kind favored living in cities, according to my textbooks anyhow." Sirius tries to suggest possible explanations to make it easier for him to communicate: "Did you run away from something, come here to reinvent yourself or from pure wanderlust? Or are you from around here?"