Portia looks about, notes it is still early in the day, and sighs. The timing would be off, but in these circumstances, doing it traditionally was out of the question. Besides, lots must still be done and the safety of the area was not good at all. With the city razed and only a remnant hunkering down in the remains there were even less patrols on these roads than what they had before, and that hadn't been much in awhile.
"All right, we just need to do it fast. Tradition can't stand against the needs of the moment. I think this bare area close to the road would work well without starting the whole area on fire."
She marks out a rough area to build the pyre using the heel of her boot. She grimaces as she looks around again.
"It might work better getting some wood going and then add some of the remains and then add more wood and so on." She shakes her head. "May Lathander have mercy on them and may the pyre scare those that did such a thing."
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
PbP - Beregost Blues - Portia Starflower, Half Elf, Cleric, Life Domain PbP - Tome of Annhilation - Vistani Mocanu, Human, Bard
"You can leave it to me," Zina smiled softly up at Portia. The wizard decided it was not the best time to tout her impressive resume of setting things on fire, but she made a mental not to tell Pettilaen about the time that she had set one of the bully's at Blackstaff's bed aflame. Now that was a funny story.
The gnome transformed Mirage into a hawk, having him start to help her collect a little kindling. She figured if she cast fire bolt often enough, she wouldn't need very much fuel, but it still couldn't hurt. "Hey big guy, can you carry those bodies into the circle? Thanks," she instructed, not waiting for a response.
Kanon helps collect the remains of the dead, all the while whispering a prayer to Oghma. These were a group from Candlekeep, so He seemed the most likely candidate to listen. He pushes the gore to the back of his mind and works much like a drone as he goes about helping build the funeral pyre. This is becoming an adventure he wished he didn't volunteer to undertake. Stories all seem to glorify sacrifice and honor death, but to Kanon it felt more like a waste of life.
The funeral pyre is built and Zina goes about lighting it with her magical talents. Soon, the flame is blazing and the air is filled with the stench of charred flesh. Soon after, Orst begins a dwarven funerary song...
"From the stone we are made; From the womb we are born. From the earth we will fade; Called by Moradin's horn.
Under mountain we wake; Under starlight we lie. Until our last breath we take; And it's our time to die."
When he's finished with the simple verse, Orst knocks against his cart with his fist to the same rhythm that Kanon began in mourning of Rorn. You see his eyes moisten as he watches the smoke and ash rise into the sky, until suddenly he stops and turns to mount his cart again.
"Too much death!" He shouts. "Too much ruin! How can a man stand idly by while such evil thrives!"
He goes silent for a few minutes, sitting atop his cart with his head in his hands until he breaks his silence with a shout.
"No! No, it will not be! Old Orst's will is set! Athkatla and all the coin in the world be damned. I will see this blood avenged."
When the fire has died, Orst leads his cart back onto the road and coaxes his horses to a trot.
"When we Arrive at Candlekeep," he raises his voice to be heard above the clattering and clanking, "I'm sending a message to Roe. He's to sell all of our assets and meet me with the proceeds. We will buy land and establish a stronghold. If no one will protect this land, Old Orst will!"
The pace of travel for the day is aggressive, and, by the time Orst pulls his cart to the side of the road for the evening, his horses are panting and slick with sweat. Orst goes about brushing them, feeding and watering them, and tending to them in silence. When he's done, he digs through the cart for his ledgers and spends the bulk of the night poring over numbers. It appears he's making a tally of the total worth of his and his family's assets.
-----
As you've grown accustomed to the further you travel south, the night is unusually still and empty. There are no travelers or wildlife about for miles, it would seem. The only thing that catches your attention in the night is the glow of a distant, and likely huge, fire to the south. Come morning, you can see a wide column of gray smoke rising high into the air.
(META: No additional encounters that day or night. Quite the contrary, the Coast Way road has likely never been so quiet and empty.)
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
PBP "Beregost Blues" - Dungeon Master of Gnome Slaying +5
Tucking the gem away into his pocket, he silently hoped the rest of the group would forget about it, even though he knew it wasn't right to try and keep it to himself. But, he needed to figure out what it was, and didn't have any idea on how to do so.
"A stronghold?!" Pettilaen remarked with extreme curiosity. "I've always wanted to own a castle! Maybe my tiny gnome hands can help build it? Or at least give massages to help them relax!"
The quietness of the night was eerie to Pettilaen. A lack of wildlife and travelers meant that they were walking into a warzone, and he needed to be prepared. "We're walking into something dangerous, everyone." He remarks starkly. "Gaia isn't seeing any wildlife in the surrounding area, which means they've either been consumed by whatever killed those Candlekeep people, or they've fled from that force. Either way, we need to be on our guard."
Finding Lero, he plops down next to him and pulls out the gem. "Hey there, buddy! You're good at this kind of thing, right? I was wondering if you could try and identify the gem? I'm sure it's magical, but I don't know how to go about identifying whatever properties it has."
Portia prayed to Lathander most of the time the pyre was burning after having helped assemble it. She paced a lot watching the horizons more than the fire in case it attracted something. Thankfully nothing happened.
The rest of the travel was fast and tiring. Despite being disturbed by the sights of the day, she crawled into her bedroll as soon as her horse was taken care of and she had a bite to eat.
During her morning prayers she noted the glow of a fire that turned into a column of smoke as dawn occurred. That was probably Beregost and they were close to the turn to Candlekeep. At least, she thought they should be, but the days had been long and had run into each other. She hoped the turn would be reached today.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
PbP - Beregost Blues - Portia Starflower, Half Elf, Cleric, Life Domain PbP - Tome of Annhilation - Vistani Mocanu, Human, Bard
Kanon was a bit quiet that last couple days and as Petti comes to sit next to him, he doesn't try to mask his surprise.
"Oh, hey Petti," Kanon tries to return the greeting but is met by the fast-talking request that Petti has. "Oh... sure," he responds, "Just give me a moment as I inspect it."
He checks the gem closely to see if he recalls any lore about it or has seen the object before either in person or text. Afterwards he draws a circle into the ground as if he were to prepare a ritual, but stops. "Oh... I just remembered," he says, "In Candlekeep we would use a pearl as a material component, and I don't have one on me. Unless we can find a pearl, I can't cast this spell. I'm sorry Petti." He hands the gemstone back to the gnome.
Orst hears talk about a gem and shamelessly wiggles his bulbous nose into the conversation.
"Looks like a star topaz," he says. "Large and perfect. No less than 5,000 gold pieces in value. But there's something else, something magical making that sparkle. No ordinary gem does that."
Then he walks away, returning his attention to his ledgers.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
PBP "Beregost Blues" - Dungeon Master of Gnome Slaying +5
At the mention of the magical sparkles, something tugs at the back of Kanon's mind.
He shoots up and tries to snatch the gem back from Petti, "There's a soul trapped in that gem!" His eyes are wide as he peers into the gem, "I remember reading that the Red Wizards have practiced this for nefarious arcane purposes. By the Gods! We need to save this soul!"
Pettilaen is quick to recoil and pull the gem back, avoiding Kanon's greedy hands. "Yeah right! You just want the gem because it's worth 5,000 gold pieces!" he accuses. "Why would a scholar of Candlekeep be keeping a trapped soul, huh? It's probably just a gem that amplifies light or something."
It's clear he's not ready to part with such a valuable piece of treasure, though it's evident that he is concerned the gem might hold the trapped soul of someone. "And even if it did have the trapped soul of someone... How do we know that they're a good person? It's could be some evil dictator! Or even worse! An evil wizard, who was trapped in the gem for the world's protection."
Zina had been expertly eavesdropping on Pettilaen and Kanon, and decided that now would be an excellent time to butt into their conversation. "But you never know until you open it," she said in a sing song voice, attempting to pluck the jewel from his hands and ultimately failing. "Besides, that looks nothing like a gem that amplifies light. There's definitely somebody in there, the question is who?" The illusionist knew that she was nowhere near powerful enough to set free whoever was inside the gem, but as Candlekeep loomed closer the excitement to peruse its libraries grew in the little gnome.
The group continues to examine and discuss the strange gemstone they've found as they begin the last leg of their journey to Candlekeep.
They arrive at the crossroad early in the day and turn west toward the keep. A couple of hours later, toward noon, they hear the distant pounding of horse hooves and the pained cries of a giant. Orst's horses begin to stamp and nicker. It's all he can do to keep them on the road and urge them forward.
Continuing cautiously, it's not long before three heavily armored horsemen crest a ridge some half-mile ahead. Both the men and their mounts are stained and spattered with blood. Gaia's excellent eyes catch the sigil of Elturgard on their breastplates.
Kanon raises his arm in a hail at the horsemen half a mile away. Seeing the blood splattered across their armor he says, "I think something has happened ahead!" And he spurs his horse forward at a gallop.
Once he gets closer he notices the sigil and calls out, "Outriders!? What news do you bring?" He slows his horse upon approach.
Two of the horsemen draw their blades at Kanon's advance. The third, riding in the center, turns to address the others.
"Put your weapons away," he says in a low voice that Kanon can only barely make out. "I recognize this group."
He raises a hand in greeting.
"Good day, sir. It's good to see you're returning from the Gate intact. I suppose you already know of our situation here in the south. You'll be pleased to learn that Master Regis Kennet is safe in Candlekeep. We escorted him from the Song of the Morning at the first sign of trouble. The four of us, now three after we lost Heron in battle yesterday, grew weary of waiting for Lord Dhelt's Hellriders to arrive and have been... Patrolling."
As they near, their wounds appear minor. The majority of the blood on them would appear to have belonged to someone else.
"The situation sounds more dire than we've imagined," Kanon responds. "We were met with the bodies of a group, one I recognized from Candlekeep, about half-a-day's travel back. They were maimed, butchered, and slaughtered to the point of being nearly unrecognizable. I hope they are not who you are waiting for. We released their souls to Lathandar and continued our travels to the keep."
He reigns his horse in and asks, "What ails the road ahead since you last passed?"
"That would have been the group dispatched to the Gate to negotiate for assistance. They were carrying... something... of great value."
He glances at his men, who return worried looks.
"We've run down quite a few goblins and orcs wandering about. Not far back, we chased and killed a giant - one of the dirty, ugly ones with foul breath and a huge belly. It's mostly his blood you see upon us now."
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
PBP "Beregost Blues" - Dungeon Master of Gnome Slaying +5
Atop Jollytrot, Pettilaen makes his way forward a bit, sending Gaia up above to scout around. "I know you're tired, but we're all in dangerous territory, and we need your eyes." he explains telepathically to her. She screeches in defiance, but obeys his wish.
"Gentlemen, it's good to see you're alive! I'm saddened to hear of Heron's passing... He was my favorite out of you lot." he says, mustering whatever sorrow he could in his voice, and bowing his head down low. "May his days in the next life be filled with his deepest desires fulfilled."
"But!" he exclaims, snapping his head up. "I have good news! We wrestled this artifact of great value from the grasp of those tyrants, right under their very nose! It's a very inspiring tale, but one that is meant for over a campfire. And with a lot of alcohol." He lowers the volume of his voice a bit. "The alcohol is what makes the tale so exciting."
Pulling the gem out of secret location, he holds it just above his head, letting the light pass through it. "I present to you, the Eye of Argon!" Letting the group bask in its glory for a bit, he adds, "We have no idea what it does."
"Basically, it was found on one of the bodies amazingly enough when cleaning up what we could. A dreadful thing was done to them, but they have been properly sent off and nothing can do further things to their remains." Portia doesn't take much heed of the gem other than Pettilaen is showing it off.
"I am glad that Regis is safe in Candlekeep. Many of the refugees heading to the Gate appeared to have gotten there and we helped some of the more injured have an easier path. I know that a delegation from the temple with the Most Radiant amongst them passed us a couple days ago near the end of the line of refugees. Since then it's been eerily quiet other than some kobolds and the remains we found yesterday."
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
PbP - Beregost Blues - Portia Starflower, Half Elf, Cleric, Life Domain PbP - Tome of Annhilation - Vistani Mocanu, Human, Bard
"I believe that's it," he says. "I don't know what it is or what it does, but the fellows at Candlekeep definitely put a high value on it. But I've forgot my manners. I am Serjeant Bernam of the Elturgardian militia. This is First Lancer Mallus to my right and First Horse Garen to my left. Lord Kennet, Master Regis's father, is our commander."
He tips his cavalry helmet as a salutation.
"Candlekeep will be much pleased to have that trinket back, I think. It's likely best if you get it to them right away. We're headed another day east, then perhaps we'll see you back at the keep when we return, hopefully with Lord Dhelt's Hellriders. A score of those fellows is worth a thousand of any other force."
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
PBP "Beregost Blues" - Dungeon Master of Gnome Slaying +5
Portia looks about, notes it is still early in the day, and sighs. The timing would be off, but in these circumstances, doing it traditionally was out of the question. Besides, lots must still be done and the safety of the area was not good at all. With the city razed and only a remnant hunkering down in the remains there were even less patrols on these roads than what they had before, and that hadn't been much in awhile.
"All right, we just need to do it fast. Tradition can't stand against the needs of the moment. I think this bare area close to the road would work well without starting the whole area on fire."
She marks out a rough area to build the pyre using the heel of her boot. She grimaces as she looks around again.
"It might work better getting some wood going and then add some of the remains and then add more wood and so on." She shakes her head. "May Lathander have mercy on them and may the pyre scare those that did such a thing."
PbP - Beregost Blues - Portia Starflower, Half Elf, Cleric, Life Domain
PbP - Tome of Annhilation - Vistani Mocanu, Human, Bard
"You can leave it to me," Zina smiled softly up at Portia. The wizard decided it was not the best time to tout her impressive resume of setting things on fire, but she made a mental not to tell Pettilaen about the time that she had set one of the bully's at Blackstaff's bed aflame. Now that was a funny story.
The gnome transformed Mirage into a hawk, having him start to help her collect a little kindling. She figured if she cast fire bolt often enough, she wouldn't need very much fuel, but it still couldn't hurt. "Hey big guy, can you carry those bodies into the circle? Thanks," she instructed, not waiting for a response.
PBP: DM of Titans of Tomorrow
PBP: Lera Zahuv in Whispers of Dissent
PBP: Evaine Brae in Innistrad: Dark Ascension
PBP: Cor'avin in Tomb of Annihilation
Kanon helps collect the remains of the dead, all the while whispering a prayer to Oghma. These were a group from Candlekeep, so He seemed the most likely candidate to listen. He pushes the gore to the back of his mind and works much like a drone as he goes about helping build the funeral pyre. This is becoming an adventure he wished he didn't volunteer to undertake. Stories all seem to glorify sacrifice and honor death, but to Kanon it felt more like a waste of life.
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The funeral pyre is built and Zina goes about lighting it with her magical talents. Soon, the flame is blazing and the air is filled with the stench of charred flesh. Soon after, Orst begins a dwarven funerary song...
"From the stone we are made;
From the womb we are born.
From the earth we will fade;
Called by Moradin's horn.
Under mountain we wake;
Under starlight we lie.
Until our last breath we take;
And it's our time to die."
When he's finished with the simple verse, Orst knocks against his cart with his fist to the same rhythm that Kanon began in mourning of Rorn. You see his eyes moisten as he watches the smoke and ash rise into the sky, until suddenly he stops and turns to mount his cart again.
"Too much death!" He shouts. "Too much ruin! How can a man stand idly by while such evil thrives!"
He goes silent for a few minutes, sitting atop his cart with his head in his hands until he breaks his silence with a shout.
"No! No, it will not be! Old Orst's will is set! Athkatla and all the coin in the world be damned. I will see this blood avenged."
When the fire has died, Orst leads his cart back onto the road and coaxes his horses to a trot.
"When we Arrive at Candlekeep," he raises his voice to be heard above the clattering and clanking, "I'm sending a message to Roe. He's to sell all of our assets and meet me with the proceeds. We will buy land and establish a stronghold. If no one will protect this land, Old Orst will!"
The pace of travel for the day is aggressive, and, by the time Orst pulls his cart to the side of the road for the evening, his horses are panting and slick with sweat. Orst goes about brushing them, feeding and watering them, and tending to them in silence. When he's done, he digs through the cart for his ledgers and spends the bulk of the night poring over numbers. It appears he's making a tally of the total worth of his and his family's assets.
-----
As you've grown accustomed to the further you travel south, the night is unusually still and empty. There are no travelers or wildlife about for miles, it would seem. The only thing that catches your attention in the night is the glow of a distant, and likely huge, fire to the south. Come morning, you can see a wide column of gray smoke rising high into the air.
(META: No additional encounters that day or night. Quite the contrary, the Coast Way road has likely never been so quiet and empty.)
Tucking the gem away into his pocket, he silently hoped the rest of the group would forget about it, even though he knew it wasn't right to try and keep it to himself. But, he needed to figure out what it was, and didn't have any idea on how to do so.
"A stronghold?!" Pettilaen remarked with extreme curiosity. "I've always wanted to own a castle! Maybe my tiny gnome hands can help build it? Or at least give massages to help them relax!"
The quietness of the night was eerie to Pettilaen. A lack of wildlife and travelers meant that they were walking into a warzone, and he needed to be prepared. "We're walking into something dangerous, everyone." He remarks starkly. "Gaia isn't seeing any wildlife in the surrounding area, which means they've either been consumed by whatever killed those Candlekeep people, or they've fled from that force. Either way, we need to be on our guard."
Finding Lero, he plops down next to him and pulls out the gem. "Hey there, buddy! You're good at this kind of thing, right? I was wondering if you could try and identify the gem? I'm sure it's magical, but I don't know how to go about identifying whatever properties it has."
Portia prayed to Lathander most of the time the pyre was burning after having helped assemble it. She paced a lot watching the horizons more than the fire in case it attracted something. Thankfully nothing happened.
The rest of the travel was fast and tiring. Despite being disturbed by the sights of the day, she crawled into her bedroll as soon as her horse was taken care of and she had a bite to eat.
During her morning prayers she noted the glow of a fire that turned into a column of smoke as dawn occurred. That was probably Beregost and they were close to the turn to Candlekeep. At least, she thought they should be, but the days had been long and had run into each other. She hoped the turn would be reached today.
PbP - Beregost Blues - Portia Starflower, Half Elf, Cleric, Life Domain
PbP - Tome of Annhilation - Vistani Mocanu, Human, Bard
Kanon was a bit quiet that last couple days and as Petti comes to sit next to him, he doesn't try to mask his surprise.
"Oh, hey Petti," Kanon tries to return the greeting but is met by the fast-talking request that Petti has. "Oh... sure," he responds, "Just give me a moment as I inspect it."
He checks the gem closely to see if he recalls any lore about it or has seen the object before either in person or text. Afterwards he draws a circle into the ground as if he were to prepare a ritual, but stops. "Oh... I just remembered," he says, "In Candlekeep we would use a pearl as a material component, and I don't have one on me. Unless we can find a pearl, I can't cast this spell. I'm sorry Petti." He hands the gemstone back to the gnome.
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Orst hears talk about a gem and shamelessly wiggles his bulbous nose into the conversation.
"Looks like a star topaz," he says. "Large and perfect. No less than 5,000 gold pieces in value. But there's something else, something magical making that sparkle. No ordinary gem does that."
Then he walks away, returning his attention to his ledgers.
At the mention of the magical sparkles, something tugs at the back of Kanon's mind.
He shoots up and tries to snatch the gem back from Petti, "There's a soul trapped in that gem!" His eyes are wide as he peers into the gem, "I remember reading that the Red Wizards have practiced this for nefarious arcane purposes. By the Gods! We need to save this soul!"
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Pettilaen is quick to recoil and pull the gem back, avoiding Kanon's greedy hands. "Yeah right! You just want the gem because it's worth 5,000 gold pieces!" he accuses. "Why would a scholar of Candlekeep be keeping a trapped soul, huh? It's probably just a gem that amplifies light or something."
It's clear he's not ready to part with such a valuable piece of treasure, though it's evident that he is concerned the gem might hold the trapped soul of someone. "And even if it did have the trapped soul of someone... How do we know that they're a good person? It's could be some evil dictator! Or even worse! An evil wizard, who was trapped in the gem for the world's protection."
Zina had been expertly eavesdropping on Pettilaen and Kanon, and decided that now would be an excellent time to butt into their conversation. "But you never know until you open it," she said in a sing song voice, attempting to pluck the jewel from his hands and ultimately failing. "Besides, that looks nothing like a gem that amplifies light. There's definitely somebody in there, the question is who?" The illusionist knew that she was nowhere near powerful enough to set free whoever was inside the gem, but as Candlekeep loomed closer the excitement to peruse its libraries grew in the little gnome.
PBP: DM of Titans of Tomorrow
PBP: Lera Zahuv in Whispers of Dissent
PBP: Evaine Brae in Innistrad: Dark Ascension
PBP: Cor'avin in Tomb of Annihilation
The group continues to examine and discuss the strange gemstone they've found as they begin the last leg of their journey to Candlekeep.
They arrive at the crossroad early in the day and turn west toward the keep. A couple of hours later, toward noon, they hear the distant pounding of horse hooves and the pained cries of a giant. Orst's horses begin to stamp and nicker. It's all he can do to keep them on the road and urge them forward.
Continuing cautiously, it's not long before three heavily armored horsemen crest a ridge some half-mile ahead. Both the men and their mounts are stained and spattered with blood. Gaia's excellent eyes catch the sigil of Elturgard on their breastplates.
Kanon raises his arm in a hail at the horsemen half a mile away. Seeing the blood splattered across their armor he says, "I think something has happened ahead!" And he spurs his horse forward at a gallop.
Once he gets closer he notices the sigil and calls out, "Outriders!? What news do you bring?" He slows his horse upon approach.
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Two of the horsemen draw their blades at Kanon's advance. The third, riding in the center, turns to address the others.
"Put your weapons away," he says in a low voice that Kanon can only barely make out. "I recognize this group."
He raises a hand in greeting.
"Good day, sir. It's good to see you're returning from the Gate intact. I suppose you already know of our situation here in the south. You'll be pleased to learn that Master Regis Kennet is safe in Candlekeep. We escorted him from the Song of the Morning at the first sign of trouble. The four of us, now three after we lost Heron in battle yesterday, grew weary of waiting for Lord Dhelt's Hellriders to arrive and have been... Patrolling."
As they near, their wounds appear minor. The majority of the blood on them would appear to have belonged to someone else.
"The situation sounds more dire than we've imagined," Kanon responds. "We were met with the bodies of a group, one I recognized from Candlekeep, about half-a-day's travel back. They were maimed, butchered, and slaughtered to the point of being nearly unrecognizable. I hope they are not who you are waiting for. We released their souls to Lathandar and continued our travels to the keep."
He reigns his horse in and asks, "What ails the road ahead since you last passed?"
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The central rider blanches.
"That would have been the group dispatched to the Gate to negotiate for assistance. They were carrying... something... of great value."
He glances at his men, who return worried looks.
"We've run down quite a few goblins and orcs wandering about. Not far back, we chased and killed a giant - one of the dirty, ugly ones with foul breath and a huge belly. It's mostly his blood you see upon us now."
Atop Jollytrot, Pettilaen makes his way forward a bit, sending Gaia up above to scout around. "I know you're tired, but we're all in dangerous territory, and we need your eyes." he explains telepathically to her. She screeches in defiance, but obeys his wish.
"Gentlemen, it's good to see you're alive! I'm saddened to hear of Heron's passing... He was my favorite out of you lot." he says, mustering whatever sorrow he could in his voice, and bowing his head down low. "May his days in the next life be filled with his deepest desires fulfilled."
"But!" he exclaims, snapping his head up. "I have good news! We wrestled this artifact of great value from the grasp of those tyrants, right under their very nose! It's a very inspiring tale, but one that is meant for over a campfire. And with a lot of alcohol." He lowers the volume of his voice a bit. "The alcohol is what makes the tale so exciting."
Pulling the gem out of secret location, he holds it just above his head, letting the light pass through it. "I present to you, the Eye of Argon!" Letting the group bask in its glory for a bit, he adds, "We have no idea what it does."
"Basically, it was found on one of the bodies amazingly enough when cleaning up what we could. A dreadful thing was done to them, but they have been properly sent off and nothing can do further things to their remains." Portia doesn't take much heed of the gem other than Pettilaen is showing it off.
"I am glad that Regis is safe in Candlekeep. Many of the refugees heading to the Gate appeared to have gotten there and we helped some of the more injured have an easier path. I know that a delegation from the temple with the Most Radiant amongst them passed us a couple days ago near the end of the line of refugees. Since then it's been eerily quiet other than some kobolds and the remains we found yesterday."
PbP - Beregost Blues - Portia Starflower, Half Elf, Cleric, Life Domain
PbP - Tome of Annhilation - Vistani Mocanu, Human, Bard
He nods, his eyes fixed on the gemstone.
"I believe that's it," he says. "I don't know what it is or what it does, but the fellows at Candlekeep definitely put a high value on it. But I've forgot my manners. I am Serjeant Bernam of the Elturgardian militia. This is First Lancer Mallus to my right and First Horse Garen to my left. Lord Kennet, Master Regis's father, is our commander."
He tips his cavalry helmet as a salutation.
"Candlekeep will be much pleased to have that trinket back, I think. It's likely best if you get it to them right away. We're headed another day east, then perhaps we'll see you back at the keep when we return, hopefully with Lord Dhelt's Hellriders. A score of those fellows is worth a thousand of any other force."