The prince returns Finn's amicable smile with a grin of his own. "She's a sweet one - quite bright, her tutors tell me. Already one to watch for as well, so they say... now, to business!"
As Finn walks over and retrieves the fallen book, evidently an ongoing read for the little princess by the dogearing and partial annotations written in a child's wandering hand, she glances at the spine and with a shock recognizes not just an unfamiliar title, but an unfamiliar language - or at least, not one that she was expecting to see so far north. It is a southern language, from one of the islands just east of Runia's stern mountains, and appears to be a book on celestial mechanics and philosophy - Kar-Uthzanni's Ways of Heaven, vol. III: the art, artistry, and science of heavenly bodies and their ceaseless revolutions.
Again in response to Finn's interrogative, the prince grins, though this time with a sort of heavy sadness.
"I'm sure that one of your first questions of me must be why you meet now with me, rather than my lord-father Rudan the Bronze. Well, I will get to the answer quickly. My father is sick. Not of body - no heir of Runavald the Deep has ever suffered from any illness of body - but of mind. I fear he feels the oppression of this kingdom and its... current trials most keenly, so much so that it has upset his... disposition."
Roll perception. If you roll above an 15, read the following spoiler
The seneschal makes a series of hand motions down by his leg, twice, as the prince speaks; seemingly a nervous twitch but, you happen to notice, too structured and patterned to be accidental. He notices your gaze and ceases his movements.
"Ordinarily, the quality of his mind would be assured by the ministrations of the royal wizards, but... one of the first signs of our current and coming troubles was the disappearance of their tower in the northern ward. We assume they teleported it somewhere - it's been known to happen - but they have in the past given us warning and a return date. Without their wisdom in this matter, I fear any ministrations we might provide will be crude, and may have worse consequences than we know. A king must be strong, for his burden is a very great thing, and I fear my father is taxed now to the limit and beyond. I cannot stress how deeply he feels for his people, and how zealously he would protect them from... our current situation. One of your tasks, if you think you are up to it, will be to find the royal wizards, or at the very least to discover the reason and method of their disappearance. They kept much knowledge secreted with them, for they have been in the service of Runavald's line for nearly six hundred years..."
"Naturally, there is more than that, and more immediately..." Interjects the seneschal, fingers tapping idly at his knee.
"Yes, naturally." Replies the prince. "Oldhall itself is on the brink of... well, I'm not sure what, to be utterly frank. I see my friend the seneschal frowns at this admission," (and, indeed, so he does) "but with you four I would be honest. My father called the banners some months past, but without a clear enemy to march out and fight, the called men and dwarves at arms grow weary of even a comfortable life here in the city, at the expense of the Oaken Seat. The lords, you must have them heard back there, reflect some of this complaint, but I fear the rot already runs deeper than that. As I'm sure you have heard, our once peaceful mountains now teem with goblins and their ilk, and worse still, like flies drawn to carrion in the sun. Now it seems that an enemy of the realm moves with a more friendly face."
He digs in his pocket for a small coinpurse, which he carefully opens before withdrawing his hand to reveal a small, yet thick and deeply gouged gold coin of an unusual reddish, almost crimson tint.
Arcana for Coin: 7. (History is same role, but unless immediately identifiable Finn would presume it was something really unusual and wrack her brain on that angle...)
After putting the oddly advanced book for one so young back to where the girl had kept it, Finn returns to the circle of counsel and listens to the prince wordlessly. Nothing he reveals hasn't been known, presumed or whispered about but hearing it from an authority as fact is still noteworthy. Restless bannermen and hordes of goblins in the mountains, Finn thinks. The solution seems to present itself. At least on that one front. But Finn is not a tactician in the arts of war and wouldn't presume to offer advice in such.
Noticing the hand movements, Finn flashes the seneschal a reassuring smile in an attempt to say she understood his nervousness and to not give it a thought. In truth she did her best to memorize the movements to perhaps repeat later if she could not recognize them herself. She compared them to the thieve's cant she knew, using it's incongruous and innocuous movements to try to memorize the seneschal's pattern even if it does not help recognize it. Perhaps instead some kind of religious or mystical warding symbol, she thought.
As the coin is presented Finn starts but quickly restrains herself from reaching out for it. Instead she takes a half step closer and bends at the waist so as to lean forward and get a better look at it....
((I'm not home right now and the dice mechanic doesn't seem to work over mobile, but I rolled on my character sheet and rolled an 8 for perception and a dirty 20 on the history check.))
Vhalens misses a bit of the conversation trying to calm himself down, but the coin catches his attention. He looks at it closely, hoping to make up for his earlier gaff with a display of his expertise.
The coin is, surprisingly to you, familiar to you. A foreigner - a merchant, he claimed, attempted to bribe one of your clan's warriors to serve as a guide across Karhu lands. The warrior was slain by your chief, upon discovery of the illicit arrangement, and his purse, it seemed, was filled with similar coins of that odd scarlet shade. Your chief buried the coins secretly, perhaps to reclaim later for use by the tribe but, since such things are of next to no use for the Karhu, likely to avoid the burden of carrying the dense coins with him on the hunt. The merchant who first provided the coins disappeared to the south, without a trace and at great speed. A name springs to mind, notable for its southern foreign-sounding syllables: Rashaad
Finn: roll investigation!
It is not thieves cant, but does seem related to it in principle. Given time, and more data, you might be able to decipher it in the future.
Vhalens:
The coin is familiar to you. A southron merchant - you don't recall his name - drifted through a distant enclave of Muintir on the border of the northern wastes, and supposedly spent a few coins of gold stained with blood. Mossen and the other elders immediately moved to gather and replace the coins from the camp, and seemed somewhat agitated by them, though they never revealed why. You had always assumed it was on the assumption that someone, or something, must have died to stain the gold so, and so it was a dishonest merchant or brigand who had spent the money to begin with. Now, you are less sure that it might not be something deeper, and more dangerous...
The seneschal's gesture appears to carry no spell or sorcery, though you must admit that your skills might not detect all possible signs of the subtler arts of magic.
The coin is unfamiliar to you, though the engraving on it of a human skull is certainly intimidating, and to your mind suggests something you once read about in a tome of lore on ancient kingdoms of the region, when fallen chiefs were buried with coins placed on their heads and wrists to purchase their access to their savage afterlives. You cannot be sure of the validity of this observation, however.
If the elf has seen the seneschal hand movements he says nothing about it.
He does look at the coin and says.
"I've read that some chieftains of old were buried in the barrows with coins similar to that one upon their heads and wrists. The believe was that they could buy their passasge to the place their souls were meant to go. Where this place could be I do not know, but only their nobles were buried with such coins."
"A southern merchant once came to our tribe and tried to bribe his way through our lands. The coins he used looked like this one, the currency of Rashaad he claimed," says Argentus, a look of disgust on his face. "Had he come to us honestly and asked our help instead of corrupting one of our scouts with his foul coin, we may have helped him--but there is no room for deceit in the Karhu tribe," he finishes, a sadness coming over his face as he remembers the fate of the scout who let himself be led astray by the promise of riches...
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Gerrard Feldren - Human Noble in Ghosts of Saltmarsh
Kerric Brightblade - Elven Warrior in "Apocalypse"
Investigation: 7 Finn goes over the movements in her head a time or two, trying to set them into memory. She even shifts to hide her right side from the seneschal and discreetly tries to mimic them while still fresh in her mind.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
We're doing one small murder-y thing for a bigger, better reason. The ends justify the means.
After listening to Argentus's story, Vhalens speaks up. He says "I believe we encountered that same merchant, or one very similar. He used coins like these. The strange thing is, they were blood stained. Not metaphorically. Literally blood stained. Mossen and the other elders must have realized something was off about them because they gathered them all up after the merchant had left and spirited them away somewhere. I always wondered why..."
The Prince listens avidly, nodding but seemingly a little confused by the variety of reports surrounding the provenance of the coin.
"It was seized off a few of our less reputable bannermen, caught brawling with commoners whilst on duty. They've confessed to nothing, despite about a week now in confinement, but in the time since they were put away a host of accounting irregularities have surfaced - very nearly enough to turn our good seneschal's beard to frost."
The seneschal sighs and nods, replying, "It's true. Stores missing. Weapon shipments delayed or understrength. Runia has long kept enough arms and armor to sustain an army far larger than any need she has ever needed in her long history - thank the gods - but now it seems a struggle to find a knife and boots for every soldier. Mainline items are untouched - those would be noticed sooner. But small items - replacement links for chainmail, buttons for uniforms, shoes and hobnails, and all the little pieces that hold a line-warrior's battle kit together, these are in perilously short supply. We've had our forges stoked for five days straight, since the discovery of this... oversight, and still we're not near meeting quota. My prince suspects foul play, and I am fearfully agreed, though already he has refused my resignation over the matter - a resignation whose complaint I will soon insist upon to the king, if this issue cannot be resolved."
The prince waves dismissively. "Surely, it will not come to that. Besides, we haven't even mentioned the inhuman threats to our borders and security. The western roads are fraught with goblin-kin and monsters, exacting a deadly toll on our trade prospects. So far, a few armored caravans have made successful passages, but the Guild-Peregrine's representatives, some of whom you heard earlier in the Oaken Hall exercising the prodigious rights that their wealth affords them, inform me in no uncertain terms that if the passes are not kept safe enough for lightly-guarded travel, the Guild will consider Runia a net loss, despite the value of our ores and smithywork. Friends, if you would help Runia, there are more mysteries here now than in any tale known to our bards. Missing wizards, coins and strangers from distant lands, monsters in the shadows of once-peaceful mountains. I do not have the power to gainsay my father's commands - one of which is a full battle-call to the Lords and their banners, who may not leave Oldhall until his dismissal by the oaths they hold to the Oaken Seat. Still, if you can relieve even one of these problems, any reward you might ask of me, if it be within my power, will have bought this kingdom, my people, time to assess and prepare for whatever storm brews around us."
"Prince"says Frenevir "I've come in the name of my people to lend a hand to Runia in tis difficult hour. You can count with my sword to solve this problems, and bring some peace of mind to your seneschal, may his services to the crown will last long years from now "
Vhalens gives Argentus a troubled look. He wonders for a moment whether or not it would be prudent to speak on these topics, but then he remembers it was Mossen's will that they be here, to protect the king. He feels his anxiety begin to fade. He is where he is meant to be. He makes sure to use the CORRECT honorific when he addresses the prince this time.
"Your highness, Runia's troubles echo those of the people of the north in unsettling ways. Our tribes too are harried by monsters, as Argentus will tell you. As you just heard, we too have encountered these mysterious coins. The strangest parallel of all... We too have the problem of a disappearing wizard. Mossen, my people's greatest magician, has vanished. She offered no explanation for her departure, though, there was evidence of a great battle in the place where we searched for her. On the night she disappeared, she bid Argentus and I come to Runia. She seemed to think the fates of our people were intertwined. Now that I've heard of your troubles, it is obvious she was right. The monsters, the disappearances, the coins... The fates of our peoples are intertwined. I will help you, in whatever ways I can."
Considering carefully as the prince lays out the issues and his companions respond, Argentus finally speaks, “You are beset on many fronts and your capability to fight the curse that threatens us all is compromised. I will help you in any endeavor which moves us towards ending this curse for my people, though my talents run more toward combat than investigation.”
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Gerrard Feldren - Human Noble in Ghosts of Saltmarsh
Kerric Brightblade - Elven Warrior in "Apocalypse"
“Well I have talents enough for all of us,” she says, tempering her boldness with a lopsided smile and a wink to assure all she wasn’t quite THAT cocky.
“What affects one affects all. Perhaps not right away or on the same way, but it’s all interconnected. We may as well be the ones to get to the bottom of it, I guess,” she continues. “Besides, someone has to do the things these three won’t. And someone needs to bail me out when I do.”
Finn looks at each of the others and smiles. She then turns to the Prince and gives a lazy curtsy. “Finn Of’Gren offers her services on behalf of herself and her people…No reward is needed, ‘cept perhaps a remembering of the service of me or mine ever have a similar need.”
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
We're doing one small murder-y thing for a bigger, better reason. The ends justify the means.
Vhalens tells Argentus "Give yourself more credit! You've impressed me several times in just the short time we've known each other with your capacity for historical inference!"
Vhalens nods gravely at Frenevir's severe, noble pronouncement, admiring his tone of stoic heroism. He smiles at Finn, admiring her ability once again to turn even the gravest of pronouncements light.
He then turns back to the prince and says "Your highness, I've seen in our short acquaintance that all three of my companions are wily, dangerous combatants. I cannot say the same for myself, but I suppose I have my own expertise. That said, I've also seen that each of them bears an uncommonly sharp mind. I think it likely we could do as much good with access to your library and archivesas we could patrolling your roads. Perhaps more. I think it likely we might find there some answers that would lead both to our missing magicians as well as our deep-pocketed intruder."
((Should I make a persuasion check for that?))
Vhalens gave his three companions a look that seemed cheery on the face of it, but his eyes held what he hoped was a profound seriousness. "Don't you agree, my friends?" He regretted now not telling Finn or Frenevir more about Mossen's last story.
"I do"says Frenevir in agreement "Perhaps looking into the past we could find clues of what's in our future. What do the crown needs us to do first?"he asks both the Prince and the Seneschal.
Finn: Briefly, for a moment only, but a moment nonetheless, the coin catches your attention. And more. It speaks to your heart. To your very soul, beckoning. The warmth - life itself - in gold. The great things it would allow you to do. Wouldn't it be better to have gold? To have more of it? Surely life now is simply pale, in comparison to what this bright coin might do for you. The moment passes, and the blood-red coin glints up at you with a feigned sort of innocence.
The seneschal breathes in sharply at the suggestion, but at the gentle nod of the prince relaxes, agreeing to grant you access to the royal library.
Once arranged, the prince sighs and holds up his hands as if to better bear the weight of the kingdom.
"Without safety on the roads, we cannot feed our army, or keep our citizenry from panicking. Without order within our walls, the men we do have will misplace their loyalties, and our vulnerability will invite outside attack. Without answers, I see no way to move to end the... curse, for that is what it must be... and so it comes down to you. You are welcome to investigate what records we have, for they may reveal answers to you that we have missed. Other than that, my mind tells me the Guild's pleas must take priority, for only with a stable supply situation shall we be able to maintain power, but my heart tells me to investigate the matter of the coin, for an enemy in our walls is tantamount to a knife in the back, whatever the supply situation. I will do my best from here to maintain the situation, but I fear that is the extent of my power at this time. It is for your judgement to decide, for fate has brought you here - so now your fates will decide ours."
(You may discuss amongst yourselves, but ultimately, a choice must be made. Will you assist the Guild and whatever soldiers you can convince, buy or manipulate into marching with you to clear the western mountain roads, securing a stable supply of goods and trade into Runia? Will you delve into the secrets of Oldhall, and the now-missing enclave of wizards once hosted there? Or will you take to the streets, pursuing rumor and whisper until the tangled threads of this dire hour come loose in the palms of your hand?)
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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The prince returns Finn's amicable smile with a grin of his own. "She's a sweet one - quite bright, her tutors tell me. Already one to watch for as well, so they say... now, to business!"
As Finn walks over and retrieves the fallen book, evidently an ongoing read for the little princess by the dogearing and partial annotations written in a child's wandering hand, she glances at the spine and with a shock recognizes not just an unfamiliar title, but an unfamiliar language - or at least, not one that she was expecting to see so far north. It is a southern language, from one of the islands just east of Runia's stern mountains, and appears to be a book on celestial mechanics and philosophy - Kar-Uthzanni's Ways of Heaven, vol. III: the art, artistry, and science of heavenly bodies and their ceaseless revolutions.
Again in response to Finn's interrogative, the prince grins, though this time with a sort of heavy sadness.
"I'm sure that one of your first questions of me must be why you meet now with me, rather than my lord-father Rudan the Bronze. Well, I will get to the answer quickly. My father is sick. Not of body - no heir of Runavald the Deep has ever suffered from any illness of body - but of mind. I fear he feels the oppression of this kingdom and its... current trials most keenly, so much so that it has upset his... disposition."
Roll perception. If you roll above an 15, read the following spoiler
The seneschal makes a series of hand motions down by his leg, twice, as the prince speaks; seemingly a nervous twitch but, you happen to notice, too structured and patterned to be accidental. He notices your gaze and ceases his movements.
"Ordinarily, the quality of his mind would be assured by the ministrations of the royal wizards, but... one of the first signs of our current and coming troubles was the disappearance of their tower in the northern ward. We assume they teleported it somewhere - it's been known to happen - but they have in the past given us warning and a return date. Without their wisdom in this matter, I fear any ministrations we might provide will be crude, and may have worse consequences than we know. A king must be strong, for his burden is a very great thing, and I fear my father is taxed now to the limit and beyond. I cannot stress how deeply he feels for his people, and how zealously he would protect them from... our current situation. One of your tasks, if you think you are up to it, will be to find the royal wizards, or at the very least to discover the reason and method of their disappearance. They kept much knowledge secreted with them, for they have been in the service of Runavald's line for nearly six hundred years..."
"Naturally, there is more than that, and more immediately..." Interjects the seneschal, fingers tapping idly at his knee.
"Yes, naturally." Replies the prince. "Oldhall itself is on the brink of... well, I'm not sure what, to be utterly frank. I see my friend the seneschal frowns at this admission," (and, indeed, so he does) "but with you four I would be honest. My father called the banners some months past, but without a clear enemy to march out and fight, the called men and dwarves at arms grow weary of even a comfortable life here in the city, at the expense of the Oaken Seat. The lords, you must have them heard back there, reflect some of this complaint, but I fear the rot already runs deeper than that. As I'm sure you have heard, our once peaceful mountains now teem with goblins and their ilk, and worse still, like flies drawn to carrion in the sun. Now it seems that an enemy of the realm moves with a more friendly face."
He digs in his pocket for a small coinpurse, which he carefully opens before withdrawing his hand to reveal a small, yet thick and deeply gouged gold coin of an unusual reddish, almost crimson tint.
"Do any of you recognize this coin?"
Argentus:
Perception: 10
History for Coin: 22
Gerrard Feldren - Human Noble in Ghosts of Saltmarsh
Kerric Brightblade - Elven Warrior in "Apocalypse"
Finn Of'Gren
Perception: 22
Arcana for Coin: 7. (History is same role, but unless immediately identifiable Finn would presume it was something really unusual and wrack her brain on that angle...)
After putting the oddly advanced book for one so young back to where the girl had kept it, Finn returns to the circle of counsel and listens to the prince wordlessly. Nothing he reveals hasn't been known, presumed or whispered about but hearing it from an authority as fact is still noteworthy. Restless bannermen and hordes of goblins in the mountains, Finn thinks. The solution seems to present itself. At least on that one front. But Finn is not a tactician in the arts of war and wouldn't presume to offer advice in such.
Noticing the hand movements, Finn flashes the seneschal a reassuring smile in an attempt to say she understood his nervousness and to not give it a thought. In truth she did her best to memorize the movements to perhaps repeat later if she could not recognize them herself. She compared them to the thieve's cant she knew, using it's incongruous and innocuous movements to try to memorize the seneschal's pattern even if it does not help recognize it. Perhaps instead some kind of religious or mystical warding symbol, she thought.
As the coin is presented Finn starts but quickly restrains herself from reaching out for it. Instead she takes a half step closer and bends at the waist so as to lean forward and get a better look at it....
We're doing one small murder-y thing for a bigger, better reason. The ends justify the means.
-- Eleanor Shellstrop
((I'm not home right now and the dice mechanic doesn't seem to work over mobile, but I rolled on my character sheet and rolled an 8 for perception and a dirty 20 on the history check.))
Vhalens misses a bit of the conversation trying to calm himself down, but the coin catches his attention. He looks at it closely, hoping to make up for his earlier gaff with a display of his expertise.
Argentus: fitting rolls!
The coin is, surprisingly to you, familiar to you. A foreigner - a merchant, he claimed, attempted to bribe one of your clan's warriors to serve as a guide across Karhu lands. The warrior was slain by your chief, upon discovery of the illicit arrangement, and his purse, it seemed, was filled with similar coins of that odd scarlet shade. Your chief buried the coins secretly, perhaps to reclaim later for use by the tribe but, since such things are of next to no use for the Karhu, likely to avoid the burden of carrying the dense coins with him on the hunt. The merchant who first provided the coins disappeared to the south, without a trace and at great speed. A name springs to mind, notable for its southern foreign-sounding syllables: Rashaad
Finn: roll investigation!
It is not thieves cant, but does seem related to it in principle. Given time, and more data, you might be able to decipher it in the future.
Vhalens:
The coin is familiar to you. A southron merchant - you don't recall his name - drifted through a distant enclave of Muintir on the border of the northern wastes, and supposedly spent a few coins of gold stained with blood. Mossen and the other elders immediately moved to gather and replace the coins from the camp, and seemed somewhat agitated by them, though they never revealed why. You had always assumed it was on the assumption that someone, or something, must have died to stain the gold so, and so it was a dishonest merchant or brigand who had spent the money to begin with. Now, you are less sure that it might not be something deeper, and more dangerous...
Frenevir:
The seneschal's gesture appears to carry no spell or sorcery, though you must admit that your skills might not detect all possible signs of the subtler arts of magic.
The coin is unfamiliar to you, though the engraving on it of a human skull is certainly intimidating, and to your mind suggests something you once read about in a tome of lore on ancient kingdoms of the region, when fallen chiefs were buried with coins placed on their heads and wrists to purchase their access to their savage afterlives. You cannot be sure of the validity of this observation, however.
If the elf has seen the seneschal hand movements he says nothing about it.
He does look at the coin and says.
"I've read that some chieftains of old were buried in the barrows with coins similar to that one upon their heads and wrists. The believe was that they could buy their passasge to the place their souls were meant to go. Where this place could be I do not know, but only their nobles were buried with such coins."
PbP Character: A few ;)
Argentus:
"A southern merchant once came to our tribe and tried to bribe his way through our lands. The coins he used looked like this one, the currency of Rashaad he claimed," says Argentus, a look of disgust on his face. "Had he come to us honestly and asked our help instead of corrupting one of our scouts with his foul coin, we may have helped him--but there is no room for deceit in the Karhu tribe," he finishes, a sadness coming over his face as he remembers the fate of the scout who let himself be led astray by the promise of riches...
Gerrard Feldren - Human Noble in Ghosts of Saltmarsh
Kerric Brightblade - Elven Warrior in "Apocalypse"
Finn Of’Gren
Investigation: 7
Finn goes over the movements in her head a time or two, trying to set them into memory. She even shifts to hide her right side from the seneschal and discreetly tries to mimic them while still fresh in her mind.
We're doing one small murder-y thing for a bigger, better reason. The ends justify the means.
-- Eleanor Shellstrop
After listening to Argentus's story, Vhalens speaks up. He says "I believe we encountered that same merchant, or one very similar. He used coins like these. The strange thing is, they were blood stained. Not metaphorically. Literally blood stained. Mossen and the other elders must have realized something was off about them because they gathered them all up after the merchant had left and spirited them away somewhere. I always wondered why..."
Finn: roll a Wis save!
The Prince listens avidly, nodding but seemingly a little confused by the variety of reports surrounding the provenance of the coin.
"It was seized off a few of our less reputable bannermen, caught brawling with commoners whilst on duty. They've confessed to nothing, despite about a week now in confinement, but in the time since they were put away a host of accounting irregularities have surfaced - very nearly enough to turn our good seneschal's beard to frost."
The seneschal sighs and nods, replying, "It's true. Stores missing. Weapon shipments delayed or understrength. Runia has long kept enough arms and armor to sustain an army far larger than any need she has ever needed in her long history - thank the gods - but now it seems a struggle to find a knife and boots for every soldier. Mainline items are untouched - those would be noticed sooner. But small items - replacement links for chainmail, buttons for uniforms, shoes and hobnails, and all the little pieces that hold a line-warrior's battle kit together, these are in perilously short supply. We've had our forges stoked for five days straight, since the discovery of this... oversight, and still we're not near meeting quota. My prince suspects foul play, and I am fearfully agreed, though already he has refused my resignation over the matter - a resignation whose complaint I will soon insist upon to the king, if this issue cannot be resolved."
The prince waves dismissively. "Surely, it will not come to that. Besides, we haven't even mentioned the inhuman threats to our borders and security. The western roads are fraught with goblin-kin and monsters, exacting a deadly toll on our trade prospects. So far, a few armored caravans have made successful passages, but the Guild-Peregrine's representatives, some of whom you heard earlier in the Oaken Hall exercising the prodigious rights that their wealth affords them, inform me in no uncertain terms that if the passes are not kept safe enough for lightly-guarded travel, the Guild will consider Runia a net loss, despite the value of our ores and smithywork. Friends, if you would help Runia, there are more mysteries here now than in any tale known to our bards. Missing wizards, coins and strangers from distant lands, monsters in the shadows of once-peaceful mountains. I do not have the power to gainsay my father's commands - one of which is a full battle-call to the Lords and their banners, who may not leave Oldhall until his dismissal by the oaths they hold to the Oaken Seat. Still, if you can relieve even one of these problems, any reward you might ask of me, if it be within my power, will have bought this kingdom, my people, time to assess and prepare for whatever storm brews around us."
"Prince" says Frenevir "I've come in the name of my people to lend a hand to Runia in tis difficult hour. You can count with my sword to solve this problems, and bring some peace of mind to your seneschal, may his services to the crown will last long years from now "
PbP Character: A few ;)
Vhalens gives Argentus a troubled look. He wonders for a moment whether or not it would be prudent to speak on these topics, but then he remembers it was Mossen's will that they be here, to protect the king. He feels his anxiety begin to fade. He is where he is meant to be. He makes sure to use the CORRECT honorific when he addresses the prince this time.
"Your highness, Runia's troubles echo those of the people of the north in unsettling ways. Our tribes too are harried by monsters, as Argentus will tell you. As you just heard, we too have encountered these mysterious coins. The strangest parallel of all... We too have the problem of a disappearing wizard. Mossen, my people's greatest magician, has vanished. She offered no explanation for her departure, though, there was evidence of a great battle in the place where we searched for her. On the night she disappeared, she bid Argentus and I come to Runia. She seemed to think the fates of our people were intertwined. Now that I've heard of your troubles, it is obvious she was right. The monsters, the disappearances, the coins... The fates of our peoples are intertwined. I will help you, in whatever ways I can."
Argentus:
Considering carefully as the prince lays out the issues and his companions respond, Argentus finally speaks, “You are beset on many fronts and your capability to fight the curse that threatens us all is compromised. I will help you in any endeavor which moves us towards ending this curse for my people, though my talents run more toward combat than investigation.”
Gerrard Feldren - Human Noble in Ghosts of Saltmarsh
Kerric Brightblade - Elven Warrior in "Apocalypse"
Finn Wisfom save: 17
…
We're doing one small murder-y thing for a bigger, better reason. The ends justify the means.
-- Eleanor Shellstrop
Finn Of’Gren
“Well I have talents enough for all of us,” she says, tempering her boldness with a lopsided smile and a wink to assure all she wasn’t quite THAT cocky.
“What affects one affects all. Perhaps not right away or on the same way, but it’s all interconnected. We may as well be the ones to get to the bottom of it, I guess,” she continues. “Besides, someone has to do the things these three won’t. And someone needs to bail me out when I do.”
Finn looks at each of the others and smiles. She then turns to the Prince and gives a lazy curtsy. “Finn Of’Gren offers her services on behalf of herself and her people…No reward is needed, ‘cept perhaps a remembering of the service of me or mine ever have a similar need.”
We're doing one small murder-y thing for a bigger, better reason. The ends justify the means.
-- Eleanor Shellstrop
Vhalens tells Argentus "Give yourself more credit! You've impressed me several times in just the short time we've known each other with your capacity for historical inference!"
Vhalens nods gravely at Frenevir's severe, noble pronouncement, admiring his tone of stoic heroism. He smiles at Finn, admiring her ability once again to turn even the gravest of pronouncements light.
He then turns back to the prince and says "Your highness, I've seen in our short acquaintance that all three of my companions are wily, dangerous combatants. I cannot say the same for myself, but I suppose I have my own expertise. That said, I've also seen that each of them bears an uncommonly sharp mind. I think it likely we could do as much good with access to your library and archives as we could patrolling your roads. Perhaps more. I think it likely we might find there some answers that would lead both to our missing magicians as well as our deep-pocketed intruder."
((Should I make a persuasion check for that?))
Vhalens gave his three companions a look that seemed cheery on the face of it, but his eyes held what he hoped was a profound seriousness. "Don't you agree, my friends?" He regretted now not telling Finn or Frenevir more about Mossen's last story.
"I do" says Frenevir in agreement "Perhaps looking into the past we could find clues of what's in our future. What do the crown needs us to do first?" he asks both the Prince and the Seneschal.
PbP Character: A few ;)
Finn: Briefly, for a moment only, but a moment nonetheless, the coin catches your attention. And more. It speaks to your heart. To your very soul, beckoning. The warmth - life itself - in gold. The great things it would allow you to do. Wouldn't it be better to have gold? To have more of it? Surely life now is simply pale, in comparison to what this bright coin might do for you. The moment passes, and the blood-red coin glints up at you with a feigned sort of innocence.
The seneschal breathes in sharply at the suggestion, but at the gentle nod of the prince relaxes, agreeing to grant you access to the royal library.
Once arranged, the prince sighs and holds up his hands as if to better bear the weight of the kingdom.
"Without safety on the roads, we cannot feed our army, or keep our citizenry from panicking. Without order within our walls, the men we do have will misplace their loyalties, and our vulnerability will invite outside attack. Without answers, I see no way to move to end the... curse, for that is what it must be... and so it comes down to you. You are welcome to investigate what records we have, for they may reveal answers to you that we have missed. Other than that, my mind tells me the Guild's pleas must take priority, for only with a stable supply situation shall we be able to maintain power, but my heart tells me to investigate the matter of the coin, for an enemy in our walls is tantamount to a knife in the back, whatever the supply situation. I will do my best from here to maintain the situation, but I fear that is the extent of my power at this time. It is for your judgement to decide, for fate has brought you here - so now your fates will decide ours."
(You may discuss amongst yourselves, but ultimately, a choice must be made. Will you assist the Guild and whatever soldiers you can convince, buy or manipulate into marching with you to clear the western mountain roads, securing a stable supply of goods and trade into Runia? Will you delve into the secrets of Oldhall, and the now-missing enclave of wizards once hosted there? Or will you take to the streets, pursuing rumor and whisper until the tangled threads of this dire hour come loose in the palms of your hand?)