Bombil asks Victor, "How extensive are the secret door torches? And by any chance, would you know who wrote that little warning in Infernal on the walls?" He pauses for a moment, "As for Xavword's friend, and forgive me if I sound superstitious, would that be the gold dragon rumored to be in these tunnels?"
[[OOC: Night of the assassination refers to the death of Basil Darkbranch, right?]]
Victor glanced at Bombil with a curious expression upon hearing his questions and after a couple seconds he shrugged slightly. "Well I'm pretty sure there's at least two in the main tunnel, one in this tunnel, one in the tunnel that runs from Stoneclaw's mansion and one in the main chamber. The one in the main chamber is disguised as part of a statue that looks to be imbedded in the northeaster wall halfway into the room." He replied with a small trace of a smile, almost as if he was proud of the fact that he'd remembered the location of the torches in question. Although that smile faded and he became a shade paler than normal at the mention of the message in Infernal. "Hmmm? A message in Infernal... that is a surprise, not many people around these parts know how to speak Infernal let alone write it. To my knowledge only Xavword, myself and the former Lord himself were fluent in it, although we do get our fair share of strangers in these parts from time to time. So perhaps a traveler wound up down here and left that there?"
A faint chuckle escaped him when asked if Xavword's friend was the gold dragon. "No, although I'm not surprised that you'd come to think that. The friend in question is a Tiefling scholar... from Wintercall if my memory serves me right or maybe he was from Espar... honestly he never said where he was from but they seemed extremely close."
The swordsman frowns. "Wintercall," he repeats. Somehow the location brings his back to business. "Messieurs, I will not presume to dictate our next move, but if you will recall, Lord Stoneclaw mentioned that his son had of late been traveling frequently to Wintercall." He gestures toward Victor with a nod and adds, "And while his conversation has been charming, I will also remind you that Lord Stoneclaw also considered this villain to be the most likely abductor. Tell me, Master Lowclaw," he begins, turning to Victor, "were these foul creatures what's left of your bandits, or have you more minions in these tunnels?" The half-elf's tone is still light and conversational, and he hasn't drawn his weapon, but his eyes are like daggers pointed at the stranger.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Bombil says to Assarion and Tagreth, "If a trip to Wintercall is warranted then it is a course of action I am in concurrence with. And I must admit it would be intriguing to visit my former home. However, perhaps we should first look further into these tunnels? I imagine we wouldn't get travelling towards Wintercall until tomorrow, leaving the rest of this evening at hand."
He asks Victor, "Do you happen to recall the tiefling's name?"
Assarion turns slightly and shakes his head. "We wouldn't know where to go once we got there. No, just that this tiefling may have been the one he was meeting," he explains. He subtly keeps his right shoulder to Victor and his left gripping the top of his scabbard. With his left thumb he eases his sword in its sheath. "I suspect Lowclaw here knows more than he's telling us. Much more."
The swordsman frowns. "Wintercall," he repeats. Somehow the location brings his back to business. "Messieurs, I will not presume to dictate our next move, but if you will recall, Lord Stoneclaw mentioned that his son had of late been traveling frequently to Wintercall." He gestures toward Victor with a nod and adds, "And while his conversation has been charming, I will also remind you that Lord Stoneclaw also considered this villain to be the most likely abductor. Tell me, Master Lowclaw," he begins, turning to Victor, "were these foul creatures what's left of your bandits, or have you more minions in these tunnels?" The half-elf's tone is still light and conversational, and he hasn't drawn his weapon, but his eyes are like daggers pointed at the stranger.
Victor wasn't sure what to say in the moment but as he listened to what Assarion said he takes a deep breath. He wasn't exactly surprised by the fact that Stoneclaw had accused him of abducting his son, even though he hadn't even known that he was missing until having heard them mention it. He dug his nails into his palm and glanced at him with a somewhat calm expression.
"So Nikolas is accusing me of kidnapping the one person who was willing to give me a second chance while everyone else wanted me to hang because of something that I didn't do? I'm honestly not surprised by this, he never really liked me and now I'm starting to share the feeling. I know I've done some horrible things in the past but kidnapping or abducting someone isn't a part of that list and will never be part of it." He replied after a couple seconds. He raised a brow slightly and felt his nails dig a little deeper as he heard the mention of bandits. "Those weren't bandits those looked like a few civilians that had gone missing at least fifteen years ago. When I was younger I must admit that I was part of a small group, we'd steal from other bandits and return the stolen items if we knew the owners or if we could track them down. I know it wasn't the most conventional way to do things but it got results..."
"If Sir Stoneclaw's son was brought down here by his kidnapper then they might have brought him to the main chamber to force him to open the door to the vault... or the passage way to the tunnel leading to the den of the Golden Dragon. Xavword and his father are the only ones who had access tothem."
{With an 11 Kaliden recalls that Ghasts can be created when a Ghoul bites a experienced or powerful humanoid, the humanoid would contract ghoul fever only to die from it and rise as one the following night at midnight unless blessed or blessed and resurrected by a Cleric before they could turn. There are also some that believe that anyone who indulged in extreme debauchery and evil could become one after death although that has yet to be proven.}
Tagreth stands back up and turns to Assarion, "Are you then suggesting that we make a trip to Wintercall?"
He then stops to think about what he can recall about Wintercall.
(History: 7)
{With a 7 Tagreth recalls that Wintercall is the largest city in Cleica, it's leader is an older Duergar by the name of Balbrek Giantblade. The city is known for it's skilled smiths and it's year round cold weather.}
Bombil says to Assarion and Tagreth, "If a trip to Wintercall is warranted then it is a course of action I am in concurrence with. And I must admit it would be intriguing to visit my former home. However, perhaps we should first look further into these tunnels? I imagine we wouldn't get travelling towards Wintercall until tomorrow, leaving the rest of this evening at hand."
He asks Victor, "Do you happen to recall the tiefling's name?"
Victor sighs softly and tries to recall the name of the Tiefling that Xavword had met with that night. "I'm pretty sure I heard Xavword say that his name was Andnon but I could be wrong."
{With a 10 Bombil recalls that Wintercall is the largest city in Cleica, it's leader is an older Duergar by the name of Balbrek Giantblade. The city is known for it's skilled smiths and it's year round cold weather. It is also rumored that there is a small group of investigators that work for the 'Darkslayer Agency' ran by Ketmora Darkslayer.}
Assarion turns slightly and shakes his head. "We wouldn't know where to go once we got there. No, just that this tiefling may have been the one he was meeting," he explains. He subtly keeps his right shoulder to Victor and his left gripping the top of his scabbard. With his left thumb he eases his sword in its sheath. "I suspect Lowclaw here knows more than he's telling us. Much more."
(Insight: 14 - in the log)
Victor shifted his attention towards Assarion and slowly began to reach for something in his cloak but he stopped when he noticed that he had a hand on his weapon. He lowered his hand and shook his head slightly knowing that one wrong move could spell his demise. "... And what exactly do you think that I'm not telling you? That Xavword and his little friend somehow stumbled across a pack of ghouls and somehow they managed to follow them into the tunnels, or maybe that I saw a peculiar Dragonborn down here that was asking about if young Stoneclaw had been 'sticking his nose where it shouldn't belong, just like his father?' which confused me becauseI had been under the impression that Sir Stoneclaw and the guards had been looking into Lord Darkbranch's assassination. Or the fact that..." He trailed off slightly and glanced downwards.
{With a 14 Assarion can tell that Lowclaw has been avoiding something, almost as if he was worried that if he mentioned that thing something horrible might happen to him.}
Assarion missed Victor's slight movement toward his dagger (Perception: 4, in log), but it likely wouldn't change anything. He moves his left hand to rest casually on the pommel of his sword. "See?" he says with a reassuring smile. "That wasn't so hard, was it? Don't worry, I really don't trust Lord Stoneclaw any more than I trust you - court politics being what they are. But you were going to add something?" he prompts. "You may as well spit it out." (Persuasion: 23, in log)
Tagreth nods, "Okay, so we don't want to go to Wintercall, or at least not yet. Which is a shame, I would have liked to see the city again. I guess it can wait.
Anyway, to the business at hand. We need to know as much information as you know, Victor. What secrets are you keeping?"
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“The secret we should never let the gamemasters know is that they don't need any rules.” ― Gary Gygax
Victor looked surprised when Thorin mentioned a person carrying another person with one arm. "I don't recall seeing anyone that fits that description lately but I do recall seeing a half-elf in his late twenties and a somewhat tired looking wood elf a few days ago. Perhaps... they were the ones that you're referring to?"
Assarion missed Victor's slight movement toward his dagger (Perception: 4, in log), but it likely wouldn't change anything. He moves his left hand to rest casually on the pommel of his sword. "See?" he says with a reassuring smile. "That wasn't so hard, was it? Don't worry, I really don't trust Lord Stoneclaw any more than I trust you - court politics being what they are. But you were going to add something?" he prompts. "You may as well spit it out." (Persuasion: 23, in log)
Victor faked a small smile and nodded slightly. "I guess at least it's not as bad as..." he trailed off slightly and rubbed the back of his neck ever so softly and glanced down at the ground for a couple seconds. "Stoneclaw does tend to hide things from people that he doesn't know all that well, so I can't blame you for not trusting him. Oh... Yes I think I was."
He takes a breath before looking up at Assarion. "Now I know this is going to sound farfetched but remember that dragon you mentioned. What would you say if I told you that you had already met and spoke to him? I'm not saying that Sir Stoneclaw is the dragon but..."
Tagreth nods, "Okay, so we don't want to go to Wintercall, or at least not yet. Which is a shame, I would have liked to see the city again. I guess it can wait.
Anyway, to the business at hand. We need to know as much information as you know, Victor. What secrets are you keeping?"
He hesitated for a couple seconds before nodding slightly. "Well around two months ago Xavword and his friend bumped into while I was down here and they both seemed rather panicked, when I asked them what was going on and why they were panicking Xavword explained to me that they'd been adventuring in the nearby forest when they ran into a small 'pack' of ghouls. Upon hearing this I started to realize what was going on and before I could ask them if they'd taken care of them his friend said that they'd managed to kill one but the rest may have followed them into the tunnels..." He paused for a moment to take a breath and he glanced down at his arm.
He turns to Kaliden, "If your investigations on the ghast are complete, shall I set it alite?"
"I... I didn't? Well sorry about that. The peculiar Dragonborn in question is a Blue Dragonborn by the name of Yostil Dakaryh. I don't know much about him but I do know that he's not from around here. If memory serves me right I do believe that he's from the town of Lastview in Espar. When he came up to me there was something off about him, he looked rather pale and his eyes looked rather dead in comparison to the Dragonborns that I've met in the past."
Bombil takes a glance at his companions. Beyond themselves, Stoneclaw, Lowclaw, and perhaps some of Stoneclaw's servants... who else could Assarion have talked to? He takes another look at Victor Lowclaw. Him?
He walks over to the ghasts, keeping about 20 ft distance between him and the corpses. He makes some movements, says an incantation and creates a bonfire over the first corpse, waits until it has caught flame on its own, and then repeats the process with the second.
"Well I dislike standing still. Shall we move on. I would like to explore more of the tunnels and perhaps find these elves Victor mentioned"Thorins waits for the others.
Tagreth nods his head and turns to Thorins, "Yes, I was just going to suggest the same thing. Let's not waste any more time standing around here chatting. We need to press on through the tunnels."
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“The secret we should never let the gamemasters know is that they don't need any rules.” ― Gary Gygax
"I am also ready for pressing on further if you are, good sirs." says Bombil, "Shall we head towards the main chambers of these tunnels? Or elsewhere?"
Bombil asks Victor, "How extensive are the secret door torches? And by any chance, would you know who wrote that little warning in Infernal on the walls?" He pauses for a moment, "As for Xavword's friend, and forgive me if I sound superstitious, would that be the gold dragon rumored to be in these tunnels?"
[[OOC: Night of the assassination refers to the death of Basil Darkbranch, right?]]
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Whilst everyone is talking, Tagreth decides to turn his attention to Ratchet to make sure that the defender is working order.
“The secret we should never let the gamemasters know is that they don't need any rules.” ― Gary Gygax
Victor glanced at Bombil with a curious expression upon hearing his questions and after a couple seconds he shrugged slightly. "Well I'm pretty sure there's at least two in the main tunnel, one in this tunnel, one in the tunnel that runs from Stoneclaw's mansion and one in the main chamber. The one in the main chamber is disguised as part of a statue that looks to be imbedded in the northeaster wall halfway into the room." He replied with a small trace of a smile, almost as if he was proud of the fact that he'd remembered the location of the torches in question. Although that smile faded and he became a shade paler than normal at the mention of the message in Infernal. "Hmmm? A message in Infernal... that is a surprise, not many people around these parts know how to speak Infernal let alone write it. To my knowledge only Xavword, myself and the former Lord himself were fluent in it, although we do get our fair share of strangers in these parts from time to time. So perhaps a traveler wound up down here and left that there?"
A faint chuckle escaped him when asked if Xavword's friend was the gold dragon. "No, although I'm not surprised that you'd come to think that. The friend in question is a Tiefling scholar... from Wintercall if my memory serves me right or maybe he was from Espar... honestly he never said where he was from but they seemed extremely close."
[[OOC: Right.]]
Assarion
The swordsman frowns. "Wintercall," he repeats. Somehow the location brings his back to business. "Messieurs, I will not presume to dictate our next move, but if you will recall, Lord Stoneclaw mentioned that his son had of late been traveling frequently to Wintercall." He gestures toward Victor with a nod and adds, "And while his conversation has been charming, I will also remind you that Lord Stoneclaw also considered this villain to be the most likely abductor. Tell me, Master Lowclaw," he begins, turning to Victor, "were these foul creatures what's left of your bandits, or have you more minions in these tunnels?" The half-elf's tone is still light and conversational, and he hasn't drawn his weapon, but his eyes are like daggers pointed at the stranger.
Kaliden Two-Stones
If deception or withheld information lead to a cold case in regard to Lord Stoneclaw’s son, yer own disappearance will also be an unsolved mystery.
Was the origin of these Ghasts contracted from a ghast, result of necromantic ritual, raised from the grave or murdered and defiled?
religion 12
Tagreth stands back up and turns to Assarion, "Are you then suggesting that we make a trip to Wintercall?"
He then stops to think about what he can recall about Wintercall.
(History: 5)
“The secret we should never let the gamemasters know is that they don't need any rules.” ― Gary Gygax
Bombil says to Assarion and Tagreth, "If a trip to Wintercall is warranted then it is a course of action I am in concurrence with. And I must admit it would be intriguing to visit my former home. However, perhaps we should first look further into these tunnels? I imagine we wouldn't get travelling towards Wintercall until tomorrow, leaving the rest of this evening at hand."
He asks Victor, "Do you happen to recall the tiefling's name?"
History: 0 (for recalling info on Wintercall)
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Assarion
Assarion turns slightly and shakes his head. "We wouldn't know where to go once we got there. No, just that this tiefling may have been the one he was meeting," he explains. He subtly keeps his right shoulder to Victor and his left gripping the top of his scabbard. With his left thumb he eases his sword in its sheath. "I suspect Lowclaw here knows more than he's telling us. Much more."
(Insight: 14 - in the log)
Victor wasn't sure what to say in the moment but as he listened to what Assarion said he takes a deep breath. He wasn't exactly surprised by the fact that Stoneclaw had accused him of abducting his son, even though he hadn't even known that he was missing until having heard them mention it. He dug his nails into his palm and glanced at him with a somewhat calm expression.
"So Nikolas is accusing me of kidnapping the one person who was willing to give me a second chance while everyone else wanted me to hang because of something that I didn't do? I'm honestly not surprised by this, he never really liked me and now I'm starting to share the feeling. I know I've done some horrible things in the past but kidnapping or abducting someone isn't a part of that list and will never be part of it." He replied after a couple seconds. He raised a brow slightly and felt his nails dig a little deeper as he heard the mention of bandits. "Those weren't bandits those looked like a few civilians that had gone missing at least fifteen years ago. When I was younger I must admit that I was part of a small group, we'd steal from other bandits and return the stolen items if we knew the owners or if we could track them down. I know it wasn't the most conventional way to do things but it got results..."
"If Sir Stoneclaw's son was brought down here by his kidnapper then they might have brought him to the main chamber to force him to open the door to the vault... or the passage way to the tunnel leading to the den of the Golden Dragon. Xavword and his father are the only ones who had access to them."
{With an 11 Kaliden recalls that Ghasts can be created when a Ghoul bites a experienced or powerful humanoid, the humanoid would contract ghoul fever only to die from it and rise as one the following night at midnight unless blessed or blessed and resurrected by a Cleric before they could turn. There are also some that believe that anyone who indulged in extreme debauchery and evil could become one after death although that has yet to be proven.}
{With a 7 Tagreth recalls that Wintercall is the largest city in Cleica, it's leader is an older Duergar by the name of Balbrek Giantblade. The city is known for it's skilled smiths and it's year round cold weather.}
Victor sighs softly and tries to recall the name of the Tiefling that Xavword had met with that night. "I'm pretty sure I heard Xavword say that his name was Andnon but I could be wrong."
{With a 10 Bombil recalls that Wintercall is the largest city in Cleica, it's leader is an older Duergar by the name of Balbrek Giantblade. The city is known for it's skilled smiths and it's year round cold weather. It is also rumored that there is a small group of investigators that work for the 'Darkslayer Agency' ran by Ketmora Darkslayer.}
Victor shifted his attention towards Assarion and slowly began to reach for something in his cloak but he stopped when he noticed that he had a hand on his weapon. He lowered his hand and shook his head slightly knowing that one wrong move could spell his demise. "... And what exactly do you think that I'm not telling you? That Xavword and his little friend somehow stumbled across a pack of ghouls and somehow they managed to follow them into the tunnels, or maybe that I saw a peculiar Dragonborn down here that was asking about if young Stoneclaw had been 'sticking his nose where it shouldn't belong, just like his father?' which confused me because I had been under the impression that Sir Stoneclaw and the guards had been looking into Lord Darkbranch's assassination. Or the fact that..." He trailed off slightly and glanced downwards.
{With a 14 Assarion can tell that Lowclaw has been avoiding something, almost as if he was worried that if he mentioned that thing something horrible might happen to him.}
Assarion
Assarion missed Victor's slight movement toward his dagger (Perception: 4, in log), but it likely wouldn't change anything. He moves his left hand to rest casually on the pommel of his sword. "See?" he says with a reassuring smile. "That wasn't so hard, was it? Don't worry, I really don't trust Lord Stoneclaw any more than I trust you - court politics being what they are. But you were going to add something?" he prompts. "You may as well spit it out." (Persuasion: 23, in log)
"While you were down here, did you see a person carrying another person with 1 arm" asks Thorin
Tagreth nods, "Okay, so we don't want to go to Wintercall, or at least not yet. Which is a shame, I would have liked to see the city again. I guess it can wait.
Anyway, to the business at hand. We need to know as much information as you know, Victor. What secrets are you keeping?"
“The secret we should never let the gamemasters know is that they don't need any rules.” ― Gary Gygax
"Peculiar dragonborn?" asks Bombil to Victor. "I don't believe you've mentioned him (or her) before. Please elaborate."
(rolled in log)
Persuasion: 16
Insight: 5
He turns to Kaliden, "If your investigations on the ghast are complete, shall I set it alite?"
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Kaliden Two-Stones
With a stern nod to Bombil, Kaliden backs away. “Thank you Bombil.”
Victor looked surprised when Thorin mentioned a person carrying another person with one arm. "I don't recall seeing anyone that fits that description lately but I do recall seeing a half-elf in his late twenties and a somewhat tired looking wood elf a few days ago. Perhaps... they were the ones that you're referring to?"
Victor faked a small smile and nodded slightly. "I guess at least it's not as bad as..." he trailed off slightly and rubbed the back of his neck ever so softly and glanced down at the ground for a couple seconds. "Stoneclaw does tend to hide things from people that he doesn't know all that well, so I can't blame you for not trusting him. Oh... Yes I think I was."
He takes a breath before looking up at Assarion. "Now I know this is going to sound farfetched but remember that dragon you mentioned. What would you say if I told you that you had already met and spoke to him? I'm not saying that Sir Stoneclaw is the dragon but..."
He hesitated for a couple seconds before nodding slightly. "Well around two months ago Xavword and his friend bumped into while I was down here and they both seemed rather panicked, when I asked them what was going on and why they were panicking Xavword explained to me that they'd been adventuring in the nearby forest when they ran into a small 'pack' of ghouls. Upon hearing this I started to realize what was going on and before I could ask them if they'd taken care of them his friend said that they'd managed to kill one but the rest may have followed them into the tunnels..." He paused for a moment to take a breath and he glanced down at his arm.
"I... I didn't? Well sorry about that. The peculiar Dragonborn in question is a Blue Dragonborn by the name of Yostil Dakaryh. I don't know much about him but I do know that he's not from around here. If memory serves me right I do believe that he's from the town of Lastview in Espar. When he came up to me there was something off about him, he looked rather pale and his eyes looked rather dead in comparison to the Dragonborns that I've met in the past."
Bombil takes a glance at his companions. Beyond themselves, Stoneclaw, Lowclaw, and perhaps some of Stoneclaw's servants... who else could Assarion have talked to? He takes another look at Victor Lowclaw. Him?
He walks over to the ghasts, keeping about 20 ft distance between him and the corpses. He makes some movements, says an incantation and creates a bonfire over the first corpse, waits until it has caught flame on its own, and then repeats the process with the second.
Create Bonfire on the two
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"Well I dislike standing still. Shall we move on. I would like to explore more of the tunnels and perhaps find these elves Victor mentioned" Thorins waits for the others.
Tagreth nods his head and turns to Thorins, "Yes, I was just going to suggest the same thing. Let's not waste any more time standing around here chatting. We need to press on through the tunnels."
“The secret we should never let the gamemasters know is that they don't need any rules.” ― Gary Gygax
"I am also ready for pressing on further if you are, good sirs." says Bombil, "Shall we head towards the main chambers of these tunnels? Or elsewhere?"
This is a signature. It was a simple signature. But it has been upgraded.
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