Kiven nods at Respars and joins him in watching for a few hours. He grows bored with the task quite quickly however, and spends at least three quarters of his time reading, only occasionally looking up to take stock of their surroundings before returning to their pages. If he cannot find excellent cover, he will watch via invisibility spells for as long as they last before departing.
Eya, Kiven, and Respar watch Captain Eddarly's home for a time, but there is no movement. The man seems to be sound asleep as far as you can tell from out here, and not up to much.
"Well that was fascinating, but I'm off to bed" remarks Kiven after an uneventful watch of Eddarly's home. The invisible elf heads back to the inn with his usual disguise intact.
In the morning Wulfric asks the owners of the inn who might be able to show him the local flora so that he may aid his companions in increasing their stock of helpful potions.
Respar also returns to their abode and gets some needed rest. He reminds Kiven that the Fritter boys apparently know the surrounding area and its flora as well as anyone, according to Father Donnagin. As for plans for the day, he asks the others if they have ideas for things to be done that would play to his unique talents...
Wulfric is directed to a ramshackle house on the edge of town. It looks like it has been extended to make more room a half dozen times, tacking on extra bits of building here and there.
A tired looking older woman answers the door, "Yes?"
---
Annaryth gathers her things and goes to meet the captain and his patrol, she isn't waiting long before the gates open and they ride out. Two horses are being led, one with saddlebags full of additional supplies, and a dark brown mare with a high cantled saddle. She seems a bit restless and eager to run. Captain Varning raises a hand in greeting, "Annaryth, welcome. These are my men, Tristan, Damian, Maddox, Marley, Little Marley, and Lucian. And this is Alexa, she's a been cooped up a while and a little high strung as a result. But she's well trained, she won't try to leave you behind."
"We'll be headed along the river to the east today. We've gotten word that some of the monstrous creatures of the wild north are on the move. Its likely nothing, but we still need to check for any movement out there."
Annaryth grins in anticipation of being out in the wilderness again. " It is nice to meet all of you. I have ridden a couple of times in my life. Hopefully i will not slow you down. " She checks her daggers, longsword and bow to make sure it is all in place. Fumbling the longsword intentionally she manages to get it in place. The short brunette eyes the mare for a moment. She approaches her and strokes her mane speaking softly to her. Annaryth then throws a leg over the mare and settles into the saddle. " This should be great fun. It is a nice break from the alchemy shop. I'm not worried about danger on this patrol with all of you here. " She beams at the captain and the other soldiers.
Wulfric greets the older woman and says "yes, well, I, um, I'm looking for the Fritter boys." "I heard they know the flora of this place and well, ah, I thought perhaps they'd be will to show me what medical supplies can be gathered from the surrounding land."
Kiven thinks to himself "or I could just toss myself off of the top of the fort." "All of this had better be worth it."
The patrol starts heading east. As the captain told Annaryth, they're mostly focused on patrolling the river and the wall along it. There's some quiet chat among the soldiers, based on what snippets the barbarian can overhear, they're speculative about why she is being taken along, and some rather lewd possibilities are being suggested.
---
The woman states, "You think my boys can actually be useful for something? Well that's a change. Go talk to Gendry if you want to give it a shot, I sent him to cut firewood out back."
Out behind the house, you find a pair of young men, both tall and lanky, with blond hair and tanned skin. They're lounging around by a half finished pile of cut firewood and sharing a drink from a skin.
Wulfric makes his way around back to find the boys, but finds it exceedingly difficult to find the right words for politely portraying someone much lower than his actual station. "Ahem, hello, ah, I require... ah, well, I was wondering if you'd, ah, be-so-kind as to show an old man the local medicinal plants?"
She hides a grin at the talk behind her. If they only knew she thought. " This is so pretty. It is really too bad that the whole island can't be cleansed of these beasts. Think of all the beautiful areas off limits to us. Do you encounter any... beasts out here on patrol?" Annaryth enjoys the ride in the wild. Being cooped up playing a meek shopkeer's assistant wasn't much to her liking.
The pair look at each other and shrug, then look back at Wulfric, "What kind of plants are you lookin' for old man? Lots of medicinal stuff around these parts." The other one chimes in, "And whats in it for us? I mean, our poor mum needs us around. We can't help her out if we're runnin' about with you after all, so need to have somethin' to show for it."
---
The captain shrugs, "It could be done, the cleansing I mean, but my understanding is that every portent has indicated great losses of life should we try, far more than that land is worth. It is a shame to simply lock away such beautiful land, leave it in the hands of savages, but our kings were wise to value the lives of folk like us more than the north."
"There is the occasional beast, but not often anything that is a threat by default. Mostly pixies playing pranks or the occasional dryad stealing away a young boy. Even if we don't find them in the latter case, they'll come back eventually, might be a few years though. Usually when we find something serious, its a couple of raiders from up north. The watch is tight, but sly ones sometimes slip through the cracks. We make sure they never make it back to safety though. Its been over a year since the last incident, we might be due for more by now."
Annaryth listens to him thoughtfully. " That makes a great deal of sense. I wouldn't want any of you to die conquering the rest of this land. " She rides along for a bit and then resumes. " Raiders? Humans or some other creature?"
"Ah, well, I have a few coins we could give your.....dear mother." Kiven struggles to spit out the words but hopes the old man persona covers for his erratic social mannerisms. "I'm not sure what's native to these parts, but perhaps..." He lists off some basic known medicinal herbs and such, especially any he knows to be easily confused with similar looking poisonous plants. "Perhaps which plants to avoid is equally as important, yes? Can't be too careful, I always say."
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Respar heads to some of the shops in town, looking to purchase basic supplies: cleaning supplies, linens, so forth. As he makes the purchases, he makes idle chat with the folks in town and the shops. He is trying to learn a bit of information about some of the servants and such in the castle, in hopes of being able to target some for later conversation and learning more about the higher ranked people in the keep. "That Captain Eddarly seems a bit of a handful. I'd hate to work for him. I don't envy his servant. What do they do to relax?" Those sorts of conversations might help him learn a few things.
The captain replies, "Bugbears and goblins usually. Never in enough numbers to cause problems for more than a single farm at a time, and even then most of the farmers around here are armed in case a few such creatures come calling. They can often hole up well enough to keep the raiders occupied until men of the watch arrive. Raided farms often lose livestock, but animals are easily replaced."
---
Respar tries to gather information on several subjects, but he ends up coming on a little too strong, and the people he tries to speak with make excuses to break off the conversation, glancing back at him a bit warily.
---
The Fritter boys call up some of their siblings, and the elf lord finds himself working with six unruly young men. They quickly prove themselves rather ignorant in regards to the official names and uses for many plants, but Wulfric finds that if he describes the shape, coloration, and growing patterns of a plant well enough, they generally know where it can be found, or can confirm that it doesn't seem to be native to the area.
It takes a few hours, but he soon compiles a list of plants that can be obtained from the countryside surrounding this town. Based on the description, it would take close to a week of dedicated foraging to gather samples of everything, but the effort would yield a very nice variety of substances good for both basic herbalism purposes as well as alchemy.
The fritter boys are pointing to enough variety in substances to make most simple alchemical concoctions, poisons like the one you hope to use on the garrison included.
Respar can try again in a day or two with other people, but any additional failures may cause considerable mistrust in the townsfolk.
She is really enjoying her outing now. Annaryth turns and smiles at the captain again. " This is very pleasant. Thank you for giving me this chance to escape the drudgery of my employer. I prefer being outside and experiencing nature. Such a peaceful place. The people behind this wall owe all of you so much for their safety. Thank you keeping us safe. "
It has been two months since your failure in Ghastenhall. Two months since that cocky fool Vincento had alerted the guards to your presence, forcing your Knot to abandon the objective and flee. Dierdre had been killed on the way out, but the rest of you had made it to safety.
Fortunately, you were able to make it clear to your lord and master exactly who was to blame for the incident. Cardinal Thorne gave Vincento to his favored servant Tiadora to play with. You never found out exactly what she did to him, but the man's dying screams were the stuff of nightmares.
You spent some time after that on hold, told to lay low in the mansion while your master figured out what to do with you. Eventually, you have your answer. Tiadora simply steps in one day with instructions, "You have a new assignment. Another knot was tasked with weakening the Balentyne fortress from within, but there was an incident which claimed the lives of two of their number. The remaining two managed to turn the setback into a victory of sorts, they're more trusted by most of the locals because of it. As a result, they have not been deemed in need of punishment, but they now lack hands needed to complete the task. The cardinal has decreed that you shall replace the fallen and join the Nessus Knot. Fast horses have been provided, make for the village of Aldencross, you will meet your new companions there, they will be able to tell you more of the details. Time yet remains to complete the job, but it is not infinite, I suggest not dallying."
At the bidding of your master, you have ridden north, making good time through the countryside on your way to the northern border. You have stopped to rest the horses one last time before the final stretch to Aldencross. Balentyne keep is just barely visible on the horizon, and you know Aldencross is just to its southeast.
---
Kiven and Respar
It has been some time since that fateful trip into Caldwell's basement. When you found the flesh golem chained up there, the one outfitted in the armor of a Mitran knight. The thing seemed enraged by your presence, pounding at the cage with its one attached arm. Before you knew it, it had ripped off the cage door. Eya was caught and killed as you retreated back up the stairs, the fight spilling into the alchemist's shop, and then the street.
At some point Caldwell joins the fray, yelling orders at the thing to stop what its doing and obey him. But the golem responded by pausing only for a few moments before knocking him unconscious and resuming its rampage. Many of the villagers had awoken by then, and were filling doors and windows in time to see the rest of you fighting against this monster. As it was going down, it grabbed Jesla in a one armed chokehold and squeezed, hard. Her neck snapped like dry noodles.
Fortunately it was already weak by that point, and you manage to put it on the ground before the town guard come running up.
The locals decided that you were heroes of the night, and you have since made good on that good will and trust, getting to know the people here while you supposedly try and work out what to do in the long run since you're no longer in a position to run an alchemy shop. Captain Cadderly is the one person who doesn't seem to share the village's general consensus on your actions. He seems to be suspicious of just what you were doing to run into the golem in the first place. You've caught him or one of his people watching you on more than one occasion, though his vigilance seems to be relaxing a little bit of late.
Fortunately you managed to get your fallen companions into burial shrouds before their respective disguises wore off, and then they were given a formal burial in the local graveyard by Father Donnagin. Upon reporting the issue to Cardinal Thorne, he eventually responded by telling you that he was sending reinforcements to replace Jesla and Eya.
Context for Gknight, Balentyne is one of the most important among a series of fortresses along the wall dividing northern Tallingarde from the south. North of the wall exist all of the savage races that the Mitrans couldn't quite eradicate and instead settled for containing them (no the wall is not made of ice, and to the best of my knowledge this module was written before GRR Martin wrote his stuff) Aldencross is a fairly typical village of moderate size located just south of the wall, most of its people work for Balentyne in one capacity or another, farmers and fishermen supplying them with food, masons to repair the walls, that sort of thing.
Respar and Kiven, you would have been able to get a few things done. Let me know what you'd like to have focused upon achieving while waiting for reinforcements. Give me two general objectives, such as "map out the keep via the secret tunnel", and a straight d20 roll for each. Failure isn't possible here, but the results will determine the quality of success.
You would have been able to retrieve Jesla's and Eya's belongings, including their circlets.
Kiven nods at Respars and joins him in watching for a few hours. He grows bored with the task quite quickly however, and spends at least three quarters of his time reading, only occasionally looking up to take stock of their surroundings before returning to their pages. If he cannot find excellent cover, he will watch via invisibility spells for as long as they last before departing.
Eya, Kiven, and Respar watch Captain Eddarly's home for a time, but there is no movement. The man seems to be sound asleep as far as you can tell from out here, and not up to much.
"Well that was fascinating, but I'm off to bed" remarks Kiven after an uneventful watch of Eddarly's home. The invisible elf heads back to the inn with his usual disguise intact.
In the morning Wulfric asks the owners of the inn who might be able to show him the local flora so that he may aid his companions in increasing their stock of helpful potions.
Respar also returns to their abode and gets some needed rest. He reminds Kiven that the Fritter boys apparently know the surrounding area and its flora as well as anyone, according to Father Donnagin. As for plans for the day, he asks the others if they have ideas for things to be done that would play to his unique talents...
In the morning the elder Wulfric sets out with renewed energy after skipping the feast in order to 'rest' and tries to find the Fritter boys.
Wulfric is directed to a ramshackle house on the edge of town. It looks like it has been extended to make more room a half dozen times, tacking on extra bits of building here and there.
A tired looking older woman answers the door, "Yes?"
---
Annaryth gathers her things and goes to meet the captain and his patrol, she isn't waiting long before the gates open and they ride out. Two horses are being led, one with saddlebags full of additional supplies, and a dark brown mare with a high cantled saddle. She seems a bit restless and eager to run. Captain Varning raises a hand in greeting, "Annaryth, welcome. These are my men, Tristan, Damian, Maddox, Marley, Little Marley, and Lucian. And this is Alexa, she's a been cooped up a while and a little high strung as a result. But she's well trained, she won't try to leave you behind."
"We'll be headed along the river to the east today. We've gotten word that some of the monstrous creatures of the wild north are on the move. Its likely nothing, but we still need to check for any movement out there."
Annaryth grins in anticipation of being out in the wilderness again. " It is nice to meet all of you. I have ridden a couple of times in my life. Hopefully i will not slow you down. " She checks her daggers, longsword and bow to make sure it is all in place. Fumbling the longsword intentionally she manages to get it in place. The short brunette eyes the mare for a moment. She approaches her and strokes her mane speaking softly to her. Annaryth then throws a leg over the mare and settles into the saddle. " This should be great fun. It is a nice break from the alchemy shop. I'm not worried about danger on this patrol with all of you here. " She beams at the captain and the other soldiers.
Wulfric greets the older woman and says "yes, well, I, um, I'm looking for the Fritter boys." "I heard they know the flora of this place and well, ah, I thought perhaps they'd be will to show me what medical supplies can be gathered from the surrounding land."
Kiven thinks to himself "or I could just toss myself off of the top of the fort." "All of this had better be worth it."
The patrol starts heading east. As the captain told Annaryth, they're mostly focused on patrolling the river and the wall along it. There's some quiet chat among the soldiers, based on what snippets the barbarian can overhear, they're speculative about why she is being taken along, and some rather lewd possibilities are being suggested.
---
The woman states, "You think my boys can actually be useful for something? Well that's a change. Go talk to Gendry if you want to give it a shot, I sent him to cut firewood out back."
Out behind the house, you find a pair of young men, both tall and lanky, with blond hair and tanned skin. They're lounging around by a half finished pile of cut firewood and sharing a drink from a skin.
Wulfric makes his way around back to find the boys, but finds it exceedingly difficult to find the right words for politely portraying someone much lower than his actual station. "Ahem, hello, ah, I require... ah, well, I was wondering if you'd, ah, be-so-kind as to show an old man the local medicinal plants?"
She hides a grin at the talk behind her. If they only knew she thought. " This is so pretty. It is really too bad that the whole island can't be cleansed of these beasts. Think of all the beautiful areas off limits to us. Do you encounter any... beasts out here on patrol?" Annaryth enjoys the ride in the wild. Being cooped up playing a meek shopkeer's assistant wasn't much to her liking.
The pair look at each other and shrug, then look back at Wulfric, "What kind of plants are you lookin' for old man? Lots of medicinal stuff around these parts." The other one chimes in, "And whats in it for us? I mean, our poor mum needs us around. We can't help her out if we're runnin' about with you after all, so need to have somethin' to show for it."
---
The captain shrugs, "It could be done, the cleansing I mean, but my understanding is that every portent has indicated great losses of life should we try, far more than that land is worth. It is a shame to simply lock away such beautiful land, leave it in the hands of savages, but our kings were wise to value the lives of folk like us more than the north."
"There is the occasional beast, but not often anything that is a threat by default. Mostly pixies playing pranks or the occasional dryad stealing away a young boy. Even if we don't find them in the latter case, they'll come back eventually, might be a few years though. Usually when we find something serious, its a couple of raiders from up north. The watch is tight, but sly ones sometimes slip through the cracks. We make sure they never make it back to safety though. Its been over a year since the last incident, we might be due for more by now."
Annaryth listens to him thoughtfully. " That makes a great deal of sense. I wouldn't want any of you to die conquering the rest of this land. " She rides along for a bit and then resumes. " Raiders? Humans or some other creature?"
"Ah, well, I have a few coins we could give your.....dear mother." Kiven struggles to spit out the words but hopes the old man persona covers for his erratic social mannerisms. "I'm not sure what's native to these parts, but perhaps..." He lists off some basic known medicinal herbs and such, especially any he knows to be easily confused with similar looking poisonous plants. "Perhaps which plants to avoid is equally as important, yes? Can't be too careful, I always say."
Respar heads to some of the shops in town, looking to purchase basic supplies: cleaning supplies, linens, so forth. As he makes the purchases, he makes idle chat with the folks in town and the shops. He is trying to learn a bit of information about some of the servants and such in the castle, in hopes of being able to target some for later conversation and learning more about the higher ranked people in the keep. "That Captain Eddarly seems a bit of a handful. I'd hate to work for him. I don't envy his servant. What do they do to relax?" Those sorts of conversations might help him learn a few things.
Diplomacy 23 Bluff 14
Bluff Adv 22
The captain replies, "Bugbears and goblins usually. Never in enough numbers to cause problems for more than a single farm at a time, and even then most of the farmers around here are armed in case a few such creatures come calling. They can often hole up well enough to keep the raiders occupied until men of the watch arrive. Raided farms often lose livestock, but animals are easily replaced."
---
Respar tries to gather information on several subjects, but he ends up coming on a little too strong, and the people he tries to speak with make excuses to break off the conversation, glancing back at him a bit warily.
---
The Fritter boys call up some of their siblings, and the elf lord finds himself working with six unruly young men. They quickly prove themselves rather ignorant in regards to the official names and uses for many plants, but Wulfric finds that if he describes the shape, coloration, and growing patterns of a plant well enough, they generally know where it can be found, or can confirm that it doesn't seem to be native to the area.
It takes a few hours, but he soon compiles a list of plants that can be obtained from the countryside surrounding this town. Based on the description, it would take close to a week of dedicated foraging to gather samples of everything, but the effort would yield a very nice variety of substances good for both basic herbalism purposes as well as alchemy.
The fritter boys are pointing to enough variety in substances to make most simple alchemical concoctions, poisons like the one you hope to use on the garrison included.
Respar can try again in a day or two with other people, but any additional failures may cause considerable mistrust in the townsfolk.
She is really enjoying her outing now. Annaryth turns and smiles at the captain again. " This is very pleasant. Thank you for giving me this chance to escape the drudgery of my employer. I prefer being outside and experiencing nature. Such a peaceful place. The people behind this wall owe all of you so much for their safety. Thank you keeping us safe. "
Rebooting in 3...
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Rebooting in 1...
Blaupunkt & Selena
It has been two months since your failure in Ghastenhall. Two months since that cocky fool Vincento had alerted the guards to your presence, forcing your Knot to abandon the objective and flee. Dierdre had been killed on the way out, but the rest of you had made it to safety.
Fortunately, you were able to make it clear to your lord and master exactly who was to blame for the incident. Cardinal Thorne gave Vincento to his favored servant Tiadora to play with. You never found out exactly what she did to him, but the man's dying screams were the stuff of nightmares.
You spent some time after that on hold, told to lay low in the mansion while your master figured out what to do with you. Eventually, you have your answer. Tiadora simply steps in one day with instructions, "You have a new assignment. Another knot was tasked with weakening the Balentyne fortress from within, but there was an incident which claimed the lives of two of their number. The remaining two managed to turn the setback into a victory of sorts, they're more trusted by most of the locals because of it. As a result, they have not been deemed in need of punishment, but they now lack hands needed to complete the task. The cardinal has decreed that you shall replace the fallen and join the Nessus Knot. Fast horses have been provided, make for the village of Aldencross, you will meet your new companions there, they will be able to tell you more of the details. Time yet remains to complete the job, but it is not infinite, I suggest not dallying."
At the bidding of your master, you have ridden north, making good time through the countryside on your way to the northern border. You have stopped to rest the horses one last time before the final stretch to Aldencross. Balentyne keep is just barely visible on the horizon, and you know Aldencross is just to its southeast.
---
Kiven and Respar
It has been some time since that fateful trip into Caldwell's basement. When you found the flesh golem chained up there, the one outfitted in the armor of a Mitran knight. The thing seemed enraged by your presence, pounding at the cage with its one attached arm. Before you knew it, it had ripped off the cage door. Eya was caught and killed as you retreated back up the stairs, the fight spilling into the alchemist's shop, and then the street.
At some point Caldwell joins the fray, yelling orders at the thing to stop what its doing and obey him. But the golem responded by pausing only for a few moments before knocking him unconscious and resuming its rampage. Many of the villagers had awoken by then, and were filling doors and windows in time to see the rest of you fighting against this monster. As it was going down, it grabbed Jesla in a one armed chokehold and squeezed, hard. Her neck snapped like dry noodles.
Fortunately it was already weak by that point, and you manage to put it on the ground before the town guard come running up.
The locals decided that you were heroes of the night, and you have since made good on that good will and trust, getting to know the people here while you supposedly try and work out what to do in the long run since you're no longer in a position to run an alchemy shop. Captain Cadderly is the one person who doesn't seem to share the village's general consensus on your actions. He seems to be suspicious of just what you were doing to run into the golem in the first place. You've caught him or one of his people watching you on more than one occasion, though his vigilance seems to be relaxing a little bit of late.
Fortunately you managed to get your fallen companions into burial shrouds before their respective disguises wore off, and then they were given a formal burial in the local graveyard by Father Donnagin. Upon reporting the issue to Cardinal Thorne, he eventually responded by telling you that he was sending reinforcements to replace Jesla and Eya.
Context for Gknight, Balentyne is one of the most important among a series of fortresses along the wall dividing northern Tallingarde from the south. North of the wall exist all of the savage races that the Mitrans couldn't quite eradicate and instead settled for containing them (no the wall is not made of ice, and to the best of my knowledge this module was written before GRR Martin wrote his stuff) Aldencross is a fairly typical village of moderate size located just south of the wall, most of its people work for Balentyne in one capacity or another, farmers and fishermen supplying them with food, masons to repair the walls, that sort of thing.
Respar and Kiven, you would have been able to get a few things done. Let me know what you'd like to have focused upon achieving while waiting for reinforcements. Give me two general objectives, such as "map out the keep via the secret tunnel", and a straight d20 roll for each. Failure isn't possible here, but the results will determine the quality of success.
You would have been able to retrieve Jesla's and Eya's belongings, including their circlets.