Jalt, your actions don't seem to have much impact, but the non-dwarves (can I just call them bandits? They're bandits) keep on walking away, slowly, not on down the road but away into the countryside.
After they have gone more than two hundred feet, the dwarf on the wagon slowly clambers down and addresses you. Thank you. You saved us a bloody fight,he turns to the others in his group and raises his voice, that we might have won, but not without cost. The other two dwarfs look at their feet and mumble something. And maybe you saved the lives of those fools as well. Forgive me for saying it, but this is a bountiful land, and if there's folk turned to banditry here, it's not because some wicked lord is taxing them, it's because they're bad and they'll stay bad. Ah well, not my problem. Thanks again strangers. You headed to Berdusk as well? He looks over his shoulder. Come on, you lazy good-for-nothings, get ready to get going. The other dwarves start preparing the oxen-drawn wagons to resume their journey.
Soar's eyes never leave the bandits as they slowly depart the road, her hands still outstretched as if to welcome them back for a meal.
"Thanks Jalt,"she says, still facing away. "That could have been bad. I didn't want to fight them if I didn't have to. We've fought enough these last few days. I didn't want to unsheathe my sword, or any of you to have to be warriors all the time."
She turns to the dwarf approaching and grins anew. "You're welcome! I'm sure you could have handled them, but there are a lot of them. We'll want to watch our backs and put some miles between us and here. I'm not a stranger. I'm Soar, your friendly neighborhood doomguide."She walks forward to shake their hands. "What happened? They pop out of nowhere? Attack you and try to take your things? Anyone hurt? We can help with that. We are headed to Berdusk, and would love the company if you wouldn't mind. We'll gather our horses and once you're ready, we can get a move on. What's your business there, if you don't mind my asking? We're traveling from Greenest, which as of now is no longer being threatened by a crazy dragon cult, to the north of Berdusk to see a friend."
She turns to Elspeth."Those uninvited road entertainers still moving away from us, Eagle Eye?"
Oh, well, nice to meet you, Madam Doomguide, says the dwarf, a little uncertainly. Danal Redrock, at your service. And my cousins, of course, and he waves to the busy dwarves, and a few more in the wagons. I suppose they came out of nowhere, but thanks to Moradin that no-one got hurt. We're off to visit family, and deliver some trade goods of course - the Redrocks trade all around the area, especially between Berdusk and Iriaebor. Cloths, mostly - valuable stuff, though I doubt the bandits would know the difference. We're not carry all that much gold, so they might have slit our throats out of spite. You never know with such folks. Those your horses? he points up the road where the four horses grazing and occasionally looking in your direction.
Elspeth keeps an insincere smile on her face, throughout the conversation, eyes not moving from the bandits until they're far away enough she's certain she wouldn't be able to see their features with normal vision. She turns to the dwarves, finally dropping her smile.
"The best outcome we really could have hoped for," She shrugs, "Are you all fine? We can help patch you up. Like Soar said, we're also travelling to Berdusk, it would be better if we traveled together, less likely that other bandits will see any of us as a target. I'm Elspeth, by the way, and among other things I'm a great lookout."
With that, she turns back to watching the bandits, making sure they're going far far away, preferably out of even her sight.
Nice to meet you, Elspeth. All of you. Yes, let's put this horrible affair behind us and carry on.
You retrieve your horses and travel north with the dwarves - it turns out there are six total, all family, headed to Bedrusk. They are friendly enough, and glad to have well-armed companions on the road. The altercation took place in mid-morning, and by early afternoon you have reached the spot where a smaller road branches off west, off the main road. We'll reach Berdusk by nightfall, glad to say, says Danal.
Will you accompany them to Berdusk, or continue directly towards Scornubel?
"Pleased to meet you Danal - my name is Nate. I have also had some bad experiences with bandits...."Nate will introduce himself but remain pretty quiet as he doesn't really care much for these dwarfs but is happy to travel with them.
"Might as well stop at Berdusk with the dwarfs - might be something interesting to buy there?"
Nate would've also asked Danal if he knew of the "Rockseeker" dwarf clan before. From up north near Neverwinter. Waaaaaay up north. Just for conversation. If he had, Nate'd recall about when he took a job to find one of the lost Rockseeker dwarfs back a few years ago and talk to Danal and his family about it.
Danal says he's never heard of the Rockseekers, but that's not surprising as he rarely gets as far as Neverwinter. Don't recognise the name. Some big shot up north eh?
There's plenty to buy in Berdusk, though folks of the adventuring persuasion will likely do better in Scornubel or the capital. But your company is welcome.
"Ahem... well, big shot by a long shot I'd say. Apparently he had found some lost mine that had magical items. Some folks were interested and so they kidnapped him. Seems you folk get picked on a lot. That is unfortunate. Like you said, there are just some bad people out there."and then falls in line enjoying the day, his horse and his company. (We are accompanying them to Berdusk, right?)
(Was waiting for Jalt to weigh in on the decision of staying on path to Scornubel for his blacksmith or skipping it and going to Berdusk with the dwarves.)
Steve said it was a slight detour to go with the dwarves to Berdusk or continue on to Scornubel so if Jalt’s good with stopping, so is Soar!
Probably makes sense, given time of day, to go with the dwarves to stop for the night in Berdusk and then leave in the morning for Scornubel (which is what Soar advocates).
You head west, following along with the dwarves and their wagons. This takes you off the main road north, but not too far (see the map). Nate, the dwarf shrugs. Like I say, don't know the fellow. In my experience, my folk give as good as we get, most of the time. He pushes the wagon faster, pulling a little away from you, and begins a conversation with the dwarf sitting next to him on the wagon's front seat.
As the sun is setting, you pull into the large town of Greenest. The wide main road is cobbled and clean, and the shops are shuttering for the night. And there are a lot of shops and workshops - potteries, carpenters, and all manner of artisans. They're done for the day, shutting large wooden shutters all of a similar style and a similar blue colour; it's pretty and perhaps a little touristy. Following the main road, you come upon a large crossroads with two inns, one on the north-east called The Traveller's Rest, and another directly opposite it on the south-west corner of the square; the sign swinging on a pole outside the large wooden door says The Tarnished Coin.
It's getting pretty dark now. The dwarves call and wave goodbye, and thank you once again before they part company with you, turning north to what the leader says is the cloth district of the town where weavers and tailors produce their wares. And then they are gone, and you sit upon your horses in the middle of the crossroads. There are a few people around, and both inns seem like popular destinations for the locals. You see guards patrolling the streets, and they begin to light torches as they go.
Soar tries to smooth things over with the dwarf Nate asked about Rockseeker, assuming all dwarves know each other (ha!). She asks about the road ahead and if he has any suggestions of where to stay in Berdusk, and if there is anyone with whom he could put a good work in with, or someone at either inn that they could perhaps mention his name (she asks his name, since he didn't offer it when she offered hers) for a friendly smile.
When they pull away, she watches them disappear, thinking, "now what" and turns to the Travellers's Rest and walks in, asking the proprietor about rooms to let and stables, mentioning the dwarf's name if he recommended it.
Soar, the dwarf shrugs. Don't really know. Never stay at the inns, always stay with family. The inns all have stables, I know that much - plenty of travellers through here.
You walk into the Traveller's Rest, having left your horse with the others for the moment. You are greeted by the sight of a busy tavern common room, about two-thirds full with elves, gnomes, dwarves and others. More dwarves and gnome than most cities in this part of the world, though. The innkeeper waves you over from the bar. Good day to you, ma'am. Welcome to the Traveller's Rest of Berdusk. She's a friendly-looking dwarf, shorter than most and with an accent you don't recognise, and she introduces herself as Kallio of Ascore.
There are rooms for a standard price, 5 silver for a room, 3 silver for a meal, and 5 silver will get you either a single room or a double, depending on your preference. There's a stable, and if you want she will send stablegirls to fetch your horses and care for them, no extra charge.
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Jalt, make an Intimidation check, with advantage as Soar has already intimidated them successfully.
7
Hoard of the Dragon Queen - Jalt Rhogar - Dragonborn Cleric (9)
"Ive heard it both ways."
Jalt, your actions don't seem to have much impact, but the non-dwarves (can I just call them bandits? They're bandits) keep on walking away, slowly, not on down the road but away into the countryside.
After they have gone more than two hundred feet, the dwarf on the wagon slowly clambers down and addresses you. Thank you. You saved us a bloody fight, he turns to the others in his group and raises his voice, that we might have won, but not without cost. The other two dwarfs look at their feet and mumble something. And maybe you saved the lives of those fools as well. Forgive me for saying it, but this is a bountiful land, and if there's folk turned to banditry here, it's not because some wicked lord is taxing them, it's because they're bad and they'll stay bad. Ah well, not my problem. Thanks again strangers. You headed to Berdusk as well? He looks over his shoulder. Come on, you lazy good-for-nothings, get ready to get going. The other dwarves start preparing the oxen-drawn wagons to resume their journey.
Soar's eyes never leave the bandits as they slowly depart the road, her hands still outstretched as if to welcome them back for a meal.
"Thanks Jalt," she says, still facing away. "That could have been bad. I didn't want to fight them if I didn't have to. We've fought enough these last few days. I didn't want to unsheathe my sword, or any of you to have to be warriors all the time."
She turns to the dwarf approaching and grins anew. "You're welcome! I'm sure you could have handled them, but there are a lot of them. We'll want to watch our backs and put some miles between us and here. I'm not a stranger. I'm Soar, your friendly neighborhood doomguide." She walks forward to shake their hands. "What happened? They pop out of nowhere? Attack you and try to take your things? Anyone hurt? We can help with that. We are headed to Berdusk, and would love the company if you wouldn't mind. We'll gather our horses and once you're ready, we can get a move on. What's your business there, if you don't mind my asking? We're traveling from Greenest, which as of now is no longer being threatened by a crazy dragon cult, to the north of Berdusk to see a friend."
She turns to Elspeth. "Those uninvited road entertainers still moving away from us, Eagle Eye?"
Oh, well, nice to meet you, Madam Doomguide, says the dwarf, a little uncertainly. Danal Redrock, at your service. And my cousins, of course, and he waves to the busy dwarves, and a few more in the wagons. I suppose they came out of nowhere, but thanks to Moradin that no-one got hurt. We're off to visit family, and deliver some trade goods of course - the Redrocks trade all around the area, especially between Berdusk and Iriaebor. Cloths, mostly - valuable stuff, though I doubt the bandits would know the difference. We're not carry all that much gold, so they might have slit our throats out of spite. You never know with such folks. Those your horses? he points up the road where the four horses grazing and occasionally looking in your direction.
Elspeth keeps an insincere smile on her face, throughout the conversation, eyes not moving from the bandits until they're far away enough she's certain she wouldn't be able to see their features with normal vision. She turns to the dwarves, finally dropping her smile.
"The best outcome we really could have hoped for," She shrugs, "Are you all fine? We can help patch you up. Like Soar said, we're also travelling to Berdusk, it would be better if we traveled together, less likely that other bandits will see any of us as a target. I'm Elspeth, by the way, and among other things I'm a great lookout."
With that, she turns back to watching the bandits, making sure they're going far far away, preferably out of even her sight.
Nice to meet you, Elspeth. All of you. Yes, let's put this horrible affair behind us and carry on.
You retrieve your horses and travel north with the dwarves - it turns out there are six total, all family, headed to Bedrusk. They are friendly enough, and glad to have well-armed companions on the road. The altercation took place in mid-morning, and by early afternoon you have reached the spot where a smaller road branches off west, off the main road. We'll reach Berdusk by nightfall, glad to say, says Danal.
Will you accompany them to Berdusk, or continue directly towards Scornubel?
Nate glares at the bandits as they leave.
"Pleased to meet you Danal - my name is Nate. I have also had some bad experiences with bandits...." Nate will introduce himself but remain pretty quiet as he doesn't really care much for these dwarfs but is happy to travel with them.
"Might as well stop at Berdusk with the dwarfs - might be something interesting to buy there?"
Nate would've also asked Danal if he knew of the "Rockseeker" dwarf clan before. From up north near Neverwinter. Waaaaaay up north. Just for conversation. If he had, Nate'd recall about when he took a job to find one of the lost Rockseeker dwarfs back a few years ago and talk to Danal and his family about it.
Danal says he's never heard of the Rockseekers, but that's not surprising as he rarely gets as far as Neverwinter. Don't recognise the name. Some big shot up north eh?
There's plenty to buy in Berdusk, though folks of the adventuring persuasion will likely do better in Scornubel or the capital. But your company is welcome.
(hahahaha Canadian reference)
"Ahem... well, big shot by a long shot I'd say. Apparently he had found some lost mine that had magical items. Some folks were interested and so they kidnapped him. Seems you folk get picked on a lot. That is unfortunate. Like you said, there are just some bad people out there." and then falls in line enjoying the day, his horse and his company. (We are accompanying them to Berdusk, right?)
(Was waiting for Jalt to weigh in on the decision of staying on path to Scornubel for his blacksmith or skipping it and going to Berdusk with the dwarves.)
(Berdusk is on the way to Scornubel right? So we can go to both?)
( I think we can hit both towns )
Hoard of the Dragon Queen - Jalt Rhogar - Dragonborn Cleric (9)
"Ive heard it both ways."
Steve said it was a slight detour to go with the dwarves to Berdusk or continue on to Scornubel so if Jalt’s good with stopping, so is Soar!
Probably makes sense, given time of day, to go with the dwarves to stop for the night in Berdusk and then leave in the morning for Scornubel (which is what Soar advocates).
You head west, following along with the dwarves and their wagons. This takes you off the main road north, but not too far (see the map). Nate, the dwarf shrugs. Like I say, don't know the fellow. In my experience, my folk give as good as we get, most of the time. He pushes the wagon faster, pulling a little away from you, and begins a conversation with the dwarf sitting next to him on the wagon's front seat.
As the sun is setting, you pull into the large town of Greenest. The wide main road is cobbled and clean, and the shops are shuttering for the night. And there are a lot of shops and workshops - potteries, carpenters, and all manner of artisans. They're done for the day, shutting large wooden shutters all of a similar style and a similar blue colour; it's pretty and perhaps a little touristy. Following the main road, you come upon a large crossroads with two inns, one on the north-east called The Traveller's Rest, and another directly opposite it on the south-west corner of the square; the sign swinging on a pole outside the large wooden door says The Tarnished Coin.
It's getting pretty dark now. The dwarves call and wave goodbye, and thank you once again before they part company with you, turning north to what the leader says is the cloth district of the town where weavers and tailors produce their wares. And then they are gone, and you sit upon your horses in the middle of the crossroads. There are a few people around, and both inns seem like popular destinations for the locals. You see guards patrolling the streets, and they begin to light torches as they go.
What would you like to do?
Nate bids the dwarfs a friendly farewell and then asks the others:
"Hmmmm... shall we head to the Traveller's Rest Inn for the night? Seems like a nice enough place... then explore the town tomorrow?"
(Is there a place we can keep our horses?)
(You'll need to ask.)
Soar tries to smooth things over with the dwarf Nate asked about Rockseeker, assuming all dwarves know each other (ha!). She asks about the road ahead and if he has any suggestions of where to stay in Berdusk, and if there is anyone with whom he could put a good work in with, or someone at either inn that they could perhaps mention his name (she asks his name, since he didn't offer it when she offered hers) for a friendly smile.
When they pull away, she watches them disappear, thinking, "now what" and turns to the Travellers's Rest and walks in, asking the proprietor about rooms to let and stables, mentioning the dwarf's name if he recommended it.
Soar, the dwarf shrugs. Don't really know. Never stay at the inns, always stay with family. The inns all have stables, I know that much - plenty of travellers through here.
You walk into the Traveller's Rest, having left your horse with the others for the moment. You are greeted by the sight of a busy tavern common room, about two-thirds full with elves, gnomes, dwarves and others. More dwarves and gnome than most cities in this part of the world, though. The innkeeper waves you over from the bar. Good day to you, ma'am. Welcome to the Traveller's Rest of Berdusk. She's a friendly-looking dwarf, shorter than most and with an accent you don't recognise, and she introduces herself as Kallio of Ascore.
There are rooms for a standard price, 5 silver for a room, 3 silver for a meal, and 5 silver will get you either a single room or a double, depending on your preference. There's a stable, and if you want she will send stablegirls to fetch your horses and care for them, no extra charge.