"The northern route takes us to the larger settlement, more chance of finding out where we are, what has been happening around here and maybe other things we need to know." Thasa scowls as he surveys the terrain. "Lots of things can burn but this must have been a large fire, I suppose it could have been in the forest but we can see no sign of it from here. I suggest we head north, at least until something leads us on another direction. We have no idea what we are required to do here so we must remain vigilant and ready to serve. I am willing to take point, I do not see any danger here but I doubt we were sent here for the scenery - we are not a diplomatic envoy, nor a missionary group so we must assume that there may be a need for arms to be bared. Be ready."
Trekking down the road leading north. The haze keeps a tickle in the back of your throat, now quite choking, but not comfortable either. Your eyes begin to burn in the hours of walking. It’s about three hours in when you begin to feel the earth beneath your feet tremor. The birds scatter and take flight, you all stop and drop down as the ground quakes for a solid minute before stopping.
Nothing follows.
Continuing on your path you begin to see large stretches of land both forest and field ripped up and scorched black: Inconsistent, random, wild. The debris even cuts across the pathway from time to time making it difficult to navigate for stretches of 5 - 20 feet at a time.
Coming to what would be an end of a traveling day you see a sign it has two golden stars on it. It’s old and wooden.
History check DC 12 read:
The township of Two Stars is considered to be a large town, but it’s part of a conglomerate of townships that border along Moon Lake. Six townships all together have free trade and often work together throughout the year. There is a small mountain range along the West side of the Lake; as well as the North East. Depending on the weather the eastern side of the lake ebbs and flows into boglands or lake, much like the waxing and waning of the moon. This area is in the North East of Faerun.
You make your way into town. Few people walking the streets. If they are it’s in a hurried fashion while keeping their heads down.
Perception check DC 15 (or just Thasa that sees all):
There appear to be some winged kobolds perched upon the tops of some of the rooftops. Just waiting, watching.
Near the southern entrance where you would arrive from rests a two story tavern. The Lunar Lakehouse and Tavern. Walking in you see an all but abandoned tavern except the human tavern keep, seemingly washing the same set of clean tankards to keep herself busy. This middle aged brunette woman of the plump variety, hair tied back under a cloth; one stray bang hangs down over her face as she blows it out of the way. Drying her hands off on a brown apron strapped over a red long sleeved dress.
“Oh, hello! Why are you here... pardon me, please take a seat, make yourself comfortable. What can we get you tonight? I apologize, we haven’t had many travelers as of late; I don’t have anything prepared it will be a little extra longer for a meal.”
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
History: 23 and I assume my passive perception of 15 will do.
As they walk towards the town, Misery will quietly address his companions, “Oi, I think there was a bloody dragon here. I mean look at the kobolds there and all the burned constructs. I think we were sent here to deal with that shit, eh?”
Once they enter the tavern Misery will sit in one of stools and begin to play on his violin, the slow and pleasant creaking of it accompanied by some celestial voices forming a choir of sorts. “Don’t know ‘bout you lot, but I’m bloody hungry. Darling, could you muster me something?”, Misery asks winking at the barmaid. It wasn’t unusual for people be scared of him rather than charmed, he was used to it. Also, in Misery’s mind dwindled a curious doubt. He squinted an eye once the barmaid overted her gaze from him, glancing once at Thasariel and raising a questioning brow.
Insight, to maybe understand if something forces the barmaid to be... weird?: 10
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
"I could see the dragon angle being true, there is a certain amount of evidence to support that idea."Thasa muses, more to himself than anyone in particular. He then gives a probing look at the woman and lets the magic of his helm detect her thoughts as he asks "My lady, would you care to tell us what happened here?"
She steps back quickly while popping upright, that loose bang lagging behind until it flips over behind her ear. “Of course Sir, it would be my pleasure to make a good meal for some folks again.” To Misery’s request. She seems excited but frazzled. But she stops in her tracks like a robot malfunctioning or skipping a beat when the dragon gets brought up.
Thasa you pick up from your helm “They must’ve heard something by now, there’s no way they traveled all this way and don’t know...”
The woman calms her nerves as she come back with some biscuits and butter, they’re probably a day old, but still good. “You’re right ‘bout that dragon. But he haven’t come down in quite a while.... leaves all the work for his lackeys. Demanding weekly offerings of food and gold. Lots of people resorted to thievin and killin’ travelers to keep a float. That’s why business hasn’t been good. His name is..”. She pauses for a moment to look around as if terrified saying his name will make him appear. With a trembling lip she says “Kexyldrannis, the Ash King.... I’ll get to the kitchen.” As she steps back behind the swinging doors
“Well, ****. Nothing good comes out of the name ‘Ash King’. Killing travelers she says. Keep that glaive close, Shelley.”, Misery sighs as he puts some butter on biscuits and eats them with mild groaning. He seldomly looks out of the window, checking if anyone is observing them.
(OOC: if anyone is discomforted by the swearing just tell me. It’s not essential to the character and I can remove it if it worsens anyone’s expirience)
Thasa eats after sharing with the others what she was thinking. "Seems a reasonable reaction, this whole area must know what is happening after all. I presume we all agree that this must be why we are here." The investigator also looks out of the window scanning for the kobolds "Our winged friends up there are probably not much of a threat to us but rushing out and killing them seems likely to bring the dragon sooner than we might be ready for, especially if one flies off to tell it. Where to begin I wonder. A dragon, one would imagine a red, from the fire damage is a powerful foe and to command the tribute and to control the kobolds it cannot be a youngling so we will be sorely tested if it is our duty to break the hold it has over this town."
Shelley sets the glaive down next to her. She remains quiet and on guard. She settles a little remembering the powers her glaive possesses. “Yeah, I’ll be ready.” She says to Misery. She then promptly eats as soon as food hits the table.
He knows how he looks and feels like he might convey the wrong impression. Out of the corner of his eyes not really in focus he sees his patron, black glistening skin and large wings folded, nodding.
"Seems like you were right. We are here for something." Korsh grumbles, his voice like a rolling thunder. "Let's eat, then take care of these enforcers."
You wait some time, maybe forty five minutes to an hour before she comes out with bowls of soup, it’s a broth based potato, leek, some onions; no meat. Along with some bread “ Sorry ‘bout the meal, only things I got left. Are you looking to stay? Might want to hide anything valuable before they come ‘round looking for offerin’s. It should be a day or two until they come down again.
After she overheard you Korsh “You can’t be talking bout fightin’ these vile creatures, there’s too many, they’re too strong!”
Misery sharply smells the soup, then shrugs and starts eating it with the leftover biscuits. Distasteful food wasn’t a new expirience for him, just one he didn’t have in a long time. “Well, is there are too many of them why don’t we make our way straight to the ‘Ash King’? I suppose it won’t be easier to deal with him either way, and we could scare away those that were his minions. We could just hide and then follow them back where they deposit offerings.”
"I agree we must stop this, but if we can do so without having the last few people burnt to a crisp in retaliation for killing a few kobolds I would feel happier. They can be dealt with later if necessary. I would like to track them back to the lair but they have wings, I do not think they would walk when they could simply glide away so we would probably fail to follow them if we tried. Maybe it is better to find one alone, capture it and then interrogate it as you say Korsh. I can probably force it to tell us what we need to know." Thasa quietly says between mouthfuls of soup, after finishing he thanks the lady for the meal.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Vhon - Level 2 Warlock - What shall become of the Drunken Sailor?
(It is currently about 10 pm right now. I’ll get it moving to the next day and you can begin your search in the morning unless you want to go out tonight. Just Let me know)
"Miss!" Shelley calls the barmaid over, "I think we would like to stay here tonight. If you could keep that in mind for breakfast tomorrow. We will be looking to solve this problem of yours -- and we can't do it on an empty stomach. Thank you for the hospitality you've shown us thus far. We will take care of everything for you."
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Gash- Lvl14 Goblin Wizard - The High Court of the Aasimar Queen
The woman looks as if she has mixed feelings about the group’s attitude. She is reserved and holding her excitement as the fear of the retaliation to whatever you’re planning. “Of course you can stay here, breakfast will be served up in the morning. You can count on me.” She sheepishly steps away before turning back to ask. “Would y’all mind paying a little in advanced? Gotta make sure I have enough for the offering.”
Misery:
A voice echoes in the back of your mind. Like a yawn, someone who has been asleep... or maybe just bored. It’s a woman’s voice deep and smoky but pleasant to hear. “Did some one mention a dragon?! This ought to be exciting! I’ve been waiting for something like this. Don’t **** it up!”
(It’s 4 gold for every two nights for the group sharing 2 rooms since Korsh doesn’t sleep)
Korsh: throughout the night it remains uneventful. Although there are two more seismic events that occur. (Up to each party member if they were awakened or not)
Everyone awakens after a good nights rest. The woman has made breakfast of some eggs, more biscuits, tomato slices, and one piece of bacon each. Her nervous energy by you presence remains as she quietly serves breakfast with minimum eye contact.
Thasa picks at his food, clearly lost in thought. Eventually he finishes his meal and turns to the group. "I felt another tremor in the night after my reverie was finished. It must be a problem in the area if these seismic events occur frequently, I wonder how it connects to our quarry. If we wait to see what the process of the tribute is we may learn something before we take decisive action. What do you all think?"
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Vhon - Level 2 Warlock - What shall become of the Drunken Sailor?
(Oh ok, I thought there was a specific place from which the ash rises, sorry)
“North to the gods?”
Gash - Lvl14 Goblin Wizard - The High Court of the Aasimar Queen
"The northern route takes us to the larger settlement, more chance of finding out where we are, what has been happening around here and maybe other things we need to know." Thasa scowls as he surveys the terrain. "Lots of things can burn but this must have been a large fire, I suppose it could have been in the forest but we can see no sign of it from here. I suggest we head north, at least until something leads us on another direction. We have no idea what we are required to do here so we must remain vigilant and ready to serve. I am willing to take point, I do not see any danger here but I doubt we were sent here for the scenery - we are not a diplomatic envoy, nor a missionary group so we must assume that there may be a need for arms to be bared. Be ready."
Vhon - Level 2 Warlock - What shall become of the Drunken Sailor?
Lyreis - Level 6 Elf Fighter - Eberron: Omega
DM - Dzenda: The Cracks - DM - Dzenda: Whispered Tales
Trekking down the road leading north. The haze keeps a tickle in the back of your throat, now quite choking, but not comfortable either. Your eyes begin to burn in the hours of walking. It’s about three hours in when you begin to feel the earth beneath your feet tremor. The birds scatter and take flight, you all stop and drop down as the ground quakes for a solid minute before stopping.
Nothing follows.
Continuing on your path you begin to see large stretches of land both forest and field ripped up and scorched black: Inconsistent, random, wild. The debris even cuts across the pathway from time to time making it difficult to navigate for stretches of 5 - 20 feet at a time.
Coming to what would be an end of a traveling day you see a sign it has two golden stars on it. It’s old and wooden.
History check DC 12 read:
The township of Two Stars is considered to be a large town, but it’s part of a conglomerate of townships that border along Moon Lake. Six townships all together have free trade and often work together throughout the year. There is a small mountain range along the West side of the Lake; as well as the North East. Depending on the weather the eastern side of the lake ebbs and flows into boglands or lake, much like the waxing and waning of the moon. This area is in the North East of Faerun.
You make your way into town. Few people walking the streets. If they are it’s in a hurried fashion while keeping their heads down.
Perception check DC 15 (or just Thasa that sees all):
There appear to be some winged kobolds perched upon the tops of some of the rooftops. Just waiting, watching.
Near the southern entrance where you would arrive from rests a two story tavern. The Lunar Lakehouse and Tavern. Walking in you see an all but abandoned tavern except the human tavern keep, seemingly washing the same set of clean tankards to keep herself busy. This middle aged brunette woman of the plump variety, hair tied back under a cloth; one stray bang hangs down over her face as she blows it out of the way. Drying her hands off on a brown apron strapped over a red long sleeved dress.
“Oh, hello! Why are you here... pardon me, please take a seat, make yourself comfortable. What can we get you tonight? I apologize, we haven’t had many travelers as of late; I don’t have anything prepared it will be a little extra longer for a meal.”
History: 23 and I assume my passive perception of 15 will do.
As they walk towards the town, Misery will quietly address his companions, “Oi, I think there was a bloody dragon here. I mean look at the kobolds there and all the burned constructs. I think we were sent here to deal with that shit, eh?”
Once they enter the tavern Misery will sit in one of stools and begin to play on his violin, the slow and pleasant creaking of it accompanied by some celestial voices forming a choir of sorts. “Don’t know ‘bout you lot, but I’m bloody hungry. Darling, could you muster me something?”, Misery asks winking at the barmaid. It wasn’t unusual for people be scared of him rather than charmed, he was used to it. Also, in Misery’s mind dwindled a curious doubt. He squinted an eye once the barmaid overted her gaze from him, glancing once at Thasariel and raising a questioning brow.
Insight, to maybe understand if something forces the barmaid to be... weird?: 10
"I could see the dragon angle being true, there is a certain amount of evidence to support that idea." Thasa muses, more to himself than anyone in particular. He then gives a probing look at the woman and lets the magic of his helm detect her thoughts as he asks "My lady, would you care to tell us what happened here?"
History 20
Vhon - Level 2 Warlock - What shall become of the Drunken Sailor?
Lyreis - Level 6 Elf Fighter - Eberron: Omega
DM - Dzenda: The Cracks - DM - Dzenda: Whispered Tales
She steps back quickly while popping upright, that loose bang lagging behind until it flips over behind her ear. “Of course Sir, it would be my pleasure to make a good meal for some folks again.” To Misery’s request. She seems excited but frazzled. But she stops in her tracks like a robot malfunctioning or skipping a beat when the dragon gets brought up.
Thasa you pick up from your helm “They must’ve heard something by now, there’s no way they traveled all this way and don’t know...”
The woman calms her nerves as she come back with some biscuits and butter, they’re probably a day old, but still good. “You’re right ‘bout that dragon. But he haven’t come down in quite a while.... leaves all the work for his lackeys. Demanding weekly offerings of food and gold. Lots of people resorted to thievin and killin’ travelers to keep a float. That’s why business hasn’t been good. His name is..”. She pauses for a moment to look around as if terrified saying his name will make him appear. With a trembling lip she says “Kexyldrannis, the Ash King.... I’ll get to the kitchen.” As she steps back behind the swinging doors
“Well, ****. Nothing good comes out of the name ‘Ash King’. Killing travelers she says. Keep that glaive close, Shelley.”, Misery sighs as he puts some butter on biscuits and eats them with mild groaning. He seldomly looks out of the window, checking if anyone is observing them.
(OOC: if anyone is discomforted by the swearing just tell me. It’s not essential to the character and I can remove it if it worsens anyone’s expirience)
Thasa eats after sharing with the others what she was thinking. "Seems a reasonable reaction, this whole area must know what is happening after all. I presume we all agree that this must be why we are here." The investigator also looks out of the window scanning for the kobolds "Our winged friends up there are probably not much of a threat to us but rushing out and killing them seems likely to bring the dragon sooner than we might be ready for, especially if one flies off to tell it. Where to begin I wonder. A dragon, one would imagine a red, from the fire damage is a powerful foe and to command the tribute and to control the kobolds it cannot be a youngling so we will be sorely tested if it is our duty to break the hold it has over this town."
Vhon - Level 2 Warlock - What shall become of the Drunken Sailor?
Lyreis - Level 6 Elf Fighter - Eberron: Omega
DM - Dzenda: The Cracks - DM - Dzenda: Whispered Tales
Shelley sets the glaive down next to her. She remains quiet and on guard. She settles a little remembering the powers her glaive possesses. “Yeah, I’ll be ready.” She says to Misery. She then promptly eats as soon as food hits the table.
Gash - Lvl14 Goblin Wizard - The High Court of the Aasimar Queen
Korsh kept silent.
He knows how he looks and feels like he might convey the wrong impression. Out of the corner of his eyes not really in focus he sees his patron, black glistening skin and large wings folded, nodding.
"Seems like you were right. We are here for something." Korsh grumbles, his voice like a rolling thunder. "Let's eat, then take care of these enforcers."
You wait some time, maybe forty five minutes to an hour before she comes out with bowls of soup, it’s a broth based potato, leek, some onions; no meat. Along with some bread “ Sorry ‘bout the meal, only things I got left. Are you looking to stay? Might want to hide anything valuable before they come ‘round looking for offerin’s. It should be a day or two until they come down again.
After she overheard you Korsh “You can’t be talking bout fightin’ these vile creatures, there’s too many, they’re too strong!”
(Misery - you are the only ones in the tavern)
Misery sharply smells the soup, then shrugs and starts eating it with the leftover biscuits. Distasteful food wasn’t a new expirience for him, just one he didn’t have in a long time. “Well, is there are too many of them why don’t we make our way straight to the ‘Ash King’? I suppose it won’t be easier to deal with him either way, and we could scare away those that were his minions. We could just hide and then follow them back where they deposit offerings.”
" Want to get one and ask a few questions ?" Korsh says.
"But I m not really keen on letting those, monsters, dictate their law. We will still have to take them down."
"I agree we must stop this, but if we can do so without having the last few people burnt to a crisp in retaliation for killing a few kobolds I would feel happier. They can be dealt with later if necessary. I would like to track them back to the lair but they have wings, I do not think they would walk when they could simply glide away so we would probably fail to follow them if we tried. Maybe it is better to find one alone, capture it and then interrogate it as you say Korsh. I can probably force it to tell us what we need to know." Thasa quietly says between mouthfuls of soup, after finishing he thanks the lady for the meal.
Vhon - Level 2 Warlock - What shall become of the Drunken Sailor?
Lyreis - Level 6 Elf Fighter - Eberron: Omega
DM - Dzenda: The Cracks - DM - Dzenda: Whispered Tales
(It is currently about 10 pm right now. I’ll get it moving to the next day and you can begin your search in the morning unless you want to go out tonight. Just Let me know)
"Miss!" Shelley calls the barmaid over, "I think we would like to stay here tonight. If you could keep that in mind for breakfast tomorrow. We will be looking to solve this problem of yours -- and we can't do it on an empty stomach. Thank you for the hospitality you've shown us thus far. We will take care of everything for you."
Gash - Lvl14 Goblin Wizard - The High Court of the Aasimar Queen
"Let's rest then. And we will see what we do in the morning." Korsh gets up and turns toward the woman.
"Do you have a room for us?"
Ooc: Korsh doesn't need to sleep so he will take the guard duty.
The woman looks as if she has mixed feelings about the group’s attitude. She is reserved and holding her excitement as the fear of the retaliation to whatever you’re planning. “Of course you can stay here, breakfast will be served up in the morning. You can count on me.” She sheepishly steps away before turning back to ask. “Would y’all mind paying a little in advanced? Gotta make sure I have enough for the offering.”
Misery:
A voice echoes in the back of your mind. Like a yawn, someone who has been asleep... or maybe just bored. It’s a woman’s voice deep and smoky but pleasant to hear. “Did some one mention a dragon?! This ought to be exciting! I’ve been waiting for something like this. Don’t **** it up!”
(It’s 4 gold for every two nights for the group sharing 2 rooms since Korsh doesn’t sleep)
Korsh: throughout the night it remains uneventful. Although there are two more seismic events that occur. (Up to each party member if they were awakened or not)
Everyone awakens after a good nights rest. The woman has made breakfast of some eggs, more biscuits, tomato slices, and one piece of bacon each. Her nervous energy by you presence remains as she quietly serves breakfast with minimum eye contact.
Thasa picks at his food, clearly lost in thought. Eventually he finishes his meal and turns to the group. "I felt another tremor in the night after my reverie was finished. It must be a problem in the area if these seismic events occur frequently, I wonder how it connects to our quarry. If we wait to see what the process of the tribute is we may learn something before we take decisive action. What do you all think?"
Vhon - Level 2 Warlock - What shall become of the Drunken Sailor?
Lyreis - Level 6 Elf Fighter - Eberron: Omega
DM - Dzenda: The Cracks - DM - Dzenda: Whispered Tales