A brief look of pride flashes across Orvo’s face when Brandon asks about previous Aeorian finds, although the dwarf quickly suppresses it.
“Oh yes, we’ve found a few items before; bladed weapons and utility items. All go back to Uthodurn for examination, some are deemed sufficiently useful and safe to release to the Glassblades or duarchy agents to use in the service of our security”
When Brandon makes his effort to entice Orvo into joining the party, the scout visibly stiffens and touches the scar on his face.
“Well, I, erm. I still need to write up my journal from the last expedition and, ah, I believe that Morgo has some errands for me to carry out around the camp. She’s quite the taskmaster!”
The jollity in his last comment is forced; you sense that Brandon made a convincing argument but Orvo has some barriers to overcome before he can agree to make the journey.
He returns to the present as Kotar discusses martial techniques again.
“Crude, smashing and grabbing with those big metal hands – no wrestling or boxing style I’ve seen or heard of. Fast though, twice as fast as a Glassblade can thrust a sword”
Orvo seems to find solace in Durnham’s emotional journey, seeing that his friend’s good work and intentions were well placed. He strokes his scar again and looks from Durnham to Kotar, then to Brandon, pondering the request made of him...
“It’s just so dangerous” he says, suddenly fragile as ice.
***
Morgo listens intently as Qidira relays what she has deduced.
“That makes sense for Shalebrow's expedition, for Mutalos is almost the other side of the island – lengthways! Based on the time Orvo and Urgon were away, your destination won’t be nearly that far. But waterproof gear, yes, I could rustle some up if you think it will help?”
Durnham nods to Orvo. “I understand… It must be dangerous for my Uncle to try to keep me away when I was young. But… uh… We have no choice. If we are going to save that family and the children, we uhm… have to go on. You said it yourself… Urgon wouldn’t have wanted that family to suffer from something you and he found.” He smiles at Orvo. “There are 2 uhm… more of us… 5 in total and if you come that would be 6… and uhm… you know what we are headed for so we will be more prepared.“
”I can’t promise safety… but I… uh…can promise that it’ll be safer with all of us going than just you and Urgon.”
Brandon was not surprised by Orvo’s response, he had been around enough old soldiers to recognize the look of one that had seen and suffered violence. Brandon had even shared that look himself in the past.
“I have no doubt that Morgo is a taskmaster, but I imagine we can come to an agreement with her for the errands”Brandon gives a soft smile, then agrees with both Orvo and Durnham. “It is dangerous, which is why we need your help. You have prevailed before and now you will have our swords at your side. Your scar, did you get that on your last trip to the vault?”
Brandon noticed the brief glimpse of pride the young dwarf displayed earlier “It seems your previous finds have led to great reward and purpose, aiding the glassblades and the duarchy. Imagine what they will say when your next find saves the life of those children. We can't do it without you.”
She looks up to Morgo, "Yes please. That'd be excellent if you're willing. And um, might I trouble you for some parchment and a pen? I seemed to have run out of skin. I have nothing in the way of funds to trade you, but this music box might do in trade? I can speak to the others about funds for the waterproof gear?"
He focused all of his attention into Orvo’s description. It was fortunate that the animated armor didn’t use weapons or spellcraft, but its speed could be a problem. For start they couldn’t count with hit and run tactics. It would take all their energy just to match the movement of the things. For Dunham and Qidira maybe even that wouldn’t be enough. They could fight from range, but it was likely darts and daggers would have little effect, if any, on the sentinels. Safest way had to be nullifying magic, but the question was how. Maybe they could find someone in the outpost capable of helping them with that.
“Orvo, I understand that you have reasons, good reasons, to not want to make this journey, but time is really of the essence when trying to cure this illness.” Kotar started after Brandon words, trying to help in their attempt of persuading the scarred dwarf. “If you absolutely feel that you can’t enter the vault we won’t force you, but at least guide us to the entrance. Like Durnham said the way will be less dangerous with us. Please.”
He looked the dwarf in the eyes, anxious for an answer. After all, any help from him could reduce significantly the travel time.
Orvo’s face softens as Durnham, Kotar and Brandon appeal to his sense of duty and overcome his objections. He looks down at his sword for a while before lifting his chin, a slight smile creeping into the corners of his mouth.
“It was a remorhaz, just a baby but it caught us by surprise. As I struck it with my blade, heated blood spilled on the snow and made a sinkhole – we both fell in. It was all I could do to parry blow after blow until Urgon reached in and pulled me out. We managed to get in some hits and drive it off, but I thought I was done for in that hole.
OK then, let’s do it. I owe Urgon more than I can ever repay, but helping his nephew reach his goal safely might be a start. I’ll pack my kit and wait here until you’re ready to go”
With new found purpose, the scout stands and starts to rifle through rucksacks and trunks.
***
Qidira produces an estimate of Shalebrow’s journey, although she cannot be sure. Southwest to the shore, follow the shoreline and then traversing by sea when encountering mountains. Morgo assists by providing ample parchment, ink and pens for the little gnome to write and sketch on.
“No need to pay for these”, she says, “I think it would be churlish to charge you for helping us”.
She drops off five sets of waterproofs of varying sizes, appearing to have gauged the party’s measurements rather well. She looks at the map route that Qidira is sketching and says “Well that certainly looks doable – or rather, the kind of thing that Gulrim would consider doable”
Qidira grins at Morgo with her presentation of parchment, pen and ink. "Thank you! This will do finely." Then watching as Morgo lays the stack of waterproof gear about smiling at the variance in size between the larger and smaller group members. "Those will be an excellent help! I appreciate your thoughtfulness Morgo. I will strive to do all that I can to find your friend!" Then moving a couple stacks of books over onto the ground, she clears a space on the desk to work, head down in deep concentration making busy use of the supplies provided. Very much like an imitation of a once old elf friend at work on a project had done years before.
Morgo leaves Qidira to carry on her organisation with Ressys watching on, meanwhile Orvo is preparing his kit for the journey ahead and may take a little while; maybe an hour or so.
It is early afternoon and the snow is still falling.
Qidira looks up from her work at the desk and over to Ressys, "Morgo seems a fine sort, and that gear should come in handy. I worried that its already afternoon and we'll only be out a few hours before needing to camp. If time wasn't so precious, it'd have been nice to leave in the morning, but maybe you could help me look over these maps and find options for campsites? I'm not sure which way we're headed yet though. Or see if that gear fits you properly, looks ok."
Durnham smiles “Thank you Orvo. With more of us... hopefully we can do this together. What about this vault? Where did you find that and the... blue vials?”
Orvo looks up from tucking a pair of warm socks into a bag and says to Durnham "The vault is in Thin Sheets. I'll bring my journal from that expedition, should shave some time off the search"
A smile took hold of his lips when Orvo agreed to help. Equal parts surprise and excitement. That was a good first step, a good surprise. If things continued like that then the cure would be in the vault and they would return in time. Everything would be fine. Then the scarred dwarf spoke of the beast who marked his face. The remorhaz was already becoming a theme on their journey. A baby, the explorer said, but it was still bad news.
Kotar knew histories of entire groups of warriors being killed by one of such creatures. It was not rare for goliath children to be told to behave lest a remorhaz come devour them. Even a cub, he expected, would be hard to deal with. At least we know there is one prowling the area. He thought to himself, finding some relief in not having to deal with this particular surprise.
“This will help a lot, Orvo.”He said with his mind still wandering to Brandon’s words. What was the Matron? The way the warrior uttered the words remembered Kotar about how the dwarves spoke of Moradin, the Allhammer. Maybe the Matron was a goddess. “Durnham, do you know some way to turn magic off? To try stopping the armors.”
Durnham shakes his head to Kotar. “No… I’ve heard of such magic of course but it’s far too complex for me at this point. Any animated items will have to be handled with more mundane means. I’m sorry.”
He then turns back to Orvo, “I see you need to prepare for the trip. We’ll leave you to it. As our guide though, what would you recommend we bring for the trip? We have rations, warm clothes, a sled, and even some snow gear. What else should we be sure to purchase before we leave?”
Ressys shuffles through the maps again. "But we aren't even sure which way we are going, so what campsites? I hope the others found more from Orvo of where we need to go."
He then looks at the waterproof clothing and sorts them in sizes and leaves the smallest set for Qidira. "I'll hand these to the others when we meet up with them."
Brandon let out a low whistle of admiration after hearing about Orvo’s experience with the remorhaz. “Impressive, I have not faced one of these creatures before, but the glassblade in Palebank told us stories. Face them with steel, not fire or ice, h said. Thank you for joining us.”
As Orvo starts packing for the trip, Brandon prepares to leave the tent with the others “I agree Durnham, we should let Orvo prepare. Perhaps we should visit the Buyer next and see what information they can share with us.”
“No need to apologize.” He answered to Durnham. Battle didn’t worry the goliath. Their time in Paleblank and in the sea more than proved they could all handle combat quite well.“I mean, to me any magic is too complex, and I don’t think this is going to change.”
The words made Kotar imagine a different version of himself, in a world, where instead of the blades he studied the arcane. Would he be as precise as Durnham with the motes of fire? If the fighter’s familiarity with bows was anything to go by then it was unlikely.
“I considered going to meet Qidira and Ressys, but we may end up missing each another.” He told to both his brothers in arms. Maybe Brandon idea was the best plan. The party just need to introduce gnome and firbolg to the Buyer later. How much would he pay for bent pieces of the animated armors? The Ironhunter pondered, fittingly for his name. Depending on the material that made the magic sentinels it could be better to harvest the metal for weapons or amor of their own. How much would a smith charge to make an armor if you give the materials? The question surged immediately into his mind. “Your choice is mine.”
Qidira looks over to Ressys, "Yes me too. I'm jotting down anything that I can find, but it would be useful to find a direction. There is so much in here and I promised to do as much research as I could before we go. I plan to just get the info from the others when we are ready to leave, which will likely be soon as its already after noon. Right now I've redirected my research to look for creatures. I don't know if Shalebrow was going to the same place as Orvo was, but at least I'll know where it might overlap in case it does. We'll still have to focus on the cure, but they don't need me there for the conversations."
Qidira finds reference to a few animals in Shalebrow’s journals, mainly snippets and some third-hand anecdotes where rarer creatures are discussed. (During the current trip to Eiselcross, Qidira may gain advantage on one check to recall information about a creature you encounter)
***
Orvo raises his eyebrows in appreciation as Durnham lists the kit that the party has acquired so far: “That should do it, not much else that I would recommend”
(Everyone can add ‘wet weather gear’ to their inventory, it weighs 3 lbs)
Pleased with the results of her study, she lets the ink on the pages dry laying them in a 5' square area. Then she takes out a couple die from her dice set and presses each to record the images. Testing the projection of the image on various surfaces, even moving outside briefly to see how it appears on the snow to make sure it will be readable. If the image seems unreadable, she will reattempt with smaller bits but always including the map as one of the two. Once satisfied with the images she pockets the dice in a reachable area on her person (rather than deep in the pack), rolls up the parchment pages tucking them in the Bag of Holding and replaces the books, papers and other materials she was studying back in some semblance of how they were.
Looking at the remaining couple of sheets of blank parchment, the pen she'd used and the half bottle of ink remaining, she debates a moment then shrugs and stoppers the ink and tucks the lot into her pack as well.
She toddles over to the Waterproof gear next lain aside by Ressys and removing her armor slips the gear over her winter clothing and replaces the armor over that. Then glancing over to Ressys, "Does this look right to you? Or do you suppose the Waterproof is supposed to replace the regular clothing? I'm sure I look like an overstuffed cushion at the moment, but it seems to be right...Right?" She queries the Druid.
Unless Ressys prefers to leave to join the others prior, I'm hoping to time this just about right for them to be ready to leave after speaking with the buyer I imagine it all to take some time. If better suited to DMs needs, she can time it to match the end of discussion with Orvo.
Thanks DM for the Adv on creature check. One time - I'll use it carefully.
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A brief look of pride flashes across Orvo’s face when Brandon asks about previous Aeorian finds, although the dwarf quickly suppresses it.
“Oh yes, we’ve found a few items before; bladed weapons and utility items. All go back to Uthodurn for examination, some are deemed sufficiently useful and safe to release to the Glassblades or duarchy agents to use in the service of our security”
When Brandon makes his effort to entice Orvo into joining the party, the scout visibly stiffens and touches the scar on his face.
“Well, I, erm. I still need to write up my journal from the last expedition and, ah, I believe that Morgo has some errands for me to carry out around the camp. She’s quite the taskmaster!”
The jollity in his last comment is forced; you sense that Brandon made a convincing argument but Orvo has some barriers to overcome before he can agree to make the journey.
He returns to the present as Kotar discusses martial techniques again.
“Crude, smashing and grabbing with those big metal hands – no wrestling or boxing style I’ve seen or heard of. Fast though, twice as fast as a Glassblade can thrust a sword”
Orvo seems to find solace in Durnham’s emotional journey, seeing that his friend’s good work and intentions were well placed. He strokes his scar again and looks from Durnham to Kotar, then to Brandon, pondering the request made of him...
“It’s just so dangerous” he says, suddenly fragile as ice.
***
Morgo listens intently as Qidira relays what she has deduced.
“That makes sense for Shalebrow's expedition, for Mutalos is almost the other side of the island – lengthways! Based on the time Orvo and Urgon were away, your destination won’t be nearly that far. But waterproof gear, yes, I could rustle some up if you think it will help?”
Durnham nods to Orvo. “I understand… It must be dangerous for my Uncle to try to keep me away when I was young. But… uh… We have no choice. If we are going to save that family and the children, we uhm… have to go on. You said it yourself… Urgon wouldn’t have wanted that family to suffer from something you and he found.” He smiles at Orvo. “There are 2 uhm… more of us… 5 in total and if you come that would be 6… and uhm… you know what we are headed for so we will be more prepared.“
”I can’t promise safety… but I… uh…can promise that it’ll be safer with all of us going than just you and Urgon.”
Noob
Brandon was not surprised by Orvo’s response, he had been around enough old soldiers to recognize the look of one that had seen and suffered violence. Brandon had even shared that look himself in the past.
“I have no doubt that Morgo is a taskmaster, but I imagine we can come to an agreement with her for the errands” Brandon gives a soft smile, then agrees with both Orvo and Durnham. “It is dangerous, which is why we need your help. You have prevailed before and now you will have our swords at your side. Your scar, did you get that on your last trip to the vault?”
Brandon noticed the brief glimpse of pride the young dwarf displayed earlier “It seems your previous finds have led to great reward and purpose, aiding the glassblades and the duarchy. Imagine what they will say when your next find saves the life of those children. We can't do it without you.”
She looks up to Morgo, "Yes please. That'd be excellent if you're willing. And um, might I trouble you for some parchment and a pen? I seemed to have run out of skin. I have nothing in the way of funds to trade you, but this music box might do in trade? I can speak to the others about funds for the waterproof gear?"
He focused all of his attention into Orvo’s description. It was fortunate that the animated armor didn’t use weapons or spellcraft, but its speed could be a problem. For start they couldn’t count with hit and run tactics. It would take all their energy just to match the movement of the things. For Dunham and Qidira maybe even that wouldn’t be enough. They could fight from range, but it was likely darts and daggers would have little effect, if any, on the sentinels. Safest way had to be nullifying magic, but the question was how. Maybe they could find someone in the outpost capable of helping them with that.
“Orvo, I understand that you have reasons, good reasons, to not want to make this journey, but time is really of the essence when trying to cure this illness.” Kotar started after Brandon words, trying to help in their attempt of persuading the scarred dwarf. “If you absolutely feel that you can’t enter the vault we won’t force you, but at least guide us to the entrance. Like Durnham said the way will be less dangerous with us. Please.”
He looked the dwarf in the eyes, anxious for an answer. After all, any help from him could reduce significantly the travel time.
Orvo’s face softens as Durnham, Kotar and Brandon appeal to his sense of duty and overcome his objections. He looks down at his sword for a while before lifting his chin, a slight smile creeping into the corners of his mouth.
“It was a remorhaz, just a baby but it caught us by surprise. As I struck it with my blade, heated blood spilled on the snow and made a sinkhole – we both fell in. It was all I could do to parry blow after blow until Urgon reached in and pulled me out. We managed to get in some hits and drive it off, but I thought I was done for in that hole.
OK then, let’s do it. I owe Urgon more than I can ever repay, but helping his nephew reach his goal safely might be a start. I’ll pack my kit and wait here until you’re ready to go”
With new found purpose, the scout stands and starts to rifle through rucksacks and trunks.
***
Qidira produces an estimate of Shalebrow’s journey, although she cannot be sure. Southwest to the shore, follow the shoreline and then traversing by sea when encountering mountains. Morgo assists by providing ample parchment, ink and pens for the little gnome to write and sketch on.
“No need to pay for these”, she says, “I think it would be churlish to charge you for helping us”.
She drops off five sets of waterproofs of varying sizes, appearing to have gauged the party’s measurements rather well. She looks at the map route that Qidira is sketching and says “Well that certainly looks doable – or rather, the kind of thing that Gulrim would consider doable”
Qidira grins at Morgo with her presentation of parchment, pen and ink. "Thank you! This will do finely." Then watching as Morgo lays the stack of waterproof gear about smiling at the variance in size between the larger and smaller group members. "Those will be an excellent help! I appreciate your thoughtfulness Morgo. I will strive to do all that I can to find your friend!" Then moving a couple stacks of books over onto the ground, she clears a space on the desk to work, head down in deep concentration making busy use of the supplies provided. Very much like an imitation of a once old elf friend at work on a project had done years before.
Morgo leaves Qidira to carry on her organisation with Ressys watching on, meanwhile Orvo is preparing his kit for the journey ahead and may take a little while; maybe an hour or so.
It is early afternoon and the snow is still falling.
Qidira looks up from her work at the desk and over to Ressys, "Morgo seems a fine sort, and that gear should come in handy. I worried that its already afternoon and we'll only be out a few hours before needing to camp. If time wasn't so precious, it'd have been nice to leave in the morning, but maybe you could help me look over these maps and find options for campsites? I'm not sure which way we're headed yet though. Or see if that gear fits you properly, looks ok."
Durnham smiles “Thank you Orvo. With more of us... hopefully we can do this together. What about this vault? Where did you find that and the... blue vials?”
Noob
Orvo looks up from tucking a pair of warm socks into a bag and says to Durnham "The vault is in Thin Sheets. I'll bring my journal from that expedition, should shave some time off the search"
A smile took hold of his lips when Orvo agreed to help. Equal parts surprise and excitement. That was a good first step, a good surprise. If things continued like that then the cure would be in the vault and they would return in time. Everything would be fine. Then the scarred dwarf spoke of the beast who marked his face. The remorhaz was already becoming a theme on their journey. A baby, the explorer said, but it was still bad news.
Kotar knew histories of entire groups of warriors being killed by one of such creatures. It was not rare for goliath children to be told to behave lest a remorhaz come devour them. Even a cub, he expected, would be hard to deal with. At least we know there is one prowling the area. He thought to himself, finding some relief in not having to deal with this particular surprise.
“This will help a lot, Orvo.” He said with his mind still wandering to Brandon’s words. What was the Matron? The way the warrior uttered the words remembered Kotar about how the dwarves spoke of Moradin, the Allhammer. Maybe the Matron was a goddess. “Durnham, do you know some way to turn magic off? To try stopping the armors.”
@DM does Qidira find any notes on creatures that were encountered on his travels? Pictures, etc.
Durnham shakes his head to Kotar. “No… I’ve heard of such magic of course but it’s far too complex for me at this point. Any animated items will have to be handled with more mundane means. I’m sorry.”
He then turns back to Orvo, “I see you need to prepare for the trip. We’ll leave you to it. As our guide though, what would you recommend we bring for the trip? We have rations, warm clothes, a sled, and even some snow gear. What else should we be sure to purchase before we leave?”
Noob
Ressys shuffles through the maps again. "But we aren't even sure which way we are going, so what campsites? I hope the others found more from Orvo of where we need to go."
He then looks at the waterproof clothing and sorts them in sizes and leaves the smallest set for Qidira. "I'll hand these to the others when we meet up with them."
Brandon let out a low whistle of admiration after hearing about Orvo’s experience with the remorhaz. “Impressive, I have not faced one of these creatures before, but the glassblade in Palebank told us stories. Face them with steel, not fire or ice, h said. Thank you for joining us.”
As Orvo starts packing for the trip, Brandon prepares to leave the tent with the others “I agree Durnham, we should let Orvo prepare. Perhaps we should visit the Buyer next and see what information they can share with us.”
“No need to apologize.” He answered to Durnham. Battle didn’t worry the goliath. Their time in Paleblank and in the sea more than proved they could all handle combat quite well. “I mean, to me any magic is too complex, and I don’t think this is going to change.”
The words made Kotar imagine a different version of himself, in a world, where instead of the blades he studied the arcane. Would he be as precise as Durnham with the motes of fire? If the fighter’s familiarity with bows was anything to go by then it was unlikely.
“I considered going to meet Qidira and Ressys, but we may end up missing each another.” He told to both his brothers in arms. Maybe Brandon idea was the best plan. The party just need to introduce gnome and firbolg to the Buyer later. How much would he pay for bent pieces of the animated armors? The Ironhunter pondered, fittingly for his name. Depending on the material that made the magic sentinels it could be better to harvest the metal for weapons or amor of their own. How much would a smith charge to make an armor if you give the materials? The question surged immediately into his mind. “Your choice is mine.”
Qidira looks over to Ressys, "Yes me too. I'm jotting down anything that I can find, but it would be useful to find a direction. There is so much in here and I promised to do as much research as I could before we go. I plan to just get the info from the others when we are ready to leave, which will likely be soon as its already after noon. Right now I've redirected my research to look for creatures. I don't know if Shalebrow was going to the same place as Orvo was, but at least I'll know where it might overlap in case it does. We'll still have to focus on the cure, but they don't need me there for the conversations."
Qidira finds reference to a few animals in Shalebrow’s journals, mainly snippets and some third-hand anecdotes where rarer creatures are discussed. (During the current trip to Eiselcross, Qidira may gain advantage on one check to recall information about a creature you encounter)
***
Orvo raises his eyebrows in appreciation as Durnham lists the kit that the party has acquired so far: “That should do it, not much else that I would recommend”
(Everyone can add ‘wet weather gear’ to their inventory, it weighs 3 lbs)
Pleased with the results of her study, she lets the ink on the pages dry laying them in a 5' square area. Then she takes out a couple die from her dice set and presses each to record the images. Testing the projection of the image on various surfaces, even moving outside briefly to see how it appears on the snow to make sure it will be readable. If the image seems unreadable, she will reattempt with smaller bits but always including the map as one of the two. Once satisfied with the images she pockets the dice in a reachable area on her person (rather than deep in the pack), rolls up the parchment pages tucking them in the Bag of Holding and replaces the books, papers and other materials she was studying back in some semblance of how they were.
Looking at the remaining couple of sheets of blank parchment, the pen she'd used and the half bottle of ink remaining, she debates a moment then shrugs and stoppers the ink and tucks the lot into her pack as well.
She toddles over to the Waterproof gear next lain aside by Ressys and removing her armor slips the gear over her winter clothing and replaces the armor over that. Then glancing over to Ressys, "Does this look right to you? Or do you suppose the Waterproof is supposed to replace the regular clothing? I'm sure I look like an overstuffed cushion at the moment, but it seems to be right...Right?" She queries the Druid.
Unless Ressys prefers to leave to join the others prior, I'm hoping to time this just about right for them to be ready to leave after speaking with the buyer I imagine it all to take some time. If better suited to DMs needs, she can time it to match the end of discussion with Orvo.
Thanks DM for the Adv on creature check. One time - I'll use it carefully.