Continuing north through the western outskirts of the ruined city of Amnifortis, Aubrey follows Raqisat and Cosette, the two newest additions to the expedition team. He can't help but imagine how these streets once were filled with proud life of the empire, and how they some day will once again. As Furvus reports back, the young noble speaks to Raq and Cos in a lowrered voice. "Furvus has spotted two archers at the last landing before the top of the mount. perhaps hail them as we come within sight?" He suggests calmly, curious to see if there will be any way to forge some kind of alliance with the memnikophians.

     Raqisat slows his step a bit as he listens to Aubrey give the scouting report.  "Very well," he responds quietly.  "You two naturally fall back a bit and let me lead the way.  Better I be the first target, yes? I believe you both are better from range anyway, if it comes to that..."

     Without pausing further, Raqisat quickens his pace to that of a faster walk and begins whistling a tune.  The tune is a slow and winding tune, the words or meaning of escape him, but it is tailored well for whistling and he does a fair job of it. (16 rolled for performance in game log.)  He does not want to appear to be hurrying forward, just to hopefully put 10-15 feet between himself and the others before they make first contact.  Heading towards the mount and of course eyeballing the location he was told the archers would be.  When he believes he is within range of said archers he stops the whistling and pauses advancing.  

     "Hello!" he calls out in Common, his voice bright and open.  "We have come to introduce ourselves and have a chat, if such is welcome..."  Raqisat will stand there looking around trying to make out anyone who may be ahead of him.  He stands with his arms loose by his sides, not overly near his weapons but not up in surrender either.  He maintains a calm and relaxed appearance, though expetant of a reply of some sort.  If there is none after a minute or three he will try again, this time in Dwarvish.  Then after that in Halfling.  Orcish after that, if need be...

Raqisat, you approach the bottom of the stairs.  The landing where Aubrey's familiar located the men is about 120' vertically and 50' laterally from you.  Shortly after you hail them in common, you see two heads pop out over the side of the landing.  One withdraws, while the other answers you.

The voice of an old man calls down the mountain.  "Hold, traveler!  Be it known that the holy sites here remain under the protection of the faithful.  We have been bloodied by bandits but remain unbowed to any but the gods.  If you mean violence under mask of peace, such treachery will be met with steel and fire, in this life and in what comes next!"

Aubrey:

     "If violence was intended I'd have been quieter in my approach," Raqisat assures.  "We came in full view to show we have nothing to hide...  And in that spirit there is more of us who did not come this far.  We did not want to seem like a threat so we didn't want to come in numbers.  We seek honesty and openness...  My companions with me here are Aubrey and Cosette.  If conversation is to be had I would like to turn it over to them... They are better with words than I."

"As my friend explained, we come in peace. We have heard from the friendly halflings by the plague camp to the north that you have been attacked by bandits calling themselves the Burned Knights. We oursleves were attacked by members of this cowardly group only earlier today. It seems we have a common enemy, an enemy we will likely both face again eventually, but maybe we can help each other out somehow. We will submit any precautions you feel is necessary but we would be honored to speak briefly to your leader." Aubrey calls out as he steps up by Raqisat's side, giving him a pat on the back.

Persuasion: 25 Another roll if help action is given, or has been given: 15

Grugga sets down Zap's steel cage next to him and sits down on the west side of a building on the outskirts of the city. "It feels like forever since we've had time to really talk, Leelan." Grugga states casually while organizing some of his bags. "There was always something to do on the ship that kept me occupied, even if it was just a racquetball paddle or some other small project."

He shifts into a comfortable position and orders Zap to spin in place a few feet away. The construct quickly digs a rut into the dry ground, so the artificer orders it onto a nearby stone floor. "The sunset looks beautiful over the hill." he remarks, turning his head toward the Gnome. "How are you holding up?"

The gnome was somewhat lost in thoughts after the departure of their three companions, pacing around their waiting spot. Grugga’s voice does break him out of his reverie. Leelan stops in his tracks and comes to sit beside the artificer.

"Agreed, friend. We’ve had a rather peculiar start to our expedition.", he takes off his glasses and starts rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Between the attack of the Burned Knights, the arrival of our two new fellow scholars, our middling first encounter with the locals earlier, I find myself curious to see what tomorrow may bring. Funny how we originally prepared with the thought that abberations might be our biggest challenges only to find that regular people are."

He raises his head to meet both Grugga and Rohuzar. "What are your thoughts?"

The old figure up the hill listens to Raqisat and Aubrey.  He waves a hand down.  "Just hold on.  Wait right there."

Minutes pass, and then the man calls down again.  "You may proceed.  Ascend the stairs, slowly.  Keep your weapons sheathed."

The climb is long, and by the time you approach the top landing, much of the tension of the moment has evaporated.  Reaching the top, you come upon an old man.  He was likely quite handsome once, but age has wrinkled his face and thinned his hair.  Above, at the very top of the stairs, loom four more figures.  None are so old as the man before you, but all are past middle age.  They hold bows but do not have them drawn at present.  All, like the oldest, are in clean clothes and armor, with blue stone rings.

As you reach the landing, the old man holds out a hand.  "Please.  That is far enough for now.  Forgive us for the precaution, but we have faced assault recently and cannot afford to be cavalier with security.  You named your companions as Aubrey and Cosette, but I did not catch your name," the man says to Raqisat.  "My name is Gildan Stonewall.  These men are my companions in the Order of Grey Eagles.  It is our honor to serve the Maiden of Virtue and protect her temple."

[All of you would recognize the name 'Maiden of Virtue' as one of the pseudonyms of Altua, human goddess of honor, promises, chastity and oaths.  She is the sister goddess of the more widely worshipped Alcona, goddess of life, femininity and serenity.]

"Now, please share more of what brings you to us?  These lands are not for idle adventure.  It is too soon for aid against the Burned Knights to have been sent from the north.  Who has sent you and what is it you seek from the guardians of the temple mountain?"

     Raqisat obligingly follows all directions with good humor.  He has entered many new territories in his time and each one had to be played a bit by ear but one truism was that if you started the greetings off in an aggressive, or even overly defensive, posture, things go downhill quick.

     "My apologies.  I am Raqisat Alsayf.  I'm a bit of an anthropologist - I enjoy visiting and becoming acquianted with different cultures and peoples.  Amnifortis is a bit...  less vibrant than I normally like to visit but I was in the area and the opportunity arose and I found it all but impossible not to explore a bit," Raqisat explains.  "As such I was sent by nobody other than my own curiosity..."

     "Aubrey and Cosette can of course speak for themselves... But trust me, we have no love for the Burned Knights and come here solely in the spirit of communication and hopefully cooperation..."

"Greetings Gildan Stonewall of the Order of Grey Eagles..." The young noble starts with a graceful bow. "...my name is indeed Aubrey, Aubrey Goldentide. I have arrived here by ship along the Breitwasser from Bardstown in the north and just this morning as my team was attacked by the wretched bandits calling themselves the Burned Knights we were helped by Raqisat and Cosette here who decided to join our expedition into the ruins of Amnifortis. My team's mission here is to find out what we can about the aberrations that roam the ruins in hopes of one day making the once great city livable again. Admittedly we weren't aware of the bandits that supposedly have their camp in the dwarven mines to the southeast but they would have to be dealt with too eventually if this place is going to be civilized again. For now we can only hope to trade some information with you about the current situation in the city, but we would be particularly interested in some kind of alliance against the so called Burned Knights." Aubrey explains in a most polite tone, speaking with deep reverence to the old knight.

Persuasion: 8 Another roll if help action is given: 23 

The old man listens to Aubrey's story.  He doesn't betray any disbelief or surprise... he doesn't react much at all, in fact, other then to run his hand through his long white hair as he considers a response.

"To enter the city seeking the aberrations... that is certainly an ambitious undertaking.  Few enter the city walls at all... and those that try all plan to avoid the monsters, not to study them."  He pauses and looks to the other men, then back to you.  "You seem trustworthy, and we always seek cooperation with the nobles of the realm when it can be achieved.  There is little we can share, unfortunately, on the city interior.  We have been up here a long time... this will be my 9th summer guarding the temple... but we seldom venture off the mountain.  Most of the news we receive is from pilgrims who brave the journey here to make worship at the temple mountain, or from rare visits from the druids."

"Despite my prior boasting, we are in a dire state.  When the raiders came, they hit the temple of Joshua under cover of darkness.  There were no survivors.  Had a brave soul not managed to ring the bells, more of us would have been taken unawares.  The Herculians are scholars and priests only, so the defense fell to the Skrillites, ourselves, and our cousins in service to Alcona.  We would have been overrun, had the bells of Joshua not summoned cloakers out of the city.  The horrors fell on friend and foe alike, and the raiders panicked and fled.  The Skrillites pursued them with spell and arrow to see they were driven off for good, but they took heavy casualties.  That lot has a particular aversion to the aberrations here... I think a few of their order took advantage of the attack to die in glorious battle against the unclean monsters.  They hate the outer horrors as much or more than anyone.  It is part of their faith.  Why, I recall a madman who came to Mons Basilicae some years ago... he claimed he sought to worship the aberrations... that they were servants of the true powers of the universe and he wished to commune with them.  He was no more than a sun-addled fool... but the Skrillites bound him in chains and threw him down an old well.  They said their faith demanded no tolerance when faced with those who would worship the dark ones...".  Having trailed off, he brushes his hair again and continues.

"They maintain some line of communication with their masters on Skandalaris.  In the past, the Skrillites have called for military aid against raiders such as these.  I suspect they have done so again but it could be weeks before any help arrives.  Until then we plan to hunker down in preparation for any renewed assault."

"I'm afraid we cannot be of help militarily against the Burned Knights... our duty lies here, defending the temple.  But we would be obliged to offer you food and shelter for the night.  We have clean water and grow our own vegetables."

With the boys taking the lead and covering all points of discussion, Cosette plays the ‘female trophy’ role, following along. Quiet and keeping to herself, her eyes scan while her ears listen. Naturally she takes more interest in the facilities and infrastructure than she does the people. However, there was something about their blue rings that kept catching her eyes. Sure they were jewelry, but it appeared unique to them and that’s what was curious. The more she saw them, the more she wondered if they were connected to their order and/or faith, or perhaps something entirely different. At the mention of the Order, as well as the Maiden of Virtue, Cos keeps that in mind while she conducts herself and listens to the discussions take place.

History (for the old historical auction grounds way back): 5 
Order of Grey Eagles (do we know anything on these guys already?): 1 (+3 history or +2 religion) 
Polished blue stone rings: 14 (not sure what to roll here, but +3 history, +2 religion, +3 Arcana or +3 investigation)

Cosette:

"Thank you for your generous offer Gildan Stonewall, but we don't want to intrude on you in your dire state, also we should head back to our ship now, the rest of our team is waiting on us. I would ask before we leave though if you think it would be possible for us to turn to this holy site for aid should any of our team members be afflicted with some ailment that we're not able to cure ourselves. We would of course do what we can to compensate you, maybe an offering to the gods of this place?" The young noble says with a polite and friendly tone. "Also, you wouldn't know anything about the people living under the ruins, survivors of the cataclysm they claim to be."

     “Of course we’d do our all not to be bringing our troubles with us,” Raq adds hoping to assuage concerns.  “We won’t be coming in with foes on our trail if we come…”

Replying to Leelan: "I'm continually surprised by how many problems are our own doing." He says, meaning "humanity" in general ((never sure what to call it when encompassing all fantasy species)). "You'd think a city cursed so thoroughly would repel everything - yet here we find evils competing for prominence. Even the Skrillites are here - though I suppose that's no surprise, really. Hopefully the other priests are keeping them in line..." He shakes his head. "The druids were nice, at least. They're doing good work. I hope we get the chance to help them."

The artificer pulls out a small machine, or perhaps part of a machine, and begins working on it with a slender screwdriver while he talks. "Those descendants we met were odd. I certainly didn't get a good feeling from them, but I also don't expect them to attack us for no reason. I feel bad duping them, but I suppose we will need to use them for information. If we're successful in our mission, I don't think that they will have a future in this city..."

Grugga peers up at the recently taciturn Orc. "What did you think of them, Rohuzar?"

Rohuzar shrugs. "I think they own too much with too little protection. They could do vell if they leave before the city belongs to the legion. I find it unlikely they vill go. They have not been here this long to leave for the sake of profit or safety. They vill turn to someone offering best lies, offers of sovereignty and protection and such."

"I might just be jumping to conclusions. I vill feel more confident once ve have found out about the nights here. So far it has not been as I thought."

The old warrior scrunches his face in disgust.  "We have heard stories of mad degenerates living within the ruins.  If they exist, they do not visit us... and I cannot imagine what sort of person could scratch out a life in that place. The old city is a hellspace."

"If you return, we would not deny you shelter.  But take care.  By day these ruins are dangerous but largely empty.  When night falls, beasts, fell spirits and stranger things emerge.  Do not be caught without shelter after dark."

"Thank you again Gildan Stonewall, we will only intrude on your generous hospitality if in dire need, but now I believe we should return the others in out team." The young noble says, with another courteous bow, then glancing over to Cosette and Raqisat to see if there were any other matters that should be brought up before leaving.