With a conspicuous amount of hand waving and gesturing, Father Teritus manages to beckon the surly looking Dragonborn over to the table to take your orders. It seems there is no barmaid on duty. He glowers at you all.
"Ah! Yes. A cup of water, please, my good fellow. And... anyone else?"
Teritus pops a piece of sliced ham into his mouth, looking to each of you, his eyes wide with expectation as he chews.
"Just the water for now, then, if you please. We'll beckon if we need anything else."
Father Teritus gives the Dragonborn a warm smile, which is not returned. A moment later the barkeep returns with a cup of cloudy looking, stale water and plops it unceremoniously in front of Oz. The Speaker smiles at you all, quite content, and continues to do so for several moments before realizing you're all staring at him.
"Oh goodness, me! I quite forgot. I'm the one who summoned you all here. You must be wondering why."
The Dragonborn plods off after another cup of water, shaking his head.
Father Teritus uses this moment to produce a rather nondescript envelope from his pocket. He lays the letter down on the table and slides it across to the center. There you notice an address marked.
"I would like the four of you to deliver this letter to Brell for me. Present the letter to the lady of the house at the address marked and she will present you with a package that you are to deliver to me in Caer Dunlon. That's it. Simplicity itself!"
Though you suspect it can't be as simple as delivering a letter, you don't get the impression that Father Teritus is lying. You've known him to be a man of his word, although he is fond of omissions. He has a knack for bringing together the right people to get a job done, and he can always be trusted for his discretion. If there is more to this letter, he isn't letting on what it could be.
"Keep this safe. The lady of the house will be expecting you. Give it to her and her alone. I've chosen each of you for a reason, and above all, I trust each one of you to do the right thing when the time comes. I can say no more. Ah, now lets see. Where did I put it."
He begins patting his robes as if he's lost something.
"It must be here somewhere..."
At last he remembers where he has hidden his coin pouch and produces it from a hidden pocket up his sleeve. "This is a down payment. It should be more than enough to get you to Brell. I've arranged transport for you, along with a driver. You'll find him along with his carriage awaiting you just outside the west gate. Once you've brought me the package safely to Caer Dunlon, you'll receive your full payment.""
Brother Teritus places a pouch of coins on the table. You can judge by the size of it and the coins peeking out that its easily 100 gold pieces. The idea seems to be that each of you will receive another 100 gold pieces once you've delivered the mysterious package awaiting you in Brell. Or that's typically how these things are handled in these parts. No small sum for delivering a letter and a package, though it's a three day journey by carriage to Brell and then another day and a half to Caer Dunlon.
The Speaker smiles, pushing the coins towards Fartok.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Brother Teritus claps his hands together at Oz's words.
"Excelent! And I trust that goes for each of you. Now what say we have a few drinks together, they have a wonderful dark ale here and the maiden in the corner knows a number of wonderfully haunting elvish ballads. You really don't expect to find such quality entertainment in a place like this..."
The Speaker's words are cut short by the appearance of two of Freeport's finest, a large, barrel chested constable by the name of Barrow and his considerably shorter and rail thin partner, a nasally man by the name of Pike. Both men are wearing the grey overcoats and black tricorn hats of the Freeport Militia.
Constable Pike says, in a rather obnoxiously high pitched whine, "We are 'ere seeking law breakers and enemies o' the crown. You'll kindly stay in yer seats and we'll make this as quick as possible."
Without turning, one of the men at the bar says, "What crown!? The king is dead, and his heirs with him!"
You notice the men have put on their hoods, but you're pretty sure it was the Tiefling who just spoke.
Unperturbed Constable Pike extends his neck and shouts, "Lord Faulkner reigns in Caer Dunlon by the will of the people and with the full blessing of the Hedron."
Constable Barrow steps forward, his hand on the hilt of his sword, "You there, show your face!"
The Tiefling turns suddenly and points a three foot long contraption of brass and iron at the guard. A moment later a thunderous boom rattles through the tavern as a gout of fire and smoke billow forth.
You watch as a chunk of plaster and stone crumbles from the wall mere inches from Barrow's head. Not waiting to see if his shot hit its target the men dash off towards the rear of the tavern as the shocked constables look on. Constable Pike has gone wide eyed and white as a ghost. Barrow trembles with rage, the blood rising in his face. "STOP IN THE NAME OF THE CROWN!"
Everyone roll Initiative and let me know what you're going to do. The two rabble rousers are making their escape with the Constables in pursuit. You don't immediately recognize them as Red Cloaks, although that's a definite possibility. Why the men are wanted is anyone's guess.
The sudden commotion has taken everyone in the tavern by surprise. Several frightened sailors have pushed away from their tables, clearly in shock. Others look on dumbfounded, pipes drooping from their gawking mouths as the cloaked men push past them, leaping over chairs and sliding across tables as they cut through the crowd. The considerably slower and more out of shape constables seem to be having difficulty navigating the maze of sailors, let alone catching up to the men.
Oz, you notice the men are making for a trap door at the rear of the tavern. The exasperated constables are shouting at the crowd. "Make way in the name of the crown!" The poor elf woman in the corner broke a lyre string and looks to be shaken pretty badly. Brother Teritus seems concerned but has not risen from his seat. He motions for you put put away the letter and the gold safely out of sight.
Never mind the previous (deleted) as I just reread the past section. 😋
Oz says to Teritus “we’ll deliver the letter, but scoundrels are a foot”. Oz motions to Fartok and points to the trap door and also gets up to give chase.
The two of you rise suddenly, and with some difficulty begin pushing your way through the crowd. You quickly realize that across the tables is the only way through, and so you leap from table to table, knocking cups of ale to the floor and drawing quite a bit of attention to yourselves. You're both at the back of the tavern just in time to see the two hooded men raise the hatch and drop into the trap door below. From the other end of the tavern you hear the constables shouting. "Someone stop those two! Halt in the name of the crown!"
Constable Barrow begins pushing sailors aside as he makes a path for himself. It's now or never. Down the trap door or give up the pursuit.
Brother Teritus looks to the two of you and shrugs before mouthing "See you in Caer Dunlon." You watch as he rises from the table and makes his way out of the tavern without so much as a second look from the Constables. Barrow and Pike have, however, noticed the two of you. "What's this now!? Who are you two? More rebels?" You could stick around to answer questions, but every moment you delay puts more distance between you and the escaping men...
With a conspicuous amount of hand waving and gesturing, Father Teritus manages to beckon the surly looking Dragonborn over to the table to take your orders. It seems there is no barmaid on duty. He glowers at you all.
"Ah! Yes. A cup of water, please, my good fellow. And... anyone else?"
Teritus pops a piece of sliced ham into his mouth, looking to each of you, his eyes wide with expectation as he chews.
"Just the water for now, then, if you please. We'll beckon if we need anything else."
Father Teritus gives the Dragonborn a warm smile, which is not returned. A moment later the barkeep returns with a cup of cloudy looking, stale water and plops it unceremoniously in front of Oz. The Speaker smiles at you all, quite content, and continues to do so for several moments before realizing you're all staring at him.
"Oh goodness, me! I quite forgot. I'm the one who summoned you all here. You must be wondering why."
Oz says “yes, yes. Please tell us”.
D&D since 1984
The Dragonborn plods off after another cup of water, shaking his head.
Father Teritus uses this moment to produce a rather nondescript envelope from his pocket. He lays the letter down on the table and slides it across to the center. There you notice an address marked.
"I would like the four of you to deliver this letter to Brell for me. Present the letter to the lady of the house at the address marked and she will present you with a package that you are to deliver to me in Caer Dunlon. That's it. Simplicity itself!"
May Oz do a check to see if he is lying or omitting something important?
D&D since 1984
Yes, roll me an Insight check.
7
D&D since 1984
Though you suspect it can't be as simple as delivering a letter, you don't get the impression that Father Teritus is lying. You've known him to be a man of his word, although he is fond of omissions. He has a knack for bringing together the right people to get a job done, and he can always be trusted for his discretion. If there is more to this letter, he isn't letting on what it could be.
Oz says “ok, I’m in”
D&D since 1984
Brother Teritus pushes the letter towards Oz.
"Keep this safe. The lady of the house will be expecting you. Give it to her and her alone. I've chosen each of you for a reason, and above all, I trust each one of you to do the right thing when the time comes. I can say no more. Ah, now lets see. Where did I put it."
He begins patting his robes as if he's lost something.
"It must be here somewhere..."
At last he remembers where he has hidden his coin pouch and produces it from a hidden pocket up his sleeve. "This is a down payment. It should be more than enough to get you to Brell. I've arranged transport for you, along with a driver. You'll find him along with his carriage awaiting you just outside the west gate. Once you've brought me the package safely to Caer Dunlon, you'll receive your full payment.""
Brother Teritus places a pouch of coins on the table. You can judge by the size of it and the coins peeking out that its easily 100 gold pieces. The idea seems to be that each of you will receive another 100 gold pieces once you've delivered the mysterious package awaiting you in Brell. Or that's typically how these things are handled in these parts. No small sum for delivering a letter and a package, though it's a three day journey by carriage to Brell and then another day and a half to Caer Dunlon.
The Speaker smiles, pushing the coins towards Fartok.
"I assume this is an agreeable sum?"
Brother Teritus claps his hands together at Oz's words.
"Excelent! And I trust that goes for each of you. Now what say we have a few drinks together, they have a wonderful dark ale here and the maiden in the corner knows a number of wonderfully haunting elvish ballads. You really don't expect to find such quality entertainment in a place like this..."
The Speaker's words are cut short by the appearance of two of Freeport's finest, a large, barrel chested constable by the name of Barrow and his considerably shorter and rail thin partner, a nasally man by the name of Pike. Both men are wearing the grey overcoats and black tricorn hats of the Freeport Militia.
Constable Pike says, in a rather obnoxiously high pitched whine, "We are 'ere seeking law breakers and enemies o' the crown. You'll kindly stay in yer seats and we'll make this as quick as possible."
Without turning, one of the men at the bar says, "What crown!? The king is dead, and his heirs with him!"
You notice the men have put on their hoods, but you're pretty sure it was the Tiefling who just spoke.
Unperturbed Constable Pike extends his neck and shouts, "Lord Faulkner reigns in Caer Dunlon by the will of the people and with the full blessing of the Hedron."
Constable Barrow steps forward, his hand on the hilt of his sword, "You there, show your face!"
The Tiefling turns suddenly and points a three foot long contraption of brass and iron at the guard. A moment later a thunderous boom rattles through the tavern as a gout of fire and smoke billow forth.
8
You watch as a chunk of plaster and stone crumbles from the wall mere inches from Barrow's head. Not waiting to see if his shot hit its target the men dash off towards the rear of the tavern as the shocked constables look on. Constable Pike has gone wide eyed and white as a ghost. Barrow trembles with rage, the blood rising in his face. "STOP IN THE NAME OF THE CROWN!"
Everyone roll Initiative and let me know what you're going to do. The two rabble rousers are making their escape with the Constables in pursuit. You don't immediately recognize them as Red Cloaks, although that's a definite possibility. Why the men are wanted is anyone's guess.
Oz rolls garbage as he was looking at the letter and thinking about the assignment. He rolled a 9.
D&D since 1984
The sudden commotion has taken everyone in the tavern by surprise. Several frightened sailors have pushed away from their tables, clearly in shock. Others look on dumbfounded, pipes drooping from their gawking mouths as the cloaked men push past them, leaping over chairs and sliding across tables as they cut through the crowd. The considerably slower and more out of shape constables seem to be having difficulty navigating the maze of sailors, let alone catching up to the men.
Oz, you notice the men are making for a trap door at the rear of the tavern. The exasperated constables are shouting at the crowd. "Make way in the name of the crown!" The poor elf woman in the corner broke a lyre string and looks to be shaken pretty badly. Brother Teritus seems concerned but has not risen from his seat. He motions for you put put away the letter and the gold safely out of sight.
I do that
D&D since 1984
Never mind the previous (deleted) as I just reread the past section. 😋
Oz says to Teritus “we’ll deliver the letter, but scoundrels are a foot”. Oz motions to Fartok and points to the trap door and also gets up to give chase.
D&D since 1984
The two of you rise suddenly, and with some difficulty begin pushing your way through the crowd. You quickly realize that across the tables is the only way through, and so you leap from table to table, knocking cups of ale to the floor and drawing quite a bit of attention to yourselves. You're both at the back of the tavern just in time to see the two hooded men raise the hatch and drop into the trap door below. From the other end of the tavern you hear the constables shouting. "Someone stop those two! Halt in the name of the crown!"
Constable Barrow begins pushing sailors aside as he makes a path for himself. It's now or never. Down the trap door or give up the pursuit.
Brother Teritus looks to the two of you and shrugs before mouthing "See you in Caer Dunlon." You watch as he rises from the table and makes his way out of the tavern without so much as a second look from the Constables. Barrow and Pike have, however, noticed the two of you. "What's this now!? Who are you two? More rebels?" You could stick around to answer questions, but every moment you delay puts more distance between you and the escaping men...