Heroes of Augera - campaign thread

"Not our cart. Would have told you if it was." Thurodim confirmed with a grunt as he left after Mala.

Faera listens to the conversation and before she gets up as well, she adds halfway quietly, "The carriage was gone before the sun rose this morning."

She then stands up and joins Mala and Thurodim.  "Shall we try and help these tailors?  They seem to be good people and it isn't right that their horse was stolen."

Mala glances back at Thurodim. "You checked on the cart this morning? You know it isn't ours?" Then with Faera's reply, she looks curiously at the elf. "And you were out and about before sunrise were you?"  She continues to give the woman a look of suspicion. 

At Mala's initial question towards them, Darriell answers "Luca is one of our horses, her and Carola pull our wagon." "Will you stop fraternising?!" interrupts Lornan. "Luca is an excellent dray, easily worth 70 stars. It would be a great loss to the Guild if she were never to be retrieved. For now, your horse Fable will take her place, and you will ride with Waldemar. Once we arrive at Fort Imma I will have to lodge a report with Commander Landgrave, though to hear Housta talk I am not holding out much hope." Turning to Verity he continues "And if she is not recovered, we shall be sending you an invoice for the full value of our horse, and for any loss of earnings. The lack of security here is simply shocking! A troll attack followed by thievery? Simply outrageous!" Fuming, he gestures to the other two in his party, "Come, we must make haste. Gather your belongings, we leave immediately." The three of them make their way upstairs while Verity apologises and begs that Lornan reconsider, to no avail.

"Oh! Well, I don't need 8 hours of sleep, so.. sometimes I take a brisk walk in the morning.  I noticed there were less carts there then when we fought the troll last night"  Faera answers Mala before quickly turning away to the ruckus of the tailors and Verity.

She feels bad for the halfling, wasn't her fault those women felt the need to steal.  Even after her friends offered to help.  "What do you think Lornan means 'to hear Housta talk' about Landgrave?  Either way.." she pauses then looks to Ghurr, "What do you think, light bringer?  Should we help these men that are now in a tirade or head on to Soft's Rest where we are needed?"

Ghurr looks around to Faera, happy to see someone else doesn't understand what the others were talking about.

"Losing horse or wagon make life harder but many worse things in world. Try blame Verity not good." Ghurr says. "People die in Soft's Rest. That is where we needed. If we find stolen horse on way we rescue."

Mala had watched Faera closely as she explained about being out and about earlier.  She seemed satisfied with the response.  

"Given Baron Housta's apparent dislike of Commander Landgrave, Lornan likely has the impression that lodging a complaint will be met with incompetence," Mala says in response to Faera's comment. "As for helping these people, I am sorry for their situation, but I think we should move on to Soft's Rest." She then quickly adds, "Perhaps it would be different if we were headed the other direction." She glances towards the stairs where the group disappeared to. "They don't seem to be looking for help anyway."

"Anyhow, I think it is time we get on our way. Everyone had their fill?  Think I'll head out to see how preparations are going with our cart," Mala says as she purposefully heads for the door and out into the street to find the cart. 

At Mala's question, Thurodim just shrugs and grunts, motioning to the men as they make it clear that it was their cart that was stolen.
The half-orc didn't quite see that this was their business to help them now and simply nodded as Ghurr and Mala suggested they should continue to Soft's Rest, quickly finishing up his breakfast by chewing down another meaty sausage before collecting his gear by his chair and standing up with another grunt, ready to leave.

Breakfast eaten and enjoyed, despite the interruption, you all return to your rooms to collect your belongings, then back outside saying your goodbyes to Verity on the way. Outside your can see clearly that your own cart is still present, and Diggory has hitched the horses to it. You are just in time to see the Tailors' Guild merchants making their way out into the road and turning right towards Imma. 

Your own path leads the opposite direction, and having taken your seat in the cart, or walking alongside it, Diggory turns you left towards Soft's Rest. The morning mist clears quickly in the spring sunlight. It's still a little cold, but less grey than yesterday. It looks like you're in for a lovely day.

[Time for RP/chatter]

A few hours into your journey the road starts turning inland, not sharply but enough to take it further away from the cliff by about half a mile at its furthest point. Those of you with sharp eyes are able to make out why - gliding around above the cliff edge you can make out humanoid shapes, and those with sharp ears can make out a screeching carrying on the wind. A Harpy nest, presumably a larger one for the path to have been diverted so. If they see you they don't bother you - your road must be too far from their comfort zone. Eventually the road turns back towards the cliffs a little, though it doesn't fully run alongside it in the way it does nearer Fort Imma. 

[Available RP time here too]

Today's journey is a little longer than it took you to reach the Eagle's Flight, and after about 7 hours you crest one of the low, gently rolling hills that line the cliff coast here and look down on a small town. You and it are around a quarter mile from the cliffs, and you can see from here that the woodland to the north comes a little closer here than it has done so far, blending into a patchwork of farmland which becomes the town. Thin ribbons of smoke rise from a number of chimneys.

Entering the town you can see a few people milling about, always in pairs, or threes, and they give you a furtive look at you drive past them. You pass by a few houses, the stone walls extending into low boundaries of vegetable plots, before you enter an open square, near one end of which stands an old statute, and at the other a slightly grander building which you can see is a temple, a banner showing a sheaf of wheat with a rose growing from the centre, the emblem of Chauntea for those who know these things. The town square is quiet, only two or three market stalls packing up at the end of the day, when there is space for at least a dozen.

Diggory immediately turns left off the square, as on the corner is a large building with a stable and courtyard behind it off the road. A sign swings in the breeze which bears an etching of a tree, and the words "The Watchman".

Anything people want to do before you enter?

(Apologies that this map of Soft's Rest is unfinished, it's had to go on the back burner but hopefully it gives you a good enough idea.)

Thurodim would walk briskly alongside the cart, occasionally glancing out at sea as a ship passes by. He doesn't say much but at one point he comments on a passing ship to Mala.

As they turn away from the sea, hearing the screeching from the harpies, the massive half-orc would quickly check he had enough cheese to withstand another enthralling song.

"You can almost smell the fear in this town." Thurodim grunts as you enter Soft's Rest, following along to the tavern The Watchman, ready to head inside as the others are.

(Map looks great EMIW :-)

Ghurr looks around the town square, where the statue is before entering the tavern. He's looking for any signs of trouble or anyone watching their arrival - Perception if needed: 19  

He walks over to the merchants packing up.

"Hello," Ghurr says to them. "What were you selling? Have good business today?" 

Mala spends most of her time riding with the wagon.  But now and then, if she starts to feel restless, she jumps out to walk along with Thurondim for a bit. She's walking with him as they get to Soft's Rest. "I'm sure they're just being wary. And rightfully so," she says in response to the half-orc's comment. "Let's get inside." 

Thurodim let out a grunt and nodded, following Mala inside the Watchman. There was certainly something to be said about being wary, but this was no way of living a free life. The massive half-orc felt all the more reason to deal with this killer in order to give these people back the life they deserved.

Ghurr

A short human male is focussed on stacking boxes onto the back of a small hand cart. At your initial greeting he looks up at you and gives a little "Agh!" in surprise, but as you simply continue with your question he relaxes and answers "Uh, pastries, pies. Slow day though." He gestures at the boxes and trays he hasn't yet packed away. "You want one? Still mostly fresh." Clearly his initial shock at being in the presence of a Bugbear has been overridden by his entrepreneurial spirit.

Diggory turns to those still in or accompanying the cart "You all head in, I'll join you once I've stabled the horses. Let's hope there's no trolls eh!" and he chuckles gently. As is so often the case, Diggory has taken the course of laughing about his harrowing experience, otherwise he doubtless would still be shaking, and those of you with good insight can see that the laughter is a little forced.

"If there are trolls in the stable, come get us and we will kill it." Thurodim rumbles humorlessly as he follows Mala inside the tavern.

Inside, the tavern is surprisingly busy. Almost every table and chair is taken, and you have difficulty finding somewhere to sit. Despite this the place is fairly quiet, people don't seem to have any inclination towards the usual sort of tavern chatter and rowdiness. 

You manage to scrape enough chairs together around a small table. As with most of places in this part of the world the patrons here are a mix of humans, halflings and gnomes, with a few half-elves thrown in. They nurse their drinks and talk quietly to each other. Taking a closer look may indicate if they are townsfolk or fellow travellers.

You get a few looks when you first walk in and as you gather chairs, but people soon lose interest. A portly male half-elf soon makes his way over to you. "Travelers are you?" He asks. "Need rooms?"

As they enter the town, Faera watches as Ghurr approaches some of the merchants.  In the meantime, she tells Oliver to perch on top of the statue, keep an eye on things while they head into the tavern to find out what is going on.

As she enters, Faera is surprised to see so many people there.  True, they were quieter than a typical tavern, but she expected most to be holed up in their homes with the rumors they had been hearing.

Once they find their seats and the half-elf heads over, "Yes, we're travelers, and probably do need rooms, but can you point the way to Mayor Blackbarrel's house?  Oh yes, and a round of ale for my friends here."

Thurodim awkwardly moves his massive frame between the tables and chairs before finding an empty seat at the table, sitting down with his chair giving off an ominous creaking sound. He sighs a breath of relief and smiles as the chair doesn't collapse under his weight. He nods appreciatively at Faera as she orders a round of ale, then looking around the place to see if anyone seems to pay special attention to them.

Perception: 20

Mala takes a seat, nodding her head towards Faera as well. "Thank you for the ale. I hope we don't have to wait until morning to see the mayor." She glances around the place is well. "It's certainly a somber atmosphere in here." 

Ghurr looks at the pies and smiles.

He looks at the coins in his pouch and nods.

"How much, all of them?" Ghurr asks, then as he looks around the square he asks. "No people. All scared? You know why?"