The Windhovers' Call

Xellos says to her, "We're old friends of Kempis and Sariel and they said it would be ok to meet them back here. May we just pass through quickly? Here, sorry for the misunderstanding."

He takes out a gold piece for both of the women and gives it to them.

Persuasion/Deception (both are +5): 10

The barmaid rolls her eyes a bit and shakes her head before saying, "'Old friends of Kempis.' Gah! How many times have I heard those words?! I don't care who you are or which door you use. Just get out of my kitchen! And leave the gold!" She then exits the kitchen and enters the main room of the tavern, apparently intent on delivering the food she's been holding. 

Xellos says nothing else and leaves the 2g on a table for her.

He exhales a sigh of relief then quickly says to Frandal, "Lead on...shall we be invisible or no?"

With a quick nod to the woman as she passes Frandal replies to Xellos. 

“ Now that’s was quick thinking!  And I don’t think so, we want to talk to them no to stalk them, don’t we?” He continues opening the door that leads outside and exiting the kitchen and looking for them. 

Xellos follows and says, "I've had to talk my way out of potential trouble a few times...plus no way am I doing her dishes."

Frandal and Xellos:

You exit The Dwarven Stout from the rear and directly in front of you, approximately fifty feet away, two mostly-silhouetted figures are standing at the street's edge, seemingly in conversation with one another. You're confident that they are Sariel and Kempis, the old dwarf. The body language of both indicates they are aware of the fact that you have just exited the tavern. The distance between you and the two heroes, along with the darkness, make it very difficult for you to read their facial expressions. Sariel draws her scimitar and hands it to Kempis. She then turns and barks a one word order into the darkness behind her. "Guards!"

Frandal raises his hands and says

"Please don't, we mean no harm. I am Frandal Silvereyes, Heir of the Silvereyes Clan, and my companions are Celebquesse " he points to the eagle perched in the near roof " and Xellos the Resourceful. " He doesn't moves towards them, neither retreat from the guards. " We are truly sorry to interrupt you, but we really needed to talk with you. We contendats at the conquest but we were concerned about the Windhovers that seems to be missing. And we wanted to offer our help in any way we can lend it. Can we talk please?"

If possible Xellos would like to aid Frandal "Your cook said we could pass through the kitchen, please hear us out for a moment. We mean no harm."

He whispers to Frandal as he puts his arm around his shoulder in a friendly manner, "In case I need to zap a touch spell on you at a moment's notice..."

Persuasion 15

Frandal and Xellos: 

Sariel and Kempis respond with silence, but you do hear the sound of running footfalls. From the darkness behind the two heroes, two Talisten guards appear (where they came from or what they were guarding you cannot tell, however). Kempis quickly says something to one of the guards before all four of them take a few steps toward you.

Sariel speaks. "Kempis, these two competed in the tournament today. That much is true. I cannot vow for their intentions, however." 

Kempis then takes the lead in the conversation. His voice is deep, with an authoritative air to it. He speaks slowly, as if he wishes to waste no words. "You mean no harm. You wish to talk. You offer your help." He pauses and then looks up at Celebquesse.  He strokes his beard and narrows his eyes as he looks at the two of you again. "For now I choose to take you at your word, strangers." He returns the scimitar to Sariel and takes a few more steps toward you. "Your concern is appreciated, and on behalf of Windhovers past and present I thank you. But for tonight, Windhover matters are just that: Windhover matters. Please enjoy the rest of your night, gentlemen, and I wish you the best of success in tomorrow's tournament games." 

Kempis then turns, dismisses the guards, and walks back to Sariel's side. 

"Well, what's happening here?"

 Arissa and Ozum: 

The drunk man, it seems, is making an effort to speak, but the hold person spell has reduced his vocalization to the level of incoherent grunts. The woman is sobbing and terribly distraught. Her attempt to explain the situation is so frequently interrupted by fits of crying and sniffling that you cannot fully grasp her meaning. She says things like "...had a nice dinner..." and "...bought me a necklace..." and "...too much ale..." and "...such a jealous man..." and "...said he'd kill me."

As she tells her story, you hear the sound of running feet and clanking steel. You realize the Talisten guard has been alerted and is running down the embankment to join you under the bridge. You see their torchlight before you see them. A total of four guards are on the scene. The superior of the four, looks at the two of you and gruffly asks, "Who can explain this?!"

"Hello, sir. We heard a shout and decided to help out. We don't really know the rest of the story yet."

"As you wish " says Frandal with a nod. "I am at the Singing Fire and started to worry when Thoradin didn't appeared last night. If the Windhover ever need us, they had just to call. It will be a honor." he ends looking at Sariel eyes and Kempis back. He nods again to her and leaves the alley rising his arm for the eagle to perch on it.

He doesn't look if Xellos follows him and he pretends to return to the Singing Fire and rest for the rest of the night, after speak a little bit with his new friend if he wants to join of course.

Arissa and Ozum: 

The distraught woman begins to rein in her emotions to some degree and retells the guard the series of events that led her to this place where she feared for her life. She planned to spend an evening with the man currently under Ozum's spell, and things began well but quickly deteriorated into too much ale, irrational jealously, and fierce anger. She concludes her tale by explaining that the two of you came to her rescue when all seemed lost. 

As she finishes her story, the Hold Person spell wears off. The drunk man makes a futile attempt to run past the guards, but they quickly subdue him and lead him away. 

One of the guards, clearly grateful for your act of bravery, thanks you and takes down your names, as well as the name of your lodging place. "In the off chance we need to follow up with you about what happened here tonight, " he explained. "Happy festival," he says as parts ways with you and heads toward the guard tower on the other side of the bridge. 

Ozum will nod at the guards, "Thank you for your quick response, we will be at the Donnybrook if you need us. Happy festival."

He will walk toward the distraught woman and gently say,  "Excuse me, miss. My name is Ozum and this is Arissa. Is there anyway when can walk you to tonight?"

Arissa and Ozum: 

She replies softly, still clearly shaken, "I'm Vani, and I'm staying at The Leaf and Burl. It's a few minutes from where we are now. Over the bridge and then a few buildings to the west. I'd be deeply grateful if the two of you'd walk along with me."

You cross over the Seabridge (the same bridge you crossed over after you entered the city yesterday) and turn to the right. Within two or three minutes you've reached an inn called The Leaf and Burl, where Vani tearfully hugs and thanks both of you for coming to her aid tonight. You watch her enter the inn, happy that her ordeal has come to an end, and then you wrap your cloaks around you as snugly as possible for the walk back to The Donnybrook. With each passing minute, the night air seems to be growing colder, and you're ready to be indoors near a fire. 

Before you begin to retrace your steps to walk eastward toward the Seabridge, you see two people who look very familiar. The eagle that accompanies one of them is your first clue that they are two of the competitors from today's tournament: Xellos and Frandal Silvereyes. The two of them are approximately 120 feet to the west of you and appear to be talking to one another near the front of a tavern. 

Xellos exhales a sigh of relief and walks along side Frandal "I think we got lucky there, but worth a try. Just so you know, we could have easily escaped if needed. hee hee"

“I have no doubt of it Xellos. “ replies Frandal smiling back “And yes, we got lucky but I am more worried now. Its obvious that something is happening, they were too jumpy, as if they were waiting to be attacked. You see, now I have truly motivation to probe myself tomorrow at the tournament. We have to win Xellos, we have to probe them that we are reliable and with skill so they call us for help. “ 

He takes a few more steps crossing the bridge.

”Do you ask yourself why I am so eager to help them? “ he scoffs “Easy Xellos. Look around you, remember the vibrant life of the city, the smiles and kindness of the twonspeople, the laughs of the children playing in the streets.” He moves his hands pointing at the closed merchant posts, or the square of the twon, or one tavern where music cames out to the night.  “Some could tell you that’s for all the money that they are going to make this days, but I say you that what we have found here is a precious gem that I’ve only encountered in a couple of places before. Peace, security, liberty, happiness. These are precius things that the people here enjoy, and they have to thank the Windhovers for that. It’s no small task to achieve such things for so many people, and it takes more than defeat one monster or a horde of them. It takes perseverance and wisdom and justice to lead the people all these years. That’s admirable Xellos, And I gladly help people like this.”

Ozum seeing these familiar figures will call out, "Happy festival! I believe I recognize your faces from the tournament today. What keeps you out so late tonight?" He will begin to approach warily since strange things and dangerous people have been out tonight. 

Xellos sort of trails off when listening to his friend's long speech, but nods along with him, "Well, you certainly seem capable of seeing the deeper wisdom behind things and I admire that quality. Me personally, I wouldn't know. I'm never in one place for long and unfortunately my pressing thoughts are usually more on self-preservation since most people expect the worst from someone they don't understand. I guess that's why I had a good feeling about you, no stranger outright greeted me entering a communal place like a tavern before. Though now that you mention it, I guess you are right that this place has a certain quality about it..."

As he is talking he sees the gnome from the tournament who stood up to the half-orc calling to them, "Oh, it's you. Out for an evening stroll? We just wanted to check out the bar before the tournament tomorrow, no need to be nervous. Um, what was your name again? I can't remember if you told us earlier."