Rely had never realized how enjoyable minstals were to have around. As he goes toward the room that rylef had prepared for he, he puts a massive hand on one of the old Wizards shoulders and looks down into his slightly red eyes.
"Uller is kind to bring you into my path once more old friend. Have a blessed night"
Then he goes to his room and enjoys the first night with a roof over his head that he has had in a fortnight. And the fist sleep on a real bed that he has had In well over a month.
Everyone heads to their respective rooms for the evening and gets whatever sleep they are able to. Rely finds the two mattresses in the small room cramped yet comfortable and a welcome change to a stable.
The sun rises in the morning and everyone finds their way down to the common room where a bright eyed and bushy tailed Rylef has breakfast and coffee already prepared. For the small amount of sleep she had in addition to her ordeal of the previous day it's remarkable how put together she appears to be.
After a hearty breakfast Rylef begins cleaning up and while doing so gives you directions to the nearby manor house.
"Omara is sure to call it a castle because it makes her feel like a big important woman. She's not so bad when you get to know her. Rough around the edges but a good friend and quite the fighter when pressed. Shes turned the Barons small guard into quite the efficient force. She means to keep him alive longer than the rest of them no matter what the cost. Keep that in mind when you there. Well you best get going if you want to be there in time! Have fun walking to the.... castle!"
The four of you setout where Rylef has directed with roughly a half an hour to spare before the meeting.
The dirt streets of Castor are slightly muddy from the rain the previous night but are easily navigable. Destin walks a little behind the rest of the group looking around the town for the first time in daylight.
The central square of the town has a small statue at the middle on top of a 4 foot pedestal. As you walk by you all look to see who it is.
Religion checks:
Rely (+2) = 7
Sue (-1) = 1
Destin (+2) = 17
Neb (+5) = 15
Neb and Destin see that it is a statue to Melora, the goddess of nature and small folk, perfect for this small forgotten village in the back of beyond.
"Ahhhhh Melora, the goddess of nature. She hates cities almost as much as you do, Rely, although not because she has a tendancy to drink half the wine in the place and then humiliate all the young lords at feats if strength and then piss for 21 minutes on the lawn of the magister's manse! By the by, have you been back to Water Deep since they chased us out? I keep meaning to get back. There's a widow there with hair so fair she makes me forget half my spells.... the half I haven't already forgot that is, he he he!"
Neb regards the statue, mutters an appropriate prayer of respect, horks a loogie and deposits it clumbsy at the feet of the statue, thereby giving some of his organic matter to feed the grass at her feet.
"hahahaha! That was a great week!!." Rely's hearty laugh seems to have a contagious effect. "Aye, i did make it back there about a month later. And the funniest thing happens to me when I did. The guards took me to the magister court. I was ready for all manner of trouble. But you could have knocked me over with a feather when the magister hisself comes out all smiles, and takes my hand a shakes it heartily. He all but threw a parade for me..... It seems that he had tried everything to get rid of the weeds on the south side of his manse. Well, a week after I watered that very lawn, the weeds had withered and all but died. And the grass was greener then ever. By the time I got there, there wasn't a weed in sight, And his gardeners were complaining about how often they had to mow the grass". Rely is laughing t so hard by this point that he has to wipe tears from his eyes.
As the group wounds their way through the town they find themselves approaching a small one story building with an open air forge on one side and a simple painted sign out front reading Imelen and Eris' Leather and Chain.
The blacksmith is just beginning to stoke the forge for the days work and doesn't take notice of the group. From behind it is clear to see this is the town blacksmith. Tall and broad shouldered with a narrow waist and long blond hair tied in a top knot on top they strike an imposing figure for anyone who hasn't spent the morning walking with Rely.
At the front step of the smithy is a small lean human man tending to a flower bed with a small child playing with a stick in the mud next to him. There are some flowers piled up next to the small boy as if he has been undoing all the work of the man.
"Papa look! Strangers! And they have weapons! Maybe they're gonna storm the castle! Is there gonna be a war!?!?"
Sue has been playing her flute quietly on the walk and nearing the boy and his father she smiles at the boy and sings in the tune she had just been playing:
"Aye fair lad there be not menace,
In our thoughts this day,
We've been but called,
By your master here,
For reason not could not say."
Then smiling warmly she plays a bit more on her flute, looks at the others in the group and then thinks aloud: "Though, to be honest, I just met these folks last night..." more flute music, "meh, they seem fine."
by this point rely has just started to calm down a bit, he is still laughing, but it is finally coming to an end. He hears what the boy says, sees the frightens look in the boys father's eyes, and his laughing re-doubles as he walks right past them on his way to the castle
As you round the corner of the smithy you get your first look of the barony castle of Castor.
The front gates stand closed before you set into the middle of a stone wall standing approximately 15 feet tall. The gates themselves some 12 feet apart and are oak with stuffed iron bands set 3 feet apart across it's expanse. Behind the wall is a tall house, not really a castle at all. For Rely and Neb who have traveled far and wide it is almost comical that someone could call this a castle at all without humour in their voice. The house is two stories of wood and stands on a slight rise behind the wall giving it a great view of the surrounding country. The trees have been cutback from the wall within a distance of 300 yards to disallow surprise attacks. Regardless of its simple construction you can tell that this house is built to be well defended and from the lack of stumps and appearance of the no man's land surrounding the wall it was built a long time ago indeed.
As you approach the wall you can see two faces looking down from above before one disappears and you hear some shouting from the compound. The gates are cracked open and you see before you in the morning sun Omara, captain of the guard.
"About time you showed up! Do they not teach you how to tell time or the importance of punctuality where you come from?" she says sternly looking between you. "How dare you keep Lord Brax waiting! You stand here by his grace and have the gall to treat him with this little respect!?"
Behind her you see the front door of the house crack open and a face peer out at and look at the front gates where Omara is yelling. It is a young face, younger than you thought,perhaps only 18 or so. Wisps of light brown hair are just starting to grow on his chin and a mop of dark hair is atop his narrow long head. He is pale and has a nervous appearance.
"Captain? What is happening? Are we under attack?" the boy nervously calls out.
The captain stops mid tirade and turns to look at the door before dropping into a bow and answering.
"My Lord these are the..... people... that are staying at the Broken Bow that you requested. I was just giving them instructions on respect and punctuality that I assume their elders never did. Would you like me to turn them away? I promise again that my men and I can do as you require and you do not need to involve such as these."
"No no no, you and the guards must remain here to protect the house. I need someone else to investigate and fate has delivered these adventurers at the perfect moment! Let them in. Please?" he adds sheepishly at the end as if unsure if he is allowed to give Omara instructions.
Sue bows to Lord Brax and puts her flute away, she would love to continue playing it but has gathered from Omara's demeanor that she probably wouldn't hesitate to destroy the treasured thing were Sue to embarrass her in front of her master.
"Pardon us, young Lord. We stopped to pay or respects to the lady of the woods. This is quite a fotress you'v built here. That woodwork is sublime, would I know the tradesman or is it a local fellow?"
Neb shuffles into the courtyard and inspects different bits of workmanship, nodding approvingly. He smiles toothily at the captain of the guard and squeezes pat her into the "castle".
Sue stares at Omara with a grin, awkwardly waiting for her to move.... when Omara remains in place Sue slips by her with the same polite grin. All this politeness is starting to wear on Sue, needless bigotry is so tiring.
You approach the house and enter the large double door. Lord Brax is waiting in the foyer with a fidgety air looking about nervously.
"Please come in, come in. Can I offer you anything? Tea? Water?" He asks looking around for a servant only to find an old shaky man waiting patiently beside him. "Oh Hogarth! Hello! Yes, drinks for our guests please. Tea and maybe a biscuit or three for everyone."
"Right away sir" Hogarth stutters and turns around and slowly makes his way back towards the kitchen. The fifteen foot walk takes him roughly fifteen minutes but rest assured the tea will be coming.
"Um...yes....um follow me if you would?" Lord Brax motions towards a door to the left of the foyer and begins moving that way himself. As he enters you see a finally furnished office with a large oak desk and a rather large bookshelf in one corner. He makes his way around the desk and sits behind it will motioning you to take the other seats facing him. On the desk is a small assortment of scrolls and a fine quill holder and ink bottle. Everything on the desk is of the finest quality except for one odd thing. An old battered grey goblet sits to one side of the desk in an almost revered position.
"Hi...um...hello! I'm Dustin. Brax....Lord Dustin darn it Lord Brax!" He splutters out. "How are you finding Castor? I know its small. Sorry about that. I mean it isn't my fault so I guess I dont need to apologize but I guess i'm the Baron now so maybe it is? I hear you are staying at the Bow? Isn't Rylef great? I love the mead and rabbit stew but I guess I wont get it anymore cause my father always said to 'Not intermingle with the commons as it will diminish you in their esteem' and then what they will think and act and" Looking about he stutters to a stop and takes a deep breath. "Sorry, if you can't tell I'm new to this whole Lord thing, only just this last week in fact. And the reason I'm now in this position is the reason I wanted to talk to you." He looks at all of you in turn and then closes his eyes and takes a deep steadying breath.
"Let me start at the beginning. My family founded this house and by extension Castor nearly 300 years ago. The plan was originally to only be a hunting lodge away from Emon so that my family could escape whenever they needed to, however, through a series of bad investments we quickly found this as our only home so made the best of the situation and decided to start calling ourselves Baron's and acting as local lords. The townspeople that slowly filtered in didn't seem to mind and didnt know any better so no one was worse for it and eventually the Tal'dorei's in Emon decided to make it official in order to collect the taxes and so everyone seemed happy. For about a hundred years everything was idyllic. Then we started looking into expanding our influence and began exploring the surrounding countryside. We should have left well enough alone."
"My ancestors eventually found a cave about 40 miles to the south in the slopes of the Daggerbay Mountains. He and his companions decided to explorer the cavern as a potential source of mining and thus was the downfall of our family secured. They found little of import at first but were encouraged by a slim silver vein in the cavern wall to explore further. As they went further in they found themselves leaving natural caverns and entering a man made structures. Determined to press on and justify expedition my ancestor forced his company onward. Straight into a horde of undead. They fought as bravely as possible and actually managed to destroy this force at the cost of several members of the expedition. But, by doing so they angered the master of the undead. He swept down on them in fury and wrath and destroyed them all until only my ancestor remained. I'm ashamed to say that he threw down his weapon and begged for his life. As his friends lay dead around him, he sobbed and pleaded for mercy. And for some reason, the mage granted it to him....Gods help me he granted the coward a cruel cruel mercy."
"You shall live fool. And spread my glory and knowledge of my greatness throughout your bloodline. Your house shall extend through the centuries!" The mage said and then began to laugh "But none shall live to see their thirty fifth year. None shall see their labors come to fruition and none will live to see their children's children. Now run little man and tell of how you fell before the might of Sordor the Mighty. Run!"
"And so he did. He ran home to Castor. But did not tell anyone of the curse. He told a fantastical tale of bravery and might and fallen friends and how he had conquered the cruel mountains all by himself. He began to believe it himself in fact. However, as he approached his thirty fifth birthday he took ill and thought again of the mage and decided to entrust the tale to his young son and his trusted manservant. He died shortly afterwards three days before his birthday. And thus has the tale and the curse passed down from father to son for 200 years. And none has lived to see thirty five. All grow ill. Nothing has been found to extend their life past the day the curse set and no cleric has been able to lift the curse."
"My father.....he died a week ago, four days before 35. And I'm....terrified." He finishes meekly. "And then I heard about adventurers in the town and thought, maybe you could...help? Maybe find the mage or his cave and find a way to remove the curse? Please?
"Aye, aye, aye. I thought I smelled a curse the moment i set foot in this little town. A curse is hard to smell, mind you but once you have a nose for it there's no mistaking. Smells like cat piss and unwashed laundry. I thought it was just that batty woman living in the ruins of a covered wagon on the south edge of town but ilI see now that it's a curse plain and true."
Neb pauses as he notices a familiare book on the shelf. Takes it, leafs through a few pages, frowns, turns the book upside down, frowns again, turns it back, mumbles under his breath a bit, smiles, snaps it shut and looks up. To his suprise he finds everyone looking at him expectantly.
"Eh? What, what? ....Oh, yes! A curse! Tricky business to be sure." He absently places the book in his satchel amd approaches the desk. "And the curse of a necromamcer, no less. Foul, foul. Never loked Necromancers myself. I've never met one that wasn't a ponce or a creep, and I've met plenty that were both. And Rely you've got some sort of abbhorance for them, haven't you? Something to do with your betrothed wasn't it? Anyway, your left eye is doing that twitchy thing it does whenever we've met one. Sue, play something soothing for gods'sake before he bursts a blood vessle!"
Neb suddely notices the goblet and forgets everything else. He puts his face close and inspects it with squinting eyes. He tentatively sniffs at it, walks around the desk, observing it from other angles.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Wisdom: 10
As you look at the goblet you see that is almost exceedingly normal. There are no runes or markings of any kind and nothing about it reminds you of any religious iconography that you have ever experienced or heard of before. It is old, however, yet well cared for. As you give it a smell you notice slight traces of wine and a metallic scent that you don't recognize.
The grin that seems to be ever present on rely's face is still there, but it is slightly smaller, and accompanied with his now cold and hard eyes, it is obvious there is no mirth in it. "curses, curses are more of nebs thing. But necromancers,.....aye necromancers I can handle." The last is said with an intensity that reveals a fierce cold rage.
Rely had never realized how enjoyable minstals were to have around. As he goes toward the room that rylef had prepared for he, he puts a massive hand on one of the old Wizards shoulders and looks down into his slightly red eyes.
"Uller is kind to bring you into my path once more old friend. Have a blessed night"
Then he goes to his room and enjoys the first night with a roof over his head that he has had in a fortnight. And the fist sleep on a real bed that he has had In well over a month.
Everyone heads to their respective rooms for the evening and gets whatever sleep they are able to. Rely finds the two mattresses in the small room cramped yet comfortable and a welcome change to a stable.
The sun rises in the morning and everyone finds their way down to the common room where a bright eyed and bushy tailed Rylef has breakfast and coffee already prepared. For the small amount of sleep she had in addition to her ordeal of the previous day it's remarkable how put together she appears to be.
After a hearty breakfast Rylef begins cleaning up and while doing so gives you directions to the nearby manor house.
"Omara is sure to call it a castle because it makes her feel like a big important woman. She's not so bad when you get to know her. Rough around the edges but a good friend and quite the fighter when pressed. Shes turned the Barons small guard into quite the efficient force. She means to keep him alive longer than the rest of them no matter what the cost. Keep that in mind when you there. Well you best get going if you want to be there in time! Have fun walking to the.... castle!"
The four of you setout where Rylef has directed with roughly a half an hour to spare before the meeting.
The dirt streets of Castor are slightly muddy from the rain the previous night but are easily navigable. Destin walks a little behind the rest of the group looking around the town for the first time in daylight.
The central square of the town has a small statue at the middle on top of a 4 foot pedestal. As you walk by you all look to see who it is.
Religion checks:
Rely (+2) = 7
Sue (-1) = 1
Destin (+2) = 17
Neb (+5) = 15
Neb and Destin see that it is a statue to Melora, the goddess of nature and small folk, perfect for this small forgotten village in the back of beyond.
I ignore the statue , and continue on to the "castle"
"Ahhhhh Melora, the goddess of nature. She hates cities almost as much as you do, Rely, although not because she has a tendancy to drink half the wine in the place and then humiliate all the young lords at feats if strength and then piss for 21 minutes on the lawn of the magister's manse! By the by, have you been back to Water Deep since they chased us out? I keep meaning to get back. There's a widow there with hair so fair she makes me forget half my spells.... the half I haven't already forgot that is, he he he!"
Neb regards the statue, mutters an appropriate prayer of respect, horks a loogie and deposits it clumbsy at the feet of the statue, thereby giving some of his organic matter to feed the grass at her feet.
"Let's see this castle!"
"hahahaha! That was a great week!!." Rely's hearty laugh seems to have a contagious effect. "Aye, i did make it back there about a month later. And the funniest thing happens to me when I did. The guards took me to the magister court. I was ready for all manner of trouble. But you could have knocked me over with a feather when the magister hisself comes out all smiles, and takes my hand a shakes it heartily. He all but threw a parade for me..... It seems that he had tried everything to get rid of the weeds on the south side of his manse. Well, a week after I watered that very lawn, the weeds had withered and all but died. And the grass was greener then ever. By the time I got there, there wasn't a weed in sight, And his gardeners were complaining about how often they had to mow the grass". Rely is laughing t so hard by this point that he has to wipe tears from his eyes.
As the group wounds their way through the town they find themselves approaching a small one story building with an open air forge on one side and a simple painted sign out front reading Imelen and Eris' Leather and Chain.
The blacksmith is just beginning to stoke the forge for the days work and doesn't take notice of the group. From behind it is clear to see this is the town blacksmith. Tall and broad shouldered with a narrow waist and long blond hair tied in a top knot on top they strike an imposing figure for anyone who hasn't spent the morning walking with Rely.
At the front step of the smithy is a small lean human man tending to a flower bed with a small child playing with a stick in the mud next to him. There are some flowers piled up next to the small boy as if he has been undoing all the work of the man.
"Papa look! Strangers! And they have weapons! Maybe they're gonna storm the castle! Is there gonna be a war!?!?"
Sue has been playing her flute quietly on the walk and nearing the boy and his father she smiles at the boy and sings in the tune she had just been playing:
"Aye fair lad there be not menace,
In our thoughts this day,
We've been but called,
By your master here,
For reason not could not say."
Then smiling warmly she plays a bit more on her flute, looks at the others in the group and then thinks aloud: "Though, to be honest, I just met these folks last night..." more flute music, "meh, they seem fine."
by this point rely has just started to calm down a bit, he is still laughing, but it is finally coming to an end. He hears what the boy says, sees the frightens look in the boys father's eyes, and his laughing re-doubles as he walks right past them on his way to the castle
As you round the corner of the smithy you get your first look of the barony castle of Castor.
The front gates stand closed before you set into the middle of a stone wall standing approximately 15 feet tall. The gates themselves some 12 feet apart and are oak with stuffed iron bands set 3 feet apart across it's expanse. Behind the wall is a tall house, not really a castle at all. For Rely and Neb who have traveled far and wide it is almost comical that someone could call this a castle at all without humour in their voice. The house is two stories of wood and stands on a slight rise behind the wall giving it a great view of the surrounding country. The trees have been cutback from the wall within a distance of 300 yards to disallow surprise attacks. Regardless of its simple construction you can tell that this house is built to be well defended and from the lack of stumps and appearance of the no man's land surrounding the wall it was built a long time ago indeed.
As you approach the wall you can see two faces looking down from above before one disappears and you hear some shouting from the compound. The gates are cracked open and you see before you in the morning sun Omara, captain of the guard.
"About time you showed up! Do they not teach you how to tell time or the importance of punctuality where you come from?" she says sternly looking between you. "How dare you keep Lord Brax waiting! You stand here by his grace and have the gall to treat him with this little respect!?"
Behind her you see the front door of the house crack open and a face peer out at and look at the front gates where Omara is yelling. It is a young face, younger than you thought,perhaps only 18 or so. Wisps of light brown hair are just starting to grow on his chin and a mop of dark hair is atop his narrow long head. He is pale and has a nervous appearance.
"Captain? What is happening? Are we under attack?" the boy nervously calls out.
The captain stops mid tirade and turns to look at the door before dropping into a bow and answering.
"My Lord these are the..... people... that are staying at the Broken Bow that you requested. I was just giving them instructions on respect and punctuality that I assume their elders never did. Would you like me to turn them away? I promise again that my men and I can do as you require and you do not need to involve such as these."
"No no no, you and the guards must remain here to protect the house. I need someone else to investigate and fate has delivered these adventurers at the perfect moment! Let them in. Please?" he adds sheepishly at the end as if unsure if he is allowed to give Omara instructions.
Sue bows to Lord Brax and puts her flute away, she would love to continue playing it but has gathered from Omara's demeanor that she probably wouldn't hesitate to destroy the treasured thing were Sue to embarrass her in front of her master.
"Pardon us, young Lord. We stopped to pay or respects to the lady of the woods. This is quite a fotress you'v built here. That woodwork is sublime, would I know the tradesman or is it a local fellow?"
Neb shuffles into the courtyard and inspects different bits of workmanship, nodding approvingly. He smiles toothily at the captain of the guard and squeezes pat her into the "castle".
"Come along, let's not keep the Lord waiting!"
Following neb's lead, rely also pushes past Omara, smiling broadly at what seems to be a joke that no-one but him knows.
Sue stares at Omara with a grin, awkwardly waiting for her to move.... when Omara remains in place Sue slips by her with the same polite grin. All this politeness is starting to wear on Sue, needless bigotry is so tiring.
Rely is amazed at how long it takes to get from the gate to the castle
You approach the house and enter the large double door. Lord Brax is waiting in the foyer with a fidgety air looking about nervously.
"Please come in, come in. Can I offer you anything? Tea? Water?" He asks looking around for a servant only to find an old shaky man waiting patiently beside him. "Oh Hogarth! Hello! Yes, drinks for our guests please. Tea and maybe a biscuit or three for everyone."
"Right away sir" Hogarth stutters and turns around and slowly makes his way back towards the kitchen. The fifteen foot walk takes him roughly fifteen minutes but rest assured the tea will be coming.
"Um...yes....um follow me if you would?" Lord Brax motions towards a door to the left of the foyer and begins moving that way himself. As he enters you see a finally furnished office with a large oak desk and a rather large bookshelf in one corner. He makes his way around the desk and sits behind it will motioning you to take the other seats facing him. On the desk is a small assortment of scrolls and a fine quill holder and ink bottle. Everything on the desk is of the finest quality except for one odd thing. An old battered grey goblet sits to one side of the desk in an almost revered position.
"Hi...um...hello! I'm Dustin. Brax....Lord Dustin darn it Lord Brax!" He splutters out. "How are you finding Castor? I know its small. Sorry about that. I mean it isn't my fault so I guess I dont need to apologize but I guess i'm the Baron now so maybe it is? I hear you are staying at the Bow? Isn't Rylef great? I love the mead and rabbit stew but I guess I wont get it anymore cause my father always said to 'Not intermingle with the commons as it will diminish you in their esteem' and then what they will think and act and" Looking about he stutters to a stop and takes a deep breath. "Sorry, if you can't tell I'm new to this whole Lord thing, only just this last week in fact. And the reason I'm now in this position is the reason I wanted to talk to you." He looks at all of you in turn and then closes his eyes and takes a deep steadying breath.
"Let me start at the beginning. My family founded this house and by extension Castor nearly 300 years ago. The plan was originally to only be a hunting lodge away from Emon so that my family could escape whenever they needed to, however, through a series of bad investments we quickly found this as our only home so made the best of the situation and decided to start calling ourselves Baron's and acting as local lords. The townspeople that slowly filtered in didn't seem to mind and didnt know any better so no one was worse for it and eventually the Tal'dorei's in Emon decided to make it official in order to collect the taxes and so everyone seemed happy. For about a hundred years everything was idyllic. Then we started looking into expanding our influence and began exploring the surrounding countryside. We should have left well enough alone."
"My ancestors eventually found a cave about 40 miles to the south in the slopes of the Daggerbay Mountains. He and his companions decided to explorer the cavern as a potential source of mining and thus was the downfall of our family secured. They found little of import at first but were encouraged by a slim silver vein in the cavern wall to explore further. As they went further in they found themselves leaving natural caverns and entering a man made structures. Determined to press on and justify expedition my ancestor forced his company onward. Straight into a horde of undead. They fought as bravely as possible and actually managed to destroy this force at the cost of several members of the expedition. But, by doing so they angered the master of the undead. He swept down on them in fury and wrath and destroyed them all until only my ancestor remained. I'm ashamed to say that he threw down his weapon and begged for his life. As his friends lay dead around him, he sobbed and pleaded for mercy. And for some reason, the mage granted it to him....Gods help me he granted the coward a cruel cruel mercy."
"You shall live fool. And spread my glory and knowledge of my greatness throughout your bloodline. Your house shall extend through the centuries!" The mage said and then began to laugh "But none shall live to see their thirty fifth year. None shall see their labors come to fruition and none will live to see their children's children. Now run little man and tell of how you fell before the might of Sordor the Mighty. Run!"
"And so he did. He ran home to Castor. But did not tell anyone of the curse. He told a fantastical tale of bravery and might and fallen friends and how he had conquered the cruel mountains all by himself. He began to believe it himself in fact. However, as he approached his thirty fifth birthday he took ill and thought again of the mage and decided to entrust the tale to his young son and his trusted manservant. He died shortly afterwards three days before his birthday. And thus has the tale and the curse passed down from father to son for 200 years. And none has lived to see thirty five. All grow ill. Nothing has been found to extend their life past the day the curse set and no cleric has been able to lift the curse."
"My father.....he died a week ago, four days before 35. And I'm....terrified." He finishes meekly. "And then I heard about adventurers in the town and thought, maybe you could...help? Maybe find the mage or his cave and find a way to remove the curse? Please?
"Aye, aye, aye. I thought I smelled a curse the moment i set foot in this little town. A curse is hard to smell, mind you but once you have a nose for it there's no mistaking. Smells like cat piss and unwashed laundry. I thought it was just that batty woman living in the ruins of a covered wagon on the south edge of town but ilI see now that it's a curse plain and true."
Neb pauses as he notices a familiare book on the shelf. Takes it, leafs through a few pages, frowns, turns the book upside down, frowns again, turns it back, mumbles under his breath a bit, smiles, snaps it shut and looks up. To his suprise he finds everyone looking at him expectantly.
"Eh? What, what? ....Oh, yes! A curse! Tricky business to be sure." He absently places the book in his satchel amd approaches the desk. "And the curse of a necromamcer, no less. Foul, foul. Never loked Necromancers myself. I've never met one that wasn't a ponce or a creep, and I've met plenty that were both. And Rely you've got some sort of abbhorance for them, haven't you? Something to do with your betrothed wasn't it? Anyway, your left eye is doing that twitchy thing it does whenever we've met one. Sue, play something soothing for gods'sake before he bursts a blood vessle!"
Neb suddely notices the goblet and forgets everything else. He puts his face close and inspects it with squinting eyes. He tentatively sniffs at it, walks around the desk, observing it from other angles.
I'd like to do a wisdom/religion check on the goblet if possible.
Wisdom: 10
As you look at the goblet you see that is almost exceedingly normal. There are no runes or markings of any kind and nothing about it reminds you of any religious iconography that you have ever experienced or heard of before. It is old, however, yet well cared for. As you give it a smell you notice slight traces of wine and a metallic scent that you don't recognize.
The grin that seems to be ever present on rely's face is still there, but it is slightly smaller, and accompanied with his now cold and hard eyes, it is obvious there is no mirth in it.
"curses, curses are more of nebs thing. But necromancers,.....aye necromancers I can handle." The last is said with an intensity that reveals a fierce cold rage.
Also I would like to do a insight check