"Hi, it's Reed and Nib Underbough," Reed says, then looks behind him. "And friends. Real friends."
He looks up and down the road.
"You're in there by yourself, aren't you?" Reed says. "Your mom, Alba, was taken, wasn't she? We're here to to get her back. We're here to get everyone back. But we need your help first."
Corlith follows Reed around like a tourist, nodding appreciatively at the sights as their guide mentions them. When they get to the Underbough home, he accepts Nibs offer of food, but asks for only something that can be eaten on the move.
When Fisk suggests that he stay put, he looks at him for a moment considering the request.
"I think that might be a good idea. You should do that. Assuming you are willing to leave the book that will get us into Candlekeep with Reed for safe keeping? We wouldn't want something happening to you whilst we were away dealing with this situation and lose our entrance fee", he says matter of factly, leaving it slightly ambiguous as to whether he was worried about Fisk absconding or bandits finding him.
Once Fisk has decided what he will do, he follows Reed and Nib, and as requested stands back and lets Reed do the talking. He does reach out and lay a hand on his shoulder as they walk, offering some help focussing before the halfling steps up to the doorway.
Fisk shrugs, digs the book out of his pack and hands it over to Reed. He then starts digging around in the pantry looking for some more food.
After a pause at the Longglade door once Reed speaks to the girl beyond the door, the door opens a tiny crack and an eye peeks out, "Reed? Nib? It's really you?" confirming for herself that it is indeed the halflings she knows, she opens the door a bit more, but looks at the others with a bit of alarm. "They are your friends? Who are they?"
Corlith attempts a smile as well, not knowing how this halfling settlement viewed tieflings.
"And I am Corlith. We are here to help you and your family. And all the families in Thornvalley in fact", he says as softly as he can, so as not to frighten her.
Roo follows along, having left Glory of Morning and his new friend, Matilda, behind with Fisk...though after a proper warning that they better be in as good of condition when he returns as they were when he left.
When the meek voice comes out of the crack in the door, Roo steps forward fluffing and preening, his chest out to show off the beautiful set of armor that he is wearing (which is, unfortunately, still stained with blood that he hasn't cleaned off...).
"I am Roo' Stor, kind sir! We are here to beat these evil children that have taken your mothers! I assure you that we buck come with the loftiest credentials! Virro, if you would, show them the finger collection. I think it shows exactly how qualified we are."
Virro digs around in his pack, having taken the two pouches of fingers before they left. He couldn’t just leave them behind, he was so proud of them. And now, it all works out. He does have them! With a satisfied look on his face, he brings out the two pouches and loosens the strings cinching them shut, and fingers, thumbs, and other things are visible, almost looking like they are trying to crawl and finger their way out of the two pouches. “It’s true! See! We are sooooo qualified! Where are those naughty miners, anyway? They might have smaller fingers, I think I can fit many more in here…”. He looks up and puffs his chest out, slightly.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
"Those fingers all belonged to very bad people," Reed says. "Without them, they can't do any more bad things. And like they said, we're going to make sure the miners can't do any more bad things too."
Reed introduces the others who haven't had a chance to introduce themselves first then turns back to to the kid.
"Are any of the bad people in the village? Or are they all at the camp?" Reed asks.
Persuasion if needed to keep the kid calm and believing these unorthodox heroes are friends: 13
Corlith inwardly sighs at the assistance that Roo and Virro provide, and points towards Reed, creating an aroma of lavender around him that he hopes will help calm the child.
The girl starts opening the door a bit to Archie and Corlith, but her eyes go wide at Roo and Virro's declarations and closes the door to the tiniest of cracks. "Are.. are those real fingers?!" she squeaks in an even higher voice than before, her fear transparent.
But her pull for someone to help, someone familiar and seeing Reed and Nib here with their collection of odd friends, she lets out a long breath and steels her small resolve. Opening the door so you can see all of her, she replies, "The bad people walk the roads looking for more, volunteers," she spits that word out, "but they stay at camp." She takes another breath, then opens the door to let everyone in, "Oh.. and my name is Cherry."
"cherry we're coming in just so that the bad people don't see us and want us to volunteer too, then we can talk safely about getting everyone back okay?" Archie tries to be as gentle as possible as she addresses cherry and ushers everyone in quickly.
"Hi Cherry," Reed says once inside and then introduces her to the flying cat, offering Cherry a treat she can give the tressym. "This is Slobberchops."
He looks around the entry way for sign of anyone else before turning back to Cherry.
"Do the bad people come regularly? Maybe early morning or late at night?"
Corlith also enters the house, giving Cherry a bow as he does so.
"You have a very nice house, Cherry. Is there anyone else home? Or any pets of your own?", he asks as he looks around the rooms close to the front door.
Cherry seems a bit nervous about letting you all in to the house, but as Reed introduces her to Slobberchops she beams. Taking the treat from Reed she gingerly feeds it to the tressym who takes it pretty gingerly for a winged cat his age. Licking his chops he looks at her for more.
"I don't know?" Cherry answers Reed, "I try to stay away from outside and the windows. I just needed water." Looking around the kitchen area you are in, it is in complete disarray. Food scraps are everywhere and Slobberchops heads over to start cleanup. The table is a mess with clothes, scraps of papers, random bits of things and underneath it on the side is the bucket of water she was just carrying. Cupboard doors are left open, food seems to have been knocked over and spilling out, dishes piled in the sink...
Cherry starts playing with her hair and looking at her feet, "No, its just me. Pops was taken first to volunteer, then mum. We don't have any pets." and she smiles at Slobberchops again. And then looks over at Roo with a concerned look on her face, obvious that she has no idea what to think of him.
Reed looks around at the mess, and at Slobberchops cleaning up.
"Slobby's not going to be able to fly if he keeps his up," Reed says. He thinks for a moment then looks over at Nib. "Do you know where the others are hiding? We can take you and Cherry there while we go scout out the camp."
Wilfred stays back, quiet. He is deep in thought. As they enter the brewery, there are smells. Familiar, but different. But quiet, so quiet. "Hmm?" He looks into a corner as if he heard something, but nothing. It was his imagination.
He notices the others heading to a house. He follows, but stays back. He hears the little girl. Hmm, he probably still has a little trinket he carved in his pack. When the door opens....
There's she is, little Sophia. What she's doing, that's not home. Why is she here. He's about to take a step forward... when he sees Cherry. He drops the wooden doll. "Oh..... oh." He takes a step back. "I... I'm sorry... I can't... I need... I'll be..." He turns, and there's Eliza with Sogren on her shoulders, heading behind the farm across the way. "No... That can't be..." Without a thought, Wilfred starts to sprint behind the building (Building 11)....
Archie sees the state of the kitchen and then sees the state of the child. Deciding that she's more equipped to handle the latter, she drags a tin bath out from the corner of the living space, throwing the newly retrieved bucketfull in, she heads back to the well until the bath is full enough for cherry, with a bucket left over. "You are filthy and so are your clothes, come, auntie Archie is gonna get you cleaned up before your parents come home, yes? It'll warm your bones up too eh? I see you've not been lighting the fire in the fireplace. That's clever of you, the bad men will see the smoke, but auntie Archie has a work around for that! Nib you're also filthy from running through the woods all this time, want a hot bath? You can help cherry." Archie smiles behind her visor and lifts an arm letting it overheat to the point of making the air wavy around her, then she plunges it into the bath leaning the rest of her body against the tubs as she sits on the floor next to the big tin bath.after a few moments the water begins steaming but Archie sits watching Wilf freak out a little and dart outside, she asks, "is someone available to calm the old man? I think I remember that his daughter is called Sofia..."
Corlith looks around at the others, and seeing Archie being all parental holds his hand up, "I will go and check on him". As he moves to leave the house he turns back to her and asks, "Are you coming down with something? Your voice seemed to crack for a second there. Actually, tell me later, I'd better go before I lose Wilf".
He leaves and runs toward the house Wilf headed behind.
Archie looks to Corlith and cocks her head in confusion, but then he is gone. She sits with her arms submerged in the water keeping it at a steady comfortable temperature, and calls through to the others. "What's the plan? Reed you know this place and that mine, what's the best tactic for recon? Way of approach, places and times maybe for ambush? Last thing we want is them using captives as leverage."
"Hi, it's Reed and Nib Underbough," Reed says, then looks behind him. "And friends. Real friends."
He looks up and down the road.
"You're in there by yourself, aren't you?" Reed says. "Your mom, Alba, was taken, wasn't she? We're here to to get her back. We're here to get everyone back. But we need your help first."
Corlith follows Reed around like a tourist, nodding appreciatively at the sights as their guide mentions them. When they get to the Underbough home, he accepts Nibs offer of food, but asks for only something that can be eaten on the move.
When Fisk suggests that he stay put, he looks at him for a moment considering the request.
"I think that might be a good idea. You should do that. Assuming you are willing to leave the book that will get us into Candlekeep with Reed for safe keeping? We wouldn't want something happening to you whilst we were away dealing with this situation and lose our entrance fee", he says matter of factly, leaving it slightly ambiguous as to whether he was worried about Fisk absconding or bandits finding him.
Once Fisk has decided what he will do, he follows Reed and Nib, and as requested stands back and lets Reed do the talking. He does reach out and lay a hand on his shoulder as they walk, offering some help focussing before the halfling steps up to the doorway.
Fisk shrugs, digs the book out of his pack and hands it over to Reed. He then starts digging around in the pantry looking for some more food.
After a pause at the Longglade door once Reed speaks to the girl beyond the door, the door opens a tiny crack and an eye peeks out, "Reed? Nib? It's really you?" confirming for herself that it is indeed the halflings she knows, she opens the door a bit more, but looks at the others with a bit of alarm. "They are your friends? Who are they?"
"Hello!" Comes a cheery if not tinny female voice from the massive suit of armour, "I'm Archaea what's your name?"
Corlith attempts a smile as well, not knowing how this halfling settlement viewed tieflings.
"And I am Corlith. We are here to help you and your family. And all the families in Thornvalley in fact", he says as softly as he can, so as not to frighten her.
Roo follows along, having left Glory of Morning and his new friend, Matilda, behind with Fisk...though after a proper warning that they better be in as good of condition when he returns as they were when he left.
When the meek voice comes out of the crack in the door, Roo steps forward fluffing and preening, his chest out to show off the beautiful set of armor that he is wearing (which is, unfortunately, still stained with blood that he hasn't cleaned off...).
"I am Roo' Stor, kind sir! We are here to beat these evil children that have taken your mothers! I assure you that we buck come with the loftiest credentials! Virro, if you would, show them the finger collection. I think it shows exactly how qualified we are."
DM of AURYN: The Measure of Devotion - Escape from New York
Virro digs around in his pack, having taken the two pouches of fingers before they left. He couldn’t just leave them behind, he was so proud of them. And now, it all works out. He does have them! With a satisfied look on his face, he brings out the two pouches and loosens the strings cinching them shut, and fingers, thumbs, and other things are visible, almost looking like they are trying to crawl and finger their way out of the two pouches. “It’s true! See! We are sooooo qualified! Where are those naughty miners, anyway? They might have smaller fingers, I think I can fit many more in here…”. He looks up and puffs his chest out, slightly.
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
Reed looks back at Roo and Virro and shrugs.
"Those fingers all belonged to very bad people," Reed says. "Without them, they can't do any more bad things. And like they said, we're going to make sure the miners can't do any more bad things too."
Reed introduces the others who haven't had a chance to introduce themselves first then turns back to to the kid.
"Are any of the bad people in the village? Or are they all at the camp?" Reed asks.
Persuasion if needed to keep the kid calm and believing these unorthodox heroes are friends: 13
Plus Guidance: 1
Corlith inwardly sighs at the assistance that Roo and Virro provide, and points towards Reed, creating an aroma of lavender around him that he hopes will help calm the child.
The girl starts opening the door a bit to Archie and Corlith, but her eyes go wide at Roo and Virro's declarations and closes the door to the tiniest of cracks. "Are.. are those real fingers?!" she squeaks in an even higher voice than before, her fear transparent.
But her pull for someone to help, someone familiar and seeing Reed and Nib here with their collection of odd friends, she lets out a long breath and steels her small resolve. Opening the door so you can see all of her, she replies, "The bad people walk the roads looking for more, volunteers," she spits that word out, "but they stay at camp." She takes another breath, then opens the door to let everyone in, "Oh.. and my name is Cherry."
"cherry we're coming in just so that the bad people don't see us and want us to volunteer too, then we can talk safely about getting everyone back okay?" Archie tries to be as gentle as possible as she addresses cherry and ushers everyone in quickly.
"Hi Cherry," Reed says once inside and then introduces her to the flying cat, offering Cherry a treat she can give the tressym. "This is Slobberchops."
He looks around the entry way for sign of anyone else before turning back to Cherry.
"Do the bad people come regularly? Maybe early morning or late at night?"
Corlith also enters the house, giving Cherry a bow as he does so.
"You have a very nice house, Cherry. Is there anyone else home? Or any pets of your own?", he asks as he looks around the rooms close to the front door.
Cherry seems a bit nervous about letting you all in to the house, but as Reed introduces her to Slobberchops she beams. Taking the treat from Reed she gingerly feeds it to the tressym who takes it pretty gingerly for a winged cat his age. Licking his chops he looks at her for more.
"I don't know?" Cherry answers Reed, "I try to stay away from outside and the windows. I just needed water." Looking around the kitchen area you are in, it is in complete disarray. Food scraps are everywhere and Slobberchops heads over to start cleanup. The table is a mess with clothes, scraps of papers, random bits of things and underneath it on the side is the bucket of water she was just carrying. Cupboard doors are left open, food seems to have been knocked over and spilling out, dishes piled in the sink...
Cherry starts playing with her hair and looking at her feet, "No, its just me. Pops was taken first to volunteer, then mum. We don't have any pets." and she smiles at Slobberchops again. And then looks over at Roo with a concerned look on her face, obvious that she has no idea what to think of him.
Reed looks around at the mess, and at Slobberchops cleaning up.
"Slobby's not going to be able to fly if he keeps his up," Reed says. He thinks for a moment then looks over at Nib. "Do you know where the others are hiding? We can take you and Cherry there while we go scout out the camp."
Wilfred stays back, quiet. He is deep in thought. As they enter the brewery, there are smells. Familiar, but different. But quiet, so quiet. "Hmm?" He looks into a corner as if he heard something, but nothing. It was his imagination.
He notices the others heading to a house. He follows, but stays back. He hears the little girl. Hmm, he probably still has a little trinket he carved in his pack. When the door opens....
There's she is, little Sophia. What she's doing, that's not home. Why is she here. He's about to take a step forward... when he sees Cherry. He drops the wooden doll. "Oh..... oh." He takes a step back. "I... I'm sorry... I can't... I need... I'll be..." He turns, and there's Eliza with Sogren on her shoulders, heading behind the farm across the way. "No... That can't be..." Without a thought, Wilfred starts to sprint behind the building (Building 11)....
Archie sees the state of the kitchen and then sees the state of the child. Deciding that she's more equipped to handle the latter, she drags a tin bath out from the corner of the living space, throwing the newly retrieved bucketfull in, she heads back to the well until the bath is full enough for cherry, with a bucket left over. "You are filthy and so are your clothes, come, auntie Archie is gonna get you cleaned up before your parents come home, yes? It'll warm your bones up too eh? I see you've not been lighting the fire in the fireplace. That's clever of you, the bad men will see the smoke, but auntie Archie has a work around for that! Nib you're also filthy from running through the woods all this time, want a hot bath? You can help cherry." Archie smiles behind her visor and lifts an arm letting it overheat to the point of making the air wavy around her, then she plunges it into the bath leaning the rest of her body against the tubs as she sits on the floor next to the big tin bath.after a few moments the water begins steaming but Archie sits watching Wilf freak out a little and dart outside, she asks, "is someone available to calm the old man? I think I remember that his daughter is called Sofia..."
Corlith looks around at the others, and seeing Archie being all parental holds his hand up, "I will go and check on him". As he moves to leave the house he turns back to her and asks, "Are you coming down with something? Your voice seemed to crack for a second there. Actually, tell me later, I'd better go before I lose Wilf".
He leaves and runs toward the house Wilf headed behind.
Archie looks to Corlith and cocks her head in confusion, but then he is gone. She sits with her arms submerged in the water keeping it at a steady comfortable temperature, and calls through to the others. "What's the plan? Reed you know this place and that mine, what's the best tactic for recon? Way of approach, places and times maybe for ambush? Last thing we want is them using captives as leverage."