"We can always bet something we all possess," The Black Rose said as he accepted another dwarven ale. "Information," he elaborated, "The winner may ask the loser a question that must be followed by an honest answer."

"But I feel that we owe our host to listen to his story first."

Tarton nods at The Black Rose's proposal. Noticing a drink for himself, he takes a moment to smell his drink before finishing it and placing the empty cup on the tray and taking his new cup. 

Artifex accepts their refill gratefully, giving Myrine a kind smile. "Many thanks Ar'ama" it says, giving her a wink before turning their attention back to The Black Rose. "Information can often cost more than some are willing to pay. I can think of no better prize for a game of chance."

It turns once more towards their host. "He is right about saving that for later though, pardon my interruption. Please, continue. From your words before I gather you have brought us together to address a matter of some import?" 

You have a little difficulty engaging your host's full attention; the river gnome seems to have drifted off to a pleasant. private world of memories at some point while you were getting your second round of drinks, which you cannot perceive as in any way being different from the first.  You would swear they are even filled to the exact same level in the glass.  after a few moments, he calls his attention back to you.  "Yes ... well, I do think the rooftop garden would be a better place to discuss the details, but briefly, I am concerned about a certain peril to us, and I think a certain item would help immensely in lessening that peril.  Pretty standard fairytale stuff, isn't it really? Stuff most adventurers live on, other places.  Here, it's, "Oh, Zanexi, stop fretting.," and "Silly old Zoppebis, what does he  know about giants, 

"...and the boors don't see they claim how insulting that is, and ... "  He seems to be growing more animated as he speaks, if a little distracted, waving you towards the rooftop stairs while appearing completely oblivious that it is talking with him that is diverting you from doing that.  The sweet smell of lilac and lavender is now evident as grace notes of the complex scent that swirls and spins kaleidoscopically into one scent in the smoke drifting over to you from the kenders' pipes.  You begin to have a warm, woozy, happy feeling as you catch the whiff; for a moment, all things are as looming and epic and emotional as they were to you as a child.

Quote from McColough >>

Erolith accepts the new glass of elven wine but decides not to partake any more libations. The abundance of alcohol, the properties of the smoke, and the reactions of our hosts have suddenly put him on alert, although it may be nothing.

I’d like to scan our surroundings and pay closer attention to Myrine and Mr. Leewamba for anything out of the ordinary.

 Absolutely!  Straight Perception roll, I'd think, so go ahead and do that now

How do you join

If I am allowed 

Quote from OisinmacCameron >>

Quote from McColough >>

Erolith accepts the new glass of elven wine but decides not to partake any more libations. The abundance of alcohol, the properties of the smoke, and the reactions of our hosts have suddenly put him on alert, although it may be nothing.

I’d like to scan our surroundings and pay closer attention to Myrine and Mr. Leewamba for anything out of the ordinary.

 Absolutely!  Straight Perception roll, I'd think, so go ahead and do that now

 Done

Quote from Wolf2010 >>

How do you join

 

Quote from Wolf2010 >>

If I am allowed 

 Sure can! :)  Make a post here with the following information about the character you're proposing to join with.  Pretty much all official material is allowed though you might have to adjust your background to account for being here if you're a race or class that's rare or just doesn't exist in this part of this world or in this world at all.  There are also at this point two homebrew races, the riverkin and the Sauvogian half-minotaur, and a couple homebrew subclasses; those should be in a post near the beginning of the thread.  Once you know what you want to play, make two posts for your character.  In the first, use the dice roller function on the forums (looks like a black six sided die with three pips visilble, in the line of icons above the box to type the post in).  Use the tab that says, "Ability scores" and leave all the settings on their defaults.  Then quote those ability scores in a second post (using the "Quote" command underneath the first post which has the ablility scores ... it will be in between "Reply" and "Multi-quote"_), and add the other information listed below:

• Ability scores: (4d6, drop lowest; take standard array if you hate what you get)**
• Character name:
• Character race, class/subclass*:
• (Background) Backstory:

I'll look it over and if I think your character will fit in well with the group I'll send you a link.  I'll also message you at that point about whether its OK at that point in the action for your character to just show up or if it would be better for the story to plan a way to work you in

Erolith openly states, “Travelers…it would do me some good to continue this conversation outside. Perhaps we could continue on to the rooftop garden? Would that be acceptable, Mr. Leewamba?”

Tarton takes stiff steps following Mr. Leewamba to the roof as he remembers his most significant memory of being a child, his face like a mask with an almost frozen half smile.

Mr. Leewamba takes a final deep breath and seems to shake himself back to the present.  "Yes, let me show you the view of Llandovion and its environs by starlight from the best vantage point to see it.  It's quite an impressive vista, and some of it will probably be pertinent to the discussion before the evening is over."  He leads you up the stairs, down which a mixture of moonlight and deep blue twilight is shining.  You feel a brief tug of mingled regret and relief as you climb above the cloud of smoke drifting through the lower common room; the admixture of the kenders' smoke was beginning to stir emotions within you with an intensity you hadn't felt since the earliest days of your youth, and you weren't sure if you found the experience more nostalgic or more disconcerting.

You come out in a spacious rooftop garden, with round tables seating four, six or eight scattered comfortably among an array of flowering shrubs and raised garden beds held in by pebble-stuccoed low retaining walls.  The mingled scents of lilac and lavender compete with less familiar flowers in your nostrils as the breezes of late evening swirl around you.  They stir anew with Mr. Leewamba's sweeping gesture inviting you to gaze around you. You do so, as Myrine brngs up another tray of drinks and sets it down at a table for eight. It is in a commanding position among the rough concentric circles of the garden beds, allowing you to easily turn your heads to see downriver to the south, the Bay of Spirits, Bonefire Island and the Haunted Lands between this far-flung outpost and the rest of the colonized lands. Then you turn and gaze upriver towards Cricket Tor and the northern wilderness, your gaze passing northwest as you turn over Ulvnesshjolm and the formally ceded Feywilde lands. Mr. Leewamba speaks as you gaze.

"A truly beautiful land. A land of opportunity...and danger. So many come to be part of a frontier land, and so many forget what a truly frontier land this is. Under Cricket Tor, there is more darkness than just the shadows now descending as night falls; and between there and the far coasts of the Okjahlid loom the northern mountains. And it is there my concern truly begins. So many love the excitement and the beauty of a frontier land, and they forget the dangers. The wild forces over the edge of the wild. There are tribes even of our own kinds, or our wild ancestors, who still prefer the savage ways of war. And there are many beings who have always looked upon us as foes, or usurpers and thieves, or as prey." He pauses to take a healthy swig of metheglyn, adding the scent of distilled honey and spices to the cool night scents around you.

"I have heard rumours of diplomatic maneuverings among the giants. Supposedly there are preliminary talks to straighten out differences related to an obscure and archaic interpretation of the ordning which one party or the other is insisting on. All this is part of a delicate dance of both tradition and climate with regards to a coming meeting between the frost giant Jarl Rojkkni Aelfsbane and an envoy from some group of fire giants far to the south of whom none of my sources seems willing to speak save in the most guarded of whispers. Given the legendary forging skills of fire giants, I fear that the Jarl plans to amass a store of superior weapons and armor for some coming raid, or worse, a full scale vikking. I need not explain to the Aberstwythi among you who Jarl Aelfsbane is, or what this news might entail; you can fill the rest of your companions in around the first night's watchfire of your journey. If you want a more ... direct ... explanation, ask her." He points at Sae, who has come up and is again dancing alone in the center of the garden, under the newly flowering stars, and once again you are briefly and clinically dissected by her eyes of burning ice.

"I have tried arranging for measures to combat this threat. No one I spoke to seemed to take me seriously. This is not unusual, but when I tried to resume the conversations a few days later no one seemed to remember speaking to me, and seemed unusually anxious that I not press the subject. I even managed to hire a group to investigate previous to yourselves, but advertising for them openly? Six of the seven seemed to vanish into the mists of Llandovion or various trading marts in Aberstwyth on various errands to procure equipment or information; the seventh professed herself deeply concerned by the disappearance of her colleagues as she boarded a skiff headed north upriver where the most recent of them vanished. Two days later Myrtea saw her on the docks of Axbleford, across the Bay of Spirits to the SOUTH, boarding a ship that was bound across the ocean to Al Salijha and rumoured to be sailing from there in search of the legendary other hemisphere those strange dragon-men are fabled to inhabit." He lights a polished maple pipe and takes a deep draw; then goes on, letting little trickles of smoke curl up from his lips as he speaks

"These facts lead me to believe that there is more going on here than meets the eye, and in this area, whenever anything of the kind occurs, you immediately begin to look over not only your own but everyone else's shoulder because you immediately begin to fear the interest ... or vengeance ... or gods alone know, it might just be the pure incomprehensible and vicious whimsy of ... " He says no name, simply slipping a folded piece of parchment to the nearest character while tilting his other hand so that the silver-ringed pinky points out through the gap between a potted laurel and a bank of moss roses, out to where the dark bulk of Cricket Tor is hidden in the larger darkness that has enveloped the world as night advanced.  Then he breathes out the rest of the cloud of smoke, which swirls around him for a moment in a sweet-scented blur, and rises.

"This is why I have chosen to employ this method of employing you.  Miss Ivui has assured me our observers of tonight will be not be reporting back to their employers ... I believe they are destined to be overtaken by a tragic misunderstanding between them which will cause them to assassinate each other in a regrettable quarrel ... and as you can see, no one else is taking any interest in our doings." In fact, there are only a few other patrons in the garden, and they are far enough from you and clearly enough engrossed in their own conversations that you feel safe taking Mr. Leewamba's statement as fact. "But it is as well to be careful in any case. The rest of what you need to know, should you accept my offer of employment, is written on that parchment, as are the terms of that offer. Read them over at some point this evening, and speak to Myrtea in the morning if you are still interested. She will have further details and your first fortnight's stipend. Rest assured, I will NOT be expecting you to go out and slay giants first thing.  Such direct action would be foolish anyway, because of the possible interest of ... ." he says no name, but simply nods in the direction of Cricket Tor once more, and descends the stairs by which you came.

As he leaves, Artifex turns to the rest of the group, already half done with their third cup of wine. "Clandestine meetings in a tavern, a brewing war, and an investigation that got six people vanished and caused the seventh to flee the continent..." It takes another sip, mischief sparking in their eyes. "This is going to be *fun*"

"Yes in deed, this is going to get very fun. I am definitely taking this offer. With how quickly the other group vanished, I suggest we start making code words to hide sensitive information, starting with our host. Though earlier Mr. Leewamba made it sound like he was not the actual host for this. Second would be for where we all met tonight and my third thought would be for our mission. As to what those words or phrases will be or anything else we should hide, what are your suggestions?" He looks around the group and though he said all this calmly you can see the excitement in his eyes and notice his grin.

In Infernal he very softly mutters, "I'm finally coming to get you." He says it so softly some may think he is just making a soft noise.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Who wants to be closest to Leewamba to take the paper first? Perhaps the first person to respond should get it? That would make it Artifex.

So happy it is finally starting!!

"He could simply be The Patron. Innocuous enough, and gives no detail or hint of identity. The location..." They think for a moment. "I quite like Cállambëa. As for our mission..." It picks up the piece of paper, not yet unfolding it, examining it with the excitement and curiosity of a scientist discovering something unexpected. "I suspect we should read this before we decide on a Name"

"I agree that we need to be careful when discussing Mr. Lee... The Patrons' mission," The Black Rose nodded approvingly.

"But he assures us that at least this place is a safe environment for conversation."  he stated as he took a deep sip of his Dwarven ale.

"If I am unable to read it, could someone please explain the content to me? Perhaps whisper it if needed?" he concluded as his gaze shifting across the group.

Quote from Zladark >>

"I agree that we need to be careful when discussing Mr. Lee... The Patrons' mission," The Black Rose nodded approvingly.

"But he assures us that at least this place is a safe environment for conversation."  he stated as he took a deep sip of his Dwarven ale.

"If I am unable to read it, could someone please explain the content to me? Perhaps whisper it if needed?" he concluded as his gaze shifting across the group.

 Shortly after The Black Rose finishes speaking, Myrine comes back up the stairs with a scroll of tooled leather bound with string, and an extra glass of elven wine.  The scroll she gives to The Black Rose, saying, 'It took us a little longer to prepare this, but Mr. Leewamba assures me it is an exact copy of his message, and I was able to feel the characters we tooled in myself as I rolled it up."  The wine she hands to Artifex with a giggle.  "In tribute to beauty beyond all ... ," then becomes confused and runs off in a blush.

To Myrine, Tarton starts to say, "Please let Myrtea know....", then she's gone. To the group he says, "While I truly appreciate the drinks, I can't finish them as fast as they bring them."

To The Black Rose, he says, "I too feel safe to speak here. So the best place to come up with code words would be here where it is less likely to be overheard. However, even Cállambëa felt he could not mention certain names even here. I don't think we can be too careful if that is the case."

He then turns to Artifex and asks, "What does Cállambëa mean, or is it a name itself?"

Then looking a bit embarrassed and not waiting for an answer to his first question he says, "The Black Rose, I overheard Myrtea downstairs say something about you having 'other sight'. Please forgive my curiosity, and if it's too personal don't feel you have to answer, but what is it that you can see?"