History: 3+3 = 6

Phait freezes for a moment upon hearing Fuego's words. "Well, uh, I- Truth be told that's not historical time I know much about. The exactly knowledge of princes and cities, though, well I'd guesstimate, uh? [guesstimate] years?" He hesitates, wondering how Fuego will react to the passage of time.

[[ Not sure how to judge a 6 or how well-known the City of Brass would be. Guessing that's lore you created for Fuego, right Simmons? So I'll let you be a judge on the accuracy there. If it's like hearing about Roman emperor where most people, even if they don't know the exact details, would have a general idea. Or more like hearing about a lesser known minor duchy or so. ]]

"Whale? That's like a really big fish, yes?"

OOC. Read post #48 if you want to know Cunning's love of fish.

Thrudor takes some soup and some of the vegetables and quietly eats 

History Check for Fuego's answer: 14

"Indeed a whale is indeed big but it is not a fish"

Fuego:

”Oh, that long….I assume my family must be long dead,” says Fuego sadly, “Though I never knew my father.  I wonder how the rest of their lives went.”

Fuego keeps eating, though more slowly and thoughtfully.

[[ Nice reasoning, seeing fish as a delicacy. I like it, Vedar. ]]

"Perhaps, when things are more calmed down, we can take a look at the records, Fuego? See if anything mentions them." says Phait solemnly. Though not his own family, he has a sympathetic sorrow for the genasi not knowing their fates.

As Thrudor digs in he takes a bite of the whale. He pauses, mulling over the flavors, and then says in delight, "By the gods this is good! Not fishy at all. It's like some mix between venison and beef. And so rich!" He reaches for more and says between bites, "Your kitchen is truly blessed to have such fine cuisine at its disposal."

"Indeed. I ordered this quickly, the whales don't like the change in the water. And whale is my personal favorite meat." A few servers walk around and watch the eating. These cooks are mostly refilling food, but they take note of what everyone eats, adding dishes similar to those enjoyed and removing the ones no one takes. "Whale is not a fish?" The queen says as a cook brings in more food. When Cunning mentions fish, a server brings in cooked trout with basil. He returns with more whale for Phait and tomato soup for Thrudor.

Titus was quiet at the musings about fish and then whale. He was actually rather fond of both, and it had been awhile since he'd enjoyed whale. He raised an eyebrow at Fuego having been imprisoned for centuries. "Yep, he's going to be a handful," he thought, somewhat amused, as he quickly downed his tomato soup and then scarfed down another bite of the sourdough topped with torn duck flesh.

Fuego:

The orphaned fire genasi tries a variety of different tastes, but he gravitates towards the spicy food common in the hot southern deserts.  "Let's hope we can stop this vindicator before he kills again," he says, glad that the runes were helpful and hopeful that the scimitar with the blood will prove useful as well.

"True." says Phait with a fading smile. He takes another bite of whale and washes it down with some wine. "As delicious as this meal is there is business to be had." He turns to the queen, "You mentioned a tunnel in the mind, right? Was there anything about in particular that stood out, suggesting its connection to Witherblessed?"

"My crew discovered it." A noble states proudly. "They were searching new tunnels hoping to find copper and found that the caves lead to a larger network of tunnels. They believe that network leads to the Barrding Tunnel network, a well-known mine in the north. There are no reports of any activity near the Cavern of Witherblessed, leading us to believe they used other tunnels to escape."

Thrudor continues about the whale "Whales are incredibly inteligent mamals. They are more like us than like fish. They swim yes, but they do not have gills or lay eggs...They breathe air as we all do and have live births. Why whales are more than mindless fish swimming and eating all day....They recognize, remember, reason, communicate, perceive, adapt to change, problem-solve, and understand the world they live in.....It's a shame this particular one did not live out to see the end of its life cycle but I am sure it is delicious......" Thrudor trails off and sips his soup. Listening to the rest of the conversation and not thinking about the whale they are scarfing down like barbaric pigs, "The vindicator has more than likely killed again....if he seeks the unworthy and he deems almost all in this realm as unworthy, there's no reason he would stop unless his primary motivation is to create chaos which in that case killing leaders across the realm, which seems his pattern, would continue." 

"I fear I may not be safe for long. But I heard from my son that his bodyguard was killed. Perhaps to show off his power?" The queen stops eating the whale and begins drinking some mushroom stew.

A man rushes into the dining room. "Night is here!" Some of the guests laugh at this remark. "The sun doesn't set for a few more hours. But yes, I guess the clouds can make it dark." "You're not hearing me! There is a thick cloud right over the sun, the cloud lets no light through! Only the ocean is lit now!" The room gets silent and a faint pounding can be heard outside. "It's foggy, it's hailing hard, it's windy..." "Are the citizens safe?" "Many of them have fled to basements, caves, mines. It's not safe on the surface."

Cunning sighs and pushes his chair back while reaching for his maul, "I guess we need to go and investigate again. No rest for the wicked eh?"

Thrudor doesn't get up but continues to eat his soup "Seems that winter which has plagued the north has hit here now....Interesting how it coincided with the northern king's death and now here your king dies and winter comes...."

"Indeed, our time of rest is at an end." Says Phait in agreement with Cunning and Thrudor. He turns to the nobleman, "Those tunnels you found. How far away are they? Seems we'll need cover from the elements."

He thinks of back home with own family. If this vindicator was bringing darkness and death with him the further down he went then he prayed to whatever gods were listening to stop it before it got to his home.

//assuming we got a short rest in, planning to expend 1 hit die to get back the 4 missing HP. (it's not a lot of missing hp, but may as well since we're probably in for a nasty fight)

[[ Side note. This campaign decided to slip itself into my dreams last night with the Vindicator Thanos-snapping 90% of Earth. Hopefully that's not a premonition of what's going to happen in-campaign. :P ]]

"Good idea," nodded Titus as he stood and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. "There's probably no time to get back to the cavern now, so everyone should probably head there while we check it out."

A short rest has been completed during this feast.

"The cavern entrance is directly south of here. There's a fence... eh, it's probably toppled in this weather. You'll see a large wooden pole to mark the entrance." Meanwhile, the Queen looks towards Thrudor, pondering his observation. "He's not doing this man by man, he's taking whole kingdoms at once. The kings are being slain to mark which kingdom to strike."

A messenger rushes in, soaked and shivering. "I found this outside! There's a note attached." He says, pulling a large, ornate silver flail from a bag. The same one that was wielded by the Telestial Vindicator.

"I've bought you enough time, but the Demogorgon has decided that my partner is the more worthy apprentice. I am a fallen angel, a shadow of my former glory, but I hope I can redeem myself now. I have been fooled, Crrethil was free this whole time. I did not know my partner was Crrethil. He has been creating this winter, but now he wants more. WARN EVERYONE HE WILL SHOW NO MERCY. STOP HIM AT ALL COSTS! THE MATERIAL PLANE WILL JOIN THE ABYSS! I AM ABOUT TO ASSASSINATE CRRETHIL. IF YOU FIND THIS NOTE, SEND IT TO THE SAVIORS OF ADENGUARD. I CANNOT TRUELY DIE, BUT I WILL BE GONE FROM THIS WORLD FOR A WHILE. USE MY FLAIL IF YOU NEED TO, BUT HIS ONLY REAL WEAKNESS IS - " The rest of the note is covered in blood. "I found this note in the robes of an angelic being. His body is just outside the castle. His wings are torn, and the small crater under him makes it look like he fell thousands of feet."

Fuego:

"Quite unexpected," says Fuego, arching an eyebrow.  "Let us go investigate the body," he suggests, taking a look at the note more carefully to see if he can read the words obscured by blood.

Perception:  7

The fighter's blood ran cold as he read the note. Had this being they had encountered... just been slain???

Quote from Scott_R_Simmons >>

 

"Quite unexpected, Let us go investigate the body,"

"Yes, let's do that," agreed Titus, doing his best to disguise his unease.

Phait's jaw lowers as the news is brought. "His only weakness is-" he holds out his hands with an exasperated look. "His only weakness is- *poof*" he says again with a unbelieving gesture. A mad laugh comes out fueled by a lack of words for the absurdity of the situation. "Mortals plan and gods laugh." he says with a sigh as the fit subsides. "Or in this case demon." He puts a palm to his forehead in frustration.

"Very well." he says to Fuego and Titus at the suggestion of investigating the body. "At the least we may as well see what kind of weapons this Crrethil might use."

Though not skilled at medicine, he's willing to help if asked.