The Wizard's Challenge

Shalech returns the handshake.  "Assistance for assistance is a very fair deal.  I don't have much in the way of coin to pay you, so that is the only service I can render in return.  As for the "loot", I don't know.  I have Kyristan's journal, my dilemma with the hermit, and the puzzle of this house occupying all my thoughts. 

Urselles seems to be driven to be righteous, so will probably want to return the jewels somehow.  My gods demanded and drove me to do their service, then when I was a prisoner and being experimented on, they did nothing for me.  I have lost my faith in divine beings and watching out for myself is the sanest thing I hang onto.  Pressing someone who still has faith, like Urselles, to go counter to their strictures, just is not worth the effort.  I had no jewelry when I arrived today, and I have none tonight.  So I didn't lose anything.  That is how I feel about it."

When Urselles enters the church, their are still two people there; Normand and a young woman you haven't met.  She is dressed in leather and chain armor, armed with weapons at her sides, and a cute haircut that has short bangs, long well kept sides, but a short nice cut along the back.  The two of them are cleaning up the church, with their backs to you.

Theodore follows Nathan into Dar's tower.  He sits down and listens to Han sing as well.

(Theodore's player will be away for a couple of days, so I'll keep his character active during that time.)

"Normand, hello, you preached a wonderful serman today" Urselles says as she waves to Normand "who's your friend"

Normand turns and smiles.  As the woman turns you see the holy symbol of Chauntea around her neck as well, and etchings in the armor symbolizing a paladin of the church.  "This is Lura Gren.  She aids in the running and duties of the church."

He motions towards you; "Lura, this is Urselles, a young cleric of Eldath."  Lura smiles a young smile and says; "It is a pleasure to meet you."

"pleasure to meet you as well, I have rarely seen a Paladin working at a church, my own church is usually defended by druids so, the only Paladins I've ever seen are adventures" Urselles stops for a second "oh, sorry I'm just rambling on now"

Lura smiles again.  "It is okay, I'm sure it is not too common for a paladin to be stationed at a church; it is probably a bit disorienting."  Her voice is firm but pleasant.  "I am from Northbank, and since the town began dying, it was in need of protection.  Both as a force against outside threats as well as a nurturing hand for people in need.  I am able to fight for my people, so I am here."

Nathan nods his head towards Dar and his brother and tries reaching out to Fluffy. If the familiar is too far away, he will just wait for her to return and get the information from the owl. What he is interested in is where Nine-Fingers went, and if the owl saw anything.

When Dar and Han finish singing, Nathan will approach them: "Dar, we tried following the thief, and we ended up going to the 'haunted house.' if you have some time, I would like to tell you about it, and ask for your advice." If the wizard agrees, Nathan proceeds "As I think you suspected, it was not haunted at all. It must have been the house of a wizard before. We found several illusions there as well as a few magic items, including this decanter" he shows it to him "am I correct in assuming that I need to bond with it? Also, we believe that it must have been the hideout of a thief. Is there a sheriff in this town that we could talk to? And one more thing, do you know anything about a certain Nine-Finger John? We saw him lurking around the haunted house, acting in a suspicious way."

As the music flows in the room, Nathan closes his eyes and drifts off, but not to sleep, instead to the pull from his owl Fluffy through their connection.  He opens his eyes, but they are not his eyes.  Looking around you see your feathered arms, no wings.  

Suddenly you are in flight; the thought of Nine Finger John shared between your minds.  You swoop low and around, The Clansman's entrance now laid out before you.  You rest on the edge of a trough and peer deeply in the window.  There is John, sitting, playing cards, and drinking.

Boabby is nowhere to be seen; instead a slightly smaller, but still large, man stands behind the bar.  His face is very square and gruff.  He may have some Orc in his blood, but its not immediately obvious.

Upon mentioning of a haunted house he replies; "What haunted house?  Oh, those rumors?  I never listen to them.  Half are made up and they all have been through Isa's lips more than once."  He finishes his drink.

Listening to more of your tale, he replies; "A wizards house, that's possible.  Where is this house, I'm sure I likely knew whom it belonged to."

Looking at the decanter,  he reads the runes. "Yeah, you've got that right.  Spend time with them, trying to use them, sleep with them close; you'll be bonded in no time."  He hands back the magic item.

"No sheriff, just Normand, Lura, Klandar, and of course Mayor Oswald the kind.  They handle any trouble that comes to town."

"Nine Finger John?  Don't know him personally, but I know he's often out at night fishing, gaming, drinking."

Nathan asks Fluffy to stay in place and to contact him telepathically if the human leaves the inn, even if he is sleeping. His suspicions about Nine-Fingers might be unfounded, but being cautious never hurts.

"Thank you for the help, master Dar! I will try bonding with the decanter, it seems like a useful magic item. I think one of my friends will be talking to Normand anyways, probably Urselles will report what we have found at the house. As far as the house itself, it is pretty close to here, you just have to turn right after you step outside. Do you know who used to live there? It seemed like nobody has been inside the house for ages, except for the thief who entered through the roof." he hesitates to mention this, but eventually continues "One of the illusions we encountered was ... the image of a scantily clad woman dancing. So the house must have belonged to someone who would be interested in these kind of things."

"how did you ever become a Paladin, it's usually a very hard path to take" Urselles asks the Paladin

Dar's reactions shift from slight bemusement at the description of the house, to a slight nod at the asking of if he knows who lived there, to his eyes widening a bit at the mention of a thief, to very wide at the mention of the illusion.

"That would be creepy old Arthur; he would never leave his house, but would always be looking out his windows.  He passed during a supply run to the north.  Fell from the horse, broke his neck.  He never would buy from town and would always keep what he had secret."  Dar shivers slightly in disgust.  "He's part of the reason Kitta quit as my apprentice.  He would always stare at her whenever she came over or left."

"As for a thief, I wouldn't be surprised if Tamm set up a nest there; but jewelry isn't his style.  He's more of a nuisance than a danger, like a buzzard pecking at anything not nailed down; but he's a con'er, he'll convince you to give him what you have, like it was your idea to do it.  That or he'll convince you to forgive him; which I have that to look forward to tomorrow."  Dar sighs.

"But if Tamm had got his hands on jewelry, he would be flaunting it off to everyone.  That's the problem with Tamm... You can't arrest him if he has everyone's forgiveness or approval." 

He stands and stretches.  "I'll destroy the illusion tomorrow.  It's time to head to sleep.  You can sleep in the apprentice room on the third floor; the tower defenses are still down.  This one seems half asleep already."  He says, motioning towards Theodore, who is half dozing on the couch.  He does a quick incant and motions as a cupboard opens and bedding flies over to Han and Theodore.  Another wave of his hands and the couches flatten out into beds.

"Good night apprentices, tomorrow you work."  A smile crosses Dar's face, and not a charming one.  "Tower, exterior defenses activate."

Lura begins cleaning again as she continues to talk.  "I always liked helping to clean up after a service.  I would always walk with Normand when he would visit the poor.  Poor like me and my family; at least until my aunt Syndra joined the guild and pulled us out of poverty."

"My devotion to Chauntea was noted by a visiting priest and they offered to take me for training.  With my fighter mentality, born on the streets of Old Northbank, it was feared that I would never grasp the ways of the cleric.  A request was made on my behalf, and an offer made to me.  To attempt the trying and impossibly difficult training to become a Paladin, or to leave and return once more to Northbank.  My choice is obvious."  She smiles.

"that is very nice to hear, oh right, Normand, you know about the haunted house right, me and a few of my companions went there and, it was quiet odd, but, one thing we did find was a bunch of jewelry, mostly made of gold and silver, do you know of anyone who has lost any recently"

Urselles' hand goes to the pouch where she put the jewelry, as she says that.  Normand just shakes his head.  "No, noone has mentioned any jewelry missing.  Sorry."

"*sign* oh well, also, Normand are you free tomorrow I was hoping to go see how the North is doing and" Urselles starts to look worried "I was hoping you'd be free to go with considering"

"Of course, I was going up there around noon tomorrow to bring food to the poor, so that would be a good time to go, if that works for you?"  Normand finishes putting away the broom and other cleaning supplies and asks; "Do you have a place to stay for the night?"

Croak stretches out, plain-clothed in his corner. Shield, longsword, and handaxe at his side while he attempts to sleep.

And should anything occur during the slumber.

Passive Perception: 13

Perception roll: 10

"sure, that time should work, also don't worry I should be fine for a place to sleep" Urselles kindly replies 

You say your farewells and head to the tavern and up to your room.  It has been a long and strange day; but you expected strange things coming to a wizards town.  You find the room in surprisingly good condition; though you feel that is more due to the original design and construction of the room then due to Boabby's caretaking.  Someone put love into this building once.

Nathan, as you head up the stairs, you see before you a vast library.  Countless spellbooks lay before you.  It is easily twice the size of your master's... your other master.  You get excited by the notion that you will soon be learning from these.

You consider staying and attempting to read one, or some, of these; but your curiosity of what is on the third floor is too great.  You hurry up the stairs and find the entire floor consisting of a lab; with varying degrees of magical research and formulas, alchemical experiments, and a number of potentially magical trinkets and devices.  

The only area not covered in research, with the exception of a small area cleared for trays of leftovers, is a section that appears to be a room built into the wall.  A single door opens to the room, with the only light coming from the ceiling of the lab, pouring through the open door.

The room consists of a bed, thankfully comfortable looking, a dresser, and a number of places for personal experiments and storage.

As everyone starts to drift off to sleep, dreams begin to enter your active minds.  

Nathan, you dream of travel, but not alone.  At your side are your masters and their roguish friends, how they had to be in their youths; and you are right their with them, sailing down this winding river.  Your eyes lay on the river and everything else fades away, just the water, just the stream, just the whispered word in your ear.

Urselles, you slumber soundly; in the first warm bed you've slept in, in a while.  You see in your dreams the gathered poor, shuffling along.  You approach them with aid and they all turn towards you.  Suddenly they become aggressive and fearful of you; threatening to harm you.  They begin to change, not in mannerisms, but in appearance; becoming smaller, greener, more deformed, Goblins.  Their threats continue until suddenly Normand stands next to you, and they quiet; Lura stands next to you and they ask you for aid, the fear no longer in their eyes.

Theodore, your dream if full of wonder, what will you be taught, what new spells will you learn, how much stronger will your abjuration magic becomes.  You imagine a shelf that reaches to the sky, out of view.  You grab a book and hold it in hand; but the weight is off.  It is heavy along its bottom half and feels longer than it is.  It is almost like metal in your hand.  You move to put it back on the shelf but suddenly a blade stabs into the shelf instead.  You look down and the book has transformed into a longsword, the longsword you found earlier.  It pulls on you, like its urging you to swing it.  You comply with a few feeble attempts, not having the skill to wield a weapon like this.  You feel frustration directed at you... And then you and Nathan wake to the loud sound of a gong followed by a scream.

Shalech, your dream is a pure nightmare; like living through every image in that book, but it always goes back to your page, time and again. The words of the page fly by your face, mocking you with their tainted code.  All but one word, a word you are sure the book wants to show you, to mock you with.  Experiment.  Its what you are and the book knows it, knows you, and hates.

Croak, you relive the humiliation of being thrown out, shame filling you, building, and slowly turning to anger.  You go back to the tavern and there is Boabby, you know that it is Boabby, but his body is that of an Orc; and he's telling you to get out, that you're not welcomed.  He then throws a beer mug at your face; and as it hits you hear screaming.  You start up from your bedding, still angry and humiliated; but the screaming hasn't stopped.

(Now that we have officially reached the end of Day 1, I want to ask some of your opinions on the campaign so far.

As a player, how do you feel about the campaign?

How do you feel about your characters in this world so far?

What is something you would like to see more of; and what would you like to see less?

What do you think of the other characters?

What was your favorite moment so far, and your least?

As a character what do you think about Northbank?

What do you think about the other characters?

What do they think of the NPCs?

Bonus: Whatever else you wanna say, lol.

You don't have to answer all of these, or any, I'm just trying to get a better feel for the group and how to gear the campaign more along your desired paths.)