(nature 16) "I agree. Do you really want to be remembered as an elder who allowed his town to be overran with monsters? By the time the miners realise that they can't deal with the consequences, it will be too late. And then a bad crop, irrespective of if the mine is causing it, will be the least of your worries. You want jobs, then miners can be guards. They can swing a pick, I'm sure they can learn to swing a sword, or even fight bandits with picks. I'm not one to judge when it comes to defense"
"As far as I know," Tug answers, "the monsters are being displaced from their natural habitat by the mining operation. But it's not just the ankhegs, there are wolves from the forest, horrors from below, spiders the shift out of existence at the blink of an eye, and more." He took another drink and wiped his mouth. "The miners aren't going to stay if there isn't a mine. This town can't support them if the operation shuts down. The people here before lived off the land, barely. There just isn't a way to pay for guards. I'm open to ideas, but I don't have the power to change anything myself."
"What if we just kill all the monsters, in every ecosystem. That'd fix things, and with them all dead there'd be no further problems in the years to come!"
Jadzia plucks a dissonant chord on the bandore. "Yeah... nothing says problem-solving like mass extinction."
The air genasi lets the chord hang in the air a moment. "Maybe we should talk to Mutterall—see what he actually plans to do. And the miners too. I doubt they're feeling so eager to return to work after seeing those ankhegs."
(ooc: are there miners in the tavern as well, or only farmers and such?)
You would notice that Mutterall is not present in the tavern at the moment. Tug finally mentions that it is primarily iron and other metals, but he isn't entirely sure what else is down deeper in the mine.
With no other ideas in mind, Jadzia downs the rest of her ale, then scans the room for a miner who looks the most approachable—or at least not actively unfriendly—before heading his way. "Hey! Mind if I steal a moment of your time? I'm Jadzia,"the bard says, giving the miner her most disarming smile. "Nasty creatures, those ankhegs. How do you feel about going back to work with all that danger around? Surely you and your companions will need to talk to your boss if you want to keep at it. Is the pay really good enough to risk your neck like that?"
The blue-skinned genasi pauses to let the man answer, then adds, "Are you used to attacks like these? Have you had many run-ins with them before?"
Jadzia finds a younger man, perhaps late 20s though the grimy look testifies to the hard life he lives. He smiles though as Jadzia comes over, "Sure you can, we're just enjoying what we can here. The name's Ribsy." He rubs his jaw for a moment as he listens. "Yeah not exactly fun for the celebration was it? But we deal with it as we can, the town's been boomin' ever since it opened. Fact, me and my lady came up here just not long ago to try and make some coin before the baby comes. I'd say it's definitely worth the risk!" He smiles again and takes another sip of his ale.
Jadzia listens attentively, and when Ribsy mentions a baby on the way, she has to make every effort not to yell, "A baby?? And you want to keep working in the mine after what you’ve seen today?? Are you out of your mind?!” Instead, she mentally counts to ten, then offers a smile and says, "A baby! Well, congratulations are in order…!" She pauses, then continues more thoughtfully, "Hmm. So you don't think the town's issues with crops, air quality, and the like are related to the mine? And your companions—do they feel the same way?"
The bard lets the man finish, then waves goodbye. She'll probably ask a few more miners the same questions to see if they agree and still want to keep working no matter what. If that's the case, she'll turn to her companions and say, "Perhaps we should take the conversation to Muterall—unless you have other ideas?"
(OOC: Happy for the rest of the party to talk to the miners too, or to do something else if you've got other thoughts)
Duncan is also resisting the urge to yell at the miners for not taking their safety seriously. But he is struggling a lot more than she is, to the point he has to step outside for air. He comes back in as Jadzia returns to the group. "I think talking to Muterall will be like talking to a brick wall. But I also think that if he doesn't close the mine down, there is no stopping these miners. It might take us somehow proving that the mine is the direct cause of these events rather than just a coincidence before they take us seriously. But I am not sure how we would do that. As much as it pains me to do, we might even need to pretend that we believe the mine is good for them to let us. If they know we are against the mine, they will claim any evidence we find is just us planting something to close the mine. If we convince them that we want to keep the mine open, maybe phrase it like we are looking for proof to invalidate Kerrigan's claims, and then we find something that suggests the opposite, they are more likely to be willing to listen."
When Duncan goes outside again, they can see that there are still quite a few people milling about outside, going about business and talking and such, perhaps having declined to stuff themselves into the already fairly full tavern. When Duncan returns and offers their thoughts:
Perception check by anyone (DC 12)
Howls are heard outside, followed by a few screams, then more.
"Hmmmm," Jadzia muses at Duncan's suggestion. "You might be right. And I'm good at pretending. We can try that, yeah."She nods. But then, the sounds of turmoil outside catch her attention (Perception: 22). "Hey, what was that? Please, no more ankhegs...!"
She signals to her companions and strides outside, her long white hair streaming behind her like a banner in the breeze.
Ori moves to talk to Jaydis. She scratches her chin, and waits for a pause between the interrogation of the miners.
“Feels a bit strange, don’t it. A bit … peculiar. Mine mining somewhere a little less mundane than mines usually do? Maybe we’ll more from looking at the mine, asking some questions there than here?”
She pauses. (Perception: 22) Howls. Screams. She smiles.
“Sounds like someone is starting up the celebration again! Yay! Let’s go look!”
Cramaris followed Jadzia's example and asked miners: who has been working since the opening, how they deal with monsters and if they get attacked inside the mine.
When he hears that some careless miners just follow Mutterall he purses his lips but manages to keep cool.
Perception 8
After Jadzia calls about ankhegs Cramaris gets closer to the group to see what got her worried.
(OOC, how long we were inside the tavern? Would that be enogh for a short rest?)
Cramaris followed Jadzia's example and asked miners: who has been working since the opening, how they deal with monsters and if they get attacked inside the mine.
When he hears that some careless miners just follow Mutterall he purses his lips but manages to keep cool.
Perception 8
After Jadzia calls about ankhegs Cramaris gets closer to the group to see what got her worried.
(OOC, how long we were inside the tavern? Would that be enogh for a short rest?)
(Sure you can take a short rest if you want)
The miners vary in experience, but they are all supportive of the venture. If the creature is small enough they can fend it off themselves, but some of them have been bigger and scarier and they just evacuate the mine until the monster disappears again. There have been numerous injuries but no fatalities yet.
Duncan takes a look at the wolves, and starts to run to the aid of the towns folk when he realised the wolves were not hunting. (nature 21) He looks back at the party, a hint of fear in his eyes. "Those wolves look like they are fleeing something else. And something that can make 11 wolves run away is a damn good reason to close that mine"
Nature 11
"So you complain about mining but who except Kerrigan does something to close it?"
"I'm curious what is mined here? Why it affects monsters so much?"
After finishing his drink Cramaris says "Jadzia got nice idea here about guards"
(nature 16) "I agree. Do you really want to be remembered as an elder who allowed his town to be overran with monsters? By the time the miners realise that they can't deal with the consequences, it will be too late. And then a bad crop, irrespective of if the mine is causing it, will be the least of your worries. You want jobs, then miners can be guards. They can swing a pick, I'm sure they can learn to swing a sword, or even fight bandits with picks. I'm not one to judge when it comes to defense"
After joining more my signature got out of hand so I am now a proud member of the extended signature club!! :)
"As far as I know," Tug answers, "the monsters are being displaced from their natural habitat by the mining operation. But it's not just the ankhegs, there are wolves from the forest, horrors from below, spiders the shift out of existence at the blink of an eye, and more." He took another drink and wiped his mouth. "The miners aren't going to stay if there isn't a mine. This town can't support them if the operation shuts down. The people here before lived off the land, barely. There just isn't a way to pay for guards. I'm open to ideas, but I don't have the power to change anything myself."
"What if we just kill all the monsters, in every ecosystem. That'd fix things, and with them all dead there'd be no further problems in the years to come!"
Jadzia plucks a dissonant chord on the bandore. "Yeah... nothing says problem-solving like mass extinction."
The air genasi lets the chord hang in the air a moment. "Maybe we should talk to Mutterall—see what he actually plans to do. And the miners too. I doubt they're feeling so eager to return to work after seeing those ankhegs."
(ooc: are there miners in the tavern as well, or only farmers and such?)
Diving deep to the surface ♫ Auriel | Chase | Shenua | Arren | Lyra
"I doubt that exterminating monsters will fix bad harvest. Maybe mining releases some sort of poisonous dust?"
"Or maybe its just ankhegs messing with your crops. I have no idea"
(There is a mix of everyone here, though perhaps the majority are miners.)
You would notice that Mutterall is not present in the tavern at the moment. Tug finally mentions that it is primarily iron and other metals, but he isn't entirely sure what else is down deeper in the mine.
With no other ideas in mind, Jadzia downs the rest of her ale, then scans the room for a miner who looks the most approachable—or at least not actively unfriendly—before heading his way. "Hey! Mind if I steal a moment of your time? I'm Jadzia," the bard says, giving the miner her most disarming smile. "Nasty creatures, those ankhegs. How do you feel about going back to work with all that danger around? Surely you and your companions will need to talk to your boss if you want to keep at it. Is the pay really good enough to risk your neck like that?"
The blue-skinned genasi pauses to let the man answer, then adds, "Are you used to attacks like these? Have you had many run-ins with them before?"
Diving deep to the surface ♫ Auriel | Chase | Shenua | Arren | Lyra
Jadzia finds a younger man, perhaps late 20s though the grimy look testifies to the hard life he lives. He smiles though as Jadzia comes over, "Sure you can, we're just enjoying what we can here. The name's Ribsy." He rubs his jaw for a moment as he listens. "Yeah not exactly fun for the celebration was it? But we deal with it as we can, the town's been boomin' ever since it opened. Fact, me and my lady came up here just not long ago to try and make some coin before the baby comes. I'd say it's definitely worth the risk!" He smiles again and takes another sip of his ale.
Jadzia listens attentively, and when Ribsy mentions a baby on the way, she has to make every effort not to yell, "A baby?? And you want to keep working in the mine after what you’ve seen today?? Are you out of your mind?!” Instead, she mentally counts to ten, then offers a smile and says, "A baby! Well, congratulations are in order…!" She pauses, then continues more thoughtfully, "Hmm. So you don't think the town's issues with crops, air quality, and the like are related to the mine? And your companions—do they feel the same way?"
The bard lets the man finish, then waves goodbye. She'll probably ask a few more miners the same questions to see if they agree and still want to keep working no matter what. If that's the case, she'll turn to her companions and say, "Perhaps we should take the conversation to Muterall—unless you have other ideas?"
(OOC: Happy for the rest of the party to talk to the miners too, or to do something else if you've got other thoughts)
Diving deep to the surface ♫ Auriel | Chase | Shenua | Arren | Lyra
Duncan is also resisting the urge to yell at the miners for not taking their safety seriously. But he is struggling a lot more than she is, to the point he has to step outside for air. He comes back in as Jadzia returns to the group. "I think talking to Muterall will be like talking to a brick wall. But I also think that if he doesn't close the mine down, there is no stopping these miners. It might take us somehow proving that the mine is the direct cause of these events rather than just a coincidence before they take us seriously. But I am not sure how we would do that. As much as it pains me to do, we might even need to pretend that we believe the mine is good for them to let us. If they know we are against the mine, they will claim any evidence we find is just us planting something to close the mine. If we convince them that we want to keep the mine open, maybe phrase it like we are looking for proof to invalidate Kerrigan's claims, and then we find something that suggests the opposite, they are more likely to be willing to listen."
After joining more my signature got out of hand so I am now a proud member of the extended signature club!! :)
When Duncan goes outside again, they can see that there are still quite a few people milling about outside, going about business and talking and such, perhaps having declined to stuff themselves into the already fairly full tavern. When Duncan returns and offers their thoughts:
Perception check by anyone (DC 12)
Howls are heard outside, followed by a few screams, then more.
"Hmmmm," Jadzia muses at Duncan's suggestion. "You might be right. And I'm good at pretending. We can try that, yeah." She nods. But then, the sounds of turmoil outside catch her attention (Perception: 22). "Hey, what was that? Please, no more ankhegs...!"
She signals to her companions and strides outside, her long white hair streaming behind her like a banner in the breeze.
Diving deep to the surface ♫ Auriel | Chase | Shenua | Arren | Lyra
Ori moves to talk to Jaydis. She scratches her chin, and waits for a pause between the interrogation of the miners.
“Feels a bit strange, don’t it. A bit … peculiar. Mine mining somewhere a little less mundane than mines usually do? Maybe we’ll more from looking at the mine, asking some questions there than here?”
She pauses. (Perception: 22) Howls. Screams. She smiles.
“Sounds like someone is starting up the celebration again! Yay! Let’s go look!”
Cramaris followed Jadzia's example and asked miners: who has been working since the opening, how they deal with monsters and if they get attacked inside the mine.
When he hears that some careless miners just follow Mutterall he purses his lips but manages to keep cool.
Perception 8
After Jadzia calls about ankhegs Cramaris gets closer to the group to see what got her worried.
(OOC, how long we were inside the tavern? Would that be enogh for a short rest?)
(Sure you can take a short rest if you want)
The miners vary in experience, but they are all supportive of the venture. If the creature is small enough they can fend it off themselves, but some of them have been bigger and scarier and they just evacuate the mine until the monster disappears again. There have been numerous injuries but no fatalities yet.
(perception 20) "That's no celebration. Sounds more like wolves than ankhegs. They did say local wildlife is also more agitated."
Duncan gets up to go check it out and offer assistance if required
After joining more my signature got out of hand so I am now a proud member of the extended signature club!! :)
When you all go outside to investigate the noise, you see a pack of 11 wolves running wild through the street chasing after 10 townsfolk!
Anyone make a Nature check (DC 15):
The wolves don't appear to be trying to hurt the people.
Duncan takes a look at the wolves, and starts to run to the aid of the towns folk when he realised the wolves were not hunting. (nature 21) He looks back at the party, a hint of fear in his eyes. "Those wolves look like they are fleeing something else. And something that can make 11 wolves run away is a damn good reason to close that mine"
After joining more my signature got out of hand so I am now a proud member of the extended signature club!! :)