Bartram Shadecrest
Lvl 3 | Human | Rogue/Inquisitive 

Bartram will add his weapons to the bag before joining the others. Taking the badge, he will affix it to his person. "Now that we are throughly disarmed, shall we proceed?" 

Perception: 5 

ooc: Well, that's troubling. If it helps my passive perception is 19

Karst holds his sword for a long moment after Roccar places his great axe into the bag before sighing and adding it along with his dagger to the rest of the weapons. 

"We place a lot of faith in you gnome, do not fail us."

Perception 9 

Murmen places his warhammer and his spear in the bag.  He keeps his shield, and places his holy symbol under his chain mail.

(Unless anyone objects, Murmen will keep his Blessing of the Forge on his armor.)

Perception: 22

Murmen affixes the badge to his armor, keeping it clearly visible.

"Meepo is not planning to die so you don't have to bother singing for me Fumbles."

Perception: 21 (If Sunlight Sensitivity is in effect: 19)

Meepo places his spear and shortsword inside the bag of holding.

"Oh, almost forgot about this. Never had the chance to use them."

The kobold draw his darts and puts them inside the bag.

“This is be a moment. Sorry. Performance anxiety.”, Aradurk says as he removes his swords, hand axes, and long bow and quiver into the bag. 

“My crowbar - it’s a tool not a weapon but I will leave the decision to you.”, he says to Glendale.

Perception: 4

"Tools, armor and shields will all be fine to bring. 'Tis only the obvious weapons we'll leave behind," Glendale says, motioning against Aradurk's crowbar.

Once the bag of holding has been buried, you approach Devilsfall in a very slow, cautious manner, keeping your eyes up for the first sign of trouble.

Approaching Devilsfall, you see that the orcs have been expecting your arrival. Thousands of them stand in a massive formation with the Many Arrows banners flying over their spiky helms and spears. Their eyes follow your small procession as you make your way forward, to a well-appointed table. The area falls uncomfortably silent as the grunting, shuffling orcs grow still.

Sitting at the table is a massive orc lord, eating a leg of lamb. To his right sits an ashen-skinned orc general, and to his left a one-eyed orog priestess. A goblin shaman stands nearby.

"Welcome, messengers of Luruar," the massive orc speaks. "I am Azetbu, right hand of the Orc King. My general is Gorcrom, and my priestess - and my mate - is Shang."

"Well, shit," Roccar mutters.

"As the brother of the late Chief Scar of the Longhunt clan, Shang has been granted a seat at today's table," Azetbu finishes.

The hatred that Shang has for Roccar, whose men annihilated the Longhunt clan, is obvious. Ignoring her glowering, Glendale moves forward with her bottle of wine.

"Thank you, Azetbu. I am the Warblade of Sundabar. I bring to you today the Watchblade, the leader of the fearsome Reaver company, a representative of the Black Network, my Shieldsar, and five protectors of Luruar. I also bring a personal gift from my own collection; the finest wine, fit for an orc lord," she says.

Azetbu looks baffled by the flattery, but accepts the wine. Shang's countenance remains unchanged.

"Oh, and this is Juds," Azetbu collects himself, motioning to the twitchy goblin standing nearby.

Fumbles whispers to you, "Shang's inclusion complicates matters. None of us were expecting this. We will need all the help you can give us."

"Let us begin," Azetbu states. "We are willing to accept the southern tribes into our ranks. But there are matters proposed by Luruar that we do not agree to. First, Luruar is asking us to bring goblinkin and giantkind in along with the orcs. We cannot. There are goblin tribes and giant clans within Many Arrows, but we do not want more. We will only accept orcs."

"That won't work. Once the southern tribes are gone, the giants will simply--" Rowan begins, but Azetbu quickly cuts him off. "Enough politicians. I want to hear from your 'protectors', the ones that don't live high within castle walls. Introduce yourselves to me. Tell me why we should take the goblins and giants."

Before answering, Fumbles mutters some advice from behind you. "Trolls have been more of a bother than the giants or goblins because of their regeneration. You may be able to squeeze them into the pact in lieu of the goblins and giants.

OOC: This is the start of a crucial social encounter. The party's defenses of Luruar's positioning will make or break the deal. Alternatively, you can argue for suggested compromises if you feel the orcs will be more willing to listen. You don't need to make any rolls with these posts. The ability check used and whether it is at advantage or disadvantage will be determined by your roleplaying, reasoning, and even your background.

"I am Meepo Dustsweeper, part of a nomadic tribe of Calim Desert. Meepo doesn't know much about giants but he does know how to speak goblin since we mostly do meet them, either as traders or raiders.

Meepo can't think anything particularly good or bad about those two races. What Meepo knows is that there's nothing wrong with having more numbers.

From Meepo's experience living at the harsh desert, if you're alive, you can be part of the workforce helping and improving the tribe in exchange of comfort and protection.

If you're weak, you can serve as cannon fodder when groups of gargantuan purple worms or raiders suddenly attacks and in exchange your family and friends could flee and live another day."

"You are taking the orcs into your own ranks, soon they will be Many Arrows orcs heart and soul and your power will have grown substantially. In return for this surely you could take the other races, they will be a burden in some ways but there must be compromise, why should the other races gain so little and you gain so much.

Mighty Azetbu, meet the humans halfway, in time you will see in that you will be known and remembered as a mighty war chief and a diplomat who increased the might of the Dark Arrows kingdom. You will be seen as a great orc in this way in the generations that follow. 

“As an individual with  little homeland to speak of, I have had to learn to make myself one with the people I am with.” "Azetbu”, Aradurk states with his eyes shining brightly, “This people I have protected, with which I have travelled, and with whom I have fought against common foes are a good people to ally with and drink with.”

Bartram

"If were me Great Azetbu, I would do anything that would bolster my strength. Remember, you could always renegotiate the terms of the deal later and with the forces of the goblins and the giants behind you with your already impressive forces, who could say no." 

Looking over to Juds, Bartram begins to wonder why he is there if he doesn't want any goblins added into the deal. Was he here representing his race or was there something else going on. Bartram wI'll keep a close eye on him just in case. 

"I mean, I'm no master of orcish strategy.  I would say that more fighters is always better in the long run, though."

Meepo Persuasion: 15
Karst Persuasion: 23
Aradurk Persuasion: 14
Bartram Persuasion: 17
Murmen Persuasion: 17
Bartram Insight: 16

For Bartram:

Azetbu consults with Shang for a moment, then simply nods his head. "Very well, you have convinced me. We will bring the goblins and giants who are plaguing your southern cities as well. But this brings us to another question. How will we feed these extra bodies? Luruar says they will provide fresh meat for three months to offset the cost of adding so many bodies to our Empire. This was already not enough, and now we bring goblins and giants as well. Have you seen how much food it takes to feed a giant's hunger? We need a year's worth of food from Luruar."

Fumbles suggests, "Our offer was already generous. A year's worth of fresh meat will have a terrible impact on those outside of city walls who rely on game for food. Luruar may be able to afford six months of meat as a compromise but it would be salted meat, not fresh."

"Though Meepo has sharp teeth, our kind can eat practically anything. We're not picky eaters.

Some kobold tribes practice cannibalism if they face starvation. It's practical and a cheap source of good meat. Meepo highly recommends it."

"Does it have to be meat? Could you perhaps take some other form of produce and maybe start farming?"

The brown kobold follows Bartram's alternative suggestion for meat.

"Meepo also recommends tree bark, bones, and egg shells. Not that tasty but still filling. Also makes healthy and strong bones.

Now that I think about it, maybe that's why I lack strength. Meepo doesn't eat a lot of bones and egg shells when he was a hatchling."

Meepo Persuasion: 7
Bartram Persuasion: 14

"That is unacceptable. It will not be easy to keep the southern tribes in line. Suggesting that they give up the taste of meat for plants would turn them right back to eating the corpses of your farmers. I doubt that is what you want. We are saving your citizens' lives. The least they can do is eat less for a while," Azetbu says, unmoving. "On that topic, you would like us to pay from our coffers for half of the cost of relocating the orcs. This will already be unaffordable for us due to numbers alone. We would like Luruar to pay for the entire cost."

Fumbles suggests, "Remember that it may be easier to convince them to pay the fee owed to the Zhentarim escort instead, and allow Luruar to pay for the relocation."

"And if Luruar would be willing to meet these costs, can we assume that dark Arrows would be willing to pay the cots of the Zhentarim escorts instead, Luruar cannot surely be expected to pay for all of this.  Mighty Azetbu, remember the benefits you will gain before you dismiss an offer, neither side can truly afford for us to walk away without agreement.  There is so much to be gained for us all that we must compromise along the way or lose out greatly in the end, as a leader of a great kingdom I am sure you can see the benefits where other, less far-seeing people cannot."

Karst bows slightly after speaking.

Karst Persuasion: 5

"This we can do. However, Luruar expects us to share in payment yet cannot offer us a consulate in Sundabar? This does not seem equal to me," Azetbu says.

Fumbles suggests, "Azetbu may have painted himself into a corner here. You could use his desire for equality to get him to accept a consulate on Silverymoon's edge, where it would be much less volatile than orcs and dwarves in the same city."

"Sundabar? Would not the majesty of Silverymoon be more appealing? A Consulate positioned near the edge of the city would further strengthen your position in the area and allow you to have more successful diplomatic ties with Luruar in general without scaring the more timid among them.  Silverymoon has long been the place where new things are accepted more easily, the dwarves of Sundabar will soon start to see Dark Arrows as a major player in the region once you are well established in Silverymoon." He pauses, smiles, and then continues "Within a few years you will probably have representatives from Sundabar asking for you to set up a Consulate in their city so they don't feel less than Silverymoon.."

Bartram 

"I understand your need for equal representation, but given the volatile relationship you have with the dwarves wouldn't a more neutral location be a better idea? Perhaps you could put a constant on Silvermoon's edge and if all goes well you could perhaps move it into the city later."