The Chronicle Campaign Gameplay - PbP

Turning to Lil as he's laying in the wagon "I think these new friends of ours have a path that aligns with our destiny, do you think you're ready?" 

Sprauchle will nod slowly to Wraeven's query. It will be about an hour. What do the rest of you all do while he hunkers down to learn to sense the item out?

As Agozur goes back into the Edge to find Lil, he sees him playing a song for the Merchant and a small audience in one corner of the main room. 

As Wraeven begins to concentrate on the weapon, Ayra will return to the wagons where Mobya is sitting, so that she can give him privacy while still watching to ensure no danger comes to him.  

As she sits with Mobya, she gazes up at the night sky for a bit, and says thoughtfully. "I have never before seen the night skies from outside the city.  They are more vast than I would have imagined."  Then, turning to her new friend:  "The young ones are very lucky to have you.  Wraeven and I were sent here to see to their safety, but it is you who have cared for them as if they are your own.  I know it is not your quest, but imagine it will be difficult for you to leave them when we deliver them into the hands of their destiny."    

Alesandair would like to hang around inside the tent and speak to Sprauchle about his clerical knowledge and experiences if he is willing to bestow any kind of guidance on this journey.

Mobya 

”You know, I’ve never realized how fast change can happen. I’ve always thought of change as a slow and progressive process, such as water dripping onto a rock and slowly changing its shape. But in just a few days I feel like I have changed, I’ve been changed by these poor younglings, by these new friendships I’ve developed with this most unlike bunch of beings in our caravan, by the road itself. And yes, I’m going to look after these babies fiercely until we figure out where they’re meant to go next. But I say that with some reservation. What if their final destination isn’t a happy or safe place? Will I be able to hand them over anyway? Will I have a choice? If it’s a good place with good people in charge, I’ll deliver them with pleasure. But what if it isn’t, Ayra?!?”

Ayra listens carefully as her friend speaks.  

"Yes, change has come quickly for me too. Just days ago, I was still under the watchful protection of my father.  I would never have imagined that I would find myself here today, with new friends and a purpose beyond my understanding.  

Wraeven and I were sent on this journey by forces far greater than me. There is darkness surrounding this quest, it is true, but I have not questioned that its purpose is virtuous and important.  You have been brought here by your own path, not to fulfill a destiny, and it is because of your own nature that you have chosen to protect these little ones.  I hope that our purposes are one and the same, and if not, then I am comforted to know that you will do what you must."  She smiles reassuringly at Mobya.

Alesandair, Sprauchle slowly speaks encouragement, and while the conversation lasts for much longer than one might expect, he shares the importance of resting in the one you serve and accepting that we all have a role to play in a larger plan. As the conversation finishes, he puts a comforting scaled hand on your shoulder and prays over you for a few minutes, asking that your path be blessed with strength. (You now have DM-bestowed inspiration.)

After praying with and thanking the Wise Tortled one, Al will quietly step right outside the tent and await Wraeven and the others to fulfill their goals. While waiting, he will also say a short prayer to Kelemvor.

Ayra is surprised at how much she is appreciating the quiet night air.  After her conversation with Mobya she remains outside reflecting on the events of the llast couple of days.  As she recalls the middle-of-the-night battle with the harpy, her hand moves to the emblem of Aerdrie Faenya and she remembers the promise she had made to find a fitting place for the item.

She returns to the cleric's hut to seek Sprauchle's advice.  Showing the item to him, Ayra tells the cleric of the previous night's battle with the harpy and how she removed the item from her body without realizing its significance.  "This creature nay not have chosen an honourable path in life but this emblem gives me hope that she may have had more than just malice within. I would like to honour that in some small way if I can. Have you any advice on how to do this?"

With a big stretch while chatting to the Merchant and Lil "You know, Lil I still think to this day I will think that was the most fun I've had getting kicked out of a hamlet. I just hope destiny never takes us back there."

Agozur and Lil will spend their time sharing stories of their past with the merchant while they wait.

Agozur,  Lil and the Merchant clink mugs with you, and you all watch a game of Chromaturgy a few tables two the left as you relax after a hard couple days on the road. Glowing Technicolor orbs zap each other seeming to jolt the players with mild arcane energy as well. You begin to notice the room filling, but they all seem to have a similar garb, uniformed in close fitting robes and sheathed weapons of one kind or another.

Ayra, the stars cast their encouraging light down into your blonde locks then shine on the talisman you hold. As you see Alesandair step out of the slow but faithful tortle's hut, you make your approach holding the symbol before you questioningly. As you recount the story, the short skin off an eyebrow will raise into the creature's bald head. "Well, we might be taking a moment with that for you, but would you mind getting Sprauchle our supper from Crackle next door? He's the little twiggy fellow behind the counter." He'll then carefully hold the emblem aloft in a channel of star light beaming in through a small gap on the thatch of the roof.

Wraeven, after spending time attuning, you feel in a way you haven't for quite some time, a sense of companionship, even goodness: not in words per se, but you sense the comfort of a friend emanating from the weapon. (Details on mechanics still to come).

Mobya as you and Ayra finish your chat and she wanders towers the hut reflectively, two of the children begin to cry faintly, and you realize they might not have eaten much today.

Ayra leaves the Sprauchle to contemplate the emblem of Aerdrie Faenya.  She enters into the Edge and requests a plate of food for the cleric. Thinking of Mobya outisde with the wagons, she will also ask Crackle if there is a safe place where the wagons can be stored for the night.

While she waits for Sprauchle's food, she watches her companions from across the room, stricken by the ease with which they are able to relax, seeming to not have a care in the world.  Noting the room fill with cloaked figures, she covers her head with her hood, hoping to not draw any attention to herself. 

Rolling to see if she recognizes the costume 13 (+4 if history, +3 if religion, +3 if investigation)

Chatting to the random people that pass by, spouting off about destiny and just generally enjoying the down time, Agozur will watch Arya enter and curiously watch her access the similarly garbed folk. "You know friends, our companions are a different bunch most of them didn't even flinch when we saw those hellhounds... I think we were meant to meet these people, Lil." Glancing over at the group he will try and figure out why Arya seems to be interested in them.

15 History (just trying to recall if he's ever run into a group like them before)

Also during their wait here while everyone else was doing their thing Agozur would try and enact his "rustic hospitality feature" to find himself and Lil a place to crash for free/cheap for the night.

OOC: Feature: Rustic Hospitality

Wraeven

Wraeven returns to Ayra. He has a plate of food with her. "What do you think fate has in store for us, for the younglings? Moyba, I forgot we should make sure that a meal is brought to her." ((Unless you have done that.)) Wraeven will take a plate of food to Mobya and check if she needs anything and check on the younglings. 

If there are any of the party in the tavern at this time he will do his awkward best to express his gratitude for their help. If he sees Agozur and Lil, he will ask them "What brings you on this journey with the merchant?"

As Mobya is tending to the babies, who are showing signs of restlessness from being in the basket for so long, Wraeven arrives with food for her and she thanks him profusely. She sits on a blanket and places the three wee ones on her lap and hand feeds them as she eats as well. The food is delicious! The babies are really hungry, and she gets bit on the finger by the baby goblin who was way too eager to get the morsel of food from her hand. “OUCH” she yelps and startles the poor peanut. “You have to be gentle” she says to them and models a nicer way to retrieve food by using their lips and not their sharp baby teeth. 

Looking between Lil and Wraeven "Well this is just a way to get to our destiny and make a bit of coin doing so... Destiny doesn't pay well but I've got a feeling something big is in store for us. What about yourself?"

Wraeven

"I feel I am guided by a hand other than my own, whether I like it or not. A deal is a deal, as they say. But this is the first time that I can remember that I felt like I was doing something worthwhile."

He smiles in apology for sharing too much..

"Now, what would be worthwhile is if I could buy each of you a round, while you tell me where you are from."

Taking in these robed figures, Agozur would not recognize much about them except their obvious uniformity of dress. Ayra, however,  having been raised in the Spires, recognizes these as the military force of the Spires. She would know that the Spires culture values study and arcane practice over traditional physical prowess, so their milliary force is more of a battle school for arcane practicers, often drawn from the large elven population of the nation. As you begin to think back to the many visitors your father entertained in the Upper Spires, where commanders would regularly seek his advice.

Crackle breaks your revery by tapping his branched hand on the counter. Below is a map of the four buildings, one has a horse symbol on it. 

Agozur, Lil, and the Merchant sit in a booth. As Lil and Agozur try to shoot the breeze and make inroads, their country charm is not received well by the men and women, mostly elven, in robes. However the Merchant does arrange for food for the three of you and the Bugbears crowding near who look more than a little uncomfortable and stay close to the Merchant.

(Sorry had most of this written this morning but going back and forth with realtor all day and meetings, apologies my peeps)

Mobya, while you play with the three tinies, feeding them and surrounding them with care, the starlight is brighter tonight without the canopy of the forest to keep it from you. You begin to notice a faint shimmer, a glittering of sorts, on each of the cubs feet where their strange marking was. You watch as the black tattoo of a spider appears to dissolve in the celestial radiance of the moon and stars, cast off like a cloak on a warm day. The shimmer takes the silvery shape of a symbol you do not recognize, as each of the cubs feet begin to glow slightly and then fade.

(Introduction of new player, welcome) Sorvas notices a female dwarf playing on a blanket with three small creatures--one orange skinned, a second pale green, and a third--about half the size of the other two--is a placid and pale yellow. One is an hobgoblin cub, another an orc, the last a goblin. Your attention is caught by a shimmer and then a glow coming from the children's feet and you recognize the symbol as one worn by an acquaintance in a port city to the West. The roads are not great to this city unless someone wanted to travel substantially North to the edge of the Spirecrest mountains, but there is a path you know well through the forest.

-----

Meanwhile back in The Clearing's Edge, Crackle will come back to the counter after getting Sprauchle's plate for Ayra, and taps the counter again to get her attention. 

The Merchant will also begin speaking a bit quieter, then going silent while looking around more alertly: as the rest of you talk of destiny and fate, everyone make perception or insight checks (say which one you did).