Above & Below

Brask, who had been about to head toward the tavern, glances at Effort, shrugs, and starts marching towards the church.  Hey, if they're dog lovers, this is your fault.  He also walks briskly and with purpose, planning to barge through any opposition to their presence.

Everyone, give me a perception check as you enter the church.

Effort Perception: 10

(Mobile)

Kurama perception: 20  

Brask keeps his hand ready to reach for his maul, and watches warily for dog worshippers.

Perception 10

Effort is a bit distracted as you enter the church, partly still watching the streets through Cadmael.

Kurama and Brask, you are supremely focused and quickly scan the interior as you walk through the modest double doors. The church has a long center aisle with about twenty rows on either side. There are stained glass windows adorning each wall, mostly comprised of drab scenes of clouds with a bit of sunshine peaking through or ravens flying. One side includes a single plant tendril sneaking out of the ground, while the opposite window depicts a plant dead and dried amidst a desert.

People have been coming in and sitting among the pews, although there is still plenty of room. There are maybe two dozen in here now, with another family of four following closely behind you. Thunder booms outside as the rain starts to fall harder.

While most of the people inside couldn't look more common, a few stand out. Brask, you notice a man wearing a red-dyed robe with a bit of fur around the collar. A shiny necklace and fingers full of golden rings are rather conspicuous. He stands in the corner looking some irked at the severe weather.

Kurama, your attention is drawn to a bald man sitting at the front of the church. He wears dark robes, and sits with his head in his lap, clearly thinking about or worry about something. Occasionally he looks up briefly and then back down at his hands, wringing them intently. You notice he has an abstract feather tattooed on the back of his head.

Brask stomps over to the man with the red-dyed robe.  Hey, what's the matter with you?  Never seen rain before?

He looks briefly startled, but then raises an eyebrow at you. "I am familiar with it, yes. That doesn't make it any less bothersome that I am yet again pulled away from business." He looks around you through the doors to survey the precipitation. It hasn't yet slowed. 

I bet your business is really important, right?, says Brask, not really trying to keep the sneer from his voice.  In a village full of fish-stinking peasants, what are you?  The king of the fish-peasants?

Quote from Billtacular >>

Effort is a bit distracted as you enter the church, partly still watching the streets through Cadmael.

Kurama and Brask, you are supremely focused and quickly scan the interior as you walk through the modest double doors. The church has a long center aisle with about twenty rows on either side. There are stained glass windows adorning each wall, mostly comprised of drab scenes of clouds with a bit of sunshine peaking through or ravens flying. One side includes a single plant tendril sneaking out of the ground, while the opposite window depicts a plant dead and dried amidst a desert.

People have been coming in and sitting among the pews, although there is still plenty of room. There are maybe two dozen in here now, with another family of four following closely behind you. Thunder booms outside as the rain starts to fall harder.

While most of the people inside couldn't look more common, a few stand out. Brask, you notice a man wearing a red-dyed robe with a bit of fur around the collar. A shiny necklace and fingers full of golden rings are rather conspicuous. He stands in the corner looking some irked at the severe weather.

Kurama, your attention is drawn to a bald man sitting at the front of the church. He wears dark robes, and sits with his head in his lap, clearly thinking about or worry about something. Occasionally he looks up briefly and then back down at his hands, wringing them intently. You notice he has an abstract feather tattooed on the back of his head.

Kurama kept turning around to look at the bald man as he followed Brask over to the red-robed man in the corner.  Could that be the monk that the Sister had mentioned? Kurama thought to himself.  Though his curiosity was raging, the Sister's warning continued to haunt him and he held himself back from approaching.  If he was going to speak to him, he'd do so with everyone else present.  As Brask began to talk though, he did turn to Effort and quietly whisper, "Do you think that man over there could be the monk the Sister mentioned earlier?  He certainly... looks the part."    

"Rastel?" Effort says, focusing on damping down her dismay at Brask's usual flashy entrance.  "We might as well ask him."  Pinching her arm for patience (Guidance), she approaches the bald man with the feather tattoo.

"Excuse me," she says in clipped, but polite tones.  "We seek someone by the name of Rastel. Are you by chance he?"

"Ha, I like your moxie, big fella." He twists one of the rings as he speaks. "I am Lazar, the greatest and most famous merchant this land has ever known. Fish don't fetch a hefty enough price for me to bother with them, though I do enjoy the finer fishes when the mood strikes me. And that happens quite often." He pats his rotund mid-section. "I haven't seen you or your friends here before...or in any other town, for that matter. I never forget a face, especially when it's attached to a hulking brute like yourself! What brings you to the eastern coast?"

------

As Effort mentions Rastel, the man's eyes go wide and he jerks back nervously. "N-no...I am Rasgo. Why...why are you looking for Rastel? What do you want with him?"

(Mobile)

"We were asked to seek them out if we ever came in this direction."  Kurama replied, omitting the part about a Sister being the the one to send them this way.  Seeing the man's nervousness, he tried to discern the cause and see if he might be holding something back.

• Insight check: 16 

Yeah, we're new, Brask says.  So, you're rich, eh?  Got a big boat?

"Asked...? T-to seek him out? Asked by who?" You can't pin down exactly what is troubling him, but he seems nervous in a shocked or stunned kind of way. 

-----

"Mm, boats are not my preferred method of travel," the merchant replies. "But I know those who own the most comfortable sailing vessels on this side of the great ocean! Not that they are in the business of giving rides away, of course." He turns up an eyebrow, trying to pin down exactly what you're after.

We need a big boat, Brask says bluntly.  Where are your friends?  I'm sure I can persuade them.  I'm persuasive. Everyone says so. 

Brask is keeping an eye on whatever is going on with Kurama and Effort, and making sure Pip isn't getting into trouble.

Effort softens her eyes and does her best to soften her voice as well.   "You seem troubled.  Please, don't be.  We are merely simple travelers who have lost our way.  We only heard that he was a monk who lived in this village, and could possibly help us," she says gently, an understanding and understated smile aimed at the man, to comfort him.

Deception: 13 (10 + 3 guidance)

(I don't know, can I say Kurama not mentioning the Sister counts as a help action? if so it's a 4 this time, so a total of 14 XD )

"I hope your persuasiveness comes in the form of coin. They live in the northern district, a few streets up from the docks. We can head there after the storm passes," he smiles. "I was walking that way myself before this rain."

Brask looks around quickly, and sees Kurama and Effort conversing with the melancholy monk. Pip seems to be wandering the edge of the church, fascinated by the stained glass windows.

------

The monk seems convinced enough, though it does little to settle his mood. "Help? I don't think he is in a position to help anyone..." He looks down at his dirty feet, then back up at you. "If you are lost, I may be able to point you in the right direction. I am not sure what other help I can offer, though."

Yeah, we got coin, Brask says confidently.  Why don't you introduce us to your buddies.  Hey, we're a capable bunch, maybe they have some 'problems' we can help them with as well.  You never know when people need a bit of assistance, right?  

"What makes you say that?" Effort says, channeling her years as a human.  Her tone is polite, but curious, and light, a studied attempt to disarm the man and convince him to drop his guard.  She scratches her neck with a murmur, recasting guidance on herself as she speaks, and eyes Kurama.  The monk's natural attitude would be of help in connecting with this paranoid mouse of a man, she thinks.  "My friend over here is also a monk," she says, gesturing at Kurama.  "He is always telling us that there is little in this world that cannot be resolved by meditation and finding the truth for oneself.  You see, when I say that we lost our way, I meant in a much more spiritual sense.  This is why we seek Rastel's wisdom.  We are lost, and looking for the truth.  It would be troubling if the one we sought for assistance was also lost in some way.  Perhaps we could all help each other."