Riverside Village:

Nae, Noldeme, Xamodas:  "Context?  CONTEXT? What exactly do I need to contextualize here?  You disrespected the elder, whatever you said put her in such distress she turned into an otter! An otter!"  He howls. He sees your lack in change of expression, and quickly adds "-I mean, like, all the way back into an otter!  Yeh like- like it only- but with stress- ah it doesn't even matter!  What matters is you pissed me off, and I'm angry!  Furious, even!"  The pool of water by his feet thrashes with waves, and you can see condensation building up on windows and plants nearby.  Your not entirely how powerful he actually is, but his height and miles-wide-inch-deep anger isn't doing him any favors.

"If you want us to get you downriver, and by us I mean me, go north from here and clear out the horrible monster that lives there, got it!?  Don't make me ask twice!"

Riverport: Twilight

Voldred:  "I mean, Courier's are kinda just people, you're technially- ah well yeah probably...not a good time to talk. Yeah, I'll make you stealthy, and be on my way."

"Wait!"  says the thief  "Can't you help us out of here?  You got here somehow, can you use that to take us out?  That would make things so much easier."

"Nope.  Don't think I can, nor be bothered to do so, tight schedule. Although, I guess this guy here has some connections, since that's why I'm here.  Anyway, stealth tips, right uhh."  He makes pokes and prods "Right foot like this, left foot, no wait other way...and then back arched like..."to move you into a stance that is perfectly optimized for sneaking. ((you do still get your guidance bonus))  

"Darn, this would be so much more interesting oppurunity if we weren't in mortal danger because of...you know." says Twill, side-eyeing the theif.

"Alright, alright I get it yeah. what do want me to do, say I'm sorry for trying to rob you or something?  I'm helping, aren't I, even if it's just to save the stone later; people really don't appreciate honesty nowadays, do they?"

"Nope." says the cloaked Courier as he finishes "guiding" you.  "Lying and backstabbing is what it's all about nowadays, security is getting too tight for honest thieves to make a living.  Can't blame you for trying, I once knew a guy- oh Alright, done, you should be perfectly sneaky now.  Usually just takes a few seconds but time weird.  Guess, uh, bye or something?"

Riverport: Twilight:

Hearing the thief's remark about the stone makes Voldred furious yet again, to the point he can't help but glare in anger at her. She may or may not have noticed that before he regained enough self control to focus on the more immediate problem of sneaking. Voldred decided to not cause a scene right now, but he will definitely remember that for later. After the Courier is done with his guidance, Voldred speaks.

"Connections..." Voldred scoffs "Right. I'd rather not have them, but since I do, I intend to make full use of them."

Voldred walks around to test his ability to move quietly.

"How do you people even do this regularly? Walking like that is incredibly uncomfortable. I feel like I will have a cramp any second now, so let's get to our destination quickly while I can maintain this...posture."

((I already rolled a 14 for stealth earlier. That was with Guidance and disadvantage from armor.))

Rafon's Run: Road to Glanyrafon:

Tsahil try to find the Triton in the dust.

(perception if needed: 15 )
If he sees the Triton and it's still moving, he'll try to shoot one more time

Attack: 12; damage: 9

If the Triton isn't moving anymore, or if Tsahil can't find him, he'll try to stop the horse (animal handling if needed: 10) and see if he can help the Caretaker in any other way

Orina (Bunny Knight) | Cordivae, Wrightway Inn

Orina squints at Finn, surprised that he seems so confident in his connections.

Insight: 20 + Guidance: 4

Having come to a private conclusion about his truthfulness on the matter, she still nods at him agreeably.  "Yes, this is very important indeed, so I'd appreciate it if you take us there.  I'd even be happy to buy you some breakfast --"  She notices the way Finn's face lights up and continues quickly. "-- to go, or from a street vendor along the way there.  The faster we get this done, the faster we can move on to other business, right?"

Archway Offices:

Ulrich:  At first, you swear it is yours, for it looks almost exactly the same but...no, the deathclaw resembles a wicked metal hand of bone with clawed fingers, yours however is left handed, while this one is right handed.  You get a closer look at her...her hands are pale, withered, almost bones; you think you can see her skull in her head, as if her skin were translucent.  You hear her speak wickedly, though her mouth retains a grin.  "She set you out on missions, gave you the blessing of the ritual, and refused to acknowledge me."  You look around, and it is almost like nobody notices, have the streets suddenly cleared, or did everyone vanish; perhaps your focus has completely blotted out all else.  "Look at you now, eating out of the Archbishops palm.  I have never stopped proving myself, I have heard Death call to me, and have taken up her duties, I have spilled the blood of the damned and I have been rewarded."  She raises the deathclaw, and presses it up against your chest.  "Would you like to meet her now, as your final blessing, or should I save you for later?"

Spider Temple -> Corvidae

Iam:  Everything you own is in order.  "Good, your help is greatly appreciated, and perhaps soon to be proven extremely necessary." says the Caretaker.  "Your desire to build and create makes you an excellent Spearman; you desire for order and welfare would have no doubt made you an even better Caretaker, but that time has passed. For the time being, please refer to me as Mars, it is a codename but will make things much easier"

He bids you to follow, he walks at a stunningly brisk, almost unatural pace which makes it difficult to keep up.  It almost feels like you're taking another test, it may be, but you do not tire easily.  It is difficult to see where you are going within these unusually crowded streets, but as long as you keep behind Mars it seems like there is always an opening.  He reaches out a hand behind you.  "Take my hand, this will be the fastest way, we're going to make a quick leap to our destination, brace yourself for the landing.  Do you think you can recognize Liadon's villa from above?"

Archway Offices:

With an effort, Ulrich keeps the smile from his face. He locks eyes with her, not acknowledging the deathclaw. "She had the chance to take me. And I would have welcomed it. But She didn't. Do you want to go against Her decision? Do you think I value the Archbishop over Her? Do you truly think She would suffer such insolance? And more importantly, do you truly think I would be frightened by a threat to fully join Her?"

He holds her gaze for a full minute, then turns and goes down the path Elan took. "I will be gone. You may plan."

Ulrich doesn't look back, just continues to where Elan is waiting. "This the last stop? Though I do need to reclaim my staff"

Traveling with Mars

Iam considers the construction of the villa, the new work being done, even the neighborhood with it's Kenku watchers with his knowledge of civil engineering and triangulation between his two carriage rides to and from there.

"I believe so. Can you take us to the noble district where the Kenku observe all from their rooftops?" Iam asks as he takes the hand of Mars.

Rafon's Run: Road to Glanyrafon:

Tsahil:  Your realize heart is racing and  pounding in your ears as the adrenaline wears off.  You scan the wreckage closely, though the light is dim, from the vantage point of the horse.  At first there is nothing, but the wreckage begins to stir and a figure emerges.  With your prepared attack, you shoot true.  You hear the sound of the arrow crack into them as they fall prone in the wreckage.  The Triton, whoever he was, has been felled.  +500 XP.   You look around for signs of the caretaker, he is lying still on the ground several yards away from the wreckage, however, you slowly see him rise up, dust himself off and limp over the wreckage, pulling the body of the triton out and applying something to their body.

You see another figure walk up to the wreckage, the driver, by some miracle, has still survived.  He quickly checks on the injured horses, and rushes over to the Caretaker in anger.  "This is your fault!  You better have a damn good way of paying for all this company property!"  He points the shotgun at him, but weapon is completely destroyed and bent out of shape, you doubt it'll be much good as it is.

Riverport: Twilight:

Voldred:  The Courier backpedals around a corner and out of sight as the thief scoffs at his previous remark.  "Yeah, you get used to the stance, really works your calves, great for posture.  Let's get moving."  You stalk down the alleys, folllowing close behind the thief.

Theif Stealth 24    Twill Stealth:  18

In case the thing F's up, the rolls were 26 and 4 respectively.

 You approach what you think you recognize as the smith.  There is a hooded figure there, whose clothes are marked with an embroidered barracuda  The thief whispers :"Cult Specter, the devoted dream them up, best we make the first move before-"  You here Twill suck in air through her teeth  "Ow! Rock in my shoe, ouch sorry."  she yulps as quietly as possible, but not quietly enough.  The Cultist whips out an effigy of a Barracuda in one hand, and a dagger in the other preparing to throw it at Twill.  Roll for initiative.

Cult Specter: 7

Twill: 9

Thief: 23

Riverport: Twilight:

"Damn it, Twill! All the trouble I went through for nothing. Fine then. I was looking forward to killing something anyway!" Voldred barks as he readies for a fight. Perhaps with a little more enthusiasm than he would like to show, but it's been a rough day.

Initiative: 14

No post tonight, been packing to move back into my dorm and need to move tommorow afternnon.  Classes don't actually start until next week for quarantine reasons, so it should be smooth posting until then.  Should hopefully break my undeclared hiatus from lore posts as well.

Corvidae:

Orina:  Oh, he's definitely making up things as he goes along, but then again, he did manage to find you, so he must have his methods.  You can't tell if he is simply happy go lucky optimist or a cunning manipulator...unless is he somehow...both?  You keep an eye on him to see if he casts a spell, but he doesn't.  "Yes, come let's go, I bet there is something good to have along the way, plenty of foodcarts for the festival, and bound to be nicely priced.  I could go for something exotic..." Finn beings to seemingly wander off both in though and physically, or he is expecting you to follow him.

"Huh."  says Hainsly, poking his head out the doorframe.  "Finn has something like that last wizard had, but it's so different.  I wish you could see it, whatever it is seems to be guiding him in some way.  Not like lead pulls a horse, more like..."  he pulls out the carrot and munches on it.  "...a carrot on a stick- ACH PTTF- bluck."  he spits out the carrot, making a look of disgust before tossing it aside.  "Eck, tastes like dirt and salt, no wonder we're buying breakfast for him.  Which reminds me...what exactly is the purpose of buying and selling things anyway?"

Faksimile->

Ulrich:  "I want and expect nothing, nothing yet- but I will get my answers eventually."  she hisses. "This was merely a greeting; the next we meet, I'll be giving my farewells."

"Yikes, what was that?"  Elan asks with visible chills.  "If you can look that thing in the eyes, I'm sure against our target; I don't think anything could make me feel much worse than looking at that."  

"Right, yes, this is a Spearhead facility, believe it or not."  He says, next to a fairly average looking building.  "Most of Spearhead is connected to the underground vaults anyway, so they can just build one anywhere and dig down, or make a teleportation sigil inside.  If your hoping to retrieve a magic item of somekind, they should most assuredly be able to send it here anyway; two rocs with one boulder.  In fact..."  He takes a deep breath and looks about, for a brief moment you feel as if his eyes catch wind of something; he turns to you and says with a low voice"..I can assure you with almost complete, it is waiting for you here.  Don't ask me how I know these things, it's just something we Spearbearers are good at."  (This would be a good time to roll an insight check...or just follow him and see.)

Faksimile: 

Ulrich smiles. "Do you mean the staff or the cleric? Both require caution. And may cause problems later. But we have a job." He is regarding the building when Elan speaks. He turns to him, eyebrow raised. ((Insight: 22)), then turns back to the building. "Interesting. Would it be unwise to ask how extensive of a network you have? Is this what helps you know so much of the south?"

He lets Elan lead the way, mind still half on the cleric. He wonders who would have more information on her and if he could find them in time. Or even communicate with them during his travel. "If she tries to find allies against me, she will find plenty. I will have to hope she wishes to do the work herself. And how much of my recent experiences does she know, I wonder."

"We are heading out in the morning, are we? Feels like we are playing catch up.'

Temple Square -> Castle District:

Iam:  "Yes, we'll be there shortly."  As you grab his hand you suddenly feel light on your feet.  Mars suddenly jumps into the air, and you are pulled along with him.   You don't feel like your under the influence of gravity at all as you suddenly hanging a hundred feet above the ground.  You have a brief moment to marvel at the city in it's entirety before Mars says.  "The castle distirct is right over there."  you begin to descend slowly, like a feather, toward the direction of the district, and in time you eventually come to rest on the roof of nearby house with, landing gently on your feet.  Well, gently relative to the height you just fell, there is still an audible thud and your knees joints buckle.  There is a Kenku on a nearby post who is suddenly disturbed by your landing, taking off for a brief moment and quickly plummeting down to the houses lawn.

After a brief moment the kenku flutters back up to the rooftop unharmed.  "How very unofficial of you, officials, nearly scaring me to death!"  it says in a squacky voice.  "Where did you even come from?  No matter, it is about time you've arrived."

"About time?"  asks Mars.  "Is something the matter?"

The kenku replies, turning it's head.  "You haven't heard?  Several nobles have left their villas and not returned?  I thought you were here to deliver good news.  Amy has been missing all day!"

Mars glances to you and says  "We're working on that to the best of our ability.  You know Caretakers are stretched thin this time of year as it is.  Please, give us a moment."  he urges you to the side and says  " I can handle bringing the attention of this to the Caretakers and investigating the neighborhood, but I may need you to find Liadon on your own." 

Riverport: Twilight:

Voldred: The Cult Specter throws it's dagger at Twill, which splits into two mid flight.  30    6  Twill crouches to take the rock out of her shoe at the same time the daggers fly, and they completely miss.  

castle district

Thrilled by the non flight jump and the view it had provided, Iam is still calming himself down as the caregiver and the kenku have their interchange. Addressed Iam pulls himself together. " I feel I can find the house, however how would I identify that I am aiding you as opposed to a concerned friend who might be turned away?" Iam asks concerned that the family of Liadon's fiance might not believe himself if Liadon was not present or also missing.

Riverport: Twilight:

In response to Specter's attack, Voldred moves up to him and attacks.

Inflict Wounds: 18 Damage: 13

((What a lousy roll...))

Rafon's Run: Road to Glanyrafon:

Tsahil tries to calm down the driver, and solve both their problems at once:
"We don't need another fight here. I'm sure the Caretaker can take us to our destination, right?" he says, then looks to the caretaker. "And then we can discuss anything else. How does that sound to you both?"
It sure sounds good to me,  he thinks to himself

Orina (Bunny Knight) | Cordivae, Wrightway Inn

Sighing, Orina decides to let Finn be.  Jogs would probably want to brain him for being this brash, but she's alone now, and she's not used to making enemies instead of friends.  Not that Finn's behavior indicates in particular that he wants to be friends... it seems more like he just wants her money.

When Hainsley tells her what seems different about Finn, Orina's brow scrunches.  She bends down to whisper to Hainsley.  "I'm not sure I understand how magic works... gosh, I don't even understand how my own powers work half the time.  But... maybe every person taps into the weave in a different way, and what comes out is shaped by how their personalities are.  I mean... maybe Finn is chasing after power, instead of letting it come to him patiently.  Did you see an aura around Grr Grr Frr?  He was a good magician... in all the senses of that word.  Maybe if you didn't see an aura around him, it was a sign that he was in control of his magic, rather than the magic being in control of him!  I don't know... but, just be careful around Finn.  He's kind of clever, but also... kind of careless at the same time, I think."

"Lead the way," Orina says doubtfully to Finn, following after him.  "But, umm... I won't be paying for anything you order for yourself.  I don't have that much money.  Tell me what you want, and I'll see if I can pick it up for you instead."  She offers Hainsley a ride on her shoulders if he wants it as they leave the inn. 

"The purpose of buying and selling things, hmm," she thinks.  "It was a surprise to me too when I first came here... how much money you need just to get by.  People buy and sell things in cities because they can't easily get it for themselves from the land anymore.  Things like food, or shelter.  They have to trade what they have of value, for what other people have to help them live.  And as more and more people got together in bigger and bigger numbers, it became easier for people to trade with coins representing their value, rather than actual goods.  It's all still sort of weird and fuzzy to me too, though, to be honest.  I don't know why so many people are so obsessed with coins.  It does buy you nice things, to be sure, but it can also make you blind to the little things that make life enjoyable.  You know, like friendship," she says, looking at Finn stomping around before them again.

"Stay close in the market, Hainsley... I think you're really sensitive, and you pick up other peoples' emotions and feelings so easily.  And not everybody is nice.  I think it's a bit like smelling stinky bog air for you, you know?  If you feel like you're getting tired or overwhelmed by anything, just come to my shoulders, close your eyes, and put your nose in my hair.  It smells like the forest, so maybe it will help keep you from getting tired."

No post today, by which I mean really no post yesterday and also today.  Might be kinda bumpy starting out, but I always have my laptop open during class, which means I might be posting if I'm distracted in class, lol, trying not to do that this semester.  Also, I've been tinkering with actual modules for quite some time, and since school is starting it means that all of my college friends can get together (sort of, as much as the situation and restrictions allow) and play in person sessions again.  Means I've been writing up new stuff and polishing up old stuff.  The capital of Saisei, Tengoku, is shaping up as a unique fantasy metropolis while Gehirnesser is becoming an intriguing mesh of magically dystopic nonsense, as intended.  It's good to be getting back into the flow of things, haven't had this much pressure to create lots of new content since this thread was recruiting.  If I ever open it again, I'd most likely funnel them into my burgeoning content instead of dropping them wherever.

You'll not see me complaining about delays from you since as a matter of fact, I and my group seem to be the ones delayed right now. Speaking of which.

Quote from Pin_Pieron >>

Riverside Village:

Nae, Noldeme, Xamodas:  "Context?  CONTEXT? What exactly do I need to contextualize here?  You disrespected the elder, whatever you said put her in such distress she turned into an otter! An otter!"  He howls. He sees your lack in change of expression, and quickly adds "-I mean, like, all the way back into an otter!  Yeh like- like it only- but with stress- ah it doesn't even matter!  What matters is you pissed me off, and I'm angry!  Furious, even!"  The pool of water by his feet thrashes with waves, and you can see condensation building up on windows and plants nearby.  Your not entirely how powerful he actually is, but his height and miles-wide-inch-deep anger isn't doing him any favors.

"If you want us to get you downriver, and by us I mean me, go north from here and clear out the horrible monster that lives there, got it!?  Don't make me ask twice!"

"When we met her she was an otter already. It seems like the one who was needing context was you, not us... What you think is our fault is not our fault. Well, whatever. Maybe doing something nice for a change, even for the thankless, will give me some redemption for all the things that I've actually done wrong. It'd be nicer if you were a little nicer about it, though." Noldeme responds with sarcasm, still being visibly annoyed by the inpatient man.

Regardless, she turns towards north, based on her knowledge of geography and this place, and starts heading right out of town. "C'mon gang, let's kill a monster."

Temple District:

Ulrich:  "Yes" he answers.  "Everything was quite offputting"

"Well, the physical structures of Spearhead are quite large, but Spearhead is made up of the sum of it's members.   I just know about the South cause I...well...actually, I know this is going to sound odd, but I'd rather not talk about that."  History has not been kind to elves, it is easy to tell there have been experiences he would rather not dwell on.  Your insight reveals that although there is some truth to his words about Spearhead, it is doubtful that he would act in such a manner if knew that information in advance.  In fact, it seemed like for a moment, he was using some kind of magic. Perhaps he has some skill with divination?

"Yes, in the morning!" he happily changes the subject  "At least, right now we have to travel in the morning, but I imagine that could change very quickly.  Things have been in quite the tizzy recently, I can't really tell you the specifics that.  Let's just just say that we've made quite a few intresting developments in developments recently."  Elan approaches the building and opens the door, the room inside looks very dark, Elan walks inside and disappears.  He sticks his head out after a moment, saying  "By the way, whatever you, don't touch anything unless I say."

Castle District: Random Roof:

Iam:   "Good point."  he says.  "There's usually a longer process for this, but I'm considering it an emergency."  He grabs the pin on his chest with one hand, and presses his thumb against your chest where a golden feather mark appears shortly after.  "You're temporarilty deputized.  You might still be turned away, but attempting to force you out is a crime, so they aren't going to do that if they have good intentions.  In an emergency, use this."  He takes out a small metallic card with bumps on it and puts it into your hand. Your're not really sure what it is, but there is something familiar about it when you rub your fingers over it.  (Perception check)  "Just hold it up when your in danger."

He breaks from you, and speaks to the Kenku.  "Please, tell me as much as you know, I will help.  My associate is investigating a lead on these disappearences as well, I'm sure he'll Amy before I do, if she isn't just hiding around here somewhere.  Always best not to jump to conclusions.  Now, let's retrace our steps..."  he walks off with the kenku, leaving you on the rooftop.  He seemed nervous to leave you on your own, but whatever he gave you must be quite useful.  Now, to retrace your way to Liadons Villa, though odd, an  Intelligence(survival) check is in order, as you are working with navigating a landscape using specific details you remember from your last passing here.  (You use your inelligence bonus instead of wisdom for this check)