Lem, you and Yokini and Thistle all contribute in removing the half-orcs weapons and what not, and then you look around the room you are in.
The statues here are all of different celestial creatures, and they sit in each of the corners. It looks as if this was once a special room, but the firepit in the middle and the moth-eaten bedrolls seem out of place next to these celestial statues. You see shovels, picks, and other digging equipment in the room, and with your knowledge of digging and stonework, you can see they have been recently used. Lem, you move over to the pile of rubble, and start digging around. You begin to see areas of cut away dirt and stone. Then, you are able to decipher more than just dirt. You are seeing tracks int he dirt. Not the human or half-orc tracks, but rat tracks and droppings, and places they have gnawed. In the NorthEast wall there is a shallow tunnel you are able to see, but it is unfinished, and incomplete, and the ceiling above the tunnel has collapsed, leaving the hole open to the sky, and left this pile of burnt rubble.
It is unclear why this tunnel is here, but it is clear to you that this tunnel is recent, the tools were used recently, and the bedrolls would not be in this hallowed room during its normal use.
If you poke around in the tunnel, you see a different tunnel, smaller, and not made by tools. You are pretty sure whoever dug this tunnel accidentally ran the tunnel into a rat tunnel, or warren of tunnels…who knows how far the small rat tunnels go.
In the rubble you find the body of a half-orc, partially obscured amid the loose rocks and dirt of the aborted tunnel. The corpse looks as if it has been feasted upon by whatever rats escaped the tunnel.
From the body of the half-orc that is currently unconscious, you remove his Morningstar, leather armor, a shortsword, and a dagger. You also find a potion (Yokini can easily identify this as cure wounds), and you notice his boots look especially nice (boots of Striding and Springing).
You also find, in his pocket, a key, and a single gemstone - a bloodstone (worth 50gp)
Lem stares at the half-orc, blinks, and then stares at Zashier, blinks, and then back to the half-orc, at least a dozen times. The index finger on his good hand points to each focus of his attention as to shifts back and forth, utterly at a loss of what to do in this situation. He thinks briefly what the war would have been like had there been more Zashiers in places of influence.
Then he shakes his head, and begins walking around the room, really looking at the digging equipment, and trying to figure out anything else they were doing in here. It's a silent request to the magical Zashier to inquire further on this track, without wanting to interrupt him. He searches the body of the dead, feasted-upon half-orc, and also finishes securing the possessions of the formerly-unconscious half-orc for later perusal.
Yokini makes a face as she sees the tears on the half-orc's cheeks. She doesn't say anything, but anyone looking at her can clearly see she is surprised and disgusted.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
The half orc responds to Zashier - You do not know what awaits this city. Your defenders are nothing compared to whats coming.
Does anyone see/respond to Yokini's face, or are you focused on Zashier and the half-orc?
Lem, you investigate the digging equipment and find the shovels and picks and other digging equipment dirty, and recently used. Not much of value, unless you like digging equipment. As I said earlier, the large orc-made tunnel opens up into a smaller rat-made tunnel. Do you probe deeper into the rat tunnels?
Lem History: 20
On the dead, half-eaten half-orc, you find that the macabre corpse is wearing a suit of chainmail, and in his bony hand is a staff ( you will probably identify it later, it is a Staff of Healing) and you see a red-gold pendand on a necklace that you think (based on your reading and your past in the army) is an un-holy symbol to the orc God Gruumsh. With the symbol and the staff, you would guess this was a half-orc cleric, now mostly consumed by rats.
Zashier only has for the half-Orc at the time, as the man was yet being all mysterious about things. A fact he would soon poke at with a, "You say that, and not to doubt your words, as you would have a rather unique perspective over all this. But, if it's just giants and an army an Orcs, that would be an uphill battle but not an impossible one alone. Unless they raised a hill high enough to literally make it one, then that would certainly be an unforseeable event for which said Defenders can be compared to." He said.
"Out of curiosity though, Mr..."He trails off there, offering the half-Orc a chance to reply. And if he did, Zashier would nonchalantly give his usual bit, though spin with an added "Which three rats during our descent learned the hard way, funnily enough." His smile proves fleeting, and in the next few moments he is asking, "So what is coming, if you don't mind us asking? Nothing to do with a strange slime I would imagine?"
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
When you realize you're doing too much: Signature.
To your question, he responds: An army. Ocs, giants, and who knows what else. Their numbers continue to grow. She has a talent for drawing in recruits.
Lem grabs the staff and the pendant, as well as a shovel and a pick.
He turns and stares at Zashier when he makes the elaborate, forced hill metaphor, shakes his head, and goes back to his investigation. Then, when the half-orc replies, he freezes, turns to him, and says, "she."
Zashier still managed to seem nonplussed at the odds. In fact, he almost seemed both somehow relieved and disappointed at the same time. Though he glanced back at Lem for the added emphasis on 'she', the elephantine man expression only turns quizzical before its back on Daktani. "This 'She' happen to have a name, and or a known or rumored lover. Which I know is a rather odd statement to suddenly bring up, but this are odd times, if you can believe it... Also, are those ropes uncomfortable? Start chaff maybe? If so, seeing as we've reached something of an accord, I would like to think, we can see about a temporary suspension of the whole being tied up thing on a trial basis while we sort things out."
"Or might the thing by which you say we're out of time on is imminent enough as to be an attack to happen within the next few hours and or days, Mr. Daktani?"
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
When you realize you're doing too much: Signature.
Because I felt the need, here's a rundown of what we've learned from the half-orc (just the important parts according to me):
Thoughts only Lem knows: Romero? Dead. Skreed saw to that. Oh no, the troll? How will I get Skreed’s messages out of Fallcrest?
Thoughts only Lem knows: We have marked the spots with the white alchemical paint made by Skreed. These dumb small-folk have no idea what the paint means. We have kept our digging a secret. They will never find out about what we are digging for, or the army that is waiting. The troll...she had a sister. I will see if I can get word back to her sister to come and carry my messages. She will no doubt want retribution on these small-folk for killing her sister.
"I know of Brinya. When Skreed asked for my help, no I didn’t hesitate. I may not have done the deed, but I would have."
Lem told Zashier only: "Been sending messages to an army via this troll, and her sister. They're digging for something. And the white graffiti in town marks the spots for something nefarious, they used homemade alchemical paint. At least, that's what his mind said. He means harm."
"United with the giants, we will never be trod on again."
"Skreed will be found when he wants to be found. I dont know where he is."
"You do not know what awaits this city. Your defenders are nothing compared to whats coming."
He replies that his name is Daktani.
"An army. Ocs, giants, and who knows what else. Their numbers continue to grow. She has a talent for drawing in recruits."
Yokini puts her fists on his hips and turns to Lem. "He said, 'she'. Is that so hard to believe? That their leader is a female?" The gnome rolls her eyes as she turns back to the half-orc. "He's fine," she comments to Zashier, making a gesture of dismissal. "So, was it Skreed who killed Romero? Is he some kind of wizard? We know whoever it was looked like a human, but was actually either an orc or a half-orc. Also, where can we find this leader of yours? Keep being cooperative or we're going to do as Thistle suggested and see how long it takes that cube to reduce you to nothing but bones."
Lem looks to Yokini with sadness and disappointment in response to her dismissal of him. “Objectively, well, yes, there were far fewer female orcish leaders in the armies we faced. But there was one who had quite a reputation. Brilliant. Brutal. Run around us in circles, tactically speaking. I never met her face to face but I never wanted to. And I believe she survived the war. Could be a coincidence. Could be not.”
Daktani replies to Zashier asking about the name of this "she" - Yes, her name is Grenseldek, though I have never met her. I do not know how much time is left. She is waiting on a message from Skreed, that they have found what she wanted, but she is an impatient woman. I dont know how much longer she will wait on him.
Daktani turns to face Yokini, a mixture of disgust and fear on his face as he keeps his eyes on your gauntlet while speaking. Yes, Skreed killed Romero. He was meddling around in things he should not have been meddling. As you say something about him looking like a human, you notice a flash of not understanding across his face. Human? no, Skreed is a half orc, like me. He is in town, though i dont know where. He gives me messages to deliver. I dont know where the army is. The trolls deliver the message to Grenseldek. Thats all I know.
Thistle, you get the feeling that Daktani truly feels remorseful about the situation he has found himself in, and that he got caught up in what was going on. What he is telling you is true, as far as you can tell.
Zashier and Lem, and possibly Yokini, you recognize the name. During your time in the war, there were whispers of a female Lieutenant in the ranks, a brutal orc woman named Grenseldek. She was behind some of the most brutal attacks. Very talented tactician. If you weren’t fighting the orcs, you would have been impressed with her military prowess. Never ran across her. She was just the name on the wind, the phantom you never wanted meet. The bogeyman you told your children about.
Lem looks at Daktani. "Did Skreed come out here to get messages to the trolls? Did you go into town to get his messages? Surely the trolls didn't come to town. And I've seen the white markings. What do they signify?"
Daktani looks to Lem - Daktani came here in the beginning. He and his friends stayed here in the beginning (he nods his head at the bedrolls in the room). But they moved to town after they dug here and hit the rat tunnel. They are marking places around town to dig, but they didnt tell me what they are digging for. And when he needed to send a message, he found me.
Lem turns to her and stares at the rogue for a long second. He then grins, and points to his temple. "Smart! Should I do my trick with a few illusions, to get a sketch of him, like I did with the human alter-ego?"
Zashier crosses his arms and said rather pointedly, "No. We ain't." This being in response to Yokini's added reminded threat. Before he can really get to much further into that, he does a double to Daktani prior to raising a questioning brow. As the name gets repeated, the questioning look turns into one of genuine concern and thoughtfulness. As a result, he listened to the back and forth between others, but remained quiet for the most part. Only really bothering to ask in an almost absent-minded fashion, "Others? How many others have lost their way?"
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
When you realize you're doing too much: Signature.
To Lem, Thistle nods, but adds, "You might start with a few of the half-orcs we know from town, just in case, to rule them out? Then see if we can get him to give us a description? I don't know how many times you can do it..."
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
ey/em/eirs, or they/them works, too (just not he). Role-playing since that keep on those borderlands. I love it so.
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Lem stares at the half-orc, blinks, and then stares at Zashier, blinks, and then back to the half-orc, at least a dozen times. The index finger on his good hand points to each focus of his attention as to shifts back and forth, utterly at a loss of what to do in this situation. He thinks briefly what the war would have been like had there been more Zashiers in places of influence.
Then he shakes his head, and begins walking around the room, really looking at the digging equipment, and trying to figure out anything else they were doing in here. It's a silent request to the magical Zashier to inquire further on this track, without wanting to interrupt him. He searches the body of the dead, feasted-upon half-orc, and also finishes securing the possessions of the formerly-unconscious half-orc for later perusal.
Yokini makes a face as she sees the tears on the half-orc's cheeks. She doesn't say anything, but anyone looking at her can clearly see she is surprised and disgusted.
The half orc responds to Zashier - You do not know what awaits this city. Your defenders are nothing compared to whats coming.
Does anyone see/respond to Yokini's face, or are you focused on Zashier and the half-orc?
Lem, you investigate the digging equipment and find the shovels and picks and other digging equipment dirty, and recently used. Not much of value, unless you like digging equipment. As I said earlier, the large orc-made tunnel opens up into a smaller rat-made tunnel. Do you probe deeper into the rat tunnels?
Lem History: 20
On the dead, half-eaten half-orc, you find that the macabre corpse is wearing a suit of chainmail, and in his bony hand is a staff ( you will probably identify it later, it is a Staff of Healing) and you see a red-gold pendand on a necklace that you think (based on your reading and your past in the army) is an un-holy symbol to the orc God Gruumsh. With the symbol and the staff, you would guess this was a half-orc cleric, now mostly consumed by rats.
Zashier only has for the half-Orc at the time, as the man was yet being all mysterious about things. A fact he would soon poke at with a, "You say that, and not to doubt your words, as you would have a rather unique perspective over all this. But, if it's just giants and an army an Orcs, that would be an uphill battle but not an impossible one alone. Unless they raised a hill high enough to literally make it one, then that would certainly be an unforseeable event for which said Defenders can be compared to." He said.
"Out of curiosity though, Mr..." He trails off there, offering the half-Orc a chance to reply. And if he did, Zashier would nonchalantly give his usual bit, though spin with an added "Which three rats during our descent learned the hard way, funnily enough." His smile proves fleeting, and in the next few moments he is asking, "So what is coming, if you don't mind us asking? Nothing to do with a strange slime I would imagine?"
When you realize you're doing too much: Signature.
He replies that his name is Daktani.
To your question, he responds: An army. Ocs, giants, and who knows what else. Their numbers continue to grow. She has a talent for drawing in recruits.
Lem grabs the staff and the pendant, as well as a shovel and a pick.
He turns and stares at Zashier when he makes the elaborate, forced hill metaphor, shakes his head, and goes back to his investigation. Then, when the half-orc replies, he freezes, turns to him, and says, "she."
Thistle raises an eyebrow at the pronoun, but says nothing.
ey/em/eirs, or they/them works, too (just not he).
Role-playing since that keep on those borderlands. I love it so.
Zashier still managed to seem nonplussed at the odds. In fact, he almost seemed both somehow relieved and disappointed at the same time. Though he glanced back at Lem for the added emphasis on 'she', the elephantine man expression only turns quizzical before its back on Daktani. "This 'She' happen to have a name, and or a known or rumored lover. Which I know is a rather odd statement to suddenly bring up, but this are odd times, if you can believe it... Also, are those ropes uncomfortable? Start chaff maybe? If so, seeing as we've reached something of an accord, I would like to think, we can see about a temporary suspension of the whole being tied up thing on a trial basis while we sort things out."
"Or might the thing by which you say we're out of time on is imminent enough as to be an attack to happen within the next few hours and or days, Mr. Daktani?"
When you realize you're doing too much: Signature.
Because I felt the need, here's a rundown of what we've learned from the half-orc (just the important parts according to me):
Thoughts only Lem knows: Romero? Dead. Skreed saw to that. Oh no, the troll? How will I get Skreed’s messages out of Fallcrest?
Thoughts only Lem knows: We have marked the spots with the white alchemical paint made by Skreed. These dumb small-folk have no idea what the paint means. We have kept our digging a secret. They will never find out about what we are digging for, or the army that is waiting. The troll...she had a sister. I will see if I can get word back to her sister to come and carry my messages. She will no doubt want retribution on these small-folk for killing her sister.
"I know of Brinya. When Skreed asked for my help, no I didn’t hesitate. I may not have done the deed, but I would have."
Lem told Zashier only: "Been sending messages to an army via this troll, and her sister. They're digging for something. And the white graffiti in town marks the spots for something nefarious, they used homemade alchemical paint. At least, that's what his mind said. He means harm."
"United with the giants, we will never be trod on again."
"Skreed will be found when he wants to be found. I dont know where he is."
"You do not know what awaits this city. Your defenders are nothing compared to whats coming."
He replies that his name is Daktani.
"An army. Ocs, giants, and who knows what else. Their numbers continue to grow. She has a talent for drawing in recruits."
Yokini puts her fists on his hips and turns to Lem. "He said, 'she'. Is that so hard to believe? That their leader is a female?" The gnome rolls her eyes as she turns back to the half-orc. "He's fine," she comments to Zashier, making a gesture of dismissal. "So, was it Skreed who killed Romero? Is he some kind of wizard? We know whoever it was looked like a human, but was actually either an orc or a half-orc. Also, where can we find this leader of yours? Keep being cooperative or we're going to do as Thistle suggested and see how long it takes that cube to reduce you to nothing but bones."
Lem looks to Yokini with sadness and disappointment in response to her dismissal of him. “Objectively, well, yes, there were far fewer female orcish leaders in the armies we faced. But there was one who had quite a reputation. Brilliant. Brutal. Run around us in circles, tactically speaking. I never met her face to face but I never wanted to. And I believe she survived the war. Could be a coincidence. Could be not.”
Thistle just keeps her tongue in her head, listening.
Insight to detect if the half-orc is lying in his next statements, Ear for Deceit makes the minimum roll an 8: 14
ey/em/eirs, or they/them works, too (just not he).
Role-playing since that keep on those borderlands. I love it so.
Daktani replies to Zashier asking about the name of this "she" - Yes, her name is Grenseldek, though I have never met her. I do not know how much time is left. She is waiting on a message from Skreed, that they have found what she wanted, but she is an impatient woman. I dont know how much longer she will wait on him.
Daktani turns to face Yokini, a mixture of disgust and fear on his face as he keeps his eyes on your gauntlet while speaking. Yes, Skreed killed Romero. He was meddling around in things he should not have been meddling. As you say something about him looking like a human, you notice a flash of not understanding across his face. Human? no, Skreed is a half orc, like me. He is in town, though i dont know where. He gives me messages to deliver. I dont know where the army is. The trolls deliver the message to Grenseldek. Thats all I know.
Thistle, you get the feeling that Daktani truly feels remorseful about the situation he has found himself in, and that he got caught up in what was going on. What he is telling you is true, as far as you can tell.
Zashier and Lem, and possibly Yokini, you recognize the name. During your time in the war, there were whispers of a female Lieutenant in the ranks, a brutal orc woman named Grenseldek. She was behind some of the most brutal attacks. Very talented tactician. If you weren’t fighting the orcs, you would have been impressed with her military prowess. Never ran across her. She was just the name on the wind, the phantom you never wanted meet. The bogeyman you told your children about.
Lem looks at Daktani. "Did Skreed come out here to get messages to the trolls? Did you go into town to get his messages? Surely the trolls didn't come to town. And I've seen the white markings. What do they signify?"
Daktani looks to Lem - Daktani came here in the beginning. He and his friends stayed here in the beginning (he nods his head at the bedrolls in the room). But they moved to town after they dug here and hit the rat tunnel. They are marking places around town to dig, but they didnt tell me what they are digging for. And when he needed to send a message, he found me.
He nods. "And what else is in the rest of this basement? The cube, and anything else we should know about?"
Thistle sidles up to Lem and whispers, “We need to know what Skreed looks like.”
ey/em/eirs, or they/them works, too (just not he).
Role-playing since that keep on those borderlands. I love it so.
Lem turns to her and stares at the rogue for a long second. He then grins, and points to his temple. "Smart! Should I do my trick with a few illusions, to get a sketch of him, like I did with the human alter-ego?"
Zashier crosses his arms and said rather pointedly, "No. We ain't." This being in response to Yokini's added reminded threat. Before he can really get to much further into that, he does a double to Daktani prior to raising a questioning brow. As the name gets repeated, the questioning look turns into one of genuine concern and thoughtfulness. As a result, he listened to the back and forth between others, but remained quiet for the most part. Only really bothering to ask in an almost absent-minded fashion, "Others? How many others have lost their way?"
When you realize you're doing too much: Signature.
To Lem, Thistle nods, but adds, "You might start with a few of the half-orcs we know from town, just in case, to rule them out? Then see if we can get him to give us a description? I don't know how many times you can do it..."
ey/em/eirs, or they/them works, too (just not he).
Role-playing since that keep on those borderlands. I love it so.