"Good Blemish..." Kel began. "...it would seem the others are intent to go chasing after the Arbitrator. I for one would like to know all that I can about the foe in case I decide to go against his wishes." Kel motioned toward the Spire. "Is there anything here with knowledge about the beast within the castle? Legends or stories from that time till now?" Kel tilted his head. "Or provisions for a lengthy journey that would otherwise spoil before his return that I or the others could lay hands on?" He chuckled but fished out the letter that was addressed to him by the Arbitrator. "In any case it would seem I am allowed some small claim to which I require your help." Kel knelt and handed the letter to Blemish.
Uthal lumbers over with him, making sure to display his bulk and size as best he can. He keeps the hammer right side up this time but still casually leans on it.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Gronk in Bastion, Kingdom of Medrin Elixisysin Talaveroth (Team 2) Uthal in Lost Continent of Theviranne
As Atal approached and began speaking to the men, he was able to peer more closely at the table top, and the men themselves. Spread across the table was seemingly a map of the continent, divided into multicolored sections. Among the sections were numerous geometric wooden pieces of two different colors. The two men were taking turns rolling the dice and moving the wooden pieces across the map, removing and adding pieces always to the displeasure and enjoyment conflicting with each other.
The men were dressed similarly, in common dark-colored clothing, and long floor length coats with collars that rose halfway up their faces. Other than size though, the main difference between the two was the difference in how they presented themselves. The smaller man, though a relative term, as he was easily average human height had a clean shave and his tailored clothing was in pristine condition, he even smelled intentionally of sage. The larger man, a hulking figure, perhaps easily mistaken for a goliath at times, at first glance, possessed a heavy facial shadow, and his hair was greasy and uncombed. His clothing showed signs of wear and held some stains.
Even their movements reflected their images; the smaller man moved his wooden pieces with graceful deliberate movements that he had put much thought into, whereas the larger man bluntly used his club of a hand to batter them around. Neither looked up from their game though. When Atal dropped the fake pass, the larger man just laughed, but the smaller man spoke.
"If you wouldn't mind," he said, brushing aside the pass, from his field of view. When the Fool's Errand was produced the smaller man shifted his gaze from the game for the first time. He eyed the coin as Atal played with it, until he had seen all he needed to see. His gaze returned to the tabletop. "Well if it's silver, I suspect any shop, but that doesn't look like any type of coin I've ever seen." The man picked up a small wooden tea cup that he had been drinking from, and finished it's contents. The larger man stopped his own drink, a pint sized flagon, as he saw the coin, "Hey, isn't that--" But was interrupted by the other. "--Yes, Edward. It's a picture of swords. Good catch." The smaller man turned to Atal, holding up two fingers, as he did. "You'll have to excuse my simple friend here. Shiny things always tend to get his attention." Valentina appeared, bringing replacements for both men's drinks.
Midgar Street Blemish reads the letter that he had earlier himself hand-delivered to Kel. Nodding to Kel, he handed the letter back before disappearing into the shack. After what seemed like ages, he returned, though Kel could hear him well before he emerged. He carried a small crate with five bottles of varying levels of liquid. They clanked against each other as he waddled to and fro. Blemish rests the crate at Kel's feet, a pulled a slip of parchment out from between the bottles. The parchment said 'Unfamiliar Familiars' with an address beneath it.
Kel stowed the letter, then rested his gear against the wall of the shack. He watched and waited and heard the jingle jangle of glass on wood and shook his head. As Blemish emerged Kel knelt to give the halfling a hand. "I would have been happy to help Blemish..." Kel took the parchment Blemish had procured and read over the address twice before stowing that as well. He returned his gaze to the bottles and selected one at random, eyeing the level of the liquids. "It's also not my intent to rob the Arbitrator of his entire stock of Firewater, if this is in fact what these are..." He motioned to the bottles. "...not yet at any rate." Kel took a once over at each of the bottles as he spoke. "Blemish, I accept jobs, usually to kill monsters, normally with an understanding of what I am up against and sometimes with groups of hunters. Its been my experience that to know what you face allows you an edge to prevail and a certain amount of coinage to be collected."
Kel looked at Blemish and he took a stern expression. "The Arbitrator wants the others to continue their journey. The others want to go and find the Arbitrator and to tackle a beast which has never been defeated, only contained, by some of the most proficient fighters in history. As you know now, he urged me to help them. If that is the case, good will and intent will only take someone so far. Honor, after all, does not provide food in ones belly nor a roof over ones head." Kel gestured towards the bottles.
"If you want me to seek your master, select a bottle that is equal to the task. If you don't..." Kel shrugged. "...select one that reflects that."
Blemish looks over the bottles, after listening to Kel’s words. He carefully weighs them against each other, leveling them out. In the end, he makes his selection. He pushes the entire crate to Kel.
Anearis looked the exchange between Atal and the two men. He looked quizzically at the silver coin. He didn’t really understand what was so valuable about it.
Kel laughed quietly. "Very well. I accept." Kel took one of the five bottles at random. "Make sure the rest are secure until I return for them." He stowed the bottle in his gear sack. "Now, then..." Kel scratched his chin. "...usually there is a guild for monster hunting or some similar place where I can ask other hunters or peruse a library of sorts of collected knowledge. Do you have any knowledge of a place like that Blemish? I would like to gain some insight on this Black Beast."
Blemish frustratingly scowled at Kel. After rolling his eyes, he pointed directly to where Kel had stored the parchment that Blemish had given him only moments ago.
Kel looked to where Blemish was pointing. "Ah." He glanced back at the halfling and bowed his head. "My apologies Blemish, I suspected as much, just surprised nothing is kept here at the Spire." Kel unbound his armor from his gear bag and began to don it. "Will you be alright in the meantime Blemish?" Kel gave a glance. "What with the undead roaming the streets I mean, beasts flying in from above to snatch unwary prey, and of course the most dangerous..." Kel struggled to shrug himself into his chain mail shirt. "...inept adventures and absent guards, sleeping guards stricken with crotch rot, or my personal favorite tiny clerks wielding the authority of property management." Kel huffed and ceased his struggling for a moment before slowly adjusting the armor to fit over his frame. He left the coif of chainmail drape behind his head for now, running a hand through his closely cropped black hair. He tucked the armored gloves into his belts about his waist and reslung his gear bag, securing his weapons sheaths.
His armor mostly donned, Kel stood and stretched before glancing down at Blemish. "I do enjoy these chats of ours Blemish, I think I will miss them almost as much as I will the Maidens when I depart." Kel stood for a moment, contemplating whatever something a Hellheart of the Territory of the First Fire would contemplate. Before kneeling again and placing a hand on the halflings shoulder. "Keep the fire burning." with that Kel stood and made his way back into the Maidens.
...might as well let them know where I'm going since the business at the Spire is concluded for now...
"Pity,"Atal said, pocketing the coin. "Still... that's an interesting game you have going on there. Maybe you two could tell me more about it?" Leaning over the table, Atal points at the pieces on the table and begins to ask the obvious questions. "So, you're playing this color here, and your friend is that color --" As he gestures about deftly, his fingers move in studied patterns, speaking a different language than his lips as he gauges the two men's receptiveness with a message in the Cant.
Need to contact the guild leader here. We might know what caused all the trouble last night. Interested in helping a fellow thief out - or if not, at least surviving the next nightly wave? You can't operate in the shadows if your shadows are being stolen from you.
"Oh, it's just a trinket I picked up. A gift from Richter," Atal says carelessly to Anaeris at his question. "Whether it has any value here or not... that remains to be seen."
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Midgar Streets
Blemish nodded to Kel as he took his leave, and then climbed back upon hist stool.
Maiden's Bossom
17
”No. I’m the dark pieces, Henry’s the light ones.” The larger man replied specifically to Atal’s words, rather than his movements.
However, the symbolic gestures that Atal made, during the bulls*** feigning of interest into the game, was convincing enough to warrant a positive response, as the smaller of the two returned in kind. “It’s a game of strategy. The goal is to conquer the continent, but doing so without having the necessary resources to do so.” He began showing the movement of the wooden pieces, drawing out the cant as he did. “You don’t just play against your opponent though, but against yourself, because even independent of Edward’s movements, every movement I make has an equal and opposite reaction of human nature. For example, if I were to amass my forces here, I would have to pull those forces from somewhere else on the map. However, before he takes his next time, my movement inciting his troops growth here, giving him additional pieces on the map, simply as the defensive measure as would be a natural response.”
Thus far you’ve only demonstrated your inexperience with the guild. Either that or the guilds of the other cities have greatly lowered their standards.
The guildmaster has no time for you, though we can direct you to the right place depending on what business it is, you’re looking for.
The man sat back in his chair, letting his larger counterpart, take his turn, while he continued speaking to Atal. He spoke only in common tongue though, having stopped any gestures for conversing secretly. “The game forces us not only to confront the enemies surrounding us, but come face to face with the enemy within. It’s why I think my brutish friend and I make a constructive pair. Opposite sides of the same coin, challenging and forcing each other to view every aspect of life from a different angle, even those conflicting with our own.” It became less a simple explanation as to what the pair was doing and more a marketing pitch claiming the game provided wisdom and life lessons.
"Hmm,"Atal says, rubbing his chin. "So you're saying it's a game that asks you how far you're willing to go and who you're willing to sacrifice to gain the ultimate victory. It's not really asking you to challenge and force each other to grow, then… it's asking you to exploit each other, find your weaknesses, and ultimately crush your foe using that weakness… proving that in the end, only one of you can really have the superior theory or tactic." He leans back. "I've heard of games like those. They say they can destroy even the best of friendships if you play them for too long,"he replies.
Beneath his words, is of course, another layer:
I don't deny it - I came to this continent only a few nights ago, and have already gotten myself sucked up into a scandal of royal proportions. Tell me where to drop by, and I'll make sure I don't step on any of your highly professional toes while I work it out.
"Well... it has been informative. Thanks for explaining that much to me," Atal finishes, nodding at the two. "I'm Atal, by the way. You've introduced Edward, but it'd be nice to know the name of the person who took the time to teach me all this."
The man had returned to the game at hand, surveying the map as he spoke to Atal. "I'm Henry Jeckel. Unfortunately though the lesson you've just learned is quite the opposite of that I was teaching. It's not about sacrificing just for a win, or looking for the easy way out. On the contrary its about identifying your own weaknesses, and strengthening those." Henry moved some pieces on the map, moving two cubes to a location he already occupied, while moving a pyramid to one of Edward's spaces. This was followed by Edward sighing, and removing one of his own pyramid's from the map. "As I had stated earlier, as every action has an equal reaction, without the other player, it's a challenge you pit against yourself."
"Here," Henry said, leaning back into his chair and reaching into his pocket. "If you're interested, this shop stocks the game, as well as others, that may be of greater interest to you." He holds out a small flyer to Atal with a drawing of a wizard sitting behind a table with stacks of books and various games laid out before him. An address is scrawled along the bottom and the letters "WOTC" are written along the top.
Kel entered the Maidens once more, a thin smile and a nod to the direction of Valentina before glancing over to where the majority of the others had occupied themselves. Kel procured the slip of parchment with the address to Unfamiliar Familiars from his belt, walking over and nudging Uthal with his elbow before passing the Goliath the slip. "Seek me there." Kel gave a glance to the game on the table, the two individuals playing it, gave a face of disinterest and exited the Maidens once more.
Back out on the street, Kel adjusted the weight of the weapons on his back slightly and pondered. He had an address but that could still take time to find, which could have gone either way at this point, instead Kel looked to see if the tiefling doorman, whom he still didn't know the name of, was standing there.
Vincent (the tiefling doorman) was neither within the Maiden's Bossom, as far a Kel could see, nor out front of the establishment, upon returning to the city streets.
"Thanks. I'll remember that,"Atal said, pocketing the flyer. Turning to the others, he nodded. "I think we're done here." He pauses, and takes another look around. "Did Kel just pass through here or was I imagining things?" He sniffs. "Probably imagining things. So. Where's our next destination?"he asks the others.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
"... you know, your face-- well, nevermind," Atal says, shrugging and trailing after Uthal. He curiously looks around the city, wondering if they're even going in the right direction to reach a shop.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
As Uthal headed south in search of the location of Unfamiliar Familiars, his prideful or ego-driven refusal to ask for directions would have led the group aimlessly for 4 hours, before even realizing that they were going on the wrong direction.
Fortunately, other members intervening, saved them from the lost time. Not more than a few minutes after they had left the safety and comfort of the Maiden’s Bossom, had Atal identified a wooden board along the road, with a carved map of the city. And while the buildings themselves weren’t labeled, the streets were. The location of Unfamiliar Familiars was on what appeared to almost be the northern-most street, in the city. And conveniently enough, the most direct route there was one that several of the party members had traversed, the night before. ((Updated city map to be provided on discord))
There were only a few buildings on the street, nearly all of which had signs hanging out front of them, so finding the right one, was not a difficult task. It was a one story wooden building, though the wood seemed sturdy and cared for. It was definitely a building built to last the test of time. There was a wooden door with metal studs, and a window on each side. The windows were glazed over, so while the glass likely let light through, the building’s interior was not visible. Additionally, both windows had bolted metal bars covering them. A scrawled sign, hung by a piece of twine, on a hook, next to the door, it read “Ring bell”, with an arrow pointing towards a piece of rope, that ran into a small hole.
"Good Blemish..." Kel began. "...it would seem the others are intent to go chasing after the Arbitrator. I for one would like to know all that I can about the foe in case I decide to go against his wishes." Kel motioned toward the Spire. "Is there anything here with knowledge about the beast within the castle? Legends or stories from that time till now?" Kel tilted his head. "Or provisions for a lengthy journey that would otherwise spoil before his return that I or the others could lay hands on?" He chuckled but fished out the letter that was addressed to him by the Arbitrator. "In any case it would seem I am allowed some small claim to which I require your help." Kel knelt and handed the letter to Blemish.
Exitus Acta Probat
Uthal lumbers over with him, making sure to display his bulk and size as best he can. He keeps the hammer right side up this time but still casually leans on it.
Gronk in Bastion, Kingdom of Medrin Elixisys in Talaveroth (Team 2) Uthal in Lost Continent of Theviranne
Maiden's Bossom
As Atal approached and began speaking to the men, he was able to peer more closely at the table top, and the men themselves. Spread across the table was seemingly a map of the continent, divided into multicolored sections. Among the sections were numerous geometric wooden pieces of two different colors. The two men were taking turns rolling the dice and moving the wooden pieces across the map, removing and adding pieces always to the displeasure and enjoyment conflicting with each other.
The men were dressed similarly, in common dark-colored clothing, and long floor length coats with collars that rose halfway up their faces. Other than size though, the main difference between the two was the difference in how they presented themselves. The smaller man, though a relative term, as he was easily average human height had a clean shave and his tailored clothing was in pristine condition, he even smelled intentionally of sage. The larger man, a hulking figure, perhaps easily mistaken for a goliath at times, at first glance, possessed a heavy facial shadow, and his hair was greasy and uncombed. His clothing showed signs of wear and held some stains.
Even their movements reflected their images; the smaller man moved his wooden pieces with graceful deliberate movements that he had put much thought into, whereas the larger man bluntly used his club of a hand to batter them around. Neither looked up from their game though. When Atal dropped the fake pass, the larger man just laughed, but the smaller man spoke.
"If you wouldn't mind," he said, brushing aside the pass, from his field of view. When the Fool's Errand was produced the smaller man shifted his gaze from the game for the first time. He eyed the coin as Atal played with it, until he had seen all he needed to see. His gaze returned to the tabletop. "Well if it's silver, I suspect any shop, but that doesn't look like any type of coin I've ever seen." The man picked up a small wooden tea cup that he had been drinking from, and finished it's contents. The larger man stopped his own drink, a pint sized flagon, as he saw the coin, "Hey, isn't that--" But was interrupted by the other. "--Yes, Edward. It's a picture of swords. Good catch." The smaller man turned to Atal, holding up two fingers, as he did. "You'll have to excuse my simple friend here. Shiny things always tend to get his attention." Valentina appeared, bringing replacements for both men's drinks.
Midgar Street
Blemish reads the letter that he had earlier himself hand-delivered to Kel. Nodding to Kel, he handed the letter back before disappearing into the shack. After what seemed like ages, he returned, though Kel could hear him well before he emerged. He carried a small crate with five bottles of varying levels of liquid. They clanked against each other as he waddled to and fro. Blemish rests the crate at Kel's feet, a pulled a slip of parchment out from between the bottles. The parchment said 'Unfamiliar Familiars' with an address beneath it.
Midgar Streets
Kel stowed the letter, then rested his gear against the wall of the shack. He watched and waited and heard the jingle jangle of glass on wood and shook his head. As Blemish emerged Kel knelt to give the halfling a hand. "I would have been happy to help Blemish..." Kel took the parchment Blemish had procured and read over the address twice before stowing that as well. He returned his gaze to the bottles and selected one at random, eyeing the level of the liquids. "It's also not my intent to rob the Arbitrator of his entire stock of Firewater, if this is in fact what these are..." He motioned to the bottles. "...not yet at any rate." Kel took a once over at each of the bottles as he spoke. "Blemish, I accept jobs, usually to kill monsters, normally with an understanding of what I am up against and sometimes with groups of hunters. Its been my experience that to know what you face allows you an edge to prevail and a certain amount of coinage to be collected."
Kel looked at Blemish and he took a stern expression. "The Arbitrator wants the others to continue their journey. The others want to go and find the Arbitrator and to tackle a beast which has never been defeated, only contained, by some of the most proficient fighters in history. As you know now, he urged me to help them. If that is the case, good will and intent will only take someone so far. Honor, after all, does not provide food in ones belly nor a roof over ones head." Kel gestured towards the bottles.
"If you want me to seek your master, select a bottle that is equal to the task. If you don't..." Kel shrugged. "...select one that reflects that."
Exitus Acta Probat
Blemish looks over the bottles, after listening to Kel’s words. He carefully weighs them against each other, leveling them out. In the end, he makes his selection. He pushes the entire crate to Kel.
Anearis looked the exchange between Atal and the two men. He looked quizzically at the silver coin. He didn’t really understand what was so valuable about it.
"Swords? Does that make the coin special?"
Kel laughed quietly. "Very well. I accept." Kel took one of the five bottles at random. "Make sure the rest are secure until I return for them." He stowed the bottle in his gear sack. "Now, then..." Kel scratched his chin. "...usually there is a guild for monster hunting or some similar place where I can ask other hunters or peruse a library of sorts of collected knowledge. Do you have any knowledge of a place like that Blemish? I would like to gain some insight on this Black Beast."
Exitus Acta Probat
Blemish frustratingly scowled at Kel. After rolling his eyes, he pointed directly to where Kel had stored the parchment that Blemish had given him only moments ago.
Kel looked to where Blemish was pointing. "Ah." He glanced back at the halfling and bowed his head. "My apologies Blemish, I suspected as much, just surprised nothing is kept here at the Spire." Kel unbound his armor from his gear bag and began to don it. "Will you be alright in the meantime Blemish?" Kel gave a glance. "What with the undead roaming the streets I mean, beasts flying in from above to snatch unwary prey, and of course the most dangerous..." Kel struggled to shrug himself into his chain mail shirt. "...inept adventures and absent guards, sleeping guards stricken with crotch rot, or my personal favorite tiny clerks wielding the authority of property management." Kel huffed and ceased his struggling for a moment before slowly adjusting the armor to fit over his frame. He left the coif of chainmail drape behind his head for now, running a hand through his closely cropped black hair. He tucked the armored gloves into his belts about his waist and reslung his gear bag, securing his weapons sheaths.
His armor mostly donned, Kel stood and stretched before glancing down at Blemish. "I do enjoy these chats of ours Blemish, I think I will miss them almost as much as I will the Maidens when I depart." Kel stood for a moment, contemplating whatever something a Hellheart of the Territory of the First Fire would contemplate. Before kneeling again and placing a hand on the halflings shoulder. "Keep the fire burning." with that Kel stood and made his way back into the Maidens.
...might as well let them know where I'm going since the business at the Spire is concluded for now...
Exitus Acta Probat
"Pity," Atal said, pocketing the coin. "Still... that's an interesting game you have going on there. Maybe you two could tell me more about it?" Leaning over the table, Atal points at the pieces on the table and begins to ask the obvious questions. "So, you're playing this color here, and your friend is that color --" As he gestures about deftly, his fingers move in studied patterns, speaking a different language than his lips as he gauges the two men's receptiveness with a message in the Cant.
Need to contact the guild leader here. We might know what caused all the trouble last night. Interested in helping a fellow thief out - or if not, at least surviving the next nightly wave? You can't operate in the shadows if your shadows are being stolen from you.
"Oh, it's just a trinket I picked up. A gift from Richter," Atal says carelessly to Anaeris at his question. "Whether it has any value here or not... that remains to be seen."
Midgar Streets
Blemish nodded to Kel as he took his leave, and then climbed back upon hist stool.
Maiden's Bossom
17
”No. I’m the dark pieces, Henry’s the light ones.” The larger man replied specifically to Atal’s words, rather than his movements.
However, the symbolic gestures that Atal made, during the bulls*** feigning of interest into the game, was convincing enough to warrant a positive response, as the smaller of the two returned in kind. “It’s a game of strategy. The goal is to conquer the continent, but doing so without having the necessary resources to do so.” He began showing the movement of the wooden pieces, drawing out the cant as he did. “You don’t just play against your opponent though, but against yourself, because even independent of Edward’s movements, every movement I make has an equal and opposite reaction of human nature. For example, if I were to amass my forces here, I would have to pull those forces from somewhere else on the map. However, before he takes his next time, my movement inciting his troops growth here, giving him additional pieces on the map, simply as the defensive measure as would be a natural response.”
Thus far you’ve only demonstrated your inexperience with the guild. Either that or the guilds of the other cities have greatly lowered their standards.
The guildmaster has no time for you, though we can direct you to the right place depending on what business it is, you’re looking for.
The man sat back in his chair, letting his larger counterpart, take his turn, while he continued speaking to Atal. He spoke only in common tongue though, having stopped any gestures for conversing secretly. “The game forces us not only to confront the enemies surrounding us, but come face to face with the enemy within. It’s why I think my brutish friend and I make a constructive pair. Opposite sides of the same coin, challenging and forcing each other to view every aspect of life from a different angle, even those conflicting with our own.” It became less a simple explanation as to what the pair was doing and more a marketing pitch claiming the game provided wisdom and life lessons.
"Hmm," Atal says, rubbing his chin. "So you're saying it's a game that asks you how far you're willing to go and who you're willing to sacrifice to gain the ultimate victory. It's not really asking you to challenge and force each other to grow, then… it's asking you to exploit each other, find your weaknesses, and ultimately crush your foe using that weakness… proving that in the end, only one of you can really have the superior theory or tactic." He leans back. "I've heard of games like those. They say they can destroy even the best of friendships if you play them for too long," he replies.
Beneath his words, is of course, another layer:
I don't deny it - I came to this continent only a few nights ago, and have already gotten myself sucked up into a scandal of royal proportions. Tell me where to drop by, and I'll make sure I don't step on any of your highly professional toes while I work it out.
"Well... it has been informative. Thanks for explaining that much to me," Atal finishes, nodding at the two. "I'm Atal, by the way. You've introduced Edward, but it'd be nice to know the name of the person who took the time to teach me all this."
The man had returned to the game at hand, surveying the map as he spoke to Atal. "I'm Henry Jeckel. Unfortunately though the lesson you've just learned is quite the opposite of that I was teaching. It's not about sacrificing just for a win, or looking for the easy way out. On the contrary its about identifying your own weaknesses, and strengthening those." Henry moved some pieces on the map, moving two cubes to a location he already occupied, while moving a pyramid to one of Edward's spaces. This was followed by Edward sighing, and removing one of his own pyramid's from the map. "As I had stated earlier, as every action has an equal reaction, without the other player, it's a challenge you pit against yourself."
"Here," Henry said, leaning back into his chair and reaching into his pocket. "If you're interested, this shop stocks the game, as well as others, that may be of greater interest to you." He holds out a small flyer to Atal with a drawing of a wizard sitting behind a table with stacks of books and various games laid out before him. An address is scrawled along the bottom and the letters "WOTC" are written along the top.
Kel entered the Maidens once more, a thin smile and a nod to the direction of Valentina before glancing over to where the majority of the others had occupied themselves. Kel procured the slip of parchment with the address to Unfamiliar Familiars from his belt, walking over and nudging Uthal with his elbow before passing the Goliath the slip. "Seek me there." Kel gave a glance to the game on the table, the two individuals playing it, gave a face of disinterest and exited the Maidens once more.
Back out on the street, Kel adjusted the weight of the weapons on his back slightly and pondered. He had an address but that could still take time to find, which could have gone either way at this point, instead Kel looked to see if the tiefling doorman, whom he still didn't know the name of, was standing there.
Exitus Acta Probat
Vincent (the tiefling doorman) was neither within the Maiden's Bossom, as far a Kel could see, nor out front of the establishment, upon returning to the city streets.
"Thanks. I'll remember that," Atal said, pocketing the flyer. Turning to the others, he nodded. "I think we're done here." He pauses, and takes another look around. "Did Kel just pass through here or was I imagining things?" He sniffs. "Probably imagining things. So. Where's our next destination?" he asks the others.
Uthal holds up the piece of paper. "We meet Kel here." He then leads the way to Unfamiliar Familiars
Gronk in Bastion, Kingdom of Medrin Elixisys in Talaveroth (Team 2) Uthal in Lost Continent of Theviranne
A badly hungover Ander finally stumbles down the stairs as the others prepare to leave. "Leaving so early?" He grimaces, but follows.
"... you know, your face-- well, nevermind," Atal says, shrugging and trailing after Uthal. He curiously looks around the city, wondering if they're even going in the right direction to reach a shop.
(City secrets? Perception (24)?)
As Uthal headed south in search of the location of Unfamiliar Familiars, his prideful or ego-driven refusal to ask for directions would have led the group aimlessly for 4 hours, before even realizing that they were going on the wrong direction.
Fortunately, other members intervening, saved them from the lost time. Not more than a few minutes after they had left the safety and comfort of the Maiden’s Bossom, had Atal identified a wooden board along the road, with a carved map of the city. And while the buildings themselves weren’t labeled, the streets were. The location of Unfamiliar Familiars was on what appeared to almost be the northern-most street, in the city. And conveniently enough, the most direct route there was one that several of the party members had traversed, the night before. ((Updated city map to be provided on discord))
There were only a few buildings on the street, nearly all of which had signs hanging out front of them, so finding the right one, was not a difficult task. It was a one story wooden building, though the wood seemed sturdy and cared for. It was definitely a building built to last the test of time. There was a wooden door with metal studs, and a window on each side. The windows were glazed over, so while the glass likely let light through, the building’s interior was not visible. Additionally, both windows had bolted metal bars covering them. A scrawled sign, hung by a piece of twine, on a hook, next to the door, it read “Ring bell”, with an arrow pointing towards a piece of rope, that ran into a small hole.