Cinder smiles at WIll as he escorts her to the more talented portrait artist in the guild. As it should be, she thinks with a sense of satisfaction, posing for the image with a self-assured smile on her face. When it's done, she stands up and turns around, only to see the bumbling elf girl stumble into the building. One eyebrow goes up at the raven's incessant squawking, the other at the girl's near-slip of seeking "friends."
"In this line of business, you don't really make friends," Cinder remarks. "Usually, you end up making bodies. If you're lucky, they're not your own." She immediately disregards the others when Will begins speaking... but as soon as Sam interrupts with the truth of things, her patience drops. "5 to 10 gold coins per job? You've got to be kidding me! I'd make more by simply staying on as a guard for the caravan! I came here for an adventure, not an insult to my profession," she declares, glaring at the boy for having even attempted to make the solo job offers. When Sam adds on the possibility of forming a group to aim for greater heights, Cinder nods along at the mention of dungeons and treasures. She stops and raises an eyebrow when he gets to Princesses, though. "What use would we have for those? They're usually spoiled, and also usually pretty stingy. It's always the richest ones who are the most miserly," she complains. "Old money doesn't usually have a lot to spread around to hirelings," she says, a clear note of disrespect in her voice. "Better to avoid those types."
The mention of a hydra piques Cinder's interest. "That sounds like it may just be amusing enough to entertain me," she declares. Then she sizes up the others, and notices the two men doing the same to herself and the new elf. She smirks and leans over to the elf. "Hey," she whispers. "Can you smell it? The boys are underestimating us." Her grin turns cunning. "If they want to see us as helpless, why not use it to our advantage?"
Clearing her throat as she straightens, she hides her smirk and puts on her most affected expression of an innocent damsel. It's probably a shit performance, compared to the real thing standing right next to her, but Cinder's merchant heart has spotted an opportunity, and by the gods, she's going to milk it for all it's worth. "Oh my... I guess we could go along with them," she says. "They do both look so big and strong, after all."
Ok, maybe she was laying it on a bit thick. But surely, it wasn't any more insulting than the stage whispers of the man with the face that looked like a cart had run over it. She stifled another laugh as the man, who obviously had something to prove, began to pick a fight with their employer. "This play writes itself," she tells the other elf with a note of amusement, crossing her arms and watching on.
Alyssa would feel rushed trying to fill out the form that's been pushed in her direction. Before she knew it, her form was snatched from her grip and she was whisked away for her portrait. The elf couldn't even remember what she wrote on her application.
Her attention was captivated by the tenacity shown by the individuals in the room. The elf's red eyes would scan them over again. So unique... I'll need to document their features later...
"Don't make friends. Make bodies!" Hue summarizes Cinder, squawking Alyssa out of her awe just in time for Sam's speech.
He had her at Hydra. As an archaeologist it would be silly for her to turn up the opportunity to document such a legendary creature and its layer. And earning some of her own gold would probably be a good idea too.
A little intimidated by the more confident characters next to her, Alyssa would begin fumbling her words especially when the fire genasi would lean over to her. "Oh. I. I. Uh." The familiar shade of pink would creep up on her cheeks when she'd point out the big, strong men. Cinder wasn't wrong about them. She wasn't wrong about a lot of things... The elf would steal a couple glances over to the guys, clearing her throat and nodding to Cinder.
"Big and strong! We go. With them!" The albino raven hops excitedly on Alyssa's shoulder.
As thrilled as she was about being a part of something... Alyssa just wanted to fade away into the shadows. This was not her best first impression...
Ramious looks suspiciously over at Cinder, then to Alyssa. He glances back at Sam, then over to Leon. He seems to make up his mind. "Alright, seems we're all in. What do we need to do?"
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
What's the difference between a Wizard and a Sorcerer? Class.
"Now you put your signatures on that scroll," he put the scroll in front of the group on the counter, "and while you are reading a signing, Will should fetch the messenger, that transports you to the quest point." The boy understood, and with still openly disapproving face expression, disappeared somewhere inside the tower.
You can finally read the scroll, "I, Sir Tristan of the Crabapple Valley, am offering 100 gold pieces (plus all expenses and additional equipment) to each brave adventurer who would dare to face a terrible monster known as a Thessalhydra, that terrorizes the valley. Come and be the heroes!"
The read is not long but by the time you are done with it (and signing too) Will was already back with yet another boy - probably even younger then Will - though in the same time more shy and serious. For a moment he still looked a bit lost, when Sam presented four different creatures, non of which was a human and almost all looking more intimidating than heroic, and called them "the new heroes, the best of the best, that guild is proud of!". "I am Patrick," a bit shyly introduced he himself, "I will take you to the Valley".
Right on the floor the boy drew a circle - big enough to fit you all including Patrick himself, added some symbols (consulting with the scroll he was holding) and invited you to step in. Once that was done, the boy begun to read the spell from the same scroll, and a few moments later the room around you disappeared (last thing you heard is Sam's pleasing "love to watch new groups forming!" with following in a more disturbing tone "did you tell them about the fees? You forgot to tell about the fees, didn't you?") and after a momentary darkness you were standing somewhere else.
The place looked like a library, an actively and regulary used library - the books were everywhere, the empty and filled scrolls falling of the massive tables - people work here, for sure.Through the huge windows you could see, that the room is high enough above the ground (3d floor? 4th?) and the Valley is spectacular at this time of year: a sea of pink and red flowers, covering crabapple trees as clouds.
"I have to check if Sir Tristan is awake. He should be, but I need to make sure. If you are hungry," Patrick remembered about hospitality, "I can as the kitchen to send food here. Or we can all go there too, if you wish."
"I think waiting here would be best." Leon says with a nod to the boy. He glances to the various people making up the group. "It would most likely cause a stir for a group like this to just appear and start moving around the halls..." He adjusts his great sword on his shoulder as he then looks around the room with a eye to defensibility.
The elf would sign her name with an expected cursive flourish.
Alyssa would wave when Patrick would introduce himself. She'd watch intently as he drew the circle, studying the runes as he does. The elf would pull out her own journal, making some notes and sketches. She'd be the first one to stand in the rune as soon as the boy invited them over.
When the momentary darkness is lifted and reveals a library, Alyssa would suck in some air and hold her breath so that she doesn't exclaim in excitement. Instead she'd hop up and down. "Yay! Bo-" Hue would start to exclaim for her, but this time the elf would catch his beak to shush him. "I will pocket you if you get us kicked out of another library."
Alyssa would practically skip over to the window. She'd go on her tip toes to take in the full view of the valley before looking back to Patrick, "Can we look at the books?" the elf would chew on her lip in anticipation. As great as food would be, knowledge is one thing that trumps her stomach.
Ramious looks around, his eyes a bit wider than before the magical trip. As he gets a sense of the place he seems impressed by the number of books as he walks about. He finally heads over to a shadowy corner where he can watch the whole room and potentially remain unnoticed at first glance. He thumbs at a couple of the books in interest, picking one up and starting to read through its pages as he stands in silence, letting Leon respond to the boy, content to just follow the groups lead for the time being.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
What's the difference between a Wizard and a Sorcerer? Class.
"Oh, take me to the food," Cinder says eagerly. She stops as almost everyone else in the small party seems to be fascinated with the books in the library instead. Rolling her eyes, she plants her hands on her hips. "Fine, or have them bring the food to us here." She paces around the room, taking everything in, particularly the sight of the Valley. "So," she says to no-one in particular. "100 gold pieces... I'm sure they're going to squeeze some blood out of us before they give us that. But what interests me are those additional expenses and equipment," she says, turning around and clapping her hands once with an avaricious smirk. "I wonder if this Sir Triston would be so good as show us his armory. Fighting hydras is a dangerous business after all, isn't it?"
Before leaving, Patrick - the very definition of politeness - answered to Alyssa with a bow: "You are welcome to look, though I would ask you not to misplaced things here - my Master is very strict with order." Considering the mess here (a working mess, but still) "the master" had an interesting definition of the word "order".
The group did not wait for long, the door opened and a pleasantly plump smiling woman appeared there with the tray full of fresh bread, butter, eggs, cheese, ham, honey, and - of course - a jar of crabapple jam. As jug with crabapple cider was full enough for all of them. Either Patrick was descriptive enough, or the woman had truly strong nerves but she did not bat an eye even at Ramious. She placed that tray at the least book-covered table, wished the company good appetite and simply asked if she can help with anything else.
Alyssa would hum to herself while she scans the bookshelves. She'd take a gander for any books on hydras, monster codex's and of course any books that could contain spells for study. Eventually, the elf would meander over by Ramious. "Hi." She'd smile. "Have you found anything interesting?"
Leon would look over the book shelves, and tables, seeking any sort of map or anything that would give him more information of the land they were in. Knowing magic as he did, he knew they could be nearly anyplace at this point.
Bruised and covered with scars winged brute trying to read magical foliant looked absolutely adorable! Though, to be fair the library contained books with pictures as well and some even on Common - "the master" was curious about many things: "Plants&Herbs, for magical and every day uses", "Faerunian monstrosities", several traveling journals from different explorers. There were even cooking books, though, recipes did not look that appetizing.
Leon found many illustrated atlases, and, though the simplest way to learn about the land was standing right besides him, smiling and asking if the breakfast was to his liking, githyanki chose the hard road, and by the sun position of the hour, temperature of the fresh air coming from the open window, and shape of the mountain on the horizon could positively say the group did not leave Faerun and was most likely somewhere south and more inland of Waterdeep.
But any kind of deeper research had to wait: Alyssa was still contemplating which of the hundreds of books to study first and Cinder did not even cross the line of true boredom, when door opened again and heroes-to-be were invited to the throne room.
It was not even a complete exaggeration - there was a throne, or at least a couple of very important looking chairs, on one of which the group saw a grey-haired but still looking fit man (human) - no doubts, Sir Tristan himself. He looked genuinely happy to see someone coming to the Valley's aid and worried about the events.
After the necessary greetings and presentations (Patrick payed attention - he did not misspell a single name) Sir Tristan invited every one to sit and explained the situation. A monster called a thessalhydra appears out of nowhere and attacks local farms, villages, and even the castle. All the soldiers together could barely fight it off. After each attack, the thessalhydra disappears into the woods and leaves no trail.
Sir Tristan can’t send his guards after the monster. They must protect the castle (and they know they’re not strong enough to beat the monster). Therefore he sent after the adventurers and asking them to hunt down and kill the thessalhydra, then return with its heads. ("I believe they will make look great stuffed and mounted over the throne")
As a compensation for the service, Sir Tristan is willing to pay 100 golds to each of you, provide necessary supplies, and share some items of magical qualities, that might help with the task: first of all - two bags of holding, so that they can easily carry the thessalhydra’s severed heads (the bags are to be returned). In addition, each adventurer will receive a ring of protection and a potion of healing (to be kept). Finally, he can offer two weapons — a wand of magic missiles and a greatsword made of an unknown black metal. Valley's wizard (that elusive Patrick's "master", currently absent and not expected any time soon) was positive the sword is of a great magic (in most cases, it works as a +1 greatsword) and can kill even a thessalhydra, however, no one was able to confirm that fact. Still, they gave the sword the name - Winter’s Dark Bite. And now it is offered to the group.
Alyssa walks up to Ramious and looks over his shoulder. One finger seems to be tracing under each word as he clearly struggles to read many of the words. He looks embarrassed as he glances at her, and says, "I know how to read you know. I just....I just mostly learned to read military messages. Lots of these words are different."
He goes back to his book, mouthing out each word under his breath. It seems to be a book about growing crops. To his credit, he wasn't tossing the thing away in frustration and continued to try and struggle through it on his own. As the food arrived his eyes opened wide, and placed the book carefully where he'd found it, and began to devour the food. He looks up, a silly grin on his face, a boiled egg crumbling in his mouth, "Free food? A free teleportation to a far away land. Free cider? This must be a suicide mission. This is like our last meal before we all get our names added to that wall. Eat up folks." Despite sounding serious, the enjoyment in his voice can't be faked. He's clearly actually happy to be meeting his doom if it's on a full stomach apparently.
After chugging down a large mug of cider he looks up when the door to the throne room is opened. He stands up, brushing crumbs off his chest, and follows the group into the room. As the details of the mission before them is revealed to them, he snorts, seemingly amused by the daunting tasks before them. When they're each offered a magical ring in addition to a wand and a sword to help them, his mouth drops open. He looks around as if expecting to be found out at any moment. Ramious points to the Gith, "You look like the sort to want to swing that massive thing around. Unless anyone else wants to use it, I think he's probably the one."
Ramious clears his throat after Sir Tristan is done explaining the details. He glances around, clearly feeling like something needs to be said. "I've never heard of a Thessylhydra before. Maybe you can tell us a bit about it?"
Leon puts his hand on the hilt of his own great sword at the sight of this clearly magical one. "I can definitely find use for that." He informs the others.
To Sir Tristan... "Is there any pattern to the attacks?" Leon asks with a frown. "Does it attack daily, every night, once a month, or anything specific for timing?"
Cinder, waiting impatiently, smiles when the food arrives and helps herself to the meal without asking. Nursing her mug of cider, she looks at Patrick and asks the obvious:
"So where the hell are we? And are we getting free transport back to Waterdeep when this is done? It's all going to be very inconvenient otherwise."
When the meal is finished, Patrick leads the guests to Sir Tristan, where he explains his compensation and the challenge the group will face. When the magical items are presented, Cinder helps herself to a ring and a potion. Taking a quick look at the others, she nods in agreement at Raminous and Leon's assessment - "I've got no use for a sword that big either. Besides, I prefer my warpick. It comes in handy in ruins even when we're not fighting monsters," she says with a smile, patting the hilt of her weapon. She looks at the wand briefly, then stares at Alyssa. "Hey, kid. Maybe you should take that one. It matches your outfit. Take a bag of holding while you're at it too, your arms look a little scrawny. I'll take one as well. I just love collecting valuable things," she tells the others with a shrug.
When the magic items are passed around, Cinder clears her throat. "These enchanted goods are all very fine and well, but really... I'm more interested to know if you have a spare healing kit or two lying about? I could use one of those, you see. Not very good at field medicine otherwise, personally. I'd also appreciate a quarterstaff or a few javelins if you've got them to spare. And lastly, a compass. Always handy, those. That shouldn't be too much trouble for you to procure for us for the benefit of solving your hydra problem, should it?"
Patrick, who returned to collect adventurers from the library, was taken a back by the bombardment of questions but tried to answer to best of his ability. "I thought you knew... This is Amn. We are at the base of Cloud Peaks, East of Twin Towers. Here, let me show you on the map." One of the atlases contained quite detailed maps of many regions of Faerun and Patrick found one particular precise with the Valley on it. At least now you knew one of the reason the job was not taken despite an obviously good reward. "My master should be able to return you. Or you could go to Crimmor - it's a big city." He startled: "I am sure Sir Tristan will arrange something".
Sir Tristan, it seems, never considered the question: "I am sure, my dear, we will find the way for you to return, if you insist to be back to Waterdeep. As of healing supplies and simple weapons - Roderic will see to it, that you get what you wanted. He can also tell about hydra's attack - I'm afraid I was not present during the fight." "Patrick, my boy, would you call Roderic?"
Roderic - middleage beady-eyed human - turned out to be not that talkative captain of the guards. The title did not carry much weight, considering the size of the "domain" but Roderic did his best and looked like someone who does know how to handle a weapon, but is aware of his personal limitations as well. He did provide everything Cinder asked for (except the Compass, the thing seemed to be unfamiliar to him. About the Hydra he could not say much, though - yes, they fought it once. It was the middle of the night, scared people, rallied soldiers - not the best way to make sketches. He can say, that the thessalhydra is a strange and terrible creature with eight heads surrounding a large, circular mouth rimmed with jagged teeth. Its maw drips with acid, and its tail ends with a pair of sharp pincers. There was only one attack on the castle so far, but judging by the acid spills where people were disappearing and property damaged - it strikes randomly, eats something or someone, and disappears somewhere in the mountains.
OOC: That was Sam. And for all his mug and smug he does not look like an easy pick.
Meili Liang Lvl 5 Monk
Dice
(OOC:be that as it may, Ramious doesn't seem to take that into account. lol. :-). Hopefully this group makes it out of the adventurers guild...lol).
What's the difference between a Wizard and a Sorcerer?
Class.
OOC: Of course he does not, let's hope Sam does :)
Meili Liang Lvl 5 Monk
Dice
Cinder smiles at WIll as he escorts her to the more talented portrait artist in the guild. As it should be, she thinks with a sense of satisfaction, posing for the image with a self-assured smile on her face. When it's done, she stands up and turns around, only to see the bumbling elf girl stumble into the building. One eyebrow goes up at the raven's incessant squawking, the other at the girl's near-slip of seeking "friends."
"In this line of business, you don't really make friends," Cinder remarks. "Usually, you end up making bodies. If you're lucky, they're not your own." She immediately disregards the others when Will begins speaking... but as soon as Sam interrupts with the truth of things, her patience drops. "5 to 10 gold coins per job? You've got to be kidding me! I'd make more by simply staying on as a guard for the caravan! I came here for an adventure, not an insult to my profession," she declares, glaring at the boy for having even attempted to make the solo job offers. When Sam adds on the possibility of forming a group to aim for greater heights, Cinder nods along at the mention of dungeons and treasures. She stops and raises an eyebrow when he gets to Princesses, though. "What use would we have for those? They're usually spoiled, and also usually pretty stingy. It's always the richest ones who are the most miserly," she complains. "Old money doesn't usually have a lot to spread around to hirelings," she says, a clear note of disrespect in her voice. "Better to avoid those types."
The mention of a hydra piques Cinder's interest. "That sounds like it may just be amusing enough to entertain me," she declares. Then she sizes up the others, and notices the two men doing the same to herself and the new elf. She smirks and leans over to the elf. "Hey," she whispers. "Can you smell it? The boys are underestimating us." Her grin turns cunning. "If they want to see us as helpless, why not use it to our advantage?"
Clearing her throat as she straightens, she hides her smirk and puts on her most affected expression of an innocent damsel. It's probably a shit performance, compared to the real thing standing right next to her, but Cinder's merchant heart has spotted an opportunity, and by the gods, she's going to milk it for all it's worth. "Oh my... I guess we could go along with them," she says. "They do both look so big and strong, after all."
Ok, maybe she was laying it on a bit thick. But surely, it wasn't any more insulting than the stage whispers of the man with the face that looked like a cart had run over it. She stifled another laugh as the man, who obviously had something to prove, began to pick a fight with their employer. "This play writes itself," she tells the other elf with a note of amusement, crossing her arms and watching on.
Alyssa would feel rushed trying to fill out the form that's been pushed in her direction. Before she knew it, her form was snatched from her grip and she was whisked away for her portrait. The elf couldn't even remember what she wrote on her application.
Her attention was captivated by the tenacity shown by the individuals in the room. The elf's red eyes would scan them over again. So unique... I'll need to document their features later...
"Don't make friends. Make bodies!" Hue summarizes Cinder, squawking Alyssa out of her awe just in time for Sam's speech.
He had her at Hydra. As an archaeologist it would be silly for her to turn up the opportunity to document such a legendary creature and its layer. And earning some of her own gold would probably be a good idea too.
A little intimidated by the more confident characters next to her, Alyssa would begin fumbling her words especially when the fire genasi would lean over to her. "Oh. I. I. Uh." The familiar shade of pink would creep up on her cheeks when she'd point out the big, strong men. Cinder wasn't wrong about them. She wasn't wrong about a lot of things... The elf would steal a couple glances over to the guys, clearing her throat and nodding to Cinder.
"Big and strong! We go. With them!" The albino raven hops excitedly on Alyssa's shoulder.
As thrilled as she was about being a part of something... Alyssa just wanted to fade away into the shadows. This was not her best first impression...
"I'm in."
just an unstable unicorn.
Ramious looks suspiciously over at Cinder, then to Alyssa. He glances back at Sam, then over to Leon. He seems to make up his mind. "Alright, seems we're all in. What do we need to do?"
What's the difference between a Wizard and a Sorcerer?
Class.
"Now you put your signatures on that scroll," he put the scroll in front of the group on the counter, "and while you are reading a signing, Will should fetch the messenger, that transports you to the quest point." The boy understood, and with still openly disapproving face expression, disappeared somewhere inside the tower.
You can finally read the scroll, "I, Sir Tristan of the Crabapple Valley, am offering 100 gold pieces (plus all expenses and additional equipment) to each brave adventurer who would dare to face a terrible monster known as a Thessalhydra, that terrorizes the valley. Come and be the heroes!"
The read is not long but by the time you are done with it (and signing too) Will was already back with yet another boy - probably even younger then Will - though in the same time more shy and serious. For a moment he still looked a bit lost, when Sam presented four different creatures, non of which was a human and almost all looking more intimidating than heroic, and called them "the new heroes, the best of the best, that guild is proud of!". "I am Patrick," a bit shyly introduced he himself, "I will take you to the Valley".
Right on the floor the boy drew a circle - big enough to fit you all including Patrick himself, added some symbols (consulting with the scroll he was holding) and invited you to step in. Once that was done, the boy begun to read the spell from the same scroll, and a few moments later the room around you disappeared (last thing you heard is Sam's pleasing "love to watch new groups forming!" with following in a more disturbing tone "did you tell them about the fees? You forgot to tell about the fees, didn't you?") and after a momentary darkness you were standing somewhere else.
The place looked like a library, an actively and regulary used library - the books were everywhere, the empty and filled scrolls falling of the massive tables - people work here, for sure.Through the huge windows you could see, that the room is high enough above the ground (3d floor? 4th?) and the Valley is spectacular at this time of year: a sea of pink and red flowers, covering crabapple trees as clouds.
"I have to check if Sir Tristan is awake. He should be, but I need to make sure. If you are hungry," Patrick remembered about hospitality, "I can as the kitchen to send food here. Or we can all go there too, if you wish."
Meili Liang Lvl 5 Monk
Dice
"I think waiting here would be best." Leon says with a nod to the boy. He glances to the various people making up the group. "It would most likely cause a stir for a group like this to just appear and start moving around the halls..." He adjusts his great sword on his shoulder as he then looks around the room with a eye to defensibility.
Alyssa Amastacia
The elf would sign her name with an expected cursive flourish.
Alyssa would wave when Patrick would introduce himself. She'd watch intently as he drew the circle, studying the runes as he does. The elf would pull out her own journal, making some notes and sketches. She'd be the first one to stand in the rune as soon as the boy invited them over.
When the momentary darkness is lifted and reveals a library, Alyssa would suck in some air and hold her breath so that she doesn't exclaim in excitement. Instead she'd hop up and down. "Yay! Bo-" Hue would start to exclaim for her, but this time the elf would catch his beak to shush him. "I will pocket you if you get us kicked out of another library."
Alyssa would practically skip over to the window. She'd go on her tip toes to take in the full view of the valley before looking back to Patrick, "Can we look at the books?" the elf would chew on her lip in anticipation. As great as food would be, knowledge is one thing that trumps her stomach.
just an unstable unicorn.
Ramious looks around, his eyes a bit wider than before the magical trip. As he gets a sense of the place he seems impressed by the number of books as he walks about. He finally heads over to a shadowy corner where he can watch the whole room and potentially remain unnoticed at first glance. He thumbs at a couple of the books in interest, picking one up and starting to read through its pages as he stands in silence, letting Leon respond to the boy, content to just follow the groups lead for the time being.
What's the difference between a Wizard and a Sorcerer?
Class.
"Oh, take me to the food," Cinder says eagerly. She stops as almost everyone else in the small party seems to be fascinated with the books in the library instead. Rolling her eyes, she plants her hands on her hips. "Fine, or have them bring the food to us here." She paces around the room, taking everything in, particularly the sight of the Valley. "So," she says to no-one in particular. "100 gold pieces... I'm sure they're going to squeeze some blood out of us before they give us that. But what interests me are those additional expenses and equipment," she says, turning around and clapping her hands once with an avaricious smirk. "I wonder if this Sir Triston would be so good as show us his armory. Fighting hydras is a dangerous business after all, isn't it?"
"No doubt very dangerous." Leon says with a nod of agreement. "As far as the armory goes though, we can always ask."
Before leaving, Patrick - the very definition of politeness - answered to Alyssa with a bow: "You are welcome to look, though I would ask you not to misplaced things here - my Master is very strict with order." Considering the mess here (a working mess, but still) "the master" had an interesting definition of the word "order".
The group did not wait for long, the door opened and a pleasantly plump smiling woman appeared there with the tray full of fresh bread, butter, eggs, cheese, ham, honey, and - of course - a jar of crabapple jam. As jug with crabapple cider was full enough for all of them. Either Patrick was descriptive enough, or the woman had truly strong nerves but she did not bat an eye even at Ramious. She placed that tray at the least book-covered table, wished the company good appetite and simply asked if she can help with anything else.
Meili Liang Lvl 5 Monk
Dice
Alyssa would hum to herself while she scans the bookshelves. She'd take a gander for any books on hydras, monster codex's and of course any books that could contain spells for study. Eventually, the elf would meander over by Ramious. "Hi." She'd smile. "Have you found anything interesting?"
just an unstable unicorn.
Leon would look over the book shelves, and tables, seeking any sort of map or anything that would give him more information of the land they were in. Knowing magic as he did, he knew they could be nearly anyplace at this point.
Bruised and covered with scars winged brute trying to read magical foliant looked absolutely adorable! Though, to be fair the library contained books with pictures as well and some even on Common - "the master" was curious about many things: "Plants&Herbs, for magical and every day uses", "Faerunian monstrosities", several traveling journals from different explorers. There were even cooking books, though, recipes did not look that appetizing.
Leon found many illustrated atlases, and, though the simplest way to learn about the land was standing right besides him, smiling and asking if the breakfast was to his liking, githyanki chose the hard road, and by the sun position of the hour, temperature of the fresh air coming from the open window, and shape of the mountain on the horizon could positively say the group did not leave Faerun and was most likely somewhere south and more inland of Waterdeep.
But any kind of deeper research had to wait: Alyssa was still contemplating which of the hundreds of books to study first and Cinder did not even cross the line of true boredom, when door opened again and heroes-to-be were invited to the throne room.
It was not even a complete exaggeration - there was a throne, or at least a couple of very important looking chairs, on one of which the group saw a grey-haired but still looking fit man (human) - no doubts, Sir Tristan himself. He looked genuinely happy to see someone coming to the Valley's aid and worried about the events.
After the necessary greetings and presentations (Patrick payed attention - he did not misspell a single name) Sir Tristan invited every one to sit and explained the situation. A monster called a thessalhydra appears out of nowhere and attacks local farms, villages, and even the castle. All the soldiers together could barely fight it off. After each attack, the thessalhydra disappears into the woods and leaves no trail.
Sir Tristan can’t send his guards after the monster. They must protect the castle (and they know they’re not strong enough to beat the monster). Therefore he sent after the adventurers and asking them to hunt down and kill the thessalhydra, then return with its heads. ("I believe they will make look great stuffed and mounted over the throne")
As a compensation for the service, Sir Tristan is willing to pay 100 golds to each of you, provide necessary supplies, and share some items of magical qualities, that might help with the task: first of all - two bags of holding, so that they can easily carry the thessalhydra’s severed heads (the bags are to be returned). In addition, each adventurer will receive a ring of protection and a potion of healing (to be kept). Finally, he can offer two weapons — a wand of magic missiles and a greatsword made of an unknown black metal. Valley's wizard (that elusive Patrick's "master", currently absent and not expected any time soon) was positive the sword is of a great magic (in most cases, it works as a +1 greatsword) and can kill even a thessalhydra, however, no one was able to confirm that fact. Still, they gave the sword the name - Winter’s Dark Bite. And now it is offered to the group.
Meili Liang Lvl 5 Monk
Dice
Alyssa walks up to Ramious and looks over his shoulder. One finger seems to be tracing under each word as he clearly struggles to read many of the words. He looks embarrassed as he glances at her, and says, "I know how to read you know. I just....I just mostly learned to read military messages. Lots of these words are different."
He goes back to his book, mouthing out each word under his breath. It seems to be a book about growing crops. To his credit, he wasn't tossing the thing away in frustration and continued to try and struggle through it on his own. As the food arrived his eyes opened wide, and placed the book carefully where he'd found it, and began to devour the food. He looks up, a silly grin on his face, a boiled egg crumbling in his mouth, "Free food? A free teleportation to a far away land. Free cider? This must be a suicide mission. This is like our last meal before we all get our names added to that wall. Eat up folks." Despite sounding serious, the enjoyment in his voice can't be faked. He's clearly actually happy to be meeting his doom if it's on a full stomach apparently.
After chugging down a large mug of cider he looks up when the door to the throne room is opened. He stands up, brushing crumbs off his chest, and follows the group into the room. As the details of the mission before them is revealed to them, he snorts, seemingly amused by the daunting tasks before them. When they're each offered a magical ring in addition to a wand and a sword to help them, his mouth drops open. He looks around as if expecting to be found out at any moment. Ramious points to the Gith, "You look like the sort to want to swing that massive thing around. Unless anyone else wants to use it, I think he's probably the one."
Ramious clears his throat after Sir Tristan is done explaining the details. He glances around, clearly feeling like something needs to be said. "I've never heard of a Thessylhydra before. Maybe you can tell us a bit about it?"
What's the difference between a Wizard and a Sorcerer?
Class.
Leon puts his hand on the hilt of his own great sword at the sight of this clearly magical one. "I can definitely find use for that." He informs the others.
To Sir Tristan... "Is there any pattern to the attacks?" Leon asks with a frown. "Does it attack daily, every night, once a month, or anything specific for timing?"
Cinder, waiting impatiently, smiles when the food arrives and helps herself to the meal without asking. Nursing her mug of cider, she looks at Patrick and asks the obvious:
"So where the hell are we? And are we getting free transport back to Waterdeep when this is done? It's all going to be very inconvenient otherwise."
When the meal is finished, Patrick leads the guests to Sir Tristan, where he explains his compensation and the challenge the group will face. When the magical items are presented, Cinder helps herself to a ring and a potion. Taking a quick look at the others, she nods in agreement at Raminous and Leon's assessment - "I've got no use for a sword that big either. Besides, I prefer my warpick. It comes in handy in ruins even when we're not fighting monsters," she says with a smile, patting the hilt of her weapon. She looks at the wand briefly, then stares at Alyssa. "Hey, kid. Maybe you should take that one. It matches your outfit. Take a bag of holding while you're at it too, your arms look a little scrawny. I'll take one as well. I just love collecting valuable things," she tells the others with a shrug.
When the magic items are passed around, Cinder clears her throat. "These enchanted goods are all very fine and well, but really... I'm more interested to know if you have a spare healing kit or two lying about? I could use one of those, you see. Not very good at field medicine otherwise, personally. I'd also appreciate a quarterstaff or a few javelins if you've got them to spare. And lastly, a compass. Always handy, those. That shouldn't be too much trouble for you to procure for us for the benefit of solving your hydra problem, should it?"
Patrick, who returned to collect adventurers from the library, was taken a back by the bombardment of questions but tried to answer to best of his ability. "I thought you knew... This is Amn. We are at the base of Cloud Peaks, East of Twin Towers. Here, let me show you on the map." One of the atlases contained quite detailed maps of many regions of Faerun and Patrick found one particular precise with the Valley on it. At least now you knew one of the reason the job was not taken despite an obviously good reward. "My master should be able to return you. Or you could go to Crimmor - it's a big city." He startled: "I am sure Sir Tristan will arrange something".
Sir Tristan, it seems, never considered the question: "I am sure, my dear, we will find the way for you to return, if you insist to be back to Waterdeep. As of healing supplies and simple weapons - Roderic will see to it, that you get what you wanted. He can also tell about hydra's attack - I'm afraid I was not present during the fight." "Patrick, my boy, would you call Roderic?"
Roderic - middleage beady-eyed human - turned out to be not that talkative captain of the guards. The title did not carry much weight, considering the size of the "domain" but Roderic did his best and looked like someone who does know how to handle a weapon, but is aware of his personal limitations as well. He did provide everything Cinder asked for (except the Compass, the thing seemed to be unfamiliar to him. About the Hydra he could not say much, though - yes, they fought it once. It was the middle of the night, scared people, rallied soldiers - not the best way to make sketches. He can say, that the thessalhydra is a strange and terrible creature with eight heads surrounding a large, circular mouth rimmed with jagged teeth. Its maw drips with acid, and its tail ends with a pair of sharp pincers. There was only one attack on the castle so far, but judging by the acid spills where people were disappearing and property damaged - it strikes randomly, eats something or someone, and disappears somewhere in the mountains.
Meili Liang Lvl 5 Monk
Dice