After Rowan rescues the camera from ruin, she offers to show the children its function, clicking away as a kind of show-and-tell, delighted by their interest — but, like most of the others, she eventually finds rest amidst the ruins.
Korvash looks up at the stars, with the occasional glance towards the hunter Cocksure. "You know, today wasn't so bad," he says to himself, "especially considering how it started out." Korvash has learned to suppress most of his natural disposition to fury, but he has also learned that being calm does not mean sitting back and ignoring things until they happen. Which is exactly why, tonight, he is "sleeping with one eye open," so to say. He is going to try to be ready if and when danger strikes.
Rowan, the shifters notice how kind you are being with the children, and bring you a few extra pillows and such, to really ensure you're comfortable. Growl winks at you as she closes up the kitchen for the night "Just keep your hands off that older gentleman tonight, lass. He's mine." She says, jokingly (you think). And with that, the four of you (minus Zeenon who is on patrol) are left alone.
Peace only
With an insight of 13 for the shifters, you get the sense that there is a little bit of...reluctance for some of them to see the changeover of tribe chieftain from Beard to Cocksure. Though they don't tell you directly, you are able to get the sense that there is some exasperation with undiplomatic, how brash the younger shifter is.
Dain is harder to read -- fortunately, you've seen his type before during the war. Dain is the perfect soldier -- whatever he is doing, it seems to be more to the whims of others rather than his own plans. Everything he's doing here is serving someone else's purpose.
Korvash, you think you find a pretty excellent spot to keep an eye on the rectory where the women, including Cocksure, and the children are staying-- if anyone comes in or out of the main entry point, they would cross into your field of vision. Other than the occasional shifter that comes out to go to the bathroom, there's not much going on. Cocksure, at least, does not appear to leave the rectory for the rest of the night.
Peace loves this group of shifters, though he is very concerned with whether or not Cocksure is levelheaded enough to lead them. Ah well, she's still young, yet. Shame about Dain. He's a good guy, if mildly prejudiced. "I bet if I could pull him away from the rest of the crew he'd be great company. But, oh well. He's just an arm of the village. He's doing what he thinks is right."
He overhears Growl saying that he belongs to her from a distance and smiles. "I've still got it," he chuckles to himself. He props himself up against a wall and gets ready to go to sleep, offering a prayer of thanks to Dol Arrah.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Salazar - Human Warlock of the Fiend (1) - The Lucarcian Incident
Shepherd Torrent Brallern Water Genasi Druid (1) - Ekuepool
Celeste Belle - Air Genasi Mutant Blood Hunter (1) - Old West
When it is clear everyone is turning in for the night, Zeenon's eyes turn yellow once again, and it analyzes the area to determine the best place to stand sentry. (Perception: 6) Unfortunately, true to the reason it was decommissioned, it doesn't make the best judgement.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
DM Screen
3
Zeenon, you position yourself quite well, or so your analysis determines, and as you go inactive, you don't detect anything in your immediate vicinity for the rest of the night, other than a series of jokes (mostly about goblins) that Cackle tells, apparently, trying to make you laugh.
"Hey, warforged! What do you call a goblin on a cart? A thief! "What do you call a goblin on two carts? A bloody good driver!"
A few hours later...
"What's the difference between a human's beard and a dwarf's beard? The tip of the human's beard isn't covered in piss."
After each joke there is a raucous burst of laughter, but otherwise, you pick up no sounds.
Morning comes and the party is awakened by the sounds of a loud argument coming from outside the church where you slept.
"Where's my brother? I don't want yer excuses, Shifter! Where's that fat leader of yours? I swear, if you did anything to Dain..."
"Watch your tone, dwarf. No one did anything to your brother other than feed him and make sure he's comfortable while he's watching us like we're common criminals. He's in a tent at the edge of the encampment." It's Cocksure and Bilick, Dain's brother, and part of the posse you met yesterday.
"He ain't there. I checked. Get that fat man out of his bed. I want ta talk to him now."
(There really wasn't any combat or spell slots expended yesterday, but you can all still give yourselves a long rest, too).
Breyten, hearing the disagreement, hurriedly makes himself presentable and then rushes out of the church and into the morning air. When he see's Cocksure and Bilick bickering his approaches. "Now now, lets take this down a peg or two shall we. Are we sure your brother hasn't just scooted off into the woods for his morning...prayers?" Breyten did his best to be civil about how he was inferring that Bilick may just be having a bowel movement int he woods but he wasn't sure if the innuendo would carry through.
As Korvash wakes, he realizes that... he'd failed. He tried his best to make sure no harm was done, but in the end, it wasn't enough. Not that he was going to blame himself - he wasn't responsible for the attacks. Eventually, he approaches to where the argument is taking place. "Breyten is right. There is a possibility that Dain could be off in the woods for some strange reason," he assures Bilick. "If so, then our work here is done, unless we hear of other attacks. However, if Dain is gone... for good," turning to Cocksure, "then there is no way we could clear your names. And worse, we'd have to report it in the paper."
Bilick calms down a bit at Korvash and Breyten's assurances but is still visibly stewing as he waits for Beard and/or his brother to appear. "Alright. We'll all wait here, nice and cozy until Dain shows up, alright? Get that pig out here, too. I want to be sure you all are accounted for. Get that big warforged too -- he was keeping watch, right?"
Cocksure calls one of the children over. "Go over to Mister Beard's cottage, child. Tell him to come out because we have some guests."
The child, whom you recognize as Snout, Cocksure's child, says "Yes mum!" and rushes off.
There is an uncomfortable period of silence as one of you goes to retrieve Zeenon and the child is looking for Beard. Zeenon joins the group, and while he is waiting, Bilick specifically starts to interrogate him.
"And what were you up to, warforged, when my brother was vulnerable to these strangers? Do any of you have anything to say for yourselves?" The dwarf looks at each of you in turn, eyebrow arched. "Don't tell me you're going to try to defend them still." AHe points to Korvash, "At least the dragonborn is starting to see some sense here."
Bilick laughs bitterly as Zeenon speaks. "I'm sure you were, mate." As the lot of you wait, you notice the dwarf is becoming more and more agitated as time passes, and its making the situation even more tense. Finally, little Snout runs up -- notably without Beard -- and whispers in his mom's ear. Suddenly, Cocksure's whole demeanor changes. "Um...Beard isn't here right now. I'm sure he and Dain are out...."
She doesn't even finish the sentence before Bilick roars in anger. "That's it! I am going to town and getting Samuel and the mayor and we are going to find...."
"That ain't necessary, Bilick." Its Samuel, the tavern-keeper, riding on a horse, and accompanied by two people you haven't seen before, dressed in Hides and carrying sickles. "Dain's dead. The Wardens here found him in the forest this morning. The big shifter was with him. Swears he found him like that and was trying to save him, but the Wardens couldn't detect any other hostile wildlife nearby."
The dwarf seems to crumble. "Samuel? He's really dead? I don't... you said....?" Though he tries to keep it in, you see his body start to heave with sobs.
"Don't say something you're going to regret, buddy. Come on, I'll take ya into town to see your brother." He looks pointedly at Cocksure. "You got till tonight to clear out. Warden's orders, this time."
He throws his big arm around Bilick and starts to guide him out of camp, the wardens following along. "Word of advice, strangers. If y'all don't understand our affairs, stay out of 'em." He says to you, before leaving.
The rest of the shifters are watching and whispering amongst themselves. Cocksure looks at all of you. "You know Beard had nothing to do with this, right? He was big and tough, but he was gentle as could be. Wouldn't hurt a fly. You have to do something!" She implores you.
Breyten's spirit sinks as low as it can. He wasn't sure, he wasn't sure of anything. He thought his suggestion was sound, that having someone keep watch from the town would be a surefire way to prove the Shifters weren't the problem, but now a man was dead. But what was Dain doing in the forest? Had Beard nabbed him surely Zeenon or the other shifters on watch would have seen something. Maybe Zeenon didn't register it, he wasn't the brightest lantern on the street. There were holes in this, but Breyten needed to clear his mind and work in an unbiased fashion.
He turned to Cocksure, "Believe this, we will get to the bottom of it one way or the other. This story has more to it than what we can see" he tried to be as reassuring as possible while still maintaining his third party composure. He then turned to Zeenon, "Zeenon, did you see anything while on watch last night, anything, even if you don't think it matters"
Upon hearing the news from Samuel, Korvash collapses on the ground, the weight of a dead man seemingly now on his shoulders. I could have prevented this. I know it, he thinks remorsefully. He knows the Shifters weren't at fault, but regardless...
He listens to the whole conversation. "Yes. Breyten is right," he finally speaks up. "There's more to this case than the eye can see. If we investigate this further, we can figure out who is really behind this." Turning to Cocksure, he gives a broken smile and says, "Maybe you are right. Maybe someone is framing you. But, I am proposing that, to get to the bottom of this case, you follow the man's orders. As for us, we will stay here for the night again. If there are other attacks around this vicinity, we can clear your names." He turns to his group and asks if it is okay to camp out here again tonight while the Shifters move on.
Peace is also devastated. Dain seemed a good man, if a bit closed off. This will end in further violence. Peace tries to talk to the Wardens and villagers, but they leave before he gets a chance.
"The only way we are going to prevent further violence is to find out what happened here. We need to talk to Beard and look at where the murder happened."
Peace turns to Cocksure, "I don't know what happened here, but we will do what we can to find out." Peace has been taking it fairly easy, downplaying the tension. It looks like we will have to put more work in to keeping us out of trouble. He hates himself for it, but he also starts thinking, how can we make sure this doesn't get traced back to us?
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Salazar - Human Warlock of the Fiend (1) - The Lucarcian Incident
Shepherd Torrent Brallern Water Genasi Druid (1) - Ekuepool
Celeste Belle - Air Genasi Mutant Blood Hunter (1) - Old West
"As if anyone understands these affairs,"she says, mostly to herself, as Samuel walks away -- that seems to be the whole problem. And what was the point of being a part of a newspaper at all, if not to solve that very problem? Murder -- very, very tragic murder, of course -- aside, as far as Rowan is concerned, this is kind of their whole point.
"Of course we'll do something," she confirms, pitching in with all the others, bright and resolute, after confirming to Korvash that she's happy to stay another night. "We're investigative journalists -- some of us, anyway, a bit. So let's investigate! Something's going on in that forest." (She might be too cheerful by half, but she'd call it encouraging.)
(Zeenon, unfortunately, due to your positioning and Cackle's incessant jokes, you did not really see anything -- you did note that Dain's lantern stayed on well past midnight, so, if he left his tent, it was after that point.)
Cocksure nods vigorously. "Thank you all. I will make arrangements for the tribe to move. Fang -- she's very close to being due, so she cannot travel. I will send the rest of the tribe ahead and she and I will remain here until the child is born." She looks around at the other shifters and grins slightly, despite the seriousness of the situation, her personality still showing. "Besides, I'm not about to leave that old bastard behind. We have our ways of making sure not even the Wardens can find us. If you do see Beard -- tell him we're waiting for him to lead us again. Is there anything else you need of us before we break down the camp?"
If none of you have any questions, the young shifter takes a deep breath and moves over to Growl, talking quietly to the bearish older woman and ordering the others about as they begin to gather everything together in an old caravan where Beard had been sleeping.
(Its about a half-hour ride to the town of Havenglen, along the tree line of the Wolf -- Zeenon, you would know there is about fifty-four hours until your deadline with Whiskers. Its around breakfast time, now, and the rest of the day is yours.)
In response to Breyton's question of "Zeenon, did you see anything while on watch last night, anything, even if you don't think it matters?", the warforge's eyes turn yellow, and it relays in a very monotone and slightly disjointed voice that Cackle was active throughout the night, and that Dain's lantern stayed on past midnight. Once its report is given, Zeenon's eyes return to their light blue, and it says apropos of nothing, "The tip of the human's beard isn't covered in piss," before announcing in its imitation of Whiskers how much time is left before their deadline to submit a story and pictures.
Korvash, seeing the group has not come to a consensus as to what to do next, raises the question. "How shall we pass our time today? Keep in mind that we can always come back here later." He suggests going into town and hearing the perspective of the townsfolk.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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Perception: 20
Yeah, I'll bite on that Insight read. Also, Peace doffs his armor and rests.
Insight Shifters: 22
Insight Dain: 9
Salazar - Human Warlock of the Fiend (1) - The Lucarcian Incident
Shepherd Torrent Brallern Water Genasi Druid (1) - Ekuepool
Celeste Belle - Air Genasi Mutant Blood Hunter (1) - Old West
DM for A Waterdhavian Heist
After Rowan rescues the camera from ruin, she offers to show the children its function, clicking away as a kind of show-and-tell, delighted by their interest — but, like most of the others, she eventually finds rest amidst the ruins.
Korvash looks up at the stars, with the occasional glance towards the hunter Cocksure. "You know, today wasn't so bad," he says to himself, "especially considering how it started out." Korvash has learned to suppress most of his natural disposition to fury, but he has also learned that being calm does not mean sitting back and ignoring things until they happen. Which is exactly why, tonight, he is "sleeping with one eye open," so to say. He is going to try to be ready if and when danger strikes.
Rowan, the shifters notice how kind you are being with the children, and bring you a few extra pillows and such, to really ensure you're comfortable. Growl winks at you as she closes up the kitchen for the night "Just keep your hands off that older gentleman tonight, lass. He's mine." She says, jokingly (you think). And with that, the four of you (minus Zeenon who is on patrol) are left alone.
Peace only
With an insight of 13 for the shifters, you get the sense that there is a little bit of...reluctance for some of them to see the changeover of tribe chieftain from Beard to Cocksure. Though they don't tell you directly, you are able to get the sense that there is some exasperation with undiplomatic, how brash the younger shifter is.
Dain is harder to read -- fortunately, you've seen his type before during the war. Dain is the perfect soldier -- whatever he is doing, it seems to be more to the whims of others rather than his own plans. Everything he's doing here is serving someone else's purpose.
Korvash, you think you find a pretty excellent spot to keep an eye on the rectory where the women, including Cocksure, and the children are staying-- if anyone comes in or out of the main entry point, they would cross into your field of vision. Other than the occasional shifter that comes out to go to the bathroom, there's not much going on. Cocksure, at least, does not appear to leave the rectory for the rest of the night.
Peace loves this group of shifters, though he is very concerned with whether or not Cocksure is levelheaded enough to lead them. Ah well, she's still young, yet. Shame about Dain. He's a good guy, if mildly prejudiced. "I bet if I could pull him away from the rest of the crew he'd be great company. But, oh well. He's just an arm of the village. He's doing what he thinks is right."
He overhears Growl saying that he belongs to her from a distance and smiles. "I've still got it," he chuckles to himself. He props himself up against a wall and gets ready to go to sleep, offering a prayer of thanks to Dol Arrah.
Salazar - Human Warlock of the Fiend (1) - The Lucarcian Incident
Shepherd Torrent Brallern Water Genasi Druid (1) - Ekuepool
Celeste Belle - Air Genasi Mutant Blood Hunter (1) - Old West
DM for A Waterdhavian Heist
When it is clear everyone is turning in for the night, Zeenon's eyes turn yellow once again, and it analyzes the area to determine the best place to stand sentry. (Perception: 6) Unfortunately, true to the reason it was decommissioned, it doesn't make the best judgement.
DM Screen
3
Zeenon, you position yourself quite well, or so your analysis determines, and as you go inactive, you don't detect anything in your immediate vicinity for the rest of the night, other than a series of jokes (mostly about goblins) that Cackle tells, apparently, trying to make you laugh.
"Hey, warforged! What do you call a goblin on a cart? A thief! "What do you call a goblin on two carts? A bloody good driver!"
A few hours later...
"What's the difference between a human's beard and a dwarf's beard? The tip of the human's beard isn't covered in piss."
After each joke there is a raucous burst of laughter, but otherwise, you pick up no sounds.
Morning comes and the party is awakened by the sounds of a loud argument coming from outside the church where you slept.
"Where's my brother? I don't want yer excuses, Shifter! Where's that fat leader of yours? I swear, if you did anything to Dain..."
"Watch your tone, dwarf. No one did anything to your brother other than feed him and make sure he's comfortable while he's watching us like we're common criminals. He's in a tent at the edge of the encampment." It's Cocksure and Bilick, Dain's brother, and part of the posse you met yesterday.
"He ain't there. I checked. Get that fat man out of his bed. I want ta talk to him now."
(There really wasn't any combat or spell slots expended yesterday, but you can all still give yourselves a long rest, too).
Breyten, hearing the disagreement, hurriedly makes himself presentable and then rushes out of the church and into the morning air. When he see's Cocksure and Bilick bickering his approaches. "Now now, lets take this down a peg or two shall we. Are we sure your brother hasn't just scooted off into the woods for his morning...prayers?" Breyten did his best to be civil about how he was inferring that Bilick may just be having a bowel movement int he woods but he wasn't sure if the innuendo would carry through.
As Korvash wakes, he realizes that... he'd failed. He tried his best to make sure no harm was done, but in the end, it wasn't enough. Not that he was going to blame himself - he wasn't responsible for the attacks. Eventually, he approaches to where the argument is taking place. "Breyten is right. There is a possibility that Dain could be off in the woods for some strange reason," he assures Bilick. "If so, then our work here is done, unless we hear of other attacks. However, if Dain is gone... for good," turning to Cocksure, "then there is no way we could clear your names. And worse, we'd have to report it in the paper."
Bilick calms down a bit at Korvash and Breyten's assurances but is still visibly stewing as he waits for Beard and/or his brother to appear. "Alright. We'll all wait here, nice and cozy until Dain shows up, alright? Get that pig out here, too. I want to be sure you all are accounted for. Get that big warforged too -- he was keeping watch, right?"
Cocksure calls one of the children over. "Go over to Mister Beard's cottage, child. Tell him to come out because we have some guests."
The child, whom you recognize as Snout, Cocksure's child, says "Yes mum!" and rushes off.
There is an uncomfortable period of silence as one of you goes to retrieve Zeenon and the child is looking for Beard. Zeenon joins the group, and while he is waiting, Bilick specifically starts to interrogate him.
"And what were you up to, warforged, when my brother was vulnerable to these strangers? Do any of you have anything to say for yourselves?" The dwarf looks at each of you in turn, eyebrow arched. "Don't tell me you're going to try to defend them still." AHe points to Korvash, "At least the dragonborn is starting to see some sense here."
"Zeenon keep watch," the warforged says.
Bilick laughs bitterly as Zeenon speaks. "I'm sure you were, mate." As the lot of you wait, you notice the dwarf is becoming more and more agitated as time passes, and its making the situation even more tense. Finally, little Snout runs up -- notably without Beard -- and whispers in his mom's ear. Suddenly, Cocksure's whole demeanor changes. "Um...Beard isn't here right now. I'm sure he and Dain are out...."
She doesn't even finish the sentence before Bilick roars in anger. "That's it! I am going to town and getting Samuel and the mayor and we are going to find...."
"That ain't necessary, Bilick." Its Samuel, the tavern-keeper, riding on a horse, and accompanied by two people you haven't seen before, dressed in Hides and carrying sickles. "Dain's dead. The Wardens here found him in the forest this morning. The big shifter was with him. Swears he found him like that and was trying to save him, but the Wardens couldn't detect any other hostile wildlife nearby."
The dwarf seems to crumble. "Samuel? He's really dead? I don't... you said....?" Though he tries to keep it in, you see his body start to heave with sobs.
"Don't say something you're going to regret, buddy. Come on, I'll take ya into town to see your brother." He looks pointedly at Cocksure. "You got till tonight to clear out. Warden's orders, this time."
He throws his big arm around Bilick and starts to guide him out of camp, the wardens following along. "Word of advice, strangers. If y'all don't understand our affairs, stay out of 'em." He says to you, before leaving.
The rest of the shifters are watching and whispering amongst themselves. Cocksure looks at all of you. "You know Beard had nothing to do with this, right? He was big and tough, but he was gentle as could be. Wouldn't hurt a fly. You have to do something!" She implores you.
Breyten's spirit sinks as low as it can. He wasn't sure, he wasn't sure of anything. He thought his suggestion was sound, that having someone keep watch from the town would be a surefire way to prove the Shifters weren't the problem, but now a man was dead. But what was Dain doing in the forest? Had Beard nabbed him surely Zeenon or the other shifters on watch would have seen something. Maybe Zeenon didn't register it, he wasn't the brightest lantern on the street. There were holes in this, but Breyten needed to clear his mind and work in an unbiased fashion.
He turned to Cocksure, "Believe this, we will get to the bottom of it one way or the other. This story has more to it than what we can see" he tried to be as reassuring as possible while still maintaining his third party composure. He then turned to Zeenon, "Zeenon, did you see anything while on watch last night, anything, even if you don't think it matters"
Upon hearing the news from Samuel, Korvash collapses on the ground, the weight of a dead man seemingly now on his shoulders. I could have prevented this. I know it, he thinks remorsefully. He knows the Shifters weren't at fault, but regardless...
He listens to the whole conversation. "Yes. Breyten is right," he finally speaks up. "There's more to this case than the eye can see. If we investigate this further, we can figure out who is really behind this." Turning to Cocksure, he gives a broken smile and says, "Maybe you are right. Maybe someone is framing you. But, I am proposing that, to get to the bottom of this case, you follow the man's orders. As for us, we will stay here for the night again. If there are other attacks around this vicinity, we can clear your names." He turns to his group and asks if it is okay to camp out here again tonight while the Shifters move on.
Peace is also devastated. Dain seemed a good man, if a bit closed off. This will end in further violence. Peace tries to talk to the Wardens and villagers, but they leave before he gets a chance.
"The only way we are going to prevent further violence is to find out what happened here. We need to talk to Beard and look at where the murder happened."
Peace turns to Cocksure, "I don't know what happened here, but we will do what we can to find out." Peace has been taking it fairly easy, downplaying the tension. It looks like we will have to put more work in to keeping us out of trouble. He hates himself for it, but he also starts thinking, how can we make sure this doesn't get traced back to us?
Salazar - Human Warlock of the Fiend (1) - The Lucarcian Incident
Shepherd Torrent Brallern Water Genasi Druid (1) - Ekuepool
Celeste Belle - Air Genasi Mutant Blood Hunter (1) - Old West
DM for A Waterdhavian Heist
"As if anyone understands these affairs," she says, mostly to herself, as Samuel walks away -- that seems to be the whole problem. And what was the point of being a part of a newspaper at all, if not to solve that very problem? Murder -- very, very tragic murder, of course -- aside, as far as Rowan is concerned, this is kind of their whole point.
"Of course we'll do something," she confirms, pitching in with all the others, bright and resolute, after confirming to Korvash that she's happy to stay another night. "We're investigative journalists -- some of us, anyway, a bit. So let's investigate! Something's going on in that forest." (She might be too cheerful by half, but she'd call it encouraging.)
(Zeenon, unfortunately, due to your positioning and Cackle's incessant jokes, you did not really see anything -- you did note that Dain's lantern stayed on well past midnight, so, if he left his tent, it was after that point.)
Cocksure nods vigorously. "Thank you all. I will make arrangements for the tribe to move. Fang -- she's very close to being due, so she cannot travel. I will send the rest of the tribe ahead and she and I will remain here until the child is born." She looks around at the other shifters and grins slightly, despite the seriousness of the situation, her personality still showing. "Besides, I'm not about to leave that old bastard behind. We have our ways of making sure not even the Wardens can find us. If you do see Beard -- tell him we're waiting for him to lead us again. Is there anything else you need of us before we break down the camp?"
If none of you have any questions, the young shifter takes a deep breath and moves over to Growl, talking quietly to the bearish older woman and ordering the others about as they begin to gather everything together in an old caravan where Beard had been sleeping.
(Its about a half-hour ride to the town of Havenglen, along the tree line of the Wolf -- Zeenon, you would know there is about fifty-four hours until your deadline with Whiskers. Its around breakfast time, now, and the rest of the day is yours.)
In response to Breyton's question of "Zeenon, did you see anything while on watch last night, anything, even if you don't think it matters?", the warforge's eyes turn yellow, and it relays in a very monotone and slightly disjointed voice that Cackle was active throughout the night, and that Dain's lantern stayed on past midnight. Once its report is given, Zeenon's eyes return to their light blue, and it says apropos of nothing, "The tip of the human's beard isn't covered in piss," before announcing in its imitation of Whiskers how much time is left before their deadline to submit a story and pictures.
Korvash, seeing the group has not come to a consensus as to what to do next, raises the question. "How shall we pass our time today? Keep in mind that we can always come back here later." He suggests going into town and hearing the perspective of the townsfolk.