Xanranzan nods frankly in agreement to Rubin. But instead of leaving the man to his drunken stupor, he walks over intending to place a steadying hand on the man's shoulder. "Sorry we can't join ya, not that I'm much of a drinker myself. But, here's a little pick me up as well so that ya at least can make it to there." He said, lacing his last few words with a bit of subtle of magic that causes some of the veins from his arms to his hand to glow a dull yellow.

He then pats the man a few times after curing him of any day drunkeness, and starts to turn to move past. "Actually.. hm... Out of curiosity, sir. You some type of mercenary?" He asks, noting the man's armor. "If yer look'n fer a job, well..." At that point pauses and appears to look to the others for permission to continue.

Taking the gold from Tyde, the drunken man looks up at him. With a clarity in his eyes, not seen in drunkards, he says "Thanks mister, but the deal was YOU buy me the drink. I guess if you're not headed to town I'll just tag along 'til the next town so you can keep your deal."

Xan's steady hand and magic seem to do nothing to ease the man's woes. Swaying, the newcomer slings his arm around the earthman. "Mercenary? Nooo. Just a man touched by the light. Haa." Even though he continues to sway back and forth, Xan notices that this stranger seems to not be transferring any weight to the gensai. "So, which way to the nearest town?"

A clatter of wood and metal abruptly interrupt the conversation between the drunk man and Xanranzan, shortly followed by a pair of cold hands seize the drunk.

It is then the drunken stranger would realize that the hands belong to the "pretty lady" he had addressed earlier, who has an unamused look on her face and much more strength in her hands than a normal girl her size.

Grapple check: contest a DC 21 with athletics or acrobatics

Whatever the result, the action causes her hood to fall off, revealing long white hair a face in her late teens with pale blue eyes that glint oddly in the light. Behind her is the source of the noise, a pile of weapons including a few javelins, a shield made from some sort of sea creature, and a large maul.

"How do you get so poor that you can't even afford a drink from their one tavern full of nothing but a few boooring people?" 

With one hand, she points at the stranger a weird shaped sword wrapped in cloth. Looking at it closely, a pearl-colored spike juts out from it.

"If there is such a town between here and the Spire (are we still going there?) I will buy you that drink. But if you would travel with us know this, we have fought several different factions of cults throughout our travels. If we encounter any further cultist we expect you to carry your weight in the fight. Is this fair to you, stranger?"

Tyde waits for a reply before adding, "And by the way, my name is Tyde. What name do you answer to?"

“Rubin has paused just a few steps along the road.  He looks back, frowning a bit as it appears the drunk is actually coming with them.

"Whoa, whoa. I didn't mean to offend." His voice quite normal as he succums to the grip of the walking armoury. "Perhaps if we start again. May I?" He attempts to stand up straight, but not wanting to struggle against Kethra's hold. "Marros at your service - half elven warrior of the light. Forgive my ruse. You'd be surprised how many people want to kill a wandering warrior in these parts. Appearing as a drunkard seems to disarm most people. Keeps my head where it is, mostly." He rubs his jaw. Turning his head towards Tyde he continues "so if dispatching some of these ruffians is all I need do to pay my way, consider it done".

"So long as it's understood that we stand together against the dangers of the wilds, and for us this includes any cultists we encounter, then I accept you to travel with us. I was once given a chance when I first wandered into a cave for shelter and found the group in the middle of a fight with the undead."

Tyde will begin walking again, "We should put some distance between us and the town."

Tyde will have his snowy owl familiar, Alistair, fly ahead of the party about 80 feet and at an altitude of about 80 feet in order to scout their surroundings. After about 5 minutes of travel Tyde will also use it's senses for a quick round to look himself.

Alistair's (snowy owl familiar) Perception: 15 
Tyde's Perception: 23 

As the group gets moving again Rubin settles in towards the front of the group, keeping a watch as they move along.

Rubin perception: 18

Tyde will share anything of interest he sees with Rubin in order to Help ? with his scouting, possibly giving him advantage?

Quote from DragonDenn >>

“Rubin has paused just a few steps along the road.  He looks back, frowning a bit as it appears the drunk is actually coming with them.

Catching Rubin’s frown, Kethra shoots him back a smile and bugs her eyes back at him. This was one of the few times the normally secretive Rubin had made it a point to keep himself visible, so of course Kethra’s going to use this opportunity to shine a bit of light on this gloomy gloom stalker. :) 

Quote from See_Ess >>

"Whoa, whoa. I didn't mean to offend." His voice quite normal as he succums to the grip of the walking armoury. "Perhaps if we start again. May I?" He attempts to stand up straight, but not wanting to struggle against Kethra's hold. "Marros at your service - half elven warrior of the light. Forgive my ruse. You'd be surprised how many people want to kill a wandering warrior in these parts. Appearing as a drunkard seems to disarm most people. Keeps my head where it is, mostly." He rubs his jaw. Turning his head towards Tyde he continues "so if dispatching some of these ruffians is all I need do to pay my way, consider it done".

“Hikari no bushi*?” the pale eyed girl spins back her attention at the man, her eyes widening with a bit of wonder. But just for a moment, as she catches a whiff of this man and his ‘realistic’ ruse becomes unamused again. 

Hearing the wizard's approval, she lets him go, fixes the drunkard’s neglected-looking armor snug and proper and smacks him on the shoulder. 

*weebspeak for warrior of light

Quote from DragonDenn >>

As the group gets moving again Rubin settles in towards the front of the group, keeping a watch as they move along.

As the gloomy guy at the back takes the lead the white-haired girl introduces herself.

"Kethra Stormwind, a blacksmith. We’re a group of adventurers headed a few days away to a place we heard some knights from Waterdeep gather. A delegation of people from Waterdeep had gone missing, and we’re hoping to...maybe earn some money to help them solve the mystery. Maybe clonk some cultists’ heads along the way. They’re all over the place these days..and well, each of us have a beef with them some way or another. If you pull your weight you’d probably afford something a lot better than the river water around here.”

“...want to come with?”

Stunned at first by Kethra, and then conflicted by upon remember his own budding intent to do something similiar, if albeit for different reasons, Xanranzan eventually resorted to just standing back and letting things play out. The whole warrior of light got a raised brow that only grows at Kethra's mentioning of some 'Heeka no Busha' or something. Yet, seeing things appear to resolve with the strange not mercenary joining the group, the befuddled yet also amused earth genasi just chuckles in the end while falling in line to follow again.

Once an opportunity presented itself after Kethra's introduction, Xan chimes in with a, "Howdy as well! Name's Xanranzan, by the way. Earth Genasi, if'n yer wondering. Not exactly from around here by any stretch of the imagination. But like my friend here-..." He gestures to Kethra. "We all got our reasons got our beef with these elemental cultist. And if'n yer interested later, perhaps I can spend ya a tale later all about it!"

“Sure just invite everyone to join us.” Rubin grumbles as hie kicks a stone along the road.  He doesn’t say anything else though as he continues walking.

(Will update tomorrow.)

"Ah c'mon Rubin, we couldn't leave him to travel alone if he was a drunk, and as it turns out he could prove quite valuable to our little group. If it doesn't work out we can always part ways." Tyde will say to Rubin during one of the times he is relaying scouting info.

With the steadiness of a truly sober person, Marros breathes a sigh of relief at being released unharmed. "Nice to meet you all" he says with a bow. "I would be honoured to travel with you, to a spire did you say?"

The half elf, now standing straight is fairly unremarkable save the scar down one side of his face and a few bruises to match. The scar looks well healed but the bruises fresh. Unkempt hair frames his face and falls to about shoulder height. A small topknot sits atop his head. Beneath a tattered shirt links of chain can be seen glinting in the light. A curved leather scabbard hangs at his hip and several pouches balance it on the the other side of his belt. Shoes that don't match put a thin barrier between his feet and the road as he walks. All in all he looks like a person of opportunity more than a disciplined warrior. "Shall we off then?" 

(Seems unanimous, the party is going to the spire.)

It only takes a couple of days to get to the spire, and those days are uneventful to the point of monotonous boredom.  Finally, you see Feathergale Spire rising from a pillar of rock high into the air, the tallest point for miles. Built from white limestone and embellished in marble, the spire resembles a gleaming sword that pierces the sky.

The only point of entry seems to be a drawbridge leading to a gatehouse, but there’s also a deep canyon beneath the spire and to the East.

"So, do we walk right up and knock, or do you guys want to check out the canyon first, maybe do a bit of scouting?" Rubin asks as he eyes the tall structure ahead.

"Rubin's right, we shouldn't walk blindly into the canyon."

Tyde looks up at the sheer size of the Feathergale Spire.

"Maybe we should scout it out before we go up to the drawbridge and request entry? What do you all think?"

Over the course of their travels, Xanranzan would eventually regale the full tales of the group adventure to the newcomer; or, at least the parts following his rescue from the cultist. He is a bit somber as he describes his fellow prisoner at the time, a half-orc with some serious magic swordsman vibes, on account of his summoning his blade at some point, deciding to part ways once they reached the village. Though he gave not the clearest reasons, if any at all, Xan paused at that point in the story to quietly wished him well.

He'd also take the time to elaborate a bit of his own story, and how -- besides wanting to just do some good deeds in undermining the cult -- sought out those who wore rock armor in particular for ransacking his father's shop. (Lie of Omission: 12) As his telling the story, any of the more insightful might figure there to be more to the story. Perhaps pick up on the mix of anger and fear at parts that seem more personal. But if the do, but don't press however, Xan isn't of a mind to volunteer anything on his own. Yet.

Apart from that! He more than happily tells the tales of his side adventures with another group, and how a simply trying to guard and deliver one dwarf's gear to phandalin turned into its own whirlwind adventure!

(I would elaborate. But if not for the sake of spoilers, then at least to avoid some continuity errors in case this group IC did the Lmop campaign before moving on to PoTA)

Xanranzan chuckles, shakes his head, and waves his hands as if to say 'Don't look at me, man'. As if to further emphasize his point, the earth genasi adds with a bit mirth to his voice, "Not sure if'n ya noticed over the past few days, but... I ain't exactly a "good ideas" guy. So, if ya'll wanna check out the canyon, and... I dunno, maybe find some secret tunnel up into the spire I guess, or whatever? Fine by me. Worst case scenario, we're just back where we started anyhow, as far as I can figure... Though... how ya figuring we get down there?"