"Hello the camp!" A voice calls from the darkness. "Would you be having room at your fire for a lone traveler in these parts?" There is the sound of snapping twigs, as the figure moves towards the camp. "Do not attack, I am walking in..." The figure grows closer, and resolves into a human man with black hair and dark clothes. His clothes are dark gray to black in color, and he wears the symbol of a dwarven god around his neck. He is definitely human though, with a brace of crossbow bolts at his hip, as well as a pair of daggers. None of his weapons are drawn though and he pauses where the group can see him to wait for an invitation.
Jairus habitually points his hand crossbow at the man who emerges from the shadows, but lowers it somewhat when he sees the diplomatic posture. "You alone? What're you doin' out here?"
"You seems quite confidant in your skills, Kethra. How long have you been a smith?"
"Well, Master Stormwind took me in as a young child. She's pretty cool and her skills are really good so you've probably heard of her," Kethra talks proudly about her old, small town life.
"She took me in even though everyone thought I was cursed for my white hair, and trained me up to when she was dishonorably slain by cultists...BUT YEAH, Master Stormwind took me in and taught me everything about swordfighting right from the start! Big blades, small blades, you name it! Naturally, knowing how to use a sword meant I had to also learn how to fix one. 'Fighting isn't all there is to the Art of War,' the old masters said...and sometimes I'm a bit clumsy. I used to have really bad angles for dealing exit wounds, kept warping every blade I touched..."
She rolls her eyes at the memory, sighs, and gestures her head to one of the skeleton's shortswords wrapped in cloth. "I was gonna fix that one up a bit for Flower to use, but I think I'll try it out for myself later. What about you? How goes your studies on those weird items?"
Jairus nervously averts his gaze and runs a hand through his hair. "Aww, shoot, Kethra. I just said I ain't never intended to lead nothin'. I lead by scoutin', but a leader is
a charismatic type person
someone with good judgment
pref'rably someone with a decent bit of experience out there in the world
(Kethra gets comedically hit with each of these points as if they were crossbow bolts.)
On the last part of Kethra's inquiry, the more emotionally intense portion, Jairus chews another tougher bite of meat slowly, and stares off into the middle distance, again too uncomfortable to make eye contact, and says, "You saved my damn life. You've been through s*** with me, real s***. The Zhentarim taught me some tricks, gave me an emblem and promised I'd make a lot of money if I do as they say. Course my loyalty is to you over them folks. There ain't no comparin' that."
"That's very sweet, Jairus. I really do trust your judgment, I don't think there's anything wrong with your friends....I was just...kinda wondering. You know, what would happen if well...we find a person fromyour past...and we don't get along..."
Kethra's voice cracks and sizzles away into an awkward silence only to jolt at a voice from the woods.
"Hello the camp!" A voice calls from the darkness. "Would you be having room at your fire for a lone traveler in these parts?" There is the sound of snapping twigs, as the figure moves towards the camp. "Do not attack, I am walking in..." The figure grows closer, and resolves into a human man with black hair and dark clothes. His clothes are dark gray to black in color, and he wears the symbol of a dwarven god around his neck. He is definitely human though, with a brace of crossbow bolts at his hip, as well as a pair of daggers. None of his weapons are drawn though and he pauses where the group can see him to wait for an invitation.
"AH! You're armed! But that's good! There are undead around here! Weeell, I mean, there were until we killed them...re-killed?" The white haired human girl close to the campfire scrambled up to meet the stranger, only to realize she was still wearing a pair of smithing tongs still smoldering with heat. She hides them behind her back and bows politely to greet the new face.
"What brings someone to the wild at this time of day? More importantly, what brings someone to the wild alone?"Davian voices his concerns aloud and without thinking. "If it's a fire and friends you seek, step forward. If not, we bid you farewell lone traveller." His hand reaching towards the fire in an effort to cover the glowing ball of flames that he just conjured.
The figure walks forward and nods to the group in a friendly fashion. "My name is Rubin and I was sent by my clan to seek out an evil prophet in this area." Rubin tells the group. "The dwarven clerics of my people had visions of an evil prophet of earth who was going to do some very bad things. They sent me to these lands above to try to seek out this evil being and put a stop to it." Rubin takes a seat with the group as he relates his story. "I saw your fire in the night and thought it best to seek out your company, and to learn if you have heard anything of this evil prophet, or other strange happenings around this area."
“Might be we can work together, then,” Jairus says, sounding less suspicious as he tends to trust his abilities to read others, and sees to ill intent from Rubin. “Kethra and I were part of a group that came out to deal with local problems and look into disappearances of members of a few factions. We cleared a couple’a local trouble spots, met these other two along the way in this place chock full of the undead, and now we’ve met you. Sounds like we all got reason to have it out with these cultists at least, and maybe do some more good for these folks, and make some money along the way.”
“If that light globe don’t take up a hand it could help with my scoutin’ for traps and such,” Jairus says. “Otherwise maybe one’a you magic types can just do that light Can’t Ripe like the other wizardy priesty types did. Long as I can see, I can be scoutin. I don’t think magic missiles sound like my thing, even if I could get the durned thing to work, so I reckon I’ll leave those items to others.”
Jairus refers to the light cantrip that others have provided for him, but bungles the pronunciation.
Looking around, the white haired girl got lost in the confusion of the party being cautious, then welcoming of the dwarven not-dwarf. Seeing everyone settle down, she returns to working on the metal tool in the fire.
Tyde will look around the campsite, "Does anyone want the wand of magic missiles or should I hang on to it for now?"
"Is it really okay? I won't turn into a zombie, right? After what happened today, I would appreciate also being able to hit things that get too far...but it also looks kind of scary."
Currently playing in: Quest for the Shunned City, Coliseum of Conquest, DragonDenn's Dragonlords, Shipwrecked on Fugue, Tomb of Annihilation, Razor's Lost Mine of Phandelver, The Lost Kenku & One Grung Above
Currently DMing: Princes of the Apocalypse, Out of the Abyss, Coliseum of Conquest—The Arena (Sometimes)
"Well, once y'all get that worked out, Rubin, you're welcome to whatever's left of the meat, though it's pretty picked over. I guess we're gonna get a good night's sleep, once all the magic item divvying is done, then tomorrow we'll head back into town and let 'em know we dealt with this place. Not sure what the plan is from there, but I s'pose we'll figger somethin' out," Jairus says.
"Never miss, maybe, but can't aim it at the vital-type parts," Jairus says. "Everything's got its pros and cons. Can't say I'd regret a bit of magic, mind'ya, but for those of us without talent for that stuff, we still get by."
“Good idea,” Jairus agrees. “I’ll take either first or last watch, whichever I can do best without having to rely too much on my new magic light ball to compensate fer lack of night-eyes.”
"Never miss, maybe, but can't aim it at the vital-type parts," Jairus says. "Everything's got its pros and cons. Can't say I'd regret a bit of magic, mind'ya, but for those of us without talent for that stuff, we still get by."
"That right? Weeell, that's not as good then. I like it when the things I use are things I've made myself. That's...the kind of stuff that gives me confidence!"
Wrapping up the training with Mr. Tyde with using the magic wand, Kethra moved on to maintaining the many weapons she had used today, starting with her throwing javelin. In this peaceful, well-lit setting with no immediate dangers...it's now become painfully obvious that it's just one half of a pair of gardening shears lashed to a pole.
The wooden "pole" doesn't look very smooth at all and the knots are clumsy, but the metalwork is both sharp and sturdy. Holding it up in the air after a bit of polish, she looks at her reflection and smiles. "Pretty good, huh? I actually casted this from one of the first molds I made myself!"
Rubin is fairly impressed with how these people seem to work together so well. He thinks this might just be a group he could travel with, as they seem interested in dealing with the cult like he is himself. "I can aid with whatever watch you wish me to take." He offers. Then he would prepare his own bedroll and go to sleep until his time for watch comes.
Jairus will certainly pass the driftglobe to Kethra when her watch comes around. "I'm a light sleeper, in general. Ma raised me to be jumpy, and if I could sleep with one eye open lit'rally I prolly would. Hope your watch is as bland as mine."
OOC: Assuming there was no trouble during his watch - otherwise disregard the above.
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"Hello the camp!" A voice calls from the darkness. "Would you be having room at your fire for a lone traveler in these parts?" There is the sound of snapping twigs, as the figure moves towards the camp. "Do not attack, I am walking in..." The figure grows closer, and resolves into a human man with black hair and dark clothes. His clothes are dark gray to black in color, and he wears the symbol of a dwarven god around his neck. He is definitely human though, with a brace of crossbow bolts at his hip, as well as a pair of daggers. None of his weapons are drawn though and he pauses where the group can see him to wait for an invitation.
Jairus habitually points his hand crossbow at the man who emerges from the shadows, but lowers it somewhat when he sees the diplomatic posture. "You alone? What're you doin' out here?"
"Well, Master Stormwind took me in as a young child. She's pretty cool and her skills are really good so you've probably heard of her," Kethra talks proudly about her old, small town life.
"She took me in even though everyone thought I was cursed for my white hair, and trained me up to when she was dishonorably slain by cultists...BUT YEAH, Master Stormwind took me in and taught me everything about swordfighting right from the start! Big blades, small blades, you name it! Naturally, knowing how to use a sword meant I had to also learn how to fix one. 'Fighting isn't all there is to the Art of War,' the old masters said...and sometimes I'm a bit clumsy. I used to have really bad angles for dealing exit wounds, kept warping every blade I touched..."
She rolls her eyes at the memory, sighs, and gestures her head to one of the skeleton's shortswords wrapped in cloth. "I was gonna fix that one up a bit for Flower to use, but I think I'll try it out for myself later. What about you? How goes your studies on those weird items?"
(Kethra gets comedically hit with each of these points as if they were crossbow bolts.)
"That's very sweet, Jairus. I really do trust your judgment, I don't think there's anything wrong with your friends....I was just...kinda wondering. You know, what would happen if well...we find a person from your past...and we don't get along..."
Kethra's voice cracks and sizzles away into an awkward silence only to jolt at a voice from the woods.
"AH! You're armed! But that's good! There are undead around here! Weeell, I mean, there were until we killed them...re-killed?" The white haired human girl close to the campfire scrambled up to meet the stranger, only to realize she was still wearing a pair of smithing tongs still smoldering with heat. She hides them behind her back and bows politely to greet the new face.
"Welcome!"
"What brings someone to the wild at this time of day? More importantly, what brings someone to the wild alone?" Davian voices his concerns aloud and without thinking. "If it's a fire and friends you seek, step forward. If not, we bid you farewell lone traveller." His hand reaching towards the fire in an effort to cover the glowing ball of flames that he just conjured.
The figure walks forward and nods to the group in a friendly fashion. "My name is Rubin and I was sent by my clan to seek out an evil prophet in this area." Rubin tells the group. "The dwarven clerics of my people had visions of an evil prophet of earth who was going to do some very bad things. They sent me to these lands above to try to seek out this evil being and put a stop to it." Rubin takes a seat with the group as he relates his story. "I saw your fire in the night and thought it best to seek out your company, and to learn if you have heard anything of this evil prophet, or other strange happenings around this area."
“Might be we can work together, then,” Jairus says, sounding less suspicious as he tends to trust his abilities to read others, and sees to ill intent from Rubin. “Kethra and I were part of a group that came out to deal with local problems and look into disappearances of members of a few factions. We cleared a couple’a local trouble spots, met these other two along the way in this place chock full of the undead, and now we’ve met you. Sounds like we all got reason to have it out with these cultists at least, and maybe do some more good for these folks, and make some money along the way.”
“If that light globe don’t take up a hand it could help with my scoutin’ for traps and such,” Jairus says. “Otherwise maybe one’a you magic types can just do that light Can’t Ripe like the other wizardy priesty types did. Long as I can see, I can be scoutin. I don’t think magic missiles sound like my thing, even if I could get the durned thing to work, so I reckon I’ll leave those items to others.”
Jairus refers to the light cantrip that others have provided for him, but bungles the pronunciation.
Jairus will take the globe for a personal light source in the interim but someone else can make better use of the wand.
Rubin just sits back as the group startsto discuss magic items and who should have them.
"Huh? Huh?"
Looking around, the white haired girl got lost in the confusion of the party being cautious, then welcoming of the dwarven not-dwarf. Seeing everyone settle down, she returns to working on the metal tool in the fire.
"Is it really okay? I won't turn into a zombie, right? After what happened today, I would appreciate also being able to hit things that get too far...but it also looks kind of scary."
(I will take us back into town tomorrow, where Ursus can be introduced.)
(Post will probably be around 7 EST, I can't usually make substantial posts earlier. Sorry about the delay.)
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Class Guides: Barbarian, Rogue, Sorcerer, Bard General Guides: PvP
Currently playing in: Quest for the Shunned City, Coliseum of Conquest, DragonDenn's Dragonlords, Shipwrecked on Fugue, Tomb of Annihilation, Razor's Lost Mine of Phandelver, The Lost Kenku & One Grung Above
Currently DMing: Princes of the Apocalypse, Out of the Abyss, Coliseum of Conquest—The Arena (Sometimes)
"Well, once y'all get that worked out, Rubin, you're welcome to whatever's left of the meat, though it's pretty picked over. I guess we're gonna get a good night's sleep, once all the magic item divvying is done, then tomorrow we'll head back into town and let 'em know we dealt with this place. Not sure what the plan is from there, but I s'pose we'll figger somethin' out," Jairus says.
Kethra closely watches at Mr. Tyde's artful display, but her eyes will open really wide at hearing the fateful words 'magic missiles never miss'.
"That's...that's pretty amazing...why doesn't everyone just use magic, then?"
"Never miss, maybe, but can't aim it at the vital-type parts," Jairus says. "Everything's got its pros and cons. Can't say I'd regret a bit of magic, mind'ya, but for those of us without talent for that stuff, we still get by."
“Good idea,” Jairus agrees. “I’ll take either first or last watch, whichever I can do best without having to rely too much on my new magic light ball to compensate fer lack of night-eyes.”
"That right? Weeell, that's not as good then. I like it when the things I use are things I've made myself. That's...the kind of stuff that gives me confidence!"
Wrapping up the training with Mr. Tyde with using the magic wand, Kethra moved on to maintaining the many weapons she had used today, starting with her throwing javelin. In this peaceful, well-lit setting with no immediate dangers...it's now become painfully obvious that it's just one half of a pair of gardening shears lashed to a pole.
The wooden "pole" doesn't look very smooth at all and the knots are clumsy, but the metalwork is both sharp and sturdy. Holding it up in the air after a bit of polish, she looks at her reflection and smiles. "Pretty good, huh? I actually casted this from one of the first molds I made myself!"
Rubin is fairly impressed with how these people seem to work together so well. He thinks this might just be a group he could travel with, as they seem interested in dealing with the cult like he is himself. "I can aid with whatever watch you wish me to take." He offers. Then he would prepare his own bedroll and go to sleep until his time for watch comes.
Jairus takes first watch, recommending Davian, the only one with extranormal vision, takes the middle watch in the darkest part of night.
Passives: Perception and Investigation 15, Insight 13.
(Kethra will ask to borrow the driftglobe to take second watch unless Davian wants to.)
Jairus will certainly pass the driftglobe to Kethra when her watch comes around. "I'm a light sleeper, in general. Ma raised me to be jumpy, and if I could sleep with one eye open lit'rally I prolly would. Hope your watch is as bland as mine."
OOC: Assuming there was no trouble during his watch - otherwise disregard the above.