Martin glares up at the stone giant. “Oy! You there! Stay off the road!” what do I know about giants generally and stone giants in particular?
All my intelligence checks are +0
16
The storm giants and stone giants were on good terms with the Haddian during his reign. Coming to a somewhat neutral peace with them was a big feather in the young king's cap 20 years ago. He has a less easy peace with the cloud giants. The rest still cause trouble in Alcion but the subsequent success of the stone and storm giant clans has driven many of the other giant clans deeper into the far reaches of the country.
This particular stone giant stops, turning to look at Martin alongside his horse on the Road. "Excuse me?" he says with a rumble and a squint in his eye.
“You’re stepping all over the road, and messing up a lot of hard work.” Martin points at the craggy road which he proceeds to try to fix with a mold earth Cantrip. “It’s rude, to say the least, and downright criminal in its reckless damage. The least you could do is help fix it.”
The stone giant bends down to peer at Martin, his eyes squinting even more. "You sound pretty rude yourself, little man. I didn't see your tiny road. No need to throw a fit about it."
Dog's eyes dart from Harvell to his retinue, as does the spell, reading the thoughts of whoever seems most interested in what the prince is doing. If there's nothing interesting, the spell bounces back to the prince for the remainder of the one-minute duration.
He smiles as the flower comes out, seemingly charmed by the kind offer to the child.
He's also looking for anything the prince might be doing to cast any spells, engage any items, drop anything, etc.
While the focus is on the prince and the child, Dog recalls Stitches from her pocket dimension and has her reappear on the ceiling outside the room, telling her to find a good hiding place with a decent view of the hallway outside and stay still.
Dog's eyes dart from Harvell to his retinue, as does the spell, reading the thoughts of whoever seems most interested in what the prince is doing. If there's nothing interesting, the spell bounces back to the prince for the remainder of the one-minute duration.
He smiles as the flower comes out, seemingly charmed by the kind offer to the child.
He's also looking for anything the prince might be doing to cast any spells, engage any items, drop anything, etc.
While the focus is on the prince and the child, Dog recalls Stitches from her pocket dimension and has her reappear on the ceiling outside the room, telling her to find a good hiding place with a decent view of the hallway outside and stay still.
None of his retinue in the hall are thinking anything of interest. They are expecting to leave very soon.
The prince's latest thought is merely imagining Neventi completely naked. Alongside this thought, he offers a convincing sympathetic smile and stroke's Gentoa's hair as Neventi and the prince talk about Haddian. He does not appear to be casting anything or dropping or leaving anything, although a complete sweep of the room would be required to be certain.
Dog's own thoughts are interrupt as one of the prince's men steps forward and says, "Your highness..."
"Ah, of course," the prince says, standing up and bowing politely to Neventi and Gentoa.
Harvell bends down dangerously close to Gentoa. "You will make a wonderful queen," he says, and boops her on the nose with his finger.
She grabs his finger, saying "stay, stay!"
"I am sorry, little one. I have to go and oversee the vote for your big party."
So happy it isn't going to be me, little one.
With that, the prince extracts himself and departs, bidding Dog a polite farewell.
Two hours later, Dog still has not seen Tock, although Gunnur returns saying he has only been able to locate half of the King's Council so far. "Do you want me to keep trying?"
Ronis just blinks, cocking his head to the side. "I thought that was why it was called the Waterwyrm." He grins.
"It's lucky, to be sure!" the quartermaster says. "The gods are smilin' on us, I said!"
A few of the sailors groan and then he snaps at them, "Back to work!"
The captain invites Ronis to dine with him this evening, the first real interest the man has taken in him since he was rescued. All the while he keeps a wary eye on the sea.
At dinner, Ronis enjoys the finest meal he has had in at least 11 days, perhaps a year. It tastes as if he has been given a meal meant for royalty. "Hunger is the best spice," the captain says with a jovial laugh. "But you must know why I invited you here. I must know your story. Tell me of the island, the dragon, the magic. It is morbid curiosity to be sure, but it is also information valuable to the safety of my ship, cargo, and crew. So please, tell me your tale."
The stone giant bends down to peer at Martin, his eyes squinting even more. "You sound pretty rude yourself, little man. I didn't see your tiny road. No need to throw a fit about it."
Martin glares at the giant. “How would you like it if I wrecked -your- hard work and then said I didn’t even notice?”
Martin blinks as he has a thought of inspiration. “Any chance I could convince you to care about my road? Keep it up, and whatnot? It’s paying work.”
The stone giant bends down to peer at Martin, his eyes squinting even more. "You sound pretty rude yourself, little man. I didn't see your tiny road. No need to throw a fit about it."
Martin glares at the giant. “How would you like it if I wrecked -your- hard work and then said I didn’t even notice?”
Martin blinks as he has a thought of inspiration. “Any chance I could convince you to care about my road? Keep it up, and whatnot? It’s paying work.”
persuasion 3
The giant frown's at Martin's rhetorical question. "I'm sorry if I broke your road. But I don't need paying work from humans. Besides, I can barely make out this little road," says the giant, squinting at the bricks and follow it with his gaze into the distance. "You should really make it bigger to it is easier to see. More useful too."
As far as Q'wai can tell, this looks to be what it appears, a family cart gone off the rails. Before the oldest daughter even answers, he can tell the half-elf father is injured by the way he favors his wrist and the blackened eye. The children appear to be okay. The half-orc mother is straining to keep the cart steady while her husband works on the wheel.
"Just my dad," the young woman says. "We don't really have the tools to fix the wheel. And one of our horses kicked her shoe."
"Tools," repeats Q'wai as he reflects on his nearby bundle of worldly possessions, all of which are lashed to Kazar's back. His calligraphy set, herbalism kit, and collection of weapons seem particularly useless at this moment.
Q'wai attempts to address the father's wounds first. "Tick, I believe you know a song that might be of some help to this child's father."
Then, while aiding the woman in steadying the wagon, Q'wai says to the father, "Sir, what do you need?"
As far as Q'wai can tell, this looks to be what it appears, a family cart gone off the rails. Before the oldest daughter even answers, he can tell the half-elf father is injured by the way he favors his wrist and the blackened eye. The children appear to be okay. The half-orc mother is straining to keep the cart steady while her husband works on the wheel.
"Just my dad," the young woman says. "We don't really have the tools to fix the wheel. And one of our horses kicked her shoe."
"Tools," repeats Q'wai as he reflects on his nearby bundle of worldly possessions, all of which are lashed to Kazar's back. His calligraphy set, herbalism kit, and collection of weapons seem particularly useless at this moment.
Q'wai attempts to address the father's wounds first. "Tick, I believe you know a song that might be of some help to this child's father."
Then, while aiding the woman in steadying the wagon, Q'wai says to the father, "Sir, what do you need?"
The father's mood improves considerably once his bruised eye and fractured wrist are mended. "Probably a whole new bloody wheel. But the problem is that I cannot get the bolts off this one to even try and mend it."
It is hard to see from where he stands, but Tick confirms that the wheel has cracked and the iron is thoroughly rusted on the bolts. "It looks like the wheel cracked at the bolts."
"I was hoping to mend it enough to get us to Va," says the half-elf. "We could put on a new wheel there. But if I cannot even get the bloody thing off, then we'll just be walking the rest of the way."
Looking at all the stuff that spilled from the cart, they would be leaving a lot of their possessions behind in that case.
Dog toggles into Stitches and watches the group leave, listening to any conversation or grumblings and having the spider crawl along the ceiling for 100 feet, staying close enough to hear.
Once she gets to the end of her range he tells her to come back and his eyes clear and his hearing returns. He casts message a few times to Nev and says “tried that new thought skimming spell on him. You were right, he... admires you. A lot. Perhaps only superficially. The only thing on the... top of his mind during that whole exchange. You know people better than I do, I’m sure you can use it somehow. He also seemed... to express some haughty sympathy about how Gentoa will be confused ‘when this is all over,’ that something bad might be happening.”
Out loud he says, “time for a sweep” and directs Kyva and the other guards to do another routine inspection for small animal familiars, new items, and physically moving their arms around to bump into anything invisible. At this point Genny thinks this is a fun game and tries to direct them around the room.
He sits down afterward and asks Nev how she’s doing and if there is anyone she wants to talk to - anyone who would be helpful. If so, he sends for them or asks Gunnar if he has already located them. Dog would also try to see if the Guildmaster is available to meet. He needs a friend.
The stone giant bends down to peer at Martin, his eyes squinting even more. "You sound pretty rude yourself, little man. I didn't see your tiny road. No need to throw a fit about it."
Martin glares at the giant. “How would you like it if I wrecked -your- hard work and then said I didn’t even notice?”
Martin blinks as he has a thought of inspiration. “Any chance I could convince you to care about my road? Keep it up, and whatnot? It’s paying work.”
persuasion 3
The giant frown's at Martin's rhetorical question. "I'm sorry if I broke your road. But I don't need paying work from humans. Besides, I can barely make out this little road," says the giant, squinting at the bricks and follow it with his gaze into the distance. "You should really make it bigger to it is easier to see. More useful too."
“Bigger... hm. Yes, well. Maybe I’ll think on that. In the meantime, keep off it! And fix what you’ve damaged.” Martin then keeps on his way
Dog toggles into Stitches and watches the group leave, listening to any conversation or grumblings and having the spider crawl along the ceiling for 100 feet, staying close enough to hear.
Once she gets to the end of her range he tells her to come back and his eyes clear and his hearing returns. He casts message a few times to Nev and says “tried that new thought skimming spell on him. You were right, he... admires you. A lot. Perhaps only superficially. The only thing on the... top of his mind during that whole exchange. You know people better than I do, I’m sure you can use it somehow. He also seemed... to express some haughty sympathy about how Gentoa will be confused ‘when this is all over,’ that something bad might be happening.”
Out loud he says, “time for a sweep” and directs Kyva and the other guards to do another routine inspection for small animal familiars, new items, and physically moving their arms around to bump into anything invisible. At this point Genny thinks this is a fun game and tries to direct them around the room.
He sits down afterward and asks Nev how she’s doing and if there is anyone she wants to talk to - anyone who would be helpful. If so, he sends for them or asks Gunnar if he has already located them. Dog would also try to see if the Guildmaster is available to meet. He needs a friend.
Neventi shakes her head. "Just Duliani, but she is in Delphendria."
The women have grown close over the last 10 months, giving Neventi great reassurance that she made the right choice for her daughter.
Gunnur says that the guildmaster was not home. He only found Spymaster Merro, Admiral Kurvo, and Silverbraid. He vows to go out and find the others. If you want to speak with any of them that are there or as they arrive, they are gathering at the council chambers in the palace proper.
Kyva comes back from the furthest reaches of the guest quarters. "Nothing, sir. It all looks clear," she says in a whisper. "I guess he just wanted to ogle Miss Drahm."
Bitzer comes in from the garden. "It's all quiet, boss. If you need to go meet with the council, we have things covered here."
The stone giant bends down to peer at Martin, his eyes squinting even more. "You sound pretty rude yourself, little man. I didn't see your tiny road. No need to throw a fit about it."
Martin glares at the giant. “How would you like it if I wrecked -your- hard work and then said I didn’t even notice?”
Martin blinks as he has a thought of inspiration. “Any chance I could convince you to care about my road? Keep it up, and whatnot? It’s paying work.”
persuasion 3
The giant frown's at Martin's rhetorical question. "I'm sorry if I broke your road. But I don't need paying work from humans. Besides, I can barely make out this little road," says the giant, squinting at the bricks and follow it with his gaze into the distance. "You should really make it bigger to it is easier to see. More useful too."
“Bigger... hm. Yes, well. Maybe I’ll think on that. In the meantime, keep off it! And fix what you’ve damaged.” Martin then keeps on his way
"Getting around without stepping on you humans and dwarves and whatnot is hard enough. Would you have me sew your clothes too? And comb your hair? I can barely make out your face! I won't be trying to puzzle back together your tiny road. And if you insist on being so rude, I suppose I won't mind tripping over it as much as I like!"
As Martin rides away, the giant stomps off in a huff northward, stumbling over some short trees as he does so.
Two days later, Martin arrives in Pallaxus. It has been 10 months since first arriving in the quaint little town that fronts for all of the noble's estates around the village. He's passed through a few times since as he managed problems on the Long Road but he's rarely had the opportunity to do more than pause for a rest. As he arrives in the little village, it has been almost exactly 96 hours since he begun his ride for the capital. By all reasonable estimates, he still has 12 days ahead of him but only half as many days to get there.
Martin is supposed to meet Shaggy here, right? He’ll go find him, and see about a couple giant eagles getting this show on the road.
OR barring that: look for a government official so he can see about access to one of the teleportation circles Haddian let him use almost a year ago.
investigation 12
Shaggaustus is a few days behind with the others. All that Martin can learn is that the King has a teleportation circle in his residence. If any of the other nobles do, nobody in the little village knows of them.
"As for giant eagles," says the villager that Martin grills for information, "You're kidding about that, right?"
Martin is supposed to meet Shaggy here, right? He’ll go find him, and see about a couple giant eagles getting this show on the road.
OR barring that: look for a government official so he can see about access to one of the teleportation circles Haddian let him use almost a year ago.
investigation 12
Shaggaustus is a few days behind with the others. All that Martin can learn is that the King has a teleportation circle in his residence. If any of the other nobles do, nobody in the little village knows of them.
"As for giant eagles," says the villager that Martin grills for information, "You're kidding about that, right?"
I think I’m confused. I thought I was meeting Shaggaustus so he could take us quickly via giant eagle.
Martin strokes his Mable Macy’s neck and head. “That’s a good ****ing question.”
There were teleportation circles to use in many cities 10 months ago, but I’m not actually certain if I can use those still. For now, Martin will tie the thief across Mable Macy. Then cast longstrider at 2nd level on himself and Mable Macy. Then wildshape into a horse, and get running for Pallaxus
"What else you need, boss?" Tronk says. He gently strokes Macy's mane as Feldus dangles in his grip.
“I need a quick way to Princess Gentoa. The king has died.” Martin says, shifting back to his humanoid form. He doesn’t mince words, and lets it sink in with a nod to the team for taking care of the thief.
"I wondered if that's what this was about. You had said he was ill," says Gileon. "Should we make our way to the capital too or do you want us out on the road still?"
"Maybe summon a giant eagle?" Tronk offers, as if everything could be so easy.
Gileon cannot remove the stupid grin he always gets when Tronk starts brainstorming. "Failing that," he says. "Gods carry you quickly!"
I think you misread who was making the suggestion.
Tock says, "Listen, I am not here to antagonize you. I am here to make sure to explain the thinking of King Haddian in a way that conveys the meaning and intent of his wishes."
He settles in more comfortably and explains. "As you most certainly know then the character of a person develops based on two parts - the blood and the environment they are brought up in. How each part is weighed is up for debate, but that both of these play a major role is a certainty. Now there are some who claim that a noble blood is all that it takes to be great and the lack of a noble birth must surely manifest as a weakness of character. The King himself is an example of this being plainly false, no matter how many may believe otherwise."
He looks at Lord Kendall, "You may wonder where I am going with this. And I will get to that in a moment. The princess is very young and very susceptible to all kinds of new ideas. She is also of the very age where the why-questions are prevalent. This is why I am here right now - to prepare you for what you might be facing meeting the little princess."
Tock pulls out a long thin roll of paper and does a purposefully bad imitation of the voice of Gentoa, "Who are you?" He looks at Lord Kendall expectantly.
Lord Kemball stares at Tock after just the first question. As he opens his mouth to say something, the door flies open. Kemball's secretary, a midnight-black tabaxi woman, strides in. She is an impressive specimen of her species, most notably because she has taken on a traditionally male job assisting a Lord. She pads across the room, straight and with purpose. Her eyes look everywhere except at Tock. She bends down and whispers into Lord Kemball's ear. His eyes go wide and stands up, straight as a board.
"If you will excuse me," he says. "I...will be right back."
He leaves with no explanation or excuse, his secretary right behind him. Tock is alone in Kemball's room. The office door is open but nobody is in sight.
Tock, just to be sure it's nothing major, uses Sending to Dog, "Tock here. I'm at Lord Kemball's and he just got some news and stormed off. Would you know anything that would make him do so?"
While waiting for an answer he goes ahead and uses a different spell, to pass without trace and go look around for where the assistant and Kemball went, hoping to eavesdrop on their conversation.
(stealth check: 31)
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The storm giants and stone giants were on good terms with the Haddian during his reign. Coming to a somewhat neutral peace with them was a big feather in the young king's cap 20 years ago. He has a less easy peace with the cloud giants. The rest still cause trouble in Alcion but the subsequent success of the stone and storm giant clans has driven many of the other giant clans deeper into the far reaches of the country.
This particular stone giant stops, turning to look at Martin alongside his horse on the Road. "Excuse me?" he says with a rumble and a squint in his eye.
“You’re stepping all over the road, and messing up a lot of hard work.” Martin points at the craggy road which he proceeds to try to fix with a mold earth Cantrip. “It’s rude, to say the least, and downright criminal in its reckless damage. The least you could do is help fix it.”
Paladin - warforged - orange
The stone giant bends down to peer at Martin, his eyes squinting even more. "You sound pretty rude yourself, little man. I didn't see your tiny road. No need to throw a fit about it."
Dog's eyes dart from Harvell to his retinue, as does the spell, reading the thoughts of whoever seems most interested in what the prince is doing. If there's nothing interesting, the spell bounces back to the prince for the remainder of the one-minute duration.
He smiles as the flower comes out, seemingly charmed by the kind offer to the child.
He's also looking for anything the prince might be doing to cast any spells, engage any items, drop anything, etc.
While the focus is on the prince and the child, Dog recalls Stitches from her pocket dimension and has her reappear on the ceiling outside the room, telling her to find a good hiding place with a decent view of the hallway outside and stay still.
Ronis just blinks, cocking his head to the side. "I thought that was why it was called the Waterwyrm." He grins.
None of his retinue in the hall are thinking anything of interest. They are expecting to leave very soon.
The prince's latest thought is merely imagining Neventi completely naked. Alongside this thought, he offers a convincing sympathetic smile and stroke's Gentoa's hair as Neventi and the prince talk about Haddian. He does not appear to be casting anything or dropping or leaving anything, although a complete sweep of the room would be required to be certain.
Dog's own thoughts are interrupt as one of the prince's men steps forward and says, "Your highness..."
"Ah, of course," the prince says, standing up and bowing politely to Neventi and Gentoa.
Harvell bends down dangerously close to Gentoa. "You will make a wonderful queen," he says, and boops her on the nose with his finger.
She grabs his finger, saying "stay, stay!"
"I am sorry, little one. I have to go and oversee the vote for your big party."
So happy it isn't going to be me, little one.
With that, the prince extracts himself and departs, bidding Dog a polite farewell.
Two hours later, Dog still has not seen Tock, although Gunnur returns saying he has only been able to locate half of the King's Council so far. "Do you want me to keep trying?"
"It's lucky, to be sure!" the quartermaster says. "The gods are smilin' on us, I said!"
A few of the sailors groan and then he snaps at them, "Back to work!"
The captain invites Ronis to dine with him this evening, the first real interest the man has taken in him since he was rescued. All the while he keeps a wary eye on the sea.
At dinner, Ronis enjoys the finest meal he has had in at least 11 days, perhaps a year. It tastes as if he has been given a meal meant for royalty. "Hunger is the best spice," the captain says with a jovial laugh. "But you must know why I invited you here. I must know your story. Tell me of the island, the dragon, the magic. It is morbid curiosity to be sure, but it is also information valuable to the safety of my ship, cargo, and crew. So please, tell me your tale."
Martin glares at the giant. “How would you like it if I wrecked -your- hard work and then said I didn’t even notice?”
Martin blinks as he has a thought of inspiration. “Any chance I could convince you to care about my road? Keep it up, and whatnot? It’s paying work.”
persuasion 10
Paladin - warforged - orange
The giant frown's at Martin's rhetorical question. "I'm sorry if I broke your road. But I don't need paying work from humans. Besides, I can barely make out this little road," says the giant, squinting at the bricks and follow it with his gaze into the distance. "You should really make it bigger to it is easier to see. More useful too."
"Tools," repeats Q'wai as he reflects on his nearby bundle of worldly possessions, all of which are lashed to Kazar's back. His calligraphy set, herbalism kit, and collection of weapons seem particularly useless at this moment.
Q'wai attempts to address the father's wounds first. "Tick, I believe you know a song that might be of some help to this child's father."
Then, while aiding the woman in steadying the wagon, Q'wai says to the father, "Sir, what do you need?"
The father's mood improves considerably once his bruised eye and fractured wrist are mended. "Probably a whole new bloody wheel. But the problem is that I cannot get the bolts off this one to even try and mend it."
It is hard to see from where he stands, but Tick confirms that the wheel has cracked and the iron is thoroughly rusted on the bolts. "It looks like the wheel cracked at the bolts."
"I was hoping to mend it enough to get us to Va," says the half-elf. "We could put on a new wheel there. But if I cannot even get the bloody thing off, then we'll just be walking the rest of the way."
Looking at all the stuff that spilled from the cart, they would be leaving a lot of their possessions behind in that case.
Dog toggles into Stitches and watches the group leave, listening to any conversation or grumblings and having the spider crawl along the ceiling for 100 feet, staying close enough to hear.
Once she gets to the end of her range he tells her to come back and his eyes clear and his hearing returns. He casts message a few times to Nev and says “tried that new thought skimming spell on him. You were right, he... admires you. A lot. Perhaps only superficially. The only thing on the... top of his mind during that whole exchange. You know people better than I do, I’m sure you can use it somehow. He also seemed... to express some haughty sympathy about how Gentoa will be confused ‘when this is all over,’ that something bad might be happening.”
Out loud he says, “time for a sweep” and directs Kyva and the other guards to do another routine inspection for small animal familiars, new items, and physically moving their arms around to bump into anything invisible. At this point Genny thinks this is a fun game and tries to direct them around the room.
He sits down afterward and asks Nev how she’s doing and if there is anyone she wants to talk to - anyone who would be helpful. If so, he sends for them or asks Gunnar if he has already located them. Dog would also try to see if the Guildmaster is available to meet. He needs a friend.
“Bigger... hm. Yes, well. Maybe I’ll think on that. In the meantime, keep off it! And fix what you’ve damaged.” Martin then keeps on his way
Paladin - warforged - orange
Neventi shakes her head. "Just Duliani, but she is in Delphendria."
The women have grown close over the last 10 months, giving Neventi great reassurance that she made the right choice for her daughter.
Gunnur says that the guildmaster was not home. He only found Spymaster Merro, Admiral Kurvo, and Silverbraid. He vows to go out and find the others. If you want to speak with any of them that are there or as they arrive, they are gathering at the council chambers in the palace proper.
Kyva comes back from the furthest reaches of the guest quarters. "Nothing, sir. It all looks clear," she says in a whisper. "I guess he just wanted to ogle Miss Drahm."
Bitzer comes in from the garden. "It's all quiet, boss. If you need to go meet with the council, we have things covered here."
"Getting around without stepping on you humans and dwarves and whatnot is hard enough. Would you have me sew your clothes too? And comb your hair? I can barely make out your face! I won't be trying to puzzle back together your tiny road. And if you insist on being so rude, I suppose I won't mind tripping over it as much as I like!"
As Martin rides away, the giant stomps off in a huff northward, stumbling over some short trees as he does so.
Two days later, Martin arrives in Pallaxus. It has been 10 months since first arriving in the quaint little town that fronts for all of the noble's estates around the village. He's passed through a few times since as he managed problems on the Long Road but he's rarely had the opportunity to do more than pause for a rest. As he arrives in the little village, it has been almost exactly 96 hours since he begun his ride for the capital. By all reasonable estimates, he still has 12 days ahead of him but only half as many days to get there.
Martin is supposed to meet Shaggy here, right? He’ll go find him, and see about a couple giant eagles getting this show on the road.
OR barring that: look for a government official so he can see about access to one of the teleportation circles Haddian let him use almost a year ago.
investigation 24
Paladin - warforged - orange
Shaggaustus is a few days behind with the others. All that Martin can learn is that the King has a teleportation circle in his residence. If any of the other nobles do, nobody in the little village knows of them.
"As for giant eagles," says the villager that Martin grills for information, "You're kidding about that, right?"
I think I’m confused. I thought I was meeting Shaggaustus so he could take us quickly via giant eagle.
Paladin - warforged - orange
I think you misread who was making the suggestion.
Tock, just to be sure it's nothing major, uses Sending to Dog, "Tock here. I'm at Lord Kemball's and he just got some news and stormed off. Would you know anything that would make him do so?"
While waiting for an answer he goes ahead and uses a different spell, to pass without trace and go look around for where the assistant and Kemball went, hoping to eavesdrop on their conversation.
(stealth check: 31)