Morthos took in the details of the situation. His previous confidence had been curbed upon seeing the tiefling, but now it surged back through him. He lifts his head and looks the Baron in the eye.
“We finish what you have started. You know where Caelia’s kidnappers are. Tell us, and we will pursue them to the ends of the earth. We will not fail you, my lord.”
Morgan glanced at the teifling in the pool, the size and power of the man clearly on par with his own physical build. Morgan probably had a few pounds on the man, and was a few inches taller, not counting those horns, but the body-size was fairly equal between him and the demon-kin. He did not give any real response to the sight of the man though, just noted him as a threat should they ever meet.
Morgan nods knowingly as the baron speaks of not being able to continue looking himself. He runs a hand thorugh his black hair, ruffling it slightly as he considers.
"You are already tarrying overlong, if you wish to make the meeting in time." He tells the baron with a glance towards the teleportation circle he himself had used just moments earlier. "I know my father was heading out when I was coming here, and he would wish to speak with you prior to the actual meeting starting."
Turning his gray eyes to the others he shrugs. "The king is requiring all of his nobility to join him for a discussion of kingdom affairs." He explains, leaving it at that.
Moved by the loyalty and dedication of his friends and allies, baron Vanderos closed his eyes peacefully for a moment and appeared to release a deep sigh of relief.
“I can’t begin to thank you all enough. I have faith in every one of you.”
When he opened them again, his eyes gleamed with newfound resolve. “You’re right, Morgan. Of course, to say that’s oversimplifying things is something of an understatement, but we’d be here until sunrise if I were to properly elaborate. Besides, that’s quite beside the point. Suffice it to say this summit I must attend will most likely affect the lives of every citizen under my rule, the same citizens I risked everything fighting for. It would be the height of selfishness if I was to put my own daughter’s life before so many others.”
Having finally made peace with the decision he knew he must make, the baron seemed to have recovered a portion of his valiant spirit. He strode from the divining pool to the stone platform and stood within the magic circle.
“When last we checked, Caelia’s abductors had taken her to Gernacht’s cathedral, beyond the northwestern woods,” Vanderos announced. “The place where we defeated my predecessor, the former tyrant of this land, all those years ago. We don’t know why they took her, or who is ultimately responsible. But it’s up to you now, Morgan, Lilandra, Thadraes, Morthos, to make sure they don’t get what they want. Bring our daughter back. I leave everything to you.”
With that, he nodded to Iridessa, who with one more farewell smile to her husband drew on her dwindling reserves of power and began chanting and gesturing. Light from the teleportation circle began glow, rise, intensify, and then flash.
Baron Elias Vanderos was gone.
Iridessa’s arms dropped and she slumped forward in her seat, breathing heavily. With long strands of hair spilling over her heaving shoulders and the wide brim of her hat shielding her face, she panted to the party between gasps, “Oh my… That… heh… took more out of me than expected. Forgive me, but I… must rest. On that table there… is a scroll… of sending. Use that… or send any citizen as a messenger… to contact me. Once I’ve recovered, I promise to do everything within my power… to help you.”
And thus, with only a few hours in the night remaining, unknown challenges looming, three main opponents lurking, and one little girl awaiting, the group was free to undertake the quest of utmost importance bestowed upon them.
Lilandra takes in the information about Caelia, seemingly it was spur of the moment action. This worried her, how many others might have bad intentions towards the baron.
Seeing Dakara did not yet boost her confidence, but she did note that Morgan was a similar size and trusted in Thad to keep her out of harms way.
She gives a respectfull nod at the baron as he departs and turns to Iridessa.
We will do whatever it takes Iridessa. You should rest now, we might have need of your magic before this is over.
She will walk up to the table and take the scroll and give it to Morthos with no words only a small smile. Knowing Morthos would be the one to use it with the most ease.
We should make haste now, Caelia needs us.She looks to the others ready to walk out of the room to start the travel to Gernacht’s cathedral.
Morthos accepts the spell scroll gracefully, storing it in a safe place. Afterward, he turns to his companions with a knowing gaze. He knew that Iridessa's outburst was seen by all in the room, but he wasn't sure if everyone had the same suspicions he did. Nonetheless, he tried to communicate his intent by looking back and forth between Iridessa and his companions.
(Do you guys think it would be a good idea to push her for more info? I have a spell that can help).
(Might cause party strife if you did so, since Morgan would be completely against it. He has his doubts about the baroness, but would not be willing to do anything about it without a lot more proof.)
"Let us go." Morgan says shortly, nodding to the baroness with a quick motion of his head. "Rest and we will see about getting your daughter returned." He informs her as he walks briskly towards the door. His leather surcoat swishes softly against his armor as he moves, the clink of metal sounding from the armor itself. His gray eyes sweep the others and then towards the door. "We have no time to waste here, as with the baron, our time is short to do what is needed."
[Once everyone is done with in-character interactions, be sure to specify out-of-character what the party is doing so I know what information to provide next. Or even just a simple OOC note to confirm you personally are ready to move on. Otherwise it's unclear to me if anyone is still engaged with a given scene.]
[Perfect. Thank you! Sorry if it seems like a stupid thing to ask, but again, due to the text-based medium I can't tell if an in-character description saying you're "moving to the door" means you the player are actually done with a scene right there and then, or if that's just descriptive word choice and your character is still busy, and if not what exactly is your intent, etc. So even if you think it might be obvious, for my sake give a little note just to be clear.]
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
(Morthos is okay if we keep going, however he’ll just try one more thing).
Morthos nods his head as he takes in his companions’ reactions. This will be risky if he wanted to push the baroness even further. But, he had to do it. For the sake of Lord Vanderos, who saved him so many years ago, he must take this risk if means even the smallest possibility of finding some scrap of info that could help save Caelia.
As Morthos moves towards the door, he stops for a single moment and bows to Iridessa.“Thank you for supporting the Baron in these hard times. If you know anything else that could possibly help us rescue Caelia, please tell us. Caelia is depending on all of us to save her, and we need to know as much as we can to do so.”
Persuasion: 8
Morthos doesn’t expect those few choice words to make Iridessa spill the beans. But that’s okay, but he adds something extra. As he speaks those final two sentences, he reaches for the lute on the back and strums a simple chord. That’s all he needs to cast suggestion, attempting to magically influence Iridessa to reveal any secrets.
(DC 13 WIS Save. Tell me if the usage seems reasonable. If not, I can reword the suggestion).
Morgan glances over his shoulder as the music is played, seeing one of the commoners stopping to talk to the baroness again. His gray eyes grow irritated, and he pauses in his walk, turning back. "Don't you think she would have told us more if she knew anything. Stop badgering the lady." His emphasis on the word Lady is clear. He does not believe a commoner should be pushing a baroness so hard.
The exhausted baroness was in no state to resist Mothos’s magically laced words. Her eyes fluttered and glazed over. She hesitated at first, but reluctantly began to speak.
“O-of course I’d support him. He is my loving husband after all. In fact, well, he and Caelia are the only ones who have ever loved me…” Iridessa meekly admitted, refusing to make eye contact. She began nervously smoothing down a bundle of her hair. “That’s why I couldn’t possibly bear to tell him… I mean I’ve always suspected, but I never seriously considered the possibility. But given everything that’s happened, it might be relevant. So I’ll tell you. Even at the expense of my own honor.”
She then cast her defeated gaze squarely upon the ground at her feet in shame. “Caelia… might not be Elias’s child. There was another. My master, Gernacht. We were not lovers, but I think he may have suspected I had fallen for Elias, and so he did it just to plant that lingering doubt in my mind, to forever question who the real father is. That’s the kind of spiteful soul he was. Every good thing in my life, he took cruel joy in tainting...”
Iridessa grimaced at the foul memory, and her hands tightly squeezed the arms of her throne with barely suppressed wrath. “I was so happy when we finally killed that bastard! At last, I was free! Or, at least… that’s what I thought. Until yesterday. I secretly fear that Gernacht is somehow responsible for stealing my sweet Caelia from me. Why else would the kidnappers have brought her to that cathedral if he wasn’t somehow involved? I watched Elias cleave him from shoulder to hip, but a practitioner of dark magics such as he may very well have found a way to torment my family from beyond the grave, in some way or another. I keep telling myself there’s no proof of that yet. That my worst fears may not be true. But… if they are, now that you know my secret…”
Iridessa brought her hands to her chest and looked up. When she did so, there were tears streaming down her face.
[Congratulations RazorDawn! I didn't think that confession would come up for a long time yet! For digging into the narrative I award you with Inspiration!]
"I think the lady needs rest and solitude." Morgan said, glancing to the baroness. He was not overly concerned about whom the father of the girl was, those things could easily be swept under rugs, or hidden in cobweb-filled closets, many nobles did it all the time. he turns back to the door. "I think we should leave her to her rest." With that he sweeps towards the door, his black leather surcoat trailing.
As Iridesssa tearfully confesses to him, Morthos’ jaw drops. No! He didn’t expect that at all! He was just searching for some hints to defeat the kidnappers, but now she reveals that the Baron’s child might not belong to him? That Caelia is the offspring of the dark mage Gernacht?
Morthos whispers to himself, “What have I done?”
Despair assails him as he realizes the implications of his prodding. What if this information was leaked? He could imagine the whispers at the court, the hellish life that Caelia would face when she grew up. Would they even let her live? How will the Baron react if he found out? He didn’t want to betray the very man who saved him, but now he felt like a traitor. Morthos held his head low in defeat. He cursed himself at that moment, at his willingness to intrude in the minds of others. Morthos had thought himself to be a good person, but now he questions that belief. The road to hell, after all, was paved with good intentions. It takes him a long time to speak.
“I...I...” Morthos gulps as he says it. “I swear I will never reveal this information to anyone. I swear on my life. No one will ever find out.”
Morthos was sincere in his promise. The Baron was already dealing with hard times, but if he heard of this, it might...push him over the edge. He looks to his companions, his eyes pleading. Will they talk, though?
(Dang, wasn’t expecting that. I agree, time to go. This is a very interesting narrative!)
As Morthos prods Iridessa more Lilandra sees Morgan turn to tell Morthos to stop. At that moment Lilandra will step in between trying to calm down the situation. Im sure Morthos means well. He wont..
She then stops as Iridessa replies to him.
Shocked at what she hears she takes a moment to consider. It does not change our mission.she says firmly
Caelia needs our help either way.Truthfully Lilandra would of gladly helped her if she was a commoner too.
Still processing the information she motions those that still remain to move out. The lady needs her rest now.
Being the last the move out of the room she closes the door behind but not before trying to give a comforting smile as he looks to Iredessa one last time before departing.
Morthos took in the details of the situation. His previous confidence had been curbed upon seeing the tiefling, but now it surged back through him. He lifts his head and looks the Baron in the eye.
“We finish what you have started. You know where Caelia’s kidnappers are. Tell us, and we will pursue them to the ends of the earth. We will not fail you, my lord.”
DMing:
Solo Hoard of the Dragon Queen
Playing:
Baral- Coliseum of Conquest, Lazarus Vernon- Tale of Mercenaries; Bernard Lionsbane- Solo Curse of Strahd
Thad nods sternly at the baron, "Morthos is correct, my lord. Point us in the right direction an' we'll be on our way promptly."
Morgan glanced at the teifling in the pool, the size and power of the man clearly on par with his own physical build. Morgan probably had a few pounds on the man, and was a few inches taller, not counting those horns, but the body-size was fairly equal between him and the demon-kin. He did not give any real response to the sight of the man though, just noted him as a threat should they ever meet.
Morgan nods knowingly as the baron speaks of not being able to continue looking himself. He runs a hand thorugh his black hair, ruffling it slightly as he considers.
"You are already tarrying overlong, if you wish to make the meeting in time." He tells the baron with a glance towards the teleportation circle he himself had used just moments earlier. "I know my father was heading out when I was coming here, and he would wish to speak with you prior to the actual meeting starting."
Turning his gray eyes to the others he shrugs. "The king is requiring all of his nobility to join him for a discussion of kingdom affairs." He explains, leaving it at that.
Moved by the loyalty and dedication of his friends and allies, baron Vanderos closed his eyes peacefully for a moment and appeared to release a deep sigh of relief.
“I can’t begin to thank you all enough. I have faith in every one of you.”
When he opened them again, his eyes gleamed with newfound resolve. “You’re right, Morgan. Of course, to say that’s oversimplifying things is something of an understatement, but we’d be here until sunrise if I were to properly elaborate. Besides, that’s quite beside the point. Suffice it to say this summit I must attend will most likely affect the lives of every citizen under my rule, the same citizens I risked everything fighting for. It would be the height of selfishness if I was to put my own daughter’s life before so many others.”
Having finally made peace with the decision he knew he must make, the baron seemed to have recovered a portion of his valiant spirit. He strode from the divining pool to the stone platform and stood within the magic circle.
“When last we checked, Caelia’s abductors had taken her to Gernacht’s cathedral, beyond the northwestern woods,” Vanderos announced. “The place where we defeated my predecessor, the former tyrant of this land, all those years ago. We don’t know why they took her, or who is ultimately responsible. But it’s up to you now, Morgan, Lilandra, Thadraes, Morthos, to make sure they don’t get what they want. Bring our daughter back. I leave everything to you.”
With that, he nodded to Iridessa, who with one more farewell smile to her husband drew on her dwindling reserves of power and began chanting and gesturing. Light from the teleportation circle began glow, rise, intensify, and then flash.
Baron Elias Vanderos was gone.
Iridessa’s arms dropped and she slumped forward in her seat, breathing heavily. With long strands of hair spilling over her heaving shoulders and the wide brim of her hat shielding her face, she panted to the party between gasps, “Oh my… That… heh… took more out of me than expected. Forgive me, but I… must rest. On that table there… is a scroll… of sending. Use that… or send any citizen as a messenger… to contact me. Once I’ve recovered, I promise to do everything within my power… to help you.”
And thus, with only a few hours in the night remaining, unknown challenges looming, three main opponents lurking, and one little girl awaiting, the group was free to undertake the quest of utmost importance bestowed upon them.
Lilandra takes in the information about Caelia, seemingly it was spur of the moment action. This worried her, how many others might have bad intentions towards the baron.
Seeing Dakara did not yet boost her confidence, but she did note that Morgan was a similar size and trusted in Thad to keep her out of harms way.
She gives a respectfull nod at the baron as he departs and turns to Iridessa.
We will do whatever it takes Iridessa. You should rest now, we might have need of your magic before this is over.
She will walk up to the table and take the scroll and give it to Morthos with no words only a small smile. Knowing Morthos would be the one to use it with the most ease.
We should make haste now, Caelia needs us. She looks to the others ready to walk out of the room to start the travel to Gernacht’s cathedral.
Morthos accepts the spell scroll gracefully, storing it in a safe place. Afterward, he turns to his companions with a knowing gaze. He knew that Iridessa's outburst was seen by all in the room, but he wasn't sure if everyone had the same suspicions he did. Nonetheless, he tried to communicate his intent by looking back and forth between Iridessa and his companions.
(Do you guys think it would be a good idea to push her for more info? I have a spell that can help).
DMing:
Solo Hoard of the Dragon Queen
Playing:
Baral- Coliseum of Conquest, Lazarus Vernon- Tale of Mercenaries; Bernard Lionsbane- Solo Curse of Strahd
(Might cause party strife if you did so, since Morgan would be completely against it. He has his doubts about the baroness, but would not be willing to do anything about it without a lot more proof.)
"Let us go." Morgan says shortly, nodding to the baroness with a quick motion of his head. "Rest and we will see about getting your daughter returned." He informs her as he walks briskly towards the door. His leather surcoat swishes softly against his armor as he moves, the clink of metal sounding from the armor itself. His gray eyes sweep the others and then towards the door. "We have no time to waste here, as with the baron, our time is short to do what is needed."
Thad nods in agreement. "The faster we get ta the cathedral, the better. Does anyone need anythin' before we make way?"
[Once everyone is done with in-character interactions, be sure to specify out-of-character what the party is doing so I know what information to provide next. Or even just a simple OOC note to confirm you personally are ready to move on. Otherwise it's unclear to me if anyone is still engaged with a given scene.]
(OOC - Thad is keen to get moving.)
[Perfect. Thank you! Sorry if it seems like a stupid thing to ask, but again, due to the text-based medium I can't tell if an in-character description saying you're "moving to the door" means you the player are actually done with a scene right there and then, or if that's just descriptive word choice and your character is still busy, and if not what exactly is your intent, etc. So even if you think it might be obvious, for my sake give a little note just to be clear.]
(Morthos is okay if we keep going, however he’ll just try one more thing).
Morthos nods his head as he takes in his companions’ reactions. This will be risky if he wanted to push the baroness even further. But, he had to do it. For the sake of Lord Vanderos, who saved him so many years ago, he must take this risk if means even the smallest possibility of finding some scrap of info that could help save Caelia.
As Morthos moves towards the door, he stops for a single moment and bows to Iridessa. “Thank you for supporting the Baron in these hard times. If you know anything else that could possibly help us rescue Caelia, please tell us. Caelia is depending on all of us to save her, and we need to know as much as we can to do so.”
Persuasion: 8
Morthos doesn’t expect those few choice words to make Iridessa spill the beans. But that’s okay, but he adds something extra. As he speaks those final two sentences, he reaches for the lute on the back and strums a simple chord. That’s all he needs to cast suggestion, attempting to magically influence Iridessa to reveal any secrets.
(DC 13 WIS Save. Tell me if the usage seems reasonable. If not, I can reword the suggestion).
DMing:
Solo Hoard of the Dragon Queen
Playing:
Baral- Coliseum of Conquest, Lazarus Vernon- Tale of Mercenaries; Bernard Lionsbane- Solo Curse of Strahd
Morgan glances over his shoulder as the music is played, seeing one of the commoners stopping to talk to the baroness again. His gray eyes grow irritated, and he pauses in his walk, turning back. "Don't you think she would have told us more if she knew anything. Stop badgering the lady." His emphasis on the word Lady is clear. He does not believe a commoner should be pushing a baroness so hard.
(No problem with the usage).
WISDOM SAVE - IRIDESSA (DISADVANTAGE): 6
The exhausted baroness was in no state to resist Mothos’s magically laced words. Her eyes fluttered and glazed over. She hesitated at first, but reluctantly began to speak.
“O-of course I’d support him. He is my loving husband after all. In fact, well, he and Caelia are the only ones who have ever loved me…” Iridessa meekly admitted, refusing to make eye contact. She began nervously smoothing down a bundle of her hair. “That’s why I couldn’t possibly bear to tell him… I mean I’ve always suspected, but I never seriously considered the possibility. But given everything that’s happened, it might be relevant. So I’ll tell you. Even at the expense of my own honor.”
She then cast her defeated gaze squarely upon the ground at her feet in shame. “Caelia… might not be Elias’s child. There was another. My master, Gernacht. We were not lovers, but I think he may have suspected I had fallen for Elias, and so he did it just to plant that lingering doubt in my mind, to forever question who the real father is. That’s the kind of spiteful soul he was. Every good thing in my life, he took cruel joy in tainting...”
Iridessa grimaced at the foul memory, and her hands tightly squeezed the arms of her throne with barely suppressed wrath. “I was so happy when we finally killed that bastard! At last, I was free! Or, at least… that’s what I thought. Until yesterday. I secretly fear that Gernacht is somehow responsible for stealing my sweet Caelia from me. Why else would the kidnappers have brought her to that cathedral if he wasn’t somehow involved? I watched Elias cleave him from shoulder to hip, but a practitioner of dark magics such as he may very well have found a way to torment my family from beyond the grave, in some way or another. I keep telling myself there’s no proof of that yet. That my worst fears may not be true. But… if they are, now that you know my secret…”
Iridessa brought her hands to her chest and looked up. When she did so, there were tears streaming down her face.
“Please,” she begged. “Don’t tell Elias.”
[Congratulations RazorDawn! I didn't think that confession would come up for a long time yet! For digging into the narrative I award you with Inspiration!]
"I think the lady needs rest and solitude." Morgan said, glancing to the baroness. He was not overly concerned about whom the father of the girl was, those things could easily be swept under rugs, or hidden in cobweb-filled closets, many nobles did it all the time. he turns back to the door. "I think we should leave her to her rest." With that he sweeps towards the door, his black leather surcoat trailing.
(OOC: ready to go.)
DMing:
Solo Hoard of the Dragon Queen
Playing:
Baral- Coliseum of Conquest, Lazarus Vernon- Tale of Mercenaries; Bernard Lionsbane- Solo Curse of Strahd
As Morthos prods Iridessa more Lilandra sees Morgan turn to tell Morthos to stop. At that moment Lilandra will step in between trying to calm down the situation. Im sure Morthos means well. He wont..
She then stops as Iridessa replies to him.
Shocked at what she hears she takes a moment to consider. It does not change our mission. she says firmly
Caelia needs our help either way. Truthfully Lilandra would of gladly helped her if she was a commoner too.
Still processing the information she motions those that still remain to move out. The lady needs her rest now.
Being the last the move out of the room she closes the door behind but not before trying to give a comforting smile as he looks to Iredessa one last time before departing.
(ooc ready to move on now)
[That's everyone. Good place to end that scene.
What do you do next? Anything in or around the keep or the town anyone wishes to do? Or embark directly towords the cathedral?]
(Is there any chance that Morthos can acquire some Thieves Tools? Otherwise, he’s prepared and ready to go straight for the cathedral).
DMing:
Solo Hoard of the Dragon Queen
Playing:
Baral- Coliseum of Conquest, Lazarus Vernon- Tale of Mercenaries; Bernard Lionsbane- Solo Curse of Strahd