Private
If Balgrim is MIA, what should we do going forward? - Single Choice
Shall we seek a 6th party member? - Single Choice
((No performance check necessary Leon XD ))
Ashwa raises a brow at Leon's request, and then smiles.
"Yes, of course! I can help you get ... well... CLOSE to the library, young master Aelar" she says, and then leans closer.
"But you don't want to be seen with me around there. I'm... not welcome in that area. I hope you can understand. They only tolerate me because of special circumstances, but if I were to escort you the whole way, it would bring trouble." she says softly.
She gestures for Aelar to follow her.
"Just pretend like you're my servant, keep your eyes low and look humble, you'll be fine." she says, then looks over her shoulder at Leon with a thinly veiled smoulder.
"You owe me, you'd better come see me soon." she says.
Carmine thinks for a moment.
"Not that I can really think of specifically. I mean, if he's from the old knight's garrison, he'll know what you're talking about." she says.
Hana interjects.
"The pipers? Umm... be.... sensitive about how you bring that up, young Lazlo." she says. "Geoffrey's wife was a piper. Be real careful how you bring it up. He's never been the same since he lost her... we both lost our loves. I have my daughters keeping me going, but Geoffrey and Diana... didn't get the chance." Hana says.
Carmine actually looks serious for once, Hana's words striking a cord with her. Not wanting to dwell on it, she looks to Kallista.
"So, you going with them too? Or do you have plans?"
DM, professional illustrator and comic artist, suffering from severe spinal stenosis, married, middle aged, and nerdy.
Kallista shakes her head, "I don't have any plans right now."
Elra Skylash - Human Cleric | Vanzaren Tanidoni - Half Elf Wizard
Mindartis Liadon - Eladrin Barbarian | Naivara Siannodel - Half Elf Ranger
Arrila Evenwood - Half Elf Paladin | Callaphe of Setessa - Human Rogue
Katernin Nemetsk - Aasimar Cleric | Melody - Tiefling Bard
As he hears Hana, Hyre imagines the woman he saw in the portrait. "She did that? I thought she was some kind of priestess or a cleric. There were many religious books there that sir Geoffrey said were hers. Were all pipers that way or was it only her?" He looks at Lazlo and tries to imagine him dressed in religious robes while playing some Woodwind instrument. "Anyway," turning to Kallista, "you could come with us if you want to. Except for me, sir Geoffrey is expecting an Elf, not a Satyr and a Human. I'm sure at this point anyone who'll join wouldn't change much." He thinks for a moment before adding: "I doubt he could divide his attention to talk to all three of you as well as tell me what he needs help with though. It's your choice."
Varielky
Hana shakes her head.
"Diana became interested in music because of her religious order, the hymns and songs. It wasn't until later that she discovered the bardic traditions. She didn't want Geoffrey riding off into battle without her. She was good, too. If she were still around the day Geoffrey lost his arm... maybe a LOT of things would be different right now. She passed after coming in contact with.... something... that took over her body. So y'all be tactful in bringing it up, yeah?" she says, then thinks, and goes into the kitchen for a few moments. When she re-emerges, she's holding a basket. She clops over to Hyre, and puts it in front of him.
"Take this with y'all. It'll help him remember he's still loved. Might ease the pain." she says.
Carmine looks over at Hana incredulously.
"Why didn't you tell me about this before? You know I've been interested in finding out about the pipers."
Hana makes a face.
"Right. Sensitivity. Not my strong point. Fair enough." Carmine says, blushing.
DM, professional illustrator and comic artist, suffering from severe spinal stenosis, married, middle aged, and nerdy.
"Thank you, my lady," he says with a little bow. "I truly appreciate it."
Doing his best to follow her instructions, Aelar trails behind her as they approach the gates to Hawk's Nest. When they go through he plans to let them see his face, of course, so that they will recognize him as the lady's servant, of course.
Tandor the White, Human Life Cleric
Before Aelar and Ashwa get to the gates, she turns back to look at him, thinking. As she passes by a peddler selling hats, she quickly gestures Aelar over.
"It would probably be best if your ears are covered. You shouldn't draw attention to the fact you're not human." she says. They're well made for a commoner in a variety of styles. They're largely made from hide and felt and wool, nothing too ostentatious or attention grabbing.
"Pick whatever you'd like, and I'll take you as far as my manor. Should you find trouble, you can hide there if you need to. Leon probably doesn't remember telling me, but I know about your situation." she says.
She is NOT what everyone so far as been saying that the 'Nesties' would be like.
DM, professional illustrator and comic artist, suffering from severe spinal stenosis, married, middle aged, and nerdy.
((RIGHT, almost forgot. Everyone, give yourselves inspiration to be used whenever you like. You've all earned it. You may use this to give yourself advantage to any roll you like or remove exhaustion. Hang onto it for as long as you like or spend it right away, but I will be rewarding inventive RP with more because we're starting to get near the end of the prologue--and when I say 'near the end of the prologue' I mean that depending on what happens and how quickly you all post, this may be the last month of the prologue section. In game, there's still 5 days before Kina returns and there will be a bit more after that. Your days have been more packed than I was expecting. After the prologue is finished, there will be a time skip that will bring the party to full physical maturity. I will be workshopping some rules for training to learn new skills outside of leveling, but the rules that were being used before that has allowed you to so quickly build skills won't apply anymore.
When the time skip happens, you may make one final roll to attempt to build any ability scores or skills you have 2/3 successes for.))
DM, professional illustrator and comic artist, suffering from severe spinal stenosis, married, middle aged, and nerdy.
(I assume the basket is closed, right?)
Hyre takes the basket but doesn't look inside. It's not courteous to do so, he knows that. He sets it on the floor, by his chair. To make sure he doesn't forget it there, he lays the pouch with the hawk's egg on top of the basket. "I'll give it to him. Sir Geoffrey is surely going to have a surprising afternoon. I just hope you didn't put my ah... latest creation inside." Hyre glances over at Kallista's plate and wonders if some of it was made by him, or at least was made by ingredients prepared by him. She didn't seem to complain about the food though so that probably isn't the case.
Varielky
((The basket is closed, yes))
Hana laughs.
"No, your creation is in the garden out back, feeding the next batch of vegetables." she says, patting Hyre on the back.
Hyre can see the remnants of what was on Kallista's plate. It probably was one of his competently made meat pies, sold for a silver piece, so it was definitely quality enough to serve to the public.
Cameron turns to look at Hana.
"Oi, what? You let the kid cook? You wouldn't let ME cook when I came looking for work last summer!" he objects.
"That's because Y'ALL managed to make soup BURN." Hana pokes him between the horns. "Honestly, I've heard of accidentally burning the bottom of soup, but no, he actually managed to make flames shoot out of the cauldron!"
"I thought you could add wine to soup..."
"That was whiskey by an open flame! You're lucky ya'll didn't burn down the whole place!" Hana chides him and smacks him with the dish towel slung over her shoulder.
DM, professional illustrator and comic artist, suffering from severe spinal stenosis, married, middle aged, and nerdy.
"I'll be sure not to that, then. It seems like strong fire got the better of both of us, though. Anything else I should know not to do? It'd be pointless to repeat others' mistakes." He looks at the Satyr, trying to decide whether it's Carmen or Cameron. It was bad enough that they were both Satyrs so all the significant distinguishing features of their head and face looked the same, they even had almost identical names. At least Carmine was easy to distinguish from the other two. Maybe if he could think of a different nickname for each one... he was rather awful at nicknames though. He was probably more likely to insult them if he tried.
Varielky
"Excuse me Hana- to be honest I am a bit of a clod when it comes to treading lightly in conversation. Is there any advice you could give me about talking with Sir Geoffrey? I want to learn but I'd hate to make the man's hackles rise. I'd like his hackles to be as far from risen as I could get them. Sleeping hackles so to speak." Lazlo says, uncharacteristically self conscious. "I don't want to screw this up, is what I mean... and I am a notorious screw up."
Fleabag Fleabane -Tabaxi Ranger | Lenny Coggins- Halfling Barbarian | Sid Shatterbuckle- Dwarf Fighter/Rogue| Lazlo - Satyr Bard in Training
Hana draws a deep sigh, then looks to the commemorative wall for the knights.
"As I said, Geoffrey feels like he's responsible for my husband's death. No matter how many times I tried to tell him, he just wouldn't forgive himself. Brian was a knight. He KNEW the risks. It's why I loved him so much, he was the epitome of knightly valor, all the ideals the knights in the old legends sang about, that was him. He lived for the code. He died protecting this town. I have two girls to remember him by. I see a little bit of him every time they come to visit." she says.
"Geoffrey doesn't. Him and Diana were waiting until after his service was finished, when he could retire to the barracks to train the next generation. She passed, and he fell back on the only thing he knew... knightly service. Then they dismissed him after he lost his arm. He's lost everything, even his sense of purpose. Maybe if y'all make him feel needed, like he's still of use, it might spark the life back into him."
((While not exactly COMMON knowledge, the majority of the 'beastial' races of Aden are able to have children with others outside their species. The offspring are simply born the same species as the mother, which is how some of the races that are monogender, like nagas and harpies, are able to sustain their populations, whereas the more humanoid species have much, much murkier bloodlines, like Duncan's half-dwarfish heritage, who looks like a power lifter got squashed slightly in a press.
Also I lied, there's probably going to be TWO time skips in the prologue, depending on what happens. One that slips forward a year to when the group have just started their class training, and another that slips forward after their training is complete.))
DM, professional illustrator and comic artist, suffering from severe spinal stenosis, married, middle aged, and nerdy.
Aelar puts the cap on, covering his ears, and hopes his eyes won't give him away, "Yes, my lady. I follow as you lead," he says humbly.
Tandor the White, Human Life Cleric
The gate guards are more than a little reluctant to just let Ashwa go on her way. They harass her with additional questions, thinly veiled accusations about her identity, until finally she has to show her seal to them before they're finally convinced she belongs. These are probably the same guards she JUST saw coming through the gate the other way, too, but Ashwa holds her tongue. When they finally allow them past the huge iron gates, Aelar can hear one of the guards mutter something about a 'human pet'.
When Ashwa gets through the gates, she glares back at the guards when they're out of earshot, flushed with anger. She maintains her composure somehow, and leads Aelar further into the lofty Hawk's Nest.
The difference between the Warren and the Hawk's Nest is pretty jarring. Gone are the simple cobblestone streets, the walkways are paved with carved stone, the streetside gardens immaculately tended, the architecture smoothed over with plaster to a gleaming white all over. While the 'labours' were not terribly UNcommon, they are everywhere in the Nest. Well-to-do nobles are riding them around for leisure, paint and decorate them in garish colours, when they could be used to help with the entire town's infrastructure. The amount of work and craftsmanship that go into the automatons is reduced to nothing more than a rich person's toy.
There are no shortage of stares coming in their direction either. Ashwa walks with purpose, but Aelar can see a group of four Nest Watchmen approaching them. He could redirect her, or just let her walk straight towards them, which is what she's doing, though she looks a little unsure.
"I don't recognize these guards..." she says quietly.
DM, professional illustrator and comic artist, suffering from severe spinal stenosis, married, middle aged, and nerdy.
Aelar take a measure of the guards, trying to divine their intent before offering a suggestion to Ashwa. He takes it all in, in a glance--body language, facial expression, posture, eyes, where they are looking and for how long.
Insight: 9
Tandor the White, Human Life Cleric
There's no doubt in Aelar's mind, they're looking for trouble, they've completely zeroed in on Ashwa and they're coming her way intentionally. Even Ashwa looks back at Aelar with some concern. She's unsure if it will look MORE suspicious to deviate and change course to avoid them or just meet them head on and get it over with.
"I'm still a lady of the Nest, they can't do anything to me directly." she whispers behind her.
"If they believe you're human, they'll probably just annoy us, get tired of their game, and leave us alone..." she mumbles. "But I don't recognize those men."
DM, professional illustrator and comic artist, suffering from severe spinal stenosis, married, middle aged, and nerdy.
"They're definitely looking for trouble. I suggest stay the course and act the noble. They're beneath you...don't change course but don't stop either until they specifically block you or otherwise accost you." Aelar says quietly.
Tandor the White, Human Life Cleric
Ashwa swallows hard and nods, continuing to march forward despite her apprehension.
When the guards get closer, they fan out a bit to block her from going any further. Ashwa stands as tall as she can, and her height plus her horns allow her to practically tower over the the guards before them.
"Going for a stroll, my lady? You should know there's been talk of dangerous spies trying to poison the ranks of our fair community, and you haven't exactly made yourself too known to some of your peers. It's getting to be a concern. Word is that one of our neighboring towns fell, but nobody knows what the attackers looked like. I wonder, if they might have had horns..." the biggest of them (Still half a foot shorter than Ashwa) says. Their armour is grandiose and highly ornamental, probably actually impractical for real combat. They are, however, carrying pistols, though again, they don't actually look that well made, more concerned with aesthetics than anything else. The firing arm looks positively fragile. Their chief weapons, it seems, are their gauntlets, likely for beating on anyone approaching the Nest that they don't approve of.
"And who's this? Got a servant now? Looks pretty wiry, like he could get into small spaces." another of the guards ask, pulling up the visor on his helmet. He reaches out to grab Aelar's chin.
DM, professional illustrator and comic artist, suffering from severe spinal stenosis, married, middle aged, and nerdy.
Kallista smiles, "I'd like to help... I know that feeling... if not in the same way he does."
Elra Skylash - Human Cleric | Vanzaren Tanidoni - Half Elf Wizard
Mindartis Liadon - Eladrin Barbarian | Naivara Siannodel - Half Elf Ranger
Arrila Evenwood - Half Elf Paladin | Callaphe of Setessa - Human Rogue
Katernin Nemetsk - Aasimar Cleric | Melody - Tiefling Bard
ooc: Aelar is fairly tall, 5'9"
Aelar blanches at the word 'poison' and shudders, using the movement to move back slightly. Then he bows slightly, using that distraction to put a somewhat vacant expression on his face, "A good day to you, good Watchmen," he says. "Poison, you say," he shudders again. "Glad am I that we be having the strong men of the Watch to be protectin' us. Thank you, thank you so much," he gushes.
Aelar tries to convince the guards he's a somewhat brainless, young servant only two happy to let the Watchmen protect him and his lady.
Performance: 8, using inspiration to get Advantage.
Tandor the White, Human Life Cleric