(On second thought, it doesn't really matter. I didn't think we'll all succeed and didn't think two of us will roll a nat 20 either. Also, I went back and checked, seems like the showers are a completely open area, no hiding spots, right?)
In his lifetime, Hyre had happened to accidentally enter a room where a girl was... not fully dressed. He learnt two very important lessons from that. First, no matter what, do not freeze. It's the worst timing possible to freeze. Second, immediately turn around, close the door and walk away, pretend like nothing ever happened and don't ever mention it. As long as he'll abide by these two rules, he should be fine. On the other hand, never did a girl walk in while he was not fully dressed or, as in this case, not dressed at all.
As Hyre hears the door open, he instinctively turns his head, just to meet a familiar set of eyes peeking through. A set of eyes somewhat covered by bleached bangs - there was no mistaking who it was. Because he had no experience, Hyre turned to the basics he already knew. Don't freeze, turn around, close the door and walk away. Pretend like nothing ever happened and don't ever mention it. As long as he'll abide by these rules, he should be fine, right?
(Which means it's time to reveal my secret technique... Cooking!)
Hyre's always had his problems and never knew how to deal with them. Since everyone always told him he was the problem, he always tried to shut himself off whenever he couldn't process what's happening. This behaviour caused... well, you know. Lately, however, Hyre has had a new idea. It wasn't really his idea, but it came to him while working for Hana, thanks to Barna. Sounds weird, maybe, but that's really how it happened. (And also when I forgot to turn off the fire under a soup myself and everything spilt out. I'm usually a good cook, I promise.) It started with what Barna said to him when they were at Geoffrey's house. "So, you're like a boiling pot, and strong feelings are like the flame... if it gets too hot, your lid pops off, and that's when you freeze up." (Copy and pasta'd it.) Then, while working for Hana, after burning everything as he did, he realised the problem was not with the pot. If the fire is too strong, you need to put it out so what's inside the pot won't burn. So, if Hyre is the pot and his feelings are his flames; instead of walking away, leaving the pot and everything inside to burn, he just needs to... put the flames out. It was a new approach he was sure his mother wouldn't like but he was ready to try it. This was the first time something required him to do it, and so he did.
Hyre "puts the flames out". On the outside, you can't really see any change, other than very unexpected behaviour. On the inside, everything suddenly became very clear. No anger, no sadness, no happiness, no guilt, no humility and no other feelings. He knew exactly what he had to do. He was made to repeat the sequence many times so he'll never forget it. Never before did he feel this kind of clarity. First, Hyre doesn't freeze. He controls his actions, knowing exactly what he's doing. Secondly, Hyre turns around, walks straight to the door and closes it. He then walks away and pretends like nothing ever happened. Never mentioning it is not something he can do at the moment, so instead, he dries himself with a towel. After that, he gets dressed. Now that the crisis is over, he can turn the flames back on again - the meal in the pot is not ready yet.
ooc: That drawing is great- I can't wait to see more! I think Lazlo notices Barna bu tnot Kallista? bc we both rolled 14? in any case:
Lazlo turns towards the door as Hyre is closing it. "Maybe she needs some soap?" Come on in Barna we have extra!" he calls out, then continues to get clean.
Hyre looks at Lazlo. He's already dressed and his feelings are 'burning' again. "Sure, why not?" Pretend like nothing ever happened. Don't ever mention it. Hyre follows the rules.
((Heheh! You have a real gift for cartooning there Lazlo :3 )) "Eep!" comes the GIRLIEST little squeak Barna has ever made in her life as she realizes the jig is up. She pushes Kallista back into the women's chamber and splashes back into the tub inside, blushed to the ears again. She lets out a scream into the water, so it just kind of bubbles up to the surface in a mumble. She slowly lifts her head out of the water, hands clasped together in front of her nose, then puts her hands on the rim of the tub.
"I saw everything." she says quietly, grinning like a fool. "He has a cuter butt than I thought. I just want to take a bite out of him... nyam! Right on the cheek." she says, punctuating her point by pretending to bite the side of the tub. "And Lazlo's .... bigger than I would have thought." Her eyes flick over to Kallista. "Think he'll get the message that I'm interested?" she asks, though at the same time, she knows there's a possibility that Hyre actually WON'T or that it will put him off, being pursued so aggressively.
((It'll be up to Kallista if she too, managed to peek at the boys' goods or would even try.))
Meanwhile, the clerk looks thoroughly annoyed at Aelar, and is also really surprised when he sees him. "Listen here, you..." he says, walking over like he intends to grab him by the front of the shirt... ((Aaaand)) 13 His hand pats over where he was going to grab and instead smooths out a wrinkle, then he pats him on the shoulder. "You seem like an honest boy. I'd appreciate the help." he says, and dutifully unlocks the door to the archives. "This is pretty unusual, but we ARE a library, after all, the spread of knowledge should be our goal. I won't keep you from learning." he says as he leads Aelar up a shallow staircase to a musty-smelling back room barely more than 5 feet wide. The shelves here are ancient and many of the books are actually locked away inside strong boxes anchored to the walls. This is where more 'official' records are kept for safe keeping it seems, though technically legal for the public to view, only retrieved for official inquiry, or so the clerk says.
When the clerk searches for the books, he continues to be puzzled. Aelar is allowed to search on his own, the charmed clerk is just carrying out the task he had in mind before hand, and it's the only thing he's concerned with. "How strange." the clerk announces. "None of the other books on Relnar are here either. We'll have to call for an audit on this, this is most irregular." he says, rubbing his head. "I wonder if the city has recalled the books for falsehoods? They've been doing that a lot lately, but those books have been in the archives for a while, I'm sure of it. Oh well, lock up before you leave, then. I won't keep you." he says.
((Make an investigation check, and if you pass a DC 13, not only will you get a success, but for the time it actually takes you to find a book you're really looking for, primarily in regards to magic, I'll knock off a certain amount of time from the dice roll to see how long it takes to find what you're looking for.))
(I know that if I had drawn the same, I'd call it my best masterpiece. Sadly, drawing and painting are not among the skills I have any skill at, even though I've been doing those in school since 1st grade... Anyway, am I the only one at a loss about the thing going on with Aelar?)
As the door does not open again, Hyre goes to the door and opens it (he is dressed now), looking to the sides, he doesn't see Barna (or Kallista?) again. "Weird. Maybe they found some soap after all. Well, I'll be heading down now." Hyre closes the door behind him, walks down to the main hall and sits down at the table where Geoffrey does. It doesn't look like anything weird happened at all.
(I know that if I had drawn the same, I'd call it my best masterpiece. Sadly, drawing and painting are not among the skills I have any skill at, even though I've been doing those in school since 1st grade... Anyway, am I the only one at a loss about the thing going on with Aelar?)
ooc: Yeah! Me too...the drawing not the Aelar thing ;). Aelar is trying to find books on magic in the closed archives of the library.
(I know that if I had drawn the same, I'd call it my best masterpiece. Sadly, drawing and painting are not among the skills I have any skill at, even though I've been doing those in school since 1st grade... Anyway, am I the only one at a loss about the thing going on with Aelar?)
ooc: Yeah! Me too...the drawing not the Aelar thing ;). Aelar is trying to find books on magic in the closed archives of the library.
((Ah, yes. That I understand. What I'm missing, however, are some of the exchanges between Raia and Aelar. I see Aelar's responses but not Raia's questions. At the very beginning of the game, I thought it's something you're making up. Clearly, though, that's not the case. If I had to take a wild guess, I'd say "Raia" is really "talking in Aelar's mind". In other words, the exchanges are being written in private, am I right? Actually, you don't have to confirm or deny it. It doesn't really matter. I just said that, for a while, I felt confused about those interactions. Although it makes sense that such interactions will be made in private, it then makes me wonder why Aelar's responses are made in public.))
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
((Bad luck there Aelar x.x))
12
It takes 13 minutes for Aelar to find a book that at least has a label and is with a series of other official records on the council formed to administer 'non-natural' solutions to 'natural' problems. Sure seems like the kind of sanitized, lifeless terminology a politician would come up with for magic. It has a number of different articles to peruse however, and only a limited amount of time to read. He could gamble on the charm wearing off and the clerk having no recollection of allowing Aelar back there, quickly read what he needs and sneak back out, or, the boldest option, simply take the book back out, attempt to sneak by the concierge, and just reading the book right there in the sitting area under the assumption that nobody will look at what he's reading or care that much.
Right after Barna makes her hasty exit, Leon whistles and winks at Hyre. "You've got a nice thing going there, my friend,"he says to him.
He finishes cutting his hair, keeping it short and tidy. Looking at the mirror, he notices some patches where he made some mistakes, but overall he felt he did a pretty good work of it.
Leon finishes getting dressed. He follows Hyre and Lazlo downstairs to the ground floor of the Horseshoe, where hopefully he'll be able to catch a conversation with Sir Geoffrey.
Aelar does indeed see a couple of windows, just big enough to squeeze through. They're not very wide, but fairly tall, essentially 'turret windows', so it'd be a little awkward getting through. He'd have to time it just right to avoid notice by anyone outside.
He COULD sneak out the window when he's finished reading to avoid having to sneak back past the curators, though if he doesn't have a book in hand, they'd probably just scold him again and ask him to leave. If he's caught reading IN the archives, though, it'd probably be a bad scene that might result in him being unwelcome to return.
The book that looks most likely to have the information he wants is about a foot and a half tall by a foot wide, hand-bound and hand-written, so it's a bit unwieldy, not to mention kind of heavy at about 10 pounds of linen pages, so it's bulky too, nearly impossible for him to hide under his clothes.
Meanwhile, Barna just finishes washing up and gets dressed as well. By the time the group is all clean, the meal is ready, a generous three-course meal of pulled meat, leaf-steamed vegetables, freshly baked rolls and some kind of creamy sauce to dip the bread and meat in plus a pudding. Geoffrey and Hana are chatting it up, both reveling in the warmth of a friendship rekindled. "There they are!" Geoffrey cheers their return. "Fresh as the driven snow. Your feast awaits." It seems Hana also remembers Leon's uncle as well, though she remembers things slightly differently than Geoffrey does, mostly due to her being the one serving the drinks, not drinking them. She also stands next to Leon, inspecting the job he did on his hair. "Oh for goodness sake. After you're done eating, I'll even that out for you. I used to cut my daughters' hair all the time." she pats his shoulder. "Good try, though." "Short and orderly, like a knight." Geoffrey nods his approval, and has clearly had a few mugs by now, sufficiently buzzed. When Barna comes down and sees Hyre already seated, she boldly plunks herself down into the seat next to him, looking at him sidelong. She nudges him with her shoulder, and a slow, knowing smile forms on her lips, though she doesn't say anything, though when her eyes fall on Leon and Lazlo, she looks a little flustered, wondering if they're going to snitch on her for being a peeping Tomboy.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
DM, professional illustrator and comic artist, suffering from severe spinal stenosis, married, middle aged, and nerdy.
Aelar decides that pushing the book out the window for later reclamation is a bad idea and figures his best bet is to be bold and just try to read the book in the reading area. Carefully opening the door, he looks for the clerks.
Leon happily begins digging into the feast; not only was he ravenous after a hard day's training, the memories of days in Hon where he didn't know when his next meal would be stuck with him. He ate as much as he could, while giving proper courtesy being in the company of a knight.
He thanks Hana for offering to touch up his hair, beaming at the compliment from Geoffrey. Leon was really getting to like the old knight, and he joyfully shares a few mugs of ale with him. Part of his mind questions the wisdom of drinking when he already had a shot before visiting Geoffrey, but he pushes that thought away.
Upon seeing Barna's discomfort, Leon puts a finger to his lips, indicating his silence. Instead, he continues speaking with Geoffrey.
"Uh, Sir, since you are a knight, I'm guessing that you are familiar with the local nobility, yes?"
He glances to the rest of the group, dropping the volume of his voice. He continues.
"This is a bit of a private matter, but I'm wondering you know a local noblewoman named Ashwa. She's a tiefling, incredibly tall, and..."
He blushes as he struggles to find words to describe her.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
DMing:
Solo Hoard of the Dragon Queen
Playing:
Baral-Coliseum of Conquest, Lazarus Vernon- Tale of Mercenaries;Bernard Lionsbane- Solo Curse of Strahd
Kallista gives Barna an encouraging smile, eating some. When Leon mentions a tiefling though, she speaks up, "Tiefling?" She asks before being able to stop herself.
When Aelar peeks out to look for the curators, he can see that the one is busy handing all of his clerical work over to the other, who is all too agreeable thanks to Raia's influence, who herself isn't entirely sure when the spell will wear off; it varies from person to person and how much they're not behaving like themselves. The more likely a person would be to like the charmer without the spell, the longer they stay enthralled. The curators are in the midst of rearranging their stock, it seems, after an influx of college texts.
If he wants to sneak back out to the reading area, the DC check will be 8. Everyone's just studying away and not looking his way.
Geoffrey ponders Leon's question. "A tiefling? In the NEST?" he asks incredulously, scoffing at the very idea, until he seems to remember something. "Wait, now that you mention it, I DO remember something about that." he says. "I was just promoted to forward cavalry some twenty years ago or so, and during a breach, we were called to defend a manor of an older nobleman. Unlike most of the others I'd met, he was actually kind and a bit of an eccentric philanthropist. He had never married and sired no heirs, but he was actually the one who brokered the deal with the Hearth to allow the entirety of Guiston to be serviced by the dwarves' 'labours', and not just the Hearth and the mines. One of those damned Galesworth bastards tried to get him onto their side when they were trying to gain influence in the council by offering him an 'exotic' servant girl. After we exterminated the beasts, we were guests of honor at his manor, and we spent the evening there. She hardly seemed like a servant... more like a doting granddaughter. She couldn't have been more than five or six years old, but I was fairly certain they were just trying to get rid of her because of the superstitions surrounding tieflings. I don't recall her name, though Ashwa has a familiar ring to it." Geoffrey says. He gives an accurate description of Ashwa, right down to her copper skin, jet black horns and red eyes... and the age is about right too. It would also explain why she's so unlike the other nobles; if she was left in control of the family legacy, she'd be suddenly elevated to a rather elite status without the grooming of a privileged heiress.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
DM, professional illustrator and comic artist, suffering from severe spinal stenosis, married, middle aged, and nerdy.
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(On second thought, it doesn't really matter. I didn't think we'll all succeed and didn't think two of us will roll a nat 20 either. Also, I went back and checked, seems like the showers are a completely open area, no hiding spots, right?)
In his lifetime, Hyre had happened to accidentally enter a room where a girl was... not fully dressed. He learnt two very important lessons from that. First, no matter what, do not freeze. It's the worst timing possible to freeze. Second, immediately turn around, close the door and walk away, pretend like nothing ever happened and don't ever mention it. As long as he'll abide by these two rules, he should be fine.
On the other hand, never did a girl walk in while he was not fully dressed or, as in this case, not dressed at all.
As Hyre hears the door open, he instinctively turns his head, just to meet a familiar set of eyes peeking through. A set of eyes somewhat covered by bleached bangs - there was no mistaking who it was. Because he had no experience, Hyre turned to the basics he already knew. Don't freeze, turn around, close the door and walk away. Pretend like nothing ever happened and don't ever mention it. As long as he'll abide by these rules, he should be fine, right?
(Which means it's time to reveal my secret technique... Cooking!)
Hyre's always had his problems and never knew how to deal with them. Since everyone always told him he was the problem, he always tried to shut himself off whenever he couldn't process what's happening. This behaviour caused... well, you know. Lately, however, Hyre has had a new idea. It wasn't really his idea, but it came to him while working for Hana, thanks to Barna. Sounds weird, maybe, but that's really how it happened. (And also when I forgot to turn off the fire under a soup myself and everything spilt out. I'm usually a good cook, I promise.) It started with what Barna said to him when they were at Geoffrey's house. "So, you're like a boiling pot, and strong feelings are like the flame... if it gets too hot, your lid pops off, and that's when you freeze up." (Copy and pasta'd it.) Then, while working for Hana, after burning everything as he did, he realised the problem was not with the pot. If the fire is too strong, you need to put it out so what's inside the pot won't burn. So, if Hyre is the pot and his feelings are his flames; instead of walking away, leaving the pot and everything inside to burn, he just needs to... put the flames out. It was a new approach he was sure his mother wouldn't like but he was ready to try it. This was the first time something required him to do it, and so he did.
Hyre "puts the flames out". On the outside, you can't really see any change, other than very unexpected behaviour. On the inside, everything suddenly became very clear. No anger, no sadness, no happiness, no guilt, no humility and no other feelings. He knew exactly what he had to do. He was made to repeat the sequence many times so he'll never forget it. Never before did he feel this kind of clarity.
First, Hyre doesn't freeze. He controls his actions, knowing exactly what he's doing. Secondly, Hyre turns around, walks straight to the door and closes it. He then walks away and pretends like nothing ever happened. Never mentioning it is not something he can do at the moment, so instead, he dries himself with a towel. After that, he gets dressed. Now that the crisis is over, he can turn the flames back on again - the meal in the pot is not ready yet.
Varielky
((Im having a hard time with the dice roller on the forums right now. If you check the dice log in the campaign i got a 14 XD))
Kallista follows Barna, giggling quietly
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: That drawing is great- I can't wait to see more! I think Lazlo notices Barna bu tnot Kallista? bc we both rolled 14? in any case:
Lazlo turns towards the door as Hyre is closing it. "Maybe she needs some soap?" Come on in Barna we have extra!" he calls out, then continues to get clean.
Fleabag Fleabane -Tabaxi Ranger | Lenny Coggins- Halfling Barbarian | Sid Shatterbuckle- Dwarf Fighter/Rogue| Lazlo - Satyr Bard in Training
Hyre looks at Lazlo. He's already dressed and his feelings are 'burning' again. "Sure, why not?" Pretend like nothing ever happened. Don't ever mention it. Hyre follows the rules.
Varielky
ooc: I did a doodle of Hyre freezing up last week. Your story of him walking in on a girl undressing reminded me of it.
Fleabag Fleabane -Tabaxi Ranger | Lenny Coggins- Halfling Barbarian | Sid Shatterbuckle- Dwarf Fighter/Rogue| Lazlo - Satyr Bard in Training
((Heheh! You have a real gift for cartooning there Lazlo :3 ))
"Eep!" comes the GIRLIEST little squeak Barna has ever made in her life as she realizes the jig is up. She pushes Kallista back into the women's chamber and splashes back into the tub inside, blushed to the ears again. She lets out a scream into the water, so it just kind of bubbles up to the surface in a mumble. She slowly lifts her head out of the water, hands clasped together in front of her nose, then puts her hands on the rim of the tub.
"I saw everything." she says quietly, grinning like a fool.
"He has a cuter butt than I thought. I just want to take a bite out of him... nyam! Right on the cheek." she says, punctuating her point by pretending to bite the side of the tub. "And Lazlo's .... bigger than I would have thought."
Her eyes flick over to Kallista.
"Think he'll get the message that I'm interested?" she asks, though at the same time, she knows there's a possibility that Hyre actually WON'T or that it will put him off, being pursued so aggressively.
((It'll be up to Kallista if she too, managed to peek at the boys' goods or would even try.))
Meanwhile, the clerk looks thoroughly annoyed at Aelar, and is also really surprised when he sees him.
"Listen here, you..." he says, walking over like he intends to grab him by the front of the shirt...
((Aaaand)) 13
His hand pats over where he was going to grab and instead smooths out a wrinkle, then he pats him on the shoulder.
"You seem like an honest boy. I'd appreciate the help." he says, and dutifully unlocks the door to the archives.
"This is pretty unusual, but we ARE a library, after all, the spread of knowledge should be our goal. I won't keep you from learning." he says as he leads Aelar up a shallow staircase to a musty-smelling back room barely more than 5 feet wide. The shelves here are ancient and many of the books are actually locked away inside strong boxes anchored to the walls. This is where more 'official' records are kept for safe keeping it seems, though technically legal for the public to view, only retrieved for official inquiry, or so the clerk says.
When the clerk searches for the books, he continues to be puzzled. Aelar is allowed to search on his own, the charmed clerk is just carrying out the task he had in mind before hand, and it's the only thing he's concerned with.
"How strange." the clerk announces. "None of the other books on Relnar are here either. We'll have to call for an audit on this, this is most irregular." he says, rubbing his head.
"I wonder if the city has recalled the books for falsehoods? They've been doing that a lot lately, but those books have been in the archives for a while, I'm sure of it. Oh well, lock up before you leave, then. I won't keep you." he says.
((Make an investigation check, and if you pass a DC 13, not only will you get a success, but for the time it actually takes you to find a book you're really looking for, primarily in regards to magic, I'll knock off a certain amount of time from the dice roll to see how long it takes to find what you're looking for.))
DM, professional illustrator and comic artist, suffering from severe spinal stenosis, married, middle aged, and nerdy.
Aelar Investigation 6
Tandor the White, Human Life Cleric
(I know that if I had drawn the same, I'd call it my best masterpiece. Sadly, drawing and painting are not among the skills I have any skill at, even though I've been doing those in school since 1st grade... Anyway, am I the only one at a loss about the thing going on with Aelar?)
As the door does not open again, Hyre goes to the door and opens it (he is dressed now), looking to the sides, he doesn't see Barna (or Kallista?) again. "Weird. Maybe they found some soap after all. Well, I'll be heading down now." Hyre closes the door behind him, walks down to the main hall and sits down at the table where Geoffrey does. It doesn't look like anything weird happened at all.
Varielky
ooc: Yeah! Me too...the drawing not the Aelar thing ;). Aelar is trying to find books on magic in the closed archives of the library.
Tandor the White, Human Life Cleric
((Ah, yes. That I understand. What I'm missing, however, are some of the exchanges between Raia and Aelar. I see Aelar's responses but not Raia's questions. At the very beginning of the game, I thought it's something you're making up. Clearly, though, that's not the case. If I had to take a wild guess, I'd say "Raia" is really "talking in Aelar's mind". In other words, the exchanges are being written in private, am I right? Actually, you don't have to confirm or deny it. It doesn't really matter. I just said that, for a while, I felt confused about those interactions. Although it makes sense that such interactions will be made in private, it then makes me wonder why Aelar's responses are made in public.))
Varielky
((Bad luck there Aelar x.x))
12
It takes 13 minutes for Aelar to find a book that at least has a label and is with a series of other official records on the council formed to administer 'non-natural' solutions to 'natural' problems. Sure seems like the kind of sanitized, lifeless terminology a politician would come up with for magic. It has a number of different articles to peruse however, and only a limited amount of time to read. He could gamble on the charm wearing off and the clerk having no recollection of allowing Aelar back there, quickly read what he needs and sneak back out, or, the boldest option, simply take the book back out, attempt to sneak by the concierge, and just reading the book right there in the sitting area under the assumption that nobody will look at what he's reading or care that much.
DM, professional illustrator and comic artist, suffering from severe spinal stenosis, married, middle aged, and nerdy.
Right after Barna makes her hasty exit, Leon whistles and winks at Hyre. "You've got a nice thing going there, my friend," he says to him.
He finishes cutting his hair, keeping it short and tidy. Looking at the mirror, he notices some patches where he made some mistakes, but overall he felt he did a pretty good work of it.
Leon finishes getting dressed. He follows Hyre and Lazlo downstairs to the ground floor of the Horseshoe, where hopefully he'll be able to catch a conversation with Sir Geoffrey.
DMing:
Solo Hoard of the Dragon Queen
Playing:
Baral- Coliseum of Conquest, Lazarus Vernon- Tale of Mercenaries; Bernard Lionsbane- Solo Curse of Strahd
Aelar glances around, looking for any windows in this archive.
Tandor the White, Human Life Cleric
Kallista giggles too, "I didn't get a chance to look. I mean, if he didn't before, I doubt he'd not figure it out after that."
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: Girl, he knows.
Fleabag Fleabane -Tabaxi Ranger | Lenny Coggins- Halfling Barbarian | Sid Shatterbuckle- Dwarf Fighter/Rogue| Lazlo - Satyr Bard in Training
Aelar does indeed see a couple of windows, just big enough to squeeze through. They're not very wide, but fairly tall, essentially 'turret windows', so it'd be a little awkward getting through. He'd have to time it just right to avoid notice by anyone outside.
He COULD sneak out the window when he's finished reading to avoid having to sneak back past the curators, though if he doesn't have a book in hand, they'd probably just scold him again and ask him to leave.
If he's caught reading IN the archives, though, it'd probably be a bad scene that might result in him being unwelcome to return.
The book that looks most likely to have the information he wants is about a foot and a half tall by a foot wide, hand-bound and hand-written, so it's a bit unwieldy, not to mention kind of heavy at about 10 pounds of linen pages, so it's bulky too, nearly impossible for him to hide under his clothes.
Meanwhile, Barna just finishes washing up and gets dressed as well. By the time the group is all clean, the meal is ready, a generous three-course meal of pulled meat, leaf-steamed vegetables, freshly baked rolls and some kind of creamy sauce to dip the bread and meat in plus a pudding.
Geoffrey and Hana are chatting it up, both reveling in the warmth of a friendship rekindled.
"There they are!" Geoffrey cheers their return.
"Fresh as the driven snow. Your feast awaits."
It seems Hana also remembers Leon's uncle as well, though she remembers things slightly differently than Geoffrey does, mostly due to her being the one serving the drinks, not drinking them. She also stands next to Leon, inspecting the job he did on his hair.
"Oh for goodness sake. After you're done eating, I'll even that out for you. I used to cut my daughters' hair all the time." she pats his shoulder. "Good try, though."
"Short and orderly, like a knight." Geoffrey nods his approval, and has clearly had a few mugs by now, sufficiently buzzed.
When Barna comes down and sees Hyre already seated, she boldly plunks herself down into the seat next to him, looking at him sidelong. She nudges him with her shoulder, and a slow, knowing smile forms on her lips, though she doesn't say anything, though when her eyes fall on Leon and Lazlo, she looks a little flustered, wondering if they're going to snitch on her for being a peeping Tomboy.
DM, professional illustrator and comic artist, suffering from severe spinal stenosis, married, middle aged, and nerdy.
Aelar decides that pushing the book out the window for later reclamation is a bad idea and figures his best bet is to be bold and just try to read the book in the reading area. Carefully opening the door, he looks for the clerks.
Tandor the White, Human Life Cleric
Leon happily begins digging into the feast; not only was he ravenous after a hard day's training, the memories of days in Hon where he didn't know when his next meal would be stuck with him. He ate as much as he could, while giving proper courtesy being in the company of a knight.
He thanks Hana for offering to touch up his hair, beaming at the compliment from Geoffrey. Leon was really getting to like the old knight, and he joyfully shares a few mugs of ale with him. Part of his mind questions the wisdom of drinking when he already had a shot before visiting Geoffrey, but he pushes that thought away.
Upon seeing Barna's discomfort, Leon puts a finger to his lips, indicating his silence. Instead, he continues speaking with Geoffrey.
"Uh, Sir, since you are a knight, I'm guessing that you are familiar with the local nobility, yes?"
He glances to the rest of the group, dropping the volume of his voice. He continues.
"This is a bit of a private matter, but I'm wondering you know a local noblewoman named Ashwa. She's a tiefling, incredibly tall, and..."
He blushes as he struggles to find words to describe her.
DMing:
Solo Hoard of the Dragon Queen
Playing:
Baral- Coliseum of Conquest, Lazarus Vernon- Tale of Mercenaries; Bernard Lionsbane- Solo Curse of Strahd
Kallista gives Barna an encouraging smile, eating some. When Leon mentions a tiefling though, she speaks up, "Tiefling?" She asks before being able to stop herself.
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
When Aelar peeks out to look for the curators, he can see that the one is busy handing all of his clerical work over to the other, who is all too agreeable thanks to Raia's influence, who herself isn't entirely sure when the spell will wear off; it varies from person to person and how much they're not behaving like themselves. The more likely a person would be to like the charmer without the spell, the longer they stay enthralled. The curators are in the midst of rearranging their stock, it seems, after an influx of college texts.
If he wants to sneak back out to the reading area, the DC check will be 8. Everyone's just studying away and not looking his way.
Geoffrey ponders Leon's question.
"A tiefling? In the NEST?" he asks incredulously, scoffing at the very idea, until he seems to remember something.
"Wait, now that you mention it, I DO remember something about that." he says.
"I was just promoted to forward cavalry some twenty years ago or so, and during a breach, we were called to defend a manor of an older nobleman. Unlike most of the others I'd met, he was actually kind and a bit of an eccentric philanthropist. He had never married and sired no heirs, but he was actually the one who brokered the deal with the Hearth to allow the entirety of Guiston to be serviced by the dwarves' 'labours', and not just the Hearth and the mines. One of those damned Galesworth bastards tried to get him onto their side when they were trying to gain influence in the council by offering him an 'exotic' servant girl. After we exterminated the beasts, we were guests of honor at his manor, and we spent the evening there. She hardly seemed like a servant... more like a doting granddaughter. She couldn't have been more than five or six years old, but I was fairly certain they were just trying to get rid of her because of the superstitions surrounding tieflings. I don't recall her name, though Ashwa has a familiar ring to it." Geoffrey says.
He gives an accurate description of Ashwa, right down to her copper skin, jet black horns and red eyes... and the age is about right too. It would also explain why she's so unlike the other nobles; if she was left in control of the family legacy, she'd be suddenly elevated to a rather elite status without the grooming of a privileged heiress.
DM, professional illustrator and comic artist, suffering from severe spinal stenosis, married, middle aged, and nerdy.