Dolgrim nods at Thenmer and Barthrum and heads to the bar and waits to be served. Give me a mug of ale and something for my friends her. Says he to the Toblen/The one who's serving. We are looking for some Don-Jon Fella, that pompous coward we have for a mayor said he is looking for an escort.
It takes some time before Toblen gets to you and pours you three mugs of ale. "Oh, Mr Raskin? It's about time someone takes him. He's robbing my other customers of all their money, so to speak. He's over there - the third on the right sitting by the gambling table." As you look where Toblen described, he moves on to serve someone demanding another mug, although you notice Toblen pouring water instead of any kind of beverage. "On the house," he says. The demander doesn't seem to notice the different drink - they're too drunk to notice such inconveniences.
The man Toblen was pointing at - the third on the right sitting by the gambling table - is a dark skinned man, taller than most men though not extremely so (think ~190 cm) who has a serious look on his face as he studies his cards. Everyone are looking at him with anticipation. "You know, it reminds me of a time I went hunting orcs and ended up fighting ghosts. You think you're going to have a guaranteed victory, but suddenly you find yourself in a grim situation. I may have survived that but... this isn't exactly the same." He smirks, then drops his cards down, showing everyone his hand. You cannot see them from where you sit, but from the reactions of the other gamblers, it's quite clear he won, and the others are not happy about it.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
19
Barthrum can't tell for sure, but it doesn't seem like the man is lying. Of course, it's always hard to tell, but his body language doesn't suggest anything in particular, beyond satisfaction with his victory clearly displayed as he takes the losers' money.
Barthrum replies to Dolgrim, "Sure. By the story he just told it sounds like he will be able to handle himself in every situation. I would be wary of hidden dangers of this mission lest he wouldn't need to pay someone for additional protection. It might be protection from other gamblers though. I will stay behind and observe the room."
Thenmer considers. The man is possibly a cheat or rogue of some sort.
"I'm not sure he is a man to be trusted but we do not know much of him yet. As he will be in a good mood from his win perhaps now is a good time to talk with him."
He walks up to the tall man and looks up at him even though his is sitting down
"Good day, my name is Thenmer. My colleagues and I have heard you are in need of an escort, we would like to discuss it with you when you have a moment"
(OOC: I've put the current notices from the job board in a spoiler on the first post of this thread. I'll update it every time it changes, so you can always go back and see it.)
The man looks at you, assessing you for a moment. "Well, I think it's time I stop anyway before folks spend all their money on me. Gotta let them have a chance to earn some so I can win more later, you know?" He stands up from his chair, accompanied by the other gamblers' protests as they thirst for a victory, and now you see how tall he really is. The "a bit above average" assessment was on point. "Let's go up to my room, speak in private, shall we?"
Thenmer doesn't notice it, but the other two do. A bee flies above some of the inn's guests. Some of them notice while others don't. Those who notice wave it away and the bee keeps flying. When it reaches Dolgrim, it circles around him for a moment but, for him and anyone else who tries to follow, it suddenly disappears - not turning invisible, but it flew so fast you lost track of it and now you don't hear nor see nor feel it anymore.
Do you follow? Do you object to going upstairs? Anything you want to do prior?
Barthrum says to Dolgrim, "You see that? That was weird..."
And he catches up with Thenmer in a few quick steps. "Hello, I'm Barthrum. We are not saying that we will take the job, just wanted to check in with you to see if it is still available. I'd rather we go outside to discuss, we have seen enough tight spaces for today."
"Well, had it not been available, I wouldn't be here, would I? I don't mind going outside, I just thought you'd rather a warm room than the chilly wind. As long as it's not in the middle of a room full of people." The man leads outside and walks a few yards before stopping and turning to you. You're near the Shrine of Luck, but there aren't many people around, even if it's usually the 'plaza' of the town. "So, what do you wanna know? The organization I work for insisted that I get an escort and made a deal with this town's mayor, so I was obliged to wait. I'd go by myself if I could. All I was told is that there are problems with production in the mine - nothing gets delivered. My task is to see why. The journey from here to the mine takes almost a day, so if we leave at dawn tomorrow we'll reach just before sunset. Hopefully, we'll be back before this time the day after. Anyway, you just need to escort me to the mine - you don't have to help me scold the miners there if it takes too long. What say you, up for the job?"
"What sort of miners do you have there? Are they a sort that would usually be unreliable?"
Thenmer tries to remember all the mines, all the miners, that he has known. He is not quite sure he can quite place this particular mine but of course he did not work in all of them before the disaster.
"With my dagger of course! It may not have been the most effective, but neither was the ghost. Everyone else that was with me ran away, but I kept swinging my dagger as the ghost tried to hit me with their sword!" The man exclaims, but then continues in a calmer voice: "But in the end, we realised neither of us can hurt the other. My weapons passed through his body and his passed through mine. I never said I killed the ghost, did I? Once we realised the fight is pointless, we tipped our hats to each other and parted ways." He then begins to laugh. A rolling, thundering laugh that sounds like a giant, if that makes any sense. When he calms down, he continues: "I won't say they're unreliable. Sure, they did let down a few times, but a work in the mine isn't always finding a huge gold pile hidden under a rock. This time, however, we didn't get anything at all. Not even responses to the letters we sent. That's why I'm on my way there."
"I know how hard mining is, I spent many years as a miner. I am wondering what kind of trouble they could be in, maybe we need to bring tools to dig them out if the mine has collapsed?"
Trying very hard not to think how long he was in that collapsed mine before he was finally rescued.
"That's what I'm here to find out. If the entire mine collapsed - we'll need more than just myself and the three of you. If that's the case, the organization I'm working for will have it handled. So, will you take the job? I've been waiting here for a few days already and would like to head out already. As I said, the only thing keeping me back is being forced to wait for an escort." From his body language, Barthrum can see that he does look eager to go. As a gust of wind blows, Don-Jon Raskin shifts his eyes to look at something behind you for a moment, and then at Dolgrim, and then back at the others, expecting an answer. If any of you look back, you don't see anything out of the ordinary.
"Great! First light is good, I'll be waiting right here. Don't leave me hanging though." The man then wishes you goodnight and heads back to the Stonehill Inn. Looking now, you see he walks with huge, though rather slow and heavy steps. Unless you follow Don-Jon Raskin back into the inn, you're left behind near the shrine. The sun begins to finally set now, as half of it is already hidden behind the horizon. It will only get darker and darker and will reach astronomical dusk in about an hour.
Dolgrim nods at Thenmer and Barthrum and heads to the bar and waits to be served. Give me a mug of ale and something for my friends her. Says he to the Toblen/The one who's serving. We are looking for some Don-Jon Fella, that pompous coward we have for a mayor said he is looking for an escort.
It takes some time before Toblen gets to you and pours you three mugs of ale. "Oh, Mr Raskin? It's about time someone takes him. He's robbing my other customers of all their money, so to speak. He's over there - the third on the right sitting by the gambling table." As you look where Toblen described, he moves on to serve someone demanding another mug, although you notice Toblen pouring water instead of any kind of beverage. "On the house," he says. The demander doesn't seem to notice the different drink - they're too drunk to notice such inconveniences.
The man Toblen was pointing at - the third on the right sitting by the gambling table - is a dark skinned man, taller than most men though not extremely so (think ~190 cm) who has a serious look on his face as he studies his cards. Everyone are looking at him with anticipation. "You know, it reminds me of a time I went hunting orcs and ended up fighting ghosts. You think you're going to have a guaranteed victory, but suddenly you find yourself in a grim situation. I may have survived that but... this isn't exactly the same." He smirks, then drops his cards down, showing everyone his hand. You cannot see them from where you sit, but from the reactions of the other gamblers, it's quite clear he won, and the others are not happy about it.
Varielky
Thanks Tob, says Dolgrim and puts 15 coppers on the desk as the payment for the ale. Well, shall we? Turns he to his companions.
Barthrum would actually like to roll an insight check about this tale he just heard the subject spin. 18.
He instinctively doesn't believe a word of it, but he might be telling the truth.. we'll see.
19
Barthrum can't tell for sure, but it doesn't seem like the man is lying. Of course, it's always hard to tell, but his body language doesn't suggest anything in particular, beyond satisfaction with his victory clearly displayed as he takes the losers' money.
Varielky
Barthrum replies to Dolgrim, "Sure. By the story he just told it sounds like he will be able to handle himself in every situation. I would be wary of hidden dangers of this mission lest he wouldn't need to pay someone for additional protection. It might be protection from other gamblers though. I will stay behind and observe the room."
Thenmer considers. The man is possibly a cheat or rogue of some sort.
"I'm not sure he is a man to be trusted but we do not know much of him yet. As he will be in a good mood from his win perhaps now is a good time to talk with him."
He walks up to the tall man and looks up at him even though his is sitting down
"Good day, my name is Thenmer. My colleagues and I have heard you are in need of an escort, we would like to discuss it with you when you have a moment"
(OOC: I've put the current notices from the job board in a spoiler on the first post of this thread. I'll update it every time it changes, so you can always go back and see it.)
The man looks at you, assessing you for a moment. "Well, I think it's time I stop anyway before folks spend all their money on me. Gotta let them have a chance to earn some so I can win more later, you know?" He stands up from his chair, accompanied by the other gamblers' protests as they thirst for a victory, and now you see how tall he really is. The "a bit above average" assessment was on point. "Let's go up to my room, speak in private, shall we?"
Thenmer doesn't notice it, but the other two do. A bee flies above some of the inn's guests. Some of them notice while others don't. Those who notice wave it away and the bee keeps flying. When it reaches Dolgrim, it circles around him for a moment but, for him and anyone else who tries to follow, it suddenly disappears - not turning invisible, but it flew so fast you lost track of it and now you don't hear nor see nor feel it anymore.
Do you follow? Do you object to going upstairs? Anything you want to do prior?
Varielky
Barthrum says to Dolgrim, "You see that? That was weird..."
And he catches up with Thenmer in a few quick steps. "Hello, I'm Barthrum. We are not saying that we will take the job, just wanted to check in with you to see if it is still available. I'd rather we go outside to discuss, we have seen enough tight spaces for today."
Must have had it in the clothes or something, do not worry, it will ignore you unless you start waving your hands around or doing other sudden moves.
Dolgrim, with and obvious joy in his eyes, tries to spot where the bee went and doesn't pay much attention to the conversation
Yes yes, the job. says he finally and joins the others in whatever they are doing
"Well, had it not been available, I wouldn't be here, would I? I don't mind going outside, I just thought you'd rather a warm room than the chilly wind. As long as it's not in the middle of a room full of people." The man leads outside and walks a few yards before stopping and turning to you. You're near the Shrine of Luck, but there aren't many people around, even if it's usually the 'plaza' of the town.
"So, what do you wanna know? The organization I work for insisted that I get an escort and made a deal with this town's mayor, so I was obliged to wait. I'd go by myself if I could. All I was told is that there are problems with production in the mine - nothing gets delivered. My task is to see why. The journey from here to the mine takes almost a day, so if we leave at dawn tomorrow we'll reach just before sunset. Hopefully, we'll be back before this time the day after. Anyway, you just need to escort me to the mine - you don't have to help me scold the miners there if it takes too long. What say you, up for the job?"
Varielky
Barthrum looks at the others and back at the man. "How did you fight the ghosts?"
"What sort of miners do you have there? Are they a sort that would usually be unreliable?"
Thenmer tries to remember all the mines, all the miners, that he has known. He is not quite sure he can quite place this particular mine but of course he did not work in all of them before the disaster.
"With my dagger of course! It may not have been the most effective, but neither was the ghost. Everyone else that was with me ran away, but I kept swinging my dagger as the ghost tried to hit me with their sword!" The man exclaims, but then continues in a calmer voice: "But in the end, we realised neither of us can hurt the other. My weapons passed through his body and his passed through mine. I never said I killed the ghost, did I? Once we realised the fight is pointless, we tipped our hats to each other and parted ways." He then begins to laugh. A rolling, thundering laugh that sounds like a giant, if that makes any sense. When he calms down, he continues: "I won't say they're unreliable. Sure, they did let down a few times, but a work in the mine isn't always finding a huge gold pile hidden under a rock. This time, however, we didn't get anything at all. Not even responses to the letters we sent. That's why I'm on my way there."
Varielky
Thenmer looks at him levelly
"I know how hard mining is, I spent many years as a miner. I am wondering what kind of trouble they could be in, maybe we need to bring tools to dig them out if the mine has collapsed?"
Trying very hard not to think how long he was in that collapsed mine before he was finally rescued.
"That's what I'm here to find out. If the entire mine collapsed - we'll need more than just myself and the three of you. If that's the case, the organization I'm working for will have it handled. So, will you take the job? I've been waiting here for a few days already and would like to head out already. As I said, the only thing keeping me back is being forced to wait for an escort." From his body language, Barthrum can see that he does look eager to go.
As a gust of wind blows, Don-Jon Raskin shifts his eyes to look at something behind you for a moment, and then at Dolgrim, and then back at the others, expecting an answer. If any of you look back, you don't see anything out of the ordinary.
Varielky
"Well if they are in trouble we don't want to leave them stuck there any longer than we have do."
He shudders at the memory
Barthrum nods, "We leave at first light."
"Great! First light is good, I'll be waiting right here. Don't leave me hanging though." The man then wishes you goodnight and heads back to the Stonehill Inn. Looking now, you see he walks with huge, though rather slow and heavy steps.
Unless you follow Don-Jon Raskin back into the inn, you're left behind near the shrine. The sun begins to finally set now, as half of it is already hidden behind the horizon. It will only get darker and darker and will reach astronomical dusk in about an hour.
What do you all do now?
Varielky
Barthrum says, "Time to dry off, eat and sleep. Right?"
(he's proposing a long rest)