Is it just me or to all the selected characters go to the same link?
They did, and they are fixed. Apologies!
Also, now would be as good a time as any to address this topic: Standing orders.
In combat situations, we will be sticking to a 1 day maximum per turn to keep fights moving and keep the action going. If I don't hear from somebody, that is totally fine. Life happens. However, I don't want you or your character to lose their action, and the group would like to keep playing. Please choose 1 or 2 default actions that your character would take in a fight, and that would almost always be possible. Please PM me what those would be, and I will use those to determine how your character would act if you can't post. If none of the default actions are possible, I will try to use the Dodge action, or otherwise, preserve the character as best possible. Thanks all!
hehe. We have a lot of halfling barbarians, a wizard and a monk...
what? we have 1 halfing and 1 barabarian? (both my character)
EDIT: oh wait, 2 halfings! sorry! but still, only 2 in a 7 people party.
The DM already explained it was a joke, but I'll make it more clear. Before the DM fixed the links 5 of them lead to your character, so it seemed as though the party was made up of 5 halfling barbarians. As you see now, it's not the case, and it never was the case.
That would have been pretty funny though! A group of identical tiny angry men running around and making everyone’s day either a lot better or a lot worse
Don't worry guys, we'll take a trip to the local witch and get you all turned into halflings with rage issues soon enough haha! /s sorry about the initial links, not sure what happened.
Find somebody to polymorph the rest of us into halflings, then get mirror image on everyone. That'll give us a small army of 28 halflings. Anyone who dares stand in our way will surely perish!
Hello All! I have sent all of you group PMs that will serve as the initial pbp threads. I have split the group for the intro to give all of you an opportunity early to interact without talking over each other. I have included everyone in each thread though so that they can enjoy the story! Please feel free to drive the story and take creative liberty with the environment. Assume you succeed at an action unless it has a high degree of difficulty. If there is a detail that is important to the story or you have questions about the town, I'll interject and fill in the blanks.
Hello all! We're bring the whole party back here! I'll post the subthreads here in case any wandering forum watchers are interested, but let's put any new content here moving forward.
Bryn, it's another beautiful day for a walkabout, morning dew on the grass, and a warm sun overhead. Bryn, you just left Amphail after a quick stop to the blacksmith shop to pick up your order. Now you're leaving once more, on your way wherever the wind takes you, without a longsword, but with two fine daggers in its place. On your way out of town, you cross paths with another wood-elf drawing a hand cart somberly up the road. You don't think much of it until you notice the two dead bodies it carries. That is a shock in itself until you realize you've seen these two before!
Vedui, Early this morning a messenger came into the mortuary with dark tidings. An older couple was found dead in their cabin in the woods. As the most junior mortician's apprentice, you naturally got the unpleasant duty of retrieving the bodies. When you arrived at the scene, the house looked like a whirlwind had passed through. Shattered windows, broken doors, crushed pottery scattered everywhere. This had been a violent end. The bodies lay unnaturally on the floor, faces drawn in grotesque death masks. However, a curious fact caught your attention: There were no cuts or damage done by humans to these poor souls. The only wounds appeared to come from thousands of tiny, razor-sharp puncture marks, all over their bodies. Something to examine back at the mortuary. After taking a minute to compose yourself, you loaded the bodies and headed back into town. On the way, you come across another wood-elf, who appears shocked by the grisly contents of your cart.
Bryn, Vedui, please describe yourselves and tell me, what do you do next?
Vedui
Vedui is small elf, 5'6" in height and wiry thin. He wears simple loose fiting pants and a tunic. All Dark grey in color and relatively plain. A black rag is wrapped around his head keeping his hair out of his face, which is dark and long. Blue eyes stair from his face, and his ears are clearly visible.
He will speak to the stranger in Elvish, however it can be noted that the elvish has a strange accent, almost as if Vedui hasn't spoken it in some time.
"Well met stranger, my name is Vedui and I am simply transporting these poor unfortunates to the mortuary." Noticing the other elves hesitation, Vedui will add "Are you ok sir? Have you not seen death before? I can tell you things of it....and while I would say that there is nothing to be afraid of, that wouldn't be fully the case."
Bryn
Upon recognizing the unfortunate victims in the cart Bryn, an unremarkable looking elf of 5'8", around 150lbs, and dressed in mottled shades of green, brown, and gray that would easily blend in with the local forest, opened his mouth to hail the other elf. No sooner than he had started to form the words of greeting he heard himself being hailed by the other first.
"Well met to you as well. I am fine, and no stranger to death, though I do believe I met those in your cart when they were in much more lively state. Please tell me, did you find these unfortunate souls in a forest cabin a ways off the road?"
Vedui
Vedui nods.
"Yes, I was called to retrieve the bodies, and unless there is another cabin you speak of that must be the same. The cabin was in shambles. It did not look a pleasant death. I can only expect magic." after pausing Vedui will ask. "And what was your business with the Cabin? Do you know them?"
Bryn
“I hail from the northern High Forest and have been on a walkabout exploring Faerün for a short while by our standards, but long while human standards. As I was walking in the wood a few days back a noisy commotion caught my attention and so I investigated. I found a group of what I assume were bandits taunting a couple that they had tied up outside their cabin. The unskilled cowards were not expecting anyone to come to the couple’s aid so luckily I was able to run them off. After I freed the couple they invited me to stay and share a meal. I ended up spending the night in case the bandits decided to return. They did not return and I left midday the following day with the two of them happy, thankful, and very much alive.”
Bryn walks over to the cart for a closer look.
“Do you have any idea, other than just ‘magic’, of what could have done this to them?”
DM:
Bryn, you notice two things.
1. The puncture wounds, although so packed as to be nearly indistinguishable from each other, upon closer inspection are grouped into tiny, v shaped patterns, like the bite of a wolf or hyena, but much smaller.
2. It strikes you as odd that the creatures didn't eat the bodies.
Vedui notices something is different about the bodies since he left the cottage, but can't figure out what. He does have more tools at the mortuary to work with if he wanted to look deeper...
Bryn
Bryn peers at the corpses more closely. “It is just me or do those all those cuts look like tiny little bite makes? If they are bite marks, why weren’t they eaten? Most puzzling.... If they had been mauled by a bear or a pack of wolves I could accept their passing and be on my way but this?” Gestures at the corpses, “I’ve never seen anything like it in my travels... it feels ‘off’ to me. They shared a meal and opened up their home to me when they were well within their rights to say ‘Begone’. They deserved better than this, I need to find out what really happened to them and, if needed, met out the proper justice so their souls may find peace.”
Vedui
Vedui nods. "I'm not sure what these marks mean, and perhaps back at the mortuary we can find out more. Their cabin was destroyed inside as well like a whirlwind had hit it...."
Bryn
Bryn nods his agreement, ”After we are done at the mortuary it might be worthwhile to take a closer look at the cabin. Please lead the way to your mortuary, hope you don’t mind my coming along with you.”
DM
So you guys head back through town to the mortuary.
Jormand: You reach the crest of a small, grass-covered hill, and see before you a small town of about 700 souls. It is a typical farming town, except the careful observer may note a larger number of large, well-appointed houses than may be common. You also hear the soft sound of music wafting over the hills: It must be festival day.
You were tasked to seek and apprehend a fraudulent dwarf artifact merchant by the name of Deek "The Fish". Your bounty contractor told you to look for a contact in Amphail by the name of Talon. They could be found in the market square, and to let them know who you are, you should buy 1 green apple and 1 pomegranate in the market every morning 2 hours after sunrise until they make contact. That's about 45 minutes from now.
Jared, You were surprised to hear from your mother Ulma via sending message a few nights ago that you were assigned your first mission! She told you to be on the lookout for a dwarf selling fake dwarven artifacts and to be careful, as he was suspected of more than fraud. She also mentioned that external an external bounty hunter was coming to assist, and gave the same instructions for the meeting.
Jormund and Jared, please describe your characters and tell me: What you do next?
Jared
"My very first mission." Jared thinks happily. "Jared my boy, this is the day that will change the rest of your life." he thinks and half mumbles to himself as lies in bed, having just woken up this morning. With happy thoughts and great expectations, Jared climbs out of bed. He removes and places his nightshirt on its hook and looks at himself in the halfling sized mirror in his room then begins his morning routines of stretching and a few calisthenics. After, he washes a bit, dresses for work, and bites into that apple that has sit on his nightstand all night. With one more glance in the mirror, and giving his reflection a thumbs up, Jared makes his way out the door. Whirling back around and going back inside to get, and place a couple of daggers on his person, "You never leave without your tools." says his mother's voice in his head. After locking his door, Jared makes his way to the tavern. "Being a cook is a respectable cover for a halfling." the voice of his mother echos in his head. "And it doesn't hurt that you get to eat for free," Jared adds as he makes his way to work.
Jared walks, not runs to work. As he makes his way through the sleeping town, he glances about, taking in the sites and looking for anything new or different that might have occurred while he was asleep. If he finds anything he will make a note of it mentally then write it down later. As he walks he thinks over Ulma's message. "A bounty hunter coming to help, how exciting," Jared thinks to himself. "I wonder what experiences this chap has had. Is he rugged and surly?" "Most bounty hunters are." he mentally confirms. Jared does ponder how one can tell if a dwarven artifact is fake and who this Mister Deek "the Fish" might be but, he shrugs his shoulders. "It will work itself out I am sure." he thinks and moves on.
Finally finding his way to the tavern, Jared will drop the apple core into the waste bin, find his apron, and then pulls out a couple of pots from the shelf to start the bone broth and any other things on the menu for today. Once done he will inspect the kitchen, clean what is needed cleaning and then settles in to work and wait for this mysterious contact.
"This is your moment old boy." Jared thinks to himself. "Don't blow it!"
Jormund
Jormund pauses briefly to let his belly stop rumbling after seeing the town and imagining the food of a festival marketplace. "Yum I hope. These top-dwellers do cook some worthwhile fare." And on he marches into the town to see if reality measures up to wishes...
About a half-hour later a rather large-ish dwarf walks into the market area, an obvious outsider. He looks all greys and blacks with patches of speckled white through his long, unbraided beard. His ruddy earth-tone face, the lighter flesh of some scarring near his right eye, and the brown of his backpack add the only color to his determinedly metallic, black-white, and gray-tone form. He seems a bit taller than the average dwarf, but still as wide, making his outline only slight rectangular rather than squarish like his relatives. He wears no helmet, but a shawl of chainmail shrouds his head and he jingles a bit as he moves. There must be some padding dulling most of the sound of his armor. Otherwise he looks like he'd rattle like a curtain of metal.
His large hands look weather- and work-worn. A broad, full-sized hammer of the type used for battle is attached diagonally to the front of his chest. Just behind his shoulders shows the shoulder-butt end of what is likely a crossbow. And covering nearly his whole back is a large metal shield. It is burnished to show the metal's qualities, not pearly but smooth and undented. Painted on its outer surface is a symbol of nine white rings interconnected like mail.
The dwarf pauses at the edge of the market to look around, grumbles something to himself like, "Lessee, fruit sellers..."
From there he walks over to a stand with a large mound of healthy looking green apples and greets the merchant with a hearty, "Hallow! How much for one of these grannies?"
Receiving an answer he pays the fellow and starts toward another stall.
The next one has a small bin of ruby red pomegranates that seem to have caught his attention. To this vendor, a woman, he greets her with a kindly, "G'day! And may I offer you something for one of these gems?" as he hefts the largest pomegranate where she can plainly see it. She names a price, and he hands her more than one coin from a pouch or pocket that must be in the inside of his black belt.
From there he moves to a central position in the market between the two fruit sellers. He visibly parks himself to the side of the thoroughfare and then audibly bites a half of the green apple in one act of gusto. But his eyes stay open and out toward the crowd, like he's watching the tapestry of people going by, his very own breakfast roadshow.
DM
Jared, after getting the kitchen in order, you realize that your mother's message specified an apple and a pomegranate: the tavern only stocks apples! However you remember that Marcin's Fruit Emporium in the market usually carries the exotic fruits used by the wealthier households. By now, it's almost 2 hours past sunrise!
Just then the tavern owner Boris shouts over to you. "Jared! We're having a lunch special for the festival tonight. Stuffed pigeon! I need 50 birds plucked, gutted, and on the grill an hour ago! Move those fancy blades of yours! Don't make me send you back to your momma's apron strings again!" He chuckles.
What do you do?
Jared
"Blast it all." Jared thinks to himself. With that, Jared hurries out the kitchen door and starts making his way towards the front door. "Mr. Boris, Sir" he says. "We are out of one of the main ingredients I need for the stuffing and marinate. Pomegranate. We do not have any in stock and it seems it is missing from last week's farmer's order. I only need.." Jared stops and pretends to count over and over then holds up his hand, "5 of them for the birds. I will be right back with them. I put the kettle on and the broth hasn't come to a boil just yet, but I need to get there and back as quick as I can." Jared states.
Instinctively Jared waits for Boris's reply and questions.
"Trying a new recipe again, eh Jared?" Boris says dubiously. Jared, roll a deception check.
Jared
Deception: 17
"Not that new Boris ole boy," Jared says with a smile. "It is a recipe used by one of the chefs of the great houses in Waterdeep. Every time he used it people would throw money his way just to take a small bite of its delicate taste. Just think Boris, you serve this, then those high up muckied mucks that parade themselves around like peacocks will be beatin' down your door to get served. This could lead to you retiring earlier than expected, richer and much fatter for it." Jared says with a smile.
DM
"Fatter eh? I'll have your skinny little hide for such talk!" Although he spoke gruffly, you could see the glint of greed shimmering beneath those scruffy eyebrows. "Off with you now! Go get your fancy fruits, but you best be back before your broth boils, or it'll be you in the pot! He says, with the barest hint of a grin.
Jared
"Back before ya know it." Jared says with a grin and dashes off.
Once outside Jared will rush to the fruit seller. Once there he will speak to the seller. "How much for a pomegranate?" he asks.
Seeing someone new who may be interested in pomegranates, Jormund moves back toward the fruitseller’s stand, close enough to hear without being too impolite, as though he may want to buy another. When he’s sure they’re discussing the red fruit, he turns his full attention to the hin buyer with a half-eaten pomegranate in one hand and an apple core the other, “Hullo there townsman. Please pardon the interruption, the poms are nice today…, but it looks a celebration day, and I’d like to find something a bit more filling. Know where I could get me talon on a fat fish in these parts?”
Jared
Jared turns to regard the tall dwarf. "I know of a fish that satisfy your grumbling bell Master Dwarf. Just let me buy this pomegranate and 1 green apple." Jared turns back only for a moment to buy the two things needed, then turns back to the dwarf. "I am Jared Talon, Master Chef of the Boar & Tankard, and would happily prepare the finest fish a dwarf such as yourself has ever eaten," he says with a slight bow. "And who do I have the pleasure of meeting?" Jared asks,
Jormund
“Well met, Master Talon! I be Jormund of the family Edgebeveller, kin to Clan Battlehammer of Mithril Hall and servant of the Forge-father and Mail-maker, who be shield of the shields and guide of the just and them what bring the unjust to justice.”
At this declaration he pulls his mail gauntlet from its place at his hip, grips it in his fist and folds it over his warhammer-covered chest before bowing his head toward Jared.
“And I’d be much obliged to sample some boar and some tankard if ye be willing, especially if ye be the chef! And as to the fish, let us discuss, please, after I’ve placed my own apple and pomegranate peels into a compost as they seem to have served their purpose… appetizer to me breakfast!”
He guffaws at his own joke and then smiles courteously enough through his whiskers. “After you, sir.”
Jared
Jared smiles then will turn his attention back to the fruit seller. He will purchase 4 pomegranates, intending to make sure his story to Boris had some validity.
"This way Master Battlehammer." Jared says and starts to walk away towards the tavern. While walking Jared will talk to the tall dwarf. "I am the main chef for the tavern and have a large task ahead of me to cook a 50 squab banquet so, it may be some time before we can talk about business," Jared says in a lowered tone. "but, Master Dwarf," Jareds tone returns to a normal level. "you can sit, drink, feast or sleep the day away if you like. The Boar & Tankard has quite lovely rooms, I live there myself and find it quite accommodating. Boris can be a bit harsh and sometimes rude but, he is a human after all and they do those things, he will provide a paying customer most anything they desire."
Jared walks along, leading Jormund to the tavern and will open the door and call inside. "See what a great employee I am Boris? Not only do I create amazing delicacies for you to sell to customers, but I also go out to buy ingredients and come back with the ingredients and a paying customer as well!"
Rays of morning light shine through the floor-to-ceiling windows that line the main hall of your family's country house, casting long bands of light and shadow across the marble floor. To most, they would create a beautiful contrast, but they remind you more of giant prison bars than anything else. You were summoned to the hall at the request of your mother Melina Querreth, a severe, brooding woman who values efficiency and order above all else.
When not making your life miserable, she also serves as the family's defacto event planner, community organizer, and overall busybody. She normally spends her time at the family's manor in Waterdeep, but arrived unexpectedly last night, and was unusually quiet about the purposes for her visit. This morning she was all action, appearing to concentrate her willpower and energy into the hanging of banners, fussing over table cloths, and generally terrorizing the servants.
"Ah! About time you got up! Such waste of a morning... Ah well, no mind. I have some very exciting news for you!" Said Melina, without making direct eye contact. "Your brother Joran is coming back to town from his ambassadorship in Thay and we're having a party! I hear he is bringing with him a lovely gentleman from that country who is looking for a wife of a more... exotic nature. This will be an excellent opportunity for us... I mean you! He is an heir to a great estate and is rumored to be very wealthy.
You will go into town to the market today and see the tailor. I am giving you 100 gold to get a dress that will impress your potential suitor! I'm also sending along that new knight we hired, what's her name again? Alli? Abi? Ann? Yes!" Turning to an armor-clad girl in the corner, she says "Dame Ann! Escort Rowan to the tailor and see that she stays out of trouble? and Quinry," she added to a nearby halfling " fetch horses for the ladies and go with them as well. It's not becoming for a young lady to carry their own shopping!"
With that, she turned back to the servants, but then over her shoulder calls " Make sure to wear a cloak to hide yourself on the way, and no books this time!!"
Rowan, Ann and Quinry, you are left together in the middle of the family's hall, bustling servants all around. Please describe your characters and tell me, what do you do next?
Rowan
The young, blue-skinned tiefling woman's eyes never leave the floor as her mother prattles on about parties and suitors. Her hands clench into fists, hidden by the draping sleeves of her white and gold dress. "Yes, mother," she finally replies, biting back a retort. Once Melina is sufficiently out of earshot, however, she starts muttering under her breath. "Thought I was finally away from that stupid, self-important, gold-digging..." followed by a long string of curses in a different language. Rowan turns on her heel, going to fetch a cloak. On the way, she checks the hidden pocket in her skirt for her most important possessions - a wand, a palm-sized journal, and a tiny silver dagger - thankful she'd had the foresight to place them there before coming into the hall.
Walking back towards the others a minute later, she fastens the navy blue garment around her shoulders and pulls the hood over her long, curly hair, though it does little to disguise the horns arcing upwards from her forehead. "Let's go, before 'her majesty' decides you need a suitor, too," she tells Quinry. Suddenly remembering the new presence in the hall, she glances towards the knight, Ann, and offers a small, forced smile.
Quinry
A short, ruggedly dressed halfling, with green eyes, and large mop of light brown hair swepped to one side, black paint like markings on his face, forming 2 lines of each cheek and 3 on the forehead, tall leather boots, and a playful expression, say dripping with annoyance "yes ma'am." before dashing out of the room.
he returns to the others, leading 2 pure white stallions. "it feels so weird not having my weapon upon my back! I've worn it my entire life, it just doesn't feel right without it..."
"wait... what did you say about a suitor for me? no no no, I'm much too young, and I need to return to my people first."
Ann
Ann steps closer upon being called. She finds a place close to Melina and stands still, looking a bit stiff, with the way she tries to stay in a formal position. Before Melina leaves, Ann makes sure to give her a nod to confirm the things asked of her.
The young human's pink hair is braided and sat on her shoulder. One of her hands lays by the rapier on her hip, while the other has nothing to hold on to on the other side. Her armor is made of only leather, although it's mostly covered by the clothes she wears on top.
As she waits for Rowan to go and come back, Ann doesn't move an inch nor says anything, her body still tense with fear of being deemed inadequate for the job. Only upon being given attention by Rowan's forced smile does Ann put down her guard. "Good morning, miss." She says, giving a small nod to go with it.
Quinry
"well, as much as I want to continue with you two, you should probably go on without me. I doubt Melina would take well to a mere stable boy coming with..."
Rowan
"It was a joke," Rowan replies with a slight chuckle, shaking her head. "Besides, I'm a bit young for this too, but that doesn't seem to bother her." In a practiced motion, she climbs up into the saddle of one of the horses. "Good morning, Ann," she adds in response to the other woman's greeting.
"You know, these horses seem a bit rowdy to me..." Rowan looks down at her perfectly calm steed, then back up at Quinry with a mischievous smile. "If one of them were to run away, I don't think Ann or I could possibly calm them down. And mother would be so upset if she lost one of her horses. It would be best if somebody who knew what they were doing came along. Somebody like, say, I don't know, you?"
Ann
Just following with directions, for now, Ann approaches the other horse and climbs onto its saddle. She gets it on her first try, but it takes her more time than Rowan, a bit on the preparation to start, and a bit on making sure she was careful with someone else's horse.
She looks at what Rowan was trying to do with a raised eyebrow at first. Ann knew exactly what was going on, but she felt unease at letting it happen. Ultimately, she chooses to support the idea. "I have very little experience with horses. That's not the point, though. Any help is good help."
Quinry
"of course." Quinry's mouth curves into a mischievous smile "the horses seem very badly behaved. well, we should embark than!" as he talks of the horse's ill-behavior, they stand calmly, waiting to be commanded to move.
DM
Mounted and ready to set off, the three of you head to town. Do you want to do anything as you ride together?
Rowan
Once they've set off, pure panic sets in on Rowan's face. At first she was just frustrated with her mother for interfering with her life, but now that she's had time to think about it and realize the implications, she's terrified. Her hands wind tightly in the reins to stop them from shaking. She doesn't say anything unless the others do, eyes fixed on the horizon.
Quinry
OOC: Quinry can see the fright. can I roll insight for why she is frightened?
Quinry, you know that Rowan is frightened, but you don't know why. It's been a while since she's been on a horse, maybe that's it?
Ann is new to both of you.
Ann
During their travel, Ann is focused on her task. Somewhere during the start of their ride out of town, she pulls up her shield and keeps it on her as a safeguard.
Her eyes follow along the path and out in the nearby area, always alert to any possibility of danger. Ann doesn't fail to notice Rowan is panicking while quiet, but after almost asking what it was about, she reasons it had nothing to do with the travel. "She'd have told me if she saw anything dangerous right here, or, most likely, I would've spotted it first," she thinks.
Not wanting to get in the middle of issues that did not belong to her, Ann stays quiet. Her eyes return to the road, and there they stay until anything happens.
DM
So you continue on to Amphail in silence, (unless you want to do something) walking past several cottages, a traveling merchant's caravan, and several lone travelers. As you enter town, you cross paths with a old, wizened dwarf followed by a mule-cart that is filled to overflowing with books and various sundry items of peculiar nature. The tailor is just up ahead in the market square. What do you do next?
Rowan
Rowan is pulled out of her thoughts as her eyes catch on the cart full of books and trinkets. Her mother had explicitly told her not to waste time on books.... but what she didn't know wouldn't hurt her. Easing her horse to a stop, she smoothly dismounts. "Give me five minutes. Please." Without waiting for a response, she quickly walks over and flags down the dwarf. "Well met. Would you mind if I took a look at your wares?"
Ann
Ann leads her horse towards following Rowan. It's not at a fast pace, in fact, much slower than Rowan herself. She looks at Quinry as she starts moving. "Let's go. Can you take the other horse with you?" Seeing where the Tiefling was going, Ann raises an eyebrow, but the concern she feels is minimal while they're all inside the town, where guards were bound to be patrolling every so often.
Ann finally catches up, when then, she checks the cart from up closer. Her eyes go up in thought as she tries to piece together what she knew, but she decides to ask Quinry for an answer. "Why was she ordered not to look at books? It's not like any of them are dangerous."
Quinry
"Yep, I can take it. I don't know why. My guess is Melina just enjoys being horrible to Rowan." Quinry says, following Ann. As he reaches the cart, he says "ooo, so many books. I can't read very well, but that really is a lot. I can't say I've seen so many books in one place, other than your private library"
DM
Quinry, you know that Rowan is in Amphail because of an incident in Waterdeep. The gossip among the servants mentioned "devil's trickery" and "magic" You don't know more unless Rowan chose to share.
Rowan
((Rowan probably wouldn't have shared. Despite how much she trusts Quinry, she knows that the more people who know about what she's doing, the more likely word is to get back to her mother. She's done her best to keep everything under wraps.))
DM
Rowan, the dwarf spreads before you a wide array of histories, romance novels, and maps of far off lands. He also has several scroll cases locked on the seat of the carts.
He also displays a wide variety of trinkets, bits and bobbins, mostly of common make. However, several items such out: Most notable are a rune inscribed circlet, a small shield made of intricrate overlapping metal plates, and a set of lock picks held in a leather case decorated by a two faced man.
"What'll it be, my dear?"
Rowan
Rowan spends a minute looking over the spread of books, but none of them are particularly interesting to her. She can find most anything she wants on those subjects in her family's collections. She can't think of why she'd need a shield or lock picks, but the runes on the circlet indicate that it might have some sort of magical property. If she's allowed, she picks it up and runs her fingers over the inscription. "Can you tell me more about this circlet? What do the runes mean?" As she's asking this, she notices the scroll cases on the seat. She can't help but think of the spell scrolls she's read about. "And what do you have in those cases?
DM
Ah, those runes are a most remarkable sort that allow you to speak to anybody in their native language, and understand them as well! It only works for 1 hour per day, but at only 75 gold, it's still a steal! As far as scrolls are concerned, I have one that contains the secrets of molding earth with sheet force of will, and another that summons an invisible servant to do your bidding! Lastly, I have a magical tome that contains the secrets of drawing on the chaos of the weave to strike your enemy down! The first two can be yours for only 50 gold, while the others are available for 100 gold a piece.
Rowan
Rowan considers for a long moment. The scrolls were especially tempting, and if she dipped into the dress money she could afford one. But, if what she had left wasn't enough to buy a dress, her mother would kill her. "Unfortunately, I'm a bit low on funds at the moment. Perhaps another time. Will you be here for long?"
DM
"Ah, well make sure to let all your friends know that Tang is always available for their literary or arcane needs! I'm headed up the road now to Waterdeep, but I hope we'll cross paths again soon! "
With that, the old dwarf turns back to his cart and begins packing up. As you walk away, you see him begin to lock up the scrolls again, but the items remain lying out on his drop-down table next to the cart, at least for the moment.
Rowan
"I'll be sure to look out for you." Slightly disappointed, Rowan rejoins the others on their horses. If only she had thought to bring more coin with her... Still, just learning that such items existed was an exciting discovery. Barring any other actions or conversation, she'll continue on her way towards the tailor.
Hello All! Let's set the scene real quick. Here is a map of Amphail Annotated with the locations of the relevant buildings so far. Blue is the tavern, Red is the mortuary, and Yellow is the tailor.
Rowan, Quinry, and Ann are entering the market square headed into town from the south, Jared and Jormund are at the door of the tavern, and Bryn and Vedui are coming down the main street into town from the north toward the mortuary.
Unlike the picture, the town square is filled with market stalls, people, and animals milling about. In the middle of the marketplace, there is a stage that currently has a performer beginning a lively ditty on a panpipe, while a troupe of dancers winds their way through the crowd.
Everybody give me a perception check. Anybody proficient with Arcana can roll that as well.
They did, and they are fixed. Apologies!
Also, now would be as good a time as any to address this topic: Standing orders.
In combat situations, we will be sticking to a 1 day maximum per turn to keep fights moving and keep the action going. If I don't hear from somebody, that is totally fine. Life happens. However, I don't want you or your character to lose their action, and the group would like to keep playing. Please choose 1 or 2 default actions that your character would take in a fight, and that would almost always be possible. Please PM me what those would be, and I will use those to determine how your character would act if you can't post. If none of the default actions are possible, I will try to use the Dodge action, or otherwise, preserve the character as best possible. Thanks all!
Lenalia BrightSong Bard Sorcerer in Coliseum of Conquest
DM For Amphail Adventures
No worries, we’ve all made our fair share of cut and paste errors. :D
Oriovar - Wood Elf Cleric (1) - Sword Coast Campaign
Roy Quigley - Human Artificer (1) - Karrion's Spelljammer Academy Starboard
hehe. We have a lot of halfling barbarians, a wizard and a monk...
So what you’re saying is that we have some ferocious anklebiters? :D :D I mean that in a fun way. Unusual parties are usually the most enjoyable.
Oriovar - Wood Elf Cleric (1) - Sword Coast Campaign
Roy Quigley - Human Artificer (1) - Karrion's Spelljammer Academy Starboard
Damn it ;~;
I’m not worried about it, I was just having some fun.
Oriovar - Wood Elf Cleric (1) - Sword Coast Campaign
Roy Quigley - Human Artificer (1) - Karrion's Spelljammer Academy Starboard
The DM already explained it was a joke, but I'll make it more clear. Before the DM fixed the links 5 of them lead to your character, so it seemed as though the party was made up of 5 halfling barbarians. As you see now, it's not the case, and it never was the case.
(She/Her)
Velmine - Tiefling, Rogue (9), Swashbuckler - Dead in Thay
Riris Swiftwhistle - Halfling, Bard (4), College of Swords - Lost Mines of Phandelver
Rellahne Vanderboren - Half-Elf, Wizard (4), School of Abjuration - The Shackled City
Ann Hidrizo - Human, Fighter (2) - Amphail Adventures
Sha - Firbolg, Cleric (3), Twilight Domain - Hunt for the Wish Dragon
That would have been pretty funny though! A group of identical tiny angry men running around and making everyone’s day either a lot better or a lot worse
Iris - Tiefling Cleric | Cassandra - Elf Warlock | Solace - Tiefling Monk | Tempest - Hexblood Monk | Lex - Fire Genasi Barbarian
Lilyn - Triton Ranger | Candor - Changeling Bard | Echo - Changeling Warlock/Bard | Rowan - Fairy Wizard
Don't worry guys, we'll take a trip to the local witch and get you all turned into halflings with rage issues soon enough haha! /s sorry about the initial links, not sure what happened.
Lenalia BrightSong Bard Sorcerer in Coliseum of Conquest
DM For Amphail Adventures
Now methinks we need a quest for a pair of mirror image magic items for the halflings.
Jormund Edgebeveller in Amphail Adventures
Mirror image on two halflings means 8 halflings. That's more than we had originally. There's no doubt about it, this is a great plan.
(She/Her)
Velmine - Tiefling, Rogue (9), Swashbuckler - Dead in Thay
Riris Swiftwhistle - Halfling, Bard (4), College of Swords - Lost Mines of Phandelver
Rellahne Vanderboren - Half-Elf, Wizard (4), School of Abjuration - The Shackled City
Ann Hidrizo - Human, Fighter (2) - Amphail Adventures
Sha - Firbolg, Cleric (3), Twilight Domain - Hunt for the Wish Dragon
Find somebody to polymorph the rest of us into halflings, then get mirror image on everyone. That'll give us a small army of 28 halflings. Anyone who dares stand in our way will surely perish!
Iris - Tiefling Cleric | Cassandra - Elf Warlock | Solace - Tiefling Monk | Tempest - Hexblood Monk | Lex - Fire Genasi Barbarian
Lilyn - Triton Ranger | Candor - Changeling Bard | Echo - Changeling Warlock/Bard | Rowan - Fairy Wizard
Lol
I am an average mathematics enjoyer.
>Extended Signature<
Hello All! I have sent all of you group PMs that will serve as the initial pbp threads. I have split the group for the intro to give all of you an opportunity early to interact without talking over each other. I have included everyone in each thread though so that they can enjoy the story! Please feel free to drive the story and take creative liberty with the environment. Assume you succeed at an action unless it has a high degree of difficulty. If there is a detail that is important to the story or you have questions about the town, I'll interject and fill in the blanks.
Lenalia BrightSong Bard Sorcerer in Coliseum of Conquest
DM For Amphail Adventures
Hello all! We're bring the whole party back here! I'll post the subthreads here in case any wandering forum watchers are interested, but let's put any new content here moving forward.
Lenalia BrightSong Bard Sorcerer in Coliseum of Conquest
DM For Amphail Adventures
Session 0: Group 3 Bryn, Vedui
Bryn, it's another beautiful day for a walkabout, morning dew on the grass, and a warm sun overhead. Bryn, you just left Amphail after a quick stop to the blacksmith shop to pick up your order. Now you're leaving once more, on your way wherever the wind takes you, without a longsword, but with two fine daggers in its place.
On your way out of town, you cross paths with another wood-elf drawing a hand cart somberly up the road. You don't think much of it until you notice the two dead bodies it carries. That is a shock in itself until you realize you've seen these two before!
Vedui, Early this morning a messenger came into the mortuary with dark tidings. An older couple was found dead in their cabin in the woods. As the most junior mortician's apprentice, you naturally got the unpleasant duty of retrieving the bodies. When you arrived at the scene, the house looked like a whirlwind had passed through. Shattered windows, broken doors, crushed pottery scattered everywhere. This had been a violent end. The bodies lay unnaturally on the floor, faces drawn in grotesque death masks. However, a curious fact caught your attention: There were no cuts or damage done by humans to these poor souls. The only wounds appeared to come from thousands of tiny, razor-sharp puncture marks, all over their bodies. Something to examine back at the mortuary. After taking a minute to compose yourself, you loaded the bodies and headed back into town. On the way, you come across another wood-elf, who appears shocked by the grisly contents of your cart.
Bryn, Vedui, please describe yourselves and tell me, what do you do next?
Vedui
Vedui is small elf, 5'6" in height and wiry thin. He wears simple loose fiting pants and a tunic. All Dark grey in color and relatively plain. A black rag is wrapped around his head keeping his hair out of his face, which is dark and long. Blue eyes stair from his face, and his ears are clearly visible.
He will speak to the stranger in Elvish, however it can be noted that the elvish has a strange accent, almost as if Vedui hasn't spoken it in some time.
"Well met stranger, my name is Vedui and I am simply transporting these poor unfortunates to the mortuary." Noticing the other elves hesitation, Vedui will add "Are you ok sir? Have you not seen death before? I can tell you things of it....and while I would say that there is nothing to be afraid of, that wouldn't be fully the case."
Bryn
Upon recognizing the unfortunate victims in the cart Bryn, an unremarkable looking elf of 5'8", around 150lbs, and dressed in mottled shades of green, brown, and gray that would easily blend in with the local forest, opened his mouth to hail the other elf. No sooner than he had started to form the words of greeting he heard himself being hailed by the other first.
"Well met to you as well. I am fine, and no stranger to death, though I do believe I met those in your cart when they were in much more lively state. Please tell me, did you find these unfortunate souls in a forest cabin a ways off the road?"
Vedui
Vedui nods.
"Yes, I was called to retrieve the bodies, and unless there is another cabin you speak of that must be the same. The cabin was in shambles. It did not look a pleasant death. I can only expect magic." after pausing Vedui will ask. "And what was your business with the Cabin? Do you know them?"
Bryn
“I hail from the northern High Forest and have been on a walkabout exploring Faerün for a short while by our standards, but long while human standards. As I was walking in the wood a few days back a noisy commotion caught my attention and so I investigated. I found a group of what I assume were bandits taunting a couple that they had tied up outside their cabin. The unskilled cowards were not expecting anyone to come to the couple’s aid so luckily I was able to run them off. After I freed the couple they invited me to stay and share a meal. I ended up spending the night in case the bandits decided to return. They did not return and I left midday the following day with the two of them happy, thankful, and very much alive.”
Bryn walks over to the cart for a closer look.
“Do you have any idea, other than just ‘magic’, of what could have done this to them?”
DM:
Bryn, you notice two things.
1. The puncture wounds, although so packed as to be nearly indistinguishable from each other, upon closer inspection are grouped into tiny, v shaped patterns, like the bite of a wolf or hyena, but much smaller.
2. It strikes you as odd that the creatures didn't eat the bodies.
Vedui notices something is different about the bodies since he left the cottage, but can't figure out what. He does have more tools at the mortuary to work with if he wanted to look deeper...
Bryn
Bryn peers at the corpses more closely. “It is just me or do those all those cuts look like tiny little bite makes? If they are bite marks, why weren’t they eaten? Most puzzling.... If they had been mauled by a bear or a pack of wolves I could accept their passing and be on my way but this?” Gestures at the corpses, “I’ve never seen anything like it in my travels... it feels ‘off’ to me. They shared a meal and opened up their home to me when they were well within their rights to say ‘Begone’. They deserved better than this, I need to find out what really happened to them and, if needed, met out the proper justice so their souls may find peace.”
Vedui
Vedui nods. "I'm not sure what these marks mean, and perhaps back at the mortuary we can find out more. Their cabin was destroyed inside as well like a whirlwind had hit it...."
Bryn
Bryn nods his agreement, ”After we are done at the mortuary it might be worthwhile to take a closer look at the cabin. Please lead the way to your mortuary, hope you don’t mind my coming along with you.”
DM
So you guys head back through town to the mortuary.
Lenalia BrightSong Bard Sorcerer in Coliseum of Conquest
DM For Amphail Adventures
DM
Jormand: You reach the crest of a small, grass-covered hill, and see before you a small town of about 700 souls. It is a typical farming town, except the careful observer may note a larger number of large, well-appointed houses than may be common. You also hear the soft sound of music wafting over the hills: It must be festival day.
You were tasked to seek and apprehend a fraudulent dwarf artifact merchant by the name of Deek "The Fish". Your bounty contractor told you to look for a contact in Amphail by the name of Talon. They could be found in the market square, and to let them know who you are, you should buy 1 green apple and 1 pomegranate in the market every morning 2 hours after sunrise until they make contact. That's about 45 minutes from now.
Jared, You were surprised to hear from your mother Ulma via sending message a few nights ago that you were assigned your first mission! She told you to be on the lookout for a dwarf selling fake dwarven artifacts and to be careful, as he was suspected of more than fraud. She also mentioned that external an external bounty hunter was coming to assist, and gave the same instructions for the meeting.
Jormund and Jared, please describe your characters and tell me: What you do next?
Jared
"My very first mission." Jared thinks happily. "Jared my boy, this is the day that will change the rest of your life." he thinks and half mumbles to himself as lies in bed, having just woken up this morning.
With happy thoughts and great expectations, Jared climbs out of bed. He removes and places his nightshirt on its hook and looks at himself in the halfling sized mirror in his room then begins his morning routines of stretching and a few calisthenics. After, he washes a bit, dresses for work, and bites into that apple that has sit on his nightstand all night. With one more glance in the mirror, and giving his reflection a thumbs up, Jared makes his way out the door. Whirling back around and going back inside to get, and place a couple of daggers on his person, "You never leave without your tools." says his mother's voice in his head. After locking his door, Jared makes his way to the tavern.
"Being a cook is a respectable cover for a halfling." the voice of his mother echos in his head.
"And it doesn't hurt that you get to eat for free," Jared adds as he makes his way to work.
Jared walks, not runs to work. As he makes his way through the sleeping town, he glances about, taking in the sites and looking for anything new or different that might have occurred while he was asleep. If he finds anything he will make a note of it mentally then write it down later. As he walks he thinks over Ulma's message.
"A bounty hunter coming to help, how exciting," Jared thinks to himself. "I wonder what experiences this chap has had. Is he rugged and surly?"
"Most bounty hunters are." he mentally confirms.
Jared does ponder how one can tell if a dwarven artifact is fake and who this Mister Deek "the Fish" might be but, he shrugs his shoulders. "It will work itself out I am sure." he thinks and moves on.
Finally finding his way to the tavern, Jared will drop the apple core into the waste bin, find his apron, and then pulls out a couple of pots from the shelf to start the bone broth and any other things on the menu for today. Once done he will inspect the kitchen, clean what is needed cleaning and then settles in to work and wait for this mysterious contact.
"This is your moment old boy." Jared thinks to himself. "Don't blow it!"
Jormund
Jormund pauses briefly to let his belly stop rumbling after seeing the town and imagining the food of a festival marketplace. "Yum I hope. These top-dwellers do cook some worthwhile fare." And on he marches into the town to see if reality measures up to wishes...
About a half-hour later a rather large-ish dwarf walks into the market area, an obvious outsider. He looks all greys and blacks with patches of speckled white through his long, unbraided beard. His ruddy earth-tone face, the lighter flesh of some scarring near his right eye, and the brown of his backpack add the only color to his determinedly metallic, black-white, and gray-tone form. He seems a bit taller than the average dwarf, but still as wide, making his outline only slight rectangular rather than squarish like his relatives. He wears no helmet, but a shawl of chainmail shrouds his head and he jingles a bit as he moves. There must be some padding dulling most of the sound of his armor. Otherwise he looks like he'd rattle like a curtain of metal.
His large hands look weather- and work-worn. A broad, full-sized hammer of the type used for battle is attached diagonally to the front of his chest. Just behind his shoulders shows the shoulder-butt end of what is likely a crossbow. And covering nearly his whole back is a large metal shield. It is burnished to show the metal's qualities, not pearly but smooth and undented. Painted on its outer surface is a symbol of nine white rings interconnected like mail.
The dwarf pauses at the edge of the market to look around, grumbles something to himself like, "Lessee, fruit sellers..."
From there he walks over to a stand with a large mound of healthy looking green apples and greets the merchant with a hearty, "Hallow! How much for one of these grannies?"
Receiving an answer he pays the fellow and starts toward another stall.
The next one has a small bin of ruby red pomegranates that seem to have caught his attention. To this vendor, a woman, he greets her with a kindly, "G'day! And may I offer you something for one of these gems?" as he hefts the largest pomegranate where she can plainly see it. She names a price, and he hands her more than one coin from a pouch or pocket that must be in the inside of his black belt.
From there he moves to a central position in the market between the two fruit sellers. He visibly parks himself to the side of the thoroughfare and then audibly bites a half of the green apple in one act of gusto. But his eyes stay open and out toward the crowd, like he's watching the tapestry of people going by, his very own breakfast roadshow.
DM
Jared, after getting the kitchen in order, you realize that your mother's message specified an apple and a pomegranate: the tavern only stocks apples! However you remember that Marcin's Fruit Emporium in the market usually carries the exotic fruits used by the wealthier households. By now, it's almost 2 hours past sunrise!
Just then the tavern owner Boris shouts over to you. "Jared! We're having a lunch special for the festival tonight. Stuffed pigeon! I need 50 birds plucked, gutted, and on the grill an hour ago! Move those fancy blades of yours! Don't make me send you back to your momma's apron strings again!" He chuckles.
What do you do?
Jared
"Blast it all." Jared thinks to himself. With that, Jared hurries out the kitchen door and starts making his way towards the front door.
"Mr. Boris, Sir" he says. "We are out of one of the main ingredients I need for the stuffing and marinate. Pomegranate. We do not have any in stock and it seems it is missing from last week's farmer's order. I only need.." Jared stops and pretends to count over and over then holds up his hand, "5 of them for the birds. I will be right back with them. I put the kettle on and the broth hasn't come to a boil just yet, but I need to get there and back as quick as I can." Jared states.
Instinctively Jared waits for Boris's reply and questions.
"Trying a new recipe again, eh Jared?" Boris says dubiously. Jared, roll a deception check.
Jared
Deception: 17
"Not that new Boris ole boy," Jared says with a smile. "It is a recipe used by one of the chefs of the great houses in Waterdeep. Every time he used it people would throw money his way just to take a small bite of its delicate taste. Just think Boris, you serve this, then those high up muckied mucks that parade themselves around like peacocks will be beatin' down your door to get served. This could lead to you retiring earlier than expected, richer and much fatter for it." Jared says with a smile.
DM
"Fatter eh? I'll have your skinny little hide for such talk!" Although he spoke gruffly, you could see the glint of greed shimmering beneath those scruffy eyebrows. "Off with you now! Go get your fancy fruits, but you best be back before your broth boils, or it'll be you in the pot! He says, with the barest hint of a grin.
Jared
"Back before ya know it." Jared says with a grin and dashes off.
Once outside Jared will rush to the fruit seller. Once there he will speak to the seller. "How much for a pomegranate?" he asks.
Seeing someone new who may be interested in pomegranates, Jormund moves back toward the fruitseller’s stand, close enough to hear without being too impolite, as though he may want to buy another. When he’s sure they’re discussing the red fruit, he turns his full attention to the hin buyer with a half-eaten pomegranate in one hand and an apple core the other, “Hullo there townsman. Please pardon the interruption, the poms are nice today…, but it looks a celebration day, and I’d like to find something a bit more filling. Know where I could get me talon on a fat fish in these parts?”
Jared
Jared turns to regard the tall dwarf.
"I know of a fish that satisfy your grumbling bell Master Dwarf. Just let me buy this pomegranate and 1 green apple."
Jared turns back only for a moment to buy the two things needed, then turns back to the dwarf.
"I am Jared Talon, Master Chef of the Boar & Tankard, and would happily prepare the finest fish a dwarf such as yourself has ever eaten," he says with a slight bow.
"And who do I have the pleasure of meeting?" Jared asks,
Jormund
“Well met, Master Talon! I be Jormund of the family Edgebeveller, kin to Clan Battlehammer of Mithril Hall and servant of the Forge-father and Mail-maker, who be shield of the shields and guide of the just and them what bring the unjust to justice.”
At this declaration he pulls his mail gauntlet from its place at his hip, grips it in his fist and folds it over his warhammer-covered chest before bowing his head toward Jared.
“And I’d be much obliged to sample some boar and some tankard if ye be willing, especially if ye be the chef! And as to the fish, let us discuss, please, after I’ve placed my own apple and pomegranate peels into a compost as they seem to have served their purpose… appetizer to me breakfast!”
He guffaws at his own joke and then smiles courteously enough through his whiskers. “After you, sir.”
Jared
Jared smiles then will turn his attention back to the fruit seller. He will purchase 4 pomegranates, intending to make sure his story to Boris had some validity.
"This way Master Battlehammer." Jared says and starts to walk away towards the tavern. While walking Jared will talk to the tall dwarf. "I am the main chef for the tavern and have a large task ahead of me to cook a 50 squab banquet so, it may be some time before we can talk about business," Jared says in a lowered tone. "but, Master Dwarf," Jareds tone returns to a normal level. "you can sit, drink, feast or sleep the day away if you like. The Boar & Tankard has quite lovely rooms, I live there myself and find it quite accommodating. Boris can be a bit harsh and sometimes rude but, he is a human after all and they do those things, he will provide a paying customer most anything they desire."
Jared walks along, leading Jormund to the tavern and will open the door and call inside. "See what a great employee I am Boris? Not only do I create amazing delicacies for you to sell to customers, but I also go out to buy ingredients and come back with the ingredients and a paying customer as well!"
Lenalia BrightSong Bard Sorcerer in Coliseum of Conquest
DM For Amphail Adventures
Session 0: Group 1 Rowan, Ann and Quinry
Rays of morning light shine through the floor-to-ceiling windows that line the main hall of your family's country house, casting long bands of light and shadow across the marble floor. To most, they would create a beautiful contrast, but they remind you more of giant prison bars than anything else. You were summoned to the hall at the request of your mother Melina Querreth, a severe, brooding woman who values efficiency and order above all else.
When not making your life miserable, she also serves as the family's defacto event planner, community organizer, and overall busybody. She normally spends her time at the family's manor in Waterdeep, but arrived unexpectedly last night, and was unusually quiet about the purposes for her visit. This morning she was all action, appearing to concentrate her willpower and energy into the hanging of banners, fussing over table cloths, and generally terrorizing the servants.
"Ah! About time you got up! Such waste of a morning... Ah well, no mind. I have some very exciting news for you!" Said Melina, without making direct eye contact. "Your brother Joran is coming back to town from his ambassadorship in Thay and we're having a party! I hear he is bringing with him a lovely gentleman from that country who is looking for a wife of a more... exotic nature. This will be an excellent opportunity for us... I mean you! He is an heir to a great estate and is rumored to be very wealthy.
You will go into town to the market today and see the tailor. I am giving you 100 gold to get a dress that will impress your potential suitor! I'm also sending along that new knight we hired, what's her name again? Alli? Abi? Ann? Yes!" Turning to an armor-clad girl in the corner, she says "Dame Ann! Escort Rowan to the tailor and see that she stays out of trouble? and Quinry," she added to a nearby halfling " fetch horses for the ladies and go with them as well. It's not becoming for a young lady to carry their own shopping!"
With that, she turned back to the servants, but then over her shoulder calls " Make sure to wear a cloak to hide yourself on the way, and no books this time!!"
Rowan, Ann and Quinry, you are left together in the middle of the family's hall, bustling servants all around. Please describe your characters and tell me, what do you do next?
Rowan
The young, blue-skinned tiefling woman's eyes never leave the floor as her mother prattles on about parties and suitors. Her hands clench into fists, hidden by the draping sleeves of her white and gold dress. "Yes, mother," she finally replies, biting back a retort. Once Melina is sufficiently out of earshot, however, she starts muttering under her breath. "Thought I was finally away from that stupid, self-important, gold-digging..." followed by a long string of curses in a different language. Rowan turns on her heel, going to fetch a cloak. On the way, she checks the hidden pocket in her skirt for her most important possessions - a wand, a palm-sized journal, and a tiny silver dagger - thankful she'd had the foresight to place them there before coming into the hall.
Walking back towards the others a minute later, she fastens the navy blue garment around her shoulders and pulls the hood over her long, curly hair, though it does little to disguise the horns arcing upwards from her forehead. "Let's go, before 'her majesty' decides you need a suitor, too," she tells Quinry. Suddenly remembering the new presence in the hall, she glances towards the knight, Ann, and offers a small, forced smile.
Quinry
A short, ruggedly dressed halfling, with green eyes, and large mop of light brown hair swepped to one side, black paint like markings on his face, forming 2 lines of each cheek and 3 on the forehead, tall leather boots, and a playful expression, say dripping with annoyance "yes ma'am." before dashing out of the room.
he returns to the others, leading 2 pure white stallions. "it feels so weird not having my weapon upon my back! I've worn it my entire life, it just doesn't feel right without it..."
"wait... what did you say about a suitor for me? no no no, I'm much too young, and I need to return to my people first."
Ann
Ann steps closer upon being called. She finds a place close to Melina and stands still, looking a bit stiff, with the way she tries to stay in a formal position. Before Melina leaves, Ann makes sure to give her a nod to confirm the things asked of her.
The young human's pink hair is braided and sat on her shoulder. One of her hands lays by the rapier on her hip, while the other has nothing to hold on to on the other side. Her armor is made of only leather, although it's mostly covered by the clothes she wears on top.
As she waits for Rowan to go and come back, Ann doesn't move an inch nor says anything, her body still tense with fear of being deemed inadequate for the job. Only upon being given attention by Rowan's forced smile does Ann put down her guard. "Good morning, miss." She says, giving a small nod to go with it.
Quinry
"well, as much as I want to continue with you two, you should probably go on without me. I doubt Melina would take well to a mere stable boy coming with..."
Rowan
"It was a joke," Rowan replies with a slight chuckle, shaking her head. "Besides, I'm a bit young for this too, but that doesn't seem to bother her." In a practiced motion, she climbs up into the saddle of one of the horses. "Good morning, Ann," she adds in response to the other woman's greeting.
"You know, these horses seem a bit rowdy to me..." Rowan looks down at her perfectly calm steed, then back up at Quinry with a mischievous smile. "If one of them were to run away, I don't think Ann or I could possibly calm them down. And mother would be so upset if she lost one of her horses. It would be best if somebody who knew what they were doing came along. Somebody like, say, I don't know, you?"
Ann
Just following with directions, for now, Ann approaches the other horse and climbs onto its saddle. She gets it on her first try, but it takes her more time than Rowan, a bit on the preparation to start, and a bit on making sure she was careful with someone else's horse.
She looks at what Rowan was trying to do with a raised eyebrow at first. Ann knew exactly what was going on, but she felt unease at letting it happen. Ultimately, she chooses to support the idea. "I have very little experience with horses. That's not the point, though. Any help is good help."
Quinry
"of course." Quinry's mouth curves into a mischievous smile "the horses seem very badly behaved. well, we should embark than!" as he talks of the horse's ill-behavior, they stand calmly, waiting to be commanded to move.
DM
Mounted and ready to set off, the three of you head to town. Do you want to do anything as you ride together?
Rowan
Once they've set off, pure panic sets in on Rowan's face. At first she was just frustrated with her mother for interfering with her life, but now that she's had time to think about it and realize the implications, she's terrified. Her hands wind tightly in the reins to stop them from shaking. She doesn't say anything unless the others do, eyes fixed on the horizon.
Quinry
OOC: Quinry can see the fright. can I roll insight for why she is frightened?
insight check: 7
DM
Quinry, you know that Rowan is frightened, but you don't know why. It's been a while since she's been on a horse, maybe that's it?
Ann is new to both of you.
Ann
During their travel, Ann is focused on her task. Somewhere during the start of their ride out of town, she pulls up her shield and keeps it on her as a safeguard.
Her eyes follow along the path and out in the nearby area, always alert to any possibility of danger. Ann doesn't fail to notice Rowan is panicking while quiet, but after almost asking what it was about, she reasons it had nothing to do with the travel. "She'd have told me if she saw anything dangerous right here, or, most likely, I would've spotted it first," she thinks.
Not wanting to get in the middle of issues that did not belong to her, Ann stays quiet. Her eyes return to the road, and there they stay until anything happens.
DM
So you continue on to Amphail in silence, (unless you want to do something) walking past several cottages, a traveling merchant's caravan, and several lone travelers. As you enter town, you cross paths with a old, wizened dwarf followed by a mule-cart that is filled to overflowing with books and various sundry items of peculiar nature. The tailor is just up ahead in the market square. What do you do next?
Rowan
Rowan is pulled out of her thoughts as her eyes catch on the cart full of books and trinkets. Her mother had explicitly told her not to waste time on books.... but what she didn't know wouldn't hurt her. Easing her horse to a stop, she smoothly dismounts. "Give me five minutes. Please." Without waiting for a response, she quickly walks over and flags down the dwarf. "Well met. Would you mind if I took a look at your wares?"
Ann
Ann leads her horse towards following Rowan. It's not at a fast pace, in fact, much slower than Rowan herself. She looks at Quinry as she starts moving. "Let's go. Can you take the other horse with you?" Seeing where the Tiefling was going, Ann raises an eyebrow, but the concern she feels is minimal while they're all inside the town, where guards were bound to be patrolling every so often.
Ann finally catches up, when then, she checks the cart from up closer. Her eyes go up in thought as she tries to piece together what she knew, but she decides to ask Quinry for an answer. "Why was she ordered not to look at books? It's not like any of them are dangerous."
Quinry
"Yep, I can take it. I don't know why. My guess is Melina just enjoys being horrible to Rowan." Quinry says, following Ann. As he reaches the cart, he says "ooo, so many books. I can't read very well, but that really is a lot. I can't say I've seen so many books in one place, other than your private library"
DM
Quinry, you know that Rowan is in Amphail because of an incident in Waterdeep. The gossip among the servants mentioned "devil's trickery" and "magic" You don't know more unless Rowan chose to share.
Rowan
((Rowan probably wouldn't have shared. Despite how much she trusts Quinry, she knows that the more people who know about what she's doing, the more likely word is to get back to her mother. She's done her best to keep everything under wraps.))
DM
Rowan, the dwarf spreads before you a wide array of histories, romance novels, and maps of far off lands. He also has several scroll cases locked on the seat of the carts.
He also displays a wide variety of trinkets, bits and bobbins, mostly of common make. However, several items such out: Most notable are a rune inscribed circlet, a small shield made of intricrate overlapping metal plates, and a set of lock picks held in a leather case decorated by a two faced man.
"What'll it be, my dear?"
Rowan
Rowan spends a minute looking over the spread of books, but none of them are particularly interesting to her. She can find most anything she wants on those subjects in her family's collections. She can't think of why she'd need a shield or lock picks, but the runes on the circlet indicate that it might have some sort of magical property. If she's allowed, she picks it up and runs her fingers over the inscription. "Can you tell me more about this circlet? What do the runes mean?" As she's asking this, she notices the scroll cases on the seat. She can't help but think of the spell scrolls she's read about. "And what do you have in those cases?
DM
Ah, those runes are a most remarkable sort that allow you to speak to anybody in their native language, and understand them as well! It only works for 1 hour per day, but at only 75 gold, it's still a steal! As far as scrolls are concerned, I have one that contains the secrets of molding earth with sheet force of will, and another that summons an invisible servant to do your bidding! Lastly, I have a magical tome that contains the secrets of drawing on the chaos of the weave to strike your enemy down! The first two can be yours for only 50 gold, while the others are available for 100 gold a piece.
Rowan
Rowan considers for a long moment. The scrolls were especially tempting, and if she dipped into the dress money she could afford one. But, if what she had left wasn't enough to buy a dress, her mother would kill her. "Unfortunately, I'm a bit low on funds at the moment. Perhaps another time. Will you be here for long?"
DM
"Ah, well make sure to let all your friends know that Tang is always available for their literary or arcane needs! I'm headed up the road now to Waterdeep, but I hope we'll cross paths again soon! "
With that, the old dwarf turns back to his cart and begins packing up. As you walk away, you see him begin to lock up the scrolls again, but the items remain lying out on his drop-down table next to the cart, at least for the moment.
Rowan
"I'll be sure to look out for you." Slightly disappointed, Rowan rejoins the others on their horses. If only she had thought to bring more coin with her... Still, just learning that such items existed was an exciting discovery. Barring any other actions or conversation, she'll continue on her way towards the tailor.
Lenalia BrightSong Bard Sorcerer in Coliseum of Conquest
DM For Amphail Adventures
Hello All! Let's set the scene real quick. Here is a map of Amphail Annotated with the locations of the relevant buildings so far. Blue is the tavern, Red is the mortuary, and Yellow is the tailor.
Rowan, Quinry, and Ann are entering the market square headed into town from the south, Jared and Jormund are at the door of the tavern, and Bryn and Vedui are coming down the main street into town from the north toward the mortuary.
Unlike the picture, the town square is filled with market stalls, people, and animals milling about. In the middle of the marketplace, there is a stage that currently has a performer beginning a lively ditty on a panpipe, while a troupe of dancers winds their way through the crowd.
Everybody give me a perception check. Anybody proficient with Arcana can roll that as well.
Lenalia BrightSong Bard Sorcerer in Coliseum of Conquest
DM For Amphail Adventures
Bryn
Perception: 5
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