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Post by Tessa Rothaldi on Jan 16, 2015 14:38:51 GMT -8
I listen to the argument, in no rush to butt in, since I'd sort of like to get away from the Sargassum Fiends as well. Still, I am quite curious to learn what the elf and alchemist hope to accomplish out here.
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Post by Master on Jan 17, 2015 9:51:22 GMT -8
Surallel shows no interest in discussing his work with you. Whether that is because he wasn't able to finish it, or his personality, you don't know. Ravna however is happy to explain what their intent was. DM note: Making an assumption
Ravna explains that Surallel has a theory. That nearby, in the direction of the Sargassum Fiend, is a portal to another plane of existence. Specifically, the plane of water. Ravna and Surallel hired this ship, to take them out to the portal, in order to prove its existence. While that alone means very little, the ramifications of the discovery of the portal will be great. She says that back home, the Plane of Water and any other planes are thought of as purely theoretical. Finding a portal to one, would prove that they exist. Surallel hopes that proving the existence of other planes, he can get support for other research into planar travel, perhaps even creating small portals to those planes. Ravna's part, was to collect water samples as they got closer to the portal. The hope being that some subtle difference in the samples show that the water came from another plane.
To you, the theory seems far fetched, but then again, your knowledge of such things is extremely limited. In Cathay, there are no wizards. Magic far more limited in the south, apart from magicians like yourself, magic is mostly limited to low grade alchemists and herbalists, who practice chicanery as much as magic. It is said that the Cathar, the ancient overlords, could use very powerful magic, but most consider those stories to be hyperbole.
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Post by Tessa Rothaldi on Jan 19, 2015 12:25:58 GMT -8
Do I draw any connection between the creature I saw and the "portal of water", DM? I assume not, but I have to ask.
It sounds like a noble endeavor, but I would think the Fiends would make finding such a thing difficult. May I ask, perchance, where this ship is headed, then?
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Post by Master on Jan 20, 2015 16:14:41 GMT -8
You do not know of any connection between the creature you saw and a portal. The idea of such a portal seems like fantasy. Likewise the creature you saw was too strange to really place in any context. Thinking back, you have trouble remembering anything specific about the creature. It was so bizarre and unlike anything you've ever seen, it is difficult to place what was real and what was a delirious hallucination. If not for the fact that your lifeboat melted and sank, you are not sure there even was a creature. You cannot discount the possibility of a connection, but simply don't know enough about either to even guess. The captain hears your question, and answers. Nobody planned on the Fiends. As far as we know, no ships have ever come out this far and returned, guess now we know why. Had we known about the fiends, we would not have come at all. Its a miracle for you guys that we were here, there is no way any of you could have made it back to land in one of those lifeboats, or clutching a piece of flotsam. We will be returning to Sofiholm, in Alainta. I am sorry if that isn't where you all are headed, but it shouldn't be too much trouble to book passage to wherever you want to go. Trade ships often run between Alainta and Cathay. He leans in close to you, speaking softly, making sure only you and Ravna can hear what he has to say. Like I said, ships don't come out this far east, what were you guys doing out here?Sense Motive{Sense Motive}74D5j8YO1d20+6 You get the sense, that the captain may be accusing you of wrongdoing. You panic slightly, fearing that answering the question wrong might get you tossed back into a cage, or thrown overboard. You start to shiver, whether from the thought of going back into a cage, or your still wet clothes, you are not sure.
1d20+6
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Post by Master on Jan 24, 2015 10:16:32 GMT -8
You feel the panic wash from your mind as your training a clandestine agent takes over. The dread is replaced by a clever lie.
Why we are this far east, I cannot tell you. I was just a passenger, questions of navigation are better left to the crew. I see little point in lying to you about it, but our ship was a smuggler. Nothing dangerous, as far as I know, mostly silks and spices. Things which have export taxes back home. On occasion, it would smuggler people, like myself. Again, nothing dangerous. I was simply a performer at a party held in a great noble house, who was falsely accused of stealing. The penalty for stealing losing a finger, the penalty for stealing from a noble, is losing a hand. I cannot play my instrument without both hands, and I did not want to give up my hand AND my profession because of a false accusation from a boy with more breeding than brains. A friend of a friend of the cousin of the captain of that ship was able to get me aboard, where they said they could get me far from the judicial cleaver. I did not know until after we left that they were headed for north, nor was I aware that they would take us through a nest of those creatures.
The captain looks at you as you tell the story. He seems to be scrutinizing your face, likely trying very hard to see if you are lying. After a few moments of silence, he speaks. That is certainly an unfortunate story. He leaves you, giving you no indication that whether or not he believed your story. You see him walk over to the other crew, rescued from the ship, and speaks to them in a voice too low for you to hear. You presume he is asking them the same question, in order to compare your answers with theirs. You cannot hear the answers they give, but the captain's body language would suggest that he doesn't believe them. You imagine, the crewmen are trying very hard to convince the captain that they have done nothing wrong. The captain's suspicions and your confession will make it very difficult for them to convince the captain. You hope, the somewhat minor crimes you lied about are enough to explain your ship's position, but not serious enough to land you all in jail when you land in Alainta. You know that slavery is illegal there, but you also know that someone was waiting to receive you and the other slaves. That person was likely one of the lords allied with Kawa Toko. With your skills it won't be difficult to disappear in Alainta, but if you are brought in as a survivor of a slave ship, the slavers might find out and try to silence you. Without support from home it may not be possible to move against the slavers in Alainta, and you do not know enough about local politics to try and find Alaintan allies.
The captain of the Sunfire seems to let the issue drop. He puts the survivors to work on the ship. You help out where you can, but you know little about operating a sailing ship, and other crewmen point out that your ignorance can be very dangerous, to you and others. You spend most of the trip trying to assist Ravna, who continues to try and experiment with reagents she has found on the voyage. She tells you that she used a powerful mutagen before she went to find you. That was the cause of her strange appearance, and her deft swimming skills. Unfortunately, she cannot seem to get the same mixture. She suspects that there must have been some unknown agent in one of the ingredients she used before. Her focus now, is trying to find what that reagent was, and she is having little success. She lost a lot of her samples with the Sargassum Fiend attacked, and she fears that the mixture may be lost forever. Beyond her experiments, Ravna also talks about herself, you surmise it is an attempt to get you to open up. Why she wants you to open up, you are not sure. DM Note: Not sure how much you would want to tell Ravna (PC) so I will leave it open, as to how much you want to tell her. By the end of the voyage, you are pretty sure that if you told her everything, she would not tell the captain against your wishes. You are surprised to learn that Ravna is highborn. Her mother is a Marquess in Alitaan. She renounced an inheritance in order to pursue her arcane education. Her family apparently does a lot of trading with Cathan merchants, trading salt for spices, and Ravna has even been to Cathay before. That would explain her familiarity with Kitsune, who rarely leave Cathay.
It takes nearly a month for you to see land again. You see a massive lighthouse looming over a great headland. Ravna points out the lighthouse and headland. That is the great Mariun Lighthouse. It was built by Alita daughter of Alain, the first Queen of Alitaan. She built and named in honor of her first son, who was lost at sea. It is the largest lighthouse in the known world. Beyond it is the peninsula of Alitaan, my homeland. A few more days of sailing, and we will reach Sofiholm, the largest city in the human kingdoms.
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Post by Tessa Rothaldi on Jan 24, 2015 17:32:20 GMT -8
I might not tell her all the details. I would relate that I am a Kitsune (if she couldn't already tell), and that I was abducted by slavers while investigating their presence in Cathay. I don't know what's become of my master, under whose orders I was operating, but I am certain that there are people who will be looking for me who I want to stay away from.
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Post by Master on Jan 24, 2015 20:28:47 GMT -8
You arrive in Sofiholm. The city is very large and impressive. There are larger cities in the South, but not many. Okonan dwarfed this city before its destruction. This city lacks a lot of the color you see in large souther cities. The stone and masonry is all drab grey, all the wood is all the same, dark with thick grain. It isn't unattractive, it is just...the same. There are a few bright spots as you walk through the city. The Royal Palace sits on a hill overlooking the city. The palace itself looks like it is made of white marble, but its architecture looks much different than the rest of the city. Beside the Palace is a massive domed building. Its architecture, its stones, everything about it look different than the rest of the city. The walls are a dark blue, like the sky as the sun goes down. It appears to have gold and silver accents around the doors and windows. You ask Ravna about it.
That is the Paladius Observatory. It is probably the oldest building in the city. That is where the Paladins are based, and where they get their name. Before Alain, they were an order of knights sworn to protect that observatory, as well as other ancient wonders in the area. Orcs destroyed most of them, the Observatory and the Forum are all that remain. I don't know how old they are, they were probably built by the old Elven Empire, they ruled here before Alain.
The Paladius is not of Elven make. All of those ancient structures were here before the Elders came to this region. They were baffled by them, since the Humans of that time were illiterate, living in sod huts. They only had primitive stone and bone tools, but there is gold inlaid in the Observatory. The Forum even has adamantine in its construction. Even the Elders could not work adamantine. Surallel adds morosely.
You continue through the city, coming upon a vast sea of people. Thousands of people mill about innumerable market stalls, in the largest marketplace you have ever seen. The enormity is masked by a series of multicolored canopies covering the field of commerce. The stalls form streets and avenues, with barkers and hucksters walking down advertising their wares. Each stall is ringed by a stone wall, forming a three sided cubicle, hundreds, perhaps thousands of cubicles. Your companions inform you that this is the Forum. The stone walls create an acoustic effect that allows voices to carry over nearly the entire square. The cacophony is terrible with everyone shouting at once, but when they need to make a citywide announcement, they blow a horn and everyone stops and listens. On the far side is the seat of the city government, and the High King's audience chamber. You are amazed to learn, that beneath the rows and rows of stalls, are a series of stone chambers with massive warehouses. There are 4 large, ox driven, elevators connecting the underground warehouses with the stalls. It is not known for sure what the structure's original purpose was, but its usefulness as a marketplace is undeniable. Since its restoration during the reign of Alain II, the Forum has been the center of the city.
Here before the Forum, the Captain turns to you and the other rescued crewmen. I guess this is where we all part ways. I should probably turn you all over to a magistrate, but a few smugglers without a ship don't seem like much of a threat. If you fellas look around the bars near the docks, you may be able to find work on another ship. You, miss, I imagine Miss Reiersgaard and her family might know a ship or two heading south. Master Sol, I am sorry this voyage did not work out for you. I know how important that magic thing was to you, but I would caution very strongly against going back. Those creatures aren't likely to leave the area and it is not worth your life, or the lives of a ship's crew, to go back. Surallel mumbles a response and shakes he captain's hand. With a bow to you and Ravna, the captain walks off.
Ravna and Surallel have a brief conversation about the end results of the expedition. Surallel is not hopeful, but still plans to present those results to some panel back at the magic academy he attends. The two say their goodbyes and Surallel departs. Ravna then informs you, that her family keeps a small house in the city. The Reiersgaard lands contain a large number of salt marshes, which they sell all over the known world. They sell to the Elves in the northwest, the South, even dwarves buy Reiersgaard salt. Most of their salt moves through Sofiholm and the Forum, so the family keeps a house in town, which is currently unused. Ravna suggests that the both of you stay there tonight, and tomorrow she can help you find a ship to take you south, home.
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Post by Master on Jan 26, 2015 14:24:44 GMT -8
DM note: I presume, that most of the time around strangers you will use a human guise. My understanding of the ability, is that it will only last 3 minutes at a time. I will say, that since it is a supernatural physical transformation, you can probably feel it wearing off and can reuse the ability before it runs out, so to others your appearance doesn't actually change. So the only time you would change, unintentionally, would be if you were unable to re-apply the effect, like if you were unconscious or paralysed or something when it wears off. That is based on my understanding of the ability, if I am wrong about something let me know.You spend the next few days working with Ravna to try and find a ship headed south, without any luck. You discover that the sailors rescued from your ship jumped on the first boat out of the city. As it becomes clear that a quick trip home is not going to happen, you try to consider other options. The distance is too great for magic travel, magic travel is also beyond your financial resources. Likewise, hiring a ship would be too expensive. While the Reiersgaard family does business in the south, they typically sell salt to ships from Cathay, ships that would otherwise return empty, without ships coming in the family does not have any connections to get you south. In the meantime, you are able to get a job working for the family, operating their stall in the Forum. The family is one of many in the city selling large quantities of salt evaporated from the sea. You work as their agent, selling potential buyers on the virtues of Reiersgaard salt. You have meager skills as a merchant, having learned enough of that profession to use it as a cover for espionage, but you learn quickly and become quite adept. Quick thinking, a casual relationship with truth and batting your eyelashes are all you need to cause someone to hand over hundreds of gold. You are paid fairly well for your services, which allow you to replace a lot of the things you lost when you were captured and shipped across the world. Some new weapons, armor and magic items. You also purchase, and teach yourself how to play, a Northern Lute. The theory behind it are similar enough to the instruments you played in the south, and playing eases your mind. More important than money, the job gives you access to a lot of information. When new travellers come to town, they always head to the Forum, and so news travels very quickly once it comes to town. You keep your ears open to any news about your homeland. In addition to your day job, you spend every night you can in the dive bars near the docks. These places are swarming with sailors and dock workers. You take on the guise of a human man in the dives, the only women who go to such places are either whores, or are treated as one. Most of the talk is useless, a lot of bragging and posturing, insults and drunken shanties. You glean little about Cathay, but what you do hear is troubling. No ships are going to arrive from the south, and no ships are heading that way. The reason why is unclear. That Bird King they got, lost his mind and burned all his ships
No, theres a kraken, taking every ship it sees to the bottom. Southern cowards won't challenge it, so no shipping
Krakens aint real you old fool. I hear, they found a faster route, instead of coming north, they go south, go south far enough, you end up in the north again, now them southerners are shipping through Ice Haven beyond the badlands.
I heard, the orcs built themselves a feet, they went south and conquered that Bird King. They be coming back for us soon.
There was a coup, some the Bird king got overthrown now, they got themselves a good human in charge, way it should be.
They ran outta silk, now they got nothing to send us that we want, so they are staying in the south.Most of the stories are nonsensical, or obviously false. The only thing you can be sure of, is that there won't be any ships going to Cathay anytime soon. One day, Ravna comes to you. She says that Surallel has the notion of joining a mercenary company, to make money for research. She suggests that you come with them, you may be able to make enough to hire your own ship to go south. As she lays out the plan, it all sounds pretty doubtful. From what you have seen of Ravna and Surallel, neither really seem like the mercenary type. You try to convince Ravna it would be foolish to try and make it as a mercenary, when she has no real combat experience, Surallel as well. She is unswayed, and continues her own plans to leave. You decide against leaving. Sofiholm is still the best place to get news, and if ships do start to sail again, this will be the best place to take advantage. After one last plea, which is denied, Ravna leaves the city, heading north to Caer Uthis, a city of magic users, where Surallel is waiting to meet up with Ravna. A few days go by, you stick to your routine. Still hoping to hear some word from your homeland, you head to one of the dockside bars. After a few drinks (watery ale, so you can keep your wits), you hear a pair of sailors talking about Cathay. One claims to have just returned from there. Other sailors don't believe him, but he is adamant. You do your best to listen to every word, while appearing to simply enjoy your drink. As the sailor describes his trip, it becomes apparent that he has never been to Cathay. He describes mountains, cities, people and strange customs that are all alien to you, and are most likely fabrications. You listen so intently to the conversation, that you do not notice someone sit down at your table. You continue to listen to the sailor's story, oblivious to your new table mate, until he speaks. I am sorry that I missed your arrival, but then again, I didn't expect you in this port. You half-hear the comment, you have never spoken to someone in your current guise, he must mistake it for someone else. You ignore him, trying to listen the sailor's tale. Do not try my patience, Miss Akiyama Hearing your name sends lightning bolts of fear through you. Trying your best to maintain your composure, you shift your chair to inform your tablemate of his mistake. Across the table from you, sipping a cup of tea, is a thin white face that has become burned into your memory. He regards you with slight amusement. His smile somehow reminds you of a small child pulling the wings off flies, and you are the fly he has his eyes on. As I said, I did expect you at my private dockyard. I suppose, given what you did to my ship, I should thank the gods that you arrived at all. It may take some time for me to replace the slaves you drown, but that should be a small matter. A thousand thoughts run through your head at once. A chorus of ideas and scenarios, battle tactics, magic spells, anything to get you out of the situation. Eventually one thought shouts louder than the rest, run. With one fluid movement, you stand up from the table, and you flip it onto your adversary. While he is hopefully distracted for a moment, you change your face and run for the door. Shouts echo in your ears as you run through the streets. Sailors and dockworkers trying to make sense of what just happend. You cut a serpentine path through streets and alleys, changing your face after every turn. You don't stop running until you reach your apartment. You frantically throw everything you have into a pack, grab whatever food you have, and your lute. You quickly run out the door. This time of night, there are not many people on the streets. You try to move quickly, but try not to look like it. You don't calm down until you are well outside the city. You are not sure how far away you are. You can still see the outline of towers and the Palace across the night sky. You keep moving. Hours pass, and you are sure you are being fallowed. You think you hear the sound of footfalls. As you move, they get louder, and more rapid. You keep turning, and there is nothing. You draw your sword, and keep moving. After the fourth or fifth time you turn to find the source of the footfalls, you realize that it is just your heartbeat. You look at the sword in your hand, which is shaking. Instead of continuing onward, you find a tree, you sit down and try to calm yourself. You recite silent prayers and mantras. After a few minutes, you are calm enough to continue. As you walk down the dark road, your mind turns to how he found you. You walk, and think, for hours. Eventually, your legs cannot move you any more, and it is clear your mind keeps going in circles. Hoping that you are far enough from the city, you crawl into a hedge near the road, out of sight, to sleep. Sleep is difficult, but eventually you drift off.
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Post by Master on Jan 26, 2015 21:05:14 GMT -8
You wake up in the morning. It would appear that you were undisturbed while you slept. Without delay, you gather up your pack, and continue north up the road. When you reach a small village near the road, you are able to get a look at a map, and try to figure out just where you need to go. The main road continues north, stretching from the capital all the way to the mountains. The locals tell you that the road does continue under the mountains, where it connects with a the underground roadways of the Dwarves. Along the way, the road does lead to Cold Lake, the city that Ravna mentioned she and Surallel were headed. Faced with a choice between trying to make your way in a foreign land, filled with people who may, or may not turn you over to your enemies, and trying to find the closest thing to a friend you have in this hemisphere, you decide that trying to meet back up with Ravna would be the better choice. Rather than trying to make it to Cold Lake, alone, you decide to try and catch up with Ravna on her way to Caer Uthis. Even if you don't catch her, Caer Uthis is supposed to be a city of magic users, and magic users might be helpful if you need to catch up to Ravna and Surallel. Before you leave this small town, you plot a new course on the map, trying to find the path that Ravna would take. When you think you have a better idea, you buy some trail rations, and head out. Ravna has a few days head start, but she is likely not pushing herself too hard on the road, so if you are quick, you should be able to meet her.
On foot, the trip from Sofiholm to Caer Uthis, should take about 2 1/2 weeks. You push yourself, trying to travel ten to twelve hours a day, it is a grueling pace. Fearful of who might be watching on the road, you walk with a new face everyday. Sometimes a man, sometimes a woman. You are careful to avoid other travelers, many of whom seem overly talkative with total strangers, especially the halflings. At first glance, most halflings seem like happy, friendly sorts. Eager to strike up a conversation, about anything, everything, and ultimately nothing. You find it to be nothing but chatter. You can only see sinister thoughts behind their bright eyes and big smiles, perhaps it is your fears of being found, or your sense that their behavior would be a perfect cover for intelligence gathering. Small groups of halflings are easily avoided. Halflings seem to stop 4 or 5 times a day to have a full meal. Many invite you to join them for a picnic on the side of the road, you always refuse, change you face, and leave them behind. They seem disappointed by your refusals, but while they eat, you can put distance between you. Humans are easy to avoid. Human men try to insist on traveling together when you appear female, they may have ulterior motives, or it may be some misguided sense of chivalry, either way you want nothing to do with them. Around day four on the road, you encounter a caravan of dwarves. By far, the most pleasant traveling companions on the road. Beyond simple greetings, they make no effort to talk to you. They seem to tolerate you traveling on the road near them, and their weapons make you feel a little better. Travelling alone, often at night, you have been worried about bandits on the road, with these dwarves, you feel that danger is lessened. Furthermore, the dwarves don't seem to speak while they travel, even to each other. They seem to prefer singing. Their songs have heavy almost haunting rhythm. Deep pulsing vocals keeping the beat. You remain with the dwarves for two days. You stay with them until you find, Ravna.
You find Ravna on the side of the road, sharing a meal with a couple of halflings. You avoid approaching, not sure you can trust the halflings she is with, but you do say goodbye to the dwarves, who shrug and continue on their way. You climb a nearby apple tree, hiding among the leaves waiting for an opening to get Ravna's attention but not her companions. After nearly an hour, Ravna and the halflings finish their picnic. While she is packing her things, you change your face to your standard human guise, lock eyes with Ravna, and motion for her to come over. She excuses herself from the halflings, and comes under the tree. You tell her you changed your mind, and that you would like to join her on your journey to Cold Lake. She welcomes you. While she says goodbye to the halflings, you climb out of the tree and change your face. Together you and Ravna continue on your journey to Caer Uthis. You feel much better, less afraid then you have been since that night in Sofiholm. Most of your trip is spent sharing stories about your travels and your respective homelands. You are especially interested in the stories Ravna has about halflings, dwarves, elves and other people in this part of the world, people that you realize you know very little about.
About a week and a half later. You reach a small farming village near Caer Uthis. At night, you can see the bright lights of that city, even though it is still at least a day's travel away. In that village, you are joined by Surallel. He greets you warmly, somewhat unexpected for you. You had expected the same dour, surly attitude he had when you met him. It is clear that whatever dark clouds hung over him have receded. The three of you set out for Cold Lake together. The journey is actually a pleasant one. Surallel tells you all kinds of stories about the Elves and their history in this region. You tell him stories about the people of Cathay as well as the lands beyond. A few weeks later, you arrive in Cold Lake.
You should decide how much you want to tell Ravna and Surallel regarding your flight from Sofiholm. It seems unlikely that they are agents of The Adversary, but how many of your secrets they should know is up to you.
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Post by Master on Jan 27, 2015 20:21:04 GMT -8
The next few weeks on the road are much the same. You see more dwarves as you get closer to the gateways to their realm, a lot of humans and halflings, and even some half-orcs. The half-orcs are also intriguing to you. Similar to the elves, there are no half-orcs in the south. Unlike Elves, you have never heard any stories about the half-orcs. You presume that they have some connection to the 'orcs' some race of boogie men. You have noticed that when someone mentions orcs, they seem to recoil from the word in fear, but you rarely hear about orcs in the present tense, and when you do it is usually wild speculation. While most people look on the orcs as some sort of supernatural force of evil, the half-orcs you meet do not seem worthy of the name. They are typically ignorant and quite shy. Ravna informs you that most towns and villages do let half-orcs live within, and are not happy when they try to live nearby. Surallel tells you that the half-orcs are the descendants of harem-slaves kept by orc warlords, but a few are descended from pureblood orcs who have slowly turned after generations cut off from their people and homeland. Your companions also relate that the Orcs live beyond the Barrier Mountains in the east. Centuries ago, they came through the mountains and conquered most of the human lands. They were eventually pushed back and the passes they used sealed with magic. Even after the centuries, the half-orcs are still hated for the crimes of their very distant forebears. They are also seen as filthy, ignorant, and violent, but you imagine a lot of that might be the result of cultural segregation, a self-fulfilling prophecy. You arrive in Cold Lake, to find the city overrun with people. You arrive just as the sun is starting to set, but the streets of the city are well illuminated by streetlamps. You see people of every imaginable race, men and women, drunk and sober, dressed, undressed, and everywhere in between. There is a sense of annoyance in your companions, clearly they were not expecting such large rambunctious crowds, surely if they had, they would have told you about the size and scope of the party you walked into. You are bit uneasy with such wild, chaotic crowds. While perhaps not averse to wild debauchery yourself, such events make it difficult to identify other spies or assassins. If not for the fact that you know someone is after you, you might be able to enjoy the party. Surallel leads your group in a search for an inn. Along the way, you discover the cause, however flimsy, of the party. Every few years, the Cold Lake Company invites candidates from all over the world to compete for a position in their ranks. Such a position is extremely lucrative, and therefore these recruitment drives draw fairly large crowds. You also learn that people have been coming to the city for nearly a week, and you happened to arrive at the height of the party. You were never hopeful for your friends chances of joining the Company, see the vast sea of candidates, you think even less of their chances. That, however, you keep to yourself, no reason to be negative. Surallel is able to find an inn willing to rent to you, but only because Ravna and Surallel are member of the Arcana Society. The three of you will have to share a room, but from what the clerk tells you, most of the crowds sleep on the streets or the tent cities you saw along the road as you approached town. Weary from travel, and wary of the increasingly drunken crowds, the three of you do you best to get some sleep. In the morning, you all decide to try your luck, and see if you can do what you came here for. After wandering the city, tiptoeing over passed out revelers, avoiding numerous invitations to 'friendly brawls', and finding large sections of the city under heavy guard and off-limits, you finally learn that the recruiters have taken up residence in a large empty warehouse. You spend several more hours waiting in line before you are even allowed to see the little man sitting at a desk. Behind him, barely noticeable, is a woman dressed in black. Her hair is short and dark, and she is wearing a pair of spectacles. She seems to be watching everyone in line. For what, you don't know. Years of experience in intelligence gathering have taught you the signs. Under her jacket, you can make out the barest outline of a sword in its sheath. She does not appear to be on edge, nor anxious, just vigilant. You figure she must be a guard of some kind, just so, you keep an eye on her, and try to watch the rest of the warehouse for other spies, assassins, or guards. You don't know if she is here in case of trouble, or if she is waiting for someone in particular. On occasion, she comes out of the shadows and looks over the shoulder of the little man at the desk, pulls out a piece of paper, and writes something on it. You catch sight of a man, dressed similarly to the woman, and acting the same way. Reasonable to assume they are together. You are so intent on watching the crowd, hoping to anticipate an ambush, you don't notice that you and your group are at the head of the line. You half-hear Surallel's voice, and that of the little man. .....find someone else willing to pay for veal or lamb chops. hehe. Now get outta here before you bother me.You can see Surallel tense up for a moment. Fearing that a fight may begin, your hand drops to your sword. The moment passes, bloodlessly, and your group turns to leave. You notice the woman in black leaning over and saying something to the little man, then she walks toward you. Before you can subtly warn your companions, she reaches out to touch Surallel's shoulder. Mr. Sol? Ms. Reiersgaard? I am Captain Tane, head of the Oprichniki in Cold Lake and the surrounding area. Do not worry. I am not here to investigate either of you. If you are looking for work, I believe I may have a job for you. I cannot pay what the Company pays, but it sounds like that isn't really an option for you. If you are interested, please come to my office this afternoon.She then turns back to the little man, whispers a few words in his ear, and grabs begins looking through his papers while he continues to talk to candidates. Surallel and Ravna seemed to be a little nervous around the woman, despite that, they both seem to agree that a job with this Captain Tane, is better than going home empty handed. They look at you, you smile and shrug. What the hell, lets do it.This is the end of your prologue. The main story will start with your meeting with Captain Tane. If you have any other questions or comments, feel free to ask them here.
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Post by Tessa Rothaldi on Jan 28, 2015 10:32:07 GMT -8
Okay, I decided that at the very least I would tell them about the guy that's after me... what he looks like, etc. Maybe they know him, or can keep an eye out for him. Sorry I haven't been replying; I've been pretty sick.
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Post by Master on Jan 28, 2015 10:49:44 GMT -8
No worries on replying. Sick Sucks
Neither Surallel or Ravna know the person you are describing. They will keep an eye out through the journey for him.
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