|
Post by mister frau blucher on Jun 8, 2011 9:06:49 GMT -5
The rain has slackened, and you are almost startled to see Thunder Keep rising out of the mist before you. You have been on the trail so long, you almost despaired of ever reaching your destination.
Your party was hired in the town of Joma, on the east bank of the Seddarrin River, by an elven sage named Haismith. Your quest is to enter the legendary mountain of Cygnosa, penetrate to the second level, and find the great cavern filled with giant mushrooms. In that cavern is a gorge of bones, belonging to a vanished company of elves that assaulted the mountain some 9,000 years ago. The bones were recently discovered by an adventuring party, and their restless spirits were appeased. But there were many legendary items lost with that company, and the sage Haismith wants you to recover a certain shield, large and solid black as the tales tell. It was carried by the paladin Sythe, one of Haismith's relatives. The reward for finding it and returning it is 2,000 silvers.
Despite the absense of clues in the grey skies you know it is evening. You decide it is best to rest before pushing on to the mountain, a quarter day's rough walk from here.
You see the Mistwraith Inn across the courtyard. There is also the Bloody Head Tavern, where raucous laughter echoes in candlelight. There is a merchant's shingle above one doorway, and a sign with herbs and beakers above another. There are several rough stalls in the courtyard, probably a rough market, but it is empty now. Perhaps in the morning it will be open?
You feel the weariness of travel like a heavy cloak as you decide your immediate course of action.
|
|
|
Post by Lord Inar on Jun 15, 2011 12:28:02 GMT -5
Tembo briefly breaks from the rest of the group to go to the herbalist/alchemist to get some herbs to make a few healing potions.
"Ah, just what I needed. I'll meet you at the tavern in a few minutes, my friends."
|
|
|
Post by mister frau blucher on Jun 17, 2011 9:23:20 GMT -5
The pungency of herbs and sharper smell of chemicals washes over Tembo as he looks around the tightly-packed, lamp-lit room. There are many useful herbs, though they do not seem as fresh as you are accustomed to - no small wonder, this far off the beaten path. Still, you can assemble a solid medkit from these items - maybe more.
You hear voices behind a green curtain; there is no other sign of life here. The voices are casual, and it sounds if two people are conversing. There was no bell above the door to announce your entrance. Apparently the two people talking are unaware of your presence.
You may listen to their words, or announce yourself in some way.
(Or you may try to steal some components; your actions are wide open and up to you!)
|
|
|
Post by Lord Inar on Jun 17, 2011 10:24:02 GMT -5
Tembo will get closer and pick up a jar of herbs (quietly) and be intently reading the label while listening in.
|
|
|
Post by mister frau blucher on Jun 17, 2011 10:54:32 GMT -5
[Small problem - you do not have Literacy. However, humans get a Social Skill for free, which I have yet to give out. If you want, you can take Literacy with that free skill. If you opt to take something else, you are familiar enough with letters relating to herbs to make the identification below.]
The herb you are looking at is Rosemary. Even without being fresh, it still has a powerful fragrance.
The voices are a bit muffled by the curtain, but you can easily make out the gist. An older woman is reading the fortune of a young man - maybe with cards, hard to make out from their conversation. The man is unhappy with what he is being told.
You hear a chair scraping the floor and the man says,"No one will stop me from my goal." The woman also rises and begins, "But the fates do not-"
At that moment the curtain is pushed aside and the two enter the main room. "Oh," the woman says, "dear me, a customer, and so late. I hope ye did not wait long for tired, old Mother Sara."
The man is large and in chainmail, a broadsword at his side and a siled on his back. He has black hair and eyes and glares at you as he strides past and out the door.
"What ye be needin' dearie?" Mother Sara asks you.
|
|
|
Post by Lord Inar on Jun 17, 2011 15:35:54 GMT -5
OK, intently staring at the label pretending to read then!
"Hello, my good lady." Tembo bows politely. "I am acquiring healing herbs for my journey and I believe I found most of them. I found the Arnica, Comfrey, Fox’s Clote, Ground ivy, Rosemary, Sage, and Yarrow. I'm still looking for the Gentian and Vorvain. Maybe they have different names in these parts. Oh yes, and if you have any Monk’s Hood, that would be quite helpful as well."
He pauses for a moment and then says, "So you tell fortunes too? I hope most of them don't get as mad as that fellow that stormed out of here."
|
|
|
Post by mister frau blucher on Jun 19, 2011 9:24:51 GMT -5
She nods as you list off your needs, and reaches for those you asked for. At your last comment she smiles.
"Oh, I do a bit of everything, dearie. Fortunes, aye. I do not have the Sight like some of the women in my family have, but I See well enough. And no, they don't all act like Sir High and Mighty Lord Gareth, there. He fancies himself a man with a destiny, and he is here at the Keep for that destiny. I told him that what he searched for-" She catches herself with a laugh that shakes her ample body. "And here I am babbling about a personal matter! I must be getting a bit daft. Now, is there anything else, dearie? I don't sell healing potions, I am under contract with the Keep to provide those exclusively for their use. I can certainly tell your future, if you are interested, eh?"
[Marc - You may purchase herbs for a medkit, here, at a cost of 2 sivlers per 1 ST worth of healing. So if you want to have a kit that has 20 "doses" it costs 40 silvers. A fortune reading will cost you 10 silvers. You have 100 total to spend. Also, if you are looking for any herbs with a specific effect in the game, let me know.]
|
|
|
Post by Lord Inar on Jun 20, 2011 11:41:27 GMT -5
"Excellent!" Tembo takes the new herbs. "I like my custom remedy for healing better than generic potions anyway. Harder to customize a potion, eh?" He gives her a knowing nudge with his elbow. "Oh, and I almost forgot, some Common Rue and Cypress. Are there snakes up in the mountain?"
[Common Rue and Cypress, along the Gentian, help with poisons. How much would it be for a "Cure Poison" dose?]
Tembo pauses for a moment, realizes he is probably being foolish, but then says "...and I'll take a fortune telling too!"
Even with some herbs which may be on the older side, a good herbalist is hard to find, so best to stay on her good graces.
[I'll tell you how much he spends total when I know how much the poison doses are (if available)]
|
|
|
Post by mister frau blucher on Jul 6, 2011 10:20:40 GMT -5
[Sorry for the delay - major computer issues, still not fixed, but should limp along!] "Snakes, aye, but you will likely face more snake-men."
"Your fortune, eh, dearie? It is late and I am a bit tired - these old bones! - but for a fellow practioner of the herbal craft, I certainly can find my Sight."
She leads you through the curtain to the very close back room dominated by a circular table. She indicates you should take a seat and she does the same as she produces a worn set of cards. The candles flutter as she shuffles and asks you to cut. She mumbles a bit in an unfamiliar tongue. Then Mother Sara quickly deals four cards equidistant from one another, and a fifth in the center.
"Well, well. You will certainly see more of our polite Lord Gareth, not here but under the mountain. It seems your destinations are the same, though your paths will vary. The caprians - most will be helpful, though one, at least, will cause you grief. Snakes and snacas - yes, you will find them.
"You seek an object - a task given you by another. It is good you seek this object, but you may want to consider where you are taking it, or who you are taking it to. That aspect is clouded to me."
She deals two more cards, to either side of the fifth one, inside the first four. "I see you will trade in the mountain, probably with the dwarggs. You will want to avoid their city - chains await you there - but their trading post is relatively safe. And that is where you will find pertinent infomation for your quest."
She draws a final card, outside the others, and while the nature od the others means little to you, you recognize the black-clad skeleton wielding a scythe depicted on this one. Mother Sara intakes a sharp breath. "Death, dearie. Lord Thanatos watches over your quest. And he will get his tribute. Maybe...it is difficult to interpret...maybe he awaits the blood of others? This not neccessarily your demise. But now that you are aware death stalks your quest, you must be cautious, perhaps use it to your advantage."
One of the candles flickers out and Mother Sara slumps a bit. "There is no more. And now, I am truly tired. I hope you can use what you have learned here. I would love to see you on your return."
|
|
|
Post by Lord Inar on Jul 7, 2011 14:34:25 GMT -5
Tembo will purchase 4 "cure poison" in addition to herbs for a 20 "heals" kit, along with the fortune comes to 70. I hope someone else has some more money!
Tembo sits quietly, listening to everything Mother Sara says. He holds her hand as he rises "I am unquestioningly grateful. You truly have the gift of sight. You have given me much more than I could have asked, and it is indeed my fervent wish that I will see you as well on my return."
Tembo collects his purchase, and bows politely as he leaves "Thank you again and may the gods provide dreams of harmony and tranquility." He pauses a moment outside, further committing her words to his memory as he rejoins his party at the tavern.
|
|
|
Post by taketoshi on Jul 12, 2011 12:03:01 GMT -5
Norx looks up from his Victrolian Brainslammer, a foul alcoholic concoction that some days is all that gets him out of bed.
"You find what you need out there in the darkness and the mist?" He shudders. "This whole region gives me the creeps. The sooner we can be out of this town and up the Mountain, the better is what I say."
Norx fondles the hilt of his gleaming short sword findly, as though imagining a simpler place and time where the rule of kill-or-be-killed is the only one, then turns his eyes toward the stairs. "The sooner to bed, the sooner we can be up and on our way out of this wretched hole."
|
|
|
Post by Lord Inar on Jul 12, 2011 13:59:53 GMT -5
"Yes I did, hopefully enough to keep you swinging that sword for some time to come," Tembo pats the large leather bag he uses to store all of his herbs. "Did you stop anywhere else, or just come here?" Tembo pauses for a moment "Why am I even asking? Of course you came here!"
Tembo sits down and motions for the serving girl to get him a drink. He leans over and whispers (before she arrives), "Norx, I think someone else is interested in the same things we are. Did you see a large man, with black hair and black eyes, in chain and shield, come in here in the last few minutes?"
|
|
|
Post by taketoshi on Jul 12, 2011 15:13:05 GMT -5
Norx looks down at his own powerful frame incredulously. "I am a large man with dark hair and dark eyes, with chain and a shield. But I arrived with you, and you saw me..."
After a long moment, his face splits in a wide, half-drunken grin. "Hah, but I did see this man you mention. He was not so very large, but he had a look like he was hunted, or hunting something. I just assumed he was drunker than I am."
|
|
|
Post by mister frau blucher on Jul 13, 2011 9:14:33 GMT -5
[A few orienting facts - the town of Joma where you were hired is a week's march to the west. You are at Thunder Keep, which has a population but is not near a town. I may not have made that clear - apologies.
There is the Mistwraith Inn, and the Bloody Head Tavern, which has no accomodations. Given Norx's preferences, we'll assume you guys are sitting in the Tavern for the moment, and will retire to the Inn when you are ready to rest.]
[Also, any time you have questions or I am not being clear, ask in the thread with these brackets or pm me or whatever. I try to be as concise and clear as possible - particularly in the adventures I write! - but I cheese it sometimes, don't be afraid to ask for a more detailed explanation!]
Norx has indeed seen the man Tembo describes - he entered the Bloody Head shortly after Norx did, gathered three companions who had been drunkenly singing and harrassing the serving girls, and quickly left.
There are two tables of off-duty soldiers carousing, and a table with several farmers sullenly drinking ale. There is a table by the blazing hearth with some rough-looking adventurers, which include a dwarf, an ursan, an orc, and two humans. They are drinking and talking among themselves, and casting clumsily furtive glances about the large room, your table in particular.
The serving girl saunters up, trying to appear alluring in hopes of a tip. She smiles at Tembo. "And what can I get your lordship? Something warm to fight this chill? Spiced, malted cider is my favorite. We have fine upland bitter and stout as well. And a few special drinks." She indicates Norx's Brainblaster. "I hope we made that to your liking goodsir. It appears you are ready for another?"
|
|
|
Post by Lord Inar on Jul 13, 2011 9:46:16 GMT -5
"The spiced cider sounds superb on a wet night like this, my dear lass." He happily hands her his coin, slyly including a generous tip to cover Norx's likely stinginess in the matter.
"Hmm," Tembo leans back in his chair. "I wish the others would get back. I also wish we knew more than we do about the man who hired us." Tembo leans back close to Norx. "Let's just say I got a hunch that we might be doing the right thing for the wrong reasons and maybe the wrong person."
|
|