You approach the building Jebadiah gestured towards, the wooden sign of the Jolly Fisherman, a well-built gnome holding a fish almost as large as he is, identifying the inn. As you approach you get a clearer view in the direction Jebadiah gestured when he mentioned Fallon. The road ahead, past the Jolly Sailor just stops. Ahead you are greeted with a fantastic sight, the road ends at what seems to be a cliff edge, a pit containing the majority of the city. At the edge of the road-end is a small stone platorm sticking out from the cliff itself.
The Jolly Fisherman by no means glamorous accomodation, but is a fucntional inn catering for visitors who prefer a short trip into the city itself and saving a couple of silver. Securing dinner and a room for the night are relatively straight forward.
During the night a light rain falls, leaving a crisp, refreshing air in the morning as the sun begins to rise.
OOC: Sorry for the delay, I was called away for a couple of days somewhat unexpectedly. IAmTheTest can you confirm which spells Daeualas is learning in the morning, and Rae, if Quarion changes prepared spells please let me know.
When the group arrives at the Jolly Fisherman, Joru seeks permission to sing for the common room. Perform: 24. He will also ask around to find out where the shop Natural Remedies can be found. Gather Information: 12 OOC: I don't even know if this requires a gather information check, at any rate, this is the result of Joru asking around the Inn. I guess he was too busy playing to ask people questions.
The next morning, Joru rejoins the group:
Every morning when we see the sun,
We know though started
our journey newly begun,
and with our past now parted.
OOC: IamTheTest, I would suggest swapping out bless. I do not believe that its effects stack with Joru's Inspire Courage bardic music ability. Since right now Joru has 5 bardic music effects per day, I don't think the group will need Dae to cast bless. I would also suggest Disguise Self instead of Entropic shield for the domain slot, mostly because that spell is otherwise unavailable to clerics, but also for its versitality. If you believe that entropic shield could be useful (and it certainly can be) you could use the slot currently used by bless to prepare entropic shield.
wmasters, When the days simply fly by, it seems a little cheap to reap the rewards of public performance, but I suspect that the days will not pass so quickly from now on. I think maybe then that Joru could roll for the proceeds from the evening's performance, alternatively, perhaps the effects of the performance could result in a goodwill circumstance bonus to Joru's gather information check (If such a check is useful.)
Eanos surveys the room as the group breaks its fast.
"Has anyone thought to ask how we descend that cliff face?" he wonders aloud.
OOC
I've been forgetting to ask: how much have we spent on lodgings and food this trip? My past adventures involved the employer paying those costs, so I'm not used to tracking them. Or has our bard been making enough with all this singing to cover us?
Quarion is already in the common room when the others wake. He has been awake for several hours. While the rest of the party was sleeping, Quarion took a walk with Garma for a few hours, taking in the moonlight and allowing the gods of the wilderness to guide his footsteps. He nods at everybody as they emerge from their rooms, but he remains silent. When it's time to go, he's ready.
Asking around for Natural Remedies Joru finds one of the locals "I think it's in 'the caves' but can't remember quite where. You can find a guide near just down the first story, they should be able to give you directions."
Leaving the inn you are greeted with the start of a bright clear day. Turning and approaching the edge of the pit, the sights of the city are much clearer than they were dusk of the previous night. Looking out over the cliff, a deep pit falls into the city. Along the sides of the cliff, stairways run down to corridors and chasms in the cliff face itself. Below, at the base of the pit is the city centre itself. Several large buildings are prominent, as well as a large, green garden, although from this distance even they appear small.
Looking down into the cavern, a little below the level of the cliff edge, large bridges can be seen of marble and quartz, reflecting the morning light. To your right, you can see the mass of water pressing against the edge of the canyon; it can only be magic preventing the water crashing down on the city itself. As you watch you see a torrent of water rise from the bottom of the cavern floor all the way to meet the lake edge.
There is now no sign of the platform you saw last night, but a small flight of stairs descends, visible now that you stand at the cliff edge. They don't seem to run too far down, you can see the bottom of the stairs only around 9 feet below the surface. From the looks of the cavern there must be over a hundred levels to the city.
At the bottom of the stairs there is a turn and another flight going down, but a cavern lit with regular, static lights extends from this level. Just inside the cave a small building is cut into the side of wall, a large sign outside reads 'Maps and Guides'. Further into the cavern other buildings can be seen, 'The Burrower' appears to be an inn whereas another sign advertises somewhere called 'Arcane Arts'.
ooc:
If there's no objections, and for simplicities sake I'm quit happy to say that Joru's performances in the inns work out on average to cover the accomodation and other small expenses for the party such as meals, drinks etc?
On another note altogether, how is the pace for everyone? If you'd prefer if I stopped more often to allow any party interaction, or less often (which may mean less roleplay opportunities) let me know. As I said, it's my first time DMing one of these, so it's a learning experience for me.
Last edited by wmasters; 25th October 2006 at 10:11 AM..
Actually, the pace is quite nice. The adventure proper hasn't even started, and yet I feel like we've already accomplished something. I think whatever's natural is fine. I like the roleplaying we've done so far, but I think it's time to get started, and we can't do that without you, DM. =P
Joru leaves the Inn with the rest of his group. Upon seeing the magical abatement, he quietly shares a verse. The language is an odd and seems to reverberate in unexpected ways.
Aquan
Simply flows the mighty power,
from its path turns none.
Time is long and with each hour,
earth fall, water run.
For a small moment the small gnome seems to be distressed, but almost immediately his normal, expansive demeanor returns.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jkason
Eanos moves toward the "Maps and Guides" sign as soon as he catches sight of it.
"This looks like it should solve our 'where to go' problems, yes?"
This is a good sign. This city seems to be welcoming to travelers and strangers. I have been to cities that have not shared such a sentiment.
Joru enters the building sporting the "Maps and Guides" sign. (OOC: Or at least he will try)
OOC: Assuming that Joru enters the building, and there is someone there to assist him, he will then say the following.
"We are new arrivals to Fallon. We have business in the area known as the caves. I would like to buy a map of the city, and if available, a map with details of the caves and its surroundings."
Pausing, the gnome continues:
"What can you tell me about Fallon? Of what must strangers to the city be aware? If the wage is reasonable, I think we may be interested in a guide."
OOC
I don't mind the DM moving the story along. Without visual clues, or immediate feedback it is extremely hard to gauge the difference between essential role-playing and simply spinning one's wheels. I think that if the players have some role playing they want to get done, they will make it happen. So don't worry too much about setting an accelerated pace.
Last edited by LiquidBlue; 24th October 2006 at 09:48 PM..
Reason: Added OOC to wmaster
Alden follows quietly as the others hurry down the steps. He looks out over the amazing view of the city for a moment before following them into the store. He stands at the back, watching as the gnome moves forward to speak.
__________________
SOUL: Secret Organization for Underground Levity
You can't stop the laughter!
THE HIVE: One Mind, No Purpose. Public Member of the Secret Fraternal Order of the Hive.
Maps and Guides turns out to be a small office, a wooden desk halfway across the room in front of a portly gnome. Almost before you've had a chance to enter the building he greets you, "Well hello! New to the city, I'm sure I can help! My name is Theremore Beezlebrocket Ramplestein Gornagon; maps and guides is my buisness and I know Fallon like the back of my hand," he says almost without drawing breath.
To his right two are two cabinets, piles of paper overflowing slightly from the drawers and keeping them from closing properly. On the desk you can see another pile of paperwork, maps, although nowhere you recognise. Behind him, a large map pinned to the wall, marked as Fallon, depicts the city floor, with a large area surrounding it on three sides, all coloured dark blue and marked 'The Caves'. At the bottom of the map a lighter blue is at the city edge depicting Lake Kithsui.
At Joru's request, Theramore opens one of the cabinets. "Maps of the city and the caves... well.. these are all maps of the city... hang on, somewhere here I've got something that might be useful." He pulls out a large stack of papers and rifles through them. There appear to be maps of all sorts there, from detailed maps showing buildings in one area to what looks like a childs sketch.
While he rifles through the paperwork, he addresses your other questions. "Well, a guide, well that would be my brother I guess. I can guide you around the city, give you the whole tour if you like, just 4 silver and he'll show you the city, including the beautiful gardens, the Hall of Gods and the elven quartz buildings in all of their splendour. Never a finer day out in Fallon." he says, setting some of the maps aside in a seperate pile.
"Ah, the caves!" he says, proudly producing a sheet of parchment. He thrusts out what could, just about, be described as a map. It looks like a 3/4 of a ring, with stairs marked around the inside. Further out from the stairs there are boxes drawn, marked and labelled but entirely unclear as it looks like a great many levels have been drawn on top of one another, with the labelling so small you wonder how the cartographer managed to write it in the first place. "All one hundred and eleven levels of the caves on one easy to use map!" Theremore proclaims. "Yours for just 3 silver!"
Quarion frowns, looking down his nose at the bumbling gnome. He whispers, "They certainly have lengthy names in this city." Quarion looks around the store for a moment and then shakes his head. He seems to remember something, and the corners of his mouth turn up a bit. "I think we shall pass on the map for now. Your brother sounds like he knows Fallon well, but we are not looking for a tour of the city. Rather we would like to be directed to a specific location. The store 'Natural Remedies', to be precise. Would that cost us... money?" Quarion's voice turns up on that last word, doubtful that the answer will be yes, but willing to accept this awkward gnome's terms if it gets the party to their employer.
OOC: A map would be nice, but a map we can't read is no good. =P
Quarion frowns, looking down his nose at the bumbling gnome. He whispers, "They certainly have lengthy names in this city." Quarion looks around the store for a moment and then shakes his head. He seems to remember something, and the corners of his mouth turn up a bit. "I think we shall pass on the map for now. Your brother sounds like he knows Fallon well, but we are not looking for a tour of the city. Rather we would like to be directed to a specific location. The store 'Natural Remedies', to be precise. Would that cost us... money?" Quarion's voice turns up on that last word, doubtful that the answer will be yes, but willing to accept this awkward gnome's terms if it gets the party to their employer.
OOC: A map would be nice, but a map we can't read is no good. =P
Despite himself, Eanos finds he's smiling in amusement as the elf enters into a bargaining session with the energetic gnome. He sits back to watch the proceedings.
Upon seeing the variety of maps, and the quality of some of them, Joru becomes a little more animated.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rae ArdGaoth
"I think we shall pass on the map for now. Your brother sounds like he knows Fallon well, but we are not looking for a tour of the city. Rather we would like to be directed to a specific location. The store 'Natural Remedies', to be precise. Would that cost us... money?"
Joru considers that his companion has made an excellent request. The map proffered seems of little use; however, Joru resolves that he will discover what the shop keeper's stock contains before he takes his leave of Fallon.
OOC: Joru was nearly submitted with maxed ranks in decipher script. In this particular case a guide is the better option, but it is interesting that an opportunity to use the skill would present itself so early in Joru's adventures.
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Dae nods. A guide to a specific location would be much better than unreadable map. Fallon interests Dae, he has never seen anything quite like it before.
Theramore nods, although he looks slightly dissapointed that his efforts were not helpful. "Natural Remedies... yes, I know the place. Level 6, so almost all of the way to the bottom, west side of the caves. Next to 'Fallon's Finest Cheese Emporium', and just below 'Scamp's Hardware'."
As you descend, the city begins to gain more of an active bustling feel. People, predominantly gnomes and dwarves, scamper up and down the stairs as if they posed no obstacle at all, often running up or down several levels. The caves themselves are quite small, each level holding only a couple of buildings, some are shops but many appear to be homes cut into the caves.
The caves are lit by small hemisphere's which appear to stick out from the wall, glowing with a dull white light. As you descend these appear more and more often, as natural light becomes scarcer.
As you near the bottom of the caves the homes, and shops, appear to be of a slightly higher class; you imagine that the prices may be similarly increased. Heading down another flight you are greeted by a large store, apparently taking up all of this side of the caves, a small corridor running in front of it, allowing access round to the north and east sides. Several people bustle around inside looking at an assortment of tools, on display you can immediately see picks, shovels and assorted tools.
A level further and the smell of cheese overwhelms you. Fallon's Finest Cheese Emporium has a large front, the 'windows' displaying their goods being just holes in the walls. Behind a large counter, on which you can see an assortment of cheeses, stands a goblin, serving a customer. Even as you descend the stairs, looking for Natural Remedies, a human couple leave the store struggling with several cumbersome round cheeses. The woman walks to the balcony, places the cheeses on the floor and whispers words strange to all of you. Retriving a vial she tips a single silver drop over the side of the balcony. The drop does not fall, however, but forms a large disk about 3ft in diameter over the side of the balcony (looking remarkably like the platform you saw the previous night). The couple load the cheeses onto it and walk around the corridor, the platform following them without any apparent guidance.
Natural Remedies is not hard to spot, a little way around from the Cheese Emporium. While the front of the store is quite modest, the back, over a tall wall appears to glow with light. On ledges on the wall sit several plants in small pots. Inside it seems quite a quaint and homely store. A wooden counter divides the store, behind which a human woman stands, red curly hair down to her shoulders. Behind her stand large glass jars filled with dried plants, and what look like animal parts. "Hi, how can I help?" she asks.
The woman shakes her head. "Me? No," she says with a wry smile.
"We didn't expect anyone so soon to be honest. Come through and take a seat, I'll get Scodi for you." She opens a door at the back of the shop and leads you through to a small room with a sturdy wooden table and six wooden chairs around it. Another doorway leads further into the building, a steady light visible under the crack of the door, and a flight of stairs leads up from the room.
The woman heads up the stairs as you take a seat. The table looks well used, with many cuts and notches in it, and small stains of green, brown and black They are slightly uncomfortable for all bar Joru, clearly designed for people of smaller stature.
From the top of the stairs you can hear the woman's voice "Scodi? You're adventurers from the Red Dragon are here." Coming back down the stairs she heads back into the main shopfloor, telling you that Scodi will be down in just a moment.
From the top of the stairs you can hear several bumps and crashes before a dishevelled looking gnome comes down the stairs. White unkempt hair sits at peculiar angles on his head, what looks like a dried leaf entagled in amoungst it. He wears what seem to be pyjamas in red white and blue vertical stripes. "Ah, hello! I am Scodi Torensutta Harrelen Beremwocket III. You can call me Scodi, everybody does. So, who are all of you?"
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