Paths of Legend: The Sunless Citadel (IC)

Oakhurst, Midsummer 5150

Little more than a stop on the road for most travelers on the New Road between Dry Lake and Brindinford, Oakhurst is home to about 900 souls, mostly farmers. Coming from the south (from Dry Lake), one first encounters the clanging of the local blacksmith on the right and the turn-off to the Old Road on the left. As one continues along the curve of the New Road, one finds the General Store, the home of Merchant Hucrele (the only residence, other than the Mayor's, in town; the rest of the population dwells in farmsteads surrounding the town), the Mayor's residence and offices and the Constable and Jail on the left. On the right, after the Old Road turn-off, one finds the local Healer (a small shrine to Pelor) and the Ol' Boar Inn. The local well stands in the middle of the New Road, between the Ol' Boar and the General Store. The town has a very rustic look, the buildings made of local timber, with thatched roofs.

Delber Alexivich, finds himself along the New Road entering Oakhurst, traveling from Dry Lake. The noonday sun glares down unpleasantly and the clanging of the blacksmith is jarring on the nerves. Rumor of a magic apple being sold by local goblins had reached the ears of Delber's mentor, Alexi. Alexi had firmly suggested that this would be an excellent opportunity to test Delber's magical knowledge and abilities. And so, here Delber was. Accompanying the young wizard was Lenya, a warrior woman of some skill, trained by an old adventuring companion of Alexi who owed the old wizard a favor. Thus, Lenya finds herself serving as bodyguard to Delber, at least for the moment.

Kelset was, at least in part, responsible for the cacophony coming from the blacksmith. The cleric of Kord who had indoctrinated the half-orc had sent Kelset to Oakhurst to lend his strength to the local blacksmith, a dwarf named Rurik Lugehr. The dwarf was getting on in years and, though his skill in the smithy had not dimmed, his ability to walk had. So, for the spring and beginning of the summer, Kelset had been hauling ore and firewood, running errands, and otherwise helping out the old dwarf. During his time in Oakhurst, he'd gotten to know some of the locals and had been invited by a paladin from Brindinford to help explore the ravine out on the Old Road. Livestock on the farmsteads out that way had started dying off, killed by something in the night. The paladin, Sir Braford, had decided to investigate. Kelset's commitment to Rurik won out, however, and Braford and three local aspiring adventurers, the Hucrele siblings and a ranger named Karakus had gone off about a month ago without Kelset. They never came back.

Darik was entering town from the north, along the New Road, coming from Brindinford. The temple of Pelor there had been quite helpful, supplying more information to back-up the rumors heard in Narsven that had sent him on this journey. One of the Brindinford temple's paladins, Sir Braford, had taken it upon himself to journey to Oakhurst to investigate the slaying of livestock in the area. The temple has not heard from Braford since and were concerned for his well being. They suggested Darik talk to Corkie Nackle, the local healer in Oakhurst and devotee to Pelor.

Rashana was at the Ol' Boar Inn. Her father and brothers were making preparations to move on to Brindinford. The deal her father had intended to make with the Merchant Hucrele had turned sour when Hucrele's grown children, Talgen and Sharwyn, set out for the ravine on the Old Road a month ago and never returned. Merchant Hucrele had grown taciturn and lost all interest in business negotations, instead devoting her attention to the recovery of her children. Rashana's father was fed up and was moving on. He had little patience for sentimentality, after all. Still, never one to completely given up on a deal, he had asked Rashana to stay behind, in case Hucrele changed her mind.

Corashkael was also at the Ol' Boar, having just arrived a few days earlier, his wanderings bringing him this far south. He'd heard the rumors about the Hucrele children from Garon, the innkeep.

Vardok had heard about a reward offered by the Merchant Hucrele for the return of her missing children from a relative. The local blacksmith, Rurik Lutgehr, was Vardok's great uncle on his mother's side and thus the rumor had eventually reached Vardok's ears as something relatively honest to do to earn some coin. Thus Vardok was enjoying his great uncle's hospitality the last couple of days, and having a run in or two with Rurik's helper, a half-orc by the name of Kelset.

Athanil, Ringrill, and Finlil had traveled far, avoiding Trandar in their trek south, for it was known to be unfriendly to elves, and instead passing through Qualine, Telgar and Narsven, now finding themselves in Dydd. Something had drawn Athanil to this place, dreams of another life, or perhaps something to do with his human heritage. Something had called him here, that much was certain. The three were more used to living among nature's creatures than in the buildings of humans, so they had made camp a little west of the town, near a road that had obviously fallen into disuse. They'd spotted a ravine the day before and Athanil felt pulled to it, though he still couldn't explain why.

The smelly creatures that inhabited the unnatural caves at the bottom of the ravine were stirring, disturbing Merenita's peace and quiet. The gangly little humanoids were climbing out of the ravine, carrying a bundle with them. Other humanoids had come down into the ravine a month ago. Merenita had seen them, watched them, taken her humanoid form from the female in the group. But the smelly ones had killed the others, or at least one of them. His bones had been tossed out for the dire rats to pick at; the smelly humanoids had probably eaten the rest.

OOC: Here we go. Walking Dad, we will definately need a name and a complete set of stats for your character as soon as we can get them so I can change ???? in the intro above.

OOC: My posting schedule is to wait for everyone to get at last one post in, then I post an update. So, if you are interacting with a NPC, you may have to wait a bit until the other players post. Regardless, after one week has passed, I post an update anyway, writing out any characters whose players haven't posted after two weeks of being absent, though leaving a window of opportunity open for their return. We'll be using Invisible Castle for all die rolls. Anyone who hasn't posted their character in the Rogue's Gallery, please do so as soon as possible. Let the game begin!

Ah, Lenya. we have made it to Oakhurst. I think we are due for a pint of ale, would you agree? and preferably far from that clanging anvil i hear?

Ringrill stretches in the morning light and sees his tribal kin and the wolf Druid already awake. Athanil, perhaps we should go take a look at the ravine we saw a little ways back. If you feel the spirits around here drawing you to it we should follow them. Ringrill stands up and puts on his gear.

Rashana sat quietly, alone, at her tavern table staring absently at the note before her. Her father had explained all of his wishes to her the preceding night but the man still felt it necessary to write it all down for her as if she were incapable of basic comprehension. He expected her to sit here obediently accomplishing nothing more grand than acting as his personal message board until his return. Such was par for course for her father as far as Rashana was concerned.

Her father’s wishes be damned, while she has the time, she figures she will put it to good use. The tragic tale of Hucrele’s children and their unknown fate had crossed Rashana’s attention several times during her stay here in Oakhurst. It was worth investigating at least so much as to discover what had become of the children and bring Hucrele some sense of closure. With some luck, perhaps they might even still be alive.

Resolving herself to her new purpose, Rashana stands and approaches the tavern bar to speak with the innkeeper. “Greetings, Garon. My father probably already mentioned this to you, but it appears I will be staying here quite a bit longer than expected while he moves on to Brindinford. I look forward to enjoying the hospitality of your inn.”, she politely announces. “But in the meantime, I would like to explore Oakhurst and the surrounding area. I've heard quite a few stories circulating around. What can you tell me about the ravine on the Old Road?”

The wine here is sour, Kael thought to himself as he politely drank from his cup. He had allowed the red to breathe as he soaked in this inn, another inn, along the random road of his travels. He'd been through Telgar and had been uninspired. He'd been through Narsven and had continued through.

At his own slower pace, Corashkael wandered down the main roads hoping to find something, yet not at the same time. He was in no hurry to complete his journey, no hurry to return to Arifel. And so he had traveled South, into Dydd and this small township. The lack of sprawl had prompted Kael to stop in and relax for a day or two, as so many of the places he had been were densely packed with humans and other races, crammed together to create a sense of community with strangers.

And so he sat, alone, a curl of golden loosely falling in front of his face as he swirled his cup, hoping in vain that this might help improve its make. He hadn't had a good wine in a long while.

Kael sighed and took another small sip. While not looking directly at the exchange, he kept his attention fixed on the only action in the room, the young female human and the innkeep. It would seem he would share the inn with another for his stay, and perhaps if this Garon had any pleasant suggestions of the area surrounding Oakhurst, Kael could follow his feet to something interesting, some change of pace.

Lenya

“Full agreement. That sound is already getting on my nerves. Let us find a decent place to get a drink and maybe find out a bit more about what's going on here. Maybe there is something interesting to be heard. At the very least we might pass some time.”

Merenita stirred, her stomach was notably absent of food. She pulled the cool cave air into her tracheae, the rush of oxygen rousing her to wakefulness. The fury things made for good hunting, when the smelly humanoids were not making lots of noise nearby...

Vardok Stonekennel finishes eating some of his great-uncle's lunch, rises, and starts to head for the door - then remembers that Rurik don't walk so well no more, and if he wanted to squat here any longer, he'd probably need to take care of his own dirty dishes. With a sigh, the young hill dwarf picks up his plate and bowl, takes them to the kitchen, and cleans them off a bit. Then leaves them be and resumes his march to the door.

Approaching his uncle at the smithy, he says loudly, to get over the noise of the hammer and anvil, "AH'M GOIN' OUT TA SEE 'BOUT SUM WORK." Passing by the half-orc errand-boy, whatsisface, Vardok says "Yeh, move them hams, tusker, Rurik needs ahron t' do 'is work." The scruffy, red-haired dwarf marches on out without so much as a goodbye or thankyou. His black and white bulldog follows close behind, snarling a moment at Rurik and Kelset before following Vardok out.

Vardok plods over to the General Store, thinking 'Heyyyll, eeven if Ah deed bust inna wunna them thayre houses, Ah'd be lucky t' git a week's rashuns fer th' road. Could Ah eeven git summare else inna week? Thees hole's got nuthin' worth mah time. Beetter git sum lucre fr'm thees jowb... Wunner eef Ah c'n find th' boys or thayre corpses without n'mohr trouble'n a gobby er two.'

Though he left his backpack and burlap sack at great-uncle Rurik's house for now, Vardok wore his second-hand leather armor (which didn't quite fit as well as he'd like, whoever it was he stole it from must've been a bit taller and fatter, but he can't remember who it was), his short sword, his mace, and his daggers, ready for any trouble that might come his way. And looking the part of an adventurer or thug, anyway.

He reaches the General Store and makes his way in, to go see Mrs. Hucrele. If the door's locked, he'll just 'nudge' it open, which to any casual observer (of which he makes sure there aren't any before he approaches the General Store) just might be mistakenly thought to bear some kind of vague resemblance to picking the lock... If anybody inside notices and asks about it, he'll just say the door was stuck a bit, and he used his dwarven ingenuity to fix the jammed handle out of curtesy.

Vardok turns a moment to look at the dog, shakes his fist and says threateningly "STAY THAYRE!" before going into the General Store, hoping his stupid dog does as its told. At least he thought it must be kinda stupid, since ir rarely seemed to notice when he commanded it to do something.

"Ah, missus Hoocreel, mayum, Ah'm Vardok Stonekennel, kin t' yer local blacksmith, an' I heard 'bout yer missin' boys. Ah thought Ah'd offer mah servicees as a travelin' problum-solver, gob-sticker" he says by way of introduction, partially unsheathing his short sword for emphasis, "an' searcher'a dark an' forebodin' places. Fer money, a'course, as Ah hear yeh might 'ave a ree-ward fer th' ree-turn'a yer boys. C'n yeh 'splain mohr'a what 'appened to 'em, an' whayre?"


OOC: If needed, his Open Lock check is a cruddy 11, so he'd probably need to take 20 for a 26.
1d20+6=11

Athanil

The man stands quietly, looking around calmly, thoughtful, snuffing the air. He looks at Ril, his loyal wolf, for a couple of seconds. Finally, he answers, stroking the silvery hide of his companion: Yes, Ringrill. There is something about that place. Ril was nervous too when we were in the whereabouts. Let's go take a look.

Ringrill nods, bundles his things together, and then walks down the road towards the ravine. It's not like townsfolk to let their paths become rough like this. There is something about that place.