Valley of the Dead: Chapter 1 "A gathering of heroes"

"AH!! Can you not feel that Master Gnome?" Kye asks feeling the rare raidant warmth fill him. "Truly our quest be blessed by Helm."

"The Wacher, even now shows us that he will help us prevail against the White Lady."

Jill smiles at both men and claps her hands with excitement. "Race you to the bridge!" is all the warning Peth and Kye get before she storms off trough the field, her bare feet obviously used to running.

The Western road has become more crowded than before, but the people leaving Angelwatch are just as gloomy, and the ones coming in - just as apathetic.

The morning sun still shines brightly, but dark clouds can be seen coming from the North, suggesting that the weather will probably worsen by noon.




***



The girl smiles radiantly and lifts up the edge of her dress slightly in a gracious curtsy. "My name is Merry, but I am sorry to disappoint - I am no witch, only a talented girl that has learned a few tricks over the years spent bringing heavy tankards of ale to caravan guards and other rough men."

With a gracious and overly emphasized motion that does not seem threatening to the Half Orc, the girl produces a thin silver instrument that Thok would call a flute, and puts it to her lips. She plays a lively tune, and even if it's only for a few seconds and not particularly inspired, the Half Orc can judge that Merry is as skilled with her instrument as the Barbarian is with is sword. The girl then stops playing and smiles warmly once again.

"Now then Thok, i don't have much gold to spare really, but tell you what - If you come and help me find Jill I will treat you to all the food and ale you want tonight at the tavern. After all, working as a barwench has it's benefits."

Merry smiles once more, her gray eyes shining with an almost ethereal mischievous light.
[sblock]Perform check was 24, just so you know. She is not trying to fascinate Thok therefore no Will save is needed. Just a regular few seconds of music.[/sblock]


***



The large man eyes the crowd, that was now quickly losing interest in the zombie heads and his call to arms, and sends off the ones leaving with a very displeased look on his face. He then turns towards Maximus and judges him, his features softening a bit once the lad speaks. "Nah, I'm my own organization. The town watch - he spits loudly and looks around, as if to see if anyone disapproved of his actions. - they're a sorry bunch of losers, i'll tell you that much! Girly men the lot 'o them! They hide behind their cloaks and shiny shields, and are only good when there's twenty of them to beat up a street urchin for stealing bread."

The man's great red mane waves around as he speaks more passionately and with a louder voice. "No they are good for nothings, and that idiot Stutley is greedier than ten Dwarves and their wives! He ain't sendin' men on patrols in the countryside that's for sure. But the people, they need to get the last harvest in before autumn comes in full force at us"

The large man pauses and apparently tries to calm himself down. "You are right friend, the people do need protection, even if most of them are yellow bellied! - he shouts that last part and eyes the crowd, which is growing scarce quickly. From here Maximus can already smell the putrid rotting flesh, hoisted ten feet above their heads. - I myself am Bran Bloodmane - a Ranger in these parts for the last decade or so. And this - he slaps the giant ram standing behind him with a mighty swing. - this is Lobri. Lobri doesn't like Undead, no sir. I think that sometimes his favorite thing in the world is trampling skeletons. Isn't that right boy?"

The large man laughs and rubs the giant ram's head. The animal bleats in return and shakes it's thick white mane. It is now apparent that the dense curved horns can easily knock down a brick wall, if said wall got on Lobri's bad side.




***



Sensalar shapechanges without interruption and takes to the sky. The morning smells of Angelwatch, coming from all the smoking chimneys of bakeries, kitchens and inns, now filling the air. With his enhanced vision in the form of a bird of prey, he can see what seems to be the main plaza in front of the Angelwatch cathedral of Lathander.

The crowd below is buzzing like a swarm of angry bees, and several men can be seen arguing with a spellcaster on the side. A young boy and an older man also seem to be in a bit of a quarrel at the back of the square. Further on the streets, people go about their daily routine, paying little heed to the ringing of the cathedral bells or the noise coming from the square.

A large horse-drawn carriage painted in white and red approaches the plaza as well, but it is still a few hundred feet away on the Eastern street.

As the Druid observes the countryside, he can see the form of a little human child, running across a grassy plain, with a large human and a gnome walking quickly behind her. They are steadily going further away from the busy Western road, headed towards the small glen and the stream that goes trough it.

Further to the Norht-West he can see two humanoid shapes standing at teh edge of the forest, but they are too far away to be seen clearly.

[sblock] Everything else that happens in the square, Senslar can see. Mainly the stuff below [/sblock]


***


At the main plaza, the crowd now splits in two. A large part of the men are trying to talk to the Paladins and some have already headed towards the man with the red armour to enroll. A smaller group, has now gathered around the spellcaster who shouted promises of gold earlier. It is uncertain what happened exactly, but several men suddenly start throwing punches at one another, and soon steel is drawn.

The mage seems annoyed and only steps back, but not before casting a spell and producing eight exact copies of himself that now swirl around his position.

Meanwhile the fighting breaks out between what appears to be two groups of adventurers, and in only a few seconds one man falls on the ground, stabbed trough the gut, and two more are injured and fending for their lives. The Paladins seem hesitant to interfere, before Lazarus Trimenheim urges them on with a gesture and angry words that cannot be heard over the commotion.

For a square of battle-eager adventurers, none seem to keen on the idea of joining the fight.

"Thok likes beer and food. Big food, big Thok, that's what Thok thinks. Thok helps you out." decides the barbarian. He frowns slightly, and opens his mouths, as about to say something, but refraining. "If you come from there" the halforc points at the path behind Merry "That means the boy is not there. But Thok was ahead of you, and saw nothing. Thok thinks little boy must have walked by when Thok was sleeping. So, Jill must be farther away on the road." Apparently satisfied with his reasoning, the smiling Thok starts to walk away. When he notices that the girl is not following, he waves his hand like an idiot, saying "Here! Follow Big Thok." quite happy.

Had Alevyth not heard more fighting, he may have continued arguing with the rude man and his ill-tempered friend, but something drew the youth's attention. A fight had broken out, and the youth immediately dashed forward, moving to interpose himself between the combatants.

"Cease and DESIST! This chaos is unacceptable! I swear by the Vigilant One that any who does not now lay down their arms I will strike down. Angelwatch cannot afford to lose more men!" His voice was stern and strong, he had no doubts about what he was doing. He would brook no aggression. While he appeared unarmed, that was deceptive... Alevyth had learned long ago that not everyone would show honor, and prepared himself for those people. He was always armed. His deep blue eyes scanning around for signs of acquiescence. If they were not shown, he would attack any aggressors with his full might.

Despite the situation, Alevyth felt a sense of calm roll over as he remember all those he's helped in his travels.

[sblock=OOC]I hope I don't throw a wrench in here by Alevyth's intervention, but being a protector, he wouldn't tolerate a wanton bloodbath, which is what seems to be erupting amongst the adventurers present. If my crunch is approved, Alevyth is capable of making 3 Attacks of Opportunity within his 10' reach(morphic reach ability from Warshaper). If you need more specific actions or rolls, let me know.

Will save: 1d20+7=19

[/sblock]

Sensalar alights inconspicuosly on the grand cathedral to see where the "discussion" leads, hoping to learn more of the threat to angelwatch by listening to the men in line to join the paladin.

He scans the area for a likely spot to return to his natural form should the need arise, and ruffles his feathers in disgust at the fight, readying himself to aid the man trying to calm the crowd if needed.

"The best thing the blights of nature besetting this town could hope for is to turn it's people against themselves." he reflects.

The sound of rampant chaos forced Latham to turn and watch. Silently he was glad he had vacated the spot where the violence was occurring, lest someone had scuffed his shoes or worse, actually tried to attack him.

Keht stopped and stood next to the Enchanter, mumbling something low in Githzerai. Facing the crowds Latham shrugged and placed his hands in his pockets where some components lay. The rush of the paladins dispersing amongst the crowd stayed his act. Although he watched with curiosity the young warrior who seemed so egregiously offended that Latham had collided with him and moreso that Keht had shoved him. A smile cracked his face. He wasn't sure why, but Latham had found that hilarious. Sometimes having the Githzerai around just made his life a much more humorous place.

With another shrug, Latham's hand exited the pocket it had been in with a pinch of something, and spoke back in Githzerai to his friend (with a rough translation), "This ought to make things interesting."

A few small words and a gesture involving the pinched material forces Latham to smile and watch expectantly. As the flash of glitter erupted in a larger-than-expected fashion, the young Enchanter marveled at the way it seemed brighter and more potent than he'd ever seen. Maybe he'd used too much ground mica, maybe it was just a play with the morning sun, he wasn't quite sure, but he was thankful nonetheless.

Action: Casting Glitterdust (10' Radius) centered in the middle of the fight. Will Save DC 19 to save versus Blinding. That ought to make fighting a bit more difficult.

Edit: Oh, and if the birthday bonus is still in effect, then that's a DC 20 save!

Peth shrugs at the big man, the warmth suffusing him making him less willing to argue religion's finer foolish points just at the moment.

"Whether it be Helm or some other benevolent force, I do feel it. Hopefully it bodes better for us than the clouds swooping down on us do."

He turns and follows Jill at a brisk walk, the edges of his armor fuzzing his silhouette in an eye-watering manner as the sunlight shifts around him. All unaware, he smiles as he watches the young girl skip and run happily in the unexpected surge of well-being.

[sblock=OOC]I assume you meant until the end of the IC day, not the OOC day, right? [/sblock]

recognizing the strange humans actions and the resulting confusion for what they are, Sensalar sees his opportunity to slip quietly into the crowd.

spellcraft check (glitterdust) (1d20+7=27)

Sensalar changes forms at the edge of the crowd, reentering near the front where he can clearly hear the paladin.

OOC: This is going at a ver slow peace, is there any possibility of speeding things up?