A Keep On The Borderlands: Arrival

Sh'aah

Sh'aah towers over the dwarf, just like before. "Move," he growls, threateningly.

[sblock=ooc]
Am hoping to intimidate the Dwarf out of the way without having to kill it, or pick it up like a puppy. +4 skill modifier.

I imagine Arcata would be awake very shortly, what with all the people tramping up and down the stairs. Having been at a boarding school myself once upon a time, you learn to sleep lightly for fear of midnight practical jokes.
[/sblock]

The dwarf. momentarily taken aback, turns its weapon on Sh'aah and says something in dwarven; whatever it is, the tone is defiant.

"He, uh, he wants us to back inside," says Fyfe from behind Sh'aah.

OOC: Sorry, rolled a 2!

Meanwhile, the commotion had caused something of a stir in the room Cassie and Arcata shared. After a few minutes of uncertainty, the former highwaywoman woke the aspiring noblewoman up.

"Something's going on," she said quietly. "I hear footsteps outside. Let me check it out."

Arcata nodded, and as Cassie crept to the door to crack it open and peek outside, she got into more presentable clothes, just in case. For a Lady, she dressed herself quickly. By the time she was done, Cassie had seen enough to act.

"I saw the half-orc, Sha'ah, going by," Cassie reported back. "He didn't have his weapon out, but he looked...intense."

"He always looks intense," Arcata pointed out with a wry chuckle. She then corrected the mispronunciation, "And it's Sh'aah."

Cassie shrugged impatiently. "Even for him, I mean. Something's up."

"Why hasn't he gotten us then?"

The warrior shrugged. "He probably doesn't want to get us in on it until he's already solved it. Then he can tell us about this thing he did...instead of asking us humbly for our help."

"So he can show off, you mean," Arcata supplied.

Cassie shrugged. "That, and Sha'ah...I mean Sh'aah...strikes me as someone who is used to acting on his own."

"That's going to have to change now," said Arcata, "Did you see which way he went?"

The two women slipped out of their room and into the dank and somehow forboding halls of the dwarf keep, following in the half-orc's footsteps.

Bastian woke slowly. He swore he'd been restrained with the dwarven ale, but gods, it felt like he'd been hibernating a full winter rather than just sleeping a few hours. The weapon in the priest's hands brought him to his senses, though. He wished for more than the first time that he could sleep in his armor, but he'd not yet found a method that didn't wake him with metallic scraping and sore joints.

He'd have to make due without, then. The armor killed what little skill at stealth he had, anyway. And if there was danger, he wasn't going to waste his time dressing while the last Dulat took a sword in the belly. He gestured intently to the door and down, indicating he was going to check on Arcata. He gave Fyfe the stern glare that reminded him of his duty, and trusted the priest to make whatever choices he needed to.

[sblock=ooc]yowza, I think I'm finally caught up here, and just in time for danger and fights in pajamas. Bastian's moving to Arcata's quarter / level with all due haste, and conscripting Fyfe to stay with him.[/sblock]

Sh'aah

Sh'aah paused for just a second, as though weighing something in his mind. Having reached a decision he simply shrugged. "Need piss. Piss here is same as piss there." He propped his spear in the doorframe and made as though getting ready to unlace himself.

The dwarf, upon seeing what Sh'aah is up to, gives a grunt of annoyance and turns back to keeping its watch, although he doesn't completely let h'aah out of his sight.

[sblock=OOC]
The half-orc barbarian succeeds in a Bluff check where he fails with Intimidate. What is the world coming to?
[/sblock]

Sh'aah

Sh'aah took the Dwarf's turn as permission to proceed - whether it had been given or not. With a short grunt he picked up his spear and hurried off away from the tower. It helped that he actually did need a piss, after all the Dwarven Ale.

Need to get Priest-man out of tower. Need rope...climb outside. Left rope with horsey...stupid... Having made his decision about what to do and where to go, Sh'aah slid into the closest pool of shadows and began making his way to the stables. At least, as far as he remembered where the stables were. Everybody awake now...probably wonder where I go. Can't change now...

The half-orc's ways were crude, but they were certainly effective as well, observes Comoray. While considering his next move he sees that Arcata has awoken. He moves over to her and whispers, "Sh'aah and I were roused from our slumber by strange sounds that seemed to be coming from below us, my Lady. This might be a good time to put some of your more practically talents to use. If you could sniff out if there is any sorcery at work in the vicinity, it would at least eliminate one possibility."

"Sounds, what kind of sounds?" Arcata wants to know. "And where did Sh'aah get off to? We were trying to follow him discretely, but...maybe we overdid the discretion and let him get too far ahead."

Despite her questions, she finds a breath to incant a cantrip, and opens her eyes to the unseen world around her...searching for threads of magic.

(Detect Magic!)

Sh'aah stalks through the shadows. There are blue dwarf guards on the two curtain walls at either end of the waystation, and at the doors, but none seem to be abroad within the compound. The nearest building was once an inn, and the sign of a tankard still swings in a stiff mountain breeze. The mounts are stabled in the further building, however, which looks to have once been used as a warehouse as well as stables. Sh'aah finds the horses fit and well, and no blue dwarves in sight.

Meawhile, Arcata uses her arcane sight but sees no sign of magic. Trooper Fyfe coughs uncomfortably.

"The half-orc managed to trick his way past the stunty outside, sir," he whispers to Bastian. "Dunno what he was doing."

[sblock=OOC]
Map attached as a reminder of the layout, although if it helps I can update the locations of characters. Seems that Arcata, Comoray, Bastian, Fyfe and Cassie are all up and now on the ground floor of the tower, with one blue dwarf on guard outside. Sh'aah is in the lower of the two large buildings.


[/sblock]