D&D 5E (IC) Scourge of Daggerford

Enseth brings all the pints and an apple to his new friends' table.
Talking to himself, "It's not so difficult after all..."

Arriving at the table, "Well, what about a nice game of chess? Ho! But I neglect your basic living needs, you must be tired after such a night. Please forgive me. Let me escort you to your respective resting places. The area is unsafe tonight and I don't want to loose my new friends."

"Haha! We'll stumble home in a bit friend! For now we need to celebrate a for a bit! Pass out those tankards and lets have a toast!" Dandin holds up his half-full pint from his story time and grins at the small gathering of friends, grumpy dwarves included, and proclaims "To victory!"

Squirrels are evil!

Angis Honack
Daggerford
Evening
Round 0

Angis stayed in his corner with his mug, generously kept full by the patrons of the establishment, but he partook of few of the more jovial festivities. He wasn’t impolite, but terse, and soon most decided to let him be and kept their attention on the more entertaining of the heroes of Daggerford.

Angis turned in early, slipping out a back door, his absence not noticed until the serving wench brought around a refill. The lonely dwarf made his way through the darkened streets of Daggerford to the inn where he kept his rooms. He went to the cellar to check on his personal stock of ale that was fermenting there, taking a moment to do this and that in preparation for the next batch. He picked up a keg from the racks of the inn and took it with him to his rooms, spending the night drinking until he passed out, the pink handkerchief that was his most important possession laid out in its place on the nightstand as he snored noisily away.

Bright morning sun did little to improve Angis’ disposition. He rose late, finished off what was left of the ale to alleviate his headache, and went down for a late brunch. Then he retreated to his rooms again to go over paperwork that needed to be done and sent back to the business offices in Waterdeep.

The sun was setting when Angis finally tucked the last of the correspondence into the travel pouch. He cracked his neck and got up and ordered a bath. He had to go to that dinner at the duke’s place, so he had best be presentable. He put on his finest breeches and tunic and ran a brush through his hair. There was little he could do about his craggy, scarred visage, however, so he simply pulled on a fresh pair of boots, tucked his dagger into his belt, the oilskin pouch with the handkerchief into the finely embossed leather vest he wore, and headed up the hill

[sblock=Angis’ Actions]
Move:
Free Object Interaction:
Action:
Bonus Action:
Conditions:
Concentration:
Inspiration:
[/sblock]

[sblock=Mini Stats]
Initiative: +1
Perception: +4
Speed: 25
AC: 14
HP: 22/22 HD: 2/2d10+2

Bolts used:

Spells
1) 2/2 Cure Wounds, Hunter’s Mark
[/sblock]

[sblock=Party]
Tommi - human rogue urban bounty hunter
Lionel Hardcheese - halfling rogue folk hero, son of the local tavern owner (Happy Cow)
Dandin - halfling bard guild merchant
Snake of Trees - tabaxi sorcerer outlander
Enseth - warforged war cleric shield guardian
Angis Honack - dwarven ranger outlander merchant
Titus - human fighter waterdhavian noble
Drui Holderhock - dwarven cleric of Tempus soldier
[/sblock]

After the celebrations at the Otter, Enseth escorted his new friends to their respective resting places. "Sleep well, my friend.", he wished to each of them. When the last one closed his door, he looked around him, searching with his headtorch... No more little friend to escort. A long and profound silence settled. He was alone in the dark, all the city was sleeping. "No one requires my services anymore..."

Then, Enseth wandered in Daggerford's streets without any precise purpose. But passing by the River Shining Inn & Tavern, he saw some light inside. As he was staring at the tavern sign, a weird idea emerged in his mind and Enseth pushed the door. A man with a white sleep cap, a key ring and a candle in hand was obviously closing the inn for the night.

"Hello, innkeeper. I don't believe we've met. Enseth, Model Number Seven, designed and... "
"Stop there! We are closed! Can't you see? And turn off that light, you're blinding me!", shouted the man.
"Ho! I'm sorry, you are perfectly correct, Sir. Please excuse me. Now, I'm here to establish a room rental agreement between you and me, without any time limit clause if it suit you.", said Enseth with his monotonic voice.
"A what?"
"Do you want me to repeat, Sir?"
"No! Get out of here, you..." As he came closer, the man stayed flabbergasted wen he enlightened the Shield Guardian. "By my gammy leg ... We... We... We don"t serve... golem here!"
"I prefer the term "Animated Person" myself."
"Whatever, we are full. So, no way."
"There are exactly seven ways.", replied Enseth pointing his finger toward the key wall, where seven keys were hanging.
"Hum, yeah, you're right, but those are for the... you known... In case of the Council of Guilds has an unscheduled meeting, now be gone!"
"I found that answer fade and unconvincing."
"Maybe. Listen, I can't accept you here, our establishment is a very high standing place. Its fame dates back from ages, even before the ducal castle construction. Please go, someone might see you!"
"I can decry this story as being false but I don't want to tarnish your reputation."
"Look, our prices are far too high for your purse, I can assure you. Now, leave.", said the man starting to panic.
"As you can't determine my current financial status, your statement does not compute."
"GET OUT!", yelled the innkeeper while pushing the Shield Guardian out of his tavern.
"It's going to go 100% failure", announced calmly Enseth as he didn't moved at all.
"Ok, we have made a bad start here." The man stopped pushing the construct. He thought for a moment then said "Wait, I got it... We serve living beings only, here."
"Why?"
"Because, it's like that. It's a ... a tradition."
"Why?"
"I don't know why, but you can't stay here!"
"Why?"
"Because you SCARE people, that's why!"

Those words hit Enseth like no Hobgoblins could ever hit him. And, lost in his calculations, he let the man push him back on the street, slam the door and lock the locks. He was alone in the dark, again.

His steps led him to the ducal castle where, seeing the Shield Guardian, the sentinels opened a gate.
"Hey, look who's there. Clanky is back home. Haha."
Enseth erased from his memory the simulation in which he slammed the guard against the wall and pursued his way to his power station in his Master's laboratory.

Four hours later.
"Boot sequence initiated - All Stations: Online."
As a conclusion of a long calculation Enseth said, "Not enough data". It didn't took long before he found what he was looking for in the library.

Enseth read the book.
Depression:
- A sunken place or hollow on a surface.
"Nope."
- A region of cyclonic weather.
"Nope"
- Feelings of severe despondency or rejection.
Lowering the book , he thought, "Feelings..."

Enseth kept reading.
- Treatment of choice: Get a dog.
"Now this I can do."

Immediately, Enseth started searching the lab. On the table, a pile of strange components was gathered, metallic gears and plates, a beholder eye, a wisp in a bottle, gems, lenses and some various crystals. Then Enseth began the assembly as if he was following an already known schematic plan. After some times, the thing was ready. It looked like a metallic sphere with a single "eye".

"ORB1, boot up."
The drone's eye lighted up and he raised in the air. The sphere stayed there for a moment, hovering on the table and making funny noises and other bleeps.
Enseth would have smiled if only he could have done so.

"What about a nice game of chess, ORB1?"
"Bleep!"

[SBLOCK=ORB1]

[/SBLOCK]

Tommi wakes up earlier than he had intended, but later than his mother thought proper.

"Customers will be here soon," she says to him. He's sprawled on the couch, because he hadn't wanted to disturb her when he'd come in.

"Hmnm," he grunts as he rises to pee and rinse out his mouth. He steps outside, and returns a few minutes later looking suitably refreshed.

"Thanks, mom," he offers, holding out a pair of apples that he's picked up, and which he begins to slice for a small breakfast.

Meanwhile, Gyn busies herself adjusting chairs, and pulling out quilt samples. "Quite a fight last night, I heard." Of course she heard. Gyn hears everything. "You'll need some mending done." It hurts Tommi that he is so predictable.

He looks at her from under his dark eyebrows and sheepishly adds, "Some washing too, if you could." But then he smiles and offers her a slice of apple on the side of a paring knife, and the mother's heart relents for her only son.

"Thanks," he says, as he starts peeling of clothes and again goes outside to wash himself properly from the rain barrel. By the time he's done, there are voices inside, and so Tommi spends the morning leaning against his mother's kitchen door, stripped and with his eyes closed, enjoying the sun, and thinking about the rest of his apples. Passers-by see him there, and understand his mom's in a session. And Tommi waves sheepishly at those who notice him. He feels like he's twelve again. The Hero of Daggerford.

When the first customer leaves, he dashes back in and pulls on some new clothes. "I'm out for dinner tonight," he says. "I'll wear my best clothes."

"These are your best clothes," she says at the pile still on the floor, but kicked behind a chair. Tommi loves his mom; he splits some wood for her in the afternoon, and is mostly clean and presentable when he heads out to the pub to see if he can convince someone to buy him a pre-dinner drink.

FitzTheRuke said:

OOC: I should point out, lest anyone else make Angis' mistake: Duke Maldwyn Daggerford and Sir Isteval of Cormyr are two very very different people. Sir Isteval invited the group to dinner. Not the Duke. Sir Isteval is a wealthy foreigner with a townhouse down the street from the Happy Cow. We can assume that Angis, in his drunken state, heard that he was obligated to join Titus and "someone-important-that-Titus-talked-to" for dinner, and assumed it was the Duke. He'll get turned around by the castle guard (or run into Enseth) and eventually get to the right place.

Click to expand...

Oops. Cormyr is a long way from here! Nearly "back home" for Angis, whi is from Westgate.

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Dandin woke late and seemed in a daze as he stumbled down to the main room of the Cow. Without a word or even look of recognition he sat down at his usual place. In the end, he'd had to drink another two half-pints over what he wanted to. And now he was paying for it. Getting home was a blur and he was sure that Enseth had had to carry him for at least part of the way.

For that matter, most of the night was a blur. Especially the fight. Did he really taunt goblins into running from him? Kill one? He wasn't really the type to haring off into danger. Yet, then came Wilhelmina thanking him for keeping Lionel out of trouble and insisting that his breakfast was free. He hadn't really, but didn't have the heart to tell her that her son had nearly been taken along with those they'd gone to save.

After she walked away he sighed and looked at his plate. Instantly his mood brightened. Apparently they'd made a fresh batch of Apple cobbler this morning and he had a heaping portion. As soon as his stomach was settled, he stepped out and got the cart harnessed up, fed Hanar his morning apple and set off for the docks.

The mystery of their prize was too intriguing for him to ignore. He stopped to inspect the boat and basically make sure that their claim on it was secure before heading to the shipwrights to inquire as to it's origin.

Squirrels are evil!

Titus woke sober. He'd done little but nurse his drink the night before, and then only for the sake of his companions. He didn't want to ruin their celebration. But he couldn't stop his mind from considering.

In the morning, he rolled out of bed and onto the floor, and began his morning workout. It passed by in a flash, his gaze distant. After washing the sweat off, just as the sun was peaking over the buildings in town, he went straight to see his Aunt.

He was let in readily enough, but still he attempted to stay out of the Duke's way. He found his a aunt having a quiet breakfast, and was invited to join her. They made the appropriate small talk, but she could tell something was on his mind.

"The battle last night..." he began, unsure of how to say what he wanted to say. "I saw some of my companions using magic to an effective degree. My mother forced some magical training on me, had me get a spell book and everything, though it is little more than a ritual book. I have never taken magical study as seriously as martial skill.

"I am beginning to think differently. In fact, I want to learn more. I was wondering if there was anyone you knew who might tutor me? Show me some simple spells, and show me how true spellcasters cast them. I'll even take more ritual spells, if I can get them, though I'm looking for something that can help in the middle of a battle. Do you have any suggestions?"




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Titus

Lady Morwen listened patiently to Titus, slowly dipping a biscuit into her breakfast tea. She arched her eyebrows at his renewed interest in Magic and replied, "Well, we have our court wizard, old witch that she is. I believe she had something to do with the activation of your metal companion from last night. From what I hear he has been coming and going from her study. Otherwise, I hear that the wizard Delfen has a few students at his tower on the north wall. Perhaps he would be willing to take you on."

She looked as if she was curious about his new interest, but it was not her style to pry.