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Aphonion Tales (New posts 6/13, 6/15, 6/19)
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<blockquote data-quote="Cerebral Paladin" data-source="post: 1488276" data-attributes="member: 3448"><p>Session 2:</p><p></p><p>Mahler Fife and Alistair talked quietly in one of the nicer taverns in Plurg in the City of Enclaves, which is to say a dive.</p><p></p><p>"The hags seem to do everything in threes," Alistair observed. "Stories always tell of covens of three, and at each of the two bases they were using for their slaving they had a triangle on the wall. When the guard hit one of the triangles, it triggered the alarm spell. I figure that the hags' actual base probably forms the third point of an equilateral triangle with the two we found so far. We just need to get a map, plot the points, confirm which one the hags are at, and turn it over to the Glordiadelian church troops to collect our reward."</p><p></p><p>"Sounds right to me. I bet we can get a map of the Enclave from the local parish church." Mahler finished his drink, dropped a copper for the tab, and stood to leave.</p><p></p><p>The two young men quickly reached the local temple to Glordiadel. A quick conversation with an acolyte persuaded him to show them a map of the Enclave- an authoritative attitude can be remarkably persuasive sometimes. A few quick moves with a compass identified the two possibilities. One of the two was at the docks of the Enclave, across from an Enclave filled with warehouses and not far from the notorious slave-holding Enclave of Zorplona-Argoni. The other possible vertex was far within the Enclave, in a nondistinguished section of streets.</p><p></p><p>Mahler looked at the two options. "The dock seems the best bet to check first. The hags seem to have some affinity for water, and besides, its position would make shipping slaves out to whereever they're sold easier."</p><p></p><p>"Makes sense. Let's check it out."</p><p></p><p>Mahler and Alistair travelled to the docks. Searching around pier by pier seemed a little two obvious, so they stealthily stowed away on board one of the many barges carrying the shipping down the canals. Crouched stealthily by the gunwales of the barge, they examined each pier as the barge slowly drifted past. Most of the piers were unremarkable. But as they approached the precise area predicted by the pattern, they noticed that one of the pier had an understructure enclosed in walls-- precisely what would be needed if the hags were using this area for a hideout.</p><p></p><p>Mahler dropped his heaviest gear and prepared to drop over the edge. "I'm going to take a closer look." Alistair gathered up a coil of rope near one hand, while keeping his spiked chain ready to hand but well concealed. Mahler slid lightly into the murky, foul smelling canal water, and quietly stroked over to the structure. When he arrived at the structure's side, he could hear voices within.</p><p></p><p>"Is dat de barge?"</p><p></p><p>"Naw, we gotta wait some more. But the ol' gal said it would be soon."</p><p></p><p>"And then she said we're supposed to clear out. I don't know why she wants us to leave, but I'm sure she'll tell us when she's ready."</p><p></p><p>Mahler maneuvered to where he could see into the structure through a gap between two planks. The two voices belonged to half-orc guards. The only other people in the structure were a group of scared human children-- kidnapped by the hags to be sold into slavery. Mahler carefully remained perfectly still while one of the half-orcs looked through a knothole. But as the guard turned back to his companion, Mahler pushed away from the pier and swam through the fetid water to rejoin Alistair, who hoisted him back into the barge.</p><p></p><p>"Definitely some more slavers there. The hags aren't there, though. We should act quickly, though. They're supposed to deliver the slaves soon."</p><p></p><p>"Hmm. I could create an illusion of one of the hags, based on what we saw before. We might be able to fool the guards into leaving without a fight. I can't make sound for the illusion, though."</p><p></p><p>"I can mimic the hag's voice. It'll be good enough to fool them."</p><p></p><p>"Let's send them back to one of the hideouts we already raided. The hags won't check back there, and we can capture them at our leisure. In the meantime, we can grab the barge that's coming to take delivery by calling in some reinforcements."</p><p></p><p>The barge captain burst in with a startled, "hey, wot's this, and who are you?"</p><p></p><p>Mahler looked up at the captain from under his cloak. "Uh... we're some of your crew. We got hired by the foreman..."</p><p></p><p>"No, you're not! I know all of my crew, and..."</p><p></p><p>Alistair tried a different tack. "Listen, sir, just be quiet and we'll explain." Alistair flashed a few silver coins to draw the captain's attention. He passed the coins over. "We're looking to rent a pier in this area for our shipping concern, and we wanted to get a view upclose without anyone the wiser. So we could know how much to offer, y'know?"</p><p></p><p>Satisfied with the bribe, the captain quickly began turning away. "Ah, right. Never noticed you on board at all..."</p><p></p><p>"Captain, would you mind dropping us off at that pier?" Alistair pointed at the pier next to the hag's hideout.</p><p></p><p>"Not at all."</p><p></p><p>"And actually, if you could block traffic for a little bit-- we don't want to be interrupted."</p><p></p><p>"Blocking traffic could get me fined!" Alistair handed the captain a gold piece. Moments later the captain skewed the barge across the canal and began yelling at his crew for having screwed things up. It would clearly be several minutes before the barges started moving again.</p><p></p><p>The two young men hopped off the barge onto the dock. Mahler dirtied up each of their faces to make them more convincing as employees of the hag. Mahler made some general noise to conceal the spellcasting, and an image of a green hag appeared. Neither paid much attention to a slight shimmering in the air nearby.</p><p></p><p>The hag strode imperiously into the slave center, trailed by Mahler and Alistair doing their best thug impressions. The two guards looked up in surprise. </p><p></p><p>"There's been a change in plans." Mahler threw his voice and changed it to sound like the hag's. "You two should head to the other base, beneath the pipe foundry, and wait for further orders there. These two," the hag gestured at Mahler and Alistair, "will watch these slaves until pick-up."</p><p></p><p>"Yes, mum. We'll go right then." The guards were confused, but they knew better than to argue with the hag and left immediately.</p><p></p><p>A slight breeze stirred through the structure, stopping as the guards left, but Mahler and Alistair assumed that it was just an unusual windpattern. Besides, they had more important things to worry about. As soon as the guards were out of earshot, the hag disappeared and Mahler and Alistair began releasing the children. "Don't worry kids- we're here to rescue you." While Mahler freed the last captives, Alistair fished a scrap of parchment out of a pocket, scribbled a note on it, and melted some wax. He drew a signet ring out of one of his pockets, carefully set the seal inside the letter while positioning himself so that Mahler could never see either seal or signet, closed the letter, and sealed it on the outside with a simple thumbprint. The ring dropped back into the same deep pocket it came from.</p><p></p><p>Turning to one of the oldest children, Alistair handed him the letter and said, "Take this to the temple of Glordiadel. Tell whoever you meet at the temple that you were told to give this directly to the priest." As the child ran off with the message, Alistair turned to Mahler. "That should get us some back-up. When the barge arrives to pick up the children, we'll be in a position to start following the slave trade the other direction by capturing whoever crews the barge."</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Cerebral Paladin, post: 1488276, member: 3448"] Session 2: Mahler Fife and Alistair talked quietly in one of the nicer taverns in Plurg in the City of Enclaves, which is to say a dive. "The hags seem to do everything in threes," Alistair observed. "Stories always tell of covens of three, and at each of the two bases they were using for their slaving they had a triangle on the wall. When the guard hit one of the triangles, it triggered the alarm spell. I figure that the hags' actual base probably forms the third point of an equilateral triangle with the two we found so far. We just need to get a map, plot the points, confirm which one the hags are at, and turn it over to the Glordiadelian church troops to collect our reward." "Sounds right to me. I bet we can get a map of the Enclave from the local parish church." Mahler finished his drink, dropped a copper for the tab, and stood to leave. The two young men quickly reached the local temple to Glordiadel. A quick conversation with an acolyte persuaded him to show them a map of the Enclave- an authoritative attitude can be remarkably persuasive sometimes. A few quick moves with a compass identified the two possibilities. One of the two was at the docks of the Enclave, across from an Enclave filled with warehouses and not far from the notorious slave-holding Enclave of Zorplona-Argoni. The other possible vertex was far within the Enclave, in a nondistinguished section of streets. Mahler looked at the two options. "The dock seems the best bet to check first. The hags seem to have some affinity for water, and besides, its position would make shipping slaves out to whereever they're sold easier." "Makes sense. Let's check it out." Mahler and Alistair travelled to the docks. Searching around pier by pier seemed a little two obvious, so they stealthily stowed away on board one of the many barges carrying the shipping down the canals. Crouched stealthily by the gunwales of the barge, they examined each pier as the barge slowly drifted past. Most of the piers were unremarkable. But as they approached the precise area predicted by the pattern, they noticed that one of the pier had an understructure enclosed in walls-- precisely what would be needed if the hags were using this area for a hideout. Mahler dropped his heaviest gear and prepared to drop over the edge. "I'm going to take a closer look." Alistair gathered up a coil of rope near one hand, while keeping his spiked chain ready to hand but well concealed. Mahler slid lightly into the murky, foul smelling canal water, and quietly stroked over to the structure. When he arrived at the structure's side, he could hear voices within. "Is dat de barge?" "Naw, we gotta wait some more. But the ol' gal said it would be soon." "And then she said we're supposed to clear out. I don't know why she wants us to leave, but I'm sure she'll tell us when she's ready." Mahler maneuvered to where he could see into the structure through a gap between two planks. The two voices belonged to half-orc guards. The only other people in the structure were a group of scared human children-- kidnapped by the hags to be sold into slavery. Mahler carefully remained perfectly still while one of the half-orcs looked through a knothole. But as the guard turned back to his companion, Mahler pushed away from the pier and swam through the fetid water to rejoin Alistair, who hoisted him back into the barge. "Definitely some more slavers there. The hags aren't there, though. We should act quickly, though. They're supposed to deliver the slaves soon." "Hmm. I could create an illusion of one of the hags, based on what we saw before. We might be able to fool the guards into leaving without a fight. I can't make sound for the illusion, though." "I can mimic the hag's voice. It'll be good enough to fool them." "Let's send them back to one of the hideouts we already raided. The hags won't check back there, and we can capture them at our leisure. In the meantime, we can grab the barge that's coming to take delivery by calling in some reinforcements." The barge captain burst in with a startled, "hey, wot's this, and who are you?" Mahler looked up at the captain from under his cloak. "Uh... we're some of your crew. We got hired by the foreman..." "No, you're not! I know all of my crew, and..." Alistair tried a different tack. "Listen, sir, just be quiet and we'll explain." Alistair flashed a few silver coins to draw the captain's attention. He passed the coins over. "We're looking to rent a pier in this area for our shipping concern, and we wanted to get a view upclose without anyone the wiser. So we could know how much to offer, y'know?" Satisfied with the bribe, the captain quickly began turning away. "Ah, right. Never noticed you on board at all..." "Captain, would you mind dropping us off at that pier?" Alistair pointed at the pier next to the hag's hideout. "Not at all." "And actually, if you could block traffic for a little bit-- we don't want to be interrupted." "Blocking traffic could get me fined!" Alistair handed the captain a gold piece. Moments later the captain skewed the barge across the canal and began yelling at his crew for having screwed things up. It would clearly be several minutes before the barges started moving again. The two young men hopped off the barge onto the dock. Mahler dirtied up each of their faces to make them more convincing as employees of the hag. Mahler made some general noise to conceal the spellcasting, and an image of a green hag appeared. Neither paid much attention to a slight shimmering in the air nearby. The hag strode imperiously into the slave center, trailed by Mahler and Alistair doing their best thug impressions. The two guards looked up in surprise. "There's been a change in plans." Mahler threw his voice and changed it to sound like the hag's. "You two should head to the other base, beneath the pipe foundry, and wait for further orders there. These two," the hag gestured at Mahler and Alistair, "will watch these slaves until pick-up." "Yes, mum. We'll go right then." The guards were confused, but they knew better than to argue with the hag and left immediately. A slight breeze stirred through the structure, stopping as the guards left, but Mahler and Alistair assumed that it was just an unusual windpattern. Besides, they had more important things to worry about. As soon as the guards were out of earshot, the hag disappeared and Mahler and Alistair began releasing the children. "Don't worry kids- we're here to rescue you." While Mahler freed the last captives, Alistair fished a scrap of parchment out of a pocket, scribbled a note on it, and melted some wax. He drew a signet ring out of one of his pockets, carefully set the seal inside the letter while positioning himself so that Mahler could never see either seal or signet, closed the letter, and sealed it on the outside with a simple thumbprint. The ring dropped back into the same deep pocket it came from. Turning to one of the oldest children, Alistair handed him the letter and said, "Take this to the temple of Glordiadel. Tell whoever you meet at the temple that you were told to give this directly to the priest." As the child ran off with the message, Alistair turned to Mahler. "That should get us some back-up. When the barge arrives to pick up the children, we'll be in a position to start following the slave trade the other direction by capturing whoever crews the barge." [/QUOTE]
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