(Casual D&D III) The Man in Black

[DrZombie]

Raven sits with tatlock in a tavern. At first he feels uncomfortable, but soon he relaxes, and cautiously sips from his beer.
Hmmm. Uptight law-abiding downtrodden buggers they may be, but they sure can brew a good ale. Whatever, might as well make the best of it.

"Master, a round of beers for this good fellow, and his friends over there."
When asked why he celebrates, he answers:" We've made the mountain-pas a bit safer again. Too bad we were too late for them merchants, may the Gods have mercy on their souls. But those Orcs won't bother noone anymore."

He then launches into a tale of murder and deceit, with him as the valiant archer and swordsman, recounting a slightly modified version of the encounter with the orcs in the mountains.

The beer flows freely, and soon he starts talking to about everybody at once.

(gather info : nat 20+1=21 woohoo)

 

[Festy_Dog]

Nurthk chuckles at the Radiant One's duo and their recount of the eve's mishaps. A somewhat less sinister product of their faith than the one yielded during the hostage situation, a perception which still gnawed a hole for itself in Nurthk's mind. Having found himself back in company with that memory his mug was quickly to his lips in an effort to drown the terrible mite in his thoughts.

"Well, all's well that ends well. Seems you pair escaped the evening's socialising unscathed, and with something to show for it to boot," he rejoiced, then toasted the pair, if only as an excuse to down more drink.

 

[Guilt Puppy]

Fendric & Hiritus: Your search seems only to confirm the impression given by Nurthk and Shavah's: That the events of the period did not leave a strong impression on the townsfolk, and that Thedoric is far from a local hero in their eyes.

Raven & Tatlock: After trading some friendly stories with the man Tatlock found, the man's mood seems to grow extremely amicable. "Say, if you want to hear more stories 'bout the Tournean things, I have a few friends who should be coming by a bit later, who were a bit more involved in it than I was. Drop by the table, why don't you, I'm sure they'd love to trade stories as well."

Once you do, you find that among this group -- all older folk who worked in various places in military and government at the time -- there's enough knowledge to glean a clear picture of what had happened.

Tourne, at the time, had made a deal with the Free City of Valsport to build naval ports along the coastline controlled by the city, auspicially to protect the area's shipping routes. There was some disagreement, however, as to where Valsport's authority over the coast began and ended, and some of the port sites began being built in area Despia felt that it controlled. Further, the whole action was read by many as more than simply about naval protection, that Tourne was merely taking its first steps toward further control of the Region of the Free Cities.

The dispute began to escalate quickly. Valsport felt it had done no wrong, and further felt that with Tourne's backing there was little cause to be intimidated by warnings from Despia. Seeing this, the governing body in Despia sought and found alliance with the other Free Cities against the incursion. There was a sense of urgency about it, as the common feeling was that no alliance would be strong enough to stand against Tourne should it establish a strong hold over the coastline.

It was at this point that Lord Thedoric arrived to intervene. After several rushed sessions with the ruling bodies involved, he managed to negotiate a full withdrawal by Tourne from the coastline. His argument to that empire, apparently, was that any conflict with the Free Cities would draw them into an extended conflict, and draw away enough of its military resources that they would appear weak, drawing attack from its other bordered nations. Malita, he argued, was awaiting the opportunity to reclaim territory along its northeastern border; Andon was no doubt eager to take a greater share of the Sea of Morel; and Heitra, quickly outgrowing its sparse local resources, might try to take the more fertile provinces of Relsich and Goeronne.

"I reckon," says one of the fellows, on reaching that piece of information, "that there'd be a monument in Tourne same as the one here -- or that there's as much reason for one."

(That's pretty much the whole story, so Oli/Xiao can take a breather. We'll move on to the next day soon.)

 

[dpdx]

"Well, all's well that ends well. Seems you pair escaped the evening's socialising unscathed, and with something to show for it to boot,"

"Indeed so, my friend, but Brother Hiritus is correct, I fear," Fendric replies as he joins Hiritus in raising a glass to the other pair in return, "the Holy Radiance is not so well received in some places as others, and it is not so necessary to lead with one's faith in every circumstance."

Fendric pauses to take another sip (and wince).

"I have learned several things about the World since I began on this journey, and a good share of those from this knight who is allegedly my junior, but is assuredly my sworn companion."

Hiritus smiles, nods once, and drinks again in acceptance of the compliment.

"You can't always win the day, Brother. But it's what you learn from it that strengthens your soul. Oh, and next time, in a civil situation, it's best to let people know when you're going to cast, and what. No surprises that way. We're all used to fighting by now, even those of us who haven't been on the journey as long as you have, so I'm not surprised you treated Bolo like you were in battle with him. But sometimes, no matter what, you're only just a snot-nosed, shaking young priestling scrounging for souls in a bar..."

Hiritus winks to punctuate his comment, and Fendric takes another sip.

 

[Guilt Puppy]

The rest of the evening passes easily and without incident: Those offended by Fendric's spell-casting have steered clear by now, and the rest of the locals regard you with an amicable indifference.

Inn rates are fairly inexpensive, as is food and drink. A paltry eight gold amongst the group gets you through the night safely and comfortably...

(The game continues in Casual D&D IV)