Cerebral Paladin
First Post
Sorry about the delays. Here's the next update. Updates should be coming fairly frequently for the next two weeks or so.
Session 6:
2/17/752 (evening):
The group searches the rest of the hide-out while waiting for the Inquisitors to arrive. They find that in addition to the small altar to Vergdun within the priest's chambers, there is also a substantial sum of money. More worryingly, the money is mostly gold and platinum. The priest was getting money from some source besides the contributions of his sailor followers, because they would give copper or silver.
An Inquisitor soon arrives with a large guard contingent. They quickly take custody of the priest and listen to the groups description of what happened. The guards escort Balthrin back to his home, while the rest of the group heads back to their various residences.
Melania is unsurprised to find that the Inquisition has searched her room thoroughly, in addition to forcing the lock on the door and taking Aral away. Rather than stay in the boarding house, she pays up her bill and finds a cheap room at an inn somewhat further away.
Ginara and Lhovrik return home. A group of well-dressed gentlemen led by Kaelat cath Sallen, a close friend of their father's, visits with their father. The whole group talks in Loraton's study. Ginara, who listens at the door briefly, can't quite make out what they're saying, but she can hear voices inside raised in anger. She thinks she hears someone say "treason," but she can't be sure and soon has to flee into the kitchen to avoid discovery. Loraton shows Kaelat and his companions to the door and slams the door behind them. As Ginara heads up to her room, she can see her father looking very angry and upset while pouring himself a stiff drink. She sneaks up to her room without drawing his attention.
2/18/752:
Well before dawn, Dove gets up and readies her equipment. She meets up with the other soldiers from her company that are assigned with her on this special duty. The group consists of more senior soldiers; while Dove is fairly junior over all, none of the other soldiers assigned to the escort duty are more junior.
Dove's captain looks over the group. "This is going to be a simple job of escorting some passengers from a ship in the harbor to Dro Sanek. We don't want any problems between the passengers and any one from outside. There are some people who might be upset about the presence of these people in Lir Sanek. Our main job is to protect the passengers, but we also need to be ready to protect the people of the city from the passengers. The passengers will be protected by an illusion, but there may be people who can see through the illusion or know who the passengers are. You should all be carrying saps or cudgels; I don't want anyone getting killed if we can avoid it, but don't be afraid to use whatever force we need to get the job done.
"There will be a Champion in overall command. There will also be a captain of another company. Are there any questions?"
Neither Dove nor any of the other soldiers have further questions. The group heads out.
They quickly arrive at the docks. The sky is beginning to brighten in the minutes before dawn. Though there was very little activity in upper parts of the city, the docks are already bustling with fisherfolk preparing to sail out for the morning catch. The soldiers, who have been met by a group of troops in heavy armor, fall into formation. A moderately large ship pulls up to the pier. Standing at the fore of the ship is a medium-aged, handsome man dressed in plate mail. He wears the star, sash, and gilded spurs of a champion. The champion also has a holy symbol of Galerius hanging on a chain around his neck.
As the ship is bound off to the pier, he jumps down onto the pier, moving with surprising grace and agility for someone wearing plate. A door to the hold of the ship is thrown open, and a group of people dressed in robes walk out of the hold and down the gangplank. Although all of them appear to be normal human height and build, Dove thinks that that may be part of the illusion. For just a moment, she thinks that some of the robed figures are actually only the size of halflings. The hoods of the robes are pulled forward, so Dove can't see any faces.
The guards form a box with the robed figures in the middle and two ranks of troops at the front and back. One of the captains is in the front of the group and one in the rear, with the champion, walking back and forth alongside the group. As soon as all of the robed figures are in position, the group begins to walk forward. As they walk, Dove notices two things about the champion. First, his sword is unlocked and loosened in its scabard, as if he is expecting trouble. Second, he periodically holds his holy symbol and slowly turns past the crowd of curious fisherfolk. Dove has seen that sort of gesture before: Dai does the same thing when she detects evil.
The formation begins marching towards Dro Sanek. As they march, the sun rises and increasingly large crowds begin filling the street. A crowd of curious onlookers begins to form around the formation, but they stay well clear of the heavy cudgels that the lead group of soldiers carry to clear the path.
After about 15 minutes of walking, Dove sees a figure on one of the rooftops look down at the group. After a moment, he drops a piece of parchment and moves back away from the edge. The group proceeds onwards. A few minutes later, an elderly woman flings an egg at the robed figure. Dove watches the egg strike one of the robed people and notices that the splatter is curiously higher than where the egg struck. Some of the guards brandish their weapons at the crowd, which quickly backs off.
The guards are all tenser as they walk. Dove hears someone in the crowd yell "F---ing butchers!" in draconic. She turns in the direction of the voice and sees a man throwing a large ceramic pot over her head towards the center of the group. Dove swings her sword out and bats the pot down as it flies over her head. When her sword strikes the pot, it shatters, and the alchemist's fire within bursts into flame and settles heavily on her head and shoulders.
Many of the onlookers panic and begin to flee, as the soldiers draw their weapons and Dove beats out the flames on her cloak. Somewhere behind her, she can hear chanting, also in Draconic but no words that she understands. She glances around but nobody seems to be moving oddly.
As the attacker turns to flee down an alleyway, a strange creature emerges from the alley to stop him. The creature is almost human shaped, but appears to be made of rubbery, partially melted globs of wax. It swings its fist out at the assailant, hitting him lightly.
The formation of troops begins moving faster, trying to get clear of the crowd before any further problems come up. The rest of the group does not appear to have noticed the wax creature. The alchemist's fire thrower dodges past the wax creature and runs down the alley. Obliviously, the creature swings its fist at a random panicked crowd member, knocking them to the ground.
Dove drops back and points out the problem to her sergeant, who sends her to tell the champion. The champion looks in the direction that Dove points and grimaces. "A lemure. Make way!" he yells at the crowd, as he begins drawing his sword. They comply as fast as they are able.
The lemure batters another bystander to the ground before they can reach it. Dove is the first to make it up to the strange creature, but her blow glances off its rubbery hide harmlessly. The champion then hurries up and swings his sword, which now glows with a fiery blue light. The blade chops deep into the beast, which slumps to the ground and then immediately fades out of existence. Dove hurries back to the formation, while the champion briefly touches the injured bystanders, closing their wounds.
After that, the trip is uneventful. The formation moves out of the city and into the military area near Dro Sanek, and they are relieved by a larger group of guards. Dove's captain stresses the importance of keeping this morning's events secret and dismisses his troops, but stops Dove before she leaves. "Sir Theron, the champion, was impressed by your quick actions. He'd like to see you at noon at the castle."
Session 6:
2/17/752 (evening):
The group searches the rest of the hide-out while waiting for the Inquisitors to arrive. They find that in addition to the small altar to Vergdun within the priest's chambers, there is also a substantial sum of money. More worryingly, the money is mostly gold and platinum. The priest was getting money from some source besides the contributions of his sailor followers, because they would give copper or silver.
An Inquisitor soon arrives with a large guard contingent. They quickly take custody of the priest and listen to the groups description of what happened. The guards escort Balthrin back to his home, while the rest of the group heads back to their various residences.
Melania is unsurprised to find that the Inquisition has searched her room thoroughly, in addition to forcing the lock on the door and taking Aral away. Rather than stay in the boarding house, she pays up her bill and finds a cheap room at an inn somewhat further away.
Ginara and Lhovrik return home. A group of well-dressed gentlemen led by Kaelat cath Sallen, a close friend of their father's, visits with their father. The whole group talks in Loraton's study. Ginara, who listens at the door briefly, can't quite make out what they're saying, but she can hear voices inside raised in anger. She thinks she hears someone say "treason," but she can't be sure and soon has to flee into the kitchen to avoid discovery. Loraton shows Kaelat and his companions to the door and slams the door behind them. As Ginara heads up to her room, she can see her father looking very angry and upset while pouring himself a stiff drink. She sneaks up to her room without drawing his attention.
2/18/752:
Well before dawn, Dove gets up and readies her equipment. She meets up with the other soldiers from her company that are assigned with her on this special duty. The group consists of more senior soldiers; while Dove is fairly junior over all, none of the other soldiers assigned to the escort duty are more junior.
Dove's captain looks over the group. "This is going to be a simple job of escorting some passengers from a ship in the harbor to Dro Sanek. We don't want any problems between the passengers and any one from outside. There are some people who might be upset about the presence of these people in Lir Sanek. Our main job is to protect the passengers, but we also need to be ready to protect the people of the city from the passengers. The passengers will be protected by an illusion, but there may be people who can see through the illusion or know who the passengers are. You should all be carrying saps or cudgels; I don't want anyone getting killed if we can avoid it, but don't be afraid to use whatever force we need to get the job done.
"There will be a Champion in overall command. There will also be a captain of another company. Are there any questions?"
Neither Dove nor any of the other soldiers have further questions. The group heads out.
They quickly arrive at the docks. The sky is beginning to brighten in the minutes before dawn. Though there was very little activity in upper parts of the city, the docks are already bustling with fisherfolk preparing to sail out for the morning catch. The soldiers, who have been met by a group of troops in heavy armor, fall into formation. A moderately large ship pulls up to the pier. Standing at the fore of the ship is a medium-aged, handsome man dressed in plate mail. He wears the star, sash, and gilded spurs of a champion. The champion also has a holy symbol of Galerius hanging on a chain around his neck.
As the ship is bound off to the pier, he jumps down onto the pier, moving with surprising grace and agility for someone wearing plate. A door to the hold of the ship is thrown open, and a group of people dressed in robes walk out of the hold and down the gangplank. Although all of them appear to be normal human height and build, Dove thinks that that may be part of the illusion. For just a moment, she thinks that some of the robed figures are actually only the size of halflings. The hoods of the robes are pulled forward, so Dove can't see any faces.
The guards form a box with the robed figures in the middle and two ranks of troops at the front and back. One of the captains is in the front of the group and one in the rear, with the champion, walking back and forth alongside the group. As soon as all of the robed figures are in position, the group begins to walk forward. As they walk, Dove notices two things about the champion. First, his sword is unlocked and loosened in its scabard, as if he is expecting trouble. Second, he periodically holds his holy symbol and slowly turns past the crowd of curious fisherfolk. Dove has seen that sort of gesture before: Dai does the same thing when she detects evil.
The formation begins marching towards Dro Sanek. As they march, the sun rises and increasingly large crowds begin filling the street. A crowd of curious onlookers begins to form around the formation, but they stay well clear of the heavy cudgels that the lead group of soldiers carry to clear the path.
After about 15 minutes of walking, Dove sees a figure on one of the rooftops look down at the group. After a moment, he drops a piece of parchment and moves back away from the edge. The group proceeds onwards. A few minutes later, an elderly woman flings an egg at the robed figure. Dove watches the egg strike one of the robed people and notices that the splatter is curiously higher than where the egg struck. Some of the guards brandish their weapons at the crowd, which quickly backs off.
The guards are all tenser as they walk. Dove hears someone in the crowd yell "F---ing butchers!" in draconic. She turns in the direction of the voice and sees a man throwing a large ceramic pot over her head towards the center of the group. Dove swings her sword out and bats the pot down as it flies over her head. When her sword strikes the pot, it shatters, and the alchemist's fire within bursts into flame and settles heavily on her head and shoulders.
Many of the onlookers panic and begin to flee, as the soldiers draw their weapons and Dove beats out the flames on her cloak. Somewhere behind her, she can hear chanting, also in Draconic but no words that she understands. She glances around but nobody seems to be moving oddly.
As the attacker turns to flee down an alleyway, a strange creature emerges from the alley to stop him. The creature is almost human shaped, but appears to be made of rubbery, partially melted globs of wax. It swings its fist out at the assailant, hitting him lightly.
The formation of troops begins moving faster, trying to get clear of the crowd before any further problems come up. The rest of the group does not appear to have noticed the wax creature. The alchemist's fire thrower dodges past the wax creature and runs down the alley. Obliviously, the creature swings its fist at a random panicked crowd member, knocking them to the ground.
Dove drops back and points out the problem to her sergeant, who sends her to tell the champion. The champion looks in the direction that Dove points and grimaces. "A lemure. Make way!" he yells at the crowd, as he begins drawing his sword. They comply as fast as they are able.
The lemure batters another bystander to the ground before they can reach it. Dove is the first to make it up to the strange creature, but her blow glances off its rubbery hide harmlessly. The champion then hurries up and swings his sword, which now glows with a fiery blue light. The blade chops deep into the beast, which slumps to the ground and then immediately fades out of existence. Dove hurries back to the formation, while the champion briefly touches the injured bystanders, closing their wounds.
After that, the trip is uneventful. The formation moves out of the city and into the military area near Dro Sanek, and they are relieved by a larger group of guards. Dove's captain stresses the importance of keeping this morning's events secret and dismisses his troops, but stops Dove before she leaves. "Sir Theron, the champion, was impressed by your quick actions. He'd like to see you at noon at the castle."
