[LPF] Uncertain Whereabouts

[Qik]

With some assistance from the others, Arianna is able to manage carrying the chest out of the cave. In the sunlight, its golden surface looks even more impressive. Phedilo turns to the others, impressed with Arianna's abilities. "Well, with that kind of strength, perhaps my horses won't be necessary after all."

In the end, the group decides to carry the chest back on their own power. During the trip, they are on their guard, but such vigilance turns out to be unwarranted: although they hear a suggestive sound or two, with Nora sitting up from her perch on Thuvian's shoulder and hissing into the foliage, in the end, they make their way back to the gnome's home without incident. As they exit the short passage which leads to the gnome's hamlet, the sun, setting unseen beyond the hill line, has begun purpling the sky. As they make their way up the small path to the gnome's home, he opens the door to greet them.

"It seems I was right to put my trust in you!" he calls out, seeing Arianna's burden. "Comecomecome! Let us see what you've brought us."

[sblock=OOC]I looked at the numbers a bit and realized that it didn't make much difference which way you traveled, so I made the decision myself in the interest of moving things along.[/sblock]

 

[Satin Knights]

"A box that desires to be selfish. It wants to keep what it has to itself."

"I suppose... It might have a right to..."

"Ah, never mind. Are you able to open it?"

 

[Qik]

"Bring it here, and we shall see," comes the gnome's reply. Arianna makes her way up to the cabin's small porch and drops the chest with a thump. Making his way over to it, the gnome begins to inspect the chest. Tracing the inlaid text with one finger, he mutters the words to himself, then moves his hands to each of the chest's six locks in turn. After a while, he closes his eyes, his right hand resting palm down on the top of the chest, and mutters an incantation. With a *pop*, all six locks open in unison. "See? Easy so." Lifting the chest's lid eagerly, the gnome begins rummaging unceremoniously through its contents. After a minute or two, he spits out a word; although you don't understand it in a literal sense, you can read it's intention well enough, and it's not an encouraging one. He turns to the others. "My deck is not here..." he trails off, having noticed Phedilo for the first time. "Phedilo! You are safe! Come, come, let us get you inside..."

As he ushers the elder halfling inside, seemingly unconcerned with whether Phedilo actually wishes to go or not, he turns over his shoulder to say, "You may have whatever's inside - they're mere trinkets, mostly, but you may find some use. I will also purchase the chest from you..." He stops at the door at this point, having discovered that he has more to say than he realized. "Say, 500 pieces of gold? It seems as though I could use some better security. Now, gather your new things and come inside once you're done, we must discuss what comes next." With that, he shoves the halfling inside and follows suit.

[sblock=Reward]The chest's contents consist of:
[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif]- Scroll of Vanish (25 gp)[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif] - Scroll of Comprehend Languages (25 gp)[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif] - Scroll of Detect Thoughts (150 gp)[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif] - Scroll of See Invisibility (150 gp)[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif] - Elixir of Hiding (250 gp)[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif] - Elixir of Vision (250 gp)[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif] - Book: Fey and the Natural World (50 gp): provides +2 circumstance bonus to Know (Nature) checks[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif] - Masterwork Thieves Tools (100 gp)[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif] - Four MW fortune teller decks (200 gp)[/FONT]


...plus you get 500 gp for the chest. Divide things however you want at the moment, we can always finalize the rest later.[/sblock][sblock=OOC]Not sure if any of you have noticed, but GlassEye posted notice in the DWI thread that it seems as though HM has taken leave of EnWorld, in which case we're going to need to find a replacement. I'm currently in an adventure with level 2s, "The Mightiest Weapon", which seems to be wrapping up in the next day or few, in which case I could probably just import one or two characters from there. Fortunately we're going to be heading back to Venza shortly, so integrating them IC wise shouldn't be problematic. Just wanted to give a head's up; if you have any thoughts, feel free to chime in.[/sblock]

 

[Satin Knights]

OOC: EnWorld posting is borked currently. The way to break in past the brokenness and get a posting is to 1) Click on the Quick Reply, and type a line of text. 2) When it posts, it will change your line of text to an error message. 3) Edit that post, and you can finally add the text you really wanted. The New Reply is completely broken. I sent email to Morrus who owns the board, but I don't know if he has seen or is working on this.

Arianna looks into the chest, finding papers, more papers and a couple potions. "No jewelry? No weapons? Oh well." She lets the others have what they want.

 

[sunshadow21]

Thuvian will hold onto the scrolls. "From a cult devoted to divination and the First World, pretty much what I expected. Probably use their jewelry to hire out any muscle work required."

 

[Songdragon]

The halfling woman looks over the books, and papers with and comes across the tools and she smiles. Looking to the others, "If no one minds, I would like these, they are a complete set, while mine are not."

She nods to the gnome, "I think that is acceptable."

She takes up her new tools, barring any objections, and moves after the gnome to see what will happen now. His deck is still missing.

 

[Qik]

Having finished going through the chest's contents for the time being, the group files into the gnome's home. Entering the sitting room, they find the gnome and the halfling sipping tea, with a kettle and some extra cups set out in anticipation of the others. Seeing the four enter, the gnome turns sets down his mug and turns to them.

"Ahh! Enter, enter...sit...yes, so Master Phedilo was just filling me in on his experience, which, while terrible, seems to netted us some crucial information. He mentioned that he was able to apprehend the name of one of the Whisperers responsible for his capture, Emerous Sloh: in a recent attempt to learn more about our foes, I received a vision of a dilapidated church paired with a shadowy figure. I believe this figure to have been Sloh, and the church, a base of his. Now that I have the figure's name - name's have power, you see, which is why I don't dally about with mine, spreading it willy-nilly - I should be able to get a fix on the location of this church. So let you drink, and eat - there's food in the kitchen, if you'd like it - while I inquire the Veil, and hopefully when you awake tomorrow, you will have a destination to head to."

The gnome finishes off his tea, hops up out of his chair, and, barring any questions, begins to head towards his divination room.
[sblock=OOC]If you have any questions, feel free to fire them towards the gnome or Phedilo. If HM hasn't shown in the next few days, I've found two new players who will be able to jump in while you travel to your next destination.[/sblock]

 

[Songdragon]

Sipping her tea she considers then asks, "This Emerous Sloh person, what kind of threat is he. By that I mean, can he throw around arcane magics or fights well with a blade. Just trying to assess how dangerous he might be as well as consider how to defeat him, if the need requires."

At the gnome's comments on names, "I have spoken to out Grey Ones on the subject before, and the power of the name is know all of such a name, as well as having the right inflection of how you speak it. So why not give a nickname, or merely use your first name. It has to be better and a more comforting to those you deal with that you do have a name and not referred to as Mr. Gnome."

 

[Satin Knights]

Arianna sits quietly, while the little ones chat.

 

[Qik]

It is the gnome who responds to Saranna's question first. "All I can say for certain is that I sensed some dark magic in the vision which I received of him, although whether it all emanated directly from Sloh, or was in part supplemented by the aura of that which does his bidding, I cannot say."

Phedilo adds, "While I was unable to apprehend much during my imprisonment, I did notice Sloh taking a look through my spellbook when I was first captured. From where I sat, it seemed as though he was giving it a wizard's eye."

At Saranna's entreaty for an identifier for the gnome, the creature shakes his head stubbornly. "I care far more for my safety, and for the safety of the world which is maintained through the protection of the knowledge I hold, than for trivial comforts of those who insist on ultimately unnecessary social norms. I am sorry my dear, but to the world, I am simply The Gnome: it is the safest way." Regardless of the truth or wisdom of that statement, it is clear that the gnome settled the matter for himself long ago.

With that statement, the gnome heads towards his divination room, where he ends up residing for the remainder of the night. At one point, Phedilo goes to check on him - "Let me do it - I am well-enough versed in such matters that my appearance will not be a grave interruption" - and returns, only to say that the gnome's divinations are not yet complete. In the end, the party goes to bed without finding the results of his mystic entreaties, which are passed on only with the coming of morning.

After waking, the group begins to file into the common room in their own time, where they are met with tray of freshly baked scones, some homemade jelly, and a hot kettle of tea, with Phedilo proudly taking credit for the former to those who ask. As the group eats, the gnome summarizes his divinatory experiences from the previous evening. "Although I was unable to learn anything new about this Sloh himself, I was able to pinpoint the location of his lair; once I knew what I was looking for, it was a relatively easy thing to do, since his mark is quite apparentonce you know how to read it." Leaning in as if to emphasize his next statement, the gnome's voice grows grave. "His is a place of much darkness, children; you must be wary. Once I saw this darkness, I realized that your group, as strong as you've been, will need some changes, and some help." Turning to Ioseph, he says, "I am sorry, good man, but the time has come for us to part ways; there are others who will be needed to take your place." The holy man seems disappointed, but he calmly accepts the gnome's words. Turning back to the others, the gnome says, "Now then, if you are prepared to go, I shall take you to the place of Emerous Sloh."

* * *

Perhaps to your surprise, the gnome takes the group in the direction of Venza, ending up at where your journey started: the Dunn Wright Inn. Stopping at the front door, he says, "Wait here; I will summon your new companions." Without further explanation (which, at this point, is hardly surprising), the gnome throws open the door and walks into the inn.

[sblock=OOC]Sorry for all the railroading at this point (and all throughout the adventure, really - one of the things I'll need to work on for next time), but in the interest of pacing I thought it would be good to push things ahead. Plus, our two replacements for HolyMan are currently languishing in the DWI, and I didn't want to keep them waiting. I'm going to do the recruiting in that thread, and then we'll move things back to here. Thanks for bearing with me.[/sblock]