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Surprise Lizard Theater presents Tyranny of Dragons!
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<blockquote data-quote="jayoungr" data-source="post: 6903753" data-attributes="member: 6702445"><p><strong>At the Wayhouse</strong></p><p></p><p>The caravan pressed on. Everyone's spirits were raised by the knowledge that they would soon be coming to a wayhouse, where they would have a chance to bathe, cook in a proper kitchen, and even (for those lucky or wealthy enough) sleep in a private room. The PCs agreed between themselves that they would buy up all the private rooms to keep the cultists from taking them over. </p><p></p><p>Landin told his employer, Oyn Evenmoor, that he would pay for him to have a private room for the night as an apology for leaving him unguarded the previous day (while they were confronting Nyerhite Verther). Atex and Aric shared another, and Ariana had the third to herself.</p><p></p><p>At the wayhouse, they saw that several people with travel packs were waiting to join the caravan. Once they were settled into their rooms, they wandered into the common area to check out the new arrivals, wondering if any of them might be cultists. Everyone seemed to be engaged in relatively innocent activities: chatting, drinking, playing games, and listening to a party of four well-dressed travelers who looked to be adventurers telling of their exploits. One of them in particular, a handsome man with long hair and a neat goatee, was holding his audience spellbound as he described how he and his friends had fought off an entire flock of griffins. </p><p></p><p>Landin realized that this man was enjoying his tales of mortal danger more than any other adventurer he'd met. He suspected the man was, at the very least, embellishing his story. As he continued to listen, he realized that the man was also getting details wrong, and that he was mentioning monsters that no one in the room was likely to have encountered--things that, for the most part, did not live anywhere near the Sword Coast. "That's a load of crap," he whispered to his companions.</p><p></p><p>"Should we call them out on it?" Atex whispered back.</p><p></p><p>"I don't want to ruin anybody's fun," Landin answered with a shrug.</p><p></p><p>"Don't be so jealous," said Ariana.</p><p></p><p>"I'm not being jealous--I'm being honest!" responded Landin. "They're lying."</p><p></p><p>"Everyone else seems to be enjoying it," said Atex.</p><p></p><p>"Right, so we won't ruin the fun--just don't take them seriously," said Landin. </p><p></p><p>The storyteller paused a dramatic point in his story, milking it for all he was worth and sweeping his eyes over the audience. His eyes met Ariana's, and he winked.</p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, Landin noticed Orvustia in the front row drinking in everything the man had to say. "Now, <em>her</em> I might set straight, because she's kind of naive," he muttered. He casually sat down not too far from her and made little scoffing sounds whenever the story became too outrageous. Orvustia frowned and shushed him.</p><p></p><p>It didn't last much longer. The speaker bowed, saying, "That is all for tonight; I have no wish to bore everyone with any more of our tales of grand exploits!" Landin half-expected them to put out a hat for donations, but they didn't. They got plenty of free drinks from people who wanted more stories, though, and a circle formed around them on one side of the common room.</p><p></p><p>Orvustia started to move in that direction herself, but Landin stopped her.</p><p></p><p>"What is it?" she asked impatiently. "I wanted to hear more about this."</p><p></p><p>"You know that about eighty percent of that was lies, right?" Landin asked.</p><p></p><p>"How do you know? Have <em>you</em> ever fought a yeti?"</p><p></p><p>"No, but I know a lot of people who have. The details were off. It was a good story, but it's just a story. There's no harm in it; just don't take it too seriously."</p><p></p><p>"Yeah, all right," she said sulkily. "But I still want to hear more."</p><p></p><p>"Remember that if you lie in one thing, you might lie in others. Just--be careful. That's all."</p><p></p><p>Orvustia frowned, but she seemed to be considering what he was saying.</p><p></p><p>Atex indulged himself by waiting until the well-dressed man reached a very dramatic point in the story he was telling and then shook the table with <em>mage hand</em> to spill his drink into his lap. The man stood up hurriedly, looking exactly as if he'd just wet his pants. He blamed one of his companions and stalked off to attend to the problem, complaining about how hard it was to get stains out of the material.</p><p></p><p>Soon after he left, Radecere the gnome sat down in his spot and got a dice game going. Spotting Aric across the room, he called out, "How'd you like a chance to win back some of your money?"</p><p></p><p>"Forget it," Aric responded sourly. "I don't play with cheaters."</p><p></p><p>"Bring your own dice--I don't care. I just want a game."</p><p></p><p>"Oh, you'll make up rules in the middle and say you won out of the blue!"</p><p></p><p>Radecere rolled his eyes. Atex overheard the conversation and volunteered for a game. A few rounds later, he was ahead by five gold. Radecere took the loss gracefully, and they went off ot have an ale together.</p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, Landin wandered through the wayhouse, watching people get ready for bed and looking for anything suspicious. The known cultists had gone to the stables and were all resting quietly when he checked on them. The well-dressed man and his companions chatted with the other travelers until quite late and then unrolled their bedrolls. Satisfied that nothing out of the ordinary was happening, he headed back toward the room he was sharing with his employer. </p><p></p><p></p><p>After Atex finished his ale, as it was starting to get late, he drifted back to his room. He found Aric spreading out his hoard on his bed in preparation for sleep. </p><p></p><p>"Looks like I added to <em>my</em> hoard tonight," Atex observed cheerfully.</p><p></p><p>"Just you watch--it'll all be gone by morning," growled Aric.</p><p></p><p>During the night, Atex tried a couple of times to shuffle Aric's hoard around with <em>mage hand.</em> But somehow, every time he started to cast the spell, he heard a growl from Aric's bed.</p><p></p><p>On his way back from the stables, Landin passed the door to Ariana's room, which was open.</p><p></p><p>He peeked in. "Staying awake late?"</p><p></p><p>"Just seeing if anyone was coming to talk," said Ariana.</p><p></p><p>Landin smiled. "If you're looking for a word, I suppose I could talk to you." He went in and sat down. "So...what are you looking to talk about?"</p><p></p><p>"It depends on if you're staying or not."</p><p></p><p>"I'm supposed to be watching the guy in the other room..."</p><p></p><p>"Then you'd better go."</p><p></p><p>"But you're more interesting than he is."</p><p></p><p>"Well, I wouldn't want you to get in trouble." Ariana shrugged and started to undress for bed.</p><p></p><p>"I can stay." Landin looked around nervously. "Don't you think you ought to shut the door?"</p><p></p><p>"You're closer."</p><p></p><p>Landin shut the door.</p><p></p><p><em>[Fade to black.]</em></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="jayoungr, post: 6903753, member: 6702445"] [b]At the Wayhouse[/b] The caravan pressed on. Everyone's spirits were raised by the knowledge that they would soon be coming to a wayhouse, where they would have a chance to bathe, cook in a proper kitchen, and even (for those lucky or wealthy enough) sleep in a private room. The PCs agreed between themselves that they would buy up all the private rooms to keep the cultists from taking them over. Landin told his employer, Oyn Evenmoor, that he would pay for him to have a private room for the night as an apology for leaving him unguarded the previous day (while they were confronting Nyerhite Verther). Atex and Aric shared another, and Ariana had the third to herself. At the wayhouse, they saw that several people with travel packs were waiting to join the caravan. Once they were settled into their rooms, they wandered into the common area to check out the new arrivals, wondering if any of them might be cultists. Everyone seemed to be engaged in relatively innocent activities: chatting, drinking, playing games, and listening to a party of four well-dressed travelers who looked to be adventurers telling of their exploits. One of them in particular, a handsome man with long hair and a neat goatee, was holding his audience spellbound as he described how he and his friends had fought off an entire flock of griffins. Landin realized that this man was enjoying his tales of mortal danger more than any other adventurer he'd met. He suspected the man was, at the very least, embellishing his story. As he continued to listen, he realized that the man was also getting details wrong, and that he was mentioning monsters that no one in the room was likely to have encountered--things that, for the most part, did not live anywhere near the Sword Coast. "That's a load of crap," he whispered to his companions. "Should we call them out on it?" Atex whispered back. "I don't want to ruin anybody's fun," Landin answered with a shrug. "Don't be so jealous," said Ariana. "I'm not being jealous--I'm being honest!" responded Landin. "They're lying." "Everyone else seems to be enjoying it," said Atex. "Right, so we won't ruin the fun--just don't take them seriously," said Landin. The storyteller paused a dramatic point in his story, milking it for all he was worth and sweeping his eyes over the audience. His eyes met Ariana's, and he winked. Meanwhile, Landin noticed Orvustia in the front row drinking in everything the man had to say. "Now, [i]her[/i] I might set straight, because she's kind of naive," he muttered. He casually sat down not too far from her and made little scoffing sounds whenever the story became too outrageous. Orvustia frowned and shushed him. It didn't last much longer. The speaker bowed, saying, "That is all for tonight; I have no wish to bore everyone with any more of our tales of grand exploits!" Landin half-expected them to put out a hat for donations, but they didn't. They got plenty of free drinks from people who wanted more stories, though, and a circle formed around them on one side of the common room. Orvustia started to move in that direction herself, but Landin stopped her. "What is it?" she asked impatiently. "I wanted to hear more about this." "You know that about eighty percent of that was lies, right?" Landin asked. "How do you know? Have [i]you[/i] ever fought a yeti?" "No, but I know a lot of people who have. The details were off. It was a good story, but it's just a story. There's no harm in it; just don't take it too seriously." "Yeah, all right," she said sulkily. "But I still want to hear more." "Remember that if you lie in one thing, you might lie in others. Just--be careful. That's all." Orvustia frowned, but she seemed to be considering what he was saying. Atex indulged himself by waiting until the well-dressed man reached a very dramatic point in the story he was telling and then shook the table with [i]mage hand[/i] to spill his drink into his lap. The man stood up hurriedly, looking exactly as if he'd just wet his pants. He blamed one of his companions and stalked off to attend to the problem, complaining about how hard it was to get stains out of the material. Soon after he left, Radecere the gnome sat down in his spot and got a dice game going. Spotting Aric across the room, he called out, "How'd you like a chance to win back some of your money?" "Forget it," Aric responded sourly. "I don't play with cheaters." "Bring your own dice--I don't care. I just want a game." "Oh, you'll make up rules in the middle and say you won out of the blue!" Radecere rolled his eyes. Atex overheard the conversation and volunteered for a game. A few rounds later, he was ahead by five gold. Radecere took the loss gracefully, and they went off ot have an ale together. Meanwhile, Landin wandered through the wayhouse, watching people get ready for bed and looking for anything suspicious. The known cultists had gone to the stables and were all resting quietly when he checked on them. The well-dressed man and his companions chatted with the other travelers until quite late and then unrolled their bedrolls. Satisfied that nothing out of the ordinary was happening, he headed back toward the room he was sharing with his employer. After Atex finished his ale, as it was starting to get late, he drifted back to his room. He found Aric spreading out his hoard on his bed in preparation for sleep. "Looks like I added to [i]my[/i] hoard tonight," Atex observed cheerfully. "Just you watch--it'll all be gone by morning," growled Aric. During the night, Atex tried a couple of times to shuffle Aric's hoard around with [i]mage hand.[/i] But somehow, every time he started to cast the spell, he heard a growl from Aric's bed. On his way back from the stables, Landin passed the door to Ariana's room, which was open. He peeked in. "Staying awake late?" "Just seeing if anyone was coming to talk," said Ariana. Landin smiled. "If you're looking for a word, I suppose I could talk to you." He went in and sat down. "So...what are you looking to talk about?" "It depends on if you're staying or not." "I'm supposed to be watching the guy in the other room..." "Then you'd better go." "But you're more interesting than he is." "Well, I wouldn't want you to get in trouble." Ariana shrugged and started to undress for bed. "I can stay." Landin looked around nervously. "Don't you think you ought to shut the door?" "You're closer." Landin shut the door. [i][Fade to black.][/i] [/QUOTE]
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