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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Nebulous" data-source="post: 4738426" data-attributes="member: 31465">Adventure #2: Merple's MissionPART FOURMeanwhile, Nari-lana the genasi swordmage inquires around town if anyone knows of a wizard named Balthazar, and in wider brush strokes, tries to learn the current gossip.  She spends two hours asking questions and listening carefully to answers, and she unearths several interesting tidbits:1)    No, no one is familiar with a wizard named Balthazar.2)    There is a magnificent feast beginning tomorrow, BurgerFest! Named after the Mayor, Horace Burger.  It lasts for three days and features scrumptious food from all around the Realms, and the most wonderful little things called “burgers.”  Many people would readily pay a gold piece for a full burger meal and good beer. 3)    There used to be a terrible bugbear problem in the region, but in the past few months Mayor Burger has managed to fix it up.  With diplomacy, somehow. 4)    Mayor Burger is a connoisseur of fine food and wine, and in fact, has dedicated half of his estate in Everlund to a 5-Coin restaurant, Burger’s Palace. 5)    The standing army of Everlund is down by at least half from an original 2000 troops.  Many weren’t being paid enough and migrated north to Silverymoon. Back to Merric and Douvan:Balthazar has bolted through town, glancing behind him occasionally and using his pseudodragon as an extra pair of eyes, but Merric keeps to the shadows.  Evening has arrived and before long the town will be draped in darkness.  The wizard eventually steps inside a public Bath House:  The Steamy Towel.  Merric swipes a disguise off a merchant’s clothing rack (making appropriate rolls and not getting caught) and saunters into the bathhouse after the mage. Douvan sees Merric enter and the ranger does a sweep of the exterior, noting that there is no back door, although a second level does feature numerous windows.  Douvan Stahl plants himself outside, inconspicuously watching anyone who enters or leaves. Merric makes a thorough sweep of the building, pushing through hot steamy rooms and seeing more naked old men than he would care too, but he ultimately finds no Balthazar.  Discouraged, he finally leaves.“I lost him,” he tells Douvan.  And the ranger didn’t see the wizard leave either.  Discouraged, they have no idea what to do now. They decide to head back to the Silver Gate entrance where the caravans were originally dispatched.  They’re all gone now, but Merric and Douvan ask where they might have gone.  It turns out that one of the wagons did belong to Balthazar, at least some of the contents, but it wasn’t the wagon he was sitting on.  Shortly after the wagon arrived a heavily-scarred human arrived to pick it up and drove it out of the Mountain Gate to the north. It’s the only clue they have, so Merric and Douvan head to the Mountain Gate and walk briskly up the road, wondering how far of a lead this scarred man has with Balthazar’s wagon.  Night has fallen by now so the Halfling lights an everburning torch, and they continue following the wheel ruts in the road.But half an hour later someone speaks to them from the dark woods: “YOU TWO! Stop where you are. Lay down your weapons and we’ll let you live.”Another voice on the opposite side of the road says, “Ayup. He’s right. I’d do it.” Merric and Douvan freeze.  They can’t see anything beyond the meager glow of the torch.  It is dark out tonight with no moon, but Merric thinks fast and plunges the torch into his shirt, shutting off its light.“Damn!” someone snarls.They hear twigs snapping and bow strings creaking, but there is no line of sight on either side of the combatants.  Merric stealthfully moves to the treeline and draws his dagger.  Douvan tries to creep ahead in slow quiet steps, but now he can’t see his comrade at all.  They heard two voices but there might be more, and they could easily be aiming bows at them right now, waiting for the chance to fire. Merric finally pulls the torch out quickly, just to give himself some bearings, and an arrow immediately shoots out at him.  It misses, but someone else fires at Douvan, piercing his arm.  The ranger dives into the woods, trying to pinpoint the source of the attack.  Merric follows him, and seconds later they’ve both converged on a dour dwarf and a masked human! <img src="http://www.zikadik.com/silverymoon/mission10.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Merric wastes no time attacking the dwarf, exchanging a few heated blows until Douvan backs him up.  Within seconds the dwarf is down and the masked human runs for his life.  Douvan grabs a fallen torch and sprints after him, ultimately planting an arrow in his back and the brigand falls.  They find little on the bodies except some gold, and from the sounds in the woods, there are other brigands retreating from the fight. Sheathing their weapons, the ranger and rogue continue following the wagon tracks.A while later the trail diverges again, and Douvan surmises that their quarry bore east along a side trail.  They head that direction, and eventually come upon a railed wooden fence, and then a gate bearing a sign:  BLACKJACK’S PIG FARM.Oh, yes, it’s a pig farm indeed; and they smelled it long before they saw it.  In the distance over an expanse of black fields they see tiny lights winking inside a large squat building.  [Although this picture is a daytime picture, it is the layout of the farm if they could fully see it]:<img src="http://www.zikadik.com/silverymoon/farm.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Merric and Douvan can’t really see anything other than the distant lights at the farmhouse.  Eschewing the road route, they clamber over the fence and enter the pig pens.  Squealing, grunting pigs are dismayed at their presence, and they make a lot of racket as the two adventures push through their ranks.  Douvan Stahl smears his entire body in pig <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> (I assume he did this to mask his scent in case the pseduodragon was around?) and Merric takes a few steps back. Nasty. The ranger is going to catch filth-fever!But the pigs have disturbed the dogs.  Now that they’re closer, they see at least six dogs in front of the house.  Some are chained, some not, but all are barking.  They’re big dogs too, rottweiller mixes or maybe wolfhounds. Douvan and Merric climb out of the pens and circle around in a wide berth to the back of the house where it’s dark.  They see a shed off to the side and approach it, but once closer, Douvan sees a dog lying on the stoop.  He tries to approach and calm it with Animal Training, but the dog is a vicious guard dog and not willing to listen.  It immediately leaps forward, snarling and snapping, and bites the ranger’s leg.  Douvan smacks it across the face the flat of his blade, sending the dog squealing off into the dark.  The other dogs are yapping their heads off even louder.  Someone is bound to come investigate. Merric uses the distraction and breaks a window in the shed.  Inside he finds a wagon, and judging from the smell of herbs and spices, this is the same wagon on the road from Silverymoon.  But whose is it, and why?  Is this Balthazar’s stuff?  They just don’t know.  Merric and Douvan flee for the dark woodline just as someone exits the farmhouse. He’s big and burly, and possibly scarred on the face.  The man carries a lantern in one hand and a broadsword in the other.“Who’s out there? Show yerself!” The dogs are yapping and howling, a few of them straining at their chains while a few are roaming free.  After a minute or so the scarred man retreats inside.  Merric and Douvan wait for things to cool down.  They’re not sure what to do.  Their comrades have no idea where they are and they’ve been gone for hours. [GM Note: Yeah, this was a situation where two players were the in the spotlight for a long time while the others watched or read a book; it happens]. Finally the dogs all go to sleep, but there are lights on inside.  Merric stands up, stretches the weariness from his muscles, and is going to sneak closer for another look……when they hear clomping horse hooves. A black stallion gallops up the road, bearing a lone rider with long red robes and a golden beard.  The dogs are on their feet and barking incessantly. The man vaults off the horse once at the door and waves a hand across his face…instantly transforming into the black-bearded and black-clad Balthazar of the Potion Emporium.  The red pseudodragon is curled around his neck.  Balthazar knocks twice on the door and then enters, closing it behind him. The dogs whimper, yawn, and finally go back to a fitful sleep, keeping one eye open for more intruders. And there we stopped.</blockquote>

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