(Adventure) Heroes of The Vesper Peaks (Uriel judging)

For CCamfield only

Ever since the incidents in camp started, there have been rumors of men disappearing and of thieves stealing supplies from the warehouses. As such, you have been told to keep a close eye on the storehouse, and to keep low for the time being.

Note: I'll need you to establish how you avoided getting called into the mines with the others. I assume you've read Asen's claims to the other characters, all of which would be accurate with what you've witnessed here in the past few days.

The moaning and the moonlight have made the nights in this camp fairly harsh for most people. The majority of the guards just avoid confrontation, standing watch during the day and hiding from the foremen and the workers when they come out at night.

You hear a noise, someone running across the floor near you towards the open window facing the inner courtyard of the facility.
 

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For Creamsteak only

If I have the order of events straight, the howling started at least the evening before the first guards went into the mine and disappeared.

I think the howling, once Marl established that it was the miners, would strike him as very alarming. He'd start asking questions of the other guards, and if he was asked to go into the mine, he'd have made up an excuse about being busy doing something (checking out reports of thefts from the storehouse or another building) and make himself scarce. Or if he got roped into a group heading for the mine, would it be that hard for him to drift to the back of the group and slip away while still in camp?

I presume that his status is different from the ordinary guards, that the foreman might not be able to boss him around quite as easily, and he doesn't have to go into the mine unless it's an emergency - not being very useful there, as he's not that strong. So the question itself would be unusual.

Once he heard of guards actually going missing and the foreman telling the guards to lock their doors at night... that would set off huge warning bells. I think he'd make sure that he couldn't be found to be asked to go into the mine. He'd avoid meeting the foreman at all - slip out the back way if the foreman should come to the building he's in, sort of thing.

Or if the situation warranted it, I think he'd try to hide. Are there places in the camp where he could hole up out of sight? Marl probably considers the guards unreliable, concludes the foreman is involved in whatever's going on, so he feels completely on his own. I think that's also a reasonable explanation for why he hasn't tried to confront the apparently insane miners.

At night he'd try to watch the miners when they came out, but when it got dark and they weren't yet around, like in the early night or towards morning, he might use that time to go to a different warehouse or otherwise explore. If he's fully in hiding, he be sleeping at least part of the day.

He might show up at one warehouse or another to ask guards how things are, but then he'd leave again. So he might give the impression of being "around", but he wouldn't stick around with a group where the foreman could find him.

He'd want to try to get to the foreman's office when it was empty, to search it, but I presume that he hasn't had the opportunity. Assuming he could move around to some degree, he'd have tried searching some parts of the camp for anything incriminating. Probably not the places commonly visited, but if the foreman is up to something, maybe he's got something stashed away in a mostly unused storeroom? Presuming you don't want this to have found anything useful, maybe he could have eliminated a couple of buildings as not needing to be searched now.

Can you clarify exactly where Marl is? Second floor of one of the warehouses - building 1?
 
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CCamfield
Second floor of building one, hidden among a three dozen imported four-gallon whaterskins and two dozen tall (2 foot) whicker-baskets containing unrefined grain and oats used to feed the pack animals. You have complete cover and concealment from anything around your position, but it would be fairly easy to move out of the spot and move around if you needed to. The footsteps sound somewhat like soft sandles or slippers, but definitely heavy while they run towards the window.

Also, about twenty minutes ago you heard what sounded like talking below, but it was difficult to decipher.
 

Creamsteak,

That's great! LOL

Presuming that the guards do not usually wear soft footwear, I'd like to take a look at whoever's at the window. If I can do so, I'll stay within cover, but if not, I'll move out quietly, crouching in the shadows. Assuming I don't recognize them, I'll pull out a couple of darts but try to stay hidden while they're at the window, and follow them when they move on, to see where they go.

If it's a guard, I'll pull back behind cover and watch what he does as best I can.
 
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CCamfield

Once your clear of the tall baskets, you can see a figure at the window looking out. Wearing ivory white robes that conceal the figure, this medium sized humanoid looking figure looks left and then right out the window. You can see that it is holding two rolled parchments.

After seeing it, it steps onto the windowsill and then propels itself out into the air. If you run to the window to see what happens, you can see the white robes flutter down with the creature and then it starts running to the North, towards the caverns.
 

asen said:
"Wait one second... you're not here to rob the stores are you! Bandits! I can't believe you! I liked you!"
Click to expand...
Jagos is getting confused and worried as well.
"No, no, not at all! You're the one who said we should avoid your fellows, wasn't it? We just need some place to hide while those miners roam around, without too many guards seeing us."

Looking about for another way to convince Asen, his eyes fasten shortly on Kreepto before going back to Asen. "You know Kreepto! You really think 'Kreepto the coward' would come here trying to rob you?"

He doesn't yet draw his weapon but prepares for combat.

ooc: Ready action to draw his rapier if combat starts.
 

Creamsteak,

Marl mutters to himself, "The hell?" as he sees the robed figure flutter to the ground, and sheathes his darts.

Is it day or night outside?

I guess either way, I pursue. If the distance from the window to the ground is manageable, I'll climb out the window, hang from the sill a moment, then tumble to the ground and pursue, trying to stay in the shadows, but I probably have trouble keeping up. Otherwise I'll have to head for the stairs and follow him out that way.
 
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You fool! Now they are suspicious. Now it's harder to *really* rob them.

Vanadan stays quiet despite the rising anger. He seems to be very amused about Jagos' difficult situation.

If that miner kills him, I will not stand in his way.

ooc: I'm not going to post for awhile (maybe a week or so). I'll let you know when I'm back posting. This came too quickly for me too!
 
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CCamfield

It is night. Marl jumps down the 15 feet to the ground, tumbling to the ground safely (21). You are now in the courtyard to the east of Building 1, south of the caverns. You can see the figure is running towards the caverns now in it's white robes.

Rest

Asen's face is contorted now, and his skin is a very pale shade of white. His hair stand on end for a few seconds while he seems to growl at the ground in front of Vanadan and Jagos. He then drops to his knees and pounds his fists into the ground a few times, then passes out from fatigue and exhaustion suddenly. Anyone that carefully examines Asen and has the heal skill can see that he appears to be physically exhausted and looks like he has been without rest for a few days.

Asen's eyes seem normal and his skin color returns to normal after a minute, but he remains asleep.

Listen Check DC 20 to hear:
There is the small sound of something hitting the dirt next to the doorway to the east fairly hard.
 

Creamsteak

OOC: The distance to the caverns doesn't look that far - under 100'? I'm not clear on how great a lead the figure in white has, but I take it that if I run directly after him, he'll probably hear me. So I'm moving at just under my full speed, I guess 35'(?)/round, and -5 to my Move Silently.

IC: Marl rolls to his feet, and rushes after the white-robed figure, trying to maintain a semblance of silent movement. If he vanishes inside the cave, Marl will run up after him, pause at the entrance to see if he created a light - if so, I'll try to follow him based on his light source. If he stops at the cave mouth to light something, Marl will try to sneak up to him, pull out his sword, and put it to the man's kidney.
 
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