airwalkrr's Rise of the Runelords (IC)

[Scotley]

"Vandalin is my name. I'm sure we'll speak again soon."

When Vhir begins his performance Vandalin will encourage him with cheers and applause and shout out the chorus' with gusto. When he finishes the second song he attempts to rally his fellows to get Vhir out of there before he gets too deep in his cups to check out the Old Light. "I think our friend needs some fresh air to refill his lungs after all that bellowing. He'll be in town all week folks," he adds to the crowd as they depart.


[sblock]Perform aid another (1d20+1=10)[/sblock]

 

[airwalkrr]

Laughing uproariously at the limericks, Vhir downs cup after cup of ales and meads as he strives to sample everything the bar has to offer. As Pitree finishes his show the lumbering barbarian pushes his way forward to the stage. With a mug in one hand sloshing mead back and forth like a conductors wand he bellows out a familiar song called the Jolly Butcher. It is a song of a man who pays with a gold coin for a night with a fair maiden. In the morning he asks her for his change before going on his way. A year later he stops by and the maid plops a baby on his lap.
When he saw the baby, he began to curse and swear
And he said unto that fair young maid, "Why did you bring him here?!"
"Well he is your own, kind sir", she said, "Do not think me strange,
Well that sovereign that you gave to me, I gives you back your change!!"

With his comrades sitting around a table mucking about with books of all things, he calls for a drink for each hand so that he can properly sing the "Keyhole in the Door". He eggs the patrons along to shout the chorus along with him.

OOC
[SBLOCK]
Just for giggles to see how well he can sing!
Vhir Perform(Sing) at the tavern (1d20+1=19)
[/SBLOCK]

All the tavern folk seem to know Jolly Butcher well and merrily sing along to the chorus. A hoot and holler goes up at it's conclusion, and coins are tossed into the box at the edge of the stage. Crooktooth sends a free mug of grog up to Vhir as he continues to next song. All the sailors seem to know it well, and need no prodding to join in on the chorus. At the last verse, they playfully shove the younger sailors around, clearly sharing in some private jokes. Everyone cheers at the conclusion of Vhir's performance and he collects 20 silvers from the tip box at the end.

OOC: Well done! Don't forget the +2 tavern bonus and +1 economy bonus which brought your total to 22! Scotley's aid brought it up to 24. It was well role-played so it won't count against your normal ability to roll earnings at the end of a section.

"Vandalin is my name. I'm sure we'll speak again soon."

"Yes, delighted Vandalin," the old gnome gives a slight bow. "Until we meet again."

With a nod, Veznutt departs and the tavern begins to clear out.

After you attempt to sober up Vhir a bit, you make your way down Tower Street to the Old Light. An old man sits out front upon a wicker chair in a garden at a home built quite close to the ruins. He is smoking a long pipe and waves at you almost idly as you pass. A gentle breeze wafts in from the ocean as you make your way into the rocky outcroppings of the ruins. An old wooden sign sits outside reading, "Beware! Unstable rocks!"

The Old Light is a majestic ruin. Only the western wall remains somewhat intact, but most of it has toppled over the eons to weathering and the course of time. You can only imagine what it must have been like to look upon this place during the height of old Thassilon. The Old Light must have been almost 200 feet in diameter, and there is no telling how high it might have risen. The floor of the interior is covered with rubble, dirt, sand, and a few crabs that scuttle about in the nooks and crannies of the place. You spy a couple of children playing on the beach to the north of the ruins. They seem to be pretending that one of them is Chopper, wielding a very crude board fashioned into a wooden cleaver and chasing the other one around and around. Other than that, the place is rather serene. There is very little about the place that seems mystical, aside from its sheer sense of age.

 

[kinem]

Duko enjoys the drinking and singing along with the others, though he doesn't know the local songs.

On the way to the Old Light he tells the others "I want you to meet a friend of mine. My loyal companion, Lax. I think he'd enjoy seeing this."

He concentrates and after about a minute a red, catlike creature the size of a man appears. Duko puts a hand on its back. "These are friends, Lax." Lax purrs.

At the Old Light, Duko casts a spell: He scans the place with detect magic, just in case.

 

[airwalkrr]

Not surprisingly, Duko can detect no traces of magic about the place, even after examining every nook and cranny. It seems the stories about the place having no magic are true.

In a way, it is rather sad. This was no doubt a monstrous edifice in its day. Perhaps it was merely a lighthouse as most believe, but the sheer enormity of it can't make you wonder if it might have been something more, a castle tower, or perhaps even a castle itself. It is difficult not to doubt you will ever know.



After poking about for a while, you see the old man from the garden approach the edge of the Old Light. He walks with a cane and his pipe has been left behind. Following shortly behind him is a golden-striped cat, whose hair stands on end at the sight (or smell) or Lax. "More treasure seekers, eh? Well, there's no treasure to be found here anymore, sadly. You certainly aren't the first to uh, come looking though. I can't even remember how many adventurers and scholars have come to Sandpoint just to spy upon this majestic place and uh, see if there is anything left to pluck from it. It's a ruin of old Thassilon, you know? An age-old empire lost for, um, millennia.

"I am Brodert Quink, the uh, Sage of Sandpoint. And this little beast here," he says, pointing to the cat, "is uh, Rupert. It is a pleasure to make acquaintance with fellow seekers of lore. I've spent the last several years studying Thassilonion ruins myself, before my more youthful studies at Janderhoff and Magnimar of course. I have to say though, that this is one of my favorite places. The Old Light is a glory today even as it was back uh, in the days of old Thassilon."

 

[Shayuri]

On reaching the cracked, crumbling old tower Talashia approached it slowly. A breeze gusted in from the sea, and for a moment she almost looked like she was underwater, her hair was so light and eager to stream away behind her in that wind.

"I came here, whenever I got into trouble," she said quietly, as much to herself as anyone else. "I was here a lot. It felt safe."

Her fingertips ran over some of the ruined scrollwork of runes, long since faded into illegibility.

Talashia drifted airily about the base of the tower, and spent some time just sitting and looking out over the ocean, remembering. When she spied the old man coming she got up and stood there to meet him...her expression a little stony. She didn't seem to like sharing her private little place with a stranger.

That changed once he introduced himself though. Very quickly her countenance warmed, and she was smiling by the end; her mood as variable as the seaside weather itself.

"The sage of Sandpoint," she repeated with a chuckle. "First you took my tower, then my title...I should be very upset with you. But I suppose once I left...it was all up for grabs."

Talashia held out a hand to shake. "I'm Talashia. I lived here most of my life. From your story, you must have come very soon after I left. Any fellow student of Old Thassilon is welcome here by me though."

 

[rangerjohn]

Deivon joins in the bawdy song as well.

When Lax is brought out he wonders at the great beast. He then joins in the exploration of the ruin.

 

[airwalkrr]

Talashia drifted airily about the base of the tower, and spent some time just sitting and looking out over the ocean, remembering. When she spied the old man coming she got up and stood there to meet him...her expression a little stony. She didn't seem to like sharing her private little place with a stranger.

That changed once he introduced himself though. Very quickly her countenance warmed, and she was smiling by the end; her mood as variable as the seaside weather itself.

"The sage of Sandpoint," she repeated with a chuckle. "First you took my tower, then my title...I should be very upset with you. But I suppose once I left...it was all up for grabs."

Talashia held out a hand to shake. "I'm Talashia. I lived here most of my life. From your story, you must have come very soon after I left. Any fellow student of Old Thassilon is welcome here by me though."

The old man chuckles lightly at the notion of Talashia being a sage. "I thank you for your welcome. You seem a bit young to have the title of uh, sage. I am of eight and sixty years. You appear barely of twenty. Yet I envy you. So many wonderful discoveries to uh, make of this world. But you needn't worry about me taking 'your' tower. You are welcome to it any time you like. I simply uh, live nearby so I can study it whenever I wish. However, one such as you might be able to, um, help me with a few things, if you would do me the honor. My old eyes are not what they used to be, and it seems you were uh, here before I. This rune," he says, walking over to the west wall and gesturing with his cane at a partial rune which has been broken by a stone which likely has fallen into the sea. "The townsfolk say a, um, stone used to be here above it before I arrived which might have contained the top portion, but no one seems to remember what it looked like. If you spent a lot of time here, perhaps you might recall what it looked like. If you would be so inclined, uh, to draw it for me."



[sblock=Knowledge (history) or Linguistics DC 25 (+5 if character speaks Thassilonian)]The rune appears to be an ancient Thassilonian cuneiform. Depending on the top half, it might represent either "pride" or "humility."[/sblock]

Brodert produces a journal from inside his robe along with quill and ink and hands it to Talashia.

[sblock=Talashia (Shayuri)]Talashia does indeed recall what the rune looked like and may draw it for Brodert if she wishes.


[sblock=Knowledge (history) or Linguistics DC 20 (automatic if character speaks Thassilonian)]When drawn this way, the rune is an ancient Thassilonian cuneiform representation of "pride." If drawn as its mirror image, it represents "humility."[/sblock][/sblock]

 

[Shayuri]

Talashia chuckles at the sage's admonishments, taking them in uncharacteristically good humor. She takes the offered journal and inkpen and dips the quill briskly into the little vial.

"Of course."

She looks at the wall carvings, following them around a little to make sure she's got the right tile in mind, then shakes her head to herself at the sight of the years that just keep taking their toll on the ancient structure. Then she puts quill to page, sketching out the rune complete with its larger branch on the left side.

"Here you are." Talashia hands it all back to Brodert.

 

[Maidhc O Casain]

[section]

Marcas thoroughly enjoys the conversation and the singing at Cracktooth's, then joins the others in their exploration of the ruins. He shows a sensitivity that's somewhat surprising, given his fierce appearance, and is careful not to disturb Talashia as she loses herself in what are obviously memories of her childhood.​

[/section]
_______________
[sblock=Mini Stats]
Marcas Vanator
Initiative: +03
AC: 14 (14 Touch, 11 Flat-Footed)
HP: 09/09
Senses: Perception +7
CMB: +02 CMD: 16
Fort: +03 Reflex: +05 Will: +04
[/sblock]

 

[SelcSilverhand]

Before leaving Cracktooth's Vhir splits his earnings in half with his partner in song saying that he had earned his share. He then purchases a growler of beer and happily carries it out of the pub as he follows the others through the streets. He takes long pulls from it as he staggers along. When a red cat-man steps out of the shadows Vhir is dumbstruck for a moment. With a shout he raises his growler like a weapon ready to defend himself. Only Duko's assurances, and no small amount of his own unsteadiness, keeps him from having at the fearsome creature. Still, he keeps a wary eye on it in case this strange spirit should turn on them. He whispers quietly to himself, probably drunken nonsense, as he wanders.

The Old Light is surely an impressive sight for the barbarian. His inner eye can almost picture the place as a massive spiraling tower and beacon, or a fortress from which ships were launched. He grunts and shakes his head before wandering off out of sight to pass his water on the old stones. When he returns he says "The land is..uh there are many things left.. left over. From old times. Ruins, that's the word."