Airwalkrr's Temple of Elemental Evil (IC)

[airwalkrr]

The guard atop the battlements lets out a holler and shortly the door below is unbarred and opened. A similarly garbed man answers the door to allow Mulnock and Aredal inside, politely asking the others to stay outside. He then closes the door behind him.

OOC: I will carry on the conversation between Mulnock, Aredal, and Burne in sblocks and call them Alpha group. I will refer to the others as Beta group if you wish to do other things in town in the meantime.

[sblock=Alpha]Flanking the inner portal are two fireplaces, where you can see a pair of servants are currently poaching eggs and frying ham. This hallway looks to be capable of entertaining a fair amount of guests as it is at least 40 feet in diameter. There is a table in a curved alcove at the far back wall and there also appear to be trestle tables that could be extended down and across the room when the occasion demands. Several comfortable chairs are placed along the walls, and the walls themselves are hung with tapestries and decorated with shields, arms, and hunting trophies. Ramps curving upwards and downwards lead to other levels. Only the single guard is on duty here, but he says that Rufus and Burne have been informed of your presence and will be down shortly.

After a few minutes of patient waiting, you hear footsteps upon the stairs leading to higher levels of the tower. Two men descend. The first, a stern-looking man of about 30 years with a well-kempt full beard and straight, dark hair that falls just below his ears, carries an axe at his side and wears chainmail. He has the livery colors of blue and gold with a harvester's sheaf in white. The man following after him is a bit younger and very graceful. He wears fuschia-dyed robes with yellow tassels and carries an load of scrolls in his left arm. The two sit down at the table in the curved alcove, the robed man taking the head, the armed man sitting just to his side. The robed man looks up to you with a smile and motions for you to come sit at the table with him while servants pull up chairs and begin delivering the eggs and ham to the table, along with some bread and wine.

Can I offer you something to drink? the robed man asks pleasantly, I do beg your pardon. We were just about to sit down to breakfast. I do hope you don't mind. I am Burne, and this is my associate, Rufus. We are in charge of administrative affairs of the town. Rufus handles law-enforcement while I handle the more delicate matters of public policy. Oh, um, I suppose it would be rude to eat in front of you. Are any of you hungry?[/sblock]

 

[Voda Vosa]

[sblock]"Well... My name is Mulnock, and now you offer so kindly, I would like to have breakfast with you, since I haven today." the gnome says with a smile, trying to put his arms on the tall table. Only his nose and eyes of the gnome shows from the other mens positions.[/sblock]

 

[airwalkrr]

[sblock=Alpha]Burne makes a purposeful nod to one of the servants who promptly retrieves a booster seat from an alcove and humbly provides it for Mulnock to sit upon. Now the gnome can see everyone at the table perfectly well. Burne raises his wine glass to Mulnock and winks.[/sblock]

 

[Blackrat]

[sblock]"Thank you very much. I have already eaten but I will not turn down your offer of drink as long as it is not too strong." Aredal says as he sits down. "Ah yes, of course, almost forgot, my name is Aredal, I am a humble servant of Pelor. I apologize for bothering you this early, but the reason we asked to see you is that me and my friends have heard that there have been some bandit activity in the nearby roads. We came to see if there is anything we can do to help and the good folk of the village suggested we speak with you."[/sblock]

 

[Brachna]

"I will stay outside as well." Drynethael says. Seeing the guards on edge has aroused his suspicions towards humans even more, and he is loathe to part with his weaponry in front of the unproven town guards.

[sblock=OOC] I understand that the guards and such are just taking normal precautions too, but so far, Drynethael is coming off to me as being very suspicious of humans he doesn't know, since his mother was killed by human bandits (also, I'm playing up the 9 CHA). For that reason, I should probably have him stay outside as well. As much as I'd like to have him go inside and make Sense Motive checks on Rufus and Burne, It'd probably be out of character for him to just drop his weapons (and his suspicious nature) just now. [/sblock]

 

[Voda Vosa]

[sblock] Mulnock rises his glass too, cheerfully.
"Yes yes I almost forgot our porpoise here. Since you are the administrative and head of the town, we assume you could provide us with a map, or some intelligence about these bandits." the gnome glances at Rufus weaponry and thought to himself: "Well we can't bring weapons, but this bear has an axe the size of my chair... too much armored for the breakfast hm?"[/sblock]

 

[airwalkrr]

[sblock=Alpha]Burne waves his hand in a permissive gesture and a servant brings Aredal and Mulnock glasses into which they pour a very rich-flavored wine. A second servant prepares a plate for Mulnock and places it before him. You can see that his portions are no smaller than those given to Burne and Rufus. After a minute or two of eating, Burne pauses from his morning meal and finally gets down to business. He dabs his mouth with a napkin and speaks, Now that I've had a bit to eat, let me see. Where do I begin? he holds his hand up to his chin and strokes it a few times. You notice there is the beginning of what may one day be a goatee, but his beard is apparently quite thin and the endeavor is probably not making the kind of progress he would like. Well, I suppose if you wish to help us out with bandits, there is a rather important errand I could send you on. Reports of bandit attacks have been increasing of late. I would send the Badgers, but they already have their hands full with patrolling the roads and I can't spare enough of them for a concentrated operation such as this. You see, my scouts tell me that the bandit activity is heaviest around what was once an abandoned moathouse some leagues to the east. I suspect that is where they are headquartered. If you and your group were to journey there, discover who is behind the recent attacks, and put a stop to it, I would be quite grateful. I can even offer you a reward for every bandit you kill. How about 25 pieces of gold per ear? I would of course grant you the authority to act on my behalf in this manner.

I would be able to provide you with a map to the moathouse if you wish. There is a disused trail that leads east that way. It isn't on the map, but I can show you where to find it. If your group requires any supplies, Rufus and I have some stores that we might be able to provide you for reasonable compensation. We have magical potions and I have arcane scrolls I could sell you if you require them. Of course, I will expect a full report on the bandit leaders you discover before you claim the bounties when you get back. Is there any other way I can be of assistance before you go?[/sblock]

 

[Blackrat]

We would be happy to help in this matter. Although I frown upon killing I believe my companions will be pleased to hear about the reward. A map would be very welcome too, as none of us know these parts. Aredal replies, sipping the wine. Well there is one more thing. The villagers also told us to speak with a man called Ashstaff. Could you tell us anything about him? I believe many hold him in high regard. And lastly I must apologize if my friends's cause a bit of hassle in the town. As you no doubt know, dwarves have a hard time feeling safe in the open air, and my companion probably will be marching around in his armor all the time, and the elves are so accustomed to living in the wilderness that they are always ready for monsters to leap from behind the closest tree. But with time I believe I can get them to feel safe enough in your peacefull town to walk in the streets without their bows.

 

[Bihlbo]

[sblock=OOC]Daonil is a large enough man that he understands how people could feel threatened by having an armed man walking among them. What he doesn't understand at all is why that's a problem. The world isn't a safe place, why expect people to pretend it is? But, he's willing to part with his weapons in exchange for being able to say he's spent the night in a city. His dagger is hidden (DC 21) on his person, and since he's not willing to strip naked, and doesn't bother with changes of clothing, he's going to simply loosen his studded leather to look as casual and relaxed as an uncouth wild man wearing well-worn leather with rusting steel bits can look. (He'd probably look like a big biker, to compare him to a modern stereotype.)

Sorry that I haven't kept up, you all keep a furious pace! I usually can't post on the weekends, but I'll do my best to give this game more focus.

I'm unclear on something. Is Ashstaff the wizard in the tower? Or is Burne in the tower? I'd like to know, because I'd like Daonil to be off talking to the other while the main group is at the tower.[/sblock]

 

[airwalkrr]

[sblock=Alpha]Burne nods to Rufus, who walks upstairs and returns a few moments later with a scroll case, which he hands to Aredal. Here is a map of the surrounding area. I'm afraid the exact location of the moathouse is not precisely marked, but if you take the Low Road east out of Hommlet then follow the unused trace road at the fork, you should come across it. As for your friends, just make sure they don't pick any fights with the locals. I'm a fair man, but if any of your allies are caught in an altercation while so equipped, the law dictates I must assume most aggressive intent, regardless of which party is the instigator.

OOC: Refer to Map 1.

When you mention Ashstaff, Burne smiles with fondness and a bit of patrimony. Yes, good old Jaroo. He is a wise man. He represents the Old Faith of this town, but that does not happen to include me. He is an influential member of the village though, and many seek him for spiritual guidance.[/sblock]

[sblock=OOC]Bihlbo brings up a really good point that I would like to address. A lot of players have this misconception that armor = clothes. Taking off your armor is not literally stripping down naked. It simply involves removing protective apparatuses that are in almost all cases draped over or around clothing. Wearing armor without anything underneath would be chapping and extraordinarily uncomfortable. Even padded (quilted) armor is not the most comfortable type of clothing to wear and would begin to chafe if nothing was worn underneath. Armor's primary purpose is protection, not decency. Most people wear pantaloons, breeches, and a jerkin underneath their armor at least. Sorry if you guys feel I get preachy. I was a history major.

To clear up identities, Jaroo Ashstaff is a priest of the Old Faith and an elder of the village who lives in area 24. Burne is a wizard and one of two co-rulers of Hommlet who lives in the tower (area 31).[/sblock]