(CSRHoD) Creamsteak's Red Hand of Doom II [IC]

[pathfinderq1]

"I think we ought to find who is in charge, and make our report as a group- I doubt there are many who have seen as much of the trouble as we have and survived," Tyrla responded after a brief moment of thought. "A battle-hardened group like ours may be taken more seriously than a smaller embassy. If anyone remembers the name of that woman that we met on the road, the one to whom we gave the map, she might be someone to ask for."

 

[Creamsteak]

It's a 'big' city. Which leaders are you most interested in looking for?

 

[pathfinderq1]

Tyrla wracked her brain for a few moments- while their journey had taken only a few days, it seemed like almost a year since they had met the female Lion of Brindol in the inn in Terrelton. "Teyani Sura, that was her name," she muttered after a bit of thought. "She said she served Lord Jarmaath, and she would take our map and information to him. Perhaps we might go to see if they found our help useful?"

OOC: All the way back to last February, but that seems like the best place to start.

 

[Creamsteak]

Brindol Keep (18 on the map) is located at the highest point in Brindol.

Pender:
[sblock]Although the keep was traditionally been the home of the city's ruler, for many years the ruling lord instead dwelt in one fo the newer, more luxurious mansions lower down on the hill, letting the old keep serve only as a garrison, town hall, and prison. With the start of Lord Jarmaath's rule, the old tradition has been restored; Jarmaath and his servants now dwell in the keep.[/sblock]

The keep is easy enough to find, and the residence of one Lord Kerden Jarmaath. As you climb the hills in Brindol to reach the keep, you can see over the vast majority of the city. The walls around Brindol are quite the fortifications, banners and flags adorning tower and defensive crenelations all around the city.

The keep itself is much older than the rest of the city. It easily dates to the same era as Vraath Keep, but the structure itself is much larger and is still in good condition. As the group approaches the fortified double doors that make up the front entrance, a small group of soldiers watches your approach. When they see what strange travelers have made their way, they examine who walks.

"An elf wizard, a halfling assassin, a sorceress, and the runaway grunt. Well... I guess this looks right..."

They look over everyone's equipment and appearances as closely as they can, but after some work they allow the group by. [waving things along and all that]

The low murmur of a dozen muted conversations falls silent as the great double doors at the southern end of this great hall are opened by a pair of guards for your passage. The room beyond is a large chamber, the floors polished smooth and the walls set with many alcoves, each containing a trophy or work of art. The ceiling rises to a cavernous height of nearly forty feet, and deepset narrow windows reach nearly to the height along the northern wall.

A single long table dominates the middle of the room, its surface covered with books, maps, ledgers, parchments, sketches, drinks, and plates of half-eaten food.

The hall is quiet suddenly, but there are many people here. While the table is covered in food, it also is littered with various different documents and signs of much work and planning.

 

[Redclaw]

Larian stands politely quiet, waiting to be acknowledged by those in charge. As he waits, he does his best to inspect the items on the table from distance, hoping that he can learn what it is that Lord Jarmaath and the others are studying.
[sblock=ooc] Spot +6, with any relevant knowledge skill to interpret what he sees (Arcana 15, Dung 9, History 10, Nature 9, the Planes 11). [/sblock]

 

[Creamsteak]

The woman on the right (from the picture) stands up from her seat and raises one arm to wave. "I see you finally made it. You are the travelers from Drellin's Ferry, correct? I'm glad to see you made it here. We were wondering if perhaps you had chosen to travel elsewhere after your expedition to the swamps."

From left to right you are introduced to Lord Jarmaath, Lady Verrasa Kaal, Captain Lars Ulverth, and Trelora Goldenbrow.

Knowledge Nobility & Royalty or Local (DC 15)
[sblock]Lord Jarmaath is the ruler of the city. Lady Verrasa Kaal is a high ranking noblewoman with a well-known group of private guards. Lars Ulverth is the captain of the guard. Tredora Goldenbrow is the highest ranking priest of Pelor in Brindol (and for a few dozen miles around).[/sblock]

The documents on the table appear to be maps, ledgers, lists, figures, reports, briefings, debriefings, books on various subjects, and other interesting bits and pieces... all related to the Red Hand Horde and the City of Brindol.

Spot DC 25
[sblock]Rolled up on Jarmaath's side of the table is a map, and from the uncurled side you recognize it to be none other than the map recovered from Vraath Keep by your own party some time ago.[/sblock]

Lord Jarmaath walks up to the group with a stern look in his eye. "Thank you for coming. I had not heard of your arrival. We had assumed you would be another week out, at best. I am Lord Jarmaath. I've been told of your exploits in Drellin's Ferry and along the Dawn Way. As you can see, we have been rather busy since then."

Lady Kaal remains seeted. "Hello."

The Captain of the Guard stand upright with a sly smile on his face. "Pender Dunwoodie. How... interesting... to see you here. It's been quite a while I think. I see you've finally found time to report in on your watch. How long was your tour? A few hours? A few months? A few years? I'm sure you'll have quite the detailed debriefing as to what could have kept you from reporting in for so long?"

 

[Arkhandus]

Warren quietly follows the others into Brindol, a bit relieved to be back in a big city again where he might rest in a real bed, eat some real food, do some business, and maybe even get a little recognition for his accomplishments in helping to save the smelly throngs of too-talls that live here. And boy....do all these masses of refugees crammed into Brindol together smell.....

Nonetheless, it's better than swamp gas and gob-stink, he figures. The halfling lets Larian and Tyrla decide what hummie bigwigs they need to talk to. Business can wait until after a little briefing and debriefing.

In the busy room with the table full of food and papers, Warren can't help but smirk at seeing the food. Mmmm..... Oh, wait, they're talking. Well, may as well get the talking over with, so they can get on with the eating and the drinking and finally some well-earned rest.

"Aye, we're the ones took care o' the trouble in Drellin's Ferry. Been scouring the countryside for more nasties to fell for the sake of the Vale, slew us a few dragons an' gobbo patrols an' lizardfolks.... But I'm sure Larian, the elf here, or the others will tell ya all 'bout that stuff." Warren says, surprisingly managing to pre-empt the others in addressing the leaders of Brindol, or whoever these folks are.

When the Captain of the Guard addresses Pender, Warren opts to speak up in the soldier's defense, since Pender's helped him out since joining the group. "Actually, Pender was pretty busy tryin' to deal with some hobgoblin troopers out in the woods, but they outnumbered 'im and overwhelmed 'im after a while. We found 'im while the hobgobs were slappin' 'im around for fun, since he was still bein' uncooperative, tryin' to fist-fight a few when we got there, or so it looked when we showed up an' picked a fight wit' their dragon an' the hobgobs. 'E was pretty damned brave helpin' us out in that fight, considerin' he'd just been slapped around so much an' had to re-arm hisself in a hurry. Pender's slain 'is fair share of ogres an' gobbos with us since then."

[sblock=ooc]Man, missed the updates around the 6th and 7th where I should've had Warren do something at least.

Knowledge (Local) and Spot: 5 and 25 rolled. Can't believe I made the Spot check, though Warren appears to be rather clueless about Brindol right now. Maybe he's just a little....inattentive. ^_^
1d20+3=5, 1d20+8=25 [/sblock]

 

[Herobizkit]

Pender's face flushes red, completely unprepared for the halfling's kind words. Taking a moment to steel himself, he met the Captain's scrutinous gaze and replied, "It is pleasant to know exactly what value the Guard places on its members. Were it not for this band of adventureres, I would have surely been killed. My thanks for your prudence in this manner."

After a pause, he adds, "... Sir."

OOC: I apologize for the lateness of this reply; I'm still trying to play catch-up with the story and am still relatively new to PbP. I'll be more prudent in the future... promise. ^_^

 

[Redclaw]

Larian smiles indulgently as Warren provides his colorful answer to the nobles' questions. My diminutive ally is correct, he says to the captain once the halfling has finished. Pender has been a boon to us in our efforts, and has proven himself a loyal champion of the people of the Vale several times over already.

He turns his attention to Lord Jarmaath and Lady Kaal next. It is apparent that much has happened while we were attending to matters north of here. You have accomplished a significant task in evacuating the less-defensible towns along the Dawn Way. We will, of course, do our best to further assist such efforts, although we have another lead that it may be wise to pursue. He suddenly seems to realize how little the other know of their recent venture to Rhest, and immediately sets out to fix that. We have just come from the elven settlement in the northern swamps, where we received information about a dragon and dire activity in the ruins of Rhest. We staged a quick strike and managed to rid the elves of the nuisance, and to stop the production of some draconic abominations that the dragon and its allies were overseeing. If I had to guess, I would say that they were building some magic-bred creatures to aid in their campaign against you.

Larian pauses to let that sink in, then continues. In the process, we discovered a powerful artifact that appears to be strongly tied to the Ghostlord, and a letter that suggests the possession of that item has given the goblin horde some hold over the ancient evil of the Thornwaste. He gestures toward Warren, encouraging the halfling to produce the items so the nobles can view them. We suspect that returning the item to the Ghostlord might remove a powerful ally from the invading force. Information supplied, Larian settles back to guage the response.

 

[pathfinderq1]

Tyrla kept her voice low when she finally spoke- that was the easiest way to hide the trace of a sibilant hiss on some of her phrasings. "In addition, our efforts in Rhest helped earn the promise of aid from the elves of the marshes. They said they would send some supplies here, and some of their owl-riders- and they hoped that we might let you know to expect them. Aside from our own trials, we have had little word of the recent advances of the horde- what news is there? And did the map that we sent here arrive- if it would help, we can relate what we have seen, and what damage we have done to the enemy..."