[D&D 5E] Securing the Alliance: An Adventure in Tethyr (IC)

[Forged Fury]

OOC | RG

Securing the Alliance: An Adventure in Tethyr



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8 Marpenoth, 1378 DR, Tethyr

Seated at the long wooden table in the Kirgard meet hall, the four men looked across the table at one another, waiting. They had been summoned to the re-activated stone keep a few short days ago by a variety of messengers, all bearing the correct sigil indicating the missive originated from the Shadow Stars. The light coming in through the arrow slits arranged around the room indicated that the rest of the participants in their meeting were somewhat late. With their free time, the men had taken to glancing around the room at the few other objects: a few chairs, the table, and a chalkboard with a list scrawled on it:

1. Mosstone
2. Routine Patrols
3. Garrison maintenance
4. Grimfang's bandits...

Lorenzo, Gnorth, Corilo, and Boddynock Scheppen had arrived throughout the day on the 7th of Marpenoth. Kirgard itself was largely empty, the bulk of the garrison had been sent north to a town called Mosstone. It was fortuitous for the men as they had their pick of lodging. The skeleton crew that remained, however, were tight-lipped about the reason for the departure and not entirely sure about the new quartet among them. Gnorth had managed to pick up a few tidbits, something about the Queen-Monarch's orders and a plague.

Just about the point in time when the unbearable silence demanded that someone break it, the door to the main hall swung open. Entering the room were a strange group: a human soldier armored in a chainmail hauberk with the rank insignia of a Captain of the Tethyrian Army, a humanoid woman of some type armored in splint mail with a greatsword strapped to her back, and a halfling garbed in fine traveling clothes carrying a cane whom everyone at the table recognized as Rowena Tosscoble, the secret administrator of the Shadow Stars. FOr his part, Lorenzo was sure he knew the armored woman, but couldn't quite place his finger on where or when he had met her.

"Ah, I see everyone succeeded at reaching Kirgard. Auspicious start, my friends!" Rowena said, her small frame belying a powerful voice. Turning to the Captain, she continued while waving her cane about, "Thank you for the escort and use of your facilities, Captain Holt. You may take your leave."


Credit: Icewind Dale Character Portrait(?)

Looking around at the group uncertainly, Captain Holt never the less nodded his hand. "Um, certainly. If there is anything else we can do for the Assistant to the Under-Secretary of Agriculture, please don't hesitate to ask." So saying, Holt took one last look around the room and took his leave of the group, closing the door soundly.

Rowena wandered around the room, seemingly at random as the armored woman took a seat at the table. The halfling knocked on walls here and there as if testing the soundness of the construction. "Just making sure we have a little privacy..." Apparently satisfied with her inspection, she took a seat at the head of the table, scowling at the human-sized furniture, and asked, "How are the accomadations, my friends?"

 

[CanadienneBacon]

The seating was awkward. The chairs closest to the door were taken, leaving only a seat or three toward the far end of the table. The genasi woman shuffled, squeezing her armor past a seat and sitting down. One of the metal plates on her splint mail protested at the angle, squeaking plaintively. Her armor wanted oiling, it seemed.

Brue pursed her lips and frowned. She hated meetings. It had been a long several days, and she wasn't fully recovered from the head injury suffered outside of Mosstone; the contours of her memory remained hazy here and there. Tired, Brue didn't bother looking around at the others, not yet anyway. Instead, she waited for Rowena to begin.

 

[hafrogman]

After a cursory look around the room and a friendly greeting to his fellow Stars, Lorenzo settled comfortably into his chair, laying back with his helmet tipped down over his face. Somehow, the instant before the door opens, he's sitting upright and attentive as if he hadn't just been catching up on his beauty sleep.

He nods his greetings to Rowena and the armored woman, lingering over her for a moment curiously before being drawn back to the conversation by Rowena's question.

"Passable enough. It's the military you know, never enough stuffing in the beds. Still, the food is good." He shrugs, "Got to take advantage while we can. I'm guessing you haven't called us here to invite us to a banquet."

 

[This Effin’ GM]

Gnorth shifts in his chair, wishing he had the ability to remove the sewed on cushion without being reprimanded for 'destroying more furniture' or whatever it is they called it. Soft southerners.

"Solutions, Rowena!" Gnorth smiles a tusky grin, speaking in his customary strained Common and proud of his use of a southern term for greeting, "Me telling the boys here that rumors telling the me" he holds up one finger "queen orders" he holds up a second finger "a plague." Gnorth had learned long ago when reciting lists in other languages, it was often helpful if he counted along with them, for whatever reason.

 

[Olrox17]

Corilo was nervous, and it showed. He was a Shadow Star now, and all these people were supposed to be his comrades. His peers. Yet all of them looked older and much more experienced with him. They looked like real professionals, cool and in control of the situation. Darn, he thought. I must say something smart, something impressing.

"Erm, thank you Lady Rowena. The...accomodations were, err, stupendous. Much better than the local inn"

Dammit, he thought. That was dumb as hell.

 

[Egon]

Boddynock sat in a chair near the middle of the table, his short legs dangling off the edge slightly. He didn't care that he was shorter than everyone else; people, much like the things he built, came in all shapes and sizes. No two were exactly alike, with their own purposes and desires and thoughts and needs. And it wasn't like the taller ones to think about the shorter ones' needs, so all the furniture was usually sized for the taller ones. It was something he had gotten used to in his years.

He was in the middle of tinkering when the three walked in, a series of gears and molds and small tools spread out on the table before him. Everyone was being so quiet, and nothing was being done or said. So he decided to make use of the time by working on an idea he had in his head, which led to another idea, which led to another...which eventually led to most of his tools on the table.

If I can just get this piece here to fit into that gear there...

His thoughts were interrupted by someone in the room asking about accommodations. He paid it no mind at first, but when everyone else started speaking, he thought he better see what the commotion was all about.

"Hmm? Oh, the accommodations. Yes, they are fine, thank you. Plenty of room in front of me to work as I need to. Very nice of you to ask....yes..."

He was always lost in thought about something, and right now was no different. Nothing was being said that he couldn't multi-task through, but he didn't wish to seem rude so he started picking his things up.

"Sorry about the mess...just let me clean up...never know when inspiration will strike..."

 

[CanadienneBacon]

Brue's head whipped toward the gnome. Her face turned ash. Sputtering, Brue rose from her seat, her armor making a tremendous racket. The earth genasi reached for her steel and hissed, "Get out, you little nattering beast! Rowena! Since when do we keep company with poisoners and villains?!" Spittle formed in ungainly white flecks and flew from Brue's mouth, some of it landing on Corilo. Her spare hand wiped the lot of the gnome's tinkering bits from the table, sending them in a fine spray everywhere.

 

[Olrox17]

Corilo noticed Brue's hand, closing to her weapon. For all the big words and spit flying around, that was the only thing he saw. His body reacted naturally, and he reached for his hand crossbow. Just before grabbing his weapon, he realized what he was doing and stopped. Corilo exhaled deeply.

 

[hafrogman]

Lorenzo tumbles out of his chair at Brue's sudden outburst, landing on his feet. He looks back and forth between woman and gnome for a moment, baffled what could have caused the kerfuffle. He holds up both hands in a placating manner.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, miss! We're all on the same side here. No need for that blade."

He looks down at the scattered remains of the gnome's tinkering and gestures to the gnome.

"I'm sure . . . Boddynock, wasn't it? I'm sure Boddynock and you and all of us can sit down and discuss this like civilized people."

He keeps eye contact with Brue, both hands open to her, gesturing lightly down, inviting her to sit.

OOC: I'm a bad, bad man.

 

[Egon]

Deep in the midst of trying to clean up his things, he didn't see Brue's hand come flying in from nowhere, spilling his things to the four corners of the room. He looked up at the warrior from his seated position, his eyes narrowing a bit but not giving up any amount of fear or trepidation. He simply jumped down from his chair and began to hunt down every last gear and wheel and tool that were on the table when this soldier acted so rudely.

"Not the most couth, are you?" he asked while he made his way around the room to collect his belongings. "And to do so in the main hall, with the Captain present? I can only assume that your manners were left outside."

He said all this matter-of-factly; not insulting or confrontational, but merely as a way for his mind to make sense of what had just happened. He hadn't met this one before, and he certainly didn't think he was being out of line with tinkering at the table.

Or was I? Still getting used to the customs of these humans, I am...

Once he picked up all his stuff, he sat back down in his chair, turning his attention to the head of the table, paying no further mind to Brue.