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<blockquote data-quote="Vigwyn the Unruly" data-source="post: 1663260" data-attributes="member: 20345"><p><strong>Meeting Lord Bootlum</strong></p><p></p><p>When Graf returns, you tell him that you have decided to meet with Nerius Bootlum.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: purple">“Very good, then, friends!”</span></p><p></p><p>Graf seems relieved.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: purple">“I’ll send word right away. In the mean time, please enjoy the hospitality of the Wyvern’s Claw. Although food and water are scarce, we have made you a fresh mutton stew.”</span></p><p></p><p>Three quarters of an hour later, just as you are finishing your excellent repast, Graf returns to your table.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: purple">“The messenger has returned from Lord Bootlum’s. He reports that Nerius is very glad to hear that an adventuring party is willing to hear him out. He wishes to meet with you tomorrow morning an hour after dawn. I’ll set up a room in the inn’s private offices.”</span></p><p></p><p>After enjoying the hospitality of the inn for the evening, you bathe then retire to your rooms and sleep like you haven’t for weeks.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 12px">Day 2</span></strong></p><p></p><p>The following morning, you are awakened by Graf at dawn. After an hour he returns for you, and leads the party to an inner chamber in the offices of the inn. When you enter the room, an aging nobleman rises to greet you. Nerius Bootlum’s tall, slim form is draped in a slate gray tunic and cloak of fine cloth. Embroidered on the left breast of his outer garment is the scarlet shield with wyvern's claw and wreath. Although Lord Bootlum is clearly in his sixties, his hair is white only at the temples. His intelligent black eyes are placed above a trim, well-kept beard.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: red">“Well met, noble travelers. I don’t mind telling you that you are a sight for sore eyes. Good Mr. Graf informed me of his conversations with you last night. What he has told you is substantially correct. It is also correct that most in town think I have lost my mind and that Relgore is gone, driven away by the militia I sent after him some months ago. Perhaps you have reached the same conclusion. If so, I will now tell you some things that may change your mind.”</span></p><p></p><p>With this, Nerius gestures for you to sit around a small wooden table, and asks Graf to leave the room while he converses with you privately. Once you are all in place, Nerius continues:</p><p></p><p><span style="color: red">“As Graf may have told you, Relgore and his band have been a thorn in our side for many years. Until now, we did not dare move against him directly. We feared that an open confrontation would cost us more in the lives of our young men than it would save us over time. However, Relgore is now in possession of an item of considerable power.</span></p><p><span style="color: red"></span></p><p><span style="color: red">“I am a…collector of unusual items. Several years ago, a curious item came into my hands through some fortuitous investments I made. It is in the form of a natural sponge that looks to be of considerable antiquity. About six months ago I came across reference to a magical sponge in an arcane book which I had recently acquired. Wondering if this was the same sponge I had come into possession of several years ago, I decided to consult with the sage Elwin in the city of Allthrop, about a fortnight away. I took a small fortune in gems with me to exchange for gold and silver pieces while there.</span></p><p><span style="color: red"></span></p><p><span style="color: red">“On my second day of travel, my coach was ambushed by Relgore and his gang. Leaving myself and my coach driver for dead, they made away with both the sponge and the gems. Tragically, my coach driver <em>had</em> been killed, but I lived on. Somehow, I managed to drag myself to the nearby Temple of Heironeous. The clerics there were sympathetic to my plight and restored me to complete health. Worried now at what Relgore might possess, I traveled on to Allthrop. Elwin told me he believed that the lost sponge was indeed more than a curiosity—it was a wondrous item called the <em>eversoaking sponge</em>. While Elwin was not completely sure of the item's powers, he wisely pointed out that any wondrous item can be put to mischievous use.</span></p><p><span style="color: red"></span></p><p><span style="color: red">“Upon hurriedly returning to Green Glade, I dispatched the militia to rid us once and for all of Relgore, who was now more of a threat than ever. Naturally, I didn’t tell anyone about the sponge. An item of power such as that should not fall into the wrong hands, and the militia might have been tempted to keep it for themselves or sell it to the highest bidder had they known of it. In any event, if they successfully killed Relgore, I thought it best if the sponge simply vanished into history.</span></p><p><span style="color: red"></span></p><p><span style="color: red">“Well, the militia returned claiming to have killed half of Relgore’s band and driven the rest off. There was much rejoicing in town, and I confess that I myself also thought that the men had finally rid us of this threat. Indeed, we had no more trouble from Relgore for a time, and this seemed to confirm our hopes.</span></p><p><span style="color: red"></span></p><p><span style="color: red">"However, this summer has been particularly harsh. Rain has not come in six weeks. Our crops fail and our people and animals thirst. Of course, we have known drought before; normally in dry periods, we rely on several small lakes nearby to provide us with the water we need. However, in the past few weeks, at least three of these lakes have completely dried up. It doesn’t take a person of great intellect to put two and two together. After all, lakes don’t dry up overnight of their own accord. The people of Green Glade blame our nature deities, but I am convinced that the culprit is closer to home.</span></p><p><span style="color: red"></span></p><p><span style="color: red">“It is my belief that Relgore still roams these lands with a small contingent of humanoids, and that he is somehow using the sponge to torment us in revenge for our foray against his gang.</span></p><p><span style="color: red"></span></p><p><span style="color: red">“I would be most grateful to you if you would rid us of Relgore and his raiding party. In order to impress upon you urgency of the situation, I am prepared to increase the reward to 2,500 gold pieces for Relgore’s head. In addition, if you return the sponge to me, you are welcome to keep whatever other treasure you may find during the course of this mission.”</span></p><p></p><p>It is now about three and a half hours until noon, and already the air swelters.</p><p></p><p><em>(OOC: Belisha makes an unsuccessful knowledge (arcane) check to see she knows anything about the eversoaking sponge (DC 25, die result 12 + 7 = 19). Belisha makes a successful knowledge (nature) check, and realizes that the small lakes could not have dried up by purely natural causes in just a few weeks (DC 10, die result 15 + 5 = 20). You all make unsuccessful sense motive checks to get a hunch as to Bootlum’s trustworthiness (DC 20, die results: Slyfen 11 + 0 = 11; Hardin 8 + 2 = 10; Eolan 5 + 0 = 5; Belisha 15 + 0 = 0); this means that you don’t have a strong feeling that Bootlum is being entirely honest, but you also have no reason to mistrust him.)</em></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Vigwyn the Unruly, post: 1663260, member: 20345"] [b]Meeting Lord Bootlum[/b] When Graf returns, you tell him that you have decided to meet with Nerius Bootlum. [color=purple]“Very good, then, friends!”[/color] Graf seems relieved. [color=purple]“I’ll send word right away. In the mean time, please enjoy the hospitality of the Wyvern’s Claw. Although food and water are scarce, we have made you a fresh mutton stew.”[/color] Three quarters of an hour later, just as you are finishing your excellent repast, Graf returns to your table. [color=purple]“The messenger has returned from Lord Bootlum’s. He reports that Nerius is very glad to hear that an adventuring party is willing to hear him out. He wishes to meet with you tomorrow morning an hour after dawn. I’ll set up a room in the inn’s private offices.”[/color] After enjoying the hospitality of the inn for the evening, you bathe then retire to your rooms and sleep like you haven’t for weeks. [b][size=3]Day 2[/size][/b] The following morning, you are awakened by Graf at dawn. After an hour he returns for you, and leads the party to an inner chamber in the offices of the inn. When you enter the room, an aging nobleman rises to greet you. Nerius Bootlum’s tall, slim form is draped in a slate gray tunic and cloak of fine cloth. Embroidered on the left breast of his outer garment is the scarlet shield with wyvern's claw and wreath. Although Lord Bootlum is clearly in his sixties, his hair is white only at the temples. His intelligent black eyes are placed above a trim, well-kept beard. [color=red]“Well met, noble travelers. I don’t mind telling you that you are a sight for sore eyes. Good Mr. Graf informed me of his conversations with you last night. What he has told you is substantially correct. It is also correct that most in town think I have lost my mind and that Relgore is gone, driven away by the militia I sent after him some months ago. Perhaps you have reached the same conclusion. If so, I will now tell you some things that may change your mind.”[/color] With this, Nerius gestures for you to sit around a small wooden table, and asks Graf to leave the room while he converses with you privately. Once you are all in place, Nerius continues: [color=red]“As Graf may have told you, Relgore and his band have been a thorn in our side for many years. Until now, we did not dare move against him directly. We feared that an open confrontation would cost us more in the lives of our young men than it would save us over time. However, Relgore is now in possession of an item of considerable power. “I am a…collector of unusual items. Several years ago, a curious item came into my hands through some fortuitous investments I made. It is in the form of a natural sponge that looks to be of considerable antiquity. About six months ago I came across reference to a magical sponge in an arcane book which I had recently acquired. Wondering if this was the same sponge I had come into possession of several years ago, I decided to consult with the sage Elwin in the city of Allthrop, about a fortnight away. I took a small fortune in gems with me to exchange for gold and silver pieces while there. “On my second day of travel, my coach was ambushed by Relgore and his gang. Leaving myself and my coach driver for dead, they made away with both the sponge and the gems. Tragically, my coach driver [i]had[/i] been killed, but I lived on. Somehow, I managed to drag myself to the nearby Temple of Heironeous. The clerics there were sympathetic to my plight and restored me to complete health. Worried now at what Relgore might possess, I traveled on to Allthrop. Elwin told me he believed that the lost sponge was indeed more than a curiosity—it was a wondrous item called the [i]eversoaking sponge[/i]. While Elwin was not completely sure of the item's powers, he wisely pointed out that any wondrous item can be put to mischievous use. “Upon hurriedly returning to Green Glade, I dispatched the militia to rid us once and for all of Relgore, who was now more of a threat than ever. Naturally, I didn’t tell anyone about the sponge. An item of power such as that should not fall into the wrong hands, and the militia might have been tempted to keep it for themselves or sell it to the highest bidder had they known of it. In any event, if they successfully killed Relgore, I thought it best if the sponge simply vanished into history. “Well, the militia returned claiming to have killed half of Relgore’s band and driven the rest off. There was much rejoicing in town, and I confess that I myself also thought that the men had finally rid us of this threat. Indeed, we had no more trouble from Relgore for a time, and this seemed to confirm our hopes. "However, this summer has been particularly harsh. Rain has not come in six weeks. Our crops fail and our people and animals thirst. Of course, we have known drought before; normally in dry periods, we rely on several small lakes nearby to provide us with the water we need. However, in the past few weeks, at least three of these lakes have completely dried up. It doesn’t take a person of great intellect to put two and two together. After all, lakes don’t dry up overnight of their own accord. The people of Green Glade blame our nature deities, but I am convinced that the culprit is closer to home. “It is my belief that Relgore still roams these lands with a small contingent of humanoids, and that he is somehow using the sponge to torment us in revenge for our foray against his gang. “I would be most grateful to you if you would rid us of Relgore and his raiding party. In order to impress upon you urgency of the situation, I am prepared to increase the reward to 2,500 gold pieces for Relgore’s head. In addition, if you return the sponge to me, you are welcome to keep whatever other treasure you may find during the course of this mission.”[/color] It is now about three and a half hours until noon, and already the air swelters. [i](OOC: Belisha makes an unsuccessful knowledge (arcane) check to see she knows anything about the eversoaking sponge (DC 25, die result 12 + 7 = 19). Belisha makes a successful knowledge (nature) check, and realizes that the small lakes could not have dried up by purely natural causes in just a few weeks (DC 10, die result 15 + 5 = 20). You all make unsuccessful sense motive checks to get a hunch as to Bootlum’s trustworthiness (DC 20, die results: Slyfen 11 + 0 = 11; Hardin 8 + 2 = 10; Eolan 5 + 0 = 5; Belisha 15 + 0 = 0); this means that you don’t have a strong feeling that Bootlum is being entirely honest, but you also have no reason to mistrust him.)[/i] [/QUOTE]
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