For More Than Glory

[Arkhandus]

Argus spends a full two days lazing about his room at the Happy Unicorn Inn, recovering and getting sober again, having never gotten so drunk before. Finally, he leaves the inn and makes himself scarce for the winter, leaving the Mittendeinish cities behind and traveling through the least-populous towns to avoid unwanted attention. He garners food and shelter from the locals by trading away some minor gemstones and aiding the local hunters. He spends some of his idle time in such towns by teaching some basic fighting techniques to any local militia that may appreciate the training, but most of Argus' spare time is spent alternatingly between meditation, fuming at his fate, and thinking about his brief stay with the K'ultan barbarian tribe in Mittendein's southern fringes several months ago. He doesn't have long to ponder this however, as he encounters some roving K'ultan scouts after only a few weeks of travel outside Solinburg.

When he left the K'ultan tribe, he was on the run because the chieftain was murdered, and he was the only suspect because he was an outlander, and Argus had been forced to marry the chieftain's daughter shortly beforehand in order to be accepted into the tribe.... He had little chance of convincing the barbarians that it was an ambitious one of their own, so he fled the impending doom and eventually rejoined the adventurers he had met before. Now, the tribesmen who had adopted him no more than a year ago have caught up and continue to pursue him, coming for his head. Argus rendered the scouts unconscious with some unarmed attacks, then tried to reason with another that came up, but quickly had to dispatch that scout as well when he saw the rest of the K'ultan warband advancing on him. He bounded off with his superior speed and lighter burden, having few possessions and none of the heavier armor and weaponry carried by the barbarians, and Argus managed to escape further north, taking the time to cover his tracks once he got a day or two ahead of them.

Argus continued his journey north until he entered Lorlynia, elven country, and there he visited several towns relatively close to Mittendein, as he knows nothing of the Forestal speech.... He found a seasoned warrior in one large town, too old to be given any active duty fighting the orcish army to the far north, and Argus arranged to borrow a spare room in the elven warrior's home to stay in for the rest of winter. Argus paid the man with a few gems, while also exchanging training in the elf's fighting style for training in Argus' unarmed martial arts and K'ultan wildfighting. Argus trained rigorously during these two months, teaching the elf some of his own fighting arts while the elf taught his. Argus did a little hunting during the time to also help sustain himself, and made good use of his skills to stay in shape. Once the winter had just about passed, Argus left the old elven warrior and bid him farewell, seeking to rejoin his adventuring companions to gain more firsthand experience in building his strength and skill.

((OOC: Argus spent 4 of his 10-gp gems on a Poor lifestyle for 3 months, getting 4 gp in return, so spending 36 gp equivalent. Part of this cost went towards his training as he made up the rest with providing lessons in Four Winds martial arts and K'ultan wildfighting, and also hunted a little for food on days when the winter weather was relatively clear. His training is in preparation for taking a level of fighter later, once he's done sufficient practice to master the new techniques he's learned. I don't yet know where we're going to meet up, but once the winter is over, Argus will pass briefly through Marzen, where Lady Mardana was sent with Gadreman, to see if the party's there yet. If not, he'll travel to the northernmost Mittendeinish and southernmost Lorlynian towns he can find to search for them there....))

((And Aros, I think your PC would have gotten by with a Self-Sufficient lifestyle during the month or two you traveled with Valdir, given his wilderness skills, and then Aros probably had to get by on a Meager lifestyle the other month or two..... Self-Sufficient costs 2 GP per month, Meager costs 5 GP per month.))

 

[Rish]

Kirran catches Fleck for a short conversation before the gnome leaves for the winter. He speaks in a low, hurried voice and his face is unusually still, even grim. "... Marzen on, well, business ... could be anything ... no, I have no idea. ...here in the spring? Right. ... well, I hope so anyway."

He sets out for Marzen shortly thereafter, barely taking the time to exchange gold for gems, wanting to reach the city before heavy snows make the roads impassable. He settles in again quickly, because with years of life and Callahan's death between now and his original departure, there is little preventing him from renewing old contacts. As winter sets about its business in earnest, Kirran sets about scrounging up any information he can about the man with unusual luck.

Jan, however, is out of Marzen again (or perhaps still), and in winding his way through the remains of Callahan's absurdly intricate heirarchies Kirran turns up next to nothing. Rumors fly, but no hard information. Finally, he pins it down to a face and a vague description, but it's enough: Meier Helmhold, a gangly man Kirran remembers from early years. Years ago, he'd have had no reason to kill Callahan, but these things change; Kirrans knows as well as anyone.

Even with the name to go on, no one seems to have had real news of him in months. The story of his latest lucky break is on a lot of tongues, but always heard from the pin and needle vendor on the corner, or a halfling goodwife's sister's husband's best friend, and tracing back to the source proves impossible. Still, Kirran can sift enough truth from the rumors to know that all is not quite right. Finally a particularly fierce winter day finds him curled up in an out-of-the-way room, printing out a letter in a deliberate, blocky hand:

"Helmhold:

Heard you took care of the man who wanted to take care of me.
Curious why the courtesy.
Propose a meeting: Potmetal Tavern, your convenience.

Kirran."

He sends the letter out into the city at large, trusting rumors and strange social connections to lead it to the man. He is beside himself with frustration when it returns to him instead. "Can't find him, boss. No word." are the only words of the scrappy human boy who hands his now-filthy letter back to him. Meanwhile just enough information has been filtering in to keep him from giving up entirely: an overseer at a gambling house describing a ridiculous winning streak, the most concrete information yet: "Luckier 'n Luck hisself." Kirran swears to himself, despite the obvious exaggeration: "Lucker than ... it's not right. It shouldn't be able to happen. No one's that lucky, no one." He continues circulating letters and hunting down contacts, finally sending a letter to Solinburg to await the return of its recipient:

"Fleck:

Business not wrapping up nicely. Rather not leave,
things are very not right. Have the folks meet me here?
Reply if not, it'll reach me. Somehow.
Luck, reply even if, nothing else doing here, it might amuse me.

K."

With that he returns to the cycle of searching and failing to find, waiting out the frustrating winter and waiting for spring...

 

[crystorix]

Rolf had been concerned when he'd seen that Argus no longer had Jade with him. Since he is now back where Argus first went crazy, Rolf takes a little time checking around to see if he can find the serpent. He then buys the goggles he'd requested, and accompanies Valdir and the others a little bit on their journey, stopping by some of his hidden caches to pay back the money Valdir had lent him.

With winter setting in, Rolf returns to his cabin and spends the next few months holed up with his animal friends, hunting during the days.

During this time, he maintains contacts with the sylvan and animal communities. As spring draws near, Rolf hears hints and rumors of large tracts of forests mysteriously dying, out in the wilds beyond Mittendein's borders. Rolf makes a note to check on those rumors, either with his friends or by himself next time they split up. Perhaps it was the work of one of those foul beings known as blighters, or similar evil forces.

((3 months self-sufficient - 6 gold))

 

[Memnus]

When the others return to the Silver Hills, they find Fleck on his cart, parked at what can only be an archery range. A row of targets sits fifty feet away, squarish mounds covered in cloth and painted with comical pictures of what may well be hobgoblins. Fleck, oblivious to the newcomers, squints at a target, then swings his crossbow to point at it and opens a flap on the front. A faint point of light appears on the target, and Fleck pulls the trigger, the bolt impacting the target a couple inches below the light. "Hrm. Needs work." As he looks up, he notices Valdir and Aros. "Oh! Welcome back. It's more useful at night, I'm afraid."

Fleck has changed somewhat in the few months with his family. His blond goatee is a bit longer and a bit sharper, and he now wears something on a gold chain around his neck. "We'll be heading back to Solinburg, then?"

(Emiricol, dock 72 xp from my total. I crafted a Hand of the Mage, and a one-shot lightning trap on my spellbook, for 900 gp each. Not that anybody in the party need ever know about the trap. I sure won't tell them, but if Aros filches it, he gets what he deserves. I'll have the character node for you next week.)

 

[firehorse]

Valdir returns to Silver Hills with Aros in tow and searches but a few minutes before finding Fleck and his impropto archery range. Watching Fleck for a few seconds brings a quizzical look to his eyes as he watches the light emitting crossbow barely miss its mark.

"Quite the interesting contraption you've got there Fleck. Could be usefull at night or for those without good night vision. You might consider having it adjust for varying range and wind conditions to be truly indespensable."

At this Valdir sticks a finger in his mouth, feels the wind and quickly nocks an arrow, letting it fly and then in a split second, hopping back 10 feet and letting another fly. Both hit the exact spot Fleck was aiming for in quick succession. Valdir nods slightly and turns to Fleck.

"Solinburg? Sure, why not?"

Valdir then mumbles a quick word 'crossbow' while holding his free hand over his quiver. Instantly, a small crossbow (halfling sized) appears. "Besides, I need to give Kirran his newly modified crossbow." Upon inspection, it can be seen that this crossbow has been modified and enhanced to have perfect balance and increased accuracy when in the hands of small creatures. (MW Light Crossbow from the modified captured one we found) Holding it over his quiver and mumbling 'return', the crossbow dissappears, apparently back in the magical quiver.

"Hold your fire." Valdir says as he proceeds down range to retrieve his arrows. Again, the arrows dissappear as they are held over the quiver. Returning, Valdir gives one of his famous shrugs and asks, "So, when do we leave?"

 

[Memnus]

Fleck is clearly unimpressed by the appearing and disappearing crossbow trick. "Caravan for the coast leaving tomorrow morning. You've got good timing."

The trip back to Mittendien is uneventful, despite the rainstorms of early spring. On arrival in Solinburg, Fleck is greeted by the same gnome from the Happy Unicorn. She intercepts the three on the street, not an hour after they enter town. This time, however, she speaks in Mittendienish, not caring about being overheard.

"Fleck, welcome back. Intercepted this letter for you."

"What, another one?" He takes the proffered paper and starts to open it.

"Hope it's not anything important. Anybody could have caught it, writing in the clear like that. Your friend should be more careful."

By now Fleck has scanned the letter and read the signature. "Hard to say. Afraid I must be out of town soon, though."

She winks at him. "Rienna will be sad. Godspeed to you, though."

Fleck rolls his eyes, but responds by moving the cart onward. He passes the note back to Valdir. "Looks like Kirran's found trouble in Marzen. North with us?"


A few days later, the trio enter Marzen, searching the taverns for Kirran, eventually finding their way to the Potmetal.

 

[firehorse]

Valdir takes the note offered to him and reads it. After a nod he follows Fleck out of town. After leaving the gates, Valdir veers off to the woods with a word back to Fleck, "I'll catch up to you."

In the woods, Valdir heads towards the spot where the woodsmen would often stay when they tired of city walls (which was often), backtracking and otherwise attempting to foil any attempts to find the hideout, mostly out of habit than fear of being followed.

Reaching the spot, Valdir stacks some sticks on top of two rocks and arranges them carefully. To the casual observer, it would be unnoticeable, but to Rolf and Argus, it tells the story of where Valdir and Fleck have gone and when they left.

Nodding to himself, he leaves the spot in a roundabout way and then proceeds to catch up to Fleck.

 

[evandariel]

Unbeknownst to Valdir, and as luck would have it, Gadreman was at this time passing through the area in the employ of a caravan. He easily spotted the strange formation, and, as he had done many times in the past few months, went over to investigate the stones. A glint of a smile comes to his lips, and he bids the caravan master a goodbye, picking up whatever coin he was promised. Some minutes later, Gadreman pursues what little trail he can find, though Fleck is much easier of a person to follow than the skilled ranger that Valdir is. "Soon," he whispers to himself.

 

[Memnus]

Fleck storms away from the campsite in a huff, his familiar at his heels, for once forgetting or not caring about the perils of being alone at night while people have been stalking you. He makes it back into town safely, though, to the stable where his cart is parked. He lets down the sides and crawls underneath into his little shelter. He mutters to himself in his own language as he arranges his bedding in the dark.

"Gre'lyk, they speak of going to Ulruz. Fat lot of good they'll be able to do, blazing in there blind and going for revenge. That giant is just going to get them all killed if they don't have contacts inside, and he doesn't seem to be the type to have friends when he leaves."

For a moment, he ponders trying to contact Kirran, but the halfling has undoubtedly disappeared into town and is utterly unreachable if he so desires. Instead, he flops open his book, calls a small light into existence, and scribbles into his book for a while, trying to calm his nerves. Bristletail pokes his head in and voices a question.

"I don't know. Whatever they are, they're dangerous. Brimstone, was it? Stray too close and I imagine we'd catch a fireball, head-on. Something's up, and I'm not convinced these creatures are connected with whoever Kirran's looking for. Maybe watching the place for some other reason?"

The fox whines, then asks another question.

"If they go, they go without me. It's as simple as that. I'd rather stay here and not get myself enslaved, thank you very much. He glances at the fox, who watches him quizzically. "It's safer for you, too. The only thing more hunted than gnomes in Ulruz is gnomish wizards. And if the vest, book, and staff aren't hints enough, a familiar tagging at one's heels is a dead giveaway."

The fox looks relieved, and goes back outside to curl up at his guard post. Fleck's little lights wink out, and he sighs, closes the book, and settles in to sleep.

 

[crystorix]

As Gadreman runs out of the house looking for hobgoblins, Rolf lets out a sigh.

"Is he alive?" he asks Kirran, and the halfling nods mutely. Rolf then turns toward Argus, who was picking himself up from the floor. "And thank you so much for making a bad situation worse. He was in the wrong yes, but you weren't pulling any punches either. He didn't have to stop his blade at your throat.

"Since he almost killed you that time, I've had no idea what was going on with you. Which is fine, you don't need to be a druid, or even a nice person. But eventually one of you two are going to kill each other."