Forest of Doom - IC Thread

[Cor Azer]

Paaq rolled slowly to his feet, eying the rocks Keena was collecting. "I'll help you, although you'll need to tell me if I do anything wrong."

After lugging a few, the stout man pauses to wipe his brow. "Eric, many stories tell of ascetic knights and those who eschew wealth. If it's not too personal, do you carry such a vow? I mean not to pry, but I hope to avoid offending you in the future through an offer of treasure or lack thereof." With a low grunt, Paaq returns to collecting stones for the cairn.

 

[Sekhmet]

Eric paused in his concentration and addressed the baker's son, "It is not a merit of my order to deny material wealth, and I have made no such vow. It is, however, a personal oath not to accept reward or accolade, nor take pride in a duty I have not performed. This dwarf's gift is not the reward to a job well done, but a bribe to garner favorable response. I'll have none of it."
With his actions explained, the Arbiter returned to concentrate on the watch.

 

[AlphaSheWolf]

OOC: Thanks for the help

 

[Cor Azer]

Paaq nodded simply at the paladin's frank answer. "Fair enough, I can respect that - honest pay for honest work." He grunts as he drops another stone, and slaps his hands to knock off some dirt. "I think 'bribe' might be too strong a word though; many a journeyman takes some payment in advance. But again, I respect your convictions, and now have a better idea of how to avoid offending you in the future."

He looks over the pile of stone growing to serve as the dwarf's cairn, sighs, and continues his work.

 

[AlphaSheWolf]

Keena placed the dwarf's sword upon his chest and folded his hands over the pommel. Then reaching into her pouch, she removed a gold piece and slipped between the dwarf's folded hands. Carefully she placed the heavy rocks over the body until the dwarf was covered. She nodded her thanks to Paaq for the help.

"Return to the stone of your ancestors and know your death was not in vain," she said quietly.

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

Jonath:

Thinking back, Jonath isn't certain he can remember the right dwarven prayer for the dead. He thinks to himself, "I mean, I pretty much learned dwarven by hanging out along various docks and chatting with miners and smelters and smiths selling the steel they'd grubbed from the ground. Not much reason to call on the gods, then; at least, not in anything I'd call a religious sense."

Aloud, "Still, though, someone should say something appropriate." Racking his brains, Jonath tries his best as he helps pile the cairn.

[In Dwarven]"Throvv, uh, Khazah-Halak, Halan dun ... Kazh? Krezh? Khaze. Halan dun Khaze. Molazh din dazg ka ton tizz ut nameh ak kolog. Paze. Nou faz con dherm. Nou faz barukhan ut ka nameh. Nou faz dazg sun falzan paze ad dou."

[sblock]"Throff, uh, Earth-Mother, Bride of ... Steel? Ore? Stone. Bride of Stone. Take this dwarf (indicating miscreant) to your breasts and give him calm. Peace. We cover him with your skin. We cover this warrior and give him to you. We cover this dwarf (indicating miscreant) so that he can find peace in you."[/sblock]

[In Common] "Well, that was ... That was close, I think. Never spent much time in Throff's churches, hey? I mean, I hope he was one o' Throff's. Wouldn't that be embarassin', showin' up in the afterworld with the wrong set o' prayers?

"Now, the way I see it, the money is no bribe. It's just payment in advance for a service yet to be render'd. If we didn't want to seek out this hammer he's gone on about, an' we kept the money, well, that'd be a bit on the wrong side o' things, but I don' think he'd complain much. But the way I see it, we're come out here lookin' for jus' this sort o' thing. I say we keep the money, an' render the services bought."

Jonath listens to the exchange between Paakh and Eric. "Well, if that's the way you feel, I'll no try to convince you otherwise. My purse thanks you, though!

"As for the watches, I'll take whichever needs takin'. I've been rousted out by the all-hands call at so many odd hours, night or day is much the same, to me."

Jonath reaches over, and pulls open his pack, rummaging around in it for a few moments. "I've some in here somewhere ... Ah - here we are." He pulls a small, tightly wrapped bundle from somewhere near the bottom, and tosses it over to Paaq. "I've not much left, but if you slice up this cheese and fry it a bit in your bacon grease, it'll go down a treat in the mornin'." Jonath then tosses his gear back into his pack, wraps himself in his bedroll, and, pillowing his head on his back, prepares to nod off.

 

[S'mon]

GM - rolls

Kip - Reading the Map
The map shows the outline of Darkwood, bisected by the dangerous Catfish river. It seems fairly accurate, as far as it goes, but "Up" on the map would be somewhat north-west, rather than true north - the dwarven city of Stonebridge lies somewhat north-west of the forest.

Keena - Knowledge (Geography)
The Darkwood is a vast, primeaval forest teaming with life. Many tribes make their lives within - elves, orcs, goblins, ogres, and countless fierce beasts. The forest has a reputation for consuming those who leave the trails.

 

[Artur Hawkwing]

Kip studies the map, turning it this way and that, before nodding his head with it turned at a bit of an angle.

I see. So that's the river there so this is more...northwest than north. So...

He gets to his feet and walks over to where the Dwarf entered the camp and collapsed and looks in the direction, roughly, he guesses the Dwarf came from. Then refers to the map again.

OOC: The intro scene didn't identify a direction from his approach. He's trying to figure out if the Dwarf came from the direction of Stonebridge. That will give him some idea of the general direction the Dwarf was traveling.

 

[S'mon]

Keena stopped her collecting of rocks to reply to Eric's question.

"I grew up in Darkwoods."

GM: I'm taking it Keena's familiarity is with the somewhat tamer south-eastern fringes of the Darkwood towards Chalice, though she has heard tales of the deep woods.

 

[S'mon]

Kip studies the map, turning it this way and that, before nodding his head with it turned at a bit of an angle.

I see. So that's the river there so this is more...northwest than north. So...

He gets to his feet and walks over to where the Dwarf entered the camp and collapsed and looks in the direction, roughly, he guesses the Dwarf came from. Then refers to the map again.

OOC: The intro scene didn't identify a direction from his approach. He's trying to figure out if the Dwarf came from the direction of Stonebridge. That will give him some idea of the general direction the Dwarf was traveling.

GM: You found Bigleg on the north-east side of your camp; Chalice is two days to the south-east. You could reckon he and his companions probably came from Stonebridge, skirted east of the Darkwood heading south, and were likely heading for Yaztromo's Tower, roughly west-north-west of your current location. You don't know how far away they were ambushed, though.