[KAUAI]The Rod of Seven Parts: Of Hexes and Gems

[Strahd_Von_Zarovich]

Gamad

Gamad is talking to Dter in the middle of the common room when he notices a half-elf seated at the bar staring at him and Dter. When Gamad attracts the attention of the barkeep to request an urn and an ewer of water and a broom, the half-elf's stare sharpens. Gamad trudges upstairs to his room, where the sight of a pillow with tufts of straw sticking out at odd angles from the pillow's ticking is an eyesore and an irritation. A soft rap at the door a short while later announces the arrival of the requested bath and broom.

What's with the pillow.
Gamad mutters, take the pillow and throw it out of the window to the back yard.
He then turns to the door, open it and address the wench.

Do you see a pillow on my bed? Do you? No. Bring me a pillow, a hard one, hard rock like those in the far dwarven land and I don't care if you need to carve a new one.
He takes the broom and the bath ewer, pay the wench and slams the door.

Wow, this wand turns me to a pedant, I must check it out very soon, or I'll lose my mind
He think to himself and starts to sweep the floor.

 

[Voadam]

Voadam strides forward to catch up to her and brings forth a friendly smile. "Lady Arquesta. I am Voadam the Green Wizard of Althora. I am engaged in a transaction with the young man over there and he claimed you as a reference in regards to some magic he used. Please join me, I am about to get a meal and I wish to discuss some matters with you."

 

[CanadienneBacon]

Gamad hears the distinct sound of sniffling and crying from behind his door as the maid flees.

A quiet knock a short time later is abruptly by Dter, who enters Gamad's room unbidden. "Whotcher doing there, mage? Never seen a dwarf clean so much." In his brusque way, Dter plunges forward, not bothering to wait for an answer from Gamad. "This have something to do with yer funny looks?"

 

[SlagMortar]

Brakkus dismounts and stands back behind Voadam. He inclines his head to the woman and says simply, "Ma'am." He lets Voadam do the talking, but wants to stay close enough to hear what's going on.

 

[CanadienneBacon]

Arquesta smiles at Voadam but her eyes flick with interest back to Rancid, who appears to be shrinking back toward the throng in the marketplace. "It looks like at least one of your number doesn't seem to have an appetite." With a wink and a light touch to the forearm, the gypsy woman stays Voadam if he makes to stop Rancid from leaving. "He really is of only small concern. It's me you want. A meal would be pleasant. Yes, I would be happy to accompany you." The woman glances down at one of the rats chittering in the brass cage. "Quiet, Felix. I'm sure there will be a bit of boiled egg in it for you." Arquesta looks back up at Voadam. "Even as a small child, he always had a penchant for eggs. To the Copper Coin, then? They serve an excellent nutty brown. It's a bit of a walk, but the day is nice enough, and the company fine." Arquesta smiles again and motions to the west.

The Copper Coin Inn and Tavern is perhaps a half hour walk back the way the group just came, but the gypsy woman seems not to mind the walk in the least. She answers no questions regarding the wand or herself during the walk, shaking her head no with a smile. When the bright yellow roof of the Coin comes into view, Arquesta smiles again at Voadam and quickens her step. The Copper Coin, run by the very welcoming Buttonslow family, is a round building with a slanting tin roof painted sunflower yellow. Inside, Horace Buttonslow tends bar behind a polished wooden counter with a double row of coins, foreign and local both old and recent, sitting perched on two shelves behind the bar. Clean tankards, both glass and clay, hang from a rack above the barkeep's head. Mistress Buttonslow can be heard singing back in the kitchen behind the bar, and three of the Buttonslow boys are heading out the front door just as the group arrives. One of the exclaims, "Oi! Da! It's Arquesta!" The boy, a youth of perhaps 11 with brown hair, asks, "Arquesta, are you here to do a show?" The boy's exuberance is tempered only a hair after being cuffed on the head by his elder brother, another brown-haired boy of 16. "Knock it off, Heath. C'mon, let's us to the green grocer for mother." With that, all three boys hold the door open for Arquesta and company, then leave with a round of smiles all around.

Inside, Arquesta selects one of the room's vacant bench tables and seats herself, setting the brass cage with the rats down gently on the bench beside her. "Cup of brown, Horace, and a bit of boiled egg for Felix, if you please!" Looking around the group, Arquesta offers an especially kind smile to Pilgrim and Maelicent. "So rare to see ones of your number in a city of humans. How've you managed to avoid the attention of the Guard? Maybe you know some tricks about hiding you can teach me?" Arquesta leans in interestedly to listen to anything Maelicent or Pilgrim might offer.

 

[SlagMortar]

Upon learning it is a bit of a walk, Brakkus offers Arquesta the choice to ride his horse instead. "He's not much of a mount, hah, but he does beat walking."

If she declines, Brakkus chooses to walk as well, hustling to keep up in his armor if necessary. Even if she is a gypsy, she appears well respected by those in the area and Brakkus will give treat her the same.

 

[CanadienneBacon]

Arquesta gladly accepts Chop Liver as a mount when the horse is offered by Brakkus. For his part, Chop Liver behaves chivalrously for his lady rider. The horse responds to even the lightest touch of a suggestion from the gypsy, certainly something the beast never did for Brakkus.

 

[BRP2]

(Sorry, I just got out of the hospital, so Lewit seems to fall little behind)

While talking Lewit seems to keep to himself, picking up his head whenever he hears someone speaks. At the moment he seems to be thinking about a chess match he had a bit ago.

I'm not very hungry right now, but thank you anyway.

He eyes the rats. He is confused on why a person who like the company of them.

 

[Voadam]

Arquesta smiles at Voadam but her eyes flick with interest back to Rancid, who appears to be shrinking back toward the throng in the marketplace. "It looks like at least one of your number doesn't seem to have an appetite." With a wink and a light touch to the forearm, the gypsy woman stays Voadam if he makes to stop Rancid from leaving. "He really is of only small concern. It's me you want. A meal would be pleasant. Yes, I would be happy to accompany you."

Upon seeing Forsythe move to flee Voadam does take a step to stop the unfortunate excuse for a man, but Arquesta's words draw him short before he shouts to the others. Forsythe could be telling the whole truth and this woman simply knows more about the situation. She could be a gypsy as he has known them and she has the Touch. It has been many worlds since he last heard the term gypsy though.

Or Forsythe could be lying and this woman is an accomplice of some sort detaining Voadam to buy Forsythe an opportunity to escape.

In any case Voadam figures that though it would be work, Forsythe could be tracked down again if need be (Voadam is kicking himself for not gathering some of the man's blood for later scrying purposes though), but the woman's statement "I am the one you want." is worth investigating while she is at hand and willing to engage.

"Indeed?" he says giving her his full attention. When she agrees to the meal he smiles broadly "Wonderful."

The woman glances down at one of the rats chittering in the brass cage. "Quiet, Felix. I'm sure there will be a bit of boiled egg in it for you." Arquesta looks back up at Voadam. "Even as a small child, he always had a penchant for eggs. To the Copper Coin, then? They serve an excellent nutty brown. It's a bit of a walk, but the day is nice enough, and the company fine." Arquesta smiles again and motions to the west.

Voadam returns the smile and walks with Arquesta "The Copper Coin will do fine. And I am happy to provide for your retinue as well. Do they call young rats children here? I heard the term pups before but I'm no druid and have little experience with them outside of my time aboard ships."

Voadam thinks that if she is a demon cultist distracting for Forsythe and attempting to lure him into a trap, it is better to use the ambush to find out about the other cultists. The paladin should be able to detect evil and Voadam expects the others to be up to a cult ambush.

The Copper Coin Inn and Tavern is perhaps a half hour walk back the way the group just came, but the gypsy woman seems not to mind the walk in the least. She answers no questions regarding the wand or herself during the walk, shaking her head no with a smile.

Voadam will not bring up the wand as they walk, though he will take note of the area Forsythe mentioned healing on her. He does ask friendly interested questions about her and her rats, though he is content to let the conversation focus on the rats or drift into general pleasant conversation. He will use wild empathy to be friendly/nonthreatening with the rats and knowledge nature in casually examining them to try and determine if they are normal rats or something more (druid animal companions, polymorphed people, etc.)

He figures that even if this is an ambush he can at least enjoy a pleasant conversation with the attractive woman before she betrays him.

When the bright yellow roof of the Coin comes into view, Arquesta smiles again at Voadam and quickens her step. The Copper Coin, run by the very welcoming Buttonslow family, is a round building with a slanting tin roof painted sunflower yellow. Inside, Horace Buttonslow tends bar behind a polished wooden counter with a double row of coins, foreign and local both old and recent, sitting perched on two shelves behind the bar. Clean tankards, both glass and clay, hang from a rack above the barkeep's head. Mistress Buttonslow can be heard singing back in the kitchen behind the bar, and three of the Buttonslow boys are heading out the front door just as the group arrives. One of the exclaims, "Oi! Da! It's Arquesta!" The boy, a youth of perhaps 11 with brown hair, asks, "Arquesta, are you here to do a show?" The boy's exuberance is tempered only a hair after being cuffed on the head by his elder brother, another brown-haired boy of 16. "Knock it off, Heath. C'mon, let's us to the green grocer for mother." With that, all three boys hold the door open for Arquesta and company, then leave with a round of smiles all around.

Inside, Arquesta selects one of the room's vacant bench tables and seats herself, setting the brass cage with the rats down gently on the bench beside her. "Cup of brown, Horace, and a bit of boiled egg for Felix, if you please!" Looking around the group, Arquesta offers an especially kind smile to Pilgrim and Maelicent. "So rare to see ones of your number in a city of humans. How've you managed to avoid the attention of the Guard? Maybe you know some tricks about hiding you can teach me?" Arquesta leans in interestedly to listen to anything Maelicent or Pilgrim might offer.

Voadam orders a full meal of either some roast beast, local seafood, or wildfowl, depending on the menu and offerings. Voadam is mostly content to watch her interaction, wondering what she would be hiding and why she turned to the non-humans. Wererat? Without any silver weapons or significant magic among the party that Voadam knows about that would be an issue if this did turn to an ambush.

"Is there a need for them to hide from the guard? I am new to the city and not yet familiar with its politics. Is there a war between humans and either of their races?"

 

[Strahd_Von_Zarovich]

Gamad

Gamad hears the distinct sound of sniffling and crying from behind his door as the maid flees.

A quiet knock a short time later is abruptly by Dter, who enters Gamad's room unbidden. "Whotcher doing there, mage? Never seen a dwarf clean so much." In his brusque way, Dter plunges forward, not bothering to wait for an answer from Gamad. "This have something to do with yer funny looks?"

Gamad snorts and replies
Keep your boots out in the hall, you bring dirt inside.