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

[Strahd_Von_Zarovich]

Gamad

I'm just a humble dwarf citizen of Teggest, Commander
Reply the dwarf from atop his donkey
Do not judge me by my look.
The dwarf tights his hood around his head and lowers his gaze from the keep and the massacre to the ground.

 

[SlagMortar]

Brakkus starts to answer the question about Mael, only to see he has already disappeared. He thinks, Damn, that little gobo had a sharp eye. He could have helped figure this out.

"You there, with the horse! These your friends? What is that THING doing here? These folk are riled up enough, if that THING is with you, get it the hell away and quick."
...
You traveling with these folk?

"Aye, we only just met. A word, Commander?"
If he consents, Brakkus dismounts and leads Chop Liver over nearer the man. He says quietly so as not to cause more panic, "We were together at the Cockatrice a couple days back when there was an unusual disturbance. We heard something happened here and thought it might be related. What went on? This is monsterous!"

 

[CanadienneBacon]

Wedged in the shadow between a wall and a water barrel, Maelicent stops to look for signs of pursuit or that an alarm has been sounded but finds that no one has chased after him and no cry of alarm has resounded. From his hiding spot in the shadow of the barrel, Maelicent has a good view of the Admiralty's administrative offices and parade ground. A battalion of giant-kin in the crisp yellow of the city guard plays at marching in formation up and down the training grounds to the south of the main building. The din from the large crowd gathered in front of the broken gate just south of Maelicent's hiding spot is still voluminous, even at this distance.

Back at the gate, Gamad tightens his hood around his head and casts a furtive glance at the cobblestone byway at his feet, but his secretiveness only serves to embolden the crowd. The din of multiple whispers soon becomes an audible roar as the crowd first points then jeers at Gamad. A small boy begins to throw pebbles at the dwarf and the grandfather standing beside the child makes no move to stiffle the boy's taunts. "White beard, white beard, white beard, white beard!"

The officer frowns at Chev but answers. "Fourteen dead, best I can count." Turning his attention back to Brakkus, the officer nods and moves closer after Brakkus dismounts Chop Liver. Leaning in to be able to hear Brakkus over the taunting crowd, the Commander nods a second time before replying, "Right, well, best to let him go for the moment. Can't say what this crowd might do; they're riled up. What's that you say?" The officer is fairly well yelling by now just to make himself heard above the roar of the angry crowd. "What happened?" The man leans back and casts a look around the crowd, then looks at the gate. Shrugging, he says, "I interviewed two or three of the bystanders what as said they was here when it broke loose. Can't say for sure but it sounds like magic at work. Twelve of the dead set to tearing each other apart. The two guards standing watch at the gate at the time tried to stop 'em, but got tore up themselves. I seen a lot in my life, but never seen no man get his head tore off like that. Gotta be something from that citadel. Magic's my guess. Bet your arse the Admiral'll be calling on the wizards' guild after he gets my report. Haven't I seen you around somewhere before?" The officer peers more closely at Brakkus and frowns, uncertainty writ plain on his face.

 

[SlagMortar]

The crowd's yelling makes him nervous, but he has no idea what to do about it so other than raising his voice to compensate, he ignores it for now.

"The dwarf here is familiar with the arcane and that other one *nodding at Voadam* seems to have some bits of obscure lore as well. Hey, Gamad and Voadam, take a look around here and see if you can tell what happened."

Haven't I seen you around somewhere before?

"Mayhaps. I've been around. Probably in a tavern or out putting my fine(sarcastic) steed through its paces. Has anything ever burst out of the Citadel before?"

Brakkus has decided the next segment rod is probably inside, but is nervous about entering before Gamad and Voadam have a chance to check out the gate.

 

[Mista Collins]

Standing next to Gamad, Chev tries to give the dwarf some cover from the pebbles. Shaking his head at those jeering the dwarf, Chev shakes his head in disgust.

 

[Ambrus]

Maelicent wait for a few minutes to see whether his giant-kin allies will pass by his hiding spot. If they don't the Gudwulf warrior will stealthily backtrack along the group's original route towards his hidden gap in the northern wall so that he can gain access to the Old city forest from there. Stopping to string his bow, Maelicent will then slowly double back to approach the outer wall's east gate from the inside.

 

[CanadienneBacon]

When Chev moves to step in front of Gamad to shield him from the pebbles, the child grows bored with the game and quits throwing rocks. Likewise, the novely having worn thin, the crowd stops openly gawking and jeering at the albino dwarf. As the Xyllite mages move the last of the fourteen corpses onto the wagon and secure a simple tarp over the load of bodies, the crowd begins to thin. The troops guarding the broken gate remain, however.

The officer shoots at look at Chop Liver and nods at Brakkus with sympathy. Sticking out a meaty hand and clapping Brakkus on the back of the arm, the officer introduces himself. "Commander Gabriel Burne, of the Blue. And, no, nothing's burst from the keep's gates for many long years. The Edain family pays the city a handsome enough sum annually to make sure lay folk don't enter. I've been in this city all my life, as has my sire, and I've not heard any stories of anything getting out. The locals claim the place is haunted, or worse. For the most part, we leave it alone, and it leaves us alone. Look, I've been given leave to assess and deal with the situation here as I see fit." Commander Burne extracts a coin pouch from his hip pocket. "The bodies have been policed up, but there's still the question of the gate being broken. I've 200 gold crowns to offer as payment if you and your companions here'll go in and have a look. Between fighting men, as I'm sure you know, goblins make good trackers. I've fought enough of them to know they're wily little buggers with keen eyes. If you go in and have a look, then that gets your friend out of sight, and between you and me," Commander Burne leans in, "if he doesn't make it out, then so much the better."

Voadam nods at Brakkus but holds up his index finger to indicate that he needs a moment. To Gamad, Voadam bends over and whispers as loud as he can to make himself heard over the crowd. "Check the gate for magic, if it was a strong enough aura that passed by, maybe it still lingers. I'm going to retreive our goblin friend before he decides he needs to be elsewhere in the city. Meet you back here."

Voadam leaves the gate area and begins walking north, back along the way he saw Maelicent retreat. The green wizard casts to and fro, searching for Maelicent but is unable to spy the goblin. Voadam passes right by Maelicent's barrel without seeing the hiding goblin, but Maelicent spies Voadam walk past alone. The man is clearly searching for something, or someone.

 

[Ambrus]

Maelicent, from his hidding spot, picks up and tosses a pebble at the familiar giant-kin, taking what small spiteful pleasure he can in the vengeful action after having been targeted by a mob of Voadam's kinsmen.

 

[SlagMortar]

Brakkus eyes the pouch for a moment. He's far from overwhelmed by the offer, but was thinking of asking for permission to go in anyway so this certainly works out well. "How far in do you want us to go? And what do you expect us to find? I'd rather anything we ran into be fightable, not magic spells that make me kill my companions." He thinks to himself, None of them would stand a chance except for the cleric. It wouldn't be nearly fair. Not that I'd want to fight them in any case.

 

[CanadienneBacon]

Commander Burne shrugs. The crowd has thinned enough now that shouting is no longer necessary, but Burne looks around furtively anyway, as if to ward off any listeners. In a quiet voice, the Commander says, "I'm not thinking it was anything what as came from the keep. I don't rightfully know what broke up the portcullis like that, but all these folk were outside the gate when they set upon one another. Higher ups want an investigation, so we'll give 'em one, but I'd be surprised if, in the light of day, you actually found anything inside the citadel grounds. Just take the pay, go inside, and have a look around. I'll be able to say that I sent an investigative team, and that'll be enough to satisfy the Council. Cap'n Johns won't like it none, but the Council's got him fairly well leashed so what he don't like won't much matter. Doesn't matter how long you're in there, but were I you, I'd make sure not to spend the night. Here's the 200. I keep quarters at 467 Grunhilde Way, in the Grotto. Come find me after hours, when you're done. You taking that horse in with you?" Burne holds out the pouch containing the gold crowns to Brakkus and looks questioningly first at Chop Liver, then at Hamor the Donkey.

The priests secure the tarp over their wagon, then have a quiet word with the wagon's driver, a stocky well-built human man wearing a thick rubber apron who sports a visible short sword strapped cross-wise on his back. The driver nods, the mage-priests climb aboard the wagon, and the whole lot drives slowly off, to the north.