Metropolis (The World in Waiting) - Chapter One

[RobotRobotI]

A mockery, perhaps, but at least it made her clean, and that was what she needed. She was quick, though. The water wasn't nearly as pure as that in the temple, and although it was cleaner than what coated her, it wasn't what she was used to. She would make haste. And as soon as she was clean to her decided point, she would put her robe and undergarments through the water, toiling to get them clean. She'd never had to do so before, and so her methods mostly consist of running the clothes through the water and batting at them.

She'd leave them to hang in her room, dirty and moldy as it was, where she'd spend the night. She didn't have anywhere else to go - and she was certainly not going to step about the city in the nude, anyhow.

Assuming all goes well through the night and she finds her clothes dried and wearable in the morning, she'd set out once again, leaving a small tip for the monster that was kind enough to let her use his inn. And when she'd step out, once again, clean and pristine as any royal priestess should be, she'd make haste throughout the city, nowhere in particular. Her eyes were open, however, looking for any place that seemed even remotely divine or arcane. A church, perhaps, although Alexis would be quite shocked to see that anyone didn't follow Zsath.

 

[Bront]

[sblock]Gather Information check (DC 15) +8 - Failure
[/sblock]

Taran talks with the morning crowd, many remembering him from the night before and freely conversing with him. Many mercenaries had heard the tale of which Taren speaks, but know none of the mercenaries involved, nor the particular nobleman. The best that Taren can discover is what he already knows, the location of the sewer entrance which the group explored.

Soon after breakfast The Shaft empties, with all of her patrons returning to work and leaving Taren to decide on his next move.

Taran sighs. "Let's go Twitchy" he says.

Taran knows where he's going and quickly gets to the sewer entrance. He pears down and checks the grate and anything below it before he beings his decent.

 

[D20Dazza]

"There ya go lad, sounds like you deserve it!"

There is a chuckle in the air from a few of the workers and several warm smiles as the dwarf and orc grab Ghost with hands covered in furnace gloves. The dwarf calls out, "Methinks that we had better by this lad a drink!"

Grinning at the crowd he accepts the stoogie from the dwarf with a nod and a wink "thank you Sah. It would be my pleasure to join you for a drink but it must be quick for the girl is still in the hands of that dastardly villian and I yet have work to do."

[sblock]will join the boys for a drink and try and get some info off them about the Hunters and whether there has been any action from the yellow robes in the area lately[/sblock]

 

[Festy_Dog]

As Ba'aktar stands over the prone priest he wipes a trickle of blood from the side of his mouth. Getting hit in the face hurt. He spits a couple of knocked out teeth and the remains of a shattered tooth into his hand. Ba'aktar puts the whole teeth into into a pocket for later. Although he could probably fetch a decent price for them on the market, his enjoyment of food inclined him to retain the ability to chew.

Ba'aktar places a foot squarely in the middle of the priest's chest, and rests the flat of his khora against one of the priest's cheeks, making sure the presence of the weapon's hooked spike is obvious.

"Now, about the gold," he says in his deep and menacing voice, "Seeing as we're taking all of it I gotta find another way for you to pay me back for the tooth you've gone and smashed. 'Course, I can forget about liberatin' a few of your pearlies if you make locating this gold easier."

Ba'aktar fishes the shattered tooth fragments from his pocket and throws them one by one at the priests' forhead.

 

[Phoenix]

A mockery, perhaps, but at least it made her clean, and that was what she needed. She was quick, though. The water wasn't nearly as pure as that in the temple, and although it was cleaner than what coated her, it wasn't what she was used to. She would make haste. And as soon as she was clean to her decided point, she would put her robe and undergarments through the water, toiling to get them clean. She'd never had to do so before, and so her methods mostly consist of running the clothes through the water and batting at them.

She'd leave them to hang in her room, dirty and moldy as it was, where she'd spend the night. She didn't have anywhere else to go - and she was certainly not going to step about the city in the nude, anyhow.

Assuming all goes well through the night and she finds her clothes dried and wearable in the morning, she'd set out once again, leaving a small tip for the monster that was kind enough to let her use his inn. And when she'd step out, once again, clean and pristine as any royal priestess should be, she'd make haste throughout the city, nowhere in particular. Her eyes were open, however, looking for any place that seemed even remotely divine or arcane. A church, perhaps, although Alexis would be quite shocked to see that anyone didn't follow Zsath.

[sblock]Knowledge - religion (DC 10) +17 - Success
[/sblock]

The night spent at the Sylvan Grove went swiftly as the priestess sleeps deeply after her recent experiances. Come morning her clothes are dry and wearable once more, but some of the colour has washed from them somehow, and several hardened stains are still clearly visable. Though she is clean, there are remanants from last night that just will not wash away.

Over breakfast Alexis discovers from the bartender that there are several temples in the district, and in fact she learns for the first time the various names of the suburbs about her. Collisieum, the Apartments, Ashstone, the Steel City, Opulant, the Green Fields, and of course her home of Dionysian.

The streets of Dionysian are cobbled are dirty and patchwork, the buildings majestic but old and in disrepair. The once wealthy suburb still sports the more well-to-do people of the city, but it seems that wealth does not conquer greed, for the suburb had begun its decay more than a few years ago.

Alexis learns of several temples in the district dedicated to Azran (the Sun God), Zsath (the Ghost King, of course), Kinderas (the Lord of Coin) and Kimbar (the Lady of Luck, brother of Kinderas). Each of them sport resonable followings, and she receives directions for each of the temples for future reference, now there was only the decision of which one...

 

[Phoenix]

Taran sighs. "Let's go Twitchy" he says.

Taran knows where he's going and quickly gets to the sewer entrance. He pears down and checks the grate and anything below it before he beings his decent.

Wandering through the streets of the Steel City, it takes Taran several hours to navigate the winding maze-like streets to the single grate that he is searching for. As the small halfling and his companion finally find this "Ulandandian Way" upon which the sewer entrance is located (as opposed to the Ulandanian Way, Uldanian Way and Udlanian Way that he had previously discovered), the street ahead is clogged with ore workers that seem to be gathered around a small marketplace of sorts.

As the small druid approached, the crowd slowly moves up the road towards a small pub located on the corner of a street junction called 'The Thousand Islands'. Taran's eyes catch the sewer entrance he is looking for, one that the crowd was previously surrounding. However his nose catches a familiar scent, that of the sewers, coming from the crowd.

Looking totally out of place amongst the burly smiths and ore workers, a single elf covered in the filth of the city is being ushered into the pub amongst cheers and slaps on the back.

 

[Phoenix]

Grinning at the crowd he accepts the stoogie from the dwarf with a nod and a wink "thank you Sah. It would be my pleasure to join you for a drink but it must be quick for the girl is still in the hands of that dastardly villian and I yet have work to do."

[sblock]will join the boys for a drink and try and get some info off them about the Hunters and whether there has been any action from the yellow robes in the area lately[/sblock]

The smiths and ore workers usher Ghost into a nearby run-down pub called 'The Thousand Islands' where drinks run freely. Obviously the trade-needs of their marketplace can wait for morning drinks and mead is handed around to all. There is happiness in a mug for a moment as everyone forgets about the demands of the city, but eventually Ghost brings up what he is here for.

None know of any man in yellow robes, or even the Yellow Cult, but they all know of The Hunters. It seems that recently ghouls have been sneaking into the Steel City at night to try and get into some of the more secure warehouses of the district, looking for weapons no doubt, but so far the security offered by the mercants of the area have been able to beat them off, though at no small cost.

Now it seems that The Hunters are choosing small targets, and indepenant storeowners are suffering for the loss of goods. It seems strange to them that creatures such as ghouls would be more interested in possessions than human flesh, but it is something that none of them are able to explain.

 

[Phoenix]

As Ba'aktar stands over the prone priest he wipes a trickle of blood from the side of his mouth. Getting hit in the face hurt. He spits a couple of knocked out teeth and the remains of a shattered tooth into his hand. Ba'aktar puts the whole teeth into into a pocket for later. Although he could probably fetch a decent price for them on the market, his enjoyment of food inclined him to retain the ability to chew.

Ba'aktar places a foot squarely in the middle of the priest's chest, and rests the flat of his khora against one of the priest's cheeks, making sure the presence of the weapon's hooked spike is obvious.

"Now, about the gold," he says in his deep and menacing voice, "Seeing as we're taking all of it I gotta find another way for you to pay me back for the tooth you've gone and smashed. 'Course, I can forget about liberatin' a few of your pearlies if you make locating this gold easier."

Ba'aktar fishes the shattered tooth fragments from his pocket and throws them one by one at the priests' forhead.

[sblock]Sense Motive check (DC 10) +17 - Success
[/sblock]

The priest looks up along the blade to Ba'aktar and flinches as each piece of tooth strikes him. Beside the great half-orc the floating hammer fades to nothingness, almost as a sign of surrender. The priests eyes flicker for a moment, something that Ba'aktar almost misses, and out of the corner of his eye he sees something move.

One of the children runs for the door nearby, just out of the half-orc's reach. In her hands he notices something dangling...a key! Ba'altar's keen eyes perceive the darkness in the corridor nearby as the small child pulls the hook on a wall and ducks into an alcove.

 

[Bront]

Wandering through the streets of the Steel City, it takes Taran several hours to navigate the winding maze-like streets to the single grate that he is searching for. As the small halfling and his companion finally find this "Ulandandian Way" upon which the sewer entrance is located (as opposed to the Ulandanian Way, Uldanian Way and Udlanian Way that he had previously discovered), the street ahead is clogged with ore workers that seem to be gathered around a small marketplace of sorts.

As the small druid approached, the crowd slowly moves up the road towards a small pub located on the corner of a street junction called 'The Thousand Islands'. Taran's eyes catch the sewer entrance he is looking for, one that the crowd was previously surrounding. However his nose catches a familiar scent, that of the sewers, coming from the crowd.

Looking totally out of place amongst the burly smiths and ore workers, a single elf covered in the filth of the city is being ushered into the pub amongst cheers and slaps on the back.

Taran approaches the crowd "Excuse me, what is all this about? Is that elf ok?"

 

[Phoenix]

Taran approaches the crowd "Excuse me, what is all this about? Is that elf ok?"

The group as a whole continues into the pub itself though one of its members stops for a moment to call back, "He's alrigh' now little fella, just fought his way past an army of ghouls down there....bloody lucky elves eh?"

In seconds the crowd is ordering drinks inside, leaving Taran to look in through the door, barely able to see the room toasting the strange looking elf within.