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Q'Barra: Into the Emerald Forest

As he received the don't do it look from Erin, Xavier bit his tongue and said nothing. Stifling a laugh he turned back to the scenery.
 
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A journey interrupted

OOC: Glad you all got yourselves introduced and sorted out the somewhat confusing timing. Thanks for bearing with my absence over the weekend, but now the run of the play I'm in is underway and I no longer have to spend every waking moment preparing for it. On with the game!

A couple clarifications: The package from DiCorsos' was delivered to your hotel room the night before, shortly after Erin, Sanae, and Xavier got back (forgot to mention that before). Also, in reference to Erin's comment about "looking out to sea," you're traveling upriver, not on the ocean.


As the day passes, the stifling wet heat begins to overwhelm even the stiff breeze generated by your rapid progress. The initial flood of coversation, comparison of notes, and planning passes and the humans lapse into a dull torpor. 'he has no name' is silent as always, and Eff Flat seems to be engrossed in listening to the cacophanous song of the elemental ring. He is the first to notice a decreasing of its shreik. He rouses the rest of the party, unnecessarily, as all of you quickly realize that Kolbek's Pride is slowing and drifting to a stop.

The cause is readily apparent. Another vessel is approaching rapidly from upriver. It is a much larger craft, about forty-five feet from stem to stern, equipped with sails and a row of oars. It flies the five-colored flag of Q'Barra. As it closes to approximately fifty yards and turns broadside on. You can see black and red uniformed archers scrambling into position.

A tall figure holds up a conical instrument, evidently some sort of device to amplify the voice. Eff Flat is delighted by the perfect reproduction of sound - it seems as if the speaker is right next to you. His voice is soothing and almost melodious, with a lilting Riedran accent. "By authority granted by King Sebastes of Q'Barra, you are ordered to stand to and prepare to be boarded while we search for contraband."

Calabas stands, his face white with fear. He looks at all of you. "What should we do?"
 
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As their boat stops Sanae quickly glances towards the other vessel before pulling Erin aside.

In a very queit voice she confers with the other woman, "Do you think there is a chance that they may be after the artifact? I know of nothing else we have which may warrant any concern from outside parties..."
 

What in the 9 hells is this about? And why is Calabas....oh no... Quietly Xavier leans over to Calabas and says "Are we carrying something that they or us should be concerned over? Is there something you need to tell us? Should we get ready to repel them?" Taking a quick glance over the uniformed soldiers present on the riverboat, Xavier tries to size up the opposition.

Xavier is using his quick reconnoiter feat, to get a quick estimate of the number of soldiers on the patrol craft.
 

Sizing up the situation

Xavier estimates that there are twenty people on the opposing vessel. About a dozen archers are in position with bows ready in hand, but not pointed (yet). At Xavier's question, Calabas shakes his head. "No, there's nothing. Just supplies. Cloth, tools, things of that nature. Nothing unusual." He pauses to consider. "There are two barrels of nightwood ale - Mr. Novilderth's favorite vice, but hardly illegal."
 

"Then what's to worry about? These kind of patrols are pretty normal, right?" Moving away from Calabas, Xavier approached Erin and Sanae. "Listen, I think we've got some trouble, but maybe not. Calabas says we aren't hauling anything illegal on his end, so we should be ok. Are our...items tucked away safely? And there are about a dozen archers on that boat and we don't have much room to maneuver so...be ready." Xavier exchanged a quick look to Borden and both the warforged and mouthed Trouble, so be ready for it.
 

OOC: Re-posting character to make include the various items taken from Aldinis plus what we purchased from DiCorso's

[sblock]
Erin (formerly Erin d’Cannith)
Female Human Artificer 4th lvl
Alignment CN (formerly N)

Str 15 +2 (6 pts + 1pt at 4th)
Dex 10 +0 (2 pts)
Con 10 +0 (2 pts)
Int 14 +2 (6 pts)
Wis 10 +0 (2 pts)
Cha 16 +3 (10 pts)

Hit Points 27
Action Points 7
AC 17, Touch 10, Flat 17
Init +0
BAB +3, Grapple +5
Speed 20’ (base 30’, load 64/66, medium)
Fort +1, Ref +1, Will +4

+6 Melee, Masterwork Morningstar, 1d8+2 20/x2

Medium, 6' tall, 145 lb, 26 yrs old
Red hair, blue eyes, white skin

Speaks Common, Draconic, and Halfling

+8 Appraise (6)
+11 Craft (armorsmithing) (7)
+9 Craft (bowmaking) (5)
+11 Craft (weaponsmith) (7)
+9 Disable Device (7)
+4 Knowledge (arcana) (2)
+9 Knowledge (architecture and engineering) (7)
+4 Knowledge (the planes) (2)
+9 Spellcraft (7)
+10/+12 Use Magic Device (7) (+2 for wands, scrolls, and wondrous items)
+0 Listen (0)
+0 Spot (0)

Feats
-Least Dragonmark (Mark of Making, Make Whole 1/day) (1st level human)
-Extraordinary Artisan (1st level)
-Extend Spell (3rd level)

Artificer Abilities
-Artificer Knowledge
-Artisan Bonus
-Disable Trap
-Item Creation
-Scribe Scroll
-Brew Potion
-Craft Wondrous Item
-Craft Homunculus
-Exceptional Artisan (Bonus 4th Level Feat)

History
Erin d’Cannith was born of the Dragonmarked house Cannith in Cyre on Nymm 4, 972 YK. Raised by her parents Talsha and Erithea d’Cannith, Erin led a privileged life. During her 17th year she began her training as an artificer for the house. Her parents’ proudest moment came when, at the age of 18, she manifested the Mark of Making. At the age of 20, her services were leant to the Cyran army. She was tasked as a glorified maintenance worker, using her mark and her skills to keep the warforged the Cyrans purchased from House Cannith in working order throughout the war.

Erin traveled to the western front in 992 YK, assigned to the monitor the 3rd division of the Queen’s Army. She spent the next 4 years in the rear echelon, aiding in the repair of warforged. Erin cared little for the fighting, and due to her House Cannith upbringing, thought of herself and her house as “above” this conflict. During this war, the Last War, members of the dragonmarked houses were non-combatants, and as such were, by treaty, not to be attacked. In return, they would not attack and only serve support functions for all sides. Erin saw this as an invulnerability of sorts, which only caused her to become more and more removed from the war around her. She only associated with her family and others from her house, and was quite cold to the general fighter, caring more for the company of her warforged than for fellow humans. Little did Erin know that her live would be irrevocably changed on that fateful day: Olarune 19, 994 YK, the Day of Mourning.

The day began as any other: witnessing the Cyran forces continue to fight against their enemies. However, Erin awoke to a somber fact when a warforged scout attempted to place his embedded blade firmly in her stomach. All of a sudden, she realized that the warforged army was not treating her as a non-combatant. With the help of Cyran fighters, Erin managed to stay alive well into the third wave of warforged troops. However, when a stormship fired a fireball at her general location during a bombing run, Erin’s entire world went blank.

How Erin managed to survive the Day of Mourning is a mystery no one knows, for even Erin herself cannot bring herself of remember the event. However, in the wake of its destruction, she found herself with a band of Cyran refugees desperate to escape the horror of the newly-formed Mournlands. Despite her desire to immediately flee to Karrnath and the nearest House Cannith compound, Erin felt indebted to her saviors and agreed to join them on a trek to Q’Barra. The refugees felt that, out of all of the locales open to them after the destruction of Cyre, Q’Barra stood the best chance of having them. And so, over the course of the next two years, Erin embarked with her newfound allies to Q’Barra.

While on the journey, Erin began to warm up and feel sympathetic to the Cyrans. The destruction of her family and friends caused her to gain a new outlook on life. She no longer took a cold, unemotional outlook on life, and became an integral part of the caravan. The refugees found it extremely useful to have a dragonmarked artificer as part of their new family, and Erin found some new friends along the journey. [Note: if it makes sense, I would love for Erin to have met some other PCs during this time, especially other Cyran refugees or those from the Eldeen Reaches also heading towards Q’Barra]

When she reached Q’Barra, she made her way to the small House Cannith compound in Newthrone. When she reached the doors of the compound, however, she found herself barred by warforged guards. When she forced an audience with Kalar d’Cannith, Q’Barra’s regent, she was subject to yet another shock.

Evidently, after the destruction of House Cannith’s holdings and the death of the House’s patriarch in Cyre, the House was split off into three factions. Merrix d’Cannith, the head of House Cannith in Sharn, proposed an insidious measure: he believed the destruction of the nation of Sharn might be related to House Cannith, and possibly their creation forges. In an effort to purge the House, Merrix proposed excoriation (forcible removal from House Cannith) for all those of the ruling families in Cyre. Erin and her family were amongst those excoriated.

Devastated by her removal from House Cannith, Erin had no idea what to do. She found herself shunned from her old family, and with all connections from her old life severed, decided to begin a new life in Q’Barra. Over the next two years, Erin found herself enjoying a newfound freedom. She was no longer bound by the pomp and pageantry surrounding a dragonmarked youth, and was no longer a fighter in a war she did not understand.

She took various jobs that came to her, and stayed in touch with her “Mourner” friends. In fact, they gave her a home-away-from-home, where she spent time creating her various items, most of which she donated to them. However, her old traveling companions went their separate ways a few months ago: half of them accepting Prince Oargev’s pleas to join him in New Cyre, the other half leaving for adventure on the continent of Xen’drik. Not willing to sacrifice her new life, she decided to remain in Q’Barra. Without her old friends, she has taken herself to joining various adventurers on whatever job she can find, now barely able to keep a few sovereigns in her pockets.

Personality
Erin is a forceful woman, with a fire in her eyes. She is not afraid to speak her mind, and will not back down from a conflict. She has a hatred for all things House Cannith, and has taken to embrace both her excoriation and her new life she found in the freedom of Q’Barra. While in search of nothing more than adventure and a life free from the responsibilities of being in a dragonmarked house, she tends to take jobs that involve the searching for more intriguing artifacts, mysteries, or even dragonshards for her creations. She is extremely loyal to her friends, though she tends to be a bit distrustful of those of any dragonmarked house or royal family.

Appearance
Erin is a tall, proud woman, with fiery red hair that spills out from under her helmet and piercing blue eyes. She carries a scar across her left cheek as a reminder of her last battle of the Last War. She is garbed in a traditional adventurers’ outfit. She wears well-worn breastplate (loot from a previous adventure), tan studded leather under her greaves, and black leather workboots. She also wears a gauntlet on her right hand, and a potion bracer on her left. Strapped to the right side of her belt is her trusty morningstar, a parting gift from Balar, a Cyran “mourner” friend. Those with keen eyes will also notice a Cyran Army signet ring on her finger (a gift from an old lover she no longer wishes to speak about). Those few lucky enough to have seen it would have taken notice of a least Mark of Making inscribed at the small of her back.

Equipment
+2 Breastplate (worn, 30 lb) 4350 gp
Explorer’s Outfit (worn, 8 lb) 0 gp

Masterwork Morningstar (belt right, 6 lb) 308 gp
Belt Pouch (belt front, 0.5 lb) 1 gp
Everburning Torch (belt left, 1 lb) 110 gp

Backpack (center back, 2 lb) 2 gp
Bedroll (below backpack, 5 lb) 1 sp

Potion Bracer (left wrist, 1.5 lb) 50 gp
Gauntlet (right hand, 1 lb) 2 gp
Signet Ring (with Cyran crest) (4th finger on left hand, 0 lb) 5 gp

Potion of Cure Light Wounds* (potion bracer, 0 lb) 25 gp
Potion of Cure Light Wounds* (potion bracer, 0 lb) 25 gp
Potion of Cure Light Wounds* (potion bracer, 0 lb) 25 gp

Waterskin- water (backpack, 4 lb) 1 gp
Flint & Steel (backpack, 0 lb) 1 gp
Trail Rations- 2 days (backpack, 2 lb) 1 gp
Ink Pen and 2 Ink Vials (backpack, 0 lb) 16 gp, 1 sp
Journal (backpack, 3 lb) 15 gp
Scroll of Comprehend Language* (backpack, 0 lb) 12 gp, 5 sp
Scroll of Invisibility* (backpack, 0 lb) 75 gp
Scroll of Knock* (backpack, 0 lb) 75 gp
Scroll of Locate Object* (backpack, 0 lb) 75 gp
Scroll of Tongues* (backpack, 0 lb) 187 gp, 5 sp
Potion of Remove Fear* (backpack, 0 lb) 25 gp
General Antitoxin x3 (backpack, 0 lb) [from DiCorso's Exotic Liquers and Alchemical Marvels]
Lizard and Toad Antitoxin x3 (backpack, 0 lb) [from DiCorso's Exotic Liquers and Alchemical Marvels]
Potion of Cure Light Wounds x3 (backpack, 0 lb) [from DiCorso's Exotic Liquers and Alchemical Marvels]
Translation of the Codex Alaraxus (backpack, 0 lb) [from Aldinis]
Rubbing of the Vermithrax Tablet (backpack, 0 lb) [from Aldinis]
"Crystal Rod" (backpack, 0 lb) [from Aldinis]
"Crystal Warning Alarm" (backpack, 0 lb) [from Aldinis]

Coins- 7 gp, 8 sp (pouch, 0 lb)
Identification papers w/ portrait (pouch, 0 lb) 5 gp

*Created by Erin
[/sblock]

Erin moves quickly at Xavier's suggestions, using some of the larger party members to block her from view of the approaching ship. She quickly takes the papers containing the translation of the Codex Alaraxus and the rubbings of the Vermithrax Tablet and folds them to a reasonable size. She then shoves them between her breastplate and her chest, making sure that no pieces are sticking out. She quickly mutters under her breath "Xavier, quickly, how long do you think they would take to search the ship? How deep is the river?"
 

'he has no name' warforged warrior.

The warforged climbs to his feet and considers the newcomer as it approaches. No doubt the archers at the ready[/]i is a standard precaution when boarding. But that doesn't mean the warforged has to like it. He makes no move to remove the shield from his back, but his spear is in hand, propped lightly on the deck.

The warforged is a little startled by Calabas' loss of composure, but is reassured by his answer. He is more concerned by the possibilty of the items received last night being a problem. The warforged, realising what Erin intends, lends her the benefit of his broad, shield adorned back by stepping between her and the approaching boat. He keeps his attention on the other boat however.

The hound takes up its usual position, leaning slightly against the warforged leg. The warforged has not yet decided whether it is because the animal is exceptionally lazy, or because it wants to keep tabs on its companion.

Urko:
ooc: manifest Detect Hostile Intent (3 pp, std action, 30 ft. radius., 40 min) as the barge gets to within 60 feet or so. As always, supress the display (Concentration +9).
 

Old Borden, Male Human Clr4


I agree that we should let them search the ship, this looks like a routine inspection to me. We are a legal adventuring party, on a diplomatic mission and should have nothing to worry about.

It'd be wise, tough, to conceal all the artifact and prophecy stuff...
 

"I'd say it wouldn't take them all that long to search us, but if they pull up every plank...As for the river let me think for a second, but what do you have in mind? Also, which one of us will answer the officer on the other ship, as I doubt he'll wait too much longer. I'll do it if you all want me to."

Can I tell how deep the river is, or just a rough guess?
 

Into the Woods

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