Ring of the Fey Lord (DM:Atanatotatos, Judge:Lord Sessadore)Up:Lorik, etc.

[Don Incognito]

As the last foe falls, Lorik sheaths his sword, not bothering to clean the blood from its surface, and begins gathers up the bodies of the various fey creatures, dragging them up into a pile. The drakes he lets lie where they have fallen. He then systematically searches the bodies, picking over them like a raven, taking everything that could be of value other than the clothes on their backs (except for the gnome dancer, who is stripped naked). Lorik produces a long length of rope from his pack and, propping up the bodies against a nearby tree, proceeds to wrap the length of cord around the bodies several times before tieing it off in a square knot.[sblock=OOC]By my count, that's five bodies; two elves, two gnomes, and one Elvis gnome. Lorik drags them, starting with the one farthest away, to L2, piling up the bodies before taking everything from them and binding them to a tree (let's say at M2). And I mean EVERYTHING. I expect weapons, ammo, trinkets, mundane jewelry, mementos from their dead girlfriends, etc. If they have any piercings that appear to be of even slight value, they extracted as painlessly as possible.[/sblock]By the time he has finished, Ikni has risen from her medatative state. "They're all pretty banged up, but they'll live. Can't say the same for their pets, though. Snapping little bastards nearly tore a chunk out of my side."

Almost as an afterthought, he unhooks his sheathed sword from his belt and tosses toward Ikni. Fey and drake blood oozes slightly from the weapon as it hits the ground just before Ikni's feet. "While you're at it, you don't mind, do you?"
[sblock=Lorik Stat Block]Lorik- Male Half-elf Fighter 1
Passive Perception: 12, Passive Insight: 14
AC:18 (17, no shield), Fort:15, Reflex:13 (12, no shield), Will:12 -- Speed:5
HP:7/29, Bloodied:14, Surge Value:7, Surges left:5/11
Action Points: 1, Second Wind: used
Powers
Footwork Lure, Reaping Strike, Passing Attack, Righteous Brand, Tempest Dance
Group Diplomacy: Allies within 10 squares gain a +1 racial bonus to Diplomacy checks.
Group Assault: Allies gain a +1 damage bonus to enemies marked by Lorik.[/sblock]

 

[TwoHeadsBarking]

[sblock=ooc]Wishlist is in the character sheet my stat block has been linking to. I can add more to it if you want more of a selection to choose from, but Rod of Corruption is the biggie.

My nature skill is quite terrible (-1). Leaves of three, quite tasty. However, I do have a sunrod out, so we should be good for light.

I'm quite curious as to what was on that note Romulin left. Hopefully more than this:

Dear chumps,

Have fun being tortured by Lord Arnamil. And you thought these drakes were bad.

love, Romulin

I don't know if catching Romulin is feasible at this point. He has a decent head start, knowledge of the area, poor lighting on his side, and these gnomes are sneaky tricksy gits in general. Also, we aren't in the best shape to go stumbling through the forest after him.[/sblock]

Haruka tilts her head and smiles as the gnome falls. After a couple seconds she dismisses the flames burning the gnome with a wave of her hand. As she drags his unconscious body over to the other captives, she stops and stares as Ikni performs her ritual.

Interesting. Apparently she is not as different from the genasi I've known as I thought.

Suddenly, a thought crosses her mind, and she frowns as she looks around the clearing.

"Ah, did anyone see where Romulin went?"

[sblock=I'm slow]The above would probably take place both before and after Don's latest post. Hooray for non-linear story-telling.[/sblock]

 

[Atanatotatos]

[sblock=what you find]I think standard weapons/armor have no market value in 4e, anyway here's your loot:
-2 Medium sized leather armors
-2 Short swords
-2 Longbows
-50 or so arrows
-2 Small sized leather armors
-2 War picks
-2 Hand crossbows
-30 or so crossbow bolts
-1 flashy Elvis suit

More importantly:
-The first elf you felled had a braid of fair hair with him, probably as a good luck token. The hair are tied together by a pin with a pearl worth about 130 gps.
-The same elf also had a healing potion.
-The Elvis gnome had another healing potion.
-And a necklace with a turquise worth about 100 gps or so.

Oh, and you all get a fresh Action Point.[/sblock]

[sblock=near the rope...]A piece of parchment, resumably left by Romulin. There's a not-so-brief paragrah written hastily, but nicely, albeit minutely.

Dear swords-for-hire,
I wish to thank you for the nice treatment I received. Also, your story was quite interesting! Thanks for sharing!
However, I didn't feel like joining you in your night stroll, so I have left.

If you want to rest, you'll find a nice hut in the small swamp west of here where this area's scouts rest. But beware, it might be occupied...
Further west is the turf of Lady of Nightmares. The Thorn Wall that makes the gate of Arnamil's reign lies North of here.
Best Wishes,
Romulin[/sblock]

 

[TwoHeadsBarking]

[sblock=ooc]Oh man Ata, I hope you meant "1 flashy Elvis suit". Otherwise...*shudder*.

I think Ikni and Lorik should get the healing potions, for obvious reasons.[/sblock]

 

[Atanatotatos]

ooc: LOL! Well, everyone has been wondering where he's been hiding all this time, so I thought I'd solve the mistery!

 

[Atanatotatos]

ooc: so what are you gonna do? the gnomes and elves will stay unconscious for, say, five or ten minutes if undisturbed.

 

[Don Incognito]

[sblock=OOC]I'd like to discuss this in character, if possible. I'm going to assume that whoever found the note read it out loud.[/sblock]
Lorik's brow furrows as he reads Romulin's note.

"We're in a tight spot, and missing a warlord. Arnamil certainly isn't making this easy for us. He'll probably be nicer to us if we come bearing presants, so I'd say that tracking down his ring is probably the safest bet. The cabin is safer than sleeping out in the open. Comfier, too. I'd say we just leave these boys be, leaving them a friendly note saying that they're lucky that they escaped with their lives and to not ask any funny questions as to 'who we are' or 'why we're here'. This is all Fey territory; someone's bound to find them before some wild beast does."

"Another hiccup; we don't know who owns the cabin. It could be Arnamil, it could be the Lady, it could be some third party. Hell, it could be a trap. That idiot gnome could be waiting there for us with twelve crossbows pointed at the door."

Lorik yawns lazily, stretching out his limbs and producing some odd cracking noises. "Still, my vote is to leave the boys tied up and head for the cabin. Traps aren't much fun if you don't set them off."

 

[TwoHeadsBarking]

I'm starting to think you may be right. If this lot was so quick to fire on us, then we may be lucky if we only get turned away at Arnamil's gate. The name "the Thorn Wall" certainly sounds like it's supposed to discourage casual visitors. And without Romulin, we have no way of verifying our story. So it would seem that calling upon the Lady is our wisest course of action. And I would rather not camp in the open. If something's guarding the cabin, we'll just explain our situation to them, and I'm sure they'll be reasonable."

Haruka pauses for a moment.

"Or, if the past day is any indication, they'll open fire on us with no provocation, and we'll beat them bloody. I must say, I'm getting a little weary of pulling my punches.

"I'm sure these wretches," Haruka gestures towards the fey tied to the tree, "have nothing more interesting to say than how pathetic we are compared to the might of their lord, and how his wrath will be unmeasurable, and other such drivel. If we're not going to mess with them while they're asleep, let's go."

 

[covaithe]

Ikni stares at Lorik's casually mistreated sword. A range of emotions play across her exotic face; mostly sheer incomprehension, with flickers of disgust and contempt warring with uncertainty and... could that be fear? At length she retrieves the sword, removes it from the dripping scabbard and cleans the weapon with the same reverent care she gave her own blade. The scabbard she sets carefully aside, uncleaned. She drops to her knees again in front of Lorik and bows low, sword held horizontally across her palms.

"Thank you for the great honor of trusting me with your personal weapons. I shall strive not to be unworthy of your trust. But, honored comrade, I fear that the scabbard may be beyond my ability to scour given these rough surroundings. Even if I had the proper brush to scrub inside, the leather may be permanently fouled. Replacing your blade in it could damage the steel and introduce weakness. It would be better to carry it unsheathed until the scabbard can be repaired properly."

When the discussion turns to the cabin, Ikni listens intently. "I do not know what dangers may await us on either path, but... I would very much like to have a roof overhead once more."

 

[Don Incognito]

Lorik shrugs, then walks over to Ikni and casually sheathes his longsword. "Then I'll buy another longsword once I get back to town. It's not the weapon that makes the warrior."

[sblock=OOC]Did we lose our cleric too? Because I could really use some healing words.[/sblock]