Rise of Tiamat - Intro
- Thread starter Envisioner
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mips42
Adventurer
"You're right. I owe you nothing. But, as you have been helpful, I will tell you that there was a problem with the dead." Dumos looks down at the Guard captain. "They weren't staying in their graves. I put them back where they belonged."
Envisioner
Explorer
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Ashur vanishes effortlessly into the low scrub that runs along the ridgeline down toward the pond; he can't get all the way there without emerging into the open, but he should be able to work his way close enough for a good look, and displays a preternatural skill to move through the tangled bushes without so much as rustling a leaf.
Bannor meanwhile manages to immediately step on a branch which bends under his weight with a loud creak, then promptly springs back up and whacks him in the butt as soon as he gets off it.
Envisioner
Explorer
The three in the fields
Ana doesn't vanish from view nearly as skillfully as Ashur, but both of them are effectively able to camoflauge themselves, particularly with Bannor acting (however unintentionally) as a distraction from their own movements. Eventually, both of the outlanders are able to approach to within about 20 feet of the pond, close enough to make out the scene in full detail. The chain hammered into the rock is clearly enchanted, with gleaming red sigils enameled onto every link; it leads away from the boulder to a length of about five feet before having finally broken, the end lying coiled in a patch of brown-stained grass and dirt right next to the mound of carrion. Eventually Bannor finishes tripping over his own feet and wanders close enough to the site that his approach disturbs the flies, who disperse and reveal the object - a massive goat's head, covered in black fur and bearing four imposing horns, all of which are ruddily stained with ancient blood.
Dumos
"That sounds borderline prosaic for the kind of work the Flaming Fists tend to do. Unless...this wasn't during their recent Chultan campaign, by any chance? I heard an entire encampment was wiped out by something called the Order of the Crocodile or whatever; supposedly even the ever-so-immaculate Order of the Gauntlet degenerated into borderline barbarism, out of sheer terror of whatever was picking them off in the night. You weren't involved in that insanity, were you?" (Yes, he really does say "or whatever; Garwynn Haladriel isn't exactly your average half-elf.)
Ana doesn't vanish from view nearly as skillfully as Ashur, but both of them are effectively able to camoflauge themselves, particularly with Bannor acting (however unintentionally) as a distraction from their own movements. Eventually, both of the outlanders are able to approach to within about 20 feet of the pond, close enough to make out the scene in full detail. The chain hammered into the rock is clearly enchanted, with gleaming red sigils enameled onto every link; it leads away from the boulder to a length of about five feet before having finally broken, the end lying coiled in a patch of brown-stained grass and dirt right next to the mound of carrion. Eventually Bannor finishes tripping over his own feet and wanders close enough to the site that his approach disturbs the flies, who disperse and reveal the object - a massive goat's head, covered in black fur and bearing four imposing horns, all of which are ruddily stained with ancient blood.
Dumos
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"That sounds borderline prosaic for the kind of work the Flaming Fists tend to do. Unless...this wasn't during their recent Chultan campaign, by any chance? I heard an entire encampment was wiped out by something called the Order of the Crocodile or whatever; supposedly even the ever-so-immaculate Order of the Gauntlet degenerated into borderline barbarism, out of sheer terror of whatever was picking them off in the night. You weren't involved in that insanity, were you?" (Yes, he really does say "or whatever; Garwynn Haladriel isn't exactly your average half-elf.)
Envisioner
Explorer
Garwynn looks more than a little disturbed, but lets the subject drop.
(Waiting on Robyn.)
(Waiting on Robyn.)
jmucchiello
Hero
"Never seen a goat head so big," Ana says. "Chimera? But if so, did it chew off it's own head to escape perhaps? And who caught it in the first place?"
billd91
Not your screen monkey (he/him)
Robyn decides to broach the subject of the oracle. "Captain Garwynn, when you let us in at the gate, you said our coming was heralded by an oracle. I do not know any particular oracles nor why our arrival would be fore-ordained. Is there more you can tell us of this holy woman?"
L
lowkey13
Guest
*Deleted by user*
Envisioner
Explorer
As the flies clear out, it becomes visible to everyone that the huge goat head isn't the only piece of animal carrion present here; many bloodstained or sun-bleached bones are scattered about in the lee of the cliff, as if dozens of ruminants have been devoured by whatever was chained here. The bones have been stripped of even the tiniest scrap of flesh and cracked open to get at the marrow; clearly whatever was here had a hunger that was not easily sated.
While Analiese and Ashur whisper to each other in the bushes, and Bannor squats beside the head, seemingly oblivious while he scrutinizes it, a quick motion on the cliff overhead is noticed by....
...just Bannor! His pretense of a helplessly oblivious victim is sufficiently convincing to the long-necked head that peeked around the edge of the hill and then ducked out of view again. Innish rolls, everyone!
You're trying to beat an 8.
While Analiese and Ashur whisper to each other in the bushes, and Bannor squats beside the head, seemingly oblivious while he scrutinizes it, a quick motion on the cliff overhead is noticed by....
CoyoteCode Dice Roller
www.coyotecode.net
...just Bannor! His pretense of a helplessly oblivious victim is sufficiently convincing to the long-necked head that peeked around the edge of the hill and then ducked out of view again. Innish rolls, everyone!
CoyoteCode Dice Roller
www.coyotecode.net
You're trying to beat an 8.
L
lowkey13
Guest
*Deleted by user*
Envisioner
Explorer
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Envisioner
Explorer
"Not much, I'm afraid. Her name is Qwynneth, she claims to be a servant of Mystra; apparently there still are any of those, contrary to what I heard about that ancient goddess having been killed in the Troubles. Since our town didn't have a temple to Mystra even before her ostensible death, Miss Qwynn has been taken in by the clerics of Oghma, Deneir and Azuth, all of whom collectively run our 'House of Illumination'. Unfortunately, as one of the more flammable locations in town, it was placed behind some sort of lockdown forcefield as soon as the trouble broke out, and though the wizards and priests and various combinations thereof inside are presumably monitoring the situation, they have so far not seen fit to lower their defenses. The field opened momentarily for Qwynn, but has yet to lower for anyone else."
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jmucchiello
Hero
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lowkey13
Guest
*Deleted by user*
