Post 011304 – Venturing Forth, Alturiak 3
Post 011304 – Venturing Forth, Alturiak 3
The old dwarf at the guild watches with some amusement the discussions about a group name. When you finally decide upon Calenamdir, he gives you a quizzical look, almost as if asking you if you are for real. “Well, it ain’t a proper dwarven name fer sure. You don’t like Stonebreakers or The Iron Hands. Perhaps Hammers of Justice? No? Well then, I supposed yer minds are made up.” The old dwarf goes about updating his journals with your group name, noting each of you individually. “If you have a moment, I shall give you yer seals o’ the guild." He turns away and tracks down a smallish gnome. Moving off into one of the interior rooms you hear some metallic sounds, followed by a hammer or two. After about 15 minutes of waiting the gnome returns with seven small, metallic seals. The dwarf looks at them and turns back to you. “Here be yer official seals. You’ll need to show these if asked fer them by any of the officials of Silverymoon. Should ya lose them, the fee is 10gp to replace. Ya don’t wanna be caught without one if yer adventuring in the area of the Silver Marches. You can use the seal at any o’ the guilds in the Marches. Good luck, the blessings o’ yer gods go with ye.” With that, he turns away to other business.
The group, having decided it was best to travel on your own and not take up with one of the various job postings, you gather you things and head to the Wayward Sage.
Arriving at the inn, you can see where the establishment gets its name. The inn is full of various scholarly types, wizards and bards. A few scattered city folk also are ending their day at the Sage. A beautiful, female elven bard is entertaining in the back room. Her melodic voice carries throughout the inn and gives the place a nice warm background. You do not have trouble finding a table for the entire group and almost as quickly as you are seated a barmaid takes your order. Teas, Moonwine and Silverymoon Pale Ale are the specialties of the house. A nice Moonsea Bass is the meal of the day. Placing your orders, you find a moment to relax amongst the folk of Silverymoon. The atmosphere is light and the people do not seem to take notice of who you are. The food and drink are quite good and overall, it is a enjoyable time.
Tsoren, you take a moment to slip away from the festivities to try and make some contact with your guild. However, when you find one of your guilds contact points, you find that no one is around to make contact with. This is not necessarily a strange situation as your guild is not one of the more well-known, or organized groups. Your guild deals more in adventures, treasure hunting and aqcuiring of rare items than any actual organized crime. After a while, you return to the inn.
As the night wears on, you find the barkeep and arrange for your rooms. There is one room for the three women and the wolf companion of Willow and two others for the four gentlemen. You decide that setting a watch may be a good idea, considering the direness of the situation. You make arrangements between yourselves to sit watch in the hall, as all the rooms are close by. You finally make it to your beds and a hope for a restful evening. You find the moments before your sleep filled with thoughts of the future and how much things have changed. A quiet hope for things to come is the last thing you remember before drifting off to sleep.
The night passes uneventfully, as the various watches are changed without fail. You awake rested and ready to strike out on your own. As you gather your things you can feel the chill in the air. It is going to be a cold day, and you make preparations for such. Equipping your cold weather clothing, you gather your gear and head to the common room. You consume your breakfast quite quickly as nervousness sets in. The conversations are light as each of you seems lost in your own thoughts. After settling with the Barkeep, you head out into the city, the light of dawn is quite a beautiful sight. The air is cold but you adjust as you head to the stables to retrieve your mounts. There are a few people milling about the streets as you pass, but none seem to pay you any mind. You have no trouble with the mounts in the morning and you adjust your gear between your mounts and the two pack animals. Fizzi’s mount is decked out in leather barding and the dog seems quite eager to see him. With a final farewell to Giden, you lead your mounts to the city gates.
At the gates of the city the Knights in Silver stop you and ask your business. You state that you are adventurers and display your seal to them one by one. The Knights nod and wave you through. You are now on the open road of the Silver Marches.
As advertised, the road to Sundabar is active and well patrolled. You pass many merchant caravans heading into the city, as many slower caravans heading away towards Sundabar. The road is well maintained and even the light dusting of snow on the ground does not delay your journey. After a full days travel you come upon a travel station set along the road. The station, or inn, caters to various merchant caravans and travelers. There are a number of tents set about the area and various merchants are trying to get a few more sales in to travelers either before or after Silverymoon. You decide to play it safe and camp outside with the other travelers (you pay a 1gp fee). Finding a suitable site, you make camp for the night. Darkness soon falls about you and the various camp fires create an eerie orange glow. Songs and merriment fill the night. You make a quick meal before heading off to sleep. Setting the watch, despite the presence of the Knights in Silver, you once again find your night passes uneventfully.
In the morning, many of the merchant caravans are well into their preparations to leave. You gather your gear and head off once again to Sundabar. Your second day is filled with much the same as the previous, though the Nether Mountains loom much closer now. The air is still crisp and overcast as a light snow falls. The numbers start to thin as the day starts to wane. As you start to consider where you are going to sleep you hear the sounds of what can only be battle from up ahead. Spurring your mounts on to the next rise, you see below you a scattered caravan, horses and wagons scattered about the area. There are a number of humanoids, orcs or goblins, trampling through. A large creature, perhaps an ogre, attacks with them. You see a few Knights in Silver trying to keep the creatures at bay, but they seem to be a bit overwhelmed at the moment. A number of bodies litter the snow and a reddish tinge can be seen in a number of areas.
You are about 120’ away from the conflict ahead of you. It does not appear that you have been seen. How do you proceed?
