Six From Gate Pass - Chapter 3: Shelter From The Storm

[funkmamagoat]

Kirio frowns at the footprints leading to the swamp ...

			"bastard little folk, can't trust them as far as you can spit them, and looks like they brought big dumb folk to bring down with them"

OOC: knowledge check nature to try and identify footprints...

 

[digimattic]

Arnir shivers in the damp cold and brushes water droplets off his lanolin cloak. "Decanter of endless water, hmmm? The fools have clearly not been outside, though I suppose this soggy march is worth 2000 golden sovereigns, am I right? "

Spying the house, Arnir waits as Kirio scouts and finds himself wishing their mysterious rogue was with them "try not to burst into song." Arnir mutters to no one save himself.

 

[fromage67]

Lars sees the others off, and, shivering in the damp cold, he thanks Fortune that he is not returning to the fetid Swamp.

He eats a skillet of spicy water leeks and mutton at old Baba Gerty's on the street front a few blocks from the Lyceum. He returns to their home and gets ready in his room, the one facing the back of the house on the second floor. He conceals his dagger, the good one, and he also hides an old beat up knife, in case of emergencies. He secures his sword to his belt, but he leaves his crossbow and armor behind. He puts on dark clothes, close fitting and light.

Just past noon, he heads outside and as he walks, he mentally rehearses his strategy. Magically disguising his appearance is risky because he can only maintain it about a half an hour or so. But he doesn't want to be identified with those guys who met with the bigs at the Lyceum. Slow and easy. No rush.

Just before he arrives at the Bronze Trident, he ducks behind the corner of a building and changes his appearance to that of a tall, slim man, with a large beak of a nose and a constantly sneering, expressive mouth. He walks into the Bronze Trident, taking his time to let his eyes adjust and scanning the room.

OOC: I end it here. Hope that was OK, Mr. DM.

OOC2: The swamp, the small footprints, the weird organic home... I think the druid is Yoda.

 

[Bannock]

Bannock clanks along in his full plate and hopes the rain and moisture don't rust it. He wears only a ragged cloak over the armour, which clings to him, soggily. While Kirio investigates the front door, Bannock slowly moves around the side, following the tracks, keeping one aye on the dank swamp they lead to, and the other on the back of the house, to see if there is anything interesting. The benign end of his glaive proves useful to probe the footing. The muddy ground grasps his feet, clinging tenaciously to each step.

 

[Gregor]

********
Druid's Home

Kirio, without any survival skills, you are not able to identify what made the tracks.

Hrimr, the general area does not contain anything unusual, asides from a living home made from trees and boulders.

Bannock, the tracks widen out beyond the house and towards the swamp, and though there are many sets of prints, its difficult to determine approximate numbers without survival skills.

********
Bronze Trident

Lars your trip to the South Harbour does not take long and you find the Bronze Trident down near the waterfront. The South Harbour seems much more affluent to you, with large stone and wood homes overlooking the water, the occasional shrine or small temple and inns, taverns and shops that appear to serve a richer client base.

The Bronze Trident however, does not appear to be such an establishment. Its front opens up onto the docks and it sits squished between a number of salt-stained warehouses, fish mongers, harbour offices and a few seedy looking inns. The rusted sign over the door depicts a merman wielding a trident that was probably, at one point in time, the colour of bronze. It squeaks in the wind and rattles on its hinges when you close the door to the tavern behind you.

The inside of the tavern is nothing special, though it seems a touch nicer than the exterior. Through the peaty smoke from the hearth and the cloying clouds of pipe smoke, you see that even at this hour a number of men and women are drinking, playing dice or chatting at tables. They come from various walks of life, though most look like commoners, sailors or mercenaries. There are a few bored-looking whores in one corner, sharing a decanter of wine and they look up at you expectantly. The bar man, a tall barrel-chested fellow with a dark beard and sunken eyes, wipes down tankards with a rag and pays you a cursory glance when you enter. The layout of the room is fairly simple: one main room with a hearth on one wall, a long wooden bar along the other, tables and chairs filling the main space and a wooden door to another room behind the bar.

 

[funkmamagoat]

"try not to burst into song."

Kirio nearly stumbles and falls at Arnir's jape trying not to laugh. He looks back and winks before continuing.

It is extremely difficult to hear anything through the wood and stone, so Kirio decides to risk getting a look inside. He slowly edges to the door, and tries to peek inside the house as the door swings open and closed in the wind...

 

[Gregor]

********
Druid's Home

Kirio, you can only glimpse a portion of the inside between the temporarily opening and closing door in the wind. You can see that the inner walls of the home have more wood than stone, with boles and branches having been formed in such a way as to have natural shelves carved out of them. Books, clay jars, bundles of herbs are neatly organized in the shelves, the floors are covered with carpets of soft leaves and the worn roots from the trees, and a small stone fire pit crackles gently with a peat moss of some kind.

At the threshold of the door, and elsewhere along the natural floor are splatters of dried blood and the occasional scorch mark. Additionally, a small humanoid lays in a heap against one wall, its whole body charred black, its skin cracked and oozing.

 

[Adjuntive]

Alric hangs back waiting for Kirio to call them forward once finished scouting ahead. He sees little reason to allow the constant clanking, chinking and rustling of his armour to give away their presence to any potential ambushers. Instead he readies his shield and allows his right hand to rest nervously over the pommel of his new sword.

The living home unrests him slightly. The more than alive quality causes him to expect the mass of trees to grow legs or a maw and attempt to devour the party. The burning stench and the obvious turmoil shown in the mud gives him the intuitive thought that battle had occurred. All causes Alric to be visibly on edge.

Should Kirio glance Alric's way, Alric nods indicating he's ready to spring in to support him should trouble occur.

 

[The Bashar]

After seeing nothing of interest other than the house Hrimr walks up to it and heads in. He sees Kirio standing at the door to home and the charred body in the corner.

"Oh dear, looks like there was quite the fight here. Let me see if this little guy is still alive. See anything else of interest Kirio?"

 

[funkmamagoat]

Kirio looks in shocked surprise as Hrimr simply walks into the home... he gives him a dirty look and shakes his head as if to say "what in the hell are you doing you fumbling oaf?".

Seeing no further point in concealing their approach he motions for the rest to follow and makes sure to stand well behind the shorter dwarf as he looks into the home.
.

"Oh dear, looks like there was quite the fight here. Let me see if this little guy is still alive. See anything else of interest Kirio?"

"I think perhaps the "little critter" as you say is beyond you ministrations..., but seeing as you are attending to it, you should probably search it and see if anything of interest is unburned on it. In future if I am taking the trouble to scout ahead, please wait until I motion to follow before you waddle ahead of me yes? Let's have a look around now that we are here" Kirio looks around the home and waves his hand across the room as he hums a soft tune...

OOC: Kirio casts detect magic...