The Ancient Paths - Path I

[hippocrachus]

~ Nae'talis ~

Nae'talis returns to his room at the building that now has a sign outside with a picture of a balanced scale carved and painted gold on it. The Balanced Scale Inn.
He then prepares for the day-long ritual needed to summon a familiar.

~ Hildor ~

Standing at the threshold, Hildor spots Dowkan lifting large stone blocks onto a mule-drawn wagon. Neither the dwarf nor anyone else working seems to notice Hildor.
The architecture of the Temple of Tyr varies greatly from that of the Church of Helm. The once all stone structure has been striped down to a few courses of stone above the foundation and large wooden beams lay neatly stacked in the center of the building's perimeter. Several men push barrows of hay to a large pile on one side of the building.
Two oxen hauling large timbers, directed by a priest and shirtless soldier, pass around the side and the priest breaks off to speak with Hildor.
"Have you spoken with Lady Syrriel? Your help here would be greatly appreciated, but the Temple has collected quite a lot of volunteers and we wouldn't want to take anymore from those capable of working elsewhere..." The priest gives Hildor an apologetic smile. "Surely your skills can help someone in need? Speak with Lady Syrriel."

 

[hippocrachus]

~ Ali'Shuan ~

I will call on you again tomorrow. The Tyrran forces will not gather in numbers around the temple. Keep your target in sight.
Save your strength. He'll stay indoors until the reinforcements arrive. He isn't going anywhere.
As the husky voice of the assassin dies in his head, Ali'Shuan looks to the summoned elemental standing bound in the center of his tent.
"I have chosen you to deliver a message. You can travel far on this plane, fast. Your cooperation will reward you with nothing more than freedom. You understand, of course." The living rock formation shifts, only able to understand the wizard's words through the enchantment cast on it and the Circle Leader.
"Find him here," Ali'Shaun points to a pane of glass that shifts between an image of an elf and a map of a country halfway around the world, "and deliver this to him at all costs. Feel free to take your aggression out on him."
The earth elemental seems to absorb the item wrapped in red velvet Ali'Shaun passes to it and the ground beneath the being rumbles apprehensively.
"Go," he waves a hand to release the elemental from the spell circle and it melts into the dirt floor like a rewinding volcanic eruption. The Circle Leader allows himself a satisfied grin.
Respect is overrated. Fear, now...

 

[ae1vart0n]

After getting instructions on where to find Lady Syrriel and how to identify her, Hildor realized it must have been the lady he saw earlier, and went to find her.

After some searching, he found her.

"I'd like to help. A priest told me you might have something other than reconstruction to work on"

 

[hippocrachus]

~ Hildor ~

Syrriel is found kneeling down in front of a wooden display case in the room Hildor slept in last night. She doesn't seem too concerned, and no wonder; Harad watches her from near the doorway. He nods his head at Hildor and alerts Syrriel to her visitor.
"You're the Zhentarim, right?" she asks after rising and appraising her fellow elf. "No. Not from your expression. There isn't a lot to be down besides rebuilding; unless you're good with inventory? I didn't think so. I could use someone to do some odd jobs and errands - Harad is better suited for giving orders, not receiving them. I won't offer you much in the way of repayment. There are too many people willing to help me for free."
Harad and Syrriel exchange glances for a moment that speaks volumes about how many people want to work for free.
"Come back tomorrow. I've gotten everything done that needed it for today."
Not being one for words, Hildor agrees to return tomorrow and leaves the two to find where Hrolf and Nae'talis have kept themselves. He comes to a newly established inn called the Balanced Scale. The proprietor, a very masculine woman, informs him that his friends have locked themselves away in two rooms upstairs. With the sun close to setting, the elven rogue decides its better to just rest than waste his time trying to find something to do for the remaining hour of daylight.

 

[hippocrachus]

~ Day VIII ~

Hildor returns to Syrriel in the morning and agrees to help her for one silver piece a day (he gets the feeling that trying to haggle for a better price would probably only make it worse). His first task is to inform his companions that the items they left with her have been identified.
Nae'talis, busy with other things still, doesn't answer when Hildor goes to him with the news. Hrolf does, and returns with the elf to the bard's now well-organized shop (or what must be the beginnings of one). Syrriel informs the two that the ring set with a gray onyx stone is a ring of protection granting the wearer a very small magical deflection. The large wooden shield is enchanted to allow its wielder a similar power. The set of bracers are enchanted with a minor power that grants their wearer an invisible but tangible field of force. Both must be worn for the ability to take affect. The wand is a wand of magic missiles. It is of the lowest caster level, has 32 charges left, and is activated only after its user has said the command word: Gluhchux. The total cost to the party for Syrriel's services is 440 gold.
Dowkan spends his day continuing to help the Tyrrans rebuild the temple.
At about midday, Nae'talis completes the ritual to summon his familiar. A raven.

~ Day XV ~

A full week goes by before the first merchant caravan arrives at Silverdown. With it comes the few remaining things needed to make the town whole again, excluding a non-militaristic population.
The Temple of Tyr has been completed and is now holding mass every morning. Sunder's smithy, after providing the workers in Silverdown with everything they needed in the ways of metal-work, is now producing inexpensive arms and armor. Syrriel, when she isn't seen directing Silverdown's reconstruction, spends her time gathering magical odds and ends from those willing to part with them and now runs a modest magic shop in her spare time. Harad watches over it when she is too busy to. The Balanced Scale inn is now a decent sized inn, complete with feathered mattresses and burly patrons!
Hrolf has spent his time helping the clergy at the temple along with Dowkan when he isn't working the forges at Sunder's smithy called Sunder's Smithy. Sunder isn't a very creative dwarf, despite his handiness with a hammer.
Hildor has spent the week running errands for Syrriel, and for the past two days, he's gotten the feeling that he's being watched.
Nae'talis has been spending his time training his familiar and studying his spellbook and anything he's managed to purchase from Syrriel's magic shop named The Surreal Harpist's. A wood carved sign that resembles the store's owner playing a small harp hangs above the front entrance.

~ Hrolf ~

"Father Braggi would like to speak with you, Brother," a cleric with a slightly graying beard says to the meditating Hrolf. The silence in the temple, still a few hours before mass, rushes past with the cleric's echoing words chasing.

~ Nae'talis ~

Nae'talis wakes a few hours after sunrise and a few hours before that damnable morning congregation at the Temple of Tyr with his raven familiar flapping its wings earnestly from his bedroom window's sill.
A knock comes on the door.

~ Dowkan ~

"Yer sausage fingers're better suited fer an axe than a hammer!" Sunder barks at Dowkan's back while the younger dwarf attempts his first blade and puts a blunt bend in its middle for Sunder's reproving interruption. "Look at ye! Ye got the concentration of a gnome with a new toy!"
Just as Dowkan turns his head to blame the mistake on the gruff old fool, he spots a Tyrran lieutenant standing behind the front display case that acts as a counter. He pointedly looks at Dowkan to get his attention.

~ Hildor ~

The last few days working for Syrriel have been anything but difficult. Mostly, she just wanted him to deliver messages and the like to the few remaining people that actually obeyed her orders.
Syrriel seems a nice person; when she isn't in one of her moods. She also had a lot of knowledge about an organization Hildor might be interested in joining. The Harpers. She always seemed eager to talk about them with Hildor; and if he didn't know any better, she was one. She didn't seem to want to tell him that she was, like she was trying to keep it a secret.
The area around Hildor seems quiet. Too quiet, even this early in the morning. As Hildor's pace slows to a cautious crawl, the ground beneath his feet begins to shake. Just in time, Hildor jumps to the side as a large mass of stone and dirt emerges from the earth where he stood seconds before.

~ Initiative ~

Hildor - 17
Medium Earth Elemental - 17

 

[Legildur]

Just as Dowkan turns his head to blame the mistake on the gruff old fool, he spots a Tyrran lieutenant standing behind the front display case that acts as a counter. He pointedly looks at Dowkan to get his attention.

Dowkan's shoulders slump slightly at the sight of the Tyrran. Dropping the tongs and hammer on the anvil and ignoring Sunder's loud complaints about having to do the work himself, he wipes his hands on the smithy apron he wears and makes his way across to the lieutenant. "Aye?" he asks.

 

[Majin]

Nae'talis glances towards the door suspiciously at the knock. Perparing a spell in his mind just in case, the wizard undoes the lock and steps back a few paces. "Enter," he commands eyeing the door cautiously.

 

[Dhes]

Hrolf solemnly follows the cleric to Father Braggi’s summons, knowing better than to question the cleric about the purpose.

 

[hippocrachus]

~ Hrolf ~

Braggi welcomes Hrolf into a furnished room in the clergy's sleeping quarters. He offers him food and drink and takes a seat across from him.
"We haven't had reports from the caves for two days now," the half-giant says solemnly, waving Hrolf to keep eating despite the grave news, "and we need to send someone to investigate."

~ Nae'talis ~

A Tyrran soldier opens the door, but doesn't bother crossing the threshold.
"Father Braggi would like to speak with you immediately." He doesn't wait for Nae'talis to follow before turning on his heel and leaving.

~ Dowkan ~

"You are needed at the Temple of Tyr. Father Braggi has urgent news concerning your contract..." The lieutenant's face asks a silent question about what kind of contract the dwarven mercenary could possibly have with the high ranking cleric.

 

[Majin]

Nae'talis makes no motion to acknowledge the soldier at receiving the message, but instead slowly finishes dressing before heading out, motioning for his raven, Shadar, to perch on his shoulder with a snap of his fingers.