The House of Rath: Prologue

[D20Dazza]

Glandred, Shield Maiden of Azerkyn

The door to the Inn bangs open, once again showering those standing near the entrance with fat, heavy rain drops whipped into the room by the strong gale blowing outside. A stocky figure steps into the room, water dripping from the heavy cloak it wears and pooling on the floor around its feet. The figure shakes itself, further spraying those nearby with cool rain water, and shrugs back the deep hood that hides its features. The dwarf, for surely that is what the creature is, glances around the room, before advancing on the table in the corner. Eyeing the steadily growing pile of apparently identical letters the dwarf dips into a belt pouch and withdraws a crumpled piece of paper that has been screwed into a ball, glancing around the group she tosses the wadded parchment onto the table "So who is responsible?" the dwarf asks in an unmistakably female voice, her eyes watchful and her stance wary, one of her hands rests lightly on the hilt of a long sword that hangs from her belt.

 

[Yair]

I myself... I am no cleric or priest, but I was raised in the house of Ilmater. Those who serve the gods are truly blessed. I too try to serve as I can... in my way.

Atavy smiles bitterly. "I did not have the good fortune of being raised in the house of my patron god. But I too serve as I can... and perhaps my fortune will change, here in Cormyr."

He stops then, and watches as the dwarf enters. "Good question. Does anyone here even knows this merchant?" he waves at the pile of letters.

 

[Songdragon]

She turns to Kohl as he begins to speak and she sets her empty mug upon the table. She is about to reply when a female dwarf tosses balled up letter on the table. And then the halfling once again. She then adds, looking to Kohl first, "That is is all one can ask, is that we do what we can."

And then looks to the dwarf and then all the other present at the table, "I do hope this merchant fellow shows up soon.

[sblock]Memorized Spells for this day...
0-level: create water, detect magic (2)
1st level: charm person (d), bless, protection from evil
[/sblock]

 

[Joshua Randall]

Meliria's entrance

Once again, the door swings open, letting in a blast of sodden air. "Shut the d--n door!" comes a yell from within the tavern. "I'm shuttin' it now," snarls a female elven voice.

BAM -- the door slams shut behind Meliria. Oops. Didn't mean to close it that hard. Well, serves 'em right for tellin' me what to do.

Those within the tavern who look to the door see that Meliria is slight and short (even for an elf), with bright green eyes. Just now those eyes blaze out from under unkmept, rain-slicked black hair, and flick from face to face as she looks for anyone familiar. But of course, like most of the others, Meliria is a stranger in town. A refugee, in fact, she thinks. Damned drow!

Meliria takes another few steps away from the door and, with an elaborate flourish, unwraps her traveling cloak from around her shoulders -- inadvertently showering a few nearby patrons with rainwater. As the cloak comes free, those nearby catch sight of a sheathed longsword strapped crosswise along the elf-girl's back. She glares intently at anyone who seems offended by her openly worn weapon, as if daring someone to say something.

With a few more glances, Meliria locates the table where the other adventurers have already assembled. Pulling herself up to her full four-foot-six-and-a-half-inch height, she strides over. Bracing her feet shoulder-width apart and putting her hands on her hips, she announces, "I'm Meliria."

 

[Mephit James]

"Ah," says Jand in a sarcastic tone, "Meliria. We've heard so much about you. Will you be staying long or do you have more doors to slam and people to spray with water?" The wizard doesn't wait for a response but drops down to his seat again. "Where is the merchant anyway?" he asks the table at large, "This seems like a large group just to find missing men. It's obvious that he has something more in mind and I for one don't like being kept in the dark by some seaside bumpkin!"

 

[Joshua Randall]

Meliria starts to sneer at Jand; then, with an effort, she twists her face into a smile. Through gritted teeth, Meliria responds, "We all know who's responsible for those laborers going missing. The... Thayans -- the word is practically spat -- open one of their magic shops and pretty soon the whole town goes to hell."

"But I'm sure you had nothing to do with that, right?" By this point, Meliria has advanced up to the table. She places her hands on it, leaning forward, her eyes boring into Jand's.

With an effort, the elf lass steps away, her hands shaking. Crossing them over her chest, she tosses her head (to get the hair out of her eyes) and mumbles, Pleased to meet you, anyway.

[sblock]OOC -- Mephit James (or others), do let me know if Meliria's Thayan-baiting gets out of hand.[/sblock]

 

[Mephit James]

Jand struggles to maintain a straight expression under the elf's advance. As she straightens again he whispers audibly to his familiar. "My, Ramas, so like a barbarian to wear her heart on her sleeve." He continues in the sinuous tongue of the dragons, "Azkael to-resth Zsinarr vvek ."

[sblock]Translation
"Or whatever the elf-thing keeps blood in."
OOC: And let me know if Jand's Thayan-ness gets too overbearing. I'm trying to play him as a not very likeable character but I don't want to cause trouble.[/sblock]

 

[garlicnation]

Tinos, worried about the conflict says to jand in Mulhorandi, "She isnt worth your time, jand. Save your anger for whatever foe we will face."

Then to the others, "Everyone, cant we just calm down until we recieve our quest? I dont think it bodes well for our broup if we continue arguing"

[sblock]21 bluff check, only if anyone thinks i am lying. I agree with Jand on all points.[/sblock]

 

[Chauzu]

“That merchant? That merchant? Where is he?”

A group of tall, muscular men stood in gathering next to the table of our friendly group speaking of matters in a tongue unknown to all at the table, except for those three questions stated above just now. Followed by them was the annoying laughter of a foreign sounded throat. Emerging from the group of men came a short, middle aged man dressed in a green and white checkered tunic. His body was not small in diameter at all and the top of his curly head was balding. Overall, he appeared to be a greasy fellow.

Grabbing an open chair from another table (and not thinking of asking if the seat was taken) he seated himself next to Priest of Lathander and smiled at her in a very unappealing manner to her opinion (or to anybody’s for that matter).

“Where be that merchant who goes by the name of Taurus, the one who keeps everybody waiting for urgent dealings and the hope of profit?” The man stares up to the ceiling a mere second with pursed lips then proceeds to take a slug of from his just-now-served mug. “He must have either tricked you all into a wasted evening or was stuck in a high-profit matter worthy enough to make his new clients wait a few minutes for his arrival.”

The man then takes a cleaning of his chin by wiping it across his forearm. Setting his hands down on his lap he continues, ”I can assure you it was the latter my friends. I AM sorry for my slowness, but I believe in the taking of one’s time.”

”Now, you all have received my letter correct? That means I have specifically asked for you, and none other. I hate to sound like a nutcase, but I have taken notice of you all here in the city. You all showed promise of getting a job done and I do think I have good judgement, what would you say?” Taurus smirked and took another slug from his mug. ”Why do I care for the disappearances of folk around here and not the local constabulary? Ha, perhaps those were two profitable clients and because nobody has reported it yet! Ain’t that something? But I think this is something that should stay unreported so news does not go around any further.”

“You see that collection of physically stunning-looking men over there?” Taurus asked Meliria as he pointed to the group he emerged from. They are loggers from outside these gates. The two young laborers that have gone missing were named Talf and Elonn. As you all know, they left the tavern last night with a tall woman with long, dark hair. Me, being the happy man that I am, come to this tavern almost every night, and I can tell you now that this woman didn’t start showing her face here until about a month ago. Even then, she has only been seen a handful of times. Now, I was not present at the tavern last night, but those that were remember that the men seemed to recognize the woman and were friendly toward her, leaving in good spirits. At least that was what Kalgar ‘of the Alley’ has told me. He has never seemed to trust me for much anyhow. Perhaps you all can make a storyteller out of him yet.”

The merchant sighed and finished his mug by downing it quickly. “Why would I need all of you for such a task… well, I sort-of don’t. Now listen. You all sound to be a cooperative bunch… real team players. I need you all to split up into teams of two. Half to follow the trail of the two missing men, and the other half to help me inform the constabulary… as well as carrying out some business.” Taurus tips old Biskbyr as he takes his empty mug from off the table. ”For the door funds.” The tavern keeper frowns as the merchant slouches down his chair in a stuffed manner, just staring at the group. “What do you think so far?”

 

[D20Dazza]

Looking around the group and counting on her fingers the female dwarf turns to the merchant "I'm a little confused. I count 10 of us, so if we split into teams of two that means we'll have 5 groups, if one group is trailing the missing men and another group is carrying out some other business. What will the 3 other groups be doing? And what's the pay? I'm finding ends a little difficult to meet at the moment" the dwarf finishes in a rush, obviously a little embarrassed by her forwardness.