Ties that Bind - Silverymoon - Chapter 1 "Diplomats?"

[Shayuri]

"CAW!" Jonas acknowledges, then much more quietly admonishes, "Then see what's to be seen in the house. I'll check the lean-to. Perhaps a survivor managed to hide away within!"

With a flurry of feathers and wingbeats, Jonas was off towards the rude shelter, beady corvid eyes watching it warily as he approached.

 

[gabrion]

Cassandra inspects the ruins of the house (Search 16), but there is very little to be seen. Even the area once occupied by the small barn has little of interest, but Cassandra does notice one strange thing. In the shed are the remains of a horse drawn single plow and some of the mettle buckles of a horse harness, but similar to the lack of bodies in the house, there are no remains of any animals so far as she can tell.

Jonas carfully walks toward the lean-to and when she arrives there, her suspicions are proved to be correct. A young man (he looks to be about 16 years old), is sitting in the structure with a relatively nice longbow in his hands. When he sees the bird approach he seem unsure what to do, but speaks to it.

"I saw you come off the road over there. I got no idea how horses can turn into birds and talk and what not, but you best not be here lookin for trouble. I've had enough of that already and I won't think twice about shootin you."

 

[Rystil Arden]

(OOC: Can Cassandra hear this so she can claim that Jonas is her grimalkin familiar? Grimalkins are those magical beasts from MM2 that can shift shapes to different animals.)

 

[gabrion]

[sblock=Rystil]Make a listen check.
[sblock=DC 10]You hear general sounds coming from the area Jonas is inspecting, letting you know that he's found someone there.[/sblock]
[sblock=DC 15]The voice of the speaker raises toward the end and you hear him say "I've had enough of that already and I won't think twice about shootin you."[/sblock]
[sblock=DC 20]You hear all of what the speaker says (see post above ).[/sblock]

If you do hear enough to say what you wanted to about the familiar thing, just be sure to make your bluff roll along with your speech.[/sblock]

 

[Rystil Arden]

Oh, hello there, good sir. Please, do not be alarmed--I am here to help. It seems that you met my grimalkin familiar. Grimalkins are very special creatures. Their normal form is a blue-black cat, what they can transform into any other animal they like."

(OOC: [SBLOCK]Listen--Dovie'andi se tovya sagain! Bluff--Meh, but it's funny because I got the same result on both
Diplomacy for good measure--crappy roll, good bonus though[/SBLOCK])

 

[Shayuri]

The raven coughs, and abruptly sitting before the young boy is a black cat with bluish highlights to its fur.

"Don't be afraid," Jonas implores. "We're here to help. We definitely mean you no harm. Can you tell us what happened here? My name is Jonas, by the way."

(Minor note - While Jonas can vary gender freely, he most often assumes forms with the same gender he was born in...a male. )

 

[gabrion]

[sblock=Cassy and Jonas]The boy evaluates the two of you for a short second and then puts his bow aside, apparently deciding Cassandra is being sincere. Hearing an offer for help he says,

"Well Miss, if you really do want to help, I could surely use it. As you can see, my old house has been burnt to the ground by a group of bandits. They came in here a day and a half ago, while I was hunting, and when I returned the house and barn were burnt to the ground and my parents and sister were gone.

I saw smoke rising from this area and hurried home, but most of them were gone by the time I got back. I was able to follow the last of the bandits from a distance for a little while though. They traveled east, generally following the road, for about 5 miles, where they turned north into the woods. I hunt this area a lot, so I didn't have too much trouble following them through the woods. They seem to have a hideout a few miles back off the road and I can't be sure, but they may have my parents there. Can you help me?"

[sblock=OOC]Both of you can make sense motive checks.[/sblock][/sblock]

 

[Rystil Arden]

(OOC: Sense Motive = 33)

 

[gabrion]

[sblock=Cassandra]The lad seems sincere enough.[/sblock]

 

[Rystil Arden]

"What sort of bandits were they? Humans? Orcs? Drow? Slavers too, eh?...They must be stopped."