Action Thread 13

[rredmond]

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Day 19 – 3:10a


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As mentioned before the tree house is only 10’ up off the ground. The bear and wolves do not follow as you climb behind Melissa. You enter up through a large trap door, which can obviously be used to bar and secure the house, though it isn’t at this time. Melissa needs no help in climbing or getting through the door, she moves with a vigor and energy of a younger person. You come to a wide open room that the trunk of the tree grows through. It’s an irregularly shaped room that has offshoot rooms from it. There are only two doors that you can see. The offshoot rooms (that open directly to this main area, no doors) look to be a kitchen, a dining area, a plant nursery, and an area where, it seems, Melissa paints nature scenes, though (at your quick glance) there is a painting of a gallant warrior walking with a beautiful girl in a strangely familiar grove.

To the immediate south, semi closed off (there are no doors, but a 12 foot wide entranceway into the room) there is a sitting room and library. The whole place is cozy, inviting, and feels like a good place to be. The dust of the pass and the sweat of your lack of a good night’s sleep feels as if it weighs heavily upon your bodies.

But she brings you over to the dining area, which is the area/room immediately north of where you came in and looks to be the most northern area of this open space, though one of the doors leads out of this room on the east wall. The kitchen area is right next to this and she busies herself setting you all up with tea and refreshing food. The food was all readied and she was obviously expecting you. As you eat you can let me know if you eat or not she talks to you.

“I do have information that can help you, and I will be truthful to you as you have to me. My work to reclaim this city for nature is stalled by one, unfortunately annoying adversary, a were-rat in Zone 6 to the south of me. I believe you took a peek into his Zone. He isn’t a part of Shard, and is an interloper in that Zone which is supposed to be empty. The giant rats were good spies for me previous to his arrival. Now they use their underground tunnels to spy, and steal for him. He would fancy himself ruler over Shard and wants to use the giant rats to do so. I need him removed.” After this surprisingly candid speech, she leans forward in her chair and looks into each of your eyes, “and you are just the group of stalwart souls to do this task. Kill the wererat and you can ask all the questions that you need to of me about this city and its secrets. I can guide you on your way to the path to follow Roghan, on the path to the Forgotten City and what I know of how to enter it. But this information has the price of the head of the wererat. If you agree then you can spend rest of the night in safety at the foot of my tree and head out in the light when it’s best to enter that Zone.” She then settles comfortably back in her chair, awaiting a response.



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HPs: Jeloon - 29/29; Till - 36/36; Yosef - 10/10; Bruard - 19/19
WIH: Till: short sword (15' radius light); Jeloon: Longsword (20' radius light), shield; Yosef: bow and arrow [or long sword]; Bruard: Mace, shield; Van: +1 ogre spear, shield; Eyman: +1 Battle Axe, shield
MO: 1- Till; 2- Jeloon; 3- Bruard & Eyman; 4- Ancor, Rosin, DAMs; 5- Yosef & Van
Consumables: Lantern - (Till) 2 hours, 25 minutes left (off), 30' radius; Torch, 58 minutes (off), 40' radius; Torch, 60 minutes (off), 40' radius.
--------Spells: Yosef: 1-2/2, 2-1/1; Bruard: 1-5/5, 2-4/4

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[Alethan]

As Till settles down at the table, he tries to catch the eye of each of his companions and holds up just the first finger of his left hand, indicating "just one moment" to them.

He reaches over his plate and picks up his cuppa, bringing it to his lips with a tentative sip. (Assuming a saving throw is not required...) Finding it to be a pleasing blend of tea infused with mint leaves, and a little too hot for gulping (just the way Till likes it), he takes a few more sips before smiling warmly and nodding to the others.

Then he does the same for each of the various kinds of food available, as well - tasting them first and waiting a moment to ensure nothing untoward happens to him. If all turns out well, then Till carefully nods to the others that the food is ok, as well.

Then he begins eating with something akin to a controlled gusto. It feels good to once again sit at a table, using proper utensils and a plate and cup.

Biting into a tasty miniature quiche of chives and wild mushrooms, Till audibly moans and covers his mouth slightly as he says, "No offense to your cooking, Jeloon, but I was DONE with smoked snake about two days ago..." He isn't terribly keen on smoked bear, either, but given the present company (and the company below the tree house), he tactfully leaves that bit of information out of his statement.

After he has eaten his fill, he reaches into his belt pouch and retrieves his pipe and tobacco pouch. "I hope you don't mind, ma'am..."he asks, raising his eye brows in questioned hesitation. If no negative responses are forthcoming, he tamps some pipeweed into the pipe bowl and lights it off of a spill near the fireplace.

Then he puffs away as he listens to Melissa's request for aid. His eyes merrily twinkle at the mention of a wererat.

"I've heard a bit about wererats, though I've never encountered one, myself," Till finally responds, with a smile. "I think I'd like to meet one. But it wouldn't be proper to accept such an offer without first discussing it with my companions here. Would you mind giving us a few moments to discuss it?"

[Argennian]

Yosef takes in everything about Melissa and her tree house. He tries not to appear outwardly tense like he’s expecting a trap or ambush but he stays at a heightened alertness as unobviously as possible. He forces himself to stay calm as his elvish mind races through the possibilities and potentials. When the food comes out, he sees Till’s signal and knows immediately what his friend intends. He looks quickly to Jeloon and Bruard to make sure they saw it and then watches the halfling and the druidess. When nothing happens and it appears safe, he slowly releases his breath and takes some tea and food and waits patiently for the old woman to speak.

“I do have information that can help you, and I will be truthful to you as you have to me. My work to reclaim this city for nature is stalled by one, unfortunately annoying adversary, a were-rat in Zone 6 to the south of me. I believe you took a peek into his Zone. He isn’t a part of Shard, and is an interloper in that Zone which is supposed to be empty. The giant rats were good spies for me previous to his arrival. Now they use their underground tunnels to spy, and steal for him. He would fancy himself ruler over Shard and wants to use the giant rats to do so. I need him removed.” After this surprisingly candid speech, she leans forward in her chair and looks into each of your eyes, “and you are just the group of stalwart souls to do this task. Kill the wererat and you can ask all the questions that you need to of me about this city and its secrets. I can guide you on your way to the path to follow Roghan, on the path to the Forgotten City and what I know of how to enter it. But this information has the price of the head of the wererat. If you agree then you can spend rest of the night in safety at the foot of my tree and head out in the light when it’s best to enter that Zone.” She then settles comfortably back in her chair, awaiting a response.

Yosef’s left eyebrow goes up accidentally at the mention of the wererat. He looks to the others and gauges their reaction. He considers the old woman and tries not to stare at what he believes is a picture of her and the fighter lord himself. He clears his throat and looks over towards Till. “Wererats are evil and should be destroyed.” He then turns to Bruard and queries matter-of-factly, “Is that not mighty Shinare’s position on the matter, friend?” He tries to hide his smile and winks at Jeloon.

[ToniXX]

Bruard, also listening intently, is wary of their surroundings, but calms down after it is determined that the food is safe. He takes a few pieces of cheese and relishes them, then some of the tea. He hears Yosef's query as to the position of Shinare regarding wererats, and nods affirmative. He looks at Till, nodding to him as well, signifying that he is prepared to take on this quest.

[rredmond]

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Day 19 – 3:10a


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Nasty, sneaky things, she says in response to Till's comment about wererats, not good for the giant rats at all. No not at all. I will be in the kitchen cleaning up while you discuss it.

Just wanted to make it simpler so's y'all don't have to talk in signals and everything . We'll move forward without Dave as he seems to be AFK for a bit. She's offered to let you spend the night to rest up for the task in the morning. Also, after eating and resting here for a bit, you all feel well rested and more rejuvenated. A couple hours sleep in the orchards of the druidess might not be so bad...


HPs: Jeloon - 29/29; Till - 36/36; Yosef - 10/10; Bruard - 19/19
WIH: Till: short sword (15' radius light); Jeloon: Longsword (20' radius light), shield; Yosef: bow and arrow [or long sword]; Bruard: Mace, shield; Van: +1 ogre spear, shield; Eyman: +1 Battle Axe, shield
MO: 1- Till; 2- Jeloon; 3- Bruard & Eyman; 4- Ancor, Rosin, DAMs; 5- Yosef & Van
Consumables: Lantern - (Till) 2 hours, 25 minutes left (off), 30' radius; Torch, 58 minutes (off), 40' radius; Torch, 60 minutes (off), 40' radius.
--------Spells: Yosef: 1-2/2, 2-1/1; Bruard: 1-5/5, 2-4/4

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[ToniXX]

Once the druidess leaves for the kitchen, Bruard feels more comfortable, and begins to eat more of the spread before them. He is thoroughly enjoying himself, as he hasn't seen much fresh food in weeks.

[Argennian]

Yosef finishes off his food and tea and looks over expectedly to his comrades.
“It would appear that fortune and luck have not deserted us after all, friends. That is if this woman is who she claims and the food is not poisoned!” The elf first winks at Till and then looks back to the picture of what he truly hopes is indeed Roghan.

“I would hope she will provide us with some tactical intelligence and a potential advantage in this endeavor. I wonder if this wererat is the one dealing with those caravans coming to and from?”

[ToniXX]

“I would hope she will provide us with some tactical intelligence and a potential advantage in this endeavor. I wonder if this wererat is the one dealing with those caravans coming to and from?”

Bruard nods thoughtfully at this idea, as he stuffs another hunk of spicy cheese into his mouth. He pauses, then says I feel that Shinare would want me, and all of us, to follow this path, to do the right thing for the druidess, and rid this once proud city of what ails it.

[Alethan]

OOC: Sorry for my silence. Working on something else for the betterment of the forum, then will post here.

[Alethan]

OOC: Many apologies for the brief hiatus, gentlemen. I'm back, with Till's response...

Additional OOC: Ron, let's just NPC Jeloon for a bit and see what happens there. Maybe give it another week or two before we even think about finding a replacement?

Till sits with the others, huddled in the cozy library, greatly pleased to hear his companions' minds on the wererat and his giant rat minions.

"And here I thought I was going to have to talk one or two of you into this!" he says in a surpised whisper, glancing at Yosef. "This is excellent news! Although," he adds, with a frown, "I think you might have to retrieve your spear from Van if you are to be effective in a fight against him, Yosef. I hear they canna be touched by any non-magical metals. Or... I suppose silver would work, as well, in which case you can borrow my old silver dagger, should you desire!" Till subconsciously slips his left hand onto the hilt of his newly acquired magical dagger while the thumb of his right hand casually rub a bit of chain wrapping the handle of his magical sword...

"I think we should ask for two things from our new friend, Melissa. One, that we can sleep here safely not just for this evening, but for the duration of our stay here in the city. Two, that we can bring our men here to camp, as well. I like not the idea of leaving them outside on their own for too long. Plus, if we know our supplies are safely kept here with the druid, then we can bring our two fighting men with us, as before, and leave the others here to help Melissa with any menial tasks she might have. Kind of our way of paying her back, as it were."

OOC: Couple of options here. Yosef gets the spear (with this many different regions of the city, we're BOUND to come across one or two with some undead in them, right?) and we leave the hirelings here. Or, Van gets the spear and we bring the hirelings and the next magical weapon we get needs to go to Yosef. But that only works if Melissa allows us to shelter our beasts of burden and the two workers here for a few days.

[Argennian]

OOC: Many apologies for the brief hiatus, gentlemen. I'm back, with Till's response...

Additional OOC: Ron, let's just NPC Jeloon for a bit and see what happens there. Maybe give it another week or two before we even think about finding a replacement?

OOC: I totally agree. Although I am secretly nervous about what happened with Dave, he is absolutely due more time to come back on before we even consider replacing him! Imho, of course...

Till sits with the others, huddled in the cozy library, greatly pleased to hear his companions' minds on the wererat and his giant rat minions.

"And here I thought I was going to have to talk one or two of you into this!" he says in a surpised whisper, glancing at Yosef. "This is excellent news! Although," he adds, with a frown, "I think you might have to retrieve your spear from Van if you are to be effective in a fight against him, Yosef. I hear they canna be touched by any non-magical metals. Or... I suppose silver would work, as well, in which case you can borrow my old silver dagger, should you desire!" Till subconsciously slips his left hand onto the hilt of his newly acquired magical dagger while the thumb of his right hand casually rub a bit of chain wrapping the handle of his magical sword...

"I think we should ask for two things from our new friend, Melissa. One, that we can sleep here safely not just for this evening, but for the duration of our stay here in the city. Two, that we can bring our men here to camp, as well. I like not the idea of leaving them outside on their own for too long. Plus, if we know our supplies are safely kept here with the druid, then we can bring our two fighting men with us, as before, and leave the others here to help Melissa with any menial tasks she might have. Kind of our way of paying her back, as it were."

Yosef snaps out of the trance he's in looking at Melissa's picture of her and Roghan and smiles back to Till. "All good and well there and I wholeheartedly agree. Although my concern rests more with the welfare of our men and supplies than with me having a magical weapon, your point is most valid, friend Till. Were-creatures, traditionally, will only be harmed by silver or magical weapons. Although I have my spells, it would make sense to have all of that sorted before we commit to our plan here. Hopefully we could bring our men up closer. If we did not want them to interact with Melissa's animals for fear of confrontation as it were, they could always move into and secure the tower we gained entry by?"

OOC: Couple of options here. Yosef gets the spear (with this many different regions of the city, we're BOUND to come across one or two with some undead in them, right?) and we leave the hirelings here. Or, Van gets the spear and we bring the hirelings and the next magical weapon we get needs to go to Yosef. But that only works if Melissa allows us to shelter our beasts of burden and the two workers here for a few days.

OOC2: Agreed to all above!

[ToniXX]

Bruard nods in agreement. Yes, bringing our trusty hires within the walls of the city would calm my nerves as well. I'm sure Melissa can help us in some way, and they'll stay quiet and out of her way. Hopefully Melissa's bears and wolves won't mind the DAM.

[Alethan]

Till nods. "Ok. I'll go present our counter offer."

He returns to Melissa and says, "We are very much interested in assisting you in ridding this city of its evil inhabitants. We were wondering if you might expand your offer of hospitality just a bit, though... We have some assistants and DAMs... er, donkeys... in the woods to the west of us. Would you allow us to bring them in here for safe keeping while we go after this wererat? Once we've secured that section of the city, we can move them there and be out of your way... otherwise, the terms are completely agreeable to us."

He bows his head and quietly awaits Melissa's response.

[rredmond]

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Day 19 – 3:30a


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returns to Melissa and says, "We are very much interested in assisting you in ridding this city of its evil inhabitants. We were wondering if you might expand your offer of hospitality just a bit, though... We have some assistants and DAMs... er, donkeys... in the woods to the west of us. Would you allow us to bring them in here for safe keeping while we go after this wererat? Once we've secured that section of the city, we can move them there and be out of your way... otherwise, the terms are completely agreeable to us."

He bows his head and quietly awaits Melissa's response.

Of course the offer extends to them, Melissa responds with a smile, though once you've rid the city of the evil wererat, you can decide your next move on the information I'll give you freely and in answer to your, likely many, questions. You may want your party to stay with me a bit longer, but we shall see. Will you be going to get them now?

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HPs: Jeloon - 29/29; Till - 36/36; Yosef - 10/10; Bruard - 19/19
WIH: Till: short sword (15' radius light); Jeloon: Longsword (20' radius light), shield; Yosef: bow and arrow [or long sword]; Bruard: Mace, shield; Van: +1 ogre spear, shield; Eyman: +1 Battle Axe, shield
MO: 1- Till; 2- Jeloon; 3- Bruard & Eyman; 4- Ancor, Rosin, DAMs; 5- Yosef & Van
Consumables: Lantern - (Till) 2 hours, 25 minutes left (off), 30' radius; Torch, 58 minutes (off), 40' radius; Torch, 60 minutes (off), 40' radius.
--------Spells: Yosef: 1-2/2, 2-1/1; Bruard: 1-5/5, 2-4/4

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[Alethan]

Till smiles and nods.

"Let's hurry out and get the lads and gear, and get back here for some much-needed rest."

OOC: Either we can all go back and get them (the faster to break that camp and get everyone back into the compound) or we can leave one or two people here and the other two go get them. Doesn't matter to me. If we leave one here, let's make it Jeloon (as the obvious choice).

Sending a PM...

[ToniXX]

Bruard is thankful that the Druidess will allow us to bring the rest of the camp with us. Let's let jeloon stay behind, and get them post-haste.

[rredmond]

With the help (protection) of the wolves (the opening in the wall is their "doggy door" of sorts) and the birds, you are able to accomplish this in a couple hours while it's still dark. The bear goes and naps.

Unless there's something in particular you would like to do, I can hand wave this bit of logistics and get the DAMs, Rosin and Ancor into the druid's Zone.

I'm going to start a new action thread just so your next steps are all in one area.

[rredmond]

New thread here

viewtopic.php?f=20&t=883

Let me know if there's any retcon needed.