While Mirak heads back to the tavern to get things sorted, Filimina and Ironclad head north.  Ironclad assures Filimina, well as best as they can, that they know the way.

On their way north, Filimina see a garden dedicated to the heroes of Titan's Gate, before the pair passes through what is called The Caravan Ward as it previously was where wagons and caravans would hold before passing into the city proper.  The area is a muddy mess, populated by the poorest people and those who take advantage of those folks’ desperation.  It has no sewer system and isn’t served by the Refuse Sweepers’ Guild which means flies and other buzzing creatures make the passage thru the Caravan Ward less than pleasant. Still, true to their word, the pair reach the North Gate with no real trouble.

Titan's Gate sits high upon a hill with a steep cliff on the Western side and the Northern portion still high enough to give a good view along The Great Road toward The Maw.  Not to far along the road Filimina can just make out a small settlement, perhaps another hour or so away, where the road forks with a smaller branch heading West while The Great Road continuing northward.

Filimena observes the city as she passes it by, an uncomfortable sense of familiarity settling over her mind. It's not only that she's lived most of her life in cities, and Titans Gate, as much as it is unique in its own ways, is a city nonetheless, sharing many of the same qualities any other city would have. It’s also that… She doesn’t remember arriving at Titans Gate - the Voices were in full control of her senses at the time - and yet, she must have arrived at some point, and when she’d arrived, it surely must have been through one of the city’s gates. It’s quite possible that she’s spent some time here, in this part of town, and just not been able to recall it.

It occurs to her she still does not know why the Voices have brought her here. At first she assumed it had something to do with Jzadirune. At present she cannot help but wonder if it might have something to do with her brother, although she cannot imagine the Voices would be so generous as to bring her to her brother only for the sake of reuniting them. The Illithid in the sewers… the other dwarven doors… She frowns, not so much annoyed as tired.

“Well, we’re here,” she says, after a while, turning away from her thoughts to look up at Ironclad. “Have you been to this part of the city before?”

"Yes, Ironclad is from Korim which lies to the north along The Great Road and arrived at Titan's Gate three dozen risings of the sun ago."  Ironclad extends their hand showing an image of the road and world around them moving as they travel to the North Gate.  The image fades as they continue, "Prior to Ironclad's arrive here, Ironclad spent a few suns in Spineguard Keep as well as Pallem for a time before that."

"Why does name is Filimena inquire?"

Filimena shrugs. "No particular reason," she says. "It's just, we're here, and we're waiting for Marik, and there isn't really a lot else to do. I just thought we should get to know each other a bit better, no? Well, I've asked you a question. Why don't you ask me one? Is there something about me you would like to learn? You could... er... put it in your report, maybe, to your people back in Korim." Filimena chuckles, playfully, finding herself genuinely curious about what kind of question the construct will come up with.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:40, Sat 11 June 2022.

Ironclad nods their head slightly, "A question, honestly answered, is powerful thing."  They turn their helm like head to the city of Titan's Gate then Northward.  After a few moments they look back to Filimina,  "Would you tell me about Jzadirune?  Did you encounter others like me there?"

Filimena considers the question for a moment. She is surprised how distant the ancient city now feels in her mind, like more time has passed than actually did. "Hmmm. What would you like to know about Jzadirune?" She says? "It was big, dark, and very dangerous. It felt like every room there was something hiding just waiting to ambush you. Yet it was also beautiful in a dark, abandoned sort of way. It makes you think about the dwarves who built the place and lived there, and what they were like."

She pauses for a while, looking around, before continuing. "We did encounter some constructs. I'm not sure I would say they were like you exactly. They weren't very friendly." She chuckles a bit. "I suppose... These would be your cousins? That's an interesting thought."

OOC: I did a CTRL+F of the Jzadirune threads. Haha. None of the constructs actually looked like Ironclad, did they? I know there was a large war machine, which maybe might have?

OOC yeah there were no constructs in Jzadirune like Ironclad

The mechanize marvel nods, "Cousin ...  the child of either of one's parental unit's siblings.  An interesting concept for ones such as Ironclad." Taking a long pause, Ironclad looks about before continuing  "How many suns were you and the others in Jzadirune?"

Filimena shrugs. "It kind of makes sense, doesn't it? As for how many days we were in there... To be honest, it's kind of hard to tell how much time has passed, when you're underground, and have no way to tell the time of day. But I reckon we were in there for two days, perhaps?"

OOC: It seems I'm being nudged to do a bit of revision on our past adventures here. Hahaha. I realise I don't actually know how many days we spent down in Jzadirune, but some CTRL+F research tells me we did have 2 short rests, which RAW means we could not have been in the dungeon less than two days.

OOC: That's fine - one of the weird things about D&D is the passage of time during dungeon crawls.  We weren't keeping the BEST track of time in Jzadirune


"Ironclad will to visit Jzadirune, it would be good to see what the makers created prior to Ironclad."

Filimena nods, pensively. "Have you ever... met your makers?" she asks, hoping it isn't a stupid question.

Ironclad's gaze shifts from the horizon back to Filimena, "Of course, they sent provided Ironclad with their prime directive of exploration and notation.  A trio of House Argentum's finest makers, Arkur, Undin, and Atund, built Ironclad, allthough Ironclad's original designation was Special Operations Construct Advanced Lifeform One Six or SOCAL 16 for short."
This message was last edited by the player at 17:21, Thu 23 June 2022.

"I see," Filimena says. "I thought they might have used some kind of intermediary. Yes, Arkur, Undin, and Atund must have been very skilled makers indeed, if they built you. I can barely make my own bed in the morning! Ha. Ha. Heh." Filimena chuckles sheepishly at the terrible joke.

Pausing, she looks back up over the horizon at the settlement in the distant, taking in the sight, and wondering if her brother is truly there. Perhaps she is looking at him right now, without knowing it, one of the specks she sees moving up and down the road and between buildings.

OOC: Not sure if a perception check is appropriate, but FIlimena is just going to look at the buildings in the distance and decide which ones look like they might be taverns or inns, from their size. Obviously she's going to review this as they get closer. This is just sort of an idle sort of thing, while waiting for Marik.

13:38, Today: Filimena the Gentle rolled 20 using 1d20+3, rerolling ones with rolls of 17.  Perception.

At around that time, the distinctive sound of paws running on tile roofs is heard and a large cat carrying an elf rider ends her parkour by jumping from a nearby house to the street.

Marik arrives and hands something rolled into a small cloth bag to Filimena "For the road"

The bag contains a hastily prepared rye bread sandwich with thin slices of salty venison, pickled onions, various veggies and mustard, with the addition of rosemary, thyme and sweet gale. Something hearty, powerful and packed with flavor but with a woody, fresh taste like Marik likes his cooking :)

Filimena does see what she believes to be some sort of inn or tavern at the crossroads.  Titan's Gate does close their gates just before night fall so those caught outside the city walls would best try to find a place hide from what might bump in the dark around Titan's Gate.

Filimena greets the elf with a nod and looks curiously into the cloth bag. [Private to group Elf: "Hmm. Thanks!"] she says, licking her lips, tempted to bite into it immediately. [Private to Marik: "Everything is in order back in the tavern, I take it? I reckon we she get going right away, before it gets too dark."] She motions down the road and shrugs.

Marik nods and gestures toward Rani's saddle

[Language unknown: "Ast m tinpr e?" ]



OOC: Could Marik make a History check to see if he already passed in this area coming to Titan's Gate?

EDIT: Well, in any case, I rolled a 5 so I highly doubt it.




"[Language unknown: Pe rompreshe n maeiat hat uttacefi lo ort hi te itil, t ushaai hedima ort elssmita. Ngmawiri din alain ss larundiou ssred interastr onove urrowibe fi heni wa out? A ver icsthimemo ie nti ieilec ecpr ecichi...]"

He looks at Rani, which looks at him back.


"[Language unknown: Rat His connotugh no whliun...dial ere tehiom korhatant tinouncom ntanur ad ckei.]"


And they set off?
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:34, Wed 06 July 2022.

The trio heads down into the small crossroads area outside of Titan's Gate.  The few people you pass seem a bit taken back by Rani and Ironclad so give your a wide berth.  There is a  modest two-storey inn and connected stables of timber and brick construction which stand proudly at the crossroads.  The inn's sign shows a person in a robe standing before a building, and the sign's text is written which is just legible declares the inn as The Pilgrim's Hall in the common tongue.

[Private to GM: a two-story building of timber and brick walls, with several leaded glass windows. Accommodations consist of wooden cots near the hearth.

Innkeeper - a humble female elf named Ilarel.

Menu

• Boiled Pork and Bitter Cheese, Tankard of Stout (10 cp)
• Spelt Porridge, Mug of Beer (5 cp)
• Boiled Goose and Whey Cheese, Tankard of Cider (11 cp)

]
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:07, Tue 12 July 2022.

Marik looks up. The sun is out and only a faint rosy hue denotes the presence of light in the darkening blue sky.


[Language unknown: "Dayatiour cherwh wh researson th ai. Mepeom ulekti iliemo it Horerehe somresingect ulan etsian allthalar encan Tencus Tin e k setatela m meaiut be wain day as urof k paen...Ameourect, m dinthieau pr be eibepe preateant ul thunceith o tinwaswas. Asnele lat wameev all hi asme andartwas-andine ecal ilwas thiithtic thetit t us ome mi for?"]
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:06, Tue 12 July 2022.

"Numbers and a bit of the innkeep's magics keep The Children of Tuur friendly,"  Ironclad injects in common, though save for "the innkeep's" it sounded a feminine voice with a heavy elvish accent.

Filimena steps up to the door of the inn and pauses before it, nervous. [Language unknown: "Peio, k a ncmach niio est ver, Nawh ding fita araicaeiin aiet itllpoiv,"] she says. Or, possibly, her brother is in there right now. That's a possibility also. She gathers up her courage, looks back momentarily at Marik, Rani, and Ironclad, and pushes the door open.

The interior of The Pilgrim's Hall would be categorized as plain but cozy.  A long table sits in the central of the space, and three more smaller tables along the two outer walls.  At the far end of the room from the entry is the fireplace hearth which is large and used for cooking as you can see thru the back into what appears to be some sort of kitchen space.

Almost dancing about as they drop off food and drink to the various patrons are pair of half-elves, who are certainly brother and sister. They are tall and slender with long chestnut hair that's tied back out of their faces, and both are dressed similarly in a well made leather apron which covers a light-green shirt and part of their thick breeches.  The pair are, perhaps strangely, barefoot as well.

A lean, blond haired, heavily tattoo'd dwarf male is cleaning a table.  He stops his clearing and turns with a smile as you as you enter.  The tattoo'd dwarf closes the distance between the table and entry singing a silly song, you think you hear something about azkaban that you don't understand.  He waits for the whole party to arrive before greeting you warmly, "Evening travelers!  I am Hankerin, and welcome to The Pilgrim's Hall.  Please take a seat anywhere you'd like that's open.  Though we've few spaces as Titan's Gate is closing up.  Kodo or Podo will be by to take food orders sooner or later I'm sure."
This message was last edited by the player at 23:31, Fri 11 Nov 2022.

Filimena smiles and nods in response to the dwarf's friendly welcome. She pauses, looking around to take in the crowd surrounding her, before finding a seat for the group with a clear view of the room and motioning at them to sit.

OOC: This sort of goes without saying, I guess, but Filimena immediately looks around the room for any sign at all of her brother.

20:30, Today: Filimena the Gentle rolled 22 using 1d20+3, rerolling ones with rolls of 19.  Perception.

Filimena scans the crowd and as she does see a halfling leap upon a table and hoist a mug in the air.  He cries out, "HA'BAKA!", and the entire tavern raises their mugs and cheers "HA'BAKA!" in response.

Tossing the now empty mug to the nearest person, he pulls a lute from behind him and as he strums the strings they let out a foul cord before breaking.  The crowd laughs as the halfling jumps down then disappearing from sight.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:29, Tue 19 July 2022.

OOC: By any chance would this other halfling be Filimena's brother? My instincts tell me that Filimena would recognise him immediately if he were, so the fact that it doesn't say so, or doesn't say at least that it looks like her brother, means it's not? But I might be wrong.

In reply to Filimena the Gentle (msg # 24):

OOC: Yes yes it is -- realized I was being overly vague... I'll adjust the post :D