OOC: 26!  Not bad.  :-)

Holly scrutinizes what Elias is telling her.

"Agreed.  Let's get back to town.  I need to get some healing so I can save my potions for emergencies." Glumr says.  And after a pause adds "My friends, I have to say I'm sorry about not leaving the old man tied up.  I put too much faith in people and it would have been no harm to leave him there till our departure.  My apologies.  I will be more cautious in the future."

OCC - I'm confused... a 26 is critical success against his bluff check (if he had one).  So Holly knows and based on her post she believes him, so it's true as far as we know?

"Well, as long as you don't make the same mistake twice. See, it's not so much trying to tell if someone is lying or not, it's more like not believing them at all no matter what they say. Assume everything a suspicious stranger says is false, until proven otherwise.That is the key to success." observes Farden philosophically, as he helps Glumr out of the pit.

"I'd agree with that!" Holly says, aware Farden might pick up on the double meaning she put into her reply. So far at least Farden had been a good addition to the group.

Glumr shrugs "I dont want to live my life that way, especially in our own lands.  But I will make sure that when I do things, I think about all the potential outcomes."  Glumr elbows Farden in the ribs "Plus my friend, from my observations you think everyone is out to get us" and chuckles.

"As a wise man once said - 'I know I am paranoid, but am I paranoid enough?' " replies Farden. "To which an even wiser man replied, 'A little trust takes you a long way. The less you use, the further you'll go.' I subscribe to both points of view. So, I suppose, the answer is yes."

Glumr laughs and pats Farden on his back.  "Okay my friend.  Let's go back to town and see if we can catch up wtih Jacob before he tosses the song book.  They're going to expect us as this trap was meant to only be a deterrent."

You all return to Crim and take Bittan to Baywald to have him held for a couple of days.  Baywald subtly reminds you that *he* is the elder and does not take orders from youngsters.  To him, Bittan's moral status is more a matter of opinion and point of view than a matter of good or evil.  The book may have been loaned or stolen depending on how you look at it.  The fight in the tomb could've been provoked from either side.  He'll hold Bittan personally for one day during which time Baywald will speak with Bittan to see if he can get closer to the truth of the matter.  (Bittan can use the rest anyhow.)  Then he will most likely let Bittan go.

You might not be too happy about this, but that's how it is.

Next there's the matter of cooling your heels a bit before meeting Leon at the shrine around dusk.  If there's anything you need to take care of that won't take long, that's the time to do it.


After the sun sets you all make your way to Ehlonna's shrine.  The moon is truly full tonight and augmented by a number of small candles around the shrine.  The vine arbor overhead creates a whimsically dancing pattern of soft light and shadows throughout the part of the shrine where you've gathered.

"Ah greetings Holly, Snow, Elias," says Leonardo neither naming nor excluding Farden, Glumr, or the eye from his salutation.  "I see you were successful, but at quite some cost to your health.  These are no mere flesh wounds you have here.  Thank you for bringing Elias here."

"Was a piece of cake! Jacob played us a little music, gave us some time alone with Elias, and he was content to come and see you anyways!" Holly says matter of factly, aware that Leon would see through the chirade. Holly had mopped the cuts, and used her skills to cover the wounds, but she knew she would have to wait til the morning to gain Obad-Hai's help for her friends. At least she herself had come out fairly unscathed, and an afternoon chasing around with Moonlight had ensured she had quickly forgotten about some of the things she had intended to say. What worried her most was Snow being rather distant on the way back to Crim. Hopefully she would get a chance to talk to her later.

Snow admitted to you all on the trip back to Crim that she was really growing weary of all this fighting, and goblins, and talking foxes, and chasing harpers, and sleeping on the dirt, and double-crosses, and burial ground pits.  She just wanted to go back home to Volge.  As far as she was concerned Limon Ferisedan could keep his stupid magical book of blank pages, and the harpers should learn to be more careful with their priceless books.
It's not anything you haven't heard from her in the past, but she seems more resigned to this path now than ever before in the past.

As Glumr arrives, he stops at the shrine and kneels down, making a silent and short prayer to Ehlonna.  Touching the unicorn pendant around his neck, he stands and then approaches Leonardo with his friends.

Glumr nods a greeting to Leonardo.  "Aye... I foolishly led us into ambush."  Glumr says sheepishly.  "We brought Elias back to you at the cost of our sweat and blood.  If they wanted to, they could have killed us, but they didn't...  Potentially at the cost of the lives of a couple of their lackeys." Glumr adds, implying Elias with his body language.

"There's another one we left in town with the elder who will hold him for a day to give us a head start.  We need to leave as soon as we can if we expect to catch Jacob before he gets to silvergate and sells an item in his posession.  Is there anything else you can tell us or do to help us?"  Glumr asks Leonardo.

OCC - In Crim, I grabbed a potion from the cart to replace the one I lent to mord a bit back.  Character sheet reflects it.

Is there anyone in the shrine who can heal us?  Or in town?

Farden is going to see if he can get some healing on the cheap. So far, this whole expedition has been a drain on his purse, but he seems willing to stick with it for now.

OOC:  The priest at this shrine can share 2 CLWs after you get done talking with Leon and Elias.  You don't need to pay for healing here.  Crim is a Triplefang village.  More healing might be available from Harj at Tora's camp, but Tora's troops surely have first dibs.

I'll post more later today.

Here are the chapter 4 experience awards:

 780 exp Wildcat fight #2 (Farden, Glumr, Holly, Mord, and Snow)
  20 exp Delivering the letter to Pippen (Farden, Glumr, Holly, Mord, and Snow)
 150 exp Fighting Pippen (Glumr and Mord)
1163 exp Battling Jacob's crew (Farden, Glumr, Holly, and Snow)
----
2088 exp
2238 exp for Glumr

This brings most of you to 5178, which is getting close to 4th level.  Farden reaches 4188 which advances him to 3rd level (Congrats!).
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:25, Sun 26 June 2011.

"Actually, I've been thinking about that, Glumr," says Elias.  "Chasing Jacob down and prying the songbook away from him will be very very hard now.  He has taken a measure of you.  He'll be ready for anything you try, and he'll surely be expecting you to charge off after him worn down and unprepared.  When you face him next, if he even lets you get that close, he'll have reinforcements.  He'll defeat you even more easily the second time."

"Is Jacob really that dangerous?" asks Leonardo.

"I believe so.  You should see his plans in action, Leon.  They fall into place at nearly every step, and when something does go wrong you discover that he has prepared for that too.  He is a crafty genius with a natural talent for misdirection, underhanded strategy, trickery, and tactics."

"I see."

"So why face him directly?  You don't need to stop Jacob, you need the book.  I know the Empire crook he'll be selling it to in Silvergate.  Why not wait until he hands it over and take the book from *him* instead?  You'll be able to strike an unexpecting foe and you might even get the Empire to blame Jacob for it if you play your cards right."

"This will also give you some time to recover before your next fight instead of charging around tired and ragged."

Elias sits back with a proud grin.

"It's a good plan, Elias. We'll consider on our way to Silvergate. Thank you. But we need to be on our way, good luck on your path." says Farden politely.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:36, Sat 09 July 2011.

Glumr turns to his friends.  "I was thinking along those same lines as Elias.  To take the book from Jacob, we'd need to ambush him as I doubt the few of us could take him and his band without a good bit of luck.  If we can reach silvergate in time with the book, we can follow it to it's next leg and take it from whomever Jacob gives it to."  Glumr pauses in thought. "More so, it would let Jacob complete his deal and get whatever he's getting for the book.  Once he's compensated, I doubt that he'd take interest enough to come after the book and us."

Glumr turns back to Elias "Tell us what you can about the handoff.  When, Where, Who.  What do you know?"

OCC - Hold on Farden, we're not leaving yet.  We need to get info on the exchange and get some healing first.

"There are several free merchants from the Empire in Silvergate.  One of them is named Claudius.  Are you familiar with him?" Elias pauses for your answer.

"He is not your problem.  From what I know he's no more crooked than any other merchant around.  The issue is a fellow by the name of Flavius who associates with him.  This man is surely an agent of someone bigger back in the Empire, but my knowledge pretty much ends at the shore.  Flavius is a broker interested in securing treasures, magical objects, wonders, and artifacts.  Items like these are spread all over our lands and many of them are lost, or forgotten, or simply their true value or power is misunderstood.  Some of these treasures have been in these lands for countless generations.  Others have been brought here from raids that have been going on as long as history records."

"Flavius keeps his activities secret, but when he does speak of them, say while doing business, he claims to be merely returning Empire items back to the Empire where they belong.  What he's really doing is plundering our lands, even if he does throw considerable gold to make the transactions look fair."

Elias shifts to get more comfortable.

"Finding Claudius is simple.  His presence is very public.  Everyone in Silvergate knows him.  Keep your eye on Claudius a little while and Flavius should be somewhere close by.  The two of them might not be directly in league, but they are close friends and allies."

Elias gives you a quick description of Flavius.  It's a tad vague and generic, but it's the best he can do.

"I've never met the man in person.  I'm going off what I've heard."

"I think I know who Elias is describing, but I've never known his name.  He's an Empire man often accompanied by a bodyguard with metal armor and a red cape.  The bodyguard looks very out-of-place in Silvergate."

With Elias' description and the added bodyguard tip, you think you can pick him out.  Of course you can also ask around Silvergate for more information.

"So that's the 'who' for sure.  The 'where' is Silvergate.  Flavius can't leave until one of Claudius ships departs, so he might be around for weeks, depending on your luck."

"He'll want to personally accompany the songbook and whatever else he's picked up.  It's too valuable to just ship back in a crate," Leon suggests.

"The 'when' is uncertain, but you don't need to act until after Jacob sells it and before Flavius sails off.  That should be a wide window."

"Thank you Elias and Leon.  This should help us obtain the book and return it to it's rightful owners.  I know the type of Flavius and I agree with you, he's nothing but a thief who's taking what rightfully isnt his.  I consider this a mission of liberation."  Glumr chuckles and then grimices. "I hurt" He kind of mumbles to nobody.

Glumr turns to his friends and says "Well my friends... Sounds like we're on our way to silvergate.  If we go straight there, we can stay on my family's estate again.  We'll be safe there.  Sounds like we have a bit of a window, but it might not be a bad idea to get there sooner than later, or at least figure out when the ship is leaving."

"Do you know which ship it would be or the destination so we can identify the passage Flavius needs?"  Glumr asks Elias and Leon.

"The Empire's ships are built in a noticeably different style than those of the Triplefang.  They are taller and more enclosed.  Their purpose is to move passengers and cargo.  Triplefang boats are built for speed, raiding, and naval battles.  You should be able to pick out the Empire ships.  Which one Flavius is going to leave on is something you'll have to determine on your own.  It might not even be in port yet when you get there," answers Leon.

The priest of Elhonna can cast two Cure Light Wounds.  Please choose who you want them cast on.  Snow declines this magical healing.  She is going to rest in Crim for a while before returning to Volge.

You idly discuss the departure of Snow and Mord from the group.  It will be harder to continue your quests with just three people.

"One of my students lives right here in Crim.  He may be interested in joining you.  The young man's name is Israth Triplefang.  Not only is he kin to you,  he is also a member of the Harpers' Guild, so he has a vested interest in this task.  Israth only comes into the village proper for festivals and what have you,so you'll have to go out to his family's fields to find him."

Leonardo gives you directions to the fields in case you are interested.

Holly knew she was going to miss Snow, now that it was obvious she would not be joining them in going straight to Silvergate. Although they had been never that close in Volge, they had grown a friendship on their journey, mainly because they were both women, but also because they found out similar things about each other. Now Holly felt a little lossed without her cousin travelling with her. Certainly she would miss Mord, although she would never have admitted that to anyone. At least when she dwelt on the matter, Moonlight always managed to be there and cheer her mood up.

Now it seemed that Farden and Glumr were determined to go after the book, although personally she had no great interest in who actually held this book. She was concerned more in how it might be used. Perhaps this Israth would be more calm than her other two cousins.

"So will we go see this Israth? Doubt the three of us could do much without a little help. And we still need to worry about goblins and trolls, so perhaps we should check in the village to see if anyone else moving out to Silvergate?"

"Let us be off, whatever we do. The more time we waste, the farther the book gets from us. Let's look up Israth, then get moving."

Farden will take a CLW unless one of the others is more injured.

We'll assume you've had a couple hours for the non-lethal damage to heal up some.  The priest says a short prayer and casts a warming glow over Farden's wounds.  Magical healing is a common sensation in your line of work.  So too for Glumr.  Both men look to be doing better now.  Glumr was quite bad off before the healing.

11:13, Today: Fritzholm rolled 4 using 1d8+1. CLW on Glumr.
11:12, Today: Fritzholm rolled 6 using 1d8+1. CLW on Farden.

This takes care of the non-lethal damage and leaves our 3 heroes at the following scores:

Holly  12/21
Farden 23/23
Glumr 9/18

It's past dark, but well before midnight, so you decide to go visit Israth now anyhow.